Figure Skating Secret Santa

This was going to be the last Christmas of their competitive career. They had been invited by Madi and Adria to a small get together at their apartment on the twenty-first to have a last hurrah as Team Gadbois, all together, before the Olympics. This was the talk of the skating school, everyone had been invited. Tessa was even asked to help decorate and set things up on the day.  On Thursday, Marie and Patch decided to give everyone a shorter schedule so they could leave early and get ready. They could tell these kids needed a small break with all of the Olympic tension going around and they were happy it was going to be all of them together. Scott's only task was to bring some more drinks over to the party. But he was already running a bit late, "Hey, are you almost here?" were the words he read from his chiming cell phone's lock screen. Tessa had been at the apartment pretty early decorating the place. He was driving, so he didn't want to text her back and just dismissed the text while he looked for parking at the liquor store. 

He rushed out of the store as quickly as possible. He felt guilty, he was running so late and making Tessa worry. Not only because he knew she had been working hard to help put this event together, but also because he wanted this day to be special. He was going to end up being about an hour late to the party because of his poor judgement of time. Even though, lately time had not been an issue. Ever since Tessa spent more time over at his place, and vice versa, timing was not an issue. "Hello?" another text made his phone buzz as he exited the parking lot. He wished that flying cars exited. He was probably making her pretty upset but little did she know that he was actually late because his Christmas gift for her had just arrived.  She had no idea he had ordered a custom made piece at a jewelry store for her. It WAS after all their last Christmas before their last Olympics before their last competitive season...putting the pressure for this gift to be really special. Especially because the gift carried a special question he needed to ask her but had lacked the courage in the past.

He finally arrived at the apartment complex and rushed as much as he could through the slippery ice and snow on the pavement to the entrance. He may be an Olympic champion, but he was not going to be the Olympic champion with a soggy butt. He arrived at the door but stopped to catch his breath and dust off the snow on his hair and coat before knocking, so he didn't look so agitated. He was greeted by the sight of a wide-eyed Zach and a worried Madi peeking, from a group that was standing behind Zach, to see who had arrived. Zach pulled him in for a hug "Merry Christmas buddy, hey can I take your coa..." 

But before he could finish, Madi had rushed over to them with a smile that from other people's perspective might look normal but he could tell her eyes looked concerned. "Hey Scott! glad to see you finally here, does Tessa have a high alcohol tolerance because I'm not sure if she knows the eggnog is spiked and she already had like five cups."

===== Tessa had been working all afternoon helping Madi cook some food, set up decorations, greet guests, you name it. But the one person she wanted to see the most was Scott. This season was really busy for her and she had not spent as much time with this group of people as he had. Scott every once in a while had boys' night or pool parties to attend to but usually she couldn't make it to all of the gatherings she was invited to due to business meetings and photo shoots. So, she made it her mission to make up for lost time and help Madi host a wonderful event to send them all off into the last, hardest and most stressful days before the Olympics. She wanted it all to be perfect without freaking out and her rock during moments like these was not here to help her cope. He was also strangely not answering her texts and now she worried if he was okay.

Tessa and Madi spent the afternoon talking and catching up on things. Adria, Zach and Olivia would chime in every once in a while but she got some good girl time with her. There was small talk and some dreaded...big talk...guess she could say. More like huge talk. Madi asked how she was able to handle a balance between personal and career life with Scott and if she was happy. This has been her life for years, she thought, except for those two years when things were different. She has seen what happy and unhappy looks like. Looks like a hole in the shape of her partner whose future with him looked better and yet still undecided in some areas. 

Tessa was physically exhausted from all of the work and quite frankly also emotionally exhausted from talking about Scott in a way that she could give away some but not all information. She only trusted herself, and him, with the ins and outs of what they had. Once people begun to arrive and greetings occurred, she really wanted him by her side. This was the last Christmas of their competitive career after all. She spotted the punch bowl filled with eggnog, a family recipe from Adria according to Madi, and thought that maybe it could help her ease into party holiday spirit. The creamy deliciousness was soothing, she also wasn't feeling like having a hard liquor drink and this was the perfect drink. It helped calm her down and made her feel festive. So since Scott wasn't here...Mr. Egg Nog became her new partner.

==== "Alcohol is not her strong suit, where is she?" he needed to see her and make sure she was okay. 

"Scott! what took you so long?...also you look so..so..handso..hot! actually yes you look smokin" 

Well no need to go look for her now. Here she was, tipsy, but beautiful, still tipsy though.

"Madi doesn't he look hot? Zach ZACH move away from him let me get a good look."

Madi and Zach gladly retreated from the situation that only Scott could fix. "I mean for 20 years...I sure made a good choice eh?" She actually couldn't believe she was saying all of this but Mr. Egg Nog did its job and it was called..making her unfiltered.

"Hey Tess, sorry it took me so long to get here, the place looks beautiful, you did such a good job. You...well are always beautiful." Despite her state, their eyes still connected in a way that it was real. Tessa may be tipsy but she was coming from a true place. 

"Here, how about you show me around and we can pick up some water on the way?"

She just couldn't take her eyes off of him. She almost wanted to cry because she was so happy to finally see him. No matter what situation, this was her rock, this was her confidante, this was her best friend. She was starting to regain some of her previous nerves but in a different way which were making her sober up a bit. "Yeah lets do that, you can drop your coat off in this closet."

They had begun to make their way around when Olivia just ran to the middle of the room and said in a loud voice "Gather around we are going to play a drinking game!"

Tessa looked up at Scott, to see him already locking eyes with hers and felt his hand around her waist.

"We don't have to play if you don't want to Tess."

"No, this could be fun." She was still a girl on a mission to make up for lost time and relying on Scott would be the opposite of bonding more.

So, keeping his hand on her back, he guided her toward the living room table where people were sitting anywhere they could to fit around a glass-top coffee table. Zach gestured to them to sit by him. essa got one end of the couch and Scott sat on the arm rest next to her. 

"Alright is everyone who is anyone that wanted to play here?" Olivia asked as she shuffled a deck of cards.

Some people gathered around to just be spectators, with the curiosity of what was at play. "Okay so we are going to play Never Have I Ever but a Christmas Edition." People began to cheer in agreement but Tessa began to worry. What would she even say with Scott next to her?

"Does everyone have a drink?" Olivia said as she looked around to examine who didn't.

Scott lowered his head to whisper in her ear giving her goosebumps "I will go grab us some okay?" But in that moment Adria came by holding two cups of eggnog "Hi Scott! happy to see you here, here you go guys!" he handed the cups to them "it's a family recipe."

Well there was no escape now. Olivia proceeded once everyone was holding a drink.

"Rules are simple, you hold up three fingers. When it's your turn, you mention something you have never done on Christmas Day. But we're gonna change this part of the rules. If you haven't you TAKE a drink and if you have then you're safe."

Well this just got interesting, considering most people did similar things on Christmas Day. So if someone said never, most would probably also never had done it.

Rounds were made, drinks were sipped, some people cheated using their knowledge of others’ personal lives to come up with their ideas and make them drink. Tessa and Scott were now 3 rounds of egg nog down and unfiltered Tessa was back.

"Alright Tessa whadugot?" asked Madi semi slurring words

"Never have I ever been kissed under the mistletoe"

Challenge accepted some of the guys shouted, she was laughing at all of the different reactions and having a good time. She noticed Scott did not take a sip which meant that he had before. Just not with her she thought. Probably not any time soon considering mistletoe was usually placed in areas where people can see and they were not about public displays of affection.

Well it was his turn next. He could sense the excitement from others to know how he would follow what Tessa had just said.

"Never have I ever wanted to kiss someone under the mistletoe more than now"

He knew this was a bold thing to say so he got up from his arm rest and went toward the entrance. Tessa didn't know how to react. If she got up, she would be teased, but if she didn't she would be leaving him on his own. Usually he wasn't like this. 

She waited for a couple of more people to take their turns before she got up pretending she needed to go to the bathroom.

In search for him, she noticed his coat was gone from the entrance. Could he have left her there? 

"The restroom you are looking for is outside on the balcony." Madi said standing behind her.

Tessa quickly turned around, she knew she had been caught. So she just mouthed, thank you.

She grabbed her coat and found him looking at the snowy, Montreal buildings. A city that mixed the old with the new. Very much like who they were, something new but with years of history. 

She gently put her hand on his shoulder hoping to not startle him from his thoughts. She didn't thankfully, he just sighed and put his head down.

"Sorry Tess, I don't know what came over me." he mumbled as he stared down.

"I call it the Christmas spirit...in more ways than one." she said trying to make a pun joke with the word spirit, like as in wine and spirits. He sort of chuckled and turned around and looked at her.

Once again making that connection with their eyes.

He reached down his pocket to pull out a little gift. 

"Here, Merry Christmas" he handed it over to her and he was mesmerized by the look she gave him. All he could say to explain what just happened was in that little box which was good because he was at a loss for words.

She unwrapped it carefully feeling like she was about to be overcome with tears. When she opened the jewelry box with misty eyes, inside was a silver ring band. She carefully took it out feeling like at any moment it could make her detonate. The ring had one encrusted diamond in between two letter Xs. "Look at the inside" he said. The words "No Matter What" were engraved in the inside of the ring. 

"Scott..this is...beaut..this ring is bea...ful. Wha.." she began to cry not being able to look at him knowing she would lose all control then.

He lifted her chin up with his hand to make her look at him, he needed to see her reaction. Wiping off a tear trailing down her cheek, he wanted to tell her that he wanted them to be forever. That in that moment, when she greeted him unfiltered, it gave him confidence to say exactly what he wanted to say to her at any moment.

"I know we are in a complicated time of our lives, but this gift is not only a symbol of our 20 years together but a promise for more years to come. When you said you made a good choice to me earlier it made me think of what not only got us here but what keeps us here and I want to stay in this place, or any place, with you. Maybe you might not be ready in this moment but this ring could come with that promise. If not, then it is just a ring to symboli..."

She jumped and wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him. He had talked of moments and being in the right now and this is what she wanted in this moment. Caught him a bit off guard and made him kind of slide on ice backwards before he grabbed onto the rail for security. There was no uncertainty of the future any more for either of them. They also could not think of anything to make this last Christmas more special. Their lips, like their dancing, moved perfectly in correspondence to one another. They could've stayed out in this balcony for the whole night if it wasn't for someone knocking on the glass door. When they turned around they saw a good group of people huddling to watch.

“Hi,” she grins, gliding to a stop in front of him. “I’m Kaitlyn.”

The boy grins back. “I know. I’m Andrew.”

She giggles. “I know.”

“Oh,” he responds, sounding slightly taken aback. “Good, then. Where’s Coach Paul, do you know?”

She shrugs. “He told me to go talk to you and he’ll be right here.”

“Okay. Is this your first time doing ice dance?”

“Yep! What about you?” She asks.

He nods jerkily. “Mine too.”

“Well, it can’t be too hard, right?” She asks.

“Probably not. We have to figure it out by the Christmas show and that’s not too far away.”

“Ohh, you’re right.”

“Hey, you two,” Coach Paul skates up behind them. “Are you ready to learn some Jingle Bells?”

The both nod enthusiastically.

“Great! Now. First things first. I want you to take each other’s hand.”

Andrew’s mitten-clad hand wraps around her own.

“Perfect. Now I want you to just stroke around the rink. And try to keep your strokes in-sync, okay?”

They nod.

“You want to start with our weight on our right leg?” He asks.

She nods, and they start their trek around the rink, Coach Paul following behind them.

“Good,” he says. “Good, good. Kaitlyn, straighten your leg a little, and Andrew, lift yours a little higher.”

They take his corrections, and Coach Paul, now skating in front of them, grins. “Great! Good job, both of you. Now try it going backwards.

They start skating backwards and Coach Paul nods. “Good. Good. Alright, now I’m going to teach you the Kilian hold.”

They nod excitedly, both grinning from ear to ear.

“So. Here, Andrew, you stand right here, and Kaitlyn, you stand...” He positions her properly. “Good. Now,” he places their hands where they’re supposed to go. “This is the hand hold for the Kilian. You think you can remember that?”

Faces focused, they nod.

“Alright. Let go.”

They drop each other’s hands.

“Now get back into it.”

Kaitlyn giggles, and they return to their Kilian position.

Coach Paul adjusts Andrew’s hand a little bit, but is overall satisfied. “Good.”

They spend the rest of the lesson learning the other holds and how to skate in them.

When they’re done, they follow Coach Paul off the ice, and Kaitlyn whispers conspiratorially to Andrew, “We didn’t learn any of the dance.”

He laughs softly, making sure Coach Paul doesn’t hear them. “You’re right. We have another lesson on Wednesday though, so maybe we’ll start it then.”

“I hope so!” She exclaims excitedly. “I’m so excited for the show.”

“Me too,” he grins.

They put their guards on when they leave the ice, and she takes his hand, tugging him toward her mom. “Come on, you have to come meet my mom.”

“Okay, Okay,” he laughs. “I’m coming, you don’t have to pull my arm off.”

“Oh. Sorry,” she grins. “Mom, this is Andrew. He’s my ice dance partner for the Christmas show.”

Kaitlyn’s Mom shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you, Andrew. I’m Kaitlyn’s Mom, but you can call me Jackie.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Jackie,” he grins. “Thank you for letting Kaitlyn skate with me.”

“You’re welcome, and thank you for letting Kaitlyn skate with you.”

“No problem. She’s lots of fun!” He exclaims.

“It’s just the Christmas show, Kait,” Andrew rolls his eyes, the epitome of a stereotypically moody teenager. “It doesn’t have to be perfect.”

“It’s important!” She insists, with all the enthusiasm of a twelve-year-old. “Please, Andrew?”

“It’s more important to be ready for Challenge and Nationals.”

She scowls. “We are ready for Challenge, and Nationals is still more than two months away.”

“We can do it after Challenge,” he counters.

“We can do it now.”

He sighs. “Why do we have to do it now? We both know we can pick up choreo in an hour and be perfectly fine.”

“Because.”

“Oh, real mature.”

She immediately pivots away from him and starts skating toward the exit.

He skates after her. “Seriously, Kaitlyn. What’s wrong?”

He grabs her hand and spins her around, surprised to see tears streaming down her face.

“Whoa, hey,” he pulls her into a hug. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to make you cry. If it’s this important we can do it now, yeah? Yeah? Come on, Kait, don’t cry. What’s got you so worked up?”

“It’s nothing, I’m sorry!” She cries.

He sighs. “It’s obviously not nothing.”

She takes a shuddery breath. “But it’s silly.”

“I won’t laugh.”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine. Today’s the anniversary of the day we became partners and I got you a gift and you seem to have forgotten entirely.”

“Wait,” he stops her, confused. “It’s the 10th? Are you sure?”

“Um. Yeah.”

“Oh no. No, no, no. I thought it was the 9th, Kaitlyn, I swear. I have something for you, too, but it’s at home because I thought it was the 9th!”

She blinks in surprise. “Really?”

He nods. “Yes, really. Why don’t you ask your mom if you can drop by my house when we leave, okay?”

She nods, a grin forming. “Okay.”

“Good. Now that that’s solved...Christmas choreo?”

She huffs in mock annoyance. “Andrew! Why’d we have to go through this whole argument?”

“Because I wanted to do it on the 10th! As it turns out, it is the 10th.”

She laughs. “Alright, fine, I believe you. Now let’s get to work.”

They call Coach Suzanne over to see what they’ve come up with and she coos when Kaitlyn kisses Andrew’s cheek on “I’m just gonna keep on waiting underneath the mistletoe”.

Andrew rolls his eyes again, but continues until the end when he dips her and they point their fingers at each other.

Coach Suzanne claps her hands together. “Perfect. This is adorable, and the audience is going to eat it right out of your hands.”

Kaitlyn looks surprised. “So our choreo was actually good?”

Coach Suzanne smiles. “Well, there are a few things I’d like to tweak, but for the most part, it was a great job.”

Another five years, they’re Junior World Champions and in Toronto, training with Shae-Lynn Bourne, who has been Kaitlyn’s role model since she started ice dance.

They’ve got a cute Christmas show program choreographed to “Let It Snow”, and they’re headed to their second Grand Prix assignment in two days.

But someone has decided to hang sprigs of mistletoe all over the rink. By the boards, in front of the change rooms, in the lobby, everywhere.

And Kaitlyn and Andrew have a habit of walking everywhere together, so she’s not quite sure how many more times they can kiss each other on the cheek without accidentally kissing on the lips.

She rolls her eyes, then rolls them again upon noticing the mistletoe above them. She rises up on her toes to kiss his cheek, just as he turns his head to kiss hers.

They immediately spring back, blinking in shock.

Kaitlyn forces herself to smile. “You know, I was just wondering how many more times we could get stuck under the mistletoe before that happened.”

His laugh is strained, and she quickly escapes into the women’s locker room.

She changes quickly, then sneaks out to the front office, where Shae-Lynn is.

“Shae!” She exclaims, when she spots the woman who’s become like a big sister to her. “Shae, Shae, Shae, what do I do?”

“Kaitlyn, whoa. What did you do?”

“I kissed Andrew. Or he kissed me. I don’t know. We kissed each other. What do I do?”

Shae closes her eyes, breathing deeply. “Okay. Why did you do that?”

“Have you not noticed the invasion of the mistletoe?”

“Yes, I have. But you know you don’t have to kiss him on-” Kaitlyn cuts her off. “I know that, but I turned to kiss him on the cheek and he turned to kiss me on the cheek, and what do I do?”

“Well, what did you do after that happened?” Shae questions. Kaitlyn blinks. “I made a joke and ran away.”

Sighing, Shae-Lynn shakes her head. “Right. Okay. And how do you feel about that?”

“Obviously not great!” She exclaims. “What was I supposed to say? Could we maybe try that again so I can actually have a good first kiss and not a mistake?”

She claps her hand over her mouth.

“Please make me stop talking,” she mumbles into her hand.

Shae laughs. “Sorry, Kaitlyn. No can do. So you want to kiss him again?”

“No!” She exclaims. “I don’t know. Maybe? A little? Yes?”

“Then I suggest you talk to Andrew about this, not me.” “Oh. You’re not going to try to talk me out of it?” She asks hesitantly. “Do you want me to?”

She shrugs. “Not really, just…”

“I find it’s better when you two feel like you can talk to me about things. Heaven knows I couldn’t stop this from happening if you wanted it to happen, so it’s better to have transparency from the start. Just be sure to be safe.”

Kaitlyn makes a face. “I just had my first kiss, Shae-Lynn, geez. I’m not ready for that yet. But I do think I’m ready to talk to him.”

Laughing, Shae tells her, “Alright. Go talk to him. Maybe do that at home, though, and not in front of all the CanSkate kids.”

“Alright,” Kaitlyn giggles. “We don’t want to scar them.”

She closes the door to the front office and finds Andrew standing there.

“Oh,” she says quietly. “Hi. I had to talk to Shae about some...stuff. Girl stuff.”

He nods, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.

She sighs. “I know we have some stuff to talk about, but can we wait until we get home? Please?”

“Yeah,” he murmurs. “Okay.”

They walk out to his car in silence, setting their skating bags in the trunk before climbing into the car.

Andrew immediately turns the heat on and Kaitlyn, shivering, grins appreciatively.

It’s a short drive to their shared apartment, but this time, it seems an hour long in the deafening silence.

As soon as they’re in the door, they say, in unison, “We need to talk.”

They laugh nervously, and Andrew says, “You go first.” “I’m sorry for running away and not talking about it immediately. I know that’s something I need to work on.”

“I’m sorry for...kissing you, I guess. I didn’t really mean to, and it wasn’t really what I’d planned to do eventually.”

“Eventually?” She blinks up at him hopefully.

“Well, yeah. When we’re ready.”

“Okay,” she nods. “Do you think we’re ready now?”

He shrugs. “I’m not really sure, so maybe...not? I don’t know. Do you feel ready?”

She mimics his shrug. “I’m not really sure. I mean, I want to kiss you again, but I don’t really want to risk our partnership and our friendship for the sake of me wanting to kiss you.”

He chuckles lightly. “I know the feeling. So our relationship stays the same?”

She hesitates, but nods slowly.

“It’s for the best,” she says, not sure whether she’s trying to convince him or herself. Maybe both.

Five years later, they’ve been to the Olympics, been Senior National Champions, and won a bronze medal at the World Championships.

“Hey Andrew?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember that one year we accidentally kissed under the mistletoe?” She asks.

He looks at her. “Yeah, why?”

“Do you remember that I said I wanted to kiss you?”

“...yes…? Why?”

“Well, you’re standing in the kitchen in just your pajama pants, fresh out of the shower, making me breakfast, and I’m finding it kind of hard to suppress that urge right now.”

He laughs, then grabs something out of one of the designated ‘Christmas boxes’ they’d pulled out yesterday.

“Do you...need an excuse?” He asks hesitantly, holding the sprig of mistletoe over his head.

She grins, bouncing over to him and placing a comforting hand on his arm. “Perfect.”

Their lips meet, and the spark that was there five years ago still exists, stronger than before.

She smiles against his lips, murmuring, “This is probably a bad idea.”

“Probably,” he responds, lips still moving against hers. “But do you care?”

“Mmm,” she hums, closing her eyes and threading her hands through his hair, keeping his lips pressed against hers. “No.”

“Good,” he replies, tugging on her bottom lip.

They kiss slowly, thoroughly, until Kaitlyn yawns and Andrew pulls back chuckling. “Am I boring you?”

“No!” She exclaims, grinning and shaking her head. “No, never. It’s just pre-7 a.m., so I’m still waking up.”

“I know,” he smirks. “Just teasing you.”

She smacks him gently on the chest, before leaning against him and wrapping her arms around him. She breathes deeply when his arms return the favor and closes her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder.

“We’re going to be okay, right?” She murmurs softly.

“Of course. Nothing has to change. Or...we could change. If you want to. Either way, I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Mmm,” she hums into his neck. “I think we’ve already changed. I couldn’t forget this if I tried. I think we should try it out. But keep it just us for now, yeah?”

“Hmm,” he makes a face, pretending to seriously consider it. “I think that sounds like a perfect plan.”

“Good,” she smiles. “Now. You should probably make sure breakfast doesn’t burn.”

He chuckles. “You’re probably right.”

Kaitlyn sets down her fork and grins.

Andrew chuckles. “You ready for Christmas Eve presents already?” He asks, eyes sparkling with mirth.

Her grin grows wider. “Yep! You get to go first this year,” she informs him for the third time in the past hour.

They clean up the table, then head into the living room to unwrap a gift each.She hands him a gift, and he lifts it up and down, trying to determine what’s inside. Maybe a scrapbook or framed picture. They have a habit of giving the most sentimental gifts on Christmas Eve, saving more practical gifts for Christmas Day itself. He unwraps it slowly, carefully, watching her bounce up and down in anticipation. It must be a good one. He grins when he sees what it is, looking up at her.

“It’s perfect,” he murmurs, looking at the collage of pictures from every Christmas show they’d ever done, from their very first Jingle Bells to Let It Go at the most recent Christmas On Ice in Japan.

He points to the first picture. “Who’d have thought that these two kids would grow up and be doing Christmas shows in Japan?”

She giggles. “You like it, then?”

He nods, opening his arms. “I love it.”

She hugs him tight, then backs up, sitting on her heels. “My turn!”

“Hang on one second,” he tells her, putting his phone on the counter to film her reaction.

He then picks the gift atop her pile of present, taking special care to make sure it’s the proper gift.

It’s a small box, and he watches Kaitlyn try to figure out what’s inside.

“Jewelry?” She asks.

He shrugs innocently, and watches her rip open the paper.

As she takes the top off of the sparkly box, he pulls another box out of his pants pocket and gets into position.

“It just says ‘Look up,’” she says, before looking up, eyes wide. “Oh.”

He pops open the black velvet box, then starts, “I think I’ve known since you took my hand when we were babies. I know I’ve known since the first time you kissed me when we were teenagers. I love you. I don’t know what’s going to happen after the Olympics,” he says. “But I know I want to do it with you. Do anything with you. Do everything with you.” “Me too,” she breathes. “Me too, Andrew.”

He smiles. “Okay, good. So, uh, I love you, obviously. Will you marry me? Please?”

“Yes!” She exclaims. “Yes, of course. You sounded so nervous, what, did you think I’d say no?” She giggles.

“Well, no, but it’s still kind of nerve wracking, babe.”

“Here, come here, let me see the ring.”

He scoots closer and she gasps in awe. “It’s perfect, Andrew. I love it. I love you. Put it on me?”

He slides the ring onto her finger, and she tears up. “Perfect. It’s perfect. You’re perfect. Everything is perfect.”

“Not yet,” he grins, and leans in to kiss her.

Tessa pressed her hands to her cheeks, willing the heat in them to melt into her hands like warm butter. It was silly to be embarrassed about it, she knew that but no matter how old she got, being caught with her mind elsewhere made her ears heat up and her cheeks redden.

It’s disrespectful, the scolding voice of her mother sounded harsher in her head, to not pay attention to those around you.

And she really did try. But her arms ached and no matter how much she folded them across her chest, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing something.

“It’s nothing Jord,” Tessa mumbled.

The older girl shook her head. Never would she understand the still present embarrassment of her little sister when it came to her long time love interest. Like the slight nine year old with a new ‘boyfriend’, afraid to hold his hand and anxious and fidgety whenever he was brought up at the dinner table.

Tessa sighed finally and rubbed her temples. The draw to go and see him was equitable to an addiction. She needed his arms around her, his whispered words into her neck, his warm breath rustling her hair. Her hands shook and she pressed them to her thighs and rubbed back and forth once before settling them at her sides.

“I need a hug.” She finally gave into the pressure in her chest, the words coming out in a short burst, “I need Scott.”

“The rule is twenty four hours Tess, you know that.”

Tessa pouted and turned on the vanity chair to face her sister, who had raised her hands in surrender. She was still sporting the same silk pink robe that Tessa herself was wearing, at least until they were ready to begin the process of putting her dress on, and her hair was piled into a messy bun on top of her head.

“No, I know of no such rule.” Lie. Of course she had heard, but that didn’t mean she had any obligation to follow any rules that she didn’t want to; especially not on her wedding day when it was meant to be all about the two of them and what they wanted.

“Come on Tess”, Jordan sighed, clearly not in the mood to argue, “don’t make it harder than it needs to be.”

She lifted the brush from the table and began to make long strokes through Tessa’s freshly washed hair. Each time she encountered a knot; Jordan would grip the hair gently and work until the bristles slid effortlessly through her younger sister’s hair. Tessa’s eyes fluttered closed and she let her neck roll back and forth with each gentle tug.

“It’ll only take a second Jord,” Tessa tried to reason.

Jordan shook her head and set down the brush that she had been using to tame Tessa’s curls.

“Sorry Tess, you know there are rules for a reason.”

“I know,” Tessa protested, “but since when have we played by the rules?”

“Do you want to jinx your marriage?”

Every source that she had heard from, which admittedly was almost strictly limited to friends of theirs that had tied the knot, had only mentioned the dress rule. The groom isn’t supposed to see your dress until you walk down the aisle. That much was understandable, but she was still in her undies and a robe. Surely seeing her that way so close to their I do’s wouldn’t bring an omen onto their marriage.

And if it would, they were already cursed. Scott had seen her in her robe what she estimated to be hundreds of times; in fact, he’d seen her with far less coverage than she was currently sporting. And isn’t sex before marriage also said to jinx things as well? Tessa smiled devilishly. If that were true, their marriage was already jinxed and she couldn’t jinx something that was already jinxed.

This whole thing was silly anyway. Why couldn’t she see the man that she had been waiting for literal decades to marry? Because of some old wives tale? Sure, they were both old souls in many senses. Souls that believed in tradition and classic romance. Scott had asked her Father’s permission before asking her to marry him after all.

But this part, the not seeing him for an entire twenty four hours. She hadn’t agreed to this.

“No of course not, but I also don’t want to throw up on him at the alter because I’m so nervous. And I’m not even in my dress yet, so what’s the problem? Why can’t I go and see him for two damn minutes?”

“What do you mean ‘what’s the problem’? The bride and groom are supposed to be apart for twenty four hours.” Jordan threw her arms in the air and groaned loudly, obviously frazzled.

“Since when?” Tessa wrinkled her nose and folded her arms across her chest in defiance.

“Since the dawn of time, or at least since marriage was a thing.”

“Didn’t we spend enough time apart?” Tessa whispered. Her chest tightened and her breath caught in her throat as she remembered the rough nights apart. The months they had tried to find solace in the arms of others. The failed attempts at building something, anything, even comparable to what they had built together.

“You sure did, but that was your choice, not mine.”

Surely twenty years spent strengthening their relationship and successfully transitioning from a friendship to something more, guaranteed that she wouldn’t have to spend any more time playing with the cord on her blinds wishing that it was Saturday and not Wednesday. That they didn’t have to restrict whatever they had become to weekends and holidays. Surely now that they had committed, that meant they could spend as much time together as they pleased.

As much time as you want, except for now.

“Jordan come on, you’re my big sister. Aren’t you supposed to take my side?”

“I’m supposed to take the side that makes the most sense.”

“How does spending 24 hours apart make any sense?!”

Tessa bowed her head and whispered an apology which Jordan accepted weakly. She didn’t want this to escalade, but her stomach cramped and her arms ached to hold him. And it wasn’t going to go away until she did. Tessa didn’t want to be miserable; she didn’t want to fight with her sister on her wedding day. This wasn’t planned. She took a deep breath and sank back onto the vanity chair and began to busy herself with the tie on her robe.

Jordan leaned her forehead against the wall and blew out a puff of air.

“How about I pass him a note for you?”

“I’m serious, I need him right now.”

“You can’t wait a few hours until you’re in the church?”

“Absolutely not.”

Jordan sighed dramatically and Tessa knew that she had won this particular battle. A smile tugged at her lips and her heart picked up, this time in excitement.

“Fine. But you only have time for a quick hug and that’s all. I need time to get you ready.”

“I’ll be fast, I promise.”

Tessa stood, and not bothering with shoes, fled in search of the room at the end of the hallway that she had been kept away from for far too long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Tessa! What are you doing here?”

Ignoring his question, she threw her arms around his neck and flung herself into his arms. He gave a soft oof and stumbled back a step upon impact, but his hands went to her lower back and he managed to keep them upright. Finally. Tessa inhaled and closed her eyes. In his arms, she felt warm and safe and loved. His heart thumped against her chest and she took a deep breath, willing herself to calm down.

It’s okay now, he’s here, you’re here. You’re here together.

Scott rested his cheek on top of her head and rocked them back and forth.

He smelled clean, must have just gotten out of the shower, she thought to herself. A light lingering of the body wash he had used stuck to his skin and his white button down shirt smelled like vanilla fabric softener.

“I’m nervous, and I needed a hug,” she pressed her nose to his collarbone and whispered. She still wasn’t ready to let go of him yet, but he wouldn’t understand her muffled explanation if she buried it in his shoulder. “We always hug before we do anything important, and it always helps calm my nerves.”

Gently, Scott’s hands slid up and gripped her biceps, pulling her back to look him in the eyes. His brown eyes were glassy and he blinked slowly.

“Are you having second thoughts? I won’t be hurt if you need to wait, Tess, we can wait to get married if you need some more time.”

Her heart clenched and Tessa shook her head to dispel his fears. His shoulders relaxed and he pulled her back into their hug and began to rock them back and forth again, hands folded at the small of her back like a cradle.

Tessa was glad he understood her need for comfort and to be held.

“No, no. I want to marry you. It’s just that this is big and scary. And this is how we deal best with big and scary.”

Scott sighed in relief.

It was true. For the last ten years of her life, when things got scary she hugged him. She would close her eyes and press her cheek to his, listening to his steady breathing in and out, rustling the tiny hairs close to her ear. She would dig her fingers into his back or his shoulder blades, tugging him as close as she was able to, feeling his warmth and his heartbeat.

“It is. I missed you too; I’m actually shocked that Jordan let you out.”

Tessa giggled, remembering her sister’s annoyed expression.

“I had to all but sneak out, but in the end she did let me. With a warning to be fast.”

“Of course.”

“I just needed to see you.”

They parted finally and he pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead.

“I’m glad you did. I love you, and I don’t think I want you away from me for twenty four hours straight after this.”

“Not even the full twenty four!” She laughed. Try keeping us apart now, she thought at no one in particular.

“It’s long enough. Too long in fact.”

“You might change your mind after being married to me for a while,” she joked.

They both knew that wasn’t the case. Scott enjoyed spending time with her and she with him. They still made sure to keep parts of their lives separate. She still went to premieres and dinners without him sometimes, and he attended sporting events and went out with his buddies without her. Having time, having interests, apart from one another is important for any good relationship, their therapist had told them. So they maintained that, but she missed him at the end of the day and he missed her.

“I don’t think so; I’ll never want you away from me.”

And that wasn’t going to change. No matter how long they spent together. It hadn’t yet, and it’s been twenty years already. She loved her friends; she loved the bustle of doing things and of having people around her. But her favourite times happened in their apartment, usually in the kitchen or on the couch and sometimes in their bed. Laughter. Smiles. Whispered promises. Tearful trips down memory lane.

“I love you,” she leaned in. It wouldn’t kill Jordan, nor would it ruin the job her sister could perform on her sometimes unruly hair, if she snuck one more quick hug, “we can do this.”

“Another adventure for us to add to the books, eh?”

“Yes, though this one comes with much more pomp and circumstance.”

“Are you sure?” Scott chuckled and lifted his finger to his chin in mock consideration and Tessa swatted his arm playfully, “the Olympics seemed pretty pomp and circumstance-y to me.”

Her eyes twinkled at the memory and she swore she could still feel the heavy gold medal tugging down on her neck. She could hear the loud music and the cheers and remember the feeling of his hand encased in hers. Tighter than ever.

“You’re a dork, you know that? But you’re right. This might tie the Olympics then.”

“You’re still nervous,” his hands trailed down her arms until he had engulfed her hands in his own. He stroked the top of her hand and gave her a reassuring smile. “Think of this as a formality,” he reasoned, “with a big party, a chance for all of them to get dressed up. You’re my wife every way but on paper anyway.”

“Everyone will be watching me.”

“Only because you’ll be the most beautiful thing any of them have ever laid eyes on. You’re lovely my dear. Can you blame them?”

Tessa rolled her eyes and slipped her hands from his.

“Okay mister, enough with the flattery. I have to run, I’ll see you soon?”

Scott nodded and gestured to his tuxedo, pressed and in its dry cleaning bag hanging on the bathroom door.

“I’ll wait for you at the end of the room with all of the flowers and the minister.”

“I’ll see you there.”

“Tessa?”

“Yeah?”

She turned on her heel, hoping that he would ask her to stay and praying that he wouldn’t. If he asked her to stay she would. They could run away from all of this and spend the day together, who needs to be married today anyway?

But all of their family members would be arriving in just a couple of hours. And the hall that was already decorated and waiting for after the ceremony was ready to be danced in and hear the speeches that would no doubt make her blush and bury her face in Scott’s shoulder. Her dress was waiting, hung in the garment bag in the closet, for Jordan to button the back and fluff her skirt around her in a cloud of tulle.

If Scott asked her to stay she would, but she also needed to get back before Jordan lynched her.

“No matter what, I love you, okay?”

“I love you too.”

“We’ll get through this.”

“In one piece I hope. Though no promises with my sister. I’ll see you soon.”

Scott laughed and blew her a final kiss before Tessa closed the door. She nodded in satisfaction and her chest swelled with a new confidence. Today was still their wedding day. She still had to get ready and she still had to walk down the aisle to dozens of people staring back at her over their shoulders. But he would be waiting at the end of the aisle for her, and it wouldn’t be so bad if she could hold his eyes the whole time.

Tessa had no problem staring into his eyes and forgetting everything around her.

I can do this.

Tessa gripped the stroller tightly and took a slow step forward; taking in the entrance area she had seen only a few hours prior. They had gone back to the hotel for dinner and a nap (for all of them) with plans to return later in the evening to see the lights.

At first, Tessa had been skeptical of the idea, worrying that it might get too cool in the evenings given the light jackets they had packed. But after some pleading from her persistent husband and a quick look at the temperature on her phone, it isn’t that bad Tess, she had agreed.

And she’d also extracted a promise from him of hot chocolate. So that helped.

“Look at the trees Mama!”

“Lights!

The stroller jerked as Liam sprung to life, eager to follow after his older sister.

Vanessa stood under the arch of trees. Over her head, the branches were wrapped with multi coloured lights that lit the pathway and cast bright streams of colour which reflected in her entranced green eyes. Twinkling white lights were curled around the fence outlining the path for them and along its base danced animal figures made of wire and wrapped in lights.

“This one looks like a lady bug,” Vanessa giggled, dropping into a crouch in front of one of the glowing creatures.

“What about the one beside it?” Tessa quizzed, curious if she could remember. Vanessa brushed off her pants and stood to her full height. She wrinkled her small button nose in concentration.

“A kangaroo!”

“Good girl,” Tessa smiled brightly and moved to the front of the stroller to help Liam down so he could see the lights too. She pulled his loose hat down over his ears and dropped a small kiss onto his forehead before lifting him from his seat and setting him down.

“Sissy show!”

Liam toddled over to the fence and knelt, reaching his baby fingers towards the lights.

“Hot! Don’t touch!” Tessa called, and Liam took a step back from the fence and pouted. Surely the lights were selected so that if they were touched, they wouldn’t burn anyone, but nonetheless she didn’t want him getting into a habit of touching lit objects.

Scott patted his head affectionately and then moved to her side, taking her hand. Tessa smiled fondly and gripped the left handle of the stroller with her free hand.

“Alright, stay on the path and listen to Mama and Daddy.”

And they began their walk through the canopy of lights.

--------------------

“Are you sure they’re okay over there?”

“Sure they are, we’ll hear a giant splash if either of them wanders too far and falls into the reflection pool.”

“Scott!” She gasped, horrified at the thought of looking up to find one of their children had tumbled, head first probably, into the shallow pool. It would end in laughter no doubt, but would also end in a soaked car seat and a warm bath that she would have to administer later.

“I’m kidding,” he squeezed her waist, fingers pressing into her hip through her light jacket, and pulled her against him, “they’re fine T, lighten up. It’s Christmas.”

“Christmas season,” she corrected him, “not actually Christmas. Christmas is meant to be light, and fun. The Christmas season on the other hand…” is pretty much hell on earth. All of the decorating, and the baking, and the organizing of the big family Christmas, a task that had been handed to her from her own Mother to share with Jordan two Christmases ago, made for a solid fourth of her year spent constantly stressing out.

“Hey,” he interrupted her thoughts gently and urged her to meet his eyes, “you remember why we took this trip right?”

She did remember.

She remembered when they were planning a trip, somewhere warm but not too far from home.

“To get some time away with the kids. To make good happy memories while they’re still young. To have some time away from the bloody snow.”

“Yes to all of the above,” he laughed, “including the snow. Though I have no doubt it’s waiting for us when we return.”

“No doubt.”

“We took the trip to de-stress a bit before both of our crazy families started needing our attention,” he joked, “so please try to relax.”

Her eyes drifted over to the blanket they had stretched out on the cement just off to the side. Vanessa was entranced by her glow wand. She skipped around in circles around Liam, waving it, and Liam clapped his hands in amusement. Her trilling voice sang out an old nursery rhyme that Kate must have taught her.

Christmas is coming.

The geese are getting fat.

Please put a penny in the old man’s hat.

Vanessa took a dramatic bow and peeked up from under her wool hat at both of them. She winked and waved once before resuming her dance, taking extra care to mind the cement barrier surrounding the reflection pool. The fountains jutted out and shot water into the air, masking the glowing lights from the other side of the pathway and cast a bright green glow over them that became red, then blue, then white, then green again.

Tessa worried her lip between her teeth, but didn’t make a move to rise and draw them closer.

“They’re happy and playing nicely,” Scott pointed out. She followed his line of vision to see that he was also watching the pair who had now switched to playing with their stuffed animals from the gift shop earlier. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, threatening to overtake his entire face. It wasn’t often that they got along for this length of time, but Tessa was thankful for the only minor bickering she had to put a stop to throughout the day. “They seem happy, we all had fun, just live sweetheart.”

“Except when you were scared half to death.”

“Yeah well, they shouldn’t have talking Moose heads on a walking trail.”

A burst of laughter filled the space between them as she remembered his terrified expression and the way he scooped Liam up and took a step to shield himself behind her. A seemingly blow up moose head had called out to them in passing, complimenting Vanessa’s coat and Scott had jumped a near foot from the ground.

“You saw it coming!”

“Yeah, except I wasn’t aware that it had a human in there.”

“Sure,” she nudged him with her shoulder and winked, “I can’t believe it scared you that bad. It’s a winter moose and we’re Canadian for goodness sakes.”

“It could be a winter rabbit and it’s still not cool.”

“That would actually be kind of creepy.”

“And a moose isn’t?!”

“Well, maybe a little bit.”

Admittedly it would look strangely like a horrifying version of the Easter bunny, and Tessa wasn’t even sure she would have been okay with that. But the moose was cute, and stayed in his or her designated frame along the side of the walking path. It’s still a freaking mascot T! He had shivered and hurried them away from the creature as fast as possible after Tessa had paused to take Vanessa and Liam’s photo.

“I much preferred walking under the lights, holding your hand and pushing an empty stroller.”

Tessa laughed. Liam had insisted that he wanted to walk, and squirmed every time she tried to pick him up and put him back in his seat. So after a short discussion, they had decided it was okay for him to walk with Vanessa, so long as both listened to Tessa and Scott when they were told something. And both children had been surprisingly good. They had walked a few paces ahead of Tessa and Scott, squealing with delight and pointing and naming each of the animals they seen along the way. Tessa had let go of his hand to take photos, but apart from that, their hands remained braided between them.

“I liked that part too,” she admitted. Tessa scooted closer to him so that their hips were touching and leaned her cheek against his shoulder. Truth be told, it had been a long day. A long day with lots of walking. Her eyes fluttered and she lifted her hand to stifle a yawn.

“Do you want to get going?”

“No,” she protested, sitting up again, “they’re just about to begin Christmas carols and I at least want to hear a couple of them.”

“Fair enough.”

As if summoned by her words, the piano began. Twinkling notes floated through the air and people turned to watch the group of three men and two women gather around the microphones.

O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree

How lovely are thy branches

Scott had begun to hum along to their melody and an impish smile began to creep onto his face. Tessa arched an eyebrow. What are you planning?

“Do you actually know the words to this song?”

“I don’t have to know more than three words to sing this one.”

Tessa slid away from him and clapped her hands over her ears just in time for his mouth to open into a wide O as he sang along with the Christmas carol. It was a running joke of theirs that his singing was dangerous to the average person and caused them minor hearing loss, but the truth is, his singing was beautiful to her. When he was trying.

And by trying, she didn’t mean belting out the same three obviously off tune lyrics and drawing the words out when the melody of the song warranted it.

“O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Treeee, Oh Christmas Tree!”

A couple who was seated not far from them bowed their heads to chuckle at his antics and her cheeks turned pink. People were starting to stare at them, at Scott. No one seemed annoyed, but that didn’t stop their amused glances towards them.

She moved her hands from her ears and tugged on his forearm.

“Scott, come on!”

“Nope, sorry T, O Chriiistmas Treeee O—“

Unable to stand the stares anymore Tessa shoved her mouth against his, abruptly cutting off his overblown singing. His arms, which were gesturing wildly in time with his voice descended like a snowflake, slowly and delicately. One of his hands rested on the back of her head, cradling her neck while the other caressed the small of her back through her jacket.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tessa noticed people looking away and she smiled against his lips.

“Casually saving the day,” she teased. Singing forgotten, Scott dipped her backwards over his arm so that her back was nearly to the cement and leaned over her. His eyes twinkled and his hair

fell out from under his hat to cover his forehead. Tessa puffed lightly and the hair danced across his skin.

“What are you on about, while I’m kissing you?” He nudged her cheek with his nose and it took almost everything in her not to pull off his hat to tangle her hands in his hair.

Not now, hotel room. When the kids are asleep. Bathroom.

“Hmm,” she pushed gently against his chest and they rose up, straightening their coats. One quick glance at the children told them that they hadn’t noticed. They were still playing with their animals.

“These people don’t know it but I’m saving innocent bystanders from the negative health effects of listening to you sing.” She continued, mock puffing her chest out.

Scott jabbed her in the stomach and she shrank in on herself with a giggle.

“Oh come on, you seem alright and Nessa and Liam too. I’m not that bad.”

“No, you aren’t that bad.”

“Want to dance?” Scott stood and offered her his hand and without even thinking, she stood to join him, easily falling into his embrace. He held their joined hands to his chest and swayed gently back and forth.

Let us all remember

In our gift giving and our merriment

With our family and friends and loved ones

The real and true meaning of Christmas

This was the kind of singing she loved. When his voice dropped to a baritone and his lips brushed against her ear, whispering each of the words to her like a prayer.

“Okay I admit it,” she mumbled in content, “you have an amazing singing voice.”

Scott laughed and buried his nose in her hair.

“Only you get to hear it. You and the kids of course.”

They were common, yet no one knew exactly where they came from.  Scientists dedicated their entire lives to researching Soulmarks, of course, but most of their findings just ended up in more hypotheses.  A few things about Soulmarks were seen as fact, however.  First, you received your Mark when your Soulmate was born.  This meant that if your Soulmate was younger than you, you would feel the Words appear on your skin.  If they were older than you, you would be born with your Words.  Second, your Words indicated the first phrase that your Soulmate said to you when you met, in order to identify themselves.  These Marks were very private, and were only really shown to close family and friends if shown at all before a Soulmatch was found.  

It is this universe that we find ourselves in when we begin the story of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.  The two together are nowadays known as the best ice dance team that the world has ever seen.  Yet if we rewind to a sunny day in the 1990s, we begin this story of young friendship, understanding, trust, and love. 

======= 

July 1997

“Mom, come onnnn.  I want to play hockey, none of this frilly dancing stuff.”

Nine year old Scott Moir was not amused by his mother’s antics.  She had been scheming with his aunts in order to get him into figure skating, where they claimed ‘his true talent lay.’  Scott was having none of it, wanting to be roughhousing with the other boys at the rink, not doing some stupid sport for his mother.  

“Scott, there’ll be none of that.  You have a talent, and my goodness you might as well put that into something worthwhile.”  Alma Moir was a loving woman, but she also got what she wanted, and what she wanted was her youngest son to fly on ice, not lose all of his teeth on it.  That could still happen as an ice dancer, she thought, but she surmised that it would be so much less likely.  Alma dealt with Scott’s complaints with a straight face all the way to the local rink in Ilderton, where she then promptly dragged him out of the car to see his aunts, no questions asked.

“Mom I said I don’t wanna!”

“Nonsense, this will be good for you.  At least teach you some discipline, God knows you need it,” Alma shot back at her unruly son.

“Ughhhh fine.  None of the girls will want to skate with me anyways.  It’s not like anyone wants to start a partnership anymore, they’re all afraid it will ruin things with their soulmates!”  Scott thought this was a foolproof argument.

“Scott Moir, you are nine years old.  I highly doubt you will meet your soulmate on this rink, and if you do, then goodness you have nothing to worry about.  It’s not like you have to marry your ice dance partner, dear me!  If that’s what you’re worried about, take it one step at a time.  Now, good luck.  I’ll be back to pick you up in about two hours.”

“Okay mom.  Thanks, I guess,” Scott grumbled begrudgingly to his smiling mother.

“You’ll love it!  You’ll just see!”

Scott had no idea just then how right his mom would end up being.

=======

After about an hour of training with his aunts, Scott was about ready to give up.  Not only had he been paired with at least a dozen girls (this was an exaggeration), but he had also fallen several times, got into fights with half of the girls, and tried to stop his Soulmark from being shown by the other half.  Scott’s Mark was on his shoulder; incidentally the shoulder he kept falling on, which caused him to rub at and think about his Soulmate more often than he’d have liked today.  You’re super fast, you know that?  Scott had always wondered about his Words, given that he really wasn’t a particularly fast runner or swimmer or...really anything.  What in the world would he be doing to give this girl the impression that he was fast?  He hoped it wasn’t an insult.  Knowing his luck, it would probably be an insult.  Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut around every single girl he came across and then no one would be his soulmate.  Yeah, he thought, that sounds like the best plan ever.

=======

Seven year old Tessa Virtue was incredibly excited to finally be paired up with a skating partner at the rink in Ilderton.  The women at the rink had told her mom to send her back if she wanted to learn more about skating, and since she was such a natural dancer, they said, why not have her  try ice dancing?  It was a graceful and noble sport, and something that she could do for the rest of her life if she wanted to pursue that dream.  Tessa thought this was the most exciting thing to happen to her this year at least, and so she begged her mom to send her back after the class field trip had gone so well.  Kate Virtue agreed, but on one condition.  She had to talk to every skating partner she was paired up with.  Tessa thought this was an odd request, until she realized her mom thought that she would meet her Soulmate on the rink.  Ugh, why was her mom so obsessed with her finding her Soulmate?  She was too young to be thinking about boys, didn’t her mom know that?  No, Tessa wanted to be thinking about dancing her life away in happiness instead.  She looked at her mark across her wrist: Oh, um hello! Hi, hi, are you an ice dancer too? It seemed like her Soulmate was a pretty flustered person, but at least he was also a dancer.  I guess that her mom had a clue as to what she and her Soulmate would be, so she jumped at the opportunity to put Tessa in a position to meet him.  Whatever, Tessa thought, at least she would learn how to ice dance in the process.  She just hoped that she wasn’t disappointed when her partner didn’t end up being her Soulmate.  

=======

Scott was doing his final lap around the ice for this practice when his Aunt Carol called him over.

“Scott? We have another potential partner that we’d like you to meet!  Come get to know her!”

Scott rolled his eyes.  When would this be over?  He skated over as quick as he could, stopping himself just in time to shower his aunt and the new girl with ice shards.  His aunt glared at his mess, while the girl looked at him in wide-eyed wonder.

She was definitely younger than him, but maybe by only a couple of years.  She had chestnut-brown wavy hair, dark brown eyes, and a smile that was too big for her face, which Scott thought adorable scrunched up her nose.  Ugh, he thought, that’s icky talk, Scott, stop it.  He sighed and turned to face the girl to introduce himself like his aunt wanted, but she got there first.

“You’re super fast, you know that?”

Scott’s heart stopped, his jaw dropped, and he couldn’t do anything but stare.  She was his Soulmate!  How on earth did he meet her this early in his life?  He was too young to get married!  Was his life over now?  Planned from the moment this moment was to happen? He had no idea, and soon realized that she was expecting a response.  

“Oh, um hello! Hi, hi, are you an ice dancer too?”  

Now it was Tessa’s turn to gasp.  He was her Soulmate!  She thought she might meet him here today, but she didn’t realize it would be with the first boy Carol paired her up with.  Now that both of them knew that they were each other’s Soulmates, Tessa just dove right in.  

“Hi, I’m Tessa.  I’m seven.  I think we should probably hold off getting married until we’re older, dontcha think?”

Scott laughed at that.  “Probably, Tessa.  My name’s Scott.  I’m nine, and I don’t really want to get married right now, so thanks.  It is nice to meet you though.”

“Saves us trouble later!”  Tessa shrieked with glee.  

“Too true.  Hey, Aunt Carol, are we gonna be partners too?”

“Yes, Scotty, if you’re compatible.  But I don’t really think we’ll have a problem with that.”

=======

February 2010

It turns out, in fact, that Tessa and Scott did not have a problem discovering whether they were professionally compatible in ice dance, and soon grew to be some of the highest performing skaters that Canada had seen in a long time.  Tessa was twenty now, and Scott was twenty-two, yet they still felt so incredibly young.  None of them had dated anyone else, yet they didn’t really consider themselves to be dating either.  Their partnership was their relationship, and that was more than enough for them.  Of course they had stolen kisses and embraces, but their love was rooted in fierce friendship, something that every Soulmate pair strived for.  Now they had qualified for the Olympics for the very first time and won, no less.

“I love you, you know that?”  Scott asked her.

“I know, Scotty. I love you too.”  

=======

February 2014

Four years later, their partnership and Soulmate bond was tested during the Olympics once again.  After a long fought battle of a competition, Tessa and Scott placed second, earning them an Olympic Silver instead of Gold.  They were devastated, and in the months to come, this wore on their relationship.  When they decided not to compete the following year, Tessa cried and Scott teared up with her.  This may be the darkest and saddest part of our story, yet the bond between the two Soulmates was there, even without the skating.  They just had to look at their Words and at each other to figure that out.

“You know I still love you without the skating, right, Scotty?”

“I know Tess.  I know.  I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.”

And sorry he was.  Sorry that he couldn’t make his best friend happy for a long, long time.  

=======

February 2018

After a year of long and hard thinking, Tessa and Scott decided to come back in the best way possible: together supporting each other as friends and confidantes.  Their relationship hadn’t changed much since that dark time after Sochi, but then again it didn’t need to.  They had been friends and the loves of each other’s lives during the whole ordeal.  It was always amazingly hilarious to Scott to see the media and fans try and predict their relationship, as both believed that they were unmarked and therefore allowed to explore any possible relationship.  Soulmates are a very private thing, so of course no one knew the exact truth but their families, who laughed right along with Tessa and Scott every time someone would allege that either member of the ice dance team was dating someone else (or each other).  

“Do you think they’ll ever get it right, Tess?”

“God I hope not Scotty.  I love you, but Soulmates are private business.  No one has any right to that information except for when we get married!”

“Do you want to do that?  Get married, Tess?”

“Are you asking?  Because it’s not a very romantic proposal, I’ll have you know.”

“Since when are we romantic?”

“Scott Moir!  We may not be sappy romantic, but you’ve always been my best friend.  You’ve always been the love of my life.  We’re Soulmates!  The universe decided we really would be partners in all things!”

“You know that’s not a given though.  My parents aren’t Soulmates, and they’re the happiest people in the world.  Soulmates aren’t a guarantee.  I still want to marry you though.  Will you?  Tessa, please?”  Scott waited in anxiety from across the bed to see if she would say yes to him.

“Of course, Scotty.  Soulmates may not be a given, but we’d be pretty stupid to ignore every sign that the universe has literally shoved in our faces about this.  I love you, and I want to fall asleep by you and wake up by you for the rest of my life.”  Tessa beamed, knowing that she’d sealed something good for them.

“Oh good.  We should go to sleep now.  We do have a gala to perform tomorrow, Miss Virtue.  Or should I say, ‘Miss Two Time Olympic Gold Medallist?’”  Scott grinned.

Tessa whacked him on the arm.  “Leave it to you to bring it back to the sport always.  We were having a moment!”

Scott laughed.  “I know, I know!  But it was a good moment to leave for after we had won, you gotta admit Tess!”  

“I love you, Scott, you know.”

“I do know Tessa.  I love you too.  Always have, always will.”

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December 2022

And so it went.  After the 2018 Olympics Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became Mr. and Mrs. Scott and Tessa Moir.  A year later, in April of 2019, Althea Moir was born.  Two years later, in August of 2021, Ethan Moir was born.  It turns out Soulmates do have something in common after all, and that is their ability to share a life of friendship, happiness, and love.  

“Would you quit being so sappy! The kids don’t understand a word you’re saying anyway!”

“Tessa, you’re sucking all of the fun out of this story!”  

“You’ve been attempting to tell the story in the third person the entire time Scott!”

Some things never do change I guess, and one of those is your lovely wife knowing much more than you do...except for about Soulmates.  That, my dear reader, I do know quite a bit about.  

Even though Scott had requested a single room with a double bed in PyeongChang, the best Skate Canada could do was throw him a bone and let him room, suite-style, with Patrick.

Tessa, on the other hand, had taken one look at the quadrouple room with four single beds and politely told her roommates that she was rooming elsewhere. She had excused herself from the room and went to find Scott, bags in tow.

Throwing on clothes that had previously littered his floor, it was almost 4:30am when Patrick, skate-bag in hand, was making his way out of his bedroom bleary-eyed.

Momentarily pausing to check the bus schedule on his phone, he was startled by the adjoining bedroom’s door slamming open against the wall. Tessa flew past him, hurdling herself into the suite’s bathroom before the sounds of her getting sick met his ears. Scott emerged seconds later, hair a mess, eyes frantic, in search of her.

Now was certainly not the time to catch the flu, or be sick, so, dropping his skate bag to the ground, he pivoted. Patrick shuffled through a bag that hadn’t made it into his bedroom, finding a home on the floor in the corner of the shared lounge, searching for some over-the-counter-medicine. With hopes of quickly to knocking whatever Tessa had caught, or at least settle her stomach and curb the contagion, he grabbed the bottle and waited patiently, noting the time on his phone once again.

Re-emerging from the bathroom, Scott muttered a small “sorry” to Patrick, and took the bottle of medicine, something akin to Day-Quil. A quick good luck for his first practice on the ice and a handshake later, Patrick made his way towards the suite’s door, heading out for his last practice before the men’s short. He caught Tessa re-emerging, less green than before, but still pale and slightly sticky.

“How’s that morning sickness treating you, Tess?” He laughed waving good bye and pulling the suite’s door shut. Unbeknownst to him, what was meant to be a jest and a tease, stopped Tessa dead in her tracks.

It wasn’t like they were actively trying, per se, but they also weren’t being very careful either. They had talked about the possibility of children a lot and knew that they had them in their future. They hadn’t turned to each other one random day, in arguably the middle of the most important season of their career, and said “Hey, let’s do something crazy, let’s get pregnant now.” No, it certainly wasn’t like that.

December 2017. Nagoya, Japan.

After an hours-long flight and a roller-coaster of a week looming, Scott Moir finally has his feet on solid ground. He’s exhausted; physically, emotionally, you name it. And, to top it all off, he’s been alone on this journey so far, stuck in a seat for hours with only his thoughts to keep him occupied.

They didn’t plan it this way, obviously, but the plane was changed at the last minute, seats separated and the last thing anyone wanted to do was play games with the airline. So instead of his perfect-plan, he found himself sitting alone, his partner in crime a few rows ahead of him. They had always had trouble sleeping on flights, but sitting together normally allowed at least one of them a shoulder to rest their head on. She had been missed.

They’re flying in a pack, with their coaches and competitors, but he manages to grab her quietly and slip away to a secluded spot near the connecting flight’s gate. He holds her tired form to his chest and she snuggles closer, head buried into his neck, arms resting easy around his torso. Slowly, he rubs soft circles into her lower back. It’s friendly and comforting with an edge of something more. He’s buzzing, attempting to push his nervous energy away, and just wants her near.

--

November 2016. Sapporo, Japan.

It was a little past 2:00am, when Tessa Virtue found herself propped up on her side, adrift in a sea of white hotel sheets, silently keeping watch over her late-night visitor. Carding her fingers through his deep brown hair, she focused her tired eyes on the man-child sound asleep next to her.

Although they were not in the custom of sharing a bed at home on a normal basis yet, her hotel room had become a makeshift hiding spot for him over the last couple of days. This had almost become a ritual, returning late to her hotel room after taking the ice in practice or in competition, jumping in the shower, only to emerge to find a one, Scott Moir already tucked under her covers, haphazardly sprawled across her bed, hugging her pillow close. Tonight was no different.

They were thousands of miles away from home and if she could provide the comfort he needed, she was more than willing to offer him anything he would accept. And, at the present moment, he needed dreamland much more than she did, sleep would find her on the plane ride home in the morning.

Yawning, and finally submitting to the warmth she caved, she slipped down next to him, pulling at his arms until they found her waist, her body pressed flush against his chest. She placed a soft kiss to his forehead, amused, as his soft snores momentarily stopped so that he could mumble something inaudible, tugging her even closer within his cocoon of temporary solitude.

I want this. I want us. I want you.

--

December 2017. Nagoya, Japan.

He wakes to the feeling of fingers threading through his hair, reminiscent of hotel rooms long-past. Lifting his head from where it’s been nestled in her neck. A sleep-ridden question on his tongue, eyes hazy, hair in disarray. “Tess?”

It’s quiet now; still.

She takes a soft breath and whispers, “go back to sleep.” Lips against his forehead.

His turn, he shifts slightly presses his face to her neck and kisses the creamy skin there. “Do you know? He says, fingers ghosting across her flattened belly. “…that you’re everything.”

Her fingertips hesitate for a split second before continuing their ministrations in his hair. His head rises and falls with her sigh. She pauses momentarily, bathing the hotel room in the sound of their breathing, two steady heartbeats synced.

She doesn’t say anything and he thinks maybe she’s fallen asleep. When she replies, her voice shudders. “I know.”

He presses his lips to her stomach again. A teardrop, a heartbeat; pools it’s way onto her cheek.