Chapter 113: A New Season

Sophia and Warren, plus Ellen and Betsy, got onto a plane to head to Cup of Russia.

"Lessee," Warren said after they had arrived, "Boston to New York. New York to Paris. Paris to Moscow. And with a three month old. We must be nuts."

"We already knew that, dear," Sophia teased him.

"I'm just glad your Mom is here," Warren smiled at Sophia and Ellen.

"Hey, I always wanted to be a world traveler. Russia and Japan in two weeks, I love it," Ellen said.

"Yeah, but did you always want to be a Nanny?" Warren teased.

"For my first-born granddaughter? You betcha!"

One of their biggest problems was trying to schedule Betsy's feeding time around practices. Sophia could pump, and have Ellen feed Betsy, but, as Sophia said, "That doesn't do anything for me feeling full, and feeling full in the boobs is not conducive to good ice dancing."

Their second practice there, they had a problem. They had managed to finish the run-through of their long program, but were still on the ice, working on some moves, when they heard the screaming.

"Is that ours?" Sophia asked Warren down on the ice.

"I do think so," Warren said. Sophia got off the ice, yanked off her skates, and ran into the stands. Ellen and a clearly hungry Betsy met them.

"I'll take her. Snugglebear, got my skates?" Sophia asked Warren, who had come up behind her. He lifted up the skates. "Good, I'm going to take her into the locker room and see if I can find a quiet corner."

She went down to the locker room, and settled on a bench out of the way. Unbuttoning the front of her practice dress, she opened her breastfeeding bra and Betsy latched on.

She sat, for a few minutes, but someone must have heard Betsy's suckling, because a small blonde, about sixteen, peered around the corner.

"OH! Sorry, I did not know..."

"That's all right," Sophia laughed. "We're all girls here. I figured somebody would spot me."

The young blonde looked at her. "You Sophia Daniels, yes?"

Sophia smiled at the halting English and clear accent. "Yes, I am."

"I am Yelena. Yelena Kuznetsova."

"Ah, yes, the new Russian team. You guys won Junior Worlds last year, right?"

"Da. We love you, your skating. We big fans."

"Thank you. That's always nice to hear." Betsy had stopped suckling. "Ah, I think somebody's done." Sophia pulled her away and refastened her bra and buttoned her dress. She chuckled to herself at seeing Yelena turn away.

"Done. You need a burp, sweetie," Sophia said, holding Betsy's stomach with her hand and gently patting her back.

Yelena had turned back. "That... that your baby?"

"Yeah. Betsy." Betsy let out a large burp. "That's a girl. Let's change you while we're at it."

Yelena looked at the baby. "She very beautiful. Betsy?"

"Betsy. It's short for Elizabeth. Elizabeth Olga Kelleher."

"Olga?" Yelena asked. "Baby has Russian name?"

"Yeah, a Russian middle name. She's named after Olga Bradochkina. Her first name is after Liz Cushman, the singles skater."

Yelena's eyes boggled. "You name baby after Bradochkina?"

"Olga's a dear friend of ours."

"You like Bradochkina?" Sophia nodded. "Wow. I never meet, but I hear she is... I don't know English... I hear she is suka."

"Suka? Yeah, I know what that means. In English, it's bitch. Warren speaks Russian," Sophia giggled. "No, actually, Olga is not a suka. That's all an image. She's really very sweet. I'll show you something." She rummaged in Betsy's bag. "When Olga found out I was pregnant, she sent us a whole bunch of stuff." She pulled out the rattle with St Basil's Cathedral on it-Betsy's favorite. "Y'see, I've got a Russian rattle, and"... she kept rummaging..." this!" She pulled out the baby-sized fur hat.

"Wow a baby Russian hat!" Yelena exclaimed. She sat next to Sophia as Sophia placed the hat on Betsy's head. "Olga send this? It's so cute!"

"It's still a little big for her," Sophia chuckled, "but by next winter, it will fit perfectly." Betsy was swatting at the hat which was covering her eyes. "Keeps her warm in this cold Moscow weather, though."

Yelena laughed. The two chatted for a while, then Sophia went to join Warren.

"I just met Yelena Kuznetsova," Sophia told him. "She's a nice kid."

The competition at Cup of Russia was decent for Sophia and Warren. They finished second, behind the defending World Champs Yatserova and Vaglach, which was fine with them. They weren't completely at full speed yet. Kuznetsova and Vasilyevskiy beat out Evan and Shawna for third.

"They're good, but beating Evan and Shawna was a gift," Warren commented.

"Of course. They're Russian," Sophia agreed cynically.

They flew right from Moscow to Sapporo, Japan, for the NHK trophy. Having done their programs in front of an audience had helped, and they were better at NHK, winning the event. A big surprise at that event was the Italians defeating the French for second place.

Sophia and Warren pocketed their prize money, and prepared for the Grand Prix Finals, which their results in Russia and Japan had qualified them for. It would be held two weeks after the NHK, in Salt Lake City.