Chapter 137: A Visit Home

Warren and Sophie returned to Oceanview for pretty much all of the month of August. Jessie came for part of the time, but was back in Wisconsin earlier than the other two. They worried about her being alone, but she didn't mind. "Believe me, I can't wait for you two to come back, but the peace and quiet is actually nice. Since I've never lived alone, it's a nice change, at least temporarily."

The reason Warren and Sophie came home-besides visiting-was choreography. It was easier for them to secure all the ice time they needed in Oceanview than it was in Madison. Plus, their clients were used to coming to Boston, and they were all invited to stay with Warren's parents. "I love it, actually," Peg told Warren. "That's why we don't mind doing it. It's fun, I get to meet all these skaters. And they're so nice, the ones you work with. I don't think I have to tell you how fond I am of Liz Cushman. And that I love Tom to pieces goes without saying."

"Yeah, you love my skating clients staying here, but I'll bet Kristin loves it even more after last year," Warren joked.

"No doubt," Peg laughed. "I know you've seen some of it, but you haven't been around full time. Warren, he has been so good for her."

"Yeah, I know. Tom's a great guy, just what Kristin needed."

"I'm beginning to think that they are you and Sophie all over again."

"I'd figured that out, yes. So how's Ryan?"

"Ryan is just fine," Warren heard from behind him. Ryan was walking in the door. "How's it going, big brother?" They hugged.

"Not too bad, little brother." Warren smirked at Peg. "Listen to me. Little brother. He's four inches taller than I am!"

"That's why I'm the basketball player and you're the ice dancer," Ryan teased. "Where's my sister in law and my niece?"

"Over Sophie's. She sent me along ahead so I could catch up. We'll all be here for supper tonight. How's Georgia Tech?"

"Great," Ryan said.

"Saw you play a little on TV."

"Well, that's all I played this past year is a little," Ryan grinned. "Next year will be different, though-our point guard last year was a senior, so the starting job's up for grabs, and I mean to grab it."

"Great! How's the school part?"

"Hard, but fun. I've decided on electrical engineering as a major."

"That's excellent. And how's Laurel?"

"Great!" Ryan said with real enthusiasm. "Things are going wonderfully. I worried, you know-our relationship really wasn't much until we got to school, because of the distance between us here. We knew we liked one another, but going to school and having each other close by was kind of a test, you know?" Warren nodded. "It's wonderful. Actually, it's perfect. We compliment each other very well. I was never a slacker, but I'm better at studying now. She was never an asocial nerd, but she loosens up better now. She's even turned into a fanatical basketball fan."

"That's hilarious."

"You should see if she can drive out here for dinner," Peg asked. "We'll make it a big bash."

"Let me call her," Ryan said.

The dining room table at the Kellehers' was mighty crowded that evening. Peg and Jim, of course, were there, as were Warren, Sophie, and Betsy. Laurel was able to drive over and join them, as was Tom.

"Betsy's not bad at feeding herself," Kristin commented. "A little messy, but not bad."

"Love tatoes!" Betsy proclaimed.

"She does love potatoes," Sophie grinned. "She's doing a number on the ham, too."

"So," Tom asked, "have you guys thought of any music for me yet?"

"Yeah," Warren grinned, "I've narrowed it down to Malaguena or Carmen." In other words, the two most overused pieces of music in skating history.

"Oh, thanks," Tom grinned. "I thought you were creative."

"I'm fascinated," Laurel asked. "How do you pick music?"

"Mostly intuition, especially for us," Warren said. "For other skaters, it's a combination of intuition, plus knowing someone else's skating."

"He's absolutely brilliant at music," Tom told her. "They're both fantastic choreographers, but I think that has something to do with just knowing what music to use. The music choices have stretched me-and I mean that in a good way. The music's made me a better skater."

"When he goes to med school-and, especially after, when he's a resident-I'm going to have to do most of the day-to-day nitty-gritty choreography," Sophia said, "but I told him he still has to find time to pick the music."

"And I will," Warren said. "But, as I was saying, you have to know the skaters some. Here's three examples. Tom, here, is good and getting better. We can stretch with him, but there are some limits. On one extreme from that, we can throw anything at Liz Cushman and she can handle it. On the other extreme-we're going to have to be very careful with Allison Bowman. She's never had a real program before-her coach has been doing her choreography, and he sucks."

"Sounds like me before you got your hands on me," Tom laughed.

"No, it was never that bad for you. Terri's not nearly as hopeless as Ron Aztov. She's a good coach, he is not. Plus, she had no problem with you working with us and integrated our choreography into your training. Ron's going to give Allison loads of shit about this," Warren predicted.

"No doubt," Tom agreed.

After dinner, the "kids" were all hanging around, just chatting. At one point, Ryan was in the bathroom and Tom and Kristin had taken Betsy for a walk, leaving Laurel alone with Warren and Sophie.

"You guys have been going out since you were very young, right?" Laurel asked them.

"Yeah, we were 14," Sophie told her.

"And Ryan was how old then?"

"Eleven," Warren said.

"So, he spent his whole adolescence with you two together," Laurel said. "OK, now I understand."

"Understand what?" Warren asked.