Love is Etched in the Ice

Beep, beep, beep.
I groaned and rolled over. “Stupid alarm,” I hit the snooze button and laid my head back down on Apolo’s chest.
Four minutes later the beep, beep, beep started up again.
I sat up in bed, and looked out the window. Pitch black. I shook Apolo until he opened his eyes.
“Why did you set the alarm for three a.m.? Shaun goes at two p.m. I’m going back to sleep.” I turned off the alarm and lay back down, maneuvering a pillow to go under my stomach for support. I moved up a little so my head was under Apolo’s chin.
He was already asleep. That figures. He could sleep through anything. Without NyQuil.
I fell back to sleep, listening to Apolo’s steady breathing, his chest moving up and down slowly.
I woke up again, five hours later to banging at the door.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and slowly walked to the door, still sunken with grogginess.
I opened the door to see Shaun, dressed in snow clothes and his hair puffier than normal.
Waiting for him to answer, I blinked tiredly. He didn’t say anything so I managed to say, “Can I help you?”
“Is Apolo up?”
“Does it look like it?” I turned around, leaving the door open and slugged back to bed, and laying down, back into the position I was before.
Shaun stood in the doorway, puzzled. “He was supposed to meet me at the café thirty minutes ago.”
“Apolo.” I hit him in the torso with my fist.
He didn’t move.
“Apolo.” I hit him again, a little harder this time.
He flinched.
I sat up and looked at him. “Fine. We’ll do this the other way.” I leaned down and kissed him.
His hand traced up my back and laid it on my neck. He smiled into the kiss and pulled away.
I sat up again and looked towards the door. Shaun was examining his fingernails.
“Shaun’s here,” I looked back at Apolo. He threw his head back and groaned.
“Shaun, I am so sorry, man. I completely forgot.” He got up and started pulling on some jeans.
He pulled out his phone and looked at it. “Actually, I just got a text from Saf. She needs me at the dorm. Would tomorrow be okay?”
Apolo looked up, “Uh, yeah. That’s fine. Sorry, again.” Apollo pulled his jeans off and closed the door as Shaun walked off.
My phone buzzed on the night stand.
‘Ur song is on.’
I turned the radio on quickly to hear ‘Can Keep Loving You by Elliott Yamin’.
“How do I get close, when she looks like an angel? A moment of her times just seems impossible to me,” he quietly sang, walking over to me. He held out his hand as the song continued to play.
I took his hand, getting off the bed and twirling over to him. He caught me, placing his palms on my hips. I put my arms around his neck and we started dancing. Like at our wedding.
He continued singing softly until the song ended.
He lifted me up and kissed me.
“Apolo?” I pulled away and looked at him.
“Hm?” he looked back at me, without blinking.
“I got some news from the Doctor’s Office yesterday.” I waited.
“What kind of news?” he sounded concerned.
“Don’t worry, it’s not bad.” He didn’t say anything. “They’re twins.”
His eyes got wide. “Twins?” He sounded both happy and surprised. “But, you’re not even that big.”
“Not yet. I’m going to get a lot bigger.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? When you first found out?”
I pulled away from his hold and got out some clothes. “I got it like, twenty minutes before you raced. I didn’t want to pull your attention away from warming up and stuff,” I bit my lip, hoping he wouldn’t be angry.
“Oh. Well, thanks. I would have been distracted.” He strolled over to me and hugged me from behind. His hands traced the outline of my bump, his quiet breath on my neck made me shiver. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.” I put my head back on his shoulder and turned so I was looking at the inside of his neck. I lifted my chin and kissed his Adam’s apple. I turned around and put my hands on his chest. He pulled me close to his body and kissed my forehead.
“So, I’m okay, but are you?” I closed my eyes against him and breathed in his scent.
He exhaled. “Yeah. I’m just fine. Tired, I couldn’t sleep well last night, but I’m alright.”
“Why couldn’t you sleep?”
He shrugged. We stood there for a few minutes then he bent down and picked me up, putting my legs around his torso so they hooked at the back. He put his hands on my thighs to support me and walked over to the bed. He laid me down and rolled over to me to be sitting up.
We looked at each other silently.
Wind whooshed around outside, the effect of a snow storm. Damned Canada, it was always raining, snowing, or too dark to see.
My stomach rumbled. I crunched my face up and looked at the ceiling. “I think I’m hungry.”
Apolo chuckled and got off the bed, grabbing some jeans and pulling them on.
“You’re gonna be cold. It’s snowing outside,” I got off the bed and pulled on some snow pants, not the most fashionable, but they were comfy and warm; exactly what I needed. I stripped my shirt off and readjusted my sports bra. I dug through the pile of clothes, pulling out a cotton tank and an over sized blue flannel checkered shirt. I looked in the mirror and slipped my boots on. Not the best outfit but who cared about fashion? Not me. Especially today.
Not that today wasn’t special; the medal ceremony would take place and I had an ultra sound scheduled for five. Only the second one Apolo would be able to come to due to practice runs and more training. He had had a lot of interviews, too.
“Ready?” I turned around to see him dressed in jeans, Nikes, a black shirt, and his huge jacket. He smiled and handed me my jacket. “Thank you.” I shrugged into it and took his hand, lacing our fingers. He wrapped that arm around my shoulders so my arm was across my chest.
He locked the door and we set off down the hall, stairs, and to the little café just a little ways from the dorms.
We got inside and shook off the snow at the door.
“It’s cold out there.” Apolo shivered.
“I told you so,” I sat down at a table, sticking my tongue out at him.
He rolled his eyes and set his jacket on the chair across from me. Smiling, he asked, “What do you want?”
I gazed at the counter of food, and thought. “A muffin and some orange juice… aaaaaaannndddd….” there were so many choices, “A banana.” I smiled at him.
He raised his eyebrow, “A banana? You don’t even like bananas.”
“So? I want a banana.” I paused. “Please?”
“Alright. Be right back.”

~Apolo’s POV~
I grabbed a chocolate chip muffin, a carton of orange juice, a banana (Gosh, why was I even getting this? She would never eat it) and a box of corn flakes for myself.
As I walked back to the table, Lindsay Vonn stopped me, “Congrats on the medal last night. Great run.”
“Thanks. Good luck later today. How’s your shin doing?” The orange juice was freezing.
“It’s alright, still pretty bruised, but I’ll be able to compete. Let’s just pray nothing else get’s injured.” She smiled.
“Yeah, well, I should go. Pregnant women can be kind of impatient,” I glanced at Ave, whom was waving her hand in the air.
“Alright, well, see you later then.” She turned back to her husband and continued eating.
I finally got to the table and set the orange juice (I was sure I was getting frost bite from that thing) and other breakfast items down.
“Thank you,” she picked up the banana and started peeling it. She broke off the end and, to my surprise, took a bite. I watched as she finished it and started on her muffin.
I smiled and opened the box of corn flakes, dumping some in my hand and eating them.
Ave paused mid-bite and looked straight ahead.
“Ave, you alright?” I scooted my chair closer to her and put my hand on her knee.
She absentmindedly put her fingers gingerly around my wrist and lifted my fingers to her stomach. I stopped breathing, concentrating intently on what she wanted me to—
I met her eyes, wide and shining.
She released her grip and threw her arms around me, “I can’t believe they kicked.”
Sitting back, I cupped her face in my hands and wiped away a single tear.
At that point, all my fears were wiped away; everything was going to be okay.
I hoped.