Citius, Altius, Fortius

August 9, 2013
Pittsburgh, PA

“Happy one year anniversary Aunt Tori!” My four year old twin nephews George and Robbie yell, bouncing up onto my bed and jumping on me.
“Thank you two.” I chuckle, rolling over to check the time.

It’s officially 7:27 am on this beautiful Friday morning, and I’ve got training in an hour and a half.

“Gimme a kiss and then go tell your mom I’m awake. I’ll be out in a minute.” I tell my nephews.
“Okay!”
“We gotta go wake up Aubrey too.”

They both lean in to kiss either side of my cheeks and I snort, knowing how well waking up Aubrey is going to go over. I’m pretty good at waking up in the mornings, but Aubrey definitely isn’t. I usually can’t sleep past eight, regardless of what’s going on. But she could sleep until two in the afternoon if there’s no reason for her not to get up. She’s the reason we have 9 am practices instead of 6:30 am like I’ve always wanted.

I pull on my most worn-out OSU Buckeyes t-shirt and a pair of black spandex shorts, throwing my hair up into a bun on the top of my head. I slip on my flip flops and head out of my room. As soon as I open my bedroom door, I smell the amazing aroma of breakfast already being cooked.

While Aubrey and I technically only share our Pittsburgh apartment with our cousin Amy, we have such an extensive amount of family that we’re rarely the only three living here.

I am the fourth oldest of six kids. I have two older brothers, Tom and Dan, who are twins. Tom has two kids and Dan has three (including a set of twins!). I also have an older sister, Josie, who has one daughter. And finally I have two younger brothers, Steven and Russ. But the big family doesn’t stop there. My dad has two sisters, Rita and Betsy, who have four and five kids respectively. My mom has one sister, Amelia, who has four kids including Aubrey. And she has two brothers, Adam, and Aron, who have four and two kids respectively.

In total, I’ve got four brothers, one sister, three nieces, three nephews, three aunts, two uncles, and nineteen cousins.

And that’s just my immediate family.

I think it’s safe to say that despite the large amount of people in our family, we’re actually very close with each other. We all support one another when needed, and trust that we’ve got each other’s backs at all times. Aubrey and I know that when we’re competing, we’ve got an entire team in the stands who will love and support us no matter how we do.

“Good morning.” My sister-in-law, Sylvia, says cheerfully when I swipe a piece of bacon from the plate.
“Morning, Syl. Where’s Dan?” I ask.
“He’s talking to Tom on the phone.” She responds, pointing to the balcony overlooking one of Pittsburgh’s many rivers.
“Of course he is.” I chuckle, kissing my two year old niece Lisa’s forehead.

Dan and Tom are the stereotypical twins. I don’t think they could go one day without talking to each other. In fact, I’m still surprised they haven’t moved both of their families into one big mansion together.

I load up a plate with a waffle and some more bacon before grabbing a glass of Sunny D and sitting down at the kitchen counter.

“This waffle is amazing.” I moan, biting into it.
“Good.” Sylvia smiles.
“Thanks for breakfast.”
“It’s no problem, sweetie.” She says. “It’s the least I can do since you guys let us stay here last night.”
“Like I was going to let you struggle to find somewhere else to stay!” I exclaim. “It’s bullshit that the hotel got your reservation wrong. But that doesn’t mean you should have had no where else to sleep. We always have the extra room and the pull out couch for whoever needs it.”
“Well still. I thank you.”

I smile and turn my attention back to the food in front of me, devouring the entire thing just as Aubrey comes strolling out of her room, followed by the four year old monsters.

“So David got his partner for the Team USA thing.” She says, grabbing a waffle for herself.
“Who is it?” I ask.
“Some snowboarder. I don’t remember her name. But the point is- he knows who it is.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
“Okay.” I respond.
“Wait, so what exactly is this thing you’re doing?” Dan asks, finally joining the rest of the group.

I sigh before launching into the familiar description of my latest endeavor.

“Essentially, Team USA has decided that they want to really hype up the 2014 Sochi winter olympics coming up in February. So they’ve asked a whole bunch of 2012 olympians to pair up with 2014 olympians to make a documentary television show called ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius.’ Which is the Olympic motto in Latin. ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger.’ The partners will have to spend two weeks together, learning each other’s sports and living each other’s lifestyles. Basically they want to show how Team USA Olympians are training and whatever.”

“I think that sounds fantastic.” Dan says.
“Do you know who your partner is yet?” Sylvia asks.
“Nope. But I’m assuming if David knows I’ll probably be getting an email soon. If I haven’t already.”

Aubrey drops her fork and it clatters against her plate.

“You haven’t actually looked yet?” She asks.
“No.” I respond.
“Oh my god, Victoria! Why not?”
“Because I just woke up!”

She gets up and practically runs down the hallway. I hear my own bedroom door slam shut a couple minutes later and inwardly groan. As soon as she’s back in the kitchen, she thrusts my cell phone into my hand.

“Check!” She demands.

I open my email and sift through the dozens that I’ve received over night until one jumps out at me. It’s from Kevin Romano, the head of the group within the Olympic Committee that’s organizing this whole show thing.

“Ms. McKinley,” I read out loud. “Thank you so much for agreeing to join our quest to unite the greatest athletes in America.” I roll my eyes. “Your partner for this journey will be Patrick Kane, of the Untied States men’s ice hockey team.” Aubrey gasps, but I continue to read. “Your first meeting will be on August twenty fourth, when your week with him will begin. Included in that week will be the United States men’s national team camp in Arlington, Virginia. You will be attending the camp alongside Mr. Kane and the rest of the Team USA hopefuls. At the termination of your week with him, he will then return with you to Pittsburgh and will spend a week training with you. His training will include your guest appearance on Splash! Another email will be sent closer to your meet-up date with more details.”

I drop my phone to the counter and look up at my family.

“Patrick Kane, huh?” Dan says, skeptically.
“Apparently.” I respond.
“He’s a bit of a playboy.”
I groan, knowing exactly where this is going.
“This is going to be a strictly professional relationship, Danny.”
“But it’s Patrick Kane!” Aubrey shouts, suddenly finding her voice.

I can’t help but chuckle at my cousin’s expression. Being from Pittsburgh, my family is a bunch of huge Penguins fans. We live and breathe the black and gold. But Aubrey has always had a sweet spot for the Chicago sniper.

“Yeah, Bree. It’s Patrick Kane.”