Work Text:
1993
“Why do you insist at being unbearable?” Kate rolled her eyes at Doug, who was standing right beside her, arms crossed and his face crunched up in a scowl. “You’d think I was making you go on the Bataan Death March with the fit you’re throwing. It’s ballroom dancing lessons. Easy. We’re athletes. We dance together all the time. On ice. An actual wooden floor is a lot more forgiving.”
“Yeah, well, I like the way the ice smells!”
“Not that again!” Kate sighed, feeling awkward waiting outside the lobby of the dance studio. They were late, not a good sign. They’d taken ballet as part of their training, and their skating had the flow of dance to it. Kate had booked this private lesson of Ballroom dancing lessons as a gift for Valentine’s Day. The lessons were meant to get them ready for their wedding reception, but instead of being cheerfully accepted, the gift had caused the longest fight they’d had since they fell in love. And in public. It was embarrassing.
“It’s true…but Kate, what we do on the ice is not dancing. It’s a sport. We train hard to do it. I don’t understand why we are using what little bit of downtime we have between this, that and the wedding to take these stupid lessons.”“People will be watching us dance at the wedding.” Kate huffed. “Being that we are Olympic champions, they will be expecting us to do something extraordinary.”
“Honey, nobody is extraordinary in tap shoes.”
“We’re not wearing tap shoes! I swear, it’s like you don’t even care about the wedding.” She sighed. “Do you want to call the whole thing off, is this what this is? Cold feet?” Kate crossed her arms, guarding herself, as if the bottom was going to fall out of the relationship here and now.
“Hey.” Doug reached out and touched her arm. “I don’t have cold feet. I love you. I gotta admit, the fancy party or the flowers don’t mean that much to me. I’d be fine with Elvis officiating in Vegas if it meant that I would get to be with you.”
“You really think that I would be married by an Elvis impersonator?” Kate laughed.
“If I thought you’d actually go for it, we would have eloped by now. I care about the marriage, Kate. Not so much about the ceremony."
“Smarter than he looks, folks.”
Doug pulled Kate closer. “I have it on good authority that you like the way I look.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” He smiled and drew her into a kiss.
“So are we still doing this?” She asked.
“This?” He asked, kissing his way down her neck. “Definitely”.
“No” she half giggled, half sighed as Doug nuzzled a sensitive spot behind her ear. “Dance lessons. For the wedding?”
“Elvis is definitely out of the picture then?”
“He was never in the picture.”
“Just promise me that we’ll dance to something recorded this century?”
“It’s a deal.” She said, kissing him back. “Now can we just dance?”
****
2018
“Ms. Moseley- Dorsey?” The stagehand stuck his head in the door of her dressing room. “Five minutes until they need you on stage.”
“Thank you.” She nodded, adding a smile. “I’ll be ready.”
She shouldn’t be nervous. Performing was a way of life. She could hardly remember at time that she hadn’t been competing. But that was different. The ice was familiar. And for over twenty five years, she’d had Doug as her partner, carrying her through thick and thin, on the ice and off.
Tonight, all eyes would be on her. (Doug would be in the audience, but it wouldn't be the same as having him with her. After twenty five years of marriage, she was still hopelessly in love with the guy.)
But this, this was Dancing With the Stars.
Kate’s outfit felt awkward, just as revealing as her costumes for competition, but even more gaudy. Her makeup was done for the cameras; heavier than she had worn it before- the cameras were now HD, and they would catch every bump or wrinkle. She stood up and adjusted the skirt of her dress, letting it fall a bit more naturally.She wasn’t the young Olympic ingenue anymore. Time had been kind to her; as an Olympic Pairs Champion twice over, a steady exercise routine had kept her trim, despite 3 pregnancies. She had written a book about her life, and now co-owned a studio where she was helping to train future Olympians. She had helped cover the last 3 Winter Games with NBC; and she was room mother for her son’s 3rd grade class. She could handle this.
As she walked into the studio, she was greeted by the sound of her own voice, via the video interview she’d recorded earlier.“Life has been even better than I could have imagined. It was my greatest dream to win a Gold Medal, and I was blessed enough to win two. I found the perfect partner, both on and off the ice, and together we’ve built up a business and raised a family.” Kate’s voice said, as images of her and Doug, together with her daughters Stacy and Rory, and son Ben showed on a large screen above the dance floor. “But it’s never too late to try something different and new. So when Dancing with the Stars asked, I figured,” The video-Kate said with a shrug of her shoulders, “Why not try for a new trophy?”
Kate took her place on the center of the dance floor, waiting for her partner to be introduced.
The show’s host came on with a voice-over. “Due to a family emergency, we’ve had a last minute substitute partner for Kate Moseley-Dorsey. Please welcome two time Olympic champion and amateur dance enthusiast, Doug Dorsey, as he joins his wife in an Viennese Waltz.
”Kate’s mouth dropped open.“Amateur dance enthusiast? Where did you come up with that?”
She said in a hushed tone, as she quickly embraced her husband.
“It just came to me. The producers believed it. Hell, they loved it. And you know, I'm a professional Kate enthusiast. And the kids are loving it. Anton too."
“If you lose me the mirror ball, you will have hell to pay.”
“A very wise woman forced me to take dance lessons twenty five years ago. We’ve got this in the bag.I had to save the day.”
“But what if we make a mistake? Aren’t you afraid of what people will think?”
“Honey” he said with a grin, getting into the starting position of the dance, “If the whole world was watching, I’d still dance with you. Mistakes be damned.”
“I love you.” She said with a grin.
“Just remember who said it first." Doug replied, as they began to waltz.