See this kid? This boy? Baby St. Martin? Yeah, I’m calling him Baby St. Martin. He needs love. He needs protection. He needs a lengthy bullet-fic detailing his young life and GUESS WHICH ONE OF THOSE HE’S GONNA GET RIGHT NOW?! BOOM!
So this boy is from a hockey family, we know that.
This means his dad puts him in a pair of skates as soon as he can stand
This boy skates better than he can walk. A full blown natural. His papa is so proud.
So of course when he’s old enough, they try getting him into intro hockey
Got him in his tiny skates, and his tiny pads, and his tiny jersey. He’s skating around like he’s having the best time of his life cause he’s just like papa.
Then they hand him a hockey stick.
This boy doesn’t cry. He gets scared. He runs away. He hides from people. But he never cries.
But right now he’s deep in some inconsolable bawling.
Because maybe all those years of watching his papa on TV getting checked and punched, and all those years of seeing his papa come home with bruised ribs and a split lip may have left a pretty bad impression on this boy.
Hockey isn’t going to work.
And papa is a little disappointed, but papa won’t push. There’s plenty of ways for his son to enjoy the ice. It doesn’t have to be this one.
Family skate comes around, and Baby doesn’t feel like skating.
He’s just sitting on the bench with his dad.
Then he sees Bitty do a jump on the ice.
And he’s tugging on his papa’s shirt, pointing at Bitty dancing on the ice.
“That! Papa! I want that!”
It doesn’t take long before he’s enrolled in some simple figure skating classes.
And he likes it enough. It’s quieter. Less people around. He can practice by himself if he wanted.
He falls and hurts himself a few times, he doesn’t mind. It’s way better than other people hurting him.
But maybe he doesn’t love it.
A year goes by. It’s family skate again.
He skates right up to Bitty and says “Can you show me a jump?”
And he nails it. On his first try.
(Axels are hard, by the way.)
Baby doesn’t just need classes.
Bitty talks to Marty, and makes a phone call.
“Hello? uh, Prevyet Katya.”
“Eric! It is so good to hear from you. So are you ready to come back and win me a gold medal?”
“Katya, it’s been twelve years.”
“It is never too late, Eric. So how can Katya help you?”
“Are you taking in new students? I have someone here who is looking for a coach. He’s young, and a little shy, but he works hard.”
“Hmm… I am getting too old, but for you, I will make a consideration. Bring this skater to me and I will decide if I will coach him.”
So Bitty takes Baby down to Georgia for the summer.
He ends up living with the Bittles, of course
(Suzanne ADORES this child)
(Suzanne wants grandchildren like yesterday)
(Suzanne is not afraid to drop unsubtle hints about how much she wants grandchildren)
Baby St. Martin starts his trial session with Katya.
Harder than God and Jack Zimmermann combined.
Soviet Morning Calisthenics. 4-5 hours of on-ice training a day. Dance and Ballet in the evening.
For two grueling months, he did absolutely everything Katya asked of him.
And when they were done, Katya was ready to make her decision.
“I will not coach the boy,” Katya bluntly tells Bitty as they watch Baby try to land his first triple on the ice.
Bitty’s heart breaks. How could Bitty tell him the news? That he wasn’t good enough. That he didn’t work hard enough. That right here, right now, is where this dream dies.
“Katya, please, I don’t understand,” Bitty pleaded. "He’s talented. He works hard. He really wants to be a figure skater. Please, just give him another ch—“
Katya stamps her foot down. "I will not coach this boy… because he already has a coach.” She puts her hand on Bitty’s shoulder. "Eric, he does not want to skate like me. He wants to skate like you. You must coach him.“
So they make their way back to Providence.
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