20. Epilogue: Nadia

Epilogue – Nadia

T wenty-four years later…

The crowd fell silent as the gymnast stood in front of the uneven bars, preparing to begin her routine. Our daughter was the picture of poise and confidence. Her chest rose as she took a deep breath and sprang into action, grabbing the lower bar.

Anna and I were thrilled that our daughter had qualified for her first International Games at only nineteen years old. Her team had won the silver, but Kat was expected to take the gold in individuals if everything went well on her last apparatus.

Moving to Houston all those years ago was the best decision I ever made. Anna and I lasted only two months before we got an apartment of our own and moved in together. A couple of years later we got married – right after I graduated from college with a bachelor's in exercise science.

My parents hadn't come to the wedding, although we'd invited them, but it was for the best. I didn't want them ruining our special day. Anna's family had welcomed me into the fold, and I'd soon become closer to her mother than I'd ever been to my own.

Anna found a job at a local gymnastics program, focusing on teaching the little ones who were new to the sport. She'd started a program that offered scholarships for girls who couldn't afford the expensive fees needed to participate, pulling strings to get current and former gymnasts to contribute to the scholarship fund.

When we decided to have children, Anna's cousin Paul volunteered to donate sperm. He was about fifteen years older than us, a gay man who never wanted children, so we readily agreed, excited that we would have a child that was genetically both mine and Anna's.

My pregnancy went well, and we'd fallen in love with Kat the day she first made her appearance. We'd named her after Coach Ekaterina, the woman who'd first gotten us together, and who later became little Kat's godmother. We'd gotten an honest to God smile out of the woman when we asked her to fill the role.

Now our daughter was all grown up and a world class gymnast in her own right.

Ekaterina was here somewhere, watching with her husband. And I'd heard through the grapevine that my parents were in attendance here at the International Games too, no doubt holding court somewhere and bragging about their talented granddaughter. I was betting that they'd forget to mention that they'd only seen her a handful of times in her life.

Anna squeezed my hand as Kat prepared for the hardest part of her routine, then we jumped to our feet screaming as she nailed it, before flying through the air. Of course she stuck the landing, just like we'd taught her back before she was old enough to choose her own professional coach.

As we saw the scores flash on the display, confirming that our daughter would get awarded the gold medal, it was even more satisfying than when we'd gotten our team medals back in the day.

As Kat jogged away from the bars, waving at the crowd, a young man that she'd met here at the Games ran over to give her a big hug, making me wonder if she was going to take after her moms and find love while competing.

Turning to Anna, I gave her another hug. We were older now, with gray starting to show up in our hair and wrinkles forming around our eyes. But even in middle age, Anna was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. I still loved her as much as I had the day I kissed her for the first time.

"I love you," I whispered in her ear.

"I love you too," she said. "What do you say we sneak into the athlete housing and have sex on a cardboard bed for old time's sake?"

I laughed. "I have a better idea. I hear this building has a basement…"