Chapter Text
“You what?” Ilya hisses, eyes wide and face pale. If it wasn’t for Tyoma, cradled in his arms, Shane is sure he’d be yelling.
“I told them I’m gay,” Shane repeats and pushes his glasses up his nose. It’s a testament to Ilya’s shock that he stays focused. “And that – Tyoma –” Shane doesn’t know how to finish the sentence, suddenly. They haven’t talked about this. Svetlana threatened, and Ilya took his opinion into account about the nanny, but – they haven’t talked about them. He wasn’t lying to his mom about it.
“And now she wants to meet him.”
“Well, yes.”
“What did you tell them about – us?” Ilya asks later, his phone propped up so Shane can still see Tyoma as well as Ilya’s face. It’s a far cry from being face-to-face, but it has to do.
“Shouldn’t we have this conversation in person?”
“Next time we see each other, you parents are there. You want this conversation then?”
Shane swallows. “No.”
“Tyoma loves you.”
“And I love him,” Shane says easily. “And… you, if you’ll let me.”
“Shane,” Ilya says. Softly. Helplessly. Shane has to close his eyes. “I love you, too. You could not stop me.”
“I wouldn’t.”
The terrible thing about having said that while in different countries is that they can’t even fuck about it. Well, they probably couldn’t if Shane were in Boston, either, but right then, the inability to put his mouth on Ilya is a physical ache.
“Soon,” Ilya promises him when Shane cups himself and whines. His eyes are dark, but he still has Tyoma cradled to his chest, which is both insanely hot and a deterrent to following through. “Tyoma can have grandma time, and I’ll have you.”
Shane whines again. “Please put him in his cot.”
Ilya scrambles to comply.
“Does this turn you on?” Ilya places the baby monitor on the bedside table and sprawls back onto the bed. “Being a family?”
“Ilya,” Shane gasps, and he should be embarrassed but he is, in fact, too turned on to care right then. He’d never actively wanted kids, but right then, the thought of having a kid with Ilya… his cock jerks against his palm.
“Touch yourself,” Ilya commands. “Let me see how much you want this. To be a father.”
And Shane does want it. He wants it so much it clearly makes him stupid.
Ilya loves every moment.
“You know Mama Hollander can come down without you,” Ilya says casually while they’re on FaceTime as Tyoma suckles on his bottle. There’s something calming about it, mesmerising, so it takes Shane a moment to parse Ilya’s words.
“Ilya!”
“What? Is truth! I host her. Host both your parents, but Papa Hollander works, yes?”
“They have actual names.” It’s easier than admitting how Shane’s heart is racing at the suggestion. “And I wouldn’t let them meet you alone for the first time. I want them to like you.”
“Hey,” Ilya protests. “They will love me.”
“You’re still a Raider!”
“Sorry?”
“But is not…” Ilya trails off, teeth digging into this lips.
Shane’s attention fully snaps to the tiny screen. “Hm?”
“You do not want them not to meet me because you think I… am bad father?”
“What?” Shane’s jaw drops, his brows knitting together. “Where the fuck is that coming from?”
Ilya shrugs, eyes averted. “I leave Tyoma with Nadia. No mother, often no father… am I selfish keeping him?”
“What the fuck, Ilya?! You love that boy, and he’ll grow up knowing that, and you picked Nadia because you trust her. You’re doing right by him.”
“Sometimes, I wonder.”
Ilya is still a little melancholic over the next few days, and nothing that Shane does can draw him out of it. He’s moments away from flying down there, practice be damned, but in the end, it’s Svetlana who talks him out of it.
“It’s a hard time right now,” she says while Ilya is looking after Tyoma, leaving his phone with her. “We are managing, but you would hate yourself for missing games. Don’t do this to him.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“He would hate it. Let him pretend things are normal, and keep calling.”
“Always.” It’s not like it’s hardship.
Shane cannot keep his legs still for the entirety of the flight. His mother looks at him, a small smile on her face, and pats his leg. “From everything you’ve said, we will love him.”
“Of course,” Shane says. His leg stills for half a minute. Then he remembers that they’re on their way to meet Ilya.
It’ll be the first time they’ll see each other since confessing. With Shane’s parents in tow. And Tyoma.
God, he’s missed Tyoma.
And Ilya’s curls.
And Ilya’s hands.
And he cannot pop a boner on the plane, so he wrenches his thoughts away.
Ilya has clearly tried to make himself as presentable as you can be when you have a little drooling baby in your arms. Shane’s heart melts in his chest, and he can hear his mother sigh.
“Hello,” Ilya says once the door is closed behind them. After a moment, he hands Tyoma off to Shane – well-practised even weeks later – and holds his hand out to Mom and Dad. “I am Ilya.”
“Hello, Ilya.” Mom shakes it. “I am Yuna, this is David.”
“And this is Tyoma,” Shane adds, and passes Tyoma off.
It also means that he can kiss Ilya.
His parents don’t comment on that. They’re far too busy cooing over Tyoma, who gives them a gummy smile, drooling on Mom’s shirt. She doesn’t seem to mind.
“I am glad he will grow up with grandparents, yes?” Ilya murmurs. It’s a question.
“Yes,” Shane confirms.
Yuna looks up. “Of course.” She smiles. “It’s a little unorthodox, maybe, but – welcome to the family, Ilya.”
“Oh,” Ilya says, and then turns abruptly to lead them further into the house.
Shane catches his hand and lets himself be pulled along.
Yes, Ilya and Tyoma will make an excellent addition to the family.