Chapter Text
Ilya propped Masha on his hip and gave her a kind smile. “They are going to love you as much as I do.”
“Promise?” She asked in English, voice small. Her lip was quivering and Ilya’s heart broke watching how hard she was trying to stay brave.
“I pinky promise,” Ilya told her as Bood got their luggage from the back. “How could they not when you are the most wonderful little girl in the world?”
Masha gave him a nervous smile at that and buried her face in his shoulder. Ilya glanced back at Bood and gave him a small smile.
“Thank you for your help, Zane,” he said and the man gave him a toothy grin.
“Anything for my favorite captain,” he said. Ilya said nothing else as they walked up to the porch. Ilya pushed the door open, Masha’s face buried in his neck, arms squeezing him tight.
“We are home,” he called out. “Lyubimiy? Yuna? David?” He called as he looked around, finding no one waiting for them.
“Upstairs!” Yuna called.
Bood set the bags down on the floor and looked around. “Alright, I think you’re in good hands. I’ll keep the team off your back for a few days while you guys get settled.”
Ilya nodded. “Thank you,” he said, fist bumping his teammate and friend. Bood gave them both a small smile before he left them alone in the living room. A few moments later footsteps echoed through the house as all three Hollanders made their way down.
“Okay, Mariya, I need to set you down so that you can meet everyone,” Ilya said quietly. Blond curls bobbed as Masha nodded her head and let Ilya set her down. She looked around the house curiously as she gripped Ilya’s hand in hers in a vice like grip.
“Oh, you look just like Ilya,” Yuna said as she rounded the corner. Masha blushed a light pink.
“Thank you,” she whispered and looked at Ilya. Shane and David walked in just a moment later and Shane stopped in his tracks as he looked at the two Russians.
“Wow,” he whispered, brown eyes bright and wide as he took them in.
“Mariya, this is my heart, remember I told you about him?” Ilya said quietly and she nodded her head.
“Shanya,” she said with a nod and Shane’s face cracked just a bit at the nickname.
“Yes, Shanya. I call him Shanyúsha most of the time, but I do not think he will mind you calling him Shanya,” Ilya said, bumping his hip against her. “And these are his parents, Yuna and David. They are our family, and I bet they’d even let you call them Baba and Dede if you wanted.”
“Like my grandparents?” She asked, looking up at Ilya with wide eyes. He grinned and nodded his head.
“Yes, if you want it,” he told her. Masha looked back at the Hollanders and released Ilya’s hand as she walked forward and looked up at Shane.
“Uncle Ilyusha says you are very pretty, he is right,” she said with a nod. Shane met Ilya’s eyes, his own watery, his lip quivered just a bit before he lowered down to Masha’s height.
“You are very pretty too,” he said with a small smile. Masha let out a soft giggle.
“Thank you. Mama used to say I look like Uncle Ilyusha,” she said with a wide smile.
“She was right, and Uncle Ilyusha is my favorite person in the world.”
“Mine too,” she said with a nod.
“You know,” Shane said quietly. “My dad made you a treat, it’s your uncles favorite and Sveta told us it was yours too.”
“Sharlotka?” She asked with a gasp and Shane nodded his head.
“Yes, with honey and cinnamon,” he said. “Would you like to eat a slice while Ilyusha puts your things away?” He asked. Masha turned back to Ilya who gave her a supportive smile and nod before following Shane into the kitchen with David. Yuna stayed behind and gave Ilya a small smile before opening her arms wide. Ilya loosened a breath before he threw himself in her arms and let out a quiet sob.
“She was there,” he cried against her shoulder. “In her bedroom when it happened. Andrei told her that she would have happy life with me before he did it.”
“Shh, it’s okay Sweetheart,” Yuna whispered, holding Ilya tight. “She’s here and she is safe now. You and Shane are going to give that little girl the world. She’s going to want for nothing in her entire life.”
Ilya sniffed and hugged Yuna tight once more before he let go and rubbed at his eyes. “We will have to talk optics. How are we going to do this? How can Shane and I raise little girl without the entire world seeing? When we do not even live together?”
Yuna gave him a small smile and Ilya once again, was so thankful that his mother sent him another mother to comfort him now that she was gone.
“Let’s get you and Mariya settled down and then the four of us can talk. We’ve been coming up with some game plans to run by you as soon as you were ready to talk about it. Now, let’s go get some of this apple cake,” she said with a small smile. “Also, if Mariya is going to call me her grandma, it needs to be Obasaan or Grandma or something like that. Baba is Japanese for old hag.”
“Is Russian for grandmother! She can call you babushka instead if you want!” Ilya exclaimed indignantly.
“Hm, I like Obasaan, let’s her be a part of her new culture too,” Yuna chuckled. Ilya scoffed but followed her to the kitchen.
“She is Russian,” he said.
“And now she is in a Canadian-Japanese family too,” Yuna reminded. The two stepped into the kitchen and Ilya’s eyes immediately fell onto Shane who was at the island in the middle, his forearms resting against the marble.
“She wants to be Obasaan, you can’t change her mind,” Shane said and gave Ilya a quick kiss when he walked towards him. The man scanned the room before finding Masha digging into a slice of cake and ice cream as she excitedly spoke to David who nodded along all the while.
“I believe it is up to the grandchild to decide what to call you,” Ilya said with a small smile.
“And I’ll be honored if she considers me hers,” Yuna sang before she flitted over to the table and took a seat beside the six-year-old.
“How are you?” Shane asked lowly, wrapping his arm around Ilya’s waist.
“Is hard. But we will survive,” he said with a shaky exhale. “We will need to figure out how we are going to do this, how am I going to travel—”
“Later, Baby. For now, just enjoy that you’re both here and she’s safe.”
Ilya nodded, swallowing hard around a lump in his throat. “You’re right, you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” Shane murmured, pressing his lips against Ilya’s jaw. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you more,” Ilya said, moving his head back as Shane nuzzled his neck softly. He let his eyes flutter closed for just a moment as he let himself stay in the moment. They were home, they were going to figure out what tehy were going to do from here. It was all going to work out.
“Okay,” Ilya said, his eyes fluttering open once again. “Give me slice of sharlotka, and some ice cream. Then we will get settled in.”
Shane chuckled and pushed an already made bowl with the dessert his way. “I already knew you’d want some. I think Dad has finally perfected the recipe.”
Ilya took a bite and immediately let out a groan. “Oh is still warm,” he said around a mouthful of cake. He followed it with a bite of ice cream and practically melted there on the spot.
“Let’s go sit down,” Shane said with a soft laugh. He grabbed Ilya by the elbow and pulled him towards the table where they sat on the other side of Masha who was still happily digging in. Ilya looked over her for a moment before he let out a soft laugh and called her name quietly.
She looked up at him with wide hazel eyes and Ilya grinned as he ran his thumb over the ice cream on her cheek.
“Thank you,” she said after swallowing her bite. “This is better than Mama’s!”
Ilya chuckled and looked over at David who was grinning wide.
“Dede is a good cook,” he said with a nod. She grinned and took another bite, getting more ice cream and cake on her face. Ilya smiled at her, resolving to the fact that he’d just wipe her face once she was finished eating.
“You’re good at this,” Shane whispered, elbowing him in the ribs.
“Is like taking care of Pike kids right now. We will see later,” Ilya told him quietly.
Shane nodded and kissed his cheek, slipping his arm in the crook of Ilya’s arm. He smiled as Shane rested his head on his shoulder and let out a breath.
“Okay, are you ready to see your room?” Ilya asked in Russian once the girl had finished her dessert and had been cleaned up. Yuna and David had given their love and left them alone for the night, heading back to their own house with promises of returning the next morning.
She nodded her head, pushing from the table and looking up at the two expectantly.
“Alright, let’s go check it out,” Shane said watching as Ilya picked Masha up and gave her a loud kiss on the cheek. The three made their way up the stairs and showed Masha around the rest of the house, telling her what each room was, making sure she knew where the bathroom was and where Shane and Ilya’s room was. Then it was finally time to see Masha’s room and part of Ilya was nervous.
He had texted Jackie all of the information he had gotten from Masha, hell he even had all of her toys and clothes packed in two suitcases that Shane was now carrying for them. She liked the color green and loved bears, she really liked art but wasn’t allowed to do it at home—something Ilya was definitely going to remedy as fast as he could.
But the nerves were still there. What if she hated her room?
It would be better than her room back in Russia, he was sure. Her bedroom could have barely even been called a bedroom, more like a closet with beige walls that were yellowing from cigarette smoke, there had been no decorations on the wall. Some toys were scattered on the ground, half broken and most likely second hand. Her bed was pushed against the far wall, a single pillow and threadbare blanket spread across it. It had hurt Ilya’s heart to see it, he had promised himself for the millionth time that he would make her life far better than it was before.
Mariya would want for nothing.
Not anymore.
Shane pushed the door open and set the bags down by the bed. Ilya walked in and he and Mariya let out twin gasps as they looked around. The walls were a mint green color with trees wallpapered onto them. Fairy lights were hung from the ceiling and along the walls in green and gold colors. There was a small, brown loft bed pressed against a wall, a long, gauzy canopy spread above it, with more tinkling lights hanging throughout. The bed itself was maybe a meter off of the ground, a little ladder attached to it for Mariya to climb up. The sides of it were covered in bookshelves that were filled with books and trinkets. As they stepped further into the room, Ilya could see that there was a small area inside the bed that Masha could climb into and when he dipped his head in, he saw more lights, along with blankets, pillows and stuffed animals.
In the middle of the floor was a large rug over the wood floor covered in bears and forest animals.
There was a large toy chest in a corner beside the closet, a rocking chair and small rocking ottoman in front of it, with another bookshelf beside it. There was also a small craft’s table with crayons, coloring books, and other art supplies spread across the small table.
“This is for me?” Masha whimpered as she climbed out of Ilya’s arms to walk around, her eyes wide as she looked around.
“It’s all for you,” Ilya said quietly. He looked back at Shane, eyes wide. “You did all of this in four days?”
“Jackie came over and took over. Some of the toys are donated from her kids, the rocking chair is from her, she said she got a new one but she used it for all of her kids when they had bad nights and would rock them in her arms while she read them stories. We might’ve gone a little overboard when you said she liked bears,” Shane said, his cheeks red. “Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful. Masha, do you like it?”
Masha looked at him, eyes still wide, confusion in them. He switched to Russian and she let out a soft cry and looked at Shane.
“I love it,” she whispered before all but launching herself at his legs. Hugging him tight. Shane stared at Ilya with wide eyes and Ilya motioned for him. He immediately bent down and pulled the girl into a tight hug.
“We got you some clothes, some of them are from my friends. They have two girls your age and they wanted to share some of their clothes and toys with you. But we have some new clothes too and new toys too,” Shane said as he carried her to the closet. Ilya followed, quietly translating to Mariya who was grinned ear to ear, her eyes red rimmed with tears.
“We brought clothes too, and my toys,” Masha said quietly. “They aren’t as pretty.”
“I bet they are just as pretty,” Shane said quietly. “Now, do you want to look around some more or do you want to go and take a bath and get changed into pajamas while Uncle Ilyusha and I get your stuff unpacked.”
“Bath,” Masha said and jumped out of Shane’s arms. She grabbed his hand and all but dragged him out of the room. Ilya let out a soft laugh as he grabbed the bags by the door and started to unpack everything. He set her Boston Bears stuffed bear on her bed. Then she started setting her other toys throughout the room, some in the toy chest that was filled with loved toys and new toys. Some of her toys were separated, needing to be washed before anything else.
He pulled out the clothes and took a sniff, wrinkling his nose at the smell of cigarettes and weed that drifted from them and dumped them into a hamper, deciding to wash before he hung them up.
Ilya took the toys to the washer and dumped them in, pouring in detergent just as he heard the bath start running in the nearby bathroom.
“Bath toys!” Masha shouted joyfully and Shane let out a confused laugh as Ilya shouted the translation back just in case he needed it.
He made it back to the bedroom and pulled out his phone, trying to find best ways to clean stuffed animals before he just decided it would be easier to call Jackie.
“It’s beautiful,” he said quietly as soon as she answered.
“Did Mariya like it? She asked with a laugh.
“She loved it, started crying when she looked around,” Ilya told her, his voice thick. “I appreciate you so much.”
“It’s no problem. I’m sorry if you don’t like the used stuff, the girls wanted to donate some things to their new cousin and I thought the rocking chair could be nice.”
“No, no, it’s all wonderful. It’s all so perfect,” Ilya told her. The two spoke for a bit longer, Jackie giving him some tips for cleaning stuffed animals and offering her support any way she could. Ilya could hear Hayden in the background giving his own unsolicited advice.
“Thank you, both of you, for everything,” he finally said. “When Mariya gets more comfortable, you and your family will need to come over and we can have cook out.”
“I would love that. I can’t wait to meet Mariya,” she said genuinely.
“She is wonderful girl,” Ilya told her. The two spoke a little longer before Shane back back with Mariya and Ilya said his goodbyes.
“Will you grab some pajamas?” Shane asked, holding a towel wrapped Masha in his arms. Part of Ilya wondered if Mariya was too comfortable with letting strangers so close to her, it made him nervous. He hoped it was simply because she felt safe with them.
He nodded and looked around before finding the large green, forest green dresser and pulled out some clothes.
Soon Mariya was curled up in bed and falling asleep. It made sense, she had a full day, hours of flying, a long week of traumatic events, and then a busy day meeting new people and getting acclimated to her new home. Ilya and Shane made it back to their bedroom and went through their own motions of getting ready for bed.
“So, we have some ideas,” Shane said. “We were planning on talking tomorrow once the two of you got rest but I have one idea that I want to run by you.”
“What is it?” Ilya asked, stepping into the bathroom and turning on the shower. He smelled like airplanes and Moscow and desperately wanted to smell like home.
“What if we just soft launch our relationship? I took some time off—I know you told me not to but I said it was a family emergency so I’m out for the next three weeks. But, I kept thinking about it all. I kept thinking, I want to be here not just for Mariya, but for you. I want to help you raise her, I want to go to parks and stores and restaurants together. I want to be a real family and we can’t do that if we’re hiding. I’m not saying we hard launch anything. But I talked about it with Farrah and my mom and my mom’s against it but Farrah thinks it would be fine. She’s prepared for everything and even got a contract written up to send to you so we can have the same agent. Especially since yours is Russian and will drop you. But we just—we just be a family and we just exist. Straight couples don’t need to come out, why do we?”
Shane was breathless when he finished speaking, his chest heaving as he stared at Ilya. Ilya looked back, his eyes wide in surprise, water running behind him.
“Are you sure?” He asked.
“I’ve never been so sure in all my life,” Shane told him walking towards him. He pulled Ilya’s t-shirt over his head and gave him a soft kiss.
“Will you marry me?” Ilya blurted out before he could stop himself.
Shane blinked at him before a smile slowly grew into a large grin. “Ilya Rozanov, are you asking me to marry you in the middle of your bathroom?”
“Da—yes, I love you, Shane. I have ring but was waiting until—”
“I would love to marry you,” Shane whispered and gave him a soft kiss.
“We will have our own family. Me, you, Mariya, maybe a dog and a cat,” Ilya rambled. “I will have passport, we will be together.”
“I told Farrah that since I’m a free agent after this season, I want to move to Ottawa. I don’t mind a pay cut, they can pay me whatever the hell they want. I don’t care. But I want to be with you and Mariya. I don’t want to miss a single moment.”
“And everything else? School, travel—”
“We’ll figure it out. Now, let’s take a shower and then you can do whatever you want to me. I’ve missed you,” Shane said, voice husky as he nipped at Ilya’s bottom lip. Ilya let out a growl as he ripped at Shane’s shirt, hurriedly pulling his clothes off before pulling him into the shower.
They were doing this. They were going to be a family and raise Mariya together.