Chapter Text
Yuna Hollander grew up in a full house with her parents and three other siblings. Silence was never a known concept to her, growing up with siblings meant no privacy and constant fights over clothes, food and their parent’s attention. Despite everything at the end of the day she always had a friend, someone to rely on, someone to talk to. So, when she got married to David, she too wished for a huge family. But after the difficult pregnancy she had with Shane the dream to have a huge family somewhere faded.
Shane was everything Yuna could ask for, her perfect son. Shane was obedient, loyal, understanding, respectful, diligent but quiet. Which never seemed to bother David but for some reason always worried Yuna. Was Shane a quiet kid or simply did not have anyone to talk to? She and David always made sure Shane never felt alone but could their constant attention replace that of a friendship? Which led to another issue that bothered Yuna the lack of friends Shane had. Maybe if he had siblings, he wouldn’t had to search for friends outside the house. David always assured her that Shane was simply an introverted kid and would find his people when the time was right. Yuna hoped David’s words would become the truth one day.
Looking at a nine-year-old Shane playing alone in the backyard always did something to David. He would always join his son whenever he could, but on the days he couldn’t he would simply watch him try to entertain himself. “Shane would be alright” was something he told his wife constantly. Not only because he did not want her to worry but also because he truly believed it. Shane had trouble talking to his peers, he spent most of his time either reading or playing hockey. It was not easy for him to fit in with the other kids. It felt like he was living in a play where everyone had the script but no one gave it to him. So, it was not shocking when he was diagnosed with autism. The diagnosis did not change how they looked at Shane, he was still their little boy, now they just understood him better. Shane will be alright.
It was mid of march when Yuna saw them first. A Russian family had moved right next to theirs. The house had been emptied for the last 7 years, so Yuna was really excited to find out more about the family that had moved in. The family seemed to have four members a woman who couldn’t be more than 36 her husband who seemed on the older side a 13-year-old son and a 9-year-old son. The younger boy caught her eyes. The boy was same age as her son, maybe they could play together or be friends? It was not long after that she took Shane and a basket of breads with her and went to introduce her to the new neighbours. Shane did not seem to care about the whole situation but went anyway because disrespecting his mother was not an option. The door was answered by the woman, a beautiful woman, she was dressed modestly hair neatly tied up and had a gold cross around her neck [were they religious]. She welcomed Yuna and with a quiet smile. Yuna introduced herself and her son and offered the basket. The woman was named Irina [ a beautiful name for a beautiful woman]. She spoke to Yuna with an accent and broken English. But Yuna understood how much she was trying, just like her mother use to when Yuna was a kid. So, she understood. Irina introduced Shane to her kids 13 years old Alexie and 9-year-old Ilya. The little boy was the spitting image of her mother blond hair pale blue eyes and his mother’s smile.
“Hi… I am Shane” Shane extended his hand towards the blond boy. Who in return took his hand and returned his handshake “I am Ilya”. “you… play with me?” asked the little boy with a little hesitation, but as soon as Shane looked at his mother as if asking permission and getting it he nodded at Ilya both boys ran towards the backyard to play. The boys spent the entire afternoon playing. Shane found out a lot about Ilya, he was from Moscow which was even colder than Ottawa, he was learning to speak English, he will be going to school with Shane from now, his mother made delicious pelmeni and most importantly he also played hockey which made Shane really excited. Soon it was time to go and Shane felt a little bad to leave but Yuna would not take no as an option. So the boys said their byes and promised to meet the next day to play again. And just like that Shane had made a friend. Shane had a friend now.
Yuna was happy that shane was playing with someone his own age. Yuna’s plan has succeeded. The family seemed nice but something about them still rubbed yuna the wrong way, they seemed polite maybe a little too polite. Irina seemed like a good person but her words seemed calculated as if she was constantly worried she would say something she is not supposed to say. She seemed cautious almost terrified. Was yuna reading too much into this? Soon the topic of conversation moved towards their husbands yuna told her about David and his job and how they have been living in Ottawa since they got married. Irina didn’t seem interested in speaking about her husband. Yuna did not pester her for more, soon it was time for them to leave. Yuna called for Shane to come who for once didn’t want to come home but didn’t make a fuss. She was happy for Shane but also worried about the Irina and her kids something felt off. But for now, she decided to simply keep an eye on the whole situation and be happy her son might not be alone .