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Ilya always loved the charity work he did with the Centaurs- especially when it involved children.
Today, they were going to be giving kids in need the chance to skate in their arena and even teach them how. Ilya couldn’t wait, so much so that he hadn’t been able to stop talking about it all week. He was a little surprised Shane hadn’t banned it as a topic of conversation at their house, actually. He was pretty sure that would never be happening, though. There was always a soft look in his eyes whenever Ilya was talking about kids and the time he spent with them, so Ilya was pretty sure Shane loved it.
The buses arrived, carrying a whole school’s worth of children- or at least, it seemed like it to Ilya. He noticed Shane’s nervousness, so he skated over, taking his love’s hand in his. “Okay?”
Shane sighed. “You’re good at this. Great, actually. Me… not so much.”
Tilting his chin up, Ilya noticed that his eyes were glistening with tears.
Well, that just wasn’t okay. Today was supposed to be fun! He had to bring out a little confidence in Shane, and he thought he knew how. “When you were playing with Hayden and JJ, not every moment was serious, yes?”
Shane frowned. “Of course it was! You know me, I play to win.”
It was true, and Ilya knew it- and loved that about him, that he never backed down from a challenge. “Yes, but there were moments, yes? Times when you were coming off the ice and just…” Ilya trailed off, waving his hands in the air, words escaping him. “Played.”
“Yeah…” Shane said slowly.
“This is like that. They are little, yes, but pretend this is playing with me.”
Shane grinned. “Well, it’s not quite that. But I get it. Yeah.” His smile softened. “It’ll be good practice. This is a conversation for another day, but I want to have kids with you, Ilya.”
Ilya kissed his forehead. “Me too.”
Then they went back to the others. As he messed around with the kids, teaching them how to skate backward and shoot a puck in the goal, Ilya kept an eye on Shane. He seemed more relaxed now, even leading the kids in a conga line around the rink.
He might be nervous about it now, but Shane was going to be the best dad someday (other than himself, of course). Ilya just knew it.