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"Elena! We have to go! Come on", ilya yells into nothing it seems, as it takes another two tries for his daughter to finally be ready.
"Sorry Papa", she says, voice quiet and she is not looking at him. Ilya notices and immediately kneels down to try and comfort her "What is wrong Sweetheart?"
Elena opens her mouth to say something. But no sound comes out. "Nothing!", she finally says, putting on a smile. "Are you sure?" He tries again. "I just don't feel excited about Practice today", she mutters, looking almost embarrassed to admit it. Ilya looks into her eyes, with a worried frown.
"Did someone say something? Is someone being mean to you?" he asks, ready to throw hands. "No, no, Papa. Everything is fine" She picks up her bag and turns to leave. Ilya knows something is going on with her. But he decides not to push it. If she is ready she will tell him. Or will she?
"Papa!" Ilya had been staring at her for about two minutes. "Sorry", he says as they finally leave the house.
After arriving at Elena's Hockey Practice, Ilyia immediately takes out his phone to text his husband.
Ilya: Did Elena say something to you?
Shane: No? Why? What did you do?
Ilya: NOTHING
She seems sad
She doesn't want to tell me
Shane: She didn't say anything to me.
Ilya looks up from his phone, searching for his daughter on the ice. They're currently in the middle of a practice game. Elena notices him looking, and waves back hesitantly. Ilya waves back with the biggest smile on his face.
His and Shanes kid playing the very sport that brought them together. He couldn't be more proud. Elena scores a goal and high fives another girl, her best friend Paula. They hang out a lot outside of practice, even going to Sophie's, who is Paulas older sister, figure skating practice whenever they can. He watches her play for a while. After getting a bit emotional, he texts Shane again.
Ilya: I want her to be happy.
Shane: Maybe we can talk to her tonight? After you get back from your therapy?
Ilya: Okay ❤️
Shane: ❤️
Practice ended an hour later, a bit later than usual due to a number of new team members being introduced and the coach insisting on a bunch of team building exercises. Ilya and Elena exit the Hockey Arena and are met with the surprising sight of Shane standing directly infront of Ilya's SUV, with sunglasses on, his head down looking at his phone.
"Dad! What are you doing here!" Elena exclaims as she runs into his arms. "I wanted to surprise you!" Elena enters the car, already looking a bit happier than before. Shane then turns to his Husband and gives him a quick kiss.
"And i want to make sure you get to therapy on time. I can drop you off on the way home." Ilya smiles and kisses him back. God he loved his husband.
"Guys!" Elena interrupted them. "If you don't want Papa to be late then we should go now!" Shane nods and gets in on the driver's side of the car.
Back at home Elena's mood shifted to a sadder tone again. "Hey is everyhing ok?" Shane asks as Elena takes of her shoes and throws her Bag on the floor. Her eyes well up as she tries to look into her dad's eyes. "Everything is fine", she dismisses, and quietly goes to her room. Shane decides to let it go for now, not wanting to upset her any further.
Shane: Something is definetly up with her. We definetly should talk to her.
Shane is sure he can hear her crying about an hour later and decides to check in on her. He knocks on her door. "Hey Sweetheart? What's wrong?"
"It's fine, it's nothing", her muffled cries echo through the door. Shane opens the door. "It's not nothing if it gets you upset like this" he whispers worriedly as he sids down on the bed next to her.
He lightly caresses her forehead and tries to wipe her tears away. "Whatever it is you can tell me. I love you" He kisses her forehead, tears falling in his eyes. Shane can feel her shaking her head. "I don't want you to be dissapointed in me", she says as her crying grows more intense again. "Nothing you can tell me is going to dissapoint me", he reassures her.
She hesitates for a moment, her cries slowing down. After a moment of silence she finally sits up, takes a deep breath and looks into her father's eyes. "I don't want to play Hockey anmore.", she says. "I want to be a figure skater. Like Sophie." He looks into her eyes and immediately takes her into his arms.
He was very relieved at what she said. She hugs him back.
"I'm sorry" she cries, choking up again. "Oh Sweetheart", he whispers. "You don't have to be sorry for that" He wipes away a tear from his own eye, not letting go of his daughter. "You don't have to play Hockey if you don't like it"
Elena hugs him tighter. "But you and Papa love it so much" More tears well up in Shanes eyes. Oh.
"But you don't have to play Hockey just because we like it", he says. She cries into his shoulder, unable to say anything.
"So you like figure skating?", he asks after a bit." "Yeah. I've been going to Sophie's practices more often and they let me participate a few times", she explains, sounding a lot more happy than before. Shane smiles.
He picked her up at the ice rink once and overheard Sophie's coach say if she kept it up she could become a world class figure skater. Shane shrugged it off at the time, thinking Elena was more interested in Hockey but wanting to try new things. Looking back he remembered how happy she was that afternoon.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Elena suddenly apologizes. "Don't be. Your Papa and I know a thing or two about keeping what we really feel inside.", he says with a light chuckle. This also makes Elena laugh a bit.
"I don't know how to tell him. I tried today but I just couldn't", she says, another tear rolling down her cheek. Shane quickly wipes it away. "We can talk to him together if you want", he offers. Elena nodds and hugs her father tighter.
They stay like this for a bit until they hear Anya barking from outside.
Ilya kneels down and pets Anya on the head "Hello old girl. did you miss me?" He looks up and sees his daughter and husband standing in front of him.
Elena quickly fall into his arms and starts sobbing again. "Hey, what is wrong?" He quickly asks, hugging her back and sharing a panicked look with Shane. Elena lets go and takes a deep breath.
She exchanges a look with shane and after he smiles at her and nodds she finally opens up.
"I don't want to play Hockey anymore. I want to be a figure skater" Ilya looks to Shane, who looks a mix of proud and worried. "But you love hockey, no?", Ilya asks perplexed unsure what to say or do with this new information. "I do. But not as much as you and Dad", she says looking down on the floor.
After a moment of silence Ilya hugs Elena. "Why didn't you tell me? I asked if something was wrong and you said no" he says, sadness in his voice as he caresses her hair. She lets out a cry. "I'm sorry, I just didn't want you guys to be dissapointed in me." she whispers.
Shane's eyes start tearing up again. He kneels down and joins the hug.
"Why would we be dissapointed?" Ilya asks, his voice choking up.
"You guys won more trophys and medals than i can even count. Plus you guys met through hockey and it's such a huge part of our family. I just didn't want to ruin that" She sighs. "I saw how happy you were to see me play hockey, Papa. Even today. I just didn't want to make you sad". She cries into Ilya's shoulder. He hugs her tighter.
"I'm always happy when you're happy", he whispers. "I love you so much, Elena. And if figure skating makes you happier than hockey than it also makes me happier" Shane smiles at that. God he loves his family.
In the middle of the night, Shane wakes up to a quiet sniffling noise. He turns on the light and sees Ilya, beside him wiping his eyes. "Hey, are you ok?" Shane asks, him immediately taking his husbands face in his hand and wiping away his tears.
"No, nothing , go back to sleep", Ilya deflects and lays his head on Shanes chest. Shane starts to brush his hair through Ilya's hair.
"Ilya, you can talk to me. You know that", he says, softly kissing his husbands head. Ilya smiles, but shakes his head. He mumbles something in russian, too quiet for Shane to understand. He sighs deeply and lets out few tears.
"She told you and not me,", he suddenly says.
"What?", Shane asks perplexed. "I asked her if something is wrong. She did not tell me. But she told you." More tears well up in Ilya's eyes.
"I am scared that I am like my father", he mutters. Shane looks into his eyes.
"Why would you be like your father?", he asks.
"I could never really tell him things like that. That I didn't like Hockey much. Only my mother. He was always mad when I didn't want to go to practice and even more mad at my mother for not making me go" Ilya shakes his head. "Even when she died I had to be on time at every practice."
Shane softly kisses his husbands head.
"You're not your father. Elena loves you. She knows that you're not mad at her.", he tries to comfort him.
"But then why could she not tell me, Shane?" He cries again. Shane also starts tearing up. "Because it's hard to be honest about how you feel. Personally I can relate to that", he says lightly poking Ilya's side. Ilya smiles. He looks up at Shane and kisses him.
"Thank you for talking to her" "It's ok. When we talked she said she wanted to tell you. And she did, in the end. She just needed a little push." Shane says, caressing Ilyas hair again.
"I love you, Shane", Ilya whispers. "I love you too.", Shane replies. "We should sign up Elena for figure skating first thing tomorrow", Shane suggests. Ilyia laughs. "I already did."