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“Ice cream.” His mom hands him a small dish with a spoon, Ilya has a larger dish and he’s staring at the tv with his father. He grabs the throw blanket from behind him to wrap up, he should have brought his thicker pajamas.
“Thank you.” He whispers up at her.
“Of course baby.” She walks back towards the kitchen.
“No Hobbit, they don’t even get the story right.” Ilya is complaining.
“My biggest thing is why wait so many years? It’s a cash grab.”
“Cash grab?”
“They just want to take our money without a good product.”
“Yes! A cash grab! Exactly!”
“Boys.” His mom looks to them.
“Sorry Yuna.” Both of them mumble to her.
“It’s Shane’s turn to pick.”
“He only picked the first twenty five years.” His dad at least sounds amused.
“It’s his turn, you picked last time.” He watched his mom slide to rest her head on his dad’s shoulder.
“I don’t really care what we watch.” Shane doesn’t, he just wants to curl up with everybody.
“See! He doesn’t care.” His dad says.
“Shane, baby, pick a movie.” His mom comments, her eyes saying if dad picks one more movie we might have to dig a hole in the backyard and it’s frozen right now. He hands Ilya his ice cream before crawling to the dvd collection, he grabs the first one that he knows he can fall asleep to and puts it in.
“Here.” He tosses his mom the remote before crawling back to sit with Ilya.
“What are we watching?” He asks, handing back his ice cream.
“Anastasia.”
“What’s that about?”
“Oh Ilya, you’ll like it. It’s a musical you like those.” His mom reassures him.
“It’s about Russia.” His dad answers better.
“A musical about Russia?”
“Yeah, it came out when we were little. I used to watch in the car dvd player on the way to away games.” Shane shrugs, Ilya has a small smile.
“Did you the day you met me?” Shane flushes, he did, but Ilya doesn’t need to know that.
“I can’t remember.” He lies and Ilya laughs, pulling him closer and kissing his head. His mom hits play when he’s finished with his ice cream, sitting the now empty bowl on the coffee table. He curls up with his head in Ilya’s lap and smiles again when he feels Ilya pull the blanket up for him.
“Is this meant to be revolution?” Ilya whispers to him.
“Yeah.”
“Princess Anastasia? I thought they found her body?”
“It’s a cartoon Ilya. Watch it.” Shane smiles up at him.
“Yes they did.” His dad answers him. He feels Ilya get more comfortable and he slowly closes his eyes.
“Shane, baby, mouth.” His mom says off handedly during the palace seen and he groans, removing his thumb.
“I know mom!” She rolls her eyes and he tries to just pay attention.
“I like Rasputin.” Ilya laughs at the cartoon man on the screen.
“I used to think he was scary.” He looks up to tell Ilya.
“He wasn’t that scary. Shane, mouth.” His mom says again, he rips it and groans again.
“Here, hand.” Ilya reaches for his hand and he lets him take it.
“It’s fine, mom.” Shane tries to dismiss it. She has a face that is telling him to knock it off.
“Oh she’s going to love him.” Ilya says to him and he laughs.
“Watch.” He whispers back. He nuzzles further into Ilya’s thigh, trying to get some sort of comfort.
“Shane, thumb.” His thumb wasn’t even in his mouth!
“It wasn’t even in my mouth!”
“Sorry, sorry, you were rubbing your bottom lip. That’s your tell.” Shane rolls his eyes at her.
“Other hand.” Ilya whispers and Shane looks up, betrayed.
“I’m fine.” He moves his head a little to see the movie better. He doesn’t know why laying in his parents house makes him just crave his thumb. Maybe it’s because he always did it. The singing characters on screen distract him some, he recalls sitting on his mom’s lap one of the first times he watched this movie. He recalls his mom turning it off or fast fowarding it, he can still hear the VHS tape fast forwarding.
He likes that he can feel Ilya laugh at different parts, clearly absorbed into the story. When he goes to put his left thumb in his mouth Ilya intercepts him. Holding that hand too. He huffs, looking up at him and glaring slightly. He rubs his thumb along his hand at least, but it’s not helpful. Not for what he wants. That comfort that Shane was unfortunately accustomed to.
The same comfort he said he wouldn’t need tonight, saying how weird it would be to have a pacifier in his mom and dad’s living room. That much is true, but now that he’s comfy? He wants it and regrets saying he would be fine while here. He knows he can’t have one in the living room, that’s why that rule was in place and Ilya starting chucking them in the hallway so they could watch tv on the actual tv.
“Be right back.” Ilya lets go of Shane’s hand and slips out from under him.
“Where are you going?”
“Bathroom.” He collects the empty ice cream bowls and walks away.
“Have you been sucking your thumb again?” His mom asks gently as soon as Ilya is out of the room, like it’s a secret only his parents noticed.
“No.”
“Shane.”
“Sometimes. Okay? It’s been stressful.”
“Have you talked to someone about anxiety medication? You’re going to hurt your jaw I’m afraid.” He won’t, that’s why they got those special orthodontic pacifies. Shane’s jaw had been hurting using the ones Hayden bought him years ago.
“No.”
“Maybe think about it. That’s all. Does Ilya know?” Shane cannot laugh at that question.
“He’s been laying here mom, if he didn’t before he knows now.” He hopes his mom gets the hint, yes Ilya knows he has to suck his thumb or pacifier some nights. She nods and returns her attention back to the movie. He sees the colors turn, he hates this scene. She just wants her family, he’s jump off a ship too.
“Baby, do you not want me to say anything?” His mom asks and his eyes meet hers.
“Oh shit. How did Rasputin end up in the ocean?” Ilya asks, pushing Shane’s head up so he can sit back down. He feels his hand rub up and down his back.
“It’s a dream.” His dad comments.
“Oh shit! There’s Dimitri. Oh that’s so cute! Did you see that Hollander? He woke up when Vlad said he sleeps like the dead. True love.” He smiles behind his thumb up at him when he speaks.
“Shane…” his mom looks disappointed, he hates that look.
“Leave it, Yuna. It’s okay, he’s just watching a movie.” His dad says as if to soothe her from Shane’s problem she’s staring at.
“I like the puppy.” Ilya says eventually.
“Pooka used to my favorite too.” His mom says softly. He closes his eyes as Ilya runs his soft fingers in his hair. He must fall asleep before his favorite song because he can hear his mom speaking.
“No really, he is okay.” Ilya is reassuring her.
“We could call a behavioral therapist maybe.” His mom is suggesting.
“No, he is fine. I promise.”
“We could go back to a thumb cage… it stopped it when he was little.” He remembers that awful piece of dental work and his face scrunches thinking about it.
“Yuna, I think he’s figured it out. Ilya seems to think so.” He hears his dad say.
“It’s okay to be out of your element is all. I’m just worried.”
“Has he not always done it?”
“He stopped when he was a teenager a bit. I thought we broke the habit is all.” His mom has a sigh.
“We saw dentist, he is okay.”
“Maybe his teeth are strong enough or he doesn’t do it enough.” His dad comments.
“He is fine. I promise, I would not lie to you.”
“We know.” His mom says softly. He knows Ilya has felt him wake up, but he feigns it anyway.
“Hey,мой ребено, movie just finished.” Ilya informs him and he rubs his eye, letting his thumb go. From how it feels he thinks he sucked it a while, it’s sore. Apparently using a pacifier made his thumb muscles weak.
“Okay.” He stretches up.
“We watching another one?” His dad asks and he laughs at his mom’s facial expression.
“Oh, David, I’m beat. I need to lay down, how about you?” He asks Shane directly.
“Yeah, I’m sleepy.” Ilya nudges him up with his knee.
“Well, get to bed then, I’m going to turn in too. Good night.” He hugs his mom tightly, hiding his face a little.
“Night mom.” He whispers.
“Good night, baby. I love you.”
“I love you too.” He says and pulls apart, she hugs Ilya next.
“Get some sleep.” His dad hugs him and he nods, then his dad hugs Ilya.
“Good night you two. See you in the morning.” His mom calls again as they disappear into his bedroom. He lays down immediately, thumb between his lips again.
“What happened to not sucking thumb? Hm?” Ilya asks, walking over to his bag.
“I said no paci.” He tries rubbing his pillow case on his nose.
“Do you want Shane’s blankie?” Shane could laugh at the formal name.
“You grabbed blankie?” It comes sailing towards him and he catches it, “thank you.” He rubs it against his face immediately.
“Why no paci again?” He asks, coming to lay with him.
“My mom and dad.”
“But why?”
“I’m not a baby.”
“You’re my baby.”
“I’m still not a baby. It’s your fault I started using it in other places than bed.”
“Okay if you say so.”
“I do say so. I don’t need a paci at my parents.”
“Is this a firm answer?”
“Why?”
“I may have grabbed something.” He didn’t.
“You didn’t.”
“Da. I did. Pink one.” He dangles it above him. Shane grabs it immediately, folding like a wet paper towel.
“Thank you.” He closes his eyes when he starts his pattern.
“You’re welcome.”
“What if my mom sees?”
“She won’t come in here without knocking.” He reassures.
“For sure?”
“Worse your father seeing us kiss? Positive.” He doesn’t know why that makes him laugh, but it does.
“Okay.” He decides, curling on Ilya again.
“Get some sleep, мой ребено. Get some sleep.” He kisses Shane’s face a couple times.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”