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"No, it's okay, we'll figure it out . . . Thank you . . . feel better," Shane said into the phone as Ilya pulled into the parking garage. He hung up on Rebecca, their backup babysitter, and closed his eyes. "Fuuuuck," he sighed.
"Swear jar," Ilya scolded automatically as he pulled into his spot. "But it will be okay. We have plenty of time till game starts." As if in agreement, baby Sonya giggled from her carseat, and Shane immediately felt better. Yes, they still had no sitter on a game day, as their usual one, Heather, had just received news of a death in the family and had to fly out of town. Yes, they needed to change and get warmed up soon. Yes, he hated this break in pre-game-routine and was worried the stress would affect how he played. But no, the world would not end. Their baby girl would be okay.
They got out of their car and began unloading their stuff. Shane unfolded the stroller, and Ilya gently transferred Sonya into it. Shane's phone dinged, and he picked it up as the two headed inside. "Yes!" he said. "Okay, Jamie is finishing his shift at the cafe right now and can get here right when the game starts!" Jamie was their third backup babysitter - a sweet university student that worked at a nearby cafe the Centaurs frequented. They rarely needed her, between Heather, Rebecca, and Shane's parents, but it was always good to have extras on the roster.
Like for today's exact situation.
"See? No problem," Ilya said. "We just keep her with us till game. Isn't that right, malen'kaya printsessa," he said, his voice going soft as he spoke to their daughter.
"I'll call Marcus and have him escort Jamie in and show her to our suite," Shane said, dialing the name of one of the security guards here.
Minutes later, the husbands entered the locker room. Most of the team was there already; there was music playing on a speaker, various conversations, and the sound of laughter echoing against the metal.
"Finally!" Bood called, seeing the two come in. They were usually here much earlier on game days, wanting to take their time to leisurely get their gear on and warm up. But the various calls with Rebecca and Heather had delayed them a bit. "You guys ready to destroy the Admirals?" Bood's wide grin dropped off as he seemed to notice the stroller Ilya was pushing.
"Awww!" Luca said immediately, rushing over to them. "You came to cheer us on, Sonya?"
"Baby!" Young gasped, his eyes lighting up.
"Sonya's here?" Dysktra called from another aisle, immediately peaking his head around the corner to get a look at her.
Shane beamed as the Centaurs flooded around their little girl, Ilya lifting her out of the stroller and cradling her against her chest, so everyone could see her. The hockey players cooed at her as she stared at them with wide eyes. Hayes squeezed her chubby cheek, and the little girl smiled a drool-filled smile.
Coach Wiebe came in just then and observed the scene. "Hollander, Rozanov. Why is there a baby in my locker room?"
Shane reached out and let Sonya wrap her hand around his finger, as if she were apologizing for the situation. "Our sitter had a death in the family, and our backup sitter has food poisoning."
"That sucks, man. Been there," Chouinard said, and Shane believed he had, as the man had three kids.
"Your parents not here today, Hollzy?" Barrett asked as he shrugged on his jersey.
"No they're in Italy for their anniversary trip," Shane said.
"Jamie will be here, but not till game is about to start," Ilya told them. "So we have good luck charm with us till then!"
"Absolutely not," Coach said, though he at least looked disappointed about it.
"Coach--" Shane started.
"I'm sorry, Shane. We can't have a baby around while we warm up and get ready. It's not safe, and it will be distracting."
"But look at those cheeks, Coach! How can you say no to those cheeks?" Ilya said, pouting dramatically and squeezing Sonya's cheeks for effort.
Wiebe smiled at the baby, but shook his head. "Sorry, boys. See if one of the WAGs can watch her for a bit? We gotta get you guys changed and on the ice asap."
"Understood. Thanks, Coach," Shane sighed. He knew it was the right call; the last thing Shane wanted was his daughter in danger of a stray puck. But still, it was disapointing.
This was part of why they didn't even want to have kids until at least one of them was retired. But when their adoption agency had called, months earlier than they had ever expected, and described an abandoned 5-month-old looking for a home mid-season, the men couldn't say no. Ilya had already announced this would be his last season, so they only had to make it through a couple months of games before he could be a full time parent while Shane played on for another year or two.
Shane didn't want to force Sonya onto any of the WAGs, even though he knew they probably were more than happy to help. He'd done his fair share of emergency babysitting for the Centaurs in the past. He didn't want to ask though; didn't want to feel like a burden.
Ilya, knowing exactly what Shane was thinking. "Alright! Who has a WAG that can take care of Sonya for half hour? I will repay in good vodka!"
"Cass isn't coming today, she's taking Milo to swimming," Bood said regretfully.
"Selena's got all the kiddos here today, so it'd be tough," Chounaird sighed, and Shane understood.
"Caitlin could do it, but it looks like she's stuck in traffic," Dykstra said, staring down at his Find My Friends app. "She'd probably only beat Jamie by a few minutes.
Shane was starting to panic. Why was it so impossible to find someone to watch a baby for THIRTY MINUTES in this entire hockey arena? He had half a mind to text Kip Grady and see if he was up for the task.
"Harris can watch her!" Troy volunteered.
Shane frowned. "Harris is literally working," Shane countered, looking around to see if their social media manager was lingering about.
Troy just shrugged. "It will be fine. He's great with kids and can film content with one hand."
Ilya nodded, turning to Shane in question. "Yeah, I mean, if he is able then--" Shane started but cut himself off as Troy picked up his phone to call Harris, who was presumably just in a different section of the arena.
"Hey babe," Troy started, walking off to get some quiet.
"Okay, now that that's settled, you boys need to get dressed. Let's go! We gotta game to win!" Coach cheered, causing the whole team to cheer, and Ilya hoisted Sonya up above the team like Simba in The Lion King. She started cracking up at that, which made the Centaurs dissolve into a bunch of awwwws.
"Stop admiring my perfect baby! You heard Coach, let's go!" Ilya roared, setting his daughter back down in the stroller. "Sorry for yelling, moy rebenok," he told her in a softer voice before placing a kiss on her forehead.
Shane and Ilya rushed to change and get their gear on. "Skate," Shane said to Sonya, pointing to his left skate as he started lacing it up. "This is skate," he repeated. Everything with Hollander was a teaching opportunity; he was so competitive he needed their baby to speak earlier than the national average.
She babbled incoherently in response, and Ilya smiled. The rest of the locker room had emptied out as the Centaurs started their warm ups, leaving the Hollander-Rozanovs alone.
"Daddy cares too much about hockey words," Ilya teased and Shane rolled his eyes. "I will teach you more important word for Daddy: boring. BOR-ING," he repeated, over annunciating.
Shane shook his head as Sonya pointed at her parents sitting across from her on the bench, lacing up their skates.
"I've been summoned!" Harris said, popping into the locker room with a warm smile. "There's our sweet little Centaur," he cooed, brushing a tiny strand of soft brown hair out of Sonya' face.
"Harris, thank you," Shane said as closed his locker. "Marcus will bring Jamie to you as soon as she gets here and she'll take over. You sure it's okay?"
Harris waved him off. "It's no problem. I don't need to film much warm-up content today, so I'm not too worried."
"Seriously, thank you--"
"Hollander! Rozanov! Get your asses out on the ice!" Coach hollered.
"No swearing in front of baby, Coach. You give us one dollar for Swear Jar," Ilya teased, though Shane knew he was completely serious; Ilya had made hundreds off the Centaurs in the past three months with Sonya. "Thank you, Harris. Take care of our baby girl, yes?"
"On it, Cap," Harris said, lifting her up and pressing her to his chest. Sonya cuddled against him immediately, her cheek pressed against his flannel. "Go warm up, Shane. Seriously. I have 4 nieces and nephews; I've got this."
"Thank you," Shane said again before bolting out of the locker room.
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In the first period, after Shane scored his first goal of the day, Ilya gave him a quick peck on the cheek before pointing over to their mostly empty suite. Inside, Jamie stood with Sonya in her arms, her little face pressed up against the glass. Shane had no clue if she could really see them from that far away, or if her little mind was processing this at all, but he didn't care. He waved up at her with pure elation as Ilya blew kiss after kiss towards her. Whether she actually saw them or it was pure coincidence, Sonya laughed looking up at Jamie, as if to say hey! those are my dads!
Shane's heart couldn't feel any fuller.
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Shane Hollander-Rozanov @ShaneHollanderOfficial
our good luck charm 💕
[image of Sonya Hollander-Rozonova pressed against the glass of the suite, smiling wide]
[image of Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander pointing up at her and waving from the ice]
Ilya Hollander-Rozanov @IlyaRoz
@ShaneHollanderOfficial get off twitter and come comfort your daughter. she is crying right now because of how bad you are at hockey!
Shane Hollander-Rozanov @ShaneHollanderOfficial
@IlyaRoz we literally WON THE GAME and she is NOT crying! Stop making me look like a bad parent online!!