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Shane’s phone would not stop ringing, which was a problem for Ilya Hollander-Rozanov, who had just finished wrestling two kids to sleep, two kids who slept so lightly that he’d started considering sound proofing their bedroom so he could properly fuck his husband again sometime in the next 18 years. Shane was in the shower, oblivious to his phone’s sharp shrills, he’d had a tough game earlier – Ilya had retired last year, wanting to focus on raising their two kids and ultimately feeling like he’d contributed enough to the game of hockey to cement his legacy over a 15 year career.
Shane and Ilya had welcomed their oldest, Liliana, three years after their wedding – it had been hard to balance parenthood with full time hockey schedules, but they’d made it work alongside Yuna and David who had bought a house down the street to be closer to their grandkids. Liliana was five now, deeply engrossed in the world of figure skating already, and a carbon copy of Ilya, right down to her brash confidence and quick jokes. She kept Shane and Ilya on their toes every single day, and with kindergarten starting up next fall, Ilya was sure they were going to have a lot of new experiences to walk through together.
Two years ago, when Liliana was three and toddling around, Shane had absentmindedly mentioned that she should have a sibling, someone to play with and grow up alongside. Ilya had known he was ready to hang up his skates, so the two of them had decided to play one final season together, their surrogacy timeline aligning with the off-season, and Micah, their son, had been born in June right after they’d beaten Las Vegas for the Cup. Ilya’s sixth and Shane’s eighth – Shane had felt extremely guilty at the prospect of Ilya retiring before him, but he still felt he had good hockey left in him, so after plenty of coaxing and convincing by his friends and family, he’d decided to play a few more seasons while Ilya became a full time WAG.
WAG life suited Ilya Hollander-Rozanov. He loved nothing more than professing how much he loved his husband and his family to the entire world. He’d had mini jerseys made, trucking a toddler and a newborn to games with ease. He’d joined parenting groups in Ottawa so that the kids could have playdates outside of their hockey world, he’d even started coaching a local youth hockey organization that had boys and girls playing together so he could watch Liliana skate around with her buddies. It had been an adjustment, sure, but honestly hockey hadn’t been all that important to Ilya for a long time. Ever since he and Shane had solidified their relationship, Shane had easily replaced hockey as Ilya’s main drive for success. Ilya wanted to do everything he could do to support his husband, that’s what brought him joy these days. That, and of course, being an incredibly present father. He was so thankful that he got to catch Micah’s first word in real-time instead of via FaceTime, and that he got to help Liliana bedazzle her skating leotard for her competitions. Being a father was the greatest joy of Ilya’s life.
Shockingly, Hayden Pike (and Jackie of course) had become a close confidante for Ilya when it came to parenthood – he gave Hayden a lot of shit, about a lot of things, but he respected Hayden as a parent. Hayden had four kids, all of whom were well adjusted, kind and intelligent. Ilya hadn’t seen very many positive male role models growing up, so his husband’s best friend had been one of the first displays of open, emotional fatherhood that he had absorbed. Hayden wasn’t even an ass about giving him advice these days. Sure, they both still threw shots at one another, but there was an undercurrent of respect and friendship that had taken years to cultivate. Shane was extremely thankful that the important people in his life had decided to get along, and sometimes he even felt left out with how much Hayden and Ilya spoke, but he understood that the two of them had a weird bond that was based primarily on how much they adored Shane, so he didn’t mention it.
Ilya looked back down at Shane’s phone, which still hadn’t shut off. They’d been married for a long time now, hid nothing from one another, so Ilya finally jabbed in Shane’s code and put his phone up to his ear,
“Who is calling at 10PM at night? We have kids sleeping here!” Ilya whispered tightly, and the voice on the other end took a second to respond,
“This is Doctor Olsen calling from Montreal General Hospital. Is this Shane Hollander?” the voice asked and Ilya felt sick – there was no reason for a hospital in Montreal to be calling his husband,
“This is his husband. He is in shower. One second, I will get him,” Ilya stepped into the bathroom and motioned for Shane, who was towelling off and looked absolutely delectable, to come join him, “it is hospital in Montreal?”
“Hello?” Shane asked, “this is Shane Hollander, may I ask why you’re calling?”
“You’re our secondary emergency contact for Hayden Pike, we can’t reach his primary contact at the moment, so protocol is to give you a ring,” the doctor explained and Shane looked at Ilya, perplexed,
“Yeah Jackie is in Paris for a girls trip, it’s like 3AM there right now,” Shane explained, “what’s going on? Is Hayden okay?”
“We brought Mr.Pike in after his on-ice injury earlier today,” the doctor’s voice was clear and Shane and Ilya shared a glance, they hadn’t watched the Montreal game, Ottawa was in the playoffs and Ilya had been corralling the kids during Montreal’s first round game earlier that night, “we can’t release injury details over the phone. I can tell you he is stable, out of surgery and he is going to be alright, but the news we’re going to deliver once he comes to is going to have pretty serious implications for his future in hockey. We don’t want him to be alone when we go over the recovery process.”
Ilya gulped, he did not like what the doctor was insinuating, which was that Hayden’s injury had likely been career ending. At their age, almost 36, any injury was bad, but one that required hospitalization and surgery typically was a death sentence. The doctor must have sensed the couple’s tense reaction because he continued,
“Is there any way you could get down here in the next few hours Mr.Hollander? He’s under for now, but we anticipate he’ll be up before the morning.”
Shane looked anxiously at Ilya, he could leave, he could tell the Centaurs he had a family emergency and speed down the highway to his best friend, but they had another playoff game tomorrow and Shane was the backbone of the team now that Ilya was retired. Without him, the Cents didn’t stand a chance against Washington,
“Would it be possible for me to come instead, Doctor Olsen?” Ilya asked, “Hayden and I are friends, he will be fine with me. My husband has a hockey game tomorrow for playoffs. I am retired, so I do not.”
“If Mr. Pike signs off on that once he’s awake we can release medical information to you, yes” Doctor Olsen answered quickly, “do you two have a way of getting in contact with any other family in the meantime? We want to make sure we call everyone who he may want.”
“His wife is overseas,” Shane reminded the doctor, “and his kids are at her parent’s house for the week. I’ll give them a call. His mom is in the States, but I can give her a ring too.”
“Fantastic, thank you, Mr….” Doctor Olsen’s voice dropped off, “sorry, I didn’t get your husband’s name earlier?”
“Mr. Hollander-Rozanov, Ilya,” Ilya replied, he was already packing a bag with overnight clothes as he wrapped up the call, “I will be there in two hours. Less probably.”
The hospital hung up and Shane looked at Ilya with a deeply lost expression, he was terrified for his best friend, and the idea of not being by his side was eating away at him already,
“Do not stress moya lyubov’, remember Pike and I are friends now, da?” Ilya pulled Shane into a hug, kissing the top of his head, “and I am expert on retirement, I will tell him how to survive. It will be okay.”
“I’m gonna call Jackie’s parents in the morning, I don’t want to wake the kids up if they’re already asleep,” Shane said quickly, tipping his head back to lock eyes with his husband, “am I terrible friend for not going? “
“No, you are great friend. Pike would not want you to let Centaurs embarrass themselves without you, he will understand,” Ilya assured him, “I will call Yuna and have her get Liliana and Micah before you go to morning skate tomorrow. And Pike and I will watch your game on TV.”
Shane nodded, he was so lucky to have a husband who was so calm under pressure. Shane always panicked, and Ilya, with his infinite wisdom, always seemed to have it under control. He had been a model of perfection in Shane’s eyes through the transition from hockey to retirement. Every new challenge was something Ilya had welcomed, he loved being overly involved in everyone’s lives, knowing that people counted on him seemed to bring Ilya to life. Shane had no doubt that Ilya would handle Hayden with a mixture of sarcasm and realism. Which would be a hell of a lot better than what Shane could provide, a mixture of anxiety and pity for the loss of future on the ice,
“Will you call me once he’s awake? I want to talk to him. And obviously let me know when you get there,” Shane asked anxiously and Ilya smoothed his hand through Shane’s hair with a soft smile,
“I will call you in the morning when you are awake. The kids are asleep, you need some rest before Game Two sweetheart, please try not to worry. You have my location remember? Can track me like Anya,” Ilya reminded him and Shane released the tension in his shoulders, sinking into his husband’s hug, “I love you”
“I love you too. Drive safely, please.”