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At this point Hayden is severely regreting the fact that he got the approval to tell Jackie about the Shane and Ilya thing. Ew, even that name sounds bad in his mouth - Shane and Rozanov thing - okay, that's better. That he can stomack.
Because what in the actual ever loving fuck Shane?
And look, he gets it. Shane loves Il... Rozanov. And Rozanov loves Shane and there was that whole incident at the Hollander residence last month which left Hayden deeply ashamed yet pissed even more at Shane for choosing Rozanov.
It's not that he didn't like the guy.
Well, actually scratch that.
He really didn't like the guy but it probably wasn't for the reason you all think he did. Hayden just had a hard time adjusting to the fact that Rozanov off and on ice were two completely different people. There wasn't any reality where that was even the possibility. Yet, he decided to believe Shane. At least Shane knew Rozanov far longer than he knew Hayden.
Well, that hurt a bit, didn't it?
So, here Hayden was sitting on his couch, his entire army of kids hauled into beds after a wrestling match during bath time. Half of his hoodie was soaked with water but he couldn't care less about that now. There was apple sauce stuck on one of his sleves and he doesn't remember how one of his pant legs got tiny holes in them. Hm? Ruby and Jade did play with those little child approved scissors earlier today, but that surely couldn't have done it, right?
Some days he felt like putting your kids to sleep should be a mandatory training session for the games because that included way more skill and stamina than any practice he ever had in his entire life.
He's staring into the abyss of turned off TV when Jackie, his wonderful and beautiful wife Jackie - the love of his life and mother of his children - plops right next to him snuggled up in a bathrobe, hair up in a towel, under eye mask on her face and a wine glass in her hand. Hayden always admired how she always had everything under control. He worshiped the ground underneath her feet for how amazing she was and how she handled everything.
Jackie throws him a can of icy cold beer and opens a huge pizza box between them. Hayden looks at her with heart eyes, the ones he accused Shane of having when looking at Ilya just a few nights ago.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"
"Only about ten times a day babe." - Jackie says nonchallantly and turns the TV on with one hand while sipping wine with the other.
Hayden couldn't understand. She seemed like she was just out of a spa center and not like the person who up until twenty minutes ago argued with Arthur whether or not he could bring his Dino nugets into bed with him because his besties were sad and lonely on his plate.
"Well, I do. And I'll say it ten times more and you best believe every single time I say it." - He says leaning forward to kiss Jackie's cheek and she blushes.
"Aw, Hayd. Love you too babe. You okay? You seem distracted? I mean, apart from the obvious wrestling with our gremlin like children part."
"Yeah. Just thinking about something."
"About what?" - She takes a slice of pizza and carefully balances it between her fingers while she eats it.
"Am I a bad friend?" - Hayden asks carefully.
"Wait, what?" - Jackie almost chokes.
"I mean... This whole Rozanov thing. I know I should be more supportive and everything but every time I see him I see him body slamming me on the ice and it makes my skin crawl. I want to take the time to get to know him but still, when Shane mentions him my first reaction is just ... Ew."
Jackie smiles politely, drops her pizza back into the box and wipes her mouth from the extra sauce then turns to her husband.
"I think that you spent the past decade conditioned to hate him. You were protecting your best friend on the ice. And now reality shifted and you're a bit lost on the fact that this entire time they weren't actual rivals. Which I get, that's completely valid. But honey, Ilya is so wonderful. And he really cares and loves Shane.
"Have you seen how he muses over Shane's stupid macrobiotic diet? Also, all the crates of ginger ale in their supply closet with the post it notes is funny and caring as hell." - Jackie takes her husband's hand and kisses the palm of it, making him smile. But then he thinks about what she said and furrows his eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?"
"The other day I was dropping Arthur with Shane while I needed to do some errands and I accidentaly spilled those chocolate milk thingies Arthur likes to drink all over my t-shirt and needed something to clean it off with.
"And there, in the middle of Shane's supply closet were three whole crates of Canada Dry ginger ale almost completely taped with those neon sticky notes in Ilya's handwriting saying things like 'open only in emergency', 'emergent ginger ale stash', 'Ilya Rozanov won the bet', 'from No.1 hockey player in the world', 'so you don't ever get out of ginger ale', 'stupid Canadian medicine juice' and such."
Jackie reaches for the beer can in Hayden's lap, opens it and hands it to her husband continuing her story.
"Aparently one time Shane ran out of ginger ale while Ilya was visiting and almost had a meltdown because of it. You know how he is with his routine and everything. You had bad nights on the road when he forgot to stash it and hotel didn't have it. Well, the next day Ilya woke up early in the morning to buy him several cases but that didn't stop there.
"As soon as he returned to Ottawa he made a special delivery with the post it notes crates which are meant to be opened only in emergencies. And Shane thought that was the end of it. But now he gets weekly deliveries of said ginger ale to his house. Like Hayd, that man is a lover boy. He loves Shane through and through." - Jackie finishes and goes again for the pizza, licking the sauce off her fingers.
"Ugh, I feel like shit hating him now even more." - Hayden just drops his head theatrically on the couch and closes his eyes.
"Yeah. I know. But you'll get used to it. Have you talked with Shane about Ilya? Like, what he's like when there is no hockey talk around you?"
"Um, no." - Hayden steels himself from making another disgusted face.
"Who initiated the first kiss?"
"Jesus Jacks how should I know? And, why does it matter?" - He takes a big sip of his beer and reaches for the pizza himself. Jackie just shrugs her shoulders.
"It matters. Have you asked what he loves about him? That is not, you know... The obvious physical apperance of a Greek God." - Jackie mutters the last part almost under her breath.
"Jackie!" - Hayden mock offends with a hand over his heart. Jackie playfully shoves him.
"Come on. You know I love your dad bod and apple sauce stuck to your... Why on Earth is your pant leg covered in holes?" - She gasps at his ruined pants.
"Ruby and Jade, I think?" - Hayden bashes his eyelashes, Jackie rolls her eyes.
"Is that a question or an answer babe?"
"An answer?" - Another round of bashing eyelashes.
"Okay. Here's what you're going to do. You're gonna make an effort the next time you see Ilya and stop insinuating to Shane that you can find him a better option."
"Ugh. Do I have to?" - Hayden whines.
"Yes." - Jackie levels him with her murderous gaze.
"Fine. But I'm doing it just because I love you and Shane." - He stuffs an entire slice of pizza into his mouth so he can stop talking about this.
"Generous."
"But I'll never love Rozanov. No chance in hell." - He mumbles with his mouth full.
"Debatable." - Jackie snorts watching Hayden to try as fast as possible to chew.
"What? Babe, I... He's a piece of..." - Hayden doesn't finish the sentence because he sees the minute the idea of spilling the entire wine bottle over his head flashes over her eyes.
"Fine. Fine. I'll make an effort."
Hayden sighs and stuffs another pizza slice into his mouth.
_
Not even a week later after their conversation Hayden was trying to approach Shane with ridiculous questions Jackie sent him to his phone to ask to try and make an effort to start the Ilya conversation. But right now, staring at the question 'Who said you I love you first?' his stomack grumbles and he feels like he'll hurl his entire breakfast in one go.
He must've been blanking out for some time because Shane had to physically push him to get his attention.
"Hey, Hayd man. You okay in there?"
"Oh yeah. Just dozed off."
They were drinking water by the benches while the rest of the team was scattered on the ice.
"Rough night? Ilya said that Jackie sent him some memes at three in the morning. Must've been hell of a night with the kids." - Shane pulls a small smile at that. Hayden just stares at him confused.
"What? Jackie, did... What?"
"Um, her and Ilya are friends on instagram. They send each other recipes and memes and stuff. I thought you, knew?"
And Hayden could see how Shane was getting exponentionally more and more anxious by the fact that he starts curling around himself trying to make himself smaller.
Fantastic Pike. You're being a jerk again.
"Oh, hey. No. Sorry. Yeah, it was a hard night. Amber is having some kind of a two year old sleep regression or something. If that is even a real thing, I don't know. We both feel like shit honestly."
Ok, that was probably a save, right?
Shane deflates.
Crisis averted.
"So, the Ilya thing doesn't bother you?" - Shane asks carefully again.
"What, that my lovely wife and your lover are friends? I don't care about that."
Shane whines.
"Please don't call him that. It's such a weird word."
"Okay. Then what should I call him?" - Hayden asks genuinely catching Shane mid glide almost making him trip over.
"What?"
"I mean, if he's not a lover and even if I desperately want to call him Rozanov with a scoff under my breath until one of us die of old age, I think I should call him something a little less... Hm, hostile?" - Hayden offers an olive branch.
"You okay there Hayd?" - Shane tries to check his temperature but Hayden bats his hand off.
"Fuck off bud. I'm trying here." - He smiles.
"I know, I appreciate it." - Shane pulls on a little goopy smile - "Um. Well, he is my boyfriend but maybe if we're surounded by people who don't know about us maybe partner? It's gender neutral. Or, you know... You could actually try calling him Ilya, because that's his actual name."
"Oh, God. I'm in actual hell right now." - Hayden mocks annoyance.
"You'll survive." - Shane smiles turning swiftly on the ice to look back at him then they return to their practice session.
_
"Shit, shit, shit!" - Hayden murmurs under his breath pacing up and down in the hallway after their game in San Francisco. Shane just exited the showers and saw him panicking.
"Hey, everything okay?"
"No. Everything is not okay!" - Hayden almost but yells at his best friend - "Sorry, I didn't mean to... It's just Jackie fell hard on ice - broke her wrist, has some bruised ribs and a small kidney bleed or something. And both of our parents are on a cruise together and we are on the road for the next few weeks and I asked the coach if I could bail but he almost killed me on spot and I don't know who to call and..."
And yes, he was genuinely panicking right now. He drops on the floor and shoves his head between his knees feeling Shane next to him drawing circles over his shoulders.
"Hey. It's okay. We'll fix this."
"How? I'm fucking miles away and all of Jackie's friends have their own kids to care about and our toddlers are gremlins. She really needs some help right now. And her kidney? They told her that she'll be discharged in couple of hours because it wasn't that bad but needs to be carefully monitored. What if it gets bad and she's all alone at house?" - Hayden's eyes are filled with tears right now as he drops his head between his knees again.
"Okay. Okay. I have an idea but I need you not to freak about it, okay?"
"Shane buddy at this point I'd allow Rozanov to take care of her."
He meant it as a joke. Really.
"Well..."
At that Hayden lifts his head abruptly.
"What do you mean?"
"He's not playing for the next two weeks. He had light concussion after the hit five days ago. He's fine now but his coach put him on mandatory rest. So he's at my place in Montreal, doing some Foundation meetings." - Shane offers gently.
"Oh."
"Yeah. And I can ask him if he could pick up Jackie and the kids and they could you know, take care of each other."
"You sure about that? I'm pretty much convinced that Ruby and Jade's screams will trigger his headaches in a heartbeat."
Shane smiles softly and offers Hayden his hand so he can stand up from the floor.
"I'm sure. Come on, let's get our stuff and get out of here so I can call him."
Much to Hayden's dismay Ilya accepts it without a beat. He didn't even wait for Shane's carefully laid out plan before he said yes. Both Shane and Hayden were on the speaker when they called him.
"You would really do that?" - Hayden asks.
"Off course Pike. I'm just hurt that Jackie didn't call me before you. She knew I was in town."
"What?"
"It might come as a surprise to you Pike but you remember that creamy mashed potatoes you've been eating for weeks? Well, I've sent her that recipe. I really do like your wife and kids. They are not annoying like you are." - Ilya says with a tease in his voice.
"Ilya." - Shane threatens.
"Ugh. Fine. I won't tease him. Don't worry Hayden. Jackie and the kids will be safe with me."
Hayden opens his mouth to chirp something back but Rozanov using his first name for the first time in forever melts him a little bit. Damn, he really is going to have to start loving Rozanov, isn't he?
"Thank you... Ilya." - Hayden finaly says.
"Okay. I need to get her now. We'll update you. Bye Hayden. Love you Shane."
"Love you Ilya. Be safe."
"Always am." - Ilya snickers and Shane huffs out a laugh while turning off the call.
"You know," - Shane starts like he's reminiscing - "The first time Ilya said my first name I panicked, ran away and started dating Rose Landry."
Hayden blinkes a couple of times, remembering clear as a day when Shane came back disheveled from Boston Lily at the time then abruptly started dating Rose not even three days later. Oh, okay. Now it all makes sense.
"Are you saying that just because we called each other's first names it's okay for me to freak out over your annoyingly loving and stable relationship?" - Hayden deadpans.
"All I'm saying is that I'm grateful that you're trusting him with Jackie and the kids. I know they're your entire life but he is mine and there is really no better person than him to do so."
Well shit, Hayden is now going to cry.
"You can't say things like that bud. I'll start crying and I can't call Jackie to vent out about it."
"You can vent about it with me?" - Shane kicks Hayden's sneaker with the tip of his own.
"Yes. Yes I can."
_
"Your boyfriend is pretty amazing. I think Jackie might leave me for him." - Hayden starts going through Jackie's messages and all the photos of her and the kids Ilya took. Shane pulls on a little smile.
"Thank god he loves me because he'd most definitely try to win over Jackie and the kids just to spite you."
"Yeah. Same. Jackie loves me 70% more than him. Okay, no. Maybe like 60%?"
"Dude!" - Shane erupts in laughter. Hayden turns his screen to Shane to show him a video and some photos.
"He cooked breakfast with them bud. Like actual human breakfast, not the plastic kind Amber loves to prepare. And even managed to make Arthur talk in longer sentences. You know Arthur, you know how shy he is."
"Oh, I know." - Shane's entire face melts in happiness by hearing all the positive things about Ilya.
"He even scheduled the in home spa day for all of them. Some of his Russian connections or whatever so nobody could figure it out who they were tending to. The girls got princess makeovers and I kid you not Arthur fell asleep in his arms after being swaddled after his bath. Like. How is he so good at this?"
Shane shrugs and throws his duffle bag over his shoulders, taking Hayden's in his free arm.
"He loves kids, and yours are really cool. But don't let him know I told you that. He wants to mess with you every once in a while. Don't know why. It's like a power play for both of you, claiming me as a best friend and a partner, dunno. But yeah, he's a genuine sweetheart. He, um. Didn't have that great of a childhood so every chance he gets he tries to make up for it."
Hayden stops in the middle of the street, his heart clenched in his chest. Shane has said that entire thing like it was a weather forecast report and not like he offered a tiny piece of his heart about why he loves Ilya.
And Hayden knew that he was internally screaming at himself by offering this piece of information. When they reached the rental car Hayden put a hand over Shane's shoulder, surprising him.
"Hey, I know I don't make it easy for you and Ilya. But I really do want to know everything about you two. It wasn't probably easy to stay hidden for all those years and I really appreciate you sharing him with me. Okay? Also, I kinda get the rivalry between me and him."
"You... You do?" - Shane furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
"Well, yes it's obvious, isn't it?" - Hayden closes the back doors after pushing their bags on the seats and takes the driver seat.
"Um?"
"He does know you longer than me. And more intimately than me, because of you know... Obvious reasons. But I got to have you in daylight for all these years. We can hang out and go to museums and aquariums together. We can attend team BBQ's and festivities and no one would ever assume anything.
"I can have you as a friend when everyone is watching, but you can only have each other in complete darkness and secret. And that must suck! I can't even imagine if that happened with me and Jackie man. So yeah, I don't mind if he's being pissy at me sometimes. That just means he cares."
"Wow Hayd, I don't... I don't know what to say." - Shane's eyes were glistening with tears and Hayden wanted to end his misery so he turned it into a joke.
"Well, for starters enter the hotel address in my GPS, I keep forgeting the turns."
"Jesus Hayd, it's just around the corner. I swear to god you have ADHD or something with your lack of direction."
"Hey now! Although yeah, I do get carried away sometimes."
_
Two weeks later Shane and Hayden entered the Pike residence into an explosive patterns of colours and the banner 'Welcome home boys' written in huge block letters. The twins were dressed in their princess costumes again but each having superhero masks over their faces - Ruby Green Lantern and Jade Hawkgirl. Arthur was in his firefighter costume but had a rainbow cape over his shoulders and blue painted nails. Amber was in a neon Grinch toddler sized onesie with freckles drawn over her cheeks while Ilya held her over his hip. There was cake and obnoxious amount of food.
Hayden was dumbfounded searching for his wife who was hurrying over almost body slamming him with hugs and kisses. The kids followed.
"Daddy!!!! Uncle Shane!!!"
They all screamed in unison. Shane took Amber out of Ilya's hands when she offered grabby hands towards him and Ilya planted a soft kiss over his lips slowly caressing his freckles with his fingers.
"Flight went okay?" - Ilya asked softly.
"Yeah. Just, hard game and we're exhausted. How's everything around here? You seem like you're managing it."
But Ilya didn't get to answer because Ruby and Jade attached to his legs.
"Uncle Shane! Uncle Ilya is the best! He's so funny and so smart!"
They were talking over each other.
"And he cooks! Like, real food. Not the microwave kind daddy makes."
"Hey now!" - Hayden mocks offense.
"No offense Pike but little Pikes are correct. Even if you know how to cook I probably do it better than you."
"Daddy, daddy and look, look. He helped us with our science project!" - Ruby yanks Hayden's hand and drags him into the living room.
The next hour and a half were filled with children's voices recaping their past two weeks with Jackie and Ilya. Showing them photos they took on polaroid cameras Shane bought them for last Christmas and Hayden genuinely almost shed a tear.
Because, there he was - the most obnoxious player in the entire league letting his children paint his nails, do his hair, tend to Jackie's medication and on one occassion all four of Pike's kids settled on top of his huge frame sleeping while he watched a Metro's game on the TV - Hayden figured that one Jackie took.
He turns to Ilya who was now peeling the skin out of the plum Arthur wanted to eat and just couldn't stop staring at the gentleness of his actions while he softly spoke to Arthur that there's nothing wrong with him not wanting to eat the skin of the fruit.
"But everyone makes fun of me at school for it." - Arthur admits in a small voice.
"Well, you can say to those people in school that your Uncle Shane, the best hockey player in the World, also hates skin on some of his fruits and that is not a big deal. If Shane Hollander can peel his fruits than so can you."
Arthur's eyes open as wide as they go.
"Really?"
"Yes. There is nothing wrong with it Arthur. Some people just don't like it and that's okay. Okay?"
Arthur almost burst into tears but opts to scoot closer to Ilya and curl his little arms around his bicep watching him carefully peel off the skin. Ilya lifts his gaze and sees Hayden watching closely. Hayden thought about saying something about how he magnificently handled that conversation, or how Hayden thought only he knew about Shane's particularities about fruits and vegetables but he knew that Ilya would throw the plum pits at his head if he did so, so he opted out for the safest route:
"So, you agree that Shane is the better player in the league than you?"
"Well, he's certainly better than you Pike." - Ilya answers eyes back on the fruit again, but small gratefull smile tugging at his lips.
Half an hour later everyone collectively went into that limbo of extreme exhaustion and the need to go get ready for bed. Ilya stands up from the couch, stretches his arms and legs and yawns. Then turns around to the kids like an army general on a mission.
"Okay, little Pike gremlins. We have a mission tonight, we talked about this this morning. Yes?"
The children perk up and sit upright when Ilya starts commanding them.
"Yes!" - The twins scream in unison while Arthur tried to wipe Amber's Grinch cheek freckles with his finger.
"So. Ruby and Jade are on toy cleanup duty. Arthur, you collect all the paper plates into the trash. Amber, you stay cute for now." - Ilya gently pinches the toddler's cheek and she laughs. - "Jackie, you stay pretty. I'm bringing you your meds. Shane, moy lyubimyy can you take down the banner and carefully fold it into this box? Then you can relax again. Pike!" - Hayden almost flinches at his voice, Ilya smirks - "Follow me to the kitchen, please."
And honest to god Hayden never in his life saw his family all working in unison to clean everything together. He followed Ilya to the kitchen prepared to hear more snark comments but Ilya just opened his fridge which was, okay wow! Hayden had to take another look before he realized that Ilya was talking to him because his entire fridge was packed with tetris like tupperware containers.
Ilya flicks his fingers in front of Hayden's face to snap him out of it.
"Pike, you okay? Your brain farted just now."
"Um, yes. Sorry. Just wasn't expecting... Well, whatever this is actually."
"Surprised I'm organized?" - Ilya grinned.
"Well, no offense but yes. Kinda."
"Shane isn't the only one who likes order. I like my food safe. So, can you pay attention for a bit?"
"Yeah, sure."
"So, I went to the grocery store and stocked everything up for the next five days. Snacks, vegetables, protein, dairy - everything. I also made some freezer meals for you and Jackie when you are too tired in the evening to cook. You can unfreeze them in the microwave. And for the kids those little fruit popsicles they like. The store bought ones are awful, they like these better. You have around fifty of those - different flavours, we made them together."
Ilya opens the freezer and shows Hayden all the popsicles carefully stored and marked into separate containers.
"You made homemade fruit popsickles with my kids?" - Hayden asks stunned.
"They are very convincing Pike. So, you following? All the fruits and vegetables are cleaned and stored properly. I made you mac and cheese for tomorrow, you just need to put it in the oven - I wrote you instructions on a note. I'll pack the leftovers from the dinner and put it in the fridge now and..."
But Ilya didn't manage to finish his sentence because Hayden body slammed him with a soul crushing hug. For a second Ilya didn't react, arms stiff around Hayden then awkwardly taped him in a 'there, there' motion over his shoulderblades.
Hayden untangles from his embrace and swipes a tear from his eyes.
"Man... I don't know what to say... Thank you... I..."
Ilya rolls his eyes fondly and closes the fridge doors.
"Now, there is a schedule for Jackie's doctor visits on the fridge. As well as Ruby and Jade's martial art class." - He continues like nothing happened.
"What? They told us that they don't want to go anymore."
"Well, I had this nice conversation with them and told them it is a nice skill to have if they needed to beat boys if they wanted to." - Ilya grins.
"Jesus Ilya." - Hayden laughs trying to catch his breath with all the information he just got.
"In self defense, yes?" - Ilya lifts his hands in defense but still grinning.
"Okay. Anything else?"
"Yes. Go back to your wife and best friend and catch up. I'll handle the bed time and then Shane and me are going back home." - Ilya pushes Hayden out of the kitchen.
"Hey, you don't need to do that."
"Oh, I do. You will fall alseep on the toilet while they are brushing their teeth. Go. I'm handling everything." - Ilya shushed him out of the kitchen and Hayden stood for a second or two just staring at Ilya like a freak.
Then honest to god Ilya winked at him making him blush.
Jesus Christ Hayden, not now!
Not even twenty minutes after the Uncle Ilya bootcamp all Pike kids were in their beds changed and their teeth brushed, kitchen spotless and living room back into it's previous condition. Ilya softly closes the door of Amber's room and pats down to the adults of the house. Shane almost half asleep in the corner of the couch.
"Shane, moya lyubov." - Ilya gently swipes over his freckles making Shane stir in his sleep. - "Come on. We're going home."
"Hm? Yes, please." - Shane makes grabby hands towards Ilya and Ilya pulls him into a bear hug.
"I missed you." - Shane mummbles into his neck.
"Missed you too moya otvertka."
"Hm, what does that one mean?"
"Later. Say goodbye to your friends."
At that Shane turns around completely forgetting that they were not alone and in someone else's house. He pecks Jackie's cheek then fist bumps Hayden. Ilya following him with a peck on Jackie's cheek but Hayden stands up from the couch to see them off.
"Wine night next time you're in Montreal Ilya, deal?" - Jackie says making him smile.
"Any day Jackie, even when your boring husband isn't at home. Especially then."
Jackie starts giggling.
"You're an adorable idiot. Thank you for everything, really. I don't know how can we even begin to repay you."
"You already did. You kept this one alive for a decade." - Ilya hugs his boyfriend around his waist and Shane blushes. Jackie just winks at them.
When they get to the driveway Shane goes to the passenger seat but Hayden stops Ilya before he could get into the car.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Yeah. Sure." - He glances over to Shane who adoringly scrunches his forehead trying to figure out what they are talking about but Ilya just waves him off.
"I know that we do this thing where we bite and make each other crazy but what you did here... You... I don't just appreciate it I... I don't have the words for it man. But I just need to say this once, and then we can forget about it and never talk about it again, okay?"
"Okay." - Ilya smiles and snorts under his breath.
"I was jealous as fuck for Shane keeping you a secret and not telling me you existed for over a decade. I felt like there was a piece of Shane he decided to put away just to be presentable for everybody. But he was probably scared as fuck the entire time. And I can beat myself up for not being good enough of a friend for not making our relationship safe enough for him to come out sooner but I'm just happy he had you for all those years.
"I'm aware that your relationship wasn't easy and everything but at least you had that part of him he carried close to his heart. So yeah, me and Jackie might've kept him alive but you're the only reason he smiles and lets himself just ... Be. So, yeah. Thank you for everything, both the Shane thing and the Jackie and the kids thing."
Hayden offeres a hand but Ilya had honest to god unshed tears in his eyes and just abruptly pulls him into a hug.
"Oh, okay." - Hayden mumbles.
"Thank you Pike. You have a wonderful family even when you are boring. And the Shane thing, I can't thank you enough for that. You were there in moments when I couldn't. But Pike?" - Ilya angles his lips right into his ear and Hayden almost shivers from the fact that he knew Ilya is going to threaten him now.
"Yes?"
"We go back to our banter. Is safe. And more fun, yes?"
Ilya detaches himself from Hayden and they both laugh.
"Deal."
They shake hands and Shane rolls down his window.
"You guys are being weird. You didn't threaten to murder him Ilya?"
"No. I was being nice."
Shane lifts his eyebrows in question to Hayden.
"Yeah. He was. It was weird. Okay, go home lovebirds."
Hayden pats Ilya on his back and lets him get into car. He watches as Ilya turns on the car and reaches for Shane's hand over the console bringing the knucles to his lips gently kissing them, then makes a small wave and drives off from the driveway.
He returns to Jackie back on the couch pulling her legs into his lap.
"So, I'm getting quite fond of Rozanov." - Hayden admits.
"Oh, really?" - Jackie muses.
"Shut up. He's not that bad. Also, Shane really opened up to me in the past two weeks about them."
"Okay, now I'm even more interested. You have gossip." - Her eyes glistened with mischief.
"You know that apartment building he had downtown for years?"
"Yes."
"He bought it so they could meet there when Ilya was in Montreal because he was paranoid of taking him to his real home."
Jackie gasps.
"What?! Nooooooo! Our baby boy Shane?!"
"Yeah, can you imagine that? I mean, his normal apartment had excellent security. No one would know. But he panicked and bought an entire booty call building."
Jackie smacks him over his shoulder.
"Oh my god Hayden, when you phrase it like that it sounds like he was slutting Ilya out."
"Well, I mean. They were kinda slutting each other out for years. But, yeah."
They both giggle at that.
"Okay. What else did you find out? Who said 'I love you first'?"
Hayden rolls his eyes.
"Ugh, you're gonna be so annoying about this."
"OH MY GOD! IT'S ILYA ISN'T IT! OF COURSE HE IS! THE ULTIMATE LOVER BOY OF ALL TIME!" - Jackie screams into the quiet house fist bumping the air when they both flinch waiting for the kids to wake up from the noise.
"You did not just do that?" - Hayden whispers.
"It's okay. They are still asleep, Ilya is a wizard. So, what else?"
Jackie plasters herself to Hayden's side as he shares all the funny things he collected about Ilya and Shane in the past two weeks. Jackie was right, Ilya was not so bad when you get to know him.