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“DAAADDYYYY!”
Lyra's eyes snapped open at the loud cry, then she groaned and rolled face first into her pillow.
Normally she slept through Isla's nightmares but she had a terrible time trying to fall asleep last night. She rolled over again and listened as the door down the hall opened, soft footsteps padded down quietly and her sister's door opened, the one next to hers.
“Hey, what's wrong baby?” her daddy called gently as he moved into her room.
Lyra closed her eyes to the sound of Isla sniffling something in reply she couldn't hear. But she knew she was fine, she was sure their daddy would pick her up and snuggle her tight, comfort her and sooth her back to sleep. He was good at that.
She let her eyes close again to try and fall back asleep but right before she could fully slip into the peace of sleep another softer cry broke the quiet. She let out a long sigh, the same kind Papa did when Daddy was being Daddy, apparently. She wasn’t sure what that meant but he said it a lot.
She rolled over and pouted at the door, she heard Daddy’s footsteps again, he was saying something quietly, so he had to be still carrying Isla. A few moments later the door across from her room opened, and her baby brother’s cries were louder before they quieted too.
“Shh, shh,” her daddy murmured, and she knew he was lifting Yury from his crib and pressing him to his chest as he shushed him. She let that wash over her too, that was a good memory and feeling, being held nice and tight in strong comforting arms. Not that she didn’t get that every single day, because she knew if she even looked a little bit sad her Papa would swoop in and hug and pepper kisses all over her until she giggled. She loved that too, she had the best Papa and Daddy, they loved her so much, she was never not sure of that. But it was different when you were small and held nice and secure in their arms, she was a bit envious of her younger siblings for still getting that. She was getting bigger now so the hugs were different, she’d grown a whole four inches in the last year according to the doctor, and she was the oldest, she had to be responsible. She was going to be nine soon, that was a big deal. She had to figure out how to be a big girl now, and she was sure big girls didn’t really need to be snuggled like their baby siblings at night. She could of course just go into their room and crawl into bed with them, she’d done that a million times before.
But she didn’t need to be snuggled just because she was up late at night and maybe felt a little bit lonely in the dark. She was a big girl.
She closed her eyes and decided to go back to sleep without bugging her parents, she’d see them in the morning.
Except a few moments later her door opened, and more soft steps came in, she peeked from under her covers and saw her Daddy looking down at her, Yury sniffing into his shoulder.
“Hey sweetheart, did the crying wake you up?” he asked gently, his hand reached out and pet her hair.
“Yeah,” she said, “But I’m okay.”
“Okay,” he smiled down at her, “But you know…there might be a Lyra shaped hole in the big bed.”
“Really?” she was doubtful, because she knew that there wasn’t really a her shaped hole in the bed, but it seemed silly to say.
“Mhmm, Papa said so,” Daddy said, smiling more, “He said he really can’t sleep until it’s filled.”
“Well, I guess if Papa said…” she replied, slipping out of bed and taking her Daddy’s hand as he led the way back to the big bed, feeling a little warm and fuzzy knowing maybe they couldn’t sleep good without her too.
They snuck in quietly because it was dark and it needed to be quiet, that’s just how night time worked, Papa was in bed laid on his back, Isla was flopped on top of his chest, her arms and legs dangling all which way, his hand was rubbing her back slowly, she was already making noises in her sleep.
“Aaah, the rest of my favorites,” he whispered and pat the space next to him, “Good, join the cuddlepuddle.”
Lyra grinned and crawled up onto the bed and snuggled right next to him, Daddy pulled the blanket over them, before he slid into bed too, letting Yury lay onto his own chest, he shifted a bit for a moment to kiss Lyra on her forehead then relaxed back, putting her in the middle of them all. Papa leaned over and mimicked the kiss, making her giggle. Being in the middle of the cuddlepuddle was actually the best, and she wouldn’t have fit so well if she was smaller. Being big had its perks so far.
She snuggled in deep and found sleep was much easier to fall to this time.
“....time she wakes up like that we should call Pike and let him listen, it’s his fault she has nightmares.”
“You know, your ability to hold grudges is awe-inspiring.”
“I know, I am an inspiration.” Daddy huffed at Papa’s joke.
“It’s not his fault and Ruby feels awful, she didn’t know Isla was awake, let alone watching the movie sneakily behind her.”
“She is a teenager, I can’t fault a teenager for being a teenager, but I can fault her father.”
“You are going to absolutely eat those words as soon as we have teenagers,” Daddy was laughing.
Papa gasped, “Never! Because they will not get caught, I have taught them too well.”
Daddy laughed harder and then stopped to shush Yury who’d made a little disgruntled noise from on top of his chest. Lyra opened her eyes and saw the top of her sister’s head and felt her curled up right next to her, Isla was snuggled up tight in her arms, between her and Papa, her pigtails were a mess. Lyra’s hair was also probably a mess, but that was okay, Papa would rebraid it later.
“Yeah, what a great thing for our children to learn,” Daddy said, then sighed and shifted, “Damn, we should start getting up, need to start breakfast so we can be early; we have that family interview before Lyra goes to school...”
“Uulgh…do we have to?”
“No, you don’t, I can do it all myself.”
“Oh no, it is the update to the one we did five years ago, there is no way I am letting you control the narrative! I will be there.”
“What, you don't trust me?”
“No you would be perfect old man and I-ihgf!”
“I'm thirty six days older than you, dumbass, you're old too.”
Lyra looked up to see her Daddy holding Yury in one hand and pressing a pillow to Papa's cackling face with his other. Lyra burst into giggles.
“Lyrachka! Help your poor Papa!”
“Sorry Papa, but Daddy’s gonna make breakfast,” she grinned and giggled more when Papa clutched at his heart dramatically.
“Betrayed for food!” he gasped.
“I’d betray you for a Klondike bar,” Daddy said with what Nana called his ‘deadpan humor’, she still wasn’t quite sure what it meant but Daddy was good at it.
“...which flavor?” Papa asked, eyes narrowed, Daddy smiled wickedly.
“Plain.”
Papa gasped dramatically again, “Not the boringest flavor! Also we have not had those in a…very long time.”
“Yeah, I wonder if they still make them,” Daddy looked down at Yury who was sucking on his fist, “Mmm, okay, I’m gonna start breakfast, and get Yury his bottle-”
“Wanna heeelp!” a whiney tired voice said into Lyra’s shoulder. She looked down to see Isla’s grumpy tired face pulled back and glaring.
“You want to feed Yury?” Daddy asked, smiling, “You’ll have to get out of bed.”
Isla made a face and muttered something that was maybe in Russian, she wasn’t exactly sure, she was conversationally fluent in the language thanks to her Papa (Daddy had focused on making sure she was good with the French she learned in school, but he could also speak Russian), but Isla was still learning and had a weird knack for speaking it backwards, at least Papa laughed at what she said, Daddy shook his head.
“You can stay in bed with Papa, or help feed Yury,” he said in Russian slowly and clearly.
“Help baby,” Isla said stubbornly, sitting up and showing off her rumpled nightgown and messy pigtails, pouting at being awake, Daddy offered his hand, smiling. She took it and climbed out of bed. Daddy turned quickly to kiss her on the head then kiss Papa nice and sweet on the lips before leading the way out of the bedroom. Lyra took that chance to climb onto Papa’s chest and flop down. Afterall, she was still little today, she wasn’t going to be big for another whole day.
“Oof,” he said, then his hand came up and rubbed at her back, “Doing alright, Lyrachka?”
“Tired, Isla was loud last night and I was worried, then Yury too,” she said honestly, “Papa? Am I responsible now?”
“Hmm?” Papa looked down at her switching back to English with her, “What do you mean?”
“Well, Arthur said he’s got more responsibilities cause he’s older now, he says his Mom and Dad make him do more things, but not the same things as Ruby and Jade cause they’re the oldest so they have the most responsibilities. I’m the oldest so that means I’m responsible…right?”
“Aaaah,” Papa tilted his head to the side, “You are responsible, but not in the same way as Jade and Ruby, they are adults now, trying to take care of themselves without their parents to help, but also learning how to take care of others too. But they still get help, because they have good parents that want them to succeed. And honestly don’t compare to Arthur he is already more responsible than all of his sisters combined because he is trying very hard to take care of everyone,” he snorted, though she wasn’t quite sure at what, “I think we might need to kidnap him soon so he can come have fun.”
“Oh,” she said, not entirely sure what all of what he said meant, “You think he’d like it?”
“I think he deserves a little break, Arthur is a good boy, he cares about his family very much, but you are like him a bit, trying to be responsible,” Papa said, kissing her forehead, “You do not need to take care of everyone, you are still little.”
“I am not!” she insisted, sitting up to glower at him, “I’m gonna be nine!”
“Oooh, don’t remind me,” he stuck his bottom lip out in a big pout, “Oooh my little Lyrachka, you were so tiny when we first met you, now you’re going to be nine.”
“I knoooow,” she huffed, “Exactly seventeen days after Daddy.”
He smiled then and reached up to hold her cheeks and kiss her forehead, “You have grown up so much, your Daddy and I are so very proud of you, and you can be responsible at your own pace, you still need to care about yourself right now.”
“But I can help with Isla and Yury,” she insisted.
“And you do!” he agreed, “You are a very big help, we appreciate it, you are wonderful, but never think you have to. Sometimes it is hard, and when it is, it is okay to let Papa or Daddy take care of things, no matter what, yes? We are here to be responsible for you, until you are big enough to do it on your own. And sometimes, just being here is the most help.”
“Like…coming to the cuddlepuddle?”
“Exactly so,” Papa said, pulling her down so he could pepper kisses all over her face. “Now, let’s go save Daddy, I feel like Isla might need a bit of extra attention today.”
“Because of the nightmare?”
“Yes, lots of kisses and hugs, and probably a nap later.”
“I’m too big for a nap,” she said.
“Papa is not,” he said happily, making her laugh as he got up, able to grab her as he did and stick her on his hip as if she really were still little. It probably helped that both of her parents were professional athletes and were very strong. She would take what she could get though, it was nice to be treated little still. But she was still gonna be big soon!
Lyra was already so tired and they’d only just gotten into the car after breakfast and getting changed, Daddy had laid out their clothes and Papa had rebraided her and Isla’s hair, and braided Daddy's too because Ilsa had insisted, then they’d gotten dressed just a little fancy, but only so much as not being in athletic gear or lounge clothes. Apparently there was another interview they were doing, she was pretty used to it, they did them a lot. She knew her Daddies were famous, people stopped them in public a lot, and asked for pictures. She had gone to every single game that was hosted at home, and watched the ones they had to leave for with Nana and Poppop at their house. They were leaving for games next week after her birthday party, they had to go a lot this time of year because of 'playoffs', and that kind of sucked because she didn't like not having them around. But it was kind of hard to think of her parents as famous, because they just were her parents.
“Hayd and Jackie said they’re still down to help for Saturday, Cassie and Bood are coming too, Milo and May are excited about it, as well as the others.”
“Oh good, on top of her whole class, we will be bringing enough pizzas, yes?”
“I sure as hell hope so, I think I ordered like…forty, with all of whatever else they had.” Her ears perked up.
“Are you talking about my birthday party?” she asked, leaning forward in her seat behind Papa, Isla was in the middle because it gave her the most leg room, Yury was gnawing happily on a teething toy in his carseat behind Daddy’s seat.
“Yes, at the…please tell me again, Flying Squirrel Trampoline park? I am curious, do we have to bring a squirrel suit, or our own pet flying squirrel?” Papa was looking at her in the rearview mirror, obviously teasing.
“Can I have a pet flying squirrel?!” she asked, “I saw a video of one!”
“No,” Daddy said, “Anya would eat it.”
“She would not! She would try…and then probably get hurt, her poor old doggy bones,” he pouted and Daddy reached over and set a hand on his leg.
“Are you excited?” Daddy asked, turning from the passenger seat to look at her, “I think nearly everyone we invited is going to be there.”
“Auntie Rose?!” she gasped.
“Yay Auntie Rose!” Isla cheered, her little feet kicking up in excitement making it very obvious why she was in the middle and not behind a seat.
“Maybe,” Daddy smiled, which really was as good as a yes, he was very bad at not telling her things. Papa snorted a laugh.
“Wow,” he lifted Daddy’s hand up and kissed it, “Okay, we are almost to the arena. Are you wanting to help with the interview, I know you did last time, but you do not have to.”
“I don’t remember last time,” Lyra admitted, five years ago she would have been four (or almost four anyway), the same age as Isla (who had turned four in December), that was forever ago.
“It was just a nice lady asking us questions about our jobs and some questions about the family,” Daddy explained, “You answered a few, like how old you were and how you felt about hockey, but nothing crazy.”
“Oh,” Lyra still didn’t remember.
“I wanna talk!” Isla said, “I can talk all about hockey!”
“Yes, I know you can,” Papa laughed, “We will give you all hockey questions, alright?”
“Okay!”
Daddy chuckled, “Or you can hang out with Harris in his office if you don't want to help.”
“I dunno,” Lyra said, “Maybe.”
“Well you have a little time to decide, until we get to the doors,” Papa said, she made a face.
“Well, I guess I can, just so people don’t think I’m still four,” she said and grinned when both of them laughed.
“Alright so we get to the arena and be fast, this shouldn’t take too long and then we can carry on with the day...maybe a nap” Papa said, “I am very ready for a nap.”
“No!” Isla shrieked.
“Oh boy,” Daddy muttered.
“Islashka, please no screaming,” Papa said tiredly, “You do not have to nap, but Papa is tired and will nap later, but he can only do that if there is no screaming today.”
“Don’t wanna!” Isla insisted.
“And you don’t have to,” Daddy said, “But remember that Papa is driving and loud noises are distracting for him, also Yury looks worried about you.”
Isla gasped and turned to stare at her baby brother who was looking at her, his eyes big, like he was deciding if he should start crying too.
“It’s okay Yurenka!” she said a little loudly and Lyra saw Papa absolutely beam at the Russian nickname, he was always very happy when they did things like that.
They parked at the arena and moved to unload, “Hands,” Daddy said as soon as the door opened, Isla popped out of her seat and took said hand. Lyra took her time and took Papa’s hand after he’d gotten Yury out of his carseat.
They walked into the arena and made their way to one of the conference rooms where Daddy walked in lifting Isla onto his hip where she proceeded to hide her face in his shoulder when he started talking to the people there to do the interview, it was two girls and a boy who had on cool earrings.
She walked in still holding her Papa’s hand because she was pretty sure that was something you could do no matter what age you were. She was definitely not going to stop when she was big, at least not for awhile.
“So it’s gonna be pretty straightforward,” the first lady said, “Same questions as last time, and then we’ll cut to the interview before with your answers then, and then maybe a few new questions.”
“I can not remember the questions, five years ago was two whole children, three cups, a concussion and a broken wrist ago.”
“Two concussions, and a fractured ankle,” Daddy added helpfully, Papa turned and made a face at him and got a smile back.
“Yurenka, Daddy is being mean,” he whispered to the baby.
“Dada!” Yury said excited and Daddy laughed along with the other adults in the room.
“Not a problem, we can watch that one first as a refresher, actually it might be fun to get your reactions to it, I think that might be a better way to do it this time.”
“Sure,” Daddy said, “Where did you want us?”
“I think that couch might be big enough for you all, seeing as the kids seem to be okay cuddling,” She replied smiling at them kindly, “So we’ll have Ilya on the right and Shane on the left, Miss Lyra, do you think you can sit between them again?”
“Okay,” she said and followed them to the couch she’d indicated, her dads sat where she’d asked, Papa holding Yury on his lap and Daddy with Isla being a koala, her face pressed into his neck, Isla was silly. She was wild and chaos incarnate, but also very shy around new people.
Lyra sat between them, smiling when she felt a hand rub her back, the other girl was fixing a camera pointed at them and looked up many times before smiling, “Uhg, that’s so friggin cute,”
“We are the most adorable family,” Papa beamed making her flush.
“Have you gotten pictures like this? You look like…well kind of like royalty? Have you seen those pictures, well paintings?”
“Da, yes, painting of royal family, never had in Mother Russia,” Papa said, making his accent much thicker than normal. Lyra turned to look at him and he winked at her.
“Ilya, don’t tease the assistants,” Daddy sighed, “And please do not give him ideas.”
“Too late.”
“We are not the Romanovs. We are not getting a family painting.”
“No, we are the Hollander-Rozanovs, much better, first husbands of Hockey, legacy, generational talents, if one of the children decides to play, we will have dynasty.”
Daddy sighed dramatically, then groaned, “You totally got all of that on camera didn’t you?”
“Yes, sorry, we film the whole time because well…of things like this,” the first lady said laughing, “You two are pretty well known to be hilarious.”
“We are funny, yes,” Papa said, “And sorry to tease, but…I thought there was that movie about Анастасия. Anastasia?”
“When we were children, babe, she wasn’t even alive when it came out,” Daddy said calmly.
“I am not that old.”
“Nineteen days,” Daddy said sweetly and Papa scowled at him.
“Honestly, we could just record you two like this and get a billion streams,” the lady said amused, “But, we’d run out of storage space eventually, so I suppose we should get a move on.”
“Oh yes, interview, please carry on.”
The lady offered a tablet to Lyra and she held it up so everyone could see the paused video on the screen, it showed her dads seated on a different couch with her, much smaller, seated between them in the same room as this one.
“Go ahead,” Daddy said softly, and she pressed play.
“Hello, we are the Hollander-Rozanovs,” Video Papa said.
“And this is the Five Year First Round Interview,” Video Daddy finished.
“Thanks for coming, we really appreciate it,” the lady in the video said, “I am so lucky to be here today with the First Husbands of Hockey, Shane Hollander-Rozanov and Ilya Rozanov-Hollander and their absolutely precocious daughter, Lyra. For those who have never tuned in before I’ll give you a run down since I know the exact two reasons you clicked on the video.”
“My name is BellaDellaCee and I’m your host, I ask some questions about some of our favorite celebrities' lives, how their career is, how family is, how life is and if I’m lucky I get a follow up in five years, or as close as I can. Let’s get right to it!”
“First question! What is your favorite part about your life?”
“My family,” Papa said immediately.
“Family,” Daddy said, smiling.
“Huntrix!” Lyra said, and the dads in the video laughed.
“I’ve never had an album of music memorized before…and now…I have two.” Daddy muttered.
“This is a fact, yes, Shane does not know any music, he can sing it all, word for word, and the Korean too.”
“I’m kinda tempted to learn it, then Lyra and I can have secret conversations,” he teased.
“Yeah!”
“I still have those albums memorized,” Daddy laughed next to her, his hand landing on her upper back.
“They’re still the best,” she said decisively.
“Next question! Who is your favorite person to hang out with and you can’t say each other!”
“Um…”
“Hayden Pike,” Papa said immediately.
“Are you answering for me, or-”
“No is my answer! He is the most fun to tease,” Papa said cheerfully. Daddy rolled his eyes.
“I guess I’ll say Jackie Pike, because she’s just the best, what about you, Lyra?”
“Nana and Poppop!” Lyra said happily.
“Good answer,” Daddy kissed her head.
“Cute, Next question! If you weren’t incredibly talented hockey players, what would you be doing?”
“Oh…um, I have no idea…”
“Easy, race car driver,” Papa said, “Shane would be Realtor.”
“No,” Daddy said rolling his eyes, “I dunno-”
“Trophy husband of very successful race car driver, carrying for our amazing baby girl-”
“Alright, alright, next question?”
“What is your favorite part about your career?”
“Winning,” Papa said and Daddy snorted.
“He means playing a game we love and getting to do it professionally,” Daddy said.
“And winning,” Papa whispered.
“Well, I can’t fault you that, who doesn’t like winning?”
“No one I know,” Papa grinned and Daddy rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue.
“Now a question for the cutie-pie, how old are you, Lyra?”
“I’m four!”
“Almost,” Daddy said, "Tomorrow, which is close enough.”
“Happy birthday!”
“Yah! Thank you!” Lyra beamed, shimmying happily between her parents.
“Do you like Hockey, Lyra?”
Lyra on screen thought about it then shrugged, “It’s okay.” That had all of the adults laughing.
“She’s never really shown much interest in hockey, I think she’ll do something else,” Daddy mused.
“She is probably going to be ballerina, or astrophysicist,” Papa said, “No inbetween.”
“Or both,” Daddy added.
“What’s that?” Lyra asked.
“Someone who uses science to learn how the stars were made,” Daddy explained.
“Oh, I like the stars,” she said, “I can do that!”
“Definitely.”
“Is this where you saw yourself five years ago?”
“Not even close, it was pretty different,” Daddy said, “But well really, six years ago was even more different.”
“Mmm, yes, things would have been very different, even two months before-”
“Oh god,” Daddy muttered, “I still do not like thinking about that.”
“Is it something you can share?”
“Just…the um almost plane crash the Centaurs had in 2021, it uh…ultimately led me to proposing to Ilya.”
“Oh wow, yeah that would have been…wow.”
“Yes, well, things were different before, and life makes changes as necessary,” Papa said, “I am glad for them all even if they were brought on by terror, this is exactly where I would like to be now.”
“Me too,” Daddy said softly and leaned over to kiss Papa.
“Ewwww, no kisses!” Lyra declared loudly, pushing at their cheeks making them break apart and start laughing, then they leaned down and kissed her cheeks making her shriek in giggles, climbing up onto Papa’s lap and clinging to him.
“Last question! Where do you think you’ll be in five years?”
“Five more cups, five more dogs, five more children-”
“And a partridge in a pear tree,” Daddy deadpanned.
“That didn’t sound like a no,” Papa said smiling.
“I can’t say no because you may have jinxed us, which I know was your plan all along,” he said then added something in Russian that made Papa start cackling.
“Thank you, all of you for coming in! I hope to see you in five years!”
“Thanks for having us,” Daddy said, smiling softly.
“We’ll see you in five!” Papa added winking.
“So young, so free,” Papa sighed as the video ended.
“And now you’re old,” Daddy drawled, “And tied down.”
“Forever,” he agreed, “So now we do cute introduction, yes? Islachka, do you want to do part of intro? You would get to say something.”
Isla had loosened her deathgrip on Daddy pretty early on in the video and had stared in curiosity the whole time, clearly interested by the whole thing.
“Like what?”
“You could say with me, ‘We are Hollander-Rozanovs’ and Daddy and Lyrachka will say ‘And this is the Five Year Follow Up’, it will be team effort.”
“You don’t have to,” Daddy said.
“Is Lyrachka gonna?”
“Yeah, it’s fun,” Lyra replied, “You can do it, and since Yurenka can’t talk yet, it’s only fair.”
“Okey,” she replied, using Papa’s inflection for the word.
“How about you sit next to your sister, Isla? Next to your Papa?” the boy helper said gently, Isla looked at Daddy for a moment who nodded and she did so, they scooched around a bit to make room, but it made the visuals just as good. They practiced a few times so it was a little more smooth.
“Perfect, we’ll start, in three two one-” the girl behind the camera pointed at them.
“Hello-” Papa started, his hand on Isla’s back, “We…are the Hollander-Rozanovs-” Isla had startled but then had said the words too, then beamed after.
”And this is the Five Year Follow up Interview,” Daddy and she said finishing it, she giggled because she couldn’t help it.
“Amazing,” the interview lady said, “I’m your host BellaDellaCee back again with the wonderful First Husbands of Hockey Shane Hollander-Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov-Hollander and their beautiful growing family, Lyra, Isla and sweet baby Yury. How does it feel to be back?”
“Five years moved very fast,” Daddy said.
“Very fast, but it was a good fast, I think,” Papa said and kissed the top of Yury’s head.
“I agree.”
“I bet, so let’s get into it. First question! What is your favorite part about your life?”
“Family,” Daddy and Papa said at the same time, grinning at each other.
“I still do really like Huntrix…” Lyra said, giggling when she felt someone tickle her side, “But yeah, I guess my family is good too, I like having siblings.”
“Huntrix!” Isla gasped, “Daddy is gonna be Rumi and I’m gonna be Mira and Lyra is gonna be Zoey!”
“Why is Daddy Rumi?” Lyra asked.
“His braid!” She waved at their Daddy who turned his head slightly where his hair was in fact in a braid kind of like Rumi’s but it was only long enough to end at his shirt collar.
“We’ll pretend like I can actually sing too,” Daddy drawled then smacked his husband 's shoulder before he had a chance to open his mouth.
“I did not say anything!” he laughed.
“I know how your brain works,” Daddy said and Lyra sighed, her parents were impossible. The adults in the room were laughing though.
“Next question! Who is your favorite person to hang out with and you can’t say each other!”
“My best friend Maybry,” Lyra said immediately.
“Hayden Pike, he is still very fun to tease.”
“Rose Landry,” Daddy said and then laughed when Papa must have done something behind her.
“What about you, Isla?” the interviewer asked, “Anyone you like to hang out with?”
“I like Poppop and Nana, and Ruby, and Jade, and Arthur, and Amber, and Auntie Sveta, and Auntie Rose and-” she cut off into giggles as Papa tickled her side.
“So full of love,” he said, fond, kissing her head, “She would just keep going.”
“Of course,” the interview lady said laughing, “You’re still incredibly talented professional hockey players, so I suppose the Race Car driver thing didn’t work out.”
“No, no, you can not fit a carseat in the back,” Papa teased, “But maybe in next life I will be the stay at home Papa.”
“You are a pretty good Papa,” Daddy said.
“He’s the best Papa!” Isla said firmly.
“I think so too,” Daddy said.
“And you’re the best Daddy!” Isla said, standing on the couch and almost falling over, Daddy immediately scooped her up and sat her on his lap so she didn’t hit Lyra.
“Thanks sweetheart,” he said, kissing her head.
“What is your favorite part about your career?”
“Our team, I think, playing with such an amazing group of players for so long it’s really the best feeling going to a job that is so good.”
“I already answer this, family, yes?”
“Wow, not gonna shake those going soft rumors,” Daddy teased, “But yeah, that.”
“Is okay, other players know what happens on the ice,” Papa said smugly.
“Next question for the kiddos, how old are you?”
“I’ll be nine in two days,” Lyra said proudly.
“Four!” Isla said, “And Yurenka is eleven months!”
“That’s right, we have a lot of birthdays this time of year.”
“Daddy just had his birthday!” Isla said, “Then it’s Lyra, then it’s Papa, then it’s Yurenka!”
“That’s amazing, so Isla do you like Hockey?”
“Yeah! I like going fast!”
“She does enjoy skating for sure, not so sure on the actual hockey part,” Daddy said, “I think she could be a speed skater, yeah?”
“I go so fast!” Isla agreed.
“What about you, Lyra? Any change from last time?”
“I like watching my dads play, but I don’t want to play,” she said honestly, “It’s kind of scary.”
“It can be scary,” Papa agreed, “It is not fun for anyone when we get hurt.”
“I’m not sure I like the idea of any of them taking after us, honestly,” Daddy said, “I have so much more respect for my parents knowing they let me play even feeling terrified I might get hurt, and then did, and still can. I don’t like the idea of my babies getting hurt.”
“I’m not a baby, Daddy,” Isla huffed, but didn’t protest when he pressed many kisses to her head.
“That is so understandable, so change up question, how do you think you’ve followed up from five years ago? You said, what, five more of everything?”
“Oh yeah,” Daddy snorted, “Five more cups, five more kids, five more dogs.”
“We tried our best,” Papa said, “Two more kids, and three cups, not too bad.”
“No more dogs?”
“Not for us, no, someone said no, but many of our fellow Centaurs have gotten many dogs! More than five, Troy and Harris have started dog rescue at their place, but like to share,” Papa laughed, “I think nearly the whole team has a dog now.”
“Probably. Hayden succumbed too,” Daddy smiled, “Troy and Harris are dog dealers.”
“It’s true, I think they were thinking of making an official rescue actually, we’ll see if we can find out so you can post a link.”
“That would be great, we have one for the Irina Foundation already like we did last time, so the more the merrier.”
“Oh yes, thank you,” Daddy said gratefully.
“So how about now? Where do you think you’ll be in five years?”
“Oh that is…actually different,” Daddy hummed, “I’m not ready yet, but…retirement is a logical thought by that point.”
“Who are you and what have you done to my husband?!” Papa gasped dramatically.
“Not now, obviously, but in five years? We’ll be forty-six, we just won’t be at the same level as we are now…I dunno. I have really enjoyed coaching at the camp every summer…if that’s an option, it might be something to think about.”
“Oh good, I was worried, he is still obsessed with hockey,” Papa said, hand over his heart, which made the girls giggle.
“Yeah yeah,” Daddy shook his head, “I’m just thinking ahead. I like to plan.”
“I know, you always do, it is good,” Papa said and then huffed a laugh, “Can you imagine if the original plan had been what we had?”
“No,” Daddy said, “I don’t think it would have been anything like this.”
“Original plan?” the interviewer asked.
“Yes, back before we were outed, the original plan was that we would wait to retire until we came out to the world, I do not think we would have had…this, if that was the case,” Papa kissed Yury’s head and then reached out and brushed his hand over Lyra's head, “I do not like that thought.”
“No, me neither,” Daddy said softly, “I…don’t like that at all. This is so much better.”
“I think so too, I am very happy for this life,” Papa said, “I would not trade it for anything.”
“Not a thing,” Daddy agreed, leaning over and kissing him.
“Ewwww,” Isla said, “Daddy and Papa are kissiiiing!”
Lyra burst into giggles because it was just so silly, they kissed all the time, but she had said the same thing, hadn’t she?
“Well that seems like the perfect way to end this, thank you again, Hollander-Rozanovs, we definitely enjoyed having you!”
“Thank you for the follow up,” Daddy said.
“Yes, it was fun,” Papa said, “Maybe we even see you in another five years, just for fun.”
“That would be fun! Well thanks again, hope to see you again!”
She waved at the camera and then the girl behind it tapped it and nodded, “Thanks,” she turned to them, “Well that felt good to me, after we send it to Harris for review we should be able to have it all posted up in a few days, any concerns for you?”
“Not that was easy, wish all interviews were like that,” Papa said.
“Yeah, thank you.” Daddy agreed, “Harris is on his way.”
“Oh great, that makes it easy.”
They stood up then, moving to head out, which she was grateful for she was still so tired, and a thought struck her.
“Do I have to go to school now?” she asked, she knew that it had been mentioned, the interview was early, and the plan had been for her to head to school right after, only missing a little bit of her morning lessons but she was so tired, it had been a rough night.
“I think we’ll be able to call you out today, it’s been a long morning,” Daddy said, she slumped in relief.
“How’d it go?” a new voice asked and she looked up to see Harris walking in, he waved at them and she waved back, Harris was always so nice.
“Good, we’ll have the video for review in just a bit...”
Lyra pressed herself against her Daddy’s side, and was more than ready to head home, she felt an arm around her shoulders keeping her there while Daddy talked some more, Papa was talking too, it was comforting to be surrounded by their voices, knowing she was safe.
A few moments later she had her hand held and she opened her eyes not realizing she’d closed them.
“Alright time to head home,” Daddy said softly, and he was holding Isla’s hand with his other hand while she chattered away, and led the way back to the car, Papa was behind them, cradling Yury who had a bottle in his mouth.
Daddy got them all into the car, and Isla was buckled in first and then Lyra buckled herself while Papa got Yury settled.
A moment later they were back on the road, Daddy and Papa murmuring softly to each other in the front seat, hands tangled together. She struggled to keep her eyes open as she watched them, Isla had conked out the second the car started moving, Yury was sleepily sucking on his bottle, and Lyra couldn’t really fight it, it had been a long morning, but everything really had been good.
It was kind of nice to be reminded that no matter what her family was the best, she could be responsible for them later, for now, she’d just enjoy it exactly as it was, life was always changing after all.