Work Text:
Shane remembered when trips to the cottage meant a solo two and half hour drive. How he could pick up and leave whenever he wanted. He would pack a light suitcase and that was really all he needed for his stay.
Then Ilya joined the mix. Suddenly that solo trip turned into a trip for two which Shane didn't mind, of course. Ilya's company was more than welcomed at the cottage. It became a place for them instead of just a place for himself. That change had been welcomed with open arms. The two would each pack one light suitcase for themselves and would be able to make it there with no problems. Sometimes they would stop for a bathroom break or food, but usually it was just a straight trip there.
Anya was added into the mix three years into them officially being boyfriends. That was fine too because Shane liked having her with them. She was great in the car, falling asleep pretty much the whole ride. He felt like they were very slowly building up a family. The more years passed, he was sure the more people would join them.
So now cut to his current situation. The twins had gotten up before him and Ilya and had attempted to dress themselves. By the time Shane came into their room to start to get them ready for the day, he found what one could describe as what looked like a clothes typhoon in his toddlers room. Dimitri sat on his bed, fully dressed in a dinosaur hoodie(that was put on wrong somehow), some shorts(that had a large stain on them despite the fact Shane just washed them) and mismatched socks that belonged to his sister. Ava was half naked, wearing only a diaper as she tried to put on her fairy princess outfit. The sight of the mess had made Shane's eye twitch involuntarily.
Closing the door he went back to his room and woke up Ilya. Ilya groaned but got up, letting himself be guided to his toddlers room. He yawned and rubbed away the sleep from his eyes as Shane wordlessly opened the door. Ilya blinked, processing what he was seeing in front of him before his eyes went wide.
“Hi!” Ava said excitedly. She ran over to Ilya, clinging to his leg. She had abandoned trying to put on the costume entirely and now was just in a diaper with her brother's socks on. Ilya picked her up, eyes still on the mess in front of them.
“Good morning,” Ilya said in Russian. “Why did you two make such a big mess?” His voice was low and groggy from having just woken up.
“Packin’ for the trip.” Ava said proudly. “Dima and I are big so we do it now.”
Dimitri came over and Shane picked him up with ease. “You helped your sister with this?” Shane asked the toddler in his arms.
Dimitri smiled wide and nodded. “We're big now.”
That sentiment had started ever since their third baby, Hana, was born. They were glad the twins were loving being older siblings now. It made their lives slightly easier as parents not having to worry about their kids feeling jealous of the new baby. But the twins now insisted on doing things by themselves because "they were big now”. That had led to a bunch of problems caused by well intentions from their kids' end. This mess being one of those well intentioned problems.
Shane tried his best to hide his annoyance. He had already packed everything for the twins two nights ago. They saw him doing this and helped him while he did it. He took a deep breath in. Held it for a minute. Then exhaled.
Ava's brow furrowed. “Daddy's mad?” Her head tilted with genuine confusion.
“No princess, not at all. It's just we were going to try and leave soon but now we have to clean all this up. And also have to get your sister ready for her first big trip.” That was another thing. Shane had hoped to get up, get the twins ready and fed, then focus on Hana.
“I clean up with them.” Ilya suggested it casually. After so many years of being together Ilya could tell when Shane was feeling overwhelmed. Now was one of those moments. “Go focus on our little Hana. We clean all this up and get dressed for trip, okay?”
“Okay!” The twins in unison.
They put the twins down and the two started to pick up the clothes off the floor. Shane turned to Ilya, kissing him on the lips.
“Thank you.” Shane said into Ilya's mouth. He wrapped his arms around Ilya's waist, pulling him in close. He could feel Ilya smile against his lips.
“I can tell when you begin to feel stressed.” Ilya mused. “I want you to feel no stress at all today.”
“Too late for that.” Shane chuckled.
As if on cue, a loud cry came from the nursery in the room across from the twins. Shane pulled away from his husband's embrace and went into Hana's room.
Hana's tiny face was red, scrunching with discomfort. Shane picked her up, going in to soothe her before pulling away slightly. He could smell the problem before he saw it.
“It's okay baby girl, I know the issue.” Shane said, carrying her over to the changing table. Thankfully the mess wasn't as bad as it smelled and he was able to clean her up relatively quickly. Hana calmed down as her dad cleaned her, looking up at Shane with those light blue eyes he adored. Ilya was sure her eyes would darken more as she got bigger. Shane agreed, knowing that was something that could happen for babies with lighter eyes. But for now she had very light blue green eyes that looked like a much lighter version of her papas.
Once Shane had put a fresh diaper on Hana he picked her up and went to her closet. He looked around for something comfortable for the car ride. With his free hand he picked out clothes, holding them up before ultimately deciding against it. Across the hall he could hear Ava loudly trying to sing a song that Ilya had shown her recently.
Shane grinned slightly at the noise. “Your big sister reminds me so much of your papa.” He said to Hana. She let out a tiny coo. “She's been waiting for someone else to have little concerts with.” He kissed her head softly. “Dimi doesn't like singing and neither do I that much. Papa loves it though. But I think she wanted a little sister so bad so she could sing with somebody else.” Hana nuzzled more against Shane's chest. “I know sweetheart. She's going to have to wait a while still.”
Finally Shane found something, a onesie that he liked. It was a pale yellow with short sleeves and the legs exposed. Little suns with smiley faces were scattered all over it. It was simple and cute enough. He took Hana back to the changing table, getting her dressed. She fussed a little bit, not loving the sudden change in wardrobe, but calmed down once it was on.
“All done.” Shane said, kissing her chubby cheek. “My little Hana looks so adorable right now.” She smiled up at him and Shane's heart melted. That was a recent development for her. Her little face lit up, showing off her adorable gummy smile.
Shane could hear the twins laughing in the other room as Ilya did a silly voice. He pulled out his phone from his pajama pants, checking the time. It was seven thirty-two. Still early but he doubted they would be out the door by eight. Probably not even by eight thirty. He sighed, putting his phone away and now focused back at Hana.
“You need your breakfast, sweet girl.” Shane said going towards the plush rocking chair in the corner. He adjusted her and lifted up his shirt, where she latched onto him with no problem. He had gotten used to the feeling of the gentle tugging sensation. It wasn't the worst feeling in the world, but after not having breastfed for a while, it was something he had to get used to again. He watched her eat, her eyes fluttering closed while she nursed. Her tiny hands resting against his chest.
Shane felt a buzz from his phone and took it out to check. A text from his mom. He opened it.
Have you guys left yet? The message read. Shane just responded with a laughing emoji.
His mom liked the response and then sent images of Anya. Due to the fact that they had two toddlers and a three month old, adding a dog into that mix would have been a nightmare. Last night his parents had come and gotten her to watch her for a week. They would drive up next week to their own cottage and would bring Anya then. The twins and Ilya were sad about it but Shane had to remind them it was only a week. Still, her presence was missed and not seeing her around felt very weird. Shane liked all the photos his mom sent of Anya, responding with a heart along with I miss her.
They texted back and forth for a few minutes before there was a knock at the door. Before Shane could say anything, Ilya opened the door, the twins running in beside him.
The twins immediately ran over to where Shane sat feeding Hana.
“Hi Hana!” Ava said loudly. The sudden outburst made Hana pause her eating, suddenly having more interest in her big sister than her breakfast.
“Ava, we've talked about being so loud next to her.” Shane said sternly. “Shes a baby, you can't yell like that.”
Ava looked at him with an apologetic look. “Sorry daddy. I jus’ like her too much.” She leaned in against the arm of the chair and gave her little sister a kiss on the head. “Sorry for being loud Hana.” Hana let out tiny grunts of protest before relatching onto her dad, already used to the loud volume in the room.
“Daddy look.” Dimitri said, stepping back. He showed off his outfit to Shane. He had on a long sleeve blue dinosaur shirt that had a stegosaurus on it. Along with jean shorts and the same purple and pink socks from before. “Papa helped.”
“I see that,” Shane said, very amused at his son's outfit. “You look very cute. And you got to wear your favorite dinosaur.” Dimitri beamed at that, nodding his head excitedly.
“Daddy look at me,” Ava said, basically bouncing over next to her brother. She had on a pastel purple Rapunzel t-shirt and the same jean shorts as her brother. She had on his mismatched socks, which were a pale green and orange. She smiled big at Shane.
Shane smiled fondly looking at the two of them side by side. They were getting so big way too fast. “You look very cute too Ava. You both look adorable.” Both toddlers beamed at the praise, flashing the same smile at Shane.
“Why don't you two go downstairs for breakfast okay?” Ilya suggested. “I will be down in minute. I need to talk to daddy first.”
“Can we have strawberry pancakes?” Dimitri asked. Those were his favorite currently.
Ilya nodded. “Yeah we can have strawberry pancakes.” He ruffled Dimitri's still messy hair.
The twins rushed out of the room, their footsteps thundering down the stairs. “Be careful.” Ilya called out.
Hana unlatched and Shane rubbed her back to burp her. “Good job my sweet girl.” He praised softly.
“How is she?” Ilya asked. He was hovering next to the chair, looking down at their baby girl.
“She's fine. Just had a dirty diaper earlier and now she's all full.” Shane wiped the corners of her mouth that still had some milk. They both looked at her while she fought her sleep. Her eyes slowly closed as she drifted off. Shane kissed her forehead and then turned his attention up to Ilya.
“I don't think we'll leave by eight.”
Ilya huffed out a laugh, covering his mouth to muffle the sound. “No. Not a chance.”
Shane sighed, leaning back further into the plush recliner. “Did the twins actually help you pick up their room or was it you?”
Ilya shook his head. “No, they helped. I promised them I will paint their nails when we get to the cottage as a reward.”
Shane nodded at that. “Okay.” His shoulders slumped slightly, feeling a sudden relief. “Okay. You can bring her down,” he glanced down at Hana. “And put her on her swing in the living room. Then I'll take a shower, go down so you can shower and then we leave.” He said this more to himself than Ilya.
“No breakfast?” Ilya asked with a furrowed brow.
Shane looked up at him, slightly annoyed. “Ilya-”
Ilya cut him off. “Shane, you are human, you need to eat. You are feeding our little Hana and that takes a lot of energy.”
Shane wanted to protest. He wanted to say something in rebuttal. But he couldn't because he knew Ilya was right. Instead he let out a defeated sigh. “I don't like strawberries.”
Ilya grinned, momentarily relishing in his small victory. “Okay then what do you want?”
Shane groaned. “Ilya it's fine I'll eat when we-”
Ilya leaned down, almost face to face with his husband. Shane's cheeks felt hot at the sudden closeness. “What do you want?” His voice was low and his breath felt hot against Shane's skin.
Shane looked down at Hana, blissfully unaware of the scene above her. “Scrambled eggs or something.”
Ilya's grin grew wider as he kissed Shane's lips. They kissed more, the distant sounds of the twins being the only thing they heard. Ilya pulled away first, still with a grin on his face. “Okay. I make you scrambled eggs.” He motioned for Shane to hand over Hana. He did and Ilya took her into his arms. Unlike the twins at this age, Hana was a heavy sleeper. Loud noises, suddenly being picked up, anything like that, didn't even make her stir. Shane guessed it was because when she was in his stomach she had heard all the chaos around her and got used to it. He wondered if she found it soothing even.
Shane got up from the chair, despite everything in his body telling him not to. Once he was up Ilya pulled him in for another kiss. That kiss was cut short by a loud crash and bang that came from downstairs. Followed by a beat of silence that was then met with a loud cry.
“Papa!” Dimitri cried out.
Shane started to go towards the door but Ilya put a firm hand on his chest.
“Go shower. I will handle all that.”
Shane blinked at him, eyes squinting slightly in doubt. “You sure?”
Ilya nodded. “Yes, go get ready.” He adjusted Hana in his arms. “You're already stressing out that we aren't leaving at eight. I will handle whatever that was so my sexy husband doesn't get over stressed.”
Shane rolled his eyes at that, his cheeks blushing. “You're so annoying.”
Ilya winked at him as he left the nursery to go downstairs to deal with whatever mess the twins had made.
—
By the time Shane had come downstairs everyone had eaten and whatever mess had been made was already cleaned up. Ilya was making Shane his eggs, which Shane realized he really did need. He was hungrier than he had realized.
He went over to Ilya, wrapping his arms around his husband's waist. Shane kissed his shoulders and silently watched as he made him breakfast.
“Do I want to know what that noise was?” Shane finally asked in between his kisses.
Ilya shook his head. “No. No you really don't.”
Shane dropped it. “When you're done here you can go shower. I'll start bringing down the bags when I finish eating.” Shane rested his head on Ilya's shoulder. “Thank you for breakfast, by the way. I'm actually really hungry.”
“Anything for you my love.” Ilya responded in Russian.
“Did you eat?”
“I had the strawberry pancakes you don't like.” Ilya teased.
The eggs were finished and Ilya put them on the plate that had been next to the stove. Shane released his arms from around his husband and went to go sit at the counter. Ilya kissed his cheek as he handed him the plate. Then he went upstairs to go get ready for their trip.
Shane ate, listening to the twins in the living room. He got curious about what they were doing and got up with his plate, going to the living room. Dimitri was holding up one of his many dinosaur books to Hana, who was gently swaying in her swing. She had a pacifier in her mouth and a blanket over her, her blue eyes focused on her big brother. Ava sat next to the swing, listening to what her brother was saying.
“This is a tri-um. Tri-," Dimitri tried to read the word as he pointed at a picture of a triceratop.
“Triceratops.” Shane offered.
Dimitri nodded at Shane's contribution. “They won't eat you.” He said enthusiastically to his sisters.
“I don't like that one.” Ava said, her face scrunching with disgust.
Dimitri looked at his sister, annoyed. “You don't like any of them.”
Ava shook her head. “I like the flying bird one that's big.” She looked over at Shane. “Daddy you know the big flying one!”
He actually did know which one she was talking about. They had watched a special about dinosaurs last week with the twins. Ava wasn't really all that interested until the quetzalcoatlus came onto the screen. A massive creature that apparently had been the largest flying predator to have ever existed. Shane and Ilya both thought it looked weird but Ava loved it. Anytime it came back on screen she got excited calling them pretty big birds.
“The pretty big bird one. The predator one.” Shane offered. He took another bite of his eggs and Ava nodded excitedly.
“I like pretty big birds.” Ava told Dimitiri.
Shane sat down on the couch, listening to Dimitri show his sisters dinosaurs. Ava would chime in on if she liked the dinosaur or not, which was either met with agreement or exaggerated shock from Dimitri. He finished his eggs and got up to go wash his dish. Before he could, Dimitri stopped him.
“Daddy, who's your favoritest dinosaur?” Dimitri clung to the hem of his shorts.
Shane thought about it for a second. He fished his phone out of his pocket and typed in his favorite. He showed Dimitri a picture of a mosasaurus. Dimitri took his phone, looking closer at the aquatic reptile.
“That’s scary daddy.” Dimitri said, slightly concerned.
Ava came over to look and her face immediately turned with disgust when she saw the images pulled up on the phone. “Ew.”
“Well you asked me and I gave an answer.” Shane said flatly. “I think they're cool looking.”
Both twins looked at the phone, and then at each other. The same look of judgement Shane had done countless times over the years now reflecting perfectly on their faces back at him. Dimitri handed Shane his phone back. They both went back over to Hana, who was none the wiser about her older siblings' judgments.
—
They officially got out the door at ten. After two tantrums from Ava, a tantrum from Dimitri, and four diaper changes for Hana, they were finally starting to get into the car. In-between all that chaos they managed to pack up the car and get everything settled. Now Shane was double checking everything was turned off and locked as Ilya carried the twins to the car.
“Papa is Buster in the car?” Dimitri asked.
“I have her.” Shane spoke up from the kitchen. Buster was a pastel blue stuffed dinosaur that his mom had gotten him for his third birthday. Dimitri had gotten into the habit of sleeping with it and needing it in the car. If they forgot Buster, Dimitri would make sure they had a miserable time. Shane tucked Buster under his arm, and went to the living room. Hana on her playmat, looking up at the toys above her. He picked her up, making her fuss a little before she settled into his arms.
“We definitely can't forget you.” Shane said as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Ilya came into the living room and saw them. He went over and took Buster from under Shane's arm. “He is already getting sad Buster isn't with him.” Ilya sighed. He turned his attention to Hana, who rested against Shane. “Our little Hana is acting better than her big brother and sister today.” Ilya brushed his knuckle against her cheek, making her eyes close from the touch. “Hopefully she will just sleep the whole ride.”
Shane doubted it but he appreciated his husband's optimism. Ilya turned to go back outside and Shane followed. He was almost certain everything was off or locked. He made a mental note for when they got settled into the car he would text his mom to ask her to come over to triple check just to be safe. Shane went to the car and put Hana into her car seat. She didn't fuss as he buckled her in, her attention focused on her older siblings who were playing with Buster. Before he closed the door he adjusted the mirror on the headrest that was aimed down to her carseat so they could see her better. Once it was adjusted properly he closed the door.
“Is Buster suppose to be a scary dinosaur?” Ava asked her brother.
Dimitri shook his head. “No, she's nice.”
Shane sat in the passenger seat and buckled in, relaxing into the seat as soon as he did.
“Daddy, do you think Busters scary?” Ava asked him. Her little legs kicked the center console.
“No princess, I think Buster is a nice dinosaur. Like your brother said.” Shane yawned. How was it only ten in the morning? He felt like he had been up for ten hours instead of three. Shane watched Ilya lock up and come over to the car. He opened the car door and was immediately met with Ava's question.
“Papa, do you think Busters scary?”
Ilya gave Shane a confused look to which Shane just shrugged. “No she's your brothers so she's nice.” Ilya responded in Russian.
Ava let out a huff and continued to swing her legs at the center console. Ilya pulled out of the driveway and Shane felt like he was ready to pass out.
—
The first hour of the road trip really wasn't that bad, considering they stopped only twice. Once for a bathroom break that they all apparently had needed. The second time being that Dimitri felt nauseous and they pulled over immediately. Thankfully it was a false alarm but Shane put Dimitri where Ava had been in the center. Ava complained at first, wanting to sit next to Hana the whole trip, but dropped it when Ilya said that getting thrown up on was worse than not sitting next to Hana for two hours. So other than all that, things were going good.
Shane was driving now because Ilya wanted to play dj. He played songs Shane didn't know, which was most songs. When he had asked if Shane could drive the rest of the way, Shane had agreed without thinking much about it. Now he was regretting it as his husband asked him about singers he'd never heard of.
“Okay who is this?” Ilya said as another song played. Shane let out a deep sigh and looked in the rear view mirror. Everyone back there had fallen asleep, which meant that Ilya could play this game without any interruptions.
“Ilya.” Shane said firmly.
“Shane.” Ilya said back in a playful mocking tone. Shane could sense the grin on Ilya's face. “Who sings this?”
“Ilya we're not playing this game.”
“Moya lyubov, please.” Ilya begged. He took Shane's free hand into his own and kissed his knuckles. “Just a few rounds.”
Shane tapped his thumb against the wheel and let out a defeated sigh. “Fine. Whatever. Just a few rounds.”
Ilya beamed as he picked another song. This time it was a guy singing. Shane listened and his brain worked overtime trying to remember the name of any singers. “You can ask for hints.” Ilya added, seeing his husband's furrowed brow.
“Is this person alive?”
“Yes.”
Shane thought for a second. “Is he Canadian?”
“Yes.”
While that should've narrowed it down more slightly, Shane couldn't remember a single Canadian celebrity. “Ilya.” He whined. “This isn't even a fun game.”
“Is very fun for me.” Ilya said smugly.
Shane let out an annoyed groan. “So he's alive. He's Canadian.” He thought more before letting out a defeated sigh. “I don't know.”
“Sweetheart, you've never heard Justin Bieber?” Ilya asked. He took Shane's hand again, kissing it again.
“Ive heard of him. But you know I don't keep up with anything in pop culture.” Shane tried to explain.
“He's been famous for a while though. Almost as long as I've known you.”
Shane blinked at that. “I wouldn't know.” Shane confessed.
Ilya pressed another kiss to his hand. “Is okay. You're lucky I haven't told Harris about this or he would make it such a big deal.” Shane didn't even want to think about it. Harris had gotten so annoyed at him when he didn't know who Carly Rae Jepsen was. When Shane had asked other people on the team if they knew who she was, everyone looked at him like he had grown a second head. That was the day he learned that apparently Carly Rae Jepsen was very famous, and he had no idea.
“You can never tell him how out of touch with pop culture I am. He would never let me live it down.” Shane half laughed.
They played more rounds. Shane listened to more songs and while he did know some, most had no idea who any of the artists were. Ilya was genuinely so amused by this game. He had tried to muffle his laughs, not wanting to wake up their sleeping babies in the back.
“Papa.” Dimitri rubbed his eyes.
Ilya turned towards him, an apologetic look on his face. “I'm sorry Dima, did I wake you?”
Dimitri nodded. His little arms wrapped around Buster. “Papa was loud.”
“I'm sorry. I'll be more quiet.” Ilya looked at the girls, who were still fast asleep. Ava had her mouth open, drool forming down the corners of her mouth. Craning his head around slightly more to see the headrest mirror aimed at his youngest, he saw that Hana had her pacifier in mouth, sucking on it while she slept peacefully.
“What're you doin’? Dimitri asked, his voice more alert.
“Papa was playing a game with me that I don't like.” Shane said flatly.
“Why?” Dimitri was looking at Ilya now.
Ilya shrugged. “Because is fun for me to see daddy confused.”
Dimitri gave Ilya the same confused look he had grown to love seeing on Shane. Ilya wished he wasn't in a car right now so he could scoop up his little boy and kiss the freckles on his cheeks and nose.
Dimitri played with Buster and Ilya dropped the game. Shane was silently thankful for that because he didn't feel like being embarrassed in front of his three year old. Ilya watched as Dimitri made Buster dance to the song that was currently playing.
“Dimi, who is this singing?” Ilya asked.
Dimitri paused, listening for a minute before casually saying. “Beyonce.”
Shane groaned. “You two are impossible.”
—
Hour two was rough. They were in the homestretch of it, giving everyone a restless feeling of wanting to get out the car. Everyone was now awake from their naps, which meant that everyone now had energy they wanted to burn off.
“Papa is cottage soon?” Ava asked. She had been kicking her legs against Shane's seat. He was ignoring it but Ilya could see he was getting fed up.
“Printessa, the cottage is very soon. We have to be patient though and not kick things okay?” Ilya said in a calming voice.
Ava stopped kicking Shane's seat. “Okay.” She turned her attention to Dimitri who was playing with Hana. He was using Buster as a puppet, pretending that it was attacking her. The soft touch of the dinosaur made Hana smile and kick her feet with excitement. Ava let out a very loud, very over dramatic sigh.
When no one paid her any mind, she did it again. This time Ilya gave in and turned around to face her. “What's wrong Ava?”
“I wanna play.” She whined.
“We're almost there, princess.” Shane chimed.
“But I wanna play nooow,” Her voice wavering.
“Why don't you play with Dima?” Ilya suggested.
That seemed to have been what set her off. “He’s playing with Hana!”
Ilya exchanged a knowing look with Shane. The knowing look of our daughter is about to have another tantrum. He turned to face her. “Ava-” he was cut off by Hana beginning to cry from her sister's rising volume. Loud wails of a toddler and a three month old came from the back seat. Dimitri covered his ears and looked at Ilya with pleading eyes. Ava was flailing around in her car seat, her arms moving in all directions. Without warning her hand smacked Dimitri directly on his cheek. Hard. The sound rang out in the car, everyone silent except for Hana who cried louder. Ilya watched with raised brows, shocked that he had seen that. Although it had been an accident, he had never seen either of the twins hit each other before. He was at a loss for words.
Ava stopped crying for an instant. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the hand she slapped her brother with. Dimitri sat in shock for a minute, his freckled cheek already turning very red. The reality of what happened finally hit him and Dimitri started sobbing. Seeing her brother cry made Ava start crying again. Now all three babies were sobbing due to each other.
“I'm getting off here.” Shane said as he pulled into a rest stop. The sounds of all three of his crying at once was starting to give him a headache, which would've made everything worse. He parked in front of the bathrooms and they both went into full parent mode.
Shane went around to where Hana was, already starting to soothe her as he got her into his arms. He walked towards a more quiet part of the rest area, swaying back and forth with her as her cries quieted. He watched Ilya talk to Ava, who was currently standing next to him out of the car. He was bent down to her level, from his facial expression Shane could tell he was having a serious talk with her.
Hana's cries hiccuped against Shane's chest. He kissed the top of her head. “Sometimes I forget your papa can be serious off the ice.” He said to Hana. He continued to soothe her as he watched as Ava stomped her foot in protest at something he had said. Ilya's face was still serious as he told her something else. He got up and unbuckled Dimitri. Dimitri cried into Ilya's shirt as he rubbed the upset toddlers back. Ava wiped her tears and watched as her papa comforted her brother. Her hands clung to the hem of Ilya's shorts, tugging on them for attention. She said something and Ilya looked down, shrugging.
Shane was standing there, still swaying with a now calm baby in his arms. He watched his husband navigate between the two toddlers with ease, as if he had done this forever. Before they had kids Shane always knew Ilya would be a great dad. However, now seeing him in moments like this, he realized that Ilya was an amazing dad. More patient than Shane would've been in that situation. Ilya gave Dimitri a kiss on his still red cheeks. Saying something to Dimitri that made him laugh. Shane started to go back over to the car.
Ilya saw him and gave a tired smile. He put Dimitri down and their little boy rushed behind him away from his sister. Ava looked at Shane, her brown eyes pleading with him.
“Don't look at daddy Ava. He is not one who has to say sorry.” Ilya said with his arms crossed.
Ava sniffled and wiped her nose with her arm. She looked at Dimitri who returned her look with caution. "I'm really sorry for doin’ a hit.” Her voice wavered. “I didn't mean to. That was bad. Sorry, Dima.”
Shane looked at Dimitri whose shoulders eased at the words. “Okay.”
“Can she give you a hug?” Ilya asked Dimitri. Dimitri nodded and before Ava could even move he already was hugging her. Ilya let out a sigh of relief. “Okay. How's our little Hana?”
Shane was still watching the twins as he responded. “She's good. I think she's starting to get hungry.” He pulled his eyes away from the twins. “Maybe we should have a snack break.”
—
The snack break was very much needed for everyone. The twins both ate sliced strawberries and bananas. Ava gave Dimitri more of her strawberries because she knew he liked them more. Shane fed Hana, keeping her under a blanket Ilya had gotten out from the trunk. She fussed a little bit at first, kicking her little legs in protest, before eventually settling and accepting her meal. Ilya ate sour patch kids. Shane squinted his eyes, judging.
“It's eleven thirty in the morning.” Shane chided.
Ilya shrugged, putting another in his mouth. “It's been a morning.” Shane didn't have anything to say to that, mainly because he felt the same.
Once everyone had eaten and gone to the bathroom again, they were back on the road. The rest of the trip went smoothly. Ilya was playing a game on his phone when Yuna texted him.
Did you guys make it yet? Her text read.
Ilya responded with a photo of the very crowded back seat. The twins looking at the camera, Ava smiling big at the sight of the phone, Dimitri holding up Buster to make sure it was included in the photo, and Hana's little hand and chubby leg could be spotted next to Dimitri. Yuna liked the photo and three dots appeared as Ilya waited for a response.
“Who was that for?” Shane asked.
“Your mom. She's asking if we got there yet.”
“We will in twenty minutes.” Shane tapped against the wheel.
Yuna responded. They are so adorable. I hope they've been behaving for you two.
Ilya snorted at that. Typing out, Not at all. But that's not surprising.
The twenty minutes seemed to crawl by. Shane was thankful there was no traffic to drag out this trip. They got off the highway and made their way closer to the secluded roads that lead to the cottage. Shane turned down the dirt road that led to his home. The twins grew more excited, recognizing the dirt road they were going down.
“Hana we're here!” Dimitri said excitedly. Hana looked up at him and matched his smile. “Hanas happy.”
“I'm happy to almost be out of the car.” Ilya muttered. Shane parked in the driveway and almost melted into the seat. They still had to get the kids out, get them settled, and unpack their car. Once all that was done one of them would have to do a grocery haul for the two weeks they were staying here. The idea of being left alone with all three, very awake, not at all tired babies made Shane want to take a nap. He knew Ilya probably felt the same.
“Daddy we're here!” Ava squealed. She kicked her legs in excitement.
“Yes, princess, we're finally here.” Shane looked to Ilya. Ilya looked at the summer home fondly, remembering all the memories they had shared here. Shane unbuckled his seat belt and leaned in for a kiss. Ilya followed and gave his husband a quick kiss on the lips.
“We're here.” Ilya said, his voice already tired.
“Yup. We are.”
Shane was sure that they would have a good vacation. Making more precious memories now as a complete family of five. His heart fluttered at the thought. They would make so many memories now with their complete family.