Work Text:
Ilya had grown a sixth sense for whenever his kids were up to something. Three years into fatherhood, he could just immediately tell. He had woken up a few minutes ago with this feeling and was laying in bed, Shane curled up by his side. He kissed Shane's nape and shoulders, to which Shane didn't even stir at. That was one thing the kids had done to him that Ilya actually enjoyed for his husband. He was a much more sound sleeper than he was before kids.
Out of habit, Ilya reached for his phone to check the time. His eyes squinted at the sudden brightness, but he read the time. Six fifty-four am. He locked his phone and let out a groan. He couldn't shake the feeling that one of his kids was up, but he desperately wanted to go back to sleep.
He sat up a little bit and looked at Hana sleeping beside him in her travel crib. The sight of her made the corners of his mouth twitch up. Last night had been a rare rough night for her. She had struggled to fall asleep which meant that he was up with her until three. He walked around the cottage with her, whispering her Russian lullabies his mother had once sung to him. Eventually her exhaustion had finally caught up to her and she went to sleep, and Ilya knocked out as soon as his head touched the pillow. He wanted to sleep until noon, which he knew was impossible with two toddlers and a three month old, but still the tiny optimistic part of his brain wanted to believe he could.
Ilya watched as Hana's tiny chest rose and fell while she slept. Despite all the hassle and lack of sleep she had caused, she was still the most perfect angel in his eyes. He would gladly lose sleep if it meant she could sleep soundly like she was now.
The sound of a tiny set of feet from down the hallway made Ilya look away from his baby. The distinct sound of toddlers feet padding against the hardwood floor echoing throughout the quiet cottage. A moment later, the door handle twisted and Ava popped her head into the room.
Ava's eyes lit up when she saw that her papa was awake. She went into their room, making her way to their bed. Ilya watched her crawl into the bed, tiny grunts escaping her lips as she did so. Ilya glanced over at Hana, who was still blissfully unaware that her big sister was now in the room with her. Ava got to Ilya's stomach, where she plopped herself down, straddling him.
Ava smiled at him, a big excited smile that Ilya knew only meant trouble. “Hi papa!” She attempted to whisper.
“Ava,” Ilya pinched the bridge of his nose. “is not even seven yet. Why are you up?” His tone was low, careful to not wake Hana or Shane beside him.
She tilted her head, confused. “You said we skate today.”
Ilya let out a low groan. He had said that last night during bath time. Prior to their trip he had promised the twins that he and Shane would teach them to skate in the indoor rink they had at the cottage. Both the twins had been excited when he said that, Ava especially. At bed time both of them had asked about it, and Ilya reassured them that tomorrow he would teach them. When he said tomorrow, he had been thinking some time in the afternoon, not at almost seven in the morning.
“Ava is too early for skating. We do it later, okay?” Ilya reached out in an attempt to fix her hair, but she flinched back.
“But you said today.” Ava pouted. She crossed her arms and looked at him with as much seriousness as a three year old could muster. Despite how tired he was, Ilya couldn't help but admire how adorable she looked at this moment. Her pout nearly identical to his own. “Papa you said so.”
Ilya nodded. “Da I did say so. But I meant later, after lunch time.”
Ava's eyes widened. “Papa, that's in too long!” Her tone was rising which caused both Hana and Shane to shift slightly in their sleep.
Ilya softly shushed her, making sure to keep her calm. “Printsessa we skate later.” He reassured her gently. “I promise. But right now let's go back to sleep.” He tapped on the empty space to his side.
Ava hesitated, eyes squinting at him. “You promise?” She asked cautiously.
Ilya gave her a firm nod. “I promise.”
His words were enough for Ava, as she scooted up further, laying down against his chest. She adjusted herself, making herself comfortable on top of him. Ilya let her, enjoying her weight and warmth on top of him. Once she was settled Ilya pressed a kiss to the top of her head and rubbed her back. Slow, calming circles like he'd always done to ease her off to sleep. After a few minutes her breathing evened out and Ilya could tell she was asleep. He let out a small sigh of relief as he let himself drift off to sleep.
—
Ilya woke up hearing Hana's discontent grunts and Shane trying to soothe her. He heard Shane's quiet whispers of praise followed by Hana's tiny coos and gargled grunts. Ilya slowly woke up, feeling the familiar weight of his daughter against him, along with his son curled up by his side. His arm had instinctively wrapped around Dimitri while he slept. With his free hand, Ilya rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He blinked a few times, eyes now adjusting to the more light filled room. He looked at Shane, who was sitting up in bed, bottle feeding Hana.
Shane gave him an apologetic smile. “Did we wake you?”
Ilya shook his head. “No.”
They both sat in a comfortable silence, watching Hana while she ate her breakfast. Once she was done Shane burped her with ease. He carefully adjusted himself, sliding back down into the covers. He rested Hana against his chest, and she stayed there without any fuss.
“When did these two get here?” Shane asked, nodding his head towards the twins.
“Ava got here at seven. She is very excited about skating today.” Ilya chuckled. He glanced down at Dimitri, who was snuggled so tightly against him. “I don't know when Dima got here. Probably not long after Ava though.” The twins had this thing where if one of them came to their room to sleep, the other would follow along not long after.
“I'm excited to teach them,” Shane mused. Ilya saw a half smile on his husband's face.
“You are?” Ilya asked, despite knowing the answer. Even before they had kids they had talked about this exact scenario at length. Showing their kids how to skate, sharing something that had been a part of both their lives since they were the twins age. Ilya could feel the low buzz of excitement radiating off of Shane.
Shane gave Ilya a nod. “You know I am. I know you are too.” Shane looked at Ilya and saw his husband giving him a crooked smirk.
“I am.” Ilya confessed. “But seven is too early for skating. I don't even get up that early for practice days.”
Shane huffed out a soft chuckle. “Oh I know.”
The two didn't say anything as they let their minds wonder at the thoughts of their kids skating. Hana laid against Shane's chest, fighting her sleep while she looked at Ilya. Ava shifted slightly on top of Ilya, adjusting herself so she was more on him and not sliding off. Ilya's brain couldn't help but marvel at the thought of the two toddlers sleeping peacefully on and next to him, one day becoming absolute menaces on the ice. The thought made his heart tug.
The silence was broken when Shane softly said “What if they don't like it?”
Ilya looked at him with a lifted brow.
Shane gave him a small shrug. “What if they hate being on the ice?”
Over the course of running through this scenario as many times as they had, this conversation had come up. Either from Ilya or Shane bringing it up.
“You know is fine if they don't like it.” Ilya reassured his concerned husband. “They can love it or hate it, we still love them the same.”
“Yeah, I know,” Shane said. “I just don't want them to feel pressured that they have to love skating or hockey because of us though.” Hana let out a yawn, putting her thumb into her mouth. The sight was so cute it made both their hearts melt momentarily.
Ilya understood his worries, especially about their kids feeling pressured into hockey because of them. They wanted their kids to form their own interests and passions, if hockey was one of those passions naturally, then fine. But the last thing either of them wanted was for their kids to feel forced into it because of who their parents were. “We tell them they don't have to do what daddy and papa do.” Ilya suggested. “They can do anything they want and we will always support them.”
Shane let out a hum of agreement. However their kids felt about skating, they would support them. Even though they had waited what felt like an eternity for their kids to be big enough to start skating, they could accept that it wasn't for everyone. The two laid with their thoughts, continuing to think about every possible outcome while their kids enjoyed their sleep.
—
By the time they got down to the rink it was almost two. Everyone had eaten lunch and Shane had attempted to put the twins down for a nap, but was met with immediate retaliation. They were both too excited to sleep, so Shane let them skip their nap for today. He figured skating around a few laps would probably tire them out, and they would knock out after.
“Daddy!” Ava was jumping at Shane's legs. She had been so excited for this since she woke up again. “I'm gonna skate!” Shane couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.
“Yes you are baby.” He bent down to her level, bringing out the skates he had for her in his bag. He had surprised the twins with these before they left for the cottage, and both twins had been excited to finally have ice skates like their parents. He caught her swinging leg and eased her foot into the skate. It fit perfectly. Ava bounced on the bench, excitement radiating off of her. Shane glanced at Ilya who was next to him, tying Dimitris' skate. Dimitri was excited, a little bit more hesitant now that the moment was happening, but overall excited. Shane saw his eyes gleam when Ilya finished tying the skates on.
“Done.” Ilya said. He reached over to the duffel bag they had packed filled with skating related stuff for themselves and the twins, and pulled out a small neon green helmet. Ilya put it on Dimitri, who fussed at first before Ilya adjusted it properly, securing the straps with a click. “Does that feel okay?” He asked.
Dimitri gave him a cautious nod. Ilya smiled and patted the helmet. “Okay. Let's try standing.” Dimitri stood up, immediately wobbling. Ilya was holding his hands tight, catching him and rebalancing him. Ilya saw Dimitris' face momentarily flashed with worry. “Is okay Dima Papa's here. Let's do one foot at a time okay?” Ilya's tone was gentle and patient for the toddler.
“Okay.” Dimitri said, his voice uncertain.
Shane finished putting everything on Ava, and started guiding her the same way. She stood up, wobbled, then quickly adjusted herself. Shane guided her into the rink, catching her whenever she lost balance. Ava giggled excitedly any time she lost balance and Shane would quickly catch her. Even though he was bent over in front of her, guiding her along he still felt incredibly stressed that something could happen.
“Daddy, it's slippy.” Ava said once they made it out onto the fake ice. Her hands gripped his own tightly as Shane guided her towards the center of the rink. She looked up at him with slight worry on her face.
“Yeah it is, princess but you're doing such a good job.” Shane encouraged her. He could hear Ilya offering Dimitri similar praises near him.
Ava smiled wide at her dads praise. Her grip on his hands loosened slightly as she allowed herself to be guided around the ice. Her eyes were focused on her feet as Shane guided her around the rink. For the first thirty minutes or so, the twins did this, having no issues with being led around by their dads. Ava became more comfortable on the ice, loosening up slightly as Shane reassured her and told her she was safe. Shane watched her with a deep sense of pride growing in his stomach. His little girl was on the ice skating around with him and her papa for the first time. He used to dream about this day and it was finally happening.
“Daddy can we go fast?” Ava asked, looking up at him with the same look of mischief Ilya had looked at him with so many times throughout their relationship.
Ilya heard her and let out a laugh. Shane looked at him, trying to seem more annoyed than he actually was. Honestly he was amused by his daughter already wanting to speed up.
“Printsessa you need to learn to skate before you can go fast like me and daddy.” Ilya said as he guided Dimitri around them.
Ava let out a huff, stomping her foot out of habit. The action caused her to lose her balance before Shane could catch her. She fell onto her butt with an unceremonious thud. Ava looked up at Shane, then to Ilya nearby. Shane waited with baited breath for the tears to start falling but instead she let out a giggle and raised her arms up to Shane.
“I fell.” Ava giggled.
Shane let out a sigh of relief, glad that his momentary mistake of accidentally letting go of her hands, didn't result in her crying. He picked her up, putting her back on her feet with ease. Ava wobbled again but Shane held her hands to stabilize her balance.
They skated around more, Shane helping her get more comfortable. He was focusing so focused on Ava and making sure she was okay he didn't see it when it happened. Dimitri fell down onto his butt, like his sister had minutes before. Ilya immediately got him back onto his feet but it had been too late, their son's eyes were already starting to water, small hiccups already were escaping his mouth.
“Dima is okay papas here,” Ilya comforted him in Russian. He was carrying Dimitri now, feeling his son's body starting to tense up as he started to cry.
Dimitri let out a loud choked sob as he cried into Ilya's shirt. His tiny body shook as his cries were muffled into his papa's shirt. Shane heard the cries, picked Ava up and skated over to them. Ilya gave him a worried look, eyes going from Dimitri to Ava, who was watching her brother curiously.
“Hey, bud,” Shane was next to Ilya, rubbing Dimitris back to comfort him. “Do you wanna stop for today Dima?” Shane asked gently.
Dimitri looked up at him, his cheeks flushed and eyes lined red from crying. He hiccuped a few times, trying to speak before inevitably giving up. He nodded instead, reaching out to Shane to be carried by him instead of his papa. Shane adjusted Ava in his arm, resting her against his hip with one arm as he took Dimitri into the other. Ava let out a tiny noise of protest at the idea of stopping their skating lesson. Ilya heard, and took her into his arms.
Shane gave Ilya a thank you look and skated towards the bench, Dimitris still crying, but slowly calming down as he held him. They got to the bench and Shane sat him down, untying the skates with ease. Dimitri avoided looking at him, wiping his nose with his long sleeves, keeping his eyes fixated on the floor next to him. When he had taken off the skates he paused for a minute, looking at his baby boy. The same upset pout he was sure he had given his parents when he was young was mirrored back at him now. Maybe this was too soon for Dimitri, or maybe he hated it all together.
“Is he okay?” Ilya asked, taking Shane away from his thoughts. Shane looked at him, Ava by his side clinging to his leg for balance.
Shane looked back to Dimitri. The toddler gave his papa a simple nod, not saying anything. Shane picked him up with ease, leaving the little skates on the bench. He turned to Ilya, adjusting his son in his arms.
“I think he's done. You two can keep skating though. We're going upstairs, and I'll check on Hana.” He leaned in to kiss Ilya, who kissed him back. When they pulled apart, Ilya looked at Dimitri with a raised concerned brow. Shane gave him the best half shrug he could with the toddler in his arms. He would figure out what was going on.
—
Thirty minutes later Dimitri was sitting on the couch, eating the fruit gummy snacks he had been loving recently. He picked around the orange flavor, saving those for Ava since those were her favorites. Shane had checked on Hana, who had just woken up from her nap. He had changed her soiled diaper and now was sitting next to Dimitri while Bluey played on the TV.
Hana woke up in one of her moods where she would start sobbing if she was put down, not that he was complaining about it. Having his little girl cuddled up on his chest was something he would never be annoyed at. So currently Shane had her resting against his chest, rubbing her back as he watched the TV. His mind couldn't help going a million different directions while his toddler munched on his snack next to him.
“Daddy here.” Dimitri said next to him. He was offering Shane a grape flavored gummy.
“Thank you baby,” Shane said as he took it. Grape wasn't his favorite flavor but he wasn't about to tell his son that.
Dimitri went back to watching the TV, now tucked into Shane's side. Shane put his arm around him, pulling him in closer.
“Did you have fun skating with me and papa Dima?” Shane finally asked. Once they had come upstairs, Dimitri hadn't brought it up once.
Dimitri stayed quiet for a minute before saying “It's scary.”
Shane looked at him, rubbing his shoulder for comfort. “It is a little scary, yeah.” He agreed. “When I was your age I was scared of it at first too.” Dimitri didn't say anything, letting his dad speak. Hana cooed against Shane's chest. He continued. “My dad would take me to the rink and the first few times I would get really scared and cry.”
“Why?”
It was a simple, very expected follow up question but Shane was still caught off guard somehow. He wasn't sure exactly why he had been so scared at first. Thinking about it for a few minutes he thought that maybe it was the newness of it, feeling like he could fall at any given moment. He remembered that that was the first time he had ever felt so out of place, so out of his element. “I think because it was new to me. And I think once I got used to it, it stopped being scary.”
Dimitri didn't say anything, just watched the tv, looking through the small plastic bag to make sure he avoided the orange gummies. Shane chewed the inside of his cheek, thinking about what else to say. He felt like he had to, that Dimitri still needed something more to hear.
“If you don't like skating you don't have to do it, bud.” Shane said after a minute.
Dimitri adjusted himself so he could get a better look at Shane's face. Shane saw his confused expression, and couldn't shake the fact he had given that exact same expression to his own parents when he was that small. “But you and papa like it lots.”
“Yeah, but that's me and papa.” Shane cupped Dimitri's cheek with his hand. “We don’t want you or your sisters to feel like you have to like it because of us.” Dimitri blinked up at him. “Does that make sense Dima?”
Dimitri gave him a slow nod, still processing Shane's words. “Daddys not mad?”
“No, of course not. If you don't want to skate, that's fine. Papa and I still love you all the same.” Shane reassured him.
Dimitri didn't say anything after that and they watched the tv in a comfortable silence. The occasional crinkling sounds of Dimitri rummaging through the bag of gummies, along with Hana's little coos and grunts being the only sounds between the three.
—
Two episodes later, Ilya and Ava came back to the main house. Ilya looked tired as he melted into the couch next to his husband. Ava climbed between them and cuddled against Shane's side.
“Daddy I skated!” Ava announced proudly.
“I saw a princess. You did a really good job.” Shane watched as her face beamed at him.
“Papa went real fast.” Ava said as she played with Hana's hand. Hana didn't fuss, already used to her sister gently waving her tiny fist with her hand.
Shane gave his husband a questioning look. “Did he?”
Ilya looked at his daughter, letting out an exaggerated sigh. “That was our secret moya malen'kaya printsessa. Was just for us.”
“You said I couldn't tell daddy. I tolded Dima and Hana.” Ava said matter of factly.
Dimitri had been sitting in silence, watching Bluey ignoring the conversation around him. At the mention of his name, he handed Ava the packet of orange gummies, which she gladly accepted without any question.
Shane looked at Ilya as he asked. “Did you wear your helmet when papa skated fast with you?”
Ava nodded, mouth full of orange gummies. “Yeah.”
Shane let out a sigh, relieved that Ava had at least kept her helmet on for that. “Okay. Did you like skating with papa and daddy?” He asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah! I wanna go again.” She offered a gummy to Ilya, who opened his mouth to accept it. She dropped it in and Ilya ate it, ruffling her curls playfully as a thank you.
“We can skate again tomorrow,” Shane promised. They still had eight days left at the cottage and he was sure Ava would want to skate until they were about to leave. His parents were driving out tomorrow with Anya and he could already imagine Ava wanting to show her grandparents her skating with either him or Ilya by her side.
Shane felt a little tug on his shirt. He looked down at Dimitri who was looking up at him with curiosity. “Can I skate too?”
Shane gave him a half smile. “If you want to Dima. But if it's too scary you don't have to.”
Ilya was now sitting up slightly, listening more closely. “Dima is okay if you don't like it.” He said gently. He watched as his little boy shook his head, a more resounding look of determination on his small face now. He'd seen that look on Shane countless times over the years.
“I wanna go again.” Dimitris' voice was set.
Ilya glanced at Shane, who met his look with the same concern. The last thing Ilya wanted was for his son to feel forced into liking skating, but right now Dimitri seemed so set in trying again. There was a silent conversation being had in their looks before Ilya looked away.
“Okay Dima, we try again tomorrow.” Ilya said. He sat up, leaning forward a little. “But if it is too scary we stop and we don't have to try again okay?”
“Okay” Dimitri nodded. He got up from Shane's side and plopped himself down in-between Ava and Ilya.
The two toddlers started talking about all the things that were currently on their minds: dinosaurs, Hana, Anya, skating. The usual topics but now skating had been thrown into the mix.
Shane relaxed into the couch cushion, Hana still resting against his chest, her tiny legs kicking as her older siblings talked to her.
“Hana can skate too, papa?” Ava asked, waving her little fist again.
“One day, yes. But that won't be for very long time.” Ilya chuckled. “She is still very tiny.”
Ava let out an annoyed sigh, frustrated at Ilya's response. “But you're big now right Hana?”
Hana just smiled as a response, drool dripping down onto Shane's shirt.
“She’s big now.” Dimitri confirmed.
Shane loved every second of this. He had always dreamed of the day he and Ilya got to share the thing they loved so much with their babies. He wasn't entirely sure if Dimitri was a fan, but he did admire his son wanting to try again. His mind thought about when all three of his kids were older, more practiced and more confident on the ice. He thought about skating by their side then and his heart fluttered. It was still too early to tell if their kids would stick with this, they were toddlers after all, but Shane would cherish this moment of them being excited about skating for the first time for a long long time.