Chapter Text
Shane took off his shoes, give Anya some cuddles and dropped the bags in the kitchen.
“Ilya???” He called out.
Something triggered in his brain. Ilya teased him endlessly, saying that he treat him as a dog, worrying when he didn’t great him at the door.
But Shane knows… He knows when the days are too heavy on Ilya. When getting up was too much.
So he worries.
Not this time. This time, Ilya came rushing from down the hall, face all red and hair in a tangled mess.
“What were you doing?” Shane chuckled. “Wrestling a moose??”
“Moose???”
“Yes, a moose. Like a deer but bigger…”
“I know moose. I know all Canadian stupid animals. Why would I wrest stupid Canadian Crossfit Deer?”
“You look… A mess…” He gestures around. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing…” To quick. Shane raises a brow.
“You are the worst liar…”
“No liar, you are the liar.” Ilya gets close. “Now, gimme kiss.”
“No answer no kiss…” He teases.
“Yes, kiss.”
“Ok, yes kiss.” He smiles. “But no ice cream!”
“WHAT?”
That day was a close call. A super close call.
And Shane is suspicious.
He needs help. Well, more help than the one he already has (as in, Svetlana).
And he knows who’ll help.
Ilya: Mom, I need help!
Mom Yuna: Yes, honey?
Ilya: I’m doing a surprise for Malysh birthday. Need distraction.
Mom Yuna: Sweetest boy!!!! What are you doing? Can I help? What do you need?
Ilya: Surprise! But I need photos. And I need Shane out of house for like, four hours, on Saturday!
Mom Yuna: What photos? I’ll ask him to go shop with me! That’s ok?
Ilya: Do you have photos of little him playing hockey? That’s perfect!
Mom Yuna: Lots of them! Playing and with teams. Official and family ones. Want all of them?
Ilya: Yes!! Please!
Mom Yuna: Dropping them tomorrow, while he’s in therapy!
Mom Yuna: I also have his first skates and all the cups and medals before the draft… I can get you that too… Oh and the jerseys!
Ilya: Oh I love you so much!!! Yes, yes, yes! Thank you!
Mom Yuna: Anything for my favourite boys! See you tomorrow! I love you!
Mom Yuna: Oh, and he’ll love it!
Ilya’s heart is giddy with happiness when he goes through everything Yuna got him. All the photos and tiny shirts and skates and even his first stick!
Yuna kept it all and he almost cried holding those precious things, thinking about a small Shane, all focused and competent.
He actually teared up when he saw a photo of a tiny 2-year-old balancing on even tinier skates, David holding him.
This will be perfect.
Well, this was looking good until he realized that he needs help from another person… And he really hates doing this. But it’s for Shane so he’ll do anything.
Ilya: Pike, are you there?
Pike Plague: It’s my phone, of course. What do you want?
Ilya: I’ll only say this once in you life, so enjoy. I need your help.
Pike Plague: I took a print! :D For what?
Ilya: Surprise for Shane.
Pike Plague: Oh, for his birthday?? Sweet! What do you need?
Ilya: Do you have things from Montreal Shits? About him?
Pike Plague: Still my team, Rozanov! Things like what?
Ilya: I don’t know… Things you keep, about him.
Pike Plague: Oh like memorabilia? I think he has the same things I do… Like, cups and things…
Pike Plague: Oh wait!! I have our first puck!!
Ilya: Yours what?
Pike Plague: The first time we scored a goal together. Shane assisted and I scored. He let me keep the puck. Is that what you want?
Ilya: Yes! That!
Pike Plague: Ok, man, I can totally send it to you. Or to Yuna’s, so he doesn’t see it.
Ilya: Sometimes you are smart…
Pike Plague: I also have like a ton of drawings from the kids… They spent the games drawing uncle Shane. Like this.
[Photo of a kid’s drawing showing a stick figure Shane in Montreal colours]
Pike Plague: This is from Ruby, but I have lots of these…
Ilya: She’s a natural!!! Send them!
Pike Plague: Ok, I’ll send a courier. Tell Yuna that they’ll be there tomorrow.
Ilya: Thanks. You’re actually useful.
Pike Plague: Fuck off, Rozanov! My best friend deserves something nice.
Pike Plague: Don’t go all out! Jackie’s will have my head!!!
Ilya: I play for win.
Ilya’s next target was Harris.
The poor man was dumbfounded when Ilya asked him to get “all things nice” said about Shane on media.
It took a few minutes for Harris to explain that it was impossible. But he could put something together. Some articles, a collage of nice and funny comments on social media, maybe some fan mail.
Ilya was thrilled. And was even more thrilled when Harris purposed getting some statements from the team.
The problem will be keeping the team quiet about it…
Ilya threatened them with drills from hell. Some rookies looked constipated and panicked for days…
Shane was suspicious. Very suspicious.
Ilya was sneaking around. Everyone was weird. His mother wanted his help shopping on a random day. His father needed a ride downtown on another random day.
But the most suspicious thing was that no one was talking about his birthday.
No dinner plans. No one coming to his house. No mysterious boxes on the drive way… Nothing.
So he was suspicious. But he trusted Ilya. So he waited.
May 10th woke up sunny and warm.
Shane woke up even warmer.
He smiled when Ilya peppered kisses all over his face and neck.
“Happy Birthday, malysh!”
“Good morning, love… Thank you!”
“Need help waking up?”
Shane’s grin grew bigger. As other parts of him…
They only got up an hour later…
They took the day off. Lunch with his parents. Videocalls with the Pikes. Calls and texts and Instagram stories from his team and Rose and JJ. Even Scott and Kip and Ryan and Fabian and Eric and Kyle sent something. Fabian sent an audio singing Happy Birthday and it was so beautiful that Ilya teared up.
He asked Ilya to order dinner. He wanted to enjoy this. His first birthday with the man he loves. In their home. Together and married and out.
Ilya made a beautiful Instagram post. His parents did it too. Harris blew up all the Centaurs’ Social Media.
Shane posted and reposted so many stories. A selfie of them. The food, the cake. His parents and Ilya look at him from across the table. Him blowing the candles, with the capture “everything I wished for.”
He was so, so happy. He didn’t remember being this happy. Well, except on his wedding day, but that day he was also nervous. Today he was just happy.
And still suspicious.
Ilya was jittery. Laughing a little bit too loud. Speaking in a little higher pitch. Squirming a little bit too much.
And he didn’t give him a gift.
He waited patiently. But after dinner, when they were cuddling on the couch, in sweatpants and soft shirts, tangled in each other's arms with a movie playing on TV, he couldn’t wait anymore.
“Ilya…?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“You didn’t give me a gift…”
“I gave you three orgasms before you wake up!”
“Oh… Ok…” His face crumples a bit… “Sorry for asking…”
Ilya chuckled “You really think that I didn’t get you a gift?”
“Don’t know…”
“Silly, malysh.” He gets up. “Here”
He gives him a small velvet box. Inside there is a single key.
“A key… You got me… a house???”
“You really have a real estate kink… It’s for a room.”
“You got us an hotel room??”
“Nope, it’s from a door in this house…”
“Ok…”
“Come, come!”
He drags him to a door on the first floor of their house.
“Go ahead.”
“You gave me a key for our trophy room?”
“Go in.”
Shane opens the door and he feels his jaw dropping and his heart exploding.
When they moved in, they put their cups on some shelfs and his old armchair in the middle of the room.
Now, there is another armchair next to his.
The wall in front of the door floor to ceiling bookshelf. All their trophies, from the first ones to their Stanley Cups on display, starting at the bottom. An empty space right at the top.
Their medals are on the wall on the right, next to framed pictures on a chronological line.
He feels tear in his eyes watching a tiny Ilya grow up alongside a himself. He gasps when he sees their first skates on the floor, so so small. His own hockey skates looking so bulky and gruff next to Ilya’s figure skating ones, delicate and shiny black.
Their jerseys around the door frame, getting bigger and bigger. The Centaurs’ ones right above the door.
A small TV screen is on mute, but he sees the Centaurs’ team talking.
Drawings from the Pikes’ kids are framed and scattered around. The puck with his and Hayden’s names on it, their first goal together.
Their first sticks. Ilya’s pucks.
He walks around the room. He lets the tears fall. He touches everything reverently, like something precious. He touches Ilya’s things like they were sacred.
“Oh… Ilya…”
“Do you like it?”
“Like? I love it… This… This…” He hugs his husband and sniffs against his neck. “You are the best, do you know that?”
“You are the best, Sólnyshko…”
“I would never think about something like this…” He turns in Ilya’s arms to look around. “This is… perfect.”
“Just like you…”
“Do you know what I love the most about this?”
“What?”
“You put yourself here too. Your memories, your trophies… Your little skates and shirts… How did you…?”
“Sveta. And your mom… They got all that.”
“Those two are amazing…”
“They are…”
Shane focus on the shelfs. He notices a small glint on the top shelf, something glittering in the light.
He gets closes, pulling Ilya along.
On the top shelf, there is two plastic rings, on a velvet stand. Two hearts, one pink and one purple.
“Oh…” He looks above his shoulder and sees that Ilya is crying too. “Our rings.”
“Da, of course! Very important! Our first wedding!”
“They get a shelf all for themselves!”
“No…”
“No?”
“That is for our first Stanley Cup together. Right There. At the top”
“Yeah… Like you said.” Shane recites, voice thick with emotion and gratitude and love. “We were supposed to stand alone at the top, but we will always be there together. We will keep climbing until no one else can reach us, but it will always be together.”
They will climb to the top. Together. Forever.