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The months flew by in the blink of an eye. Every week, Ilya would share updates he got on his app to track the pregnancy, “Baby is size of a pear!” There was so much new technology since they went through this with Mariya, and he was having a ball with it. Every app on the market was downloaded on his phone to give him insights to their newest addition that would be joining them, due on May 24th.
They opted to keep the gender a surprise, now that they’d been through it once, they wanted to add some more excitement to the mix. There had been a family vote to decide on the nursery theme; Ilya was very upset that he was outvoted, he’d been pushing for a jungle theme, but somehow Mariya and Shane had ganged up on him and won with a woodland theme. He’d make sure there would be lots of animals though. He spent months turning their guest room into the perfect woodland nursery, complete with foxes, squirrels, and owls.
Shane had been meticulously researching information on the new safety requirements for car seats and safe sleep recommendations. He bought a fancy car seat that could click into the stroller, and bought the most highly voted crib for sleep safety. Ilya told him that he worried too much, but he was quite thankful that Shane thought of all these things. He never would have thought to look up how the laws had changed and they would have been stuck at the hospital without a car seat that was up to snuff.
May was proving to be a busy month. Mariya had softball games nearly every day since so many of them early in the season had been rescheduled due to weather, not to mention band practices and the upcoming spring formal, which just so happened to be on Shane’s birthday. He was okay with celebrating on a different day if it meant he could watch his first born go off to her first formal school dance.
They had both taken her dress shopping along with Yuna. They definitely needed a woman’s opinion when it came to formal dresses, and they hoped to pass on some of Yuna’s class to Mariya. Ilya insisted she try on giant poofy ballgowns, “so you will look like princess! Because you are my princess,” he insisted from a couch in the changing area.
She came out wearing a teal ballgown covered in rhinestones that was eating her alive, “Oh that is perfect, Mashenka,” Ilya cooed. Mariya couldn’t have rolled her eyes any harder.
“Ilya, don’t you think it looks a little 2010?” Yuna said gently.
“No! She is princess!” He insisted.
“I’m not wearing this, just so everyone is on the same page,” Mariya said, gesturing to the huge skirt that flopped on the floor, even with her standing on a pedestal. The dress was clearly meant for someone who was closer to 5’10” rather than her 5’1” stature.
“Yes, let’s try on one of the other ones!” Shane said encouragingly.
She got off the pedestal as quickly as she could with help from her grandmother, who helped her undo all of the intricate buttons in the changing room.
“At least she humored you and put it on at all,” Shane said to Ilya.
“Just want her to feel like princess.”
“Are you going to make her put on a tiara too?”
“Now we are talking!”
She settled on an emerald green A-line dress with the help of Yuna. The color made her glow, and the second she put it on, Shane and Ilya knew it was the perfect dress. She looked confident, something she’d been struggling with this year. Ilya and Shane couldn’t understand why, but they knew it came with the territory of having a middle-schooler.
One thing that they really had to work to wrap their head around was that she had a date to the spring formal. A seventh-grade boy from the baseball team had asked her to the dance, and Mariya had been so excited just to be asked. Shane had asked the most questions, doing everything he could to feel out this date. Ilya had sat mostly in silence when they were told. She was only 11! She couldn’t have a date! Especially not with a boy that played baseball of all sports. And she was going to a bonfire after the dance! With the boy! It was at one of her close friend’s houses, one where Shane and Ilya knew her parents well, providing minimal consolation. She would be sleeping over at Sophie’s house and no boys would be staying past 10:30.
Shane had come around once he found out that he was in her advanced science class and they’d been sitting together the entire year, so it wasn’t so out of the blue. She had always thought they were just friends, hadn’t thought much about it. But when he asked her, she thought maybe she did have a little crush, which had bloomed over the last few weeks.
“No boy in the seventh grade is good enough for you, Masha. No boyfriends until you are older, once brain is developed. Boys are stupid for a very long time,” Ilya warned, half-kidding half-not.
Mariya rolled her eyes, something she was very good at these days, “Noah’s a good one! He’s smart, athletic, cute…”
“No boys are cute! None of them! Not even Noah,” Ilya said sharply.
“You didn’t think dad was cute?”
“Is trick question. Of course he was, he still is.”
“Gross, Papa!”
“That’s my husband!”
The day of the dance arrived. Ilya was on double duty, making a special breakfast for Shane’s birthday and helping Mariya get ready for the dance. He was taking her to get her hair and makeup done while Shane worked on putting together a new rocking chair and packing the hospital bag as they were nearing closer to the baby’s due date. They had been in touch with their surrogate, who reassured them that she and baby were both feeling well, “Baby is kicking nonstop these days!” she told them the morning before, sending pictures of her now huge pregnant belly.
They both had been keeping their phone ringers on just in case they got the call that the baby was coming. Ilya had been waiting impatiently for the last few weeks, but he hoped just for today that the baby wouldn’t make their arrival. He wanted this day to be all about Mariya, as it would likely be her last event as an only child. They were getting closer to the due date, and as much as Mariya seemed excited, he could tell that she wanted today to be all about her as well.
He woke up at 5:45 to beat Shane’s alarm that would go off at 6. He descended the stair quietly, mostly to not wake their pre-teen who would surely be moody if she was woken before 8. He set the coffee to run, knowing he’d need it today. It took him a moment to figure out how to start the coffee pot; coffee was rarely his job so he hadn’t touched the machine since last year on Shane’s birthday. Once he could hear the drip into the carafe, he smiled at his success, and started making Shane’s birthday meal he requested every year; steak and eggs benedict. He learned how to make the hollandaise sauce from scratch once he knew how much Shane liked it, and it quickly became Shane’s favorite meal. While the steak was cooking in the cast iron, he cut up some fruit for Mariya’s breakfast; she’d been on a fruit and yogurt kick, so he’d have it all ready for when she woke up.
It didn’t take long for Shane to join him downstairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he walked over to Ilya, who started pouring him a cup of coffee once he heard him coming down the steps. Shane leaned in for a kiss, one that Ilya returned with fervor, one of many birthday gifts he planned to give today.
“Good morning, birthday boy.”
“Good morning, baby.”
Ilya slid a hand down Shane’s back, settling it on his hip as he pulled him closer, “I am sorry I don’t have big gift for you today, hopefully what we do tonight will be enough.”
“Babe, you completely redid the guest room into a nursery for me over the last few months, I think that’s enough of a gift,” Shane said, smiling softly as he looked up at Ilya.
“Was nothing, just some paint and moving bed. But gift I give you later will make up for it,” Ilya said with a wink.
“Well, hopefully the gift of breakfast this morning turns out good, smells like it might be burning a little,” Shane chuckled.
“Oh shit!” Ilya said, letting go to turn over the steak, which had slightly charred on the bottom. Nothing unsalvageable, but enough to make them both laugh.
The day bustled by; Ilya was running all over town with Mariya to get her ready for the big dance, Shane was busy nesting at home, preparing for their newborn with what little time they had left before they arrived.
Shane had a weird feeling that the baby was coming sooner rather than later. He’d had the same feeling with Mariya, and she’d arrived two days later. It was as if the pregnancy hormones were affecting him too, his instincts kicking into overdrive as he prepared. He texted their surrogate for an update, to which she replied uncomfortably pregnant but doing great!
This did nothing to soothe Shane’s nerves, but he pushed them aside. They had nine days until their due date, and he needed to focus on Mariya while he could today. The second that she and Ilya came home, he would put the rocking chair aside and spend time with his first born and his family, take pictures, and pretend to be angry when a teenage boy showed up at their house. He did make sure to pack the hospital bag first to relieve his anxiety, carefully placing their baby’s going home outfit in it along with extra clothes for himself and Ilya, just in case they had to stay longer than they planned.
Once he heard the car door shut in the driveway, he placed the bag next to the car seat and closed the door behind him to the nursery. There would be plenty of time to focus on this tonight after Mariya went off to the dance.
He met Ilya and Mariya downstairs; she looked beautiful. Her hair was half up in an intricate bun with long curls cascading down her back, and her makeup was classic and subtle. It shocked him, how grown up she looked. It brought tears to his eyes, seeing how much she’d grown over the last year. She was no longer a little girl, but was growing into a teenager. A stage he was working on welcoming, but he just wanted her to stay little for just a bit longer.
He could tell Ilya had cried at some point during the day, his eyes a little bloodshot but the initial redness of his skin had faded away.
“Dad, don’t look at me like that!” Mariya said, laughing.
“Like what? You look gorgeous, honey.”
“Like you’re about to go into some speech about how grown up I am, like you always do!”
“You have me figured out I guess,” Shane said as he walked over to hug her.
“Don’t mess up my hair!”
Ilya laughed from behind, joining in on the hug, sure to place his arms so that it wouldn’t touch any part of her hair that had taken over an hour to do.
Yuna and David came over around 5 to help get ready and take pictures before they left for the dance at 6:30. Yuna helped Mariya get into her dress after she had banished her dads from the room, leaving them to walk down the stairs sullenly while David laughed from the couch.
“Having a teenager is just one big heartbreak, isn’t it?” David said, laughing to himself.
“She is not teenager! She is almost twelve! Not teenager yet.” Ilya said defensively.
“You guys sent her to school early, it’s all on you why she’s so grown up so soon.”
“She was too smart to stay behind in pre-K for another year, the rest of it is not our fault,” Shane explained.
“Don’t blink, it’ll be prom next.”
“DAVID!”
They waited patiently while Mariya finished getting dressed, both jumping to their feet once they heard her bedroom door open. She walked down the stairs, her dress flowing behind her. She really had made the perfect choice; she looked so beautiful neither Shane nor Ilya could stop looking at her.
They insisted that they help put on her heels, carefully strapping the small buckles. Shane insisted if she were to get heels that they be small, something Mariya had shockingly agreed to, knowing she couldn’t walk in anything too tall. Shane put on one shoe while Ilya put on the other, “I miss when we were putting on dress up jelly heels, not real ones,” Shane said with a sniffle. Ilya nodded knowingly, missing those days too, but hopeful they would be coming again soon.
Her date showed up with his parents, and Shane and Ilya were actually impressed. He matched his tie to her dress perfectly, and had brought her a corsage to wear on her wrist, along with a bouquet of flowers. Shane put them on the counter but made a mental note to put them in a vase and put them in her room for her before she came home in the morning. His parents were lovely, and very kind to Mariya. Shane and Ilya may not have liked that she had a date, but at least he seemed like a good kid with a good family.
Pictures came and went with only a few tears from the parents. Both kids had groaned at the sight, but made it through the pictures with minimal complaint. Ilya had the Porsche ready in the driveway, packed with Mariya’s sleepover bag he would be dropping off at her friend’s house on the way home. Then, he would give Shane the birthday he deserved.
Once they were on the road, Ilya put on music at Mariya’s request, watching through the rearview mirror to ensure that there was enough space between the two of them, choosing to ignore their hands that met in the middle seat. He could live with that, he supposed.
Everything was great until his phone started ringing, with Shane’s face lighting up on the screen. He turned down the music a bit and picked up the phone.
“Moy lyubimyy, what’s up? I’ll be home in twenty minutes.”
“Ilya, the baby is coming. She just called me that they’re going to the hospital, we need to go!”
Shock went down Ilya’s spine. He looked back at the kids in his backseat, who were watching him on the phone. He couldn’t take this moment away from her, he just couldn’t.
“Ilya?”
“Okay, I can get takeout on the way back, no big deal. Will be home soon.”
“Did you hear what I said? Are you trying to hide it from Mariya?”
“Yes, will get your bird food, will be home soon.”
He ended the call, grinding his teeth. He needed to drop them off and get home now. He was five minutes away from the school, and he drove much faster than he should have with kids in the backseat. He turned up the music, looked over his shoulder to smile at Mariya, and kept driving.
This would be the only time in his life he was glad that Mariya told him not to get out of the car. He turned around and kissed her hand before she got out of the car, “Ya tebya lyublyu, Mashenka,” he said, his voice slightly shaking.
“Keep it together Papa! Ya tebya lyublyu,” she said, laughing as she got out of the car, her date taking her arm as they walked into the school.
Once her door had shut, he let out a huge breath he’d been holding since he got the call, baby is coming, baby is coming, baby is coming.
He raced home, once again going far too fast. Her sleepover bag would have to wait, maybe Shane’s parents could bring it, worse comes to worst she could borrow clothes from Sophie. He peeled into the driveway, parking behind his Mercedes in the garage, sure to leave open the space where Shane’s car could back out into the driveway. Shane was standing at the front door, looking at his watch and fidgeting with his pockets.
He quickly got out of the car, slamming the door behind him, “Shane, baby is coming. We aren’t ready! We haven’t packed!”
“I packed the bag today! I have the car seat, I already called Alicia and she’ll watch Mariya for as long as we need her to, Mom and Dad will bring her bag over to Alicia’s. We gotta get in the car now, she said that her contractions were regular and getting closer together, we might have the baby tonight.” Shane stumbled over his words, trying to get them all out.
Ilya went past Shane, seeing the bag and the car seat already by the front door, grabbing both as Shane followed behind him, locking the front door as they both ran for the garage door.
It was a good thing that Shane drove, Ilya for sure would have gotten a speeding ticket. The careful speed he was driving didn’t match the way Ilya’s heart was beating out of his chest. Shane’s fingers drummed on the steering wheel, paying extra attention to the other drivers on the road.
“Do you think Mariya could tell from the call?”
“I don’t think so. I think I stayed calm enough she didn’t notice.”
“That was good of you to not show it, I didn’t want to steal her day away from her.”
“I did not want to, either. Your birthday really isn’t about you this year, is it?” Ilya said, finally laughing after all the tension had been built.
“My birthday be damned; this is more important.”
“You may have birthday twin.”
“Wouldn’t that be something?”
They drove quietly. Shane eventually turned on the radio just barely, to have some background noise to calm his nerves. They were about five minutes away from the hospital when Ilya spoke again. They had one question that was off limits to talk about until they were going to have the baby, and now seemed like the perfect time to ask.
“So, we have kept it in until now, what do you think we’re having?” Ilya asked.
“What do you think?”
“We say on three?”
“Sure. One…Two… Three.”
“Girl.”
“Girl.”
They looked at each other and laughed, Ilya grabbing onto Shane’s hand that sat on the shifter, like he should have at the beginning of the drive.
“I think we are just girl dads at this point. We did much better at it than I thought we would,” Ilya said, smiling so big.
“I think so too. Remember how scared you were when found out we’d be having a girl?” Shane reminisced.
Ilya laughed again, “So terrified, but for nothing. Was like breathing, was easy.”
“And if it’s a boy, it’ll be easy too. Different, but is still ours, so it will be easy.”
“Very true. I’d be happy either way, but my feeling is girl.”
They arrived to the hospital, bag slung over Ilya’s shoulder, Shane leading the way to the Labor and Delivery ward with Ilya’s hand in his. They reached the door to the floor and they both took a steadying breath.
“Ready, Papa?”
“Ready, Daddy?”
They laughed as they walked in and found their surrogate’s room. She had become a friend over the last nine months, and Shane and Ilya were elated to see her.
The labor was fast, Shane and Ilya stayed in the room as their child was born, doing whatever they could do to help their surrogate. They had let her make most of the decisions about how the labor would go, given it was her body that she was allowing them to use for nine months to bring their new baby into the world, and they supported her as she got her epidural and labored through the evening.
The time was 11:50 when their baby was born, it was all a blur. The baby came out with a deafening cry; instantly putting Shane and Ilya at ease, both sobbing at the sound. The baby was skin to skin with Shane first; he ripped his shirt off immediately, letting the baby be propped on his chest as the nurses dried the baby’s skin. Shane could hardly look down, tears streaming down his face as Ilya moved over to him, a hand rubbing softly on his newborn’s head, sobbing into Shane’s shoulder
“Do you want to know what you have, Dads?” The midwife asked quietly after a few moments, knowing the nurses needed to take the baby soon to do the post-birth checks and medicines.
Shane and Ilya waited with bated breaths, neither able to get out more than a nod. Their midwife paused, then excitedly said, “Congrats on your baby girl.”
The news only made them sob harder, “A girl! It’s a girl, sweetheart.” Ilya sobbed as he peppered Shane’s cheek with kisses.
Memories flooded both their brains of all the fun times through Mariya’s childhood; all the times of playing dress up, all the tea parties, all the story times, and all the milestones. They would have the chance to do it all again, and they couldn’t be more excited. And now, this child would have an amazing big sister to watch and have her show her the ropes.
They handed the baby to the nurses after they cut the cord, for them to put the ointment on her eyes and give her first vaccine. She was handed back to Ilya this time, who had taken his shirt off in the meantime, snuggling their newborn to his chest as they got their first good look; her eyes were barely open but Shane could see already that they were light hazel, just like Ilya’s. And she had small tufts of white blond hair on her head. The sight made him melt, and he sobbed some more.
“You have birthday twin now,” Ilya said softly, cooing down at their daughter, feeding her first bottle.
“I do,” Shane said softly, sitting with his chin on Ilya’s shoulder, just staring at their baby.
“Is this okay birthday gift?”
“It’s the best birthday gift I’ve ever gotten. I finally got what I wanted; a miniature version of you. She already looks like you.”
Ilya smiled, “From what I remember from pictures, I looked just like her when I was born.”
“This is my favorite day. Our oldest went to her first dance with her first date, and now we have our second. Our family is complete.”
“It is. Have you thought about a name?” Ilya asked quietly.
Shane swallowed, worried Ilya wouldn’t agree with his idea, “I was thinking Natalya, you know, comes from the Latin word for ‘birth’ or ‘birthday’. I know it’s usually used for Christmas time, but now that we share a birthday, I thought it sounded fitting, and it has Russian roots.”
Ilya looked up at Shane and smiled, “I love it. And I love you.”
“You like it?”
“Yes, very much. Nice to meet you, Natalya,” Ilya said down to their newest addition.
“Happy birthday, Natalya.”
By the time they looked at their phones, they had multiple text messages from Mariya, who was smarter than they could ever figure out.
Did the baby come??
I KNOW THE BABY CAME, CALL ME
Sophie’s mom was being weird and I figured it out!! Send me pictures! Call me when you can!
The texts stopped around midnight, and it was well after three in the morning. Natalya was asleep in the bassinet while Shane and Ilya both laid down on cots next to each other. They sent her one picture to wake up to, letting her know they would be home that night as long as everything went to plan. They sent pictures to David and Yuna, who were shockingly still awake and answered the texts with a FaceTime call. They couldn’t wait to bring their baby home.
The day had gone by, both Shane and Ilya were exhausted but jubilant at the same time. The baby was feeding well, and all her genetic testing was sent off. They gave her first bath in the hospital sink, putting her in her going home outfit; a white onesie with green font, simply saying “Hello world.” Shane picked out a dark green bow that matched, having packed a matching hat in case it had been a boy.
She passed her car seat oxygen test with flying colors, giving them the okay to take her home that evening. They packed up their newborn and walked through the hallways of the hospital, Ilya stopping, forcing Shane to look back at him.
“Shane, I need picture, hot dad walk,” he said, turning his hat backwards.
“Ilya, what does that mean?”
“I need picture from behind carrying car seat through the hospital; the hot dad walk. Because I am hot dad.”
“Do I get a hot dad walk picture?”
“Well of course, you are hot dad.”
Shane laughed and took his picture from behind, trading off with him and stealing his ballcap to have the same look.
Ilya looked at the pictures before they continued walking to the parking garage, “Perfect. We are very hot dads.”
Shane drove excessively slow on the way home, just as he had with Mariya. Ilya didn’t even rip on him for it, just taking in the moment. David and Yuna were picking up Mariya and bringing her home; they would all be waiting for them when they returned. Ilya sat in the back seat with Natalya, watching her breaths as she slept the whole drive home. He almost forgot how small newborns were, and how light seven pounds could be. It was hard to believe that one day she may be putting on a formal dress to go to her first dance too, but he’d thought the same thing with Mariya, and yet the day had come. Perhaps he would move through the stages of her childhood easier this time, now that he’s learned that a new stage doesn’t mean goodbye to the last, but hello to the next.
Shane looked back through the rearview mirror every few seconds, ensuring that Ilya’s face never looked concerned. He couldn’t believe the whirlwind that had been the last day and a half. He knew his instincts would be right, and that their family would be completed very soon after he felt it. He was relieved in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. Totally content.
They pulled into the driveway and carefully clicked the carrier out of the car seat base, Shane taking the carrier with Ilya’s hand in the other. They almost didn’t notice the banner that had been hung above their front door, Welcome Home, Natalya! was written in big cursive letters. It looked like something Mariya had painted, which they were sure that the grandparents had helped her.
“I think someone is excited,” Ilya said, smiling ear-to-ear.
“I think so too. Let’s go introduce them.”
Mariya, Yuna and David were all sat in the living room when they walked in. Yuna covered her mouth with her hands as soon as the baby came into view, taking in the sight of her second grandchild. David looked proud as he saw Ilya and Shane so happy to be carrying their last baby into their home.
Mariya had tears in her eyes, trying so hard to not let them fall.
“Masha, are you okay? Is a big moment,” Ilya encouraged as he sat down with the baby still in her carrier.
“Yes, I’m okay. Just like you said, a big moment,” she said, letting a few tears fall down her cheeks.
“Do you want to meet her?”
Mariya nodded, leaning back into the couch as Shane lifted the baby carefully out of the seat, supporting her neck as he moved slowly to place the baby into Mariya’s arms.
Yuna helped Mariya position the baby correctly, to cradle her neck. Natalya woke up in the transfer, letting out a big yawn once she was in Mariya’s arms. The two sat and stared at each other. Mariya spoke softly to her, holding her hand up, and Natalya grabbed onto her finger. More tears fell, from everyone around.
Ilya and Shane stood nearby, holding each other by the hip. Everyone in the room was emotional, but for Shane and Ilya, standing there watching the two biggest phases of their lives come together, all that was left to feel was joy. Unfiltered, electric joy.
“What’s her middle name?” Mariya asked.
Ilya’s eyes stung, clearing his throat as best he could, “Irina.”
That night, when they settled into bed with the bassinet in their room, so exhausted from the last few days, they just laid in each other’s arms, taking everything in once and for all.
“We did it,” Shane whispered.
“We did, we did it all,” Ilya whispered back.
“At seventeen, did you ever see it going this way?”
“No. But I’m grateful every day that it did. And that I tried so hard to stay so I could see it all.”