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With Anya following at his heels, Ilya was carrying a box full of fruit into David's and Yuna's house. Shane was still outside, rummaging around in their car, unloading the rest of the groceries they had gotten for a little barbecue they had been planning. Hockey season had just ended and finally, Shane and Ilya had some more free time they could spend with Shane's parents.
The season had been very successful for the Ottawa Centaurs with Ilya as their Captain and Shane playing center. They had come second in the Playoffs and even though it had been a bummer that they had almost won the cup, they had proven to be a team to be reckoned with and the games had been a lot of fun, so Ilya's spirits were high. He was looking forward to spend a nice evening and night at Yuna's and David's place, being with his family.
He walked through the living room and his gaze wandered to the wall next to the huge TV that was plastered with photographs. Ever since Shane and Ilya had been outed, Yuna and David had started to add pictures to their wall of memories that had already been filled with lots and lots of photographs of Shane, his parents and their family - pictures of Shane and Ilya, pictures of only Ilya, pictures of Anya and of course, also pictures of Shane and Ilya's wedding day.
Ilya carried the box into the kitchen and placed it on the countertop. "Ilya? Are you in the kitchen?" he then heard David's voice. "Yeah, I'm here!" he answered. "Can you please come back to the living room?" Ilya frowned a little because he had just started to unpack the box, but he just left the fruit where it was and left the kitchen again to step out of the room to join David in the living room. It wasn't just David waiting for him, but Yuna too.
"Hey there, I already brought some of the food into the kitchen," Ilya greeted his in-laws. They were both smiling, but somehow, also looked a little… nervous? Ilya wondered what that was about. "Are you okay?" he asked and Yuna and David looked at each other for a second. Ilya noticed that David was holding something in his hands, but he couldn't see what it was exactly. "Yes, we are okay. We have a little something… but we wanted to make sure you'd be okay with that before we place it on our wall," David said. Ilya realized he was holding a wooden frame like the ones holding the photographs on their wall of memories.
Now, Ilya was really confused. "You wanted to ask me? Why?" David stepped closer, the expression in his eyes soft, and the turned the picture frame in his hands around so Ilya could see the photograph that was inside. His breath hitched in his throat. For several seconds, he just stared at the photograph and he felt the tell-tale burn in the corners of his eyes when they were starting to fill with tears. "Has Shane given this to you?", he asked and his voice was trembling a little.
David nodded and stepped closer. He gently placed a hand on Ilya's shoulder and Ilya grabbed the frame with both of his hands, still staring at it. "Shane showed it to us and I asked him to send it to me so we had it printed," Yuna said softly. Ilya brushed his fingertips over the photograph inside the frame. It was a little grainy since it was so old, but it was still one of Ilya's favorite pictures of all time. It showed a beautiful, young woman with long, curly hair sitting on a couch, and a small boy sitting in her lap, her arms wrapped tightly around him.
Ilya's mother was smiling brightly in this photograph, the same ocean-colored eyes and sandy blonde locks that Ilya could see when he looked into a mirror. Every time he saw this picture, he was in awe about how much he looked like his mother. Tiny Ilya in the picture was smiling too, but much more reserved; looking almost shy. He couldn't have been older than five or six years old when it had been taken.
Yuna stepped closer to Ilya too and he could feel her touch his arm. It was a careful and gentle touch and it made his eyes almost overflow with tears. "Irina gave us our beloved son Ilya," Yuna said, and her words then finally caused Ilya's tears to spill and roll down his cheeks. "So we thought that she deserves a place on our wall as well. Right next to her beloved Ilya and his husband. She's family after all. But of course, only if that's okay with you."
Swallowing thickly, Ilya looked up at David and Yuna. David and Yuna who loved him like a son, who had welcomed him into their family with open arms. Shane and his parents had given Ilya what he had always missed and craved ever since his mother had died and he sometimes still couldn't believe he deserved to be loved this much. He really couldn't put in words how much being part of this family meant to him.
Sniffling quietly, Ilya pressed the framed photograph to his chest. While there were still tears running down his face, a wobbly smile appeared on his lips and he nodded. "Thank you," he said, voice cracking a little. "I would love that." Ilya couldn't hold back a quiet sob when a moment later, David and Yuna both wrapped their arms around him at the same time to embrace him in a hug.
"I love you," Ilya mumbled quietly, squeezing his eyes shut, still crying. David and Yuna hugged him even closer. "We love you too, Ilya," David answered. And when Ilya heard Shane's voice a moment later, calling out "Who made my husband cry?!", he couldn't help but laugh wetly, the picture of his mother holding him in her arms still pressed up against a heart that was filled with so much love.