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That morning Shane had woken up with a fever. Today that he was supposed to go and watch his husband's match with their beautiful daughter. His usual luck. So, the plan had changed. Shane had the strength to tell Illya to go pick Ana up from school and bring her home. He would manage to deal with her tantrum.
Ilya was about to suggest another idea as he knew how excited Ana was to see the watch, but Shane was already back asleep. “Don’t worry, solnyshko. Just rest.” Ilya kissed his warm forehead and tugged him a bit more into the duvet.
Ilya left the house to get Ana from school. He still had plenty of time to get to the rink on time for the warmup. He thought about calling the babysitter. So that Ana could still attend the match. No response.
Ilya knew Shane’s parents were out of town for a holiday, so he mentally gave up on the idea of bringing his kid back home. Ana did not like this change of plan.
“Papa, please, I want to go!!!!” Ana was begging him with teary eyes. She had been looking forward to the match for a week. A week can be a lot for a 5-year-old human being. Ana was rambling about all the reasons why she could go even without Dada, that she was old enough and that she would behave when Ilya stopped her gently.
“Okay, okay, baby. Please, breathe.” Ilya's eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, where Ana's reflection met his.
Whenever Ana was looking at him with those big brown eyes, he could not say no. Shane was much better than Ilya with that. So, he brought her to the rink with him after he made her promise she would behave.
Ilya would be checking on her, and she would be seated not too far away from the rink. Shane would stay asleep for another 2 hours for sure, and then they would be back and make food for him. It was a good plan. Or at least that was what Ilya said to himself.
Ilya smiled at his daughter, nodding and feeling so proud that she was watching him, especially after he made a pretty glorious goal. Ilya has never been modest; he is not going to start now. His daughter stretched her hand in the air while jumping on the seat with a big smile on her face. He will probably scold her later for jumping on the seat while not attended by any adult.
A bunch of players bumped his helmet “Yes, Roz!” “That’s what I am talking about, captain” They were all cheering around him. Ilya smiled at Cliff, who finally made it through the chaos of players. “Good pass, Cliff” “I know, cap, and yet all the glory to you”, Cliff said while hugging him. No real meaning in his words. Ilya just huffed a laugh at that. “I’ll tell the press I could not do it without you, yes?” Ilya smiled back, patting his shoulder affectionally. The game was over, and they won.
Ilya skated with all his teammates through the centre of the rink and shook hands with the other teams’ players. They were all bummed. But Ilya made sure they all got a “good game” acknowledgement from both him and all the players. Time to go get changed and meet his daughter, he told her to meet in front of the locker room; he had also told one of the guards at the rink to escort her in front of the right locker room. Ilya didn’t want to think about his 5-year-old daughter running around the rink by herself.
“Pappaa!” A bunch of dark curls met his legs.
“Moya zayka” Ilya picked her up with ease while smothering her rosy cheeks with kisses. Ana was giggling and moving in a fake attempt at escaping her dad’s affection.
“Did you have fun, yes?” Ilya smiled at Ana while she nodded furiously. He dragged the back of his hand across his damp forehead, a few stubborn strands of hair clinging to his skin as he exhaled. His other arm held Anna securely against his hip, as though her weight was nothing at all.
“Okay baby, let me get changed so we can get to Dad sooner” Ilya put Ana down and stayed at her eye level while talking “Dada does not know I brought you here, so we get home fast, yes?”
Ana lifted her little hand and made a zipping motion across her lips, sealing them shut with an exaggeratedly serious expression. They were on a mission, after all, and there was no time to waste.
Ilya looked at his daughter and laughed at her expression. “Okay, be good for papa and wait for me here, oke?
Ana let go of his father and nodded “Yes, papa. I stay here.”
Ilya patted her hair and ran into the locker room for a really fast shower. He could trust his daughter for 10 minutes, and he informed the guards to call him immediately if they spotted the girl around the stadium without him.
“Hey, Roz, where is your little menace?” Cliff was already drying his hair with a towel.
Ilya answered while getting rid of his clothes, “Right out this door. Maybe you go to her, keep an eye on her for me, yes?”
“Sure, Rozy. I’ll be out in a minute,” Cliff assured him while he was stepping inside the shower.
Well, that minute was certainly more than ONE minute, and that minute was definitely enough for Ana to get into trouble. Ilya was sure of it. That thought had barely crossed his mind when he heard a muffled and very upset voice, “Pa-ppa”
Ana was definitely upset. That much was obvious. Her father knew that voice. The problem was that her voice was coming from inside the locker. A locker room currently filled with a lot of very grown men. Very naked grown men. The exact place where his six-year-old daughter absolutely should not be.
Ilya breathed a muffled swear in his native language, quickly hoping she didn’t hear that. The situation was enough not in his favour; he didn’t need her to learn a bad word in Russian now.
“Malyshika, please cover your eyes NOW. Papa is coming,” Ilya shouted from the shower while urgently removing the soap from his body as best he could.
Cliff stared at the little girl with flushed cheeks while his teammates were doing their best to cover their intimate parts. Cliff would have laughed at the scene if it wasn’t for the fact that the little girl was his best friend's daughter, who also happened to be a scary Russian man. Also, Cliff loved Ana and couldn’t see her being traumatised for life for this.
Cliff moved quickly. He knelt in front of Ana and hugged her, gently leading her little head towards his chest, in a way to cover her vision of the locker room. “Hey, princess, it’s okay, Papa is coming. Please close your eyes and keep them shut, okay? Can you do that for me?” Cliff spoke fast, trying to reassure the little girl while rubbing her back cautiously.
Cliff was still in the same position when a panicked Russian player with only a towel on his waist ran towards him while shouting, “Everyone with clothes on, now!” Ilya rushed over to Anna and scanned her whole body before the little human grabbed him and buried her face on his naked chest.
“Ana, what happened? Are you in pain?” Ilya scoped her and brought her to a bench and sat her there so he could keep checking for injuries. Ilya spotted a small scratch on her pants, at her knees level.
“I..I was waiting for you,” Ana started explaining, voice still trembling a bit “And a kid shoved me and I.. I feel” Ana looked at her father with big red eyes, and Ilya felt his heart aching a bit.
Ilya's eyes rushed to the scratch on his daughter’s pants and the blood visible from underneath them.
“Sorry, papa, I know I am not allowed here, but..” Ana put on a serious expression, concentrating on explaining the situation to her father “But I saw blood and...you know I don’t like blood. It makes me feel bad”
Ilya felt a rush of guilt “No, solnyshko, it is not your fault. It’s mine. You did the right thing to come to me, baby”, he murmured, gently brushing away the tears on her cheeks with his thumb.
“I will check your knee now. Be good for papa and close your eyes, yes?”
Ana simply nodded and covered her eyes with her little hands. Ilya rolled her pants up to the injured knee and revealed the scratch with enough blood to scare her 5year-old daughter, who was not a fan of both blood and needles. The latter fear was shared with her Papa.
Cliff was ready next to him, handing him the aid kit they always have in locker rooms for little cuts like this one. Ilya nodded at him as if thanking him and grabbed an alcohol pad from the box. Ilya placed the pad on Ana’s knee, and that earned him a muffled “Auch”
“I’m almost done, baby; you are doing so great”, Ilya praised her and quickly finished medicating her. Ilya's thoughts went to the kid who dared to shove his daughter, and an instant anger crept over him. Kids can be real evil sometimes. Ilya applied the plaster on her knee. “Okay, baby, done.” He quickly checked around him. Most of his teammates were now gone, and the few left were now wearing a decent amount of clothes.
“You can open your eyes now, malyshka”. Ilya looked at his daughter's big eyes, no trace of new tears in them. They smiled at each other.
Ilya smacked a kiss on her knee, just beside the plaster. Then another kiss on the other knee. “No pain anymore, da?”
Ana giggled and shook her head “I’m okay, Papa. Thank you!”
“Good girl! You scared us, princess” Cliff held his hand in the air close to Ana, and she smacked his hand for a quick high five. Ilya smiled at that. His best friend and his daughter had a good bond; he had to admit that. He was grateful to have people who trusted his family.
Ilya thought of Shane. Shane, who did not know that his daughter was here with him, Shane who probably would be mad if he found out. Ilya jumped to his feet again, feeling a bit dizzy after kneeling in front of Ana for a good 10 minutes.
“Ana, baby, stay here. I need to put my clothes on, and then we go home to Dada, yes?”
Ana smiled at that “Yes, Papa, you are still naked!” Ana seemed to realise that only now and seemed to find that funny. “Put clothes on, Papa, or you will be cold and sick like Dada”
“Oh, now you give orders”, Ilya huffed, a laugh at that. Incredible.
Ilya was leaving the rink holding his daughter's hand and rushed to his parked car. His phone started ringing in his pocket. Ilya froze in front of his car. That was definitely Shane.
He picked up. “Sweetheart, I…”
“ILYA ROZANOV! Did you just bring my daughter to the rink??”
“Sweetheart, she was crying, and I couldn’t just say no!” Ilya tried to change the subject “How are you feeling? We are coming home, and we’ll make you a nice soup, right, Ana?”
“Yeah!! Soup for Dada,” Ana screamed enthusiastically, while jumping in the car.
“You are not going to get away with this easily”, Shane said
Ilya knew he would try all night to get his forgiveness “I have my ways”, Ilya teased, a knowing grin forming on his face, while fastening his daughter’s seatbelt.
“Ilya, I’m serious.” Shane snapped back, although his voice did not sound scary at all.
“We’ll see you home, baby! Ya tebya lyublyu”
Ilya hung up the phone and smiled while starting the car. He loved his family.