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The three girls were sitting on the couch in the den of the cottage, warm summer light peeking in through the tall windows. Shane and Ilya sat in front of them on little ottomans, Anya curled up by Ilya’s feet. A tripod was balanced between them, along with an assortment of little water bottles and fruit leathers for incentive. Like many of these digitized memories, it was Ilya’s idea, something he had seen on tiktok. Shane drew a hard line at posting the girls' faces online, but he couldn’t deny having videos of them didn’t make his heart burst. So here they were, sat and ready to do an interview, and their firstborn was first up.
Sofiya
Ilya focuses the camera on her. She was sitting on the couch smack in the middle, Daria and Yana draped over her lap. She was going through a growth spurt, her gangly legs pulled up to her knees. Ilya felt his heart melt, she was starting to look a lot like Shane, rounded almond shaped hazel eyes, ruddy cheeks and a prominent nose that filled out her face. The heat of the Summer produced a smattering of freckles on her face. She had decided in May she wanted a ‘big girl’ hair cut to look fancy for the playoffs, now late August, her light brown bangs hung a bit over her eyes. She’s rubbing Yana’s back, waiting patiently for them to start. Ilya blinks back a burning in his eyes and clears his throat.
“Okay”he says, reading off his phone. “Me and Daddy are going to ask you some questions, is that okay?”
“Mhm”she says softly, chewing on the string of Shane’s old Metros hoodie. Ilya couldn’t find it in himself to tell her to stop.
“Alright.” Shane says, “What is your full name?”
“Sofiya Haruka Hollander Rozanov,”she says.
“Yes, Rozanova,”he corrects gently.
“Rozanova”she repeats, her brows furrowed as she looks to Ilya behind the camera. “Папа, почему ‘Розанова’, а не ‘Розанов’?”"Papa, why is it ‘Rozanova’ and not ‘Rozanov’?"
“Поскольку русский язык язык с родами, моя любовь”"Because Russian is a gendered language, my love"Ilya replies from behind the camera.
“Okay,” he says, looking at the list. “How old are you?”
“На русском или на английском?”"In Russian or in English?"she asks, tilting her head a bit.
“Either is fine, baby,”Shane says softly.
“I am six!”she says, holding up three fingers on each hand. “Right, daddy? Three and three make six?”
“That’s right”Shane hums, his heart melting just a tiny bit. “Ilya?”
“What is my name?”Ilya asks.
“Ilya,”she says proudly.
“And what’s my name?”Shane asks.
“Shanya”she says.
Ilya stifles a chuckle, coughing into his shoulder. “да, верно, what does papa call you?”“Yes, that's right what does papa call you?”
“Papa calls me Sonya and sonechka and…Papa how you say Ягодка на английском языке?"“Papa calls me Sonya and sonechka and…Papa how you say little berry in English?"She frowns, her brows furrowing in confusion.
“Little berry”Ilya supplies, his eyes shining a bit.
“Right, because I'm red like daddy,”she says seriously.
“Да, like daddy”“Yes, like daddy”he hums, then looks to Shane.
“And what do I call you?”He asks.
“You call me mama-chan a lot,”she hums, seeming to think for a bit. "But you also call me sonyusha, and chouchou”"But you also call me sonyusha, and sweetheart”
“Good”he says, “How many languages do you speak?”
“Three”she says. Shane and Ilya share a worried look between them.
“Three?”Shane prompts gently. “Mhm”she says, “Я говорю по-русски, Je parle français and 私は日本語を話します”"I speak Russian, I speak French and I speak Japanese."she frowns, “that’s three, daddy”
Shane swallowed down the moment of sheer Yuna possessed pride and nods. “That is three, but you also speak English.”
“Yes”she frowns.
“English is a language, chou”he says gently. She silently counts on her fingers for a few seconds and nods.
“I speak four languages!”
“Yes,”Ilya says, sighing in relief. He shoots Shane a look meaning they would have to discuss that later. “Almost done, okay? What do you want to be when you grow up?”
She ponders for a few minutes. “I think a librarian.”
Shane and Ilya shoot each other another frantic look from behind the camera.
“Yes, is great, моя принцесса”“Yes, is great, my princess”Ilya says, nodding frantically. “You can go to boring college-”
“Anyways”Shane says, giving Ilya a bitchy side eye. “One last question, then you can go play, okay?”
“yes?”
“What do you want most right now?”He asks.
She looks down at the two little girls flagging her left and right side. “A little brother.”
Shane startles so hard the phone in his hand clattered on the hardwood below them.
“You did great,”Ilya says, an unmistakable glint in his eyes. “Go play now, yes?”
“Да, папа”"okay, papa"she says happily, wriggling off the couch to the dismay of her younger sisters.
Daria
After a much needed snack break the two set up for the next video. Shane sat behind the camera holding Yana, while Ilya sat with Daria in his lap. Her dark brown hair was pulled out of her face in a long braid down her back, little wispy curls framing her face. Her dark brown eyes were already filled with protest, she didn’t like to sit for very long if it wasn’t her idea. Her lips curled up in an indignant pout, she has ilya’s frown. Her feet kicked a bit in protest but Shane held up a stuffed bunny from behind the camera.
“Okay”he says, adjusting the camera. “What is your name?”
"Je Dasha""I Dasha"she says, climbing to stand on Ilya’s lap.
“Your name is Daria,”Shane says.
She shakes her head, not even giving him the decency of her face. "Non, Je Dasha""No, I Dasha"
“Tu ne t'appelles pas Dasha, mais Daria”"Your name is not Dasha, it's Daria"Shane argues. Yana whines in his lap and he shushes her, bouncing his knees a bit. Maybe they should have done this earlier in the day.
“Дебил”"Stupid"she huffs, and Ilya chokes down a laugh.
“Hey”he scolds,“we do not call daddy Дебил, that is what we call uncle Hayden-”"we do not call daddy stupid, that is what we call uncle Hayden-"
“Ilya Rozanov”Shane scolds, his face scrunching up. “s'excuser auprès de daddy”"say sorry to daddy"
"Quoi?""Why?"she huffs, and Shane feels a vain bulge in his forehead.
“Parce que ce n'est pas gentil.”"Because that is not nice."he says firmly, he sees her face scrunch up just like his and internally sighs.
The video cuts, and now a ruddy cheeked Daria is sitting on Shane’s lap, curled up against his side with one hand stroking his cheek. The two had shared a long talk and after a tearful apology she was ready to continue. Ilya, now sat behind the camera, Yana dozing off against his chest.
“Okay”Ilya says, looking at the list. “How old are you?”
She holds up three fingers, her cheek smooshed against Shane’s chest, one hand playing with his earlobe.
“Not three yet, mon lutin”“Not three yet, my little imp”Shane says, one hand rubbing her back. He looks at the camera and smiles. “She’s two and a half”
“Dasha, Как зовут daddy?”"Dasha, what's daddy's name?"Ilya asks. “На русском языке”"In Russian."
She takes a few moments to respond, her little brain working hard.“Солнышко”"Sunshine"she responds after a few beats. Shane feels his heart burst and Ilya lets out a pleased laugh.
“Daddy зовут Саншайн?”"Daddy's name is sunshine?"He coos, his eyes watering just a bit as he watches Dasha nod. She was the most like him, and he can’t help but to thank that maybe he wasn’t so bad as a kid. Not when he could see the love just leaking out of her body.
“Okay, Как зовут папа?""Okay, what's papa's name?"he asks.
“Папа es Ilya”"Papa is Ilya"she says, putting on an annoyed tone, she looks up at Shane her nose wrinkled with amusement. Shane leans down and gives her a little bunny kiss.
"Bravo"good job"he murmurs, leaning down to kiss her cheek and Ilya can’t help but to grin.
“Okay, what does daddy call you?”Ilya asks.
She looks up at Shane still holding his face. “Mon lutin…et ma fifelle”"my little elf...and my little girl"
“And what about papa?”He asks.
“Папочка”"little papa"she says, “et…et..Лисичка”"and...and..little fox"
"En français?”"In French?"”Shane asks.
"Renard""Fox"she says.
“And English?”Shane prompts. She frowns a bit, and they wait allowing her to try and find the words.
"Est foks?""Is foks?"”she says, her mouth forming around the letters. Shane and Ilya stare at each other in bewilderment.
“Что?”"Huh?"Ilya says, watching her mouth carefully.
“Foks”she repeats, growing a bit frustrated. “Renard est foks, Papa”"Fox is foks, Papa"
“Ilya”Shane says calmly, still stroking her hair. “Have we been speaking English with this one?”
“I don’t think so”Ilya says slowly, “when was the last time we brought her to your parents?”
“Three weeks ago”He says, a small pit of panic forming in his stomach. “Ilya…have we not spoken to our daughter in English in three weeks?”
“I think maybe yes”Ilya sighs.
“Let me try something,”he says, rubbing his face. “Daria?”he says, looking down at her. She continues to play with the strings of his shirt like she doesn’t hear a thing. “Daria?”he repeats using his French accent. Her little head pops up and she tilts it.
"Quoi daddy?""Yes daddy?"
“Oh my god”he groans, rubbing his face, looking at Ilya in distress. “No wonder she doesn’t think her name is Daria, we don’t speak English to her!”
“It’s okay, Shane”Ilya says, his brows furrowed in sympathy. “She starts preschool in September, yes?”
Shane nods, running a hand through his hair.
“Then she will learn there”He says, “is not a big deal. I learned English at 16, she already understands a bit, she will be fine, she is a smart girl.”
“Smart gorl”She repeats with conviction, looking up at them, her little r’s rolling. Ilya snickers a bit at the franco-russian accent they created and looks to Shane as if to say ‘see? She understands us.'
“We need to speak to her in English, Ilya”he sighs.
“Daddy, je peux avoir ma tétine?”"Daddy, can I have my Paci?"She asks, playing with Shane’s hair.
“Pas de tétine, c'est pas bon pour tes dents”"No Paci, it's bad for your teeth"he says absentmindedly, then groans.
This is going to be harder than they thought.
Yana
Recording didn’t finish until the next morning. Shane made it a point to send the older girls to his parents for the weekend, after waking up from a nightmare of the two girls being bullied, or worse, put into ESL class in school. He spent all of one day in the ESL classroom in high school due to missing a field trip and Shane wouldn’t call himself an academic but he’s pretty sure you’re supposed to learn things in class, not just sit there and watch the clock tick.
He sat in the living room, tripod pointed towards the couch, Yana on Ilya’s lap and Anya’s head in his. They had an easy morning, they had honestly forgotten how quiet it could be with just one baby in the house. Yana looked like Ilya, she had his nose, his eyes and his lips, Shane dare say she has Ilya’s entire face with auburn hair and big brown eyes. She smiles like him too, Shane’s only seen a handful of pictures that Svetlana smuggled from Moscow. The reddish hair was a wild card, but this was Ilya's face through and through.
“Hi Yana” Ilya says to the camera, adjusting the mass of rolls that is Yana on his lap. “You are too small to answer for yourself so we’re going to help you.” Ilya holds the girl up, placing her on her feet and makes her wave towards the camera.
“Hello!”he says in a high pitched voice. “My name is Yana Hiyori Hollander-Rozanova. I am ten months old, these are my daddy and my papa”
“Da-da”she supplies helpfully, grinning and drooling at the camera. Ilya laughs, wiggling her a bit and continues, Shane swoops in before the drool hits Ilya’s jeans.
“I have four whole teeth and I'm growing more, so I'm being an asshole to daddy and papa!”
“Ilya!-”
“I am 30 inches and 35lbs so I made daddy’s back hurt when he was carrying me!”Ilya coos, kissing her chubby cheeks. “Yes, yes you did, you gave daddy a stage two tear-”
“Ilya”Shane groans, rubbing his face. “She does not want to hear about how I tore during labor-”
“What, it's just a fact! And we got such a cute baby out of it”
“Continue the interview,”Shane says, rolling his eyes. “And stop holding my baby like that!”
“She likes it”Ilya huffs, currently holding her like a football.“Anyways, I just learned that I can pet the dog if I use gentle hands, so papa calls me лапочка.”“Anyways, I just learned that I can pet the dog if I use gentle hands, so papa calls me little paw.”He says. “And daddy calls me yokai-” “And daddy calls me evil spirit-”
“That is not the only thing I call her-”
“Becasue I like to bite his nipples when he feeds me”he coos. Shane huffs, and practically snatches Yana onto his lap.
“Don’t chirp my baby”he sulks, rubbing her cheeks. "Daddy calls you lots of nice things too, mon petit mignon. Your papa is an asshole"Daddy calls you many nice things too, my little cutie. Your papa is an asshole”
"Yes, mignon because you are beefy"Ilya coos.
“Ash-ole”she repeats and Shane coughs violently, Ilya frantically patting his back. Anya gives them an unimpressed glance and hops off the couch, probably going to nose through their laundry baskets.
“Why is this the new word you choose?”he says in dismay, frowning at her gurgling cabbage patch face.
"hmph, yokai""hmph, little shit"