Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Ilya closed his laptop. It was done. His agent had just confirmed that the league had approved the 6-year, $69 million contract. Ilya snorted when he received the preliminary contract a week ago and saw the total value. Shane had rolled his eyes at him. 

Less than a year ago, they had made their plan, and now the first major hurdle had been crossed. It was a long year, a hard year. But the happiest of his life, there was no doubt about that. 

Ilya looked around at the cabin. It was officially Shane's, it was in his name, and he had it built. Shane had spent so much time here before Ilya could ever even imagine getting the invitation into Shane’s life. Yet, he could see signs of himself everywhere. A book written in Cyrillic on the coffee table, his water shorts drying on the back deck from his morning swim, and good vodka in the liquor cabinet. There was a coffee grinder tucked next to the fridge, the same model as the one Shane had gotten for his Montreal apartment. The same one Shane had asked about the first time he had stayed overnight at Ilya’s Boston home. 

His Boston home. 

It wasn’t his Boston home anymore. He had been slowly getting it ready to list. To move his entire life to a new city, a new country. Yuna had made a short list of houses that he was going to look at next week. He didn’t have a long list of requirements. Somewhere’s nice, somewhere private, somewhere’s near the highway to Montreal. Shane and Yuna were fussing about square footage, walkability scores, and other things that Ilya was happy to let them fuss over.

Ilya was pulled from his thoughts when he saw Shane trying (and failing) to inflate a water slide in the grass. He made his way outside to watch Shane desperately pumping on a bicycle pump, with little effect. 

“Are you going to help or not?” Shane asked when he noticed Ilya staring. He would. They had a party to host. 

***

Shane was in the kitchen when Hayden and his family arrived. Well, he assumed that the whole Pike gang was there; he only saw Ruby and Jade streak through the house, rushing out to see Ilya on the grass. They tackled him to the ground, though he did go down easier than he should have. Ilya didn’t often go down without a fight. Shane smiled. How could he not? Ruby and Jade stuck to Ilya like glue. They were the ones who insisted that he come to Uncle Shane’s Canada Day party. 

Shane wasn’t even planning to host the party this year; he knew this was going to be an emotional day for Ilya, his free agency signing. It was a big step, a huge step. But also a relief. 

Ilya had a lawyer in Ottawa ready to file the paperwork for his work permit. He would need to wait at least two years before he could apply for permanent residency, and then another year before he could even think about citizenship. Shane knew it was easier for athletes to get citizenship; three years wasn’t that long compared to what some people had to go through. And they had a plan for if the worst happened—they wouldn’t even have to get married for Shane to sponsor Ilya. He would, though, he would marry Ilya if he had to. He would marry Ilya if he could.  

He would do literally anything to keep Ilya from having to go back to Russia. Anything. 

Shane was pulled from these thoughts by the other four Pikes. Arthur was running as fast as his little legs could carry him, and Amber was toddling much more slowly behind him. Jackie came in with a cooler, and Hayden was behind her with so many beach bags and backpacks strung on his arms that Shane could barely see him underneath. 

Jackie greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, once she had set down her cooler. “Shane, thank you for having us. The girls were so excited.” The girls were currently spraying Ilya with the hose while he fought back with the water gun he'd begged Shane to get. 

“Ilya was, too. He’s just a big kid.” Jackie opened the back door and led her other two children out to join the chaos. Leaving Hayden and Shane standing in the kitchen. 

“Hey, man, girls in the side room again?” Hayden asked. 

“Uh, no. If you think they won’t mind, can they sleep in the living room? Ilya said he’d build a pillow fort or something for them.” 

“Yeah, sure. Who’s in the side room, wait did Rose Landry say yes!”

“No, Hayds. It’s a friend of Ilya’s, she’s stopping by on her way to Russia.”

Hayden couldn’t hide his disappointment, “Damn it. I really wanna meet Rose man,” Hayden had dropped his load and was sorting day bags from their overnight needs. Or at least that’s what Shane was assuming he was doing. He had spent enough time with Hayden to know that kids needed a lot of stuff.

Shane smiled, “I did invite her, but she’s so busy. I haven’t even seen her since September.”

“Shane!” Yuna Hollander’s voice rang out from the front door that Hayden had left open, “Did you make space in the fridge?” she asked as she rushed in, her loose linen dress flowing behind her. She had a large grocery-store cake in her arms, a double-layer half slab. It was decorated with a cartoon Centaur on skates, Ottawa’s (insane) logo. On top, above the Centaur, in a perfect store-bought script, was Congratulations. Below the skates, in less steady and slightly crooked after-market writing, was Ilya’s name and number 81.  

Hayden’s brow furrowed when he read the cake as Shane loaded it into its designated spot in the back of the bottom shelf. “What does that mean?” he asked. 

Shane was rearranging things in front of the cake. Ilya said he didn’t want to make a big deal about the signing. The Hollanders could respect that. Mostly. “What’s what mean?” 

“The cake dude.”

“Oh, we told you. Ilya signed with Ottawa this morning.” Shane looked up at the clock; it was 11 am.  The news would break to the hockey world soon enough. Ilya and Shane had left their phones in their bedroom for the day, hoping to avoid the worst of the public response. It was all the sports blogs and sports podcasts had been talking about for the last three weeks— ever since the awards in Vegas. Ilya was seen talking to the GM of San Francisco (who had lost in the finals for the third time in five years) for all of three minutes, but that’s all it took to start a rumour these days.

It sent shock waves through the league that Rozanov was testing free agency. Ilya had told his agent (at Yuna’s suggestion) to entertain any offers that came up. It would be a little suspicious if he didn’t, she argued. So Ilya had been courted, wined and dined, everything shy of breaking the NHL’s free agency tampering rules. But he made it known to her that he would sign with Ottawa, or he wouldn’t sign at all.

Thankfully, Ottawa’s offer was the second highest, beaten only by Las Vegas, a team that Ilya would never willingly play for. It would be easy to justify his signing there if it ever came up, which it wouldn’t. Probably. Hopefully. 

Hayden was staring at him. “I thought you were joking or something. Ottawa, holy shit.”

This confused Shane, “Why would we joke about it?” he asked. 

“I mean, come on, Ottawa is terrible!” He wasn’t wrong; Shane had, in fact, had the same conversation with Ilya months ago. That was ok, that was a conversation they were allowed to have because it was their lives. Their life. He didn’t really want Hayden’s opinion on the matter, or really anyone else's. 

He hoped Hayden would let it go when Shane answered the same way Ilya did every time he felt bad, or nervous, or guilty. “It’s two hours from Montreal,” he skipped the second part of Ilya's answer, however, and didn’t tongue fuck Hayden. 

Hayden hated dropping things, apparently. “But like, he’s fucking Ilya Rozanov. He could sign wherever the fuck he wanted.” 

Shane knew this; he looked up at Hayden. “He did, Hayds, he signed with Ottawa.” His voice left no room for discussion. “Can you not talk about the reaction today, though? We really don’t want to deal with it today.” 

“I— ok.” Hayden was trying. Shane knew he was trying. He wished he’d try harder. No. Actually, he wished his best friend didn’t have to try so hard to understand his boyfriend. He wished he could understand why Ilya would leave Boston for him. He wished he could understand why Shane loved him, loved him. 

But at least Hayden was trying. 

***

Ilya had convinced the Pike twins to try the waterslide instead of just spraying him with the hose. Jackie was gently tossing the toddlers and letting the bigger kids run at the slippery surface with all their might. The air was filled with sunshine and laughter. 

“Ilya Rozanov, are you going to come say hello or not!” He heard a voice he would recognize anywhere call out to him in Russian. Sveta looked ethereal; she wore a black one-piece bathing suit and a long gold cardigan tied loosely around her waist. Her hair was flowing around her head, freshly lightened and curling in every direction. 

“Sveta!” he called. Ilya turned to the two girls he was minding, “I must go say hello to my friend.” He jogged the few steps to meet Sveta and pulled her into a tight hug. She protested, swatting at him and complaining loudly that he was getting her wet. “This is not a swimsuit that should get wet, Ilyusha.” Ilya ignored her, instead picking her up and spinning her around, pressing his face into her neck. 

***

Hayden had just dropped his and Jackie's bags off in the far guest room. The travel cribs had been pulled out of the spare closet. He only had one more load to bring in from the car. 

He looked out to the backyard, and he saw Ilya-fucking-Rozanov spinning some brown-skinned goddess with curly hair. Holy shit, was he kissing her neck? And now they had their foreheads pressed together, Roz was holding her head like he was gonna kiss her, and then he did! On the forehead, but fucking whatever. What the fuck was going on? “Uh, Shane, buddy, what the fuck?” 

Shane looked up from where he was finishing assembling lunch. Hayden was wildly gesturing towards the pair, who were now holding hands, as Ilya led her down to where the kids were playing. 

“Oh, that’s Svetlana Vetrova, Ilya's friend. Her dad is Sergei Vetrova. The Soviet goalie. I have a book about him if you want.” Shane went back to chopping carrot sticks. He must not have fucking seen his fucking boyfriend kiss a fucking woman! 

“Shane, buddy, I don’t know how to tell you this, but he just kissed her in front of fucking everyone.”

“Yeah, they do that.” Shane had finished with the veggies and was now opening a 24-pack of hot dogs, half to be boiled and the rest pan-fried. The way his kids liked them. 

Hayden felt like he was losing his god damn mind. “What the fuck! And you're just ok with that? Aren’t you worried about them fucking or something?” he could not understand why Shane wasn’t freaking out. 

Shane stopped and finally looked up at him. “They have, or they used to. But no Hayds, I’m not worried. It’s different for them; they’re like childhood best friends.”

“So you're just, like, ok with that?” 

“Yeah, as long as they stop asking me if they should get married, I don’t care.” Hayden was dumbfounded. What the actual fuck. He left the kitchen to finish emptying the car. This was officially the craziest conversation he had ever had with Shane, and that was a HIGH bar. 

***

Ilya was deliriously happy; he had three hot dogs on his plate and a baby in his lap— well, Amber was officially a toddler now that she was walking. Jackie had explained why he needed to cut the boiled hot dogs into half-moon shapes, and he had taken his job very seriously. Amber was now happily going to town on the fruits of his labour, while he let the conversation wash over him. Even the weird looks Hayden was throwing him couldn’t dampen his mood. 

Everyone he loved was here, squished around the outdoor table, eating hot dogs (for the kids and Ilya) and some bean salad thing (for the adults and Ilya). They were going to set up a pillow fort inside where the Pike girls (and probably Ilya) would sleep tonight. And when Shane walked behind him, heading back to the house to grab something, he could reach out and snag his arm and pull him into a kiss, not caring if anyone saw.

Yuna was telling Sveta a story about Shane from when he was in juniors. It was one he had heard before, so instead he focused on Shane’s face. He was smiling, correcting little details, and every once in a while, his eyes would catch Ilya’s, and he’d smile. The little smile, the one just for Ilya, even if everyone else could see it right now. Ilya smiled back and then took a bite of his hot dog, consuming half of it in one go. It was a perfect day. 

***

The kids enjoyed the water slide. They enjoyed playing tag, they enjoyed Ilya throwing them off the dock and into the lake— well, Ruby and Jade did. Arthur and Amber enjoyed being gently placed into water in the flotation thingies that Pike had inflated. 

Ilya ran down the dock and jumped into the cold water, splashing all the kids. Jade and Ruby laughed and swam towards him. They had water boards to keep them afloat, but they preferred using Ilya. It was fine, he didn’t mind the kids hanging off of him, though he was thankful that Jackie was in the water now, watching her two smallest children. 

Yuna was gently reclining in a lawn chair off to the side on the dock. Observing the afternoon summer fun, holding court over all. David had gotten her a glass of white wine and a can of sparkling water. She was dressed in a red bathing suit but seemed content to sunbathe.  

“Ily! Ily! Can you throw me again?” Ruby— or Jade; it was hard to tell them apart— asked. It didn’t matter who it was because the other quickly asked for the same. Sveta had taught them that nickname, and Ilya didn’t mind. His heart panged for just a moment at the last little girl who called him Ily. Sveta would be checking in on her soon, and he had a gift for her that she would deliver. 

***

Svetlana was back to lazing in the sun, as the extended party rested after their late lunch. Two of the children were napping. They looked napping-age at least, and she couldn’t see them or their mother anywhere. Ilya was still in the water with the other two girls. She missed this, missed seeing him like this last summer. It was good for him to play, especially today. 

She had been keeping an eye on things online. It was obviously the biggest news of the day, but thankfully, Vegas had frankly overpaid for a center and a goalie, so that was taking up the media’s airtime. No one was saying that Rozanov didn’t deserve the contract he got; they were just asking questions like Why the fuck did the most valuable free-agent sign with the last place team, in a boring city? She was paraphrasing, of course. But overall, the reactions could have been worse, so there was that. 

Jane came over and sat down beside her. He, like Ilya, was more relaxed than she had ever seen. The summer had been kind to them, and she was happy for it. 

“He’s going to miss you, you know,” Jane said, after a while. 

“Da, I know,” she replied.

“Thank you for coming,” he said. 

“Thank you for inviting me.”

“Any time,” and Svetlana could tell he meant it. She thought back to all those moments where Ilya’s nose was in his phone. When he would smile and not tell her why. She knew before he did how gone her best friend was on Jane. Now, she could look at him, watch him watch Ilya, and she knew. Jane knew how lucky he was. 

***

The sun was lower in the sky by the time dinner was over. Yuna and Shane insisted on clearing the table. They were unable to stop Sveta from helping. The trio argued that David and Ilya had grilled their dinner, while Jackie did all the sides. Pike got a pass because he had his two youngest on his lap. As he should, Ilya thought. 

Ilya could see Shane, Sveta and Yuna conspiring through the glass. He figured they were talking about hockey; those three loved hockey more than literally anyone he knew. He was surprised he hadn’t caught them together earlier in the day. Though he had been distracted by the twins for most of the day... 

Ilya was pulled from these thoughts by Shane walking out of the house with a cake lit by candles. It was not anyone’s birthday, he thought. Ilya was even more confused when the cake was placed in front of him; it read Congratulations with the god-awful centaur logo of his new team. 

“We wanted to make sure to wish you well on the next step of your life, and wish you a speedy citizenship process!” Yuna toasted him. 

No one had said anything all day. They knew, of course, they knew. This was a house full of players and their families. His family. Ilya hadn’t checked his phone; he hadn’t seen the reaction yet. It hadn’t felt like he had made a life-changing decision today, mostly because he hadn’t. He made it almost a year ago. He was so focused on the next steps for so long that he forgot to take a step back and be happy. 

Thankfully, Shane, and Yuna, and David, and Sveta had remembered. And they made sure to celebrate for him, with him. He blew out the candles and wiped tears from his eyes, “I— thank you,” he managed. Shane pulled his body close and pressed a kiss to his hair, while David started cutting the cake to give to the desperate, cakeless children. 

“Here, is present” Sveta handed him a plain gift bag, inside were several black shirts. He pulled one out, it had the same Centaur logo on the front, with the words Property of Ottawa Hockey. Ilya held the shirt up, it was much much too small for him. 

“Sveta, what am I to do with this?”  he asked. 

“For children, one is for me too.” She replied in English. The kids perked up and looked at him. Ilya fished all the shirts out and enjoyed the annoyed look Pike gave him when his kids pulled them over their heads. Sveta found hers and copied them. Ilya laughed and ate cake. 

***

Shane watched the girls as they ran around the lawn with sparklers. Ilya and his dad were getting ready to light the fireworks on the dock. Sveta and his mom were sitting by the fire with him, enjoying the cool breeze flowing off the lake. It had been a perfect day. His family was here, his boyfriend was here, everything was good here. 

Shane hadn’t realized how much weight he was carrying until Ilya signed the contract. Or maybe he was just happy to pretend this is what their life could be like. Filled with friends and kids and fun. He is so glad that Ilya convinced him to go ahead with his party this year. He is so glad that Sveta could come. 

Shane thought back to a year ago, at his last Canada Day party. The Pikes had come up for just a day trip because Amber was only three months old. Still, his mom and Jackie had teamed up to interrogate him about Rose. He was freaking out internally because Ilya was flying in two weeks later.  

This year was so different. And he was so happy for it. The first firework shot off, lighting up the sky, red and white. The bang was loud a few seconds later. 

The girls were screaming for joy as the next few popped off as well. More red, more white. They all whooped and cheered. And then when their supply was finished, they watched more fireworks from a cottage across the lake. 

***

The girls were asleep in the living room pillow fort they built with Uncle Ily. It was mostly just a mass of pillows and blankets on the floor while they slept on the couch, but those details should not be brought up to sleepy children. Especially, Hayden’s sleepy children who were willingly going to bed in their pillow fort. 

Arthur and Amber were tucked safely into their cribs in their guest room. Yuna and David had left after the fireworks. So it was Hayden and Jackie sitting by the fire with Shane, Roz, and Svetlana. Roz had his head in Shane’s lap, he was staring into the flames. Shane’s hand was in his hair, scratching lightly like it was a practiced motion. 

This was the first real quiet time they had all day. Hayden checked his phone, 11:07 pm. They should be in the clear, the kids should be able to sleep through the night. Still, he had a baby monitor clipped to his sweater, listening in on his youngest. The Metros chat had been exploding all day, celebrating the news that Rozanov had left Boston. He was trying to read a few messages while distantly listening in on Svetlana telling some story about her and Roz stealing her father's vodka when they were 15. 

It was so strange. The whole day was. Ilya Rozanov seemed to be good with kids, his kids. Ilya Rozanov had signed with the fucking Ottawa Centaurs for fucks sake, just to be closer to his best friend. Ilya Rozanov was now offering everyone a glass of his good vodka, not like that swill they stole from Sveta’s father. Hadyden took the glass and tried to look thankful before he threw it back, feeling the burn in his throat. Both Svetlanan and Roz loudly complained at him, saying he was only allowed to have the swill from now on. 

This guy, he wasn’t Ilya Rozanov, he was just Roz. Uncle Ily. Whatever. It was weird. It was so fucking weird. But maybe good weird? He had a sinking feeling that he was going to be stuck with Uncle Ily for the rest of his life. 

***

It was just Shane and Hayden left by the fire. They were watching the last embers burn down before turning in for the night. Ilya and Svetlana had retreated to the master bedroom to have a private moment together before she left for the summer, and Ilya moved away from Boston. Shane didn’t begrudge them even a little bit. He was happy to have a private moment with his own best friend. “Do you get it now?” he asked.

“It’s still hard,” his friend responded. “He’s a different guy with the girls.”

Shane paused for a moment. “No, he’s not, he’s always like that. He just doesn’t let people see him. Not really.”

“And he lets you see him?” Hayden asked. 

“Yeah, I mean, I hope he lets me see him. I know there are things he keeps to himself and that's... It's ok. I get to see him enough.”

“And you're happy, right? He makes you happy?”

“So happy, Hayds. So happy, I’m gonna marry him.” That was something Shane was increasingly certain about. He would marry Ilya Rozanov, one way or another. Nothing, not Russia, not Crowell, not the fucking NHL would stand in the way of them getting married. Someday. Eventually. 

Until then, he had this. He had his family and his best friend’s family. He had the summer, and he had his Canada Day party. He wanted more. He wanted Ilya with him every day, not just the summers, not just when their schedules lined up. He wanted Ilya in his bed every night. But until that was possible, this would have to be enough. 

It was more than he hoped for this time last year. So it was enough. For now. 

They were silent for a while, just the crackle of the embers and the chirp of a few crickets. Hayden broke the silence, “I think I get it enough, is that ok?” he asked. 

“Yeah, that's enough for now.”

***

Breakfast was a loud and messy affair. Kids screaming, eggs frying and bacon that Ilya had insisted on. Svetlana was the first to leave. She had a transatlantic flight to catch. She promised to call Ilya as often as she could and to give him updates about his niece. She also promised to stop by Ottawa before heading down to Boston in August. 

Then it was the Pikes turn to leave. Jackie had cornered Shane while everyone else was distracted, trying to get the toddlers dressed while they screamed and laughed around the house. “He’s good for you,” she had said, nodding towards Ilya, “and he’s great with the kids. I’m happy for you, Shane. This is all we ever wanted for you. I’ll make sure Hayden is on board, don’t worry.” Shane could only smile at her before she had to run off and stop Amber from stripping off the clothes Hayds had just gotten on.  

***

When the cottage was quiet, and they had spent the day cleaning up after their guest. After all the beds had been changed, and the waterslide cleaned and stored. The blanket fort disassembled and all evidence of a party erased, Ilya finally looked at his phone. 

There were a lot of news notifications. He dismissed all of those. Sveta had given him a rundown last night, and he was sure Yuna was keeping an eye out for him. She would let him know if there was anything he needed to address. 

Instead, he focused on the messages. He marked all the ones he didn't want to respond to as read immediately. That ended up being most of them. Almost all of them, actually. Except for three. 

The first was from Marley. 

He responded and was surprised to get an answer back almost immediately.

The next was from Hunter... he wasn’t exactly sure how he had the old man’s number. The message was simple, he didn't respond, just gave it a thumbs up.

The final message was from an unknown number, but the sender identified themselves.

***

It was late. After dark, when Ilya walked down the rocky driveway. The peepers, as Shane called them, quieted when he was halfway up the lane. He dropped the garbage bag in the wooden box Shane kept by the main road. As he walked back, Ilya closed the swinging gate and clicked it in place. He pulled a small padlock out of his pocket and clicked it onto the latch. He gave the whole gate a shake to ensure it was sealed. He didn’t want anyone disturbing them tomorrow. 

Shane was in bed when he got back to the cottage. He was reading a book that Sveta had suggested to him. This was good. It gave Ilya time to prepare. He closed the sliding door to the master bedroom, letting him work in peace.