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1: Prettier
Spring
Shane knew things would change after he and Ilya were both out and their relationship was public, but he never could have imagined how happy they would be. How comfortable they would both feel in their own skins, especially Ilya.
Now that he was a legal citizen of Canada and no longer had to worry about being sent back to Russia, Ilya was loud and proud about his life, his sexuality, and especially his husband.
One day, while they were babysitting the Pike kids, Shane had left Ilya alone with the twins, Ruby and Jade, while he put Amber and Arthur down for bed. When he came back, Ilya was sitting at the kitchen table, fully made up in kids makeup. Sticky glittery goo covered both eyelids, cheeks, and his lips. Ruby was focused on painting his nails, while Jade was meticulously combing through his curls and applying sparkly butterfly clips.
“Finished!” Jade exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. She picked up the tiny mirror and handed it to Ilya.
“Oh my gosh,” Ilya said, bringing his other hand up to his mouth, beaming.
“Stop moving! I’m not done!” Ruby yelled.
“Oh yes, sorry.” Ilya replied, obediently putting his hand back down for Ruby to finish.
“Thank you Jade,” he said, “I look so beautiful, don’t I, Shanya?”
Shane smiled widely. He was so in love with his husband, and adored how soft he was with these kids. “The most beautiful.”
“Good! It’s your turn now, Uncle Shane.” Jade said, definitively.
“Oh great,” Shane said with false enthusiasm.
“Come on Uncle Shane, the beauty parlor is open just for us!” Ilya said, smiling up at him. Shane smiled back and sat down in the chair opposite Ilya, who stretched his legs out to catch Shane’s calf.
Jade took her time sorting through the clips in her accessory bag, picking up different ones and holding them next to Shane’s face. “What about those ones?” Ilya chimed in, pointing at something Shane couldn’t see.
Jade picked up a white hair bow, holding it near Shane’s face. “It’s perfect!” she said. Jade quickly got to work combing Shane’s hair back and putting bows on either side. She occasionally leaned back, checking her work before moving one of the bows slightly. In total, Shane ended up with five bows in his hair, all different colors, two on either side and a big one right on top.
After both men were deemed beautiful by the girls, Ruby declared they needed to do a photoshoot. Jade found feather boas for both of them and fairy wings Ilya.
“Oh thank you, I am so beautiful now!” Ilya said, happily putting on the accessories handed to him.
Ilya wrapped his arms around Shane and posed while the girls happily took photos with Ilya’s phone. At one point, he swept Shane up in his arms, bridal style, and the girls squealed with laughter. Shane looked up at Ilya, covered in glitter and poorly applied lipstick and a million hairclips and felt like he had never been more in love. He just felt – lucky.
***
By the time Hayden and Jackie got home, the girls were already fast asleep in bed. Shane and Ilya were on the couch, watching a show on the TV.
“Oh. My. God.” Hayden said, trying to stifle a laugh. Both men were now covered in glitter and hair bows with smudged lipstick across their faces and down Ilya’s neck.
“We did makeovers tonight,” Shane explained.
“Don’t be jealous I am more pretty than you, Pike” Ilya said.
“Prettier,” Shane corrected, winking at his husband. Ilya just beamed next to him.
2: Snacks
Summer
“Did we pack the Smarties?” Ilya asked, less than ten minutes after pulling out of the driveway.
Shane rolled his eyes a little, but smiled. “Yes, in the cooler away from Anya.”
“Right, chocolate.” Ilya said with a small frown.
“We have other snacks in the zipped bag in the back,” Shane replied.
“Okay, I get” Ilya said, smiling widely and turning around from the passenger seat to reach for the bag. Seemingly unable to reach on the first try, he unbuckled his seatbelt to reach further back.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Shane asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road, instead of on his husband, who was practically half in the back seat by now.
“I get snacks! You do not want?”
“Ilya! You have to buckle your seatbelt when we’re in the car!”
“But I am passenger princess! The rules do not apply to princesses!”
Shane took an exit so he could pull over. They had barely gotten on the road to the cottage, and already they needed to stop. “I hate Barrett for teaching you that word.”
“Why? Me and Barrett are beautiful princesses.” Ilya replied cheekily.
Shane sighed deeply. “It’s only a three hour drive, Ilya. Put the snacks you want up here by us and then we can get going.”
Ilya rifled through the snack bag, grabbing a few things before zipping up the bag, gave Anya a little scritch, and then returned to his seat in the front.
“Okay,” he said, “I have snacks. Now we can go.”
“Seatbelt,” Shane said.
Ilya obediently buckled up, then turned to Shane. “Okay, okay. The princess is ready now, yes?”
“Asshole,” Shane replied.
“Mmm maybe, but I think you like it.” Ilya teased.
Shane rolled his eyes. “Maybe.”
“Maybe you even looooove it?” Ilya replied, dragging out the vowels.
“Well I do love you,” Shane replied.
Ilya smirked. “Mm I love you, solnyshko. But I think I like being this passenger princess.”
***
“Do you want snacks?” Ilya asked a few minutes later, after they were back on the autoroute.
“No, I’ll be okay until we get there.”
“Okay, but tell me if you change your mind,” Ilya said.
The drive wasn’t too bad through the city. There was a little traffic here and there, but overall it was nothing like when Shane used to visit Ilya in Boston. That traffic was ridiculous. Plus he had his husband next to him now, munching on snacks, picking the music, and pointing at every dog on the street or in cars that they passed.
Once they were out of the city and the roads emptied out, Shane relaxed more into his seat. Ilya continued chatting away, telling him about this crazy dream he had last night.
“And then Anya was skating all over and I was trying to catch her but also score a goal, but then suddenly she was the goalie, and – what is this?”
Up ahead, Shane could see cars backed up along the autoroute, with orange and yellow flashing lights further ahead.
“Ugh – it’s just construction.” Shane replied. He didn’t like construction. He knew it was important for the upkeep of the roads, but when he just wanted to get to the cottage and start his vacation with his husband, he hated it.
“Should we play the spy game?” Ilya asked, somehow still cheerful despite the literal roadblock.
“I spy?” Shane asked.
“Yes! But we play in Russian to help you practice.” Ilya said with a smile.
“Alright, fair enough. You start.”
***
After a few rounds of I spy, Ilya declared there were no more things to spy and they should play a new game. They tried 20 questions, but Ilya kept making it dirty, which made Shane glare at him. Shane suggested the license plate game, but since traffic was barely moving in a single lane, there weren’t many license plates to see.
“Okay fine, I think I’m ready for a snack,” Shane said.
“Car snack!” Ilya said happily, reaching down into the bag of snacks he had moved to the front seat. “You want apel’sinchik? What is he called? Your favorite?”
“It’s called a Cutie, but it’s like a mandarin orange.”
“Cutie-patootie, like you, yes?” Ilya teased, poking Shane in the ribs with his free hand.
“Ilya! No tickling the driver!” Shane chastised, albeit rather playfully. He thought for a minute about the orange. Cuties were his favorite, but he hated getting orange peel under his nails and the weird sticky oiliness that came from touching the peel. At home he would usually use a butter knife to get it started, or sometimes a spoon to peel it apart. At the very least, he had a sink he could immediately wash his hands in.
“Here, I will open for you.” Ilya said, his fingers already digging into the peel. He quickly removed the peel and pulled apart a segment. “Here,” he said, holding a piece up to Shane’s mouth. Shane obediently opened and took the orange from Ilya’s fingers. It burst in his mouth, sweet and juicy. He smiled, humming a little.
“Is good?” Ilya asked, breaking off another segment. “Here,” he held another to Shane’s lips. Shane smiled at him before taking the next piece.
Before long, the orange was gone, split between the two men. Most of it went to Shane, but Ilya couldn’t help but steal a few segments for himself.
“Do you want another?” Ilya asked.
Shane shook his head. “No, I think I’m good for a little bit again. Thank you for peeling it for me, I know it’s messy.”
“I would peel a pomegranate for you, solnyshko.” Ilya said, looking directly at Shane from the passenger seat, a serious look on his face.
“You know I like messy.” he continued, winking at Shane.
Shane rolled his eyes again. “You’re incorrigible,” he said teasingly.
“Mm yes, but I am also sexy and funny and the best car princess, and you love me so much.”
“I do love you,” Shane laughed a little, taking Ilya’s hand in his over the console. “So very very much.”
3: Sweet
Fall
“Do you think they will have the tiny goats this time? Or the rabbits?” Ilya asked, practically skipping from the car towards the farmer’s market.
“Maybe,” Shane said, “We’ll have to see. But we aren’t taking any animals home today, deal?”
“They were not animals, Shanya,” Ilya replied, pouting a little, “they were precious baby angels.”
“They were chickens, Ilya” Shane said.
“Fancy fluffy chickens,” Ilya replied, waggling his eyebrows at Shane.
***
Sure enough, there were goats in a small enclosure next to the booth selling goat milk soaps and scrubs and other fancy toiletries. Shane took his time smelling each soap and talking to the vendor while Ilya sat in the enclosure talking to and petting each of the goats. After he had kissed each of them on the head and ensured each of them knew they were perfect angels, Ilya stood and followed Shane down the lane to browse through the other booths.
“Look Shane! They have honey!” Ilya said, dragging Shane along to a booth near the end of the line. It had a sign above it, “Adri’s Bees”.
“Would either of you like a sample?” the woman behind the booth asked.
“Yes please,” Ilya replied with a smile. “And also one for my husband.”
The woman handed them two tiny spoons, each with a small dollop of honey on them. “This is our whipped honey we’re promoting right now.”
Ilya immediately licked the spoon clean with an audible “mmm”.
“Are you Adri?” Shane asked, still holding the spoonful of honey.
“I am!” Adri replied joyfully.
“Do you have your own hives, or do you source your honey from somewhere local?” Shane asked.
“We have our own hives, as well as our own flower gardens nearby that the bees can gather pollen from. Of course they also travel around to the nearby farms as well, but we like to give them some options close to home if they choose too.” Adri replied.
“Will you tell your bees they are doing a great job?” Ilya asked, sucking a drip of honey off his finger.
Adri laughed, “Of course I will. I tell them every time I check on them.”
Ilya tapped Shane’s hand still holding the honey. “Try it solnyshko, is very very good.”
Shane put the spoon in his mouth, letting the honey melt across his tongue. Damn, this was good honey. Incredible honey even. Perfectly sweet and silky, the texture more cloud-like than regular honey. Shane tilted his head back and let out a little moan.
“Okay,” Ilya said, “We will take all of the honey.”
Shane snapped his eyes open. “What?”
“My husband loves your honey. We will buy all of it.” Ilya said to Adri.
“Ilya, we can’t buy all of her product. There’s no way we can eat this much honey and what about everyone else who wants to buy honey?” Shane said to his husband.
“It would be a lot of honey, but since honey is naturally antimicrobial, with proper storage it should never spoil. And if I run out, I can call my wife and have her bring another car load over.” Adri said with a shrug.
In the end, Shane and Ilya left the market with as much honey as they could carry in their arms, two loaves of bread in bags slung over Shane’s shoulder, and a pound of butter balanced precariously atop the honey in Ilya’s, along with the phone number for Adri’s Bees so Ilya could set up a time to go tour their farm and meet the bees.
4: Fancy
Winter
Between Harris and Barrett during the season, and Ryan during the summer, Shane always had the dates for Fabian’s nearby shows saved in his phone. He knew how much Ilya liked going out, and Fabian’s concerts were always somewhere queer-friendly and dark where Shane could just enjoy himself and not worry about being recognized by fans. He didn’t worry about being recognized in a gay club anymore, but he didn’t always want to be Shane Hollander, hockey phenom. Sometimes he just wanted to be Shane Hollander-Rozanov, an out gay man spending an evening with his husband and their slightly chaotic friends.
Tonight Fabian was going to be playing a show in Ottawa, so of course the whole gang was going. Harris and Barrett were going to meet Shane and Ilya at their house so they could carpool together. Wyatt and Lisa were going to pick up Luca and some of the rookies and meet up with them at the venue. Bood and Dykstra were driving separately with their wives, in case they needed to head out early to relieve the babysitter.
Svetlana happened to be in town and had seemed very excited for a night out with Ilya and the rest of them. She and Ilya were upstairs together, getting ready. Ilya had insisted they “get pretty” for tonight.
Always happy to provide fashion advice, Shane Facetimed Rose to get help picking out an outfit. Together they had picked a fitted black tank, dark tailored pants, and a trendy denim jacket over the top. Rose had also suggested he do the simple eye-shadow look she had taught him over the summer.
So there Shane stood in his own living room, eyelids shimmering slightly, eyelashes curled and painted, in an outfit that was more flashy than comfortable, but he thought he looked nice. He hoped Ilya would like it, at least. When Shane went to go ask Ilya and Svetlana what they thought earlier, he had been quickly shooed out of the room.
While Shane was still waiting on Ilya and Svetlana, Harris and Barrett arrived. They made small talk and talked about the unseasonably warm weather they were having for April. Harris asked how Shane was feeling about the season so far, and Shane responded he was excited, like always, and determined to get another cup.
Troy let out a low whistle from beside Shane. “Damn Cap!” he said. “Looking good!”
Shane turned around to see Ilya descending the stairs. He looked like Adonis personified. He was wearing tight black pants, (leather maybe?) a silky button down shirt unbuttoned nearly down to his navel, and thin gold chains wrapping crisscross around his toned body. His mother’s cross still sat proudly at the base of his throat. His hair was slicked back on the sides, the top left loose and curly. His eyes were lined with dark liner, smudged slightly, and his cheeks had flecks of gold dusted across them. Ilya looked to Shane, his eyes playful and a little wild. He smirked, likely knowing just how crazy he was driving Shane.
Shane cleared his throat and shook his head a little. They still had an entire night to get through, friends to talk to, cars to drive, and Ilya looked… delicious.
“Fuck, me,” Shane said under his breath once Ilya got closer. How was he ever going to get through the night?
“Mm yes, I intend to,” Ilya murmured, nipping at Shane’s ear, “thoroughly. You look so sexy tonight, kotenok.” Shane felt a blush creep up his neck.
“Get a room you two,” Svetlana teased from the top of the stairs.
“Excuse you, Sveta, I have whole house,” Ilya replied, giving Shane a quick kiss on the cheek before clasping their hands together.
“Shall we go now?” he asked. Shane said nothing, just continued to stare at his absolutely delectable husband.
***
The venue was hot and sweaty, like always. Shane quickly discarded his jacket, Ilya more than happy to hold it for him. Eventually Shane decided he could use a drink to cool off and headed off towards the bar. Ilya had offered to come with him, but Shane had told him he could manage.
When the bartender handed Shane his top-shelf vodka, neat, for Ilya, and his ginger ale, “on the rocks” for himself, he added a little umbrella to Shane’s drink and gave him a little wink. Shane blushed a little, as he always did with unexpected attention, but quickly scooped up the drinks and headed back to his group.
“Welcome back,” Ilya said, kissing Shane quickly cheek and taking the vodka from him. “Thank you for the drink, solnyshko.”
“Hey wait,” Ilya said, gently grabbing the hand Shane was holding his drink in. “Why do you get baby umbrella? I want one!”
Shane laughed a little, “Here, you can have mine,” he said, picking the umbrella out of his drink.
“No no, I do not want your tiny umbrella, I want my own” Ilya replied. “What will I do if there’s a tiny rainstorm inside?”
“I’ll be right back,” Ilya said before sliding past Shane and heading back towards the bar.
Less than five minutes later, Ilya returned, Shane’s jacket pockets now overflowing with tiny folded umbrellas. “Look Shanya! They gave me all of these umbrellas! Now every drink will be fancy!
***
Sure enough, every drink for months was “fancy”. Ilya put umbrellas in Shane’s morning smoothies, his protein shakes, his glasses of water. He even taped umbrellas onto every can of ginger ale in the fridge with a little note, “for fancy”.
One day at practice, on water break, Shane noticed that everyone had a little umbrella taped to their water bottle, ferrules open, with cartoon palm trees and fruits decorating the tops. The rookies went as far as clinking their water bottles together before each sip of water.
Shane gave Ilya an incredulous look, but Ilya just smiled. “Now we are fanciest team in the league, no?”
Shane just laughed and shook his head.
+1: Secrets
Spring
“Did you like the movie?” Shane asked.
Ilya didn’t reply, just nodded his head a little.
Shane tilted his head at his husband. “Are you okay?”
Ilya nodded again. “Yes, I am just a little sad.”
“About the movie?”
“No, about the camping inside. Those girls looked so happy in their living room tent.” Ilya replied, pouting his lip a little.
“Wait, have you never built a fort before?”
“Not that I remember. Maybe is something Mama used to do, but I can’t remember for sure.”
“Do you want to build a fort?”
“What, like right now?”
“I mean, why not?”
Ilya’s face split into a wide grin and he nodded happily. “I will get big blanket from upstairs,” he said, hopping off the couch onto his feet.
“Get several, we have a big fort to build!” Shane laughed, pulling the cushions and pillows off the couch.
***
“Mmm something is missing,” Ilya said later, when the fort was nearly complete. “Ah! The baby lights! The teensy sparkley ones!”
“Baby lights?” Shane replied, confused.
“Yes! With the -kch-kch” Ilya replied, making a motion with his hand that Shane couldn’t interpret.
“Ilya baby, I don’t know what baby lights you want or what that means.” Shane replied.
“Is okay, I will ask Harris if he has any.”
***
“The fairy lights really do complete the picture,” Shane said, lying in the pillowfort with his husband, staring up at the twinkling fairy lights. The soft glow somehow made Ilya look even more beautiful than usual, something Shane thought was impossible. Ilya’s curls were strewn about his head like a halo as he snuggled into Shane’s chest, arms curling around Shane’s waist.
“Shhh” Ilya hushed him, “you have to whisper.”
“Why?” Shane whispered back.
“Because it’s our secret fort,” Ilya replied quietly.
“Is it a fort that is secret, or a fort to keep our secrets?” Shane asked, still whispering.
“Mm both,” Ilya whispered back.
“What secrets do you have?” Shane asked.
Ilya sat quietly for a minute. “You are my favorite person in the entire world.”
Shane looked down at him, scrunching his nose a little. “Is that really a secret?”
“Mm maybe,” Ilya replied, scrunching his nose back at Shane.
“I’m pretty sure you posted about it on instagram like two days ago,” Shane said at a normal volume.
“Shh,” Ilya hushed him again, “Okay maybe is not secret, but is true.”
Shane laughed a little at that. “You’re my favorite person in the whole world too.”
Ilya nuzzled into Shane’s side, kissing and nipping at his chest.
“Okay, now you tell me secret.” Ilya said, looking up at him.
“I don’t think I have secrets from you baby,” Shane replied thoughtfully.
“Okay then tell me something only I know,” Ilya said.
Shane thought for a minute. “You are the person I feel the most myself with. You’re the only person I have ever felt like I could just be… Shane. I don’t have to pretend with you. I don’t have to be anything but just… me. I know I’m safe here with you and I know if I mess up or hurt your feelings or say something wrong that you’ll stick with me and we’ll work through it. You’re my everything, Ilya.”
Ilya looked up at Shane then, eyes a little misty. “I think that is very good secret, solnyshko.”
“Ya tebya lyublyu,” Shane whispered quietly, placing a kiss gently on Ilya’s head.
“I love you more,” Ilya replied, squeezing Shane a little tighter.