to the end result that their early meetings were always quick so shane didn't start feeling sick until after ilya had already cleaned up and gone, so he thought it was just his body telling him this was a bad idea and don't do it again and gotta stop-

-until next time when he just couldn't resist

and over time, ilya stopped smoking before meeting up (and eventually really smoking at all) because shane always complained about the smell, so shane stopped feeling sick after, and after they're together, shane just sometimes fondly shakes his head at past self him like "oh buddy, that must have just been anxiety getting you. silly past me. i'm so happy i'm settled into this now. :)"

until the day ilya has a really stressful day and just REALLY needs that hit so buys some nicotine gum as a compromise, chews it, chases the other stress relief of making out with his boyfriend (with shane complaining about the taste but not pulling away) starting to get frisky-

-and then shane bolting to the bathroom to get SO sick

and he REMEMBERS this feeling

which means he puts the pieces together of what EXACTLY had him spiraling out about getting so sick back in the early days of struggling with his sexuality and just turns to ilya like

YOU

they're having dinner with some of ilya's old team from boston, someone lights up because they're out on the patio, and ilya fully pulls the cigarette out of their hand and stubs it out.

so when they started officially dating, shane was preparing himself for what he's gonna do when ilya will catch a flu. it was challenging enough managing with his own... body fluids (HA!). and he genuinely didn't know how he's gonna react to ilya's mucus all around. but he was much more scared that a disease would turn ilya into a catastrophe.

he was very dedicated to be a good boyfriend and do whatever needs to be done, though.

what a shock he had, when he figured out, that when he's sick, ilya turns small, trying to hide in the darkest place and disappear. he is quiet, lying in the bed curled into a ball and shivering with fever. shane heart broke, when ilya started to apologize, almost crying, that he couldn't make him food and he's a shitty boyfriend.

never shane wanted to kill more, understanding that this is how probably ilya's family treated him every time he got sick since his mother died.

“Chopping carrots with Ilya,” Shane sings under his breath. “Making salad with Ilya.”

Yuna smiles softly from the dining room. This is one of her favorite things about her son. From the time he could (barely) talk, he made up little songs about anything and everything. The first time he’d done it, he’d been strapped into his car seat and watching cars go by. When he’d caught Yuna’s eye in the rear view mirror, he’d smiled with all 8 of his little teeth and waved.

“Dwiving,” he’d sung, all of 18 months old and barely able to say the word properly. “Dwivin’ wi’ Mama. Wuv Mama.”

Yuna’s not sure if it’s Shane’s way of processing the world around him, just A Thing some people do, or something special about her baby boy. All she knows is that from the first time he’d made up a little tune about Driving With Mama, everything turned into a song. When he’s comfortable and feeling at ease, Shane turns little things around him into music.

Learning to tie his shoes? “Daddy’s teaching me to tie my shoes. One lace over the other. Make the bunny ears!”

Gearing up for practice when he was 8? “Going to practice. Gonna be great. Gonna score a goal!”

Studying for a science test? “Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. Everyone says it because it’s true. Moving on—organelles and cell walls.”

Gearing up for his first Metros game as captain? “Taping my hockey stick. Going out on the ice. Gonna kick some ass.”

It’s something so uniquely, adorably, perfectly Shane.

Today, though? As Shane’s in the kitchen preparing a salad for lunch? For the first time, someone else sings along. For the first time in Shane’s life, someone hears the tune and lyrics that only exist in his head and joins in.

“Making salad with Shane,” Ilya croons along, hooking his chin over his boyfriend’s shoulder and wrapping strong arms around his waist. “Preparing lunch with my love.”

Shane smiles and sings back as Ilya nuzzles his neck. “Being domestic with my boyfriend. Thinking of boring things we can do together.”

Ilya laughs and kisses his ear before finishing the song. “I love to be boring with yooouuuu.”

Shane pauses on the other line, breath catching as he holds back overwhelming emotion.

“Mom,” he croaks. “I…fuck.”

Yuna stays calm. She mentally takes stock of the situation. Ilya’s fine—he just texted her, a few seconds before Shane called, to warn her of the incoming storm. David’s fine—he’s sitting right next to her, confused and alarmed as their son has some manner of episode on the phone. She’s fine. So what’s—

“—wi’ Dada!”

…oh. Oh.

It’s soft at first, but picking up in volume. Tiny pit-pats in the background accompany the most beautiful little voice Yuna’s heard since Shane made up his first song, Driving With Mama, from his car seat all those years ago.

“Eating,” the little voice sings in the background. It’s garbled by what Yuna assumes are half-chewed remnants of an afternoon snack; probably organic peanut butter on apple slices. “Eating wi’ Dada. Eating wi’ Papa. Dada on phone! Who on phone, Dada?”

There’s wet laughter in the background, further from the phone. “Oh God, Shane. It’s genetic. She’s a little you!”

More tearful laughter, this time from Shane. “That’s not—she’s adopted, Ilya.”

“I don’t care what the papers say. She is you. Listen to her, she is perfect. She must be part you, sweetheart.”

Arthur who doesn't like loud noises, is moving with his tiny palms covering his ears as the TV blasts either a game or some Disney movie ruby has picked

Arthur who prefers staying indoors and playing with his Legos while his sisters chase after Anya in the backyard

Arthur who really doesnt like it when the food on his plate touch each other

Arthur who has a blinky thats almost chewed up but throws a fit if jackie tries to wean him off it.

Arthur who likes the buzz lightyear puzzle that shane and ilya gift him so much that he wants to do it every night

Arthur who loves his crocodile stuffy? Toy? , Chompy and cries everytime jackie puts it in the washing machine

Arthur who is sensitive to light but is also sacred of the dark cause his sisters have told him that monsters come out during bedtime

Ilya is the only other person apart from Jackie who is capable of bringing him from a meltdown

Ilya who brings him toys and puzzles which don't trigger his sensory issues

Ilya who loudly announces during the BBQs the pikes are throwing that all the adults are boring him and that he's gonna go and hang out with Arthur and build Legos spaceship with him. The relief on Arthur's face is visible from space.

Ilya who carries Arthur with such ease that people who don't know him believe that he might be the father of atleast 3 more babies

Ilya who can put little Arthur to sleep by rocking him back and forth with his beefy arms wrapped so delicately around the tiny little bundle of joy

Ilya who coos and softly sings russian rhymes to Arthur while he's in the bassinet

Ilya who crosses the threshold of the pike residence only to be tackled in the leg by Arthur who looks up at him with his big hazel eyes and 4 tiny baby teeth poking out of his gums and ilya swears he doesnt tear up when shane points it out

Ilya who is sure that his heart skips a beat the first time Arthur exclaims 'eh-yah!' While stretching his arms out with a big big smile on his face, waiting to be scooped up by ilya

Ilya who is the person Shane and Arthur sort of drape themselves on when things get too much and they need a breather

Yuna and David are doing something (cooking dinner, out to the store, etc.) and Shane is giving Ilya the tour. An actual tour this time because they are at his parent's house.

Once Ilya sees the little practice rink, he lights up. The walls are splashed with Shane's youth trophies - snowplow sam badges in a case, tiny little baby skates, power-skating ribbons, pictures from his first tournaments, team jerseys from U8-16, his first hockey stick hanging on the wall, his first game winning puck on a shelf, his first tiny jersey. Ilya takes his time to comment on everything.

Then Ilya grabs a stick from the wall (one of the practice ones) and a puck from the bucket that hasn't been touched in a decade. Shane, never one to back down from a challenge, especially on home turf, grabs his own practice stick. There are no skates that fit either of them, so they just step on the synthetic ice with socks on.

And that's how Yuna and David find them, checking each other into the flimsy boards that are not meant for fully grown hockey players, firing shots into the little nets with enough force to knock them over, cursing at each other like there's a ref around to do something about it, etc.

And Luca and the other rookies being like, oh you mean the Dad-Trifecta? it's the best thing that has ever happened to us.

You loose your skates or you need help with paperwork or you're just feeling kinda sad and need a dad hug - you go Bood. he will grill you some chicken and go speak to Coach for you. You call him or Cassie if you're sick and they will pick you up and deposit you on the floor with Milo and you are their baby now. I'm 23 years old but that's my dad tho

If you're having trouble with other players, or if you're in like, a crisis? Mama Bear Ilya, will 100% get arrested for any of us and/or pick you up from the middle of nowhere any time of night. You wanna ragebait other players? He has the perception of a God and can tell from one look when a players second wife will leave him. He can also tell when you're feeling like shit mentally and he will pick you up take you to Harris farm and make you dog walk with him while throwing sweets at you. Holmberg got high sticked the other week Ilya spent like, 2 hours going through the guys Instagram with us while wine drunk and ripping his entire life to pieces with us.

myilya for those who believe

💪 💦

And aside, to Shane, Ilya laughs like "Ah, now I see that they are Hayden's kids." But he still enthusiastically agrees to the movie, and it's at this point that a Plan occurs to Ilya.

He leans across to Shane, who's somehow managing to rock Amber to sleep through the sounds of little green smoke demons killing a whole Russian royal family, and says something like, "Wow, is amazing how accurate they stayed to how it happened."

And Shane gives a little smile, clearly thinking Ilya's being sarcastic. He lets it sit a while, then leans across to Shane again. "They even remembered to include her dog. This was a very important part of our history lessons."

And now he's starting to see the conflict on Shane's face. There's part of him that seems to know he's joking, but he's also seeing the little frown line appear and he knows that Shane is starting to get concerned that Ilya doesn't know this is a fictionalized retelling.

When he leans across a third time when Anastasia's train derails, telling Shane he's sad he hasn't watched this before now because it's so beautiful and accurate, there's no trace of a smile on Shane's face anymore. It's all concern. He can see that Shane is almost physically fighting the urge to "um, actually" him. He knows Shane would never try to mansplain Russian history to him, but he can also tell that Shane is sitting there absolutely vibrating with the energy of

At the end of the movie he laughs and kisses Shane on the cheek. "I am just messing with you, lyubimyy. It was fun to watch your face get more and more worried about me."

And Shane glares at him. "Oh you're so lucky we're both holding small sleeping kids right now, asshole."

And the Pike twins gasp. "Shane! Swear jar!"