Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shane yawns. It comes out before he can catch it and his mouth stretches so wide that he hears his jaw crack. Wincing, he shakes his shoulders and settles back against the bed. He's tired, but that's to be expected after giving birth. This isn't his first time, but this will be his last. They're done. They have more than enough kids to start a hockey team, as a lot of people like to joke. Of course, not all their children were planned. Mistakes happened. No, that's wrong. They weren't mistakes. Accidents. Shane has taught himself to be careful with his words. Sometimes he doesn't fully understand socializing, but he's trying to be better. For his kids. He never wants them to feel like they were unwanted, because despite being accidents, they are all wanted. Every single one of them.

Ilya sits beside him in a chair, eyes glued onto the screen of his phone. He giggles. Actually goddamn giggles like their daughter does sometimes when she's up to no good.

"What are you doing?" Shane asks, already giving him the look that he gives to Irina.

Ilya glances up, mischief dancing in the hazel eyes that Shane loves so much. "Nothing, moy lyubov."

"You're lying."

Ilya fakes a dramatic gasp and slaps a hand to his chest. "Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm married to you," Shane says without missing a beat. "I know you and I know what you're like. Irina learned it all from you. What did you do?"

Ilya grins then and there's no mistaking the playfulness in his gaze. The man had been up to no good. "The internet. Is funny."

Shane rolls his eyes. That's nothing new. The internet is always funny according to Ilya, but he also goes out of his way to ragebait a lot of people. His attitude online nearly gives Harris an aneurysm every time Ilya posts. It's come to a point where Harris has begged Shane for help. And Shane, feeling sorry for their poor PR manager, takes it upon himself to steal Ilya's phone when he gets too naughty. Still, Shane's been through a c-section right now and he's in pain. His abdomen hurts and it feels like he's been run over by a Zamboni a hundred times, so he doesn't have it in him to snatch the phone away from Ilya. Not today.

"I'll ask again. What did you do?" Shane winces when a stab of pain streaks through him and Ilya's on his feet in seconds, fussing over him. He moves the blanket so it's higher on Shane's chest and whispers Russian sweet nothings in Shane's ear.

"Do you need painkillers, moy dorogoy?" He strokes his knuckle down Shane's cheek and Shane smiles.

He hates that they're so far away from their babies, but they are small and need to be in NICU. But Shane and Ilya had been prepared for that, had been warned by doctors.

"No, I am fine." He raises his chin in a silent request and Ilya doesn't need to be asked twice. He kisses Shane gently on the lips.

"Ya tebya lyublyu, moy utka."

Shane huffs out a laugh. It's not new for Ilya to call him his duck. The kids are their ducklings. According to Ilya, if there was a word in Russian for loon, he'd call them that (and while he does call them that in English, he sticks with duck and ducklings in Russian).

"Ya tebya lyublyu," Shane repeats. "Now, tell me."

Ilya chuckles again and shows Shane the screen and the twitter post. Despite Ilya being the menace he is, Shane laughs. Hayden asked for it this time.

"You are mean," Shane whispers lovingly.

"Only to Pike," Ilya responds, and they kiss again. It's gentle and sweet and Shane doesn't think he can love Ilya anymore than he already does. It's physically and emotionally not possible. Between their seven kids and Ilya, he has a lot of love to give and he's given them all of it. "The internet wants to know how we ended up with seven kids."

Shane snorts. Maybe he should write an autobiography: How Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov went from the world's longer situationship to having seven kids while playing professional hockey. It would sell a lot of books.

But it's funny when he thinks back on it, how each child made their way in the world. As he closes his eyes, he thinks about his seven little miracles: Ilia (or Ili as they call him to differentiate him from Ilya), Irina, Nikolai, Mikhail, Liliya, Dmitriy, and Aleksandr. His babies. His sweet angels.

What had started as a surprise had ended in an even bigger shock and now they had seven.

Shane remembers each one like it happened yesterday and the memories make him smile...