Chapter Text
It happens a little like a snowball rolling down a hill.
Picking up speed faster than either one of them can really comprehend at first, until all of a sudden it’s fully formed, waiting for them at the bottom.
When Shane mindlessly begs Ilya to put a baby in him in the heat of a frankly mind-blowing orgasm, a feat that the Russian is more than happy to attempt, even if it means defying the realms of biology so far.
And it’s not until thirty minutes later, after Ilya tenderly cleans the pair up before nestling himself into the crook of Shane’s neck that it becomes something more than a desperate, sex-hazed plea.
“You would like a family.” Ilya mumbles between soft kisses pressed against Shane’s skin.
“I already have one.” Shane moves his hand to gently nudge Ilya’s chin upwards, stealing a kiss of his own, “You, Anya. My parents. The team. We have a family.”
Ilya smiles into the soft lips of his husband when the point is followed with another long kiss.
“Yes, but not us. We do not have family in this house. Together.”
Shane’s face screws up a little in confusion, an open invitation for Ilya to continue.
“You ask me to get you pregnant.”
The slight frown on Shane’s face tugs up into a soft smirk.
“Well, yeah but… I mean it’s not exactly possible, baby.”
“Not scientifically.”
Shane’s frown returns as he props himself up on one elbow, studying his husband’s face and finding nothing more than complete seriousness.
“Ilya, what are you saying?”
“We go for family dinners with Hayden and Jackie. We watch their kids. You are happy, I am happy, kids are happy. Why not have our own?”
“You’d really want that?”
Ilya rolls his eyes at that, pairing the action with a quiet raspberry blown from his lips.
“Please, kids love me.”
His words tug another smile from Shane.
“Everyone loves you.”
“I know. Is very annoying for people who are not me.”
Shane laughs loudly at the comment, before he leans forward to kiss Ilya again, slower this time, sighing a little when they part even a handful of inches.
“I love you.”
“Я тебя тоже.”
“I guess we’re having a baby.”
Something soft and warm blossoms on Ilya’s face then, Shane taking in the sight like a precious artwork, before it falls away to a teasing smirk, head bowing to begin pressing a string of kisses down the form of Shane’s body.
“Perfect. We start trying now, yes?”
“Ilya!”
Things had moved quickly from there, the small idea rolling out into background checks and housing inspections and approval meetings before either Shane or Ilya had really been able to catch up.
And the call came just as quickly afterwards.
They’d already been warned in advance that the process would be long.
Even beyond the almost year-long road to getting approved, there was no guarantee that they’d have the opportunity to foster any time soon, let alone find a child who they’d bond with enough to comfortably start the adoption process.
So when Shane feels his phone vibrating underneath him as he and Ilya sit curled up in the corner of the couch on a Saturday night barely a fortnight after their official paperwork had come through, he doesn’t think much of it at first.
Not until he pulls the device from his pocket and sees their case worker’s name shining up at him, sitting up immediately, back straight and breaths picking up as Ilya lets out a small indignant whine.
“Holy shit, it’s Victoria.”
“Ugh. It is weekend. She is more boring than you with meeting, meeting, mee-”
“It’s almost 11:30, Ilya, I don’t think she’s calling for a meeting. She said– She said the next time she called would be if they had fostering options.”
Ilya straightens a little at the increasing wobble in Shane’s voice as his eyes remain locked on the phone in his hands. He takes his husband’s free hand in his own, raising it up to press a kiss against the now-trembling limb.
“Better answer the call then. Before poor boring lady thinks we have changed minds.”
The ghost of a smile appears on Shane’s face as he tears his eyes away from the phone to look at Ilya before he takes a deep breath, accepting the call and putting it on speaker immediately.
“Ah, Mr Hollander, thank you for answering.”
“Yeah– O-Of course. We’re both here. Ilya, I mean, he’s– He’s here.”
Another squeeze from Ilya’s hand of Shane’s own.
“Perfect. Listen, I’m just going to have to cut to the chase. We’ve had an emergency case called in tonight and I need to know if you can take them.”
“T-Tonight?”
“I know it’s sudden. I wouldn’t ask if we weren’t desperate.”
“Who… Why is it an emergency placement?”
“The whole family were involved in a car accident on Thursday evening. They’ve been camped out in the hospital family room since but they’re- They need a home right now. Away from this place.”
They can practically hear the shiver in her voice as she pushes on.
“They came out of the crash with nothing more than a few scratches but... their father is still touch-and-go, mom is- She didn’t make it.”
Shane is the one to squeeze Ilya’s hand this time as he feels his husband’s grip tighten in response to the words.
“There’s no extended family. Not much information on family history to even try and find one. I know you guys were hoping for something long term but they… There’s nobody else they’ve got right now.”
The moment that Shane and Ilya’s eyes meet, the silent agreement is there clear as day.
“We take them.”
“You have no idea how much you’re helping us out. A case like this… It’s almost impossible to find a placement for both of them without needing to separate and that’s just not–”
“Wait– Both?”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t– We’ve been so caught up trying to find them a place, I–” They can practically hear Victoria shaking herself through the phone, “They’re twins. Sophia and Sebastian. Eight years old.”
For the first time since they picked up the phone, the stretch of silence that follows is lengthy. Shane and Ilya’s eyes read each other like books, a sudden barrage of questions going unsaid as they take in the information.
“Is that going to be a problem?”
Victoria’s voice cuts through the moment, shaking Ilya back into action as he nods once to Shane, gaining a shell-shocked but certain one back, their two hands once again squeezing together.
“Hello?”
“No.”
“No?”
“Oh my god, Ilya–”
Ilya cuts off Shane’s exasperated sigh and Victoria’s rushed out pleas for a change of heart as quickly as he had managed to panic the pair of them.
“Not no. Yes. No problem. Bring them here. We will take care of them until they are able to go home.”
The next forty minutes had been a rush of last-minute cleaning, making up both of their spare bedrooms, and ensuring that anything even potentially non-family-friendly was hidden away on a high-up shelf in a tucked away cupboard.
Shane had barely been still for a moment when the sound of the doorbell finally echoed through the house. His and Ilya’s hands found each other again as they approached the entryway, not leaving each other even as the door swung open to reveal Victoria, flanked on either side by two tiny bodies wearing mismatched sets of pyjamas.
For a brief moment that somehow seems to last forever, the world freezes on its axis as the five stand opposite each other in the doorway, standing on either side of the precipice between the comfort of their home and the cruelness of the outside world.
“Shane, Ilya, sorry again for the late call.”
“Don’t be. Please. Come in, come in.” Shane’s hand reluctantly leaves Ilya’s at last as the pair separate to beckon the small group inside, Victoria holding back a moment to encourage the twins forward, watching with a smile as they shuffle inside, taking each other’s hands as they cross the threshold.
Shane closes the door once Victoria follows them inside, while Ilya crouches to meet the twins face-to-face, softer than Shane has ever seen him before.
“Hello little ones. My name is Ilya, it is good to meet you.”
He doesn’t get any verbal response, only two pairs of shining brown eyes staring back at him for a brief moment before they are torn away towards a small, four-legged arrival from across the room.
Sophia immediately moves to hide behind her brother, while Sebastian’s face instead breaks out into a grin, hands reaching out to pet the dog now desperately attempting to jump up at his legs.
“It’s okay…” Ilya looks up at Shane as the man speaks, approaching the small trio with a comforting if unsure smile on his face, “That’s just Anya. She’s friendly. Nothing to be scared of.”
The kids look up at him, Sophia daring to step a little to one side of her brother again, watching as he gently pets a slowly-calming Anya, and Ilya rises from his crouch to meet Shane at his height again.
“And I’m Shane. I’m Ilya’s husband. We’re gonna be looking after you for a couple days.”
A few moments of silence stretch between them, the twins looking them up and down.
“Boys can’t have a husband.”
The statement comes plainly from Sebastian, not an inch of judgement in his voice, only perfect nonchalance.
“Sebastian–!” Victoria’s rushed admonishment is cut off by Ilya before it can even really begin.
“I thought so too for a long time but here we are.” The Russian holds his hand out to Shane, who smiles and steps closer to take it, leaning forwards to press a small kiss to Ilya’s cheek as he does so, “Husbands.”
Sebastian takes in the intimacy for a moment before he nods with a shrug, returning his attention to petting Anya at his feet.
“Okay. Cool.”
Shane relaxes a little further into Ilya’s side at the easy acceptance, a wider smile overtaking his face and a small laugh escaping him as Ilya throws a quick wink in his direction with a quiet, “Cool.” in response.
“Right then. I’m going to leave you all to it if everybody’s happy? Let you get some rest.” Victoria’s voice cut through the moment, all four others in the room turning to look at her.
“Are you coming back?” Sophia’s trembling voice is the one that speaks up this time, eyes shining with unshed tears, Shane’s face falling a little in sympathy.
“I am. I promise. I’m going to call again tomorrow, okay? Let you know how your dad is. Shane and Ilya are just going to take care of you until he’s all better. They can call me whenever you want.”
Sophia sniffles a little in response but nods nonetheless, while Ilya can’t help but notice how Sebastian’s face falls into a scowl as Victoria speaks, diverting his attention completely away from her and back to Anya instead.
“Okay…” Sophia still sounds uncertain even as she quietly utters the word, using one hand to quickly sweep a lone tear from the surface of her cheek.
“Okay. I’ll see you both soon, alright? And I’ll let you know if I hear anything at all about your dad.”
Sophia nods to Victoria, while Sebastian keeps up his lack of interest, preferring to lower himself to his knees on the ground to pet Anya more easily, giggling as she giddily jumps up in return, licking his face.
Victoria offers another quiet goodbye, shaking both Shane and Ilya’s hands and promising once again that she will call with any updates, before she leaves the home and drives off away from the cottage, leaving Shane, Ilya and the kids alone.
“Are you two hungry at all?”
Two small heads shake their negative responses to the question.
“They gave us food at the hospital. Tasted like ass.”
Shane’s eyes widen at the use of language from the eight year old, while Ilya barely contains the smirk fighting to rise on his face.
“For Shane’s sake how about we keep bad words limited while you are both here, yes?”
A long pause from Ilya as Shane begins to look a little calmer, before–
“Even if food did taste like ass.”
“Ilya!”
The man in question ignores his husband’s wearied argument in lieu of sharing a grin with Sebastian, who barely holds in a laugh as he watches Shane cross his arms over his chest, unimpressed.
“We know you have had long day. We can just go to sleep for now, start fresh in the morning?”
“Good idea. We set your guys’ bedrooms up earlier. We don’t have a bunch of stuff for you yet, but we can go shopping tomorrow to get some toys and clothes. We can get things for your bedrooms too, so they feel a little more like–”
Shane is cut off by Ilya’s hand resting gently on his arm, forcing him to finally take a breath, meeting his husband’s eye and sharing a tiny nod of reassurance.
“Let's think about that tomorrow, yes? Bedtime now.”
Shane nods again in response, the pair moving to encourage the twins through the large living room and around a corner, the doors to the two spare bedrooms sitting open ahead of them.
“You guys can pick which rooms you want. Like I said, we can get some decorations tomorrow to make them feel a little more–”
“We can share a room.” Sebastian’s voice cuts Shane off this time.
“Oh, that’s okay. Even if you share at home, we have the space so–”
The mood suddenly shifts as Sebastian’s face hardens, stepping in front of Sophia and putting himself between her and the two men ahead of them, chest out in a way too defiant for his small age.
“You’re not splitting us up. You’re not!”
Both Shane and Ilya’s eyes widen at the sudden change of tone, the pair sharing a cautious look, all the while Sebastian continues to scowl up at them furiously, as if daring them to test him.
Shane mirrors Ilya's crouched position from earlier then. Raising his hands placatingly, offering a reassuring smile to the boy looking back at him with a protective ferociousness beyond his years.
“Okay, it’s okay. We know it’s been a scary couple of days. Just… take a deep breath, yeah?" Shane breathes slowly in and out, steadying his own rising anxiety as much as calming that of the child ahead, "We’re not going to split you guys up if you don’t want us to. We’d never do that. We just want you guys to enjoy your time here, yeah? Whatever that looks like for you two is fine. We're just here to help along the way.”
Sebastian’s frame softens a little at that, though his still-steady glare and silence give nothing more away.
“It is even better for you to room together. Means you can choose which room is better with no fighting. Makes it more fun.” Ilya smiles softly at the two children ahead of him, finally melting the remainder of Sebastian’s icy fury as Sophia perks up a little in interest, peeking into each of the rooms curiously.
As Sebastian follows her, and the pair begin a muted conversation between themselves, Shane and Ilya look to each other again, hands finding one another’s - A small, sturdy safety raft in the overwhelming wave of the past couple of hours.
And when Anya pushes past all four of them to barrel into one of the guest rooms, both Sophia and Sebastian taking this as a sign and following her through to jump up onto the large waiting king-size bed, the couple share a lingering kiss in the doorway before stepping into the room.
They tuck the twins into the too-big bed, wishing them both a goodnight and leaving the door open a few inches to allow the light from the hallway to spill in, before they tiptoe down the hall to their own bedroom, already afraid to disturb the comforting stillness of the home.
In each other’s arms, a million unanswered questions go unsaid between them.
Ilya can already see the familiar anxiety rolling off Shane, threatening to bubble over in a way that he’d foolishly hoped they’d never have to experience again. Shane seeing the same edges of sadness creeping up on his husband that they’d battled through so many times before.
And yet, as they drift off to sleep sharing slow, tender kisses - A far cry from the version of them in bed together that has started this whole journey all those months ago - It’s with a quiet hopefulness, and the start of a new chapter in their lives.
Together.