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Ilya never understood why Shane was so invested in adoption. He never really cared for it. He’d seen the bad and the worst in Russia, and what those adoption agencies did to those little kids to make them get out of the system. The women who were forced to give up their kids even though they could take care of those babies.
Ripping away children from the breast of the their mothers, ripping the sweet milk from their lips, from their giver, from the person who had created them, whose body had hand crafted them from nothing.
But, with this in mind, he also knew how the systems in the U.S and Canada were different. Their Child Protection System is meant to rehabilitate families, before putting kids up for adoption. The last thing the government wanted to do was place these kids away from their families for forever.
This is why Shane wanted to adopt.
He’d seen kids in the system. How their lives were different, affected. He’d had friends, some in hockey, who’d had hand-me-down pads that never got rid of their musty smell, how they never fit right for the boys. He noticed how fast they came and left. How quickly they dissolved from his life, never to be seen again.
Shane wanted to help these kids, wanted to create a life for them that he’d never seen his friends have. So they reached out. They got background checks, went to parenting classes, took exams, got licensed, became foster parents, with the goal to adopt.
When the social worker asked Shane and Ilya what their preference was they told the lady the younger the better, not because they didn’t want to deal with older children, but if their goal was to adopt, they wanted a child that they could raise. They wanted told cradle a small thing to their chest, to hold through the night, rocking to sleep. They wanted to be able to watch the first steps, potty-train, they wanted to see teeth grow in, and to show them the ocean for the first time. They wanted as many firsts as they could get their hands on. An older child didn’t fulfill that for them.
The social worker explained that she would try her hardest to have smaller children placed, but sometimes emergency placements had to occur, and she couldn’t always guarantee that they’d have young children placed with them.
On June 17th, 2030, two days after his 39th birthday, Ilya Rozanov announced his retirement from the National Hockey League, claiming that he and Shane wanted to raise a family, and he took the opportunity to step back from his role as Captain and Star Center of the Ottawa Centaurs, as the team had not made it to the playoffs that year.
Five days later, the two had their first placement.
A small child named Alfie Moyer. She was born 16 days before the placement. Her mother was too young to take care of the baby and she was taken into care. There was no father in the birth certificate, and the mother never reached out to the hospital to tell them the father’s name.
Shane and Ilya had this placement for three months. Three beautiful months before the county deemed the mother old enough and mature enough to raise the baby, on a fixed income. When the day came, it shocked both of them, as the pair thought it was a more permanent placement. They had to remind themselves that it was not always possible to adopt out of foster care, and rehabbing the family was always the first thing the social worker did.
This happened over and over for the pair. For so long and for so much so that eventually Shane retired too, three years after Ilya, in August, 2033. They told the case worker that they needed a break, to stop placing children for the moment, as they needed a while to slow down. They needed to breathe, to rewind, to recover.
The break lasted from August to January, 2034.
The night was cold, and the pair laid in their shared home, a modest home in Ottawa, big enough for the two of them and what used to be the extremely busy lives. The house was dark, the sun set hours ago, leaving only a dark sky and smog covered stars in its departure from the skyline.
The pair laid in their bed, a pile of tangled limbs. Ilya draped haphazardly over Shane, his leg thrown over Shane’s hips, his arm across the still broad expanse of chest, and face nuzzled right into Shane’s neck, effectively blanketing over the shorter man.
Suddenly a blaring sound came from Shane’s nightstand, his phone screen lighting up the whole side of the room. Shane jerked awake. Blindly grabbing for the phone, jostling Ilya in the process.
Ilya groaned at this, protesting the sudden noise and movement.
“Ilya, move for a second.” Shane whispered at Ilya, who groaned and rolled over, flopping down on his other side.
Shane finally grabbed the still blaring phone and swiped it to answer the call, no-looking the caller ID.
“Hello.” He gruffs into the phones speaker.
“Hi, Shane.” A lady on the other end of the phone parrots.
“Lindsey, hi.” Shane briskly sits up in bed, and Ilya immediately rolls over to look at Shane.
“I am so sorry to bother you, and I know you’re not currently wanting to do placements, but it’s kind of an emergency right now. You both are the only home that has an open placement at the moment because nobody else has answered their phones,” Lindsey, Shane and Ilya’s social worker stammered through the phone.
“Um,” Shane starts.
“And I promise it’ll only be temporary, but she’s got nowhere else to go right now. The home I pulled her out of, I- I’ve never seen anything like it.” She continues.
“Okay. Yeah. I mean if there’s no other option. I’m not going to say no.” Shane replies back immediately.
“Oh my god thank you so much.” Lindsey responds to Shane.
“When are you going to be here? Just so we can get everything set up?” Shane replies back in lieu of accepting the thanks.
“In an hour or two? We- she still needs to get her things.”
“Oh- uh how- how old is she?”
“Oh, oh my, wow, this- she’s 14. Shit I’m sorry Shane. I should have told you before.” She stammers.
Shane looks at Ilya before he responds again. “No, no it’s okay. You said it was only temporary. Plus maybe a little change will be good.” He nods his head as a brief moment passes between Shane and Ilya, as they both mentally prepare for a teenager in their home.
“Oh, thank you, really. You know I wouldn’t bother you both if it weren’t for a good cause.”
“I understand Lindsey. What’s her case?” Shane replies back to the woman over the phone.
“Oh, uh. She’s, well, she’s-“ Lindsey breaks for a moment, a pause.
Shane sits in bed and waits for the woman to continue with the case.
“Her mother and father are separated, he’s not even on the birth certificate, she’s from, well, she’s actually from Michigan, but her mother moved her here when she was young, the daughter says 5, but we don’t know for sure. Mother and her both have Canadian citizenship, and that’s why we’re dealing with it and not the U.S. Mom has a history of drug problems, and can’t support herself and the girl, so- so the girl was working. I mean- Shane, she- this girl needs a lot of help.”
Shane listens to this all, and nods along as she continues to speak.
“She supports her mom and herself, she works illegally at this diner down the road, she walks every day to and from school, to and from work. The living conditions, they’re- I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it. The case only got flagged because the girl went to the hospital because she stepped on a needle. A heroin needle. The mother’s facing charges of neglect. The girl sleeps on a couch. And it doesn’t even have cushions!” Lindsey pants as she continues before she stops for a moment. “Sorry, I’m- this is just a lot. I’m kinda overwhelmed.”
Shane shakes his head, Ilya leaning into his shoulder to listen in on the conversation. “You’re okay, Lindsey, it’s understandable.”
She huffs, before the line goes quiet for a moment. “Her name is Willow.”
Shane hums at the name. “It’s a beautiful name.”
“Yes, it is.” They both stop short, something unnamed in the air.
“We should be there in an hour or so. She’s just grabbing the last of her things and putting them into the car.” Lindsey finally hums.
Shane nods again before replying. “Sounds good. We will set a room up for her. Thank you.”
“No, thank you. I didn’t have anyone else. You and Ilya and lifesavers.”
Shane laughs, humorless.
“Oh, and lastly, Shane.”
Shane sighs, as he’d like to get off of the phone with this woman and get on with his life. “Yes.”
“Willow’s a hockey player. She loves it. Just thought I’d let you know.”
Shane’s breath hitches, as does Ilya’s.
“Oh, okay.”
“Alright, thank you. I’ll let you get on with your prepping.”
Shane clears his throat. “Thank you.”
The both of them quickly clear their throats and just as quickly hang up the phone. After the phone is hung up, Shane and Ilya simply look at one another, before Shane leans into Ilya’s side and places his head on the others shoulder.
“Shane.” Ilya murmurs.
“Yeah?” Shane replies after a moment.
“We should get the room ready.”
“I know.”
They both sit there for a moment, before moving to get up out of the bed and prepare a room In the house for a 14 year old girl, who happens to love hockey.
~
Ilya just finishes getting the fitted bedsheet around the edge of the mattress when the driveway alarm goes off, alerting Anya to someone in the driveway.
“Ilya!” Shane yells from down the hallway.
“Give me a second!” Ilya yells back as he finishes tugging the sheet over the bed before standing up and jogging out of the bedroom, his slippers scuffing on the floor and his nightshirt rubbing his shins as he goes. He meets Shane at the front door just as headlights appear through the side window of the door.
“Guess they’re here.” Shane mumbles.
Ilya nods back at Shane. “Shane.”
He looks up at Ilya. “Yeah?”
Ilya cracks a small smile. “We’re okay.”
Shane smiles back at Ilya. He nods, and then grabs for the door handle, walking out to meet Lindsey and Willow. Ilya follows.
They both make their way down to the car, as Lindsey, a tall, dark woman, stands in sweatpants and a hoodie, as a tired smile adorns her face.
“Hi, Lindsey. Good to see you.” Shane says first, extending his hand to shake hers. She takes the hand and shakes it.
“It’s good to see you, it’s been a minute,” She shoots back and then looks behind her. “This is Willow.” She continues as she moves to the side. A girl, no shorter than 5’8, stands, hunched over in her jacket. Her hair is red, a bright and blinding color, as it sits long and curly over her shoulders, flaying out here and there. Her eyes a light blue, which dart everywhere, and her long and lengthy limbs curl and look overgrown on her still growing body. She avoids looking at both of the men.
“Hello.” Shane replies after a moment. Willow looks at them, and after a moment of consideration, waves at the both of them. “Would you like to come inside?” He starts, looking at both Lindsey and Willow.
Lindsey nods, and then turns to Willow. “Do you want to grab your things?” She looks at the girl who eventually nods. They both move to grab Willows things from the car, and the four of them head into the house, the only sounds is the ever-falling snow, and the crunch of snow beneath their feet.
After a few moments, they make their way into the house, and the four of them walk into the kitchen. Lindsey and Willow set down her things on the floor, before Willow stands still, unsure.
“Do you want anything? Food, or something to drink.” Shane asks Willow who immediately shakes her head no. “Okay.”
“Do we need to do any paperwork tonight, Lindsey?” Ilya says after a moment again.
She shakes her head, “No. I can come by tomorrow and we can do the paperwork, I’m sure you’re very tired.”
Shane and Ilya both shrug.
After a few minutes of conversation, Lindsey finally leaves the house, which leaves the three of them alone. The three of them stand in silence.
“Do you want to see your room. I’m sure you’re tired.” Ilya offers. Willow nods, still not speaking.
Ilya nods as well, before making his way to Willows new room. They grab her things on their way. After a twist and a turn, they make it to her room. Plain, the walls naked, and a single queen sized bed sits in the corner of the room, a dresser at the foot of the bed, a desk next to it, and a nightstand as well, which one lamp sits on. They make quick work of moving things into the room, as there isn’t much, and then Shane and Ilya stand closer to the doorway as Willow sits on the bed.
“If you need anything, we’re right across the hall, but you’re more than welcome to help yourself to anything in the house. We have a dog, Anya, who sleeps with us, so if you hear whining, thats why. No password on the Wi-Fi, and we have extra chargers in the kitchen if you need one.” Shane rambles, continuing on and on for a moment.
“Okay, thank you.” Willow says slowly.
Shane and Ilya nod, and then the three lapse into silence.
Willow shifts on her bed, clearly uncomfortable.
“It’s actually Will.” She mumbles.
“Huh?” Shane asks.
Willow clears her throat before she continues. “It’s- It’s actually Will. I’m Trans.”
Shane nods, “Oh. Okay. Thank you for telling us Will.”
Will nods, smiling slightly. He looks over at Shane and Ilya.
“Will that be a problem for you?” Will asks.
Shane and Ilya shake their heads.
“No. We don’t care.” Ilya says, before clearing his throat.
“We- you’re safe here.”
Will nods, before looking away from the pair.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Shane replies. They stand there for a moment in Will’s room before they exit the bedroom, closing the door behind them. They both walk to their room, turning off lights as they go.