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1.Shane and Ilya had decided to host a team family barbecue once the season had ended and the weather warmed. They invited their teammates along with their significant others and kids to the cottage for a day of fun. Ilya and Bood were manning the grill. They were cooking an obnoxious amount of hot dogs, hamburgers, brats, chicken. Everyone else had brought side dishes. There was pasta salad, potato salad, chips, corn, salad, watermelon, mixed fruit salad, a vegetable tray, among other dishes. There were cupcakes and cookies galore. There was no way they were going to eat all this food, but Shane figured better to have too much than not enough. There were also coolers on the patio full of water, beers, seltzers, juice boxes, and ginger ale of course. The yard was full of kids running around playing tag, kicking a soccer ball. There were some kids playing in the water with parents keeping a watchful eye. Shane was settled into a chair at the patio table with Luca and Wyatt. It was the first time he had sat down all day.
Yuna and David were in the kitchen taking care of dishes that had piled up. They had arrived before lunch to help with anything the boys needed. She insisted Shane go outside when his teammates started arriving. Over the course of the afternoon, she watched Shane and Ilya go around to greet everyone. They took the time to chat with the wives of their teammates. She even saw them taking time to talk to or play with the kids. What she hadn't seen was her son eat anything all day. It was nearing late afternoon and Yuna was concerned that he was forgetting to eat. It was something that she had seen him consistently do growing up. He had to be reminded to take a break and feed his body. Especially when he was stressed or overwhelmed. She knew that he would hyper focus and have a one track mind. In this case, getting the cottage ready for a party and trying to make sure that everything was perfect. She was just getting ready to say something to David when she watched Ilya walk away from the grill and grab a plate. Yuna watched her son in law carefully load the plate with food, but not too much. Easy foods. Made sure the fruit wasn't near the hamburger bun, to avoid wet bread of course. He added a small portion of pasta salad and veggies from the trey one of the families brought. Yuna watched as Ilya made his way from the food table over to where Shane sat with his team mates. Ilya just placed the plate of food in front of Shane, squeezed his shoulder, and walked back to the grill. He didn't make it a thing. Didn't tell Shane to eat. Just provided what he knew Shane needed. She watched as Shane started eating without question. Shane didn't even break the conversation to acknowledge Ilya. It was still hard for her to believe that anyone could know her son the way she did. But watching Ilya, she knew it to be true.
2.Later that same summer, Ilya and Shane were on a week long beach trip to Florida with Yuna and David. Shane had done a ton of research and found a cute little town, not overly touristy. He found a beach house to rent with access to a private stretch of beach. He really wanted to be able to just relax with his family. The first 3 days were perfect. Shane and Ilya went for morning runs on the beach. Tried different local breakfast spots that were highly recommended online. They spent time on the beach and in the water. Took naps outside in the hammocks in the shade. Yuna drug all the guys to the local shops, but they secretly loved it.
Day 4 started off slower. Ilya woke up before Shane, which very rarely happened. The sun was peaking in from the blackout curtains they had drawn shut the night before. He could hear David shuffling around in the kitchen, likely making coffee. Ilya looked down at Shane, where his head rested against Ilya's side. His face was scrunched, as if in pain, not the relaxed look Ilya was so used to seeing on his husband's face. He smoothed his hand along Shane's forehead trying to erase the tension. Shane let out a soft groan of protest and tried to bury himself further into Ilya.
“Good morning, sweetheart.”
“Morning.” Shane whispered into Ilya's skin.
“Are you feeling okay?” Ilya asked.
Shane shook his head just slightly. “Headache.”
“Regular headache or migraine?” Shane got a few migraines every year. He'd had them since he was a child, but concussions as a result of being a professional hockey player definitely increased the frequency over the years.
“Migraine.”
The word left his husband's lips and Ilya was thrown into action. He knew what Shane needed right now. They had done this dance before.
“Okay. I'll be right back.” Ilya kissed Shane's on the forehead and slid from the bed. He readjusted the curtains to block out as much sun as possible. He found a pair of sweatpants and pulled them on in the dark. He figured he shouldn't leave this room in just boxers.
He walked into the kitchen and saw a fresh pot of coffee. He saw David and Yuna through the glass door to the back patio. He got himself a mug of coffee and slid the door open.
Yuna turned her head and smiled at her son in law. “Good morning, Ilya. Where is Shane? We never see you before him.”
“Ahh, he is in bed. Woke up with migraine. Came out to get a few things then we will probably be in bedroom most of the day.”
Yuna was ready to jump up and run to Shane and get him whatever he needed. David could see what his wife was about to do and gently laid a hand on her arm. “Do you need us to go and grab anything?”
“I do not think so. I packed the special pain medicine. I'm just going to get water and ice pack if there is one.”
“Well you make sure to tell us if you boys need anything.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Yuna watched Ilya as he slid back into the house. She watched as he grabbed a couple bottles of water from the refrigerator. She watched as he grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and a towel to wrap it in. She watched as he started to leave the room but doubled back to grab a pack of crackers.
“See, dear. He knows what our boy needs. Let him take care of him.” David patted his wife's arm.
David and Yuna left for the morning, that way they didn't disturb the boys. They returned after lunch, bringing take out. She knew that Shane probably wouldn't eat, but brought food for them both anyway.
She knocked lightly on the door before peaking her head in. The room was dark, but she could make out that Ilya was sitting up on the bed leaning back against the headboard, his face barely lit from the screen on his phone. He must have turned the brightness down. Shane was sound asleep, his head laying in Ilya's lap. Ilya scrolled on his phone with one hand, and held the ice pack from earlier against the base of Shane's head with the other.
“How's he feeling?” She asked quietly, not wanting to wake Shane.
“Not good. Has been sleeping most of the morning.”
“Well we brought back lunch for you guys. I put Shane's away for later, but I brought this for you now. You have to take care of yourself too.”
“Thank you. Also could you bring new ice pack? I did not want to move and wake him.” Ilya looked down at his husband adoringly.
“Of course. Do you need anything else?”
“No I do not think so.”
Yuna left the room with the now warm ice pack and put Ilya's food onto a plate and pulled a fresh ice pack from the freezer. She delivered the items and left a kiss on the forehead of both boys.
She watched the rest of the afternoon. Watched Ilya follow Shane to the bathroom when he inevitably started getting sick from the migraine. She watched him replace the ice pack over and over. She watched him get new bottles of water. She watched him plate the food she got for Shane earlier and take into the bedroom late into the evening when Shane must have decided he could handle eating. She watched Ilya love and take care of her son the way she always prayed someone would.
3. It was the last full week at the cottage before Shane and Ilya would need to head home for the hockey season. Shane had been on edge all day. He couldn't pinpoint what the issue was. All his clothes felt wrong, all the lights were buzzing in the back of his head, the appliances were all humming and he could feel it in his bones. His parents were coming over for dinner in a few hours and he kept trying to get his whole body to just settle down so they could have a nice evening. Ilya had learned over the years not to intervene until Shane asked or he saw Shane stop being able to make good decisions. It was just after lunch and Shane suddenly stood up from the couch where he and Ilya had settled, watching some home improvement show. “Ilya I am losing my mind here. Everything inside here is making my skin crawl.”
“Okay, so we go outside. Maybe relax in hammock until dinner with Yuna and David? Or I can call and cancel. They can come tomorrow.”
“No, don't call them. I think maybe a nap could help.” Ilya stood and grabbed Shane's hand. He led them out the patio door down to the waters edge where the hammock was. Ilya pulled his shirt off before pulling Shanes off too.
He laid down on the hammock and carefully pulled Shane down on top of him. They laid chest to chest and Shane buried his face in Ilya's neck. Ilya wrapped his arms around Shane and held him tight, knowing the pressure usually helped.
“Its better out here. Thank you.”
They laid there and eventually both dozed off.
Yuna had sent a text to the family group chat letting the boys know they were on the way over. They loaded into the car and drove the 10 minutes down the road. Neither Shane nor Ilya had responded to the text so she double checked and saw neither one had even opened the message. She really hoped they hadn't forgot about dinner tonight. When they pulled up, she saw Shane's car so she knew they were home. She noticed all the lights were off which was odd. Yuna knocked on the door and waited. When no one came, she knocked again. There was no way that she was going to just walk in unannounced. Seeing no movement still, she knocked again while pushing the door open.
“Shane? Ilya?” The house was completely silent. She cautiously walked through to the living room and found both of their phones laying on the couch. That explains why they didn't answer her text.
“Yuna.” David called from the patio door. She walked over and could see what her husband had spotted. She could see blond curls peaking over the side of a hammock near the water. The hammock hung as though there were two fully grown hockey players in it, so she could only assume Shane was out there as well. She slid the door open and quietly made her way out to the water. She found Shane curled into Ilya's body and Ilya holding tight to her son, both men sound asleep. She didn't have the heart to wake them, so she went back up to the house. Not before she snapped a picture, though.
“Let's let them sleep. They clearly need it. We can start on dinner and wake them later.” So Yuna and David got started on dinner.
A while later, Ilya slowly woke. It took him a few moments to make sense of where he was, where they were. Then he noticed the sun had dropped quite a bit. He reached down to his pocket looking for his phone to check the time. Finding his pockets empty, he knew he was going to have to wake Shane so he could get up from the hammock. Ilya brought his hands back up and rubbed them up and down Shane's back.
“Shane. Sweetheart. I need you to wake up.” He talked softly.
Shane hummed and shook his head. “Too comfy.” He murmured into Ilya's skin.
Ilya smiled sleepily. “Your parents are probably going to be here soon. I do not have phone. I have no clue what the time is. I think we slept long time.”
Shane groaned and rolled just enough for Ilya to slide out from under him.
Ilya stood and leaned down to kiss Shane's forehead. “Is your body feeling calmer now? Head is not so loud now?”
“Yeah, I'm feeling better. But I'm scared going back inside is going to trigger it again.”
“Is okay. Stay here and I will be back.”
Ilya walked back up to the cottage and froze at the door when he saw movement inside. He realized that it was his in laws and the slight moment of panic melted away.
Yuna's head turned from the boiling pot when she heard the door start to open. “Look who is awake.” She smiled.
Ilya gave a shy smile. “Ahh yes. Sorry about that. We did not mean to sleep so long. Have you been here long time? Why are you cooking?”
“We've been here about an hour. We saw you guys sleeping and I just couldn't wake you up. We figured that we could get dinner started. We sent a text but I see you two didn't have your phones.”
“Sorry again. Shane was having rough morning. Said everything was wrong. Too nosy inside. Skin was crawly. So I take him outside to rest. Hoped it would be better for him.”
Yuna's heart melted. “Did he tell you he was having a bad day?”
Ilya leaned against the counter. “Eventually he did. Though I knew about an hour after we woke up. It took him long time to say anything. But I know better than to ask.”
Yuna nodded and laughed. She knew all too well what Shane was like when he was overstimulated.
“Well dinner is just about finished.” David announced.
“Is okay if we eat outside? Shane said he is worried coming inside will make his head loud again.”
“Of course. We will finish up here. Go let Shane know we will eat in about 10 minutes.”
Ilya collected both phones from the couch and headed back out.
Shane was still laying in the hammock, eyes closed but awake. He heard Ilya walking up. “How long until Mom and Dad come over?”
“They have actually been here for an hour. Already made dinner.”
Shane's eye shot open. “Ilya. What? Are you serious?”
“Very. We slept too long. But is okay. Don't not panic. Is what you needed to feel better. And I tell them we eat outside. So you don't get triggered.”
So the boys went up to the patio. Shane sat and Ilya went inside to help bring dishes and food out.
So they ate dinner on the patio. Made small talk. Yuna watched Ilya watch Shane all evening. Watching for the signs that Shane is overwhelmed. Knowing Shane won't say anything because he didnt want to come across as rude when they had company, even if it was just his parents. She knew her boy. So they ate. And when they were through, Ilya and David cleared the table, taking everything back into the house. Yuna did a subtle check in with Shane, but she knew he was okay. And if he wasn't, she knew he would be.
Once back home, she sent the picture to took of her boys sleeping in the hammock and sent it to Ilya. “Thank you for loving and really seeing Shane. David and I love you.”
4. Yuna could count on one hand the number of times she had seen Shane well and truly drunk. He was just so serious all the time. Very careful about the amount of alcohol he drank, if at all. He had definitely loosened up in the time since he and Ilya had married. Allowed himself to have a drink or two now and then. They were at the afterparty for the NHL Awards where Shane had won Player of the Year. His parents, and Ilya of course, were so proud of him. Right now, Yuna and David were seated at a table near the bar, each with their own drinks in front of them. A glass of wine for Yuna and a beer for David. They had watched Shane over the last hour or so as he and Ilya talked and laughed with team mates and players from other teams. Yuna had noticed that Ilya had only had one drink when they had first entered the room. She had watched him go to the bar several time, but only to get Shane another drink. She had also seen him sneaking in a glass of water every other drink. Shane didn't seem to notice. Ilya just handed him the glass of water and when he had drank it all, he'd go back to the bar for another glass of whatever Shane was drinking. Shane laughed loudly across the room and her eyes found him, standing with Hayden and his wife Jackie. Ilya was walking over to her and David, one of the first times he had left his husband's side all night. “He is happy, yes? I told him to try to relax and have fun tonight. He was so worried about speech tonight. Now I think, he is letting loose.” Ilya smiled at his husband. They all watched as Shane's focus drifted away from the conversation and he started to look around for something, or someone. His eyes finally fell on Ilya and he smiled and started to make his way across the room to his husband. He stumbled a little but caught himself. Ilya took a few steps and met Shane, wrapping an arm around his waist, just holding him steady. “Okay, how about you sit here with parents, yes?”
“Oh okay. I will sit.” Shane sat down, looking around for something. “Ilya, I lost my drink. Can you find it?”
The other three laughed. “I will get you one more drink, then I think we are done for tonight. I am tired.”
“But we are having so much fun. I don't want to go to bed yet.”
“One more drink, some water, and something to eat. So no bed yet. But soon.” Ilya dropped a kiss to Shane's forehead and walked to the bar.
Yuna smiled at her son. “Did you have a good night Shane? I know we have said it a million times but we are so proud of you.”
“Yeah, tonight was good. So good. And I feel good. Why don't I ever get drunk? This is great.” Yuna and David laughed.
“It definitely wouldn't hurt to let yourself relax more often son. But maybe keep the drinking to a respectable amount.” David chuckled as he finished off his beer. Ilya came back over with a beer and water.
“Well I think dad and I are off to bed.” Yuna and David stood and hugged both boys. “Call in the morning and we will meet for breakfast.” They started to walk away. “If Shane is in any condition that is.”
Ilya hugged her again. “I will take care of him.”
She squeezed Ilya's arm. “I know you will. I wouldn't trust anyone else to take care of him like you do.”
So yes, Yuna was sad she had missed seeing her only child fall in love, but she loved every moment she got to witness Ilya loving Shane the way he deserves to be loved.