“Yuna’s got him,” David said, which they both understood meant Shane had all the help he needed.
Ilya held out his left wrist and David held it carefully in one hand. A surge of jumbled emotions rose in Ilya as he watched him carefully thread the cuff link through the crisp white material of Ilya’s dress shirt. There was no way Ilya’s father would have been there, even if he had still been alive—and Ilya wouldn’t have wanted him to be—but having David here, helping him get ready, was nice. More than nice.
“We could only have one child,” David said quietly. “We thought about adopting, but we decided in the end to just focus on making Shane the best person we could. I think we did an okay job of it.”
Ilya smiled at the understatement.
“We couldn’t be prouder of the man he’s become,” David continued. “I don’t have any Stanley Cup rings, but I have Shane.”
Ilya swallowed. “I’ll take care of him.”
David smiled up at him. “I know.” He finished the first cuff, then took Ilya’s right hand and got to work on that cuff link. “What I’m trying to say, and Yuna’s always been the better speaker, is I’ve always felt so lucky to have a son as wonderful as Shane that I never expected to be blessed with a second one.”
David’s hands, and Ilya’s shirt cuff, turned blurry. Ilya blinked rapidly, refusing to cry before the wedding even started. David glanced up from his work, and Ilya could see the tears in his eyes too.
“It’s not fair that you don’t have your family here on your wedding day,” David said, “and I’m not trying to overstep, but—”
That was all Ilya let him get out before he engulfed David in a tight hug. “My family is here,” he said simply, and with surprising steadiness.
It seemed impossible that anything in Ilya’s life was real; that he was about to marry Shane Hollander. In front of people. That they would be teammates next season. That Ilya was about to officially become a part of Shane’s family, and that he and Shane might start their own someday. It was too staggering to think about, so instead he hugged Shane’s father and tried not to cry.
After a long moment, they released each other, and David took a step back. He sniffed once, then said, “Well. You look good.”
Ilya wiped hastily at his eyes. “Usually, yes.”
David shuffled a bit awkwardly, probably unused to wearing his emotions so plainly, and glanced out the window. “Anya’s keeping the Pike kids busy in the yard.”
“Good. And thank you. For helping me with my shirt. And for...” Ilya couldn’t possibly put into words how grateful he was for Yuna and David’s support, and the easy love they had for their son, and seemingly also for him. For raising Shane to be the man that he was, and for believing Ilya was good enough for him. He finished by saying, “Everything.”
David nodded. “Thank you for making Shane so happy. You’re good for each other.”
Ilya smiled. “Yes. It is time for the world to see how good.”
* * *
“Holy shit,” Shane said.
He’d pulled back the curtain in the guest room he’d gotten dressed in, and could not believe how many people were in Ilya’s backyard.
Our backyard, he reminded himself. They lived together now.
“Are you surprised?” Yuna asked as she fussed with his boutonniere. “You’re both very popular.”
“I haven’t felt very popular lately.”
“Well, you are. Deal with it.” She stood back and gasped. “You’re so handsome!”
“Yeah? I look okay?” Shane turned to examine himself in the mirror. He was wearing a light gray suit, not a tux, with a pale blue tie, and he was sweating already. He’d gotten his hair trimmed, but it was still fairly long, and he was wearing it down.
“You look like Kit Harington,” Mom assured him. “If Kit couldn’t grow a beard.”
Shane huffed. “Thanks, Mom. Is Dad helping Ilya get ready?”
“Yes, but you know that’s just an excuse for the two of them to hang out.”
Shane smiled at that. He wished Ilya could have had family here today, but he was glad he’d grown so close to Shane’s own father.
“Well,” Mom said, beaming at him, “we should probably get down there. Do you have the ring?”
Shane patted his pocket. “Yep.”
“And your ringer is turned off?”
“I’m leaving the phone in the house. But yes.”
Mom peeked out the window again. “Oh! Ilya’s out there.” Shane tried to go to the window, but Yuna stopped him. “You’ll see him at the ceremony! It’s bad luck to see him before then.”
“Mom. I saw him this morning. We woke up together, had breakfast.” He left out the third thing they’d done.
“Just indulge me. My only child is getting married! I’m allowed to be nuts.”
Shane smiled and hugged her a bit awkwardly because they were both trying to avoid crushing the flowers that were pinned to their chests. “You are seriously the best mom in the world.”
“Well,” she said, with a slight tremble in her voice. “You made it easy.”
They walked downstairs together, then through the living room that was, as of a few weeks ago, full of framed photos of Ilya and Shane together. Shane still felt the urge to hide them in drawers, but he loved seeing them. Loved knowing there was nothing to hide anymore.
When he stepped through the back door, he was stunned all over again by the crowd. There had to be close to a hundred people crammed on the lawn between the house and the river.
He spotted Hayden and Jackie and their kids. Farah and her husband were chatting with Leah and Max. Wyatt Hayes and his wife were laughing with Ryan and Fabian. Troy and Harris were talking to Ilya’s coach—Shane’s coach now—and a woman who was probably Coach Wiebe’s wife. Rose waved to Shane from across the lawn where she was talking to Ilya’s friend Svetlana, who Shane had met for the first time yesterday when the three of them had lunch together. There was a small cluster of Centaurs players who were surreptitiously staring at Rose. There were, in fact, a lot of Centaurs players.
The only Montreal player there, besides Hayden, was J.J., and Shane felt a little choked up just seeing him. Their friendship was back on solid ground, but it still meant a lot to Shane for J.J. to be here.
Then, Shane found Ilya in the crowd, talking to Zane Boodram. He looked incredible, of course, in his burgundy suit. Anya was at his feet, freshly groomed and wearing a burgundy bow on her head.