Chapter Text
The team were gathered again at one of Bood’s barbecues, this one a few days before father’s day. A bunch of the guys, including Bood and Ilya, were gathered around the fire pit talking about their plans for said father’s day that their spouses and partners had planned for them.
Bood was especially excited about his father’s day as he loved any and all excuses to hang out with his son. Milo was getting old enough now that, with a little help from mom, he could write his own fathers day card to Bood. He couldn’t wait to see his son’s messy scrawl. The card was definitely going in the little keepsake box Bood had made for his son’s things, something to look back on when he went off to college and wasn’t so little anymore.
“What about you Roz?” Bood asked when everyone else had had their turn to talk about the day coming up. “I know you don’t have kids yet but got any plans with Shane’s dad or anything?” He didn’t want Ilya to feel left out of the conversation but also knew parents in general were a touchy subject for him sometimes.
“Mmm yes. Will have dinner with papa David and I give him good Russian vodka that I know he likes. Probably will crack open glass in evening together while Shane and mama Yuna have stupid disgusting kombucha shit,” Ilya said conveniently timing it with when Shane just so happened to walk past behind him.
“Hey!” Shane said smacking Ilya on the head on his way to join some of the guys at the other end of the deck.
Ilya just smirked and watched his husband walk past, eyes low enough that Bood knew he was definitely staring at his ass. Not that Bood could blame him. He’d even been getting tips from Shane about how to work out his glutes and lately Cassie couldn’t seem to stop staring at Bood’s ass either. It was actually starting to become a problem with the way she would immediately smack his ass as soon at it was in her vicinity.
“And during the day we celebrate Shane,” Ilya added. “We don’t have human kids yet no, that is plan for future, but we do have fur baby Anya. So I get Shane card from Anya and then I plan us hiking route Shane will like that Anya can join.”
“That’s nice Roz,” Bood said smiling, knowing just how much of a softie Ilya really was. “Does Shane do anything for you back?”
Roz smirked even wider. “Oh yes.”
Bood groaned. “Not like that,” he said throwing a scrunched up paper towel at him. “I mean for father’s day, to like celebrate you. You’re Anya’s dad too right.”
“Hmm yes, I am also her papa. But father’s day is for Shane,” Ilya said shrugging. “I get mother’s day.”
Now Bood knew that Shane being more the knife block than the knife meant absolutely nothing in terms of how Shane and Ilya split their responsibilities or roles in their relationship. It was very clearly evident that they made their own rules, and Bood had been caught lost in his own assumptions on many an occasion in the past. But still, for some reason he had assumed that if Shane and Ilya split their days, then Shane would have taken mother’s day.
It was a frustrating process having to unlearn all your heteronormative assumptions and internalised homophobia because this wasn’t something that happened overnight unfortunately. It was conversations like this that helped him and many others learn and grow and challenge their thoughts and world view. And yet it still bothered Bood when he found himself with another assumption or stereotype to unlearn, wishing his mind never went to these places in the first place. Sometimes it even made him feel like maybe he was a bad friend. But Bood knew that he was a good person, because he was at least willing and trying to learn and change and knew that every stereotype he unlearnt was a more open mind that he passed onto his son.
“Oh yeah? That’s nice. I hadn’t thought about the fact that you might split them,” Bood admitted.
“I already share special day with Shane, wedding anniversary and well few other anniversaries. I want my own parent day. We talk about it when we talk about wanting kids and how we want to parent. Is nice. I love my daughter Anya but I am also excited for human babies one day.”
Bood smiled knowing just how amazing of a father Ilya would be having seen how he is with Milo and all the kids at the camps. “I’m excited for you guys. I can’t wait to be uncle Zane. What made you decide to take mother’s day though?”
Ilya shrugged. “My papa was…not great father. But my mama was amazing mother. I want to celebrate good men in my life on father’s day, Shane and papa David you know. I do not want to think about my own father or what kind of father I might be if I come from him.” Bood went to interrupt but Ilya was already speaking before he could. “I know I know. Is okay. Shane and everyone tell me I will be good father and not like my papa at all. Tonight is good night, so I still believe them. But I still want mother’s day because it means I can share that day with my mama. I can think about her and how kind she was and how funny and it remind me to be that to my own kids one day. So they can know my mama through me even if they do not get to meet her yet. And also then I get to share day with mama Yuna. I have not had mother on this earth for long time so is nice that I have one again and that I can celebrate day with her too.”
Bood found his eyes suddenly blur and wasn’t so sure it was from the beers he and Ilya, and the other guys, had been getting through all night.
“That’s nice Roz. That’s real nice.”
The two of them fell into a comfortable silence after that, listening into the other conversations happening around them that they had been tuning out.
Shane soon came to join them again, this time taking a seat beside his husband on the curved bench and wrapping an arm around his shoulder, pulling Ilya to the side so he could rest the back of his head on Shane’s chest.
Bood couldn’t help but watch them from the corner of his eye, while he listened to Luca tell them about the disastrous date he had recently been on.
“Okay?” He heard Shane whisper into Ilya’s ear.
Ilya looked up and smiled at his husband before nodding. “Yes,” Ilya whispered back. “Just thinking about all the things we still have to look forward to doing together.”
Shane hummed. “Yeah, it’s quite a big list huh? Maybe even a little overwhelming sometimes. But I’m excited, for all of it. We’ll just take it one step at a time.I mean we’ve still got all the time left in the world, right?”
Ilya grabbed Shane’s hand, kissed his knuckles. “Yes. So much time and none of it wasted anymore.”