Chapter Text
December 2015
Hayden Pike was a lot of things. A wife guy. Loyal to a fault. A friend. A father. One thing he was not, however, was calm under pressure.
He barely remembered the excruciating 50 hours that had been Jade and Ruby’s birth, he’d blocked out most of it. And that was when he’d already been in the country, holding Jackie’s hand as she pushed. Well, more like he let her crush his hand as she pushed. But Hayden could handle that. He was a hockey player, he could handle a little bit of pain, even if Jackie was way too strong for a woman who couldn’t weigh more than 145 lbs.
But it was the middle of the season, and Hayden was currently 500 kilometers and a country away and his wife was going into labor. Suffice it to say, Hayden was panicking. And maybe it was his panic that made him stupid, because under normal circumstances, Hayden never would have even considered tracking his best friend’s phone. But these were not normal circumstances and Hayden had called Shane 6 separate times and he still hadn’t answered. Hayden wasn’t entirely sure Shane wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere, and that was not helping his fear spiral.
He hesitated for a moment before opening the find my friends app on his phone. Then he clicked it, picking Shane’s name quickly. He was immediately relieved to see that Shane was not in a ditch, but he was in a random apartment building near the Boston Raiders arena. That was nearly as strange as him being missing somewhere.
He supposed Shane must be with Boston Lily, that was where he usually disappeared when they went on road trips to Boston, but Shane would have to forgive him for invading his privacy like this just this once. If his brain had had the capacity for it, Hayden might have been excited that he was probably about to meet THE Boston Lily. As it was, Hayden barely had the forethought to grab his car keys before sprinting out of his hotel room.
Traffic wasn’t terrible for midnight in Boston, but every second that ticked past was another second he wasn’t on a plane or driving to where Jackie was. The pounding of Hayden’s heart helped him keep track of the time as he finally pulled up to the apartment building where Shane’s phone was pinging.
It was a lot more upscale than Hayden would have thought. Clearly, whoever she was, Lily had money. Hayden had thought about Lily plenty of times before, he’d always wondered what the woman who had stolen Shane’s time away from home would look like, what she’d sound like, what she’d wear. He’d even wondered if she was married or old or even ugly, because why else would Shane never introduce her to anyone? He seriously doubted that she was ugly, not just because it was Shane Hollander and he could have any woman he wanted, Hayden didn’t think Shane was the kind of person who would be shallow enough to hide his girlfriend away just because she wasn’t conventionally attractive.
All Hayden knew for sure was that it was very likely that whoever Lily was, she was not going to be happy about Hayden bursting into her apartment like something was on fire.
There were only three floors to the building, the first floor seemed to be home to several businesses, with the second floor holding a few large apartments, and the third floor being home to one penthouse suite. Hayden only thought for a moment before pressing the button to the third floor. He couldn’t articulate exactly why he chose the penthouse suite, he just had a feeling deep in his gut that that was where Shane would be.
The elevator opened directly to the door of the suite and Hayden didn’t even think before pounding on the door like he was trying to break it down. There was a crash inside, and Hayden could hear muffled voices cursing. As he waited for Lily to open the door, his eyes drifted from the door to the mail box next to it. In clearly legible handwriting, the slip read Rozanov, I.
Hayden’s mind froze. That was impossible.
Before Hayden’s brain could start moving again, the door swung open, revealing a very dishevelled, half-dressed Ilya Rozanov. He wore only a pair of sweatpants slung low on his hips and his hair was a mess, like someone had been running their hands through it.
“Rozanov?”
“Pike? What are you doing here?” Rozanov asked, voice sharp and thick with his accent. Hayden supposed that was a fair question, but he couldn’t figure out a way to form the words. “Jackie is okay?” Rozanov asked and Hayden frowned. How would Rozanov know about Jackie?
“She’s in labor. I—Is Shane here?”
Rozanov cursed under his breath. “Hollander, you have to go.”
Shane immediately rounded the corner, still pulling on a shirt, a shirt that had the Boston Raiders logo on it, his face flushed bright red. “Jackie’s in labor? Why didn’t you call me?”
The wheels in Hayden’s mind were starting to turn, but he very much did not like the direction things were headed. Maybe he was wrong, maybe Shane was just crashing with Rozanov for some reason? Maybe he knew Lily. His eyes landed on a mark on Shane’s neck. A hickey.
Oh.
“I did. You didn’t answer.”
“Shit,” Shane said, patting his pockets, “Ilya where is my phone?”
Ilya. Not Rozanov. Ilya. And he’d said it like it was nothing.
“On counter, in bathroom, you left there after shower.” Rozanov replied simply.
“What is happening here?” Hayden asked, finally breaking out of some of his daze. Shane’s eyes were guilty as Rozanov—Ilya—moved around him, supposedly to find Shane’s phone.
“I—We—” Shane stuttered. Hayden cut him off with a wave of his hand.
“Y’know what? We can talk about this later. Right now the two of us need to be getting on a plane to Montreal because Jackie has been in labor for 4 hours already and I’m not going to miss this.”
Rozanov reemerged from the bathroom, holding out Shane’s phone. Hayden turned on his heel, walking straight out the door, pretending not to hear the murmured words and kissing sounds from behind him. That was nothing. It couldn’t be anything. Shane hated Rozanov. Hayden knew this. He’d known it for years. He and Shane always trashed on Rozanov and how arrogant he was. Except, now that he thought about it, when was the last time Shane had said anything about Rozanov other than agreeing with Hayden? Had he ever started the trash talking?
Hayden was silent the entire ride down the elevator and during the walk out to the car. It wasn’t until he was turning the key in the ignition that he turned to look at Shane, only to realize that there were tears in his best friend’s eyes.
“Shane—”
“I’m so sorry Hayden, I—I really tried, but he’s just—I’m sorry.”
“Shane, calm down buddy, everything’s fine.”
“You must hate me,” Shane said, tears streaking down his cheeks. His chest was heaving.
“I don’t hate you, I mean, I’m confused. And yeah, a little bit mad you never told me, but, we can talk about it later, okay? Right now I need to get to Jackie and I don’t want to say something I don’t mean because my brain isn’t working right.”
“So we’re okay?” There was so much vulnerability and hope in Shane’s voice, he sounded like a child looking for his father’s approval. Hayden couldn’t help but smile thinking about how Jackie always called Shane their practice child. He grabbed Shane tightly, pulling him into a hug. Shane crumbled into it, sobbing into his shoulder.
“We’re okay, buddy. I promise.”
The ride to the airport and the rest of the plane ride was pretty quiet after that, Hayden could tell that Shane was stewing, probably spiralling, but he was too focused on his phone to be much help. He had paid for the in flight wifi and was desperately checking for updates every few seconds, but nothing came. A small but insistent part of him thought that something horrible must have happened to Jackie, that there was no other possible reason that she wouldn’t be texting him. The larger, more rational part of his brain told him he was insane, that she most likely just didn’t have any updates for him.
By the time the rental car pulled up in front of Montreal General, Hayden was a buzzing mess of nerves and Shane had settled just enough to be the voice of reason for the pair.
“She’s fine dude, I promise. It took forever for her to have the twins, right?”
“Fifty hours. I was a wreck, man.” Hayden admitted. Shane laughed.
“I couldn’t tell.”
“It’s worse this time though, how are we gonna take care of two toddlers and a newborn? At least with the twins there was one of us for each girl, this time we’re gonna be outnumbered.”
“Hey, you’re not going to be outnumbered, because I’ll be there whenever you need me, got it?” Hayden clasped Shane’s shoulder tightly.
“Thanks.”
“Now hurry up or Jackie’ll ream us both out.”
Thankfully, Jackie was fine.
Sweaty and very red, but mostly fine. She was crouching next to the bed when Shane and Hayden entered the room, and she heaved a huge sigh of relief at the sight of Hayden.
“Oh thank god, I thought you were going to miss it.”
Hayden crouched down next to her, gripping her hands tightly and resting his forehead against hers in spite of the way her hair stuck to her face from the sweat.
“I would never.” Jackie glanced up to where Shane was standing, somehow managing to look like an abashed child despite his large frame. She eyed Hayden, studying his face for something. He shook his head and she nodded, understanding that now was probably not the time to ask. Hayden knew that as soon as it was, he would be getting the third degree from his lovely wife.
A maternity nurse walked in the room right behind Shane, causing him to scurry out of the way as she checked Jackie’s cervix.
“Alright, Mrs. Pike, you’re 100% effaced and about 9 centimeters dilated, so I’d like to transition you to the bed now.” She smiled at Hayden, taking one of Jackie’s hands from him. She helped Jackie up onto the bed, positioning her legs for her to help make her more comfortable. She turned to look at Shane. “Now would be the time for any non-family or anyone you don’t want in here for the delivery to leave.” She said, though not unkindly.
“He is family,” Jackie interrupted, without hesitation. Hayden nodded, meeting Shane’s eyes and reaching out a hand for Shane to take.
“Always.”
They hadn’t gotten a chance to speak in the days since the great Ilya Rozanov reveal, Jackie had given birth to a beautiful little boy who they’d named Arthur, after Jackie’s grandfather. Hayden was utterly besotted with his new son. But by the time New Years rolled around, Hayden was itching to talk to Shane. He had questions. A LOT of questions. He had wrapped his head around the gay part relatively quickly. In hindsight, it made way more sense than his half baked theories of married women or old hags. He should have known that Shane wasn’t the kind of man to cheat with another man’s wife. It was the Rozanov of it all that he’d gotten stuck on.
He had called Shane over the second he had the chance. Jackie had been happy to take care of Arthur while he sat down with Shane. She’d actually laughed at him when he’d told her he knew who Lily was. He’d expected shock, awe, at least a little bit of surprise. Instead, she’d simply said, “You mean Rozanov?”
“Wh—How?” He’d spluttered. Jackie just giggled.
“Oh, baby, I knew hockey players could be oblivious, but those two are the least subtle people I have ever met. Shane always makes heart eyes at Rozanov when he plays.”
Suffice it to say that had bruised his ego a little bit.
“Invite him over for New Year’s day so the two of you can talk.”
“Okay.”
“You should invite Rozanov over too, that stroller he bought for Arthur cost like $10,000. It’s the least we could do.”
“Absolutely not!” Jackie looked unimpressed at his outburst.
“Hayden.”
“Jackie.”
“Hayden Pike.” Hayden hung his head.
“Fine.”
Hayden hated to admit it, but Ilya had been weirdly supportive in the month since Arthur had been born. Though he hadn’t actually spoken to the man since… the incident, Ilya had sent them several lavish baby presents for Arthur, including the stroller that Jackie had mentioned, a set of extremely expensive dollhouses for the girls, and a brand new car seat from a top of the line brand. If Hayden hadn’t known any better, he might have thought that Rozanov was trying to buy his silence. As if Hayden would ever out Shane like that. But when he’d asked Shane about it over text, Shane had simply replied that Ilya liked kids.
Hayden texted Shane quickly, before he could lose his nerve.
Hayden: Want to come over for New Year’s?
You can bring Rozanov.
There was a long pause.
Shane: I’ll ask him
More silence.
Shane: We’ll come.
Please be nice.
Hayden paused. Did Shane really think he would ever intentionally be a dick to someone he cared about? Because no matter Hayden’s personal thoughts on how arrogant, entitled, mean-spirited, brash—he had to put a stop to that train of thought, because it would certainly not help his case. The point was, however he felt about Rozanov, it was clear that he meant something to Shane. And Hayden would respect that, even if he didn’t understand it.
Hayden: I promise.