One shot: the invite 💌
They wander around the neighborhood for a while before Ilya finds a spot where Anya can play in the lake. They play fetch with an old stick he found until Anya is tired and ready to head home. Back at the cottage, Ilya gives her a quick bath outside so she isn’t covered in lake water and dirt, which is easily her least favorite activity in the world. While putting away everything he used, he notices that Shane never brought in yesterday’s forwarded mail.
Ilya grabs the stack before heading inside to feed Anya. After getting her settled with breakfast and making himself a cup of coffee, Ilya decides to sort through the mail. Most of it is junk - advertisements for local businesses and offers for new credit cards. Finally, at the bottom of the stack, he spots a thick cream-colored envelope lying face down. The return address reads:
Scott Hunter & Christopher Grady.
A wide smile spreads across his face. He already knows what it is. He flips the envelope over, and warmth spreads through his chest. Instead of opening it, he carries it into the bedroom so they can open it together.
Shane is still fast asleep when Ilya slips back into their room. Quietly, he climbs into bed beside him, the invitation still clutched in one hand. He presses gentle kisses to Shane’s shoulder, then his neck, and finally his cheek.
“Good morning,” he whispers into Shane’s ear.
Shane smiles, still half asleep, and threads his fingers through Ilya’s hair, gently pulling him in for a soft kiss. “You’re up early,” Shane murmurs. “Everything okay?”
“Couldn’t sleep. Decided to take Anya for a walk, which turned into some lake time,” Ilya replies, punctuating the sentence with another kiss. “Then I had to wrestle her into a bath, which was very fun.”
Shane laughs. “Let me guess… she fought you every second of it.”
“She always does.”
Ilya rolls on top of Shane and kisses him deeply. His forearms bracket Shane’s head while Shane lazily runs his hands up and down them. The envelope rests beside Shane’s pillow.
When they finally pull apart, Shane glances toward it. “What’s with the envelope?”
Ilya smiles. “I wanted us to open it together. It’s an invitation.”
He reaches for the envelope and rolls onto his back, bringing Shane with him. Shane settles against Ilya’s shoulder, feeling, as always, like he’s home. Ilya flips the envelope over. The moment Shane reads the front, his face breaks into the biggest smile imaginable.
Mr. & Mr. Hollander-Rozanov.
“Wow,” Shane whispers. “Our first real piece of mail together.”
Ilya nods, unable to stop smiling. “It feels so good.”
Choosing their new last name hadn’t been easy. In the end, they decided they would legally be Hollander-Rozanov while keeping their original surnames professionally. Hollander-Rozanov definitely wouldn’t fit across the back of a hockey jersey even in smallest font allowed. Shane runs his fingers over their shared last name, tracing each letter with quiet reverence.
The invitation is beautiful, but that’s not what steals his breath. It’s seeing their names together.
They sit there in silence, soaking in the joy of such a small moment. It had been a long journey to get here, and somehow this simple envelope means more than either of them expected.
“I’m putting this on the fridge,” Ilya says softly. “I want to remember this forever.”
Shane smiles, tilts his head up, and presses a gentle kiss to his husband’s cheek. He closes his eyes, letting the moment settle around them.
“Forever,” he whispers.
“Forever,” Ilya whispers back.
