Chapter Text
Childhood
May 1996 - Ottawa
“Mommy!”
Yuna Hollander looked down at the tiny four and a half year old sitting in his car seat as she strapped him in. Shane looked back, his dark eyes wide. She couldn't help the way her heart squeezed anytime she looked into that sweet face.
Yuna knew she was biased, but she thought that her son was as cute as a button.
He looked a lot like her, with his dark eyes and dark hair and the freckles splashed across his nose and cheeks. He had his father’s adorable nose and the same shaped face.
He was perfect in every way and Yuna loved him endlessly.
“Yes, Shane?”
“Why can’t I stay in school all day?”
Yuna laughed softly.
“Because they’re not open all day,” she replied, leaning down to kiss the top of his head.
Yuna was glad to hear that Shane was enjoying school so far. She wasn’t sure how he would take to it, if he would cling to her and not want to leave. But he had done well. She’d dropped him off for the first time and he’d simply waved goodbye and gone off to his teacher.
Shane would be starting Kindergarten next year and Yuna wanted to enjoy the time with him while she could. She couldn’t believe she had a four year old. Well, nearly a five year old. Shane would be five in a week!
Wasn’t it just yesterday that she’d held him in her arms for the first time? And now he was walking and talking and going to school.
“Okay,” Shane replied softly, though he was pouting a bit, as if the fact that the school was not open all day was a personal affront.
Yuna chuckled, closing the back door of the car, and slid into the driver’s seat. She headed home from the preschool, listening to Shane chatter away about the friends he had made and the things he’d done with his teacher.
Yuna would have loved for Shane to have a sibling, but it had been difficult to conceive. After Shane, she and David had decided to just turn their focus on raising Shane to be the best person he could be.
They’d agreed that starting him in school as soon as they could would be good for him, making up a bit of the difference since he didn’t have any siblings.
Shane was an inquisitive, friendly child. While it took him a little time to warm up, once he did, he was silly and sweet. He loved giving hugs and playing games and had the happiest, most adorable little giggle.
“I’m so glad you’ve made so many friends, honey,” Yuna said as she pulled onto their street. “Maybe we can have them over for your birthday.”
“Really?!” Shane asked.
“Yeah,” Yuna laughed. “Why not?”
“YAY!” Shane cheered, making his mom smile. “I wanna have a dinosaur-hockey-race car birthday!”
“Okay! That sounds fun.”
“Yeah! Cool!” He clapped his hands and giggled.
Yuna drove up the street, slowing as she got closer to the house, and noticed a moving truck out front.
Their neighbor, one half of an elderly couple that had lived in the house next door for sixty-five years, had moved into an assisted living facility closer to her son and daughter-in-law about two months ago. The house had been up for sale since she’d moved out and had recently been purchased.
Yuna was guessing that these were their new neighbors.
She pulled into the driveway, watching as an older man with salt and pepper hair came out of the house. He had a beard and looked tall and imposing. A moment later, a young boy, maybe around eight or nine, came out of the house. He had dark hair and a similar look to the man.
A woman appeared in the doorway. She was significantly younger than the man, closer to Yuna’s age, maybe even slightly younger. She was very beautiful, with curly, golden-brown hair. She was tall, willowy, like a dancer.
In front of her, one hand resting on his chest, was a small boy, about the same age as Shane, with the same curly hair as the woman.
Yuna cut the engine, sliding the key from the ignition. She watched the family curiously through her windshield, gathering her bag, before getting out of the car to retrieve Shane.
The man had handed the first boy a box and then was carrying one of his own from the moving truck.
“I can do it,” Shane said, hopping out of the car as opposed to letting Yuna help him. He paused right at the edge of the driveway, looking at the people next door.
Yuna turned, watching as Shane lifted a hand, and waved at the little boy in the doorway.
“Hi!” he called.
The little boy blinked at them, before raising a hand, and waving back, smiling. His mother glanced at Yuna and Shane, surprised, maybe even timid, before she smiled, and raised her hand, too.
Yuna smiled back and did the same, before the older man barked something in a language Yuna couldn’t identify.
The woman startled and pulled the boy into the house, the two disappearing from view. The man turned his head, giving Yuna and Shane a hard look.
Yuna took Shane’s hand.
“Come on, honey. Daddy’s probably waiting for us inside.”
They walked around the car and up to the front door.
“Mommy?”
“Mm?”
“Was that man mad at us?”
“I don’t think so,” Yuna replied, pulling out her keys. “I think he’s just busy. It’s a lot of work to unpack when you move.”
Shane didn’t say anything for a moment as Yuna unlocked their front door.
“Do you think we can be friends?” Shane asked, as Yuna opened the door.
“Hm? With who, Shane?”
“With that other boy next door.”
Yuna smiled at him. “Maybe! You’ll have to see!”
Shane beamed up at her. “Okay!”
They stepped into the house and Shane ran inside with an excited, “Daddy!” as he went to greet his father.
Yuna closed the door behind her, locking it, and smiled as she watched David swing Shane into his arms, hugging him close. She loved seeing them together. David was so good with him and their bond was so sweet to see.
She’d always known that he would be the best dad. Kind-hearted and earnest and sweet.
“Hey buddy! How was your day?”
Yuna laughed softly as she slid off her shoes and left her bag on the table by the door, following her husband and son into the kitchen, David holding Shane on his hip as Shane chatted away.
Yuna kissed his cheek in greeting and smiled as he winked at her before turning his attention back to Shane. Yuna opened the fridge, pulling out snacks and a juice box, while David got Shane all set up at the kitchen table.
Shane ate his snack and had his juice box, coloring at the table while David and Yuna cooked dinner and caught up on their respective days.
Yuna remembered how anxious she’d been as a new mom. Shane had seemed like such a miracle after a lot of trying and failing and she’d been terrified of “messing up.”
But Shane had been such an easy baby. Five hours of labor from start to finish. He’d been a happy child, so rarely fussy, always smiling.
She’d leave him alone surrounded by blankets and pillows in the living room while she did laundry, coming back to find him in the same position, babbling to himself or his toys.
She’d never stopped worrying, as any mother would, of course, but it helped that Shane could better communicate now that he was older and she loved seeing his little personality grow.
She was nervous about him going to school full-time, but excited, too.
She couldn’t wait to hear about the friends he would make and the things he would learn.
“Did you meet the neighbors?” David asked as he slid the tray lined with chicken into the oven.
“Not formally, no,” Yuna replied. “We saw them unpacking. Looks like they have two boys, one is probably about the same age as Shane.”
“Oh that’s nice. Maybe he’ll have a new friend.”
“Maybe.” Yuna stirred the pot of pasta in front of her on the stove. “We should bring over some cookies or something this weekend, introduce ourselves.”
“That could be good.”
There really weren’t that many families with young kids in the neighborhood. Many of the families had tweens and teens, there were a few retirees with kids who were now grown, so it was exciting to have a younger family move in. Or… at least one with young kids.
Yuna had to admit she was interested. She didn’t consider herself a nosy person and she certainly didn’t insert herself into other people’s business, but the timid smile on her neighbor’s face and the glare from her apparent husband just hadn’t sat well with Yuna.
She had no other evidence to suggest anything other than unease from that one interaction; there could be so many explanations for that hard look.
She supposed she would just have to wait and see what happened, if anything. They didn’t need to be friends with their neighbors, but she felt like it couldn’t hurt. It was a nice thing to do. It was what the previous neighbors had done for them and it felt like she could pay that kindness forward.
***
On Saturday, Yuna and Shane made chocolate chip cookies.
Well, it was more that Yuna made them, but she let Shane add the chocolate chips and help her stir the batter.
The cookies baked and she played with Shane for a bit before David came back from grocery shopping.
Shane napped with David while Yuna packaged the freshly baked and cooled cookies onto a paper plate with little flowers around the edges.
She hadn’t seen much of the family of four since they’d moved. The husband came and went fairly frequently, but she rarely saw the wife. The boys were out in the backyard sometimes, though from what Yuna could tell, they didn’t really play together.
Once the cookies were neatly wrapped in plastic, Yuna grabbed a sticky note and wrote the house number on it, sticking it to the plastic. She looked at her handiwork and nodded her approval, before she woke her two boys, asking if they’d like to come along to greet their new neighbors.
The boys freshened up and the Hollanders went next door, walking across the lawn and drive way, until they stood on the front stoop, Shane in David’s arms, as Yuna rang the doorbell.
It took a few long minutes before the door was answered. Yuna caught movement out of the corner of her eye, a flutter of a curtain, as if someone was peeking out the window to see who was ringing the bell.
A moment or two later, the wife answered the door and the first thought in Yuna’s mind was that she looked exhausted.
Despite the fact that it was a warm May day, she was wearing long sleeves, her face was pale, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her curly hair was neatly braided and Yuna noticed the curly haired boy peeking out from behind his mother’s legs.
“Hello,” she said, in heavily accented English. “Can I help you?”
“Hi!” Yuna greeted. “We’re the Hollanders, you’re neighbors. I’m Yuna, this is my husband, David.” Yuna motioned with one hand at David. “And our son, Shane.”
“Hi!” Shane greeted happily, waving.
The wife smiled, her face softening. “Hello,” she repeated. “Very nice to meet you. I am, ah, Irina. This is my son, Ilya.”
The little boy came to stand next to her. He was adorable, with a head of wild curls and big hazel eyes. He was the spitting image of his mother.
He looked up at her, saying something in Russian, perhaps, and Irina stroked a gentle hand over Ilya’s curls. She answered back in Russian and Ilya grinned.
“Privet!” Ilya exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Irina said something else and Ilya’s face fell. Irina spoke again, her tone soothing, and the only word Yuna understood was, ‘hello.’ Little Ilya looked confused, brows furrowed, before he looked shyly back at the Hollanders.
“Hello,” he said timidly, also in heavily accented English.
Yuna smiled warmly at him, giving him a little wave. “Hi, Ilya.”
He smiled, looking pleased, and Yuna’s heart melted. He was an adorable kid.
“I am sorry.” Irina rested careful hands on her son's shoulders. “He does not speak English and my English is not so good.”
“Oh, that’s alright,” David assured. “We just wanted to introduce ourselves and welcome you to the neighborhood.”
“If you need anything at all, feel free to ring our bell! These are for you.”
Yuna handed over the cookies, with the sticky note. “That’s our home phone number.”
“Oh.” Irina looked surprised as she took the cookies. “Thank you so much.”
“Anytime,” Yuna replied.
“It was so nice to meet you and Ilya!” David added.
“Nice to meet you all." Irina smiled. “Thank you. Ah. Goodbye.”
The Hollanders waved as Irina closed the door, she and Ilya disappearing from sight, the sound of Ilya talking to his mother fading as the door closed.
“That was… odd…” David said once they were back at the house, with Shane playing in the living room.
Yuna nodded. “A little, yeah…”
“They’re from Russia, I think. Or a Russian speaking country.”
Yuna nodded. “I’m curious.”
“Me, too.”
She smiled at David, who smiled back.
“I think we did what we could,” he continued. “Ball’s in their court.”
“I suppose so. I’ll be curious if Ilya and Shane are in the same class in school.”
“It’s possible. I guess we’ll see.”
***
September
Yuna stood at the drop off in front of the elementary school, watching Shane as he jogged toward his class, his backpack flopping around on his back, making him look like he was wearing a turtle shell. She giggled to herself at the thought.
She couldn’t believe that Shane was five and starting elementary school.
Other kids around her were clinging to their parents and crying, but just like he had for pre-K, Shane had given her a big hug, and then happily flitted off to start school.
It was adorable and bittersweet. But at least she’d managed to take some pictures.
She watched as Shane talked to his teacher, then started mingling with some of the other students. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and watched as two curly heads walked across the parking lot toward the class.
Irina, holding Ilya’s hand, and leading him along.
Yuna watched curiously as Irina approached the Kindergarten teacher.
She spoke to her, the teacher nodding along, before she called someone over. The person, a young woman with a bob, introduced herself to Ilya and Irina.
They talked for a bit before Ilya hugged Irina goodbye. This hug lasted for a long time and Irina pressed kisses to her son’s face and hair before finally letting him go. Ilya watched after his mother, before looking up at the young woman who was speaking to him.
Irina walked back across the parking lot, wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her sweater. She spotted Yuna and Yuna waved, offering a sympathetic smile.
“It’s hard watching them go,” she said as Irina came over to her.
“Yes,” Irina replied. “He is my baby.”
Yuna nodded. “I understand. They just grow up so fast.”
Irina laughed wetly. “Yes.”
Yuna reached out, patting her arm gently. “I think the boys will be in the same class. That’ll be nice for them. Making new friends.”
“Yes. I hope so. I would like Ilya to have friends. He is so young…”
“How old is he?”
“Five. He was born in June.”
“Oh! Shane was born in May!”
Irina smiled, a bright, real smile, and Yuna smiled back.
“So close!”
They chatted for a bit before the teacher asked if parents wanted to take any more last minute pictures before the kids all went inside.
“Oh yes!” Yuna said. “Just one more! Shane, come here honey.”
Irina called for Ilya and both boys approached their mothers.
“Stand together, okay?”
Shane obediently stood next to Ilya and Yuna snapped a picture.
“There,” she hummed. “I’ll make a few copies and make sure you get one.”
“Thank you,” Irina said. “That is very kind.”
“Anytime,” Yuna replied. “You know… we’d love to have you four over for dinner.”
Irina looked at her, her hazel eyes wide, almost scared.
“Oh, no, we could not—”
“Think about it.” Yuna smiled gently at her. “I think the boys would have a fun time. And we’d love to get to know you all better.”
Irina’s dark brows pinched together but she nodded. “Okay. Yes. I will see what my husband says.”
“Great!”
Yuna wasn’t very hopeful about that, but it was better than nothing. Maybe Irina would take her up on the invitation. She hoped so.
She seemed like someone who could use a friend.