Summary:

Ilya had not expected the way Shane's parents' cared for Shane to ever extend to him. Except, they kept trying to do exactly that. Shane said it was just them. Being them. So when they casually mentioned that he was family now… Ilya wanted to believe them. He did not know how to be in a family, though. He didn’t think his was ever functional enough to count as an experience of a real family. Could he count the years with just his mother? Were the two of them enough to make up a family? He wasn't sure. Ilya just knew, he did not want to get it wrong with Shane. Or Shane’s family. And so he had to go when they called.