A/N: This is a heavy fic. It includes things like past rape/abuse and neglect, power imbalances, pseudo-incest and dubious consent and morality, and living out past trauma through inappropriate means. Please don't trigger yourself or read if you don't like any of this.

Age 5:

Ivan was cleaning up the house for his newest arrival. It was his first foster child and he wanted the moment to be perfect. He shut off the vacuum as he heard his doorbell ring, running to answer it. He stood outside the door for a moment, looking himself over in the hallway mirror to straighten his scarf and hope that he looked inviting.

He opened the door and shook the hands of the foster agent. "Privyet, it is good to see you since we last spoke. Is he here?"

The woman smiled and returned with a very formal squeeze, three shakes, then drop. She stepped back, finally revealing the fact there was a young child clutching to her leg like a lifeline. He looked absolutely terrified by his surroundings - even the sound of a door slamming from the other side of the street made him jump, then shiver.

The woman clutched the casefile to her chest and sighed, placing a hand on the blonde mop of hair. "He's jumpy, you've got to give him time. It took weeks before he would even look me in the eye. He's very nice, I assure you."

She'd given Ivan the situation of what happened to the boy already - an abusive household, emotionally, physical and sexual. The boy had a twin brother who'd passed away recently due to neglect; the reason why the child was taken from the household to begin with. The kid was scared of his own damn shadow at that point.

"Well, come inside and you can see the house. I've cleaned up considerably for his arrival-" Ivan turned his attention to the small child clinging to the social worker's leg. "Privyet, little one. Why don't you come inside. I have a room prepared for you."

The child tensed up as the other looked at him, eyes casting to the ground. He had a set of glasses on him, bent and broken, a lens cracked and the middle taped up. He shook his head, clutching the woman tighter.

"If you don't mind, I want to stay here until he warms up - it might be stressful for him to be introduced into here so fast without someone he trusts."

"Of course, I completely understand." Ivan nodded and walked them into the house. He made sure to shut the door gently, and not to lock it, then lead them into the kitchen where the back door was opened. He wanted to make sure that Alfred didn't feel trapped. He'd done a lot of reading, preparing for his first kid to come live with him, and keeping options of the outside world available was something he'd read was good. "Would either of you like anything to eat? Drink?"

The boy never kept his back to the door and he always kept the woman between himself and the new man. She looked down to him, gently pulling from his grip and kneeling down so they were eye level.

"Would you like something to drink, Alfred?"

The boy frowned, then nodded his head, still refusing to look at the man. She straightened back up and gave him a thin-lipped smile. "And I'd like a water, thank you very much. "

Nodding, Ivan went to pour her a cup, pressing the button on the fridge and then handing it over to her. He looked down to Alfred and smiled as warmly as he could. "If you ever want anything you just have to ask. And if you don't want to ask, you can just pick anything out of the fridge." It was now stocked specifically for Alfred.

Alfred flinched when he was acknowledged, before looking up to the woman. She nodded her head and motioned to the fridge. Carefully he walked to it, still watching the man warily, before opening it up. A juice box and a pudding cup was snatched, before he closed it and retreated behind her. This time he sat on the floor and quickly began to eat. The boy was well fed at the orphanage he was from - but he ate like he was never going to see food again. Which, in his case, may very well be what he had been thinking.

Ivan was a little worried why Alfred wasn't talking to him, but he knew that it was most definitely because he was shy and scared. He didn't worry it, instead looking the social worker. "How long do you think you'll need to stay?" He rose from the bar chair he kept at the high counter. "I can show you around the house in the meantime."

"It's impossible to say," she sighed, standing up. The boy stood as well, clutching the food desperately in his hands. "Weeks...months. He has an especially hard time trusting adult men, what with the, uh, incidences that had happened." She followed after him, letting him lead the way through the house.

"Understandable." Ivan shook his head, not wanting to particularly think about what horrible things had happened to the young boy. "Well, there's a guest room, unless you are staying somewhere near here." He turned to Alfred this time. "Would you like to see your room?"

Again he flinched back and the woman placed a comforting hand on his head. "It's okay Alfred, let's go see." He nodded his head, carefully taking her hand this time. The woman looked back up to the man with a tired smile, silently asking he lead the way.

He gladly guided them upstairs, down the hall. "Here is the bathroom for you," he said as he opened up the door. He clicked the light on, letting Alfred see the rainbow shower curtain and the red fuzzy rugs. "Once you get more comfortable we can go out to the store to get you some better shampoo and tooth paste- you'll have to use mine for now..."

With the bathroom out of the way he went across the hall to the bedroom. "And this is where you will be sleeping," he said, smiling as he turned the light on. Inside the room was a single twin bed tucked up under the window, right next to the heater, with a desk across from it with crayons, markers and coloring books, then a media center across from the bed with the latest video game console, a small TV and several games lying in a couple piles. "I didn't know what you might like, so I tried to keep it standard..."

For the first time Alfred willingly released the woman. His jaw dropped and he stepped forward, looking around the room with wide eyes. He seemed overwhelmed, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. After a few minutes of staring he finally moved for the first time - his body tensed, shoulders shook, then he let out a sob. He struggled to wipe away the tears, but they continued to stream down his face. This was the first time in his life that he felt...cared for. That someone truly wanted him and truly wanted to make him happy. He turned, regarding the man with blood shot eyes, before running to him, arms wrapped around his middle.

Ivan didn't know what to do, standing stiffly and awkwardly resting his hands at Alfred's back. "It's...it's okay. Do you like it?" He could assume so. He really hoped so. He had spent months preparing for his first child, saving up for it, getting everything he thought that a little boy might need, especially after coming from a troubled home.

the woman looked absolutely shocked- it'd taken weeks of tiring trust exercises to get the boy to open up - but within half an hour he was clutching to Ivan like he'd known the man for years. She wasn't upset, just startled and heavily impressed.

Alfred nodded his head, pressing his face to the man's stomach, sobbing into the shirt and holding it tighter. "Th-Thank you so much," he whimpered, refusing to pull away from him.

Ivan nervously knelt down in front of Alfred, holding him by the shoulders. "Ah, h-hey, lapushka... You do not ever have to be afraid here, I promise I will do all in my power to care for you."

Alfred nodded his head, a mixture of tears and snot smearing over his face as he wiped it with his sleeve. "A-Alright, t-thank you, m-mister..."

The woman smiled softly and stood. "It seems everything is fine here, all your paperwork has been filled and the boy is doing fine, I'll be taking my leave now..."

Ivan nodded to her and smiled, still holding Alfred he slowly stood up and shook her hand. "Thank you, very much. Will I see you again soon?" Hopefully just to make sure Alfred was settling into his new home.

She head out and Alfred didn't look at all worried. In fact, his clinging had turned to Ivan, arms wrapped tight around his. "What's your name?"

Ivan saw her out before he turned to Alfred to answer him. "Well, my name is Ivan. You can just call me that, or Vanya." He figured Vanya would be better for a child, since it was a childish nickname.

Alfred hesitated as he watched him. He'd learned all about Ivan's responsibility as his caretaker - of course the first name that came to his mind fitted such a title. "C-Can I call you daddy?"

Ivan's heart seized up as he heard that, looking down with awe and overwhelming feelings of...what was he even feeling? Something so close to happiness, but a little different. He smiled shakily. "Of- of course you can." He leaned down and hugged Alfred close. He was so happy.