Chapter Text
“What’s in a name?
That which we call rose by
any other name would smell as sweet.”
Shakespeare
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Camellia Ilynichna Landry-Hollander loves her name. Now, at least. When she was younger… there had been times when she fleetingly thought her name might be too long - especially when she had to painstakingly write it down on each page of her exams.
Her family, however… Her family does not seem to think she has enough.
Mostly everyone calls her Cammie, which her mother had started. She had called herself that too, in her childhood. Her parents always smiled at her brightly whenever she would say “Cammie want Bear” or “Cammie sleepy”.
All of her Dad’s and Papa’s teammates call her Cammie too, but sometimes they call her their ‘good luck charm’ because they have never lost a game when she sits in the stands watching. She thinks it has more to do with how both her Dad and her Papa like to compete to see who looks cooler in front of her by scoring more goals. When she grows up, she knows it is so.
Aunty Lana calls her Lia. When Camellia was younger, Svetlana had been too hard a name for her - and so she had simply gone by the last bit. Her Aunty Lana had just laughed and said, “Guess I’ll do the same.” When she had called her “Aunty Svetlana” for the first time when she was in preschool, she had seen the flash of surprise in her aunt’s face. She then called her “Aunty Lana” again, and was gratified to see the relief in those dark eyes.
Both Granddad and Grandpa call her princess. Her Grandmom calls her sweetheart. Her Grandma calls her Camellia most of the time - but sometimes she likes to squeeze her cheeks and call her ‘my little tsubaki’.
Uncle Miles calls her Mini Landry; Uncle Hayden calls her Mini Hollzy; and Uncle Marly calls her Mini Rozzy. Though when she says something that makes them all laugh and groan at the same time, all of her uncles call her Mini Rozzy in an exasperated voice. It always makes her Papa puff out his chest with pride. So she does it over and over again.
One of her classmates had thought Camel would be a funny nickname. Camellia had assured them it was not, and her parents had bought her ice cream afterwards because she defended herself so well.
Mummy calls her Cammie most of the time, but she likes to switch things up - and sometimes she will call out for Millie or Illie or Mimi. In interviews or on red carpets, however, she always says their names together - “Rose and Camellia” - because they were a matching pair of flowers.
Dad calls her Cammie too, though he mostly calls her Camellia. Sometimes, though, when he is hugging her tight, he plants a kiss on her cheek and whispers to her, “My Cammie - lily- a.” Camellia does not remember this, but the first time her Papa had heard her Dad whisper it to her, she had been squashed between a tight hug as her Papa embraced them both, cuddling them lovingly. When she got older, Dad had told her it was a way to include all three of her parents into her name - and so she cherished each of the rare times he would indulge in that nickname.
Papa loves to call her “Camilochka” - but he calls her all sorts of things that he also calls Dad. Malyshka, katyonak, solnyshka, and dorogoy are just some of the names she and her Dad share. She has learnt growing up they mean little baby, little kitten, sunshine, and sweetheart. When they hear Papa call out one of those names though, both her and Dad turn around, which makes Dad cover his face as it turns red and Papa to laugh and laugh.
One name that all her parents have in common for her though - that she hears as her Mummy cooks her breakfast, as her Dad tucks her into bed, as her Papa braids her hair, as they all sit eating dinner together as a family - is tsvetochek.
That is her favourite.
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Camellia does not know this, but she wields names for her parents with the same power, bringing them each to tears at one point or the other.
The first time, she is still a small, wee little lady, her first birthday just around the corner. She has her mother’s hair and smile, her father’s eyes and freckles, and miraculously, her other father’s cheekiness, evident in the brightness of her laughter and growing personality. She calls out to Mummy and says her first ever word - Mama.
Mummy cried, and immediately video called Camellia’s fathers to brag. They had cheered for her in their jerseys, on the ice, through the screen. It is one of Camellia’s favourite photos in her first baby album.
The second time, Camellia is a little taller - at five, she felt like she could conquer the whole world. She is quick and smart, and she loves to listen to what people say. So she hears, over and over again, how most of her family, like her Mama and grandparents, call Papa Ilya. But she also hears it clearly, then, when Dad and Aunty Lana call him Ilyusha instead.
She had asked her Dad why, and Dad explained how it was a special way to say his name, to say I love you without the words. She wanted to learn that secret language too, and her Dad, with a twinkle in his eyes, whispered a word into her ears.
So the next day when she holds out her arms to her Papa that is locking the door behind him, she screams out “Papochka!” Ilya had beamed at her, stunned with delight, before he started crying. Camellia had shrieked as she ran towards her Papa, screaming, “Don’t cry Papa! It means I love you!” He had laughed, nodding in agreement, as he lifted her up in his arms and pressed kisses all over her face.
The third time, Camellia is much older, though she does not remember the instance either. Because she is fourteen, and she had just taken a tumble on the ice and now her head hurts. She had looked up when she felt someone taking her hand as she was wheeled away, and when she saw her Dad’s blurry face, she had mumbled out, “It hurts, Dada. Dada.”
Something she had not called him since she was two.
Her Dad does not let himself cry at those words until a doctor told him she will be perfectly fine. Then, he cried in her Papa’s arms from both relief and nostalgia.
So yes, Camellia Ilynichna Landry-Hollander loves her name. She loves all the names that come with it. She loves how it ties her to her parents.
Most of all, she loves the love that she carries with her every time someone calls out to her.