Casual Sabotage

48 - Pirate Princess Amy Gallagher

4 Years Later

Amy was six and a half years old and a proud first-grader. Since she started kindergarten the year before, Mickey had gone back to work, he took up a security job at the Mall, which didn't request him to do nightshifts, since the store he was working for was closed by then.

He only worked part-time so he could pick up Amy (and more often than not Freddie too) from school. Then he would bring them home, let them play for a while, help them with their homework until Ian came home or Lip picked up Freddie.

It was their family anniversary today. Ian took up a morning shift and wanted to meet them at two at the playground. The years before he had always made sure to have the complete day off for them, but since Amy was at school anyways and Mickey was also working, this wasn't necessary today. He rather tried to get the weekends off.

Ian was already out of the house when Mickey and Amy had breakfast. They turned the house next to the Gallagher house into their own little home. Mickey had felt at home at the Gallagher house, surrounded by his family, but this still felt different. This home was theirs, it belonged to just him, Ian and Amy. No other Gallagher could disagree with how they wanted their space to look like.

While Amy ate her cereal, Mickey made her hair. It was part of their routine for the last four years. She would decide whether it was a Princess-day or a Pirate-day and Mickey would style her hair accordingly until she was satisfied with the picture she saw in the mirror while standing on a chair in the bathroom.

Mickey wasn't sure when exactly he became the kind of gay, that watched hair tutorials on YouTube and tried to give his daughter the perfect Elsa hair for a princess party, but all it took for Mickey to be happy with this role was Amy's huge grin when she looked in the mirror and said "pretty"

Besides, the Elsa hair obsession was caused by the sister of her friend Laura (who was the first friend she had made back then at the playground), Laura's sister had claimed Amy couldn't be Elsa because Elsa was blonde. Mickey wasn't having it, he made sure Amy had the best Elsa costume at that party and even bought little snowflake hair clips he put into her braid.

Hair for princess days required flower hairclips and Elven princess-worthy strands and buns. Pirate day was a lot of braiding small strands of her hair on the side of her head, ponytails and ghost hair clips. Mickey found it strangely relaxing to stand behind her during breakfast and pull her hair in place.

After breakfast, they put on their shoes and jackets and Mickey carried Amy's schoolbag. When they left the house and Mickey locked the door, he had a strange feeling. Like someone was watching him.

He had gotten it yesterday as well when he came home. Mickey looked around. A few people were walking by but nobody looked up at him.

Mickey tried to shrug it off, took Amy's hand and walked down the stairs of the house to their car. After Amy got in, Mickey looked around again, he couldn't shake the weird feeling of being watched.

The way the red car stood a few feet down the streets there bugged him for some reason. It always stood there, belonged to the people from across the street, but today it unnerved him somehow. Behind the red car parked a grey one and before it Kev's truck. Mickey shook his head and got into the car as well.

After he was done at work, he picked up Amy from school and went to the playground with her where they would wait for Ian.

Mickey sat on his usual bench and watched Amy climb around on the monkey bars. Mickey smiled and waved back when she waved to him.

Ian should be here soon, shouldn't he? He took his phone out

Mick: where are you?

It took Ian only a minute to reply.