Cadence ( Part 2 of Rhythm ) Completed*

Chp 10: Rampant

Notes:

Warning: There is a depressive episode in this chapter.

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Staring down at the spreadsheet in front of him, Mickey tries to makes heads or tails of it. Or, more accurately, he knows exactly what he is looking at but he is trying to figure out a way for things to work out in the most favorable way for him and Ian. Mickey's surprisingly good with numbers. But considering the voltages and numbers he works with being an electrician, it isn't actually that surprising after all if he thinks about it enough. Ian's good with numbers in a more tactile way, like when he's measuring angles and cutting with such precise calculations that Mickey's eyes cross; He's shit at all other types of mathematics. So, it makes sense Mickey's figured out he has a knack for making sense of their business' finances. Naomi has been a godsend, an extra bonus they didn't know they were getting when they hired Jason. She's even better at this shit than Mickey and he's usually happy to leave a lot of this in her capable hands but he wants to figure this out for himself.

He and Ian are stretched thin. Not so much so that they can see the bottom breaking out from underneath them, but it's scary. There is an end goal, a cushion they will hit, but it's not here yet. So the finances are tight. And a perfectly timed kick from their baby reminds Mickey they are going to get even tighter in four months.

Moving a hand so he can press it up against the side of his stomach, Mickey makes massaging motions. The kid is being good to him today. Yeah, it's moving a lot this morning, but nothing that steals any of the comfort Mickey feels over that fact that the baby is getting stronger.

This pregnancy is both so much like and nothing like his pregnancy with Mikayla. Sure, he was nauseous with Mikayla, but nowhere outside the realm of average. For the most part, Mikayla stubbornly asserted her existence to her parents by moving constantly and assaulting Mickey's insides. This kid is different. Its movements are softer, still there but more gentle. He knows he's only five months pregnant and the kicks will get more noticeable, but this kid's different. Mickey can tell. What this baby lacks in causing physical discomfort, it makes up for in making Mickey so sick that he's contemplated moving his mattress into the bathroom. He's sick more often than he's not. It happens, Katie assured him, but it still sucks. This morning, however, is the longest stretch he's had without a hint of nausea.

He's drawn out of this thoughts when something hits him on the forehead. By the time in tumbles down to the tabletop where he realizes it's a Cheerio, he's still making a fruitless attempt to bat it away. "Aye! What the fuck?"

"Dude, you were in your own world over there," Mandy says with a laugh from her seat across the table. She has Mikayla sitting happily on her lap while munching on the handful of Cheerio's scattered across the tabletop in front of her. Mandy has her own cereal bowl balanced in one hand as she raises her eyebrows at Mickey. "You okay?

Mickey shakes his head, blinks a few times and stares at his sister. There is no way she was talking to him. He sits up straighter, hand instinctively going to his lower back and rubbing out a kink there. The baby shifts and he can't stop himself from loudly letting out an audible breath. "Sorry, what?"

Mandy laughs. "I kinda figured you weren't really listening then you started 'yes-ing' every question I had about what I should do in the store today. Knew you definitely weren't listening when you answered 'yes' to the suggestion that I fuck Ian after lunch."

"Fuck you. You're not fucking my boyfriend," Mickey scoffs and throws her a strong middle finger. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He flings the rouge Cheerio in her direction but she deflects it.