HARD TIMES ━ lip gallagher²

07 | space mountain

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IT WAS A LOVELY thing to be woken up to the sound of a screaming infant—note the sarcasm. Amara felt Lip stir from beside her, and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with a groan. "They should make that an alarm clock sound," she murmured. "I would never sleep through it again."

"Why is he crying?" Lip grumbled, turning towards her to face away from Freddie's crib. "I fed him at four."

"I fed him at four," she corrected, yawning as she stretched her legs. "You said you were done with him after he puked on you at twelve."

"Solid reasoning," he replied, and she cracked open her eyes again to see him gazing at her. One hand reached up to trace the line of her jaw. "Wow."

She gave him a look. "What?"

"You're beautiful."

"Trying to seduce me into taking the baby?"

He grinned. "Maybe."

Amara kicked his leg from under the covers. "Dick."

"Did it work?"

She rolled her eyes and reached behind her to smack him with a pillow. "There's your answer."

He huffed and pulled himself up, stopping briefly to kiss her. "I did mean it though."

And suddenly she was fifteen again, because her cheeks heated and she couldn't muster a response. "I'll go make coffee."

"Deal."

Debbie was already downstairs with fake Franny and real Franny, serving them both a bowl of cereal. Lip came jogging down the steps a minute later, Amara glanced to him as he moved to the fridge, hitting her ass lightly as he did so. She shook her head and elbowed him in the back before refocusing her attention.

There was a pounding on the door that made the three adults falter, sharing a look during the process. Nobody ever knocked like that unless they were the cops or someone who Frank pissed off. "Yeah?" Lip called, and it swung open to reveal a girl Amara had never seen before. She had a lip and nose ring, and dressed like she wanted to be in a rock band.

"Got some of Mickey's shit here," she said.

"Uh, upstairs probably," Lip pointed.

"Who's she?" Debbie asked, reaching for the freshly made coffee to pour herself a mug.

"Milkovich," Lip told her, shaking the bottle. Freddie's cries could be heard echoing from their room. "Sandy, I think. Cousin, no, uh. Half sister? Something, I don't know."

Debbie settled back onto the stool. "How many of them are there?"

"It's hard to know," he shrugged.

"Yeah, when Mandy was still here they were always showing up," Amara interjected. "Parol and stuff. Or running from the cops."

"Not usually that cute," Debbie remarked, Amara raised a brow as she handed a cup off to Lip.

"Really, her?"

Debbie just smiled.

☆

"He doesn't like being bounced while being fed," Amara shifted the phone onto her other ear and attempted to resume typing on her computer. "That's like eating a chili dog and then going on Space Mountain. No wonder he puked on you."

"Well, I for one can stomach Space Mountain after a chili dog so, beat that," Logan's voice replied.

"He is also a six week old infant," Amara reminded her. Logan sighed. "Look this is good experience for you anyway."

"Yeah, maybe I'll take him to the Mommy AA."

"Very funny," Amara shook her head and glanced up at the sudden knock on her door. "Look, I've gotta go. Try not to kill my baby when I'm gone."

"I can't believe you're already back to work. You just gave birth. You don't get maternity leave?"

"We live in America, Lo."

"Good point. Talk to you later."

"What's up?" Amara asked, putting the device back onto her desk and staring at her secretary.

"Some guy is here to see you."

"Lip?"

"No," Claire shrugged. "Never seen him before. He's in a fancy tux though."

"Send him in."

A moment later, James appeared in the doorway, and Amara felt her legs move on her own as she rushed to hug him. "Oh my God!"

"Surprise."

"What're you doing here?" She wondered, dropping her hands from around him. "I didn't even know you were back from Alaska. How's your grandfather?"

"Much better, actually," James nodded. "Editor in Chief. I'm impressed. I knew you could do it."

"You've always been my number one supporter," she grinned. "Still didn't answer my question though."

"Just thought I'd drop by," he shrugged and plunked into a chair. "I've been in town for a couple of days. My girlfriend and I are trying to find a place to stay since my dad cut all ties with me after spending all that time with grandpa. They haven't been on good terms since, like, '04."

"Well I'm glad you came."

"Actually, I was hoping you could help me with something."

She blinked and raised an expectant brow. "With what?"

"Sophie is pregnant."

"Shit balls."

"Oh don't 'shit balls' me after all those pics of Freddie you've sent to my phone."

She laughed. "Fair point."

"Anyway," he ran a hand through his newly long hair and glanced back to her. "Do you have any good apartments within a three grand budget?"

"You call three grand a month budgeting?"

He grimaced. "Um, yes?"

She rolled her eyes and typed something up on her computer. "You prefer South Side right?"

"Think I wanna come back to this shithole?"

"Aw, why?" Amara mock pouted. "You don't like it here?"

"You know with the money you're making you could probably get out of here, too."

"That's the dream," she bit her lip. "I know it's a dump, I've always wanted to leave but... I don't know it's all I've ever known. I mean don't get me wrong I don't want Freddie living up in a place like this either, but I grew up here. I feel like I'd be ripping apart of me out if I left. My house burning down was painful enough."

"At least if you leave this time it'll be by choice," James countered.

"Maybe," she shrugged. "Lip and I have talked about it but it's mostly just conversation. Anyway, here," Amara handed him a freshly printed page of apartment listings. "There's loads on there."

"Thanks," he smiled at her and stood. Once he was at the door, he was smirking. "You know Fred looks exactly like Lip right?"

Amara didn't need a mirror to know she'd just shot him the deadliest look imaginable.

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a/n

thank u for 50k omg