Gallavich | Shameless: The Continuation

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 has HEAVY ANGST.

TW: domestic abuse, death

More mention of mpreg

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Ian stood outside in his joggers and a tank top with the slits down the side, showing off his Army-inspired tattoo on one side, and on the other side M I K H A I L O written in text going down his ribcage. His arms were littered with tattoos here and there, just above the crook of his left arm on the bicep were three dates in Roman numerals: his wedding date, his first daughter's birthday, and his second daughter's birthday. Below that, on his wrist, he had the letters F P I D C L that ran in a small banner. Fiona, Phillip, Ian, Deborah, Carl, Liam.

Under that, in Ukrainian, Я впав першим. Він впав сильніше, which translated to "I fell first. He fell harder." Mickey had the same tattoo, reversed, also in Ukrainian, and bigger on the underside of his forearm. "He felt first. I fell harder."

Under that, in perfect script, were two names: Freya in one banner, and Faelyn in another. Their daughters. Mickey and Ian in female forms.

The tattoo on his back that was supposed to be a tribute to Monica was now basically a mural for Mickey now, a landscape of the night sky from the POV of the ground, looking up through the metal of a bridge above, and the moon in the middle. It was from when he and Mickey almost ran off to Mexico and laid on the blanket in the grass. The tits were gone.

"Did you ever think back in the day, this is where we would be?"

Ian shut his eyes. God, he loved Mickey. He felt guilt settle in his stomach after making him so mad earlier. He took a drag from his cigarette and let the smoke come from his nostrils, the breeze blowing it away. Pieces of his hair hung over his face and they blew over his eyes. He swiped at them mindlessly.

Eventually, the bus pulled up to the entrance to the condo park and Ian walked to the end of the driveway. They were in the very first unit, so picking the girls up was easy. Other parents walked their way towards the gate as the kids began to spill out of the bus. Ian leaned against his SUV in the driveway to avoid talking to any of the parents. Normally, he didn't mind being social, but it turned out there were many church-going, God-loving homophobes that were scattered about, some of which recognized him as Gay Jesus and had tried hard to get him and Mickey to come to their church to...find their true selves. They had been there for 9 years now, and it didn't bother Ian anymore. No one bothered trying to talk to them anymore, which was fine. Ian had one friend in the entire complex, their neighbor Chris, but he wasn't out today, but instead his wife Charlie. Ian wasn't necessarily a fan and avoided conversation.

Freya came off the bus first, stepping aside to wait for her younger sister. Faelyn came a moment later, taking her sister's hand and they made their way past the gate and towards their Dad. Freya let go of her sister's hand and ran towards Ian, wrapping her arms around his middle. "Careful." Ian smiled, feeling his back tense. Faelyn, a few years younger, hugged his thigh. He put his hands over his girls' heads. "Missed you guys." He said. "Come on."

Inside he gave the girls their afternoon snacks and carefully placed a blanket over Faelyn, who had fallen asleep on the couch, per usual after a long day of first grade. She still hadn't adjusted to the long school days. Freya, in fourth grade, was sitting at the island with her homework in front of her. She never needed help. She had gotten Lip's intelligence but seemed to have more common sense than her uncle. Ian always wondered where it would get her, and hoped she was smart enough to do something about her intelligence.

Ian had started a pot of coffee and poured himself a mug, leaning up against the counter. "How was school?" He asked her.

She looked up at him with the same blue eyes as Mickey, her dark raven hair getting long and sitting past her shoulders. Her bangs were blunt, and sometimes when Ian really looked at her she resembled Mandy. "It was ok." She said. "A kid threw up in class."