Shameless

1

"7:15, monkeys. Come on." I hear my big sister Fiona say as I enter the house. I smile at her attempt to wake the siblings. I had just finished my morning shift at the bakery and was able to save a bunch of food before it could go into the bin. 

 I quickly clean off the table and sit out paper plates I put croissants on each. The bottles of juice go into the middle of the table so they could choose their own. A brown paper bag was set in front of each of them that had a sandwich, drink and a cookie inside. 

I brought a few groceries on the way home and put those away before making Fiona, Lip and I a coffee.  

"First shower!" I hear my younger brother Ian yell before a door slams followed  by what sounded like a hit. "You had it yesterday. Fuck!" 

Fiona comes down and I hand her the purple mug. "Thanks Pheebs. Where did all this come from?" she motions to the table with a look of surprise. "Work. They were going to throw it all in the bin as it wasn't 'fresh' anymore. It all perfectly fine to eat so I asked if I could bring it home." I say with a shrug as I sit down with my coffee. 

Just as I sit down thundering footsteps could be heard as the others raced down. I look up as I hear Fiona swear and find her reading the calendar on the fridge. I pull my purse from my pocket as she sets down a cut up cereal box. "Electric." She says before spinning away to do something else. I put my part in and my twin, Lip, quickly does the same. I smile as he places a kiss on my head and the box is passed around to the others. 

The box get placed in front of Carl and he passes it to Debbie. "Electric" 

"No. You've got a Happy Meal on the front of that shirt. Arms up." Fiona says as she pulls up Carl's shirt. She quickly turns the shirt inside out and puts is back on him. The tag sticking out at the front. 

"Oh, um, field trip. Need Dad's signature." Ian says and Debbie takes the slip from him and quickly forges our fathers signature. "Wow, Deb, that's getting really good." Ian compliments and I take the slip from him. I quickly scan it before giving him the money for it. 

"Thanks Pheebs. You gave 10 extra." My younger brother says as he tries to hand it back but I shake my head. "Snack money" I say before downing the last of my coffee. I walk around the table placing a kiss on everyone's head before taking Liam from Debbie. 

"Who's got the phone?" Fiona calls out as she starts putting the washing into the machine. "I got it." Lip calls out before tossing the phone to her. She catches it flawlessly before going back to her task. "Any minutes left?"

"Uh, 14."

"Hey, I need something for show-and-tell." Debbie says and I pass her one of my necklaces. "Make up a story to go with it." I say and continue to feed Liam.

"How much are we short?" Fiona asks as she jams a chair under the washing machine door to keep it closed.

"$18.30."

"Oh, I'm tutoring after school. I should be able to kick in like ten more." Lip says with a mouth full of pastry. I elbow him and he give me an exaggerated hurt look.

"Hey, did, uh, Carl put in any?"

"You're almost nine. You're going to have to start pulling your weight." Debbie gives Carl a look and I watch as the boy sinks low in his seat no longer eating his food. 

"That's right, and get a real job, not just dipping into the
collection plate at St. Tim's." Lip says and I kick him under the table. At least he was doing something.

"I'm filling in for Candi. I can cover the rest."

"Extra kraut on mine."

"Cheese on mine."

Lip and Ian tell her their orders knowing she would be able to bring home food from the hockey rink. 

"Somebody's got to take Liam." She says and everyone seems to look at each other all at once

"Uh, I got a calculus test." Lip says as he sticks his tongue out at Liam and gets up out of his chair.

"I'm working after school." Ian reminds her. She begins to look stressed and I quickly calm her. "I've got him." 

"Alright, come on. You guys have to go." Fiona says as she runs back up the stairs for her shoes. Everyone gets up and grabs their things but I hold Carl back. I kneel down in front of him a wipe some of the crumbs form his face. 

"Ignore the others. I know your trying. Now don't forget your lunch. I even put an extra cookie in yours since you didn't get on last time." His frown quickly turns into a beaming smile and he quickly hugs me. "Love you sis." I kiss the side of his head and he grabs his lunch before running out. 

"Love ya to." I shout after him. I take the harness from the banister and clip it on so I could hold Liam while doing chores. While everyone was gone I do all the dishes and manage to get all the laundry done, before having to do my own classes.

The others didn't know but I had all of my classes moved to online and due to my grades I only had a few subject to complete before I could finish high school early. 

After classes where done for the day I check on Liam since he was in his crib sleeping. Placing a kiss on his head I change into some of Lips old clothes and do a few repairs around the house. 

Fiona comes home to find me cleaning the water off the kitchen floor. "What happened?" 

"I fixed the tap but didn't tighten a valve fully before testing it out. But no more dipping tap." I say through a groan as I stand back up and point to the piles of clothes on the table. "Don't forget to take yours up with you." I tell her as I put the tools away.

"Thanks Pheebs. Wait. Aren't you home a little early?" She asks, her tone concerned. "Yeah, I do half days now since I passed a few of my subjects." I tell her, not wanting anyone to know about the whole online thing just yet. 

"Oh, okay. Are you going to pick up some extra shifts?" I cringe slightly, this was one of the reasons I didn't want her knowing. While I love my sister and I am thankful for everything she does, Now she will expect me to do a lot more then I already do. And I already do 2 jobs, plus a business, raising Liam the most and keeping dad out of as much trouble as I could. Not to mention I was already looking into taking a few early admission college courses.

"No, I have a job at a diner in town" I say, listing off one of the jobs I already have. The business I ran on the side was a jewelry one. I made clay earrings for a shop in town. The owner would buy them from me and resell them at a higher price. The money was a fair amount, anything from around 200-300 a month.