Shameless

102|Down Like the Titanic

Carla woke up in the middle of the night to an alarm clock going off. "What the fuck?" She asked as she stepped out of her room and yawned. "What the fuck?" Lip asked. "Jesus fucking Christ." Carl said. "Smoke? Does anyone smell smoke?" Debbie asked as Lip turned the hallway light on.

"It's not the smoke alarm." Lip said. "Where is that sound coming from?" Lip asked. "You know, it could be a bomb." Carl said. "It's not a bomb." Carla said. Carl looked up at the attic. "Watch out,bud." Lip told Liam as he picked the latter up and climbed into the attic.

"Oh,fucker. Ian." Lip said as he showed his siblings a clock with a picture of Ian's face on it. Carl scoffed. "Shithead." Liam laughed. "Genius."

"Oh,that's so sweet. He doesn't want us to forget him." Debbie said. "Yeah,it's real sweet. All right,go to bed,guys." Lip told his siblings,who walked back into their bedrooms and fell back asleep.

~~

The next morning,Carla sat next to Franny at the table. "All right,guys,cereal or toast?" Lip asked. "Do you have the stuff to make pancakes?" Liam asked. "Pancakes? Let's make pancakes." Debbie said.

"All right,let me rephrase. Cereal,toast,or nothing?" Lip asked. "Toast." Debbie said. "Cereal." Liam said. "Carly?" Lip asked. "Uh,Toast." Carla said as Carl walked downstairs. "Oh,what's with the suit? Somebody die?" He asked.

"No,Brad's baby's getting christened today." Lip explained. "Christening? Is that where you get the wine and shifty little crackers?" Carl asked. "No,that's confirmation." Debbie said as she picked Franny up.

"Christening's when you...waterboard the baby." Debbie walked out of the kitchen. "All right,we gotta divide and conquer now that school's out. Who's gonna watch Liam today?" Lip asked.

"Nope." Carl said. "Not me." Debbie said. Lip looked at Carla. "I'm in sixth grade. I don't need a babysitter." Liam said before Carla could answer. "Yeah,scholastically,you're in sixth grade. In real life,you're nine." Lip said.

"By the time I was nine,I had three years' experience being a full-time nanny. In fact,how would you like to make five bucks an hour this summer,Liam?" Debbie asked as she sat next to him. "Ten bucks and one-hours lunch." Liam said.

"Deal." Debbie nodded. "No,Liam's a minor,all right? He's got to have another adult around to watch Franny." Lip said. "Better Liam than some shifty day care that'll cram her into a Pack'n Play with eight other toddlers." Debbie told him.

"You love your Uncle Liam,don't you,girlfriend?" Debbie talked in a baby voice to Franny. "Hey,Carl,what you got today?" Lip asked. "Kelly's coming over later to help me move. They can hang out with us as long as you guys disappear when we bone." Carl said.

"Move? Where you going?" Lip asked. "Leveling up,soon. Liam's got Fiona's room. Debbie's got Debbie's. Carla's staying at David's most of the time. Figure since Ian's out of the house,I'll take Frank's room,let you rock with the boys' room solo,if that's cool with you." Carl said.

"Yeah,sure,sounds good to me." Lip agreed. "We can't not have a bed for Frank anymore,can we?" Debbie asked. "Of course you can." Lip said. "Fuck Frank." Carla said as she ate a piece of Toast. "Shouldn't we get Fiona's opinion first?" Debbie asked.

"No." Lip immediately said. "I'm kind of worried about her. She hasn't responded to any of my texts or calls. Have you guys heard from her?" Debbie asked her siblings. "Mm-mmm." Carl shook his head. "To stand Ian up on his last day before Prison and not drive him when she said she would--it's not like her." Debbie said.

"It's called passive-aggressive,Debs. She's still mad at Ian." Lip said.

~~

Carla sat on a hospital bed while David was outside the room on the phone with his mom. "Okay,Miss Gallagher,you ready to see your baby?" The doctor asked as she let the ultrasound up. "Yeah." Carla nodded.