Middle Child Syndrome- Ian Gallagher

don't worry about it (filler)

The next morning, I couldn't even look at my dad. My mom had no idea what happened, and neither did Troy or Persephone. She came home when I was still in the living room, crying. I made up some lie about how I got a call from Mia and how much I missed her and Sophie so she wouldn't freak out. 

Not that it wasn't fully true. I did miss Mia and Sophie a lot.

After I finished my coffee, someone knocked on my door. 

"Yo, Athena, it's for you!" Troy said. 

Mandy was at the door, smiling wide.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Wanna hang?" she said.

"Sure," I said.

She cocked her head at Troy, "You coming?"

"Sure."

I didn't tell Mandy about what happened, nor did I plan on it.

We found Lip and Ian quickly after we left. Mandy hugged Lip from behind, and I hugged Ian. Lip, Mandy, and Troy walked on while I pulled Ian to the side.

"Ian, I'm so so sorry about yesterday," I said, "I had no idea he'd be home so early and that he'd act like that. I'm so so sorry."

I touched his face. He had a cut on his lip and a faint bruise on his right cheek. 

"Hey, don't worry about it," Ian said, holding my hand, "It's not your fault. And I'm ok. Let's just forget about it, ok?"

I nodded and hugged him tightly before we caught up with the rest of the group.

_______________________________________________________________________________

In order to get everyone back, Fiona needed to get sole custody over the kids and declare Frank unfit. She needed to get her Aunt Ginger's will notarized and have a dead body to prove it. 

We were able to get the dead body we needed, and unsurprisingly, it reeked. It was awful, but we stuck it through, put cloths around our nose and mouth, and worked to lift the dead body. Lip held up a pair of scissors after we put it on the bed.

"Who wants to do the honors?"

No answer.

"Look, the real Aunt Ginger lost a toe. Somebody's gotta snip it. V, you're a nurse."

"Not a chance."

"Hell no," Troy said, "That's nasty."

Ian stood up and decided to be the brave one to do it. But then, he chickened out at the last second, leaving Fiona to do it.

"Glue it shut when I'm done."

Just as she was about to do it, we heard the door open. We ran downstairs and saw Debbie stuffing her face with food.

"Debbie are you ok?!"

"Can't talk. Hungry."

"Are they not feeding you?!" Fiona said.

"Do we have any more milk?"

Fiona looked horrified, "You're not going back there."

"We gotta bring food to the others!"

V immediately snapped into action, and I followed suit. 

_______________________________________________________________

The next day was the hearing. While Fiona, Frank, and the kids and I were in the courthouse, Lip and Mandy went to get the will filed.

The hearing went as expected. Frank tried to sell the judge this bullshit sob story, and none of us bought it. Frank's record was horrendous. He wasn't clean, and he never will be.

"Ms. Gallagher, you wanna tell me why your father should be declared unfit?"

Oh boy. Was I ready for this?

"We were living out of a car once. Uncle Nick had kicked us out. Couldn't find anyone else who'd take us in. Lip, Ian, and I were sleeping in the back seat when Frank pulled over. Told me to take the boys and sit on the curb and he'd be right back. I was six."

I shook my head. They were all so young. 

"A few hours later, we're still sitting on the sidewalk. Ian's head is burning up. He's hysterical, and I don't know what to do. So, I ran down the street, Lip under one arm, Ian under the other, trying to flag down help. Would've been easier scoring crack than a ride to the clinic. I finally made it on foot. They said Ian had a fever of 104. Another couple hours and who knows?"

"I didn't find Frank until a couple days later," she said, "The first thing he asked was how much money I had on me."

I started tearing up. 

"I wish I could say that was the last time, but it was only the first. My mother is bipolar, and my father is an alcoholic and an addict. He takes what he pleases and he offers nothing. No money, no support. I've done what I could to help raise my siblings. I wish I could've done more. I'm not asking for your pity or your admiration, I just wanna be able to give these kids what they deserve because they're great kids, and they deserve better."

That's when I started crying, and Ian rubbed my shoulder.

The judge and Fiona's lawyer went into the chambers to discuss and then came back, and Fiona agreed to become the legal guardian of the kids.

"Well, that'll be my order then," the judge said, "Take your children home."

We all cheered and hugged each other.