The Unofficial Gallagher

Chapter 36

   Kennedy kept her word.

She didn't stress herself over Ian and seemingly it was working out in her favor. He did his thing and she did hers. Ian for his part, wanted to talk to Kennedy, but after speaking with his sisters on the subject, choose to wait until Kennedy was ready.

  Shiloh did get into the private preschool of her choice, however that included PTA meetings and fundraisers formed by the parents.

And when everyone knew you c-owner a bakery in Chicago.... well, let's just share she was out in charge of baking all the cupcakes for the school's bake sale.

At the present moment, she was balancing a mixing bowl filled with organic red dye, her phone and a fresh batch of cupcakes in her arms. Shiloh sat at the counter, finger painting with the icing. Mozart played loudly in the background, an attempt to calm the small chaos in the kitchen. She'd been working for four hours straight and was exhausted, all the while trying to keep her son busy.

"I just think you two should consider a marriage consouler."

"Firstly, Ian won't go to any doctor. 'Gallagher's don't go to shrinks.' That's what he said the last time I asked him and two, we're not married still. " Kennedy set the same tray down and balanced the bowl and her phone.

"Mommy! Mommy, look what I made!" Shiloh held up the icing covered picture to his mother.

"Just a minute sweetie," Kennedy rushed "Joe, I'm getting really tired of not taking to Ian, but he needs to get it through his thick head that his family is more important that helping a much of LGTBQ kids who's parents are too ignorant to love their own children." She sighed, dipping a ladle into the icing mixture and began applying it to a cupcake.

"Kennedy, you've both got to learn to balance. If you want to have a relationship that spans a lifetime, you're going to need to communicate." Josephina stressed and Kennedy rolled her eyes trying to remain calm.

"I'm trying, Joe. I'm trying." She turned to place another batch of cupcakes in the oven, unaware of Shiloh running up behind her.

"Ken-"

"Mommy look!" Shiloh suddenly hit Kennedy's bottom in an attempt to get her attention and she gasped, dropping the cupcake.

"Shiloh! This skirt was vintage!" She shrieked. Over the line Josephina sucked in a breath.

"Which skirt?" Daisy's voice was frantic over the line and Kennedy squeezed her eyes shut.

"It's the 1976 cream Chanel Mom gave me!" A skirt that her mother had treasured as it was the one of the first expensive purchases she ever made.

"Oh, shit Kennedy...." Her sister's voice softened in sympathy and Kennedy took a breath to control her raising anger.

"I'll call you back," Kennedy threw down her phone and grabbed Shiloh's hands tightly " Shiloh look what you did!" She snapped, and without thinking, reached down and spanked his bottom once.

She watched horrified as the little boy's eyes welled with tears and she bit her lip, releasing him and watched as he ran from the kitchen, crying.

Running a hand down her face, she reached over to the cooking tray and forgetting it had just came out fo the oven, grabbed the hot metal.

"Son of a fucking bitch! Damnit!" She cried, clutching her burning hand to her chest while tears welled in her eyes and froze at the sound of rapid footsteps.

"Hey, what's going on?" She looked upon seeing Ian, who was still in his uniform, eyes wide with concern.

It was than that she noticed Lip standing in the doorway uncomfortably trying to not be in the middle of the situation.

Without answering him, she pushed past Ian and practically ran upstairs into their bedroom, falling to her knees beside the closed door, sobbing into her hands.

  It was too much. It was all too much. She wasn't ready, she hasn't been ready. She had plans. She had a dream of her future and this was far from it.

Running a bakery with her sister on the North side of Chicago wasn't terrible, but she had wanted to go to college, have a career and settle down in Suburbia.... Maybe in Maine..... or Upstate New York....

    Not this.

Not living in a two bedroom apartment on the North Side with her high school boyfriend/fiancée/baby daddy.

  Not having to fight with the man she loved, every month, while wondering if he was still cheating on her... and not even with women, but men.

   She wasn't even twenty-five and yet she felt as though the past four years had aged her by fifty.

  The door creaking open caught her attention, but she didn't look up as Ian closed it behind him and sat next to her on the ground. They sat there in silence for some time before he finally broke the silence.

"Having a rough day?" He watched her lean her head back on the wall, tears running down her cheeks "oh baby....." His gaze softened and he brought her against his chest, resting his cheek atop of her head.

  "I just want to run away Ian... I just want to be free again...." She whimpered "I don't want to be an adult."

  "Well, I wish I could somehow stop that for you, but that's life. We've just got to live with it." He rubbed her shoulder before pulling away slightly "Hey, how about I take you out to dinner tomorrow night? I can ask Debs or someone to babysit Shi...?" He offered and she nodded.

   "Yeah... that'd actually be nice..." She sniffed, wiping her eyes and Ian leaned in to kiss her sweetly "how was your day?" She asked rubbing his chest.

  "Um.....I actually lost someone today.... She was really upset and I untied her restraints...... and she jumped out of the truck and got hit by a car."

Kennedy pulled away completely, eyes wide in disbelief before she grabbed Ian, pulling him close. "Oh my God Ian! Are you alright?!" She mumbled into his neck before kissing his cheeks repeatedly.

"I'm fine... just... I thought she'd be okay.... It's all my fault Ken..." he looked at her with guilt ridden eyes and she shook her head, cupping his face and smoothed the lines on his cheeks.

"No, no sweetheart, You were only trying to help. Just listen to your boss next time." She soothed and brought him into a hug.

Maybe they weren't the perfect couple like she imagined, far from it; nor were they living the ideal life that she dreamed of. But they had each other, and hopefully it would be enough.

Hopefully.