Work Text:
Liam stared at the family tree worksheet that his teacher had given him. There was no way it would work for his family. There were nowhere near enough branches to fit everyone. It confused him too because there weren't places for people like Sheila and Kev and V who he knew were family, but didn't actually have a blood relation.
He got up and went up to Debbie's room. She was out with her boyfriend, but she had art supplies that he could use to make his own family tree. Or maybe it would have to be a family forest in order to fit everybody in. He got the biggest sheet of paper that he could find and grabbed her markers. Deciding that he wanted to add pictures, he grabbed the family photo album out of the living room on his way back to the kitchen.
Once he had everything set up he began drawing the tree. He used the teacher's worksheet as a guide and only got confused once. It showed a space for something called a "spouse" and he wasn't sure what that word meant. The teacher had probably told them, but he sometimes doodled through class instead of paying attention.
Liam grabbed the paper and went back into the living room where Ian and Lip were watching TV. "What's a spouse?"
Lip looked up at him. "It's like a husband or wife. The person you're married to."
Liam looked down at the paper. "This says 'partner or spouse' what does that mean?"
"You're married to your spouse, but a partner is someone that you live with without marrying. It's more serious than just a boyfriend or girlfriend," Ian answered.
"Oh." Liam nodded. "Like you and Mickey."
Lip started laughing and Ian punched him in the arm. "Yes, like me and Mickey."
Lip laughed harder, ignoring the glares Ian was giving him. It was obvious to Liam that Mickey was Ian's partner and he didn't understand why Lip thought it was so funny, but then again he didn't understand a lot about his older brothers. Sometimes it was hard being the youngest.
He went back into the kitchen and added a place for Mickey next to Ian's branch. He'd been cutting out pictures of everyone to paste onto their branches, so he flipped through the photo album, trying to find a picture of Mickey to add. There weren't many pictures of him, which was strange because Liam couldn't remember a time when Mickey wasn't a part of his life.
Wherever Ian went, Mickey followed, and that was just the way it was. When Ian taught him how to hit a baseball, Mickey was there complaining about the whole thing, but running after stray balls anyway. When Liam had to have his appendix removed, Mickey was there and even threw some of his own money into the pot to pay for the hospital bill.
Liam finally found a picture of Mickey and Ian playing with Yevgeny when he was still barely more than a toddler. That brought up another question though and he went back into the living room.
"Does that make Yevgeny my nephew?"
Lip started laughing again and Ian gave him a dirty look before getting up and ushering Liam back into the kitchen. "What are you working on, Liam?"
"Family tree," Liam answered proudly.
Ian stood over the paper, looking at all of the branches. He gently touched the line connecting him and Mickey, a soft smile on his face. "This is really good, Liam."
"Thank you," Liam said, beaming at Ian. "So what about Yevgeny?"
"Yes," Ian answered. "He's your nephew in every way that matters."
Liam was happy to hear that because he liked Yevgeny. Liam didn't see him a lot because he usually stayed with his mom, but when he was around Liam wasn't the youngest anymore. There was finally someone who looked up to him. "Good."
Ian grinned at him and ruffled his hair. "Be careful Fiona doesn't catch you cutting up her photo album, though."
Liam winced. He hadn't thought about that, but it was too late now. If she got mad he'd just remind her of some of the stuff Carl had done when he was Liam's age. Those stories were infamous and compared to the stuff he'd ruined, a few photos were nothing.
Ian's smile dropped and he looked back at the paper. "Liam, some people might say things to you about me and Mickey if you show them that."
"I know," Liam said. Sometimes his siblings forgot that he was growing up in the same neighborhood that they did. He might not understand everything yet, but he'd heard some of the things people said about Ian behind his back. "I can handle it. It's not any worse than the things they say about me being the only black kid in a white family."
Ian clasped his shoulder. "You're a good kid, Liam."
Liam shrugged, a bit uncomfortable with the praise. He was pretty sure he wasn't actually that good. After all, he'd taken Carl's advice to get back at a few bullies just last week and Carl's advice was always pretty extreme. "You gotta stick by family right?"
Ian nodded. "Right."
Liam went back to the paper and drew another tree. He was going to find places for everyone he loved and if anyone had a problem with his family he'd just ask Carl for more advice.