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Mickey ran his hand through his hair tiredly, he sat the new cup of tea down on the coffee table.
"Here Yevy", he said softly, and put his hand on his son's forehead, "You're still so warm" he mumbled worriedly.
Yevgeny was lying on the couch in the living room under a blanket. Mickey had put on some Disney movie for him, not sure how the bright screen was supposed to help Yevy's headaches, but he wanted to watch a movie, so Mickey let him.
Yevy was sick for three days now and it got worse, it had started on Thursday, when he claimed to have a bad stomach-ache in the evening. At first Mickey had thought Yevy just wanted to have an excuse to not go to kindergarten on Friday, but overnight he heated up like crazy.
He had felt so warm, that Mickey was close to freaking out and driving him to a hospital. He had never been alone with sick Yevgeny before and had no idea what he was doing. Turned out, googling what to do only made his panic worse.
On Friday Yevgeny lay in bed the whole day but couldn't sleep, his stomach hurt badly, and he had a headache too. Mickey had paid his neighbour twenty bucks to go to a drugstore and get him a thermometer, cursing himself for not having one at home.
Yevgeny' s fever was somewhere between 39° And 40° the whole time.
It was Saturday evening and Mickey was exhausted. It had been a whole day of puking and crying and complaining over headaches and stomach-aches and the tea tasted badly, especially since Mickey ran out of honey to sweeten it.
Just when Mickey wanted to sit down next to Yevy, someone knocked on the door.
"What now?" Mickey mumbled annoyed.
He ripped the door open annoyed, just to find an angry looking Ian Gallagher in front of him.
Ian was wearing his date-leather jacket that he knew he looked fantastic in, tight, black jeans and a nice shirt. He went from angry to confused when he looked at Mickey.
"Oh fuck" Mickey mumbled and closed his eyes, "I forgot to call you, I'm so sorry, Ian"
He was supposed to be on a date with the ginger right now. His neighbour was supposed to babysit Yevy tonight so Mickey could go on a date with his boyfriend.
Ian used to be an old friend of Mickeys sister Mandy, when Mandy was visiting him in Chicago they met up with Ian, Mickey had been head over heels from the get-go. After months of seeing each other coincidentally and briefly (in supermarkets or bars, when they were out with other friends) and dreaming of each other, Ian finally asked him out and now they were together for seven months.
"I've been waiting for an hour, you didn't answer your phone. Hey, are you alright?"
Mickey looked down on him, Ian looked gorgeous and he himself stood there in sweatpants and a dirty shirt. His last shower had also been three days ago.
"Sorry, Ian, my son is sick, and I forgot to cancel our date. Shit, fuck. Listen, I'll text you when he's better and then I'll make it up to you, okay?"
Ian sighed, "Your son is sick?"
"Yeah, it's the first time that I'm alone with him when he's sick. I have no idea what I'm doing. I barely noticed it being Saturday, otherwise I would have called you."
"Hey, no worries." Ian smiled, yeah, he had been angry when he thought Mickey forgot about him, but if Yevy was sick that was something different.
"Daddy" they heard the little boy whine from the living room.
"I'll be there in a second, Yevy" Mickey called back, "Sorry, but I have to go check on him. I'll text you okay?"
"Hey, no wait." Ian took a step into the apartment to stop Mickey from closing the door, "I can help you."
"Help me?"
"You said it's the first time you're alone with him while he's sick. I've got three younger siblings and a niece, I can help you."
Mickey smiled, "That's nice freckles, but I really don't think you want that. In the end you catch whatever virus he has. Also, I didn't shower in like three days and I smell, and the kid is throwing up and you really don't need to see us this way."
Ian rolled his eyes, "What, you think you're not attractive to me anymore after I saw you taking care of your sick son? You don't know me after all, huh?" He smiled, "Let me help you. For one, because you're my boyfriend and as such, it's my duty to help you, and two, If I'm doing a good job, I get bonus points from Yevgeny."
He grinned and let himself into the apartment.
"You're mental."
Ian shrugged, "That too."
From the beginning Ian knew that Yevgeny was the most important thing in Mickeys life. It was clear from their first date onwards that Yevgeny decides over their future as a couple.
"You've got a son?" Ian asked surprised.
"Yeah, Yevgeny. He's three, light of my life." Mickey smiled.
"How come, I mean, you're gay right?"
"Well, I'm sitting here with you so... But yeah, you know, tale as old as time: my dad's a prick, I tried to fuck myself straight, knocked up a girl and here we are. But she's an amazing woman, actually, helped me coming to terms with being gay."
"That's nice. Not many women would be so understanding. You raise the kid together?"
"Uhm, no. She was here illegally and sent back to Russia very recently so now it's just Yevgeny and me. She sends him letters from Russia that I have to read to him."
Ian smiled softly at the man, "You got a picture of him?"
Mickey grinned and got his phone out, his gallery was full of pictures of Yevgeny and him, since he sent them to Svetlana as often as he could.
Mickey showed him one of his favourites of him and Yevgeny at the zoo.
"Cute kid" Ian smiled, "Cute dad too."
Mickey chuckled.
"I'm sure you're a good dad."
Mickey shrugged, "I give my best. But since Svetlana is gone, I have no idea what I'm doing 90% of the time. But... just to be clear, no matter where this is headed or if we even see each other again after this date - my son is the most important person in my life, if he doesn't like you, I'll throw you out of my contact list faster than you can learn how to pronounce his name."
Ian grinned, "I even believe you that. Well, whenever I meet him, I sure hope he will like me. Cause I intend to see you a lot after this date. I like you."
Mickey smiled at him and licked his bottom lip, "I like you too."
Ian walked into Mickeys living room.
Yevgeny, who was four by now of course, lay wrapped in his blanket and looked at the two men.
"Hey Yevgeny, you remember me?" Ian asked smiling.
Yevgeny nodded, they had met a few times so far, Mickey had been very careful when it came to introducing Ian to his son. But the kid liked Ian, otherwise the ginger wouldn't be around anymore.
Mickey sat next to Yevgeny.
"Dad, I want my tea", he mumbled.
Mickey took the cup from the coffee table and handed it to Yevy.
"Ian, will you sit here and watch the movie with us?"
"Of course," Ian smiled and sat down next to Mickey.
"Are you having a date right now?"
"No, Yev, I just heard you were sick and wanted to check on you and your dad."
"Oh" Yevgeny smiled, "That's nice."
Yevgeny cuddled back into his blanket and scooted closer to Mickey to lean on him.
"Heard that? He thinks I'm nice" Ian whispered to Mickey.
The Milkovich is it smiled and looked at him, "I still think you're mental."
"What because I have no problem with seeing you in dad mode in dirty sweats and unmade hair?"
Mickey nodded.
Ian laughed and put his arm around Mickey, leaning against him.
What had been a calm evening turned into a not so calm night.
Yevgeny couldn't sleep and cried because his stomach hurt so much, his fever hit 40° again. Mickey desperately tried to comfort Yevgeny, who was sometime around one in the morning starting to puke his guts out again.
"Oh boy, you barely even ate anything" Mickey mumbled and rubbed Yevgeny's tummy. The child's head rested on a towel in Mickeys lap on the bathroom floor, Mickey made him puke into a bucket, because he was too small to properly puke into the toilet.
Mickey heard the front door and was relieved when Ian showed up in the doorway to the bathroom.
"All the pharmacies are closed by now, but my sister still had some of this", he said and crouched down next to Yevy, "It's fever syrup, brings that fever down and it tastes really sweet."
Yevgeny raised his head a little so he could take the medicine Ian brought him. The Ginger seriously got up and drove all the way to his sister's to get some medicine for Yevgeny.
"But for the stomach-ache I'm afraid you can only keep drinking your tea. Sorry Yevy" Ian mumbled and tried over his blond hair.
"Did you bring honey for the tea?" Yevgeny whispered.
"Yeah I did."
"Thanks"
Mickey looked at Ian.
"Thank you"
"No problem, Mick. How about we bring him back to bed. You shouldn't both sit here on the cold tiles."
They brought Yevgeny back to bed, placing the bucket next to it.
"No, you have to stay here daddy" Yevgeny clung to his dad when he put him to bed.
Mickey sighed and sat next to the child on the bed. Yevgeny had his head in Mickeys lap.
"That's probably not the right moment, but you look beautiful when you take care of him like that"
Mickey chuckled, "Beautiful, right Gallagher. For one, I'm not some girly little boy, that word doesn't apply to me" Ian just rolled his eyes at him, "And I'm pretty sure I have puke in my hair, so don't even try it."
Ian grinned and looked over at Yevy.
"When he's asleep you can go take a shower if you want to. I can watch him in the meantime."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ian helped him to nurse the child back to health.
Soon Yevgeny was jumping around the living room again.
"Thanks for your help Ian" Mickey mumbled, he lay in his arms on the couch while Yevgeny played in his room with his toys.
"No problem at all, I liked helping you, Mick. Seeing you and Yevgeny normal at home, without you trying to control every second of the situation."
"That to my plan of convincing you we were perfect robots that always walk around in proper clothes with combed hair."
Ian chuckled, "The only thing that you convinced me of the last days, was that you're an amazing dad who always gives his best."
"Even though I had no idea what I was doing."
"You gave your best though. You were there for your son when he needed you, That's the only thing that counts for him."
"Ugh, you're making me feel good about myself, stop it", Mickey groaned, and Ian laughed and leaned down to kiss him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later Ian was knocking on Mickeys door again. They weren't scheduled for a date or anything, he just wanted to see how he was doing.
It took a while until the door opened, to his surprise was it Yevgeny.
"Hey, Yevy, isn't your dad home?"
"Daddy is sick" Yevy said and took his hand to pull him into the apartment, "Can you fix him, Ian? You were there when I was sick, can you make him feel better too?"
"Sick?" Ian sighed, "Oh man"
Yevgeny pulled the ginger to his dad's bedroom.
"Daddy, look, Ian came to take care of you and make you healthy again."
The room was mostly dark and in the big bed Ian could see a lump under the covers.
"Yevy, I said, don't open the front door alone." Mickey scolded tiredly.
"But I took a chair to look through the spy first. And I saw that it was just Ian, so I opened."
"Yevgeny, the rule is, do not open the door alone. Even if you know who's standing there."
Mickey finally freed himself from the blankets so he could look towards the door to his room.
Ian stood there and looked at him, shaking his head.
"Yevy, go to your room okay? Play a bit."
"Can I go watch TV?"
"Yeah, okay."
Yevgeny left the room and Ian came towards the bed, he sat next to him on the mattress.
"Sick huh?"
Mickey groaned, "I'm gonna die."
"Sure" Ian ran his hand through his hair and put his hand on his forehead, "Well you certainly got a fever."
"Yeah, I know, 39.5°."
"Think it's the same Yevy had?"
"Oh god I hope not. You should go before you catch it too."
"I won't" Ian smiled, "Come on, I'm gonna take care of you."
"No, you won't. Go home Ian. I don't want you to see me like this."
"Too late. I'm your boyfriend and I'm gonna take care of you when you're sick. Also, if you're lying in bed the whole time you need someone to watch Yevgeny."
"No, I'm disgusting, stay back", he rolled away from him.
Ian laughed and leaned over to kiss his cheek.
"You're not disgusting."
"Yeah, I am, I'm sick. If you stay here and watch me like this, you will never find me sexy again. Oh god, I'm gonna die alone."
"You're being dramatic"
"See another thing, I get dramatic when I'm sick. Everybody says that. Dramatic and whiny and soft" he spat.
"Soft, huh? I get to see soft Mickey?"
"And clingy. So, run while you can."
"Soft and clingy? You? I gotta see that."
"What? No, Gallagher, go home, come on, you shouldn't see me like this."
"Forget it, I'm staying."
"If I'm starting to throw up you will regret it."
"You're being silly. I make you tea and make sure Yevy gets something healthy for dinner."
"I don't think we have healthy."
"I'll find something. Stay here, rest.", Ian mumbled and kissed his cheek again before leaving to make Mickey tea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mickey was very dramatic when he was sick, luckily Ian thought it was adorable.
While Mickey rolled around in bed complaining and certain he was about to die, Ian bonded with Yevgeny.
Currently, Ian was making dinner while Yevgeny sat on the dining table drawing.
The kid got up and walked up to Ian to show him his picture.
"Look, Ian, I drew a picture for my mommy."
"For your mommy, That's nice, she will be very happy about that, I'm sure."
"Yeah, in her letters she always says that she loves my pictures. See, I drew you this time!"
Yevgeny climbed on a chair to show Ian his picture, who was standing at the kitchen counter.
"See, this is dad, and this is me and this is you. And this is the TV and we watch Monsters, Inc. See, this is Sulley and this is Mike."
Ian smiled at the picture with the human-like shapes. Yevgeny's stick-man version of Ian was way taller than what were supposed to be Yev and Mickey, and had fire truck red hair.
"Wow, you did such a good job with this, you're gonna be an artist later."
"You think my mommy will like in Russia?"
"I'm sure your mommy will love it."
Yevgeny grinned widely and climbed down from the chair again to give his picture some finishing touches.
Mickey came out of his bedroom and slowly walked to the bathroom.
Ian smiled slightly when he heard Mickey starting music on his phone and tuning the volume up.
It was a habit Mickey had ever since Ian was so mean to stay here and help.
Usually, Mickey had no shame, as far Ian had seen it. He would be rude to everyone who annoyed him and speak his mind, and he definitively wasn't shy or shameful in bed. That man had a sex toy collection in his closet and had found more than one creative way to incorporate them into their sex life.
But he would rather die, then to chance Ian hearing some sick bathroom noises. And he also didn't want him to see him like this, rolling around sick and sweaty in bed the whole time.
But Ian couldn't be bothered with any of it.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked when Mickey came back.
Mickey just groaned and went back to the bedroom. Ian chuckled, "You want to try eating something? I went to the store earlier and brought you cracker."
Mickey shook his head, "I don't want to eat ever again."
"You have to eat something Mickey. You still got temperature?", he put his hand on Mickeys forehead and sighed, "Go back to bed, I'll bring you some cold water to drink in a minute."
"You don't have to, I can get some water myself"
Ian put his hands on Mickeys shoulders and spun him around.
"Go to bed Mick, I won't say it again. I bring you water in a moment. Don't make me pin you down on the bed"
"In every other situation that sentence would have been so hot" Mickey mumbled frustrated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yevgeny said goodnight to his dad and Ian put him to bed after making sure he brushed his teeth. He tucked the kid in and then went back to Mickey.
Mickey was freezing the whole time despite the fever, so he hid under two blankets, of course he was sweating like a pig because of it, but as soon as he got out under the blanket, he was cold again.
Ian slipped into the bed under just one of the blankets, so the second one built a barrier between the two men.
Mickey turned around to him.
"Hey, it's Monday tomorrow. You want me to bring Yevgeny to day care?"
"You don't have to do that, Ian. Hey, thanks for your help, but I stay home tomorrow, so he doesn't need to go to day care."
"Don't be silly, Mick. You're in no shape to take care of the kid. You're sick, you need to stay in bed and rest. Where is his day care, I bring him there tomorrow before I go to work."
Mickey looked at him for a moment.
"What?" Ian asked chuckling.
"Why are you doing all this? Taking care of Yevy, now taking care of me and Yevy. I mean, look at me, I'm disgusting, I'm sick, annoying, complain the whole time. And you play with my kid, make him dinner and even went out grocery shopping? Are you aiming for the boyfriend of the year award? Why would you want to see me like this the whole time?"
Ian smiled at him, "as your boyfriend, it's kinda my job to be the boyfriend of the year in your eyes. Also, Yevy liking me is certainly good for me, since I plan to stick around, and you only let me stick around if he likes me. And... maybe it's a bit soon to say it, but I want to be with you for the long run, Mickey. And I want to move in with you sooner or later and then I would see you like this, in sweatpants and stained shirts, or sick in bed, all the time. It's what I want."
Mickey looked at him, rolled on his back and groaned while putting a hand on his forehead, looking insanely dramatic.
Ian chuckled, "What?"
"Nothing just, I swear, any other moment you would mention moving in together I would jump on you and fuck you through the whole night."
Ian looked at him and licked his lips.
"Really? So, you would want to move in together?"
"I would have to ask Yevy first, but yeah. You're the definition of perfection" he mumbled, "I need to make every second with you count before you realise there are other way hotter and better men out there, that don't happen to be single dads that catch disgusting viruses from their kids"
Ian grinned and kissed his forehead.
"I don't want anyone else, not even someone who isn't a single dad. I like Yevgeny and I like seeing you being domestic and taking care of your child. Also, he drew me on a picture for his mom. There is no way out anymore."
Mickey chuckled, " Yeah, he showed me the picture. You are twice as tall as me."
"Well, he stays realistic in his painting style."
"You're an ass", Mickey laughed, and the laughing turned into a painfilled groan again.
"God, my head hurts."
"Well, drink your water and then finally lie down and sleep. You were up the whole night and day."
"I noticed. But I just couldn't sleep. My stomach hurts, my head hurts, I'm sweating, I'm cold" he rolled to the side again, "I'm going to die"
Ian grinned and ran his hand through Mickeys hair, "Of course you will, my drama queen"
Mickey lazily kicked him under the blanket.
Ian just smiled and switched off the lights before wrapping his arms around Mickey.
"You really shouldn't get so close, You're gonna get sick too"
"You don't be able to forbid me to cuddle my boyfriend. No matter how sick you are."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later, Mickeys fever was gone and the only thing that really fucked him up were his stomach-aches -but they were hell too, kept him in bed all day and he barely could eat anything.
Ian in the meantime upped his game of being the perfect boyfriend every day. He brought Yevgeny to day care and also got him after his shift and made sure to switch his shifts in ways he could manage getting Yevy in time.
He made him dinner every evening and put him to bed, tucked him in.
Yevgeny liked the treatment he got from the ginger.
Ian just tucked Yevgeny in and said goodnight to him.
"Ian" the boy said when Ian wanted to switch off the lights.
"Yeah buddy?"
"When will daddy be better again?"
"Oh, Yev, don't worry. Your dad will be fine. He's almost completely good again, just a few stomach-aches."
"But why doesn't he come out of bed if he's almost healthy again?"
Ian grinned at the kid.
"Because your daddy is very dramatic when he's sick. And he knows, that when he's being dramatic and cute, I'm being extra nice to him."
"So, daddy just acts like he is sick so you at nice to him?"
"No, he really is sick, he's just not as bad as it looks. Go to sleep kiddo, I make sure your dad is healthy again soon."
"Okay, good night Ian"
"Good night Yevy"
Ian went back to Mickeys bedroom.
"Hey babe, how are you feeling."
"Not fucking better than an hour ago" he complained.
"Did you eat?"
"I'm so not hungry" he mumbled.
Ian put some sweatpants on and removed his flannel over his t shirt before crawling under the blanket next to Mickey.
Since the Milkovich wasn't hot and cold at the same time anymore, they went back to just one blanket.
"I heard what you said to Yevy by the way"
"Am I wrong?" Ian grinned, "Come on, I just didn't want him to worry about you."
"I'm not just acting up so you're nice to me."
"I know. Believe me, I'm sure you would act just as dramatic if I wasn't around to see it. But I'm extra nice because of it though."
Mickey smiled and rolled over to him, putting his head on his shoulder.
"I enjoy slightly less sick Mick" Ian mumbled, "You're looking for body contact and cuddles."
"I told you I get clingy. When I'm better I be the hard, cold south side guy again, don't worry."
Ian chuckled, "I kinda like this clingy, soft side."
Mickey smiled and then hissed slightly, he lay back on his back and put his hand on his stomach.
"Still hurting?"
"Yeah, at least I know that Yevy definitively wasn't overreacting when he was sick. Poor child."
Ian smiled, "You want a belly-rub?"
Mickey frowned at him.
"Don't look at me like that, tough guy. Take your hand away."
Mickey took his hand from his stomach and Ian pulled his shirt up a few inches and put his big, warm hand on Mickeys stomach, slowly starting to rub his skin.
Mickey looked at him a bit puzzled but eventually just lay down and enjoyed it, it didn't help his stomach-aches all too much, but it was nice though.
Ian smiled and put his head on Mickeys shoulder, kept moving his big palm over his pale skin until Mickey fell asleep.
He smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Fuck, I love you" he whispered, thinking the Milkovich was already fast asleep.
"Love you too" he just heard him mumbling half asleep instead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another few days later, Ian had been home in the meantime since Mickey was feeling better, Mickey had asked him to him via text.
Mickey opened the door for him and pulled him into the living room.
"You look happy", Ian commented on Mickeys grin while the Milkovich pulled him through the apartment.
"Well, I'm completely healthy for days now and Yevgeny stays the night at a friend's house, so we have the apartment all for ourselves, finally again."
Ian grinned at him dirtily and pulled him close to him by his shirt.
"Well that sounds like an opportunity we shouldn't miss out on."
He quickly pulled Mickey's shirt over his head and got rid of his own jacket, and kissed Mickey passionately.
Mickey chuckled into the kiss when Ian picked the smaller man up and carried him to the bedroom where he dropped him on the fresh, new sheets.
"Hey, wait, one thing" Mickey smiled up at him while Ian was leaning over him, "You know how we talked about you asking me to move in together?"
"Yeah..."
Mickey grinned and reached for the bedside table. He took a small object and let it dangle in front of Ian's face.
"Are that..."
"Keys" Mickey smiled, "But" he held them further away when Ian wanted to grab them, "You gotta ask first."
Ian grinned down at him, "Mickey, do you want to move in with me?"
"Oh, fuck yes" he growled and kissed him again and let the keys slip into the back pocket of Ian's jeans.
He quickly proceeded to take The Gallaghers clothes off and turn him around, to ride and fuck him through the night like he promised him.