Chapter Text
It's summer in the Southside. Fiona is sitting on the front porch, enjoying a cigarette and five minutes of peace and quiet. She had an early shift at Patsy's and has tomorrow off, so the rest of the day is hers to enjoy, and she plans to do just that. Kev and Vee are stopping by later for dinner and bringing the booze, and all the kids have plans to bask in the pool. After making it through a rough winter, they've certainly earned it. Fiona reflects on all the doctor's appointments for Ian and Liam, having Lip away at college and not as able to be her right hand man, Debbie's rapid ascent into the dreaded teenage years, Carl's struggles in school. Let's not forget finding out they have a new sister and nephew, and Frank's medical drama. All this on top of her probation. Sometimes she can't believe they made it through everything. But they did. They're Gallaghers after all. They're nothing if not resilient.
Mickey comes outside and she offers him her cigarette. He takes it and sucks a drag off, handing it back. He sits down next to her, enjoying the peace and quiet himself. After they had finally sought out professional help for Ian, and after some lengthy discussions, they had all come to a resolution. They all wanted the best for Ian, and all wanted to be there for him without the constant back and forth, so the Gallaghers had cleaned out the basement and converted it into a private space for Mickey and Ian to take over. Mickey had packed up all his shit from the Milkovich house and never looked back. He hadn't even set foot in there since. If any of them wanted to see him, they came over to the Gallaghers instead. He had agreed to stay married to Svetlana until she became a citizen, they had come up with a schedule of who took Yevgeny on what days, and Mickey had bought a crib for their basement room. Everyone was satisfied with the arrangement.
Fiona and Mickey are just shooting the shit when Fiona notices a moving truck driving down the block, a nice car following behind it. It slows down and pulls up to the curb next door, in front of Tony's house. Fiona hadn't been home on the day Tony moved out, but she had heard all about the fight and breakup with his Laotian girlfriend from Debbie. The house had been vacant since. She didn't really care though, she had pretty much written him off after the drama with Jimmy Steve had happened. The passenger door opens and Fiona sees a nicely dressed woman with the thickest, curliest dark brown hair she'd ever seen. The woman is fumbling with some keys as she walks towards the door. Fiona doesn't get a good look, but sees her profile and she's stunning. Just from that view she can tell that much. Two girls, one young and one teenaged, and a teenage boy come flying out of the door behind her and Fiona notices a gentleman emerge from the car, coming over to the truck and opening its back door to unload their belongings. Mickey goes back inside, he's never been one for sitting in the sun. Fiona watches these new people curiously. They all seem to be pretty well dressed for this area.
She sees the kids move toward the back of the truck to start unpacking. The man (father, Fiona assumes) is sorting through boxes to hand off to them. The woman (mom) has opened the door and they prop it open with one of the boxes. She heads back to the truck and they all start going back and forth, heading to the house with boxes or items and returning empty handed. Suddenly, the woman notices Fiona on the porch and throws her a wave. "Hey! You must be our new neighbor!"
Fiona rises and moves towards the fence, taking note of the deep southern lilt in the woman's accent. "Guess so. I'm Fiona Gallagher." She offers her hand and the woman takes it.
She's even more stunning up close, although you can see some lines of age and stress around her eyes. "Well hello Fiona, I'm Cherien Rich. It's so nice to meet you!" The gentleman approaches the fence and puts his arm around Cherien's waist. He's noticeably shorter than her, and definitely looks Irish. "This is my husband Doug. Doug, this is Fiona."
He shakes her hand as well. He has an odd accent that Fiona can't place at all, but a pleasant voice and demeanor nonetheless. Cherien motions behind her towards the kids. "That's our tribe. Cael, DiDi and Sam."
Fiona nods and asks, "So, are you guys new to the area?"
Cherien smiles enthusiastically and says, "Oh yes, we just came up from Louisiana. My husband got a great job opportunity and here we are!"
Fiona realizes that she's been outside for quite some time. "Well, it was nice to meet you. I've got to get inside, gotta feed my brood lunch. We're having some company over later for dinner and some down time in our pool, feel free to come by if you'd like."
Cherien's eyes light up. "You've got kids of your own?"
Fiona smirks and says, "Well no, my brothers and sister. I'm their guardian. Come by later, I'm sure they'd love to meet you guys." Fiona likes her, she doesn't know why, but she does.
Cherien claps her hands together and says, "Great! I'll scrape something up and we'll stop over. What time?"
Fiona thinks and says, "Seven should be good."
Cherien heads towards the truck and yells, "Great! See you then!"
Fiona goes inside and sets about making some sandwiches for lunch. When she's done she calls to the kids to let them know it's ready. Footsteps come from various areas of the house and Debbie, Carl and Liam appear. They each take a sandwich and start eating.
Fiona says, "Listen guys, we've got some new neighbors next door and I've invited them over for dinner, so be on your best behavior tonight. Debbie, do you think you could run to the store for a few things for me? Got a list, and I'll give you some cash."
Debbie nods as she chews. Mickey emerges from the basement and Fiona says, "Mick, you going to be home for dinner tonight?"
He shrugs and replies "Dunno yet. Depends how things to at The Alibi. Since Kev will be here, I gotta keep an eye on things. Kate's not a big fan of helping us with anything to do with the rub and tug. Pretty sure Mandy, Iggy and Molly are coming over though."
Molly had moved in with Mandy and Iggy at the Milkovich house after her mother really did overdose on drugs. This time, it was a police officer and not Molly who had contacted Mandy. Despite her reluctance to be responsible for a kid, Mandy didn't want to leave Molly in foster care.
Fiona replies, "I know, Ian told me. The more the merrier. Hope you can make it back! You heading there now?"
He nods. Debbie chimes in and says, "Mickey, I'll walk with you part way, gotta stop at the grocery store. Fiona, you have the list and the money?" Fiona pushes them across the counter to her, along with some coupons, and Debbie and Mickey set off.
When Debbie returns, she and Fiona start prepping some of the food to cook later and then set about straightening up a little bit. Their house will never be fancy, but Fiona would at least like it to be presentable for the new neighbors. She gathers up all the laundry and throws it in to wash, and then she relaxes for a bit, knowing soon enough the next wave of busyness will come and she will start up all over again. It's quiet in the house, something that just a few years ago Fiona would never even imagine as a possibility. It's nice, but a little sad. She's used to the insanity. This quiet is making her even more happy that everyone will be there tonight. She finally wills herself to get up and get the food cooking. She goes into the kitchen to heat the oven, and grabs her phone off the counter, shooting a text to Lip and Ian.
Don't forget, dinner at 7. Got some new neighbors, moved into Tony's place, invited them over. No shenanigans tonight, PLEASE!"
As she's putting chicken and potatoes in the oven, the phone beeps and it's Lip. Got it. We'll be there. Amanda too.
She nods to herself at this. She's not surprised Amanda is coming, and she likes her just fine so she doesn't mind. She does wonder, however, what the deal is with Amanda and Lip. He had filled her in on the fake relationship and how they schemed Amanda's parents out of that ten grand (and although she wouldn't admit it, she was impressed... No Gallagher had ever pulled off a one-time scheme with that kind of reward). But when their spring semester came around, she had assumed Lip would come home until classes resumed in the fall. Instead, he had moved in with Amanda into her off-campus apartment. Fiona wondered if maybe their relationship was more real than they even knew, but she didn't pry. She'd find out one way or another.
Soon, the quiet that had descended on the house evaporated as quickly as it had arrived. The younger kids came out of hiding and were hanging out in the kitchen. Fiona tasked Carl with setting up the big table in the living room, the one usually reserved for holidays. Debbie was getting plates, silverware and cups for everyone. Liam is playing in the living room. Kev and Vee arrive, he holding the booze and she holding the twins, and lay the girls down in Liam's old play pen.
Vee notices all the extra seating and says, "What, are you inviting over everyone in the Southside?"
Fiona chuckles. "No, new neighbors. Moved into Tony's house while you guys were out today. I met them, they seemed nice enough so I figured I'd invite them over, make them feel welcome."
Vee nods at this, and is about to respond but Ian, Lip and Amanda stroll in before she has a chance. They go around giving their hugs and hellos. Iggy, Mandy and Molly are hot on their heels, coming in and greeting everyone as well. Mandy and Lip manage to be civil, but friendly would be a stretch. Mandy gravitates to Ian's side, and that helps to ease the weird vibe that threatened to take over. Iggy greets Fiona and offers his help. She's pulling the food out of the oven and tasks him with finding some large platters for everything. There's a knock on the door, and Fiona knows it must be the Riches. The only other person missing is Mickey, and he wouldn't bother with knocking at this point.
She goes to open the door and as she passes Ian, she says, "Text Mickey, see if he's coming." Ian nods and takes out his phone as she makes her way to let them in.
She gets the door open and finds the Riches on her porch, as she expected. Doug and Cherien are in front, their daughters next to them. Fiona sees the son behind them, can feel his reluctant energy but ignores it. "Hi! Glad you guys could make it, come on in!"
She notices that Doug is holding a tray covered in foil and Cherien has a large bowl in her hands. As they move into the house, Cherien says, "I wasn't sure what to make, so I made a tray of macaroni and cheese and got this mixed salad together too."
Fiona smiles and replies, "Sounds perfect, we've got roasted chicken, potatoes, broccoli and rolls. Come on, let me introduce you all." She takes the bowl from Cherien and makes her way to the kitchen. "You guys! We've got some company! These are the Riches, they just moved in next door." She goes around and introduces all of the various Gallaghers, Milkoviches and associates.
Cherien steps forward and says "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Cherien, this is my husband Doug and our kids. Didi, Sam and Cael." She motions to each kid as she names them, and when she gets to Cael and they all get their first look at him, they're floored.
Carl is the first one to speak. "Holy shit."
Cael is clearly uncomfortable, wondering why these strangers are staring at him like he's a ghost. Cael is a spitting image of Mickey Milkovich, except blonde. Cherien notices everyone staring at her son, and is about to react when Fiona snaps out of it.
"I'm sorry, please don't mind us. It's just that your son looks exactly like our brother in law. I mean, they could actually be twins."
Lip chimes in and adds, "Well, except for Mickey's jet black hair and thug life knuckle tats of course." This earns him a punch in the arm from Ian, but it broke the weird moment. Fiona invites them all to find seats, and somehow the Rich kids wind up in the kitchen with the smaller kids, and Doug and Cherien wind up at the spare table with the older group. Everyone is eating and having a good time.
Suddenly, they hear the front door open and close and Mickey appears. "Sorry I'm late, got stuck at the bar. I'll grab myself a plate." He heads into the kitchen, taking note of these new people in the house when his eyes settle on Cael. "Holy shit. What the fuck?!"