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1.
It had been a long week. Incompetent new employees, dealing with a million appointments and practises and rehearsals for the girls, having to sit through two Gallagher events in the span of a five day work week. It was all just so much. All Mickey wanted to do was finish his dinner, maybe watch a movie if his people were up to it, get dicked down and sleep. Sleep forever.
Item number one on his afternoon itinerary was already underway. It was his day to make dinner and decided to phone it in by making a frozen pizza. By the time he finally sat down his family was already chowing down.
“Yeah, so that's basically it!” Ruby gave Ian a toothy smile, biting into her slice.
“Hm?” Mickey hummed, pulling the chair next to Autumn out.
“Was tellin' dad about my plans this weekend”
“Shit, do these ‘plans’ include me movin my ass at all?”
She gave him a glare, then with a small eye roll continued. “I can just take an Uber”
“You’re not gonna take an Uber” Mickey waved off, raising his glass to his lips. Seeing Ruby’s undeterred glare he elaborated. “Have you seen a documentary ever? That’s how you get kidnapped and killed”
“Yeah right, like you’ve seen a documentary” She scoffed, taking a drink to clear her throat then continued “And that’s not fair you let me take the L before by myself”
Mickey huffed, taking a bite of his pizza. “Franny was there, you weren’t alone” Ruby crossed her arms over her chest, slimming down in her chair, very clearly annoyed.
“Hey, ya know I’m just giving you shit” Mickey made eye contact with her, he was tired of dealing with the teenage melodrama and the idea of dealing with an argument in that moment was starting to give him a headache. A huff as he ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll take you, just let me know when. Better not be in the fuckin AM though” He pointed his straw over in her direction.
She sat up a little straighter at that, mouthing a ‘thank you’.
“Wait till you hear the actual plan” Ian gave a side-eye.
Somewhere down the line of raising their kids, Ian and Mickey found themselves playing good cop bad cop. While Mickey rejected that notion ‘cus “I ain’t like no cop”, Ian thought the tactic of both of them not being completely overbearing typically worked out well in their favour. Ian tended to be stricter. Mickey, much more relaxed when it came to letting them stay past curfew or take a drink of his beer. Ian, however, wasn’t a fan of much rule breaking, which Mickey understood from a distance. Their youth was definitely not a gold star worthy one, Ian didn’t want to see his daughter’s go down the same paths that so many other Southside girls found themselves stuck in. Not to say that Mickey was the chiller parent. He was fiercely protective. Usually had something to say about the people Ruby befriended. He was never really a fan of her group of friends, thought they weren’t the best influence not that he was exactly shy with the comments either. That's where Ian stood back, she was old enough to evaluate the quality of the people she chose to surround herself with. Mickey didn’t completely agree with that assessment.
Mickey just raised his eyebrows at Ruby once more, beckoning her to spill some type of information.
“This is gonna be good” Autumn spoke up for the first time that meal. Ruby was quick to shoot daggers at her younger sister. Mickey spoke up before the sisters could get into it.
“Is it?”
“No!” Ruby stammered a response. “Look just drop me off at Jane’s house we’re gonna have a sleepover” a forced smile, she took another bite of her pizza to appear nonchalant.
Mickey’s eyebrows didn’t drop any. “Mhm, not buying that shit for a second, gonna need more details than that sweetcheeks”
“She wants to go to a club” Ian finally spoke up when he realised that Ruby was not privy to giving any more information about her plan.
“Uh, yeah, no” Mickey snorted. “You’re fifteen not goin’ to a club”. Mickey knew he was a hypocrite given him and his husband’s past. His eyes shifted to Ian briefly, watching as the man suppressed a laugh, taking a drink of his beer, a smirk not leaving his expression. Luckily for them, Ruby was fuzzy on the details as Ian’s past profession as a ‘dancer’.
“It’s not like a real club though!” she dropped her slice on her plate, eyes pleading. “There’s not like alcohol or anything. Not like its a gross club downtown where people are fucking in the corner and everyones rolling on something” Her gaze shifted between Mickey and Ian desperate for one of them to approve.
“Dads,” she sighed, exasperated. “I don’t understand why this is such a big deal”
Ian’s hands rose in mock surrender. “Not up to just me” Mickey gave him a look that meant ‘thanks a lot asshole’ as he suddenly felt three pairs of eyes staring at him.
Mickey sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Big deal is that i’m not letting my kid go to a fuckin club so she can get prayed on my a bunch of old creeps” he spoke from past experiences, but of course Ruby didn’t know that.
“Daddddyyy” she let out a long over-dramatic groan. Mickey noted the use of ‘daddy’. She thought she was slick trying to appeal to his emotional side. She was not. “C’mon, please? Its more controlled of a setting than a party at somebody’s house!”
Mickey genuinely chuckled at that. “Yeah, cus’ last time you went to one of those it worked out so well”. He referred to an event that happened a few months prior where she went to some upperclassmen house party, absolutely stoked she got an invitation. She ended up getting so drunk she called them sobbing that she thought she was gonna die.
Her cheeks grew red from embarrassment at the memory, she shuffled around clearly uncomfortable “You know what fine, I’ll just stay in all weekend. Fuck it why not my whole life? Want me to be a hermit?”
Mickey just blinked at her with a slow nod. “If it keeps you from doin’ more stupid shit than yeah that sounds great”
A controlled scream followed. “I can’t fucking do anything in this house!” Ruby stood up, ceramic plate pressed against her chest so she didn’t drop it on the floor. “You guys are ex-felons, what was your crime again being lame and boring?”
‘Lame and boring’ Ian mouthed to Mickey as she turned away from them. The two of them tried to hold in their laughter at the teenagers sudden outburst.
“Seriously, live a little! But not too much ‘cus you might get thrown back in the slammer for I don’t know, going three over the speed limit. Oh and if you’re really bad, two beers instead of one. Maybe if we’re lucky you’ll get a life sentence and I don’t have to deal with this shit anymore!” another groan followed by the sound of angry stomps making their way upstairs.
“Okayyy then” Ian coughed, “anyone for seconds?”
“Yes please” Autumn nodded, holding up her plate for Ian to grab. The ginger stood up, looming over Mickey’s sitting figure. He almost missed Ian completely, eyes still fixated on the stairs as he could hear Ruby shuffling on the floor above them.
“Don’t worry about it” Ian squeezed his shoulder finally bringing him from his thoughts. “She’ll be fine” Ian leaned down to kiss his husband’s hair before disappearing into the kitchen to refill their three plates.
Mickey did not stop worrying.
2.
It was a cold afternoon, they were on the cusp of Summer, the cool Autumn air was already abundantly clear. Mickey stood at the back porch, leaning against the thin white railing to support his body. He hardly ever smoked anymore, especially not by himself and especially anything but weed. For whatever reason that particular summer afternoon he felt like it. To just have a moment to himself.
He saw her come from the backyard back gate, still jogging as she made her way across the yard and up the stairs to the porch.
He gave her an encouraging smile as she stood idly next to him. Clicking her fitbit off to finish recording her time. She just stood a few feet away from him, trying to catch her breath.
“Good run?” He tried to make conversation, figuring she was going to hang out there for a while.
“Six miles” she gave him a weak thumbs up. Ruby reached for her water bottle hanging from her shorts by a thin black clip. She emptied the contents, shaking the last droplets of water onto her tongue.
“Fuck,” she crushed the plastic bottle, throwing it onto the table behind her. “Hate running” she panted, doubling over to grab at her ankles.
“Agree with you there kid. ‘Les your getting chased, I don’t see the point”
“Because it's good for me?” She squinted up at him, back still laxed over. She held her hand up to her forehead to block the sun she was directly facing. “Keeps my brain from short circuiting and going crazy”
Mickey gave a shrug, smiling a little. He missed when they used to banter like that. The type of meaningless talk of pure civility was severely lacking those days. “Ok, then you should probably keep doin’ it” Mickey took another drag. She snorted in agreement. Then, straightened up, hand extending forward.
He high fived her. He found himself grimacing at the action as soon as he did it, god that was such an Ian thing to do.
“Gimme a hit” she pulled her hand away from his then back out forward towards the cigarette dangling from his fingers.
“Uh, no?”
“No!? Why not?”
“You are literally huffing and puffin’ here”
“Yeah ‘cus I just ran like two 5k’s”
“Yeah and you think smokin’ is helping your case?” His face contorted in confusion as he took another drag. “Since when do you even smoke in the first place?”
Ruby gave a little shrug, her hand still extended towards him, hard pressed that he gave into her request.
“Ok, how about no, because you’re fifteen?”
“Yeah like age ever stopped anyone in this family from doin’ anything” hand stayed extended.
Mickey gently slapped her away that time, getting a scoff in response to the gesture. She held her hand close to her chest like he had actually done any damage. “I don’t understand you!”
“Uh-huh and that’s why?”
She stammered over her words, hazel eyes growing wide as if she couldn’t believe his response. “Because you’re a giant hypocrite? You’ve been smoking since you were, what, ten?”
Mickey thought about it, exhaling over the railing as if not to give her even the satisfaction of a second hand smoke. “Four, actually. M’dad used to use ‘em as pacifiers”
Ruby rolled her eyes at that, taking the comment as some joke when in reality it wasn’t. “Yeah, exactly my point! C’mon everyone smokes”
Mickey just stared at her, bringing the cigarette to his lips again. “Good thing you ain’t just everyone then, huh?”
Ruby stammered again. “What happened to the whole: ‘you can do it in your home but not out in public’ talk?” her hands reached up to release her ponytail, fingers now frustratingly combing through her hair with sweaty hands. She was trying to use his words to justify her want.
“You said I can drink in the house as long as it was casual enough to not end up in AA” she let go of her hair, letting it flow down past her shoulders.
“And?” Mickey just blinked at her. “Still my house, my rules here sweetcheeks. I’m tellin ya no” he looked her up and down, watching as she once again resorted to frustratedly gathering her hair back into a high pony.
He relaxed his posture slightly, he did feel like a little bit of a hypocrite as she accused him of being. “Look tell you what, we can share one, one day. When you’re a little older and I don’t think you’re gonna puke up a lung over a single drag”
She just stared at him, eyes fiercely fixated on the cigarette smoke collecting up into the air.
That truly pissed Ruby off. She kicked her shoes off by the screen door, not wanting to trail dirt into the kitchen.”Whatever, don’t need to bum one off of you anyway” she struggled to kick off the second shoe. When she finally did, the rubber tip of the shoe hit the white trimming of the home. Mickey couldn’t help but chuckle finding the whole mini tantrum funny.
“You’re really lame sometimes you know” she looked back at him once more before sliding the door open and stepping instead.
“Mhm, thanks, I’ll be sure to note the feedback” he yelled at her, dropping what was left of the cigarette on the ground and stomping out the ambers dancing around the remaining budd.
She shut the door behind her, storming off.
Part of Mickey was annoyed at the attitude, the other half was slightly worried she was gonna lock him out.
3.
“Hey, you get out of here” Mickey waved his hand at Pistol, curling against Ruby’s legs. The dog looked up at Mickey, panting slightly as he obeyed, jumping off the bed and running down the stairs. The mutt knew it was almost time for his other dad to go take him on the morning run. Mickey huffed watching as the dog made his way down the stairs, the sound of his nails hitting the hardwood floor became less and less detectable. Mickey then looked back over at Ruby who adjusted to the now open next to her, her bended leg extended slightly as she took up the rest of the queen size bed’s space.
“Bee,” Mickey found himself standing over his sleeping daughter. He was tired, rubbing his eyes as he repeated himself “Bee” then a yawn, and pursed lips as there was no reaction. “Ruby” he repeated a little louder. She didn’t stir any, stayed asleep with her face squished against the pillow, soft sighs falling from her parted lips. She always drooled a little when she slept, reminding Mickey of Ian in that way.
She looked so funny, dead to the world, wild pink hair sticking up from the cocoon of blankets she had wrapped herself in. Mickey couldn’t resist the opportunity. He pulled his phone out from his back pocket to snap a photo. His intentions were to send it to the family group chat later in the morning. Silently prayed that she was in a good enough mood to find it funny instead of annoying like she seemed to be with him lately. Embarrass her the way dad’s were meant to do with their kids.
He stepped back slightly, trying to position himself where she was visible in the limited light her room offered. He stood to the left of the window, getting close to her slobbering face, a slight smirk on his face. This was payback to the photo she had sent to the Gallagher’s not too long ago of him falling on snow.
His volume was all the way up, the shutter followed the dark blurry photo. That seemed to disturb her comotost state. Figures, he could stand over her shouting her name for half an hour to no results but the second he made a slight unintentional noise she was up and at it.
“J’you just take a picture of me?” Her speech was slightly slurred with sleep, she rubbed her fists against her eyes, letting a yawn escape her lips.
“Don’t worry about it” Mickey bluffered, hoping that she was still sleepy enough to take the request easily. He stuck his phone back into his sweatpants pockets before taking a seat at the edge of her bed, pushing her leg slightly. She obeyed, folding her limb closer to her body so that Mickey could sit comfortably, legs swung over the edge of the bed. He extended his hand outward to tap the arm that stuck up towards the ceiling. “Up and at it, brat”
“What time is it?” another yawn as she pulled her sheets back up to her chest.
“5:30” It took all his willpower to not yawn. He was tired himself, heard Ian’s gym alarm go off like it did every morning and actually got up with it. Since Ruby was such a heavy sleeper, she always slept through any alarm she set for herself. She needed to be practically shaken awake or she would never come to. Mickey didn’t need to wake up for another few hours but Ruby asked him to wake her up early, she needed to run an errand before school. He was grumpy about it, stomping up the stairs to get to her room but she asked him to, so of course he did.
“Wait, why are you wakin me up so early? It's still dark out” Her eyes were squinted as she looked into the direction of her closed window.
Mickey pet her hair back. “You asked me to ‘member?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t mean like actually” Her eyes finally opened staring up at him, annoyed.
“How the fuck was I supposed to know that? You asked me to wake up at 5:30, so I did” The two held, slightly obstructed by heavy eyelids, eye contact. She then rolled her eyes, her body rolling over to the other side of her bed made slightly difficult with Mickey sitting on the edge of her blanket.
“Dad always wakes me up like ten minutes later than I ask, that's good I can sleep”
Mickey huffed again, genuinely getting annoyed at the attitude. “Then ask him to wake you up next time”
“No” an immediate whine came. “Dad comes in and does that whole army routine”.
Mickey had to sympathise with her slightly. Ian had this little joke that only he found funny. Whenever he woke up the girls -and sometimes Mickey but he quickly learned he would get his ass handed to him by the older man- he would do the morning drill routine. Flash the lights up and down, yell out in his ‘sargent’ voice that “Cadet Ruby M.G. needed to get out of the bunks and give him twenty push ups”. The kids were always annoyed when Ian did that, reasonably so. Mickey was always a little more gentle when it came to a wake up call. As someone who woke up swinging for most of his life, he appreciated a more gentle hand in the morning instead of a whole act.
“Ok, well, I’ll send his ass on you next time if you don’t chill. Not in the mood to deal with this shit”. The tone change got Ruby’s attention.
“Why are you yelling at me?” her voice was accusing, pushing the hurt through her words. rolled her shoulder back, her face peeking over at Mickey.
“I’m not fuckin yellin’” His voice was breathy, lighter to try to prove his own point. “If you wanted me to get you up at 5:40, say 5:40”
“That’s not the point-”
“You have no point here. Just tell me what you want from me and I’ll do it”
Ruby stayed quiet at that, sinking a little more into the mattress. “I don’t understand why you’re getting all pissy with me?” She finally muttered. “I’m the one that gets to be annoyed here”
Mickey just shook his head, his hands beside his body dug into the sheets slightly more. He calmed himself down slightly watching as Ruby wiggled to get herself more comfortable.
“Whatever, Ruby'” Mickey sighed, hands raised in mock defense. He had gotten significantly better at de-escalating situations and walking away instead of getting angry. He guessed that was maturity, or just that he really wasn’t in the mood to start his day that way. He stood up, intent on getting out of there.
“No, dad” Ruby whined once again, rolling one last time so that she was on her stomach. Shaky arms stabilised her body upward so she could see his movements. “Unfair that you're blaming this on me, ya’know!” she called after him as he made it just slightly past the doorframe of her bed.
“I’m getting my ass back to bed. Get up, don’t, I don’t give a shit”
Ruby stammered a response, blinking back some disbelief before letting out a long drawn out groan. “Fine, dad, whatever!” she thought for a second. “And don’t take photos of me asleep, s’creepy!”
4.
Mickey was hot, felt as if he was getting personally victimised by the hot spring sun. Not having much of any other choice, he resorted to fanning himself with his hand as he sat in the stands. It was one of Ruby’s last races of the season. She insisted that the family didn’t need to be there but the Gallagher’s were never known to pass up an opportunity where they could support - read: embarrass- a family member.
It was up to the last second and Ruby seemed to take the lead in the sprinter she ran. The crowd went wild, Ian and Mickey included as she beat the opposing schools.
Ruby doubled over as she made it past the finish line. She held up a fist victoriously, soaking up the admiration and praise.
It took Mickey and Ian a few minutes of wrestling against the crowd before they finally found their feet on the solid gravelly ground. Most of the oher parents were on the small patch beside the field, trying to find their kids, themselves.
“Ruby!” Ian suddenly yelled from beside Mickey, making the shorter man hold his hand up to his ear at the unexpected volume. “Aye, Bee!” Ian cupped his hands around his mouth trying to amplify his voice. Ian was always easy to spot in a crowd, he loomed over most people, his hair glowed bright in the company of the blistering sun. That made Mickey easy to find by proxy as he was always next to his husband.
Ruby spotted them with a smile, giving a little wave before she disappeared into the crowd, reappearing once more as she pushed her way towards them.
“Good job out there!” Ian was the first to step forward, squeezing her off the ground slightly. “So proud of you, sweetie” he smacked an obnoxiously loud kiss to her cheek. She wiggled out of his embrace, trying to wipe at her face. Between the sun block, sweat and Ian’s dog like slobber she wasn’t feeling the greatest. Ian got the message, placing her back on solid ground. She still however returned the hug, squeezing Ian to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Mickey found that she never lost her neediness and love of physical affection. Even in her most vile angst teen phase, she still demanded a hug and kiss every once and a while. Mickey thought that was at least one good sign that meant she wasn't completely lost to the dark side of teenage sorrow.
Ruby beamed into Ian’s chest, pulling away with the most radiant smile she had given since her preeteen years. “Sprinter was good but I think I set a record for long distance!” she exhaled, slightly because she was out of breath, slightly from the anticipation of it all. She took a step back, bumping into a mom behind her and muttereding a quick sorry as she cracked her knuckles. “Just waiting on coach to confirm it”
“Aye, I’m sure you did. You’re a fast little fucker” Mickey agreed, pulling her into a loose hug before pulling away slightly, lips lightly grazing her forehead.
They pulled away when Ruby’s coach called her name.
“Fuckin, shit” she let out a nervous chuckle, her hand going above her head to signal to her coach she was gonna be there in a second.
“Wish me luck!?” Her pupils were small from the sunlight pouring in but her excitement looked undeterred.
“Fingers crossed here” Mickey promised. She gave him a slight head tilt, but Mickey tried not to read into the weird look, she was ansty with excitement. “Ruby!” Her coach called again, the teenager spinned on her heels, jogging back in the direction of the older woman, hiding from the sun with a clipboard held up to her forehead.
Mickey took the opportunity to turn away and wipe his lips with the side of his hand. He loved that girl but she was sweaty and gross. She returned a few minutes later. At first she tried to have a neutral expression as if to not give away the news but she couldn’t hold out any longer. A few feet away from her parents she started to pump her hands up and down, her head falling back in pure excitement.
“Set a school record!” The excitement dripped from her lips as she placed both palms on either side of her neck, trying to contain herself.
“Ayee, baby that’s amazing!” Ian hugged her once again. “So fuckin proud of you!”
Mickey found himself, cupping her shoulder. “Aye, thatta girl! Good job, sweetcheeks” he offered. Ruby’s brows fused together as she looked him up and down. Mickey went quiet unsure why she was looking at him like he had suddenly grown another head.
She took a step back, Mickey’s hand fell back to his side. She let out a huff before shaking her head at Mickey. He wasn’t sure what he did to deserve the look of genuine hurt she gave him. “Ok, I know you don’t really care about my sport but you don’t have to be mean about it” Ruby scoffed, her tennis shoes digging into the grass beneath her feet.
“I- What? I said I was proud of you, you’re dad just said the same thing and you ain’t given him shit!” Mickey tried to not raise his voice at her, he didn’t want to prove her point but he couldn’t help it. He felt sweltering pride radiating from his chest. He thought his uncontrollable smile was obviously reflecting that but apparently that wasn’t translating to Ruby. He got that running was always going to be a hobby that she and Ian shared but that didn’t mean he was any less proud of her achievements than his partner.
She didn’t give in any, stuck staring at him like he was offending her.
“Hey” His voice was a little more stern “I’m not? I’m being serious here, Bee, I’m proud of you” he grabbed both her shoulders shaking her slightly. Ruby however looked unconvinced. She just rolled her eyes.
“Dad, sounds genuine, you sound all sarcastic” she shrugged him away looking back at the field where a few of the other girls were stretching. When she looked back she looked sad, eyes getting slightly glossy. “You don’t have to come to these things if you’re just gonna make fun of me”
“What?” Mickey was almost too shocked to speak, Ian from his side itched the back of his neck. “Ruby, you can’t seriously think that?” Ian tried to defend his husband.
Ruby gave a hurt little shrug, stepping backwards into the pavement of the track like she wanted to get out of there. “You have a tone issue, you know that?” They held out eye contact for a second. Mickey could have sworn he saw her blink back tears. In that moment he felt like complete and utter shit. He would never ridicule her for anything serious. Sure he teased the kids frequently, did the same to Ian but never with ill intent.
Ruby just smacked her lips, shaking her head before turning away back to the field.
Before Mickey could even try to defend himself she was back out on the centre field past the track back with her teammates.
In the midst of her celebrating with the other girls she turned back to glare at Mickey. He couldn’t do anything but just stare back.
5.
Mickey sighed making his way back into the bedroom. He beelined for the bed, sitting on the edge. He groaned, leaning forward to catch his head in his hands. He stayed like that, fingers parting through his grey peppered hair. He finally sat upright, turning around to face his husband who sat idly against the headboard.
“M’pretty sure our daughter fuckin hates me”
“Gotta be specific there, more than one”
Mickey pursed his lips, letting out an annoyed huff through his nose. “Which one do you think asshole?”
“Oh yeah, Missy, she’s been a catty bitch lately, huh?” Ian gave a little smirk at the pun but Mickey wasn’t having it, he just scoffed.
“I’m not in the fuckin mood to deal with your shit”
Ian’s posture changed slightly, realising that this was a genuine concern and not just some joke. He leaned forward, hand resting on Mickey’s shoulder, beckoning him for more information.
“Ruby doesn’t hate you, Mick. She’s just a teenager. Debbie at that age needed a fuckin exorcism. She’ll grow out of her ‘I hate everyone and everything” phase, promise”
Mickey shrugged Ian’s hand off of him, letting out another puff of air. “I just don’t understand why she’s always so fuckin pissy at me”
Ian looked Mickey up and down. He looked genuinely defeated. Genuinely sad. Ian gave him a humorless laugh, getting an annoyed squint in response. “‘Cus she’s fifteen? I’m sure Autumn will be the same”
“Oh great, thanks Red, really helping the situation here”
Ian crawled over to the edge of the bed, swinging his long legs so they touched the ground beneath their bed. He tossed an arm around Mickey, ignoring the jerk of his husband's body to get off of him. “We are way too far into this whole fatherhood thing for you to still be worrying about being a shitty dad or not”
Mickey rolled his eyes. “Fuck off-” Mickey tried but Ian was determined to get his message across.
“Hey, I’m serious, look at me” Ian’s other hand fell under Mickey's chin, raising it to force Mickey to look him in the eyes. “She’ll get over it. Half the time she’s annoyed with you, she forgets about it within the hour”
“Mhm then why doesn’t she pull the same melodramatic fuckin bullshit with you?’
“She does, you just choose to ignore it” Ian gave a small shrug. “Besides, the two of you are too much alike. Stubborn assholes, ya know?”
Mickey held up his middle finger, Ian could tell he was trying to fight it but the slightest barely detectable smile formed across Mickey’s lips before he pushed it away with another sigh. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, like you’re any better”.
“My point is she doesn’t hate ‘ya, she’s just young and dumb”
“Sure fuckin feels like it” he thumbed the front of his brow. “I mean, I grew up hatin my dad but I had reasons too. Am I fuckin this up somehow?”
“Mick-” Ian’s tone was sympathetic. “You can’t seriously think you’re a bad dad”
Mickey just shrugged, trying at all costs to avoid Ian’s soft eyes. In all honesty, he was hurt. He remembered all those years ago back when the idea of having kids was repulsing to him. He was afraid that he was gonna fuck his kids up somehow. Hurt them, scar them, pit them against him someway. He was scared he was gonna be like his dad. The second Ruby was placed with Ian and Mickey most of that worry went away. He loved her from the first moment her tiny finger wrapped around Ian’s finger. He made sure that she knew that. He had never said ‘I love you' much before but he started hearing himself saying it time and time again now. He did good by his girls. Pushed himself to make sure their upbringing was nothing like his. They deserved the love and care from a parent that he and Ian never got. The overwhelming fear of fucking them up still lingered a little but gone was the self-doubt that he was anything like Terry. That was until now. When he felt his kid hated him like he had hated his dad.
“I just feel-” Mickey’s mouth stayed slightly agape “like a shitty dad, that my kids always mad at me for doin’ nothing” He swallowed hard “She loses her god-damn mind every time I breathe”
“Hey, we’re doing a good fucking job raising those girls” His head nodded in the direction of their open doors where he knew they were somewhere in the house. “They’re safe, got food in their bellies, clothes that aren’t all torn. They’re happy Mick, despite whatever stupid thoughts your having, they know they’re loved and love us back. That’s more than we can say about our upbring” Ian bumped his shoulder into Mickey’s. The dark hand man didn’t return the gesture, stayed stoically quiet, a look Ian had never seen before plastered across his face.
He finally opened his mouth when Ian’s staring didn’t relent. “Yeah, shit I know. I just wish Bee would cut me some slack with the bullshit”
Ian’s face softened a little once again, leaning into his Mickey to plant a kiss on his creased up forehead. He opened his mouth to speak when a voice from their cracked open door spoke before he had the chance. “Really?” It was Ruby, she pushed the white door open slightly more so she was in their direct line of vision.
“Hey just a little general advice, if you two are gonna shit talk me, at least pull the door closed first” She squinted at them clearing fumming. “Or at least make sure I’m not in earshot, fuckin Christ” She slammed the door behind her.
“Ruby we weren’t-” Ian tried to call out but Mickey haphazardly placed his hand on the ginger’s mouth to get him to stop. Ian looked over confused why his husband wasn’t taking the opinions to fix the situation. Mickey just shrugged, before falling backward onto the mattress, defeated.
+1
Mickey learned to appreciate the domesticity of life a lot more in his older age. The joy of joking around with Ian as they blared some shitty jazz music making dinner together was the second best part of his afternoon.
Autumn sat at the kitchen island, she was always up for helping to make dinner but she was in the process of finishing her homework up first. She peaked up at her dorky parents periodically. She would fondly roll her eyes at her idiot dads before scribbling another answer down.
Usually Ruby would also join in, grumbling somewhere off to the side with her phone, pretending she also didn’t enjoy the family time. She was late that evening, texted them she had to do something after school. They shrugged it off. They trusted her.
“Pass me the tomatoes” Ian smiled over at his husband as he continued to stir the roux on the bubbling pan. His hips awkwardly shook slightly off tempo to the music. “Oh and the bay leafs”
Mickey obeyed, also offering him some salt. He sidestepped the oven trying to get to the pantry where all the herbs, Mickey had no clue about, lived.
He idly hummed, searching through their disorganised pantry, stepping out only when he heard the front door.
The home’s front door swung open, bringing a wave of wind into the house. Ruby shrugged off her jacket before slamming the heavy door shut. Ian peered his head around the kitchen to see her drop her backpack at the base of the stairs, sniffling and racing up the stairs.
Mickey made his way back next to his husband, a long sigh as they both shrugged, unsure what was happening with their oldest. That seemed to be a consistent theme, them always being left out of whatever the teenager was going through.
“I’ll deal with it” Mickey placed his hand on Ian’s shoulder before gesturing towards Autumn with a head nod. “You’re on sous chef duty, kid” Autumn nodded, standing up to replace Mickey’s space to finish the meal.
Mickey made his way up the stairs, mentally preparing himself for whatever venom was about to be spewed his way. He wasn’t even at the top step but he could hear the music blaring from her room, the side of her door visibly closed.
“Hey, Bee? Y’okay?” He stood on the other side of the closed door, staring at the ‘do not enter, crime scene’ tape that littered her door. No answer so Mickey tried again.
“Can I come in?” Mickey knocked on the door, unsure if he could be heard over the music.
A sniffle. “Fuck off” another sniffle. “Please”
“Takin’ that as a yes” Mickey slowly pushed open the door, giving Ruby the opportunity to get decent if she wasn’t before he waltzed in. The dog at his heel took the opportunity to go into the room before he could.
He spotted Ruby sitting on the rug in front of her bed, leaning against the metal frame of her headboard for support. She pet Roma’s fur, still sniffling.
Mickey grabbed the tissue box resting on his dresser, handing it over to her. She just looked up at him. Her lip was still trembling as she rubbed one of her makeup-caked eyes. She gave a sigh before accepting, rubbing one of the tissues along her under eye once more. “Can I?” Mickey gestured to the open space beside her.
Ruby took a moment to answer, still looking down at the dog. Roma’s head then perked up as she heard a bag of shredded cheese being open from down stairs. She immediately left the two alone at the promise of food.
“Yeah, I guess there's a vacancy now” she sniffled once more, looking down at the tissue box in grasp instead of Mickey’s eyes.
Mickey slowly leaned down, knees cracking slightly. He used the mattress as support to get down to her level. Ruby pulled her legs up to her chest, making room for Mickey next to her. “Shit kid, you have a perfectly good bed right here” he patted the floral sheets behind him. “Getting old here” he bumped into her, finally settling onto the floor.
“I didn’t ask you to be here” she was quick to defend herself, words like venom, striking to kill.
Mickey raised his hands in defense. “Hey, I know just making sure you're ok, so cut it with the hostility a bit, brat. Not your enemy here”
Ruby’s posture relaxed slightly as she thought his words over. She then let out a cough, both index fingers swiped under her eye. She rubbed the makeup residue on another tissue. “I’m not gonna spill my guts if that's what you want from me” she gave a little shrug, throwing the box off to her side.
“Not asking you to,” he reminded her. He gave a softer smile, trying to remind her that he just wanted her to be ok.
They sat in silence for a moment. Mickey just glanced over her room's decorations, over every face in the photos that littered the back wall behind her mirror. Every vase and decorative pillow she had in her room. The messy pile of laundry in the corner. He even bobbed his head slightly to her shitty music playing. He wanted to give her some space, he knew better than any one he couldn’t force information out of her. They sat in comfortable silence.
“Lexi said she didn’t want to go to the dance with me” she finally spoke up, when Mickey looked back at her, her long nail sat in between her two teeth, she chewed down nervously.
“Eh, she’s a bitch anyway, you can do better” He waved his hand off, dismissively. He got a tearful snort at that.
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t wanna hear it” Ruby’s hand fell out of her mouth and instead pushed her closer to the back of her mattress for support. “About how you warned me not to go out with her or anything” Ruby clarified, her gaze still wary as she settled closer to him.
Mickey just playfully raised his eyebrows. He was definitely rubbing how right he was in her face later, but for now, he decided on trying to comfort her in her sad state.
Mickey Milkovich may not have had the highest emotional IQ but he was trying. Didn’t always get the catty teenage drama Ruby always seemed to find herself falling into, or why she got so upset over certain things but he tried. Tried for his kids.
Ruby sniffled, rubbing the sleeve of the sweater she was wearing across her red nose.
“Aye, that’s my sweater kid. I’d like to get it back booger free please”
She just looked at him. Mickey wasn’t sure what emotions were flashing across those hazel eyes.
He then grimaced, usually that type of comment would be met with hostile backlash but she just chuckled. Then a full out laugh came. Silence fell upon them, the playlist seemed to finish as they were met with complete silence other than the bass from downstairs. Ruby leaned against his shoulder. Mickey took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her, squeezing her shoulder as he laid a kiss on her head.
“Hey dad?” She spoke up after a considerable amount of time had passed.
“Mhm?”
“Thank you for always being here”