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This beautiful Sunday morning was already proving to be a great start to the day. Ian was laying on his side, his elbow propping him up. Mickey laid on his stomach, right arm tucked underneath his pillow, his head was turned towards Ian and his left hand was resting on top on Ians hand. Ian's eyes traveled up and down his sleeping husband's form. Ian couldn’t help but smirk as he reached over and brushed some of the beads of sweat that still remained on Mickey's forehead with his thumb. Ian had used his Gallagher charm, among other things, to rouse Mickey up earlier than he liked to on Sunday mornings. Mickey, grumpy at first to be woken up, was more than happy to oblige the red head's morning request.
The rays from the morning sun outside peered through the bedroom curtains and lingered across Mickey’s shoulder blades. Ian let his fingertips trail down Mickey's spine and stopped at his lower back. He continued this motion for a few moments and Mickey remained asleep.
“Must have worn him out” Ian thought. Between the few rounds last night and twice this morning, Ian shouldn't be all that surprised. He was prepared to stare at Mickey's naked body for as long as he could, but a sound of a small whimper from the monitor on the nightstand brought his activity to a quick end.
Ian gave a quick stretch before getting out of the bed. Bending down to grab his boxers from the floor, he slipped them on and grabbed a tank top as he made his way out of the room.
Walking through the apartment and toward the nursery, Ian pulled the tank over his head as he approached the door. He opened the door slowly and poked his head in. The room was dark thanks to some blackout curtains. The only light came from the moon and cloud shaped LED lights mounted on the wall about the crib. Ian stepped in and looked over the crib and smiled.
Lina was on her belly, scooting herself back and forth. She looked up at Ian, pacifier in her mouth and started smiling and gurgled happily. Lina grabbed the bars of the crib and pulled herself into a standing position and reached up to Ian.
“Good morning, beautiful.” Ian whispered as he lifted her out of the crib.
He planted soft kisses on her face as she smiled and patted his face with her hands. He gently bounced her in his arms and walked over to the window and pulled back the black out curtains, allowing a little bit of the morning light to shine through the regular curtains.
“Are you ready to have a good day?” Ian asked her sweetly, carrying her over to the changing table. He gave her belly a quick tickle before grabbing what he needed to get her ready for the morning.
“We’re gonna have breakfast and get you ready to go on a run with Daddy. How does that sound?” Ian spoke to her as he was getting her into a clean diaper. She simply babbled happily at him with a smile. Lina was always a pretty happy baby in the mornings.
Now in a fresh diaper Ian picks Lina up off the table and carries her over to her closet to grab clothes for the morning. It was chilly outside when Ian stepped out onto the balcony, so he dressed her in some red thermal jogger pants with a matching pullover sweatshirt. He was also bringing a brown fleece beanie with 2 pom poms on top, her black jacket which was a smaller version of one Mickey had and a pair of black boots.
After a quick breakfast, Ian got himself dressed in some dark gray sweatpants, lighter gray shirt, a thin black hoodie with a jacket overtop and a green beanie. He got the stroller already to go. Making sure he brought a few snacks, a small stuffed giraffe and Lina’s blanket amongst the rest of the essentials.
“Ready to go, Babygirl?” Lina let out some random noises as he picked her up out of her highchair.
Keys, phone, wallet and baby in hand, it was time for them to head out.
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With them on the westside, it was pretty easy for Ian to find a few different route options for his runs. Most of the people in the neighborhood were young couples and students around Ian's age and a lot of them were pretty active runners. He found a route that was a few blocks away and it went through a park that had a playground. Perfect option for runs with the baby.
Ian did a few laps around the park before ending his run at the playground. Lina was great the entire time. When she wasn’t babbling noises up toward Ian or yelling randomly, she was meticulously eating the handful of Cheerios he had put on her tray when they got to the park.
It wasn’t busy at the playground at all, one of the reasons Ian loved doing these Sunday morning runs with Lina. There were only a few parents and kids around at this time. He could enjoy his time with her without tripping over other kids or having to make small talk with moms, and occasionally dads, who would try to hit on him.
He found a spot close to the swings, which was his daughter's favorite, and parked the stroller. Realizing where they were, Lina started to squirm and wanted out of the stroller asap. Ian chuckled at her struggle before unbuckling her and freeing her. He lifted her up and into the seat of the swing. The smile never left his face once he started to hear her shrieks of joy once he started to push her.
This Sunday morning really was going great for Ian. Making love to his husband as the sun started to rise to then spending time with his little girl and listening to her laugh. Everything was perfect. Ian switched his position from behind the swing to the front so he could see Lina’s face. As the swing got close to him, he grabbed it and gave Lina a big kiss on her cheek.
“Mwah!” Lina laughed and kicked her legs wildly as Ian pushed her away.
“Mwah!” He kissed the other side of her face and was given the same reaction. He was so transfixed by his Lina that he didn’t even notice the mother pushing her son on the swing set next to them watching.
“Oh, my goodness. She is adorable.” The woman spoke in a high, polite voice.
“Thank you.” Ian replied graciously, looking at her briefly with a smile. He sighed quietly to himself knowing that the park parent's small talk was always inevitable, even during a slow morning.
“Yours?” The woman asked nicely.
“Yeah.” Ian replied again, this time not taking his eyes off of Lina. He was used to these kinds of small talk questions, especially when he was out alone with the baby.
“Hi, sweetheart. You are just a precious bundle of giggles, aren’t you?” The woman stepped away from her son as he continued to swing. She stood next to Ian so she could say hello to the little girl.
“That she is.” Ian agreed. Lina giggles started to die down a little bit with the arrival of this woman in front of her, but they would pick back up with every push her father gave her.
“How old?” The woman asked, now turning to face Ian.
“She just turned a year-old last week.” Ian said with pride. He still couldn’t believe how big she was already. The woman let out an audible “aww” and smiled.
“I do miss them at that age. Especially with this one. He was such a good baby.” The woman pointed over her shoulder to her son. Ian looked over at the boy and gave the woman an agreeing nod. He finally let his eyes look directly at the lady in front of him rather than shooting her quick glances.
She had blonde hair that just barely reached her shoulders, and her makeup was fully done. She was wearing a black suede winter coat and had a rhinestone covered tumbler in hand.
“How many do you have?” Ian asked to be polite.
“Two. This is Noah. My daughter, Lindsay, is over there in the red coat.” The blonde pointed once again to her son behind her and then over toward the large slide where her daughter was playing with 2 other kids.
“Is she your only one?” She pointed in Lina’s direction.
“Yup. Her name is Lina.” Ian had stopped swinging Lina when he noticed that her beanie was about to fall off. He readjusted it before giving her a pat on the head. The woman looked at the young toddler and gave her a small wave.
“My advice. Enjoy every second. Good or bad, because you’ll miss moments like these as she gets older.” She advised the red head as she still smiled and waved at Lina. Ian kept his hand on Lina’s head and looked at her. She was right. That’s why he loved these park mornings and tried to do them as often as he could.
Before Ian could reply, the young boy that the woman was pushing on the swing was now standing next to her and pulling on her arm.
“Mama! I wanna go to the jungle gym!” The young boy pointed and pulled at the woman's arm.
“All right, honey. Let’s go. Nice talking with you.” She laughed at her son's eagerness. She gave Ian a partial wave before she was pulled away by her son.
“You too. Say bye to the nice lady.” Ian grabbed Lina’s hand and helped her wave goodbye. Naturally the baby in the swing could care less. She wanted to keep swinging and made sure Ian knew that. She let out a whine and kicked her feet and rocked her body trying to get the swing to move. Ian laughed and started to push her once again.
Ian pushed Lina on the swing for another five minutes before a whistle caught his attention. He looked to his left to see Mickey walking down the pathway toward the playground. He could tell that his husband quite literally just rolled out of bed. Mickey’s hair was messy, and he was wearing the same black and gray stripped long sleeve he was wearing the night before, just with the addition of a jacket and a scarf.
“Hey!” Mickey yelled to his husband holding 2 cups of coffee in the air.
“Hey, I wasn't sure if you were gonna make it!” Ian yelled back with a smirk.
“Almost didn't. I'm surprised I can walk at all.” Mickey commented with a smile as he walked up to Ian handing him his coffee and giving his husband a quick kiss on the lips.
Almost immediately after they’re lips touched Lina started to whine for Mickey's attention. Reaching out toward him and trying to grab the sleeve of his jacket. Mickey cut the kiss short and bent down so he was at eye level with Lina.
“There’s my girl! You wanna kiss too?” His tone went from normal, to a more sweet and happy voice the moment he locked eyes with his daughter. Mickey grabbed one of her hands with his free one and started planting kisses on her hand and face. She reached for Mickey’s face and laid a sloppy kiss on his cheek.
Ian sighed dramatically watching the lovefest happening in front of him and gave Mickey a pat on the shoulder.
“Well, I guess I'll just leave you two alone then. I’m gonna run to the bathroom.” Ian turned and made his way up the pathway and toward the nearest restroom.
Mickey stood and was about to start pushing Lina in the swing when she started to push herself up out of the seat.
“Sick of the swing, huh?” Mickey took a few steps over to the stroller to set his coffee down before hoisting Lina out of the swing seat and onto the ground.
Lina steadied herself by grabbing onto Mickey’s pant leg before attempting to walk toward the center of the playground. Mickey quickly reached for her hand and just followed where she went. She waddled over to a small slide that was clearly made with toddlers in mind, it was just small enough for Lina. There was no way Mickey would be able to fit on there with her. She watched as another little girl came down the slide and clapped her hands and smiled. Going towards the small steps leading up to the top of the slide, Mickey kept a hand on her back as she slowly climbed each step. Once Lina was at the top, Mickey helped position her at the slides opening.
“All right. Ready?” Mickey asked her before giving her a gentle push down.
“Wee!” Mickey exclaimed as she slid down, laughing happily.
“Wanna go again?” The toddler paid no mind to her father and quickly walked back to the steps and started climbing up herself.
“Guess you don’t need my help then.” Mickey said more to himself. There were only 3 steps, and she was taking her time. Lina had no problem going up the stairs at the Gallagher house, even if it did take her a while to get all the way to the top.
Mickey smiled as he watched Lina scoot herself to the slide opening before sliding down again. This time he stood at the end so he could see her come down. She reached the end, again giggling away.
“Yay! That was a good one, gremlin.” Mickey gave her a small applause as she went for a round three.
This cycle of up the stairs and down the slide went on for a few more turns. As Lina was on her way to go up once again, she accidently bumped into someone's legs.
“Oh. Hello again.” The woman from earlier said to the baby with a smile. Lina, becoming very shy, turned away from the lady and made her way back over to Mickey. Mickey was sending a quick text to Sandy when he felt a familiar pull on his pant leg.
“All done sliding?” He asked as he reached down and picked Lina up. She buried her face into Mickey’s neck. Mickey figured she was getting tired, and it was time they started to head home. He rubbed his hand up and down her back as he turned toward the direction of her stroller.
“Excuse me?” Mickey heard a voice call out but ignored it.
“Sir! Excuse me?!” The same voice yelled, this time clearly toward him. Mickey turned around to see a blonde woman walking up to him.
“You talking to me?” He asked her curiously. The woman put a hand on her hip and pointed to Mickey with her phone in hand.
“Yes I am. Do you know this child?” She asked, pointing her phone at Lina in his arms.
Mickey eyebrows furrowed as a look of confusion covered his face. He looked the woman up and down trying to figure out what her deal was.
“Uh, considering this is my kid, yeah.” Mickey replied as a matter of fact. He turned his back to the woman and continued to the stroller. He reached in and grabbed Linas's giraffe, handing it to her. She grabbed it and held it close, chewing on one of its ears. He set her down so he could get everything situated when the woman's voice once again hit his ears.
“Sir. You need to step away from this baby before I call the police.” She said in a no-nonsense tone. Mickey quickly turned to face her and looked at her like she was out of her mind.
“Call the police for what!?” Mickey was confused. Who the fuck was this lady and why was she so determined to piss him off right now?
“I actually met and spoke with this little one's father, and you are certainly not the man I spoke with. So, you are going to back off, walk away and leave before I call the police.” Her voice was shaky as she attempted to threaten the south side native, but she stood her ground and looked Mickey in the eyes.
Mickey let out a chuckle, he couldn’t believe this was happening. He licked his lips and rubbed the end of his left eyebrows with his right index finger. This lady was starting to annoy him.
“Look, lady. I don’t need this. It’s too damn early for this, it’s cold, I’m sore and I gotta get her ready to go. So go and be the park monitor somewhere else.” He said very irritated. Hoping she would just go away; Mickey turned his body away to move the diaper bag from inside the stroller when he heard the woman speak again. This time to his little girl.
“Let’s go find your Daddy, sweetheart.” She said in a sweet voice reaching to pick up Lina.
Lina hated being touched by people she did not know. So, the second the woman's hands got close to her Lina let out a shrill cry, dropping her toy. Before the woman could blink, Mickey scooped Lina into his arms and was looking at the woman in pure anger.
“Hey! Don’t you fucking touch my daughter! Look, the one who needs to back off is you! You’re scaring her!” The woman, now very much frightened, took a small step back but kept her eyes on the now distraught toddler.
Other park bystanders were starting to watch this situation unfold as the two continued to go back and forth with each other. Ian came back down the pathway and saw the commotion. He started running over as soon as he heard Mickey yelling over their daughters' cries.
“Woah! Woah! What’s going on here?” Ian questioned stepping in between the frustrated woman and his pissed off husband. The woman's eyes got wide, realizing that the little girl's father clearly knew this other man.
“This bitch was threatening to call the cops on me!” Mickey yelled past Ian as he was bouncing Lina in his arms. Ian reached over to Lina in an attempt to calm her.
“Shhh. Shhh. It’s okay. It’s okay.” Ian spoke to her. He looked down to see her giraffe on the ground. Picking it up, he booped her nose with it and put it in her hand. Her cries slowly started to come down. Ian gave Mickey a pleading look, “Mickey, please just take her over there and I’ll handle this.”
Mickey’s blue eyes continued to glare at the woman. Acknowledging Ian’s request, he pushed the stroller over to a bench a few feet away and continued to quiet his scared child. Once Mickey was out of earshot the woman’s demeanor changed as she started to speak to Ian.
“I'm so sorry. I didn’t realize that someone else was here with you.” She said apologetically. Ian gave her an understanding nod.
“It’s fine. You can’t be too careful these days, especially when it comes to kids.” Ian, having a small understanding of what happened, just wanted to leave before Mickey got even more riled up.
The woman let out a sigh and put her hand on Ian’s arm. Ian stiffened a little and just gave her an uncomfortable smile. He could feel Mickey’s eyes from behind him without even looking.
“I agree completely. But he kept saying that he was her father. That’s what really set off the red flags.” She explained to the redhead.
“He is her father, but I get it. I appreciate your concern, but everything is fine.” He turned his body to the side to give a glance and a wave back at Mickey. He did so merely as a way to get her hand off his arm, but to show her that everything was fine in hopes that she would go on her way.
“I thought you were her father?” She furrowed her brow. Pointing at Ian in confusion.
“Here we go,” he thought.
“I am.” Ian stated simply. He watched her expression change to that of sudden understanding.
“Oh! Haha, I see.” She laughed, pretending to hit herself on the head. Ian laughed awkwardly and just nodded.
“One of you is the father and the other is her stepfather. So, this is like an end of weekend handoff situation, right?” She just had to continue questioning.
Ian’s mouth dropped open a bit and he couldn’t help but look at her a bit dumbfounded. He knew he should have just agreed and ended this whole thing there.
“No. We’re both her dads. He’s my husband.” Ian raised his hand, to show her his wedding ring.
The woman blinked and stared at Ian’s hand and then shifted her eyes to Mickey, who was no longer paying them any attention. He was sitting on the bench bouncing Lina on his knee and giving her a drink.
“Oh.” She said quietly, finally putting the pieces together. She stood there just looking at Ian. A familiar feeling, for Ian, of judgment and disapproval was rolling off her in waves. Before he could say anything to end this situation once and for all she spoke.
“That poor child.” She said placing her hand over her heart and looking over at Lina. Ian stiffened his jaw, his eyes squinting at her.
“Excuse me?” He was completely taken aback by her comment.
“A child shouldn’t be raised by two gay men.” She said point blank to Ian’s face. Ian shook his head and without hesitation waved her off.
“Okay. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.” Ian walked away from her and over to his family. Ian, without a word, picked Lina up from Mickey's lap and set her into the stroller.
“What was that all about?” Mickey asked, standing up from the bench and over to Ian’s side.
“Later, Mick. Let’s just get out of here.” Mickey could hear the frustration in his lover's voice, so he just dropped it. His attention, instead, went back to the blonde mother who was talking loudly with another parent near here. He could hear phrases like, “disgusting lifestyle” and “sinful behavior” being thrown around. Mickey was getting why Ian wanted to bail out of there fast.
“Don’t you think that she deserves to have a mother!?” The lady yelled out to them as she started to walk toward them for the millionth time. This caused other parents and kids to look in their direction.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we are very happy, and she is well taken care of.” Ian said not looking at the woman. Instead, he focused on placing Lina’s blanket over her and giving her a sippy cup of water.
“That little girl is not going to have a normal life. You are forcing your sinful lifestyle on her.” The woman started to preach to them. Mickey rolled his eyes at her and went to stand behind the stroller.
“Lady, are you fucking nuts or something?!” Mickey threw at her with an exasperated tone.
“You two cannot create a child together, so you should not be allowed to raise one.” Her arms folded across her chest with such confidence, believing what she was saying to be the absolute truth.
Making sure his daughter was settled, Ian grabbed the diaper bag from the bench seat and put it over his shoulder. He turned to the woman with purpose.
“So going along with your logic, a couple who are infertile and can’t get pregnant should not be allowed to adopt or use a surrogate to have a child?” Ian was pretty good in an argument. Benefits of being a Gallagher. So, Mickey was not at all phased that Ian was ready to go toe to toe with this lady.
“That is different. Their infertility is not a choice. YOU made the choice to be homosexual.” The woman replied quickly. Ian pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. He was ready to go off on this lady, when he saw that her daughter was now walking up behind her. No doubt the child heard their argument just like the rest of the park had. Ian sighed and just motioned for him and Mickey to get going.
“A child deserves to have female and male presence in their life.” The lady continued to poke them with her remarks.
“You go around saying that shit to single parents?” Mickey asked her seriously over his shoulder as he tried to walk past her with the stroller.
She tried to move in front of them, blocking their path ever so slightly. Dragging her daughter along with her.
“Again, you are doing this deliberately. You are not taking her well being into consideration!” This was going too far now. It was one thing for this woman to voice her opinions for all to hear, but to physically keep his husband from taking his daughter away from the scene was the pushing point for Ian.
“Look, lady, you need to…” Ian started.
“Enough, now!” A bystander yelled at the two of them. They all turned to see another woman walking up to them. She stood directly in front of the blonde “You need to keep your opinions to yourself and let these men take their child home.” She told her, clearly frustrated with how this woman was acting.
“Does this not bother you?” The blonde asked the woman pointing to Ian and Mickey.
The bystander shook her head and pointed her finger in the other woman's face.
“The only one bothered by them and, in turn, bothering the rest of us here in the park is you.” The bystander sassed and ushered the blonde out of the pathway so that Ian and Mickey could attempt to pass.
“I’m just looking out for that baby's well being. The bible says their lifestyle is a sin. It just hurts to see an innocent child having something sinful forced onto them.” She was determined to get someone to agree with her. She was almost pleading, like this was her life's mission.
“You know what the bible says? "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way, you judge others, you will be judged.” Ian spoke in a confident tone, not one of anger.
The bystander looked at Ian impressively, while the blonde looked at him surprisingly.
“Yet you’re standing there giving us shit on our ability to raise a child because we are 2 men who are gay and married. You can’t just pick and choose which parts of the bible work best for you.” Ian pointed out. Just to rub it in the woman's face, Ian wrapped his arm around Mickey's shoulders and gave Mickey a peck on the cheek.
Mickey, not having a clue if what Ian said was correct, just went along with it.
“He’s probably right. He used to be Gay Jesus, so he knows his shit.” He said to the woman in all honesty.
The woman was taken aback, and her face contorted into one of disgust. Ian looked past her and gave a side smile. He looked at the blonde and pointed just over her shoulder.
“Maybe instead of focusing on us as parents, you should focus on yourself. Cause at least ours wasn't licking the ladder on the monkey bars.” Ian advised her. Mickey looked over and let out a quick ‘hehe’ just as the woman spun around to see her son indeed resting his tongue on the ladder.
“Noah! No!” She yelled after her son and ran back over towards the playground, pulling her daughter with her.
Ian smiled proudly. Mickey wrapped an arm around his man's waist and gave him a victory squeeze.
“I’m so sorry about that.” The bystander apologized.
“Why are you sorry? Do you know her?” Mickey asked her, unsure why she was apologizing when she came over to help them out.
“I absolutely do not. I’m just sorry that there are still so many closed-minded people in the world. Please know that not all the parents who come here feel the way she does. I certainly don’t. You are two people who clearly love each other and you’re demonstrating that love for your child. I think you have a beautiful family, and she seems like a very happy baby.” The bystander explained her position and offered them a smile. Looking over into the stroller she gave Lina a small wave.
“We appreciate that. Thank you.” Ian expressed.
“Thank you.” Mickey repeated genuinely.
The two said their goodbyes to the helpful bystander and made their way back home.
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“I can’t believe that she was actually gonna call the cops on me. If I wanted to kidnap a kid, I wouldn’t hang out where everyone could see me. Distract the kid, snatch and go.” Mickey explained to Ian as they walked into their apartment. Ian stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Mickey quizzically. Not sure whether he should be concerned or unsurprised by his husband's plan.
Mickey looked at Ian and then did a double take when he saw Ian just staring at him.
“What?” Mickey asked innocently, unsure why Ian was looking at him like that.
Ian chose to stay quiet and just focused on the first half of Mickey's statement.
“This isn’t the last time this is gonna happen. We’re gonna have to learn to handle other parents like that for the rest of Lina’s life.” Ian stated.
Ian had accepted this as fact a long time ago. Ian removed Lina’s beanie, jacket and boots while she was still in the stroller. She watched Ian, struggling to keep her blue eyes open. Mickey took over getting her out of the stroller as Ian set her stuff to the side.
“We just tell them to mind their own goddamn business. Ain’t that right, sweet face?” Mickey said quietly as he hoisted Lina into his arms and kissed her head.
Mickey carried her into the nursery to change her and get her ready for a nap, while Ian put away the stroller and diaper bag. He took off his running clothes and stripped down to his boxers. He was about to make his way into the bathroom for a shower but poked his head into the nursery first.
Mickey had drawn the curtains closed and turned the lights above her crib on. Ian watched as Mickey sat in the rocking chair with their daughter. He could hear Mickey talking softly but couldn’t make out what he was saying.
“Is she out?” Ian whispered, just loud enough for Mickey to hear him. When Mickey didn’t respond Ian stepped into the room and over to the chair.
“Mickey?” Ian tapped him on the shoulder. Looking down to see Linas pressed up against Mickey's chest, her hand in a fist and gripping the collar of his shirt.
“Huh?” Mickey looked up at Ian, snapping out of his daze.
“Is she asleep?” Ian brushed his hand over Linas brown hair, which was a bit messy from having her beanie on. Mickey stood up slowly.
“Yeah. Has been for a few minutes.” Mickey whispered back. He leaned over and gently laid her down in her crib. Lina whimpered in her sleep because of the change in position. Mickey laid his hand on her belly and shushed her until she was quiet again. He set his hand on the edge of the crib and just looked at her sleeping.
“You think she was right?” Mickey whispered to Ian, not taking his eyes off Lina.
“Who?” Ian asked, he was also looking down into the crib.
“The lady at the park.” Mickey uttered in a harsh whisper. Ian took his eyes off of the sleeping baby and looked at Mickey.
“Right about what?” Ian asked, trying to get Mickey to look at him.
“Us not taking her into consideration.” Ian was confused. Just a few moments ago Mickey was saying that they would tell people to mind their own business. Ian grabbed Mickey's wrist and led them both out of the nursery, closing the door behind him. Ian made sure they were away from Lina’s door before speaking in his normal voice.
“What are you talking about? Since the day she was born all of our decisions have been made with her in mind. We are giving her the love and care that we didn’t get from our own fucked up parents. How is that not taking her into consideration?” Ian was trying to understand where Mickey’s brain was at.
Mickey rubbed the back of his neck and bit his bottom lip.
“Ian. We’re two gay ex-cons from the south side and we wanted a kid. Sure, Lina is gonna be a bit fucked up. Being both a Gallagher and a Milkovich, there is no doubt about that. But did we ever think about how us as her parents having would affect her?” Mickey asked worriedly. He was already imagining his daughter being bullied and coming home from school crying cause kids can be cruel. Parents, like the one they encountered at the park, making her think that she shouldn’t be with them or that she’s damaged because of them.
Mickey didn’t have to even voice these concerns to Ian. Ian already knew what was going on in his head.
“Of course, we did. Our daughter has two dads who would do anything to protect her from close minded homophobes who think she’d be better off in the streets or, God forbid, with a father like Frank or Terry, then be with us.” Ian stated. Mickey stayed silent and just nodded, looking back at the nursery door.
Ian grabbed Mickey's face in his hands and moved his head to look at him. Ian looked at him with his soft green eyes, rubbing his thumbs along Mickey's face.
“Fuck all of them. Like you said, she’s both a Gallagher and a Milkovich. She’ll be able to handle her own when she needs to.” Ian reassured his husband and himself in the process.
Mickey raised his brows and gave Ian a smile. Ian moved his hands down to Mickey's shoulders and pulled the man in for a hug. Mickey returned the gesture and hugged Ian’s waist.
“Damn right she will. Cause I'm gonna teach her how to defend herself, Milkovich style.” Mickey said into Ian’s shoulder, his Milkovich pride making an appearance.
Ian let out a laugh before pulling out of their hug. Mickey still kept his arms around him.
“Okay, well until then she has us. Plus, a bunch of aunts and uncles who will do the same.” Ian gave Mickey a kiss on the nose, which caused Mickey to break his hug and push Ian away from him playfully.
“Speaking of what time do we have to show up at the house today?” Mickey asked, finally changing the subject. It was Sunday which meant family dinner at the Gallagher house. It was their night to bring some side dishes, so they needed to make a stop at the store to grab some mac & cheese and rolls.
“How does 3 sound?” Ian figured that would be enough time after Lina’s nap to get ready, hit the store and then head onto the house to help with dinner.
“Sounds fine to me, man.” Mickey agreed, not really caring when they actually went. Mickey started down the hallway as Ian turned to go into the bathroom. Ian stopped and turned to follow Mickey and called out to him before he could reach the kitchen.
“We’ve got about an hour before she wakes up. You still seem down. How about we take a shower, and I can help cheer you up?” Ian suggested.
Mickey turned to face the red head. Ian had his arm up and propped against the. His hand slowly moved from his stomach and down to his thigh, pulling his boxers down slightly just to tease Mickey. He gave Mickey a sly grin as the older man's eyes were following his hands movement.
Mickey scoffed and strutted over to stand in front of Ian. Ian raised a brow and licked his lips, his grim remaining.
“You trying to break some kind of record, tough guy?” Mickey returned the smug grin. He moved Ian's hand and replaced it with his own. Now hands free, Ian wrapped his arms around Mickey's waist. He bent down and put his mouth next to Mickey’s ear.
“You betcha, baby.” He growled, giving Mickey a kiss on the neck and a sharp smack on his ass, quickly reminding Mickey that he was still feeling their morning session.
Mickey let out a low hum before pulling away from Ian. Ian watched Mickey eyes him up and down before walking past him and to the bathroom. Mickey stopped just outside the door motioned for Ian.
“Well let’s go, Gallagher. Force your sinful lifestyle on me.” Mickey took off his long sleeved shirt and tossed it onto the floor before disappearing into the bathroom. Ian let out a sigh at Mickey's comment and followed, hearing the shower turn on just before he got to the doorway.
Even with their homophobic hiccup at the park. This was still turning out to be a beautiful Sunday morning.