Little Morgan Gallagher

79- For better or for worse

I pulled up outside the station, where I found Lip waiting outside. Dark circles under his eyes, pale, dirty hair.. he looked sick.

He spotted me in the car, and made his way over, cigarette in mouth.

"You asshole," I muttered as he sat into the car, "used to be you picking me up from the station as a kid, now I'm returning the favour."

"You bail me out?" He asked.

"No, I wouldn't be doing that for your dumbass after this. Your professor did, he called, said you smashed his windows with a tire iron," I explained.

He nodded, looking down at his lap.

"Look, this isn't the first time you've been getting drunk and doing shit like this. You're gonna turn into Fra-"

"Don't say it," he interrupted, "I'm nothing like him and don't you act all high and mighty when you've been getting drunk even more than I have."

"I just had a baby Lip. I deserve a break!"

"That's exactly the reason you shouldn't have a break, you need to look after the kid and not be drunk."

"I am looking after her for fucks sake! I love that baby so much, I'm not the one who got arrested for vandalism Lip! You took a swing at a campus cop and now they're looking at getting you expelled!"

He fell silent, "still it's kinda strange coming from you little sister. Y'know kettle, pot, black-"

"Lip! You got yourself in shit, grow up. Deal with it. Stop drinking. Show up for the court hearing. That's all I'll say. I have a wellness checkup with Kaila today, I can't be late for it," I responded, starting the engine.

***

"So she's sleeping at night?" The nurse asked as she held Kaila, checking her up on the table in front of us in the clinic.

"On and off, at least six or seven hours. She tends to wake crying a lot ," I responded, gazing at my baby, still mesmerised by her.

Before another word could be spoken, the door opened, and Mickey stood there. For fucks sake. Again, we just looked at each other, but I quickly looked away and turned my attention back to Mikhaila.

"This is Mikhailas father?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am," Mick responded, I still said nothing.

"Are things okay between you two?" She asked. I just looked up at her, neither me or Mickey responded. She just nodded to say she understood.

"So what about you two, are you getting much sleep?" She questioned.

"He is, I'm the one who gets up for her mostly," I replied.

"And each time she gets up it's because she wants another drink," he muttered smartly.

I ignored him as the nurse went on, "An infants a lot of work. Mikhaila needs you two to take care of yourself too. I understand if you are arguing, but make sure you get enough sleep, eat well. How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"To be honest, Mikhaila is fine. No problems at all. Im more worried about you. An eighteen year old with an infant on top of bipolar disorder can be draining and stressful. You getting help at home?"

"Kind of, my siblings sometimes. Mickey on a rare occasion," I responded. Mickey huffed in response, we were still pissed at each other.

"So she's okay?" Mickey asked.