"Liam is officially asleep" Lip says coming back into our bedroom. Ian and I were sitting there sharing a cigarette and we both have a beer in our hands. I hand Lip a beer as he sits down next to me and pass him the cigarette. "Hey Ian, you got an cash you can float me Florence and tha Machine is playing down a the theater and I really wanna take Karen for her birthday" Lip asks and I roll my eyes. "Oh like as a gift? Things are getting pretty serious huh?" Ian asks. "Oh come on shes my best friend" Lip argues back and then the room falls silent. Lip still has his back to me and Ians eyes fall on me. I put my beer down. "I'm gonna go play barbies with Debs" I say getting up and walking out. "shit" I hear Lip mumble as I walk out. Liam starts crying again and he shares a room with Debbie so Lip comes in there but I've already got him. "I've got it Lip" I say and thankfully Debbie is taking a bath right now. "I'm sorry Emma. You know I didnt mean it" Lip says. "Its fine. It was pretty smooth coming out of your mouth so you must have meant it. I'm glad I know now so I can stop hiding that Ian is my bestfriend" I say trying to make a joke our of the situation even though I have tears streaming down my face. "Turn around" Lip instructs but I continue to sand with my back to him. When I lay a sleeping Liam down Lip grabs my shoulder and spins me around. I try to walk around him but he stops me and brings me into his chest. "I'm not crying about you I want you to know that" I mumble into his chest. "I know" He sighs.
The next day after breakfast I head to the diner. The owner told me if I skipped school and come helped her out today she'd pay me double so at the diner is where I shall be. As I'm walking passed the van I hear Karen and Lip having sex. I gag and keep walking. As Im working I see Lisa walk in. "Oh hey Emma. Long time no see" She smiles. I sigh. "Hi Lisa" I say. "Wheres maddie?" She asks and sits at the bar. I get her a piece of pie and a cup of coffee. "She lives with her dad and her step mother. You signed your parental rights away. Remember?" I tell her. "No I dont remember but her dads a good guy. Good for her" she tells me. "Baby why dont you come home. I'm better now. I promise" She says and smiles at me. Normally I could smell the booze on her by now but I surprisingly cant now. I sigh and think about it for a minute. I wouldnt have to take care for anyone but myself, and I could leave Lip to be with Karen without me being in the way. "Lisa I cant. I have a family" I tell her eventually. "You had a baby?" SHe asks surprised. "No! Not that kind of family. I live with the gallagher family" I tell her.
When I get home from work I sit on the couch where the rest of the family is and Fiona hands me a beer. "My mom came to work today and sat there fro two hours. It was torture. She was begging me to come home" I tell them. Your not leaving are you?" Ian asks. "Of course not" I scoff and take a swig of my beer. Debbie comes rushing in the house with a panicked look on her face. "Debbie?" I ask and walk over to her and hug her. "What happened?" I ask her. "Shes at Sheilas" She whispers. "Who's at Sheila?" I ask. "Monica" She says and I look over at Carl. "Our mom" He clarifies. Fiona comes over and asks Debbie if she spoke to Monica, and I go sit by Lip who looks really sad. "Why do you care?! Youll be living in a house with steve and he bought next door!" Debbie yells and runs upstairs crying. "Surprise" Steve says. I rub Lips back and he places a hand on my thigh.
When we get to Sheilas we can hear the yelling from outside. Frank, Monica, another big black lady, and then finally Sheila yells at Monica about apologizing. "For walking out on this piece of shit?" Monica asks. "No for walking out on them" Sheila says bringing attention to the fact that we were standing there. "That ones not mine" Monica says pointing to me. "No, shes mine" Lip says pulling me close to him. Monica awes over her children. We sit around the livingroom with baggies on our feet. Theirs so many of us I sit on the arm of the chair that Lip is in. Since he found out that his mother is in town he hasnt stopped touching me in some sort of way. Right now he as an arm wrapped around me. "Lets go outside for a smoke" He tells me and I follow him. He lights my cigarette with a new yellow lighter that ive never seen. "I got you this" He says and it has Emma carved into the side. "Thanks Lip" I smile and lay my head on his shoulder. Ian comes running up. "I thought you were at work" I say and pick my head up. "There was a shooting. Mickey and Kash" He says sitting next to us on the stairs. "Holy shit. Mickey shot Kash?" Lip says. "Kash shot Mickey" Ian says. "Wait what?" I ask confused. "Yeah in the leg. He's gonna be fine. I wanted to get out of there before the cops showed up. What did I miss with mom?" Ian asks and takes a drag of his cigarette that Lip gave him. "You know how dads an asshole?" Lip asks and Ian nods. "He's the good one" He sighs.
When we back in we hear that Frank is the one that brought Monica back. "You brought her back? You knew where she was the whole time?" Lip ask angerly. "We've been wanting to come around and ask you something anyway. We want Liam to come live with us" The big black lady tell Frank. "No way!" He says but then the man lady tells him Monica will sign whatever he needs her too if they can have liam and Frank says okay. "No you cant fucking have Liam!" Fiona says. Man lady goes on a rant about how Liam isnt even Franks because hes black and we dont need a black baby. "Their taking Liam?" Debbie asks starting to freak out. I sit down next to her on the couch. "No our of the fucking question!" Lip yells and steps over so he can place a hand on my shoulder. "Roberta and I wanna have a family of our own" Monica says. "Why dont you finish this one first! You dont get to abandon your kids and then come back and have your pick of the litter" Fiona yells at her. Fi and Monica fight back and forth about how Monica was never a mother and Fiona did it all. "Debbie is class president and shes on the debate team going to nationals. Lip is at the top of his class. Ian got promoted in ROTC and he tested out of english and Carl made something blow up for his science class. And Emma isnt even yours but we love her too because she's like me. She raised her little sister and made sure she had the best home possible. She makes all of us ten times happier, especially Lip. ALl of that is no thanks to you. Because you werent there!" Fiona yells. Monica keeps talking about how she wants to make things right with the little kids. "Debbie and Carl. I love you so much. Please let me be your mommy again" She begs and they both hug her. "You know your right. They are yours. So i'm done. I'm done with school, bills, clinics. There all yours now mom. Good luck" Fiona says walking out. I look at Lip and he shrugs.
