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.
"She's fine, I'm more concerned about you," the nurse said, looking at me.
I shrugged, "I'm good."
***
Fionas wedding day.
I was dressed in a long red, off the shoulder dress, silver heels and curled hair. I actually felt super pretty for once. I borrowed the dress from V, apparently she kept it from her sweet 16. And it was gorgeous.
(Imagine this:)
The whole family, including V and Kev and Svetlana stood around, except Lip. The wedding was starting soon so I handed Kaila to Debbie, which she willingly took her, she absolutely loved any opportunity she had to be with her.
I nodded towards Ian which signalled him to help me find Lip. So we stormed outside, which was made difficult by the heels I wore. He wasn't outside the church having a smoke, so we checked the bathroom and sure enough, he was keeled over the toilet, puking his guts up.
"Christ Lip," I muttered, looking apologetically to Ian. He nodded at me in reassurance.
"Come on, weddings starting soon," Ian said, as Lip obeyed and got up. He looked so so sick and it saddened me to see him in a state like this.
But he washed his face and the three of us made our way back out to the main hall, waiting on Fiona. And I found Mickey there, dressed in a suit too and holding Kaila instead of Debbie.
I sighed, put Ian quickly pulled my away and nudged me towards a man that was with him. He was dark and handsome, seemed much cleaner than the rest of us.
"You're Caleb?" I asked, shaking his hand.
"Yeah, you guys must be the famous Lip and Morgan. And I'm guessing that's baby Mikhaila, and her dad I'm guessing," he introduced, looking back at Mickey and Kaila.
"Sure is," I smiled.
"Nice to meet you," Lip muttered, trying to act not as sick as he just was in the bathroom.
Our attention was suddenly all grabbed by the doors opening, and my jaw actually dropped. I grinned ear to ear seeing my big sister in her wedding dress and she looked absolutely stunning.
I went and stood by Mickey and the rest of my family as we were all so happy and in shock at how beautiful she was.
"Groomsmen and Groom follow us, bride, maid of honour and bridesmaids on the right," the priest invited warmly.
"You look nice," Mickey whispered.
"I know," I responded, taking Kaila from his and holding her close to me, not really paying much attention to him as I was fixated on my sister and her groom, overwhelmed with joy for her.
"So who's giving the bride away?"
Lip and Ian raised their hands, but the wedding was quickly interrupted as a dreaded voice filled the room, "I am. Father- here I am father of the bride!"
Fucking Frank.
"No absolutely not," Fiona warned. Ian and Lip swiftly ran over and grabbed his arms, "no Frank get out of here." There really was no getting rid of Frank, he was like a leech but there was no way he was ruining this for Fiona.
"Stop!" He yelled, yanking himself out my my brothers grasp, "I have a duty! To walk my daughter down the aisle and give her away!"
"No you don't Frank get out!" I yelled, cradling Kaila.
"Are you high?" Fiona asked.
"Yes but that's besides the point."
"Come on Frank let's go," Kev butted in. Literally everyone wanted him gone as Sean started arguing too, wanting him gone.
"Frank, this is my wedding day. Please don't fuck it up," Fiona sighed, looking desperate at this point.
"I love you Fiona, my little girl. I've always accepted you for who you are," he announced, "Accepted all of you for who you are! We're human, we make mistakes. Have faults! Lips drinking his breakfast lunch and dinner, Ian's a queer that can't maintain a relationship.. Morgan's bipolar with a baby on her hip. Carl thinks he's a brother.. with a foxy fucking girlfriend.. And Fiona, you've let so many men in between your legs and now your marrying Sean."
We all stood in shock, listening to him. My brothers were getting defensive and Debbie stood close to me. I was still mad at Mickey but he put his hand on my waist protectively. He would still defend me and Kaila to the end and I knew that as we continued listening to Frank and he turned to face Sean.
"Oh I know you Seany boy. I went by your business last night and maybe we should go back there and show your bride the little box you hide under the invoices. You know the one with the needles and the spoon, the rubber tubing and the little baggies with this brown powder."
Frank pulled out a small bag with brown powder, I went pale and my mouth fell open watching the scene. Was this actually happening? Had Sean still been using? Had Frank just fucked up Fionas big day?
"No fucking way Frank!" I shouted, handing Kaila quickly to Mick and stepping forward to confront him, "you have fucked us over so much and you are NOT going to do it on Fionas wedding day! Get the fuck out!"
I looked at Fiona who now had tears rolling down her face, and my brothers who were in shock, Debbie looked terrified and then I saw my baby, being held by Mickey.
I sighed, "fuck it," I mumbled, swinging back and clocking him straight in the nose. He shouted in pain and Lip quickly ran over and put his hands around my shoulders and pulled me back.
"Oh Morgan you always were a raging psycho bitch!" Frank laughed. He probably barely felt it since he was so high. Lip kept me held close to him, waiting until I calmed down in case I tried to swing again.
"Is that true?" Fiona asked, barely taking notice to what had just happened to Frank.
I looked at Sean, who looked at the ground.
"Oh he's junkie through and through," Frank stated. Fiona started crying harder, and I saw a horrified look on Sean's sons face, and I felt awful for him. I knew how it felt having a junkie father.
Sean's son ran out and Sean followed, leaving us all in shock.
"You are a fucking asshole Frank," Mickey snapped, holding Kaila closer to him protectively.
"That I am. But at least, I'm an honest asshole."
Lip let go of me as him, Ian and Kev all lunged towards him dragging him aggressively out of the building and Fiona stormed out sobbing.
I didn't know who I wanted to kill more, Frank for ruining this day, or Sean for lying to my sister and being another man to break her heart.