After chatting with Kevin about fostering, Dexter saw it was getting late.
"Let's head back," Dexter suggested to Bianca.
"Okay," Bianca replied, heavily preoccupied.
"You seem off tonight," Dexter noticed.
Bianca shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Let's go."
Dexter smiled and gently shook his head. "When you feel ready, tell me."
"Okay," Bianca agreed.
They got up, said their goodbyes to Kevin, then to Mickey and Carl, and headed out to the car to drive back to North Wallace.
---
Inside the house.
The TV on the first floor was on. In the dark, on the couch, Daijiu and Little Crow looked exactly like they were watching TV.
Bianca spotted them and was a little surprised. "You really do have special pets. They even watch TV."
"Haha, they need a little entertainment too," Dexter replied with a smile, flipping on the lights. "Go put your luggage away. I'll take care of the dust."
"Mhm." Bianca carried her suitcase up to the second floor and into the bedroom.
Technically, this was only her second time here. She quietly looked around. The bedroom was brand new, luxurious, and looked very warm, yet somewhat unfamiliar. After a moment, she opened her suitcase in front of the closet and hung her clothes up one by one.
Downstairs, the sound of the vacuum cleaner started. Hearing it, Bianca unconsciously felt a sense of warmth, smiled, and sped up her unpacking.
Once done, she hurried downstairs to help out. After a while of cleaning, they were finally finished. Both of them were covered in dust and looked pretty messy. Looking at each other, they burst out laughing.
"Go take a shower," Dexter smiled.
By the time they showered and changed into pajamas, it was past ten o'clock.
"Want some fruit?" Dexter asked.
Bianca decisively shook her head, rubbing her stomach. "Ate too much tonight, still haven't digested it."
"True, it's all bulging out," Dexter laughed.
Bianca: "???? Dexter!"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to beat you up."
After joking around for a bit and watching some TV, they turned off the lights to sleep.
Bianca couldn't sleep. Eyes wide open, she hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to speak up. "Dexter?"
"Yeah?" Dexter wasn't tired either; he was just trying to fall asleep.
"I can't have kids right now..." Bianca said weakly.
"????" Dexter froze for a second, then figured it out. "Is that why you've been acting weird tonight?"
"Mhm..."
"I don't want kids right now either," Dexter laughed.
Bianca blinked, her eyes shining beautifully in the dark. "??? Really?"
"Really. Kids are annoying as hell." That was the truth; Dexter honestly had no plans for that anytime soon.
Bianca felt like Dexter had a screw loose. "...Then why did you bring it up so many times tonight?"
"Did I?" Dexter thought back, realizing he actually had. "I was just joking. It's funny watching people suffer trying to raise kids."
"You're seriously messed up!" Bianca was pissed.
"Haha, no I'm not. I'm perfectly normal," Dexter chuckled. "Alright, stop overthinking it. Look at that head of yours, spinning out of control."
"Hmph!" Bianca got even madder. All that stressing, and it was over nothing.
Great. She was mad. He had to coax her.
How to coax her? By fucking her into submission, obviously.
Dexter gave a wicked smirk and made his move.
Bianca: "??? Dexter, I'm mad. What are you doing?"
"You."
"???"
Before long, Bianca's anger vanished entirely.
---
Deep into the night.
It was pitch black inside the Gallagher house.
Lying in bed, watching Liam stand in his crib doing some creepy thrusting motions, Debbie—whose female consciousness was just awakening at the start of this summer—got angrier the more she looked.
After fuming for a bit, she couldn't take it anymore. She jumped out of bed and started shoving the crib out the door. After struggling for a while, she successfully shoved the crib and Liam into Ian, Lip, and Carl's room. Satisfied, she went back to her room, locked the door, and felt much better.
In the boys' room.
Liam stood in the crib, still playing.
Carl, who woke up from the commotion, looked at Liam, then at Lip and Ian. The tiny room was already cramped with three people, and now there was another. He couldn't help but feel extremely irritated.
As he stewed, Carl thought about the job starting tomorrow and the money he'd make, making him even more eager.
I need my own place! Carl thought silently, closing his eyes again, forcing himself to sleep with excitement for the job.
In the crib, Liam was still playing.
---
Blink of an eye. Morning hit. Seven o'clock.
Carl woke up on his own, quickly got out of bed, dug out his best, hole-free clothes, changed, washed up, went downstairs, and headed out to find Mickey.
The rest of the Gallaghers were still dead asleep. Stepping out the door, Carl grinned, feeling energetic.
He walked for about ten minutes and reached Mickey's house.
Bang~ bang~ bang~ About a minute later, Mickey opened the door, eyes heavy with sleep. Seeing Carl, he instantly got pissed. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Work," Carl said very seriously.
Mickey almost laughed from anger. "Do you know what fucking time it is? Piss off and wait at home."
Slam. Mickey shut the door ruthlessly.
Carl: "..."
Things weren't going exactly as planned. Carl looked up at the sky. The sun was shining bright; it wasn't early. He scratched his head, thought for a second, and decided to ask.
"Mickey, what time do you start work?"
"Fuck off!" Mickey roared.
Deep down, Carl was actually a little scared of Mickey. Out of options, he reluctantly turned and headed back.
At seven-thirty, Carl arrived back at his front door.
Since Bianca had to be at work by eight today, Dexter and Bianca were just heading out and saw him.
Seeing Carl dressed differently than usual, Dexter was a little surprised. "Carl, it's early. What are you doing standing outside?"
Carl, a little annoyed with Mickey, bluntly explained what happened. "Mickey isn't motivated at all."
Hearing that, Dexter couldn't help but laugh. "True. I'll rip into him later. You haven't had breakfast, right? Got some left in the kitchen, go finish it off for me."
After walking back and forth, Carl actually was a bit hungry. He broke into a bright smile. "Cool."
Answering, Carl headed toward Dexter's house. "You guys heading out?"
"Yeah, dropping Bianca off at work. Be back in a bit. Hang out at my place, do whatever," Dexter replied.
Carl looked at Bianca. So when you have a girlfriend, you have to drop her off at work. Carl nodded, feeling like he just learned something.
"We're heading out then. Hurry up and eat before it gets cold," Bianca said gently.
"Mhm, thanks," Carl thanked her, thinking Bianca was really nice, completely different from the people he used to know.
Dexter and Bianca didn't say anything else, got in the car, and headed to the hospital.
Carl walked into Dexter's house, immediately spotted Daijiu, smiled and said hey, then sprinted to the kitchen. He found the breakfast, grabbed the plate, sat obediently at the table, and started eating.
Naturally, the breakfast was a feast. Carl ate happily.
Gallagher house.
Fiona got up, took off her pajamas, and while putting on her clothes, walked out of her room, knocking on doors one by one to wake Debbie and the others.
Reaching the boys' room, Fiona first noticed Liam, who was supposed to be in Debbie's room, and then realized Carl was missing.
Before long, naturally, the Gallagher house erupted into chaos. Since Lip and Ian confirmed Carl came home last night, the mystery of Carl's disappearance was solved.
All that was left was the Liam situation.
Debbie was highly agitated about this. "Liam plays with his dick all day. I'm about to be a woman, he can't stay in my room!"
Lip and Ian protested in unison.
"Four guys in one room? No way!"
"Even refugee camps aren't this crowded!"
Debbie ignored them. "I don't care. Liam is absolutely not staying in my room anymore! I already moved him out, and I'm not letting him back in!"
Liam stood in the crib, still playing with his dick. Definitely something wrong in that department.
Arguing first thing in the morning gave Fiona a massive headache. She rubbed her forehead. "Debbie, Lip and the other two share one room. You have your own room. Just let Liam go back..."
"No!!!" Debbie screamed instantly. This summer, Debbie's inner bitch was starting to show. "You have your own room too. Why don't you let Liam stay in yours?" she yelled at Fiona.
Fiona had no counter, so she turned to Lip and Ian instead. "How about, until we figure something out, Liam stays in your room."
Debbie won the battle over Liam. A clear, smug smile appeared on her freckled face.
The argument ended for now. The Gallaghers got busy, washing up and making breakfast.
In Frank's room, Peggy—obviously woken up by the noise—heard every word of the argument. She couldn't stop shaking her head and sighing, feeling pathetic for Fiona and the others.
---
First-floor dining room.
Fiona finished making breakfast and checked the clock on the wall. "Where did Carl run off to? Why isn't he back yet? Did he really not say anything to you guys?"
Lip and the others shook their heads.
But then, Ian thought of a possibility. "Maybe he went to work."
Bam. Hearing that, Fiona's expression changed instantly. Panicking, she instinctively pulled out her phone to call Mickey, only to realize she didn't have his number. Then she thought about calling Dexter.
But, thinking it over, Fiona changed her mind. She decided to go to Dexter's house and talk to him face-to-face, to tell him not to give Carl a job.
"I'm going to talk to Dexter!" Having made up her mind, Fiona didn't waste a second. Dropping that line, she stormed over to Dexter's front door and started knocking.
Knock, knock, knock~ Carl hadn't finished his breakfast yet. Hearing the knock, he got up and opened the door.
The moment the door opened, Fiona was instantly dumbfounded. "Carl, what are you doing here?"
"Eating breakfast, why?" Carl was totally calm. Genuinely calm, not faking it.
"You're asking me why? Why didn't you say anything when you left this morning? Why are you eating breakfast at Dexter's house?" Fiona's eyes went wide, firing off questions.
Carl stayed calm, briefly explaining what happened.
Hearing it, Fiona got even more panicked. "You can't go do that kind of stuff with Mickey! Getting mixed up with a guy like Mickey, nothing good will ever come of it!!"
Carl frowned, getting impatient. "It's a job! I want to make money, it's none of your business."
Fiona froze, not expecting Carl to say that. "Carl! I'm your sister, how is it none of my business!"
"It's my decision, my business, nothing to do with you," Carl replied with a stern expression and a firm tone. Then, remembering what Dexter said last night, he added, "Don't go looking for trouble with Dexter, or if I lose this job, I'm never letting it go!"
Hearing those words, Fiona couldn't believe her ears. She was instantly so furious she didn't even know what to say, forced into pure silence.
---