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Ian had always tried to look out for Liam.
In fact, all of his eldest siblings did. With Liam being the baby of the family it was only natural they all took on more of a parental role with him.
When he was an actual baby, Fiona took the lead. She was the one who fed him his formula at odd hours of the night, took care of him at work when everyone else was at school, got him to an urgent care when he had a fever that just wouldn’t seem to break, and many many other tasks that weren’t, and shouldn’t have been her responsibility. Yes, Monica had been his mother biologically, but Fiona was his mum in every other way that mattered, just like she was to all her siblings in some way or another.
Lip always tried to look out for everybody . He, along with Ian, was for decades Fiona’s rock, he took Ian’s beating from Mickey when they were still all kids, he tried his best to not let Carl and Debbie get their hopes up that one time Frank seemingly got sober, and when Fiona went to jail he stepped up for Liam more than he ever had before. Lip cared a lot about his siblings, and he had done things for them most of the eldest brothers at his old college never would have dreamt of.
Now though, now things felt different.
Now Fiona was gone, finally, and deservedly living her life free from the chains of forced obligation to her family, finally living the life her parents had stolen from her at fourteen. He missed her, they all did, but Ian had meant it when he told her to never look back because for all the times he woke up in the morning craving her eggs, or thought about how every Gallagher blow-out felt just a little bit incomplete without her laughter filling the air, he was happy for her.
Now Lip had a kid and a house of his own. Yeah, they still saw him most days, but it wasn’t the same as when Ian was fifteen. For now, if asked to hang out instead of thinking about whatever scheme he had planned to help add to the squirrel fund, or whether or not Fiona would be home from in time to look after the youngest Gallaghers, Lip thought about Tammy and Fred. He still tried to look out for everyone, he still loved his siblings, but his kid came first, and that was okay.
Ian’s relationship with Liam had always felt unique to his relationships with the rest of his siblings. With Fiona and Lip he was their little brother, their best friend, their emotional support. Yeah, he’s protected them, cared for them, but he’s not parental towards him in the same way they are slightly towards him. Carl on the other hand is his little brother. He roughhouses with him, takes the piss out of him, let’s him do shit he knows Fiona would at least shoot a disapproving glare at if not prohibit entirely. And with Debbie, that’s his baby sister, even if she hasn’t acted like it in a long-ass while.
Liam though? Well, he’s not Ian’s kid , but he’s not fully just his little brother either. When Carl started smoking Ian barely batted an eye because what was he going to do? Tell Carl to stop while his own pack burned a hole in his pocket? Fuck no, but if Liam lit a fag on their way to school Ian knows he wouldn’t think twice before plucking it out of his hand, much in the same way Lip would if it was Freddie, or Debbie if it was Franny.
So while no, Liam wasn’t really Ian’s kid - he’d cringe if Liam ever called him ‘dad’, much like when Fiona used to grimace upon being called ‘mama’ - but he still kind of was in some respects, in a lot of the ways that mattered . Especially now, with things being different, because now Ian was the only eldest sibling left really. Or not left, but still able to give Liam the care he needs.
That’s why, Ian guessed, he and Mickey took Liam in.
After the house was sold and they got their fair share Ian and Mickey moved into a two-bedroom, middle floor flat, and barely discussed it before asking Liam to come with them. Ian had been so sure Mickey would protest because while he knew his husband loved the Gallaghers as his own taking on a kid barely a year into being newlyweds would’ve thrown anyone. Ian had been pleasantly surprised, however, because the night after the sale was finalised Mickey looked over at him from their bed and casually stated “so Liam’s coming with us, right?”
No “do we really have to?” No “can’t he just go to Fiona?” Just a statement of fact, and Ian’s still shocked neither of them chipped a tooth with how hard he kissed Mickey in gratitude and excitement.
“Hey, earth to Ian” came Mickey’s voice from his left, jarring him out of his thoughts. He looked over at his husband, who was resting the hand holding his beer on one knee while he waved his other in front of Ian’s face, a goofy smile plastering his own.
“Spaced out on me there” Mickey continued, resting the hand he had been waving on the backrest, grazing the back of Ian’s neck.
Ian shifted, and threw an easy smile back at Mickey “sorry, just thinking.”
“Yeah?” Mickey replied, and rustled the slightly overgrown hair at the back of Ian’s head - he’d have to ask Mick to cut it again soon - “what about?”
“Ah just, happy we ended up here, you know,” Ian answered, smiling when he saw Mickey’s teasing expression morph naturally into something softer, more adoring. He breathed a short laugh thinking about how much 15-year-old Ian would have killed to see the image before him, the one he gets to enjoy every single day.
“And-” Ian added, cutting himself off to shift closer to Mickey and pull his arm around Ian’s shoulders, “-I’m glad we’re able to give Liam the home he deserves.”
At that, Mickey’s smile widened, and turned full-on loving, before he ducked his head shyly. When he looked back up, he mumbled out a “god you’re soft,” before muffling Ian’s giggles with a kiss, humming when Ian’s hand automatically came up to cradle his face.
At that moment, the door swung open, and the sound of Liam’s backpack being carelessly dropped to the ground boomed through the small flat. Ian pulled back first and kissed Mickey’s cheek consolingly when he grumbled about it.
“Guys, guess what!” Liam called, as he came into view of the couple, a piece of paper with red ink at the top being waved about in his hand.
“What’s up buddy?” Mickey asked, hand dropping to Ian’s right shoulder after Ian turned around to face Liam.
“I said guess ” Liam retorted, grinning cheekily and pressing the paper to his chest, hiding it from view.
“Fuck off, this isn’t one of your pop quizzes, what are you holding?” Mickey complained, his grin undercutting the edge he tried to inject into his voice.
“Well,” Liam began, theatrically, dropping onto the couch next to Ian, who tried, unsuccessfully, to pry the apparently extremely important paper from Liam’s arms. “You know that paper I was up all night writing?”
“I think the one we spent all night sitting up waiting for you to finish” Ian laughed, throwing an arm around Liam and shaking him playfully.
“Please, you and Mickey were asleep on this couch for most of it” Liam shot back, shoving Ian’s thigh in revenge.
“Come on, come on, cut to the chase” Mickey groused, looking annoyed but Ian knew he was just as excited to hear what Liam had to say as Liam was to say it.
Liam just smiled, an air of self-confidence filling his small body, and silently presented the paper to the anticipating Ian and Mickey.
“An A+!” Ian half-shouted, before handing the paper to a stunned Mickey and getting on his feet so he could pick up Liam and spin him around.
“Well done Sweetface!” Ian cried out over Liam’s giggles, before stilling and giving him a quick kiss on the nose, causing Liam to scrunch his face up and beam.
“Thanks, my teacher said it’s my best yet” Liam bragged, clearly satisfied with himself.
“You hear that Mick? Says it’s his best yet” Ian boasts, bouncing Liam once before setting him back down.
He turned back to his husband, who was looking at the paper with the biggest look of pride Ian had ever seen. As if he could feel Ian’s eyes gazing down on him he snapped his head up, and announced “I think this deserves a spot on the fridge.”
“Fuck yes it does!” Ian agreed and turned back to Liam as Mickey hurried to the kitchen to hang it up, “I also think this deserves ice cream.”
“Fuck yeah!” Liam exclaimed, almost jumping into Ian’s arms for a tight hug. Ian squeezed back just as tight, ruffling his hair as he did.
When they parted Liam smirked and asked “do you guys really need to act like this every time I get a good grade? The fridge door is looking pretty full.”
“Well then we’ll get a bigger fridge,” Mickey said, coming back into the room and grabbing his keys from a bowl on the coffee table.
“And besides, I don’t see you complaining” Ian pointed out, pushing Liam gently towards the door. Liam wasn’t wrong, it was getting difficult to open the fridge door, but the happiness he felt seeing his baby brother’s achievements was just too much to give up for a little extra convenience.
“Yeah well, who would complain about ice cream?” Liam replied, half running towards the door he had just come through.
Ian felt a warm hand drop onto his shoulder, and he craned his neck slightly to look at Mickey, who just looked at him with that special look only Ian ever got to see and said “I get what you were saying, about being happy we ended up here, that Liam’s here too.”
Ian grinned so wide it hurt, and slid his arms around his husband’s neck, pulling him in for what was possibly the sweetest kiss of his life.
“Guys come on, you can make out later!” Liam called from the door, and now it was Ian’s turn to grumble at the interruption.
“Come on Sweetface,” Mickey said, kissing Ian’s nose in a sweet imitation of what Ian had done to Liam, “we’ve got ice cream to eat.”