Archive of Our Own ^beta

the coldest season of the year, in the northern hemisphere from December to February

Ian’s favourite season had to be winter. That fact was solidified in his sleep-filled mind as he settled deeper into the mattress feeling the familiar warmth of his heavy comforter engulfing him in its cosy heat. 

He loved the cold. The way the crisp air hit his face. The warm sweaters that hugged every curve of his body. The heat of a thermos against numb fingertips. He enjoyed the snow, thought that the world looked a little prettier, and had fond memories of attacking his siblings with snowballs in their youth. 

He loved the season but never really cared about Christmas the way he knew most other people did. The Gallagher’s hardly ever had enough money as it was, they definitely didn’t have enough to have a lavish Christmas by any means. They would put all their pennies together at the end of the month though. Buy a ham, some instant mash potatoes and green beans in a can for their Christmas meal. Lip and Ian would always steal from the donation baskets outside of the mall. 

To be fair, those donated toys were meant for the needy and they were that. Maybe a little morally grey of a mood but the smiles on the little kids' faces made up for any lingering guilt -if there was any in the first place.

Winter always just reminded Ian of family, sticking it out together. Small but good moments. 

Despite Ian accepting winter as his favourite, he could never convert Mickey to see it the same way as him. Mickey wasn’t shy when it came to proclaiming his festering hatred of the season.

He hated the snow and the shuffling of the sidewalks and the need to wear eight million layers. If it were up to him he would migrate south the second the first drop of snow hit the ground. Ian would always make fun of him for that. Called him a snowbird like all the old people that fled to Florida. 

For what it was worth, Mickey would have rather been on a beach surrounded by old broads than bear another extra second of winter.

The Milkovichs never did Christmas. They too would steal the toys from the donation box, only to sell the toys and the sadistic joy of rubbing it in the children’s faces that they couldn’t have them. 

Mickey thought he had a leg to stand on when he said he wasn’t a fan of the seasons. 

As with most things, he made new, better, good memories to replace the bad ones. Even though he would always proclaim he didn’t like Christmas, in all honesty, he didn’t really have a stance on it either way. He enjoyed having the day off but the holiday never really felt special. Ian pushed for them to get a tree their first year in the Westside, their first real Christmas together. Since then that plastic tree had been in their guest bedroom, collecting dust just to be taken out and displayed one month out of the year. 

They both entertained the idea of Christmas for the kids. They never had a particularly extravagant Christmas ever. While they had a decent flow of money, more than either of them ever expected to have at once, they didn’t have a ton of it. They were comfortable, had enough to pay their mortgage on time like real functioning upstanding citizens but not enough to buy mountains of toys or clothes.

The kids never minded. They didn’t throw hissy-fits over not getting the same things some of their classmates did. They were grateful happy kids to both of their dads’ relief. 

That said, Mickey did have to relinquish a little disappointed that they both managed to backpack on Ian’s love of winter, leaving Mickey as the bereaved outlier. 

Almost any day it snowed it was almost guaranteed that one of the girls would beg to go outside and play in it, dragging him along to freeze his ass off. Despite all the loathing he harboured for the cold, he was willing to suffer through it for the girls. That didn’t mean he was suffering in silence, however. He made sure his complaints were outspoken. Still, he was often ignored  

Mickey liked exactly two things about the season as a whole. One was his daughter’s birthday. Though she was born in early November and he was still a little fuzzy over if that technically still fall or winter. All the same, it was at least something to look forward to in those gloomy snowy months.

The other silver lining he saw was that they got long breaks in the winter. Mickey liked being his own boss and not having to report to anyone else besides his husband occasionally but shit if running their own business wasn’t a ton of work. 

He may have not liked the season but he sure did love the few weeks he got off. Especially since the kids weren’t scheduled to have their own break for another week. That meant Mickey and Ian got the house to themselves for a whole seven hours. They could just lounge around all day. Have as much loud sex as they wanted. Sleep as much as they wanted without tiny bodies trying to interject their way in. He did have to thank winter for that at least.

They were day three into their staycation -as Ian coined it. Mickey could tell that Ian was beginning to stir from beside him. He tossed from his left side to his back to his other side in an attempt to get comfortable. All the while tussling his husband with his very heavy-boned movement. 

Mickey let out a little groan, trying to signal Ian to stop moving around. Ian got the message immediately freezing in place the second he realised he was being a nuisance. Mickey couldn’t help but smile, muttering into his pillow ‘dork’. 

It took every bit of sleep-dampened strength he had to toss himself onto the right side of his husband to face Ian’s direction. Mickey threw a blind arm out. It landed on Ian’s stomach, curling around and wrapped around Ian's mid as he twisted in the sheets. He landed facing his husband, leg snaking up to rest against his upper thigh. 

Ian reached out in the same lazy attempt, a natural instinct at that point. He scooted closer to Mickey’s body, wrangling him in, arm tiredly tossed across Mickey’s shoulder.

“G’morning” Ian yawned, feeling Mickey’s weight-adjusted onto him. He shuffled around a little more, pulling the comforter up to his ears.

“M’cold'” Mickey didn’t bother to reciprocate the greeting. His lips pressed against Ian’s shoulder. The rided-up t-shirt hem rested against his top lip. Ian’s warm skin instantly defrosted his insides.

At the notion, Ian drew the comforters even higher, to the point that only Mickey’s hair was visible. 

“Mnm thanks” He didn’t even bother to open his eyes, rolling over onto his stomach, arms grabbing onto whatever part of his husband he could grab at. 

He found refuge once more against Ian’s chest. The sound of his husband’s heartbeat paired with the warmth encompassing him was lulling him back to sleep faster than he could fight it off. They both settled once again with a little sigh, Mickey took Ian’s hand in his slinging it across his upturned belly. He gave it one final squeeze to signal he was going back to sleep. 

Then suddenly Mickey felt a humid breath hit him directly in between his brows. Took him another second to realise that Ian was blowing on him. 

“Stop it” Mickey sneered. He directed their joint hands to hit Ian directly in the gut. That didn’t derail him any.

“Shhh, I’m warming you up” the smirk was evident in his voice as he continued to blow down on Mickey’s forehead, hairs swaying against the wind. 

“Your fucking annoying you know that” Mickey’s palm reached upwards, landing smack over Ian’s mouth.

That didn’t stop Ian any as he continued to blow hot air against Mickey’s hand. They both tussled for a second, play fighting before their tired bones and heavy limbs got the best of them. They both settled down into the mattress, catching their breaths. 

“Shut up and go back to sleep” Mickey grumbled, an already unclear voice mumbling against Ian’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Ian mumbled back, placing a tender kiss on Mickey’s temple before wigging around again, his hips settled against Mickey’s side, head tipping down to hide in the crook of his neck. Mickey felt Ian’s warm nose nuzzle into him. A contentful huff tickled slightly. 

Mickey felt his eyelids drawing heavy once more. If he could spend his entire winter hibernating in his husband’s arms he would reconsider his hatred.

He felt his body becoming drowsy once more on the brink of sleep. Satisfied and comfy. Then like most ever-fleeting wonderful moments, it was over.

“Daddies!” A loud booming voice echoed from down the hall. 

“No” Mickey could feel Ian’s wine vibrate against him. The ginger pulled up the blankets a little more, encompassing them under. He hoped his vain attempt of concealing themselves would derail their daughter from disturbing them.

His mind was clearly fogged with sleep haze because that was Ruby they were facing after all. She was just as stubborn as both of them which was to say very. Them trying to hide was not deterring her even in the slightest.

They heard the squeaky hinges of their door open, Ruby repeating “Dads” a little more frustrated, now at the edge of their bed. 

“Why are you still in bed?” Her voice was shrilled. Ian peaked half of his face out of the blanket to see her. She stared daggers back, arms crossed over her cat pyjamas. That comment should have triggered something in them because there was no other reason she would care but they were still asleep in their defence.

Mickey followed his husband’s lead with a little sigh. He tugged the blanket down a little so they could make out their daughter. “Ruby, you better be fuckin dying if you’re expecting me to get out of this bed right now” There was a clear annoyance in his voice making absolutely no effort to even lift his head off of Ian. 

He didn’t mean his words to come out as harsh as they did. In all honesty, he would have felt a little bad about the grating tone if he wasn’t half asleep and genuinely annoyed. 

“Daddies” The strength of her voice didn’t waver any as she repeated herself for the third time. Her tone did ring back a little bit annoyed, not as much as Mickey was but definitely getting there. 

Ian, who generally wasn’t as grumpy in the morning as his husband, tried to sit up a little to see her. Through his squinted eyes he saw the distress painting her face. “Fuck, what’s wrong?” His arms extended out under his trying to sit up better. 

“It's almost eight!” 

Mickey was still mostly asleep, mind still dreaming on about warm Mexican beaches when her voice rang in his ears. Her words had no meaning to him. 

They definitely did for Ian who scrambled to push the sheets off of him. His hand slapped against Mickey’s chest as he tried to get him up. Mickey very weakly tried to grab Ian’s wrists to try and get him to stop poking at him. He wasn’t very successful.

“It's fucking eight” Ian repeated. He jabbed his fingers into Mickey’s side. Historically, that was the fastest and most effective to wake Mickey up despite the fact that it made him want to off himself any time anyone did it to him. 

“Fuck ok?” Mickey grumbled, trying to hide behind the sheets but Ian was faster, peeling them all the way off the bed. He pushed them onto the floor to try and signify he wasn’t trying to fuck around. “Mickey!” Ian repeated.

“Oh, my fuckin– Christ Ian what? I’m fucking awake what do you want?” Mickey finally snapped back. He kicked the blanket that was draped across his leg and onto the floor all the way off. It took all his strength to shove Ian’s hand off of him as he tried to sit up a little. 

Ian blinked down at him, clearly pissed off as his jaw was clenched, lips pursed inward. Mickey had the nerve to raise his arms up at him in an annoyed ‘what?’ gesture. That was met by another immediate shove. 

“It's fucking eight you asshole. As in the time we need to be in the car driving our children to school” 

“I have a test today too, can’t miss it” Ruby’s desperate voice chimed in. 

It took Mickey another second for Ian’s words to truly register. He was halfway through rubbing the tired from his eyes when he got it. He pushed his fists down a “Fuck” escaping his own lips as scrambled out of bed.

“Yeah fuck” Ian mocked him with squinty eyes. “Ruby go get dressed” Ian’s attention then shifted to the girl in the doorway.

She stomped her foot a little trying to signal her distress. “Everything is still in the dryer. Can’t reach in there” She reminded them, also getting more ticked off by the second. 

“Fuck, yeah, coming” Ian gave his own little sigh. Annoyed was clearly the sanctioned mood of the day. He was halfway down the hall when his voice carried into the bedroom again.

“Up, Mickey!” His tone was patronising, the way he talked to the kids when they were in trouble. “Get Autumn ready! Out the door in ten” there was an intermission of silence where Mickey was sure Ian was already at the stairs. Still, his voice carried again, echoing through the house. “Mean it!”

Mickey gave a good eye roll. He knew that Ian couldn’t see it. He sure did hope that his husband knew him well enough to expect it, however. It took Mickey a minute to shuffle through their dresser to put another sweater on top of his long sleeved shirt. 

He was already grumpy as it was, being unceremoniously woken up with the knowledge that they needed to rush to get out the door. The complete lack of any heating was starting to eat away at any sanity he had left.

He persevered, bitterness painting his expression as he took the few steps it took to get to their youngests’ room. 

He crouched down to sit on the edge of her bed. “Aye wake up” Mickey shook Autumn’s shoulder. 

The toddler gave a massive whine, rolling over to try and get away from him. Any other day Mickey would have entertained it, laughing at her grumpiness and how much of his child she was. 

He would usually wake her up gently, rubbing her back till she finally stirred awake. If he was in a better mood he would tickle her sides, pepper her face with dramatic slobbery kisses and blow raspberries into the crook of her neck till she was giggling and up. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Mickey was not in the mood. He felt the pressure of trying to get the kids to school on time. 

“Autumn c’mon” He pulled the sheets off of her getting a shriek from the sudden move. He shot her a short-lived apologetic look but didn’t have time to harp on it. 

“We’re late no time for fucking around ‘igh?” Mickey scooped her into his arms, fighting her to stand up. “Aye being serious” He shook her shoulders a little. She gave yet another whine, looking up at her dad with teary eyes. He sucked in a deep breath, he honestly didn’t know what he would do if she started crying and didn’t want to deal with the consequences. 

Mickey got her to stand on her own feet, pulling her into a hug that was immediately met with hands pushing against his chest to get him to stop. “Hey not tryin’ to be mean to ya here sweet cheeks” he pressed a kiss to her hair. She let him. The tension dissolved. thank fuck. 

“But serious gotta get a move on” He picked her up, rushing to place her on the counter beside the bathroom sink. He picked her toothbrush up. “Open” He gently instructed. Attention split between her and getting the toothpaste on the bristols instead of the counter.

Normally he would let Autumn brush her own teeth. She was five and could do a pretty decent job with minimal assistance. They didn’t have time for her to be independent that morning. He hummed a broken melody as he brushed her molars. He gave it another second before pulling away. “Spit” he spun her around to face the sink. One hand lazily pulled the hair away from her face, the other already handing her a cup of water to rinse before she had time to follow through with his instructions.

He scrubbed for less than two minutes. They were clean enough and strapped for time so it was going to have to do. He watched as her cheeks puffed out, swishing the water around in her mouth before she spit that out too.

“G’girl. Do your business then come straight to your room” he lifted her off of the counter. He didn’t give her the time to answer before shutting the bathroom door behind him. As he wandered back to her room he saw Ruby bouncing past the living room in his peripheral vision. 

“Aye,” he called out, Ruby stopping dead in her tracks. Mickey eyed her over. She had managed to get herself ready pretty fast. Sporting a pair of jeans and what looked to be a pretty thin sweater. “What are you wearing?” Mickey gave a little sigh, his hand reached up to squeeze the skin between his two brows.

Ruby was immediately defensive. “Dad said it was fine” her tone was a little sassy as she cocked her head to the side. 

“Don't give a rat’s ass what dad says, go change”

Ian was never a good reference when it came to dressing appropriately in the winter. Mickey swore up and down that his husband was some part furnace. He never had the displeasure of running cold like everyone else, basically a ball of pure heat that could stand outside dead in a blizzard and say he was ‘a little chilly’. Mickey was incredibly jealous and a little bitter over that as he would be the one shivering three minutes into standing in the snow. 

The blizzards and harsh weather seemed to be getting worse with every year. Mickey wasn’t running the risk of the kids getting sick even if that did put him in a situation of being a tad overprotective. Maybe the whole situation was a little ridiculous in hindsight but at least he wasn’t going to be dealing with a hypothermia case any time soon. 

Ruby didn’t make even the slightest attempt to move a muscle. “Ruby” Mickey repeated with a little more heated urgency. 

They just stared at one another till she finally broke with a pout. “Dad I-”

Mickey just raised his palm out to halt her speech. He then pointed to the stairs not too far out of view “Change” he repeated, not in the mood to get into an argument with a nine-year-old over her clothing choice. “Go put something warmer”

She once again broke out into a whine, head drawing back in annoyance. 

“Ruby. Fuck, please” Mickey let out a frustrated sigh his voice rose to a yell. Both he and her were a little taken aback a little from the sheer volume of it. 

Ruby’s slightly scared expression staring back couldn’t help but hurt a little. It was the complete subtleness of it all. The barely detectable eyebrow dipping down, unsure eyes, a slightly quivered bottom lip. The expression reminded him of when he was a kid. Made him feel like a sack of shit. 

He always tried his absolute hardest not to take his emotions out on his kids. For the vast majority of Mickey’s life, he didn’t know how to deal with his emotions. They were always meant to be tucked down deep away where they couldn’t run the risk of seeing the light. He knew that the reason he viewed emotions - and more importantly kept them hidden- was because of his childhood. Adulthood unfortunately meant realising that all of his character flaws stemmed from a traumatic childhood. 

Terry would beat them harder for any emotions they showed. Fear, anger, resentment. Any slight show was another lashing with a belt or slashing them with a broken beer bottle.

Mickey was conditioned all those years to keep everything bottled up. That immediately became an issue the second he got involved with Ian. He didn’t know what feelings were bubbling up from his gut. He refused to believe that he had anything even slightly resembling admiration or god-forbid love that he felt towards Ian. For years the only way he knew how to express himself was with his fists. Took even more years for him to break out of that habit and use his actual words.

Communication still definitely wasn’t his strong suit but at least he was trying. To be a better husband, to be a better father to his kids. “C’mon you're going to freeze your ass off, just listen to me here, kid”

He was grumpy as all hell that morning. He thought it was at least a little warranted considering he was unceremoniously thrust out of bed on what had to be the coldest day of the year but he also knew that his alarm not going off was no fault of the kids. 

Ruby seemed to catch that he was growing frustrated with her. She was a tough kid, didn’t throw a fit when she knew she was in trouble or on the verge of being yelled at. But she also had enough sense to know that if she tried to push her luck no one was going to be happy. She just gave a little nod, spinning on her heels to go up and change. 

Mickey gave a sigh hearing her heavy footsteps land on the second floor above him as she nodoubtly shuffled through her closet to go and pick out another jacket like instructed. He reminded himself that he couldn’t hate himself over every tiny indiscretion. He had learned that a while back with Ian. 

He had a very complicated relationship with fatherhood as much as that absolutely rotted him to the core. He loved his girls more than anything. He was willing to go through every hardship, every single ounce of pain and miserable scenario a million times over that if in the end that meant he got his family. Still, he thought back to those early days of his marriage. The overwhelming all-consuming fear he had of being a shitty dad. He had grown enough to know he wasn’t a shitty dad. He didn’t think he could be even if he tried. Still, the looming fear that he was going to mess up the girls in some way would always be in the back of his head. At least he knew he would never be like his own dad. That brought him enough of a sound mind to keep going no matter how many mistakes along the way he would inevitably make. 

He then heard the door beside him being pushed open, Autumn's blue eyes peering up at him. “Aye, get moving” Ian rushed past the hallway reminding Mickey he didn’t have the time to sit and psychoanalyse himself because they were still in fact running late. 

“C'mon” he was once again ushering Autumn over to the room, landing in front of her closet. He grabbed whatever clothes that were in his direct eye line almost breaking a few hangers with the strength he yanked the clothes off of them. Quickly he was back next to her bed dumping the small pile of clothes he had accumulated over her comforter. 

Maybe it was a lazy parent move but Mickey let the simple long-sleeve pyjama’s my Autumn was wearing be her base layer. He then put another sweater over top of that, pushing the fabric over Autumn’s head. 

“Daddy” Autumn whined, trying to wiggle out of Mickey’s grip.

“Aye don’t wanna hear it” Mickey pulled another long sleeve over the one she already had on. “S’cold out there” He took another minute to dress her.

Mickey pulled a cap over Autumn’s head as the final piece, not bothering to comb her hair. He figured that the hat hid her still very prevalent bedhead well enough. He pushed away at an arm's length looking her over once more. Autumn looked like a mini marshmallow. Layers of long sleeve shirts, leggings, and jackets under her parka. 

She looked up at him, very annoyed, barely able to move her arms from the thick layers. Her frizzy blonde hair was still poking out around her face. He grimaced. 

He didn’t have the time to try to fight her on putting her hair up like he had designated time for every other day. With a shrug, he pulled up the hood of her parka over, just for good measure. The jacket had bunny ears that poked up when he pulled it. He gave a little laugh, her grumpy little bunny look was cute as it was entertaining. He thumbed her cheek to signal he was done.

“No more?” She pouted.

“You’re all good” he repeated, his hand reaching down to her neck, feeling her skin once more. She wasn’t cold to the touch like she was when she woke up, Mickey counted that as a mission success. 

“I don’t like all the clothes daddy” she made sure to vocalise as if her dramatic glares and huffs weren’t enough.

“Yeah well, I don’t like winter. Compromisin’ sweet cheeks” he reminded her. Her murderous stare didn’t stop short of penetrating his soul.

Her intent was falling just a little short because she did look pretty damn cute. 

Mickey’s entire school career -as short-lived as it was- he showed up to class dirty. Unbrushed teeth, gelled up spiky hair. His clothes were always torn up, grimy, not seeing the inside of a washing machine for weeks at a time. He always had bruises and dirt caked onto his face. Shoes that were too small, hand-me-downs from his older brothers that were too big. His appearance was as messy and jaded as he was in his youth. He didn’t have anyone at home to try and groom him. Growing up he didn’t have anyone to try to make sure he was covered when it got cold or watched to make sure he was following the basic hygiene no one ever taught him. He was a neglected kid that didn’t stand a chance. 

So when it came and he had his own kids he made sure they were well taken care of. His kids sure as hell weren’t neglected in the slightest- coddled a little if anything-. They always had clean, well-fitting clothes. He made sure they brushed their teeth and showered every morning. He spent many accumulated hours of his life combing them. He was always strangely good at that. He apparently knew his way around a brush and made sure his daughters were put together always. There was no question he was going to look out for his girls the way no one ever did for him.

They were once again on the move this time making it all the way to the kitchen being met by Ian and a much warmer looking Ruby. “Breakfast?” He lowered Autumn onto her typical dining room chair.

Ian was pacing back and forth watching the toaster as if that would make the toast cook any faster. “Working on it”

Mickey took the second to breathe, looking past Ian to see the microwave clock. 8:11 am. They were making pretty good time in their morning routine speed-run.

He gripped the back of Autumn’s chair for some stability before pushing himself up again. Ian finally looked back in their direction, a smile consuming his expression. 

Ian unsuccessfully snorted back a laugh. “Mick,” he couldn’t stop the wave of laughter overcoming him. “You think she’s covered enough?” he nodded over to Autumn.

“Shut the fuck up” Mickey looked over the two kids watching as Ruby took a seat next to Autumn. He was glad that Ruby aided in his request, now wearing a poofy sweater. 

Okay, maybe he did go a little overboard. But hey, he wanted to make sure his kids were warm. Sue him. 

“Coffee?” Mickey watched as Ian approached him, ready to change the topic of clothes. Ian was balancing a few mugs in his hands, leaving two of them on the kitchen island beside him before handing off the final one to his husband. The second the heat of the warm mug hit Mickey’s hands he did have to admit he felt a little better. 

“Hot chocolate” Mickey made sure to groan, letting his husband know that he was unsatisfied with the beverage in the most dramatic way possible. 

“Didn’t have time to make a pot” Ian shrugged, his hand reaching forward, taking the mug from Mickey’s hands and into his home as he made a show about drinking the beverage. He then turned back around to grab the two other mugs. “S’good, just drink it, bitch” Ian licked the chocolate splayed across his lip, giving Mickey a hardy pat on the shoulder with his free hand.

Ian then dispersed the drinks to his children, pushing the two roster mugs in front of their noses. 

Autumn was too distracted trying and ultimately failing to peel her sweater off. She then looked up at Ian with pleading eyes silently begging him to take off a layer. A whine followed when she figured he wasn’t getting her message. He stifled back a laugh at how desperate she looked. “Sorry sweetface” Ian rubbed the tip of his thumb against her warm cheek.

Ian knew that Mickey would rip him another asshole if he tried to go against him. Plus logically he knew Mickey was valid in all the layers. It was negative ten degrees outside. Still, that didn’t make Autumn’s sad blue eyes hurt him any less. The toaster sounded, four pieces of golden brown bread were calling Ian’s attention. He straightened back up before making his way over to the kitchen. He put his head into the croon of his head trying to play off the spouts of laughter as a cough. 

“Aw, Auttie it's okay” Ruby placed her mug down back on the counter, a little chocolate still on her face that she didn’t have the chance to lick away. “You look like a little bunny marshmallow” her own little giggle as she toyed with the little bunny ears poking from Autumn’s head. 

That seemed to trigger a few found wave of misery as she jerked away from Ruby, head tilting back to make eye contact with Mickey. “Daddy!” She whined through crocodile tears.

“Goddamn it, Ruby,” Mickey muttered through gritted teeth. Dealing with a toddler meltdown he so skillfully avoided earlier was the literal last thing he wanted to deal with.

“What?! She does!” Ruby grumbled back, clearly trying to repress her own smile. “Autumn, that's ok! You love bunnies don’t you?”

The crocodile tears immediately cleared as Autumn thought it over. She loved animals more than anything else. Something in her young mind clicked together that her looking like a bunny was a good thing. She let out a toothy smile, reaching for her own cup. “Oh yeah bunnies are cool!”

Ruby pet between the two ears once more, looking back up at Mickey with a smirk.“There fixed it” she sassed, back on her feet as she saw Ian trying to motion for her. 

“Uh-huh,” Mickey offered his signature eyebrow raise, eyes falling back to the clock. 8:14 am.  

“Get your fuckin lunch box thing before you eat” 

“Fuck, I forgot to pack it last night” Ian’s voice was incredibly small, eyes focused on the plate in his hand so he didn’t have to face his husband’s gazes.

At that moment Mickey very seriously considered strangling Ian with the lunchbox’s tin handle and continuing on with his life as a single father. 

Ian always insisted on doing lunches for not only the kids but them too. He would spend a pretty good chunk of time cutting out the sandwiches into shapes with cookie cutters. He would add picks with googly eyes to hold out fruit and put candy into moulds if he had the time. He would always no matter how high or low energy add little notes to all of their notes. Sometimes they were a simple ‘I love you’ or ‘have a good day’. Sometimes he would go the extra mile, writing jokes or drawing out characters. Make crude illustrations for his husband and cuter more PG ones for the kids.

Mickey always thought that the effort he put into the lunches was unwarned and pointless. He knew their kids and their little fingers were going to destroy in five seconds flat. Regardless, he didn’t voice any of that because Ian seemed to enjoy his little morning ritual of making the lunches. Mickey also liked when he would draw little stick figures fucking. It always made him laugh.

Except he wasn’t laughing that morning. Still seething with the fact that they were running late and now that the kids had nothing to eat. Mickey was not about to put the effort Ian did every other morning, nor did he have the time to even consider it. “I’m gonna fucking kill you” He made sure to give him one last dirty look. Even though his threat was completely empty, that didn’t calm Mickey any less.

“You're getting” Mickey’s eyes scanned over the fridge desperate for anything he could pack for her. His eyes landed on a pizza towards the back that had been in there for a few days. “Cold pizza?” He shot a look over at Ruby who gave him a thumbs up in response. He could do with that. 

Quickly he shoved two Ziploc bags of pizza slices into their backpacks, ignoring the lunch boxes on the counter completely.

“You can eat in the car” He watched as Ian grabbed another plate. “We still have to deal with traffic, get a move on” he mocked Ian’s words from earlier. 

“E, Make yourself useful and put the little one's shoes on” Mickey was once again resorting to pulling Autumn up. He patted her back slightly, feeling a little bad for how he was ushering her around like a ragdoll all morning.

Ian grumbled a ‘fine’, already unclear tone muffled even more with a piece of toast dangling from his closed lips. 

Autumn was already at the base of the stairs by the time Ian went to meet her. 

“Auts grab your boots on, its-”

“Cold“ she immediately called back out, finishing his sentence. He felt like a broken record that morning. 

Mickey made sure to shoot Ian one last look of aggravation before he could join Autumn. They both made sure to raise one another the bird before leaving their eye line again.

“Aye Bee” He grabbed his daughter’s arm as she trailed behind Ian. she halted looking up at him confused.

“M’sorry for yelling at you earlier” He pulled her in tight against him, placing a kiss on her hair. They really didn’t have the time to spare but Mickey figured if he didn’t apologise then he would spend the rest of the day feeling some type of way. “Just a little irritated this morning,” he admitted, a little more embarrassed. 

“It's okay, tough morning” she blew raspberries. Mickey couldn't help chuckle a little. That was for sure. 

“Mickey!” Ian called out again.

The brunette quickly grabbed both of the girls' backpacks, slinging them over his back before he appeared in the foyer next to Ruby toeing her shoe on.

“Door’s stuck” Ian was grabbing at the nob. Ian struggled. His arm slammed back, trying to pull the front door open with no release. He tried for another few seconds, his entire family, including the curious dogs, in a crowd behind him.

“Lemme do it” Mickey pushed past Ian, taking his place. He put all of his force into opening the stubborn door, face growing red from the strength it was exuding. After what felt like forever, the door finally gave. Mickey toppled back a little as the door came swinging back from the pressure. With it came snow tumbling into the house. 

“Fucking hell” Ian saw the wall of snow on the other side of the now open door. In their blind fury of the morning, they had completely forgotten the snowstorm that had blown in the night before. A few feet of snow was trapping them in.

Ian and Mickey looked over at the pile of snow in front of them, then at one another, then the kids. “Ruby, how important is that test?” Ian bit his bottom lip.

Ruby thought it over, the snow was a feat none of them were ready to face. “I guess I can make it up,” she gave a not very convincing shrug.

That was good enough for her dads as they came to a mutual understanding. “Go change back into your pyjamas” Mickey gave a sigh. He kicked the snow that came barreling into the house aside as he tried to pull the door close. 

“Snow day?” Autumn peaked up, shivering from the cold wind that managed to get in. Mickey was so glad he took the time to layer her up.

“Snow day” Ian nodded back. 

Mickey finally managed to get the door closed again. He leaned down to collect the intrusive snow. He had not just spent all the energy and stress for their whole morning to be a waste. Without thinking about it, he tossed the snow in Ian’s direction, managing to hit him square in the cheek with what was an impeccable aim.

“You fucker” Ian couldn’t get but laugh once the shock of what happened finally hit him. He collected the little snow that was left back at Mickey. The girls ran out of the line of fire, to not be a victim in the spontaneous snowball fight. Their giggles soundtracked Ian and Mickey’s tussle.

Roma barked at them, jumping up and running around trying to figure out what her humans were doing. The dog gave another bark as a clump of snow hit her paw. She crooned her head down, sniffing the snow then gave it a little nibble. 

The carpet a few feet in front of the open door was surly ruined and the melted snow was going to be an absolute bitch to clean up but fuck it, the little high pitched giggles as the two girls got dragged into their dad’s shenanigans were more than making up for it.

Mickey may have hated winter, but he sure as hell loved those kids.