For a few days, the news stayed between them.

Not because they were hiding it. Neither of them felt secretive about it, and neither of them thought there was anything complicated enough about it to keep from the people around them. It was more that there didn’t seem to be any reason to rush. Their lives had settled long enough by then that the thought of having a child didn’t hit like some disaster or some dramatic twist waiting to blow everything apart.

It felt more like the next thing.

The next room in the house filling up.

The next car seat eventually ending up in the back of one of their cars.

The next shift in a life that had already been changing for years.

They didn’t even talk about it in some huge emotional way at first. It just sat there between them in the quiet moments, growing more real every day without needing much help.

One evening, Mandy was stretched across the couch with her feet in Lip’s lap while he skimmed through emails on his phone. The television was on low in the background, not because either of them was really watching it, but because the house felt too still without some kind of sound in it. Mandy had one arm under her head and the other resting across her stomach like she was thinking about it without meaning to.

“You’re already thinking about names, aren’t you,” she said.

Lip glanced up briefly, then back down at the screen.

“Not yet.”

“You will.”

“Eventually.”

Mandy shifted slightly, getting more comfortable, then looked up at the ceiling for a second before speaking again.

“At least this kid’s not growing up the way we did.”

That made him put the phone down.

Not dramatically. Just enough that he could look at her properly.

“Yeah,” he said.

That was the part that mattered most.

Not what the baby would wear. Not what room they’d turn into a nursery. Not whether it would be a boy or a girl. Just that the child growing between them already had more stability than either of them ever did at that age. More space. More quiet. More money than they knew what to do with half the time. More people who would show up and stay.

It wasn’t perfect.

Nothing in their lives ever would be.

But it was different.

And different was enough.

They told the family a few nights later.

The Gallagher house looked like it always did when too many people happened to be home at the same time. The television was running low in the living room. The kitchen table was buried under Debbie’s bills and school papers. Somebody had left a plate on the coffee table. A cabinet door was hanging slightly open because no one in that house had ever fully closed anything in their life.

Debbie was at the table with a stack of envelopes and that tired, annoyed look she wore now whenever she had to deal with anything involving money. Ian was standing by the fridge eating straight from a container he had no intention of putting on a plate. Carl was on the couch with his phone in his hand, half paying attention to the room and half to whatever was on the screen.

Lip and Mandy walked in without knocking.

Nobody even reacted to that part anymore.

Debbie looked up first.

“You two finally remember this place exists?”

Lip pulled one shoulder up. “Been busy.”

“Convenient excuse.”

Mandy came around the table and leaned against the counter near Ian.

“We’ve got news.”

That got everyone’s attention faster than Lip expected.

Ian looked up from the fridge.

“It’s nothing bad,” Mandy said.

Lip glanced around once, mostly because it still felt strange to say it out loud in a room where everyone else would hear it at the same time.

Then he said, “Mandy’s pregnant.”

The room went still for exactly one second.

Then Ian blinked hard and straightened a little.

“Seriously?”

Mandy nodded once.

“Yeah.”

Carl sat up from the couch.

“Well damn.”

Debbie stared at both of them, then at Mandy’s stomach like maybe the proof would already be visible if she looked hard enough.

“You’re serious,” she said again, but quieter.

“Yeah,” Mandy repeated.

Ian broke first, a grin spreading slowly across his face.

“So I’m gonna be an uncle again.”

“You already are,” Lip said.

“Yeah, but this one’s yours.”

Carl leaned back again, still looking between them.

“That kid’s gonna have way too many people around.”

Mandy smiled slightly.

“Probably.”

Debbie finally dropped the envelope she was holding and looked at Mandy properly.

“Okay, no, wait. How long have you known?”

“A few days.”

“And you’re only telling us now?”

“We were busy,” Mandy said.

Debbie pointed at her. “That’s rude.”

Ian laughed under his breath and shut the fridge with his foot.

Carl shook his head slowly, still half grinning.

“Lip having a kid.”

“Yeah,” Ian said. “That’s weird.”

Lip looked at him. “Not really.”

Ian smirked. “A little.”

The conversation took over from there the way family conversations always did. Debbie asking questions too quickly. Carl making unhelpful comments. Ian trying to sound calm while clearly enjoying the whole thing more than he was pretending to. Somewhere in the middle of it Fiona came in from the back of the house, heard half a sentence, made them repeat the whole thing, and then stood there for a second like she was deciding whether to laugh or cry before settling for hugging Mandy hard enough to count as both.

Word spread after that the way it always did.

Not through some official announcement. Just through the usual South Side chain of people talking, people overhearing, people telling someone else on the way to somewhere else. By the time Lip and Mandy stopped by the Alibi again, Kev already looked like he had heard something and was waiting to confirm it.

He spotted them the second they came through the door.

Kevin leaned across the bar.

“What’s going on.”

Mandy answered before Lip could.

“I’m pregnant.”

Kev blinked once.

Then his whole face changed.

“Well damn.”

Veronica, wiping down the counter beside him, looked up immediately.

Her smile came slower, but warmer.

“Congratulations.”

Lip nodded.

“Thanks.”

Kev shook his head like the room had suddenly tilted.

“Man,” he said, “everybody’s growing up.”

V gave him a look. “That doesn’t apply to you.”

“That’s unfair.”

“It’s true.”

Mandy laughed and slid onto one of the stools while Lip leaned against the bar beside her.

Kev was still grinning.

“You gonna find out what it is?”

“Eventually,” Mandy said.

V leaned one elbow on the bar. “How’re you feeling.”

“Fine.”

“That’s suspicious.”

“I’m serious.”

Kev pointed at Lip. “He’s gonna lose his mind the second that kid’s old enough to walk.”

Lip looked at him. “Why.”

“Because it’ll start touching expensive things.”

That got a laugh out of Mandy and even V smiled at that one.

The rest of life didn’t stop moving just because they had something new to think about.

The flagship store kept getting busier.

By then it had already become one of those places people in the city knew even if they’d never actually gone inside. On drop days the line outside started before opening and wrapped far enough down the block that people passing by slowed down just to ask what everyone was waiting for. The managers handled it well. Staff kept things moving. Security made sure nobody turned release days into a fight.

Lip stopped by one afternoon mostly to check in, not because the place needed him.

That part still felt good in its own way.

He walked through the store slowly, hands in his pockets, letting himself look without immediately stepping into anything. Music moved through the speakers low and steady. Employees were already with customers. One of the managers caught his eye from behind the register and gave him a quick nod, then went straight back to work without hovering. A couple guys near the wall were looking over jackets from the latest drop. Someone else asked if there were any mediums left in black. Everything worked.

That was the difference now.

Places kept moving when he wasn’t there.

He spoke to the manager for a minute, asked about stock on the current release, heard the short version of what had already sold through, then stepped back outside again before anyone could start treating him like he was there to oversee the day.

He had learned that part a long time ago.

Businesses ran better when the people hired to run them were allowed to.

That evening he stopped by the Gallagher house again.

The living room was quieter than usual for once. Ian was on the couch with a beer in one hand and the television on low, though he didn’t look like he was paying much attention to whatever was on.

Lip dropped into the chair across from him.

“You busy?”

Ian shrugged.

“Not really.”

Lip glanced toward the kitchen.

“Where’s Mickey.”

A small smirk pulled at Ian’s mouth.

“Probably outside yelling at someone on the phone.”

“That sounds about right.”

Ian took another drink, let the silence sit for a second, then leaned back slightly into the couch.

“Actually,” he said.

Lip looked at him.

Ian didn’t bother making it dramatic.

“We’re getting married.”

Lip raised an eyebrow.

“You serious?”

“Yeah.”

Lip nodded once, no hesitation in it.

“Well.”

A small smile showed up despite himself.

“Guess we’re doing another wedding.”