Who's Carrot Boy?
The clues were all there. Kevin Ball wasn't an idiot. Sure he couldn't read very well, and he needed Lip to help him fill out his taxes, but he wasn't stupid. He put two and two together and came up with: Ian Gallagher.
Mickey Milkovich first appeared in the Alibi the week after Ian left. Mickey had never been a patron at that particular bar at any other time in his life, so his appearance shortly after the disappearance of one red headed Gallagher peaked Kev's interest.
It wasn't something he picked up on right away. In hindsight, he should have picked up on it. Mickey's sudden interest in the Alibi was only the first clue. The second clue would have been Mickey asking about Gallagher. Naturally, Kev thought he was talking about Frank. Of course Tommy had said, "Isn't Frank dead?" But the Milkovich boy just said, "Not fucking Frank. The other one. The red head."
Kev wondered why Mickey Milkovich was looking for Ian. At the time he thought the Southside thug was trying to collect some debt from Ian. That wasn't case. Kev didn't miss the look of forlon on Mickey's face when he said he hadn't seen him, even when Kev took that phone call about Stan.
Mickey would stare off into space for long periods of time, sometimes he would sigh. Kev and Tommy knew to leave Mickey alone. He was lost in his own thoughts. He was a married man. Marriage was stressful; Kev and Tommy didn't think anything of it. Until Mickey admitted he liked fucking carrot tops.
That was clue number three. Ian Gallagher was a carrot top. He had freckles and pale skin, the same as what Mickey mentioned he liked fucking. And when Mickey didn't need to buy the ginger woman in the bar a drink in order to fuck her, that sent up a red flag to Kev.
But even after the woman came from the bathroom looking satisfied, Mickey just looked lost and depressed. Then it happened. Svetlana told Mickey that "Carrot Boy was gone."
Carrot Boy. Clue number four. Whatever Mickey's secret was, it was definitely about a boy. That was why Kevin Ball looked at his wife Veronica. Carrot Boy, not Carrot girl. Mickey had asked where Carrot Boy had gone, but Svetlana just said, "I made him leave no more room for him when baby comes." So Mickey had a not-so secret, secret.
But later that night Kev saw Mickey enter the Gallagher house and when he came over for dinner all the kids were talking about the return of a particular freckled face. The next morning, Mickey was seen leaving the Gallagher house and not long after him Ian was there too. That was clue number five.
Mickey never showed any interest in the Gallagher house before Ian Gallagher disappeared but now that he's back it's like the Milkovich boy had moved in. He became a fixture in the house. He wasn't going anywhere.
Clue number six was Mickey's absence from the Rub 'N' Tug. Even though he wasn't at work, he still was seen entering and exiting the Gallagher house by both Kev and Veronica. Svetlana had no idea where he was which meant that Mickey wasn't going home.
But what was really going on didn't occur to Kev until clue number seven when he looked in a window at the Gallagher house and saw "the look" that Mickey was giving the tall Gallagher boy. Kev would admit to anyone that maybe he stared longer than necessary at the two of them looking deeply into each other's eyes, but he would always follow it up with "for research" which is justifiable. The whole situation was too interesting not to arise suspicion. He had to wonder what the other Gallagher's thought of the new addition to the family.
So when Mickey came out at his son's baptism after party Kev wasn't surprised. He had seen clue number 8 first hand. It was the last piece of the puzzle that just fit right into place. That was look on Ian's face. Ian looked hurt that Mickey was pretending to be the perfect husband and father in front of his father and uncles. Kev had given Ian a free shot to take the edge off. But that look was undeniable.
It was only natural that Kev would want Mickey to feel welcome in his bar the week following his "coming out". Mickey had been absent from the bar. He's spent every waking moment with Ian, and probably few sleeping ones too since that night. But when Mickey showed up, Tommy teased and Mickey lost his shit. But Kev had the remedy.
"Sit down, Mickey, let me buy you a drink. No one cares who you're banging."
Kev approved of the relationship. He didn't know all the details. He didn't need to. Ian was his family. If Ian was happy so was Kev. Mickey seemed to make the kind hearted Gallagher boy very happy and that was all Kev needed to know. So he handed Mickey the drink and secretly welcomed him to the family.
Kev sat on the couch with Veronica, the twins, and Fiona. They were drinking and laughing, until Fiona brought up the current events of the Gallagher household.
"Ian's living with Mickey Milkovich."
Kev wasn't surprised.
"If I hadn't seen it first hand I wouldn't have believed Mickey Milkovich was gay," Veronica said.
"I wasn't surprised. The signs were all there. I wasn't even surprised it was Ian," Kev admitted.
"I was. Ian was always so sensible. What the fuck would have to happen to make him fall for a Milkovich is beyond me," said Fiona into her beer, "and now we have to worry about whether or not he's bipolar. Mickey won't let us take him to a clinic. That was surprising. I knew they were fucking, but I didn't know Mickey was in love—or could love my brother."
Again, Kev wasn't surprised. He wanted to raise his glass to Mickey and Ian, but he didn't. If anyone on the Southside was going to work out as a couple it would be those two. He saw it. Anyone with eyes could see it if they were paying attention.
"Wow, really? Damn. He went from being the dirtiest white boy in America to being a clean-kind of attractive caring guy, fucking weird," said Veronica.
"Lip said that Ian and Mickey had been together for over two years, longer than I was with Jimmy. That's literally the most stable relationship I think a Gallagher has ever had. I'm kind of jealous," said Fiona.
Kev just tilted his head and took a swig of his beer. None of this information was new to him, except maybe Fiona's jealousy. He stayed out of it. He let the women talk. They didn't understand what was really in the heart of a man. How could they?
"But really, Mickey Milkovich?" Fiona says.
"He's not a bad guy," said Kev. He was afraid of Mickey in a lot of ways, but in a lot of other ways admired the fuck out of him. That coming out at the Alibi was the singular bravest thing he had ever witnessed. Mickey did it for Ian. It completely changed Kev's opinion on Mickey Milkovich.
"I'm starting to see that. I don't if I want him as family though," said Fiona.
"Honestly, Fi, you'd be lucky to find someone to love Ian the way Mickey does. That type of love doesn't come around all the time. Mickey is 100% all in. He's not going anywhere," said Kev.
"How the hell would you know?" Veronica asked.
"I've seen it."
And that was all Kev needed to say.