(Ten months earlier)

"I really think you should ask your brother," Reese pressed, picking up her coffee and taking a gulp.

Lip looked across the table at her. "I haven't spoken to him in months, Ree. I'm not asking him."

"But this is important," she sighed, setting her mug back down and cupping it with both hands. "We can't just get anyone to do it."

"I'm not saying we'll get just anyone to do it," Lip replied, picking at a piece of cold toast, "but I am not going to meet up with Ian after fuck knows how long and say 'hey little brother, want to give us your sperm so me and my girl who you've never met can have a baby, because clearly I'm not enough of a man to do it myself?'"

"Philip, stop it." Reese sat back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest.

Pushing his chair back and standing up, aggravated, Lip snapped, "Can you please stop calling me Philip!"

Jabbing a finger in his direction, Reese jibed back, "I will when you stop being such a dick." Her voice softened then. "We've been over this so much. We're not the first couple this has happened to and we won't be the last and I certainly don't find you any less of a man because of it. I want your child. However we get it, whoever we get it from, I'll never think of it as anyone's but yours. I just thought Ian was the obvious choice."

Lip sat back down again, "Well he's not. I mean, what if he and Vicki want kids? I can't let him have another kid by us first. It's not fair."

Leaning forwards across the table, Reese tried to reason with him. "But it wouldn't be his kid."

"Plus it would have ginger hair. How the fuck would we explain that?" Lip murmured under his breath.

"Lip, please."

"No! Please don't ask me again," his attention back on Reese's face now." Let's just go to a sperm bank like normal people."

"You know we can't afford that."

Suddenly a voice from the other side of the room said, "I'll do it."

Reese peered around Lip, wide-eyed, as his head whipped around, "What the fuck, Mickey? What are you doing here?"

Mickey raised an eyebrow. "Er. You told me to meet you here, dumbass. You had deliveries you wanted making?"

Lip stood up and turned to face Mickey. "So you thought you'd do a little eavesdropping while you were at it?"

Mickey smirked. Not really eavesdroppin' when you're talking at the tops of your voices and I'm in the same room. If you don't want people to hear you, how about next time you hang a sign on the fuckin' door?"

From behind them, they both heard Reese's quiet voice. "What do you mean you'll do it?"

"Reese, no fucking way. We don't want Milkovich genes in the family," Lip said, looking at her and shaking his head, jabbing a thumb towards Mickey.

Mickey's tone was indignant, "Hey man! If it was good enough for your brother..."

There was a tense moment before Lip turned his head slowly back to Mickey. "Is that some kind of sick fucking joke? After what you did to him?"

Mickey held up his hands, palms out, contrite. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't... Look that's... Forget I said that okay? Please?"

Lip backed off, still quietly seething. Reese stood staring at Mickey, flicking hopeful glances at Lip.

Mickey continued, "Anyway, eavesdroppin' or no, you sound like you're in a jam. I got what you need. If you want it. Not like I'm gonna be fuckin' poppin' out any kids of my own anytime soon right?"

"And what would you want from us?" Reese asked.

"Reese, you're not seriously considering this?" Lip's tone was one of utter disbelief.

"Why not? What other choice do we have? You won't go to your brother. We can't afford to go to the clinics. At least we would know where it came from. And it's not like the baby would inherit the filthy gene," she spared a glance at Mickey, "no offence Mickey."

Mickey waved a hand dismissively at her, "Whatever. None taken."

Lip was incredulous, but Reese was imploring him with her eyes and damn it, he couldn't think of any alternatives. He turned his attention to Mickey again.

"So what would you get out of it, Mickey? Because I refuse to believe you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart."

Mickey shrugged. "How much would it cost you to go to a... you know... a bank? "

Lip let out a bark of a laugh, "Oh I should have known it would be about money."

Reese elbowed him. "It could cost upwards of $400 every time we try."

Mickey's eyes widened questioningly, "Every time?"

"Yeah, if the sperm doesn't fertilise the-"

"Ah-ah-ah." Mickey interrupted. "Shit. I don't need details. What about you give me $350? But if it doesn't work the first time we just keep trying until it does."

Lip was suspicious. "What's the catch?"

"Jesus. There's no fuckin' catch, Lip." Mickey threw his arms up, exasperated. "You need the stuff. I need the money. That's all. Oh and I need you to keep me on as your runaround guy."

Ian sat in stunned silence as Reese finished recounting her version of events.

She hadn't taken her eyes from him the entire time, watching him for a reaction. When none had really been forthcoming, other than utter shock, she'd stopped speaking.

"Ian? You okay? Ian?" She reached forward and touched him gently on the arm.

Ian jumped as if he'd been electrocuted. He stared at her hand on his arm, then slowly brought his head up to focus on her face.

"I can't... I don't... I literally have no idea how to process that," he breathed out.

"I know that it all seems crazy-" she began.

Ian scoffed.

"But you have to understand something. After all that crap with Karen Jackson went down, I don't think Lip ever got over it."

Ian looked up at Reese in surprise.

Reese saw the look. "He tells me everything, Ian. Well evidently not everything, but then that really wasn't his thing to tell was it?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "But anyway, he got over her, but I think he'd gotten used to the idea of being a dad. Fallen in love with it. He really wanted a child. He said he just needed the right person." She smiled then, a secret kind of smile. "We tried for a long time. Mickey offered us a solution. Like I said, sounds crazy."

"It's not crazy. I understand. I think," Ian sighed, "I'm just being selfish. I just wish I'd known what to expect, turning up here and finding him when I wanted to just reconnect with my family. It was just so awkward, you know?"

"I'm sorry. Again. We just... " Reese lowered her head, "when he came to us after the fire we couldn't say no. Well, I couldn't. Not after what he'd done for us."

Ian nodded his head slowly.

"But we had no idea you were going to be around." she gave Ian's arm a reassuring squeeze. "If we'd known - if I'd known all of this before... I would have made Lip call you."

"I still can't believe Lip agreed to it so easily. Having a Milkovich in the house..."

Reese shook her head quickly, "No, I had to convince him on all counts. I left out the arguments we had before he agreed to let Mickey be the sperm donor," Ian winced, "and Lip really didn't want him here when he asked if he could stay."

"Well, I doubt he could resist you for long though," Ian smiled at her then, a genuine one.

She returned it, but continued quickly, "Well yeah, that! But when Mickey said his dad tried to kill him, I don't think either of us had the heart to-"

"Wait. What?" Ian's reaction was delayed, as her words sunk in.

"You didn't know?"

Ian leapt up. "Know what? What do you mean Terry tried to kill him?" The air around him was starting to go fuzzy.

Reese looked up at him from the couch. "Mickey was in the store when Terry set the fire. He was sleeping. It was definitely done with intent to kill."

Ian's heartbeat suddenly started to make a whooshing sound as it pounded in his ears, and his vision was going white at the edges. He couldn't focus and now it felt like the whole house was on a tilt.

He could hear Reese calling his - and strangely Mickey's - name, with increasing urgency, as if she was in a far away echoing room, but his world felt a little like it was caving in on him and he was falling with it.

Right before he blacked out, he felt someone catch him.