Inside the apartment.
Lip looked around. To be honest, he was pretty jealous—just like later in the original show when Fiona got damn lucky and sold the laundromat.
However, he only felt jealous for a short while. After taking a few fierce drags of his cigarette, Lip temporarily swallowed that jealousy.
Just then, Karen came down from upstairs and appeared in Lip's view.
After so many days apart, Karen, who was already beautiful, looked even more beautiful in Lip's eyes.
This wasn't strange.
Over the past few days, Karen hadn't been idle. Hair, beauty treatments, spa, buying clothes... after all that effort, she indeed looked a lot better.
Lip was slightly startled. Recovering his senses, he smiled at Karen and greeted her peacefully. "Karen."
Karen returned the smile but didn't speak. She just walked slowly downstairs and stopped in front of Lip. "Let's talk outside."
Lip had no objections.
Soon, on the grass at the side of the apartment building, in the shade of the trees.
Karen took cigarettes out of her bag and lit one. "What do you want to talk about?"
Lip tried his best to control his temper and spoke calmly. "Have you made a decision about the baby?"
Karen smiled. "I'll probably give birth to him."
Hearing this, Lip took another drag of his cigarette. "I'm the child's father. I have to be involved in his life. The child needs a father."
"Jody will be a pretty good father," Karen replied with a smile.
If this were before, Lip would have lost his temper by this point in the conversation.
But now, Lip controlled it. "Jody isn't the child's biological father. He can't take care of this child wholeheartedly like I can."
Karen exhaled smoke and looked at Lip with a smile. "So, what are you saying? Even if we aren't together, you'll come over when you have time and hang out with the kid for a while? Lip, you're a smart guy. Do you think that's realistic?"
"I'll have a boyfriend, and you'll have a girlfriend. What will they think then?"
Lip was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I want to marry you. Let's get married and take care of this child together."
Hearing this, Karen felt a burst of amusement in her heart. She really wanted to laugh out loud.
But she didn't; Karen held it back.
The reason was simple.
Her marrying Lip was part of Dexter's plan. Karen knew Dexter would like this result, which meant he would pay quite a lot of money.
Money was a good thing.
"Get married? And then? What do we eat and drink?" Karen asked with significance.
"I'll go find a proper job. I promise to support you and this child well," Lip promised solemnly.
This kind of childish, immature talk really made it hard for people not to laugh.
Karen held back with great difficulty. "What about school? Not going?"
"Yeah, that shitty school. There's no point in going anyway," Lip answered without a shred of hesitation.
Karen looked at Lip with a smile for a few seconds, neither agreeing nor opposing. "Let me think about it."
Hearing this, Lip immediately took it as hope. He smiled brilliantly instantly and nodded heavily. "Okay."
"I have things to do, so let's leave it at that for now," Karen was anxious to call Dexter and report this conversation. Dropping this sentence, she walked straight back toward the apartment.
Lip didn't rush to leave. He stood there watching Karen disappear before lifting his feet, feeling a bit better, and moving in the direction of home.
He walked a few steps.
Ian, who had found time to return to the Gallagher house wanting to see Debbie but found the house empty, called. "Lip, I'm home. Why is no one here?"
Lip was in a temporarily good mood and had the energy to rethink the Gallagher family's problems. "Debbie went to the hospital to find Frank. I came to find Karen. We just finished talking, and I'm on my way back now."
"Fiona probably took Liam to the rented house."
Hearing this, Ian was a bit confused. "Fiona rented a house outside? When did that happen?"
Hearing this, it was Lip's turn to be confused. "It's on XX Street. You didn't know?"
Ian shook his head. "I didn't know. Why did she rent a house?"
Lip understood. He realized Fiona hadn't told Ian about this. After thinking about it, he decided to let Ian know. After all, from now on, the Gallagher family would mainly rely on the two of them.
"Fiona moved in with Jimmy. She moved out. In her own words..." Lip explained it in detail.
Listening to this, Ian's head was buzzing, and he was rendered speechless for a moment.
Phone minutes cost money. Lip instinctively wanted to save money now. After waiting two seconds, he didn't wait any longer. "I'll be right back. Let's talk in person."
Saying this, Lip hung up the phone.
At about the same time.
Dexter Restaurant.
"I'm busy right now. I'll call you back when I'm done," Dexter really didn't have time after receiving Karen's call. He replied and hung up.
---
It was noon.
In the rented house.
After leaving the Gallagher house and returning here, Fiona had taken a nap feeling slightly annoyed. She woke up, checked the time, and seeing it was already noon and time for lunch, she rubbed her eyes and prepared to get up.
Sobering up a bit, Fiona reached out and nudged Jimmy.
Jimmy was nudged awake and looked at Fiona groggily. "What's up?"
"Time to get up. It's almost twelve," Fiona smiled instinctively. "Get up and make lunch for me."
Jimmy was pretty much whipped, so he had no objection to this. He blinked and gave a wicked smile. "Okay, but let me eat you first!"
Fiona immediately gave a sly smile, very willing.
Before long, the two started fucking.
Halfway through the activity.
Suddenly, Jimmy's phone vibrated.
Jimmy didn't want to pay attention to it, but out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the phone screen and saw the text was from Tony. He had to act as naturally as possible, not arousing Fiona's suspicion, as he grabbed the phone and took a quick look.
The content of the text was simple: [Mission progress?]
Tony had sent a text two days ago giving Jimmy a new mission. The mission was: Get Fiona pregnant.
Jimmy hadn't forgotten and had a massive headache about it. Seeing this text now, his head hurt even more. [In progress!]
Jimmy replied with a headache, tossed the phone aside, and looked forward immensely to the arrival of tomorrow.
Dexter had said he would solve Tony's problem tomorrow... Jimmy sincerely hoped this messy business with Tony would disappear quickly.
"Who's looking for you?" Fiona noticed Jimmy's strange behavior at this moment and asked curiously.
Hearing this, Jimmy snapped out of it and smiled at Fiona. "A colleague from work. That guy is annoying."
"Really?" Aside from a strong desire for control, Fiona also had very serious trust issues.
Jimmy smiled a bit more brilliantly. "Of course."
Fiona thought for a moment and didn't ask further, just saying solemnly, "Don't ever lie to me, or I will be very angry. Do you know that?"
This is why she was a hypocrite.
Fiona could lie to others, but others lying to her? Heh, absolutely not allowed!
Jimmy nodded with a smile. "Of course, I will never lie to you."
It could be said he had met his match; Jimmy bullshitted with incredible proficiency.