Shane fished out a large colorful box from the cardboard box, the cover printed with photos of various strange little experiments.
For example, a small volcano eruption, simple circuits, or a mountain made of bubbles, etc.
"This is a Child Safety Science Experiment Kit," Shane pushed the box in front of Carl.
"Inside there's baking soda, vinegar, conductive wires, and other odds and ends. You can make a small volcano eruption or assemble a circuit yourself."
Carl's face scrunched up immediately. "I don't want this."
His small mouth pouted directly. "I want that stick you used to shock Frank just now."
"I knew it," Lip face-palmed directly, and Fiona was also speechless.
"That stick was so cool," Carl gestured.
"Frank screamed with a Bzzzt touch, jumping on the ground like a fish."
"It is indeed cool, but I dare not give it to you. I don't want to be shocked awake by you in the middle of the night."
Shane reached out and knocked on that box. "This is much more powerful than that stick. It can teach you how to make your own exclusive explosion without getting caught by the police!"
Carl's eyes lit up. "Wow! Scientific bomb! Then can I make a bomb to blast Frank out of the house?"
"Hey," Fiona couldn't help covering her face. "Are you encouraging him to destroy or trying to stop him?"
"I can at least make him wear goggles before he learns to do other stupid things."
Shane acted innocent. "Better than him peeing on a socket, right?"
Carl had already hugged the box in his arms, muttering to himself while touching it, "Scientific explosion, scientific volcano, scientific electricity!"
"Sigh," Lip couldn't help sighing.
"If the house blows up one day, at least we know who did it, and that he came prepared."
Shane groped in the cardboard box for a while again. This time he took out a soft cashmere blanket, embroidered with some simple small patterns.
He walked to the high chair, spread the blanket over Liam, and tucked Liam's little feet in.
"This is for the only brat in our family who hasn't been taught bad yet."
Liam babbled, grabbing the corner of the blanket with his hand. Although he didn't understand what was happening at all, he seemed to enjoy the blanket.
"Envious," Lip sighed. "How come he gets a gift without doing anything?"
"You can turn into a baby first next time, then come line up," Shane said.
Now there were only two things left in the cardboard box. Fiona moved a bit uncomfortably.
"Hey, if you say you didn't prepare mine, I don't care. I can..."
"If you say you don't want it, I can take yours," Lip interrupted quickly from the side.
"You dare!" Fiona glared at Lip.
Shane took out a garment bag from the cardboard box and handed it over. "These first."
Inside the bag was a brown winter coat that looked warm just by its color, and a thick down jacket.
Fiona initially wanted to be polite, but her hands were faster than her brain, opening the bag directly.
She pulled the coat out of the bag, shook it under the light, and couldn't help saying "Wow."
"This doesn't look like something that would appear on our street."
"Then if you wear it, our street gets an upgrade," Shane said.
"Right," "I agree," "Fiona, try it on."...
Amidst the crowd's urging, Fiona draped the coat over herself, buttoned it up, and tied the belt.
With the coat on, her entire temperament changed. The coat outlined her waistline, making her figure appear longer. Her shoulders, which looked a bit hunched due to years of hard work, were now held straight by the stiff shoulder line of the coat.
"That's right," Lip whistled directly.
"This looks like a woman who can walk into those expensive bars in the city center, drink other people's wine, and swipe other people's cards."
"As for that ragged coat of yours before," he waved his hand in disgust, "looked like those car thieves at the bar entrance."
"Shut up," Fiona cursed, but the corners of her mouth obviously carried a smile.
Ian also couldn't help saying: "Fiona, you look like that kind of heroine in TV dramas now. Of course, not the kind who gets dumped miserably, but the kind who dumps others and walks away in high heels."
Debbie also spoke up, "So beautiful, Fiona. You look like a real mom now."
Debbie's words made Fiona visibly stunned. She looked down at the coat on her body, then at the younger siblings around her, her eyes softening a few degrees.
"Cough cough," Shane coughed beside her, interrupting the atmosphere. "Alright, this down jacket is for you to wear when setting up the stall in the morning. I don't want my partner frozen into a popsicle then."
"As for this coat," Shane raised his eyebrows, "it's for you to keep up appearances when shopping."
"So you have a chance to hook two rich husbands back."
Fiona laughed out loud directly. "Really? Then if I really hook a rich husband back, what do you plan to do?"
"Then I'll first check if he has a stable job and if he files taxes himself," Shane started to be serious.
"Then I'll decide whether to drag him to the basement for a beating, to see if he can take a hit and is worthy of entering this door."
"Oh, totally agree," Lip nodded from the side. "Then the Gallagher Family Threshold Management Committee is officially established now!"
The cardboard box had bottomed out, leaving only a small velvet box.
Shane took the box out, hesitated for a moment, but didn't hand it over directly. Instead, he walked behind Fiona, standing behind her chair.
"One last thing."
Fiona turned to look at him. "If you bought something weird from the black market, I still have a little time to kick you out now."
"Don't worry, not a bomb."
Shane opened the box. Inside was a thin silver necklace with a small star pendant hanging below, shining under the light.
Shane took the necklace out of the box and spread it in his hand. "This is for you."
Fiona froze. "I already have a coat and a down jacket."
"That's for others to see," Shane said softly. "This is for you."
Shane dangled the small necklace in front of Fiona.
"You have always been the North Star of our family. Where we run, where we hide, when we can go home, we all look at you, we are all led by you."
"So," Shane shook the little star on the pendant.
"Now giving you a star of your own. When you feel tired and terrible one day and look down, at least you can see a little bit of shining thing. It can remind you that you are not just someone who only washes dishes and cleans up messes."
"But someone who pieced a bunch of 'rotten people' into a family."
"Tsk, a bit cheesy." Lip muttered softly, but didn't say anything else.
Fiona stared at the necklace, didn't speak for a long while, her eyes reddening again.
"Do you talk too much nonsense?" Fiona's voice became a bit hoarse.
Shane circled back behind Fiona again: "If you find me annoying, then hurry up and stretch your neck over. I'll put it on for you, save me from saying it a second time."