Disclaimer: I do not own anyone who you might recognize. Mickey and Elizabeth are owned by Lindsay.

A/N: Sarah has been a kick-ass beta-reader on this, as well as many previous stories. She keeps me honest and on-target and what more could one ask for in a beta-reader? Thanks are due also to Lindsay for being the one who came up with this idea. She's the one who demanded that I write it down and for that I'm very grateful. She's got good taste.

At Luke's, Lorelai ordered a burger with fries and Mickey got an open-face turkey sandwich with gravy, mashed potatoes, a side salad and a glass of milk. Lorelai looked impressed. Mickey was pretty slim for someone with a three-month-old. Hopefully she'll start eating better, Lorelai thought.

Half-way through their meals Lorelai's cell phone chirped and Luke gave her the stink-eye. "Outside!" he barked from behind the counter.

Mickey watched Lorelai roll her eyes as she got up and stepped outside with her cell. Elizabeth, who'd been sitting on Mickey's lap, chose that moment to pound her hand into Mickey's mashed potatoes.

"No!" Mickey said, startled by the flying potatoes. She made a grab for her daughter's hand but wasn't quick enough to keep her from beating another fist into them a second time.

Pushing her chair away from the table as Elizabeth squealed over the mess, Mickey looked around helplessly, hoping they weren't disturbing the other diners.

From behind her came a dishtowel and hand. Mickey looked and saw Luke wipe up the mess on Elizabeth and then wipe up the table as well.

"Sorry about that," she told him.

"No problem," he said kindly.

Elizabeth squealed at him and then blew him a raspberry. Luke gave them a half-smile and walked away.

"Thanks," Mickey called at his back as Lorelai re-entered the diner.

"That was Sookie," Lorelai said, sitting down. "She's going to stop over at my house tonight with the clothes and toys."

"Tonight? Your house?" Mickey repeated.

"Uh huh. So we'll have to take dessert to go. Luke!" Lorelai called, immediately distracted by the notion of dessert.

"Yeah," he said from the counter.

"We need dessert to go."

"You haven't even finished your plate of death yet. How could you want dessert to go?"

Lorelai considered. The burger looked good. "Okay, you have a point. We're gonna need dessert delivered later on."

"Are you out of your mind?" he asked coolly.

"No. My mind is just fine, thank you."

"I'm not delivering dessert," Luke told her. "Forget it."

"Come on, it's a slow night. Bring us dessert and stay to hang out with Jackson. Sookie and he are coming by with some clothes and toys for Elizabeth. Stay, have a beer or two, and it'll be fun."

Luke seemed to be considering the idea. "I'll think about it," he finally assented before heading into the kitchen.

Lorelai leaned her head in toward Mickey's and giggled, "He's so easy."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Mickey asked.

Lorelai almost fell out of her chair. "No! God, no! We're just friends, that's it."

"Okay," Mickey said as she cleaned her plate. She had eaten every speck of food given to her and she felt wonderful. "Thank you for dinner. It was fantastic."

"You're welcome," Lorelai answered with a mouth full of burger, eager to leave.

Later, when Mickey, Elizabeth, Lorelai, Sookie, Jackson and Davey were camped out in Lorelai's living room pawing through clothes and toys, it was Lorelai who jumped up when the bell rang.

"Dessert!" she squealed before running to the door.

She re-appeared moments later leading Luke in with bags from the diner. Greetings were exchanged while Lorelai pawed through the bags.

"Woo hoo!" she exclaimed. "TWO pies!"

Luke rolled his eyes and nodded at Mickey who was on the couch under a sleeping Elizabeth.

"She's all tuckered out, huh?"

"Yeah," Mickey answered. "Pounding potatoes takes a lot out of a girl."

Luke smiled and followed Lorelai into the kitchen to help her plate the pies. When they returned they found Sookie in mid-astonished sentence, " - how could she not have a woobie?"

"I don't know," Mickey said, flushing. "She just doesn't."

"You know," Lorelai chimed in, "I've always preferred the term 'binky' over 'woobie'. What do you think, Luke?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, sounding annoyed.

"Binky! Woobie! You know, a security blanket," Lorelai explained.

"Davey can't sleep without his," Sookie said.

"And he has to bring it everywhere we go," Jackson added pointing to the grubby blanket on the floor next to where Davey was playing with some blocks.

"What did you call yours?" Lorelai asked Luke again.

"I didn't have one," Luke said feeling a little defensive.

"Nice try. Everyone had one. What did you call it?"

Luke squirmed in his seat. "If I did have one, I don't remember it."

"Uh huh," Lorelai said as she rolled her eyes. "This conversation isn't over." Then, turning to Mickey she said, "Don't worry about it, she'll find one. The real question is the nickname."

"Nickname?" Mickey asked.

"Elizabeth is a long name," Sookie commented. "Are you going to shorten it?"

Elizabeth opened her eyes just then and wriggled to sit up. Mickey held her up and looked at her daughter's face. "I called her Cookie for a few days. Before I decided on Elizabeth. But I don't think that counts."

"Well, what about Liz?" Luke chimed in.

"I've been thinking about it and Liz sounds too grown up for a baby, I think," Mickey said.

Lorelai swooped in and took Elizabeth from Mickey.

"Are you a cookie?" Lorelai asked her.

"What about Beth?" Sookie suggested.

"Or Betsy," Jackson added.

"Or Bette," Sookie called.

"Bitty!"

"Bitsy!"

"Whoa!" Lorelai called out. "Why don't we just buy her some pearls and get her a membership at the club?"

"What do you call her now?" Sookie asked.

"E," Mickey said simply.

"E works," Sookie said thoughtfully.

Lorelai sat down next to Luke and Elizabeth smiled at him and tried to touch his backwards baseball hat. "Baaaah!" she cried.

"Hey!" Luke said, ducking.

Mickey sat on the floor and started going though baby clothes. "These are so great," she said.

"Sorry they're mostly blue," Jackson said.

"Please. It's better than naked," Mickey smiled back holding a pale blue onsie with little footballs all over it.

Lorelai was bouncing Elizabeth on her lap when she looked up and gasped, "The pies! I can't believe I forgot about dessert!" Hastily, she deposited Elizabeth into Luke's arms and snatched the bags up and brought them into the kitchen.

"Hey!" Luke said. Elizabeth blinked at him and he tried to readjust her.

"Aww," Sookie said, "look how cute you are with the baby."

Luke didn't answer. Instead, he tried to imitate Lorelai by bouncing Elizabeth on his lap. Glancing up, Mickey said, "Be careful. She just ate before her nap so she might – "

Before the words could leave Mickey's mouth, Elizabeth opened her own mouth and puked breast milk all over Luke's flannel shirt.

Lorelai walked in just in time to see it and she was quickly doubled over laughing.

"I'm so sorry," Mickey said, taking Elizabeth back.

"Don't worry about it, I'll just get a towel," Luke said as he headed for the kitchen.

Mickey followed him, still holding Elizabeth. From behind him she said, "Let me take your shirt and wash it for you. Babies aren't your thing and I know it wasn't your idea to hold her. I should have taken her from you before she could do any damage."

Luke stood with a towel at the sink blotting at the considerable stain on his shirt. "It's okay," he said wondering how one might pre-treat baby puke.

In the end, Mickey had insisted on taking the shirt home to wash it. Sookie walked Mickey and Elizabeth back to the Dragonfly while Jackson took Davey home and Lorelai and Luke stood on Lorelai's front porch.

"She's something else, isn't she?" Lorelai said.

A soft breeze tickled the hair on Luke's bare forearms. "That she is," he agreed.

"Having a kid so young, no family to help…" she trailed off.

"She seems to have you."

"She has more than just me," Lorelai said, looking at him meaningfully.

Luke looked away and took a deep breath of air. "No body should have to be that young and dealing with stuff like that alone."

"You like her," Lorelai said with a soft smile.

"So do you," he answered quietly. "Besides, like you said, she's got no family, so now she has…us, I guess."

"That she does," Lorelai agreed.