Some months later, Mickey stood in the kitchen of the Dragonfly slicing apples for a pie. Beside her, Elizabeth sat in a high chair eating Cheerios and babbling to herself as the late morning sun glided in through the lacy curtains.
As she pushed her paring knife through the juicy apple slice Mickey smiled to herself. Things weren't perfect, but they were certainly far from dire. When the apples were done and the pie was safely in the oven she'd take E upstairs with her to clean the rooms. She hated that part. The time she spent in the kitchen with Sookie was golden and she couldn't get enough of it. But, for now, her job description consisted of cleaning the guest rooms and working in the kitchen only in her spare time. What she was learning from Sookie more than made up for the boredom the came with scrubbing bathtubs and making beds, though.
"Ba-ba-ba!" Elizabeth suddenly called to her with a smile and wide eyes. The first pearly glimpses of teeth were showing through her gums and lately she was constantly drooling and biting. The hair that had been strawberry at birth had darkened so that it now matched Mickey's own long red hair.
Mickey gave her another handful of Cheerios and said, "I'm almost done, cookie." E squealed at the cereal and immediately fed herself one. Mickey picked up another piece of apple and began to methodically slice it into thin strips.
At the sound of a pair of heels clipping efficiently down the hallway, Mickey lifted her head and smiled in the direction she knew Lorelai was coming from. Rounding the corner as Mickey knew she would, Lorelai charged toward the coffee pot and said brightly, "Morning, Mick."
"Hey, Lorelai."
"Another pie?"
"Sookie liked the apple I made last week so I thought I'd try it again. I also picked up some caramel from Doose's and I thought we could heat it up and drizzle it over the top for dessert tonight."
Lorelai gazed at her and said, "That sounds fantastic. Keep up the great work."
"Thanks!" Mickey answered smiling a little shyly. She was still unused to Lorelai's way of so openly praising her employees. "I'll try."
Lorelai headed for the door, but stopped suddenly and turned around. "By the way," she began, "after you finish up the rooms today come find me. I need to go over some things with you."
Mickey's smile fell as she answered hesitantly, "Okay."
Lorelai threw her another smile and left the kitchen. Later, when Mickey was trudging up the steps to begin the day's cleaning, she chewed at her bottom lip. She and Lorelai had never sat down after that first month to "reassess" as Lorelai had called it. Mickey was sure that if there had been a complaint she would have heard about it.
Lorelai had probably noticed the Mickey felt more comfortable in the kitchen than the upstairs and Mickey hoped she wasn't going to get fired. She needed this job. She needed a place to stay. Since coming to live at the Dragonfly she'd pinched every penny and though she was definitely eating better, she made sure that she ate cheap. The only time she went to Luke's was with Lorelai and that was only if Lorelai was buying. She had found the local thrift store and replenished her supply of jeans and t-shirts. She spent practically nothing on herself. Almost everything she made went to keep Elizabeth in diapers, formula and baby food.
Lorelai paid her by the room when she was a maid and by the hour when she was in the kitchen, which was whenever she wasn't cleaning or asleep. Mickey kept careful track and only spent money on things they absolutely needed. Everything else went into the bank.
She'd been able to save several hundred dollars since their arrival, but that was pennies compared to what you needed to rent an apartment, even a crappy one. No, she needed this job. Their room on the third floor was cramped with all the things they'd gotten from Sookie, but Mickey preferred to think of it as cozy. It was a roof over their heads and they were safe.
On their first night Mickey had put the mattress on the floor and gotten rid of the bed frame. This way, they could share the bed and Mickey didn't have to worry about E falling on the floor.
They were doing Okay, with a capitol "O", Mickey thought to herself as she finished up the last room. Elizabeth slammed the rattle against the portable playpen she was confined in and let out a shriek as if to say, "Dammit, pay attention to me!"
"Shh, I'm almost done," Mickey said thinking, Well great. With all the yelling and screaming I'm shocked we haven't been tossed out before now.
Once the play-pen was safely tucked away in the upstairs closet and they were back downstairs, Mickey left Elizabeth with Sookie who was playing with Davey in the kitchen and knocked on Lorelai's office door.
"Come in," Lorelai called from behind the door.
Mickey opened the door and slid into the office, trying to be as unassuming as possible. "Hey again," she said nervously. "You wanted to see me?"
Lorelai finished scribbling something in a file and looked at Mickey with a smile. "Yes," she confirmed. "Close the door and sit down."
Mickey obeyed.
"How is it going?" Lorelai asked directing the full force of her attention onto Mickey.
Mickey felt stumped. Surely this must be a trick question. "Good," she answered, clasping her hands tightly in her lap.
"You like the job, then? The cleaning?" Lorelai probed.
"It's great," Mickey said, nodding enthusiastically.
Lorelai smiled. "Is it your dream job?"
Again, Mickey felt stumped by the question. Dream job? "Well," she began.
"Because Sookie thinks you have quite a talent with food and before I transfer you to the kitchen full time I thought I'd get your opinion."
"The kitchen?" Mickey repeated, eyes lighting up. "Full time?"
Lorelai nodded. "Are you interested? I'd need you to keep doing the rooms until I hire someone else, but as soon as that happens, you're part of the kitchen staff full time."
"I'm definitely interested," Mickey exclaimed. "Thank you!"
"Your welcome," Lorelai answered. "But there's a catch."
Mickey's smile faltered. "Catch?"
"You need to get your G.E.D. A high-school degree is mandatory for life and therefore mandatory for keeping the job. I'll help however I can and I know Sookie will too."
"Got it," Mickey answered solemnly. "Consider it done."
"Good. Well, that's all I have," Lorelai said, standing. "Let's go get some pie."
When they found Sookie in the kitchen, though, she was on the phone and clearly aggravated. The babies were in matching high chairs, Elizabeth eating her Cheerios with gusto while Davey seemed to be seriously considering each and every one before he pelted them at Elizabeth who giggled when they bounced off her.
"What are you talking about? This can't be happening!" Sookie all but yelled into the phone.
Lorelai and Mickey exchanged a look and waited for Sookie to finish. Finally, after much grumbling and many threats Sookie hung up. The sun had shifted in the hours since Mickey had been in the kitchen. Lunchtime had been and gone and now the room was a flurry of activity prepping for dinner.
"Sookie, what happened?" Lorelai asked.
"Owen!" Sookie shouted, letting her arms fly around in exasperation.
"Owen?" Lorelai repeated.
Mickey took up a spot among the other kitchen staff and started chopping red onions, but she couldn't help but over hear.
"Remember Jackson's cousin Rune? Well Rune has a brother named Dune – don't ask – and Dune has a son named Owen."
"Thank God," Lorelai replied.
"No kidding," Sookie nodded. "But he's coming to stay with us like Rune did. He's eighteen for Heaven's sake. I guess he dropped out of college and all of a sudden he needs a change of scenery so they're sending him here."
"What is it with that family and their need to be near Jackson?"
"I wish I knew," Sookie told her.
"When does he get here?"
"This weekend, I guess. I'm not sure," Sookie answered glumly.
"Is there anything I can do?" Lorelai asked sympathetically.
"No," Sookie sighed. "But I'll keep you posted." Realizing that she was missing the dinner prep time, Sookie gave herself a shake and said, "Okay, back to work. Where are my onions? I need to caramelize them!"
Mickey quickly handed the onions over and the next few hours were flew by. When she and Elizabeth got to their room that night, Mickey was exhausted as she always was. After changing E's diaper and putting them both in p.j.s, she sat down on the bed and leaned against the wall. She'd weaned E off breast milk very early on because it was inconvenient and, if she were honest with herself, a little gross. The formula cost money she didn't really have, but at least she didn't walk around feeling like a leaky tugboat.
She'd never forget the day she'd gone to Luke's on an errand for Lorelai and discovered halfway through their conversation that the reason Luke was staring at the ceiling was because her top had twin wet spots. She blushed again just thinking about it. She'd avoided Luke after that, even forgetting to return the pukey plaid shirt she still had. Elizabeth had taken a liking to it, though and lunged for it whenever she caught site of it. She was clutching it in her little fingers now as she ate.
It was close to nine when E finished the bottle and her eyes were getting really droopy. Carefully, Mickey took the bottle from her and scooted down so that they were by now lying on the bed, side-by-side. This was her favorite time of day.
Elizabeth was asleep, her soft eyelashes brushing against her ruddy cheeks, silky hair wild from the days events, mouth slightly ajar as she breathed deeply. Mickey had never been able to understand what people meant when they talked about how much they loved their kids. She understood now. She felt like there was an entirely new place in her heart that had never existed before. She'd die if anything ever happened to her daughter.
Mickey drifted to sleep thinking that she was a very lucky girl.
