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

A/N: Thanks to Sarah for being such a great beta-reader. And thank you, Lindsay, for coming up with the whole idea and then brow-beating me into writing it. Good call by you.

xoxoxo

It was seven am on the morning of E's first birthday and Mickey and her daughter were snuggled under the covers of Mickey' bed. The sun had long ago risen, but mother and child were content to enjoy each other's company in the stillness of the quiet morning.

"Today you are one year old," Mickey told her daughter. E watched her mother carefully, with an expression of concentration on her face. "One year ago today you came out of mommy's tummy and screamed your head off. You were the angriest baby I had ever seen. Ugliest, too, I think. You were purple and slimy and I had no idea how I could ever love you. But then they cleaned you off and brought you back. And that was it.

Mickey marveled at her. "You're getting to be such a big girl now. You're walking and your hair is growing into little curls and your curious and interested in the world around you." E squirmed, a little impatient with her mother's reverie and getting a little hungry, too.

"I know," Mickey told her with a small sigh. "It's time to get up."

Before Mickey could get out of bed, though, E tugged on her mother's t-shirt and said tentatively, "Mi-mi."

Looking closely at E, Mickey said, "Mom-my"

"Mi-mi," E repeated.

"Mom-my," Mickey said.

"Mi-mi!" E squealed.

Mickey laughed and got up.

xoxoxox

It was a beautiful June Sunday and Mickey's day off so they spent the morning playing in the grass near the gazebo. A party was planned for later on at Luke's and so when lunchtime approached, Mickey picked up E and headed across the street.

When she arrived, Mickey saw that Lorelai was already there, hanging streamers and tying balloons to chairs. When she spotted Mickey and E, Lorelai exclaimed, "Hey! Just in time. I have a pre-party present."

Lorelai held her arms out for E who went to her willingly. When Mickey's hands were free, she picked up the pink-wrapped box on one of the tables that Lorelai had indicated and said, "You didn't have to do this."

"Yes I did," Lorelai argued as she made faces at E who giggled uproariously.

With a quick shake of her head, Mickey opened the present and pulled out the most exquisitely made pink ruffled dress with matching underpants she'd ever seen. "This is too much," she said solemnly, feeling overwhelmed at her boss's generosity.

"No it's not," Lorelai answered reasonably. "What's the point of having a pretty dress if you don't have the ruffled underpants to go with it?"

Luke entered from the kitchen area in time to hear this last question and muttered, "Oh, God."

"Luke knows what I mean," Lorelai said with a grin. "You love the ruffled underpants I bought you, right?"

"Mickey," Luke began, "whatever she's talking about, make her stop."

Mickey gave him a mock salute and said, "Aye-aye." Then to Lorelai, she smiled, "Thanks. She's going to look adorable in this with her red hair."

"I know!" Lorelai squealed back as they set about changing E into the pink dress with matching ruffled underpants. By the time they were done, people were starting to arrive.

The party itself consisted mostly of what Mickey came to think of as a game called "Pass the Baby." E was passed from one person to the next for most of the day. The dress was a big hit and Lorelai loved the compliments she received for producing it.

E had no interest in presents so Mickey ended up unwrapping more pink clothing than she could handle. Everything was pink from socks to t-shirts to onesies to jeans to sneakers.

Owen arrived in time to see Luke light one candle on a huge round cake and Lorelai start the singing. After they'd finished the song and someone blew out the candle, Luke cut a good-sized piece and put it in front of E who was now sitting in the high chair. Someone zoomed in with a camcorder and everyone stared at E who had no idea that she was supposed to eat the cake. Everyone looked at E and she simply looked back.

Finally, Luke dropped three Cheerios into the frosting of her cake and that got E's attention. She went in like a dive-bomber after that and soon had two fists full of cake and frosting. This very quickly led to cheeks and eyelashes and hair that were smeared with the gooey stuff. Everyone clapped and ate and talked and had a good time.

After cake the party began to wind down. Mickey took E upstairs to Luke's apartment to clean her up and when she returned, the place was nearly empty. All the remained was Luke, Lorelai, Rory and Owen who were busy throwing away streamers and wrapping paper.

As Mickey came down the stairs she paused in the doorway with E and stared out at the diner. She felt truly blessed. To have people who cared this much about them was the biggest gift of all. Even as she thought this, she noticed Rory and Owen off to one side talking.

Rory was holding a garbage bag open for Owen who was gathering up the last of the paper. They were smiling at each other. Rory touched her hair and Mickey felt her stomach drop into her shoes. Owen said something that Mickey couldn't hear and Rory giggled adorably. Mickey suddenly wanted to beat Rory to death.

With a sinking sensation Mickey realized that she couldn't really blame Owen. Rory was beautiful, single, childless and in college. She was his equal and Mickey herself was decidedly not.

"Mi-mi," E suddenly said.

Mickey looked at the baby she held and said, "What, honey?"

"Du," E replied, pointing at Luke.

"Yes, baby, that's Luke."

"Du!" E shouted and all heads in the diner turned to where they stood.

"What's going on over there?" Lorelai asked with grin.

"She's practicing her words. She's trying for mommy and getting 'mi-mi' and I think she just tried to say 'Luke' but it came out 'Du'."

Lorelai giggled and said, "Luke! Did you hear that? You're E's second word!"

Luke flushed, which Lorelai thought was stunning. Rather than stare she turned away and looked again at E.

"Lorelai," she said gazing at E. "Can you say 'Lorelai'?"

E just looked at her as if trying to figure out why she suddenly had two heads. Finally, she grew impatient and cranky and Mickey had to take her back to the inn for a nap. As they walked she thought about what she had seen between Owen and Rory and again she came to the conclusion that she didn't blame him. And in a way it made his leaving a little easier.

The day was beautiful and as she walked Mickey felt E drop her head to her shoulder. It had been a long day for the baby and Mickey was fairly sure that she'd be asleep before they got back.

As she thought about Owen leaving, Mickey couldn't help but think about her own plans. She'd been accepted into the program at Connecticut Culinary Institute and she would be beginning in the fall, just before her eighteenth birthday. A little thrill danced in her chest as she thought about it.

She didn't need Owen. She had her own life, her own school, her own stuff. If he wanted to date Rory, that was fine. She didn't care. Much.