Amy had a great summer. Spending lots of time at Addison's penthouse, as well as lots of time with her friends in Queens. And the start of middle school had been great. Sure, she had a little more homework, but she enjoyed having more independence and different teachers for each subject.

Amy woke up on Saturday 11th October. Her 12th birthday. Before her dad died they always had super big birthdays and parties. Amelia barely remembered but she'd heard stories and seen photos. After he passed they were quieter affairs. A few gifts and a candle in a croissant at breakfast or something.

A month or so ago Amy had told her mom she wanted to get her ears pierced or some CDs for her birthday and her mom had just said "sure whatever Amelia." Then changed the subject. Amy put her favourite outfit on. Jeans, a baby tee (because mom wouldn't approve of a crop top) and her combat boots, a hand me down from Kathleen. And she grabbed a jacket. It was October in NYC.

She went into the kitchen and her mom was there. "Good morning mom" Amy smiled animatedly. Surprising her mother. Amy was not a morning person. "Mornin' Amelia." Her mum said not even looking at her daughter as she was poring herself a cup of coffee. Amy bit her lip trying to stop the laugh that was bubbling up in her throat at her mom pretending that she'd forgotten Amy's birthday. "Hey mom, what's the date?" She asked playing along. "11th October" Carolyn answered. Then the color drained from her face. "Oh my goodness. Amelia. I'm so sorry. I completely forgot!" Carolyn apologised and Amy's heart sank. It was obvious with her mothers tone of voice, that it wasn't a silly joke, her mom didn't have a croissant to put a candle in, a card or a gift. "Here." Carolyn said pulling out her wallet and handing Amy 2 20s. "I'm sorry, I have to go to work. Happy Birthday baby. I'm so sorry I forgot." She kissed her youngest daughters head, incredibly guilty.

Amy returned to her bedroom, sobbing.

"Amy, can I come in?" Came a quite voice through her door. Elizabeth. She didn't answer but Lizzie came in anyway. "Urm, are you okay?" Elizabeth asked. Uncomfortable with emotion. "Mom forgot it's my birthday." Amy explained. "Oh...i remembered. I made you these" Lizzie said handing a package to Amy. She unwrapped the gift. It was a purple hat, Lizzie had knitted, and a cushion, Lizzie had sewn with a cute unicorn pattern on. "Thanks Elizabeth. These are really lovely. And you remembered I like unicorns."

"You're welcome Amy...I'm really sorry mom forgot." Lizzie said and left.

Amy just sat on her bed silent tears falling cuddling the toy unicorn Lizzie had made her for the previous birthday.

About 30 minutes later there was another knock on her door. "What?" Amy replied to the knock moodily. "Well you sound far too angry Birthday girl." Derek said coming into her room followed by Addison. "Amy have you been crying?" Addie asked seeing the young girls red face. "What's happened Ames? Have Katie or Nancy upset you?" Derek asked knowing it wasn't likely to be Elizabeth who upset her. Quirky and quiet, though she may be, Elizabeth always made little gifts for birthdays and other special dates. "Mom forgot!" Amy explained simply. "I woke up and went downstairs and she didn't say anything. I though she was gonna say 'surprise' or something so I asked her the date, then she was like 'sorry I forgot' gave me 40 then left. It's not even that she didn't get me a gift. I don't care, but she's only got 5 kids, you'd think she'd care enough to remember our birthdays." Amy sighed. Derek was pissed, and a little guilty, he should have reminded mom, but really, she shouldn't need reminding. "Oh Amy. I'm so sorry sweetie." Addie said sitting on the bed next to the younger girl and pulling her into a hug. She could see how angry her boyfriend was so continued. "Derek and I don't have plans today, why don't we take you out somewhere. What would you like to do birthday girl?"

"I wanted to go to Claire's accessories and get my ears pierced but if you're under 16 you need parental consent and moms at work."

"Okay." Addison thought for a moment "why don't we ring your mom at work, see if she answers and gives consent, if all 3 of us hear it then it counts. Then we can go get your ears pierced and take you out to eat somewhere. How does that sound?" Addie asked.

"She won't care" Amy said. "That may be but we need to check anyway." They went to the hallway to use the phone and Derek dialled the number to the nurses station on the ward his mom worked on the hospital. "Hi, is Carolyn Shepard there?" He asked. "Her son, Derek...Hi mom...I'm not angry I'm livid, but this is not the time...that's no excuse...look, Amy wants to get her ears pierced so can you just tell all 3 of us that you give consent for Addison and I to take her..."Derek then held the headset between the 3 of them where they all faintly heard. "That's fine, you have my consent to get your ears pierced Amelia. If someone needs to give consent while you're there. Derek I give you that authority." Derek put the headset back to his ear. "And later or tomorrow mom. We're going to have a talk...yes about Amelia...bye"

"Great." Addison said smiling, deciding she was going to try and ignore her sadness and anger towards Carolyn and focus on Amy. "And I'm not taking you to Claire's..." she started.

"But you said..." Amy interrupted before Addison continued. "I've heard far too many horror stories of infections and uneven piercings and such. I know a beauty salon in Manhattan, if you don't mind taking the subway, that seems much more sanitary and safe, plus they don't do it in front of the whole mall, and they have much nicer earrings to choose."

"Okay" Amy smiled. "And then we can take you out to lunch. What do you fancy?"

"Pizza."

"Ohh I know a great place over in little Italy. Pizza and gelato seems like a good Birthday lunch." Addison smiled. Amy loved Addie but she'd grown up so differently. She would have been happy with Pizza Hut, that's what her family would do. But Addison seemed to know all the fancy, independent places, despite growing up in Connecticut rather than the city where Amy and Derek had spent their whole lives.

They arrived at the salon. It was so fancy! "Addison, to what do we owe the pleasure" a man said kissing Addie on both cheeks. "Hi Andre, this is Amelia, it's her birthday and she would like to get her ears pierced."

"Fantastic, Valentina!" He called a girl across the store. She was about Addison's age, Amelia guessed and really pretty. "Valentina, this is Amelia, and she wants to get her ears pierced. And she's a VIP because it's her birthday."

"Great, Hi Amelia, I'm Valentina. How old are you?"

"12"

"12, that's a great age! Do you want to come through to the back your..." Valentina stopped looking at Addison. She wasn't sure what to say. Sister? Aunt? Cousin? Friend? "Addison." Addison stated her name so Valentina continued. "Addison can come with us. Since you're only 12 do we have consent?"

"Our mom gave me authority to consent, these two heard her too." Derek said and Addie and Amy nodded. "Okay great. Did you want to come back with us too?" Valentina asked Derek. Derek looked at Amy and seeing the look on her face knew she was fine. "I actually needed some new shirts, are you good with Addie and Valentina?"

"Yeah I'm good."

"So these are the earrings we have Amelia, choose well because you can't change them out for six weeks. I'll get us a drink while you pick. You like lemonade Amelia? Prosecco Addison?"

"We'll both have lemonade thank you Valentina." Addie smiled.

Amy's eyes went wide looking at the display of earrings. "I...I...can't afford any of these. I only have 40. Can you lend me 20 for the cheapest ones?" Amy whispered to Addie. "Don't worry Amy, it's my treat. You pick whatever you want."

Addison decided she liked Valentina, after getting them each a lemonade, in champagne flutes, she pointed out some of the earrings she thought Amelia might like, not just trying to sell them the expensive ones. Amy decided on a pair of silver crystal earrings. "So I'm going to sanitize your ear with a wipe. Then use this pen to mark where I'm going to pierce it, then I'll use a tiny needle to make the hole, then pop the earrings in. How does that sound?" Valentina asked Amy. "Do you not have one of those gun thingys like at the mall?"Amy asked. "No, doing it this way is safer, and less painful."

"Does it hurt a lot?" Amy asked anixously.

"Most people say it just feels like a pinch, why don't you hold Addison's hand if you're a little nervous" Amelia did. Although she looked slightly ashamed. She didn't do vulnerability well. "Okay ready?" Valentina asked. "Okay." Amy replied and Valentina pierced her left ear. "That barely hurt at all!" Amy laughed. "And it looks darling on you. Ready for the other one?" Amy smiled and Valentina pierced her other ear too. "Oh Amy, they look so good on you!" Addison smiled. Valentina started to explain how to care for Amelia's new piercings then smiled at her. "So 12, did your mom and dad do something special for breakfast? Or are they taking you out to dinner? I think for my 12th birthday my parents took me to the beach for a couple days, although my birthday is in July, I'm not sure the north east beach is right for October."

"My dads dead. My mom forgot" Amy said shrugging and Valentina felt terrible. "Maybe your mom didn't forget, maybe she's planning something."

"Nope she definitely forgot" Amy said bluntly.

"So instead we're spending the day with Amy. I'm her brother's girlfriend." Addison smiled trying to be positive. "We've come here to get her ears pierced and Amy asked for pizza so we're going to little Italy to get some pizza and gelato for lunch and I'm sure we can find something to do this afternoon too. Catch a movie or maybe do some shopping." Addison explained to Valentina and reiterated to Amy.

"Give me just one moment." Valentina smiled then left the room. She came back a few seconds later. "Amelia since it is your birthday. Andre said I could paint your nails on the house. Come through here, you have to choose a colour." Amelia went into another room and was overwhelmed by quite how many colours there were. "Wow! That's a lot of nail Polish." She commented. "We can narrow it down, what's your favourite colour Amelia?" Valentina asked. "Purple, dark purple" Amy answered before Addison asked. "Amy, does your school dress code say anything about nail Polish or make up? No point getting a color we would have to take off tomorrow."

"Oh yeah...that sucks, it's meant to be natural make up only. Although it's really stupid. Loads of girls wear crop tops and skirts that are way higher than 6 inches above the knee, yet I'm the one who gets in trouble for laddered tights and marks on my jeans. It's not my fault, I have 3 older sisters, I don't get any of my own clothes. I swear the teachers never get the popular girls in trouble, at least Miss Anderson my science teacher likes me." Amy complained. In the end they opted for a subtle light pink, still cute but less noticeable than the bright purple. Addison got her nails done to match too.

"Ciao Lucia."

"Addison hi." The waitress in the Italian restaurant smiled then proceeded to kiss Addison on both cheeks. "Nonna. Look who is here." Lucia was probably in her 30s and had a slight Italian accent. An elderly woman came into the restaurant area. "Addison Bella. It is good to see you." She had a heavy Italian accent. Addison smiled "Ciao Giovanna."

"No No, what is this nonsense. I am Nonna, you call me Nonna as a little girl. You call me Nonna now."

"Okay Nonna," Addison smiled. "This is my boyfriend Derek and his little sister Amelia. It's her birthday."

"Boyfriend." Nonna smirked. "You have good taste Addison." Both Addison and Derek blushed at this while Amy giggled. "Now now, you must sit down. Lucia will get you a menu."

"Addison. Is Nonna your gran?" Amy asked.

"No Lucia was my au Pair for a little while when I was a few years younger than you. And she introduced me to Giovanna who told me to call her Nonna."

"What's an old pear?"

"Not old pear, au pair, it's basically a live in Nanny, who's usually from a different country. So I had Lucia, who is from Italy. I had a lot of those growing up because my parents were busy."

"So like a full time babysitter?" Amy asked.

"Pretty much."

They ordered their meal. Amy asked for pizza whereas Addison went for a risotto and Derek pasta. "So obviously today didn't go the way we though it would Ames. So here is the gift we got you. When we thought we'd just be dropping it off this morning." Addie said passing Amy a wrapped gift. "Thank you." She said politely before opening it. Her eyes lit up. "A Walkman!" She exclaimed. "This is amazing. I can listen to my music whenever I want. Even when my mom and sisters are home!" Amy smiled and so did Derek and Addison. They knew Amy would love a Walkman. Then Amy's face changed. "I feel bad...I don't deserve all this stuff. Like you paid for me to get my ears pierced, and you got me a Walkman, and your brought me to this fancy restaurant. I don't deserve it."

"Amy sweetie, it's your birthday, it's not about deserving stuff. And even if it was. You deserve it. Wasn't it last week you told me you had an A in every subject except music and phys Ed? So you're doing great in school." Addison smiled.

"And Mrs Carter downstairs always gets you to watch Oreo, Luna and Coco the when she's out of town. So you're helping an old lady, and you're great with animals." Derek added then turned to Addie. "Mrs Carter is kind of a crazy cat lady."

"But more than that Ames." Addie started. "You're sweet and you're funny and you're kind. You're a pretty cool girl!" She continued and Amy dipped her head and blushed. She didn't get praised much.

They all loved their food. And Nonna was very happy to see 3 clean plates. And she insisted they order desert. They all ordered gelato. Amy's came out with a candle and 'buon compleanno, Emilia!' Written in chocolate sauce. Nonna and Lucia sang happy birthday in English so everyone else in the restaurant could join in. Although, it was a small restaurant and only 2 other tables were taken. "'buon compleanno, Emilia!' Nonna said. "Thank you urm grazie, is that right? Although I'm Amelia not Emilia."

"Grazie is correct. I know your name bella, but if you were Italian you would be Emilia."

"Oh cool. I guess no one ever told me my name in Italian before. Although my grandmother says it's Amelie in French!"

"You know." Amy said that evening sitting on the large comfortable recliner armchair in Addisons Manhattan penthouse, which had kind of become 'Amy's chair' despite the fact she looked even smaller than usual when in it. "Today started off kind of sucky, but it's actually been a pretty cool birthday. Thanks Addie and Der."