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August 10th had always been a special day for Mickey, but never for anyone else, until the Gallaghers.
The Gallaghers, unlike his own family, actually cared about Mickey's birthday. They all scraped together what they could to get Mickey some gifts, which he insisted was stupid, but he really was happy.
He couldn't help but light up as soon as he saw the cake they made him. It wasn't much; just a regular chocolate cake with writing on it in icing, but they made it for him. They went to the store and bought the supplies with him in mind. They wrote his name on it. And that was what really made him so happy.
Carl smiled a little when he saw how happy Mickey was, "You like it?"
Mickey looked up at Carl and nodded, "Yeah, just... I never expected anyone to care this much about my birthday..."
Carl tilted his head a little, "Why not?"
"My dad was never much of a celebrator. Never celebrated nothin', and when he did it was either some racist event or something he only celebrated with himself in mind. So I just thought everyone would be like that, y'know?" Mickey said, looking down at his lap.
Carl nudged him, "We're not Terry. He's an ass, okay? Don't listen to him. Your birthday is important."
Mickey sighed, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever... Don't make it a big deal."
"Come on, it is a big deal! It's the day you were born, just two and a half decades later!" Carl grinned before looking back at everyone else.
Franny came up to Mickey after they had eaten cake, holding something behind her back, "Uncle Mickey! I made you somethin', guess what it is!"
Mickey smiled softly, looking down at Franny, "Is it... a drawing?"
Franny nodded enthusiastically, handing Mickey the drawing she had made for him. It was a childish drawing of Mickey, Ian, Franny, and Debbie, Mickey and Franny both wielding guns, while Ian has a bat, and Debbie has a welding machine. Franny had also drawn herself with short hair, but Mickey didn't think on it much.
"Franny, this is awesome! You did a great job, kiddo," Mickey exclaimed, clearly happy.
Franny giggled, nodding, "Thanks. Happy birthday, Uncle Mickey!"
Mickey smiled, hugging the red-headed child, "Thanks..."
Franny hugged back, a little surprised, not used to hugs from Mickey.
"You give nice hugs, Uncle Mickey..." Franny eventually said after a while of silence.
Mickey pulled away from the hug, now a little embarrassed, "...You really think so?"
Franny nodded again, sitting on the couch next to Mickey, between him and Debbie. "Maybe you should give people hugs more often, Uncle Mickey..."
"Maybe I should, huh, buddy?" Mickey chuckled quietly, ruffling Franny's hair.
Debbie smirked, looking over at the two, "I'll give you a hug, Mick. But you have to promise it'll be as good as Franny's was."
Mickey rolled his eyes, "No way, you don't deserve an awesome Uncle Mickey hug," he said sarcastically.
She stood up and gave Mickey a hug, to which he quickly returned. Debbie smiled, "You really do give good hugs..."
"Nuh uh..." Mickey scoffed, "I give super good hugs."
It was getting a little late now and Frank decided to come downstairs, looking around for a while until he realized, "Someone's birthday... who's birthday?"
Franny jumped up from the couch, running over to hug Frank, "Granpa Frank! It's Uncle Mickey's birthday! August 10th!"
Frank gently hugged her back, looking over at Mickey, "Happy birthday, Mick... Nice hat," Frank gestured to the birthday party hat Mickey wore, which Franny had decorated with his name and some doodles.
"Thanks, Frank..." Mickey laughed a little, seeing how eager Franny was to see Frank.
Frank walked over and sat on the couch, not caring whose space he was in. Mickey didn't mind much, since there was still Debbie in between him and Frank, but Frank's musty, alcoholic stench still made his nose crumple a bit.
Frank stuck his tongue out at Mickey before looking at whatever bullshit was on TV, completely forgetting about everything that happened in the last 60 seconds.
Mickey snickered even more this time, covering his mouth, finding Frank's carelessness amusing.
Ian, who had been watching Mickey interact with the others from the other side of the room, sat down next to Mickey. "Ya miss me?"
Mickey scoffed, shaking his head, "Not at all, Gallagher. Had a much better time without you." He tried to sound serious, but Ian could tell he was trying not to laugh.
"Hey, just because you're the birthday boy doesn't mean you get to be rude," Ian said before kissing Mickey on the cheek.
Mickey groaned, making a fake noise of disgust, "You're such a dumbass... A cute dumbass."
After a moment of silence, Mickey leaned his head on Ian's shoulder, giggling quietly to himself.
Liam, who had been watching the whole time, handed Mickey a neatly wrapped birthday gift.
Mickey raised an eyebrow at the youngest Gallagher sibling, "You wrap this yourself?"
"Yeah. All by myself," Liam said, smiling. "Damn, you gotta teach me how to wrap a present sometime, kid..." Mickey proclaimed before opening the present. Inside was a pocket knife that had 'M. Gallagher' engraved on it.
"Goddamn! Where'd you get the money for this, kid?" Mickey asked after inspecting the pocket knife for a moment.
Liam shrugged, "Saved up some money. Wasn't too expensive."
Mickey looked up at Liam in awe, "So... I'm a Gallagher now?"
"Well, yeah. I guess so," Liam said, now a little sheepish.
Mickey chuckled, "No, that's not a bad thing... I'm glad I'm part of your family, Liam."
Lip finally spoke up for one of the first times that night, "We're glad you're part of our family, too."
Mickey spent the rest of the night happy to finally be a part of a family who loved him. This is a birthday to remember, he thought.