“I won’t,” Ursula promised, holding up the cat carrying case and looking in.
The group had been standing in Adriana’s driveway. It was only one day until New Years Eve, or New Years Eve Eve as Micky liked to call it, and they had decided that it would be best to just head for 1966, soon to be 1967, to start the new year.
Using the time machine was always going to have some element of risk, but with Tyler Stevenson out of the way, and the suits realizing it was nothing but an odd ploy by a psychologically handicapped record producer who had suddenly disappeared, the major threats were gone. Knowing that she could come back if she wanted or needed to made leaving just a little bit easier for Adriana.
“I’m so glad you’re doing what you want to do,” Jessie began, stepping next to Adriana and giving her a hug. “But, part of me feels like we’re really having to let you go, ya know?”
“I know what you mean,” Ursula said, reaching over to hug Adriana as well. “It seems like just yesterday when we were sitting in gym class, talking about our futures, and here you are, going into the past!”
Ursula stepped back from Adriana as Micky finished loading the van and walked up to where they all stood. Adriana reached up to brush off a single tear that threatened to fall as she looked at her closest friends. As she glanced from face to face, she was met with the same bittersweet, yet content smiles. It was almost as if they knew something she did not.
“We always talked about where we would end up and what we would be doing,” Ursula continued, her eyes shining with happy tears. “Look at you! You did it. It’s just so great!”
Adriana expected a bit of a farewell, but not as gushing as this. She smiled and raised an eyebrow as she hugged her friends once more. “Thanks,” she said softly.
“I’m so excited for you,” Ursula shrieked. “I can’t believe it!”
Micky cleared his throat quickly and Adriana saw him look pointedly at Ursula.
“Well,” Micky said, turning back to Adriana with a sly grin on his face, and putting his arm around Adriana’s waist continued in a sing-song voice, “I hope you can believe it, because…
“I saw her face,” Micky began, dancing around her, “now, I’m a believer!”
“Micky,” Adriana warned, trying not to laugh.
“Not a trace of doubt in my mind,” he sang.
“Micky,” Adriana warned again, her face blushing.
“I’m in love! I’m a believer, I couldn’t leave her if I tried,” he sang loudly, twirling Adriana around and dipping her back.
Adriana sighed. She always loved the way his voice sounded at the part where he sang “…if I tried.” But, however cute his little displays were, they could sometimes be embarrassing.
“Micky,” Adriana said in a half-laughing, half warning voice, “come on, cool it. We gotta go now if we’re going to make it to 1966 before New Years Eve Eve is over.”
“Alright my dear,” he said, scooping her back up.
Adriana straightened her black mock turtleneck and picked some lint off her boot cut jeans. She looked at her friends again, the ones she had been through so much with and knew it was time to say goodbye.
“I’m going to miss you guys so much,” she exclaimed again, opening her arms to hug them all at once.
“We’ll see you really soon,” Link said after they all broke the embrace.
“Right,” Adriana said, “We’ll stop back after we get settled and all, and we’ll take you back for a few days. Maybe around my birthday in February or something.”
“Uh, sure,” Micky said quickly, jangling a set of keys.
Adriana just stood there for a moment, barely able to believe the changes that have occurred in her life in just the past few months.
Micky and Adriana turned and walked to the van. After getting inside, Adriana waved to her friends.
“I’ll see you in about two months,” she said, trying hard not to cry.
“Okay.” “Bye.” “We’ll miss you,” her friends shouted as Micky pulled the black van out of the driveway, down the street, unto the highway, and back to the sixties.
“Well, that was pretty uneventful,” Micky said to Adriana as they found themselves on a rainy beach in California.
“They say it never rains in Southern California,” Adriana said, looking out the window.
“But, boy, don’t they warn you,” Micky continued with a huge grin as he looked out at his old stomping ground, “It pours…”
“Man it pours,” they both sang together as they got out of the van.
“I almost forgot how beautiful this place was,” Micky said to Adriana, raising his voice to be heard over the pounding rain.
“Micky,” Adriana shouted from the other side of the van, “maybe we should hurry and get to the pad. It’s really getting bad out here.”
“Bad,” Micky questioned. “Bad? Pshaw. It’s just a little…”
BOOM! A huge clap of thunder resounded throughout the beach. Lightening flickered in the distance.
“…storm,” Micky continued quietly.
“Well, you can stay here if you want,” Adriana said loudly above the thunder’s rumble as her hair and clothes became drenched with rain, “but I’m going to the Pad.”
She took off in a sprint down the beach.
“Hey,” Micky shouted, looking up for a moment at the dark mid-afternoon sky, “wait for me!”
Adriana slowed down and turned around to wait for Micky. Water began to drip from her hair and slide down her nose. Her boots felt squishy from the rain.
“Race you to the pad,” Micky shouted at her as he came to where she stood.
Adriana raised one eyebrow at him and took off like lightening down the beach. She knew she was a fast sprinter, and Micky’s legs were only a couple inches longer than her own. Would she beat him?
It seemed close, but soon, the weight of the water slowed her down and Micky began to catch up to her. She pumped her legs harder, but the jean material made them extremely heavy. Adriana soon felt him coming up closer behind her. Adriana shrieked as he grabbed her around the waist. The two tumbled onto the wet sand in a mass of laughter.
“Stupid jeans,” Adriana laughed, nearly out of breath, as she looked at Micky who was sprawled on the ground next to her. “If it wasn’t for them I would have won.”
“Hmm, I think I like this better anyway,” Micky said with a sly smile as moved over to Adriana and kissed her.
Adriana smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. It was so great to be away from all of the pressures of her old life in the 21st century. To be there with Micky was all that she wanted. She couldn’t have been happier. So what if she was a little drenched from the rain. A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt.
“Man,” a voice of a young man came from the distance, “would you have the common courtesy to not do that in front of our house!”
“Yeah, even in the rain ‘n everything,” came another young man’s voice, this time with a British accent.
“What’s going on,” questioned another young man’s voice.
“Some strange people are down there makin’ out in the rain,” came the first man’s voice again. “In front of our pad!”
“Hmm,” said the third young man’s voice, “that guy kinda looks familiar.”
Micky turned away from Adriana and looked at the building to his left. It was the Pad. The voices were the ones of his best friends.
Micky excitedly stood up, and after pulling Adriana to her feet, waved to where his friends stood in the open door on top of the stairs.
“Wha’s he wavin’ at,” Davy questioned.
“Guys,” Micky shouted as they ran towards the beach house, “it’s me!”
“Me who,” Peter shouted as the man and woman on the beach came closer.
“Micky,” Mike shouted as Adriana and Micky ran up the stairs.
“Mike,” Micky shouted, hugging each of his friends. “Davy! Peter! Mic…Uh, Guys! I’m back!”
“Well, come on in,” Mike said, ushering them inside the Pad, “you’re libel to catch a cold out there.”
Once inside, Micky and Adriana stood in the entryway by the window, trying to wipe the water off themselves.
“Here,” Peter said, handing Micky some towels, “use these, they’re more absorbent.”
“Great,” Micky said, handing a towel to Adriana who began to dry her hair.
“So,” Davy asked Micky, “you gonna tell us who your friend is?”
“Guys,” Micky said in an annoyed tone, “you remember Adrian.”
“Adrian,” Mike asked, walking over to her and squinting at her, “oh, it is you!”
The rainwater had darkened her golden blond hair to the point where it was almost black. She wasn’t wearing her glasses as she usually did either. The contacts she wore changed the appearance of her green eyes.
“I almost didn’t recognize ya,” Davy said, running over to her and giving her a hug.
“Me neither,” Mike confessed, shyly, taking his turn giving Adriana a welcoming hug.
“I knew it was you all along,” Peter said excitedly, moving to wrap her in a friendly hug. “Well, for the most part.”
“Be careful, guys,” Adriana chuckled, “I’m drenched.”
“Not to spoil the mood,” Davy said a few moments later, “but wha’ are you guys doing ‘ere exactly?”
“Yeah,” said Peter, “we thought we might not see you again.”
“Well,” Micky said walking over to Adriana and putting his arm around her waist, “Adriana loved it so much here, we’ve decided to come back and stay for awhile.”
“Groovy,” Peter shouted, jumping a bit with excitement. “Are you really going to stay?’
“Yeah,” Adriana said, looking at Micky, “I did love it here. We’d been through so much back in my home time, and Micky really missed you guys.”
“Don’t go getting too full of yourselves, now,” Micky said, jokingly.
“We missed ya too, man,” Mike said, folding his arms and leaning back on the stairwell.
“Boy, I’ve only been gone less than a month” Micky said walking around the pad a bit. “This place sure has changed.”
They all turned to gaze at the interior of the Pad. The color scheme was darker and new pieces of furniture were placed in various locations.
Even the guys themselves looked different.
Davy’s hair was a bit shorter, which made his pronounced features look even more striking. No more gray slacks and button shirts for him, he now wore black bellbottoms and a long beige colored shirt.
Peter’s hair was a bit longer and his bangs had grown out to match the entire length. He’d left the old uniform behind too. His new ensemble now included a long orange shirt, pants that had one light green leg and one dark green leg, and Indian boots with fringe.
Mike looked different as well. He dumped the old look like the other guys. He now wore brown corduroy pants, a beige colored dress shirt, and a tie. Mike had also let his hair grow longer, and his sideburns too.
“Mike,” Micky asked, stopping in front of his friend, “what happened to your hat?”
“I don’t know,” Mike answered, folding his arms and resting his chin on his palm, “It mysteriously disappeared a couple weeks ago.”
“Hmm, strange,” Micky said.
“It’ll sure be great to have you back in the band, ole buddy,” Mike said awhile later.
“Yeah,” Peter agreed, “it’s been really hard to find gigs without a drummer.”
“We tried to give Schneider the part,” Davy said with a laugh, “but ‘e didn’t quite fit.”
“He showed us all up,” Mike joked.
“We do have a gig at the Van Go-Go Friday night, though,” Peter said.
“Sounds good,” Micky said as he walked over to the stage by the windows and picked up his dusty drumsticks. Pushing Mr. Schneider out of the drummer’s seat, Micky sat down and slowly beat the drums.
Mike then walked over and picked up his guitar. He joined Micky with a slow strumming. Soon, Peter put on his bass and connected a booming line with their slow jam. Davy then walked over, and picking up his tambourine, looked at Mike who counted off…
“One, two, three, four!”
The danceable beat of one of their oldest songs, “All the Kings Horses” resounded through the Pad. Adriana took a seat on the couch and listened for hours as the guys went through nearly all of their songs. Micky’s smiling face was the last thing she saw as she slowly faded into sleep later that night while he sang,
“M…m…m…married,” Davy stuttered late that night with an astonished look on his face.
“Wow,” Mike said quietly.
“Would you guys please be quiet,” Micky whispered as he got off the drum riser and made his way to where Adriana was sleeping peacefully on the couch. Carefully, he lifted a light blanket over her and then motioned for the guys to follow him to the bedroom near the kitchen.
After they entered, and Micky quietly shut the door, Peter and Mike sat on one of the beds with amazed looks on their faces. Davy sat on a chair looking at Micky like he was out of his head. For awhile, nothing could be heard but the pattering of the rain on the roof.
It wasn’t too surprising that the Monkees were shocked when they heard the “M” word come out of the mouth of one of them. Episode after episode of the Monkees had included the very theme of non-commitment and avoiding marriage at all costs.
In the episode “Too Many Girls”, the guys spent the whole time trying to keep Davy away from a girl that would cause such a love that would make him leave his family and friends.
In “Hillbilly Honeymoon” each of the guys ran from marriage in one way or another.
These guys were programmed to believe that marriage, to the single guy, was a fate worse than death.
“Gee, guys, don’t be too happy for me now,” Micky finally said, breaking the silence. “I’d really hate to see anyone go into a conniption fit.”
“It’s not that we’re not happy for you…,” Mike began, folding his hands together in a thoughtful pose.
“It’s just, well, marriage isn’t exactly…,” Davy continued, biting a fingernail.
“Isn’t exactly what typical guys our age are looking for,” Micky finished for them. “Well, I’m not the typical guy. We can’t all stay single and live in this Pad our whole lives. It was bound to happen to one of us someday.”
The group sat in silence for a few moments as it all sunk in.
“I guess you’re right,” Davy said to Micky as he stood up and made his way to where Micky stood. “Adriana’s a good bird, an I know you two will be very ‘appy.”
“Yeah, we will,” Micky said, after accepting a congratulatory handshake from Davy.
“Wait a minute,” Mike said, “have you even asked her yet? I mean, you guys have only been together for, what, a month?”
“Uh, well, yeah, kinda sorta,” Micky said, stumbling a bit when Mike pointed out the obvious.
“You sure she wants this,” Mike asked, looking at Micky sincerely.
“I think so,” Micky said. “I just have to figure out the perfect way to ask her, ya know. Something to insure she just won’t say no.”
Peter had been quiet for the last few minutes, looking down at his hands as Micky made his announcement.
“Petah,” Davy asked, after Mike had gotten up to finally congratulate Micky on his decision to ask Adriana for her hand. “Do you have anything to say to Micky?”
“Yeah,” Peter said softly as a smile slowly crept to his face as he stood to hug his friend. “I have an idea so she can’t say no…”
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