Chea looked over her entry into her diary from the other day. She looked up and out her bedroom window onto the beach. She saw Livvie sitting out alone on the sand. she was wearing an oversized cable-knit sweater that Peter gave her. It was a light pink. She had it pulled over her knees to keep them warm. She had the saddest expression on her face. Chea looked at her, then thought for a minute. She then put her diary back under the floorboard, and raced downstairs. She ran over to the other house.
The guys were practicing. Peters playing was distracted by the presence on the beach. He watched her while he absent-mindedly pinking on his harpsichord. The song they were practicing was "The Girl I Knew Somewhere".
Micky started to sing a line, "Well, goodbye dear, I just can't take this chance again. My fingers are still burning from the last time. And if your love was not a game, I only have myself to blame..." Micky stopped as Peters playing ground to a complete halt. "Peter?" He said. "Peter?"
"Oh for petes sake, not again." Davy muttered.
Peter snapped to attention and started playing a few bars from "For Petes Sake." He started to sing.
"Love is understanding, don't you know that this is true. Love is understanding, it's in everything we do." Peter looked up at the rest of the guys. He noticed that no one else was playing. "What’s up guys? You gonna play the song?"
"You been doing it again, shotgun." Mike said. Brianna and Karen had been sitting at the table. They wandered over and stood next to Mike.
"Doing what?" Peter asked.
"Spacing out." Karen said looking outside. "Livvies been out there all morning, and you haven’t taken your eyes off of her."
"I know. But I thought I would keep an eye on her." Peter said. "There’s something about her..."
"I know." Chea said reading his thoughts. "You're concerned for her."
"Why should he be concerned?" Micky asked abandoning his drum kit.
"I don't know if you all have noticed or not, but a week or so after Livvie came back with us, she’s been getting sadder and sadder." Chea said.
"She misses home, I think." Davy said. "And being here in what she considers to be the future hasn’t been easy either. Everything is new to her."
"He’s right. And a few months here isn’t just going to take care of that." Brianna added. "What can we do?"
"Why not have a party?" Chea asked.
"What kind of party?" Micky asked.
"Well maybe some kind of house warming party." She offered.
"Nah." Mike shook his head.
"Yeah." Karen replied.
They all thought for a minute. "How about a birthday party?" Peter said.
"A birthday party?" Chea asked. She smiled. "That’s an excellent idea." She replied.
"Terrific." Karen said.
"Wait guys, we don't know when her birthday is." Mike said.
"I think she said it was sometime in the spring." Peter said. "We might be a month or two soon but she needs a party now." He looked out the window. "She’s really sad. I know she hasn’t said anything to me, but I can feel it."
Karen nodded. Peter was always the more sensitive one of the bunch, save for Davy who sometimes gets caught crying during sappy telephone commercials.
"What? Me cry? I'm just glad they got the phone working again!" He protested while blinking away the tears.
"Heres what we do." Chea said. "We do it today, its only about ten o'clock." She thought for a minute. "You guys have a gig tonight right?" She asked Mike.
"Yeah, we do." Mike said. "At the sugar shake shack. Our year banning is over tonight."
"Banning?" Karen asked.
"Long story, silly ending." Chea said remembering a huge
food fight that took place when Karen was away to go see an old friend of hers.
"We'll have a cake. I can make that." Micky said.
"You sure?" Chea asked.
"I learned from the master." He said putting his hand on her should. "I'm ready for my first try solo."
"Okay." Chea said. She looked up. Livvie got up and got her drinking glass. She started heading to the house. "We can find favorite songs of hers to play." Chea said quickly. "We need to keep her away from the club for a while. What can we do?"
"We can give her a makeover." Brianna said. "A new look always made me feel good." She explained.
"That’s a good idea." Peter said. "Maybe 1906 won't be on her mind as much once she feels like she fits in."
Chea nodded. "The gig is at what, 6?" She asked Mike again. He nodded. "We'll get her out of the house at 4, get her a nice outfit. A new hairdo." Chea beamed. "I get the feeling this is the best idea ever."
"What idea?" They heard. Everyone turned around. Livvie was at the door with her glass.
"Uh." Chea stuttered.
"Hmm." Peter said.
"Uh we were just talking about doin a..." Mike started.
"...conga line!" Micky hollered. He went to Chea and spun her around. She then put her hands on his lower back and followed him around the room singing a catchy little tune.
"C'mon, shake your body baby, do the conga. I know you can't control yourself any longer. Come on, shake your body baby, do the conga. I know you can't control yourself any longer." She sang as they went around the room.
Mike and Karen joined hesitantly after both rolling their eyes, then Brianna and Davy, making the line look like it had a slight height dip in the middle, Peter and Livvie were the last to join when she got a chance to put her glass down. After a trip around the room, Livvie was smiling and laughing.
"I don't get it but I like it!" She laughed. They did two more trips around the pad then went out the door and down onto the beach. There they crumbled on the sand and laughed.
4:00 PM
"Come on, step, and step, and step..." Karen said leading Livvie with up a small flight of stairs.
"Are we there yet?" Livvie asked.
"Pretty soon." Chea said. "Don't you trust us?"
"I trust you plenty girls, but I would been have gone anywhere you guys wanted to. Without a blindfold even." Livvie said. "This blindfold is pretty good." She said moving her head in a visible attempt to shift it. Karen decided to wait to tell her later that her blindfold consisted of one of Mikes older hats.
"Okay, here we are at the door." Karen said leading her to it. She put Livvies hand on the door handle. "See?"
"Okay I feel a lot better now." Livvie said.
"Let's go in." Karen said.
"Wait a minute." Livvie held her her finger. "I want to know where I'm going."
"Sounds fair." Brianna said. "You get the blindfold. Shes too tall for me." She said to Chea.
Chea stood in front of her and reached up a little. Since Karen was now holding the door open, she was the only one who could reached the double knot she tied on the side of her head. She untied it. Livvie reached up and pulled the blindfold off her head. She looked around.
"Le Casside and Co." She said reading the name of the store off out loud.'
"Surprise!" Chea said. "This is a part of your birthday surprise."
"My birthday was last week." She said.
"Okaaay." Brianna said making a mental note. Peter was closer than he thought, she thought. "Well Happy Be-lated Birthday. That makes you a Pisces." She noted.
"A what?" Livvie asked.
"Peter will tell you later. Astrology is his thing." Brianna said as they entered the store.
"We thought you might be having trouble fitting in, so we thought we would take you out for a full out 60's makeover." Karen explained.
"Really?" Livvie asked. "Will that cost a lot?"
"Not really." Chea said. "It will be worth it. A whole new look, a new person behind the mirror. A little change always makes me feel a little better, I dunno about you." Chea brought Livvie to a rack. It had some lovely peasant dresses on it. "The new outfit is the first order of the day. Then comes the hair." She said pointing at her head.
"But we will only do this if you want to." Karen made sure to point out. "Do you want to?"
Livvie looked around at the store. She then looked at the hopeful faces of her new friends. Surely they wouldnt force her to do anything she didnt feel entirely comfortable with. Maybe Chea was right. Maybe it was time to leave 1906 in its place in history. A new look might help her a lot in getting used to her new home. What could it hurt?
"Also there are those three magic words." Brianna said. "It'll grow back." She added.
"Okay." Livvie said. "I'll give it a try." She said taking a pale blue dress off the rack. She looked for a second for a fitting room. A nice woman in a nametag came out and helped her into a room.
"The hard parts over." Karen said. "I wonder how the guys are doing."
The Sugar Shake Shack
As a result of the weird toaster incident, Micky discovered the oven at home no longer worked. He had to make the cake some other way. With a little begging and
a little pleading on Mikes part, he convinced the owner of the Sugar Shake Shack to let them use their kitchen facilities. The club had a large kitchen in back so they could cater birthday parties like the food fight that happened.
"There are times like these I wish we lived in 2001." He said to Davy, who was his designated helper. "I hear those microwave that Chea mentions are wonderful."
"It would be easier if we didnt have to make the cake from scratch." Davy said. "I think this flour bag is bigger than I am."
"Okay dokey, we got the flour and sugar." He said looking over a recipe. "We need eggs."
"Eggs." Davy said going over to the fridge. "You got butter?"
"Yeah." Micky said whipping his hand out to point. "It's right here." With his sudden movement he accidentally knocked it on the floor. "Ooops." He said. He looked up at Davy who was searching the big fridge. He picked the butter off the floor and blew it off. "Five second rule." He muttered. "It's still safe." He got a paper towel from a roll on the shelf. He moved to wipe off the greasy spot on the floor. He didnt get a chance however. As he was poised to kneel down on the floor, Davy came across the floor with three eggs in one hand.
"Davy look out..." Micky said looking up at him. Davys right foot slid from underneath him. He fell forward to the floor. His hand shot up, the eggs flew up and over his fingers. Davy tried to catch the eggs but had to put his hands out in front of him to stop himself from falling too hard on the ground. Micky cringed as he saw the eggs coming down on his head. He put his left hand up. The eggs smashed into the middle of his head. Mike walked in as Davy stumbled as he tried to get off the floor. Micky stood in the middle of the room with the eggs on his head. The shells clung to his locks. Yolks and whites dripped down his face.
"Oh thats great guys." Mike said as Peter joined him. Peter stifled a laugh. "Just when its safe to go back to the sugar shake shack...."
"Sorry Mike, but..." Davy said.
"I don't want to hear it!" Mike said shaking his head. "I need someone to help me unload the Monkee mobile."
"Why doesn’t Peter do it?" Micky asked as he used his paper towel to wipe his hair off.
"Cause I get to go get the girls." Peter bragged.
"I'll do it." Davy said. "I'm the least mixed up."
"To say the least." Micky said. "Lucky guys. They get the music and the babes. I get scrambled eggs."
"Hey Micky, you may want to remember to rinse the eggs out of your hair before you get out of the shower next time." Davy said. "Tip from a pro." He did making a clicking sound with with his teeth.
"Hah hah." Micky said. He took care of the greasy spot, now covered with fallen egg shells, before anyone else became a casualty. "I wonder if its too late to send out for chinese."
"Poofee Parlour"
"We have the perfect outfit." Chea declared with a phony French accent. "We now need the perfect hair-do." They led Livvie in her outfit into the parlor. Brianna was about to go in when she heard a hissing sound. She turned and looked. She looked at her shoe.
"PSsst!" She heard again. She went to the side of the building where she heard the sound. "Peter? Is that you making that sound?"
"Yes." Peter said in a bush.
"Why?" Brianna asked.
"Cause I thought hey you would draw too much attention." He said.
"I kinda feel like Cyrano." Brianna shook her head. "I mean what do you want?"
"Mike is almost ready for us." Peter said. "Except for a few snafus everything is running smoothly as they can."
"A few snafus?"
"Long story." Peter said. "Tell later." He vanished in the brush. Brianna turned and ran into Chea.
"What are you doing?" She asked.<>BR>
"Talking to the bush. Yeah, the bush." She said.
"It wasn't burning or anything was it?" Chea asked.
"Yeah, it was, it demanded I let the beanie babies go, or something." Brianna said. "Might have been a TV."
"Oh good, cause that would have been weird." Chea said. "Livvies chosen something very simple. She will be done in no time." Chea looked at her with a smirk. "Who was it really?"
"Okay, it was Peter." Brianna said. "They are almost ready for us. I didnt want to draw attention."
"Ok. Made more sense than a burning bush." Chea said.
"Lets go in. Karens gonna worry." Brianna said.
"Our very own mama kar." Chea laughed.
"Dont tell her that, she hates that." Brianna whispered.
The Suger Shake Shack
The girls came in the back door. The lights were down low. Some soft music was playing. The guys were up on the bandstand. Peter spotted Livvie and started to sing to her.
"You say its your birthday, well happy birthday to you. You say its your birthday. Its my birthday too, yeah." It was a more modern song, it might have been hard to find music from Livvies time period given the time to prepare.
"This is wonderful." Livvie said. "Thank you guys."
"You’re welcome." Karen said hugging her.
They played for a while. After they were done with their set, anyone not invited to the party left. A jukebox started to play, and Livvie and Peter danced for a while. About a half an hour after it started, Micky came out with his cake. It looked perfect. Perfectly store made.
Chea looked at Micky. "Ah, hmm." He laughed. "A few things went wrong. Small fire. Nothing insurance cant cover. We just wont just get paid for the gig. Oh and we're banned again." He said.
"Eh." Chea shrugged.
A big "18" was on top of the cake. It was lit. Livvie sat in front of the cake giving her face a ethereal glow. Peter sat across from her and smiled.
"I suppose you know what to do right?" He asked.
"You still make a wish these days right?" She asked.
"Right." Peter said.
Livvie closed her eyes and thought hard. She then opened her eyes and blew out the candle with one big huff.
"Congrats!" Chea shouted.
"Happy birthday!" Peter said kissing her.
Livvie got a strange look on her face.
"I'm not 18." She said. "If you do the math real quick, I was born in 1888. I was 17 in 1906. I would have been anyway. In 1968...if I was still alive...god I'd be 80!" She said. She saw her face in a mirror across the hall. She started to cry. Her tears flowed heavily. No one really knew what to say. Peter didnt know how to comfort her other than put his arms around her.
"It'll be alright." He said softly.
"It's not. I am old enough to be your grandmother." She said her face dripping with tears. She got out of Peters grasp and ran out the door.
"Livvie!" Peter called.
"We'll get her." Karen said following her out. Chea and Brianna were close behind her. Once they reached the outside, they saw Karen but no Livvie.
"What happened?" Brianna asked.
"What was all that about?" Chea added. "Where is she?"
"I dunno." Karen said. "Maybe she went home."
A few hours later, a search came up empty. Brianna, Karen and Chea went home. Chea stopped by the room that Livvie now had. The door was closed. It wasnt before.
"Maybe she went to sleep." Chea said as Karen joined her at the door.
"Let's hope so. I hope it wasnt the party that did this." Karen said.
"I dont think so. I can't explain it but somethings been fixing to happen for a long time. I think its just getting started. We'll talk to her in the morning. Maybe she will feel a little better."
"Maybe." Karen said.
Sometime in the morning
Micky heard something downstairs. He went to the stairs and descended. He couldnt really see but he could see Peter. He sat alone by the tv. He was looking at a piece of paper. Micky rubbed his eyes and sat next to him. "Whats wrong Pete?" He asked. "Why are you up so early?"
"I heard a noise down here." He said. "I tried to shake you awake but I couldnt. A bomb could drop and you would still be asleep you know, man." Peter said. He sighed. "I didn't see anyone so I thought it was the wind." He held up what he was holding. "Here."
"What is it?" He asked taking it. He couldnt really see by the lack of light in the room. The sun was starting to rise.
"Shes gone Micky." Peter said. "Livvies gone."
