Later, after dinner, Micky, Kari, Mike, and Ginger all went to the hospital to check on Steph.Peter met them in the hallway. None of them were quite prepared for what they were about to hear.
"Hey," Peter quietly said. He was deathly pale and seemed to be rocked to the core. "You just missed Davy. He just left."
The four looked at each other worriedly. If Davy just left after more than two hours of taking Steph to the hospital, then something serious was up.
"What's going on? Peter, you look awful. Is Steph ok? What's wrong with her? Is she seriously ill?" Kari asked, stepping forward and grabbing Peter by his shoulders.
"No, she isn't seriously ill. In fact, she's perfectly healthy," Peter said numbly.
Kari let go of Peter, frowning.
"Then what's wrong?" Micky asked wrapping an arm around Kari.
Peter looked down at the floor, gathering his strength. He slowly looked at each of them before he hesitantly said, "She's pregnant."
There was a moment of stunned silence before Mike erupted, "WHAT??!??!!"
"She's pregnant," Peter repeated as if he couldn't believe it himself.
Kari, Ginger, and Micky couldn't believe it. Steph was pregnant?
"On the first night in England, Steph and I eloped. Since then..." Peter started, but couldn't finish.
"You two got married and you didn't tell us?!?" Ginger asked, getting a little peeved.
"We both wanted to keep it a secret--away from the press," Peter stated, still in a daze.
"You could have told us."
Peter couldn't answer to that.
Mike had heard enough of this. "Where is she?"
Peter didn't say.
"Where is she?"
"She's in there," Peter said weakly, not wanting Mike to go in there, but knew not about to argue with him when he was like this.
Mike gave one last glare to Peter and stormed into the hospital room.
"What the hell were you thinking? You get married after knowing him a week and you don't tell us??" Mike pretty much yelled as he burst into the room.
Steph was lying on her back in the hospital bed staring blankly at the ceiling.
"You moved in with us in less then a week," she said unemotionally.
"To protect Ginger."
By this time everybody had entered the room to see what was going to happen.
"Kari and Micky married early," Steph stated, still staring at the ceiling as if she hadn't noticed the others were there.
"After a month. They gave it time."
"I don't care what you think, Michael."
"You should because you need somebody to look out for you because you seem to have done a pretty good job of running your life into the ground."
"By what, having a baby?" Steph asked, a little bit of emotion mixing in with her voice.
"You are in no way ready to bring a child into this world."
"Don't you think I know that?!" Steph finally snapped. She turned her head to look at him, making eyecontact. "Do you honestly believe that I planned this? That I wanted this to happen? I know I am not ready and I don't need you to rub it in my face. Do you honestly think that this is going to be a skip through the park for me? I am so fucking scared right now because I know as soon as I leave this hospital bed I will have to accept the fact that I am going to have a baby. I know my life looks like shit right now and it is going to be hard. That is why I need you to be there to help me through this," Steph said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't do this alone."
Her hands flew to her face covering her eyes as she began to cry.
Someone grabbed her hands and she pulled them down expecting to see Peter, but instead she saw Mike.
"You'll never be alone. We'll be here."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After a few hours, Micky, Kari, Ginger, and Mike went to get back home for some rest. Davy had come back between that time span and got a ride off of Ginger and Mike, they were going to go back to the studio to finish something. Peter stayed behind with Steph, of course, to make sure that his wife was okay.
"How are you feeling, Bunny?" Peter asked sweetly, sitting by the bed. It was in an upright position and he stroked her hair. He loved her ash blonde hair and for once being like Micky, he always wanted to get into her hair.
"I'm fine, now," Steph replied. She took his other hand and held it close to her. "Peter?"
"Yes Bunny?" Peter looked at her with the world's love in his eyes.
"I... I'm scared," she answered softly. "This is just so sudden and all of these feelings and things are running around my head and--" "Shhh," Peter soothed her. "It's gonna be okay. I have to admit, I'm not ready either, but it's what fate had for us." He smiled a geniune smile. "Besides, now we have to stay together!"
Steph laughed at this and hugged him close. "You'll be a great dad," she sighed. Peter kissed her and held her tight.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Micky and Kari arrived at their apartment, not too keen that it had been broken into and they weren't looking forward to the damage. The door was unlocked so Micky pushed it open. Kari did a slight gasp.
Unlike what the paper had said, the whole front room was trashed. Papers were scattered everywhere, there were some nasty notes lying about and a few more bricks appeared here and there.
"My room," Kari suddenly realized, panicking. She ran past Micky and flung her door open. She let out a huge sigh when she saw nothing had been taken or broken or anything. But she did see a note lying on her pillow. Picking it up, she carefully read it.
"Is everything okay?" Micky came in. He saw his wife standing there with a piece of paper. "What's that?" he asked putting his arms around her waist.
Kari couldn't reply, she just let out a small sob. Micky took the note out of her hand as she turned to hug him. He read it quickly and crumpled it up.
"I need Ginger," Kari said quietly, trying to control her tears. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mike, Ginger, and Davy had just pulled up in the studio parking lot. Davy quickly hopped out and opened Ginger's door, which surprised her.
"Thanks," she told him, with a weird look.
"No problem luv," he smiled.
Ginger nodded and tried to catch up with Mike, who already made his way to the doors. "Mike! Davy's scaring me!"
"What, is he putting too much make-up on again?" Mike deadpanned.
Ginger hit him. "No! It's just... he's acting weird."
Mike turned to her. "It's Davy," he said simply. "Wait here I'll be right back." He left to find the director and left Ginger all by herself on a dimlit set.
"Hi."
Ginger turned around clutching herself from the sudden voice. "Davy?" she asked incrediously.
"That's my name," Davy said stepping into the light. "Don't wear it out. All though I like hearing my name. It's so... me." He grinned.
Ginger stepped back. "... Yeah, uh what do you want?"
"You mean what do I need?" Davy turned to her. "Or per 'aps want... or per 'aps both." His accent was getting a little cockier as he moved closer to her. Ginger kept backing up trying to avoid any standing objects.
"Um, are you okay?" Ginger asked, not liking how this was happening. "Maybe I should go find Mike..."
"MIKE?!" Ginger jumped from Davy's outburst. "Why do you want Mike?" Davy asked her, as if he was a lost child. "Why 'im, ya know? I mean 'e's so tall an' lanky and 'e's jus' no' righ' for you, ya know dahlin'?"
Ginger backed up into the staircase and quickly moved out of the way. "No--no I don't see your point." Ginger was really scared now.
"Don' you see?" Davy asked her, as she ran into a corner. "We're perfect for each other. I mean, we're both short...er. Both kind. Both very... sexy," Davy stroked her cheek. Ginger's instinct was to slap his hand away, but she couldn't. She just froze. She wanted to scream for Mike's help, but she lost her voice. Then, Davy kissed her. "So what do you say now?" he asked.
"Davy..." Ginger breathed. "I..." She'd felt so sorry for him earlier. In a way, she still did. All she could think about now were those two times another man had tried this with her. But Davy wasn't aggressive. He was just pitiful. "Davy. I'm really sorry but no. Please back off."
"Why?" Davy asked, not moving.
"You know why. Get off."
"Mike? What's Mike to you? Your finacee? No. Married? No. He's just a guy. And you can do so much better." Davy put his hand behind her head with severe longing in his eyes.
Ginger was ducking away from him but it wasn't really working. To be exactly her size (and actually a little shorter as Ginger was in heels), he was turning out to be quite the wall. "It's just Kari, Davy."
"No it's not!" he spat.
"I know you're upset about her, but there was nothing there. Why were you attrated to her?"
"She's gorgeous!" Davy blurted. "So are you!"
"Davy that's no reason... er thank you... That's no reason to--"
"That's not all... she's just... fun and sweet and bright and funny. And you... you're so... you're so enchanting cos you're so commanding and femine and smart..."
Davy leaned in to kiss her again. She turned her head, but he turned it back. This time she slapped him.
Davy looking like she'd punched him. He stepped back, holding his face. At first he looked deeply hurt, but then he shook his head. "Ginger... I... I don't know what came over me... Please forgive me..."
"Davy, if you ever get near me like that again, you'll no longer be able to feel the need to, you got it? I know you're hurt but... God Davy don't look like that..."
By that she meant like a baby deer.
"I won't..." He walked out of the studio and to the car.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
All the way to Davy's place Mike kept shifting his glance from Davy in the backseat, who looked like he was being driven to death row, to Ginger beside him in the front, who was staring determinedly out the window.
Mike didn't venture to ask anything now in case they didn't want to discuss it in front of each other, but he planned to ask Ginger after they dropped Davy off.
They pulled into Davy's driveway. He opened his door slowly and melted out with a faint 'thanks' then went inside.
"He sure is torn up about Micky and Kari... He needs to find himself another girl..."
"Yeah a nice single girl..." Ginger said with acid.
"Well yeah... Why are you so mad at him all of a sudden?" Mike asked as they pulled out, hoping to lead to an explanation of a fight or something that they'd had while he was away picking up some music from his dressing room.
"Mike?" Ginger said in a tone that revealed to Mike she was completely off topic. "You know what? I used to feel kinda sorry for him, and I still do. But in a way I don't cos he brings a lot of it on himself."
"Yeah, he does. Did he do anything to you?"
"You know, given events of the past, I thought he would, but he hasn't." Ginger was referring to the fact that she was sure Davy would scare her away from Mike like before, but he hadn't done it. Maybe her finding that out was the underlying good in the whole ordeal of Davy coming onto her. "I love you so very much."
Mike looked at her surprised. "Well I love you, too. Why the sudden outburst of affection?"
"I just felt like letting you know I love you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Steph was still getting an IV at the hospital, so Mike and Ginger were looking forward to some alone time. No sooner had they walked in the door, however, did Kari come bursting in in tears, Micky on her heals.
Kari went straight into Ginger's bedroom to wait for her to follow.
Micky explained. "Mike, come with me. Please. Kari needs to talk to Gingie."
Ginger met Mike's glance and shrugged. Then she took off for her bedroom, closing the door as she entered and Micky and Mike went outside.
"Kari what on Creation is wrong?" Ginger said as she sat down on her bed beside her sobbing friend.
Kari thrust a note in her direction, which Ginger read.
"'Bit--.. If you think that Micky Dolenz is your husband, you're wrong. If you don't leave that appartment, he'll suffer. And further more, so will your family. You'll wish you'd never heard of the Monkees.' Oh..." Ginger was silent for a moment. "Kari... you can't take it seriously..."
"Look at the bottom!" Kari sobbed into her shoulder.
Ginger looked. It was Kari's family's address.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Steph woke up as soon as the sun hit her window. They had decided to keep her overnight because she had been so dangerously dehydrated. She rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the light.
Something moved over in the corner.
She turned her head suddenly, alarmed. She sighed, smiling, when she saw Peter lying on a makeshift bed made out of chairs. He had stayed the whole night.
She and Peter had talked about what was going to happen in the next couple of months. They had decided that she was going to continue to live with Mike and Ginger in her apartment until she couldn't make it up the two flights of stairs. Then she'd go live over at Peter's until the baby came. They hadn't talked it over with Mike or Ginger yet, but they has talked about moving back into the girls' old apartment as soon as they got settled with the baby.
There was a lot to think about. Was she ready for this? How was she going to cope with the morning sickness which was just bound to get worse? How was she going to stay healthy through all this and still keep her emotional stamina high? What would happen when the press found out about this and their marrage?
Her eyes widened and she sucked in her breath when a new, bigger question popped into her mind.
How was she going to tell her parents?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The night had been a long one for Kari, Micky, Mike, and Ginger. They had immediately called the cops as soon as they got Kari to calm down. The cops took the note back to the station, for "evidence testing". Kari's family was still in England. They had decided to stay there for a couple days after the wedding. The police had gone over to their house in San Francisco to find that it hadn't been broken into. Nothing stolen, nothing broken, no notes.
Kari and Micky then crashed in Steph's room, Kari finally going to sleep at three in the morning. Micky woke up to find Ginger and Mike in the kitchen, a cup of coffee waiting for him.
"Thanks, man," he mumbled as he stumbled up to the two, still in the clothes he wore yesterday.
"So is she still asleep?" Ginger asked as the three moved to the living room, all holding their mugs.
"Yeah. She should be for a while," Micky replied, still not fully awake.
They sat there for a while in silence. There really wasn't anything that they could do. Kari's family was safe in England, by now word had probably gotten to them, telling them to stay there. All there was to really worry about was the safety of Micky, which he wasn't to worried about. As he sat there, sipping his coffee, he kept getting angrier and angrier. Why would somebody do that to a person? Why couldn't they just let him be happy with Kari? Why did they have to go and hurt Kari like that?
He finally snapped.
"I'm going for a walk," he pretty much yelled as he stomped over to the door, coffee in hand.
As soon as the door slammed shut, Ginger couldn't hold it in any more. The whole thing had haunted her the whole night (she had brushed her teeth for ten minutes that night and still felt dirty) and keeping it in was about to do her in.
"Davy kissed me!" she blurted. "Twice!"
"He WHAT?!"
"He kissed me..." Ginger trailed off. Mike was going to explode and she didn't want him to wake Kari up after trying to get her to sleep.
"WHY?" Mike asked, still angry. He looked at Steph's room, then to Ginger. Ginger nodded. Mike let out a big sigh and flopped back down on the couch. "Figures." He muttered. "Why can't he just get over her? It's not like here was even any mutual attraction."
"I know, I know." Ginger sat next to him. "He's just really down about it." She wrinkled her brow. "So what are you going to do?"
"Kill him," Mike said.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Peter woke up and saw Steph looking at him. "Good morning," Peter grinned sleepily.
"Morning," Steph said as she sipped some tea.
"I have an idea..." Peter said getting closer to the bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was still early in the morning, about sevenish, so it was still safe for Micky to be out on a walk. More like a power walk. The more he thought about the note and how it hurt Kari and everything else, the more he got angry. He past a news stand and stopped his urge of wanting to rip every paper up, though it would have been nice. Midway though Sunset Strip he threw his coffee mug onto the sidewalk from frustration. 'I can always get them another one...' Then he heard it. He hear a click. He spun around and saw a photographer standing there. The photographer had tried to duck into a building to avoid being seen after he'd taken the picture of Micky smashing the cup, but he hadn't made it.
Micky wanted to run away from the man. Who cared what the press did anymore? What were they worth? Micky drowded this feeling and walked over to the now cocky photographer.
"Give me that film," Micky demanded in a way very much unlike himself.
The reporter gave a smile smug. "Not on your life. And I wouldn't get too mad in front of me, I can always take more."
That did it. Micky broke the strap around the photographers neck and the camera crashed to the ground, exposing the flim.
Micky stormed away, not able to stand to look at the site of the reporter any longer.
He retreated quickly back to Mike, Ginger, and Steph's place, all the way checking to see if he was being followed. He walked into the apartment expecting them to all be eating breakfast, but he instead found the place empty. He went over to Steph's room and cracked the door open. Kari was still sound asleep. He closed the door back and listened. After a while, he determined the house was definately empty. He went back into Steph's room quietly and slipped into bed beside Kari, falling back asleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Steph and Peter had just finished packing when Davy arrived to drive Steph to the apartment and then drop Peter off at his house. Davy wasn't saying much of anything at all, even his normal cute little remarks.
Peter kept looking at Steph. What happened to make Davy so quiet? Maybe somebody could tell them when they got to Steph's place.
"Are you going in?" Davy asked, rather rudely.
"Uh, I guess not, if you won't be," Peter said.
Davy grunted and Steph just raised her eyebrows at Peter.
"I'll call you," Steph said.
"Ok." Peter said, sneaking suspicious glances at Davy.
"Maybe we could go to dinner or something."
"That sounds great."
"Will you get out of the bloody car?" Davy snapped.
Steph and Peter just looked at each other, Steph trying her hardest not to laugh. Davy was really funny when he acted all pissy.
"Bye," Peter said giving his wife a weak smile. Then he suddenly bent down in his seat and put his face right up to Steph's stomach, "Bye."
Steph laughed and shoved his face away. "Bye. Bye, Davy. Thanks for the ride."
Davy snorted and sped away as soon as Steph shut the door.
She walked up the stairs and into her apartment, glad to get out of that stupid hospital. She could have sworn her nurse was trying to kill her.
She walked into the living room to find the place quiet and empty. She sighed and walked over to her room and opened the door.
She screamed.
A very disgruntled Kari and Micky (both intertwined with each other) sat up wondering who had just screamed.
"What are you two doing in my bed?" Steph asked, about to have a heart attack. "What are you two even doing here??"
Micky and Kari just looked at each other, both still not fully awake.
"Forget it, I don't care. I'll go make breakfast."
"Who was that?" Micky asked pointing to the now empty door frame.
"Does it matter?" Kari asked.
Micky shrugged and they both laid back down and went back to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile Mike and Ginger were driving around town in Mike's pick up truck. They had just gotten done with breakfast at a local diner and were now trying to kill some time, not in a big hurry to go back home.
They got to a stoplight and sat there staring out the window at a bridal boutique
Ginger and Mike looked at each other suddenly.
"Are you thinking of what I'm thinking?" Mike asked, a dangerous look in his eyes.
"Lets do it."
Mike grinned.
"Then lets go."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Steph was just about done frying eggs and bacon (for Micky and Kari) and she even made some waffles. She notcied she made breakfast a lot. Mike and Ginger would just sleep in and she's the one who had to cook, whether she wanted to get up or not. And now it was Micky and Kari. She was in a weird mood after she found them on her bed, but the whole breakfast ordeal just made it worse. So with that, she put everything on serving plates, put the meal on the table and stomped off to her room. Steph flung the door open.
"GET THE HELL UP!!! BREAKFAST IS READY!!!" and with that she stormed off.
Micky and Kari wearily sat up, Micky rubbing his eyes. "Can anyone say mood swing?" Kari asked.
"Mood swing," Micky replied, dopily.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mike and Ginger were having a nice time in the bridal shop. They didn't care about waiting for anyone to see them really. Maybe just their close friends. Besides, family was pretty spread out anyway and they wanted to get hitched right away.
"This one here's pretty," Mike said holding up a veil. It was lacy, had flowers and pearls, and a very large price attached.
"Mike, that's nice, but..." Ginger started. She didn't want him to spend all this money on her.
"Gin, anything's worth it for you." Mike took it in his hands with the rest of the stuff they were buying and headed towards the counter.
Ginger kept protesting. "Mike, you don't have to be like Micky, I mean I don't need that much and it's just so kind of you and I don't want you to spend more than you have to and--" Ginger was cut off by Mike shoving his hand over her mouth. He didn't say anything, just gave a small sweet smile and his eyes said what he wanted to do. Ginger sighed and let Mike pay for her. She didn't like it, but whatever made him happy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Peter had just woken up from a quick nap. Sleeping at the hospital hadn't provided him with the most restful sleep in the world, and it had been hard to sleep once he got home since his mind was on the fact that he was about to become a father. When Steph had first told him what the doctor had told him, he just could't believe it. After he'd digested it for a while, he was excited, but also very scared. He wouldn't let Steph know that, as she was worried enough. With the Monkees-- the show and the group-- he'd be touring and working crazy hours, and he was anxious over the fact that he may not be there enough for Steph during her pregnancy, let alone helping her with the baby afterwords. Of course-- and Peter was very thankful for this-- she'd have Ginger around to help her more than either Peter or even Mike could, and Kari would be available, even if she was living with Micky. Kari may have been married, and... well he didn't know about Mike and Ginger, but at least Steph was the only one expecting, which was a great help to her and his peace of mind.
As he sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes, he heard someone knock on his door. He threw the covers aside, staggared over to the front door, and opened it to find a man and a woman waiting there.
"Yes?" Peter asked. They could be parents of fans, or nasty reporters. There was no way to tell so he had to be congenial.
"Hi, pleased to meet you," the man said, taking Peter's hand and shaking it. "We're Steph's aunt and uncle. Congratulations on everything!"
"Oh," Peter said. He wasn't sure, but how else, unless they'd talked to Steph, would they find him and know about the marriage and now the baby. "Thanks."
"Yes we were just thrilled when Steph told us. She told us first because she found that easier than telling her parents. We were like practice, I suppose."
"I suppose..." All of this was a little fast and a little strange.
"She said she might be over here later..." the woman said. "We just left here earlier after she got home. We wanted to take you two out to celebrate. Could we wait and meet her here?"
"I... I don't know if we really can go out..."
"Oh..." The man looked terribly disappointed. "Well... She's still at home, isn't she?"
Peter nodded.
"Right... Well we'll go back and see her, then we can talk to her about whether or not she feels like it. Do you still have her address, Rebecca?" The last bit was directed at his wife.
"Um... it was in my purse here... I hope I didn't thr-- Oh I did," the woman said after a quick rumage in her purse. "You would happen to have it handy, would you?" she asked Peter.
Peter knew that she knew he'd have to have it. "I... You have to understand why I'm being distant..."
"Oh, oh yeah, we do, we understand," the man said quickly with a comforting, father-like voice. "I'm glad you are, it shows that you'll take good care of her."
Peter thought for a moment. He decided that the people were on the level and gave them Mike, Ginger, and Steph's address. They thanked him and left to find their niece.
Peter stood at the door for a while after they left. He still wasn't sure that he'd done the right thing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Steph and Micky were washing the dishes they had used for breakfast. After Steph's little freak out, Kari and Micky felt a little bit bad, but couldn't help but think how funny it was to see calm, mellow Steph blow her top like that. So needless to say Kari unset the table before she showered and Micky was guilted into washing the dishes.
"Sorry for yelling at you two earlier," Steph said trying to scrub the syrup off the plate she was working on.
"Nah, we needed to wake up anyway. Besides, it's not everyday you see two of your friends sleeping in your bed, which by the way, is very small," Micky said playing with two glasses by filling one up with water and pouring it in the other glass and then pouring the water back into the other glass and so on and so forth.
"Well, there's only supposed to be on person sleeping on it..." Steph sighed as she just thought of something. "Now I have to wash the sheets."
"Wait?" Micky asked dropping the two glasses back into the soapy water, "We didn't..." He laughed embarrassed, "I'm not sure I like you when you're pregnant, you're too much like Peter."
"Ha!" Steph laughed out loud flicking water at Micky. Before he could retaliate, Kari yelled, "Micky, your turn!"
It was then that someone knocked on the door.
"Go shower, Mick. I'll go get the door," Steph said sticking her tongue out at him.
"You're going to get it, man. One day when you least expect it....BAM! Garden hose right in your face," Micky threatened as he headed up the stairs.
Steph laughed as she opened the door. As soon as she opened the door alarm bells sounded in her head. She fought the urge to slam the door shut as she looked over the couple on the other end of the door.
They were both in their late fifties. The man was balding and was a little out of shape, but you could tell that once he was something of a heartthrob. He had blond hair and brown eyes and was a hand's length taller than Steph. The woman was a red head. She had her hair up in an intricate beehive and had way too much make up on, but something about her blue eyes seemed to be familiar.
"Do I know you?" Steph asked hesitantly.
"Oh look George, there she is! All grown up!" the woman suddenly burst into tears.
Steph cringed a little, starting to get a very bad feeling about all this.
"I'm sorry, you two must be confusing us with someone else," she said, beginning to close the door.
Just then the man took his hand a with a mighty blow, pushed the door back open, nearly smacking Steph in the face.
"No," he said in a way that made Steph freeze. "We are not mistaken. We got your address from a reliable source. We know it's you."
For a moment there was silence, but it was broken by the sound of the phone ringing.
"I'll get it!" Kari yelled from the upstairs area.
Steph tried to call out to her, but couldn't find her voice. Now she had a very bad feeling about this.
"Look, George. Can you just imagine? She's going to be a mother soon," the woman said, trying to wipe away her tears (and eye make-up that was beginning to run).
"How do you know that?" Steph asked, no, demanded. Who were these people?
"Well, we heard from the nice people at the studio that Peter and Davy had taken you to the hospital and when we got there this morning, you and Peter had left," the woman said.
How could they know all this? "How could you get into my file? Th-the doctor couldn't have let you."
"No, he was more than happy to show us, we are after all your parents. We have the right to know."
"KARI!!! MICKY!!!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hello?" Kari asked as she answered the phone.
"Hey, Kari. It's me Peter," Peter said from the other line, in a little panicked voice.
"Who is it?" Micky asked as he came into Ginger's room.
Kari mouthed 'Peter'.
"Ooooh. What does he want?"
"Is Steph there? Some people came over here looking for her and I sent them over to your place. I don't know if it was the right thing to do. I mean, I got this weird vibe, but they seemed to know so much about what was happening and---" Peter started, speaking very quickly.
"Woah. Woah. Peter calm down. What's wrong?" Kari asked.
Micky frowned as he sat down on the bed next to Kari.
Peter took in a deep breath. "Some questionable people are coming over looking for Steph. I have a very bad feeling about them..." Peter paused for a minute as if sensing something. "Where is she? Where is Steph? Is she ok??"
"Peter calm down!" Kari said, she turned to Micky. "Where was Steph when you came up here?"
"She was going to go answer the door. Why?"
Kari's eyes widened.
All of a sudden they heard Steph scream, "KARI!!! MICKY!!!"
The two jumped up and raced to the door, Kari dropping the phone in the process. The two made it to the stairs just in time to see the door slam shut, Steph nowhere to be seen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After neatly laying a modest wedding dress and other things in the bed of the pickup, Mike and Ginger climbed in, and Ginger sighed.
"What?" Mike asked. He was beaming.
Ginger gave a weak smile. "I just... I can't... That dress cost--"
Mike held up his hand to cut her off as he used the other to pull out and start down the road. "Just loosen up about it. Money's for spending, and you should have nice things."
Ginger didn't know how to argue. She obviously wasn't going to win this battle. Instead of continuing, she scooted over and laid her head on Mike. "Where are you going?"
"I don't know," Mike answered as if it didn't matter.
It didn't seem to matter, as Ginger didn't protest. After driving for a while listening to the radio part of the way, they reached a cliff that overlooked a small, rocky part of the coast and Mike parked the truck. "Is here good?"
"Good for what?" Ginger asked.
Mike gently took her face in his hands and kissed her. "That."
They kissed gently for a while and then moved on. Ginger never jumped now when this happened but went with it and sometimes intiated it. Nothing that had happened in the past formed a connection with itself and Mike now. Mike was a completely seperate entity all together.
Mike leaned in on her and Ginger titled back a little. She was fiddling with one of the buttons on Mike's shirt and Mike was basically holding her up. He began to move one knee onto the seat of the truck as the button came undone on his shirt, when he dropped Ginger and grabbed his chest. Mike flung his door open and got out of the truck.
"MICKY! KARI! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!"
Ginger slid out of the truck as well. She saw Kari had tears in her eyes and ran around the front of the truck to her. "What the matter?" she said with urgency.
"Steph!" Kari blurted. "She answered the door and then we heard her scream f--" Kari couldn't talk anymore and had buried her head in Ginger's shoulder. Ginger walked her back to the tailgate and sat her down as Micky followed and continued the story to Mike, who had walked to the back of the truck as well.
"We heard Steph yell for us, but when we got to the door she was gone."
"Gone? Whaddya mean gone?" Mike asked increduously.
"Just that," Micky answered.
Mike drew a long breath and rubbed Kari's back. "We'll have to find her then. It's... Oh my God the baby..." Mike just remember that Steph was pregnant. "Have you told Peter yet?"
"Yeah," Micky answered and Mike shook his head. He thought that wouldn't have been the best idea before Micky continued. "He called to tell us two people stopped by his house and he gave them your address. He was trying to warn us, and Steph screamed when he was on the phone."
Mike's face made a perfect 'V' with a little 'o' for a mouth. "He did what?! He gave two strangers our-- his wife's secret address?! Wh... Is he flashing back to that Beatles' party?!"
"I'm sure he had a good reason to do it, Mike. He said they knew they were married and going to have a baby," Micky soothed.
"Yeah, well, 'at's even better, itn't it? Now the press will probably know. Probably fifty reporters all over the place... Have you ever heard of anything so stupid? No... Man I can't believe..."
Micky just shrugged. It was always better to let Mike talk to himself when he did than to butt in on the conversation.
"Okay, so Peter's looking for her?" Mike finally addressed Micky.
"Yeah. We told him she was missing after we discovered that she was. He said he was on his way out the door."
"Have you called the police? Well no, better not have... That'd mean the press would have it for sure... We can call them later if she doesn't turn in just a bit..."
Micky nodded at Mike's second self-conversation.
"Let's get started then..." Mike said, walking back to the truck as Ginger handed Kari over to Micky.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Peter sharply pulled into the parking lot of Steph's apartment. Maybe someone around here saw something
There.
Over in the back of the lot there was a man, in his late thirties, working on his truck.
Peter got out of his car, which was still running, and practically ran over to the man.
The man stopped working on the engine and stood up wiping his oily hands on a rag. He looked at Peter as if he was insane...which was kind of true.
"Listen, my wife..." Peter started, too hysterical for words, "She was kidnapped and...did you see anything?"
"Wait a minute. You're wife was kidnapped?" the man asked. He obviously did not know who Peter was.
"Yes. By a man and a woman. The woman had red hair. The man was blond and kind of bald. They were both in their fifties," Peter explained making wild hand gestures. "Did you see anything?"
The man just stood there thinking. "Now that I think about it, I did see a couple like that. They didn't kidnap no woman though. They did carry something out in a sack though, but it couldn't have been your wife. No one would do that."
Peter just stood there more alarmed then ever.
They couldn't have.
They wouldn't have.
Peter somehow managed to keep himself from screaming with rage to ask one last question.
"What car were they driving and in what direction were they headed?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Steph woke up she was curled up in a tiny little ball on her back. She was in what appeared to be a potato sack.
Crying, she took in several deep breaths trying to calm herself down. It seemed to work...until she suddenly realized that she was going to die.
She was going to die.
Her parents had kidnapped her and they were going to murder her and her unborn child.
She continued to cry as she tried to talk herself out of that thought...but it was hard. She needed to stay calm, have her wits about her. Maybe she could talk them out of it. She was their daughter after all.
Steph took control of her breathing shoving all her fear aside. She was angry.
She was not going to let them do this to her, to her child, to Peter. If she was going to die, then she was going to go down fighting. She wasn't a four year old girl anymore and she would not just go and cry in the corner and let them do whatever they wanted to do to her.
The car suddenly stopped.
She heard doors open and someone grabbed her. Very slowly, her father let her out of the sack. Her body screamed in protest, all of her joints stiff from being so compressed, but she focused on what was going one around her, not on her pain. She had a feeling that more was to come.
She looked around and recognized where they were. They were at the rundown motel, Sanford, just on the edge of town.
There was still a chance that someone would find her, save her.
Steph was led by her parents, her father had a death grip on her right arm, into a small motel room. It was dark and cold and she got the biggest chill she'd ever had when she went in.
It reeked of a stench that she didn't even know existed and tried not to gag. Her father threw her on the beat-up bed and he and Steph's mother stood at the base of the bed.
The woman was in tears. "Look at her, George. Look at her...our little girl...all grown up..." "I am not your little girl," Steph snapped, instantly regretting the statement after she had said it.
Within seconds George's fist connected with her left cheek, "You speak when you are spoken to!" he roared.
"Now, George, don't frighten the poor girl. She is pregnant after all...our grandchild...just think about it, George. We'll be a family again," Steph's mother continued. "You will not come near my child!!" Steph screamed and was again hit by her father. She let out a sob, in blinding pain, but still managed to stay calm. She had to think of the baby. Think of Peter.
She needed to stall. She needed them to hold off from whatever they were planning to do until Peter found her.
"What are you going to do to me?" she asked, refusing to look them in the faces.
"We've told you," George started. "We're going to take you home."
"Why? Why now? Why did you wait until now to find me?" she asked, bleeding. Her father's ring had cut her cheek and bruises were already beginning to form.
"When they took you away from us, they kept where you were a secret from us," her mother started, walking towards her daughter. "We couldn't find you. Then, we saw your name in the paper. You were in L.A. But then you went to London, but we were willing to wait."
'Of course...' Steph thought, 'All of those damn articles.'
"And here we are...together again..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Micky, Kari, Mike, and Ginger had searched for about an hour before meeting up again at the apartment and much to their surprise, James was there waiting for them.
"I tried going up stairs, but no one was home. I wanted to see if you all made it back from London safely," he said walking up to the group.
The four exchanged glances.
"How long have you been waiting here?" Mike asked cautiously, after the others silently made him in charge of being the one to break the news to James.
"About five minutes. Why?" James asked, not liking the looks on their faces.
Mike sighed, rubbing his face, "About an hour ago...she was..."
James leaned forward, his mood darkening as Micky, Kari, and Ginger fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Her parents...her real parents....they found her."
The news hit James like a ton of bricks, "Where is she now? Is she ok?" He paused a moment, a look of new terror on his face. "Is she alive?"
Mike looked James in the eye. "We don't know."
James let out a silent cry. "My little sister," he whispered, fighting the urge to cry.
"That's not all," Micky suddenly said. He didn't want Mike to be the one who had to tell James everything. He had already said enough.
"What do you mean?"
Micky looked at Kari and then back to James. "Kari and I weren't the only ones who got married in London. Sometime before our wedding, Peter and Steph eloped."
James looked at Micky, picking up his hint that this wasn't all. "And...?"
Micky took in a deep breath. "She's pregnant."
James just stood there, not knowing how to react. "So you are telling me that my little sister is out there, pregnant, and possibly...and possibly seriously hurt by her real parents?"
The four nodded weakly.
"Oh my God..."James mumbled, numb, "Where's Peter? Where is he in all of this?"
This time Ginger spoke up. Someone needed to defend Peter. He was probably feeling bad enough already. No one should point fingers at him. "We don't know where he is. He had called Micky and Kari, who were with Steph, trying to warn them that something might happen, but it was too late. He went off alone to go find her. We haven't seen him since."
"Do you think he'll find her?"
"I know he will."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~