After the good articles about Micky and Kari had come out, the fans seemed to welcome Kari. Peter and Steph had never had any real problems from jealous fans, and that continued. Veronica had remained quiet with all the new articles about, but she was plotting in her absence. It had been hectic for everyone though over the next while with the filming making up for the time off and the recording and concerts. Everyone was at the studio, children and all, and the guys were working their butts off on the set, running through lines.With Willow, Erika, and Little Micky all asleep, Ginger and the girls went off to chat while the boys ran through the next scene. All of sudden Ginger stiffened and got a rather shocked look on her face.
"What's the matter, Gingie?" Kari asked.
"Nothing. Hold on a sec I'll be right back," Ginger rattled off with a trace of a smile. She got up and hurried over to the living room of the Pad in the middle of the run-through. She grabbed Mike by the arm and started to drag him off the set, "just a minuet!'-ing the director.
Mike looked puzzeled but didn't fight her as she drug him into the bedroom of the set and shut the door, blocking them from the view of everyone else.
"I wonder what that's all about...?" Kari murmered to Steph and the other Monkees.
Then they heard Mike yell rather shrilly, "It kicked!"
The five exchanged quick glances. It was no use pretending the didn't hear him. They all made a mad dash to the bedroom door, Kari reaching it first and flinging it open after a quick test to make sure no one was directly behind it.
"What kicked?!" Kari asked wildly as she did so, excited at the possiblity.
The others crowded around Kari in the doorframe to see Ginger with her back to them and both her hands on Mike's shoulders, and Mike wearing a big smile with one hand behind Ginger and his other placed gently on her abdomen.
"OH MY GOD!" Kari squealed. "You are not pregnant!"
Ginger was facing them but Mike was still holding her. "About five months," she laughed.
They all gaped at the beaming couple.
"I'm just shocked we could hide it from you all this long," Mike said. He finally moved his hand from the gently kicking baby and pulled Ginger's black western shirt tighter. She turned a little so they could clearly see she was pregnant.
"How in the world have you been hiding that?" Micky asked, pointing.
"I wish somebody had taught me that trick..." Steph muttered.
"It wouldn't have helped you," Peter said laughing, earning a mock glare from his wife.
"Actually, I did noticed," Micky said.
"Well, I didn't think you were pregnant," Peter added.
"Yeah, we just thought you were getting fat," Davy nodded.
"Oh thanks," Ginger said sarcastically, but she was smiling. "I guess it's just because we see each other everyday, and I've been wearing my shirts looser lately."
Kari snapped her fingers. "I told you, Steph! I told you she was dressing differently!"
"Ha ha," Steph said. "I already knew she was pregnant. They told me."
"What?" everyone blurted.
"You told Steph and not me?!" Kari asked Ginger. "Why?!"
"Cos I'm special..." Steph said in a sing-song voice.
"Because she was the one with all the stuff, so we sort of had to," Ginger said apologetically to Kari. It had been murder not telling her "little sister" about the baby.
"Either that or she'd keep sticking me..." Mike pointed to Steph and muttered, causing laughter.
Then the five grinned broadly at the two. Finally they blurted, "Papa and Mama Nez!!!"
"Guys don't..." Mike said but it was too late, the five had converged on the expectant parents in a huge group hug.
They went back onto the stage for some more running around and being random and improving. The whole time Micky was glancing at Kari and grinning. She was holding little Micky and she grinned back.
Finally Steph said something. "Why are you so happy?"
"Geez, is it a crime?" Kari giggled.
Steph shook her head. "No, I've just noticed lately, you and Micky have been super happy. Are the articles and no Veronica doing that?"
"Partly," Kari smiled. The guys got done shooting for awhile and were on their break. Micky came over to Kari and put his arms around her.
Steph still wanted to know. "Seroiusly, what's going on?" Peter came over too, carrying Willow.
"Kari found out that she's going to have another baby," Micky smiled, kissing his wife.
"What?!" Stpeh and Peter looked at them. "It's only been five months!" Steph exclaimed.
"Somebody's been busy..." Peter grinned cheekily. Micky just smiled bigger.
"What's all the fuss?" Ginger came over, Mike trailing on her heels.
"Micky and Kari are pregnant again!" Peter said. Ginger and Mike stared.
"After five months?!" Ginger asked.
"Not fair!" Mike pouted. "We're havin' a baby and now yer just copying us!"
"I can't help it!" Micky said.
Mike gave him a look. "Trust me, you could have..."
"Mike, hush," Kari ordered. "Here, see what you can do with this..." She handed a crying Little Micky to Mike. Then she and Micky both walked off to watch.
"Wha..." Mike looked utterly terrified of the little infant. Almost like Little Micky had a bomb attached to him that would explode if Mike did the wrong thing. He rocked him a little and "shh"ed him to quiet his cries, and much to Mike's surprise it worked. He looked very surprised at this actually. He was beaming. "See? I can do it."
"Yeah, that's very nice sweetie, but you're um..." Ginger walked over and adjusted Little Micky in Mike's arms. "His arm looked like it was going to break."
"Well... I knew that... I was going to fix it... Well he wasn't complaining!" Mike defended at Ginger's stare.
"Okay then..." She rolled her eyes with a laugh as Mike talked to Little Micky.
Then Mike put his hand over Little Micky's eyes. "Aw you two! Will you stop? Are you starting another one already?" Micky and Kari were kissing, overcome with joy at annoucing their next arrival. "It's not enough you've got to steal my thunder with another one, but you could at least hold off on a third..."
"Very funny..." Micky said then walked over to take Little Micky back.
"Wait a minuet... I like him..." Mike said, cradeling the baby closer to him. It was the first time he'd ever held a baby and he rather liked it.
"Miiiiike," Micky whined. "He's myyy toy!"
"But you get him all the time! I have to wait another four months!"
"I don't care! I made him! You can't play with him, you may break him!"
"But you have two!"
Kari and Ginger were cracking up.
"I'm an over-achiever!" Micky declared.
"Well..." Mike studied Little Micky, who was also laughing. "Okay..." Mike handed the baby over.
"That was very good, Papa," Kari said to Mike. "Just learn to share better and you'll have it down."
Ginger was smiling at how cute Mike looked holding a baby.
Micky nodded. "Yeah, I get to hold yours and--"
"No way! You can't have mine..."
"Why?!" Micky squeaked.
"You're weird."
Micky stuck his toungue out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Two more months passed and Veronica had remained fairly quiet. She'd still release articles about Micky and Kari's "troubled" relationship, even with the news of the new baby. Micky and Kari had chosen to announce the new arrival as soon as they'd found out to keep the press from getting ahold of it and running away with it, like the couple was trying to hide something. Mike and Ginger on the other hand had tried to hide it as long as they could. It didn't work very well. The Monkees constantly had the press swarming around them, and Ginger was showing pretty decently. Not "Steph-showing", but still. Given her frame, it was very obvious, and she looked more pregnant than she was. She had endured endless teasing from Steph in revenge for the teasing Steph had received.
"Are you sure you're not having twins, too?"
"Shut up, Steph..."
"I mean are you positive? Cos I think it looks like it..."
"I'm going to kill you, Steph..."
Mike entered the living room of the apartment from the bedroom. Steph, Peter, and the girls had been staying over a lot. "Are you ready to go?" he addressed Ginger.
"No..." she said. They were on their way to court for the charges they had filed against Pierce.
"Come on, it won't be that bad," Mike said to her as she stood up to leave.
"Yeah, you pansy..." Steph said.
"Will you shut up and go back to your books?!" Ginger snapped at her friend. Steph had decided to start taking some college classes around the time Ginger got pregnant, mostly from the suggestion Mike made about getting a doctor's degree on the practices she'd used.
With that, Ginger and Mike went to the courthouse. When they arrived the press was waiting.
"I see her over there... smiling... just go on..." Mike said after he'd spotted Veronica.
They entered the court building without answering any questions or stopping. Mike and Ginger took their seats, then Pierce was brought in with guards.
Mike had to speak first and relate the stories of the two times Pierce had broken in, then Ginger had to take the stand and tell of her three encounters with him.
As she was about to sit down again beside Mike, Pierce suddenly stood up and had violent tears in his eyes. Two guards restained him as he shouted, "That's not his baby! It's mine!" He cried pitifully. "It's not fair! It's mine!" He fell onto the table before him sobbing.
Mike looked like he was about to walk over there and kill him. Of all the things he couldn't tolerate hearing, this was at the top of the list. That man had a death wish to claim that the baby Mike had wanted for so long wasn't his, and Mike wanted to fulfil that wish.
After the murmurs died down in the coutroom, the judge addressed Ginger. "Is that possible?"
"No!"
"She's lying! She wants it to be his because he's rich and famous! But it's not! She told me when she got pregnant it was mine!"
"Is that true, Mrs. Nesmith?"
"Or course not! I hadn't seen him for a long time when I got pregnant, and my husband is the only man I've ever..."
The judge gave Pierce a look.
"That's a lie!"
"Wait! This isn't going to go any further. She is carrying my child and I will not have anyone saying otherwise!" Mike stood up and said.
"Calm down, Mr. Nesmith," the judge ordered. "Now, the defendant's testimony has indicated he and Mrs. Nesmith have never had intercourse, and Mrs. Nesmith has backed that up. Based upon that, I believe the two of you. Because of that, however, I also cannot convict him of rape."
"What?!" Mike said.
"I'm sorry," the judge said.
"Well what about physical damage? Emotional damage? Breaking an entering? Assault with a deadly weapon? The gun I mean..."
The courtroom laughed, including Ginger.
"Order! As far as physical damages, I believe he has suffered as much as you have."
Mike just stared at the judge. "You do? You really do?"
"Yes, according to the medical records."
"Self defense? What about the fact he deserved it? Doesn't that play into it?"
"No. If each side pays for his own bills it will be fair. You used a triffel bit of excessive force on him, you know..."
Mike just shook his head.
"Emotional damages you get. The amount will be settled later. Breaking an entering, you win as well. That will be awarded in emotional damages and the actual cost of the damages to the property. Now as for the assault charge, I find the defendant guilty as charged. All of the sentencing will take place at a date to be determined, and representatives from each party will determine, with me, what the award shall be."
Court was adjurned and Mike and Ginger waded through the ready press outside back into their driven-car. Mike was throughouly aggravated with the whole scene but was pleased that at least the jerk got a conviction for assault and breaking an entering. Ginger was more than unhappy that he wasn't hung.
"Will you cool it?" Mike said to her as she was shifting around due to the baby kicking her.
"No, I will not. That wasn't right at all..."
Mike put his arm around her to try to get her to be still and stop fidgeting. He was scared to death of what happened to Kari happening. "It was decently fair. He did get convicted of something pretty serious. We got a restraining order, and he'll be put away for a while. Maybe get some mental help..."
"I know it..." Ginger muttered.
"Hey listen..." Mike said. He kissed her. "Better?"
"I suppose... What do you think Veronica is going to make of that?" she asked.
Mike sighed. "I could care less..."
The two arrived back home after a detour to drive by some houses for sale to find Steph, Peter, Willow, and Erika all still there.
"Well hello," Mike said when they walked in. "Why don't you guys just move right on in. Hell, take the whole house."
He was using his "I'm being sarcastic, don't take me seriously" tone, so Peter and Steph ignored him.
"We actually were thinking about moving back in. What do you think?" Peter said. He was being serious.
"You really want to move back in here?" Ginger asked.
Steph and Peter nodded weakly.
"We just thought, you know, maybe it would be easier with the kids and all..." Steph explained.
"I'll tell you what, you two take this house and Ginger and I will move into the one I bought a few months ago. The additons to it are almost finished. They just have to finished the garage and the pool, do a little painting. Good thing I know your tastes so well..." he said to Ginger.
The three stood in utter shock at what he'd said.
"Michael Nesmith are you serious? You bought a house?" Ginger asked increduiously.
"Happy anniversary." He smiled his sincere, sweet smile. "Well, I bought it on our anniversary. I started looking when we got married, but I didn't find one I thought was good enough. I bought one three months ago then had it pretty much completely overhauled. I didn't tell you about it because I wanted to wait until it was totaly finished. That was supposed to be right when the baby human gets here, but everything is moving along ahead of shedule so it's nearly finished already, two months early. And, Peter and Steph sort of brought it up."
Ginger had small tears in her eyes. "Oh Mike!" She threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her, unable to stop smiling like a dope. "I love you!"
He felt a small kick from the baby against him. "I love you, too." He just stood there and held her, even in front of Steph and Peter. It seemed so perfect to him. Things he'd always thought about as a kid were there for him. He was getting the opportunity to be a good father, he had a lovely wife, and he'd just laid down hundreds of thousands of dollars for an awesome house.
"So we get stuck with this dump?" Steph said, causing laughter.
"All yours," Mike said.
"When do I get to see the house?" Ginger asked Mike, still with her arms around him. She could barely stand not to cry at how wonderful he was.
He smiled at her anxiousness. "As soon as the whole thing's finished. We move in in one month. And, you've already seen it."
"I've already seen it? Wh--" Then Ginger's eyes lit up. "It's not it, is it?"
Mike laughed. "Yeah."
"It is not that huge Spanish-style one I drool over!"
Mike nodded.
"The romantic, rambling one?"
"Same one. You've even seen some of the new additions."
They'd been looking at houses casually and Ginger had always like the one Mike had bought, and they'd kept their eye on it. They'd seen it on the market, then Mike pretended that someone else had bought it and was adding on to it. Ginger still wanted to keep looking at it. "The eight car garage should have been a tip you bought it..."
"I worried that might ruin the surprise..."
Just then the phone rang and Peter grabbed it. "Hello? Yeah... Wait a-- Bu--" He hung up. "That couldn't have been good..."
"Who was it?" Mike asked. He was still holding onto Ginger. And Ginger was clinging to him, so it was a mutual entanglement.
"Veronica," Peter said dimly.
"Veronica?!" the other three said.
Peter nodded. "She said she's going to release a story about the court scene today unless you get her exclusive rights for pictures of Kari and Micky at home."
"Well, is that all? She can forget that..." Mike was in no mood right now to get upset. He knew there was nothing Veronica could release that other reporters didn't already have, it was just a plot. "Why can't she just leave them alone? It's not like Kari meant for that car wreck to happen," he said finally letting go of Ginger. "You'd think she'd a life, a decent life that is." Mike sat down and put his boots on the coffee table.
Steph knocked them off. "This is gonna be my furniture, you know!"
"Oh for..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kari and Micky were at home sitting on the couch. Micky Jr. was sleeping soundly in his play pen and Kari was catching up with Coco on the phone. Those two could talk for hours and hours. Micky had also fallen asleep with his head in Kari's lap. "Yeah, both of them are sleeping..." Kari said into the phone. She laughed loudly and woke her husband.
"Are you still on the phone?" he whined, turning over into his back, stretching.
"Darn, he woke up..." Kari said, making Coco laugh. Micky made a face. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her. "Get off," she whispered as he kissed her.
Kari giggled, but still continued to talk to Coco. Micky was persistant though and kept at it. Finally, little Micky woke up crying and ready to eat. "Hey, hon I need to go feed Micky..." Kari said into the phone. "Yeah the baby, not the big one... but I should feed him too..." The girls laughed on the phone and said goodbye, and Kari went to pick Micky Jr. up out of the play pen.
The big Micky began to pout. "Sure, pay attention to him and not me." He mocked being mad.
Kari giggled. "Sometimes I don't know who's worse, you or the baby," she tisked.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next couple of months quickly passed and Mike and Ginger moved out while Peter, Steph, and the girls moved in. Veronica had struck again with article after article about how unjust it was that Pierce was in jail. It didn't cause too much of an uproar. She seemed to be losing her power. Mike and Ginger just shrugged it off, happy that none of the fans or press knew where they lived.
Steph loved being back in school again and she somehow managed to be a mom of two, full time student, an assistant to one of Hollywood's' biggest stars, and put dinner on the table every night with a smile on her face.
One day at work, Ginger was sitting on the floor with Steph (Ginger was down and was staying down seeing how it was getting hard for her to sit and stand quickly) playing with Willow and Erika, when Peter came out in a dress and wig, ready for the next scene.
"Mommy." Steph and Ginger looked at each other in shock, then at the girls. Peter just stood there, horrified.
"Mommy!" Erika and Willow said, getting up and running over to Peter (they'd been walking for a while now, as had Micky Jr.). Steph and Ginger were in fits of laugher, on their backs on the floor.
"Not funny!" Peter barked. To the girls he said in a calm, nice voice, "No. It's Daddy. Daa-dee. Daddy."
"Mommy!"
Ginger and Steph had calmed down enough to sit up (Steph helping Ginger up) only to lay back down again, laughing harder.
Peter turned around to find the camera man standing there, the whole thing on tape.
"Ok! That's it! No more! I'm done for the day! Good-bye!"
"MOMMY!!!!"
Erika and Willow ran to follow their "mother".
Micky Jr. had also said his first word..."lookie"...
"LOOKIE!"
"Yes, Micky, I see," Kari said patiently as Little Micky was walking around the set excitedly as if he had never seen it before.
"LOOKIE!"
"Yes, stage lamp, oooooo..." Kari sighed, exhausted. That boy was getting to be a handful. Just like his father.
"LOOKIELOOKIELOOKIELOOKIELOOKIELOOKIELOOKIE!" Micky Jr. screeched as Mike started to chase him around. His paternal instincts were starting to kick in and he was spending every moment he could with either Micky Jr., Erika, or Willow. That helped a lot when Steph needed to drop the twins off at "Papa and Mama Nez's" when she had to go to class and Peter needed a break.
"MIKE YOU ARE NOT HELPING!!!" Kari yelled, a headache beginning to kick in.
"LOOKIE!!!!!!!"
"MOMMY!!"
Kari, Mike, and Micky Jr. stopped and saw Peter (in his dress) march determinedly to his dressing room, Willow, Erika, and the camera man behind him.
So life couldn't have been any better for the group. Davy even found himself a respectable girl. A stable owner named Katherine. Patty was even in a steady relationship with her manicurist, Mark.
Life was great. Everyone was happy. Ginger and Kari were getting fat and Steph was able to exact her revenge. The kids were rapidly growing and the boys were kept busy with a third successful season of their show. They had more input on what was going on with it and the music was going great as well... for once.They got to write and play some of their own stuff on their latest record.
Yes, everything was perfect...
...then Ginger's water broke.
Ginger was still for a second to make sure she felt what she thought she felt. Then she said, "Hey Steph? Help me stand up..."
"This is too much fun... Ah sweet revenge..." Steph laughed evily as she helped Ginger stand.
Mike came over panting after catching Little Micky, who was wriggling around in his arms, still shouting LOOKIE! and laughing hysterically. "How's it going?" he asked Ginger. He knew she'd been having contractions since early in the morning and they'd been very slowly getting closer. She refused to let him stay home, so he'd made her come to work with him.
"Fine..." Ginger wanted to say this calmly. "I'll be right back..." She went to make absolutely sure this was what it felt like. It was. She came back to Mike, who was still holding Little Micky as Steph played with him. "Um, Mike?"
"Yeah? Are they worse?"
"My water just broke..."
Mike sat Little Micky down as Kari came over. Micky, Peter, and Davy were all in their dressing rooms. "It did? Okay," Mike was hurridly running through his mind what they needed to do now "we can go by the house and then we can be at the hospital b--"
"Mike, it's only our first baby. We have forever to get the hospital."
Mike shook his head defiantly as Steph took over Little Micky excitedly. "No, I want to go right now. You've been having contractions all day."
Ginger looked defeated. "But we could end up being in a hospital for hours without any need..."
"Okay look, I'll make a deal with you," Mike said. He'd been mentally timing her contractions all day. "If you have a contraction in the next ten minuets, we go. If you don't, we--"
"Ouch."
"I win," Mike said with a smile.
"Ooo Gingie!" Kari gave Ginger a hug around her neck as she got the contraction under control, as did Steph.
"Kari I can't breathe..." Ginger said, joking.
"Sorry..."
"If you guys want to wait a while, you can you know. I'll call you when the baby gets here," Mike said to Steph and Kari as he and Ginger started to leave the studio.
"We'll be there as soon as Peter solves his masculinity problem," Steph said with a laugh as she held Little Micky for Kari.
"Neither one of you, you know, pass out or anything on the way from the contractions," Kari called with a snicker, Steph joining her.
"Very funny..." Mike said with a fake smile.
After around thirty hours...
Mike and Ginger were both excrusiatingly tired. Ginger, of course, couldn't get any rest with contractions hitting every few minuets, and Mike didn't want to go to sleep. He'd been holding his wife's hand nearly every minuet, except for a while when Ginger had forced him to eat a little bit of what the nurse had brought him after he'd refused to leave the room. He was also having little sympathy pains for Ginger. Ginger had always had terrible sympathy pains for Steph and Kari, so Mike could only imagine how bad actually having a baby herself must have been feeling. He figured he'd have to agree to allow some sort of pain killers to be used during the birth, but she hadn't asked for any. The whole time whenever she'd have a contraction, Mike tried his best to not let her concentrate too hard on it by telling her how much longer it should last, that sort of thing. He was doing a really good job, considering he was pretty sure at least a couple of bones were broken in his hand.
"What time is it?" Ginger asked, laying on her side, facing Mike.
Mike yawned at looked at his watch. "Four forty-two... AM..."
Ginger laughed weakly. "I know that much."
"About time for another--" Ginger squeezed Mike's hand. Hard. "contraction." He held her hand as he'd been doing as he sat beside the bed. He used his fingers to keep her hair from falling in her face and counted down in some fashion the contraction as Ginger tried not to cry or scream or throw up.
She took a deep breath as soon as it was over and turned over on her back. "Ohh surely to God this part's about over..."
"Why are you so slow?" Mike teased, standing up and helping Ginger get situated. "It took Kari minuets, Steph like ten hours... You? Thirty hours... Thirty long hours..."
"How come it takes me so long? If you want to get on that subject..."
"Okay I take it back," Mike laughed.
Then the doctor entered. It was time for the usual "just a little while longer". "How are we doing?"
"Fantastic..." Ginger said.
"How are the contractions?" he asked as he began examination.
"Pretty constant. Only about a minuet or two apart," Mike told him. "Still."
"Okay. Well it looks like this is going to be it." The doctor explained to Ginger about pushing as some nurses came in. "This should only take five more minuets then you'll finally have a baby."
Two hours later...
"Just keep pushing! You're making progress, just give me a big push!" the doctor said.
"Ugh!" Ginger cried in frustration. That was at least the tenth time she'd heard that in two hours of pushing. Mike had stood beside her the entire time, holding her left hand using his right to support her back, move her hair, etc. .
"Come on, push! I know you can push harder than that! That's what nice about natural childbirth, you can feel where the baby is, just concentrate on pushing there."
Ginger really wished she wasn't giving birth so she could kill the doctor.
"Tune him out..." Mike whispered against her ear. "Take a breath for a second."
Ginger quit pushing and relaxed for a second, then another huge contraction hit. She let out a little cry from the immense pain and pushed yet again. She could actually feel progress this time, and it was the weirdest feeling.
"Okay, great," the doctor said. "This is going to be the second most painful part at this stage, get ready and give me the biggest push yet."
"Second most painful?!" Ginger cried while pushing as hard as she ever had.
Mike stiffened. He was either going to faint or take of like a rocket, he hadn't decided which.
In another moment, a nurse was cleaning the baby so it could take a breath.
Mike could not believe this at all. It wasn't like when Little Micky was born and he didn't want to look, he couldn't take his eyes off of the baby this time. He felt like warm water was just sent through him at the site. "Oh... my God..." He actually squeezed Ginger's hand a little from excitement, as if that would help her push harder to speed it up.
"Okay now this is the worst. I need just one more, huge, hard push. Push! Keep pushing! Push push push push..."
Ginger let out a girly yell as she did as she was told, as much to be over the doctor's commands as from the pain, and the baby was finally born.
Mike immediately wanted to grab the baby. He beat the doctor to announcing to Ginger, "A son! It's a boy..."
Ginger immediately relaxed and sighed with a smile as Mike kissed her and she put one arm around him. The nurse cleaned the baby some then handed him to Ginger, who cradeled him in her right arm so he was facing his daddy.
Mike was crying. He was covering it up well, but he was crying with a huge smile on his face. He couldn't think of what to say to him. He touched his son's face very gently then grazed his hand. "Hey, baby man... I'm supposed to raise you..."
Ginger let out a little laugh. She was crying just as much at Mike as the fact she was holding her son. "So does the name fit?" she asked Mike.
Mike nodded. The last thing he said, his voice had nearly cracked and he wasn't going to risk that again until he got some composure. Ginger and Mike and agreed on the name Cole if it was a boy, but Mike stipulated that the name had to fit. "Cole," she said to the baby, who was still holding onto Mike in some fashion. "I think it's your daddy's turn to hold you..."
Ginger handed the baby to Mike. He'd been trying to gain some control over his emotions, but now that was a loosing fight as the little human snuggled around in his arms. The nurses and doctors cleaned everything up, and in a while the doctor allowed Steph, Peter, Kari, Micky, and Davy to come in.
Mike had sat down on the bed with Ginger, who was now holding Cole (with much 'help' from Mike).
Kari lead the group in. "Awww..." She said at the mere site of the three, especially Papa Nez.
"Oh my God that is so cute..." Steph said.
Mike tried to straighten up and willed his face to dry a little without having to wipe it off.
The group crowded around to look at the new baby.
"What's his name?" Peter asked.
"Cole," Mike said.
"Aw I was counting on a Mike Jr...." Micky whined, causing soft laughter.
"Forget his name," Davy said with some shock in his tone and on his face. "How much does he weigh?"
Ginger sighed. "Nine pounds, ten ounces."
"Ah oh my God..." Kari said.
"No wonder we thought he got stuck..." Micky said, again causing laughter.
"So did either of you pass out?" Kari asked excitedly. She was hoping for another Mike-passing-out-like-a-girl story.
"Of course not!" Mike said.
The doctor reappeared in the room. "Sorry to break all of this up, but I've got to. We need to check the baby out more throughly, and I'm sure Mr. and especially Mrs. Nesmith would like to get some rest. You can feed him first." The doctor handed Ginger a bottle (as she had made very sure would be done).
"You want to do it?" she asked Mike.
As Ginger held the baby, Mike took the bottle and Cole started downing it after very little fuss.
"Aww..." Micky said and turned to lead the way to leave. "I can't take any more of this, I'll cry!" He dramatically left the room, the rest laughing and saying goodbye as they followed.
As soon as Cole had finished, Ginger immediately took a shower as her room was straightened up. Mike was nearly passed out in a recliner when she was finished. He walked over to the bed.
"Why don't you go home and get some rest? And something to eat?" Ginger said as he kissed her.
"After I've been here over thirty hours, I'm not going to go home all of a sudden... And I ate while you were in the shower. Do y--"
"No I don't want to eat, I want to sleep for a week..."
Mike laughed and straightened her damp hair out as she laid down. "Nite... er, morning... I love you, Gin."
"Love you, too, Papa Nez."
Mike kissed her goodnight, then as soon as she was asleep (which wasn't a very long wait) he snuck out of the room to make sure his son was sleeping as well. He was. He was without a doubt the most beautiful thing Mike had ever seen. Now that he'd checked on Cole, Mike went back to the oh-so-comforatable recliner and fell totally asleep with his wife just feet away and his son only yards.
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