I Wanna Hold Your Hand
A/N: This story was inspired by EKWTSM9's Rocky Raccoon Comment in A Very Bad Day. It's just a schmaltzy piece for the June birthday girls of the SOSF writers group. It seemed appropriate to share with everyone for Father's Day in the US.
The canon timeline is a little fuzzy for the years prior to the series so I have approximated ages and events to fit this story. As always, the characters regrettably are not mine. Since the original owners seem to be done with them, I take them out to play periodically and promise to return them in their original upright and locked position. The writing is strictly for the entertainment of the writer and hopefully the reader.
"Pleassssse, Daddy," crooned 14 year old Jeannie Stone.
"No, Jeannie, that's my final word." Mike was immovable. As a police officer, a father and a Catholic, there was no way he was letting Jeannie anywhere near what he perceived would be a bad scene.
Granted, it had been a rough year for Mike and his daughter. Helen's illness had taken a lot out of both of them. Jeannie had stepped up and taken over the role of women of the house without a complaint, as his beloved wife gradually faded. Jeannie really never asked for much, and had always been a dutiful daughter but recently, it seemed that he and Jeannie were at odds most of the time. In spite of that, the answer was still no.
Mike knew in his heart they would not have Helen for very much longer. As she slipped away, he compensated by drawing Jeannie even closer. Protecting her, or over protecting if you asked Jeannie, gave him back a small measure of control over his personal life. Even though he had no power over Helen's cancer, he had the power to keep Jeannie safe.
"I HATE YOU!" Jeannie screamed as she stormed off and slammed her bedroom door for good measure. It was so unfair. All the other girls in her group has somehow convinced their parent to let them go to The Beatles' concert at Candlestick Park. Rumor was that it would be their last concert tour and after wearing the grooves off REVOLVER, she was desperate to join her friends at the event. Jeannie flopped down on her bed in a funk. She knew getting her dad's permission was a long shot from the beginning. After John Lennon's more popular than Jesus remarks, she figured correctly it that it would be a no go. She fought back tears that had as much to do with her mom's illness as they did with the Beatles. Why was her dad always so unreasonable?
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Mike kissed his wife goodbye and despite the fact that she was sleeping, she smiled. Awake or asleep, he never failed to say goodbye, fearful that if he neglected one day, he might not get another chance. He walked to Jeannie's door and knocked quietly, "I'm leaving sweetheart. I'll try to swing back at lunchtime." He got silence in return, although he knew she was awake. He sighed loudly and left the house. Now with everything else, he had another fence to mend with his daughter.
Mike walked through the bull pen and entered his office, hanging up his coat and hat. There was a manila envelope on his desk with his name written on it. He opened the envelope and dumped the contents on his desk. "What the … Now where did these come from? He thought.
Laying on his desk blotter were two tickets to the event that had earned him the silent treatment from his daughter. Included in the envelope was a handwritten note: I know it's been rough at home lately and thought you and your daughter might enjoy these. The note was unsigned. Mike poked his head out his office door, "Any of you guys know where this envelope on my desk came from?"
"Not a clue, Mike," Dan Healey replied as he came over for a cup of coffee.
Mike picked up the tickets and put them in his jacket pocket, thinking he could offer them to someone in the office, because he sure as hell wasn't going to be anywhere near Candlestick Park on the evening of the 29th. He promptly forgot about them in the midst of another busy shift at Bryant Street.
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Mike put the key in the lock of his DeHaro street home and was surprised to see Helen sitting in her favorite chair by the fireplace. Even though it was August, the nights could be chilly in San Francisco and a small fire burned cheerfully in the grate. His wife's eyes were closed, but she didn't appear to be asleep. Mike stood quietly just inside the door drinking in the sight of his wife, lovely despite her terminal battle. A small smile crept across her face as she sensed rather than heard his presence.
"Welcome home, Hon," she said softly without opening her eyes.
Mike walked over and kissed her lightly on the top of her head. "I'm so happy to see you downstairs, beautiful." Mike hung up his coat and hat and sat down on the floor by Helen, leaning lightly against her legs in front of the fire. She rested her hand on his shoulder. As they sat there, time seemed to stand still. Moments like this had become all too rare in the past few weeks and Mike was afraid to speak and break the spell.
"Have you had dinner, Mike?" Helen finally asked, shattering the silence.
"No, but I'm not really hungry." Mike lied, he wanted to sit there forever.
They sat quietly for a long while until Helen finally spoke again. "Mike, what was it this time with Jeannie?"
Mike sighed and related the events of the previous evening. When he was finished, he looked her in the eye and asked, "You knew all this didn't you?"
"She told me before she left for Valerie's house. She's spending the night. "You know Mike, she's not a baby anymore. She's a good girl with a level head on her shoulders, you can't keep her locked in a tower."
Mike laughed at that comment recalling Rapunzel, Jeannie's favorite story as a little girl.
"I know, dear," Mike responded stubbornly, "but, I can't say yes, not this time."
"Listen, you know and I know that I'm not going to be around very much longer," Mike started to protest, but Helen held up her hand, "Hear me out, Mike. It's just going to be the two of you soon and you are going to have to figure out a way to connect with her as a maturing young woman, not as a little girl. I think those two tickets in your pocket are an opportunity for you two to find some common ground."
Mike startled at the mention of the ticket, "How?"
"I called Rudy this morning when I read in the paper that there were tickets given to the police and fire department, and he made it happen. I'm not suggesting you let her go with her friends, but go with her Mike. You need to make this right between the two of you, so that you both can move on."
"But, darling, I already said no." Mike said sternly.
"Oh, and when Iron Mike says no, it means no," Helen said playfully. "Maybe one of the things Jeannie needs to see from you is a little flexibility, Mr. Stone. You're always going to be her father, Mike, but don't you think just this once…" Helen trailed off as fatigue and pain crossed her face. Mike unfolded himself from the floor and took her hands.
"Enough for one night?"
Helen sadly bowed her head and Mike helped her back up to the bedroom. He sat with her until she fell into a deep slumber and then went down to the kitchen. As he ate a cold sandwich, he thought about what life would be like without his beloved and cried. He knew that Helen was right. If he and Jeannie were going to survive, they would have to find the way together.
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Jeannie unlocked the front door and was startled to find her father still home at 8 am. Her anger with him was such that she didn't even bother to say good morning as she headed up to her room. Mike followed her upstairs and gently rapped on her door. When there was no reply, Mike pleaded with her, "Jeannie, we need to talk."
The sadness she heard in her father's voice scared her and despite her ire, she opened the door. "What do you want, Dad?"
"Can you please come down stairs so we don't wake your mom up?" Mike answered her question with a question as he led the sulking teenager to the kitchen.
Jeannie sat down and defensively crosses her arms in front of her chest. "I'm still not talking to you," she said sarcastically.
Mike was getting annoyed with Jeannie's attitude, but held his temper as he thought about Helen's words last night.
"Jeannie, you know I love you, right?"
She half snorted in derision. She's not going to make this easy, Mike thought to himself as he continued.
"Look, whether you believe it or not, the reason I'm so over protective of you is because l love you. Sometimes it's hard for me to see you as anything but my little girl. Your mom kinda called me on that last night and she's right, the more I try to hold onto you, to keep you safe, the further away you seem to get." Mike took a breath, he was way out of his comfort zone, but he pressed on. "I know this has been really hard for you, and I think you understand that the worst is yet to come. At a certain point, it's just going to be you and me, and we have to figure out how to make that work."
Jeannie gaped at her father. He had never really been this frank with her and somewhere in her mind she felt the tide shifting in their relationship. "I know you love me dad, but sometimes, you're just, I don't know, I think the word I'm looking for is Inflexible. You know, your way or the highway."
Mike smiled, "Funny, that's exactly what your mom said last night."
Jeannie smiled sadly, "She's a very smart lady, dad."
"And sneaky, too." Mike added as he pulled the tickets out of his pocket and laid them on the table in front of Jeannie.
She squealed with excitement and surprise, "I can go?"
"Yep."
In her rapture, she picked up the tickets, and a bemused look came over her face, "Hey dad, why are there two tickets, I'm going with the girls, right?"
Mike smiled, "Well actually, it seems you've got a date with your dad on August 29th!"
A/N: The Candlestick Park Concert on August 29, 1966 was the last official Public Concert by the Beatles. Surprisingly, they only sold 25,000 of the 42,000 tickets and many tickets we given away to city officials and ultimately the promoter lost money on the event. The ticket prices were $4.50-$6.50 each, US. Part of the reason for the poor ticket sales was the furor over the infamous John Lennon interview.
According to reports, it was a very cold drizzly night and the Beatles took the stage at 9:27 for a forty minute set. The sight lines for the fans were miserable, the sound was terrible and the band could not be heard over the screaming teenagers. Because they had decided to quit touring, the lads brought cameras with them onstage and there are a number of "selfies" floating around the internet from the event. People who attended did not know they were witnessing history.