Hello there! Before the story begins, I need to take care of disclaimers and credits. For one, this story was co-written by Sixties Girl, and neither of us own the Monkees, the television show, the band, the music, the characters, or the Beatles, their music, or the White Album. I hope you enjoy the story, please read & review, it's always appreciated. Thank you for clicking on this story to read, too! Have fun & enjoy!

-TimeSpace64

Chapter 1- Yes, We're Going to a Party

CRASH!

Mike could feel his whole body cringe at the sound. He opened one eye and looked to the bed that was supposed to occupy Micky. Obviously, it was empty. Mike flung himself out of bed, at this point not bothering to pick up his wool hat as he made for the door. 'What is he doing down there?' he thought. He flung the door open, revealing himself on the balcony above the pad. However, his sneaky roommates were nowhere to be found. Mike sighed and climbed down the metal staircase, regretting the fact that he didn't put anything on his feet. It was late December so the stairs were very cold.

"Micky?" He called out. He didn't get a response.

Mike sighed and wondered what time it was. It was early, so the light coming through the windows wasn't incredibly bright. He considered going back to bed and letting Micky wreck havoc on the entire neighbourhood, but he knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. He started towards the kitchen when suddenly his three band mates appeared from nowhere.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!" They all cheered.

Mike jumped back to what seemed like 10 feet, which then made him regret not putting shoes on even more. He looked down to find he was sitting in the remains of what he assumed was a cake, with a metal platter sitting next to him. He looked up at his friends, cocking an eyebrow. They all had genuinely guilty and embarrassed looks on their faces.

"Happy Birthday Tiny," Mike tried saying without sarcasm or anger in his voice.

"Happy Birthday Mike," Davy replied, almost hidden behind Peter by this point.

Mike sighed and climbed out of the deconstructed cake. "I need to get cleaned up," he explained, "Y'all need to clean this cake up, too." Mike headed towards the bathroom to have shower, trying his best not to trail cake all along the floor, which was pretty tricky.

Davy quickly moved to pick up the metal plate while Micky moved to get a broom. Just as Mike got to the bathroom door, Peter called out to him, causing him to turn around.

"What is it, Pete?" Mike sighed. He really needed some coffee.

"Happy Birthday Mike," Peter said sheepishly, but meaningfully.

Mike smiled, "Thanks shotgun."

"Jeez Mick, why'd you have to drop the cake?" Davy complained, Micky' s not-so-accurate sweeping sending small chunks of filthy cake into his face. Davy spit some cake out unceremoniously as Peter entered the room once more.

"Now we need to make another cake!" Peter grinned.

'God,' Micky thought, 'How does Peter manage to be so optimistic all the time?'

"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Davy. "We used everything we had on the last cake."

"Maybe we could buy a cake?" Micky suggested.

"But the bakery is probably closed, it's that time between Christmas and New Year when everyone takes time off!" Davy explained.

"There's no harm in going to see if they're open," Peter said.

This time Micky said it, "How are you so optimistic all the time, Peter?" Peter looked at him and shrugged.

"Right!" Micky proclaimed, dumping the last of the cake into the trash. "Davy, you stay here with Mike, Pete & I'll go find a new cake for the two of you."

"Wait, why do I have to stay with Mike?" Davy protested.

"Because it's your birthday, too." Peter pointed out, far too innocently. "Did you forget it was your birthday?"

Micky and Davy couldn't dare respond, let alone sarcastically. "Oh," Davy pretended, "Thanks Peter."

Peter grinned meaningfully as Micky pushed him out the door.

Micky and Peter climbed into the MonkeeMobile and Micky turned on the engine. "Mike isn't a big fan of me driving, but if anyone is going to get any cake, this is the only way!"

Fortunately, the bakery was open and there was a line of cakes in the glass displays. Micky and Peter agreed that they should get a two-tier cake instead of a one tier cake because it was two people's birthday and they split the bill, since neither of them had enough money to buy the cake on their own.

Mike was very organised when it came to gig money. One quarter was saved to pay the rent, another quarter was used to buy food, and the last half was split evenly between the four to buy what they wanted. Micky spent his on ingredients for his experiments, Davy spent his on buying presents for his 'girlfriend of the week,' and Peter used his to buy candles or "whatever hippy stuff he stashes in his drawers," as Davy would say. Micky, Peter, and Davy all knew that Mike usually split most of his money into the 'rent paying' and 'food buying' categories, but none of them really mentioned it. Micky had spent most of last gigs earnings on buying ingredients for Mike and Davy's first cake, so Peter had to put in most of his money to buy this one. As they climbed back into the car armed with a new cake, Micky wondered how Davy was doing alone in a house with Mike Nesmith before he had any coffee.

Mike Nesmith returned to the living room, now fully clothed, wool hat included. While he was in the shower, Davy quickly started some coffee up for him. Upon entering the kitchen, he found Davy scrambling to pour him a cup.

"Cool it, shotgun. I can get my own cup of coffee. Remember, it's your birthday too." Mike's accent was especially thick this morning, Davy noted. Something wasn't right. Mike's Texan drawl usually didn't get that thick unless there was a serious matter that needed to be dealt with.

Davy raised his arms in surrender and sat back down at the table, picking up his bowl of sugary milk that once contained Frosted Flakes, slurping it dry.

Mike watched in amusement at the little Englishman. Suddenly, they heard the engine of the MonkeeMobile roar from outside. Mike's eyes widened at the realization of Micky and Peter's disappearance.

"Where are they going?" Mike asked.

"Well, you've been in the shower for a while, so they are actually back now!" Davy smiled.

"Okay, what were they doing?" Mike questioned.

Davy didn't need to answer that because a second later the door to the pad swung open and in came Micky and Peter, with Micky carrying a very large chocolate cake.

"Wow! That looks great guys!" Davy said, smiling.

"How much did that cost?" asked Mike, sighing.

"You'll find out on the first when we have to pay rent!" Micky grinned, setting it on the table.

Mike's face was ceremoniously planted into his left hand, with his right supporting then left.

"Micky..."

"Calm down Mike, he's kidding... right Mick?" Davy said.

"Of course!" Peter added, helping Micky put the cake on the table. "I paid for most of it since Micky paid for the ingredients to the first cake."

Mike nodded and took another sip of coffee. As Peter and Micky began bickering about candles, Mike leaned left in order to make eye contact with the Englishman on the other side of the cake. Mike cocked an eyebrow, causing Davy to silently snicker, rolling his eyes. Suddenly, the argument stopped and was replaced with Micky and Peter trying to tune to each other. Mike and Davy studied them as they seemingly did so. Peter's eyes suddenly widened as he raced back outside. Peter re-entered, carrying a large white record case. He ran over to the record player and began fiddling with it. Micky beckoned Peter to work faster, but Peter said he was trying. Suddenly, an unfamiliar tune rang in the pad, startling Mike & Davy. Peter raced back over to Micky, as they began to sing along to the record.

"They say it's your birthday!" They sang along. "It's my birthday too, yea!"

Mike and Davy burst out laughing, joining in, even though they have never heard the new song. After trying to tune to the record, they realized it was the voices of the Beatles.

In spite of himself, Mike laughed as he and Davy tried their best to sing along. Sure, there was rent to pay and food to buy, but it was his birthday, and Davy's birthday too. His friends had tried so hard to make him happy, so hard in fact that they had succeeded. Mike didn't know what he would do without his band mates. They were always there to tell him when he was being too harsh on himself.

The record ended and Micky turned it off. "Now it's time for the presents!" Peter cheered.

"Oh, you shouldn't have guys!" Davy laughed.

Mike sighed, "I guess I'll find out how much they cost when I go to pay the rent too."

Micky laughed, "We didn't buy you THAT many presents! Christmas wasn't long ago so Peter and I only bought you one each."

Peter elbowed Micky in the side. When Micky protested wildly, Peter tried point back towards the record player. Suddenly Micky mellowed out. "Okay, um, technically two gifts, but one you'll have to share."

A nice, warm smile reappeared on Peter's face as he ran over to the record player, packing the record away into its white case. Micky ran back outside, reappearing with two oddly thin gifts.

"What'd you get us, Micky? Paper?" Davy commented sarcastically. Micky placed the corresponding gift in front of his friends, while Peter beckoned them to stand as he held the second gift with him.

When Mike and Davy stood, Peter held out the white album to them. Davy took the album and observed it. "It's, er, white."

"It's the Beatles' new album. That one was a last minute choice. By last minute I mean decided upon when we passed the record store on our way to get the cake." Micky explained sheepishly.

Mike gave Micky a look before asking if the other gifts were okay to open. Micky nodded. Michael and David picked up their gifts and simultaneously opened them. They were records, but not recorded by the Beatles.

"Whoah! How did you guys pull this off?" Davy asked, admiring the cover.

Mike wasn't even worried about the cost that might upset him later. He and Davy' s gift, it was spectacular. In his hands he held the songs that wove so many of their memories together. He was holding a Monkees album. Comparing his to Davy' s, the two albums were different. The album Mike was holding was titled simply, 'The Monkees' and contained almost all of their songs from 1966 while Davy's was titled, 'More of The Monkees' which contained most of their stuff from early '67. Mike was speechless.

"We decided to put our early songs on there, so then if and when we make more, everything will be in chronological order," Micky explained.

"I wondered why you had been making us sing lots of our older songs recently, so you could record them," realized Davy, "You hid the recorder well!"

"Sorry about the unimaginative names," apologized Peter. "We just wanted them to have our names on them so that the public would know it was us."

"THE PUBLIC!?" exclaimed Davy. Mike remained flabbergasted.

Micky was grinning broadly now, "We didn't just make these copies for you, we managed to get a few copies into almost all of the record stores in California!"

"HOW?!" Mike asked or yelled depending on how close you were to him. "The cost!"

"It wasn't just us," smiled Peter. "Though we put lots of our money in, we have been in the neighbourhood for years. We have made some enemies, but lots of friends, and everyone chipped in."

"What do you mean by everyone?" asked Davy.

"Well, remember that chambermaid who we helped make successful when helping the Princess Bettina? She remembered us and gave us a fair amount of money. That Pop Harper, whose job we helped save, as well as your Grandfather, Davy. He has always wanted you to be a success so he chipped in. Oh! And that owner of the Italian restaurant, he was grateful that we saved his restaurant," explained Micky.

"Then there was Millie from down the road, she remembers Mike asking her to help make him a success, so she wanted to help anyway she could, April Conquest gave money, as did the neighbours whose houses we saved from being knocked down, and Mike's Aunt Kate and Niles gave us some money as well!" Peter continued.

"Even Mr. Babbit gave us a little bit of money!" exclaimed Micky, "In the end, all of that ended up being a lot of money, so we took our recording to a record company, they contacted Chic Magazine, who had some photos of us from when they wrote that article on us, and tada! We have released two albums for all of California to listen to!"

"We could really be noticed! 1969 could be the year of The Monkees!" Peter cheered.

"Guys, you really outdid yourselves with our presents this year!" Davy laughed.

"What do you think Mike?" asked Micky. Mike wasn't usually a very emotional type, he wasn't like Peter who wore his heart on his sleeve, but when Micky had started listing all who had given them money, a few tears had welled up in his eyes, and by this stage he was full on crying.

"What's wrong Michael?" Peter asked, concerned.

Then Mike put the album down and wrapped Micky and Peter into a massive hug, soon pulling Davy in too. "Thank you," Mike whispered in between sobs.