"Mm-mm..." Bonnie smiled into Mike's kiss as he leaned over her where she'd been snoozing on the music room sofa. "Are we there yet Papa Nez?"

Since learning that "Papa Nez" was not a groupie/fan nickname but born of a childhood ability to organize everything like a diligent parent, Bonnie had begun to use it. Albeit sparingly.

"Very funny." He sat down as she scrooched over to make space. "Everything's packed and waiting by the door to load into the van in the morning. C'mon to bed, we gotta long day tomorrow."

In the everyday business of Monkees, Bonnie was more than in charge of her domain. But pre-tour at home she was more than willing to let Mike take over when it came to getting them ready to roll. He was so good at it, never once had she come up short on the road. Before they'd gotten together she always had forgotten something important and had to scrounge or buy. And her pre-tour jitters... okay, freak-outs... he always was able to pull her down from the ceiling and soothe her with talk that would have sounded impossibly lame or insulting coming from anyone else.

"You're so good, Nes," she purred as he pulled her to her feet. "I think I'll keep you."

Not pausing a step as he hauled her upstairs, Mike shot a jaundiced look over his shoulder.

"You'll keep me? That's a hot one." As she shed her clothes he pulled down the bed and continued, "You are the most kept woman west of Tallahassee. Let me remind you whose name is on the mortgage, and the light bill, and the phone bill, and the titles to all the cars at your disposal. You'll keep me? That'll be the day. " He knew she was too beat to notice the smile he couldn't quite hide.

Now attired in one of his endless collection of Triumph t shirts Bonnie protested, "Hey Diamond Jim, not all the cars... you signed the GTO over to me. You said it 'looked good on me'. Besides, what's the point of shacking up with a rock star if I gotta pay my own way?"

"Well lemme tell you missy," he warned as he steered her into bed, "you'll look just as good in a VW. Now warm up my side, I gotta couple of calls to make."

"What time is it anyway?"

It was only just after ten p.m. and their departure from the studio was scheduled for eleven a.m. tomorrow, with press and the film crew covering it. But Bonnie was half past fried, and Mike knew too well she'd be up all night if left to her own devices.

"Never mind what time... if you don't get some sleep we are all gonna pay for it tomorrow."

"Humph, a person might think you're the boss of me," she grumped, already half asleep.

"Hell no, mama, I know better than that," he muttered to himself, smiling as he kissed her head that was half buried under the covers, then headed to the bedroom door to make his calls in private.

"I heard that," came the muffled reply.

"You didn't hear nothin', now go to sleep."

In the music room and safely out of earshot, he dialed New York.

"Hey Lulu, it's Mike. Merciful heavens, it is after one in New York. Which means you are just gettin' warmed up. No, everything's fine. Morris is asleep, praise the Lord. Yeah you know how she is before a tour, but I'm used to it. Remind her to breathe once in awhile, spike her coffee with whiskey after supper... it's all cool. How's everything in NYC? How's Ari? Great, groovy. Now listen, Lulu, you know when we're playing at the Garden, right? Well the guys and Chip and me got an idea, so listen up."

After saying goodbye to Lulu, Mike called Genie. "Hey Genie, Mike. Oh for christsake, settle down. I can't help it if you keep nun hours. I wanna talk to you about the Chicago gig. You know it's her birthday right? Yeah I know she's still kinda funny about birthdays, but hear me out, okay?"

All business concluded, Mike returned to the bedroom. Bonnie lay sprawled out in the huge bed, deeply asleep after "warming up" Mike's side. He hit the lights and slid in beside her and touched her shoulder with light fingers. With a barely audible "hmm" she rolled into his arms. He was going to miss this, he thought to himself. Yeah they'd have time together on the road, including times like this; they always did. But he'd gotten more selfish than usual about sharing with the world. He and Morris, they'd gotten good at drawing the line most times. But a tour was all about sharing everything. "Careful what you wish for, huh baby," he whispered, and hugged her closer before falling asleep, as if he could keep her, and them, all to himself for just a bit longer.