Junk

12

"Officer Devon stopped by this morning," Marie said from the kitchen as Daniel emerged from the hall.

"Oh," was all he could say as he plopped himself onto the couch. "Where was I?"

"At work," she explained, back facing him as she prepared dinner. "Then you were resting so I let you be."

He smiled slightly and nodded.

"Thank you," he whispered, pinching the bridge of his nose. His headache hadn't fully gone away. It had been a long and anxiety-filled day.

"Don't you want to know what he said?" She asked, trying to prompt him. He only smiled.

"Are you going to tell me or just tempt me?"

She laughed and turned on the stove.

"He sent someone down to check on the other Monkees and they're safe."

Daniel looked at her with a slight frown.

"Danny, that's a good thing," she explained but her happiness didn't seem to rub off on him in the slightest. He sighed and shook his head.

"That doesn't help," he muttered to himself, closing his eyes. Marie frowned but didn't even turn around to look at him.

"How so?" She asked, beginning to stir the pot.

"What're you making?" Daniel asked, peeking into the kitchen. Marie grinned.

"Why doesn't it help?" She asked him, trying to stay on topic. He had always had a master ability of changing the topic when he didn't want to talk. He shrugged and sighed.

"I don't know, it's just...you think I'd be able to at least hear about them."

She put the lid on the pot and went over to him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

"Honey, you know we can't..." she said softly and he sighed.

"I know we can't go up and talk to them. I just thought that...you know, Devon could've come over and said 'hey, you're friends are alive and sane in their usual insane ways.'"

They both laughed at the statement but the happiness faded as fast as it came.

"I don't even get to..." Daniel groaned. "Forget it."

"No, no. It's okay." Marie smiled and sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"They're safe," she said, trying to be comforting. "They're safe and that's all that matters."

"That's not all that matters."

He closed his eyes.

"I'm glad their-their lives are safe but..." Daniel had to smile a little at the memories. "They got into so much trouble. Micky was a-a magnet to all things trouble and the others just followed. I always had to be the one to pull them out."

"Danny," she said, looking up at him. "You do know that they're grown men, right?"

"No, they're not," he chuckled a little at the statement. "You've met them."

She grinned.

"Well, yes, I have met them and they're...well, they're them, but they can take care of themselves just fine without you."

Her smile quickly faded when she noticed his dark expression.

"Honey, you know I didn't mean anything like that," she said, reaching out and touching his cheek. "I only meant that-"

"I know," he said with a slight nod. "I'm sorry, it's just...this is our fourth time of relocating and I've had to say goodbye to hundreds of people and didn't feel a thing."

Marie nodded slowly, thinking about what he was saying.

"Maybe because you were Michael Nesmith for three years?" She suggested with a shrug. "I mean, we were in Dallas for about a year and a half but we were only in Winona, Minnesota for like...seven or eight months."

He looked at her, not understanding what she was saying. She sighed before she continued.

"What I'm saying is, you didn't ever have enough time anywhere. It was always getting up and being relocated. And then you're finally given three years of a normal life, it's completely understandable for you to be upset or to miss them. It's okay, Daniel."

He nodded and let out a sigh.

"Did you know they released an album?" Daniel asked, a slight tremble in his voice. "The guys. They released an album."

Marie's eyes widened.

"Oh," she said. "Well, that's...that's something. It's good though, right?"

"Yeah, I guess..." he sighed. "We-we had all these tapes and stuff sitting around the pad all this time, they released those tapes on the record."

She took his hand again and squeezed it, noticing how tense he had become.

"Marie, I'm singing and playing on that album," he said, choking up his words. "They shipped 'em to the store awhile ago, I was stocking them on the shelves earlier. It had a-a picture that Micky had taken of all the instruments as the cover. And the Monkees...'dedicated to Michael Nesmith.'"

"Did anyone buy them?"

He laughed.

"Of course they didn't, but that's not my point."

"Hey," Marie said softly, putting her free hand on her husband's cheek again.

"It's okay, you hear me?" She said comfortingly. "Those boys love you and they only wanted to share that with the world. That's all."

Daniel groaned, tears reforming in his eyes.

"But they can't-"

"But they did."

Marie sighed and pulled him into a hug.

"It's okay," she said as she began to rub his back. "It doesn't have your picture on it, it doesn't have your name, it's okay. I promise you. But if not, we can go and talk to the state about it, see if they could do anything if you're really that worried about it."

Daniel nodded.

"It's good," she whispered, putting on a smile, but there was a hint of pain in her voice as she spoke. "Everything is all good."