More Than Monkee Business

I'll Be Back Up On My Feet

"MICHAEL!" Paige wailed across the airport as soon as she caught glimpse of him. He dropped everything and ran to her, picking her up as he hugged her tightly. "Michael!" she repeated over and over. He kept holing her. Her tears fell onto his shoulder. Even a tear escaped his eye as he was so overjoyed to see his fiancé again. "I missed you so much, Paige," he whispered into her ear. "I missed you too, Michael." She kissed him long on the lips. Those lips that she had longed for for so long. She didn't want to end it, but she had to in order to breathe. He then set her down and they walked back to retrieve the belongings he had dropped in the middle of the airport.

"So, how were things here while I was away?" Mike asked as they rode back to Paige's dorm in a taxi. "Things were fine," she lied through her teeth. "Great! It wasn't too bad over in Nam but it was hotter than hell itself." "Oh, Im sorry... How much longer do you have to be over there?" "Another year possibly..." he confessed, "but let's not worry about that now. I've got a whole 4 weeks to stay with you," he smiled as he bopped her nose. This made her giggle. "I haven't heard that in so long." "What?" "That adorable giggle you have!" She blushed and chuckled. "We're here," the driver announced. Mike stopped Paige from paying and paid himself. "Why did you do that?" she asked after they got out. "You shouldn't have to pay..." "Neither do you. You just got back." "I know, but it's a pride thing... Being able to pay for you and your girl..." "You're so silly," she smiled at him.

"We are going to go back to Texas, right?" Paige asked in the middle of the movie they were watching in her dorm. "Of course! We can go back in a day or two, if that is okay?" "Yeah... that will be fine..." He kissed her and pulled her closer. "What's wrong, babe?" "Nothing really, I know this sounds silly being that you just returned, but I am home sick..." "Oh, well we can go home tomorrow." "Thank you... I am sorry, but Im really tired... Im going to bed." "It is only 8..." "I know, but Im really tired. I was up late the other night, thinking about today..." "Do you want me to come?" "Nah... Why don't you go hang with Micky? Davy is over there too... They have been wanting to see you to, they asked about you a few times..." "Oh well alright... Night, love you babe..." "Love you too," she said before she kissed him on the cheek.

Mike walked over to Micky's dorm. "Ey! Mike!" Davy answered. "Ow ya doing?!" "Hey kid, Im alright... Paige went to bed and told me to come hang with you guys, is that alright?" Micky's voice answered, "Yeah man! You are welcome any time! Why did she go to bed?" "She claims that she is tired... she doesn't seem to be herself... Do you guys know what is going on?" Micky and Davy just looked at each other. "Sit down, Mike..." Micky told him as he threw him a beer. "How do you have this?" "My father, he trust me enough not to get hammered." The three of them laughed. "Whatever, I need one," Mike confessed as he popped the top off. "So what has been going on?" Mike asked again. "Well..." Davy began, "After you left, Paige found out that she was pregnant-" Mike interrupted him, "What?! That is... fantastic! Wait, I didn't notice her stomach..." "That's because... the baby died, 2 weeks ago..." Micky finished. Mike's face went south. "W-what h-happened?" he stuttered. "We don't know exactly, but when I found her the morning after her final exam, there was blood... So I took her to the hospital and yeah..." he trailed off as Mike already knew the next part. "We're really sorry," Davy told him. "You did all that you could, so please don't be..." "Are you alright?" "I... don't really know... I need time to think about this and why she didn't tell me..." "Im sure she had a reason or was going to," Micky assured him. "We weren't suppose to even tell you, but... we couldn't keep lying..." Davy confessed. "Thanks, really. I needed to know the truth... Im going to go walk around..." Mike then got up and left the dorm. "Did we do the right thing?" Davy inquired. "Hopefully..." Micky answered.

Mike walked down the stairs and wandered to the sidewalk. He got about 3 miles away and then turned back. "I cant leave her now. I wont leave her. I need to help her. She needs me even though she may not want my help..." When he got back he realized that he had forgotten the key to get back in. He asked Micky if he had one. "Yeah, here ya go, just make sure I get it back... Cause ya know, this situation of getting locked out may happen again," he teased. "Stay right here," Mike told him. He unlocked the door and then threw the key back to Micky. "Paige?" he whispered as he opened her bedroom door. "Hm?" she sounded. "Paige, babe, please get up." "What?" she yawned. "I need to talk to you..." Paige sat up and rubbed her eyes out of the darkness. "Come sit," she patted the space next to her. He took off his boots and jacket and sat down next to her. "What is it?" she questioned. "What really happened while I was gone?" he asked again even though he knew the answer. "I told you nothing..." she lied again. "Paige stop lying," he expressed in a gradually frustrated tone. She just looked down and began to cry. "Paige, please don't cry. I just want an answer. I just want to help you and love you, but I cant if I don't know anything..." She looked up at him with a tear stained face and told him. "Your baby that you didn't even know about died 2 weeks ago!" she yelled out of anger and frustration. Mike pulled her into a hug half way through the sentence. "That is all I needed to know..." he whispered with the choked voice of him trying to hold back his own feelings. "Im so sorry," she sobbed into his chest, "Im sorry..." "You did nothing wrong... You did what you thought was right..." he tried to sooth her. She continued to cry, but it became less violent as time passed. "Why didn't you want to tell me?" "Because you didn't need to know about a baby that died... You didn't know that it existed so what was the point of causing you pain?" "I see what you mean, babe, but look at you now. You are so sad because you hid it from me... I just want you to be happy... No matter how bad something seems, I want you to tell me so I can do all that I can to help or make things right..." "Im sorry for not saying anything..." "It's okay, Paige..." he continued to calm her as he pulled her into another hug, and a kiss on her wet cheek. "Now pack your bags, babe, because we are going home tomorrow." "Okay," she smiled as he rubbed his thumb under her eye.