Our Hearts' Desire (The Monkees Family Vol. 2)

Chapter 30

Gabby and Jan made a date for the following week to see a number of apartments on Jan's day off. This felt like a positive step – new year, new residence, maybe a new outlook on her situation and regaining some of her independence. Gabby had always been a fearless warrior, and now she was a quivering, frightened mess. In a way, she was able to relate to what Micky had said to her the night she had had her breakdown. She wasn't weak and it wasn't a moral issue; sometimes something awful happens in your life and it brings you to your knees. Maybe she wasn't responsible for turning Micky into a weak, hang-up laden mess like she had become convinced of in her dissociative fugue.

Gabby did some grocery shopping after work and noticed there was a sale on paper products, so she loaded up and decided to stop by Dawn and Peter's place to drop them off. As she let herself in with her key, she was brought up abruptly by the sound of girlish screams of delight, and the sight of Charlotte streaking through the house naked as the day she was born and dripping wet, running from the bathroom and clutching brown bear, who was a sodden mess. Then Gabby heard a familiar voice cry out in plaintive despair "Awww, Charlotte, look what you did to brown bear, you got him all wet and you know he's allergic to water! Now what are we gonna do with him? He's gonna have to go dry out, and let me tell you, I've done it and it stinks!"

Micky emerged from the bathroom, drenched from head to waist in water, with a poof of bubbles perched on his head. His eyes were trained at the level of three feet off the ground, where he expected to spot Charlotte, so he didn't notice Gabby right away. Charlotte saw Gabby and threw herself into her arms, then hid behind her legs and demanded "Aunt Gabby, Uncle Micky says brown bear doesn't get to take a bath with me. That's not fair, is it?"

Now aware of Gabby's presence, Micky froze and looked frightened. He began to back away from her and retreat to the bathroom, but Gabby stopped him. "It's okay, Uncle Micky. Come get Charlotte and I'll take brown bear to the laundry room and start rehabbing him." She gave a small smile and he realized she had heard his self-deprecating joke and allowed himself an embarrassed smile in return. Micky led Charlotte back to the bathroom and Gabby took a deep breath, checking her mental vital signs to see how she felt about this situation. Her first instinct was to ascertain who else was in the house, to make sure she was safe.

She checked the nursery and found Dawn feeding Sebastian. Dawn began to stand up with surprise but Gabby motioned for her to stay seated. Dawn looked bewildered. "Gabby, what are you doing here? You always call first."

"Yeah, I know. I just decided to spontaneously drop by because there was a big sale at the store on the stuff you guys are always running out of, like toilet paper, napkins, paper towels. I have a bunch of it in my car for you, but I can..."

Dawn said "If you want to make a quick getaway, I'll call for Peter to help you real quick, or you can just hang on to it and peel out of here like a bat out of hell." She surveyed Gabby's face, which was still in a state of shock and a bit of fear. "But Gabby, how about if you bring the stuff in and stick around for a bit? You can just hang around in here with me. Just listen and observe how he is with Charlotte. He's real good with her, Gabby."

"What's he doing here? How did he end up here?"

Dawn inhaled and prepared to 'fess up. "He came over to me and Pete on the night of the birthday party and asked how we were doing, and I told him about what happened with the depression and how it had been really tough on us. I explained about how you had moved in for a while and were helping us out, and that Wendy was paying for us to have a helper, and he insisted on being part of the bucket brigade. So I let him. He needs to feel of use and to be given some trust, Gabby, or he'll never regain his confidence or become a productive member of society again. I never leave him completely alone with the kids, I'm always here. He mostly does errands and he's been a huge help fixing stuff around the house that we have no clue how to deal with and haven't wanted to spend the money on. But he's loved spending time with the kids and I wouldn't deny him that. And frankly, if you're gonna stiff him in the kid department, being an uncle will help salve that wound when the time comes for you to break the news to him."