Reunion (The Monkees Family Vol. 3)

Chapter 44

The play was finally about to close, the legal proceedings against Sharon had resulted in her guilty plea, and so with both Micky and Davy returning home permanently in a week, a fresh dilemma had arisen.  Gabby wanted to hold a family gathering to celebrate the occasion, but there was almost universal rancor amongst the group about the idea of including Davy in the celebration.  The only two who were in favor were Gabby and Lynda.  Gabby decided to call a family meeting to discuss the matter.  She held a barbecue in her backyard and hired a babysitter as usual so that Peter and Dawn could enjoy the party and take part in the serious discussion when the time came for it.  Everyone was warned in advance of Gabby's agenda so there were no surprises, and fortunately, no declined invitations.

After a cookout produced by Mike at his customary spot at the grill, everyone sat around the pool with drinks and dessert and Gabby raised the topic for debate.  "Fam, I want to hold a celebration to congratulate the guys on completing the run of the play and to welcome them home.  It was a really big deal for them and hopefully a major career boost for both of them.  I want them to feel like we support them because the last time they finished up a major gig with Boyce and Hart, things kind of fell apart for Micky and Davy was in a pretty low place, too.  I don't want there to be a bumpy re-entry for them, and I want them to know we're behind them."

Wendy spoke up first.  "Well, what if we're not behind them, or at least not both of them?  I mean, I can barely stand the thought of being in the same room as Davy, after he told all those lies about you and Micky and it got spread all over the place for the public to read and ruined your reputation.  Especially knowing that he did it within days or even hours after Mike and I made such a big deal of letting him know he had our support and we were behind him.  And we flew all that way, with me in this condition!  That really chaps my ass!"

Mike didn't say anything, but he put his arm around Wendy in a sign of silent solidarity, which spoke volumes nonetheless.

Jan said "Well, you know how I feel about that lying, cheating, no-good, soon-to-be ex-husband of mine.  I'm not feeling too charitable towards him either, particularly because of the way he hurt Gabby and rebounded to me without caring about my feelings.  But like I said before, I'm not going to hold a vicarious grudge on Gabby's behalf if she doesn't want me to.  I'll just hate him for the things he did to me, which is enough for me not to really want to hang out with him, but not enough for me to begrudge him an invitation to a party held in his honor."

Feeling hopeful that she was creating some momentum in favor of Davy, Gabby turned to Peter next.  Peter the peacemaker.  "What do you say, Pete?"

"Well, uhm, I guess I feel kind of agnostic about it all.  I'm not happy about that article coming out and I hurt when any of my friends are hurting, but that means I'm hurting for Davy, too.  I mean, you can't be that bitter and vengeful without being in a lot of pain.  His chakras must be seriously out of whack.  So I say we should try to keep him in the fold and get him some help.  If he's determined to burn his bridges, he'll decline the invitation.  But if he cares about our friendship, he'll accept it.  I don't think we should ever turn our backs on him.  It's like you say, Gabby, we're family.  Before we met you girls, Davy looked after me like I was his little brother.  All the guys did.  I feel I owe him the same."

Peter turned to Dawn and asked "What do you think, my Sunshine Girl?"

Dawn's expression got hazy with love and devotion to Peter and she almost lost track of where she was and what was being discussed.  It was obvious that Peter had the ability to turn Dawn into a tower of Jello when he wanted to.  "Awww, shit.  Don't do me like that, Pete.  You're distracting me from my grudge.  I mean, well, shit.  I mean, he hurt Micky and Gabby awful bad, right?  Shouldn't he have to pay for his mistakes?"