It was the day before Christmas Eve and Mike Nesmith unlocked the door and pushed it open. He hurled his suitcase in and stepped in the door. He was followed by band mates Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones. They set their suitcases down and took a look around. The Monkees had been invited to play at a Christmas Eve party at a mountain resort in a place called Mount little rock, a small village in the mountains. The guy who was holding the party had offered The Monkees a cabin to stay in and told them they could stay for a Christmas vacation.

“Wow! This place is great” Micky exclaimed, turning in a circle a couple of times to get a good look at the place. It was a typical log cabin. The first room you came in to was a spacious lounge with various pieces of furniture, it was warm and cosy with a roaring fire in the corner, which pleased Mike, it was snowing outside and he was glad to be inside and in the warm. The kitchen was trough a door to the left and there were some stairs to the right that led to two bedrooms and a bathroom. They had shot fingers on the way up to see who would share with who in the bedrooms and it turned out to be the same as usual, Peter and Davy in one room, Mike and Micky in the other.

“I hope Mr Schneider will be ok I still think we should’ve brought him with us, I don’t like the idea of him spending the holidays alone” Peter said walking over and joining Mike by the fire, so he could warm his hands

“He’ll be ok Pete, Mrs Purdy is gonna look in on him, he didn’t mind us leaving him” Davy told the bassist

“Yeah I know, I still don’t like it”

“It’s not decorated though,” Micky said, as if Peter and Davy’s conversation had never happened and he was still continuing with his previous statement. He was still turning in a circle taking in all the features of the room.

“We’ll get a tree later Mick don’t worry “Mike told him “We’ll get this place decorated real nice, but for now let’s go get somethin’ to eat I’m starvin’” So the Monkees the cabin and went in search of the dining hall. They soon found it and were able to get quite a lot of food for a relatively small amount of money, which was good because Micky had managed to shovel most of it before they sat down.

“Got any ideas for a set list yet Mike?” Davy asked when they had found an empty table and sat down.

“Not yet shotgun but I think we should learn a couple Christmas songs ‘Winter wonderland’ ‘The Christmas song’ ‘Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow’ stuff like that” Mike suggested

“Yeah groovy idea” Micky said in between mouthfuls “But what’s ‘The Christmas song’?” He asked

“You know, the one that goes ‘Chestnuts roastin’ on an open fire, Jack Frost nippin’ at your nose’” Mike told him, singing the lines to the song”

“Oh yeah I know” Micky replied shoving another mouthful of food into his mouth

“You have a very beautiful voice” Came a voice from behind Mike. He turned to see a young woman, with long black hair and brown eyes, smiling at him. She had turned her chair to face Mike as she addressed him

“Thank you ma’am” Mike replied, his cheeks flushed a little with embarrassment, he hadn’t meant for any one else to hear him

“My name is Lucy, Lucy Montgomery,” She said offering her hand

“Michael, er I’m Michael Nesmith” Mike managed to stutter. Peter, Davy and Micky were quietly sniggering as they watched. They had never seen Mike stumble over his words before, especially over a girl.

“It’s nice to meet you Michael, will you be staying long?” Lucy asked

“Well…I…er…that is we…”

“We’re here for the party, we’re the band, the manager hired us to play” Peter said helpfully. Lucy’s eyes lit up

“Of course you are! You’re The Monkees, I don’t know why I didn’t recognise you before. I’m the one who convinced my father to hire you he owns this resort. I saw you playing in a little club in Malibu beach while I was there visiting friends”

“Well I guess we own you a big thank you,” Micky told her and Luck giggled

“You’re welcome. It was no problem you guys are really good, I like your sound”

“Thank you again” Davy said, flashing one f his most charming smiles

“You’re Davy right?” Lucy asked him. Every stared at Lucy in surprise

“That’s right how did you know that!” Davy asked

“I’ve got a girlfriend who lives in Malibu beach. She’s got a big crush on you, I hear about you all the time. That’s how come I saw you guys in the first place she took me to your gig” Lucy explained. Peter and Micky rolled their eyes. Davy had a big grin on his face.

“What’s your friends name?” He asked

“Not now Davy” Micky warned. Mike was paying attention to the other Monkees he was staring at Lucy

“So I know Michael and now I know Davy, but what about you two?”

“What? None of you’re friends have got crushes on us!” Micky said pretending to be offended “I’m Micky and this goofy looking fella here is Peter”

“Hay!” Peter said glaring at Micky and Lucy laughed. She looked at her watch.

“Well it’s nice to meet you all but I’ve gotta go my break is over but I look forward to seeing you play again and maybe we’ll see each other around sometime” She said aiming her last comment at Mike. She got up “Well goodbye”

“Bye Lucy” Peter, Micky and Davy said. Mike managed a small squeak and cough and that was all. Lucy left casting a glance over her shoulder at Mike

“Someone’s got a crush,” Micky said in a singsong voice, earning a giggle from Peter and Davy. Mike wasn’t listening he was staring at the door Lucy had just exited through. Finally he turned back around and noticed the other three Monkees grinning at him.

“I’ve never seen you hung up on a girl Michael, it’s a little scary,” Peter admitted

“What girl” Mike asked innocently. Micky rolled his eyes

“Queen Elizabeth” He replied sarcastically “Who do you think!” he added

“So! I like Lucy! What’s wrong with that?” Mike asked, reaching over and picking up Micky’s sandwich and took a bit from it. Micky was too shocked to protest

“He’s actually admitting it,” He told his other two band mates

“That’s even more scary!” Peter added. Mike sighed quietly and was about to respond when Davy interrupted him

“Hay I’ve just thought of something” He exclaimed excitedly “If you guys fall in love you’ll be able to say I love Lucy!” he told Mike, then proceeded to burst into a fit of giggles. Micky and Mike groaned. Peter watched Davy for a moment then turned to Micky

“I don’t get it,” He said

“It’s the name of an old television series ‘I love Lucy” Micky explained

“Oh” Peter replied. He thought about it for a moment then said, “I don’t get it” Micky sighed

“Never mind, come on let’s go. Come on Romeo, you too Chuckles” He said to Mike and Davy. After getting glares from Mike and Davy, Micky led the way back to the cabin.

When they arrived Mike and Micky began unloading the instruments from the car, Davy went to check himself in the nearest mirror and Peter called home to check on Mr Schneider.

“This is going to be great huh Mike, spending Christmas somewhere other then the pad” Micky said as they unloaded his drums ready to take inside.

“Sure is shotgun, it’s nice to get a change of scenery every once in a while. Plus, we have snow! Something that would never happen in Malibu beach” Mike replied

“Yeah, I’ve never had a white Christmas before. Coming from California all my winters have been hot”

“After we’ve unpacked I’ll go get permission to cut down a tree then we’ll turn this into a proper Christmas” Mike told the drummer

“Groovy!” Micky exclaimed

So half an hour later Mike had gone to get permission to get a tree, Peter had decided to tag along with him so that if they were allowed a tree he could help Mike bring it back. Micky and Davy had stayed behind to set up the instruments.

“What do you think about Mike liking Lucy the?” Davy asked Micky as they assembled his drums.

“I think it’s great. Lucy seems really nice. I just hope Mike does something about it though you know what he’s like” Micky replied

“That’s true, so maybe we could do something about it for him” Davy suggested

“I dunno Davy, this is Mike remember he has got a pretty good temper on him. I don’t think he’d be appreciated us messing around with his love life”

“Who say’s he has to know? We could arrange it so it’s just a happy coincidence for him” Davy said but Micky wasn’t convinced

“I’m not sure,” he said “And anyway Lucy may not even like him”

“Of course she does, didn’t you see the way she was looking at him, and plus no girl can resist that Nesmith charm”

“If that’s true then how come he hasn’t had a serious girlfriend in a while, or any girlfriend to be exact”

“There was that actress,” Davy pointed out

“What, that mad one form the answering service? She doesn’t count they didn’t actually date, Mike was just hung up on her” Micky said

“That’s true, what was her name again?”

“I can’t remember now, Ellen something I think”

“Ok what about April?” Davy asked

“There’s no way you can count April! We were all in love with her and anyway we gave her to Peter in the end”

“Yeah I know, I still think we should of gone three out of five on that one. I still can’t walk past soap without thinking about her. I wonder if things worked out between her and that musician? Maybe I should give her a call,” Davy said, his eyes starting to glaze over.

“Davy, snap out of it you have to forget about her, we all do. That thing was nothing but a big mess,” Micky told him

“Yeah I know, anyway what were we talking about…oh yeah I remember now, can you imagine what Mike would be like if he had a girlfriend! Maybe he’s go a little easier on us”

“I don’t think he’s that bad, he’s Papa Nez it’s in his nature but I do like the idea of getting him a girlfriend for Christmas, I’ve been struggling with gift ideas for him”

“So shall we go talk to Lucy? See what she thought of Mike?”

“Not yet, Peter and Mike will be back with the tree soon. Let’s leave it until tomorrow and then that way we can let Peter in on our plan”

“Ok sure” Davy replied.

Peter and Mike replied twenty minutes later pulling a tree behind them. Mike and Davy set it up in the lounge. Peter went in search of decorations and was thrilled to find a boxful in one of the bedroom closets. Micky disappeared for a while and arrived back half an hour later with a couple more boxfuls that the local villagers had been kind enough to give him.

“Wow there are some real nice people around here,” Mike said as he rummaged through one of Micky’s boxes “This stuff is great,” He added

“I know, I only went out to find some spray snow to decorate the windows and I got talking to a couple of people and told them who bear our cabin was and they gave me all this stuff! Isn’t it neat!” Micky explained

“It sure is” Peter said happily, it as really begging to feel like Christmas to him.

“With the box that Peter found plus this lot, it should be more then enough” Davy added excitedly, peering into another of Micky’s boxes.

The Monkees spent the rest of the evening decorating the tree and lounge. Micky went to work on the windows with the snow spray he’d brought and by the time they’d finished the place looked great. Tinsel and ornaments hung from every brunch of the tree, Mike had carefully hung a garland around the fireplace, strips of tinsel had been wound around the banister of the stairs and along the edge of the ceiling, Micky had decorated the windows with the stencils he had gotten with the spray. They had managed to find two sets of fairy lights, one set hung on the tree the other set Micky had put around the window to compliment his stencils. Once they had finished they all collapsed on the sofa. Micky was grinning from ear to ear.

“That’s a lot better,” He announced, admiring his handy work on the window.

“Yeah it’s a lot more Christmassy now,” Peter added

“It is” Mike replied then said, “I’m really sorry fella’s but I need to go to bed, I’m beat” He told them

“Me too” Peter told him. Davy and Micky decided to go too. They all got up and walked to the stairs. With one last look around they all went to bed.

continued