Rachel Lockhart had been best friends with Jennifer Wyatt when Jennifer had married Micky Dolenz of The Monkees and she was godmother to Micky and Jennifer’s daughter Natalie Dolenz. She had been so happy for Jennifer and Micky because they made such a great couple. However, Rachel had not spoken to Jennifer for nearly thirty years because they had fallen out when Jennifer had decided to divorce Micky. When the Monkees ended Micky took it very hard but soon found ways to distract himself, mainly through drink, drugs and wild parties at the Dolenz household. Rachel had begged Jennifer not to give up on the marriage that Micky was in trouble and needed Jennifer’s support but Jennifer didn’t listen and went ahead with the divorce anyway. That infuriated Rachel and the two women stopped talking. Micky had gone to stay with Rachel when his marriage ended and the two of them became the best of friends. Rachel helped Micky to sober up and stop his wild partying and he became the Mic ky Rachel remembered again. He eventually got his own apartment and began dating again. Rachel herself married and Micky married again for the second time. Micky’s wedding to Kathryn Arnold had been the last time Micky and Rachel had seen each other. Micky moved to England with his new wife and Rachel stayed in America with her husband and son, and she and Micky lost contact. She had no idea how it had happened and she missed him terribly.

Although one thing about Micky was that he was still famous, even now almost forty years after the Monkees had started, so it was quite easy for Rachel to keep track of her former best friend and she had come so close to calling him so many times, but something had always stopped her.

One day Rachel was aimlessly surfing the internet and wondered into a site dedicated to Micky and stumbled across some news she hadn’t been expecting, The headline read ‘Micky to wed for a third time’. Rachel’s eyes widened and she almost dropped her coffee mug. She clicked on the headline to read more. It didn’t give much detail, just that Micky was to marry girlfriend Denise Robinson in a ceremony in LA on November 9th. She stared at the words unable to take in what she was reading. She knew Micky had divorced Kathryn sometime in 1994 but had no idea he would marry again. She looked at the date again, November 9th...that was only two days away! She started to panic, how could he get married again and not tell her! She decided to call the one Dolenz she was still in contact with. She dialled the number and waited impatiently to be connected. Finally some one picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hi Nat”.

“Aunt Rachel! Hi how are you, I’ve really missed you” Natalie said. Granted Rachel was still in contact with Natalie but they hadn’t spoken for a number of months...ok so it was more like a year, something Rachel regretted. Natalie had been like a daughter to her and she should not of lost contact so easily...like she had done with Micky.

“I’m fine thanks sweetheart, listen I was thinking of coming out to LA for a few days”.

“Really! That’s so great, are you gonna bring James?” James was Rachel’s twenty-year-old son from her marriage. No matter what had happened between their parents Natalie and James had managed to stay in contact and were as close as ever, Natalie treated him like a younger brother and James treated her as an older sister.

“I dunno yet I’m not even sure if I’m coming it’s just an idea I’ve been kicking around with”.

“Oh you have to come I know Dad would love it, I don’t know why you won’t let me give him your number he loves you aunt Rach, you know he does, he’s been in love with you since Mom divorced him. I just know he’d be psyched to see you”.

“It’s not that simple Nat, I can’t just show up a few days before his wedding and say, Hi Mick long time no see let’s go grab a burger, can I!”

“Yeah I suppose you’re right”.

“So it’s true then?”

“What is?”

“About your father getting married again, it’s true” Rachel asked a little cautiously.

“Yeah it’s true, it’s this Saturday” Natalie replied and Rachel could swear she heard a hint of disappointment in Natalie’s voice.

“What’s she like then this Denise person? Is she good to your father?”

“She’s ok, she’s nice but she’s the same age as me. I love my dad aunt Rach and I don’t want him to get hurt like he did with Kathryn. It took him a long time to get over her and now he’s rushing into this thing with Denise and I’m worried about him”.

“He’s a big boy honey, he can look after himself, and you know he’d never do anything unless he was completely sure of it”.

“I know but I can’t help but think that if you were around when he divorced Kathryn that he’d be marrying you this Saturday instead”.

“Well I...” but Rachel couldn’t finish, Natalie cut in.

“I like Denise I really do but there are only two people I want my father to be with, one is my mother, and I think we both know that’s never gonna happen and the other is you”.

“I know sweetheart but Micky and I are just friends, well we’re not even that any more and he’s getting married again he’s obviously happy with her otherwise he wouldn’t be marrying her would he” Rachel said.

“Come to the wedding” Natalie blurted.

“Pardon?!” Rachel asked.

“Come to the wedding” Natalie repeated, “You can surprise him I can see his face now he’ll be ecstatic”.

“Don’t be silly, I’m not invited I can’t just gate crash a wedding” Rachel told her, a little stunned that Natalie could even suggest such a thing.

“Of course you can and anyway you won’t be gate crashing you’re family and Dad would want you there” Rachel tried to argue but Natalie was far to persuasive and later that day Rachel found herself buying two plane tickets to LA and taking some paid holiday from work. She told James of her plans and said there was a ticket for him if he wanted it, which of course he did. Anyone would be crazy to give up a trip to LA. Rachel and James boarded their plane on November 8th and arrived in LA at 10:30 in the morning. Natalie was waiting for them along with someone else Rachel hadn’t seen for almost thirty-five years.

continued