Chapter 2
Baby's Mother Touches Me...

Olivia waited by the window impatiently for Peter to arrive. She looked down at her watch; it said nine o' three. Peter was three minutes late. She was not normally one for punctuality, but she was very eager to see him again. There was this instant connection between them…she could not explain it, but she felt like she knew him from somewhere. She looked out the window again, and saw that Peter and Micky were a little farther down the beach and heading towards the house. She looked into the mirror Angel had hung up on the wall next to the door, and looked herself over. She had decided to borrow Angel's light blue cardigan to wear over her white tank top. She had then chosen to wear her own jean bell bottomed pants. She ran her fingers through her hair and dabbed on some raspberry-flavoured lip-gloss on her lips. She heard a soft knock on the door, and opened it to see Peter looking sickeningly cheerful for that time of morning, and Micky rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Hi Liv, ready to go?" Peter asked sweetly. She nodded and looked over at Micky.

"Thanks for coming Micky." She said sincerely.

"No problem…anything I should know before you leave?"

"Well all of Paul's things are with him in Angel's room, and he's still asleep in there. He doesn't cry when he wakes up, so you'll have to check in on him every ten minutes or so. You'll have to give him breakfast…I've already got all of that set up over there." She said, gesturing towards the kitchen. Micky nodded.

"Come on Liv, he'll figure it out." Peter said with a laugh.

"Ok, ok. I've never really left him alone before…but I'm sure you'll take well care of him. Thanks again." She said, as Peter dragged her out the door. They walked down the beach towards the pad so they could take the Monkeemobile. As the walked, Olivia thought about the talk she had with Angel the night before. It had not ended on the best terms; she had given Angel the silent treatment and went to bed. Angel had only been trying to help after all, but they had ended up getting into a fight. She just could not understand why her sister did not want her to see Peter. Angel had tried to explain it kindly, but Olivia had gotten angry with her. Then Angel's temper had flared up when Olivia mentioned that Micky would be the one to watch Paul the next day while Olivia went out with Peter. She had then proceeded to give Angel the silent treatment, and then had gone to sleep on the couch.

Olivia pushed these thoughts from her mind now; she wanted to have fun with Peter, not worry about a silly argument with her sister. They finally reached to pad, and Peter opened the door to the Monkeemobile for her. He got in himself, and started the car.

"So Peter…where are we going?" she finally asked; the curiosity was killing her. She was not exactly known for her patience. Peter smiled at her.

"You'll see." He said with a laugh. Olivia groaned loudly, and he laughed. "Did anyone ever tell you how alike you and your sister are?" Olivia rolled her eyes, and he laughed again. She glared at him; he laughed even harder. "I'm sorry Liv, but you gotta admit…"

"Yeah, I know. I've been hearing it all my life." She said warily. Peter put his hand on her shoulder.

"Well you act like her sometimes, but I know that you're a very different person." He said sincerely. She smiled up at him. "Did you have breakfast yet?" he asked her. She shook her head no. "Well we can go over to "Ben Frank's" if you want…but a lot of weird people hang out there in the morning."

"That's ok, I've met lots of them where I've lived."

"Where did you live? Angel never said…"

"Well Angel and I grew up in Rhode Island. Then Angel left with Billy…they lived in the Village for a couple of months, then ended up out here. When I moved away with Brian, we moved to New York. We lived in the Village for a while too, after Angel had left, then we left with some friends for San Francisco."

"You and Angel lived in the Village? So did I!" Peter said excitedly. Olivia looked up at him in surprise.

"How long?"

"About a year, then I came out here. That was two years ago though."

"Really? I moved there when I was sixteen…two years ago."

Peter thought for a moment, trying to remember if he had ever met Olivia or Angel before…then it came to him. A young, pretty girl was playing a set on amateur night at 'The Night Owl'. He had been amazed by her vocal and playing abilities, and had tried to talk to her after the set. However, a tall drunken man had dragged her off before he had the chance. He had seen her a few times after that, always in the company of that same man. Now he realised why Angel had looked so familiar to him when they first met.

Then something else came to him….an even younger girl with auburn hair and green eyes waiting on him after his set, telling him what a great job he had done. He had looked up into those green eyes and smiled. She had sat down and they had talked for a few minutes, but she had suddenly had to leave when she saw what time it was. She had mumbled something about 'Paul', and had rushed out quickly. He had left for California a few days later.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Micky walked into Angel's bedroom quietly as he could. He walked over to the little crib where Paul was sleeping and looked down. Paul was sound asleep with a content smile on his face. He glanced over at Angel, who was also sound asleep. She was curled up under an orange sheet; her light brown hair tied up in a twist. He resisted the urge to wake her; she needed to sleep. He tiptoed over to the door and shut it quietly behind him as he left the room. It was nine-twenty; Paul should be waking up within an hour.

He decided to look through Angel's pictures while he waited. He still wondered how she had turned this drab little beach house into such a cozy and pretty place. She had decorated the whole thing herself, and much of the decoration consisted of things she had made herself. There were pictures everywhere, as well as posters and flowers. He opened the drawer in the coffee table, which she had made into a decoupage of her still life photos. He took out one of the photo albums he knew she kept in there, and took it out. He looked at the dusty, battered tan cover, and realised this was one he had never seen before. He carefully opened it to the first page, and saw a picture of a baby being held by a young woman, about the same age as Angel was. The woman looked like a spitting image of Angel. 'It's her mother' he realised. 'These are pictures of her family'. He did not know what to do. If he should put the album away, or continue looking at it. 'If she didn't want anyone to see it, why would she have it in her coffee table?' he thought. He decided to keep looking. 'Monkees are notoriously curious, after all.' He thought aloud.

He opened the book again and turned the pages carefully. There were pictures of Angel's whole family, including many of herself, her parents, her sisters, and little neighbourhood friends. The last picture was a family picture; Angel looked like she was about fifteen. Her words echoed in his head; 'When I was fifteen, my father died.'

Her whole family looked so happy in that picture. Her father was a tall man with curly, strawberry blonde hair. He had his arm around her mother's waist. Her mother looked so much like Angel when she was younger; he looked closely at the recent picture to get a preview of what Angel would look like later in life. With her dark brown hair, expressive brown eyes, and fantastic smile, her mother hardly looked older than twenty-five. It was easy to pick Olivia out, sitting on the arm of the couch. She was smiling that same gorgeous smile as her mother, wearing an absolutely hideous outfit, but still managing to look great. On the each side of Angel was one of her two other sisters. Both of them were just adorable, and both of them were holding on to one of Angel's hands and smiling the same smile as their mother. Everyone in the picture was dressed up…everyone except for Angel. He looked at her again, more carefully. She was wearing a pair of jeans that flared out at the bottoms and a pink sweater, and smiling that wonderful smile of hers. She had told him how much she hated getting her picture taken, and it seemed quite funny to him. She was a photographer for Pete's sake!

He shut the book and put it back where he found it, and went back in Angel's room to check on Paul again. Sure enough, Paul was standing up in his crib and peering over the edge. When he saw Micky he smiled and extended his arms out so Micky could pick him up. He bent down and lifted Paul up.

"Hey little guy." He whispered, careful not to wake Angel up. Paul smiled brightly, and Micky thought for a moment. He should probably change his diaper. He wrinkled up his nose; he was not looking forward to that part of the job. He looked over at Angel, who was sleeping soundlessly. "Guess it's just you and me for now." He said, as Paul wrapped his little fingers around Micky's curly hair and yanked hard. "Now let's see where your mom left the diapers…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

During breakfast, Peter and Olivia talked about their days living in the Village. He told her his memories of her and Angel, which caused her to remember him as well.

After breakfast, they got back on the road. After driving for another few minutes, they were on Sunset Strip.

"Let's go shopping." Peter said, with a dimple-filled smile. Olivia smiled back and nodded. He got out of the car, then opened the door for her. He took her hand to help her out of the car, but did not let go. And Olivia had no problem with that. No problem at all.

They had a great time shopping. Peter bought a pair of boots with fringe on them to replace the worn out boots on his feet, a rattle for Paul, and a pack of guitar strings Mike had asked him to pick up. Olivia ended up buying a new outfit for Paul, some toys for him, and a pair of cute earrings for Angel that she thought would help them patch up their argument from the night before.

Peter and Olivia walked side by side, as they made their way back to the car. He put his arm around her waist, and she put her head against his chest. Things between them were just so…comfortable. Olivia spotted the rattle Peter had bought. She snatched it out of the bag he was holding.

"You still play with these?" she asked slyly, and Peter laughed and put it back in the bag.

"Actually I bought it for Paul…I know that you didn't bring a lot of his toys out here with you and I thought…" Peter adjusted his hold on her so that she was facing him. They stopped walking, and he kissed her right there on the street.

Olivia's heart leapt with happiness, and she kissed him back. People walked by, bumped into them; but they were totally oblivious to the rest of the world. As far as Peter and Olivia were concerned, they were the only two people on earth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Micky wiped the last of the food from breakfast off Paul's face. This kid defined the term 'messy eater'. Micky decided to put him in his crib for a few minutes so that he could clean up the kitchen, and himself.

He cautiously walked into Angel's room and placed Paul in his crib. Micky looked down at his shirt, and realised how much damage Paul had done. He was covered with food. He thought for a minute, and then remember that Angel had "borrowed" one of his shirts a few weeks ago while they were at the beach. He looked around the room, trying to think of where she would have it. Then he spotted it, hanging up in her closet. He took the shirt he was wearing, and placed it on the floor. Then he heard it; the giggling coming from the bed. He looked over, and there was Angel trying hard to hold back laughter.

"Good morning to you too." He said, grabbing the shirt off its hanger.

"Mick, what in the world are you doing here like this?" she asked.

"Well your nephew is the messiest eater in the universe, and he three quarters of his breakfast ended up on me." Micky answered, putting his arms through the shirtsleeves. Before he had a chance to button it, Angel got out of bed and walked over to him. She put her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a kiss. She could feel the warmth from his chest through her shirt as she pulled him closer. She released him minutes later, and he raised his eyebrow quizzically.

"What's gotten into YOU this morning?" he asked, giving her a crooked smile. Angel shrugged, and walked to the door.

"I'm going to make some ice coffee, want some?" she asked. Micky ran over to block the door. Angel was an obsessed neat freak, and she would totally flip out if she saw the state of the kitchen. Now Angel raised *her* eyebrow quizzically. "Mind telling me why I can't go into my own kitchen???" she asked. She pushed Micky out of the way, and walked into the kitchen. Her mouth dropped open; she had never seen such a mess. There was food all over the floor, on the table, and she could even see it on the walls. Micky walked in behind her, put one hand over her eyes, and the other around her waist. Then he picked her up and carried her into her room again.

"I'm going to work on that mess, and you can change Paul's clothes, ok?" he asked. She nodded, still in shock. Micky kissed the top of her head and went into the kitchen to get to work. Angel walked over to Paul's crib.

"Did you do that to my kitchen??" she asked him, picking him up. Paul giggled. "Come on brat," she said affectionatly "lets get you into some clean clothes." She changed Paul into a cute blue outfit she found with his things, and carried him into the kitchen. Micky was wiping the last of the food off the wall. The kitchen looked a million times better than it had ten minutes ago. He stepped back from his finished work, and looked over at Angel.

"Whaddyathink?" he asked her.

"I think this is the cleanest I've seen it since I moved in." she replied. She walked over to Micky, and handed Paul over to him. "I'm going to take a shower, so you two are on your own for a little while." She then walked into the bathroom and shut the door. A few seconds later, Micky heard the shower running.

"So what do you want to do buddy?" Micky asked Paul "How about we play with some of your toys?" he asked. Paul clapped his hands together and laughed. Micky got some toys from Angel's room, and brought them into the living room where he sat on the floor with Paul. They played peacefully for a few minutes, until Paul started to get fussy. Micky handed him a new toy, but Paul just threw it back at him. After getting hit on the head with various baby toys, Micky decided it wasn't working. Then Paul began to cry, and all hell broke loose. Micky tried everything to make him stop-reading to him, changing his diaper, giving him a bottle, playing with him, making funny faces, rocking him-nothing worked.

Angel walked out of the bathroom wearing a pair of jeans and a paisley shirt, and her hair wrapped up in a towel. She saw Paul crying, and Micky desperately trying to soothe him. She walked over to them, and took Paul from Micky's arms; no protest came from Micky. She then began to sing; very, very softly, to Paul. Micky couldn't even hear her at first. Eventually, Paul quieted down so that he could her his aunt's singing; and soon he had stopped crying altogether. Angel continued to sing at the same, soft, volume until Paul had fallen into a deep sleep. Micky didn't say a word, he just admired her for the moment. She looked more beautiful right then than he had ever seen her before. It wasn't physical beauty either, though he thought she looked pretty cute in her in those jeans; there was just a quality about her at that moment which he found to be breathtaking.

~*~*~*~*~**~*~

Peter and Olivia had managed to break their lip-lock on the street, and they were walking back to the Monkeemobile hand in hand. There was a connection between them that was very strong, and neither of them could explain it. They didn't want to explain it; they only wanted to enjoy it.

Peter opened the door to the car for her, and then got in himself. He put one arm around Olivia's shoulders, pulling her closer to him, and used to other on the wheel.

"Peter, where are we going?" Olivia asked him after a few minutes. Peter just smiled that wonderful smile of his.

"You'll see." Was all he would tell her. After a few more minutes, they arrived at their destination. Peter got out of the car, and opened Olivia's door for her. He then took her hand, and helped her up. She looked around, and saw a beautiful field, lake, and trees surrounding them.

"Where are we?" she asked curiously. Peter smiled at her.

"This is where I come…when I want to be alone; when I want to have some peace and quiet." He answered. The scene was intoxicatingly beautiful, with greenery from every angle. He led her into the woods, until they came to a clearing. Olivia's breath stopped for a moment when she saw the view; the were at a peak of a low mountain.

"Oh Peter, it's so beautiful!" Olivia exclaimed, admiring the view. "How on earth did you find this place?"

"I was driving one day, and I just happened upon it. I've never…taken anyone here before." He confided. Olivia looked up at him, and stared into his eyes. He was so innocent and kind to her. She brushed a stray hair from his face, and he brought his lips down to meet hers. They kissed for a long time, until Peter finally backed away. "Want to sit over here?" he asked her. She nodded, and they sat together on the ground in silence. "Liv, I need to ask you something…." Peter began.

"Go ahead." She said, anticipating his question. She ran her fingers through her hair, as she often did when she was nervous.

"Well it's just that…Micky told me you're married." Olivia took a deep breath, as she prepared to explain the situation to Peter. "Is that true? If it is…" he trailed off.

"Yes, it's true…I'm married. But I left him, and I'm planning to file divorce papers very soon, and then find a job so I can stop relying on my sister for everything." She answered.

"Oh…I'm sure Angel doesn't mind you staying with her."

"I don't know…I don't want to get in her way. I mean, she is an absolute fanatic about organizing, and I'm such a slob…I don't want to cramp her style. Living with a baby takes a lot of a person, and she seems awfully tired already. Also, I don't want to get in the way of her and Micky. I mean, I already did last night when I got here." Peter put his hand on her knee in a comforting gesture.

"Angel may be an exhausted neat-freak, but she's your sister first…what exactly was going on with those two anyway??" Peter inquired, wondering just how serious that relationship was.

"I don't know, but I definitely interrupted something…I hate doing that. Angel and I would both be better off if I had a place of my own. I just wish I had half the ambition she has about photography for my own career…but I don't. I mean I've always wanted to be a writer, and I've written for newspapers and stuff, but I'd really like to make a career out of it. When we were kids, Angel would take pictures of things, and I would write stories to go with them. I've always loved writing, but I just don't have the motivation that you need to become a writer."

"Angel was griping a few days ago about how Rolling Stone is understaffed on writers, and they had asked her to write something. She said that she told them they needed to hire more writers, because she wasn't going to do it." Peter said, his face lighting up. "I'm sure she has some sort of pull there, she could probably help you out somehow." Olivia's face lit up.

"Peter, you're a genius!" she exclaimed, kissing him happily. He put his arms around her, and deepened the kiss, pulling her closer to him. One kiss flowed into another, and soon Olivia was unbuttoning Peter's shirt.

"Liv, are you sure…." He asked, before kissing her again. She nodded, and he began to unbutton her cardigan.

They made love in the grassy field until the sun began to set. They got dressed and got back into the Monkeemobile, walking hand in hand again, and they started to drive home. The ride was silent, but not uncomfortably so. After a few minutes, they were back at the pad.

"I'll walk ya back over to Angel's." Peter said, putting his arm around her waist. They walked across the beach, and stopped in front on Angel's doorstep. "Well I guess I'll see ya later…" Peter said.

"How about I make dinner for all of you? I'll have to do it at your place though, since Angel's house is so tiny…whatdayathink? I'm sure Angel will help me out…" Peter smiled at her.

"Well if you want to….okay." He smiled. She kissed him a quick but lasting kiss, and put her hand on the doorknob.

"We have to get Paul, Micky, and Angel." She explained. She opened the door, and saw her sister and Micky laying on the couch, their legs tangled, as well as their tongues. Olivia shut the door behind her loudly, making Angel and Micky jump. They quickly untangled themselves, and stood up.

"Umm, I didn't hear you guys come in…" Angel said, blushing. Peter laughed.

"Where's Paul?" Olivia asked.

"Asleep…he sure likes to sleep a lot." Micky said.

"Yeah, he takes a lot of short naps." Olivia said. She went into Angel's room, and saw her son sleeping quietly in his crib. She picked him up, if she didn't wake him up now he would never sleep tonight, and cradled him in her arms. His eyes opened, and he smiled when he saw who was holding him.

"Ma!" he cried out happily.

"Hey sweetie," she said softly "did you have fun with Angel and Micky today?" Paul clapped his hands together and laughed. She carried him into the living room where Micky, Angle, and Peter were.

"You volunteered us to cook dinner?" Angel asked, raising an eyebrow at her sister.

"Yeah…and you love to cook, so don't pretend you don't want to help me…" Olivia replied.

"I was just kidding Liv, of course I'll help you." Angel said.

They talked it over for a few more minutes, and then they left for the pad. Micky and Angel walked hand in hand, and Olivia and Peter did the same.