AN: So it has been forever, like crazy forever and I am sorry, this started as something fun to do and then started to become something that was causing more anxiety so I took a very big step back. I used to love writing this and am going to try to get back into it, I actually have a bunch written that I just need to get together into polished chapters so it wont be months for the next chapter again, but there are only going to be a handful of chapters left in the story line I planned out originally. For all of the reviewers and readers that have stuck with me, thank you so much.

Monday, March 21, 2011, 3:27 PM

"Hey, where are you going?" Natalie asked Adrian as she saw him pick up her car keys.

"Nowhere really," Adrian dismissed, "I just have some things I want to pick up."

"Oh, well, I will come with you," Natalie offered instantly putting down the pen she was using. With Julie home and wedding stuff in the guestroom, Natalie had been doing paperwork at the dining table.

"No, no, no," Adrian dismissed quickly, "um, I don't want to bother you, I can do this myself, I need to be able to do things by myself, right?"

Adrian hadn't gotten any better at keeping secrets, but Natalie had a feeling that whatever Adrian wanted to go do was entirely innocent. "Ok, I will stay," Natalie shrugged her shoulders, "how long will you be gone?"

"I should be home by six to help you with dinner," Adrian said, "I just have a few errands.

5:22 PM

"Natalie, I'm home," Adrian called as he opened the front door.

"Oh good," Natalie poked her head out from the kitchen, "you beat Julie home."

Adrian crossed the room and leaned over, kissing his soon to be wife, "and why is that so important?"

"I didn't know what to say if I saw her first," Natalie admitted, "the girls know that I am pregnant, should we tell them we are having twins? Should we tell them together?"

"I don't want to keep it a secret from them," Adrian said.

"Good," Natalie bounced on the balls of her feet like a small child would, "I can't wait to tell her, do you want to call Molly?"

"I will in a minute," Adrian smiled at Natalie's excitement, "but first, I got something for you," Adrian raised the two small bags he was carrying with him.

"Presents!" Natalie practically squealed, "was this the errand you had to run?"

"Well that and I had to talk to Leland about something, I have to talk to you about it too later, but that can wait. Open the small one first."

Natalie put both bags down on the table and reached into the smaller of the two hurriedly pushing tissue out of the way and lifting a rectangular box. As soon as she opened the box, something tiny and delicate on a silver chain was revealed. Natalie gasped and leaned in slightly squinting as she inspected the trinket. It was a silver pendant with two little rings surrounding opals. "Oh Adrian, it is so beautiful, what is this for?"

"Opal is the birthstone for October," Adrian said, "The babies are due on the 31st, and they will probably won't be late since they are twins, so I figured one stone for each of them."

"Adrian, it's perfect, I love it, I love you," Natalie gushed. She pulled Adrian into a tight hug before kissing him firmly, trying to convey how fiercely she loved him at that moment.

"I love you too," Adrian breathed, "you still have one more gift to open," he reminded her.

Natalie dug into the other bag and stopped when her fingers grasped some sort of cord, pulling it out she found it was attached to something that looked like a stethoscope and that there was also a broad elastic band with Velcro. "Um, thank you?" Natalie said, "an electric stethoscope is a great idea?" Natalie guessed at the item's identity.

"It's a headphone," Adrian said, "well a belly-phone, I mean, it's a speaker for your belly. See, this is an audio jack so you can hook it up to a record player or your Walkman…"

"My phone," Natalie informed him, "music is on phones now."

"Oh, that is easy," Adrian said, "anyway, you hold this speaker, or you can use this strap to hold it over your abdomen, and then the babies can hear whatever you play. I thought that maybe you could listen to your music with the babies. And if you play them the music you enjoy now, maybe they will love music the way that you do when they grow up. I want them to love things the way that you do."

"Adrian, this is amazing," Natalie said, "And you know, you love things too. You love so hard, so passionately, so completely, Adrian. It is so sweet that you got me these, and I know you want the babies to be like me, which is flattering, but I want them to be like you. I hope our babies inherit your ability to love, and your brains, and your smile, and your eyes, and your everything."

Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 12:53 PM

"Oh, and Sharona called while you were running this morning," Natalie read from a little list.

"Are they still coming up in the morning?" Adrian turned away from the crime scene again to talk to Natalie. They had gotten to the crime scene over ten minutes earlier, and Leland had been unable to keep their attention. After getting the news about twins the day before, Natalie and Adrian had let some of the last-minute wedding to-dos slide and after spending their morning looking online at houses, Natalie didn't get to tackle the wedding list until they got called to a crime scene.

"They are going to be a little late," Natalie said, "but it's because Benjy will be coming with them. And Sharona said that they would still be here by two."

"So, do we have to redo the seating chart?" Adrian asked.

"It isn't a big deal because we are at one giant table," Natalie answered, "I put him next to Sharona."

"So, the sides of the table are uneven?" Adrian asked.

"Guys," Leland called to the pair, "there is a dead man over here."

"The table doesn't need to be even," Natalie and Adrian didn't even seem to notice Leland, "besides, it's our wedding, I think you will have better things to think about then the sides of the table being balanced."

"I guess it's okay," Adrian begrudgingly agreed.

"Monk, murder victim, case to solve, focus over here," Leland tried again.

"The brother did it," Adrian said, then quickly turned his attention back to Natalie, "okay, what is next on the list?"

"Natalie, Monk, both of you wait!" Leland put his foot down. "What do you mean the brother did it? Focus for two minutes, get this done, and then you don't have any cases for the next week."

"The brother that called the police to report him missing," Adrian said, "he did it. There are only two of them with their mother in this photo, she was probably leaving everything to them. There are notices from hospice care over there, she was dying, if he killed his brother now, he would inherit it all. And he needed the money, there are betting slips for the racetrack sticking out of his back pocket, and you can see in the way he is moving he has been hurt recently I would guess at least two broken ribs. Those are the kinds of injuries you tend to get if you owe money to some pretty bad people, the kind that will break some ribs to remind you of what you owe."

"That should be easy enough to check out," Leland said, "but it doesn't prove anything."

"He was lying about his alibi, the brother said he got here at eleven, but it was raining then, there is no umbrella, the building doesn't have an awning, and his clothes and hair are dry. If the brother got here when he said he did, he would have gotten at least a little wet, no he was already here earlier, before it started raining, the only reason to lie about when he got here was because he did it. Look Captain, this was not well planned, and he doesn't seem especially bright. I am sure if we have forensics process this place and the brother's they will find the evidence they need, but he is the guy."

"Thank you, Monk," Leland turned to Mark Dobson, "relay all of that to forensics, I am going to call and try to get a warrant to search the brother's house, wait for me we can question him together."

Adrian looked over at his fiancé, her expression was filled with pride, but also with another look that Adrian knew well. "Leland, we have some things to go do, I know I will have to sign a few things, can we meet you at the station later?"

"Sure, how's three?" Leland asked without looking up from his phone.

"Perfect," Adrian called as he hurried them out of the room. "Are you going to be sick?" He asked Natalie in an urgent whisper.

"I think so," Natalie said, "but I can hold it until we get to the house."

"Okay, give me the keys, I will drive carefully, and you just let me know if there is a change in the situation."

"I'm sorry," Natalie muttered, "this is not why we should rush away from a crime scene you just solved."

"Nothing to be sorry about," Adrian assured her, "especially since those are my kids too. I am just sorry you have to go through this."

"It will be worth it," Natalie smiled. "But enough talk about being sick, we still have seven more items to get through on this list."

5:23 PM

"Natalie?"

"Yeah, Dad, it's me," Natalie's voice came over the phone, "how are you?"

"Oh, you know, same as always," her father dismissed, "how about you, sweetheart?"

"I'm great dad, I don't know if mom told you the news…"

"Yes, she told me," there was a long pause on the other side of the receiver, "she told me you were engaged to your boss, the crazy one."

"I am engaged to Adrian, but he isn't crazy," Natalie said, "I know he had issues for a long time, but he is better now dad, and we are getting married on Saturday."

"That is very fast," Bobby hedged.

"Not really," Natalie said, "we have been together for almost a year. Look dad, I didn't call to defend my relationship to you."

"Well, why did you call?"

"We were at a crime scene today; a man killed his brother, and I thought, how could someone do something like that to a family member?" Natalie explained, "I know we have our issues, but it feels wrong to not invite you to my wedding. We are getting married this Saturday at three at the planetarium then going to La Dolce Vita for dinner afterward. It is a small group currently there are only 17 guests but we can add one or two more without a problem if you or mom want to come. BUT there would be some ground rules, I want only happiness and no drama. If either of you has anything bad to say, just don't come. And I don't want you to feel like you have to come, especially on such short notice."

"Well, I will have to check with your mother," Bobby hedged.

"I understand," Natalie said, "all right, well, I have to go get some wedding stuff done."

"All right," Mr. Davenport said, "thank you for calling."

"Sure, Dad, bye."

"Bye, sweetheart."

Natalie heard the click of the phone and held her breath, she would not cry. She had accomplished her goal, she had tried. 'At least he wasn't mean,' Natalie told herself. And he hadn't been unpleasant, he hadn't attempted to talk her out of the wedding, but he just didn't seem to care. How could her father not care that she was getting married? What was so wrong with her that even her own parents didn't care about her? Natalie could feel herself starting to spiral and got up, she needed to do something. Walking on autopilot, Natalie found herself entering the kitchen where Adrian stood carefully measuring out ingredients. As Natalie entered the kitchen, Adrian turned and they immediately locked eyes. In a flash, Adrian's arms were open wide and Natalie felt herself fall into the comfort of his embrace. Natalie didn't realize she was crying until she felt Adrian's shirt underneath her become damp with her own tears. Adrian didn't pull away, he didn't try to stop her crying, he didn't ask any questions, he just let her cry for long minutes in the safety of his arms.

When Natalie eventually calmed and gathered her thoughts, she muttered into Adrian's chest, "I called my father and invited them to the wedding."

"Oh," was all Adrian offered. He didn't need the details of the conversation to understand how Natalie was feeling.

"He didn't care," Natalie said, "he said he would check with my mother as if I had invited him to a picnic or something. How do my parents not care that I am getting married? Well, I guess my mother cares, but not in a good way."

"I don't know, honey," Adrian said. "I look at you and I see the best person on the face of the earth, and I think about how much I already love these babies," Adrian moved one hand down to Natalie's abdomen. "I honestly don't get how your parents do what they do. But your family will be there, you have Julie, and your brother, and Molly and our friends and me."

"Your still mine?" Natalie looked up at Adrian with hopeful eyes.

"Forever and ever."

Wednesday, March 23, 2011, 10:48 AM

"Done," Natalie announced to the empty room as she closed her laptop. Natalie hopped up from the desk and started searching around the house. Hearing a noise upstairs, Natalie hurried up to the second floor and followed the sound to find Adrian cleaning the baseboards in their room. "I'm done, we are done!"

"Done with what?" Adrian put down his cleaning supplies and removed his rubber gloves.

"Everything for our cases," Natalie said proudly. "All calls and emails have been returned, we got our last payment, all bills are done. Everyone knows that we won't be working until we get back next Thursday, we are 100% done and can just focus on stuff for the wedding."

"Do we have anything left to do?"

"Our 'parties' tonight," Natalie put in air quotes, "Friday I have time at the spa, dinner at Ambrose's that night and then the wedding. But there is a lot of little things that will happen around here like I have to pack for the honeymoon."

"I have to pack too," Adrian pulled her into his arms and started to place tiny kisses on her neck.

"If you told me where you were taking me, then I could pack for us," Natalie tried.

"I already told you, pack for four days of warm weather," Adrian said, "so really, do you need to pack clothing at all?"

"Adrian!" Natalie blushed, "do you really expect me to spend four days naked?"

"No," Adrian agreed sadly, "no, not the whole four days, but maybe a good chunk of them."

.

1:48 PM

"Julie," Anna called "earth to Julie."

"What?" Julie looked up from her phone, "oh sorry, what did you say?"

"Never mind," Julie's friend sighed. They hadn't seen each other since their winter break, and this was the only day Julie had to hang out with her but had spent almost all of the time on her phone. "Who has you so distracted anyway?"

"It's a bunch of people," Julie said, "sorry, it is just we have our bachelor/bachelorette, girls and guys night, whatever we are calling it tonight, and there are a lot of last-minute things. Sharona still isn't here, Molly wanted to know what kind of champagne to get, TK is going to need help setting up, and, I'm sorry, I will put my phone down, I am all yours until four."

"No, it's okay, I get it," Anna said. "Who was the other person texting you, though?"

"What?"

"The last time you checked your phone," Anna said.

"Oh," Julie said, "that was just Sue texting me something stupid."

"It was just Sue texting you, not some guy?"

"No guy," Julie insisted, "why?"

"You were smiling," Anna said, "it just looked like maybe you were talking to a guy."

"No guy," Julie said.

Anna turned back to her friend, "it has been a while since I have heard you talk about a guy."

"I'm just trying to get through my first year, I guess," Julie said, "and I guess I just haven't met any guys I have clicked with."

"Well, don't study so hard you forget to enjoy your time there," Anna advised.

"I don't need a guy to enjoy my time," Julie said, "I can have a great time just hanging out with my friends like you. So, what were you saying?"

2:13 PM

"We haven't been here together in a long time," Natalie squeezed Adrian's hand as they stood in line together in the lobby of his bank. Adrian had added this errand to their to-do list for their day just that morning. Natalie didn't remember any checks that needed depositing, or anything else, but she didn't think much of it.

"The last time we were here together was for the case where we ended up locked in a bank vault, I haven't wanted to come back in since, the drive-through was enough for me."

"You had me come in here to deposit checks for you," Natalie pointed out.

"You didn't seem to mind," Adrian said before then paused for a moment, "I should have thought about it, though. I should have realized that it would be tough for you to be back here too."

"Sometimes there were moments where it was a little weird," Natalie admitted, "but it was no big deal. Honestly, honey, don't worry about it, if I had really minded, I would have said something." Natalie leaned in and pecked a kiss to Adrian's cheek then lips.

"Before Adrian could say or do anything in return, the teller finished with her customer and waved the couple over. "Hello, how can I help you today?" She asked with a smile.

"Yes, hello, I'm Adrian Monk," Adrian said, shifting his shoulders. "I would like to make a change to my account."

"We can help with that, what changes would you like to make?" She asked while typing his name into the computer.

"I would like to change all my accounts into joint accounts with my fiancé," Adrian gestured to Natalie, who looked up in shock.

"No problem sir," the teller said, "one of our representatives can help you in a minute if you will take a seat over there, Mr. Stein or Ms. Murry will be right out to help you.

Adrian thanked the woman before walking with Natalie hand in hand over to the chair near the offices. "Adrian," Natalie whispered, "what do you mean joint account?"

"We are getting married. We will share everything including money," Adrian said simply.

"I know," Natalie said, "but we have been splitting all costs, and I am fine with a joint account, but shouldn't we open a new one, that way you can still have your own account too."

"If you would prefer, we can do that," Adrian said, "but I don't have any interest in keeping an account of my own, and this is easier. You can still have your own accounts, but I don't see the point in having my own account plus our joint ones. Besides, you handle all my finances anyway."

"I deposit checks from your cases and pay some of your bills," Natalie said. "That isn't the same as having access to your money."

"Our money," Adrian corrected, "What's mine is ours. You can use it or not, but I want you to have it, I want to share everything with you."

"Okay," Natalie agreed, "I guess that makes sense. I just hadn't thought about it."

"Hello," a woman in a suit greeted the pair as he walked out of the office. "I am Ms. Murry, won't you two come into my office and we can take care of the changes you would like to make with your account."

Thirty minutes later, after taking their id's, going through all they needed to know, and making all the necessary changes in the computer, the bank representative printed out the forms for the couple to sign that would finalize the new account structure. When forms were handed to Natalie, she scanned the information on them quickly before putting pen to paper. Suddenly Natalie pulled back and looked at Adrian, "is this amount right?" Adrian leaned over to see what Natalie was talking about.

"That is the savings account," Adrian said in the way of explanation.

"That's 113 thousand dollars," Natalie hissed.

"$113,068.42," Adrian corrected. "You deposit my checks and pay my bills; does it seem wrong?"

"I have never seen the balance," Natalie said by way of explanation. "Adrian, that is too much money for you to just sign it over to me."

"It's not," Adrian disagreed, "we are going to share our lives, you are going to be my wife and the mother of my children, you have a right to this money. Besides, most of this is the money I made this year with you as my partner, it's as much yours as it is mine."

"Yes, but you already split that money with me once, I spent my share, how is it fair that you are giving me access to the other half."

"You spent your money on Julie's college," Adrian argued, "that is what our money should go towards our family, our new house, our kids, and I mean all of them, Julie too."

"You are the perfect man," Natalie said blinking back a tear from her eye, "do you know that?"

"I love you, Natalie," he said softly, "now can we sign these forms?"

Natalie nodded her head and looked up only then noticing that the bank representative had exited the office to give them some privacy. Leaning over, she kissed Adrian, "I love you too." Natalie stood and quickly poked her head out of the office finding Ms. Murry standing there waiting she apologized and let her know that they were ready to sign the paperwork.

As soon as they got into the room, Natalie took her seat and picked up her pen. "Don't forget," the representative said, "on the last two forms, we need you to sign your new name."

Natalie smiled wide as she signed proudly: Natalie Teeger Monk.