Disclaimer: I don't own Monk or Dwight Ellison nor do I own Trudy. If I did she wouldn't be dead.
Adrian straightened his collar and stared at the front door of the Ellison house. He had to take in a breath.
You can do this, he told himself.
The Monk's and the Ellison's have been feuding since the age of Adrian and Trudy's grandparents. Adrian didn't care… he loved Trudy and he wasn't going to let this feud keep him apart from her.
He forced his hand to move forward. He forced his finger to ring the bell. Dwight Ellison answered the door.
"Adrian," he said pleasantly, "well this is a surprise"
Adrian's voice caught in his throat for a minute then somehow he found it again.
"Thank you sir," he said, "may I come in?"
"Of course," Dwight said stepping aside and allowing him entry to the house. Dwight didn't have a problem with Adrian. In fact, he really liked him.
"Here's the thing," Adrian began, "I'm going to just come right out and say this because if I don't I'm going to lose my nerve."
Dwight smiled and waited patiently for Adrian to continue.
"Mr. Ellison," Adrian said, "I am in love with your daughter"
"That doesn't surprise me," Dwight laughed, "I've known that for months now. Trudy told me about the fact that you two are seeing each other."
Again his voice caught.
"H-here's the thing," Adrian said, "I want to ask her to marry me. I know our families have been feuding for years but sir we had nothing to do with the feud and you had nothing to do with the feud and-"
Dwight calmly held up a hand signaling to him that he should calm down.
"Adrian," he said, "you've shown great courage coming to me like that. I admire that"
"Thank you sir"
"Sit down," Dwight told him and he listened.
"Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I love my daughter. I have done a lot of things just to see a smile on her face.
"Clearly she loves you and because she loves you I'm going to give you my approval to ask her to marry you. That said, if you everdo anything to hurt her for any reason in anyway I was chop off your head and feed it to you without thinking twice about it. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir," Adrian replied, "You couldn't be clearer if you tried. I swear I will never hurt her or allow her to be hurt"
Dwight smiled warmly at Adrian and replied, "Welcome to the family son."
"Thank you sir," Adrian said, "when is she going to be home"
Just then she walked in the door.
"Adrian," she exclaimed.
Dwight looked at him and smiled and once again mouthed, 'welcome to the family son'