Title: It Had to Be You
Author: M. Fenstermaker
Summary: Love of a Lifetime from Monk's POV. I recommend reading Love of a Lifetime first to understand all the details.
Note: This is in response to a suggestion made in a review from the original story. Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Again I don't own Monk or anything related to him. It is owned by USA Network and Mandeville Films.
Rating: G
I hope I'm not disturbing my neighbors. It's six thirty in the morning and I vacuuming my apartment. I've been up since four cleaning and I'm starting to run out of things to do. I usually clean to help me think. But today I'm trying to keep myself from getting nervous. Today I am getting remarried. I take a deep breathe. I never thought I'd say that I was getting married again. Not only that but I'm marrying the person who I thought would ever agree to be with me. It's Sharona. A pounding on my door interrupts me from my thoughts. I turn off the vacuum and walk to the door. I hope it's not a neighbor. I open the door to see Capitan Stottlemeyer.
"What are you doing in here Monk, I've been knocking for the past five minutes", the Capitan explains as he walks in.
"Cleaning", I start to re-alphabetize the Willie Nelson records on the shelf against the wall. Of course they're already perfect so I look for something else to do.
Stottlemeyer grabs me by my arm and sits me down, "Adrian will you relax you've got to get ready. Disher will be leaving the precinct to get Sharona soon. The ceremony starts in two hours".
"Ok", I agree to follow the Capitan's orders. I look down at what I'm wearing and realize how dirty I am, "I need to shower". I don't give Stottlemeyer a chance to say no. I leave the living room and head for the bathroom.
I spend too long in the shower. I only have twenty minutes to get dressed and get to the station. I'm buttoning my white tuxedo shirt when I hear Stottlemeyer call to me, "Adrian, we got to leave now. You're going to be late".
"Give me two minutes", I call back. I grab my jacket and quickly step into my shoes. As I walk out my bedroom door something makes me stop and look at the pictures on my nightstand. One is of Trudy, the other is the picture of Sharona, Benji, and I on our vacation at the Hanover Beach Resort. I sigh heavily. Two pictures, one of my old life and one of the new life I'm going to begin today.
"Monk, let's go", I hear the Capitan yell from the living room. I walk over to my nightstand and pick up the picture of Trudy.
"I'll always love you Trudy", I say to her smiling face, "I know you'd want what makes me happy and Sharona does. She's my angel". I kiss the picture and place it back on the night stand making sure it's positioned just right. I walk out of the bedroom into the living room, Stottlemeyer stands up, I open my apartment door and we both leave.
I get to the Police Station with time to spare. I have about twenty minutes which is all the time I need to do something very important. I walk over to Benji who's talking to Dr. Kroger. "Benji, can I talk to you for a minute", I ask.
"Sure", he smiles to Dr. Kroger and walks over to an empty bench on the other side of the room with me.
We sit down and I start, "Benji, I just wanted to make sure that you're ok with your mom and I getting married".
"Of course I am", Benji replies like he's been alright with this for awhile, "This is great. I've always wanted a dad and now I have one". He smiled at me. I couldn't think of anything to do but smile back. Gail comes up to us.
"Monk, Sharona's ready", she explains.
"Ok", I stand up, "Let's go. Benji go get your mom".
"Ok", he says. He stands up and both him and Gail walk out of the room. I walk over to Stottlemeyer who's standing up in front of the room talking to Lieutenant Disher. They stop talking when I come up to them.
"We're going to start soon", I say as I reach to fix the Capitan's bowtie. He pushes my hand away and tries to fix it himself.
"Ok", he says. Disher goes to sit down on a bench near Dr. Kroger. I walk with the Capitan up to where Judge Hatchet is standing. He's been a good friend of mine for years so I asked him to officiate. The music starts and the door opens to reveal Gail in her blue bridesmaid dress, she walks down and stands on the other side for the judge. I see her wink and Disher who smiles back. I won't even ask why they're making faces at each other. My eyes turn back to the door as Sharona appears in her ivory strapless dress with Benji by her side. I look closer and notice she's carrying the red roses I told Disher to give to her as a bouquet. Her eyes finally meet mine and the rest of the world just seems to stop. Benji walks her to the front of the room. She hugs him and gives him a kiss on his cheek. He goes and sits next to Dr. Kroger and Disher. I turn to her, take her hands in mine and smile.
"I love you", I whisper.
"I love you", she whispers back and smiles. Judge Hatchet starts the ceremony.
"We are here today to join Adrian Monk and Sharona Fleming. These two before you have chosen to recite their own vows to each other", he turns to me, "Adrian".
I open my mouth, "Sharona", I'm not as nervous as I thought I'd be, "When I met you for the first time I would have never dreamed we'd be standing here today. I was very sick when you first met me, and I did not think I'd ever be healthy again. And though I'm still not completely cured I am however doing a lot better. Because of you", she laughs and I can tell she's more nervous then I am, "You were there through the good days and the bad ones and that made me fall in love you that much more", I look down at the ground.
"I thought after Trudy died I would spend the rest of my life alone", I turn my eyes to Sharona's again, "You always cared about me and thanks to you I have never felt alone". I see a tear run down her cheek. I lift up my hand and wipe it away. "I love you Sharona. I always have and I always will. I want to spend my life with you. You are the angel sent to me from heaven and for that I will be forever grateful to have you in my life".
The ceremony seems to pause for a couple of seconds. Judge Hatchet continues by turning to Sharona, "Sharona will you please read your vows"?
She opens her mouth, "Adrian", her words are shaky. I squeeze her hands to encourage her along. She look at me, takes a deep breathe, clears her throat and begins again, "Adrian, through the last six years you have drove me to quit twelve times. But every time I always come back. At first I didn't know why but over time I realized it was because I couldn't imagine going a day without you", she sighs, "My life without you is meaningless. I can't seem to go a day without being around you. You make me feel like a whole person and without you in my life it would feel like a big piece is missing. I love you Adrian". I squeeze her hands again to tell her she did well. She squeezes mine back. We both smile to each other. We exchange rings and seal our vows with a kiss. Judge Hatchet announces, "Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Monk", and we walk out the room to everyone's applause.
Everyone came back Sharona's for a reception. All the guest are almost gone at eleven o'clock. Gail who is the last person left helped us clean up a little then she volunteered to take Benji to her house so Sharona and I could be alone tonight. Sharona gets up and leaves me to continue cleaning. She comes back in her pajamas and sits on the couch. I look over to see her watching me. I decide to have a little fun with her. "Aren't you going to help me clean up. This is still your apartment", I say as I reach for a cup on the coffee table.
She stretches and yawns, "No, I'm too tired". I guess she picked up on my idea and is going to play along.
I put the cup down and look at her like I fell offended, "Is that why you married me? Because I'm like a cleaning service".
She knows I'm faking it. She laughs as she get up off the couch. "No", she walks over to me and wraps her arms around my neck, "I married you because I love you more then anything". She kisses me on my cheek. I can tell she's having fun with this.
I put our heads together, "I love you too". She smiles.
"Come on", she grabs my hand and tries to pull me to her bedroom, "Let's go to bed". She's not going to win that easy.
"But there's still so much to do Sharona. The dishes, vacuum the…". She stops my list by kissing me.
"Adrian", she looks toward the bedroom, "Let's go".
"Sharona", I whine. I won't let her win this battle without a fight. She puts her hands on my face and kisses me passionately. I decide to wave the white flag and give in. I let her lead me to her bedroom by my hand. I will always love Trudy. She was my first true love and I don't think there'll ever be a day that I won't think about her. But Sharona understands that which made me fall in love with her from the moment she first knocked on my door. She's been my rock, my support for the past six years. I think back to this morning and the pictures on my nightstand of Trudy and Sharona with Benji and I. To me Sharona isn't my new life but she's helping me to keep living. And because of her I will never be alone again.