Disclaimer: I don't own Monk or Tommy. I don't own Julie or Natalie. I do own the Monk DVDS and books

Everyone who saw Monk with Tommy KNEW that he loved him. He had gentleness with Tommy that nobody ever saw since Trudy was alive. The little boy did start going through what Monk would refer to as the terrible twos. He would sometimes get dirty for instance. One time he accidentally broke a picture frame. Instead of getting mad (which he never did even when Tommy would run too far) he would simply give the boy a bath or put the frame away or pick him up and pretend to be a tickle monster making the little boy squeal with laughter. Tommy had a stuffed bear that Monk had reluctantly given him. It was a gift that Trudy had won for him at the carnival when she was still alive. When Tommy saw the bear he kept on insisting MY BEAR, MY BEAR. Monk had tried to distract him but good luck distracting a two-year-old. When Tommy had called him "daddy" for the first time ("my bear pwease daddy) his heart had melted. The bear is always with Tommy wherever he went. So it was no surprise that Monk loved his son. He wasn't his adopted son. Monk loved him every bit as much as if he were his own biological child.

It happened one day. Adrian had been called in on the case of the kidnapped daughter of a very dear friend of his. It was late at night and Tommy had a cold. It is very important to understand that Tommy had a cold. This has a whole lot of meaning even without Tommy having a cold but with Tommy's cold it's magnified times 500.

Since Tommy had a cold and it was dangerous Monk didn't feel comfortable taking Tommy with him. It just didn't seem like a good idea. In fact it seemed like a bad idea. Too many things could go wrong and Tommy was still in the innocent stage of life. He didn't want Tommy to know about the tough things until he had too. Julie volunteered to watch Tommy while Monk was out. After giving Julie about 3 hours worth of instructions he picked the boy up in his arms.

"Daddy's going to get a surprise for you buddy," he told the little boy kissing his forehead.

"Bye-bye daddy," Tommy said, "See you latta. I wove you"

"Julie," Monk said, "give him an ice pack for his head. It's a little warm"

"Will do Mr. Monk," Julie said with a smile.

"Be good for Julie baby," Monk told Tommy.

"I always good daddy," Tommy said

As soon as Monk left Julie got Tommy the ice pack.

"Story pwease," Tommy said

"Sure," Julie told him, "How about The Little Engine That Could"

"Um… yeah," Tommy said.

After reading the story to Tommy Julie made him some dinner.

Tommy was good as gold but when it came time to go to sleep he was having none of it. He just couldn't sleep. He was fussy and uncomfortable.

"Having a hard time sleeping buddy?"

"Um… yeah"

Julie had an idea.

"I have something for you," she said, "that will make you sleep"

Julie got Mr. Monk's special pillow out of the closet. She put it in Tommy's crib.

"Just snuggle up to this," she said, "and in moments you'll be asleep"

Adrian got home a few minutes later with 3 bagfuls of Toys R Us items.

"How is he," Monk whispered softly.

"He's asleep," Julie said, "um… you should know that he's sleeping on a pillow."

Monk raised his eyebrow.

"I would hope so," he said laughing, "that would make it a little more comfortable for his head."

"Mr. Monk," Julie said, "I don't want you to freak out but he's asleep on your special pillow"

It took a minute to register with Monk. She was talking about his Trudy pillow. The old Adrian Monk would have freaked.

"I'm just glad he's sleeping peacefully," Monk said, "He hasn't been sleeping well since he got sick"

"Okay," Natalie said, "WHO are you and WHAT have you done with ADRIAN Monk"

"I am Adrian Monk but I'm a father now. I love my son and his needs come first. Besides it's just a pillow… and now my son has it."

With that he went into Tommy's room and gently kissed him goodnight letting a few tears fall.