Moving day came faster than any in the Teeger household had imagined or were ready for. Monk had deliberately chosen a day to move where both Leland and Randy were off duty so he would have help in moving his personal items back to his apartment, including four suitcases full of clothing. The men were expected to arrive at Natalie's house in under thirty minutes so Adrian and Natalie took advantage of their last moments alone together, talking quietly on the front porch and occasionally kissing.

It had been harder than Natalie anticipated over the last few days to watch as Monk slowly started to gather his things together and pack what could be packed. But she was determined to keep it together, for his sake and for Julie's. He was moving out, not because either of them wanted him to, but to be true to his own values and because he thought it was what was best for their relationship. The last thing she wanted was to in any way make things harder for him, or for her. So, she would remain strong, no matter how much it was hurting her inside to watch as her home transformed back into a house. And, as she watched him pack, she was amazed at how much Adrian Monk had so transformed her life in the last five months that her home no longer felt like a home without him.

Leland and Randy arrived, and Natalie stayed strong as they soon started to follow Adrian's very specific instructions and his near-constant words of reproach to be careful with his things. She also stayed strong when Leland, dragging Randy behind him by the lapel, made himself scarce to give her and Adrian five minutes of alone time before the three men had to leave. Julie already said her tearful goodbyes to Monk that morning at breakfast and left the house with some students from the school theater group, Daniel, Josh and Melody. It was easier to do that than to watch him go. Of course, both Teeger women knew they'd see Adrian, at the latest, sometime the next evening, but it didn't make it easier now that the moment was here.

Very aware that Leland and Randy were standing at the end of the driveway, Natalie allowed herself only a brief moment for Adrian to hold her in his arms and a give her a quick kiss. He told her he loved her and said he'd call her whenever he got settled.

Leland's apologetic voice from a distance snapped Natalie out of her "Adrian and Natalie" trance. "Monk! It's time to go, buddy. Make sure you didn't forget anything and let's get going!"

Adrian pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and kissed her on the lips once more. "I promise, Natalie Jane, this isn't forever," he assured her. "It's just for now. I'll be back soon - when we're ready and the time is right. Until then, you'll still see me." His mouth tugged into a half-smile. "Besides, third time's a charm, isn't it? You owe me a date that ends without you crying."

Natalie laughed, squeezing his hand once more before he, at last without a cane, stepped off the front porch and walked down the driveway to Leland's car. She watched from the safety of the front porch from the time Adrian got into the car until she could no longer see it as it drove down the road and away from her house. She sniffled, wiped her nose with the back of her hand, and wiped her eyes. Then she gave a bittersweet smile. He may have vacated her premises, but he had not vacated her heart or their relationship. She knew what she had to do.

Adrian had made the decision to move out for the betterment of their relationship, and now it was her turn to do something to move their relationship forward. Not in a way that could damage their relationship like she had done when she tried to seduce him, but in a way that would make everything better.

She rushed inside her front door and reached for her purse, rummaging inside for her car keys. A moment later, she grabbed the pad of lined paper on the kitchen table and was out the door. If she hurried and used the right back roads, she would be able to make it in time.

At Monk's apartment, while Leland and Randy were outside removing items from Leland's trunk, Adrian went on ahead, slowly navigating the stairs for the first time in five months. He mentally went through a check list of things that needed to be done once he was inside. The landlord had turned the heat and the utilities back on and Natalie and Julie had restocked his refrigerator two days before. He recalled how he'd helped her to shop, and how they'd both instinctively headed down the dairy aisle at the store to get some milk for the house. Natalie had, not for the first time that day, gotten quiet when she realized that he wouldn't need or even want milk if he was on his own. He only tolerated it at her house for her and Julie's sake. As he remembered that day, he thought about how wonderful it had been to start his mornings out with those two lovely faces looking at him. To continue doing that, he'd stock the refrigerator full of the stuff if that was what would make them happy.

Monk pulled out his key and slowly opened the door, reaching for the light. It was only then that he realized that the light was already on, and he inwardly made a note to complain to the landlord about driving up his electric bill. He walked inside the apartment and down his front hallway, towards his bedroom, passing his living room door as he did. He had walked about three steps more when he stopped in his tracks and then backed up. Looking into the living room, he saw Natalie sitting on his leather couch with her shoes kicked off and her feet resting on his coffee table.

A broad grin appeared on his face and he tilted his head. "Didn't I just see you somewhere?"

She smiled and looked up at him, her eyes sparkling and dancing with laughter. "Did you forget I still have a key? Just figured you needed a welcoming party." Then she stood and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug and backing him up against the dining room door-frame. "Welcome home, my love," she whispered, kissing him tenderly.

Adrian smiled and kissed her back, then opened his mouth in order to ask her how on earth she had gotten there that quickly, since she had to have left her house right after Leland's car turned the corner out of her driveway. But she shook her head, put her hand over his mouth, then pressed a folded-up piece of notebook paper into his hand.

"Read it," she told him urgently. "Read it, and then you can tell me whatever it is you wanted to tell me."

Leland and Randy were coming into the apartment and Randy did a comical double-take when he saw Natalie. Leland rolled his eyes, whether it was at Randy or at Natalie showing up Adrian couldn't tell, and he dragged Randy through the house into Monk's bedroom so he wouldn't be able to interrupt them. He then quietly walked past them, making his way into the living room and out of their line of sight.

Adrian tugged on Natalie's arm and motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen. He turned to face her, but she had already hopped up on the counter and sat there with a satisfied expression, almost as if she was daring him to tell her to get down. He only stepped closer to her and placed his hands on either side of her waist, leaning in to kiss her. He still didn't know what inspired her to drive like a madwoman to show up at his apartment, but the romantic and impulsive side of him that Natalie was slowly bringing out was sure glad that she did. He loved that he was able to see her for even a moment more.

Natalie wrapped her arms around his neck and would have remained quite content to stay there kissing him, until her eyes wandered into the living room and she caught sight of what the police commander was doing.

"Leland Stottlemeyer?!" She turned back to her boyfriend and spoke to him quietly and gently. "Adrian, honey, did you tell Leland that he could..."

"Take down some of my Trudy pictures and move them to a safe place?" he interrupted her. She stared back at him wordlessly and nodded, her eyes every so often darting to the living room to keep an eye on what Leland was doing.

Adrian nodded and lowered his voice. "We talked yesterday, and I told him that was one of the first things I wanted to do today. He's the only person I trust besides you to help me with that. I'm not taking all of them down, but I am taking down a lot of them. You and Julie are going to be spending time here and I didn't..."

Natalie shook her head and was saying the word "no" over and over again before he could even finish the sentence.

"Adrian, honey." she told him, taking his face in her hands. "You know how I feel about you, but I do not want you taking down your Trudy pictures because of me or because you think I'll have a problem with them if I come here. You've seen my house every day for five months. You've seen all the pictures of Mitch that I have."

Out of the corner of his eye Adrian saw how Leland pointed towards the bedroom when Randy stepped back into the living room and Randy glared but reluctantly went back to the room he was unpacking. Monk cringed, knowing the hours of re-organizing he would have to do later to fix whatever Randy ended up doing wrong, but then his attention went back to Natalie.

"You have three pictures of Mitch on your mantle. Your wedding picture, one of you and Mitch when Julie was only a baby, and a family picture of the three of you. I think that is appropriate. I should reduce my Trudy pictures to two or three."

Natalie looked at him for a long time and climbed down from the counter so she could hold him properly and kiss him properly, resting her head on his chest.

"Only if you want to," she told him softly. "You know I support whatever decision you make. But do it because you think it's the right time, not because of me."

Leland nodded towards the collection of framed photos he'd laid out on the couch. He wanted Monk to approve that those would be the ones transferred to Monk's bedroom until he put the pictures into albums. He then picked up the huge box marked cleaning supplies and headed towards Monk's bathroom.

Monk pleaded with Leland to pay attention to what he was doing and take this task seriously. "Please, Leland. For the love of mercy, please, be careful and put everything back exactly where it goes."

Leland grunted. "Monk, shut up. I've been your friend for thirty years; I give you my word I can organize your bathroom to your standards."

Leland disappeared into Adrian's bathroom and Randy was in his bedroom doing he-didn't-even-want-to-know-what, but somehow all of that didn't matter. Right now Adrian was much more interested in the note Natalie was once again pushing into his hands.

He grinned, looking up at her with her crinkled nose and her half-giddy expression. If she could have opened the note for him no doubt she would have, he was sure, but she waited patiently for him to unfold it. He knew that he wanted to always keep her as happy as she looked right then so he wouldn't tell her that she had folded the note eleven times, not ten, and the corner edges didn't always meet where they were supposed to. It was the thought that counted, and he could teach her proper note-folding skills sometime later.

Natalie told Adrian that she had spent five minutes in her car outside Adrian's apartment trying to compose a letter that would adequately express her feelings at how much he meant to her. But then she had realized that she had all the time in the world to tell him that, so what she told him here in this note would remain simple.

I, Natalie Teeger, hereby owe you, Adrian Monk, one (1) date of your choosing.

Movie, dinner, Julie's rehearsals for her play, even the rock museum, it's up to you. You're the boss ;)

Adrian ducked his chin and then looked up at her, his eyes twinkling. "Natalie Jane Teeger, are you asking me out on a date?"

She bit her lip and smiled. "You might say that."

"And it's not even Sadie Hawkins Day. How daring!" He leaned forward and kissed her. "Hmmm…anywhere I'd like?"

"You're the boss."

"Well… Anywhere with you is fine with me. But, if I have to choose…I think a nice evening of dinner, followed by checking out Julie's play rehearsal sounds good. Especially if afterward…we might include, perhaps, a little snogging on your couch?" He raised his eyebrows at the barely-contained look of surprise on her face.

"Snogging? Where on earth did you learn that term?!" Natalie asked, laughing.

He dismissed the question with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Natalie, dear...we do it enough, I should know what it means."

She crossed her arms in front of her. "I repeat. Where did you learn that term?"

He grinned. She knew him too well. "Alright. You've got me. Let's just say, I heard it from a friend."

Natalie giggled, and rolled her eyes. She loved him but he didn't have many friends other than Leland and Randy and she knew neither of them would have taught him that word, if they themselves knew what it meant. "Fine. Don't tell me. But yes, our date must definitely must include some snogging. Wouldn't want to forget that."

SIX WEEKS LATER

Leland Stottlemeyer had only just settled into his over-sized chair in his SFPD office, ready to read through a case file from one of the many open cases they had working, when his work phone buzzed. It was his secretary, Viv Anne, reporting that Captain Randy Disher was there to see him.

Randy was no longer the fixture in Leland's office that he had been for years, simply due to the increased levels of responsibility for both of them as commander and captain, nevertheless, the two of them saw each other three or four times a week for case-related reasons. Leland leaned back in his chair and put down the file he had only just picked up, instructing Viv Anne to tell Randy to come in. His office door soon opened and Randy was at the head of his desk looking at Leland expectantly, much like he always had.

Leland took off his reading glasses. "What can I do for you, Randy?"

Randy sighed in frustration. "You can help us. It's the same double-homicide we were dealing with around a week ago up in North Beach. We have a suspicion that the manager did it, but, as you know, suspicions about who did it and proving it are two different things. We're not able to make much ground on this one, commander."

The commander frowned. "You and your guys have been working on this thing since then and still don't have meaningful clues? That's not good." He grinned, knowing his next suggestion would really get Randy's goat. "Has Monk seen the evidence?"

Randy rolled his eyes. "Monk? I wouldn't even know where to begin to start looking for him. He's been hard to find ever since he moved out of Natalie's."

"How hard can it be, Randy? He's not at his apartment?"

"Not when I checked this morning, but his mornings are usually booked. You, uh, you know he's finally going for his driver's license?"

"Heaven help us all," Leland muttered under his breath. "Did you check in with Dr. Bell? Or Natalie's?"

"Tried them both. Seems like he and Natalie are always out during regular hours."

"Have you tried calling him on his cell phone?" Leland asked.

"Monk has a cell phone?" Randy asked in surprise. "Since when? He barely knows how to use one."

"That's what he and Julie were supposed to be going shopping for when he put in the order for a watch, a cell phone. Natalie made him get one anyway." Leland reached for his wallet and fished out a piece of paper, handing it to Randy. "Give that back when you're done with it. Top number is Natalie's, bottom number is Monk's. More than likely he won't answer. Call hers and see if they can come to review what you've got so far."

Randy sighed, annoyed that once again, the commander knew something about Monk that he didn't. He didn't even know that Monk had a cell phone. He reached for the phone on Commander Stottlemeyer's desk and used it to dial Monk's number. Just as the commander had predicted, Monk's number went straight through to voicemail; so, he dialed Natalie's next. After a few rings, he heard a hello.

"Natalie? It's me, Randy, hi, I was wondering if - oh, T.K.?" He frowned and looked at the paper Leland handed him, touching each number with his finger to try and make sure he dialed the correct number. "Yes, sorry, no, Leland's fine," he said distractedly. Leland reached for the phone and Randy easily dodged him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I was trying to find Natalie to get her and Monk to come to the precinct to look at some evidence... What's that? They should be here already? All right, I'll look for them around here, thanks. And, yes, I'll have your husband call you. I'll be sure and tell him." Randy hung up the phone and looked at the commander. "Call your wife."

"I gathered that, thanks." He furrowed his brow. "They were at my house?"

"Something about Natalie wanting to drop off some jewelry T.K. let her borrow. She, uh, said that Monk and Natalie were going to drop Julie off down near the wharf and they were going to come straight here up to your office. She said they left your house an hour ago."

"They should be here by now if they left my house an hour ago," Leland mused. "Go check in the hallway and see if you can see them. Maybe check the parking lot too because…you know."

The look on Leland's face spoke volumes and Randy nodded and went to exit the commander's office. "Yes sir, I do know. I'll find them and bring them to you."

Twenty minutes passed and Randy still had not returned. Leland got tired of waiting and went out into the squad room to speak to his Chief Lieutenant about some things that he wanted him and Captain Disher to check out that afternoon. He had just finished detailing everything when Randy finally returned with their two friends in his wake. They were looking guilty. Randy pushed Monk and Natalie front and center in front of Leland. Neither one of them would make eye contact with the Commander.

Leland raised his eyebrows at Randy, who immediately took a step back. "I see you've found them. Where were they this time?" he asked.

"Evidence room, sir. They were in the evidence room."

Commander Stottlemeyer's thunderous voice boomed throughout the squad room to the extent that the other police officers averted their gaze and some of the braver ones even looked sympathetically at Monk and his assistant/girlfriend. "MONK! TEEGER! In my office, NOW!" Leland opened the main door to his office and told Viv Anne to hold all of his calls for the next hour. He motioned with his hand for the three friends to go forward and they scurried into his office, Leland shutting the door behind them.

Randy took his place off to the side and Adrian and Natalie stood at attention much like they were two Army recruits standing before their drill sergeant. Leland paced back and forth in front of them and looked furious.

"Monk, what in the name of Hades were you doing in the evidence room?"

Monk was interrupted by Leland before he even had a chance to answer for himself.

"Let me guess...the same thing you were doing in the interrogation room three weeks ago and again last week? Or what you were doing in the back stairwell last Friday, and who knows where else?"

"Behind the coat rack, sir," Randy offered, as Natalie and Monk's heads both snapped his way, clearly irritated with their friend. "I caught them in your office behind the coat rack, um…you know…last week," Randy said, looking back at Natalie who stuck her tongue out at him.

"The coat...did you say, MY OFFICE?" Leland asked.

"Yes, sir." Randy was thankful he was not in the line of fire so he wouldn't get hit by…whatever the commander decided to throw.

Leland rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and took a breath for calmness, wishing his yo-yo wasn't all the way in his desk. He stepped closer to Monk to where they were standing mere inches apart, nose-to-nose. "Adrian Monk. You were one of the best cops I've ever known for almost two decades and you've been around this police station for almost a daily basis ever since. You know what goes on here and how important it is for you to maintain a professional atmosphere at all times when you work here and represent the police department. Don't you agree that professionalism is important?"

Monk looked down and mumbled something Leland couldn't hear. "Yes, sir," he said slowly.

"What was that, Detective Monk? Repeat what you said so I can hear it."

Adrian looked up and looked his longtime friend in the eyes. "Yes, sir, Commander Stottlemeyer, I agree."

Leland took a step back and ever-so-slightly relaxed. "Then please explain it to me why I keep having to warn the two of you about your extra-curricular activities around this station? And please, please tell me why is it that I keep having to remind you that this is a police station, a place of serious business, and not the Honeymoon Hotel?"

The corner of Adrian's mouth curled just a fraction but he knew better than to say a word. Leland turned and walked towards Natalie.

"And you, Ms. Teeger…you've worked for this man how many years now? Five…six?"

"Seven, sir," Natalie mumbled. "Seven years and counting." Adrian smiled in her direction but immediately turned serious when Leland glanced over at him.

"Seven," Leland echoed. "Seven years and you've been of invaluable assistance. You really have, I'm not saying that to make Monk here happy. Which is why I am frankly a little surprised that I keep having to pull you aside and tell you that it is not appropriate for you to be making out with your boss in the evidence room! If the Commissioner heard about any of this, do I have to tell you how long it would be until we were all looking for new jobs?"

Natalie lowered her eyes towards the floor and Adrian remained quiet, both choosing to take their chastisement like grown-ups until Leland was finished.

Leland stood in the middle and looked at both of them. "Well? Do you have anything to say for yourselves?" he asked.

Silence.

Leland blinked as he took a closer look at Monk. Ever since Randy had brought them into the squad room, he'd noticed Monk's attire and how his longtime friend seemed to be dressed differently than Leland was used to see Adrian Monk dress when he was on consultant-duty. He folded both arms in front of his chest and studied his friend and then, as Natalie and Randy watched with very different expressions, Leland Stottlemeyer walked to Adrian and tucked two fingers inside the collar of Monk's high-necked pullover sweater, enough to pull the sweater away from Monk's neck and reveal a prominent love bite. Leland released Monk's collar and raised his eyebrows at his best detective. Monk lowered his head and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment even as he grinned.

Randy snickered out loud as Leland's raised eyebrows turned in Natalie's direction. Wide-eyed, Natalie mirrored her boyfriend's actions and dropped her gaze to the floor, tugging up her own collar trying to hide what was underneath. She also refused to make eye contact with her longtime friend, the commander.

Leland made a face. This was one time he wished he hadn't seen the evidence that he was right. He took a step back and took a breath, purposefully using a kinder tone.

"Monk," he said. "Monk, look at me."

Adrian hesitantly looked up.

"Adrian," Leland said, quietly. "You're my friend. You've been my very best friend for thirty years. We've been through a lot together and we've seen a lot. And you know how happy I am for you that you and Natalie are together. It does my heart good to see you living again, buddy. It does. And you know good and well what I think about your abilities as a detective. You're the best I've ever worked with. All these things I've just said, Monk? They are the only reasons why I'm not kicking you and Natalie to the curb for insubordination and inappropriate conduct right this second. Are you hearing me?"

Adrian opened his mouth to speak. Leland held up his hand. "Monk, this is the fourth…"

"Fifth," Randy corrected.

"…fifth," Leland sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck again. "Fifth such incident in the last six weeks between the two of you and I have to tell you, if it happens again, if anyone catches you, it doesn't have to be me or Randy…friendship aside, I'm going to have to release you from your contract. I don't want to do that. I don't want to have to fire you, Monk. Do you understand?"

There was a long pause and Monk kept his eyes looking directly at the floor, but he understood. He wouldn't be the one to cause Leland to have to fire him. "Yes, sir," he whispered. "Yes, Commander."

"This is your last chance, buddy," Leland warned him, his tone extremely serious. "I mean it, Monk. This is your last chance. Did you hear that, Ms. Teeger?"

"Yes, sir," she muttered sullenly. Her voice was as quiet and as compliant as Monk's. "Thank you."

Leland sighed. Sometimes he hated being the one in charge of his friends, especially in times like this. He hated that he had complete authority over them and having Natalie and even Monk at times look at him like he betrayed them.

"Good. Please don't let it happen again. You're dismissed. Follow Randy to his office and he will get you up-to-date on the double homicide in North Beach. Maybe you can pick up something they haven't seen."

Leland returned to his chair and picked up the case folder, fully expecting to hear the opening and closing of his door as his three friends left his office. The sound never came.

Without so much as looking up, the irritation was clear in his tone as he spoke sharply to them. "Unless of course, you'd like to make it three-for-three so I'd get to speak to all of you about insubordination? Randy, I suggest you take them to your office and give Monk and Natalie updates on the double-homicide. We're at work, I would like to get at least some work done. I'm sort of funny that way."

"Leland?" came Natalie's somewhat timid voice. "Permission to speak, sir?"

Leland turned in his chair and reluctantly set his case file down on his desk. "Natalie, I'm not a drill sergeant," he said, softening his tone. He saw Randy still standing in the doorway and Monk and Natalie standing off to the side near the doorway, both looking ashamed.

He surmised that Monk must have poked Natalie in the side or some such thing because Natalie was giving him some serious side eye. Leland did his best not to react.

"Commander Stottlemeyer," she continued. With formality, he noticed. "We're…I mean Adrian, um…Detective Monk and I, we're… we're sorry. We give you our word, it won't happen again."

"At least not where we can find you guys," Randy muttered under his breath. He turned towards Monk. "Seriously, Monk? The evidence room is the most romantic place you can think of to take Natalie to make out? I have so much to teach you."

All three of the room's occupants watched as Leland Stottlemeyer opened the second drawer of his desk to retrieve his anger-management yo-yo and set it in the middle of his desk without saying a word. And all three of the room's occupants ceased talking immediately.

"Just so as long as we have an understanding, Ms. Teeger," he responded. If she wanted to be formal, he would do it too. For now.

"Yes sir," she nodded. "Yes, sir, we do. We're grateful that we're still allowed to work together." Leland had actually threatened to ban Natalie from the station as a result of the second incident and who had walked in on them, but not one of the friends took his threat seriously and Leland himself never planned to follow through. He simply wanted his best detective to be able to focus again. "We know we've been taking advantage of your friendship and your generosity and we won't abuse the privilege anymore."

Randy coughed. "Brown-noser."

"Tattle-tale," she instantly retorted.

"Hey! The commander is the one who told me to look for you two! Believe you me, the last thing I wanted to see was Monk pressing you up against a file cabinet with his hand on your butt!"

Natalie was incensed. "Randy!"

Monk hesitantly raised his hand, looking in Leland's direction. "Um. Leland, if I may interject…while it is true that Natalie and I were in the evidence room...um...kissing…I, I can assure you that I didn't have my hand on her, um…on her - "

"Her butt," Randy supplied helpfully, sensing Monk's discomfort with the word. Monk narrowed his eyes and scowled at Randy.

"No. What I was going to say, Leland, was that my hand remained firmly on her waist and only her waist and went nowhere near her gluteal region."

Randy rolled his eyes. Monk was such a goody-goody sometimes, no wonder the commander liked and trusted him more. "Monk, I saw you. Your hand was on her butt. And, actually, you appeared to be grabbing her butt. I must say I'm impressed."

Adrian turned all the way towards Randy. "That is a lie. My hand was on her waist, Randy!"

"Commander, believe you me, I've seen a few women in my day, and that's not where their waists are!" he replied.

"Randy, don't tell tall tales," Natalie scolded him. "That isn't what happened and you know it."

"Monk, man, I didn't know you had it in you." Monk looked mortified at Randy's idea of encouragement and praise.

This time, it was Natalie's turn to look Randy directly in the eyes. "There's a lot of things you don't know about Adrian, Randy."

"Like about his ability to perform a mouth to mouth root canal? And oh, by the way, I was talking to Sharona about the conversation we had about how the two of you have been carrying on and she agrees with me."

Adrian didn't even have time to admonish Randy for his vulgarity about the mouth-to-mouth root canal reference, because he glanced quickly and saw that Natalie was looking at him quizzically with that look that meant he better start talking and fast. He turned his eyes towards Disher. "Why in heaven's name would you talk to Sharona about that?!"

"Because she's a nurse and she said I was right. You and Natalie need to have that talk before you do anything." Randy looked awfully proud of himself as he looked past Monk at Natalie. "Ask your boyfriend what I'm talking about. Better yet, I'll tell you. We were discussing how you and Monk need to talk about and think about contraceptives - unless you want kids. In which case, ignore me."

"Ignoring Randy...sounds like a fine idea," Leland muttered from behind his desk, but no one heard him.

"Leland!" Adrian pleaded, his face red with humiliation. "Help me, please?"

Natalie took a few steps and stood directly in front of her boyfriend of three months so he was forced to look at her. "No help from Leland or Randy. You were the one to say that you needed to move out of my house for, um, reasons, and now you're thinking about whether or not we are going to have kids?"

Adrian opened his mouth and no words came at first. He looked at Leland in desperation and back at Natalie. "I…I didn't say that. I didn't say anything about kids. Ask Leland, he'll tell you."

Natalie frowned. "So you don't want to have kids one day?"

"I, ah, I didn't say that either, sweetheart." For the third time he looked desperately at Leland. "Leland, for the love of Pete, will you say something to help me here?"

Leland chuckled in amusement. He never thought he'd see the day that a scene like this, Monk talking to his girlfriend about the possibility of future children, would ever be in the cards again for his friend. "You're on your own, buddy. Be a man and use your words."

Monk scowled at both Leland and at Randy, more so at Randy. "Now do you see what you've done?" He sighed, knowing Natalie wasn't going to let him get by without answering one way or the other so he closed his eyes and answered the best way he knew how. "I - I think that is something we should talk about just the two of us, in the privacy of one of our homes." He glared at Randy. "In other words, nowhere that 'Disher the fisher' is able to listen in on our conversation."

"Hey!" Randy exclaimed, offended. "I resent that!"

"Welcome to the club," Monk snapped, his voice softening when he looked at Natalie. "As - as you know, dear, there are some things that need to happen before we have that particular conversation."

Natalie smiled and her eyes softened. "I agree. But, just for the record and just so you know, I've always wanted to have another child. Julie always wanted siblings. Of course, that was before Mitch died, but…"

Adrian reached for her hand and squeezed. "Really?"

Randy chimed in before she could respond. "Well, you're well on your way there, based on what I saw in the evidence room."

"Randy, shut up," Natalie and Adrian both yelled.

"Just reporting the facts." Randy replied cheerfully.

"Those are not the facts!" Adrian insisted. "We weren't doing anything of the vulgar sort."

"They are too the facts!"

"RANDY!" Leland barked, finally having enough. "I don't care what you saw or what you thought you saw and I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT!"

Randy was silent.

Leland sighed and ran his hand over his face. "T.K. wants us to have a conversation about whether or not we're going to have kids. Something about having Max full-time that made her want one. I've been putting off that talk but after today I'm going to tell her no and I'm not even going to feel bad about it. I seem to have five children already: Jared, Max, and the THREE OF YOU!"

For the second time the three friends fell silent. It was Leland that ultimately broke the silence, and his voice was much calmer. "And, Ms. Teeger, I accept your apology but I blame Monk more than I blame you. He knows we keep things professional here." He didn't see Natalie's wink at Adrian.

"Like, how you keep things professional with T.K. in this office when you think you won't be interrupted, kind of like that?" she wondered, amusement evident in her voice. "Randy told us what happened here last Monday."

"I did not!" Randy exclaimed.

"Did too!" Natalie replied.

"Did not!" he said.

"Well, how else did we know about it, Randy?" Monk countered. "How are you going to explain that one, since you're so busy telling everything else to everybody that you think you know."

Leland muttered some choice words under his breath. "It's not even like they're teenagers that I can ground for a week at a time, it's like I'm dealing with three five-year-olds every day I come to work."

They watched, silently, as he picked up his yo-yo, unwound the string and looped it around his wrist, then tossed the yo-yo to the ground, expertly catching it when it came back to him. He repeated this action five more times before he spoke again, and when he did the tone of his voice was strong.

"This is MY office. I was working late, and most importantly, T.K. doesn't work here."

He sighed when Monk hesitantly raised his hand again, but this time, he did not ask him what he wanted. "Monk, T.K. is my wife, it's perfectly acceptable for us to be kissing in my office."

"Uh, sir, that's not what..." Randy instantly shut up under the heat of Stottlemeyer's glare.

Leland tossed his yo-yo as hard as he could and purposefully allowed it to hit the floor. "Keep going, Randy. If you want me to fire all three of you, I'm about five seconds away from doing so."

Just then, Leland's intercom buzzed in. He stabbed at the button with the first pencil he could find. "YES! How can I help you, Viv Anne?" he snapped.

Um, sir. Just got a call from Central. Sounds like there has been a shooting down by Pier 41. Young man. Late teens. They are requesting that you come and take a look.

Leland Stottlemeyer instantly got serious and turned to the three equally-as-serious people in his office.

"You heard her, boys and girl. Playtime is over. Natalie, you and Monk go ahead and run out to the car and follow us. Randy, go grab your notebook and meet me back down by my car in three minutes."

Author's Note: This is the last official chapter of this story. There will be an epilogue which begins an entirely new story (coming early in 2020) posted later today as well. We would again like to thank our loyal readers for their faithfulness and feedback throughout this journey. Special thanks again to Alex Hoodle, Ljd21690, Dmander4483, Aloysia Pison, Monkish, magggsm, VL, and guest (s) for your valued feedback along the way. We hope you'll follow our stories in the future and look forward to hearing from you soon in 2020 as we see what other things await our dashing Detective and his lovely lady.