Author's note: Due to the heavy nature of the last few chapters, I thought it would be good to have a change of pace and insert a little humor. It capitalizes on how Monk is sometimes a man-child, both sadly world-wise and bit naïve all at once. A warning to my readers, however, the content of the next two chapters somewhat earns its "T" rating as they deal with mature themes (nothing too graphic but still not for younger kids). If you would prefer to not read that type of content, skip ahead to the final chapter. Originally designed as one chapter, I've broken it into two due to length.

Idablue, Alex, thesunisup, LJD & KittyKat06, as always, I thank you for your reviews and love hearing what you think. I hope that you enjoy the rest of the story.

Natalie waited in the front seat of her silver SUV with a pillow resting over her tummy while her husband drove her home from the hospital. The path he took should have been a hint to her of how those first few days at home were going to go because the journey took twice as long to make due to his selection of a route with the least turns, bumps, and motor vehicles. Still, she didn't mind. He had been an absolute prince to her during her six-day stay at Massachusetts General and didn't even complain in the least when she wettened his shirt with her tears as they left the hospital without their Asher, who was expected to be there for at least eight weeks more.

At least they got to hold him, she told herself, though not in the room at the same time since COVID restrictions had limited his visitors to one or the other. There was some comfort, however, in that Julie had given them a key to her home to stay at during the day when they would come see him. This cut 20 minutes out of every trip and allowed them to stay even longer during visiting hours. Still, that beautiful little boy with the expressive eyes and his daddy's dimples had already stolen both parent's hearts and their home would not feel complete until their precious Asher home for good.

Monk pulled up to the driveway and Natalie smiled when she saw two giggling faces peeping through the curtains of their living room window. She was so excited to see them, but Monk made her wait until he had carried her things into the house and came back to help her. She could only imagine the fuss that was being made behind those doors to make sure that everything was absolutely 'perfect' for her arrival. She didn't have the heart to tell him that the house could look like a tornado had swept through it and she wouldn't care. She just wanted to be with her family. Thankfully, the wait wasn't long, for within five minutes he was at her door offering her his arm to hold on to as they walked into their home.

Opening the front door, she smiled with surprise when she saw the hallway and tables lined with Cherry Blossoms, her favorite flower and the one they featured at their wedding. But her smile grew even broader when her eldest daughter, Julie, escorted her Abby and Lee out of the dining room to come greet her. The children were dressed in their "Sunday Apparel" with Abby wearing a yellow organza dress they had bought for Easter and Lee wearing a light brown suit. He looked so much like his father in that moment that she wanted to do a doubletake, and even though she had only been gone a week, they appeared so much more grown up that Natalie began to cry when she saw them.

Abby ran to her with arms outspread crying "Mommy!" but the ever-sensitive Lee began to cry when he saw his mother cry and quietly joined his sister at their mother's feet. Rather than being captured in a an exuberant hug, Natalie was surprised when both children stopped short and waited for their father's okay. Adrian stood over them and nodded with a smile then both children stuck out their tiny arms to shake their mother's hand. Natalie returned the gesture but looked up at Adrian with confusion.

"What's this about?" she asked.

"I've been teaching them to be polite and not be so rough." he said. "I told them when you came home that they shouldn't jump on you because you would be a sore from being in the hospital. Lee's the one who asked if they could shake your hand, and I, of course, said yes. They both really missed you."

Natalie bent down and drew both children in for a hug and a kiss while Adrian stood next to her to make sure she didn't fall. "They didn't miss me as much as I missed them. And, Mommy's okay to hug. Just don't jump on her tummy, and we should be okay."

"'Okay Mommy." Abby said, squeezing her arm. Lee just rested his head on her shoulder and began to suck his thumb. Monk tried to get the thumb out of his mouth, but Natalie kissed his cheek and with Adrian's help stood, holding onto Lee's hand while she greeted Julie and started to get settled. She began to go to the living room where she planned on taking a nap on the couch, but Monk redirected her. "I've got the sunroom set up to where you can rest. Since it's still pretty cold out, I had them install temperature control so when the sun isn't out, you can still be warm."

"That was so sweet! I will love looking out on the water."

"I also got you a new lounge chair. It's what they call zero gravity – but it can be set at whatever angle you feel comfortable." he said as he held her by the arm and walked her toward the east side of the house. "I stocked the refrigerator with that organic iced tea that you like and I got you some of those comfy combed cotton pajamas you like and a new robe to keep you warm. Oh, and a hydrotherapy tub with air streams that run though the water. They call them jets."

"You got us a hot tub?!" she said putting her arm around him.

"You. I got you a hot tub. It's all yours. It's for you." He replied.

"Honey, you didn't have to do all that. I'm just happy to be home." She said as they reached the door.

He stopped and turned to her. "Natalie, I can't tell you what went through my mind when I thought I had lost you, nor would I want you burdened with that. But I will say it woke me up to how much I take you for granted and how much I want to spoil you for the rest of our lives. Heaven knows you've spoiled me. So, just let me do this for you, okay? You worry about feeling better and I'll take care of the rest."

For the next several days, that is precisely what Natalie did. She slept a lot for the first week and he pampered her with every little extravagance he could think of in order to see to it that she was comfortable and happy. Taking a leave of absence from the agency, his number one occupation became her welfare and while she knew it was just an outward expression of love, she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable with all of that attention and she worried if there wasn't a little more going on inside of her husband, such as feeling false guilt for all that happened.

The truth of the matter began to come to light about three weeks into her recovery. The kids were with Ambrose and Heather and Natalie was resting in the living room while Monk was taking a shower - one of the few moments he had not been directly by her side since she had come home. Bored with doing nothing and anxious to get the day started since they were going to go see Asher that morning, she decided since he was busy that she would for once be the one to make them both a little breakfast. Slipping into the kitchen, she quickly whipped up some pancake batter and warmed up the cast-iron griddle. He had not allowed her to lift a finger around the house for three weeks and so she giggled while she worked as it felt like she was being a little naughty in defying his wishes while he was away. Since his showers normally took a very long time, she had plenty of time to make the pancakes, cut them into squares like he liked them, pour him some orange juice and even make them some turkey sausage before he was any wiser as to what was going on. She went one step too far, however, when she decided to lift the hot griddle to carry it over to the sink and it was a little to hot to handle. Slightly burning her hands, she dropped the griddle on the floor and it made a terrible clatter that could be heard through the house. Immediately, she heard the water shut off in the bathroom and seconds later the slapping of feet running across the tile floor and Adrian's panicked voice calling out her name.

"I'm okay. I'm in here." she said as he rounded the corner, wild-eyed, dressed only in a towel, dripping wet and nearly slipping on their tile floor.

"Y-you're okay?! You didn't hurt yourself or damage your incision or…or…or hurt yourself?" he said, taking hold of her arms and examining her closely from head to toe. As he looked her over, Natalie was doing the same to him, though he didn't notice. She bit her lower lip and grinned.

"Oh, I'm fine." She said, not a little suggestively – though that too was lost on her worried husband. "I just burned myself a little and dropped the stupid pan. Nothing serious."

"The pan?" he exclaimed. "Sweetheart! You know you aren't supposed to be lifting anything over ten pounds! That griddle weighs twelve!"

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to do something besides sit around and be waited on. I thought it would be nice if I took care of you for once."

"By hurting yourself? No, sweetheart. You have to let me take care of you! Come on and sit down and I'll check out your hands."

"My hands are fine." She said as he wrapped an arm around her and helped her up onto the bar stool. Sitting her down, her eyes were just about at the height of his neck which she was very tempted to kiss. She grinned mischievously. "You can help me with something else though."

"What? Did you hurt something besides your hands?" he asked, sincerely.

"Nothing that you can't make all better." She said, tugging him by the arm into her embrace and capturing his lips in a passionate kiss.

Having been away from his wife for over three weeks had taken a toll on Monk as well and just being that close to her again felt remarkable. He found himself leaning into the kiss and gently wrapped his arms around her. But, the moment would not last, for the sound of her soft sigh reminded him of her condition – and alerted him to his present condition. He pulled away.

"What's wrong?" she asked, breathlessly.

"N-n-nothing!" he said. "It's just…you…you…you just had major surgery and …well…we have to be careful!"

"It was just a kiss." She said.

"Yeah…well, it starts with just a kiss – but kisses lead to other things and Natalie, we just can't!"

Natalie pooched out her lower lip in a mock pout which merited a stern look from her husband.

She laughed. "Alright, alright…I know we can't, silly – not for three more weeks. I wasn't suggesting that we do. But, I've just missed you so much and well…just because we can't do that doesn't mean that we can't have any… you know…fun." She reached for his arm and pulled him back to her and began to kiss him again and once again Monk succumbed to her charm, until, she went for his towel.

"Natalie! No!" he said, backing away and shaking his head.

"It's just us here!" she giggled.

"I don' t care. It's too dangerous. We're playing with fire when we do that and…well, you could get hurt and I swore to myself when you were in the hospital that I'd never hurt you again."

"Adrian Monk! You are not blaming yourself for what happened are you? That wasn't your fault." she replied.

"I don't agree and am not going to argue." He stated. "But regardless, the situation is just too tempting so we need to back away. I'm going go get dressed now and will clean up the kitchen. Please go rest. You shouldn't be exerting yourself. Try to…you know…concentrate on something else. It's what we have to do. R-r-read a book." He said, returning to their room.

Natalie slumped in her seat. He was right, of course. It was too early. And they were playing with fire. But he just looked so cute. And, as hard as she tried to think of something else the picture of him standing there lingered in her mind. She took her frustration out on the plate of pancakes and began to plan her moment of freedom.

For the next couple of weeks she began to implement that plan. Natalie knew that there wasn't a whole lot that they could do in the realm of the romantic that couldn't spiral out of control; but that didn't mean that she was just going to sit quietly, do nothing and allow their relationship to go stale. To the contrary, she would insert a little 'spice' wherever she could in a subtle enough way as to not arouse his suspicions. After all of their years together, she knew her husband well and knew how his mind worked in certain areas unseen by anyone else. And, despite the fact that to most people he seemed very prudish, she knew the real Adrian Monk was just a man with high standards - who, while maintaining a disciplined veneer was pretty much like any other man, being governed very much in that area by his five senses. So, where she could, she would make him his favorite foods, dress in outfits she knew he liked, wear his favorite perfume, give him shoulder rubs or anything chaste that would give him the physical touch that they had both grown to love, and she would praise him for all of the little things that she knew he was doing – in the hopes that by the end of her sequestration he would be more than ready to press past any hesitancy and do whatever she wanted. She didn't look at it as manipulation but more akin to tending a garden. Watered with love, her hope was that when they received the 'all clear' that they could step back into their formal roles and everything would be the same or better than before.

Monk, on the other hand, had other plans. As much as Natalie tried to appeal to his senses, that was how much he tried to resist. Oblivious to what she was doing, he played mind games with himself when she'd waft by and he'd smell her scent, reminding himself of where that hint of musk in her perfume originated from. And when she'd rub his neck he'd try to imagine it was someone else, with dirty hands – anything to take away the pleasure. It wasn't just because he knew that she was still healing that he did this. No. He had other reasons for his behavior.

Unfortunately, Mr. Monk did not share these reasons with Mrs. Monk.

It was five weeks into her confinement and, physically, things were much improved for Natalie. All of Adrian's pampering and taking care of the children and house had given her the opportunity to focus on self-care to the degree that she was healing quicker than schedule. Emotionally, it was another story. She knew she would have her ups and downs, but she figured it would be over her health and not the state of her marriage.

The highlight of every day was when she and Adrian would go to see Asher. Gone were the days of feeding tubes down the baby's throat and 24/7 oxygen in his nose. He was gaining weight and smiling and his little personality was really shining through. The two would love the time they would spend with him (even though leaving him each afternoon would still bring tears) and would share with one another all the way home all of the cute little things he was doing and how it made them feel.

But the moment they would get home, Adrian would head to the living room and become busy playing with the twins or reading or anything that he could do to stay busy. Soon, a formality began to develop in their relationship that was privately tearing her up inside. She wasn't sure if it was her raging hormones or what, but all of her efforts at keeping the spice in their relationship had seemed to affect her more than they had him. In fact, he had done such a stellar job at keeping his distance that she was beginning to become afraid that perhaps, he was losing interest. She needed a reprieve.

Taking matters into her own hands, she had Julie take her to Dr. Green's for her five-week checkup while Adrian stayed behind and watched the kids. While there, she discussed whether it was appropriate to begin reintroducing elements of her former life back into her routine. First and foremost on her mind was her marital relationship, but she also wanted to pick up some of the chores knowing that he had been carrying it all for even before her surgery and wanting to give him a chance to relax.

After a thorough examination, Dr. Green concluded that Natalie was largely healed up and if she was feeling up to it, she could start doing things immediately. But she told her that she should start slow and listen to her body. If she felt uncomfortable doing something, stop. Otherwise, she would be allowed to return to life as usual as she saw fit – news Natalie couldn't have been happier to hear. Tonight, would be their night.

Arranging for Monk to take her car into the shop to get it serviced late that afternoon, she knew he would be gone at least two hours given the fact he always insisted on inspecting every item on the service list after it was done. By his logic, if they were going to charge him $119.99, it was his right to see the work and ensure that it had been done properly. This he did without knowing the least little bit about servicing a car.

Given that window of time, she sent the twins home with Julie for the evening and launched into creating the right romantic atmosphere within their house. She set up candles throughout the home, turned on the soft jazz station and put a chicken pot pie in the oven and some non-alcoholic wine in their chiller. She then hurried to the bedroom to slip into the beautiful and sexy red satin dress she had picked out for the evening and she did her hair and makeup as if they were going out. She finished primping just in time for him to come home.

Adrian walked into the house shorty after dusk, carrying a paper bag full of air filters that the service shop had given him free of charge just to get him to leave. He had complained that "crinkles" and "gaps" in the filters were going to allow environmental pollutants into the inside cabin and with a newborn coming home soon, he insisted that they give him a quality filter. They tried several - none to his satisfaction. Finally, the manager opened a brand-new box, grabbed a handful of filters and thrust them into his arms, suggesting that perhaps he could take them home and 'iron them.' Adrian did not catch the sarcasm and left pacified, excited to share news of the big 'giveaway' he had received with Natalie.

Pulling into the driveway a few minutes after dusk, he was so happy with himself that he didn't notice that the lights in his house were unusually dim for that night. He turned his key in the door and began calling for his wife before his feet hit the threshold.

"Natalie, you won't believe what the guys at the shop gave m-e." he said when he entered their home with a bag of filters in his hand. He stopped and took note that the entire hallway was lined with candles which reflected off the shiny tile floor and created a warm glow wherever their light hit. He took off his coat and began to search for his wife.

"Sweetheart? Natalie? Where are you? Did the power go out?" he asked as he turned the corner and walked into the living room. There, lying provocatively on her side on the couch bathed in the glow of their fireplace and looking absolutely stunning, was his wife.

"No. The power's just fine. Thought we might enjoy some candles, that's all." She said, getting up and slinking over to him. She placed her hands behind his neck and stared up at him with a seductive stare. "What was it you were saying?"

Monk swallowed hard and he felt his heart skip a beat. He tried to say something for a few seconds but the only thoughts going through his mind were how beautiful she was and how much he missed her and how much it was going to take every ounce of his self-control to ward off the feelings he was feeling in that moment.

"Adrian?" she said, tilting her head and looking up at him innocently. "Are you okay?"

He put on a fake smile and held up the bag. "Filters! I got free air filters. Isn't it tremendous?!" He responded, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before moving into the living room and sitting them down.

Natalie exhaled in disappointment that he didn't so much as say a word about her appearance, but she wasn't about to give up. She listened to the story about the shop and tried to sound interested waiting for the next moment of opportunity, which came just a few minutes later.

Monk had just finished his story and began to look around. "Where are the children? It's a little early for bedtime." He said, beginning to walk toward Lee and Abby's room.

Natalie quickly took him by the arm and stopped him. "They are with Julie. They, um, enjoy their time with her so much that I thought it would be fun if they had another sleep over. It's just the two of us tonight." She said, leading him to his favorite chair and sitting him down. "And, I thought, well… that since it was just the two of us…"she took off his shoes and came and sat on his lap "…that I'd make this evening about showing you just how much I appreciate how sweet you've been to me the past several weeks."

She leaned forward and began to trace her finger along the buttons of his shirt, while keeping one hand resting on his shoulder. "I made your favorite, chicken pot pie, and some cobbler for dessert – then I thought maybe we could just spend some time together, to talk, to dance, to…you know…just be with each other."

Monk looked at her, his respiration beginning to increase along with his heart and he stammered. "I…um…y-you d-didn't huh-have t…"

"But I wanted to." She said eagerly. She teased the button on his collar. "In fact, I want to make tonight really…really…special for the both of us." She looked at him and bit her lip. "If…you know what I mean."

Monk closed his eyes, his self-control quickly ebbing away. He shook his head. "N-N-Natalie…we…we talked about this earlier and y-you know that we h-have to be-be-behave ourselves."

"Not anymore." She smiled.

"Huh?" he asked, opening his eyes widely.

"I went to go see Dr. Green today for my check up and she says that I'm ready to begin getting back to normal in terms of daily activities." She leaned into kiss him. "ALL daily activities."

Monk found himself unable to think. They weren't allowed! What was that Doctor thinking?! He felt unsettled and indignant.

"How can she say that?!" he asked, rolling her off of him in order to stand. "You just went through major surgery!"

"I know." Natalie replied.

"And, you almost died!" He said.

"But, I didn't." she replied. "And, she says everything has healed very well. So I was thinking…that is I was hoping that you and I could…you know…pick up where we left off."

Monk shook his head. "No! Natalie, we can't. It's too soon."

"But, it's been five weeks – longer, actually." She said following him.

"That's nothing." He replied.

"It's nothing?" she responded, feeling hurt.

"And, if that Dr. Green doesn't see that, I'm not so sure that I want you seeing her again. You did almost bleed to death under her care."

"Adrian!"

"And now, she's pushing you into…into…that!"

"You're making it sound like a chore!" Natalie began to whimper. "Adrian, she didn't push me…I…I thought that you would want to. I…I thought that you would be happy!" she sniffed. "I guess I was wrong!" Natalie turned away and ran toward the couple's bedroom sobbing, leaving and exasperated Monk standing helplessly in the hallway.

"Natalie! Natalie…I didn't mean it that way…honest, sweetheart…I'm just thinking about you!" he reasoned as he began to follow her.

He didn't make it all of the way to the bedroom before she came bounding out, purse in one hand and handkerchief in the other.

"Natalie! Not again! You can't just leave when we get into an argument." She walked straight past him and headed for the closet. "Natalie!"

Setting the purse down, she put on her coat and then looked to see where he had placed her keys.

"Natalie Jane Monk! Where are you going?" he asked. "We need to talk about this."

She turned to him angrily. "No, we do not. I don't want to talk about this and you certainly don't want to hear what I say. I've tried to be close to you for five weeks now – knowing we couldn't be together but just wanting to feel your touch. For some reason, you've decided you no longer want to be with me and that idea hurts so bad that right now, I can't be with you." She walked quickly to the door, grabbing her keys as she went.

"Where are you going?" he stated, again.

"My parents! Your dinner is in the oven. I'm no longer hungry." And with that she slammed the door in his face.

A half hour later, a knock came on the door of the Davenport residence which one of their servants answered. Bobby and Peggy sat in the den drinking cocktails while Natalie sat curled up in a chair next to their fireplace staring at the flames. The servant walked into the room and announced Monk's arrival.

Natalie stirred from her position and straightened her dress to try to make it seem as if she was okay but her tear-stained face betrayed her.

"Well, lookie here. If it isn't Adrian Monk – my frigid son-in-law." Peggy announced as Adrian walked into the room.

"Natalie! You didn't!" Monk said, throwing his face to the ceiling.

"Mother!" Natalie scolded at the same time.

"Don't mother me, young lady. You show up at our home at eight o'clock at night and interrupt cocktail hour and I'm going to make sure that all of the cards are out on the table when the louse comes to take you home."

"First of all, every hour seems to be cocktail hour around here these days and I did not call him frigid nor did I call him a louse. You make it sound so perverse."

"No. You said 'my husband is no longer attracted to me' and then holed up in the corner and used up half a box of tissues. Only a louse would do that to my daughter."

"Mother, you have no right."

"As to his being frigid," Peggy continued, "when a man acts that way it is either one of two things. Since we know that it is not in your husband's character to have an affair it has to be the other thing. It's a fact of life."

"Ladies, please!" Bobby interrupted. "This bickering back and forth will get us nowhere."

"But…" Natalie's mother said.

"Darling be quiet. You're drunk." Bobby replied, to which Peggy sat back in her seat and then asked the servant for some more gin and Natalie crossed her arms in anger.

"Adrian. I would like to apologize to you for my wife's behavior. She was out of line."

Monk turned his neck slightly but then nodded, looking between Natalie and her father.

"And, I want to say that what you two are going through is normal. Many couples go through it. Even Peggy and I did once upon a time and it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Well…um, thank you, Bobby. Natalie, can we go?" Monk responded.

"Doctors call it 'Low T' and it is very common for men around your age."

Monk looked mortified. "Um, Natalie…"

"If you'll wait right here, I have a business card for a physician just outside of Boston who can help…"

"Is that Tennyson who prescribed those little blue pills?" Peggy asked.

Natalie put her hands over her ears. "I'm not hearing this."

"No, dear. That was Dr. Warner. Dr. Tennyson was the one who prescribed my heart pills. I'm giving Adrian Dr. Warner's card – unless, you are having issues with the old ticker as well?"

"Bobby, excuse me…but, I do not have l-l-low…um,'T'- and Peggy, I most certainly am not f-f-what you said. And, Natalie – you and I do need to talk, but I do not want to have this conversation while standing in the middle of your parent's den. So, if you'll get your purse and come with me, we can finish the conversation at home."

"Home is where I feel wanted. I don't feel wanted there so we need to discuss it here."

"Natalie!"

She looked at him with an indignant look.

"Sweetheart! Please!"

She turned her head.

Monk closed his eyes and wondered inside if this evening could get any more mortifying.

"Fine!" he said, intercepting his mother-in-law's drink as the servant was bringing it to her. He downed the drink and set it back on the platter and then began to choke.

Natalie cleared her throat. "Adrian, I'm waiting."

He turned to Peggy. "For the record, that was NOT wonderful!" Peggy rolled her eyes.

Monk came over to where Natalie was and sat down on the hearth by the fireplace and looked toward her. She wouldn't look him in the eyes, so he reached out and took her hand.

"Natalie. Sweetheart, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I'm afraid that I did. And, I'm sorry if I somehow made you feel that I'm not attracted to you. You know, nothing could be further from the truth."

Natalie looked at him with hurt-filled eyes. "But, you…"

"- But I've been avoiding you. I know. And, that's true. But, it's not because I'm not attracted to you. It's…it's because I am."

"I told you he was insane." Peggy said.

"Peggy, put a sock in it!" Both Adrian and Natalie said, simultaneously. They turned to each other and a soft smile appeared on each of their faces.

"Sweetheart, do we really have to do this here?" Monk asked.

"You've hurt my daughter enough that she'd come crying to us." Bobby said.

"Which is something she never does." Peggy added.

"We'd all like to hear an explanation." Bobby concluded.

Monk looked at his inlaws, resisting the urge to tell them to mind their own business, but then he turned to Natalie and brought her hand to his lips. It lingered there for several seconds while he gathered his thoughts.

"Darling, you know that this particular subject is not exactly…well, it's not my forte. And, I know that I am not good at expressing – in words, exactly how I feel all of the time." He paused. "What I mean…what I mean to say is that when you're around…sometimes, I lose my senses. I really do. And I fight to maintain control because I know…well, how easy it would be to just throw caution to the wind and…"

Natalie pulled her hand away and dabbed her eye, looking away towards the fireplace.

"Sweetheart. I really don't think you know the affect that you have on me. Like tonight, I came into our house and saw all that you had done and then I turned the corner and there you were - in that beautiful dress - looking so beautiful – you take my breath away.

But, it's not just times like that. It's in the morning when I roll over and see the way your beautiful face is all scrunched up against my pillow, or that thing you do with your jaw when you're trying not to laugh when I'm being – well, me… or the way you look when you hold one of our children when they have a fever -and the love you show – sometimes, it's more than I can stand. I feel my heart just may explode. And, I'm more in love with you today than the day that we got married – more in love than I ever thought possible and…well, like it or not, that love isn't going anywhere. It transcends the physical and it's like…like you are knit to my heart."

Her look toward him softened. "If that's true, why don't you want to be with me? I mean, I know the physical part of our relationship is just one part and if something happened to where it wasn't there any more – well, I know we would go on. But…I thought it was really special and, you know, enjoyable…at least it was for me."

"Sweetheart, it was – it was, and it is, but…"

"So, why don't you want to?" she asked.

"I'm afraid." He stated.

She lowered her chin. "Afraid? You mean you've developed a phobia toward – toward sex?"

Monk lowered his head. "No. I'm afraid of many things, but genophobia is not one of my problems. I'm afraid of hurting you."

"But the doctor says I'm fine."

"I know what she said, but she's wrong, Natalie!"

"How can she be wrong? She's an OB/GYN!"

"Listen, you aren't understanding."

"No. I'm not."

"Fine. I can't really blame you, because I know I haven't been very clear but, it's like this…While you were in the hospital, I started reading. I started reading about what happens when a woman has a…when they go in and you know…take out part of her…"

"Womb?" she asked.

"Yes." He replied. "Her w-woo…what you said. Um…I read where when they do that…and, it's just a partial, they leave the other parts behind."

Natalie raised her eyebrows. "You would have preferred she hadn't?"

"Truthfully? It would have made this conversation easier, but no. I love you and all of your parts and I'm glad you got to keep everything else. It's just... It's just…because they are there…and because you haven't, um…you haven't gone through…um..."

"Menopause?" Peggy responded.

"Mother, stop!"

"Listen, you're in my living room and I'm listening to a sixty-year-old man fumble his words over human biology like a sixth grader learning about the birds and the bees for the first time and then trying to explain it to his friend over recess."

Monk turned to Peggy. "Mrs. Davenport, I apologize that this is being done in your living room but my wife insisted and for your information I didn't learn about the birds and bees until much later than sixth grade – I think it was my first year of college…and I certainly didn't go talking about it to my friends!"

"Adrian, ignore her. Where were you?"

"Menopause." Peggy stated.

"Dear, be quiet." Bobby replied.

Monk closed his eyes. "Yes. Menopause. Um…because you have all of your parts…that is, all of your other parts, you can still technically become, um…in the family way again."

"Oh, I cannot! Someone is pulling your leg!" she replied.

"No. It's true. There have been 72 cases of ectopic pregnancy in women who have had partial, uh removals. And, when that happens – it can kill the mother. And, I was thinking about that and about our particular…uh…biological compatibility and the relative ease at which – well…it's been five years and we have three children so…I think you understand what I'm saying."

"I do. But still…that's 72 cases out of how many millions? The chances are next to none."

"For most people, I would agree. But think about it, Natalie. I'm sixty, you're forty six. You were forty-two when Lee and Abby were conceived and I was fifty-seven. The odds of us conceiving without medical help were like 25% and even less when you consider your thyroid disorder. Then, we had only a 5% chance of having a baby when Asher was conceived and a 1 in 25% chance that he would have Down Syndrome but we didn't stop there – he has the rarest form of Down's which only affects 1-3% of children with Down's. And that says nothing about the less than one in 7.6 billion chance that we would end up together – and I looked at all that and would say, we have a history of defeating the odds.

So, that's the reason I've been avoiding you. It's not because I'm not attracted to you – it's because I very much am and we can't take that risk."

Natalie sighed knowing that it was pointless to try to argue against his logic. He was convinced and would never budge. "Well, then what are we going to do? We can't go on avoiding one another. That's just driving a distance that shouldn't be there."

"Well, I thought about separate beds – at least until you're through meno…um…the thing…"

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Peggy said. "You an infinitesimal chance of ever conceiving again and neither one of you are spring chickens. You're going to deny yourselves because you're afraid to take a chance?"

Monk looked at Peggy. "Mrs. Davenport, it may be hard for you to understand, but I feel it's my responsibility to do everything that I can to keep your daughter safe. If that means denying myself, then that's what I'll do."

"Adrian, you can't stop bad things from happening." Natalie said. "That's just life. You know that."

Monk lowered his head.

"But…you could better your odds." Bobby interjected. Monk looked over at him afraid to ask.

"It's what I was talking about before. You know…snip…snip…" he said making scissor motions with his hands.

Monk rolled his neck and shoulders and practically his entire body. "Natalie, can we leave now? Please?"

Natalie smirked, then took his hand. "Yes, Adrian. We can go. I won't subject you to Davenport dysfunctionality any more tonight."

The Monk's conversation was unsurprisingly one of apprehension an angst. They had talked about separate bedrooms but that fell off the table immediately because they both agreed that they would miss cuddling one another too much – then the subject switched to how long staying away from one another could really be. One thing Peggy had said was right, neither one was getting younger and they both knew first hand of the regrets of not savoring every moment that they had with a spouse as those times could get cut short. Which led them to conclude what they already knew. There was always going to be some risk in life and the best they could do was to do whatever was available for them to do leave the rest to God.

Adrian detested the idea of Natalie undergoing another invasive surgery and so it was decided that he would be the one to make the sacrifice – for the health of his wife and their marriage.