Natalie's alarm rang at 6:00 AM and she stumbled out of bed and into the common area to start some coffee and orange juice for her, Adrian and Preacher. To her surprise, Monk was already up and dressed. Seeing her, he jumped up, walked quickly to the coffee pot and poured her a cup of coffee. He tested the sides of the cup with his hand 3 times to make sure it wasn't too hot.

"Here you go, my lady. Preacher ran down to the coffee shop to see if he could find some donuts. It's a cop thing." He said nervously as he turned the handle towards her for her to take. "I made this for you."

"Oh, thank you. What a surprise! I mean, I wasn't expecting you to be out here yet." She said. Looking at the redness in his eyes she asked, "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"A little. Lot on my mind." He said as he walked to refrigerator and pulled out a carton of cream.

"Like what?" she replied.

"Oh, nothing for you to worry about." He replied with a slight smile.

"Well it was enough to make you lose sleep. You look awful."

He stopped and looked at her. "Uh, I'm sorry. I never was the most..." He said as he was pouring cream into a pitcher shaped creamer.

"That's not what I meant." She interrupted. "You, you look handsome, but tired… Adrian, you don't have to wait on me."

"I know I don't" he said, gently placing the creamer in front of her. "But … I want to."

"Oh. Okay." She said with a bashful smile. She poured some cream in her coffee and took a sip while he just sat there, hands in front of him on the table, with a smile on his face, staring.

The more he stared, the more self-conscious she got.

"Are you…are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine." He said, as he continued staring. "Why do you ask?"

"You're staring at me." she said.

He suddenly shuffled in his seat. "Oh. Was I staring? I didn't realize. I'm sorry." Yet, he didn't look away.

"Nothing to be sorry about. Are you alright?" she responded taking his hand.

"Do you really think I'm handsome?" he replied.

Suddenly a knock came on the door and Adrian jumped up. Natalie started to get up to answer the door but he gently pushed her back in her seat. "Stay right here." he said.

Slowly walking over to the door, he looked through the peep hole and then relaxed. He opened the door and in walked Preacher with a paper cup of coffee in his hands and a big bag of danishes.

"Sorry man. I couldn't get to my key card. They didn't have any donuts so I got the next best thing. Want some?" Preacher asked.

"No thank you." Said Monk.

"Hey, Natalie! Didn't see you sitting here. Want a Danish?" Preacher asked.

"No. I'm good. We're supposed to have breakfast this morning with the gang." She smiled.

"It's not an actual gang." Adrian clarified. "Just some old friends of ours from San Francisco…no hoodlums."
"Except maybe Randy" Natalie joked.

"Hey, you know what, Preacher?" Adrian smiled and pushed his chest out and raised both shoulders. "She thinks I'm handsome." He said.

"Well, no countin' for some people's tastes, that's for sure." Said Preacher as he bit into a danish. "Listen, I got us a meeting at 2PM with the First Lady after the ceremony."

"You did? That's great!" said Natalie. "I've always wanted to meet her you know. She has such class. Such style. Adrian, what do you think?"

"Yeah. Style. Class." He said, deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about, Detective?" asked Preacher.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about who all was on the plane. Who might have had opportunity and motive to pull off something like that? I just feel like we're missing something. Like it's right under our nose." he answered.

Jack Hauser pulled up outside the hotel in the Presidential limousine. It was not unusual for the President to use him to drive around dignitaries and even the President's wife, and he was most glad that he had been tasked with taking care of the President's guests that week.

"I'll take care of them alright." He said to himself as he pulled out a revolver that he kept hidden in his jacket pocket. He had to play his cards right though and strike at just the right time. He had gotten sloppy in the airplane and had left physical evidence of the crime. His patron would not tolerate a repeat. He had paid him well, and Jack had plans after this event was complete to travel to Morocco where he would retire in luxury.

Adrian, Natalie and Preacher walked out to the limo and started to get in. Adrian stopped them both and poked his head in the limo to look around. He bent down and looked underneath the car. Standing, he then motioned to Natalie and said "Madame, your chariot."

Natalie looked at him as if he had three heads but got into the car. Preacher went around to the other side and Monk sat to her right.

They walked into the restaurant where the other two couples were waiting at a table. Adrian pulled out a chair for Natalie, but before she could sit down pushed all of his weight down on the back to make sure it wouldn't break. He then motioned that she could sit and made the introductions.

"Captain..ssss. This is Lieutenant Jedediah Armstrong, D.C. Police. They call him "Preacher". Preacher, this is Captain Leland Stottlemeyer from the San Francisco Police Department, his lovely wife Trudy, we call her T.K., and Captain Randy Disher from the Summit, New Jersey PD and his wife Sharona. Sharona used to be my assistant before Natalie."

"And you lived to talk about it?" Preacher responded.

They ordered food and made a little small talk until it arrived. When the food arrived, Adrian reached over and cut a piece out of Natalie's pancakes and smelled it. He then picked up the juice that they served with the meal and took a sip.

"You're good to go." Adrian said as Natalie looked at him with confusion.

"Lieutenant Armstrong, I hear you're working with Monk on the big case." Stottlemeyer asked.

"Yes, Captain. That, and sorta standing in as protection for these two while they are in town." Preacher responded.

"Protection?" asked Randy.

"Yeah, we had an incident last night." Natalie volunteered. "Someone ransacked our hotel room and left this big mess."

"And left a threatening note." Preacher interrupted.

"A note? What note? What did it say? Adrian, you didn't tell me about a note." Natalie said, looking at Adrian. "What did it say?"

"Oh, well, it was…not for you to worry about." Adrian said, not looking her in the eyes.

"Tell me! What did the note say?" said Natalie.
"It it it was just a note." Adrian said, adjusting the napkin in his lap.

"What did it say?" Natalie said looking at Monk and then turn to Jedediah. "Preacher, what did the note say."
"Um, well, it told Adrian that he needed to quit the case." He responded.

"Or what?" she asked.

"Or else you would end up like Trudy." He explained.

"What? Is that why you have been acting so weird today? Is that why you didn't sleep last night?"she asked, putting her hand on Adrian's arm.

"I didn't want you to worry." Adrian said, with his eyes cast down.

"So, you're going to worry enough for the both of us?" she said. "No, no, Mr. Monk. We're in this together and that means sharing things together."

"Tell her about your dream." Preacher said.

"What dream?" Sharona said to Adrian's annoyed silence.

"What dream, Monk?" asked Stottlemeyer.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Natalie asked.

Adrian looked at Natalie with a disturbed somewhat hurt look as he began to remember. He quickly pushed the thoughts out of his head. "Ah, it was just a dream. Nothing for you to worry about. Can we change the subject now?"

After a short pause, Randy spoke up and began telling the group about little Ophelia and how Sharona had first shocked him by the news she was expecting, and how thrilled they were when she was born. "Nothing like fatherhood! You two better get at it if you're going to find out." Randy said with a chuckle.

"Randy!" Sharona protested.

Natalie blushed "Oh, Randy."

"The biological clock is ticking, tick, tick, tick…" Randy teased.

"That's enough, Randy!" Monk said "If and when Natalie and I decide to get together and have kids, I'm sure that things will be wonderful…but until that time…"
"Hey, Randy. Sharona interrupted. If Natalie and Monk have kids, does that mean that the kids will be called Monk-ies?"

"I just want to see him change his first diaper." T.K. said, joining in the fun.

The whole table laughed, even Adrian. He didn't mind the talk of him and Natalie having kids, though it probably would have bothered him in other company. These were his best friends in the world and he knew that anything they said was really in fun and that they only wanted the very best for he and Natalie. What wonderful friends they were.

Yes, Jedediah Armstrong was right. He was one blessed man, so blessed that it terrified him that it would all be taken away.