Chapter 2: Not-So Glamorous Aspects

After their return from their honeymoon, Natalie and Adrian finished packing up his old apartment. Adrian knew that the countless pictures of Trudy had no healthy place in their new life together- and he no longer felt the desire to have them surrounding him anyway, but he and Natalie had come to a mutual agreement- that pictures of Trudy and Mitch would rest side-by-side in their home. Both Mitch and Trudy, albeit in tragic ways, had set the wheels in motion that ultimately ended up with their love, and their marriage. Trudy, with the tragic end that she met, and Adrian's need for assistance in the years that followed. Mitch had gifted Julie with Mr. Henry- which inevitably brought Natalie Teeger careening into the life of Adrian Monk.

Since then, she had spent each day challenging him to be more than the sum of all of his phobias. She had brought him out of the depression that threatened to overwhelm him in the wake of Sharona's departure. Despite a few bumps along the way, she had remained loyally at his side. Adrian stood in the place he had lived for nearly two decades. But it was no longer home. Home was with Natalie, with Julie, and hopefully a child he fervently prayed they would be blessed with. Adrian Monk had spent years avoiding change, but his life had been slowly changing for years, and had been changing for the better since Natalie.

Natalie placed her hand in his as he took one last look around. "How are you feeling?"

Adrian smiled at his wife. "Ready."

They started towards the door, and then Adrian turned and walked towards the kitchen. Natalie was waiting next to the door when he returned, shaking her head and smiling. Then they walked out, and Adrian Monk firmly closed the door of 2G.

Things were moving along smoothly as they balanced consulting with looking for a new house. Sometimes Natalie found her new husband's exacting standards comical, but she knew he also wanted their new home to be perfect. Julie was home for the summer and they spent much of their spare time spending time with her. Natalie never ceased to be amazed by her husband- he wanted Julie's input on the new house, and wanted their home to have spacious quarters for her as well.

With Natalie and Adrian trying to conceive, it brought a whole new slew of issues for her husband. One of which was the fact that her cycle returned with a vengeance once she had stopped the pills. Natalie had been on Seasonique, and it meant she had only had to contend with cycles four times a year.

Adrian woke one morning to find Natalie lying in their bed, cradling a heating pad over her abdomen. He lightly touched her shoulder. "Natalie, honey...what's the matter?"

"This is one of the not-so glamorous aspects of trying to get pregnant," she murmured.

He scooted closer to her, draping an arm across her chest. "What are you talking about?"

Natalie looked over her shoulder at her husband in disbelief. "I'm married to a man who knows something about everything, and I have to draw you a picture? Promise you won't freak?"

"You're in pain. I assume you're referring to your um..." He fumbled around for a comfortable term for a moment. "Your courses?"

Natalie's shoulders shook as she tried not to laugh. "That is positively Regency in origin, Adrian. But yes. One of the other reasons women take birth control pills in the first place is because they have painful periods. Take away the hormone doses, and then you have your cycle as nature intended. Cramping, heavier bleeding."

Adrian flinched.

"Adrian, you said you wouldn't freak out."

"I..I'm not."

"Hey, this has to happen if we want a baby. It's not like I'm sending you out to buy tampons."

Monk leapt up from their bed. "Ugh, did you have to say that word?"

"Good God, Adrian! It's not like you're the one who's lying here with the heating pad."

Contrite, he sat on the side of their bed, and brushed her hair back from her forehead. "I'm sorry. You're right, love. Is there anything I can get for you?"

"Yes, you can go down to the kitchen and get the bottle of Advil."

Adrian slipped on his pajama pants and donned his robe and headed towards the kitchen to find Julie sitting at the table, eating some toast, playing on her iPad.

He smiled at his stepdaughter. "Julie, where does Natalie keep the Advil?"

"What's the matter, Adrian? Do you have a headache?"

"No! I never take any sort of pills. They're for your mother. She's having some discomfort from...you know." He looked at her pleadingly, willing her to decipher his meaning without having to be explicit.

"It's over in the cabinet to the right of the refrigerator. But why would she need something for cramps? She never used to complain about them. In fact, when I started having problems, she put me on..." Julie's eyes sparkled as she teased her stepdad. "Tic-Tacs, Adrian."

Shaking his head, Adrian reached for the bottle of pills and suddenly Julie was at his side, placing a hand on his chest to halt him. "Whoa. Hold it right there."

Suddenly realizing where this was going, Adrian tried to make his escape, but Julie refused to move. She looked so much like Natalie at that moment that he bit back a smile. "No way, Adrian. Mom's having cramps because she's not on the pill any more. And the reason she's not on the pill any more is...she's trying to get pregnant!" She squealed in delight. "Oh my God!"

Adrian frantically put his finger to his lips and hissed. "Shhhh!" He hung his head in resignation, well and truly caught. "Okay, okay. You've caught us. I'm starting to wonder who the detective is around here."

"My stepdad is the unparalleled Adrian Monk and I grew up watching him notice everything," Julie smiled proudly.

"Are you really okay about this, Julie?"

"Mom always wanted more children, and if the two of you have a baby together, then that means they'll be my little brother or sister, and it will just bring us closer." She hugged him. "Get some ginger ale out the refrigerator and take it to her. Sometimes the cramps can make you feel a little nauseous and that will help her feel better. I wondered why she bought it."

Adrian kissed Julie on the forehead. "Thanks, sweetie."

When he got back upstairs, Adrian helped Natalie prop up on pillows.

"Ginger ale? How did you know?"

Adrian shook his head. "Our little secret is out, I'm afraid. When I told Julie you were having cramps, she immediately figured it out. I couldn't lie to her, and she suggested I bring you this. She's really happy, Natalie."

Natalie's eyes brightened at this. "Well, I was dying to share it with someone, and Julie would be my first choice."

Summer drew to a close, and Julie went to visit her grandparents before heading back to Berkeley. Adrian and Natalie had wrapped up a serial killer case in Hayward, and were returning home when a rattled Captain Stottlemeyer called them with a job. He didn't elaborate on the phone, but only told Monk he needed him to come check it out.