Adrian was sipping his tea and looking out the kitchen window at the piles of excavated dirt and large construction equipment that lined the backyard. He tilted his head to his shoulder, the disorder and dissymmetry unearthing his carefully buried ticks. Yet, he was amazed at the amount of work that had happened in the last few days. The permits came through expeditiously. Joe Davis seemed to know all the right people. Adrian hoped no one had been bribed with any of the money they'd paid. He hoped the neighbors weren't appalled. However, it was an upper-middle-class neighborhood, of which their house was the least changed in twenty-five years, so he suspected the neighbors would be happy with the improved property value of the smallest home on the block. Their house. His and Natalie's. It was still weird to say that. Strange to think about it. The place where he and Trudy had once dreamed their dreams together. Slept in the same room, in the same bed. Now he shared the house with another woman who slept across the hall, who he wished slept in his bed, in his arms. He sighed and turned from the window. He brought his tea to the kitchen table. The new kitchen table. Along with all of the other new things in the house, you'd almost never know it was the same place he'd occupied with his wife all those years ago.

He pushed aside the plans for new cabinets, countertops, and appliances they'd had drawn up the day before and pulled over his plate that held toast with peanut butter. Natalie's toast and coffee were awaiting her arrival. He knew she was awake; he'd heard her moving around. To his left were samples of floor tiles, counter material, backsplash, wallpaper, and cabinet wood. He was admiring Natalie's good taste and color selections when she came into the room, pink satin robe belted around her pajamas.

"Morning," she said as she reached for her coffee. She took a large gulp and said, "Thank you."

"You are welcome. Do you want something besides toast to eat?"

"Not right now, thanks. Did you eat?"

"Just tea and toast with peanut butter, too."

"Okay."

The noise of the first workers to arrive in the backyard began, and Natalie smiled despite her exhaustion. The excitement of everything around them changing was starting to wear on her a little. She wasn't sleeping well with all the lists and ideas floating in her head. Maybe this had been Biederbeck's goal. Wear her down so she'd lose control and be unable to care for Adrian? Neither of them could find any clear motivation for the bequest yet, and as long as things remained under wraps, she couldn't imagine they would for a long while. Not having access to their contacts, their friends, and their usual sources of information. She yawned then.

"You didn't sleep well?"

"Not particularly."

"What's wrong?"

"Just so much stuff on my mind, so much to organize, and so little time to do it all."

"I can help you more, Natalie. Give me a job."

"Your job is to solve crimes; mine is to keep your life together so you can do that," she replied with a firm set of her mouth.

"Natalie, I can certainly help with a few decisions, especially seeing as how you're doing all the hard stuff like finding the contractors and narrowing the choices. Please, let me help you!"

Adrian did something he so rarely did, cajoled another into making more work for himself. Surprised yet pleased, Natalie quickly gave in to his request.

"Alright, what do you think about appliances?" she asked as she turned the pages of yet another catalog.

"I think they're useful and good to have," he joked. Natalie looked up from the pages she'd been perusing in wonder. It was amazing for him to make a joke about anything. But he was lighter somehow now, more carefree. Maybe he was developing a true sense of humor.

"Both of those are true," she smiled at him over her coffee cup. "But would you like to live with black stainless steel appliances?"

"I don't know. Are they high quality?"

"Well, the insides are. What I wondered was how difficult black stainless is to keep clean compared to traditional stainless and the fiberglass of most appliances." She passed him the catalog, and he examined the pages as he drank the last of his tea.

"I think I like the traditional stainless," Adrian concluded.

"Okay, sounds good." Natalie made several notations on the form the contractor had given them. A Subzero side-by-side, a Wolf six-burner range, a Wolf over-the-range microwave, a Bosch dishwasher, and a Summit wine refrigerator were added to the list of items required for the kitchen remodel, and she would fax that to the contractor shortly.

"Adrian, can I ask you something? Something that might upset you a little?"

He hesitated. "O-okay."

"Do you think Trudy would be happy with what you're—we're—doing with the house?"

Adrian hadn't thought about it until Natalie asked that question. This amazed him. The fact that he'd become so wrapped up in Natalie's excitement and joy and their busyness - he hadn't given a thought to what Trudy might have thought about what was happening in their former home. He gave it a moment of consideration now. They had never meant to live there forever; it was a medium-sized house. They had looked at it as their starter house. It had been in a nice neighborhood, Presidio Heights. The yard was large, and the schools good. Maybe they would have stayed had they had just one child if she could have convinced him to take that frightening step. Perhaps if she'd talked him into a larger family, they would have expanded the house or even moved. But bad luck and Dale the Whale had befallen them, so he'd never really know. One thing he did know was that Trudy would be happy that he was trying to live and find fulfillment in other ways.

"To be honest, Natalie, I don't know. There were so many reasons we bought this house in the first place. It was in a great neighborhood, and it was affordable. We never discussed changes of this magnitude because we were just about covering the mortgage and our expenses when we started out." He smiled fondly at the memory of spaghetti dinners by candlelight and several rooms without furniture.

Natalie watched as his expression turned a little dreamy, lost in a memory of something sweet and happy. She fervently wished for that expression to paint his face someday when he thought about her. But, immediately after that idea came to her, she dismissed it. Her wishes were just that, wishes. They would stay that way, and she had to keep her heart under control. Especially now when there was nowhere to hide. Natalie sighed to herself.

"Alright, are you okay with all the changes?"

"Yes. So far, it's been an education and sort of… fun. I usually don't like change-"

"Do tell," she interrupted and smiled with good humor.

"But watching you work all this out has been fascinating. You are an unstoppable force of nature once you put your mind to something, Natalie. It's rather exciting to witness." His expressive chocolate-drop eyes looked into hers with an emotion she didn't know how to name. "So far, your choices have been thoughtful and take into account the things we both like and need, and your ability to organize it all like a military general is amazing."

"Thank you, Adrian." She flushed prettily at his compliments and cast her eyes to her now empty coffee cup, afraid of what Adrian would see in her eyes if she looked directly at him.

Adrian took note of the color in her cheeks and how she avoided his eyes in that moment. Shy and enchanting. That was new and unusual. He liked it, and he was intrigued. The phone rang and interrupted his musing about Natalie's bashful blush. Natalie reached for the cordless receiver and looked at it before she answered. She rolled her eyes in Adrian's direction and pushed the talk button.

"Hi, Randy. Yes, we're here—both of us. You do? You will? You are? Okay. We will be here. Thank you."

"That was Randy."

"I gathered."

"He's bringing us more information on the case."

"Now?"

"In a little while."

"It couldn't have waited until we got to the station later?"

"I think he just wants to be nosy." Adrian lifted an eyebrow, nodded, and started clearing the few dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, and Natalie went to shower and dress. Afterward, she made her bed and found Adrian puttering around the kitchen, with the smell of something delicious emanating around him.

"What is that yummy smell?"

"Banana bread."

"Oh my!"

"Well, our bananas were turning, we have chocolate chips… and I thought I'd freak Randy out with a scene of overt domesticity." He smirked evilly at her, twirled an invisible mustache, and wiggled his eyebrows. The effect was comical, and Natalie laughed.

"Adrian Monk! You have become a comedian! I love it!" She playfully punched his shoulder and then ran her hand down his arm as the doorbell rang. "Here we go! Showtime!" Adrian couldn't get the feel of her hand running down his arm to stop replaying and giving him goosebumps.

Natalie answered the door with damp hair and bare feet, showing her comfort at home. Randy didn't fail to notice. He wasn't Adrian Monk, but he was a cop and had a set of skills of his own. He also noticed Monk in his shirtsleeves, a rust-colored henley three-button pullover, stylish jeans, and casual shoes. Plus, an apron. Monk had begun dressing more casually after he found some emotional relief in the resolution to Trudy's murder, but this was beyond even that in Randy's estimation. This spoke of a "day at home with my wife" level of comfort. It was astounding. He stepped further inside as Natalie closed the door, took a long sniff, and he smelled…baking? Adrian Monk was baking? Randy knew it happened, but he'd never witnessed it.

"Hi Randy, how are you?" Adrian greeted as he removed the apron.

It took Randy a moment to recover and answer his long-time friend and colleague. "I'm uh, I'm okay. Thanks." Randy's eyes widened as he took in the family room and saw the co-mingling of items he immediately recognized from each of their former homes. Including wedding pictures and other photos. "Wow, guys. This is amazing. What a nice place."

"Thank you," Adrian and Natalie said simultaneously. Before anyone could react to the simultaneous talking, a noise from the yard caught their attention. A backhoe had roared to life and was pulling more dirt from the marked space for the new pool.

Randy asked, "What's going on back there? New cesspool?"

Adrian shuddered, "No! God no! Randy, gross! We have sewers just like the rest of the city! It's for our new swimming pool!"

"A pool! I thought you didn't swim, Monk."

"I don't, but Natalie does, and so does Julie. And it's possible that we'll have company…" he trailed off, and Natalie picked up his thought.

"We'll have a nice housewarming when it's all done. You and Sharona, TK and Leland, Julie and my parents… we'll have a pool party and barbeque." Natalie concluded.

"Alright! That sounds fun!" Randy exclaimed.

"Do you want a tour?" Natalie asked.

"Sure, as long as I'm here," Randy replied.

He handed Adrian the file that he'd brought, and Adrian sat down at the kitchen table to read it while Natalie gave Randy the tour. Randy carefully noted the two bedrooms, the guest room/office, and the separate bathrooms. He kept his mouth shut except for compliments on the decor and the new furniture. They made it back to the kitchen, and of course, Adrian had finished with the thin file.

"I have some ideas I want to look into, Randy. Natalie and I will do that early this afternoon and get back to you and the Captain later on, alright?" Natalie had gone to put on her shoes and makeup.

"Sure, Monk. We're at a loss. It would be great to have a clue, a lead, or any ideas."

"Do you want a drink? We have juice, water, iced tea, soda. I can make coffee or tea."

"Iced tea would be nice, thanks." Randy sat, and his eyes wandered to the blueprints on Monk's right side. "What's all this?"

Monk looked over his shoulder, "Oh, plans for the kitchen remodel. The cabinets are ancient, and the appliances need updating, so we're going ahead with this project next." Adrian slid a plate with a slice of warm banana bread towards Randy with his iced tea.

"Wow! This is a lot of dough you're sinking into this place. What if things don't work out? Or what if one of you finds a significant other?" Randy was on a fishing trip; Monk could tell, a very prying and ultimately fruitless information-seeking fishing trip. Randy made noises of appreciation at his first bite of the banana bread.

"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Randy. Right now, we're okay with how things are, but check back in with us in a few months," Adrian retorted with a bit of a bite to his words. The thought of Natalie with anyone else got him so riled he actually snarled a little.

Natalie returned then, ready for the day, surprised to see the two men practically glaring at one another.

"What's going on?" she asked warily.

"Oh, Randy is just being a little overly inquisitive about personal things, nothing unusual," Adrian turned and smiled at her.

There was a loud rap on the front door at that moment. Randy drained his glass and placed it in the sink. The two men heard Natalie's voice rise in greeting and exited the kitchen together.

"Hello, Julie!" Adrian greeted.

"Hey, Julie," Randy said.

"I can come back in a while if you guys are busy," Julie said with an impatient frown.

"No, no, Randy was just dropping something off!" Natalie said quickly, ushering her daughter in and grabbing for her jacket before she could leave. "I'm so happy to see you, honey!"

"I had some free time this morning and was getting impatient waiting for an invitation!"

"Well, we wanted to fix it up some before we showed it to you, but let me give you the tour!"

They bid farewell to Randy, who Adrian was showing out, and off they went. Julie admired Natalie's new lilac bedroom, fancy bedding, chic furniture, and particularly the giant closet. Then she saw Adrian's quiet green room was similar to how it had been at his apartment, but with new fancy bedding and a closet, like her mother's, with custom built-ins. It all looked expensive and classy to Julie's eye. She'd seen enough excellent linens at her grandparents' estate to be discerning. Next, she saw Adrian's desk and chair in the office/guest room, new filing cabinets, and a convertible daybed. The room was painted a pale blue and was calm and soothing. The daybed, too, was made up with exquisite linens and pillows.

In the family room, Julie's eyes zeroed in on the picture of her parents on their wedding day, then they shifted to the image of Adrian and Trudy. Once she'd given that some consideration, she saw herself with Adrian and her mother at her graduation, her father when she was very young, and her father's funeral honor flag. Julie's eyes became misty, and she had to fight the tears away. Natalie put an arm around her waist.

"Adrian set it up like this," she said quietly, "isn't it sweet?"

Julie could only nod. But also wonder, how did this really happen? She'd seen the separate bedrooms. Yet here were their lives commingled like they were married. It was weird. She needed Molly to see this, too, to help her make some sort of sense of it all. Julie followed her mother dutifully through the hyper-organized garage, the dining room, and the living room and looked out over the backyard at the excavation happening.

"We're going to have a pool, Julie! You can invite your friends to swim!"

"Cool!" Julie managed to say with enthusiasm. Although, enthusiastic was far from how she felt. Worried and confused would be more accurate. She looked over the plans for the cabana, the barbeque, the patio, and the pool with curiosity and more confusion. She knew she should be somewhat excited, which was the performance she gave, but inside, her stomach was churning with worry.

They ended up back in the kitchen and found Adrian fussing and straightening. "So what do you think, Julie?"

"The house is great, Mr. Monk. I hope you'll both be happy here."

"I think we will, Julie! Did your mom show you the pool plans?"

"Yes. It will be amazing." This was truthful. "I hope you'll try to use it."

"We will see. Let me show you the kitchen plans, then." Julie couldn't fathom the amount of money these improvements were costing them, how they were splitting the costs, or how they agreed on any of this to begin with, not that it was her business. But they'd all lived without so much for so long; maybe this was affordable now. Could a simple change of address and some private clients net them this much extra money? Julie noted that the cabinets would look similar to those Adrian'd had in his apartment. Lots of open shelves and glass doors. She'd liked that look, as had her mother; they'd often talked about doing it in their house.

"Are you hungry or thirsty, Julie?" Adrian asked her, garnering a look of surprise from Julie and one of gratitude from Natalie.

"Um, no. I had a late breakfast after my first class."

"Okay." He cheerfully walked out of the kitchen and back to the office to get to work.

"He's certainly upbeat!" Julie said with surprise.

"He's been happier and settled this year and so accepting of all the change. It's amazing," Natalie had a faraway look in her eyes when she said those words. Julie knew that look; she'd seen it many times on her mother's face regarding Adrian in the past several years. Even before he'd solved Trudy's case, Julie'd also seen the look on Adrian's face while observing her mother. They were locked in some sort of dance that neither would acknowledge. They clearly had feelings for each other. Deep, unrequited feelings. But neither was brave enough to disrupt the delicate balance of their life together. Maybe she could give them some help? First, she needed to talk to Molly.

𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ

The dark hybrid sedan sat silently idling on the street adjacent to Briarcliff. The occupant watched the Monk-Teeger house with sharp eyes. Also of note, the neighbors seemed to be setting off on a long trip if the amount of luggage they were shuffling into the awaiting airport van were any indication. Good, that might help my surveillance opportunities. The black-hoodie-wearing figure watched as Disher came and went and then the perfectly blonde daughter - whatshername - Julie. Adrian was having more social interaction than ever. Plus all the workers. That gave the lurker an idea.