The weeks careened forward as Natalie and Monk met their obligations for the second and third months, and another body turned up each month, each related to movies. Each staged in exactly the way they'd been in the film, and each time, Natalie was the one to recognize it and explain it to Adrian. By this time, they'd sat through viewings of Silence of the Lambs, Heathers, and Seven so Adrian would be entirely in the loop. The movie viewings required a lot of cinnamon popcorn, peeking from behind fingers, and being jumpy couch companions. Now they would add Halloween from 1978 and Scream from 1996 to their list of movies to watch. Adrian was most bothered by the randomness of the timing. No regular intervals, no set day of the week. Even the mimicked movies were in random order. It bothered him more than just his usual desire for order and organization. Serial killers, as they devolved, generally became less organized, but this killer had started that way. It was definitely an odd M.O.

Meanwhile, their personal life was flourishing. The kitchen was finished, and the pool was close to done. It looked like the Teeger-Monk "housewarming" party could possibly be on the Fourth of July. Natalie looked out into the backyard at the pool, the hot tub, and the cabana. White vinyl fence posts were awaiting their midsections to be placed today. All of the heavy construction equipment had been removed a few days before. Today, the masons continued laying the pavers for the pool surround and the walkways. As required by law, a low black wrought iron inner fence would also be directly around the pool. The posts were also there for that, but the fence would go up after the pavers were finished.

Natalie turned to sit at the kitchen table with her laptop, the notes from their recent private cases for filing, ready to go over the books, make their deposit slips, and balance the private business accounts. Adrian was in the office. She thought of it as "his" office, although it was theirs because he did most of his work there, and she did hers in the lemony yellow of the kitchen. The joy of the bright space, with its pretty glossy white cabinets, bright walls, and accents of yellow in the curtains and the seat cushions, made her happy. Ten faux lemons were on the counter in a white, square bowl that came from the same collection as their new dishes, which also made her smile. The washable wallpaper was striped yellow and white with the teeniest black dots running beside each stripe in patterns that were even and symmetrical numerically. This satisfied both Natalie and Adrian's needs. Cheerful, cleanable, symmetrical.

Natalie had brought Adrian to Gumps, where they had purchased additional pieces to the set of dishes to complete the collection. That had been a fun day. Natalie grinned as she sorted the papers on the table. Her heart soared when she thought of them like kids in a candy store buying what they liked, not worried about the price of anything for once. She sighed softly when she finally got down to work. She'd never realized how soothing the repetitive tasks of bookkeeping and holding a business together could be for her. The regularity, the routine, and the accomplished feeling it gave her made her feel satisfied and fulfilled. Like she was finally contributing more to her partnership with Adrian than handing him wipes and keeping his produce from bruising. She always thought this type of work would be boring. Now she realized its importance.

Two hours later, Adrian came running in and skidded to a stop before her.

"What!?" she asked in a panic when she looked up. Adrian Monk did not regularly enter rooms like Scooby Doo.

"Natalie!"

"What?" She repeated voice elevated.

"I haven't paid you in three months!"

Natalie, calm now, furrowed her brow, shrugged, and said, "Hm. You're right!"

"We've been so wrapped up in all of this hysteria of being fake rich and the serial killer case, our other cases, not to mention living together, I completely forgot! I apologize. I mean, we've been paying our bills and such from the inheritance, so I haven't even thought to open my normal checkbook. I really am sorry, Natalie."

"It's okay, Adrian; take a breath. I didn't realize either. It will be fine. I was just doing the reconciliation of the books for the private cases. I also have two checks from the department to deposit. I will print everything out for you, and then I'll go to the bank with the business deposits. You can look everything over while I'm gone. Okay?"

He slumped into the chair across from her. "What would I do without you?"

"Let's hope you never have to find out!"

He smiled at her then, unlike any he'd ever given her. One that made her heart skip a beat.

She just blinked at him for a moment and then managed to say, "Okay, well, let me just send all this to the printer," in a voice she didn't recognize as hers. She gathered the files and papers, and deposit slips. She carried everything to the office. She made copies of the checks with the printer, stapled them to the copies of the invoices they matched, then filed them appropriately. Took the printed sheets for the account books, made holes in the left side, and put them in the ledger binder. She left it open with the case files on the side table. Adrian liked to file them himself in the "closed case" drawer. Adrian walked down the hall as she was leaving the room.

"Okay, everything's on the table for you. I'll be back. Do you need or want anything from the outside world?"

"No. I'm fine. See you in a little while."

"Yes, you will!"

Natalie grabbed her purse, the checks, and the deposit slip and practically ran out the door.

Adrian looked after her with a bewildered expression. Finally, he shrugged and turned to look over the business account as Natalie had suggested.

𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ

Natalie just sat in the driver's seat of her car, trying to sort out the emotions of the last few minutes in the house with Adrian. His worry over not paying her was very unusual, as was her flustered reaction to his devastating smile. She had to gain some type of control over her emotions, or she would end up in a psychiatric hospital. She started the car and headed to the bank.

As she drove, she passed a nursery. She made a mental note to stop on the way back. At the branch of West Bay Trust that Adrian had been using for years, Natalie greeted the familiar teller and handed her the deposit slip with the checks. They made small talk for a while, and Natalie asked for a balance on all of their accounts. The teller printed the last four digits of each account and the balance on a slip of paper, handed it to Natalie without comment, and wished her a good afternoon. Natalie took the paper and stashed it in her purse without a glance. She had her mind on the nursery.

When she arrived at Cross Gardens, it was quiet, and an older woman came to greet her.

"Hello. I'm Catherine Cross. This is my nursery. Can I help you with something in particular?"

"Yes. In fact, I'm looking for three very hardy trees. I just moved into a new house, and I would like to plant two in memory of two special people and one in honor of my daughter."

"Oh, how lovely. Let me show you some specimens, and you can make your choices. We also deal with a company right here in San Francisco that makes beautiful plaques if you want to place them on or near the trees."

Natalie hadn't even thought of that but knew that would be perfect. "Oh my… that's a wonderful idea."

Natalie spent two happy hours with Catherine Cross choosing trees and ordering plaques for them. A lovely surprise for Adrian and something to honor their past. They would be delivered and planted in the backyard in the space Natalie had left bare for a garden as soon as the plaques were finished.

When she pulled into the garage, the kitchen door swung open, and Adrian was there, panic on his face. She stepped out of her car, and he practically shouted at her.

"Where were you?"

"I just…"

"I don't care; I'm just so glad you're back!" He stepped down around the car door and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Adrian! What's wrong? Why are you freaking out? I was only gone a few hours. We've been apart a lot longer than that before." He realized he was practically crushing her and stepped away. He smoothed his clothing in his nervous, ritualistic way.

"Not recently, and I thought you were just going to the bank. I got worried."

"Well, then call me next time instead of freaking out."

"Yes. Of course. You're right. I just… I panicked. I was working, and then I looked up at the clock and realized you'd been gone so long, and then I started worrying. It was irrational. I know. I'm sorry."

Adrian's behavior wasn't unusual for him, but it had been so long since he'd panicked like this, and he'd never panicked over her absence before. Even on the one occasion when she'd quit for thirty-six hours. He'd been sad and angry and hurt. But he hadn't panicked. It was a little flattering and a little worrisome. He'd made so much progress in the last two years she didn't want to be the cause of some type of regressive behavior. Natalie shut the car door and followed him into the house. She watched him pace around the kitchen and straighten things that definitely didn't require straightening for a few minutes before she went down the hall to put her purse in her room and the deposit slip on the desk in the office.

She returned to the kitchen and began pulling items out of the refrigerator to make dinner. She grabbed the ziplock bags with the chicken cutlets she'd started marinating earlier, fresh asparagus, also lightly marinated, and fresh salad ingredients and put them on the counter. Then, she slid the back door open and went outside to turn on the new barbeque. She returned moments later, took out the necessary tools to make the salad, and began that task while the grill heated. Adrian simply sat watching her from a kitchen chair, chin propped on his hands. Her economical motions, the graceful sway of her arms, and her effortless planning made the meal come together in minutes. Despite the number of times he'd seen her make a meal, even a simple one like this, he was impressed by her over and over. He finally calmed down enough to help her. He set the new patio table and raised the umbrella against the late afternoon sunset, tilting it just so.

When he returned to the kitchen, she'd placed half of a watermelon, grapes, berries, and a cutting board on the island next to a pretty bowl. Unfortunately, Natalie was allergic to other types of melon, so they were off the menu.

"Let me do that, Natalie. You've done everything else."

"It's fine, Adrian," she waved him away. It was a simple task, making a fruit salad. In fact, this whole early summer meal was effortless and no fuss. The type of casual meal she enjoyed making, eating, and sharing.

"Then let me do it with you."

"Okay."

They worked in silence for a few minutes.

Adrian cleared his throat. "I'm sorry I freaked out before. I just hadn't realized how much time had passed, and when I did, I got worried, and then when I worried, I became irrational. I lost my good sense there for a while. I apologize again."

"Stop apologizing. It was flattering and quite sweet that you worried about me." He raised his eyebrows at the berries he was inspecting as she continued. "But you can't do that to yourself when we aren't together. If you are worried, please just pick up the phone. Don't drive yourself to a panic attack. It isn't good for your mental health. It isn't good for your physical health. Don't make me worry about you more than I already do."

"You worry about me?"

"Of course I do. It was my job at first, but now I just do it because I care about you." She continued to slice grapes as her cheeks turned the color of the watermelon. Adrian's eyebrows rose again as he rinsed his selection of berries. She cared about him? In a non-work context? Could she possibly feel for him even a bit of what he felt for her? How long was he going to allow this to continue?

"This fruit salad is going to be so good. Fruit has been particularly sweet and tasty this summer so far," she broke into his thoughts.

"Yes, you're right, it has." He felt a reply would keep things normal. He handed her the colander of whole and sliced berries that he'd carefully inspected, washed, and patted dry with a paper towel. Natalie gently mixed the berries with the grapes and watermelon, allowing the mouth-watering scents of the fruit to envelop her senses for a moment. She covered the bowl with plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator.

Left with nothing to do, Adrian followed her out to the grill, determined to learn how to barbecue.

"Can you show me what to do out here, so I don't look like such a dolt in my own backyard?"

"Of course!" She said, excited to teach the genius something. She showed him how to handle flare-ups, how to find the new grill's sweet spots, and how to use the asparagus basket so the delicate vegetables wouldn't burn. "Grilling is a lot of trial and error, especially with a brand new grill. It takes time for it to season and for the chef to find the best spots," she handed him the tongs and the oven mitt as she said this.

He carefully turned the chicken over, pleased with the grill marks that ran up and down the cutlets. Natalie was an excellent chef. He also turned the asparagus. Natalie left him alone to get the drinks and the crusty garlic bread she'd taken from the refrigerator earlier and popped in the oven. There were trays next to the grill. He moved the chicken to one carefully. She'd made a lot for just the two of them. Next, he removed the basket from the grill. He held it aloft as he turned off the burners; it was just like the stove, he thought. Then he took the second tray, flipped open the basket, and the asparagus dropped right onto it. He felt happy and accomplished.

He took both trays to the table just as Natalie arrived with the bread and a pitcher of lemonade.

"Is lemonade okay, or do you want water?"

"No, your lemonade is terrific," he answered as he spread a napkin on his lap. "You made a lot of chicken, Natalie."

"Yes, I thought I'd make a chicken salad of the leftovers for lunch later in the week."

"Mmmm," he responded as he tasted the chicken and imagined a chicken salad sandwich.

They ate in silence, Adrian making more noises of appreciation as he tasted the asparagus. Natalie gazed at him as he wiped his mouth with a napkin and laughed.

"What?"

"I was just thinking of the Christmas we had the homeless men over for dinner, and you made a big show of using your napkin."

"Ugh, don't remind me, please!"

Natalie laughed again. "You did a good job for those men and Leland when he needed you."

It was his turn to color and quietly accept praise. "Thank you, Natalie."

"I know it really was me pushing you there at the beginning, but you really got into it after a while and put aside your difficulties, and you persevered."

"I wouldn't have done it without your urging."

"You mean me forcing you."

"Well, you do have very serious powers of persuasion."

"I hope that is still true."

"Uh oh."

"Yes, I have to persuade you to do something a little uncomfortable."

"What is it?"

"Well, if we want to do the work on the bathrooms, we have to do them one at a time. We can't have a house with no functioning bathrooms."

"So…"

"So we will have to share a bathroom, first one, and then the other. I also want to talk to the plumber about adding a half bath to the house's entry and one to the cabana so wet people don't have to troop through the house to use the facilities."

Adrian sat soundlessly. He mentally groped for the right words. He was still trying to wrap his head around that they needed to share a bathroom for at least a couple of weeks, no less adding two more bathrooms to the modest house. It wasn't that sharing a bathroom with Natalie would be a problem exactly. Not anymore. He wanted to share everything with her.

She took his silence as fear and abhorrence. "I thought you might react like that, so I have another option. We could rent a suite in a hotel with two bathrooms and two bedrooms while they work on the bathrooms here."

"Oh Natalie, we already moved once this year. Moving to a hotel suite… sounds way worse than sharing a bathroom. Doesn't it?"

Surprised as hell, she responded, "It does, but I thought I'd give you a second option."

"I don't need a second option. Really. It won't… it won't be a problem. I think I can deal with sharing with you. Not with anyone else. But with you, I'll be okay. We'll work out a schedule or something. It will be fine."

"If you're certain."

"I am. I promise."

"Okay, then I will tell the contractor he can start on my bathroom on Monday," she said with an excited smile.

Adrian swallowed the lump in his throat and smiled faintly in return. This would be the most challenging part of the journey so far. He got up to clear the table, and Natalie followed him and pulled out the fruit salad. While Adrian cleaned, she returned to the table with the fruit, bowls, and forks.

They watched the sunset over their backyard as they enjoyed their fruit, the company, and the progress in the backyard and escaped inside before the bugs could join them on the patio. Not long after, Adrian retired to his room, trying to come to terms with his emotions.