July 4th was a warm and blue-skied day. But the bathrooms would not be ready, so they postponed having the party until Bastille day. The flurry of activity in the house kept Natalie from worrying about her feelings and Monk from being at loose ends while the work on the bathrooms was completed. It also allowed Monk time to relax and recover before he had to be a—reluctant—host. Not to mention they also had several private clients that required attention that they'd put off while working on the serial killer case. Adrian felt that he'd be able to handle them with ease. Natalie was worried he was pushing himself too soon. Adrian wanted to be busy to forget the nasty business of the week before.

As Adrian looked in the mirror on Independence Day morning, he observed several things simultaneously. First, he looked more relaxed than he'd had in his whole life, probably due to the overall happiness he'd been experiencing lately. Second was the smudge on the mirror, which he dispatched with ease. Last was the damn scar from the surgery. It was small. Eventually, it would be hardly noticeable. He couldn't talk the doctor into giving him another above his other eye. Natalie simply rolled her eyes after that bit of nonsense and quietly said the scar made him look rugged and tough. He liked that idea, so he let the asymmetry go. He opened the medicine cabinet and reached for his toothbrush and toothpaste. They were nestled right beside Natalie's on the second shelf. He got a weird tingle when he saw them like that as he had each day they had shared a bathroom for the last two weeks. First his, now hers. Using his bathroom the first week and a half had been easier than shifting to hers, especially with all of her personal things around. When she had used his bathroom, she'd been scrupulously careful not to leave a trace of herself or her things, except her toothbrush and toothpaste in his bathroom. Now, he was surrounded by feminine things - no unmentionables, but lotions, powders, and pretty hair accessories in a basket. The scent of her lingered on the towels and on her brushes. He found it arousing, disconcerting, and pleasant all at once. It drove away bad memories that were invading his mind all the time.

Working through the trauma of the night of Brian Phillips' attack also occupied their days lately. Dr. Bell saw each of them separately to get through the fear and anger of having their home invaded, Natalie's life threatened and nearly lost, and their feelings of desire which were about to explode. Dr. Bell advised Natalie to concentrate on the positive aspects of the situation. She'd solved the case practically on her own. The awful man was dead, Adrian had heroically saved her life, and the rug the blood got on was entirely replaceable. Which it had been. Immediately. All of those ideas helped Natalie's natural resilience work, and she soon felt better about the fact that once again, a man had been killed where she lived, as bad as he was, and that she and Adrian could have died too. The other idea she felt pleased about was how bravely Adrian had saved her, held her afterward, and didn't pull away from her. Natalie also confessed to Dr. Bell something he said he'd long suspected. She was in love with Adrian, and the doctor encouraged her to tell him.

As for Adrian, his sessions with Dr. Bell were more normal; he had been a cop, so shooting a perp and saving someone was instinctive and somewhat expected. His struggle with his feelings for and about Natalie was the only new thing. Dr. Bell quietly encouraged him to talk to her about how he felt. Adrian knew the advice was right—if only he could find the courage and the words.

Meanwhile, July wore on, and Natalie said Bastille Day represented freedom and rebirth, and she loved Paris, so they would have a French theme, French food, French decor, and the works for their party. She hired a caterer and a decorator. Over fourteen weeks into their "arrangement," and their relationships, both personal and professional, were thriving, so Adrian simply shrugged and allowed her to do as she wished without argument that Bastille Day was more solemn and about unity and the ascent of the Fifth Republic of France. Aside from the fact that he didn't actually care, he enjoyed watching her organize things. They had the money. They had the beautifully wrought new space. He had to admit the pool and the surrounding patio were enticing, even to him.

On the morning of July 14th, Adrian watched trucks pull up and men and women alight with boxes and buntings and baskets. They worked tirelessly for half the day and took over the kitchen. Adrian ran out to grab coffee and bagels so he and Natalie could have some breakfast before the late afternoon festivities began. Adrian steeled himself to get into his new car and drove a few short miles to the local strip mall where the bagel store was located. He'd been doing these small errands on his own to rebuild his rusty driving skills and his shaky self-confidence. He successfully completed that errand without incident and breathed a sigh of relief as he parked the car in the garage.

He found Natalie sitting on the patio, supervising from one of the dining chairs and looking down at one of her lists in her notebook.

"Hi!" He said over the noise of what looked to be a large, square helium tank on wheels. The women working it created a red, white, and blue balloon arch over the pool.

"Hi," she turned to him and smiled widely. "Thank God! You brilliant man, you brought food! You are my hero!" She sighed as she sipped her coffee greedily.

"That is my goal in life," he teased. Their eyes met and held briefly at his glib quip, and then they skittered away uncomfortably, for the first time ever, with what they each saw in the other's gaze. Nothing had been the same since the night they'd nearly lost their lives to Brian Phillips. They both knew it, they both understood it, and they both refused to acknowledge it more than they had that night. But they each knew the strain of pretending couldn't last.

Natalie broke the silence between them with a grateful moan as she bit into her bagel. "Seriously, Adrian, I didn't know how I would make it until four without eating. Thank you. With all of those people in the kitchen and out here…."

"That reminds me," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "We're going to have to do another bug sweep tomorrow."

Natalie simply frowned and nodded in reply as one of the decorators approached with a question about the balloon placement.

𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ

Their guests began arriving promptly at four. Leland and TK were first, and TK handed Natalie a lovely bottle of expensive French champagne, which Natalie immediately put into the refrigerator. Molly came with her boyfriend Kyle next, bearing a creamy chocolate mousse pie, and Adrian greeted them with a smile. Natalie had prepared him for this earlier in the day. She'd reminded him that when he said hello to Kyle, he was saying hello to someone Molly loved, despite his personal misgivings. He considered Natalie's words carefully these days and decided she was right in this case. Molly's parents, Beth and Andy Evans, came right behind them with Beth's fantastic cheesecake, and Adrian was genuinely glad to see them and looked forward to speaking with them later in the afternoon. Julie came in on her own then, not needing a greeting in her mother's home, but adding a French fruit tart to the growing dessert collection on the kitchen table, keeping with her mother's chosen theme. Next, Sharona and Randy arrived with a case of a French pale ale called Coreff. Several other members of Stottlemeyer's homicide squad and their wives, along with their new neighbors, came after that, and the party burst to life as the DJ Natalie hired started playing music by which they would dance, swim, and eat.

Natalie's parents arrived fashionably late, and Natalie led them to the backyard after a quick tour of the house. Natalie avoided discussing her living situation with her parents by saying she had more guests to attend to, and her mother immediately sidled up to the outdoor bar. At the same time, her father began a conversation with Leland and TK. After consulting her cell phone, Julie greeted her grandparents and returned to the house.

When Julie returned, a tall, good-looking, blond young man was with her. She made a beeline for Natalie, the young man trailing slightly behind. "Mom, this is my friend, Jason McGovern. Jason, this is my mother, Natalie Teeger."

Adrian was at Natalie's side faster than Natalie could even put out her hand to shake Jason's hand.

"Um, Jason, this is Adrian Monk. My mom's boss and … uh… housemate. Mr. Monk, this is Jason McGovern, a very good friend of mine."

Natalie spoke up, "It's very nice to meet you, Jason; Julie has told us absolutely nothing about you!" With a smile for Jason and a mock glare at Julie. How could she be angry at Julie with the excessive secrets she herself was keeping.

"Yeah, nothing," Adrian echoed with a suspicious, narrow-eyed look at Julie. Natalie glanced at him and smirked; he was such a daddy sometimes.

Jason said politely, "I look forward to getting to know you both."

"Well, now you've met and can get to know him a little tonight." Julie offered almost meekly.

"Yes, we'll be sure to do that," Adrian said seriously, answering for them both. Once again, Natalie eyed him, this time with surprise, as he stood beside her in the place where Julie's father would have. It felt safe and good for a moment to have that partner in place to contend with this new development. "I'll keep an eye on them," he whispered in her ear as Julie and Jason walked off toward Molly and Kyle. Adrian followed at a distance, veering off to grab a bottle of Perrier water from the cooler, a small concession to the day's theme, as Julie turned to see him following them. Natalie turned to their other guests as the pool beckoned to a few, Natalie included. People used the new bathroom built under the cabana to change into swimsuits. Natalie retreated to her bedroom to put on her new black bikini and matching sarong. She slipped her Fitflops back on and walked down the hall and out the sliding doors. She grabbed a cup of the spiked Citron Pressé for courage and took a big swallow. She'd never been so physically exposed among colleagues or in front of Adrian. Not that she had anything to be ashamed of, but the wild child had grown into a fairly modest woman.

As it turned out, no one was paying a bit of attention to Natalie as she exited the house. There was a competitive game of Marco Polo going on in the pool, which Randy appeared to be leading; Adrian was deep in conversation with Andy and Beth. The caterer's staff was working the grill and passing hors d'oeuvres, tiny croque monsieurs, tiny quiches, and more French delicacies. A few people were enjoying the fruits of the bartender's labors and his jokes, including her mother. Natalie took advantage of the moment to slip out of her sarong and walk to the stairs at the pool's shallow end.

Something in Adrian, that internal radar that always worked, told him that Natalie had returned. He turned to draw her to the conversation with Beth and Andy, but the words failed him as he saw her standing ankle-deep in the water on the pool's steps. She was backlit by the late afternoon sun; it set her golden hair on fire and emphasized the perfection of her slim body. Every cell in Adrian's being stood at attention as he saw her like that for the first time. He realized his imagination had nothing on reality. He studied her as she slowly made her way deeper into the water, joined the others, and got lost in the shuffle of people.

Adrian drained his water bottle and turned back to Andy and Beth, who were talking about their latest vacation. He couldn't concentrate. He made noises of interest. He'd learned to feign some appropriate behavior over the last few years, and that skill came in handy now. At the next suitable moment, he coughed lightly and excused himself to get another drink. He went to the table where clean cups and a pitcher of Natalie's Citron Pressé stood. She'd given her lemonade a fancy French name for the day. It was smooth and delicious as he gulped it to cool down his lascivious thoughts and feelings. He needed a distraction. He looked around and spotted Julie on a lounge chair, Jason sitting at her side. Aha! He thought. He refilled his cup and made his way toward them, studiously avoiding looking in the pool. He needed to get to Julie and interrogate this Jason boy to make himself forget his thoughts about Natalie.

Natalie watched Adrian gulp the Citron Pressé, raised her eyebrows, and smirked. Mr. Monk was going to get a little drunk. Drunk Monk, as she recalled, was very, very funny. She still had a cup in her hand and threw back another large swallow of the Citron as well. What the hell? She joined an impromptu splashing fest, and everyone laughed and had fun. Adrian seated himself beside Julie and Jason. He looked over his shoulder and directly into Natalie's eyes. He swallowed hard as she winked at him and turned her back to him. He remained motionless as he looked at the set of her strong shoulders, the span of her smooth back, and the sweep of her golden hair. He liked the length it was now. Truthfully, this was the length he liked it best. He longed to touch it.

"Mr. Monk?" Julie said from his other side.

"Yes?" He answered absently as he continued to regard Julie's mother.

"I asked you about the trees," Julie said.

"Oh! Yes. Come see them."

Natalie had shocked him a few weeks ago while they were still investigating the serial killer case and just after the patio was complete. A woman showed up at the front door with a truck, three sturdy-looking trees, and several workmen. They planted the trees in the garden a reasonable distance from one another, as they would be getting much larger. Natalie hadn't been home at the time; she was at yoga or some other thing she did in her free time. The woman, Catherine Cross, simply handed him a work order. He saw Natalie had signed it and showed Catherine to the backyard and garden area. When they were through, she gave him a card and said farewell. When he read the card, he'd been brought to tears. "Dear Adrian, You made the inside a beautiful tribute combining our pasts, so I thought I'd actually make a spot where we could go and remember and not have to always go all the way to the cemetery. Take a look at the plaques. With Love, Natalie."

"They are called Bay Laurel and are native to this area, so they will do well here. But the thing that's most special about them is this," Adrian pointed to each plaque in turn. They hung like adjustable belts from the lowest limbs of each tree. As the trees grew, they'd adjust the chains. They read them silently. "In memory of Trudy Anne Monk, Beloved Wife, Daughter, Mother & Friend." It had a pen and notebook engraved below her birth and death dates. The next read, "In Memory Of Lt. Commander Mitchell Teeger, Beloved Husband, Father, Son & Friend." It had the naval insignia for his rank below his birth and death dates. The last read, "In Honor of Julie Teeger," with Comedy and Tragedy masks below her birth date.

"Oh, how sweet!" Julie whispered and pressed her hands to her heart. Adrian watched as Jason's hand threaded up into her hair and kneaded her neck gently as both men saw tears spring to her eyes. In that moment, despite the touching, he gave his tacit approval to Jason. He was kind and caring and would care about Julie and her heart. Just as Natalie cared about him and his heart. These trees had become a wonderful solace for both of them after the serial killer situation. Two white Adirondack chairs with matching footrests settled in front of the tiny copse of trees. He found her there early on a couple of mornings, and they sat in silence, sipping coffee, contemplating the past and the future. She found him there several evenings when he couldn't be found inside the house, she brought him a bottle of water, and she had a glass of wine. They sat together in that same quiet contemplation.

The trio walked back to their seats, and Adrian saw Natalie playing some pool game with their friends and new neighbors, who looked like they were jousting with pool noodles. The party was an apparent success. The catering staff lit tiki torches, which momentarily freaked Adrian out, but Julie reminded him it was to keep the bugs away. The pool lights went on automatically at sunset.

A little later, Natalie wound up at the side of the pool with Sharona. The bartender had come by to fill their cups, and they were drinking and laughing together over some nonsensical thing Randy had shouted across the pool. When they looked up, they saw Adrian staring at Natalie again.

With a merry grin, Sharona asked, "Are you sure nothing's goin' on between you two in this pretty house?"

"Sharona!" Natalie exclaimed and blushed from the roots of her hair all the way down to her chest. Natalie was glad it had gotten dark outside.

"Well?" Sharona gave her friend a pointed look with a raised eyebrow and pursed lips.

"Nothing is going on. I promise you!" She lowered her voice to a whisper," Except for the thing we can't tell you about, but it has nothing to do with what you're suggesting."

"What do you think I'm suggesting?" Sharona teased with a raised eyebrow.

"Come on, Sharona."

"'Come on' nothing, Natalie. If that wasn't Adrian Monk sitting on that chaise lounge next to your child over there, I'd say something very serious was going on or about to happen between the two of you. That look he just gave you wasn't just a look. It was smoldering. It was full of lust."

Once again, Natalie turned the color of the cherries on the table by the kitchen door. "Come on…Adrian…lust?" Natalie gave Sharona a look that was half hope and half incredulity.

"Well, it was certainly a look of desire, Natalie…and I don't think it was aimed at me." Natalie's eyes widened at Sharon's proclamation. "Look, I don't know what's goin' on here, Natalie, and I get that you can't tell us whatever it is. But it obviously involves loads of money, and good for you! But it also involves your relationship and the evolution it's gone through in the last couple of years." Sharona held up a hand as Natalie began to protest, deciding to finally speak her mind. "Don't argue with me, Natalie. I knew it when I visited way back when my uncle died on that golf course. I saw the look in your eyes when you thought no one was watching you watch him. I also saw him jump to explain what I was doing there in his apartment, like we were having some kind of affair behind your back when you first walked in. He may not have known it then, but he knows what he feels now, Natalie. He's obviously too afraid to do anything about it, but clearly, so are you. It might be up to you to make the first move, but he won't be far behind you, mark my words." With that, the woman with the sassy Jersey-girl accent winked.

Sharona left her empty cup on the edge of the pool and swam away towards Randy, who was lounging on a pink unicorn float with a frozen margarita and a plate of food. Natalie grinned at Randy being so Randy but got serious again when she thought about what Sharona had said. She didn't want to rock the very polite, precarious boat she and Adrian were sailing. But, on the other hand, her latent wild-child side sort of wanted to shake up the status quo. She heaved a big sigh as one of the neighbors bent down to bid her farewell and thank her for a good time. Natalie turned to gather Sharona's empty cup and found her hand met Adrian's on the red plastic.

"Hi," she said, almost shyly. "Are you having fun?"

"I am," he smiled, slightly tipsy, "Are you?"

"Yes. But I've missed talking to you all afternoon. Isn't that funny?"

"Me too. I mean, I missed talking to you. But I caught up with Andy and Beth, and I did get to know Jason a little. He seems like a nice kid. I don't think I have to kill him…yet."

Natalie grinned. "Well, that's good news. We don't want Leland and Randy to have to arrest you for murder." His index finger ran over hers on the empty cup as he laughed.

"No, we don't. We still have a lot we need to accomplish here."

"Yes, we really do," she agreed, but the way it came out was suggestive and a little sexy.

Adrian crouched by the pool's edge so he finally sat on the pavers to be more comfortable.

"Adrian! You just sat…on the ground."

"Well, the pavers are ours, they are new, and I wanted to be closer to you." That earned him another smile.

"Did you like the food?"

"It was delicious. I should have had more. I'm still hungry."

"There will be leftovers; we can snack later."

"Good."

By this time, the sun had fully set, and when Natalie looked around, she realized more people were preparing to leave. "I should get out so we can start saying goodbye to our guests as they leave. Can you reach my sarong?"

"Uh…the black wrap thing?"

"Yes."

"Sure."

Adrian rose to retrieve it as she stepped out of the pool. When he turned back, he was momentarily transfixed by the water running down in rivulets over her body's satin hills and valleys. He snapped to attention when her hand reached out for the black garment. He watched as she wrapped herself and tied the sarong around her neck. He admired the ingenuity of the garment and relaxed when it covered her almost completely.

The staff she'd hired for the day had cleaned, put away the leftovers, and straightened up. They even threw a load of pool towels in the washing machine. So there was precious little to do after they showed their last guests out.

"Remember what we discussed, Natalie," Sharona whispered as she hugged her friend goodnight.

Natalie simply nodded and said, "Thank you for coming. I hope you had fun!"

Randy wrapped her in an enthusiastic and very drunk hug, "Thanks, Nat! I had so much fun, and I'm claiming that pink unicorn as mine, just so you know."

"It's all yours whenever you are here, Randy!" Natalie laughed, and Adrian rolled his eyes but smiled as he bade his friends goodnight.

"Whew." Natalie breathed as she locked the door behind the Dishers and leaned against it. "That was fun, but I'm glad we're alone again."

"Me too," he agreed easily.

"I never realized how much I cherished the quiet."

Adrian nodded in agreement. "Not silent, but quiet. Not like how I lived before. I realize how terrible that was now that we're here. What was I thinking living like that?"

Surprised at his sudden self-awareness, Natalie rubbed his arm in her usual gesture of comfort and support. "You weren't thinking. You were about the pain you were drowning in and the anger. You weren't thinking about the silence, sterility, or the loneliness, except how that last one related to your loss."

He nodded again, wrapped in her tenderness. "Did anyone ever tell you you are the most empathetic, kind, compassionate, understanding human on the planet?" Monk said while he moved closer to Natalie, a little wobble in his step.

"Maybe not the planet…."

"Yes, the whole planet, Natalie." Once again, they stared into each other's eyes with the longing they had repressed for so long. Sharona's words rang in her ears this time, and Natalie reached deeply for her bravery.

"Adrian," she hesitated.

"Yes?"

Natalie knew this would be the most courageous act of her life. "You're not alone anymore," with those words, she raised a hand to his cheek. Adrian covered that hand with his. Then, he used his other hand to draw her closer by her waist.

"Not alone anymore," he repeated, smiling dreamily down into her eyes just before his lips touched hers gently. The hands on his cheek found new homes, hers in curly hair and his on a creamy expanse of feminine back. As the kiss continued, he pressed her against their front door.