Author's Note: WARNING WARNING! M RATED FOR ADULT CONTENT AND OF COURSE NAUGHTINESS AHEAD! Ok People! Another chapter...another steamy part ahead. Look we're still on the same day! I'm trying to end the day a certain way for our lovable cast and this is the only way for me to get there! Enjoy!
Benjy had just lifted up the last of the baggage his mother and he had packed for Julie and Natalie when he noticed his mother acting a little strange.
Almost like she was stalling going to the house and he had no idea why.
"Ma! Everybody's on their way there and I don't want Julie waiting for us! Could you please stop wasting time by feeding the fish and watering the plants!" Benjy was basically screaming at his mother.
"Calm down! I wanna make sure everything is done before we leave! We don't know when they'll be able to come back so...make sure everything is turned off and locked!" Sharona said as she poured the last bit of water into the plant by the door.
"Ma! I really wanna see how Julie's doing! Alright?! So...come on!" Benjy said causing Sharona to do a double take on her son as he lifted the last bag up onto his shoulder and strode towards the front door.
"Hold it! Why are you suddenly so worried about Julie?" Sharona asked with one raised eyebrow a hand on her hip and the green watering jug in the other.
Benjy turned around and without flinching replied. "Because I made a promise that I wasn't going to let anything happen to her! I also swore that I was going to make sure that Adrian was taken care of! As of right now I'm not doing either!"
Sharona's body relaxed. "Benjy...you can't blame yourself for..."
Benjy raised his eyes in a glare that Sharona oddly found reminiscent of Adrian's "The hell I can't. Ma...you should have seen her face. She...she was more than terrified! The last seven years of her life she's been protected by almost everyone around her! These last couple of weeks I should have been watching out for her! I should have been keeping my eye out for him when I heard rumors at the precinct about him dating Natalie. Randy said the guys were just being guys but something in me just..."
"Benjy! Are you trying to tell me's that people have been talkin' about this guy all this time? How long were you gonna keep me lying to me about what was going on? What exactly do you know and why didn't you say somethin' earlier?" Sharona asked with irritation clearly heard in her voice as she put down the jug and went towards Benjy with a look of concern.
Benjy said nothing but the serious look on his face let his mother know that it indeed was the case.
Sharona's look of concern was one he was very use to seeing, but it was normally concern for him. This was different. This was her being protective of a woman that not forty eight hours ago was her main suspect of hurting Adrian Monk.
She had done little to hide her hypothesis from him.
If anything he thought it was a little bit of jealousy. Even he could tell that Natalie was a little more intimate with Adrian than her mother had been. From what he had seen Natalie seemed devastated and in pain while Adrian had been unresponsive.
The few times that Julie had been there when he went to visit he saw how she had just stared at him with this look of pain in her eyes. As if she was suffering alone with no one to talk about it with.
Maybe that's how he knew something had been wrong when he saw her. He had seen the same look in her eyes.
And right now his mother had this look on her face she would get when she thought someone had hurt Adrian Monk.
It made him feel just a little bit better that his mother was being protective of people that they barely knew, all because they loved Adrian.
He loved Adrian.
And the idea that he could have prevented everything that was happening was making him want to lash out.
But his mother didn't deserve his wrath.
She did however need to know what had been going on while she had been taking care of Monk.
It took less than three minutes to tell her everything that he had seen and heard. How he had been hearing how John had been bragging about things he had done with Natalie. How John spoke about Adrian.
Making comments about his Adrian's sexuality.
His mom huffed a laugh at that but immediately schooled her face back into a snarl and gave a little nod up for him to keep going.
Benjy told her the rumors that John was 'having' Natalie all over the town. That's why everyone had been seeing her all over the place looking all disheveled.
"Oh that's such bullsh..."
"MA!"
Sharona locked her jaw and glared at Benjy as he continued over her interruption.
Benjy told her that out of loyalty to Adrian he hadn't believed it either, that he had wanted to talk to her earlier today about everything before mentioning anything to Randy.
"Why didn't you talk to Randy about this?" Sharona asked her son.
Benjy grimaced and then shrugged his shoulders. "He's already stressed with Adrian not being able to help out with any of the investigations these last couple of weeks. Ma they've got open homicides piling up! He's been helping me this whole time and...I just didn't want to add to his plate when I didn't have any proof of anything."
Sharona let out a sigh and crossed her arms. Opening her eyes she looked at Benjy with her mom look.
"What else have you been keepin' from me?"
Benjy sighed and turned away for a second and then back. He put the suitcases down and sat on the stairs as he looked up at his mother.
" I found something out. When I went to go get some groceries I saw Natalie. The reason people think Natalie's been so out of it and all over town is...is because she's been working as a cleaning lady! I saw her cleaning the office right next to the grocery store I went to. Then I watched her leave and that's when you called me and told me she was helping you out with Adrian today! Turns out the Captain wasn't able to get the city to pay for all of Adrian's expenses. She's been the one covering the difference and helping to pay Adrian's apartment. I did the math Ma! She's been making money at a cleaning service company working 70 hours a week to be able to pay for Adrian and her as well as Julie!"
Sharona winced and brought a hand up to rub at her temple as a feeling of self loathing hit her. The idea that she had been yelling at Natalie not a few hours ago and the devastation of finding out that she actually wasn't pregnant making Sharona want to call Natalie and apologize for her behavior today as well as these past few weeks.
If there came a day that she found out that the reason that Natalie wasn't pregnant was the stress she had to endure during this time she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.
She couldn't help herself now.
She loved Adrian. No matter what happened in her life the time she had spent with him as his right hand man were some of the greatest adventures and experiences of her life.
He had always caused her to go nuts...but he had always been a great man. Faults and all she knew if there was one thing in the world that could make her change her life it would be to help Adrian.
And now Natalie.
"Ma...I heard she took out a loan to be able to cover some of the expenses." Benjy said the words with a sad look on his face.
It was the nail in Sharona's coffin.
"Damn it..." Sharona whispered as she rubbed a hand over her eyes.
Knowing how little she had made with the pay she received from Adrian's salary she could only imagine just how in debt Natalie had become.
Sharona cupped her nose with her hands in a prayer gesture and closed her eyes as she let out a breath.
"I'll pay her back as soon as I get a job..." Sharona began but Benjy immediately stopped her.
"Ma...I'm stayin' for as long as it takes to help her and Julie out. They took care of him when we couldn't. They need help. I know you want better for me but damn it Ma he's my family! And this scumbag is hurting him and Natalie."
Sharona gave a little smirk to her son. "I didn't say I was leavin' now did I?"
Benjy slowly gave his mother a smile.
"So...we're stayin?" Benjy asked with a hint of relief in his voice.
With the smirk still on her lips she nodded her head.
Benjy let out a huge sigh. "Good."
"That don't mean I wanna see you with your arms wrapped around Julie any time soon!" Sharona pointed a finger at Benjy with raised brows and a stare.
"Ma!" Benjy immediately protested with a look of shock on his face.
"Don't give me that look! I know what I saws...alright! Right now we got enough trouble without you addin' to it! You hear me?" Sharona gave her patented wide eyed glare.
Benjy body sagged and he rolled his eyes at his mother.
"I mean it Benjy! If you care for Julie...you'll wait until things aren't so...complicated for her." Sharona didn't want to elaborate more than that. Knowing what she did, she was certain that Julie wasn't the wiser for what had been going on with her mother and Monk.
"I do! And I won't! And honestly Ma...I don't know if it's really like that or not. I just..." Benjy stopped and looked around the house and then back at his mother, "I feel like I know her. I know what she's feeling. What it feels like to be her...sort of. You know?"
Sharona gave another little smirk and a little nod. "I know."
Benjy looked at his mother with his baby blue eyes and couldn't help but give her a little smile.
"I ever tell you I love you?" Sharona asked with a little smirk.
"Not today!" Benjy gave a huge smile which caused Sharona to laugh and lean up and give her now tall son a kiss on the cheek.
"Always fresh!" Sharona joked as she grabbed one of the suitcases and moved to turn off the lights as Benjy stood up and picked up the other two bags and finally walked out of the house.
Dr. Bell had spoken to Julie softly as Natalie paced in the dining room trying to keep herself from crying and Adrian stood perched between the dining room and kitchen as his hands bounced as they did when he was nervous.
Adrian really wasn't trying to listen in, but at the same time worried that he would hear his name mentioned.
Though he had cleaned his bed as thoroughly as possible, he had the niggling feeling in the back of his mind that he should keep cleaning the bedroom, but he was afraid to move from where he was because of Julie and Dr. Bell talking.
Adrian didn't want Julie thinking that he would betray her trust like that.
So he tried not to focus on Natalie, especially after what Julie said earlier. Afraid to see the look of anger in her eyes directed at him again.
Adrian saw Randy from the corner of his eye move to go outside again as his cellphone rang, knowing for certain that it was probably The Captain.
Natalie and Adrian tried not to listen in while Dr. Bell spoke with Julie, both afraid of what they would hear.
Natalie was wracked with guilt with what she had brought into her own home. What her fear had brought into their lives.
She felt drained of all energy.
With everything that had happened that day, plus all of the work she had been doing to keep up with all of the expenses.
Physically and mentally she knew she was completely running on fumes.
She finally sat down at the table and held up her head and closed her eyes as a few tears fell from her eyes.
Her daughter was talking to Dr. Bell because she couldn't protect her, and she wanted to vomit when she thought how John had tried to become intimate with her these last few weeks.
Every time she would rebuff him, and every time she could tell that he was trying to become closer to her and all she had wanted to do was push him away.
All of the guilt of what was happening to Adrian and how she was trying to stop the way she felt about him and use John to do so...
Natalie was startled out of her thoughts as she felt a finger on her face and she saw how Adrian was looking at her with this look ion his face.
His finger moved the tear from her cheek and she closed her eyes as his fingertips moved on her face and then cupped her cheek.
The dam broke and before she knew what was happening she found herself in his arms as he knelt down and held her tightly as she tried to keep the sounds of her crying from reaching Julie's ears.
His arms were wrapped tightly around her as her face pressed into the crook of his neck.
Adrian's phobia of germs and being touched were long gone with Natalie, and to hear and feel her crying because of John Night made the grip of anger to his insides squeeze tighter.
There were very few things that could earn his rage.
Right now, holding Natalie as she cried against him because of what that beast had done, Adrian wanted nothing more than to rip the man apart with his bare hands.
"I'm so tired." Natalie whispered causing Adrian's ire to increase at the idea she was stressed to the point of exhaustion.
Since Natalie had told him when she had been running for the school board that she had to stay brave and strong for Julie he had leaned on her more and more to be the strong one.
To be the one to be able to pick up all the broken pieces and put him back together - and he had done so out of fear and dependency.
At this moment...he knew he needed to be that for not just the two of them, but for Julie too.
Neither of them said a word.
Adrian didn't want to upset her anymore than she was. Guilt alone at the way that Julie felt because of him cutting him deeper than any knife ever could.
Natalie finally pulled herself together enough to pull away and wiped at her eyes and sniffled as quietly as she could.
Adrian reached into his pocket and handed her his ever present handkerchief.
Upon sight of it she had to suppress a laugh and then marveled when he didn't hand it to her, but pressed it against her nose and gave a slight squeeze.
Her heart gave a little leap.
As germaphobic as he was, he was trying to clean her up and not jerking back as if burned.
She blew her nose as softly as she could, and marveled at how he wiped the rest of her nose and then with his naked finger brushed a falling tear away.
With his finger he ran it up her cheek to gather a tear that was forming and then with his thumb wiped away the rest.
They just stared into each others eyes for a second before they leaned their heads against each other once more.
Both of them knew that this was turning into their comfort position. The way they let the other know that they were there for them.
Adrian knew that he needed to talk to Natalie about everything going on in his mind, but he had no way of talking it out with anyone. The only person he had ever talked things out with was Natalie.
Sharona never really listened to him when it came to how he felt. Tolerate yes, actually listen...not so much.
Natalie not just listened but encouraged him. Made him feel like she was proud of him when he didn't feel like he had done anything.
And now he was so afraid.
He was so afraid of hurting her.
Getting close to her and hurting her would destroy him.
Natalie was such a good person.
She loved with everything in her and she fought for him when he couldn't or wouldn't.
He knew that.
He knew all that.
Everything in him was telling him that she deserved better.
That he wasn't enough for her.
Trudy...Trudy made him feel like he was everything she needed.
With Natalie...Natalie felt like...like he could never be enough for her. As if what he had to offer her was nothing BUT problems. Young, hopefully, and resilient she was the epitome of the ideal woman in his eyes. He couldn't comprehend how she could or would possibly love him. He could barely comprehend how Trudy had at all!
Opening his eyes he stared into her face.
I love you.
He could still hear the way she had said it to him earlier. She had actually said it to him. The words that he thought only Trudy could ever mean in that once in a lifetime way.
Adrian felt his heart jump when she opened her eyes and her beautiful blue eyes stared back at him.
"You're beautiful." Adrian couldn't help but whisper out.
Natalie just stared back at him, finding his reverence of her beyond touching. From the very first day she had marveled at him being an honest man. Hearing him call her beautiful and knowing that for him to say it...he believed it wholeheartedly.
Still upset with him she still couldn't stop herself from giving him a small peck of a kiss against his lips.
No one else on the planet enraged her more than this man.
That alone should have told her from the very beginning...she had always been in love with him.
Not even Mitch elicited such a angered response from her like he did.
It had taken something drastic and completely crazy to finally get her to admit it to herself.
Adrian pulled away as he heard the tell tale signs that Doctor Bell was wrapping up what he was talking with Julie about.
Natalie let him go without question and was instantly standing when Doctor Bell with his hand around Julie's back guided her towards them as Julie held her one arm by the elbow as she tended to do when she was nervous.
"Adrian...Julie and I have been discussing about what happened and she's expressed that she would like to talk about things a little more." Doctor Bell said with a small smile towards the adults but then turned and addressed Julie.
"Julie...would you like to tell them what else we discussed?" Doctor Bell helped segway the conversation for Julie.
Julie tucked her hair behind on ear and looked between her mother and Adrian with an apprehensive look.
"I...I wanted to talk to you both...and asked Doctor Bell if it was ok to..." Julie ceased talking as she realized that what she wanted to talk about was the reason she wanted Doctor Bell to be there in the first place.
Doctor Bell understanding immediately that Julie wouldn't continue talking and took the lead. "Julie feels that she would like to discuss a few things with the both of you and feels that...she would be more comfortable if I were to help facilitate the discussion."
Both Adrian and Natalie were a little shocked to say the least, but the way that Julie was looking at them let them know that something else was going on.
Natalie was slightly terrified of what it could be that Julie wanted to talk to them about. It was only when Adrian moved towards Julie and brushed back the other side of her hair behind her ear did Natalie let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
"Are you ok?" Adrian asked staring into her eyes and watching her closely.
Julie's eyes didn't stay locked on his, scattering every which way as she shrugged her shoulders.
Adrian knew immediately that whatever Neven had said to Julie, it had affected her more than what they had said to each other earlier.
"Adrian I think it best due to the circumstances to have a session much earlier than my other appointments. I think it best to give you all some extra time since this is the first time that you would be seeing me as a group." Dr. Bell said as he looked between the three.
Adrian said nothing but nodded his head slightly as he continued to look at Julie. The evidence that she was uncomfortable now clear to everyone, but no more than him. He could tell she wanted to say something to him but was keeping herself from actually saying it.
Neven asked them to be at the office at 8:30 in the morning and excused himself as he saw Randy walk in once more with a look in his eye that Neven knew on instinct meant he wanted to tell him something else. Of course the way Randy followed him outside was another give away, but to the three people who were more worried about each other none of that was noticed.
"Sweetheart..." Natalie finally moved to approach her daughter, almost afraid of rejection. Something in her thinking that Julie would blame her for what John had done to her. Honestly, she blamed herself anyway.
"It's hurting to talk mom. Can we..." Julie left the question unspoken of wanting to talk tomorrow instead.
"Of course."
"Sure." Adrian added with a nod.
Julie nodded at the two adults and slowly turned about to enter the bathroom when she stopped and awkwardly asked a question she had never had to ask.
"Can...can I shower?" Julie pointed as she winced as her throat was honestly starting to bother her.
"Of course you can! This...this is your...second home." Adrian had to stop himself from saying it was 'her home' and had quickly reworded his statement.
Adrian watched as a small smile bloomed onto her face and Adrian felt his heart expand that those words made her feel any sort of good feeling.
"Let me get your bag." Adrian said and moved to where the overnight bag Julie had put together quickly was placed in his room.
"Oh...towel..." Natalie said as she made her way to the closet she knew would be the towels that they could use.
With both adults not paying attention to her she made her way to the bathroom and stopped as she saw a bottle of body wash that her mother usually used on the ledge of the tub. Furrowing her brow she went over to the bathtub and lifted up the bottle and inspected it.
It was wet, as if it had been recently used.
Had her mother showered before she had gotten there?
If it wasn't for the fact that she had been basically raised by Adrian Monk she would have never noticed the bottle. The very fact she had noticed it would probably have normally impressed Monk to no end. But as the implication of what the bottle meant actually hit Julie her eyes bugged out wide.
OH MY GOD!
The scream in her head as to WHY her mother's soap had been used before she arrived boggling her mind in an incredible 'eww' and 'yay' way that she had ever experienced before!
She knew that her mother was intimate with men but THIS man...THIS man meant WAY more than ANY other man!
Even her father's best friend was nothing in comparison to the man she wanted to actually call her father.
Julie quickly put the bottle down and turned towards the sink and happened to look in the garbage can and again her brow furrowed as she saw the hazmat suit that had been stuffed into the garbage bin.
"Here's some towels." Natalie entered carry three towels and a washcloth on top.
"Do you want me to lay out your clothes on Mr. Monk's bed or..."
"Mom why's there a hazmat suit in the garbage can?" Julie immediately asked as she turned to her mother and Monk appeared right next to Natalie.
Both began to mumble out some kind of excuse but the blushing that appeared on both of their faces let Julie know it was NOT an innocent 'Mr. Monk was being Mr. Monk' excuse that her mother usually gave.
"Ok." Julie nodded and then pushed her way through the two who had been standing side by side and moved to the backpack she had stuffed with some essentials that had been placed on the bed and began to unzip the bag when her eyes caught sight of something in the corner of her room where a chair sat close to the bed.
Again her eyes bugged out when she realized that an underwire for a bra was laying on top of Mr. Monk's chair cushion.
It was something that only a woman would notice immediately as the ever annoying habit of them working their way out of the cups of bras was a struggle most women knew.
Julie also knew the blue tipped underwire well!
It was from one of her mothers favorite bras. Constantly having to place the wires back in as her mother refused to throw out the bra as she claimed it fit her perfectly.
Julie wanted to smile and laugh as the evidence was starting to mount on itself that her mother had INDEED been not telling her what was going on with the famous detective.
Julie continued to remove the undergarments and pajamas she wanted to wear when she noticed her mother barely stopping herself from slapping the nervous hands of said detective as he was trying to cinch tightly the garbage bag that held the hazmat suit that Julie had seen.
What Julie didn't know is that it also held the pants that Adrian had deemed sullied to the point of garbage. As if more incriminating evidence would have been needed to let Julie know that her mother and father figure were CERTAINLY being intimate with each other.
There was no other explanation for her mother's bra underwire to be on ANY piece of furniture.
The fact that Mr. Monk hadn't noticed it either letting her know he had been completely distracted by something else.
THAT was almost a confirmation that they had most definitely been involved just before she had gotten there.
Julie's nose wrinkled in disgust and immediately schooled her face as she knew they were both still right there watching her.
Her mother must not have noticed her underwire missing. The thought made a smirk form on her face which they DID see and only made her mother and Adrian Monk a slight bit nervous.
"Are you really ok with Mom and Me sleeping in here Mr. Monk?" Julie asked as she held her clothes in her hands as she turned her head towards the door to look at both of them.
Adrian didn't know what to say. Honestly he had to fight certain phobic thoughts that Julie would somehow see what both he and Natalie had done on that very bed.
Adrian nodded his head and then shrugged and winced but then began to nod his head again and then shook his head no but out of the corner of his eye he notied the side glare from Natalie he began to nod again. "Of course."
Julie mashed her lips together to keep from laughing at him. No doubt disturbed by the fact that she was about to sleep in a bed that things had most indeed happened on with her mother, she internally reminded herself that this was the same bed that things had obviously happened with his wife Trudy also. The reflex gag she felt was still there and made herself push aside her own 'ick' factor for the purpose of finding out where 'it' had happened. If she was indeed about to sleep in a bed that her mother had...ewwww...done it on. She could tell that the sheets had been changed and remembered what Sharona had been arguing with Monk about earlier. Clean sheets on the bed for her was most definitely a confirmation that it indeed happened here.
Well...hopefully they had...and she needed to figure out if what she thought had happened...happened!
Though not a genius like Adrian Monk, Julie had learned over the years watching him.
She felt like he had been training her all these years, dealing with his phobic tendencies, and compensating for them or making sure nothing would trigger them.
Picking up a few tricks from him she knew a way to determine where the actual deed was done without a word said.
Moving towards the side she knew had been Trudy's side Adrian immediately followed and moved towards Julie, "What ah...what are you doing?"
Julie turned down the blanket and watched him wince and stare at an area on the bed, and Julie instantly knew. "Turning down the bed. You know...so we can sleep in it?"
"Ah...sweetie why don't you sleep on the other side so that you can be closer to the bathroom during the night?" Natalie said as she played with the back of her hair as she tried to look as if the suggestion was said in a blasé faire way, and would have normally gotten away with it.
Not this time though.
Julie just gave a little thrust of her head forward and a small 'ok' and made her way to the other side of the bed. Seeing out of the corner of her eye that Monk slightly relaxed confirming in her head that it was indeed the right side of the bed and she made a mental note to NEVER sit on that side of the bed again. Hopefully very soon she would NEVER sleep on a bed that they were both sharing.
She had to stifle another smile at the thought.
Ignorance wasn't an option anymore. Avoidance was going to be key almost certainly.
Yet something on the cusp of hope took hold of her. If the man that was afraid of touching people was indeed engaging in that activity with her mother...then there was a REAL chance of having the family that she always wanted.
Not just her mother and herself.
A wave of sadness hit her when she looked up and saw the still distraught face of the man she loved like a father, he looked like he couldn't stand to see her touching his bed, let alone allowing her to sleep in it.
"Are you sure?" Julie asked again stepping back from the bed and solely focusing on him.
Adrian looked at her slightly startled and shocked that she was still asking. "I'm sure."
"You're not grossed out by my germs on your bed?" Julie asked softly.
Adrian couldn't stop himself from feeling shocked again.
It was the complete opposite! But he couldn't tell her that!
Even after having told her he loved her, she was still worried about making him...uncomfortable.
"Julie! It's not your germs that...bother me. It's...I'm...always uncomfortable. It has nothing to do with you. It's...it's..." Adrian again cupping his hands towards himself, trying to say that it was something inside of HIM that made him that way.
Natalie looked at him, amazed and humbled that he was trying to comfort her daughter, but nothing prepared her for Julie's next words.
"Trudy never made you uncomfortable. Even when you first met her. You've known me since I was eleven...and you still can't..." Julie winced and looked away from Adrian then.
Adrian felt like someone was squeezing his heart tightly at the words.
"Julie..." Natalie was about to move forward and take her daughter into her arms when Julie stepped further back.
"I should take a shower." Julie said looking down and not at her mother or Monk.
Adrian looked at the young girl before him and felt a sorrow fall over him.
He had known her since she was eleven.
He had watched her grow into the young woman she was today. Watched her blossom into an actress and singer with true talent that her mother had nurtured. Despite being involved in her life, she hadn't been affected by him and had managed to have friends and a real life.
Proud wasn't a strong enough words for how he felt about her.
Knowing Natalie he had always seen the fight and drive that she had instilled in Julie, but there had always been something else. Something that he was sure was something of her real father's.
It was in that moment that a spike of jealousy hit him for the first time ever about Julie's father.
That...that something more, that Julie seemed to have, he knew it was from him.
When Julie closed the door to the bathroom it was maybe two seconds later that Randy walked back into the apartment. "Captain just got here. Monk. He wants you to come down stairs."
The sound of the shower was heard and it was then that Monk felt himself completely deflate.
Randy then looked at Natalie and saw her share a look with Monk who weirdly said."I can't hurt her the way my father hurt me."
Natalie saw the pain in his eyes and wanted nothing more to be able to kiss him in that moment. Tell him the very fact that he thought that made him a million times the father his father had ever been, all to a girl that wasn't his blood.
"I can't." Adrian barely got the words out as he felt the true burden of not being enough for Julie.
"But she has you Monk." Randy said almost incredulously.
Both Natalie and Adrian turned and stared at Randy Disher who for the first time looked more serious than they had ever seen him.
Randy shifted his stance and looked away from Monk for a few seconds before he looked back into the famous detective's eyes.
"I know you had to deal with a dad that left you Monk, but at least you had one. At least...you could put a face to the title." Randy said softly and with a shrug of one shoulder he whispered out, "I didn't even have that."
Both Adrian and Natalie shared a quick look with each other. This was the only time they had ever heard Randy ever talk about his father. Or the lack of one.
"I know you have problems. Big ones." Randy nodded his head but didn't look away from Adrian.
Adrian shifted slightly but didn't look away from Randy.
"But Julie's known you longer than she knew her own dad , " Randy looked down the hall to what he knew to be the bathroom door where Julie was, " I heard her on the phone with her friends last week talking about you. I heard the way she talked about you...and I guarantee you the only reason she cares about making you angry is because she loves you like you are her dad." Randy looked back at Monk as he said the nine words. " You're not just her mom's boss. And after what happened to day I think you know that."
Adrian did know that. He knew it when he heard her talking in her sleep. He knew it the day he met Julie. That just like Benjy it hurt to know that he would be a disappointment to her.
He knew the moment he had seen that fish flopping on the ground. All he had thought about was the disappointment on her face if that fish would have died.
Never would he have ever considered the possibility of her actually wanting him to...ACTUALLY act like a father towards her. How could he EVER think that way. He barely knew how to be a man...let alone...a...a...
"Honestly Monk..." Randy winced and stopped giving a little nod as he restarted his , "honestly Adrian. What John said today was to get under your skin cause he knows how much you love Julie. You showed John and everyone else today that Julie's as much yours as she is Natalie's. And I think Julie needs to know that's how you feel. That's what any kid wants to know about the person they see as their dad."
Adrian Monk was left gaped mouth at Randy's words. He didn't know what to say as he stared at Randy. Randy had never called him by his first name. He was always...formal.
Adrian's shoulder twitched up as he said, "I thought she knew I loved her like she was mine. I didn't think...I...I didn't want to disappoint her like my father..." And then Adrian had to fight hard not to become emotional as the pain from his youth surged in his being.
He never wanted to cause that kind of pain to Julie.
Never.
Randy couldn't help but look down and smile at the fact that Monk didn't know and then schooled his face once more and looked back up at Monk.
"You're a good man Adrian. I'm proud to call you my friend." Randy said with a small smile.
Natalie had felt her heart leap from joy at Adrian's words and then fall once more hearing how he thought he would hurt Julie. Natalie felt her own eyes tear up as the words Randy was saying to the man she had fallen in love with were said with such admiration that it made the three words she had said earlier want to slip past her lips once more.
They had a profound affect on her and she could see that they had triggered Adrian's own emotions.
And Randy was about to turn around and open the door when Monk quickly said 'wait.'
For a second Monk didn't move, but when he did Randy couldn't help but smirk.
Adrian had reached out his hand, clearly wanting to shake Randy's.
"Thank you Randy." Adrian held his hand out with a look in his eye that Randy rarely saw.
Randy smirked and quickly moved the folder he held into his other hand and reached out and shook Monk's hand.
"But you're not just a friend Randy." Adrian said as he shook Randy's hand up and down.
A full bloom of a smile graced Randy's face as he gave a little nod to Adrian. "Agreed."
When Adrian did pull back Randy fully expected Monk to wipe his hand on his pants or shirt and waited for the action and was slightly shocked when he did no such thing. Even making Natalie stare in slight wonder at Monk.
"You ah...not gonna use a wipe?" Randy pointed with the folder at Monk's hand.
Monk gave a small lopsided smirk and shook his head no.
Randy smirked right back and then tilted his head towards the door. "Captain is waiting."
Monk nodded and went to follow Randy when Natalie reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
"Randy can you give us a moment?" Natalie asked with a distinct watery eye that let Randy know that it she wanted privacy for what she was about to say.
Randy nodded, "Ok. I'll let the captain know you'll be down in a bit." Randy said to Adrian before giving a sympathetic little nod to Natalie and going out the door.
Adrian had looked between Randy and Natalie when she grabbed him, but now focused on the fact that Natalie was crying again.
"Are you o.."
The way Natalie grabbed him and surged against him and kissed him with a passion that flared out of nowhere was caused from how he had talked about Julie, and it caused him to forget himself completely.
He responded instantly. Quickly realizing just how fast Natalie could bring him to the point of need with just her kiss.
Gasping Natalie pulled away and looked up into his eyes that she saw were filled with something other than just sadness for the first time since she knew him.
Everything in her thrilled that she had managed to do something that she had wanted to see in almost six years of knowing this man.
The way he looked at her it wasn't shocked when he moved grabbed her by the neck and consumed her in a tongue tying erotic kiss itcaused her whole body to arch towards him. Gasping into his mouth as he lifted her up by his right hand scooping her left ass cheek up and pulling her against him. Falling against each other they found themselves pressed against the small separating wall of dining room and kitchen. Her other leg was quickly assisted by him up around him and wrapped around him making the only thing separating them from joining back together just three pieces of fabric as her short black skirt was hefted high around her waist.
But she felt him and knew that if they continued, even with her daughter in the shower, they were going to end up lost in each other again.
Normally she would have been shocked by his behavior, but after having experienced first hand his explosive...need...and understood that after years of suppressing his own needs and desires she had unlocked a part of him that had only ever been with Trudy. She had been openly flirting with him when she saw him in the bank guard uniform and he mistook it for trying to make fun of him.
She had been attracted to him for years. Wanting to act on her lust for him was too new to try and suppress, even with everything that was happening.
The fact that he was weeks away from fifty years of age should have made her more impressed with the physical capabilities he was showing when being intimate with her but because she knew just how much he craved being able to have real intimacy she knew she had knocked down his protective walls and now he was desperate for her the same way she had always been for him.
Of course she didn't realize that the one hand that had lifted her up had literally gone down and around so that the pads of his fingers began to rub in the exact right spot to cause her entire body to tremble in a mere second.
The way his fingers moved in the perfect way causing a zing deep into her core and within seconds she was pushing herself against his hand as he rubbed her into climaxing as if he had done so thousands of times. And just when she thought he would stop he doubled his efforts and Natalie pulled her mouth away and gasped but immediately buried her face into the corner of his neck and shoulder and bit as the second wave of release hit her.
Adrian grit his own teeth as he kept himself from ruining his outfit as feeling Natalie's mouth on his extremely sensitive skin was overwhelming and pushing him to a little death that would have knocked him out.
As Natalie came down Adrian grappled with keeping himself from reaching a peak just from touching her and kissing her.
Finally Natalie was able to extract her teeth from Adrian's skin which finally allowed him to blink the fuzziness from his eyes away.
Seconds of just trying to breathe and control themselves - which both were finding harder and harder to do.
"I can't move my legs." Adrian finally said outloud.
The words made Natalie bury her face against his chest and try to muffle her giggles which caused Adrian to actually start to dry laugh and his body to shake with laughter which set off Natalie's giggles even more and her own body to shake with laughter.
Finally pulling back she looked up into his face with a huge smile and was stunned at the sight of his face glowing with happiness.
Adrian was stunned at the radiance the woman in his arms gave off and promptly leaned down and kissed her with one of his slow sweet kisses.
She stole another slow kiss as he began to pull away. She knew they didn't have much time left. Either the Captain would come looking or Julie would be out of the shower.
And it was as though reality refused to be driven out for long as she saw his eyes dull, his mind constantly tormenting him about one thing or another. This time though, she knew what plagued him.
"Julie loves you." Natalie said trying to stop him from feeling Julie compared him to John. If anything she knew from watching the two of them in the last few months just how much Julie had avoided John and choose to be with Adrian Monk.
"How can she? She's afraid of me." Adrian said as they both looked into each others eyes.
Natalie rolled her eyes and then looked back at him with this look of 'really' clearly seen in her stare. "You wanted to wipe off a kiss on the cheek from her not two years ago."
"That's...that's...different." Adrian's stubbornness slightly giving way to incredulous look in her eyes.
"Adrian she's always loved you. Now it's...it's deeper. It's..it's more than she can keep to herself now." Natalie lowered her eyes as she said the words, knowing the double meaning behind them was applying to herself.
"I...I love her Natalie. I just..." He leaned his forehead against hers and shook his head, "everyone I love leaves...or dies. I...I'm afraid if I..." Adrian stopped talking and shook his head. All of the dopamine dwindled to nothing as the image of John Night touching Julie entered into his mind once more.
It was the image of what could have happened that truly tormented him.
"He could have raped her or..." Adrian whispered the words so low because the utterance of them were truly horrifying. "He could have raped her or killed her and we wouldn't have..."
"Stop!" Natalie's voice strong yet filled with pain. She couldn't think about. She just couldn't.
"I wanted to kill him..." Adrian whispered and opened his eyes to look into hers, and Natalie saw the darkness there and knew he had gone to that place where Trudy's death always brought him.
Natalie moved her hands to hold both sides of his face and make him stare into hers. "Promise me you want let him bait you again. Loving Julie means being there for her and if you go to prison for killing that scum bag it means you won't be there for her!"
Adrian felt a tug on his heart at those words.
"Promise me!" Natalie said a little too strongly, causing Julie's ears to perk up from inside the shower.
Adrian didn't look away from her searching gaze, but he kept his mouth closed.
He knew if it came down to it, if John came near Natalie or Julie ever again...there would be no walking away.
Natalie felt a chill go down her spine as she realized why he wasn't saying anything. She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing he wasn't going to promise her.
If there was one thing she knew, it was that Adrian Monk would willingly die for the people he loved. And nothing had ever been so bittersweet then knowing that he loved her daughter that much. That he would risk becoming the very thing he had dedicated his life to stopping.
He would become a murderer if John had raped Julie. Natalie knew that now.
Truth was that she probably would have killed John before Adrian would have had the chance to.
But Natalie hadn't witnessed the way Adrian had lost it when just the possibility of John hurting her or Julie existed.
Sucking in a calming breathe as she closed her eyes she slowly opened them back up and said the only thing she thought she could say to convince him to listen to her.
She braced herself for the ramifications of her words. Because it was a huge step filled with unspoken emotions...but she had to try. Holding his stare she said words that she never thought she would be able to say to any man besides Mitch.
"Our daughter... needs us both in her life."
The jolt of shock she felt from him was nothing compared to the look in his eyes.
There was only one word to describe the look.
And it was a word Adrian Monk always claimed to hate.
Hope.
There was hope in his eyes.
He leaned down and gave her a slow kiss and slowly lowered her back onto the ground. Natalie gave him another quick kiss just before her feet touched the ground, knowing he still wasn't going to promise her that he wouldn't hurt John, but knowing from the look in his eye that the murderous instinct had been taken down several notches.
"Go see what Leland wants." Natalie said and gave another quick kiss to his lips and caressed his face with one hand.
Adrian suddenly wanted to nuzzle into her hand but only allowed himself to close his eyes and try and memorize her smell.
Natalie smiled softly at the way he fell into her touch now. It wasn't that long ago that touching him made him wince.
Crazy how fast they both had become use to the other's touch.
Natalie moved slightly to the table and retrieved a disinfectant wipe from her purse and placed it into the hand that had rocked her world not a few seconds before with a look in her eye that spoke of passion that still brewed there.
Adrian blushed but used the wipe and then placed it in his pocket instead of handing it to her, which she noted was something new since he always tossed the discards to her.
Adrian moved towards her again and he cupped her face as he gave her an intense slow kiss.
Natalie's heart pounded like crazy at the implication of these kisses.
There was no staying upset with him. Lord knows she had tried in the past, but she always forgave him.
Pulling away he looked into her eyes.
A small nod later and he gave a quick kiss to her before pulling back slightly and as if he thought better of it reversed gears once more and gave her another quick kiss.
Turning around towards the door his libido had indeed died down so it wasn't evident, but it was still slightly uncomfortable to walk. He pushed his carnal thoughts away and focused on the fact that John Night wanted to hurt his family, and with that came the very masculine instinct to protect them both at any cost.
And he would.
At any cost.
Leland had just finished talking to the officers and making sure each person onsite at Monk's was an officer that he personally knew.
He couldn't afford to take any chances.
Not with what happened earlier.
Randy was busy coordinating with everyone not just at Monk's place but those that had been sent to Natalie's house.
The idea that John would try something on everyone's minds, causing Stottlemeyer to cover all of his bases. Everyone that was there watching over both locations and was doing it on their own time, volunteering off the clock to watch over the two females that had become a part of their surrogate P.D. family.
When Leland looked up to see Monk exiting his building he knew the look on his face must have alerted Monk immediately because the normally fear filled man looked ready to go to war with the look he had in his eyes.
"What happened?" Monk asked quickly. Seeing the look in Leland's eyes had told him something had happened.
Leland waited a second and looked over at Randy who was still over by the other police officers giving them instructions, and then at Monk. "Night's not in lock up. He left the precinct with a lawyer before he called anyone."
Adrian looked shocked for a second but then shook his head, "How?"
Leland shook his head, "I don't know. All I can figure is that someone must be partnered with him but I don't know who. Monk I swear to you everyone watching the apartment are good cops and I know each one of them personally. All of them know Natalie and don't want anything to happen to Julie either. But as of an hour ago I'm horrified to say I don't know who's connected to John and WHY they wanted him out of the precinct so fast, but it's got to be something big. No one knows HOW the lawyer was even notified since John was passed out. All we know is that the lawyer came from Los Angeles. Either this guy was in the neighborhood or..."
"Or someone knew John would need an attorney hours before." Adrian knew that whoever Joe Night really was, he was obviously connected to very powerful people who had deep pockets.
"I don't like this Monk. Whatever the hell is going on here - someone was trying to have John get close to Natalie for something...and he managed to do it."
Adrian felt his spine stiffen at those words, the undercurrent and other meaning in the words awakening a sleeping giant of jealousy.
Leland saw the way Monk was suddenly staring daggers at him and for a second didn't know why he was receiving the look when he said something that made his eyebrows shoot up.
"He didn't get THAT close to her."
Leland didn't know how to take the fact that Monk understood the double meaning of his words but knew he had to agree with Monk out of loyalty to his friend.
"No...I don't think he did get that close." Leland said with a serious look in his eye and a little nod.
Monk's body didn't relax though. The thought of Natalie touching John the way she had been touching him was nauseating.
The idea of that piece of filth then going form touching Natalie to Julie making him want to heave - which Adrian would choose DEATH over doing.
But the idea of Natalie touching John in that way made him want to punch through a wall. Not that he could, but the instinct to smash John's smiling face in once more permeated his very being.
Especially after what what he had just done with Natalie.
What he had KEPT doing with Natalie.
Monk rubbed his forehead and looked back towards the apartment.
Honestly he had no idea WHY he suddenly couldn't keep himself away from her. His reasonings for keeping distant from her were valid.
It seemed as though his mind was set on one thing...and the rest of him wasn't.
And then there was what Trudy had said.
"How's Julie doing?" Leland asked in a hushed voice, knowing that she had admitted John had done more than just grab her was going to be tormenting his friend more than anything. He was tormenting himself and he was an unofficial uncle to the girl. He could only imagine how Monk felt.
Adrian looked at him with this look that spoke of sadness and anger that he couldn't seem to control. "He kissed her. He...he forced her to kiss him and...I don't know what else. She didn't even want to tell me that much. She said..."
Monk stopped talking, not wanting to keep repeating the words that felt like a knife to his insides.
Leland lowered his head and then peaked up at Monk. "Monk she's scared right now. Dr. Bell told me she wants to talk to both you and Natalie tomorrow morning at his office. Honestly...I think that's a good idea."
Monk just nodded his head.
Just then a car drove up and both Leland and Monk noted it was Sharona and Benjy.
"Hey!" Sharona said from her rolled down window. "What's with all the extra cops on the block Captain?"
Leland and Monk looked at each other and then back to Sharona.
"That a rental?" Leland asked as he had known Sharona had been renting a car to get around.
Sharona gave a half smirk. "Bought it yesterday."
Leland looked puzzled for a second until Benjy spoke from the passenger seat.
"We're not going back. This has always been home Captain."
Leland ducked his head and smirked. He always knew Benjy was a smart kid.
"You're not leaving?" Adrian asked almost shocked that after years of being gone they were returning.
"No way Boss." Sharona said with a smile at Adrian.
"But...Natalie..." Adrian said as he now felt himself beginning to panic looking between the three faces in front of him.
"Um...Monk," Benjy began and stopped, getting out of the car quickly grabbing the bags and walking around to be in front of a very confused looking detective, "mom's the one that has been taking care of you most of the time and um..." Benjy looked at his mother who gave a little nod to tell him and he turned back to look at Adrian, "and because Mom's a nurse...Captain here was able to get the insurance to pay for her salary but ah..."
Benjy could see how confused Adrian was with the way his brow was furrowed, as if he was trying to follow his word vomit and was getting lost.
Benjy swallowed and finally blurted it out, "Natalie's been working at a cleaning service to help pay your bills and her own. Everyday she would come help ma any way she could and pay the bills. I ah...I followed her... recently. We just found out about it. So...she hasn't been working with you...as much as for you."
Adrian's head jerked back, "Wa...waitwaitwait. Are you..." Adrian stopped talking and then the question he had never asked left his lips, "How long...EXACTLY...was I out?!" Adrian's eyes going from Benjy to Leland and then to Sharona.
Sharona winced but didn't look away as she told him. "Adrian...you were comatose for two months."
The look of shock on his face made Sharona wince again as he looked between the three of them. His body beginning to tremble and twitch the way it did when something was seriously wrong - something he hadn't done in a great while.
"Guys!? Everything ok? Sharona you need to park the car, you can't stay in the middle of the street!" Randy's words stopping Monk from exploding then and there yet also causing Sharona to roll her eyes and give Randy a look he hadn't received in years.
"You and me are gonna have a talk!" Sharona's words instantly letting Randy know he had stepped in it somehow.
Benjy winced then, "Um...I had to tell her Randy."
Randy closed his eyes slowly the way he did when he had made a mistake and then opened them to find Sharona glaring at him.
There was no chance of keeping her out of the loop now. Sharona would want to know EXACTLY what he had been helping Benjy with.
"Look Ma! I was around cops for most of my childhood! What exactly did you think I would want to become?!" Benjy tried to reason with his mother but one pointed finger raised to him from her car door window and a glare had him shutting his mouth.
"Stay out of this!" Then pointed to the Lieutenant, " Randy! Get in the car!"
Randy looked between an amused Leland and a scared to make a motion Monk. Then he looked at Benjy silently pleading for help and with Benjy looking down at the sidewalk he knew Benjy was of no use to help him against his mother.
Leland wanted to laugh at the way Randy moved in a hunched over fashion to the passenger side of the car. "Have him back in an hour and ah...try not to bruise him too badly."
Sharona glared over at Randy as he settled into the seat and Randy just stared back at Sharona. With her eyes still on Randy she growled out, "No promises."
Randy suddenly felt a little pulse of terror go up his spine.
Benjy shook his head and smirked as the Captain laughed as Sharona suddenly sped away.
Monk though was running back the fact that the woman upstairs who he had mistreated by HIM on so many occasions had literally taken a job to pay for his bills.
Not to mention her own, and she was raising her daughter by herself.
I love you.
He heard her voice saying the words again in his head and the way her blue eyes looked at him.
"Why didn't anyone tell me!?" Adrian rubbed his temple with his teeth grit as he now had the very real problem of trying to navigate the fact that Natalie had been working to pay
HIS bills.
"Tell you the truth Monk...I didn't even know." Stottlemeyer said gesturing with his arm out to indicate himself.
"Mom didn't even know! They hadn't really talked before today either. Mom seemed to think that Natalie was the reason...you...went away. So...none of us bothered to ask how she was covering her expenses. " Benjy said trying to navigate around the fact that his mother and he had been completely negligent when it came to taking care of Natalie and Julie. Something he was positive now Adrian would have wanted.
Adrian held his own hands and began to twitch and wince, "That's why she said she was tired." Another twitch of his head and shoulder and he lifted his hand in a pointing motion. "Leland if I solve the Bakker case..."
"Monk I'm way ahead of yeah...I already had Randy start the paperwork so you could get paid."
Adrian moved his hand, "And Natalie."
"And Natalie!" Leland said with a nod. Knowing that Monk was having an epiphany moment to everything that had happened he patted Monk on the arm to gain his attention, "You left that um...stuff in my car. Need me to hide it for you?"
Monk was confused for a second before Leland made subtle motion with his hand up to his tie and fluttered the tie. It took Monk a second to understand the reference to the necklace and would have just agreed - if it wasn't for the OTHER item he had bought.
"Um...ah...no. No! I ah...I can...you know...take it." Monk said awkwardly which immediately made Benjy suspicious.
"Something like a gun?" Benjy asked, reaching for what he could only suspect they were referring to.
"NO!" Leland almost shouted and looked incredulously at Benjy, "You think I'd hide a gun for him?!"
Benjy shrugged his shoulder, "Well he's like your brother so...maybe!"
Monk's eyes shot over to Benjy and then to Leland at those words.
Leland gave Benjy an incredulous look and then adjust his stance and glared at Benjy. "I seem to recall having to take your mother in for stealing a certain chimpanzee if I'm not mistaken! You think I'd treat Monk differently than your mother?"
"Yeah. You love him more." Benjy said with another shrug.
Leland jerked his body back and gave him another glare.
"FINE! No! No you wouldn't." Benjy said with the rolling of his eyes and a glance at Monk which clearly read 'I really don't think that.'
Leland pursed his lips and gave a side glance to Monk before he walked over to his car which was literally parked on the side of the street just a few feet away and grabbed the bag and shut the door behind him before handing the bag to Monk.
Benjy's stared harshly at the bag and then up at Adrian. "You bought jewelry?"
"No! Nono...ah...no! No!" Adrian said nervously as he took the very recognizable blue bag.
"Monk managed to win a contest and ah..." Leland pursed his lips in a smile seeing how uncomfortable Monk looked and worried with the way he looked over at him from looking at Benjy, "he used it to get a gift for Julie."
Benjy jerked his head back at the news and his eyebrows went up. "Really?"
Monk bowed his head slightly as he nodded his head. "It's a...a necklace that...that has meaning to it."
Benjy smiled. "So...do you need me to run interference so you can hide it someplace?" He nodded his head up, indicating the apartment that Natalie and Julie were currently in.
Adrian suddenly realized the only place he could possibly hide the bag would be in his armoire, but both Natalie and Julie would be using his bedroom tonight.
The only chance he had of hiding the gifts, would be with Benjy's help.
"I don't think I can get past Natalie...I...can't lie to her..." Monk said haltingly but then Benjy laughed.
"Yeah...I know how that goes." Benjy's smile bloomed on his face as he looked at Adrian.
Adrian stared at Benjy for a second before a smile formed on his own face. Adrian stared at Benjy remembering the Benjy never lied to him, and for the first time marveling at the young man he had become.
Leland felt the two needed a moment of bonding after the years apart, a father and son moment he instantly could spot, so he began to make his way towards the officers at the end of the block to talk to them about who was taking what shift.
When Leland was a good distance away Monk finally spoke again.
"I missed you." Adrian admitted softly and Benjy felt his chest tighten at the words.
"I missed you too." Benjy said as he stared at a man that had shaped him into the man he was today. Way more than his actual biological father ever did.
"What's all this?" Adrian asked looking at the duffel bags Benjy still held onto.
"Oh...ah...Mom and me grabbed some more clothes and stuff for Julie and Natalie." Benjy explained as he hoisted the bags a bit more. "You know Monk...I...I'm sorry I didn't watch out for Julie the way I should of. I swear I never would have left that pig near her if I knew you didn't trust him."
Adrian tilted his head slightly at that, "Who told you I didn't trust him?"
"Julie. While she was getting her backpack she told me she felt like she should have been more guarded the way you had always been." Benjy said as he began to walk towards the apartment.
Adrian grimaced. "Why didn't she say something earlier?! We could have arrested him for sexual assault..."
"I don't think Julie was ready to admit anything to anyone! I had to talk her into telling me what happened. Honestly I knew something else had happened...but I wasn't going to push her. She barely knows me and I knew she needed someone she trusted more than me to tell. I thought she'd tell Natalie first but...I guess she felt more comfortable talking to you then her mom." Benjy was physically stopped from moving by Adrian's hand grabbing him as they were about to walk up the stairs and turning him towards himself.
"Did she say that? Did...no...no she said she didn't want to tell me..." Adrian said as he heard her voice distinctly saying that not a half hour ago.
"Well detective...a girl doesn't usually talk about anything even remotely close to sex with the person they consider their dad...so...not really shocked that she'd not want to talk about it." Benjy gave a pointed stare to Adrian. "Remember when I asked you about what it meant when my body started to react to girls?" Benjy gave a smile that showed he was holding back a laugh.
Adrian grimaced. "You were just a kid..."
"Yeah well...I'm a guy asking another guy about why my pe..."
"NAH..nah..no...no!" Adrian interrupted waving his hand and shaking his head as he was completely uncomfortable with the conversation.
"You know you just proved my point, right?" Benjy said with dead face stare.
"THAT'S...that's different!" Adrian stopped the scream a bit too late but still looked at Benjy with anger in his eyes.
Benjy just stared at Adrian before he let out a sigh. "No...it isn't. I asked you...because you were the closest thing to a father I ever had Adrian. And I know she thinks like that...because I thought like that. You weren't just some boss of my mother's." Benjy said point blank and without an ounce of shame.
Adrian Monk just stared at Benjy with clear shock on his face.
"What? You're actually shocked?!" Benjy asked with a little bit of a smile forming. "You said you didn't need to be my father to be proud of me and you think I didn't know what that meant?"
Adrian gave a half shrug and it caused Benjy to let out a laugh.
"If mom hadn't of remarried my father, you'd be the only man I would have ever called Pops. I guarantee it." Benjy said with half smirk that reminded Monk so much of his mother it actually caused him to smile back and reach over and pat him on the back and keep his hand on Benjy without flinching at all.
"Can't believe you remember I said that." Monk said as he began to walk up the stairs with Benjy right by his side, just clearing the stairwell side by side with each other.
Benjy gave a big laugh. "Not really something I could forget! You kept ripping the bandage off my forehead!"
Adrian wanted to laugh with him, but something inside of him was starting to panic at the idea of having the two children he had known for soo long both looking at him as a father figure.
It worried him on par with the idea of Trudy's death being his fault.
Even with having met his father it wasn't as though he had kept in touch. If the man that had barely raised him wasn't a good example...how could he ever be?
Then Benjy said something that turned his whole world upside down and right side up again.
"I love you Pops."
Adrian stopped moving and just turned his head and stared in true stunned silence at Benjy.
Benjy just smirked, his eyes swelling just slightly with moisture.
"I love you too Benjy." The words came out of his mouth instantly, like that voice in his head didn't have time to stop the voice in his heart from responding what it had wanted to say for years - but had been too afraid to do.
"I should have fought mom to stay here. You know I didn't wanna go..."
"Your mother needed you. She's...she's the only reason I can even function Benjy. And...and I couldn't stop her if she needed to be away from me...so that she could get better. I'm...better now but..." Adrian shook his head and looked up towards the entrance of the apartment building, "I'm not near as strong as either of them. I'm trying to be strong for Natalie but...I'm afraid I'm going to let her down."
Benjy realized that Adrian had said Natalie and not Julie immediately, but wisely said nothing.
The sparkle in Adrian's eye that he had only ever seen when he had spoken about Trudy was there and was more than just evident.
Benjy knew.
In that moment he knew what was going on that had caused Adrian to become catatonic again.
Adrian Monk had fallen in love again.
Benjy looked up towards the entrance to the building and felt something in him become even more protective of the people inside as the realization that the man next to him loved the occupants more than he thought he was capable of loving.
Benjy turned his head to look at Monk's profile and told him what he had sworn in his own mind earlier that day.
"I promise I'll protect them both with my life Pops." Benjy said and waited for Adrian to look at him and speak with his eyes to let him know...that he knew. That he saw now...and he would do everything in his power to protect the family that they had created.
No matter what.
Adrian gave Benjy a slow smile and a nod. "I know you will."
With that Adrian patted Benjy's back once more and the began to climb up the stairs again, both facing a future they never expected to have.
Both not knowing the dangers they were soon to walk through, together, and seperately.
Author's Note: Ok people who are reading. I need to know if you would like to read the conversation between Sharona and Randy or if you would like it left up to the imagination. Tell me what you think of the developments to the story and where do you think this is going! Maybe your right...or maybe your off base. Either of which...REVIEW and let me know!