"Mr. Monk," Natalie began as she, Julie, and her boss were about to finish their dinner, "I know you said you didn't want any gifts for your birthday, but Julie and I got you a little something." She motioned to Julie, who reached under the table and presented him with a green gift bag and a card.
"Oh, you shouldn't have done that," Monk protested.
"It's your special day Mr. Monk," Julie told him. "We wanted to get you a present!"
"No I mean it," Monk responded, completely serious. "You shouldn't have."
Natalie rolled her eyes and gave him a gentle elbow. "Just open your gift. You'll love it, I promise."
Adrian reluctantly took the bag from Julie. It was heavier than he expected. Removing the tissue paper revealed a hardcover book. He pulled it out, and his expression totally changed when he saw the cover. "Top Dog: Marmaduke at 50"?
"It's a collection of Marmaduke comics," Natalie explained. "We saw it at a bookstore a few weeks ago and thought you would like it."
He set the book on the table and opened it, turning the pages as if they could fall apart at the slightest touch. "This… this is wonderful," he said, his voice full of awe. A grin spread across his face. "I love Marmaduke."
The two women shared a satisfied look between them. "We know you do Mr. Monk. You describe that day's comic to me every time you read the paper."
"Oh, this is one of my favorites!" He held up the book and pointed to one of the comics. "See, he's about to run off carrying that child by his coat. 'Now I know why Billy's never late to school!'" He chuckled, and the other two couldn't help but smile.
"Natalie, Julie… thank you. This is amazing."
Julie got up and gave him a hug. "You're welcome Mr. Monk."
Natalie followed her daughter's lead. He tensed up at the contact, but relaxed after a few seconds. "See, I told you you would love it," she said.
"Leland, have you seen this one?" Monk placed the book on the Captain's desk. "'I wish you hadn't told Marmaduke the price of dog food went up again!'"
Stottlemeyer didn't even attempt to hide his amusement at his friend's enthusiasm. "Yes Monk, I've seen that one. You've been carrying that book around for three days, talking about nothing else. Now can we get back to this homicide investigation?"