Sweet story.

This was really fun to read, I enjoyed it! Thanks for staying true to the characters, and... awesome job :)

I think the gang having a Fourth of July party is a great idea. Julie and Jared are cute. Max's teasing was funny. I like how patient Natalie was with Monk. Randy just can't catch a break with those women. Maybe he should try a different tactic. I wish that something like this could happen on the show. Great job.

Loved the sparkler part! Technically I loved the whole fic, but the sparkler had me laughing for hours. I also enjoyed the Julie and Jared thing, don't think anyone has written anything about them. It was great!

I love how fast you came up with this. I must give you snaps for the confidence you've given Disher and I have had a little, "What if",itching in the back of my mind that you totally scratched when you wrote the flirtation between Julie and little Stottlemeyer! I do have a question though. I've never thought of Monk as someone who would try to appear comfortable when he wasn't. We're talking about a character that has seizing panic attacks when faced with some of his phobias. I saw an opportunity for one of his trademark awkward moments there. Still, Natalie has been able to get him to face some fears in the past. I think, more or less, it works.

Cute scene! I enjoyed reading your chapter - I could picture everyone, what they were doing and how the picnic looked. The funniest thing is Randy trying desperately to "make a new friend". LOL. I liked Leland with his boys and Jared getting a load of Julie - who is beautiful of course! Thanks for a fun read!

This is retarded. Why do you write?

LOL. Could you have rightly said that the tank of a man with a head like a 'bucket' was a little 'pail'? Sorry -- inside joke.

Nice visual image at the end with Monk and the sparkler -- I can see him tossing it into the bucket.

And Natalie taking his arm? Something for the shippers there -- ironically probably more than is in mine.