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"Then you know?" Jake asked.
"Know what?" Sally asked, fluttering her lashes innocently before she looked between them and grumbled, "That the two of you have been lying to me this whole time and she's not even my nanny? Of course I know! You adults are dumb."
Sally threw up her arms in exasperation.
Stunned, Jake and Melody looked at each other again before all three of them burst into laughter.
"Well, then, I guess the last few weeks have been a total waste of time," Melody commented, still chuckling.
"You aren't mad?" Jake asked, and Sally shook her head. "And how do you feel about your mother?"
Jake held his breath, having to remind himself that Sally was only six.
Sally shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'll miss her, but I always did. She only ever cared when she wanted to use me against you."
Jake's heart twisted then. To hear such words coming from the lips of someone so young made him both upset and proud. To know he had raised such a smart little girl made all of the past heartache worth it.
"Then do you think you can put up with Melody instead?" Jake asked, throwing a playful expression in she-wolf's direction.
"Hey!" Melody exclaimed.
"More than I can put up with you," Sally chuckled, as if trying to give him a taste of his own medicine.
"In that case," Jake said and he pushed himself to his feet, disappearing from the room. He could feel their confused gazes following him until he slipped into his study, grabbing something from the top drawer of his desk before returning. "I have something I need to share."
He held out his hand to Melody and said, "Come and sit by Sally."
Looking confused and curious, Melody did as he asked, gripping his hand all the while.
“Jake, what are you doing?” Melody asked even as he dropped down onto one knee before her and produced the ring box he held behind his back.
“Ohhhh!” Sally exclaimed as Melody gasped, throwing her hands over her mouth in shock.
“Melody Rivers, from the moment you came into our lives you changed them for the better,” Jake announced, pulling open the box to reveal a large diamond ring. “We have already weathered so many storms, and I can’t imagine facing one without you. Will you marry me?”
Melody’s eyes remained wide. She stared down at the ring with such a look of disbelief that Jake feared she might instinctively say no.
He held his breath, praying that he was wrong. Sally bounced beside Melody as though she was already excited for the answer that was coming.
“Come on, Melody, say yes already!” the little girl cried, looking as though she was fit to burst.
Melody glanced at Sally as though she had just come up from very deep water and was struggling to find her senses. Then, she turned to Jake, glanced at the ring again and said, “Yes, Jake Silverdale, I will marry you!”
Happiness threatened to overwhelm Jake then. He was almost barreled over as both of his girls flew at him, throwing their arms around him. Melody scooped Sally up and placed her between them, hugging them both so tightly.
Jake wrapped his arms around them and held them tight, whispering, “My girls.”
Happy tears threatened at the corners of his eyes when he finally pulled back and Sally asked, “So, does this mean I get to call you Mom?”
Melody’s own eyes were filled with tears as she looked down at Sally and said, “You can call me whatever you like, little wolf.”
Jake’s heart swelled to hear his fiancée use his daughter’s nickname for the very first time. She blushed a little, as if she were worried how Sally might react.
Sally shot at Melody, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck, and Jake laughed when it looked like her eyes were going to pop right out of her skull.
“Looks like you’re stuck with us now,” he said, smirking.
“I’m happy to be.”
