Chapter 10

That night, Melody couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could think about was her expiring time as a human.

"I have to make Mommy and Daddy fall in love..." she firmly decided.

Morph popped up, chirping. "Fall in love, fall in love." He replied.

Melody giggled as Morph fluttered around her, then took the form of a teenage Jim and Ariel, waltzing.

"They look so happy..." Melody began, "so in love..."

Morph turned back into Morph and licked Melody comfortingly.

"I know!" Melody began, jumping up, "I can go find Grandpa and try to convince him to give us an extension!"

Morph snuggled up to her, worried.

"Please come with me." Melody begged.

"Okay. Come with, come with!" Morph replied.

Melody crept out of bed and tiptoed past Jim and Sarah's rooms.

"Please don't worry..." Melody whispered.

As Melody reached the steps, she paused. The steps always creaked slightly.

"Morph... help?" She asked.

Morph lifted Melody up and onto the railing. Quietly, Melody slid down until she reached the door. Morph quickly unlocked the door, and the two of them headed to the sea.

That morning, Jim got up extra early to make a special breakfast for his daughter.

"Pancakes with extra whip?" Sarah asked in surprise, looking at the disaster zone that was her kitchen.

"Well, yeah." Jim replied, slicing up some bananas while looking for the bottle of chocolate syrup.

"Are you trying to get her hyper for when Ariel comes?" Sarah asked, shooting Jim a warning look.

"No, no. Just wanted to make breakfast, besides. Look!" Jim tilted the frying pan down, "they're heart shaped."

Sarah rubbed her forehead. "Ok, Jim. I'll take over. You go wake Melody."

Jim nodded and headed up to his daughter's room.

"Melody, br..." he began, heading in.

To his surprise, the bed was empty.

"Melody?" He asked in surprise. "Melody, come down to breakfast!" He called out.

When she didn't appear, Jim began to panic. Running downstairs, he found Sarah.

"Mom!" He began, "Have you seen Melody? She's not in bed."

Sarah shook her head. "Not since last night."

Jim gulped. "This is bad... If I lose her, Ariel will kill me!"

Suddenly his eye fell on the front door. The wide open front door.

Jim angrily swore. "Great! Just great! The one night she is under my roof, she gets out! I have to find her before..."

"Find who?"

Jim gulped. Ariel was in the doorway.

"A... Ariel." He began.

"Find who, Jim." Ariel asked, shooting him a warning look.

Jim took a deep breath. He was in trouble. "Melody got out, and I can't find her." He muttered.

"What?!" Ariel shrieked. "I give her to you for one night and you lose our daughter?"

"It wasn't my fault! Morph unlocked the door!"

"You should have been watching her!"

"Guys!"

The bickering couple turned to face Sarah.

"I understand you are stressed, but fighting isn't going to make Melody come home. You two are going to have to go out and find her. I'll stay behind in case she comes home. Now go! Hurry!"

Ariel and Jim nodded and ran out.

"Ariel! You've known her longer, where are some places Melody likes?"

Ariel shrugged. "I'm not sure. We haven't been on land for very long. The only place she's familiar with is..."

"The sea!" They both suddenly cried out. In terror, they ran to their daughter.

Little Melody trudged through the sand. She was tired, hungry and cold, but she knew she had to complete her mission.

Finally, she reached the sea.

"Grandpa?" She called out.

The ocean waves brushed her feet, but no sign of the king.

"Grandpa! I need to talk to you, please!" She yelled.

After a bit of bubbling, the sea parted and up rose the king.

"Melody!" Triton exclaimed. "What are you doing out on the beach, alone?"

Melody lowered her head.

"It's Daddy..." Melody began.

King Triton looked at his granddaughter in surprise. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I've spent time with him..." she began, "And I love him..."

"And does he love you?"

"Yes." Melody replied. "But he doesn't love Mommy..."

"Ah. Well, your time as humans is almost over." Triton began,

"I know..." Melody began. "But... I can't be away from Daddy that long again... How many more days with him?" She asked.

King Triton scratched his beard in thought.

"Three days." Triton finally said.

"So mommy and Daddy have three days to fall back in love." Melody mused.

"Remember, Mel." Triton began. "Love isn't easy."

With that, he sunk back into the sea. A sea breeze blew in, playing with her hair.

"Melody!"

Melody turned in surprise as her parents came running.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Melody called out as her parents came running across the beach to her.

"Melody Undine Triton!" Ariel seethed.

Melody gulped.

"Why did you run off?" Ariel asked.

"Do you have any idea how much your mother and I worried about you?" Jim added.

"When we get home, you are going to be in so much trouble!"

Melody hung her head, her eyes welling with tears.

"Mommy..." Melody sobbed.

Ariel narrowed her eyes.

"I went to see Grandpa... We only have three days left."

A strange look flashed over Jim's eye, but only for a split second.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Jim asked.

Melody wiped away her tears. "I... I want to spend as much time as possible with both of you." She whispered.

Jim and Ariel looked at each other in surprise.

"How do you plan for that?" Jim finally asked.

Melody looked up at her parents. "Can't we all live under the same roof?" She asked. "At least... until we're mermaids again..."

Her parents blinked in surprise.

"Well..." Ariel began, "Think we can live under the same roof for three days without killing each other?"

"You spoil her." Jim groaned. "But I guess we can."