"Are you sure we packed everything?" Melody asked anxiously. When Drake looked at her, he noticed she was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

He smiled. "You checked and re-checked the bags all night. It's fine. Besides, it's too late now, the bags are probably on the plane already."

This didn't seem to calm Melody down. "What if they put the bags on the wrong plane?"

"Then, we'll by new clothes when we get out there. It's just stuff. It's all replaceable."

"What if...?"

Drake pulled Melody into the seat next to him. "It's fine. Everything will be fine."

Melody quickly jumped to her feet. "How can you say that? Everything is not fine. It's the opposite of fine!"

Drake sighed and rubbed his jaw. "Honey, please calm down a little. Are you worried about meeting my parents?"

"No... not really... yes..."

"Is that why you're freaking out?"

"I don't know." Melody started pacing. "I've never been out of the state before! I mean, my friends have dragged me to Jersey a couple of times to go to shows but that doesn't count. It's still the east coast. I've never been out there!" She gestured wildly towards the window. "We have to fly out there! It's not a quick train trip away or anything!"

"I told you we could drive if you were that freaked out about flying!"

"But that would have meant days in the car..." Melody sat down and put her head between her knees. "I'm going to be sick. I can't do this."

Drake felt helpless. He tried rubbing her back, unsure of how to comfort her. "You'll be fine. It's just a plane ride. It's no big deal."

"I won't be! It's a plane!" she shrieked.

"Having problems?" Mindy approached with Josh and Emily.

"Thank God you guys are here!" Drake jumped up. "Melody's kinda freaking out over this plane ride."

"Can't your parents just come out here? We're all on this coast!" Melody whined.

Josh tried not to laugh. "Come on, Mel. This plane ride will be nothing. Emily's never been on a plane before and she's fine."

Melody looked up. "That's because she's a baby. She doesn't know any better."

Mindy gently took Melody's arm and helped her up. "We're going for a walk. You guys look after Emily."

"So, how are things going with Melody?" Josh asked when the girls were out of earshot.

"I think we're okay. Though, things are still tense if anyone mentions Katie." Drake sighed. "I don't know what to do. I thought this baby issue wouldn't change our relationship, but it's going to. If that kid's mine..."

"Well, I think you should just try to enjoy the holiday. Hopefully Katie won't have the baby this week."

"She's not due for another three weeks."

Josh chuckled. "You do realize that's not a precise schedule, right?"

"That's just... wrong. How am I supposed to enjoy anything if I have to worry about her popping out this kid at any moment?"

"You just need to not think about it. There's really nothing you can do to stop it. It's going to happen sooner or later. You can deal with it when it happens."

"I guess..." Drake leaned back in his seat and watched Emily play with her stuffed penguin. "How did you know it was the right time when you proposed to Mindy?"

Josh laughed. "I didn't."

Drake looked at Josh. "You didn't?"

Josh shook his head. "I had no doubt that I wanted to marry her. The problem was finding the right time. I wanted it to be romantic, like the perfect moment. Then, one night we were fighting... I was stressed because one of my students had an accident during lab and Mindy was stressed over her first big case. Dinner got burned and Mindy was crying. We just kept snapping at each other and finally I yelled that I want to marry her." He laughed again. "If I could love her when she's yelling at me over nothing and she still looks beautiful while she's crying about burned grilled cheese sandwiches, then she must be the one."

"You yelled it and she still married you?"

"I'm just lucky, I guess. We just stared at each other and I finally asked her again, a lot softer that time. I had been carrying the ring in my pocket for a week. I got on one knee, showed her the ring and she said yes."

Drake shook his head. "That has to be the craziest proposal I've ever heard of."

"That's life, though. You just have to make the best of the hard times. It made me realize how much I need her." Josh shrugged. "I guess it was the right time. When you feel that kind of love, that moment when you know you could never live without her, that's the right time. Just because it wasn't that traditional romantic moment doesn't make it any less perfect." He smiled. "Besides, those traditional proposal stories are boring."

"Hey, why do you look so happy?" Mindy asked.

"I was just thinking about when I proposed."

"I had tomato soup in my hair and you told me I was perfect."

"You are." Josh said, pulling Mindy into the seat next to him. "Even if you did manage to make the soup explode."

Melody sat down next to Drake. "I'm sorry I freaked out."

"It's okay." He held her hand. "I'm sorry you're so stressed about this trip. You know it'll be okay, right?"

"I hope so."

"So, how did Mindy get you to calm down?"

"She gave me some Valium."

"What?" He turned to Mindy. "You're drugging my girlfriend?"

Mindy laughed. "How do you think I get Josh on planes? Though, after hearing that helicopter story, it makes a lot more sense. I just thought he was a being a baby before."

"I wasn't being a baby! I have every reason to..."

Drake put his hand up. "Dude, Melody just calmed down. I don't think talking about that is the best choice of topic."

--
"She fell asleep kinda fast," Mindy said about a half hour into the flight.

Drake glanced at Melody. "She was up all night." He looked at Mindy. "Thanks for calming her down. I had no idea what to do."

"No problem. Josh freaked out the same way the first time we flew somewhere." She paused for a moment. "Though, you could do me a favour."

"What is it?"

"Do you think you can watch Emily for a little bit?"

Drake was confused. "Why? Where are you going?"

"Just for a walk," Mindy said nonchalantly.

"We're on a plane. Where are you going to...? Wait. Where's Josh?" He realized what was going on. "Ewww."

Mindy laughed. "You're just jealous that we thought of it first. Too bad Melody's sound asleep."

"It's your fault. You drugged her!" Drake whined.

"Don't be a cry baby. Just watch your niece. She's getting kinda tired so she might take a nap." Mindy handed Emily to Drake.

Emily yawned as Mindy walked away. "You tired, kiddo?" Drake asked. He reclined his seat and let Emily lay on his chest. He placed a blanket over her and she was fast asleep.

Drake closed his eyes and put his arm around Emily. He didn't think it would be too bad to be a father. He just hoped that when it finally happened, it would be with Melody.

--
"They look happy," Melody commented on the way to the baggage claim.

"That's because they got lucky on the plane," Drake said.

"Drake's just jealous because he didn't," Josh said.

"I'm sorry. Maybe next time," Melody said lightly.

"It's not that. It's just weird thinking about them... you know. Ewww." Drake shudder. "Not that I'm turning down that offer, though."

"We have a kid. How do you think that happened?" Josh asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, a stork brought her to your doorstep." Drake spotted Melody's bag. "See? I told you everything would be fine."

"Yeah, yeah. I have my bags. This isn't the hard part. Now I have to meet your parents."

"It'll be fine. I'm sure they'll love you."

"Though, just to be safe, you can carry Emily into the house. Audrey can't attack you if you're holding her only grandchild," Mindy said.

--
"Are you ready?" Drake asked softly.

Melody had Emily sitting on her hip. "Yeah. I think so. She can't hate me. I'm kind to babies."

"You'll be fine," Josh assured her before opening the door. "Mom? Dad? Anyone home?"

"Hey!" Audrey excitedly came down the stairs. "How was your flight?" She hugged Josh, Mindy and Drake before pausing in front of Melody.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Melody shifted Emily so she could extend her hand to Audrey. "Nice to meet you, Mrs..."

"You can call me Audrey," she said, shaking Melody's hand. "I've heard so much about you. So, can I say hello to my granddaughter or do you want to hold onto her a little longer to make sure I don't bite your head off?" she asked good-naturedly.

Melody laughed and handed over Emily. "As long as your first impression of me is 'polite and nice to children,' you can have her."

"I don't think you have to worry. So far you're a lot better than the last girl Drake brought home. When I first met her, she thought I was the maid. Though, let's not talk about her. Come in. Make yourselves at home. I'll make some sandwiches for lunch if you guys want to take your bags upstairs."

"Hello, bed," Josh said, dropping his bags on the floor and falling onto the bed.

"This room is pretty cool," Melody said. "It's nearly half the size of my apartment."

"Our apartment isn't that small," Drake said.

Melody climbed the ladder to Drake's bed. "I feel like we should stay up all night and play 'truth or dare' or 'spin the bottle' or something," she said with a laugh.

"Sure, it'll be like when we were teenagers except with a crying baby," Mindy said. "Besides, we can't play 'spin the bottle,' I don't want to risk kissing Drake. Gross."

"Like I'd want to kiss you." Drake paused as a thought occurred to him. "Wait. You'd play and risk kissing Melody but not me? You could have just said you don't want to kiss anyone except Josh."

Mindy shook her head and walked out of the room.

"Dude, your wife would rather kiss my girlfriend than me!"

Josh shrugged as he headed for the door. "I can't blame her. I'd rather kiss Melody than kiss you."

Drake turned to Melody. "They'd rather kiss you than me!"

Melody hopped off the bed. "That's fine with me. I don't want anyone else kissing you. You're mine."

Drake wanted to say something like, 'I thought I was a free person who didn't belong to anyone,' but the feel of Melody's lips stopped him. It didn't matter anyway. He was completely hers.

--
"Honey, I'm home with Megan and Grammy!" Walter exclaimed as he dropped all the bags he was carrying.

Audrey came rushing out of the kitchen. "Great! I need to use your car to go shopping," she said while hugging Megan.

"What's wrong with your car?"

"Yours is bigger. I want to get the food shopping done tonight so I don't have to go out tomorrow." Audrey hugged Grammy. "How was your flight?"

"Good. So, I heard that Drake decided to grace us with his presence this year."

"Speaking of which, how is she?" Walter lowered his voice slightly. "She isn't a b-i-t-c-h, is she?"

"Walter, I think we know how to spell," Drake said. He and Melody had been standing in the kitchen doorway, unnoticed.

Melody smiled and waved. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Nichols."

Walter looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't see you there. Drake's told us so much about you."

"But he didn't mention that I'm not a b-i-t-c-h?" Melody asked jokingly.

"Drake, aren't you going to introduce me? All I've heard about your girlfriend is what Megan and Josh tell me because they actually call their dear old Grammy."

"Grammy, this is Melody. Melody, this is Grammy," Drake said.

"She's prettier than the last girl you brought home."

"Well, I hate to run but we have to get to the store before it gets too late," Audrey said. "Drake, why don't you help Grammy and Megan with their bags?"

"What? I thought I was going shopping with you guys."

"I want to spend some time with Melody. She'll be fine." Audrey opened the door.

"Besides, you know how you get distracted by the candy aisle when you go into the store. It'll be quicker if you stay here," Melody said.

"But I don't wanna..." Drake realized he lost when the door closed.

"You heard Mom," Megan said, pointing to her suitcase.

Walter tried not to laugh and Drake sighed as he picked up Megan's suitcase and then Grammy's.

"Where's the baby?" Grammy asked.

"They took her to see Mindy's parents." Drake struggled to carry the suitcases upstairs.

"Well, seeing as everyone's out, you can unpack our suitcases for us."

"Why do I have to? Can't you unpack them yourselves?"

"Well, you can tell me about your new girlfriend while you unpack my case and you're unpacking Megan's case as punishment for never calling."