Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter! But life got in the wa. Thanks to everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed! and thank you all for being so patient! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.

"I hope you stop squirming so much when he gets here." Lisbon chuckled, glancing back at Melody, who could hardly contain herself in the back seat. "He'll barely even be able to hug you."

"But he gets to leave. We can feed the ducks! Maybe they'll even let him go home for good!" Melody bounced.

Lisbon's smile faulted. She and Jane had been trying to think of ways to tell Melody that she was going to permanently move in with them and that James was going to the care centre, but there would be no way to do that without Melody being upset.

"I see them!" Melody squealed, snapping Lisbon back to the present.

Lisbon looked out the window to see James and Jane walking towards the car.

Melody waved at her father through the window and James noticed, waving back.

"Hi, Daddy!" Melody threw her arms around her father in a tight hug once he was in the car.

"Hey, there!" James hugged her back and kissed her head.

"Took you guys long enough." Lisbon commented as Jane got in the front passenger side and closed the door.

"Well, you know hospitals and their release papers." Jane shrugged.

"I'm sure." Lisbon nodded. "Any longer and we would be late." She started the car and drove off to the park where they were meeting the Smithson family.

-Mentalist-

"Hello!" Jane called and waved at the friends that they were meeting.

"Hey!" Anna turned, waving back at the group as they approached.

"Hi, Melody!" Lillian waved before pushing off to slide down the slide.

"Hi, Lillian!" Melody skipped over. "You're still wearing the crown I gave you."

"Yeah." Lillian nodded. "I really like it."

"That's good. I'm glad you do." Melody smiled.

"So you're Melody." The man that had been with Anna knelt down next to Lillian.

"Yep." Melody nodded.

"I'm Ben." He held out his hand. "Lillian's dad."

"Nice to meet you." Melody shook his hand.

"I'm glad to see you could all make it out." Anna said. "What a nice Saturday for us, huh? Really sunny and warm."

"You can say that again." Jane nodded. "We're very fortunate."

"I want to go on the teeter-totter!" Lillian said. "Will you come with me, Melody?"

"Yeah!" Melody answered. "I like the teeter-totter!"

Both girls hurried over.

"Lillian! Be careful, don't hurt-"

"I got her." Ben waved away her comment before jogging over to the teeter-totter.

"So, what did you guys bring for lunch?" James asked.

"We brought some sandwiches and lemonade. I was told we were going to be having cookies?" Anna raised a brow at Lisbon.

"We brought them." Lisbon nodded. "They're in the car."

"The same ones you brought me on Tuesday?" James asked.

"Same ones." Jane nodded.

"Those were delicious." James recalled.

"We also brought some stale bread. If I recall, there was going to be some duck feeding taking place?" Anna started over toward the teeter-totter.

"Melody has been talking about it all week." Jane said as they followed Anna.

"I look forward to it, too." Anna waved at Lillian.

-Mentalist-

"Those were some very tasty cookies." Anna said as she sat down on the blanket they had all spread out.

"Thank you." Melody beamed. "We made them ourselves!"

"So I heard." Anna handed Melody a piece of bread so she could feed the ducks with it.

Melody sat down next to her father and broke a small piece of bread to throw out to the ducks that were waddling around.

"Are you going to tell me what actually took you both so long this morning?" Lisbon asked Jane quietly as they sat in their own spot on the blanket.

Jane sighed heavily, tossing a little piece of bread out to the ducks. "He's been officially accepted to be able to stay at the care centre. The hospital told him yesterday. He's got a few weeks to move in. He talked to the owner of his building and he's got a few weeks to move out."

"Basically, we're running out of time to break the news to Melody." Lisbon threw her own piece of bread out to the ducks.

"Pretty much." Jane said. "James said he wants to tell her."

Lisbon took a deep breath. "Somehow, I don't think that's going to make it go any more smoothly."

"Look!" Melody called excitedly, pointing. "Look! That duck has baby ducks! They're so cute!"

"I want to see!" Lillian moved to stand next to Melody. "Aw! They need some more bread! All the little ducklings should have some bread!"

Melody and Lillian worked very hard to make sure all the ducklings and their mom were fed, disappointed when they'd run out of bread to give them.

"I'm sure they're already full, anyway." Ben assured them. "They seem very satisfied."

"They need to play now." James added.

"Besides, it's about time we started heading back." Anna piped up. "Lillian needs to get her check up with the doctor."

"But, Mommy-"

"No buts, Lil. We had fun, there's nothing to complain about."

"Except going to the doctor." Lillian said.

Anna chuckled. "Well, we have to go anyway. Come on."

Lillian sighed heavily and got up. They packed up everything and got ready to leave.

"Bye, Melody." Lillian waved as she was helping into the car by her father. "Bye, Teresa. Bye, Patrick. Bye, James. I had fun today."

"Me too." Melody waved back. "Good luck with the doctor."

"Thanks."

They finished saying their goodbyes and then the Smithson family headed off.

"We are going to the same place, though." Jane commented as they all got in the car. "We all could have just carpooled."

"To carpool, we would have needed to rent a bus." Lisbon said.

"Wait. We're going back to the hospital?" Melody asked as she reached for her seatbelt. "I thought we were going home."

"No, Melody. I have to go to the hospital." James told her gently.

Melody looked at him. "Then when are you coming home? You said you weren't staying at the hospital forever."

Jane and Lisbon froze in the front seat, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

"I know, Melody." James said.

"So then, when are you coming home?"

James just looked at her, heart breaking as he tried to find a gentle way to tell her the truth. But he couldn't get any words out.

Melody looked to her aunt and uncle in the front seat of the car, trying to make themselves as unnoticeable as possible, before looking back at her father. "You're never coming home, are you?" Her voice wavered as her eyes filled with tears.

"Melody. That's not-"

"Don't lie to me!" Melody cut her father off. "You're not even getting better, are you? I just want you to be better."

"I know, Melody." James told her quietly. "I want that, too. I'm trying. I really am. I'm not leaving you, but I can't go home."

Melody started to cry and James scooted across the back seats to hold her tightly.

Jane and Lisbon got out of the car to give them a moment. Jane leaned against the car and wrapped Lisbon up in a tight hug as she stepped into his arms.

Lisbon let out a heavy breath. "That was worse than what I thought it was going to be." She wiped at her tears as they rolled down her cheeks.

"Tell me about it." Jane agreed, kissing her head. "I didn't expect it to happen today, either."

Lisbon wiped away the tear that had fallen down his cheek. "At least it's done, right? We can all just…get back to normal?"

"Nothing about us is normal, Teresa."

"You know what I mean."

Jane kissed her nose and then buried his face in her hair. "Yeah, I know."

Author's Note: Yeah, sad ending. I know. I'm sorry. But it had to be done! Next chapters should be happier! Please leave a review and let me know what you thought!