Everyone stood and clapped as Jackson finally released Erica from that passionate kiss, and his brothers moved in to hug them both. Cici couldn’t take her eyes off of Cooper, who lifted Melody into his arms and kissed her cheek, saying something that made their daughter’s smile light up her face. Cici looped her arm through Mary Lou’s and guided her toward Jackson and Erica.
“Lovey?” Mary Lou used terms of endearments more than she used proper names. It was just one of the many things she did that made Cici, and everyone around her, feel like she loved them as she would her own children. “I think Cooper wants you, dear.”
Confused, Cici turned and found Cooper standing behind his mother, eyes dark and sensual, trained on Cici. As she’d come to expect, her heartbeat quickened, and as she also had come to expect, a little thrill chased after it.
“Go to him. I’m fine,” Mary Lou said.
Ally joined them and took Mary Lou’s hand. “I think you’d better go see your man. He’s looking like he might devour you right here and now.”
Cici had instantly bonded with Ally, Erica, and Stormy, and what made her even happier was that they’d all fallen in love with Melody and couldn’t wait for them to move to New York so they could see her more often.
Cooper reached for her hand. His was hot, much hotter than normal, and when she looked into his eyes, she noticed a bead of sweat across his forehead.
“Want me to take her?” She reached for Melody, and Cooper leaned back, keeping hold of their daughter.
“No. I’ve got her.” He kissed Melody’s cheek, and she smiled up at him. “Come with us.” He led her to a bench by the rose garden at the far side of the yard. Melody rested her head on Cooper’s shoulder with a sleepy sigh. The busy morning was obviously taking its toll on her.
“Is everything okay?” Cici asked, concerned about Cooper’s sudden silence.
“Melody has something she wants to ask you. She asked me, but I think this is a question only you can answer.”
Her stomach dipped. “What is it, honey?”
Melody didn’t move from Cooper’s shoulder. “I wanna call Cooper Daddy, because I don’t have a daddy and he feels like my daddy.”
Cici’s hand moved to cover her heart as tears spilled down her cheeks and she tried to find her voice. She nibbled on her lower lip, her eyes seeking Cooper’s. The love she saw there nearly slayed her.
“Cooper?” she whispered.
He dropped to his knee in front of the bench, still balancing Melody against his chest. Cici’s breath caught in her throat as he took her hand in his.
“I don’t want to promise you the world. I want to give it to you. Both of you. I want to eat breakfast as a family, have Sunday-night dinners here with the rest of our family, and know that one day we’ll give Mel the siblings she so desperately wants.”
“Sarah and James,” Melody said as she spread her hand on his cheek, making him smile.
“Sarah and James,” he repeated, before kissing the top of her head. “Marry me, Ceese. Let me be Melody’s daddy, let me be your husband, and most importantly, let us be the family we were always supposed to be.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sank to her knees before him and put one arm around her daughter’s back, the other around him. “Melody?” she asked with a shaky voice. “Do you want to be a family with Cooper?”
“Yes, Mommy. Please say yes. I want cake.”
Cici and Cooper both laughed as her answer came out, coated with love and salty tears. “Yes. Yes, Cooper, we’ll marry you.”
She pressed her lips to his, and then they both kissed Melody. Melody wrinkled her little forehead. “Why are you crying?”
“Because I’m happy, baby. Mommy’s very, very happy.”
Melody looked up at Cooper. “You must be happy also, Daddy, because you have tears in your eyes, too.”
***
DADDY. THE WORD cut straight to his heart. “I am thrilled, sweetheart.” He rose to his feet, bringing Cici up with him.
Melody tugged on his shirt. “Give her the ring you showed me.”
Cici’s eyes widened as he reached into his pocket and took out a stunning sapphire and diamond ring and slid it onto her finger.
“When…?”
“Four years ago. The day I came home from the festival, before…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence. He saw in her eyes that Cici understood this was the ring he’d bought the afternoon before his father died.
“Go get your cake, sweetheart.” He set Melody down with another kiss and watched her run across the grass and jump into Heath’s arms. All of his brothers, and his mother, had been just as taken with Melody as he’d been, and he wasn’t surprised that they saw their father in her as much as he did.
He drew Cici into his arms and kissed her softly. “I love you, Ceese. I always have.”
“Cooper.” Fresh tears tumbled down her cheek. “Did Melody know about this?”
He nodded. “When she asked me if she could call me ‘Daddy,’ I asked her if that was something she wanted, to be a family.”
Cici smiled and pressed her hands to his chest. “What if I’d said no?”
“You didn’t,” he said with a grin.