The door opened, and Richard and Marianne Thomas stepped inside.
Melody straightened instinctively, the half opened breakfast tray resting forgotten on her lap. Her heart thudded painfully, a drumbeat of dread and guilt. She forced her shoulders to relax, pushing a tentative smile to her lips as her eyes flicked between the couple.
Adam, now standing beside her, gave a polite, almost formal nod in their direction. "Mr. and Mrs. Thomas,this is your daughter. Melanie. This should be your official meeting, I guess."
Melody's breath hitched. That name felt foreign to her but she had no choice. She looked up at them and said softly, "Mama… Papa…" Even though that is what she had called them all her life, seeing them now, she knew she could not easily call them that.
She watched their faces closely. It felt strange to say those words with such tentative distance.
She had to pretend to be unsure of what to call them.
