Page 122 of From Maybe to Baby

Ryan:

Your Paris vs. Hockey article just broke records

Travel magazine:

Family adventure series?

Mom:

I’m proud of you, honey. I think it’s about time for me to make a visit there

Yes please!

I glance around the table, taking it all in. Lukas is frowning with the kind of intensity usually reserved for game day as Jonas demonstrates, yet again, how to use chopsticks. Jace is staging a hostile takeover of the soy sauce, splattering it all over her dress.

It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s ours.

Jonas catches my eye and smirks, as if to say,You good?

I pick up my chopsticks—clumsily, because, for all my travel, I’ve never gotten good at chopsticks.

Yeah. I’m good. Better than good.

I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Epilogue:One Year Later

Our wedding planner quit twice.The first time was when I suggested replacing traditional flower girls with a pre-ceremony street hockey game. The second was afterdiscovering our plans for guest seating arrangements involved professional climbing gear. Apparently combining traditional ceremony elements with what she called "extreme adventure components" was beyond her professional scope.

But watching our guests zipline to their reception seats while wearing formal wear? Totally worth the five different liability waivers we had to sign. Even Gloria got into it, though she insisted on keeping her signature pearls firmly clasped.

"Very professional ceremony," Jonas said after we exchanged vows at center ice, the arena transformed into something between a hockey game and a fairy tale, complete with a penalty box photo booth.

"The most professional," I agreed, as Lukas and Jace led the hockey stick arch procession, because somehow that became our normal. Vince's social media team nearly wept with joy. The video went viral before we even made it to the reception.

The Aftershocks' PR team had another meltdown when they named Jonas captain. Vince's campaign—Family Man Leads Team to New Heights—practically wrote itself. The merchandise featuring Jace's bedazzled version of the team logo sold out in hours, though she's now officially banned from "enhancing" his practice jerseys.

"Your man's ESPN interview got more hits than the playoff highlights," Ryan tells me during our weekly call. My Freshly Minted: Family Edition brand exploded beyond anything we had imagined. Turns out people really connect with stories about a former luxury travel writer learning to navigate Disney with two kids and a professional athlete. The book deal that followed was just a bonus.

"Your authenticity resonates," my publisher says, watching Lukas practice hockey moves in the hallway before his first real game while Jace demonstrates her latest dance routine, complete with what she calls "power play pirouettes."

"You mean the crazy that is my new life," I correct her. My latest blog post about finding zen in youth hockey practice went viral in thirteen countries. Apparently, sports parents are the same everywhere.

Jonas handles it all with his usual grace—balancing captain duties with family life, supporting everyone's dreams while chasing his own. Our speaking engagements about choosing love over fear are selling out, though I maintain his "hockey metaphors for life" slides need work. No one needs seventeen different ways to compare marriage to penalty kills.

Genny's photos still hold places of honor, now mixed with new memories. Her smile watches over Lukas's first real hockey game (he scored, of course), Jace's dance recitals (hockey-themed, obviously), moments that blend past and present into something that works. Gloria says Genny would love how we've built something new while keeping what matters.

"You've changed," my mom observes during our Disney planning session when she gets to town—this time with actual backup plans and zero expectations of perfect. We're creating spreadsheets for ride strategies while Lukas demonstrates proper Mickey Mouse form.

"Everything's changed, Mom,” I say.

I think about how I used to run from anything that looked like commitment. How family-friendly was a dirty word and settling down was my biggest fear. Now I'm planning mouse ears and princess stuff while growing our own little power play.

The pregnancy test is still hidden in my travel journal—waiting for the right moment to tell Jonas that our team is expanding. Probably after our Disney. Definitely after I realize that Baby's First Adventure is a terrible blog title.

My latest column compares life choices to power plays—sometimes you have to take the shot even when you're scared. Ryan says it's too many hockey metaphors. I say he's just mad the sports section gets more traffic than traditional travel pieces now.

"Professional life planning?" Jonas asks, finding me in our home office, surrounded by vacation itineraries and pregnancy websites hidden behind my work tabs.

"The most professional," I tell him, and close my laptop on all my half-planned surprises. The next adventure can wait a little longer.

Our chaos has gone global—but the best moments are still the small ones. Morning drills that start too early, bedtime stories that run too long, and the messy, unpredictable reality of choosing love when it would’ve been easier to bolt.

Not every adventure is planned. Not every risk makes sense. But some things are worth diving into headfirst, even if they come with spilled juice boxes, unexpected detours, and a future that’s nothing like what you imagined.

And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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