Page 110 of How Jenna Became My Dilemma

A two-year-old has somehow broken out of my stronghold and is slithering off my lap like a limp rag doll, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Maggie finishes her descent by steamrolling over the star, and before I can stop her, she’s on her feet running away.

The lady from the Walk of Fame committee leans in. “Why don’t we take some shots of Jenna with the Lewis family to give your daughter a break?”

With permission to be released, I go after Maggie, who is circling the makeshift red carpet stage as fast as her little legs will take her. I will not get myself in a run-down, going round and round with a two-year-old. I’d like to walk away from this event with some dignity.

Maggie makes it to the stage stairs. I immediately know what she’s after. She reaches for the portable microphone on the lower shelf of the podium. Her slobbery mouth covers the top, and she yells into it. The crowd laughs, and I smile even though I’m dying inside.

“Maggie?” I keep my smile intact. “Can Daddy have the microphone?”

She runs to the other side of the stage, and my heart rate climbs with the fear that she’s going to go off the side, falling to her three-foot death. But Jenna’s there, catching her little body as she jumps off the edge into her mother’s arms. They twirl, and suddenly, all of my anxiety washes away as I watch my better half in every way spin my daughter around.

I can’t believe there was ever a time I didn’t want this.

Was scared of this.

Creating and belonging to a family filled every hole and wound inside my heart. Five years ago, when I first started to fall in love with Jenna, I thought that I was a changed man. I thought that she had made me better. But each day, month, and year I spend next to her, I become a better version of myself. Jenna taught me how to trust in love and commitment. She’s given me everything that makes me happy.

I walk over to my girls, noticing Jenna’s mom behind them, holding Dawson.

I place a gentle kiss on Maggie’s cheek. “You like making Daddy look silly, don’t you?”

She nods her head up and down while banging her hand against the top of the microphone.

I tug Jenna into me for a side hug, wrapping my arm around her waist. Maggie’s body smashes between us. “When you envisioned your five-year plan, did you see all of this? Me running around, chasing our kids while you get a Hollywood Star?”

Her head pulls back, and her green eyes glimmer. “No.” She smiles. “This is way better than what I planned.”

“Same.” I kiss her lips, hearing the clicks of cameras.

Then, a microphone hits the top of my head.

The End

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