Page 19 of Two Daddies for Little Jenna

Nick chuckled and took my hand as he led me away. "There's like thirty flavors in there. Sugar keeps Little girls up. You'll end up jumping on the bed all night from all the excess energy. There's this great restaurant nearby I've been visiting all my life. We'll walk down there once we're done. You'll love the food."

Each step we took away from the ice cream shop was painful. I could practically hear the place calling out my name.

"Oh, boy. Nearby? I've heard that before. So it's a few miles away then. My feet are so tiny. I'll have to ride your back, Nick."

"Gladly," he said, stopping by the entrance to a huge park. "And we're here."

He led us inside and I loved that he held my hand throughout. He didn't want to lose me and neither did I. A few minutes later, we were on the far side of the pond. I could barely see the other side of it, but there was no one on this side.

He fished the blanket from the bag he'd been carrying. Laying it on the ground, he sat up against a giant old tree. When he patted next to him, I took a seat.

"This place means a lot to me. No one ever comes here because it’s hard to reach. I've come here all my life. This tree is like my oldest friend now. It's seen me go through various stages of my life, the hardest and the happiest. I've only ever shown it to a friend and my ex because they meant a lot to me. There are a billion places in the world, but this one is mine. And now it's yours too. I come here when I need some alone time, and when something big happens in my life. I had this inexplicable need to show it to you too. I've felt all my life that something's been missing, like a piece of me. It feels like I've been walking around my life pretending everything was fine when in truth I'd been walking around with a gaping hole. The worst part was that I had no idea what was supposed to go there. No amount of career success could mitigate that feeling. But ever since I saw you, I had hope that the hole could be filled."

It was the sweetest thing anyone had said or done for me apart from Clark. It filled my heart with immense joy.

Chapter 11: Nick

Jenna seemed genuinely pleased that I’d shown her something so personal to me. I wasn't sure she'd understand the importance of my secret place, but I was glad she did.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Nick." She scooted until she was snuggling into me again, the chilly breeze only making her snuggle closer. "I feel honored you trusted me with your secret place. It's so beautiful and peaceful here. It doesn't feel like we're in the middle of a bustling city. I promise I won't bring anyone here. I'd be tempted to invite Michael and Elijah to have a cool picnic playdate, but I won't. Do you come here when work becomes too stressful? It must be challenging to run such a big club."

"Sometimes." I nodded. "Everyone at the club comes to me when they have a problem, and I'm good at solving them. But it's taxing to make big decisions all the time."

"Ah, I see what the problem is." She nodded knowingly. "You've been overworking. I'll tell you what Daddy taught me. The more stressful a job is, the more breaks you need. What you need is a good vacation far away from work, where you can take time to think if this is still what you need out of life. It's also important to take a few deep breaths when you're stressed. You know, sometimes I wish Daddies had a Daddy too, to help them when life gets too stressful. How else would a Daddy take care of his worries?"

It was sweet how she brought up her Daddy so often. I never pictured myself pursuing a relationship with a girl who already had a Daddy. When I had gotten ready to pick Jenna up from her place, I took a hard look at myself in the mirror and asked myself what I was doing. I was going to get my heart broken. I probably liked Jenna but she wasn't looking for a relationship. Showing her this place was a very vulnerable decision to make. I'd visit it for the rest of my life, and if Jenna decided she didn't want me, I'd forever be reminded of her decision each time I visited the park. However, even when something you wanted seemed to be out of reach, hope could be a powerful thing. It was hope that made me bring Jenna here, hope that one day she’d be mine.

I chuckled. "A Daddy you don't want to have sex with? I think that's called a friend, and I already have one of those in John. He suggested something similar. He wants me to turn into a hands-off owner for a while, just to take a break. I might actually end up doing that."

Little did Jenna know that drowning myself in work was the only way to escape the pain I'd been feeling for the past year. I wish I knew how to get out of this vicious cycle of overthinking and living in my head. As a Daddy, I was supposed to know these things, and I usually did when I dated Littles. But helping someone out of their worries was such an easy thing. It was helping yourself that was the hardest.

I was surprised when Jenna leaned her head into my lap. The place gave a strong vibe of breaking away from the rest of the world, which seemed to have relaxed her nerves. She shifted until her legs were stretched and she was looking up at me with her beautiful big eyes.

"You know, I've had the strangest urge to know everything about you ever since we met."

"What do you want to know?" I asked with a smile. "There's so much to a person than meets the eye. Even after years together, you don't really get to know someone fully."

I realized that when it had turned out to be true in my ex's case.

"Let's start with how you know uncle John," she said as I began playing with her hair. "Everyone at the club seems to know him and Michael for some reason."

"Yeah, they were there when the club had just opened. But I've known John most of my life. I suspected he was gay when we were in University together, but he didn't know it himself back then. Maybe it was his upbringing that led him to lead a life in denial. It wasn't until he fell for Michael that he finally came out to me. I've known Michael all his life too. I've known him since he was just a baby. His father, John, and I were close friends before he passed away."

"I need to see a picture of you guys together when you were young. Michael must've been just as naughty when he was a real baby."

"He was," I said with a laugh. "He didn't get to meet John again for years until he was nineteen I believe if my memory serves me correctly. Anyway, they fell in love real hard."

"Tell me more about your childhood," she said just as the sun had finally set. Darkness overtook the sky and it set the tone for what I was about to say.

I didn't plan on opening up to her about my biggest wound, but fate seemed to have different plans. I had my wounds hidden away from the world for so long, pretending everything was fine when it wasn't. I didn't want Jenna to know the version of me I presented to the rest of the world. I wanted her to know the real me, no matter how ugly it turned out to be.

"Well, I had a pretty normal childhood," I began. "Loving parents and good friends. Friends come and go, but there's always that one person who stays your friend for the rest of your life. For me, it was Bradley. We became best of friends when I saved him from a girl who bullied him a lot back in kindergarten. We ended up going to the same school and university. We even made sure our classes aligned. John always teased us that we were gay for each other. At one point in college, John even dared us to kiss during a game of truth or dare."

Jenna's eyes widened in fascination and her mouth turned into an adorable little O. She probably found the idea of me kissing another man hot.

She gasped. "That must've been the first clue that John was in the closet. Did you kiss your friend then?"

"Of course we did," I continued. "John was drunk and he was taunting us that we didn't have the balls. Needless to say, it made us realize we were straight as they came. Years later I'd understand why Bradley was so close to me. He wasn't just a friend. He was like a brother. Anyway, his parents died in a car crash when we had just started high school and he was devastated. He didn't have anywhere else to go. I fought my parents so hard to convince them to take him in, even threatened to live on the streets with Bradley. I was so happy when they agreed."