Page 65 of Two Daddies for Little Jenna

"Our home," I corrected.

I was glad I had Nick with me so I could keep myself busy with conversation. I'd be a panicking mess were I alone.

The moment I parked before our home, I raced to get inside and Nick followed. I had to see my babygirl to kill the paranoia. I rarely ever felt anxious, but it would soon be all over. My babygirl would be in my arms and everything was going to be just alright.

"Jenna?" I called out, a bright smile on my face now that I expected to see her running down the stairs and into my arms. "Your Daddies are home, sweetheart."

"Daddies, no!" I heard Jenna upstairs, running down the stairs and throwing her arms around us, her cheeks stained with tears. "You have to get out of here. He's going to kill you. I have to save you at all costs. You did nothing wrong. You don't deserve to die. I'll sacrifice myself if I have to, but please, I can't lose you. How can I live without you, Daddies? You're all I want. You're all I have."

"You're not making any sense, darling." Nick broke the hug and led her to the couch. "Come take a seat and tell us what's going on. Did you fall asleep in the closet again and have a nightmare?"

"Please, there's no time!" She begged as she joined hands, bursting into tears again.

"Deep breaths, sweetheart." I showed her how and she obeyed. "Now tell me, who's going to kill us?"

"There was a man in a satanic mask," she said, looking around and on high alert. "He chased me around the house with a knife, told me he'd give me my punishment and let you live if I went with him. You arrived just in time."

My heart skipped a beat. It was happening all over again. Someone was after my sweet girl. My sweet innocent Little girl who did nothing to deserve such a fate. Judging by the last time, the man wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted.

"Stay right here with your Daddy," I said, standing up and racing towards the stairs. "If he's still here, I might be able to catch him and end this before it starts all over again."

"Daddy, no!" Jenna shrieked and I stopped in my tracks when I saw her sobbing from the stairs. "He has a knife and he'll kill you. I've never seen anyone so big. Just leave and let me give myself up. It's the only way it'll end."

My brave Little girl. How could she think we'd let her sacrifice her life for our own? Our lives had no purpose without her. If we died keeping her safe, we'd gladly die with smiles on our faces, knowing we wouldn't have done anything differently if we had to do it all over again.

"Your Daddy will be fine, darling." Nick wiped her tears and pulled her in for a hug, rocking her back and forth while singing her favorite lullaby.

When Nick nodded at me, I ran up the stairs, noticing the broken vase at the turn. Reaching the nursery, I saw how the door was ready to go off the hinges with just another push. I thanked the stars I had unreasonable paranoia and fear of losing Jenna. It turned out to be not so unreasonable after all, finally coming to use because it made me turn around and reach just in time for the stranger to run away.

I ran from one room to another, looking in the closet and bathrooms, the gym room, and the home theater, but there was no sign of anyone.

"All clear," I announced and Nick breathed a sigh of relief. "Must've run away."

My poor girl was stressed out, now sucking on her thumb as she sobbed quietly. She'd been crying for so long, there were no tears left, only quiet sobs.

Sitting down next to Nick, I shifted her to my lap, taking her face in my hands and caressing it. "I'm sorry we left you alone, Jenna. It was very brave of you to try and sacrifice yourself to save our lives. But God forbid you ever end up in the same situation again, you should run the other way. You can never negotiate with a mad man, sweetheart."

It was hard seeing her cry. When you become a Daddy, you promise yourself you'll do everything in your power to keep your girl safe from the cruel world. But it's like John said, you can't protect your Little from everything, but you can make them strong enough to face it when their Daddies can't shield them from it.

"But Daddy," she said, calming down a bit. "How can I live knowing I could've saved my Daddies but chose not to, all because I was too selfish for my own life. I owe my life to you. You saved me first by taking me in when I had nowhere to go, and then by rescuing me from Otis. I can't repay your kindness by getting my Daddies killed."

"You don't owe us anything, Jenna," Nick said as he stroked her pigtails. "Let me be very clear. Your Daddies will be very mad at you for the rest of our lives if you put yourself in harm's way just to save us. What would we do if we lost you? It's a Daddy's duty to protect their Little, and we swore it the day we became your Daddies. We'd have failed miserably if you give your life up so easily. Do you understand, darling?"

I was glad Nick felt for Jenna the same way. He fell in love later, but he loved her just as much.

She simply nodded, but she had that look in her eyes that said she'd still gladly trade her life for ours. Such a brave girl, but I wished she wasn't so brave in this matter. I felt she needed another talk, one where we used our stern Daddy voices and threatened to spank her if she disobeyed us in such an important matter regarding her safety, but that could wait.

"You don't look so sure." I shifted her back onto Nick's lap. "We'll talk again when we're out of here. It's not safe. We'll go to a hotel or something. Can't risk Michael and your uncle John's life by going there. I'll call the police and wait outside in the car, keep a lookout should the masked man return. Meanwhile, go with your Daddy and pack only the essentials. I'll be back to get your coloring books and bedtime stories once you're safe."

"We can live at my place until things settle," Nick offered. "You've been kind enough to let me into your...ourhome. This is the least I could do in return. Here, let's take my car. It has way more trunk space."

When he tossed me the keys, I waited for him to carry her upstairs in his arms. Thank God I had Nick with me. As long as there were two of us, we'd keep our girl safe at all costs. I refused to put her through the trauma of getting kidnapped again. No, we'd stay vigilant and keep her in our sights at all times. The masked man would have to go through our dead bodies to lay a finger on our precious Little girl.

It was tragic how she had to continue to suffer after being put through so much all her life. But it gave us all the more reason to love her harder because no one deserved it more than her. We had to compensate for what life had denied her of.

Once I had called the police, I got into Nick's car and waited. I thought I saw a dark figure move in the bushes in the distance, but it was hard to tell in the darkness.

When Jenna ran outside with her stuffies clutched to her chest, Nick was close behind walking in long strides with a suitcase in hand.