Hollywood's Secret Baby

When I finally wake up from this dopamine flood, sinking into the bed as every molecule relaxes at once, Cory’s got one arm under my neck and the other over my stomach. His fingers draw little figure-eights just over my bellybutton, and he kisses the back of my neck.

“I’ll take it that was good for you.”

I can’t even get words out. I mean, I try, but my mouth is just too relaxed to even form a simple ‘yes’. So I moan and press against him instead.

We lie like this for a good half hour. Just relishing in each other’s company. We’re husband and wife now, an idea that was just a silly thought back in our high school days. We’ve somehow made it a reality, along with the movie Cory promised he would have me star in way back when our biggest concerns were blackheads and unsightly braces.

Now we have new worries. New joys.

Like Lizzie.

Despite everything good that has come to me since Cory came back into our lives, Lizzie might have it even better than me. She’s got her daddy back. Even more, he came with cool friends like Sarah and Joan. And a guilt-prompted promise to take her to Disneyland any day she wishes. Plus, on her birthday just two months earlier, he actually got us a ride on a boat where she got to go deep sea fishing, like she kept saying she wanted.

What more could an eleven-year-old ask for?

We’re still in the tiny house, but money has never been a big issue for me. Enough to be content. That was always my dream.

But like everything else in life, my dream is changing. Our movie is going to be screened at Cannes. Which means we all get a family honeymoon to France. And if it’s a hit—which I’m praying it is—the sky’s the limit. We could even get a national release. Maybe even an international one. We might become the next Hollywood couple with the magazines creating a cute couple name for us.

Like Augory.

Or Corggie.

No. Definitely not those.

We’ll have to work on the names, but the important thing is that I’ve got my teenage love back. Lizzie’s got her dad. And Cory’s got a family he didn’t even know he had. Whatever happens from here, happens. Whether the movie flies or flops, we have each other.

And what could be better than that?

Chapter 31

Epilogue

After two months, a grueling international flight, and all day corralling Lizzie, we are all finally coming back the Le Grand Hotel Cannes after our first day at the movie festival.

“Look at this!” Lizzie says, digging yet another trinket from the complimentary gift bag they passed out to all the kids that showed up at the sides of celebrities today. “So You Wanna Work In Films?”, she says, reading off the title of the book she’s just pulled out of the cream white gift bag. The book is no bigger than her palm, and each of its one-hundred pages contains ideas about how a kid like Lizzie can practice making movies.

Most kids would probably be more interested in the snacks and chocolates still in her bag, but the ‘movie bug’ bit her all of a sudden a few months ago, and now it’s all she can talk about.

“Look,” she says, showing me the book as we trudge through the hotel lobby on the way to our room. “This says I should start making movies with a phone. That’s so cool. I didn’t know you could do that.”

As far as hotels go, it’s a pretty cookie-cutter affair, with a pool out back and a bar on the ground floor. There’s no view of the Eiffel tower outside our window like I always imagined when I finally made it over to France, but we’re about 500 miles from Paris, so that’s to be expected.

Our rooms are amazing though, so I can’t begrudge them the lack of a view. The plan was for Lizzie to sleep in a room with Joan, who’s tagged along as Cory’s assistant and my friend. But that’s not exactly working out as planned.

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“That room is too cold,” Lizzie says after we send her across the hall.

“We can change the thermostat if you want, honey.” Cory replies.

At this point, he’s only really been a dad for about a year and hasn’t quite mastered the art of dissecting what kids are really trying to say. For example, when a kid says they’re not hungry while a plate of pork chops and mashed potatoes is in front of them, what they are really trying to say is that they want cereal instead. So I knew that the temperature of the room wasn’t the problem here.

“Do you want to sleep in here?”

While Lizzie nods, Cory gives me this look. A look that’s meant to remind me of all the little discrete touches we shared while sitting through two animated movies today trying to keep up with a sugar-fueled daughter. He loves Lizzie, but I’m also sure that if he were to choose, Lizzie would be in the other room tonight.

We’re in the country of love, and mommy and daddy need some alone time.