“I was like, ‘man, I really have so much respect, and love and appreciation, for single parents,'” Vanessa told PeopleTV. “You have to change everything about the way you attack the day, and everything that you would think you’re wired to be, it’s different. I need that partner, at the end of the day to just hang out with and talk to.”

But ultimately, before she met Nick, she couldn’t wait to meet a great guy, to have healthy and happy babies, “to live this life of love—and I’m there. So all that was work to get to you, to get to this, to get to now.”

“Why we got married, and why I love this man,” Vanessa explained to E! News in 2018, “even though he’s toured the world and has many adoring fans, both women and men, he’s still that guy from Ohio who wants to go outside and rake the…drainage ditch.” This anecdote caused a little he-said, she-said, but “my point is,” Vanessa exclaimed, “we are very active in our family and we want to be active in our kids’ lives, and that’s why I love this guy.”

“And the good news,” Nick added, “is we actually enjoy being parents. It’s fun.”