Harrison Tyler, a struggling pulp fiction writer, gets a surprise visit from his ex-girlfriend, Melissa, who asks him to take care of her six year-old daughter Jenny for a month while she is going on a sabbatical. When he develops a bond with the little girl, he switches his pulp fiction writing with bedtime stories based on the little girl's stuffed Dodo bird doll. Jenny helps bring Harrison together with his next-door neighbor, Holly, for whom he has a secret affection. Meanwhile. Harrison finds out that he is named as the father on Jenny's birth certificate, leading him to a custody battle, which he loses. A publisher announces that he wants to publish Harrison's dodo bird stories. After his new-found professional success, Melissa, moved by Harrison's speech in court and convinced that he would be the best father for Jenny, brings the little girl back to her father. The new family circle is complete when Harrison proposes to Holly.