Page 44 of Don't Leave Me

“You still don’t trust me,” he sighed, taking my silence as some kind of confirmation. “When the fuck did you start listening to what I said and not what I did?”

I smiled, having had the same thought. “See, that’s not being nice to me. Cursing at me like that.”

“I’ll try harder.”

“I need to go. Danny is waiting for me.”

He nodded. “Can I ask why Daniel?”

“You’re going to think it’s lame.,” I huffed out a laugh. “I knew I couldn’t name him Marc Jr. or anything obvious like that. Please don’t tell George this, but his name is so old-fashioned, I couldn’t name Danny that, either. When he was born and the nurse splayed him out on my chest, of course I thought of you. And it just came to me. One of your heroes.”

He seemed to think about it for a few seconds. “Did you name our son after Dan Marino?”

“I was in Florida. It seemed to fit. Even though I never understood how you could have a favorite quarterback you never saw play.”

He tilted back his head and laughed. “That’s awesome. My son is named after Dan Marino.”

“Well, now, he’s just Danny Campbell.”

“I like that name. I like it a lot. When can I see him again?”

“Next Monday?” I offered. That was the easiest, but Marc was shaking his head.

“Too long. If we’re going to bond, or whatever it’s called, then he has to see me around more. Let me come over tomorrow night for dinner. I’ll bring it. You don’t have to cook or anything. I’ll even feed him his vegetables.”

“You’ve got no shot.”

He smirked. “Try me.”