Over the next week, I somehow got pulled into everything.
Daniel paid for the hospital, medication, groceries, and even arranged for a nurse to check in after Marilyn returned home.
But money didn’t make him a father overnight.
He brought too many stuffed animals.
He tried to talk to Ben like they already had a bond.
He asked Lucy if she wanted to see his car—and she hid behind me so fast he looked stunned.
Later, outside Marilyn’s room, I told him, “You don’t get to arrive as a father. You arrive as a stranger.”
He stared at me for a moment.
Then nodded.
“You’re right.”
One evening, I walked into Marilyn’s hospital room with coffee—and heard her say, “Do not confuse guilt with love.”
Daniel stood by the window, tense.
“I don’t,” he said. “I knew what love was when I was young. I was just too weak to protect it.”
Marilyn stared down at the blanket.
