Danny had parked in the valet area that morning so they exited through the front lobby. Mike saw the three of them heading for the car and hurried after them.
"Danny! Mary!"
"Hey Mike," Mary greeted him brightly.
"And who is this little guy?" He crouched down to Joshy's level.
"I'm Joshy." The little boy stuck out his hand to be shook.
"Nice to meet you, Joshy. I'm Mike." He gave the boy a firm handshake. He then noticed Danny having problems with the car seat. "Here, let me get that for you, Danny."
"I can handle it, Mike." Danny muttered curses at the seat under his breath. Mary overheard and elbowed him.
"Mike, please." Mary invited him to take over.
"Mary, I was fine." Danny complained.
"No, you weren't." She ran her hand across the car. "Wasn't this your mom's?"
"Yeah." Danny sounded wistful.
"I remember you and your dad, every weekend, rebuilding this thing." Mary reminisced. "I think that was the closest I'd ever seen you two."
"Probably still is."
"Alright," Mike interrupted. "You guys are set. Joshy, come here and we'll put you in your seat."
They loaded into the car and Mike sent them off with a bang on the door. They drove down the Strip, wind blowing through their hair. Danny pulled up at Lucky Burger and Mary stared at the restaurant.
"It looks exactly the same."
Danny was pulling Joshy out of his seat. "Some things in Vegas never change. Here, take him and go sit down. I called and had them save our table."
Mary turned and saw the table they had sat together at almost every day after school. It had a small 'reserved' sign on it and a red rose in a small vase. She covered her mouth in awe.
"Do you want your usual?" Danny asked, coming to her side with Joshy. "Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She grabbed Joshy. "I will have my usual. Get Joshy a cheeseburger kids meal, okay?"
"Not a problem. Go sit down."
When she got closer to the table, she noticed another special touch, a coloring book and crayons. She wiped away the tears that had appeared and settled Joshy in his chair.
Danny arrived shortly with the tray of food.
"You got it 'gorilla-style', right?" Mary asked.
"Of course." He smiled, passing out the food.
"This was really sweet of you, Danny."
"Mommy, my straw?" Joshy held it out to be unwrapped. Danny took it from him first, unwrapping it and sticking it in Joshy's drink.
"Joshy." Danny suggested, "When we finish eating, do you want to go play on the jungle gym with me?"
Joshy turned to Mary with a questioning look. She nodded softly.
"Sure."
"So Mary, what was Washington like?" Danny started the conversation.
"Wet. Very different from Vegas. But we liked it, didn't we Joshy?"
Joshy nodded his mouth full.
"Why did you decide to come back now?" Danny asked.
"My career counselor spotted the notice on a job board. She thought I'd be good for it. Plus," she added softly, "I missed Vegas."
"Me too," he chuckled. "I didn't expect to."
"Me either. Everywhere else is too dark."
Danny laughed, and then felt a tugging on his sleeve. "Danny? Are you ready to play?"
He looked down into his son's bright eyes and then Mary's laughing ones.
"Sure Joshy." He stood up from the table. "Are you coming Mary?"
She shook her head. "I'll just watch from here." She chuckled as they ran off together and Danny swung Joshy onto his shoulders. She sat there, slowly eating her burger, watching her boys play. It hit her unexpectedly, what she had done. She'd taken away almost five years of their lives, their playtime. She began sobbing, covering her face with her hands.
"Mommy?" Joshy pulled on her sleeve. "Mommy, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, sweetie." She managed to say through her tears.
"Joshy, do you want to go on…" Danny ran up, stopping in surprise when he saw Mary. "Mary, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"C'mon, let's head back to the Montecito." Danny offered Joshy a piggyback ride back to the car as he held Mary's hand tightly.
