Collin blackish's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

Teddy came on Thursday, a day earlier than Rowan had warned. Collin heard the truck first and then the boots on the porch. He set down the knife he was using to trim onions and wiped his hands on a towel. Rowan opened the door before her father could knock. The man who walked in was shorter than Collin expected, gray at the temples, jaw set like he had been chewing bad news the whole drive. He looked at the ring on Rowan's hand before he looked at her face. Then he looked at Collin. "You're the one who bought my house," Teddy said. Collin nodded. "I gave it to her," he said. "I know," Teddy said. "That's why I drove out." He pulled off his gloves one finger at a time and dropped them on the hall table. "Rowan says you married her in seven days. Says you walked through a leopard to bring her supper." Collin started to answer. Teddy held up a hand. "I don't like most people. I like a man who moves when he decides something. Sit down. I want to talk about grandbabies." Rowan made a small sound behind him that might have been a laugh. They sat at the long kitchen table. Collin poured coffee. Teddy took his black and asked how many children Collin wanted and whether the cabin had room and whether Collin knew that the ground froze early this far north and a nursery floor needed to be laid before October. Collin answered each question straight. He said he wanted as many as Rowan wanted. He said he would add on to the cabin or build new. Teddy watched his face the whole time and finally nodded once, the way a man signs a receipt. "Good," Teddy said. "You're in the family. Now get to work on it." He looked at Rowan. "Don't make me wait long." Rowan set her cup down. "You won't wait," she said. She went to the drawer by the stove and came back and put two small white sticks on the table between them. Both showed two lines. "I found out yesterday," she said. "I was going to tell Collin tonight." Collin stared at the sticks and then at her. His ears rang. Teddy laughed once, loud, and slapped the table hard enough to rattle the cups. "Well," Teddy said. "That was fast work." Collin reached across and took Rowan's hand, the one with the ring on it, and held it. She let him. She did not smile, but she squeezed back, and for the first time since she pulled him out of the snow he felt her choose him on purpose.