Ken walked out from under the trees to a patch of grass on the side of the house and set down his water bottle and towel. As he kicked his shoes off, his dad approached. He wore the pants from a Korean taekwondo uniform and a black T-shirt.
“Morning.”
“Morning, Daddy. You’re out early.”
“Yep.” He kicked the sliders off his feet. “Thought I’d work out with you.”
They warmed up by going through taekwondo forms. His father had earned his first black belt about a year after his sons had. After about half an hour of forms, they turned and faced each other and began sparring in choreographed movements.
As Ken landed on the hard ground, his feet swept out from under him and his chest aching from the clap of his dad’s forearm, he looked up at him and said, “I didn’t ask for advice.”
He took the offered hand and raised himself up. Philip replied, “I didn’t give you any.”
Ken held the bottle of water out and his father took it. He slipped his shoes back onto his feet and headed back toward the house. “How about an opinion?”
With a chuckle, his dad said, “Son, there’s a saying about opinions. But I won’t darken this beautiful morning with coarse talk. In my opinion, I have your back. Whatever you need.”
They walked into the dim interior. Philip looked around as Ken went to the makeshift kitchen area and pulled another bottle of water out of the dorm fridge plugged into the corner. After downing half of it, he rinsed two mugs out in the portable sink and splashed coffee into each of them.
“Drywall’s looking good.”
“The original plan was weird. I rerouted some of the rooms.” He showed his father the evidence of the old framing and explained how he’d expanded the kitchen and recovered some wasted space.
Ken gestured toward the kitchen space. “A lot of these modern homes have kitchens that are too small to handle the families that would live in houses this size. I’ve never understood that.”
“Can’t wait to see it when you finish.” His dad accepted the coffee mug from him, and they headed back outside. Soon they sat in the very same chairs he’d shared with his mom yesterday.
His father had not asked him a single question, nor had he intruded on his thoughts. The birds sang loudly in the trees. Ken listened to the silence between him and his dad and decided to continue to contribute to it. He wondered what the older man didn’t say in the midst of the quiet.
He had maybe one sip of coffee remaining in his cup when he realized his father didn’t plan to initiate any kind of conversation with him. Ken decided to go ahead and cut to the chase. “If Daisy lets me stay in her life, her baby becomes mine. Boy or girl. White, black, brown, or purple. Don’t care.”
Philip took a sip of the coffee and slowly nodded. “Exactly.”
Ken understood that to mean that his mom and dad would also see that baby as his. He knew his brothers would, too. He just needed Daisy to see it that way. “She asked me to think and pray for a day, so I did. I’m going over there this morning.”
“Think she’ll have you?”
Did he? Could he contemplate the alternative? “I think it’s God’s plan. My faith needs to be in Him. If I believe her faith is in Him as well, then I shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
His father downed his coffee then stared off in the direction of the rising sun. “You’ve always been the quiet one, Ken.”
Unsurprisingly, Ken didn’t make a response. His father continued, “You love her. Maybe that surprises you. Maybe not. But the way you look right now is the way I looked the second I first saw your mother. I was not a man worthy of her at that time. I was just a shadow.”
Ken turned to look at his father, trying to imagine him as a young man, a man unworthy of the love of Rosaline. His father continued, “But she loved me, son. Rosie realized that if all I showed the world was a shadow, something had to have cast that shadow. She looked beyond that darkness and found the man who cast the shadow. She loved me, and it brought me back to the man I once was. I’d like to think I’m a better man because of her than I ever would have been alone.”
Ken nodded, though he didn’t really understand. His father recognized it and explained, “You’ve always been the quiet one, son. It may be time for you to speak up. Get her to look past the present shadow and see what heights you might reach together.”
To any outside observer, Ken may as well have been a statue. He neither moved nor reacted. After perhaps five seconds, he nodded just once and quietly said, “Thanks, Dad.”
Philip reached over and slapped Ken’s shoulder with his big hand. He squeezed and shook him affectionately. “Keep us updated.”
Ken sat in silence until he finished his coffee, and his dad stood. “We’re having a cookout after the game Saturday. Reckon you’ll be working here for most of the day, but if you come over around five, you can help me on the grill.”
Ken nodded. “We’ll see what the day brings.”
His father didn’t say goodbye. He handed Ken his empty mug and headed to his truck. Seconds later, Ken heard the truck door slam and the crunch of tires on the gravel drive.
Daisysat at her table and stared at the steam dancing above her cup of tea. She tried not to obsess too much about the morning’s lateness and the fact that Ken hadn’t come by this morning. Honestly, she hadn’t believed he would. As every second ticked by, though, she realized how much she had hoped to be wrong.
