Allie received news that her father was having trouble retaining fluid due to a later diagnosis of Chronic Heart Failure. Collin drove with Allie, Taco (A pup they adopted from a local valley grocery store parking lot), and Dobby 30 hours to be with her father in Pensacola, FL. Several miles and a new radiator later, they arrived safely in time to accompany Allie's father to the hospital within the week. Collin was mandated to return to work a couple weeks later and booked a flight with Taco back to Teton Valley. Allie stayed to assist her father. Allie's father was in the hospital for 7 days and was able to lose 70lbs of retained fluid that was filling up around his lungs. He was dismissed from the hospital with a diagnosis of CHF and several new prescription medications. Collin and Allie sent each other snail mail over the next month and talked on the phone every day. They were unsure of where they would end up with her father's diagnosis. Collin promised Allie that they would stay together no matter how tough things got and where they needed to be during this time. Two-thousand miles seemed to be an uncomfortable distance to be away from her father during this time, so there was talk of moving back east. Allie's father had an appointment in the following week where the doc checked her father's heart more in depth by an outpatient catheterization procedure. His LAD artery was 100% blocked, leaving the front heart muscle completely dead. Allie and her father were in shock with this news, as they were confused what this meant for the future of his life. In attempt to contemplate this news over a beer, Allie regurgitated her lunch and showed up positive on a pregnancy test the very same night they returned from the hospital. She attempted to save this news for when Collin returned to Florida in person, so the 2 could tell her father together amidst the chaos, but she spilled the beans through a pathetic text while having chocolate chip pancakes with her father. There was a lot going on. Collin was shocked, as they both were. He was shocked, terrified, and nothing short of as supportive as one could be from the other side of the country. He left the Teton Valley and returned to Florida within 3 days. The two comforted each other and soaked in the reality the best they were able. A few days later, Collin finally convinced Allie it was time to tell her sweet papa. The 3 were sitting on the dock over Escambia Bay, and Allie finally mustered out the words, "We have some peculiar news....I'm pregnant!" Her father congratulated the couple and never stopped humming and whistling over the next month of their visit. Moving forward Collin, Allie, and their 3 dogs traveled to Michigan to tell Collin's family the news and back to Tennessee to use the shed as a base camp to give them time to figure things out and meanwhile visit the doctor to keep up with the developing new addition. Allie returned to Florida mid-October to be with her father while he had a defibrillator implanted amidst a whirlwind of family drama that he should have not been dealing with during a time of recovery. This was only the beginning.
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