One year later…Derek stretched his long legs and reclined in his seat as his private jet gunned through the clouds, on its way back to the United States. He’d spent the last four days in Santorini, Greece, celebrating his 32nd birthday with his friends and a bunch of exotic girls. It was supposed to be a seven-day holiday, but by the third day which was the day after his birthday, he had begun to grow restless. He missed his job and just eating, drinking, and having sex with random girls was beginning to bore him.His friends had begged him to complete the one-week holiday with them, but he had refused. One more day of playing would totally drive him crazy and he couldn’t stand it anymore. The entire holiday and the trip back home had all been paid for, so he told his friends to have fun on his behalf while he returned to his base to regain his sanity.Now on his way back home, he felt relieved and excited at the same time. There was a small tech start-up that was pitching for seed f

“Are you serious?” Rob asked her with huge eyes. “He actually came here?”“Yeah, but I didn’t let him in,” said Rachel. “And he showed up with a bunch of flowers and tried to apologize, but I wouldn’t let him.”“Wow,” breathed Rob. “That guy has got some nerve.”“That’s exactly what I said. Who does he think he is?”“So, what are you going to do now?”Rachel shrugged. “Nothing. What am I supposed to do?”“I don’t know, but now that he knows about Zoe, don’t you think that’s probably why he showed up?”“I don’t care why he showed up. I don’t want to have anything to do with him,” said Rachel, stubbornly. “He can’t just pop up from nowhere and expect to be recognized as my child’s father when he already rejected both me and my baby before. We don’t need him.”They were both silent as they watched Taylor running around with Zoe in the backyard. It was late afternoon and the sun was barely visible through the clouds.“It might rain tonight,” said Rachel absently, trying to change the subj

Rachel looked from Rob to Taylor and shook her head in disbelief. “I should have known that you two would support that bum. I thought the guy code didn’t extend to gay men?”“This isn’t about guy code, Rachel. This is about Zoe,” said Rob. “I don’t want whatever is going on with you and Derek to affect her negatively. And I don’t want you to look back on this time in the future and regret your decision to cut Derek off. Besides, I feel that he will keep showing up wherever you go until you let him apologize and say his piece. You know he has the resources to track you down even if you move to the end of the earth, wherever that may be, so why don’t you just hear him out and give him a piece of your mind too while he’s at it?”As much as she hated Rob’s advice, she couldn’t deny that her brother was right. Zoe deserves to have her father in her life if he is willing to be involved, which it seems like Derek is. She on the other hand didn’t have to entertain him in her life because he d

“Because she wasn’t the first woman to show up at my doorstep, claiming to be pregnant for me, and all the others before her had turned out to be liars.”“So, you are in the habit of sleeping with anything in skirts and – ““Uncle Doug…” Rachel protested.“You’re right, sir,” Derek said, looking straight into Doug’s eyes. “I a man who enjoys hanging out with any lady I fancy, but I was always careful until I met Rachel. I was wrong to accuse her of lying even when I knew that there was a possibility that her claim could be true. I was a coward and I apologize for not being there for Rachel as I should have. That is one mistake that I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”Everyone was quiet again except for Zoe and her little friends who were running around and laughing, completely oblivious to the encounter going on with the adults.“Has anyone ever told you that you look like that billionaire called Fraser?” Asked Hunter, Doug’s oldest son. “Are you guys related?”“Yes, we are,” said D

History has shown that Derek was a man that got involved with women on his own terms so that essentially meant that he wasn’t the right candidate for her to develop strong feelings for. She couldn’t afford to get involved with him again except she wanted to be heartbroken a second time. She should seriously think about going to that speed dating thing this weekend. Maybe meeting someone to take her attention away from Derek was what she needed now.When she got home, she got busy in the kitchen by making a bowl of fruit salad for Zoe to snack on before she had lunch. She was glad to see Zoe and Derek coming in through the front door just as she dropped in the last piece of apple into the salad bowl.“Perfect timing!” She said. “Hi, darling. Come hug your mommy.”Zoe ran into her arms squealing with joy. “Mommy!” She screamed happily.“That’s my girl,” said Rachel, embracing her daughter tightly. “How did daycare go today?”“It’s fun,” said Zoe. “I like color red!”“Ooh, that makes two