Falling For Her Billionaire Baby Daddy

"Wait, let me get this straight," said Taylor. "Derek Fraser, I mean 'the Derek Fraser' a.k.a tech billionaire and New York's most eligible bachelor is your baby daddy? You mean he is literally Zoe's father?"

"Shush!" Rachel said sharply, before glancing in Zoe's direction. The toddler was awake from her nap and was now watching her favorite cartoon show on the TV in the den.

"This is mind-blowing," said Rob. "Why didn't you want us to know that he was responsible for your pregnancy? Why all the secrecy?"

"Because of this reaction both of you are having now," said Rachel. "Did you hear how Taylor just described him?"

"So?" Asked Rob, not getting her point.

"So, I already knew that you all would have stars in your eyes as soon as you knew who got me pregnant. And then you all will expect me to go with the flow and do what he wants, assuming he was even interested in being involved in my life or my child's life."

"Come on, Rachel. You know I would never make you do anything you don't want to do," said Rob. "I just didn't think keeping Derek's identity a secret was necessary at all."

"Fine. Now that you all know, what next?" she asked bitingly, unable to hide her annoyance.

She didn't like how Rob and Taylor were making light of her reasons for not announcing who her baby daddy was.

"Well, that's up to you, Rachel," said Rob. "What do you want to do?"

"Nothing. There's nothing to do. Zoe and I are ok and we are happy just the way we are. There's no need to add a third party to our relationship."

Taylor sighed. "I know this is none of my business and you might get really pissed off by what I am about to say, but you are coming off a bit selfish to me and that's weird because that's not who you are." Rachel was dumbfounded. "What?"

"I am inclined to agree with Taylor on this, Raych. You are talking as if you got yourself pregnant and therefore you get to decide who can be in Zoe's life or not, based on that fact, but you know that isn't right." "Wait a minute. Is this a gang-up against me? Shouldn't you two be on my side?"

"We are on your side," Rob assured her.

"Have you forgotten what I told you about how Derek threw me out of his office and insulted me?"

"I haven't forgotten," said Rob, somberly.

"And yet, you expect me to just forgive him and forget all that and just let him butt into my life like some schoolyard bully?"

"Listen, Rachel. I know you are hurt, and you have every reason to be, but please don't let Zoe suffer for something that doesn't concern her. Don't deprive her of the opportunity to have a relationship with her father just because you are angry with him."

"I can't believe you, Rob," said Rachel, disappointed. "Zoe deserves to have a relationship with a father who wanted her, not the one who rejected her even before she was born."

"But what if he has changed? What if he has realized his mistake and that's why he came searching for you? Did you see those bags he was carrying? They were filled with toys for Zoe." "Zoe has enough toys, thank you," said Rachel, stubbornly.

"Come on, Rachel, give the guy a chance," Taylor appealed to her. "We understand that he was a jerk before, but he seems to be making an effort to show you how remorseful he is now." 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.

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"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 didn't deserve her. He may think his money made him desirable, but Rachel wasn't interested in getting emotionally entangled with a guy who did not know how to handle rejection as an adult but instead lashed out rudely as a way to hide his pain.

"So, what's it going to be?" Rob asked.

Rachel shrugged. "I'll think about it."

******

Derek was at his wit's end but he knew that if he was going to win Rachel over, he would have to be very patient and determined. He knew if the roles were reversed, he would probably get a restraining order to keep Rachel away. But since she hadn't done that, it meant there was still a tiny bit of hope that she might forgive him and let him see Zoe.

Whenever he thought about the child, his heart swelled with a warm, fuzzy feeling that he couldn't quite describe. He would have thought that knowing that he had a child would send him running for the hills, but the opposite was his reaction.

He yearned to see his child, he wanted to touch her and hold her and be sure that she was real, and not just a figment of his imagination. He had never understood why Jonah and his wife were madly in love with their children whom he had thought to be noisy and all over the place. But now he knew.

Now he understood the feeling of being a parent - he had reproduced a part of himself with Rachel. That thought was utterly mind-blowing, he had to sit down for a moment to ponder it.

His phone rang and a smile spread across his face when he saw the caller ID. "Hi, Jonah. You're just the man I wanted to talk to."

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"Yeah? How so?" Asked Jonah. "And where are you, by the way?"

"In Atlanta."

"Oh, you still there? When are you returning to New York? Have you seen the child?"

"Slow down, Jo," said Derek, with a laugh. "No, I haven't seen the child, and I don't know when I'll be back in New York."

"Uh..."

"Look, I'm going to stay here for as long as it takes for Rachel to forgive me and let me see Zoe. I can't go back to New York without accomplishing my mission first." "Wow... this is serious," said Jonah soberly. "So what happens to your work? Are your companies going to run on autopilot until you return?"

Derek chuckled. "I don't have to be in New York to run my empire. I can do that from anywhere in the world, you know that."

"OK then. So it's 'mission get-Rachel-to-forgive-you-and-let-you-see-Zoe,' right?"

"I guess that just about sums it up," said Derek with a smile.

"All right, man. Vanessa and I will be praying for you."

"Thanks, dude," he said and ended the call.

He hadn't actually thought about extending his stay in Atlanta, but now that he thought about it, it was the sanest thing to do.

Flying back to New York now would only reinforce Rachel's stance about how uncaring he was. He needed to redeem his image before Rachel and then earn his place in Zoe's life.