Falling For Her Billionaire Baby Daddy

"What are you going to do now?" Rachel asked Derek when they had returned to their suite.

"About what?"

"About everything Yasmin said. What do you make of all of that?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I feel as if the ground has just opened and I'm dropping into nothingness. None of that made sense. She should have just left me alone."

Rachel understood his frustration and she felt sorry for him. Finding out that everything he had ever believed about his parents' relationship all these years might be lies, was a lot to take in. Even she didn't know how to react to it all. "I still can't believe that Diane has been spying on me the whole time," Derek mused.

"Well, at least that part of the story made sense," he added. "It explains how that woman knows so much about our itinerary. I am so annoyed I feel like yelling at her. I should fire her disloyal ass right now."

"Don't do that, Derek," Rachel appealed. "Diane was just being used. I'm sure she didn't think there was any harm in what she was doing."

"Her loyalty should be to me first," he insisted. "I feel like a fool."

"Don't. None of this is your fault. You just got caught in the middle of a messy situation."

Derek was quiet for a while, thinking about everything the woman who claimed to be his mother had said. He was still trying to process everything.

"I refuse to believe that my father was the man that that woman painted him to be," he said.

Rachel knew that Derek was still in denial and too angry to acknowledge Yasmin as his mother. "She said you could find out the truth from your father's best friend," Rachel reminded him. "Uncle Alfred..." he whispered.

"Is he someone you can trust?"

"Yes, he is. That man was the closest thing to a father to me after I lost mine. He has always been there for me all these years and he has been one of the constant people in my life. I trust him completely." "Well, then. Why don't you call him and ask him about Yasmin's claims?"

"No, I won't call him on the phone. I'd rather see him face to face and see his reaction when I ask him about my father's behavior toward my mother and the circumstances surrounding their marriage."

"That's a good idea," Rachel agreed.

"My father had told me that he and my mother dated for two years before they got married," said Derek, remembering a different version of the story. "He said that they were head over heels in love with each other, and they were practically inseparable."

"Hmm..." Rachel commented pensively.

"That's a far cry from Yasmin's claims," said Derek. "One of them has to be lying and I believe that Uncle Alfred is in a perfect position to tell me which is which."

Rachel could see how much finding out the truth meant to Derek and her heart went out to him. He had grown up believing that love was a terrible thing simply because he had seen his father get the short end of the stick.

Now, the mother that he had spent much of his life hating was turning out to be the victim in a twisted tale that would give Alice in Wonderland a run for its money.

"How would you like to spend your birthday in the English countryside tomorrow?" Derek asked her with a mischievous smile.

"We're going to England?" Rachel asked in awe.

"Yep. That's where Uncle Alfred lives. He owns a sprawling manor that is twice the size of Jonah's ranch home. You'll love it, I'm sure."

"If it's the outdoors, then count me in," she laughed.

"I am so sorry I forgot about your birthday," he apologized.

"Don't apologize. I forgot too!"

He laughed and said, "I'm glad you're not mad at me. I think we should go back to Hamilton and get ready for our trip tomorrow." "Aren't you going to call your uncle first and let him know that we're coming?"

"I'll call him when we hit the road. Besides, he wouldn't mind me showing up without calling first. He's practically my dad."

Rachel smiled. She liked how Derek spoke so warmly about Alfred and she couldn't wait to meet the man.

*******

They left Bermuda first thing the next morning without saying goodbye to Yasmin as Rachel had suggested. Derek had refused to set eyes on the woman again until he confirmed her story first.

Meanwhile, before they left their villa, he had woken up Rachel at dawn with a small cupcake in his hand while he sang the 'happy birthday' song to her in bed. They had eaten the cake together and made love afterward.

It was by far the sweetest birthday celebration that Rachel had ever experienced in her adult life.

Now they were in his private jet with their bodyguards and new nanny, Elaine, flying to England to see Derek's pseudo-dad. He was the only person who held the key to unlocking the mystery of Jeremy and Yolanda Fraser's marriage as retold by Yasmin James.

Rachel felt as if she was in the middle of a movie and she was learning about the scenes in real-time with the viewers. It was a ridiculous thought but that was how she felt.

"I feel as if we are always flying somewhere," Rachel said whimsically.

"Ok, maybe we can sail to our next destination then," Derek replied playfully.

"Where would that be?"

"Where do you want to go next?"

Rachel thought for a moment. "How about we sail to France?"

"Sounds good to me," Derek agreed with a grin. "I know someone who runs a cruise business. We could get some VIP passes for their next trip to France. I'll call and check when we land in England." "You know people everywhere," said Rachel.

"I know people who matter everywhere," Derek corrected her.

A thought occurred to her and she asked, "Did you mean what you said yesterday about giving everything you own to Zoe?"

"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "She is the next generation of Fraser and that makes her my heiress."

That word sounded foreign to Rachel. It was a word she associated with those highfalutin reality TV stars with rich parents who couldn't even quantify just how much money they owned.

The word gave her an image of bratty young women who looked down their noses at everyone else because they thought themselves better than every other human being.

It wasn't a word that she wanted to associate with her sweet, adorable, little Zoe. She didn't want her child to grow up and become a snob simply because she was born into so much wealth.

"What is it?" Derek asked her when he noticed the change in her expression. "You don't look excited."

"I know this might sound silly to you, but the thought of Zoe becoming an heiress scares me a lot,” she admitted. "I want my daughter to grow up like a normal kid."

"What is normal?" Derek asked. "That word is relative. I grew up as a normal kid just as you did, but we still have different experiences. I think what you are trying to say is that you want Zoe to grow up poor because you think that is how she would learn humility."

Rachel frowned. "I didn't grow up poor, either. But yes, I want her to be a humble person and it is hard to be humble when you have the world at your feet."

Derek sighed. "I thought we had gone past this argument, Rachel. Wealth is not a bad thing. In my opinion, it's how you use it that truly matters."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"My ideas and values combined with yours will mold our daughter into becoming the kind of person we want her to be," Derek continued. "We don't have to argue and fight about this upbringing issue at every turn." "Fine," Rachel said grudgingly. "I will remind you of all of these cute descriptions when next I see you trying to spoil her."

Derek chuckled. "We will cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let's enjoy this magnificent view and think about how we're going to throw down at your birthday party tonight."

She laughed. "What? You're going to throw a party for me at your uncle's house? You haven't even asked him."

"I don't have to. He won't mind," Derek said confidently. "You're going to love him, you'll see."

The pilot announced that they would be landing in the next four minutes. Rachel could see Derek's excitement increasing with every passing second.

"You're about to see my second home," he told her with a sparkle in his eyes. "Get ready to fall in love all over again."

Rachel laughed in response but in her mind, she wondered if he was talking about falling in love with the place or with him. She had promised herself not to get mushy with him again because love was clearly not in the books for him. But now that his reason for hating love so much has been called into question, who knows, it just might change his views about that emotion altogether.

Don't hold your breath, she told herself and looked out the window. She should be smart enough by now not to play dominoes with her heart.

Love was not something Derek understood and she needed to make her peace with that truth and stop expecting him to change for her.

Rachel had to constantly remind herself that her relationship with Derek was an adventure. It was better this way than setting herself up for another major disappointment.