High on Zipping into Love

High on Zipping into Love: Chapter #12

Derek is in the kitchen humming while he washes dishes and Cora wants to know—"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"Damn it gremlin!" Derek snaps, startled. "I'll have you know that I am still me."

"Yeah. I mean you look like my brother and well, I would know. After all, I see the female you when I look in the mirror but this whole thing going on with your face is like way more intense than usual. Someone had a good date then."

Derek's ears darken and his cheeks flush. "It was really good, Cora. He's..." he trails off, smiling dopily. "He's amazing."

Cora smiles and snags a banana. "So..." she trails off.

"I really like him, Cora-Bear," Derek whispers. 

The raw emotion in his voice combined with her childhood nickname, tells Cora everything she needs to know. She kisses her brother's cheek and then hops up on the counter. "Okay. So, are you guys dating? Are you going to see him again? Do I need to give him the shotgun talk?"

"No talk but..." Derek nods. "Yeah. We're going to go to a movie this weekend and dinner Wednesday night. He also said I can stop by work whenever. If that all goes well, then we'll have dinner at the diner with the kids."

"Wow. That's amazing, Der."

Derek grins as he puts the dishes in the cupboard. "Thanks gremlin." He leans back against the sink. "I can't believe we can finally stay here."

Cora tosses the banana peel in the trash and sends a smile in his direction. "Me too. No offense to the hotel but I wanted to be here in our house. So, what's he like?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Uh, yes! Hence why I asked little bro."

"Well that's for me to know and you to find out."

Cora pouts. "I will find out."

Derek smirks. "I'm sure you will. In time."

They stare at each other, each waiting for the other to concede but Cora breaks first. "Oh fine you spoil sport. As long as he's nothing like Ashley and he's not because he actually showed up, then I approve."

Derek sobers and nods in agreement. "Yeah. He's definitely nothing like Ashley."

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Past: Six Years Ago

Derek is running late for work and hurriedly locks his door only to come to a full stop on his front porch when he notices a basket. He hears a soft cry and realizes there is a baby in the basket. He sees an envelope on top and picks it up.

When he opens the letter, he finds a birth certificate, official relinquishing of parental rights paperwork and a note. It takes a moment to sink in and he leans down to scoop up the baby, while the words of the letter swirl in his mind.

𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙳𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚔,

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜. 𝙸 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝚃𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚡 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍.

𝚂𝚘, 𝚒𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗, 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.

𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐!

- 𝙰𝚜𝚑

He sways back and forth with the baby to help keep him asleep. The letter is from a one night stand he had a little over a year ago. The baby can't be more than six months old. He makes an executive decision to take the bus to the hospital.

On the way there he calls Cora and then calls his boss.

The hospital nurse takes his blood and the baby's blood to test the DNA. Then, they leave him cradling the baby in one of the rooms. He doesn't know how much time passes between them drawing blood and getting the results but when he hears that this little six month old baby boy is really and truly his, nothing else matters.

"Hey little one. I'm your daddy," he whispers, brushing the knuckle of his index finger against the baby's cheek as he sways, uncaring of the tears slipping down his cheeks. Derek's son—his SON—is perfect.

"Mr. Hale?" a voice says from the doorway.

Derek tilts his head in acknowledgment but doesn't take his eyes off of his son. "Hm?"

"Mr. Hale!" the voice snaps.

This makes Derek tense and look over. "Yes?"

A short, plump woman stands staring him down, or trying to. "My name is Sara Lewis. I work for Child Protective Services."

Derek holds his son closer. "I see. What can I help you with?"

She smirks and opens her mouth to answer but falters when Cora pushes past her in a hurry. "I'm Mr. Hale's lawyer. Here are the forms proving this child is his. Here are copies of the birth certificate and documents clearly showing that the mother chose to sign her rights away. If you feel the need to further press your luck, you can call our main branch. As for me and Mr. Hale, we'll be leaving now."

Derek watches the whole thing in amused appreciation and when Cora ushers him out of the room, he quickly goes and they head to her car. "Thank you, Cora."

She gestures to the backseat where a car seat is all ready to go for the baby. "You're welcome. Let's go home."

As they drive to Derek's home, he can't take his eyes off the sleeping baby. "He's perfect. Have you ever seen anything more perfect?"

Cora grins as they pull up to the house. "Never." She turns off the car and turns to look at her brother, both of them ignoring the For Sale sign in the yard and what that could have meant if they'd already moved when the baby was abandoned.

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Derek is never far from his son whom he names Ezekiel. Cora offers to drive the car up since hers was a rental and he gratefully accepts, eager to begin their lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Derek has been offered a job as a kindergarten teacher and it's even better now that he knows there's a daycare as well.

Little Zeke grows up in Atlanta and is so much like his daddy. He's all smiles and giggles. Derek has never been happier and when he gets another, better, job offer for a teaching position in Charlottesville, Virginia, a month after Zeke's sixth birthday, he eagerly accepts.

Zeke picks out the color pastel green for his bedroom walls and gets bedding with tigers on it for his bed. They make their house a home just like they did in Atlanta, only this time Zeke has a bigger hand in how things look.

It's nearly the middle of August when they are finally settled in. They'll have to spend a couple nights at a hotel while the electric company makes their final check but otherwise they're all set.

It's while they're trying to choose a movie that Zeke asks a fateful question. "Daddy, can we go play here?"

Derek looks at the tablet to see what his son is asking about. He's surprised but exchanges a look with Cora, the both of them smiling.

"Please, Daddy? It looks like a lot of fun."

Cora grins at her brother and Derek can't help it when he says, "I don't see why not." He takes a seat next to Zeke and looks at the website. "Let's see just what Howlin' Heights is."