by Melody Anne
“But mom and dad’s sleep together. Maryanne says when her mom and dad stopped sleeping in the same bed they stopped being married and then her dad found a new person that Maryanne has to call mom even though she doesn’t like her. She says she has to have two houses and doesn’t get to be with her mom and dad together anymore,” he said in the longest speech she’d ever heard him give. Then his tears started to fall again as he thought about it.
“Your mom and I aren’t going to live in separate houses Jacob. We figured things out last night and decided neither of us could stand to be away from you. We will stay together and be a real family,” Derek said and tried to get his son to stop crying.
“Do you promise?” Jacob asked with a hiccup.
“I promise you that. As a matter of fact you can be my best man when we get married,” Derek added.
“Really? Do I get to wear a tux…tux…Oh I can’t remember what they’re called,” Jacob said and blew his breath out with frustration.
“It’s called a tuxedo and if that’s what you want to wear then that’s what we will wear. We will have matching tuxes,” Derek promised.
“And will mom get to wear her princess dress?” he asked.
“If she wants,” Derek replied.
“Honey, I don’t need to wear a princess dress. We’re just having a small wedding and I would look silly wearing a big poufy dress,” she said. She was actually really disappointed to settle for a justice of the peace wedding. She’d always dreamed of her wedding day looking like a fairy tale. She’d learned the hard way long ago, fairy tales didn’t always come true, though.
“But, Mom…hold on,” he interrupted himself, then jumped from the bed and ran out of the room. Jasmine looked at Derek and shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know what he was up too.
Jacob came running back into the room and she saw the familiar book about two seconds too late. She made a grab for it but Jacob had already crawled back onto Derek’s lap and opened the cover. Jasmine could feel her face flushing as Derek looked at a book that basically told him her dreams.
“Jacob, your dad doesn’t want to look at that,” she said as she tried to grab the book again.
“You do, don’t you?” Jacob said as he looked up at Derek.
“Of course I do,” he said. He’d agree with anything Jacob asked. The kid could probably get a brand new motorcycle from him if he just asked. She’d have to talk about that with him. Instead of arguing, she sat back and glared at Derek as he gave her a look with his brows raised.
“See, Dad, this is the dress mom wants to wear. She said when she got married it would be like a fairy tale book and she’d be the princess marrying her prince and I got to be the young prince. She said she was going to one day find a frog and give him a kiss and then he’d become her prince and rescue her from the castle. I guess that means you’re the frog,” Jacob said and then broke out in giggles.
Derek looked through the pages of the book and felt like he was somehow intruding into her thoughts. She had pictures and notes of everything she wanted for her dream wedding. He got to the back of the book and raised his brows at her one more time, as there were pictures of what she wanted to wear on the honeymoon. She had excellent taste and his mouth watered as he pictured her in a few of the outfits.
“See, she has to have a fairy tale princess wedding. She made me listen to a ton of those girlie princess books. She told me it was to teach me how to be the perfect prince for my own princess. I don’t like girls but mom says that will change. I really think she’s wrong cause girls have coodies. It’s okay if dads like girls though,” he said as if he was bestowing his greatest wisdom.
“We will give your mom the fairy tale wedding then. You can help me to make sure everything is right, can’t you?” he asked. Jacob’s eyes widened in awe as his father bestowed that honor on him.
“Of course,” Jacob said with his most serious expression.
“Good then, that’s all settled. Do you want some breakfast?” Derek asked, as he tucked the book under his arm.
“I can take that,” Jasmine said and held out her hand. Derek ignored her and walked out of the room with her book, leaving her alone, irritated and feeling a bit left out.
She was tempted to crawl back down under the covers and fall asleep again but she knew she was far too stressed to even close her eyes.
She threw the blankets back, like a child having a tantrum and stomped into the bathroom. She decided she didn’t like men very much right then. She took her time in the shower and then finally decided to face the day and walked out to the kitchen with her head held high.
Chapter Ten
“I know you really like your house but it’s simply too small. I’m going to contact an agent today and set up some appointments. I did a cursory look last night and there are some really great places on the market I’d like to see. I’d prefer to build my own place but it takes too much time and I want us to get settled as soon as possible,” Derek said, as they were sharing a picnic in the park.
Jacob was playing soccer with some other kids, leaving them alone together for the first time that day. Her whole body tensed at his words. She liked her home. She knew it was small but she’d been paying for it all on her own and she didn’t want to give it up.
“I don’t want to sell my place,” she said, while crossing her arms and glaring at him.
“You don’t have to sell it. You can rent it out if you want or just let it sit empty. I can hire a cleaning crew to come in once a week to make sure it doesn’t get moldy or damaged,” he offered.
“Do I get a choice?” she snapped at him. She knew the place was too small and she knew they would be more comfortable with extra space but her world was being uprooted and she felt like she had no control over anything.
“I’m not your enemy Jasmine; I’m trying to do the right thing for my son. How does me wanting to watch him grow make me the enemy?” he asked her with exasperation.
When he worded it like that she felt like the bad guy. It wasn’t fair he was twisting things around. She was going to have to get over her feelings of betrayal over him walking away from her, or the next nine years of her life were going to seem like forever.
“You’re right, I’m being difficult but you have to realize Jacob and I have been fine for the past nine years and it’s hard to change,” she conceded.
“Can we call a truce for now, for the sake of our son?” he asked.
“That sounds good to me,” she answered, wanting some peace.
Derek made a few calls while Jacob was playing and within the hour he had appointments at six different locations. She was amazed at the speed the man was able to get things done.
Jacob came running up to them and dove into the food. All his playing made him very hungry.
“Hey buddy, want to go look at some houses?” Derek asked him.
“Why?” Jacob asked, with no interest.
“We’re going to find a bigger place to live so you have more room to play,” Derek told him. Jacob was very interested after that. He couldn’t wait to leave the park and look at houses. The first few they went to left Jasmine in awe. She’d grown up in the biggest house of her town and she thought it was fancy but it didn’t compare to the places they were looking at now.
Each house had electronic gates, requiring a key pad to even enter the driveway. The homes were enormous and she was afraid she’d lose Jacob if they moved into one of them. She was making sure he didn’t leave her sight as they toured each one. She didn’t know what Derek was looking for but the places weren’t holding his interest. She was actually grateful for that. She was hoping the other places were scaled down a bit.
Each time they left one of the places the real estate agent seemed disappointed but Jasmine was impressed with how well she covered that. Jasmine was sure the woman was going to make a killing off of the commission if Derek purchased one of the homes, as their price tag was in the millions.
The forth house they
went to had a similar gated drive and was just as big as the others but seemed a bit different to her. It didn’t seem as cold, like the people who lived there, were perhaps more real. It was a colonial style that had a huge three story entranceway that was done in white rock. The door was big enough to drive a truck through, she thought, as they entered.
“This home is only three years old and was built to entertain. The man and his wife had it custom built but he has to go back overseas for a few years and they decided to go ahead and sell because he’s not sure where they will be when they come back. I know his wife is saddened to leave this spectacular home,” the agent began.
“There’s so much to offer, as you can see from just walking in the front doors. Some key features of the home is the property contains twenty useable acres, a full sized tennis court, a full size outdoor and indoor basketball court, along with both outdoor and indoor pools. Apparently the sellers had teenage kids who also built a paintball course on the south end of the property but if you’d like that to be taken out it would be an easy task,” she said as she eyed Jacob, thinking he might like that feature.
“There’s a nice open room back this way, which can easily be used for conferences, dances, or whatever form of entertainment you would like. It features this beautiful chandelier from Italy they had made specifically for the home,” she continued talking as they walked from room to room. Jasmine was thinking the chandelier was probably worth more than her house.
“There are separate living quarters above the garage that many people like to use for either guests or for relatives to live in. It has its own separate entrance for privacy,” she said as she looked at Derek. Jasmine could feel her face heating with anger as she realized she was listing a secret place he could go to for an affair as a selling point. She no longer liked the real estate agent at all and glared at her back as they continued.
“Along this hallway are several bedrooms, suitable for children or visitors. Jacob can explore if he’d like but please don’t touch the owners items,” she added as he dashed down the hallway. “Through this set of doorways is the master suite. You step through here and you have a sitting room, with another door leading into the master bedroom. It features two full size walk in closets, with beautiful cabinets in them. The master bathroom has a Jacuzzi tub, separate walk in shower and steam shower, as well as a sauna. The room has its own private balcony with a gas fireplace, both in the room and on the covered balcony. I’m sure there’s so much more I’m leaving out but if you’re interested I can give you the full listing, which has everything on it,” she droned on.
The woman did know when to talk and when to be quiet though, because she stepped out of the room and let them take their time looking around. Jasmine hated to admit it but she was impressed. The home was palatial but it had a lot of touches that made it feel more like a home than a hotel and she liked it more than any of the others. She just wished it wasn’t quite so large.
“Mom, my room is so cool. It has a huge closet, that’s as big as my old bedroom and I found a secret doorway that led somewhere. It was dark and I didn’t have my flashlight, so I couldn’t go in but I really like it mom. I could get so many more posters cause the walls are way tall,” Jacob said as he came running into the room completely out of breath and beyond excited. Derek took one look at Jacob’s face and she could see he had made his decision.
“This is the one I want,” Derek said as he turned towards the real estate agent, who was practically drooling on his shoes. Her face lit up with total joy, as she pulled out a stack of papers for him to fill out. Jasmine was sure the woman was glad she’d decided to take a last minute call on her weekend.
Derek filled in the necessary information, while the agent talked animatedly to Jasmine and Jacob. The woman probably couldn’t wait to get out of there and go celebrate.
“Tell the sellers I will give them a hundred thousand dollars over their asking price if they can be out within a week. I will also pay all closing cost and pay for professional movers to take their things anywhere they wish. They won’t have to pack a single thing; it can be done for them in one day. I want their answer by nine tomorrow morning and I want it in writing. If they can’t meet those terms I will find another place,” Derek told the woman, whose eyes had widened. Jasmine was sure she wasn’t used to dealing with clients like him. She also knew as much as he liked the house, if his terms weren’t met, he’d walk away. She was sure that’s what made him such a fierce businessman. Once he decided on a course of action, he stuck with it, even if that meant he may not always get what he originally wanted.
“I will let them know but I’m not sure if all the necessary inspections and escrow can get everything done in that amount of time,” she said, afraid she was going to lose the huge commission.
“I will speak to my people and there won’t be a problem getting the necessary stuff done. I will be paying cash for this house, so there will be no financing issues. If the sellers agree to my offer, I can have this place ready to close in three days maximum. I was being polite offering them a week to move,” he said, in his authoritative voice. The man had a way of speaking that made people want to jump to do his bidding. He was just so powerful; there was no other word to describe it.
If he would’ve lived in the past, he would’ve been one of the Gods people idolized, as he wouldn’t have settled for anything less. A shiver ran down her spine as she realized she was going to be marrying him. She’d have to always remember who she was and not fade away behind his shadow. She also had to admit he was incredibly masculine when he asserted his unflinching authority.
“Okay Mr. Titan, I have all the necessary paperwork to get this started. I will get ahold of the selling agent and hopefully the sellers, this afternoon. I will notify you as soon as they have given a response but I know they have been eager to sell, so there shouldn’t be a problem,” she said, looking more like the confident agent she had appeared to be when they’d met her a few hours before. She really was trying to maintain her professionalism, which couldn’t have been easy around Derek.
“I appreciate it and will be waiting,” he said as if waiting wasn’t something that was easy for him. They parted ways and headed back towards Jasmine’s home.
As they pulled up in front of her house, it looked smaller than it ever had to her. She squared her shoulders as she walked in the door. It may be able to fit into the living room of the other home but she’d made it a great place for her and Trevor and there was nothing wrong with it.
Derek came up behind her and laid his hand on her shoulder. “Jasmine I’m really not trying to put your home down, I just do a lot of business from home and need more space. Jacob will also need added security once the press realizes he’s my son. I have a lot of friends and even more enemies. When you take over companies for a living, you make a lot of enemies. I won’t let something happen to my son because some disgruntled person decides to hurt me through my child,” he said, trying to reason with her.
“I do understand,” Jasmine said. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so she went off to her room to be alone for a while.
The real estate agent called a couple of hours later and was practically giggling as she explained the sellers agreed to his offer. She said she could meet him anywhere he liked the next day to get all the paperwork filled out.
Derek made an appointment for her to meet them at the offices and Jasmine’s head was practically spinning with how quickly things were moving. It was a Sunday afternoon and Derek had inspections arranged for the following day and escrow scheduled for Friday. They would receive the keys to the house before the following weekend.
Jacob was squealing in delight at having his own swimming pool, among many other things. He called his best friends up and told them all about it and asked Derek if he could have a party so they could all see his new room. Derek, of course said yes but at least he Jacob to wait a couple of weeks so they could get settled in first.
Derek
offered to have a moving company box up her things and she put her foot down. She didn’t want a stranger to go through her belongings. He actually had the gall to roll his eyes at her. She knew he was thinking she didn’t have anything that they would want but that wasn’t the point. Her things were personal to her and she didn’t want it tainted by a bunch of strangers putting their fingers all over it.
She knew most of her furniture would end up being donated and that was fine with her. The things she wanted to keep she was keeping and there was nothing he was going to do to stop her.
The next morning Jacob came rushing back into her room first thing in the morning. She was starting to get used to it.
“Why don’t you and dad sleep in the same room? I thought when moms and dads were married, they wanted to be together?” he asked her.
“Your dad and I have been apart for a long time, that’s all,” she told him.
“Does that mean he won’t stay?” he asked with his big scared eyes.
“No Jacob, I’m not going anywhere, your mom just has too girly of a room, and too small of a bed for your big dad. We’ll share a room in the new house,” Derek said, as he walked in to join them.
She didn’t like how he kept walking into her room, as if he had every right to. Once again she wasn’t going to argue in front of her son, though.
“Okay, Dad,” Jacob said, as if everything the man said was gold.
They all got ready together and Derek insisted on taking his car in the morning. He told her it was ridiculous to take two vehicles. She once again just went with it, since Jacob was so excited to be taken to school by both of his parents.
“I need to go by my place and gather a few things, since there won’t be time tonight before we have to pick Jacob up,” he told her.
They pulled up to the luxurious condo complex, which even had a security guard at the front door. Jasmine was ever intimidated by the amount of money Derek had. She missed the boy who used to wear second hand jeans and always had a smile on his face. This new man was so much more cynical of the world around him and took for granted things that the young teenager would have been awed by.