Are you the father
Disclaimer: As usual the recognizable characters are not mine I am just taking them out to play for a bit.
AN: Big shout out to Rangersbabe76 who sent me the idea for this story. This is AU but will be HEA I promise.
Summary: Tired of her mothers harping for her to settle down and raise a family Steph decides it is time to raise a family but her way. She goes to a sperm bank and upon finding out she is pregnant, and the ensuing blow up she moves to the Caribbean. (Thank goodness for good investments with the money her grandfather had left her!) When Steve leaves Valerie and the kids with nothing, Stephanie comes home to set them up in the new home she bought for them and gets her a job at the bonds office filing for Vinney. (yay blackmail) Val falls for Hal at Rangemen and the baby looks just like Ranger knowing she went to the sperm bank he does some digging and as Maury says Are you the father? stay tuned and find out.
Stephanie listened to her mother as she screamed at her about how embarrassing she was as a daughter yet again only hearing snippets but knowing what the message was having had this argument so many times before. So and so's daughter doesn't… insert however she had embarrassed her mother lately. Why can't you just marry, settle down and raise a family.. Can't even cook. Yada, yada, yada.
"Mom what you fail to realize is that I have no desire to fit the mold you are trying to shove me into! I feel trapped here because I literally cannot be myself without you telling me what a failure I am! When are you going to realize that this township is stuck in the 50's the world doesn't work this way anymore!" Stephanie finally lost it screaming back at her mother for once.
"I knew you shouldn't have gone off to that college they put ideas in your head."
"Education tends to do that mother and give people the tools they need to live and thrive on their own." Stephanie snapped back.
"Joey is willing to marry you! He may be your last chance who wants an old maid who can't cook or keep house.?" Helen put on the water works hoping to guilt her daughter into seeing things her way.
"Mom you seem to have holes in your memory I am not dating that chauvinist rapist. I should have went to daddy and pressed charges back then. I still can't believe you blamed that incident on me." Stephanie stormed out deciding her mother had a point on one thing and one thing only. She was getting older if she wanted to raise children it was time to do so and with the news she had received not long ago that was more than possible.
Her investment firm had called her telling her the man who had been handling her account retired and as her account was a large one they did not want to lose her. Confused, she asked some questions as 10,000 was not the kind of account they could possibly be talking about. The man had been a friend of her father and she had allowed him the freedom to invest any dividends etc back into more stock so that her portfolio could grow and be part of her retirement plan. What she did not know is that he got stock with places like amazon and google when they were still young and now her account was a multi-million dollar account at 85 million dollars.
Stephanie withdrew 20 million into her checking account in order to set herself up and live comfortably without having to work while raising her child and left the rest to continue to grow. She visited a sperm bank in New York so that the news would not get back to her mother as it always seemed to Hipaa meant nothing to the burg gossip network. She hoped that another grandchild to spoil would give her some common ground to stand on with her mother as well as fulfill her need for a family of her own.
Today was the day she would get the results of the insemination and she was almost sure she was pregnant! Her mother would finally be happy and give her space to raise her child and maybe their relationship would be better. The doctor came in with a huge grin on her face. "Well mamma I hope you are ready, you are definitely pregnant it usually takes multiple tries so you are a lucky one! We can do your first ultrasound here if you like. You won't see much but you should see your little peanut before your first OB appointment at least."
"Yes please!" Stephanie nearly squealed in excitement.
"There is your little peanut. I will circle the image and print it for you."
"Alright just make sure you take the prenatal vitamins and set up with your OB to follow through with your pregnancy. Good luck Stephanie, I hope this turns out for you."
Stephanie hurried over to her parents house excited to share the news. Her excitement died when before she could even get to the door it slammed open and her mother started screaming from the porch. "How dare you embarrass me this way! Going to a sperm bank to get pregnant with no man and no marriage in sight, how could you?!"
"What? How?! I went all the way to New York so that the gossip wouldn't get back to you and I could surprise you with the news of being pregnant. I don't need or want a man. If I get married it will be because I am truly in love." Stephanie gritted out.
"Who will take care of you while you are pregnant if you have to quit work with complications? You have to think things through Stephanie!"
"I thought it through mom I have more than enough money to raise my child into adulthood without working if I want to. Hell, I never have to work again if I don't want to. I invested the money grandpa left me and my investments did well."
"Stephanie either you marry Joseph right now or do not bother coming back here anymore, you will no longer be my child."
"I don't think I ever really was mom, but I will not marry Joe he raped me on the dirty floor of the bakery I worked at as a 16 year old, and you forced me to allow him to get away with it. I am not staying here any longer." Stephanie slammed out of her mothers house mentally putting things in order. She wanted to live somewhere where the weather was always nice and had beautiful beaches.
It didn't take Stephanie long to wrap things up going through her things packing her clothes and the few items that held sentimental value. She had decided to go through with her plan of moving to a location where the weather was warm and the beaches beautiful. Stephanie relaxed on the beach in the Caribbean not even two weeks after her last and final fight with her mother. Her realtor had contacted her this morning about several properties setting up a tour of them over the next week.
The first five houses were a bust and Stephanie started to feel discouraged not wanting to live and raise her child in a hotel room. The last property was perfect! A gorgeous plantation that needed work but had multiple bungalows on the property that she planned to fix up and use as rentals for a bed and breakfast set up with more privacy for the couples that visited. She decided to buy it on the spot, putting in a cash offer ten grand above listing price for a quick closing, and began making calls to locate contractors and workers to bring the property back to the jewel it once was.
Six months later found Stephanie eight months pregnant with a healthy son, five million dollars lighter, and the property nearly glowing in its beauty. Each bungalow had been converted into 2 bedroom cabins and slept six to eight except two that were made into gorgeous honeymoon suites that included indoor hot tubs word of mouth had traveled about the property and locals were touring nearly daily. Stephanie's property manager had wanted her to charge for tours for more income but she refused given that she didn't need the extra capital and also kept the rental prices much lower than the property manager wanted for the same reason. Crops had been planted and animals brought in to make the property as self-sufficient as possible instead of buying meat and produce most of it would come from her own property.
Stephanie enjoyed the simple life and found a fast friend in Astryd, her wonderful property manager who thought her insane for not charging an arm and a leg. They got along so well she reminded her of Marylou back home and begged her to become a permanent member of the staff offering her a room in her home as part of her benefits. Astryd jumped at the chance to extend the temporary role and join Stephanie in her beautiful home slowly teaching her to cook and spending a lot of days on the beach nearby.
Astryd dropped the glass in her hand at the terrified screech coming from Stephanie's room ignoring the glass she ran to her friend. "What's wrong Steph?!"
"It seems my son is anxious to meet us. I need to get to the hospital now!" Stephanie gripped the sides of her dresser in obvious pain.
"Okay, Okay we got this lets grab your bag and I will get the car.." Astryd began to panic.
"I thought it was men who were supposed to panic at the thought of babies being born." Stephanie tried to laugh through gritted teeth.
Everything was a blur of pain until the doctor said congratulations mamma your boy is healthy and beautiful. Tears ran down her cheeks as her son laid against her his big blue eyes might change she knew but he definitely took after the cuban man she picked to father her child with his black hair and rich mocha skin. "Do you have a name for him yet?"
"His name is Carlos Alejandro Mazur." Stephanie answered having taken her grandfather's name after leaving.
"He is so beautiful Stephanie." Astryd murmured
"Will you be his god mother?"
"I thought you would never ask. Let me hold my god son." Astryd made gimme motions with her hands laughing.