There wasn't anything really unique about the Blake family growing up in Minnetonka during the 80's, not really. Like most Catholic families in their neighborhood, the Blakes took their young children to mass every Sunday, had dinners at a set time when Mr. Blake returned from the office, and even had a family dog named Snoopy. It was during that famous crime wave that plagued the United States that Derek was teething, learning to walk, learning to talk and finally using the big boy potty. He wasn't conscious of the crack cocaine epidemic or a heightened sense of fear thanks to high violent crime rates even if his parents were- Minnetonka, just outside of Minneapolis wasn't spared all of that unpleasantness any more than other major US cities were.
Thankfully by the early nineties, things were settling down. Derek was going to school, his sisters were getting into all his things and ruining his life (as little siblings are wont to do) and Mr. Blake was skyrocketing in his company. By 1995 the man of the house was cherry-picked out of his position and asked to relocate to New York for a loftier position within corporate. It was away from everything the Blakes had thusfar known and wasn't a popular decision, but as Nolan Blake's wife and children weren't bringing home the family's income they didn't have much of a choice.
Luckily Derek adjusted a little bit easier than his mother or his sisters. Thanks to his athletic inclinations and a rather early growth spurt, the boy was petitioned by a few different school coaches to join their sport to see what he could do. He ultimately joined the school's football team and made plenty of friends quickly enough, proving that the otherwise quiet boy was able to work some magic on the field.
It was completely by chance that the teenaged boy would discover his calling a few years down the line. In his sophomore year of high school a few upperclass students stopped in one of his classes to talk about a program: one that allowed a few students each year to experience the life of Minneapolis police officer or fire fighter. It was only a few nights a week for the training, they said, and wouldn't interfere with most extra curriculars. The New York Police and Fire Training Academy was its name, and shrugging at one another, Derek and a few of his friends decided that they'd apply for it. It would be, at the very least, something that would look good on college applications.
It turned out to be so much more than that. From the first day he entered that classroom, Derek was hooked on the idea of wearing a shield. It took the guesswork out of what he was going to do with his life, where he was going to go to school, what he was going to work hard for. As long as he kept his grades up and didn't get in trouble, he was a shoe-in at one of the local community colleges, and then later, the New York Police Academy itself. By 2001 he had obtained his Associate in Applied Science in Criminal Justice from Minneapolis Community & Technical College, and it was only a year later that he completed the Academy. Luckily for Derek, upon completing the Academy interviews and passing the exam with flying colors, he was guaranteed a job right after graduation.
It wasn't until he had gone back to school for the third time that Derek met the woman who would change his life in a very different way. Emily Kriti was everything he had ever wanted in a romantic partner: beautiful, funny, and incredibly fun to be with. Unfortunately during the two year period that it took him to wrangle the rest of the credits up for his Bachelor's degree from 2004-2006, he wasn't able to see her or express much interest other than the occasional email or phone call. It got to the point where the woman of his dreams was about to get pretty serious with another man before Derek came to his senses and told her how he really felt about her. Two years later, he and she were married and on their way toward marital bliss.
These days Derek can't complain about much. He's been promoted to Detective with New York's Narcotics division, he has a healthy little boy about to start kindergarten, a baby on the way, and a loving family to surround himself with during the holidays. What more could a man really ask for out of life?
