by Jena Wade
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Other Titles By Jena Wade
About Jena Wade
Heaven Can Wait
Millerstown Moments
Book Six (short story)
Jena Wade
Copyright © 2019 by Jena Wade
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Published in the United States of America
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Chapter One
Tyler
I pulled into my brother’s driveway and put the truck in park. The sunset in the west cast a gorgeous glow over the house that he now called home. I never understood why my brother was willing to settle down in Millerstown. He’d always liked the place more than I did, despite the fact that our dad thought that his mayorship was some sort of dynasty and he’d expected I or my brother would take over one day.
When I’d left town for college, my father had all but written me off since I refused to fall in line with his plan. Philip had refused to fall in line as well, but he did so more subtly. He never outright told my dad to go fuck himself like I had. At least not until my dad crossed the line, threatening Philip’s Omega and the child he never knew he had.
Because your dad kept Philip and Ollie apart.
I took a deep breath and climbed out of the truck. This would be the first time I was meeting Ollie as an adult, and Christopher, and the new baby, McKenna. I hadn’t been able to get away from work to visit when she had been born, or while my dad’s trial was going on. Not that I’d wanted to be here for that anyways.
I didn’t need a judge to tell me that my dad was guilty as hell. Thankfully, he was going to be in prison for a very long time. He’d gotten the maximum sentence for his crimes and it would be a long while before he saw the light of day again. He deserved it.
The door opened and my brother stepped out, a wide grin on his face.
“Tyler! You’re here!”
I smiled, though it took my brain some convincing to do it. “Did you think that I wasn’t coming?”
“No, it’s not that. I just thought maybe something was going to come up and you would be late or delayed, or not come at all.” He grinned sheepishly and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck.
He wasn’t wrong though. I had come up with many excuses over the years as to why I couldn’t come home to visit. It was different now though. Dad wasn’t here to ruin everything by being an asshole and Philip had a whole new life. A family. An Omega. Two children.
“Come on in, meet the family,” he said.
When Philip had reunited with his Omega, Ollie, they’d moved into Ollie’s home which had belonged to his grandmother. It was a large two-story house with a finished basement that Ollie used as an in-home daycare space. He and his friend Kayden ran the daycare together. They were also accomplished children’s book authors.
When I walked into the house, Ollie was sitting at the table with Christopher and McKenna, who I recognize from the pictures Philip had sent me. Two per day of each kid, at a minimum and I loved every single one of them.
“The kids eat really early,” Ollie said. “Sorry. We couldn’t wait for you.”
“That’s no problem,” I said.
He stood and I pulled him into a hug. “You barely look like the kid from all those years ago.”
Ollie snorted. “Well, I am ten years older, Tyler.”
“Oh yeah, I guess we’re all older, aren’t we?” I held my hand out to Christopher, the nephew I’d only just learned about last year. “Hi, Christopher. I’m your Uncle Tyler.”
Christopher shook my hand. “Dad talks about you a lot. I think that maybe I want a brother. But my friend Jackson is close enough to be my brother. So, I guess it’s okay.”
I laughed out loud. “I’m sure your dads will get to work on making a brother for you.”
“All right!” Christopher whooped with joy and his gaze flew to Ollie, then Philip. “Really, can you?”
Philip glared at me. “Thanks a lot, brother.”
“No problem. I’m happy to help.”
McKenna let out of screech and slapped her spoon on the tray of her highchair, not one to be left out of the conversation.
“Well, hello little lady,” I said.
She grinned up at me, spots of food speckled over her cheeks. I turned to my brother and ignored the pang of jealousy in my gut. “Nice little family you’ve got here.”
“Thank you,” he said. “It’s good to have you home.”
“Yeah. Home.”
***
A while later, after Ollie had taken the kids up to bed and gone to lay down himself since apparently McKenna was cutting teeth and he wanted to get as much rest as he could in case she woke up several times during the night, Philip and I sat on the back deck overlooking the yard.
“I’m really happy for you,’ I said and took a sip of my beer.
“Thanks. It’s not exactly the route I thought I would take to my happily ever after, but we’re here now and that’s all that matters.”
I shook my head. “I still can’t believe the shit the old man—”
“I’m going to stop you right there,” Philip said. “Not because I don’t agree with you, but Ollie and I don’t talk about it much. We talked about it after it happened and decided that it was best to leave it alone, not dwell on the “what ifs” and “I can’t believe its.” Christopher knows as much as he can about the situation for his age and eventually, we’ll tell McKenna. Especially given the extra stuff that went down not too long ago, with dad and the new mayor.”
“What?” I hadn’t heard about that.
Philip rolled his eyes. “I’ll fill you in, but mostly our dad’s a fucking lunatic. And he’s right where he deserves to be.”
I nodded. “Amen to that. Is Christopher all right? After everything that happened?” My dad had kidnapped Christopher in an attempt to coerce Ollie into leaving Philip alone, so Philip would run for mayor. My dad had been laundering money from the town for years and he’d hoped that Philip would help him hide his illegal activities.
Philip nodded. “We went to ther
apy for a while and talked it all out as much as we could. And we still touch base with his therapist every once in a while, to make sure that no underlying trauma surfaces from the event.” Philip closed his eyes and turned away from me. “I tell you though, you never get over that feeling. It still wakes me up at night. Ollie too. Not knowing where your kid is, if they are hurt or scared or taken care of.”
“I can’t even imagine.”
“Yeah.” Philip shook his head as if trying to shake the memory loose. “Anyway. What are your plans while you’re in town?”
I shrugged. “Not sure. I’ve been needing a change of pace lately, so I took the month off. I don’t have any clients booked until next month. Not sure what I’m going to do.”
“You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you want.”
“I know,” I said. “But I don’t want to intrude.”
“You aren’t. It’s nice to have you here. Are you going to get in touch with any of your old friends?”
I barked out a laugh. “Are they around? I didn’t have that many friends in high school. You were the superstar. I was the weirdo guy in wood shop.”
“Jayson still lives in town.”
“He does?” I said. “I heard he got married after high school. Never heard from him after that. I assumed his Alpha wasn’t the type to let his Omega talk with other Alphas.”
Philip shrugged. “I don’t know any details. I just know that he’s a kindergarten teacher at the school.”
I smiled at that. Being a teacher was the perfect fit for Jayson.
“You two really didn’t keep in touch at all?” Philip asked.
I shook my head. The sadness rolled over me like it always did when I thought of Jayson. My Omega that got away. “He and I just lost touch. After I left I didn’t really talk to anyone from town.”
Ollie came outside. “Philip, I just remembered we are completely out of milk. Can you run to the store?”
Philip leapt to his feet. “Sure thing.” He checked his watch. “I’ll go now, before they close.”
“I can go,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind driving around town a bit, see what’s changed.”
“Thank, Tyler. I appreciate it,” Ollie said.
Chapter Two
Jayson
I stared at the ginormous box in front of me and wondered briefly how the salesman had even gotten it into my car. It seemed impossible that a box that size fit in the space, and yet, there it was. The real mystery was how the hell I was going to get it out being that I was eight months pregnant, just four weeks shy of my due date?
The salesman had crammed the box into the backseat of my four-door car. I had the back door open. I bent over as far as I could and tried to get a grip on the box. It didn’t budge. I tried to lift it out, finagle it around, reaching my arm around my big belly under the box, but it wouldn’t move.
Finally, I let go and stood straight, already out of breath. I shouldn’t have waited until this late at night to get it inside, but after shopping all day for the last of the items I would need for this child, I’d taken a long nap.
I supposed the swing could wait until morning. But I would have the same issue then. How was I going to get this box out of the car? The sun had set, so the street was lit only by the street lamps. When headlights shone on the road, I ignored them, assuming that it would be one of my neighbors coming home.
When the car pulled into my driveway and parked behind my car it surprised me. I turned to face the car but couldn’t see anything until the driver shut off the engine and got out. I blinked a few times, not believing my eyes.
Tyler Miller.
“Hey Jay-Jay,” he said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t heard that nickname in years. “Hey Ty-Ty. Where have you been?”
I walked over to him, and then stopped suddenly, realizing that perhaps hugging him wouldn’t be the best idea, though I wanted to. His eyes got big when they landed on my protruding stomach. I rubbed a hand over it. “Yeah, I know. I’m huge.”
He looked around and back at the house like he expected an Alpha to come out of the woodwork.
“Do you need help with that?” he said gesturing to the box in my car.
“Yeah,” I said. “I can’t get a grip on it.”
“I can’t imagine why,” he said with a wink and walked toward the car. He lifted the box out with ease, without any trouble at all. “Where do you want it?”
“In the living room is fine. It’s the baby swing. I’ve got to put it together.”
He carried it into the house and I followed behind him.
“All the way to the back,” I said.
He looked around nervously. “You sure your Alpha won’t mind me being in here.”
I shook my head. “You must not be all caught up on your Millerstown gossip.”
He raised a brow. “Can’t say that I am.”
I followed him into the living room and he set the box down. “What’s going on?”
I placed a hand on my stomach and swallowed thickly. “My husband passed away a couple of months ago.”
Tyler’s eyes turned sad. “I’m so sorry,” he said.
I waved my hand in the air. “It’s fine.” Sure, I had been sorry that Brian had met an early demise. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but my pain had been diluted by the fact that our marriage had been shitty. He’d been a complete and total asshole from the very start. It culminated in him getting into a car accident while on a date with another Omega. And judging from the accident photos, they had both been in the driver’s seat at the time. I didn’t even know how that was possible. I shrugged. “It is what it is.”
I hated the look Tyler gave me. The pity in his eyes. Thankfully he blinked it away.
“Would you like to sit down?” I asked. “We can catch up.”
He gestured to the box. “Want me to help you put this together?”
I laughed. “Do you have experience with that sort of thing?”
He shrugged. “Sure. I’ve put this sort of thing together before.”
That surprised me. “Oh, I hadn’t heard that you had an Omega, or kids.”
He shook his head. “I don’t. Never found the one for me. But I’ve read instructions before. I can put this together.”
I sat down on the couch and put my feet up on the footrest. I took a deep breath and rubbed a hand over my stomach. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll put it together in the morning.” I yawned. “I’m actually quite tired already, though I shouldn’t be. I just woke up from a nap.”
He nodded like he knew what I was talking about, then he got to work on opening the box. “So, my brother tells me you’re a kindergarten teacher?”
“Oh, so you were talking about me?” I laughed. “Yeah, I’ve been teaching at Millerstown Elementary School for three years now. I used to commute from Rochdale because Brian didn’t want to live here in Millerstown. He owned a business in Rochdale. But after he passed away, I needed a change of scenery. My parents wanted to retire, so I bought their place and they moved into a condo. They’re still close by for when the baby arrives.”
“That’s great,” Tyler said as he removed pieces out of the box and took off the plastic they were wrapped in. None of what he pulled out even remotely resembled a baby swing, so I wasn’t even sure how the hell he was going to put it together.
“What about you? What are you up to these days?” I asked.
“Living the dream,” he said with a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I own my own business doing carpentry work in the city. Keeps me busy. Keeps the cash flowing. I’m on a month-long break right now though. I don’t have to go back to work until the fifth.”
“Oh, hey, that’s my due date,” I said.
“That far away, huh?” he said, looking at my stomach.
“Hey,” I said and threw a pillow. “Don’t ever make comments on an Omega’s size. Don’t you Alphas know anything?”
Tyler caught the pillow easily and
handed it back to me. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Is it twins?”
I pointed a finger at him. “You better watch it Miller. I’m not going to be this big forever.”
He began assembling pieces and I yawned again, trying to fight back against my exhaustion. “I’m sorry. Where are my manners? Did you want anything to drink?”
He shook his head. “No, I actually was just running to the store for Ollie. They’re out of milk.”
“My place is nowhere on the way to the store from Ollie’s house.”
“Yeah, I figured I’d swing by some of my old stomping grounds to see what had changed. Didn’t expect you to be living in your house. Of course the inside looks nothing like it did when we were kids.”
“I did quite a few changes after I moved in. Way back when I could still move. Even though it was my parent’s place, I’ve tried to make it my own, you know?”
“Yeah,” Tyler said. “Looks really nice.”
“Thanks.” I settled into the couch as he worked and I laid my head down on a pillow. Was this what it would be like having an Alpha around to help with raising my child? I felt a pang of something I couldn’t quite name. It wasn’t a good idea for me to dwell on what could never be, but just for a moment I could imagine what it would be like.
If Tyler had been my Alpha, instead of Brian.
Chapter Three
Tyler
I was working on a particularly difficult piece of the swing and realized that it had been several minutes since I’d said anything to Jayson. When I looked up, I saw why. The conversation had stopped a few minutes ago and during that time, he’d laid his head back on the couch and fallen asleep. His mouth hung open as he softly snored. I hadn’t heard the noise over the sound of me putting the swing together.
I stood up quietly and laid a blanket over him. He didn’t stir. He had a hand rested protectively over his stomach, cradling the life that he carried.
He was gorgeous, despite the exhaustion on his face. I knew that pregnancy was difficult, I couldn’t imagine going through it myself, but damn, it seemed to carry an extra weight on him.