Monday, May 27, 2024
🗽Monday's Mystical Magic🗽: His Accidental Memorial Day Omega by Ava Beringer
Omega Holidays #4
I’m an omega, abandoned and pregnant. He’s an alpha soldier, tormented by his past. We’re both broken and broken-hearted. Can we become each other’s savior?
Omega Tajj Townsend was shocked when his college sweetheart filed for divorce, leaving him destitute. Then he discovered was pregnant. Now he’s broken-hearted, ashamed, and dependent on family for everything. He’s excited to meet the hero Army alpha he’s heard so much about, but the man his friends drag into the house is drunk and dangerous. Will Tajj get a chance to see the real alpha behind the broken man, and find true love for the first time in his life?
Alpha Brad Coleman can’t stop the nightmares. As a former medic in the army, he’s seen lots of terrible things, but one lost patient haunts him. His live spirals out of control, and he finds himself living with his buddy Mitch. Mitch’s family, and Tajj. When Brad meets pregnant, abandoned Tajj, they bump heads but their chemistry is undeniable. Will Brad finally have something positive to look forward to in his life?
Will Tajj learn to trust in an alpha again? Can Brad convince himself he deserves love? Can they find a way to come together in spite of it all?
This is the fourth book in The Omega Holidays series. In it, you'll find a small but sassy omega and a wounded soldier who are guaranteed their HEA. 18+ readers only please! This book contains occasional strong language, MPREG/Omegaverse, and hot, spicy grownup stuff. The omegas are heating up and the alphas are very knotty boys. Get FREE short stories when you join the newsletter family!
Another new-to-me author. Another author added to my check-out-backlist list.
When I was looking for books I'd read for my Memorial Day blog post I realized that I'd already posted most of the fitting stories then I remembered Ava Beringer had one in their Omega Holiday standalone series. So once again, as much as I prefer to be a series read-in-order gal, I jumped in the middle. So glad I did, now I can't wait to go back and read the rest.
Tajj and Brad are exactly what each needs. Tajj wants an alpha who will care for him, on the surface that sounds like he's looking for "sugar daddy" but that couldn't be farther from the truth. He's not looking for someone to do everything for him just someone who wants to be the caring partner that his soon-to-be ex-wife and mother to his unborn child was not. Brad wishes for an omega he can care for but who will also care for him And again, on the surface that doesn't sound like an equal partner but the truth is they both just want what almost everyone wants: a partner who will complete them.
Well, despite what their inner alpha and omega are pulled towards their initial meeting isn't exactly pleasant and definitely not a cute meet. They definitely have their work cut out for them if they truly belong together. I won't spoil anything so I'll end it there, just know what's important in life is worth the work.
Brad's PTSD and Tajj's being abandoned by his spouse give His Accidental Memorial Day Omega a heart-filled tone but don't think it's bogged down in angst, there is plenty moments of fun, wit, friendship, family, and heart that makes this an all around pleasant and uplifting read that will put a smile on your face and hope in your heart.
Chapter 1
Tajj
I bounced Baby Love in my lap, the two of us enjoying the Friday morning entertainment. Her parents bickered playfully, volleying barbs back and forth across the dining room table like a game of tennis. I stuck a crispy, fatty piece of bacon in my mouth and chewed, rubbing my six-month pregnant belly as the always-hilarious Wasilewski Show went on right in front of me.
“I’m still the better salesman,” said my cousin Jeremiah, waggling his head in a sassy way.
His mate Mitch crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, a cocky smirk on his face. “Only because I let you win. I’m a gentlealpha.”
Jeremiah dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “Yeah, right. Excuses, excuses.” Love, who was four months old and enthralled by her parents’ banter, let out a string of amused babble. “That’s right,” Jeremiah said, “you tell ‘em, baby.”
I chuckled because my cousin and his mate, now fiancé, were just so darned cute. The more time I spent around them, the more I enjoyed watching their relationship blossom, even if it started out unconventionally. Even if I hadn’t been at my best when they were figuring everything out. I’m different now, and that’s what counts. Everything’s different now.
Mitch leaned forward, resting his elbows on the polished wood. He pointed a finger at Jeremiah. “If you want me to stop going easy on you, just say the word.”
Jeremiah pursed his lips to keep from laughing. “The word.”
“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?”
“Clever enough to be the winner for like, the entire time I’ve known you.”
“We’re gonna cream you this quarter, just you wait.”
I spoke up then, rolling my eyes fondly. “Please don’t say cream in front of the baby. Or me, for that matter.”
“What? It’s just shop talk.” Mitch winked at me.
I laughed out loud then. “No, it isn’t. For you two, it’s foreplay. We’re trying to eat breakfast here.” I gently squeezed Love’s chunky cheeks between my thumb and forefinger and she gave us a big smile. “See? She agrees. Lovey-dovey, we love it. Freaky-deeky, we love it for you, in the privacy of your bedroom.” Mitch and Jeremiah looked at each other for a few seconds, then busted out laughing. Before they became a couple, they were bitter, competitive work rivals. Apparently, there was always some sort of chemistry involved, because here we were.
Jeremiah shook his head, as if he wasn’t sure whether to be amused or embarrassed. “I hate to admit it, but I think you’re right, cuz.”
“I guess it has been for a long time,” Mitch agreed. He bounced his eyebrows at my cousin. “Babe, talk salesy to me.”
“As a team, our sales are up twelve percent over the time before we joined forces.” Jeremiah shrugged one shoulder, as if to say, “it was nothin’.”
Mitch shivered playfully. “Ooh. Tell me more.”
“I got word that we just booked 3M as a client. A nice, fat contract with a nice, fat bonus.”
“What’re you trying to do here, drop a man to his knees?”
“Maybe.”
I playfully covered Love’s ears, telling her, “Oh, boy, here we go with your dads and their appetites.” Love cooed in response.
Mitch got up from his chair, rounded the table, and leaned over Jeremiah, nose-to-nose, lips almost touching. “What else?”
“I don’t know for sure, not yet,” Jeremiah whispered like they were in their bedroom, “but I heard that 3M is gonna up the initial order by fifty percent.”
Mitch’s eyes widened. “Fifty per...? Hun, you’re a frickin’ genius.” He leaned down to catch Jeremiah’s mouth in a kiss, but stopped when they remembered we were still in the room.
I took one of Love’s little hands and waved it at them. “Hi, dads. We’re still here.” Love giggled.
Jeremiah cleared his throat. “Tajj, would you...?”
I smiled and nodded, poking my belly out in front of me as I pushed myself up from my chair. “I got her. I think we’ll leave the house and save us both the trauma.” I was happy for them, of course I was. It was just hard to see, especially when my wife and I had never been in love like that.
Mitch angled his head toward me. “Do you need to grab anything while you’re out?” That was code for “do you need some money?” I was grateful, not just for the money and support but for them being gentle about it. My pride, however, took a blow every time it came up.
I gave him a little smile. “I think I’m good, but thanks, Mitch. Me and my baby are due for a trip to the zoo. Ain’t that right, Lovey?” I bounced her a little and she blinked at me with her loving eyes.
“You just let us know, alright?” Jeremiah added, as Mitch took his hand to lead him toward their bedroom.
“I sure will,” I called after them, right before they disappeared in their room and closed the door with a click of the latch.
“The good news is, your parents are crazy about each other,” I told Love with a laugh. A muffled moan reached my ears through their door. “The bad news is, if we’re not careful, we have to hear about it. Ready, little one? Or should I say, little ones?” I rubbed my belly again. I was short, so it already stuck out much farther than other omegas in the same stage of pregnancy. My baby moved a little, poking out what might have been a foot near my navel. “Glad you’re excited, too,” I whispered, amazed that I had a little human growing inside me.
“Let’s get ready to go, huh?” I said to Love as I carried her back to my room.
Ever since my alpha wife of more than a decade randomly decided, out of the blue, that she was done with me, I’d been living in Jeremiah’s guest room. After living the high life with Karina for so long, to say it was humbling was an understatement.
I scooted over a stack of neatly-folded hand-me-down newborn clothes that Jeremiah and Mitch had given me for when my own baby arrived. So far, they’d been the ones to care for me during my pregnancy when the mother of my child couldn’t seem to care less. It made me even more ashamed of my jealous and shallow behavior from a few months ago.
I laid Love on the blue bedspread, dotted with moons and stars, and rubbed my belly. My whole body somehow seemed hollow, empty without my alpha here to care for me.
“Nope. Not my alpha anymore. Not our alpha. Looks like it’s time to crown myself the ‘strong independent omega who don’t need no alpha.’ We’ll be alright, little one.” The baby moved around, unsettled, as if they didn’t believe me. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “I don’t believe myself sometimes. I promise you, though, even though it feels like it, we’re not gonna fall apart without an alpha. We don’t need one.” As I said that, my heart called out for someone special. The alpha who really was who I tried to make my wife into for most of my adult life. Someone to swoop in and love and care for me and my child. I let my chin drop to my chest. Fantasies, nothing but fantasies.
I turned my attention back to Love, who spent the interlude looking up at the white ceiling and over to the blue walls like she was watching a blockbuster movie. I put a little t-shirt on her, pink with red hearts, and a little red tutu up over her kicking legs. I added a few things to her baby bag, which I usually kept already packed for our day trips and running errands. I was her live-in nanny right now, and as difficult as it was to accept my current predicament, I was safe, I had family to care for me, and I had everything I needed. Plus, Love was the epitome of her name, an angel of a baby.
I gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek. The sound and sensation made her laugh. “Let’s go have a fun day, just the three of us, huh?” My own child wriggled, seeming enthusiastic about our little adventure.
The zoo was lots of fun. Maybe even more for me than for Love. Her four-month-old eyes were just at the point where she could see clearly and focus on things, so she stared wide-eyed and enraptured at the monkeys flying through the branches in their enclosure, the kangaroos bouncing across the grass in theirs, and the galloping zebras especially held her attention.
“See all those pretty stripes?” I said to her as she stared at the zebras, her mouth wide open and drool running down her chin and onto her collar. “Wow, we don’t know where one zebra ends and where another begins, do we?” Love flapped her arms and made a little whooping noise. “I wonder if you can smell them as well as you can see them now. They’re kinda funky. PU.” Love flapped her arms some more.
I had her out of her stroller, holding her against my chest with one arm, sitting on top of my belly. It was a challenge for me to reach into my pocket for my phone, but I was happy to record her response to send to Jeremiah and Mitch for later, and to keep for myself.
I took a selfie of the two of us, me smiling into the camera, Love staring open-mouthed at the zebras. I nuzzled my nose into her dark, silky baby curls, inhaling her sweet scent. “You’re such a precious baby. I hope mine is just like you.”
I stopped in the gift shop, where I bought Love a tiny koala plushy, which she immediately clung to. The dangling keychains caught my eye. One had a cute little giraffe, and it made me think of when Jeremiah and I were kids. His favorite animal was a giraffe. I bought it for him and asked the lady at the counter to wrap it nicely in a little bit of tissue paper. After rolling to a few more enclosures plus a seal show, Love was getting fussy and I needed to sit down.
“Oh!” I groaned as I lowered myself onto a bench in the shade of a big, mature, tree. “Can you believe I’m gonna get bigger than this? Can you believe I still have like fourteen weeks to go?” Love wasn’t trying to hear it. She was full-on crying now. “Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Let me fix it right now,” I cooed. “Is my favorite girl hungry?” I dug into the baby bag, sitting under the stroller’s carriage, for everything I needed to make Love a bottle. I pulled out the powdered formula and set it down next to me. When I went for my water bottle, though, my belly got in the way. As I reached for it, it fell and rolled a few feet away. “Damn it.” Now I had a crying baby and a runaway Hydroflask. Before I could figure out how to get myself standing to go after it, an omega woman with a kind face reached down and picked it up for me.
“Oh, thank you so much. You’re a lifesaver. So many lives,” I joked, pointing at Love, myself, and my belly.
“Happy to help,” the woman replied, smiling with a tilt to her head. “Can I grab her for you?”
“Sure. She loves new people, but she might not be her usual outgoing self because she’s starving.”
“No problem, I have three of my own so I know how that goes. Everybody’s on their bad side until they're fed.” She sweet-talked Love a little as I washed my hands with some of the water from the bottle, and while Love didn’t settle completely, she seemed to feel better with somebody to complain to. The woman nodded toward my tummy. “Congratulations, by the way!”
“Thank you so much.” I returned her sweet smile, patting my belly before scooping formula into Love’s bottle. “Fourteen weeks to go, give or take.”
“You and your alpha must have quite the spark, to have one so young and another already on the way.”
“I, uh,” I dropped my eyes to my belly, rounded with Karina’s baby. They then skipped to my left hand, where my ring still glittered. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to take it off. Unlike the promises my wife made to me, it hadn’t faded. I tried for a bashful laugh. “What can I say?”
The woman waved a hand, her grin devilish. I guess I gave her the answer she wanted. “You don’t have to say anything at all.”
Other families flowed by us, some giving me empathetic looks at Love’s obvious distress, their own children yelling and skipping and some of them crying. The nice lady cradled her while I finished preparing the bottle, pretending to be super focused on it so I could avoid her eye while she asked me questions that I didn’t have good answers to.
“How long have the two of you been married?” She handed Love over to me, and when I put the nipple in Love’s mouth she immediately started sucking noisily, looking up at me with tear-stained but forgiving eyes.
“Right out of college,” I said, even though it didn’t seem like it was me talking, only someone else using my voice.
“You waited a while to have them, now you decided to have them back to back?” She joked.
“We were career-focused.” Money-focused was more like it. “We weren’t even sure if we wanted kids, you know?” That was the truth. We were so focused on being high-rollers that we’d never discussed whether or not we wanted kids. It always seemed like a conversation for later. We did have a lot of fun, and I was glad we did before bringing any children into the world. Now...
“Now you’ve got a beauty and another on the way.”
“Looks that way, huh?” I said, just barely keeping the smile on my face. It helped when I looked down at Love, her face back to being sweet, her eyes drifting slightly closed with the satisfaction of a good meal.
“Make sure you hold on to that love. It’s rare, you know. It’s special.”
“I will,” I lied. I tried. I tried to hold on to it. Maybe it was never that special. Maybe I was never that special.
The woman gave Love’s cheek one last brush of her fingers. “You’re doing a great job, Dad.” That almost had me crumbling in the middle of the zoo right in front of the giraffes and the entire world to see.
“Thank you,” I said in a whisper. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.”
“Parenthood is always gonna be tough, but you’re loving them and doing what’s best for them. That’s what good parents do.” She patted my shoulder, then gave me a little wave. “It was nice meeting all of you.”
“Bye.” I lifted a hand to wave back as she blended into the fast-moving crowd. I dropped my chin to my chest, blinking rapidly. No crying in public, Tajj. I rocked Love as she slurped down her bottle.
“Not too fast, Lovey. We don’t want you spitting up all over the place, right?” Her eyes had drifted shut as she lazily gave a few more half-hearted sucks at the bottle. I held her upright against my chest and patted her back, getting a little burp out of her. “You’re getting so big I almost don’t need to do that anymore.”
Love fussed a little, cranky that I interrupted her oncoming nap to burp her, so I gave her a pacifier. She drifted off to sleep and suddenly, I wanted to do the same. I felt drained physically, but also emotionally. On top of that, my stomach had the nerve to growl.
I rubbed my tummy where my baby moved back and forth a little. “Okay, precious, let’s get the two of us fed, too.” There was a food court about a quarter-mile away, roughly. “Damn, that seems so far.” I must have overestimated my energy levels, because my feet were tired and starting to swell. The sun, which had seemed so beautiful and warm earlier in the day, now felt oppressive.
“The good news is,” I said as I hefted myself up with a groan, “it’s on the way to the parking lot. I grab something to eat, then we say adios.” Love slept on as I maneuvered her stroller through the throngs of people, the fresh sweet scent of their mini-donuts driving me crazy with cravings. I stopped at the first mini-donut booth I came across and bought a whole bucket, gnawing on the cinnamon-y, sugary, doughy goodness, moaning with pleasure as I went along my way. It was only the start, though. I had every intention of devouring a mini-smorgasbord and then sleeping it off at home.
The crowd was thick at the food court, lots of bodies pressing in making it hotter, assaulting my senses with their scents, overlaid with perfume and sometimes BO. Since I was short it was always hard to see, which was disorienting. People didn’t seem to care that I had a baby in a stroller, but my pregnant belly helped a little bit and bought me some room.
I took a step and stumbled a little, my sandals catching on the uneven concrete pavement, my head woozy and my stomach roiling with the beginnings of nausea. I caught myself on the handle of the stroller. I wish there was someone here I could lean on, literally and figuratively. Karina should be here with me, damn it. She should be telling me to have a seat and get off my feet while she handles this. That’s what good alphas do. I pressed my lips together and moved forward. I don’t need her. I don’t need any alpha at all.
I stepped into line at a pizza counter, thinking about how those donuts weren’t cheap. I usually put off asking my cousin and his fiancé for money as long as possible, because it filled me with so much regret and shame. I’d gone a few days longer than usual, and I needed to check my financial situation.
I held one foot up off the ground then the other, trying to give them some relief from all the walking. It really would be nice if I had someone to bring the food to me so I could rest. A strong, reliable, faithful alpha to take care of me. The right alpha. My alpha. My heart ached at the thought. As if my feet weren’t hurting enough. There was no such person as “my alpha” anyway.
I pushed that thought out of my head as I wrestled my phone out of my pocket again and pulled up my bank account balance.
My jaw dropped. “It can’t be.” Two dollars and fifty-seven cents. When did my balance get so low? That wasn’t even enough to buy a hot dog on a stick. The donuts and gifts weren’t cheap, but they shouldn’t have wiped me out completely. The hollowness, the emptiness I’d been feeling for so long returned.
Turned out, I did need some money. “I’ve been putting off asking for way too long, but I shouldn’t have to ask,” I hissed to myself. “I have money, and I worked hard for it!” Another wave of dizziness hit me. I needed to sit down right now.
“Excuse me,” I said to the people around me in the line. “Excuse me, thank you.” It took a lot of “excuse me’s” to maneuver the stroller out of the line and past the people in the burger line right next to me. The sea slowly parted and I passed through. The people weren’t rude, exactly, but they weren’t in a hurry to let me through.
I finally made it out, and dropped heavily onto the nearest chair at a table with a half-eaten portion of lo mein that did nothing for my nausea. I don’t need anybody. I don’t need Karina, and I certainly don’t need any other alpha. I can handle this. The more I told myself that, the less I believed it. Situations like this seemed small, but in the grand scheme of things they were big, because I was so vulnerable right now. Not only that, but I wondered what it would be like to have someone really love me. Snap out of it, Tajj.
I squeezed my eyes shut before I thumbed down to Jeremiah’s contact number and tapped the little green phone button. He answered after a few rings, his camera on and aimed at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was in his office, his fingers flying over his keyboard, making tons of money that he selflessly shared with me and my child.
“Hey cousin, what’s up?”
I cleared my throat. “Know how y’all asked me earlier if I needed anything?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I said no, but it turns out I was wrong.”
Jeremiah stopped typing and looked at the phone. “What happened?”
“Tried to buy some lunch. Didn’t have enough.”
Jeremiah cursed. “Y’all still at the zoo?”
“Yeah. Love’s fed, she’s knocked out. We’re not, though, and I’m starving. I was able to get some mini donuts and that was it.” I tried for a joking smile. My empty gut clenched having to explain to my cousin that I was too destitute to feed myself and my unborn child.
Jeremiah stroked his chin, thinking. “Okay, I can send you a quick payment through a cash app. Or...” he lifted a finger. “Check the left front pocket of Love’s baby bag. In the little card flap.” I dug in there, pulling out what looked like a silver credit card attached to a little piece of paperboard that said “Visa” on it. “We put a Visa gift card in there for emergencies. It has a hundred dollars on it. Did you find it?”
“Yeah,” I whispered, my voice choked up. “Thanks, y’all think of everything.”
“Well, you take such good care of our baby girl.” And we know how much you need it, were the unspoken words. “Go crazy and get yourself full, then come home and lie down. Me and Mitch have a few things to finish up, then we’ll be home early and we’ll take Love. I can’t wait to get this weekend started.” He cracked his knuckles. “I’m gonna knock this report out and I’ll catch you at home. Go eat and rest, okay?” I just nodded. I couldn’t seem to get any words out.
After we clicked off, I just dropped my head into my hands. I was out of energy, and done with trying to look like I wasn’t falling apart. There were no more nice ladies to come help me. I got a few pity looks, but it was more than I could bear so I got back to my swollen, painful feet and wheeled Love right outta there.
She slept the whole way home, only waking up when we got back, crying soon after. I changed her diaper and laid her down on the bed next to me, now calm and sweet as ever. I propped myself up on one elbow, making a zoom noise as I drew my finger up from her belly button to her nose. She thought it was hilarious, laughing and showing her little pink gums.
I pulled out my phone, checking all of my pre-divorce accounts for what must have been the millionth time. Everything was still blocked. My joint account with Karina, my personal 401k from the position I held at her family’s paper company for over a decade, our joint IRAs, our investment accounts, even my HSA, which I could damn sure have used with my insane prenatal medical expenses.
“Karina, that low-down, good-for-nothing... Won’t even give me access to my own accounts. Who does she think she is? It’s my money. Sure, she had a lot when we got married, had it coming out of her ears. Nepotism at it finest. Sure, I liked having that money. I liked that she had lots of it. I liked earning it, and I liked spending it. I earned some of it, though. I earned my keep.” I poked myself in the chest for emphasis. “If I had my money, we’d be doing just fine.” I rubbed my tummy, my shirt riding up to expose a sliver of skin underneath. “Why is she keeping it from me?”
Love listened with big, wide eyes and both her fists stuffed in her mouth, covered with drool. “You’re such a good listener, yes, you are!” I tickled her tummy and she giggled. “No more burdening you with my grownup problems, no, no, no. You’re too cute for that, too precious, huh?” Love let out a happy little shriek that cut straight to my heart. “I hope my little one is just like you. I can’t wait to watch you grow up together, just like me and Juju. I hope y’all will stay close, though. Don’t do what I did.” Love cooed as if in agreement, clutching her koala against her chest. I spread a hand on her fat little belly and gently rolled her back and forth a little. “Y’know, baby, as much as I hate the situation with my ex, I can’t say I don’t deserve it. I was riding high on a hog, living a lie. It was all bound to come crashing down. Now I get to be here with you. I’ve made amends with your dads, we’re all closer than ever, and I’m happier than I’ve been in a looooooong time.” That was the honest truth. Besides getting done with this divorce, the only things that would make it better were to meet my brand-new baby for the first time and...to find a special alpha to love in the way that Karina and I never had. At least I would get one of those things for sure, and it was the one that mattered most.
As if they heard me, my baby kicked and poked what I thought was a hand up near the top of my belly. I laid a fingertip against the teensy bulge, holding hands with my pride and joy.
“No matter what, we’re gonna be alright. Just you and me, all by ourselves.” Not forever, a little voice whispered. Someone’s coming. I laid down with my face close to Love’s, mine on a moon and hers on a star, just enjoying her angelic company. I fell asleep dreaming about an alpha knight in shining armor, coming to rescue me.
Ava Beringer is a major-league nerd who started off writing fanfiction and fell in love with mpreg and omegaverse. She loves to heat up a slick omega and a knotty alpha. By day she’s a good thirty-something midwestern girl, but she has a dark side. Okay, not really. She’s as bubbly as champagne but she can be pretty darn cheeky when you get her going.
She’s a digital nomad who’s traveled to thirty-five countries and counting. If she’s lucky, a cat will adopt her along the way.
Pick up your FREE SHORT STORIES, hear about her new releases and misadventures here, and tell her about yours! ❤
His Accidental Memorial Day Omega #4
Omega Holidays Series
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