Special Delivery: Father's Day: An Mpreg Romance Collection

by Aria Grace

  “Yeah,” I righted myself and turned to face them, stuck dead in my tracks. It was him. The man from the club, only different. So. So. Different. He was...pregnant. “You...you’re…” What did I even say to that?

  “Eating too many cookies?” He rolled his eyes. Great. I finally find him again and he’s pregnant and thinks I’m an idiot.

  “You had an alpha?” I choked out the words. I felt horrible enough that night leaving him with his friend even if it felt like what he wanted, but screwing him in the freaking employee bathroom while he had an alpha—that was just...no.

  “No. No alpha. Just…” He swallowed deep.

  “Me?” Me? I was going to be a father? I was going to have a baby with a man who didn’t want me? A baby. I was going to be a dad.

  “You.” He looked down. Shit. How hard it must be for him, being pregnant and alone. Except he didn't have to be now. And just like that I started planning all kinds of what ifs in my head before he even hinted if he would allow me to be in the baby’s life. I mean, he would, right? I’m the dad too.

  “A baby.” I wanted to reach out and touch him, touch where our baby grew inside of him. Thank goodness for the hand truck between us. It made that impossible.

  “Bring it right out back,” Dan called, breaking the awkward weirdness between the omega and I. “I’m Percy,” I said as I passed him with the bags of flour.

  “Marve,” he mumbled.

  I brought the things to Dan, my mind never leaving Marve and our baby. I was going to be a dad. A dad. Just...wow.

  “See you in a couple of days.” Dan handed me back the clipboard after having signed it.

  “Yeah.” Because that was the closest I could come to forming a sentence.

  Marve stood just where I left him, staring at the door. Was that a good sign? Or was he upset I was now in his life even if we didn’t want it that way. No. Not we...he. I had wanted it like that from that night at the club. He was the one who didn’t, and sure, now things would be more complicated with the baby, but still…

  “Dinner,” I blurted out. So freaking suave.

  “What?” He tilted his head in confusion.

  “Eat dinner with me. We should probably talk.” And I like you and would be asking even if you weren’t pregnant.

  “Yeah.”

  We made arrangements to meet and I had to force myself to move. All I wanted to do was leave with him so we could figure things out, but we both had jobs we needed to do, and the last thing a baby needed was their father to get fired.

  I closed the back of the truck once I had the hand truck back inside and caught Marve looking at me through the window, snapping his head away quickly when I did so.

  That was a promising sign, right?

  Please let it be.

  41

  Marve

  I can’t believe it!

  After weeks of waiting outside the nightclub, my baby daddy—whose name turned out to be Percy—turned up at my work. I wouldn’t have figured him for a Percy. I peeked through the Café Om window as he got in his delivery van, but he glanced up and stared straight at me.

  “Shit!” He’d caught me. I plastered a smile on my face and gave a feeble wave as he drove away. Flattening my face on the glass, I kept my eyes on the road in case he turned around and came back.

  “A friend of yours?”

  “Dan, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” I yelled as he leaned over my shoulder.

  “Well?”

  “Well, what?” I moved away from the window and headed toward the kitchen. Dan was a colleague and a friend, but he loved gossip. Lived and breathed it. I was showing, so everyone knew I was pregnant, but I hadn’t said anything about the alpha dad.

  Poor Dan. I’d shut him down weeks ago when he’d asked me about the alpha and if the pregnancy was planned. We’d ignored my expanding bump ever since.

  And now he was following me into the kitchen while I checked on a batch of pinwheel cookies and removed them from the oven.

  I was hot and tired, and it was almost the end of my shift. My feet ached and the baby was kicking, leaving me short of breath. I needed time to process my conflicted emotions after seeing Percy. He still had that sexy swagger that had gotten me into trouble. And his permanent smirk made me weak at the knees.

  But I was wary. I’d gotten used to thinking it was just the baby and me, and now he’d barged into my life and messed up my head. I slammed the oven door, making one of our latest interns cower in the corner. Shit!

  “Marve, it’s almost the end of your shift.” Dan leaned against the doorway. “Why don’t you go home and I’ll cover for you?”

  My lower lip trembled as my eyes brimmed with tears. I’d been a shitty friend. “Thanks.”

  Dan outstretched an arm as I made to push past him. “I’m here for you if you ever need to talk.”

  Damn! That was too much and I couldn’t hold back. I walked into his embrace and sobbed. After soaking his apron, Dan took me to a table at the back of the café and brought me a hot chocolate and a ginger cookie. “My favorites. You remembered.”

  “Of course.”

  After patting my face with a napkin, I took Dan’s hand. “I’m scared.”

  “Becoming a dad is a huge mind trip. Trust me,” he said. “But you’ll be a great father.”

  I shook my head and sniffed. “Not that.” Time to fess up. “The alpha delivery guy.”

  “Percy?” He furrowed his brow, and I waited as his eyes widened and he put a hand over his gaping mouth. “No. No! He’s the alpha dad?”

  I nodded.

  “Did you have an argument? I didn’t realize you and he were together.” He leaned closer. “Is the sex good? Don’t tell Bryant, but I inspect Percy’s ass every time he comes in.” He tapped a finger on his lips. “Oh, what am I saying? I’m in a committed relationship and a father, but I still study his butt.”

  “Dan, concentrate.”

  “Sorry. Bad, Dan thinking of Percy and his magnificent ass. Okay, Marve, spill.”

  It didn’t take long for me to give him the deets and bring him up to speed. It took a lot to shut Dan up, but he sat beside me not saying a word after I’d finished my story.

  “Wow! That’s not what I was expecting.”

  “You don’t think he’ll try and get…” Fear gripped at my chest. “… sole custody, do you?”

  “No way! After a quickie in a public bathroom…” He paused and screwed up his face. “Which I have to tell you is nasty, by the way.” He shook his head. “Where was I?”

  “One-night stand.”

  “Oh, right. No way can he take the baby from you. Though you might have to allow him to visit the little one.” He patted my hand. “I don’t know much about him.”

  I raised a brow. “Apart from his gorgeous ass?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Dan grinned. “That!”

  We were both silent as I pictured Percy’s behind, and I suspected Dan was doing the same. But while I was sure Dan hadn’t seen the alpha’s cock, the image of that magnificent beast was burned into my brain.

  “He seems like a good guy, Marve.”

  “I guess,” I replied

  “Do you need me to come with you tonight?”

  “Nah, I’m good. Thanks, Dan.”

  I was ten minutes late for dinner as I’d taken a nap after work and then raced to shower and get ready. My hair was still wet as I walked into the restaurant. Part of me hoped Percy wouldn’t show. It’d make life easier. But there he was at a table by the window, waving furiously.

  I glanced over my shoulder, half-expecting him to be looking at someone else. His harem, maybe. Someone that good-looking couldn’t be single. But he got up and strode toward me. Oh no. Not fair. He was using his secret weapon. The swagger.

  “Hi. I thought you weren’t coming, and I was worried you didn’t want anything to do with me.”

  “Ummm… can I sit first? That’s a lot to process.”

  “Of course.” He wiped his hands
on his pants. Does he have sweaty palms? If so, they matched my own.

  We ordered drinks, beer for him and juice for me, and made uncomfortable small talk as we perused the menu.

  But the tension that had been building since I discovered I was pregnant, burst out. “Okay, this is awkward so I’m just going to say it. We fucked. One time. It doesn’t make you father of the year. I don’t need anything from you, but I suppose you could send a present on birthdays and Christmas.”

  Blood drained from Percy’s face. I guessed his one-night-stands never talked back to him, though he probably moved onto the next one and never saw them again. Like me.

  “Whoa!” he held up both hands in surrender. “I’m sorry you’ve been going through this alone. I’d like to help if you’ll let me.”

  “Telling me your name would have been a start.”

  “You fell asleep with your head on your friend’s shoulder,” he said. Shit, I’d wanted to cuddle up with the alpha who’d had his dick inside me moments before. Not Winston. “And I had to start work at 4am. I left my name and number and money for a cab or rideshare with your friend who assured me all was good. I’m not a complete ass. You were just so peaceful there and...”

  I thought back to that night. Why was Winston so irresponsible about shit like that? Why? Good thing he moved back east, because if he hadn’t I'd have been on my way over there to kick his ass. Not that I was blameless. I only half remembered snuggling up against him when Percy grabbed us some menus. Not my best move.

  “I didn’t get it.” Would things have been different if I had? Did it matter now? It wasn’t like I could turn back time.

  “I’m sorry. I assumed you weren’t interested in seeing me again.”

  “That’s not important now.” I closed the menu. I had a decision to make. One that would affect my child’s life. “Are you willing to step up and be a dad? A part-time father because the baby will live with me.”

  “Absolutely.”

  I exhaled. “Okay. We should discuss how it’s going to work. But first let’s order. I’m starving.”

  42

  Percy

  “Thanks for lunch.” Marve took a sip of his smoothie, his plate clean in front of him.

  We’d made a point of trying to get together once a week and hang out. Marve said it would be better for the baby if we got along and were a team. And he was right, of course, but that wasn’t why I was doing it. I liked him—a lot and not just because he was carrying my child. I liked his smile, the way his face animated when he told me the story of one of his crazy customers, the way he absentmindedly put his hands on his belly, the way he—shit, I liked everything about him.

  “My pleasure.” Great, I sounded like an old dude. I got awkward and weird like this when our dates came to an end. I didn’t want this one to.

  “So, since we are doing lunch instead of dinner, I thought maybe we could go shopping or a movie or something?” I offered, in my mind, giving him the choice between a non-date and a date. Which was dumb. I was a grown-up and could just ask him on a date. But would I? No. Because I was too chicken shit to.

  “I was thinking of getting some things for the baby today.” He half shrugged.

  And then I went into second-guess mode because I’d set up a stupid test to see if he was interested in more or not. I was such an idiot sometimes. Was he really already going to go and he was welcoming me into that world, or was he letting me down gently?

  Did it even matter? He was letting me spend time with him. That was all that mattered.

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  We ended up at a foo-foo baby store first where they had all the things a baby never needs for five times the price. It was fun to look at all the insane finds, including the three-thousand-dollar stroller, but we left with nothing.

  “Value Mart?” I offered as we walked out. At least there, burp cloths wouldn’t cost a week's salary.

  “I didn’t realize how expensive they would be.”

  “For real. That stroller cost more than my rent.” A few month’s rent. “I bet we can get everything for half that.”

  And we didn’t get everything at Value Mart, but we got a ton for a tiny fraction of the cost. There was still a lot the baby would need, and as much as I wanted to be that guy, the one who can just magically buy all the things at once, I wasn’t. But I did manage to make a dent in Marve’s list which made me happy. He didn’t need to carry the weight of all of this.

  I just wished he would give me more of it to carry.

  Saying good-bye to Marve after lugging everything into his apartment was hard.I wanted to stay and make him dinner and rub his feet and cuddle him on the couch as we watched cheesy movies. It sucked.

  But at least he let me stay in his life. A lot of omegas in his situation wouldn’t, and why should they. No one goes into a club bathroom sexcapade thinking, “This is the beginning of forever.”

  I climbed the stairs to my apartment wishing I’d been brave enough to tell Marve how I felt and what I wanted instead of giving him a half-wave and an I’ll see you next week like I had.

  Why couldn’t I have just told him I had feelings for him and I wanted more and not just because the bathroom vending machine condom broke, but because of who he was and the way he made me feel?

  I spent the evening playing a stupid video game app on my phone killing slugs and drinking beer, my mind affixed on Marve.

  “Why don’t I just tell him?” I fell back against the couch after failing to destroy the stupid slug for the fourth time in a row and losing all my energy until I either paid up or let an hour go by. Stupid app.

  Could it be that simple? I mean, what did I have to lose? Everything, my stupid ass reminded me.

  But also...what did I have to gain? Marve was more than just my friend, more than just the father of my baby, more than two people tied together by a broken condom. And that thought had me opening up our text messages and typing away.

  Marve, I forgot to tell you something tonight. No. I didn’t forget, I chickened out. I like you. And I don’t mean as a friend, although that too. I just want more and not because of our child. I wanted more that night, and when I thought you didn’t I was...sad? No, that’s not the word, but you know what I mean. So what I am trying to say is: Do you want to maybe try and be more with me? I won’t hold it against you if you say no, but I think I am falling in—I want to try.

  I stared at the message. Was it too much? Not enough? I downed the end of my last beer. What was the worst that could happen? Things got awkward? They already were at times. He wouldn’t tell me I couldn’t be in the baby’s life—he wasn’t like that and it was kind of like a band-aid, right? Do it fast and see what happens.

  And at that thought, I hit send and watched it go from send to deliver, waiting for the dots telling me he was responding.

  None came.

  Maybe he was sleeping.

  Yeah, that was probably it.

  I watched the phone for another hour and left it on as I climbed into bed to try and get some sleep. Maybe I would wake to a message telling me he felt the same and loved me too.

  Nope.

  I woke up with a roaring headache from too many beers before I had drunk texted the man and probably ruined everything.

  Fuck.

  43

  Marve

  Don’t do this, Percy!

  I sat on the end of my bed, one hand stroking the bump while I hummed a lullaby to my little one who was awake and wriggling. The fingers on my other hand were gripped around the phone, reading and rereading the message from Percy.

  We’d been getting along fine. Each week we’d share a meal and he’d usually text or call every few days to make sure I was doing okay. When I had a bad cold and took time off work, he did my shopping and ran errands.

  I could see how this would work once the baby arrived. We weren’t a couple, but the love for our unborn child would see us co-parent and muddle through as best we could.

 
And it was kinda nice. But what I refused to admit to myself were the growing feelings I had for Percy. I’d been able to tamp them down deep inside me because my focus was baby and career. No alpha who I’d had sex with in a bathroom stall was going to upend my life.

  Although I allowed myself one teenie tiny pleasure. Whenever Percy and I had dinner, I tried to be seated before he arrived. I’d hold up the menu and peek over the top as he sashayed toward me. That strut should be illegal, and a frisson of excitement took hold of me and sent goosebumps prickling over my skin as he headed to the table.

  But now Percy was threatening everything we’d worked toward by admitting he had feelings for me. He was being emotional instead of logical. And describing how he felt in graphic detail. Thinking back to our encounter that had been hot and heavy with a frantic sense of urgency, I shivered. No one had sex slowly in a public place, but it was all the more delicious as we could have gotten caught at any moment.

  I’d been thinking with my cock not my head, and that’s what he was doing now. Or maybe he’d been drinking. Surprisingly, neither of us was drunk that night at the club. If we had been, it would have made it easier to let it go.

  I had been stone-cold sober, and if Percy was wasted, he hid it well. And I wouldn’t have considered having a quickie with a drunk, no matter how cute he was.

  The baby kicked and I winced, bringing me back to the present. Time to go to sleep, little one. As I climbed into bed, I pondered how to deal with this new development. Confront Percy and say we were nothing more than friends and co-parents? Too hostile. Admit I felt something for him too? Oh God, no. Way too scary. Or play chicken and pretend I didn’t get the message? Sounds like the way to go.

  As I got ready for our weekly dinner, which I usually looked forward to because of the ass-watching and swagger, my fingers trembled as I put on my oversized shirt. Percy had ruined our easygoing relationship. I couldn’t look at him without picturing him sending that message.