Papa Don't Preach: The Shifters of Bremen County, #1

By Ravyn Karasu

Allison Kennedy is returning to her childhood hometown of Bremen Towne, Texas with her family. Shortly after arriving, she reconnects with Alejandro Villa, the older brother of her deceased childhood friend. Before she knows it, Allison finds herself falling in love with Alejandro and she becomes pregnant, causing a rift to form between her and her family.

How will Allison handle her pregnancy? Can she turn to Alejandro? Will he turn her away? Will she be able to repair the rift with her family? But wait! Alejandro is a rooster shifter! What does that mean for Allison and her baby? Is she carrying an animal in her womb? How will Allison cope with all of this craziness that has come into her life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ravyn Karasu
• Release date: Sep 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215741993

Book preview

Ravyn Karasu

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©2022 Ravyn Karasu.

Dedication

Bre’ona Laws

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It was a bigger house than the one they had left. It was a bigger house than the one they had when Allison was a little girl. Circumstances were different now and it seemed to be paying off for her family. Allison admired the big, yellow house with the dark shingles on the roof. It wasn’t a mansion by any means, but it sure was a sight to behold after living in only a small house in Oklahoma and a small apartment when she and her father lived in Bremen County during her childhood.

Currently, her father and stepmother were trying to placate her very grouchy grandfather. He had come to live with them, now wheelchair bound, crotchety, and deemed too old and stubborn to live on his own. He still had some wits about him, though grumbling and yelling seemed to be his way of things, but her father had insisted he leave his retirement trailer park and move with the family back to inner Bremen Towne. He didn’t feel right leaving the old man with no family to look out for him. Allison almost wondered if there was anything really bothering the old man in the first place, or if he just made up cantankerous complaints just to annoy her parents.

In the large driveway, Harriet, her half-sister, skipped rope. She had been very nervous about the move. She was upset about leaving her friends back in Oklahoma. Allison had been a strong big sister for her. She told her stories about when she was little and lived in Bremen Towne. That was a while ago, of course. Allison was grown up now with a little college behind her. But—the large town with the small-town feel couldn’t have changed that much, could it?

Inner Bremen Towne had a small-town vibe to it, with old fashioned buildings that lined the road and a system of well-manicured streets and pathways for the town and its square to feel crowded and welcoming. There were people that lived downtown, both in little homes on the backroads and in apartments above town shops. Allison remembered that especially, since there was a duplex far on a backroad where her father and she had lived in her younger years. She could probably still remember how to get there.

They had moved to the northwest end of inner Bremen Towne. It was outside of the city limits proper, but contained properties large enough for higher income families, but not so large as to overshadow the farms and ranches that made up the outer Bremen Towne layout. To the southeast was outer Bremen City where she had spent her school years and made friends and studying just hard enough. It was a mix of townies and city kids and it even included some of the Bremen Heights kids—who weren’t in private schools. Bremen County was a lot like Texas itself, now that she thought about it. It had a lot of diversity and variety within its borders, ranging from one extreme to the next, yet it encompassed a reachability. There were the projects, the small-town, the farms, the inner and outer city—there were so many types of living spaces. And now, Allison got to live in another bracket of living.

Her father had a dream to open a clinic in the area, not that there wasn’t a whole medical system within Bremen City, but he wanted to be available to the townies and outer city folks. He joked that it would be less aggressive traffic. Allison had seen the swathes of multi-lane highways and overpasses tied in whirling knots within Bremen City. It varied from the quieter roads of these parts, where the largest highways were four-lanes, but most roads were simply two.

Her stepmother had worked hard as a housekeeper in a small hospital when they lived in Oklahoma. She worked hard while Allison’s father finished up medical school and got a couple years of practice in to gather up his confidence. She was no college graduate, but she had a lot of heart and determination. She also had the patience of a saint to deal with her ornery father-in-law. There was no telling what she would do now that they lived here. However, for Allison’s grandfather’s nastiness, he had a kindness to him that stretched to his grandchildren. Well, a tolerance he offered few others, and even then, it wasn’t always the purest. He came from a stubborn old family in a stubborn old time, and he wasn’t the most—politically correct. If anything, he was a semi-sexist, racist, prejudiced individual that always had something off-color to say without a filter. Luckily, nobody else in the family was like that. At least—she never noticed anyone else in her family acting like that. She had always tried to strive to not be anything like that.

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There were still boxes left to unpack and items in Allison’s room that needed a home. Her furniture was in there and she held onto a teddy bear as she looked up at the blank ceiling from her bed, made up with a colorful unicorn theme. It seemed Harriet and Allison rotated the colorful girl bedding sets between them, not allowing Allison to take her older age into account. Whatever, though. She had grown rather used to it, and perhaps there was just something about some of these young girl things that made her feel safe. She even had to remind herself that she wasn’t going to be going to high school again or see any of her old classmates. Well, then again, there was a pretty good possibility that she would see some of them again, if they were still in Bremen County. The circumstances would just be different was all.

She sighed, going over the many memories of this place. She had lost touch with the friends she had made when she was in school, practically forgot others. She wasn’t sure if she felt bad about that or not. Sure, it was normal for people to outgrow their childhood friendships when they went about their own way, but there was something in particular that made her both nostalgic and upset. There was a longing in her and it was hard not to just get up and borrow the car to make a very unwise and untimely trip now.

Her bedroom door opened. She could hear it slide over the carpet. She turned over and saw Harriet standing there, holding her raggedy stuffed dog, dressed in her Care Bears nightgown and pink, fuzzy slippers.

Harriet? Allison asked with a hint of worry and confusion. What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?

I had a bad dream, Harriet said, taking this acknowledgement as an invitation to come closer to the side of her sister’s bed. Can I sleep with you?

Allison sat up and pat the spot beside her. Harriet climbed in and, though under the covers, sat with her.

What was your dream about? Allison asked.

"I was in this really big, wide-open space and I couldn’t find any of you. I called and called, but nobody answered. Everyone was just gone."

It’s the new room. Once everything is in its place and you’ve gotten a few nights in there, you should get used to the new space. Mom and Dad are still here. Grandpa too, though he’d probably be cranky enough to scare away any boogeyman you might dream up.

Harriet let out a laugh. Yeah, Grandpa can be really scary sometimes. No monster stands a chance. She went quiet a moment and looked towards the dresser. Who’s that?

Allison followed her gaze and picked up a turquoise-colored frame with a picture of her as a child and another girl with her. They were in their bathing suits and soaking wet. Innocent days.

That’s me and my best friend, Ava, Allison explained. "When I lived here before, before Dad met your mom and before you were born, Ava and I were practically inseparable. Her family used to take us to places. We went to Six Flags and Schlitterbahn—all over. I have a photo album somewhere with pictures of us with Foghorn Leghorn and Sylvester, and a few of us with Joker and Riddler and with Green Lantern and Wonder Woman."

"Wow! I’ve never been to any of those places. What’s Schlitterbahn?"

It’s a water park, she said with a smile.

Is that where this is? Harriet asked as she pointed to the photo.

No, this is at her birthday party. We played in the sprinkler. I was like part of the family back then.

Where are they now?

Allison frowned. I don’t know. They may still be here in Bremen Towne, or they may have moved away. I was in the eighth grade when we moved to Oklahoma.

Did you and Ava write like pan pals?

No, she said sadly. She passed away shortly before we moved.

"She died?"

—Yeah.

How did she die?

Allison put the photo back on her dresser and sighed. She was hit by a car. She died in the hospital soon after.

She should have looked both ways, Harriet said with a nod.

It wasn’t quite that simple, Allison replied. Things—happened. It was—an accident.

Harriet studied her sister for a long moment before crushing her dog plush down and giving her sister an awkward hug. I’m sorry your friend died.

Me too, Allison replied, rather surprised she hadn’t much thought of Ava in a long time. Well, she was sort of remembering her before Harriet came in, but it wasn’t the bad parts. The bad parts had been blocked out until that moment. She imagined it must have hurt her back then too. Not just the death and the funeral but moving soon after and not having Ava to keep in contact with as she grew apart from Bremen County. She barely remembered. Maybe she just blocked it out, because surely, she would not just up and forget someone so close to her so quickly and with no feelings on the matter. It wasn’t like her.

Soon, the sisters were both nestled into the somewhat crowded bed, Harriet sleeping like a rock and Allison sputtering some of the inhales when that stupid dog’s fur invaded her lips. Why did she have to bring that big, cumbersome thing with her? She found more success sleeping on her other side, but it wasn’t quite as comfortable, but she was able to sleep, nonetheless.

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It had been a nice breakfast. Allison’s dad had unpacked a good deal of the kitchen in order to make bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes. Harriet had brought a level of excitement to the table and, of course, tried to explain why homeschooling would be the way to go.

She was a social child, Harriet. It wasn’t like she would have much trouble in school. Yet, like most children, the idea of getting up early for the bus and spending the whole day in boring classrooms was just, well, boring. Who didn’t want to sit in bed and wear pajamas all day? Of course, it was met with mild laughter and the oh, you, responses expected of amused parents, but not considering ones to her plight.

Allison had a different destination in mind than schools. She drove along, feeling the pull of familiar roads as she came closer to her goal. On the one hand, she didn’t want to do this. She wasn’t sure how she’d feel. It had been so long. On the one hand, she felt the butterflies of someone meeting an old friend. Then again, wasn’t that what she was doing? Yet, there was the guilt in the pit of her stomach as well. She had gone on with her life—and put her old friend in the back of her mind where she’d nearly forgotten about her. What kind of friend did that make her? There would be no response to her feelings when she got there, and she wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse about the whole thing.

Soon enough, she pulled into the gravel parking lot and made her way along the well-kept grass and rows of stones and flowers. When was the last time she’d come here? The funeral? No—it was just before she had moved away. Her father had brought her