“The sugar will keep him up and we don’t want any nighttime accidents,” Alex explained.
“Oh,” Michael said. “I’ll remember that.”
“He can have a couple sips of water after he eats,” Alex added.
Micha stayed up about another hour, then crashed again.
Michael picked him up and carried him into the bedroom. He returned a few minutes later. “We need to talk.” They ended up in the living room.
Alex hoped this could wait until the next day. “What about?”
“Don’t play dumb, Alex. About why you didn’t tell me you were pregnant,” Michael said.
“Because you said you didn’t want me anymore,” Alex said angrily.
“I would have taken responsibility,” Michael said.
“It didn’t come across to me like you wanted to have anything to do with me, especially when your father announced your engagement to Duncan McAllister.”
Michael fell silent for a moment. “That was a business arrangement. What did you do after that?”
“I left town. I couldn’t bear to stay here pregnant and without a mate while you married someone else.”
“I’ve searched for you, but it was like you had disappeared from the face of the earth,” Michael said.
“That is the effect I wanted to give. I ended up moving to a small coastal town where they didn’t ask questions, like why a pregnant omega without a mate had shown up in town. I found a job at a bookstore and lived in a tiny apartment above it. I had Micha alone in a public hospital and had to learn how to care for him. I eventually got a job doing illustration work for children’s books to feed us and keep a roof over our heads.”
“Why did you come back?”
“My mother got sick,” Alex answered.
“How is she?” Michael asked.
“She died,” Alex replied. “I was planning to leave here again, but then you found us.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your mother. Did you ever tell Micha about me?”
Alex nodded. “I told him that his daddy was a very busy man who couldn’t come to see him.”
Michael frowned at him. “Did you at least give him my last name?”
Alex nodded. “Your whole name. He’s legally Michael Allen Winthrop Jr. Micha is his nickname.”
Michael felt honored and a bit bewildered. “They allowed you to give him my whole name and make him a junior without proof?”
Alex nodded.
“He’s a gorgeous child and you’ve taken very good care of him.”
“Thank you. I’ve tried. I would have done better had society been fairer.” Omegas barely held high paying jobs no matter how intelligent they were or how skilled they were. “How is Duncan?”
“He’s fine.”
“He doesn’t live here with you?” Alex asked.
Michael shook his head. “No.”
“Are the two of you still married?”
