Page 3 of Fierce-Michael

“Maybe it was the testosterone with the last pregnancy that caused it,” he said, laughing. “You don’t have that this time.”

“Good point.” Her hand landed on her belly. “Little Jordan has been a good girl.”

“Jolene is still laughing over the fact that you have yet another name that doesn’t distinguish the gender.”

“My little revenge on her,” Alex said.

“All anyone cares about is if the baby is healthy,” he said.

“That’s right,” Alex said, running her hand on his arm. “You got that. Even though it’s been a long road.”

“Don’t remind me,” he said. “And yes, Ty has always been healthy and a good kid with a happy nature.”

“Like his mother,” Alex said. “Electra is always happy.”

“One good thing he got from her. Thankfully not much more that I can see.”

“Don’t be mean,” Alex said.

“I’m being truthful. She isn’t a bad person, just not a responsible one. I guess I can be happy she didn’t fight me on custody too much.”

It only took Electra one month to realize being a full-time mother wasn’t for her and she gladly agreed to give him custody with her getting visitations.

The every other weekend Electra had her son back then was still more than his ex could handle, oftentimes calling him crying and asking him to stay with her to help out or come back earlier.

He did it for his son’s sake and nothing else.

“It all worked out in the end,” Alex said. “You’ve got yourself a wonderful little boy who loves hanging out with his cousins.”

“It’s nice they see each other at daycare,” he said. One of many costs that hit him hard, but he had no choice.

He’d moved back to his hometown when Alex and Cade wanted to try to start their family and he’d been hired as a supervisor. It was a good job and he enjoyed what he did.

But the growth of Marshall Printing to nationwide status and their product expansion, even having to move to a bigger facility, quickly had him as the Chief Operations Officer and Alex the CEO. She did more behind-the-scenes business oversight.

He was on the floor busting ass with his supervisors and making sure orders were met on time and the supervisors under him were getting staffing filled.

He had a nice big office in the back by Alex but rarely spent any time in there.

“Ty enjoys his cousins,” he said.

“Why are you worried?” Alex asked. “I see something going on behind your eyes.”

“Ty spent a few hours with his mother last night after daycare. When I picked him up he said he was hungry. It was seven, he should have eaten, but I know he can be fussy.”

“Did she not give him what he wants?” Alex asked. “That isn’t a bad thing. My kids want things that I’m not making and they still have to eat what was prepared.”

“It’s not that,” he said. “I thought it was and brushed it off, but when we got home, Ty said his mother didn’t have food in the house.”

Alex lifted her eyebrow. “No food at all? Or no snacks that a four-year-old likes?”

“I tried to get more information out of him. It’s hard. He said there was no milk or juice. Only water out of the tap. Not the end of the world.”

Electra still was a waitress. She did it full time, but that didn’t mean she had a lot of money. He knew that. Part of the reason he took custody and paid for everything. He never asked his ex to foot one bill for their son. But he did expect she would feed him when she had him.

“No,” Alex said. “He’s not going to get the same things at his mother’s as he will with his father.”

“Everything he has at her house I’ve bought and brought there. Some toys for him, clothes to keep even though we pack him a bag all the time. He’s going back this weekend and I’m going to have to find out what is going on.”

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