The Things You Did For Me

Chapter 19: Unexpected and Unknown

The past few months with Sam had been fairly decent. Norma couldn't hide her surprise as she woke up beside him each morning. For once in her life something was finally going right. Her chance for a new beginning had finally arrived, and she loved it. It was some time during their second month together that Norma realized she might actually be falling for this man.

Sure, he wasn't the best father to her son. But it wasn't like he was actually Dylan's father—and they'd only been together a few months. She couldn't expect him to love her son as much as a father would.

Alex didn't seem too happy when she mentioned she'd moved in with Sam. He told her that she wasn't thinking straight. That she was blinded by the chance for a man to take care of her. And maybe he was right. But she deserved to be taken care of after what she'd been through. She expected Alex to understand that.

Still Norma began to worry when she'd missed her period in their fourth month together. It seemed a little too soon to start a family—they weren't even married. She sighed, as she glanced down at the plus sign on the pregnancy test. She was already in a rut with one child to support. She didn't expect Sam to take kindly to the news of another mouth to feed, especially when she wasn't making any contribution to the household whatsoever.

But she had somehow convinced herself that he'd be excited about their news—that maybe he was just as in love with her as she thought she was with him. So it came as a shock when he didn't react well to her news. She could see the terror in her son's eyes as he listened to the words of his mother's new boyfriend.

And that was the first time that it had happened. John had gotten mad at Norma plenty of times, but he never once laid a hand on her. She can still remember the sound of her four-year-old's screams as he watched his mother writhe in pain after the beating she'd received from their sole supporter.

To everyone they knew, Sam was the ideal man. Hardworking, loving, supportive...the list went on. Norma cringed when the women at the market told her how lucky she was to be with a man like Sam. But she kept up the guise the best she could. After all she had two children to think of now and no means of support other than Sam.

She never told Alex about any of it. She was already a month and a half pregnant and he had no idea. That's why it was a bit of a shock when he called asking for her address.

Alex pulled into the driveway of the suburban Arizona house and glanced down at the piece of paper he'd quickly and nervously scribbled the address on. His heart beat a little faster as he reached the door, knocking a little more sternly than he would have wanted.

He smiled back as she pushed to curtain aside to check the visitor. "Hi," she let out as she opened the door. She laughed a little still in shock at seeing him so grown up. "I'm sorry. I just expected to see the nerdy wimp I used to know."

Alex rolled his eyes at her, his smile growing every second of being in her presence. "Yeah. Well, the academy kind of beat that outta me. I'm a new man now."

She just stared at him still in awe of the new person in front of her. She shook her head, trying to shake the thoughts from her mind as she suddenly reminded she should invite him in. "Come in."

Alex stepped inside the house, gazing about and searching for the real reason he'd came. "Where's Dylan?"

Norma smiled as she closed the door behind him. "He's in bed napping. Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would have cleaned up the place a bit."