While I'm Alive

Chapter Twenty: New Beginnings

Nervousness was the only feeling Norma had that morning as she dressed herself for her wedding. She didn't want to wear one of her casual sundresses, nor did she want to wear a business suit. She settled on a black skirt with a matching blazer, wearing minimal makeup.
When she arrived, she was surprised to see that Alex was waiting on her, already wearing his suit that she loved. She had only seen him in it once before and that was when Lee Birman had died.
"You look beautiful." Alex tells her, kissing her cheek.
"Last chance to back out." Norma offers nervously.
"I'm in this for good, Norma. Are you getting cold feet?" he asks seriously.
"My feet are toasty warm." she says honestly, taking his hand.
The ceremony was short and sweet, just how Norma had wanted. It all felt surreal, like she was outside of her body, watching everything unfold. She couldn't believe she was getting married for the third time. And to Alex Romero.
"So what now?" Norma asks as they walk out of the courthouse, freshly wed.
"Now we go home and help Norman pack."
"Okay." Norma says.
"I'll pick up my stuff tonight." he tells her.
"Your stuff?"
"I have to move in." Alex tells her gently.
"Right. O-Okay." she says, her stomach fluttering once again.
"I'll meet you at the house." he tells her, placing a soft kiss on her lips.
"Bye." she says numbly as she walks back to her car. Her eyes kept glancing from the road down to the large ring on her finger. She still can't get over how beautiful it is.
Her mind kept jumping back to the previous day when Emma said something about having kids. She hadn't even thought about starting a family with Alex. She wasn't sure where he stood with it. If they did want to start a family, they would have to start it soon since neither of them were getting any younger.
"Norma?" Alex says, tapping on her window. She jumps and looks up at him before rolling down her window. She didn't know how long she had been sitting in front of the house, she had been so lost in her own thoughts.
"You waiting on something?" Alex asks curiously.
"No. No, i'm not." she says, turning her car off and rolling the window back up. Alex opens her door for her and helps her out.
"Hey, Alex?" she asks, remembering the journal she had found that night that she broke into his house.
"Yeah?" he answers, leading her up the front steps.
"Who's Rebecca?" she asks. He stiffens and glances back at her before opening the front door.
"Uh, we can talk about that later." he tells her as they walk into the house.
"Mother?" Norman calls out, appearing at the top of the steps.
"Hi, honey." Norma says, sliding the ring off of her finger and placing it in her pocket. The action doesn't go unnoticed by Alex.
"What's the sheriff doing here?" Norman asks.
"He's just helping me out. I have some news." Norma says, walking up the stairs.
"I've found you a doctor. A nice one. They're going to help you there." she says with excitement.
"There? Where?" Norman asks.
"Pineview. It's a nice place, honey. And I will visit you every chance I get." she tells him. He continues to stare at her with a mix of hurt and betrayal.
"Honey, it's just until you get better, okay? And then you can come back home." she says reassuringly.
"Just until I get better." he agrees with a broken voice, his chin quivering as tears threaten to spill over his eyes.
"Of course, honey." she says, hugging him tightly.
"When do I leave?" he asks.
"Tonight." she says sadly.
All he can do is nod.
Alex remains where he is standing, watching how motherly Norma is. It's addicting, watching her in her element. Especially since Alex has seen her tough side. Hell, that was the only side he got to see for the first few months that they knew each other. Even then he didn't think he could fall harder than he already had. And then she was wiping the blood off of his injured body, careful not to hurt him even further. She was suddenly gentle and caring and he knew that she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
"We should start packing then." Norman says coldly, slipping out of Norma's embrace.
Norma remains standing there sadly until Alex hugs her from behind. She leans back against him, her hands covering his forearms.
"Am I doing the right thing?" Norma whispers sadly.
"Of course you are." he whispers back before placing a kiss on her cheek. She silently slips out of his embrace and begins downstairs to make some tea. Before she can leave him completely, she reaches back and grabs his hand, pulling him along with her.
"I just feel...like I failed as a mother. I mean Dylan was in the drug business and Norman..." Norma trails off as she fills the kettle with water.
"I know that I usually freak out when things don't go my way. I-I throw things and I yell but...but right now I am calm. I am calm. But it is the calm before something terrible. How is this the way my life was meant to go?" Norma asks softly as she stares at the kettle.
"Once this is all over, you probably won't know how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even really be sure if the bad part is over. But one thing is certain. When you walk out of this, you won't be the same person you are now. I think that's what this is all about." Alex says softly as he soothingly rubs her back.
"You're so wise, Alex." Norma says, turning to face him. She slowly unzips his jacket, pushing the fabric off of his shoulders.
"Norma...right here?" Alex asks with confusion, thinking that she was trying to get physical. Instead, she presses her ear against his chest and closes her eyes.
"What's...what's happening?" he whispers.
"Shh." she shushes him. He slowly wraps his arm around her, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
It was his heartbeat that calmed her, the steady thump of his strong heart. With every beat, her worries seemed to be further away from her.
"I love you." he blurts out, making both of them tense up. Her eyes pop open but she doesn't move, doesn't say anything. She can hear his heart rate pick up, the thumps coming a lot quicker and irregular.
"I'm sorry." he says, his voice cracking with nervousness.
"I-I love you too." she says quickly.
"You don't have to say it just because I said-"
"I'm not." she says, picking up her head to look into his dark eyes.
"I do. I love you, Alex." she tells him. He smiles and cups her face in the palm of his hand. Norman's footsteps echo into the kitchen and they quickly pull away from each other.
"Let's go." Norman says, walking out the front door without even glancing at them. Norma looks at Alex before racing after Norman. Alex quickly turns off the stove and follows them with his jacket and car keys.
"Norman, wait!" Norma calls out as she runs down the steps after him.
"I don't think we should prolong this, mother. I don't even think you should be the one to take me. I think it would be better off if Sheriff Romero took me and we said goodbye here." Norman says, stomping towards Alex's car.
"Norman, don't be like this." Norma says, trying to grab his arm.
"Like what, mother? Like I am independent? Like I don't need you anymore? I think we have been horrible for each other, mother. I don't think we should spend much more time together. I think this will be good for us, this time apart." Norman says, his eyes watering.
"Norman-"
"Sheriff, I am ready to leave, thank you." Norman says, putting his bags into Alex's car.
"Norman, please-"
"Goodbye, mother." he says, getting into Alex's car and shutting the door.
Norma looks to Alex helplessly, the tears running down her cheeks. Alex yearns to take her into his arms and kiss her tears away but he can't. Not with Norman watching.
"I'll be back soon, Norma." he promises softly. All she can do is weakly nod and watch him get into his car and drive away with her dearest boy.
She stayed in the gravel even after they were gone, her limbs feeling all too heavy to pick up. The sky turned from blue to a light pink, until finally, the sun had to go to sleep, leaving her with the darkness of the night sky. She didn't feel anything. She couldn't tell if it was cold outside, couldn't tell if she was hungry or not. Had she had any food at all today?
"Norma?" Emma asks, stepping out of her orange bug. Norma didn't look at the girl, just kept the silent tears flowing.
"Norma, are you alright?" she asks again, moving closer to Norma. When Norma doesn't respond again, Emma wraps an arm around her waist while her other hand grabs Norma's arm. She begins leading her back up to the house when Alex's car pulls up to them.
"What's wrong?" Alex asks as he steps out of the car and races to them.
"I found her standing outside when I pulled in. She wasn't responding to me. It's freezing out here so I thought I would carry her in and warm her up." Emma says to him with worry.
"Thank you." he tells her genuinely. He takes Emma's place by scooping Norma's small body up into his strong arms.
"I've got you." he tells Norma quietly as he and Emma race up the stairs.
"Alex." Norma whispers sadly.
"He's gone."
Emma opens the front door for them and Alex walks in to set her down gently on the couch. He grabs a blanket and covers Norma.
"I'll make some tea." Emma offers, wanting to give them some time alone.
"Norma, honey, what happened?" Alex asks, pushing the hair back from her face. She grabs his hand and holds it to her cheek, her eyes slipping shut.
"Your hands are so warm." she sighs.
"That's because I wasn't standing in the cold for hours." he tells her with a smile.
"I didn't realize it was that long." she tells him, opening her eyes and sitting up.
"How was he? Did he seem mad? Did he talk at all?" Norma asks with worry.
"He was fine. We had a conversation. He seemed better when he got there." Alex tells her.
"Had a conversation? About what?" Norma asks.
"It was nothing. I calmed him." he tells her carefully. She seems content with that answer and leans back against the couch. He rubs her back, feeling relieved that she is getting more color in her pale face.
"Alex, I can't stop thinking about Emma's words." Norma whispers.
"What do you mean?" Alex asks.
"When she was talking about children."
She could feel him tense up and the movements on her back halted.
"It's just that we aren't getting younger." she adds.
"Oh." is all he can manage to say. Norma feels how uncomfortable he is and decides to change the subject.
"Who is Rebecca? You never answered that earlier." Norma says.
Unfortunately, she picked the wrong subject to jump to. He tensed up even more and stands from his place next to her. He smiles and chuckles breathlessly, his hands stuffing themselves into his pockets.
Before he can answer, his cellphone rings and he quickly answers it.
"Romero." he answers professionally, all nervousness gone from his voice. Norma watches him, feeling angered that he so eagerly jumped to answer his phone when he didn't answer her question.
"Now? What's the status?" Alex asks with worry. He pauses as the other line answers.
"I'm...I just got married today. Im not supposed to be working." he says, glancing at Norma. He sighs and nods, closing his eyes.
"Be there in ten." he says before hanging up.
"Really?" Norma says, standing up.
"I've gotta go-" he says, grabbing his keys.
"Alexander Romero-"
"Be back later." he says, placing a quick kiss on her lips before leaving. She huffs with anger and turns away from the front door, her deadly glare settling on Emma who had just finished making three cups of tea.
Emma looks back at Norma with fear, having never seen the other end of this glare. She shifted uncomfortably before managing to choke words out.
"T-Tea?"

Sorry for the short chapter. I've been on spring break so I was up in NYC which has no cell service. Anyways...
If you don't like my story or how I decide to portray my characters, stop reading and write your own story. Simple as that. Lord knows this world needs more art :) xoxo