Once the factory was almost completed Once-ler took her on a secret picnic in a secluded section of the remainder of the forest.
"I can't believe how much this valley has changed." Norma said sadly.
"I know." Once-ler sighed. "But mom finally loves me. I can't let her down now."
"Truthfully I think Lorax's opinion is more important than your mother's."
"That's only because you don't care about her approval, I do. I mean she is my mother."
"Exactly, mothers are supposed to love their children unconditionally."
"Well I wasn't worth her love. Remember she never wanted me."
"I know but I want you. You're worth my love no matter what."
Once-ler smiled gratefully at her.
"I know, I've always been grateful for your love." Once-ler took something out of his pocket. "And I want to continue feeling your love for the rest of my life."
He showed what was in his pocket to her. It was a ring box. Norma blushed happily.
"Norma will you...marry me?" He asked.
Norma hugged him.
"Of course I will." She smiled.
Once-ler beamed, opened the ring box, and slipped the ring on her finger. Norma gazed at her ring and gasped happily. The stone was in the shape of a Truffula tree. The trunk was orange while the tufts were separated in yellow, red, and pink.
"It's beautiful." She smiled.
"Not as beautiful as you." Once-ler smiled back.
They kissed. When they stopped kissing...
"But what about your family?" Norma pointed out. "I mean I know you'll love me no matter what, but they still don't like me. Except for Brett and Chet."
"Well, then I guess only Brett and Chet will be able to come to the wedding." Once-ler grinned.
Norma grinned back.
Later on she went home and Once-ler secretly took Brett and Chet aside.
"Guys, I have to tell you something but you can't tell anyone else." Once-ler said as soon as they were alone in one of the finished sections of the factory.
"What is it Once?" Brett asked.
"Norma and I are engaged." Once-ler smiled.
Brett and Chet started to cheer but Once-ler clasped his hands over their mouths.
"*Shh!*" He said. "Do you want the rest of the family to hear? Especially mom?"
"Sorry." Chet said once Once-ler removed his hands. "But really this is great."
"Yeah, can we come to the wedding?" Brett asked.
"You and Norma's parents, that's it." Once-ler agreed. "Once everything is ready I'm going to sneak into town. You'd better sneak away after me instead of with me, it'll draw less attention."
Brett and Chet agreed.
Since Once-ler and Norma couldn't have a big ceremony it didn't take long to set everything up. They got their rings and outfits, hired a parson, and that was pretty much it. The only guests, besides Norma's parents and Brett and Chet, were Norma's coworkers from the flower shop she worked at. A few of them were her old childhood friends.
And so the ceremony began. Once-ler and Norma said their own version of the vows:
"To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, now and forever."
The rest of Once-ler's family learned the truth when Once-ler, Norman, Chet, and Brett got back. Grizelda was disapproving, Ubb was neutral, and Isabella was furious. It was too late now though so she did nothing about it.
More time passed. The factory had been completed and was growing larger. Once-ler had now become a greedy business man, with one exception: Norma. Isabella may have taken over Once-ler's business and brain, but Norma still owned his heart. Isabella originally bought Once-ler the green-tinted sunglasses to cloud his view of how bad things had gotten outside, but he still took them off whenever Norma entered the room he was in. Then no matter what he had been doing at the time, even if it was a meeting, he'd go over to her and greet her lovingly. Also they had hidden their rings for fear of losing them, especially with Isabella and the machines around. Norma kept her wedding and engagement rings on a chain around her neck, hidden under her clothes, and Once-ler wore his ring underneath his gloves (one of the reasons why he wore them).
Norma had quit her job at the flower shop after she and Once-ler had married since it was a long trip to town and the extra money wasn't necessary. Despite this she hadn't taken an actual job at the factory. Instead she had a secret one: whenever a tree was cut down the fruits and trunks were tossed aside to be used up in other ways. The fruits were eaten and the trunks were used for fuel and carpentry. Not a lot of the fruits were eaten by humans though, for Norma was sneaking most of them away to give to Lorax and the animals. During one such trip...
"Any luck talking sense into Beanpole?" Lorax asked.
"No, I gave up on that a long time ago." Norma shook her head.
Lorax and the animals looked at her with shock.
"What? But you care about the trees as much as we do, don't you?" Lorax said.
"Of course I do, but you don't understand." Norma sighed. "This isn't Once-ler's fault it's his family's fault."
"But he was the one who broke his promise."
"He didn't want to, and I think he still feels bad about that, but he also felt that he had no choice. You see back when we were dating, before we got married, Once told me about his past. His mom never loved him, never even wanted him, and always considered him to be a mistake and a failure. This drove Once into being obsessed with earning his mom's love, that's why he's doing all this. He just can't see that his mom and aunt and uncle only care about wealth and power and will never really love him. I can't tell him that though, he'd just deny it anyway. And even if he didn't it would hurt him a lot. I can't hurt him."
Lorax fell solemn, and the rest of the animals looked very sad too.
"Then what are we going to do?" Lorax asked.
"There is one chance: talking sense into Once-ler's mom and aunt and uncle. It's a long-shot but worth it." Norma said determinedly.
So that's what she attempted once she got back.
"There you are, I've been looking for you." Norma found Isabella, Grizelda, and Ubb in one of the board rooms. "We have to talk."
"What about?" Isabella said coldly.
"About chopping trees, can't you see that it's a waste? Even though the forest is vast it still has a limit and it won't be long before all the trees get chopped down." Norma said.
"Nonsense, that'll never happen." Isabella said dismissively.
"Are you people so blinded by wealth that you can't eve see reality?" Norma scolded. "Money isn't important, nature is!"
"Nature? Nature is just a waste and a mess." Isabella frowned. "Money pays for things you want and gives you security."
"Nature is what keeps us alive!" Norma was starting to lose her temper. "And there are other things more important than money, like love! Though I guess since none of you have hearts you wouldn't know that!"
"Why you-!" Grizelda punched Norma in the face, knocking her down.
"What is going on here?" An angry voice said.
Startled, everyone turned towards the door and saw a furious Once-ler. Once-ler took off his glasses and entered the room.
"Your so-called wife was being rude to us." Isabella said.
"Well even if she was that was no excuse for punching her!" Once-ler glared at Grizelda. "If you ever do such a thing again I'll cut off your salary! As for the rest of you you had better leave Norma alone from now on, got it?"
Isabella, Grizelda, and Ubb, feeling awkward, left through another door. Once-ler helped Norma up.
"Are you okay?" He asked concernedly.
"I am now that you're here." Norma sighed. "I just wish at least your mom cared about something other than money."
"She does, she cares about me and my brothers and aunt and uncle." Once-ler hugged her. "And even if she never cares about you I always will. I think you'd better stay away from them from now on, it'd break my heart if you got hurt or worse."
"Okay." Norma gave in, hugging him back.
Many months passed, years even. More than half the forest was gone. Norma was paying another visit to the animals.
"I'm sorry nothing has worked out." Lorax said sympathetically, still feeling bad that Norma's attempts had been in vain.
"At least Once still loves me..." Norma was close to tears. "I just don't want to lose him."
"As long as he loves you you won't." Lorax said comfortingly. "I'm sure you're more important to him than money."
"No not to greed, I meant lose him to heartbreak." Norma explained. "I know deep down he still cares about all of you. That's one of the reasons why he hasn't visited, he's in denial about how much he's been hurting you. And once the last tree is cut down...that's when he'll have to face the truth and I know it'll break his heart. I have to think of some way to stop him while there are still trees here. If we can save the last few trees then there's a chance of returning the forest."
"Not much of a chance, the area is too polluted." Lorax admitted.
"Still, there has to be a way..."
"Well, there might be." Lorax pulled out a seed. "I salvaged this from one of the trees, once this area isn't polluted anymore then you and Beanpole should plant this. Even one tree can bring back a whole forest."
Norma accepted the seed. When she got back she thought for quite a while but couldn't think of any way to open Once-ler's eyes. So she decided to go ask her parents for advice.
"Once?" She said during dinner. "I was thinking of leaving tomorrow to visit my parents. It's been a long time since I've seen them and I really miss them."
"Of course." Once-ler smiled. "I understand. I wish I could come with you but I don't think mom would let me... How long do you think you'll be gone?"
"About a week or two, I don't know if I could stay longer than that without missing you too much." Norma grinned.
"Same here. Let's make the most of tonight, I'll let mom handle the rest of business."
Once-ler went to his and Norma's bedroom the same time as Norma for the first time in months. Isabella was left in charge of the factory. Once-ler played his guitar for Norma, something else he hadn't done in months, and they had fun just hanging out and being together. They also made the most of their sleep, since it would be a while before they'd be together again.
The next morning, Norma packed up her things and left. Once-ler took off his glasses and kept them off. He wanted to make sure that he could spot Norma's car when she came back.
Norma soon entered her parents' house. Her mom greeted her first.
"Oh Norma, you and Once-ler haven't fought or anything have you?" She asked worriedly, seeing Norma's luggage.
"Nothing of the sort, I just missed you guys a lot so I decided to visit you for a week or two." Norma smiled. "Plus I need your advice."
So Norma explained the problem, but her parents didn't have any ideas either. None of them got a single idea over the next few days.
Finally a little over a week passed. Norma had been feeling weird lately, including a bit ill, so she went to see a doctor. The next day she got the results: she was pregnant. She was very happy, and so were her parents.
"I have to leave early, I have to tell Once-ler." Norma said to them that evening.
"Of course, you must tell him." Norma's dad smiled.