A/N: Just want to thank everyone for supporting and reading this story. The reviews really put a smile on my face. I'm not for certain, but this story may only have 5 chapters left. I will probably end it at 30 chapters. But like I said, I'm not for certain, as I really do enjoy writing this. Thanks for all your positivity!
Today was Alex's graduation ceremony from the Police Academy. He didn't know why he was feeling so nervous, as this was the day he was waiting his whole life for. For as long as he could remember, he wanted this to be his career. Life was good.
He finished college. He got into a police academy and was about to graduate that and jump start his career. He found love. And they had a baby. Although Dylan wasn't planned, they were still very grateful that they had him. Nothing could get better than this.
Currently, Alex was in his police uniform that the academy provided everyone with, waiting in an auditorium with the rest of the recruits. They were all scattered around in groups chatting amongst themseleves waiting to enter the gymnasium where the ceremony took place.
A drill sergeant entered the room and told everyone to get into their lines so that they go out into the gym. Alex stood in his line behind Tyler and in front of Dani. Zack was a few people behind them.
They heard bagpipes and the yelling of the other drill sergeants before they began to march out into the gym. When Alex entered the room full of family and friends, he didn't immediately see Norma, but he could feel her presence. All recruits walked up on the stage where they faced the crowd. And that's when he saw her.
She wore a blue and white sun dress and Dylan was sitting in her lap wearing a tiny little blue and dark grey suit which made Alex grin widely. She waved at him and he gave her a small nod, trying to stay professional like the sergeants had warned them to do beforehand.
After the speeches were done with, the recruits were split into a group of three and then called to a lower platform in front of the stage where they would get their shields pinned on them by their family members. Alex waited patiently for his name to be called.
"Tyler Robinson will have his shield pinned on him by his mother and father. Daniella Rodriguez will have her shield pinned on by her mother and two sisters. And Alexander Romero will have his shield pinned by his girlfriend and son.
When Norma walked on the stage with Dylan in his tiny suit, Alex could hear a number of "Awwws," spread throughout the room. He smiled at the two of them when they stood in front of him.
"Hey," he greeted.
"I'm so proud of you Alex," Norma said. Alex grabbed Dylan from her and she then put on his police shield. He quickly kissed Norma's cheek and handed her their son. The photographer took pictures of everyone and the families walked off the platform.
Dani eyes followed Norma as she walked off. She then looked at Alex who was watching Norma as well. She wanted to tell him how cute she thought Dylan was, but she knew it'd be pointless since she had offended Alex last week and he wouldn't speak to her at all. She couldn't blame him. Clearly, he was in love with Norma, and he would probably never forgive her for talking down on his girlfriend.
Everyone's shield was pinned to them and after the final speech was made, they all were allowed to go back home to their families. Alex met up with Norma and stood in front of her.
"I didn't know you picked him out a suit to wear. It's nice," Alex told her and grabbed Dylan's feet and wiggled it.
"Yeah. It was so cute when I seen it at the store, and I knew it would be even cuter on him."
Dylan was sleeping in Norma's arms while she gently swayed him. Just then, Tyler and Zack approached the two of them.
"What's his name?" Tyler asked.
"Dylan," Alex answered.
Tyler nodded and Zack stood there sheepishly.
"He's... cute," Zack finally said. Norma nodded but didn't say anything. The awkward tension could be cut with a knife.
"So uh, I was gonna' invite you to a dinner party at this restaurant I know of so that we can celebrate, but you might be busy being a dad and all," Tyler said.
"Yeah, I might have to pass."
"That's okay. Well, it was nice going through this training with you man. And I wish you the best of luck. Hope to see you again some time," Tyler bought Alex into a one arm hug and patted his back, doing the same to Zack.
The two walked off and Norma and Alex went to the parking lot. They got inside Alex's truck and headed home together.
Norma woke up to hearing Dylan crying. She reached for her phone on the nightstand and checked the time.
1:15 AM.
She yawned and got out of the bed and walked to Dylan's crib where she picked him up and exited the bedroom with him. He was still crying while she went into the kitchen to warm him up a bottle.
"Here fussy," she put the bottle to his mouth and he stopped crying. She wiped the tears from his cheeks and look into his wet blue eyes, smiling at the beautiful creation her and Alex made. However, this tiny little human made her so exhausted.
After Dylan was well and fed, Norma patted his back and tried to put him back to sleep, but he just seemed to be wide awake. He kept turning his head on her chest and when she looked at him, his eyes were wide open.
"Great, you're not sleepy anymore?" Norma whispered and sat in the living room with him in her arms. Maybe if she kept rocking him, he would fall back to sleep eventually. Therefore, she would be able to get back into bed and sleep as well.
25 minutes later, Dylan was finally asleep in her arms so she went back into the bedroom and put him in his crib. She crawled in bed next to Alex and snuggled against him, closing her eyes in the process.
A few hours had passed, and Alex heard Dylan crying in his crib for the second time that night. It was 4 AM now, and he could feel Norma start to stir.
"I'll get him," Alex said before she could get out of their bed. He was on his feet and walked towards Dylan's crib where the small baby was moving around. He picked him up and changed his diaper before going into the kitchen where he grabbed an already made bottle of formula from the fridge, the one that Norma had made a few hours earlier from his first nightly feeding.
He warmed the bottle up and fed Dylan. Just then, Norma came out the room and walked into the kitchen where Alex and Dylan were.
"Hey," she said, making Alex turn around to look at her. She was wearing one of his black t-shirts and a pair of spandex shorts. Her hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head and she was barefoot with her toes painted light pink.
"What?" she asked after rubbing her eyes and catching him staring at her.
"You look so beautiful."
"Even at 4 AM?"
"Even at 4 am," he repeated. She smiled and rubbed his back and looked at Dylan in his arms.
"He's so greedy," she commented.
"He needs the muscle."
"Muscle? He's gonna' be chunky in a few weeks, just wait," Norma giggled. "You should go back to bed. You have to get up early tomorrow."
Tomorrow was Alex's first day working as a deputy at the Sheriff's Station. He kind of knew what to expect, but he was still a bit nervous.
"I can stay up with him until he goes back to sleep. You can go back to bed though," he told her. Norma hugged him from behind and went back into their bedroom. Dylan was dozing off finally while still sucking on his bottle. Alex then retreated back to the room with Dylan where Norma was already in bed lightly snoring.
"Welcome back Romero. Good to see you here as a deputy now," Chief Deputy Phillips said as Alex walked into his office.
"Thanks,"
"I don't know if you already met him, but I also hired another deputy, Zack Shelby."
"Oh," was all Alex could say. He didn't really hold a grudge against Zack anymore, but he still felt it would be awkward to be around his ex best friend.
"Yeah, I have him coming in at 9 later today. Give him a taste of working the night shift. For now, I approved your hours of working only 7 AM - 3 PM since you have a newborn and all," the chief deputy nodded.
"Thank you, I appreciate it, and so will my girlfriend," Alex chuckled lightly.
"Also, your dad's coming back next month in January as Sheriff."
Alex shook his head in disbelief. He didn't understand how he was even allowed to come back and even kept his title as Sheriff, but without evidence, the DEA couldn't convict him for the criminal that he is.
Alex had his own desk by Deputy Leonard that he kept clean and neat. He felt like a new man with this new career. He was an actual officer of law enforcement, as his gun and badge proved it.
Alex went on his first patrol call as a deputy with Leonard. The two men drove through the roads of White Pine Bay and stopped to go to the diner to get lunch. As they were eating, Leonard pointed out the young waitress girl that was staring at Alex.
Alex scoffed and paid the girl no mind. Leonard laughed at him and shook his head.
"You're gonna' get a lot of that. Girls love a man in uniform. Am I right?"
Alex shrugged and ate a bite of his sandwich.
"You know... I never said it, but I'm proud of you Romero. For completing the training and starting a career. You'll make a fine Sheriff one day."
"Thanks. I hope so," Alex said.
After their lunch was over, they continued their patrol and headed back to the station around 2 pm where they did the usual, boring paperwork that Alex was already quite used to. When Alex was at his desk, he got a call to his cell and looked to see it was his aunt calling.
Concerned, he answered it with nervousness coursing through his body.
"Alex, it's your mother..."
Alex felt his whole stomach drop and couldn't even respond after his aunt had told him what happened. He sat there mindlessly at his desk until Chief Deputy Phillips asked him why he wasn't completing his paperwork. He told the man the news he received and Alex was sent home.
Norma was in the kitchen making herself a snack when she heard the door unlocking. She smiled and went into the living room where Dylan was in his swing.
"I think daddy's home Dylan."
Norma swung the door open and in walked Alex. She kissed his lips and frowned when he obviously didn't reciprocate it. She then took in his appearance. Something clearly had happened to him.
"Alex?"
He threw himself down on the couch and didn't even bother to look at Dylan, which made Norma a little angry. She walked up to the couch and stood over him.
"You're just going to walk in and ignore me and your son?"
He sighed aloud and it only offended her more.
"Oh, I'm sorry... am I bothering you? Is Dylan bothering you?"
"Norma... stop talking. Please..."
She could sense the sadness in his voice and folded her arms across her chest. Ignoring his request, she spoke anyway.
"Did something happen at work?"
He was silent for a moment and Norma stood there waiting for him to explain the cause of his rudeness.
"My mom's dead."
She gasped in surprise, not ever expecting that to be the reason he came home upset. She thought maybe one of the deputies were giving him a hard time. Or maybe he was stuck doing desk work all day. But, something far more worse happened to him.
"What? How? When?" Norma questioned.
"This morning. She committed suicide."
Norma covered her mouth with her hand as tears welled in her eyes. "Oh Alex... I'm so sorry."
Just then, Dylan started wailing and Norma immediately went to him. She tried to soothe the baby, but of course Dylan probably wanted Alex.
"Can you take him right quick? I'll go fix him a bottle," Norma put Dylan in Alex's hands and hurried off to the kitchen. While her back was turned, she heard the front door opening and immediately whipped her head around to see Alex walking out of their apartment. She then saw Dylan in his swing, still crying.
"Alex!" she yelled, but he just closed the door.
She ran out the kitchen and opened the door to see him getting inside of his truck.
"Alex!" she yelled again and followed after him barefoot. He ignored her and quickly sped off before she could reach the door to his truck.
Norma watched his truck as he drove down the street and disappeared from her sight. Her mommy instincts kicked back in and she ran back to the apartment where Dylan was in his swing, bawling.
"Oh, Dylan. I'm sorry I left you!" She picked her baby up and tried to rock him, but he didn't seem to want to settle down. She tried not to cry, as she didn't want Dylan to pick up on her mood, but she couldn't help it. Tears ran down her face and she and Dylan were crying together.
It was 10 PM and Alex was sitting in his truck nursing the last can of the six pack of beer he bought from the liquor store earlier. He had a headache so bad, he felt his head would explode any minute now. He didn't even know what the hell he was doing. Guilt bled into him as he sat on the side of the road, parked in his truck crookedly.
He knew Norma was worried, as she called his phone 20 times before he turned it off. He knew it was selfish, but he couldn't deal with her pity for him when he told her about his mother. And God forgive him, but he couldn't deal with his 2 week old baby neither. Alex just wanted to get away. However, he remembered that he was a man and he had responsibilities. He couldn't walk out on his family like that. He wouldn't become his father.
As he put his truck in drive, flashing red and blue lights startled him. He cursed to himself and tried to hide the beer cans that was in his passenger seat.
"Good evening sir- Alex?"
Alex shielded his eyes from the flashlight that was in his face and saw Zack Shelby. He groaned and leaned back in his seat.
"Holy shit Alex, what the hell are you doing?"
"Who's with you?" Alex asked.
"Deputy Scott's in the patrol vehicle. He let me do this stop by myself. Says it's so I can learn, but he's a lazy piece of shit and didn't feel like getting out the car. What are you doing? Are you drunk?"
"No," he lied.
"Alex... if you're drunk, I can't let you drive home."
"I'm not drunk," he said firmly.
"Do I need to get the breathalyzer?"
"Zack I'm not fucking drunk. Just go tell Deputy Scott that I had a headache and was taking a break from driving but I'm about to leave. So fuck off!"
"Alex, come on man. If you get hurt... and I let you go, it'll be the end for both of our asses."
"I'm fine!" Alex growled.
Although Zack didn't believe him, he simply nodded and walked away. He knew if he were to pull out a breathalyzer on Alex, it would get him in an endless amount of trouble. He just hoped Alex made it to wherever he was going safely.
Alex drove off before the patrol car left and tried his best to keep his eyes opened and focused, but the blurriness and the headache was making that extremely difficult. After some time of driving, he pulled into this motel and checked into a room for the night.
The next day...
Norma was having a hard time settling Dylan down. He cried non stop since Alex left and she only got about 30 minutes of sleep that night. Whenever she dialed his phone, it went straight to voice mail so she knew he had turned it off. She was beyond hurt at how Alex was treating her and their baby. She knew it was due to the news he received about his mother, but this was ridiculous. She never reckoned Alex for the kind of guy to walk out on his family like this.
"Oh my God Dylan. Please! Must you be such a colic baby?" Norma pleaded as she bounced Dylan up and down on her shoulder. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Norma rushed to it to answer it.
"Hey Nor- Oh my goodness. What is going on?" Jasmine entered the apartment and looked at Dylan and Norma.
"Please take him," Norma handed Dylan over to a confused Jasmine. Her arms were finally able to rest and she went into the bathroom to relieve herself. When she came back into the living room, Jasmine had Dylan on the couch and was changing his diaper, which made Dylan stop crying.
"He just needed a diaper change. It was pretty full and heavy," Jasmine explained.
"Oh God! How could I forget to change him? I'm a terrible mother," Norma started to cry.
"Hey, its okay Norma. You're new at this. You're not gonna' be perfect. There's a lot to learn and it's totally fine! He's okay now, see?" Jasmine held Dylan up who was calm now. Still, that didn't stop Norma from crying.
"I don't know where Alex is."
"Is he not at work?"
"I don't know. Yesterday, he just walked out on me and Dylan and he hasn't been home all night. He won't answer my calls."
"What? That doesn't sound like Alex at all! Did you two fight or something?" Jasmine asked.
"No. He received bad news about his mother yesterday and I guess he doesn't know how to deal with it. But I can't believe he would just leave like that. I've never been this upset with him in our 3 years together. It makes me even more upset that he so easily left Dylan..."
"Norma... he isn't that kind of guy. I'm pretty sure he'll come back soon."
"I don't even know if I want him to come back after what he did..."
"Oh? Well, I hope you two can talk it out. The news must have been pretty bad if he reacted like that. Just... think in his perspective?"
Jasmine stayed over for a few more hours with Dylan and Norma. She told Norma she could spend the night there, but Norma insisted she'd be fine now. She was truly thankful that the girl was there for her though. A few hours after Jasmine had left, Norma decided to settle in for the night. It was 11 PM, and she assumed Alex wasn't coming home for the second night in a row. She gave Dylan a wash off in hopes of keeping him asleep longer in the night. After putting him to sleep, she slipped into her bed where she knew she wouldn't get any sleep of her own.
It was 3 AM when Alex decided to come back home. His guilt made him sick to his stomach. He couldn't believe he even reacted the way that he did towards Norma and Dylan. They were his whole world, and he had treated them like he didn't care about them. He hated himself.
He treaded lightly through the apartment and was too afraid to enter the bedroom. He wondered if Norma was awake, but he couldn't face her yet. The station had given him a few weeks off in order to cope with the loss of his mother, so he knew his job was intact, unless Zack ratted him out for drinking and driving last night, but he knew the young man probably didn't.
Alex hadn't ate since yesterday morning, and he didn't even really have an appetite besides alcohol. He didn't think he deserved to eat. Norma must have been fuming this whole time.
So, for the rest of the night he stayed in the living room on the couch. Hopefully in the morning, Norma would want to speak to him about what happened.