A/N: Here you go guys.

Warning; mention of suicide.

She heard him come home last night. It was 7 AM now and Dylan had just woken up. She knew Alex was still home, but she didn't want to see him. Not yet. However, she had a baby to feed.

Norma threw her legs off the bed and picked up a fussy Dylan from his crib. She opened the door slowly and made her way to the kitchen. Alex was on the couch sleep, but he immediately popped up when he heard movement from the kitchen.

He got up from his position and went to the kitchen where Norma was holding their son. He reached out for them, but put his hand back at his side. She hadn't looked at him yet and he didn't even know how to begin. It seemed as if he was apologizing to her a lot in the past few months, which made him hate himself a little more.

He watched her warm up Dylan a bottle and put it towards his mouth. Alex still said nothing; he just watched her feed their baby.

"I... I thought she was better. I was planning on letting her meet Dylan in a few days..." he finally spoke. "She was supposed the be better. Why would she do that to herself?" Alex broke down in tears.

It surprised Norma. She had never seen him so down before. She knew he was hurting and she understood. His mother just committed suicide and it was a lot for any son to deal with.

"I'm sorry for what I did. That wasn't me. I don't know how I could even leave you and Dylan like that. It was... I don't know Norma. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I need you..." he whispered.

"I need you and Dylan more than ever right now," Alex tried his best to keep his tears at bay, but they came out like a waterfall.

Norma didn't know how to respond. Alex was standing there with his face in his hands, hurting, but she didn't know what to do. She wanted nothing more than to comfort him, and maybe she should. But, the anger in her refused to let her do that.

"You left us," she said.

"I'm here n-"

"You didn't come home for two nights. You turned off your phone. I gave you Dylan and you put him in his swing and left out the door while I was in the kitchen, unaware."

"I needed to clear my head. I couldn't deal with... I just needed some space."

"You couldn't deal with us? You couldn't deal with our 2 week old son? He's a baby! It's not his fault what happened to your mother and you can't just up and leave him like that. We are parents now, and everything we do, we do for him. We're supposed to be giving him a life we wished we could've had. You have no right to leave him," she stated.

"I know Norma. I know. And I wish I didn't do what I did. I wish I could take that back. But I promise you, I will never leave him or you like that again."

Dylan was peacefully feeding from his bottle, not picking up on the tension between his parents. Norma was looking at Alex with an angry glare that made him feel a thousand times worse.

"How do I know you're being true to your word?" Norma asked.

Alex groaned and shook his head. "Do you honestly think I'm the type of guy to abandon you and my baby? Yeah, I know I left for two nights, but I came back. Of course I would come back."

"So that makes it alright? Because you came back, that makes you a responsible man?"

"I'm not saying it makes it alright. Norma, my mom killed herself. There are a lot of ways to react, and I know my reaction was fucked up, but you know I would never just abandon you forever."

"I don't know that," she said coldly.

Alex looked at her incredulously and frowned. He closed the distant between them and was hovering over her and Dylan, something that made Norma become defensive.

"How could you even say that?" he demanded.

"I don't know what's gotten into you Alex. But I don't like it..."

"I just told you my mom died!" he yelled and slammed his hand down on the counter, making Dylan jump and start to cry. Alex gave a look of regret and tried to take Dylan to apologize, but Norma pushed him away.

"Don't you touch him!"

Her words suprised him, but mostly, it hurt. She didn't want him to touch their son. She was looking at him disgustingly and it felt like his heart broke in half.

"What?" he said after some time. Norma didn't repeat herself and continued to glare at him. It made Alex hot with anger.

"You know what Norma... you've been blaming me for every little thing that's been happening between us, but you never take any fault. You're not completely innocent in any of the shit that we've been going through."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The fights we've been having the past few months haven't been all my fault. You're acting like you've been perfect this whole time, like you never do anything wrong," he explained harshly.

"Like what?" She really wanted to know what Alex meant, because in her mind, all their fights had been his fault. She knew she wasn't perfect, but she wasn't the guilty party in this.

"You're mood has been really off. And I knew it was because of your pregnancy, but some things you didn't even try to control. It's like you let your mood overtake you and you didn't give a damn how it would affect me."

"That doesn't even make sense because we would always make up, if not the same day. So it must haven't bothered you that much. And I was pregnant, of course I was moody," she rolled her eyes and tried to keep Dylan settled down.

"It bothered me a lot, but I never said anything because I didn't want to hurt your feelings. And I was trying to be an understand boyfriend to you, but are you ever understanding? You're giving me shit right now after knowing that my mom killed herself. You still haven't said much about it. And you're yelling at me and not letting me touch Dylan? You can't even keep him calm for more than 2 minutes without me helping you," he ridiculed.

"That's not fair Alex. He is my first baby so yeah, I might not be that great at this. You don't have to rub it in. And I haven't said much about your mom because you left!" she cried.

Alex's breathing grew heavier and his eyes grew angrier. He had never been so pissed at Norma like he was now. In his mind, she was being selfish and wasn't taking his feelings into consideration. He felt as though she should cut him some slack about him leaving for two nights since his mom literally just died. He didn't even know the next steps in dealing with grief.

"This is ridiculous," Alex exclaimed and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm going to go see my aunt and make funeral arrangements for my mom." He walked out of the kitchen, grabbed his car keys from the table, and slammed the door shut as he exited the apartment.

Norma closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to calm herself down. Dylan was making noises, but he wasn't crying, so she rocked him up and down to let him know that she was okay. That they were both okay.

"I found her in her room. I had just came back from work and when I unlocked her door, she was laying there... spread out on the bed like an eagle. I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear all of that."

"It's fine. I want to know what happened," Alex replied. He was at his aunt's house now and they were sitting in her living room talking about his mother. After months of no contact with his dad, Alex was miraculously able to get in touch with him and told him the news. His father didn't say much through the phone conversation, and it made Alex a little suspicious. He knew his parent's marriage was practically over, but they did love one another at one point in their lives.

"Okay, well... she must have been hiding all her meds, pretending like she was taking them, but she was just stashing them away for... this day. She took them all at once until she overdosed. It was too late to save her by the time I got home. I'm so sorry Alex."

Alex shook his head and clasped his hands together. "We were supposed to be getting her back into Pineview."

"I know," his aunt started. "But... your dad never sent the papers in to Pineview and never signed off on the insurance coverage or whatever the institution needed."

"I tried to get him to do it, but I couldn't find him. He was hiding."

"It's not your fault nephew," she assured him and sighed. "So that means you probably don't know what happened between him and your mom last week."

"No. What do you mean?" he wondered.

"Well... Last week, I had called him to tell him your mom needs professional help because she was getting worse. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but you were doing so well and I didn't need you to worry because you and Norma were about to have a baby. I didn't want you to have to deal with your mom. I should've kept you updated though."

"It's... fine..." was all he could say although he didn't think it was fine. He would've liked to known more about his mother's condition. He felt guilty that he didn't make a bigger effort to be kept in the loop with her.

"So... your dad yelled at me through the phone about how I was bugging him and that he had other crap to deal with. So I told him Theresa was talking about hurting herself again, and he made a visit."

"He came here?"

"Yeah. I didn't really want them to have contact, but I figured maybe if he saw her, he would understand how badly she needed to be back in Pineview. So he came over and saw her. The look on her face when she saw him... I would never forget it. She was scared of him. I never knew how abusive their relationship was until I seen her reaction. Anyway, he said some pretty mean things to her. Placed a lot of blame about how she should just "get over" whatever it is she's going through. He didn't believe she had a mental illness. He thought it was all in her head. I think... I think that's why she did it. He made her hate herself until she didn't have a will to live anymore..."

Alex fought back his tears as he listened to his aunt. He wished he would have visited her more like he said he would do the last time he saw her, but he just never found the time. The regret of this was killing him softly.

"She loved you so much Alex, please don't blame yourself for this. Sometimes, nothing you do can help a person if they're already lost and gone."

His aunt hugged him and they held onto one another while letting their tears and remorse flow out. He was grateful his aunt was there for him at the moment, since he felt like he lost his main source of comfort and support. They grieved together and talked funeral arrangements for most of the evening.

"By the way, when am I gonna' meet that little baby of yours?" his aunt asked as they were sitting at the table eating rice and empanadas for dinner.

"I was actually planning on bringing him here in the next few weeks. Hoping my mom would be able to see him," he said sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry then. Norma didn't want to come today?"

"Norma's... resting." Alex lied, but he didn't really want to talk about his fight with Norma to his aunt.

"Really? She didn't come here with you, knowing you'd need the support?" his aunt squinted.

"It's no big deal."

"Alex-"

"She didn't need to come tia." Alex said firmly, causing his aunt to subside her mild accusations.

They continued to eat silently until Alex decided to leave. His aunt wished him a safe travel back to White Pine Bay, and they promised to keep in contact more with one another.

It was 10 PM and Norma was settled into bed for the night. She couldn't sleep and kept tossing and turning, and she knew why. She missed Alex. He hadn't slept in their bed for the past 3 nights and the empty spot next to her made her feel uneasy. Their fight today was the worst that it had ever been. They blamed each other for a lot of things and there was no resolve. She had been crying everyday for the past three days and she hoped it would stop soon.

The sound of the front door opening caused her to sit up in bed. She looked over at Dylan in his crib who was still sound asleep. Tiptoeing out of bed, she placed her head on the bedroom door and listened through it. She couldn't hear much, and she felt stupid for trying to listen for Alex like that.

She heard his feet shuffling towards the bedroom door and immediately hopped back in bed where she threw the covers over her and pretended to be sleep. Alex opened their bedroom door and since the room was dark, Norma kept her eyes peeped open. She saw him walk to Dylan's crib and she figured he was rubbing his head.

"I love you," he said low and soft to Dylan, which Norma found endearing. He then walked up to the side of the bed she was laying on and she closed her eyes just in case he could make out that she was awake.

She felt him touch her hair in the same way that he touched Dylan's head. He leaned down to place a gently kiss to her head, whispering the same words he said to Dylan.

"I love you."

The next morning, Norma woke up and didn't hear the usual noises from Dylan, which startled her. She jumped out of bed and didn't see him in his crib. Fear settled into the pit of her stomach and she rushed out the bedroom. Dylan was laying in Alex's arm and the two of them was on the couch watching the TV on mute. Dylan was mostly staring into Alex's brown eyes.

Norma crossed her arms and locked eyes with Alex.

"I just wanted to hold him," he said, and Norma felt surmounted with guilt for what she said to him yesterday.

She didn't speak. Instead, she entered the kitchen and fixed herself a bowl of cereal. The apartment was completely silence, and it felt extremely awkward for the two of them. Just then, Alex got up and put Dylan in his swing that they kept in the living room.

"I'm heading out," he announced. She wanted to ask him where, but didn't want to badger him with questions. She simply nodded and soon, Alex was out of the apartment.

"Romero, what are you doing here?" Chief Deputy Phillips asked as he neared Alex at his desk.

"I'm just putting in my hours."

"You're supposed to be on leave."

"I don't need it. I'm fine."

"It was an order. Go home."

Alex looked around and saw all the deputies looking at him. They most likely heard the news, and he felt a little embarrassed. Without another word, Alex grabbed his belongings and headed out of the station.

He was sitting in his truck in the parking lot when a knock on the glass brings him back to reality.

"Romero, unlock the door," Zack said through the glass.

Alex unlocked the door to his truck and Zack hopped in.

"I heard about your mom. I'm sorry man. She was such a nice lady when we were little kids."

Alex didn't respond and continued to stare out of the windshield. Zack looked around the truck awkwardly and continued to talk.

"You're gonna be fine Alex. You'll get through this."

Alex chuckled a bit which caused Zack to tilt his head in confusion.

"What's funny?" Zack questioned.

"You're showing me more support and comfort than my so called girlfriend..." Alex admitted relentlessly.

"Norma? You two having issues?"

Alex contemplated on opening up to Zack. He still didn't completely trust him, but he also longed for someone to talk to. Eventually, he gave in and vented to the young man.

"That night you pulled up behind me with Deputy Scott, I had left her and Dylan because I had just heard about my mom. But I came back. She wasn't having it and was yelling at me about how I left her and Dylan."

"Well, can you blame her?"

"She didn't even take into consideration that maybe I did that because I was trying to figure out how to process that my mom died."

"Yeah... but... well I have no right to speak on behalf of Norma, but she's a new mom, so she was probably scared as hell that you up and left her with a newborn baby."

"Who's side are you on?" Alex growled.

"C'mon man, you're smarter than this. You got an amazing girl. Don't ruin what you two have over this. Like I said, you'll get through this. You know... my mom died last year."

"Did she?" Alex asked, as he didn't know that. But, he hadn't talked to Zack in about 3 years.

"Yeah. It was a car accident and it was hard. I mean... we weren't super close, but she was still my mom you know? But yeah, I closed off everyone and was taking my anger and guilt out on everyone. I felt like shit for the longest. But I got through it, and so will you. It takes time, but your hurt will pass," Zack patted Alex on the shoulder sincerely.

"Thanks... I appreciate it Zack," Alex confessed.

"No problem. Now you should probably go home like Phillips said. Talk to your girl."

And with that, Zack got out of Alex's truck and Alex made his way back to the home he shared with Norma.

He could hear Dylan wailing through the door before he even opened it. When he entered, he saw a overwhelmed Norma with an upset Dylan in her arms. He could tell she had been crying because her light blue eyes were darker and redder.

She faced him but didn't say anything. Alex sighed and walked to her, gently taking Dylan out her arms. She breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards the bathroom. Alex watched her disappear into the bathroom and turned his attention to Dylan.

"You giving your mom a hard time? Well... we have to cut her some slack. Both of us."

After Alex settled Dylan down, he placed him in his swing and went to the bathroom that Norma was in. He knocked on the door softly before entering. She had both hands on the counter staring at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes puffy and cheeks tear-stained. Alex hated to see her in such a state.

"I've been here all day..." Norma started, which surprised Alex, as he wasn't expecting her to speak first.

"I've been here all day and I realized that I can't handle Dylan all on my own. I don't want to do this alone. I want you there to help me. And if you leave us-"

"I'm never leaving you or him Norma," he cut in.

She exhaled and closed her eyes. "This is so hard Alex. Being a mom. And... I really am sorry about what happened to your mom. I'm so sorry. I know how much you wanted to help her."

Alex nodded and hugged her from behind, relishing in the comfort of her warm body. She held onto his arms.

"Thank you and just so you know, I love you and Dylan and I will never just leave you two like that again."

Alex turned her around to face him and wiped the tears from her cheeks. He kissed her forehead and hugged her to him.

"You two are all I need."