HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY BLACK AND BLUE! I am so pleased with the amount of readers I have gained over the past year. You all have helped let me know what my true passion is. I wanna thank you all my kind readers for their enlightening words over the past year. I can't believe I wrote the first chapter one year ago today! Thank you all for making it such a success. To celebrate I have come up with a small fan name for all my readers...Normangels. You have all served a role as angels because of helping me discover where my true passion lies. I wanna thank you all again for that. Here is the next chapter, dive in and enjoy! Thank you for a beautiful year!

The next morning, Alex awoke to the sound of a bedroom drawer shutting. He rose slightly, a hand reaching up to wipe the slumber from his eyes, to see Norma standing at the mirror now dressed for the day.

"That new?" he asked, a yawn leaving his lips shortly after. She dawned 50s styled high waisted white capris, a button down blouse tied at the bottom, and her hair was different, this time a knotted headband sat in the crown of her hair.

"What? The outfit? Oh god no, I got this last year from this really darling little boutique downtown. I couldn't find a reason to wear it but I'm painting the babies room today so I figured this would be appropriate," she said, running a soft tipped brush through her blond curls one more time.

"You look good like that," he grinned sleepily, turning to toss his legs over the side of the bed. The second his eyes were punched with the sunlight streaming in through the nearest curtain, he wished the covers could come back up to shield him away.

"Well thank you," she giggled eventually checking her wristwatch, a gasp leaving her lips. "You have to be in work soon. I think you have about 30 minutes to spare. You want me to make some fresh coffee, maybe make some pancakes for breakfast?".

He smiled at her attentive ways of treating him but shook his head and rose from the mattress to walk over to her. "Not needed, Norma. I'm actually gonna take a few days off from work."

"Really!? Sheriff Romero taking a day off? Well I never thought I'd ever hear of such a thing," she laughed, her eyes shining with excitement it was good to see Alex taking time off from the stress that surrounded his life.

"Yeah well...your words got through to me the other day. I guess I got kinda tired and figured I deserved a break from this shit town," he said, moving towards the bathroom and shedding his shirt, "I'm gonna take a shower. Normally, I'd ask you to join me but uh- you're already dressed."

She pouted, "Poor baby...how about I give you a little something to think about while you're in there," a sinister grin fell over her mouth and she walked to him, taking his head in both hands and placing her lips on his with heated passion.

After a few moments, he pulled away sad to do so, "If I didn't cut it there you'd have to come in with me." Her lips gloss lingered on his thin lips, she tasted of strawberry.

"Sorry honey. I guess you just have to start waking up a bit earlier if you wanna have fun in the mornings," she said, dropping one last kiss on his cheek before heading into the adjacent room to wake Ella up.

Once the baby was in her arms, her small eyes opened up, she had slept a full night much to Norma's surprise. She was pleased the baby didn't cry though it was a rarity.

"Hello baby girl," she smiled, carrying her out of the room over her shoulder. She was very gentle as they walked downstairs, not wanting to startle the newly awoken child. Upon entering the kitchen, she placed the little girl in her high chair and tapped her fingers lightly on her small table, "You want your baba?" she asked, her voice highly lit up in baby talk.

Ella smiled and pat her hands on top of Norma's own, emitting a full belly laugh, "I'll take that as a yes." Soon she filled a bottle with formula and warm milk, slipping it in the microwave and watching as Alex came downstairs.

She took a moment to observe what he was wearing, jeans and a dark navy tee shirt, "Wow, I've just never seen you so dressed down, I'm not sure if I should feel intimidated or not," a laugh left her mouth as she took the bottle and picked up the baby, feeding her gently.

"Oh this?" he asked, playfully gesturing down at his attire, "I actually decided to take your advice. I'm gonna go fishing today down at the lake. Maybe try to get a little piece of mind in the back woods of this shitty place."

Norma smiled and nodded, "Thank God. I'm happy you wanna take time for yourself. You deserve that much." She got distracted once she felt Ella's teeny hand tug at her lone finger sitting on the side of the bottle. "Well, look at that grip!" she laughed, a thumb running along the child's mini hand.

Ella's gaze changed to look over at Alex who was pouring a new cup of coffee before his day out, "Alex..." Norma called quietly, her baby voice back, "I think she wants you." She tried not to be too forceful with the gesture after their talk about his deceased wife and child last night, she didn't want to pile onto any fresh sadness still lingering.

"Me?" he asked, setting the glass mug down while maintaining eye contact with Norma, "I really don't know...".

"You wanna try and feed her? You don't have to if you don't want to..." she said, rocking the baby to try and entertain her. Despite her internal wishes, Alex shook his head and moved closer to the exit of the kitchen, "I don't think so, Norma. Just...not yet."

"Alright, that's totally okay," she replied, watching as half the formula disappeared, she didn't want to give the baby too much so she put her back down in the high chair and put the leftover milk in the fridge. She walked to Alex and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Have fun today, don't stress."

He returned a chaste kiss on the lips and nodded, "Alright baby. I'll see you later."

"If you catch anything worthy of my kitchen I'll be happy to skin the fish and serve it up for dinner," she called out behind him as he headed for the front door.

"Yes, dear."

X

It was later in the day, Katie had returned home and taken Ella out for a stroll. Norma stood in the soon to be baby bedroom, a paint brush coated in the chosen custard yellow color. On the burrow she had a small radio blasting, it was the same one from when she was just a young girl. Through all the shit, Caleb and her abusive parents, music was always a quick outlet. She had no idea how she managed to keep it alive for so many years but it was certainly a good piece of nostalgia.

She just picked up the new stenciling and began adding those to the walls. As she got more and more relaxed, the walls almost finished and the sound of The Angels in the background, her phone rang in her pocket.

Norma dropped the paintbrush, silenced the radio, and cleared a piece of blonde hair from her forehead before answering. "Hello?".

"I like that color on the walls but did you ever think about lilac paint?" the voice asked, a creepy laugh coming soon after. A shiver ran down her spine as she hung up the phone.

It was Steven, he was watching her.

Wish Black & Blue a happy birthday with a review. Thank you all again! - MJ :)