49.

~ Norma let out a slight giggle when she climbed into the passenger side of Alex's 'Lucy'. The seats on cars from back when Lucy was new were designed much differently. It was like she was jumping on a bed just to get comfortable.

"Well, I don't know where you found this car, but it's great." Norma said once Alex was settled in the front seat beside her. He turned the ignition and Lucy roared to life. Her dashboard lit up and the radio started playing a Glenn Miller song.

She reached for her seatbelt and her hand came up empty.

"Alex, there's no seat belts." she gasped.
"No, they wouldn't have had them back in 1957. They had only these anchor belts and they were more dangerous, so my dad took them out." he explained and put the car in reverse. Lucy rolled out of Norma's driveway with amazing grace and turned around just as easily. The old car didn't have the kind of interior that muffled sounds so the noise around them seemed amplified. Alex put her in drive and she charged down the lane causing Norma to grip the dashboard for fear of being bounced around too much.
"They weren't big on shocks back then either." Alex explained happily.

"This car has no seat belts!" Norma shouted.
"I know!" Alex shouted back. "Don't worry if we get pulled over, I'll talk them out of a ticket."

"Did my son ride in this car with no seat belts?"

"Of course not! That would be dangerous! I made him ride in the trunk!"

"Alex!" Norma gasped. He was laughing at her.

"He told you I said that?" she cried in mortification.
"He asked me if it was true." he told her. A large smile on his face at her suffering.
"What did you say?"

"That he wouldn't want to find out."

~ Alex drove them through town and slowed Lucy down enough to see and be seen. Norma had to admit, the world looked different from the front seat of an old car like this. People shopping the downtown area couldn't help but look at them and Norma felt like she was in a parade. It was so pleasant, with Lucy drifting so lazily down main street, she kicked off her shoes and leaned in closer to Alex.

"You know most of the time, cars this nice are owned by older men." she mused happily.

"Yeah, who are having a midlife crisis." Alex agreed. "Trying to pick up younger women."

"Those guys are the worst."

"They really are."

"Promise me you won't be like that. That you won't be fifty and trying to pick up college girls, just to prove you're still young."

"I won't. I'll just let myself get really fat from all your cooking and give up hope of ever being attractive to anyone."

"That's all I ask." she said quickly.

Alex was smiling and Norma felt her cheeks grow warm. Maybe she had belatedly realized he had subtly expressed a desire to be with her for years to come.

"So who's car is this?" she asked. "I mean really."

"Really?" her teased. He kept one hand on the large steering wheel and rested his right arm over her shoulders. Norma moved closer to him and laid her head in his arm.

"It belonged to my mother." he admitted. "Before that, it was her brothers. He'd bought it new and then got drafted. He never came home."

"Oh." Norma said sadly.

"Long before I was even thought of." Alex shrugged. "My mother loved this car and my dad took very good care of it. I've kept it locked up, but decided it was time to drive her again."

"With no seat belts?"

"With no seat belts."

Alex made an easy turn of the wheel and Lucy gently maneuvered into a free space in front of a secluded restaurant.

"Oh." Norma breathed. "I haven't been to a real restaurant since Norman was born."

She peered into the front window and saw the place looked very intimate and cozy.

"My buddy owns this place." Alex said. "They make a great stake."

Norma wanted to cry at the idea someone else would be serving her for a change. She quickly skirted out of the car before Alex could open her door like a gentleman.
"Always so obstinate." he teased.

~ Maybe heaven, if she ever got there, was dinner in this fancy restaurant where there was champagne that didn't taste like champagne, but like candy. She had decided that when she died, she wanted to relive this night forever. To be driven slowly around town in that beautiful old car, by her handsome knight in shining armor and then enjoy a perfect dinner in this charming restaurant.

She hadn't missed the looks of admiration and wonder people had given them when they walked in. No doubt, everyone seeing Lucy arrive and Alex Romero, the local hero waltz in with a date.

Norma felt her cheeks glow hot with the pride of being seen with him. Of having his hand planted firmly on the small of her back and leading her into the room. The restaurant was painted white with amazing light fixtures casting refracted rainbows everywhere. Candles and fresh flowers were on every table, and there was even white linen table clothes. She had never been to such a beautiful restaurant.

Unsure of what to get, she followed Alex's recommendation and ordered the chicken.

"Wow, your friend has very nice taste in decorating." Norma breathed.

"Well, I think his wife did most of this." Alex mused. "Men aren't this good at decorating. We think stolen municipal property is great wall art."

Norma smiled.

"Don't forget the big screen TV." she added.

"How could I?" he grinned. "Or the beer can pyramid?"

"Or some neon sign from a strip club."

"Don't laugh I have one of those. It's in my living room."

"No, you don't!" she giggled.

"Looks great to." he added. "Really classes up the place."

"You know I've never been your place." she realized suddenly.
"It's nothing special. Just an apartment with very little furniture and a big screen TV." he admitted.

"And stolen street signs on the wall." she added.

"And a futon."

"Oh, no!" she laughed. "Alex, that's horrible."

"Hey, don't judge. I didn't close the bachelor life, it chose me."

Norma was smiling and felt her courage rise up.

"Well, it might not always be that way." she said softly.

"I hope not." he agreed.

~ They didn't have time to flirt and argue after that, because their food arrived. Norma had never tasted such chicken in her life.

"I think they use goat cheese." she said. "It's good."

"You should write restaurant reviews." Alex mused when she had deconstructed their dinner by it's ingredients.

"I can't exactly go out that often with the two boys. Do you have any idea what a nightmare it is to have small children in a restaurant?" she asked.

"The boys are pretty well behaved." he told her.
"From what you've seen." she balked. "You've never seen how Dylan gets in the grocery store."

"But its' not all bad."

"No, it's not all bad. I am glad Norman is getting older and there are no more dippers or colic, teething or midnight feedings." she sighed in relief. "Babies, you know, they just take so much out of you all the time. You never have second for yourself or for anyone else. If you try to do what you want, you just feel selfish and like you're a bad mother. I'm glad that I can finally start to feel normal again. Not just be this 'Mother' creature all the time."

Norma caught Alex looking a little disturbed by what she said. He took a sip of champagne and didn't look at her.

They ate silently until their meal was finished. Norma wondered if she'd said something to upset him. She was always teasing him about everything, but did she insult him thinking it was just apart of their sparring?

He answered her question when he took her hand and smiled gently.

"Let me pay the tab, and I've got one more surprise for you." he said.

~ It was dark outside when Alex finally escorted Norma out of the restaurant and back to Lucy. There was a slight chill in the air and she was regretting not bringing a sweater. Still it was worth the cold to see the look on Alex's face in when she wore this dress. She could tell that he liked her to wear dresses like this. A wardrobe that evoked another era and that showed off the female form without exposing anything.

"What's this other surprise?" Norma asked.
"If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise would it?" he teased her.

"Okay." she smiled and curled up to him while he easily backed Lucy out of the parking lot.

He was driving them out of White Pine Bay and down a series of lonely country roads that would be easy to get lost in if you didn't know the way by heart.

"Alex?" she asked after he turned off the paved road. She was growing a little worried he wasn't taking her home or to some other location in town.

"It's just up ahead." he whispered.

She squirted through the trees when she saw the lights of a house.

"Where are we?" she asked when Alex turned into a dirt paved driveway. Almost immediately, she gasped at the lights.

There were white christmas lights strung up in the trees around the house and nearby barn. Alex must have carefully arranged all the lights to chase the darkness away and the whole place looked magical. Norma couldn't take her eyes off the sights of a picture perfect farm house with a sweeping wrap around porch and large bay windows. The large, old fashioned barn that was actually painted red. Then there was the fact that the white Christmas lights were strung from the barn to the house so that the entire property was bathed in a warm, enchanting glow.

"Where are we?" she whispered.

Alex seemed indifferent to the spectacle around them. He pointed at the large, ranch style farm house and nodded.

"That's… that's the house I grew up in." he admitted with a shaky breath.

"You grew up here?" she asked.

Alex looked away from the house and Norma saw his jaw working slightly.

"My God." she breathed. "You literally grew up on this beautiful farm?"

She couldn't believe how lucky he was to have so much space and freedom. It was like a Rockwell waiting come to life. Only better because it was real.

Alex's head perked up a little.
"Well, we didn't have these lights. Dylan heaped me with some of them today." he admitted. "I thought you might like them."

He allowed Lucy to roll lazily up to the barn and stop.

"What's that?" Norma asked with a laugh. "You painted the side of the barn white?"

"That's your surprise." Alex said with that same mischievous grin.

"What is it?" Norma demanded with a feeling of pure glee rushing through her body. This must be what it's like for a small child on Christmas morning.

"Come on." he nodded and opened his door.

Norma didn't need to be told twice, with her ever ready energy, she sprang out of the car and rushed to meet him. She didn't even have a chance to put her shoes on.

"What is it?" she asked excitedly. She tried to keep herself from bouncing up and down.

"It's this." Alex said and nodded to a small table directly across from the barn with it's newly painted exterior wall. There was a wooden box with the letters WPBSD painted on it.

Norma wasn't sure what he was doing, but she noticed the long extension cord going from the table to the house.
"Technically, this is on loan from the Sheriff's department. We used to use it for training. It's the only one I could actually find. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get one of these things." Alex explained. His back was to her and she couldn't see what he was doing. She heard a lot of loud popping noises and then a whirr started up. Alex moved out of the way and Norma saw a bright light splash over them both. She quickly stepped out of it's path and looked in wonder as it landed on the barn's wall.

She couldn't stop staring at the black and white logo that accompanied the music. The music score, rich with feeling, playing somewhere over the rainbow.

"Alex?" Norma questioned in disbelief. He had turned the barn into a movie screen Complete with projector They were about to watch "The Wizard of Oz" in their very own outdoor theater She turned when she heard the trunk slam shut and saw him carrying several heavy looking blankets and pillows.

"Want to help me set up?" he asked.

Norma let out a laugh.
"I can't believe you did this!" she almost shouted. "Alex!"

"Good surprise?" he asked.

Norma helped him arrange the blankets on the grass as the munchkin musical overture started and died away. She stepped closer to him and reveled in the feel of his hands finding their place around her waist.

"Very good surprise." she whispered. Her lips kissing his. "Best surprise I've ever gotten."

Alex seemed pleased that she was duly impressed.

"Have a seat, we don't want to miss the movie." he told her.

With a childlike happiness she wasn't used to feeling, Norma quickly settled into a comfortable spot on their blankets. Alex moving himself close to her so they could enjoy the movie together.

She leaned back against him when Dorothy started to sing her lonely song of dreams coming true.

"This is the best date ever." she whispered.

She felt Alex's lips on her temple.
"Good." he said back.

Norma wasn't sure why she did what she did next. Her life experience would have stopped her, but this evening had been so perfect, she couldn't stop herself.

"I love you." she admitted sadly. Her gaze fixed on the black and white images of Dorothy, lonely and unloved, in Kansas. She felt Alex tense slightly, then relax.

"Well, I love you to." she heard him say in her ear. She could feel his mouth on her neck and knew he was smiling.

I've actually deleted several chapters and I'm having trouble finding the right rhythm for where I want Normero go to now. I'm off tomorrow and I plan to do a lot of writing. But I like to stay at LEAST five chapters ahead. So, hopefully I'll post tomorrow, but if I don't, that's why.