42.
~ Alex wasn't at all prepared for the cacophony of noise such a small creature could create. Or the never ending attention she demanded at all times.
It was almost frightening to see Theresa scream and cry so violently. Her face turning red and her mouth looking strange with no teeth. She would kick and scream and her tiny, wrinkled arms would wave about in frustration at how unsatisfactory the service was in this house.
There was always something that needed to be done for her, even when she was asleep, her demands were unending. Alex had to run to the grocery store to buy more diapers and whatever else Norma could think of, no matter what time it was or when he'd last bought the same item. Norma making it clear not to buy expensive organic things that all the new age mothers were so committed to.
"I need you to pick up drive through, Alex." Norma hissed with the baby to her chest. The infant finally calm after not to wanting to eat or sleep. "Lulu is having a hard time resting. I'll try to feed her again, but she's too fussy."
Norma had taken to calling their tiny overlord 'Lulu' because, as she rightfully pointed out, Theresa was far too grown up of a name for a small baby.
"It's just too serious to call her that." Norma decided while in the hospital. "Not at home anyway."
To add insult to sleeplessness, Norma developed mastitis and Lulu had to go on formula. Something the infant didn't seem happy about. Norma worried she wasn't getting enough to eat, or that the formula was too difficult for her to digest.
Alex did have to hand it to her, Norma was an excellent mother. She slept when Lulu slept, had a ridged system of care in place for when the newborn started crying. It was always the same, comfort, change, feed and back to sleep. It was never ending and their lives revolved around how much rest they could get in between her two hour wake and sleep cycles.
Norma never seemed bothered or frazzled by the constant demands Lulu put on her. She reacted to the loud cries with ease and the baby was always quickly comforted by her.
~ "Sleepless nights, Sheriff?" Doctor Edwards asked on the other end of the video call.
Alex had to smile. Norma and Lulu were taking their nap together in the bedroom and he was afraid to make any noise for fear of waking the baby.
"I'm very glad the county provided so much personal leave." he admitted soberly. "I don't think I could do my job on four hours of sleep. Norma is the MVP here, I'm just the errand boy."
"It gets better, Sheriff." Edwards said. "I'm actually calling because there's been an incident."
"Incident?" Alex asked. His suspicions of Norman suddenly flooding back. The chaos of their newborn had driven Norman totally out of his mind.
"It seems Norman Bates managed an elopement this morning. Our security cameras caught him being picked up by a white van. Has he made contact with you our your wife?" Edwards asked.
Alex felt the air rush out of his chest. Norma hadn't touched her phone since the baby came home and he was sure no one had called.
"No. I don't think so. I thought Norman was on lockdown. Isn't Pine View a secure facility?" Romero accused.
"Norman had earned outdoor privileges. The ability to participate in yoga and walking. He'd ben doing very well in group therapy." Edwards explained with faultless, blameless ease.
"I thought that place was secure." Romero said sharply.
Edwards looked back in slight amazement.
"This isn't a prison, Sheriff." he said. "We have alerted the local police of the elopement. The chances are excellent he will just come home to you and your wife. It's all he knows. Correct?"
Romero had a panicked thought of Norman showing up at the lake house, ringing the front door and waking the baby. The young man becoming upset of the very existence of a new child in his mother's life. All this before remembering Norman had no idea they were living here and not at the old house. Certainly he would attempt to flee to the old house by the motel. A place still under some construction and improvements to the north side of the house. A set of rooms never used because of decades old damage.
"My stepson, Dylan will be at the old house." Alex said feeling calmer. "He's supervising a work detail for the house and the motel. We had a busy tourist season on top of the quarantine and everything is a mess."
"Norman will most likely have his friend take him there." Edwards said admitting no liability for Norman's escape. "Please give us a call when you find him, Sheriff."
Romero snapped off the video call with a rare annoyance at Edwards. It wasn't the doctor's fault Norman had run off. Norman had done these things to himself.
'Norma can't know.' he decided quickly. 'At least not now. They might pick Norman up and she won't even have to know.'
He quickly texted Dylan what Edwards had told him. Norma's oldest son was at the motel trying to repair all the damage that was done to the older buildings now that everyone had moved out with fall just around the corner. It had been well over a year that they had the motel completely empty. Even the hourly customers were taking a break. The year had been profitable to their bank account, but had left behind it all the abuse its' guest could throw at it. There were bathroom's fixtures to replace, new furniture, mattresses and bedding to be bought and brought in. Even the carpets had been stained, dirtied and burned. Romero and Dylan had reasoned that with all the repairs to the house and motel, they would still come out ahead. Dylan even planning for next summer's wave of unruly tourists. He suggested they install RV parking and hookups for the expensive land yachts that coasted through the bypass.
"We could buy the plot of land across from the motel." he suggested. "I know the owners would probably sell it. Create a safe and tasteful place for the glamping crowd to take instagram photo's."
Romero wasn't sure what 'Glamping' was, but Dylan had good ideas and they had the money to do it. He and Dylan planned to float the idea by Norma as soon as some resemblance of normal started and they weren't at the eternal mercy of Lulu.
As if on cue, a loud wail started up from the back bedroom and Alex could hear Norma's soothing voice. The spartan nature of the house seemed to echo the baby's cries all over.
"Alex?" Norma called. "I need you to go to the store and get more formula. I think she's going to run out with the next feeding."
~ Norman was free. He hated not knowing what was going to happen next to him, but he hated Pine View and Mother even more.
"So what were you in for?" Julian asked.
"My mother re-married." Norman said sourly. "I was in the way."
"Sucks." Julian laughed. "Where do you wanna go?"
Norman hadn't thought about that. If he went back home, mother would surely send him back to Pine View. Maybe she would have time to roll off of Romero to make the phone call, but she would defiantly not want him at home; disrupting her new romance. Besides, home wasn't home anymore. It stopped being home for him when Romero started coming over for dinner and mother was so happy to have him around her. Mother only liked Romero because he always took her side and believed that she was some helpless creature who was being pushed around by unruly sons.
Pine View, with almost a year away from her had thrown into perspective how dysfunctional she truly was. How she bullied, lied and manipulated him. How she was always blaming him and was always suspicious of him when he'd done nothing wrong. All to have her not protect him from Miss Watson or anything else.
Pine View had provided a useful break from his mother, but had done little else. Doctor Edwards liked to have Norman peel away the long forgotten scar tissue of old wounds just so he could look at them in sick delight. All while offering no help, and left Norman bleeding and hurting. He just wanted Norman to expose the deepest, most painful parts of him just so the doctor could be amused. A year later, and Norman had no tools to cope with these raw and newly exposed emotions.
Pine View had been mother's way of getting rid of him while blaming him for all her troubles. It had been nothing more than a sadistic boarding school, where learned nothing.
Mother had allowed bad things to happen to him all his life and he wasn't going to go back to her.
Surely Romero would see her for what she was and leave her, if he hadn't already.
"Far away from here." Norman said darkly.