49.
~ It was incredibly rare to have the entire day free. To not have to stay on call for work; and Alex was grateful.
"I was thinking of taking Lulu to the greenhouse with me." He mused drinking his morning coffee and enjoying how it was only nine o'clock and the rest of the day stretched out long and lazily before him.
"Alone?" Norma asked critically.
The toddler banged her empty cup on her high chair tray. A clear indication she wanted more apple juice.
"Yeah." Alex said casually. "Give you a break from taking care of her and the motel. We could even swing by the daycare center and check it out. Maybe." He glanced at Norma hopefully.
"I don't think you understand what a handful she can be." Norma warned. "She's been really good about potty training, but that because the bathroom is so close. Going the whole day without a bathroom break-"
"I can take her to the bathroom." Alex told her confidently. "Besides, you wanted me to spend more time with her."
"When?" Norma asked hesitant to refill Lulu's blue cup with more fluids.
"About an hour." Alex shrugged.
"Alright. I'll pack extra tights for her and pull ups just in case." Norma sighed.
Alex looked appreciatively at Lulu. His own features, with a healthy mixture of Norma's looked back at him with wide eyed amusement.
"We'll be fine. Won't we?" He asked.
~ Norma had every right to be worried. Alex had never taken solo trip with the toddler before. In many ways, she'd been an easier baby than anything else. After she'd adapted to her proper formula, she slept better and didn't cry as much. She just seemed easier to manage altogether.
It was when she started walking, then running that she learned she could scream and use words like 'No!' To get her parents attention. She knew if she screamed for Mommy, things would get done for her. She would be fed and changed quickly and properly. But, Mommy meant rules. Things like bath time, potty time, bed time and being told 'no' too much.
Daddy was much better. He was fun to be around. He was big a strong and never told her 'no'.
So, Lulu was excited to go with her father later that morning.
"Everything is in her dipper bag." Norma said securing her daughter into the carseat the right way. A trick Alex couldn't seem to master. When he was a kid, his grandfather just let him slide around in the backseat unbuckled. A small Alex Romero being tossed around like an errant bowling pin on a sharp turn. "If she gets cranky, I have a baggie of cheerios and a juice box."
"We'll be fine." Alex reminded her. "We're just going to run a few errands."
He was about to climb into the driver's side of Norma's SUV when he stopped.
"Maybe when I get back, she'll be good for a nap. We can pick up where we left off this morning?" He asked hopefully.
Norma smiled. Her pristine white teeth flashing brightly at him.
"Sure." She laughed. She waved at Lulu in the backseat. "Take care of daddy, baby!" She called out.
~ Alex missed the Sheriff's SUV. Missed the way other cars would hurdle out of his way and how he could turn the lights and sirens on to move faster through traffic. It, like everything else he loved about his position as Sheriff, had been left behind at the station. His nice SUV now being driven by Flint and Alex would have to find a new personal vehicle.
'Maybe a truck.' Alex thought. It had ben forever since he owned his own vehicle. Not since he'd gotten out of the Marines and went strait into law enforcement. His last car, an old and ratty thing, was redundant when the county provided personal transportation for police.
He certainly couldn't keep using Norma's SUV. She would need it and it was the best car for transporting the baby in.
"Mommy!" Lulu cried suddenly. She was looking around at the front seat for Norma. Her small body straining the straps to her car seat.
"Mommy is at home." Alex said calmly. He could see her easily from the rearview mirror. She had Norma's face when she was upset. Her nose crinkling up and ready to scream.
"You're with daddy today!" He promised hopefully.
Lulu flung herself back in her carseat with an angry huff. Clearly her mother's daughter.
~ Lulu resigned herself to being Alex's shopping buddy at the greenhouse. A massive box box store that had all kinds of outdoor plants.
He allowed the toddler to run a little in the jungle like maze of plants. She had managed to stay perfectly still long enough for Alex to snap a good picture of her in front of some kind of flowering plant.
'Your daughter loves the greenhouse.' He texted Norma with the picture attached. He didn't notice… not until long after, that she'd never replied and probably never saw the picture.
~ Alex had selected two rather mature trees to be planted close to the motel, that would block the view of the house from the casual guest trying to peep into windows.
"$2,485." The clerk said. "That's with the delivery fee and the digging fee, sir."
Alex almost swore but thought better of it. Lulu was tugging at him. The toddler suddenly strong and wanting to be free.
"Hang on." Alex said scooping her up and setting her in the shopping cart.
"No-no!" Lulu cried angrily.
"These come with a guarantee?" Alex asked reluctantly handing over his debit card. "If they die…"
"Or delivery guy will advise you were to dig. Yes they're guaranteed for a year." The clerk said.
"Good." Alex nodded. He didn't want to dig the large hole that would be needed to plant such a large tree that was already very large.
"No-No!" Lulu whimpered.
"It's okay, honey." Alex said absentmindedly.
"Oh, No-No!" Lulu said more enthusiastically.
"Sir?" A woman behind them said uncomfortably. And pointed at Lulu who was standing in the shopping cart and looking at her soaking wet leggings.
~ It had been a new adventure in parenthood to clean Lulu up and change her in the family bathroom. Lulu was unhappy about her accident and annoyed it was Alex left to help her.
"I want mommy!" She chastised him rudely.
"We're going to see mommy soon." Alex sighed. Unsure of where to put the spoiled and wet leggings. Norma had packed a stash of gallon freezer bags in the back of the SUV. Probably for just such an emergency.
"I want MOMMY!" Lulu cried angry at his incompetence.
"Yeah… we both want mommy." Alex agreed stashing her wet leggings in the freezer bag and sealing them up so they wouldn't smell.
~ "How does she get you in this?" Alex said trying to strap his daughter into the car seat.
"No!" Lulu shouted at him.
Alex tried to pull the straps better on her only to realize, stupidly, that all that needed to be done was to put the toddler in the seat, and put the arm rest over her. The whole damn contraption snapped into place, and she was secure.
Lulu glared at him in annoyance. Her mother's general face of disapproval coming out.
"Alright. We're going to make one last stop."
"No!" Lulu shouted angrily.
~ It had been a long drive and Lulu slept a little, but finally Alex pulled into White Pine Bays' best and private day care center: 'Little Saplings'.
He'd made an appointment with the director, Tonya Wilkie. A cheerful woman who was pleasantly plump and looked exactly as a daycare worker should look. Right down to the matronly dress that Alex could have sworn came out of "Little House on the Prairie".
"What is her disposition like?" Ms. Wilkie asked.
Lulu was tired and cranky from looking after her father all day and she pointed at the toys in the play room.
"She's normally very calm." Alex said lied. "She's used to being at home with her mother."
"I've seen your wife around town. She's friends with Mrs. Loomis." The director said. "You two have that gorgeous house on the old road next to the motel? I just love it. I'm so glad you fixed it up." The director beamed.
"That's us." Alex smiled hopefully. He wanted her to think that he and Norma were just as wonderful as the old house.
"Anyway, it's hard for Norma to run the business and be there for this one. She's getting into everything. Plus we want her to socialize." He said. He hoped his speech didn't sound too rehearsed.
"TOYS!" Lulu screamed "PONY!"
"You can put her down!" Ms Wilkie said. "Let her have some play time."
Alex was thankful to put the toddler down, who then made a beeline for the toy room.
"She's used to playing on her own or with my wife and I." Alex explained honestly. "I can't tell you how good she'll be about sharing."
The director laughed.
"No toddler is good about sharing." She said merrily. "Come to think about, not many adults are either."
She suddenly looked sympathetic to him.
"I was so sorry you and Mayor Woodriff lost your offices. I want you to know I voted for both of you. I lost my mother that awful winter. My brother to. He had asthma. I thought the quarantine had to be done. Everyone is so quick to forget how bad things were." She said soberly.
"Thank you." Alex nodded. "I'm sorry about your mother and brother. Robbie? Right? I went to high school with him."
Ms. Wilkie nodded.
"Yes, he always had bad health." She said. "I came to his house to check on him when he wasn't answering the phone. I found him sitting up in his favorite recliner. Dead."
Alex remembered that. He'd been apart of the team that answered the call. Robbie from high school had been one of the first people to go into the pit that winter. Someone Alex's age. Maybe a little younger in fact. The funeral home had long ago run out of room, so the pit was the only real option.
"I remember." Alex said softly.
"They city made a beautiful memorial in the cemetery. Right where he was… laid out." Ms Wilkie said. Her voice wavering slightly. "Such a nice walkway and garden at the back. I was so worried nothing would be done for… for all of them."
"I've been meaning to see it." Alex said.
"Well." She snapped out of her grief. "It wasn't all bad. You and Norma have this beautiful angel. We're getting so many children her age now. You were wise to try and get her a spot early."
Alex nodded and watched his daughter engrossed in an elaborate doll house.
"I'm sure we can fit her into our early childhood development class. It's Monday through Thursday. 9am until 3pm. We ask parents pack a good lunch and snacks for them. Any allergies?"
"No!" Alex said quickly. "I don't think so."
"Well, I'll need to speak to her mother about her medical needs. All her vaccinations as well. We can't accept any child who hasn't had their full rounds of vaccinations." Wilkie was nodding at him as though she was a school teacher and Alex was failing her class.
"Right." Alex stammered. "Yes. Norma will know. I'm sure she's gotten all her shots."
"Daddy!" Lulu screamed. "I need Mommy!"
"In a minute." Alex called back to her.
"No!" Lulu shouted.
"The tuition. When do we need to do that?" He asked remembering the steep cost of the very nice daycare.
"It's half before the semester starts. Then it's one fourth payment in three months." She clarified. "I know our tuition is high, but that's what helped to keep the service better than a public daycare."
"No-no!" Lulu cried and Alex snapped away from Ms. Wilkie.
"Right now?" He rushed to Lulu who nodded. Her eyes wide.
He'd barely made it to the bathroom with the short, child sized toilet. Lulu seeming to take her time before finally going.
"I'm very glad to see she's doing well with potty training." Ms. Wilkie said happily when they got back. Alex didn't bother to correct her after the accident they had earlier.
"Yes, she's been doing really well." He said.
"I don't think we'll have any issues with accepting your daughter then." Ms. Wilkie smiled.
~ "Good news!" Alex called out setting the take out dinner on the kitchen table. "Lulu is in the day care we wanted."
The house was quiet except for the wind snapping angrily about the old house.
"Norma!" He called out and thought he heard a noise upstairs.
"I brought home take out. I texted you, but you didn't text me back. So, we're having fried chicken!" He shouted to the upstairs.
He sat Lulu in her high chair and brought out her clean blue cup that Norma had washed and left to dry on the counter top. Carefully filling it with apple juice. Lulu drank greedily.
"I'm sure you need to rehydrate." He nodded at her.
He peered out into the main hallway. The lights were all on but Norma wasn't there.
"Down at the motel." Alex sighed and pulled out his cell phone.
He glanced at Lulu who'd drank her apple juice and was now reaching for the large plastic bag that had their dinner.
"Wait for mommy." Alex said gently. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain to Norma about Lulu's accident. She'd done so well in potty training, but the downstairs bathroom was always so close and Norma knew all the toddlers signals for when she had to go.
He hated that part of himself that was glad to hand their baby back to her mother after such an exhausting day. He could never do this as well as Norma.
There was a ring from Alex's phone and he heard a faint vibration coming from the kitchen. Norma didn't keep a ringer on her phone. The noise always woke up the baby. She always, ALWAYS, her her phone on her. Yet now, her phone was sitting innocently on the kitchen countertop.
"Norma!" He called out.
No answer.
"Norma!"
Lulu started to cry a little.
"It's okay." Alex said to her.
'She's at the motel.' He thought quickly trying to relive his worry. He dialed the motel's office number. The monotone ring going and going while Alex walked down the main hall, peering into the laundry room and empty bathroom.
"Norma!" He called when the motel's office phone defaulted to Norma's cell phone that buzzed on the counter without its' owner.
"Norma!" Alex charged up the stairs and into each room. Their bedroom, Lulu's room, the guest room, Dylan's old room, the upstairs bathroom and Norma's craft room, all empty and dark.
"Norma!" He shouted rushing downstairs. She had to be down at the motel shooting the breeze with some tourist…
He saw her shoe first. The blue Ked with the white laces sitting innocently on the living room rug. It wasn't like Norma at all to leave her shoes wherever. She was always neat and clean about everything.
"Norma?" He said cautiously entering the living room. A room with all its' lights on. Everything seemed… normal.
"Norma?" He called gently to the room and he could feel it then. Feel how something awful had happened here.
"Nor-" he was about to say her name again when he saw her. She was laying flat on her back between the couch and the coffee table. The other blue Ked still on her foot.
Alex almost laughed. Almost accused her of playing a trick on him.
"Baby?" He asked seeing how oddly pale her skin was. How her hair was messed up. The deep bruising on her neck. Her blue flannel shirt ripped out of shape at the collar.
Her lips were blue and…
"Norma!" He was shouting and he pulled her body up to him. She was cold. Too cold. He was trying to blow air into her mouth, trying to listen to her chest for a heartbeat, but she was gone. Her body heavy and fell lankly in his arms.
Alex didn't remember much after that. He was only sure that Lulu had been crying. His daughter was crying and so was he. He didn't want to leave his wife to comfort his crying daughter. He did't know what to do.
He later learned that he'd called 911. The dispatcher, a woman he'd known for years, had said she could barely understand what had happened, he was crying so much.
Dylan, sometime later, had admitted he was worried the former Sheriff would be a danger to himself. He was so, quiet as the ambulance was taking Norma's body away.
Emma and Dylan had stepped in quickly to take Lulu with them. Telling Alex to come to, that he couldn't stay here. That he would sleep in the little guest room they had.
The baby was unaware that something serious had happened and was happy to finally get fed and lavished with attention by her Uncle Dylan and Aunt Emma.
It hadn't seemed at all real. None of it. The police coming to his house. Sheriff Flint shaking his hand and saying he was sorry for his loss.
The police saying that he and Lulu could't stay at the house tonight. Or at the motel. The few motel guests, tourists from out of town, would have to be questioned to.
"Come on." Dylan was saying in a shaky breath. The younger man pulling him back to Norma's SUV. Emma having packed a bag for father and daughter. Lulu being secured in her car seat again. The toddler cranky and tired already.
Dylan drove Norma's SUV and Emma drove behind them. Alex, too stunned to notice Lulu was reaching for him.