Author's Note: I love feedback. Please let me know what you think, leave a review :)

*** Also, I'm looking for prompts for storylines. If you have any, please let me know by sending me a message or posting your ideas in the reviews. Writing is therapeutic during these times, but I'm having a hard time thinking of another idea. If you're interested in reading more from me, I could really use the help! ***

This chapter is a mix of recent past and current, I hope it isn't confusing. Please enjoy!

Chapter 26: Changes

Norma remains frozen.

Even though she pulled into the motel parking lot more than 20 minutes ago, she's been unmotivated to move a muscle. Norma's mind races, repeating Alex's words over and over again in her head. Of course she knows he doesn't want to destroy her family. The thought never crossed her mind. In fact, his specific statement of his desire to be a part of her family, made her heart melt but also simultaneously break into a million pieces.

As much as she doesn't want to admit it, this is her fault.

Norma takes a deep breath and wills herself to get out of the car. After shuffling her feet toward the long stairwell, Norma finds herself standing and staring at all of the steps leading to her front door.

With every step she takes, Norma tries to think of a solution or at least a plan to end up back in his arms again.

This all needs to start with Norman. She needs to start letting go.

When she walks through the front door, almost as if she arrived there on automatic pilot, Norma closes the door behind her. After setting her purse on a side table in the foyer she approaches the kitchen, ready to begin breakfast for both her sons and think of a way to fix the mess she's made.

As she steps through the doorway to the kitchen, her movement immediately halts. The sight before her is probably the sweetest scene she's ever seen. With a tiny gasp leaving her lungs, Norma places the palm of her hand over where her heart lies and covers her mouth with the other. This moment helps dull the pain from earlier this morning.

Dylan and Emma sit impossibly close to each other at the kitchen table. Emma's left hand rests on the keyboard of the laptop, while her right fingers are tangled with her eldest son's left. The side of her face is buried into Dylan's shoulder, as he rests his on top of her head.

Norma couldn't help but to get a little closer.

With a sweetened smile and a tear in her eye, Norma tip toes over to the young couple. She peers over their shoulders out of curiosity to see what they may have been looking at. Norma squints her eyes as she bends down a little in an attempt to see the smaller print on the screen, while also maintaining her distance.

The screen regards some sort of medical Institute but before she can read anymore, Norma notices Dylan's hand twitch. Quickly she rushes to the foyer again, not wanting to let the young couple know she had seen their secret.

Her plan isn't complicated, Norma will simply shut the front door a little too loudly and then gradually stroll into the kitchen. Sure. She could tell them their relationship is no longer a secret and hasn't been for a while, but Norma would really like Dylan to trust her enough to tell her himself.

After almost slamming the front door, Norma stomps slowly and loudly toward the kitchen. When she's near, the noise of frantic whispering and chair legs scraping against the linoleum is heard. Norma snickers behind her hand and then clears her throat, loud enough to sound another alarm that she's approaching the room.

"Good morning honey." Norma chirps with a little too much enthusiasm, temporarily burying her own pain.

"Um, morning." Dylan mumbles while shifting in his seat, voice gruff from the lack of sleep.

"Oh, Emma. I didn't see you there." Norma greets excitedly as she moves toward the kitchen counter, quickly turning on the coffee maker and reaching tall with her arm to grab the coffee grounds from the middle shelf of the cabinet. "Are you staying for breakfast?"

There's a long pause, and when Norma peeks over her shoulder she notices the young couple having a silent conversation, but she can't quite pinpoint what they're saying until Emma speaks up.

"Umm. I don't think so," she flashes a small smile and starts to push back her chair. "I'll be leaving soon. I probably should make sure I have everything for my trip."

When Emma starts to stand, a firm yet gentle tug to her hand stops her. However, almost immediately she feels Dylan's hand let go of hers in seeing Norma glancing over to them. "You still have time though, right?" He clears his throat and moves his body awkwardly to look at Emma. "I mean, I'm sure you want to spend a little time with Norma before you leave."

"Ah, yeah, ok sure. I'd love to stay," Emma smiles widely before sitting down next to her boyfriend again.

"Great!" Norma claps with giddy excitement. "I'll just check in with Norman, see if he's hungry also."

Dylan shoots up from his chair. "No!" He shouts, earning a raised eyebrow from his mother. "Sorry," he softens the volume and intensity of his voice. Dylan catches a glimpse of Emma's expression of concern and sighs while he pulls out a chair for his mother to sit next to his other side. "Actually, there's a lot of things we need to talk about if you want to have a seat."

Norma looks confused, even though deep down she hopes this is the news she's been waiting for. She wants her eldest son to finally feel comfortable enough to tell her about his relationship. In her mind his confession would somehow give her encouragement, maybe the bond with her son isn't as strained as she feared.

"I just need you to be silent while I say everything, Ok?" He asks, while also taking a seat in between both women. Umm, well, how do I start this?" He glances to Emma, who gives him a barely noticeable nod. "So I guess, I'll just say it."

Emma reaches for his knee under the table, giving it a squeeze as a sign of support. She also braced herself for his words, worried how Norma will take the news about Norman.

"I'm moving Norma." He informs while placing his hand on top of Emma's. Even though he sees his mother's eyes instantly dampen up, Dylan continues. "Actually, I'm moving to be With Emma." When he looks quickly to his left at Emma, he notices a tear drop to her cheek as well.

Dylan intertwines their fingers and brings her hand to place a kiss to her knuckles before dropping them to his lap again. Emma's eyes widen in surprise, she didn't realize Dylan was going to mention this. When he started speaking, Emma was convinced they would be revealing the unfortunate situation with Norman last night, not their relationship. Her heart warms as he opening holds her hand in Norma's presence.

She's no longer a secret.

Norma sits unmoving and silent after hearing the news, with Dylan and Emma both holding their breath waiting for her response.

Yes. Norma knew about the young couple for a long time, but she didn't think he would ever leave. The mere idea of not having her eldest son near her is making her crumble inside, adding to her already fragile state. She's become accustomed to having Dylan around, not just because he's helped her with Norman but also she's strengthened the bond she thought previously was irreparable.

So much time was lost with her eldest son, Norma doesn't want to lose what they've gained.

The air is thick with silence, until Norma breaks it with a sniffle. Swiftly, Norma swipes her cheek with her fingertips and sits up straighter in her seat. "I'm happy for you," she bites her bottom lip to stop herself from sobbing. No matter how much this news hurts her, she reminds herself that Dylan deserves the chance to live his own life.

With a stronger hold of Emma's hand, Dylan is taken back by his mom's response. He was sure Norma would be upset with the both of them but this reaction is unexpected, causing him to be skeptical. Maybe this isn't new information to his mom after all. Norma is quiet again, allowing him to think for a moment before he points his finger at her with squinting eyes. "You knew," he whispers.

Nodding her head with tears still falling, Norma confesses. "I've known for a while, Dylan."

"When?" Emma speaks up softly, making unwavering eye contact with Norma. "How?"

"For months now," Norma pauses for a second before continuing. "Alex and I saw you months ago, at a restaurant outside of town." She sniffles again while looking down at her lap, breaking the intense stare the young couple is giving her. "I just wanted you to trust me enough to tell me yourself."

Dylan clears his throat before responding, he now feels a bit guilty about not telling his mom sooner. "I thought you would be angry about this. Let's face it, you're not usually on my side Norma."

"I'm always on your side Dylan, always!" She exclaims, causing the couple to flinch a little. Continuing to wipe her tears, Norma reduces the intensity in her tone. "When are you moving?"

"Well, Emma is leaving later today or tomorrow." He looks toward his mom to see her face fall even more. "But I'm not." He advises, immediately noticing her expression brighten at his reply. "I'm working on a business deal of sorts with a Seattle based company. They'll be working on getting me an office there, they already of a production building for me to utilize. I then have to make sure everything is put into place here with Remo and Gunner, probably hire some more guys for Seattle. I'm not sure how long all of that will take yet."

Norma is beaming with the pride the more her eldest son goes through his business plan. The way Dylan has matured in such a short amount of time, from the resentful young man to the level-headed man he is today, is astounding. Needless to say, Norma is impressed. "I'm so proud of you sweetie."

"Um, thanks." Dylan answers awkwardly, he's never heard those words from her before so he isn't sure how to respond to this compliment. "Look Norma, there is something else we need to talk about."

Emma squeezes his hand in hers, feeling the slight tremor within his grip. She tries to console him silently, while also encouraging him to continue.

"Norman had an episode last night." He blurts out, even though he intended to be calmer with his words.

XXXX

Norma is crushed after hearing Dylan provide details of her youngest son's incident the night before. This is especially difficult to hear since she believed these episodes had subsided, but it appears they were just dormant.

It's all too much to handle.

Wanting to cry but realizing she has no more tears left, Norma remains eerily quiet which concerns the young couple.

Deciding to give his mother some time to let the information sink in, Dylan allows the silence to remain thick in the room. He sits patiently, throwing occasional glances at both his girlfriend and his mother with a lost expression.

Emma remains supportive of both Norma and Dylan, feeling the same amount of pain in her heart as they both do. She even remains sitting in quiet with her mother-figure while Dylan jogs upstairs to check in on his brother, to keep the older woman company.

When Dylan strides back into the kitchen, Norma breaks out of her trance. "Is he alright?" She looks up toward her eldest son, following his every movement until he sits back down in his seat next to her.

"He's still resting, but he seems fine." Dylan advises, with a soft sadness to the tone of voice.

With a nod and a swift sweep across her cheek with the palm of her hand, Norma leans forward and asks another question with a wobble in her voice. "Why didn't you tell me?" She takes a deep breath to calm herself before speaking again, but louder and firmer this time. "You should've told me!"

Dylan winces at his mother's tone, causing Emma to grip her boyfriend's hand tighter. She notices out of the corner of her eye how his jaw suddenly clenches and his shoulders slump forward, signaling he's distressed at Norma's outburst.

"I couldn't!" He practically shouts, but then remembers his brother is resting just upstairs. With a more composed volume, Dylan continues to explain after a pause. "I saw you at the festival," he takes a deep breath and focuses on his mother. "You looked happy. And I didn't want to ruin that for you, Norma." He raises the curve of his lip, in a half smile. "You're miserable without him. I know you are, because I remember how miserable I was without Emma." He peeks to his left, smile growing wide in connecting his gaze with Emma.

When he turns back to Norma, her face appears gentler. "You can't help him, mom." He says, noticing how her expression perked up at the name she always hopes to hear from her eldest son. "None of us can. He needs some sort of specialized care," he sighs sadly. "We all want to help him, but there's only so much we can do. I mean," Dylan starts to speak but chokes up a bit with the memory of his brother rushing toward the Sheriff and his mother still fresh in his mind. "After seeing him last night and even when I checked on him this morning, I realized we're not helping him. He deserves a life Norma, he deserves a chance."

"Norma." She tentatively reaches her hand across the table to awkwardly touch her left palm to the top of Norma's hand in a soothing manner, while still clutching Dylan's with her right. "We were doing research last night and I think we found something."

With wide eyes, Norma leans back in her chair and then immediately shifts her focus from her son to Emma.

"I think we found some help for Norman."

XXXX

"My baby is leaving," Norma says sadly with a few tears streaking down her cheeks and a sniffle.

Dylan rolls his eyes at his mother's dramatics, though deep down he's enjoying every bit of the attention he's receiving. "You knew this day was coming, Norma." He advises while continuing to pack the last of his items, "I've even stayed longer than I intended to."

"I know." She whispers, as she steps toward a chair in her eldest son's room and takes a seat. "I appreciate all of your help, especially over the last couple of months."

After their conversation almost exactly two months ago, there had been several changes with the family.

Emma left for college in Seattle, with Dylan's promises to follow behind her soon. Unfortunately, making arrangements with his business both in White Pine Bay and the new larger location in a small town outside Seattle, took longer than he expected.

However, there was another reason to stay with the family a little longer.

When the young couple told Norma about the incident his brother experienced, she was receptive to every word and concern they mentioned. Norma knew they were right, she couldn't help her youngest son any longer. Norman deserved a chance to have a fulfilling life also, just like they all do.

With everything all said and done, Norma decided to move forward with possible treatment options. She looked at all of the research Emma found, had conference calls with doctors and administrators and of course, finally had a conversation with Norman.

Norma along with Dylan, had a talk with the young man about all of the options and information they had about a possible treatment plan. Though upset at first, Norman decided to listen after an initial protest. With all information shared, Norman tentatively answered with a slight nod when asked if he would be open to the idea of making a change.

As time continued, Norman seemed to be more excited by the thought of receiving help and grew to like the idea of feeling average. It sounds a little silly to want to feel like an average person but to someone who feels so out of control most of the time, feeling like an ordinary person sounds pretty amazing.

Things moved quickly for the family when the decision was made.

Making arrangements for all involved and figuring out their next steps became their main focus. Dylan figured out plans for his business and even managed to find a quaint little rent-to-own 2 bedroom property on the edge of Seattle. It is close enough for Emma to use public transportation for her classes, while keeping the small town atmosphere. Even though Dylan accomplished everything he needed to within just over a month, he elected to aid Norma and his brother in implementing their plan as well.

It was time for a change, for all of them.

"Did you tell him yet?" Dylan asks, zipping up his now extremely full duffle bag with the last of his items.

"I didn't." Norma replies in a volume barely audible while covering her face with her hands, trying to avoid the judgmental expression Dylan is no doubt throwing her way right now. When she peeks through her fingers a few seconds later, she indeed observes her son narrowing his eyes in her direction.

With a sigh, Dylan slides his bag toward the middle of his bed and then sits on the edge facing his mother. "Why do you do this?"

"Do what?" She asks carefully, trying to figure out how much of an argument her simple question will cause.

As he runs his fingertips roughly through his hair out of frustration, Dylan takes a deep breath in an attempt keep things calm. "It's like you go out of your way to ruin things for yourself. You do it all the time. The next thing you'll do is blame me or Norman, or both of us."

"That's not true!" Norma shouts in her defense. "That's not tr- ," she begins to repeat but quieter until she stops speaking altogether. That's when she realizes, Dylan is right. "He hasn't contacted me either."

Dylan chuckles and shakes his head a couple of times, "I know what he said to you. This is all on your shoulders now, not his."

Norma raises her eyebrows in surprise with her jaw dropped open, she knows for sure this was not a conversation she had with him.

He chuckles again, "Do really not realize Emma tells me everything? I know you had a conversation with her, she told me all about it in fact." He stands up suddenly and then leans with his side on the doorframe with his arms crossed. "You know, how the Sheriff basically told you that it is your decision on whether you want to be with him."

"Emma!" She huffs, cheeks blushing furiously after wondering what all the young woman divulged. "She's like a daughter to me. That's it from this point on, I disown her!" Norma tries to change the subject or at least sway the chat off course for a bit.

"That is not the point, Norma. You know she loves to talk to you. Lord knows Emma likes to give advice and stick her nose in places it shouldn't be, it's almost enduring." He smirks, uncrossing his arms and pushing off the doorframe to stand a bit closer to his mother.

"I'm not going to be as indirect as Emma with my advice. You need to fix this with him," he sighs heavily in noticing his mother's distressed expression. "Norma, you need to fix this. This is serious, time is running out."

"I know," she whispers with another couple of tears falling slowly. "I'm nervous he'll say no to my offer. I made so many mistakes with Alex, what if he's done with me forever?"

Dylan walks back to his bed with a softened expression and sits in his previous spot. He tries to concentrate on his words, not wanting to upset his mother further. "After you forced me to get to know the guy," Dylan pauses and leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I realized, just how much he cares for you. He would truly follow you anywhere Norma."

XXXX

Dylan hugs his mother tightly after he threw the rather large duffle into the backseat. "Please go see him mom," he whispers in her and pulls back with a smile. "Right, Norman?" He states looking over to his brother with an even brighter smile as he steps closer to him, arms open wide.

Norman nods while returning the smile. He steps closer and allows his older brother to wrap his arms around him. "Take care of mom and don't let her lose him." Dylan advises, stepping back to see Norman still grinning. "I'm going to be checking in with you, okay buddy. I'll come and visit too, bring Emma with me even."

Over two months ago, Dylan wouldn't have thought this moment could even happen. The brother bond always seemed strained, at best. However, the family surprisingly grew closer versus tore apart, even when Norman learned about his mother's connection with the Sheriff.

It was rough at first, Norman didn't take the news well. With time though, the young man realized that no matter who comes into Norma's life he and his brother would always be important to her. And when Dylan told him how much their mother loves Romero and vice versa, Norman relented and became open to the simple idea of supporting their relationship. Each day, he became more and more open to letting another person join their tight-knit family, even if it's someone like the Sheriff.

As soon as Dylan let go of his little brother, Norma comes rushing over one more time. She squeezes him tightly in her arms one last time, causing him to almost lose his breath in her grip. "My baby," she sniffles with a shaky bottom lip.

Dylan gasps when he's finally free of his mom's embrace. "You act like I'll never see you again," he chuckles as he steps around the truck. "We won't be far and you know Emma would love visitors. Take care of each other, I'll call you!" He shouts through an open window as he starts the ignition and eventually drives out onto the open road.

XXXX

Norma sits in her car, no longer driving but parked in a familiar driveway. After confirming the Sheriff would not be going to the office today when she called the Sheriff's department, disguising her voice a bit of course, Norma decided to drive to his home.

Today is going to be the day, the day where she will ask him a life changing question. She has been practicing what to say for days, well, more like weeks. Rehearsing exactly what she is going to say over and over again, even practicing her words with her sons and Emma listening closely.

Every possible outcome has been thought of, but her favorite of course is the one where he says yes. The one where she falls into his arms and beams with so much happiness she feels like she'll burst as they walk off into the sunset hand in hand. This timing is closer to the sun rising than sun setting, but the incredible delightful feeling would be the same at whatever time of day.

Now here she sits, in her vehicle parked in front of the large window of his living room, curtains closed. The home looks undisturbed, but with the garage door open and his vehicle sitting inside she knows he's home.

Before she can go in, Norma looks in the mirror making sure her hair is perfectly styled and her lipstick appropriately applied. Practicing her words a few more times, Norma finally feels comfortable to do this. Hoping for the best, scared to death of the worst.

XXXX

Always being aware of surroundings is an essential for anyone in the law enforcement field, the Sheriff is no exception to this. He hears tires slowly roll over his gravel approach and finally come to a rest in front of his door.

In hearing the ignition turn off, Romero powers off his television and sneaks carefully into his bedroom. As the Sheriff, he has enemies. The room happens to have a window also facing the front the driveway, perfect set up for observing without being noticed.

The sheriff peeks through the tiny slit of the curtains and notices something he had given up hope of seeing again, Norma's vehicle. With squinting his eyes, he observes the recognizable blonde woman staring at her rearview mirror clearly talking to herself.

Sharply inhaling, the Sheriff witnesses Norma step out of the vehicle and immediately smooth the wrinkles from her dress. Not just any dress, the one she knows is his favorite. His heart rate picks up when he sees her carefully close her car door. Slowly she steps toward his front door, causing him to move quickly.

Grabbing a shirt from the closet, the Sheriff puts it on and switches his sweatpants for pants don't look so depressing. As he passes by his dresser he rushes to open the bottle of cologne sitting on top and applies it with quivering hands, probably applying a bit too much. He stealthily moves to the living room area again and waits just long enough to not look like he's literally waiting for her to come over, even though technically he has for the past two months.

When a sufficient amount of knocking is heard, Romero saunters to the door with his pulse absolutely racing. He has to play it cool though, he has to remain calm. When he finally opens the door, he sees Norma standing opposite of him with a nervous smile.

"Hi." She whispers cautiously, but then immediately closes her eyes and inhales deeply. There's a tiny smile playing on her lips before her lids flutter open again, seeing Alex staring at her with a raised brow. His scent, Norma never realized how much she's craved it until she had been deprived of it. Though, now she's been caught literally sniffing the air that is stained with probably her favorite smell.

Currently, her mind is clouded after being distracted when Alex opened the door moments ago. All of her rehearsing seems rendered pointless since every word Norma had locked in her thoughts, disappeared. She's suddenly thrust back into reality when her name is quietly called.

With a shake of her head, she blurts out her next words. "I'm moving."

Seeing his face fall, Norma knows she made a mistake. This is not how she wanted to start this conversation and isn't surprised to see the door starting to close and the love of her life starting to slip away.

In a panic, Norma lunges forward and stops the door from closing with her arm. "I'm sorry, that- that isn't all. I ha- have more to say, please." She stutters while pleading.

When the Sheriff opens the door further, Norma in an instant steps backwards to give him his space. Norma is right back to where she's started, standing on the front steps looking for the signal from him for her to start over. After seeing his tentative nod and stoic expression, Norma begins again.

"Ok, I'm going to start. Pretend I didn't say anything yet. But, can you please just listen to me before you say anything?" She requests, receiving another nod from the Sheriff.

"I am moving, but I came here to ask you to come with me." Norma continues quietly while looking downward, finding it difficult to connect her eyes with his at the moment. If Norma had been watching however, she would have noticed his eyes widen and his face soften.

"I've, well actually Emma and Dylan, found a place for Norman. He needs help that I can't give him, they made me realize that. I never understood how the care I was giving him, was actually hurting him." Tiny tears start to gather in the corners of her eyes as she speaks now. "I was the one damaging him and not giving him a chance to get better."

The Sheriff remains still, even though he wants nothing more than to unfreeze his muscles and wrap her in an unbreakable embrace but he doesn't. Instead he forces himself to be silent and allow her to continue with every word she needs to say, if only for herself. She needs to say them.

"Anyway, the place is located in a small town about an hour outside Seattle. He'll be staying in the residence there while going through some treatment and then eventually he'll be able to stay at home, when he's better. It's top notch and with Norman's condition they're giving us a scholarship, I guess that's what they call it anyways." She dares to look up and gaze at him while pausing for a few seconds. "Norman was resistant at first, but there has been a change in him. He almost looked relieved when we continued to talk with him about it." Norma smiles at the Sheriff, "I told him about us. He was upset in the beginning, but he's accepted it now and he also supports us. Dylan is such an advocate for you, us actually."

She grins while talking about her sons. "He truly admires you, Dylan I mean. But, honestly I think when you get to know Norman more, he'll feel the same. We all want you apart of our family, as crazy as we are sometimes. You'll only make us better."

The Sheriff is stunned by everything he's hearing, not really sure how to react. He shuffles his feet a little closer, but then stops when Norma speaks again.

"I have more yet," Norma giggles while moving right hand up to halt his movements. "I sold the motel."

Alex narrows his eyes in confusion, how would he have missed this sale? He's not going to willingly admit he has driven past the motel a few times in the last couple months, but he knows there hasn't been any signs advertising a sale.

"I was still apprehensive about moving, so I didn't really advertise the sale. I think it was my way of procrastinating or trying to fail intentionally at this idea. If I couldn't sell the motel, then I surely couldn't leave."

With another brief break, she looks down again almost in shame before she pulls herself together and talks again. "I was disappointing my sons and I didn't even comprehend that in my mind. Anyways, one morning I noticed a small sign in the office. Dylan was sneaky and put it up, without me knowing. I guess he really is my son," she smirks fondly. "Well I just left it up and pretended to do my part, I guess you could say. But then a guest noticed it. He saw potential in the motel and made an offer." She notices the concern written on his face.

"Oh no, don't worry. I had a local lawyer look through the offer. It's a good one Alex, one that's going to really help the family. A deal that was so good, I was able to buy a home in a lovely little town. I'm opening a bed and breakfast," she smiles broadly with pride. "It's right on the water, a beautiful lake front. It's near Norman's facility so when he does transition home, he'll be able to still attend his sessions easily. And I'll still be near Dylan and Emma, who have finally told me about their relationship by the way," she gushes happily.

"Ok, and I hope you're not upset about this." Her eyes are now filled with worry at the idea how angry he could be with her, due to the next part of her speech. "Maybe I shouldn't have, but I wanted to find out possibilities for you, working there I mean. I called the Sheriff's department there and some surrounding area police departments. There are a couple of departments in need of officers, Alex." Her head hangs a bit lower, treading carefully with this part. "I talked to them about you and they were so impressed with you. You couldn't be Sheriff there right away, but it's a start."

Norma flashes a hopeful smile, though it disappears fast when she notices his stoic expression return. "This was a mistake wasn't it, I've upset you again? I just, I - , I – don't want to lose you Alex." She stammers, looking almost defeated believing she made things worse like she has so many times before. Norma shakes the nerves from her fingers and struggles to maintain eye contact.

"I'm sorry, I've overstepped my boundaries, haven't I?" Her bottom lip wobbles. "I promise, I had the best of intentions Alex."

The Sheriff remains unmoving, trying to comprehend all of this. Every word more heavy than the next, causing him to feel incredibly overwhelmed and full of emotions he's not used to experiencing. He doesn't know what to say, his jaw drops slightly ajar but his face still appears naturally indifferent.

Uncomfortable with the silence and unable to read his expression, Norma grows increasingly more anxious. Feeling incredibly vulnerable standing in front of the man she loves, Norma holds her breath and squeezes her eyes shut briefly. Deeply exhaling, Norma gathers all of her courage to ask the question she realizes she hasn't actually asked yet.

In almost a whisper with her hands continuing to tremble, Norma asks the question she meant to ask in first arriving at his doorstep this morning.

"Will you move in with me?"

XXXX

Okay, one last chapter… the epilogue. I can't believe I have been writing this for over 2 years. Thank you to all who have been reading this!