Norma and Alex emerged from the arrivals lounge to find a sign saying "Mr and Mrs Romero" held up by a smiling, all-american-looking couple.
Alex almost sprinted the last few feet, hugging the man who looked nothing like him before she could even catch up. A small blonde woman was watching the two embrace, her hands clapped happily over her face as she watched them, before she turned to Norma.
"Norma?" She said happily, as if she'd known her for years. Norma nodded uncertainly, before being swept up in the young woman's hug, returning it out of politeness, smiling helplessly at Alex as he pulled away from the man, watching her sweetly.
"It's so lovely to meet you!" The blonde said sincerely into her ear, and Norma smiled against her shoulder, meeting Alex's eyes.
"Ok, Sarah, put her down." The man said gently, as she pulled away from her. Norma didn't protest as she was passed from the blonde woman to the large, sandy-haired man, being embraced in another brief hug.
"Mrs Romero. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He said, enveloping her gently for a few polite seconds before pulling away.
"It's Bates." Alex piped up, and Norma flushed, as she had briefly forgotten this was all pretend.
"Norma Bates." Alex clarified, at their confused glances. "Couldn't quite convince her to take my name." She wound her arm around his waist, feeling him flinch slightly at her touch before relaxing into it, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
"He's still working on it." She added teasingly, pressing a soft kiss against his surprised cheek, before smiling at the couple in front of her. This was important to him and she wasn't going to half-ass their cover.
"Honey," he started, sickly sweet, and she smiled at him, realised he was cottoning on to her move. "This is Gabriel, my little brother."
Even though they had already hugged, Gabriel held his hand out politely and they shook hands.
"It's a pleasure, Norma Bates." Gabriel said, warmly, and though she barely knew him, Norma already liked him.
"May I introduce my lady love, Sarah?" He said, with over-the-top formality, his arm wrapping around the tiny blonde's shoulder. At first glance, she was the kind of girl Norma would normally hate - The kind of overly pretty young blonde woman who seemed frequently drawn to her unstable son, but there was something humble and sincere in the way she smiled at Norma that had her won over, reaching to shake her hand also.
"Hi." Norma said quietly, suddenly shy, which was quite unlike her.
"Norma Bates, can I get you a drink?" Gabriel said suddenly, as if sensing her nervousness.
"I would love that." She said gratefully, letting him pull her gently towards where they were parked.
"Ok, what do we want first? Drink or a tour?" Gabriel said casually, as he pushed open the door to his and Sarah's impressive house. Norma had quickly realised she had somewhat underestimated the great state of Florida. Her head had been filled with visions of spring breakers and gators and swamps, so she had been quietly impressed with the understated beauty of Jupiter, Florida as Gabriel had driven them to their place. The sun was just started to set, casting an impressive golden hue over the beach as they drove alongside it, winding around the harbour, passing the lighthouse as they headed back into the city.
They pulled up to an imposing villa, glancing at each other across the back seat before staring back up at the house.
"I know. It's a little ostentatious." Gabriel admitted quickly, noticing their reluctance. "We got a great deal." He added, almost guiltily.
Norma and Alex jumped out of the car, staring up at the house in quiet awe, as Gabriel and Sarah wrapped an arm around each other, biting their lips nervously.
"It's hard to sell family houses in Jupiter. It's more of a retirement community." Sarah piped up. "That's why we got such a good deal." She added apologetically.
"No, no. It's beautiful." Norma said quickly, not wanting them to feel self conscious about their home. Her own home wasn't much smaller really. It was just... very different.
"It's lovely, Gabe." Alex said suddenly, glancing uneasily at the palm trees surrounding their drive as if he didn't quite trust them. "Show us around."
They had a cursory tour of the house, Norma's mouth flying open as they showed her the pool and Alex had casually added "Oh, Norma's having a pool added to the motel. Maybe you could show her some plans?"
Norma found herself naturally liking Gabriel and Sarah, sensing a natural bond between them. Gabriel looked almost nothing like Alex; He had a buff, tan, wholesome look that reminded her of an overgrown abercrombie+fitch model, but when he smiled, she saw Alex all over his face. And since Gabriel seemed to have the tendency of smiling all the time, she could see more and more of Alex in him.
Sarah was the kind of girl she would be inclined to hate, all long blonde hair and white teeth, had she not experienced her genuine warmth first hand. She was clearly considerably younger than Gabriel, though no-one mentioned it, and Norma found herself caring less and less about it the longer she knew her.
"And this is going to be the nursery." Sarah had said, with surprising honesty, after pushing open a door that currently opened into a room full of nothing.
"Well, we hope." Gabriel countered, smiling gently at his soon-to-be-wife, before fixing Alex with an unreadable expression. Norma smiled at the empty room, oddly pleased that this couple she barely knew were planning on having children, before noticing Sarah staring at her strangely. Alex nodded mildly, patting his brother before moving on.
"And this is your room." Sarah said with a flourish, opening a door into an exquisitely decorated guest room. The walls were a soft lavender blue, the bed made up with the layers of unnecessary cushions and bedlinen that seemed to only exist in guest bedrooms.
"Is it ok?" Sarah said anxiously, biting her lip and Norma grasped her arm lightly, gazing around the immaculate room.
"It's perfect. Thank you." She said the words so warmly, so genuinely, that she quietly congratulated herself on keeping the shake out of her voice. In truth, this small room, with this huge bed had filled her with anxiety that she could barely contain, but instead of letting anyone know, she just smiled, her grin huge as she let Alex slip his arm into hers.
"Right. Tour over. How incredibly boring we've all become. Let's have a drink!" Gabe said enthusiastically. Sarah tutted at his words, but let him pull her excitedly towards the kitchen, as Norma and Alex followed behind.
"Norma? We made mojitos..." Sarah started quietly, as she loudly shook a cocktail shaker.
"Great. I love mojitos!" Norma replied, twisting her skirt in her hands nervously.
Gabriel and Sarah shared a long look as she shook the shaker, before straining the contents into four glasses.
"I also like a mojito." Alex said pointedly, as Gabe was already starting to hand him one, starting to feel like Norma was the guest and he wasn't.
"We were just checking..." Gabriel started, before Sarah began shushing him. "Stop it!" He cut her off, as she blushed heavily from behind the bar. "We were wondering if that was what all the haste was for."
There was a pause as Norma and Alex regarded them curiously for a moment.
"We wondered if there a reason for such a hasty wedding..." Gabriel said pointedly, giving up on any sense of pretence, gesturing awkwardly at Norma's stomach.
She took a long, awkward sip of her drink before answering, though her sip of alcohol was really answer enough.
"No, no. We just..." She started, before Alex cut her off.
"-I think we might be a little old for a shotgun wedding, Gabe."
They all laughed, though it sounded a little hollow to all of their ears.
"Ok, ok. Just drink your drinks then. Sarah mixes a mean mojito, right?"
The rest of the evening passed fairly casually, only a few awkward moments passing between them.
"So how did you two meet?" Sarah had asked lightly, at one point, and Norma had spoken before Alex could.
"He tried to arrest me. Thought I'd murdered a local scumbag." Norma said lightly, glancing casually at Alex. She'd apparently decided that the least they had to lie about, the easier it would be, her tone breezy as she flashed him a tense look.
Gabe and Sarah laughed.
"And had she?" Sarah asked, laughter playing on her voice.
He glanced at her, and then rearranged his face into a playful expression.
"Of course she had. She hacked him to pieces." He said, his tone darkly humorous as Gabe and Sarah chuckled. Norma rolled her eyes, fixing a smile on her face, trying to pretend she found it absurd and not entirely the truth.
"Well, I'm sure he deserved it!" Gabe joked, not noticing the tense look that passed between Norma and Alex as their smiles froze in place.
"So, Sarah, tell me about the wedding." Norma changed the subject abruptly, watching Sarah's face light up at the chance to talk about her big day.
"It's going to be on the beach!" She said excitedly, briefly showing just how young she was as she clapped her hands together. "Just a small ceremony." She paused, her smile fading slightly. "We don't have much family between us."
Gabe's hand shot out to grasp at hers, shooting her an encouraging look, while Alex and Norma's smiles froze in place, suddenly feeling very sad for reasons they didn't quite grasp.
"That's why we were so happy you could make it." Sarah said quietly, smiling at them. "Both of you." She added, sharing a shy little smile with Norma.
The silence stretched on for a moment too long and Gabe suddenly sprang up, grabbing the pitcher off the counter.
"You've kinda killed the vibe, my love." He said playfully, starting to refill everyone's glasses before anyone could protest. She shrugged, in a sorry-not-sorry kind of way, shooting him a flirtatious little grin as she shook her empty glass at him.
"So... I now know that kids aren't in any immediate future," Gabe started, earning tense smiles from them both. "But... what's the plan? Any kids in the pipeline?"
"Don't forget we're not as young as you and your young wife." Alex said abruptly, earning him a harsh glance from Norma. It was the first mention that had been made of the age difference between Gabe and Sarah, and Alex flinched, not really meaning it harshly.
"Soon-to-be-wife." Sarah added sweetly, apparently unaffected by his tone, though Gabe fixed him with a stare that made him shrink in his chair a little.
Norma flushed, glancing helplessly at Alex, who had already drawn breath to reply on her behalf.
"Well, Norma already has a son." He said, without pausing. She glared at him, as if her son's very existence should be some big secret.
"But he's eighteen, so it's not like Alex is taking him on or anything." She added hastily, drawing slightly uncomfortable nods from Gabriel and Sarah. Alex reached over to pat her arm, shooting her a look that told her to calm down.
"But he's a great kid." Alex said, and Norma shot him an incredulous look. He almost sounded believable.
"Yes. He is." She said defiantly, like she was challenging him to disagree. They stared at each other for a moment too long, until Gabe and Sarah starting shifting in their seats, shooting each other questioning glances.
"Anyway, we're going fishing when we get back." Alex recovered, suddenly breaking the intense eye contact and plastering a smile on his face while he lied smoothly.
"Wow Alex - A married man. Taking the kid fishing. When did you grow up so much?"
"I'm a changed man, Gabe." He said, smiling at him, shooting Norma a look that told her to just shut up and agree with him.
"What have you done with my brother?" Gabriel said seriously, patting Norma's hand. Alex gently took her other hand in his own. She wasn't sure what she should say, so she just smiled, nodding gently back at him.
What had she done to him?
I know literally nothing about Florida. I only picked it because I wanted somewhere totally different from the setting of the show, just to change it up a bit. I spent a few minutes on trip advisor, checking out Jupiter and it seemed like a delightful little town, with a very pretty lighthouse. That's literally all I know. Everything beyond that is entirely fictional.
