Norma Louise Bates had been awake for some time now, but she refused to let on. It all made sense now - The nausea she had attributed to anxiety over telling Norman the truth, the insatiable need for Alex's touch this past week, coupled with the endless tears over everything and anything. She replayed the last few moments before she had blacked out over and over in her head, doing her best to stay perfectly still as a single tear seeped from under her closed eyelid. Her hand was tightly clutched in someone's hands, and she wondered if it was Alex's or Norman's until Norman's voice piped up from the other side of the room.

"Why isn't she waking up?" He said, sounding like a scared child again.

"Shh, Norman. Let her sleep." Alex said, his tone not as unkind as Norma would have expected.

"But why?" Norman whined, from where she guessed he was sulking in the corner of the room. "Why won't anyone tell me what's wrong?"

She heard Alex sigh next to her, his thumb tapping nervously against the back of her hand.

There was a long pause, and Norma nearly opened her eyes to figure out what was happening before Alex spoke again, very softly so as not to wake her.

"She's going to be fine, Norman. That's all that matters."

"But-" Norman started, and Norma could hear the threat of tears in his voice, even if Alex couldn't. "I just don't understand." His voice cracked and Norma couldn't stop her eyes from fluttering open, ready to comfort him, just as Alex turned away from her, releasing her hand suddenly. She watched as Alex crossed the room to where Norman was stood with his shoulders hunched forward and for a second, she thought he was going to hit him, surprised when just stopped directly in front of him. Neither of them were watching her now, so she was free to watch as Alex's hand came up to clap Norman lightly on the arm, a deeply uncomfortable act of man-comforting.

"You think I did something. That I hurt her, don't you? That's why you won't tell me." Norman's voice was thick with tears as he dug his hands in his pockets, his shoulders shaking.

"No. I don't. I know you didn't hurt her, ok?" Alex spoke quietly, a slight note of panic in his voice as he watched the boy cry.

"She's my mother and no-one will tell me what's wrong with her!" He sobbed out desperately, pushing ineffectually at Romero's shoulders, lashing out uselessly.

"I can't tell you right now, Norman. Norman! Look at me. She's ok!" He flailed, trying to avoid Norman's hopeless little shoves, eventually giving up and pulling him in for an awkward hug. "She's ok." He repeated gently, and the sudden silence in the room gave Norma away, as she let out an unintentional sob at the sight of Alex pulling Norman in for their clumsy hug.

They sprung apart, like they'd been caught being nice to each other, and didn't want her to know, before both rushing over to her bedside.

"Mother?" Norman choked out, his broken tone triggering a fresh wave of tears from Norma, who covered her face with her hands, overwhelmed by everything she was feeling.

"Norman, go and get the doctor."

"But-"

"Go and get the doctor!" Alex snapped, apparently learning how to deal with Norman fast.

Norma heard the door snap shut and felt Alex try to pull her hands away from her face. She resisted, not ready to face him yet, sobbing hysterically, unable to stop.

"It's ok, it's ok." He murmured, over and over, and it wasn't ok. It never was and she was sick of it. She was sick of him having to comfort her through yet another emotional crisis. It wasn't fair. Why did everything have to end like this? With her crying her eyes out, and him having to pick up the pieces? She wept till she didn't have the energy to fight him any more, letting him pull her against him, pressing his hand against the back of her neck, her tears soaking into his shirt.

"I'm so sorry." She blubbed, her words muffled against his chest, as her sobs subsided slightly into hiccups. He pulled her back to look at her, brushing her hair away from her face.

"What for?" He seemed genuinely confused, and she bit her lip to stop from wailing, as her shaky hand patted her stomach, glancing down then back up at him.

"It's ok." He said, casually, and her mouth dropped open, shocked at his cavalier attitude. She knew it hadn't been something they had planned, but she still expected him to be at least half as devastated as she felt. He watched her for a moment, confused, before he gasped, a smile spreading over his face as his thumbs brushed her tears away.

"No, I mean, it's ok." He nodded at her stomach. "He, she, it. It's ok." He clarified, smiling shakily at her as fresh tears sprang to her eyes, this time of relief. Her hand unconsciously moved to her belly, a protective move she couldn't help, as she shed delighted tears.

"I thought..."

"Shhh." He pulled her in for another hug, cutting off the thought before she could voice it. He had had the same fears when he had seen those tiny, terrifying dots of blood on her gown, their eyes meeting, both realising the same thing before she had fainted in his arms. He pushed the thought from his mind. They were fine. They were going to be fine.

She had a sudden thought and sniffled, leaning back a little to fix him with an inquiring stare.

"Are you happy?" She whispered, biting her lip.

He smiled tearfully at her, his hand sliding to cover hers where it rested on her belly, springing forward to press a soft kiss against her lips.

"I'm happy." He clarified, as they both laughed breathlessly.

"Mrs Romero?" There was a tentative knock on the door as the doctor poked her head in, obviously disturbing a tender moment.

"It's Bates." She said automatically, earning a snort from Alex.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Her eyes glanced down at the file in her hands. "Your son came to get me. I see your husband has already broken the news. Congratulations!"

They grinned back at her, both sniffling slightly.

"So, I'd like to talk to you a little about what happened today. It's nothing to worry about - Just some spotting. We just have to be careful because of your age-" She took a step forward, and Norma and Alex both gasped at the same time as Norma was revealed standing right behind her, silhouetted in the doorway. His mouth was hanging open, his face pale and before anyone could speak, he had bolted, his shoes squeaking as he sprinted along the corridor away from the worst news he could imagine.


Norman had found his way home a few hours later, walking into the living room like a nervous ball of energy, panting heavily as if he had run there.

"Norman! We've been so worried-"

He held a hand up to stop her, before pacing back and forth a few times, then plonking himself down on the sofa, regarding them both strangely.

No-one said anything for a moment, and his eyes focused on Alex's hand on his mother's knee, avoiding their worried, curious eye contact.

"You're too old to have a baby." He had said childishly, after a long, uncomfortable pause.

"Norman." She chastised him gently, slightly offended. "I'm not that old, you know."

Alex squeezed her knee reassuringly and Norman's gaze narrowed.

"I just have to take it easy, make sure I eat properly, get lots of rest." She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, not sure how Norman was taking the news. "I could use your help with the motel."

"I'm going to go and call Doctor Edwards." He announced suddenly, springing to his feet and leaving the room.

He came back half an hour later, visibly calmer, and sat down, folding his hands into his lap.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted before." He said calmly, evenly. "I was surprised and I was- I felt upset that you had kept it from me." He took a deep breath, and Norma was once again thankful for the miracle that was Doctor Edwards.

"And how do you feel now?" Alex said, softly. Norman's gaze darted to him, fixing him with an icy stare.

"Doctor Edwards wants me to be honest. So... I'm angry. And I'm... jealous." He forced the word out like it pained him to say it. Norma's hand reached for Alex's, squeezing it desperately.

"But... I'm also... happy for you." Norman spat the words out, like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone. "I want you to be happy." He added, his gaze fixed on Norma, sounding more sincere there.

"I'm... pleased for you." He rose from his chair suddenly and they both flinched. He crossed the room and Alex leaned forward protectively, as Norma shrank back a little.

"Congratulations." He said softly, his eyes a little sad, as he leaned down to press a peck against his mother's cheek. She smiled up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears, before he turned to Alex, fixing him with a tight smile.

"Sheriff." He nodded stiffly, reaching out to shake his hand, and it was literally the best case scenario they could have hoped for. Norma looked deliriously happy as she looked on, watching the handshake as if it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

He was halfway across the room, apparently exhausted by all of this opening up and honestly malarky, when he paused in the doorway, turning back to face them.

"Oh, I'll be going to live with Dylan, by the way." He held up his hand before either of them could speak. "Please don't dissolve into hysterics, mother. Think of the baby." He said warmly, watching as her hand came up of it's own will to pat her stomach. "I just think it's for the best. Besides, I couldn't live here with a newborn. I get crazy without my eight hours." He smirked at them and then left, leaving them in a shocked silence.

"That literally could not have gone any better." Alex said finally, turning to look at Norma, sighing when he noticed she was crying again. She'd always been emotional, but her hormones were in overdrive and she seemed to be crying more often than not at the moment.

Her bottom lip trembled ridiculously as the tears came and her face crumpled.

"He shook your hand!" She eventually sobbed out, letting him pull her into his arms, his hands running up and down her back.

"You're absurd." He muttered, laughing as she punched him weakly.


Your responses to my last coupla chapters have been SOO lovely, you guys! They really made me smile; Sometimes innocent smile, sometimes evil smile because that's just who I am. I'm glad to not have received any hate mail for my BLATANT troll-like behaviour and basically vicious twitter-teasing over the cliffhangers of the last couple of episodes. I would LOVE to tell you that the heartache is over, but in some ways, its just beginning. Fear not, there is more fluff to come though. It's gonna be a WORLD of "flangst".

xxx