Next installment for all still reading and keeping up with this story. Love all my readers. Hope everyone likes this! Happy reading - MJ123 :)

Once Norma, Alex, and the baby got to Room 11 and settled in, the crying started. Ella wailed like she saw something frightening and Norma immediately jumped into "mommy" mode. Something she hadn't tapped into since Norman was born. Her first instinct was to fix the baby girl a fresh bottle and try feeding her, to her surprise it actually worked.

It was cute, the way she gurgled and smiled with a full tummy. Alex was awkwardly sitting on the other side of the room watching how she tended to Ella, he had no idea what to do or how to help out. Norma couldn't read his signs, she walked over to him with a smile on her face.

"Alex," she began, her voice warm and soothing to comfort the baby, "You wanna try to hold her?".

He immediately shook his head and put a hand out, "No...no I'm okay."

She rolled her eyes and put Ella over her shoulder, a hand patting at her back. Suddenly, a big burp left her throat, making both adults laugh.

"She's so tiny," Norma said, her mouth still emitting tiny chuckles, "How in the world can she make such a big noise?".

He shrugged, the small smile still on his lips. "Beats me, I guess you fed her a bit too much."

"Yeah, probably. I'm gonna give her a bath, it's getting kinda late and I want to put her to sleep soon," Norma said, walking towards the bathroom.

"Wait a sec," Alex said, standing to halt her progress, "You sure you have all the stuff you need to do that?".

She nodded and started to undress the baby, leaving her in just a diaper. "Well all I need is water and soap."

He agreed and plopped on the bed, remote now firm in hand, "Okay. Uh-Let me know if you need anything. I'm just gonna catch up on some football highlights."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, turning the tub on with one hand.

She turned to the baby with a cheerful smile, "Okay Ella, are you ready for tub time?" her voice was goofy as she spoke to the girl.

The baby clapped her miniature hands together and shrilled as Norma looked at her.

"Okay baby girl, we're gonna be careful okay? The water's a little chilly," she grinned, gently lowering the baby into the three inches of tub water. She kept a towel set underneath her so it was fairly comfortable.

Once the water hit the baby's skin, she started squirming around, little eyes darting all over the room. Norma kept a hand firm on her stomach as the other got lathered up with suds.

"Look, Ella," she said, her soapy hand holding out, "Bubbles!". She blew into the soapy gathering, little bubbles floating all around the interior of the tub. Ella's little hand tried to reach up and pop a bubble, but when she couldn't reach it, she got frustrated.

Norma realized the little girls anger, she tickled her tummy and shook her head, "It's okay honey, there hard to reach."

Ella started to laugh once she started to tickle her skin. Norma chuckled with her, widening her eyes and sticking her tongue out, "Ah, you're such a little cutie," she laughed, rubbing the soap on her skin and rinsing with the tub water.

Norma quickly grabbed the small hand towel sitting by her leg and reached down to wrap the baby in it, drying her off with careful precision. When she was fully clean and dry, she brought her out of the bathroom and back into the room.

She placed Ella on the mattress, near Alex's legs and grabbed her original onesie. Norma felt bad that she had no clean clothing, but at least she got a bath and a fresh diaper.

She lifted her up and smiled, "Alright sweetie, it's bedtime."

Alex watched as Norma treated the baby as her very own. It was...sweet? Watching her be so maternal only made him love her more, his anger almost subsided for a minute.

Ella grew cranky the second Norma tried putting her down to sleep, her little arms flailed as her expression turned sour. It sounded like she was going to cry at any moment. To prevent this, she lifted the baby up and sat on the bed, rocking her slowly in her arms as she sang quietly to her.

"When I want you, in my arms and I want you, and all your charms whenever I want you all I have to do is dream," as Norma's soft voice filled the baby's ears, her eyes started to shut a bit.

She cleared her throat and kept going, intent on making the baby fall asleep, "Dream, dream, dream, dre-e-eam, I could make you mine, taste your lips of wine anytime night or day," with that last word, Ella drifted off to sleep. Her little mouth stayed ajar as Norma put her back down with a smile.

Alex looked at the baby then to Norma, "Wow. You really know your stuff," he mumbled, giving her a mental kudos.

"Eh," she started, her voice staying soft, "I've done it twice already. Guess you could say I've learned a thing or two."

"I guess so," he agreed, his eyes still on the sleeping baby, "Should we go to bed too?"

Norma nodded and took out her cellphone, "I'm just gonna text Dylan and tell him some kind of excuse for why I won't be coming back to the house tonight."

She came up with a mediocre excuse and texted it out:

Dylan, I won't be back tonight. I am at the hospital with Alex. He was having bad chest pains and needed to get checked out. They are keeping him overnight and I'm staying. Love you.

When she read it out to Alex, his brows furrowed, "You told him I was in the hospital?" he asked, a bit shocked that she would come up with such a big lie.

"Well, what else was I supposed to say?" she sighed, standing to walk near the bathroom, she dropped her phone on the bureau and looked to Alex. "Do you have anything I could burrow for the night?".

He stood from the bed and walked to the wooden chest, pulling a large nightshirt out and handing it to her, "You could wear this. Do you want a pair of pajama pants with it?".

She shook her head and moved into the bathroom. It was going to be awkward, sharing a bed with Alex under such tense circumstances. Without anymore hesitation, she sighed, folding her clothes in a neat stack and slipping into his shirt.

Her anxious fingers flipped off the bathroom light and walked back to the bed. Alex slid under the sheets too, a fresh pair of pajamas on. He reached over to flick the lamp off, making the room coolly dark.

Norma used the ferocity she always witheld and reached out to touch Alex's shoulder, "Alex...I know I've said it a lot but I'm sorry. I'm so-

"Norma," he cut her off, shaking her head, "It's fine."

"No, let me say this. It's not fine. I'm so sorry, okay? I didn't mean it. Any of it. It's just...I was drunk and so vulnerable and I missed you. I thought you wanted someone better and were getting sick of me. But it doesn't matter, I did something really shitty. And I'm sorry. I love you, I love you so much," she professed, feeling like her crummy apology couldn't mend the crack she put in their solid foundation.

He pulled her into a tight spoon against his chest and nodded, a hand reaching up to run through her hair.

"I love you too, Norma. I always have."

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