Hello all, I am broken by Bates. She's gone guys. Really, Norma Louise Romero is officially dead. It's a heartbreak and a shame as she was quite the character. My own life has hit a rough patch lately and that's why I haven't been updating at all. I felt so bad for leaving you guys in the dust as I know some have been writing reviews begging me to come back. I haven't gone anywhere, it's just been a rough couple of weeks. I'm graduating soon and I'm very excited but I will miss a few certain people and I'm finding it very hard to say goodbye. I apologize for my absence and I am still grieving the loss of our fictional TV mother as I'm sure you all are. This will be short, please forgive me. Enjoy but don't feel obligated to write me any reviews. I don't really deserve them because of my unannounced hiatus. - MJ123 /3

He took her into Portland for their getaway. Luckily, Alex was able to find a quaint bed and breakfast near the beach for a cheap price and a decent amount of days to vacate. Two days, that's what the woman offered him on the phone with the same price, he didn't have to pay for the full 48 hours rather one day. Sweetly, she claimed it was a good offer for honeymooners. He accepted it and moved on with his plans.

On the way to the hotel, Norma was resting her head to the passenger's window and glancing at Alex as he drove. She was still anxious, worried, and upset about his feelings towards the baby but there was nothing she could do. If the man wasn't happy, he simply wasn't happy and that was the end of the story.

"Why are we going on a trip, Alex? I mean … it's obvious that you're not happy right now. Mm? Why would you wanna spend two days with just me when you're upset?"

He let out a brief sigh but kept his eyes on the road as he spoke to her, "I'm not upset at you. I'm not upset at the situation, okay? What happened has already been established. I can't repeat that enough to you, Norma. Frankly, I'm getting sick of repeating it."

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm a little hostile towards you when you are looking at our child like a burden. They are gonna be our's for life, this isn't something that can be washed away. And it hurts me so, so much that you're like this right now," she said, rolling down her window to let some breeze into the cab. Her fingers danced along the side of his car as she thought about the baby. Though Alex wasn't thrilled, she was. This was a real miracle as she was told and believed that she could never get pregnant again.

"I'm not gonna talk about this until we get there. I don't feel right about discussing this while we are on our way. Let's just have a nice drive up and relax for a bit okay?" he asked, looking over to her face, she looked glorious basking in the sunlight.

"Fine."

X

Upon putting their bags down, Norma and Alex collapsed on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He was exhausted from driving, she was tired from just being on the road all that time. They both agreed to save the festivities for the next day and relax with the time they had.

Norma rolled over onto her side and stared into the gentle warm eyes of her husband, "Will you tell me what's going on with you regarding our baby now? Please?"

"Norma, c'mon…" he sighed, his hands coming up to rub at sleep depriven eyes. "I really don't want to discuss this right now. I mean we just got off the road and-"

"Alex, you've been promising to tell me why for a while now. I think at this point I deserve some kind of explanation as to what's been happening. I really want to know why you feel this way. If it was me or something I did. Do you not wanna be a dad? Are you afraid of the responsibility?" she asked, letting a hand extended and rub his chest a bit.

He finally broke the barrier and took her hand, toying with his fingers. He did this as a mechanism to calm himself down, her hands were extremely calming to him for some reason. It was like her skin held the secret to all peace. "I'm afraid, Norma."

It was a simple reason. He was scared, she'd heard it dozens of times from her first husband, John. He was 16 and frightened to be a dad. Though it wasn't even his, she made him believe it. There were times when he would break down crying because of stress regarding how he was even going to care for a baby and the plain fear that he wouldn't be a good father because of his age. She dumped that right back on Alex, "Are you afraid because you think you won't be good at it?"

He shook his head. "No, I feel like I'll make a decent parent. I'm afraid of what's gonna happen to you," he breathed, the air coming out shaky and unsure. She'd been watching his pupils the entire time, he really did look scared. She'd never seen Alex scared of anything before.

"What do you mean? I'm fine. The doctor said I'm perfectly healthy and that the baby seems to be on a very good track right now. It's like you're predicting-"

He cut her off quick, "I'm not predicting anything. I'm just afraid that something is gonna happen to you and our baby. I've had something a pregnant wife before, Norma. I was thrilled and you know what happened? They both died before even getting a chance to live a good life. I'm just- Norma, I'm so-" he rubbed the bridge of his nose, not wanting to get overemotional.

"Hey, hey, hey," she said, reaching up to brush her fingertips against his cheek. "I get it, okay? I'm sorry. I forgot about that and I never thought to attribute that to this situation. But I promise you that nothing is gonna happen to us. We're safe with you…"

"I thought Callie and the baby would be safe with me too and look at what happened," he sighed, avoiding meeting his wife's tender blue eyes.

She leaned up to kiss his head and whisper into his skin, "It's okay, alright? Don't talk like that. These are different circumstances. I'm never alone while you're at work. I'll always have Dylan, Emma, and Norman. Katie said she'd visit on weekends and odd nights where no one is around to help. I'll never be alone during this pregnancy. We'll be a safe and happy little family, I promise you."

He relished in her kiss and as she spoke, there were a thousand bricks lifted from his burly shoulders. "Do you promise you'll never be alone? I don't want you to be alone on odd nights were I can't be there to take care of you."

"I'll work it out with my kids. Don't worry about it, Alex. I want you to enjoy this pregnancy too. You're gonna be a daddy. We're gonna have a family. Won't you like that? All of us. Happy, put together and stable?" she said, her voice no louder than a whisper as she let her fingers rub the base of his neck.

He moved his head so it rested near her stomach, as his hand reached up to rest slightly above her belly button. "I'll love it."

"I love you," she whispered, placing her hand on top of his as they moved their palms around various parts of her stomach slowly.

"I love you too. I love you both."

Not my best work but something to show you all that I'm gonna keep writing. I'll never abandon this story. I don't abandon the things I'm passionate about, please believe me. Love you all and I hope you enjoyed this. Goodnight XO - MJ