Will you be true till life is done? You're the one I adore…
She runs her fingertips down the frame slowly, right over Norman's young cherub face. He couldn't've been more than three or four years old in this picture and Norma takes a quiet moment to remember. The boy without worries, perfectly normal and happy, untainted, grabbing onto her hand when they went out into the ocean.
That trip they'd taken to California is a bright spot in her memory, one of the brightest, in fact. That little boy had been everything. The man he's become is the greatest man she'll ever know and something about that fact thrills her. She raised him. That wonderful man with the heart of gold, sensitive and caring, full of love and understanding.
Norma smiles softly as her finger recovers the trail. Footsteps sound behind her and she turns to find Norman in the doorway, holding a bouquet of roses.
He can barely contain his excitement.
"Norman! What are these for?"
"Don't tell me you forgot." His eyes are so soft, his face even softer. Adoration bleeds from him as he tilts his head and laughs at her.
"What? What did I forget?"
He leans forward and kisses her cheek. "Your birthday."
Her whole body tightens. Her birthday. It's a day she hardly celebrated anymore. They hadn't celebrated it once when Sam was alive and now that he was dead…Norma shakes her head. That was a bad road. As a little girl, her birthday had been just another day and after the thirteenth, her birthday had become a dreaded thing because Caleb always used that excuse to keep her in his clutches a little longer.
She rubs desperately at her eyes with one hand, the other increasing its grip on the flowers. Flowers from Norman, the only man who'd ever thought to celebrate her birthday as a thing of joy instead of pain and dread.
Tears fall from her eyes before she can even think to hold them in.
Norman's face twists in concern. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, Norman, I'm all right. I've never been better."
He smiles big at her and Norma's whole existence feels warmer for it. "Really? Cause I know you don't like to make a big deal of it, but ever since the whole thing with dad…and you know, the moving, I just thought we should do something. We don't have to do anything next year, but I just…I wanted you to have something. Just once."
The tears won't stop, but that's okay. He's so wonderful. "Thank you, Norman." Her heart feels lighter than it's ever felt, her mind finally free from everything, at least for now. She wants to cherish it. Her palm cups his cheek. "I love you."
He ducks his head for a moment, overwhelmed. When his eyes find hers again, they're sparkling bright blue, like those waves in California. "I love you, too, Mom. More than anything."
Now I'm old and wise when I see your eyes you're the one I adore…