Her mood had been everywhere that week. She tried to control herself as much as she could but in all honesty she was confused by it. She had never felt such a rollercoaster of emotions. She could blame it on her period but Norma hadn't even started yet.
"Did you want to pick out the fabric for the curtains today?" Alex asks, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
Norma glances over at him, her hand still working on scrambling the eggs on the pan with her spatula.
"Uh, yeah. Yeah I think i'll do that." she agrees softly, her mind stuck on the anger she can feel building up inside of her for no reason. She turns off the stove, satisfied with the look of her scrambled eggs.
"I gotta go. I'll see you in a bit, love." Alex says, placing a kiss on her temple before stepping away from her.
Norma turns on her heels, grabbing Alex's shirt and pulling him back to her with need. Her lips crash against his with passion as she begins to push him back until his back hits the wall.
Alex, shocked by the sudden attack, pulls away enough to look at his wife with confusion.
"Everything alright?" he asks her.
Her dark blue eyes glance from his eyes down to his lips and back. Her lips pull up into a smirk as her hand travels down his chest and dips into his pants.
Alex gasps and tenses up as she grabs him in her small hand. Her lips resume their attack on his neck, her teeth nipping at his skin while she begins to move her hand on him.
"N-Norma, I...Im gonna be...late." Alex manages to gasp out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her hand out of his pants.
The hurt was evident on her face almost immediately. Her cheeks turned a light shade of red and she steps away from him.
"I'm sorry." she says softly, looking like she might cry.
Alex stares at her with confusion, never having seen Norma get hurt so easily. Usually her defensive mood was anger so this new sudden sadness was strange for him.
"I...It's just that I might be late and-"
"No it's fine, Alex. I'm sorry." she says again harshly, turning back to the stove. Alex nods, glancing back at her once more before leaving for work.
Norma leans against the counter, tears running down her cheeks. She sighs and walks to the bathroom to retrieve tissues.
As she is reaching for the tissues, she stumbles upon her box of tampons. She hesitates, grabbing the box as she tries to remember when her last period was.
And that's when it hit her.
She was late.
She was supposed to start her period almost a whole week ago. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought of the last time she and Alex had been intimate. They hadn't been using condoms since their discussion a few months back.
After having rushed to the nearest drug store, Norma found herself sitting on her toilet with a pregnancy test between her legs.
"Come on. Come on." Norma whispers as she paces the floor of her bathroom with the stick in her hand.
"Please say yes. Please, please." she begs the stick. She takes one last deep breath before looking down at the stick.
Her lips pull up in a smile as she lets out a shaky breath. The plus sign on the stick looked back at her, letting her know that a baby was growing inside of her.
"Oh my god." she says, her hand slowly reaching up to rest on her flat stomach. Tears of joy fell from her eyes as she rubbed her belly.
"Hi, baby." she whispers.
"Norma?" Alex calls out to her, having just arrived home from work. She quickly hides the test, wanting to plan a unique way to tell him that they were pregnant. She wipes her cheeks dry before answering.
"Coming."
Alex hangs his jacket on the coat rack before glancing up the stairs to watch his wife descend. She smiles widely at him, a welcome change in mood from when Alex had left her that morning.
"Hello, honey." she tells him before placing a kiss on his lips.
"Hey. How are you?" he asks, cupping her cheek as he looks into her eyes. Staring at her blue orbs was his favorite pastime.
"I'm good. A little tired." she says honestly.
"Me too. How about we order some takeout and watch a movie?" Alex suggests as he plays with one of the curls that sits on her shoulder.
"Okay." she agrees.
Normally she would object and insist on cooking for them but the news she had just received wore her out emotionally, making her physically tired as well.
"I'm just gonna step outside to get some air really fast." she tells him.
"Okay. Ill call in the order." he tells her.
Once Norma is outside, she grabs her phone from the pocket of her dress and makes her way down toward the motel while dialing Emma's phone number.
"Norma? Is everything alright?" Emma answers.
"Why does everyone always assume something is wrong when I call them?" Norma asks, noticing a pattern.
"Uh, I-I don't know. Is nothing wrong?" Emma asks.
"Nothing is wrong but...I do need your help. And your word that you'll keep quiet about what I am about to tell you." she tells the young girl.
"Okay."
Norma takes a deep breath, her hand absently rubbing her stomach.
"I...I'm pregnant." she says, the words bringing an unfamiliar rush of joy and pride.
She had been pregnant before but both times the circumstances were difficult. With Dylan, she felt utter terror and disgust because of who his father is. With Norman, she was afraid to bring a child into a household of hate and abuse. She loved both of her boys dearly and wouldn't give them up for anything.
But now, the chance to bring a child into the world while she stood beside such a loving man like Alex...it overjoyed her.
"P-Pregnant? Oh my god! Oh my- Congratulations!" Emma says with excitement.
"Alex must be so excited!" she continues.
"He doesn't know." Norma says quickly.
"You haven't told him yet? What are you waiting for?" Emma asks with shock.
"I want to make it special. It's his first kid. That's why I am telling you. I think we should plan something big." Norma says in hushed tones as she glances around to ensure there are no listening ears.
"I'm in." Emma agrees quickly.
The planning only took a few hours. It was preparing for the party that took the most time.
"Norma?" Emma repeats herself for the third time, finally catching the woman's attention.
"Huh?" she answers, looking up at the girl who is giving her a strange look.
"I was asking if you wanted balloons. Are you okay?" Emma asks.
Norma can hear Emma's voice but it sounded as if she were speaking through a tube, the sound being distorted and far away. Strange things had been happening throughout the past few days like this.
"Uh...uh huh." Norma whispers, still trying to figure out what is wrong.
"Okay." Emma says, her voice coming or clearly again.
Norma squeezes her eyes shut and shakes it off. It was probably just the angst and excitement that was making her feel this way. Once she told Alex she would feel much better.
"He's going to love it." Emma continues.
"Agh." Norma moans, squeezing her eyes shut again.
"What?" Emma asks.
"Don't you hear that?" Norma asks, looking around.
"Hear what?" Emma questions, also looking around.
"That buzzing. Ugh, it's so annoying and loud." Norma says loudly. Emma looks around again but this time with embarrassment. She grabs Norma's arm and pulls her to the corner of the drug store.
"Are you feeling okay?" Emma asks.
Norma can see the worry in Emma's eyes and decides to ignore the buzzing that apparently only she can hear.
"I'm fine. I think I just need some water." Norma says, trying to ease the girl's mind.
It seemed to work, for Emma smiles softly and nods, seeming relieved.
"I'll go grab you a bottle." she tells Norma before walking away.
Norma looks down at her flat stomach, her hand rubbing circles over her belly.
"We're okay." she whispers, squeezing her eyes shut to will the noise away.
"I went ahead and checked out while I was up there. We can keep it all in my car until the party tomorrow." Emma says, walking back a few minutes later with the bags and a bottle of water.
"Emma you didn't have to pay for it-"
"I wanted to." Emma says with a smile.
Norma forces a smile back, her head pounding with a sudden headache.
"Well, thank you." she says softly.
"Why don't we get home? I'm feeling a bit ill." Norma admits casually as she begins walking out of the store.
"Okay. Did you want me to stay with you until Alex gets home tonight?" Emma offers.
"Oh thank you for offering, but i'll be okay. No need to worry. I just need some sleep. That's all." Norma reassures her.
As soon as Norma arrives back home and says goodbye to Emma, she crawls right into her bed. She knew something was wrong. It wasn't because of the baby. Her body seemed to be having some sort of breakdown. She had never experienced this before with either of her pregnancies.
She was so fast asleep that she didn't even wake up to the sound of the front door opening and closing when Alex arrived home from work.
"Norma?" he calls out, looking around the empty living room and kitchen.
Normally Norma had dinner cooking when he got home, filling the house with some sort of sweet smelling aroma. Alex liked coming home to it but he never was one to expect it every single day. However, the absence of her presence kissing him as soon as he walked through the door threw him off.
"Norma?" he calls out again as he ascends the stairs.
He walks to their room and opens the door to find her asleep on top of the covers with her shoes still on. He smiles softly and steps into the room further, walking to the bed.
"I miss you." he whispers as he leans down to place a kiss on her forehead.
The small action woke Norma up, her tired eyes fluttering for a moment before focusing on him.
"Alex." she says with a smile.
She grabs the back of his neck and pulls him down to her, kissing him softly. He smiles against her lips, still not used to the fact that Norma Louise Bates was his wife. He couldn't believe that he was lucky enough to be by her side every day kissing her.
Alex slowly pulls away and smiles down at her.
"Hi." she sighs with a soft smile.
Alex chuckles and places a kiss on the top of her nose.
"Hi." he says back.
"You gonna lay with me?" she asks.
"Maybe in a bit. I've still got a bit of work to do downstairs." he tells her, his hand brushing along her cheek bone.
"I'll come with." she tells him, sitting up. She pauses, her head spinning as the loud ringing comes back.
"You alright?" Alex asks, noticing her hesitation.
"Mmh...yeah." she tells him, pushing her way through the pain and dizziness to stand up. She lets out a thick cough before stopping herself.
"Must be a cold or something." she tells Alex after seeing his worried face.
"Okay." he says softly, still looking worried.
"Let's go." he says, walking downstairs. He reaches back without looking and takes her hand, rubbing his thumb along her soft skin.
"So what all do you have to do?" Norma asks as they sit on the couch.
"I'm just going through these files. Missing girl, last seen walking home from school wearing a yellow rain coat and rainbow rain boots." Alex says routinely.
He didn't seem phased by the fact that she is missing. She can't imagine what it must be like to have seen so many missing children. Some of whom are never found.
"How old?" Norma whispers.
She looks over at Alex who is already pages deep into a file.
"Alex?" she says louder.
"Hm?" he answers without looking up from his work.
"How old?" she asks again, her hand resting on her stomach.
"Six." he answers casually.
Norma let's out a shaky breath as she rubs her stomach. Her vision becomes blurry and she feels as if she might throw up.
"Actually I...I feel a little sick." she whispers.
"You wanna lie down?" Alex asks while staring at the file.
"No. My...my head hurts and my stomach hurts and my hand and leg is numb." she tells him, looking down at her left hand.
"You want to go to the doctor?" he asks absently.
"No. No doctors." she whispers, standing up. Her leg gives out from being so numb and she falls to the floor.
"Norma!" Alex says, jumping up from his spot to help her.
"I'm okay." she tells him, slowly standing up with his help.
"Are you sure? I think we should get you checked out-"
"No! I said no!" she shouts at him.
He quickly let's go of her and steps back. Norma is immediately filled with remorse for snapping at him when he is just trying to help.
"I'm just tired and I have a cold. I'm fine." she tells him.
"I think I'll just lie down upstairs." she tells him, already walking away.
He watched her go, oblivious to the tears that ran down her cheeks. She was afraid of herself, afraid of what her body was doing to her, afraid for her baby.
When Alex finally retreated upstairs, he found Norma passed out under the covers. He smiled, pleased that she was able to get some rest. He knew how stressed she was these days with Norman being in the institution and Dylan moving away.
He slid under the covers next to her, switching off the lamp. His tired eyes read the digital numbers on the clock.
2:47.
The next time his eyes opened, the numbers read 4:38. Next to him Norma was mumbling in her sleep.
"Norma, go back to sleep." he says tiredly. The mumbling continues, making Alex groan.
"Norma. Norma stop." he says, reaching over to turn on the lamp. When he turns around to look at her, he finds her sitting up and staring at the window across from them, groaning.
"Norma?" he asks with worry.
He watches as her body tenses up and her eyes roll back in her head. She falls back onto her pillows and begins violently convulsing.
"Norma!" Alex shouts, ripping the sheets off of him to turn her on her side.
"Norma, please. Come back to me baby. Come back." Alex whispers as he dials 911.
Her convulsions slow down until her body falls limp. Alex can already hear the sirens of the ambulance and Alex reaches over to cup her cheek.
"Norma, wake up. Please wake up."