Untold Secrets

Chapter Four

Norma easily found a sitter for Norman and Dylan so that she and Sam could attend the welcome home party for Katie's husband. She had picked out a beautiful blue dress that made her eyes look almost electric.
"You ready?" Sam asks, appearing behind her in the mirror. She turns to him and gently fixes his tie, his masculine scent hitting her nostrils with such a force that it brings tears to her eyes.
"Yes. Is the sitter here?" Norma asks, looking up into his green eyes.
"Just got here. I already paid her and gave her the instructions you wrote down." he tells her.
"Okay. Let's go." Norma says, walking out of their room. She walks downstairs, Sam following right behind her.
"Hi, I'm Norma." Norma says, shaking the young woman's hand.
"Lauren." the girl says with a smile.
"Alright, come give mommy a hug." Norma says, kneeling down so that Dylan can run into her arms. Norman follows at a much slower pace, still not having gotten the hang of running without falling.
"I'll be home tonight to kiss you goodnight." she tells them as she stands back up.
"Bye mommy." Dylan says, waving as they walk out.
The drive to Katie's parents house was rather short. They only lived a few neighborhoods over. However, the drive was completely silent the entire time. When they pulled up to the large house, both Norma and Sam look up at it with surprise.
"They're rich." Sam says, shutting the car off and stepping out.
"Be good tonight, please." Norma says, stepping out and looking up at Sam with a smile. He smiles back and nods.
"I'll try." he says to her. Norma takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. It's Katie who answers, her mood considerably happier compared to when they first met.
"Hey, come on in." Katie says, stepping aside.
"This is Sam, my husband." Norma says, introducing him. He steps forward and shakes Katie's hand.
"I'm Katie, your neighbor." Katie says with a smile.
"Good to meet you." Sam says with a nod.
"Wow, this house is beautiful." Norma says, looking around.
"Thank you. My husband should be around somewhere." Katie says, looking around.
"Ah, there he is." Katie says. Norma looks to where she seems to be looking but doesn't see anyone moving their way.
"Alex, come here." Katie calls out.
Norma's heart skips a beat as she hears the name.
"A-Alex?" Norma asks.
She looks back to where Katie is looking again and her heart completely stops when she finds his familiar dark eyes again. He is walking towards them in his military uniform, his eyes doing a double take when they see Norma.
"Alex, these are our new neighbors." Katie says, taking his arm.
"This is Sam and Norma Bates." she says, gesturing to Sam and Norma.
"Nice to meet you." Alex says, shaking Sam's hand. He turns to Norma and for a moment, she wasn't sure what he was going to do. He slowly sticks his hand out to her and she takes it.
"Nice to meet you." he says.
She freezes for a moment, realizing that he isn't going to acknowledge their past.
"Y-Yes. You too." she finally manages to cough out.
They release each other's hands but their eyes remain on one another. The people around them seem to disappear and Norma fears she might faint if she stares at him any longer. So many emotions were flooding her, she was suddenly feeling ill.
"Norma?" Sam asks.
"Huh?" she asks, looking over to him, finally able to breathe.
"I said I am going to go get a drink with Katie." he repeats.
"O-Okay." she stutters, glancing back at Alex who is still watching her carefully. Sam walks away with Katie, leaving Alex alone with Norma.
"Little Calhoun, all grown up." he says quietly, his face remaining neutral. She smiles once he finally acknowledges their past.
"You...you look great." Norma says with a smile. He had definitely gained a lot of muscle mass. He smiles shortly before going back to his stoic expression.
"Thanks. You do too." he says simply.
"How have you been?" she asks.
"Good." he tells her. She nods, trying to get used to this new version of Alex who wasn't as goofy and friendly as the boy she used to know. In fact, this new Alex seemed like a totally new person.
"Your wife is nice. And pretty." Norma says, struggling to keep a conversation.
"Yeah. Yeah she is. She's nice." Alex says.
An older woman walks up, smiling at Alex and Norma.
"Hello. I'm Grace, Katie's mother." Grace says, sticking her hand out to Norma. Norma smiles and shakes the woman's frail hand.
"I'm Norma Bates. I live next door to them." Norma says, introducing herself. Before they can say more, Sam and Katie arrive back to the group.
"This is my husband, Sam." Norma says. Grace smiles and holds her hand out to Sam who ignores her.
"I think it's time for us to go." Sam says softly into Norma's ear.
"You're leaving?" Alex asks sadly, showing emotion for the first time that night.
"No." Norma says quickly.
"No, not yet. We just got here." she says again, turning to Sam.
"There's no rush to get back. We paid the sitter for three hours." Norma tells him. Sam glances around at the group before turning back to Norma.
"I'll be in the car." he tells her.
"Okay, do whatever you want." she replies. He glares at her but leaves silently out the front door. His fists clenched, he stomps outside, muttering angrily to himself.
"Do whatever you want." he mimics, opening the car door. He sits in the front seat, staring out the windshield at the road in front of him. His anger begins to build as her words repeat on a cycle through his head.
Who was she to blatantly embarrass him in front of their new neighbors? He had to teach her a lesson and show their new neighbors who wore the pants.
His palm slams against the steering wheel before he quickly reopens the car door and steps onto the grass. He slams the door shut behind him as he marches back up to the house. When he walks back inside, he finds her just where he left her, talking to Alex, Katie, and both of Katie's parents.
"Oh wow, that's wonderful!" Norma says with a smile.
Sam marches up to her and grabs her by her hair, pushing her head down so that she is forced to bend over. She cries out while he tugs her out of the house by her hair.
"Sam! Sam stop it! You're hurting me!" she cries out, her hand grabbing his wrist and trying to pull him off of her.
Alex immediately tries to go after them, enraged by Sam's sudden abuse which was completely uncalled for. Before he can get more than a step out, Katie is in front of him, pushing him back.
"Alex, no. It's not our problem." she tells him. He glares down at her, wanting nothing more than to push her aside and save his childhood best friend. But her entire family was there as well as her friends and they were all watching Alex closely.
"He shouldn't touch her like that." Alex says through his teeth.
"What they do in their marriage is between them." Katie says coolly.
"How can you just stand by?" he asks her. He looks around and sees everyone watching the exchange.
"How can you all just stand by knowing that she is being hurt?" he asks everyone else. As soon as he asks this, everyone seems to become interested in anything but him.
"Alex, maybe you need some air. Perhaps you're feeling a bit overwhelmed." Katie says, guiding him to the front door. He nods, only because he wanted to walk outside and see if Norma was still here.
Unfortunately, when they stepped outside, the car was gone. He sighs angrily and glances back at Katie, resenting her for stopping him.
Norma and Sam rode home in silence, the tears falling from Norma's glazed over eyes silently. When they finally did arrive home, neither made a move to step out of the car.
"Norma...I...I'm sorry." Sam says, looking over at her to see her staring out the window.
"Norma." he says again gently. She still doesn't move.
"Please...look at me." he whispers. She slowly turns to look at him, her face crumpling.
"Please, let's just...let's just move past this. It was a mistake. Let's go back to how things were." Sam says.
"I don't know if we can do that, Sam." she tells him sadly.
"I've never been closer to anyone and...and I don't know you at all anymore." she whispers.
"Please, Norma. I'll be better. Okay? I will." he promises.
"Let's just...lets just put on a happy face and go inside. If not for us then for the kids." Sam suggests. She nods, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her dress.
They step out of the car and walk inside with smiling faces, as if nothing had ever happened at all.
Things went like this for a while. Sam would slip up and curse at her or squeeze her wrist, nothing too intense, and he would immediately apologize to her after. Then he would run off to the bar and Norma would throw herself into cleaning and caring for the kids.
Even though Alex was her neighbor, she didn't see much of him. Sam hardly let her out of the house. Though Alex seemed to be making an effort, bringing over desserts that Katie made or asking for an egg. Little things that always seemed to brighten Norma's day.
"The Romeros want us over for dinner." Sam says, walking into the kitchen.
"Tonight?" Norma asks with surprise.
"Yeah." he says simply, sitting at the table.
"That's not enough notice. We don't have a sitter." she tells him.
"They want to see the kids too." he tells her.
"O-Okay." Norma says, glancing down at Norman who is almost two and a half years old now and is waddling around the house in his diaper.
"Get the kids ready and we can go." Sam says, grabbing a beer from the fridge. Norma picks up Norman and runs upstairs, elated at the thought of spending more than two minutes with Alex.
She quickly dresses her boys and checks her own appearance in the mirror before walking downstairs where Sam is waiting. He takes Norman into his arms. He would never do such a thing to Dylan since Dylan wasn't his kid. He acted like the small child didn't even exist.
They walk across the yard to the beautiful house that Alex shares with Katie. Norma rings the doorbell and waits patiently.
"Should we have brought wine or something?" Norma whispers to Sam.
"Nah, they didn't say to bring anything." Sam replies, handing Norman to Norma.
The door opens and Katie smiles widely at them, stepping aside to allow them to step in.
"Hey, guys. Alex is in the back grilling, Sam, if you wanted to hang out with him." Katie offers.
It made Norma cringe, the way she expected the men to hang out with themselves while the women cared for the kids. Weren't women past this already?
"Sure. There any beer?" Sam asks, removing his coat and handing it to Norma.
"Alex has some out back." Katie says.
"I'll go say hi too." Norma says, hanging up Sam's coat as well as her own.
"Alright." Katie says, sitting down on the couch.
Norma follows Sam out the back door and onto the porch where Alex is grilling the chicken. He looks back and nods in greeting before turning back to the chicken.
"Hey man. You got any beer out here?" Sam asks.
"Sam." Norma says sternly. He shouldn't be so rude.
"Shut it." Sam snaps back at her.
"Beer's in the cooler." Alex says, nodding to the small cooler beside him. Sam opens it and grabs a beer before heading back inside.
"Sorry about him." Norma says once Sam closes the door behind him. Alex shuts the grill and turns to Norma before looking down at her kids.
"This is Norman. And you remember Dylan?" Norma asks. Alex nods, studying the two kids.
"They're cute." Alex tells her. She smiles and looks at Norman's big blue eyes. Alex steps forward and kneels down in front of Dylan, studying the young boy.
"They've both got your eyes, Calhoun." Alex mumbles, glancing up at her.
"Are you wearing makeup?" Dylan asks, his pointer finger reaching out to run along Alex's eyelashes. Alex smiles softly at the innocent gesture.
"No, i'm not." he tells Dylan.
"Are you?" he asks Dylan, raising an eyebrow. Dylan giggles wildly.
"No! That's for girls!" he says through his laughs.
"Hi." Norman says softly, slowly coming out of his shell for Alex. Alex stands up and smiles at Norman.
"Hi there." Alex says.
"I'm cowboy." Norman says, pointing to his shirt that has a sheriff badge on it.
"You are? Where's your hat, sheriff?" Alex asks. Norma smiles widely, loving this fatherly side of Alex. Before Norman can answer, the back door slides open and Sam reappears.
"Could you bring your ass inside and actually sit with me?" Sam asks Norma.
"Okay. I'll be in in just a second." Norma says.
"I shouldn't have to hunt my own damn shitty wife down. You should be by my side." Sam says angrily. He grabs Norman from Norma's arms and grabs Dylan's upper arm, dragging them both inside with him.
"You shouldn't let him treat you like that." Alex tells her.
"He really is nice. He's just overwhelmed and-"
"Was he overwhelmed at the party too? When he grabbed you by your hair?" he asks accusingly.
She looks back into his dark eyes, feeling embarrassed about what had happened not only a few seconds ago but also that night at the party. She smiles and laughs breathlessly, trying to be nonchalant.
"That was...he doesn't usually do that. He was just having a bad night and-"
"Don't become my mother, Norma." Alex says, stopping her.
"Please. I can't bare it. Don't live like this." he tells her. She responds by glaring at him.
"How dare you." she tells him.
"How dare you criticize my marriage and my life. I wouldn't be with Sam if it weren't for you." she tells him.
"What do you mean?" Alex asks defensively.
"If you hadn't run off to the damn Marines. If you had married me, I wouldn't be married to that scumbag." Norma tells him.
"So you admit he's a scumbag." Alex says with a smile. Norma doesn't respond, just continues glaring.
"Moving here was a mistake." Alex says, rubbing his eyes.
"And trying to invite you all for dinner was a mistake. Maybe we should just..."
"Just what? Try to forget each other?" she asks sarcastically.
"How many times are we going to push each other away, Alex?" Norma asks.
"Until it sticks." he says without hesitation. He turns back to the grill, puts the chicken on a plate and walks past her into the house without another word or even another glance in her direction.