Life Is Beautiful
Questions and Answers
July sprung up on us and Mercy was already 8 months old. I was counting down the days til my daughter would be 1 and then pretty soon an adult. I always heard parents say that the toddler years flew by but the teenager years slowed way down. I was finding this out now. I loved on Mercy like she was the only other person in the world. She was such an easy baby to take care of, I hoped that this new baby would be just like her. She'd play and laugh with me, and then curl up on my chest and fall asleep, though recently she started laying on my belly. Norman was all smiles knowing that we were going to have 2 babies in the house at one time. All I could think about was the problems it would cause. We started getting Mercy to sleep through the night and now that this baby was going to cry and mess up what we worked so hard for. Another was Mercy wanting our attention and the new baby needing something. Then what if Norman had to leave for something and we couldn't tag along and I'd be stuck with 2 kids? My friend and her husband promised that they'd help out with both kids. I didn't like depending on people for help with my own kids, but what was I gonna do?
I sat in the floor with Mercy and played with her. I was looking forward to seeing the kind of woman she was going to grow into. She was starting to try to stand up and walk, she could stand up while holding the table but when she'd start trying to walk she'd fall. I'll never forget the first time she stood up. Me and Norman were sitting on the couch and she pulled on his pants leg until she stood up for the first time. I started crying. My baby was growing up. Me and Norman talked about maybe taking off when my baby shower was done being planned for his house in Georgia. Just a change of scenery and one last get away before we had 2 children in tow with us. We had calls pouring in from friends and family about our newest edition. I think the very first person who found out after we did was Norman's mom. He called her up right after all the chaos settled down. First words out of her mouth were 'Son, you've got 2 little ones with this wonderful woman. You need to show her how much she truly means to you. I know that the M - Word isn't in your vocabulary, but I think it's time for you to settle down. You've been with this girl for a long time, and you've got a beautiful daughter and another baby on the way. I think don't she is going to take this as a sign of anything ill intended. In fact, she'd probably welcome it. It's your life, but after 2 kids I would settle down, plus the way she acts around you and how welcoming she was of Mingus when you introduced them she's a keeper. You said not many women are fond of the idea of you having a son, and she was welcoming of him.' -- I pressured Norman to pop the question, but I knew it was one thing that would never happen. I just didn't want him to rush out and get a ring and then something happen and he feel horrible over it. We ate dinner and then I headed off to bed with Mercy. I put her on her pillow and laid down and held her hand until I knew she was asleep. I rubbed my belly and Norman came into the room after he made sure my friend and her husband were settled in for the night. He kissed Mercy on the forehead and got into bed beside me. He put his hand on my belly and asked me 'So what do you think it is this time?' - 'I don't know. I kinda want a boy, ya know to even out the odds. But a girl would be just fine too. What do you think it is?' - 'I think it's another lil girl. Don't get me wrong I want another boy, but I think it's another girl.' He looked over at me with Mercy's fist wrapped up in my hair. 'I can't believe how fast you got pregnant. It just seems...' - 'Seems like what? It's not like we were preventing it, and besides when we went to prevent it it was to late. It's amazing this one is still alive. I went back on birth control after we talked about how we should wait. What happens if... there's something wrong with it because of that? What happens if I lose it? What if...' Norman leaned over and kissed me. 'Hey, try not to think about that okay? Focus on the positives. Like we're adding another member to the family. Mercy will have a best friend for life.' I smiled. 'Come on let's get a little bit of sleep before we have to get up.' Norman said with a smile as we curled up together.
A few weeks later Norman had to leave for Comic Con and I just sat there staring at the bedroom wall. I had everything all planned out on what we were going to do while there, and then I found out about this baby and decided not to go. I didn't want to leave home and something happen, plus we learned when I was pregnant with Mercy that traveling caused most of the complications that came up during my pregnancy. I didn't want to go through that this time, if I could avoid it. I heard the suitcase zip up and turned and saw Norman gathering all of his bags and putting them beside the front door. Mercy crawled over and just pulled on Norman's pants leg looking up at him. He bent down and picked her up and hugged her 'Sorry sweet pea you can't go this time around.' I could see his heart break when those words left his mouth.
Norman was away at Comic Con and we face timed a few times. I let Mercy be the first face he saw and both of their faces lit up when they finally saw each other. He sat there talking to her looking like he was about to cry. Mercy all of a sudden started saying 'Da Da' and he said 'What's wrong Sweet Pea?' and all of a sudden she turned around and said 'Ma Ma.' I just smiled. 'Yep that's your beautiful mommy.' I heard Norman say and then Mercy just looked at Norman and said 'Ba Ba' - 'Tell your mommy you're hungry. Hasn't she been feeding you?' Then she said 'Ba Ba' and hugged my stomach. I looked at Norman and said 'I think she sorta knows about her new sibling.'
Norman did tons of interviews and the question everybody was wanting to ask kept coming up.
Q: So Norman while most everybody is so interested in what is going to happen with Daryl and Season 6, the news broke recently and you confirmed it that you and your girlfriend have added a new edition to the family. Care to talk about it?
Norman: We were surprised at how quickly it happened. My son is really involved in her life as a bigger brother and we are very pleased that both of my kids get along. We didn't really 'try' per say. We did, but then stopped after my girlfriend wasn't sure she was ready for another one since he wanted to try to get our daughter to a good age. We were face timing the other night and uh our daughter got my attention and then hugged her mommy's belly.
Q: So can we get the details on what you guys know so far? If not that's okay.
Norman: Eh. We wanna keep those between ourselves. All I can really share is my girlfriend's belly is already expanding, and she's already showing so you can certainly tell she's pregnant.
Q: So just riddle us this, is it just 1 or is it twins? Haha. Also what gender do you guys want it to be? Any details on the names?
Norman: *laughs* It's just 1. I'm going for another lil girl, but mommy's going for a boy. Uh... Mingus is wanting a little brother. My mom doesn't care what it is, just another grandkid for her to spoil. Either way we're going to try to be the best parents we can. Mercy isn't even 1 yet and she semi understands what's going on. It's been cute interacting with her and then watching her just interact with her mommy. She's doing this thing now that where she'll fall asleep with her head on her mommy's belly like a pillow.
Q: So everybody wants to know how are you and your girlfriend handling it?
Norman: I'm handling it pretty well. I'm trying to be the best husband and support my girlfriend through this time. My girlfriend was really shocked at first. She cried for hours when she took the pregnancy test and it came back positive. She's handling it great now. She's enjoying being pregnant again. She's having a hard time trying to balance being a mom to an almost 1 year old and being pregnant. She's being a great sport about it.
Q: Okay. Okay. Onto TWD questions. Can you tell us anything about this season?
Norman: Uh. *nervous laugh* I can't really reveal to much. I know I say this a lot, but uh we really out did ourselves, the crew, the cast, everything. It's been really fun. Hopefully it shows when Season 6 starts in October. I'm under a contract to not reveal that much.
Q: So anything you can describe about your character?
Norman: Season 5 left off at a really great event, Rick killing Pete and Daryl, Aaron, and Morgan showing up and seeing the blood bath just after Morgan said that life is precious. Daryl was really lost for words, and maybe that brings up conflict maybe not. Daryl is pretty broken after the Beth death scene, and he's just... you know trying to figure out what to do in this new environment.
Q: Totally in agreement on the 'broken' part after Beth's death. Why do you think Daryl took it so hard? Some fans say it was because he was in love with her. Some say it was because of what he told her before breaking down and crying. What's your opinion on the whole situation?
Norman: I personally think it was because he didn't want anymore blood spilled. The idea that Beth stabbed Dawn and Dawn could have been patched up, and instead she pulled the trigger. I also believe that he felt horrible because he DID tell her she would never see Maggie again, so he felt guilty about that.
Q: It's all over that TWD is getting a spend off titled "Fear The Walking Dead". Your thoughts?
Norman: I like the idea that there's like an alternative show that sorta links with ours. I feel that it shows what happens during the earlier days, while ours shows later down the road, even though it broke out when Rick was in the hospital. I've met the cast and they seem like a great group of kids so I'm happy that they get this chance to sorta join up with us.
A few days later, Norman got home from Comic Con and had bags of presents with him. Mercy ended up pulling everything out of one of the bags to make a little hiding area. Norman took a picture of her and captioned it 'I came home with tons of goodies from Comic Con and my daughter just took everything out to play in the bag.' I got down on the floor and started to play with her and she crawled into my lap and looked up at me and I said 'You've spent a whole weekend with me. Go show your Daddy some love.' Norman just held his arms out and she grabbed a hold of his hands and sorta pulled herself up and stood there holding onto his hands. I wanted to cry. Life was moving so fast.
I sat in the floor with Mercy and played with her. I was looking forward to seeing the kind of woman she was going to grow into. She was starting to try to stand up and walk, she could stand up while holding the table but when she'd start trying to walk she'd fall. I'll never forget the first time she stood up. Me and Norman were sitting on the couch and she pulled on his pants leg until she stood up for the first time. I started crying. My baby was growing up. Me and Norman talked about maybe taking off when my baby shower was done being planned for his house in Georgia. Just a change of scenery and one last get away before we had 2 children in tow with us. We had calls pouring in from friends and family about our newest edition. I think the very first person who found out after we did was Norman's mom. He called her up right after all the chaos settled down. First words out of her mouth were 'Son, you've got 2 little ones with this wonderful woman. You need to show her how much she truly means to you. I know that the M - Word isn't in your vocabulary, but I think it's time for you to settle down. You've been with this girl for a long time, and you've got a beautiful daughter and another baby on the way. I think don't she is going to take this as a sign of anything ill intended. In fact, she'd probably welcome it. It's your life, but after 2 kids I would settle down, plus the way she acts around you and how welcoming she was of Mingus when you introduced them she's a keeper. You said not many women are fond of the idea of you having a son, and she was welcoming of him.' -- I pressured Norman to pop the question, but I knew it was one thing that would never happen. I just didn't want him to rush out and get a ring and then something happen and he feel horrible over it. We ate dinner and then I headed off to bed with Mercy. I put her on her pillow and laid down and held her hand until I knew she was asleep. I rubbed my belly and Norman came into the room after he made sure my friend and her husband were settled in for the night. He kissed Mercy on the forehead and got into bed beside me. He put his hand on my belly and asked me 'So what do you think it is this time?' - 'I don't know. I kinda want a boy, ya know to even out the odds. But a girl would be just fine too. What do you think it is?' - 'I think it's another lil girl. Don't get me wrong I want another boy, but I think it's another girl.' He looked over at me with Mercy's fist wrapped up in my hair. 'I can't believe how fast you got pregnant. It just seems...' - 'Seems like what? It's not like we were preventing it, and besides when we went to prevent it it was to late. It's amazing this one is still alive. I went back on birth control after we talked about how we should wait. What happens if... there's something wrong with it because of that? What happens if I lose it? What if...' Norman leaned over and kissed me. 'Hey, try not to think about that okay? Focus on the positives. Like we're adding another member to the family. Mercy will have a best friend for life.' I smiled. 'Come on let's get a little bit of sleep before we have to get up.' Norman said with a smile as we curled up together.
A few weeks later Norman had to leave for Comic Con and I just sat there staring at the bedroom wall. I had everything all planned out on what we were going to do while there, and then I found out about this baby and decided not to go. I didn't want to leave home and something happen, plus we learned when I was pregnant with Mercy that traveling caused most of the complications that came up during my pregnancy. I didn't want to go through that this time, if I could avoid it. I heard the suitcase zip up and turned and saw Norman gathering all of his bags and putting them beside the front door. Mercy crawled over and just pulled on Norman's pants leg looking up at him. He bent down and picked her up and hugged her 'Sorry sweet pea you can't go this time around.' I could see his heart break when those words left his mouth.
Norman was away at Comic Con and we face timed a few times. I let Mercy be the first face he saw and both of their faces lit up when they finally saw each other. He sat there talking to her looking like he was about to cry. Mercy all of a sudden started saying 'Da Da' and he said 'What's wrong Sweet Pea?' and all of a sudden she turned around and said 'Ma Ma.' I just smiled. 'Yep that's your beautiful mommy.' I heard Norman say and then Mercy just looked at Norman and said 'Ba Ba' - 'Tell your mommy you're hungry. Hasn't she been feeding you?' Then she said 'Ba Ba' and hugged my stomach. I looked at Norman and said 'I think she sorta knows about her new sibling.'
Norman did tons of interviews and the question everybody was wanting to ask kept coming up.
Q: So Norman while most everybody is so interested in what is going to happen with Daryl and Season 6, the news broke recently and you confirmed it that you and your girlfriend have added a new edition to the family. Care to talk about it?
Norman: We were surprised at how quickly it happened. My son is really involved in her life as a bigger brother and we are very pleased that both of my kids get along. We didn't really 'try' per say. We did, but then stopped after my girlfriend wasn't sure she was ready for another one since he wanted to try to get our daughter to a good age. We were face timing the other night and uh our daughter got my attention and then hugged her mommy's belly.
Q: So can we get the details on what you guys know so far? If not that's okay.
Norman: Eh. We wanna keep those between ourselves. All I can really share is my girlfriend's belly is already expanding, and she's already showing so you can certainly tell she's pregnant.
Q: So just riddle us this, is it just 1 or is it twins? Haha. Also what gender do you guys want it to be? Any details on the names?
Norman: *laughs* It's just 1. I'm going for another lil girl, but mommy's going for a boy. Uh... Mingus is wanting a little brother. My mom doesn't care what it is, just another grandkid for her to spoil. Either way we're going to try to be the best parents we can. Mercy isn't even 1 yet and she semi understands what's going on. It's been cute interacting with her and then watching her just interact with her mommy. She's doing this thing now that where she'll fall asleep with her head on her mommy's belly like a pillow.
Q: So everybody wants to know how are you and your girlfriend handling it?
Norman: I'm handling it pretty well. I'm trying to be the best husband and support my girlfriend through this time. My girlfriend was really shocked at first. She cried for hours when she took the pregnancy test and it came back positive. She's handling it great now. She's enjoying being pregnant again. She's having a hard time trying to balance being a mom to an almost 1 year old and being pregnant. She's being a great sport about it.
Q: Okay. Okay. Onto TWD questions. Can you tell us anything about this season?
Norman: Uh. *nervous laugh* I can't really reveal to much. I know I say this a lot, but uh we really out did ourselves, the crew, the cast, everything. It's been really fun. Hopefully it shows when Season 6 starts in October. I'm under a contract to not reveal that much.
Q: So anything you can describe about your character?
Norman: Season 5 left off at a really great event, Rick killing Pete and Daryl, Aaron, and Morgan showing up and seeing the blood bath just after Morgan said that life is precious. Daryl was really lost for words, and maybe that brings up conflict maybe not. Daryl is pretty broken after the Beth death scene, and he's just... you know trying to figure out what to do in this new environment.
Q: Totally in agreement on the 'broken' part after Beth's death. Why do you think Daryl took it so hard? Some fans say it was because he was in love with her. Some say it was because of what he told her before breaking down and crying. What's your opinion on the whole situation?
Norman: I personally think it was because he didn't want anymore blood spilled. The idea that Beth stabbed Dawn and Dawn could have been patched up, and instead she pulled the trigger. I also believe that he felt horrible because he DID tell her she would never see Maggie again, so he felt guilty about that.
Q: It's all over that TWD is getting a spend off titled "Fear The Walking Dead". Your thoughts?
Norman: I like the idea that there's like an alternative show that sorta links with ours. I feel that it shows what happens during the earlier days, while ours shows later down the road, even though it broke out when Rick was in the hospital. I've met the cast and they seem like a great group of kids so I'm happy that they get this chance to sorta join up with us.
A few days later, Norman got home from Comic Con and had bags of presents with him. Mercy ended up pulling everything out of one of the bags to make a little hiding area. Norman took a picture of her and captioned it 'I came home with tons of goodies from Comic Con and my daughter just took everything out to play in the bag.' I got down on the floor and started to play with her and she crawled into my lap and looked up at me and I said 'You've spent a whole weekend with me. Go show your Daddy some love.' Norman just held his arms out and she grabbed a hold of his hands and sorta pulled herself up and stood there holding onto his hands. I wanted to cry. Life was moving so fast.