Sunshine (Norman Reedus)

13. Tree House and Bed Talks

My sister, dad and Norman were in the living room catching up, while me and mom were in the kitchen.
"Sweetheart... I understand you and your sister don't get along all that well, but it's your birthday week. I just want to take a family photo with both of my daughters." my mom says to me. I turn around and look at her. I can see her pleading with her eyes. I nod my head at her.

"Why don't you and I go outside." my mom says to me. I nod at her and we start going out the backdoor. "We'll be back." my mom says to Norman and dad and Hannah. I look at Norman and smile. He gives me his little smile and winks at me.

Mom and I walk over to the my and Hannah's old tree house. She goes to climb up and I panic. "Mom! Are you fucking crazy? This thing is old. You could break something." I say to my mom. She looks down at me and smiles. "Your dad and I make sure to keep it up to date. We're hoping that one day before we die, one of our children will have babies of their own. Then our grand kids could come over and climb into the same tree house as their momma once did." my mom says.

I smile up at her and start climbing with her. Once we were both inside we sat down and laughed. "It would have sucked if this thing did collapse though." I hear my mother say. I chuckle at her and nod in agreement.

"Norman is looking good. So are you." mom says to me. I look at her and smile. "You know... I never thought you two were going to be the friends you are today. If I'm being honest... I really thought at first he was just... you know... a fling." mom says. I look at her with wide eyes. Did she know about Norman and I? "You... knew?" I ask her. She starts chuckling. "Of course, sweetheart. Your dad and I both knew. From the moment we saw you two together." she says. I look at her with wide eyes and with my mouth open.

"Your dad wasn't very happy with the age difference, but he quickly got over it. Because he saw how good a man Norman is. He knew that Norman would love and protect you." mom says to me. I smile at her. "Norman is a great guy. He isn't perfect, but he is damn near. You know?" I say to her.

"Mom... I want to tell you something, but promise you will never tell anyone. Not even dad. I'll tell him when I'm ready." I say to her. She loses the smile on her face and replaces it with a concern look. "A few months ago... I found out I was pregnant. It was Norman's and I lost it." I said to her. Tears were threatening to spill and my throat was getting tight because of this. I looked up at her and could see the pain.

"Does Norman know?" she asks me. I quickly nod my head at her. "You want to know what was weird. I was scared... freaked out really... and Norman was in a relationship at the time... but... I was kind of excited... not that I was pregnant... but because I was pregnant with his baby. Norman... is an amazing father to Mingus and an amazing person. I was angry with him because he had basically abandoned me... but for some reason, a little part of me was happy the baby was his." I said to her. She never took her eyes off of me.

"He abandoned you?" mom asks me. I smile and nod. "Just for a bit... she was messing with his head." I say to my mother. She looks at me and nods.
"Sweetheart... I'm sorry you went through this... I'm sorry all this happened, but I think something good came out of the bad." she says to me. I raise one of my eyebrows in confusion. "You love Norman. And when I mean love him, I mean love him." she says to me. I squint my eyes at her and shake my head. "Mom... I... don't think Norman looks at me like that." I say to her.

"But you do." she says to me. I look down at my crossed legs and sigh. "I think I do... I mean... I think I always have... it's just... I don't feel like I'm good enough. Not pretty enough. I'm not a super model. I'm not an actress. I'm an owner of a animal shelter." I said to her. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it.