Sunshine (Norman Reedus)

15. A Memory and A Secret

**Flashback**

Norman and I have known each other for about a month now. It started slow, us just going to little shops and getting something to drink or to eat. "Mingus is excited to meet you." Norman says to me. I look at him and smile. "Me too. He seems like a sweetheart." I tell him. He looks at me and smiles. "He is." he says to me. I smile and look at Norman. "So this fair that we're going to. Is it fun?" I ask him. He chuckles at me and wraps his arm around my neck and pulls me closer to him. "I think it is and Mingus loves to go every year." he tells me.

Norman and I had made it to the fair. We both got out of the car and I saw a little blonde haired boy jump off a bench and into Normans arms. I smiled at the image. I looked around and saw a woman who was looking at Norman and Mingus as well. She looked at me and her face fell. I put my hand out to shake hers. "Hi, I'm Piper. Nice to meet you." I say to her. She grabs my hand and shakes it. "Helena. Nice to meet you." I dropped my hand and put on a fake smile.

I looked down and saw the little blonde haired boy looking up at me. "I'm Mingus" he says to me. I bend down and shake his hand. "Well... hello there Mingus. Nice to meet you. You're dad has told me a lot about you." I said to him. A small creeps up on his face and grabs my hand. "You got to help me. I want to win this elephant, but I can't. I keep missing. the balloon." Mingus says to me. I look at the station and see it's a dark game where you have to hit all the balloons to get the big elephant. I looked at Norman and Helena and they both looked at me. "It is okay, if I help him?" I ask them. Mingus wasn't my kid and I don't want to overstep boundaries.

"Oh course." Norman says to me. I look over at Helena wanting her approval. She looked at me and nodded. I grabbed his hand and we both started walking over towards the booth. "Let's go little man." I say to Mingus. Once we were almost to the booth, I looked back and saw Helena and Norman arguing over something and I had a pretty big clue what it was. I sighed and looked down at Mingus.

"Hi! Welcome to Elephant booth! You want to win an elephant. Just hit all five balloons within ten seconds and he is all yours." the booth attendant said to Mingus and I. I pulled my wallet out of my bag and gave the man five dollars. "You got this!" Mingus shouted and he jumped up and down. I smiled down at him and chuckled. The man gave me some darts and started the clock. I threw one dart and popped one, then I threw another and popped another and another and another and another. I still had three seconds left after I was finished. Mingus started jumping up and down with excitement.

"You did it! You did it!" Mingus said loudly. I looked down at him and smiled. I looked back up and saw the man giving me this huge, blue elephant. "Jesus... Mingus.. you sure you want to carry it. It's... kinda big." I say to him. Once I grabbed the elephant, I could barley see, so I had to throw it up on my shoulders and Mingus laughed at me. "Ha ha. You got an elephant on your head." he says to me. I look down at him and laugh with him. "I do, don't I?" We both start walking back towards Norman and Helena and Mingus run at them full of excitement.

"Mom! Dad! Look what Piper got me!" Mingus shouted at them. They both looked away from each other and looked at me and it brought a smile to both of the faces. "Oh my God." Helena said. "So... the elephant looked a lot small against the wall. Don't ask me how... but he did." All three started busting out laughing. "Here just put it in my car." Helena said to me. Helena starts walking towards her car and I follow.

She opens the trunk and I throw the elephant in the back. "Jesus... you gonna be able to get that in your house tonight?" I ask her. She looks at me and then back at the elephant. "I have no idea, but I guess we will find out." she says to me. I go to walk away, but she grabs my arm and pulls me back. I look at her and pull my arm away. "That's my son. That's my sons father. You are not apart of this family. Mingus wanted to meet you. He did. Please leave. Let us do our annual thing." she says to me. I look at her and I wanted to punch her, but she's right. This is her family. Not mine. I nod my head at her.