Sunshine (Norman Reedus)

29. Christmas Day: 2

After all the food had been done, we all grabbed a plate and ate. Norman and I sat with his family and ate.

"You gonna try the potato salad?" I hear Norman ask from beside me. I look over at him and give him a disgusted look. "How long have you known me? Have I ever tried potato salad?" I ask Norman. He chuckles at me before leaning down to kiss my lips with the salad all over his lips. I playfully push his face away from me. Both of us forgetting that we are surrounded by people who don't know that we are together.

I look up at see Norman's mother looking at me and Norman with a huge smile on her face. "Norman... I think you just alerted to your mom that you and I are together." I whisper to Norman. Norman quickly looks up at his mother and smiles at her. Marianne looks between the two of us and out of nowhere she stands out of her seat and runs over to Norman and I squealing with excitement.

"How long?" Marianne asks us with everyone looking at us. Norman looks over at me and smiles. I give him a small nod, telling him that it's okay to tell Marianne. "Little over a month." Marianne smiles at us with a bigger smile than before. "Well... fucking finally." Marianne says to both of us. I let out a chuckle, while Norman and his mother hug one another. When they full away, Marianne walks over to me and gives me the same hug she had just given Norman.

We both pull away from one another and she holds onto my arms. "You take care of my boy." Marianne says to me. I smile at her. "I wouldn't be with him if I wasn't up for that." I say to Marianne.

After that, we all go back to eating and telling stories. Norman looks over at me and smiles. "I'm gonna go smoke. Wanna come with?" Norman asks me. I smile at him and nod my head. We both get up from our chairs and walk outside and stand on the porch and see the ground was white and feel the cool air brushing pushing against us.

I wrap my arms around his arm and put my head against his shoulder. "I'm glad she finally knows." I say to Norman. I look up at him and he looks down at me with a small smile. "I am, too." Norman says. I look out towards the front yard and it's so peaceful. "You know... growing up in the south... I loved the peace and quiet. But... since living in the city, it's like the city is my home, but the country is my quiet place. My escape." I say to Norman.

Norman pulls away from me and look turns his body towards me. "You wanna change plans?" Norman asks me. I squint my eyes at him, not sure what he is planning. "You wanna stay upstate for a few days. My house up here is my escape. It's quiet and away from people. I can have someone check in on Eye and you and I can just... enjoy the next few days up here alone. Maybe... stay through New Years before we head off to Costa Rica?" Norman asks me. I think for a second before nodding my head. "I would love that. I'll just have to contact someone at the shelter to to let them know I won't be back in for a while. It's moments like this that it is good to be the boss." I say to Norman with a smile.

Norman smiles down at me before leaning down and kissing me. I can taste the potato salad on his lips, which almost makes me pull away from the kiss, but I don't think there is anything that can make me pull away from a kiss from Norman. I put my hands against his face and deepened the kiss. I feel Norman's shoulder jerk when he threw his cigarette into the snow. Norman puts his hands on his hips and he gently squeezes my hips.

"Hey!" Norman and I pull away and see his mother standing at the door with a smile. "Come on. The kids are about to open their presents." Marianne says to us. We both nod our head before walking back into the heated house. Norman and I ended up standing in a corner of the living room where a bunch of kids were sitting down and tearing up presents and yelling in excitement when they got a toy or something they wanted.