They were late. Cordelia despised being late, but she knew they were late as soon as they walked in the house. She knew without a doubt that even though it was seven on the dot, she and Happy were late.

"About time you showed up," a woman scolded as she fixed her gaze on Happy. "You're late. It's good to see you, Hap." She smiled at Cordelia's husband before she turned her eyes to Cordelia. "Del," she grinned, "it's been too long." The woman's eyes lingered on her before she reached out and pulled Cordelia into her arms. "Oh, it's good to see you, baby. You look the same." She said running her hands through Cordelia's hair. "How've you been?"

Cordelia stood stiffly. Cordelia could only assume that this woman standing in front of her was the supposed 'Gemma'. She took in Gemma's highlighted hair, manicured nails, and protruding cleavage. She also noticed the tattoo and scar marring her chest. Cordelia looked up to Happy when she felt him tap her on the arm. "Hmm?"

"Feeling. How've you been feeling, Del? Gemma asked."

Cordelia, thankful for Happy's clarification, looked back to Gemma to see the older woman's eyebrows raised. "Good. I guess. Good as can be," Cordelia replied with a nod.

"Good."

The three of them stood in front of the door while an awkward silence ensued. "Well, Hap. Dinner's ready. We're waiting for Tig and Clay. They had some…things to clean up. Why don't you go reintroduce Del to everyone?" Gemma asked, although Happy couldn't help but notice her question posed more as a statement and order than anything.

Happy nodded as he led Cordelia over to where everyone was and Gemma followed. Conversations ceased as they approached the table. Cordelia felt a nervous pit in her stomach. Everyone was staring and this was her worst possible nightmare – being the centre of attention. "Hey," she offered with a wave. When nobody spoke up, Cordelia bit her lip nervously. "I'm Cordelia," she offered, hoping someone would take the bait. Eyes wandered but words were not spoken.

Gemma let out an annoyed grunt. "Well if nobody's starting… Cordelia's back. Delia, darlin'," Gemma spoke, placing one hand on her shoulder, "this is everyone. Piney, Opie – his son, Lyla – Ope's girl, Jax – my son, Tara – his old lady, Chibs, Bobby, Juice, and Half-Sack." Cordelia was going to have a hell of a time remembering everyone.

"Hi Cordelia, it's nice to meet you," the blonde woman smiled. Lyla. That was her name. Lyla, Lyla, Lyla. Cordelia repeated in her head, hopeful of having everyone's names by the end of the night.

"Thanks," Cordelia smiled. "Did I know you…before?"

Lyla shook her head. "No, you didn't."

Cordelia nodded her head, looking at the others. Silence ensued again.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding. I'm not doing all the talking tonight, so you all better start. You're adults, discuss!" Gemma ordered before she disappeared around the corner into what Cordelia could only assume was the kitchen. As she turned her head back around, she was surprised to find that the large man with his hair in the beanie had opened his mouth.

"I'm Opie, as Gemma mentioned. You knew me before. You knew Donna, too," Opie stopped talking to take a deep breath. "She was my first wife – passed away not too long ago, though. Me, you, Donna, Jax, and Tara, grew up and went to school together briefly. You were two years ahead of us. Not too good in school though," Opie stopped to look up at her with a smile, "so you ended up having a lot of classes with us."

"Detentions, too," Jax piped up. "You had a lot of detentions with us, too."

"Was I a trouble maker?" Cordelia asked, scrunching her nose in the process.

"Not necessarily. You just had the unfortunate luck of getting sucked into their schemes," Tara added with a smile. "Just like me."

"Oh. What about the rest of you. Did I know you all?"

"No, darlin', but you knew most of us. Juice was only a prospect when you two moved up to Tacoma. Half-Sack's a prospect now," Jax commented. "You knew Clay and Tig, too. They're not here yet, but they will be soon."

"Okay." Cordelia smiled. "Where do you get a nickname like Half-Sack?" Cordelia asked the ginger man sitting not too far from where she stood.

He looked to Hap, eyes wide. "Well, uh – you see…I was in the army." He nodded at Cordelia as if that explained everything.

"And…? What? Like, one of your balls blew off?" Cordelia asked. Looking at the room for clarification. When she saw people smirking and grinning behind their hands, Cordelia's gasped. "Oh my God! One of your balls blew off? Like, all the way off? Did you ever find it? Was it blown to pieces? How painful was that?"

"Uh…pretty painful," Half-Sack confirmed. "Most painful experience so far."

The room was filled by stifled laughter from the men of SAMCRO, Happy included.

"I'd offer to show you," Half-Sack began, "but I'm quite find of the other one," Half-Sack quipped, making note that Happy's dark look lightened when he confirmed that he wouldn't be flashing his junk for his wife.

"Good, 'cause nobody wants to see that," Happy remarked. He led Cordelia to two chairs as Gemma came back in the room, followed by two men.

"About time," Gemma stated. "Dinner's served." Gemma sat down as the two men made their way over to the dining table.

Cordelia felt her breath catch in her throat. These were definitely two men Cordelia knew, as she had seen them in her dreams for the last year seven years. These were the men in the garage with Happy. These were the men in the garage with Happy when Happy killed someone. This wasn't possible. How could they be here, now? How could they be here, at all? They were supposed to be mental creations – at least that's what Dr. Newman called them. Those people were not supposed to exist. Holy Fuck. Cordelia mentally swore in her head as the two men looked over to where she sat.

"Cordelia. Nice to see you're out. I'm Clay, this here's Tig. Happy to have you back," Clay stated as her and Tig took their seats.

Cordelia could feel her eyes widen as she glanced down at her hands in her lap. She was clenching her hands into fists again, something she always did when she was nervous. She could feel her nails dig into her skin when Happy tapped her arm. "You okay?" he rasped out quietly.

She nodded as she glanced over to the curly haired man from her dreams. "Gem, this looks fantastic." Even his voice was familiar. This was not good. This was not good, at all. What was she going to do? People, who weren't supposed to exist, did exist.

Cordelia turned her head away from her lap and towards her husband. She saw concern in his eyes, which Cordelia noted was strange, but she answered his question with a nod. "Yeah. I'll be okay," she smiled as the table's conversation drowned out the last of her words. "I'll be just fine."

The next morning, Cordelia lay in her bed, recounting last night's events in her head. After they ate, Cordelia had helped Gemma clean up the dished with Tara and Lyla while the men went outside to take about something they needed to take care of. It was weird, Cordelia thought, that men in a motorcycle club had anything to take care of. Last night, Cordelia became acutely aware that there was something more to this club. Something more than being 'motorcycle enthusiasts', as Clay put it. She hadn't spoken to anyone for long. A few words to Lyla and Tara. A quick conversation with Opie and Jax about their schooldays together. An obligatory conversation with Half-Sack, whom Cordelia learned was really name Kip Epps, about his blown-off genitalia.

It was weird, she thought, how familial they seemed. It was more than a friendly dinner – almost a family dinner, if Del thought about it long enough. Maybe that's why she felt so comfortable around them last night – even Clay and Tig. Those people last night were, at one point, the closest thing, next to Marina, Juanita, and Happy, that she had to a family. That reason alone was why Cordelia had asked Gemma about helping out around the garage – she wanted to be close to her family.

As Cordelia thought about last night, she jumped when Happy began banging on the bedroom door. "You decent?" She heard him ask through the door.

Cordelia took a couple of seconds to gather herself and to calm her breaths. She yawned and stretched before considering Happy's question. 'You decent' was always a weird saying. She was a decent person, yes, but she knew that's not what the question meant. Happy wanted to know if she was dressed, which was weird, because up until a few minutes ago she had been sleeping. Of course she was dressed – she didn't sleep in the nude…unless she used to sleep in the nude. Cordelia thought about that for a moment before Happy pounded on the door again. "Delia," his raspy voice floated through the door, "you dressed, babe?"

Cordelia hopped off the bed and walked towards the door, smoothing her shirt down before opening it. "Yes, I'm dressed, Happy. Did I used to sleep in the nude or something?"

Happy looked down at his wife. At his height, he could easily see down his wife's loose-fitting pajama top. "Or somethin' like that…" Happy confirmed. "You know…after certain nights you slept nude," he nodded, watching as Cordelia's face tinged pink.

"Oh," she gasped clamping her lips together, "right."

"Anyways, you gettin' dressed today?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"Could get used to seeing you barely dressed, but Gemma mentioned you and her talked about you workin' at the garage? Help her out with office shit 'n' stuff."

"Oh, right! I did ask her if I could help out. I just feel useless doing nothing all day. Besides, I remember you mentioning that I used to help out around there sometimes. Figured I might start up again, if that's alright with you? Give me five minutes to get dressed and I'll be right out." Cordelia was about to shut the door, but Happy's foot stopped to path.

"You can help today, but Del…we got to talk tonight, 'kay?"

Cordelia looked Happy in the eyes. "Okay," she nodded. "Five minutes," she reinforced as she spun on her heel. Happy watched her skip over to the dresser before she turned to look at him, gesturing that he should shut the door. He chuckled as he closed the door lightly. Leave it to her to be modest around someone who's seen it all. He admired her positivity after the crazy night they'd had the night before. He noticed her posture straighten when Clay and Tig had walked in the room and he hoped that he'd get to the bottom of that before anyone else. Happy found himself hoping that she still had that bounce in her step tonight, because heaven knows he wasn't going to be so happy-go-lucky after their talk.