Cordelia sat facing the mirror. She ran her hands through her hair a couple more times, just to get used to it. She hadn't had hair this short in years. While she was in the hospital, haircuts were rare. She had gotten used to always putting it up in a ponytail, but now her hair was too short to make one. It sat just above her shoulders – a short bob cut. Cordelia smiled at her reflection, liking the way she looked. It had been so long since she looked at herself properly in a mirror, but here she could see clearly her reflection. She looked young, refreshed, happy. Cordelia hadn't felt this carefree in years. Here, there were no tests or doctors - no one trying to make her better. Cordelia felt at ease. Nobody was constantly reminding her of her failings or the fact that she really had no idea who she was. She found herself hoping that Happy liked it, but that thought only made her frustrated. He had only been to visit twice since he dropped her off with his mother and aunt two weeks ago. Cordelia found herself frowning at her reflection when Happy's mother, Marina, walked into the room.
"Above the shoulder looks good on you, Delia," she smiled at her in the mirror.
"Thanks. I found some pictures in the living room last week and that's what really motivated me to cut it. I never knew what I looked like before the accident. I can't believe my hair was ever this short. All it's been doing for the past few years is growing. I felt it was time for a change…that and I was tired of it taking hours to dry," Cordelia laughed, turning around in chair.
"That's true. It seems you and my son now don't have to worry about long drying times," Marina laughed. "It looks gorgeous on you, darling. Oh! If only I had hair your colour, sweetheart. So beautiful," Marina gushed, walking over to run her hands through her daughter-in-law's hair.
"You know, Mama Marina, they do have dyes. I think it's strawberry blonde they call it. We could go grab some at the store."
"I know, sweetie. I just don't know if that colour would work for me, yeah?" Marina chuckled. "Besides, I'm too old to dye my hair. Grey is… becoming for a woman of my age. Enough about my hair, though. Are you all packed?"
"Not all packed. I wasn't too sure what to bring since Happy's picking me up today on his bike."
"Nonsense, Delia. We've talked about this already. You'll be taking my car to that small little town. No reason for both me and Juanita to have a car. Lord knows I don't go anywhere, now. With my illness and all, it's best for me not to drive."
Cordelia turned around in her chair to face her mother-in-law. She knew full well that Marina's health had been deteriorating for quite some time; it was one of the few things her and Happy talked about when he would visit. "Marina, I can't do that. It's your car and –"
Marina shushed her daughter-in-law by placing her finger against her lips. "Not another word! You will take the car and you will be happy about it, yeah? I'm not letting my son drag you to that town without a way for you to come back here," Marina laughed as she began walking around what had been Delia's room for the last two weeks. "Frankly, I'm surprised he's not just leaving you here or letting you go back to Washington."
Cordelia had been about to start packing some of her clothes in the suitcase Marina had lent her, but she stood still at her mother-in-law's last comment. "What do you mean by that?"
"Mean by what, dear?"
"That you're surprised he's not leaving me here or dropping me off in Washington. You know as well as I do that you guys are my only family since my parents died. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." Cordelia questioned, her eyebrows furrowing on her forehead.
"No, of course I know we're your only family. I was at your parents' funeral, after all. All I meant was that… you and Happy don't necessarily have the best… relationship," Marina's voice got higher pitched at the end of her explanation, almost as if she was questioning what was being said herself. "Come now, dear. Let's get these suitcases packed, okay?"
"No. What…we don't have the best relationship? Well, I'm not a fool, but I can tell we're probably not the greatest communicators. Hell, I'm not even stupid. I know he's probably not the greatest man, either. But, we've been married for eleven years. I get that I spent five of those in a hospital, but that doesn't meant our relationship was shit."
"Delia, that's not at all what I meant. I know you and Happy love each other. You're just twisting my words, okay?" Marina looked at her daughter-in-law, sorry that she had brought up this conversation. "Let's just finish, okay? Happy will be here soon. I'll go find you another bag."
Cordelia followed the elder woman out of the bedroom and down the hall, to the kitchen. "Marina…I didn't mean to make you upset. I'm just so confused! I don't know who I am. Dr. Newman said my memories would be coming back, but I've been out for two weeks and I still don't know anything. It's like, I can't remember who I am, what I like. I don't know why I fell in love with my own husband. I can't remember our relationship. It's so hard to get Happy to talk to me. Sometimes I feel like he didn't even want to be visiting me because we would sit there for hours without talking. I don't even know how I fucking met him, Marina!" Cordelia's eyes teared up. "Oh my…I'm sorry, Marina. I didn't mean to swear...I'm just so frustrated."
Marina came over to hug her surrogate daughter. "I know, dear. It's okay. All of these frustrations, you should share with my son. He'll be here soon and he can clear everything up." Marina explained, pushing some of Cordelia's stray hair behind her ears. "In fact…I think I hear him now." The two women's ears picked up the low rumbling of a motorcycle.
Cordelia wiped her eyes, checking to make sure her mascara wasn't running. Thankful that it wasn't, she followed Marina outside just as Happy pulled up the driveway with another man behind him.
"My son," Marina smiled, hugging Happy, "and you brought Herman!" Marina exclaimed, kissing the blonde haired biker beside Happy on his cheeks. "Come, I'll make you lunch," Marina grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the house before Cordelia could even say 'hello'.
"Hi," Cordelia looked at Happy who was dismounting his bike.
"Hey."
"Today's the day, eh?" Cordelia laughed, trying to make the best of an awkward situation.
"Yeah." Happy nodded at her as he hung his helmet from the handlebars. "Packed?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Cordelia bit her lip. "I…uhm…cut my hair." Cordelia stumbled over her words, nervous in front of her husband.
"I see that." Cordelia waited, expecting him to elaborate more, but he didn't.
"Look, Happy…I have questions-"
"'Bout what?" he interrupted her.
Cordelia, surprised by the sudden outburst, answered, "questions about us. I just…my memory. It's not coming back. I just want to know about us. Where we met, how we got together. Things that every couple knows. I just…I want to know stuff about us."
"Oh. Yeah, sure. I'll tell you later, 'kay? Need to get goin' soon or else we'll be hittin' traffic." Happy stated as her walked by her and into the house. Once again Cordelia found herself following another Lowman around to continue the conversation.
"Hey, Ma," Happy leaned down to kiss his mother's cheek. "You eatin' all their food, Koz?" Happy questioned the blonde biker who was currently stuffing his face at the table.
"She offered!" The blonde man defended. "'Sides, how can I give up a homemade meal?" Kozik smiled at Marina. "You're Ma's one of the best cooks I know!"
"Oh, Kozik! You're such a flatterer," Marina chuckled, "I had no idea you were coming around today, or else I would've made you something special."
"Yeah, well, when Hap said he was comin' to get Del, I offered to come with," Kozik turned in his seat and smiled at the aforementioned Cordelia. "Hey, Del."
"Hello," Cordelia smiled politely, looking between both Marina and Happy. The blonde man did look somewhat familiar, but Cordelia couldn't quite place his face. "I'm sorry, I just don't remember you."
"No problem, dear. We only got to hang out for a little over two years before you went in. Though I'm sad to think I didn't leave an impression," he smiled at her.
"Yeah, well, she ain't rememberin' much, so don't take it personally, Koz," Happy's raspy voice drew Cordelia's attention from the man who was still shoveling food into his mouth.
Cordelia stared at Happy for a while before Marina broke the silence in the kitchen. "Well, if Herman's all fed, we can start loading my car." Marina walked out of the room and Cordelia, Happy, and Kozik all followed her into where Delia had been staying for the past two weeks.
"Jeez, Ma. She's only been here two weeks. How the hell did you and Juanita have time to buy all this stuff?"
"Not to worry, Happy. Just get it to the car, okay?"
An hour later, all the boxes from Cordelia's room had been placed in Marina's, and now Cordelia's, car. There were clothes laid out all over the back seat and Cordelia was surprised that everything fit into the car. She had for sure thought that she'd need at least two trips to haul the load back to Charming, but she was pleasantly surprised to find that it only looked like it would be the one load.
"Come back soon, all of you. We'll do a nice dinner one night when Juanita's not working," Marina kissed both Happy and Cordelia and hugged Kozik. "Drive safe," she waved as Cordelia got into the car. Happy came up to window and knocked in it so Cordelia would roll it down for him.
"Follow us, 'kay? Case anything happens, it's straight up 99. It'll be fine." Happy stepped away from the window as Cordelia started the car, thankful that Juanita took her to get her license renewed last week. It was a simple test that Cordelia passed quickly to reacquire the small piece of her old life.
"Yeah, sure," she mumbled to herself as she rolled up the window. She watched the two men walk their bikes back towards the street as she turned the car on and put it in gear. "Everything'll be fine." Cordelia watched at Kozik took off first, finding herself wonder why the blonde biker was so familiar. More importantly, Cordelia found herself wondering why, every time she looked at him, she couldn't help but feel dread in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't help but wonder if the feelings she felt around Kozik, another man part of Happy's biker world, were an indication of her recent dreams or if they were an indication of something very real that she simply could not remember.
Hello, everyone! Sorry for such a delayed post. I allowed school to overwhelm me, which, unfortunately, prevented me from posting in a timely manner. I know once December comes I will have much more time to write/edit/post, so I am looking forward to that.
Have a good rest of your weekend and a happy Sunday! :)