When I woke up, I found a change of clothes folded on a chair with my cell phone resting on top of the pile. Once I saw my phone, I couldn't help but to pick it up to check the time. It felt like I had only been asleep for a few minutes, but my headache was now barely a dull thud, so maybe my nap had been a bit longer than mere minutes.

HOLYSHIT!

Scratch that thought. I had DEFINITELY slept longer. Much, much longer because in my mind when you've been asleep for a little more than three hours, I really don't think it can be called a nap anymore.

While I was staring at the time on my phone, I noticed that I had a new text message waiting for me. If it was from Jax or Gemma asking to meet with me to terminate my employment, I honestly wouldn't be surprised. How could I have let this happen?

But it looked like my lucky streak was continuing because the message wasn't from either of them, it was from JC.

JC: LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU WAKE UP AND I'LL GET YOUR LUNCH READY.

Fuck! It's past 2pm! Can I even pretend it's a late lunch right now? I thought to myself as I tried to formulate a proper reply.

ME: JUST WOKE UP. GIVE ME FIVE TO GET DRESSED AND I'LL BE RIGHT OUT.

I threw my phone on the bed and jumped up to pull on my jeans and the rest of my clothes. The sound of a chime coming from my phone caused me to pause and pick my phone back up to read the new message.

JC: NO RUSH. THERE'S ACTUALLY BEEN A CHANGE IN PLANS.

ME: CHANGE? SHIT! HOW MUCH TROUBLE AM I IN?

JC: NONE MY ABEJITA. SO… GO… HOP IN THE SHOWER AND TAKE YOUR TIME GETTING READY.

Shower? I questioned to myself because that really didn't feel right as I typed out,

ME: SHOWER? REALLY? I HAVE TIME FOR A SHOWER?

JC: REALLY. I PROMISE YOU WILL HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME FOR WHAT'S PLANNED.

ME: OKAY. BUT I HAVE IT IN WRITING NOW, SO IF I GET INTO ANY SHIT OVER THIS, IT'S YOUR ASS, OSITO, UNDERSTOOD?

JC: I'D RATHER HAVE YOUR ASS.

"JC!" I exclaimed out loud with an uncomfortable chuckle. I honestly could not believe that he would type out such a message, especially when he knew that I might be showing them to someone else.

That's when a thought hit me like a shot between the eyes. "Fuck me."

ME: YOU CHEEKY ASSHOLE! YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!

JC: YEP. NOW GO SHOWER. AFTER YOU'VE DRESSED COME OUT TO THE COMMON ROOM.

ME: ON MY WAY *KISSES*

I'm sure JC sent me another message, but the sound of someone knocking on the door kept me from hearing any chimes that may have sounded from my phone. I stared at the door for a couple of breaths and completely forgot how to react to that sound. I mean I know that I should answer them, but I still remained silent. Or I should put on some clothes, but I remained cemented to my spot. Depending on who it was that was on the other side of the door, it might be highly embarrassing for them to walk in on me in just a t-shirt and a pair of panties.

"Mia? Sweetheart? Did you fall back asleep?"

Gemma! Yes! She'll tell me the truth about what's going on right now.

I sprinted to the door and threw it open almost hard enough to make an impression in the wall with the door knob. When Gemma saw my state of undress, she gaped at me for a brief second. But she recovered quickly and then she pushed me, fairly forcefully, back into the room and slammed the door shut without taking her eyes off of me. The incensed look on her face scared me so much that I pulled the comforter off the bed and wrapped it around myself as quickly as my hands could move.

She still didn't look pleased, but her facial expression had softened significantly, so I just stood there staring at her. I figured that if I didn't move or saying anything, especially the wrong thing, then I wouldn't be able to get myself into any more trouble.

I'm not sure what look I had on my face, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a good one because Gemma's face softened significantly and she used a very careful tone when she said, "Sweetheart, don't forget to breathe."

"I'm… I mean I am. It's just… Are…? Are you mad at me? Because Jax told me I should have a nap and he said that I could sleep in here. I know that I've been…"

"No Mia, I'm not mad at you," she interrupted with a chuckle when I started to ramble. "But you should be more careful when answering the door, especially when you are dressed like you are right now, Baby Girl."

I looked down at the comforter covering my body and felt a hot blush color my cheeks. "I know I should. I swear I only answered the door without putting on anything else because I knew it was you after you called through the door."

My answer seemed to shock her, but only momentarily. "Alright, but in the future, you'll…"

"Want to be as covered up as humanly possible when I'm around the guys unless I'm with Dad or Juice. It isn't that the guys can't be trusted, but Dad would hate to lose another Brother just because they were too stupid to keep their hands to themselves. It's bad enough that Juice got away with it for months, we don't want anyone else to think that they can too."

Gemma continued to just stare at me for a few breaths and then she did a slow blink as she asked, "I take it that those aren't your words?"

I shook my head and answered with a sad smile, "Nope. It's the lecture Dad gave me before and after I moved here. And then he gave me another version of it after I got out of the hospital and he found out about me and JC."

"I had no idea he was being so hard on you, Baby. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, it's okay. He really isn't being THAT bad, Momma Bear. I get why he worries…" I gently tapped my left eyebrow to silently illustrate evidence of that point. "And I think he's actually warming up to JC."

"He is? Wow. How the hell did you manage that?"

I couldn't help but to laugh at the shocked look on her face. "JC came over the other night and cooked us a homemade meal from scratch. And then after I went to bed, the two of them sat down for a 'talk'. I don't know what JC said to Dad, but whatever it was it appears to be doing the trick."

"Holy shit... Huh... I guess I should give our Juice more credit than I have been."

"Most people should. But I'm guessing that talking about my love life isn't what brought you here right now. So, what's up?"

Gemma smiled and wrapped her free arm around my shoulders to hug me. It was then that I noticed she was carrying a pile of towels and some clothes with her.

Before I got a chance to ask her about them, she answered, "You're right. But it is a topic I would like to get into further with you another time. Right now, I'm here to bring you fresh towels for your shower. Tara told me she's left some toiletries in the bathroom and to let you know that you're free to use them if you want."

"That's generous of her. Thanks. But towels aren't all that I see in your arms there."

"No, they aren't. I also brought something for you to change into."

I move to take it from her, but she pulled it away and out of my reach. I took a couple of steps back and gave her a questioning look because if I was supposed to wear the outfit, why wasn't I allowed to touch the clothes now?

"Now Mia, I don't want you to worry about this outfit. Your dad gave his okay for you to wear it."

"Why would something you brought me to wear need Dad's approval?"

Instead of answering me with words, Gemma used her actions to explain. She took the article of clothing she was holding in both hands and let gravity unfold it in front of her. Now I could see that she was holding a dress to show it to me. Wait, she wasn't holding up just any dress, in her hands was a dress I had worn only once. More precisely, I was only allowed to wear it once. The occasion had been a club party of the MC's in Tacoma. They had invited everyone from my Uncle's garage to attend as a 'Thank you' for all of the work that we did for them. It had also been the last time I had worn it because my Uncle had gone ballistic when he saw it on me. To me it was just a sexy little black dress, but to my Uncle it was too short, too tight, too low cut and too revealing. Granted the hem hit a couple of inches above my knees and it had a halter styled top that accentuated my assets beautifully, but that was the popular style at the time. It was also all of those reason that he hated that prompted me to buy it in the first place. I didn't have many chances to dress up, so I wanted to make sure I did it right for that party. I wasn't looking to go home with anyone from the MC, but did that mean that I couldn't still dress to impress? I didn't see the harm in it, but according to my Uncle Terry, no, no I couldn't and shouldn't do that.

I narrowed my eyes then asked Gemma, suspicion naked in my tone, "You showed THIS dress to my dad and he approved me wearing THIS dress to dinner tonight? Dinner with everyone from the MC?"

She laughed as she slipped the dress onto a hanger and hung it up beside the dresser. "Yes, Mia. He said it would be okay because he said that you'd either be on Juice's arm or his own, so it should be fine."

"Holy shit. Is he high?"

That made her laugh even harder even though I was being completely earnest with my questions. It sounded crazy to me that my dad had no issues with me wearing something like that when he knew the guys would be celebrating, which meant alcohol would be flowing freely. But Gemma didn't seem to find it as odd as I did because she just continued our conversation as if I wasn't feeling a bit affect by this turn of events.

"No, he's not." She then placed her hands on my shoulders and turned me to face her straight on. "Sweetheart, between Half Sack, Piney and Opie, we've had too many deaths in this club. Now we have these home invasions hurting the people we love, so I want us to celebrate when we can. After everything you survived, I decided that we should celebrate you. First, for coming down here to help us keep our business going during some turbulent times. Second, for helping to rid the world of some worthless scum. And third, for showing us what a loving father Happy can be. After finding out your relation to him, I finally get why he's so good with Abel and Thomas."

I smiled softly then answered, "Dad's always loved kids. He says humans are at their best before they're taught to be deceitful assholes. I'm sure he would be pressuring me for grandbabies if immaculate conception was real. But, him thinking of some guy defiling his little girl is thankfully still keeping him quiet about that subject."

Gemma chuckled then said, "That all makes so much sense. But what about you? Do you see kids in your future?"

"Me?" I asked while I tried to stall to give myself time to think of the best way to explain my feelings about that subject without going into my entire life history. My dad and I were close, but I don't think there's anyone on this Earth beyond the two of us who truly understood how connected we were or why. "I guess I could… I mean… If I met the right guy and all… sure?"

"Are you asking me if you should?"

"What? No. No, I… I just meant… I guess I haven't really thought about it all that much."

"Really? You haven't?"

"Not really. Sorry. It's just that between school and work and then Liz… err… my mother getting sick, I didn't date all that much, or at least enough for anything to get serious, so I guess I just never stopped to give it all that much thought."

Gemma had a look on her face that was both skeptic and pensive I resisted the urge to beg her not to ask anything else about this topic because I knew that if I did, I would be tipping my cards and letting her know that this topic made me really uncomfortable. That would likely turn into her prying the truth out of me.

Gemma then walked up to me and kissed my forehead before saying, "Baby Girl, I know that isn't the whole truth, but I promise I won't press you about it… tonight. So, you go and have your shower and when you're done, we'll all sit down together as one big happy family and enjoy a good meal."

"Okay. I'm pretty sure that I can do that."

"I know you can. Now take your time. I want you to relax and enjoy a nice hot shower, understood?"

"Yes, Momma Bear, understood."