"And count the stars to form the lines
And find the words we'll sing in time

I wanna keep her dreaming
It's my one wish, I won't forget this

I'm outdated, overrated
Morning seems so far away

So I'll sing a melody
And hope to God she's listening, sleeping softly while I sing

And I'll be your memories
Your lullaby for all the times, hoping that my voice could get it right"

Gemma was sitting at the bar and listening to Talia strum her acoustic guitar, the one she found at her old house. It was always a treat to hear Talia sing because the girl had the voice of an angel and could lull anything to sleep with the melodies she sang.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was in love." Gemma smirked as Talia continued strumming her song.

"She is, deep in love too." Juice chimed in with a smile, searching behind the bar for a spare pack of cigarettes. When he began patting himself down, Gem realized what he was looking for and took her pack out to share. "She's got a girlfriend named Hayleigh. Tal calls her Halo. How cute is that?"

"Adorable." Gemma agreed as she turned to face Juice, intending to get more information out of him since he seemed to know what was going on in Talia's heart. "She's never brought her around."

"I met her by accident, but Happy's been properly introduced. The rest of the guys just say 'hi' when she's around. They've been dating for a while now, but I guess Tal's not ready for her to meet the entire SAMCRO family yet."

With that, Gemma stood and went over to the couch Talia was occupying as her song came to an end. "Hey, baby."

"Hi, Ma. You're gorgeous, you know that?" Gemma giggled at the compliment and kissed the girl on the cheek before sitting next to her, making Talia sit up. "What's up?"

"Think I'm gonna throw a family dinner Saturday, but this one's gonna be a little different."

"How so?"

"Everyone has to bring a special plus one. I wanna get an idea of what the next batch of Old Ladies are gonna be like, toss out the bad apples before someone takes a bite."

"Juice told you about Hayleigh, didn't he?" Gemma thought about lying for a moment, but she slowly nodded and Talia pulled herself up on the couch to glare at Juice behind the bar. "That's the last time I tell you anything, big mouth!"

"I didn't know we were keeping her a secret!"

"I just wanna meet her, Tal." Gemma kindly said, bringing her daughter's attention back to her. "It's clear that you've got deep feelings invested in this girl and I just- how the hell could you let Juice meet her before me?"

"I met her by accident!" Juice tried to defend himself.

"You're dead, Juice! So dead!" Talia threatened and Juice threw his hand up in surrender. "I would love for you to meet Halo, Ma. I just thought it'd be better if she didn't meet everyone in one sitting. We're more so the Slim Shady family than the Brady Bunch and I don't want her to get overwhelmed."

"If she can't accept your loving family as the dysfunctional, psychotic and criminally insane people we are, then she isn't the one for you." Gemma wisely told the girl before standing to leave. "Invite her to dinner Saturday."

"Look what you've done." Talia said to Juice as Gemma left, likely to get a head start on preparations for their family dinner. "If Hayleigh breaks up with me after this, I'm gonna strangle you."

"C'mon, Tal. We're not that bad."

~SOA~SOA~SOA~

"Can you all be civil for one night? This is my future wife you're trying to impress."

Talia was in Gemma's house with the entirety of the Sons sitting at the dining room table as she addressed them from the head of the table. Tonight was a big night for her and the last thing she wanted or needed was the boys screwing things up for her when everything was going so well with Hayeligh. She had a bad feeling in her gut that one of the boys was going to royally fuck up tonight's dinner and her money was on Jax because he was a dumb, blond jackass when he wanted to be.

The Sons began to protest and she slammed her hands on the table to get them to be quiet.

"I'm serious! No talking about the weird position you managed to bend a Crow Eater into or how many of them can suck you off at once or the crazy shit you did in your Prospecting year or your time in lockup or dick jokes or burping or farting or throwing food or racist jokes or stories about breaking's someone's whatever or yelling at someone to bring their genitals to them from across the goddamn room." She shot a pointed look at Happy before her death glare was aimed at Jax.

"Jackson, I will emasculate you in front of our mother if you so much as breathe too close to her." She growled before pointing to Tig. "Tiggy, you're not allowed to say anything for the rest of the night. If you got something to say, raise your hand first, whisper it to Chibs and he'll reject or approve it." Tig zipped his mouth shut and pretended to toss her the invisible key, smiling at her when she caught it. She then pointed to the Scotsman. "Chibby, I love you, but you're limited to four words per sentence 'cause I know that brogue makes panties drop." Chibs laughed at her, but promised to abide by her rule. "Bobby, she only knows Jailhouse Rock and she won't know a damn thing about the 60s or the 70s or anything pre-20K." Bobby gave a thumbs up and the last member she had to worry about on her to-do list was Mars. "Marshall, not one word about when you were a groupie."

"I was a Roadie, there's a difference!" He argued.

"Don't care, don't talk about it!" She snapped back before her attention landed on her Dad again. "Dad, we've been through this. Please don't stare at her and for the love of God, no smiling." Happy huffed at her and shook his head, but said he would comply with her wishes. "Juice-"

"Emma Watson, Fall Out Boy, wanna spark up after this?"

"Of all of the guys, you're my only hope tonight, brother." She gave Juice a hug before she became serious again, standing at the head of the table. "Everyone else, keep your goddamn hands to yourself and your dicks in your pants. Jackson."

"How come Gemma and Clay didn't get orders?" He asked, noticing they were the only ones without a strict list of Don't Fuck Tonight Up or else.

"Because Gemma and Clay know how to be normal or at least act like they're from this planet."

"She's here." Gemma all but sang as the doorbell rang and Talia looked like she was about to turn into a ghost from how pale and wide-eyed she got. "C'mon, Tal. I'll walk you to the door."

"This is gonna be a disaster." Talia groaned as they walked to the front door. "They're gonna run her off, I know they are. Just let me hang myself before they embarrass me."

"It'll be fine, baby. Just relax." Gemma soothed as she led Talia to the front door.

When Gemma opened the door, Hayleigh was waiting on the step and she was wearing a yellow, floral-printed sundress with white lita heels and her hair was flowing in curls around her shoulders.

"Hi, Tal." She smiled while Talia was drooling.

"Hello, gorgeous. You look beautiful, Halo."

"Aww, cut it out. You're making me blush." Hayleigh giggled, but stopped when she saw the awkward expression on Talia's face. "What's wrong?"

"Are you sure you wanna meet everyone? You don't have to. You've met my Dad and my big brother, you can meet my Mom some other time."

"I wanna meet all your family, Tal."

"…but you don't have to."

"Come on, how bad could they be?"

Talia sighed at the question, knowing that the Sons could be a handful when they wanted to. Hayleigh stepped in and Talia grabbed her hand as she turned to Gemma. "Mom, this is Hayleigh. Halo, this is my Mommy, Gemma Teller-Morrow."

"Talia talks about you all the time, I'm glad we finally get to meet." Hayleigh said with a smile as she shook Gemma's hand. "You're just as pretty as she said."

"Oh, I like you already." Gemma cooed. "The rest of the family's already at the table and there's a seat for you next to Talia. You're not uncomfortable around a bunch of men, are you?"

"It shouldn't be a problem."

Gemma smiled at Hayleigh and led the girls back into the dining room. When they got there, Bobby was laying on the center of the table with his shirt off and it looked like his pants were down too. The boys seemed to be thoroughly inspecting something while Talia was paling at the sight.

"It looks like a raw, stuffed chicken." Juice said.

Tig's head tilted to the side. "I see a hairless, pregnant cat."

"Get off my goddamn table!" Gemma growled and Bobby scrambled off the table, fixing his clothes.

"You wanna leave? We can leave if you want to." Talia said to Hayleigh, who was trying not to laugh. "We can drive down to San Diego, find a restaurant and check into a nice hotel. I'd like that. Why don't we do that?"

"We're staying, Talia."

"We don't have to. I can take you away from this madness. Please let me take you away."

"Your Mom made a nice dinner for us. We're not bailing."

"Tal, maybe you should introduce Hayleigh to everyone." Gemma suggested and Talia looked at all the men surrounding the dinner table. She saw Jax wink at her and she grit her teeth at the gesture. "I can hear your teeth cracking, honey."

"Halo, you've met my Dad and big brother."

She waved at them. "Hi, Mr. Lowman. Hi, Juice."

"This is Clay Morrow, Jackson Teller, Bobby Munson, Chibs Telford, Tig Trager and Marshall Reid."

"It's so nice to meet you all."

"Okay, you've met them. We can go now, right?"

"No, Tal. We still have a dinner to get through."

Talia and Hayliegh joined the table and Gemma brought out the main course: Taco Pizza Squares. The dish was pre-cut, so it was passed around the table until everyone got a piece and Gem brought out two sides, salad and mashed potatoes, as well as a pitcher of lemonade, but the boys were having beers.

"So Hayleigh," Jax caught the blonde's attention with a convincing innocent smile that Talia glared at, knowing he was about to stuff his foot in his fat mouth. "The guys and I have been dying to ask you some questions about Talia and now that you're here, she can't try to kill us."

Talia grabbed her fork and clenched it tight in her fist. "Make me come over this table, Jackson."

"Lovebug." Hayleigh soothed as she unballed Talia's fist. "What'd you wanna know?"

"Does she cuddle after you guys bang?" Talia sent a hard kick to Jax's knee from under the table, but the blond stifled his groan of pain and kept his smile.

"Yeah, she does." Hayleigh answered with a smile, not an ounce of embarrassment on her face. "I like being close to her and she's gotten used to me curled at her side like a little kitten, so we're hugging or cuddling all the time. I kinda ask for a lot of affection, but she's always there when I need it."

"That is so sweet. Who's usually on top?"

"Jax, cut it out." Clay scolded from the head of the table while Gemma was glaring at her son.

"No, Tig. Ya' can't ask her that." Chibs said to Tig as the dark-haired man whispered something in his ear. "It's inappropriate. Kinky, but inappropriate."

"Talia told me you're from Scotland, Chibs." Hayleigh said, catching the man's attention. "Which part are you from?"

Chibs opened his mouth to ramble on about his stomping grounds, but stopped himself. He dropped his fork and set his eyes downcast on his hand to count his fingers a few times before stopping on his fourth finger. He looked up and smiled at Hayleigh.

"Glasgow, born and bred."

"I've always wanted to travel to Scotland, it's such a picturesque place. Loch Ness was one of the places I wanted to visit, not to see the Loch Ness Monster or anything, but to gaze at the lakes and visit the châteaux there. And I just wanna get lost in the caves on the Isle of Arran."

A smile tugged at Talia's lips as she listened to Hayleigh, unknowing of how much the girl seemed to admire Chibs' homeland. "I thought L.A. was your favorite place."

"It is, but I'd pick Scotland over L.A. any day." She told Talia before turning back to Chibs. "Have you ever been to either?"

"Aye, Loch Ness." Chibs paused to count his fingers again. "It's a beautiful place."

"Do you have any siblings, Hayleigh?" Gemma asked from next to Clay, smiling when the blonde looked at her.

"I don't think so, but I don't know for sure."

Gemma looked to her surrogate daughter with question in her eyes about why the blonde was unsure about her family. Talia looked down the table and locked eyes with Juice. Without a word passing between them, Juice nudged Hayleigh in the arm and got her attention while Talia leaned closer to Gemma to whisper. "She's an orphan, Ma. She's got a pretty vague memory of her family, but she was put up for adoption when she was 4 or 5. She's been in and out of homes ever since."

"How's school?" Gemma asked with a smile, changing the subject.

"I manage to keep a B throughout the year. Science is my favorite subject and thanks to Talia helping me out, I'm doing better with Algebra."

"Our girl's gotta calculator for a brain." Bobby chuckled. "She balances the books at TM better than I can."

"Talia told me that you manage the band she's in and you sing too. Do you have any Elvis shows coming up? I only know Jailhouse Rock, but I'm sure you could turn me into a die-hard fan."

"I'd love to have you come along for a show. My next one's in about two weeks." "That reminds me of this one show I did down in Chula Vista and these cute little tacos were so fixed on Elvis that after they saw my show, they dragged me to the dressing room and-" Bobby stopped his rambling for a moment when he noticed Talia waving her hand across her neck in an attempt to get him to cut the story short, knowing how it went having herd it herself multipule times. "Uh, they wanted me to give them a private performance of Love Me Tender."

"That reminds me of when I was touring with Alpha Savages." Marshall chimed in, gaining the table's attention. "It was their '06 Rampage and Be Reborn tour. Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. We've got the sexy groupies and a few strippers ready to drop their thongs, we're all horny, wasted and coming out of a casino. Eryx, rhythm guitarist and backup vocals, says he can get at least twenty more girls to follow us back to the hotel."

"Mars-" Talia tried, but the Prospect was already lost in his memories and kept blabbing on.

"Of course, everyone thinks the odds are against him and we think he can't do it, but this black-haired, green-eyed son of a bitch does the impossible." Marshall continued with a laugh. "We walk around for a little bit and come across a local hotspot. It's gotta be a half-hour to midnight, so the clubs are packed to the hilt. Eryx goes in and fifteen minutes later, he's coming out with an entire fucking mob of women behind him trying to strip on the goddamn sidewalk. We managed to herd them to the hotel and I swear to God, that was the biggest and last orgy I've ever participated in. I almost died from how much banging was going on in one night. There were at least four girls for every man, in the band or not, but everyone was sharing the love. We ended up getting kicked out for being too loud, but the guys checked into a motel and we started where we left off."

"How can you be comfortable with that?" Juice asked with a scrunched face, shaking his head. "I can't even have a two-guy, one-woman threesome. Orgies are just too much for me."

"So long as the girl's separating me from the guy, nuts don't touch and nobody tries any funny shit with my ass, I'm cool with it."

"Here, here." Tig cheered, earning another round of laughs.

"I bet Tig's participated in quite a few group sessions in his day." Jax teased.

Tig opened his mouth to say something, but he glanced at Hayleigh, then whispered something to Chibs. "Go on."

"To me, an orgy is five or more people. In my life, I've been in two."

"Dog-piling on a cadet while you were in service doesn't count."

"How's 'bout I knock you out, tie your hair in a ponytail, hogtie you, stuff a ball-gag in your mouth and drop you off at the Desire Dungeon with a note that says 'Hope you have fun breaking in your new toy'?"

"You're a sick man, Trager." Jax sneered.

Tig grinned one of his dark smiles. "Thanks."

"What's the Desire Dungeon?" Hayleigh innocently asked and Talia put her hands over her face, hoping no one would answer.

"It's a gay BDSM dungeon where men go to have certain fantasies come to life." Jax explained. "We had some nonsexual business there a couple years ago, but I'm pretty sure Tig's been visiting for pleasure." As Jax was suggestively wiggling his brows, Tig flung a pice of lettuce at him. "Hey!"

"Tig says, 'Fuck you.'" Chibs relayed the message with a chuckle.

"As much as I know you want to, I only put out for the ladies."

"I couldn't imagine sharing with any of you." Happy commented. "If anyone, I'd probably go back to Tacoma and share with Tig's boyfriend."

"Kozik, seriously?" Tig all but hissed at the Nomad. "If he pops back into Charming looking to transfer, I'm gonna skin you, Hap."

"Didn't you and Kozik break some Crow Eater when he was still around?" Bobby pondered as he stroked his beard. "You two were horrible, just threw her on the pool table and started fucking like everyone wasn't watching."

"We had to burn that table afterwards, smelled like goat sex."

~SOA~SOA~SOA~

When the night was finally over, Talia walked Hayliegh to the front door and she expressed how much of a good time she had at dinner with hopes of seeing Gemma again. She gave Talia a kiss, told her she'd text her when she got home, then climbed into her cab.

"You're so embarrassing!" Talia hissed as she slammed the front door, stomping back into the dining room. "I ask you guys to behave like decent human beings, normal even, for a goddamn hour and you act like deranged criminals!"

"…but, we are-" Jax was cut off when Talia grabbed a plate and threw it at him, hard enough to make it shatter on the table.

"Shut the fuck up, Jackson! Now Hayleigh's gonna think I'm fucking weird and she's never gonna talk to me again and she's gonna break up with me and we'll never get married and I'm gonna die old and alone! Thanks a lot, guys! Nice to know I can always rely on you for the simplest of things!" Talia stomped upstairs and slammed the door shut.

"Think the serotonin's finally kicking in." Gemma mumbled to Happy.

~SOA~SOA~SOA~

The next day, Talia was doing her homework in the clubhouse while Gemma was tidying up the space. She hasn't said a word to any of the Sons, sace for Juice, since last night and it didn't seem like anything would make her talk to them. Jax was pulling on his kutte as he came out of his dorm, spotting the teenager in the bar.

"Tal, I'm going out. Clay setup a meet with the Niners and since you're chummy with Laroy, he wants you to come along." He informed her, expecting her to follow him out, but she didn't move. "Or you can just pretend that I'm not talking to you."

"Ma, could you inform your embarrassment of son that I'm not talking to him or any of the Sons of Anarchy currently patched into the Redwood Original charter due to their mortifying actions at our most recent family dinner?" She sarcastically asked Gemma.

"You can be as irritated as you want, just come with me and get this over with."

Talia's response was licking the tip of her finger and turning to the next page of her AP Algebra homework to begin the next equation. Jax sighed and looked to his Mom, but all Gemma did was finish collecting the stray bottles on the tables before taking them to the recycling bin near the bar. He was supposed to be out of the clubhouse within the next five minutes and he didn't have time for whatever mood Talia decided to be in right now. She never usually had a problem with work and he knew she liked going to see Laroy, he just needed her to get going.

"Don't touch her, Jackson." Gemma gravely warned, her back still turned to her son.

Talia spent the night, so Gem tried to convince her daughter that the Sons were harmless and that Hayleigh couldn't have been scared off because she was smiling the whole night. She understood that Talia would feel embarrassed because it did take time to get used to the boys, but once someone understood how all their fucked up heads worked, they'd realize their twisted version of humor and get used to the raunchy shit that regularly came out of their mouths. Talia was set in her ways though and she had every right to be upset, but Gem honestly didn't know if her son was smart enough to know when to leave a dangerous woman alone. What she did know was that Jax was making a bad habit out of picking Talia up because she hated it and usually only allowed her Dad to so. It was one way of showing his fraternal side, but he hasn't explained that to the girl he considered family.

So when Jax tried grabbing Talia, she slugged him in the face and he fell on his ass, holding his nose.

"Ma, I really think you need to give your son a refresher on respect, manners and boundaries 'cause that little stunt just put him on thin ice. He keeps this up and he'll die like a Teller for sure; it'll be a bloody goddamn mess."

"Wanna go home and make some brownies, watch a good movie, have some wine?" Gemma offered with a sweet smile. "You could use a break from studying, baby. You work so hard to get good grades and then, you do so much around here for the Sons. Let's go relax."

Talia was staring something godawful at Jax as he picked himself up, but she collected her books and left the clubhouse with Gemma, flipping the blond off as she went.