Taking a deep breath, Dara knocked on Mac’s and Felicia's front door. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see her guards alert and vigilantly scanning the area for potential dangers, a constant reminder of how her life had changed since the last time she was here.

The front door opened and Felicia greeted her with a cautious smile. "Hey."

"Hi."

"Come in."

The temperature dropped dramatically as she walked inside the house. She could feel their confusion, disappointment, anger, and disapproval.

"Hello," she said to Mac, Alex, Bobbie, Tony, and Amy, her and Marcus' closest friends, their family.

Greetings were muttered throughout the room.

"Have a seat," Felicia offered, always the peacemaker. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you," she replied.

For a minute, they all sat in uncomfortable silence.

"Dara, are you okay? Why did you do this? Are you afraid because Achoy is on the loose?" Alex asked, worried, looking for a way to make sense of Dara's sudden marriage.

She shook her head.

Disappointment was apparent on everyone's face, particularly Alex's. Bobbie took Alex's hand and gave it a squeeze, while giving Dara an empathetic look.

"Did Sonny- - Is Sonny holding something over you?" Tony questioned.

Once again she shook her head.

Amy wrapped her arms around her husband and laid her head against his shoulder.

"Then why? Why? Why have you dishonored Marcus' memory?" Mac exclaimed. "How could you do that to Craig and this baby?"

What could she say to these people? These people had become family to her and Marcus and Craig. Holidays, impromptu barbeques, sleepovers for the kids and the women, shopping sprees, weekly family dinners. The Jones-Scorpio family: Mac, Felicia, Maxie, Georgie, and Robin, when she was in town. The Jones-Spencer-Garcia family: Bobbie, Alex, and Lucas. The Jones family: Tony, Amy, and Tony Jr. The adults were Craig's aunts and uncles, the kids his cousins. She knew they wanted answers, wanted to understand, but she couldn’t do that.

She knew they would understand her desire for vengeance, for justice. They all had walked on the dark side, except for Amy and Alex. But between Amy's years as Luke's sister-in-law and Alex's years on the force, they could greatly empathize. But she couldn't expose them to this; they were now all upstanding citizens in the community. They had overcome their pasts and she refused to be the one who plunged them back into the madness. Maybe she could at least tell them the truth about knowing Sonny before.

"Dara," Amy called out to her with concern lacing her voice.

"Sonny is Craig's biological father."

Her announcement set off a flurry of shocked responses.

Raising her voice to be heard, she continued. "I told you that because you're my family, and we all know how hard family and love are to come by. You don't have to like my choices, but you do have to respect them. Our years together demand at least that. I'm not asking you to invite Sonny on fishing trips or for him to give you tours of Corinthos Morgan, but for the sake of our relationship and this baby's with her aunts and uncles, can we please come to some sort of compromise?"

Rubbing her extended stomach, Dara saw the looks of understanding from the women and the confusion in the men's and prayed they could all meet on some middle ground.