AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello all – thanks for joining me in this little tale of love and redemption.

I wrote this story just after the immigration interview that Sami and EJ had when they were still married and living in the DiMera mansion with John, Marlena and Rolf plus the twins of course. I was unhappy with how it all ultimately played out and I fear seeing what they have done to EJami nowadays on the show that the writers have no real understanding about what was at the heart of EJami. So I set about rectifying that and giving them a story they deserved in my own humble way. I feel like EJami has such range – they can do passion, fighting, romance, humour and so many other things very, very well. I loved the scenario they set up at the DiMera mansion at the time and in particular the possibilities of Robbo John or nu-John as he is known by some.

There was so much potential in having an amnesiac assassin wandering the hallways of the DiMera mansion who still had a thing for his Blondie and a relationship to explore with his newly acquired nephew that I just felt the need to go there. LOL They could have made so much more of John then they did in the end and that is really sad. But then that can be said of all the characters on Days nowadays as character driven stories go by the way side to make for plot driven ones. 

It's a horrible way to tell a story and I can promise you that what happens in my stories will always remain secondary to the characters themselves. I'm intent on telling you the story of EJ and Sami themselves and not a series of events involving them. I have to love and know the characters I'm writing about and hopefully I can make you invest in my understanding of them as well. That way a good time will be had by all! ;)

So without further ado I give you "Patience is a Virtue..." the first in a series of romantic comedy instalments about EJ and Sami. I do hope you have a little fun with it...

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE...

Chapter ONE

EJ looked up from his lap top and stared at the ceiling above him as more scrapping and thumping noises drifted down to him. He tilted his head to one side and wondered yet again what it was that Samantha was doing up there to be making so much noise. It had been a rough day for them both what with the final interview with Mr Burke and then the drama between Sami and Nicole. It had taken him a long time to calm Sami down and get her to stop crying - all in all they'd had easier days. After coming home, having dinner and getting the twins fed, bathed and to sleep Sami had disappeared upstairs for the last hour and a half and he'd immersed himself in doing some reading for Nicole's case. It was a distraction he was happy to have rather than think about the possibility of being deported.

The noises coming from above had broken his concentration yet again and he couldn't help his mind wandering to what decision Mr Burke was going to make about his visa status. He'd been hard to read and usually EJ was very good at being able to get a bead on what people were thinking but not this time. He'd been honest with the man about needing to be here for his family over everything else and Samantha had certainly brought her A game to the table just like she'd promised. So much so it had been hard to remember that she was lying when she'd said that loved him. For so long now he'd been desperate to hear those words from her lips, in fact he felt liked he'd been born waiting to hear Samantha tell him that she loved him. Even knowing that it was a lie changed nothing for him and it was all he could do to not let himself fall into that fantasy yet again.

It was a lie but what a sweet lie it was. EJ had resigned himself to the fact that he would only ever have crumbs from Samantha because of what he had done to her but he'd take what he could get because walking away from her simply wasn't an option - never had been despite his father's plans. If only he knew then what he did now, how different things could have been between he and Samantha. Bitter regret made his stomach clench painfully but there was nothing to be done about it now. He'd done what he'd done, however misguided his loyalties and understandings of things had been, it was no excuse and now he'd have to lie in the bed he'd made with his own hands… alone.

EJ gave an angry shake of his head, mad at himself for allowing the self pity to set in. He may have ruined any chance of ever being with the woman he loved but his son was a different matter. He was determined no matter what to be there for Johnny and, if Sami would let him, Ali too. They were his highest priority and he'd do what he had to make sure that happened. Even if that meant entrusting his fate over to in-laws who up until very recently had wanted him in prison or dead, a money hungry divorcee-to-be with very little moral fibre that he could see and an Uncle who at best could be called a wild card.

"So what do you think she's doing up there anyway?"

EJ's head snapped down as he was still staring up at the ceiling as he thought his dark thoughts, more noises continued to rain down from above to see the 'wild card' looking at him expectantly.

"I'm not sure Uncle," said EJ smoothly and then with a little quirk of the lips, "But it sounds like she's auditioning for the stage version of the dance scene in Fantasia."

"What's that?" asked John with a blank look.

He had a lot of blank looks EJ had come to realise and they all meant different things, you just had to get used to them and after sharing a roof for the last month EJ was beginning to become familiar with them.

"Sorry," he apologised, forgetting for a moment his Uncle's amnesia, "It's a Disney cartoon where three hippopotami dance around in tutu's to Swan Lake."

"That sounds…" John paused then, seeming to sift through his vocabulary to find the right word, "… bizarre."

"I guess it is," agreed EJ, a little surprised, "I've never really thought about it before."

"So this Disney character - crazy right?" asked John flatly.

"Well he did have his body frozen so that he could be brought back to life, when they worked out the technology in the future," pondered EJ, "So I suppose you could argue his grasp on reality wasn't as tight as one might have hoped."

"You have a problem with people being brought back from the dead?" asked John, tilting his head to one side but otherwise giving nothing else away.

In anyone else the question might have been considered ironic considering the circumstances but EJ had the feeling that his Uncle just really wanted to know.

"Well it is a little…" this time it was EJ's turn to search for the right adjective, "… confronting… for some people that is."

"Hmm," said John, his face still characteristically offering no clue as to what he was thinking.

John walked over to the sofa opposite where EJ was working and put down the plate which contained a half eaten sandwich.

"Rolf made me supper," he announced.

"Oh," said EJ, unsure what else he was meant to add to that.

"It tastes funny," said John flatly.

"Funny how?" asked EJ in confusion.

"Tastes like blue," said John.

"Blue?" repeated EJ blankly, "Your sandwich tastes like blue?"

"Yeah," said John, picking up the half without a bite out of it, "Try some."

"Ah no thanks," said EJ with a bemused shake of his head, "I had blue for lunch."

John gave a blink and then another, no emotion registering on his face at EJ's reply. The moment was broken when a loud thump came from upstairs and they both looked up.

"She's your wife," he said emotionlessly, "You deal with it. I've got my own problems with Blondie to worry about."

EJ gave a little grimace and with a silent inclination of his head stood up and excused himself to go and check on what it was exactly Sami was doing in her room. As he climbed the stairs EJ tried not to obsess over the fact that he'd entrusted his future, in part at least anyway, to a man who thought his food tasted of blue!