Sami knew once she found out the twins were Ej's that her life would never be the same. She would never be allowed to be a mother to them and they would be taken away the moment they were born. Stephano, Ej's father would never allow her to be apart of their lives. The Brady's and the Dimera's have been at war for years and therefore her and ej would never be able to co-parent with one another. As she sat on the pier, she thought back to her conversation with the Phoenix himself, Stephano Dimera.
"Samantha, if you want to be a mother to your children, then you need to be family."
"I'm already married." Sami said, knowing where he was going with this.
"Details, you divorce that husband of yours and marry my son, then your future and their future will be set."
"Father please, this isn't the time for this." Ej interjected even though it was known to everyone that he wanted to be with Sami. He just didn't want her to think it was his idea.
"Elvis, be quiet. Now Samantha, I hear you would also like my war with your family to end."
"Yes, but we both know you're too stubborn to end the vendetta you have against my family."
"Only when you marry my son will I end the vendetta. I mean marry him, and that does not mean in name only. You will move in with me and when I see that you are acting the roles of husband and wife will you move out. Then and only then, will the vendetta end."
"BUT IM ALREADY MARRIED AND I WILL NOT DIVORCE MY HUSBAND!" Sami yelled, getting irritated with Stephano for not acknowledging her marriage to Lucas.
"Then the vendetta will never end."
"That's not fair," Sami said as she cried and Ej tried to calm her down. "How can you be so cruel?" She continued and fell into Ej's arms.
"How can you act as if you do not love my son? Now, you have heard my proposal, either take it or leave it." Stephano said and headed out of the room. Sami just stood there frozen.
Back in present day, she cried as she dropped a rose into the water. She was sitting there for over an hour, just thinking aobut how much that conversation changed her life.
"I should have just taken the deal, we would have been apart, but you would be alive. And maybe, just maybe you could have learned to understand." Sami said as she cried into the water. Lucas was killed in a car accident two months ago and Sami still wasn't over it, now she was a widow and preparing to marry a Dimera. She knew marrying Ej was the only way to protect her children from the dangers the Dimera's would put her children in.
Ej came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, she knew it was him before he ever said a word. He was the only one speaking to her since her announcement of her marriage to him. Her family couldn't understand how she could want to marry the man who caused her family so much pain, however they didn't know the real reason she was marrying him.
"We need to get to the church darling."
"Ya I know." Sami said and got up a couple minutes later. She never said a word as they drove to St. Luke's. She just stared out the window and tried not to cry, Ej kissed her cheek before leaving her in the Bride's room and headed to get dressed himself. Sami looked around the room and fell to the couch, she couldn't believe what her life was reduced to. The only people who were attending the wedding were Stephano, Tony and Anna, no one from her family was coming to support her.
"Looks like I'm getting dressed alone."
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Belle, her younger sister said as she came through the door and threw a make up bag on the couch.
"What are you doing here?"
"I figured you might need a maid of honor."
"Thank you, this is hard enough without having my family here to help me."
"Sami I just have one question, why?" Belle asked and Sami just stared at the ceiling. Sami wasn't sure if she should tell Belle the reason she was getting married. "I am here to support you, but I just don't understand why you would marry a Dimera?"
"Actually I'll be Samantha Wells." Sami said, trying to convince herself that it was better then Samantha Dimera.
"Come on Sami, there has to be a reason two months after your husband, Lucas, dies you decide to marry Ej."
"Because I don't want anyone else to pay the price that Lucas did." Sami said, now crying even more.
"What are you trying to say?"
"I marry Ej and Stephano ends the vendetta. No more war with our family, no more trying to tear the people we love apart. Finally, peace among our families."
"You don't have to do this."
"Yes I do. I want to be a mother to my twins and we both know Stephano won't allow a Brady to raise his grandchildren. Think about Claire, she won't have to grow up in fear like Shawn and I did."
"But you have to sacrifice your life to Ej."
"You would do the same thing if you knew it would make your daughter safe."
"But Ej is a horrible person."
"No he was a horrible person, and it was his father that made him the way he was. Look at Phillip, Victor is a tyrant but you still married his son."
"Phillip and Ej are very different."
"Not really, Phillip almost killed you and Shawn chasing you around the world. He and Ej are a lot alike; they both will go to extreme lengths to get what they want. Phillip wanted you and Claire, Ej wanted to please his father. But it doesn't matter, I'm gonna marry Ej today and move into the mansion."
"I'm so sorry Sami, but I do thank you for what you are doing for my daughter. I just don't understand why you didn't tell mom or Roman."
"Because they would try to talk me out of it and tell me it wasn't worth it."
"I still think you should tell them."
"I can't, not until after we're married and there's nothing they can do to stop it. Promise me."
"I promise, but I still think you're doing something good for the wrong reason." Belle said and hugged her sister. The two decided to agree to disagree and just get ready for the wedding. Minutes before Sami was to walk down the aisle, Belle went to find Shawn.
"Please tell me you talked her out of this."
"No, she has to marry Ej today."
"Why?"
"I can't tell you, but just know that it is a noble thing she is doing."
"Belle stop being cryptic and tell me what is going on before I leave, you know how much I hate the Dimera's for what they have done to my family."
"Well I'm staying!"
"What is going on?"
"Sami is marrying Ej to end the vendetta between the families."
"Excuse me?"
"Stephano said that if she marries Ej, he'd end the vendetta."
"Wow, she really has changed."
"Ya she has, she is sacrificing her life to protect her family, so you see, we have to stay. I know that me being here will help her and I need you by my side while I do it."
"I have an idea." Shawn said and disappeared from sight, he decided to walk Sami down the aisle and Belle knew what he was doing when she seen where he was headed. Sami came out of the bride's room and took a deep breath.
"No turning back now." She said as she walked to the doors of the aisle and seen Shawn standing there.
"Care for an escort?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Came to support Belle, and her sister. Now like I was saying, care for an escort?"
"Seriously?"
"Ya, figured you would want the moral support."
"Thank you, I know we have had our differences and all…"
"Ya, but now I can finally see it."
"See what?"
"The face that you have really changed. You for once are putting your family before yourself and I know your parents would be proud, I just don't understand why you didn't tell them."
"Belle told you."
"You knew she would."
'Because they would try to talk me out of it, and I will tell them, after we are married and things settle down a little bit. I just don't want them to stop it, I know that I am doing this for a good reason."
"I know, and I thank you, if anything I know what it is like to fear the Dimera's."
"Ya you do, but lets get this over with before I loose my nerve." Sami said and motioned for the doors to be opened. As Shawn walked down the aisle Sami tried her best to smile but it was hard, all she wanted to do was cry. All she could see was an empty church and an arranged marriage.
Ej however, seen the women of his dreams. An angel dressed in white and a glow from the children, their children, she was carrying. He never saw her look more beautiful. Once she got closer, he could see the pain in her eyes and it nearly killed him. This was what he wanted, just not how he wanted it to happen. Once the priest started the ceremony he tried to act like it was what Sami really wanted.
"Is there anyone who objects…" when the priest got to the famous wedding stopping line, Ej knew he needed to stop things.
"Samantha, darling, are you sure this is what you want? Are you sure you want to marry me?" EJ asked with pain in his own eyes, hoping she wouldn't say no. He had her hands in his and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Yes, I'm sure." She said with a smile that looked painted on. With that, the two said their "I Do's" and sealed the marriage with a kiss. Belle noticed something when Ej kissed Sami, his smile was from ear to ear and it was then that she realized Ej loved Sami. Ej could hide his feelings with anything else, but when it came to Sami, they written on his sleeve. Knowing this, she felt a little better about their marriage. The reception was aunt Chez Rouge, where Maggie greeted Shawn and Belle who were the first to arrive.
"I can't believe she really went through with it."
"When's she's ready to tell you she will, but until then just try to understand." Belle said and then the two walked off to sit down, leaving Maggie at the door confused. However, when Sami walked through the door with Ej, she knew that the marriage was not Sami's idea.
As Ej beamed from ear to ear, Sami looked as if she were at a funeral. The two shared their first dance to "I Can Love You Like That" by All-4-One and then headed over to cut the cake. All you had to do was look at Ej and you could tell this was the happiest day of his life, he was smiling and when he touched Sami, he seemed to light up even more. Sami however, could only pretend to be happy for so long before running off to cry in the bathroom. Belle seen this and decided to run after her. Ej headed for the bar when he seen the pain return to Sami's eyes. Tony noticed and headed over to have a talk with his brother.
"Why are you so upset, you married Samantha today?"
"Ya, it was exactly what I wanted, just not how I wanted it to happen."
"Elvis, if you could have one thing in the world, what would it be?"
"For Samantha to love me half as much as I love her." He answered and took a shot of whiskey.
"Oh little brother, you got it bad." Tony said and took a sip of champagne as he headed off to find Anna. However, what the two of them didn't know was that Belle and Sami heard everything they said.
"At least he loves you, that has to make it easier for you to live with him."
"I knew he loved me, I've always known that, I just never realized how much he loved me." Sami said as she stared at him at the bar.
"What are you gonna do now?"
"Go on my honeymoon with my husband and then move into the mansion."
"Do you need me to call you?"
"No, Ej would never rape me again, he's not that man anymore."
"Are you sure?"
"Ya, if he was then he wouldn't have stopped the wedding, or said that to Tony. Actually, he's acting like the man I knew before I knew he was a Dimera."
"Are you sure."
"Ya, for some reason, I am sure."
"I just hope you're right. Would you mind if me and Shawn left, he's about to lose it on Stephano, and I know Claire will still be up a little while."
"Ya go, I'm planning on leaving soon anyway."
"Thank you again for what you did today, I just hope one day you take the credit for giving your life to the Dimera's." Belle said and hugged her sister goodbye. Once Belle and Shawn were gone, she went over to Ej.
"Ej, do you mind if we leave, I'm really not feeling well."
"Sure darling, I'll go get the car for you." He said and kissed her on the cheek. Sami tried to act happy, but she still was confused about everything she heard and was feeling. Stephano came up and hugged her just as Ej was out of sight.
"Samantha, you are now family and you and you twins will be safe."
"What about the vendetta?"
"Consider it canceled, that is as long as you stay married to my son."
"What if your precious son leaves me?"
"He wont, he loves you and you know that. You know that he would do anything for you."
"Ready darling?" Ej said as he came up behind her missing the entire conversation.
"Ya let's go." She said and the two headed off to the car.
