A/N: So, as I write this, we have the big baby daddy lie coming up on the show, and seeing as the show has had a somewhat rocky relationship with pay offs to these kinds of reveals (read that as EJami always gets shafted), I thought I'd jump in and write my own version, seeing as even if this bodes well for EJami, it's unlikely they'll do it too much justice. I'm not saying I will, but at least my heart is completely in it. :D

Okay, so we pick up from where EJ has just gotten proof the now dead baby is his and Sami is comforting Rafe for his 'loss'.

Hope you enjoy...

Revelations

"Then you will know the truth,

And the truth will set you free."

John 8:32

Chapter One

Sami opened the door to her apartment and hurried inside, keeping the door open for Rafe to walk in after her. She watched him nervously, trying to read his expression. He'd called her from the hospital where he'd just gotten news Nicole had gone into early labour and delivered their stillborn son. Sami had immediately rushed to his side, but Rafe hadn't wanted to stay at the hospital. Nicole had been sedated as she'd become hysterical, so now they were back at her place. Sami was no fan of Nicole's but all the emotions of what it had felt like to lose Grace were rushing back to her and that was something she couldn't wish on anyone, not even Nicole. The loss of a child created an emptiness that never truly left you, no matter whatever other happiness you might find in life. She bit her lip as she watched Rafe take a seat on the sofa. He'd been so quiet on the ride over, Sami had struggled to know what to say to him. "I'll make us some tea," she offered, eager to have something to do.

Rafe shook his head, face serious. "No, thanks," he said quietly, "I don't want any tea."

Sami felt so badly for what had happened. She took a seat beside Rafe and held his hand in hers. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "I'm so sorry, Rafe, for the loss of your son today. I know what being a father means to you."

Rafe looked at her and opened his mouth and closed it again and looked away.

Sami squeezed his hand tight. "And I'm so sorry I went on and on about you not being the father to Nicole's baby. That was so wrong of me to doubt you like that and now, and now-" Sami trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence. She put her arm around him. "We'll get through this together," she promised him. "You and me, together. I'm going to help you through this like you helped me through Grace's death." Just the mention of the little girl's name had the tears welling up in Sami's eyes. It didn't matter that Grace had turned out not to biologically belong to her, she'd belonged in every way that mattered and Sami still thought of her daily. Sami leaned into Rafe, offering him her strength. "I know what kind of pain you're in, Rafe, and I know there is nothing I can say to make it better. Just know I'm here for you, whatever you need, just ask. You're a good man, a wonderful man and you would have been the best father in the world to that little boy, I know you would have been."

"I can't believe this has happened," Rafe croaked. "It was all for nothing."

Sami frowned. "What do you mean?"

Rafe hesitated. "I just mean, after everything that has happened, Nicole's baby has died. It doesn't seem real."

"But it is real," said Sami gently. "You have to accept that this has happened, Rafe. You and Nicole have suffered a terrible loss and my heart is just breaking, for both of you."

Rafe sat back in the sofa, face stony. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"But you have to," Sami protested. "You can't bottle up this kind of pain." She was desperate to help. Sami turned to face him more. "Look, I know you're probably still mad at me for the way I wouldn't believe that the baby was yours. Of course Danny was your son, you'd never lie about something like that and I just feel like the worst person on earth for ever having doubted you, even for a minute. But you have to let me help you, Rafe, you can't deal with this on your own. This is the worst possible thing that can happen to a parent and you shouldn't have to go through it alone."

Rafe was staring at her now and Sami was having difficulty trying to work out the expressions on his face. Eventually he spoke. "I'm glad you're here, Sami. I'm glad you want to be there for me."

Sami was surprised. "Of course I do, why wouldn't I want to be? You've always tried to look out for me, even when I was being an idiot, the least I can do is be here for you now. I've disappointed you so many times, but I'm not going to disappoint you this time. I know you deserve so much better than me, Rafe, but I'm going to work really hard to make you happy and you'll see, I will."

Rafe half-smiled and stroked her hair. "That's all I ever wanted, Sami, for you to let us be happy together."

"I know," said Sami huskily. "I know I've messed up so many times, but this time is different, I know it. I love that we're being completely honest with each other again, like it used to be. Everything is going to be alright, Rafe. I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but we can go back to how things used to be between us." Sami leant in to give him a reassuring kiss when there was a knock at the door. She sent Rafe an apologetic look. "I'll get rid of them," she promised him. Sami stood up and hurried over to the door and opened it. Her heart sank when she saw EJ standing in the hallway. "EJ, please," she begged him, "don't start anything. Rafe isn't up to this right now. He's just lost his son, have a heart."

EJ's face was as though it was set in stone as he walked into the apartment uninvited, coming to stand in front of Rafe as the other man stood up from the sofa.

"EJ," said Sami desperately, "whatever you think you're doing, just don't. This isn't right, you know that."

EJ wasn't looking at her, just staring coldly at Rafe as Rafe stared back unflinchingly. "This isn't right," said EJ bitterly, "never a truer word spoken." Still shooting daggers of death at Rafe, EJ drew a piece of paper out of his coat pocket and threw it at Rafe's chest. "Guess what that is, Mr. Hero," he said tightly.

"Get out, DiMera," said Rafe sharply. "I'm not dealing with your crap anymore."

Sami bent down to retrieve the piece of paper. "What is this?" She scanned the neatly typed page, instantly recognising it as a DNA result.

"I've just come from Nicole and she finally confessed everything to me," said EJ hoarsely.

"You're lying," snapped Rafe. "There is nothing to confess." He looked over at Sami. "If that's what I think it is, it's fake, Sami. This is a typical DiMera trick."

Sami was staring at the results on the page, results which claimed EJ was the father of Nicole's stillborn son with a 99.98% accuracy. She read the words, but the implication was longer in setting in.

"I had to hear Nicole had gone into labour with my son second hand," said EJ harshly. "And then it was an orderly who told me my son was delivered dead." His hands clenched and unclenched. "Nicole told me everything, Hernandez. She told me it was your idea to pretend to be the father of my child, because in your opinion, I wasn't fit to be a father."

Sami looked up from the results in her hand. "Rafe," she said shakily, "is this true? Have you been lying to everyone the whole time?"

A muscle was ticking in Rafe's cheek and he looked really angry but he wasn't protesting his innocence any more. A coldness started to seep into Sami's bones.

"Not everyone," said EJ, face twisted in hatred. "You'll be pleased to know, Samantha, that Rafe saw fit to share his lies with your sister, because he couldn't stand the thought of lying to her." His gaze swept over her coldly. "Apparently he didn't have the same qualms with you."

"Get out!" barked Rafe. "You're in no position to judge me, DiMera!"

"No," said EJ harshly, "I'll leave that to God."

"Rafe," said Sami, still in disbelief.

"And I am leaving," said EJ coldly. "I'm going to spend some time with my son before I have to bury him." His voice shook a little at the end of that sentence but EJ was already turning around and stalking out the door, leaving a stunned Sami in his wake.

She looked at Rafe wide eyed, hands starting to shake as she still held onto the report.

Rafe held up a placating hand to her. "Sami, I can explain. I had to protect Nicole and her baby from EJ, you more than anyone should be able to understand that."

Sami stared back at him, everything sinking in and in that moment she did understand, for the first time, she truly understood everything.

oooOOOOooo

Sami walked down the clinical hospital corridors, knowing exactly where she was going because she'd been there before. It was a little room reserved for privacy for people going through the worst day of their life. She'd sat in this room with Grace's dead body in her arms, trying to work out how she was ever going to let this little miracle which had filled her world for too short a time, go. It was the room where a part of her heart had been torn out of her chest to be buried with the little girl. Sami stopped in front of the wooden doors and took a depth breath. She didn't knock, just walked in and the first thing she saw was EJ, sitting on the tastefully understated sofa against the wall, holding a too small bundle in a pale blue blanket. He didn't look up as she entered, even though he had to know she was there, all of his attention focused on the child in his arms.

Sami took a seat beside EJ on the sofa. It didn't matter what had passed between them before, all that mattered was this moment. She looked at the unmoving child in EJ's arm. He was perfect in every way and Sami had to force herself to remind herself that this little boy was gone and was never going to open those eyes of his. Sami fought back a stab of pain as she looked at the baby. She didn't need a DNA test to know she was looking at EJ's son. This little one was the spitting image of Johnny when he'd been first born. It was so startling that it actually made Sami long to run from the room and find Johnny and throw her arms around him and hold him tight, never wanting to let him go. Sharp tears pricked her eyes, blurring Sami's vision of the little boy. "He's beautiful," she whispered to EJ as he rocked his son instinctively back and forth in a gentle motion.

EJ's eyes weren't able to leave his son's face but Sami could see the pain etched into his face. Tears ran down his face. "Am I so horrible a person that God would keep taking my children from me?" he asked raggedly. He finally turned to look at Sami, the pain in his brown eyes breathtakingly hard to see as he implored her for an answer to his question. "Am I that evil that He has to torture my children? Both of Nicole's babies, Grace, Johnny's eye, am I so wicked that He has to punish me like this?" EJ sounded like a man in utter torment.

Tears were running down Sami's face as she grabbed him arm and shook her head. "EJ, don't, no, of course not, don't ever say that," she begged him. "This isn't your fault."

"But it has to be," said EJ, voice hoarse with emotion. "I've never even been allowed to see one of my children born, I've never been a part of a real pregnancy, God has to be punishing me for all the things I've done."

Sami's throat was closed over and she was finding it difficult to talk as she weeped with EJ. "That isn't how it works, EJ, you know that," she said around her tears. "You're a good father, you love your children and God knows that."

EJ looked down at the baby in his arms, face crumbling. "Then why does He keep taking my babies away from me?" he asked brokenly.

The hurt and defeat in EJ's voice and whole body was literally painful to witness. His agony rolled out from him, slicing through her like a knife. Sami's face was wet with her tears. "Sometimes bad things happen, EJ," she whispered. "It's nobody's fault."

EJ's tears dripped down his face. "I can't say goodbye to another child, Samantha. I don't have it in me."

Sami slipped her arm through his and squeezed it tight, clinging to his side. "You're not saying goodbye, EJ, you'll always carry him around in your heart, I promise you."

"He's never going to know how much I love him," said EJ achingly, holding the little boy closer to his body.

"I think babies always know when they're loved," said Sami quietly. "I think all babies are born knowing everything and then forget it all as they grow older so we learn it all over again." She leant into EJ. "Do you remember how the twins would look at us when they were first born, like they knew all the secrets of the universe? They seemed so wise and all knowing. Your son knew his daddy loved him, EJ. I believe that with every fibre of my being."

EJ closed his eyes, causing fresh tears to course down his face. "I don't want this to be happening."

Sami held on tightly to him, offering her touch by way of comfort. "I know," she whispered, "I know." She'd made all kinds of promises of this going to be alright to Rafe when she thought she was comforting him about the loss of his son, but with EJ it was different. It was always different with EJ. Sami reacted instinctively to EJ's raw pain, a pain she hadn't seen in Rafe and now she knew why. She put thoughts of Rafe out of her head right then, knowing that was something to be dealt with at another time. Right now EJ needed her and that was where she needed to be and it was the only place Sami wanted to be.