Will paced the room waiting patiently for his mother to enter the room. He had kept putting it off but now it was finally time to tell her his secret. If he didn't he knew EJ would and really didn't want that kind of blowout. The doorbell rang while he waited and since his mother was still tucking Sydney in for her nap he went to answer it. There was a delivery man standing at the door asking for a signature holding a large box and an envelope. After he signed the form and took the stuff inside Sami came downstairs.
When she walked into the room the first thing she noticed were the packages. "Where did those come from?", she asked Will. "Some man just delivered them, there isn't any return address and they say for you and EJ?" "Why would someone send something to me and EJ? There is no me and EJ so if this is some cruel joke not funny." Sami looked at the envelope at least that had just her name on it so she opened it. After scanning the pages her face turned white and she reached for her phone.
"Mom, what's wrong? What did those papers say?" Will begged his mom to answer him instead she handed them to him and dialed her phone. As Will read though the same papers he heard his mother speaking to EJ telling him it was urgent he get to the house. After hanging up the phone Sami just stared off into space for a minute before she remembered the whole reason Will was there.
"Will you said earlier you had something you needed to tell me." "It can wait I mean this is big, what I have to say can wait." "No, you wouldn't have said it was important if it wasn't. Yes this is big but it doesn't make your news any less important and to make you feel better, EJ said it would take him at least 20 minutes to get here so we have plenty of time to talk." Will only hesitated about a minute, he was starting to see the glimpses of his old mom again the one that fully thought only of him.
"Okay, first you need to understand that you are the second person who knows. The first found out and promised to not tell anyone as long as I told you as soon as possible." Sami sat there wondering who it was that knew her son's big news, but remained silent so he could continue. "EJ found out that I was keeping a secret, he also found out what it was." Will was afraid to tell his mother the rest of it, he really didn't know how she would react. Sami realized her son was struggling and did the only thing she knew could help. She pulled him into a hug and told him "Nothing you tell me will change that I love you. No matter what it won't change."
There was a knock at the door and both looked at each other debating just ignoring it. Sami went to answer when the knocking didn't stop and opened it to find EJ standing there quite winded. "I got here as fast as I could are the children all right? Samantha what is going on?" Sami just told him to wait a minute but let him inside. Then she walked back to Will and said, "Okay, now finish telling me what you needed to say." Will realizing EJ was waiting about the package tried to get his mother to focus on that but she remained adamant that he finish before something else interrupted them.
"Okay, I am just going to blurt this out and hope you don't freak. Mom, I am gay." Will braced himself for an emotional storm that he was sure to come. Sami sat there a moment letting it all sink in, once it had she reached over and hugged her son. "This doesn't change who you are or how much I love you. You do need to tell your father though, but you might want to leave out the part about EJ knowing first." He just smiled and couldn't believe how well she was taking this.
"Um I hate to interrupt this moment but can someone please tell me what I am doing here?" Sami picked up the papers and handed them to EJ. "There is a package too but it was addressed to both of us. These were just to me, I needed to you here to see what this is about." After reading through the papers EJ glanced at the package. "Well let's get this opened up shall we? No need to wait for suspense or any of that nonsense." Together the three of them opened the package and peered inside. There was a small box inside and when opened it revealed a smaller one. Inside the smallest box was a disc, as well as a flash drive. There was also a card inside that said watch DVD.
They all sat on the couch after Sami put the disc in the player. Stefano DiMera's face appeared in front of them. "Now before you switch this off, let me be clear that this is no joke. I only did it this way because Elvis has disowned me and if I went the way I wanted he would never forgive me. I discovered some disturbing news the other day while cleaning out and old storage locker that had been abandoned on our property. It turned out to belong to Lucas Horton, but more on that later."
"I discovered that Lucas had committed many crimes over the years that my son had been blamed for. Now before you get angry Samantha understand I verified before bringing you this information and no it is not doctored. I discovered that Lucas had it out for my son not long after you became pregnant with the twins. Yes I do understand why he would hate Elvis for how the twins were conceived but it doesn't make it any better what he did. Yes Samantha I said how the twins were conceived, both of those children belong to my son. Lucas switched the test results on the first but before could switch the second results the lab technician returned."
Will paused the DVD and stared at his mother. "Of all the things for DiMera to pull this has got to be the lowest." Sami just looked at the screen wondering where Stefano got this idea in his head. "Well I for one would like to hear the rest of what my father has to say even if it isn't true. It isn't like it cannot be cleared up with a simple test anyway." The DVD was started up again and they all watched for another 45 minutes while Stefano went into details of all the crimes that Lucas had committed and framed EJ for.
EJ sat there stunned when the DVD was finally stopped, he then looked at the flash drive. "William could you please open this up so we can take a look at it?" Will hesitantly took the drive from EJ and put it in his computer. When the files all loaded he saw they were clearly marked and dated. Stefano had said on the DVD that he would turn over the originals to EJ only if EJ came personally and told him that they believed him. Page after page was more and more proof of Lucas' guilt. Sami walked out of the room and up to Sydney's and watched her daughter sleeping peacefully. Johnny and Allie would be home soon and she didn't know what she should do.
What Sami did know is that they needed to know the truth once and for all. She called Lexi and asked her to come to the house with her medical bag. 30 minutes later Johnny and Allie were sitting in the living room playing a game while Sami and EJ filled Lexi in on the DVD. Lexi understood the need for secrecy about this and went to swab the mouths of Johnny and Allie both. A few minutes after Lexi left Sydney had woken up and wandered downstairs. While all 3 children played Will told Sami that he would keep an eye on them so her and EJ could go somewhere and talk.
After kissing all 3 children Sami promised she would be home soon and went out the door with EJ. They walked toward the park both silent and unsure what to say. At last EJ finally blurted out to her, "If this is all true it makes me want to kill Lucas, you know this right?" "I understand why you would and I am beyond livid with him, but he is still Will's father so please don't do anything to him." "Samantha, if this is all true we need to tell the police or at least your father. Maybe then he won't think I am such a horrible person." Sami wondered why EJ cared so much what her father thought of him but kept it to herself.
They walked around for a while longer discussing what they were going to do if what Stefano says were true. Sami finally looked at EJ and told him to go back to the kids she wanted to go speak to Stefano on her own. After a short debate EJ realized it was pointless to argue and made her promise to be back to her house in an hour. She walked the short distance to the mansion and instead of knocking walked right into the house. Stefano was sitting with his wife in the living room when she burst in. "You know Samantha, it is polite to be invited into someone's home instead of barging in." "Stefano we need to talk and you know why so since I assume it's not exactly common knowledge I think we should go for a walk on the grounds don't you?"
Kate looked back and forth between her husband and her enemy and said, "Anything you have to say to Stefano you can say in front of me." Stefano just stood up and motioned for Sami to lead the way out to the grounds. After they closed the doors and started walking Sami finally broke the silence. "I want to know how long you knew this information. Also why should we believe you?" Stefano paused for a minute before answering her, "If I lied about this Elvis would never forgive me and all I want is my family back. That is why you should believe me, and the storage locker I found on my property and I know for a fact it was put there by my darling wife. Once I prove it you can bet she will be out on her ass. No one betrays my family, no one." "Except you right Stefano? You were the one who brought the 'evidence' to my father against EJ. You were the one who told me he took Sydney. So only you can betray your family?"
Stefano knew there was no point to argue she was right he had betrayed his son. His intention was to make Elvis realize how much he needed Stefano still but it backfired when the evidence didn't hold up because of the source. Sami broke the silence again, "If you need help proving that the locker belonged to Kate I know an easy way to find out. Was there a lock on it when you found it?" "Yes, of course there was but my property can do as I please." After rolling her eyes she said, "Yes but Kate doesn't know you found it but if I end up with it in my possession you know she will claim it."
"I forgot how much you think like a DiMera, what is your plan to get a hold of it?" "First, going to ignore the whole how I am like a DiMera statement. Second, it's simple just have to say EJ sent me for his footlocker and grab that one instead of his. Kate will definitely not let me leave with it so she will have to step up and claim it. Don't think this means anything will change Stefano you are still a bastard in my eyes." Sami walked away with that statement and headed home. She noticed a difference in the house as soon as she walked in.
Then as she walked into the living room she realized why, Luca Roberts Horton sat on the couch. The kids were nowhere in sight and he looked extremely irritated. "Sami, where have you been? Where is Allie? I came to pick her up for a visit and found a note that said taking the kids on a trip for their four day weekend." It took Sami only a minute to realize that Will and EJ must have gone somewhere with the kids. When she glanced at her phone she realized she had a voicemail and a few missed calls, all from Will.
"Just give me a minute to catch my breath will you?" Sami walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water listening to the voicemail along the way. After she heard it all, she walked back to the living room and told Lucas, "Yeah , sorry Allie came home from school today and asked if I could take them all on a camping trip and Will thought it sounded like fun. So I told her we could but Sydney forgot her stuff puppy from EJ so I came back to get it." We will be home on Sunday, if you want to come over then and take her for the night no school till Tuesday anyways." Lucas looked like he was about to have a stroke, "Please tell me that my daughter is not with EJ DiMera right now." "Your daughter is not with EJ honest, but I really have to go Will just sent me a text and Sydney is really missing her puppy. See you on Sunday Lucas."
She drove to the airport where EJ and Will and the children were all waiting. Sami handed the puppy to Sydney and tried to relax. "He was there wasn't he?" "Yeah, had wanted to take Allie for a visit. Told him he could take her Sunday that Allie had wanted to go camping." EJ just pulled her into a hug knowing that nothing he could say would make any of this any better. "I am sorry for all of this Samantha. I wish I could make this better for you." "EJ this isn't your fault, either your father is lying of Lucas did this. Either way, it's not your fault and if what your father claims to be true is actually true you haven't done anything wrong."
The flight was peaceful all the children including Will dozed off halfway. EJ tried to encourage Samantha to sleep with no success. "I can't sleep EJ I will just continue to sit here and think about it all." Knowing that would be the worst thing for her to do he offered her a distraction. "Why don't we play chess? I haven't played in so long and I don't believe you ever have." "Chess reminds me of your father so would rather not play." A sneaky smile crossed EJ's face and Sami realized she said exactly what he had wanted her to. "Speaking of my father, what did you two have to talk about?" "A bit of this and that and an agreement to temporarily work together to bring down a common enemy."
Before EJ could question her any more Sydney cried out. Both parents rushed to her side to see she had fallen on the floor while she slept. Sami picked her up and cuddled her while EJ wrapped his arms around them both. They finished their flight with Sydney snuggled up to her parents and they all slept. When they awoke they were at the island. The children ran out onto the beach and smiled up to the sun. EJ and Sami looked on as Will chased the three smaller children around the beach. No one would guess anything was amiss and that this beautiful family was going through such turmoil.
They spent 3 blissful days on EJ's island, swimming and relaxing and just enjoying the company. Allie and Sydney collected seashells to bring home and Johnny and Will built sandcastles and then knocked them back down. On early Sunday morning, Sami's phone rang and the caller id said it was Lexi. After telling Will they would be right back they walked off a distance and called her right back. "Well I tried coming to you in person but when I got to your house Lucas informed me you took the kids camping so I decided to try your cell phone. We did get the results back just a few minutes ago I had put a rush on it. The tests confirm what father said, both the twins are EJ's children."
They hung up and looked at each other, too stunned for words. Finally Sami spoke up, "EJ we need to decide now what we want to do. This way no matter how angry we get later on we don't do anything rash." "I know but right now all I want to do is make him pay for this. Maybe you should tell me what your plans are with my father maybe that will make up my mind." "Basically today when we go home I plan to go to the mansion and trick Kate into confessing that she has known all along. Then I may just go to my dad and let him take care of it."
EJ agreed that for the benefit of their family it was best to go that route. Sami then went to talk to Will to fill him in, finding him buried in the sand with Allie and Johnny giggling above him. After they dug him out EJ took the kids to the water one last time before they had to leave and Sami told Will what Lexi said and her decision on what to do about it. Will just couldn't believe his dad could do something like this, but agreed with his mom that they had to tell his Grampa Roman about it. They all went to the plan and headed home this time Sami was the first to doze while reading Sydney a story. When EJ saw them both fast asleep he covered them in a blanket and sat beside them watching his children all sleep.
When the plane landed in Salem, Sami told EJ to take the children to his house and told Will he needed to go tell his father what he had told her. Before he could protest she said he was still his father and needed to know before everything else came out. With that she drove to the mansion to follow through with the plan to catch Kate red-handed. She was let in the front door and she walked calmly to retrieve the trunk from where Stefano said it would be. As she started to leave with it Kate and Stefano came into the foyer and Kate froze. "What do you think you are doing with that?" "Um, EJ asked me to come pick up his trunk for him. He is still adamant about staying away from Stefano so I said I would get it." "Well that isn't EJ's so why don't you put it down and leave." Sami looked at Kate as she set it down, "If it isn't his then who does it belong to because I had already asked Rolf and he said it was the only one where EJ said his was." "EJ was mistaken that trunk belongs to me not him so back off." Stefano chose that moment to step in, "Thank you Samantha for confirming what I already knew. My wife is a traitor and is nothing to me anymore. As for that trunk it is yours if you want it I have no need for it anymore."
Sami loaded the trunk into her car and headed straight to the police station where she had already confirmed her father was. Once she arrived at the station she located her father and told him she needed to speak with him and that it was urgent. He took her into his office and closed the door, "Okay, what is this about? Please tell me this has nothing to do with EJ." "It does but it doesn't, see I came into some information a few days ago and got the confirmation that at least some of it is legit." Sami went into detail of everything that had happened since Thursday afternoon. When she finished Roman wanted to see the trunk and its contents so she took him to the car and said it was all his, she didn't want it.
Roman hugged his daughter and asked what she planned to do about this. "I am letting you handle this, so is EJ he promised me that he was just going to focus on trying to figure out how we can make the children understand." After hugging her dad one more time Sami headed for home and let Lucas know everything and ask him to leave. Her plans were shot when she pulled up and heard Lucas yelling at Will. Sami rushed into the house and stopped in her tracks when she saw Will with tears running down his face and a fresh red mark on his cheek. "How dare you strike him!", she bellowed at Lucas before stepping between him and her son.
"Are you kidding me? After what he just told me I am being calm." Sami turned to her son and told him to go to his siblings she would handle this. With a quick hug to his mother and glance to his father Will walked out the front door and drove away. "If you ever strike my son again Lucas I will hunt you down myself. Nothing gives you the right to hit him." Lucas cut her off, "Do you know what he just told me? My son just told me not only is he gay he knows that Allie isn't my daughter. So I want to know from you what in the hell you have been telling him." "Actually, him being gay is not the worst thing on the planet. As for Allie I received a package with proof that you switched the paternity test results. Now before you bother denying it we verified that you did Allie is EJ's daughter according to the test results. I am giving you a heads up, I already turned over everything to my father and if you think your mother can help you out of this one. She is dealing with the wrath of Stefano because of all of this. Now get out of my house and don't come back."
With that Sami walked out the front door and went to go get her children. When she got to EJ's house she sat in the car a few minutes longer and called her mother. After telling her mother everything she agreed to come over to EJ's and try to help them explain things to the children. Sami went inside and found all the children fast asleep on the floor with a movie playing on the television. Will and EJ were in the kitchen, EJ putting an ice pack on Will's face. "Are you okay? I cannot believe he hit you, I am so sorry sweetheart." "It's not your fault mom, I really blurted it all out at once first about my being gay then knowing about Allie." They all sat around the kitchen discussing what was going to happen next when Marlena knocked on the door.
EJ let her in and lead her to the kitchen so they could discuss what to do without waking the children. Marlena said it was going to be very difficult but Allie was old enough to understand it all. Once they had all decided how much to tell her they went to wake up the children to talk. Allie sat silent the entire time and when everyone had finished speaking she just looked to her brother Johnny and cried. She ran from the room and when Sami went to follow Johnny stopped her and said to let him talk to her. Sami couldn't believe how grown up he was for an eight year old. After about an hour Johnny and Allie came back and Allie said she had some questions. The next half hour was spent answering all of her questions some had to be edited a bit because it wouldn't do any good for her to know everything.
When they finished answering all her questions, she just looked at them and asked, "Does this mean he is going away and I won't see him again?" Sami went to her daughter and held her, "It does mean that he is going away. We know it will take some time for this to sink in but after a while things will get better." "I understand it and I know EJ is my dad just like Johnny and Sydney. I'm just not sure if I want to talk to my daddy, I mean Lucas or not anymore. I am mad at him, but he was my daddy my whole life." Marlena stepped in and said, "We know how much you love him, but sweetie you need to know that we can't take you to see him when he goes away. It isn't a place for children to be and he will be there a long time." At that minute Lucas chose to start banging on EJ's door and screaming obscenities that they couldn't keep his daughter from him.
Sami called the police and then took all the children upstairs and put on music to drown out the noise. Allie sat crying on the floor, when Sami went to her Allie cried out, "I don't want to see him again, he scared me." "Don't worry sweetheart EJ will protect us all." They could hear sirens in the background and Sami began to relax. The shouting stopped but she soon found out it was because Lucas fled. Roman had the police take statements and then told them to find him. He then went to check on his family and see how everyone was holding up. Walking into the kitchen he saw the pain and sadness in everyone's eyes except little Sydney. "Well we are out looking for him but in the meantime I want you all to stay together and someplace safe." "Wait we don't have to go into hiding do we? The kids have school in two days and I don't want to pull them out."
"If we don't find him by tomorrow night then yes. He just lost everything he had who knows what he will do. With all the evidence I have and other things starting to make sense and other unsolved stuff we thought was EJ, it's just better if you are protected." Great Sami thought just what she needed to be isolated from everyone when she wanted to be around her family the most. "I will call you if anything turns up or if the timetable needs to be moved up." With that Roman left and EJ and Sami stood there talking to Marlena and Will. It was decided that Will couldn't miss any college the younger ones would be easy enough to get their work and keep them caught up but they couldn't do that with Will. Marlena said Will could stay with her if it came to the others having to hide.
The call came a few hours later telling them that they had 30 minutes before the car arrived to take them to safety. Apparently upon searching Lucas' apartment there was a large quantity of alcohol and a dozen pictures of Sami and EJ. It seemed that Lucas planned to go after them both and take Allie back himself. Sami had Marlena go to the house with her to pack some stuff up to take with them. Twenty minutes later they were on their way back to EJ's with a car loaded down with as much as Sami could pack. When they arrived at the house the vehicles to take them to a safe house had arrived. Sami hugged her mother and father and Will before she climbed into the explorer. As they pulled away she glanced out the back window to see Roman talking to Will and Marlena, she didn't know when she would see her son again and that made her extremely sad.
Days turned into week and then months, it had been 7 months since Lucas went on the run and Sami and EJ and the children had to go into hiding. During those months EJ and Allie began to bond and she even started calling him Daddy every so often. One night after all the children were asleep Sami sat reading on the couch, when EJ came in to talk to her. "Samantha we need to decide what we are going to do when we no longer are in hiding. I have loved having this time with you and my children. Going back to how it was before is going to be so hard. Look at how close Allie and I have been able to get in such a short time because of us all being here together." "EJ what are you suggesting?" "I am suggesting Samantha that all of us live together. Nothing romantic on our end, don't get me wrong I will always love you, but I need to be around my children every day and not just popping in for visits." Sami thought about it for a few minutes before she spoke.
"I talked to my dad a little while ago and he suggested that when it is safe to come home that I still move to a new place that Lucas wouldn't know about. They already have Kate locked up but finding him is proving to be tricky which means that it's hard to say how safe it will be going home even after he is caught." "Samantha I will not let anything happen to you or our family. That includes Will, because he is part of our family. Maybe we should think about getting a house big enough for all of us to move in together. Lucas knows where I live so that wouldn't be safe either. I'm sure your father can get real estate listings for us to look at while we are here not like we have much to do after the children are in bed." Sami thought about it just as the secure phone line rang. It was Will checking in and letting them know that he was being brought to the safe house. Lucas had called him asking about Allie and with him done with school he could come now.
"That bastard!" Sami exclaimed when she hung up with Will, EJ stopping her just short of throwing the phone across the room. "What's wrong Samantha? What happened? Who was that?" "That was Will, he is on his way here because Lucas called him. He tried to use Will to get information on Allie so now they want Will here to keep him safe too." Sami walked out of the room shaking her head and going to make up the spare bed in Johnny's room. When she came back EJ pulled her into a hug, "Everything is going to be okay, Samantha I promise." She leaned into his hug, keeping herself distant really wasn't an option in this house but she needed the comfort he was offering. They were having to hide out from her ex who had done such horrible things and were making her children suffer every day.
Two hours later Will arrived and Sami held him close not wanting to let him go. It had been seven months since she last had been allowed to hold her eldest son. She told Will he would share with Johnny only 3 bedrooms so EJ has the couch and Sami the third room. Will states he is just glad to be with his family and accepts the hug from EJ. Stating he is tired Will goes to Johnny's room to sleep and Sami and EJ sit back down and continue talking. With Will came quite a few real estate listings so they started sorting them based on price first then location. Sami refused to go too expensive she wanted normal so they agreed that half the listing were too much. EJ stated he wanted everyone to have their own rooms and at least a play room as well.
After going through all the listings twice they weren't any closer to finding a good one. EJ started thinking about a property he actually owned already and realized it would be perfect big enough and just perfect. When Samantha went to check on the children EJ used the phone to call her father and ask him to get the information on the property. Roman faxed the papers to the safe house and EJ showed it to Sami. She fell in love with it almost instantly just based on the information. He showed her pictures and Sami froze, "I know this place, this is where we danced that night. How did you find this listing?" "Darling, I own it, I bought it a few weeks after that night. When we went through them all I realized this was the perfect place for us all." They smiled at each other thinking it really was the perfect place to move their family.
It took another eight months before they were finally able to find and capture Lucas. After he was caught, EJ and Sami headed for their new home with all of their children including Will. When they reached the house all the children were hesitant about wandering around so Sami walked them through the whole house. EJ told the children this was where they would all be living together and to go pick out their own rooms. Will looked between EJ and Sami and asked her how many rooms were there in this house. She told him enough for everyone to have their own rooms including him and of course EJ and Sami will have separate rooms. As Will wandered off to find a room for himself he wondered how long it was going to take for those two to realize they belong together.
Once all the kids had their rooms picked out Sami declared it was time they each pick the color they wanted their rooms to be painted. It was summer now so the goal was to have the rooms how they wanted them before school started that meant new furniture as well as painting and bedding. Sami wanted none of the furniture brought over this was a fresh start. So about an hour later they were ready to go to the store and loaded all the children into Sami's car and drove to get everything. Three hours later they were loaded up and heading home. While they had been in the safe house her father had hired a moving company to pack up both houses and put everything into storage. Roman called Sami and told her to let him know when she wanted it all brought over to the new house.
They got home and all the children were really sleepy but since the beds weren't set up Sami came up with camping in the living room which made them all excited. So Will helped EJ set up the little pop tents around the room. Once they were up the kids piled in and were asleep within minutes. Sami smiled as Will decided to go see Marlena and John for a while, so she hugged him tight and told him to be safe. After he left it was just Sami and EJ awake so Sami decided to go to her room and start painting, she wasn't sure where EJ had wandered off to. As she walked down the hall she passed by his bedroom and caught a glimpse of him stripping down to nothing before putting on painting clothes himself. She hurried on into her room where she closed the door to change herself, and then opened the windows and doors so the smell was bearable.
EJ wandered around the house looking for Samantha because he was going to help her paint the rooms. He found her in her room in old clothes painting the walls. Smiling he realized she must have passed his room while he had been changing. This was confirmed when he called her name and she looked up blushing three shades of pink. "Samantha, I was looking for you to help paint. Let me help we might be able to get a lot done together." "That would be nice EJ I figure we can do the base layer and then for the designs the kids can all help." So he grabbed a roller and began helping and soon they were working in sync and content with the silence.
Four hours later they had three of the six bedrooms done. Will had phoned to say he would be staying at Marlena's tonight and going to see friends in the morning. Sami and EJ decided to call it a night and went to their separate tents. In the morning Sami woke to the smell of french toast and fresh coffee, and the sound of giggling. She wandered into the kitchen and found not only EJ and the children but Belle and Claire. Belle smile over at her sister before getting up from her seat and rushing into a long overdo hug. It took a few minutes before Sami released her sister and then walked over and hugged her niece, who was ten now. "Where is Shawn?" "Over at his parents' house checking in and visiting Ciara. Not sure where we are all planning on staying yet looking at houses in town but it might be a while." EJ looked at them and offered to let them stay with them. "We couldn't impose you all just came home yourself, you probably need some time to settle in."
Sami glanced back and forth between EJ and her sister while he continued to assure her that it was fine. As a matter of fact he wanted as much family around as possible after so long away it was perfect and there was plenty of room. It was true while they took up six rooms there were still plenty other empty ones for guests and whatever else they decided to use them for. Finally Belle said she would check with Shawn first before saying yes and wandered into the other room. Sydney giggled all of a sudden and everyone glanced over. The little four year old had maple syrup running down her hair from where she had dumped her plate after trying to balance it on her head like her brother Johnny was at the same moment. Giggling herself Sami took Sydney upstairs to get her cleaned up and when they returned Shawn had arrived thanking EJ for the offer to stay.
Shawn gave Sami and hug and said the house was already proving to be beautiful. "Thank you started the painting last night actually plan to do more today. Actually Belle is you could help me with the kids doing their project I can go get started again." "Sure what is the project?" After showing Belle all the name plates they had gotten the day before she told her they were to paint them however they wanted so when the rooms were ready they would be mounted on their doors. Once the children were all settled down with their project Sami snuck a text to Will asking him to pick another one up for Claire to make later. She then went back to work side by side with EJ and Shawn joined them a little later when he returned from the boat with all their stuff.
"You guys are more than welcome to repaint the rooms you are in we have to paint everything and we want you to feel at home while you are here." "Thanks I am really not sure how long it will take to get back on our feet. I'm not really qualified for anything other than sailing." "Well Grandma Caroline needs someone to take over the pub she has been having some problems with her health. I know she would rather leave it in a family member's hands instead of a stranger." Shawn said he would think about it and they went back to painting. After a couple more hours they managed to finish the other 3 rooms with a lot of extra paint and Sami reoffered it to let Shawn and Belle paint their's and Claire's rooms.
When they went downstairs, Will had arrived and given Claire her name plate. Belle smile at her sister and silently thanked her for everything. Sami just smiled back and then asked what everyone wanted for lunch. The majority wanted pizza and wings so she wandered off to order the food. EJ followed with Will and Belle's urging and when she was done asked her if she wanted to go to the store with him to get drinks. She grabbed her purse and walked out to his car with him, he stood there holding open her door. As she climbed in she smiled to herself thinking it was nice once in a while to have a door held open for you. They drove for a few minutes in silence before Sami looked over at EJ. "Alright so you might as well tell me what is going through that head of yours. And throw in the looks my son and sister were tossing you as we left." "Samantha, I have no idea what you are referring to. As for what is on my mind that would be a lot of things."
They arrived at the store and after buying a ton of sodas and juice and milk and bottled water they headed home. Halfway there the silence got to her again and she told him to pull over. Once on the should she had him look at her and asked him again to tell her what was going on. After a moment he nodded his head and finally answered truthfully, "I have been trying to find a way to bring this up to you. Will has been on me for the last six months to talk to you, Belle just today. I miss us Samantha, the closeness we used to have. The passion, the love and just all of it, my life has not been the same without it. Now I understand the need to take things slow but I still believe we should try. We love each other and I am not too scared to admit it, are you?" Sami sat stunned in the passenger seat and only hesitated a minute before answering him. "EJ it has never been a question of whether you love me but whether I love you. While I am terrified of my feelings for you I better be honest about them. I have loved you since that first time we danced in what is now our home. It has terrified me nonstop and have never been willing to admit it but I think it's time." With that they kissed, agreeing to take things very slow and continue to have separate rooms.
The end for now….