Chapter 2: The Vows

Sami was lost in deep thoughts as she made her way back to the Penthouse. She and the twins had been staying with Marlena and John ever since her marriage to Lucas had ended and the father of her children had walked out of her life with Will. Sami hadn't had the courage to stay in a place haunted with so many torturing memories. She had been happy there. Moving across the hall to EJs apartment was out of the question as was moving to the DiMera mansion. To her surprise Sami had finally received the support and acceptance she had been longing for her whole life, when Marlena had invited Sami and the twins to stay at the Penthouse. Sami had accepted the invitation thinking that she and EJ would find a suitable place to live in within few weeks if not within few days. That had been before Sami had learnt that EJ had all ready found and bought an abandoned house without consulting her. The most ridiculous part was that EJ planned on restoring the house on his own without help. Sami knew that EJ would only end up hurting himself with the tools he didn't know how to use. She also knew that those inevitable injuries would only prolong the time EJ would spent at the house away from her and the twins. Part of Sami wanted to thank EJ for efficiently postponing the charade they would have to live in, but she couldn't.

Something had changed, changed utterly the moment EJ had stopped chasing after her. He had pursued her persistently right up until their wedding and the vows they had taken. Something had made him stop and give in to her demands of letting her be. Just like that EJ had relinquished all his schemes and he had stopped trying to make Sami love him.

As Sami inspected her closet and saw her wedding dress, she flinched. Sami cringed as she saw the hideous gown she had worn on her wedding day. Never has there been a more beautiful bride or as miserable. Samantha, please smile. She hadn't smiled. She hadn't even tried to grimace. Sami had felt like kicking and screaming but she had been serene and walked slowly to EJ and the priest waiting for her. She had stood there in front of him with dry eyes and she had spoken the words which had condemned them.

"I'm here with my eyes wide open and my heart bursting with tenderness. My head is filled with happy memories, which I want to fade in comparison to those I'm about to make. My soul sings with those souls I love the most. I'm pledging my hear and soul to a man who holds then in his hands. He has the power to break me and make me whole again. He has always had that power over me and he always will. I'm here to bind myself to you EJ."

Sami had stood there waiting EJ to speak and watching the life drain out of him. As Sami had embraced the sacrifice she was making for her family and as she had started to consider the possibility of becoming friends with EJ again, he had diminished. His eyes had grown colder and finally dead. EJ had started to whither away. He had changed right in front of her eyes and then he had just walked away.

Sitting on her bed Sami stared into nothingness as she travelled back in time in her mind. She went to that horrible day which could have been the start of something new and beautiful but instead had become the gateway to her own gilded gage. She remembered vividly his words and the quivers she had felt at the sound of his voice.

"Before I met you, I did not know what love is. I never thought I would someday cherish the anguish and misery simply because it was brought on by the love feel for you. I never realized how meaningless my life was until I met you. Against my head and reason my heart was conquered and branded and I wouldn't have it in any other way. My life, my soul, my heart, everything that I am is yours now and always. You, Samantha, are my home."

A/N Please know that your reviews are the thing that keeps me writing. They also help me to motivate myself and climb over little obstacles... like the little melt down I had today: "What the hell am I going to write in those infamous vows?!

Now why would that be a problem for me?