Chapter 4: Becoming A True DiMera – Monday, June 27th, 2011

During their break, Abigail and Melanie were discussing their parents' dating rituals. "I definitely caught my dad talking to himself in the mirror while he was getting ready for a date with your mom. It was very amusing watching him try to play it off when I walked in the room."

Abigail laughed. "That reminds me of the time I caught my mom making faces in the mirror as she put on her make up."

"Why do we have such dorky parents?"

Daniel walked up having overheard the girls talking about him and Jennifer. He startled both of the girls when they saw him. "How about you two not talk about Jen and my personal life so loud in the hospital halls? I don't think it would be good for rumors and lies to spread around."

"Rumor and lies?" Melanie countered. "We are talking truth here." Daniel gave Melanie a look, which caused Abigail to declare that her break was over. After Abigail was gone, Melanie playfully punched her dad on the shoulder. "Can't take the heat, can you?"

"Oh, I can. Just do me a favor and avoid talking about it so publicly. I think it's great that you and Abigail can bond over the 'dorkiness of your parents', but I am sure Jennifer would appreciate not having her co-workers laugh at her. I know I would." Melanie agreed and closed her lips with her fingers. Daniel was glad he got that cleared up.

Daniel spotted Nathan walking into a hospital room. "I just saw Nathan. I heard he was back but didn't believe it." He noticed that Melanie tensed up a bit. "How are you handling all of that? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Melanie became extremely uncomfortable. She looked at her watch and then back to her dad. "Oh look at that. Break time is over. Good talk." Melanie patted her dad on the shoulder and left.

Chad walked into the DiMera living room after being summoned by his father and EJ. He saw that they were waiting for him by the piano. Stefano was seated on the piano bench, while EJ leaned against the end of the baby grand. "So what do you need me to do?"

Stefano stood up and put out his hands towards EJ. EJ picked up a package and handed it to his father. Stefano made his way to Chad and handed him the package. "I need you to deliver this package to a man that will be waiting for you by pier 17." Stefano pulled out a photo and handed it to Chad. "This is the man you will be looking for."

Chad studied the photo and memorized the man's face. Before he could put the photo in his pocket, EJ stopped him. "It's best that you do not take the photo with you."

Chad gave EJ the photo and began to examine the package.

"Now Chad," Stefano continued. "It's important that the package is received unopened. You cannot know what is in the package. It is best that you do not know."

Chad gave Stefano an odd look and wondered why he not allowed to know what was in the package.

Knowing his son's thoughts, Stefano added, "It's for your safety. Just give it to the man on the pier and come straight back. He's waiting for you now."

EJ stepped up behind his father. "Do you think you'll be able to keep your curiosity in check?"

"Yeah." Chad was curious as to what he was carrying, but knew he had to let that go to do what his father wanted him to do. "I'll go now." Chad left with the package under his arm.

EJ walked over to the couch and took a seat. "Do you think he'll be able to make it through this unscathed?"

Still keeping his eyes towards the door, Stefano nodded. "I think Chad will make me proud."

"Proud of what?" Kate walked in having heard Stefano discussing Chad with EJ. "I just saw Chad drive off. Where is he going?"

"He's about to start his journey as a true DiMera." Stefano smiled as he knocked down a pawn piece on his chessboard.

Lexie and Jennifer were enjoying lunch in Lexie's office. Lexie was a bit suspicious because Jennifer had shown up earlier with food and talked her into taking her lunch break with her. She let the small talk continue at first to see if Jennifer would present the real reason for bringing her food. After a while of more small talk, Lexie decided it was best to confront Jennifer about it. "Jen, I don't mean to be rude. I do appreciate you bringing me lunch, but part of me wonders if there is a reason you wanted to talk to me. Am I wrong?"

Jennifer froze as she continued to chew her food. She finally shook her head and swallowed what was in her mouth. "You're not wrong. I brought food over because I wanted to talk to you about something specific."

"Which would be?" Lexie was curious.

"My daughter dating your brother. They seem to be getting a little more serious." Jennifer put her food down and took a sip of her drink.

"Well, what do you want to know? Chad is a great guy. He's smart and really seems to have a good head on his shoulders." Lexie did not think Jen had anything to worry about, but understood Jen's concern.

Jennifer debated whether she should ask Lexie about something she heard about Chad, but figured it was a safe place. "I heard something about Chad, but I don't know if it's exactly true." Jennifer had Lexie's attention. "Is it true that Chad got a girl pregnant in high school?"

Lexie confirmed it. "Mia. Chad did get a girl pregnant in high school, but the baby died about six months after she was born. Chad didn't even get to know Grace. It was very tragic."

Jennifer felt a bit guilty for bringing up such sad pain. "I'm sorry I brought it up. I guess I am just really concerned that Chad might hurt my daughter, especially since he's living in the DiMera Mansion."

Lexie bit her lip. It annoyed her that people assumed the worse when they heard the DiMera name, even if they had good reasons. "Chad is not like my father. He is a good guy."

Jennifer thanked Lexie and decided not to continue on the subject. She sensed Lexie's frustration with having to defend the DiMera name.

At the pub, Will was cleaning off one of the tables when Sami came inside holding Sydney. Sami walked over. "Hey Will. I thought maybe we could spend some time together and talk."

"Well, I am working right now. I told great-grandma that I would help her out at the pub for letting me live here." Will continued to wipe off the table.

Sami expected Will to fight the idea of talking to her, so she brought Sydney hoping that she would help convince him to sit down. "I know you're upset with me, but I brought your baby sister. She misses her big brother. What do you say? Just a little while."

Will knew that his mother would not leave until he agreed to talk to her. "Fine. Let me go put these dishes in the back by the sink." Will picked up the dishes from the table. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"I'm fine, but could you bring Sydney a small cup of apple juice." Will nodded and left Sami there with Sydney. Sami took a seat and put Sydney in a chair realizing she probably should have asked Will to bring a booster seat. Sami smiled when she saw that Will brought a booster seat out for Sydney with the apple juice. "Sydney, you have the best big brother ever."

After setting up Sydney with the booster seat and her apple juice, Will looked down to avoid eye contact with Sami. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Well," Sami looked down at her crossed hands and then back at Will. "I wanted to talk to you about love." Will gave her a weird look as if to ask her if she was serious. "It's important that you hear me out. I love EJ, and I need you to understand why."

Will began to shake his head. "Just stop. I don't want to hear this. I don't need to hear this."

Sami put her hand on Will's to make him stop. "It's important. Please hear me out. I think it will help you understand why I did what I did."

Will rolled his eyes and gave in. "Fine. I'll hear you out."

"It's kind of hard to explain, but when I was in that coma for a few weeks, the truth about everything seemed to come to the forefront in my mind. I realized that a person cannot choose the one he or she loves. The first day I met EJ, even though I was with your Uncle Austin at the time, I knew there was something about him. He was a great friend, and I believe he fell in love with me. It was unfortunate that when I found out he was a DiMera I dismissed him. I did not trust him on anything because of what the DiMeras did to our family, so for years I buried and denied my feelings for him and tried to find someone else to escape those feelings."

"Enter Rafe Hernandez," Will calmly said watching his sister drink her juice.

"Yes. I tried to put everything into my relationship with Rafe. He seemed to really care about me and that was good enough for me at the time. What I did not realize is that I was destroying who I am as a person just to be with him. To try to make him happy, I forgot about my happiness. I really lost myself and let him have control of my decisions. It wasn't until I was in that coma that I realized that I had allowed all of this to happen. I had to break it off with Rafe because our relationship was unfair for the both of us. At the same time, I realized that I needed to think things through before even attempting to get back together with EJ. I knew it would happen though. Even though EJ and I have hurt each other so much over the years it was all because I was fighting my feelings for him… fighting what I knew deep down inside of me. He is and always will be the one for me."

Sami realized that she was talking Will's ear off, and he still seemed like he did not care to hear what she had to say. "I won't bother you much more with this, Will. I can tell that you still think I am too stupid to make my own decisions. That's exactly how Rafe made me feel. Same with your father."

Will was offended that Sami would compare him to Rafe. "I'm not saying you are stupid mom. I am just worried that you're going to be in another situation where your life is in danger. I trusted Rafe, and he put your life in danger. I don't trust EJ; how could I not expect worse from your relationship with him?"

"Don't worry about me, Will. I will be fine. EJ loves me for me, and I love him for who he is. You will understand when you have experienced love the way I have with EJ. You're too young to understand." Sami noticed that she struck a nerve with Will again and then remembered that Will was still dating Gabi. "Unless you have experienced it, and you haven't told me. How are you and Gabi?"

"Gabi and I are okay." Will knew deep down that even though he really cared about Gabi, there was no way they were soul mates. He did not want to admit it to his mother though. He was not even sure if he believed in the idea. Lucky for Will, Sonny came in and walked up to his table. "Hey Sonny. Can I get you something?"

"Yeah, I was wanting to talk to Ms. Brady about a job for the summer. I need to keep myself busy before school." Sonny smiled at Sami, who smiled back.

"Yeah, sure." Will got up and put his hands in his pockets. "I could take you to her right now if you'll just follow me." Will turned to his mom. "I'll be back." Sonny followed Will to the back.

Sami watched the two walk away and noticed a weird vibe in Will when Sonny talked to him. She decided to let it go. Sami looked at Sydney and started to mess with her daughter's hair. "I hope your brother is happy. That's all that matters to me."

Chad made his way to pier 17 without opening the package. He wondered if he really had what it took to delve into the family business. As much as he tried to defy Stefano, he did not want to disappoint him or EJ. He really wanted to be a part of this family. He saw the guy from the photo waiting behind some crates. The guy motioned for Chad to come closer.

As Chad walked closer with the package under his arm, he heard a sharp, yet soft noise. That's when everything went wrong. The man from the photo fell down in pain. Chad turned and saw another man running towards him with a gun. Chad tried to move out of the way, but it was too late. The guy ran him over and took the package.

Chad quickly got up to his feet, but the guy who had taken the package was long gone. He quickly made his way over to the guy from the photo. The guy was holding onto his stomach and trying to speak. "Help… me…"

"Hold on, man." The guy removed his hand from his stomach to show a shot wound where blood was pouring out. Chad began to freak inside, but he knew he had to act now if he was going to help the guy. He pulled out his phone and called his father.

Stefano quickly picked up. "Is everything okay?"

Chad tried to hold his composure, but his voice gave away how scared he was. "Uh, no. The guy has been shot and another guy took the package. What do I do? This guy is going to die if I don't do anything."

"Is there blood on any part of you?"

"Huh?"

"Do you have blood on you?"

Chad looked himself over. "No. There's no blood."

"Chad, this is important. You must do as I say. Leave the guy there, and come back to the mansion immediately."

"But…"

"But nothing. Chad, come back. I'll send some of my men to take care of the guy. It is not your concern. Your concern is to get back here. Hurry."

Before Chad could say another word, Stefano hung up on him. Chad looked at the guy, who seemed to be losing consciousness. Chad thought about what Stefano told him to do, but Chad did not want to leave the guy there. Debating on what he should do, Chad knew he needed to decide quickly.