The Gift
Part XXII
Although it was late, there was still no sign of Will or Lucas, so Sami jotted them down a quick note telling them that she was thinking about them both and hated that she had missed them then she left it on the kitchen table and headed back off to the hospital. While she was driving on the road, she called Belle on her cell phone.
"Belle, this is Sami, is there anyway you can meet me at the hospital?"
"Is something wrong?" Belle asked, fear rising in her voice.
"No, I just need a huge favor from you and I want to get back to the hospital so that EJ can go home for a few hours to get anything he needs," Sami explained as she was trying to find a decent parking space for her SUV, but not having very much luck at it. Finally giving up and parking further away from the building than she would have liked, then guessed she needed the extra exercise of walking.
She walked in the night air, enjoying the fresh air and hating that she'd have to go into the hospital. She wanted her baby girl to be able to go home, but Dr. Lykens suggested that since she was undergoing a clinical trial with her treatments that Madison would be better off at the hospital where she could be monitored more closely.
Reaching down Sami picked up some snow and rounded it up in her gloved hands, shaping the snow into a snowball. Madison loved playing outside in the snow and it was one of the things she complained about missing so far during her stay at the hospital. Sami carefully concealed it in her hands as she rode the elevator to the 5th floor, getting off and walking down the corridor to her daughter's room.
She was disappointed to see Madison sleeping; she had wanted to surprise her with the impromptu gift of a snowball. EJ was close by in one of the lounge chairs apparently dozing too as she entered the room. He stirred slightly upon her entrance, righting himself upward from the slumped down position he had fallen into after watching his daughter sleep so peacefully.
The lights were turned off in the room, only the glow of the moon provided any source of lighting inside. Sami held the snowball in her gloved hands, pondering what to do since it would be long melted by the time Madison awoke.
"Samantha, is that you?" EJ asked squinting his eyes in the darkness, knowing full well it was her, but wanting to hear her voice answer him.
"Maybe, maybe not," came the teasing tone from within her as an idea suddenly formed in her mind. She walked closer to EJ, careful to keep her hands behind her back so that he couldn't see what she had in her possession.
EJ shifted up in the chair and rolled his shoulders to relieve the tension that falling asleep in the chair had caused. He reached his arms behind him to stretch when suddenly Sami made her move, bringing the snowball from behind her back and depositing it inside his shirt before he realized exactly what type of mischief she was up to in the first place.
The shock of feeling the icy snowball brought an immediate reprisal from EJ as he grasped Sami's arm and pulled her into his lap before she could get away from him.
"You little vixen," EJ teased as he started to truly laugh for the first time in a while.
Sami squirmed trying to break free from his grasp, but he was stronger than her. Holding both her hands within one of his hands, he reached for the remnants of the snowball from inside his shirt and rubbed the icy substance against Sami causing her to shriek out in laughter.
"EJ stop! I was just playing," Sami said in spurts between laughing as she kept trying to wiggle out of his embrace.
"I'm just playing too," EJ continued to hold what was left of the snowball against her, not allowing her a chance to escape until she stopped moving and looked into his eyes, her breathing becoming irregular due to their close proximity to one another. Then he did something he'd been wanting to do to her for years. He kissed her.
The Gift
Part XXIII
She kissed him back with no reservation, reveling in the feel of his lips upon hers. Totally forgetting where she was for a brief space in time until she heard Belle call out for her.
"Sami, I'm here," was enough to immediately bring Sami back to reality, making her push away from EJ with a suddenness that resulted in her falling in the floor.
Pushing her hair away from her face, Sami felt EJ extend a hand to her to help her up as Belle walked into the darkened room with a very confused expression upon her face. Hastily Sami stood up and brushed EJ's hand away from her as quickly as she could afraid that Belle had seen them kissing one another.
"Is everything okay in here?" Belle questioned looking back and forth between Sami and EJ, both doing their best to compose themselves upon Belle's untimely interruption.
"Just fine, things couldn't be better," Sami answered a bit too shakily, which caused Belle to narrow her eyes in suspicion.
"We were just umm…" EJ was trying to come up with something to explain their appearance to Belle when Sami finished his sentence for him.
"To tell you the truth, I was playing a trick on EJ and he retaliated by kissing me," Sami thought what the hell; she'd tell the truth for a change because Belle probably wouldn't believe it anyway.
"Your sister is definitely a trickster," EJ added wryly, quickly regaining his composure as he pulled the front of his shirt away from his body, the wetness from the snowball Sami had smashed into his shirt earlier had made the material cling to his chest. He looked at both sisters not quite knowing what else to say, so he decided to make his exit while he could to escape any possible forthcoming questions from Belle that she might decide to ask them. "On that note, I'll take my leave. I'll be back in a while Samantha. Good evening Belle."
"Goodbye EJ," Belle barely had time to reply before EJ was out the door. She cut her eyes back to Sami who was twirling a strand of her hair around one of her fingers. "Did EJ really kiss you Sami?"
"No, I was just joking," Sami chuckled and rolled her eyes, relieved that Belle hadn't believed her when she was telling the truth. Sometimes being one of the biggest liars in Salem did have its advantages.
"Okay then," Belle looked at Sami strangely, sometimes her sister made no sense at all. "So what did you need me here for tonight?"
Sami was glad that Belle asked she had a huge favor to ask of her and she was glad EJ had left because she didn't want to spoil the surprise she had in store for him if Belle could help her out with her request.
Driving home, EJ didn't know what possessed him with such recklessness to kiss Samantha, but he'd wanted her for so long that when the opportunity presented itself, he selfishly took it. He'd never claimed to be a saint, so what was the problem?
After pulling into the driveway and parking his car, he hit the steering wheel in anger, he knew exactly what the problem was, he wanted to do it again, again, and again for the rest of his life. He wanted Samantha as badly as he had when he'd first came to Salem.
She puzzled him, kissing him back instead of slapping him away. Maybe he'd just caught her off guard and who knew what could of happened if Belle hadn't of walked into the room when she did. What was he thinking? Thank goodness Madison had not witnessed their kiss. How would the possibly explain to her something he couldn't even quite define himself.
It was worse even having a sample of Samantha than nothing at all because now all he wanted to do was take her in his arms, kiss her like there was no tomorrow and tell her all his heart's desires for her. He shook his head dejectedly, Samantha was married, she didn't want him, they'd just had a crazy moment and that was all, nothing more.
He'd learned long ago not to expect anything barely above contempt from Samantha and he needed to stop thinking that they could have some kind of future together as a family with Madison because Samantha had made her choice long ago and it hadn't included him in the scenario.
Belle had left a little while ago and Sami had expected EJ back by now, but maybe he needed more time at home than she had earlier. She looked at her watch, noticing the hour and wondering why she even wanted him back in the same room with her.
How was she going to be able to look at him after kissing him? If Belle hadn't of come into the room, what would she have done? Then she looked over to her sleeping daughter and thought it was the best that Belle had walked in the room when she did because how would she had been able to explain kissing EJ to her daughter?
Madison stirred in her sleep, tossing and turning which caused her bed covers to come off her tiny form. Sami got up from her chair to pull the covers back on Madison when she mumbled something in her sleep.
"What is it baby?" Sami asked quietly, trying to decipher what Madison was trying to say.
"Mommy, is that you?"
"Yes, I'm right here sweetheart," Sami touched her cheek and brushed her hair back from her face.
Madison opened her eyes as she began to focus on her mother. "Mommy, guess what?"
"What?"
"I had the craziest dream," Madison began with a sleepy expression on her face.
"You did? What did you dream?" Sami leaned down closer to her daughter to hear what she had to say.
"You and Daddy were laughing and then Daddy kissed you and you kissed him back," Madison said dreamily with a sweet smile in the dark. "That was a dream, wasn't it?"
"Yes baby," Sami hated to lie to Madison, but she didn't know what else to do.
"Well I hope I have more dreams like that," Madison said softly. "It was nice."
"I'm sure it was sweetie," Sami leaned down to kiss Madison on the forehead.
"Mommy do you ever have dreams like that? It really looked like you were having fun in my dream." Madison gave her a wink and closed her eyes to go back to sleep leaving Sami to stand beside her bed more than a bit flabbergasted that her daughter knew and saw more than she gave her credit for sometimes.
Sami sat back down in the recliner hoping she would fall asleep before EJ came back; she needed some more time before she saw him again to get a hold of her feelings. She didn't have a clue as to what she would say to EJ when she saw him again.
