Moonlit Wishes
Book III, Part XI

The next few weeks went by rather quickly due to the upcoming Christmas holiday, the kids kept her busy, actually kept both of them so busy in fact that she never got the chance to get EJ alone.

She refused to believe that EJ consciously maneuvered situations to keep them away from one another, much less to actually find time for either of them not to be alone without anyone else around. Needless to say, it halted her project Get EJ DiMera to Fall Back in Love with me, extremely difficult if not impossible for Sami.

Not to say that it hadn't been nice to do the normal family holiday things, because it had been awesome, not having some drastic happenings occurring every five seconds of the day which had been the norm for her so long that this new phase in her and her children's lives felt almost surreal.

She wasn't going to complain, it was wonderful to have a tree beautifully decorated; cookies cut out of dough, baked, iced to perfection, Christmas carols sung and all the school plays attended. After a whirlwind few weeks, the kids were out of school for Christmas holidays and Sami was going to take off a few days to get her Christmas shopping finished.

Belle had graciously agreed to take the kids with her so that Sami could complete the last purchases she needed to make and in turn Sami would get Claire when Belle needed to go shopping. Sami hadn't wanted to ask Marlena for anything and somehow Belle could sense that without her even asking and for that Sami was grateful.

She had kept close tabs on EJ's work schedule without him even realizing it, she knew he didn't have court today and he wasn't due into the office either because he had already told her he could stay with the children instead of her taking them to the pub to stay with Caroline since they were out of school. She was going to have some one on one face time with Mr. EJ DiMera whether he liked it or not.

So she hadn't told him of her plans for the kids to be absent from the house and she had made them be mum to their father about that fact too telling them she needed to go talk with Santa one last time before Christmas Eve to make sure they were all still on the nice list.

She however hoped to be on Santa's naughty list before the year was out, preferably with EJ.

She was already dressed for the day as if she were heading into the office; she knew if EJ saw her in almost next to nothing when he walked into the kitchen it would immediately put him on guard.

She was looking out the bay window admiring the new snowfall appearing not to have a care in the world when EJ walked downstairs. She could hear his footsteps as he approached and had to keep her anticipation tamped down. It wouldn't do for him to realize that she had planned this day out for them to spend time together in her head.

"I thought you would have already headed into the office by now," EJ said as Sami turned around to face him.

"I'm not going into work today," Sami stated with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Won't Brady be upset with you? I thought you all were on a deadline for the premier issue of Bella." EJ asked her wondering exactly why Samantha wouldn't be going into to work. She had been working almost nonstop this past month only taking time to make sure she didn't miss any of the special things the kids were doing for the holidays.

"He'll deal with me being out today," she said with confidence. "I had some last minute things I needed to get done before Christmas and all of my duties are finished for the issue beyond helping with the launch party on New Year's Eve."

"So you still need for me to keep the kids today since you'll be busy?"

"Well there is just a slight adjustment to your schedule today," Sami began as she noted EJ was starting to form a frown on his brow.

"What kind of adjustment?" EJ asked immediately on the defensive with her.

"The kids are with Belle and Claire today. They are going ice skating."

"Then, I'll just go into work," EJ started to turn away from her. He wasn't sure what Samantha was up to, but he really didn't want to find out either. Samantha and plans usually seemed to go awry if they included him in the mix.

"No, you won't," Sami shook her head and shot out a hand to grab his arm before he could exit the room. "We can go run errands together EJ, finalize the last things we need to get for the children for Christmas. You know how excited they all are getting about Christmas."

"Samantha I don't think…"

"EJ come on, don't be an old Scrooge," Sami moved in closer to him, a teasing lilt in her voice.

EJ tried to keep himself from sighing; Samantha could be so persistent when she set her mind upon something. In the past week he knew she had been going out of her way to be polite and make conversation, asking him what he thought of this thing or that idea.

It was like she actually cared about what he thought about everything and how they should run the household together. It was almost like they were in a relationship with one another; at least one without sex which he knew was of no fault but his own making.

Oh god, he looked into those sapphire eyes of hers so full of life and excitement and he thought of how he needed desperately to keep the distance between them, but he knew if he tried to argue the point with her, she could counter back until he was worn down and out of inane excuses to give her for why they shouldn't be spending time together with one another.

Then she added for emphasis to her case, "Also I'm trying to help the environment by not taking the SUV for only me. I thought you cared about saving the earth and this is just a measure for us to be more eco-friendly in our decisions. Your car is the energy efficent one, not mine."

"Fine," he looked her in the eye, hating it when she tried the guilt route on him, "but if you come along with me, you play by my rules, not yours."

Her mouth drew in a slight bit and he could tell she didn't like the sound of this condition. He wondered how far he could push Samantha until she dropped this charade of sweet politeness with him. How long would it take before she snapped at him and went back to hating him on a daily basis?

If Samantha would just get pissed off and tell him to go straight to hell like she had been wont to do in the past he wouldn't have to worry so much about trying to keep his hands off her. Oh, he would still want to touch her, he always had that temptation lurking whenever she was around, but if she was mad at him she would keep her distance from him which would solve this problem.

"Okay," she agreed a bit too quickly for his liking, giving him a smile that appeared on the surface to be all kinds of agreeable. Where were the complaints and arguing she was known for with anything he ever asked her to do for him? Apparently they had all flown away and this baffled him almost as much as her actions had lately.

Well there was no way to get out of this without being utterly nasty to her and he honestly didn't want things to be ugly between them anymore, so he'd just have to suck it up and take her along with him.

Although he agreed to take her with him that didn't mean he had to be all kinds of sociable with her. EJ was as quiet as a church mouse when he got into the car, never saying a word at all. He fiddled with the car stereo until he found a classical music station thinking this would drive her crazy, but she never objected to his choice of music today.

Sami stared out the car window wishing EJ would say something, anything to her. So far things were not going her way beyond actually getting him to ride in the car with her. Not that she'd really had a concrete plan, she just knew she had wanted to get out of the house to remind EJ how much fun they could have if he would just lighten up some.

"Where in town are we going exactly?" she asked him making it seem as if he had asked her to go with him instead of the other way around, as he silently drove, hoping she could get him to start talking about something, anything with her.

He couldn't help himself as a smart ass retort came out of his mouth before he thought better about saying it to her, "Well Samantha, I thought I might hit a club on the other side of town, day drink for a while and possibly pick up an attractive woman while I was there right in front of you, hopefully see an all out catfight erupt, have the police come and threaten to haul us all to jail and then after that rousing round of entertainment faded I'd let the chips fall where they may," he gave her a tight smile, "but since you've decided your needs are always above mine, I'll have to wait and to do this adventure another day instead."

Sami wanted to yell at him that he was such a smartass, but kept her mouth shut, she had insisted EJ take her, despite the fact he clearly did not want to be in her company at all. She slumped back in the leather seat of his car, watching as the trees blurred quickly by as she continued to look out the window instead of facing him. Her eyes were stinging with tears, but she refused to cry. She wasn't going to use tears on him as a means to beg him to see that she really had changed.

She decided on another tactic, her voice low and apologetic, "EJ, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tricked you into taking me…," she started to tell him, but he cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"We'll go to the Java Café and then decide where to go from there after we have a vanilla latte, skim milk, no sugar." How could he always remember her favorite things to eat and drink even when only moments before he was being all snarky? His voice was soft now, no traces of his 'smartassedness' of moments before left in his demeanor. She glanced his way, and the tender expression on his face she saw made her feel for a second like he cared about her again.

"EJ, are we ever going to talk about…?" Sami stopped before she finished asking her question, seeing his face instantly change right before her eyes as she noted how quickly his body tensed up.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he didn't want to talk about anything personal between them. Fine, she would just have to practice that damning patience that was so hard for her to achieve. EJ would have to crack eventually, just not today apparently.

EJ watched Samantha as she took her fist sip of her latte he had ordered for her. She looked so miserable and he knew he was the sole cause of her mood by his reticence to not speak of any kind of emotional entanglement with her, that his thoughts of keeping the distance between them was slowly retreating to the background before he could think better of it.

Maybe all Samantha had been going to say was something about their friendship, maybe he was too full of himself thinking she wanted anything else from him beyond that since he hadn't been close to her physically since the day he had stolen her book from her a few weeks ago.

Well he wasn't going to ruin the rest of her day although it was a wonder she ever wanted to be around him when he acted like such an ass to her even if she hadn't told him so today.

So they left the Java Café a while later and hit the mall, buying what few things they had left to get from the wish lists the kids had made for them earlier in the month, and after a while he got Samantha to smile again.

They stopped by some run down looking tavern neither of them had ever been to before and got a drink, and then another one as time passed by, both laughing about day drinking now even though it was quickly becoming afternoon.

"EJ, do you know what I like about you?" she caught him off guard by this latest question.

"Let me see, my charm, my sexy English accent, my superior intellect as compared to your other paramours or could it be my rugged good looks?" EJ asked her enjoying the moment of just being silly with her since those moments had been too few and far between them in what seemed like forever.

"You're not that good looking," she said with a frown, refusing to let him know she thought all of those things about him and more that he hadn't guessed. She paused a moment before adding, "It's just that I never have to pretend with you. I don't have to act like I'm a saint or even that you're funny, when you're clearly not…,"

EJ raised a questioning brow her way, but she only stirred her drink and took another sip before continuing on, "I like that I can be myself with you; that you accept me exactly as I am even when everyone else can't stand to be around me. Or at least you used to accept me; lately I think you just tolerate me like everyone else does."

He reached out to trace her cheek and looked her straight in the eye. "I still accept you Samantha, that hasn't changed and I hate that I've made you believe otherwise. Most people are afraid of your zest for life, your fire, but somehow you always seem to draw me in to it whether I want to go or not."

"I miss you and I miss our friendship. Why have you turned your back on what we have? Doesn't it mean anything to you? You act like I'm some kind of poison if you get too close to me now."

"Samantha, our friendship meant everything to me." The truth spilled out before he thought about what he was saying to her.

"Do you hear what you are saying? Meant as in past tense?"

"You're twisting my words around…"

"Then why? Why have you thrown what else we could have away when I'm plainly offering it up to you?"

EJ felt like he had been given a reprieve when he heard his cell phone ringing. He couldn't deal with this; he didn't know what to tell her. He didn't want to go forward with this conversation because frankly he wasn't sure where it would go before they were finished. He could, however, put it on hold for now. He took the phone out of his pocket and saw it was Stefano.

His face fell; this was just another reason as to why he shouldn't take things further with Samantha. Sooner or later he was going to have to deal with his father whether he liked it or not and this was just a vivid reminder of why things would never work out for them. Hadn't Samantha told him time and time again how much she hated his father?

"EJ, aren't you going to answer your phone?" Sami asked wondering who was calling EJ after seeing his reaction to whosever name was showing up on the screen of his cell phone.

EJ hit the dismiss button and placed his cell phone back into his pocket. He couldn't handle talking to his father either, especially after having Samantha opening up to him like she was doing right now. It was just a harsh reminder of how cruel fate was, no matter what either of them did, there was no denying that she was always going to be a Brady and even when he ran from it he was always going to be a DiMera.

"No, it's not important," EJ said rising up from his chair and taking Samantha by the hand. "Let's get out of here."

"Okay," Sami agreed, not pressing the matter further. Something else was bothering EJ beyond her asking him why he wouldn't give them a chance. She would have to back off and let things slide for while. Maybe she had given him something to think about though.

"I don't want to go home yet," Sami stated after they were settled into the car again. She didn't want their time together to end yet, so she searched her brain for something to keep him with her for a while longer.

"Where do you want to go?" EJ asked, knowing he would probably regret asking her later on.

"Just take a right on Bedford, then another right on Stapleton and then a left on Rockdale," Sami ordered as EJ put the car in drive.

After a few minutes of Samantha's navigation EJ realized she had taken him to one of the parks the kids loved to play at when they got a chance to go there.

The car hadn't even completely stopped when Sami flung open the door and headed out making tracks in the snow with her high heeled boots in the abandoned park, void of children due to the vast amounts of snowfall that had taken place the night before and continuing on during this day, holding her face upward to feel the new falling flakes of snow.

"Samantha you are going to catch your death of cold," EJ told her to which she just shook her head and kept going onward until she made it to the monkey bars. He noted that her legs didn't even come close to touching the ground as she started to swing from bar to bar. The thing was just a few inches taller than he was; but even with the amount of alcohol she had consumed earlier she was reaching for the rungs like a seasoned pro. Her confidence grew until suddenly her grip slipped, and she started to fall down from her perch.

EJ reached forward and grabbed Samantha before she could hit the cold snowy ground below. He pulled her close to him, wrapping her in his arms before he lost his balance and slipped on a hidden patch of ice that was under the snow making them both fall. Her skirt ripped slightly in the process and Sami looked at him quizzically when he tried to smooth her skirt down for her inadvertently causing them both to shift even closer together. Their eyes locked on each other and for a moment neither of them spoke.

"You didn't let me fall. You caught me." Was all she said softly looking at him in amazement as he tried his best to shift their weight without hurting her. He needed to move her away, she was too close to him and it was playing havoc on his last shreds of self-control he was trying to maintain with her, but she wouldn't let go of him. She clung even tighter to him when she realized how scared he looked.

"Don't," he said quietly as he finally was able to tear his gaze away from her eyes, those knowing eyes that could always see into his soul no matter what they had said and done to one another in the past. "You make me crazy Samantha."

"I know," her honest answer made him give in, leaning his head down and catching her lips in a soft kiss.

She sighed in contentment, despite the cold air surrounding them she didn't feel it at all because all she could feel was his kisses, which could always make her forget where they were and what they were doing. He kissed her like he would never kiss her again. And that was what finally got her attention, it felt somewhat bittersweet as she felt herself slipping out of the unstable grasp they had on one another.

They both stopped before she was displaced on the snowy ground he was trying to protect her from and then she shifted her weight off of him so that they could both get up and get out of the weather. He looked away into the distance as she tried to straightened out her clothes on her own without his help this time, tugging on the ripped skirt as best she could to keep her legs from being more exposed to the chilling air then they already were.

He didn't know what to do or say that wouldn't make the situation any less awkward, so he just held out his hand to her and they walked back to his car in silence. She instantly took his hand in hers and felt it all over again. They had a connection that she had never felt with anyone else before and she knew deep down inside of him somewhere EJ had to know it too. Walking hand in hand, at least it seemed like she had she had proven a point to him. She didn't want to scare him away, she just wanted him to see that no matter what happened between them in the past and what may happen between them in the future they were always going to be connected to one another, no matter how hard they tried to ignore or dismiss it that it wasn't going to go away.

She prayed he saw it, felt it like she did, but he was so quiet on the way home, almost too quiet and she didn't get to say anything else to him after they arrived home because Belle was waiting on them with the kids and EJ quickly excused himself to disappear into his room to shower and change out of his wet clothes.

All evening she tried to get his attention again, but after he returned from his shower, he focused solely on the children until they went to bed and before she could speak to him after the bedtime stories were told and kisses were given to the them he went into his bedroom alone and she heard the click of the lock turning on his door as she approached it outside of his room.

She sighed this time in frustration, while she realized she made EJ crazy he was making her feel that emotion in an all together totally different way. As she made her way into her bedroom and got ready for bed, she wondered how EJ had kept it together in the past from all the times he had begged her to see and acknowledge what was between them and she had stubbornly refused him each and every time he had pleaded with her to please give them a chance.

She just had to be patient, EJ couldn't walk away from what was happening between them no matter how hard he was fighting it at the moment. She had to believe it, believe he could still love her despite all the things that had happened.

She wasn't going to give up, she just couldn't. This was too important to let go. She realized how fleeting happiness could be and she was going to do whatever she needed to do to make him see it too.