Later that day Marlena softly knocked on Sami's door to check on her. "Sami, Honey, are you up?" She asked with a soft voice, not wanting to wake her daughter up if she was asleep.
It was silent for a few seconds before Sami answered. "Yeah…I'm up."
Marlena walked in to see Sami sitting on her balcony staring over the lake. "I figured you would be in bed after being out all night." She sat down in the empty seat next to Sami's.
"Sleep is pretty overrated." Sami answered, shrugging her shoulders.
"You're not tired?" Marlena asked, surprised.
"Exhausted." Sami answered honestly, not having the energy to lie to her mother.
"So how long have you had trouble sleeping?" Marlena asked after she realized what was happening. Sami only shrugged her shoulders and kept staring forward. "Since the kidnapping?" She tried when Sami didn't answer.
"That certainly didn't help." Sami replied.
"So longer than that" Marlena guessed.
"It started the night after EJ's shooting." Sami replied.
"Sami! You've been having trouble sleeping for over 8 years?!" Marlena exclaimed.
The loud tone of her mothers voice scolding her made Sami turn to look at her for the first time since she sat down. "Well there were times when it got better again." Sami replied after seeing a mix of hurt and worry on her mother's face.
"And right now?" Marlena asked, even though she already pretty much knew the answer.
"Right now it's not one of those times." Sami answered honestly. She couldn't remember the last time she slept through the night without having to drink to make it happen.
Marlena sighed worriedly. "So you either stay up doing god knows what all night or get so drunk that you pass out?" She guessed.
"I wouldn't put it like that." Sami answered, even though it was like that.
"But that's exactly what's happening, isn't it?" Marlena asked and Sami didn't even try denying it. "There's other, better ways to deal with insomnia you know." She added when Sami didn't say anything.
"Pills you mean?" Sami asked. Why take sleeping pills when alcohol works, she had figured.
"There's some sleeping pills that could help but I'd prefer for you to talk to someone to get to the root of your sleeping problems." Marlena answered, knowing addiction run in their family.
"I'm talking to you right now, I am not?" Sami responded.
"I mean talk to a professional who is not also your mother." Marlena answered. "But I am really glad that you are telling me the truth." She quickly added.
"I just…don't have the energy to pretend anymore." Sami answered.
"I know." Marlena replied, Sami hadn't been pretending to be happy or healthy at all but she also hadn't talked about what was going on with her. "And I know that you're really tired but I need you to let me help you. If you can't do it for yourself then please do it for your children." Marlena pleaded.
"The kids are fine…Will is with Sonny, Allie is with Nicole, Johnny is with EJ and I'm here with Sydney." Sami replied, trying to convince herself more than her mother.
"They need their mother right now. Johnny and Allie bicker all day long, Allie says Sydney hasn't talked to her since she moved in with Nicole and Will is devastated over Lucas being in jail." Marlena said.
Sami closed her eyes in pain. "I don't know how to fix all that." The Sami that always had a plan for everything and fought everything head on seemed to have disappeared.
"Well giving them a healthy mother would be a good start…one that sleeps and eats and is emotionally available." Marlena responded.
"I'm doing the best I can, okay?" Sami replied. She had really tried to put on a brave face for her children the last 3 months, pretending to be okay and trying to be there for them. She knew they were in pain as well over everything that happened between her, EJ and Lucas.
"I know you are but…" Marlena started but she wanted to think over what she was going to say next carefully because she knew how Sami could react to parenting advice from her.
"But?"
"I think the children, especially Allie and Johnny, would benefit from having you in their lives on a more daily basis." Marlena explained.
Sami sighed. "So we're back to me moving back to Salem."
"That's not what I'm saying… I wish it was as black and white as that." Marlena replied.
"Then what are you saying?" Sami asked. "Because me watching Belle and EJ raise a child together is not something I can handle…"
Marlena didn't want to overwelm Sami. "Why don't we just take this one step at a time? Step one was you telling me that you aren't okay right now."
"And step two?" Sami asked.
"Step two is you getting some rest." Marlena answered.
"I don't think I can." Sami answered even though she felt exhausted.
"You know when you were little you were never able to fall asleep alone. You always needed me or John to stay with you and Eric in the bed right beside you. Even when you were in Colorado I would often stay on the phone with you until you fell asleep." Marlena remembered.
"I remember." Sami said. "But I don't think that would still work in my forties."
"Well how about we give it a try?" Marlena asked.
"Mom…" Sami sighed and Marlena gave her a big emotional smile. "What?" Sami asked.
"You just called me mom." Marlena said, still smiling. "I haven't heard you call me mom in over 3 months."
'It's not that big of a deal." Sami replied uncomfortably.
"It is to me, Honey." Marlena said before standing up. "Now let's get you into bed." She added, nodding towards Sami's bed.
"Fine." Sami sighed, too tired to fight her mother. She walked over to the bed and crawled in, not looking forward to another battle with sleep.
Marlena pulled up her blankets and sat down on the side of the bed. 'Close your eyes, Sweetheart.' She said, while giving Sami a kiss in her hair. "You are safe, I am right here with you." She softly kept talking to Sami and stroking her hair until her breathing evened out and she was asleep.
—
The next morning Sami woke up and made her way downstairs after taking a nice long bath. She felt better, or at least more rested, than she had in months. "Morning." She walked into the kitchen where John was making breakfast.
"Morning Sweetheart, how did you sleep?" John asked.
"Very long apparently." Sami said, looking at the clock and seeing that it was 8 in the morning. She had been awake for a few hours but still.
"Well you must have needed it then." John said, giving her a knowing look. "Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, I guess I could eat." She answered, surprising herself that she actually felt hungry.
"Alright your parents are outside. Why don't you take the pancakes and fruit over there and I'll follow with the rest?" He asked.
"Sure." Sami answered, making her way outside with John following right behind her. She noticed her parents were not alone, they were talking to someone and it wasn't EJ. "Maxi." Sami said surprised and the handsome Italian guy she had been hanging out with turned around to face her.
"Sami! Are you okay?" He asked with a worried look, taking a step towards her.
"Yes, I'm fine…what are you doing here?" She looked at him questioningly and put the food she was holding down on the table. She hadn't really planned to introduce Maxi to her parents but it seemed like she didn't have choice anymore.
"We were supposed to meet last night, remember?" Maxi asked. "I've been calling you all night but you didn't answer so I came here to check on you." He explained.
"Right, sorry about that… I fell asleep and my phone died." She explained.
"That's okay, I'm just glad you're okay." Maxi answered, giving her a smile. "Anyway this old guy almost tackled me when I came in through your gate." He added, turning around to glare at Roman.
"Who the hell is this kid, Sami?" Roman asked, crossing his arms.
"Mom, dad, John this is Maxi." Sami explained awkwardly. "Maxi, these are my parents." Maxi looked at her questioningly. Probably because she had told him that she was on her own but he kept his mouth shut thankfully.
"So what do you want with my daughter?" Roman asked, addressing Maxi.
"I would like to know the same thing." EJ said, walking up while eying Maxi suspiciously.
"Maxi is a friend of mine." Sami said. "Not that we owe you any explanation." She told EJ.
"I'm EJ, Sami's husband." EJ said, shaking Maxi's hand, immediately staking his claim.
"Ex-husband." Sami corrected him.
"For now." EJ replied confidently. "Anyway, Maxi, we are having some family time. I'm sure you know the way out.' He added, nodding towards the gate.
"Look dude, I don't know who the hell you think you are, suddenly showing up here, but I'm not leaving until Sami asks me too." Maxi answered, not at all intimidated by EJ.
EJ laughed and looked at Sami. "Did he just call me dude? Did you pick him up straight from high school?" He asked. Maxi gave him an angry look and took a step towards him. EJ took a step towards him as well, showing him he wasn't backing down.
Sami quickly went to stand in between them with her back towards EJ. "Alright enough. Maxi, can we talk later? I have breakfast plans with my parents." She said, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Sure, see you later." Maxi agreed, respecting her wishes. He kissed her cheek and whispered call me in her ear before leaving.
Sami turned around to face her parents and EJ. "EJ, you can leave too." Sami said, glaring at him, while her parents sat down to eat.
"Actually your mother invited me to join you guys for breakfast and I'm really fascinated to hear about your new boy toy." EJ answered, sitting down as well.
"We are divorced, remember? What I do and who I do it with is none of your business." Sami replied, sitting down.
"So you are dating this… Maxi?" Marlena chimed in with a worried look on her face. The boy couldn't be older than 30 years old.
"No, I'm not dating him. We just hang out." Sami answered. "Can we change the subject, please?" She pleaded.
"Sure." Marlena agreed. "We actually have some news." She looked at EJ, asking him to proceed.
"Belle called this morning." EJ started and Sami shot him an uninterested look "Shawn is the father of her baby." He added.
"Good for her." Sami answered, casually taking a bite of her pancakes, not showing EJ how relieved she was.
"That's all you have to say?" EJ looked at her questioningly.
"It has nothing to do with me." Sami answered, shrugging her shoulders.
"This baby is your niece or nephew and it could have been Johnny and Sydney's brother or sister." EJ replied.
"Look I feel for this baby, having a mother that cheats on their father every few years or so, but he or she is nothing to me. I am very glad that Johnny and Sydney won't be saddled with your mistakes though." Sami replied and EJ only shook his head in reply.
"Alright, can we please stop arguing about an innocent baby that hasn't even been born yet?" John pleaded.
"Fine." Sami agreed.
An awkward silence followed until EJ interrupted it. "So what kind of name is Maxi? It sounds like a toddler." He said, wanting to get the conversation back to the guy who was hanging around Sami.
Sami signed. "It's short for Maximiliano, EJ. Which I'm sure you know as you're half Italian yourself."
"Right and his last name is?" EJ asked, planning to look into the guy as soon as possible.
"None of your business." Sami answered defiantly.
"I beg to differ, he's obviously been in this house, the same house our daughter lives in." EJ replied.
"He's not here on the weekends Syd's here. Besides, we usually hang out in his bedroom." Sami said, trying to shut EJ up, forgetting her parents were there for a second. Her father started coughing, nearly choking on his coffee. "Sorry dad." She shot her father an apologetic look.
"Well he's a step up from Lucas Horton I suppose." EJ answered, trying not to let Sami bait him into a jealous fit.
"He's actually a step up from all the guys I've been with… if you know what I mean." Sami replied, giving him a smirk.
"Darling, you forget I know when you're lying." EJ countered. The thought of Sami being with another man did drive him crazy but he knew no one knew her body like he did.
"Maybe a long time ago." Sami replied.
EJ wanted to reply but Marlena stopped him. "So how did you sleep, Honey?" She asked Sami, changing the subject to interrupt her bickering with EJ.
"Good mom, thanks." Sami answered, giving her mother a small smile. Guess she sometimes still was that little girl that couldn't fall asleep when she felt alone.
"I'm glad." Marlena said, smiling back at her daughter. "Are you up for a walk around the lake in a little while? Just the 2 of us." She asked, figuring that she could reach Sami better when she didn't feel crowded.
Sami wasn't sure she felt like spending time alone with her mother but then she thought about what she had said about her children needing her. She realized letting her mother in might be a good step towards becoming healtier and happier again. "Sure." She agreed.