Odi et Amo

by Medea3

My first long, painful attempt at a realistic Sami/Lucas romance. They'd like nothing better than to stay our of each other's way- or would they? Why is Sami having adventures with bats, Lucas feeling admiration for Eric, and Will eloping with a giant panda? Written/set 2000. Complete.

2. Amo

"Odi et Amo"-- part 11

Two weeks later, Lucas was again in the situation of saying good-bye to his son. This good-bye had the potential to be much, much worse than the average bi-monthly good-bye, because he was going to have to do it in semi-public, and with Sami there. He was grateful that Jamie would be there, too; he had asked if she was offering herself as a sacrificial lamb to keep Will's parents off of each other's throats and she had just laughed. Jamie had joined the chorus of family members and friends who insisted that Sami and Lucas really should get along with each other by any means necessary. Lucas wondered if she had had a part in the planning of this stupid party or if it was all Sami's grandparents, who treated Jamie as another granddaughter, as if they didn't have enough.

"Lucas? Are you ready to come to the Pub?"

"Are we, Buddy?"

"Yeah!" Will agreed.

"Is Nicole coming?"

"No. That would only make this thing worse than it's already going to be. A lot of the Bradys blame her for running Eric out of town, and this is a Brady party."

"Not completely. We'll be there, and there will be others, too."

"Jamie, you count as a Brady. I'm surprised they never legally adopted you. Will is a Brady, so I'm a Brady by proxy, much as I hate to admit it."

Jamie cast a glance toward an intently listening Will.

"I was joking, Buddy," Lucas reassured. "Let's go."

Sami was sitting in the front window of the Pub, obviously awaiting there arrival.

"Mommy!"

"Hi, Little Man! How have you been?"

"Good."

"Good? You had a good week?"

"Uh-huh."

"What did you do?"

"Kevin is having a birthday party in July. Is July a long way away?"

"Not so long. It's the next month after this one. What month is it now?"

"June!" Will answered, happy that he knew.

"That's right. You're so smart, Will." Sami finally broke her engrossment with her son and looked up. "Hi, Jamie. Hi, Lucas."

"Daddy and Jamie said they were staying."

"I know they are."

"Don't you want them to?"

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Then I do." Sami sighed inwardly. She hated lying to Will in any way, but she couldn't very well tell him she hated his father. "You like Jamie, then?" she asked, flashing her friend a grin.

"Yes. I get to see Jamie when I'm with you and when I'm with Daddy but I never get to see you and Daddy together. Why?"

"We're together now," Lucas pointed out.

"Yeah," answered Will. He seemed unable to wrap his young mind around the next hard question that he really wanted to ask and he was easily distracted when Shawn Brady crossed the Pub to see them.

"How's my great-grandson?"

"Good!"

"You know you're my very favorite great-grandchild, don't you, Will?"

"Don't get a swelled head, Will. You're his only great-grandchild so far," Sami injected.

"And he'll always be the first, even after your brother and sister and cousins get working," Shawn said firmly. "William, do you want to come help me in the kitchen?" Will nodded.

"Do you want me to help, too?" Sami and Jamie asked in unison.

"No," said Shawn. "We have all the Bradys in Salem coming tonight, and I'm not going to risk having the two of you back there.

"Grandpa! I think I'm insulted."

"Well, you stay out here with Jamie and Lucas and be insulted then," called a retreating Shawn.

The three former friends stared at each other in awkward silence which was broken only by the arrival of assorted members of Sami's extended family. Dinner was blissfully uneventful, and Will was happy to be allowed to sit between his parents, who managed to ignore each other successfully.

The presence of Bo, Roman, and John forced the conversation to drift to the goings-on at the "Cop Shop."

"I wish I could help Abe with what he's going through," Roman was saying. "Those domestic violence cases are always the worst."

"I know it," added Bo. "If I just could have cornered Franco Kelly on the case of that woman, Jill, being beaten, I could have saved Sami a lot of trouble later."

All eyes turned to Sami. "Franco was bad news, Uncle Bo. If I had been paying any attention at all, I never would have gotten involved with him. I probably could have helped you take him down, even."

"That's not your job, Sami. It's mine. I wish women in Jill's situation would accept that we CAN protect them and stop covering for their attackers."

"It isn't that simple, Bo. They always think that they can change the man, that he didn't really mean it . . ." John drew Bo's attention back to the other end of the table. Sami's sister Belle and her cousin Shawn were bickering over something near the bar, and Sami, Jamie, and Lucas, the only members of their generation in the room, were left to their own devices, much to Jamie's delight. She had noticed Sami's strange reaction to the discussion and she wanted to know her friend's reasons.

"Sami? Are you okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"When you were talking to your Uncle Bo about Franco and Jill, you seemed a little upset."

"Well, yeah. Franco tried to marry me for a green card while he had a stripper on the side, and I wound up on death row for his murder. And Jill, I never met her, but don't you always hate to see a woman caught in that kind of situation?"

"That's everything?"

"Why are you asking me this?" Passionate anger crept into Sami's voice. "Leave me alone, Jamie!" Before the attention of the others in the room could be drawn to her, Sami stood up. "Thank you for tonight, Grandma and Grandpa," she said calmly and politely. "Will and I are going home a little bit early so we can get settled." With that, she left, barely allowing her son to say good-bye to his father and pointedly failing to invite Jamie to come home with her although they nearly lived together.

Jamie flushed. "Why did I do that?" she whispered.

"You didn't *do* anything," Lucas whispered back. "She's just flying off the handle for no reason, like she always does."

Jamie leaned away from him, looking so uncomfortable that Lucas forgot his own annoyance at Sami for rushing Will out so quickly. "Do you want to get out of here?" he whispered. Jamie could only nod. She numbly went along with Lucas as he made her excuses and guided her out of the Pub. Once out of the restaurant, she was able to relax and thank him.

"It was nothing. I didn't want to stay there without Will, either."

"Do you think it looked strange? Us both coming together and leaving together?"

"Why would that look strange? You're supposed to go home with the one you came with."

"Even if you're married to someone else and I live a lot closer to Sami than to you?"

"They know I'm not really married. They know we've been friends since we were teenagers. This isn't really what you're worried about."

"No, it isn't. I mean, Sami may hate you, but she doesn't hate me. She doesn't just snap like that except when she really feels cornered."

"You're right. But she had no reason to feel cornered tonight. She was at home with her family all around her. No one was accusing her of anything. Everyone actually seemed pretty happy."

"Until she started squirming when Bo and Roman and John started talking about domestic violence."

"I noticed that, too, but why did you force the issue? I think it's obvious why the subject bothers her, like she said."

"I don't."

"Obviously."

"I think that something strange is going on between her and Brandon."

"This is Sami Brady we're talking about. Strange is pretty much a given."

"But you know how bad her taste in men always is."

"Hey!"

"I didn't mean you. Or Austin."

"So you're basically just thinking that because she was stupid enough to date Alan when she was very young she might be stupid enough to date someone like that again."

"It isn't just Alan. There's that model she almost married, Franco?"

"Yeah, the Italian Stallion."

Jamie was caught by surprise. "What?"

"Have you ever seen a picture of him?"

"Yeah, Sami found an old ad to show me. I can see why you'd call him that."

"Good. Glad to know you aren't blind."

"But Bo was just saying that Franco was suspected of beating a woman. And Sami told me herself that he was proven to be violent by the stripper who he cheated on her with. Candy, her name was."

"A very popular name for strippers." Jamie turned to look at him. "Not that I'd *know*."

"This could be serious, Lucas."

"It could be. It probably isn't."

Jamie turned away nervously, so Lucas continued. "I'm not saying this because I don't like Sami. She's still Will's mother and I don't want Will to see her in that kind of situation. I even know some things you don't about Brandon and Nicole and their *interesting* relationship with their father. He's in jail, by the way, or he was this time last year, and one of the things he did was hit his wife and kids."

"That's more evidence that something is going on! These things happen in a pattern. I study this. I know."

"So do I. But do you have any evidence at all that Brandon has done anything to Sami, besides that his father was abusive and she ran out of the Pub tonight after a discussion of abuse?"

"Just a feeling. I don't think she's as happy with Brandon as she should be."

"They've been together a few months. It's probably just the first rough spot of their relationship. She doesn't know anything about functional relationships. I'm sure she's just confused."

"Okay."

"Jamie, I swear, if you ever get any more evidence, I will help you. Haven't I always?"

"You liked Sami then."

"True, but she hadn't had my child." He suddenly became aware that the last time he and Jamie had had a discussion like this, Sami had been hiding out in Seattle-- and she HAD been pregnant with Will. Why hadn't he known? He never would have wasted so much time in blackmailing Vivian into bringing Sami back if he'd had any idea what was going on with her.

"Thank you, Lucas. You've been a really good friend tonight."

"That's only fair. You're always a good friend. Are you feeling any better?"

"A little," she answered honestly.

"Want to go somewhere before I take you home?"

"You don't have to take me home."

"You aren't walking or taking the bus."

"Why not? It's summer. It's light out, and we're hardly in the bad section of town."

"Because nobody who spends the night with me gets anything less than a sports car or a limo, that's why."

"Well, when you put it that way . . ."

"So, *do* you want to go somewhere else before you head home?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Just Salem Place, probably. I haven't had any time to plan."

"Do you want to do anything?"

"Yes. I want to spend as much time away from Nicole as possible."


"Then let's go."

Smiling, they were soon watching the citizens of Salem from a table at the Java Cafe.

"Thank you, again, Lucas," Jamie said after some nondescript conversation. "It's been a long time since anyone went this far out of his way for me."

"It's not out of my way when it's you," he answered. Before either knew what had happened, their lips met.

*********

Sami supposed that someone other than her would have been embarrassed to leave the Pub in the way that she had. She, though, had been desperate to get away from her family full of cops and their opinions on why women stayed with men who hit them. She had been exposed to these theories all her life, and that was probably why she was so confused about Brandon. She knew that he was right when he said that men did a lot more than he had done to her. Was she over-reacting, or not? Brandon obviously liked and cared for her, and he respected her and understood her. That had to count for something.

Beside her, Will was dragging his feet.

"Want me to pick you up, Honey?"

"No. We're almost there."

"That's right, we are."

She was startled to find her door partway open. Inside, waiting on the couch, was Brandon Walker.

"Hi, Sami. Hi, Will. I didn't think you'd mind if I waited for you in here. Austin let me in when I told him I had a surprise for you."

Sami noticed that there were gifts awaiting her on the coffee table, and that Brandon looked friendly and happy.

Still, she had felt a pang of fear when she had entered the room with her son and seen him.

That wasn't right.

It was time to do something drastic.

"Odi et Amo"-- part 12

"Is that enough?" Jamie demanded of Lucas, looking almost angry.

"Yes, Jamie," he answered witheringly. "If it wasn't enough, I wouldn't have called you. You do remember that *I* called *you* about this, right?"

"I'm sorry." The ire instantly left Jamie's voice. "Can you tell me what happened? You didn't actually see her?"

"No, I didn't. She came over here and asked to see Will's nanny. When she was sure she was around and would be around even though it isn't my custody week, she just handed Will over."

"This is bad. Something has to be really, seriously wrong."

"I know. Sami would never do this unless she thought that Will was really in danger, and I don't see what he can be in danger from, other than Brandon."

"What should we do? Just confront her?"

"You have a better idea?"

"No, but she does have a habit of getting mad and stomping out when someone tells her she's doing something wrong. Especially you."

"But she does listen to you."

"She pretends to listen to me. She patronizes me. She'll say, okay, Jamie, I won't sneak up to Green Mountain Lodge to interrupt Austin and Carrie, and then as soon as I'm not looking she'll steal your car keys and be on her way."

"Yeah. My eighteenth birthday BMW . . ."

Jamie glared at him. "You've bought flashier cars since then. It hardly mattered."

"Relax. All I was worried about at the time was Sami's safety, and her baby's. Will's." Lucas cringed anew. If he had known, Sami would not have been able to play any of her tricks because he would have been by her side making sure she took care of herself. He'd almost stayed with her that night, anyway, if he remembered correctly. Austin and Carrie had been gone and she really hadn't looked like she felt well. "You were there. You know that," he finished.

"But speaking of Austin, he has his suspicions about this relationship, too. Maybe we should wait until we've talked to him. That's one person Sami ALWAYS listens to."

"He isn't here!" argued an increasingly agitated Lucas. "He's out of town for a few days, and I'm not going to wait and then have to explain to Will why his mother is in the hospital, or DEAD!"

"Lucas, calm down."

"Calm down!? This is my son's mother, who has gotten herself into another one of those situations that only she could ever get into!"

"Yes, I know, but you aren't helping Sami or Will. Sami isn't in that much danger, and Will is fine. Or he's fine as long as he hasn't overheard your screaming."

"You're right." Lucas' voice dropped to a near-whisper.

"Will *is* okay, isn't he? He wasn't upset over Sami changing his schedule like that?"

"No. The schedule seems arbitrary enough to him as it is. And he said Sami told him this was just for a little while."

"So she does plan to get out of whatever's wrong."

"Yeah, she plans to, but she plans a lot of things and they don't always work. If I started a list of things Sami planned that didn't work, we'd be here all day."

"Let's go then."

"I thought you'd never be ready."

They traveled in almost complete silence to Sami's apartment. Before they knocked, Jamie pulled Lucas aside.

"Don't walk in there demanding things and accusing Brandon. We have to ask nicely what's going on first. Or I do."

"I'll let you take the lead, but if she starts dodging your questions, don't expect me to stay quiet."

Jamie turned her head so Lucas couldn't see that she rolled her eyes. She knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Jamie and Lucas."

"The door's unlocked."

Lucas quickly forgot his promise to let Jamie take the lead. "You know what the stupid thing about leaving your door unlocked and asking who's there is? The people who you wouldn't let in can just walk in anyway, and they will, since they're psychotic enough that you didn't just say 'come in' to them."

Sami groaned. She had half-expected that Lucas wouldn't accept her gift of an extra week with Will without analyzing it and coming to some odd conclusion.

"If I let you in, Lucas, I think it's obvious that I'll let ANYONE in so it doesn't matter whether or not I lock my door."

"Yes, Sami, you have a son with me and I'm exactly the same as your run-of-the-mill psychotic murderer."

"There's a run-of-the-mill psychotic murderer in the neighborhood?"

"You never know. And I've heard there's a bit of a history of kidnapping in your family."

"Did you have a reason for coming over here?" growled Sami.

"We did," interrupted Jamie as she shoved Lucas out of the way and then shut the door. "We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine. You could have called me or something, you know."

"We wanted to see for ourselves."

"See? I'm fine."

"In that case, why did you give up your week of custody?"

Sami ignored Jamie and glared at Lucas.

"You went to court to stop me from getting any kind of custody and now that I've given it up you're complaining?"

"In a word, yes."

"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but why?"

"Because I don't want Will to wonder why his mother doesn't love him anymore."

"He doesn't think that. If he does, it's because you told him."

"I would never say that. I always put aside my dislike for members of his extended family for his sake, unlike some other people I know."

"Since you dislike my family and me so much, you can leave now."

"You haven't answered my question."

"You haven't answered mine."

"Yes I did."

"You said your reason for caring why I gave up custody was that Will would think I didn't love him. And we've decided that he doesn't think that, so that must have been another lie."

"It was an over-statement. The fact is that I know you do love Will, and you would never give him up unless you thought he was in some kind of danger. And you've taken him on the run at least three times by my count, so it obviously takes a lot to make you think he's in danger. I want to know what happened."

Before Sami could answer, Jamie spoke up. "Sami, we're concerned about you. So is Austin. You haven't been acting quite like yourself."

"How would you know what I act like? You've been back in town for what, three weeks? Lucas hates me and sees as little of me as possible. And as for Austin, I don't see him here."

"He's out of town, you know that. Otherwise, he would be here. One of the first things he said to me the day I came back to Salem was that he was worried about you."

"He said it to you, and not to me?"

"He didn't want to interfere in your relationship with Brandon."

"Brandon. Now that's someone who spends a lot of time with me but doesn't seem to think I need some kind of lecture."

"Maybe because he's the problem?"

"He is NOT the problem. This is the best relationship I've ever been in." Sami inwardly winced at her choice of words and was relieved when neither Jamie nor Lucas chose to comment aloud on the relationships to which Sami could compare her time spent with Brandon. "Brandon came over here last night and he had such a romantic night planned for us that I decided to bring Will over to Lucas so we could enjoy it. My life didn't stop when I became a mother, okay? This is what other women my age do!"

"So your son doesn't come first anymore?" asked Lucas, knowing the answer.

"It wasn't a choice. Will had somewhere else to go where he wouldn't know that he was supposed to stay here."

"He DID know the difference! He knew he was supposed to be here this week, and he's old enough to know if you're getting him out of the way for a little tryst."

"And so are you. So you can go, and leave me to my trysts."

"Sami--" Jamie tried to continue the conversation, but she and Lucas quickly found themselves outside Sami's locked door.

"She's lying," Jamie commented flatly.

"When isn't she?"

Jamie opened the door to Austin's apartment, which was her for the moment. She was moving into her own apartment in the next building in another week, but for now this was very convenient. She walked in, not really caring if Lucas followed her.

Lucas did follow Jamie, and shut the door behind them. "Are you all right?"

"No. How could I be all right? My best friend is in danger and she won't let me help! She won't even admit it." She turned a look of pure anguish on Lucas.

"Jamie, it isn't as bad as all that. I know you care about Sami, but she *has* changed a lot since you've been gone. She can take care of herself. She isn't estranged from her family. She knows she has people she can go to for help."

"You think I'm over-reacting?"

"Just a little bit. Look, I *promise* nothing will happen to Sami. She has too many people looking out for her. Including you." Jamie forced her eyes to meet Lucas'. She was unnerved by how well he made himself look earnest when he wanted to.

"Thank you." She walked closer to him, and when she was sure he wouldn't object, gave him a thank-you hug. At some point, the hug became less of a thank-you hug and more of a passionate embrace. Both were unaware who kissed whom first, but moments later, both were sweating as they lay on the couch and continued to kiss.

Jamie abruptly pushed Lucas off of her, and he gave her a look of objection.

"What was that for?"

"We can't do this."

"Why not?"

"You're married."

"Not really."

"You can't be a little bit married, Lucas. It's like being a little bit pregnant."

"Come on, Jamie. You know the circumstances."

"You caused those circumstances," said Jamie, unable to believe that she was rejecting the advances of the man she had spent most of her adolescence attempting to attract.

"Sami did."

"Not everything is Sami's fault. Sami is so wrapped up in her own life that she isn't paying one little bit of attention to what you're doing."

"You have a point."

"So, since you have an opportunity, why not divorce Nicole quietly now?"

"I wonder if that would work."

"It's worth a try."

Lucas looked at Jamie long and hard. "It is," he agreed.

Outside, an eavesdropping Sami mentally agreed with Jamie: Lucas should divorce Nicole now. She hadn't been planning to make his divorce difficult as it was; that just wasn't high on her list of priorities, especially since if they were both single, the playing field would be evened for the next potential custody battle over Will.

Sami wasn't interested in the rest of their conversation, though. As long as they weren't talking about her, she didn't care what they said. Well, perhaps she was mildly interested to know that Jamie was still after Lucas after all these years, and she hoped for the best for her friend. She forced down the odd twinge of jealousy; it was a shame that her childhood crush hadn't worked out. Also, Jamie was blind to Lucas' faults, and Sami had a responsibility to her friend. Maybe she would keep an eye on that relationship, just for Jamie's sake, of course.

Now she had to go and meet Brandon. They had agreed to find each other in Salem Place in just a few minutes.

Brandon was not hard to spot. As usual, he was flirting with four or five women at once, but when he saw Sami he brushed the others away and greeted her with a kiss. She winced as she returned it.

"What's wrong, Samantha?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong at all. Why would you say something's wrong?"

"You winced when you kissed me."

"I did? I didn't mean to. I'll try again." She grabbed him and kissed him, this time successfully keeping her true feelings to herself.

"That was better."

"Good. You deserve the best, after that surprise you brought me last night."

"You liked it?"

"How could I not? Nice and romantic, candles, everything."

"You didn't have to take Will away, though. We could have had a great time with the little guy."

"I didn't want to share you with anyone, not even my son, last night. Does that make me selfish?"

"Just a little bit, so that's okay."

"Good. I really did have a great time last night."

"I'm glad we're past the misunderstanding."

"Me, too. It really helped how much you opened up to me."

"You're easy to open up to, Samantha. If I'd known that, I would have told you a long time ago. But not everyone is so accepting of . . . backgrounds that aren't the same as their own."

"Well, I've never felt that way. I mean, you KNOW how I felt, and feel, about Austin, and his life was a lot more like yours than like mine."

"I guess."

"It is ironic that your parents' fights used to be broken up by my father's partner in the police force." Sami could see that Brandon was hiding a grimace. He obviously hadn't been eager to let that tidbit slip, but it had been late, and they'd been drinking and talking easily. In a way, she *had* enjoyed the evening, and would have enjoyed it more if she had known for a fact that someone was home in the apartment next door.

"Let's talk about something else, Samantha."

"But this is such a good subject," Sami said encouragingly, glancing quickly over her shoulder to make sure the patrolling cops were in the same place they had been the last time she'd looked. To her dismay, they had moved around the corner, and she was nearly out of their line of sight. She grabbed Brandon. "Let's get into the shade."

"Why? It's not that hot."

"The glare is bothering me. Come on." Brandon allowed himself to be guided into the shade of a beautiful tree which was incidentally much nearer those officers. Sami managed to maneuver Brandon so that he had his back to them by suddenly grabbing him around his ribs and tickling him.

"Hey, hey, hey. What was that for?"

"Nothing." Sami slipped her arms higher up his back. "Those women you were flirting with when I got here--"

"They started it, Samantha."

"I know. They always do. Anyway, we were talking about cops, and Abe Carver, and hitting the women you're involved with."

Brandon disentangled himself from Sami's playful embrace. "I thought we were past this."

"Think again. What I learned last night is that you're just like your father!"

"Why are you saying this?"

"He hit your mother. You hit me."

"My hitting you was nothing like he did to my mother, what he did to me! You have no right to say that it was!"

"I admit you don't HAVE a son to hit, but if he deserved it as much as I'm sure YOU did, you would hit him, I'm sure of it."

"I don't know what's wrong with you today, but if you're going to take it out on me for no reason, I'll go, and you can call me when you're ready to apologize." Brandon moved to walk away, but Sami grabbed him.

"Are you mad that I said you deserved it? I just mean that your father must have thought so, since he obviously isn't your real father. I mean, look at Nicole and Taylor and look at you. Your Mom had a nice little affair, didn't she? I guess it must have been rough growing up with the truth written all over your face--"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were baiting me."

"Baiting you? That's ridiculous-- hey, I just thought of something! Is ABE your father? Is that why you're mad at him, he didn't come over to your house to hit you himself when you were little, he let Nicole and Taylor's father do it?"

"SHUT UP!" Heads turned.

"Or what?" Sami reached out to grab Brandon, and he pushed her away with much more force than was necessary. That odd, frightening look came into his eyes again. She had been worried that she would not be able to scream when the time came, but she screamed now, and then worried that she had ruined her plan by crying out too quickly.

"SHUT UP!" Brandon repeated himself, and he made his earlier attacks on Sami look mild. His hand wasn't open this time, and Sami fell to the ground without even having to fake it. She groggily fought to keep consciousness as one of the young police officers asked over and over again if she was all right.

"No," she managed to mumble. "Don't let him hurt me, please."

"We won't," she was firmly assured. Sami was vaguely aware that everyone in the mall was looking at them. Everything remained blurry as she was escorted to the police station along with a handcuffed Brandon.

Once there, she managed to regain some of her balance; that was a very good thing, since everyone in the station knew her.

"Sami?" called one man.

"That's Roman Brady's daughter," another remarked. "Carrie's sister. One of the twins."

She forced her aching head to say the right things and sign the right forms, and was hoping to leave when a voice even more familiar than the rest carried across the room. "Sami?"

"Hi, Abe."

"I got a call about Brandon Walker being brought in. You had something to do with it?"

"Yeah. Abe, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What for?"

"I've known you all my life, and no matter what I did, you've always been so good to me, and Carrie and Eric and Belle and Brady." Both smiled wistfully as Sami racked off the names of her siblings. "I never should have gotten involved with a man who had it in for you."

"Had it in for me?" Abe became more intense than Sami had even seen him. She knew he must be like this with her father and John, but he guarded himself around Roman Brady's daughter. "Do you have reason to think that he does?"

"Yes."

"Sami, this isn't a game."

"No, it's not. He told me last night, we were sort of on a date, Will should have been there but I was scared for him so I took him over to Lucas, and he told me that when he was a little boy you used to go to his house and break up fights between his parents. He obviously resents you for that. I'm sure that's why he's spending so much time with Larry, and Lexie-- he's after you."

"You don't have any proof?"

"Not really. All I can prove is that he hit me, and you were right to try to make him get counseling after what he did to Austin." Sami's anger grew. "I never should have gotten involved with someone who would hurt Austin, either! What's the matter with me?"

The anger quickly left Abe's eyes. "Sami, this isn't your fault. That's what Brandon is here for? He hit you?"

Sami nodded, and when she did Abe cupped her chin in his hand and turned her head so he could see her profile. For the first time, he noted the bruise that was beginning to form around her eye.

"Why don't you have ice on this?"

The ice lay dripping next to Sami. "I have it. I just wasn't using it."

"You know they gave that to you for a reason?" Sami giggled and obliged Abe by placing the ice against her eye, although she had actually been planning to let the bruise swell as much as it would to make it look worse than it was. "Have you filled everything out?"

"I have. I was just leaving."

"Well, wait a few more minutes, can you? I'll look at this and track down your father and take you home."

"You don't have to."

"Your father would cut off my head and post on a stake as a warning if I didn't, Sami" he answered, softening his words with a smile.

He returned quickly, to Sami's relief. "Your father is on a case, but he's not far away so he'll be over in a few minutes."

"Thanks."

"Can I ask you one question?"

"What?"

"Did you try to bait Brandon into this?"

"WHAT?!" Sami did her best imitation of righteous indignation.

"Sami, it's still against the law even if you did."

"I know. And I know why you suspect me of this, because of all the things you've heard me say to John or Austin or Lucas, but none of them ever hit me. Not once, and this is number three with Brandon." Sami froze when she recognized the approaching footsteps. It was her father, and she suddenly realized that she had not particularly planned for her parents to be involved in this semi-scheme. Her father would probably have a heart attack when he saw his little Peanut with a black eye. Her hands flew to her hair, undoing the braids so the loose strands would cover part of her face.

She hadn't needed to worry. Her father's keen eyes took in the situation quickly, and he gathered her into a hug. "She finished?" he asked Abe.

"For now."

"Then let's go home."


"Odi et Amo" --part 13

Nicole shifted in her seat and moved the phone to her other ear. "Does Mom know why you're there?" she asked when Brandon paused to take a breath.

"No. She knows I was in jail, but not what for."

"You gonna tell her?"

"I haven't decided. I don't want to upset her by not telling her the truth, but I also don't want to have to tell her that I became some clone of Dad."

"Brandon, you are not a clone of Dad! You never will be. What you were was set up by the manipulating little bitch. And we'll get her back, Brandon, we will. She's crossed us both now. She has custody of her little brat, but she won't tell me one damn thing about Eric! Not his address, not his phone number, not even how he's doing!"

"Nicky. I'm kind of tired for this right now, okay? I've spent the past two weeks at hearings and interrogations and being confronted by every friend I thought I'd made in this town. Not to mention getting fired from the best job I've ever had, saying good-bye to my patients, getting glared at by Samantha's family . . ."

"Is it as bad as all that?"

"Larry hates me, Lexie hates me so much she got me fired . . . because of that talk I had with Samantha the night before I went to jail, she told everyone involved that I was out to get Abe because he was one of the officers who came to our house when Mom and Dad fought."

"Were you?"

"Does it matter?"

"No that much now that it's over. But you know I worried about your temper."

"This proves you were right. I have to do something about it. I never meant to hurt Samantha."

"Well, she deserved it, I'm sure. You never did tell me what she said to make you act like that, and in public, too!"

"It's not important."

"It is! You lost your job, your friends, and even your stupid quest for vengeance which obviously mattered to you a lot."

"I will still have my vengeance on Abe Carver. But I know revenge is a dish best served cold, Nicky. I have to wait."

"What about vengeance on Sami?"

"No."

"NO?! She's the cause of all of our problems."

"Our problems started when you married Lucas for his money and not a minute after."

"You call those problems? You were perfectly happy to live off him in the beginning."

"Yeah, but it got worse and worse as you realized you couldn't stand him."

"I can stand him. I just can't stand being married to him, especially now that I'm his prisoner."

"Don't use the term 'prisoner' loosely, okay?"

"Sorry. Anyway, he seems to be ready for a divorce now. We'll just make sure I get some nice alimony payments. And to get back to the original point, how can you want vengeance on Abe for apparently doing nothing after all these years but not care what happens to Sami?"

"I DO care what happens to Samantha. That's why I don't want to try to make her pay for this."

"Why? How can you care?"

"Would you still care about Eric if he hurt you?"

"Maybe. But Eric WOULDN'T get me thrown in jail, so it's irrelevant. Have you even seen Sami since she had you locked up?"

"She has a restraining order, but it's going to run out in another six weeks. I did see her once." Brandon sounded disgusted.

"What happened?"

"She had her father on one side of her and her uncle on the other, and they both had their hands on their guns even though I was under lock and key."

"Did she talk to you at all?"

"She mostly ranted at me about how she never should have dated the brother of the woman who jilted her precious twin, or who hurt Saint Austin, or who thought her 'Uncle Abe' was less than perfect." Brandon's voice grew more derisive with each name he mentioned. "But the thing is, despite all of that, she does like me. I can see it. And we really did have a good time on a lot of our dates."

"And then she had you thrown in jail!"

"She isn't pressing charges. She could make this a lot worse."

"Why can't you get it through your head that if it weren't for her you would be working a job you love and living in an apartment you love and generally living a life you love instead of hiding out in your mother's house talking to your sister on the phone?"

"Why can't you get it through YOUR head that I happen to like Samantha enough not to want to punish her? I can get a job in another city. An apartment, too. And Nicky, I think you should come."

"You can't leave me! And I can't leave Eric."

"Eric isn't here. Eric is in Colorado and he obviously doesn't want to talk to you."

"But when he decides that he does, he has to know how to find me. And I can't count on Sami and Lucas to pass word along."

"You're a model. You're in the public eye. I'm sure he'll be able to find you."

"I hadn't even thought of that."

"You should. You're in the prime of your career. Why work for the one company whose owners know and hate you?"

"That's true, too," sighed Nicole.

"So let's go somewhere, both of us. We have to be responsible. We have to make sure we can take care of ourselves, and of Mom and Tay. Some day, I'll come back to Salem because I have unfinished business with Abe. You can come too, or not."

"I'll think about it."

"Do that. Can you come over and see me later?"

"I think so." She looked at Lucas, who had just entered the room. "I have to talk to Lucas, I'll see if I can be over later."

"All right. Bye, Nicky."

"Bye, Brandon."

"So that was Brandon," said Lucas as soon as she hung up.

"That's right."

"How's he doing?"

"Like you care."

"Well, since Sami thought he was putting my son's safety in danger, yeah, I do care. Just not in the same way you do."

"He did not put your little brat's life in danger."

"Didn't we decide a while ago that you were not to refer to MY son that way?"

"We didn't decide. You decreed. And I'm tired of your decreeing, Lucas. I know you're mad at me. I know I cheated on you and I know that's wrong. This marriage has gone bad and we aren't even friends anymore. Why can't we cut our losses?"

"I suggested that to you a few weeks ago and all you seemed to care about was the alimony checks. So if what you want is my money, you can stay right here and get it."

"Speaking of money, did you cancel my credit cards?"

Lucas snickered. "Yes. I can't believe I didn't think to do that before."

"So my only shot at getting your money is dragging you through court, not staying here."

"You won't get it if you drag me through court. First of all, you're the one who cheated, and second of all, Victor will be more than willing to take care of any judge we come across for me. Haven't we been through this already."

"Fine. Fine. What are YOUR terms for divorce?"

"So glad you asked. You get nothing of mine. I get nothing of yours. We do it fast and we do it quietly."

"Since you're the one who benefits from it being quick and quiet, shouldn't I get some kind of compensation?"

"You've had your compensation. I refuse to believe that being married to me was that much of a chore that you need more. Nicole, I did everything I could do to make you happy, to make this marriage work, and you turned on me and tried to make me miserable."

Nicole considered that. It was almost true. "You married me knowing I was in love with Eric, not you."

"Yeah, I did. But I promised to protect you, and I did. I promised not to force you into anything you didn't want, and I didn't. I didn't force you into my bed. You came because you wanted to, and once you did, you gave up your claim on Eric."

"I'm sorry."

"You're SORRY? That fixes everything."

"It's not as if you don't have your own plaything. What's her name, Jamie?"

"Jamie and I are just friends."

"Well, considering what I know about you and Sami, I guess you do do that with all your friends--"

"We haven't-- I don't have to explain this to you."

"Then I don't have to explain Eric to you."

"No, you don't. You just have to give back my money and leave."

"The bottom line of why we got married was so you could get Will and I could get protection. You've got Will, but a big part of protection is financial. Do you want Taylor to have to drop out of school?"

"I talked to Taylor as soon as I decided I wanted to divorce you. She said she was on a scholarship and what she was getting from you was book money and spending money."

"So? She can't go to school without books."

"And I put more than enough to get her through the rest of school in her student account where her obnoxious older siblings can't get to it and use it for something else."

"Don't call Brandon and me names."

"If I'd just given the money to you you never would have given it to Taylor and you know it."

"That isn't true. My family has always protected Taylor from everything. And Mom."

"You hate your mother. You didn't even want me to meet her."

"That doesn't mean I don't help her when she needs it."

"You can help her with your modeling money. If you're nice about this, I won't ruin your chances to work for other companies."

"This is blackmail."

"You would know."

Nicole sighed deeply. "Fine. We'll do it your way."

"Good."

"Can I go see my brother now?"

"That's none of my business."

Nicole caught Lucas' gaze before she left the room. "You didn't deserve this. I really am sorry." Then she left.

"So am I," said Lucas.

**********

"Mom, I can't, I have work."

"You have a perfectly good excuse to take another week off," said Marlena firmly as she nudged her older daughter through the door of her Penthouse. "If you really don't want to, that's different."

"It should be a family thing. A special time for you and Belle and Brady if he changes his mind."

"Samantha Gene!"

Sami rolled her eyes. "What did I do to deserve the middle name?"

"You are my daughter and Belle's sister. I don't like it when you revert to this idea that you aren't part of my family because I'm married to John and he isn't your father."

"That wasn't what I meant, exactly."

"I think it was."

"Then I'm sorry. I just don't want to ruin this for Belle."

"You haven't noticed that Belle idolizes you?"

Sami was silent.

"Let me rephrase this. When you were Belle's age, would you have wanted Carrie along?"

"I see your point. I'm still not sure about being out of town because of Will."

"That's different. But I think that you need to unwind a little more than you have." Marlena glanced around. "John? Belle? Brady?"

"Coming, Mom," came a muffled voice from upstairs. Seconds later, Belle bounced into the living room.

"Hi, Sweetie. Where are your father and your brother?"

"They went out to get pizza. Hi, Sami."

"Hi, Belle."

"I'm trying to talk Sami into coming to New York with us tomorrow," Marlena informed Belle.

"Oh, Sami, can you?" asked Belle, catching her sister's hands in her own. "Brady doesn't want to come and Daddy can't. Mom is going to be at conferences most of the time and I don't want to spend all day by myself waiting for her to come back."

"I'm not sure--"

"Pleeeaaase?" Belle turned round, blue, pouting eyes on Sami.

"All right," said Sami, laughing, as Marlena and Belle gloated. "But don't think it's because of that face, Belle. I was doing that before you were even born."

"Whatever." Belle skipped off and quickly returned with a folded newspaper. "What show do you want to see?"

"Why do you have a New York Times?"

"Daddy gets all the New York papers."

"And probably only reads the stories about the Yankees."

"He says it has something to do with business. Anyway, I was asking Chloe which one she thought I should see. I asked if she could come, too, but the Wesleys are still trying to make her fit in more here."

"So I'm your second choice, after Chloe?" asked a mock-insulted Sami.

"I'd still rather have you than Mimi," smiled Belle. "She's getting nastier every day. How can that happen when you've been friends with someone forever?"

"I don't know, Belle, but it does."

"At least it can't happen with sisters." Sami did her best to put that statement out of her mind even as she felt Marlena's eyes on her.

"Listen, if I'm going to come I have to go over and see if Lucas will let me say good-bye to Will NOW."

"Call me when you get back, Sami," said Marlena.

"Okay." Sami left the warm room and headed out to find Lucas.

*********

"You didn't have to come over here, Mom," said Lucas. "We could have talked about this over the phone."

"I know, but I wanted to see you. And I wanted to see my grandson. He looks like he's over whatever you were worrying about a few months ago."

"I hope so."

"And I know this is a much less pleasant subject than Will, but you really ARE divorcing Nicole?"

"That's what I said. Yes, I am."

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not! You've never liked Nicole."

"No, and I haven't lied about that. But I *love* you, and I just wanted to see you happy, even if it was with Nicole."

"Well, you don't have to be torn about it anymore. The papers are signed and we're running them through the legal system as fast as we can."

"The papers are SIGNED?"

"Yeah. I had them ready and when Nicole decided to be reasonable about leaving my money alone, she signed them. I think it was Brandon who talked her into it. They're both leaving Salem."

"That's certainly a good thing. I do wish Brandon would have stayed around long enough to give Sami a little more than a black eye."

"How can you say that, Mom? After what Curtis did to you?"

"It wasn't the same. Sami is belittling women who really are in danger by putting a restraining order on Brandon like that."

"You would rather have Brandon be allowed to get his hands on my son when he's that unstable?"

"No, I'd rather you had full custody so it wouldn't be an issue."

"But since I don't, isn't it better that he just go?"

"I suppose. Now, HOW far along are divorce proceedings?"

"As far along as they could possibly get since we only decided for sure that we were doing it this evening." Kate did not like the sound of that. Victor had gotten back most of his money from Nicole, but not all of it. "Mom? What are you thinking?"

"Just about you," Kate covered. "Nicole, Sami, that model, Brandee," she rolled her eyes. "You've had bad luck with women."

"Except with Carrie."

"Carrie loved Austin. It never could have worked between the two of you."

"You didn't feel that way before you knew Austin was your son."

"We aren't going to start this again, are we?"

"You started it, not me."

"All I did was mention some of the women you've been involved with, and you sound like you're about to jump into your 'you like Austin and Billie better than me' tirade."

"It is NOT a tirade, and anyway, I know it isn't true."

Kate gave him a look of surprise and relief. "You didn't used to feel that way."

"Oh, I did, but . . ."

"But what?" Kate prompted, Victor's missing million dollars forgotten. She'd make it up to him some other way.

"It used to bother me that you liked them as well as me. I mean, for eighteen years, it was you and me and no one else. I know I knew more about you than most kids know about their parents. I would have done anything for you. I lied about your business dealings. I confessed to killing Curtis when I thought you did it! You didn't have any of that with Austin and Billie, but you would still do anything for them that you would for me."

"Baby . . ." whispered Kate.

"And it's still true, a little bit. If Austin or Billie had killed Franco, they never would have let you frame Sami. They were both doing their best to catch you for her sake! If they knew, they'd be perfectly happy to let you rot in jail."

"You're right, Lucas, you are. But you are all my children, and that kind of love doesn't come with ranks and conditions."

"I know. That's what I said before. Now that I have Will, and for two years I didn't know he was mine, and I know that nothing could change what I feel for him, or what I would feel if he had a brother or sister."

Kate looked at her son, and made a decision on the spot. She was not going to have anything to do with retrieving the rest of Victor's money. It would be well spent if Nicole stayed out of her son's life and Lucas never learned the truth. He knew much more than a child should know about a parent in any case. She had made him a partner instead of a son, and had made a whole different set of mistakes with him than she had with Austin and Billie. She would make up for some of them, now.

"Mom?" Lucas again broke her thoughts. "Do you have a problem with my divorcing Nicole?"

"Honey, why would I?"

"You just made a point of coming over here to talk about it. I thought you might have some kind of plan, and after the Franco fiasco, I like to know about your plans beforehand."

"No plan," said Kate, inwardly wondering if Lucas had always been that perceptive. "It's getting late. I should go."

Lucas stood up with her, and hugged her. "See you soon."

Kate nearly had tears in her eyes as she left the house, but her emotions changed dramatically when she saw Sami Brady.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to my son and yours."

"Too bad. Go away."

"It isn't your decision." Sami didn't have the time to deal with Kate tonight, and she brushed past her and walked right into the house.

"Lucas?"

"Sami? What are you doing here? You don't get Will for three more days."

"I know. That's what I came to see you about."

"Well?"

"My Mom and Belle think I'm still wound up over my adventure with Brandon and they want me to go to New York with them for a few days."

"New York is nice. Go."

"Can you keep Will a day longer than normal?"

"Of course."

"I don't have the number, but I'll call you when I get there so you can get me if you need to, all right?"

"Yeah, all right. Did you want to tell Will where you're going?"

"He's still awake?"

"He's in bed. I don't know if he's awake, but we can check."

They crept upstairs in a silence that was not-quite-companionable. The inside of Will's room glowed with the same eerie green light as his room in Sami's apartment did, thanks to its makeshift night sky. Will was obviously asleep.

"Wow," breathed Sami. "That's elaborate."

"It's not too different from the one at your apartment."

"I know. You really knew exactly what it looked like."

"I spent a lot of time looking at it the week we did your sky. Will just couldn't sleep, at all."

"He looks peaceful now."

"He does." Together they stared at their son, and Lucas fought the urge to put his arm around Sami's shoulders. It just seemed the natural thing to do.

"Well, we can't very well wake him up."

"I'll explain tomorrow."

"Okay. Thank you."

They slipped out of the room and shut the door.

"I'll go now, then," added Sami.

"I'll walk you out."

Sami carefully avoided making eye contact with Lucas as they returned to the front door. She had suddenly been reminded of the time they had spent at her apartment, and her embarrassment returned. She was delighted that he didn't seem to know, but somehow disappointed that having his arms around her hadn't done a thing to him that day.

"Lucas," she said quickly just before she left.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"What for?"

"For being such a great father."

Lucas went to the window and stared after Sami until he could no longer see even her shining hair in the dark night.


"Odi et Amo" --part 14

Lucas had decided against telling his son that his mother was out of town because Will had not asked. He thought that Will might be confused by the news that his mother was on a trip, and since Will had been so upset when they had first begun to share custody, well, not making things any more complicated than they had to be seemed like a good idea.

A few days had passed, and everything seemed fine. Then, this morning, Will had asked for Sami. Lucas had told him that he would be going to live with his Mommy again in a few days, but Will had demanded to be allowed to call her. The hotel in New York had given them no answer, and he had explained to Will that they could call back later. Will had not listened; he had simply run off, and now Lucas was cursing himself under his breath for living in a mansion. Will could be anywhere.

"WILL! Come on, Buddy, come out! I'm not mad but I need you to come out!"

There was still no answer. The house had no shortage of hiding places for a less-than-five-year-old, and some of them were dangerous. Lucas had no choice but to look for Will, room by room.

He entered the gleaming kitchen. "Will?" At least the knives were safely out of reach. He was about to leave the room when he considered the cabinets underneath the counters. "Will? Buddy, where are you?" He opened the cabinets in succession in case Will had decided to crawl into one of them. As he reached for the last cabinet, there was a mad scrambling sound. Lucas couched as he opened the door. Will attempted to get farther back into the cabinet, but it was not deep enough for him to escape his father's grasp.

Lucas half-dragged, half-carried his son into the open, and then scooped him up and took him into the living room. He had been preparing to give him a lecture about not running away, and coming when he called, but Will was in no condition to be receptive to that kind of talk.

"Will, Buddy, what's wrong?" was all Lucas could think to say.

Will scrambled away from him and locked his arms around his knees. He began to rock back and forth frantically, and the sight so disturbed Lucas that he picked him up again.

"Will?"

He suddenly moaned in a way that seemed more animal-like than child-like, and grabbed the fabric of his father's shirt and buried his head in his chest, sobbing.

"Will? Please, Will, tell me what's wrong. I can't fix it if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Will only clutched his fists tighter, and sobbed harder, causing Lucas to worry that he would make himself hyperventilate.

"Buddy, what do you need? What do you want?"

"Mommy," he cried. Lucas was glad to get one coherent word out of his son, but concerned that Will was asking for something that he couldn't bring him with a snap of his fingers.

"We'll call her again, okay? You'll see her soon."

"Mommy's gone." Will continued to shake, but his face became almost entirely unresponsive as Lucas reached for a phone and began to call Sami. Again, there was no answer in her room.

"Damn you, Sami," he whispered. "Where are you?"

*********

Sami awoke when her very hyperactive younger sister decided to jump on her bed. "Wake up, Sami! Good morning!" Belle cried.

Sami glanced blearily at the clock. "It's not morning. It's the middle of the night," Sami mumbled.

"Come on. You have a son. You can't tell me you have this much trouble getting up in the morning."

"I told you, it's the middle of the night, and getting up for your son is different from getting up for your sister." Sami pulled the covers over her head and rolled away from Belle.

Belle, pouting, jumped off of the bed. "What if I were dying? Would you get out of bed then?"

"If you don't be quiet, we may find out what happens if you're dying."

Sami heard Belle move off, and decided that she didn't need as much sleep as she thought she had.

"Belle?"

Belle appeared before her, and mouthed "I'm being quiet," without making a sound.

"You don't have to be quiet. Why are you up and dressed and put together?"

"Mom's already gone. I got up when she did."

"Did you call room service for breakfast?"

"No. That's why I wanted to wake you up. I think we should go have breakfast at Tiffany's."

"Do you know what that is?"

"Besides a movie?"

"Yes."

"And a song?"

"Yes."

"No."

"It's when you buy something from a street vendor and look in the windows at Tiffany's while you eat it."

"Can we?"

"Why? It loses its charm when you have your father's credit card and can buy anything you see."

"No, I can't. He gave me a list of places I couldn't spend money and Tiffany's was on it."

"You poor thing."

"I know. Can we go?"

"Sure, just let me get dressed."

"Maybe if you went like that, we wouldn't have to pay for breakfast at all," said Belle, eyeing her sister's sleepwear speculatively.

"Let's not find out, okay?"

"Okay."

Sami quickly reprimanded herself for doubting Belle once they were on the street, eating croissants and staring at the jewelry displayed in the windows of the store. Sometimes, having a little sister was a wonderful thing-- just as good as having a twin brother, in fact. It was a shame that siblings were so often wasted on people who didn't know how to appreciate them-- like Lucas Roberts. Sami was sure he would get rid of all five of his siblings if he could, without ever knowing how much fun he could have had with them.

But she was in New York to unwind, and not to think of Lucas, even if they had been getting along a bit better lately. She had been too distracted with Brandon and Will to focus on proving that Lucas had framed her for Franco's murder, and she was starting to doubt that she even wanted to prove it. Even if she hated Lucas, Will loved him with all of his heart.

"Look, Sami. Aren't they pretty? Even better than some of the jewelry." Belle pointed at a collection of china boxes with quotes inscribed on the front. They looked at them in silence until Belle asked "What does that mean?"

"I don't know. I can't read Latin."

"Neither can I."

"It's probably something about love."

"Well, I got *that* far. I know what 'amo' means . . . oh, they translated it."

"How nice of them."

"'I hate and I love.' It says the rest of the poem is on the inside. 'You ask perhaps how I do this. I know not, but I feel it happening and am tortured.' Isn't that wonderful?"

"Sounds pretty miserable to me."

"Why?"

"Tortured? You want to know someone that you just can't stand, that you would feel like a fool if you didn't do everything you could to get him out of your life, but despite that you like him and want to be around him?"

Belle became more serious than she had been all day; Sami's mood was finally rubbing off. "Did you feel that way about Brandon?"

"A little bit. Not much. There just wasn't any love when I found out what he was doing to Abe, on top of what he did to Austin and what Nicole did to Eric."

"Franco, then?"

"I had no reason to hate him until after he was dead."

"Who?"

"No one. I was speaking hypothetically." Sami threw her napkin in a nearby trash can and then looked back at her sister. "Do you want to go back to the hotel or did you have another marvelous idea for what we could do?"

"Are you sure you want to? You seem pretty upset."

"I didn't mean to. I'm just old and embittered, you know." Sami laughed and Belle joined her.

"I was reading the guide book and it said that you could go to this square in the morning, and the tickets for shows that aren't sold out are half-price there. I know we're going with Mom in a couple of days, but wouldn't it be fun to get cheap seats and go to a matinee ourselves?"

"Your ideas get better all the time, Belle-Baby."

They took off laughing, and decided not to walk back to the hotel until the show was over. When it was, they were both closer to tears than laughter.

"That was too sad. We should have left after the first act."

"You think? I didn't have any sympathy for Kim until she killed her husband. If we'd left then, I wouldn't've cared that she died."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Anyway, she got what she wanted."

"How can you say that?"

"She spent the whole second act swearing that she'd give her life for her son. She wanted what was best for him, not what was best for her--" Sami broke off.

"That's why you're almost crying?"

"I didn't say it wasn't sad." Just annoying for making me think about *my* little boy, and *his* father, Sami thought. Everything in what should have been a great day with Belle had been drawing her thoughts back to Lucas.

They were startled to be accosted by a hotel manager as soon as they entered the lobby.

"Samantha Brady?"

"That's me."

"We've been trying to reach you all day. You've had a call from Salem, and there's a problem with your son."

"Will? Oh, God! How long ago did you get the call?"

"It was early this morning but there was no one in your rooms."

If looks could kill, Belle would have been dead. She shrank toward the elevators.

"We have a cab waiting for you. There's a private jet to take you back to Salem, from Titan Industries."

"Thank you. I'll go now. Belle!"

"Yes?"

"Tell Mom where I went." Sami tossed her room keys to her sister, and took off following the manager.

The manager looked at her oddly, and finally spoke. "Do you know Victor Kiriakis?"

"Yes, I do." Sami answered so bluntly that he did not dare speak to her again before she was on her way back to Salem. The trip seemed interminable, and she was only able to speak briefly with Lucas thanks to interference. About the only reassurance she had gotten out of the conversation was that Will was not in the hospital and his life was not 'exactly' in danger.

She was ferried directly to Lucas' front door, and, thanking the driver, dashed inside without knocking or waiting for someone to tell Lucas she was there.

"LUCAS?"

"Mommy!" Before anyone else could answer Sami's shout, Will barreled into the front hall and threw himself at her, sobbing. She reached down to pick him up, and held him to her. "Will? Honey, what's wrong?"

"There you are." Lucas followed his son, and Jamie was close behind.

"What's wrong, Lucas? He won't tell me."

"He wouldn't tell me, either. All he wanted was to see you. I think he was convinced you weren't coming back."

"Why would he think that?" Sami gazed at the child in her arms. "Did you think I wasn't coming back?"

Will didn't answer, but he did stop crying, and looked at his mother.

"Will?"

"Yes?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Can I go play?"

Jamie and Lucas exchanged a look of utter disbelief.

"Can you go play with Jamie for a minute?" Lucas asked Will. Will nodded, and ran with Jamie back in the direction from which he had come.

"I take it there was a lot more wrong with him this morning?" Sami asked Lucas warningly.

"God, yes. Sami, he hasn't eaten all day. He asked for you this morning, and when we called and couldn't get you, he ran off and hid in a kitchen cabinet! I got him out and he was just crying, and panting, almost hyperventilating, he was rocking back and forth, I mean, the only coherent words he said until he saw you were 'Mommy' and 'Mommy's gone.' Ask Jamie if you don't believe me."

From the look on Lucas' face, though, Sami believed him. "We have to get to the bottom of this, then. He might need a doctor, therapy . . . but now that he *is* talking, I guess we should just ask him."

"My thoughts exactly."

Sami followed Lucas into a room she had not yet seen, something of a playroom. Jamie and Will were earnestly discussing a plastic horse, but Jamie got to her feet and joined her friends.

"Well?"

"We're just going to talk to him first, see if we can find out what's wrong," Lucas informed her.

"I should go, then."

"You can hang out upstairs until we're done if you want."

"No, you need to be thinking about Will, not me. I should be going, anyway."

"Okay. I'll call you later. And thank you so much for coming here today."

"No problem." Jamie and Lucas kissed each other good-bye, and Sami pretended that she didn't care.

Sami and Lucas shared a long, hard look and moved as one to the spot where their son was still playing with the toy horse.

"Buddy?"

"Daddy?"

"We need to talk to you. Come on." Lucas got Will to his feet and led him to a couch. Sami and Lucas sat on either side of their son, who began to fidget uncomfortably.

"I didn't do it," he said quickly. A flicker of amusement passed between Sami and Lucas.

"Didn't do what?" Lucas couldn't resist inquiring.

"Anything. I didn't do anything bad today."

"Sweetie, we know that's true." Will's head swiveled to look at Sami. "We just want to know why you were crying this morning."

"I wasn't crying." Will tried to twist away, and his parents simultaneously reached out to hold him still.

"Will, there are still tears on your face." Sami trailed her hand down his cheek.

"You said this morning that you were upset that Mommy was gone," put in Lucas. "Did you think she wouldn't come back?"

Will nodded.

"Honey, I will *always* come back to you. You're the most important thing in my life, okay?"

Will nodded again.

"Why did you think I wouldn't come back?"

Will was silent.

"Buddy, it's important that you answer your Mommy."

"Brandon."

"What about Brandon?" asked Sami, feeling her temperature rise several degrees with anxiety.

Will's eyes finally locked with Sami's. "He hit you."

Sami held herself still as Will looked at both of his parents questioningly. Fury caused Lucas' eyes to grow several shades darker than they already were, and Sami was intensely grateful that she was not alone with him.

"I didn't know you saw him hit me. If I had I would have told you he wouldn't do it again. You don't ever have to see him. I'm never going to see him again."

"Good!"

Lucas had recovered from his anger, and rejoined the conversation. "Buddy, why did seeing Brandon hit your Mommy make you think she wouldn't come see you anymore?"

Will looked confused again. "He said," he answered, as if it should have been obvious.

"Brandon did?"

"At the doctor. He and Nicole said that they didn't see their Daddy because he and their Mommy fought."

"He said that at that doctor's appointment you had before you got out of school?" asked Sami pointedly. As Will nodded again, Lucas' righteous indignation fell to the floor with a thunk.

"Buddy, that isn't what they meant. Your Mommy will always be here, and so will I."

"Promise?"

"We promise," Sami and Lucas answered in unison.

"Can I play now?"

"Sure," answered Lucas. Freed of restraining arms, Will jumped off the couch. Lucas pulled Sami outside the room and shut the door, which was made of glass so they could still watch their son.

"Well, that explains a lot," said Lucas bluntly.

"Yeah." Sami was guilty enough over not realizing that Will had seen Brandon slap her even when his odd behavior had started the next day that she felt no temptation to reprimand Lucas for letting Will listen to Brandon and Nicole's discussion of spousal and child abuse.

"If you're wondering, I thought he was asleep when I was talking to Brandon and Nicole that day."

"And I didn't know he was out of his room when Brandon hit me. I kicked Brandon out right after that, and I went into Will's room, but the door was closed and he was under the covers."

"You and Brandon weren't yelling?"

"No! We knew Will was there, so we were whispering even though we were fighting."

"I can't believe this. We both *know* he fakes sleep all the time."

"We weren't acting on it, though. We won't let this happen again."

"It shouldn't have happened ONCE!"

"I know that!" Sami fought back tears. "But we can't stop what already happened. We can just change what happens tomorrow."

"All right, you're right. Don't cry. I've seen enough crying today."

Sami ignored the end of Lucas' statement. "Now what?"

"I think it's a good idea if we both stay around him until he goes to bed. Maybe we can put up with each other tomorrow, too. I'm sure Jamie could come if you want a buffer between you and me."

"I don't need Jamie to be a buffer, but she can come if you want." Sami paused, wondering if she should continue. She decided she should. "This isn't exactly my business, but are you two together officially?"

"Yes. Are you going to start saying she's a drunk and you don't want her around Will?"

"No! There's no one I'd rather see you with. But I am warning you, if you hurt her, you'll be right back on my hate list."

Lucas sneered. "When did I get off it?"

"I don't know. I don't know if you ARE off it. But I know Will loves you and needs you, so making you miserable isn't a top priority of mine for now."

"Thank you. That's the nicest thing you've said to me in years." He was still sneering, but now his voice softened, as he remembered that Sami *had* said a few almost-nice things to him in the past few months. "So, speaking of people you *are* out to destroy, you really are through with Brandon?"

"I thought he and Nicole both left town."

"Just making sure we have the same information."

"We do."

"Good. Ready to go back to Will?"

Sami hesitated. "Is it okay if I call my Mom? I ran out of the hotel lobby without leaving a message or anything. And she's also a psychiatrist. I'd kind of like to talk to her about this."

Lucas only then noticed that Sami looked like he felt. "That's right, you should call her. I forgot that you were in New York a few hours ago. Here," he led her away, his hands nearly caressing her given his current mood, and pointed out a phone. "Call her from here. Need anything else?"

"No, that's it."

"Can you get back to where we were if you change your mind, or if you don't?"

"Yes, it isn't that far."

"No, but you wouldn't be the first person to get lost in here. I'll let Will give you a tour later."

"He'd probably like that."

"I think he will. Oh," Lucas pointed. "There's a bathroom right there and the kitchen right there if you want a drink or anything."

Sami smiled. "I'm fine. Go back to Will."

"I'm going." Lucas joined his son on the floor and awaited Sami's return. When he saw her in the doorway, he got up to whisper to her.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes. I scared Belle a little bit, but Mom says she'll make sure everything I left in New York gets back here. And she says she doesn't think Will needs anything but two parents who get along."

"Then that's what we have to give him. You know that, don't you?"

Sami met his eyes and nodded firmly.

"Odi et Amo" --part 15

Lucas pushed himself up on his arms as much as he could without disturbing Sami or Will. They were both still asleep, like he should have been after the night they'd had.

He and Sami had put Will to bed together, making a point of being affectionate not only with him but with each other. It hadn't been as hard as they had worried it might be-- a little smile here, a brief touch there-- and if Sami hadn't genuinely been having fun while reading Will's bedtime story, at least he had. They hadn't been "reading" per se; in order to get Will to close his eyes, they had turned off the lights and recited from memory so there would be no pictures to look at. Even though they hadn't had the book in front of them, they'd been able to alternate pages as they told Will about the "Big brown bear, blue bull, beautiful baboon, blowing bubbles, biking backwards . . ."

He had been exhausted and had been breathing deeply long before they triumphantly declared that "that's what broke baby bird's balloon."

They had gone downstairs to discuss their plans for the next day, and had nearly finished when a terrified scream sent them running up to Will's room as fast as they could.

"Will? Buddy?" Lucas threw on the light and ran to his son's side.

"Mommy, Daddy . . ."

"What's wrong, Sweetie?"

"I had a dream."

"You want to tell us?"

"You weren't here. You weren't here . . ."

Sami and Lucas exchanged "well-what-did-you-expect" looks.

"Do you want me to stay here?" Lucas asked.

"I want Mommy, too."

"I can't, Will--" Sami broke off her words when Will began to cry and Lucas sent her a warning look.

"We'll both stay with you tonight, okay, Buddy? But not here."

"Oh?" asked an interested Sami.

"It'll be like a campout, or a sleepover, Will," Lucas explained as he picked up his son and walked into another room, complete with a queen-sized bed.

"Lucas," said Sami warningly.

"Will, would it make you feel safe if we all slept in here together?" asked Lucas, ignoring Sami.

Will answered in the affirmative, and Sami glared at Lucas. "We can't do this! I don't even have any clothes here except these, and I put them on to hang out in tourist traps in New York!"

"You don't have any clothes here. Yeah, Sami, that situation is completely irreparable."

Sami had glowered at him like she hadn't since she'd last accused him of killing Franco Kelly, but she had given in and they had ended up here together. Will had not stirred all night, and Sami probably hadn't either. She looked like an angel now, with all that long hair and her sweet, young face. Sami had always looked innocent in sleep, no matter what she was up to during her waking hours. The same had been said of Lucas, but he was sure the contrast was not nearly as dramatic on his face.

Sami felt eyes upon her before she awoke, and she slowly opened her own eyes and blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings. New York? No, Will, she'd come home . . . Lucas? Why Lucas? They had to break up Austin and Carrie . . . that was years ago, she hated him now . . . why did it even matter? It was deliciously warm, and comfortable, and she could stay here forever and not worry about where or why.

Sadly, consciousness exerted itself on Sami, and she could think of nothing to do but whisper good morning to Lucas, and restrain herself from asking why he'd been staring at her. She knew her hair was everywhere, and that she looked considerably less like a sophisticated young woman at this time of day. At one time, so long ago now, she hadn't minded Lucas knowing how she was when she wasn't controlling her situation, but this was a new time and she was a new person.

Lucas bit back a remark about the awkwardness of the morning after. Sami would have laughed once, but not anymore. Besides, he knew the situation would become much less awkward if he would only tear his eyes off of Sami, but he couldn't. He couldn't give up one of the rare times when his old best friend shone through the aura that was now Sami Brady.

Will, in a rare display of good timing, jumped awake just then. Unlike his mother, he could manage to be coherent a second after opening his eyes.

"Are we going to the zoo today?" he asked delightedly.

"Do you still want to, Buddy?"

"Yeah!"

"Then we're going," answered Sami.

The rest of the morning was a flurry of activity as they got ready for the trip, but once they arrived, Sami grew nervous again. Spending time with Lucas was one thing when they were both working hard and focusing on other things, but the zoo was supposed to be . . . fun. And relaxing. She was not certain that she was capable of having a fun time with Lucas; even civil took a lot of energy, and after the way the past twenty-four hours had gone, she did not know where that energy would come from.

Will's only real reasons for liking the zoo were the bears, so Sami and Lucas headed straight for their habitat without even asking Will what he wanted. Once there, Will climbed up to see over the fence and stared happily at the bears, neither moving nor talking. He was quiet most of the time, and always had been, and Sami wondered if today should be one of the days when she prompted him to speak a little bit more. His innate quietness sometimes bothered her, especially since it was a personality trait present in neither of his parents. Will would be starting kindergarten next year, and she didn't want him to fall behind his class because he couldn't or wouldn't speak up. Maybe she was reading too much into this because she was his mother.

"Will, do you want to see anything besides the bears?" she asked finally.

"Yes."

"Yes?" asked Lucas, sounding so surprised that Sami smiled.

"What do you want to see, Honey?"

"I forget."

"You forget? Lions, tigers--"

"No, Mommy. I wouldn't forget something like *that*," Will answered witheringly, and it was Lucas' turn to be amused at Sami's expense.

"Can you tell me about what you want to see?"

"They're like birds, but they aren't."

"Bats?" asked Lucas, remembering that Will had been looking at some children's magazine about them a few days ago.

"Yes."

Out of the corner of his eye. Lucas saw Sami cringe, and he could not stop the smile that threatened to spread across his whole face. This was going to be fun.

"Let's go, Will." Lucas took his son's hand and started to lead him away from his beloved bears.

"Mommy?" Will called over his shoulder to a reluctant Sami.

"Coming." Sami followed them, and Lucas hid another grin. Sami had always been cute when she was doing something she didn't want to do.

The building where the bats lived was dark. Very dark, in fact; lit only by a few florescent lights here and there. The bats were an impressive collection from all corners of the world, and they were encased safely behind thick plates of glass, or so Sami hoped. She couldn't really see the glass in the half-lit tunnel.

At least Will was thrilled. He was even letting Lucas read some of the signs to him. Sami's eyes strayed from father and son to an odd movement nearly lost in the shadow above and in front of her. When she saw and felt it brush by her hair, she could react in no other way but to scream.

Luckily, the building was mostly empty, but Sami did attract the attention of a zoo employee who rushed to her side.

"It's all right, miss. It was just a robin. Sometimes birds get in here and get confused trying to find their way out."

Sami apologized and suffered through the rest of the ordeal in silence. She was immensely relieved to see sunlight again. Will ran to look at the bats painted on the side of the building, and Sami stepped back with Lucas. She glanced sideways at him and was thoroughly annoyed to see him grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

"What?"

"What, what?"

"Why are you smiling?"

"I'm at the zoo with my son, and he's very happy. Why shouldn't I be smiling? And why do you care? The idea of my being happy bothers you that much?"

"You *know* how I feel about your being happy," said Sami, praying that he did since she herself did not. "But you aren't smiling because you're enjoying your son. You're making fun of your son's mother, and I don't appreciate it."

"Well, you have to admit that it's kind of amusing that you're willing to bait a trained boxer into punching you but you're afraid of a bat."

"I can't get the police to come and protect me from a bat."

"Oh, poor Sami." Lucas reached out to give her a sarcastic half-hug, and was instantly sorry when his heart jumped as soon as he touched her. He had thought he had passed this stage long ago. He had been jealous when she had dated Franco because despite their difference, she had been his friend, his partner, *his*; but he hadn't felt a thing but distaste for her since the day he had tried to tell her how Franco had come to die and Will had been hurt and she had responded by attempting to strangle him. Maybe he shouldn't touch her , even in sarcasm.

Will ended his internal monologue by returning and announcing that they should all get ice cream. Will continued to distract his parents so thoroughly that Lucas did not realize what he had forgotten until they arrived home.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath.

"What?" asked Sami.

"I forgot to call Jamie."

Sami raised her eyebrows. "Make sure you tell her you spent last night in bed with another woman. That will go over well."

"Ha ha. Luckily for me, Jamie understands our twisted little relationship. She was here to watch most of it."

Sami could not argue with that, so Lucas rounded up a Titan limousine to collect Jamie in relative peace. Sami did feel the need to ask aloud if that would impress Jamie.

"I'm not trying to impress her. I'm trying to make things easier for her since I forgot about her, okay? Why are you so interested?"

"Jamie is my best friend. I don't want to watch you hurt her."

"I don't go around hurting women. Only the kind of man that *you* seem to be hopelessly attracted to does that."

"Austin--"

"Spent years treating Carrie like her feelings didn't matter at all and the only important thing in the world was her sick little sister. And he's the best one in the bunch! Do we need to go over what Brandon did, or Franco?"

"At least Franco didn't shoot anyone in cold blood."

"He worked for the mob. You never know. Didn't your uncle almost nail him for killing someone out on the island?"

"Almost doesn't count."

"Then it shouldn't count against me, since you have never been able to prove that I had anything to do with his death."

"Not yet."

"Not ever."

"I am going to check on *my* son."

"Good. Go. Don't interrupt Jamie's and my romantic evening."

"You make me sick. And once Jamie gets over this little infatuation of hers, she'll agree with me." Sami stomped off after Will, and Lucas impatiently awaited Jamie's arrival.

A few hours sped by once Jamie arrived. Lucas told her every detail of the day's trip.

" . . . Sami thought it was a bat, and she screamed. I can't believe that she can be so fearless about most things and then panic over a robin."

"As you said."

"Sorry, I'm repeating myself? I didn't mean to."

"I know. It's just that Sami is so interesting you have to say some things twice."

"Yes, I mean, no! Jamie--"

Jamie held up her hand to quiet Lucas. "Sami is my best friend, Lucas. I don't mind talking about her. But you're pre-occupied with her. You're like you were five years ago; you're thinking about her all the time and you don't even know it."

"That isn't true."

"It is. Admit it to yourself if you won't admit it to me. Maybe it's how it should be. I mean, the two of you share a son."

"We can take care of Will without being together."

"You can. You *haven't*."

"That isn't fair."

"No, it's not fair to Will or me or you or Sami. Please don't be mad at me. I want to be your friend like I always was, but I don't want to be in the way of my godson having a real family."

"You aren't. He can have a 'real family' without Sami and me being together."

"Why don't you work through whatever it is that's between Sami and you and then think about that?"

"It would take years to work through what's between Sami and me."

"It's BEEN years. Get started."

"I want to but Sami doesn't. You can't punish me for the way she's acting."

"I'm not trying to. I don't think she's acting that way anymore. From everything I've seen over the past few days, I think she's ready to try to work with you, and while you're doing that, I don't think you need me."

"I do need you."

"Then wait a few months and see if you still feel that way. I could fall in love with you so easily. I don't want to be a rebound."

"All right, some of what you're saying makes sense--"

"Good." Jamie jumped up and planted a chaste kiss on Lucas' forehead. "Do you care if I talk to Sami before I leave?"

"I don't think it would matter if I did."

Jamie smiled over her shoulder and left in search of Sami. She found her in Will's room, telling her son a story.

"Jamie?"

"Sorry. I wouldn't want to interrupt Leo the Lop."

"I know how it ends," Will told her sweetly, before promptly forgetting that he was not alone in his room and picking up a stuffed toy.

"What's up, Jamie? You don't look too happy . . . what did Lucas do?"

"He didn't do anything, Sami."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I didn't exactly dump him, but close."

"Why? You've cared about him for years."

"I think he has other things to work through before getting in any deeper with me." She arched her eyebrows meaningfully at her friend.

"Jamie, no! Don't give up on this because of me. I'll work it out, I promise."

"Sami, if you do, it will take time. And you and Lucas have so many mixed-up feelings for each other it's a wonder either of you functions. I don't want to be part of that love triangle."

"You wouldn't be. We DON'T love each other, that's the problem."

"You loved each other enough that there's a Will. You told each other everything, you were joined at the hip. Those feelings didn't just stop, did they?"

"No, but when I told Lucas that I wanted to be his friend again he said no."

"He says the same about you. You just didn't get your timing right. You should try again now."

"Try what again?"

"To be friends. To be a family for Will."

"We are Will's family. That doesn't mean you can't be romantically involved with Lucas."

"You might be right, but I want to *know* before I go any farther."

With that, Jamie left.

Lucas found Sami later that evening curled up in a chair in the room where she was staying.

"Did Jamie talk to you?" he began bluntly.

"Hello to you, too."

"It's my house. I don't have to say hello."

"And I don't have to stay here."

"Your son would be very disappointed if you didn't." Sami sighed in response.

"I know."

"So did Jamie talk to you?"

"Yes. I see you just can't hold on to women you didn't buy."

"When you have a real relationship with a man who doesn't cheat on you or hit you or pretend you're your sister, you can lecture me."

"Austin did NOT pretend I was Carrie. Carrie would have stayed married to him, and he chose me!"

"Carrie would not have stayed married to him. She said that to save face. Austin kept you around to feed his ego."

"At least he didn't keep me around to feed his bank account."

"No, you're a drain on the bank accounts of everyone you meet, as well as on the sanity of everyone you meet."

"What would you know about sanity?"

"More than you, at least." He looked all around the hallway before slamming the door. When he turned back around, Sami was sitting regally in the center of the bed.

"A little paranoid, are we?"

"Well, you see, the mother of my child hates me and likes to tell lies about me to everyone in town. Yeah, I'm a little paranoid. But more importantly, I worry about what hearing his parents argue would do to my son." He joined Sami on the bed, and she knew she couldn't move back without looking like she was letting Lucas win. Win what, she wasn't sure. "Sami, the fact is, I like Jamie a lot, and she won't have anything to do with me until I clear the air with you. So I'm here. If you won't do this for me, or you, or Jamie, do it for Will."

"Okay. You take Jamie and I'll take Will, and we can all four be happy."

"You know Will wouldn't be happy without me. A few days ago, you were calling me a great father. What happened?" Lucas wasn't mad anymore; Sami hadn't said anything she hadn't said many times before.

Sami suppressed a shudder.

"Every time I start to remember what a great time I used to have when we were friends, something reminds me WHY we aren't friends anymore."

"I did not kill Franco."

"But you admit that it's very curious that you tried to skip town right after Franco died? It's especially curious because I KNOW *I* didn't kill him, and nobody but you and Kate had motives to frame me. Then we have the little matter of your confession. And don't bring up Roberto, because he didn't do it. He confessed to a crime he didn't commit because he knew he was dying. And isn't it convenient that Kate paid for his funeral?"

"Circumstantial evidence, Sami."

"And lots of it."

"Why can't you forgive me for something you have no proof I had anything to do with when I'm not bothering you about your lie about my being a child-beater?"

"Because we both know *why* I did that. Will had to be protected from you when you were drinking."

"What does knowing *why* have to do with it?"

"Everything. If you could turn on me that much, hate me that much, I have to know why so I know how far to go with you when it comes to my son. And to me."

"I wish I could explain, but since I didn't do it, I can't."

Sami's mind suddenly stumbled onto a new idea. "Well, hypothetically, what could make you do it?"

"What?"

"If you WOULD kill someone, why would you do it?"

"I wouldn't kill someone. I'm not a murderer."

"You wouldn't kill for anything?"

"Self-defense. That's it."

"So if you baited Franco and he threatened you? If he found out about your plan to take my son? No, he wouldn't have cared . . . if he knew something about Titan dealings and fought with your mother? Maybe he blackmailed her?"

"I didn't kill you, and you blackmailed my mother."

"Maybe she blackmailed him? Maybe she threatened to have him deported, and he was desperate? He didn't have a gun, but he could have hit her. He could have threatened you to get to her."

Lucas did not want to have this conversation. The best thing about no longer living in the Kiriakis Mansion was no longer having the images of that one moment dragged up again and again. But he had to answer. "You know Roberto killed Franco. But *hypothetically*, if he and Mom had been having a disagreement, and he threatened her, maybe with one of those pokers that Victor has in that room?" Light came into Sami's eyes. "Yes, *hypothetically*, I would have shot him to save her. And since I DON'T go around shooting people on a daily basis, I might have tried to run. I was going to kidnap Will, anyway. You knew that. I couldn't let you take him away, I couldn't, Sami. But I didn't want to hurt you. I never would have framed you."

"But your mother would."

"And I couldn't send her to jail. If I had, I would have lost my mother and my son, when Mom was only trying to help me. *Hypothetically.*"

"So, *hypothetically*, you WOULD have been willing to let me die for a crime I didn't commit under some circumstances."

"No! I never would have meant for it to go as far as it did, I would have been terrified, but trying to get Will to accept me as his father, and trying to stop drinking, and physical therapy all at once, and my ex-best friend hating me and doing everything she could to hurt me . . . I'm glad it didn't happen that way, because everything together would have been too much."

"Too much? If that's too much, then I hope you don't end up on death row."

"I'm sorry. I'm more sorry than I can tell you, for you and for Will." Lucas' voice broke. "You know, for a while, when I found out Will was mine and you just wanted me out of your life, I wanted to hurt you. I want to see you *hurt*, like I was *hurting*. But you were made of ice. Nothing got your attention. And then when you were in trouble, it all came back, it never really left, and all I wanted was for you to live. Not just for Will, but because a world without *you* in it somewhere is just unequivocally *wrong*. That's why I was frantic that night. That's why I confessed."

Sami's eyes filled with tears. She was exhausted already, and now she was more disconcerted than ever. Why did she want to take the easy way out, and pretend that Lucas was innocent? Sami Brady always had her revenge! But contemplating the expression on Lucas' face, she began to wonder if she'd already had it.

Sami knew Lucas' face as well as she knew anyone's. She fought with him and laughed with him and schemed with him. She'd comforted him and been comforted by him. The day Will had been kidnapped by her neighbor Mary, no one had believed her but Lucas. She'd cried in his arms all day. She wanted that now, but she knew she should not accept it even if it were offered.

Then, although, her eyes were focused on a fascinating seam on the bedspread, she felt Lucas move closer to her, and suddenly she was not only in his arms but sobbing against his chest. He felt the same. The same heartbeat. Even the same smell.

Lucas was careful to position Sami so she couldn't see his face, couldn't see that he was crying, too. Then she lifted her eyes to his, and, as they had on a bad day long ago, they fell into a deep kiss.

"Odi et Amo" --part 16

The moment seemed that it would stretch on forever, and then it shattered. Sami and Lucas pulled apart, wondering how they had just ended up kissing each other.

Sami tried to beat down the feelings that threatened to rise to the forefront, but the blood had flowed from her brain and she felt physically dizzy. "This is wrong!" was her last, struggling rational thought. She and Lucas were fine as enemies and as friends, but they had already decided that they were *not* fine as lovers. She could not and should not want him, *need* him in this way. This was Eric's problem. If he had just controlled himself around Nicole . . . Nicole. Nothing killed a mood like the thought of her.

Lucas leaned away from Sami and tried to calm himself down. He had been down this road before, and while Will was the best thing in his life, he had no right to make what had otherwise been a mistake again. His relationship on Sami was on shaky ground, but on the best ground it had been on for years. He owed it to Will and the rest of his family not to further complicate things by throwing sex into the mix. Not even if he had to subject himself to an all-consuming physical ache from wanting to pull Sami closer to him. Sami had made it clear that she did not want this. She had preferred Franco, and Brandon. Nothing killed a mood like Sami's taste in men, Lucas noticed with relief.

Their faces were still mere inches apart, and Lucas brought his hand to Sami's cheek. "Are you all right now?" he whispered, hoping to keep the rasp out of his voice.

"I'm getting there," she whispered back.

"Good. No more crying. I told you yesterday, I've seen enough of that for a while."

"You made me cry. Don't blame me."

"*I* made you? How?"

"I was fine until I felt you start to hold me, and then it was sort of a reflex."

A reflex. Lucas was used to Sami not putting as much of herself into their schemes and time spent together as he always had, so he wasn't especially disappointed. "I'm sorry, then. You just looked so much like Will when he's hurting for a minute, and I wanted to make it better for you, like I can for him."

You have a child with this man, Sami reminded herself. He thinks of you as a necessary part of his life, but not the way he might have once. Remember that. "You did," was all she said.

Lucas sensed that that sentence was hanging. "But?" he prodded.

"It doesn't feel right that I should let myself feel better when you're here. I know what you've done, and how my family would feel if they knew what I was doing here . . ."

"And you're such a saint, such a perfect person, that you can't have anything to do with me except on the level of maybe mumbling hello when we pass on the street?" Bitterness crept into Lucas' voice and he didn't care.

"It's not like that, Lucas--"

"Yes, it is. You just said that you can't talk to me, can't tell me what you're thinking, not because you never liked me or never trusted me but because you're too good to have anything to do with me. Because what you did to me is meaningless in light of what I did to you."

"I-I know I need forgiveness, too." The words sounded odd. "So I do forgive you."

"And your *family*?"

"It's not their decision. I've never put what they thought first before. I'll change their minds if they don't change them themselves."

Lucas nodded but did not seem to have anything to say. Sami grew increasingly more nervous but would not allow herself to show her restlessness. "Well?" She finally asked. Lucas looked at her with a question in his eyes. "I forgave you. Do you forgive me?"

He nearly laughed. "I forgave you a long time ago." He did inwardly berate himself for not saying so aloud, but something had snapped, actually hearing Sami forgive him for the worst crime of his life. He had almost forgotten how much it bothered him. Again, he found himself wanting to close the already minuscule space between them.

Lucas was saved from deciding what to do, when Sami initiated another kiss. It held less wonder and surprise than the first kiss, but the physical response was the same. Lucas pulled Sami closer to him, and cursed himself one last time for nearly letting her die when she belonged not in some legendary afterworld but here, warm and solid in his arms.

"We decided not to do this," Sami said reluctantly. She had just regained Lucas' respect, and she couldn't lose it by behaving like a slave to her hormones when she knew that Lucas did not want her.

"I should go, then. Good night." Lucas disentangled himself and stepped off the bed, hoping against hope that Sami would call him back before he reached the door.

"Don't go." Sami's whisper was so low that Lucas was sure he was just imagining things, hearing what he wanted to hear.

"Did you say something?"

"Don't go yet. I haven't been able to spend time with you for almost three years."

"Okay." Lucas was almost hesitant as he sat in the chair where Sami had been when he'd first entered the room. "What do you want to do?"

Oh, I think we should take off all our clothes and get a lot closer together than we are now, thought Sami. That kissing thing wasn't bad, either. She probably shouldn't say that out loud, though. "I don't know, anything. Come on, come back up here."

"I don't think I should," said Lucas, hating himself. It was better to tell her now than to risk ruining everything they'd done tonight for the morning.

Sami was crestfallen. "Okay. I know you must be behind on work with everything that's happened, and there's other things too. I was being selfish. I'm sorry."

"No, no. Sami, it's just that when we were . . . talking before I wasn't feeling very . . . platonic. And you just said that's how we decided things should be."

A thousand feelings washed over Sami at once, all of them pleasant. Every fiber of her being wanted Lucas here, close to her, inside of her. Jolts of electricity flowed through her veins.

"You don't think you can keep things platonic?"

"No."

"Then don't." She gave him what she hoped was an inviting look, although she really didn't want to sound *too* eager.

"Don't tease, Sami. If you try to seduce me, you WILL succeed."

"I hope so."

Their uncharacteristic restraint vanished in the blink of an eye. Soon, both were on the bed, kissing each other, at first feather-light, then with more force and a need bordering on desperation. The temperature rose, and they began a night that would make both wonder how they had spent so much time apart, and why their time together had been spent contemplating Carrie and Austin instead of doing *this*.

************

Reality did not set in until the midmorning the next day. Lucas had gone to work, and Sami had taken Will back to her apartment. After immersing themselves in the mundane tasks of their day-to-day lives, neither was able to figure out if the previous night had been a dream or a ghost or simply the result of a few stress-filled days.

Sami had not been home very long when her phone rang. Her mother informed her that Eric was coming back to Salem for a visit because he had had a conversation with a panicked Belle, who had convinced him that Marlena and John's marriage and Sami and Will's lives were in real danger. "Can you pick him up at the airport for me, Sweetie? I have appointments all day because of that trip. Oh, and when you bring him back here you can pick up the things you left in new York."

"Yeah, I can do it. I'm glad I don't have to be back at work until tomorrow."

"So am I, for Eric's sake and yours. Your favorite nurse is in rare form today. She even yelled at Larry."

"Larry!? He took it all right, didn't he? I know he was worried about hanging on to his job when Brandon left. He wasn't even sure he wanted it."

"Relax, she apologized right away. She doesn't take any nonsense, but she realizes why Larry's work has slipped."

"Now I almost wish I was there. Tell him I said hello? Tell him I'll make things as easy on him as I can when I get back, I promise?"

"I'll tell him. But he's really all right, Sami. And you have to get to Eric, so I have to let you go."

"Bye, Mom." Sami hung up almost reluctantly, and then hurried to pack up Will's traveling things. They had to be on time to meet Eric's plane.

She ran into the terminal with little time to spare, and was thrilled to see Eric again, even though he had only been gone two months-- as promised, nothing like the five years for which he had previously vanished.

"Hey, it's my favorite twin and my favorite nephew! Hi, Will."

"Hi, Uncle Eric!"

Eric shifted his bag from one shoulder to the other so he could take Will from Sami. He swung his nephew above his head, and Will screamed with delight. He then removed a plastic game involving many balls and levers that was a variation on a childhood favorite of his and Sami's. Will was delighted and remained engrossed in the toy for most of the ride home.

"He looks all right," said Eric after assuring himself that Will wasn't listening.

"He is."

"From the way Belle was talking, I was really scared."

"Belle hasn't seen him since before he had his problem, and you know she likes to exaggerate."

"Was she exaggerating when she said you flew out of the hotel in New York like a bat out of hell and took a private Titan jet back to Salem?"

Sami winced. Why had Eric needed to mention bats? "No, that's true. But considering who his father is, the Titan jet shouldn't surprise you."

Eric snorted. "So how is Lucas?" he asked, making it obvious that the answer that would most please him would be "six feet under."

"He's normal, I guess. We're getting along a lot better. Agreeing about some things." She had definitely agreed with everything he'd done last night . . .

Eric looked at her curiously. "I see."

"See what?"

"Ever since I saw you for the first time after you met Lucas, you've given off this really weird vibe about him. At first I blamed it on your lying about his being Will's father, but it never really stopped. It's changed now. Your much calmer, more affectionate. I can almost believe that you were best friends, for the first time."

"Sharing custody helped. So did him getting rid of Nicole-- or don't you want to talk about her?"

"First, tell me again you're okay with Brandon?"

"Brandon is gone. It was a bigger deal for Abe than for me."

"Good, good. I'm happy for Abe," he mumbled in a way that made it plain his mind was elsewhere.

"So you do want to talk about Nicole?"

"Did Lucas hurt her?"

"He didn't give her any money in the divorce, and that didn't make her happy, but Brandon twisted her arm until she just left town with him."

"Twisted her arm, literally?"

"Poor choice of words. No. You know he wouldn't. I really had to do an awful lot to get him to hit me."

"There shouldn't be anything you can do!"

"Okay, okay, I've already heard this and you and everyone else is preaching to the choir."

"Did Nicole ask you for my phone number?" Eric asked abruptly.

"Yes. I thought you didn't want her to have it."

"I didn't. But now I feel like I should have given it to her. She might need me."

"You are NOT her guardian angel. She's a big girl and she can take care of herself." Her tone of voice changed. "Is responsibility the only reason you want to be able to talk to her?"

"That's not enough?"

"Not in this case, no."

"I feel really bad about it."

"Don't."

"Then what about Greta?"

Sami sighed. "She and Austin are together, and she seems . . . happy."

"Good. She deserves to be happy. Do you think either of them is up to being my friend again?"

"I'm sure they both are."

Eric smiled.

"You don't really have any residual feelings for Greta, either?"

"I had a nice little rebound relationship in Boulder. It helped with all kinds of residual feelings."

"So you're in such a good mood you won't mind stopping in Salem Place for a minute?"

"Not at all."

They ran quickly into Ballistix to buy a few headbands and hair clips for Belle. "I have to make up for scaring her," Sami explained as they left. Eric trailed behind her, pausing to talk to the clerk, who had been a friend of Carrie's.

Sami rushed outside when she saw Jamie pass by. "Jamie!"

"Hi, Sami. How did last night go?" Sami cringed inwardly. Again, she had made love to Lucas without even considering Jamie. Still, if nothing came of this, Jamie didn't have to know.

"Better than I expected. We're on better terms than we have been for years, and it's all thanks to you."

"I'm happy for you, Sami."

"What can I ever do to repay you for this?"

"You're my best friend. We aren't keeping score."

"But still--"

"Still, nothing. I have to meet Mickey Horton soon, but can you call me later?"

"Sure."

Jamie whirled away and nearly ran into Eric. She flashed him a cursory smile as she headed away.

Eric watched her, stunned.

"Sami?"

"Yeah?" Sami was fussing with Will's shirt.

"Who was that?"

Sami noted with glee the undisguised interest on her brother's face.

This was going to be fun.

"Odi et Amo" --part 17

Sami grumbled to herself as she went about her work. At least her day was almost over, and when she caught Larry's eye, she resolved to try harder to focus on the task at hand.

"Come on Sami, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"You just did that completely backwards." Sami looked down at her work and corrected herself.

"It happens to the best of us."

"To the best of us, and to you, too."

Sami mock-glared at Larry and he laughed.

"Nothing worth talking about is going on. Nothing you'd be interested in."

"Try me."

"My twin brother came back to town a few days ago. I think he'd like to get together with my best friend--"

"Austin?" Larry interrupted, raising his eyebrows.

"No! My best friend from high school, Jamie. She's a GIRL," Sami added quickly, remembering that 'Jamie' was a somewhat androgynous name. "Anyway, Jamie was involved with Lucas for a while, and she backed out of that relationship because she wanted to make sure that Lucas and I spent time with Will alone together, so she won't let me set her up with anyone, least of all my brother. She thinks it's insulting, and it would be if that was why I was doing it, but it isn't. And Eric's the same way. He knows I don't like his taste in women and he'll be mad if I interfere."

"So just let them be friends, since they're both your friends."

"I don't want them to get into that 'friend-zone' where they stop looking at each other as potentially more."

"Sami, this is none of your business. If you care about them both, leave them alone."

"You're right," Sami admitted as they got ready to leave. She did not mean what she said, but there was no reason to fight with Larry. She'd known what his opinion would be before she'd opened her mouth. Jamie and Eric were going to get together, and that was that.

Of course, Jamie and Eric were not the real source of her anxiety. She had only had cursory conversation with Lucas over the phone since the night they had spent together. He spoke to Will in the morning and in the evening, and they discussed Will before or after each conversation, but she was lost. She and Lucas had decided once that they could not be more than friends, and they had decided that for a reason. Had they thrown away their friendship before even getting it back?

If she and Lucas had remained friends, he might have helped her put Jamie and Eric together, assuming he didn't have strong feelings for Jamie himself. Lucas had done a great job playing matchmaker with Carrie and Mike. But for now, she would just put Lucas out of her mind.

She bid Larry good-bye and climbed into her car. She fumbled for the controls to the radio, searching for a distraction in the music. Soon, the notes filled the car. "I need you now like I needed you then. You always said we'd still be friends--" No. She switched the station. "How's it gonna be when you don't know me? How's it gonna be when you're sure I'm not there? How's it gonna be when there's no one there to talk to--" No. Anything but that. "I could've been easier on you, I couldn't change though I wanted to. It could've been easier by three, our old friend fear and you and me--" Not that, either. "I thought you'd come through. I thought you'd come clean. You were the best thing I should never have seen, but you go to extremes. You push me too far, and then you keep going 'til you break my heart--"

Sami slammed the radio off angrily. How dare it conspire against her that way? She would show it! She turned and headed for the Titan building. She knew Lucas was unlikely to go home this early when he didn't have Will to go home to. Her old reflex kicked in once more and she looked for the light in his office window. It was on, so she walked stealthily into the building, attempting to avoid anyone and everyone who knew what Victor and Kate thought of her.

She could not avoid Lucas' secretary, though, at least without going to extraordinary means that she just didn't feel like employing at the moment. Putting on her most polite smile, Sami asked to be allowed to see Lucas. It wasn't as if the woman didn't know who she was.

"Does Mr. Kiriakis or Ms. Roberts know you're here?" the woman asked sternly.

"No. I'm not here to talk to them. I'm here to talk to my son's fath--"

They were interrupted when Lucas opened his door. "I thought I heard your voice," he said to Sami. "Go in, I'll be back in a minute." Then he turned to the secretary. "I meant it when I told you not to give her any trouble if she came here to see me." Deciding that the secretary looked properly chastised, he followed Sami into his office.

"What's wrong? Where's Will?"

"Will is with Austin, and nothing's wrong."

Lucas looked at her oddly, and she wondered if she had made a terrible mistake in coming here. "Why are you here, then?" he finally asked.

"I just saw your light on and came in to say hello and tell you that Will was doing all right," she answered lamely.

"You used to do this all the time."

"I know."

"But you always had a reason. You're sure you don't have any more siblings whose social lives you want me to help you play with?"

"Well, there is that," was the honest answer.

"Sami, what are you up to this time?"

"How do you feel about Jamie?"

"I care about her."

"I know that, but how much? I mean, a few days ago you sounded serious about her, and a few hours after that, well, you know what you were doing."

"So you want my permission to manipulate Jamie? You don't have it."

"No, it's not like that. I just want to give her a little push in the right direction."

"What direction would that be?"

"Toward Eric!"

"Eric! He's back in town?" Lucas was obviously hoping that Sami intended to send Jamie to Boulder.

"Just for a visit. But I'm hoping that he'll stay if he meets Jamie."

"So you want me to hand the woman I'm practically dating over to the man who had sex with my wife?"

"Well, I wasn't going to phrase it that way, exactly."

"I bet you weren't."

"Think about it. They're both too sweet for their own good-- they really are. Don't forget you stole Nicole from Eric before he stole her from you."

"I don't suppose it would be safe to just let Jamie out on the dating market. She needs someone like your brother, the marriage wrecker."

"I know you don't like Eric--"

"No, I like Eric, I do. He makes me feel really good about how well I control my hormones."

Considering how well he had been controlling his hormones around the person to whom he was currently talking, the jab fell flat. Lucas inwardly agreed that he should not hurt Jamie, and he *would* hurt her if he continued to date her. Besides, there might be a way he could benefit from this situation.

"Come over here," he said to Sami, and she walked behind his desk as he slid a drawer out. He handed her an envelope of photographs from the latest New Faces shoot.

"These are terrible."

"I know. We lost three photographers in the past two months. The ones we have left are over-worked. Got any idea who I want to fill the gap, at least for a while?"

"Kate already talked to him. He already said no."

"Yes, but his dear twin sister could change his mind. It's a win-win situation, Sami. You want him to stay in Salem, and if he does he needs a job."

"You want him working *here*?"

"I don't have to see him much, and I do appreciate his work. And Mom and Victor are sort of squabbling again and I'm getting the impression it has something to do with me. I want to do something good for Titan that no one else could do."

"That's how you got them to accept you as a real asset to Titan in the first place, isn't it? Convincing Carrie to stay after she was scarred by that acid."

"You've got some very useful siblings. Is Belle interested in being a model?"

"I wouldn't tell you if she was."

"I'm sure you wouldn't. As long as you're here, look at this." He handed her a computer printout.

"What about it?"

"Why isn't it adding up?"

Sami studied it for a minute. "You have those numbers backwards either there or there." She pointed.

"You're right."

"Do I get back on salary for that?"

"No, but since that was the only thing that was even letting me pretend I have a reason to be here I'll take you to Chez Vous."

"Chez Vous? Really? I love their pasta!"

"I know. And we can discuss your brother's career and his love life."

"Sounds like a good night to me."

"What about Will?"

"I told you, he's with Austin. Austin never gives him up until his bedtime."

"All right, let's go, then." Lucas locked his door and pulled out his car keys.

"Can I drive?" asked Sami.

"NO!" That was one concession Lucas never made to Sami if he could avoid it.

The dinner was a great success. Lucas agreed to lure Jamie to the Penthouse Grill-- not on a date, just as a gesture that he valued her friendship. Sami could get Eric there, and if they staged a minor crisis with Will, well, Eric would be far too much of a gentleman to leave Jamie alone.

Lucas took Sami back to her apartment. "I guess you want to say goodnight to Will?" she asked.

"Of course."

Sami knocked on Austin's door, and he called her in. She and Lucas stood in the living room and waited for Austin to emerge with Will.

"So, you like Austin and Greta together?" Lucas whispered. "Because we can change that, you know. We can re-arrange every couple in this town if you feel like it."

Sami giggled, and soon both were laughing, and hoping that they didn't sound too sinister. Austin rolled his eyes when he and Will finally came into the room. Will greeted his parents with elation, but Austin stood back and watched the family skeptically.

"What?" Lucas asked after Will's eagerness to hug his parents had worn off.

"It just worries me to see the two of you snickering like that. It makes me wonder whose life you're messing with now."

Sami and Lucas looked at each other, and turned mirror "who, us?" looks on Austin.

"I'm *shocked* that you think so little of us, Austin."

"Yeah, do we *look* like the kind of people who would do something like that?"

"Yeah, yeah, you do. Except I used to think you'd both changed, and wanted to set a good example for your son--"

A nervous cough caused their heads to swivel. It was Greta. "Um, hi. Am I interrupting something?"

"Never." Austin moved to kiss Greta hello. "Sami and Lucas were just assuring me that they *weren't* going to start scheming again."

Greta looked at them with interest. "I thought you both said you were beyond that."

"This is for a good cause," shrugged Sami. "You know how Eric is back in Salem?"

"Yes," said Greta cautiously. "We talked the other day."

"Good. I knew he wanted to talk to you. Are you feeling better about him now?"

"It doesn't matter how I feel about him. It matters how I feel about Austin." Austin responded by pulling Greta's face close to his, and Sami and Lucas did their best to keep their expressions neutral.

"So you don't think it would be a nice thing if he had a reason to stay in Salem, where his family is, where his *alleged* friends are . . ."

"Sami, you can't do this," declared Austin firmly.

"You don't even know what I'm planning to do."

"You're planning to live Eric's life for him, and you have no right."

"I'm *planning* to give him a push in the right direction, as is my *responsibility*."

"Oh? And how do you know what the right direction would be?"

"You don't think he and Jamie would make a good couple?"

"It's up to them to decide."

"And they will decide, after they accidentally end up on a date."

Greta giggled. "Austin, this sounds pretty harmless."

"I guess you're right. Sorry, Sami. Sorry, Lucas."

"I know we teased you when we first came in, and we shouldn't have," Sami answered. "Thank you for watching Will."

Austin's face lit up. "Oh, we had a great time, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Will agreed.

"Are you getting tired, Honey?" Sami asked her son. "Want Daddy and me to put you to bed now?" Will nodded, and the three left Austin and Greta alone.

Sami observed as Lucas gently helped his son climb into bed, and was struck by the likeness between the two. How in the world could anyone ever have thought Will was Austin's son? When Lucas kissed Will on the forehead, she bit down a pang of jealousy. She wanted Lucas' kisses for herself, but neither had mentioned the night that they had spent together and she was unwilling to feed her soemtime friend's occasional conceit that he was God's gift to women.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow evening?" Lucas asked when he left.

"Yes, but you don't know that. It's just you and Jamie."

"Just me and Jamie. I can handle that." They were standing close enough that they could have kissed, but Lucas thought it would be wiser to back away. Even if he wanted to throw Sami down on the couch or the floor or the kitchen counter right this moment, she had said nothing about their last experience of that sort, and the first time she had wound up blackmailing him into telling no one that they had been together.

Lucas left, and Sami noticed that her apartment was unbearably empty. Still, she did not have the time to focus on that. She had to call Eric, and convince him to come to the Penthouse Grill.

**********

Lucas sat across from Jamie and watched her as she described a customer from her long-ago days as a waitress at the Brady Pub. She was truly pretty, with dark curling hair and deep, sparkling, open eyes. True, she was no Sami Brady, whose impetuous nature made her already blonde-haired blue-eyed classic beauty all the more evident . . . but he was supposed to be thinking about Jamie, not Sami, for now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the object of his thoughts enter the room, along with her brother. Eric looked just as he had a few months before. Sanctimonious bastard. He couldn't believe he'd let Sami talk him into throwing this sweet, innocent woman to the likes of him. Eric might betray Jamie with Greta, as he had betrayed Greta with Nicole. He had to do the right thing and tell Jamie what was going on.

Just as he was preparing himself to tell Jamie the truth and beg her forgiveness, Sami caught his eye from across the room. "No," she mouthed. She then made a gesture as if she was taking a photograph, and then turned quickly to Eric, probably trying to explain the gesture away as meaning he looked so nice tonight that she wished she had a camera. Her point had been made, though. Damn Sami. She was always reading him like that. He hoped that Jamie found a reason to turn around soon, though. They had decided that their plan would be less obvious of neither of them pointed out that they were all in the same restaurant, and if Eric saw Lucas he was unlikely to acknowledge him. Austin had agreed to call Sami in just a few more minutes; he might have to dance with Jamie if he wanted the plot to go off.

Jamie chose the last possible moment to notice Sami. "That's Sami," she told Lucas, pointing across the room. "But I don't know the man with her. She was with him the other day, too. Is he a new boyfriend already?"

Lucas pretended to crane his neck to look. "No, that's the infamous twin brother."

"Eric?"

Lucas nodded.

"I should have known. Wow, they look like twins, don't they?"

"Surprisingly enough."

Sami then 'noticed' that Jamie was staring at them and caught her friend's eye. She gave a little wave and pulled Eric along with her to say hello.

"Hey Jamie, hey Lucas. Did you two finally get together?"

"We're just friends, Sami. I told you."

"Sorry," said Sami, making it obvious to all that she was not. "Oh, you two have never formally met, have you? Jamie, this is my brother Eric. Eric, this is my friend Jamie Caldwell."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you."

Sami's cell phone beeped right on cue. "Hello? . . . Austin . . . is he okay?" So much panic rose in Sami's voice that Lucas was not sure she was acting. She obviously noticed the real fear that crept onto his face, because she took advantage of Eric and Jamie's interest in her conversation to send him a second-long look that told him not to worry-- and not to miss his cue.

"Is that Austin? Is there a problem with Will?" He stood up and moved closer to Sami, who switched the phone from one ear to the other so they could both listen.

"Yes," Austin was saying. "Will met a Giant Panda at the Java Cafe today, and they've decided to elope and live in China. I've tried to talk him out of it, but he just won't listen. I think he needs some parental guidance."

"Hold on, we'll be right there," said Sami. "Yeah, Lucas is with me, this is lucky. Just hold on." She slammed the phone back into her purse in a agitated sort of a way. "Eric, I'm sorry. I know I talked you into coming here--"

"It's all right, go to Will. I'll talk to the waiter."

"Jamie, I want you to stay. I wanted to give you tonight as a present--"

"No, Lucas, I'd rather not stay alone. But go to Will, please." Jamie stood up.

"Wait, you don't have to stay alone. I'll come sit with you. Any friend of Sami's is a friend of mine," except, of course, Lucas, Eric refrained from adding.

Jamie looked very open to the idea, and Sami and Lucas hid their smirks behind masks of fear. Was Eric predictable or was Eric predictable?

They ran into the lobby before stopping to congratulate each other. "You haven't lost your touch," smiled Sami. "For a while I was afraid you had."

"Why? Because I can't hear that my son is in trouble without worrying even if I know it's a fix?"

"No . . . not that at all." It wouldn't do to bring up Nicole, though. "I was worried, too," she added hurriedly. "I know that Will hasn't really eloped with a giant panda, but do you want to call Austin right now and see how he is?"

"Why has it taken you this long?"

Sami grinned with relief and dialed Austin's number. "Austin?"

"Sami?"

"Is Will all right?"

"Well, he doesn't think it's my place to comment on the panda thing--"

"Austin! Be serious!"

"He's fine. Do you want to talk to him? Wait-- he has finger paint all over. Greta--"

"It's all right, Austin. Let him be. Do you and Greta have to be somewhere tonight?"

"Nowhere but here. We're really enjoying Will if you and Lucas want to stay and admire your work."

"We might take you up on that. We'll be back in a few hours, though."

"Okay." They hung up, and Sami assured Lucas that Will was fine.

"Now what?" she asked.

"It's been a few minutes. Let's sneak back and check their progress."

"We have to be careful."

"I know, I know. You don't have to tell me this stuff. Are Mike and Carrie married?"

"Let's go." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind her, scolding herself for relishing even this little touch. Impulsively, she flew back toward the dining room, and was pulled back when Lucas' arm slipped around her waist.

"Sami! Don't get too close." He yanked her behind a plant, and they crouched together, their bodies in full contact.

"They're dancing! They're actually dancing already!"

"Hey, we're the best." Their hands touched. They had done this countless times when spying on Carrie and Austin, but it had never been quite so . . . warm. Lucas had had enough. "We can't stay here all night."

"No."

"But since we're so good about setting up dates, how about . . ."

"You mean you and me?"

"Most people don't have children without ever having been on a date. And we're already dressed for it."

"I would be honored," Sami replied, knowing that she didn't sound like herself. But it seemed like the thing to say.

They ended up at the Cheatin' Heart. Both had virtually stopped going there after they had ended their teenage years, but suddenly it seemed like the best idea they had had at least since deciding to set Jamie and Eric up.

The music was fast and they were slightly overdressed, but they danced to it anyway. Sami found that she remembered just how Lucas moved, and she matched her body to his. Years of friendship, more than any innate dancing ability made them the best looking couple on the floor. Sami was startled to realize that she was jealous when women looked at Lucas and delighted when Lucas glared at a man who ran his eyes over her form-fitting dress.

When they returned to their table, they continued to view each other as more than friend for the first time. With their fingers interlaced, they leaned forward to kiss each other.

Both burst out laughing.

"This won't work, " said Sami with some regret.

Made horribly uncomfortable, and wholeheartedly in agreement with Sami, Lucas threw money on the table and left the restaurant with her. At least they were good friends again, and they could go to Austin's together to pick up their son.

"Odi et Amo" --part 18

Sami regretfully handed Will's backpack to his father and shut the door behind them. Nothing of interest had happened in the month since she and Lucas had set Eric and Jamie up. Oh, she had been able to bask in the glow of a successful scheme-- Eric was happily dating Jamie and working at Titan. She saw Eric every day, and he always told her how special Jamie was, how sweet, how perceptive, how caring, how much fun. She was tempted to tell him that she *knew* all of that about Jamie; Jamie had been HER best friend, after all.

Jamie was just as bad. Every time she saw Sami, she asked why she had never mentioned how handsome her brother was, and how well he treated his friends. "No man has ever treated me like this," she gushed. "It's like I'm the most important thing in the world. I've never been this happy in my life. Eric and I went to the Blue Note the other night and he told me about the time he went to the strip club to try to prove you didn't shoot Franco, and Billie *claimed* she had never done anything like that before, but of course she knew all about it and she was teasing Eric for being so shy about being there . . ." Sami was tempted to wring her friend's neck and explain that she KNEW all of this, had heard about it from Austin and Eric and Billie at the time. Eric was her twin, and she had forgotten more about him than Jamie would ever know unless the relationship was on a one-way path to matrimony-- and it looked like it might be, at that.

She happened to know that they were out with Austin and Greta tonight. All seemed to have been forgiven between Eric and Greta, and the four had been trying to get their schedules right so they could have this night for what felt like years to Sami. She was tired of hearing about it from all four of her friends. Greta and Austin had nearly moved in together, despite their promises to take things slowly; Sami never felt comfortable visiting Austin anymore unless she first listened at the door to see if Greta was there. And Greta was *always* there.

Yes, she was supposed to be happy for her friends, but she suddenly felt like the same lost fifteen-year-old who had been heartbroken to realize that the family she had returned to Salem to rejoin did not exist-- her mother was having an affair with John and Carrie was spending all of her time with Austin. on whom Sami had had a hopeless, unrequited crush. She was all alone, without even her son. She would not see him for a long week . . . seven days . . . one hundred sixty-eight hours . . . ten thousand and eighty minutes . . . how many seconds? She may as well start counting now.

Not that a four-year-old, even one she loved with all of her being, was the best company. Things had gotten so bad that she looked forward to work, not only because she could talk to Larry but because she could talk to *Brenda*. The nurse has softened her opinion of Sami as Sami learned her job and did it to perfection. It was still a boring, stupid job, but it was a break, a break from people suffering from the affliction known as the first blush of love. She tried not to gag.

All in all, Sami was lonely. She should have held on to Austin. She should have worked things out with Brandon, instead of taking him down for Abe Carver. Abe was an adult. He could take care of himself. Jamie, Greta, Eric . . . all were beautiful inside and out and could have done fine without her interference on their behalves. But no one would ever love *her* without considerable work and manipulations on her part. Why had she bothered to separate Austin and Carrie if she was going to let Austin go? She walked to her calendar to put a red X through the day, a day that had begun with her son and ended without him. Why had she agreed to let Lucas take Will on Friday night and not Saturday morning? He had said something about tomorrow, but she hadn't particularly noticed what. Today was July 28. July 29, she could have had that morning with Will; why did July 29 ring a bell?

"Shit" she cursed, not bothering to watch her language since Will was not around. She had forgotten. Tomorrow was Lucas' twenty-fifth birthday. She had forgotten to get him a gift from Will, forgotten to sit Will down to make a card, because she had been moping around feeling lonely.

She glanced at her watch. The only thing she could really do was go over to Lucas' house claiming that Will had forgotten some things he needed. He probably had someone who would let her in, and she could beg to be allowed to see Will, and she could wake him up and explain. That would work, but only if she came up with a present for Lucas in the immediate future. He was rich, and probably spent more money every day than she made in a month. The classic birthday present for a child to a parent was a framed picture, wasn't it? But Lucas potentially had more pictures of Will than she did at this point, since he had held sole custody for so long. Although . . .

She stormed purposefully to her bookshelf and pulled down one of several photo albums filled with nothing but pictures of Will. These were the earliest photographs she had; she had originally made this album to guilt-trip Austin into spending more time with her. No one but her had copies of these, least of all Lucas, who, while he had been a proud uncle, had been a bit nervous to go near a fragile-looking infant. She rolled the album over in her hands. She had been very proud of it, but it was absolutely perfect for her purposes at the moment. She could always steal it back and copy the photographs if she was so inclined.

That decided, Sami wrapped the book in a few pieces of Will's construction paper that were handy. Purple. Will hated purple, so it was generally spared from being scribbled on. She put the wrapped book in a bag and covered it with a stuffed pony that she planned to say Will had claimed he did not want to spend a week without. That might be an unrealistic claim, since he had a real pony at Lucas' house. She exchanged the pony for a panda bear, and grinned in spite of herself. Even Lucas could not have found a way to get Will his own panda bear, especially since he might decide to elope to China with it.

Sami knocked hesitantly at Lucas' door. It was well after ten o'clock, but what did Lucas pay those people in his house for if not to let people in when he didn't feel like doing it himself?

Lucas heard the knock on his front door, and wondered if he was imagining things. As he stood up to check, he quickly glanced around, looking perhaps for a raven quoting "nevermore." He snickered to himself. It wasn't quite that bad living in a mansion by himself, but he did sometimes feel like a hermit. That was why he spent so little time here in the weeks that Will stayed with his mother. It just wasn't fun living in a mansion that he had built for a woman who had cheated on him and told him in no uncertain terms that she liked his money but not him.

He was happier at work. He knew that he was doing well, being productive, and in general proving that he was a strong asset to the company especially considering he was not yet twenty-five. Victor had calmed down toward Kate when Lucas had been able to take credit for luring Eric back to his old job, just as Lucas had hoped. Titan had what it wanted, and no one asked Lucas how he had done it, which was just as well. Kate probably preferred having Victor angry with her to knowing that Lucas was not only on good terms with Sami but scheming with her.

Kate hadn't missed the fact that Sami was coming to visit Lucas at work more and more often, sometimes for a shallowly fabricated reason and sometimes for no reason at all. Lucas had explained that it was all for Will, and Kate stomped off, wondering aloud *where* she had heard that before. Lucas did not care. Sami was his relief from the Eric and Jamie show. Jamie came to see Eric every day for at least a few minutes, and she always stopped to see Lucas as well. She had even briefly tried to make Eric and Lucas do something together with her, and Lucas was intensely grateful to whichever of the Brady twins had pounded it into Jamie's skull that that was *not* a good idea.

Lucas also had to put up with his mother's gushing over how perfect Greta was for Austin; better than Carrie Brady had ever been, in fact. Lucas briefly wondered if his mother came from a different timeline in which Austin had had nothing to do with end of his storybook relationship with Carrie, but refrained from asking. He was sick of hearing about relationships altogether.

Now he opened his front door and was startled to see Sami.

"Lucas?"

"You sound surprised, but I live here."

"I know. I just didn't think you answered the door yourself."

"I like to keep in practice."

"But seriously--"

"Seriously, my deep dark secret is that most of those servants were for Nicole and if I want my door opened in the middle of the night, I open it."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you, but Will forgot his stuffed panda and he said he wanted it for something this week. Is it all right if I bring it up to his room and look in on him, and you can go back to whatever you were doing?" she suggested a little too quickly.
Lucas agreed, and Sami refrained from running up to Will's room. Once inside, she stroked her sleeping son's back until he opened his eyes.

"Mommy? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Sweetie. I just want you to get up for a minute, okay?"

"Okay," Will mumbled, as he sat up unsteadily. He had obviously been deeply asleep. Sami cringed at the thought of waking him up, since it seemed like most of the past four-and-a-half years had been spent trying to make him go to sleep.

"All right, Will. You remember the party you went to for Kevin's birthday last week?"

"Yes."

"You remember how you brought him a present?"

"Yes."

"Tomorrow is your Daddy's birthday, and this is your present to give to him." Sami gave to wrapped album to her son. "Okay?"

"Okay." He was still sleepy, and Sami doubted that what she had said had stuck.

"Do you want to color a card for him?"

Will truly didn't want anything but to go back to sleep, but he knew that there was not much room for argument in his mother's tone of voice.

Sami found his crayons and paper, and Will sat at his child-size desk to color. He looked to Sami for approval when he finished.

"That's beautiful, Sweetie. One more thing--"

"Sami." Sami and Will both jumped at Lucas' voice. He stood in the doorway with an infuriating smirk on his face. "Will, are you ready to go back to bed?"

Will nodded and jumped into his bed, and Lucas pulled the sheet up around his son's shoulders. He then pushed Sami out of the room, reaching behind him to grab the package.

"Not allowing your son to go to sleep when he wants to. It's child abuse, Sami."

"How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough."

"You were eavesdropping?" Sami was getting mad, fast.

"Why does this surprise you?" Lucas' smirk grew even more obnoxious. "Can I open this now?" he added, shaking the package.

"No! It's from Will, and besides, it isn't your birthday yet."

"It is not from Will. Will didn't know tomorrow was my birthday until you told him, less than an hour ago. The mall is closed already. Anyway, Will would never wrap a package I purple, unless he hated me." He inspected the package more closely. "Although it does look like his material of choice."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't remember until I saw you tonight."

"It's okay. I didn't expect you to remember at all."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"It's been a few years since you even tolerated the idea that I'm alive, let alone celebrated it."

"But that's not how it is now."

"No, and that's a lot better present than whatever this is."

"I agree, but you deserved something wrapped."

"Well, I've got it. Thank you."

"You're welcome." She moved to kiss his cheek, and he purposely shifted so he could capture her lips with his. Sami briefly lost her breath, and the world would have spun out of control had it not been for Lucas' arm around her waist. He had dropped the package on a shelf, or perhaps a window sill, so he could continue to concentrate on Sami and nothing else.

He had been unable to think about anything but Sami for more than two consecutive minutes in the past month. Lucas had recently decided that he would never be able to have another meaningful relationship, would never be able to have another stepmother for Will, because he simply could not get Sami out of his system. She was in his mind when he was working, when he was playing with Will, and worst of all, when he was sleeping. And if he couldn't stop thinking about her lips, he was going to make sure that she had trouble forgetting about his, too.

Sami was almost embarrassed at how quickly her body reacted to Lucas' touch. She was sure he would be able to tell that she had not stopped thinking about him since the last night they had spent together. But all she wanted was to feel pleasure, and make him feel pleasure in return. What was wrong about two friends making each other feel better, after all? Lucas probably already knew that really, he could have his way with her any time he tried, so she didn't think she should object when he picked her up in his arms and carried her, damsel-in-distress style, into the room she had stayed in when Will had had his problems. Damsel-in distress style is right, she remarked to herself as Lucas placed her onto the bed. She *was* in distress and the only one who could help her was Lucas. The only one.

Lucas reached for the buttons on Sami's blouse and felt her shiver slightly as he opened them, one after the other, trying not to move too quickly. He did not know when or if he would have another opportunity like this, and he had to do everything just right. Sami was reaching to mirror his actions, to unbutton his shirt and run her hands over his heated flesh. Her hands and her tongue worked skillfully and he could not suppress a groan of desire. Then Sami suddenly froze, and Lucas opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it when he saw the look on her face. He did not want this if she did not, and at the moment this was obviously the case.

"What's wrong?" She looked at him and was either gathering her thoughts or preparing to burst into tears.

"I want you so much," was all she could think to whisper.

That was high on Lucas' list of things he wanted to hear. "I want you too, Sami. Why did you stop?"

"Are you sure you want me?"

In response, he took her hand and placed it between his thighs. "What do you think?"

"Would it matter if I was anyone else, though?"

"What do you take me for?"

"I didn't mean it that way. I mean, on the only actual date we've ever had, we laughed when we tried to kiss each other. The last time we did *this*" and she gestured wildly around the room as if 'this' had been the fault of the chair or the lamp, "you didn't mention it again."

"Only because the first time you ended up regretting it and blackmailing me to keep my mouth shut. I thought you didn't want me to mention it."

"No! No, I never regretted it, never. I was just so set on getting Austin and showing Carrie what it felt like to be alone, and I didn't want you to get in my way."

"Am I in your way now?"

"No, now you're all I want. You're all I can think about."

"Stop thinking and start acting, then."

"I don't want to do this just out of lust."

"I don't think it's lust."

"Oh?"

"Well, I don't think we can be sure until we do a little bit more of this." He ran his hand beneath the strap of her bra and followed it along to clasp.

"Lucas." She said his name commandingly but she did not try to stop him from touching her.

"Sami, you're my best friend. You're my partner in crime, and you're the mother of my child. You're damn right that I'm lusting after you, but there are other things, too. And if that date didn't work out, it's because *it* was wrong, not because *we* were wrong."

Sami flashed him a devilish grin, and he returned it with one of his own. They continued what they had been doing, but Sami stopped again.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"I just noticed the clock."

"So?"

"It's after midnight. Happy birthday."

"Thank you. You know what I'd like?"

"No, but since it's your birthday if you tell me all about it I'll do my best to do it."

"Good." He began to whisper in her ear, and giggling, she set about making sure that this was the best birthday he had had in twenty-five. She was fairly sure she could even top that BMW that she'd accidentally wrecked.

"Odi et Amo" --part 19

"You aren't even going to tell me what to wear?" demanded an irritated Sami.

"Wear whatever you want."

"That's not a good answer. Do you want me closer to jeans and sneakers or closer to an evening gown?"

"It doesn't matter."

"If we're leaving this house, yes it does."

"Fine. Closer to jeans, then, even though I've seen you do this in an evening gown with my own eyes."

"Do what? What are we doing?"

"I'd rather not say."

"You'd rather not say?"

"That's right. This information is available *only* on a need-to-know basis."

"I *need* to know." Lucas studied her critically.

"No, you don't."

"How do you know?"

"I'm in charge of who I divulge this *very* sensitive information to, and you just aren't on the list. Sorry."

"Who is on the list?" Lucas considered that.

"Me."

"You're just doing this to bother me."

"Why shouldn't I? You bother me all the time." He kissed her before she could reply, so she would be sure to understand his meaning.

"Not fair," Sami mumbled, as she walked back into her bedroom to change. She could hear Austin and Greta shouting about something in the apartment next door, and she wondered what it was. Then she flung open her closet and considered her sun dresses. One of them would probably work, but which? One looked a little bit too young for her, but it had a light blue in it that was just the shade of her eyes, and that had always made it a favorite, although the navy one with the daisies set off her figure the best, and the gray one was the most versatile, and she always seemed to have a good time when she wore the mostly orange one. She should probably just wear the red and navy one. It was eye-popping and she knew it.

She brushed out her hair, wanting it too look perfect but oddly comforted to know that Lucas had seen it so many times, worn so many ways, that it would be all right if she couldn't get it exactly right. As it turned out, she could, and she gloated in the mirror. Who was she kidding? Naturally everything had to be perfect, if not for Lucas than because she would not stand for Lucas being the good-looking one in this relationship.

"Is this all right, Lucas?" she asked.

"Perfect."

"Where are we going?"

"If I wouldn't tell you ten minutes ago, what makes you think I'll tell you now?"

"You can't blame me for being curious. You said that you were going to take me on *our* kind of date, and I'm really wondering what that might be."

"If you thought about it, you'd already know." He tossed her a look that he had probably invented just to enrage her.

She had already thought about it. She had been thinking about it for two days, since the morning of Lucas' birthday when she had lain in his arms, and he had told her that he would prove that they really COULD go on a date without laughing when they kissed each other.

That morning, Lucas had decided to call his mother and tell her that he was too sick to move, and not to be mad at him if he didn't want to see her or his brothers on his birthday. Sami had vetoed the idea on the grounds that she would never have let Will get away with it.

"Lucas, she saw you yesterday at Titan, didn't she?"

"So?"

"She knows you weren't getting sick. If she thought you did get sick this suddenly, she'd come over and take care of you, I mean, how could she not?"

"But I'm having a *very* happy birthday right here and I don't want to go anywhere or see anyone but you or Will."

"You know I hate your mother, but you should still go. She loves you. Let her see your pretty face, and Will's." She paused. "Not that I'm saying you should leave her ALONE with Will--"

"She never badmouths you in front of Will. She tried it once and I changed her mind."

"Should I feel honored?"

"No, but I thought you might like to know. Can you say the same for your family? Do Eric and Belle keep their opinions of me to themselves when Will is around?"

"Yes, Eric does. And Belle does too, but her opinion of you is changing pretty fast. I overheard her tell one of her friends the other day that she admitted you were 'cute,' and she never would have done that before we started getting along better."

"Why were she and her friends talking about me?"

"They were talking about Philip and whether he was as good-looking as his brothers. Speaking of Philip, would *he* badmouth me to Will?"

"Philip doesn't know that Will exists. So what did they decide about his looks?"

"I don't know if I should say."

"Come on!"

Sami giggled. "You have to remember that they're very young and inexperienced."

"So?"

"They decided that blond hair and blue eyes are a waste on a guy and both you and Austin are much better-looking than he is. You in particular."

Lucas grinned.

"Okay, get over yourself. It's the opinion of a group of fifteen-year-olds, most of them not especially bright."

"That's not a nice thing to say."

"It's the truth! Have you met Mimi? Jan? I was a thousand times more intelligent and ten thousand times more perceptive at fifteen than they are."

"Okay, okay, but you're unique. And to get back to our respective families . . ."

"Go see your mother. We don't need the trouble that my being there would cause. Yet."

"I knew there would be a 'yet.'"

"Wouldn't you be disappointed if there wasn't?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "But I'd really rather have you with me, now. Today."

"You can have me tonight and tomorrow and all the tomorrows after that."

"That sounds good. Are you busy tomorrow night?"

"No. Why?"

"You are now. I'm going to prove what I said last night, about the *date* being wrong, not us."

And from that point to this, as they left Sami's apartment, he had flatly refused to give her any information. She suspected that he hadn't *had* any at first, but she had seen the wheels start turning when Will had proudly brought his card and present downstairs.

"I remember sitting with you while you made this," he remarked as he went through the pages, with Will on his lap. "You were *so* sure it would guilt Austin into spending more time with you."

"It worked, too!"

"For about a day."

"That's better than nothing." She paused as a picture of one of Will's first smiles caught both of their eyes. "But you know what the best thing about it was?"

"What?"

"Making it, with you hanging around teasing me about it, and turning on the TV every five minutes to check the football score, and telling me what stupid scheme we could use on Carrie and Austin next. Everything has changed, you know? I spent years trying to come between Carrie and Austin, but the only thing I remember is you."

"Sami." Lucas jerked her back to the present. "Let's go."

"Are we in a hurry?"

"A little bit."

"I would be able to hurry better if I knew where I was going."

"That's why we're leaving now."

"We're walking?" Sami questioned after a moment.

"Yeah, we can walk from here."

"To Salem Place?"

"That's right."

"The Java Cafe?"

"Not exactly." He pulled her to a bench off to the side, and pointed to a man and a woman who had just approached the Cafe. The man pulled out the woman's chair, and then left her, presumably to get their orders.

"Why are we watching them?"

"How can we make her lose all respect for him?" Lucas answered her question with a question.

"Why do we care?"

"Is that all that important?"

"Yes! I don't randomly ruin peoples' lives, or is this just a quiz?"

"We won't ruin their lives. They aren't a couple. The woman is editor-in-chief of a magazine that Titan holds publishing rights to. The man is an executive vice president at another publishing company that wants to take the rights from us when our contract is up next month."

"And you can't beat him fairly, so you're going to embarrass him?" Sami was slightly disgusted, slightly surprised, and slightly interested.

"We can beat him fairly, but he's talking to her behind our backs, or so he thinks. We need some extra time. If he backs off for two days, we'll keep the account."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"I helped you with Eric and Jamie."

"Because I got Eric to take his old job back. What's in this for me?"

"Your old job."

"You can't be serious. You'll never talk Kate and Victor into that."

"Victor won't care if he thinks you'll do your job without feuding with anyone, especially if your being there makes Eric and me both happy. And Mom has lost most of her power in Titan. He doesn't like the way she ran things when he had his stroke."

"Gee, I wonder why," said Sami sarcastically. "Anyway, isn't this supposed to be a date?"

"I told you I had business to finish up. This is it. We don't have much time, so what can we do?"

The wheels began to turn in Sami's head. "Does he have a family? Skeletons in his closet?"

"A wife and two daughters, and I didn't have a chance to look for skeletons in his closet. I'm sure he has some. All businessmen at that level do."

"So the best thing to do would be to make him think he has to get home to his little girls right now. Do you have names?"

"The wife's name is Janet. The girls are Hannah and Carla."

"Is he carrying a cell phone?"

"Of course."

"Steal it or ruin it. I'll do the rest."

Sami headed for the back of the Java Cafe and appropriated an apron. In no time, she gave the businessman the message, and he left without even speaking to the woman with whom he had come. Lucas snickered delightedly and grabbed Sami's arm.

"Time to celebrate. Where do you want to go? We're dressed enough for Chez Vous if you want."

"Whatever," said Sami glumly. Lucas picked up on her mood but decided to let it sit until they reached the restaurant.

"We're supposed to be gloating, Sami. What's wrong?"

"Is that all I am to you?"

"Probably not, but tell me what 'that' is."

"Some tool, to get what you want? I mean, a few hours ago you were saying you loved me, but now you're saying 'I'll do such-and-such for you if you do such-and-such for me.' That isn't what love is."

"You were the one who asked what was in it for you. I was going to offer you that position back as soon as I thought I could swing it no matter what you did. I wouldn't have done that if I thought it would upset you. It was supposed to be fun."

"Fun? We scared that man half to death. What if someone did that to us, with Will?"

"He's going to call his wife for real as soon as he gets back to his hotel, and he'll have the pleasure of realizing nothing's wrong. He'll have to worry for ten minutes. What he was doing, talking to her that way, was well into shades of gray business-wise. We weren't doing any worse than he was."

"That makes me feel a little better, but didn't we both say we'd stop scheming to set a good example for Will?"

"It wasn't much of a scheme. We didn't really hurt anyone, not any more than we did when we set Eric and Jamie up."

"Okay, but one more thing."

"One more thing. What?"

"How is this a date?"

"We agreed to meet each other and do something together because we like seeing each other. That's not a date?"

"By that definition, we've been going out practically since we met."

Lucas shrugged. "So?"

"Well, you know we haven't been. You used to call me your partner in crime. That's not the same as being your girlfriend."

"Your wife, or your fiancee, or your girlfriend isn't supposed to be your partner?"

"I don't know. You're making this confusing."

"I think I'm making it simple. You're my partner and my best friend and the mother of my child and the person that I feel the best when I'm around. I like you and I respect you and I worry about you when I don't know where you are. Throw great sex in there, which we have, and I don't think there's one thing that we haven't got."

"I guess . . . I guess I just . . ."

"What?"

"I didn't expect it to be this way. I always thought it would be a storybook, like, I don't know, Bo and Hope."

"Who are divorced."

"But getting married again!"

"After he married my sister and got her pregnant, and then married some look-alike impersonator without knowing the difference, and they basically spent years pretending they didn't want each other. It wasn't a storybook, Sami. No relationship is. Not your parents', certainly not my parents', not anyone's."

Sami became agitated without really knowing why. "But it can happen, it must happen, it would have happened with Austin and Carrie if we hadn't been in the way, sometimes you just kiss the right person one time and you *know* because you get bells and whistles--"

The waiter came and delivered their food, and looked curiously at Sami. She was so animated that several people were looking at her, in fact. Lucas glanced around. One of the few problems he had admitted he'd had with Nicole even when he had been deeply infatuated with her was that she liked to make scenes. Sami was doing so right now, although completely by accident.

"Sami," he whispered without getting a reaction. He leaned over the table and kissed her. Her eyes went wide with surprise, and he pulled away. That had shut her up, and most of the on-lookers found something else to stare at once he broke the kiss.

She slid back in her seat, and he waited for her to say something, anything.

"So that's what bells and whistles are," she murmured.

"Eat your dinner," he answered, mildly frightened by the warm feeling that was creeping over him.

"This, this has been so great, Lucas."

"See? I told you we could do it."

"I don't mean just this. I mean the past seven years."

"And counting."

"I don't ever want to stop counting."

"Neither do I." He stopped and stared at her.

"What?"

"Will you marry me?"

"WHAT?"

"We do everything a married couple does. Why not make it official?"

"We aren't even living together."

"Shouldn't we be? We can share Will, we can share everything. You don't really want to stay in your sister's old apartment, do you?"

"No, but this--"

"Isn't a storybook?"

She smiled. "It's better. I *will* marry you."

They fell into another kiss, and this time, there was no laughter.

The End