This is War

Sophia screamed. Her tears were flowing non-stop as she tried to reach her cell phone. She had to call Benji and let him know. No, she had to call the police. James and Joseph, her beautiful sons were missing and she didn't believe that they were still hiding in the school as the teacher who had seen and heard her had suggested.

Celeste made sure the scarf hid face as she approached the payphone. Her Alexandra wasn't thinking clearly and Celeste was running out of options. But those children were innocent. She needed to warn the parents and the police. She had to prevent everything and safe her daughter. Celeste dialled the number and coughed.

Tony observed the monitors and tried to suppress the laughter. Bart really should take part in some of those talent shows with that singing number of his. After all these years of working for the DiMeras Bart was still quick to forget all the surveillance equipment they had at their disposal. When Tony decided he had have enough fun for the day he turned to watch the international information flow. There were few irregularities but nothing serious yet. Nothing worth of reporting to father but something worth investigating. Tony wasn't about to lose when he was so close of winning. Soon father would give the reigns to him and step down and then, finally, Tony would have the chance to end the feud with the Brady family by ending all the Bradys.

Sami finished telling the story as she knew it. Everyone, including Lucas, were silent. They had tried to object when she had started telling the story but now they didn't seem to have anything to say. They just stared at Sami and the chest and the pile of letters Sami had gotten from her grandfather Shawn. Sami was the only one to notice when Shawn walked in. He was feeling cheerful and headed to the table smiling. His smile soon died as he saw the letters on the table.

"What have you done?" Shawn mumbled and reached to grab the letters. Hope was faster.

"I should have burnt those long ago", Shawn growled.

"And bury the truth? Is it true? Did Colleen die in childbirth?" Bo stood up to face his father. Shawn met the eyes of a man he had raised as his own. This was the moment he hadn't want to live. Shawn took a chair and sat to the end of the table before saying:

"Yes, my sister died giving birth to the DiMera spawn. Santo took advantage of her, raped her and left her."

"Santo was coming to get her. Her wife hid the letters from him and when he finally found out and travelled back to Ireland it was too late", Sami said.

"That doesn't change what happened. She was innocent and he knew it", Shawns voice was still filled with hate and disgust, "If Stefano or any of them claims otherwise they are lying."

"Colleen says in this letter that she was the one to seduce him", Hope said waving a letter.

"She didn't know what she was talking about. She didn't understand. She was raped!" Shawn protested. As far as he was concerned, there could never be peace between the two families. Santo had seduced his beloved older sister and threatened to take her away from him. If Shawn had been any older he would have helped his father kill Santo and maybe then Colleen would still be alive.

"It wasn't a rape!" Sami couldn't control her voice as it reached a new peak.

"Colleen fell in love. Yes it was against her families wishes and against her own better judgement but she fell in love. She loved Santo and chose the rocky life with him rather than the safe and uninteresting life she would have had with her family."

"It could have been just a crush but the pregnancy changed things", Marlena offered an explanation.

"It wasn't a rape!"

"Sami, what are you saying? What are you saying really?" Bo leaned back and asked. Sami bit her lip, looked around and found the encouragement she needed in Johns eyes. She then turned to meet Lucas' eyes as she spoke:

"It wasn't a rape. EJ didn't rape me. I chose to have sex with him. I accused him of rape because I didn't want to lose my family again. I had finally won your respect and support and I thought I'd finally be able to give Will the family he's always wanted. I didn't want to admit even to myself what I really felt."

"And what do you really feel?" Marlena asked though she was afraid to hear the answer.

"Mum, I love him", Sami whispered as still afraid to admit the depth of her feelings, "I think I've loved him from the moment he said there wasn't anything I could do to shock or horrify him into not wanting to have anything to do with me. He also said that I deserve someone who loves me for who I am, unconditionally and that is something I never got from you Lucas. I was just too scared after I found out that he was DiMera to remember the man who is. He's someone who has always believed in me and been my friend. I love him, I love EJ."

Once she had said the words for the first time she couldn't stop repeating them. And then the sadness took over as she remembered how EJ had left and said his goodbyes. If the paternity test would show that Lucas was the father of her baby, Sami would never see EJ again. He had promised that. Then the fighter in her woke up.

"Promises are made to be broken."