The Gift

Part XIX

EJ was amazed when he saw the long line that had formed in the main lobby of the hospital. Belle and Phillip busy handing out forms for people to sign, giving them all various times to be tested. He was quite taken aback over the support people were giving to try to help Madison. Seeing it from this view was a humbling experience, he'd never guessed that people would actually care what was happening to his daughter, but now saw a side of humanity he'd never taken the time to observe before.

Slowly he made his way up to the table; Belle was the first to notice his presence and gave him a big smile as he continued his approach. She nudged Phillip and he looked up to see EJ standing there before them.

"Hey EJ, can you believe how many people showed up today?" Belle asked her enthusiasm for this project evident in her tone of voice.

EJ shook his head, still trying to wrap his head around the idea that people would go out of their way to help one another, even people who had no clue as to whom Madison could be. "I just wanted to come by to relay my gratitude to you both for undertaking this project."

"EJ, we both just want to do whatever we can to help Madison," Belle said earnestly with no underlying reason for wanting to help Madison at all.

"I really appreciate it," EJ replied, then added, "you have no idea how much this means to all of us."

"We're just glad to help," Phillip offered up as Belle bestowed a sweet smile in his direction.

"Speaking of which, Phillip, can you break away for a few moments?" EJ asked him wanting to have a private word with him apart from Belle.

"Well, we're kind of busy," Phillip replied.

"I see Chelsea and Nick coming right now. They are coming in to work the next shift for us," Belle said, shooing Phillip off in EJ's direction as Chelsea and Nick walked up to speak with her about what she specifically needed them to do.

Phillip walked off with EJ, unsure as to what EJ needed to speak to him about. When they were out of earshot from Belle, EJ began, "You know Phillip, I never quite took you to be an altruistic man."

"There are plenty of things that you don't know about me," Phillip said haughtily, his instincts instantly flaring up that EJ could see right through his ruse to get closer to Belle by helping her with this project.

"I'm sure, not one of them being using my daughter's illness to show Belle how much you care about others more than you do yourself," EJ eyed Phillip warily.

"That sounds more like something a DiMera would try to pull instead of a Kiriakis," Phillip stood his ground with EJ, not letting him see that he'd guessed his true mission in agreeing to help Belle.

"Please spare me your moral superiority Phillip; I know exactly what you are capable of."

"As I do for you also," Phillip sparred back with EJ, never once giving him any indication that he was trying anything to get in Belle's good graces.

"There you two are," Belle said rounding the corner to find EJ and Phillip talking after she had finished giving Chelsea and Nick their instructions.

"Thank you again Belle, your kindness knows no bounds," EJ took Belle's hand and placed a kiss upon it, causing her to blush over the unexpected gesture from him.

"We just want to see Madison get better," Belle said giving EJ a smile of encouragement.

"I'm beholden to you both," EJ said giving Phillip a knowing glance. "Oh Belle, Claire is wanting to see you. She and the girls had fun at their tea party and she wanted to be the first to show you her special prize."

"I'll walk back with you to Madison's room," Belle said looking at Phillip for a moment. "Would you like to come with me Phillip to check on Madison?"

"Sure, maybe the three of us, you, Claire and I can go get something to eat afterwards." Phillip suggested taking Belle by the hand and pulling her forward away from EJ, as he trailed behind the pair.

EJ rolled his eyes, he had to give it to Kiriakis, the man knew how to play Belle like a fine tuned fiddle.

Will hadn't seen his father in a few days, both of them missing each other in passing when they were at the house, so he decided to see if he could find him at the one place he was almost certain that he would be at, which was work.

It was growing dark, the day's sunlight was meager during the wintertime and Will had thought his father might be heading home soon. Trying to remember exactly which house his father was working on at the moment, he spotted his truck at one of the houses.

Getting out he frowned, there were no workers in the house, it was completely dark and he wouldn't have even thought his father might be there if he hadn't of noticed his dark blue Ford Ranger parked in the driveway. There was also another vehicle there, one he didn't readily recognize but seeing as he was off at college so much, he couldn't keep track of all the cars everyone drove in town anymore.

Stepping in the unfinished doorway of the house, Will was about to call out to his father when he heard the sound of a woman's giggling from a room close by. Nervously he edged up to the door which was barely ajar and listened to the voices coming from within the room.

"Oh Lucas, stop that!" came the voice that Will instantly recognized as Mimi Lockhart.

"No way little lady. I've got you right where I want you." Lucas said in a teasing tone, one Will hadn't heard him use in quite some time when he was speaking to his mother.

"Not yet, you don't" Mimi squealed with peals of laughter as it seemed like Lucas had found her.

Will felt sick at his stomach, surely his father wasn't messing around with Mimi. He had to be mistaken. He inched up closer trying to get a glimpse into the darkened room when he accidentally knocked over a paint can causing it to crash on the floor. He quickly turned to leave before being discovered by them when the door flew open and Lucas and Mimi ran out, her shirt completely unbuttoned plainly showing her bra and Lucas shirtless.

"Who's there?" Lucas questioned not seeing anyone out in the hallway.

Will didn't want his father to see him, but he stumbled on some boarding and fell. He struggled to get up to run out of here, but his father found him with Mimi close on his heels.

"Son, I didn't know you were coming out here," was the weak excuse Lucas tried to give him.

"That's a given," Will said after getting up without the help of his father's hand while Mimi turned her back to button her shirt back up.

"I don't know what to say," Lucas' voice cracked, hating the fact that his son had caught him with Mimi. He knew there wasn't a doubt in his mind that Will knew exactly what was going on between the two of them.

"I guess you better think of what you need to tell Mom." Will shook his head in disgust, wiping the tears from his eyes that had formed after finding them together.

"Will, please let me explain," Lucas called out to him, but Will never turned around to give him a chance to say anything else. Jamming his keys into the ignition with tears blurring his vision, he finally cranked his car, driving away from the unfinished house as fast as he could, he didn't want to believe it, but he'd saw it with his own two eyes. His father was cheating on his mother.

Life just sucked, his sister was sick in the hospital, his mom was doing the best she could to hold it all together and now his father was getting some on the side with another woman. Will took out his cell phone and punched in a number to call one of his best friends. He had told Arthur earlier that he was going to try to spend some time with his family, but now he realized his family was falling apart all around him and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

The Gift

Part XX

"Belle, you have got to see this," Sami exclaimed as soon as she and Phillip walked into the door to Madison's room.

Belle looked around the room to see Claire, Madison and Ciara hugging one another and singing as loud as they possibly could. Their tiny voices sounding so sweet combined together.

"Thank you for allowing Claire to come visit with Madison today. I was telling Hope earlier that I think having Claire and Ciara here have made all the difference in to the world to her." Sami reached out to envelope her sister into a hug.

As soon as Claire realized Belle was in the room she ran over to her, "Mommy look! I've been crowned the fairy of love and light!" She twirled on her tiptoes, causing them all to clap.

"You have, haven't you?" Belle admired the tiara on Claire's head, as Phillip leaned down to her.

"That is such a great honor," Phillip chimed in causing Claire to instantly turn to him to grab him in a fierce hug.

"Daddy, you're here! Come see Madison," Claire tugged on Phillip's hand leading him over to where Madison and Ciara were still playing.

Sami and EJ at the same time glanced questioningly over at Belle while Phillip went to speak to the girls.

"I know, I know, Claire's father is Shawn, but she insists that she has two daddies," came the explanation from Belle without either one of them asking her about it.

"Well Phillip did raise her for a while and we all thought that he was her father at first," Sami tried to help Belle rationalize why Claire would call Phillip daddy, but realized she was only making it worse and bit her lower lip after she quit speaking.

"It's okay, I've done it to myself and Claire, not ever making a clear choice between Shawn and Phillip," Belle shrugged her shoulders after making her reply.

"Don't you think you need to finally make a decision concerning the two of them or are you going to have both them still trying to win your affections when we are old and gray?" Sami asked starting to feel a giggle trying to escape envisioning Phillip and Shawn both pitting one against the other in their old age.

Belle hit Sami on the arm playfully, "I will soon, maybe." As she eyed Phillip and Claire together, Phillip catching her wishful glance towards them caused him to straighten up and tell Madison goodbye. Claire hugged both Madison and Ciara and walked back with Phillip.

"Sure you will," Sami winked while she teased her younger sister.

Belle stuck her tongue out at Sami, and then hugged her once more. "Call me if you need anything."

"I will," Sami nodded as Belle, Phillip and Claire stood in the doorway.

"Love you," Belle called out to Sami as they turned to leave.

"Love you too," Sami said watching the three walk down the hallway together.

"Well that was interesting," EJ piped in after they had left the room.

"Things with my family are always interesting. Haven't you figured that out by now?"

"I'm slowly coming to see it," EJ replied as Hope reappeared from visiting one of the officers of Salem's Police Department who had been hospitalized earlier in the week.

"Thanks for letting me check on Officer Kelley," Hope said entering the room and gathering up Ciara's things from her visit with Madison this afternoon. Ciara hugged Madison and then she and Hope left them alone.

Madison walked over to Sami and EJ, her eyes drooping she was so tired. EJ effortlessly picked her up and carried her back to her bed. Touching her nose he asked, "So my little sprite, what do you want for dinner?"

"Nothing, I'm so tired," Madison did her best to stifle a yawn, but it came out anyway.

"Go to sleep then and we'll get you something later when you wake up," EJ leaned over and kissed Madison on the forehead after pulling the covers up around her.

Sami leaned over on the other side of her bed and kissed her goodnight too, then looked up to find EJ staring curiously over at her.

"What?" Sami asked, wondering what EJ was thinking about.

"It's nothing," EJ started to walk off to go to the window, but Sami caught him by the hand before he made it across the room.

"Tell me," Sami urged, seeing that EJ had wanted to say something to her before he thought better of it.

"It was nice for us both to be able to tuck Madison in together tonight," EJ tried to look away from her; afraid he was saying too much.

"It was nice," Sami agreed with a sad smile. "It's something we haven't had much practice with her together, have we?"

"No," EJ shook his head sadly, wanting to reveal so much more to Sami, but knowing she didn't want to hear what he had to say.

"I wanted to thank you," Sami said sensing EJ wasn't going to say anything else on the subject.

"For what?" EJ asked not knowing what Sami meant.

"For making Madison have such a wonderful day, you have such a way with her that I never even fully realized until…" but she couldn't finish her sentence as her eyes filled with tears. She closed her eyes for a minute hoping to banish the oncoming tears and was successful with the exception of one stray tear that tracked across her cheek.

EJ took his fingertip to her face, wiping her tear away, "You don't have to thank me for loving our daughter. I love her more than life itself."

"I know you do," Sami reached up on her tip toes to give EJ a quick hug along with a kiss on the cheek before she turned away from him. Reaching to get her pocketbook and bag of dirty clothes from a closet in the room, she retrieved both items she was looking for. She needed to get out of here for a while before she ended up making a fool of herself in front of EJ. "I think I'm going to go home to get a few things. I'll be back soon. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine," was all he said before turning to look out the hospital window, wanting to reach out to her, but afraid to do so at the same time. He looked up to the stars after she left the room wondering if he'd ever find the courage to tell Sami how he truly felt about her especially after all this time had passed, then he pondered the notion of if she'd even care.

The Gift

Part XXI

Sami entered her house hoping to see either Will or Lucas, but feeling dejected when it was apparent neither one of them were around. She went to go do a load of laundry and to retrieve some more of Madison's pj's along with picking out some other clothes for her to wear while she continued her stay at the hospital.

Usually Christmas was her favorite time of year, especially since Madison had been born; even Will had gotten back into the festivities as the holidays rolled around. Telling Madison of all the wonderful things Santa Claus would bring to her, but as she made her way into the living room where she usually put their Christmas tree, there was only a vacant spot.

Truth be told, Sami was dreading Christmas this year more than anything. All she wanted was for Madison to get well and she had not been prepared for what the past few weeks had held for her. She shook her head wearily; she hadn't even gone shopping and didn't feel the desire to do so. Maybe she'd speak with Belle and she could help her out. Sami didn't want Will to feel like she was neglecting him.

Speaking of neglect, she'd rarely even spoken to Lucas in days, only talking for brief moments in passing if he came to the hospital or called her cell phone. Everyday it seemed more of a struggle to keep things going smoothly between them. She knew Lucas hated her being around EJ, but that couldn't be helped. She could no more deny EJ to be around Madison for only certain allotted amounts of time, now they both stayed with her as much as possible, custody agreements flown out the window and completely disregarded.

Sami surveyed the living room once more, a feeling of deep sadness coming over her. She always prided herself on being strong, but with every piece of bad news they had been receiving over Madison's prognosis, she felt her strength fading. For once, she wanted to run and hide, to forget her problems, to lose herself in her lover's arms and then the reality of her wishes struck home, the man she wanted these things from was not her husband, instead it was EJ.

She didn't want to hurt Lucas, but knew deep within her heart if she kept up this charade of a marriage to him that she'd end up hurting him all the more. Regret was a bitter pill to swallow as she sat there in the dark, wishing for some way to release herself from the bonds of marriage to a man she no longer wanted to be with and the intense longing to be with the one man she knew she had hurt just as badly by not being willing to admit her true feelings to in the first place.

"You've really made a mess of things," Sami uttered to herself in the dark as she wrapped her arms around her legs and began to cry, not knowing whether the tears came from the constant worry she now lived with that Madison might not make it or the reality that her so called perfect marriage to Lucas was slowly crumbling away right before her very eyes.

Finally her tears were spent, but she was still no closer to the truth than before she had begun to shed her tears. The reality of the entire situation staring her straight in the face, life was too short to be living a lie, but how on earth was she going to be able to break the news to Lucas and Will? Then a nagging thought raised it's ugly head in her mind that even if she divorced Lucas would EJ even want her in his life beyond her being a mother to Madison?

She shook her head, dispelling the traitorous thoughts; it didn't matter whether or not EJ wanted to be with her. What was important was telling Lucas the truth and setting him free to find love with someone who could truly give him everything to him because she had not been able to do so being his wife. Lucas deserved better than what she had given him, which was only a small portion of her heart, sadly the rest had belonged to EJ from the first time she'd laid eyes upon him.

Finally acknowledging the fact was bittersweet, but she had to do this, even if it broke Will's heart, she was going to do what was past time needing to be done. She was going to ask Lucas for a divorce and prayed that she wouldn't lose her son in the process of dissolving a marriage that never should have been united in the first place.

"There you are," Lucas caught up to Will drinking with some of his buddies down by the river. As soon as they saw Lucas approach, they backed away from Will and gave him some privacy with his dad.

"Go away Dad," Will warned as he continued drinking his beer, with no regard to his father's struggle with alcohol.

"No, we need to talk," Lucas insisted as he tried to take the bottle of beer away from Will only to be rewarded with a sneer of contempt from his son.

"You know the funny thing is I always blamed Mom for screwing things up between the pair of you, when I really should have seen that you're the real screw up in this twisted relationship," Will took another long draw from the bottle of beer emptying it, then throwing it as hard as he could in the direction of a tree that was nearby his car.

"Will, there are things you don't understand," Lucas began only to be cut off quickly by his son.

"Please spare me the a man has needs speech," Will spat back disgustedly. "I'm hardly a boy and I know all about sex and have for a very long time. So don't try to patronize me with some crap about how mom isn't enough for you."

Lucas was taken aback hearing the venom in his son's voice and hating the fact with all his heart that his affair with Mimi being found out this way by him.

"Will, it isn't that way," Lucas tried again to tell Will exactly what was on his heart.

"Dad, please I caught you and Mimi ready to get it on and you're telling me it isn't what I think it is? Give me a little more credit than this!"

"I love your mom; I'm just not in love with her anymore."

"Guess what? When she finds out what you've been doing behind her back there will be hell to pay!"

"Honestly I think she'll be relieved," Lucas said with a resignation in his voice, causing Will to take a second glance in his father's direction.

"I can't believe you are saying that, Mom will be crushed to find out that you have been cheating on her!"

"Will, you're a smart kid, way smarter than I could ever hope to be and surely you can see your mom and I haven't been happy in a long time," Lucas was opening up to Will man to man and it was easier than he thought this conversation would be between them.

"Dad, do you love Mimi?"

"Yeah, I do, not that I don't love your mom, Sami has been such a big part of my life that I'm scared to let go of her. I don't want to hurt you or her, but I want to be with Mimi and she wants to be with me. I was going to tell Sami all about my feelings for Mimi when this stuff came up with Madison and now I don't know what to do. I feel like a huge jerk because despite it all, I still want to be with Mimi."

Will wiped the tears from his eyes, angry that he was even crying, hearing his father speak the words out loud was even harsher to accept than Will seeing his father with another woman besides his mom.

"Dad, you owe it to mom to be honest with her," Will finally spoke, his voice cracking as he was on the verge of tears again.

"I know I do son, I just have to find the right time to tell her," Lucas said his voice filled with sadness because he knew it was finally time to let Sami go and he really didn't know how he'd be able to do it.