Part 12 :)

Valentines Day, 2005

Lucas had insisted that it was good exercise, and that besides he wanted to show her off, so Sami agreed to a dance in the ballroom recently opened in the BBI tower. He was wearing a midnight blue suit and tie, with a grey blue silk shirt, and Sami had found an off shoulder dress and stole that shimmered with the same color. She was less than four full months pregnant and carrying twins made Sami feel like she was carrying a library of Congress sized globe around, most days. But she loved being in her gorgeous guy's arms more than ever, even though she kidded him that pretty soon he'd need extensions. or a forklift.

"Naw, if I run into that problem, I'll just ... do some more weight training. You liked the results, pretty much last time."

"Pretty much." she agreed, grinning. "Of course I did. And I do. Cause this time I've got the beau of the ball in my arms. There isn't a woman in Salem tonight who doesn't envy me right now, and I'm loving it."

"Well, I always have been a prize stud." Lucas joked back. "Hey, maybe we should rent me out ... like a real thorougbred."

Sami rolled her eyes and giggled. "That's all we need, dozens of half sisters and brothers for Will! Lucas! He's going to have to move to Istanbul as it is to find someone he's not related to!"

"Jeesh, don't give the kid any ideas!" Lucas exclaimed in mock alarm.

"Yes, General."

"Okay, now I know I'm in trouble." he groaned.

"Not until we get home, General." Sami laughed, "Then you'll have the kind of trouble you like best."

"Sami, do you seriously think I'd ravish a definitely pregnant and very married woman?"

"Only the one you're married to, But I'm sorry, Lucas, I have to ... excuse myself, and would you please get me another glass of tomato juice, I'm thirsty again."

Sami made her way across the floor, and sighed, She hadn't forgotten this part of being pregnant, she just had pushed it to the back of her mind. And despite all of Dr Bader's assurances, every nuance and twinge this time worried Sami. She had to smile though, noting that at least a quarter of the women here tonight were expecting as well. Salem was coming back to life again and this was just another sign. Everyone in the room was far more relaxed tonight, she thought, then they had been in the past few weeks. The conclusion of a Federal trial held in Chicago had come through and it almost seemed as if the town itself heaved a sigh of relief.

Rosa Adrianna Lenouri and Lawrence James Alamain were convicted of conspiring and committing multiple murders, attempted murders and a long list of other charges. They were sentenced to life without parole, just as the first month of a new year ended. And they were sent to Federal lockups thousands of miles away from Salem. The long nightmare was over.

Sami returned to find Lucas had lined up not just one but three more glasses of tomato juice around her plate, which he had filled with his, and Will's eclectic idea of a salad, artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, romaine lettuce, pickled beets, and avocado. Strategically placed in separate containers next to this concoction were containers of ripe olives, mozzarella, and Russian dressing.

"Lucas!" Sami laughed as she sat down, "This is big enough for the five of us!"

"And very heart-healthy too, Put the cheese on top for protein and you're good to go." her husband grinned, his eyes glinting with laughter.

"Well, I am eating for three of the five of us." she shrugged and began to dig in. "But I'm really craving egg foo yung, satay, sticky rice and spring rolls."

"We'll get to that, I'm sure." Lucas agreed, But then he was distracted as Tony walked over with Anna on one arm and Liz on the other. "Gee, I guess some guys have all the luck!" Lucas shook his head,

"Nonsense." Tony replied, "My dear friends insisted I bring them over immediately to ask after your bride. How are you getting along with this sorry excuse for a husband, Sami?"

"He'll do." Sami laughed, picking up an old joke between them, "Until you're free again. But I don't see that happening with three women already chasing you, "

Tony put one hand thoughtfully to his face as if bewildered by her words, then grinned. "I suppose I'm just a ... what is it Cassie insists on saying ... a magnet?"

As if on cue, Carrie, Billie, Maggie, Laura.  and Kate rushed up to welcome the Count, who'd by habit come to the ball fashionably late. Scott, Mike, Mickey, Tommy and John followed them at a less hectic pace.

"Trying to beat my time with Katherine, brother?" Tony jibed.

"I might," John broke into a grin. "Except IzzyB'd have my guts for garters. You're late, Any news?"

Sami's ears almost physically perked up at the tone of her stepfather's voice. He and Tony didn't get along any more perfectly than she and Carrie, but they seemed in the past few months to have developed a kind of private code. And all she knew for sure when they used it in front of others, was that something was definately up. Glancing at Kate and then Lucas, she saw that her coconspirators had picked up the same clue.

"It's Valentines Day night." Kate protested, greeting Tony in her own way. "What news could there be?"

"None that I know of." Tony answered, with a shuttered expression that to the practiced eye said just the opposite.

"John, I'm crushed." Sami declared, with a wink at the others. "You've been here all night and not once asked me to dance."

"Now that, Isabella will never object to." John smiled, and held out his hand to his stepdaughter. "You look so much like Doc tonight." he said quietly when they'd begun to dance "It's almost scarey."

"I always wanted to, thanks. But after these two soccer players come into the world, I'll never be the same."

"No, you'll be three times as happy as you are tonight. Trust me on that one, Twinner."

"John, I do trust you. That's what makes this so hard. I think you're not telling us something. And I think you and Tony and Victor of all people are together on whatever it is. And I think I have, we have a right to know."

"That's very straightforward." John said, obviously fighting to keep a straight face.

"I tried stealth. I gave it up for Lent." Sami joked. "So?"

"Samantha Gene, that curiosity of yours ... is another thing you have in common with Marlena, and Tinker Belle. And its really not a good idea .."

"Lucas," Tony was saying at the same moment, as his son and his past and present lovers, friends and his stepdaughter surrounded him. "Not only is this completely against Marquis of Queensbury rules, but I don't think it a very good idea ..."

"Isabella, I have no intention of informing, much less involving you in my business discussions with your husband, his brother or anyone." Victor protested as she cornered him across the room.

"And I have no intention of seeing blood on the hands of my father, my husband or my brother in law ever again." Isabella exclaimed, placing one hand firmly on each hip. "Neither does my son, or his fiancée." she added, as Chloe and Brady joined her. "Come on, we're joining the others."

"John," Sami went on, unhindered. "You forgot to mention my grandmother, my other two half sisters, or any of my aunts in that list. And I'm as stubborn as everyone of them."

"Tony, love, you're outnumbered here seven to one, and that wasn't counting Lucas." Kate advised him. "I suggest an honorable surrender. Now."

Within minutes the three men were cut off and sullenly considering their diminishing alternatives.

"This is not the time or place." John tried again, then fell quiet.

"There really isn't anything to tell..." Tony offered, but then shrugged and sighed.

"You are everyone of you making mountains out of molehills." Victor added.

"Then I suggest you explain to us the nature of those molehills, Dad." Phillip demanded, joining the growing crowd with Cassie, Andrew, and Belle, Stephany and Shawn in tow. "They attacked our families. Tell us what's going on."

"The lawyers Alamain hired are still working on their complaint that non US citizens were tried and convicted under US laws, in US Federal court." John answered.

"They don't have a legal leg to stand on. But they've plenty of assets to keep trying." Tony added.

"And we have the resources to make sure they fail in every attempt." Victor put it, bluntly.

"And just what is it you plan to do if your legal resources fail?" Lucas asked Tony, putting into words what he and Sami and Kate, and all the others feared.

"Stop them." came the answer from all three.

"How?" Sami asked, her throat almost closing with fear.

John turned to her with his eyes full of the compassion she remembered so well from her childhood. "By any means possible." he said, finally.

"You're going to set a trap for them." Brady told his father, without a hint of a question.

"It worked twice so far. And as they say," Tony answered. "Third times the charm."

"Fine," Kate interjected. "But as before, we work this together,"

"Or not at all." Lucas added.

"No!" Victor argued. "Haven't we lost too many that we loved already?"

"That's exactly the point." Sami answered him, head up and eye to eye with her old enemy. "We don't intend to lose anymore. Not even three headstrong old fools.:"