Moonlit Wishes
Book II, Part XXV
She got dressed in record time after brushing her teeth; she also attempted to brush at her wayward hair which of course wasn't going to behave for her this morning. She almost put on mascara and then shook her head; she was determined not to primp for EJ. He was here for the children, that was the reason she had asked him to stay, not for her to sashay around the house trying to attract his attention.
Because she wasn't going to do anything like that around him. She had come such a long way in these past months, she was reclaiming her life on her own terms, she felt like she was finally giving her children the attention they deserved and needed, she hadn't had any kind of drama going on in her life and they had all worked so hard together on the house.
She was proud of this house too, she had learned she could do things she hadn't thought possible. She wasn't a needy clingy woman desperate for a man's attention either. She was budgeting her money wisely and the only funds she had used from the fund EJ had set up for her use was to help refurbish the house and even then she hadn't used more than she had deemed necessary.
She smiled as she walked into the kitchen ready to make the children breakfast. She liked this time of the morning before anyone was up; it was her quiet time which was a rarity in this household. She went to the coffee pot first off; she had to get her first cup of coffee in her before she began cooking.
She was glad it was the weekend; it meant the children would be able to sleep in a little while later and it also was nice not to be so rushed in the morning. She had learned what it was like to keep things all together for them all without being in a harried mess too. She knew now she could take care of the children along with herself and not fall apart when things didn't go exactly as planned.
She had relied too much on her grandmother and other family members to help take care of the children when she should have been doing it on her own. So she guessed she did have EJ to thank in a roundabout way in helping her grow up and take responsibility for her actions.
Well most of them anyway, she wasn't ready to admit to all her faults and yes she knew she had faults and shortcomings, but she was trying to rectify many of those things. At least she was being realistic everything wasn't going to change overnight for her even though patience was still something that was hard for her to achieve.
Much like how she knew it was unrealistic to hope for her and EJ to be friends again, but even as she had said it to him last night that she had wanted that to happen, she really missed the man who had written her such honest letters about their lives together and apart.
Maybe this could be a new phase for them; she could be friends with a man without becoming romantically involved.
Her first cup of coffee finished she arose wanting to forget that stupid dream from the night before, she needed to make breakfast. She pondered what to make wondering if she should do something special since EJ was here and then she decided against it. No special treatment for him, he could just eat what she prepared for all of them or he could make something else himself.
She nodded to herself, feeling better already. She was going to keep their routine and hopefully her sanity too. EJ being here wasn't going to be difficult for her because she could handle him being around the house.
EJ awoke feeling more than slightly disoriented along with a case of jet lag from his flight back to the states, he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and go back to sleep. He needed to get dressed or dressed enough to retrieve his bags from his car so that he could get some fresh clothes, he didn't hear the children up yet and maybe he could freshen up some before they awoke.
He got out of bed, quickly making it up and reached for his pants, pulling them on and then his dress shirt next, not worried about getting all the buttons buttoned on it since he was going to get out of it as soon as he got his other clothes anyway. He walked down the hallway wondering which rooms belonged to who and guessed he would find all that information out sometime later in the day.
He walked down the stairs, ready to go out the door to his car when he stopped in his tracks, something smelled really good. He shook his head, he must be imagining things, Samantha didn't cook, but sure enough as he walked into the kitchen there she was with her back to him, singing some sort of song in an off key voice and swaying her hips as she was flipping pancakes.
He looked around thinking once again he was in some kind of alternate universe because she just didn't do these kinds of things or he didn't think she did, then again what did he know? He had been away for a while and he hadn't expected her to be here in the first place. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, and then as if she sensed his presence in the room she stopped singing and turned to face him, the spatula in her hand.
"You can set the table if you want to," she suggested before turning back around to work on finishing up with the pancakes, she wasn't going to burn them, especially if EJ was going to eat breakfast with them.
"Just let me get my bag from the car, change and then I guess I'll be right on it," EJ stated still wondering if this woman who looked like Samantha, but was a doppelganger instead. Why she was acting like him being here wasn't anything out of the norm.
"Good," she replied not turning back around to face him, placing her perfect looking pancakes on the plate she had by the griddle and then went to cutting up the fruit, never once breaking her stride.
EJ left the room, went to his car and hurried back to his room, opting to just splash some water on his face, he could shower later. He put on a pair of blue jeans and a polo shirt and was back in the kitchen pretty quickly. It was nice not to be dressed up, in fact in the last few months he had begun to dress more casually and found that he actually liked it.
Sami had finished up with the fruit and was pouring her another cup of coffee when EJ emerged, she took in his appearance noting his clothes and of course his hair that was cute, sticking up in places that weren't the norm for him. Damn how could he look good this early in the morning?
"Where are these dishes you need for me to set?" EJ asked thinking if he kept on task of working he wouldn't be distracted by how fetching Samantha looked this morning.
She turned to a cabinet and opened it for him, "The dishes are here, the silverware is in there, and I'll go get the kids up."
EJ stopped and looked around, his face unsure for a moment even though he didn't say anything.
"EJ that is ok isn't it? I mean you want to see the kids, don't you?" Sami asked almost placing a hand on his arm, but not quite making it since she wasn't sure how he would take the gesture.
"More than anything," EJ admitted quietly, "but are you sure this isn't going to confuse them by my being here?"
"I think they need to see you as badly as you want to see them," Sami answered honestly, she wasn't going to use the kids against him ever again, she was tired of how they used to wage war with the children as collateral damage so no matter what happened between them in the future she wasn't going to keep him from his children anymore.
"Okay," EJ tried to smile, but his insides felt like they were doing somersaults. He went to task of setting the table so that he could keep his hands busy.
Sami left the room; she knew he was apprehensive, although she also had talked to the children many times telling them when the time was right they would see their daddy again. She went to the girl's room first; Sydney and Allie shared a room because neither of them liked to be alone at night.
"Time to get up sleepyheads," Sami gently nudged them, Sydney awaking easier than her older sister and she clamored out of her bed, instantly going into her mother's arms.
Allie liked to sleep in and turned away from Sami mumbling incoherently about two more seconds or something along those lines, but she finally got up too, going to give her mother a hug while Sydney still clung to her tightly.
"Let's get Johnny up," Sami suggested as Allie trudged to her brother's bedroom while Sami held Sydney in her arms.
Allie jumped on her brother's bed to wake him up telling him if she had to get up then he had to do the same. Johnny was a lot like Allie not wanting to get up, yet he didn't want his twin giving him a hard time either about being lazy either.
Sami led the way with Sydney in her arms, the twins following her as the rounded the corner and entered the breakfast nook of the kitchen, none of them expecting to see anyone else in the house until Sydney reached out her tiny arms and squealed, "Daddy!"
Johnny pushed past Sami, thinking his baby sister was imagining things, but there he was, his daddy. "Daddy you are here!" He rushed up to him immediately grabbing EJ by the legs tugging on him as he reached down to give Johnny a big hug.
"I'm here son," EJ said trying to keep his voice from cracking as he hugged him tightly. Sami let Sydney down and she toddled over to him too wanting to get in on the hug. Allie hung back not sure of what she should do when EJ looked up with a smile and gestured for her to come to him too. She smiled back and reached out to them all as EJ sat in the floor and they all crawled in his lap.
EJ was overcome with emotion, he loved these children more than his life itself and they must love him too if this welcome was any kind of indication. He looked up from his spot on the floor and mouthed a silent thank you to Samantha as he continued to hug them to him, not wanting to let them go. He had missed them so much.
Sami mouthed back you're welcome to EJ and then she stepped back allowing them some time with their father, she stepped into the other room, wiping the tears from her eyes all the while thinking at least this was a good moment for them all, one that had been long overdue.
And she hoped they would have more moments like these in the future, god knew her children deserved some stabilty and happiness and she was determined they would have it no matter what the cost might be to her. Her children were worth it all.
Moonlit Wishes
Book II, Part XXVI
While Sami had grown quite used to the barrage of questions her children could come up with for any given situation, EJ wasn't as prepared for the multitude of questions they seemed to have for him once they had reached the table and began to eat breakfast together. It almost made Sami want to laugh out loud, but she didn't want to offend EJ either.
He was trying to field their queries as best as he could as his children interrupted one another in hopes to garner his full attention. He finally had to hold up his hand in the air suggesting they eat before their breakfast got cold along with reminding them it wasn't nice to interrupt each other while they were having a conversation. Reluctantly they stopped trying to one up each other for a few minutes and Sami was impressed, at least EJ could make them do things they did not seem to want to do.
She was curious too as to what he had been doing these past few months although she would never admit that fact to him at all. She wasn't going to give him the big head thinking that she had missed him, the children had missed him, but she had been far too busy to give the man sitting at the table with them sharing breakfast like it was something they did every morning more than a cursory thought every now and then even though she knew that wasn't true at all.
She took a bite of her fruit medley savoring the combined flavors all the while trying to convince her mind that she wasn't going to be thinking of him beyond what they would need to do in the raising of their children. She really wanted to be friends with him again, but he didn't seem too keen upon the idea himself. Maybe in time they could regain their friendship or at least she hoped so because if they didn't living here together would end up being quite frustrating.
Well she had friends now, Chris was without a doubt her best friend, he always told her the truth, painfully so many times. She had grown to respect and admire him, he was who he was and didn't let anyone else's opinion of him drag him down, something she was slowly learning how to do on her own. She had also made some friends with a few of the girls at work, at least the less catty ones and she was able to discern who actually wanted to be her friend from the ones who only wanted to get closer to her brother Brady by an association with her.
At least she was finally getting along with Brady; he hadn't condemned her for moving into this house and trying to start her life over even if she was doing her best to keep him away from that serpent Nicole. Why Brady hadn't tried to fire her after Philip left town was a mystery to him. He insisted that while Philip wasn't in Salem, he was still in charge of the broadcasting portion of the company. Somehow Sami believed he wanted that ho Nicole around or he could have found a way to let her go from her job if he had really wanted to do so.
Luckily Nicole wasn't where she could come into contact with her for the most part except for when she did news excerpts of the upcoming spring issue of Bella magazine. Brady had stressed to them all the more positive publicity the magazine received the better the circulation would be in the long run which would benefit them all. Sami still thought Nicole was only doing the interest stories to get Brady to notice her once more, not because she actually cared if the magazine actually succeeded. She knew the tactics you had to use to get what you wanted and Nicole was taking full advantage of this situation to further her own agenda.
She grimaced thinking that most men couldn't see that gold digging tramp for what she was, present company included, which was nothing short of a misty circle of skankiness to the upmost degree. So lost in thought about her nemesis that she barely heard Johnny ask her if they were still going to paint another room today, that was at least until Allie chimed in asking her mother if they could go thrift store shopping today instead especially since EJ was here. Then Sydney was babbling about her daddy needed to play dolls with her and no work today.
She shook her head, trying to grasp the conversation around her as EJ gave her a look as if he was wondering where she had gone to in her mind while they were all eating breakfast together. She guessed he was trying to keep up with all of their conversations all at once while she had zoned out momentarily.
Today, she had something planned of what was she supposed to do today when it hit her like a ton of bricks, Chris had agreed to come over this morning to watch the kids for her while she went to Keith's spin class. Since she was writing a piece for the fitness portion of the magazine she needed all the experience she could get before her article was finished. She really wanted to do a good job on it since it was going to be her first published piece for Bella magazine.
EJ coming in last night had completely made her forget that she had to get a move on because Chris would be here any minute and she hadn't even given it a second thought about having to take spin class this morning. EJ's arrival had thrown her off course to say the least.
"Hey guys, remember Chris is coming over this morning," Sami reminded the kids as she started to get up from the table in a rush, needing to get the breakfast dishes at least to the sink because there was no way she'd have time to wash them before it was time to leave she would just have to take care of that chore when she returned home.
"Yay Chris!" Johnny and Allie both said in unison which caused EJ to slightly frown.
EJ thought to himself who the hell was Chris and why were his children so happy to know that he was coming over this morning. Sami saw the look that crossed his face knowing he wasn't particularly happy with this turn of events although before she could explain who Chris was in regards to her and the children, he let himself into the house coming into the kitchen amidst the chaos his arrival had caused.
Chris hadn't even noticed EJ sitting at the table while he asked, "Girlfriend why aren't you ready to go to spin class? I got up early on my day off just for you and here you are sitting around…"
"Chris, sorry I totally forgot that I'd asked you to babysit for me. EJ came in late last night and it slipped my mind completely," Sami tried to explain when Chris stopped in his tracks, giving EJ a through once over, his eyes lighting up with something akin to mischief in them which starting sending warning bells off in Sami's head knowing there was no telling what might come out of his mouth because Chris usually said what he thought before he realized it.
And with Chris you never knew what he might say and she surely didn't need for him to be telling EJ any of her secrets. EJ didn't need to know her thoughts she had shared with Chris about him, not at all.
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Moonlit Wishes
Book II, Part XXVII
EJ wiped his mouth on his napkin, before scooting the chair back and standing up to his full height, instantly towering over Chris' stature, he still wasn't sure what role this man was playing in Samantha's or his children's life although he was determined to find out. It wasn't that he was jealous, just cautious, you never could be too sure about these shifty types his former wife let into her life.
Chris wasn't daunted by EJ in the least as he tried to curb his smile; he just looked him over as if he knew something the extremely tall man standing before him apparently didn't know. He was trying very hard not to glance in Sami's direction at all because she was wearing one of those you better not say a word or I'll kill you later look, one he was beginning to know very well over these past few months.
"You don't remember me do you?" Chris asked thinking he sure remembered Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome very well, not to mention that his new best friend was still hung up on him even if she didn't want to admit that fact to anyone just yet.
"Pardon," EJ tried to place the guy, but he was failing miserably, maybe after Samantha had shot him it had done something to his short term memory, one never could be very sure what a shot to the head would do to you over the long haul.
"That's okay, I'm going to let you off the hook because I know Sami isn't going to leave the room until she decides that we can get along with one another," Chris stated in a matter of fact tone which caused Sami to start to walk over to where he stood also.
"Chris," Sami began while EJ tried his best to remember where he had seen this guy before and then he got it.
"Oh yes, you're the guy from the gym that Sami pretended to be buddies with in hopes of getting me jealous," EJ started to smile as he recalled the scene vividly now that he had thought about it some.
Sami huffed as she linked her arm within Chris' arm, " I did no such thing at all. As you can plainly see, Chris and I are friends and have been friends for like forever."
Somehow EJ most always could tell when Samantha was lying which was about 90 percent of the time give or take a few percentage points, although he would let it slide since it appeared that while the first time he had met this man he and Samantha were not bosom buddies apparently they were now.
"Well are you going to spin class or not?" Chris asked eyeing the cupboards so that he could get him a plate down to eat breakfast with the kids.
"Yes, I'm going to change for class," Sami unlinked her arm and left the room although she wasn't sure if she should of not. Both of these men knew way too many of her deep dark secrets than was entirely necessary and she didn't want them to start trading stories she had shared with either one of them.
"Spin class?" EJ asked after she left the room wondering exactly why Samantha was going to a class to learn how to weave yarn.
Chris looked at EJ as if he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, surely everyone knew what spin class was, then again the man could be all looks and no brains despite what Sami had told him. "You know you ride the stationary bike with the rest of the students in the class for like what seems an eternity yet it reality it is only an hour."
EJ rolled his eyes; Samantha was going to go to a class to ride a stationary bike for an hour. That would be so easy and here this man was talking like it was torture.
"You've never been to class before?" Chris asked as an ideal sparked, this would be fun if he could get him to agree to it.
"Doesn't seem like it would be much of a challenging class, I mean it's a bike that doesn't go anywhere," EJ said with doubt in his voice, why he bet anyone could do it.
"Well I would go with her, but I promised Sami I'd stay with the kids this morning and then there is that one other thing too," Chris said then stopped before saying more.
"What thing?" EJ asked thinking it couldn't be much of anything, but Chris was sparking his interest a tad bit.
Chris leaned into EJ and whispered so that the children couldn't hear him, "Those spin bitches kind of scare me sometimes."
"Excuse me; did you just say spin bitches?" EJ asked back low enough for the kids not to hear him either.
"Well some of those women take the class very seriously," Chris said solemnly with a nod of his head.
"How hard could this class be? I mean it's a bike that doesn't move," EJ scoffed thinking Samantha was probably wasting her time with an exercise class that wouldn't be all that hard to do anyway, he doubted you even broke a sweat during it.
Sami came into the room catching the last part of EJ's remarks, her hands going to her hips, "EJ why don't you come to class with me, I mean if you think it is so easy and all."
"You should," Chris chimed in with her. "I mean I'm already here set to stay with the kids and you could go work out for a while with Sami and then come back and have the rest of the day to spend with your family."
"I've got some clothes in the car," EJ said thinking he could show Sami a much better way to work out if she was determined to go the gym.
"I'll wait for you, but we need to hurry," Sami said thinking EJ wasn't going to know what hit him when he got to class.
"You mean a lot of people want to take this class?" EJ asked as he went over to kiss each child on the top of their head before he went to go get his clothes.
"Well a few," Sami said while Chris stood behind her mouthing those crazy spin bitches which EJ thought was kind of odd, but Chris appeared to be somewhat of a different kind of character anyway. He turned and went to get his clothes.
Sami leaned in to Chris, "You are so bad. He has no clue as to what he is getting into by taking the class."
Chris tried not to giggle, "I know, I'm a devil and you love it."
"Of course I do," Sami agreed happy that she had him as a friend. Chris was fun and he being slightly evil was just a plus.
EJ came back a few minutes later changed into some workout clothes, "I can drive if you would like Samantha."
"Great let's go," she smiled brightly at EJ and then told the kids goodbye all the while hoping Chris wasn't going to burst out laughing that she was dragging EJ into taking a spin class with her. Poor man was about to see how tough it was riding a bike that went nowhere and she was going to love every minute of it.