Moonlit Wishes
Book II. Part XXXVI

The days after her telephone conversation with her mother passed by quickly, more quickly than Sami wanted it to go since she was dreading going to her mother's apartment for Thanksgiving dinner. While she had been happy EJ agreed to go with her, she was still worried over how the day would go.

Her and holidays usually spelt disaster, not joyous memories to relive over and over once the occasion had passed. The kids were excited, it had been ages since they had experienced a holiday with both of their parents, not having to be shuttled from one place to another and for that fact Sami was grateful for not having to endure the added stress.

When she and EJ were at odds, it really made for a hellish time and god knew the children were apt to remember more of the bad times instead of the good or maybe that pertained more to she and EJ instead of them. She shook her head, most days she had a better handle on things or she had lately, but she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit she was already rattled and she hadn't even stepped foot into her mother's domain.

She'd really tried to not lie to herself lately, well about most things anyway, her burgeoning feelings for EJ was the huge exception to her rule. Well most times she tried not to think about him if she possibly could, although it was darn near impossible for the most part since they were living together.

Kind of living together, she guessed the kids were glad they had both of them under one roof, yet at times she was still unsure if they were doing the right thing because she knew things wouldn't work out. They never had where they were concerned.

She knew she was the big reason they hadn't worked out before, she had shunned EJ, ran away from him countless times when he had swallowed his pride and practically begged her to admit her feelings for him, to give into the constant pull both of them felt for one another.

Yet she hadn't done it, she'd been too afraid to let go because letting go meant losing what little control she had over her life. EJ hadn't realized what a force he was in her life, he could destroy her completely and several times she had felt that way after dealing with him.

Too many times to count, if the truth were to be told, still the mere thoughts of them tearing into one another would rear its head from time to time. She could see it in his eyes too, that was when she could ever catch him looking her way which was seldom.

These days when EJ was around her, he usually made sure the kids were with them and then concentrated solely on them. The other night when had agreed to come with her and the children for Thanksgiving had been a rarity. It was like EJ preferred to keep his distance from her.

Or maybe that was just her overactive imagination working again. Chris told her time and time again that she was overthinking things when it came to her ex, to which she calmly told him that she'd always had to be two, preferably three steps ahead of when dealing with EJ.

Chris scoffed at her, saying it was only a matter of time before they crossed this crazy boundary they had with one another.

She just rolled her eyes at her new best friend; he didn't know the entire story of how volatile things were between them. No one really did, except for them. Sure her family knew some things, but not all of them and she really wanted to keep it that way. Her family was bad enough and now she and EJ were in a few short hours going straight into their line of fire.

Thankfully it wasn't the Brady gathering, that would have been even worse.

Right?

Guess she would know soon enough, as she heard everyone in the house in various stages of getting ready to go. She really didn't want to go, but what could she do and it would make her seem ridiculous to EJ if she admitted how badly the prospect of spending time with her family scared her.

So now things were different, but even though she had come so far over these past few months, she was afraid all her hard work would be vanquished from one harsh criticism from her mother.

She hoped her children didn't feel that way about her ever.

She wished she could get sick, just so she wouldn't have to go, but EJ would see through her, he'd know she wasn't really sick. She ususally could pull off a pack of lies to everyone around her, but not him.

Why was that? Why could EJ always see when she wasn't being truthful? And lastly why did it now bother her if he thought she was lying about anything? It never had before.

She ran her hands through her tangled mass of hair and shook it out hoping in the process she could shake out her bad case of nerves that had developed today along with the startling realization that she cared what EJ thought about her.

She wished she could say to herself that today was going to be just fine and dandy, well she could, but somehow when she glanced at her appearance in the mirror it wasn't helping.

She just hoped dinner would go smoothly and quickly…

Moonlit Wishes
Book II, Part XXXVII

The minutes flew by and of course she wasn't ready to go, her room was evidence of that seeing as she had more than a dozen outfits scattered all over her bed and a few even lying on the floor where she had tried on various things thinking this outfit would be the one when she would turn around to look in the mirror and then shake her head. This one the color was all wrong, the next one slightly a bit too tight in the bust line, and then the next one she tried made her ass look as wide as a barn.

"Damn it!" she cursed as she was in the process of tossing another outfit onto her bed, not even noticing Allie standing at her doorway while she reached into her closet to find another outfit to try on.

Allie could sense her mother was nervous about something; she got that way sometimes when they were pressed for time, so she backed out of the room, opting to go find EJ to help her with her barrette for her hair. She knew Sydney was too little to get it in straight and had been hoping her mom could help her, but after watching her for a few minutes without interrupting her she thought her mom needed more help getting ready than she obviously did.

She walked downstairs, barrette in hand, wanting it to be affixed in her hair which she had proudly braided all by herself without her mom's help, but she was afraid she was going to pull the braid out if she tried to get it into her hair. She didn't dare think of asking Johnny, he would pull her hair out and laugh if she got mad at him for doing so to her.

EJ was in the living room with Johnny and Sydney, all of them sitting on the couch together, both huddling up close to him reading them a story while they were apparently waiting for she and her mother to get ready. The sight made Allie smile, she liked EJ living there, he made everything better and he never made her feel left out ever even though he wasn't her real daddy. Well sometimes she imagined he was her dad just like he was Sydney and Johnny's, but she never told anyone that, they just wouldn't understand and she didn't want to hurt her daddy's feelings although she hadn't seen him in months, just talked to him on the phone since he was still working in Japan for Grandmother Kate's company.

She stood there for a minute not wanting to bother EJ, but she really needed her hair fixed, she wanted to look nice today and EJ was always telling her she looked like a princess. She almost decided not to wear the barrette, but it was her favorite and it would look really nice in her hair.

EJ looked up from reading the story when he realized Allie was standing there so quietly, switching from one foot to the other like she sometimes did when she was trying to decide something. EJ put the book down and held out his hands to Allie to motion her closer to them.

"Sweetheart, do you need something?"

"Well," Allie began and then stopped before asking her question. EJ would think she was being vain wanting his help, but her mom had looked really busy. She still had her barrette in her hand, although maybe it was silly wanting to wear it today. She almost turned on her heel when EJ realized she wanted his help.

"Need help getting this in your hair?" EJ asked as Allie slightly nodded her head.

"Mom was busy and I didn't want to bother her." Allie said with a sigh.

"I'm afraid I'm not very talented in this area, but I'll try my best," EJ offered up as Allie handed him her barrette, standing very still in front of him especially when she heard Johnny groan aloud about girls being so silly. EJ looked to his son, shaking his head in warning for him not to say anymore, his son had a long way to go in learning the ways of women, but hopefully that would come in time. He was still learning so he couldn't expect his son to do much better. He put in the barrette the way Allie instructed him to do and finally he assured her it was perfect, just like her.

The smile and hug she bestowed on EJ when he was finished with the task was worth all of his clumsy efforts. She was going to be a beauty just like her mother, Allie being the child that looked most like Samantha out of all four of her children. For a second, he thought uncharitably she had lucked out by not getting any of Lucas' features and then stopped himself; he didn't need to think that way. Jealously hadn't gotten him anywhere and he was the one here with the children, he didn't add Samantha too into the mix, since he was trying his best to keep his distance so as not to get sucked back into wanting her again.

"Thank you EJ," Allie stepped back from him, as she swirled around once, her happy mood was infectious and the kids joined in telling her how pretty she looked.

"You are quite welcome sweet girl," EJ replied.

"Daddy, when are we going to Grandma Marlena's apartment?" Johnny asked growing impatient with being all dressed up and apparently not going anywhere.

EJ looked down at his watch, noticing the time, they should have been there already, but Samantha was nowhere to be seen.

"I think Mom may need your help," Allie offered up recalling how her mother hadn't been dressed and ready to go a few minutes earlier.

"I don't know about that," EJ began only to have all the children say they were ready to go. He sighed hoping she would suddenly appear at the bottom of the stairs announcing she was ready to go, but he knew better. Samantha didn't want to go to her mother's for dinner and she was probably racking her brain at the present moment trying to figure out a way to not attend.

He stood up from the couch, "I'll just go check on your mother to see if she is about ready to go."

"Good," Johnny uttered, as he pulled at his tie. He really didn't know why they had to get so dressed up. His daddy liked to wear suits, but he certainly didn't.

Although EJ didn't want to go to Samantha's room, he knew he really didn't have a choice seeing as Johnny was ready to start planning a mutiny if they didn't go soon.

Her bedroom looked like an explosion had occurred, an explosion of fabric of various colors that is, until a shirt hit him on the side of his face. He swiped it away only to see Samantha dressed in a barely there lacy slip over what he hoped was a bra and panties because he didn't know how he would deal with it if she was naked under that flimsy undergarment. She was so aggravated she hadn't even noticed him entering into her bedroom.

Well he hadn't given her notice of his presence, but the sight of her standing there, hands on her hips as she stood in front of her closet declaring to no one in particular that she didn't have a damn thing to wear was sorely tempting his resolve not to get close to her. Right now a lower part of his body was taking serious notice of her half undressed state and it was demanding he do something about it like go over there to her, flip her over the chair by her bed and take her from behind because it had been so damn long since he'd had sex that he felt like he was on the road to becoming a monk.

He told his lower regions to shut to hell up, no way was he doing something that disastrous, especially with her, the woman who could simultaneously make his blood boil and dash his dreams with a flick of her wrist as she tried to slap him away from her along with reminders of her voice laced with cruel rejection telling him he was never the one she loved.

Then his lower regions brought up the vision to him about her small hand grasping him tightly like she had done the night Sydney was conceived and he almost groaned aloud until he heard her scream.

"EJ what in the hell are you doing in my room?" Sami reached for a hanger with an outfit to bring in front of her.

That shriek instantly brought the vision quickly to an end, this was reality, and Sami still didn't want any part of him being near her intimately, her immediate reaction to seeing him in her bedroom was proof positive. He had to say something quickly or he was afraid she was going to start launching her discarded shoes in his direction and right now he didn't want various body parts to be harmed since one in particular felt like rock hard stone. She might break it off with a well-aimed hit from one of those monstrous high heeled Jimmy Choo's she loved to wear.

"The children were getting quite antsy waiting on you and they sent me to find out when you would be ready. I hate to tell you but we should have been at Marlena's fifteen minutes ago or at least that is what time you had informed me we needed to be prepared to face the firing squad as you called it."

Sami dropped the outfit she had clutched to her body and turned back to face her closet, her shoulders slumped in defeat as she announced, "EJ, I don't have anything to wear."

Sometimes he didn't know how he did it, but he walked over behind her, not close enough to invade her personal space even though he could smell the slight dash of perfume she had already placed behind one of her ears. He reached into her closet bringing out an emerald colored dress, one of his particular favorites he liked to see on her and held it out beside her so that she could take it from him.

"This one will look smashing on you," EJ stated quietly as she turned to face him, her doubt written all over her face in spite of his declaration. She still hadn't taken the dress from him as she turned to look into his eyes, wondering how he had ever been interested in her as a woman, she was a mess, a complete mess who couldn't even figure out which outfit to wear. "I always loved seeing you in this dress; you are such a vision of loveliness whenever you wear it."

"Thank you," she replied softly taking the dress from him and turning from him to pull it over her head, no need for shyness now EJ had seen more of her than her dressed in a slip and she hated that she had made them late, she didn't want to be the last one to show up which would only make her mother comment about her tardiness when they had dinner waiting. She reached behind her to try and zip the dress, but she was having trouble getting the zipper all the way up.

EJ stood there for a moment uncertain if she needed him to finish zipping her up; they hadn't been in such close proximity especially in a bedroom which had been a conscious effort on his part. He sensed she didn't want to ask him, damn they were such stubborn people, both of them in very different ways, but he needed to be a gentleman to her, there had been too many times when he hadn't shown her the respect she deserved.

"Allow me," he moved behind her and finished zipping up the dress, noting how it clung to her figure in all the right places and for the hundredth time he wondered what in the hell he was doing back in her life, living here because he was still attracted to her and this wasn't going to end well if they didn't put some space between them. He leaned in for just a moment and then pulled back from her.

"Thank you," Sami smoothed the dress down and looked at her reflection, thank goodness she had already applied her makeup or they would even be later than what they were already going to be and she was extremely grateful that EJ wasn't making her go alone with the children.

EJ simply extended his arm to her, which she took as he led her from her bedroom. She'd have a mess to clean up when she returned home, but at least he had given her the push to go, she had to face her family and hopefully with EJ by her side they couldn't do as much damage.

They and the children drove to Marlena's penthouse apartment, quiet for most of the way, the children talked enough so that it wasn't necessary to carry on a conversation anyway beyond answering their questions about what they thought they might have to eat for Thanksgiving and what Santa would bring them next month when Christmas came.

EJ helped get the children out of the car and was about to head in when he realized Samantha was still sitting in his car, he went over to her car door and opened it for her, stating she was going to have to get out sometime. He took her hand without thinking about it and told her as they were at the doorway. "Now smile like this is going to be the best night ever, and think it is just a few hours out of your life, we make an appearance, eat some food while the children get to see part of their extended family and then you can chill out when we get home and have a drink to relax."

"And forget about how awful my family truly is," Sami blurted out right as Marlena came over to greet them at the doorway, thankful she didn't catch what Sami had said to EJ about her family, which only caused EJ to break into a huge smile himself as he noticed how uncomfortable Marlena seemed to be with his presence by Samantha's side.

"Good evening Marlena, so lovely for you to invite us to dinner," EJ said after Sami had slipped her hand away from his and he took her mother's in his hands and placed a kiss upon her hand.

He had to stifle what he was afraid was going to be laughter when Marlena made a funny noise in her throat over his gesture and he was pretty sure he was going to have a great handle on this entire situation this evening, that was until he looked up and made eye contact with his latest ex-wife Nicole who had without thinking swept Sydney into her arms as soon as she had walked into the room.

He could feel Samantha start to bristle over the sight and knew she was going to make some smart ass retort. He reached back out to grasp her hand, knowing it would do no good, but hopefully Samantha wouldn't want to cause a scene in front of the children.

Sami tried to take her hand from EJ's feeling the pressure he was giving to her hand as she opened her mouth to tell that whore to take her hands off of her baby when suddenly he pulled on her, drawing her into his arms as he did the only thing he knew that would shut Samantha up from saying anything she would later regret.

He looked into her eyes which were flashing with ire and did something he knew he would regret instead.

He kissed her…