"Mom, why are we stopping?" Johnny asked, after almost bumping into his mother when she suddenly halted in front of the pub.
Sami peered through the window to see who was inside the Pub. Of course it was her luck that Kate was in there with her father. "I'm just not really looking forward to reuniting with Kate." She answered honestly.
"You haven't spoken to her since Lucas went to jail?" Johnny wondered and Sami shook her head. "I can ask Eric to meet you out here with Jude if that would make you feel more comfortable?" He offered.
Sami smiled at her son. "That's sweet of you." She said. "But no, I should just get this over with." She added and she took a deep breath before opening the door to walk inside, plastering a fake smile on her face.
"Hi Sweetheart." Roman said, already walking up to his daughter when she entered the Pub. He had noticed her standing outside.
"Hi dad." Sami said, walking into his open arms to give him a hug. She planned to give her father a quick hug but he wasn't having it and hugged her tightly.
"Are you okay?" Roman asked when he let go of his daughter. He had been worried about her ever since she rushed out of Salem after her non wedding to Lucas. Especially since he had barely heard from her. They usually facetimed at least once a month but Sami had kept putting it off.
"I'm fine." Sami answered, shooting him another fake smile. "How are you?" She asked politely.
Roman shot his daughter a doubtful look. "Things are good here." He answered, deciding not to get into it right away. "I heard why you are here. How did it go at the police station?" He asked, looking at both his daughter and grandson.
"It went well." Sami replied. "EJ decided to drop the charges against Tate."
Roman nodded "Who knew there was still some human left in that man, huh." He stated. "No offense Johnny." He quickly added, looking at his grandson.
"Don't worry about it, grandpa. I know how you and he feel about each other." Johnny replied. He had learned years ago to not get mixed up in the rivalry between the Brady's and DiMera's. "But I do think we should give my dad some credit for doing the right thing in the end."
"Johnny, I'm sorry but I don't believe your father does anything for the right reasons." Roman started and Sami shot him a look telling him to cut it out. "But you're a good son for believing in your father like you do." He added.
"So is Eric upstairs?" Sami asked, wanting to change the subject.
"I'm right here." Eric said, walking up to them with Jude in his arms. "And I've brought someone to meet you."
"Oh Eric, he's so beautiful." Sami said, feeling herself get a little teary eyed looking at her nephew who was staring back at her with big blue eyes.
"You want to give him his bottle?" Eric asked, knowing it would be a nice bonding moment for his son and sister.
"I would love to." Sami answered and she sat down at one of the tables so Eric could put Jude in her arms. The baby gave a contented sigh when she snuggled him in her arms.
"I'll go warm up a bottle." Roman offered.
"Thanks, dad." Eric said before sitting down across from his sister. Johnny sat down next to his mom.
"He's so…peaceful." Sami noticed. "Just like Will was when he was a baby."
"Just Will?" Johnny asked, taking a peek at the baby and letting him wrap his small hands around his finger.
"Yes, you and your sister were anything but peaceful. You couldn't lay still for a second." Sami answered, smiling at the memory. "And I can only imagine Sydney was the same." She added, the smile disappearing from her face.
"I cannot even imagine missing the first months of Jude's life." Eric told his sister while looking at this son.
"Well luckily you don't have too." Sami replied, shooting him a reassuring smile. "So where's his mom?"
"She's working right now." Eric explained. "But maybe you two can meet later on."
"Yeah, maybe." Sami agreed, looking at her watch. "I'm not sure yet what time my flight is."
"Well, maybe we'll get lucky and the storm tonight will ground all air traffic forcing you to stay with us a little while longer." Johnny said, giving his mother a smile.
"You don't want me to leave?" Sami asked her son, surprised.
"Of course not, mom. I haven't seen you in almost two years. And you've barely ever spent time with my wife." Johnny answered, suprised by his mother's question.
"I thought you wanted it that way." Sami said, confused.
"Just because I don't want you to meddle in my private life doesn't mean I don't want you to be in my life. There's a huge difference there!" Johnny exclaimed. "But I'm sorry if that wasn't clear to you." He apologized softly.
"No, don't be sorry, Honey." Sami told him quickly. "I guess my feelings and thoughts are just a little mixed up after everything that happened. "
"Sami, I know both EJ and Lucas betrayed your trust in the worst way but there's still people here in Salem you can trust. Like Johnny and me and mom and John." Eric told her.
"Mom and John?" Sami repeated, wondering why Eric didn't mention their father.
"Yes." Eric nodded before realizing he made a mistake.
—
"So how's Sami doing?" Kate asked her husband while he was preparing Jude's bottle behind the bar. She had chosen to keep her distance from Sami for now by staying in the back of the Pub at the bar. Giving Roman and his family some time together.
"She says she's fine." Roman answered.
"You don't believe her?" Kate wondered.
Roman sighed. "I don't. She seems distant and not like herself."
"Okay. So she probably is angry at you for marrying me." Kate guessed. She and Sami had been friendly in the last 10 years but she had no clue where they stood after the whole Lucas kidnapping her fiasco.
"I don't know. The last time we got married Sami screamed and cursed and did everything she could to stop me from marrying you. It seems like she doesn't even care now." Roman replied.
"You're right. That doesn't sound like Sami is acting like herself." Kate agreed.
"I'm afraid it will only get worse when we tell her Lucas is being released and coming to stay with us." Roman sighed.
"Look, we made that decision when we thought Sami was in Italy and not coming back anytime soon." Kate started. "Maybe I can rent a place for Lucas and myself temporarily. I know it will take some convincing with the judge who signed off on Lucas' parole but we can try?" She offered, not wanting Roman to fight with his daughter over her.
"That's nice of you, Katie." Roman said, giving his wife a smile and her hand a quick squeeze. "But a big part of the reason Lucas will be released is because I, as an ex-police commissioner, vouched for him. So I don't think that will work. Besides, Sami is leaving again tonight."
"Tonight? But she just got here." Kate said, confused.
"Yeah, apparently she was very clear with Doc and John that she was only coming to help Tate and would leave again straight after." Roman explained.
"So that means we have to tell her about Lucas today?" Kate sighed, not looking forward to that conversation.
Roman nodded. "Yup, somewhere in the next few hours. John is keeping me up to date about her flight."
—
"Why would you not mention dad in that sentence?" Sami asked her brother and Eric looked at her like he had been caught.
"What about dad?" Roman asked while he walked up with Jude's bottle. "Here you go." He said as he gave the bottle to his daughter.
Sami carefully placed the bottle in Jude's mouth before looking at Eric again. "Eric said there's still people I can trust in Salem and he only mentioned mom and John. And now he's looking at me guilty as hell."
Eric shot his father an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, dad."
"That's alright, son. I guess it's time your sister and I have this conversation." Roman said.
"Alright, I'll take Jude upstairs to finish his bottle." Eric decided, not wanting Jude to be around any family drama at his young age. Sami shot him a confused look but stood up to hand him his son. "Promise me you won't leave without saying goodbye this time." Eric pleaded with his sister.
Sami agreed and Eric and Jude went upstairs just as John and Marlena walked into the Pub. They had decided to spend all the time they could with their daughter because of her being so adamant about leaving that same day.
"Hi everyone." Marlena said as they walked up. "Everything okay here?" She asked as she noticed the tension.
Sami sat down again and crossed her arms. "Dad is just about to tell me why Eric thinks he's not on the list of people I can trust. It's really bad apparently because Eric had to take Jude upstairs."
"Right." Marlena said, quickly realizing what was going on.
"So you know what's going on?" Sami asked her mother, she wasn't surprised though.
"Yes." Marlena admitted. "Your father discussed it with John and I a while ago."
Roman sat down in the chair that Eric had been in a minute ago and Johnny offered his chair to his grandmother who took it and sat down beside her daughter.
"I did try to video call you a few times but I couldn't reach you, Sweetheart." Roman started.
"Well I'm here now. So let's hear it." Sami said stoically, already preparing herself for something bad.
"Alright." Roman nodded, mentally preparing himself for the conversation ahead. "About a month ago Lucas was granted a parole hearing." He started and Sami swallowed the lump that was already forming in her throat. She noticed her mother starting to softly rub her back. As if the soothing motion would help her with the news she was about to hear.
"What?!" Johnny exclaimed, upset. "Why didn't we know about this?"
"A letter and an email were sent to both your parents actually, inviting them to speak on or against Lucas' behalf." Roman explained to his grandson.
"Mom?" Johnny asked, looking at his mother questioningly. "Is that true?" He added, when his mother stayed quiet.
Sami looked at her son. "Yeah, maybe." She confessed absentmindedly. She vaguely remembered getting an email about Lucas while she was drunk and immediately deleting it.
"Maybe?" Johnny asked, confused as to why his mother was being so cavalier about this.
"Why don't we let your grandfather explain, Honey." Marlena said, prompting Roman to continue.
"EJ was in Italy with Holly and Nicole but he wrote a letter asking the court not to release Lucas on parole. The judge said the court didn't hear from Sami though." Roman elaborated. He saw Johnny shaking his head and John put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down a little bit. Sami was still looking at her father with a blank look on her face. "Kate hired a team of lawyers who tried to show the judge that Lucas has been working on himself while in prison and that he is not a threat to society."
"Not a threat to society? He held my mother captive in a tiny room for months because he was jealous of her relationship with my father!" Johnny all but shouted.
Sami closed her eyes for a few seconds trying to block out the memories of her being in that filthy tiny room.
"Sami, are you okay?" Marlena asked, looking at her daughter worriedly.
Sami opened her eyes and nodded. "Yes. "Go on, please." She told her father.
"I went to the hearing to support Kate that day and the judge recognized me from my time at the Salem PD. He asked me for my opinion." Roman started but he paused, suddenly feeling nervous about telling his daughter the truth.
"What did you say?" Sami pressed on.
"I told him that I know Lucas has been helping out the Salem PD on several cases and that I believe he is no longer a threat to society." Roman admitted.
"Unbelievable." Johnny muttered, shaking his head.
"There's more right?" Sami asked, guessing that this wasn't the end of the story.
Roman nodded. "The judge asked me if I would vouch for Lucas if he were to release him and if he could stay with Kate and myself during his parole."
"Which you did." Sami stated, painfully realizing that Kate was more important to her father then she was.
"Yes, Lucas will be released this week and staying here for at least 6 months." Roman admitted.
"So basically your new wife and her criminal son are more important to you than your own daughter and her safety?" Johnny angerly asked his grandfather before Sami could respond.
"Of course not, Johnny." Roman answered. "I didn't know that your mother would come back from Italy. And I will make sure Lucas stays on the right path."
"You know, my father once said that you weren't always such a good parent to my mom and I didn't believe him." Johnny started. "But I guess he was right." He added.
"Johnny, go cool off outside please." Sami told her son. She wanted to handle this herself.
"Mom-." Johnny tried to argue.
"Now, please. I'll be right there." Sami said firmly and Johnny did what he was told, storming outside.
"Sweetheart, please tell me you understand." Roman pleaded, trying to grab his daughter's hand but she pulled away. "I didn't do this to hurt you."
Even though she felt numb, Sami felt the tears stream down her face when she started talking. "You're my dad. You're supposed to put me first." She told him with a small voice.
"I know but you weren't here and it's been almost two years…" Roman defended his choices.
"Two years might seem like a long time to you but I still can't fall asleep without feeling the same terror I was feeling back then. And I still can't accept losing the love of my life because of Lucas' lies." Sami told him with a broken voice.
Roman looked down in guilt. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It doesn't matter anymore, I'm going back to Italy. I truly hope you are happy with Kate." Sami said and she sounded so final that Roman felt tears prick his eyes.
"Sweetheart, please…" Roman begged.
Sami stood up to leave but she had to grab the table to stop herself from falling over, suddenly feeling really dizzy.
"Wow, Sami, sit back down please." Marlena told her daughter. Quickly standing up to guide her daughter back in her chair.
"Mom, I'm fine." Sami lied weakly. It still seemed like the whole room was spinning. "I think I just stood up too quickly."
"Listen to your mother please, Sweetheart." John said, coming to stand on her other side and trying to help his wife guide Sami back in her chair.
Sami tried to argue with John but she couldn't manage to string two words together in her head. She was able to take one step away from him before her whole world went black.