AT MAISON BLANCHE IN THE ATTIC:

“Tony?” E.J. said in shock. “My father?”

“Listen, E.J., I am so sorry that I’ve been keeping a secret from you, too, these months,” Sami said. “I found Stefano’s diary and I found out that you are Tony’s son. I was afraid to tell you before because you didn’t have your memory and I didn’t know if I could trust you to tell you. I wanted to tell you so many times.”

“What exactly did you think you find that you wanted to tell me?” E.J. asked.

“All your memories of life as Elvis Jr. are memories planted their by Stefano so he could use you to get his revenge on all his enemies in Salem and so he could mold you into the perfect DiMera heir,” Sami said. “I guess when you were born to Tony and Anna,”

“Anna DiMera is my mother?” E.J. said as his eyes widened.

“Yes, E.J. I guess Stefano and Tony weren’t getting along very well back when you were born and Stefano was worried that Tony would keep you, his grandson, away from him and so he came up with this big scheme to tell Tony and Anna that their baby died when Anna was taken to the hospital thinking she miscarried,” Sami said.

“That’s impossible,” E.J. said gasping as he contemplated the fact of having seen the ruthlessness of Stefano DiMera up close, it was possible.

“E.J. I’m so sorry,” Sami said hugging him and crying. “I know what it’s like to have Stefano keep your parents away from you when you’re growing up and I guess that’s why I’ve grown to feel so close to you all these months here.”

E.J.’s sorrow turned to rage.

“I’m going to kill him,” E.J. said. “I’m going to kill Stefano.”

“No, E.J.,” Sami said grabbing his hand. “You can’t. That won’t solve anything. And if you try and fail we could end up killed. We have to find another way. I think if we went to Tony and told him about this he would side with us. Against Stefano. And against Lexie...”

“Against Lexie?” E.J. asked, his eyebrow raised.

“Yeah,” Sami said. “Unfortunately she has the diary now.”

“You showed Lexie the diary and she still sided with Stefano?” E.J. asked in disbelief. “So nobody in my family loves me, eh?”

“I’m sorry, again, E.J.,” Sami said hugging him tightly and then looking up at him. “I love you. And our baby will, too.”

“You’re amazing,” E.J. said sighing and kissing her on the forehead. “You know that? Well, before anybody finds Rolf I guess we should head downstairs so I can call Tony.”

But before he let go of her, the attic door swung open.

“Just what the hell is going on here?!” Lucas demanded to know.

AT MAISON BLANCHE DOWNSTAIRS:

“It sounds like Lucas went upstairs,” Tony said as he, Lexie and Rolf huddled inside the fireplace passageway. “We should check on things to see if he’s out there.”

“I’ll go,” Lexie said.

Tony eyed her suspiciously.

“Don’t worry,” Lexie assured him. “I don’t want Lucas to find Sami any more than you do.”

“All right,” Tony said as he and Rolf headed back toward the medical room. “I’m going to go check on Father.”

Lexie nodded and walked out into the large front room of the mansion. She walked up a few stairs but didn’t hear anything coming from upstairs so she started to walk back toward the fireplace to report back to Tony, when she heard the kitchen door open behind her.

“Alexandra, is it you?” Celeste asked.

“Mom?” Lexie asked turning around to face her with tears beginning to well in her eyes.

“Alexandra, I found you,” Celeste said walking over to give Lexie a warm hug. “I knew you were alive. The spirits brought you back to me. And now I need to bring you back home to Salem to be with Abe and Theo.”

“Oh, Mom,” Lexie said pulling back. “I can’t go yet.”

“What do you mean?” Celeste asked. “This is the perfect time to escape. My car’s out front and no one’s around. Let’s go.”

“No, Mom,” Lexie said stopping her mother. “I need to stay here and take care of my father.”

“But he had you kidnapped and kept away from your family all these months, didn’t he?” Celeste asked incredulously. “How can you have any loyalty to him after all this?”

“It’s complicated, Mom,” Lexie insisted. “These months have been very interesting for me and I’ve gotten to know Stefano DiMera, the man, as I’ve cared for him and seen him vulnerable. He’s not just the monster you and everyone else made him out to be.”

“No, Alexandra,” Celeste said. “Apparently he’s worse because he’s somehow brainwashed you into feeling so sorry for him that you would leave behind a husband and small child who need you just so you can play nurse maid to some dying old man.”

“But don’t you see, Mom?” Lexie asked. “I’m doing this for Theo. Father told me that he’s leaving everything to Theo when he dies. He wants Theo to inherit the DiMera legacy.”

Celeste laughed.

“If Stefano dies – and you know darling that is a very big if when it comes to The Phoenix – if Stefano dies he’s leaving nothing behind,” Celeste said. “Nothing but pain and sorrow and regret.”

But before Lexie could give a rebuttal, Tony and Rolf came out of the fireplace passageway.

“Celeste, darling,” Tony said. “What a nice surprise. Did you get a little homesick for the years you spent here as my Father’s mistress?”

“I came here for my daughter,” Celeste said indignantly.

“And she’s leaving without her,” Lexie said just as indignantly.

“Well, I’m not so sure that Celeste leaving is a good idea right now,” Tony said smiling. “It sounds like Celeste’s psychic friend, Lucas, paid a visit to our friends in the attic. I need Rolf and you to head upstairs to keep an eye on them. Meanwhile, I think our father would enjoy the company of your mother if she could stay and visit with him a while.”

“But Tony…” Lexie said before Tony interrupted.

“You know it’s what Father would want,” Tony said as he ushered Celeste into the fireplace passageway and watched as Lexie turned around to walk up the stairs with Rolf toward the attic.