Back in the Days – A Lumi Rewind

For many years, one of the major couples on Days of Our Lives was Lucas Roberts and Sami Brady – affectionately know by their fans as Lumi. They had their share of ups and downs before finally parting as friends. Still, although there doesn’t seem much hope for them to get back together since Lucas’ departure from the show, but fans who have watched for a long time will never forget. This is my little tribute to what was once my favorite couple on television and I’ll take you on a stroll through Lumi history.

Lucas and Sami first met in 1993 under awkward circumstances at best. They met when Austin took Sami backstage at at Cherish concert, where Lucas had just finished making love to Cherish. The next day, Kate hired Sami as her assistant and assigned her the job of picking up her son who is arriving home from military school. It’s three days later when it dawns on Sami that her boss’ son is the same boy she caught in an embarrassing situation at a concert.

Initially, they found themselves attracted to other people – Lucas to Carrie, Sami’s older sister, and Sami in Austin. Being troublesome teens, they teamed up to win over their crushes, who happened to be in a relationship at the time. Sami also agreed to help Lucas find out who his real father was (Lucas gained a family in the Hortons when it was revealed Bill Horton was his biological father). It seemed their partnership was like a match made in heaven given their similar goals, but they fought their fair share of fights. Still, they formed quite a friendship.

For awhile, Sami gave up on her hopes of being with Austin. Instead, she substituted him with an olderman, Alan Harris, who went to school with Lucas. Alan was obsessed with Carrie, but being unable to have her, he channeled his feelings onto Sami. Lucas noticed that Sami was acting differently and something was wrong, so he forced her to tell him. She admitted that Alan raped her – pinned her down and stole her virginity. In defense of Sami, Lucas physically attacked Alan and told him to stay away from her. He also did everything he could to get Alan’s confession on tape for the trial. He and Sami made love after some other boys teased her about being raped. She was wearing Carrie’s shirt and Austin walked in, sure that Carrie was cheating on him. Sami drugged and raped Austin. It was soon revealed that Austin and his twin sister, Billie, were Lucas’ brother and sister.

Sami wound up pregnant and claimed the child to be Austin’s. She convinced herself that this must be the case and refused to even acknowledge the possibility that the child may in fact belong to Lucas. She broke the news to her family by fainting during Carrie and Austin’s wedding, waking up to ask with panic if her baby was okay. Of course, like many other things Sami has done, she was only faking it. She gave birth to William Robert Reed in 1995. Lucas developed a bond with the little boy and Sami soon discovered that he was the baby’s true father. She did her best to tamper with the paternity test so that he could still be considered Austin’s child, but inevitably, it blew up in her face.

Once it was revealed Lucas was the father of Will, he fought for custody. However, Sami claimed that he was abusing his child and took out a restraining order. When she was arrested for the murder of her then-fiance, Franco Kelly, she gave custody to Austin. Lucas kidnapped Will while he was drunk and wound up in a car accident, which caused Will to need brain surgery.

While Sami was in jail, Kate paid Nicole to marry Lucas so that he could get custody of his son. Sami was found guilty and sent to death row. Just as she was about to be executed, Lucas’ conscience finally kicked in, since he and his mother were behind the murder, and he verified Sami’s innocence, though did not explain how. He maintained custody of their son until finally she obtained evidence of his guilt in the murder. She used this to get back her son, which caused Lucas to become an alcoholic once more. He spent months in a rehabilitation facility after being caught in a fire set by Kate (who was trying to kill Victor) and returned to Salem determined to get back at Sami.

Sami and Brandon became a couple, but he and Lexie had an affair, so when she wound up pregnant, Sami’s insecurities caused her to tamper with the paternity results in favor of Abe Carver. Lucas obtained proof of this and used it to break up Sami and Brandon shortly after they wed. In anger, Sami burst into the DiMera mansion where Lucas and Tony were celebrating, but ended up thrown through the glass doors in the fight which followed. While she laid in the hospital in critical condition, Lucas remembered the friendship they once had.

After being released from the hospital, Lucas took care of Sami, though often shetried to stop him and insist he wasn’t needed. Their love started developing as they both started to soften toward each other. Although they didn’t sleep together, they spent a few nights together and often shared passionate kisses.

In 2003, Roman was murdered (of course, he was later found to be alive), and Lucas was the one who was there to comfort his grieving daughter. They grew closer, but were careful because they didn’t want to get up Will’s hopes that his parents might get back together and because they hadn’t quite gotten over their past. However, during the Salem Stalker storyline, they continued to become even closer, and ultimately admitted their love for one another. On April 22, 2004, the couple made love for the first time since their son was conceived. Almost five months later, on August 5, 2004, Lucas sang When a Man Loves a Woman and asked Sami to marry him while many family and friends looked on at the Penthouse Grill.

This happiness was short-lived as Brandon came back to town and discovered he and Sami were still legally married. Although they officially ended their marriage so she could marry Lucas, Kate and her accomplice, Eugenia, drugged Sami and Brandon to make it look like the two had spent the night together. Lucas unfortunately bought it and left Sami.

Overwrought with grief over losing Lucas, Sami accepted the tempting offer of taking on the persona of ‘Stan’, who was responsible for many tragedies inflicted upon other Salemites. After a few months, Sami gave up being Stan and partnered up with Nicole to obtain the necessary evidence to prove Kate and Eugenia had set her up. It wasn’t long after when she and Lucas became engaged once again.

However, their wedding was again interrupted when only moments before they said their “I do’s”, Kate burst in, holding evidence that Sami had been the one behind Stan. Of course, this caused Lucas to leave Sami once again, and she was shunned by pretty much everyone in Salem. The only person who still gave her the time of day was Austin, who had returned to town for the wedding. In a repeat of the past, Sami pined after Austin, while Lucas pursued a relationship with Carrie.

Sami blackmailed Lexi into saying that Carrie could not have healthy children with Austin, when infact that was true of any children she may have with Lucas. This ended up being her deciding factor in who to be with. She and Lucas were married, leaving Austin free for the taking for Sami. A gloved hand warned Sami not to go through with the wedding, or the blackmail would be revealed. Although she planned to ignore the threats, the wedding was cancelled the day it was supposed to take place.

It wasn’t long after Lucas and Carrie’s wedding when Carrie began cheating on him. Will went missing and was presumed to be kidnapped. During this time, Lucas and Carrie split up, leaving room for Lumi to reunite. However, EJ Wells, their neighbor across the hall, had already set his sights on Sami and the two began dating. The truth eventually came out about the blackmail and once again, Sami was left alone. Will and Lucas moved out.

EJ and Sami broke up, and she got back together with Lucas. While going out of town together, they were caught in a snowstorm. They went into a cabin where they made love by a fire. However, the roof of the cabin collapse, trapping Lucas beneath. He fell unconscious and Sami went off in search of help. A car drove by and stopped for her. She got in, only to discover EJ holding a gun, demanding she help him get through a roadblock, while she begged him to help Lucas. Once through the roadblock, EJ said he would only help Lucas if Sami would sleep with him. She called it blackmail and rape and was entirely disgusted by the proposition, but ultimately gave in, believing there was no other way to save Lucas. EJ then lifted the beam off of Lucas and fled the country.

It wasn’t long before Sami discovered she was pregnant. Of course, she was immediately worried that the baby would turn out to be EJ’s child. However, she kept quiet about everything that happened, afraid Lucas would leave her.

On May 9, 2007, Lucas and Sami were finally married. During the reception, a photo surfaced of her with EJ in Lexie’s car the night her step-father was shot and Lucas was trapped in the cabin. Sami was forced to tell everyone what had happened and feared Lucas would leave her again. She was happily surprised when he refused to let it ruin the happiest day of their lives.

The next day, Sami admitted to Lucas what happened after his accident and about agreeing to have sex with EJ. Completely outraged, Lucas called what EJ did rape and wanted to confront him about it. Sami told him not to because then the DiMeras would retaliate. He was understanding and told her that he was ashamed of himself because she was afraid to come to him about it earlier. She told him not to blame himself because it was her who had messed things up once again.

On June 18, 2007, Sami discovered she was having twins. Kate blackmailed Nick, who was running the paternity tests, to say EJ was the father of both babies. However, he admitted what he’d done in the end of July and Lucas was revealed to be the father. In another twist, though, a paternity test done in November revealed that EJ had fathered Johnny (John Roman) and Lucas had fathered Allie (Alice Caroline).

In an effort to end the feud between the DiMeras and the Bradys, Sami asked Lucas for a divorce. Stefano had promised that if she were to marry EJ, all fighting would end. Lucas agreed, though very reluctantly, and never bothered trying to hide his feelings of anger toward the man who raped his wife. Sami and EJ were married in November 2007,

but EJ was shot during the ceremony and suffered temporary paralysis – which he later faked in an effort to keep Sami by his side. Despite being married to EJ, she remained intimate with Lucas.

Toward the end of December, Lucas was revealed to be the shooter when he admitted his crime to his mother. He had hired a nurse to watch the twins as he snuck off to the church with a gun and shot EJ. He later confessed and was sent to prison for his crime. While he was gone, he told Sami to move on, but requested she stay away from EJ, since he could not be trusted.

Of course, being the wonderful listener Sami is, she moved into the DiMera mansion to raise Johnny and Allie with more ease. Marlena had also moved in, as John had taken over while his newly-revealed brother, Stefano, was in a coma. Lucas was let out of prison and put on house arrest. He wanted to surprise Sami, but found himself the shocked one as he walked in on her with EJ. They did not reconcile, but Sami divorced EJ.

In March 2009, Lucas married Chloe Lane – a marriage which was short-lived due to an affair she had with Daniel Jonas. Sami discovered she was pregnant with EJ’s child, which she confided in Lucas (who later told Chloe, who let it slip to Nicole). Determined not to tell EJ about the baby, she found herself in witness protection before even being given the chance, as she witnessed the murder of the mayor on the front steps of the DiMera mansion. While in witness protection, she fell for her bodyguard, Rafe Hernandez. Lucas has since left the show, though he came back for Alice Horton’s funeral. He and Sami remain friends.

As a Lumi fan at heart, I will probably always find it hard to ship Sami with anybody other than Lucas; especially EJ because he was a major reason why they broke up. (EJami and Safe fans, please don’t throw stones at me, this is just my own personal feeling.)This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy watching her scenes with other actors, or that I don’t appreciate the romances which unfold between them, but I don’t think anything will quite match up to her and Lucas for me. He’s known her for so long and they went through so much, it just seems unlikely to me that I’ll find a match for her that’s quite as good.

For years, I dedicated myself to being a Lumi fan. In fact, I started watching the show when I wasjust a kid, and one of the first questions I had was, “Why aren’t those two together?” – before I even knew their names. Lucas and Sami was the first major ship I subscribed to on television. Before them, I never cared a whole lot about any couple on TV. I thought the actors had such chemistry and there was such a vast history between the characters that they were destined to be together. Part of me still holds out some hope that perhaps one day, they will. Who knows? It was almost 20 years before CarBo fans got to see their favorite couple together on-screen again. Perhaps Lumi still has a chance.

Whether together or not, Lucas and Sami will always be remembered as one of my all-time favorite couples – and I’m sure I am not alone in this feeling. I will forever look back on their time together as one of the best in Days history. I hope you enjoyed this look back at the history of Sami and Lucas as much as I did.

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