The Truth About Sami And Rafe's Time Together On Days Of Our Lives

Longtime viewers of "Days of Our Lives" have come to love the drama and chaos that Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) brings to the NBC soap opera. Over the years, Sami's love life has been so full of tension and turmoil that she's left heads spinning with her romantic endeavors, per Soap Central.

Sami's first love was Austin Reed (Austin Peck), who also happened to be the boyfriend of Sami's half-sister, Carrie Brady (Christie Clark). While Sami fell head over heels for Austin, the feelings weren't reciprocated. So, she did everything in her power to split up Austin and Carrie.

Later, Sami hooked up with Lucas Horton (Bryan Dattilo). The two already shared a son named Will together, and later got married and welcomed a daughter named Allie. Along the way, the attention-seeking character also got romantic with Brandon Walker and Franco Kelly. Sami also tied the knot with EJ DiMera (James Scott, Dan Feuerriegel) and welcomed two children with him, Johnny and Sydney DiMera (via Fame 10).

However, one of Sami's most genuine and drama-free romances came with Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) who offered the character more stability than many of her other beaus. 

Rafe Hernandez first came to Salem in October 2008. He was introduced to "Days of Our Lives" fans as a FBI agent that was later assigned to guard Sami Brady while she was in the witness protection program (via Soap Central). The two got off on the wrong foot, and Rafe found Sami to be infuriating. Eventually, after spending a lot of time together, Sami and Rafe began to grow friendly. Rafe began to open up about his past, revealing that he was a bit of a troublemaker as a child — a quality that he and Sami both shared.

During this time, Sami told Rafe that she was pregnant with EJ's child, and he was one of the only people who knew about the pregnancy and agreed to help her hide the baby's paternity. Sami later gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Grace, whom Rafe loved like his own child (via Soaps in Depth). However, what Sami and Rafe didn't know was that Nicole Walker, who was married to EJ at the time, switched Sami's child with that of a pregnant teenager's daughter.

"Days of Our Lives" viewers watched as baby Grace grew ill and eventually passed away before Rafe could legally adopt her. Sami and Rafe were completely heartbroken by the death, but it was later discovered that Grace wasn't Sami's biological daughter at all, per Soaps in Depth. Instead, the little girl that Nicole had passed off as her own, Sydney, was really Sami and EJ's baby. However, Sydney had gone missing by that time.

Rafe then began to do everything he could to find Sydney, who they believed to have been kidnapped. He eventually found out that EJ was behind Sydney's disappearance. EJ had staged the kidnapping and pretended to bring the child home safely in hopes of winning Sami's affection back. Rafe eventually exposed EJ before he and Sami could get married (via Soap Central). Sami and Rafe eventually got back together and Rafe proposed to Sami and the two began planning for their future. 

After learning of EJ's betrayal, Sami was furious. She went to confront the father of her children and found him asleep with a gun next to him. Sami shot EJ in the head and returned home to Rafe (via Soaps). Later, Rafe told the police that Sami was with him the entire time, believing that to be true. However, when Sami confessed her crime to Rafe, he quit the FBI and chose to protect Sami and her children, whom he had grown close to (via Soaps in Depth).

Rafe suggested that he and Sami get married quickly so that he wouldn't be forced to testify against her in court if she was ever arrested for shooting EJ. Soon after EJ found out that Sami had shot him and blackmailed her with the information. She was forced to give EJ custody of their children and went on to marry Rafe in November 2010, per Soap Central.

Rafe did everything he could to help Sami regain custody of her children and began to dig into EJ's past. Before Rafe was able to go on with his plan, Sami and EJ's son Johnny was diagnosed with cancer, per Soap Hub. Rafe supported Sami through the tough time. EJ decided to allow Sami back into the kids lives, but pulled his focus toward Rafe.

"Days of Our Lives" fans were on the edge of their seats when EJ and Stefano kidnapped Rafe and replaced him with a doppelganger named Arnold (via Soaps). Arnold pretended to be Rafe, but his behavior was concerning those closest to Rafe, such as Sami and his co-workers Bo and Hope Brady. During this time, Rafe's memories were erased by Stefano, and when he eventually broke away from his imprisonment, he returned to Salem. Sami quickly realized what was going on and helped Rafe capture Arnold. She then told Rafe all about their lives together and his memories returned, per Soap Central.

Rafe and Sami reconnected and EJ signed custody of the kids back over to their mother. Rafe, Sami, and the children began to put the pieces of their lives back together and lived happily for a while until tragedy struck. Sami's son Johnny went missing. Sami believed that EJ could be behind his disappearance and went to confront her ex-husband. While at the DiMera mansion, the two got a false report that Johnny's body had been found. They were devastated and got intimate to comfort each other. When Johnny was brought home, Sami felt terrible about cheating on Rafe with EJ and insisted they renew their wedding vows.

After finding out that Sami had cheated, Rafe ended their marriage and the pair divorced (via Soaps in Depth).  

After Sami and Rafe's split, "Days of Our Lives" fans watched Sami and EJ reunite. Meanwhile, Rafe had a number of romances himself with characters such as Jordan Ridgeway (Chrishell Stause) and Hope Brady (Kristian Alfonso). Rafe was there for Hope following the death of her husband Bo Brady (Peter Reckell), and the two eventually began dating, per TV Overmind. Rafe popped the question and he and Hope got married. However, when Sami came back to Salem for a visit, she and Rafe reconnected.

Sami and Rafe had a one-night stand and Hope eventually found out about it. The affair ended Rafe's marriage to Hope and he later moved on to Ava Vitali (Tamara Braun) and Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker), per Soaps in Depth.

Some "Days of Our Lives" fans are still rooting for Rafe and Sami to get back together (via Soaps). However, others believe she's more suited for the likes of EJ or Lucas. The debate could go on forever, but there is no denying that Rafe was a loving and dedicated husband to Sami during their marriage.