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Between the Blake story playing out on Days of Our Lives right now and Xander and Philip’s plotting to take over DiMera Enterprises, we’ve certainly been getting a deep dive into Stefano’s family lately! Kristen’s brother, Peter Blake, has been dropped quite a few times lately, of course, but today’s episode also gave us another name that stuck out in a big way: Steven Hawk!

Xander and Philip mentioned him as both a DiMera board member and a member of that twisted family. And that may have left some folks scratching their heads, seeing as how he’s never actually been seen!

Much like Peter Blake, Steven Hawk does not share the DiMera name, but he is actually a member of the family by blood. (Though by the time this story is over, who knows if the Blakes will still be adopted DiMeras or true ones!) Much like Johnny, Steven is Stefano’s grandson. But rather than being EJ’s kid, Steven is the son of the late Benjy Hawk, Stefano’s deaf son — and one of the kinder DiMeras.

Benjy was the only child of Ellen Hawk and Stefano, who had tragically lost his hearing as a young child after getting trapped in one of his dad’s explosions. (Yeah, growing up as a DiMera is rough.) His parents had a fling, but then Ellen and her family realized who Stefano was and how horrible a human being he was, and tried to flee with Benjy.

Steve’s early days with a young Benjy.

Steve and Kayla found the young boy at a monastery while on their honeymoon (this was back when Kayla had lost her hearing for a time and she and Steve had learned sign language) and, unable to locate his mom, got permission to take him back to Salem with them.

For a time, the happy couple wanted to adopt Benjy, but eventually his mom showed up and explained who she and Benjy were and that they were trying to stay away from his very dangerous father. She left him with Steve and Kayla thinking he’d be safe (as if), and a short time later turned up dead. That’s when it came out that Stefano was Benjy’s evil father and had murdered Ellen.

Eventually, Benjy’s grandfather showed up and took him off to Europe to be raised in safety, and Steve and Kayla said goodbye to their almost-son for nearly twenty years. He popped up again in 2007 to visit “Stayla” while they were recovering from a poisoning, and his signing helped a then-amnesiac Steve recover his memories and his love for his wife.

The family that could have been. Benjy (Jim Lunsford), wife Sonia (Joanna Sims) and his almost-parents, Steve and Kayla.

Credit: ©Paul Skipper/jpistudios.com

During that visit, he revealed he had a son with his wife, Sonia, and they named the kid after Steve. Sadly, we never got to meet Steven Hawk. Benjy — after being forced by Stefano and EJ to do their dirty work — was murdered by André and stuffed in Stefano’s coffin during one of his many funerals. And unlike The Phoenix, Benjy never rose again.

Steven was supposedly born a little before Johnny, so in theory, he should be slightly older than his cousin. And since Philip and Xander mentioned him as being part of the DiMera board, we’re guessing that means he’s also been SORAS’d (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome) to be an adult, rather than a teenager.

While Xander and Philip seem to have settled on Wei Shin as being the weak point on the DiMera board, if the show truly wanted a knockdown drag-out fight for the company, they could end up finally bringing Steven to Salem! He could be a great addition to the young adult cast and we’re darn curious to see if he ended up with more Hawk in him or DiMera!