Marlena is at Abe and Lexie’s house after just finding out that Theo’s autistic. She expresses her condolences. Lexie says they are hurting more for Theo than for themselves. Abe recounts how everything seemed normal yesterday, but it’s all changed because of one lousy word. “And that word is autism. That is exactly what they’re saying,” continues Lexie. Lexie tells him that today is different from yesterday because now they know what’s wrong with their son. Lexie states that Theo only has a thirty or forty word vocabulary. Abe surmises that maybe Theo’s a little behind. Lexie suggests that living in denial isn’t helping. “And neither is damning our son with some damn label,” counters a frustrated Abe. Marlena offers her support as their friend to help. A teary-eyed Lexie thanks Marlena for her offer, but insists that they need to work through it themselves. Marlena reveals that she has a small sense of what they’re going through, since she lost a baby to SIDS. Marlena recalls how her tragedy ended up destroying her marriage to Don Craig, as they couldn’t look at each other without sharing that terrible pain. She encourages them to get through this ordeal together and get counseling if needed. Lexie cries how she can’t even process this. “All I want is for my little boy to be alright,” she cries. Abe comforts her.
Lexie apologizes for falling apart. Marlena assures her that she’s not alone. She hugs Lexie and Abe before leaving. Abe hugs his wife and assures her that they will get through this together.
Chloe gets dressed after making love with Philip. He thought it would be nice to bask in the afterglow and get dinner together. She claims she has something really important to do, which he’ll find out soon enough after she talks to Roman. Philip demands to know what it is, but she promises he’ll find out shortly. He reluctantly agrees to bring the car around and go with her. Chloe then phones Lucas and informs him that she’s about to do it. Lucas laments not being able to take care of it himself and tells her to call when it’s over. “And thank-you,” he adds. “You don’t have to thank me. I don’t want Philip being blamed for something he had nothing to do with,” she states.
“What was that all about?” questions John after Lucas hangs up. Lucas tells John he has no right to know who he’s talking to every time he’s on the phone. John yells at Rolf to get the doorbell. Rolf tells him there’s no need to shout, since he’s there. Marlena barges in, whom John was expecting. She asks Lucas to excuse them, but asks Rolf to stay since it concerns him also. “This is about getting my husband back,” she replies. John admits that Blondie really blows his mind, since yesterday she was talking divorce and today she wants him back. “No, I said my husband. The man that I married,” she clarifies. Rolf asks to be excused, since it can’t possibly concern him. Marlena then displays the encrypted disk which was found behind Stefano’s portrait. John questions where she got the disk. Marlena says it’s not important and believes it could be the key to unlocking his past. Lucas listens in from the other room.
At the pub, Caroline briefly fills Steph in on her talk with Max about his biological father. She has a feeling that there’s a lot more to this story than Max is willing to share and insists that her son desperately needs to talk to someone. Steph proceeds to go up to Max’s room to try to talk to him. Chelsea rushes in needing her help deciding what to wear for her date tonight, as she’s running late.
The girls soon come rushing up to Max’s room and Chelsea excitedly runs in the bathroom to try on her dresses. Steph apologizes for Chelsea bursting in. “No problem, I’m outta here anyway,” responds Max. Steph of course asks him where he’s going. Max intends to go have it out with his father once and for all. Steph wishes he wouldn’t go and confront his dad, since the last meeting with his father didn’t go so well. Max insists that he can handle himself and implores her to stop worrying about him. Steph encourages him to tell her the rest of the story and let her come with him. Max refuses this, but assures her that he loves her. Chelsea then emerges dressed and ready to go. Max proceeds to leave as well, but Steph begs him not to. She goes on and on about wanting him to open up to her, seeing another side to him which she knew nothing about, and wanting to know what’s so horrible that he thinks his loved ones can’t handle.
Roman sits with Steve and Kayla at the pub, where they fill Roman in on Joey’s continuing progress. Kaya invites Roman to come by the hospital and see him and hold him. He says he’ll try to come by the hospital and see his nephew, but they are still busy with the John Black mess. He needs to find out who started the fire, if in fact it was arson.
Max and Steph come downstairs, where Steve requests to talk to Max. “Then you won’t mind me staying,” smiles Steph as she leans on Max. Max insists they’ll be fine. Steph joins Roman and Kayla. Just then, Morgan barges in and tells Roman she needs his help, since she believes her father might be missing. She worries that her father hasn’t called, as she’s only called him a million times. Roman says it’s too soon to put out a missing person’s report. Morgan fears it could be too late and insists that something’s happened to her father. “Oh something’s happened alright,” announces Chloe, who claims she saw Paul on the pier the night of the fire.
Meanwhile, Steve tells Max that he wasn’t too happy to hear he’s been keeping things from Stephanie. He’s worried about Max’s angry behavior as of lately. Steve admits he’s not one to talk about having a short fuse or keeping secrets, but affirms that Steph is his daughter and she’s in love with Max. He encourages Max to talk to him man-to-man. Max admits he’s been hiding how smart he is because of his father, whom he doesn’t want to be anything like. Steve assumes he’s not talking about Shawn Brady. Max clarifies that he’s talking about his biological father, who is as low as they come. He reveals that his father’s back in Salem and making life hell.
