The Park
A cheerful Lexie asks Theo what he wants to do today. They sit on a park bench, where Theo tosses his toy truck on the ground. He throws a tantrum and runs into Chelsea’s arms when she arrives. Chelsea tells him hands down and Theo screams “No!” repeatedly, so she sings “The Farmer and the Dell,” which seems to calm him down. She shares how she recently learned that children with autism have unusual sensitivities to music. Lexie thanks her for all she’s done for Theo. Chelsea assures Lexie that she loves working with Theo. Lexie tries to encourage Theo to show Chelsea how the truck opens up, but he protests and throws a fit. Chelsea comforts him, to Lexie’s dismay.
Chelsea assures Theo that nobody’s trying to take his truck away. She encourages him to show them how the truck moves. “What am I doing wrong, Chelsea?” asks a distressed Lexie. Chelsea believes Lexie is being too hard on herself. Lexie surmises that Theo senses her impatience and wonders why Theo responds better to Chelsea. “I’m not his mom,” shrugs Chelsea, who states that kids act out more around their parents. Chelsea requests time with Theo and offers to take him to the playground. She assures an insecure Lexie that as Theo’s mom, she’s the most important person in the world to him. Lexie thanks her for saying that. She tells Theo that she’ll be back in a little while and tries to get Theo to look at her, to no avail. Chelsea takes Theo’s hand to go play on the swings as an anguished Lexie looks on.
Mickey and Maggie’s House
Nick has his prescription bottle in hand and begins to make a phone call, but quickly hangs up when Maggie emerges. She reveals that she got in late last night and didn’t want to wake him. He asks how the convention went. She marvels how wonderful it was and believes Chez Rouge will be greener than ever. Nick questions if Mickey went to work. Maggie replies he went to New York on business. Nick proceeds to get back to work, but she wants to discuss Melanie, who is listening outside the door.
Maggie was under the impression that Melanie was only going to stay for a day or two while she and Mickey were gone. Nick insists that Melanie doesn’t have anywhere else to go. Maggie is concerned that trouble seems to follow Melanie wherever she goes. Melanie enters the kitchen and welcomes Maggie back and thanks her for letting her stay there. Nick proceeds to run an errand, leaving the two tense ladies alone. Maggie affirms that they need to get a few things straight.
Outside, Nick tries to phone in a prescription for more pain medication, informing the nurse that he’s recovering from a gunshot wound. He hangs up in frustration, determined to find someone who will phone the prescription in for him.
Back inside, Maggie admits her surprise when Nick asked if Mel could stay with them. Melanie insists that she and Nick are just friends, then displays the friendship ring which Nick gave her for her birthday. Maggie refers to Nick as someone with a very big and generous heart, which is sometimes to his detriment. She rehashes how Nick befriended another young woman not too long ago named Willow, whom Nick went to extraordinary lengths to help and all she did was take advantage of him. “What happened to her?” questions Melanie. “She died,” reveals Maggie. Melanie is bewildered to hear this. Maggie informs Mel that Willow fell and hit her head, but it was an accident and it was very upsetting to Nick. In the end, Nick got burned by Willow and Maggie would hate to see that happen again. Melanie says she has no intention of hurting Nick. “Good. Because if you do, you’ll answer to me,” warns Maggie.
Marlena’s Townhouse
Marlena answers the knock on the door to John, who announces that a private investigator will be meeting them this morning to help track down the mayor’s killer. John soon answers the door to Brady. An ecstatic Marlena runs and gives him a hug. Marlena is overjoyed to have Brady home again, but John isn’t exactly jumping up and down. John states that he and Blondie were in the middle of something. Brady offers to come back, but Marlena won’t hear of it and insists that their discussion can wait until later. “John, your son is home,” she emphasizes.
As John gazes out the window, Brady sits with Marlena, who brings up how he was in an outpatient program. Brady reveals that he spent the last six months working on a farm outside Vienna. He states that the manual labor was good for him and gave him some time to think. Marlena invites John to sit with them. Brady confides in Marlena about how his addiction hurt a lot of people, and he knew he had to come home to make amends when he was finished. John could care less that Brady’s there and needs to go so he doesn’t miss his appointment.
Marlena apologizes to a dejected Brady for John’s behavior. Brady suggests they should be grateful that John’s alive and healthy. “Your father seems to be ill,” forewarns Marlena. Brady notes that John seemed fine. Marlena shares how John’s been having headaches and seizures and reveals that Kayla ran a CAT scan on his brain and came up with abnormal results. Brady is perplexed to hear that John doesn’t want to get treatment. Marlena confirms that John’s afraid of doctors and hospitals. “After what was done to him in Stefano’s lab, right?” assumes Brady. She insists that she’s tried to convince John to get help, but he’s refused, which is why she filed for divorce and has to move on. “He’s not the man that I married. He’s not the man that I love,” she laments. Brady offers to help and encourages her to tell him what he can do. Marlena invites him to stay there with her, believing that it might help John see him more as family.
John returns and reveals that he met with his contact, who is still on the case. He not too thrilled to see that Brady’s still there. Brady tells his dad to get used to it, affirming that he’s not going anywhere. “Stay, go, whatever. It’s your call,” responds John. Brady suggests that they go to lunch, but a cold John says his agenda is very full at the present time.
