Days of our Lives' Nicole Walker has made peace with the fact that her newborn son is gone -- except he is not gone. Instead, he is living with his own father and the woman who stole him.
Since Arianne Zucker announced that her Days of our Lives contract has not been renewed, we've known that Nicole is not long for Salem. By late spring, she will likely be gone, but we expect Nicole to have her baby back by then. The emotional scenes will be cathartic for Ericole fans, but how will Nicole finally learn her miracle baby is alive and well?
Only a handful of people know that Sloan Petersen claimed Nicole's baby as her own, fully aware that Eric Brady, not E.J. DiMera, is the boy's biological dad. However, it doesn't look like they will spill anytime soon.
Dimitri von Leuschner, the man who dropped the baby off with Sloan, thinking he would make it to his rightful parents, is in a faraway prison. His boyfriend Leo Stark is currently being bankrolled by Sloan to keep his mouth shut. As for Melinda Trask, the mastermind behind this whole plot? She doesn't want to risk prison, so we can't see her saying anything. So, who will inform Nicole that the baby Eric is raising is really her own?
Perhaps it will be Sloan herself, a woman who doesn't seem to like this baby she is reluctantly raising. She only stole him to give Eric a child, but baby Jude is cramping her style. Heck, she and Eric can't even have sex without that pesky baby crying, taking up all of Eric's time and attention. As she lamented to Melinda over drinks, that just won't do.
As Sloan's frustration and guilt overwhelm her, she keeps turning to the bottle to keep from going insane. We already know that Sloan will say anything when she is drunk, as evidenced by her disastrous dinner party with John and Marlena. While it would be beyond hilarious if Sloan just blurts out the truth one day, we can see her guilt being the catalyst to return Jude to his rightful mother.
Sure, DAYS can throw in the old soap trope of the baby needing some sort of transfusion or transplant to get the ball rolling, but the soap seems to have set things up already for Sloan to be the one to fess up.
Fans will probably get their emotional payoff before Zucker leaves, providing her with Emmy material for 2025 while Nicole gets the miracle baby she's spent years praying for. Since it looks like Sloan will be sticking around past Nicole's departure date, coming clean will help give the character the redemption arc she needs for Salem longevity.
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