Due to the Christmas holiday, today's episodes of all your favorite soaps were pre-empted for various holiday programming. This pre-emption was anticipated and there will be no "lost" episodes as a result. Programming will resume on Tuesday, December 26th.

On behalf of everyone involved in Soap Central, I'd like to take the time to wish you and your family a very happy and healthy Christmas holiday. For our friends of other faiths and in other countries, we invite you share in the spirit of the holiday season as your celebrate holidays and festivals of your own.

Dan J Kroll
Founder, Soap Central

Nikolas panicked when he realized Spencer is missing. As he called out to everyone for help, Helena appeared and announced that the former babysitter Colleen was responsible. Despite Emily's protests, Nikolas demanded that Mac arrest Helena. As she was taken into custody, Nikolas had a change of heart and asked for her release. Colleen and Spencer boarded a flight to Denver. During the ride, Colleen assured Spencer that she was his new mommy, and that they would always be together. Helena recognized the opportunity to reclaim her great-grandson, and ordered her people to find the baby.

Carly and Sonny left the pageant with the boys to prepare for Santa's arrival. At the house, Sonny appeared to have something on his mind and told Carly he had to go back to the Church. Sonny and Jason approached the new priest, who looks just like Manny Ruiz. As they are about to kill him, the Pastor intervened. He explained that Fr. Ruiz is new to the diocese, and is not the evil Manny. Fr. Ruiz explained that Manny was his twin brother. At one time, they belonged to the same gang and therefore have the same tattoos. After a trip to jail, Manny turned to evil and his brother found God. Alone, Jason and Sonny were skeptical and planned to investigate the new priest.

At the hospital, Maxie is mourned the loss of her "baby" and was comforted by Lucky. She asked Lucky to accompany her to Kelly's, so that she can make peace with her accident on the steps. As they walked into the Diner hand-in-hand, they were greeted by a surprised Liz. Liz offered her condolences to Maxie, and left. Later, she told Audrey that she was about to invite Lucky over for Christmas Eve, but did not since he was with Maxie.

Dillon and George planned a future movie screening and parted. Dillon arrived at the hospital to observe Spinelli showing Lulu what he'd learned about the Qs. Monica didn't think Lulu should be running around with Spinelli. Monica encouraged her nephew to talk to Lulu.

Lucky and Liz were glad Emily and Nikolas were together and also wondered where Spencer was. Maxie interrupted them. The awkwardness in the air was palpable. Lucky looked longingly at Liz as she glared at the two of them. Maxie hugged Lucky. She was grateful she didn't have to go through this miscarriage alone. Liz caught the hug through the windows of Kelly's. Maxie joined Georgie at the hospital where they are both volunteers. Maxie said the only two people she didn't want to hurt were Georgie and Mac. Maxie encouraged Georgie to have a relationship with her professor. Go ahead, break the rules she suggested. Georgie was more cautious. Maxie and Georgie were fooling around with the Christmas ornaments causing Epiphany to question if Maxie had ever been pregnant. Liz interested was peaked.

Nikolas and Emily were torn between who took little Spencer. Nikolas thought it was Helena and Emily remained convinced it was Colleen. Nikolas wondered if they were working in cahoots. Nikolas beat himself up about trusting Spencer to Colleen. Colleen told little Spencer that Nikolas didn't want them and they would have a good life together. Mac told Emily, Lucky and Nikolas that they had a lead on the kidnapping. Emily and Nikolas looked at the surveillance tapes and Nik was convinced that he saw the woman holding his son. Elsewhere in Denver, Colleen called up the local day care center for a job.

Sam announced that she was applying for a job at General Hospital. Time to move ahead with my life she stated. She was going for a job as a file clerk. Sam reminded Jason that she wasn't going to dive for salvage (her old job) if she hoped to get pregnant. True. Sam promised to stay on birth control until Jason was ready. Sam gave the HR person (Miss Sneed) at GH her resume; Miss Sneed immediately handed it back. Sam demanded an interview or she'd file a discrimination suit. The HR person reminded Sam she had a list of police problems. Dr. Quartermaine interrupted and hired Sam on the spot. It was payback for saving Jason. "I'm glad you are here. Welcome to General Hospital," he said as he left. Liz looked a bit concerned. Sam headed home and ran into Mateo.

Liz and Cameron ran into Jason. Jason was charmed by Cameron's new toy. Liz got teary and admitted she had wanted a dad for Cameron and the new baby. Liz added that the situation was very complicated and said she wanted to make the best decision. Jason learned more about Manny's brother Mateo from Stan. Jason wondered if Manny had survived and was pretending to be his brother? Jason also learned that before Mateo had become a priest he was a far worse guy than Manny.

Lulu and Dillon entered Kelly's. Lulu wondered why Spinelli was a problem for Dillon, or anyone for that matter. Spinelli entered the diner and joined them. Dillon pointed out that their project was keeping Lulu in the past, which wasn't a good thing. Lulu said that Spinelli had evidence that Alan killed Rick Webber. Dillon thought that if Alan wanted to kill Rick he would have succeeded. Spinelli kept interrupting and insisted that Dillon was making a movie about them. Dillon thought it was interesting that Monica is the one who had called him. Dillon then became intrigued in the research himself and began asking pointed questions.

Nikolas gets really down on himself for not listening to Emily at the church when she told him she thought Colleen took the baby and not Helena, who he suspected and had the police focus on. Lucky and Cruz find out what time Colleen took her flight with the baby. Nikolas realizes that Colleen was boarding a plane at the time that they were at the church. Lucky and Cruz decide to question Nikolas and Emily to see if there was something that Colleen said or did that might give them a clue as to where she may have taken Spencer. Nikolas gets upset when Cruz and Lucky ask him if he has heard from Colleen by phone and if she made a ransom demand and he doesn't want to tell them for fear that she will disappear again. Nikolas insists that he would have given Colleen any money she wanted if it meant getting his son back and that he isn't keeping anything from them. When they still question him about it he explodes at them in a temper. Emily steps in and tells him to calm down and let the police investigate. Nikolas decides to leave the police station and find Spencer on his own. Emily follows him to the docks to wait for the launch to Wyndemere. Nikolas feels that he should have listened to Emily more when she warned him about Colleen's serious crush on him and her attachment to Spencer. Emily tries to reassure him that Colleen had great references and was highly recommended by the nanny service. Nikolas doesn't feel reassured and points out that he should have seen the signs earlier and not insisted that Colleen was harmless. Nikolas gets a call on his cell-phone from Lucky. Lucky tells him that Colleen boarded a flight to Denver but that she could have also have got on another connection to another flight somewhere else. Nikolas plans to go to Denver himself. Meanwhile, Colleen brings Spencer to her job interview at a daycare center and returns with a job and thinks he contributed to her getting the job. She tells him that she plans to keep moving from place to place if Nikolas gets close to finding them. She turns on the television and hears a local weather report that they are expecting more snow in Denver.

Ric shows up at Sonny's coffee shop and barges into his office while he is meeting with someone. He tells Sonny that he plans to get sole custody of his daughter and that Sonny is going to help him. Sonny dismisses one of his men so he can talk to Ric in private. Sonny tells him that he isn't going to help him get sole custody of Molly. Ric informs him that he will subpoena him to testify that Alexis is unfit to raise Molly with her illness and that she allowed Sonny to take care of Molly for her when she was admitted in the hospital recently. Sonny warns Ric that he won't want him to testify in court because he will be forced to tell the judge all the sick things Ric did in his past. Ric acts like he isn't threatened by Sonny and thinks he has a strong case against Alexis for custody. Sonny warns him to watch himself before he starts something that he can't finish. Meanwhile, Alexis and Lainey join Kristina's tea party. Kristina is back to being unresponsive verbally while Lainey talks to her. Alexis starts coughing which upsets Kristina a little bit. Alexis tries to assure her that she is going to be o.k. Lainey watches Kristina and isn't so sure that Kristina believes Alexis. Alexis asks her nanny to take Kristina into the playroom with Molly so she can talk to Lainey in private. Alexis doesn't like what Lainey has to say about Kristina's trauma. Lainey tells Alexis that Kristina is very worried about her illness and that the reason she was better at Christmas was because everyone she loved was around her and there was no tension like there usually is. Alexis doesn't know what to do since she is sick and is trying her best to be positive around Kristina. Lainey asks her to take better care of herself for Kristina's sake. After Lainey leaves, Alexis sends Viola the nanny off to take Kristina and Molly to the park and to get some hot chocolate. She takes the bag of marijuana out of her hiding place and smokes it. Sonny shows up while she is eating a cookie. She panics since the house smells like pot and she gets the air freshener out to get rid of the smell as best as she can. Sonny gets worried when she doesn't answer the door right away. Alexis tells him she is coming in a minute. She answers the door and seems very nervous suddenly. Sonny asks her if she is alright. She asks him what he is doing there. Sonny tells her he came to visit Kristina to see how she was doing. Alexis tries to get rid of him by telling him that Kristina went out with Viola and Molly. Sonny pushes his way in and notices it smells funny in the house. Alexis tells him she got this new air freshener and was trying it out. Sonny notices she is acting funny and spots the used joint. He starts to laugh a little and asks her if she was just smoking pot. Alexis doesn't deny it and tells him Sam gave it to her to try to help with the pain and nausea she was experiencing after the chemo. Sonny asks her where Sam got it. Alexis refuses to tell him and he drops it. He asks her if it helps. Alexis says no at first but can't deny that it has helped her. Sonny thinks she should keep using it if it helps her and promises not to tell anyone. Meanwhile, Ric goes to see Liz at the hospital. He tells her of his plans to get sole custody of Molly and asks her if she would be willing to testify on his behalf that he would be a good full-time father to Molly. Liz tells him she can't do that since she is in her own custody situation with Lucky, who is planning to fight her for shared custody of their unborn child. Ric acts like he understands but it is clear he is disappointed in Liz's response. Audrey watches Liz talking to Ric. Later, Audrey makes it clear to Liz that she should not trust Ric and that he shouldn't be allowed to take the baby away from Alexis. Liz assures her she isn't helping Ric. Liz asks Audrey a hypothetical question about whether it is right to deny a man the right to be a father if she believes he would be a good father who would always put his child first. Audrey assumes she is talking about Lucky and tells her that she should give Lucky the chance to be a father again and take him back. Ric shows up to see Alexis while Sonny is there. Alexis hands the plate over to Sonny to hide the marijuana joint from sight. Ric informs her he is suing her for sole custody of Molly and that he expects her to do what is right for their daughter and let him raise her since she is too sick to do it properly. Alexis tells Sonny that will not allow Ric to take Molly away from her. Ric tells her that as long as she allows Sonny to be around his daughter she is making his case stronger since Sonny is a constant physical threat to his daughter's safety. Ric tells her that he will allow her to see Molly once a month for a visit if he gets sole custody. Alexis yells at him to go and he leaves. Alexis asks Sonny not to do anything that would physically hurt Ric because that would just give Ric more ammunition to use against her.

Sam feels threatened when she runs into Manny's twin, Father Mateo on the docks. She warns him to stay away from her. He tells her that he understands she is afraid after what his brother put her through and tries to assure her he means no harm. Sam doesn't believe he is Mateo and thinks he is pretending to be his brother and wants to hurt her. She threatens to kill him if he goes anywhere near her or Jason. Sam goes home and takes out Jason's gun and holds onto it. Meanwhile, Jason heads to the hospital and asks Dr. Lee about Sam. Dr. Lee tells him she can't divulge any information about Sam since she is a patient of hers. Jason asks her if she can answer a hypothetical question concerning Sam. Dr. Lee said she would. He asks her how much time does it take for a woman to heal completely after losing a baby like Sam did. Dr. Lee tells him that it takes a long time to heal but that in Sam's case she could get pregnant by next year at this time. Liz can't help but overhear Jason talking to Dr. Lee and seems disturbed by the conversation. Jason notices her at the nurses' station and approaches her. He asks her how she is doing. She tells him she is fine. She asks him if he came to the hospital to get his bullet wound checked out. He tells her he came to see how Sam did on her job interview. Liz is surprised he doesn't know already. She tells him about Sam's run in with Ms. Sneed and informs him that Alan gave Sam the job instead. Later, Liz talks to Dr. Lee casually about the rash of pregnancies and planned pregnancies this time of year. Dr. Lee tells her that even Jason asked her if Sam could get pregnant safely now. Liz hides her dismay by smiling quickly at Dr. Lee. Jason goes home and sees that his gun box is out and has been opened. He finds Sam sitting anxiously on the couch with his gun in her hand. Sam keeps having flashbacks to when she shot Diego in self-defense and how Kristina witnessed it all. She tells Jason about her run-in with Father Mateo and how she knew it was really Manny when she saw him. Jason tries to reassure her that it wasn't Manny and that Manny is dead and that Stan found out that Manny did indeed have an identical twin brother who became a priest. Sam doesn't believe that Mateo is any different from Manny since they were raised by the same parents and both were in prison. She warns Jason not to trust this guy because he is probably worse than Manny ever was. Jason tells her that he isn't trusting the priest but that he doesn't think he is going to hurt them. Sam tells him she understands now what he was trying to tell her before, maybe they shouldn't be parents and that maybe it is true that some people aren't meant to be parents. She tells Jason that this doesn't mean that she still doesn't want to have children anyway. Jason holds her to comfort her.

Spinelli surprised Sam, who was planning a romantic night for Jason. Spinelli said the roads are closed. There was a crash upstairs. Meanwhile, Sonny told Jason that Mateo really is reformed, and Jason assured Sonny that he's a loyal boyfriend to Sam. Jason recounted how Sam desperately wants a child, but he fretted about his dangerous lifestyle. Back at the penthouse, the noise turned out to be a window Sam left open (during this horrible snowstorm). She admitted that he's "odd" and "amusing," but she's in love with Jason. Spinelli admitted he's never been in love. Sam said she "can't wait" to start a family with Jason, and Spinelli assured her that she will make a great mother. Jason arrived home at the stroke of midnight and embraced Sam.

Skye, Alcazar and Lila Rae appeared at Carly's door after their car slid off road. Skye noted to Carly that Alcazar and Sonny are very much alike. Alcazar told Carly she will always be drawn to Sonny. She dismissed Alcazar as a ruthless thug, and wondered if Skye suspects the lengths he will go to in order to avenge Diego. Skye and Alcazar eventually got back on the road and smooched in the car. Sonny appeared at Carly's seconds before midnight (Michael called him), and kissed Carly — on the cheek.

As a lonely Lucky closed down Kelly's, the snowfall sparked a flashback to playing with Liz in the snow. Meanwhile, a man brought his pregnant wife to GH, where she asked Liz to keep her husband away because she's been lying about the child's paternity: her husband's best friend is the father. Later, she gave birth to a son and passed out. Suddenly, the newborn needed a transfusion — but only from his father. So Liz told the husband, "Your friend Ethan is the father." Meanwhile, Lucky was flashing back to more happy memories with Liz, when Maxie flounced in from the storm wearing a miniskirt and sexy pumps. She managed to tempt Lucky into dancing with her, and at midnight they kissed.

Robin met with Patrick, who wanted to take her to Metro Court for New Year's Eve, but she wanted to stay in. He balked, but she decorated his bare apartment and they made love. At midnight they shared champagne in plastic cups.

An emotional Liz lost control of her car in the storm, and it skidded off the road. She stumbled out of vehicle and managed to knock herself unconscious on some nearby rocks.