Nick senses something is bothering Sharon and wants to talk about it. He thinks it's a trust issue and she agrees. Sharon wants to tell Nick what happened with Diego, but he keeps interrupting her by saying that she doesn't need to say anything. Nick believes it's possible for them to be together, even though she still has doubts. Christine consoles Alex about her loss. Christine assumes that this tragedy has brought her and Neil closer together, but from Alex's reaction, it's clear she is indifferent. Olivia reminds Neil that Malcolm's situation was an accident and no one is to blame. Neil still has the feeling that Alex blames him, and goes to call her. Jill thumbs through a portfolio of male models as Larry walks in. He comes to thank her for her help, and says if she wants to teach him other things, he would be willing to learn. Jill gets an idea. Diane tries to persuade Victor not to testify on Jack's behalf, but Victor dismisses her pleas and forces her to leave. Silva informs Jack that things went well with Phyllis, but she still wouldn't let him prep her. Jack becomes emotional as he realizes that Ashley put everything aside to support him. Michael assures a nervous Phyllis that his plan will work, and it's the right thing for everyone. Victor enters the courtroom, and Michael wonders if he's going to testify.
Court:
All are shocked when Victor enters court. He calls Jack over and tells him that he will not be testifying. he feels both parties are at fault. Jack threatens to subpoena him at which Vic threatens to tell things that would make him look bad too. Court resumes and Diane takes he stand. John forces her to tell everyone about how she got pregnant. Diane' attorney puts a better spin on things and scores big points in front of the judge. Phyllis wonders if she'll need to sabotage the hearing after all, but Michael thinks Jack can still do damage. John reminds Jack that he is centre stage now and must convince the judge he is best for Kyle.
Jabot:
Jill and Larry talk about the kind of model he would like to see for Jabot. He doesn't even like Jabot's products except for that one perfume Jill wore when they danced.
Gina's:
Isabella bumps into her doctor and they have lunch. Isabella mentions her ultimatum for Paul. The doctor thinks it was a mistake. Isabella realizes she needs to have Paul be there for the baby's birth and makes plans for a special dinner. As she is leaving Chantal drops by and mentions that Christine is back in town.
Williams Investigations:
Kay presses Paul as to what's going on with Isabella. He tells her about the ultimatum and she wonders what about it really bothers Paul. He thinks it just shows how the relationship is centered solely around the child. Kay thinks that the talk of marriage reminds him of Christine.
Alex's:
Neil visits Alex wanting to make amends with her. She tells him she no longer blames him at all. When he tries to make plans for them to do things together with Nate, but she tells him she can't: she's leaving Genoa City.
Paul & Christine's apt:
Paul stops by to get some things and hears someone in the back. He assumes it's a burglar and draws his gun. He is shocked to see that it is actually Christine.
Nick and Sharon began to feel like things were back to normal as they lay in each other's arms after making love. Once the crew served lunch, everyone left the island under orders from Nick. Sharon was delighted to learn that she and Nick would be totally alone, with enough supplies until the crew's return, as well as their cell phone and two-way radio. She and Nick decided to go skinny-dipping on the reef.
After hearing a noise in his apartment, Paul pulled his gun. The bedroom door opened to reveal a startled Christine wrapped in a towel. After the two of them got over the shock of seeing each other, Christine dressed while Paul made them some tea. They then took the chance to sit down and talk. Paul confessed that he had moved out of Isabella's after she told him that he had to marry her immediately or move out. Chris said it was obvious he had reservations about remarrying, in spite of the baby. They both agreed that getting their final divorce decree had made them feel strange. Christine believed Paul when he told her that he hadn't known Isabella was back in town the day Christine saw her at Crimson Lights. Finally, Paul confessed that he'd listened to Katherine Chancellor's advice to consider all his feelings, not just those he had for Isabella, before he made the decision to marry her.
Isabella was alarmed to hear Chantal tell Gina that Christine was back in Genoa City. After her interrogation drove Chantal away, Isabella told Gina she suspected that Paul hadn't really been out of town at all, but instead had spent the past week with his ex-wife. She stormed into Paul's office, refusing to believe Marisa and Lynn when they told her Paul wasn't there. She then asked if Paul had been with Christine the whole time. When Marisa said as far as they knew, Chris was still in Australia, Isabella had a moment of weakness then left to go home, asking them to have Paul call her. Once at home, she poured a glass of water to take some headache medication. The glass shattered on the floor as she clutched her stomach and wondered what was wrong.
Alex reiterated her decision to move back to Minneapolis while Neil protested in vain. Though he told her that her support system was there, Alex insisted that the people who loved Malcolm were not only a constant reminder of what she'd lost, but also of the guilt she and Neil shared over the events that led to Malcolm's death. She said that the only way she could move on would be to move away. She reminded him that she had friends and a support system in Minneapolis. They embraced awkwardly, then Neil told her to have a nice life before he left her alone at Baldwin and Williams to wrap up her legal work.
On the stand at the custody hearing, Jack painted an idyllic picture of the Abbott home and family, insisting that it was the best place to raise Kyle. He said that he would not trash Diane, but he believed that Kyle was better off in a stable home with two parents rather than being shuttled back and forth between Milan and Genoa City. When questioned by Diane's attorney Sydney, Jack said Phyllis was completely behind his decision to get full custody of Kyle. During a break in the proceedings, Diane glared as Ashley told Jack how well she thought his testimony went.
Phyllis managed to get time alone with Michael. She wasn't sure she could go through with their plan, because if Jack ever found out, it would be the end of her marriage. Michael urged her to take her grief, pain, and misery over her loss of Daniel and unleash it on Diane in the court room, as it was Diane who was making her relive the memories that had left a hole in her heart. Once she was on the witness stand, Phyllis assured the judge that though she and Jack were business rivals, they had a great relationship and would be good parents to Kyle. She said she relished the prospect of becoming a full-time stepmother to Jack's son. When John Silva asked if she had any other children, Phyllis said, "No, but yes." The judge expressed her confusion over this answer, and John explained that Phyllis had been through a custody proceeding once before. Michael watched as Phyllis began to look anxious about John's line of questioning.
Paul and Chris rediscovered their feelings for each other and moved forward in their relationship with a passionate kiss until Isabella rang him on his cell phone. She wanted him to come over and help her, but he told her to call the doctor and let him know if the doctor thought that it was something serious. Put out, she hung up on him, but Chris encouraged him to go check on Isabella. He went to her apartment to find her doing better. She tried to apologize for the ultimatum, but soon realized that he may have been with Christine when she called him. She became immediately upset and told him to leave. In her ranting, she became unstable again, held her head in pain, and collapsed. Paul picked her up and ran off to take her to the hospital.
Back at Paul's apartment, Mary arrived to check on her son. She was shocked and relieved to find Christine there. She immediately found hope in Chris' presence, telling her that it wasn't too late for them. Chris tried to convince her that she was only there on a case and it was nothing that she could count on. Mary told Christine that she knew that Paul still had feelings for her and that Chris should stay for her own sake as well.
Alex asked Olivia and Nate to come over and see her. Mamie came as well, since she was watching Nate that morning. Alex told them all that it was time for her to leave and go back to Minneapolis to her job and friends there. She had admitted to Olivia that the guilt was too hard to take and that Neil was a reminder of that. After a tearful farewell, Alex left the apartment as well.
At Newman Enterprises, Victoria asked Neil if he was ready to meet with their Brazilian distributor. He was distracted and told her about Alex's decision to leave. They didn't have much time to go over this -- the gentleman arrived shortly. When Victoria asked Neil to talk about pricing of products, he ignored her, looked at a bottle of some beverage, and abruptly left the room. Victoria had to take it from there.
In the court room, John Silva carefully brought out the truth about Phyllis' previous custody hearings and the background surrounding her first child and marriage. She did well, focusing on her new life and how much Jack's love and trust meant for her. Before cross examination began, Michael whispered to Diane and her lawyer that they needed to talk. During a short recess, he insisted on taking over the cross examination. He had a plan and was the only one who really knew how to rattle Phyllis to the point that was necessary for Diane to win the case.
Michael took over in the court room, and started by asking how Phyllis could be a good mother but a bad person at the same time. He reviewed the things that Phyllis did to try to save her marriage and family 4 years ago. He reviewed the paternity of her son, Daniel, -- an old boyfriend, not Danny Romalati, her husband at the time. He talked about how she tampered with two paternity tests to make sure that Danny didn't find out that Daniel wasn't his child. The court's decision to deem her an unfit mother was mentioned as well. She became increasingly nervous but answered his questions to the best of her ability. Things became tougher, though, when he asked why she thought that she could handle the stress of a relationship with Kyle when she lied and deceived so many times with her former family. John Silva tried to stop him, but he came back with a response that held the judge from any action. Michael's line of questioning showed that what Phyllis did was much worse than what Diane had done and he justified it by saying that nothing was too extreme when they were defending the rights of a child who could not be in court to speak for himself. The real killer came when Michael brought out the picture of Daniel that Gina had given him for Phyllis. He gave it to her and asked her if she had realized when she was doing all these bad things that some day her son might find out what his mother had done, since the court's proceedings were a matter of public record. John did stop Michael at that point and the judge was about to agree. Just then Phyllis began raging at Diane about what a contemptible person she was and how she knew that Jack wanted a child, so she waved her son in front of his face, knowing that he couldn't resist. She looked at Jack and apologized. She told him that she couldn't do it. She held the picture to her heart and told him that she wasn't worthy of his love. She had tried, but she just couldn't do it. Then she told Diane that she should be happy that she got what she wanted. Was she happy now? She didn't know what happiness was. After Phyllis stopped, Michael reminded the judge how stressful life with a child could be and sat down. Phyllis sat trembling on the witness stand. . . . .
Christine warned Mary that Paul's situation was not one that Mary could control, and she needed to stop treating her son like a child. Mary insisted that Paul's major concern upon learning of her trip to Australia was how Christine had reacted to the news of Isabella's pregnancy, which Mary believed was proof that Paul still loved Christine. Mary said though at the time of their separation she hadn't felt that way, she was now glad that Paul never got over Christine. As Christine made her escape, Mary told her that she was running out of time. Once Christine was alone in Alex's apartment, she invited Katherine over to discuss the situation with her. Katherine said that no matter what Paul's feelings for Christine were, and Katherine believed he still loved her, what mattered was Christine's feelings for Paul. She told her that if she went back to Australia without resolving all of this, she would always regret it.
Meanwhile, Paul and Isabella were told by Drs. Thompson and Walker that Isabella was experiencing pregnancy-induced hypertension. The best thing they could do for her and the baby was perform an immediate C-section. Isabella was upset, as this was not how she planned to have the baby. Paul urged her to relax and let the doctors take care of her. Later, Dr. Thompson informed Paul that he had a healthy son, and that Isabella was in post-op. When Paul went to see her, he told her how handsome their son was. Isabella apologized for yelling at him about Christine and thanked him for staying with her and getting her to the hospital. She then told him that she had no doubts about his feelings for their baby. As Paul encouraged her to get some rest, Isabella seemed to experience a seizure followed by a loss of consciousness. Paul yelled for the hospital staff to take care of her.
Victor went to Nick and Sharon's house, where he found Nikki with Cassie. Cassie was excited when Miguel arrived to take her to the play at Walnut Grove. She told Victor she knew a little bit about Shakespeare and romance and was hoping for the best outcome from her parents' trip away together. After Cassie was gone, Nikki and Victor fought over Victor's refusal to testify on Jack's behalf in the Jenkins-Abbott custody hearing. Victor said he didn't think either Jack or Diane were worth testifying for, but all evidence pointed to the fact that Diane had been a good mother to Kyle. Nikki countered that Victor should have considered her feelings when he made the decision, since if Diane left the country with Kyle and kept Jack from being a father to him, Nikki would never forgive herself.
At Walnut Grove, Mac worried about how stressed out her mother seemed. Amanda's attempts to work on Colleen's costume were interrupted by a threatening phone call from Ralph, who warned her that he was tired of waiting to hear her decision on whether or not she was going to steal money from Katherine for him.
Erica was concerned that since the dress rehearsal had gone so smoothly, it meant something bad would happen during the actual performance of the play. Meanwhile, J.T. told Brittany that the person who was supposed to get beer for his cast party hadn't come through, so he had to run out and get it himself. Brittany was annoyed with him for forgetting lines during rehearsal and for leaving so soon before the performance started. Raul, thinking she had pre-performance jitters, praised her talent and assured her she was going to do great, while Mac eavesdropped. When Raul told Brit how proud her parents were going to be of her, she said they usually just treated her like a trophy.
A short while later, Raul intercepted a friendly glance between Mac and Billy and asked Billy if things were better between them. Billy told him they'd made peace about Mac's suspicions that he was stalking her. After expressing his confidence that this boded well for the estranged couple, Raul left Billy to help Brittany and Erica search for J.T. Danielle then showed up and told Billy that if he didn't let her work on the Glo by Jabot web site, she intended to tell Mac that Billy couldn't perform sexually because he was still hung up on his ex. As she flounced off, Mac asked Billy what Danielle had been talking to him about, and Billy brushed her off.
Ashley warned Jack to calm down after Phyllis fled from the courtroom after her testimony. Later, she was with Jack when he found Phyllis. When she tried to intercede, hoping to stop a fight between them, Jack told her to leave. She went back in the courtroom to find Brad, who'd just arrived and had been filled in by John Silva about Phyllis's breakdown on the stand. After Ashley exchanged angry words with Diane and made some comments about Michael Baldwin, Brad insisted that they leave, reminding Ashley that her health should be her first priority and none of this stress was doing her any good.
Jack demanded to know why Phyllis had broken down on the stand. He speculated that if she'd allowed John Silva to prep her, it wouldn't have happened. Phyllis argued that she'd had no idea Michael was going to be the one to cross-examine her. She told him that nothing could have prepared her for seeing Daniel's picture. She apologized to Jack, saying she knew how important custody of his son was to him. Jack told her that he needed to be alone, and Phyllis left.
Diane thanked Michael for the way he'd handled Phyllis on the stand. Michael told her he'd taken absolutely no pleasure in it. He then went to look for Phyllis, obviously worried about how his cross-examination had affected her. Instead, he found Jack. Jack told Michael that he would pay, and pay dearly, for tearing out Phyllis's heart and ripping it to shreds. Michael told Jack that he was a sanctimonious, pompous ass and that he was the one who'd put Phyllis in that position. When he told Jack he was to blame for destroying his wife and damaging his marriage, Jack lunged at him. John Silva rushed in and separated the two of them, letting them know that the judge was ready to reconvene and give her ruling.
