Actor87

Unfortunately, scheduling problems and lack of ideas has left me with no other choice but to end this fan fiction. It's a sad day for me, but this is a decision that I felt had to be made. I want to thank all the loyal readers (you know who you are) for following ANWT for this long. I also appreciate all the feedback that I've received, good and bad alike, during the course of this fan fiction. Lastly, I could have never have done this without the help of 2 amazing friends. P.J., you are a God-send. Co-writing this fic together was a phenomenal experience that will always be remembered. Thanks for all your support, nagging, and friendship. I wouldn't have had it any other way. DrewH, without you, I would have gone crazy. Thanks for helping me keep my cool and giving me great story ideas in the process. And to all the readers, whoever and wherever you are, thanks for letting us turn your world. It's been a fun ride. With that said, the ending will be posted in parts. Each part will be posted whenever I can get around to it, so please be patient. And now, part 1 of "A New World Turns: The Ending". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carly finds Brad an apartment to sub-lease at the Oakdale Towers. Brad nitpicks the place to death, until Carly finally shuts him up. She points out he was all for pushing her to "move on" when Jack left town. Now she's the one advising him to move on with his life. Brad reminds her they've never been friends. He's always been a pain in the ass, Carly admits. But he grew up a little while Jack was out of town, looking out for her and the kids the way he did. That makes him family. Rolling his eyes, Brad admits the fabulous apartment isn't that bad...all it needs is a recliner and a big screen tv to make it perfect. Carly says he might want to add a bed, unless he plans on unrolling a sleeping bag on the floor. And sleeping alone for the forseeable future. Jack calls in a favor and gets access a copy of the OPD file on Carly's accident. Other than Katie, the OPD had no suspects. He's upset to find a report detailing the earlier vandalism on Carly's car that he knew nothing about. The detective's notes question if the incidents are related. Jack's face turns ashen and he storms out to his car. Pulling out his cell, he leaves an angry message---"you have a lot of explaining to do." Jack remains silent during dinner, and after she sends the kids to do their homework, Carly asks what's bothering him. Calmly, Jack asks why she didn't tell him her car was vandalized. Carly shrugs her shoulders and reminds him he wasn't around. At the time, she wasn't even sure if he gave a damn about her. Kissing her, he tells her everything he's done, he's done for her. A few days later, Carly takes Brad to the mall, to help him furnish his new apartment. While they shop, Brad notices Mac out of the corner of his eye. He doesn't say anything to Carly, but he makes an excuse and confronts Mac, thinking he's stalking Carly. Mac tells him he's an idiot, that he's picking up some equipment for the hockey team. Brad backs off, but he's still suspicious. Later, he plays the sympathy card and invites himself back to supper at Milltown, and takes Jack aside, volunteering to help him "knock some sense" into Mac, Snyder style. Parker walks by and overhears Jack thank him for watching out for Carly, but refuses to confront Mac. After Brad leaves, Jack insists on staying the night with his family---on the couch. The next day, taping runs late at WOAK. Expecting his furniture, Brad asks Jimmy to wait for the delivery men. When he's finally done with work, Brad runs in to Carly in the parking lot. She chides him for acting like a kid at Christmas, anxious see the presents Santa's brought. Brad reminds her she had fun too---spending his money. Carly admits she did, and Brad invites her to be his first official houseguest...and help do all the "woman-y things" like arranging the furniture. She agrees. When they arrive, everything's been delivered but the bed. Brad thanks Jimmy, and he and Carly are soon engrossed in unpacking and rearranging the furniture. When the kids arrive home from school, Jack is walking up the block to greet them. While JJ and Sage do their homework, Parker asks Jack if he had a talk with Mac. Jack denies it, and wonders why Parker's asking. Parker admits he overheard Brad accuse Mac of stalking Carly. And that while Carly befriended Mac at first, she grew uncomfortable around him, and he saw them arguing on the porch the last time Mac stopped by the house. Jack assures him there's nothing to worry about. Parker berates him for acting like it's no big deal. Maybe if Jack had been around to see it like Parker and Brad were, he'd think differently. Parker has a bad feeling about Mac---he thinks he's lying about something. And frankly, he thinks Jack's lying to him too. A knock at the door interrupts them. It's Margo, accompanied by two cops. She tersely asks if Carly's home. Carly's still at work, Jack tells her. Margo shakes her head. Carly's not at WOAK. When Jack asks why Margo wants to know, she takes him aside and tells him 911 got a call half an hour ago from Oakdale Towers---Brad's been stabbed. He's been rushed to Memorial, and it doesn't look good. Jack asks what that has to do with Carly. Carly was seen entering the building with Brad, Margo answers. But no one saw her leave. And her purse was found at the scene. Jack pales---Carly's obviously been kidnapped. Margo hesitates--or she's the suspect in an attempted murder. Jack scoffs at the idea. Margo's serious. She mentions the fact Carly's been seen with Brad all around town lately. She was helping Brad set up residence, using his credit card and ordering furniture, including a bed. She even mentions Katie accused Carly and Brad of having an affair minutes after Jack left town. It wouldn't be the first time a lover's spat had ended in violence. Jack tells Margo she's wrong...he and Carly are back together. Margo snidely reminds him it wouldn't be the first time Carly's deceived him. Jack snaps, reminding her Carly was nearly run down just a few weeks ago. Margo says it was probably just an accident, and Carly used it to drum up sympathy. Finally, Jack comes clean. The reason he suspects someone is after Carly, is because someone's after him. Right before Christmas, Jack went back undercover with the FBI after they informed him Ben Harris had been brutally attacked. An obituary of Joe Teague was left at the scene, along with an old newspaper article about Jack finding the evidence that linked Teague to the Milltown Church fire. The FBI has been investigating a white supremicist group headed by Joe Teague's son, Junior. Ben was put into protective custody, and the Bureau wanted to put him, Carly and the kids under protection too while they hunted Junior down. Jack refused, staged a break up, and left town to keep his family safe. Margo chastises him for not informing her--she could have at least placed the house under surveillance while Jack was out of town. Jack assures her he made his own arrangements before going undercover and trying to get information from one of Teague's old buddies about where Junior might hide out. He couldn't find out anything useful, and he came home after hearing about Carly's accident. Margo puts out an APB on Carly's car, and Jack asks to be a part of the investigation. He calls the FBI, hoping they've had a break in finding Junior. Emma comes over to be with the kids, while Margo authorizes police protection for the house. Emma tries to reassure the kids, but Parker overhears the officers speculate that Carly's probably already dead. Convinced that Mac is behind Carly's disappearance, he sneaks out of the house with a baseball bat. While Parker hides in the bushes at Mac's house down the street, Carly wakes up in the dark, screaming, recalling finding Brad laying in a pool of his own blood. Parker spies Mac sitting in his front room, in front of his laptop. When Mac leaves the room, he sneaks inside the house, and is shocked. There are candid pictures of his family hanging on the wall, along with schedules of their weekly activities written out. When he hears Mac returning, he waits by the door, and hits him in the back, knocking Mac to the floor. As the older man coughs up blood, Parker shouts he wants to know what Mac's done with Carly. Mac denies any involvement, and Parker hits him again. Parker shouts Brad was right, Mac is some stalker-pervert fixated on his mom. Slowly, Mac crawls into a corner as he coughs up blood. Parker raises his bat again, as Mac tries to calm him down. Mac understands that it looks bad, but he's not stalking anyone. He's been protecting them. Parker laughs at him--he's a cop's kid, he'd have known if they were under police protection. Understanding nothing he says will convince Parker, he offers up proof. The phone number of the man who hired him. Emma panics, realizing Parker's taken off. The officers search the house and call Jack, who races home. The officers report they've searched the area, and Parker's bike is still in the garage. Jack tells them to keep searching and begs Emma not to worry before taking off again. Parker tells Mac he's calling the police instead, and pulls out his cell phone. Hearing someone else enter the house and call out Mac's name, he hides by the door and raises his bat. Just as the person steps through the doorway, Mac yells at them to duck, and they roll to the floor as Parker swings and misses. Parker's ready to swing again, but stops cold when he realizes it's Jack. Parker tells him he's found Carly's kidnapper--Mac. Jack yells at him, asking what the hell he's doing running out on Emma in the middle of a crisis. Mac yells at him explain everything before Parker hits anyone else with the bat. Then Jack comes clean. Mac is ex-FBI, the first partner Jack had when he joined the Bureau. Parker was right, Jack lied when he left town---but it was to go undercover--and he only agreed knowing someone he trusted would be protecting his family. He got Mac the job at the rink, so he could have a way to keep an eye on them without scaring either Carly or them. Mac called him right after Carly's accident, and Jack decided to come home. Jack assures him there's no way Mac had anything to with Brad's stabbing or Carly's disappearance. Parker apologizes to Mac, and Jack scolds him for taking matters into his own hands. As Jack arranges for a squad car to take Mac to the ER, he gets a call on his cell phone. The caller's voice is disguised, and he's told that if he wants the blonde returned safely, he'll come to where Joe Teague was murdered. Alone. Carly explores the cabin she's being held in. To her horror, she realizes it's the same cabin she and Jack took refuge in after being trapped by Joe Teague in the tool shed and nearly freezing to death. Where Jack was stabbed and Teague was killed after fighting with Ben Harris. Carly desperately tries to escape, but the door is barred from the outside and all the windows are boarded over. Carly hears someone outside and tries to hide, hoping she can just rush out past them. She can't see the man's face, but he advises her not to run, and holds a gun out for her to see. Besides, her hero is on his way to rescue her---she wouldn't want to miss that. Carly tells the man he'd be better off leaving---Jack will kill him for taking her and killing his brother. The last he heard, Brad was hanging on in the ICU at Memorial. Then all he has to do is let her go, and he'll live, Carly tries to bargain. Jack needs to pay, the man tells her, turning around and introducing himself as Joe Teague Jr. Carly pales recognizing Jimmy, the intern from WOAK. Joe/Jimmy tells her to scurry out from the corner she's hiding in. He's not going to hurt her---at least until Jack gets there. He laughs as Carly stays hidden, and tells her how fun it was being so close to her at WOAK, knowing he could just kill her anytime he wanted. It amused him to see her operate, bedding Brad while Jack-the-hero was out of town. And the way she tortured poor Katie made him hate Carly all the more. That's why he trashed her car---for Katie---but he also hoped to scare her enough to bring Jack back to town. It took nearly running her down to do that though. He could have played this out for months, but when Katie left town, it left him without someone to take the blame. So he stepped up his timetable. And when Brad asked him to let the furniture guys in and she showed up too---it was the perfect opportunity. Carly and Joe/Jimmy hear a car pull up, and Carly makes a break for the door, screaming for Jack to stay away. Jimmy hits her, knocking her down, then grabs her up by the arm and hauls her out to the porch with him. Pointing his gun to her head, Jimmy tells Jack to toss away his gun, then kneel down. His dad would want his murderer to die on his knees. Jack wants Jimmy to let Carly drive away in his car first before he'll toss the gun. Carly's horrified and begs Jack not to agree---Jimmy's going to kill her either way. Jack tells her that's not true, Jimmy promised Carly wouldn't be harmed. Jimmy laughs...as long as Jack knows what a faithless bitch Carly was, sleeping with his brother, he'll let her go. He tells Jack to throw his gun away and walk away from the car. When Jack does, Jimmy drags Carly with him off the porch, and moves with her closer to the car. Eyes locked on her, Jack tells Carly he loves her. When they get to the front of the car, Jimmy tosses Carly to the ground and shoots three rounds into Jack's chest. Carly scrambles for the car door as a shot rings out, dropping Jimmy to the ground. Screaming, Carly dashes over to Jack, begging him not to die as she presses her hand over his chest. Jack groans, and tells her not to worry, she's not getting rid of him that easily. Carly feels a solid mass, and realizes Jack's wearing a bulletproof vest. Suddenly she's aware of a handful of FBI agents swarming the scene, and realizes he had an entire squad backing him up. Relieved beyond belief, she smothers him with kisses. Jack groans in pain, and protests going to a hospital when one of the medics suggests it. Carly overrules him, and tells him she's putting her foot down. The sooner he's healed, the sooner they can get married. Jack laughs that he hasn't asked her yet. Carly tells him she's not waiting for him to ask, they're getting married exactly one week after he's discharged. No ifs, ands or butts about it. Laughing, Jack agrees---but he's not taking her name. Carly kisses him, and tells him to shut up. TO BE CONTINUED....

At WOAK, Kim announces that Katie's taking an extended leave of absence while she takes her mother out of the country for treatment. Brad's stunned that she left without a word to him. He follows Kim back to her office, trying to get more details out of her. Impatiently, Kim tells him he knows everything she does. It's an open ended leave. Kim assumes he's worried about the fate of Oakdale Now, and assures him she's already setting up interviews for Katie's on-air replacement. Brad returns to his office, and mopes around seeing all of Katie's stuff still there. On Kim's orders, Jimmy enters and starts packing up Katie's possessions. Unable to watch, Brad drifts over to the break room for coffee. He runs into Carly, who tells him Jack's returned. Jack wakes up in the guest room in Milltown. Heading downstairs, he finds Carly making lunch. Laughing at sleeping so long, he tells her she's the one who should be resting. Carly scoffs and tells him she's gotten used to being on the go with him gone. It made the time go faster so she didn't miss him as much. Carly teases that she's already been by the office and picked up some work, running into his brother on the way. Half teasing, half serious, Jack asks her if she really really missed him while he was gone. When she's too choked up to give him an answer, he leans in and gives her a passionate kiss. Things quickly heat up between them, until Jack pulls back and suggests he leave. Breathlessly, Carly tells him to shut up and listen. Not only has she missed him--more importantly, she realized how much she trusts him. Ever since they started getting close again, she's been scared it wouldn't work, and she'd end up hurt even more. That's not the way she wants to live her life. It's time to stop dwelling on the negative and remember how much joy and happiness they had too. So, he's stuck with her. They'll figure out the rest later...but right now all she wants is to be with him. Cutting her off with another passionate kiss, Jack carries her up to their bedroom and they make love. At Carrie's apartment, Will mentions Paul's good deed in letting him see Hallie the other day. Carrie warns that if Gwen ever finds out, she'll go ballistic. Meanwhile, Rosanna confides in Paul that if Carrie is Cabot's mother, she's worried about the unbreakable bond between a mother and her child. If Cabot really is Jacob, Rosanna exclaims, then where does that leave her? Later, all four get paged to the hospital for the reading of the DNA results. Bob sits them all down and informs them that Carrie is indeed Cabot's biological mother. Across town, Barbara taunts Craig with the information that Carrie might be Cabot's mother. Craig is livid his new assistant didn't mention any of this to him and prepares to confront her. Paul, however, cuts Craig off at the chase and chuckles that there's no way he's getting custody of Cabot with the confirmed birth mother on their side. Barbara learns from Paul that Cabot is actually Carrie's son, Jacob. At Java, Carrie flinches as Craig berates her for leaving him out of the loop. Rosanna steps in and referees, demanding Craig take his lectures elsewhere. Later, she fills Carrie in on Craig's shady past and laments that Craig is trying to take Cabot from her. Carrie's sympathetic and Rosanna insinuates that Carrie help her win custody against Craig. Barbara stops by Carrie's apartment and finds Will walking around in a pair of boxers. She tries to drop off some presents, but Will sends her way, scolding that she can't buy love or forgiveness. At Iris's, Gwen and Hallie play on the floor as Iris cleans. Iris proposes moving away, but Gwen isn't so sure about the idea. Iris reminds her that Will is never going to change; why should she limit her life waiting on him to? Gwen agrees to think it over. Jack picks up the boys from hockey practice. Parker and JJ introduce him to their new coach and the men briefly shake hands before Mac excuses himself. Parker finds Mac's behavior odd, but doesn't say anything about it. Bringing home pizza for dinner, Jack's surprised to find Brad there talking to Carly. While the kids finish homework upstairs, Brad welcomes his brother home. Jack starts to berate him for accusing Carly of instigating Katie's miscarriage, but Carly elbows him and tells him they settled that while he was gone. She even makes sure to let Jack know he felt so bad, he made a pest of himself trying to be helpful. And as much as she hates to admit it, Brad did manage to do a couple of things right. Grudgingly, Jack thanks his brother and invites him to stay for dinner. Grabbing beers, Brad takes Jack aside in the kitchen and asks if he's met Mac-the-hunky-hockey-coach yet. Puzzled at his tone, Jack admits they met when he picked up the boys that afternoon. Brad tells him Mac's got a thing for Carly and shouldn't be trusted. While the Snyders sit down and divvy up slices of pizza, somewhere a computer screen lights up, the screen splitting into four images---all of them from inside the Milltown house. Lily and Holden talk about Jade and Lily shares her worries that Rose is rolling in her grave due to the fact that her sister has done such a poor job looking after her daughter. Holden comforts her and tells her that she's gone above and beyond to protect Jade. Luke comes in and reveals that Jade has started seeing Dr. Michaels in hopes of regaining her memory. Across town, someone follows Jade and almost smacks her over the head until Kevin's emergence prompts them to run for it. Not having seen the mystery person, Kevin apologizes for the way he's acted towards her, adding that he never meant to insinuate that she or Luke murdered Colin. Jade coldly hisses that the only reason for his apology is so that he can work things out with Luke. Later, Jade meets Dr. Michaels for another appointment. During the session, she remembers running out into the road with the bloody murder weapon and fleeing once she heard a car coming. Dr. Michael assures her that she's indeed making a breakthrough and schedules another session. At the house, Lucinda drops by and informs them that her contacts have some shady news about Edward Taylor. Apparently, he was arrested in college for attempted robbery and simple battery. He was tried but never convicted. Lily worries that if Mr. Taylor did kill Colin, he might come after Jade. Across town, Luke meets up with Kevin, who tells him about his run-in with Jade. Luke shrugs that Jade's good at holding grudges, but she'll get over it in time. Aaron surprises Alison at the fundraiser and admits that he's been thinking a lot about them lately. Ever since he saw that Julie and Caleb have gotten back together, he's convinced that people who belong together will always find their way back to each other...just like him and Alison. Just as he grabs a small box from his coat pocket, Alison gets called away. Michael shows up, much to Susan's surprise and offers to help with the fundraiser since he has the day off from work. He's interrupted by a call from a patient, but promises to make it quick and return soon. Across the room, the show starts and Alison keeps getting light headed. Trying to regain her balance, she passes out right in front of Kim, who calls 911 and beckons for Susan. At the hospital, Susan blames Alison's sudden collapse on herself. Alison had told her she didn't feel right, but Susan shrugged it off and planned to have her checked out after the fundraiser. Aaron calms her down and assures her that Alison will be fine. Later, the doctor returns and informs Susan and Aaron that Alison has developed diabetes.

Taking a seat on the couch, Dr. Michaels informs Jade that this is a very important decision that she hopes Jade has carefully thought about. If Jade remembers something, it's her duty to report it to the police. As Jade starts to go under, Luke searches for his cousin across town. Kevin appears and suggests he give Jade some alone time. Frustrated, Kevin vents that he feels like his relationship with Luke has come to a stand still. Peeved, Luke grunts that it's Kevin's own fault for doubting him. Kevin's hurt, recalling their long talk last week. He thought they had patched things up. Luke recants that despite the talk, he still has reservations about their relationship. Frankly, he admits, he doesn't know if they'll ever get back what they had. Meanwhile, Jade's bothered when she can't go under. Dr. Michaels assures her it's common and suggests coming back another time. Later, Luke finds Jade in Old Town and she tells him she tried to remember the night through hypnosis, but Dr. Michaels warned her it's a slow process. As they talk about Jade's session, we see someone watching them. Dusty smiles as he hands Emily a present. She chimes that he didn't have to get her anything, but Dusty cues her to open it. Inside, she finds a ticket for a trip to Chicago. He reasons that they've both been swamped with work lately and he'd love nothing more than a weekend alone with her. Emily's excited and tells Susan about their vacation plans. Susan reminds Emily of a fundraiser that she had agreed to help with. Knowing she can't let Dusty down anymore than she already has, Emily convinces Alison to help and scurries off to pack her bags. Downstairs, Alison tells her mother that she's felt weak lately, but Aaron has been visiting Julie and she doesn't want to worry him so soon after just arriving back. Susan hands her a pregnancy test, shrugging that Aaron will worry either way it goes. Alison takes the test, but it comes up negative and Susan agrees to have Bob check her out after the fundraiser is over. Meanwhile, Dusty runs into Craig in Java and the two almost engage in a scuffle, but Emily calling Dusty interrupts the fight before it can begin. Later, Craig arrives at Memorial to badger Michael about the experimental program he enrolled Lyla in, but instead, he sees Rosanna and Carrie. Hesitantly, Jack admits to Carly that he lied. But it was only not to scare her and the kids. She's right; there was no client. The FBI contacted him before Christmas about an old case of his, and he went undercover to wrap it up. Carly yells he had no right to put himself in danger like that...not without telling her. He could have died, and the last memory she'd have had is another argument. Jack apologizes, and wraps his arms around her as she starts to cry. Stroking her hair, he admits even that last fight was a lie. He didn't believe for a moment that she caused Katie's miscarriage. It was a way to explain his sudden departure. There wasn't any danger, though. The assignment was just more complicated than anyone realized. And once Jack got her message, he knew where he needed to be: at home with her and the kids. Carly pulls away and teases the kids won't recognize him with that beard, and offers him use of the shower while she fixes him a sandwich. When the kids arrive home from school, they're thrilled to have their father home. Rosanna thanks Carrie for agreeing to a DNA test and suggests Carrie talk with Paul while she talks with the nurse. Paul threaten Carrie that if he finds out she's manipluated them in any way and caused Rosanna to gain false hope, he'll do everything he can to destroy her reputation. Carrie dares him to try, reminding him that he has a more twisted past than she does. Despite Rosanna's wishes, Barbara shows up and makes a show in front of Carrie. Will comes in, preventing the show from going anymore downhill. The nurse beckons Carrie as Barbara, Paul, Will, and Rosanna all await the results. Will blasts Barbara for coming, but she later confides in Paul that she thinks the outcome of the custody trial is to blame for Will's testy mood towards her lately. Paul chuckles that Will isn't in a bad mood because he lost Hallie; he's in a bad mood because Barbara's made his new girlfriend's life a living hell. In the exam room, Will grills Carrie as to why she never told him about her son. Carrie replies that she didn't trust him enough, but she does now. Through tears, she recalls a drunken one night stand leading to a pregnancy. After the baby was born, he went missing and she soon discovered her father had sold the baby on the black market to get money for his heroin addiciton. Will debates telling Barbara about Darryl, but doesn't realize she's heard the whole thing. Guilty over her interference in Carrie's life and struggling with the news that Darryl has turned to drugs, Barbara returns to the penthouse and sadly strokes a photo of Jennifer and Johnny.

Startled by Jack's appearance--pale, noticably thinner and a rough beard, Carly tells him he looks like hell. Jack laughs and agrees with her. On the other hand, he grins, she's more beautiful than he remembers. Carly tries to sit up, only to wince in pain from a cut on her arm. When Jack asks what happened, Carly downplays the accident as merely having slipped on some ice in the road. She's a lot more interested in where he's been for the last two months. First, though, Jack wants to know more about her urgent message to come home. Heated, Carly grumbles that she doesn't think he needs an explanation other than his kids were worried out of their minds about him. Especially when he didn't even bother to keep in touch like he promised. Looking at him, Carly's mind starts harboring the idea that maybe he wasn't off in South America working. She has a sinking feeling Parker was right, she tells her ex-husband. He's been telling them all a huge lie, hasn't he? As Katie and Lyla prepare to leave, Lyla pulls Margo aside. While she hopes the treatment works, she makes Margo promise to look after Katie if it doesn't...she doesn't want Katie to be alone and blame herself. Margo smiles that Lyla needs to worry about her health and quit trying to tend to Katie's every need. She's a big girl; Katie can handle her own problems. Trouble is, she knows Lyla's always going to be there for her to clean up the mess. Lyla admits that she didn't clean up much of a mess with Brad. She just made it harder for everyone involved. Meanwhile, Katie stops at Tom's office and tells him she's leaving today to help get Lyla settled in France. While she's away, she'll be in close contact with his offices regarding her divorce. She wants this all behind her as soon as possible. At the airport, Margo reminds her mother about her promise to quit trying to baby Katie. Katie, meanwhile, thanks Margo for being there for her. She sighs that maybe the time in France will be good for her. She'd like to take up painting or cycling...something productive so that Lyla doesn't worry so much and can put more effort into getting better. Nearly missing his chance to tell them goodbye, Craig rushes in and kisses his mother goodbye. She scolds him to stay out of trouble and pats his face. Rushed, she tells them that she worries about them too much, but she knows that they'll be fine on their own. She tries to tell them goodbye, but Craig stops her. This isn't goodbye, he says. They've all been through too much in the last year to say another goodbye so soon. She'll be back, Craig smirks, healthier than ever. Through tears, Lyla calls out "I love you" to her two children as she and Katie board the jet, headed towards France. Playing Monopoly, Jade cheers that she won and tells Faith and Natalie that maybe they'll have better luck next time. Faith inquires about the progress of Jade's remembering, but Lily's emergence through the door cuts her short. After the girls have gone, Jade asks Lily about the officers outside and seems puzzled about what she did. Lily assures her that she did nothing. Lucinda sent the officers to guard the house until everything calms down. Jade panics, blaming herself for bringing chaos to Lily's house once again. Luke appears and asks to speak with Jade alone. Jade worries that everything is getting out of control. If only she could remember, she says, they could put this all behind them. Luke informs her that Dr. Michaels has admitted to wanting to hypnotize Jade so that she can remember the night of Colin's murder. Jade refuses the idea and tells Luke that she doesn't need a shrink digging through her head. Later, Holden tells Lucinda that he thinks it was Mr. or Mrs. Taylor that killed Colin and shot at him and Lily on their way home. Lucinda agrees to get in touch with some contacts and see what she can find out about the Taylors. After Holden returns home, Lily probes him as to where he went. She's upset when he tells her that he went to her mother for help. Lucinda has helped them enough, she scolds. Meanwhile, Jade appears at Dr. Michaels' door and tells her that she'd like to be hypnotized so that she can remember the night of the murder. Rosanna puts Cabot down for a nap and returns just as Paul comes through the door. He reveals that he found out something, but she might want to sit down for this. After Rosanna has taken a seat, Paul informs her that Carrie had a photo of Cabot because he's her biological son. The child was kidnapped from the hospital where he was born. Rosanna dismisses the whole thing and rails that it can't be true. When questions arose about Cabot's paternity, Jordan could never remember the woman he had slept with and James would never reveal the mother's identity. Paul groans that there are several unanswered questions, but the only way to get answers is from Carrie herself. Later, Rosanna meets with Carrie at Java. Nervous, Carrie protests that her boss Craig will not like the two of them talking like this, especially with the approaching custody case. Rosanna appeals to the young woman and presents her with an updated photo of Cabot. As Carrie holds back her joyous tears from seeing the photo, Rosanna admits that she has reason to believe Carrie might be Cabot's biological mother. Carrie dismisses it, claiming that her child has been missing for over five years. There's no way that Jacob and Cabot can be one in the same. Rosanna shrugs that there's only one way to find out and asks Carrie to be matched with Cabot for DNA. Reluctantly, Carrie agrees.

Finding out Katie spent the night with Lyla, Margo shows up at her mother's with breakfast. Margo casually asks how Lyla's night went, probing for specific details. Suspicious, Katie asks if there's more behind her questions than concern for their mother. Reluctantly, Margo informs her Carly was nearly run down the day before. Katie's shocked...then realizes she must be a suspect. Margo assures her she doesn't believe Katie's responsible, but it'll be easier on everyone if they establish Katie's alibi now. Katie tells her she spent the night with Lyla, and they didn't have any visitors. Margo asks if she's sure--no phone calls, deliveries? Katie remembers she went to pick up Lyla's meds, and produces the receipt, time stamped at 4:35 p.m. Relieved, Margo tells her the accident was at approximately 4:20 pm, and all the way across town. There's no way Katie could have done it. Michael shows up soon after and tells Lyla, Katie and Margo about a new drug in France that's shown amazing success in treating the same kind of cancer Lyla has. He's talked to the lead doctor himself, and sent them a copy of Lyla's medical history. There's a spot in the trial waiting for her--if she wants it. Katie and Margo encourage her to go, and Lyla agrees. Katie insists on going with her. Lyla's afraid that Katie is taking the trip solely to run from her problems and warns her daughter that her troubles will follow her unless she makes things right with both Brad and Carly. After a restful night, Carly chafes a bit as Rosanna continues to pamper her. When Rosanna asks what's bothering her, Carly says she feels guilty for taking her away from Cabot so soon. Rosanna suspects it's more than that--any mention of Mac's name seems to irritate her, which is a little strange considering all he did and how concerned he was. Carly admits she should be grateful to him, but there's something about him she doesn't trust. And the last thing she remembers is going to confront him about it. Another flash of memory surfaces--Mac yelling at someone on his phone. Rosanna reminds her Mac is the one who called 911 after the accident. That's probably what she's remembered. Carly mumbles Mac has never struck her as the panicky type. Sending Rosanna home, Carly goes upstairs to rest. Later, when she feels someone shake her shoulder, she assumes she's overslept and the kids have come home from school already. She's shocked to roll over and find Jack sitting on the edge of her bed. Rosanna returns home and puts on a nice front while talking to Will. She asks to speak with Paul in private. In the kitchen, Rosanna scolds Paul for bringing Will over to see Hallie. If Gwen finds out, she'll lose all trust in her. It's nothing serious, Paul assures her. He's been watching Will and not once has Hallie's life come into any danger. Paul makes a mention that they need to talk about something later, but Rosanna insists he tell her now. Although he doesn't want Rosanna to worry, he tells her that Will found a photo of Cabot at Carrie's. Rosanna's confused as to why she would have the photo and seems bothered by it. Paul agrees to see what he can find out. After some searching on the internet, Paul finds an old case about a baby theft in Buffalo. When he looks into it, he's shocked to find that Carrie is the mother whose child went missing. Later, Craig meets with Carrie to discuss designs for his new home. He's cut short by a call from Lyla telling him about her plans. She fears that he needs her, especially with the custody hearing coming up. He assures his mother that he's a big boy. Plus, he's been more of a father to Cabot than Paul could ever be. Carrie trembles when she hears the name and interrogates Craig for information. Puzzled, Craig asks Carrie why she wants to know so much about the adoption. Shrugging it off as concern for her employer, Carrie soon excuses herself. Holden panics when Lily screams as the gunshot rings out. Darting down a side road, they fly until they lose the car following them. Holden tells Lily that he believes her now; this isn't all just coincidence. First, they probe the Taylors for information about Colin's murder and then they're getting shot at. Lily, in panic mode, tells Luke to do as she says and ask no questions: take Jade and the kids and get them some place that's safe. At Emma's, Luke thanks his grandmother for allowing them to stay the night. As they all go to bed for the night, Jade guesses that the impromptu sleepover at Emma's has to do with the murder case. Knowing she'll find out any way, Luke tells her that Holden and Lily went to see the Taylors, hoping for clues to help the investigation. Later, Holden and Lily turn to Margo, hoping she can help them. After Holden informs Margo he thinks it was the Taylors, she agrees to see what she can find out. At Emma's, Lily and Holden are relieved to see everyone safe and sound. Jade seems miffed that they went to see the Taylors without telling her, but Lily assures her they're very close to finding Colin's killer and clearing her name. She doesn't mention, though, that she and Holden think the killer is either Mr. or Mrs. Taylor!

Mac rushes out into the street, and unable to get a response from Carly, calls 911. Assured an ambulance is in route, he makes a second call, ending it quickly when Carly's eyes flutter open. As Carly's wheeled into the emergency room, Bob steps into the partition and examines her, and she finally starts regaining consciousness. Passing routine questions, she has no recall the accident. Diagnosing a concussion, along with other scrapes and bruises, Bob orders a CT scan, but reassures her it's only precaution. Panicking about how her kids will hear the news, Carly asks to have the hospital call Rosanna for her. Bob tells her "her friend" was taking care of that. Confused, Carly asks him who he means. Bob didn't catch the man's name, but he came with her in the ambulance and has been pestering the nurses for updates. Blanche Taylor sits quietly reading her evening paper when a knock comes at the door. She stutters when she sees Lily and Holden on the other end. Still gawking at the Snyders' presence, she offers them a place to sit while she fixes them some tea. Holden shakes his head in refusal for a cop while Lily tries to hold her emotions in, thinking of the heartbreak this whole ordeal has brought to her family. Lily starts off first, apologizing for the loss of their son. Edward thought so highly of him, Blanche gushes. It's all hit him so hard. She dare not mention Colin around him or he leaves the room. When Holden asks why they moved and gave no one a forwarding address, Mrs. Taylor shrugs it off as snotty neighborhood bullying that made them leave so quickly. Lily explains that she and Holden have travelled a ways because they're hoping they might have a lead about the ongoing murder investigation. Stirring her tea in a swift motion now, Mrs. Taylor offers them nothing. She knows they're only hear to clear Jade's name. She reports that she's kept up with the investigation behind Edward's back; she knows Jade was arrested with the murder weapon. Holden holds his wife back as Lily pleads with Blanche to help them exonerate Jade's name. Just then, Edward Taylor blasts through the door and huffs that they will do nothing of the sort. Now is a good time to be leaving, he grunts. In the waiting room, Mac describes the hit and run car to an officer...a late model silver coupe, possibly a Honda Accord or Civic. While he didn't catch a license plate, he has a suspect, the Chief of Detective's sister---Brad Snyder's wife. When the officer questions that assumption, Mac fills him in on the bad blood and unsolved vandalism of Carly's vehicle a few weeks ago. Margo walks in and asks her officer for a preliminary report--she's anxious to get an APB out immediately on the hit-and-run car. Mac introduces himself, then blitzes her with questions, wondering if she'll bother to check out her sister's whereabouts. Calmly and firmly, Margo assures him she'll investigate anywhere the evidence leads. Unconvinced, Mac stalks off. Meanwhile, Margo blanches at the description of the car. Katie owns a 2006 silver Honda Civic. Under his breath, Michael curses the hospital's night staff. They're much too understaffed, he sighs. Around the corner, Susan slips out and surprises her boyfriend as he prepares to go on break. She begs him to take his break right away; she has a surprise for him. Darting into an unoccupied exam room, Susan locks the door behind them before unbuttoning her coat to reveal the sexy lingerie that she just got. Michael chuckles, running his fingers through her hair and playfully throwing her on the bed. As soon as both of them are naked, they start to make love. Their love is interrupted when Michael gets a page. Although Susan tells him to ignore it, Michael checks and sees that an important phone call has come through. Hurt, Susan tells him to take the call; she'll be waiting back home. Later, Michael traces the door frame and grabs the spare. Quietly, he unlocks the door and glides in, hoping Susan will ignore the time and follow through with her promise of a continuation of their interrupted lovemaking. Instead, he finds Susan, sound asleep in her bed. He kisses her cheek and calmly whispers that he hopes that one day, their busy schedules will allow them the time they need together. Outside , Will knocks repeatedly until Carrie finally answers her door. Will asks her what took her so long and Carrie excuses the dirty apartment. She was just cleaning. He notices the house is spotless and chuckles that she didn't waste any elbow grease; the place is spotless. Carrie smiles that when she has a lot on her mind, she cleans. Will vaguely mentions the picture he found of Cabot, prompting Carrie to become agitated very quickly. Later, Will tells Paul that whether he likes it or not, they have to tell Rosanna about Carrie's photo of Cabot. Paul asks how Will is holding up since the trial. Wiping his brow, Will admits that he's trying to keep his mind busy and not think about it. Paul smiles as he reveals that Cabot has a friend with him in the play pen: Hallie. According to Paul, Gwen has allowed Hallie to spend the night with Rosanna, under strict orders that Will not see her until his scheduled (supervised) visit next month. "I've never been one to follow the rules, though", Paul smirks. But since Rosanna's with Carly at the hospital and he needs an extra hand caring for two babies, he couldn't think of a better helper than Hallie's own father. Will hugs Paul, surprising the older brother. Holding back tears of joy as he holds his daughter for the first time in a long time, Will thinks to himself that maybe his brother isn't as cold hearted and evil as he thought. Rosanna appears just as Carly's being wheeled down from x-ray. As they wait for a diagnosis, Rosanna assures her the kids are with Emma. Rosanna asks if she remembers anything about the accident. Carly has a flash of arguing with Mac, just as he interrupts and asks if he can wait with them. Before Carly can answer, Rosanna introduces herself and thanks him for calling her. Carly struggles to recall what they were arguing about, but comes up blank. Bob enters and informs them Carly has a concussion, but can be discharged providing there's adult supervision. Mac offers to take her home and stay with her for the night. Rosanna steps in and thanks him, but she's already made arrangements to stay at Milltown with Carly and the kids as long as she's needed. Mac doesn't press, but insists on helping them to Rosanna's car and tells them to call if there's anything they need. Once they drive off, Mac dials a number and leaves a voicemail. The situation has gotten out of hand. It's time for a new plan. Holden and Lily can feel the tension mounting in the Taylor household, prompting them to take a graceful but hasty exit. As they leave, Holden spies his wife looking through the passenger side window of Mr. Taylor's car. She knows they're hiding something, Lily hisses. Holden finally gets his wife in the car, writing off the long trip as a waste of time and energy. Jade will just have to face her crimes, Holden mutters. Lily's eyes bug out and she rips her husband a new one for insinuating Jade is guilty of Colin's murder. Holden denies he meant it like that, but he thinks it's pretty apparent that they won't be getting any help from the Taylors. Later, Lily convinces Holden to make another stop by the Taylors' old neighborhood. One neighbor states that he recalls the Taylors leaving overnight. Lily calls Luke with an update and tells him that they're headed home after getting nowhere with Jade's adoptive parents. As they make their way back home down the dark road, a car zooms up behind them. Frantically, Holden yells for Lily to duck as a gunshot rings out.

The next day, Katie tries to raise Lyla's spirits, bringing out family albums and laughing over old photos. Seeing Katie linger over a picture of her and Brad, Lyla encourages her daughter to fight for her marriage. It's no use, Katie replies sadly. Brad isn't interested. But what she will do, is pour everything into helping Lyla fight her cancer. All her children need her. Lyla gently tries to prepare Katie for the inevitability of her death. Katie stubbornly replies that her mother's never been a quitter, and that's all she's asking for now. For Lyla not to quit. Before Lyla can reply, they're interrupted. WOAK intern Jimmy drops by with flowers and chicken soup. Expressing admiration for Katie's devotion to her mother, he tells her the world would be a better place if more people were like her. Breaking down, Katie thanks him for being so kind to someone he barely knows. After Jimmy has left, Katie notices her mother's out of medicine and offers to go fetch some more from the pharmacy. Jade smiles when she sees her cousin come straggling through the door. Detecting his ruffled hair and dissheveled appearance, she claps at her own assumption that he and Kevin talked things over. Once Jade mentions that something must have happened for Luke to come home in the morning, Luke finally admits that he and Kevin had a good night. Nothing happened between them, despite Jade's apparant belief, but they did have a good talk. And in turn, Luke says, Kevin has offered to go easy on Jade from now on. Jade's touched that her cousin went to bat for her, but Luke claims that she proved her loyalty by refusing to let him wallow in self-pity and arranging the talk between himself and Kevin. Later, Luke receives a call from Lily. She tells him that the Taylors have moved and according to the neighbors, no one knows why or where to. Lily scoffs at the mention of asking Lucinda for help. It's Jade; she'll refuse. Luke objects, reminding his mother that she said the same thing about the money Lucinda gave for Jade's bail. After talking with Lucinda, who in turn asked her private investigator to do some digging, Luke calls Lily and gives his mother the new address for the Taylors. Carly tracks down Mac at the hockey rink and asks him to explain his interest in her kids. Mac tells her that part of being a coach is taking an interest in his players. Being friends, he doesn't understand what her problem is. The problem is, Carly asserts, that she can spot liars and manipulators. And the more she's around Mac, the more she senses something is "off" with him. Mac dismisses it completely, telling her she's listening to Brad rather than her own instincts. Carly accuses him of deflecting her question. He's gone out of his way to befriend her and the kids, but not anyone else in town. He's going out of his way to be her sons' new best friend. He finds excuses to come over: returning cell phones, scarves, and playing the new lonely guy in town. Carly tells him that if he's trying to use her kids to get close to her, he can stop right now, she's not interested in him. She's never going to be. Stalking off angrily, Carly cuts through a line of parked cars to cross the street. She hears Mac call out her name just seconds before seeing a car coming straight at her. Trying to jump out of the way, she slips on the icy road, hitting her head as the car races out of sight.

The tension continues to run high between Parker and Carly. After Parker gives her the cold shoulder, JJ tries to lighten her mood by cracking bad jokes. Carly thanks him, and tells him he's a lot like his father. And Jack will be surprised to see how much he's grown in such a short time. A little embarrassed, JJ admits having Mac to talk to has helped a lot. Carly asks what he means by that. Just that Mac's been really good about talking with him and Parker like they're adults, not just stupid kids. Mac even gave them his number and told them they could call him any time, day or night, if they needed to talk. Carly says that's very nice of him, but she hopes her kids always know they can talk to her when they're troubled. When JJ goes off to bed, Carly's suddenly suspicious of how quickly Mac ingratiated himself to her kids. Neil, the private investigator Brad hired to check out Mac Donnelly calls him and reports Mac's past is as clean as a whistle. He went to college on a hockey scholarship and after some years in the semi-pros went into coaching. It sounds too good to be true, Brad grouses. Neil privately agrees that something's not right about Mac's spotless record. Later, Brad tells Emma about his findings. Emma accuses Brad of having feelings for Carly, but he denies anything of the sort. He just feels obligated to look out for her with Jack gone. Emma sighs and confesses that she thinks Mac might be getting a bit too close, too. Bob remarks how Susan seems to be a little on edge lately. Susan agrees and contributes her lack of sleep to her high anxiety. Bob apologetically professes they've been working her a bit hard lately. He gives her the weekend off, telling her to take advantage of her free time. The happiness is short-lived when Michael reveals that he works long hours all weekend. Later, Alison tries to cheer up her mother with some sexy lingerie she can wear to surprise Michael at work. Lily promises Holden that she's doing this for Jade. Holden replies that he knows her intentions are good, but nearly always, Lily's plans don't go like she wants them. Holden offers to go with her and Lily has no choice but to agree. When Jade asks why Luke didn't go with his mom, Luke replies that he's too worried about his relationship with Kevin to travel. In private, Jade arranges for Luke and Kevin to inadvertently meet with each other at the Wagon Wheel. After waiting for Kevin for a while, Luke finally assumes his estranged boyfriend is a no-show and decides to give up on waiting for him. He turns to leave but stops when he hears Kevin's familar voice apologizing for being late.

Katie, distracted by concerns for Lyla, messes up her lines on Oakdale Now, annoying everyone. Kim dimisses them early, and Katie runs over to Al's to pick up some chicken soup, hoping to appeal to Lyla's appetite. As she's leaving she runs into Brad, who snarks at her for being unprofessional and holding up their production schedule. Sarcastically, Katie begs his pardon for worrying about her mother's relapse. As he tries to apologize, Katie blasts him for being oblivious and wrapped up in his own regrets to care about anyone else. Brad blames her for ruining their marriage with her lies. Katie scoffs that he always cuts people out of his life and takes off when things get complicated. There were a lot of good things between them too; instead of trying to forgive her, he's off playing Carly's hero....or trying to. The field seems to be a little crowded. The Snyder house seems empty until Holden comes in toting some tomatoes from the market. He reveals his presence to Emma, who thanks him for going out for her. Holden understands that his mother has reservations about going out, but she needs to jump back into the dating scene. She can't let Clark's absence get her down. Emma mumbles that she wouldn't be affected if she knew Lucinda had nothing to do with it. Determined in her assumption that Lucinda drove Clark to leave town, she confronts her enemy at Java. Jade walks by and spots the women in a heated argument and calls Lily. Later, Lily blasts her mother for bullying Emma, but Lucinda retorts that it was Emma who started the argument. After getting her cup of coffee and calling Lily, Jade meets Luke for a minute at Holden and Lily's. Luke protests that Jade is doing too much and should really be staying home. Jade laughs, amused, saying that she'd rather sit through a boring lecture at Oakdale U. than stay home by herself. Being out helps her get her head right, Jade adds, and if that means she can remember the night of Colin's murder, then she's doing it. Luke admits he thinks Jade is taking things too fast, but she won't listen. Later, Lily returns home from her altercation with her mother and tells Luke to follow her lead when she speaks with Jade. Jade stumbles in on mother and son talking and asks if they're talking about her. Lily reports that she's taking Luke on a business trip with her. None of the three see Holden come in and he ends up overhearing Lily's plans. Later, he confronts his wife about the true intention of her travels. Lily reveals that she plans to meet with the Taylors and obtain information they might know that could set Jade free, but Holden forbids her from making the trip. Will waits anxiously for Paul to meet with him in the Lakeview lobby. Soon, Paul emerges and asks his brother what he called him down for. Will admits that he's reluctant to say anything, but he found a photo of Cabot in Carrie's couch cushion the other night. Both men are puzzled why Carrie would have the photo and refuse to believe Carrie's simple explanation that she and Rosanna had a purse mix-up at court. Paul offers up the explanation that Will confused Cabot for someone else, but Will promises his older brother that he saw the photo. He knows it was Cabot. Across town, Craig comes in to the office and finds his assistant Carrie in a whirl of nerves. He quickly gives her the day off and smiles when he sees Rosanna come through the door minutes later. Rosanna replies that she isn't here for a friendly visit, but she hopes they can work out custody without going through a nasty custody trial like Will and Gwen. Meanwhile, Carrie holds the photo of her son in her hands. Choking back tears of relief, she wonders if this is all too good to be true. A son she thought was gone forever is suddenly in the hands of her boss's ex-wife. How, she wonders aloud, will she ever convince them that Cabot is really her son, Jacob?

At home, Carly lays into Parker for skipping school. Parker angrily spouts off that Jack hasn't answered any of his emails. Carly reminds him that Jack promised he would keep in contact as best he could. Rejecting that explanation, Parker admits he's had a "bad feeling" for quite a while now and he's sure Jack lied to him. The only reason Parker can come up with is that Jack's deserted them for good. Stunned, Carly assures her son Jack would never do that to his family. "Jack left you, you left us", Parker spits. "Never" seems to happen a lot in Oakdale, Parker rages before running up to his room. Shaken to the core, Carly anxiously leaves a message on Jack's voicemail---he needs to come home. Now. Lyla's furious when she learns that Craig forbid Michael from seeing her. Craig quickly corrects her. He told Michael that the only "seeing" he'll be doing with Lyla will be at the cancer center. Margo quickly interrupts the two before things get anymore heated. Lyla saunters into the bedroom to call off while Margo lays in to Craig for agitating...the thing he does best. Craig defends himself, citing that Michael might be Casey's brother, but he's also a doctor. He needs to remember his boundaries. Margo huffs that Craig is just plain stupid. First, he tries to take away Rosanna's son from her the second she gets him back. And now, he's forbidding their mother from seeing her own doctor. After Craig leaves, Margo checks in on Lyla before going home and finds her mother collapsed on the bathroom floor! Reading over a chart in the hallway, Michael smiles as he feels Susan's hands rubbing his back. He chuckles that whoever it is needs to watch out; his girlfriend's a master in karate. Susan smiles and asks what he has planned for Valentine's Day. Michael sighs that he has to work that day, but he has an early present in store for her that he promises she'll like alot. Later in the week, Susan stumbles through the woods, blindfolded and giggling as Michael directs her to their destination. Once inside, Michael unties her blindfold and presents her with their very own winter retreat in the hills of Colorado. They quickly make love in the cabin and sit down to a five star meal prepared for them. Susan gushes that she's glad they're finally to themselves. Just then, Michael's beeper goes off. He excuses himself and returns, apologizing that they have to cut their trip short. Lyla has collapsed and he's afraid she's making a turn for the worse. Although Susan is worried, inwardly she resents Lyla for ruining such a romantic getaway. Carrie comforts Will about the custody hearing. Hoping compliments will help, she gushes how well he cleans up. Will angrily huffs that he doesn't even know Gwen anymore. The old Gwen would've kicked her mom to the curb a long time ago. Instead, she's so deadset in believing her mother. She must not know that Will would never do anything that might hurt Hallie. Carrie reminds Will that she had an idea not too long ago that might help his chances in court. She suggests that she pose as a character witness for Will. Straightening his tie, Will shoots down the idea and asks her to just be there for him. At the custody hearing, Carly tells Gwen she doesn't even know why her little sister insisted she come. It's just for moral support, Gwen assures her. Carly assumed Iris would be there for that. Noting Carly's reluctance, Gwen asks if there's another reason Carly doesn't want to be here. Carly takes a deep breath and admits she thinks Gwen's making a mistake trying to take Hallie away from Will. Hallie should be their priority, and she'll be the one to lose no matter who "wins". Plus, Will's been through enough with his sister and dad dying and Barbara and Paul are both loose cannons, Carly sighs. Taking away the only constant in Will's life, Hallie, will drive him over the edge. Carly advises Gwen to call off the hearing and sit down with Will and hash out something they can both live with. They have to learn to work together. Even if they're not married, they're still Hallie's parents. Gwen replies that Will should've thought it all through before he endangered Hallie's life by his careless drinking. Iris, coming around the corner, inches back as she hears the last part. Suddenly, Barbara emerges in a spectacle of disgust and hisses that for once in her life, Gwen should do what's right and call off the hearing. She's cut short, though, when the judge enters and takes his seat. Margo desperately thanks Michael for seeing Lyla. She quickly apologizes for interrupting something when she sees both Michael and Susan dressed up. After a while, Katie blasts through the doors. In tears, she demands to see her mother. Lyla tries to calm her daughters down and rolls her eyes when Craig comes waltzing in. He admits that he was a bit harsh on her, but he only wants what's best for her. Michael asks all three of them to leave so he can run some tests. With her children out of the room, Lyla demands Michael be honest with her. The prognosis isn't very good, is it? Michael quips that they won't know until the tests come back. Lyla stops him and demands he be candid with her. Putting his notes aside, Michael sadly admits that he thinks the cancer is spreading. Choking back tears, Lyla asks how long she has. Michael shrugs. Three months, maybe four if Craig wasn't around. The court is called into session and both cases are made. Iris squirms in her seat as their attorney alleges Will drank excessively in the presence of Hallie. Tom stands and recants that his client did no such thing. Instead, he points the finger at Iris, recalling her various brushes with the law make her more of an endangerment to the infant. During the recess, Will tries to approach Gwen, but she sends Iris to ward him off. Carrie tries to assure Will that the court will find in his favor. Tom made a very good argument. Across the way, Paul and Rosanna enter. Paul assures Will that everything will work out fine, but Will gives him the cold shoulder. Barbara tries to referee between her two sons, demanding they keep things civil. Will grumbles that Paul's only hear for Rosanna, not him. Meanwhile, Rosanna tells Carly that while she loves both Will and Gwen evenly, she doesn't think Will is capable enough to raise a child without the help of Barbara. And Barbara isn't exactly the best parent in the world. Carly asks her sister how she's handling all this, mentioning that it must be hard watching and knowing her turn in court (over custody of Cabot) is only a little while away. Rosanna huffs that she isn't looking forward to the trial, but she's confident she'll get custody. Lucinda knocks back a cocktail at Mona Lisa as Lily and Holden come through the door. She starts to make her exit until Lily stops her. She admits that she's been mad for a while now. She's hurt that Lucinda kept something so huge from her, but she adds, Lucinda probably had a good reason why she kept it hid for so long. Lucinda admits that she and Clark had a very checkered past. She was accused of killing his father in a freak accident. Clark covered for her and the marriage was annulled. Lily thanks Lucinda for finally being honest with her. When the two get to the subject of Jade, tension is still present, but Lily knows that Jade is innocent. Across town, Luke learns from a friend that Noah left Oakdale. Visibly hurt that his ex never said goodbye, Luke admits to Jade that when it comes to him and Noah, he'll always wonder "What if". The judge calls court back in session and rules that although Will's drinking might have endangered the child, Iris's criminal record also proves troublesome. He rules that the couple share custody of Hallie, with Gwen retaining legal custody over Hallie. He also rules that Will enroll in an alcohol treament class or he'll lose all visitation. With the swing of his gavel, he lifts the restraining order against Will and warns Iris that he'll be watching her closely. Jade meets Lily for lunch and cries that she wishes she could remember what happened the night of Colin's murder. Lily pleads Jade to go easy on herself. After lunch, Lily learns that charges against Luke have been dropped, but Jade's hearing is only weeks away. Lily muses to Luke that she thinks meeting with the Taylors might help them learn more about Colin and possibly give them enough information to track down the real murderer, thus clearing Jade of all charges. Luke huffs that he doesn't think Jade will approve, but Lily reasons that they just won't tell her. At the farm, Holden notices Emma crying and she reveals that Clark has left town for good. She grumbles that she blames Lucinda for him leaving and hisses that Lucinda Walsh hasn't seen the last of her. At Al's, Mac and Parker wait for Carly to return from the hearing. Mac goes to the counter to order milkshakes as Iris waltzes in. Eyeing the way his butt looks in his jeans, she coyly takes a seat at the counter and starts to flirt. Carly barrels into the diner, letting Mac gracefully excuse himself. Iris saunters over, snidely congratulating Carly on trapping another man so quickly. "Shut the hell up and go stumble into the gutter where you belong," Carly grumbles. Iris grabs Mac's arm and warns him her former "stepdaughter" will only use him to make her ex-husband jealous and then dump him. Mac tells her he's not interested in Carly. He's just her son's hockey coach. Dusty meets with Emily at the Lakeview for dinner and asks her if the wedding is back on. Things have been going good between them, he asserts, and he thinks that they'll eventually make it through this rough patch. Emily stills holds a grudge with Dusty for his drunken pass at her sister, but admits that she feels something special with him she hasn't felt in a long time. Dusty goes to make a phone call and Emily's approached by one of her former clients. He mistakes her for still being in the prostitution business and when she quietly turns him down, he takes her refusal as playfulness. Dusty returns and sees the man with Emily. He punches the man when he calls Emily a whore for turning him down. Later, Emily cries to Dusty that he's dumb for falling for a hooker like she once was. Dusty assures her that everyone has regrets, but he doesn't want one of his to be that he never spent the rest of his life with her. Despite Barbara's urging that he stay with her for a while, Will goes home with Carrie. He claims the couch and Carrie goes to get some extra covers. He notices a small photo tucked in the cushion, obviously having fallen from her purse. He picks up the photo and immediately notices the infant in the photo as Cabot. Once Carrie returns to the room, he calls her out and asks why she has a photo of Cabot. Carrie, confused herself, asks who Cabot is before snatching the photo and putting it back in her wallet. Will tells her that Cabot is Paul's girlfriend Rosanna's adopted son. He adds that Cabot is also Carrie's boss Craig's adopted son from when he and Rosanna were married. Carrie's heart drops into her throat and she quickly excuses herself. She later returns and lies that she and Rosanna collided into one another and dropped both their purses. The photo must have swapped hands when they were picking up the contents of their purses. Later, Will recalls that Rosanna arrive towards the end of the hearing and never saw Carrie. He makes a call and leaves Paul a voicemail that he has something important to tell him. Meanwhile, Carrie hides the photo in the Bible by her nightstand and prays that Will's questioning is over with. She sits back, still in shock. It can't be, she says. Her son Jacob is alive and in Oakdale!

We here at A New World Turns are saddened to announce that Phil Carey has left the show. The role of Clark will not be recast. Clark's exit from Oakdale will be briefly addressed next week. In other casting news, Jake Silbermann has been let go from the show. Silbermann originated the role of Noah Mayer on the show. His last airdate was February 6, 2009.

Carly learns from the school that Parker skipped class. At the hockey rink, she implores Mac to call her if her son happens to stray there. She reveals that Parker is no stanger to running away, but this time, she's frightened that Jack isn't here to help look for him. Later, Mac spots him and asks why he's not in school today. Parker admits he's worried about Jack, and he needed time to think. Parker adds they haven't heard from Jack in a while, and he knows something's wrong. Mac assures him Jack will get in touch when he can. Parker tries to explain the "connection" he has to Jack, but it falls on deaf ears. Over Parker's objections, Mac calls Carly, pointing out that his mother doesn't need more things to worry about. Carrie thanks Noah for meeting with her on such short notice. She reveals that she wanted to make sure he knows that she doesn't hold him reponsible for anything; all the fault lies with Barbara for trying to interfere. Noah groans that he was wrong in what he did, playing like a puppet for Barbara. All he wants is for Carrie to be happy. Carrie thanks him for meeting with her, but Noah touches her hand, signaling that he's not done. He adds that he will always thank her for being in his life, but because his life has become such chaos, he feels like the only way out is to find himself again. And the only way he can do that, he muses, is by leaving Oakdale. Across town, Luke receives a note from Noah, explaining that he never meant to Luke. Back at Java, Carrie hugs Noah goodbye and he loads a bus out of town. Will approaches and asks her what just happened and Carrie smiles that she just said goodbye to a friend. Margo shows up at WOAK to talk to the security guard who called 911 the night Brad was assaulted. He didn't see anyone, and hands over the security tapes. Stopping at Katie's office, Margo asks her little sister if there's anything she'd like to confess to now, before the OPD tech guys spend hours watching boring security footage. Katie insists she didn't do anything to Brad, and she was surprised when the hospital called her to tell her Brad had been admitted. Brad comes in, and backs up Katie's version of events. Margo sincerely hopes Katie is telling her the truth, because she'd hate to see another sibling heading off in handcuffs. After Margo leaves, Katie thanks Brad for standing up for her to Margo. Brad tells her not to bother; in spite of what he told Margo and Carly, he's not sure she didn't do it. Brad warns her if she's pulling stunts to get back at him, she'll get caught sooner or later. And if anything more happens to him or Carly, he's going to make sure she pays for it. Lily learns that she can't withdraw the money to bail Jade out. Stunned, she calls Holden, who informs her that he hasn't yet gotten paid for two mares he sold. Lily flinches, knowing her only other alternative. She arrives at the mansion and asks Lucinda for a favor. Lucinda scoffs that Lily would barely talk to her the other day, and now she's counting on her mother for some sort of favor. Lily explains that Jade was wrongfully accused of murder and Lily's finances can't afford another bail; she just bailed Luke out for covering up the crime. Agitated, Lucinda voices her doubts that Jade is the confused, innocent girl Lily keeps painting her to be. Lily takes offense and storms off, hissing that her mother has reached the edge of reason. Later, Lily hears a knock at the door and greets a courier toting an envelope. She opens it and finds a check from her mother with a short note detailing how Rose was very special to her and she's helping them out for that reason only.

Lily sets up arrangements for Jade to get off on bail. Margo informs her that Luke is still being held accountable for obstruction of justice charges, but she's thinking the charges will be dropped due to the state's lack of funds to be able to prosecute both cases. In her cell, Jade promises Luke that it's not his fault that this happened, but adds that she would have liked to known that he was covering for her. Craig goes by Lyla's with champagne, ready to celebrate Lyla's positive test results. Instead, Lyla comes in with the bad news from Michael, but tries to sugar coat her diagnosis for an emotional Katie. In private, Lyla tells Craig that she has worries about Katie living without her. He changes the subject and informs his mother that he's hired Carrie as his assistant. Lyla chuckles that he doesn't even need one, but it doesn't surprise her. It's obvious Craig's just trying to get to Paul. Returning in a rage, Rosanna slams down her purse and muses to Paul that she wishes Craig Montgomery was just a bad dream. In an instant, the whole town would wake up and realize that he was just a figment of their mind, agitating and provoking them in a nightmare. She tells Paul about her run in with Craig at Metro, and Paul calls Tom to see what they can do. Later, Barbara arrives and sadly notes that Will's custody hearing is next week. She's surprised by Paul's adamance in not going, because it will be a precursor to the battle they're about to fight with Craig. While Lyla stays home and gets some rest, Craig humors Katie by agreeing to by her something. In the process, the two run into Michael. Katie, still hurt over the embarassing lecture he last have her about faking her pregnancy, introduces the two very briefly before excusing herself. Craig takes kindly to the efforts Michael is taking to save his mother, but furiously forbids his late stepfather's brother from going anywhere near his mother during personal hours.

Carly gives Brad a piece of her mind. Lily thanks Dr. Michaels for coming over on such short notice. She's dismayed when Margo trails in close behind, reminding her that there's an open investigation. After Jade tearfully reveals what she remembered, Margo calls the station to see if the reports have come back in on the knife. The deputy responds that three sets of prints were found: Jade's, Luke's, and an unidentified set of prints. Recalling the mystery person in the video, Margo asks if anyone was in the park with her and Colin the night of the murder. Jade growls that she can't remember. With no other option, Margo arrests Jade on murder charges as Lily begs her not to do this. Luke beats himself up for telling Jade the truth, but Lily comforts him that he had no other option; she knows how stubborn her niece can be. She shivers at using the same word her mother used to describe her and heads off to the station with Luke close behind. Brad continues that he doesn't trust Mac. He thinks it's more than irony that Brad started digging into Mac's past, and suddenly someone sends him to the hospital. There's no way Mac could have known about that, Carly insists. They don't know that for sure, Brad tells her. Anyone could have done it, Carly shrugs, even his resentful wife. Brad admits he considered that. But Katie's not the violent type. Smashing a car is one thing...smashing in someone's skull isn't her style. Interrupted by the doorbell, Carly smiles when she sees Mac at the door, returning her scarf. Mac claims he found it in his van. It must have slipped off when they went to Chicago with the team. Carly thanks him, shaken she didn't even realize it was gone. Flashing back to the moment Jack wrapped it around her when he left, Carly gets a sinking feeling in her gut. Thinking maybe Brad has a point, she declines when Mac invites her out to lunch the next day, and makes excuses when he suggests meeting later in the week. Brad gives Mac a superior smile as he leaves, letting him know Carly's seen the light about him. While Carly tells Brad her actions don't have anything to with what he said, Mac calls someone from his van and tells the person on the other end that they've hit a snag. Rosanna ends her conversation with Paul, giggling that she'll be home soon enough. She's less than thrilled when she sees Craig sitting alone at Java. Attempting to ingore him, Craig approaches and apologizes that things had to get so messy. Rosanna hisses that he's done enough damage to her and her family. As if running her off the road and into a coma wasn't enough, now he's fighting her for custody of her son...the same one he kidnapped. Craig replies that Cabot is just as much his as he is hers. Legally, Rosanna hisses. She turns and makes her exit, nearly colliding with Carrie outside. Both ladies know the other, but they play as if they don't, exchanging formal introductions. Carrie details how she was supposed to meet a prospective employer here today just as Craig approaches. Realizing that Carrie came to meet Craig, Rosanna tells the young lady that working for such a vile man will only cause future employers to scoff at her résumé. After Rosanna has left, Craig asks Carrie to be his assistant. Despite being claimed dead, he still is a very busy man, he chuckles. After nailing down the specifics of the job, Craig gives her the details on his relationship with Rosanna. Carrie strays from the subject of children and Craig notes how distant she seems. Carrie vaguely excuses herself while Craig secretly notes his new employee's reluctance in talking about children. Michael assures Lyla that treatment is going according to plan. However, her latest tests aren't that good. Lyla asks how much time she has left, but Michael refuses to say. She won't die in his hands, he reasons. When Casey died, the loss of his brother prompted him to become a doctor so that no family would ever have to bear the burden of loss under his care. Lyla's touched, but thinks Michael's living in a fantasy world if he believes he can avoid death. Later, Michael walks Lyla out to her car and kisses her goodbye on the cheek. Lyla grins how good it truly is to have him back, despite her initial reluctance in accepting the fact that he was here to stay. Michael chuckles and sends her on her way. Returning inside, he meets Susan's angry gaze and realizes she saw him with Lyla. Recalling that she heard about Lyla's cancer returning, she wants to know why he kept it a secret. They did, after all, agree on no more secrets. Michael defends himself, citing doctor patient confidentiality. Susan accepts the excuse, but makes it known she doesn't see why he's spending so much time with Lyla. The woman was his brother's wife and her life is on the line, Michael shrieks. Offended by her nosiness, Michael tells her that although they're together again, that doesn't give her the right to meddle in his life. Susan quickly retreats and apologizes with a passionate kiss. She winks that she'll be in the supply closet in about twenty minutes and Michael chuckles that he will be, too.

Jade remembers something from the night of Colin's murder. Brad ends up overstaying his welcome with Carly and the kids. Carly keeps hinting for him to leave, but he ignores her. Finally fed up, Carly hauls him into the kitchen and asks him why he's being such a pest. Brad reasons that it's because Jack's gone. He blames himself, saying Jack wouldn't have left town if Brad hadn't bought into Katie's lies and accused Carly of instigating Katie's "miscarriage". Touched, Carly chuckles he's going overboard with his suspicions about Mac. There's nothing going on between them, and there won't be. That's fine for now, Brad argues, but the longer Jack's gone, the more vulnerable she's going to be. Seeing Carly's offended expression, Brad reminds her that's the only reason they hooked up during their extremely brief marriage. Mac's a lot more honorable than Brad was then, Carly scoffs. Brad vents his frustration with Carly thinking that Mac's a good guy, but Brad likes to believe he's a big, fat liar. Brad recalls that he was a con for a lot of years, and there's something about Mac that's just too smooth. Emily straightens her hair as Dusty fumbles for his pants. Recognizing a familiar glow in her eyes, Dusty calls her out on it. His point has been proven, he elaborates. She's happy with him. Emily grunts at the notion that their lovemaking was just to prove a point. Dusty asks her if she felt the same passion that he felt just now on that desk and takes a "yes" from Emily's silent stare. Vaguely, he references a corner booth at Mona Lisa that has been reserved and hopes Emily can come. Later, still reeling from her encounter with Dusty, Emily comes face to face with Lucinda at Java. Lucinda recalls aloud a large check that she wrote to Emily for her silence and since that silence has been betrayed, she'd like her money back. Emily hisses that Lucinda dug her own grave by keeping her past a secret. Sooner or later, it was bound to come out, with or without the help of The Intruder. Furious, Lucinda hints that she'll get her money back by whatever means necessary. Rounding the corner, Jade rolls her eyes when she spies Luke waiting for her outside Cal's. The two take a hike, all the while discussing Jade's situation. Sighing, Luke reasons that they don't mean to pressure her so much. His parents have been feuding about Craig long before Jade ever came back to town. He recalls Holden having to track Lily down in Barbados and the chaos that ensued. While Holden might not agree with Jade most of the time, Luke tells her, he still wants what's best for her and actually loves her like his own niece. Jade's reluctant to believe it and angrily accuses Luke of playing both sides. Luke replies that there are no sides; he just wants everyone happy. When Jade changes the subject to Kevin, Luke reveals that they barely speak. For some reason, Kevin has suspicions that Luke was involved in Colin's murder. Frustrated, Jade asks why he would think such a thing. She continues her questions, asking why the cops arrested him and not her. Luke recalls his mother warning him not to tell Jade anything. It would be too much for her, he remembers her saying. Jade continues provoking him until finally, he blurts out he covered for her by hiding the murder weapon he found in her bag. Suddenly, Jade has a flashback of her hand gripping a knife and Colin screaming. She collapses on the bridge crying...."What have I done?"

Alison and Emily face off. Jade comes down the next morning and informs Lily that she's moving back in over at Cal's old place. Stunned, Lily asks if Jade's ready to make such a huge step. Jade reasons that she might be less of a burden. She already almost sank Will and Gwen's marriage; she's not about to be the cause of Holden and Lily's problems. Softening, Lily explains that she and Holden have been married on and off since they were young. No matter what the problem, she knows that at the end of the day, they can make it through. Wondering where she got the impression that she was causing problems with their marriage, Jade reveals that she heard the argument between the two of them last night. Later, Luke stops by and Lily asks him to speak with Jade and perhaps get her to change her mind about moving out. She doesn't need to, Lily emphasizes, not while Jade is so fragile. After Luke agrees, Lily runs into Lucinda at Old Town. Lucinda begs with Lily to hear her out. When Lily shrugs her off, Lucinda quips that she's just being stubborn like always. Brad wakes up in Oakdale Memorial, with Bob shining a light in his eyes. Groggily, he asks what happened, and Bob tells him he was found unconscious at WOAK and brought to the hospital. Bob wants to admit Brad to the hospital overnight for observation. When Brad protests, Bob insists he won't be released unless someone agrees to pick him up and watch him for signs of concussion. Brad tries to convince him there are plenty of people at the farm who'll do just that. Bob good-naturedly informs him that when someone shows up, they'll discharge him. Just then, Katie slides in, volunteering to take Brad home. Brad asks why she showed up. She's still listed on his emergency contact forms, Katie answers. Brad assures her he'll change them immediately. It doesn't explain why she showed up though. Katie shrugs her shoulders and admits she isn't sure why she did either. Bob offers to start the discharge paperwork, if Katie's going to see Brad home. Reluctantly, Brad agrees. Katie hopes that this means they can put the past behind them. Looking through the classified ads, Alison sighs that she needs a job. Aaron reminds her that they resigned from Donovan's because of Dusty and Emily's interference in their lives. Aaron huffs that Dusty seemed more focused on getting in his girlfriend's pants than anything. Alison reminds her boyfriend that Dusty was drunk and didn't mean anything by it. Sensing a fight coming on, Alison runs to her mom's to see if any jobs are open at the hospital. Instead of her mother, Alison gets a cranky Emily. As she sachets down the stairs, Emily hisses that Dusty isn't here. Alison explains that she didn't come to see Dusty, but while they're on the subject, she just wants to reiterate to Emily that nothing happened. Dusty thought she was Emily, Alison continues. Emily refuses to hear Alison's excuses anymore. Infuriated, Alison screams out that Emily needs to get over herself; all she cares about is herself. Dusty needs forgiveness just like she needed it from him not too long ago. All she hears afterward is Emily slamming the door behind her. Later, Emily runs into her office to get some paperwork and finds Dusty waiting for her in her office. He claims that he came to talk, but Emily thinks they've said all that needs to be said. Dusty thinks otherwise and tells Emily that he's not happy without her and he knows it's ditto on her end. Fed up, Emily refuses to hear anymore and asks Dusty to leave. Instead, he pulls her into a kiss and lays her down on the desk, kicking the door shut behind him as he unbuttons her blouse. Carly finishes up her work as the kids do homework upstairs. The bell rings, and Carly finds Brad on her door. She laughs at the gauze wrapped around his head, and tells him it's way past Halloween. Brad barges in and tells her he just got out of the hospital---after her boyfriend tried to kill him. Carly laughs again, and tells him she's not falling for another of his scare tactics. Playing boogeyman at the station was enough for one day. Brad insists he didn't do anything at the station, except get clobbered on the back of the head. Carly accuses him of tripping over his clown feet and playing it for all it's worth. Brad shoves the discharge papers into her hand and tells her he's not faking anything. Carly's flabbergasted Memorial released him so soon. Brad tells her they only did because Katie signed him out. He then hailed a cab and came straight to Milltown. Now she's stuck playing nurse for the night.

Craig has a proposition for Dusty. Fuming over what Carly just told her, Lily confronts Craig as he sit down for dinner at Al's. She demands to know why he kept his pursuit of custody a secret from her. Craig shrugs that he knew she would probably take sides with Carly, and therefore Rosanna, with the whole matter. Lily angrily blasts Craig for using Cabot to get back at Rosanna now that she's moved on with Paul. Craig denies that he would do any such thing and feigns surprise that Lily would think so low of him. Later, Lily returns home and finds out from Faith and Natalie's babysitter that Jade left out a few hours ago and didn't say where she was going. She's finally able to track down Jade at Lincoln Park. Jade reasons that she thought by coming here, it might jog her memory. Lily demands that she seek some sort of counseling, noting that Jade might be biting off more than she can chew. Realizing that she's offended her niece, Lily tries to explain that while she says that she wants to remember, she might not want to once everything comes back. Jade accuses her aunt of insinuating that she had something to do with Colin's murder and storms off. After Lily returns home with a discontent Jade trailing behind, Holden gives his wife the third degree about her interference in Jade's debacle, claiming she should be more worried about Luke. He's also not too happy when Lily lets it slip that she saw Craig earlier. Holden blasts her that they all have enough on their hands thanks to Jade; the last thing they need is Craig causing problems, too. Furious, Lily stomps up the stairs, just missing an eavesdropping Jade on her way. Toting a small binder, Brad paces in the abandoned WOAK parking lot. He eyes his watch and looks up to see a man approaching. The man introduces himself as Neil Garner, the private investigator he spoke with on the phone. Brad thanks Neil for meeting him so late and hands him an envelope, promising more once he gets all his information. Lily spoke kindly of him, Brad shrugs. He hopes that he can find some helpful information about this Mac Donnelly fellow. Carly sneaks up on the two and recognizes the P.I. as the same one that Rosanna sometimes employs. Clearing her throat, Carly makes her presence known and Brad fumbles to hide the binder he's carrying. Carly asks what they're doing in an abandoned parking lot at night. Brad recants that he could ask her the same thing; was she planning on meeting Mac here for an impromptu hockey lesson? Carly huffs that she's growing agitated very quickly with Brad. She's allowed to make her own decisions. Out of the corner of her eye, Carly notices the binder and asks what he's planning. Brad sighs that he just had to pick up something he left at the office. Carly explains that she too left some important sketches here that she was planning to take home with her. Excusing herself, Carly watches in the shadows as Brad hands the binder to Neil and reminds him that time is of the essence. Quickly, Carly darts in to her office and retrives the sketches. Someone watches as Carly locks her office back and heads out. A loose sheet of production paper blows across the floor. When Carly goes to pick it up, she hears a noise and addresses the presence as Brad. She doesn't have time for games, she hisses. After a few moment of eerie silence, Carly realizes she isn't alone and scurries out, nearly knocking Brad down in her flight. She forcefully punches him on the chest and grumbles that his childish pranks are becoming a nuissance. She heads back to her car, fresh out of the shop, and attributes the noise to Brad's odd sense of humor. Meanwhile, Brad decides to check out what had Carly so freaked. Rounding the corner, the mysterious figure hits him on the head with a loose board and Brad plummets to the floor. Dusty dashes past all the dancing teens in Donovan's and picks up the phone. Expecting Emily to be on the other line, he's disappointed to hear a vendor's voice griping about pricing. After he hangs up, Dusty notices Craig walk in through the front door. Craig approaches, remarking how well Dusty has done for himself since he's been gone. Dusty jabs that alot of people in Oakdale liked the dead Craig better. Craig tightens his tie and smirks that not everyone can get what they want in life. Craig notices that Emily isn't with him and asks if they've hit the skids. Brushing him off like a pesky fly, Dusty mutters that his personal life is none of Craig's business. What brought you here tonight anyways, he grumbles. Craig, feigning shock, asks if he can't come check out the hottest place in town without having an ulterior motive. Dusty half-heartedly chuckles. Craig Montgomery never does anything in life without possibly gaining something. Craig admits that he has rubbed horns with Dusty in the past, but he's hoping that his latest proposal will lighten the stiff atmosphere between them. Craig continues that he's suing Rosanna for custody of Cabot. As one of the toddler's legal guardians, he can't stand to watch the other legal guardian cavorting with the likes of Paul Ryan. Nor should the child be raised by someone as evil and cut-throat as a Stenbeck. He only wants the best for the young tot, he confesses, so he's asking Dusty to be a character witness at the custody hearing...for him. They both can agree that someone as unstable as Paul Ryan should not be co-parenting a child. Dusty laughs, asserting that Craig shouldn't be parenting at all. He shoved his son into an early grave and put his daughter through many different hells before she finally snatched up Johnny and fled town to escape him. Craig takes the painful jab in stride and admits that he has a point, but even Dusty Donovan should know the importance of a stable home life; just look at the way he turned out. Dusty grows agitated with Craig's sarcasm, but in amazement at his adversary's latest ploy, asks what he could possibly get in return if he co-operates. Craig reveals that he got an interesting lead on Johnny and Lucy this morning. He's willing to share the wealth if Dusty holds up his end of the bargain. Returning back to his office, Dusty informs Craig that the answer isn't a no...but a hell no. Craig smirks and shrugs. Have it whichever way you like it, he quips before turning around and walking out.

Lily learns what Craig's been up to. Mac nearly gets run over by Parker, JJ and Sage as they rush out the door to the bus. Laughing, Carly offers him a cup of coffee while she waits for the cab to take her to work; her car is still in the shop. When Mac asks if the cops have any suspects yet, Carly admits she hasn't heard anything from them yet, and she doesn't really expect to. Vandalism is a low-priority, and besides, if it's who she thinks it is, the Chief of Detectives is sure to bury it. Mac asks why and Carly admits she suspects Jack's ex-wife, the Chief of Detective's sister, smashed in her headlights. And Margo will never let Katie get nailed for it. Mac asks why Carly's so sure it's Katie. Carly sighs that not only did she bust up Katie's marriage to Jack, but now, Katie now blames her for the end of her marriage to Brad. Rosanna rolls over and finds Paul has already left the bed. Just as she starts to pull the covers back, Paul comes in toting a delicious breakfast on a tray. Rosanna gushes that she was always a sucker for breakfast in bed, preparing herself for the eggs and bacon steaming in front of her. Paul admits that he never thought this day would come. Rosanna grins and recalls how determined Paul has been to regain her trust. She sighs that they have surely had their ups and downs, but hopefully, now things can only go up from here. Later, Paul informs Barbara of his reunion with Rosanna. Barbara's a bit sidetracked, though, trying to pack Carrie's stuff. Paul scoffs that he can't believe that it took this long for his mother to come to her senses and fire the little leech. Barbara recants that Carrie asked her to bring over some stuff to her new apartment...that's all. No firing has happened. When Paul starts griping even more, Barbara hisses that she's had enough of Paul's attitude towards Carrie. She happens to be very fond of Carrie and she's going to do what she can to get back into Carrie's good graces soon enough...whether Paul likes it or not. Across town, Barbara meets with Carrie at her new apartment and apologizes for making Carrie feel like she had to move out; she just simply wants the best for her. Carrie grabs the box and hurriedly tells Barbara she'll be by to clean out her desk at a later time. Shocked, Barbara asks her if she's quitting and Carrie replies yes before closing the door. Brad enters the office he shares with Katie, suppressing irritation at finding her already there. Katie makes a "peace offering", a dozen cinnamon-sugared donut holes, his favorite morning snack. Once he's assured she did nothing to them, he starts scarfing them down. Katie apologizes for acting so crazy lately, blaming all the stress on the divorce and recently learning Lyla's cancer has returned. Brad makes a jab, asking if this sudden return of cancer is just another lie, but once he realizes it isn't, he quickly retreats. Katie continues that she knows it's her fault the marriage ended. Too bad she didn't admit that to herself before she trashed Carly's car, Brad smirks. Katie hostilely denies damaging the car. Brad blows her off, unconvinced and heads to the coffee machine where he notices Mac dropping Carly off at work. He stalks outside, asking why she didn't call him to give her a ride to work. Because she had to deal with three children this morning, and a fourth was just too much for her, Carly sarcastically tells him. Mac steps up and tries to smooth things over with Brad, but Brad tells him to back off. He doesn't buy this act, and he's going to make it his mission to find out what Mac's up to. While Katie watches from inside, Carly snarls at Brad while Mac stands back and lets her. Amused, Katie grins as Carly makes a point of ignoring Brad and talking to Mac. Seeing that Brad's heading back inside, Katie scurries back to her desk, just before Brad angrily storms back in. Grabbing his cell phone, Brad calls Lily, asking for the name of a private investigator. After Lily hangs up with Brad, she turns her attention to Holden. He's still not happy with Craig's presence at the house last night. Lily defends her friend, claiming that he dropped by for consolation after finding out that Lyla's cancer has returned. The content of the visit isn't important, Holden huffs. It's the fact that the man was even in his house. Lily yells that Holden's just being ridiculous now. Holden calls out for her as she slams the door behind her and chases her outside. Lily admits that she just needs a little time to cool off and will be back soon. Later, Lily meets with Carly at Java. Lily grumbles that she's at her wit's end. Lucinda hid a part of her past from her own daughter. Luke and Jade are both in hot water with the law. And now, Holden's upset over Craig's visit last night and she doesn't know how longer she can take it all. Holden's hatred towards Craig is slowly tearing apart her marriage, she quips. He only came by for some friendly comfort. Carly stops Lily mid-sentence and asks if she's heard yet. Once Lily shakes her head no and asks what she's talking about, Carly explains that she got a call from Rosanna last night. It seems that Craig has sued for full custody of Cabot. Lily's both perplexed and angered by Craig's actions. Suddenly, she remembers Craig's vague comment a few days ago that he was about to do something drastic. Chugging down the remainder of her coffee, Lily apologizes to Carly for cutting things short, but promises to get back in touch with her after she's done giving Craig an earful. After Lily leaves, Carly gives a disapproving shake of her head and chuckles that Lily's wasting her time; Craig's skull is too thick. Lily's words will go in one ear...and right out the other.

Rosanna and Paul make their relationship official. Dusty admits that he would like to give their relationship a fresh start, but first, there's some stuff that they need to settle. They take a seat as Emily explains her reasoning for coming here tonight. Susan informed her that just like any man, Dusty made a mistake. She realizes that now; she was wrong to jump to conclusions. Dusty interrupts her and tells her that the main reason why they even got into this mess was because of her. If she had never printed that story about Clark and Lucinda, there's no doubt in his mind that Emily would have kept on with her lie about not knowing a thing. Emily accuses Dusty of making this about her and lashes out at him for being so selfish that he can't even admit fault. Now feeling attacked, Emily gets up and tells Dusty that they're done discussing this. They both tentatively agree to disagree. When Dusty leans in for a kiss, Emily offers a hostile hug before storming off, obviously put off by Dusty's lecture. Paul huffs that anywhere he goes, there Carrie is. Barbara reveals that she isn't on good terms with Carrie, either. After explaining the steps that she took to ensure that Carrie stayed away from Will and vice versa, Barbara sighs that now she'll probably never have the relationship with Carrie that she wanted. And now, Will's so angry with her that he's booked a room at the Wagon Wheel just to be away from her. Paul angrily blasts his mother for her desire to have a relationship with Carrie, accusing her of trying to replace Jennifer with Carrie. Barbara denies the allegation and heads to bed for the night. Later, Paul heads to Rosanna's upon her request and she furiously scolds him for possibly endangering her chances of getting custody of Cabot. Once Craig confronts the judge with the news that her boyfriend has attacked him, there's a possibility that the judge will see Rosanna's home environment as unstable and violent and hand custody over to Craig. Paul stands shocked that Rosanna called him her boyfriend and asks if she sees him that way. Rosanna admits that Paul has been there for her through thick and thin. His devotion and support during the past few months has made her see that the love he feels for her is genuine. Now, she says, she's able to embrace her feelings for him instead of trying to run from them. Rosanna invites him to bed with her, smiling that the couch isn't too comfortable. Melting in his warm embrace as they race into the bedroom, Rosanna whispers that she needs him and the two make love. Lily, with Luke by her side, confronts Jade about researching Colin's murder. Jade angrily blasts her aunt and cousin for going through her personal things, but Luke reasons that they were worried about her. He knew when he saw her this afternoon that something was up. Jade crumbles, admitting that she wishes she could remember something from the night Colin was killed. That way, Luke could be cleared of all charges. Luke starts to tell Jade that he covered for her by hiding the murder weapon but Lily stops him. Later, Lily tells Luke that Jade's much too rattled and confused by the whole ordeal already. If she found out that he found the knife in her bag, she might start to think that she's guilty...and that's one more shock she's not sure Jade would be able to handle. Lily continues that she wants Jade to remember on her own time, but in the meanwhile, they have to deal with the fact that Luke's in the hot seat. Craig comes knocking and informs Lily that his mother's cancer has returned and his family failed to let him in. Lily sympathizes with Craig, noting how hard it must be to return to town and find that Lyla's still fighting for her life. Holden comes in, fresh from delivering a colt at Emma's, and is less than thrilled to see Craig in his home. After Craig has left, Holden berates Lily for letting Craig back into their lives. Lily resentfully mumbles under her breath before storming off to bed and locking the door behind her.

Carrie gives Craig a helping hand. After meeting with Susan, Dusty goes alone to Donovan's. There, he finds Emily waiting on him. Dusty gets a call about a shipment and heads back to the dock to see it safely in, leaving his phone and Emily alone in the front. Emily flips open his phone and smiles when she sees that the wallpaper is an old photo of Dusty and herself. Realizing that he truly does still care for her, Susan's words start ringing in Emily's ears. When Dusty returns, Emily reports that she forgives him and wants a fresh start for the two of them. Dusty smirks that he'd like that very much. Luke comes through the door at his parent's house. He's startled to find Jade in the living room, working on her laptop. When he asks her what she's working on, she fumbles to close the computer and mutters that it's nothing, which leads to a brief argument. Later, Luke tells Lily about the incident and the two go through Jade's computer. Going through her history tab, they find that she's been researching Colin's murder case online. Their trust in Jade faltering, they decide to confront her. Swinging her purse over her arm, Carrie closes the front door at Fashion's and heads home. She's frightened when she sees two men fighting in Old Town until she notices Paul is one of them. Hollering at the top of her lungs, she sandwhiches herself between the two feuding men and calls their blows to a halt. Later, Paul frets to Barbara that once again, Carrie ruined his chance of getting back at Craig. Barbara scoffs, citing that the only thing Carrie did was stopping him from killing Craig. Craig returns to his mother's, blood stains all over his favorite tie. While Lyla babies him, Carrie introduces herself to Margo and Katie. Carrie assures them that Craig is fine, but she had doubts about his ability to drive, so she volunteered. After Carrie has gone, Margo confronts Craig. She lectures that he can't be off making an ass of himself while their mom is fighting for her life again. Livid over the fact that he missed the family meeting, Craig accuses them of intentionally leaving him out.