Previously…
– Spencer and Jason individually prepared to challenge Natalie for custody of Peter.
– Tori admitted to her parents that she is pregnant with Zane’s baby but couldn’t go through with an abortion. Matt decided to move back home so that Tori would do the same.
– Molly and Brent clashed over how to punish Caleb after Rosie picked him up for buying drugs.

The din of chatter and laughter fills the air in Paula Fisher’s home, energized by the ever-growing scents of the Thanksgiving meal being prepared in the kitchen. Paula stands at one edge of the dining room, across from the sideboard where crackers, dips, and other appetizers have been set out.

“It’s so nice to have everyone under one roof again,” she comments to her youngest son. “Well, nearly everyone.”

“It’s always nice.” Jason smiles at her, but the uneasy tension in his expression is obvious.

“Are you nervous?” Paula asks him.

He draws a sharp breath as he attempts to gather his thoughts. “I don’t know. I shouldn’t be. But I’ve spent so little time with Peter lately, and…”

“It’s going to be just fine.” She rubs his arm. “We’ll be so happy to spend part of the holiday with him, too.”

“Yeah.” He forces another smile. “It’ll be great.”

—–

Across the dining room, Molly Taylor nurses a glass of red wine as she talks to her older brother.

“I still can’t believe how casual Caleb acted about all of it,” she is saying. “I know you’ve already been through this teenager stuff, but it’s all new to me.”

Tim widens his eyes. “It’s amazing the things they come up with to keep us on our toes.”

“What’s most important is that Caleb’s safe,” Conrad Halston, who is right by Molly’s side, says. “I just hope he learned a lesson from this. It could’ve been a lot worse for him.”

“He could be in jail!” Molly declares before taking a sip of the wine to calm herself. She gazes into the living room, where her twin sons are playing with their cousin, Sophie. It’s still difficult for her to process how her little boy could have been caught buying drugs.

“Like Conrad said, let’s hope this is nothing more than a good learning moment for him,” Tim says. “It sounds like sitting out the soccer season is hitting him where it hurts.”

“I think he hates me for that one, but I thought it was important to make a real point,” she says. “It took some convincing to get Brent onboard, but it was the right choice. I think. I hope.”

Conrad places a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Don’t doubt yourself. Sometimes good parenting means being the bad guy.”

Molly lets out a sigh. “I guess so. I just wish we could fast-forward to the part where he understands that, too.”

—–

Outside the house, Spencer Ragan finds a spot for his BMW on the surprisingly crowded street. He takes a quick look at himself in the rearview mirror, quickly fixing his hair and straightening the color of his gingham dress shirt. He had hoped to be at his grandmother’s house earlier, but he got caught up finishing up a few loose ends at his new house. After picking up the bottle of expensive Argentinian Malbec from the passenger seat, he locks the car and heads toward the house.

He freezes all at once, however, when he spies Natalie Bishop crossing the street — her hand clasped around that of their toddler son. Peter is dressed in a puffy blue coat, and his sandy blond hair is neatly combed and parted as he walks with his mother.

What are you doing here? Spencer wonders. Both of you. 

His instincts tell him to hang back, so he quickly slips into Paula’s driveway. He hears Natalie’s heels climbing the steps to the front porch, though the high shrubs prevent him from seeing her and Peter. About thirty seconds later, he hears the front door opening.

“Hi,” Jason’s voice says tersely, obviously to Natalie, before it changes completely.

“There’s my little man,” he says with excitement. “Happy Thanksgiving, bud!”

“Happy Thanksgiving,” Peter says in the mushy monotone of a two-year-old.

Down below, Spencer seethes at the exchange. He knows that Jason has every reason to be attached to the boy whom he raised as his son for two years, but it doesn’t make it any easier to stand here and be shut out of Peter’s life. With any luck, that won’t be the case for long.

“Thanks for bringing him by,” Jason says to Natalie.

“Of course. It’s Thanksgiving. You should have time with each other.”

Spencer barely suppresses a groan at her pandering.

“We should have a lot more than that,” Jason says in a voice just above a mutter. “No thanks to you.”

“Don’t start this, Jason. Not today. Not in front of Peter.”

A tense, quiet beat passes. Spencer finds himself holding his breath.

“But since I’m here,” Natalie says, “there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“I don’t think this is the right time,” Jason replies. “Frankly, there might never be a right time.”

“It’s about Peter,” she adds hurriedly. “And this custody case.”

—–

“I could clobber that woman for the way she hurt you,” Paula says as she pours herself a glass of sparkling water.

Tim, standing behind her, smirks. “That’s very sweet of you, Mom. Maybe not the wisest thing for a woman who just did a year of house arrest to say…”

Paula drops a lime into her glass and turns to face her son. “I’m not actually going to attack Sonja. But I’m irate at what she did to you.”

“Thank you,” he says. “Seriously. It helps to know I’m not alone.”

“You’re never alone. Look around this house.” She swivels her head from one side to the other, gazing out at the family members filling the dining and living rooms. “Look at all the people who love you.”

“I know. That’s why I don’t want to talk about Sonja anymore. If she didn’t want to be in this relationship, or couldn’t handle it, then…” He lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “I can’t change that. I have too much to focus on. My kids are all healthy and pursuing careers and lives. I have a grandson who’s about to be here to spend Thanksgiving with us.”

“Yes! Exactly,” Paula says cheerily. “Where is that Natalie? She promised Jason she’d drop Peter off before dinner.”

“She still has time,” Tim says, even as he casts an uneasy glance in the direction of the front door. “I just hope this isn’t weird for anyone.”

“Weird?”

“Mom. Jason still views Peter as his son. Spencer is going to be here, looking at Peter as his son. And I’m going to be spending time with him as his grandpa for the first time, really.”

“There shouldn’t be a problem,” Paula says. “What matters is that we’ll all get to spend time with Peter. No one needs to stake his claim or mark his territory tonight.”

“I know that,” Tim says. “I only hope everyone remembers that once he’s here.”

—–

Brent Taylor pokes his head into the closed-off kitchen of his house. “How’s it coming in here?”

“We’re in good shape,” Travis Fisher answers from his post at the stove, where he is currently making gravy. “Shouldn’t be too much longer until dinner’s ready.”

“Smells great,” Brent says. “Anything I can do to help?”

“I think I’ve got it under control, but thanks.”

“I managed to get Tempest and Landon away from that video game long enough to set the table,” Claire Fisher announces as she joins them in the kitchen.

“About time those two freeloaders made themselves useful!” Travis says with a laugh.

Claire chuckles. “Right. It’s nice that Landon was able to join us.”

“I think he’s just grateful that he didn’t have to go to his aunt’s in Florida again,” Travis replies.

“I’m a big believer in ‘the more, the merrier,’” Brent says, “especially since the twins are with the Fishers this year.”

“Maybe it’s good that Molly gets to be the one to wrangle Caleb’s attitude right now,” Claire offers.

“Is he being all surly?” Travis asks as he stirs the gravy.

“Surly doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Brent says. “That kid should be counting his lucky stars. Jimenez really saved his ass, frankly.”

Travis stops stirring and turns back toward them. “Really?”

Brent nods vigorously. “It was all her. She was the one who found the lead in the surveillance files that no one else had noticed. She moved and made the bust before anyone on the D.A.’s team had figured it out. And she handled Caleb better than he had a right to be handled, I’ve got to say.”

Travis looks to Claire. “You didn’t tell me Rosie was the one who busted Caleb.”

“I didn’t know if it was my place to tell you that,” Claire says. “But yeah. It was her.”

“She brought him to the station and called me, and we were able to get him to give us what we needed to make the next move,” Brent explains. “I know she hasn’t always handled these things perfectly, but I really appreciated how she went about this. And I bet Caleb will, too, when he stops being so angry.”

“Wow. That’s great,” Travis says, returning his attention to the pan on the stovetop.

“She’s a good one,” Brent adds.

Claire softly elbows him in the side.

“What?” Brent grumbles.

“Not your most subtle work,” she says.

“It’s fine,” Travis says. “I’m glad the case is working out. And Rosie’s a good cop — I never doubted that.”

“It’s true,” Brent agrees. He looks to Claire. “Do we have wine on the table yet?”

She shakes her head. “I wasn’t sure what to pick. Should we go down to the basement and get some?”

“Let’s go. Thanks again for doing all the cooking, Travis.”

“No problem,” he says as they move through the kitchen toward the laundry room, where a door conceals the staircase down to the basement. He listens to the stairs creak beneath their steps. An itch continues to tickle his mind, and when he allows the gravy to sit for a moment, he is unable to resist pulling his iPhone from the pocket of his jeans.

With a sigh, he scrolls to Rosie’s contact info. His thumb lingers over the buttons for several seconds. Then, with an abrupt jab, he pulls up their message thread, left almost entirely untouched for months now, no matter how many times Travis has pulled it up to review it.

He takes the phone between both hands and quickly types a new message:

Happy Thanksgiving, Rosie.

After another moment’s hesitation, he hits send.

—–

“But they aren’t, like, pressing charges, right?” Bree Halston asks quietly. She sits on one of the deep, cushy sofas in Paula’s den, down a short hallway from the dining room.

Across from her, Christian Taylor shakes his head. “Nope. My dad said they don’t need to.”

“Talk about lucky,” Marcus Gray comments from his seat beside Christian. “That could’ve kept Caleb from getting into college and stuff.”

“I know,” Christian says with a grave nod.

“Oh my god,” a voice says from the entrance to the den. “Are you guys still talking about this?” 

All three look to see Caleb leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded.

“Sorry,” Bree says quickly, glancing downward.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Caleb says as he strides into the room. “I told Dad and Rosie what they needed to know.”

“You still got busted buying molly,” Christian tells his brother.

Caleb rolls his eyes.

“Do you do that stuff a lot?” Marcus asks.

“Not a lot,” Caleb says, with a cautious glance at the doorway. “I had done it before. It’s fun. It’s not like I’m shooting up heroin every single day.”

The other three teens exchange uncertain looks.

“Was it because of that girl Jasmine?” Bree asks.

“I told you she was sketchy,” Christian says. “You should definitely steer clear of her now.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem,” Caleb says with a huff. “The only reason Jasmine would come anywhere near me would be to claw out my eyes.”

“I’d call that dodging a bullet,” his twin replies, but Caleb’s only response is to clench his jaw and cross his arms again.

—–

“Bring these out to the table,” Matt Gray says as he hands his daughter two dishes of freshly made cranberry sauce. “Your grandma will show you where to put them.”

“Cool.” Tori, who wears a loose black tunic shirt, takes the dishes but does not make a move to leave.

“What’s up?” Matt asks, pausing halfway between the counter where he has been working and the oven.

“I’m happy you’re back home, that’s all,” Tori says.

“Me, too,” Matt says, his expression brightening. “It’s nice. We’re gonna figure this whole thing out, okay?”

Tori glances down at her stomach, concealed by her careful choice of attire. “I hope so.”

“We will,” he tells her with confidence.

“Thanks, Dad. And thanks for not telling anyone until I figure out what I’m going to do.”

“You got it.”

Tori takes the cranberry sauce out to the dining room. A moment later, Sarah enters the kitchen.

“She’s not the only one thankful to have you living here again,” Sarah says.

Matt closes the oven, where he has just finished checking on the turkey, and grins. “Is that so?”

“Yep.” Sarah exhales heavily as she comes up to him and wraps his arms around his strong torso.

“It’s where I belong,” he says. “Tori needs us both.”

“I need you, too, Matt. I am so sorry for going behind your back and making unilateral decisions and…” She draws a circle on his chest with her index finger as she searches for her words. “I might have meant well, but I shouldn’t have lied to you. From now on, we do this as a team. All of it.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” He plants a kiss on her forehead. “You and me. Always a team.”

“Always a team,” Sarah repeats as she rests against his body again.

—–

Spencer’s ears prick up when he hears Natalie mention their pending custody case.

“What about it?” Jason says brusquely.

“I’m nervous,” Natalie says.

“You damn well should be,” Jason tells her. “After what you’ve done–”

“I’m nervous about Loretta Ragan,” she cuts in.

Down on the driveway, behind the hedges, Spencer listens even more intently at the reference to the woman who raised him.

“What about her?” Jason asks.

“Aren’t you worried that Spencer is going to bring her into this?” Natalie says. “If the two of them get desperate, there’s no telling what they could do.”

“That’s why we have lawyers, Natalie.”

“These people don’t play by the rules,” she replies intensely. “I know you aren’t that naive.”

Jason reluctantly grunts his agreement.

“That why I think we should…” She pauses before going on, “I think we should present a united front.”

“Is this some ploy to get me to agree to get back together with you?” Jason says. “Because I’m not going to forget–”

“That isn’t what I’m saying,” Natalie interrupts. “But if we work together, maybe we can keep Loretta from taking our child away.”

Again Jason is silent.

“I know you’re on the birth certificate right now, but the court-ordered DNA test will change that,” she says. “And once that happens, you don’t have a lot of legal stake in this case, Jason. But if you and I work together — if we work something out — then maybe we stand a chance of keeping Peter out of Loretta’s clutches. What do you say?”

Spencer’s heart rate spikes as he awaits his uncle’s answer.

END OF EPISODE 950

Will Jason agree to join forces with Natalie?
Are Travis and Rosie going to get past their problems?
Is Caleb going to learn from his brush with the law?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

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