Previously…
– After their quickie marriage, Natalie and Spencer hosted her entire family for Christmas in their new home.
– Diane arranged for Jaq, an assistant from KBAY, to “accidentally” run into her and Samantha. The setup worked, and the young women made plans to hang out — which Diane hoped would help keep Sam from reuniting with Tempest.
– As Tori considered giving up her child for adoption, Zane surprised her on Christmas Day with flowers and a plea to consider raising the child with him.

Outside, thick raindrops fall through the darkness and slap against the pavement and cars. Samantha Fisher looks to her right as one smacks into the window beside the booth where she sits with her half-brother.

“You have to admit it was weird,” she says, reaching for her Moscow Mule as she looks back at Spencer Ragan.

He scans the main dining room of 322 Bar & Grill, as if the correct answer might be lurking somewhere nearby. The place is busy, but everyone and everything — from the walls recently stripped of Christmas decorations to the drowsy rock music playing over the sound system — seems to have been hit by post-holiday lethargy.

“Of course it was weird,” he finally responds. “It was the first time Natalie and I were hosting anything in our house.”

“It’s even weird that you say ‘our house.’”

Spencer picks up his beer and takes a long sip. When he is finished, he continues holding the glass a few inches above the table. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Nothing, I guess. I just want to make sure that this is what you want.”

“It isn’t what I expected,” he says. “But I didn’t expect to have a son. Now that I do, I’m doing what I have to do to make his life better.”

Samantha levels a gaze upon him, trying to force eye contact. “You looked like you wanted to strangle Aunt Natalie for half the night.”

“She can be a lot. But you know that. Every relationship comes with things you have to accept and look past.”

“Are you in love with her?”

Spencer fidgets on his side of the booth. “In love? No. Does it make sense for us to be married? Yeah.”

“I’m worried about you. That’s all.” She picks up her fork and moves it through what remains of her Jidori chicken and steamed vegetables. “Peter’s going to pick up on tension between you and Aunt Natalie, too.”

“Every household has some kind of tension. It’s all about how we manage it.”

“Plus, I was talking to Bree, and I know she feels awkward about it.”

“It was always bound to be awkward,” Spencer says. “Bree’s at an age where– look, it’s fucking nuts that I have a stepdaughter who’s in high school. I’ll give you that. But it is what it is.”

“Which is weird,” Samantha replies.

“I have a kid with your aunt. That was always going to be weird.” He pauses to drink more of the beer and think. “I can handle myself, okay? My priority right now is being a good dad to Peter. I never had that.”

Seeing the sincerity in his gaze, she nods and slurps the remainder of her drink through the small straw. Then she looks around for their waitress.

“We should get the check,” she says.

“What are these plans you have after dinner?” Spencer asks. “Seeing a movie? I know how you are seeing all the Oscar movies–”

“I’m actually going to The Lookout for drinks.”

“Big night out?” He raises his eyebrows. “Or a hot date?”

“Not a date.” Samantha blushes. “I’m meeting a new friend and her friends. Someone who works at the radio station with my mom. I’m trying to, I don’t know, ‘get out there’ or whatever I’m supposed to be doing.”

“Hey, that’s good for you. Go and have fun.” He winks at her over the top of his glass. “And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

She smirks. “So the sky is the limit.”

“You’re not wrong,” he says with a laugh.

Tori Gray shields herself from the rainfall as she dashes through the parking lot and into Thaw Coffee & Tea. In the past few weeks, the added mass on her body — not just her growing stomach, but weight being added in other places — has started to make it more difficult to move; her joints feel stiff, and her movements feel restricted at times. She stops and catches her breath once she is inside the café, out of the weather.

She looks to the counter, wondering if Sabrina Gage might be working. Sabrina is not there, but she does spot another familiar face at the end of the bar, waiting for his drink.

“Tori!” Landon Esco calls out, excitedly waving his hand in her direction.

She laughs and approaches him, weaving past the line of customers waiting to place their orders.

“How are you?” he asks, practically buzzing with electricity.

“I’m fine. I’m good.” She forces a smile as she pushes her brown hair back behind one ear. “Things have been a little crazy.”

“I’m sure. How are you feeling? Is that a rude question to ask? Are you not supposed to ask pregnant ladies that?”

“It’s totally cool,” she says reassuringly. “I feel okay. Kind of tired, and… bigger. Mostly bigger.”

She places a hand on the bulging stomach sticking through her open leather jacket.

“I think you look as great as ever,” Landon tells her. “You’re, like, glowing. And you look all fashionable.”

Tori shrugs a shoulder, though she is thankful for the compliment, however false it might be. She has been trying to dress her changing body the way she sees pregnant celebrities style themselves in magazines and on TV; today’s ensemble of jeans, a red-and-black checked shirt over a long-sleeved white tee, and the leather jacket, topped off with a knit beanie, struck her as cute. But she still doesn’t entirely feel like herself.

“Thanks, Landon. That’s sweet of you.”

“I mean it.”

“It’s just so different, you know? It doesn’t seem real.”

She sees him glance quickly, almost furtively, at her stomach, as if he isn’t supposed to do so.

“It’s kinda weird seeing you this way,” he comments. “Just because, you know, I haven’t yet. I’m sorry I didn’t come by your grandma’s before Christmas. Everything was nuts, with work, and traveling with my parents, and all that.”

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“Can I buy you a drink? You can’t drink coffee, right? What about tea?”

“You already ordered, didn’t you? Don’t worry about it. I’m just picking up a hot chocolate. I’ve been doing errands all day, and it’s so nasty out.”

“Landon!” a barista shouts from behind the bar.

Landon jumps at the sound, then pulls himself together enough to take his drink from the counter.

“Then your next hot cocoa is on me. Deal?” he says.

“You don’t owe me anything. I’m the one who should be buying you stuff. Sorry I was squatting for so long.”

“I didn’t mind at all. Actually, I kinda miss having you around the apartment.”

“You do not.”

“I do! Sometimes I come out there, and there’s, like, not a suitcase or a curling iron on the floor, and I’m so confused. It’s pretty sad.”

Tori chuckles. “Well, there are zero PopTarts at my grandma’s house, so you guys win on that front.”

“Mrs. Fisher seems like a cool lady, but we’ve gotta work on that.”

They both laugh.

“I should get in line to get my hot cocoa,” she says. “It’s good seeing you, Landon.”

“You, too.” He smacks his lips for a few seconds. “And if you ever need to talk… you know, to someone who isn’t in your family, or… not that I know what I’m talking about with babies and stuff, but…”

“That’s really sweet of you. Thank you.”

“You got it,” he says. He hesitates for another moment, as if about to add something, and then bolts for the door.

“Bye, Tori!” he shouts, waving again as he pushes the door open with his back.

“Bye, Landon,” she says, grinning as she steps into the line.

—–

Natalie Bishop pours the red wine into the two glasses resting upon the marble-topped coffee table.

“Are you sure you don’t want a glass?” she asks her father, who sits with her mother on the black Chesterfield sofa.

“No, this is fine. But thank you,” Henry Bishop replies, holding up the glass bottle of sparkling water that she brought him moments ago.

Claudia Bishop shifts on the sofa to face her husband. “Are you still not feeling well?”

“I’m sure it’s only the weather.” He quickly drinks his water.

“I still can’t believe how easily Peter went down,” Natalie says as she seats herself in the club chair across from her parents. “Looks like he’s finally hit the wall after all the holiday craziness.”

“You girls were the same way,” Henry remarks. “Go, go, go, and then you’d crash hard.”

Both his daughter and his wife look over at him, surprised by the uncharacteristically sentimental comment from the stoic patriarch.

“It’s been a long time since there was a young child in the family,” he says with a casual shrug. “It made me think back.”

“It was nice to see him one last time before we head home tomorrow,” Claudia says. “I don’t see why Bree couldn’t have come for dinner.”

Natalie bites her lower lip. “You know how teenagers are. She’s busy, and she has practice in the morning.”

Claudia swirls her glass of wine in her hand. “Are you sure that’s all it is?”

“What do you mean?” Natalie asks.

“That girl has never wanted to live with Conrad in her life,” Claudia says.

“She’s a teenager!” Natalie answers, exasperated. “What do you expect?”

Claudia touches a hand to her auburn hair, smoothing it as she purses her lips.

“I think what your mother is trying to say,” Henry pipes in, his movements stiff as he sets his water on a coaster, “is that we’re concerned Bree feels disoriented about your living situation.”

“‘Living situation’?” Natalie says. “I’m married–”

“That’s my point,” her father replies. “A few months ago, you had your sights set on marrying Jason. Now you’re diving headlong into a marriage with Spencer.”

Claudia exhales loudly, as if she has been holding in a breath forever. “Natalie, what is really going on here?”

—–

Samantha can hear the thumping dance music as soon as she steps inside the club and shows the bouncer her ID. He directs her up the stairs, and she climbs them, relieved that she has been here enough times to know the way.

Upstairs, she finds the dim space filled with people. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a stunning view of the bay, with the lights of the city and the waterfront shimmering atop its dark surface. Samantha steels her nerves and scans the busy space. She notes that there are many more gay men than women present for tonight’s event.

Thankfully, she spots Jaq Pearson with two friends in the midst of the crowd. Samantha navigates her way toward them and, despite momentarily being stuck behind a cluster of guys who refuse to acknowledge her, manages to make it over.

“Sam!” Jaq exclaims. She rushes forward to greet Samantha with a quick hug. “How are you?”

“I’m good.” Samantha tugs the sleeves of her denim jacket down over her hands. “How about you?”

Jaq holds up her cocktail. “We’re great! Katie and Mackenzie, this is Sam. Or– do you go by Samantha or Sam?”

She shrugs good-naturedly in response. “Either one is fine.”

Samantha shakes hands with Jaq’s friends, both of whom are dressed much like Jaq’s own experimental, somewhat androgynous look, with patterned shirts buttoned all the way up and asymmetrical haircuts.

“Let’s get you a drink,” Jaq says as she places a hand on Samantha’s back to guide her to the bar.

“Thanks again for inviting me,” Samantha says.

“Yeah, of course. Have you been here before?”

“A few times. My friends brought me here for this holiday drag show last year.”

“Candy Cane Elaine! We went last month.” Jaq grins broadly as she elbows her way up to the bar, with Samantha on her heels.

“My friends Alex and Trevor brought me to see it,” Samantha says. “It was pretty funny.”

“Alex Marshall?” Jaq asks with widened eyes.

“Yeah. How’d you know?”

“Your mom has mentioned him at work. She said she used to be his publisher and was at his wedding. I love his books!”

Samantha feels herself relaxing as the conversation grows more organic. “He’s a great writer. And a really nice person. Actually, he and his husband adopted my– well, my ex’s half-brother.”

“What? How did that work out?”

“It’s a long story,” Samantha says with a sigh, as she finds enough space to nudge up to the bar right beside Jaq. “What do you want to drink? Your first one’s on me.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to! I appreciate you inviting me out.”

“Whiskey-Coke, then,” Jaq says. “Thank you. I’m glad you came out tonight, Sam… antha.”

Samantha lets out a little laugh. “Me, too.”

—–

Tori whips off her beanie as soon as she closes the front door of her grandmother’s house behind herself. The warmth inside the house surrounds her immediately, as if pulling her into a wonderful, cozy hug.

“Is that you, Tor?” Matt Gray calls from the living room.

“Yeah!” she says, pausing to wriggle out of her boots before she goes in to see her parents, who are huddled on the couch watching Making a Murderer on the TV. Sarah picks up the smart TV remote and pauses it as Tori enters.

“You were out for a long time,” Sarah says.

Tori detects the note of suspicion in her mother’s voice. “I had a bunch of errands to do. And I stopped to get a hot cocoa.” She holds up the pale blue cup from Thaw as evidence.

“Okay.” Sarah sits back into the couch, but that slight skepticism is still there. Tori understands exactly what it is about — she thinks that her daughter went to see Zane.

“All good,” Matt says. “Want to watch some of this with us? We just started the second episode.”

“I’m pretty tired,” Tori says. “I’m gonna go get ready for bed.”

She moves for the stairs, but Sarah’s voice stops her.

“By the way,” Sarah tells her, “I made an appointment for tomorrow at that adoption agency I told you about. I’ve done a lot of work with them, so I know everything is aboveboard.”

Tori stops at the base of the stairs, her free hand resting on the railing. “What do I have to do? Are they gonna make me sign something, or…?”

“It’s just to talk,” Matt interjects.

“Right,” Sarah says. “It’s to learn more about your options and how the process works. You won’t be committing to anything by going.”

Tori takes that in.

“Okay,” she finally says, though there is an uneasiness in her stomach that doesn’t feel like the usual discomfort from the baby.

“Great. Get some sleep,” Sarah says.

With a nod, Tori makes her way up the stairs. She closes the bedroom door behind herself and stops to catch her breath. Once again, she finds herself having to try and process the idea that there is a human being growing inside of her — and that, tomorrow, she might very well be telling someone that she plans to hand over that infant moments after he or she is born.

Still fully clothed, she drops onto her bed and curls up with a pillow, hoping that sleep will come and this will all magically make sense.

—–

Natalie feels her blood pressure rising as her parents stare her down.

“Spencer and I got married because it’s what’s best for Peter,” she says. “It’s not that complicated.”

“Are you sure that it is?” Claudia asks.

Natalie shakes her head. “How dare you question my parenting? I invite you into my home–”

“Spencer’s home,” Claudia says.

“It wasn’t that long ago that we were helping you get into a new apartment because you couldn’t do it on your own,” Henry says, his tone more measured than his wife’s.

“My whole life had been torn to pieces,” Natalie fires back.

“We were happy to help you,” her father says. “But are you certain this doesn’t have more to do with Spencer’s wealth than it does with raising Peter? Are you sure this is what you want?”

Natalie snatches up her wine off the table and stands. “I can’t believe the two of you.”

“We’re only voicing our concern,” Claudia says with a huff.

“Natalie, just–” Henry braces himself against the large arm of the sofa as he struggles to his feet. “Relax. We’re only trying to have a conversation.”

“What you’re trying to do is treat me like I’m 16!” Natalie snaps.

Claudia rolls her eyes. “How shocking, when you behave so maturely.”

“That isn’t what we…” But Henry trails off mid-statement, again reaching for the sofa’s arm.

Natalie and Claudia eye him with confusion for a long moment.

“Dad?” Natalie asks.

Instead of responding, Henry lets out an eerie croak — and then loses his grip on the sofa and slams to the floor in a heap. Claudia’s scream reverberates through the house.

END OF EPISODE 958

Has Henry’s illness finally gotten the best of him?
What should Tori do about her pregnancy?
Will Samantha and Jaq genuinely forge a bond?
Discuss it all in the comments below!

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