At the Kiriakis mansion, Hope was worried about her marriage, and how Bo's protection of Carly might damage it even further. Justin reassured Hope that she wasn't alone, and Bo walked in just as the two of them were embracing. A resentful Bo expressed his displeasure, but Hope accused him of overreacting. Justin excused himself, but on his way out, warned Bo, "You're acting like a complete jerk!"

Hope concurred, which rankled Bo. He lashed out irritably about how hard it was not to be suspicious of Justin's motives, but Hope shushed him lest Ciara hear them arguing. Bo then tried to tell Hope that Carly had been exonerated. Hope interrupted and informed him that Justin had already told her. They agreed that it was good news, although Bo wondered how Justin had managed to break the news in such a way that he had to console Hope afterward.

Hope pointed out, "When it comes to Carly, when it comes to the Alamains, things aren't always what they seem to be. This could be a setup. Carly's going to need you-now more than ever." She asked if Bo would share Carly's secret, but he asserted that it wasn't his secret to tell, which irked Hope. Bo reminded her that she had taken Ciara and moved out before Carly had even arrived in town.

"Point taken. Everything's my fault," Hope replied sarcastically. Exasperated, Bo contended that Carly wasn't the problem; the problem was that Hope didn't seem to want him to be himself anymore. "You know who I am," he declared. "I haven't changed: I do not coddle kidnappers. And I don't like it when my cousin has his arms wrapped around you all the time." He became even more incensed as he continued, "I get mad, and I say the wrong thing. And I do love my wife and I love my child more than life itself. And if that doesn't work out for you, I'm sorry."

Bo stormed out in frustration just as Justin returned. He offered to go after Bo to apologize, but Hope declined. She then wondered aloud why Carly would confess to a murder she hadn't committed. Hope theorized that Carly really had done it, and the person who had taken the fall was working for someone who wanted to set Carly up.

A process server arrived with divorce papers for Justin. Hope asked if he'd been expecting them. "I knew that our problems were serious," Justin replied with a sigh. "But I thought she would at least wait until we could talk about it face-to-face." Hope sympathized. Justin started talking about hiring a divorce attorney, but stopped himself. "I'm not ready to go into lawyer mode," he said. "And I can't pretend that this doesn't really hurt." Placing her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, Hope reassured him that he didn't have to pretend with her.

Vivian stood on the doorstep of Bo and Hope's house, holding a flowering plant, ostensibly a sympathy gift for Carly. Vivian wanted the two them to share their grief over Lawrence's death, but Carly ordered her to go away. "We have so much to say to each other," Vivian insisted, pushing past her into the house. "We'll remember Lawrence, and then we'll laugh, and we'll cry...and then we'll talk about how he died."

After a brief once-over, Vivian made a disparaging comment about the décor, and Carly retorted dryly that "really, really old" age hadn't mellowed Vivian a bit. Vivian apologized with mock-sincerity for trying to have Carly killed years earlier. As the two women continued to exchange pointed barbs, Vivian seemed delighted to hear that Hope had moved out and was living at Victor's. Carly maintained that she was only staying with Bo because Vivian's people were trying to have her killed.

Vivian and Carly's venomous banter continued until Bo arrived, livid that Vivian had gotten past his security. Vivian just chirped that they all simply must catch up while she was in town, and left, blowing insincere kisses. Bo and Carly watched from the doorway as Vivian left; they agreed that the "dragon lady" had surely returned to town to exact revenge.

Bo warned Carly that Vivian didn't make idle threats, and urged Carly to get out of town-quickly. "I'm not leaving Salem, not now, not ever," Carly replied firmly. "And you know why."

Gus found Vivian at the Java Café, pouring liquor from a flask into her coffee. She thanked him for distracting the guard, but asserted that thanks to Bo, her plan might be more difficult than she'd thought. Gus asked if Vivian were worried that Carly would leave town. "No, I'm not," Vivian replied confidently, "because I don't think she's gotten what she's come for yet."

At the Brady Pub, an emotional Mia refused to believe that Nicole had switched Sami's baby with Mia's. Maggie tried to comfort Mia, then turned to Chloe, demanding that Chloe tell them it wasn't true. Chloe's grim silence provided the answer. Horrified, Maggie pulled Mia closer as the awful realization hit Mia full force. "No, no, no! Grace can't be my baby!" Mia cried. "She's dead. My baby is dead!" She sobbed inconsolably on Maggie's shoulder.

As Mia grew more upset, so did Maggie. She asked Chloe what had happened. "Nicole took Mia's baby," Chloe replied sadly. "And she switched her with Sami's baby." Maggie took charge, firmly rejecting the idea, and marched off to call Roman and find out the truth.

Mia tearfully told Chloe, "I never understood. When Grace was dying, Nicole made sure I held her. She made sure I said goodbye." Mia concluded that Nicole had done it to ease her guilty conscience. Chloe believed that, in her own warped way, Nicole had probably been trying to do the right thing. Mia couldn't understand why Nicole had switched the babies, so Chloe informed her that Sydney was Sami and E.J.'s baby.

Maggie returned and stated that Roman had confirmed the story. Mia became even more distraught and angry that she had ever trusted Nicole. "I've lost everything and it's my own stupid fault!"

After Chloe had gone, Maggie and Mia sat at a table, and Maggie informed the heartbroken teen that Nicole had been arrested. Mia was furious that she'd lied about her past for Nicole, but Nicole had known all along that she wasn't raising Mia's baby. Mia got up from the table. "There's something that I have to do," she told a concerned Maggie.

On the pier, uniformed officers handcuffed Nicole and read her rights to her, while an angry E.J. warned her to keep silent. Rafe and Sami arrived with Sydney, and once Rafe was satisfied that the situation was under control, he stepped back to let Sami speak to E.J. alone. E.J. gazed at Sydney for a moment with silent wonder and amazement before allowing himself a small, hopeful smile. "That's my daughter," he said softly. "She's our daughter," Sami corrected him lightly. E.J. nodded.

While Nicole watched and wept, E.J. berated himself for not knowing Sydney was his daughter-and for having thrown her out. He gently caressed the baby's head, blaming Nicole for everything, and vowing to make Nicole pay for what she'd done. "Take a look, E.J.," Sami noted sadly, gesturing toward a weeping Nicole. "Nicole is already paying." When E.J. turned, Nicole began to sob even harder.

E.J. held Sydney, continuing to question how Nicole could have known all along that Sydney was his daughter, yet she still allowed him to kick them both out. "Nicole was in too deep," Sami reasoned. "She didn't want you to know that Sydney was mine." E.J. pointed out that Sami and Nicole had both kept him from his children, but Sami argued that it wasn't the right time to talk about that.

Sami told the officers that there was something she needed to do before they took Nicole away. She explained to E.J. that although they hated Nicole and what she'd done, Sydney loved Nicole and deserved to be able to say goodbye. E.J. initially refused, but Sami quietly commanded, "Stop thinking like a DiMera and be her daddy." E.J. handed the child to Sami, conceding gruffly, "You do it." Sami took Sydney from him and asked the officers to remove Nicole's handcuffs.

A grateful Nicole held out her arms for Sydney, and then held her close. She observed that Sydney was cutting a new tooth, and cautioned Sami that the little one might get fussy. "I'll handle it," Sami replied icily, her eyes filling with tears. Nicole earnestly declared to Sami that she had never wanted anyone to get hurt. "Well, Nicole, they kind of did," Sami pronounced. One of the officers stated that it was time to go, so Sami took Sydney back from Nicole. "Mommy loves you," Nicole wailed, her gaze fixed on Sydney, as the cops led her up the stairs. "She always will, Sydney. I'm so sorry!"

Sami kissed Sydney's head reassuringly, although she seemed more upset than the child from Nicole's wails. Rafe, who had watched the entire exchange from afar, asked if Sami were all right. Sami replied that she just wanted to go home-but then E.J. declared that Sydney's home was with him. Before the two of them could become too cross with one another, Rafe urged them to continue putting Sydney's needs first. He suggested that they needed to work out where Sydney was going to live-but the docks weren't the place to do it.

An officer took Nicole to a cell at the police station and locked her inside. Nicole sat forlornly on the bunk, waiting until she could make her one phone call. "Oh, Sydney!" she cried despondently, rocking herself back and forth.

The officer returned and informed Nicole that the public defender had negotiated bail for a single count of baby trafficking. He suggested Nicole hurry and make bail before they added more charges. "Baby trafficking?" a perplexed Nicole exclaimed. "What other charges?" "Word is you've been a very bad girl," the officer replied, then left Nicole alone to use the phone. Not knowing where else to turn, Nicole dialed Chloe.

When Chloe answered, Nicole explained that she'd been arrested and needed Chloe to bail her out. Chloe refused to help. "How could you, Nicole?" she demanded. Nicole pleaded with Chloe, citing their friendship, but Chloe argued that after all the months of lies, she was only Nicole's patsy, not her friend. "You're exactly where you belong," Chloe declared. "With lots of time to think about everything you've done and all the people you've hurt." Stunned and hurt, Nicole insisted she'd only wanted E.J. to raise his child, but Chloe abruptly hung up. Nicole could only stare at the phone in disbelief.

Nicole was relieved when the officer announced later that she had a visitor. Nicole rushed to the bars gratefully, assuming that Chloe had changed her mind. She called out to Chloe-but instead, it was a perturbed Mia who appeared on the other side of the bars.

E.J., Sami, Sydney, and Rafe were soon at the DiMera mansion, where Sami tucked Sydney into her playpen for a nap. E.J. turned to Rafe. "I have a daughter," E.J. stated frankly. "I will forever be grateful to you for that. Thank you." Rafe replied wryly that since E.J. had saved Rafe's life, they were square. Rafe started to leave to allow Sami and E.J. to discuss Sydney's living arrangements in private, but Sami argued that Rafe should stay, since he was a part of her-and her children's-lives. E.J. agreed, pointing out that he was hardly in a position to a judge anyone's choice of life partner.

Sami hoped that they could have a new beginning, and find a way to work things out as a team regarding Johnny and Sydney. E.J. shared a funny story that illustrated how much Johnny was like Sami, adding that he was glad his children had Sami's genes to offset Stefano's. He maintained that he wanted the two of them to raise Sydney and Johnny together, and he really wanted to be involved in Sydney's life. Sami concurred.

Sydney began burbling from her playpen, making noises that sounded almost like "Mama." E.J. recognized that the sound meant Sydney wanted her mother. Sami lifted the child out of her playpen, and Sydney promptly settled down. E.J. was amazed at how quickly Sydney took to Sami. "Maybe she should stay with you tonight," he offered. Sami was grateful.

Just then, a police officer arrived to take E.J. to the station. "We need to have a little chat about that attempt on Mr. Hernandez's life," the cop explained. E.J. argued that he had foiled the attack, but the officer firmly replied, "I have my orders." E.J. immediately assumed that Roman had issued said orders at Sami's bidding. "She stays," he declared angrily, pointing at Sydney. Sami insisted she'd had nothing to do with it, and again, Rafe intervened before an argument could start in earnest. He escorted Sami and Sydney out, promising to call E.J. the next morning as they'd agreed. E.J. shook his head in anger and disbelief.