Days of our Lives Recap, September 18: Tate gives Sophia the shock of her life

Here is your Days of our Lives recap for Thursday, September 18, 2025.

What happened on Days of our Lives

At The Brady Pub, Sophia poured Ari a glass of water as she watched a pensive Holly sitting alone studying. Ari and Sophia made small talk about classes, with Sophia admitting she'd missed her first film class. Ari was surprised when Sophia mentioned that Holly's "former crush" was teaching the class.

Ari soon sat down with Holly to discuss school assignments, but Ari could tell there was something on Holly's mind. Holly opened up and told Ari about her fight with Tate over Sophia and their baby. Tate then appeared and walked right past Holly, straight to Sophia behind the bar. Holly and Ari decided to leave and study at the library.

When they got to the library, Holly told Ari that Tate had been "straight up mean" to her that morning when she interrupted his chat with Sophia. Ari asked a pointed question: "If you are so worried about Sophia making a move on your boyfriend, why did you leave them alone together?"

Holly said she wasn't sure, but maybe Tate deserved Holly if he fell for her manipulations and schemes once again. Ari understood why Holly was angry, but encouraged her not to give up on Tate. Holly admitted she had a hard time with Tate's obsession with finding his child.

"He's probably eventually going to fall into her trap," Holly said about Sophia. Ari warned Holly that she was the one falling into Sophia's trap. Holly asked Ari if Sophia had said she wanted Tate back. Ari hesitated, pointing out that she was friends with them both. Finally, she told Holly that "eventually she'll get the hint and find another guy to be obsessed over."

As the girls continued to chat, Holly mentioned how Aaron seemed to have a crush on Ari, who didn't feel the same way. That prompted Ari to ask Holly to return something to Aaron that Ari had borrowed. She didn't want to lead Aaron on.

Back at the pub, Tate made sure that Sophia was coming to his dorm to watch Casablanca for film class. Tate made sure to point out that Aaron wouldn't be there and they'd have the room to themselves.

When they got back to the dorm, Tate was shocked to hear that Sophia had never seen The Godfather. Sophia relayed the surprise news that Amy's favorite movie was Dirty Dancing and she had a thing for Patrick Swayze. They made some awkward small talk until Sophia mentioned Holly before quickly changing the subject.

"Tonight is just about me and you, right?" Sophia asked. Eventually, Tate told Sophia he just wanted to see a picture of their baby. Sophia protested. "Tate, I've told you everything that I know," Sophia lied.

Finally, Tate asked the ultimate question: "Sophia, is our baby even alive?" An outraged Sophia couldn't even believe he would ask such a thing. Sophia accused Tate of tricking her into getting her to his room. To cover for himself, Tate grabbed Sophia and kissed her.

A shocked Sophia pulled away and made an excuse to leave. She didn't even want Tate to walk her to her car. After walking out of Tate's room, she ran into Ari, who was there to return a game to Aaron because Holly refused to. Sophia said nothing had happened between her and Tate. "But maybe you shouldn't tell Holly about this. You know how she gets," Sophia added.

Javi and Leo pushed the stroller through Horton Town Square as Leo gushed about all the new clothing they had just bought for the baby at Saxton's. Javi seemed sad and asked Leo if they might have gone overboard. "Tesoro could be adopted any day now, and we might have to give him up before he gets to wear any of his new clothes," Javi lamented.

Leo tried to cheer Javi up by suggesting they put on a little Tesoro fashion show at home before suggesting they offer the outfits as a gift to the new parents. Leo then worried that the adoptive parents wouldn't have any fashion sense. Leo finally got serious, saying, "How are we going to do this? How are we going to say goodbye to Tesoro?"

Javi remained pragmatic, telling Leo that they had no choice. Leo tearfully admitted he was falling in love with Tesoro by the day. "The idea of him taking his first steps without us being there, or saying his first words...," Leo said, before remembering that Javi had already lost a child.

Leo and Javi shared a tender moment until Chanel walked by and started gushing over the "adorable firehouse baby." Chanel asked if it was true that Tesoro was eligible for adoption. Javi and Leo sadly told her that it was. They were surprised when Chanel said she and Johnny had hoped to adopt him.

The men told Chanel she just made their situation all the more real, with Leo calling it a "gut punch." Chanel assured them that they could visit Tesoro whenever they wanted if she and Johnny adopted him. They asked her what happened to the idea of adopting Tate and Sophia's baby. Chanel said that Johnny wasn't ready to be a father then, but he was now.

Later, Chanel met with Paulina and told her that she and Johnny were once again planning to adopt a baby. Chanel explained that she felt oddly drawn to the firehouse baby, especially after seeing him with Javi and Leo.

Paulina agreed to use her position as mayor to give Chanel and Johnny a recommendation as adoptive parents. However, she worried that Johnny flaking out a few months ago could be held against him and Chanel.

When Javi and Leo got home, Leo told Javi that he wasn't sure that Johnny and Chanel were the right parents for Tesoro. "I think Johnny's penchant for drama doesn't begin and end with EJ DiMera. That boy's messy," Leo asserted. He then told Javi all about Johnny's jealousy issues during the Body and Soul debacle.

Javi reminded Leo that he had no say over who adopted Tesoro, which didn't sit right with Leo.

In the DiMera living room, Kate interrupted Anna, who was lost in thought, thumbing through a magazine. Kate asked to see Tony. Anna told her that Tony wasn't home but that anything Kate had to say, she could say to Anna. Kate admitted she was concerned about how Tony's lawsuit would affect Philip.

Anna enjoyed taunting Kate by pointing out how much trouble Xander and Philip were in. She also stressed that Tony made sure not to mention the forged letter from Victor at the press conference earlier. "If they choose not to play ball, then Tony might be forced to come clean about everything he knows," Anna warned.

Anna accused Kate of knowing about the letter all along, so Kate admitted that she did. Anna asked if the letter was Kate's idea, so Kate told her it was the brainchild of Vivian Alamain.

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