Shawn leads Belle out of his truck for a surprise - he's attached a note that reads "I love you" to a snowman. Belle admits she loves him, too. Belle tells Shawn that him telling her he loves her is the best Christmas gift she could ever get, but Shawn has one more surprise for her. Shawn then places his class ring in her hand. Belle happily accepts the gift and they return to the truck and talk, confirming their love for each other and sealing it with a kiss before driving home.
Lexie sneaks out of their room to meet Rolf while she thinks Abe is sleeping, but he opens his eyes as soon as she is gone. Lexie asks Rolf what happened at the hospital, and he admits that nothing happened - he didn't give the injection to Barb. Lexie and Rolf continue to discuss Barb's blackmail attempts as Abe watches unnoticed on the stairs. Abe finally makes his presence known and demands an explanation from Lexie. Lexie admits to Abe that she is being blackmailed by Barb for $2,000,000 because Barb is sure that Lexie blew up the DNA lab, which she denies doing. Abe then wonders why Lexie would pay Barb the money if she was innocent. Abe says he has always known that there was evil in their house, but now he knows where it is coming from - Lexie. Lexie is shocked that Abe would call her evil, and says she is only trying to protect her son, which cannot be considered wrong. Lexie then goes up to her room and locks the door, and Abe pounds on the door trying to get in. Rolf appears and offers his assistance in getting him a key, but he warns Rolf to stay out of his way. In the room, Lexie tells herself that Abe will play by her rules from now on.
Glen asks Barb what she meant when she said that his son was alive. Barb says she meant their baby, and that it is doing fine. Glen then remembers that she mentioned Marlo's baby, and Barb finally admits that his and Marlo's son is alive - that it is little J.T., the child that is being raised by Bo and Hope. Glen gets up to leave, announcing he's going to get his son back, but Barb stops him, saying it is the middle of the night, and besides Bo is a cop and Hope is a member of the Horton family, who seem to rule Salem. Glen reluctantly stays after Barb tells him she has a foolproof plan for getting Glen's son away from Bo and Hope for good.
Hope is dropped off at home by John and Marlena, and they are all surprised to find Bo there. John and Marlena leave them alone, and they wonder if Bo and Hope will get through this. Back at their home, Marlena remembers their honeymoon and how she thought she had lost John for good. She then says that it never occurred to them to lie to their children then, and wonders if they should now. Marlena and John are speculating about Lexie's strange behavior as Belle comes home and asks to speak to her mother alone. After John leaves, Belle tells Marlena that Shawn told Belle that he loves her tonight. They talk about it for a while, then Belle goes upstairs to call Mimi and tell her the news. When John and Marlena are alone again, Marlena tells John about Belle's news.
Hope puts J.T. to bed as Bo remembers a past night spent happily with his family - Hope, Shawn and J.T. When Hope returns downstairs, she thanks Bo for returning home and apologizes for lying to him about J.T.'s paternity. Bo answers with sarcasm and says that everything that they had had before has ended tonight. They continue to argue and Bo asks Hope to ask him what she is really wondering - if Bo will leave her. Bo says he won't walk away from his commitment to his family, as much as he'd like to, but he will never trust Hope again. Bo then asks who else knew that John was J.T.'s father, and Hope admits that Lexie knows. Bo then asks why Hope didn't just lie to Lexie about it like she lied to Bo. Bo goes upstairs to bed, and as Hope is crying on the couch, Shawn returns home. Hope tells Shawn that she and Bo had a fight, but assures him that it has nothing to do with him. Shawn comforts his mother, then goes upstairs to check on J.T., who he finds awake. Shawn tells J.T. that he loves Belle, then takes J.T. into his room so he can take care of him in the night so his parents can get some rest and work things out. Meanwhile, Hope gets into bed with Bo and looks hopefully over to him, but he turns his back on her. She too turns away as she tries not to cry again.
Due to the Christmas holiday, a special holiday episode aired in place of a regular episode. Programming will resume on Wednesday the 26th where Monday's show concluded.
Bo wakes, sill upset with Hope for lying to him about her affair with John. She again tries to explain but Bo won't talk with Hope. Hope flashes back to a memory of John being there for her when J.T. was christened. Meanwhile, as Bo gets ready for the day, he remembers when he first met Hope and buying kisses from her in the kissing booth. He also thinks about when Shawn was born and worries that what was supposed to last forever is now coming to an end. He hops into the shower, unaware that Hope has plans to surprise him there. When she joins him, he is uncomfortable and finally claims he can't do this as he leaves the shower. After a quick hello to Shawn and J.T., Bo announces to Hope that he may be working some overtime and may not even come home tonight. She stops him and confesses her love and her desire to see their kids grow up with him. Bo admits he still loves her but then leaves. Bo hugs J.T. and a suspicious Shawn before leaving Hope behind in her bedroom, crying.
Austin's upset when Sami lets him oversleep again so he'll be late for work. Nicole calls Austin with the news that his stock recommendation has earned Titan a fortune. He rushes to work where an upset Nicole has been eyeing the newspaper story about Austin and Sami's engagement. He urges Nicole to sell the stock now and invest the money in two smaller companies. Victor enters and learns about Austin's success. He explains that Basic Black is after one of the companies Austin recommended so Nicole asks Austin to work late with her tonight on the project. Barb argues with Glen about taking money from Lexie rather than trying to get his son back. She suggests they get their hands on the money before the baby switch scheme is revealed. Glen reveals that he has hired Cameron Reese as his attorney. Just then, Cameron arrives and assures them both that they will get their son. Meanwhile, Abe presses Lexie for the truth and refuses to believe her blackmail claim about the lab blowing up. Lexie finally confesses that Barb and Glen figured out that J.T. is John's son and now they want money to keep this quiet. She explains that she only recently found this out and Bo learned the horrible truth at the party. Abe vows to have Barb and Glen arrested but Lexie claims that now that Bo knows the truth, their blackmail scheme is worthless. Rolf reports to Lexie later that Stefano has agreed to send the $2 million. Marlena advises Hope to call Bo at work but he remains cool to her. Sami stops by the station house and boasts to Roman about her engagement.
Hope informs Bo that she's willing to do whatever it takes to get their marriage back on track. Bo doesn't see this happening. Hope tries to make Bo see that she did this to protect him and it was Gina who slept with John. Bo scoffs at this, but Hope points out that Bo was Gina's victim as well. He married her thinking Gina was Hope. Bo believes that isn't the same. Hope then points out that Bo chose Billie over her, but she learned to trust again and forgave him. JT cries from upstairs and Hope goes to him, telling Bo that when she returns she wants to find her husband (not the person Bo is now) waiting for her.
John and Marlena worry about the future of Bo and Hope's marriage. Marlena reiterates that Belle and Shawn must never find out. Brady, who has been listening at the top of the stairs, tells them that's impossible. Too many people know. All they can control now is how and when Belle learns the truth. John and Marlena decide to tell Belle that JT is her brother as well as Shawn's. John calls Bo so he can prepare Shawn, but Bo hangs up on him.
Sami reads Roman the riot act when he tells Sami that she needs to let Kate be a part of Will's life. Sami informs her father that if he ever stands up for Kate again, she'll take it as a personal betrayal. Sami looks for Austin at work, but runs into a vindictive Nicole who taunts her, saying she'll never get Austin down the aisle. Meanwhile, Roman calls Kate, needing to talk to her...
Austin goes to see Kate (who was just hired by John to land the Liszt account) about forming a truce with Sami. Kate won't hear any of it and when Austin says he knows what he's doing, she brings up Carrie. Austin storms out. Later, Nicole informs Austin that if he lets Kate steal the Liszt account, well things won't be good for him, that's for sure.
