At the Horton cabin, Daniel fantasized that he made love to Chloe, who came to the door in a negligee. He snapped out of his daydream when Chloe asked him what he was doing there and how he got a key to open the door. He tried to explain, but she didn't let him, and she slammed the door in his face, injuring him in the process.

Chloe let Daniel in, after all, and apologized for slamming his finger in the door. She helped him wrap up his finger, and when she touched his hand, she felt sparks. Chloe wondered why Daniel was there, and he explained that he was there to do a favor for Kate. Chloe thought he was there to check up on her because she had checked out of the hospital without talking to him first. Lucas walked in on them arguing. Daniel said that Kate was fine, and he came to the cabin for another reason. Daniel showed Lucas the gift that Kate gave him to bring to Chloe, and then he left.

Chloe was touched by Kate's gesture, and Lucas wondered what was up between Daniel and Chloe. Lucas guessed that Chloe didn't like Daniel, and she didn't see why that mattered. Lucas sensed some tension between her and Daniel, so she said that Daniel was upset with her for checking out of the hospital without checking with him. She accused him of being a prima donna and called him creepy.

Chloe opened her gift and found the necklace Kate gave her. Lucas explained that his father gave it to Kate on Christmas Eve, and Kate was passing it on to Chloe, but Chloe didn't want to accept it. She called Kate to thank her for the gift but said she couldn't accept the necklace because she didn't deserve it. Kate pointed out that Chloe saved her life, but Chloe said she only did it so Kate would be there for her wedding to Lucas. Kate said there was no other woman that she felt deserving enough to receive the necklace, and she wanted Chloe to wear the necklace on her wedding day. Chloe agreed to wear it.

Max and Chelsea visited Kate in the hospital and told her how he gave his stuffed animal, Charlie, to Theo instead of throwing Charlie away. Kate sent Max on an errand for some ice cubes and then asked Chelsea about Max. Chelsea denied having anything with Max but a friendship, but Kate felt protective of Chelsea and said she didn't want to see her hurt again. After Max returned, Chelsea hesitantly agreed to go out for coffee with him.

At the Brady Pub, Chelsea made her Christmas list while she and Max had lattes, but she felt like she was missing someone from her list. He said she forgot to add him to the list, but his comment made her feel awkward, so she tried to rush off. Max wondered what was wrong. Chelsea denied that anything was wrong and said she was just worried about Kate. Max wiped away some whipped cream from her lips.

Brady went to Titan after being summoned by Victor, and Victor offered Brady a job at the company as vice CEO. Brady said he was touched by Victor's offer but wondered how Philip would feel. Victor assured him that Philip would be okay with whatever was good for the company. Victor offered to show Brady his new office, but Brady wanted to think over the offer and let Victor know his decision later.

At the DiMera mansion, Dr. Baker showed up at the front door demanding his $750,000. Nicole told him she needed more time to come up with the money, but he demanded to know how much time. E.J. interrupted their conversation, and Nicole covered by telling E.J. that she called Dr. Baker there. The doctor told E.J. he wanted to speak to Nicole in private.

When they were alone, Nicole confided in Dr. Baker that she was having trouble coming up with the money, and she begged him to show her some compassion over the loss of her child. Dr. Baker felt Nicole was stringing him along, so she promised to get him the money by the next day. He told her that if she didn't have the money by then, he wouldn't help her fake her pregnancy.

Nicole told E.J. that Dr. Baker wanted to make sure that E.J. was okay with him being her obstetrician, and E.J. said he wanted whatever made Nicole comfortable. She sent E.J. out on a run to the Brady Pub for a burger and fries. After he left, Nicole called Brady over to the mansion and asked for a favor. She wanted a million dollars. He wanted to know why she wanted that much money, and she said she needed it to pay off the doctor to keep him quiet. Brady didn't have that much money, even though he was a Kiriakis.

Nicole tried to blame her mess on Victor, but Brady wouldn't let her. Brady said he couldn't help her get a million dollars, and even if he could, he asked how that would help her get a baby. Nicole got angry and kicked him out. Then she picked up an expensive vase and called Dr. Baker to ask him if he would take a substantial deposit on the money she owed him. She reminded him that she lived in a mansion with valuables everyone. Dr. Baker agreed to accept the deposit.

At the Brady Pub, Victor ran into E.J. and offered him a word of advice. Victor told him to throw Nicole out. E.J. told Victor never to speak about Nicole that way again, and Victor warned him that Nicole was poison. E.J. reminded Victor that his marriage to Nicole was a disaster and he never loved her, so he had no business giving E.J. advice. Besides, E.J. said, E.J. and Nicole were deeply in love. Victor said if E.J. believed that, he was a bigger fool than Victor realized.

E.J. pointed out that Victor married Nicole, a woman who was 80 years younger than him, and yet Victor was calling E.J. a fool. Victor called his marriage with Nicole an arrangement that she ended up screwing up, and he warned E.J. that the only thing she loved more than herself was money. E.J. didn't want Victor's advice, and Victor told E.J. not to come to him when E.J.'s relationship with Nicole blew up in E.J.'s face.

Daniel stopped by the hospital to see Kate and told her she was doing better than they had hoped and that he delivered the gift to Chloe. Kate confided in Daniel about how she was hesitant to trust Chloe with Lucas at first but that her opinion had changed. She was confident that Chloe and Lucas would last. Kate noticed Daniel's injury, and he covered by telling her he just slammed it in the door.

At the Horton cabin, Lucas asked Chloe how many kids they would have, and she said she wanted as many as he could handle. He said he could handle anything as long as Chloe was by his side. While they were making love, Chloe remembered Daniel touching her during her exam. They stopped having sex, and Lucas asked what was wrong. Chloe pretended nothing was wrong.

Bo revealed to Hope his flashes of a crying child and she put it in context. It was Christmas when they lost their son, Zack. Meanwhile, at the pier, Lexie sent Chelsea away, feeling she could deal with her son herself. Chelsea arrived at Bo and Hope's and felt guilty about Zack, but the three came together and put the past to rest. Alone, Bo realized his visions were about Theo, who at the same time, pulled away from Lexie and headed toward the waters that could kill him.

Melanie was jealous when she heard Philip tell Stephanie he had a Christmas surprise. She went to Max to help her "crash" the Brady Christmas. Meanwhile, Brady, not knowing Philip knew nothing about him coming to Titan, told Victor he would take the job. Philip was blindsided and left the Titan party, as did Brady, who was fed up with Victor's shenanigans.

Chloe resisted going to see Kate - afraid she might see Daniel - but could not refuse. Daniel told Kate, Lucas, and Chloe that he had great news about Kate's recovery. An attempt to take a photo revealed an awkward tension between Daniel and Chloe. Kate and Lucas feared that the two didn't like each other as both Chloe and Daniel did all they could to put distance between each other.

It was Christmas Eve in Salem. While the traditional ornament hanging got underway at Alice Horton's, Lexie and Abe searched for Theo, who had gone missing. Sadly, this played into Bo's premonition that something terrible had happened to Theo, but it was Bo, with the help of a ghost from Christmas past, who eventually found him. Bo, however, couldn't shake the feeling that something else was going to happen to Theo.

The ornaments were hung and, despite trying to fit into the festivities, Chloe dropped her new ornament and it broke. Julie and Maggie reassured Chloe that it was fine and they would get her a new one. Meanwhile, Daniel couldn't take his mind off of Chloe. They talked and he found it harder and harder to deny his feelings for her.

Stefano threw a little get-together at the DiMeras. John brought Marlena and Brady. Both were not thrilled, but John explained that Christmas was about family - and he wanted to unnerve Stefano. Brady and Nicole argued and she asked John for money. John turned her down. Marlena convinced John to leave and she took him to Alice Horton's home, but it was clearly too much for him to take. Alone, John called Dr. Taylor, saying he needed to remember his past. Back at the DiMera mansion, Tony realized he was the odd one out in the new DiMera family. Brady sadly realized Nicole was not changing her mind. At the end of the night, Chloe sang "Silent Night" at the Horton home while Nicole vowed to find an infant of her own.

At the Brady Pub, Steve asked Stephanie why she seemed to be going through the motions, and Max overheard and said it was because Philip wasn't there. Chelsea tried to keep Stephanie and Max from arguing. Max said he was fine and so was Stephanie since it didn't take her long to recover from their breakup and she had moved on. Melanie walked in, and Stephanie told him that Melanie was the reason she had gotten over their breakup so quickly.

Melanie thanked Max for inviting her to celebrate Christmas at the pub with the Bradys, but she wanted to leave because no one there liked her. Stephanie excused herself instead to go spend time with her family, and Chelsea consoled Max. Melanie found that interesting.

Melanie told Max that Christmas was the only time that Trent almost acted like a real father. Melanie thanked Max for inviting her there to celebrate the holiday with him. She mentioned Stephanie and how much Stephanie hated her guts, but Max didn't want to talk about it.

Melanie went over to Chelsea and Stephanie to apologize, but Stephanie didn't want to hear it. Then Melanie let it slip that Max had moved on with Chelsea. Stephanie asked Chelsea if she and Max were having sex, and Chelsea denied it. Chelsea said she was just comforting Max after his breakup with Stephanie. Stephanie realized that Melanie was just trying to cause problems.

Chelsea told Stephanie that if something had happened between Chelsea and Max, Chelsea would have told Stephanie. Stephanie confided in Chelsea that she was relieved that she and Max weren't together, because if they were, Stephanie would have a problem with that.

At the Kiriakis mansion, Brady wished Philip a Merry Christmas, but Philip wasn't in a merry mood. Philip warned Brady to be careful whom he stepped over on his way up the corporate ladder.

Daniel brought Kate to the Kiriakis mansion, and she told him she noticed that he and Chloe had a problem, but Daniel downplayed it. Then, as soon as Chloe walked in with Lucas, it was clear that there was still tension in the air. Chloe was surprised that Daniel was at the mansion on Christmas, and Lucas said he thought it was a good idea to have them all together. When Kate and Daniel left the room, Lucas asked Chloe why she and Daniel didn't get along.

Kate asked Philip and Brady what was wrong with the two of them, so Philip clued her in. Lucas told Chloe to try to get along with Daniel for his mother's sake. At the dinner table, Victor asked Daniel what happened to his hand, and he lied and said he slammed it in his car door. Philip complained when Lucas got a phone call and excused himself from the table. Victor thanked Brady and Philip for being civil to one another.

Philip said he was just following his mother's example for what she went through with her cancer diagnosis, and he wanted to be a better person. Kate thanked him. Victor praised Brady for how he handled being around his ex-wife, Chloe. Brady explained that he and Chloe got along. Victor said they should all make an effort to be hospitable even to unwanted guests, and he looked at Chloe. Kate begged him to stop, given that Chloe donated her bone marrow to Kate.

Victor told Kate that the thanks for saving Kate's life should go to Daniel. Lucas had to leave to take care of something, and Chloe begged him not to leave her alone with his family. He left, anyway, after telling her she'd be fine, so Kate asked Daniel to move down closer to Chloe to bridge the gap. Philip left after dinner was over, and Kate told Brady she was glad that he was back with the family. Brady said neither Philip nor Chloe wanted him around.

Daniel and Chloe stayed in the dining room and discussed the tension that existed between the two of them. Chloe blamed Daniel for being weird around her, and Daniel decided to leave. Chloe asked him to stay, but he said he couldn't. Chloe wanted to get past their awkwardness. Chloe told him she respected him for saving Kate's life, and she kissed him on the cheek.

At the hospital, Maggie and Julie commiserated over how fast the year seemed to be have passed, and Doug said that was because they had been having so much fun. Julie consoled Maggie over Nick going to jail for Trent's murder when Stefano walked in and dropped off gifts for the sick children at the hospital. Santa brought gifts and passed them out to the children.

Steve and Kayla stopped by the hospital and berated Stefano for showing up at the hospital's Christmas celebration. Steve threatened to throw Stefano out if he didn't leave on his own.

Julie told Stefano that on behalf of the hospital board, his charity was not welcome at the hospital. Stefano told her that he was a stockholder at the hospital, but he decided not to pull rank on her. Doug told Stefano to leave, because no one wanted him there. The kids walked in to hear the Christmas story.

At the DiMera mansion, E.J. woke Nicole up by trying to tickle her nose with some holly, and when Nicole realized that he was in bed with her, she tried to push him off her. She made up an excuse about the holly being prickly. He asked her to meet him downstairs, and, after he left, she put on her fake pregnancy belly.

Nicole went downstairs and apologized for freaking out about not being able to gain access to their baby's college fund. He told her to forget about it, but she couldn't drop it. She said it was never about the money. She just wanted him and their baby. She said her Christmas wish was that the following year, they would be there with Johnny and their baby. She asked for forgiveness for pushing him away and promised it would never happen again.

Rafe pretended to be Santa for Sami. She woke up and saw him with shaving cream as a beard and a Santa hat. She wasn't in much of the Christmas spirit, because she missed her kids. Rafe planned to fix tamales for Sami from scratch and then give her a present, which he was sure she'd love. Sami loved Rafe's tamales, and she asked him to tell her about his mother, but he didn't want to talk about himself.

They decided to open their presents, and Rafe went first. It was a special coin that her grandfather had given her as a child, which was supposed to bring her luck. Rafe was touched by it, and Sami was eager to see her gift.

Lexie, Theo, and Abe celebrated Christmas with Bo, Hope, and Ciara. Ciara handed Theo his gift from Bo and Hope, and when Theo saw what it was, he pushed it away and folded his arms. They were grateful to be able to celebrate Christmas together. Abe gave Theo a gift to give to Lexie. It was a person Theo colored for her. Theo hugged Lexie.

Lucas stopped by the DiMera mansion with Allie, but E.J. wasn't expecting him. Roman showed up, too, and announced he had a Christmas surprise. Roman had set up a video feed for Sami so she could see the twins.

Nicole called Dr. Baker and threatened to kill him if he didn't keep quiet about her fake pregnancy. Then she went downstairs and walked into the room when E.J. was talking to Sami.

Stefano told Steve he was there to give a substantial donation to the hospital's pediatric ward, and if it weren't for Stefano's money, the children wouldn't have the money they needed. Lexie, Abe, and Theo stopped by the hospital, and when Lexie heard Stefano's encounter with Steve, she intervened. Lexie asked Stefano to leave, and he agreed to go.

Doug, who was dressed as Santa, read to the children about the birth of Jesus. Philip, Chelsea, and Stephanie stopped by the hospital, and Philip donated money to the hospital. He walked over to Stephanie and kissed her on the cheek.

Chelsea was sitting at the bar in the Brady Pub, when Melanie came in and tried to strike up a conversation. Chelsea tried to ignore her, but quickly thought better of it, and demanded to know why Melanie had told Stephanie that Max and Chelsea were together. Melanie claimed she'd just been making an observation, and had just been trying to help Chelsea and Max get together. Chelsea retorted that she wasn't interested in Max, and told Melanie to stay out of it. Melanie just shrugged and pointed out that Max could have any girl he wanted, then grabbed a handful of candy from the bar and sauntered out.

Max showed up for work a little later, and found Chelsea sitting alone at the bar, apparently lost in thought. He gave her a mixed CD that he'd made for her, and when she didn't seem to hear a word he'd said, he asked what was wrong. Chelsea claimed that she was just thinking about work, but Max replied that they knew each other too well to hide things from each other—and he could tell she was lying. Clearly uncomfortable, Chelsea proclaimed that they were friends and nothing more.

Max asked where Chelsea had gotten the idea that they were more than friends, and she reluctantly admitted that Melanie had insinuated it. Max scoffed and reminded Chelsea that no one took Melanie's gossip seriously. He added that they had a great friendship, and that they shouldn't let anyone get in the way of it. Chelsea somewhat sheepishly agreed.

Brady stopped by the Kiriakis mansion to confront his grandfather, and declared that Victor's hiring Brady as co-CEO of Titan without first consulting Philip was "very uncool." Philip overheard, and concurred with Brady, angrily pointing out that Victor had always preached about the importance of honesty—and yet had hired Brady behind Philip's back. Victor declared that he didn't have to run his decisions by Philip, but Philip argued that Victor enjoyed belittling and humiliating him. Victor countered sarcastically that if Philip were so unhappy, he could just resign—again—and Brady could easily take over Philip's job. Brady declared that he wouldn't do it, because Victor had misled and disrespected them both. When Victor referred to his son and grandson as "girls," Philip began to walk out in disgust, but Victor stopped him.

Victor was furious and disappointed that Brady and Philip had allowed their fragile egos to get in the way of the family business. "You can take your outrage and your self-righteous wrath and shove it," Victor proclaimed—then fired them both. Philip responded with ironic applause, adding that Victor shouldn't have any trouble finding a couple of toadies to replace them. When he and Brady began to list all of their achievements for Titan, Victor chuckled. Clearly pleased that his boys had put aside their differences to side against a common "enemy," Victor asserted that Philip and Brady would do a great job of running Titan together.

Philip, disgusted that he and Brady had allowed Victor to manipulate them, declared that they would not come crawling back. Victor just declared with a wry grin that he would wait patiently while they hashed things out, and left them alone. After some cursory discussion, Philip and Brady agreed that they would make a great team. They shook hands to seal the deal.

Melanie dropped back by the pub later, and Max immediately wanted to know why she'd been trying to stir things up with Chelsea. Melanie argued that Chelsea liked him, but he ordered her to stay out of his personal life. Melanie spotted the CD on the bar, and pointed out that it wasn't the kind of thing a guy made for someone who was just a casual friend. Max wondered why Melanie was trying to hard to get him together with Chelsea, whom she couldn't stand. Melanie maintained that she only wanted him to be happy. Though Max was skeptical, she urged him to ask Chelsea out if she were the one who could make him happy.

At the Titan offices a little later, Melanie bumped into Brady and introduced herself. She welcomed him back, and told him that she owned the rights to Titan's alternative-fuel project. Brady expressed interest in learning more about it, so Melanie offered to take him into her office to show him how it was going to make them all very rich.

Alone at the bar, Max pondered the CD he'd made for Chelsea. He called and left a message to let her know she'd left it behind, adding a little nervously, "Can you give me a buzz whenever you get this? I just want to run something by you."

Chelsea went to the mansion to see Victor, and tried to convince him to fire Melanie. She declared that Melanie was a manipulative liar who would make Victor's life a living hell. Victor pointed out that Melanie was ambitious, and that she controlled Nick's alternative-fuel project, which stood to make Titan a lot of money—and so, troublemaker or not, Melanie stayed.

The mayor's killer got a phone call from his informant, who gave him Rafe's cell phone number. The killer said he could enter the number into his GPS device to pinpoint Rafe's location—and then kill Sami.

While Rafe was in the shower, Sami took out the flyer with Sister Theresa's phone number that she'd taken from the convent, and eyed Rafe's cell phone. When she heard him turn the water off, she quickly stuffed the flyer under a couch cushion. Rafe, dripping wet and clad only in a towel, emerged from the bathroom to get a shirt. Sami tried to shoo him back in to get dressed, but he insisted that it was her turn to shower. Sami stalled, trying to make sure all of the flyer was tucked under the cushion, and ran into the bathroom only when Rafe threatened to get dressed in front of her. As soon as she'd closed the door, he yanked the flyer out from its hiding place.

Rafe confronted Sami with the flyer when she came back out of the bathroom, but she tried to play dumb. He pointed out that all the killer would need was a tracking device to be able to trace one of Rafe's phone calls. She confessed that she had gotten the flyer when he'd taken her to the church, but that she hadn't actually called Sister Theresa yet. Rafe wanted to know why she wanted to talk to Sister Theresa so badly, but didn't believe Sami's answer about missing her kids and feeling a connection with the nun, and gently insisted that she tell him the truth.

Sami reluctantly confided that she wanted Sister Theresa's advice about her pregnancy, and her life after the baby was born. Rafe was skeptical, so she reminded him that he'd told her the convent had been an orphanage—which meant Sister Theresa knew a lot about children.

Rafe had to take a call from his boss just then, and the killer loaded his gun while he tracked the location of Rafe's phone.

When Rafe hung up, he informed Sami that the FBI had no new leads about the killer, and asked her if they could resume their conversation about Sister Theresa. Sami dodged his questions, asking only for more details about the orphanage, and suddenly Rafe realized that she was thinking about giving her baby up. Fighting back tears, Sami quietly asked, "Do you think that convent would be a good place for my baby?" Rafe was incredulous. Sami argued that it was the only option she'd come up with to keep the DiMeras from getting their hands on another of her children. She begged him to take her back to talk to Sister Theresa, but he flatly refused.

Meanwhile, the killer had homed in on Rafe's location. Making his way through an alley, his gun at the ready, he declared, "Say goodbye, Sami Brady."

Nicole fantasized about meeting Dr. Baker on the pier and pulling a gun on him. He begged for his life, but she declared with a smile, "There's only one way to keep my secret buried forever," and then shot him in cold blood.

Nicole snapped back to reality, reminding herself that she had to find a way, short of murder, to keep her miscarriage a secret—and to get a baby. She had put on her coat and was heading out the door, when E.J. entered the DiMera living room. Nicole told him that she had a doctor's appointment, but declined E.J.'s offer to accompany her, then kissed him goodbye and left.

A little later, E.J. bumped into Marlena outside the Brady Pub, where both were headed, separately, to meet Roman. They sat on a bench out front so E.J. could ask Marlena's opinion about Nicole's recent behavior. He described Nicole's mood swings, and her frequent doctor's appointments, adding that it seemed as if there were something more going on. Marlena tried to reassure E.J. that pregnant women were often emotional. She also surmised that Nicole was probably being overly cautious, since the pregnancy was high-risk, and that the doctor was simply indulging her. E.J. didn't seem convinced that he shouldn't be worried.

At the clinic, Nicole barged cheerfully into an exam room, where she offered Dr. Baker a box of cupcakes as an apology for the message she'd left him the day before. Reminding her that she'd threatened to kill him, Dr. Baker ordered her to leave. Nicole begged him to forgive her—and to continue pretending to be her doctor. Dr. Baker wasn't interested unless she had the money, and Nicole swore she'd have it soon. When she threatened to expose his misconduct if the truth about her miscarriage came out, he reminded her that doing so would be detrimental to her life, as well. He suggested that she get psychological help, and left her alone in the exam room.

Nicole spotted Dr. Baker's cell phone, and quickly picked it up to scroll through his address book. She observed that all the entries were for women's phone numbers, and, after concluding that they must all be call girls, began calling them one by one. After having no luck reaching any of them—some of whom had hung up on her—Nicole came to the last woman on the list: Jill. When the woman answered, Nicole declared that she knew all about Jill's relationship with Dr. Baker. She ordered Jill to meet her at the pier immediately, or, Nicole threatened, "I will blow this thing wide open."

Marlena and E.J. went inside the pub to join Roman, who gave them the disappointing news that the latest lead on Mayor Marino's killer had turned out to be a dead end—which meant that Sami would have to stay in witness protection a while longer. Marlena sadly declared that the day before hadn't even felt like Christmas without Sami.

After E.J. had gone, Roman admitted that he was frustrated, too, and that he missed his daughter. He was happy, though, that he'd been able to arrange for Sami to speak to the twins on Christmas—and added that E.J. had told Sami that he missed her. Roman and Marlena both wondered if E.J. were still in love with Sami.

Back at the mansion, E.J. sat on the floor, playing with Johnny. He told the boy that he would soon have a new little brother or sister, whose mommy was already crazy about Johnny—and who would soon be a part of the family, as well.

Nicole was waiting on the waterfront, when she heard a voice behind her say, "Are you the one who called me?" She turned and was startled to find a woman who appeared to be very young—and very pregnant.