Due to the Christmas holiday, The Young and the Restless did not air.
Chris lays into Mary for giving her the maternity dress until Paul admits that he bought it for her months ago and mixed it in with the presents accidentally. Chris tries to apologize to Mary but Mary's had enough and leaves. Paul blasts his wife for her name calling and announces that she's to blame for their marital troubles. He then storms out. Hearing Victor explain his reasons for separate Christmas parties, Nikki interrupts and wishes her best to Nick and Sharon as well as Victor. She also insists that they celebrate Christmas separately. At the ranch Victor accuses Nikki of listening secretly but she ignores him and he runs off. Jack explains to Billy and Raul that Jill has agreed to allow Mackenzie at the party because she wants Phillip there. While Brittany tells Rianna she's relieved that Mackenzie won't be at the party, Raul gives Mackenzie the latest from Jack and she wonders what Billy wants. Brock's impressed when Billy donates a laptop computer to the shelter to help with the tutoring program there. Billy later surprises Brittany with a sapphire heart necklace for Christmas. Carter contacts Jordan and explains that Nick wants to sell him some ecstasy for the next rave party. Carter claims he's buying it for him and must deal only with him. He then calls Larry with the news that the next rave party is New Year's Eve and boasts that Nick will soon be back in jail. Mackenzie's impressed when she overhears Brock tell Kay about Billy's charitable action. John, Jack and Billy help Ashley and Brad celebrate with Abby.
At Crimson Lights, Paul and Lynne are discussing how his Christmas was. He avoids telling her about his argument with Chris by saying that it was a "busy" holiday. Then, appears John Silva who sits down with Paul and Lynne. He tells Paul that he's heard about Chris's upcoming trip to Hong Kong and wonders why Michael isn't going instead of her and what he's going to do without her. Paul tells John that he will be joining Chris and that Lynne and his associates will be handling things back home. John tells him that Chris is a brilliant lawyer and that no matter how busy she is with work, she will make time for him. Meanwhile, Michael Baldwin makes an appearance at Chris and Paul's apartment at her request. She asks him there to see if he finds any truth in what she and Paul argued about. She asks him if he thought she was "domineering and dictatorial." He says that she exhibits traits similar to that, but that those traits are attractive. He's sure Paul finds them attractive. She tells him that she has to find a way to make things up to Paul. She wants to compromise with him; he goes with her to Hong Kong and she gets pregnant while they're there. Michael tells her that she promised to give their partnership two years before she had children. She says that circumstances have changed.
Jack and Jill are at Jabot arguing, once again, about their lack of a webmaster. At the same time, Brittany is at Crimson Lights when Phyllis arrives. She tries to get information out of Brittany on the Glo by Jabot contest, and Brittany tells her that she doesn't feel comfortable discussing the contest with her. Phyllis reminds her that she has the goods on her from the stunt she pulled with Billy last summer. Brittany asks if she's threatening her and gets up to go to the ladies' room. Nick comes over and tells Phyllis that spying on any level is dangerous. Just as Phyllis is giving Nick a sarcastic, "Oh, O.K." her phone rings. It's Jack. He asks her to come over, so she leaves. Then, in walks Mac. Brittany walks up to her and asks her if she'll be joining them for New Year's Eve. Mac doesn't answer yes or no but asks Brittany why it's important to her. Brittany walks away and Billy walks in. He glances longingly at Mac and goes over to Brittany. Brittany tells him that she thinks Mac has decided to come to the New Year's Eve party because of the confrontation they just had. She tells him that she doesn't think it'll be a good idea if Mac comes because she'll be uncomfortable.
Phyllis shows up to Jabot, and Jack asks her if she can give him the name of a few webmasters that he could call because his webmaster quit. Phyllis isn't sure if this is something she wants to do. Jack "convinces" her that it is with a few small kisses. Just as she's about to say yes, Jill walks in and blasts Jack for having Phyllis in his office. She wants her out. Jack tells Jill that Phyllis is there to help them because they do need help. Phyllis walks out and tells Jack to follow her. She gives him the name of one webmaster. Jack thanks her and walks away. He goes back in his office and tells Jill not to screw this up with Phyllis and flashes the number in his hand. Meanwhile, Phyllis dials a number on her cell phone. Jack calls the number Phyllis gave him of a guy named Jacob, and Jacob tells him that he's not free and doesn't know anyone that is. After they hang up, Jacob calls Phyllis and tells her what he's done. She tells him that she owes him. She then says to herself that there are some lines she won't cross, not even for Jack.
At the pool house, Rianna and Raul are exchanging Christmas presents. After exchanging, Raul sneezes again but this time reassures Rianna that he has made an appointment with Jack's doctor. Mac joins them and has flashbacks to the night she saw Brittany and Billy in the pool house together. She's looking around when Raul asks her if she's O.K. She says that she is but that she's come to tell them something. Then, in walks Jill and asks what Mac's doing there. She says that she's come to tell them that she will not be joining them for New Year's Eve. She tells Raul that it's not because of Jill but that she just will not be coming. Jill calls Billy on his cell phone to remind him of his chat, and she also tells him of Mac's decision. Billy asks why when Brittany just told him something to the contrary. Jill says she can't explain that and hangs up. Jack walks in and tells Jill of his phone call with Jacob. He sees Mac in the room and says that their answer is standing in the same room and that it's Mac. Jill looks at him as if she's not having any of that.
Nikki visits Cassie and Sharon, and Cassie finds the card from Amy Wilson. Cassie asks who Amy is and why she's never heard of her. Sharon tells Cassie that Amy has moved away. Nikki tells Cassie to help with leftovers in the kitchen. When Cassie leaves, Nikki comforts Sharon and tells her that the memories she's having about Amy and Matt happened a long time ago and will never happen again. Meanwhile at Crimson Lights, Carter/Matt lifts a glass that Nick drank out of. He puts it in a plastic back and takes it with him to Milwaukee. He enters a room where Warton is putting white pills into tiny bottles. He's at first furious with Warton for not having on gloves, but after Warton tells him that he took them off to answer the door. Carter tells him that the only prints in that room are to be those of Nick's on the glass.
Victoria goes to see Victor in hopes of telling him about Christmas at home. They talk about how lucky Nick is now to have his family especially after the events of two years ago. He tells Victoria that he was considering taking back more of Nick's responsibilities so that he'll have more time to devote to his family and his business. Victoria tells him that might not be a good idea because Nick might not get that impression. Victor says that he doesn't want to alienate his son especially when they're becoming close again. Victoria tells him that Nikki had a nice Christmas at home and that she was a great hostess. She then asks where Diane is, and Victor says that he doesn't know where she is and that she wasn't there for Christmas. He does admit that he'd like to know where she is and what she's up to. Meanwhile, Diane walks into a diner in Kansas minutes before Hope Adams walks in. She recognizes Hope and tells her that she's been waiting for her.
Victor asked Paul to install surveillance equipment in his penthouse in order to keep track of what Diane was doing. Paul had to refer the job to an associate, telling Victor about how he was persuaded to go to Hong Kong with Chris. Victor could tell that something was wrong and offered to help. Paul didn't want to talk about it. Begrudgingly, Victor agreed to the referral.
In Kansas, Diane told Hope that she had heard about her through a mutual friend Victor. Diane started asking her questions about her son and why Victor didn't seem to have much of a relationship with him. Hope immediately was suspicious and refused to answer any of her questions. Hope accused her of being a gossip columnist and/or being part of a scheme to hurt Victor. She abruptly left the café before Diane could convince her to stay and talk.
Mary told Christine that there was no use going to the museum together and pretending that things were fine between them. Christmas had been tense, and she saw no reason to pretend that everything was OK. Mary left, and Chris called Nina at the hotel where she was having a nice time with Tomas. Chris told her that she was considering another attempt at getting pregnant in Hong Kong if she and Paul were getting along better there. It seemed desperate to Nina, who discouraged her from telling Paul until they could talk in person. After she hung up, Tomas once again asked Nina about his pending marriage proposal.
Malcolm and Phyllis worked on details and ideas for the Brash & Sassy New Year's contest. He noticed that she seemed extra excited about her success, and asked her about it. She confided in him about her webmaster referral for Jack, insisting that she had to look out for her job first no matter how she felt about Jack. They changed the subject to Christmas and consoled each other about being kept apart from their sons on the holidays. Phyllis suggested a celebration on New Year's Eve to help them feel better and Malcolm accepted.
Jack asked Mackenzie to run the computer during the live webcast on New Year's eve. Jill was totally disgusted with the idea and came up with a continuous stream of objections. Mac thought about it for awhile, then, in order to spite Jill, she agreed. The kids finished up the chats and voted on the lucky winners. Raul and Rianna talked about how perfect the night would be, when Rianna sneezed, using lack of sleep as an excuse for not looking like she was feeling well. Brittany dug her claws into Mac, asking questions about why she kept changing her mind about being there on New Year's Eve. It seemed to her that the pool house would be full of bad memories for Mac. Then Mac countered with a question "If that was such an amazing night for you and Billy, why doesn't he remember it?" Brittany answered that he must have liked it because he was back for more and they were making new memories, so that night didn't really matter anyway. That brought another comment from Mackenzie "You seemed so emotional about what happened for so long. Now it doesn't matter to you? That surprises me."
While Mac works on the website, Jack, Brittany and Billy wish her a happy birthday. Mac admits to Raul that she's nervous about running the webcast. Brittany shows Mac the necklace that Billy gave her, but Mac senses that Brittany is insecure where Billy is concerned and is trying too hard to prove otherwise. The Glo by Jabot contest winners join the group. Victor has microphones installed throughout the apartment so he'll know what's going on with Diane. He assures Victoria that he won't let Diane get away with anything. Diane tells Hope that they have something in common and explains that she's pregnant with Victor Newman's child. She asks about Victor's relationship with Hope's son. Hope's comments convince Diane that Victor can't walk away from any of his children, and he won't turn away from this one. Nina tells Tomas that she loves him, but is concerned that he can't express his emotions to her, and good communication is such an important part of marriage. Tomas opens up and tells Nina how much he needs her. He places the ring on her finger and they embrace. Feeling down after her dismal holiday, Tricia goes to Matt's. With Ryan working on the Brash and Sassy contest New Year's Eve, Tricia agrees to meet Matt after he gets off work. After Matt leaves, Tricia accidentally comes across his stash of Ecstacy. Ryan admits to Neil that working New Year's Eve saves him from dealing with both Tricia and Victoria. Paul tells Chris that he's decided not to go to Hong King with her.
