Episode Theme song: "One More Time" Kylie

Previously on One Day at a Time
- Andy fell off the wagon after Nicholas chose Jarrod
- Andrew moved out of his place with Daisy
- Chris and Trenyce reunited
- Madeline felt guilt pains of stealing Kim's baby
- Shane and Natasha shared a close moment on Christmas Day
- Ethan moved back in with Abby as he tried to be supportive of her visiting Olly & Max
- Will served Paige with lawsuit papers in hopes of stopping her from adopting out their baby
- Bryce warned Dominick about Frederick's travel plans

The Moretti Mansion; Florence, Italy

"I brought up a bottle of chianti from 2004 from the wine cellar," Eva announces to Dominick as she moves into the living room of the Moretti estate in Florence, Italy. Eva and Dominick came to the compound with Felicia so she could escape Frederick's clutches. Dominick, however, knows, thanks to a call from Bryce, that Frederick has left Twin Peaks; they don't even know if Frederick has figured out where they are, but they certainly hope not. "I thought we could drink it as we ring in the New Year."

"That sounds lovely," Dominick replies to her. "Has your security team given you any updates about Frederick?"

Eva sets the bottle of wine on the bar and starts to open it with the corkscrew that is resting there. "There has been no sight of Frederick in Florence," she replies to him quickly. "Even if Frederick knows that we Italy, he would have no idea that the Moretti's have this estate in Florence. Italy is not a small country."

"That is all true," Dominick says back to her. "I…I just want us to have our guards up. With Frederick, anything is possible."

"That's fair," Eva says as she pours two glasses of wine. "By the way, I saw Felicia, and she was going to turn in. She didn't think she would make it to midnight."

"How does she seem to you?" Dominick asks her as she passes him a glass of the red wine.

"Honestly?" Eva says as Dominick nods back to her. "I think she is getting back to normal; whatever Frederick was pumping her full off, it is wearing off. She hasn't once referred to him as her husband for the last few days."

"I knew that the marriage couldn't have been under her own will," Dominick sighs. "That man is a monster. I'm just glad we got Felicia away from him. And Eva, I owe a lot of that to you."

Eva purses her lips together. "I am happy to help, you know that."

Dominick shakes his head back to her. "You are still being so kind, despite me being rude to you. Before you gave the idea to come to Florence, I continued to tell you that I didn't want your help with Felicia."

"I understood why," Eva takes a sip of the wine. "If it wasn't for me, everyone would have known that Felicia was alive weeks earlier. I understand why you were upset with me."

"We've come along way, haven't we?" Dominick chuckles to her. "Now we are in this beautiful country, this beautiful city, and in this magnificent home, all thanks to you."

"Happy New Year, Dominick," Eva says back to him. "I'm hoping that 2026 is a better year than 2025."

"I am sure it will be," Dominick replies to her before he leans in and kisses her softly on the lips. The kiss catches Eva off guard, and she feels her heart skip a beat. She has wanted to be with Dominick for so long, she almost can't believe that it happened. "Happy New Year, Eva."

The Pink Flamingo at the River Rock Casino

The restaurant has been transformed into the annual New Year's Eve party for the town and its citizens. The theme this year is red and gold, so there are party favors and balloons in those colors. There are multiple waiters circling with flutes of champagne, but the bar is also open for any beverage that anyone could want. There is also a small buffet table in the corner, in case anyone gets hungry.

In the middle of the dance, Abby and Ethan are holding one another closely as they are celebrating the new year together. They've had a long year, but they are, seemingly, ending int on a high. Ethan recently moved back into the Lawson estate and is trying to be more supportive of her wanting to spend time with Max and Olly.

He leans in and kisses her passionately. From the side of the dance floor, Max takes a sip of his champagne and happens to see the kiss. He feels a twinge in his stomach at the sight of them. He knows he and Abby have had a long history, and they have been spending a lot of time together lately.

"Happy New Year, Abs," he whispers to himself. "I hope we have a great year with Olly, our precious son."

***

Daisy grabs a glass of champagne and scans the room to see if she can find any of her friends or family around. Even if she did, however, she isn't sure that anyone would want to see her. She knows that her family is still furious with her because she admitted that she switched the DNA test results for Albertinah; she only did that because she thought that if the truth came out, she might lose Andrew to Trenyce. However, once Chris confronted her with the truth, at this very restaurant, Daisy admitted it, and now, Chris, Trenyce, and Andrew are furious with her.

"I guess I will be ringing in the New Year alone," she whispers to herself as a takes a sip of her champagne. She had hoped that when she and Trenyce worked together to save Cheresa from a crazed Dawn, that things would be patched up, but things are still tense. She turns her head and sees Andrew walking into the restaurant wearing a tuxedo.

"Don't you look dashing tonight," she moves up to her fiancé with a smile on her face. "Happy New Year, Andrew."

"Same to you," Andrew replies to her. "And you look very beautiful yourself."

Daisy feels her cheeks flush at the compliment. "Thank you, Andrew. Do you…do you want to have a glass of champagne together?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Andrew admits to her. "I'm still getting over the fact that you lied to keep me away from my daughter; I don't know that I will ever understand how you could do that to me, Daisy."

"I wish that you'd let me, at least, make it up to you, Andrew," Daisy whispers back to him. "We were engaged to be married, we felt love for one another at some point."

"But what you did, it changed everything," Andrew tells her. "And that's something you have to deal with, while I'm dealing with my own trust issues."

***

"These little hot dog things are so good," Chris chuckles to Trenyce as they sit across from one another at a back table with some of the snacks in front of them, as they just raided the buffet table. "Although, I will have to hit the gym extra hard tomorrow."

Trenyce giggles back to him. "You still look fine as hell, you'll be fine to have a couple of treats," she tells him. "This…this is really nice, actually."

"The New Year's party?" Chris asks her quickly.

"That and us being together," Trenyce looks over at him. "I can't tell you how happy I am that you're willing to give us another chance, Chris."

Chris nods back at her before he takes a sip of his champagne. "Your scare with Dawn and Cheresa, it just made me realize that I love you so much, Trey," he admits to her. "I know that Tinah isn't my daughter, and I can deal with that, but my love for you, it's real, and it's not going anywhere."

"I love you too," Trenyce smiles back to him before she leans over the table and kisses him on the lips. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, babe."

***

Paige exits her embrace with Ethan, who was just telling her about Georgina. She is glad that after everything that went through, that they are friends because, she knows, for a while, it didn't look like they could be that close to one another.

"If you need anything, you let me know," Ethan tells her. "I am here for you."

"Thanks," Paige smiles back to him. "I will need to wrap my head around this but I will call you for sure."

"Sounds good, Happy New Year."

"Same to you," Paige says before Ethan moves to return to Abby. She glances across the room and happens to Will getting a drink at the bar. She sighs heavily as she recalls how on Christmas day, she was served with lawsuit papers from Will trying to stop her from proceeding with the adoption of their child. She can't believe that he would go to such lengths. She finds herself rushing towards him.

"You son of a bitch!" she hisses at him, as Will turns around. "How could you have been served, on Christmas, no less?"

"Oh, you got my lawsuit papers?" Will asks her in surprise. "They didn't tell me how long it would take to have drawn up."

"How could you do this? You want to stop me from making a decision about my child?"

"Our child," he corrects her. "You haven't given me any say in any thing you've wanted to do, and Paige, you didn't get pregnant by yourself."

"You're in love with another woman," she shrieks at him. "Do not stand there and tell me what I can and can't do with my body, Will. That's not how this works."

"And I am telling you, I want my child," he replies to her with intent. "And this is a way that I can try to stop you from getting rid of him or her."

"You won't get away with this," Paige locks eyes with him. "Mark my words, you will not get away with this."

***

In the back corner, Nicholas and Jarrod are huddled together with smiles on their faces. Since Nicholas decided to give his relationship with Jarrod, they have been inseparable, and even returned to being lovers. Neither one can really believe that they are together again because for years, Nicholas thought Jarrod was dead. The fact that he is with him right now is a miracle, he thinks.

"There were so many New Year's that I thought I would never see you again," Nicholas tells him as they clasp their hands together. "This is a true blessing."

"Have I thanked you yet?" Jarrod asks him quickly.

"Thanked me? For what?" Nicholas replies to him quickly.

"Giving me another chance," Jarrod licks his lips back to him. "After my role in faking my death, you could have easily have turned your back on me forever; I couldn't blame you if you had done that."

"Like I said Jarrod, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I didn't give us a chance," Nicholas tells him. "And so far, I am really glad that we did."

"Me too," Jarrod smiles back to him before he pulls Nicholas into a steamy kiss.

Across the room, Andy watches the embrace unfold and feels like he has been punched in the stomach. He still can't believe that he lost Nicholas to Jarrod after everything they went through together. What is worse is that after these years of Melissa trying to break them up, she finally succeeded. Andy turns and rushes to the bar.

"I need a double, no, a triple whiskey on the rocks," he tells the bartender. When the drink arrives, he slams it back in one gulp. He sighs heavily and then sets the glass down. "And another…."

The Calimo Mansion

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the party downtown?" Shane asks Natasha as he takes a bottle of champagne to the bar. Normally, they would be at the party at the Pink Flamingo, but after Sophie's accident, Natasha wanted to stay home and be closer to her daughter. Sophie has retired to her room for the night as she didn't want to celebrate, but Natasha still doesn't want to leave in case Sophie needs her.

"I'm sure," Natasha replies to him as she turns her face from the fire in the fireplace. "I want to be close in case Sophie needs me."

"She will get through this," Shane tells her as he pops the champagne and them pours two glasses. "And we can still celebrate the New Year together."

"I am surprised that you're here," Natasha admits to him as he moves closer to her and passes her a glass of the bubbly. "You had moved out, Shane. I'm…I'm not sure what happened but it seemed like there was a switch at Christmastime."

"Ironically, it was Sophie," Shane reveals to her. "She and I had a heart to heart and she encouraged me not to give up on you; she reminded me that you love me, and you never meant for anything bad to happen by connecting Louie."

Natasha feels her eyes swell with water. "I…I had no idea that Sophie did that," she tells him, suddenly feeling guilty for sleeping with Max when Shane was pushing her away. She closes her eyes for a moment and can see herself on top of Max, enjoying every inch of him. She opens her eyes and sees Shane smiling back at her.

"She did, and she made me realize that she was right," Shane says. "I do love you, Natasha, and I don't want to lose what we have built."

"I love you too," she says as they hug one another. A tear falls down her cheek as she tries to struggle with the guilt of making love to Max. "Happy New Year, Shane."

"Happy New Year, Nat."

***

Upstairs in Bobby's nursery, Madeline sits in a rocking chair looking at the sleeping baby. She has been trying to spend more time with the child in hopes of growing a bond with him, but so far, that hasn't worked. She knows the reason she doesn't have a bond with the child is because she stole him from Kim; she had induced her labour all those months ago, and hide the child from her. When Kim regained consciousness, Madeline told her that she miscarried in the car crash, which left Kim devastated. Madeline, then, left town, and came back and announced that she had given birth to Robbie's child.

The guilt she has felt has been strong. She has nightmares. She hears voices telling her she's going to hell. She feels depressed. A sick form of postpartum, even though she didn't give birth to the child at all. Still, she knows that she has to keep up this ruse because, if she doesn't, she will lose Robbie, and she has wanted this life for so long: to be in the Calimo mansion with Robbie's child.

"You're going to hell," a whispered voice creeps into her mind. "You've stolen a baby from his mother! Baby stealer! Thief!"

A tear falls down Madeline's cheek as she covers her ears, trying to escape the voices that she is hearing. But they keep coming, getting louder and louder.

"Ahh!" she yells out in frustration.

The noise causes Robbie to open the door to the nursey. He looks at Madeline in concern as he rushes up to her. He knows that she has been struggling, but her yelling while the baby is sleeping is unacceptable to him.

"Maddie, what is it? What's wrong?" he asks her quickly.

"I…I can't do this," she gasps for air. "I can't keep lying!"

"Lying? What are you lying about?"

"Everything!" Madeline cries back to him. "Everything is one huge lie!"

Next on One Day at a Time

- Max & Sophie come face to face
- Shane and Natasha grow closer
- Robbie grills Madeline