Episode Theme song: "When Christmas Comes" Mariah Carey

Previously on One Day at a Time
- Trenyce forced herself to throw up after Mallory once again insulted her weight
- Dominick threw it in Bob’s face that he and Sofia kissed after he kicked Ryan out of Natasha’s life
- Sofia realized all of Cassie’s secrets and had hopes of reuniting Shane and Natasha. Cassie, meanwhile, saw an article in the newspaper about home made bombs
- Cory learned that Melissa paid Karl’s bail. He saw Robin and told her that he needed space from her

Scene One - The Tower’s, Floor One; Kim Condo

“Is the eggnog ready?” Kim asks calling to Andy, who is in the kitchen making the alcohol-infused beverage as she sets out some final presents under the Christmas tree. She and Andy decided to have a small Christmas gathering this year and they invited Madeline and Reese over since they realize that it will probably be a hard year for them since it’s the first Christmas they will be without Olivia and Preston. It’s her first time hosting a big event, so she wants it to be perfect. She is a touch concerned about Madeline because she also invited Will. She knows that the two ex’s haven’t seen eye to eye since his affair with Olivia was exposed.

“I think so,” Andy comes in with a grin on his face. He passes her a glass. “Try it,” he tells her as he also hands JC a glass. “You too hun. Tell me if you like it.”

JC takes a drink and looks over at Kim, unsure of what to make of it. “It’s pretty strong,” Kim notes to him. “But I like it,” she winks over to her brother. “JC, what do you think of it?”

JC smiles and takes another drink. “For my first eggnog, it’s pretty good. Thanks babe,” he smiles up to Andy, enjoying his first real American Christmas experience.

Andy leans in and kisses JC, “Merry Christmas to you.”

Kim stands up when she hears the door bell ring. “I’ll get it,” she says quickly walking over to the door. Reese and Madeline stand on the other side. “Merry Christmas guys!” she says as they hug and come into the house.

“Merry Christmas,” Madeline says to everyone as she comes into the living room.

Andy and JC come up to her and hug her. “Merry Christmas to you too,” JC says back to her. “You must be Madeline? I am JC.”

“The JC? I’ve heard a lot about you,” she responds to him.

“Only good things, I hope!” JC laughs back at her.

Reese comes into the living room after hanging his jacket. “Hey guys,” Reese says trying not to be awkward around JC and Andy. He looks at Andy and can’t help but think back to making love to him when they were trapped at the Pride event a few weeks ago.

“Merry Christmas Reese,” Andy smiles over to his exboyfriend. “Do you guys want some eggnog? It’s nice and …”

“Rum filled!” Kim laughs coming back with Will next to her.

“Hey guys, Merry Christmas,” Will says to everyone as his eyes go to Madeline. He knows that they haven’t been close since his affair with Olivia was revealed just before her death, but he hopes that they can start to be civil. “Did I hear someone say eggnog?”

“I’ll go get everyone some,” Andy replies as he begins to exit the room.

“I’ll help you,” JC notes following his boyfriend into the kitchen.

***

“Can I talk to you for a moment?” Kim asks Madeline taking her aside by the Christmas tree. “I hope you don’t mind that Will is here. He doesn’t have any family here and I didn’t want him to be alone on Christmas.”

Madeline looks over at Will, who is chatting with Reese and shakes her head smiling as she looks back at Kim. “No, it’s fine. You’re right, no one should be alone at Christmas. Whatever happened was so long ago. We all need to move forward, you know?”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Kim smiles as she hugs Madeline, happy that she is able to put her past differences aside.

“Am I interrupting anything?” Will asks as he comes up to the two women. “Kim do you think I could have a moment alone with Madeline?”

“Of course,” Kim says to him. “I’ll go check on the turkey.”

Will turns to Madeline. “I heard about the kidnapping. I hope you’re okay,” he relays to her, trying to make small talk and knowing that being held at gun point couldn’t have been fun.

Madeline nods a little, “I’ll be fine.” She sighs and looks at him, “Look, I’m sorry for my behaviour after my parents died. I know that you cared for my Mom. It was just a hard pill to swallow.”

Will hugs her and she accepts his embrace. “Thanks for that. I never meant to hurt you. I hope you believe that. It just … happened,” he admits to her. “I actually miss our talks a lot.”

Madeline wipes her eyes from tears, “Me too Will. A lot. And I do believe you. Friends?”

“Friends,” he smiles back to her.

***

In the kitchen, Andy pours some more eggnog into some glasses as JC watches. “This is nice, hey?” he asks his boyfriend who looks up from the pouring of the eggnog.

“Yea, it is. I’m glad you’re getting to experience a real North American Christmas JC.”

“Me too. It’s nice that Reese and his sister can be here too,” JC notes to his boyfriend hoping to get some kind of rise out of Andy. He can’t place it, but he senses something is still off with Andy when it comes to Reese. He has felt it the last couple of weeks and would love to know what exactly it is.

“Christmas is about being close to family and friends. It makes the season more special to share it with those close to you,” Andy explains to JC, even though he is feeling guilty about sleeping with Reese a few weeks earlier. And today, he can’t help but notice how good Reese looks again.

“Do you guys need some help?” Reese asks as he pops into the kitchen behind JC.

“No, I think we’re good,” JC turns and says as he hands Reese one of the glasses of eggnog. “We were just coming back out.”

Reese watches JC leave the kitchen with more eggnogs to pass around to the other guests. Reese looks back at Andy and they smile at each other before walking back into the living room.

***

Will walks into Kim’s bedroom and closes the door softly. He dials a number on his phone and puts it to his ear. “Eva, hi, it’s Will. I just wanted to call and wish you a Merry Christmas. I hope you have a great day,” he says before hanging up the phone, as he thinks about the kiss they shared during the blackout. He didn’t expect her to pick up the phone but he knew that the day would probably be hard on her because Natasha still hasn’t reached out to her. He hopes that Eva will appreciate his gesture none the less.

***

“I want to make a toast,” Kim announces as everyone comes back into the living room. “To celebrating Christmas with great friends and family!”

“Cheers!” the guests all say in unison as they drink some of their eggnog.

Scene Two - The Michael’s House; Chris, Daisy, Trenyce & Andrew’s Home

“Did you get pictures of Andrew opening going through his stocking?” Trenyce asks Daisy as she helps her set the dinner table.

Daisy turns and looks at her niece and suddenly feels so much pride for her. It wasn’t too long ago that it seemed like Trenyce was on a bad road in life; lying and scheming to get revenge on anyone that had, in her mind, wronged her mother. Now she’s a loving mother and going to school to better herself. As she looks at Trenyce though, she can’t help but notice that she looks some what smaller. Maybe she’s lost weight? Daisy asks herself as she brings some food to the table.

“I did indeed,” she answers Trenyce’s question. “I think he loved his new cars. He loves driving them around!”

Trenyce looks at all the food on the table and shakes her head. She searches for her spiced rum and coke beverage. She can’t help but think about Mallory on this day and wonder how she handles a big event like Christmas. She manages to stay so thin all the time, it’s hard to wonder how much she actually eats. Trenyce knows that she has been forcing herself to throw up after every meal she has been having. She has been trying to lose weight so she can look as good as Mallory and her other friends, but so far she hasn’t dropped as much weight as she would have liked. A day like today would set her back after all the progress she has made with her weight loss.

“Are you okay? You look a million miles away,” Daisy notes over to Trenyce.

“Yea, I’m fine, sorry,” Trenyce replies to her. “I’m just not feeling so well.”

“Are you okay? You look like you’ve lost some weight, is everything okay?”

“Do I?” Trencye tries to hide her excitement. “But yes I’m fine. I’ll go get Chris and Andrew and tell them dinner is ready.”

As she walks away, Daisy can’t help but become worried about her. The weight loss and the apprehension in her voice when Daisy asked her about it. Something isn’t right, Daisy concludes. Trencye quickly comes back into the dinning room holding Andrew in her hands and Chris follows behind her.

“Before we eat, Daisy could I see you in the other room for a second?” Chris asks her as she nods and walks into the living room. Chris follows her and once they’re alone together he looks into her eyes. “I wanted to congratulate you on staying the mayor of Twin Peaks. I know winning the election was important to you.”

Daisy grins, “Oh, thank you. I know you had your worries about me running again Chris, but it really is what I wanted.”

“I know it is.”

“And whoever leaked that news story about Meggan was really the one that helped me win. Vinny’s name getting dragged through the mud is what did the trick.”

“Oh come on!,” he laughs a little. “You’ve been a great mayor. I’m sure your reputation had something to do with it.”

Daisy arches her eyebrow as something about the look in his eyes makes her wonder. She realizes that he and Vinny have never gotten along, mostly because of Victoria, but there’s more to his attitude right now. “What aren’t you telling me? I get the feeling that there’s more to this any you’re letting me in on.”

Chris laughs a little and grabs her hand. “Okay, okay! It was me. I leaked the story to the Sun!”

Daisy gasps and covers her mouth with her other hand. “I can’t believe this!”

“Are you mad?” he asks unsure of her reaction.

“No, not at all. You helped me win! I don’t know how to thank you,” she giggles as they hug each other.

“I wanted you to win Daisy. I did what I thought was right,” he whispers into his ear. As they exit their embrace their eyes lock and he leans in and gives her a kiss. “Merry Christmas Daisy.”

“Merry Christmas Chris,” she says back to him with her eyes still closed and their lips still lingering close together.

***

They walk back into the dinning room and see Trenyce feeding Andrew some mashed potatoes and gravy. “He loves this stuff,” she smiles up to them.

“Why is your plate empty?” Daisy asks Trenyce, noting that she hasn’t helped herself to any food yet.

“I’m not going to have anything right now,” she tells them, knowing that there’s no way she’d be able to work off all of this holiday food. “I’m still not feeling very well.”

Daisy arches her eyebrow and looks at Chris then back at Trenyce. “Okay, but I will make you a plate later. You have to keep your energy up.”

Trenyce nods at them with apprehension. She dodged one bullet. She knows she’ll be able to dodge another one later in the day.

“Let’s have a toast at least,” Chris offers as he sits down at the table. “To our first Christmas as a real family. All together, all united. Merry Christmas guys.”

“Merry Christmas,” Daisy and Trenyce reply before Trenyce looks back at Andrew and smiles.

Scene Three - The Glubbs House; Shane, Cassie & Dawn’s Home

The front door opens with Shane and Cassie coming back inside their house, their arms fill of presents and Shane is holding Dawn. “Your parents spoiled us this year,” Cassie notes as she shuts the door and locks it.

“Yea, they did,” Shane smiles as he sets Dawn down on the floor and begins to take her jacket off. “It’s nice that they are a close drive so we can share these moments with them. They love Dawn so much.”

The young toddler quickly walks over to her toy box and starts playing with some of her toys. Cassie smirks, “Ha! It doesn’t look like she even cares about all the new toys she just got either.”

Shane laughs and walks up to his wife, “Today was nice. Thank you for coming to my folks. They really enjoy you too, you know.”

Cassie blushes, “Where else would I be Shane? I love you and I love our little girl. Plus, I know it was important to see them before the wedding on New Year’s Eve, since they will be travelling to Europe and won’t be able to attend.”

Shane turns around and walks into the living room. “Yea, you know they had the trip planned before we decided to renew out vows,” he explains before turning his attention to his daughter. “Come here Dawn! Let’s look at some of your new toys!”

Cassie watches them play for a few moments before she turns to hang her coat. Suddenly she spots something on the ground. It’s a broach; one that she recognizes all too well. It’s Natasha’s. She puts it up and realizes that Natasha must have been here recently; since the blackout. Cassie feels her stomach get twist in knots. Not only were Natasha and Shane making out in the wine cellar during the blackout, but they’ve since been alone together again. She grabs the broach and quickly walks into the kitchen. She puts her hands on the counter top and feels the walls closing in on her. “Damn you Natasha! Why can’t you just stay away from my husband?” she asks herself in a low voice. “That’s it. I have to get rid of you. For good this time.”

She rushes up the stairs and heads into master bedroom. She goes to her closet and opens her safety deposit box. Inside she finds the recent newspaper article that she clipped out about how homemade bombs are becoming more popular. She looks at the article and realizes that this is the perfect way to get rid of Natasha, for good. A wicked grin comes across her face.

Scene Four - The Calimo Mansion

The living room of the Calimo mansion is filled with laughter and chatter as the family has gathered to celebrate the holiday together. The fireplace is roaring and classic Christmas carols are playing on the record player, a vintage player that Bob has had for years. Sofia carries her glass of eggnog up to her husband and smiles. He smiles back to her. “I believe we are under the mistletoe my love,” she smiles to him she leans in and gives him a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

Bob looks back at his wife. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Anything.”

“Dominick Robertson told me that you and him shared a kiss after he got Ryan to exit from Natasha’s life,” he says changing his tone quickly.

Sofia doesn’t bat an eyelash at his remark. “Ignore him please Bob. He’s trying to stir the pot. You’re the one I love. You’re the one that I adore. You and our family. Look around, we are all here and we are all happy. This is what life is truly all about,” she says grabbing his hand, believing everything she’s telling him.

Bob smiles at his wife and knows that she is right. After the year they’ve had, it’s nice that the family can be together and be happy. With Robbie being shot earlier in the year and on his death bed to Natasha’s drug problem, it’s amazing that everyone is happy and healthy at Christmas time. “You’re right. I love you so my dear.”

Natasha stops chatting with Leah and Robbie and looks over at her parents, whom are standing and watching them chat. She gets up and walks over to them and hugs them both. “Merry Christmas Mom and Dad,” she says as she hugs them. “I love you guys. I want to thank you both.”

“Thank us?” Sofia asks in surprise. “For what?”

Natasha feels her eyes swell with water, “Just for being so amazing to me. I know this year has been hard on all of us, but you guys never stop believing in me and our family. That means a lot to me. I just wanted you guys to know how grateful I truly am,” she relays trying not to let any more tears escape her eyes.

Bob hugs his daughter again, “That’s what we are here for my beauty. We believe in you and Robbie more than anything in the world. You’re mother and I will always be here for you. Never forget that.”

“I won’t. Never again,” Natasha replies.

Sofia grabs her daughter’s hand, “Can I see you off the to the side for a moment?”

“Of course,” Natasha replies as they walk over to the fireplace. “What’s going on?”

“It’s not exactly ready yet, but I’m very close to getting you a wonderful present,” Sofia smiles at her knowing that she believes she knows that Cassie has been up to for so long with Helen and Olivia. She believes that baby Dawn is really Helen’s baby and Cassie has been using the child to hold on to Shane this entire time. She can’t say anything yet because she needs actual proof. She can’t disrupt Dawn’s life yet, especially if it isn’t true. Part of her hopes to God it isn’t, because it means that Cassie is a complete monster but she has to be sure. She just doesn’t know how else the pieces could possibly fit together. More than anything, she hopes she’s not grasping at straws just so she can reunite Shane and Natasha. “Just know that I’m working on something that could be wonderful for you.”

Natasha smile and hugs her mother. “Just having you in my life is wonderful. I love you.”

Sofia feels her eyes get watery as she hugs Natasha again, “And I love you. So very much. Merry Christmas Natasha.”

“Merry Christmas Mom.”

Scene Five - The Tower’s, The Penthouse; Cory’s Home

Cory gathers some presents together and puts them in a reusable shopping bag. He looks in the mirror one more time to make sure his hair looks okay before he grabs his jacket. He is heading over to the Calimo mansion to have Christmas dinner with the Calimos. Natasha invited him because she knows that he and Robin are separated right now and she didn’t want him to be alone on Christmas. He’s grateful that he and his ex-wife have managed to stay close friends despite being broken up for a few years now.

He opens the door and sees Robin standing on the other side. He arches his eyebrow, “Robin? What are you doing here?”

Robin nervously enters the penthouse. “I was standing out there for a few minutes,” she admits to him knowing that she wants to be with her husband on Christmas but she realizes and understands that he would need his space from her right now. “I wasn’t sure if I should knock or not. I have a present for you.” She leaves a small box on the coffee table and looks at her husband. “It looks like you’re leaving, I won’t keep you.”

“Robin wait,” Cory says to her as she walks to the door. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” she replies as she gets tears in her eyes. She walks up to him and tries to hug him, but he pushes her away. “I’m sorry. I know you said you need your space, but it’s Christmas Cory. We should be together today.”

Cory sighs and looks at his wife. He can’t deny that he does miss her, but he still doesn’t know how to get over the fact that she didn’t believe him for months about his innocence in the attack on her, to the extent that she had him arrested. “It is a holiday today Robin, but it doesn’t change the fact that you have absolutely no belief in me. You threw me in jail and were ready to lock me away!” he spits at her before looking over at the box she brought. “Thank you for the present, it is a nice gesture.”

Robin nods in understanding. She had hoped that the day would allow them to get closer, but she can appreciate that he still needs time to adjust to everything. “Sure. I’ll let you get back to your plans.”

“Wait, I want to tell you something. You need to know this. And you should hear it from me before someone else tells you.”

Robin turns back and arches her eyebrow at him.

“I found out who paid Karl’s bail. It was your mother. Melissa paid his bail,” Cory reveals to a shocked Robin, who realizes the extent of her mother’s plan for the first time.

Next on One Day at a Time
- Shane and Cassie’s wedding begins
- Sofia confronts Cassie
- New Year’s Eve has an explosive ending!