Episode Theme song: "Release Me" Agnes

Previously on One Day at a Time
- Natasha dumped Shane upon learning Cassie is pregnant with his baby. He asked Cassie to move back in with him.
- Cory and Robin made love when she returned from Mexico
- Reese went to the gay bar and met new friends Ryan and Derek. Derek kissed Reese
- Madeline was waiting for Preston to discuss his criminal past
- Adam learned that Olivia is not really a high school friend of Helen’s
- Leah collapsed due to a kidney failure

Scene One – The Wilkins Estate; Preston, Olivia & Reese’s Home

Preston arches his eyebrow, still surprised to find his daughter Madeline in his office. He knows that Madeline is probably still upset with him regarding his past that she knows about. In fact, it’s the reason that she ran away from home all those years ago. He looks at her carefully, trying to read her. Unfortunately, he has lost his relationship with her and doesn’t know what she is thinking or feeling. “Talk about what?” he finally asks her.

“The fact that you’re a bank robber,” Madeline says rolling her eyes slightly at her father. While she has tried to look past the fact that he and her mother are criminals, she is not able too. Still, it has helped her explain a few things about her own personal behaviour patterns.

Preston sighs. “Oh Maddie. I wish there was something I could say to you to make you understand how or why,” he tells his daughter as he walks over to the bar to pour himself a drink. “Care for a brandy with me?”

“No thank you,” she says sternly. “I want to stay level headed for this conversation.”

Preston takes a sip of his brandy and looks at his daughter. He can see her face is filled with confusion, hurt and anger. “I’m sorry we hurt you. I’m sorry you had to find out in the way that you did.”

“I guess I should say thank you for the apology. It doesn’t excuse what you and Mom did. You lied to Reese and me for years. Everything in this house was bought from stolen money. Doesn’t that ever bother you?”

“Not all of it Madeline! Your mother and I have done very well for ourselves. We just needed…” Preston begins, remembering back to his yesteryears. “Sit with me? Please?”

Madeline watches her father sit on the black leather sofa. She soon follows suit and sits next to him. “When your mother and I first met years ago, we both had dreams to be rich, powerful people. We wanted to live big. We wanted to give our children everything we didn’t have. We decided to follow our dreams; mine to be a lawyer and your mother’s to be a therapist.”

Madeline looks at Preston, who seems to be in a daze as though he is reliving his life in front of him on a screen. “Makes sense so far,” she manages to say softly.

“Our families didn’t come from much, you know that. But to be a lawyer and therapist you have to have years and years of education. Education that is not cheap. We tried to get scholarships, to no avail. We maxed out our student loan options. We needed to come up with a way to get some cash quickly,” Preston recalls to his daughter, often taking a small sip of his brandy. “After the first robbery, we could have been set.”

Madeline is flabbergasted. “So why didn’t you stop?”

Preston’s eyes meets his daughters. “I don’t know. The rush? The greed? It was like it was a game. A fun game of cat and mouse. I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear, but it’s the truth. We did this to get ahead. We have succeeded. We only robbed 3 banks total, I swear. We covered our tracks well.”

Madeline gets up and starts chewing on her finger tip, as she does when she’s nervous. She understands her father’s explanation, but it’s not enough she realizes. “You and Mom, you’re cowards! So many people need money for school … but they work two or three jobs … they don’t steal from innocent people!”

“Just listen Madeline,” Preston says trying to get her calm down. “Please just listen to me.”

“Listen to what?” Reese asks coming into the office. He has just got home from his night out at the bar and heard voices in the office. “I’d like to know what’s going on.”

Scene Two – Twin Peaks General Hospital; Olivia’s Office

Olivia sits at her desk typing on her keyboard. She has had a busy day filled with patients. She quickly glances at the clock and knows that Preston is probably waiting for her. She gives herself a quick smile as she knows Preston has finally come around and been more affectionate with her. Still scolds herself a second later as she knows she has continued to think of Will in a sexual manner, despite the fact that he is dating her daughter. She looks at her calendar for the morning and sees Cassie’s name in black. She sighs.

“Ironic that the blackmailing bitch is what brought Preston and I together again,” she mumbles to herself as she types furiously.

“Talking to yourself?” Adam asks as he enters her office. Adam looks at her closely trying to see if he can fluster her. While he knows she has claimed to be a friend of Helen’s, he knows the truth that she has been lying to Helen, and he wants to know why.

“Oh Adam, I didn’t see you there. It’s late, I’m surprised to see you here,” she smiles as he enters the office. Olivia gulps as she feels nervous around Adam for some reason. She doesn’t trust him, and she knows that he doesn’t trust.

“This couldn’t wait until morning,” he claims as he places Helen’s yearbooks on her desk.

“What’s this?” Olivia asks him.

“They are Helen’s yearbooks. I came across them recently and to my surprise, I couldn’t find you in any of them. Interesting, considering you claim to be her friend from high school,” Adam says in a stern voice, ready to bust her.

Olivia feels her face blush, red from being caught in a lie. She looks up with a grin on her face. “Mr. Detective thinks he has it all figured out,” Olivia replies to him. “What’s your problem with me anyways?”

“I don’t trust you! I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing Olivia, but it ends now. You’re not who you claim to be, so stay away from my wife!”

Olivia laughs. “Are you threatening me? I never went to the same high school as Helen. I met her as we both played basketball. Check the year book on that. Helen was on the team, and we became friends during games. Our schools competed against each other. Now take your theories and get the hell out of my office!”

Adam picks up the books and turns to leave. Before he does, he looks back at her. “Stay away from Helen, or you answer to me!” As he opens the door, Cassie is standing there ready to knock. “Cassie? This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”

Olivia looks over Adam’s shoulder and sees Cassie and quickly rolls her eyes.

“Olivia was helping me out with some pregnancy matters,” Cassie covers with a small smirk. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just leaving. Watch yourself with her okay?” Adam advises as he leaves.

“What was that about?” Cassie asks shutting the door to the office.

“You don’t want to know. What’s going on?”

Scene Three – Twin Peaks General Hospital; ICU

Robbie looks into the room where Leah lays. She still unconscious and next to her is the dialysis machine working on her. It slowly goes up and down and for the time being, it’s keeping her alive. He fights a tear knowing that they are running out of time to find a kidney donor for her, something he is desperate to do.

“How does something like this happen?” he asks Jeff, who is still at the hospital with Robbie. While the two men have had their differences, Robbie has been trying to stay civil with him, especially since Leah is in the hospital.

Jeff looks up at Robbie. He can see that Robbie is exhausted from the bags under his eyes. He can see how much Robbie loves his wife too. “I wish I knew. She’ll pull through though Robbie. Don’t give up, okay?”

Robbie gives him half a smile. He likes having Jeff there for support.

“That’s right, we will not give up,” Dominick announces as he approaches the two men. Robbie quickly turns and sees Leah’s father standing there. He gives him a quick hug. “What’s the latest?”

“Thanks for coming Dominick. We are just playing the waiting game right now; we need a donor,” Robbie reports back to his father in law.

“Can we visit her?”

“Not right now. Shane says that she can catch an infection which could lead to …” Robbie begins before trailing off, not even thinking of his wife’s mortality.

“What else can we do to get her donor faster?” Dominick asks. “Do they know that we have money? Maybe we can pay someone?”

Robbie looks over at Dominick. He knows that Dominick is hurting and thinking of any possible way to save his daughter. While he knows that money can not solve this problem, he thinks it’s admirable that Dominick wants to do anything he can to help Leah. “We just have to wait. Shane says because it’s an emergency we are high on the priority list.”

The men are interrupted by Shane, who comes into the room. “I have news. You can visit Leah. The dialysis seems to be working well. She can handle a visitor or two.”

Scene Four – Capers

A large fire fills the large glass fireplace in the centre of the restaurant. Daisy sits next to the blazing oven and feels the warmth next to her. She quickly glances at the menu again then places it down. She doesn’t want to order before Terrence arrives. She, against her better judgment, agreed to meet Terrence at Capers instead of her office to continue to discuss the prospects of his ski retreat lodge opening. She has only met with him a couple of times, but each time she felt like he was flirting with her; which she shouldn’t mind, Terrence is after all an attractive, young, successful man. She realizes though that she is not in the right place of her life to begin dating again. She brings her wine glass to her mouth and takes a drink of the red liquid.

“Looks good, I hope you ordered the entire bottle,” Terrence says as he stands at the chair with his briefcase.

“I always do,” Daisy smiles as he sits down across from her.

“My kinda woman!” Terrence replies to her. “Thank you so much for meeting me here. I thought dinner would be nicer than the office again.”

Daisy takes another drink of her wine as the waitress pours Terrence his glass. “Much nicer, yes. I just hope we can stay on topic.”

“Why, what else would we discuss this evening?” Terrence says as he flashes his smile again. Daisy feels herself blush a little. “Did I add that you look remarkable in that dress?”

Daisy chuckles a little. “Thank you Mr. Caldwell.”

“To an evening of productivity,” Terrence says holding up his glass. The two glasses click together as they both take a drink.

Scene Five – Twin Peaks General Hospital; ICU

Natasha enters the ICU and hugs Dominick. She remembers getting the word about Leah from Robbie and coming over. She didn’t want to come at first because she knew Shane would be at the hospital, but she knows that her personal feelings can not be the cause for her concern right now, not when her family needs her. Robbie needs her, the same way he was there for her when she was in the hospital.

“I came as soon as I heard. How is she?” she asks Dominick, concerned about her sister in law.

“Not well. She needs a donor quickly,” Dominick explains to her. “Robbie’s visiting her now.”

“She’ll pull through. She has too,” Natasha explains. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, she sees Shane. “Excuse me for a moment, will you?”

Natasha walks over to Shane, who is reading a file. “Hey.”

Shane looks over to Natasha and gets a grin on his face. “Hey. How are you? You look … good,” he says to her, his heart warm from seeing the woman he loves.

“I’m okay. Be honest with me: how is Leah?”

Shane sighs. “She needs a donor badly. I don’t know how long she’ll go without the surgery that she needs. But she’s on the list. We should be hearing back soon today with an update.”

Natasha nods her head, knowing that Shane is doing everything he can to help Leah. “Thank you. For everything you’re doing.”

Shane quickly, without thinking, grabs her hand. “I miss you.”

Natasha looks up at Shane and their eyes lock. She feels the electricity between them as he caresses her hand. “I miss you too, but nothing has changed. Cassie is still pregnant with your baby.”

She pulls her hand away. “Yea, I’ve been meaning to tell you something,” he says softly.

“Oh?” Natasha asks looking up at him.

“I asked Cassie to move back in with me. So we can raise the baby together.”

Natasha looks up at Shane with surprise. She knows that she left him telling him that is what she wanted him to do, but she didn’t expect him to actually go through with it. “I see,” she says slowly. “I guess that’s for the best,” she replies. “Excuse me, I should go.”

Natasha turns and walks away as she feels her eyes swell with water. Shane thinks about calling out to her, but knows that it is pointless.

Scene Six – Twin Peaks General Hospital; Olivia’s Office

“So this cramping, does it happen often?” Olivia, after listening to Cassie’s story, asks Cassie, who is sitting on the sofa in Olivia’s office.

Cassie nods, “Pretty often, yea. I’m concerned. I don’t want the baby to be in jeopardy.”

Olivia looks over some notes she has. “You have to forgive me, this isn’t my specialty in medicine.”

“It’s okay,” Cassie replies. “I appreciate your help. You and Preston have been life savers.”

Olivia chuckles knowing that the only reason she and Preston have agreed to help her is because Cassie is blackmailing them. “Were you on any medication before you got pregnant?”

Cassie gulps. “Not medication exactly, but I was taking fertility drugs,” she admits to Olivia. She knows in her head that she was doing the right thing, although know that she is saying it to someone else she knows that it may sound … extreme.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Olivia asks stunned. “You’re a young, healthy woman! There’s no need for you to be on those pills.”

Cassie blushes, “I know. I just wanted to make sure I got pregnant. I could feel Shane slipping away, and I refuse to let that happen. We belong together!”

Olivia looks at Cassie and shakes her head slowly. “You’re cramping because of those pills. You’re going to have a sensitive pregnancy. That means you must stay stress free!”

“I will! I promise. This baby means everything to me.”

Scene Seven – The Wilkins Estate; Preston, Olivia & Reese’s Home

Preston looks over at Madeline, unsure of what she is going to do. Reese has just interrupted their conversation where Preston explained his reasoning behind robbing the banks.

“Madeline and I …,” Preston starts to tell Reese.

“It’s time he knows the truth Dad!” Madeline yells at her father. “I’m tired of all these lies!”

Reese arches his eyebrow. “Would someone please tell me what is going on here?”

Preston walks over to Madeline and grabs her arm. “Now is not the time!”

“Let go of me! It’s never a good time, is it Dad? I’m done lying and covering this up! Reese, Mom and Dad are bank robbers! They robbed banks before we were born. Everything they’ve ever told us has been a lie!”

The words hit Reese and they sting. He shakes his head before a huge smile comes across his face. He starts to laugh. “Oh my, you guys are funny!” He soon stops laughing when he looks at Preston. Preston moves his eyes, unable to look at his son in the face. “You mean this is true?”

Preston nods his head, still unable to say anything.

“This is fucked up!” Reese says before storming off. They both soon hear the front door slam shut.

“Are you happy now?” Preston asks Madeline, as tears stroll down her face.

Scene Eight – Capers

“So my idea for the ski resort, it’s a good one, huh?” Terrence says as he finishes his third glass of wine.

Daisy looks up at him and nods. “I must admit, it does sound intriguing. The numbers for the tourism factor alone make it seem worth while. I just don’t know how the public will feel about losing that forestry.”

“Leave that part to me,” Terrence winks at her. “I have a way with words. I can get the people to like my idea.”

“I agree, you do have a way with your words,” Daisy replies to him.

“I’m glad I’m rubbing off on you,” he smiles back to her.

“Would you excuse me for a moment? I just have to run to the ladies room.”

“Certainly,” Terrence says standing up and helping her out of her seat. His eyes follow Daisy until she disappears into the ladies room. His eyes race over to the bar where he sees Trenyce picking up a take out bag. He smiles to himself. “Oh Trenyce. Soon, I’ll come over and see you again. First I have to keep working on your Aunt.”

Scene Nine – Twin Peaks General Hospital; ICU; Leah’s cubical

Robbie sits next to his wife and watches her sleep. Her eyes have no movement. Her chest slowly moves up and down indicating her breathing. The dialysis machine next to her continues to slowly go up and down. Robbie hates that he didn’t do more to help his wife. He should have forced her to go to the doctor; he knew something wasn’t right with her. If only he pushed a little more.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers to her as he holds her hand. “If anything happens to you, it’s my fault. I should have made you see that you are sick. God, please forgive me,” he says as he closes his eye. “You have to get better Leah. You just have too. We have too much left to do.”

Robbie turns his shoulder and looks outside the room. He sees Dominick standing there, watching Leah. He knows that Dominick is just as concerned as he is. “Your dad is here. Jeff is here. Natasha is here. So many people who love you are here. You have to wake up and tell us you’re okay,” he says as he leans in and kisses her forehand.

“I’m going to go so your Dad can come and see you. Just know that I’m outside, waiting for you Leah. I love you. Never forget how much I love you and how much you mean to me,” he finally lets a single tear fall from his cheek as he professes his love to his wife.

He slowly gets up and places her hand by her side and he turns to leave. He wipes his eyes before he arrives at the door.

Scene Ten – Twin Peaks General Hospital; The Waiting Room

Cory enters the waiting room and he quickly sees Natasha sitting in a corner. He remembers getting the call from Dominick about Leah. He called Robin, who was at the lab, and they agreed to meet at the hospital. He walks over to where Natasha is sitting. “Hey you,” he smiles as he sits across from her. “Any updates?”

Natasha looks up and feels relieved to see Cory there. She hasn’t seen him since they agreed to end their marriage at the Calimo cabin; she hadn’t realized how much she has missed him. “Cory, hi. No updates. We are just waiting for a donor.”

Cory sighs in disappointment. He was hoping that by the time he arrived something would have happened for the positive. “How’s Robbie holding up?”

“He’s a mess, as to be expected. How did you find out?”

“Dominick called me because he was looking for Robin,” Cory admits to his ex.

Natasha arches her eyebrow. “Oh right. Guess that means you and Robin are together?”

Cory can’t help his smile. “Yea. It was a little rough at first, but we love each other. Just like you and Shane, you know?”

Natasha feels her eyes swell with water. She turns her head away and places her hand over her face. Cory notices this and quickly moves over so he is sitting right beside her. “Hey, what’s wrong? Talk to me Nat.”

Natasha looks over at Cory and knows that she can’t lie or hide from him. “I left Shane. We’re over,” she admits softly.

“What did he do to you? If he hurt, I’ll kill him!” Cory quickly jumps to her defense, proving that he still cares for her despite them not being together.

“Cassie’s pregnant. It’s not his fault. I just know that I could never come between him and his child. He has to do the right thing,” Natasha explains to Cory as she fights more tears.

Cory hugs Natasha. “I’m so sorry Natasha. I shouldn’t have said anything about Robin. I can only imagine what you’re going through right now.”

While Natasha would never say it out loud, the fact that Cory and Robin have found happiness does hurt her more. She knows that they were bound to get together after her separation from Cory, but somehow she still thought of Cory as her back up plan. Now that he is happy without her, her heart aches a little more.

“Don’t say that. You deserve your happiness. I really need to focus on myself and my family right now. But thank you so much for your support,” she smiles at him.

“That’s what friends are for, right?” he says as they hug again.

As they hug, Robin enters the waiting room looking for Cory. She rushed over from the lab when she heard her sister was in the hospital. The last thing she expected to find at the hospital though was Cory in Natasha’s arms. She feels her face turn red; she turns around and exits unseen.

Scene Eleven – The Park

Reese finds a bench in the park and sits on it, out of breath as he ran to the park from his home. He is still shocked to the core to find out that his parents are criminals.

“Why is it everyone in my life is lying to me?” he asks himself as he thinks back to Andy, and now his parents. “It’s like I can’t trust anyone anymore!”

He finds his phone and sees a text message from Derek, the man he met at the bar earlier. The text reads “Hey, hope you had as much fun as I did!”

Reese quickly remembers Derek kissing him at the bar and inviting him back to his place. He pushes “dial” on his phone and soon hears Derek on the other end of the line. “Derek, it’s me Reese! … I’m fine, thanks. How are you? … Good, listen, I was hoping we could get together after all. You know, at your place … Awesome. Text me your address, I’ll be there soon!”

Scene Twelve – Twin Peaks General Hospital; The Waiting Room

Robbie, Dominick, Jeff, Kim, Natasha and Cory all wait for some kind of news from Shane. Cory looks around wondering where Robin could possibly be. He knows that he called her over an hour ago. He checks his phone quickly, but doesn’t see anything. He sends her a quick text message hoping that nothing bad has happened to her.

Dominick looks up and sees Sofia enter the waiting room. Their eyes meet for a brief moment before Sofia hugs Robbie.

“Thank you for coming,” he says to his mother.

“Of course darling, there’s no where else I would be. Your father should be here soon. How is she?”

Before Robbie can reply, Shane emerges from the ICU. “Good news folks: we have found a donor!”

Scene Thirteen – Derek’s Apartment

Reese’s clothing is on the floor on Derek’s apartment. The two men lay naked on Derek’s bed kissing and touching each other. Derek looks at Reese and smiles.

“I’m so glad you decided to come over tonight,” he says as he kisses him again.

“I needed this so badly,” Reese says as his hands move down to Derek’s groin area.

“There’s one small problem,” Derek says as he starts to kiss Reese’s neck.

Reese moans a little, “What could possibly be wrong right now?”

Derek stops and looks at Reese, his eyes making Reese melt. “I don’t have a condom.”

Reese stops for a moment and knows that he shouldn’t go forward. He quickly thinks back to Andy hurting him and then finding out his parents lies. He pulls Derek into a deep kiss.

“I don’t care. I want you badly. I want you right now,” Reese says as Derek starts to put Reese’s legs on his shoulders.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Derek says as he leans in for one more kiss.

Next on One Day at a Time
- Jeff has a difficult decision to make
- Natasha gets a surprise visitor at work
- Will gets a blast from the past