Episode Theme song: "Ties" Years & Years

Previously on One Day at a Time
- Lukas encouraged Nicholas to reach out to Andy while Andy told Craig he might have to move on from his feelings for Nicholas
- Lukas and Donovan got engaged
- Robin and Adam agreed to be married sooner rather than later
- Paige was thrilled when her parents apologized for lashing out at her for dating Max after he saved Cheresa from the river
- Meggan realized she had to tell Chris and Trenyce the truth about Cheresa as the young girl took a turn for the worse
- Abby realized that Andrew was seeing someone new, unaware he had sex with Albertinah

The Pampa Grill

Nicholas sits at the bar with a glass of red wine in front of him as he reflects on his conversation with Lukas earlier in the day. Lukas had advised his friend that it was time that he forgive Andy for everything that happened the night of the gala at St. Joseph's; since that night, Nicholas has been pushing his one-time lover away as he had been blaming him for the Arch Bishop walking on them making love. But, the more Nicholas thinks about it, the more he realizes that he does still care about Andy; he always has.

"He really didn't know that my mother was trying to get the Bishop to forgive me," he whispers to himself before he picks up his merlot and takes a sip of it. "Maybe Lukas is right; maybe it's time that I move on from all of this. Andy and I, we've always had an attraction to one another."

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and finds Andy's name in his contacts. "Hey, can we get together soon? Meet me at my hotel room later?"

He sends the text message and then puts his phone down before picking up his wine glass again. "Well, here goes nothing."

***

"You look exhausted," Robin observes over to Adam, who takes a small bite of his spinach salad. She is happy that her fiancé was able to get away from the hospital as he has been there since Dawn was found on bench on the pier before Max discovered Cheresa's body in the river. Dawn was discovered to have so many anti-depressants in her system that she had to have her stomach pumped.

"I'm glad you convinced me to get away from the hospital," Adam replies to her quickly. "I don't think I've eaten properly in a few days."

"That was part of my plan," Robin tries to smile back to him. "I was worried about you. You have to take care of yourself even though you are worried about your daughter."

"I know," Adam sighs back to her before he takes a sip of his white wine. "Helen and I both have been so worried about her. We've had a hell of year with Helen being buried alive, coming back to us and now Dawn's dependency with her pills."

"Did you and Helen talk to Dawn about it?"

"We did," Adam nods back to her. "Once she realized how badly Cheresa was hurt, she agreed to get help with her addiction. It just hurts so much to see her turning to medication because of everything she has been through the last couple of years."

"The most important thing is that she is getting better. We have to look at the positives," Robin tells him. "Which is why I was thinking…"

Adam looks up from his salad and makes eye contact with her. "What were you thinking?"

"We should get married," Robin replies to him quickly. "Think of how much good a wedding would do for us and the family right now."

"No," Adam immediately tells her. "I can't marry you, not right now."

Robin feels the blood drain from her face as her mind races to seeing how close Adam and Helen have become while dealing with Dawn. She wonders if this is another indication that Adam is growing closer to his ex-wife. "Why not?"

"My focus has to be on Dawn," he quickly tells her. "We don't know what type of treatment she will require or how long she will potentially be away. I'm sorry Robin but my daughter, Dawn, she has to be my top priority right now."

***

"Well it certainly seems like the two of you have thought of almost everything," Eva purses her lips together as she looks over all the details of Donovan and Lukas' wedding. She can't believe that her son and his fiancé are so close to actually getting married; for so many years, she didn't know if marriage was in the cards for Donovan. Now, they are only a few weeks away from the wedding day.

"I feel like we just overcame a really big hurdle if we got your approval," Lukas chuckles back to his future mother in a law. "We are new at this, so any input would be great."

"Well, just remember that there are no rules for weddings," Eva tells him. "You two can do whatever you want really, it's your big day."

"Mom is right," Donovan winks back to him. "But, I think we've done a good job covering the basis so both of us are represented in the day."

"What about your person or persons standing up for each of you?" Eva asks the guys.

"I was thinking of asking Meggan," Lukas admits to them. "She's my sister and my best friend."

"Interesting, cause I was thinking of asking Victoria," Donovan replies to him as Lukas suddenly tenses up, still uncomfortable with the fact that Victoria is back from getting treatment for her multiple personality disorder.

"Lukas, are you okay? You suddenly got very pale," Eva notes back to him.

"I'm fine," Lukas lies to them. "I think having our sister's stand up for us will be a nice touch."

"I'm glad you feel that way," Donovan tells him, still realizing that Lukas is having fears about his sister.

***

"It is nice to get away from the hospital for a bit," Paige tells Max as they sit at a table across from one another. They've both been at the hospital a lot lately as they are hopeful that both Cheresa, and Dawn, pull through but they realized that they needed a break from the situation.

"Yea you and I both," Max replies to her. "It's also nice to have some alone time with you, especially since your parents have come around."

"I almost can't believe it myself," Paige moves a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I hate that Cheresa is in this situation but I guess if one good thing comes from it, it is that my parents are finally seeing the guy that I have fallen for."

"You mean that?" Max smiles back to her. "You've fallen for me?"

Paige slowly nods back to him. "Max, I have fallen in love with you."

Max reaches over and grabs her hand. "I'm so glad because I have fallen in love with you too."

Paige giggles and leans over and kisses him on the lips. "Now that we have nothing to worry about, no parents, no secrets, we can just be. We just need Cheresa and Dawn to get better and everything will be perfect."

Max uneasily gulps back to her knowing that he is still keeping a secret from her: he and Abby worked together to break up Paige and Andrew months ago. He looks at her and realizes that he can't ever tell her the truth; not after he has everything he has ever wanted.

"We will be perfect Paige," he smiles back to her. "We will be."

***

"Is Trenyce still at the hospital?" Albertinah asks Chris as she takes a sip of her red wine as they sit across from one another at a table in the busy restaurant.

Chris slowly nods back to his sister. "Yea, this situation with Cheresa has really made Trenyce realize that she has a pull to her. I'm not sure if it's because we have no idea where our child is or what, but it is sweet."

"I hope she's not getting too involved," Albertinah tells her brother. "She shouldn't upset the Lawson's."

"She's not, she's just hanging around trying to see if she can do anything to help."

"Good," Albertinah replies to him quickly. "I actually got a request from Cheresa's sister to postpone her midterm."

"Right, Andrew was saying that."

"Yea, I'll give Abby some extra time. I realize that it would be impossible to focus when your sister is knocking on deaths door."

"How are you enjoying Twin Peaks outside of work? Are you meeting a lot people? Any men I should know about?" Chris chuckles over to her. "You always seemed to have some guy waiting for you in Atlanta."

Albertinah takes another sip of her wine as she recalls how she and Andrew ended up making love recently. In the wake, she told him that it could never happen again because she could lose her job but if she's honest with herself, she hasn't been able to stop thinking about the younger man. He was very eager to impress and please her, which he did numerous times.

"Earth to Tina," Chris waves his hand back to her. "Where did you just go? I was only teasing about the men comment."

"I know, I know," Albertinah quickly says back to him. "The fact is, there was a man but it was a horrible mistake Chris. I have to forget it ever happened, my entire future depends on it."

Twin Peaks General Hospital

"Andrew, come on, tell me who she is," Abby presses her friend to as she just realized that Andrew is interested in another girl. Abby had just finished leaning in and trying to kiss him, hoping that he would turn to her while she is dealing with so much family drama. Instead, he pushed her away, again, and told her that they could only be friends. Abby then asked him if he was seeing someone else and the look on his face gave it all away; Abby realizes that he is interested in another woman.

Andrew gulps knowing that he can't tell anyone that he slept with Albertinah, but at the same time, he has been dying to tell someone. The fact that he hasn't been able to confide in anyone has been eating him alive.

"I…" he stutters. "I can't say anything. I just can't."

"Andrew," Abby pulls him and spins him so he faces her again. "I'm not going to give this up. Come on, like, you can tell me! We are supposed to be, like, friends!"

"Fine," Andrew sighs back to her. "But you can't tell anyone about this. It has to stay between us."

"I pinky swear," Abby smiles back to him. "I won't say anything, you know that. Now tell me, who is she?"

"Albertinah," Anrdrew whispers back to her as he looks around to make sure no one heard him. "I am interested in our teacher."

"What?" Abby shrieks in shock. "You slept with our professor?"

"Keep your voice down!"

"Sorry," Abby replies to him. "I'm just … surprised."

"I know. I was too."

"But she could, like, lose her job," Abby replies to him. "Oh Andrew, this is a mess. I'm so glad you told me because I can help with this. And I think I know just how."

***

Brooke slowly moves up to Cheresa, who is laying in her hospital bed breathing through her ventilator. Brooke covers her mouth to prevent herself from sobbing at the sight of her daughter in this state. She still can't believe that somehow Cheresa ended up in the river; she still has so many questions, like what was Cheresa doing at the pier and why this happened to her daughter. She realizes that some of the questions she will never get answers too, but they still linger in her head none the less.

She sits next to Cheresa and grabs her youngest daughter's hand. "Hey, it's me, your Mom," Brooke lets a tear fall down her cheek. "I need you know that I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, Cheresa. I'm staying put until I know that you're going to be okay. So, that's what you have to do. You have to be okay. You have to get better because I can't face this world without you. I need you more than you'll ever know. Please, please come back to me."

She turns her head and sees Greg pacing back and forth outside of the hospital room. She sighs and wonders how he is really doing; ever since the truth about her affair with Robbie came out, he has bene cold and distant with her, which she understands but right now they really do need one another.

She kisses Cheresa's hand before she lets it rest back down on the bed. "I'll be here baby," she says before she stands up and walks towards the door. "Greg," she calls out as she leaves the room. "You should go in and see her. I think she'd like that."

"I can't believe this is happening," Greg replies to her. "How did we end up here Brooke? How did we end up with Cheresa fighting for her life?"

"I wish I knew," Brooke tells him. "But you're right, this is all my fault. Everything that is happening right now, it's on me."

"You won't hear me argue that," Greg replies to her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see my daughter."

***

"How is Cheresa? I've been trying to give you and your family space right now," Meggan tells Brad as they stand face to face in a waiting room of the hospital. Meggan recalls how she overheard Shane tell the Lawson's that Cheresa had taken a turn for the worse and they should prepare themselves; Meggan has left Brad be since that time, but in her mind she realizes that she has to tell Chris and Trenyce that Cheresa is their biological daughter now before it is too late; they have a right to know before Cheresa dies.

"No change unfortunately," Brad replies to her. "Shane still thinks that we should prepare ourselves."

"I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something."

"There is something you can do," Brad looks into her eyes. "You can promise me you won't say anything about Cheresa. My family is going through hell right now. We don't need anything else blowing us up."

"I get that," Meggan nods back to her. "But, if your sister is actually going to die then I have to tell Chris and Trenyce the truth. I have to tell them that they have a daughter before it's too late."

"Do I have to remind you about Logan?"

"No you don't," Meggan snaps at him. "But that's a choice I have to make. Chris and Trenyce, they have a right to know that Cheresa is there's before it's too late. And there's nothing you can do to stop me, Brad. I'm sorry that this will hurt you, but it's time that Chris and Trenyce know the truth."

Next on One Day at a Time
- Leah admits to Felicia that the secret is killing her
- Natasha makes a decision
- Max goes after Jacob