On today’s Days of Our Lives recap:
Horton Square: Brady calls Steve and says he thinks it’s possible the firehouse baby is Sophia and Tate’s. He lists all the reasons it’s possible, including the day Sophia wouldn’t let Tate touch her stomach. Steve asks the date and they realize it was the day the firehouse baby was born.
Julie’s Bookstore: Holly calls Tate who says Rachel is running away. She says she took her back to school but wanted to inform Tate and his father. Tate calls Brady and fills him in.
Sophia walks in and apologizes for freaking out on her at the pub. She appreciates it but thinks she deserves it. Sophia would love to explain everything to him, and he is down to listen. Sophia says was in a panic when she unexpectedly went into labor and did what she needed to do to give their child a good home. She didn’t tell him the truth because she was afraid, he would be angry. Tate understands but wants Sophia to let him track down the adoptive parents so he can meet their child.
Sophia says she doesn’t remember much but has a hard time pulling up the memory. She lies about the first name of the parents and says she can’t remember the last names. Tate asks more questions and gets frustrated when Sophia has no answers. She says the lawyer had the couple vetted and trusted the process. He thinks she is acting shady and notes she was the same way even before she went to Chicago.
Tate backs down and says he just wants to understand everything that happened. He asks for the truth and Sophia seems ready to break.
Salem University: Johnny arrives and asks Holly about taking his class. She promises she didn’t take the class because he was teaching and notes the crazy crush she had on him a couple of years ago. Johnny is all good and hopes the class is okay with him being a replacement professor. As a side note, Johnny says he is glad she and Tate are back together.
Johnny is all kinds of nervous which Holly notices. He says he has never done anything like teaching and feels under qualified. Holly can’t believe what he’s saying based on all his experience and all the movies they watched together (Are we setting up an actual Holly/Johnny dalliance?). She says she learned a lot from him back then. Holly tells him he will be great.
Holly asks about Johnny’s life, and he talks about the trial being over. He also mentions he and Chanel are back on the market to adopt a child. Holly genuinely hopes everything works out.
Johnny is about to start class and asks if Holly is coming in. She was waiting on Tate and says she will be right in. After class, Johnny asks Holly if she knows why Tate didn’t show up and she says she hasn’t heard anything. She wonders if something is going on with Rachel and tells Johnny about seeing her in the park. With that, she exits and promises to keep him updated.
Hernandez House: Javi breaks down in tears when he tells Leo he had a daughter who died. He explains he went back into the closet because his mother wouldn’t accept his identity. Javi began to date a woman named Sylvia and they had a daughter named Solana. He says she was a ray of sunshine from minute one and was his whole world. Javi says he vowed to keep her safe and failed miserably.
Javi tells Leo he and Sylvia had a routine of him taking their daughter to school and her picking her up. One night he went out drinking with his buddies and was feeling rough the next day. Sylvia agreed to take Solana to school. Later, Javi got a call from a distraught Sylvia. She went to work and forgot Solana in the car. It was a very hot Texas day and by the time he got there it was too late. Leo asks about Sylvia and Javi says, even though it was an accident, they charged her with child abuse and neglect. The police arrested her, and she was never able to say goodbye as later in the day they took Solana off child support.
Javi notes it was his daughter’s death that led him to dedicate his life to rescuing folks in need. The EMTs did everything in their power to save his little girl and wanted to do the same. Leo says he is so proud of his beloved and understands why Little T has been so important to him. Javi admits the idea of giving up Little T feels like losing Solana all over again.
Javi shows Leo a picture and he says Solana is beautiful. He apologizes for not telling Leo about her sooner, but he totally understands. Javi says he really wishes they could adopt Little T. Leo notes he has an extensive criminal past and doesn’t think he would pass a background check. Javi gets it but also thinks he isn’t ready to become a dad again. Leo hopes he can get past these feeling some day and the two embrace.
Horton Square: Brady calls Rachel’s school and demands to speak to her. The school indicates, once again, they can’t find her.
Statesville: Kristen walks in the visiting room and is stunned to find Rachel. She admits she sneaked out of school because she had to see her mommy. Kristen talks to the guard who agrees to make a visitation exception this time. She embraces her daughter and apologizes for not being able to say goodbye. Kristen asks how Rachel got there and she says she used her mother’s rideshare account. When she got to the gate, she gave the guard the same sob story as the last time, and he bought it. Kristen smiles and notes just how resourceful her daughter is.
Rachel says she had to come see her mother so she could apologize. She says she is the reason her mother is in prison. Kristen says it isn’t her fault but Rachel is unmoved. She says if she had never found Mama Blake, EJ would never have hidden her, and her mother would never have shot him. Kristen says she is prison because of what she did, point blank and to the period. Just then, Brady arrives and embraces her.
Brady says the school called him and he figured she was trying to see her mother. As he approached the prison, he got a call from the warden. Rachel questions how the warden knew and then realizes her mother gave her up. Brady says she is going back to school right now. Rachel refuses and says she is not leaving her mother. Kristen pushes her daughter to behave. Rachel says she will go but only if daddy promises to bring her back. Kristen says she is certain they can work things out.
Black Patch: Rafe arrives to see Steve. He asks a favor involving the baby his family is fostering. Rafe inquires and Steve says he has a friend who suspects he might be Little T’s real father. He doesn’t want to claim custody but wants to know the truth before an adoption takes place. Rafe guesses correctly Steve is talking about Tate. He explains why and Steve confirms Tate doesn’t think so, but he and Brady do.
Steve notes the pronoun slip up. Rafe assumes Tate believes Sophia and Steve says she managed to convince him. He notes Sophia still looked fully pregnant when Javi brought Little T home. Steve agrees but says Sophia got jumpy about her stomach being touched around the same time. Rafe wonders if she was wearing some sort of padding but also is curious why she would go to such trouble.
Steve recalls Sophia was afraid of her mother making her raise the baby. He thinks it’s possible she went into labor early and panicked. Rafe can’t imagine how traumatic that situation must have been, but Steve reminds him it’s all speculation. They need actual proof to go further. Steve asks and Rafe says he will be happy to provide him with a DNA sample.
Endings
Rafe arrives home and learns Javi told Leo about Solana.
Rachel agrees to go back to school. Before they can leave, Brady becomes a self-righteous horror show and says he doesn’t appreciate being strong-armed into agreeing to visitation. Kristen counters saying she doesn’t appreciate Brady pushing for her sentence to be increased. He says he did it to protect their daughter.
Leo walks Javi out as he needs to get back to work. Rafe watches Little T as the two exit, which gives him the opportunity to swab his cheek for DNA.
