Today’s Days of Our Lives recap for December 28, 2023, details Nicole’s ultimate heartache, Leo’s schemes, bad news for Paulina, and a fascinating time for Konstantin.

Nicole Bares Her Soul As Leo Blackmails

Nicole (Arianne Zucker) arrived for her first therapy session with Marlena (Deidre Hall), who tried to put her former daughter-in-law at ease. Nicole was a nervous wreck and the fact that she was talking to Eric’s (Greg Vaughan) mother didn’t help. Marlena assured her she would be impartial nothing she said would get back to Eric, quelling some of Nicole’s nerves.

Nicole wanted to see Marlena because she knew that she also lost an infant child many years ago and could empathize with her. She finally broke down and opened up, saying she felt the urge to nurse her son at random times. Her milk came in and quickly dried up, but she never had a chance to feed her son.

She admitted that she was scared she’d have another stillbirth when she first learned she was pregnant, and even considered an abortion to spare herself the pain. But just the possibility of Eric being the father stopped her. She didn’t want to deprive him of his lifelong dream to be a dad. However, she also thought she could be with Eric if he turned out to be the father.

When she falsely learned the baby was EJ’s (Daniel Feuerriegel), she was disappointed but still started to look forward to the prospect of having another child. She listened to her doctor, took all the precautions, gave birth to a living child, and still her baby died.

The subject eventually turned to Holly (Ashley Puzemis), whom Nicole called her joy. In her mind, she would be the only biological child she would ever have even if Chloe (Nadia Bjorlin) gave birth to her. She wanted to spend as much time with Holly as possible now, knowing she’d be going off to college soon.

Eric and Sloan (Jessica Serfaty) attempted to enjoy a family day with Jude in Horton Square when Leo (Greg Rikaart) showed up to show off his new clothes, courtesy of Sloan’s credit card. He made sure to point out that he had a good Christmas, but still wanted an expensive house, something he was sure Sloan would take note of.

When Eric walked away for a few minutes, Leo told her he would stop blackmailing her as soon as she handed her stolen baby over to Nicole. Of course, Sloan wasn’t about to do that so she would keep having to flip the bill for Leo’s lifestyle.

Leo finally left thinking he was getting more money so Sloan sat down and calmed down until Eric told her that her credit card was declined when he tried to buy them a snack. Leo then reappeared with bags from Saxton’s and Sloan knew exactly what was going on with her card. At least Eric decided it was time for him to earn an income. (Ya think?)

Paulina’s Diagnosis

Paulina (Jackee Harry) and Chanel (Raven Bowens) sat down with Kayla (Deidre Hall) to discuss Paulina’s health issues. Paulina wanted a prescription so she could get on with her life, but Kayla still wanted more tests run for an accurate diagnosis. She definitely seemed to have a thyroid issue, but she still needed a biopsy to make sure the lump in her neck wasn’t cancer.

Kayla explained that she could have the beginning stages of thyroid cancer and wanted to rule it out with a biopsy. Paulina didn’t want to have the test done, but Chanel convinced her to do it for her.

As they waited for the procedure, Johnny (Carson Boatman) stopped by as moral support. Paulina was surprised to hear that Johnny was a cancer survivor, having had eye cancer when he was just a small child. He explained that early cancer detection saved his life. Sadly, her test results showed some indications of cancer.

Konstantin Somehow Knows John

A self-injured Konstantin (John Kapelos) hobbled through the park with a cane, but didn’t get to enjoy himself for long when someone stuck a needle in his neck and a black hood over his head. As expected, Steve (Stephen Nichols) and John (Drake Hogestyn) were revealed as his abductors.

They knew all about his lies and were determined to get him to stop scamming poor Maggie (Suzanne Rogers). As John sat back and took it all in, Steve ordered Konstantin to leave the country and never return to Salem again.

Konstantin just told Steve to go to hell because no way was he going back to Greece just because Steve demanded it. When John finally stood up and grabbed Konstantin by the collar, he seemed to recognize the man.

The next thing we knew, they placed him back on the park bench with the hood back over his head, telling him he had one week to leave Salem for good.

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