Stunned by Marlena's request for a divorce, John guesses that Alex is behind her decision. Marlena insists that she has no feelings for him. When Alex interrupts, John accuses him of being behind Marlena's decision but Alex plays dumb. Marlena starts crying, insisting that John get out. He leaves and runs into Kate in the hall. He hugs her as he explains what has happened. She asks for help nailing Sami for "Stan" giving John drugs but he asks her to drop it. Back inside, Alex brews some tea for Marlena and spikes it with pills so that she'll better follow his orders. Caroline and Bo press Shawn for what they think are his thoughts about a new woman in his life. After Caroline begs off, Shawn tells his father that he's been wondering about Mimi but worries he'll ruin their friendship. Bo urges him to go see her and gives him a rose from the table to take to her. At the beauty salon, Mimi opens up to Glorianne about her feelings for Shawn, unaware that Bonnie is listening from nearby. When Bonnie pipes up about "roping him in" and grabs a branding iron from her car, Mimi spots Caroline and is embarrassed. She apologizes for her mother but Caroline offers her advice about Shawn. Shawn is thrilled to find Mimi at home making him his favorite dinner using his grandmother's recipe. In a panic to learn Jack's pills are for a fatal illness, Jennifer calls Lexie. When Lexie refuses to confirm in person that Jack is dying, Jennifer confronts her husband who privately lets her know that he is dying. Jennifer vows to call her father and fight this disease.
Frankie confesses to Lexie that he knew about Jack's illness and was approached about replacing him in Jennifer's life after Jack was dead. Jack asks Jennifer to forget about searching for a cure and let him spend his final days in peace with her. Belle and Philip bring Claire home for the first time. Across the hall Shawn surprises Mimi with a kiss and shows off the nice bottle of wine Maggie recommended. After putting Shawn's favorite dinner into the oven, Mimi takes a call from Bonnie who chats so long that the macaroni and cheese is burned. When the smoke alarm goes off, Philip and Belle worry about Claire and while Belle rushes her outside, Philip checks on Shawn. Amused to hear about the ruined dinner, he invites them both to join him and Belle. Claire's magic affects Shawn and Mimi who enjoy the company of Philip and Belle. Belle and Mimi are taken by surprise when Philip offers a toast and encourages all of them to have more babies. As Marlena starts asking herself why she shouldn't be with John, Alex reminds her that he quickly took up with Kate once Marlena was presumed dead. He promises he'll always take care of her. Meanwhile, Kate insists John join her in her hotel room. As they talk about how Marlena ended up in this position, Kate invites John to move in with her while Marlena stays in the penthouse. She claims it will enable them to work together. Noticing she has a view of the penthouse, John uses binoculars to eye Marlena dancing with Alex.
At Alice's, Max sells autographs to promote Abby's Light the Night Walk for lymphoma. Chelsea can deliver the Salem U. rugby team. When she kisses Max, fans assume she paid. Lip-locking is lucrative! Man-kissing Max raises at least $600. Josh rewards volunteer Abby with a kiss. They dance to an R&B remake of "More Than Words." She wants him to meet her folks. A picture of her parents suddenly saddens Chelsea. Max says the Bradys are his real family. Beatings from his biological father made him a selective mute. Frankie was his voice. Chelsea's lucky to have a second set of loving parents. Josh suggests the four go to Java's karaoke.
Alcoholic Lucas subs for bartender Shawn. Nicole resents his suggestion she stop drinking and his astute accusation she's on the prowl. She tells Kate and Victor she's too broke to skip town or set up elsewhere. Kate wants Victor to investigate Alex. John's feelings outweigh the usefulness of his ISA connections. Lucas says Kate, as Stan, should burn down Alice's so he can't bartend. He refuses to work for her. She overhears Victor needs to replace Brady. Lucas dishes with a friendly waitress who digs him.
Sami's returning wedding gifts, but wants to keep John's toaster oven. Austin frowns on that. She needs to forgive and forget, as he did with her. They decide to have an Alice's dinner. Nicole tries to hijack Austin. He says they should all go, then leaves them to fight each other and chase him.
Jennifer refuses to let Jack die. She intends to find a medical rather than miraculous cure. Lexie asks forgiveness for not breaking confidentiality. Jennifer's angry at Jack over precious time lost. Jack still wants Frankie for his wife, but Frankie relegates himself to friendship. Lexie shares Jack's hopelessness. It was easier for a clueless Jennifer. Having run off crying, she screams that God can't take Jack from her and their children. Jack finds and holds her.
While Kate convinces Victor to talk to Lucas about a job, Austin chastises Lucas for working as a bartender at Alice's. Lucas ignores his concern and counters with his own comments about Austin being with Sami. Austin asks Lucas to give her another chance but he angrily refuses. Victor offers Austin Brady's job but he's not interested. When Victor then offers the job to Lucas, he's thrilled and promises not to let him down. However, Lucas' excitement is tempered by Sophie who mentions she overheard Austin turn down the same job offer from Victor. Still spying on Marlena and Alex from Kate's place, John updates Abe on his concerns for her. When he asks for help rescuing Marlena because he knows she still loves him, Abe admits his doubts about Lexie's love for him and then sadly explains that he can't really help him. When Kate returns, she stops John who wants to confront Alex and throw him out, literally. Examining an exhausted Belle, Lexie sends her to bed and then tells Philip, Mimi and Shawn that she needs to reduce the stress in her life and may be suffering from postpartum depression. Back across the hall Mimi admits to Shawn that she thinks Belle's suffering because she saw Mimi with Shawn. Mimi goes on to admit she lied about the kiss because she did feel something when they were together. Shawn confesses that he too kept secret his desire for something more than a friendship with her and invites her back up to the roof. Unable to sleep, Belle decides to climb up the fire escape to the roof but when she spots Mimi and Shawn there, kissing, she starts to climb down only to slip.
Dr. North continued to keep Marlena under strict control. Marlena doubted her decision to ask John for a divorce. When she expressed her hesitation to Dr. North, he again worked his magic on her until she agreed with what he said.
John expressed his frustration to Kate. They went out to dinner where they ran into Dr. North and Marlena. Kate suggested John ask Marlena to dance but when he did Dr North answered for her, saying she was exhausted. He then insisted they leave, despite Marlena's protesting that she wasn't tired.
Austin met up with Nicole and Sami at Alice's. Sami and Nicole argued, with Sami telling Nicole to leave Austin alone. Lucas was bartending and questioned why Sami wasn't in jail. Sami told Lucas that Austin got the charges against her dropped. Lucas was angry and said he wanted Austin to mind his own business. Nicole asked Austin for a game of pool, betting that if she won, he would have to come home with her.
Jack and Jennifer broke the news to Abby that Jack is dying. Abby was devastated, telling Jack that he lied to her when he said he'd always be there. She ran away from them and told Chelsea she needed to get away, and the two of them left.
Next time: Mimi and Shawn consider taking their relationship to the next level. Belle's condition worsens. Jack and Jennifer continue to deal with Jack's illness.
