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At home, Cat grins as she reads a text from Chad that reads, “I can’t stop thinking about you.” Since he’s nearby, he pops over. They kiss and agree that keeping things secret for now is for the best. After Chad worries that his brother, EJ, will ask Cat to do something underhanded in her new job, she brings up her brother, Mark.

Chad reveals the parole board reached out to him since Mark’s hearing is coming up. They rehash that Mark was only sentenced for tampering with Cat’s DNA test results and not for trying to shoot him in Paris. Cat defends Mark for trying to save their mother from Clyde and wonders what Chad will tell the parole board. Chad curtly says he’ll have to think about it and leaves.

Who Deserves Redemption?

As Julie welcomes Jennifer and Jack home for JJ’s birthday, she not so subtly sends Jack to Sweet Bits to pick up the cake. That leaves her free to tell Jennifer that she agreed to Chad’s request to back off Cat. She assures an unhappy Jennifer that she doesn’t like them spending time together, but she wants to keep Chad in her life. That means accepting that he can make friends with whoever he chooses.

JJ arrives and shares that he just had a tense run-in with Gwen, leading Jennifer to badmouth her stepdaughter. She lumps her in with Doug III, but Julie defends Doug because his heart is in the right place. JJ adds that Jennifer obviously believes in the power of redemption. Knowing he’s referring to Jack, she declares her husband was an entirely different case. (But was he?)

In the Square, Jack bumps into Gwen, who blusters about JJ’s birthday party. She wouldn’t want to be with a bunch of people who hate her, even if she were invited. Jack makes it clear he doesn’t hate her and suggests she cares more than she’s letting on. He knows she only went after Julie’s necklace to hurt someone when she couldn’t do the same to Dimitri. She accuses him of siding with the Hortons over her and storms away.

Sophia Can’t Stop Lying

Tate waits on Steve and Brady at the Pub, but steps away when Sophia shows up for her shift. He asks for the adoption papers, which she readily hands over. Tate explodes over nothing useful being in them, not even the names of the adoptive parents. She explains they only agreed to a semi-open adoption, which means their identities are protected. That’s not what Tate agreed to, though, and he confronts her about another lie: the fake photo. (Join us in side-eying that obviously fake photo and more in our latest burning questions.) Sophia stammers that she didn’t know what else to do since the parents wouldn’t give her a photo, which she knew he really wanted.

Brady pulls an irate Tate outside. Tate shows him and Steve the papers and relays Sophia’s explanation. He doesn’t like what she did, but at least he has answers. Tate goes back to work, leaving Steve and Brady to question Sophia’s story. They agree to keep digging, while keeping Tate out of it.

Inside the Pub, Sophia apologizes, but Tate needs some space. Brady returns to tell Tate he wants Belle to look at the adoption papers. Tate laments that if they check out, he might not ever be able to track down his baby.

Cat Makes a Discovery

After they’ve both arrived, Jack asks Chad if he knows why Gwen is staying in town. Chad doesn’t, but quips she’s taking full advantage of Dimitri’s birthright by crashing at the mansion. Steve joins the party and the family sings happy birthday to JJ, who heads out for his shift at the station (hopefully without drinking that champagne first). Alone with their son-in-law, Jack and Jennifer bring up Mark Greene’s upcoming parole hearing. They think they made a compelling case and assume a sheepish Chad did the same.

In a hospital office, Cat sets out her and EJ’s nameplates. She also finds plans for a new hospital wing. She covertly takes photos of them before Gwen enters, wondering what Cat’s doing there.