In the Tuesday, August 17, 2021, full episode recap of Days of our Lives, Nicole sobs over Eric, Gabi and Ava get snippy with each other, trying to make the other jealous of their men, while Chad and EJ commiserate over their marital discord, and Olivia and Paulina discuss Lani being Paulina’s daughter. In case you missed out, Soaps Spoilers has you covered with this Days of our Lives recap from Monday: Ben & Ciara made love and Xander was arrested!
Gabi finishes a call with Jake outside Rafe’s house when she finds Sami’s necklace. She picks it up and goes inside and asks Ava if it’s hers. Since it’s not, she thinks it belongs to “Rafe’s secret girlfriend.” She doesn’t get a rise out of Ava. Instead, Ava thinks it’s one of Jake’s girlfriend’s necklaces. They go back and forth over whose boyfriend is cheating and then Gabi figures it’s probably Nicole’s necklace. This presses Ava’s buttons and she calls them “just friends.” Gabi thinks she’s the one that got away. She puts on the necklace and continues to taunt Ava.
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EJ burns Kristen’s letter in the fireplace in the DiMera mansion. “Unlike the phoenix, my marriage to Samantha will not be rising from the ashes,” he says, moping. Chad appears. He tells his brother he and Kate are back from New York. He asks EJ to go to dinner to celebrate their deal. EJ’s too upset. Chad asks if he has plans with Sami. “That backstabbing bitch is gone and she’s not coming back,” EJ lets him know. Chad’s shocked to hear the reason why. He thought Lucas and Sami were over ages ago. They discuss their wives cheating on them. Chad thinks their marriages are worth fighting for. EJ says Sami swore she’d ask Gabi to let her back into the house. She didn’t return. Chad’s surprised. That doesn’t seem like Sami. EJ tries to pretend that he’s unaffected by it but Chad knows better. EJ’s sorry for taking this out on him. Chad is surprised EJ’s just accepting that she didn’t return. He goes to find Harold to see if he can wrangle some dinner.
Nicole sobs in her bed at home and takes off her engagement ring. “Goodbye Eric,” she says. She needs to find a way to let him go. Rafe pokes his head in. He gives her Duke the bear. She needed this today. He heard she took the day off and cuddles her in her bed as she cries. She talks about how different she and Eric always were. It doesn’t make it any easier though. Rafe gets it. He’s there for comfort or whatever she needs. He calls her a great mom and a great person. She excels at her job. She perks up a little. “You are a force of nature,” he says, urging her to get out of bed. She gets up and goes to brush her teeth. “With real toothpaste and everything?” He jokes. “I may even wash my face,” she says, smiling. She goes to the washroom and Rafe tells Duke, “I told you we could put a smile on your face.” He gets a call from Ava who tells him she took out a homemade manicotti from the oven which smells divine. He won’t be home for a while so she offers to take it to the station. He admits he’s at Nicole’s. She’s upset about splitting up with Eric. Ava offers to bring dinner to her. Rafe denies her. “I’ve got this.” After he disconnects, she tosses the food into the trash, angrily. Later, Rafe makes Mac and Cheese for Nicole and forces her to eat it. She feeds it to him.
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At home, Eli is sorry that Lani feels she can’t trust Paulina. Lani says something about her never added up but she’s done trying to figure it out. She jumps on a call to Theo to see how he is. She disconnects and tells Eli that Theo’s taking it well. He’s not angry and bitter. “Maybe you should take his example,” Eli says, about Aunt Paulina. Lani is upset. Why does she deserve forgiveness? Eli says she should do it for herself, not her aunt. Lani grabs water and says she needs to know why her aunt acted hot and cold her whole life. “Demand answers,” Eli urges his wife. If she doesn’t like the answers, at least she can move on.
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At Paulina’s, she raises her voice to her mama, Olivia, who tells her she promised Tamara she’d stay away from her daughter. Paulina reminds her mama that Lani’s her daughter. Olivia demands she take it back. Paulina says why should she? “I’m her mother.” She reminds her mama she was there when she gave birth to Lani. Of course, Olivia remembers. Paulina recalls looking at that pretty little face. “I fell in love the second I looked into her eyes.” She had to give her up. It was the hardest thing she’s ever had to do. Olivia says none of them had a choice. Rey was awful. He’d have never let her go if he found out about the pregnancy. It would have been too dangerous and confusing if Lani knew. Olivia reminds her daughter she promised to keep her distance. Paulina tried. “Is that why you planned on taking her to Paris?” Paulina was so excited and knew she was too and she was so disappointed. Olivia couldn’t let her take her. She went behind Tamara’s back to plan that trip, breaking their deal. Paulina tried to explain. Olivia knew she missed her daughter, but she could only have one mom. “You kept trying to make it about you, and you’re still doing it!” Paulina couldn’t help it. Besides, she wanted to be around her grandbabies. Olivia doesn’t think Lani would want to know her whole life was a lie. Lani knocks at the door. Olivia tells her not to answer. Paulina can’t do it. She opens the door. Lani is sorry to bother her. She sees her grandma and rushes in for a hug. She’s thrilled to see Big Mama but thought she was unwell. Olivia had to see Paulina and get a few things straight. They discuss Theo and Ciara and Paulina’s distraught to hear Theo was dumped. She’s glad Ciara’s safe. Lani shocks her “aunt” by telling her she came to offer her forgiveness. For everything. Big Mama calls it gracious. Paulina’s overjoyed, but her smile falters when Lani begs her to promise not to lie again. Olivia speaks for her daughter. “Of course she can.” Paulina speaks up. “I have something I need to tell you…”
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At SPD, Lucas tells Allie all about Kristen sending the letter to EJ about Sami cheating on him with Lucas. Sami blames him for ruining her marriage. Belle texts. The DA says charges are dropped. Allie can go. They cheer.
At the manse, EJ tells Stefano’s portrait that you have to cut losses in business and personal life sometimes. Allie turns up with Henry, surprising him. She comments that he was talking to his dad’s portrait. “You didn’t hear me, did you?” He asks. She assures she didn’t. She tells him the charges were dropped. He’s glad to hear and they smile about Ben and Ciara getting their happy ever after. “Though,” Allie says, “It seems like you and my mom may not.” EJ says there’s no coming back from this. Allie had hopes that they would. EJ says he hasn’t even seen her. He reiterates what he told Chad, that Sami was going to ask Gabi to stay in the mansion but she hasn’t been seen since. Allie looks worried. She leaves and EJ drinks and sees something behind him that makes him look.
Back at Rafe’s, Gabi returns to the kitchen and notes that Ava’s in a mood and her manicotti is in the garbage. Allie shows up looking for her mother. Gabi hasn’t seen her. Allie gets more worried.