Even winners can be losers

Phyllis and Jack were devastated when Summer and Kyle announced that they would be living in Milan! Will Phyllis ever quit blaming Sally for Summer's decision not to return home? Will Kyle succeed in replacing Harrison's father and mommy with his daddy and Summer? And will it ever dawn on anyone that the boy may be traumatized by having his mother suddenly vanish from his life? Losing two parents could result in years of therapy for Harrison. Read all about it in Two Scoops.

All soap fans ever hear on soaps -- and Y&R is no exception -- is how important the children are and that they should be protected at all costs. So, why was everyone ready to throw a ticker tape parade for Phyllis after she outed Tara, who was then arrested and dragged away in handcuffs for the misappropriation of funds? Even if Harrison hadn't witnessed the horrible scene for himself, he was still left without a mother -- the mother that he had truly loved all his young life. But Phyllis cared nothing about that, which made it all the worse that Jack was celebrating Tara's downfall, which proved in his eyes that his beloved Red was right all along. Phyllis' only goal was to get her beloved daughter back in town, and she didn't mind who paid the price, even a young, innocent child. Too bad she failed.

Yes, after all the trouble she went through to totally ruin Tara, Sally and even Harrison's lives, Phyllis was unable to get what she desired -- Summer's return to Genoa City. So, Phyllis had taken a mother away from her son for nothing except for self-satisfaction, which has always been high on her list of priorities. As young as he was, Harrison was still old enough to remember the mother he had adored (even if they were never shown in scenes together), and any child his age would be devastated by the loss of his mom. But the Abbotts' miracle cure was to take him to the museum and give him tons of ice cream. Yeah, that should do the trick. Hey, they should just replace Tara with his new daddy. After all, "daddy" was the only word Harrison would say when he first met Kyle.

And that was Kyle's thought, too, since he decided, once he and Summer chose to stay in Milan, that Harrison should join them there, and they could all walk into the Italian sunset, hand in hand, as a new, loving family without the only parents that Harrison had known all his life. So, were Kyle and Summer going to brainwash the kid to rid him of all the precious memories he had shared with his mommy? Their obvious intention was to replace Tara with Summer. Shoot, Harrison may need years of therapy after having both his parents totally stripped from his life. The only person who even considered how a boy that young would really feel was Ashland, who was still ready to stop Tara from even seeing her son again. Even killers have more rights that Tara did for her white-collar crime.

Why would Kyle think that he should automatically get custody of Harrison, since the boy's legal father, Ashland, was still very much alive and well? Almost. By looking at the mogul, except for a small dizzy spell or two occasionally, Ashland appeared to be in good health, even before he started taking the treatment for his cancer. And since Ashland had decided to fight against his disease and was preparing to marry Victoria, why shouldn't he keep custody of his son, which would be less disruptive to Harrison? Unless, of course, Ashland chose to let Harrison start a brand-new life with two people he barely knew. You didn't need a crystal ball to see that the poor guy may have issues with trust. But Ashland may not want a young kid around in a romance with his new lady.

Phyllis' act of revenge on Tara and Sally didn't just result in Summer staying in Italy, because Jack also lost Kyle, who moved away to join the love of his life in Europe. So, even though Phyllis was the winner, she was the loser, too. It served her right, since she never considered how she would blow up a youth's whole world. So, Phyllis did what Phyllis always does -- she blamed someone else for her misfortune. Yep, she yelled at Sally that it was all the feisty girl's fault that Summer had lost everything. Hmm...let's take inventory here. Summer had her perfect job with her loving man in an exotic city that anyone would love to live in. Boo-hoo. Poor Summer. My heart just bleeds for her. Actually, it looks like Sally did her blonde nemesis a huge favor, even if it was unintentional.

Phyllis continued to whine and to lay the blame of Summer's decision to stay in Milan directly on Tara and Sally's well-fashioned shoulders. Phyllis had trouble accepting it, so she ran to Jack for comfort. Darn that Nick for being so reasonable and rational! He accepted that Summer's a big girl and could choose her own path for the future, even if that path wasn't in her mother's zip code. And while Ashland was more than ready to work out visitation with Kyle living in Genoa City, he wasn't ready to ship his son out to live with Kyle in Milan. Kyle only wanted to replace Harrison's father and mommy with his daddy and Summer. The kid clearly didn't look comfortable being around the father he had known for years as he sat so silent and still on the couch, so maybe Kyle would get his way.

And Phyllis' parade just kept going and going and going as she sang her own praises to just about anyone who would listen. Amanda was the next one to get to watch Phyllis pat herself on the back, while she also gave Amanda a little credit for their undercover work. Phyllis continued to brag how she saved Jack from a fate worse than death, which was dating Sally. Phyllis even stressed that Nick had totally approved of her plot to get Sally, although Amanda warned her not to take that as a "blanket approval" of all her schemes. For someone who has had more second chances than probably anyone else in Genoa City, Phyllis had no qualms about refusing to let Sally have any.

It's getting kind of old watching everyone gang up on Sally. I mean, do three people need to verbally beat up on the poor girl at one time? Sally's the one who ended up losing everything. She didn't even have a friend that could comfort her. Come on...even Adam always had Jack to turn to as a friend, even when he did his worst. But Sally had nothing or no one left, which makes one feel bad for her. Like Sally, I've always had to work for everything in life, only I never did anything underhanded to achieve it. But Summer and Kyle wouldn't know what that's like, since they have always had everything handed to them on a silver platter. If Sally could just learn from her mistakes, she was very redeemable still. But first, she seriously needed a friend to help her get on that path.

And Chloe may just be the friend that Sally needs, if only the redhead could be honest with her. Sally was a gifted fashion designer and could help Chelsea and Chloe get their new fashion line going. And Chloe could really use a friend, too, since Chelsea would be unavailable for a while. When Chloe mentioned that everyone deserved a second chance, which she should know better than anyone, since she's had her fair share of second chances, Sally should have come clean with her about everything. That's where she went wrong with Jack - her lies. Sally kept making the same mistake over and over again, which has always been her downfall. She should have learned her lesson, but it seemed like it was school time all over again. It's a shame, since Chloe was ready to give her a chance.

But circumstances forced Sally to wipe off some of the dirt and to come clean about her lack of employment when Chloe revealed that Lauren was her sister-in-law. Yes, Chloe was going to learn the truth eventually, and Sally had the chance to spin it her own way, but she actually took total responsibility for what she had done as she said goodbye. And Chloe was intrigued, since she had once been just like Sally and felt that fiery dynamo could change to become a force to be reckoned with in the business world as the face of their fashion platform. Chloe wanted to make Sally a star in front of the cameras as she promoted their company, and Sally was up for the challenge. And while Chloe asked for Adam's approval, she didn't really need it, since he had given her absolute freedom in hiring.

Working with Adam, Chloe and Chelsea would be a perfect fit for Sally, since they all had questionable pasts and had been black sheep at one time, baaing and conning their way to the top. Hey, they should consider naming the fashion platform Black Sheep Reformed. Sally took a step forward by being honest about what had happened, when she could have easily lessened her role in it. If she had only been as honest with Jack, she might have stood a chance with him. Still, Jack admired Sally's fearless spirit, so he hid a smile when Phyllis called her "selfish, self-centered, and devious," since that also described Phyllis, who seemed to resent Sally for being a younger version of herself. Phyllis' outrage was the perfect endorsement for Adam to believe that Chloe had been right to hire Sally.

After reminding Adam that he could target ChancComm all he wanted but that he was to stay far away from Locke Communications, Victor questioned Adam's hiring of Chloe. However, Adam claimed that it was all part of his strategy to keep Chelsea in town, once she returned, so that Connor would stay put, also. Adam believed that the best way to accomplish this was to have Chelsea's bestie, Chloe, nearby. Yet later, Kevin was concerned that Adam was up to his old tricks and would eventually resort back to being...well, Adam. When Adam poo-pooed the notion and tried to comfort Chloe's hubby, he would have none of it. Yeah, with Chloe's nature and her one-time hatred of Adam, Kevin had reason to worry. It's probably a good thing that he still works for the PCPD.

Even though Adam wanted Chelsea back in Genoa City so they could move forward as a family with Connor, he stressed that they would need to do that as separate individuals to not give their son the wrong idea about them reuniting. Adam felt that too much had happened between them, so that they could never go back. Chelsea agreed and was just glad to be on the mend as she admitted that her mental health had gotten much worse than she had ever believed. She was smiling again with a genuine smile, not an I'm-going-to-get-Adam kind of smile, which was nice to see. As soon as Anita recovered, Chelsea would return home to happily begin a new chapter in their newly reconstructed family. But would she willingly let Adam go that easily?

Oh, yes, Victor was indeed the proud papa of his little girl for her coup, securing the merger with Locke Communications, but he was also concerned that Victoria would get her heart broken due to Ashland's medical condition. Victor could see that his daughter's heart was just as big as her mother's, and he feared that any decline in Ashland's health could destroy her. Yet he saw just how good Ashland was for her, since Victoria was ready to stand by him through sickness and through health -- even before they had made their wedding vows. I sure hope that everything with Ashland was on the up and up, though. He didn't become a rich and powerful corporate mogul by playing nice. It was true that Victoria had met her match, though.

But once his treatment began, a dose of reality hit Ashland when he fell ill and no longer looked the glowing picture of health. If he hadn't kept repeatedly saying it, no one would have ever known that Ashland was battling cancer until he started the chemo treatment. The multitasking Victoria was more than willing to be by his side as she ran the company, too. Victoria finally told Billy and their kids about her engagement, and while the kids were very accepting of it, her ex was shocked, although he realized that their relationship had needed to move quickly. Billy truly cared for Victoria, and Lily truly believed that Victoria was giving Ashland more reason to live. Victoria was fine with ChancComm running the story about Tara as long as Billy kept Ashland out of it. Sounds fair.

However, Jack wasn't quite as gracious when he demanded that Billy not cover the story, since Tara had been dragged out of the Abbott mansion in handcuffs, plus he insisted that Harrison still needed to be protected. But it's not like the news of Tara's arrest wasn't going to come out, anyway, by another source who would probably treat it much more harshly than ChancComm would. Billy and Lily looked at putting a sympathetic spin on it, since they had no intention of exploiting Ashland's illness. Jack should know better than to attempt to hide the truth after he had just lectured Sally for trying to do the exact same thing. Tara's plight would be the talk of the town, so Jack should let someone that he knew would handle it with care make the report, which Billy and Lily promised to do.

While Victoria told Nick about her engagement in her "whirlwind romance," Victor had a chance to confront Ashland, not about what would happen if he died, but about what would happen if he didn't. While Victor knew that Victoria could take care of herself, he accused Ashland of plotting to take control of the Newman/Locke conglomerate by faking his illness, by suddenly deciding to take the treatment, and finally by becoming engaged to Victor's daughter. (It's no shock that Newman came first in the new name of the merged companies.) However, Ashland claimed that his sickness and his love for Victoria were real, and he would willingly show Victor his medical records. Still, Victor wasn't convinced, so Nikki wisely advised him to let their daughter fly on her own.

Mariah's situation was so dire, she actually had dreams of Tessa helping her to escape while she waited for her kidnapper to make himself (or herself) known to her. And even Rey couldn't find a clue about why Mariah had disappeared, although that wasn't so surprising, since he seemed to be pretty much clueless about any case he has ever investigated. Come on, you know I just had to get another dig in at Rey, the worthless detective. Thankfully, Tessa still believed that something was terribly wrong, or Abby, Devon, and even Sharon would still believe that Mariah had left on her own to get away from her loved ones. As long as they were stuck in that way of thinking, Mariah would never be found. Shoot, the baby could graduate from high school before they finally figured it out.

But wait...Rey finally discovered that some complex security cellular system was put on Mariah's phone, which she wouldn't have the knowledge or skill to do. So, Sharon realized that something was very "off" and that her daughter was being held against her will, and Rey decided to make the investigation official. It's about time! In the meantime, Abby made a video for Chance and feared that if she couldn't even protect Mariah, she couldn't possibly be a good mother. But since Tessa and Rey were both looking at Mariah's past for answers, Sharon informed Abby that Mariah could have been abducted. Rey then discovered that there had been absolutely no activity at all on Mariah's credit cards. So, what was she living on? Well, her kidnapper would know that, right?

Nikki had a nice visit with Faith and Moses with talks of Faith's past, which included her beloved doll Miss Patsy, and even hinted that there may be more than just friendship between the two, which embarrassed her granddaughter. Oh, that sounds so familiar. My grandmother used to tease me about a cute boy that I had once liked when I was in high school, and I pretty much responded the same way. Actually, when she would ask if he kissed me after a date, I would say, "Grandma, please...is nothing sacred?" So, yeah, I get it. When Moses admitted to Faith that he wanted to be more than friends, she was on the same page. It was so sweet; however, Nick found them in the park and didn't look pleased. Ahh...fathers and their little girls.

It's surprising that Elena had never considered that Nate would be her boss after he received his promotion to chief of surgery. But kudos to her for not allowing Nate to do her special favors just because they were an item. Elena should be grateful, though, that the hospital didn't have a policy forbidding any intimate interaction between a boss and his employee. So, while Elena would still be around Nate at the hospital, it appeared that Moses would not, since he decided that he wanted his destiny to be in the music industry. Hey, it's a much more glamorous career, and he may even be able to scrounge up some groupies, which doctors don't normally do. Since Moses would be following in Neil's legacy, both Nate and Devon approved as they advised him to work hard and to follow his heart.

Sometimes even losers can be winners such as with Naya and Amanda as they tried to start anew as mother and daughter. When Naya observed that she had done the best thing by letting Amanda and Hilary go as babies, she had meant it in a good way. She saw that Amanda had become a very strong lady, who hadn't been afraid to go after her powerful grandfather, no matter how much he had tried to intimate her, while Naya had never had the strength to do that. Naya wished to get to really know her daughter better and hoped that she could be a true mother to her, which was a dream come true for Amanda. So, even if it had a been a very rough road for them to finally get there, Amanda and Naya had both won the final reward of each other's love and understanding.

Man, what a honker of a ring that Ashland gave Victoria! That gem was huge! No wonder why Victor approved of the engagement. (Besides the fact, also, that Ashland wasn't Billy Boy Abbott.)

Kevin, please, the saying is "I couldn't care less," not "I could care less," regarding Adam's relationship with Chelsea. Kevin obviously cared so little about the troubled couple that there was no way that he could care any less. So, he couldn't care less. If he could care less, that would mean that he did care, at least a little, about their relationship, which I'm sure he didn't mean to imply. Oh, no, Kevin really couldn't care less.

When Chelsea was in an unhealthy mental state, her hair was kinky, possibly to add to the illusion. But in the video chats with Adam, Chelsea's hair has been restored to a straight and lovely shine, which reflected that her state of mind was recovering and well polished, also. No more kinks for her!

You would think that Stitch would have come up with a better reason for sticking around in Genoa City than something that could so easily be checked out. Chief of surgery. Nate sure wouldn't keep the exciting news of his promotion to himself. He'd want to share it with the world.

Until next time, please stay tuned.Teddi

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