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Editors' Choice (Soap Opera Digest 5/15/07)
April Showers, One Life to Live

May sweeps hadn't even begun when OLTL delivered a week full of heart-wrenching drama and fittingly, if you live in the Northeast, a whole lotta rain.

The tension was palpable as it became increasingly clear that Jessica was dreading the adoption of her husband's daughter. Every awkward moment that she faced (e.g., Carlotta assuring Jessica, "I couldn't ask for a better mother for my grand-daughter") was like rubbing salt into a wound.

Just when Jessica thought she was safe from the source of all her anxiety, she ran into Nash at her father's house trying to persuade Clint to talk Jessica out of adopting Jamie. Once he was alone with Jess, Nash begged her to admit she'd made the wrong choice by marrying Antonio. It took every last remnant of Jessica's resolve to stand frozen as he held out his hand, saying, "Come away with me now and we'll tell Antonio together," but she stuck to her misguided decision. When his threat to leave town failed to sway her, Nash gave Jessica one "last" kiss, to which she stiffened as though kissing a stranger.

The moment of truth came at the adoption hearing when, in front of all their smiling family and friends, Jessica couldn't bring herself to lie. The judge asked Jessica to confirm her intention to adopt Jamie. Mouths dropped as she stammered, "I'm sorry. I can't do this." Jess turned to face Jamie and told her how much she loved her, barely holding back the tears. "Bigger than the sky?" the adoring little girl asked, breaking Jessica's heart (and ours) a little bit more. "I don't deserve you," Jessica cried, then broke it to Antonio that she couldn't adopt his daughter.

Their families, meanwhile, were dumbfounded. "Do you suppose Tess has come back?" Dorian asked Clint. But this was a whole new person altogether, one who was finally going to make a selfish decision -- although in sparing Jamie a mother who couldn't commit, she was selfless. Outside the courtroom, Jessica could barely catch her breath or get out the words, save for, "It's a lie," to explain to her husband what was going on. Overwhelmed, she ran to her car to seek shelter from the pouring rain and began to sob.

Cut to Nash, who was driving along and talking to a photo of their baby when he suddenly saw Jessica run off into the rain. He followed her to the quarry, where she released all of her emotions, declaring, "I love you! I love you! I love you!" Her confession was as much of a relief for Jessica as it was for viewers, who've patiently waited for her to come clean about her feelings for Nash. And when they got down to business on a giant poncho in the freezing rain, it was hot.

Meanwhile, the tension mounted as Antonio became more and more enraged, demanding answers and naming every reason why Jessica would leave but that she loves Nash. Cris stood by his brother as they waited for word of Jess's whereabouts; his anxiety over whether to let Antonio figure out the truth or spell it out for him was well played by David Fumero.

Though their future may be on shaky ground, the rain-soaked reunion of Jessica and Nash was perfect while it lasted, and we're willing to ride out the storm.