Days of our Lives Recap Dec 30: Anna returns, Kate has plans for Titan, Gwen gets an invitiation

In the Days of our Lives recap for December 30th, 2025, Kate had a plan for Xander, Leo and Javi gave another wedding invitation, Gwen made her intentions clear, and Anna returned.

Days of our Lives Recap

At the hospital, Johnny and Tony talked at the hospital about Theo’s condition. Johnny was happy to hand over the CEO position to Tony until Theo was back but Tony didn’t want to.

Tony said Anna would unleash her fury on him if he went back on his promise to her, but Johnny thought there were other options. He admitted it felt satisfying to sign the papers back to their family company. “Now that was spoken like a true DiMera. Can I count on you?” Tony asked. Johnny told him he could.

After Johnny left, Anna rushed into Tony’s arms and told him how much she’d missed him. Anna and Tony talked about his kidnapping, and the DiMera history of backstabbing and betrayal. That said, he thought there had been some family bonding in the crypt.

Anna didn’t think it was possible for a nest of vipers to call a peace truce. Tony agreed, noting he didn’t know how long it would last.

Johnny came home and gave Chanel an update on Theo. She told him she was going to take Trey to the doctor the next day as he was still crying a lot from teething. 

Chanel noted that now that EJ was back, Johnny could hand over the CEO position to him immediately, but Johnny told her that he couldn’t. Johnny assured her that he wouldn’t get into his family’s drama, but did want the paycheck. 

Johnny hated that Chanel thought her cancer had come back and dealt with it herself. She didn’t think it mattered now since it turned out she was pregnant and asked Johnny if he was as happy as she was about it. 

Johnny admitted that he knew the dangers of her being pregnant and how it could bring back her cancer and she could die. He wanted to be optimistic like she was, but said he was scared to death about it. 

Kate came to Titan to talk to Xander. She told him that Maggie was too cautious and Philip was afraid to color outside the lines. She thought Xander was a fighter like her and if they worked together, they could save Titan. Xander heard Kate’s shrewd plan and agreed to be in on it.

At the DiMera mansion, EJ overheard Gwen ordering a wedding present for Leo and Javi and wondered if she really wished them well. Gwen said she was working on getting an official invitation to the wedding, but reminded EJ that she only ingratiated herself to Leo to begin with because EJ insisted on it.

Gwen made it clear to EJ that after Leo betrayed her the way he did, she would like to get her own retribution in her own way, and in her own time.

EJ thought it was Leo who tipped off the police that Dr. Rolf was staying in the cellar but Gwen disagreed. EJ just wanted Leo to butt out of his business. Gwen assured him she had a fool-proof plan to keep Leo distracted for the foreseeable future.

After Gwen left, Susan came in, happy to see EJ. In her rambling, she brought up how she’d caught him and Cat almost kissing. Susan accused Gwen of being the police tipper about Dr. Rolf, then asked why he was even in Salem.

EJ told Susan he didn’t usually make New Year’s resolutions but this year he was intent on repairing his relationship with his son.

At the Hernandez house, Leo surprised Javi with an engagement ring. Leo got a message from Johnny, letting him know he was able to piece together what EJ and Gwen were talking about at the gala from Holly’s video. 

Leo had confirmation Gwen and EJ were waiting on some sort of delivery but wanted to know what. He suggested inviting her to the wedding to get info out of her.

Javi asked Leo if he had any interest at all about Gwen’s offer to find Dimitri. Leo assured him that he had no desire to find out what happened to him after the last time he’d heard from him. Javi agreed to invite Gwen to the wedding.

Leo and Javi went to the square, where they ran into Gwen and told her that was where the ceremony would be held. Leo invited her and she pretended to reluctantly accept, and he pretended that it meant a lot to him.