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It figures that Joy would make her Days of Our Lives return, not just when Stephanie and Alex were at their most fraught, but right as it seems they’re finally pulling back from the edge! All it took was a little gun to make Stephanie feel like a million bucks, and now she and Alex have their spark back. Allegedly.

Steph’s packing, but it seems like a sure bet this is a front. One thing wrong and the happy face she’s put on is probably going to crumble. Joy showing up with Alex’s baby is definitely something wrong!

Because as AlexAnn Hopkins told Soap Opera Digest, she’s back in Salem with “a sense of purpose, which is this baby.” Alex’s baby, Kelsey, to be exact!

For a little background for those who don’t remember, Joy is Nancy and Kevin’s daughter, conceived in the hopes that she’d be a match to treat their other daughter, Chloe’s leukemia. It worked, Chloe got better and Nancy and Kevin left town with Joy for nearly two decades!

Fast forward to 2024 and she and Nancy (dad Kevin had split by then and come out as gay) came back to Salem to get Joy a job acting on Body and Soul. You know, that beloved (by someone, we’re sure) soap within a soap.

Joy befriended fellow actress (at the time) Chanel and nearly slept with director Johnny, throwing their marriage (not to mention friendship!) into turmoil. After things blew up with them, she and Alex ended up hopping in the sack. (Since he and Stephanie couldn’t be together while they worked on Body and Soul).

That lasted until the whole show was shut down and Alex realized he only wanted Stephanie, just as Joy decided they were an item. Heartbroken (and secretly pregnant with his kid), Joy left town. And now she’s back — courtesy, we’re sure, of Jeremy.

Now, we know Jeremy has his own reasons — he may not be an abuser anymore, but it’s clear he wants Stephanie back — but what about Joy?

“If there’s one thing about Joy,” Hopkins teased to Digest, “she has an agenda.” And there’s no reason she’d be back in Salem if that agenda didn’t revolve around Alex, the father of her kid! She’s “more of a mama bear now, I think that gives her a lot of confidence to really go for what she wants, and everybody will see what that is. Her main goal is just to protect her daughter and give her the best experience in life possible.”

The best experience? Sounds like Joy wants, if not Alex, then some of that sweet Kiriakis money. And honestly, there’s no reason why little Kelsey shouldn’t be taken care of. If she is Alex’s daughter, she’s a Kiriakis. It’s not like he can’t afford it! But if Joy’s back looking for anything more than that, it’s sure to spell trouble for not just Alex, but Stephanie as well.

And a word of warning for Joy: Stephanie is now packing, and while we don’t think for a second she’s murderous, right now, her nerves are shot. And that gun is loaded. One poorly timed surprise and who knows how trigger happy she might be!