Joe and Cathy�s daughter Megan was born with a heart defect.

Following Meredith�s death, Viki heeded her advice about reconciling with Joe. Realizing that he was the man she truly wanted to be with, Viki worked up the nerve to ask Steve for a divorce. Steve, however, initially refused to give her one. After a period of struggle, Steve finally consented to let her out of the marriage. At long last, Joe and Viki could be together!

While Viki was off in the Caribbean getting a quickie divorce, Cathy announced to Joe that she was pregnant with his baby. An honorable man, Joe offered to marry her. Cathy, knowing that Joe didn�t really love her, opted to not enter into a loveless marriage; deciding to raise their child on her own. Joe and Viki later remarried in a quiet ceremony in New York, much to the heartbreak of Cathy, who now regretted turning Joe�s offer of marriage down.

Cathy began bonding with a newly single Steve. While the two of them were driving during a blinding blizzard, Cathy went into labor. Taking refuge in an abandoned cabin, Steve assisted Cathy as she gave birth to a baby girl, Megan Craig Riley. Upon returning to Llanview, doctors discovered that the baby had been born with a congenial heart defect, inherited by Joe. Megan�s grandfather, Dr. Jim Craig, supervised as Megan underwent a corrective surgical procedure. After the operation, it was determined that Megan probably wouldn�t live past adolescence. Neither Joe or Cathy were informed of this grim prognosis.

Viki pleaded with Larry not to tell Joe that his genes had passed on Megan�s fatal ailment, and that their future children could suffer the very same fate. Knowing Joe would never allow her to have children if he knew of his problem, she vowed to keep the news from him.