The kidnapping of their son, and Joe�s battle with alcohol, put a strain of his and Viki�s marriage.

Months passed without word about Viki and Joe�s missing infant son, Kevin. To numb his pain, Joe began drinking heavily. Coming home drunk one evening, Joe and Viki got into a nasty argument and old wounds were reopened. Dorian did everything in her power to break up the Riley�s. The last straw came when Joe went on a drinking binge and spent the night with Dorian at Llanfair. Infuriated, Viki asked Joe to move out�their marriage shattered.

Cathy�s memory finally returned and she provided the authorities with enough information to locate the woman with whom she left baby Kevin. After a happy reunion with her son, Viki vowed never to give him up again. While Viki was eagerly clutching Kevin close to her bosom, Joe (not yet aware of his son�s homecoming) was involved in bar room brawl; hitting his head, he was hospitalized with a concussion. Upon learning that Kevin had been returned, Joe was overcome with guilt. In an emotional scene, he begged for Viki�s forgiveness and another chance for their marriage. Though the wounds were still deep, Viki accepted Joe�s request and they reunited.

Dorian stumbled upon Joe passed out at his desk. This time, however, he wasn�t drunk. Dorian discovered that for weeks Joe had been having headaches and periods of blurred vision. Behind Viki�s back, Dorian accompanied Joe to New York for tests which showed a possible brain tumor. Dorian tried, unsuccessfully, to use Joe�s secret as the fuel to destroy his marriage to Viki�convincing him that it would be too much of a strain on his wife if she knew of his diagnosis. Joe decided he couldn�t continue keeping the secret from Viki any longer, but had another seizure at Llanfair and passed out. While Joe was unconscious, Dorian made a wreck of the room, and afterwards tore her own dress. When Joe came to, she convinced him that he had been violent. Afraid of what he might do, a terrified Joe persuaded Viki to take Kevin away to their cabin in the mountains.

Joe finally told Viki the truth, which drew them closer together. Later, they went to New York where a second C.A.T. scan revealed the grim news that Joe had a brain tumor. The tumor was surgically removed and turned out to be benign.

As Cathy recovered from her mental illness, the kidnapping charges against her were dropped. Tony benevolently agreed to remain in their marriage until she was strong enough to face life on her own. In the meantime, Pat told Tony that Brian was their son. They both, however, decided that the news would be too traumatic for Brian to deal with. Healthy at last, Cathy gave Tony his freedom. Tony and Pat were finally free to be together and made plans to marry. When they gently told Brian of their engagement, he lashed out�bitterly announcing that he hated Tony!

On the eve of their wedding, Tony was critically injured in an automobile accident. Pat was barely over the shock of Tony�s accident when she discovered that her late husband, Paul Kendall was not dead after all! Paul�s return proved to be the beginning of an emotional and stormy dilemma for Pat. Upon Tony�s recovery, Pat broke the news to Tony that she had decided, for Brian�s sake, that Paul would be moving back home. Soon, Tony and Pat began an affair behind Paul�s back.