1982 (#23) - Nikki's pregnancy and marriage to Kevin

Nikki's difficult attempt to put Victor's unrequited love behind her is shattered when Nikki discovers she is pregnant. Having been conceived before Kevin's knowledge, the woman doesn't take long to realize that the baby's father is Victor. Despite this, knowing that the man has no interest in children and that the last thing he would want is to become a father, Nikki, in order not to upset Victor and also collapse his last chance to have a future with him, admits that the baby's father is Kevin, thus voluntarily lying to the man about the months of the baby he is carrying. Kevin, upon hearing that he got Nikki pregnant, is completely shocked and doesn't know how to react. Victor, then, does not fail to take the opportunity to get rid of Nikki and thus incites Kevin to take responsibility and do the right thing for the unborn child, which is to propose to Nikki to get married. Kevin, who has already admitted to Nikki that he doesn't love her and that he is convinced that she is not the right woman for him, finds himself in front of the same woman saying that he can't leave her to be a mother alone, knowing that that is his baby. Nikki, forced to lie about the paternity of the child, at this point finds herself reluctantly accepting Kevin's proposal, so that Victor does not suspect that the child is actually his. On the other hand, not seeing a chance in the future between her and Victor, she resigns herself to a marriage with a kind and helpful man like Kevin. But if marriage, although apparently necessary, is not a prospect that excites the two future spouses, it is even a totally unacceptable solution for Allison Bancroft, Kevin's mother, who from the first meeting with Nikki refuses to accept her as his son's future bride, considering her a woman who promises nothing good and who is inadequate for his son. Allison, therefore, firmly opposes the wedding, despite Kevin trying to explain to her that Nikki is just an unlucky girl who has always met the wrong people. Nikki suffers a lot from the situation, but in the end she resigns herself to accept this too, in order to give a father to the unborn child. When the wedding, on which Victor happily gives his blessing, seems close and Nikki refuses Allison's attempt to bribe her with a large sum of money to renounce the wedding, Kevin's mother tries an extreme attempt to stop the wedding by calling Carolyn Conwell, Kevin's ex-girlfriend and still in love with him, who tries in every way to convince Kevin to give up. He explains to her that he can't back out and that he is ready to take responsibility as a father, a response that is quite striking for Carolyn, whose noble gesture makes him understand how he is a sweet boy and how Nikki has turned out to be a schemer. Neither Allison nor Carolyn suspect that marriage is not an alternative that even Nikki, secretly in love with Victor, is enthusiastic about, but it seems to Nikki the only viable solution. In any case, in the end, the fatidic wedding day between Nikki and Kevin arrives and the two of them exchange their wedding vows, hoping that from this marriage, which starts with so much good will but without true love, a long union and a real family can be born; a prospect that Allison cannot believe. And neither can Carolyn, who promises herself to win Kevin back.