1983 (#2) - The happiness between Nikki and Kevin and the Victor's regrets

Convinced by the paternity test results, actually manipulated, that Kevin is Victoria's father, Nikki convinces herself to make her marriage work in every way, confident that things will improve day after day. In fact, the chemistry between the two is growing and Kevin himself seems to be very fond of Victoria. Nikki, however, no matter how much she may repress her feelings apparently, she cannot hide her feelings for Victor to herself; feelings that Kevin doesn't suspect but Allison is certain of, and she doesn't want to take Nikki away from her son. And although Kevin repeatedly tells his mother not to meddle in his marriage and to accept the fact that he is happy with his wife Nikki, on the day of Victoria's baptism, looking at the looks between Nikki and Victor, Allison finds more and more confirmation of her suspicions that there is something between them. And Allison even goes so far as to speculate that Victoria may be Victor's daughter, only now realizing why Nikki has agreed to call her daughter Victoria: not in honour of Kevin's grandmother, but of Victor! For Victor, the baby girl's baptism day, is a moment of great reflection. The man, who has been trying to keep Nikki away for months, understands the mistakes he has made and realizes how the woman would be his ideal companion. At the end of the ceremony, Nikki rushes to Victor to thank him for introducing him to Kevin and tell him how happy she is to be the lover and wife of such an extraordinary man. Nikki also confesses that she is ready to believe Victor's prediction that she would have a happy and fulfilling life alongside Kevin. What Nikki does not suspect is that Victor was ready to recognize that he was Victoria's father and that he was about to admit to himself that he loved her. But in response to Nikki's words, Victor gave up making his admissions, convinced that it was too late to turn back. Nikki now belongs to Kevin, and Victor is convinced to move on with his life.

1982 (#36) - Kevin's doubts and Victor's manipulations on paternity test

As the weeks go by, however, the first problems between Kevin and Nikki reoccur on time, with Nikki determined to make her case against Victor about Victoria's fatherhood. On the other hand, it is Kevin himself who asks Nikki to resolve once and for all the question of the paternity of the child, after Victor also tells him that Victoria cannot be his daughter. However, when Nikki announces that he has arranged an appointment with a private clinic to carry out a paternity test on Victoria, Victor begins to have doubts himself, remembering that at the time the doctors told him that a vasectomy does not guarantee one hundred percent the impossibility of having children. Victor, therefore, used Katherine's help so that he would not turn out to be Victoria's father, just in the case that the biological tests confirm it. It is therefore easy for Katherine to bribe the nurses at the clinic to make Victor satisfied. After getting the tests results confirming Victor is Victoria's father, Katherine asks him if he wants to go ahead in order to hide the truth. Victor suddenly seems doubtful and, remembering the child lost by Julia, almost seems happy to be able to raise his daughter with Nikki. However, driven by a wave of pride, he confirms to Katherine that he wants to lie about the tests. It's not easy for Katherine to lie to her friend, but in the end she convinces herself that she's sorry for the hated Allison. Nikki is shocked to learn that Victoria's father is, contrary to what she thought, Kevin. This convinces the two of them to try again to make their marriage work, even though they both know they have other people in their hearts.

1982 (#34) - Victoria's birth and Nikki's return

Everyone's life in Genoa City is shattered by the return of Nikki, called back to the city by Katherine, having learned from the Nikki that she has given birth to a baby girl. Everyone is so happy to embrace the newcomer and especially Kevin, who confesses to Nikki that things between him and Carolyn didn't go exactly the way they wanted to and that he is so ready to give their marriage a new chance. Nikki seems quite skeptical, but after receiving another rejection from Victor she reluctantly accepts it. Allison proposes to name the baby girl Victoria, just like Earl's mother and then Kevin's grandmother who had passed away a few years earlier; a request that makes Allison's husband, Earl, overjoyed and now reconciled with his wife. The choice, surprisingly, is welcomed by Nikki, who is actually happy to name her little girl after what she feels is her real father, Victor, the only man she loves.

1982 (#30) - Kevin's awakening and the reunion with Carolyn

Having rushed to the hospital at Kevin's bedside, Nikki is desperate finding her husband in a very serious condition. Here Nikki finds an angry Allison with the woman who accuses her of ruining her son's life. Nikki rejects the accusations, but when she finds herself praying for him, she realizes that she has involved Kevin in a marriage he doesn't deserve with a woman he doesn't love. She thus promises before God to let Kevin free to make his own choices in case he wakes up and gets through this difficult moment. As soon as Nikki returns to Kevin's room, she is surprised to see her husband who has just regained consciousness. Kevin, still confused, turns to Nikki calling her Carolyn and, interpreting this as a sign of destiny, Nikki understands how the man should be with the only woman he loves, Carolyn. Nikki thus tells a radiant Allison that she has decided to divorce Kevin in order to let him go with Carolyn. This, immediately warned by Allison, makes her return to the city to be close to Kevin, who soon recovers and heals. Kevin is sorry to hear Nikki's words of wanting a divorce, but in his heart, although he has grown fond of Nikki, he still loves Carolyne and so he starts dating her throughout his rehabilitation period. Nikki, by her side, tries to convince an irremovable Victor that they are meant to be together, trying in vain to seduce him. Disappointed by the fact that the man has no intention of recognizing the unborn child as her son and does not even want to hear about a possible relationship with Nikki, she decides to leave Genoa City.

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.