Although Lauren Fenmore still had feelings for Paul, she agreed to marry Scott Grainger. Soon after the marriage, Lauren miscarried, which troubled Scott because he didn't even know that she had been pregnant! Meanwhile, Sheila Carter, a nurse who worked with Scott at the hospital and was attracted to him, tried to further undermine his marriage by suggesting that Lauren still loved Paul. As the troubles in Lauren's and Scott's marriage continued to escalate, they agreed to a temporary separation. Eventually, they agreed to give their marriage another chance. By that time, Sheila had announced to Scott that she was pregnant with his baby. To Scott's surprise, Lauren was also pregnant.

Skip and Carol arranged to adopt a baby from a troubled, unwed mom named Nan, who didn't know if her child had been fathered by her boyfriend, Jeff, or a man who had raped her. Soon after her baby was born and in Skip's and Carol's loving home, Nan discovered that Jeff was the father. Nan succeeded in winning back custody of her baby, but she quickly had second thoughts about motherhood when she and Jeff learned how much responsibility was involved. Eventually, they returned the baby to a delighted Skip and Carol.

Nathan had his pocket picked by a cunning young woman who turned out to be Drucilla Barber, the niece of Abbott maid, Mamie Johnson. Nathan recognized that Dru was troubled, and his attitude toward her softened when he learned that she was illiterate. With Paul's help, Dru moved in with Nathan and he tutored her. Dru fell in love with Nathan, but he was already dating Dru's sister, Olivia, who was a doctor. The two sisters had been separated for five years. When Olivia and Dru finally came face-to-face, Dru--who was bitter that Olivia was the woman in Nathan's life--rejected her older sister's attempt at a reconciliation. Dru was now studying ballet and became even more determined to steal Nathan away from Olivia.

Jill convinced her secretary, David Kimball, to romance Nina so that Jill would have more time to visit her grandson, Phillip. Eventually, David and Nina shocked everyone by eloping. Nina set up David in business, and he began an affair with Diane, his secretary. It was Diane who came across a newspaper clipping about heiress Rebecca Harper, who had been murdered by her husband, Tom. Oddly enough, the photograph of Tom looked remarkably like David. Shortly after, a woman named Vivian arrived in Genoa City, with the intent of exposing David. However, he electrocuted her in her bath before she was able to contact Nina. David also set a trap to hurt Nina's friends, Danny and Chris, because they didn't approve of her marriage to Kimball. David arranged to make it look as if Danny was a cocaine user and had him arrested. Eventually, the charges against Danny were dropped. Soon after, Danny and Chris married.