Martin Fowler (James Bye) has pledged to get full custody of son Roman in EastEnders.
Ex-wife Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton) returned to Walford earlier this week to accuse him of stealing her son’s birth certificate.
It later transpired that Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) was the one responsible, having required concrete evidence of her pregnancy.
She’d heard the news from former cellmate Chrissie (Tracy-Ann Oberman), who had been in prison with Ruby, and questioned whether it was another of her lies.
Johnny Carter (Charlie Suff) tracked Ruby down to Essex and discovered that she’d given birth in 2022.
Martin couldn’t help wonder how truthful his ex was being, with her admitting that she’d placed their son up for adoption as she felt she couldn’t care for him inside of a mother and baby unit.
As she drove out of the area in the back of a taxi, Stacey (Lacey Turner) asked Kat (Jessie Wallace) where she’d headed – the hospital.
She and Martin rushed in her direction, only to discover her doting over Roman, who was asleep on a children’s ward.
In tonight’s episode, Ruby explained that the youngster had been hospitalised as a result of his liver failing. He had been diagnosed with auto-immune hepatitis.
Wanting to make up for the lost years, Martin asked her if he could spend time with their child. Over Roman’s bedside, he promised never to give up on him.
Outside in the corridor, things were tense between Ruby and Stacey after their earlier fall-out. As viewers will remember, Stacey’s mum Jean (Gillian Wright) framed Ruby for growing a cannabis farm and she was sent down.
This was in response to Ruby getting Stacey locked up for six months earlier.
There was no love lost between the one-time besties,though Ruby did offer an apology for separating her from her kids, and said that now she’s a mother herself she feels guilty.
As the doctors fussed around Roman’s bedside, Martin took opportunity to look at their tablet and read up on his medical history. To his surprise, he learnt that his estranged son had been hospitalised as a result of a paracetamol overdose.
After tearing strips off Ruby’s parenting skills, she explained that Roman had accidentally drank a whole bottle of liquid paracetamol and that it had made the symptoms of his hepatitis worse.
Martin made the promise to return to the hospital the next day – but upon returning home, he told Stacey that he intended to fight for full custody.
Will he succeed, or is a nasty war with Ruby about to emerge?
