[narrator] Previously on Sister Wives...
So theoretically, the only way
to actually be able to see dad
is to get COVID.
- It could kill me, so... - Cough in my mouth.
I think at this point, Gabriel should choose his
girlfriend over his dad.
Even though you really want to be in Utah more,
could you settle and be here on this property?
Or is that too much to answer right now?
[Christine] That's too much.
We're not moving, are we?
[sobbing]
I'm tired of feeling like I don't matter, I'm tired of...
not having a support.
[Kody] I am extremely frustrated
that now she wants to move to Utah.
Mike, is there a better way in your head
to subdivide this for the five lots than I have shown?
I think that's the best way to do it, I really do.
I wonder if Kody
already had the conversation with Mike.
And then Kody's like,
"Okay Mike. can you then help sell it to my wives?"
So, Ysabel's surgery...
When do they wanna schedule?
I think September is...
I don't think I'm going to be going.
[Kody] Why right now?
Let's let COVID pass
and then we can all go together.
I'm not gonna go there.
She's in enough pain and I can't wait more.
I know, that getting a surgery during a pandemic isn't smart.
I know that, I'm not stupid.
Okay, I brought... this.
Oh, actually good. 'Cause I actually...
I printed off some but I'm like, "I don't know how we're gonna..." So...
I brought markers. We could write on it.
We're all getting together to discuss
the lots on the property.
This conversation about how to divide up the property
is a long time coming.
I'm ready for this.
[Christine] I would love to move back to Utah.
I would love to sell the property
and buy houses in Utah instead.
[Robyn] We have a lot of weird things happening
during COVID right now.
With our family culture, it's frightening me,
it's scaring me, it's stressing me out.
Kody's in a dark place.
And I just...
hope we can get this
damn thing figured out.
It'd be so great.
[Christine] I'm just gonna move forward with my mouth
and my mind.
Whereas my heart's...
not there, yet.
[Christine] Look, I brought a map.
[Robyn] Okay.
[Christine] Janelle brought the safe conversation rules too.
What do you want me to bring over.
[Kody] So, there's always been this struggle that we've got
with determining where everybody goes.
From the very beginning, Janelle wanted the same spot.
Well, Christine later on, chose that same spot.
Just a little further back.
Robyn doesn't want to be near the pond.
Meri's talking about wanting to be close to Robyn.
It's a goat rodeo of extreme proportions.
And I want them to be happy with it.
[Janelle] Okay, so here's a question I thought about.
How important it is to us
to have property that we can divide off for kids?
Each wife and her children, that is her inheritance.
I mean, and I know that like we are family.
We work together, blah, blah, blah.
But it really just keeps it...
super cut and dry.
Inheritance could get really super sticky.
And hard. We have a lot of kids.
[Janelle] You know, when we all came together
in the very beginning, I believed everything was
in common.
We did our finances that way.
And you know, in the last few years,
there's been a lot of voices brought forward saying,
"Look there's nothing that legally binds us together.
So what happens if we die?"
It's just been a change in culture
and I don't know how I feel about it.
It makes me feel more separate.
So, I think this idea of each of us having
a piece of property...
I really don't think that's a bad idea.
It's just, really honestly, something I've never thought about.
'Cause we've never really put down roots
to pass on an inheritance like that.
Do we wanna start with like...
[Janelle] Oh, our list of what we want?
Yeah, kind of where everybody is at.
Okay, I'll start.
'Cause I've been pretty vocal.
Like, I know I need a place for greenhouses.
Like, I really need lot four or five
because there are no trees.
And I intend to have greenhouses
and trees are bad.
Trees provide shade and you don't need shade
if you have greenhouses.
As long as you do the gardening as well,
and can feed me...
- Yes. And you guys can even... - I am on board with that.
have room. I mean--
[Meri] No, I don't want to.
I tease my kids, I'm like, "No, I'm gonna
grow out my hair, let it be all gray.
Have tie dye skirts and...
and I'm gonna just be that...
witchy woman or something like that."
And my kids are like, "Whatever, mom."
I'm like, "You just wait. You just wait."
Everybody needs to have a sister wife
who can provide food for her.
[Robyn] Who's next?
You are, go ahead.
- No. - What the-- Really?
No, I wanna hear what everybody else has to say.
Oh, I wanna hear what everybody else has to say first.
[giggles] Nobody wants to talk.
We're not trusting
each other with our feelings.
[Kody] I struggle to understand
the abyss of woman's minds.
This is just stupid.
[Meri] It's my house.
Oh God!
[Meri] No, I'm ju... I'm just teasing.
- I was just gonna say, "Robyn, go." - I know you are. I'm fine.
- It's my house, I was gonna say, "Robyn, go." - Oh, really?
- [all laughing] - I love it. That's fine.
- [Robyn] Oh, God! - Okay Robyn, what do you want?
Okay, it's actually more of what I don't want.
[Christine] Okay.
No trees and then I also don't wanna be near the pond.
[Janelle] Write down "No trees, no pond."
[Robyn] No trees.
Not close to trees, not close to pond.
[Kody] So, I got two wives who are happy with their lots.
Janelle and Robyn like the four-acre lots.
Lot four and lot five.
[Christine] Robyn and Janelle, they have the bigger lots.
The thing is is, trees are...
an asset on any piece of property in Flagstaff.
Trees make the property value higher.
If you want a big lot,
there's no trees on a big lot,
or take a smaller lot with trees.
Okay, I'll go, Christine.
- [Christine] Yeah! - [Meri] I want light, I want trees.
I want it small, I don't want a huge house.
[Meri] I am fine with taking that center piece.
What number is it? Two?
[Christine] All right.
Yeah, I'm not in love with the new configuration.
This seems like it's very, very small. I don't like it.
I don't wanna be that close to you.
- [Meri] Right. - No, I--
I was just trying to say it nicer.
Yeah, I wasn't going to.
[laughs]
[chuckles] I've known her for a lot of years.
You know, she doesn't wanna be that close to me.
Your lot is plenty big enough,
that you don't have to have a house
right next to Meri.
Do you like that spot? The...
Was it three?
[Christine] Yeah, I'm great to go three, honestly.
The most important thing to me, is the view.
I had to let go of the hill.
I love that hill.
I really, really, really do. But...
I like the trees more than the hill.
[Janelle] Really? Do you really?
Or are you just trying to convince yourself?
I'm trying to convince myself, too.
'Cause I wanna be a team player.
Christine has talked from the very beginning
about building a house on the hill.
And you know, having the view of the mountain
and the valley.
And that's lot four.
And lot four is the one that works ideally for me
with the greenhouses, so there's a huge conflict.
[Christine] So, Kody and I are struggling anyway.
I know that he knew, I really like that lot.
And so, to just be told...
nonchalantly
that greenhouses are more important
than where I wanted to live,
was really hard.
Honestly, I'm willing to just...
I can do where the greenhouse is wherever.
If Christine wants lot four, this should not be...
emotional trauma.
[Christine] Where would you wanna go?
Like, let's just make that step.
Robyn, what's the optimal lot that you want?
Five is one. Four is two.
- It's five. - Five.
My first choice is lot five.
Okay Meri, what's your favorite?
- What lot do you want? Yeah. - Out of that configuration?
- Four and a half. - No.
[all laughing]
[Kody] It's not a joke to me.
Everybody thinks that this is funny.
I don't think this is funny anymore.
[Christine] Really, what would be your favorite lot?
- [Meri] Two. - [Christine] Okay.
Yeah, I'm great to go three, honestly.
Meri's okay with lot two
and Christine's okay with lot three.
So now, we just need to seal this deal
and have it in stone.
Are you good with five?
If everybody is okay with that.
[Kody] You good with four?
- [Janelle] Yeah. - You good with two?
- You good with three? - Yes.
Are you good with one?
It's like last pick. It's all right.
[Robyn] What? The lot that's...
yours is actually the family's.
This is not an asset that I would ever be able to sell.
I can't sell my lot
because the full family wants the access
to the pond.
You all have an asset that the day you decide
you don't wanna be part of this family,
you're out with your money.
I'm not. You have your freedom.
And on the contrary, I do not.
If everybody's happy,
that would be the final...
Okay, wait a minute, Mr. Logical.
[all cheering]
I was actually thinking, "Wow! It seems like..."
[all cheering]
Oh, my God! I'm so excited. I'm like... emotional.
- [Christine] Oh, finally. - So crazy!
Yes, it's so great. It is so great.
It's so good. It's so good.
But we need to take a minute and realize
that this is a huge milestone.
All right, I'm going to go call Mike now.
[Christine] No wait, now we do a group prayer.
- This is a good thing. - [Robyn] Yes, please.
- Okay? This is a good thing. - [Robyn] I'm so excited.
Now we do a group prayer.
I am believing it because Meri is laughing
and she's joking and she's playing.
And Christine is saying words like,
"Amazing" and "Exciting" and "Great" and she's smiling.
That looks like everybody is good.
They're really good with what we've chosen
and we're happy.
We are so grateful for our many blessings and for this
meeting that we have been able to come to these
understandings.
[Christine] I don't move on the property.
I wanna move back to Utah, I honestly do.
Kody and I are struggling more than ever before.
The thought of living here on the property
with everybody else
and seeing him in full-functioning marriages,
do I want that? No.
The best that I can give today...
[sighs] is just to pretend.
- Amen. - [all] Amen.
All right ladies...
[indistinct chatter]
I'm out of here.
But I'm constantly concerned that they're...
They've got a... their fingers crossed behind their backs.
I'm happy, very happy
to have everybody finally decided
but there's always that card somebody wants to hold on to
and that card is like, "I didn't get exactly what I wanted.
You don't love me as much as I am supposed to be loved.
You're not being fair with me with your time.
You're not doing this.
You know, our children and our problem children are your fault."
First of all, it's heartbreaking
and it's psychically damaging for me
as a husband,
who simply just wants a family that's happy.
That's satisfied in life. That is...
That is okay with the choices that they have made.
[Janelle] I'm super-excited.
Good, you can see it everybody?
I have a feeling. I have a feeling I know what this is about.
[all cheering]
Oh, my goodness!
[Janelle] Oh, do we need chairs?
- [Gabriel] I brought some for us. - Oh, good.
[Christine] So, we have almost the whole family
together today.
Via electronic devices.
For this news about the property
but I'm not going to give them news about the property.
We have a surprise.
[Christine] Should I just move the table?
- [Robyn] Yeah, I think we should move the table. - [Gabriel] Heck yeah.
[Janelle] This is our second time getting together in a...
relatively short period of time
compared to the rest of the year that we spent apart.
So, here we go. Another family gathering.
It's making me very happy.
[Meri] Started grabing chairs.
-[Kody] Grab the chairs. Everybody's got a chair then? -Just grab chairs!
[Robyn] Christine...
texted us and said she wants to...
talk to us all about the property
and have the kids involved and...
Frankly, I don't think that's a great idea.
They talk over each other.
They have a huge opinion.
I don't know. Should be fun.
[Christine] We're good. We're gonna start.
Okay, thank you for coming. I'm sorry it took so long.
Country wifi is awesome.
So, okay. I'm super-excited.
[kids cheer]
[Christine] Good, you can see it everybody?
Okay, say "Hi."
[all] Hi!
[Kody] Mykelti's my daughter.
And Tony is my son-in-law.
They got married about four, little over four years ago.
And they live in Saint George, Utah.
They're a great couple. They're still...
crazy, full of fun.
Exciting to be around. They bring the party.
And I... I just love to visit them.
I have a feeling, I have a feeling
I know what this is about.
Tony and I have something to tell you.
- [all cheering] - [Mykelti] We're pregnant.
- [Janelle] Oh, my God, yeah! - [Kody] I saw that coming.
[high-pitched] Yes!
Mykelti and Tony are having a baby!
[indistinct chatter]
[Christine] Very excited, this will be our third grandchild.
Mykelti is having a baby. I'm super-excited.
And her being my biological daughter,
maybe you'd think that it would...
mean something different.
But it's not, it's like Maddie has...
two grandkids, Axle and Evie are my grandkids.
And Mykelti is having another one of my grandkids.
You know, it's super-exciting.
I'm really looking forward to it.
As a mom, in a plural family, my kids are my kids,
even though all the kids are our kids.
But the grandkids are just straight up, our grandkids.
That's just what it come down to.
[Meri] This is fun, this is exciting.
[Robyn] I was so excited when I found out that Maddie and Caleb
were pregnant the first time and then the second time.
And I felt just as excited with Mykelti...
announcing her pregnancy.
For me, I want
so much to just be a part of these kids lives.
Okay, so dad was wondering...
Okay, one at a time...
First of all, did you guys notice, Janelle was crying?
[giggles]
I'm just as excited about this grand baby
as I was the others.
Hi!
[Mykelti] Hi, dad.
[Kody] Congratulations.
She's pregnant.
- I got little baby shoes. - Oh, they're...
Yeah!
Are the shoes gender specific or not?
[Christine] Are the shoes gender spec-- Yeah.
[Mykelti] We think it's gonna be a girl.
That's what I... I feel like it's a girl.
So, we think it's a girl but they're technically unisex shoes
because they match the kind of shoes
Tony and I wear a lot.
[Christine] That is so cute!
[Mykelti] Technically, unisex.
We think it's a girl but we don't actually know, yet.
I think that my grandma name will probably just be Oma
with all of the kids.
So, Mykelti's gonna have,
Maria, Tony's mom, is gonna be Abuela.
And then, I'm gonna be Oma
and I don't know, we'll just see what the other...
grandma's are.
I came up with Bubby because I know it's a Czechoslovakian
name for grandma.
So, I'm Bubby.
See, I'm... I'm so boring.
My grandma name is really just Grandma.
I don't really have an assigned grandma name.
[Christine] Maddie wants to know about names.
Have you guys thought of names?
[Mykelti] Yes, if it's a girl, it's Avalon Marie Padron
and if it's a boy, it's Antonio
something-or-other Padron.
[Christine giggles]
[Meri] I'm holding them to that something or other.
- [Christine] Yeah... - [Mykelti] Antonio the Third.
[Christine] Everyone super-excited.
[woman 1] I am so excited.
[indistinct chatter]
All right, since we can only do this organized,
let's give three cheers, okay?
- Hip hip, hooray! - [all screaming] Hooray!
[all cheering]
[Mykelti] Thanks guys, we love you!
[Robyn] Wait, when is she due?
Wait, when are you due? We didn't get that.
[Mykelti] We're due at the end of March.
[all cheering]
[indistinct cheering]
All I need to do, is just hold the baby.
I don't care if it's a boy or a girl
or really what its name is, to be completely honest...
All I care about is spending time with this little thing.
[Christine] All right, love you guys.
- Congratulations! - Love you, congratulations!
[indistinct cheering]
We love you!
[Kody] So...
if you stand right here,
this can be like your deck.
[Kody] I need her to just go,
"Listen, I get it. It doesn't work for us to move to Utah."
[Christine] This is not a safe conversation anymore.
I'm sorry, it's just not.
I'm not gonna talk to you.
Cody just said he wanted to chat here...
on the property, so I don't know.
[Kody] I'm just hoping that I can convince Christine
that living here in this spot
will be better than any place you could be in Utah.
- Hi! So... - [Christine] Hey!
If...
you stand right here,
this can be, like your deck.
[Christine] Cody and I have been struggling for a while.
We want different things in our relationship.
We want a different kind of relationship.
Have you been waiting for a few minutes?
Sorry, I'm late.
No, it's all right. You're fine.
So, I don't even wanna talk to him right now,
to be honest with you.
What I wanted to meet with you, not because...
I... You know, this great idea here
because we're checking out this plot but it's not about this.
Oh!
Last time we talked about,
when you talked about moving to Utah,
I got really, really giddy.
I just got giddy.
When Cody and I were talking about it,
just the two of us,
he was giddy, he was excited.
When we got onto the property and I brought it up,
I thought that...
we were gonna be more of like a team or something, you know?
I wanna move back.
[Kody] Did you think that everybody else
was gonna feel the same way about moving back?
It was terrible.
I felt just so betrayed.
[sobbing]
[Kody] So, when we met last,
I felt like I was cutting you off too harshly.
I was like, "No, that will never happen, we're not moving back to Utah."
I was trying to be stoic.
And I feel bad.
I'm... I wanna say, I'm sorry.
Thank you, it was hard to hear.
What is the stupid word he's using? Stoic?
Bull [bleep], he was an ass.
[sighs]
Stoic? Whatever, you wish you were stoic.
I don't wanna be here.
I don't wanna talk to him, I don't trust a word. There.
It's 'cause I don't trust a word that's coming out of his mouth.
I don't believe him that he's sorry.
I want to hear what everybody had to say.
What I want to be careful about,
is I don't want you to feel like
your sister wives are against you.
I don't wanna go through the whole process
of saying, Meri will go anywhere I choose to go.
Janelle refuses to leave Flagstaff.
And Robyn says, "I would love to live in Utah but that's
impossible for me to feel like my children will be safe.
I have talked to everybody about it.
And... and every...
There's mixed emotions about it altogether.
- And so... - About moving?
I really would rather not have...
tell you where everybody's at
and just let you sort of figure...
where you're at.
So, why is he going behind my back or whatever?
Why is he...
going and having these conversations again?
He... I thought he made himself perfectly clear.
Of course, that was maybe just one part of him.
I have no idea.
I don't know what part of him to believe.
I would move to Utah in a heartbeat.
Are you kidding me?
Is it on the table still?
No, it's not on the table, I...
The whole reason, I didn't wanna slam her again.
Listen, this is a woman
who hasn't heard us all say no.
No, we're not moving to Utah but I wanna be subtle about it
and how do you do that when she's saying,
"Is it still on the table?"
Not really.
No...
I don't know if I could ride this emotional roller-coaster,
okay? I don't...
- I cannot ride this emotional roller-coaster. - Christine...
Christine's not very warm. [giggles]
She's still bugged.
I can tell.
What I'm trying to do here, is see if you...
see better reasons to stay than to go.
So, you don't feel trapped by the rest of the family's decisions.
Does he want me to say,
"I am fine with living here
and I don't want to move back to Utah"?
Is that what he's saying?
I need her to just go,
"Listen, I get it. It doesn't work for us to move to Utah."
I've got a lot of family that lives there
and it just feels like home.
We don't have a community here.
I don't know how to work this out.
There's other reasons that I don't really wanna...
discuss why...
I don't really want to end up here
and why I'd rather go back.
But I don't really wanna... I'm...
go down that road, really.
I feel like I'm constantly dealing with a situation
with Christine, where I can't make her happy.
She won't be happy with anything.
And now, I'm starting to wonder
what's going on?
Well, then what do we do?
Well...
If we start building homes here,
are you...
I'm not ready to build mine, yet.
Why would I want to live
on the same property
with a dysfunctional marriage?
Where right over there,
he's got a full functioning marriage?
Who in their right mind
would ever want to live like that?
[Kody] Maybe she just doesn't want to be
near the other sister wives.
I don't know.
She wasn't happy in Lehigh and she wasn't...
happy in Las Vegas.
If she's not gonna be happy if we don't move to Utah,
what can I do?
It's not fair to the rest of the family.
[Christine] I just thought that mine and Kody's relationship
would get better in Vegas.
Once we got to the cull de sac.
And it didn't.
If mine and Kody's relationship were better,
and we both...
wanted the same type of a relationship,
that's a full marriage,
I could handle staying here, a lot easier.
Tell me more, Christine about this feeling about
about moving to Utah.
Just tell me more about...
I don't-- No,
this is not a safe conversation anymore.
I'm sorry, it's just not.
- Why not? - 'Cause it's not, 'cause you're not safe.
'Cause I'm not safe?
[Kody] Okay.
I'm not gonna talk to you.
What did I say that was unsafe?
[Christine sobbing]
Look, he's not even my friend right now.
Why would I talk to him about things
that are close to my heart if he's not even my friend?
[softly] I just...
I think we just want...
[Kody] She walked off
and I felt the conversation just was starting.
[Christine] Feels like a bit of a cross roads.
I don't know what to do.
[sobbing]
[Kody] Christine and Ysabel are leaving very soon
for Ysabel's surgery.
They'll come in four inches and they'll attach a screw to her spine.
[Christine] Kody's not gonna see the kids, for like...
eight weeks or so.
I think us, being separated for a while
for this month might be good.
[Kody] So yesterday, Christine and I were visiting.
Nothing was discussed with Cristine.
He just walked off, I don't know what the problem was.
I don't know why, I don't know what's going on.
I'm sitting here going... With a lot of questions,
but I'm not gonna confront her with it right now
because tomorrow, Ysabel is leaving for New Jersey.
They're leaving.
I'm not gonna sit and get confrontational right now.
[Christine] I need to talk to all the adults about Ysabel's surgery.
What happens between Kody and I, that's just separate.
I'm gonna compartmentalize.
We found out that Ysabel has scoliosis
when she was 14.
We have doctors, we've been seeing.
We've been seeing chiropractors.
We've been seeing and doing everything possible
but about nine months ago,
we found out that her curve has progressed
to the point where, she has to get surgery.
[Kody] Christine has invited me and the other moms over
to essentially explain what their experience...
Or like the roadmap, sort of mapping out to us.
What their experience is gonna be like
for the next six weeks.
We as a family have...
kind of fallen off the wagon as far as the family goes.
- This looks all formal. - [Christine] Does it?
It's not supposed to.
[Kody] We're essentially socially distancing
from each other.
But there has been some travel in the family
and Christine and Ysabel have been travelling
quite a bit, this summer.
So, we're currently staying socially distanced.
- [Meri chuckling] Yes, yes. - [Christine] See how we're closer?
[Janelle] So, I have observed,
the differences in opinions about COVID.
They put a lot of pressure on the relationships.
When we're not getting together as a family,
there's a lot of time
to be busy in my head,
imagining things my sister wives are doing
or imagining things that Kody is saying or doing
or making up stories in my head
and I just think that's really dangerous for plural relationships.
And I suspect, that's probably happening
in all the relationships.
[Christine] Okay, I looked up the surgery.
So, I thought I'd explain to you guys a little bit more what's happening.
So, this is Ysabel's spine.
Right here. See that?
Beautiful spine.
They'll come in four inches and they attach a screw
to her spine's screw.
Screw, screw, screw, screw, screw.
Then they attach these fibers
and then they tighten the screws.
- [Janelle] Oh wow! - And that's how it works.
She's gonna be taller.
[Ysabel] Two or three inches.
- [Kody] They're saying two inches taller? - Yeah.
- I don't believe that at all. - Nope.
Nope. Yeah, isn't that crazy?
We want to see photos of this and this.
[Kody] This will be very interesting
if she actually does get--
I couldn't believe that she'd get more than an inch taller.
[Ysabel] He said two or three.
Ysabel... Okay, Ysabel does wanna have no pain
at the end of surgery
but really, what she wants in her like...
hidden agenda is to be six feet tall.
Right now, she's like...
5'10".
Are you kidding?
[indistinct chatter]
Because of the curve, I mean, he's a doctor.
He kinda...
Yeah well, no you can do the math on what it's gonna
do once it straighten out.
[Meri] That's my point.
No way! The doctor's saying two to three?
That would actually be really fun and really cool.
I think he's just embarrassed
that his daughter's gonna be taller than him.
Right now, I'm not taller than him
but after the surgery, if I go two to three inches,
I definitely will be.
[Robyn] After you get the surgery, like...
What are you looking forward to doing the most?
Now that you're... Once your spine is straight.
Being more pain free. It's like driving without pain.
Waking up without pain,
going to bed, being able to breathe without pain.
- [Robyn] She's in pain every day now. - [Christine] Yeah.
It's not really a dull ache but it's like a sharp pain.
Like, every time I move kind of,
I get like sharp pains down my back.
Savannah told me how much like you would hurt
- on the way to school and stuff. - Yeah, yeah.
Just because I'm not Ysabel's biological mother,
doesn't mean that...
you know, it makes me any less sad
that she's in pain.
I feel as empathic to Ysabel's pain
as I would my own kids' pain.
When I see Ysabel in pain, I just...
want to go mommy her.
Ysabel's like the strongest, most amazing kid I know.
She has been in constant pain for so long.
[Ysabel] I think it'll be easier on my mom, because...
I think it's been really hard on her
just seeing her kid go through so much pain.
[Christine] Late and night,
when I am checking in with am I a good mom...
On that part, I fell a little bit sometimes.
I just feel partially responsible for her pain.
There's nothing that I can do to help Ysabel.
Except to get her this surgery.
We'll be in the intensive care unit the entire time.
As soon as she can, they'll release her.
And then, we'll just stay in New Jersey
until the 11th
'cause we have to stay a minimum of five days
after the hospital.
So, there's several different places
that do this surgery for Ysabel's back.
But the one that I just love the most,
the team of doctors, is in New Jersey.
We're leaving in a couple of days...
and we're gonna be gone for like a month.
Then a two-week quarantine when we get back.
So, Kody's not gonna see the kids for like...
eight weeks or so.
[Christine] We're excited.
And you're taking... You're taking all of your girls.
Yes.
[Janelle] You guys are gonna have like,
- sort of a vacation, thanks to Ysabel. - Yes. Yes.
We are going to look at this as positively as possible.
And the first two weeks are going to be a vacation.
When COVID started, we agreed as a family
that we wouldn't travel, that we would sequester.
And after a little while,
Christine just decided she wasn't gonna do it anymore.
She started travelling.
She started travelling extensively.
And it was making it so that I was only able to see the kids
part of the time.
So, when she presented the idea of doing the surgery,
this year during the summer, during the COVID,
I became antagonistic.
My belief was that it was no longer about Ysabel,
her needs and what was best for her...
but rather that Christine wanted to take advantage
of the time and really get a vacation out of it.
[Christine] So good we're excited, though.
- [Ysabel] Yeah. - It'll be good.
[Janelle] Awesome.
So, we'll leave tomorrow. We'll be back, October 11th.
- Cool-- - [Janelle] Have fun.
- Yeah, keep us updated. - And good luck.
Thank you.
[Janelle] I'm so glad you're gonna be back and like functional.
- And not in pain. - I know, really.
Not in pain.
I hadn't been aware enough
of the daily grind Ysabel was going through with her pain.
All right guys. Well...
Thank you!
Christine, will you get that paperwork for me?
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you guys for coming. I appreciate it.
Bye, love you guys.
- [Meri] Good luck... - Thank you!
- [Meri] I wish I could give you a hug. - I know.
- This is, like, so stupid. - Mwah. Mwah.
I love you guys. Bye.
[Kody] If it wasn't for the amount of pain,
I would've kept pushing for her to wait for the surgery
but it just is what it is.
And I've accepted that and I'm okay with it.
And I'm actually happy that...
Ysabel is doing it now.
So, but that is a... That's a challenge for us.
That's a long time for her to be away, especially
with her being away from me
during a recovery that could be...
potentially very painful.
I have a relationship through my wife
with the children.
- I'm sorry I can't go. - It's okay.
I think him not coming is... really stupid.
-So, Ysabel... brought up her... -What am I signing?
- Can you tell me? - You're signing that we're gonna pay for it.
- Hey, you're not socially distancing. - Sorry.
I would love it if Kody could come for Ysabel's sake.
But for me, I don't care.
[Kody] Are you packed for a month, Ysabel?
Almost.
Well, couple of months back,
when Christine and Ysabel presented that
they were ready to go and do this surgery
and they're gonna do it during COVID-19,
I became extremely frustrated.
We can pretend that there is no pandemic.
[Christine] I'm not pretending.
- Well... - I'm not pretending.
They wouldn't have the surgery or give us the surgery
if like, they thought it was unsafe.
What do we do?
If you're gonna go, do this surgery,
what are we gonna do?
The problem for me,
sometimes with some of my children is,
that I have a relationship through my wife
with the children.
My big regret is just not having that conversation
privately, in a safe space, with Ysabel.
And figuring out what she needed
rather than judging
the entire situation with what Christine needed.
You excited?
Yeah, I'm excited, yeah.
I'm sorry I can't go.
It's okay.
[Kody] I wanna be there for her,
to be a strength for her.
You know, there's just this
healing element from a parent's love
and I know this and I want
Ysabel to get this from me.
- [Kody] You understand, right? - Yeah, I get it. It's okay.
- You sure? - Uh-huh.
[Kody] All right.
You're not gonna become a bitter old housewife?
- No, I guess not. - 'Cause your daddy didn't do this for you.
- No. I do. - You do understand?
- I do, I do, I do. - All right.
- [Ysabel] I'll miss you, though. - I'll miss you.
I need him to be there but...
Then, why isn't he coming?
I don't know, why wouldn't be there?
Why wouldn't he just drop everything for me?
I think his priorities are a little screwed up.
Well, the reason that I'm not going is...
basically two reasons.
The amount of time because of COVID
quarantining and stuff like that,
that I would have to be...
away from the rest of the family,
and because of the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Which is, what we've been trying to do,
is make it so that I can see the whole family
this entire time.
I won't be bitter and hold it against you.
I didn't want you to do it, yet.
I had no idea how much pain you were in
but I'm glad, you're doing it now.
Yeah.
[Ysabel] He has a lot of kids to think about, and...
I'm not the only kid that he has to make sure
is safe during this pandemic.
I do.
It sucks. It sucks that he can't be there.
Cool. We'll go do something fun after you get back.
[Ysabel] Cool beans. I'm excited.
I don't want her to be bitter
in the future or even through this experience
that I wasn't able to do that.
And so, it's hard that they're doing this without me.
- Yeah. - Okay.
-All right, I love you. We'll see you. -Love you too.
And... I don't know, he's such a brave man.
He's so brave and he's so strong.
He's letting fear control him.
How long are you gonna stop your life for?
Like, how long are you gonna put just everything on hold?
Thanks, dad. I love you.
[Kody] I love you, will see you. Have a nice trip.
- Thank you, I'll miss you. - Bye, I'll miss you.
There's a real emotional conundrum that we're dealing with
with the whole COVID thing and social distancing and stuff.
She's going off to have a major surgery done.
And I can't hug her.
That's really hard.
[Christine] You good, love?
[Ysabel] Yeah.
- [Christine] Oh, my gosh. - All right.
I've got the special for you to sign.
For days.
[Christine] Before we get the surgery,
Ysabel has to have a bunch of paperwork.
-So, Ysabel... brought up her... -What am I signing?
- Can you tell me? - You're signing that we're gonna pay for it.
- Hey, you're not socially distancing. - Sorry.
I told Christine to maintain her social distance
was 'cause she's been travelling.
[Robyn] Since the pandemic has hit,
Kody is in a really bad place mentally and emotionally
because he's having trouble
getting wives to agree with him on what to do
as far as COVID and how to handle it.
He's having...
one issue after another with them.
And then also, they're not working with him
on things, so he can't go see them as much.
Because I'm sticking to...
what it is that he wants to do as far as COVID,
I'm seeing him the most.
He's worried about the unity of his family.
[Christine] And this is just saying,
that we'll pay whatever the insurance doesn't pay for.
[Christine] Kody and I have been struggling for a while.
We're not close, so it was actually...
painful, emotionally, to be there to be honest. It's...
It's hard to see him with everybody.
It's really hard to see him in functional
marriages, when we don't have one.
It sucks.
[Kody] It's terribly awkward.
It's just the place Christine and I are in.
We're in a terribly awkward place.
This is not...
the experience...
of people who are soulmates.
Or people who even love and respect each other
in a deep way.
This is an experience of...
of distance.
[Christine] Kody and I are not getting better.
It's been bad for a long time.
I would love it, if Kody could come
for Ysabel's sake.
But for me, I don't care that he's not gonna be there.
I think us being separated for a while
for this month...
might be good.
Ysabel was saying the other day, she wished you could come.
And I said, "You know, he would have come if it wasn't for COVID."
But hey, it's happening now and the time's right.
And she's...
- So, we're good. - Yeah.
She's fine with it, though. She gets it. She understands.
- Okay. - She's not frustrated with it.
- Have a good trip. - Thank you.
- See ya. - See you.
[Kody] I'm just having regret.
'Cause the...
whole damn situation is breaking my heart.
The whole thing with Ysabel going and doing the surgery
and the whole thing with my family and this...
disparity in behavior...
during COVID,
it's really, really, really
hard on our family.
[sighs]
It's just, it's breaking my heart.
I'm just... It's just an indicator
that we are screwing this up so badly.
And I'm sad about it.
[Kody as narrator] Next time on Sister Wives...
I've heard like you and Kody say things
that basically tell me there's still issues.
[Meri] I kind of keep hearing
about, you know, this little bit of an issue.
And yeah, I mean, it involves me and it involves Janelle.
I don't know how much to bring up
from the past and work through.
There's not a whole lot of secrets in a family.
Conversations get spilled.
[Janelle] I just worry that
you'd get angry at one time, like we all do.
And instead of like slamming the doors...
When we all lived in one house,
you just slammed the doors so everybody knew you were angry.
Wow, Janelle! [giggles]
Yeah, I've slammed doors when I've been mad before.
To be honest with you, I'm feeling a wall right now.