Brody Lovett was a former Navy SEAL who had served in Iraq during the war. Gigi had met Brody in Michigan after Rex Balsom had left town and Gigi found herself single and pregnant. Brody promised to help Gigi raise her child, but while Brody was overseas Gigi was told by Brody's mother that he had died. After Gigi arrived in Llanview with her son, Shane, Rex's fiancé Adriana figured out that Shane was Rex's son, although Gigi denied it. Gigi had always told her son that his father was a former Navy SEAL who had died in the war -- in other words, Brody. Nervous that Gigi and Shane would come between her and her Rex, Adriana got her mother to investigate Brody's history and discovered that Brody was actually alive. Adriana located Brody in Michigan and was shocked to learn he was a drunken wild boy. Determined to prevent Gigi and Rex from getting any closer by reuniting her with Brody, Adriana paid Brody to come to Llanview. The night before her wedding to Rex, Adriana learned from Brody that Rex was in fact Shane's real father. Although Brody still had feelings for Gigi, he was hesitant to disrupt her life. But convinced by Adriana that Gigi and Shane needed him, Brody showed up clean-shaven and sober in his full dress uniform at Adriana and Rex's wedding, making his presence known to a shocked Gigi and an elated Shane.

With Rex married to Adriana, Gigi and Brody kept up the pretense that Brody was Shane's father. Gigi felt she had no choice but to allow Brody back into her life, as she was unwilling to disrupt Rex's marriage or crush her son's hopes and dreams of finally knowing his "father." Brody hoped to pursue a real relationship with Gigi, but she was soon wrapped up again with Rex, who separated from Adriana after discovering her machinations. Brody focused his attentions and affection on Shane, who he grows very close to, thinking of the boy as "his son" in every respect. Seeing in Shane an opportunity for a new start, Brody found employment and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. During an AA meeting, Brody expressed his frustration at Shane not being his true son; Charlie Banks, who had posed as Rex's own father during a complicated deception, was attending the meeting as well and realized who Brody was talking about, but he promised Brody that what he heard in AA would stay inside those walls.

When Gigi learned Rex was missing in Texas and was desperate to go after him, Brody was jealous but ultimately gave her the money to go find him -- money that Dorian Lord had paid him to come to town in the first place. When local psychic Madame Delphina cryptically warned Brody that Gigi and Rex may be "gone for good," Brody panicked, fearing that Social Services would put Shane into foster care if he was unable to assert paternity. Brody used a package Adriana secretly sent to Gigi -- Rex's toothbrush, containing his DNA -- to fake a paternity test which "proved" Brody to be Shane's father and therefore, his legal guardian in Gigi's absence. When Gigi and Rex returned to Llanview together, Gigi informed Brody that she had told Rex the truth about his son and was finally ready to tell Shane as well. She ordered Brody to move out of the house. Despondent, Brody suffered a mental breakdown, trashing the carriage house and accidentally injuring Gigi's friend Marcie McBain. Lapsing into "combat mode," Brody outmaneuvered Gigi and Rex by going to Shane's school and picking him up before them, then absconded with the boy to Llantano Mountain. Once there, Brody's delusions deepened, as he donned his old combat fatigues, unearthed his service revolver, and began to tell Shane about his experiences in Iraq. As Brody attempted to teach Shane survival skills, he found himself increasingly losing track of reality, suffering vivid hallucinations from his tours of duty, including seeing Shane in the place of an Iraqi child who Brody had accidentally killed during a raid. As his violent delusions threatened to overtake him, Brody was cornered by Police Commissioner Bo Buchanan and the Llanview Police Department, accompanied by Gigi and Rex. Desperate, Brody initially used Shane as a human shield when the SWAT team trained their guns on him, then declared that he could never hurt "his son" and sent the boy to his mother. Bo tried to talk Brody into dropping his gun, but Brody was too far gone and fired wildly into the night sky, accidentally shooting Rex. He was then arrested by the LPD and taken into custody.

Once in police custody, Brody's condition worsened, and Bo determined that Brody was suffering from a severe case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Having spoken to one of Brody's fellow soldiers, Bo, Gigi and Rex had learned of Brody's deep trauma stemming from his war experiences and the shooting incident with the Iraqi child, who Brody continued to "see" outside his jail cell. When Shane visited him, Brody was unable to distinguish between Shane and the child he killed, but in a moment of lucidity, he cried out that Shane was not his son. Bo promised Shane that he would see to Brody's care and treatment and told Gigi that Brody was being transferred to a Veterans Affairs psychiatric hospital. Gigi and Shane went to see Brody at the hospital, and Gigi thanked Brody for being there for her and Shane and said she didn't blame him for what had happened. Rex visited Brody too and said he understood he was ill. Rex agreed not to prosecute Brody, allowing him to be remanded to St. Anne's psychiatric hospital for treatment.

At the hospital, Brody was visited by his old war buddy Wes Granger, who was in the same unit as Brody when the Iraqi child was killed. Brody began seeing visions of the child both with and without a gun, and Brody confronted Wes about what really happened. Wes admitted that the child Brody shot was unarmed, and Wes said he put a gun in the dead boy's hands because he felt Brody couldn't handle the truth that he shot an unarmed child. Brody was upset at Wes for lying to him, but grateful to finally know the truth. While at St. Anne's, Brody got close to fellow patient Jessica Brennan, who had committed herself after suffering another lapse into her alternate personalities. Brody came face to face with Jessica's alter Tess, who had emerged during a hypnotic session and tried to convince Brody to help her escape. Brody began to feel romantic feelings for Jessica, and was saddened when Jessica was released from St. Anne's. Jessica visited Brody often after she was released and tried to help him sort through his feelings about having killed the unarmed boy in Iraq. When Wes was found murdered, and Brody didn't have an alibi for the night, Jessica lied to Police Det. Antonio Vega that Brody was with her, but Antonio saw through it. Brody eventually was released from St. Anne's, and Jessica helped him find a room at Roxy Balsom's hotel in Llanview. It happened to be the same room that Wes was murdered in, but Brody was grateful to have a cheap place to live. Brody and Jessica shared a passionate kiss in his room, but then both agreed that they should just remain friends.

Brody was distraught when he learned that Shane had been diagnosed with leukemia. Gigi visited Brody one day and admitted to him that she was being blackmailed by her sister Stacy into breaking up with Rex so Stacy would donate her bone marrow to Shane. She asked Brody for his help and arranged for Rex to show up at Brody's and catch Brody and Gigi in bed together. The ruse worked, but Brody didn't count on Jessica showing up at the same time and coming to the conclusion that Brody and Gigi had slept together. Brody eventually told Gigi that he and Jessica liked each other, and Gigi eventually told Brody to tell Jessica the truth. When Brody came clean to Jessica, they admitted their feelings for each other and the two made love. They agreed to keep their relationship from their family and friends to help out Gigi. When Natalie and Jared caught Brody leaving Llanfair one night, Jessica admitted that they were seeing each other. Natalie was livid, believing that Brody was a lying cheater, but the confrontation was put on hold when Jessica discovered that Chloe had been kidnapped. Natalie and Jared pointed the blame at Kyle Lewis, a hospital lab technician who they said had taken an interest in Chloe. Jessica and Brody headed for the police station, where Kyle had been taken after being arrested at Todd Manning's home.

While driving to the police station, Jessica began having flashbacks about giving birth and seeing Bess driving to the hospital with the baby. She passed out in the car, and Brody took her to the hospital. Jessica was relieved when Marty and Todd showed up at the hospital with Chloe, who had been kidnapped by Powell Lord and Kyle's sister Rebecca Lewis. Jessica was relieved to have her baby back, but sensed that something was wrong. When no one was looking, Bess reemerged and escaped the hospital with Chloe. Brody admitted to Viki and Clint that he loved Jessica, and they told Brody what they had just learned from Natalie and Jared: that Jessica's baby had died at birth and had been switched by Bess with another child. As police searched for Jessica and the baby, Brody tracked down Jessica's car at a dealership and learned that she was headed toward Morgantown, West Virginia. Brody recalled Jessica telling him that Nash's parents lived there, and Brody showed up at the Brennan's home just as Bess was about to run off with the baby. Brody told the Brennans that Jessica wasn't well, but Bess told Phil and Cindy Brennan that Brody was trying to harm her. Cindy hit Brody over the head with a vase, knocking him out. Jessica reemerged, and the Brennans realized that Brody's story was true. Bess resurfaced and was about to walk out the house with the baby when the police arrived. She fled upstairs with the baby and Viki persuaded Bo to let her try to get through to Bess by pretending to be Viki's alter, Jean Randolph. Brody was relieved when Viki emerged with Jessica and the baby, and they all headed back to Llanview.

After handing over the baby to Todd and Blair, who were waiting to return the child to Starr and Cole, Jessica found comfort in Brody's arms and struggled to accept all that had transpired. Jessica encouraged Brody to apply for the police academy, but when Brody went to fill out the application he threw it in the trash because he felt he never had a chance with his history of mental illness. Bo talked Brody into applying, and Brody was thrilled to learn that he had been accepted. However, before he could start training, John McBain told Brody he wanted him to work on a very special undercover assignment with Cole Thornhart to help expose the people bringing drugs into Llanview. Brody eagerly accepted the assignment, even though it meant he would have to continue working as a bartender at Rodi's to establish his cover and let everyone think that he had failed to get accepted into the academy. Brody pretended to buy drugs off of Cole and was able to ID Cole's supplier, which helped the authorities close in on the ringleader.

Meanwhile, Brody began playing detective at home when Jessica started seeing someone in the shadows almost everywhere she went. The stalker was doing things that reminded Jessica of her dead husband Nash, such as giving Bree a toy elephant and drawing a heart on a windowpane at Llanfair. Jessica told Brody she was worried she was losing her mind. But after Brody determined that someone in fact had drawn a heart on the windowpane, he assured her that she was perfectly sane and that the person stalking her was real. Natalie and Jared gave Brody a DVD they had received at Buchanan Enterprises that had images of the night that Nash fell through the skylight and died, and they all agreed that the person that sent the DVD was the same person stalking Jessica. Brody wondered aloud if the stalkers could be Nash's parents, but Natalie said she didn't think so since Cindy and Phil were normal people and were grateful to learn that they had a granddaughter they could visit.

The undercover drug operation took a dramatic turn after the drug runners kidnapped Starr Manning and her daughter, Hope, and held her for ransom in a warehouse. Brody accessed the warehouse and managed to free Starr and Hope, but during a fight with one of the drug runners he was impaled with a metal rod. Brody survived the attack, but after Bo said he wanted Brody to join the force fulltime, Jessica worried that she would lose Brody like she lost Nash. Brody told Jessica he would give up being a cop to ease her mind, but Jessica said she would work through her fears. After a second DVD arrived at BE, this time threatening harm to Natalie and Jared for their part in Nash's death, Natalie went to tell Jessica and Brody about the DVD when a bloodied Jared showed up in Brody's hospital room, claiming to have fended off an attack by the stalker. John and Brody both become suspicious of Jared's story and evidence soon surfaced that the stalker, Wayne Landers, knew Jared in prison. When the stalker turned up dead at Llanfair, the police found evidence that Jared had been in contact with the stalker and had been funneling cash to him from Buchanan Enterprises accounts. Brody convinced Jessica to leave Llanfair with him, then Jessica located in her suitcase clothes from her alters that she had given away. A distraught Natalie told Jessica, Brody and John that Jared had confessed that he had been behind the stalking and had then ran off. Jared then was wanted for another murder after Pamela Stuart, whose deceased brother was Jared's step-father, was found dead at the Buchanan lodge.

Brody got a call from his estranged sister, Nadine, who begged him to come to Michigan to help her through a crisis. Brody flew to Michigan, where his sister claimed she was having financial troubles and would lose their mother's home without his help. After Brody learned from Jessica that she had received a disturbing call from someone whose voice was identical to Nash's, Brody prepared to head back to Llanview when Nadine drugged him and then tied him up. Rex later appeared at the same house, having been called there by his Aunt Corinne, who claimed to be dying. Rex was drugged too, and when John showed up looking for Rex, Brody managed to free himself. Nadine and Corinne both claim that someone paid them to bring the men there and keep them away from Natalie and Jessica. After Rex came to and revealed the women were at Nash's old vineyard in Napa Valley, Brody and John took a plane there. While in the air, John learned that Nash's dead body had been exhumed and began to piece together the clues, realizing that the only person able to pull off such an elaborate scheme was Jessica's presumed dead father Mitch Laurence. Mitch had revealed himself to Jessica, Natalie and a resurfaced Jared by the time John and Brody arrived. During an attempt to sneak up on Mitch, John stormed the scene and Mitch fired a fatal shot into Jared's chest.

After Mitch was discovered in John's office with a stab wound to his chest, Brody didn't buy John's account that Mitch had stabbed himself and grew suspicious when John wouldn't let Brody interview Natalie, who was in the office at the time. Jessica and Brody both agreed that Natalie had stabbed him, but Brody kept quiet to avoid getting John in trouble. After Mitch was released from jail, he wrote Jessica a letter asking her to meet him on the docks and Brody insisted on going instead. Brody assaulted Mitch but escaped before being arrested, leaving John to take the rap for it. When Brody returned to Llanfair, Jessica was gone. Brody had Mitch's letter analyzed by a lab and found trace elements of minerals from multiple continents, which he and John ultimately traced to an abandoned geological mine on Llantano Mountain. After a judge ordered John held without bail on charges of assaulting Mitch, Brody overtook a guard outside the courtroom and barged in to the courtroom with his gun drawn, threatening to shoot Police Commissioner Stanley Lowell if he didn't give up Mitch's whereabouts. Lowell hid behind John as Brody fired; John took the bullet, although it was all an elaborate ruse to break John out of custody. Brody broke free of the police officers who had apprehended him and joined John outside, where the two got into a getaway van driven by Natalie. On route to the mine, the van careened off the icy road and Brody headed off on foot while John tried to free Natalie, who was trapped in the van. Brody arrived at the mine just as Mitch was about to rape Jessica and shot Mitch. Brody was distraught when Jessica didn't remember him and realized that Mitch had performed electroshock therapy on her. Just then Charlie showed up and planned to shoot Mitch, but Charlie was startled when Dorian arrived and he misfired, shooting Jessica instead. Jessica survived the operation, but when she awoke she didn't remember Brody and believed she was still a senior in high school.

Brody struggled to get Jessica to remember him, showing her videos and pictures of them together. But Jessica turned all her attention toward Cristian Vega, who was her first love. Brody won two dates with Jessica after beating her in a basketball competition, but the first date went horribly wrong after Cristian and Layla showed up and the bar began playing Jessica and Cristian's song from when they were teenagers. Jessica bought tickets to the prom, hoping Cristian would agree to go with her. After Cristian declined, Charlie talked Jessica into inviting Brody. Marty told the family that Jessica needed to recreate her prom night because it was the night she was supposed to lose her virginity to Cristian, and it was a time when Jessica was innocent. Brody felt that he needed to get through to Jessica on prom night or he could risk losing her forever. On prom night, Jessica had a flash of memory of her and Brody while they danced together, but Jessica refused to acknowledge it. She then stuffed the ballot box so she and Cristian would be named prom king and queen, but was devastated when Cristian turned her down and promptly proposed marriage to Layla .Brody tried to shock Jessica back into reality by telling her about the near-rape by her father, but Jessica accused him of lying and angrily told Brody she never wanted to see him again. Brody consoled himself with a bottle of booze at his apartment. Natalie showed up and told Brody that she was moving to London after John McBain had rejected her for Marty. Drunk and feeling abandoned by the people they loved, Brody and Natalie gave into a shared connection and had passionate sex. They both realized it was a one-time thing, and Natalie left for the airport on good terms with Brody. Brody then was shocked when an excited Jessica came to his apartment, hours after having rejected him, and revealed that her memories had returned.

Brody and Natalie agreed not to say anything to Jessica and John, whom Natalie had begun dating again, although both questioned whether it was the right thing to do. Brody nearly told Jessica what had occurred between him and Natalie after Jessica confided in Brody that she had nearly slept with Robert Ford the night her memories returned. But when Ford walked by, Brody grabbed him by the throat and nearly strangled him before warning him to stay away from Jessica.

Brody was ecstatic when Jessica told him he was going to be a father. He soon proposed marriage to Jessica, who quickly accepted. Brody was stunned when Natalie confessed she was pregnant too, and was unsure if the father was Brody or John. Natalie told Brody she was going to raise the baby as John's, regardless of who the father was, but Brody said he wouldn't be able to keep the truth from Jessica if the baby turned out to be his.

Brody was overjoyed to see the first images of his baby when he accompanied Jessica to her first sonogram appointment. But then Jessica tearfully confessed that she had slept with Ford and he might be the baby's father. Brody stormed out and hunted down Robert Ford at Llanview University, proceeding to pummel him for sleeping with Jessica while she wasn't in her right mind. Later, Brody apologized for leaving Jessica at the hospital and told her that he would raise the baby as his own even if it wasn't his. Brody then gave Jessica an engagement ring to make their engagement official, and Jessica accepted it. But keeping the secret about Natalie weighed on Brody, and Jessica sensed that Brody was still troubled. Brody confided in Marty that he had no right to be mad at Jessica, especially considering the things he had done, but he stopped short of telling Marty about his one-night stand with Natalie. Brody told Natalie he was having a hard time lying to Jessica, but he agreed to stay quiet for a while longer after Jessica was diagnosed with high blood pressure and put on bed rest.

Brody gave Natalie a copy of his genetic profile so Natalie could get a paternity test to determine the father of her unborn baby. Brody happened upon Natalie at the hospital and held Natalie's hand in the exam room as she had the amniocentesis performed. Natalie warned Brody that Marty suspected something was up between them. Marty was trying to get back at Natalie for collecting the evidence that put Cole in prison for killing Elijah Clarke. She even stole Natalie's medical file out of Dr. Vivian Wright's office and tried to show it to John, but John declined to look at it. Brody was rattled when Marty showed up at Llanfair and gave Jessica a file detailing her notes from his therapy session with Marty. Marty claimed that she gave the file to Jessica because she was being investigated over the Hannah O'Connor matter and didn't want Brody's personal information leaking out. But Brody realized Marty was trying to send him a message. Brody went to Marty and told her to back off, revealing that he had surveillance footage of Marty rifling through Dr. Wright's office and taking Natalie's medical file. Brody told Natalie what he had done and felt that Marty no longer would be a problem. Brody was ecstatic when the DNA tests revealed that he was the father of Jessica's baby. He breathed a sigh of relief when Natalie told him that John was the father of her baby.

Brody agreed to serve as best man when John proposed marriage to Natalie and arranged a quickie ceremony on New Year's Eve. With Jessica and Brody serving as witnesses, John and Natalie exchanged vows as fireworks exploded in the distance signaling the start to 2011. But moments before the judge could declare them married, Marty interrupted the ceremony to announce she had something important to tell Jessica. Brody claimed Marty was drinking and tried to stop her from telling Jessica about his indiscretion with Natalie. Jessica pressed for answers but began having labor pains before Marty could explain. Brody and John took Jessica to the hospital, where it was revealed that Jessica was having problems related to the gunshot wound she suffered nearly a year ago. Dr. Wright urged Jessica to have an immediate C-section, even though the baby was weeks early. Jessica at first resisted, worried that the baby wouldn't survive the premature birth. But Brody and her family convinced Jessica that she shouldn't risk her own life in the process, so she underwent surgery to deliver the baby.

Jessica and Brody were relieved when she delivered a healthy baby boy. They were equally excited when they learned Natalie had given birth as well on the same date. During the christening, Jessica and Brody named their baby Ryder Asa Lovett after their respective grandfathers. John and Natalie named their baby Liam Asa McBain. Jessica and Brody prepared to marry on Valentine's Day in a double wedding ceremony with Natalie and John. On the day of the wedding, Brody learned that Marty had escaped from St. Anne's and debated telling Jessica the truth, but Natalie begged him to keep it a secret. Before the couples could exchange vows, however, one of Clint Buchanan's employees interrupted the wedding and announced that he had changed the paternity tests for one of Clint's daughters. The test that was changed was Jessica's, meaning that Ford was the father of her baby, not Brody. Wracked with guilt, Brody admitted to Jessica that he had slept with Natalie while she was still suffering from memory loss. Jessica felt betrayed and angry that Brody hadn't come to her sooner. Then the other shoe dropped, when John forced Natalie to admit to Jessica and Brody that her baby was actually Brody's, not John's. Jessica disappeared after confronting Natalie. Brody caught Ford at Llanfair holding his son and threw him out. Brody told Natalie he was hurt that she kept the secret from him but he understood why she did it. The next day, Brody found evidence at Roxy's hair salon that Jessica had turned into her alter, Tess. After Brody learned from Langston that Ford was last seen with Tess, he tracked them down in Las Vegas and told Langston he was flying there to bring Tess home.

Brody and Langston arrived in Las Vegas to discover that Tess had already married Ford using her legal name, Jessica Brennan. After Tess slapped Brody, he had her arrested for assaulting a police officer and brought her and Ford back to Llanview. Ford refused to commit Tess to St. Ann's, telling Viki and Clint that it was the only way he could have guaranteed access to his baby. A despondent Brody focused his attention on Liam, and he and Natalie began to grow closer over their shared bond for their child. Brody learned that Tess had stolen merchandise from Logan's department store and tracked her down at Cutter Wentworth's motel room, just as Jessica emerged after Tess nearly had sex with Cutter. Brody explained to Jessica what Tess had been doing and they went to Robert Ford's apartment to claim Ryder. But Ford refused to give up his son and reminded Jessica about Brody and Natalie's affair, triggering Tess to reemerge.

Tess knocked out Robert Ford to prevent him from committing her to St. Anne's, and Brody attempted to arrest Tess for assaulting Ford. Brody tried to force Jessica to emerge by kissing Tess, but another alter emerged: Wes, who was patterned after Brody's late friend Wes Granger. Wes had no memories of the other personalities and believed he actually was Wes Granger. Brody and John's working relationship became strained as Brody began spending more time with Natalie. Brody became increasingly frustrated at Jessica's absence and worried that she was gone for good, while Natalie lamented the loss of John. Brody and Natalie shared a smoldering kiss. Later, Brody was called to the Angel Square Hotel after Marty pushed Natalie off the roof, nearly killing her. Brody went to the roof to retrieve Liam, but Marty hit him over the head, causing him to pass out. When Brody awoke, Liam and Marty were gone and so was his gun. The police got a lead that Marty and the baby were at the Minute Man Motel. But when they got to her room, Wes told them he didn't know where Marty was. Brody tried to force Jessica to come out but Tess emerged instead. Brody quickly arrested Tess, who protested that Wes was the witness he needed. At the police station, Bess emerged briefly and told Brody that Todd Manning was the key to finding Marty and the baby.

Brody stormed the Manning house but Todd insisted that he knew nothing about Marty's whereabouts. After obtaining a warrant, Brody returned with John and other officers and they found Liam safe and sound with Tomas Delgado in Todd's pool house. Brody brought the baby to Natalie and they bonded over their shared love for their son. Brody gave up hope of Jessica ever coming back to him, while John told Natalie he couldn't get past the fact that she had a child with another man. Brody and Natalie fell back into each other's arms. After a passionate night of love making, Natalie and Brody were shocked when Jessica barged into the bedroom and found them in bed together. Jessica lashed out at them, but Brody and Natalie blamed her for allowing Tess to come out and thinking that nothing would change. Jessica was devastated when Natalie and Brody decided to pursue a relationship, even though she was back, and move in together.

Brody reached out to Shane when Gigi died following a tragic incident that stemmed from Shane's bullying at the hands of Jack Manning. While cataloguing Gigi's personal effects, Brody discovered a tape recorder and listened to Marty Saybrooke's confession to her therapist that she had switched Liam's DNA tests to keep John from discovering that he was Liam's father. A devastated Brody erased the tape before returning it to the police station, deciding to tell no one that he was not Liam's biological father. Brody stumbled on a note in John's office in which Vimal Patel confessed that John was Liam's father. Brody confronted Vimal, who told Brody that he learned the truth from Todd Manning. Vimal agreed not to say anything, realizing that Brody really did love the child as if it was his own.

Natalie grew frustrated at not being able to remember what happened on the roof with Marty. She knew that the tape recorder was somehow connected so she gave the recorder to Delphina, who told her that her Todd knew what was on the tape. Natalie told Brody about Delphina's reading and Brody talked her out of confronting him. Brody confronted Todd himself and warned him about doing anything that would destroy his family. Brody then surprised Natalie with a sudden marriage proposal. Natalie dodged giving Brody an answer at first but later told Brody she would marry him. Brody helped nurse Natalie's injuries when she and Jessica got into a fight after Jessica learned about the proposal. Jessica later apologized to Natalie and Brody and wished them well. The family was stunned when a man bearing Todd's original face surfaced and claimed to be the real Todd Manning; later it was explained that the man everyone believed was Todd was actually Todd's twin brother, Victor Jr. Brody was concerned that Victor Jr. would reveal that Brody wasn't Liam's father, but breathed a sigh of relief after Victor Jr. was killed and the secret seemed to go to his grave. Victor Jr.'s secretary told Natalie that he and Brody had gotten into an argument shortly before his death. Natalie kept the news to herself but John later learned about the altercation. Brody's gun was tested and proven not to be the murder weapon, and Natalie breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

As the wedding got underway, Natalie's aunt Tina burst into the church with a copy of baby Liam's DNA test results, which her dog had found among Victor Jr.'s possessions. The results proved that Liam was John's son, not Brody's. Brody admitted that he had known since hearing Marty's confession on the tape recorder and pleaded with Natalie to forgive him, but Natalie called off the wedding and raced to tell John the news. Brody went to Llanfair and retrieved Liam. When Nigel tried to stop him, Brody knocked Nigel out and fled the state. John and Natalie tracked Brody down at his family's home in Michigan, and Brody agreed to return the baby after Natalie and John said they understood how devastated he was to lose Liam. Brody checked in to St. Anne's to get evaluated, and encouraged Natalie to move on with her life and pursue a relationship with John if that is what she wanted. In January 2012, Brody visited Jessica to let her know that he had been released from St. Anne's and was planning to go back into the Navy SEALs.