Holly Norris's introduction into Springfield society happened in 1970, when she set out to find the father who abandoned her as an infant. Though her mother, Barbara, wanted her to attend college after she graduated from High School, a 19 year old Holly was much more interested in working for her father, Stanley Norris, a millionaire whose wealthy lifestyle enchanted her. Though he appeared to dote on her by showering her with gifts, in reality Stanley didn't want to be bothered with Holly and, in 1971, he gave her a job as a hostess at one of his subsidiaries, Liberty Airlines, and paid his employee, Roger Thorpe, to date her. So it was through her hostess job and trips to New York, provided by the airline, that Holly ran into the very available and very nefarious Roger Thorpe. Several people were livid that Holly stated that she was going to take Roger as her lover, amongst these were Barbara and Ken! They looked in the direction of the available and lonely Peter Wexler and asked him to date Holly to get her away from the nefarious Roger. Reluctantly, Peter Wexler agreed to date Holly and they seemed to get along. Holly also thought about having an affair with the widowed Peter, but Peter wouldn't commit. Seeing that everyone was against her, Holly would confide in her best friend Kate Pearson about her deep attraction to Roger. Later, Peter reluctantly agreed to go on a date with Holly to New York City, where she ended up seducing Roger and losing her virginity to him, Peter was livid and left Holly. When Holly returned to town, she was saddened to learn of her father's murder.In addition, Roger started to ignore Holly and started shamelessly pursed Janet Mason instead.

In March 1972, Ken married Janet. However, that didn't bother Roger and, one rainy night, as Holly was coming to see Janet, she spotted Roger leaving Janet's apartment. Misconstruing the whole episode and thought that Roger and Janet had sex and Holly bolted from the apartment building -- Roger saw Holly and he too went running after her. Suddenly, Holly ran into the street and was struck by a car! While in the hospital, Holly told everyone that Roger and Janet spent the night together. His reputation sullied, Roger left town after being beaten up by Ken. During Holly's rehabilitation at Cedars Hospital, she grew close to her doctor, Ed Bauer, who helped her to walk again since the paralysis wasn't physical but psychological. After Holly's recovery, Ed and Holly started going out on dates - but Ed's aunt Meta greatly opposed Ed's involvement with Holly. In May 1973, Ed took Holly to Las Vegas where Ed got drunk; he and Holly they ended up getting married. The next morning, Ed apologized for his drunken actions, suggesting an annulment, but insecure, Holly lied, claiming the marriage had been consummated and so an annulment was not possible.

After returning home, Holly and Ed tried to make their marriage work although Ed and Janet (who was once involved with Ed) grew closer when Ed had to help with Janet's pregnancy. After the birth of her daughter, Janet consulted Ed about Emily's urinary tract infection. Ken and Holly both accused the couple of plotting to run off together and Barbara warned both her children to curb their jealous behavior. Unfortunately an immature Holly quickly learned that what it really meant to be married to a doctor who worked long hours and so was never home to amuse her. Holy felt neglected and resentful of the time Ed spent in the hospital and his attraction to Janet, and soon the pair was in separate beds. Meanwhile, Roger returned to Springfield and moved in with Barbara and his father. His wild ways seemed to be a thing of the past and Roger claimed that he just wanted to settle down and have a family. Holly was still obsessed with Roger and these stories only fed the flames of her desire to be with him. Roger began dating Peggy Fletcher and Holly spent her time telling Roger how bad Peggy was for him. Roger took it all in stride until his financial problems became severe. He took out loans from loan-sharks and become very susceptible to Holly's remarks. Roger was rather insecure and they wound up in bed. Afterwards, they both said it would never happen again, but it did, and it did, and did.

In 1974, Peggy got her divorce and she and Roger seemed set to be married. Roger planned to cut it off with Holly and make their relationship platonic. Holly then found out that she was pregnant with Roger's child! But, undaunted, Holly seduced Ed and soon announced her pregnancy. Ed was overjoyed. Meanwhile, Roger's financial problems deepened with the loan-sharks and he was badly beaten. Peggy, for many reasons, fled their relationship. Holly, using the money from her inheritance, paid off Roger's debt with the loan-sharks. Ed did not know the reason for Holly's generosity - she was still hung up on Roger and was still fantasizing about a life with him. Months later, in 1975, Holly's brother, Andy, arrived in town. Andy was a writer and wanted to make a fast buck. Unfortunately, Andy found out that Holly was pregnant and figured out that Holly was pregnant from her affair with Roger. Andy wrote a manuscript loosely based on Holly's life, "Valerie's Story" and when Holly found the manuscript she knew that she had to admit the truth to Andy, which she did. After Christina Blake Bauer was born in July, Chrissy came down with pneumonia and needed a blood transfusion. Holly had had hepatitis as a child so she could not help, and Ed's blood was not the correct type so Holly had no choice but to tell Roger the truth. Roger then donated the blood anonymously and the baby lived. Finally, Holly could not hold her secret any longer and told Ed the truth about Chrissy's paternity and her feelings for Roger. So Ed filed for divorce but when the divorce was about to become final in 1976, Holly had a change of heart and tried to contact Ed but Ed's new love, Rita Stapleton never let Ed get the message. So Holly and Ed divorced but Ed did stay in touch with her for Chrissy's sake. Now alone since Roger had married Peggy, Holly temporarily left for Europe to clear her head.

In 1977, Holly decided to try a new career as a reporter at the Springfield Journal. That same year, she had a sweet romance with a young doctor at Cedars named Peter Chapman, who was the son of Holly's boss Max Chapman. For awhile Peter and Holly made quite a wonderful pair and it didn't hurt that Peter was a pediatrician and got along famously with her daughter Chrissy, the child from her affair with Roger Thorpe a couple of years earlier. Meanwhile, Holly's mom, Barbara (recovering from the failed marriage with Roger's dad, Adam) started doting on and fell in love with Peter's father, Max. Then, Max had a heart attack! When Max recovered, he told Peter that he was going to go away to a spa in Europe to relax and to get away from the stress at the Journal. He broke Barbara's heart in 1978 and asked Holly to take over his duties as Chief Editor at the Journal. Holly obliged Max's wishes. Max also suggested to Peter that he needed to make amends with something that had happened to him while Peter was in Santo Domingo in the Peace Corps, Holly overheard this and was very curious as to what Max meant. Soon, Holly was to find out. A few months after Max left for the spa, Peter took a sabbatical from Cedars and asked Holly to go with him to Santo Domingo. Holly agreed and so they went, Holly thought it would be totally romantic and a perfect opportunity to see what made this man tick.

Unfortunately, Peter had other things on his mind for this trip and they weighed deeply on him. When they got to Santo Domingo, Although, Holly, herself, assumed it would be a romantic getaway. But from nearly the start of the trip, Holly would realize otherwise. This was especially true, when a woman named Carmen Monvales came up to the couple in a bar with a Santo Domingo police officer and insisted that the police officer arrest Peter for the murder of Linette several years before.. Peter reasoned with the police officer and countered Carmen's strong accusations with the concept that Carmen had no proof that he had murdered Linette. It was then that he told Holly that he was in the Peace Corps he met a woman named Maya Waterman, and he started to feel guilty about the way he called off his engagement to Maya. It appeared that Peter, was a deep sea snorkeler and at one time met Maya's younger sister, Linette Waterman. Linette persuaded Peter to let her go snorkeling with him, off of the banks of the shores of Santo Domingo. Unfortunately, during Linette and Peter's snorkeling trip, things went suddenly awry! Linette, being inexperienced, didn't properly hook up the oxygen on her snorkeling masks and ended up drowning.

Peter felt nothing but guilt for causing Linette's death. This guilt was what led Peter to break things off with Maya. Although the police officer backed away without arresting Peter, Holly was still in shock, Peter was still being accused by Carmen and Carmen wouldn't back down. Holly and Peter soon met up with Maya and Maya decided to have the Santo Domingo authorities launch an investigation of whether her former fiancé was really guilty of murdering her younger sister. The investigation itself would reveal that on that fateful deepsea snorkeling expedition that involved Peter, Carmen, Linette and the pilot of the boat that they were on, that Linette had failed to heed either Peter or the pilot's counsel or advice about how to hook up her oxygen mask correctly and that's what caused Linette's accidental death. After the investigation concluded into Linette's death, Peter felt a lot of guilt lift, but now Holly was left feeling like a third wheel because she could tell that Peter was still very much in love with Maya, despite his protest to the contrary. Holly left on an airplane, alone back to Springfield. Not long after, Holly visited an injured, and recently divorced Roger in Cedars and he convinced her to marry him for Chrissy's sake. So the couple married in January 1979 with only Sara McIntyre and Adam present.

Unfortunately Roger had only married Holly to be near Chrissy, and cheated on her with Hillary Bauer. It didn't take long for Holly to suspect that Roger was having an affair with someone. Roger set it up so that Holly would believe that the affair was with Diane to protect his real affair, Hillary. After Holly confronted him about the affair, Roger denied having an affair with Diane or anyone else. It wasn't long before Holly realized she had made a mistake, so she didn't tell Chrissy who her father was and tried to avoid any intimacy with Roger. When she turned to Ed for comfort, Roger went crazy and brutally raped Holly. With Ed's encouragement and Mike Bauer as her lawyer, she filed charges against him for "marital rape." Also supporting Holly was Peter who had returned to town. Though Holly had hoped to rekindle their relationship, he kept her at bay since he believed it was too soon after the rape and he didn't want to be used as a simple lifeline. Unfortunately, she would gain the wrath of Carmen who, now involved with Peter, was deeply jealous of his relationship with Holly. Meanwhile, when it seemed as if Roger would be vindicated of the charges thanks to his lawyer Ross Marler, Rita confessed that Roger also raped her before her marriage to Ed. However the trial was still going badly with the prosecution on the verge of defeat, and so learning from her mother that Roger had stopped by her house and told Chrissy that he'd take her far away, Holly went to Roger's office to speak to him about a possible settlement and saw him attacking Ed! Scared for Ed, Holly went to Roger's desk, because she knew he kept a gun in one of the drawers, and started threatening Roger with the gun. Though Ed tried to talk her down, Roger went toward to grab the gun. Unfortunately as Roger tried to come after Holly, she had a flashback to the rape and then fired three shots into Roger!

Roger was declared dead and Holly was sent to prison for several months while Chrissy was cared for by her grandmother and the Bauers. In prison, Holly was reunited with Peter, who'd gotten a job at the prison infirmary. Peterand Holly worked together in the prison infirmary where Peter fell back in love with her. Meanwhile, Holly was being bullied by another inmate named Gail, while Holly befriended another inmate named Carla Jones who would help her deal with Gail. Gail was extremely jealous of Holly's relationship with Peter and her "cushy" job in the infirmary. One day Gail and Carla got in a fight and Gail pulled out a knife. Holly begged Gail to put away the knife but Gail just ended up stabbing Holly in the abdomen. Peter had Holly sent to Cedars Hospital for treatment. Mike got a temporary injunction so Holly wouldn't have to go right back to prison. Meanwhile, Mike believed Roger was still alive and that Roger's old boss Alan Spaulding helped Roger fake his death. Holly was finally cleared of Roger's murder and released from prison. Holly convinced Mike to handle her friend Carla's case and Mike was able to get Carla released from prison too.

In 1980, all of Springfield would learn that a startling fact--Roger was still alive---When Rita recognized Roger during a Cedars circus bazaar as one of the clowns. In an effort to get away from him, Holly took Chrissy and fled to Santo Domingo with Ed's help only to find Roger, who had bugged Ed's phone, waiting there for them. Though Holly was able to distract Roger so that Chrissy could run away, he kidnapped Holly and ended up finally dragged her through the jungle of the island of Lost Souls. When they argued, Mike and Ed arrived and Roger ended up shooting Ed in his arm and struggling with Mike. When Ed shot Roger and they struggled, Roger fell from a cliff and was presumed dead. Shaken, Holly broke off her relationship with Peter who then reconciled with Maya in Santa Domingo. Holly told Ed that she never stopped loving him and determined to get on with her life, so she moved to Switzerland with Chrissy. Although she made frequent calls to home over the course of a year, later, Holly told the Bauers not to contact them.

In 1988, a mature Chrissy, now calling herself Blake, returned to Springfield and when she was heartbroken because of her relationship with Phillip Spaulding, Holly returned on Christmas Day to comfort her despite their strained relationship. By now, Holly was divorced from Dietrich Lindsey, a man she married to provide financial security to her and Chrissy. During the marriage, Holly began a career in broadcasting at one of the several radio stations that Dietrich owned while Chrissy was sent to boarding school. Now reappearing on Ed's doorstep, Holly met his wife Maureen for the first time and in March 1989 decided to move back to Springfield for good. Then Holly would receive the shock of her life when after fifteen years Roger suddenly reappeared alive during Blake and Phillip's wedding! Left in critical care after being shot by Alan Spaulding, Holly asked Ed to let Roger die. When Ed refused, Holly decided to do the job herself and almost tried to murder an unconscious Roger by smothering him with a pillow. Then Roger woke up, and to her surprise, told no one what she almost did. Deciding to keep her distance from Roger, Holly briefly reunited with Ed after he and Maureen separated because of her infatuation with Fletcher Reade.

The rift in the Bauer marriage caused them to lose out on adopting a young boy. Devastated Maureen decided to get a divorce. However, soon after, Holly realized that Ed's heart belonged to Maureen, and she gracefully bowed out of their burgeoning relationship. At the same time, Holly bought WSPR from the Spaulding, with Ross, and to her chagrin, Roger being her partners. Holly and Ross became close and finally in 1990, they became engaged, despite his concern that she was obsessed with proving what a horrible man Roger was. Meanwhile, Roger had married Alexandra Spaulding, who decided to test him and asked Holly to try to seduce him on their business trip to Acapulco. Believing she'd get rid of him once and for all, Holly agreed, to Ross's dismay. On the trip, a bodyguard, whose job it was to take pictures, followed them but suffered a heart attack and though shocked to be alone with Roger, Holly realized he had changed and she forgave him for raping her. As they celebrated their new relationship, Alex and Ross walked in and angrily broke off their engagement.

In 1991, Holly started suffering from migraines and sought treatment from a young successful doctor named Daniel St. John. Daniel and Holly quickly became lovers. Blake though felt Holly and Daniel's relationship was a conflict of interest, since Holly was producing a story on Daniel's neurobotics project, at WSPR TV station, in conjunction with Spaulding Enterprises. Blake told Holly that Daniel was using her for the publicity. In June, Holly was left to deal with Roger, alone, at WSPR when Ross accepted an a offer to become district attorney, again. When Springfield Journal newspaper editor, Fletcher Reade offered Holly an exclusive on Roger's dirty dealings, both relished the idea of Roger's own station funding Fletcher's investigation. Daniel jumped in and wanted to get a loan to help Holly buy Ross' shares of the station. Ed ended up floating him the loan. Soon after, Daniel started getting crank phone calls. He was shocked when Jean showed up in town and told her nemesis it was her that had made the calls. Jean then began stalking Daniel and Holly, while Daniel campaigned to be promoted to head of neurology at Cedars and tried. He also tried to get Holly to speak to Ed about the promotion. In the meantime, Roger had tracked down Daniel's former sister-in-law, Jean Weatherill, who claimed that Daniel killed her sister (his wife) for her insurance money. Roger couldn't get Holly to listen to his warnings about Daniel while Daniel figured out that Jean was working with Thorpe.. In September, Blake got scared when she witnessed Daniel's temper and tried to talk to Holly about it, to no avail.

In early October, just before Jean was about to accuse Daniel of her sister's death, Daniel set off the fire alarm at WSPR, to prevent Holly from learning about his past. Daniel threatened Roger, and Roger vowed to protect Holly no matter what, even if it meant killing Daniel. On Halloween, Holly was unnerved when she and Roger got locked in the basement together at WSPR, but she soon realized Roger was not the monster he used to be. However, she began to wonder about Daniel, who went into a jealous rage when he found them together. Weeks later, Blake saw Jean floating face down in the Lakeland country club pool. Holly and her assistant at WSPR, Gilly Grant were suspicious when the tape of Jean's appearance on WSPR disappeared. Although the lead Springfield police captain thought Jean's murder was an accident Mallet kept the investigation open. During Christmas time, Holly also got to witness Daniel's anger when she questioned him about the missing tape with Jean's appearance on it. But Holly somehow was still enamored of Daniel,

In January 1992, Daniel pressed a reluctant Holly to set a wedding date. When Roger tried to talk her out of it, a defiant Holly told Daniel she'd marry him on Valentine's Day. However, that day, at the Bauer cabin, Holly received a call from Roger. After he pointed out that she was considering marrying Daniel just to get Roger's goat, Holly considered canceling the wedding, but was surprised when Roger urged her to go through with it since her life depended on it. It turned out he was right. When the minister arrived and a confused Holly had to say yes, she ran off. Unfortunately, Daniel soon found her and after confessing to Jean's murder, he held her at gunpoint and forced her to marry him. When Ross and Roger, who had disguised himself as the minister, arrived to save Holly, Daniel overpowered Roger and forced Holly to tie him up. When he attempted to kill Holly and himself, Ross turned off the light and a freed Roger who shot and killed Daniel during their struggle. Though Holly thanked Roger for his help, she was furious at him when Ross told her that it was Roger who had brought Jean to town in the first place in order to break her and Daniel up, so Holly turned to Ross again.

In the following weeks, Holly accompanied Ross to various functions in his campaign for Senator. Though to Ross, it was strictly platonic while Holly mistakenly assumed it was more. Meanwhile, Blake continued to try to win Alan-Michael back while Holly tried to convince her to give Alan-Michael up. Unfortunately for Blake, she failed to lure Alan-Michael back. Not long after, Blake encouraged Holly to win Ross back but Ross made it clear that he only wanted to be friends with her. Soon Holly was suspicious when Blake started to be near Ross but she only thought Blake was working for Roger to spy on Ross, while she wanted to learn the identity of Blake's new boyfriend. However, one morning, Holly would learn the truth when, going to serve Ross breakfast in best, she caught Ross and Blake in bed together! Shocked, Holly realized that they had an affair for months. She slapped Ross and realized that Blake only seduced him because she blamed Holly for losing Alan-Michael and wanted revenge. Furious with Blake, Holly fired her from WSPR and when Blake threatened to press charges, Holly got the upper hand by threatening to tell Roger the shocking truth. Meanwhile, Roger himself had got intimate photos of Ross and Blake but, to Holly's dismay, he refused to publish them. However, after another argument with Blake, an angry Holly had enough and so she took the photos from Roger's desk and secretly gave them to the National Inquisitor. Not long after, Blake claimed that Ross had left her but Holly didn't believe her and convinced Roger to test Blake. Roger did so and Holly was amused when Blake broke into Leo's office to steal forged evidence against Leo to help Ross.

Unfortunately, to Holly's dismay, the forged evidence damaged Leo's image and Ross became new senator. Not long after, Blake showed up to celebrate Holly's birthday (the only one who could be bothered) but they got into another argument and Holly ruined everything by regretting that she had given birth to Blake. Depressed, Holly regretted her words after Blake left, she celebrated alone with champagne. She also took pills for her migraines and, while dazed, she spoke a few times on Roger's answering machine and collapsed. Luckily Roger and Ed arrived and saved her. By 1993, Holly began neglecting her job and, to Roger's dismay, she agreed to Gilly's suggestion to represent her. At this time, Roger had plans to expose Spaulding because Brandon Spaulding had apparently once set up Jenna Bradshaw's father and after learning about this from Henry, Holly tried to stop Roger. Unfortunately, Roger fired her instead and Gilly immediately stepped in to take Holly's job.

Depressed since her job was all she had, Holly found comfort in befriending Ed's pre-teen daughter, Michelle after the death of her mother, Maureen. As she blamed Ed for her mother's death, Michelle turned to Holly as her adult ally, while Holly, unable to repair her own troubled relationship with Blake saw Michelle as her second chance to succeed at parenting and she overcame her depression. Later, Holly sold her WSPR shares to Jenna Bradshaw by convincing Jenna it would be the perfect opportunity for her to keep an eye on Roger. Later, on Independence Day, Holly and Michelle went to wander in the hills and when Roger followed them, Holly didn't allow him to stay at her hill cabin but only gave him a pillow to sleep in his car. Unfortunately, Roger's crazed business associate, John Davis, whom Roger owed money, followed as well and kidnapped Holly. In another room, Michelle (who had no idea about Davis' existence yet) phoned Ed. She told him about Roger being there and Holly told Ed to come. Holly then sent messages to. When Davis suddenly attempted to rape Holly to see why Roger was so crazy about her, Roger and Ed teamed up to save Holly and Michelle, with Davis falling to his death (after Roger punched him) and Roger saving Ed when Davis tried to drag Ed with him. When Ed and Michelle left, Holly was touched by Roger's sensibility and reminded of their youthful years together, so she made love to him for the first time since the rape years ago.

The following day, Holly refused Roger's marriage proposal because she disapproved of his schemes to gain power at Spaulding. Afterwards, a drunken Roger promptly told Ed about his and Holly's night together at Ed's party that was organized by Holly. As a result, Ed punched Roger and rejected Holly because she earlier had denied sleeping with Roger. Although she lost Ed, Holly was able to made up with Blake. Then, one night, Holly went home and was shocked to find Roger inside. He claimed that they still belonged together but a panicked Holly thought otherwise and they got into a fight. Roger threw her onto the couch but when Holly made it clear that she no longer loved him, Roger left. He then married Jenna and they took over Spaulding.

At this point, Holly wanted to win Ed back and Blake supported her. Unfortunately, Ed was in love with Dr. Eve Guthrie and Holly and Michelle caught them kissing in the Bauer kitchen. When Holly learned from Mindy of Eve's mental problems, she jealously spread lies about Eve, mainly that she was danger to Michelle. However, after Ed made it clear that he only considered her an old friend and she should get out of his life, a devastated Holly realized she had definitely lost Ed. Meanwhile, Roger had a confrontation with a collection of his enemies at the Country Club and was shot on the same evening. At the crime scene, the police discovered a bloody watch that Holly recognized as one she had given Roger once, so Roger was presumed dead. Soon Holly became afraid in her own house after someone rummaged through her things, turned the radio on and broke her picture frame that contained a photo of her and Ed. Frightened, Holly blamed Eve, and bought a gun for safety and let Frank install an alarm system. In addition, she wanted Ross to get a restraining order against Eve and soon Ed himself started to distrust Eve. Finally, Ed left Eve and Eve confronted Holly and blamed her for her problems. A panicked Holly closed the door but Eve broke inside anyway and since Holly's gun was gone, she thought that Eve had stolen it. To Holly's relief, Ed arrived and overpowered Eve. On Christmas Eve Roger suddenly appeared in Holly's living room delirious with fever. He collapsed and Holly tended to his wounds and realized that Roger was responsible for all the bizarre things in her house.

When Blake arrived, Holly had no choice but to tell her the truth as well as to call Ed to help an unwilling Roger. So, in January 1994, Ed helped Roger but he also realized the truth and was mad at Holly and Blake for her false accusations against Eve. Ed then called the police but Roger escaped with Holly's car. Holly then regretted that she hadn't protected Roger better and wanted to find him, whereupon she went to Cedars and convinced Lillian to give her medicine for Roger. Eve caught them but Holly apologized to Eve and she let Holly go with the medicine. Not long after, Bridget told Holly that Roger was hiding at the Jessup farm and had asked her to inform Holly, so Holly rushed to Roger but didn't notice that Eve followed her. When Eve arrived, Roger forced her to remove the bullet from his chest and after Eve left, Holly and Roger grew closer. However, after a car arrived, they had to run away through the woods and ended up in the Bauer cabin. Unfortunately, Josh and Tangie Hill were already there, so Roger gave himself up and was arrested, while he protected Holly by lying that she was the one who called the police. Holly defended Roger to everyone and realized that he was no longer as bad as he was in the past although Roger was scheming to frame Billy for the shooting. Although Holly didn't succeed in convincing Alex to drop her fraud charges against Roger, Roger finally made a deal with Alex anyway and got free, whereupon he and Holly slept together and reunited. Afterwards, Alexandra informed Holly that she and Roger slept together. Distraught, Holly went to Fletcher and the two wound up making love.

In January 1995, Holly was shocked to learn that Roger didn't cheat on her after all but that it was all a plot of Alex to get revenge on Roger. So she apologized to Roger and wanted to make up for everything. Unfortunately, although reunited with Roger, Holly still had feelings for Fletcher and began to date him in secret. Soon Roger realized that Holly was cheating on him but he didn't know the identity of the man. Although Holly ultimately chose Roger over Fletcher, Roger still wanted to learn the man's identity. He typed a message as "your lover" to Holly and told her to meet "him" at the Country Club during the awards. During the party, where the Journal got the main award, Roger waited on the balcony and Fletcher (who had plans to tell Roger the truth despite Holly's protests) told Roger everything, while Holly secretly watched. After Fletcher left, Holly realized that Roger set her up and confronted him and left Roger because of his mistrust. Now free to be with Fletcher, Holly had to deal with the fact that Fletcher had left the Journal to avoid Holly. Holly followed him on a fishing trip and confessed her love for him but Fletcher told her to leave him alone. When he finally returned home, Holly got him to return to the Journal by agreeing to temporarily leave it herself. During a gala, which was organized for the victims of the 5th Street fire, Fletcher got drunk and publicly told Holly from the balcony of the Journal that he could offer her honesty and respect, something that Roger couldn't give her.

Though Roger wanted to take Holly home, she went to Fletcher instead and embraced him in front of everyone. Soon after, Holly shocked Fletcher by proposing. Although Fletcher accepted, he was dismayed that Holly wanted their engagement to be kept a secret for a while, especially from Roger. But he accepted her decision and they staged many arguments and a separation. During the ceremony at the Bauer house, as Holly and Fletcher were about to exchange vows, Roger arrived. After Holly informed Roger that there was nothing he could do to stop her from marrying Fletcher, Roger let her go and Holly and Fletcher became husband and wife.

Soon after, Holly was shocked to learn from Dr. Margaret Sedwick that she was pregnant. Although Holly was confused since Fletcher had had a vasectomy years ago, Margaret told her that the vasectomy hadn't worked. However, Fletcher didn't believe Margaret and thought that Roger was the baby's father instead. So he stormed Roger's apartment but Roger got the upper hand and would have even strangled Fletcher if Holly hadn't stopped him. However, an amused Roger let Fletcher believe that he was the father by lying that he had sex with Holly. As a result, a furious Holly realized Roger's manipulative nature and realized that Roger had only staged the accident to win her back. She hated Roger for this and had a hard time to finally convince Fletcher of his paternity. The following day, Roger apologized to Holly but insisted that Fletcher was the wrong man for her. He kissed Holly and only left when Holly provoked him to rape her again. Meanwhile, Roger was about to marry Dinah and after pleading from Fletcher and especially Vanessa, Holly talked to Dinah and warned her but Dinah didn't listen. Not long after, Holly was examined again by Margaret and she and Fletcher were shocked to learn that her unborn baby-girl would have an extra chromosome which would result in her having Down-Syndrome, a genetic disorder. Holly thought about having an abortion but ultimately decided to have the baby.

In 1996, Holly and Fletcher got another shock when they were told that their baby would have a hole in the heart and would need surgery immediately after her birth. In May, Holly gave birth to Marguerite "Meg" Meredith and the surgery went well. Though initially hesitant to see Meg, fearing her competency as a mother, she soon embraced being a mother to Meg. In 1997, Holly softened toward Roger out of concern for Blake who was hiding the fact that her twin boys had different fathers. Although Blake initially only told Holly about her indiscretion, the news became public when one of her sons, Kevin, needed an operation. With the shocking revelation, Holly's relationship with Fletcher became strained since he was angry she never told him. Although she tried in vain to get Ross to forgive Blake for her affair, he refused. Meanwhile, although Roger was engaged to marry Amanda Spaulding, it was obvious that he still had feelings for Holly; especially when he gave her a passionate kiss!

Although Holly rebuffed his advances, it was clear that she was rattled. Roger and Holly's closeness didn't go unnoticed by Fletcher either, who after seeing Roger give Holly a "grandmother's" ring, asked Holly point blank if something was going on between them. Although she denied it, Fletcher realized that Roger and Holly still had a connection. In early 1998, Holly gave up a kidney to transplant into Vanessa's baby daughter, Maureen. Throughout this time, Fletcher had been trying to convince Holly to move with him to Toronto so that Meg could go to a special school and was annoyed that she kept finding excuses to stay in Springfield (and near Roger). At the same time, Roger and Amanda Spaulding were still planning to marry and move to California but Roger gave Holly the ultimatum to choose him and he won't marry Amanda. A confused Holly turned down Roger's offer but not before Fletcher caught them in an embrace. Realizing she truly loved Roger, Holly went after him only to find that he had already married Amanda. Fletcher then left town with Meg, refusing to tell Holly where they were. Though Ross tried to help Holly locate her daughter, it was obvious that Fletcher was deep in hiding.

As a result of Fletcher's leaving and taking Meg, Holly turned to alcohol to ease her pain. She also formed an unlikely attachment to Maureen, unnerving Matt Reardon when she called the baby "Meg." Unfortunately, Holly's drinking problem was getting worse and not going unnoticed. While still in despair over having lost her daughter, Holly was shocked by the sudden arrival of her brother, Ken, who'd been in an institution for decades. After getting confirmation that Ken had been released from the hospital and hadn't escaped, Holly shared a warm moment with Ken and decided to let him stay with her. However, it became clear to Ken that Holly was in utter despair over the breakup of her marriage. Not wanting to see his sister destroy herself, he attempted to help Holly overcome her drinking problem (which had gotten so bad that Rick Bauer threatened to sue for custody of Kevin Marler) getting through to her by reminding her to do it for her daughters if not herself. As Holly was appearing to get her life together, several strange occurrences were happening in Springfield. Harley Cooper was given a gift basket which contained a poisoned apple and Vanessa Reardon found herself bit by a poisonous spider. When each instance came with a nursery rhyme, it became clear that Springfield had a "Nursery Rhyme Stalker" who was targeting Springfield mothers.

Meanwhile, Holly continued to share her problems with her brother, who regretted not being around to protect her the way he did when they were younger. Still thinking that Ken must have been the one who helped Blake get the tape, Ben went to confront him and found herbicide in Holly's basement. The herbicides lead Ben to conclude that Ken was the one who's been stalking various people in Springfield, the one the police dubbed "The Nursery Rhyme Stalker". Just then, Holly walked in, stunned to find Ben accusing her brother of being the nursery rhyme stalker, and threw Ben out. Holly and Ken became closer as they tried to protect each other. Not long after, an attempt was made on Ben's life. Luckily, Blake saved a poisoned Ben from drowning in his bathtub and took him to the hospital where he told Detectives Teri DeMarco and Frank Cooper that he believed that Ken Norris was the stalker. Despite Holly's frantic protests, Teri and Frank planned to search for a missing Ken to see if he was indeed the Nursery Rhyme Stalker. Holly begged Ben to defend her brother. While under its influence, Ken incriminated himself by saying he couldn't stop the stalking attacks, causing Holly to become hysterical when Ken wondered if maybe he was responsible. Though Ross assured Holly that what Ken said wasn't admissible in court, Ken was looking more and more guilty.

Finally, Ken revealed to Holly his secret—he saw her videotapes and learned that she was the stalker. Understanding, he promised to keep her secret since he believed that her confession was a cry for help. About this time, Holly became even more unglued when Jenna Bradshaw accidentally lost Lizzie Spaulding and Marina Cooper and started stalking her! Though Jenna uncovered Holly's secret (after finding a nursery rhyme immediately after a visit from Holly), their argument was overheard by Jenna's dangerous ex-lover, Jeffrey Morgan. Upon learning that he was the father of her child, Jeffrey kidnapped Jenna and made plans to kidnap his son, however his plans were derailed when Jenna purposely crashed their car, causing both of their deaths. Not long after, in 1999, after arguing with Blake about her relationship with Ben, Holly became so unhinged that she finally went into stalker mode with her own daughter, ripping her clothes to shreds! Upon Blake realizing that Holly was the Nursery Rhyme Stalker, Ben walked in and although Blake tried to cover, she broke down and confessed the truth to Ben. Not wanting to send her mother to jail, Blake kept quiet about the incident and convinced Holly to go to a rehab center for treatment.

Unfortunately, unknown to Blake, a vengeful Ben was set out locking Holly away for good and arranged for her to be committed to a harsher facility. Soon after, Holly escaped from the mental hospital and Ben convinced Blake that they had to go to the police and tell them that Holly was the stalker. However, when Blake was reluctant, Ben went ahead and told the police! Blake was furious until she discovered that her children were gone. At the same time, Holly showed up at the diner and told Ken that she needed his help—she kidnapped her grandchildren! when Blake learned that the children were gone, she realized what happened and went on television to plead with Holly to return home. When Ken saw the news, he insisted that Holly watch the heart-felt entreaty from her daughter. Clearly affected, Holly informed to kids that they were going home, but to Ken's consternation and worry, he discovered that Holly had no intention of returning the children at all. However, Holly was discovered by Annie Dutton who alerted Shayne's mother, Reva. Reva then saved the children and prevented Holly from falling from a bridge and committing suicide and when both were in danger of falling, Josh Lewis saved them. With Ross and Blake's help, Holly was sent to a mental hospital for treatment. Although she was initially on a "suicide watch" she started to recover with the help of hydro-therapy. Though Holly had hope of reuniting with Fletcher after he and Meg visited her, she was heartbroken to learn that he had feelings for Meg's teacher, Kate. Although Fletcher professed his love for her offered to go back to Holly, she realized that she wasn't good for Meg and ordered Fletcher out of her life.

After being released from the hospital, Holly tried to put her life back together again, Holly became smitten with a cowboy named Sam who came to the Jessup farm looking for work, although Blake suspected that he was after the deceased Hart Jessup's money. Holly slowly began to trust Sam who was very kind and attentive toward her. In the meantime, she was becoming closer to Ross as well, calling him the best friend she ever had. Although she planned to sell the paper, after Sam asked her why she'd want to sell something she loved, she had a change of heart. However, Blake was unimpressed with Sam and asked Ross to investigate him, which he refused to do after Holly asked him not to. However, Blake wouldn't leave it alone and did some snooping of her own. Unfortunately, Sam later realized someone was looking through his things and accused Holly. Soon they realized that it was Blake. Holly then admitted to Sam that she had feelings for him, and that the only reason she led Sam to believe she was seeing Ross was because she was nervous. Sam claimed she was right to be nervous, and revealed that he killed a man! He then revealed that he'd been charged with voluntary manslaughter, and it's a crime he'd commit again. He stated that he saw a young woman being beaten by her boyfriend. Sam struck the man, who died as a result. Sam was about to leave when Holly stopped him and told him about her own crimes. She also offered to help clear Sam's name. Soon the two became close, and Holly was arrested for violating her probation - getting involved with another convict.

In court, Holly was threatened with jail time when she refused to give the name of the man she was seeing, but is saved when Sam suddenly appeared and admitted that it was him. When Holly maintained that she was attempting to clear Sam's name, the judge allowed her, on the condition that Ross act as a chaperone. The judge also stipulated that if Sam was found innocent, Holly would serve no jail time. Weeks later, Holly was dismayed to receive a goodbye letter from Sam and rushed out to the Jessup farm to see him. Later, Holly and Cassie are shocked to discover that Sam robbed Cassie and left town! Alone again, Holly found herself leaning on a divorced Ross again for friendship and their relationship started blossoming, especially since Blake had supposedly run off with another man, whom she identified as her friend, Joe. Later, both Holly and Ross were shocked when Blake turned up in Springfield pregnant! Claiming to have gotten pregnant by Joe, who she claimed abandoned her. Blake accepted Ross's offer to take care of her and her unborn child, but her relationship with Holly became tense since she was jealous over Holly's supposed relationship with Ross. Sensing that the living arrangement wasn't working since he had feelings for both Holly and Blake, Ross made plans for an extended stay in Philadelphia, with Holly. Not long after, Ross came face to face with the man he believed was the father of Blake's baby and was shocked when Joe denied being the baby's father. Then Holly discovered that the manuscripts she had been receiving from Darlena LaCross were actually from Blake. Putting tow and two together, Holly figured out that the fictional romance novel was based on fact and realized that Blake was pregnant with Ross's child. It turned out she was right and Ross and Blake reunited, leaving Holly alone again.

In 2000, Holly bought back WSPR from Vanessa and Billy began unexpectedly pursuing her. Though Holly tried to steer him away by reminding him of her recent mental problems, Billy reminded her that his past wasn't exactly rosy either. They dated but when Billy tried to convince Holly to go on a real date, Holly rejected him and just wanted to be friends for now. Soon Billy and Holly grew closer and when Holly stated that she didn't believe in romance, Billy successfully feigned disinterest in their relationship in order to prove her wrong. Despite herself, Holly found herself liking the attention, and feigned an interest in fishing in order to get Billy impressed with her. Despite her lack of fishing skills, she and Billy grew closer on the trip. Later, during the collapse of a construction site where Josh was badly injured, Billy was so distressed that he considered drinking again. Holly calmed and comforted him but since she remained unreceptive, Billy gave Holly some time and told her to call him when she was ready to be happy.

In 2001, Holly found herself being pursued by Buzz Cooper. Soon, Billy returned and Holly found herself caught in the middle when Billy and Buzz vied for her affections. Both men were fighting for Holly's affection, including challenging each other to a hot-pepper eating contest. One day, when Holly told Billy about her night with Buzz, Billy, noticing Holly's discomfort, Billy agreed to back off and give her some space. But he was still in love with Holly and when he overheard Holly and Buzz discussing the details of their trip to Moon Lake, Billy convinced Buzz to go with her to Las Vegas instead. Then Billy lied to Holly about Buzz's old gambling problems to separate the couple. However, Holly and Buzz realized Billy's plans and stayed together anyway while Buzz exacted his revenge on Billy by ordering a basket of manure to be delivered to him. Finally noticing Holly's discomfort, Billy let her off the hook and told her that if Buzz made her happy, she should see him. Though she initially resisted Buzz's efforts, in time his charms wore on her and they began a relationship. Similar to the relationship with Billy, Holly seemed hesitant to go forward in any real romance with Buzz. They became a de facto couple for a year or so. Though they became closer when Holly persuaded Buzz to visit his children in England, they never truly defined their feelings for each other. Meanwhile, in early 2002, Holly found herself caught in the middle again when she suspected that Ross was having an affair with his student, Tory Granger. To her utter shock, Ross admitted it and asked her to keep it a secret since he swore it was a one time thing. Although she disapproved at first, when it appeared as if Tory committed suicide, it was Holly who pleaded with Ross to keep the affair a secret.

Later, Holly found herself drawn into the Bauer family again when Rick became seriously ill and Michelle sought Holly's help in finding Ed. Although Holly was unsuccessful, Michelle's husband, Danny, located Ed and got him out of Africa. When Ed returned to town that summer, Holly was thrown for a loop. She had never truly gotten over Ed and for the first time was seeing him in a light which did not involve Roger. Noticing that Ed was shell-shocked about his sudden return to Springfield after 4 years, Holly befriended him. When Ed confided in Holly that he didn't know what to do now that he was back, but said that he'd like to open a free clinic, she encouraged him to find space on 5th Street. Within a few months, Buzz saw the handwriting on the wall and asked Holly where they stood. Unable to answer, Holly went to talk to Ross and found Ed. After Ed told her that he was not the same reliable man he once was, Holly surprised him with a kiss. Realizing that his relationship with Holly was going nowhere past friendship, Buzz told Holly they would be better off as friends. Though Holly regretted it, she agreed. Soon after Holly rekindled her flame with Ed, someone began stalking Reva.

In early 2003, Holly came under suspicion as being Reva's stalker after she was found outside the Lewis home. Holly maintained that she was there to drop off Reva's dry cleaning as a favor. Unfortunately no note was found and the police believed she was spying on the Lewis family. Though many, including Blake and Michelle believed that the stress of working at WSPR might have caused Holly to snap again, both Ed and even Reva believed in her innocence. Later when Reva went on WSPR to smoke out her stalker, Holly, who'd since been suspended by the station's board of directors, volunteered to stay and produce the show after the current producer quit after a bomb scare. Since she was in the audience during the bomb scare, Holly was cleared. Told by some that she should sue the Lewis' for damaging her good name, Holly refused to go that route and instead resumed her friendship with Reva. In 2004, Holly's relationship with Ed unexpectedly cooled when he stopped calling her. Having heard that he was under a great deal of stress, Holly decided to give him his space, since she knew what it was like to need to be alone. In late February, however, she was pleasantly surprised to see Ed at Company. No longer looking like the tortured soul she'd heard about, Ed apologized for shutting himself off and not calling her. To his surprise, Holly was remarkably understanding, and, touched by her understanding, he promised to call her. However, a few months later, Ed would receive an offer to work in Africa again and left Springfield and Holly behind.

Later that year, Holly and Blake received unexpected news from a man named Sebastian Hulce--Roger had died from a lengthy illness. Although a shocked and saddened Blake immediately believed him, Holly was more skeptical. However, Sebastian was able to offer proof--Roger's ashes. He then revealed another secret--he was Roger's long lost son. He then told the pair that he had come to town to finish what Roger started and needed both their help. To verify Sebastian's claim, Holly ran a DNA test (using a lock of hair she got from Sebastian's jacket) and learned that he was telling the truth. Although she feigned disinterest, it was clear that she was deeply affected by Roger's death. Later, Sebastian asked both Blake and Holly to take a trip with him to celebrate Roger's life. Although Holly declined, Blake immediately accepted the offer. However, Holly couldn't get Sebastian's offer out of her head, since he promised her that this trip would provide her with closure. Anxious to put to rest the spectre of Roger Thorpe, whom she couldn't get out of her head, Holly had a change of heart and agreed to go along. Although Blake was an unexpected no-show, Sebastian and Holly departed with Michelle Bauer and stowed away Tony Santos to Santo Domingo. Soon they arrived at their destination which Holly was unnerved to learn was the same hotel were Roger kidnapped her years earlier. When she spotted a waiter who resembled Roger, she became unglued, but was quickly calmed down by Sebastian.

Later, Sebastian took her through a series of caves to Roger's last retreat, a bunker-like Spanish villa on a deserted island. Although she was afraid and wondered if Roger was perhaps still alive, she eventually was able to get over the horrors of her past and feel close to Roger and find closure. Just when Holly was ready to retrieve Roger's treasure and leave, she discovered that Sebastian had his own agenda--he was dying and would not release her until Ed Bauer, Roger's greatest enemy, arrived to cure him. With that announcement, he locked a horrified Holly in a cell down in the caves. Over the next several days, Holly begged Sebastian to let her go, but he refused. Over the course of weeks, Holly tried to escape but to no avail. In addition, depite herself, she found herself drawn to Sebastian's vuneralbilty.

Michelle would arrive to rescue Holly, only to be taken prisoner herself. When Sebastian demanded that she get in touch with Ed, she refused unless he rescued Tony who had been bitten by a poisonous spider and was lying delirious in the jungle. Sebastian complied, only to have Michelle double-cross him by calling Danny instead of Ed. Furious, he imprisoned all of them and threatened to kill them. Finally, Michelle persuaded Sebastian to let her create the formula. However, by this point, Sebastian was becoming increasingly more paranoid and violent as he was getting sicker and he refused. Though Holly convinced him to let Michelle try, it turned out to be a trap with Michelle concocting a drug to knock Sebastian out. Luckily for him, Holly warned him before he took it. Betrayed, Sebastian was ready to kill all of them, even though Tony was willing to find Ed himself. Though he was against it at first, Holly convinced Sebastian to let Tony try. In 2005, the cure was found, only after a volatile Sebastian claimed another hostage--Danny. When an increasingly paranoid Sebastian was unwilling to try the antidote thinking it was a trick, he ordered Danny to do it. Danny agreed, only if he released Holly and Michelle. When Sebastian balked at that, Michelle tried the antidote herself. Finally cured, Sebastian released the hostages but Holly stayed behind to say a final goodbye to Sebastian. Unfortunately, he wasn't finished with her yet. Then alone with her on the helicopter, Sebastian made a convincing argument for why they should be together but Holly ultimately resisted temptation and insisted on returning home. However, Sebastian wasn't taking no for an answer and kissed her hard, only to be pushed back by Holly so forcefully, he that he fell out of the helicopter.

Her ordeal over, a horrified Holly returned to Springfield, eager to put the whole experience behind her. Although she told Blake and Ross parts of what happened, she neglected to tell them Sebastian's true fate, implying that he died of the disease. Although a grieving Blake was anxious for more information on how Sebastian died, a distressed Holly was unwilling to answer. The stress of what had happened started gnawing on Holly and she started having nightmares and imagined seeing Sebastian everywhere. Finally, a shaken Holly revealed her secret to Ross who assured her that the death was self-defense and told her that she could count on him to support her. But as the weeks went by, Holly became more and more distressed. Finally, after receiving a mysterious package, Holly is shocked to come face to face with the real Sebastian! Holly was certain that he'd come for revenge, but he surprised her by revealing that he was now a cured, and changed man and wanted to start a new life for himself in Springfield. He then surprised her by telling no one, not even Blake, how he'd almost died at Holly's hands. Although Holly and Sebastian agreed it would be best for them to stay away from each other, Holly felt pangs of jealousy when she saw Sebastian speaking with Beth. Holly then surprised Sebastian by offering to do a story on him, about how a man could change. Although she claimed her interest was strictly professional, neither Sebastian nor Beth were so sure. A few months later, with Holly's help, Sebastian tried to get his new boss, Alan Spaulding, to loosen up and they all headed to a bar for a game of pool. Alan did unwind and in the process, flirted with Holly, much to Sebastian's chagrin. Later, at a small Spaulding function, Holly accepted a business deal with Alan and used the opportunity to make Sebastian jealous. Not long after, Holly's relationship with Sebastian abruptly ended when Sebastian, who made things worse for himself with his revenge plans against Alan, fled town for parts unknown.

In 2006, Holly received startling news: the plane Ross was traveling home on crashed. According to the FAA there were no survivors and no bodies to recover. In addition to providing support to Blake, Holly gave a moving eulogy to Ross about how good of a friend he'd been to her. Soon after, Holly left town and traveled to Europe with her grandsons, presumably visiting her mother, Barbara. Holly returned to Springfield, along with her grandchildren, in May 2007, not long before Blake came out of her coma. Holly left (offscreen) that summer, presumably selling her house to live with her mother, Barbara. Not long after, it was learned that Barbara had died.

In 2009, Holly returned to Springfield for a brief visit with Blake. While there, she counseled Olivia on love. She also caught up with Ed and informed him that she was very happy with her life. Less than a month later, Ed showed up at Holly's door and invited her to go away with him on a trip around the world. Without much hesitation, Holly accepted.