The Young and the Restless spoilers: Diane’s big selfless act stuns the Abbotts?

You’d think that once The Young and the Restless’ Diane (Susan Walters) allowed herself to be publicly berated by Jack (Peter Bergman) in a scheme to lure Kyle (Michael Mealor) away from Victor (Eric Braeden), that Kyle would realize she truly loves and cares about him. However, Diane’s move only seemed to slightly thaw the humongous iceberg between the mother and son. Even after Diane stepped down from being the co-CEO of Jabot so Kyle could step back into the role, Kyle still hasn’t made much progress in reconciling with her.

That brings us to The Young and the Restless episode airing on December 18. A few conversations occur that may foreshadow what’s to come of the relationship between Kyle and Diane.

Jack has a conversation with Traci (Beth Maitland) about his latest falling out with Billy (Jason Thompson) before pivoting to his concern that Kyle will continue holding onto resentment for Diane and miss precious time with his mother. Jack will recall the years he spent resenting his own mother and won’t want that for his son as Jack regrets the missed time with Dina (Marla Adams).

Then at Society, Kyle and Claire (Hayley Erin) talk about her first day at Chancellor. As he showers her with compliments, she’ll make note of his mood. He won’t want to ruin their date, but she convinces him to share what’s on his mind as they’re a couple (yep, the two are officially boyfriend and girlfriend).

He tells Claire about his inability to trust Diane, fearful she’s not changed and always working an angle. Claire is adamant in her belief that Diane is being sincere in wanting to rebuild her relationship with him. Kyle is left to do some more thinking.

The final conversation that may provide insight into what could happened to Kyle and Diane occurs at Crimson Lights between Diane and Esther (Kate Linder). Esther notices Diane is a bit melancholy and gets her to open up about her problems. Diane shares and Esther in turn suggests Diane makes a personal sacrifice to prove herself to Kyle.

With all that being said, let’s focus on the “personal sacrifice.” It looks like Diane may be gearing up to make a grand gesture to win back her son, but what could that possibly be?

One theory we have is that Diane may move out of the Abbott Mansion. Kyle has repeatedly noted that he needs time in trying to sort out his feelings for his mom, so perhaps she’ll move out of the Abbott family home to give her son that. The act would certainly come at a sacrifice for Diane who is married to Jack and would likely want to be under the same roof as her husband.

Another theory we have about Diane’s big sacrifice is that she doesn’t move out of the Abbott Mansion, but instead quits all things Jabot. Much of her issues with Kyle came to a head at Jabot. Although she’s no longer his boss, her presence in the office still is a sore spot for him. So perhaps she’ll seek a job elsewhere temporarily until she and Kyle can get on better footing. Out of the companies in Genoa City, she may find a role at Winters or Cassidy First.

Now our last theory piggybacks on Jack’s feelings of regret when it comes to Dina. Again, he mentions how he wishes he hadn’t let so much time go by before forgiving his mom, as she’s no longer here. Could it be possible that Diane’s big sacrifice isn’t necessarily intentional?

We can imagine that as Jordan (Colleen Zenk) and Ian’s (Ray Wise) plot continues to develop and Claire finds herself in trouble, she’ll need help. While we initially thought Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and/or Cole (J. Eddie Peck) would come to her rescue, perhaps Diane becomes Claire’s hero, putting her own life at risk to help her son's girlfriend. If Diane is hurt and hospitalized trying to save Claire, it may provide Kyle with a big wake-up call that he may not always have time to repair things with his mom. (Saving Claire could also prove to Nikki [Melody Thomas Scott] that Diane isn’t evil to the core.)

So what do you think? Is forgiveness finally on the horizon for the Abbotts in 2025?

New episodes of The Young and the Restless air on weekdays on CBS. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Paramount Plus.