'My Poor Babies!' Felon Teresa's Daughters 'Lost' After Parents' Conviction
Jul. 11 2016, Updated 11:04 a.m. ET
She's back! Teresa Giudice finally returned to the small screen after her prison stint on the season premiere of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. And although she insisted she was back for good and ready to be a full-time mom to her daughters again, it was clear her conviction, and that of husband Joe, had already taken a massive toll on the family.
Joe, 44, was seen struggling with his role as a single dad to Gia, 15, Gabriella, 11, Milania, 10, and Audriana, 6. (He's since started his own four-year stint in prison at Fort Dix.)
"They think they're the boss of me, bossing me around," Joe fumed in one scene.
"It's like literally being married to five women!"
Luckily, mama bear Teresa, 44, soon returned, but the family's tearful reunion was marred by fears of how her year-long absence had affected her daughters.
"My boor babies," Teresa sobbed. "I know they felt, like, lost."
But she insisted, "I was very naive," to get caught up in the mortgage fraud scandal that landed her and her husband in jail.
"I've learned my lesson," she said in a confessional. "I'm not going to make the same mistake twice."
Meanwile, viewers got some comic relief in the form of cast newbie Siggy Flicker, who was seen bragging about her plastic surgery at a Christmas bash with the other housewives.
"I can't move my face!" she bragged, explaining she had gotten a "vampire facelift."
"They cut your ear and they lift up here…" she explained, pantomiming the surgery. "I was wrapped up like a mummy. I don't care!"
Flicker and the other housewives shared a heartfelt toast at the gathering in honor of Teresa's return, but how long will the good feelings last? Stay tuned!