‘Teen Mom’s Leah Messer Recruits Ex Corey Simms for Tough Conversation With Daughter Ali — and It’s Heartbreaking

Teen Mom: The Next Chapter is keeping the tears coming this season. Leah Messer is having a tough time getting through to daughter Ali about her muscular dystrophy while Cheyenne Floyd navigates another health scare with Ryder. Meanwhile, our other Teen Mom stars are hitting some major milestones hard – whether they’re ready for them or not. Spoiler-filled recap ahead for Season 2, Episode 18 of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter “Just Going to the Party to Party.”

Corey Simms Helps Get Through to Ali

Let’s start with Leah, because she’s still really having a hard time impressing on Ali how important it is for her to use her wheelchair as the teen hits high school. Ali insists that she knows her body best and that she doesn’t need to use the wheelchair, but it’s getting heated. Even Ali’s twin Aleeah is getting involved as she begs her sister to think about her future.

“Your doctor even said you’re not supposed to because it can ruin your muscles,” she tells Ali. “What you do need to realize is that you do have muscular dystrophy. And if you do too much, it can be life-threatening.” She points out, “You know that you weren’t supposed to live to the age of 16 at first, right? And after our parents have followed the rules and have helped you, you are able to. If you continue to know what’s better for you, you’ll be able to live a healthy normal life.”

They’re not getting anywhere, and Leah realizes that she’s gonna need a united front to try and make headway with Ali, so she brings in the twins’ dad, her ex Corey Simms. Corey says he wishes they had implemented the wheelchair for Ali more when she was younger so it wouldn’t seem so foreign to her now, but he knows they have to lay down the law for Ali’s own good.

Corey says that while he and Leah are “proud” of Ali for how she’s handled her muscular dystrophy, “it takes one second for an accident to happen.” He tells her that she needs to follow what her parents say when it comes to using her wheelchair as a “tool,” saying, “If there’s a time that either one of us feel that there’s a time you need it, you’ll have to use it.” While Ali insists it’s “not fair,” Corey says that ultimately he and Leah have the final say on this.

“I understand it’s hard, but if there’s a time that you might not want to [use it] and we think you do, then that’s how it’s gonna be,” he explains, earning reluctant agreement from Ali. All of this is weighing so much on Leah, I really feel for her here. “I feel angry for her,” Leah tells the cameras later. “So I can’t imagine. If I feel angry and I feel pain for her as she’s trying to process this, I wonder how she really feels deep down inside.”

Ryder Has a Health Scare

I feel for Cheyenne too! Her 7-year-old daughter Ryder was diagnosed with VLCAD as a baby, and now that she’s getting older, she’s been complaining more about her chest and her joints. Cheyenne is worried that VLCAD could be triggering something with her heart — and she’s incredibly nervous when her latest EKGs come back with some irregular activity.

Ryder’s dad, Cory Wharton, has already dealt with his daughter Maya going through open heart surgery, so he knows just how daunting this all is for a little kid. Cheyenne nervously awaits the results of more testing throughout most of the episode, and while Ryder’s heart echo comes back with good news about the structure of the organ, there’s more testing to be done to rule out cardiac issues.

“How do I explain to my child that we’re trying to make sure that your heart is okay when I’m trying to convince myself that her heart is okay?” Cheyenne tells the cameras. “It’s nerve-racking and it has my anxiety through the roof. I don’t want to scare her, even though I’m scared.”

Mackenzie, Briana and Ashley Hit Major Milestones

Meanwhile, we have not one but two Teen Mom kids turning 13 — Mackenzie McKee’s son Gannon and Briana DeJesus’ daughter Nova. Mackenzie’s son goes to his first dance this episode, and I think his mom had pretty good advice for him, telling him to “respect girls” and not “kiss anyone.” Gannon has a great time, but Mackenzie is just worried about having a teen in this era and all the complications that come with it.

Briana, meanwhile, is hoping that Nova’s dad Devoin Austin can continue to show up for her and for her other daughter Stella, because she’s looking back at her own life at 13 and having some tough realizations. “I was having sex at the age of 13. And now I look at Nova and she’s 13 and I’m like, ‘This is a baby.’ What was I doing?” she tells the camera.

Finally, we have Ashley Jones. She’s been really leaning on her mom to help her with daughter Holly while estranged husband Bar Smith is in jail, but when her mom gets a job on a cruise, she’s a little scared for what this means for her life as a single mom.

There’s a lot on everyone’s plate this season — I feel for them all!

This article was adapted from the latest episode of PopCulture Social Call, streaming weekdays on PopCulture.com’s YouTube channel. You can now watch this episode, which is embedded in the above article.