Jersey Shore: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro Says 'Making It Work' with Jen Harley Is 'Best for the Baby'

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro only wants what’s best for his child.

On Thursday’s episode of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, Ronnie returned from his 30-day stint in rehab with a new outlook on life — but he still hadn’t closed the door on his relationship with Jen Harley, mother to his 16-month-old daughter Ariana Sky.

“When I looked at myself before, there was shame, there was regret, there was resentment,” he said. “Me going to get help doesn’t mean that I beat this, I’m going to fight it every day for the rest of my life. At first it might be a struggle, but I’m going to make anything work for my daughter.”

Vinny Guadagnino and Pauly “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio were glad to see that Ronnie had turned a new page, but they still had serious concerns about his relationship with Jen. (The two have a well-documented history of alleged abuse on both sides.)

“First impression of Ronnie is it’s a new Ronnie. New spirit, new clothes, new teeth,” said Vinny. “Ronnie is in a good place. He looks good and he sounds good. Unfortunately, Jen is 50 percent of his problem, so he still has that addiction that he’s battling with.”

“Every time Ron and Jen are back together, I am disappointed about it,” he continued. “Because I know exactly where that’s going to lead: TMZ.”

RELATED: Why Jersey Shore‘s Ronnie Ortiz-Magro Checked Into Rehab — I Was ‘Tired of the Chaos in My Life’

And surprise, surprise — they did end up getting back together.

“Um, you know, it’s crazy, but right now me and Jen are together. Making it work is the best for the baby, but I also feel like it’s just best for each other,” Ronnie explained. “We keep fighting for something, so there’s got to be something there. And it’s not the baby, because people raise kids without each other all the time. So it’s got to be something deeper.”

They were also planning their daughter’s first birthday party, and Ronnie was excited for his roomies to see that he and Jen were getting along and putting their differences aside for the sake of the baby.

But there was one person he had to sit down with one-on-one before the festivities: Jenni “JWoww” Farley. Things had been tense between the two for months, and Jenni wasn’t happy with Ronnie for taking her estranged husband Rogers Mathews’ side by liking some of his Instagram posts about their ongoing divorce.

“Ronnie taking Roger’s side is the most hurtful part,” she said. “Know my side before you make a decision on what side you want to be on.”

They ended up hashing things out, and Ronnie promised to always have her back.

“Roger has always been good to me. But Jenni is my sister,” he explained. “She was going through some stuff, I was going through some stuff, and we just weren’t really helping each other and that’s what we should have been doing.”

“Ronnie is my brother, so I don’t want to be at odds with him,” added Jenni. “I love him to death. I just want him to be how he used to be.”

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation airs Thursdays (8 p.m. ET) on MTV.

from PEOPLE.com https://people.com/tv/jersey-shore-why-ronnie-ortiz-magro-back-together-jen-harley/