DWTS: Vanessa Lachey and Maks Chermkovskiy tear up after a rough week

Though the status of their partnership came into question last week after pro Maksim Chermkovskiy skipped their Oct. 2 performance, he and Vanessa Lachey presented a unified — and very teary-eyed — front on Monday’s Dancing With the Stars.

Chermkovskiy admitted that it was the first time he’s ever had a post-dance cry after he and Lachey performed a rumba that paid tribute to her third son. During her rehearsal package, Lachey recalled how her son with Nick Lachey was born at 29 weeks and how she told the doctors to worry about his health, not hers, while lying in the O.R.

“That’s the beauty of the dance,” said Lachey after the performance. “You feel it. It’s a beautiful week for all of us here. We put our hearts in these dances. That was for my family, and I’m so proud of it.��

When asked about his tears by host Tom Bergeron, Chermkovskiy admitted that his partner’s experience overwhelmed him with emotion. “We have a hard job getting these people ready for this emotional week,” he said. “We are people too. This got me completely out of my keel. I never cried before [a performance].”

“Our babies are like two weeks apart,” added Lachey of Chermkovskiy’s infant he had with fellow pro Peta Murgatroyd.

On Oct. 2, Chermkovskiy skipped the show due to a “personal issue,” leading a source to inform PEOPLE that he and Lachey had “a big chemistry issue.”

“They both have big personalities and that’s not always the best recipe for a good partnership,” the source said. Reps promised, however, that Chermkovskiy would return for tonight’s show.

Check back later for a full DWTS recap!