Monday, December 05, 2005, Episode #4694

Eric calls Stephanie and asks why he wasn't told about Felicia's return. Stephanie tells him that she just found out last night and informs him that Felicia is staying in the guest house. Eric offers to call Felicia there, but Stephanie tells him to wait and informs him that their daughter is involved with a woman who is staying with her. Eric refuses to believe that Felicia is a lesbian. He thinks it's none of his business, anyway, so he won't even entertain the notion unless Felicia tells him herself. Go ahead and bury his head in the sand if he wants, Stephanie says as Felicia enters. Stephanie hands her youngest daughter the phone so she can talk to her "loving, kind, gentle and considerate" father. Eric tells Felicia how good it is to hear her voice, but he'd really like to see her in person. Since has no plans to come up to the house - it gives him hives, he quips - he asks her to come down to "the shop" to see him. Felicia says she had that very idea in mind, so she'll be down soon.

Stephanie and Sally both have offers for Felicia.
Felicia then joins Stephanie for breakfast. She says it seems odd not to have Helen around (which is funny, since the Forrester maid when Felicia was on the show was Maria, who went back to her homeland in 1995 to care for sick relatives. That paved the way for Maggie to become the Forrester maid. Helen didn't even appear until 1999. But I digress.) Stephanie thinks Felicia will like the new maid, Rosaria, who will be down with fresh towels soon. Felicia says that she and Renee are fine. Speaking of which, Stephanie again asks when she is going to meet Renee. Felicia tells her mom to forget about Renee, who is just her "assistant." Stephanie wants to know what Renee "assists" her with; Felicia has had enough, so she comments how Helen always had a way of making eggs and gets up from the table. She says she's going to see Eric now. As she turns to leave, Sally drops by the mansion to see Stephanie. Sally is pleased to see her old employee "Fifi" and offers Felicia a job. Stephanie informs her rival that Felicia already has an offer on the table with a company that's not on the verge of bankruptcy. Felicia thanks Sally for the offer, but she has to turn it down, since she's only here for a short visit. She tells Stephanie that she's going to Forrester now and reminds her mom of her promises to stay at least fifty yards from the beach house.

After Felicia leaves, Stephanie confides in Sally about the fifty yard rule. She admits that she's concerned about her youngest daughter staying with a woman. Stephanie then hands Sally the phone and asks her to call the guest house; when Sally says that she doesn't speak French, Stephanie tells Sally to use one of those phony French accents she often sports. Before Sally can even try, she tells Stephanie that the line is busy. Stephanie wonders who Renee might be talking to and wonders if the phone is off the hook. Just who is this Renee? Sally asks. Felicia says Renee is her "assistant," Stephanie replies, making air quotes around the word. And why don't they believe that? Sally asks. Stephanie says that she doesn't understand why Felicia is being so secretive about all this. There could be any number of reasons, Sally says, suggesting that Felicia and Renee might be business partners. She really can't see Felicia as a lesbian given Fifi's past with men like Nick Marone. Stephanie says that she's pushed her daughter away too many times over the years, so she doesn't want to see Felicia run away and head back to France. Sally reminds Stephanie of the fifty yard rule. Stephanie suggests that Renee might not know the phone is off the hook and suggests going to the guest house to tell her. While she doesn't have time to stay around now, Sally wants to hear all the details later.

Stephanie decides to ignore her daughter's demands (and Sally's advice) and quietly slips into the guest house. Finding the phone off the hook, she hangs it up and calls out for Renee, who comes out of the bedroom wearing a robe. Renee seems uncomfortable seeing Stephanie in the house. Stephanie explains that she's Felicia's mother. Renee says she knows who Stephanie is. Stephanie explains that she tried to call earlier and got a busy signal, so she came down to tell Renee about that. Now that she's here, she wonders if Renee would like to come up to the house and join her for breakfast. Renee thanks her but says that Stephanie shouldn't be here. Through the open bedroom door, Stephanie spots a crib; she walks past Renee into the bedroom and is shocked to see the crib up close, with a baby inside!

Darla gives Ridge some frosting.
Eric gathers Thorne, Brooke, Jackie, Ridge and Darla in his basement office, where they are all decorating for a party. Thorne looks around at the pink balloons, crepe paper, cake and punch and says that there's too much pink here. Eric doesn't think so. Darla agrees, reminding them that Nick and Bridget are having a baby girl. Jackie asks if this is a baby shower. Actually, he says, it's a party to celebrate Nick and Bridget getting back together. When he mentions that he's also invited Felicia, Ridge wonders if having Felicia come back is a bad idea because of her feelings for Nick. That's ancient history, the others agree. Besides, Eric says, everyone here is someone else's "ex-," so he doesn't think Felicia will feel out of place. As everyone talks about Felicia, Ridge takes advantage of the chance to rib Thorne about the lack of design talent on Stephanie's team and asks if Thorne intends to use Felicia to get a "real" designer for their side. Darla, who is frosting the cake, asks Ridge to taste some the frosting; as she holds out the spoon, she "accidentally" smudges frosting on Ridge's nose.

Nick and Bridget arrive for the party.
Soon after, the guests of honor arrive (although Nick is reluctant to let Bridget walk down the short flight of steps to the basement). They are shocked to see a room filled with pink and they join the assembled guests for a toast by Eric over some pink punch to sweet Bridget, who has risen to the challenge of motherhood, and to Nick, who has proved himself worthy of Eric's brilliant daughter.

Thorne greets Felicia.

As Eric mentions "my brilliant daughter," Felicia says she heard her cue and enters the room. She's stunned when she realizes that the party is actually for Nick and Bridget and grows uncomfortable. Eric greets Felicia and tells her that this party is for her, too. Ridge and Thorne come over to greet their sister; Ridge throws in a few more barbs about how Thorne could use Felicia's help to pull his and their mother's collective fat out of the fire, but Thorne thinks he can speak for himself. Eric asks Felicia if she feels up to this; Felicia says she's fine and cancer free. That's great, Bridget says, quoting statistics on the latest cancer survivor rates. Realizing she's gone a bit overboard, Bridget apologizes for the sudden attack of "intern's disease." Felicia apologizes for interrupting and wonders if she should go. Bridget tells her to stay; she says that Felicia is the real guest of honor, especially since the family is probably sick of the drama in her and Nick's lives after all their wedding attempts. Bridget then hugs Nick, who agrees that everyone here is glad to see Felicia.

Eric tells Jackie why Stephanie isn't here.
Jackie asks Eric where Stephanie is. He says he didn't invite her, reminding her that Stephanie has no family connection to Nick, Bridget or their child. Even if he and Stephanie are no longer married, Jackie reminds him, the emotional bonds are still hard to break. Ridge proposes a toast to Felicia, who everyone agrees should return home now. Ridge and Thorne trade some more barbs about Felicia stepping in to give Stephanie and her team a designer, but Eric stops them. Seriously, he says, this could be a chance to bring their family back together. Without anyone needing to have a heart attack, Ridge quips; when Felicia gives Ridge a look about that comment, Thorne says that she had to be there. Eric thanks Nick and Bridget for giving them this chance to pull everyone together. Felicia then listens as Nick starts to make a speech; as he thanks Bridget for making his dreams come true, Felicia starts to get emotional and bolts out of the room. She makes her way up to the floor where the executive offices are and pauses in the corridor, grabbing her stomach and bending over in intense pain. She takes out some pills from her purse and pops one, just as Stephanie finds her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Stephanie asks.

"Tell you what?" Felicia asks.

"Why didn't you tell me you have a baby?" Stephanie responds.