Wednesday, April 26, 2006, Episode #4794

Felicia frets about Bridget taking her son to Italy.

Christian drops by the Forrester mansion to check on Felicia, who is still upset about Bridget taking her son to Italy. He assures her that nothing will happen to her in a week, but she says that he can't know that for sure. She can't risk being apart from her son. Stephanie comes in and says that she faxed the guardianship papers to her lawyers, who promised to get back to her as soon as they can. Felicia asks if she told them it was an emergency, since Bridget and Dante will take Dominick to Italy tonight unless they do something. Stephanie assures her daughter that it's not going to happen. Even if she has to do something herself, she promises, no one will take Felicia's son out of the country.

Stephanie frets about the stress Felicia is under.

Christian takes Felicia back to the guest house. Stephanie is looking over the guardianship papers when Christian returns. She asks how Felicia is. Resting, he replies. Stephanie is glad, since the doctor seems to have a way with Felicia that she doesn't. Christian guesses that mother and daughter had their share of ups and downs. He could say that, Stephanie quips, wondering if he knows the gory details. He says that Felicia is grateful to her, but she admits that could have gone either way. But it didn't, Christian replies, and Felicia's future now looks bright. Looking at the guardianship papers, Stephanie just wishes that Felicia could be spared the stress of all this.

Christian offers some advice to Stephanie.

Christian asks Stephanie if she's upset with Bridget. Yes and No, she replies. Even though she knows Bridget has been through a lot, she thinks Bridget is being thoughtless and is doing it at Felicia's expense. Christian thinks it's a bit more complicated than that, given how much that little boy means to Bridget. Stephanie says that the document's pretty clear that Bridget only becomes the guardian if and when Felicia dies. Or if Felicia is no longer able to care for the child, Christian adds. But Felicia CAN care for him, Stephanie says, and she IS alive. Christian points out that while Bridget may not have any legal rights here, Dante does, as the father. Stephanie tells him that she'll worry about Dante. Christian points out that Dante and Bridget both love the baby. Stephanie says she knows that and appreciates it, but right now, her only concern is Felicia. She thinks Felicia needs that child with her as long as she's alive, so she intends to make sure that Dominick is there with his mother.

Brooke still can't open up to Nick.

A depressed Brooke is at home, flashing back to Ridge realizing what had happened between them and promising to make things right between them. She hears the doorbell and finds Nick there, still worried about how she was last night. They hug. Nick says that he didn't want to leave her last night, but she says that she didn't want to talk anymore. Nick frets about the pills she was taking. Brooke says she threw them out, but Nick is concerned that she took them at all, especially with the stress of Ridge bringing her father back to town. He asks why Ridge was here last night, and what she was upset about. He can't understand why she wouldn't tell him what happened. When she remains silent, Nick sees she doesn't want to talk about it. Brooke says that she'd like to forget the whole thing. Nick asks what she's talking about. She tells him that it wasn't Ridge's fault and she knows that now, but... Before she can answer, the doorbell rings again. Brooke turns to get that, but Nick insists on doing it, so he opens the door and finds Stephen at the door. Nick and Stephen each ask who the other is: when Nick learns this is Brooke's wayward father, he gets protective of her, since he knows of Brooke's strained history with her dad. Stephen admits he made his share of mistakes, but he thought they were starting to put that behind them last night. Or was he wrong? he asks. Nick tells Brooke that her dad can go, but she says she wants to do this. Nick is reluctant, but Brooke tells him she's sure and promises to call him later. He kisses her forehead and heads for the door, giving Stephen a warning look as he makes his way out the door.

Taylor asks Ridge what happened with Brooke.

Meanwhile, in the basement office at Forrester, Ridge looks at a photo of Brooke and relives the moment when he realized what he did. He keeps thinking about how he told Brooke that he didn't know, and he never would have had he known... He takes out his phone and looks at it just as Taylor arrives. She figured she'd stop by since he's so busy, since she needs him to sign a consent form for Steffy to study abroad. As Ridge takes the form and signs it, Taylor senses something wrong and asks what's up. When he doesn't answer, Taylor guesses that it's because Brooke is making him jump through hoops. It's nothing like that, he says. Then what could be so sordid that he can't tell his ex-wife? Taylor asks. When he's silent, she sees she struck a nerve and asks what Brooke did. Ridge says that it's what HE did, since he made a mess of things, starting with bringing Stephen Logan back to L.A. Taylor wonders what he hoped to accomplish, since she knows as well as he how much Brooke resents her estranged dad. Was he trying to address Brooke's abandonment issues? Ridge says he messed up badly and wonders if bringing Stephen was a mistake. Taylor can't see how even that would create trust issues with Brooke. She suggests that Ridge fix things by connecting in the way Brooke knows best, in the bedroom. Ridge wishes he had waited. Taylor gathers that something happened with him and Brooke last night, and if it was sexual, then Brooke obviously doesn't love Nick the way she says she does. Ridge is silent. Taylor is confused, so Ridge reminds her how she asked if this was something he and Brooke both wanted. Obviously it was, Taylor says, but Ridge tells her that it wasn't exactly consensual.

Taylor asks Ridge what he did. He tells her about how Brooke was taking medicine and was out of it, but he didn't know about it until after. He's sure Taylor knows that he would never force himself on a woman. He's sure it was all a terrible misunderstanding. Taylor looks at him and asks if he regrets it. Of course he does, he says, since he wanted last night to be different. He tells her that he has to make this right, so he has to go and do whatever it takes to make that happen. He leaves her alone to think about what he told her. She takes out her cell phone and makes a call, just as Nick arrives, looking for Ridge. He demands to know where Ridge is, because something happened to Brooke last night that she won't talk about. He knows Ridge was there and wants to find out why. He asks Taylor if she spoke to Ridge. She says that she did, so Nick demands to know what his older brother said about what happened last night.

Back at Brooke's, Stephen notes how direct Nick is, in marked contrast to Ridge. Brooke tells him to forget about Nick, and even about Ridge; she wants him to say what's on his mind and leave. Stephen tells her that he checked out the place they used to go camping. He doesn't want to pressure her, but he thought maybe the two of them could take Hope and RJ there. He hopes he's not reading too much into their breakthrough the other night by being this hopeful. Brooke is silent at first, but she then tells her dad that she has a lot on her mind, stuff that has nothing to do with their relationship. Stephen points out that she asked Nick to leave so they can talk; she hopes that wasn't just an excuse to get Nick to leave. Brooke says nothing. Stephen says he should have called before he stopped by and promises to do that next time. He says goodbye and turns to leave, but Brooke stops him. She admits that she's confused about Ridge and Nick, and she's never been this confused before. Stephen knows she's probably wary of opening up to him since he was such a lousy father, but he could at least listen. Brooke asks what good that would do. When Ridge came to him in Paris, he explains, he thought he could help. He knew how she always said Ridge was her destiny, so he hoped to heal the rift with his daughter by helping bring to bring her and Ridge back together. He asks if he underestimated her feelings for Nick. He doesn't know anything about Nick and the love they share, she says, and there's a lot she and Nick have to go through after last night.