Tuesday, December 05, 2006, Episode #4949

Hector is touched by Thorne's offer.

Thorne is at Taylor's house, holding her in his arms as he delights in how good it feels for him and Ally to be living here with her now. He hates to spoil the mood, but he's worried about his mother. Taylor agrees that things have been rough for his parents and tells him that she has some news for him and his siblings about that. Thorne asks Taylor what she means, so she tells him that his parents are on their way to Chicago. Thorne assumes that they're going to see his Aunt Pam. Taylor says there's actually more to the trip, but before she can explain, Hector comes in. Thorne asks Hector if this can wait, since he and Taylor are in the middle of something. Hector tells Thorne to relax, as he has no intention of interrupting them. In fact, he's realized that there's only room for one man here that's crazy about the lady of the house, so he's decided to move out. He'll be staying at the firehouse until he can find something else, even if it might be a bit uncomfortable. Thorne says he knows of a place that's available and asks Hector how he'd like living in Malibu, rent free. Hector realizes that Thorne is talking about his beach house and doesn't want Thorne's charity. Thorne says it's not charity; he points out that with his living here, he'd have to hire someone to look after the vacant beach house. But Hector could save him the trouble by living there. He laughs that the blind Hector might even want to take up painting modern art. Hector laughs and thanks Thorne and Taylor for their generosity; he knows he caused them a lot of problems, so he's glad they can find it in their hearts to forgive him. He promises to talk good care of Thorne's beach house.

Taylor tells Thorne that his grandmother is alive.

After Hector leaves, Thorne and Taylor go to the couch to pick up where they were before Hector came in. Taylor thanks Thorne for his generous offer to Hector. She knows Thorne has every reason to be upset with Hector for what he did, so she thinks his forgiving Hector shows that he's a real man. That's one of the things she loves about him. Thorne offers to take her upstairs and show her what a "real man" he is, but she tells him that will have to wait. Ridge and Felicia are on the way over, since she has something to tell the three of them about their mother. Thorne asks what's going on. Taylor hints that it has to do with his parents' trip that she told him about earlier; she explains that Stephanie went to Chicago to confront her mother, who is still alive. Thorne is stunned at the news that his grandmother is alive and wonders why his mother would tell everyone that his grandmother was dead.

Stephanie is nervous about confronting her mother.

Aboard the Forrester jet, Eric tries to calm a nervous Stephanie, who tries to anticipate what it will be like to confront her mother about her father hitting her. She flashes back to her mother playing Monopoly with her and her sister Pam, when they were younger. They would sit around the board as Doris Day's "Que Sera Sera" played on the stereo in the room. In the present, Stephanie tells Eric how her mother loved her and Pam equally. They had lots of fun together, and her mom wanted her and her sister to both excel. Eric tells her that no one is trying to take away her found childhood memories. But despite those memories, her father hit her, and her mother turned a blind eye to it. Stephanie tells him that it didn't happen that often. Eric tells her to stop making excuses for her parents' behavior; she says that she'll try, but she wonders why the thought of confronting an old woman is so hard on her. As the jet lands, Eric goes to call a hotel. Stephanie tells him not to bother, as she wants to get the visit over with and get out of Chicago. Eric suggests that she wait until after she sees her mother to decide, since her mother may have changed. Stephanie doubts that's happened. Eric reminds her of what Taylor said about her need to control everything and asks her to keep an open mind. Stephanie promises to try, but she still wants to get this over with as quickly as possible.

At the Douglas home, Ann asks Pamela if she's seen her favorite album. As Pam reminds her where the record is, Ann wonders again why Stephanie is coming after all these years. She wonders if Stephanie realizes how short life is and wants to mend fences before it's too late. Pam tells her mother that she'll be around for a long time to come; Ann suggests that maybe Stephanie realizes that she only gets on family in her lifetime. She asks Pam what kind of daughter cuts her mother off from her child and her grandchildren the way Stephanie did. Pam hopes this won't be unpleasant. Ann assures her it won't be; she puts her favorite album on the stereo and starts singing along with "Que Sera Sera," almost like she's mesmerized by the words.

Pam greets Eric and Stephanie.

Eric and Stephanie arrive at her mother's home. Stephanie feels a chill as she hears the song playing on the stereo. Pam opens the door and greets her sister, and she's pleased to see that Eric has accompanied Stephanie. She leads them into the house, where Ann tells Stephanie how glad she is to see her. She offers Stephanie some chocolate angel cake and asks Pam to get some tea, reminding Pam to bring some honey for Stephanie. She would have made them dinner, but dinner was promptly at six, as always. Eric greets his mother in law, who is pleased to see that Eric is just as smooth as ever. Pam returns and offers Eric and Stephanie some tea; Eric says he'll have some, but Stephanie declines. Stephanie admires her mother's apartment. Ann says that she's made do here for 25 years. She knows it's not as grand as their place in Normandy, but the upkeep was so difficult once her husband passed. Stephanie smells her father's tobacco; Ann explains that she kept John's pipes in a humidor so she could breathe in the aroma now and then. Ann and Pam note that they read about the recent sale of Forrester Creations; Ann wonders if anyone imagined that Stephanie would be so successful when her father lent her and Eric $50,000 to start the company. She recalls how everyone thought John was so crazy to give them that kind of money, which was a large sum at the time. Eric offers Ann help if she ever needs it, but Ann says she's comfortable here. She tells Eric and Stephanie that she and Pamela were looking at old photos that brought back fond memories of her husband. She frets that it was terrible to lose John when he was so young, and she supposes that she'll be joining him before long.

Ann remarks how it's been so many years since she saw Stephanie and Eric. She never understood why they chose to live in hot and smoggy L.A. with all those insincere people, like those actors. Eric tells Ann that their home is quite lovely and invites her to visit, but Ann thinks she's too old to travel. She prefers staying where things are familiar. She will admit, however, that she wondered why she never got any cards from her grandchildren over the holidays. Stephanie coldly replies, "I told them you were dead, Mother." Ann retorts, "Well, that explains that. If you don't have anything good to say about your mother, just bury her." Stephanie says she has good things to say, but there were issues. Ann doesn't see what issues there could be, since they live such a simple life here. Pam agrees that they have some things to talk to Stephanie about. Ann replies that they do have a lot to catch up on, but she's getting tired. She asks Pam to turn on her electric blanket, so her bed is nice and cozy. Stephanie remarks that her mom likes everything nice and cozy, but that's not how life works. Life is what you make it, Ann replies. Stephanie responds, "Que sera, sera."