Brooke accepts Ridge's proposal, with some conditions.

At Brooke's house, Ridge waits for an answer to his proposal. Stephanie tells him that Brooke doesn't want him. She thinks Brooke is trying to keep Nick and Bridget's marriage from unraveling. The only thing that's unraveling is Stephanie's sick mind, Brooke replies. Stephanie thinks that marriage will fall apart without some child. Ridge tells Brooke that he was a fool to walk away from her and begs her to prove his mother wrong by accepting his proposal. Brooke replies that she has a few conditions. Stephanie rolls her eyes as Brooke lists her terms. First, she does not want to move out of this house. Fine, Ridge says. Next, she wants to make sure that their extended family is always welcome here. Present company excepted? Ridge asks, looking at his mother. Brooke says she'll get to that, but she's talking about brothers, sisters, parents, ex-spouses and children -- and THEIR spouses. That includes Nick, she explains. Once they're married, Ridge tells Brooke, he has no issues with Nick. Brooke disagrees, since she knows Nick and Ridge have never gotten along. Ridge thinks Nick prefers it that way, but Brooke remains firm that he must treat Nick like a brother. Ridge agrees. Finally, Brooke wants Ridge to give his mother the love and respect she's due - which will be little, since he needs to give Brooke her due love and respect first. Along with that, Brooke says, if Stephanie disagrees with her, Ridge must stand with her and not his mother. She wants Stephanie to have no say in how they live their lives. Done, Ridge says. In that case, she says, she would be proud to be his wife. Ridge takes the ring from the box and slips it on Brooke's finger; they kiss while Stephanie shakes her head.

Ridge asks Brooke to be honest with him.

Ridge breaks the kiss and wants to set a date. He suggests the "day after today." Brooke thinks that might be too soon, but he doesn't want to wait. He thinks they have done every type of wedding imaginable, but they never should have let their marriage end. That's why he doesn't want to leave any room for anything to go wrong. In that case, Brooke agrees to marry him tomorrow, the day after today. They kiss. Ridge asks his mother if she intends to congratulate them. Stephanie tells him that he's a bigger idiot than Eric. At least Eric never expected any "happily ever afters" and was satisfied by a few quickies. Ridge tells her that's it and orders Stephanie out. As she heads for the door, she says she's fine leaving this asylum, since there are only insane people here. Out! Ridge orders. Once his mother is gone, Brooke tells him that Stephanie will cause trouble. She bets that Stephanie is on her way to Nick and Bridget's. Ridge asks if Nick and Bridget will be happy for them. Bridget will, Brooke says. As for Nick, Brooke intends to talk to him, just like she just talked to Ridge, since there is no reason Nick and Ridge should be antagonistic to each other. Ridge says he can think of one reason. He thinks his mother just got what she deserved, by facing her worst nightmare. The only thing he asks is that Brooke tell him now if there was any truth in what his mother said about her.

RJ, the "center" of Ridge and Brooke's "universe."

Brooke takes Ridge's hand and leads him to the stairs. She stops at the bottom of the stairs, and he tells her that the two of them have always avoided a lot of questions by just jumping into bed. Not that he's complaining, but he needs to know. Brooke asks him to let her show him. She leads him up to RJ's bedroom, where they look down on their son, the center of their universe. She tells Ridge that she has no regrets about anything she said tonight. She doesn't even regret loving him. She looks at him and sees the good and bad, and she loves it all. He leans in and kisses her. As they go back down, Ridge asks if they should celebrate. She asks where he wants to go. He says he wants to stay here and get on his knees, so he can thank her for taking him back. He wants her to know that he was really scared that he had messed things up with her so badly that she would never take him back. He realized what a fool he was to want a second chance with her, but she couldn't love him anymore, because that part of her life that he'd occupied was already filled. Nobody else is the father to her son, she says. Nobody else could rip her clothes off and sew them back together again, and no one else knows the worst about her, and can only remember the best. Of course she loves him, she admits. She's loved him for so long that she can't even remember how not to. They kiss.

Bridget tells Nick that they need to face reality.

At the beach house, Bridget tells Nick that there is nowhere else for their marriage to go. They tried to hold it together by reaching for a child that couldn't be born, or a child they can't have, instead of reaching for each other. Nick says that they can have other children, but Bridget says that have to stop wanting a family to make their marriage work and admit that they never had the right marriage to make them a family. Nick says this isn't about what they mean to each other. It's about his inability to raise another man's son, because he knows how it will hurt when the father eventually takes that child away from them. Bridget says that she knows that he loves her, but she also knows that's not why he married her, or why he came back to her. Nick asks if he made her unhappy. Bridget pauses and says that he didn't, but they need to face reality and stop chasing a future that they can keep looking for, but never find. She thinks other people already see that, pointing out how Dante said she came to his place to save her marriage. She has to admit that she wanted to save her marriage, but she now doesn't think that she can.

Nick doesn't want to walk away from his marriage.

So their marriage comes down to just this? Nick asks. Bridget says that's not it. It's not about his being in love with her mother, she says, but there it is. She thinks about how she's behaving now and says that this time, she's not losing control. Rather, she's taking control of her life back. Nick says she already took control by having a good marriage when no one else in her family did. She thinks it was easier for them to try, since they're both professionals at having their heart broken. From one professional to another, she asks him to admit that his heart is with another woman, her mother. That's why they need to end this. She knows it will be hard, but it's also necessary. Nick doesn't want to walk away. Bridget doesn't think there is anything else to say, so she suggests he spend the night on the Marlin. Nick doesn't want to leave her, but she reminds him that she has Dominick. She suggests that Nick take the time to decide if what she's saying is really so wrong. Maybe things will look different in the morning, Nick tells Bridget as he heads for the door. He pauses in the doorway and tells her that they weren't together just because of the baby. She asks him to remember that she'll always love him. Nick leaves, and Bridget breaks into tears.

Stephanie makes a plea to Bridget.

Shortly after Nick leaves, Stephanie arrives. Bridget says she would invite Stephanie in, but Dominick is asleep and Bridget intends to be sleeping, too. Stephanie realizes that Nick is not there and worries that "it's already happened," but Bridget says that nothing has happened, and Nick just isn't here. Stephanie says she was referring to Dominick, but Bridget says that the baby's paternity hasn't changed how she feels. Stephanie says that she knew Bridget would feel that way - and that Nick wouldn't. She then tells Bridget that Brooke is marrying Ridge tomorrow. Bridget says that she's happy for her mother, but Stephanie thinks Bridget knows marriage to Ridge isn't what Brooke wants. And of course, Bridget quips, the news of her mom marrying Ridge made Stephanie want to blow something up, which made her come here and think of Bridget. Stephanie candidly tells Bridget that it's obvious that her marriage to Nick isn't working, because Nick is in love with her mother -- a mother who is about to marry Nick to close the door on her own feelings for Nick, just like Brooke tried to do with Eric. She asks Bridget if that's what she wants.

Bridget tells Stephanie to find someone else to do her dirty work, but Stephanie says only Bridget could do this. Bridget thinks that's outrageous, but Stephanie thinks Bridget can see how Nick and Brooke are both in denial with their sacrifice of not being available to one another, which is just making everyone miserable. Bridget says that her mom is her own woman, so what can she do? Stephanie reminds Bridget that Brooke looks at Nick as a gift she gave to Bridget - a gift Stephanie thinks Bridget should now give back!