Friday, December 28, 2007, Episode #5217

Nick tells Taylor not to worry.

Nick comes home and finds Taylor feeding the baby. She tells him that the baby was nursing earlier but now wants the bottle instead. When Nick isn't worried too much, Taylor feels foolish and thanks Nick for being patient with her. Nick tells her that that there's nothing to thank him for, but Taylor confesses that she wasn't acting like a real mother or even a real woman after the baby was born. She knows some surrogates feel like nothing more than an incubator, but she didn't feel that way when she was pregnant. She supposes that she just overreacted when the baby was sick after birth and was taken away, robbing her of the chance to bond with her son. But that's over, Nick assures her. He thinks they should stop thinking of their son as a miracle of modern science and start thinking of him as just a miracle, and he has some ideas about how he can make Taylor feel like a real woman right not. Taylor likes where he's going and suggests they go upstairs.

While cleaning the broken glass, Taylor smells wine on her fingers.

Nick and Taylor lie in bed after making love. Nick asks her if he's hard to be married to, but Taylor quips that SHE is the "problem child" in this family. Nick laughs that Jack is the problem child, but Taylor argues that she's a hormonal mess. Nick suggests that's because of the situation with Brooke, but Taylor doesn't want to talk about her rival. Nick states that he only brought Brooke up to say he's sorry, since he sees now that he put the needs of Brooke and others before his wife's. Taylor says it's OK, but Nick says that he knows she's not as together as she seems. Taylor concedes that she knows that she always looks so perfect, since she's tried to come off that way since medical school. She even did that while married to Ridge, which made Brooke look like an emotional wreck by comparison. But Ridge left her anyway for being honest, so her dark side came out and she started drinking. Nick asks if she's OK now; Taylor answers that she'd tell him if she wasn't. Glad to hear that, Nick gets dressed for a dinner meeting. Taylor doesn't remember him mentioning the meeting earlier but sends him on his way. Before he leaves, she assures him that everything is OK now, and she's sure she can be a great mother to Jack. Nick tells her not to dwell on that and gives her a goodbye kiss. Once Nick leaves, Taylor walks back into the bedroom and knocks over a glass of wine. As she picks up the broken glass, she stops to smell the wine on her fingers.

Stephen tells Katie not to apologize.

Katie visits Stephen in jail. Stephen asks how Storm is. Katie tells her dad that Storm wants to go to the police, but they stopped him. Stephen thinks Storm is unnecessarily feeling guilty, but Katie thinks Storm has reason to feel guilty. Stephen tells Katie to remind her brother that they need him. Katie says they did and asks Stephen how he is. He says he's fine as long as he can keep his kids together, although he thinks he'll need a new lawyer now. Maybe not, Katie responds, telling her dad about Brooke's plan to call in a favor from Stephanie to get him out. Stephen worries that Stephanie can't be trusted and asks Katie to make sure that she and her sisters keep Storm from doing something foolish. He then thanks Katie for coming by, suspecting that she has better places to be, but Katie tells him that she came her on her own and her siblings don't even know she's here. She tells her dad that unlike Brooke and Donna, who always have faith in people doing the right thing, she's naturally suspicious of everything. Stephen thinks that can be useful, but Katie isn't so sure, especially since the suspicion of his motives led her to doubt him, and she's so sorry she did that. She asks why he never told her that he left because Storm did. "I won't make my son responsible for my decisions," Stephen says, telling Katie she has nothing to feel sorry for.

Katie wants to love her father but doesn't know how.

Katie makes a deal with her dad; she agrees to stop feeling guilty if he'll do the same, since she's as selfish as anyone else. She jokes that she's sure she would have complained if he stuck around that he didn't buy her a pony or take her to the circus. Stephen says he'd have taken her to the circus, but Katie sobs that she doesn't even know him, so she doesn't even know if she'd be a better person if he stayed. She promised herself years ago that she'd live without regrets, and she likes the way her life is going. Stephen tells her that she's amazing, but Katie sobs that he shouldn't talk that way, because it hurts. She wants to love him but doesn't know how. Stephen tells her that he couldn't stand to disappoint her again, and he fears that he might do that. But when he looks in her eyes, he sees her mother and his own, so how can he not love her? "I wanted you to be different," Katie admits. "So did I," Stephen answers, embracing his daughter as they tell each other, "I love you."

Stephanie can't believe that Brooke wants her to let Stephen off the hook.

At the Forrester mansion, Stephanie can't believe that Brooke wants her to let Stephen off the hook. Brooke reminds Stephanie of her promise to do anything to make amends for the events leading to her rape. "You want me to lie," Stephanie states. "It's not like you don't know how," Brooke counters. Stephanie concedes that's true, but she asks who she's supposed to say shot her if she tells the police it wasn't Stephen. Brooke doesn't think it matters who Stephanie describes, because Stephen is innocent. Stephanie accuses Brooke of letting Stephen use her to get out and says that she won't be a party to that, but Brooke insists that she's absolutely sure her father wasn't the shooter. So who was it? Stephanie asks, pointing out that Stephen's innocence would mean someone else pulled the trigger and hid the gun in Stephen's room. Brooke blurts out that it was Storm, shocking Stephanie! Stephanie asks about the ring in the video, so Brooke explains that Storm has the same ring. But Storm was so apologetic for Stephen's actions, Stephanie recalls, asking if that was part of some setup. Brooke suggests that Storm doesn't even know why he did it other than that he thought he was protecting the family. Stephanie scoffs that Storm must hate his father a lot to find a way to get rid of both her and Stephen at the same time.