Tuesday, September 18, 2007, Episode #5147

Brooke thanks Ridge for his support.

While Katie has the kids out for ice cream, Ridge asks Brooke how it went telling her sisters about the rape. Brooke admits that it was cathartic to open up to her sisters, since they sensed something was wrong. Ridge bets that Donna and Katie hate his mother now. Brooke explains that she wasn't going to tell her sisters about Stephanie's involvement because of the bad blood between Stephanie and Donna, but Eric came over and it came out. She asks Ridge if Eric is serious about ending things with Stephanie. "After what she did, he damn well better mean it!" Ridge replies. Brooke tells Ridge that she's grateful for his support. "I've missed you. I've missed us," she tells him, admitting that she couldn't have gotten through this complicated ordeal and reclaimed her life without his help.

Ridge tells Brooke that she reclaimed her own life.

Ridge tells Brooke that she reclaimed her own life by fighting back and not letting Andy or his mother take more from her than they already did. He thinks she's ready to take the next step toward moving on, since the sooner they get back to normal, the better off she'll be. "You mean the sooner I move back home," Brooke qualifies, guessing that he's referring to what he has with Ashley. She knows he has to consider Ashley's feelings, but after the time they spent together with the kids at Big Bear, she knows he feels the same way as she does. Ridge tries to cut her off, but Brooke tells him that he's her savior, and she'll never forget what he did for her as long as she lives. Deep down, she doesn't think he'll forget it, either. Ridge looks uncomfortable as she says that.

In the study at the Marone mansion, Nick recalls what he heard Bridget tell Carl about not ruining Taylor's pregnancy. Taylor comes in with some warm milk for herself and asks Nick if he wants a brandy, but he doesn't answer. Taylor asks if he's OK. Nick apologizes for being distracted, but he got a phone call earlier that's been on his mind. He asks Taylor if she's OK with him taking a bit of time to go out and take care of that little bit of business. Taylor senses something wrong, but Nick promises to come home to her and their unborn baby very soon.

Ashley asks Taylor for advice.

After Nick leaves, Ashley drops by with some samples of the new fragrance that Phoebe asked her to bring by. While Taylor looks at the pretty packaging, Ashley excuses herself and turns to leave. Taylor asks Ashley if she has plans with Ridge, but Ashley admits that she hasn't heard from Ridge since he went off to Big Bear to have some family time with Brooke and the kids. Taylor senses that Ashley feels neglected, as well as a bit jealous. Ashley concedes that she wants to give Ridge the benefit of the doubt, but it hasn't been easy knowing of the hold Brooke has on men from her past. "Welcome to my world - or what used to be my world," Taylor jokes, recalling all the years she looked over her shoulder because of Brooke. At least she doesn't have to worry about now that she a man like Nick who is totally devoted to her and their baby. Since Brooke is completely out of Nick's life, there's nothing to tie Nick to her like there is with Ridge, so Taylor doesn't have to deal with Brooke ever again.

Taylor assures Ashley that there is life after Brooke.

Ashley admits that Brooke will always be a part of Ridge's life because they have a child, but at least that's not the case with Nick. "Thank God," Taylor remarks. She decides to offer Ashley some good advice and warns her not to let her guard down where Brooke is concerned. Ashley asks if that means she's in for a fight. Brooke doesn't go quietly, Taylor cautions. That warning makes Ashley wonder if she should back down; even though she thinks Ridge is very special, she refuses to get drawn into a competition for a man again. Taylor senses that Ashley wants to believe that backing down might be the best path, but she also feels like Ashley has fallen hard for Ridge. Ashley admits that she has fallen for him. Then hang in there, Taylor suggests, pointing to her own experience as proof that you can have a life after Brooke. In fact, she states as she rubs her belly, she doesn't think she's ever been this happy in her life.

Carl has something to say to Bridget.

Carl stops by Bridget's beach house, claiming that he forgot to tell her something at the restaurant. Bridget insists that his obsession has to stop, but Carl tells her that she's just burying her head in the sand. Bridget states that she would never have agreed to go to dinner with him had she known he was going to bring this up. Carl asks if she's talking about about "The Great University Hospital Egg Mix-up." Bridget tells him that there was no mix-up, and she thought they settled that long ago. She warns that she'll end any association with him if he doesn't drop this subject for good. She then asks Carl what he forgot to tell her. He reminds her that he wanted to show her how to lock her PDA and demonstrates the steps. "Easy as scrambling eggs," he says as he locks and unlocks the phone. Seeing the pained look on Bridget's face, he says that he meant to say, "pie" instead. Just then, Nick knocks on the door, calling out to Bridget that they need to talk. Bridget quickly ushers Carl out the back door so she can let Nick in. Once Carl is gone, Bridget opens the door and asks Nick what's wrong. "That's what I'd like to know," Nick responds, demanding that Bridget tell him of something's wrong with his and Taylor's unborn child.

Bridget comes clean to nick.

Bridget asks Nick why he would think something was wrong. Nick tells her to be honest with him. Bridget states that everything is fine. "Then what were you talking to Carl about?" Nick asks, explaining that he overheard her talking with Carl earlier when she accidentally dialed his cell phone. He demands that she tell him what's going on. Bridget insists that everything is fine, but Nick doesn't believe her. He heard her tell Carl that she refused to ruin Taylor's pregnancy, so he refuses to leave until she tells him what she meant. Seeing that Nick isn't going to give, Bridget comes clean with him. She reminds him how her mother came back from Sydney and wanted him back, even though he was engaged to Taylor. Then Brooke found out that Taylor couldn't conceive and thought that she could give Nick the child Taylor couldn't, but Nick remained committed to Taylor. Even after Nick told her that, Brooke couldn't accept it, so she underwent fertility tests and had her eggs harvested, donating those eggs to research when Nick and Taylor decided to have a baby through in vitro. So she decided to donate her eggs for research. Nick recalls all that, but he doesn't see where the problem is. Bridget explains that when the time came to fertilize the donor eggs, they called to the lab and asked for Mrs. Marone's eggs. But since Brooke's records had not been updated and still showed "Marone" as her name. So when they asked for the Marone eggs to be brought to the lab for fertilization, two petri dishes showed up - one with the donor's eggs and the other with Brooke's.