Tuesday, March 04, 2008, Episode #5262

Felicia and Stephanie take a walk down memory lane.

At the Forrester mansion, Felicia and Stephanie look at some of Stephanie's old photo albums. They laugh at how young Ridge looks in a photo of him nervously holding a five to six week old Thomas (as well they should, since "young" Ridge had to be pushing forty at that time, even with the show's soap induced timeline). Seeing a picture of her parents when they were younger - it's a photo shown on the show before of a young Eric and Stephanie - prompts Felicia to ask to see their wedding album. Stephanie balks at first, but she ultimately gives in to her youngest daughter's plea and pulls out the wedding album, although Stephanie can't resist asking, "What was I thinking with that hair?" as she remembers those times. The fond memories of the wedding album sparks Stephanie to think about Felicia's "wonderful" childhood, and Stephanie fondly reviews photos of her and Eric from that part of their relationship. "You and dad are gonna be making more memories for a very long time," Felicia assures. Stephanie sighs and asks Felicia if she's an old fool for running after a husband who said he didn't love her anymore and left her to have a mad, passionate love affair with a beautiful young girl. Felicia says no, but Stephanie still feels like she pushed Eric away and wonders if there is a miracle out there that can bring them back together. "Don't ever stop hoping and believing," Felicia advises as she rests her head on her mother's shoulder.

Nick is forced to answer some poignant questions.

In the courtroom, Storm has no more questions for Nick, so Taylor's lawyer gets her chance to cross-examine Mr. Marone. Nick tries to answer indirectly when the attorney asks him why Taylor left him, but when pressed by the lawyer's line of questioning, he's forced to admit that it had to do with another woman - his ex-wife Brooke Logan. Nick has no choice but to admit that he still has feelings for Brooke, but he insists that he never acted on those feelings and always made Taylor and Jack his priority. With that answer, Taylor's lawyer is done with Nick.

Taylor's lawyer puts Taylor on the stand.

Since Nick is Storm's last witness, Taylor's lawyer gets her turn and calls Taylor to the stand. The lawyer starts out by asking Taylor about her older children; to respond, Taylor points to Phoebe sitting in the courtroom and explains that Phoebe's twin sister Steffy is studying in Europe while eldest child Thomas is abroad working for Forrester International (which is the first time I can recall them saying that about Thomas). The lawyer then asks Taylor about baby Jack. Taylor admits that she wishes things had turned out differently, since she wanted a baby so much and knew that Nick wanted a child of his own. She professes that she and Nick both loved that baby very much. The lawyer then asks Taylor what prompted her to end her marriage. Taylor sadly explains that Nick told her that he loved Brooke and always will, and finding that out felt like being stabbed. The lawyer asks about Nick's claims that he still remained committed to the marriage, leading Taylor to explain that she couldn't stay with a husband who could only give her half of his heart. She laments that she never expected Nick to steal their son from her. "I am not trying to steal this child," Nick insists, prompting the judge to tell Nick to sit down and keep quiet.

Taylor places all the blame on Brooke.

With Taylor's lawyer done with her questions, Storm gets to cross-examine Taylor and asks her if she's drinking. After Taylor admits that she backslid a little for a while, Storm presses further and asks about the delusions, hallucinations and fits of rage that others have mentioned in this courtroom today. Taylor concedes that all those accounts were accurate, causing Storm to ask how she knows that she won't be plagued with recurrences of those situations when she's home alone with her child. Taylor tells Storm to stop making her out to be a bad mother, lamenting that her life and marriage would have been just fine had it not been for Storm's sister Brooke.

Brooke and Bridget are suprised when Taylor points them out.

Taylor turns to the judge and tells him that this hearing has nothing to do with Nick or Jack, since they wouldn't even be in this courtroom today if it wasn't for Brooke. She explains to the judge that Brooke made her life a living hell by stealing first Ridge and then Nick away from her by insinuating herself into both of Taylor's marriages, and she points out that Brooke is sitting right now, in this courtroom, directly behind Nick. She then points out that sitting right behind Brooke is Brooke's daughter Bridget, who also happened to be Taylor's trusted in-vitro doctor. Looking at Brooke and Bridget, Taylor explains how Brooke's egg was implanted in her during the in-vitro procedure by Brooke's daughter, the doctor, although both Brooke and Bridget claimed it was an accident. Sobbing that she had been pushed to her limit, Taylor asks, "Who wouldn't want to take a drink?" Taylor then tells the judge that she takes full responsibility for taking a drink, just as she did after an earlier time when she drank and then had a terrible accident that claimed the life of a member of her family. Sobbing that she wished she had been the one who died, she tells the judge that she found a way to move on after that tragedy, and she hopes he believes that she can do do that again for her son's sake. She pleads, "I've lost everything to Brooke. I need something to hold onto. I need my child." With Taylor's testimony finished, the judge goes to his chambers to review the testimony so he can give his ruling shortly. Phoebe comes over and hugs her mom.

The judge gives his ruling.

Soon after, the court is called back to order as the judge returns. Judge Friedman tells Taylor that he was moved by her remarkable story, and he admits that he can only imagine the toll that the mix-up in the lab has taken on her life. He then explains that under normal circumstances with a case like this, the court would want a child of Jack's age to be cared for by its mother. But this case, he adds, is anything but normal because of the risk presented by Taylor's recent hallucinations and use of alcohol. Based on that, the judge cannot in good conscience allow her to remain caretaker for this child. He instructs Taylor to undergo psychiatric evaluation and, if necessary, therapy, while he grants sole custody of baby Jack to Nick, with Taylor granted supervised visitation. Taylor freaks out at the news and unravels, crying, "Please, you can't do this." Taylor's lawyer tries to calm her client down as the judge explains to Taylor that he had to act in the interest of the child. "You can't just give my baby to Brooke. She's already taken everything else from me!" Taylor weeps.