Tuesday, March 18, 2008, Episode #5272

Nick awakens after his night with Bridget.

After their night of lovemaking, Bridget wakes Nick up with a kiss on the forehead and laughs that it's time to wake up. Nick quips that she must have worn him out last night. "I certainly hope so," she giggles. She wishes she could stay in bed with him all day, but she has to get to work. She wants him to know that she understands that he wants to take things slow, but last night was fun and it meant a lot to her. As she gets up to get dressed, she tells Nick that Rick came by and asked to take Jack to the park, so she let him, since she assumed Nick wouldn't mind. Nick seems surprised by that bit of news.

Taylor is thrilled to see baby Jack.

But Rick has taken a detour on the way to the park and stops by Taylor's office so the Doc could see her little boy. Taylor's eyes light up when she sees Rick has Jack with him. She gets up from her desk and takes the baby, sitting down with Jack on her lap as she thanks Rick for his gesture. She tells Jack how glad she is to see him and vows to be with him all the time once she gets better. Rick is glad to see Taylor so enthused and asks how she's doing. She says she's doing better thanks to regular therapy sessions with James, attending A.A. meetings, taking care of herself and getting back to work. On the last count, she explains, working with patients has made her see that she doesn't have to play the victim, no matter how bad a hand life has dealt her. She doesn't even know why she was worried before, since she sees now that Jack is her son and that Brooke is not going to be part of Jack's life. All she has to do now is finally get over her frustration over Brooke's constant presence in her life. Rick can't blame her for the last part, since he knows how much his mom has hurt her back when Taylor was married to Ridge. Taylor supposes that Brooke is finally going to ride off into the sunset with Ridge; Rick isn't so sure that will happen and tells Taylor how Ridge turned down his mom's recent request to elope. That serves Brooke right, Taylor muses, preferring to forget about Brooke and focus on spending time with her precious baby boy.

Rick tells Taylor that he knows what he wants.

Speaking of time, Rick thinks he should be going, since he arranged to drop the baby off with Jackie. Taylor wishes Jack could stay longer, but Rick says they really have to go. Taylor thanks him again for bringing Jack by. He tells her to repay him by making sure that Jack stays hers for the the rest of her life. Taylor says that she intends to do just that, asking Rick if he's really Brooke's son given his concern. Rick laughs that he is, but then he gets serious and tells Taylor that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since they kissed. Taylor tells Rick that his mom would probably go ballistic to hear him say that. Rick agrees that his mom won't be thrilled about his feelings, but he's a grown man and knows what he wants. "I want you," he tells Taylor before kissing her.

Katie has questions for Nick.

Katie drops by the Marone mansion to pick up a sweater she left behind last night and asks Nick if Bridget is still there. Nick tells her that Bridget just left, not that it's any of her business. As Katie finds her sweater, she asks Nick how things went last night. Nick says he had a good time, but Katie thinks she deserves a better answer than that after busting her butt to get over here. "Would you like details?" Nick asks. Katie says she'll be fine as long as she knows that he made Bridget happy. Nick laughs that he must have, since they slept well. Katie asks where Bridget is now. Nick tells her that Bridget had to get to work. Katie then tells him how she looked around the living room last night while babysitting and saw all the mementos Nick collected from his time as a sea captain; she asks if he misses the sea. Nick admits he misses it sometimes. But does he miss the sea itself, Katie asks, or does he miss his other life? Nick answers that the sea is in his blood, but life changes, so he's learned to just roll with it. He then offers Katie some coffee from a pot Bridget made before she left. Katie samples some and sees that it's pretty strong. Bridget likes it that way, Nick explains. Katie cuts to the chase and admits that she left her sweater behind so she'd have an excuse to come back and find out how last night went. Nick assures her that he and Bridget had a nice night, but Katie notes his lack of enthusiasm and asks if it has to do with his lingering feelings for Brooke. She asks, "You wouldn't sleep with Bridget if you still were hung up on Brooke, would you?"

Bridget tells Brooke about her night with Nick.

Speaking of Brooke, she's in her office making out with Ridge. She wishes she could stay in this moment forever. Ridge asks if she has something on her mind that she needs to be distracted from. She explains that she's worried about Bridget's renewed interest in Nick. Ridge reminds her that Bridget is a grown woman and stresses that Brooke shouldn't try to run her daughter's life, but Brooke fears that Bridget might get hurt being with Nick again. This is just what they talked about, Ridge stresses, asking Brooke to step back and let Bridget manage her own love life. He then tells Brooke that he has to get going, since he has a meeting with Ashley about debuting their next fragrance with the fall line. Brooke asks if he wants her there, but Ridge says he has it covered and bolts off. Alone in the office, Brooke recalls Rick's warning that she [Brooke] might lose Ridge to Ashley if she doesn't back away from Nick. But Brooke isn't alone for long, since Bridget drops by to apologize for getting so emotional last night. Brooke asks how things went with Nick, so Bridget explains that she and Nick had a wonderful night that reminded her of how it used to be.

Brooke makes a promise to Bridget.

Brooke tells Bridget that she's happy for her, assuring her that she said the things she did last night out of concern. "Sometimes, I'm an overprotective mother, and I can't help it," she admits before acknowledging that Bridget is old enough to make her own decisions. Bridget assures Brooke that she'll be fine. She thinks she and Nick can find their own way back to each other as long as Brooke promises not to interfere and not to try and solve their problems for them. Brooke vows not to interfere, assuring Bridget, "You don't have to worry about a member of your family taking Nick away from you ever again." Bridget says she's not just thinking of herself here, since she's also thinking about what's best for her mom and Ridge. Brooke assures Bridget that she and Ridge and just fine and tells Bridget to not even give it another thought. She wants Bridget to focus on Nick, although she admits that she hopes Nick doesn't let Bridget down. Bridget says she has to do this. She's just glad to hear that her mom is committed to Ridge and asks Brooke to please not sent any mixed signals to Nick. She thinks it would kill her to lose Nick to Brooke again. "I will not stand between you and Nick," Brooke promises. Bridget is glad to hear that, since she thinks she and Nick have a chance as long as Brooke stays out of the picture. "There's no one that's gonna stand in our way," Bridget predicts.

Ridge confides in Ashley.

Meanwhile, Ridge is in Eric's office sniffing Ashley's new fragrance. He says it's "intoxicating," but Ashley asks if that's the best he can do, so he says it's wonderful, sophisticated, refreshing and beautiful, much like its creator." Ashley blushes at his charming attempt at flirting, but Ridge thinks his comments are well deserved, since Ashley has been a huge asset to Forrester since she joined their team. Ashley says she's glad to hear him say that. Ridge is surprised she'd say that, since he thought she knew how he felt, and he admits that he might be appreciating her even more given how complicated things are between him and Brooke these days. Ashley asks what he means, since things are always complicated between him and Brooke. Ridge supposes she's right, but Ashley doesn't want to let him off the hook that easily and asks what's going on. She admits she's surprised that he and Brooke haven't made it to the altar yet. "Not for lack of trying," Ridge remarks, explaining about Brooke's recent proposal and the falling out he and Brooke had over the whole situation with Taylor, Nick and Jack. He tells Ashley that he turned Brooke's request to elope the other night down, since it just didn't feel right.