Monday, November 03, 2008, Episode #5432

Katie challenges Nick to a game of Nerf basketball.

At the Marone mansion, Katie puts Jack down for a nap and comes down the challenge Nick to a game of Nerf basketball. Nick warns Katie to keep it quiet this time, but she ribs him about his lack of stamina and takes the ball out. After a short time, Nick calls the game a tie and takes a break. Katie kids that she'll get "grandpa" some oxygen, although she doesn't think he'd need it if he laid off those cigars he smokes. Katie reaches for Nick's bowl of pistachios, so Nick orders, "Keep your hands off my nuts!" Katie asks when the nuts became his, so he reminds her that he bought and shelled them. Katie concedes his point and decides to feed him some. As she puts some pistachios in his mouth, she asks Nick if they will always be this happy. Nick decides the answer her with a kiss.

Nick and Katie have sex on the living room floor.

Soon after, Nick brings in a tray of hot wings. As they dig in, Katie tells Nick that she heard from her mother that Rick is recuperating at Brooke's house and that Ridge moved out. Nick bets that Ridge didn't leave without a fight. Katie points out that Ridge and Rick never really got along. Nick wonders if there's anyone over the age of 10 that Ridge gets along with and bets that Brooke had to kick Ridge out, but Katie thinks it's only temporary. Nick muses that taking a break from Ridge might be good for Brooke, since her dreams of living "happily ever after" with Ridge always seem to end when someone rushes in to save her, and he really thinks that Brooke deserves better than the "cuckoo drama" that always happens around Ridge. Nick then wonders why they're even talking about Brooke. Katie points out that he seemed happy when he thought Brooke and Ridge might have broken up, but Nick says that it's none of their business. He asks if they can focus on their business for now and kisses her. Nick and Katie then have sex on the living room floor. Katie tells him that she can't stop worrying about the future. She'd like every day to be just like this, but she fears that someone or something will come along to change things. Nick tells her that things will change, sometimes in ways they can't predict, and they can't avoid that. But for the moment, he wants Katie to stay exactly as she is right now and to let him love her in the way that he does. Katie promises to do that for him. Nick thanks her and they kiss.

Rick works with his Blackberry/cell phone.

Rick is in bed eating his grilled ham and cheese sandwich when his Blackberry rings on the nearby table. After checking to make sure no one is around, he gets out of bed and makes his way over to the table to get the Blackberry. He is sitting on the edge of the bed with the phone in his hand when Brooke comes in. Seeing him on the edge of his bed with his Blackberry in hand, she admonishes him for doing too much before he's ready and gets him back into bed. Rick reminds her that he didn't inflict this pain on himself intentionally. Brooke sighs that she wants to help him, but she can't if he won't let her, and he thinks a good place to start would be to forget about the Blackberry. "How am I supposed to download porn without it?" Rick quips. Brooke tells him that she'll pretend she didn't hear that and instructs him to finish his lunch.

Brooke defends Ridge to Rick.

When Rick finishes, Brooke asks how the sandwich was. Rick says it was great and thanks her not only for making it, but for everything she has done for him. Brooke reminds him that there is something else he needs to thank. Rick assumes she means Bridget, but she tells him that she was talking about Ridge. She reminds him that this is Ridge's home, too, and Ridge didn't have to move out so that Rick could recuperate here. Rick reminds her that he would have found somewhere else to stay had Ridge stayed. Brooke tells him that she wants him here, but she needs him to realize that this isn't a contest about who mom loves more. She reminds him that she and Ridge are raising children together, and she doesn't want to make the same mistakes with Hope and R.J. as she made with Rick and Bridget. Rick asks her to leave. Brooke tells him that he doesn't have to care for Ridge or even accept him, but he does need to focus on getting better. Once he's well, Brooke explains, Ridge will move back in and then she and Ridge will become husband and wife.

Steffy and Thomas talk candidly with their father.

At Taylor's, Ridge is not prepared to talk about his situation with Taylor, Stephanie or the kids, but Taylor can't see why not and tells him that his family never wanted him to leave and never stopped wanting him to come back. So why not come home? she asks. Ridge accuses his mother of orchestrating this, but Stephanie, Thomas and Steffy insist that this wasn't a plan, and they just all discovered they wanted the same thing. Thomas and Steffy remind Ridge how even when they were apart, they felt like what happened to one of them impacted the others, and they wonder if that's what he's trying to give R.J. by marrying Brooke. Stephanie says that Brooke's family dynamic is different, because Brooke has four children by four different men who are only connected through her. Steffy asks Ridge if he remembers how connected they were and if he ever misses it. Ridge admits that he does, but he thinks that is a time that's past that he has to let go of. Stephanie asks if maybe his desire to be with Brooke is also him holding onto something that's past, especially because of the problems in that relationship from Rick and Nick and the Logans. She can't see why he'd want to keep breaking up with Brooke and get back with her over and over.

Taylor gives Ridge some food for thought.

Taylor explains that it;s because Ridge loves Brooke. Ridge asks why that's so hard to understand. Taylor says it isn't, and that's why she let him go. She tells him that after they broke up, she also fell in love again, but those relationships were filled with unhappiness. She also recalls how his love for Brooke always scared her when they were together, but she's not scared anymore and is willing to fight back. She thinks she is more than willing to prove that she can be a lot sexier than Brooke ever thought of being. Thomas cuts his mom off and tells her that he and Steffy are going to play some tennis. Taylor suggests that she and Ridge join in the tennis match by playing doubles, but Ridge says he's not dressed for it. Stephanie reminds him that he always kept a set of tennis clothes in his trunk, so Taylor says she'll get the rackets. Steffy wants to get some beer, but Taylor reminds her daughter that she's not in London and is too young to drink here, plus Taylor does not allow booze in the house. "Some things never change," Steffy sighs as she and Thomas go to change.

Stephanie gives Ridge something to think about.

After Ridge gets his tennis clothes from the car, he goes into the den to change. Stephanie corners him and notes how much he seems to be enjoying spending time with Taylor and the kids, advising him to go with those feelings. While Ridge ducks away to change, Stephanie sees that he left his cell phone. The phone buzzes and a call from Brooke comes in; Stephanie is about to tell Ridge, but she decides not to. Meanwhile, Brooke leaves a message telling Ridge how much she loves him and how grateful she is for what he did for Rick. "You leave me no choice but to love you forever," she says as she ends the message.