Wednesday, November 05, 2008, Episode #5434

Stephanie asks Eric if he's ready to choose.

At the Forrester mansion, Stephanie and Donna ask Eric who he wants to be with. Eric declares that he's not ready to make a choice yet as he has too much going on in his life, especially with Rick's paralysis. Donna understands, since what happened to her poor nephew breaks her heart, but Stephanie counters that she was always there when Rick grew up as his stepmother while Donna basically ignored him. Donna responds that she may not have raised a family with Eric, but she thinks her recent actions prove that she can stand strong in times of crisis and be there for the family. Eric tells both women that he doesn't need them to plead their cases to him, since he loves them both. Stephanie asks Eric if that means he doesn't want to decide. Eric confirms that he doesn't. Donna asks Eric what they're supposed to do if he's not ready to choose. Eric doesn't want either of them to leave, as he needs them both right now. Thinking the matter is settled, Stephanie offers to have the guesthouse made up for Donna, but Donna refuses to live out in the guesthouse while Stephanie is here in the main house badmouthing her. Eric announces that he knows how to settle this and proposes that the three of them live here in the mansion together.

"Goldilocks" Donna gets a shock.

Later, Donna enters Eric's bedroom and sees someone lying under the covers. Thinking it's Eric, Donna undresses and tells her honey bear that she needs him to help his little Goldilocks forget about that mean old bear Stephanie. Donna climbs into bed and purrs that this porridge feels just right, but Stephanie pops up from under the covers and tells Goldilocks that this porridge is way too hot for her! As Donna climbs out of bed, Stephanie mocks the skimpy lingerie Donna was wearing under her regular clothes like she was waiting to seduce someone. Donna asks where Eric is. Stephanie says that he went to work and fumes at the fact that Donna pulled a stunt like this so quickly. She vows not to let Donna get away with this nonsense. "Bring it on," Donna fires back, ready to take Stephanie on. "I will never lose Eric to you," Donna vows. Stephanie laughs at that declaration, but Donna laughs right back at her.

Taylor defends Ridge's choice to stay the night at her place.

In Ridge's office, Brooke begs Ridge not to spend the night at Taylor's again. Ridge insists that nothing happened and explains that he only wanted to spend some time with his family while Thomas was in town. Taylor chimes in that Ridge got to be around people who appreciate him, something he can't do at Brooke's house lately, and she points out that Brooke was the one who asked Ridge to move out of her home. "For my son," Brooke qualifies. Ridge tells Brooke that he understands why she asked him to leave, but he can't help thinking that Rick is taking advantage of his situation to keep them apart. He fears that Rick has already found ways to milk his paralysis for all it's worth and predicts that Rick will continue to do so. Brooke assures him that this is only temporary, insisting that what happened to Rick doesn't change how committed they are to each other. She wanted to make up for that today until someone - she glances at Taylor - ruined it. Brooke then says she has to be getting back to Rick and asks Ridge to come by later to make up for lost time. Ridge says he has a meeting with Eric, so Brooke suggests that he come by the house after and slip in the back way so Rick won't know. On her way out, Brooke snidely bids Taylor goodbye and says that she hopes Taylor enjoyed having Ridge at her house last night, since that's never going to happen again.

After Brooke leaves, Taylor asks Ridge why he lets Brooke dictate where he's going to stay after throwing him out of the house. Ridge sees Brooke's point, but Taylor doesn't. Taylor thinks it seemed very natural for him to be together with her and the kids in the home where the kids were raised. She suggests that he can still experience those feelings again and that she knows she can spend the rest of her life like that.

Eric has a frank discussion with Ridge.

Later, Eric drops by Ridge's office to ask for help with some of the things Rick usually handles, since he doesn't want to bother Rick with work right now. Ridge wonders if Eric is up to all that extra work, since Eric is still recovering, too. Eric insists that he's fine and can handle the work, but Ridge suggests that he take it easy for a few weeks and work from home for a while. Eric doesn't think that's a good idea now that Stephanie and Donna are both staying with him at the mansion. When Ridge scoffs at Eric's asking Donna to move back in, Eric tells him to just accept that Donna is still his wife. Ridge grumbles that he had hoped to be rid of Donna. Eric insists that he can make his own decisions, and he expects Ridge to just suck it up and accept it if he ends up choosing Donna. Ridge thinks that reuniting with Donna would be a big mistake. Eric tells Ridge that both Stephanie and Donna have agreed to give him the chance to choose between them, and he expects Ridge to do the same. Ridge confides that he's worried about Eric handling all this and reminds Eric of the talk they had just before Eric's heart attack about turning Forrester over to him. Eric states that a lot has changed since then, but Ridge thinks it's time for Eric to step down and let him take over. "Put me in control of Forrester Creations," Ridge proclaims.

Brooke tells Rick what is bothering her.

Brooke comes home and finds Rick looking over the faxes and emails wishing him well that Eric brought over earlier. Rick senses something wrong with his mom and asks what it is. At first, Brooke says that it's nothing to worry about, but Rick keeps pressing her until she tells him that Ridge spent the night at Taylor's last night. Rick is furious. Brooke quickly adds that nothing happened between Taylor and Ridge, who just wanted to spend some time with his kids since Thomas was in town. Still, she wishes Ridge had thought about how his staying at Taylor's would make her feel. Rick charges that Ridge only thinks about himself and thinks Ridge's latest actions just confirm that. He thinks Ridge is enjoying having both Brooke and Taylor competing for his attention and begs his mom to take away Ridge's power by just letting Taylor deal with this. Rick then tells Brooke that she deserves better than having to wait for a man like Ridge who will be keeping an eye on his precious "Doc" all the time. Brooke is sorry Rick disagrees with her, but she reminds him that she's loved Ridge for as long as she can remember. Rick thinks that's an obsession and not love, especially with the way Ridge continues to dangle both Taylor and Brooke by his side all the time. Brooke tells Rick that he's wrong, but Rick reminds her how Ridge swooped in and destroyed their family by taking her away from Eric.

Rick implores his mom to end things with Ridge.

Brooke explains that she loved Eric, but it's not like they had some great love affair that Ridge interrupted. She thinks she and Eric were drawn to each other by their respective needs to be distracted from Ridge and Stephanie, and they fulfilled a mutual need for each other. But at the end of the day, Ridge is the man she really loves. Rick predicts that it's only a matter of time before Ridge chooses Taylor again over Brooke, and he warns Brooke that he won't be there to pick her up out of her despair when that happens. Brooke tells him to stop it, but Rick says that he's tired of the way everyone fawns over Ridge. Neither Eric, Thorne or anyone else will stand up to Ridge, which is why Rick intends to be the one who finally puts a stop to Ridge. Brooke insists that everything that's happened is Taylor's fault and not Ridge's, but Rick disagrees. Brooke suggests that he talk to Eric about this, but Rick sees no point given how Eric has always been more loyal to Ridge than to him. Brooke says that's not true, but Rick feels it is and asserts that Eric's favoring Ridge is the reason why Eric will eventually name Ridge as his successor. The thing that bugs him most is that Ridge doesn't respect Eric, and he cites Eric's marriage to Donna as an example of that. Brooke again urges him to talk to Eric. Rick says he already did and told Eric that he won't live under Ridge's thumb anymore. Brooke feels responsible for not putting Rick first while he grew up.