Katie flicked through her texts.

"According to Donna, Caroline, Dani, Liam, and Karen, Brooke and Bill are getting married in Nairobi as we speak."

"Guess our invitations got lost in the mail."

"Looks like it."

"I hope they make each other happy. But I wouldn't bet money I couldn't afford to lose on that marriage lasting a year."

"Where's my hopeless romantic?"

"I'm not hopeless. You gave that back to me." They exchanged soft kisses, momentarily distracting Katie from the ongoing stream of texts she was receiving.

"Damn, I'm that good," Ridge exclaimed.

"You're okay, don't let it go to your head."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Too late."

"Ugh, narcissists."

"Your narcissists," he reminded her. "Will I do?"

Katie unwrinkled her fondly scrunched nose. "Yeah, I suppose I'll keep you."

"Good, because the warranty expired months ago."

Katie giggled.

She bit her lip after taking a moment to think. She couldn't help it. Thinking was her coping mechanism and her vice of choice.

"You know, Ridge, there's still time to stop her if that's something you want."

"Do I look like I'm searching for the emergency exit?" He gave a squeeze and rubbed his bristled jaw against her neck. She had to squirm out of reach to keep from screeching with laughter. He knew all her ticklish places.

"No. I just know she means a lot to you. You have 'history.'"

"I have a future. That's with you. History is for reflecting on, not reliving."

Katie draped herself across his chest. She liked to feel his heart beating under her own. Ridge wound a tendril of her hair around his finger.

"If we ever get married, let's skip the ceremony. Let's take the boys and run."

"You want to run away from home?" Aren't we a little old for great escapes?

"I wanna run away from other people. You ever notice how we're always waiting for people to grace us with their presence at our weddings?"

"I haven't had as much experience with that as you have, but I've watched you and Brooke go around in circles enough to get what you mean. You don't want anybody at our wedding."

Ridge scooted upright. "No, Katie, I want everybody there to see me pledge myself to you, if you ever decide that's what you want." He sent her a searching look. "What I don't want is the games and interruptions. I've never had a wedding go down that wasn't a spectacle. I don't want a spectacle, I want you."

"Just us and the boys?" Ridge nodded. "We'll need witnesses."

"Strangers who'll sign the papers and leave. They don't have to be a part of our lives."

"Caroline would kill me if she didn't get to see me get married."

"RJ'll record the wedding on his phone. Will can hold the rings."

"You and me and the boys. The rest of our lives after that."

"The rest of our lives has already started. The other stuff is paperwork."

"Is this your way of proposing?"

"This is my way of telling you we're a foregone conclusion."

"Oh, you're that sure of yourself."

"I know where my heart lies." Ridge brushed his fingertips along her scar.

"I thought it was just mine and Stormie's in here."

"Nope, you've got mine, too."

"I'll look after it."

Ridge brushed his lips against hers. "You do that."

Katie was applying her mascara at the vanity in anticipation of a long and very busy day when Ridge appeared behind her in one of his Forrester Menswear suits, tailored to accent his broad shoulders and chest. Were she less experienced at doing her own makeup, she'd have been down an eye the instant she caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. He was a hell of a man, her man, from the top of his greying head to his shined and polished wingtips.

He was also scowling at his phone.

She swung around on her settee. "Something wrong?"

He put his phone away. "It's just Dad. Dad wants you over for the holidays." He crossed his arms and she cocked her head. "He wants you over with the family, as part of he family." She mirrored his posture, on her back foot as ever where Eric was concerned. He had loved her when it wasn't his son's heart she was after. Now he saw her as little but a less convincing encore to her sister's main act.

"Last I heard, he disapproved of my influence over you."

"I told him I wouldn't be party to any tradition that excluded someone I love. Besides, I don't need his approval. I'm fifty years old, it's time to cut the apron strings."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

"I resent that."

"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," she teased.

"No, no, you'll have to do better than that. I'm a sensitive guy, you've bruised me."

"You're such a clown."

"The tears of a clown are the saltiest of all."

"Was that mean to be profound?"

"I don't know. Did I pull it off?"

"Not remotely."

"Damn, I was hoping to get on your good side."

"And which side is that?"

Ridge made a picture frame out of his hands with her in the center of the imaginary shot. "In my professional opinion, your best side is all of them."

"This is why your dad thinks you're whipped."

"Really? The gushing over my beautiful girlfriend is what does it, not me asking how high when you say jump?"

Katie pretended to think about it, scratching a nail over her chin. "Could be both."

"The thought occurred to me." He placed his hands on her shoulders, signaling a shift in their conversation. The time for joking was over. That always made her nervous. "I'm gonna see the kids."

"Something tells me you're not talking about RJ and Will."

"It's time I told Steffy and Thomas why I wasn't around after I promised to keep in touch. I told you all that stuff about making a choice when I wasn't willing to back it up. My kids deserve a shot at me for that."

"I can go with you."

"You can't. This can't be about what's between you and Steffy. There's too much water under the bridge, there. This can't be about you and me; it has to be about them. I'll be home for Thanksgiving."

"In that case, I'm going to try making peace with Brooke. It's the holidays. I want to be able to be in the same house with my sisters without worrying that a fight might erupt."

He stroked the apple of her cheek. "You've always been ambitious." He sighed, worried. "Brooke will act like she feels slighted. She'll sulk and make snide comments under her breath. That's Brooke. You gotta be prepared for her not to meet you halfway."

"I've known Brooke since I was born, I helped write the manual on Brooke Logan. She won't move an inch to meet me. I can take her."

"You've got a backbone on you, I'll say that."

"That's what you fell in love with."

"It sure is." He kissed her forehead and she smiled.

The day Ridge departed for Paris, Katie dressed in one of Ridge's Forrester Menswear sweaters. It was snug across the chest and warm as he was to the touch. She'd picked it up off his armchair while he was packing and put it on.

He spent so much time at Katie's he ended up doing most of his packing from her place and only went to the condo for things he hadn't yet thought to stow in her spare rooms. He should come back to stay. He's here most of the time anyway. Why shouldn't this be his home again?

Ridge came into the bedroom carrying his toiletry bag, stopping short to see her tucking his silk ties into his suitcase's zippered compartment.

"How am I supposed to go when you're wearing my clothes?"

"I wear your designs at least once a week."

"You know what I mean. You look…" A rumble of frustration vibrated in his chest. "You're making it hard to leave."

"Just means you won't forget what you're coming home to."

"It's gonna be a long lonely flight."

"It better be lonely."

"I might call."

"Call me. Text. Facetime is good for all sorts of long-distance fun."

Ridge grabbed her by her waist and pulled her down onto the bed on top of him. "I'm not gone yet."

"Your car could be here any minute."

"I'm here right now." He caught her lips with his, slipped his hands into her hair.

He was late for his flight again, but since he owned the jet, it didn't leave without him.

The Thanksgiving celebration on the Forrester Estate was beautiful—and tragic, for all that Katie got to enjoy its beauty. She left her home, festooned in Christmas cheer, her detailed planning for the Yuletide for her employees. Christmas lights at home and carols pipping through her Bluetooth speakers all over the house. A tree already picked out for Will's second birthday that she hoped to decorate with Ridge and RJ. She was going to be generous with the bonuses at Spencer Pub this year; limiting expansion had given her the extra capital to make this Christmas Eve one of for the record books. Had she been content with her own holiday, beset with celebratory visits from Donna and Caroline and her nieces, instead of trying to be part of this damn family again she might have been able to enjoy the night. Alas…

The enormous Forrester mansion was lip up with decorations and oil lamps when Katie arrived with Will swaddled in his winter coat and her in her earmuffs and gloves. Even for California it was getting chilly. The front steps of the house was decked out a hand-painted marble Nativity scene, illuminated in the gorgeous firelight. She followed the other late comers, pointing out all the lovely things for Will though he likely wouldn't remember.

The grand marble foyer was full of ooh-ing observers taking in the ornate candle decorations trailing around the circumference of the rotund and up the spiraling staircase.

"Katie, welcome."

Katie turned to return Eric's greeting. She smiled at him, but it felt stilted even to her. They'd been friends once. If she trusted her memory, he'd one lamented that her sons hadn't chosen to chase after her instead of Brooke. What a change a few years made.

"Thank you for inviting us."

"Of course, you're family."

Katie bit her tongue lest she question where that familial loyalty had been a year ago when she needed a family to defend her from Bill and Brooke's machinations.

"Thanks," she replied, lamely. "This is amazing, what you've done here. Everything is beautiful. It smells beautiful." Her stomach rumbled in assent. She'd been too nervous to eat, and she was sorely regretting it.

Eric chuckled—Ridge laughed like he did. "Let me feed you—both of you. It's going to be a long night. We don't want you falling out and missing the fireworks."

"Fi'woks!?" contributed Will. He may not know much but he knew what he liked, and he loved anything colorful that went boom. Katie was going to be worried about that if it lasted into her son's teen years but for now it was adorable.

"Yes, Will, fireworks. You're going to love it." He led them through the finely-outfitted throngs of Forrester guests, there were a hundred easily, and waist staff. This was a fully catered event. Katie couldn't guess how m any course, but it was obvious the patriarch had spared no expense in outfitting the celebration. Eric introduced her to some of his colleagues as Ridge's partner, which was great if incredibly strange. How had she gone from being enemy number one to being an honored guest? She didn't trust the sudden turnaround.

Then she found herself in front of the buffet spread of rich foods being constantly replaced as they were consumed. Servers circulated carrying trays of lassi and other drinks. Sweets were sticky in small hands as children dashed throughout the festivities, tinkling like bells in their fine gold jewelry. The Forrester sarees shone as far as the eye could see.

"I'll have to leave you here, I'm sure there are plenty of people looking forward to catching up with you. I'll be on the pool deck if you need me. Try to enjoy yourself."

"I will. Thank you."

"No need to thank me, I think we can agree it's about time."

That they could.

Katie was negotiating with Will to get him to try mint-tamarind chutney with his samosa when Brooke darkened her corner of the festivities.

"You'll have to sneak it to him. He won't eat it if he can see it." She nodded to her son, RJ, who had dashed forward to give Katie a hug as soon as her saw her.

"Hey, Aunt Katie." She mussed his neat hair playfully.

"Hey, kid. You having fun?"

He shrugged, but she could see the dimples indenting his cheek and the food on the corner of his mouth. He was having the time of his life.

"Good."

"I didn't think you'd come," Brooke said, returning to what she considered her rightful place as the center of attention.

"I was invited and I wanted RJ and Will to get to spend the evening together. Besides, you know how I feel about fireworks." Katie loved beautiful things and had all her life, it was little wonder she'd be here.

"You know how to create them; how could you resist?"

"That makes two of us." Katie kept her voice pleasant. RJ wasn't so young that he wouldn't notice his mother and aunt sniping over his head. He was playing with Will's hand and telling him about all the sweets and tasty food he was going to get tonight.

"Mom, can I dress Will in my coat from when I was little so we can match?" All of eleven, RJ was a sight to see in his peacoat.

Brooke squinted as if unsure. Katie suppressed her disbelief; she wouldn't be surprised if Brooke had suggested it before they arrived. "I think that's a splendid idea. What do you think, Katie?"

"Only if you don't mind sharing."

"No way, he's my brother. Can I take him?"

Katie reluctantly let her little boy go. Will went, babbling, to his favorite cousin. In their minds, there was little distinction between cousins and brothers who spent all their time together. Katie supposed the boys were on to something.

"RJ takes good care of him," Katie remarked once the boys had gone.

"He's caring. I'm proud of him."

"You should be." Katie crossed her arms, wishing it weren't so unbearable to for her to speak to her older sister. They had always been at odds on some level, yet this was the worst it had ever been.

"It's a shame Ridge couldn't be here."

"He had other matters to handle and suggested I come so I wouldn't miss the celebration. It's been a few years, I've missed so much."

"You know, Eric, he can never resist the chance for a good party. It brings the family together."

"That it does." So did a good family feud. "How are you? You're looking well." Brooke wore a green wrap and her ears and wrists were adorned in gold jewelry. She glowed like a goddess floating above the ground. When doesn't she? Katie felt lacking in comparison. That was nothing new and she refused to let those feeling speak for her again. She wasn't a child.

"I feel well. I'm sure you've heard the news."

Katie hummed in acknowledgement. "I did." Many, many times. The notifications no longer felt like people looking out for Katie's best interest. "I suppose congratulations are in order? I wish you both the very best together." You're going to need it.

"I wish I believed you meant that."

"I have no reason not to mean what I say, Brooke. I have nothing to gain by lying."

"Really?" She touched Katie's arm. "You really mean that?"

"I always mean what I say. I only want you happy. Whatever has happened already has been water under the bridge a long time." She wanted it to be. "You're my sister, Brooke. Be happy, whatever that means for you."

Brooke threw her long arms around Katie and they hugged. It was strange and wonderful; so like being a sister. Katie had been the loving sister and the bitter sister; she'd been clingy and remote, at turns, but in all she only wanted to be the good sister. The sister that was loved in return. Katie hugged Brooke.

"Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Only if you take care of yourself, too. Ridge can be unpredictable."

"I'll say." It was what had made Brooke and Ridge mutually obsessed for years. They couldn't suss each other out. They were caught in the cycle of a perpetual, mutual mystery. "Bill's the same way."

"Seems like we have the same type. Who would have expected that we'd both go for the mercurial international playboy type? I expected you to go for someone quieter." So had Katie. Somehow she never had. Brooke's influence, she supposed.

"Ridge's plenty quiet for me at the end of the day. Love appears how it does and we take it or we don't."

"And you took it."

"I took it."

"No regrets?"

"Not one."

"I wish things could have been different between us, before." Katie knew what she meant. She wasn't prepared to talk about it tonight.

"I wish different choices had been made and more thought had been given to who would be hurt by those choices. But that didn't happen, and I'm ready to live in the present instead of in the past."

"You always know the right thing to say."

"I know how to say what will let us all move on." She had learned that by listening to what Brooke didn't say. Brooke added fuel to flames; Katie put them out. "Otherwise we're just going around in circles. I'm too tired to relive the worst year of my life again. It won't change anything for anybody. Not me. Not you. Not Bill, or our boys. Let's move forward, find happiness. Try to keep it."

"You think you'll keep Ridge?" Katie felt the trap being laid. She wanted so very much not to step into it.

"That's the plan." Please don't disappoint me. We're doing so well.

"It was always the plan for me. That didn't stop him from straying."

"I hope he won't. That's all I can do, Brooke. I can be the best I can for him and hope that will be enough."

"It wasn't enough for Bill." Direct blow. Katie gritted her teeth.

"Nor were you. Neither of us were. Men are notoriously fickle; these men in particular. I wish Ridge had a better history of honesty, but he doesn't. I've chosen to love him anyway. You've chosen Bill and god knows why but he's chosen you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play coy, we both know what you are capable of."

"And you're so perfect? Katie, you've never met a mere mortal you haven't found wanting."

"Because everyone is wanting! People aren't perfect, and expecting perfection is a recipe for heartbreak. But expecting decency shouldn't be. I expected decency from my husband and my sister, and I didn't get it."

"I thought we were putting that behind us." Her voice quavered.

"I would love to, if you would let me. I would love to never think about it again. I want to move on, I want to love again and trust again, and I am trying so hard. You make it your sworn duty to undermine me, my joy, my attempts to find peace. You do that because you cannot bear for my reconciliation with anybody else to be about me instead of you."

"That's rich."

"Is it? I can't talk to Bill without running into you."

"I'm part of his life."

"Wonderful! You're married to marry him, I wish you an ounce of luck, because you will need it. Why do we have to have a contest of whose marriage has the longest shot of lasting? Can't we just wish each other well and go? That's all I want. Not this, not a fight whenever we talk. Not everything is a contest."

"I don't want to see you get hurt."

"That's new."

"Ridge will come back to me. He always has. We gravitate together; we will again."

"Maybe so, maybe not. But today? Ridge is mine and I will do all I can to keep him."

"And what do you think that entails?"

"I'll love him, Brooke. Just him and no one else. For some of us, that isn't even hard."

"You're naïve if you think it's only about love."

"Then let me be naïve." She shrugged. "Try it. Love isn't a game you have to win. The prize at the end isn't a throne, it's a rewarding, loving relationship. You could have that."

"I've had that."

"So did I, until you. Until other women. Until Bill showed his true colors—and good luck with that." She licked her lips. "He's the mess that you wanted, and Ridge is the one for me. No matter what you say, no matter how you try to get in my head, I'm not leaving and I'm not letting go. You let go this time. It's your turn to lose."

Brooke swallowed audibly. "I thought love wasn't a game."

"Looks like lying runs in the family." Katie loaded her small dessert plate with cookies and lemon bars. She was in the mood for something sweet. "This is not the first time you've lost. Stop letting your ego do the talking and walk away. Bill says he loves you. You've agreed to be his wife. You can have everything you want with Bill. You don't have to be alone."

"You say that like Bill and Ridge are easy substitutes. Men are not interchangeable. People aren't."

"You tried to replace me as mother and wife of my family, but people aren't interchangeable?" Katie pressed her lips together to steady her temper. I cannot have this conversation again. "I want you to think about what you just said to me. Get in touch when it makes sense. I won't wait up." She grabbed her plate and plunged into the social fray. She was remembering why she hated parties.

She sought a quiet corner upstairs and ended up int Eric's study. Thinking at least it was deserted, she made for the window to look outside. The chill out of the outdoors seeped through the glass. She hugged herself. She wasn't feeling terribly joyful.

"I have a confession to make." It was Eric. She couldn't say whether he'd been in the dark office all this time. She hadn't noticed him if he had.

"Is it a confession I want to hear?" Katie had all the truth she thought she could stand tonight. This was the family she wanted to join? These were the people she wanted to love her once more?

He poured her a drink and she took it. It warmed her right down. He poured a drink for himself.

He sat in his executive chair and gazed upon her, all the heavy honesty so present in Ridge evident in him.

"I offered Ridge his old job back if he'd end his relationship with you."

Somehow Katie hadn't doubted that. "That offer doesn't come cheap."

"The price was his deciding to move out." She had wondered what had made the perpetual daddy's boy move out of the family pile. An insult to the heart would do it. Not in Eric's house, no longer under Eric's rule. She was proud of Ridge for standing his ground even if it meant moving away from home.

"You thought he could be bought. That was the insult."

"I made the mistake of thinking this was revenge. He and Brooke have danced this dance a dozen times, and he always goes back to her."

"Not this time."

"So it would seem. I misjudged your relationship and it's very nearly cost me my son." Eric sniffed. Katie was mildly horrified to realize Eric was choking up. "When I found out he'd been sick and hadn't told anybody, not his mother and me or his siblings, but that he turned to Marone of all shady characters for support…I was forced to accept that I'd lost my son well before he found you. I wanted to do what I thought was best for everyone and all I did was cause chaos. I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one in need of an apology. I know you and I have a spotty history, what with Bill and me plotting a hostile takeover of Forrester back in the day." Not her finest hour. "Don't punish Ridge for loving me. He's your son, he is loyal to you. That's why he's still at Forrester. If you fail to step in to take control of the battle brewing between he and Rick, he may not be for much longer and you'll have no one but yourself to blame."

Eric's Adam's apple worked rapidly as he tried to speak.

"I can't be seen as picking favorites."

"The only favorite you seem to have is Brooke and everybody can see it. That's a choice." Katie put down her snifter of brandy. "I'm taking Will home. Thanks for inviting us. Happy Thanksgiving."

When Katie and Will arrived at home just after the dark, the lights were on in the den.

Ridge was stretched out on the sofa, an arm thrown over his eyes. There was a spotty wineglass on the table.

Katie opted to put Will to bed for the night before she greeted him. This isn't going to be a fun conversation.

Ridge had a second glass of white waiting for her upon her return. She sat her wine aside to cuddle up to him.

"How'd they take the news?"

He shook his head. "They were livid. Steffy went off on me for leaving them in the dark about something as important as my health. Thomas had to calm her down."

"That must have been…"

Ridge scratched his ear. "Yeah. It was about what I expected. She cried. She didn't want me to see, but I saw anyway. I'm always letting her down. I'm trying to do better, I just keep living down to her low expectations."

Katie smoothed his hair out of his face. He sighed, leaning into the contact.

"Steffy's strong. She's been through a lot. I put my kids through hell bouncing back and forth between Brooke and their mom. Hope isn't any better off and I'm the only father she's known. That's not a life I want to live anymore. Being conspicuous by my absence shouldn't be my hallmark."

She scraped her nails soothingly down the nape of his neck.

"You know what you have to do. Be different, don't vacillate, choose and stand by your decisions."

"I do."

"Hold that thought. We're not there yet."

"Any day now."

"How did the two of you leave things?"

"She wants to see me at Christmas, meaning it wasn't a complete loss. Taylor met me at the airfield specifically to read me the Riot Act. My ears are still ringing from that slap. She wanted to know why I hadn't asked her for help, said she could have referred me to people she knew."

"She was hurt that you left her out when you two ended things on a good note."

"I was an idiot who thought he was being brave when I was more scared than anything. I dug a dark hole to die in without letting anybody know."

Katie was reminded of her failing heart and her battle with PPD. She had needed help and been unwilling to face that. Were it not for Taylor's intervention, however ill-timed in the latter case, Katie was unsure whether she'd be here today.

"But you didn't crawl away to die. You fought back, you lived. That's what's important. You're here with me, with our boys. You have time to tell your children you love them, now. You can make up with Eric."

"Dad and I are as good as we're gonna be."

"He apologized to me tonight, for what went wrong with you two. He loves you and he wants to make peace. Let's put the rest of this behind us and do that."

"I'm ready if you are. I want to get on with my life with you, not fight over the past. Looking backward isn't an answer."

"There's my wise man."

Hours after she'd thoroughly welcomed Ridge home, Katie was awoken by an incessantly ringing phone. It wasn't her step-son, she had a ringtone for him. It wasn't Brooke, she just knew that. It was someone who didn't know well enough to leave her be on a rare night off. Katie picked up on the fourth ring once she was convinced whoever was calling wouldn't go away.

"Katie Logan."

"Ka—Katie, that you?"

"Bill?"

"I wanna come over." Katie got out of bed to keep from waking Ridge. She threw on her robe and loped downstairs to the kitchen. She didn't think she was getting back to sleep any time soon.

"Where's Brooke?"

"Out..som'ere, I donno w're."

Isn't Deacon Sharpe back in town? Katie no longer made it her business to track her sister's former paramours when they entered the postcode. She had her hands full tracking just the two she was personally associated with.

"I just saw her at Eric's. I was surprised you weren't with her." Katie had only left her a few hours ago. She hadn't inquired whether Bill was at the party. She didn't stay long enough to see everyone in attendance.

"We're…there's nothin' for us to talk about." Sighing, Katie brewed herself some tea, chamomile, to keep her calm. Do saints feel like this?

"Do you mean you've realized how little you two have in common or do you mean you're fighting?"

"I dunno."

I could be in bed right now, but no, I'm enduring this phone call. Bill had always been work. She used to think that was what love was.

"What do you want?"

"I want to come home. I want my son and wife."

"You have a wife, that's Brooke. You can see Will like we agreed—if you're sober. I don't want him getting used to seeing you drunk."

"'s not enough. We were good together."

"We had good moments, years of good moments and bad ones. That's what marriage is. When there are too many bad moments, marriages have to end like ours did." It was as if she was speaking to a child.

He choked, "I don't make her happy. I thought if we just got married and set up house, she'd settle down."

"She's feeling restless. Brooke has terminal 'grass is greener' syndrome. She's incurable. She will always long for what isn't hers—well, what isn't hers yet. My sister has a gift for persuasion; she'd have made a terrifying trial lawyer."

"What do I do? I want us to work, we have to work. She came back to me, she was happy to back."

"Batten down the hatches, or you can leave. Brooke wants to be fought over, fight if that's what you want. I'm sure Quinn would be happy to give you a hell of a battle. She might even be your match."

"Brooke's my match."

Katie swirled the dregs of her chamomile tea in its mug.

"That would make it worthwhile, wouldn't it? If she's the one you've been waiting for all your life, everything we went through has to have been worth it. But what if she isn't, Bill? What does it say about who you are if Brooke isn't the love of your life and the woman you abandoned twenty-five years ago is?"

Bill's breath was ragged, his agitation as unspoken as it was blatant.

"Every conquest you've ever had wised up and ran away from you. I'm no different from the rest anymore; Brooke's married to you now. I ran in the end when the only thing you hadn't taken was my will to live. Maybe the women you choose aren't the problem. The problem just might be you."

"I don't want her to leave. How do I get her to stay?"

My sister has reduced Dollar Bill Spencer to this. Were it not so pathetic, Katie might have been impressed. She has him totally snowed.

"Tell her to stay. Demand it. Question her love, she hates being questioned. Question her integrity, the standup women she thinks she is. She'll stay if she knows you're waiting for her to leave you, but I can't promise she'll be happy.

Katie wanted her sister to be happy; she wanted her sister to leave Katie's family be slightly more.

She set aside her dingy mug to clean it in the morning. Tonight she'd had all the adult responsibility she could take.

"Take a couple of aspirin and drink a glass of water before you go to sleep. You'll wish you were dead in the morning if you don't."

"I'm going to feel like hell anyway."

"You'll feel more human. Trust me."

She shouldn't have cared after the hell he'd put her through, but she did. She cared enough.

Katie found Ridge staring at the stars on her bedroom balcony.

"Bill called me. He needed someone to talk to."

He hummed and didn't reply any further, opting to take the opposite side in helping her turn down the bed.

"You don't have anything to say?"

"If I say anything besides 'That's nice, honey,' we'll fight. I'm emotionally drained, I'm jetlagged; I just want to hold the woman I love and try to get my head on right. Can we save the rest for later?"

Katie felt like this was a talk they needed to have to put an end to any lingering issues regarding Bill and Brooke. She didn't want anything else to go unsaid.

"He told me he wanted to come home."

Ridged smoothed the rumpled folds of the duvet.

"And you said?"

Katie plopped down on the comforter to keep him from fiddling with it any further. It was his face she wanted to see, not his hands.

"I reminded him that he has a home, with Brooke. That's the woman he chose."

"It's not that simple if he's changed his mind."

"That doesn't matter. I'm not waiting for him. I'm not in love with him anymore, my home is with you. You say you don't doubt that, but I know you do."

Ridge collapsed on the edge of the bed, his back to her and head down.

"I can't fault Spencer for choosing tonight to come unglued. Doesn't mean I like it, it's just not worth sleeping on the couch away from you."

She slid her arms around his waist to hug him from behind.

"He isn't a threat to us."

"He's still in love with you, that you don't see that makes him a threat."

"I don't want to fight with you."

"This isn't a fight, Katie. This is our relationship. I won't love you less because I'm not the only one that does. I just need you to see…" He grunted, "Absolutely nothing. I'm out of sorts and overreacting. Let's leave it at that. Forget Bill, that's what I plan to do."

"I like that plan." She slid her hands under his top, taking comfort in how he seemed to relax at her touch. This was their life together, she was done letting the world outside intrude. "Let's go to bed."

"Thank god."