AN:
I don't own a thing!
Things happen
Chapter sixteen
Sunday September 7th 2014
S-F/J-house
Later that evening, Steffy is sitting by the desk in the office working out a design for both Michala and Bridget´s dresses after leaving Wyatt, Thomas and Jessica to finish cleaning the hall.
She had figured out how to handle Michala´s growing belly by having a sweetheart neckline with an empire cut bodice and it would be beautiful.
Bridget´s dress was another matter altogether. She knew who Bridget was and she had seen her get married a few times before so she knew her style. So, Bridget´s dress consisted of a strapless slip dress with a corset built in with a lace overlay with a slight turtle neck and long sleeves. The back would be open and a lace ribbon with buttons would line the center back of it with the buttons following the lace down to the hem. She'd look gorgeous.
Steffy had plans to bring them to work tomorrow and show her father and then bring it to the design department and talk to Caroline about it.
~Things happen~
Monday September 8th 2014
Ridge Forrester´s office.
There's a knock on his door and so he calls out for the person on the other side to come in. What he sees makes him smile.
Steffy walks through the door with what looks like a design sheet in her hands.
"So, what can I help you with today?"
"Well, I promised Michala that I would design her wedding dress for her and I'd like your input into this." She hands over the sheet with Michala´s dress on it.
"Oh my, that's beautiful honey! She'll look gorgeous in it! Are you sure you're in the right department at this company?" Ridge raises his eyebrows at the question.
"Yeah, I'm one hundred percent sure I'm in the right department." Steffy´s eyes sparkle at the praise her father has just given her.
"So, why do you have one more design sheet?"
"Well, a little birdy whispered that an important question is about to be asked, so I designed one more dress. Who do you think this dress will fit the best?"
She hands the design sheet over.
Ridge looks it over and then he sees an imaginary blonde tassel of hair flowing down from behind the bride's ear. "It's for Bridget isn't it?"
"Yeah, do you think she'll like it?"
"Oh, she'll love it."
"Good!" Steffy smiles. "I'm going to go talk to Caroline now. Do you have anything you need to talk to her about? I could send her back here if you do?"
"I do have something I need to talk to her about, but that can wait a little longer."
"I'll let her know you need to talk to her about something and she'll come here when she has the time then?"
"Sounds good to me!" She collects the design sheets and then leaves the office.
She walks across the entire building and finds Caroline sitting by her desk and the whole design team hard at work. She pulls the design sheets apart and then places them over the papers Caroline is reading.
"What's this?" Then she raises her head to look at who ever disturbed her. "Oh, Steffy, hi!"
"Hi Caroline! So, first, before I forget, dad had something he needed to talk to you about, but it could wait until you have the time to see him. Second of all, do you think that these can be made before the end of the year?"
"Sure, who are they for?"
"My future sister in law and your future sister in law."
"But I don't have any brothers who are getting married?"
"No, you don't." Steffy just looks as the lightbulb turns on over Caroline´s head.
"Are you serious?" Joy starts spreading over Caroline´s face. "Bridget is getting married?"
"Well, an important question has been asked, but the question has not been asked yet." Steffy grabs a chair and sits down.
"Oh!"
"Yeah, Derek told me yesterday that he had asked grandma if she would accept him as Bridget´s husband and grandma of course said yes. Bridget apparently has a hunch that it's coming, so when I asked her if I should get started on the dress, she said yes, so here we are."
"I'm so happy!"
"Me too! It's about time some happiness came her way."
"What about you then?"
"Oh, my happiness is just around the corner."
"Which corner might that be?"
"I haven't found that out yet, but it's coming. I can feel it!"
Nathan comes walking through the door just as Steffy stops talking. "Hey Caroline?"
"Yeah? What's up Nathan?"
"Is it okay if I take the week off? There's some things in the family that needs sorting out and apparently they can't do it without me there."
"I don't see a problem with that, I mean, you're already way ahead with everything. Two seasons a head, so you just take the week and we'll see you next week!"
"Thank you!" He walks over to shake her hand and leans over the desk to do so. "Oh, Hi Ms. Forrester! Did you have a nice party for your daughter?"
"It was the best celebration for a one year old I've ever been to!" Caroline says.
"Yeah, it was awesome! And turns out my brother has gotten engaged and they're expecting a baby!"
"Well, tell him I said congratulations on all of them!" Nathan smiles at her. "Well, have a nice week and good bye!"
"I hope it all works out!"
"I'm pretty sure it will!"
"What about him?" Caroline whispers.
"Well, he certainly looks like my type, doesn't he?"
"Sure does!"
"Well, if it happens, it happens. I'm not going to rush it."
"Sounds like a plan!"
~Things happen~
On the other side of the design studio, David and Jacob are hard at work, but listening to the girl's conversation anyway.
"Hey! Do you think they know we can hear them?" Jacob asks curiously.
"Of course, they know, they can hear us talking right now." David says with a laugh and the look on Jacobs face makes him laugh even harder.
Jacob looks back at the boss and the head of PR. He looks absolutely terrified when he sees that they're looking at him with big smiles on their faces.
David puts down what he was working on and walks over to Caroline´s desk. "So, you just made me curious, what needs to be done before the end of the year?"
Caroline picks up the design sheets and hands them over. David´s jaw drops. "I'm sorry, but what are we doing here if the PR-department can do this?"
Curiosity lights up in Jacob´s eyes as well and he walks over.
"Because, I only design wedding gowns for family and PR is the love of my work life."
Both men just look at her like she's grown a second head or something and Steffy just smiles. "Trust me, PR is the only department I want to work in and you are good at what you do and that's why you're here and I'm where I am!"
Jacob just nods in wonder. "When I get married, well, if I do, would you design my fiancé´s dress?"
"I can't make any promises! We'll see!" Steffy sends him a smile. "Anyway, would you like to go to lunch with me?"
She directs the question at Caroline.
"Yeah, I'll just go talk to your father first. I'll send a text when I'm ready!"
"See you later!"
Steffy leaves Caroline to her papers and Jacob and David to their design sheets.
"Designing really is in their blood!" Jacob says as they reach their stations.
"Well, she is part of a line of Design royalty!" David picks up a pen. "She'd have to have some sort of design skill in her."
The two shares one last look and then they go back to what they were doing.
~Things happen~
About an hour later, Caroline and Steffy meet up at the reception desk of a restaurant they hadn't eaten at before. They had decided to take separate cars so that Caroline could go home after lunch after having decided to take the afternoon off since she had worked through her paper load that morning. Steffy on the other hand weren't quite done yet so she'd be going back to work.
They get seated and then look over the menu.
"So, what did dad want to talk to you about?" Steffy has decided on what she wanted so she placed the menu on the table to indicate to their server that they were about ready to order.
"Oh, he just wanted an update on how the newbies were doing. I'm thinking he's going to be handing out the new contracts soon. The four we kept are doing wonderfully."
"Yeah! I've seen some of David and Jacob´s work and they are wonderful designers. Miss Lee also does wonderful work now that we've fixed the issue she had. Nathan was amazing from the start and he's already got his contract."
"Yeah, Ridge is going to start working on those contracts and then call the other three in one by one."
"He should probably talk to Sally first, I think it might be a little cruel to meet with her last considering she thought she might get fired last month. I don't know, I just feel like there's something about her that feels familiar. Maybe next time we should bring her to lunch. Get to know her a little more."
"Yeah, you feel that too?"
"I do, I don't know what it is, but it just feels like she's like an old friend you bump into twenty years later after just drifting apart."
"Yeah, anyway. So, it's been a year now. Do you think you're ready to love again?"
"Oh, I've been ready since before Kelleigh was born, I've just chosen to focus on my daughter and my work. But now that Liam and Hope has taken over some of the responsibilities for Kelleigh, I've got the time to date now if that's what I'm going to do. How are you and Rick doing?"
"We're good where we are, why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason, you asked about me so I asked about you." Steffy just shrugs.
"Of course, I'd like for there to be a bigger commitment between us than just our cat, but I don't want to rush things either. I've seen people in our family move way to fast and not have a positive outcome because of it, so we'll let it take the time it needs."
"Yeah, I get that, which is why I don't want to rush into the dating pool just because it's been a year since I had my baby and people think I should've gotten over Liam by now."
"Well, are you? Over Liam I mean."
"Liam will always have a piece of my heart because he's the father of my daughter, but I got over Liam as a romantic interest long before I saw that magazine cover announcing his engagement to Hope. I knew the moment I saw the two of them rolling around on mine and Liam´s bed that it would probably be a good idea to work on getting over him because he has never fought for us more than I have before. I had this idea that he'd come visit me in Paris at one point or another, but I knew it would never happen. I'd never demand that he'd spend time with me, he should spend time with me because he wants to. Had I'd come back from Paris there would've been a fight for his heart between me and Hope and I just couldn't do that again. So, I stayed in Paris and here we are. I have my baby girl and I'm happy, he's married to Hope and they seem perfectly happy together and Hope and I have moved forward into a friendship and co-parents to my daughter. It never would've happened if Brooke hadn't left when she did."
"Yeah, looking back she created a bunch of drama where there didn't need to be any."
"So, what are you doing when you get home?"
"Oh, I'm thinking a glass of wine, a book and the big armchair in the living room."
"Add a bowl of popcorn and I might just join you!" Steffy smiles.
"Nah, I'm gonna stick to the wine and book!"
At this point Caroline has also laid her menu down and their waitress walks over to take their order and drinks. Within five minutes their food arrives and they spend the rest of lunch eating and talking.
~Things happen~
One week later
Sally´s apartment.
She loved sitting on her balcony watching the sun rise in the morning and then set at night. At the moment she was talking to her mother over the phone while having breakfast. She'd need to leave for work in less than ten minutes to make sure she wasn't going to be late.
Rumors had been floating around the design studio that some of the new designers would be getting their 'Until further notice'-contracts soon and she was starting to get a little nervous. Hence the phone call to her mother.
"Hey mom! I need to let you go because I'm about to leave for work in less than ten minutes!"
"Oh, yeah, you do that! Just remember that all of us are so proud of you no matter what happens. Just like Aunt Sally and grandma Shirley are!" Alexia Spectra´s pride over her daughter´s new place of work was heard through the phone.
"I'll try to! They almost let me go over a month ago!" Self-doubt spreads through the phone from daughter to mother.
"Oh honey, look at what they did to keep you! Any other work place would've just thrown you out, not given you a second chance to show them how good you are!"
"Yeah, I know, but it hasn't even been the full year yet, what am I supposed to think about that?"
"Maybe they think you're too good to let go? Or, you're just not what they're looking for so they're letting you go. I don't know, but let's see things from the bright side okay?"
"That is true! I'm going to head out now! I love you!"
"I love you too honey and good luck! Fingers crossed over here!"
Five minutes later she's out the door and about forty-five minutes after that, she pulls into the parking lot of Forrester Creations. She turns her car off and starts getting out and just as her right foot hits the ground, she receives a text.
From Ridge Forrester, CEO of Forrester Creations:
"Hello Sally!
If you have the time I'd like to speak to you about something as soon as possible.
Come see me when you can!"
Her heart starts beating really fast and she's totally stuck where she is.
A car comes driving slowly through the parking lot and parks a few spaces down. Steffy Forrester gets out of the car and then takes her purse and walks to the other side of the car to take her daughter out of the car seat. The two then starts walking towards the entrance. Kelleigh then looks over at Sally and starts toddling towards her.
"Hey, Kelleigh, where are you going?" Then she looks in the direction where her daughter was walking in. "Oh, hi Sally! How are you doing?"
Steffy stands right next to her having caught up to her daughter and picked her up. When Sally doesn't answer her, Steffy puts her hand up and waves it in front of Sally´s face. Sally slowly comes out of her daze and then she rapidly shuts and opens her eyes a few times. She looks around and then sees that Steffy and her daughter is standing next to her.
Sally reaches out to Kelleigh and the one year old breaks out into a big smile. "How did you get here?"
"Car." Kelleigh says before pointing to Steffy´s car.
"Oh!" Sally shakes her head and then turns her attention to Steffy.
"Are you okay?" Steffy asks with concern.
"I think so, not entirely sure. Your father sent a message that he wanted to see me as soon as I had the time. Is it drop off day today?"
"Sure is! Liam is actually coming to pick her up today as Hope is at home with an upset stomach. She'll be fine. Maybe you should go talk to dad then? Best to just get things done and over with don't you think?"
"Yeah, that might be best. Let's just get it over with." Sally starts walking towards the building while Steffy puts her daughter back on the ground, takes her hand and starts walking.
Steffy isn't paying much attention so when she gets to the entrance, she walks right into Sally.
"Lost your drive, did you?" Steffy chuckles a little as she watches Sally nod her head. "Just go talk to him! What's the worst that can happen? But before you answer that, what's the best that can happen?"
Steffy watch Sally´s eyes change as she's thinking about Steffy´s questions. Then Sally starts walking again.
"Looks like we need to hurry up so that we can take the same elevator!" Steffy points out to her daughter.
"Elltor!"
"Exactly! Let's go!" The mother-daughter duo barely makes it to the elevator as the doors closes. But thankfully, Sally sees them and holds it for them.
"Thank you!"
Sally gets off the elevator on the floor before Steffy and Kelleigh is to depart. "So, are you ready for Daddy-time?"
Sally hears Kelleigh giggle as a response to Steffy´s question before the doors close.
Sally makes it all the way to the door to Ridge Forrester´s office. It takes about five minutes before she works up the courage to knock on it. She hears him ask her to come in and then she sees the brightness in his eyes as she walks through the door when he sees that it's her walking through it.
"Oh! I see you got my text message?" Sally just nods her head. "Here, come have a seat!"
Thirty minutes later, she walks through the doors into the design studio with a baffled expression on her face. Caroline doesn't react much because she knows what the meeting was all about.
Nathan, Jacob and David on the other hand has no idea.
"Hey! What's going on?" Jacob says with concern in his voice.
Sally just looks at him and then walks over to her station and sits down on her stool. Then a big smile appears on her face. "I am now a full-time designer for Forrester Creations until further notice."
All three men says congratulations and some say "I told you so!"
Sally just smiles.
~Things happen~
September 15th
Forrester Mansion´s guest house.
The letter came in the mail that afternoon and right now, Stephanie Forrester was waiting for her son, her daughter in law and her potential step daughter and her husband to come by.
She hears a car come to a stop outside and walks to the door so she can open it. When the door is fully open, she sees Katie take her oldest out of the car and send him her way. Will walks with confident steps over to Stephanie and waits there for his parents and younger siblings.
Having heard the car, Taylor and Ridge come out through their door as well and goes to help Bill with the load that comes with having twins, having been there themselves.
All four adults by the car look over at Stephanie and they see the emotions running all over her face.
"This is going to take so much emotional support that I'm not sure I'm the only one who should be here to support you all!" Taylor´s voice shakes as she's talking.
"It's okay! I'm here for them as well!" Bill says with a smile as he brings Taylor into a one-armed hug.
Stephanie and Will patiently wait for the rest of their group to join them.
The rest walk over to them and then they walk inside. The first thing that all of them see is the big envelope that would let them know if the Forrester siblings would increase by one or not.
~Things happen~
Katherine Dawson was getting ready for her first date with a wonderfully handsome man. It was quite strange actually, she had been involved with the Spencer family with a little Forrester on the side for a little under a year now and still, the first time she met him was a week or so ago at Kelleigh´s birthday party.
The first time she laid eyes on him she knew, that was the man she'd spend the rest of her life with. There was just that one big question.
Was this a man she would consider having children with even though she had decided she didn't want any children of her own? She knew he wanted to have children and that he was good with them. She'd seen it with Kelleigh, Rosie, Maribeth, Eric, Jack, Logan and she could see the longing in his eyes.
Would she want to deny this man his own children if they were to start a relationship or could her decision to not have any children of her own be taken under a microscope and looked at again. That's what this date was about for her, to see if this man would be the one to help her change her mind.
At the moment, she was running her hair through a straightener because the curly mess that's her hair when just recently washed did not look like a first date look. She wasn't removing them completely, just taming them down a bit.
The outfit was lying on the bed, a floral summer dress, a white cardigan in case it got cold, white strappy flats and a belt to hold the outfit together. She had been told to wear something casual and that they'd be walking a lot, so heels had been out of the question.
When she looked at the clock the next time, she saw that she only had five more minutes before he would get there, so she puts on some mascara and a light coat of lipgloss with a yummy lemon/strawberry scent and then she goes and puts on the clothes. Little does she know that the man in question has been standing outside her door for the last fifteen minutes.
~Things happen~
Outside of Katherine Dawson´s apartment.
Carter Walton had been nervous the whole day, he didn't really understand why, but after a quick talk with Caroline Spencer, he figured that if he and Katherine are true love, a compromise could be reached.
He rings the doorbell at exactly 6:30 PM and waits for exactly fifteen seconds before Katherine opens the door and his breath gets caught in his throat.
He brings her into a hug and is gob smacked when she speaks.
"I changed my mind." He backs off and let's go of her.
"What? Why? You don't want to go on a date with me?" She can see the hurt in his eyes.
She just chuckles.
"No, I do want to go on a date with you, many of them in fact, but I also want to marry you and have your children and I want to live happily with you in a big yellow house with a big porch, a white picket fence, our 2,3 kids, a golden retriever, four cats and a rabbit."
His jaw drops.
"Seriously?"
"Yes! You are everything I want and I want everything that comes with having you in my life!" She smiles. "There's just one thing though! I promised Bill and Katie that I would help them if they wanted more kids in the future."
"Oh, I can live with that, but do you really think they'd want more when they've just had twins?"
"You never know." She walks over and places her hands on his cheeks. "But they currently have five children and a grandchild, I doubt they'd want more now. I'm going to have to talk to them about that."
"I want to try something!" He smirks.
"What?"
"This!" He says before walking up to her and then kissing her senseless before letting her go.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go into the living room and sit down for a little bit." She says and stumbles over to the armchair that's closest to the door. He follows her and bends down.
"What made you change your mind?"
"The future I saw in front of me when you hugged me just now. I realized that I do want that life, I just had to find the right guy to have it with and you are that guy! Hopefully we'll work out!"
"Oh, I have no doubt! Actually, I came here with the intention to ask if you'd consider fostering to adopt as an option to having kids of our own if we were to get that far." He takes her hands in his and look her in the eyes.
"Oh,..." She starts crying. "..one biological child and then foster to adopt?"
"Most definitely!" He gives her a big smile and it only increases when she smiles back at him!
"I was going to wait until after the date to tell you, but I just couldn't hold it in."
"Well, I'm glad you told me!" He picks her hand up in his and kisses the top of it. "It's going to make this date even better!"
"Do you think we could just stay here and watch some movies? There's just been way to much emotional moments right now."
"Let's just watch a movie and then go take a stroll on the beach after?" He leans in for a hug. "Combining both ideas?"
"That would be nice!"
So, she takes her shoes off, asks him to do the same and then tells him to pick a movie while she goes to get a blanket and fix them some popcorn.
~Things happen~
September 17th
S-F-J-house
Michala was having a really bad week, now that she had entered her 16th week of pregnancy, she had been so sure that the morning sickness would've vanished, but, it hadn't, she had talked to Steffy that morning and she had gotten the okay to stay at home for the rest of the week. At the moment she was lying in bed, reading a book and head phones on her belly to play music for the baby.
She had seen the design for her wedding dress and she was totally in love with it. Steffy had read her like a book because if you would only remove the added fabric for the belly, it would be the exact dress that Michala had wanted to get married in since she was a little girl. She was so proud over her best friends' knowledge of who she is.
Suddenly, she feels a flutter in her belly that she's never felt before and the wonder that fills her whole entire body is overwhelming. Then she starts laughing. She checks the playlist on her iPOD and sees a song there that she didn't put there herself.
"You really are your daddy´s child aren't you? Really, Beethoven, Bach and Chopin don't do anything, but Metallica sets your muscles in motion? Are you headbanging in there?" She smiles while caressing her belly.
She decides to test the theory and looks up songs with Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Bon Jovi and the baby has the same reaction to all of the songs she plays. "Yeah, a little Rock and Metal baby you are!"
When the clock closes in on the time when Steffy usually comes home, Michala packs up her phone, iPad, the head phones and the books she was reading.
She comes down stairs just as both Steffy and Wyatt walks through the door.
"Hey you!" She slowly walks down the stairs. "Guess what happened today!"
"I have no idea?"
"Well, let's go to the living room and you can find out!"
She goes and sets everything up and then puts Steffy´s hand on one side of her belly and Wyatt´s on the other side, then she puts the music on and baby starts flipping about and stretching.
"Yeah, that's their father´s baby!" Steffy looks up at Michala with pride in her eyes. "So, how does it feel to finally feel your baby moving?"
Wyatt is so focused on feeling the baby moving that he doesn't even notice that Steffy and Michala are talking.
Half an hour later, Thomas walks through the door. "Hello!"
"In here!" Steffy tells him.
"Why do you have your hand on my fiancé´s belly?"
"Well, come on over!"
Steffy takes her hand off Michala´s belly and Thomas sit down. Michala finds the song that started it all and Thomas eyes grow huge.
"I got a little surprise today!"
"I can feel that! What made that happen?"
Michala takes the head phones off her belly and baby instantly calms down and then puts them on Thomas head. Thomas´s eyes grow even bigger. "That happened because you played Master of puppets for our baby?"
"Well, I didn't, you did, because I did not put that song on my iPod. Anyway, I tried with it Iron Maiden´s Run to the hills, Black Sabbath´s Paranoid, Judas Priest´s Breaking the law and Bon Jovi´s Wanted dead or alive. Baby is working out to every genre of rock and metal music there is. This is their father´s baby! The music I chose doesn't interest the baby at all!"
Thomas laughs. "Well, I told you that children need a rhythm to work out to!"
"Yeah, but those rhythms? Seriously?" Michala chuckles in disbelief. "I really don't think I can handle raising a kid that listens to that kind of music! I just can't!"
The shock evident on Thomas´s face cracks her facade. "Oh, don't worry! I'm gonna love this baby so much and force it to listen to every kind of music that I like to listen to just like I know I'll be listening to that kind of music once the kid starts making its mind heard!"
"I promise we'll sound proof baby´s bedroom once it gets here!"
"Thank you! That would be nice!" She places a kiss on his lips before taking the headphones back and placing them back on her belly. "So, what's for dinner?"
"Jessica is coming over in a bit and she said she was bringing pizza!"
"Might as well take advantage of being baby-free for the week!" Steffy´s eyes sparkle and Wyatt just chuckle.
"That was Jessica´s plan I believe. Too much healthy stuff is going to make you bored in the end!"
"How long is a bit? Because I'm hungry!" Michala looks over at Wyatt.
"Should be an hour or two. Would a banana or orange satisfy your hunger until she gets here?"
"Yes please! Whichever one!"
Wyatt walks off into the kitchen and comes back with a banana and an already peeled orange, drawing from his knowledge from when Steffy was pregnant that a pregnant woman who says either or, always wants both, but if she only wanted the banana or the orange, there was at least one of them that would eat the other fruit. He holds them in front of her and as she takes the orange, he places the banana on the coffee table.
When Jessica comes through the door with four boxes of pizzas about an hour later, the banana is predictably gone, but Michala didn't eat it, her fiancé did.
~Things happen~
The cliff house
Hope Spencer looks around the room after the moving truck has packed up all their boxes and the furniture they bought for the place themselves, leaving the kitchen table, the chairs, the couch and armchairs, they were taking the bed that stood in the master bedroom, but they had replaced it with a new one after getting the call that Thorne was moving back to the states and would be living in the cliff house. The reason why he'd be living there was a mystery at the moment.
Liam comes walking through the door to the bedroom carrying his daughter with him. "So, are you ready?"
"I am, it's been a good run in this house, I've learned a lot about myself and about us as a couple here." She sighs. "I've grown up here."
"Yeah, it's been a wonderful house to live in. But now we get the chance to fill our new house with our furniture and decorate the way we want it to look."
"Do you think Thomas would want to paint a mural for Kelleigh in her new room?"
"I believe Steffy has already talked to him about that and he's thinking up concepts as we speak. I might have hinted at what the colors will be in Kelleigh´s room."
Hope chuckles. "Your daddy really is something else isn't he, baby girl?"
Kelleigh nods her head and mm's in response.
"Let's go to the new house then."
They look the door, put Kelleigh in her car seat and then drive the short distance to the new house, sit in the car for a few minutes to admire their very own house and then get to business.
The movers were already there and had started to put everything in the room it was supposed to be, they had told them to pack the nursery last into the truck and within five minutes of them arriving, the nursery was done and Kelleigh could spend some time in her crib with some toys while her father and Hope helped the movers get all their stuff into the house.
When Hope goes to look at her stepdaughter just as the movers are finished, Kelleigh has fallen asleep with stuffed monkey as her companion.
~Things happen~
September 19th 2014
Donna Logan had been feeling lost since Eric Forrester had died. She wasn't entirely sure why, but the aching in her heart had caused her to push her own family away, and right now she was feeling lonelier then she'd ever been.
She had found an apartment on the outskirts of Los Angeles and she was happy with how it looked, she had also found herself a job, as secretary for a law firm and she was thriving, but she still felt lost, she hadn't talked to anyone in her family in over six months. So, she took control over herself and picked the phone up and called her youngest sister.
She walked over to an armchair and sat herself down and pulled her feet up next to her as she waited for Katie to answer the phone.
Unfortunately, the ringtone changed and disappointment flooded eyes and tears started falling. However, five minutes later, her phone started ringing and looking at her phone, she saw that it was Katie calling.
"Hello!"
"Hi! I'm sorry I couldn't answer before, but we were in the middle of putting the twins to bed for their afternoon nap."
"Oh! I didn't think of that when I called." Donna starts feeling ashamed of herself for assuming that Katie didn't want to talk to her.
"Well, you couldn't know. We haven't talked much in the last six months other then you blaming me for Brooke leaving LA. But hey, was there anything special you wanted?"
"I just wanted to catch up with my baby sister. How are things? With the kids and Bill and all that?"
"Oh, the twins are doing great, they're growing as they should." Donna can actually hear the smile currently on Katie´s lips as she's talking. "Bill is doing wonderful as their father and Will is growing as he should, he's such a little chatterbox."
"That's great!"
"How are you doing then?"
"I'm doing okay, Eric´s death affected me in a way I didn't think it would, but I'm working on it."
"Yeah, I had a feeling it would. How's work going?"
"Work is great, the firm I'm working at is the perfect place for me."
"That's good! Have you heard that Thorne is coming back to the states?"
"I've heard rumors, but that's all they've been. I've been keeping up with Hope´s Instagram, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for blaming you for Brooke leaving Los Angeles."
"It's okay, I let that go a long time ago!" Donna let's a small smile grace her lips. "So, what are you doing this weekend?"
"Well, I have a book that needs finishing, but I don't have anything else planned."
"Would you like to come to a dinner at our house on Saturday?"
"Sure! That sounds like fun! Who else is coming?"
"Ridge and Taylor, Stephanie, Steffy, Thomas, Michala and Wyatt, Liam and Hope, I think Thorne is coming, Bridget and Derek, Jessica and Katherine are coming as well."
"That's a lot of people!"
"Yeah, Rick and Caroline are coming as well!"
"Oh, okay!" She thinks about it for a few seconds. "Yeah, I'll be there!"
"Good! I'll see you then!"
Donna can tell that Katie is done with the conversation. "I'll see you then!"
~Things happen~
September 20th 2014
Bill and Katie´s house.
Donna is standing on the other side of the door to her sister's house wondering if it's really such a good idea to rejoin the family at this particular dinner, then the door opens and Taylor almost knocks her over.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
"I don't know." Taylor can see the tears forming in her eyes.
"Come with me!" Then she grabs Donna´s arm and pulls her with her to her husband's car, places her in the back seat and then walks around the car to the other side and sits down. "So, how are you really?"
"Eric´s death hit me harder than I thought it would and because of that I've pulled away from my family and said some things that I shouldn't have said."
"I agree with you on that, but you really need to come inside right now. Katie and Bill are doing an announcement today and you need to be there to hear it!"
"Why?"
"You'll understand when you hear what they have to say!"
"Why were you coming outside just now?"
"Oh, right!" Taylor looks over the car and finds what she was looking for. "Got it! Let's head inside."
"Okay."
Taylor gets out of the car and starts walking back towards the house, when she notices that Donna isn't following, she turns around and waves for Donna to join her.
Taylor opens the door as Donna joins her. "Look who I found!"
"Aunt Donna!" Hope walks over with Kelleigh in her arms. "I didn't know you were coming!"
"Well, I promised Katie I would." She looks around at all the people present and when her eyes lands on Thorne, her heart constricts and guilt fills her mind.
She walks over to him. "Can I speak to you a little bit?"
Thorne looks around the room and catches his daughter´s eyes and she just nods her head, making him follow Donna.
She stops by the stair case up to the first floor and turns around. She reaches over when he joins her and takes a hold of his hands. "I wanted to apologize for using you the way I did to get back at your mother!"
"Okay, thank you!" Thorne moves to leave, but Donna turns him back towards her.
"Could we maybe start over as friends again? I don't like the fact that we lost our friendship after that."
"Well, what did you think would happen? You know, with you going after my father and all that?"
"Yeah, about that, it was a difficult time for me and I made some choices that weren't the best. I don't regret my relationship with your father though, how it started yes, but not the parts in-between starting and ending. I do regret the reason why our relationship started though, I shouldn't have done that."
"No, you shouldn't have, but it's not me you should be apologizing to." Thorne looks around the room searching for someone. He finds the person and points them out to Donna.
Donna lowers her head after seeing who he meant and then she nods her head.
"Hi everyone!" Katie starts talking. "I wanted to say that I'm happy all of you came to this dinner and I wanted to let you know why you're all here!"
Katie looks over at her husband and he just nods his head and Katie gives a big sigh.
"Okay, so, about ten months before I was born, my mother ran into a man she hadn't seen in over ten years and some things happened. The affair went on for about two months and ended when mom realized she was pregnant with me. The day before Kelleigh´s birthday party, I took a drive with the twins and found myself at Taylor and Ridge´s house."
~Things happen~
AN:
Well, we're ending here because I've just gotten to 17 pages and that's too long a chapter for my stories. We'll continue in the next one though!