I apologize for the late update, I'll make it up to you by posting another brand, spanky new chapter on Monday.

"I too big for a stroller, Mama," a sleepy Little Eric reminded Brooke as she lowered him into the back of the two seater stroller.

"I know, baby, but just rest here for a moment for me, then you can get out. 'Kay?" she requested as she brought the blanket up to his chin and kissed his cheek.

"Kay," he whispered and in the next second he was asleep.

Brooke stood up and looked at Ridge. "So where are we going to eat? Cause I'm starving."

Ridge pushed the stroller forward and said, "One of the workers told me there was a family Italian restaurant down the street."

"Well push on, sir," Brooke grinned.

Ridge smiled back.

A short while later, they arrived at the restaurant, which was nearly empty, and seated themselves.

They quickly perused the menu and ordered.

"So Little Eric is calling you 'Mama' now?" Ridge inquired.

Brooke thanked the waitress for their drinks and took a sip of her coke before responding. "On occasion. It's only natural with it only being he, Hope, and I in the house."

"How does Amber feel about that?"

"Well for her to know that she would have to actually come over to the house or call."

"She hasn't been over to see Little Eric or talked to him?"

"The one time I put him on the phone, she had a two second conversation with him and he handed me back the phone. Amber said, 'It was too hard to talk to him. Little Eric reminded her too much of Ric.'" Brooke replied, shaking her head.

"Brooke, Little Eric has been living with you for two and a half months, and she hasn't seen him?" Ridge asked in stunned disbelief.

She shook her head. "Although she does call occasionally to subtly ask when I'm going to have Ric legally declared dead. And when I say subtle, I mean Amber Moore's version of subtle."

Ridge's response was interrupted by the waiter returning with the food.

After a few bites, Brooke turned to Ridge, "What were you going to say about Amber?"

"I've seen her and mother conspiring with Jonathan. I think Amber is going to have Rick declared dead—"

"That way she can get her hands on his estate."

"Have you changed anything?"

"Nope."

Ridge and Brooke laughed.

Dinner continued on a nice note with light, flowing conversation.

After checking on the kids one last time, Brooke allowed the smooth ride of the Range Rover to lull her into a state somewhere between mellowness and sleep. She contemplated the day. She remembered the prayer she uttered before leaving the house this morning; and was happily surprised at how it was answered.

Her day had been filled with tons of talk about Ric and Bridget just the opposite of what she requested. But Ridge brought up Ric and Bridget as they walked around the zoo. He was great at remembering which animals had stunned, amazed, delighted, and frightened Ric and Bridget when they had first brought them to the zoo. Ridge's memories enchanted Little Eric and Hope. And she had to admit they filled her with joy as Ridge's stories sent her memory into overdrive recalling things that had long been forgotten. On this day, it had felt like she had her four kids all with her.

She opened her eyes slightly and threw covert glances at Ridge. She watched as he quietly tapped the steering wheel to the beat of the almost inaudible music. Brooke wondered if he ever thought about their other kids.

In the weeks following Ric and Bridget's disappearance, people came out of the woodworks offering her their sympathies and condolescenes. At times she had wanted to shout, this isn't the first time I've been here. I've been here twice before.

Her mind could instantly recall lying in the hospital bed, Ridge's engagement ring on her finger, and the doctor telling her that she has lost her baby. The pain that consumed her when the doctor said those words. She wondered if Ridge had felt like that. Felt like, he was in constant, never ending pain. If he did, they never spoke of it, or of their feelings of losing their first-born.

When the doctor first placed Ric in her arms, she cried for all that she had lost and all she had gained. She knew Eric, the doctor, and nurses reduced her tears to first time motherhood and hormones, but she knew it was more than that. She shed tears because the baby in her arms was her literal first-born child, but he wasn't her eldest or her first child.

She wept for her eldest that she never got to hold in her arms, whom never got to play protector to Ric, whom she never got a chance to see, touch, kiss, sing a lullaby, or whisper "I love you" to. A baby that was never permitted the chance to see the blueness of the sky and ocean; the beige-tan color of the sand; to feel the warmth of the sun on his or her skin; the feel of her lips on his or her cheeks or the feel of shifting, wet sand underneath his or her tiny feet.

Losing the second baby brought the same feelings rearing back. She had foolishly believed that maybe this time she would be better prepared since she had unfortunately gone through this before, but she was sadly mistaken. No parent could ever be prepared for the death of his or her child. Even with all the ecstasy Bridget and Ric had brought into her life, the loss of her second child devastated her. And her devastation was made greater because Ridge doubted the validity of the baby's existence. Bridget and Ric were the only two things that truly got her through that dark, dark time in her life. She couldn't wallow in bed and let the darkness consume her when they needed breakfast, wanted to play, and mostly needed her love to help them through the disappearance of their dad, Ridge.

She had lost four kids. She would never wish that on her worst enemy. But she did take comfort in the fact that at least they were all together. Ric and Bridget were now with their brothers, sisters, or brother and sister that they had never seen before and rarely, if ever heard about.

Her deep thoughts ended as Ridge pulled into the driveway. The time had past that swiftly. They each gently took out a sleeping toddler and headed inside.

Sighing, Brooke laid Hope on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Ridge asked, lying Little Eric on the bed also.

"I dread waking them up to give them a bath," she replied.

"Then don't we'll give them the world famous Ridge Forrester's one-minute bath," he responded, as he walked into her bathroom and returned promptly with two washcloths.

Brooke smiled as he handed her a washcloth. She remembered the nights she and Ridge were too tired after a day with Ric and Bridget to give them a bath and Ridge one night came up with this idea. At first the mom in her was appalled at the idea of just wiping off her dirty child's face, hands, and feet then putting him or her in pajamas, but her weariness overcame that objection and Ridge's one-minute baths came in handy in a pinch.

After undressing and dressing Hope, she carefully laid her on the right side of the bed. Ridge finished putting Little Eric's pajamas on and was picking him up to carry him to his room, when she stopped him.

"He sleeps in here with me," Brooke informed him.

Ridge laid Little Eric next to Hope, but Brooke redirected him and he laid him on the left side of the bed.

"They each like to have a side of me to themselves," she said, answering his unasked question.

Ridge nodded and for a moment they just stood and watched the two babies sleep peacefully.

Rubbing his eyes, Ridge pointed to the bedroom door. Brooke nodded, grabbed the baby monitor, and followed him out the room.