Guys, this is it the final chapter. Thank you so much for the responses. And thanks to everyone who read but didn't respond. I hope you all enjoyed, I know I did. Thanks...

I, I'm so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is all right with me
'Cause you make me feel so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you

Ridge pressed his forehead against Brooke's, staring into her eyes as they moved slowly across the impromptu dance floor, and sang along with Al Green.

Since, since we've been together
Loving you forever
Is what I need
Let me be the one you come running to
I'll never be untrue

Let's, let's stay together
Lovin' you whether, whether
Times are good or bad- -

"How could you do this to us?" a voice shouted, abruptly bringing the festivities to a grinding halt.

Ridge spun Brooke around and placed himself between her and the angry voice.

Brooke gasped and hung onto Ridge for dear life. Right before her eyes, looking dirty, dishevelved, like they had been through the mud, stood Ric and Bridget, alive. Alive. But her alive son had a gun pointed directly at Stephanie. And her alive daughter had a butcher knife in hand.

"Aunt Stephanie, how could you do this to us? How could you allow him," Ric asked, moving the gun to Massimo, "to do this to us?"

Stephanie was flabbergasted. In front of her stood the miracle she had been praying for since that horrible day when Brooke informed them all that Ric and Bridget were gone.

"Cat got your tongue, Steph? Answer my question! Why did you do this?" Ric demanded.

Brooke let go of Ridge and moved towards her children. Ridge grabbed her, stopping her from moving.

"What are you talking about?" Stephanie asked, bewildered.

"The games stop now, Stephanie Forrester. We want the truth! We demand the truth! Why did you have Massimo kidnap us?"

Gasps and outrage now accompanied the tears of joy and dismay on the family members in the dining room of the soon to be former home of the newlyweds Brooke and Ridge Forrester.

Shaking her head, Stephanie was clearly confused. She looked to Massimo for answers.

"Stephanie, I have no idea what they are talking about. They've obviously been through a terrible ordeal," Massimo stated as he tried to make his way towards Ric.

"Move and I'll shoot you," Ric announced in a calm, yet menacing tone.

Massimo moved his foot and Ric cocked the gun.

"Massimo, stay still!" Beth commanded.

"We aren't crazy. We overheard you. We got good at sneaking out of our suites through the air ducts. You should really have those checked out, if you're going to be keeping any more prisoners anytime soon. But I digress, you were on the phone saying Stephanie would for sure marry you now that you had kept your promise and neutralized Brooke." Ric turned to Stephanie and the gun with him. "Did you hate my mom that much? I mean, as much as you tried to hide it, Budge and I knew that you hated her with a passion. It confused me for a while- -Stop moving, Nick, or I will shoot you."

Nick instantly stopped inching his way towards Ric and Bridget.

"I didn't know if I should love you when you were so mean to my mom and then I made myself believe all the things you

said to her and did to her was because you wanted her to be the best mother possible and I was able to cope with that. But this, that you would let her believe we were both dead. Do you hate us that much? What were you hoping would happen? She would kill herself in grief?"

Tears streamed down Brooke's and Ridge's faces. She couldn't believe this, Stephanie ordered Ric and Bridget to be kidnapped.

"Ric, I had nothing to do with this- -" Stephanie cried.

"Don't lie," Ric shouted.

"I'm not lying," Stephanie replied. "Massimo, please tell me you didn't have anything to do with this."

Massimo looked at Nick, Ridge, and then finally Stephanie. "I only heard happiness in your voice once the children were relocated. I hadn't heard you this happy since before that whore," Massimo pointed to Brooke, "entered your life. She dragged your family's name through the mud and destroyed your marriage and has endlessly tried to ruin our son's life. You wanted her out of your life and Ridge's life and I did that- -"

Brooke gasped.

Ridge's jaw dropped open.

Storm, Beth, Stephen, Donna, Mick, Katie, Eric, Antonio, Kristen, Nick, Felicia, and Thorne watched the happenings in utter shock.

Stephanie shook her head. "I never meant for you- - How could you put Ric and Bridget through this? How could you let us believe they were dead?" Stephanie asked in disbelief.

"They were fine and best of all they were away from that despicable woman whom they are forced to call mother."

Tears ran down Stephanie's face. "Massimo- -"

Two shots rang out quickly.

Donna screamed.

Massimo clutched his abdomen as he fell to the ground.

Brooke ran over to her son, the gun still smoking in his hand. She embraced Ric and Bridget and they held her tightly against them. The three of them cried.

Nick grabbed Katie and left the dining room, shutting the doors behind them.

"Steph- -" Massimo whispered, as a steady stream of blood flowed from his mouth.

Stephanie stared at him, crying and speechless.

"St- -" he began and then stopped.

Thorne bent next to Massimo and felt around for a pulse. "He's gone."

Eric stared at Stephanie as she stared at Massimo's lifeless body.

Antonio held Kristen and Felicia as they cried. Stephen held his wife as Mick held Donna.

Nick returned to the room and threw gloves at Ridge and Storm, as he put his own on.

"Dad, go get some garbage bags from the utility closet. Mick, bring my car around back. The keys are on the table in the entryway. Storm, I'll meet you at your boat in thirty," Ridge ordered.

The men immediately snapped into action.

"The kids?" Ridge said, to no one in particular.

"Katie is taking care of it."

Ridge nodded. He walked over to his new wife and their kids and pried the smoking gun from his son's hand and slipped it in his inner jacket pocket.

Eric returned with the bags. Ridge and Nick took the bags. They stripped his body of any identifying information and quickly wrapped Massimo in the bags.

Stephen immediately started a fire in the fireplace.

Hearing the car outside, Ridge and Nick lifted the body.

Thorne opened the doors leading to the backyard, as Mick popped the trunk. Ridge and Nick dumped the body in the trunk.

Moving fast and efficiently, Ridge returned to the room that just minutes earlier had been the site of his happiest memories. He took off his gloves, pocketed them, and finally embraced his wife and children. He kissed both kids and rubbed his face against theirs. "I love you," he whispered, over and over again.

Nick tapped him on the shoulder.

Ridge nodded and kissed his family once again, picking up the knife Bridget dropped after the shot was fired. "I'll be right back." He turned and watched as Stephen added another piece of Massimo's ID to the roaring fire.

"I'll be right back," Ridge whispered to his family. He handed the knife to Stephen to toss into the fire. Pausing in front of his mother, he stared into her red eyes. "You're going on a year long vacation. Go visit your sister, go visit your friends in Europe and Asia, but don't you dare set foot in this town in less than a year- -"

"Ridge," Stephanie choked.

Ridge turned from her and looked at his father. "Dad, take her to the airport."

"Ridge, please. I had nothing to do with this. Please," Stephanie pleaded.

"I'm through with listening to you mother. Your hatred has created this diabloque. I'm finished. If I see or hear from you before that year is up, your life will become hell on earth. And please, please, for your own sake, don't doubt my words or you'll live to regret it," he finished, walking out of the door.

"Let's go, Stephanie," Eric commanded, ushering his soon to be ex out of the dining room.

Kristen, Thorne, and Felicia watched as their mother, crying, but silently left the room.

Why, why some people break up
Then turn around and make up
I just can't see
You'd never do that to me (would you, baby)
Staying around you is all I see
(Here's what I want us to do)

"Ridge, are sure about this?" Storm asked as he lowered the anchor, miles away from the shore of California. "He was your father."

"No, Storm. My father is Eric Forrester. This piece of- -He let me think my kids were dead because he didn't like the woman I love. He saw me suffering. He saw Brooke suffering. And he didn't care. He was a soulless and evil man," Ridge paused and took a deep breath, "let's do this."

"Is the anchor secure?" Storm asked.

"Yes," Ridge assured him, giving the anchor another tug.

Together they lifted the dead body of Massimo Marone and threw him overboard. Ridge watched quietly as the body of his biological father made a splash and slowly started sinking to its final resting place. How ironic the ocean that he once thought housed his children's bodies now was the eternal resting place of the man who made him think such thoughts.

He felt no remorse, no sadness. Any feelings he had towards Massimo died the second Massimo confirmed he was behind the "deaths" of Ric and Bridget.

Twenty minutes later, the solitude was interrupted by Ridge's cell. "What?" he barked.

"We'll be at your dad's," Nick answered.

"Is everything okay?" Ridge asked.

"As well as can be expected. Are you finished?"

"We're on our way back," he responded, and then hung up.

Two miles from shore, Ridge threw out the gun. Now that all remnants of Massimo were gone, it was now time to concentrate on his family and rejoice for the return of Ric and Bridget.

Entering the house, Nick walked up to Ridge and nodded to the living room.

"Where are Brooke and the kids?"

"Upstairs, changing."

Ridge nodded and walked into the living room with Nick by his side and Mick and Storm following. Kristen, Antonio, Felicia, Stephen, Beth, Thorne, Eric, Donna, and Katie were seated around the living room, quietly talking.

"Ridge, are you okay?" his dad asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." Ridge looked around at his family and began. "Today I joined my life with Brooke for the rest of our lives. And in joining my life with hers, our families have now forever been joined, also. We are all a family and I protect my family. Massimo won't be bothering us again. Dad, Kristen, Thorne, Felicia if you want to have contact with Mot- - Stephanie, then please do so, but she can not come back to LA until Ric and Bridget say it's okay. She'll be selling me her stock in Forrester and I'll divide it evenly amongst us. I love you. And thanks for everything today." He raced to the stairs, and then paused. "Nick."

Nick walked towards him.

"Taylor- -"

"I called her and told her the kids wanted to go on the honeymoon with you and she agreed."

"Are you- -"

Nick shook his head. "No worries, we did what we had to do."

"Thanks, Popeye," Ridge said with admiration and affection.

"Anytime, designer boy," Nick returned with a smirk, as he watched his brother take the stairs two at a time to get to his family.

Ridge quietly opened the guest bedroom's door and found Brooke watching them sleep. He slipped in, walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her. Kissing her softly on the side of her neck, he asked, "How are they?"

"James came over, took some blood, and gave me a number where we can reach him anytime. He said, they look okay. He gave me some sedatives and sleeping pills, in case we need them," Brooke recounted in a steady voice.

"Logan, I'm here now. It's okay. Let it go."

Brooke shook her head. "I can't. They need me to be strong- -"

Turning Brooke's face towards him, Ridge gazed into her eyes that were holding back tears. "You don't have to be strong by yourself anymore. I'm here, we can be strong together, we can rejoice together that God gave us Ric and Bridget, and we can cry together for all we've been through."

Burying her face in his tuxedo shirt, Brooke let go of all her pent-up emotions, as Ridge held her and shed some tears of his own.

With their shoulders touching, Brooke and Ridge laid on the bed with Ric sleeping with his head in his mother's lap and Bridget lying across Ridge's thighs. Dawn and Will slept in cribs against the wall. Thomas, Phoebe, Stephie, Hope, and Ricky slept on sheets and blankets on the floor. They were having one giant slumber party.

"Do you think our lives will ever be simple?" Brooke whispered, in the dark.

"No. We don't do uncomplicated well; we'd be bored within two weeks tops," he answered.

She chuckled. A few minutes later, she asked, "Are you worried they didn't remember anything?"

"You heard what James said. They could remember one day or maybe they'll never remember at all how they got home. We just have to take one day at a time."

"You're right," she agreed, running her fingers lightly through Ric's hair. "This morning I woke up thinking marrying you for this final time would be the greatest thing in the world, but this- -"

"I know. This is their births times a million- -"

"A billion. Do you think she knew?"

"I don't know."

"I don't think she did. She was grieving along with the rest of us. That was genuine."

"She put this into action even without specifically giving the command. We should have seen this coming. I should have seen this coming- -"

"Ridge, there was no way to predict this."

"No, but I should have known her hatred would eventually cause great damage to you and this family."

"I love you, more now than I ever have before. This is my greatest dream come to life. I'm married to you with our children surrounding us and I refuse to let anything ruin this. For the next two weeks, I'm just going to enjoy being the mother of nine living kids and Mrs. Ridge Forrester."

"For the next month- -"

"We're going to be here a month?" she asked, excited.

"Yes."

"What about the kids' school?"

"Ridge Forrester, home schooling dad."

Brooke covered her mouth with her hands to drown out the sounds of her laughter.

"What are you laughing about?"

"You're home schooling?"

"Yes, I am."

"I can't wait to see that." Suddenly she turned somber.

"What's wrong, Logan?"

"I shouldn't be laughing. Look at all we've been through today and what they've been through- -"

Placing his finger against her lips, Ridge leaned over and kissed her cheek. "We will handle whatever comes our way together."

Reluctantly, Brooke nodded and intertwined her fingers with her husband's and together, with the sounds of their children's breaths, they watched dawn approach.

He nodded and turned to the window. "Nick and I will have to sort out his estate. And with what he did- - how will we be able to sort out the legitimate companies from the illegitimate," he sighed.

"Stefan Cassadine."

"Stefan Cassadine?"

"Yes, he's trustworthy and can help us sort everything out efficiently, quickly, and quietly."

Ridge was silent. Brooke knew the Stefan Cassadine. "You know Stefan Cassadine?"

"We met at a horse show. His nep- - his son, Nikolas, loves horses as does he. Once we were admiring the same horse and began talking."

"And that conversation was enough for him to help us?"

She heard the questioning tone in Ridge's voice and as ridiculous as it was, she knew she had to tell him the whole story before the jealousy really reared its head. He could marry whomever he wanted, while they were apart, but she couldn't even have a conversation, much less a friendship, with another man without the third degree. She shook her head. Ridge Forrester better be glad she loved him, she thought, as she continued her story. "We kept in touch. Then one summer we both ended up vacationing in Sardinia. And one rainy night, we sat at a table, drinking inferior ouzo, according to Stefan, watching the rain fall and commiserating on loving and having children with someone who doesn't want you or the children. And that cemented an everlasting friendship. He'll be more than happy to assist."

Ouch! He didn't utter a word. His jealousy got the best of him and he got to hear the unvarnished truth. Be careful what you wish for.

"He sent his blessings and is glad we're making it work."

"And he and his woman?"

Brooke thought about Stefan working in conjunction with Laura's psychiatrist and therapist, trying to help her regain her sanity. "It's not an issue."

Hearing the vagueness in her voice, he let the subject rest. "Any help he could offer would be great.

"I'll call him later."

Slowly the sun peaked through the sky. In the beauty that lay on them, around them, and before them, doubt crept into Ridge's head. "Logan," he said with trepidation.

She lifted their interconnected hands and kissed his hand softly. "It's going to be okay," she said with conviction. She paused, but she couldn't stop there with that glib platitude. "It won't be easy, but one day it will be okay."

Brooke sighed softly. Her mind recalled the day she opened her front door to find two cops on her doorstep with news that almost destroyed her life and killed a part of her soul. And now here she was, more than two years later, with her babies back in her arms and with self-knowledge that on her own she could make it through anything, but it was nice to finally have someone to share the burden with.

"And in other news this morning, the home of Brooke Logan has burnt to the ground. Yesterday, the home was the site of Brooke's remarriage to her former husband and Forrester's head designer, Ridge Forrester. Fire Chief Wally Sampson said, 'No one was in the house at the time the fire began, sometime after the festivities were over.' A cause for the fire has yet to be determined though early signs are pointing to an electrical fire. The newlyweds, currently on their honeymoon, couldn't be reached for comment. Brooke and Ridge are in the final stages of completing their new estate in Malibu."

Let's, we oughta stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad