My little boy!

Ridge still held little Jack in his arms. He was completely fascinated about this precious child. He barely could take his eyes off of him.

"Oh I totally forgot, I have something for you!" He shifted Jack into one arm and with the free hand he reached into his pocket and took a rubber duck out of it. He showed Jack his gift and made some quaking noise.

"Oh look Jack, a duckie." Taylor took the toy in her hand and was teasing her son with it. Jack was waving with his hands, like he wanted to grab it. Taylor and Ridge both laughed.

"Well I guess he likes it. Thank you, that's very sweet!"

"When I saw it, I had to think of Thomas as a baby. Do you remember? He was crazy with his rubber duck."

"Yeah and he was always mad as hell when I tried to take it away."

For a moment they both lingered in their memories until Jack's whining brought them back to the present.

"Oh looks like someone wants to go back to his mommy."

Taylor took her son into her arms and rocked him reassuringly. Jack was making gurgling sounds again. Taylor put him back in the crib, his new duck next to him. She hummed softly until Jack slumbered gently. Ridge, meanwhile, went to the bar and prepared two glasses of iced tea. As he sat back on the sofa, he watched Taylor and Jack, lost in thought. Once again, pictures of past times popped up in his mind.

"Hey you're staring!"

"Excuse me? Sorry I was somewhere else."

"I noticed it."

Taylor sat down next to him.

"Now tell me, what's going on?" Taylor took a deep breath.

"Phew, the story is so absurd and crazy I don't even know where to start. With Jack's delivery there were some complications and so Jack was examined very thoroughly and they did some tests to make sure he wasn't harmed..."

"Jack's not seriously ill, is he?" interrupted Ridge, deeply concerned.

"No! No! He's perfectly healthy and normally developed; only something came to Bridget's attention during those tests. Jack is...Well it's like this...Nick is..." Taylor stammered sheepishly.

"What is it?"

"Nick is not Jack's biological father."

"What?! But that's impossible! After all, Jack wasn't conceived naturally, well I'm not saying it would have been possible then. I mean...how can that be?"

Taylor told him about the mix-up that must have happened in the hospital. Ridge was shaken. Sympathetically, he took his ex-wife in his arms.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry for you, for both of you. This is really a nightmare. I mean even Mr. Sailor doesn't deserve this. I don't even know what to say"

Taylor enjoyed his hug. All the time she had to be strong, for a brief instant she allowed herself a moment of weakness. Ridge just held her tightly, he had never been a man of big words.

"That must have been an enormous shock. I don't even want to imagine what you've been through the last few days. But still there's one thing I don't quite understand. Why did you and Nick break up? Even if some stranger was supposed to be Jack's actual genitor, you still would have been a family."

"Yeah, that's what I was hoping too. I was sure we would have worked it out together somehow, but Nick and I had a very honest talk. Nick revealed, he could never love Jack like his own son, he could only tolerate him."

"Whoa pretty harsh words."

"That blew me away too and hurt me at first, but now I think he was just being honest, if that's how he feels. I can't change it if that's his point of view. For me it was obvious that this marriage doesn't make sense anymore. I can't be married to a man who feels forced to accept my child but doesn't want to have him around him. I could never expect Jack to grow up in a home where he is unloved and unwanted."

"At the risk of repeating myself, you really are an exceptional mother. Jack is very lucky to have you. I don't think many women would have done what you're doing for him. Sacrificing your own happiness for his sake."

"I don't think it would have been happiness at all. Jack is the most important priority in my life right now. I'm so glad to have him and he gives me more content than I could ever get from a man. I just have to get used to being alone again."

Ridge reached for her hand.

"You're not alone, I mean if there's anything I can do to help you anytime and besides, you still have the kids."

"Indeed! Without them I would have been completely lost these last few days, they've been so great in helping me with the move and the settling and getting everything ready for Jack. I could never have done it without their support."

"Yes we have three wonderful children, so I guess we dId something right in parenting."

"Looks like it!"

For a moment they sat in silence, then Ridge stood up and walked over to Jack, who was lying gleefully in his crib, content with himself and the world, oblivious to all the excitement around him.

"The only one bereaved is Jack, actually." With his fingers he tickled the little one.

"This little man deserves a father."

Taylor was aware, now it was time to come out with the other part of the story.

"To be honest, he has a father, at least I hope he will have a father."

Ridge looked at her puzzled.

"You know who Jack's actual father is? How so?"

"Bridget found out when she analyzed the paternity test."

"Okay and who is it? One from the sperm bank or someone else? Is it someone we know?"

"As a matter of fact we both know him, very well indeed."

"Really? You make me curious? Who is it?"

"Before I tell you that, I have to discuss something else with you. I know you may not want to talk about it, but remember when Nick and I got married and we planned our pregnancy. At that time Brooke was still convinced Nick and she belonged together, she was doing all kinds of crazy stuff to provoke Nick and dragged you into it. Bridget told me, Brooke and you also had an in vitro fertilization treatment, to have a child together."

Ridge was horrified. He didn't want to be reminded of that story. He wasn't proud of it and he was extremely embarrassed that Taylor now knew about it.

"Bridget told you that? How could she do this? Is she out of her mind?"

"She had no choice Ridge, because this two surgeries are directly related to each other and it seems like that's where the mix-up occurred."

"What's your point?"

"Brooke and my surgery took place nearly the same time, we were in the hospital at the same time and Bridget suspects this is what caused this whole mess. Brooke was still registered in the hospital under the name Maroni just like me and probably someone in the lab mixed up our egg files."

Ridge looked at her with wide eyes, slowly realizing what Taylor was trying to tell him, but still not quite want to believe it.

"Wait a minute, if Brooke and your egg files got mixed up, then that would..."

He couldn't speak any further, but slowly the meaning of Taylor's words filtered through to him. Taylor reached for the papers on the table and handed them to him with trembling hands.

"That's exactly what I want to tell you, Ridge. Jack is your son! You're his biological father!"

Ridge felt like the world would stop for a moment. He could not comprehend what he had just heard. Mechanically, he reached for the documents and began to read them over and over again.

They confirmed to him what Taylor just said. Jack was his son. He jumped up and ran around the living room, startled.

"No, it can't be! This is completely insane and impossible. Oh my God!"

"I know it sounds totally crazy and unbelievable. We have another child."

Taylor smiled nervously. She had tears in her eyes, looking at him expectantly.

"My God, I still can't believe it. Not in my wildest dreams I have expected to come here and become a father again. The whole story back then was completely irrational and I'm actually not proud of it. I was never really convinced of Brooke's plan, but she kept talking and pleading to me and at some point I thought this was our chance to start over. So I finally agreed and if I have to be straight up, I was relieved when we found out she wasn't pregnant. In the meantime I had noticed, it wasn't for us and Brooke's true intentions were not to build up a family with me. It was a hard lesson for me to learn but I already had closed this chapter and was about to move on and now you show up and tell me Jack is my baby."

Maybe due to the tension in the room, all of a sudden Jack started squawking in his crib. Taylor was about to jump up to check on him, but Ridge was faster.

"Hey little fellow, everything's fine. No need to cry."

He looked at this precious boy, who was his son. Lovingly, he took him in his arms and made all kinds of shenanigans to make Jack smile again. Taylor beamed at this sight. She felt Jack had already won Ridge's heart. She was sure everything would work out beautiful. Jack quickly calmed down and lay contentedly in his arms. Ridge looked at him with pride.

"See, no need to get fussy. Do you actually know who I am? I'm your daddy! Yeah that's right! What do you say about that?"

With his son in his arms, he walked over to the couch and sat back down. Taylor slid closer to the two of them and tenderly stroked Jack's head.

"I'm convinced he's happy to hear the good news."

"You think so?"

Gently, he stroked Jack's small hand with his pinky. As if to confirm his mother's words, Jack closed his hand and with a surprisingly firm grip he held Ridge's finger.

"See! Jack already doesn't want to let you go."

"You know, I kind of felt it when I first held him earlier. Deep inside, I had this feeling, there was some special connection between us. It was just like it was with Thomas back then."

They sat there for a while, silently enjoying the moment. Then a thought occurred to Ridge.

"Nick surely freaked out when he found out that I, of all people, am the father. Was that the deciding factor in your breakup?"

"I would lie if I said otherwise. Whereby it was certainly not the only one, it was rather just the last stroke. But Nick was already very distant with Jack before. From the moment he heard Jack wasn't his son, he seemed to have lost all interest in him. Even while we were still in the hospital, he stopped by with some custody papers to dispose of his paternity."

"You are kidding? That guy is such a bastard. You should be happy to be rid of him. Jack and you, you have your own family. You don't need Popeye."

"I'm glad you see it that way Ridge. I was afraid of how you'd react. I wasn't sure you'd accept Jack so easily, with the given background."

"That's not important. What matters is our little boy. I'm just so sorry about everything. If I hadn't listened to Brooke, none of this would have happened and your life wouldn't be turned upside down right now."

"I don't see it that way. Perhaps Jack wouldn't even exist then and I don't even want to imagine that."

Ridge nodded in agreement and lifted Jack up.

"Your mommy is absolutely right, isn't she Jack? You're my little boy and I will never let you down!"