Family Dinner!
Taylor entered the house. She was quite exhausted. She had spent several hours with Stephanie in the attic, but at least they had picked out some very nice items to offer at the auction. But they still had a long way through all the shelves and boxes. There are still a few hours of work waiting for them.
Taylor grinned mysteriously and pulled the folder with Ridge's designs out of her bag. Unbeknownst to Stephanie, she had secretly taken them with her. A great idea had come to her and she was planning a huge surprise for Ridge. For now, she needed a good hiding place because her plan was to remain absolutely secret for now. Taylor thought feverishly. The office seemed too risky. After all, they shared an office together and Ridge very often rummaged around in her desk when he needed something. The risk of him finding the folder by accident was far too great. Taylor went into their bedroom and looked around searchingly. And then she found the perfect hiding place. She buried the folder at the bottom of the chest, where she always kept their bed sheets. Ridge never looked in there and he certainly wouldn't find it there.
Satisfied, Taylor nodded and made her way to the kitchen, humming. She was just passing through the entry when Ridge arrived.
"Hey, there you are!"
The two hugged and gave each other a soft kiss. Ridge scrutinized her, laughing.
"Where have you been?"
He pulled some dust fluff and spinning threads out of her hair. Taylor shook herself.
"Oh, I was in the attic today with your mother. You know we were looking for things to auction off at the party!"
"Oh, yeah! I remember."
Ridge followed Taylor into the kitchen.
"I just hope Mother isn't planning on auctioning off any embarrassing childhood memories of ours!"
"Why? Are you afraid she's going to offer your first pacifier?"
"Very funny!"
Ridge watched as Taylor strapped on her apron and went to work on the refrigerator.
"Are you going to cook a big meal tonight? What do you say we order in instead? We haven't had any from our favorite French place in a while?"
"That's true, but Ridge, did you forget?! Steffy is coming over tonight with John. She specifically requested an eggplant casserole!"
"Oh yeah, right!" Ridge tapped his forehead. "That indeed slipped my mind. Well, we can't very well disappoint our daughter!"
Taylor looked at him with big puppy eyes.
"Does that mean you'll help me?"
"You know damn well I can't say no to that look!"
At eve, Ridge and Taylor sat comfortably at dinner with both Steffy and John, as well as Thomas.
Steffy bent over the casserole and sniffed with relish.
"Mmm, smells delicious, Mom! If you only knew how long I've been craving this. No one makes it as good as you!"
Taylor hugged her daughter and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
"Thanks honey, that's the sweetest compliment you can give your mom! However, the thanks don't go to me alone. Your father has been energetically helping."
"Well, I was merely your mother's handler. She was in charge!"
"Well, that was probably for the best! I mean..." Steffy felt her father's gaze. "... everyone should go with what they do best."
"I get it!" Ridge quirked a snort.
"Now calm down, Ridge! You're in charge of other areas!"
Taylor winked at him and the two grinned at each other. Thomas and Steffy rolled their eyes.
Everyone enjoyed the eggplant casserole. During the meal Steffy and John casually shared, they were planning to go to Las Vegas for a long weekend to meet up with some friends. Thomas nudged his sister and grinned mischievously.
"Other than that, you guys don't have any plans there?"
"What else would we have planned there?" asked Steffy with an innocent face.
"Well, you wouldn't be the first ones to come back from Las Vegas as a married couple. Everyone stared at Thomas and gulped. Steffy nudged Thomas back.
"You must know! You speak from experience."
Steffy noticed the worried expression on her parents' faces.
"Hey guys, don't panic! We're not planning on getting married in Las Vegas."
"I sure hope not!" agreed Taylor. "If you guys ever get married, it'll be here at home in our house. That's tradition!"
"I know, and how could I defy it! Besides, if I ever get married, I don't want a 'fun wedding' alla Las Vegas. I want a huge celebration with all the trimmings and a gigantic party!"
Steffy was getting more and more excited. Thomas patted John on the shoulder.
"You should know, at this point, the women in this family call the shots! I want you to be aware of that beforehand."
John nodded in surrender.
Later, Steffy and John had already left and Thomas had retired, Ridge and Taylor were snuggled together on the couch. It had been a beautiful evening. However, Taylor noticed something was bothering Ridge. She nudged him.
"Hey, a penny for your thoughts!" Ridge sighed.
"It's nothing, I'm just thinking about Steffy right now. I'm glad she's doing so well and is so happy, and John seems to be doing really well for her. You know I had my reservations at first. You know how film people are, but he seems to take very good care of her and genuinely loves her!"
"I agree! I think Steffy made a good choice with him and she's lucky to have him."
"But I'll never quite get used to that sight. To me, she's still my little girl!"
Taylor smirked and stroked his cheek affectionately.
"Steffy will always be your little girl, even if she has children of her own someday. You'll never quite see the grown woman in her. But you have to realize, your little girl has grown wings.
"Yeah, I know, and I can't stop her from flying."
Taylor snuggled up to him.
"This may be just a small comfort, but you still have me! I'm not going to fly anywhere!"
"I sure as hell hope not!"
He pulled her closer to him. She tickled him with her nose.
"What do you say we go upstairs now and I give you one of my famous massages! I guarantee your moping will be blown away after that!"
"An excellent idea!"
Pierre had made himself comfortable on his recamier with a glass of wine. He had printed out some of Taylor's articles from the medical journal and was now engrossed in his reading. He was not particularly interested in psychology but hoped to get a more accurate impression of Taylor and her mind mapping. In addition, it might give him some topics to talk about with her in the future. As he read, his mind kept wandering.
He had unobtrusively questioned Pam about Ridge over the days and she had been all too willing to tell him everything about Ridge's turbulent love life. Apparently, he was not a steady man, although Brooke and he had apparently always loved each other, they had broken up several times and even had other partners in the meantime. Pam had joked by now everyone in the family had lost track of how many times Ridge had walked down the aisle. He probably didn't really know it himself. However, she had also added that it was probably a different matter with Taylor. The two were a very consistent and harmonious couple. After all, they had been married for a year now, and in that time, there had been no crises, nor did it look like anything would change in the future. Hardly anyone had a better insight into Taylor and Ridge's married life. After all, she was the one who makes all their reservations and who Ridge instructes to get flowers or other gifts for Taylor. Pam's gushing about what an attentive partner Ridge was, made Pierre highly uncomfortable.
He would never actively do anything to harm Ridge and Taylor's marriage. That wasn't his style. He had learned in his childhood, a marriage is sacred and needs to be respected. His only chance to get closer to Taylor was to form a friendly bond. If Ridge turned out not to be the perfect husband and would treat her badly, he'd be at her side in a heartbeat.