Chapter 12:
Steffy and Finn are sitting in her living room after a physical therapy session, he's been spending a lot of time with her and the girls. The girls had been napping after the long day at the beach the four of them had. There is a knock on the door and Thomas lets himself in, Steffy smiles at the presence of her brother. That smile fades as she sees Lieutenant Baker and a woman with what looks like a medical bag. "Hey," Steffy says nervously, "What brings you all here?"
Finn can feel Steffy's nervous tension and moves to her side. "Steff, I have something to tell you." Thomas says nervously looking back at Lieutenant Baker, "I just overheard a conversation at work between Flo Fulton and Zoe Buckingham." Thomas nervously shifts, "Flo is not the birth mother of Phoebe."
Steffy can feel the weight of the world on her back, "W-what do you mean? Of course she's Phoebe's birth mother. I have the paperwork to prove it, a judge approved it."
Before Steffy can wrap her head around what this news can possibly bring, the door opens again and Hope walks in looking nervous. As she walks in the room she can sense the heaviness of the room. "Hey, Steffy I'm sorry I didn't call before I came. But I got a phone call from the police station asking me to meet Lieutenant Baker here. What's going on?"
With that news Steffy starts to put two and two together. Her eye's widen in fear as she tries to make sense of everything. She is about to lose her daughter, her little girl that she raised from infancy until eight months old. She looks back up at her big brother, he gives her concerned look.
Lieutenant Baker can sense that Thomas does not want to be the one to tell his sister and crush her world. Before he can say anything Liam walks in, "Mr. Spencer, right on time," He turns back to look at Steffy, "Steffy, we just got word that Flo Fulton posed as the birth mother of Phoebe. She conned you to get money." Steffy starts to sway a bit, feeling overwhelmed about all of this information. Finn notices this and place an arm around Steffy. "We have reason to believe that Phoebe is actually Elizabeth Spencer."
Liam and Hope look at each other in complete shock, "How is that possible," Hope asks, "I held her. Dr. Buckingham placed her in my arms."
"We haven't found out all the details yet. I hate to give you hope without knowing for sure, but we need to do a DNA match. This is Anja, she is one of our lab techs. She is going to get samples and rush them to the lab."
Steffy leans into Finn sobbing, "I can't believe this, I'm losing my little girl." Finn holds her tight not knowing how to comfort her so he just holds her as tightly as possible.
Hope looks at Steffy, the pure joy she feels is still there but her heart is breaking for her sister. She knows how great of a mother Steffy has been to Beth. If this had to happen, Hope was glad Beth was surrounded by love. Hope walks over to Steffy and grabs her to pull her in for a tight hug and the two cry together.
Steffy is utterly destroyed but she knows that this is a miracle for Hope. Steffy tries to pull herself together, "We need to do this DNA test." She says as she wipes away her tears, "We need to know."
They can hear the girls stirring in the other room, she looks back at Hope and they both quietly nod to each other. Steffy and Finn go into the room, Steffy comes out holding Phoebe and Finn is holding Kelly. Anja opens her case and takes out three swabs. She walks over to Liam and swabs his cheek, then Hope, then she comes to Phoebe. Steffy does her best to keep her composure around her daughters. Anja then gently takes a swab from Phoebe's cheek. She carefully packs up everything and turns back to Lieutenant Baker, "I'll put a rush on it Lieutenant. We will have the results in a few hours."
They all take a seat in the living room. Steffy holds onto her daughter as long as she can. Hope looks at Steffy nervously, "Steffy, if the results come back that Phoebe is Beth, then I want to make sure we do a transition properly. I don't just want to take her from the only home she has ever known. I don't want to do that to her, you, or Kelly."
Steffy can't explain it but this brings her some comfort, knowing that this won't be a complete shock to Phoebe. Meanwhile Liam hears Hope tell Steffy this and can't believe he is hearing this, "Um, if this is in fact Beth then we are taking her home to the cabin tonight."
Hope snaps her head back at Liam and stares daggers into him. "No we are not." Hope says firmly, "If this is Beth then I don't want to shock and confuse her. Not to mention I no longer live at the cabin. When she comes home she will come to my home down the road."
Liam can't believe what he is hearing, "But Hope, the cabin is the home that we built together."
"Liam, this is not appropriate to discuss this right now." Hope says and gives Liam another look that shows him this was not up for discussion at this time.
Liam, looking like a scolded child excuses himself and goes out on the back deck.
About 30 minutes have passed, Brooke barges in Steffy's front door with Ridge following not far behind her. "Hope! I just heard, Beth is alive?! She's Phoebe? This is wonderful news." She says as she grabs Hope and pulls her in for a hug.
Ridge walks over to Steffy who is still holding Phoebe, "Is this true Steffy?"
Steffy looks up at Ridge with tears in her eyes, "It's possible."
"What do you mean possible," Brooke snaps, "Of course that is Beth. Hope why are you not holding your daughter?"
"Mom," Hope tries to diffuse the situation, realizing Liam must have called her for back up, "We are waiting for the DNA results. They should be back within a few hours."
"You don't need a DNA test, Flo admitted it. Why would she lie about that," Brooke turns back to Steffy, "Steffy hand Beth over to Hope now."
Steffy tightens her grip on Phoebe. Lieutenant Baker decides it is time to step in and diffuse the situation, "Ms. Logan."
"It's Mrs. Forrester." Snaps Brooke.
"Fine, Mrs. Forrester," Baker continues, "Flo is an at large criminal right now. We have to take everything she says with a grain of salt. As of right now this is Phoebe Forrester until the DNA test comes back. And even after the tests come back, Steffy and Hope have been very maturely discussing a smooth transition for the little girl."
"With all due respect Lieutenant Baker."
"Mom," Hope interrupted Brooke before she could say something that would things harder for everyone. "That's enough, we just have to wait for the results. If you can't wait with us without causing trouble then you can go and I will call you later."
Brooke takes a seat as if a scolded child and shuts her mouth.
While everyone breaks off into different conversations, Thomas comes over to where Steffy is sitting with Finn as they hold Kelly and Phoebe, "I'm so sorry Steff. I was the one who overheard the conversation and went to the police. I know this is destroying you, and I know I turned your world upside down. But I had to tell, it was the right thing to do."
Steffy takes a deep breath, "I want to be mad at you, I want you to scream and yell at you and tell you to leave and never come back. But you did not turn my world upside down." Steffy said looking up at Thomas, "Flo and Dr. Buckingham did." Steffy says with venom in her voice, "And when they're caught. I'm going to exhaust every resource I have making sure they rot in jail."
Across the room Liam approaches Hope, "Hey, I'm sorry I called your mother without discussing it with you." Hope rolls her eyes at Liam, "But if we find out Phoebe is Beth then I want to give being a family another shot."
Hope sighs, "I have a lot to think about Liam. But if we do this, you have to do this on my terms. I saw the way you were ready to take her from Steffy, we have to do this as gently as possible. Not just for Beth, but for Steffy too." Liam scoffs and looks away, "Liam, this is a very touchy situation, we have to be careful."
Brooke walks over to Ridge, "Isn't this great honey. Beth is alive."
"Yeah," Ridge says gruffly as he looks over at his daughter, "I just wish this wasn't at Steffy's expense."
"Well this is a miracle, I'm sure Steffy will get over it." Brooke says not realizing how callous she sounds.
Ridge snaps his head back to Brooke, he tries to keep his voice down as to not upset the situation even more, "Get over it? You do not just get over the loss of a child."
"Of course not," Brooke says shocked at the venom in Ridge's voice, "But the child was never hers, she is Hope and Liam's."
"That doesn't make it any easier, Steffy raised that little girl for the past eight months. You know what, I can't even look at you right now." Ridge walks away towards Steffy, Thomas, Finn, and the girls.
About a hour and a half later there is a knock at the door. Ridge gets up to let Anja back in, "I'm sure your all eager to hear, I have the results right here." She says as she pulls the manila envelope out of her brief case.
