Jack's first birthday!
Everything was still quiet in the Belair mansion. Everyone was still fast asleep. Until an alarm clock started ringing and disturbed the peaceful silence. A hand came out from under the covers and felt its way along the nightstand until it finally managed to locate the alarm clock. The annoying ringing stopped. But the silence lasted only for a short time. Then a second alarm clock started beeping on the other side. Grumbling and still with her eyes closed, Taylor reached for it and silenced it as well. Then she sleepily opened her eyes and sat up in bed. She stretched her arms, trying to get rid of the last bit of sleepiness. Her eyes wandered over to Ridge, who had buried himself back into his pillows. She knew very well that he was no longer asleep. She bent down to him and began to cover his face with kisses.
"Good morning sweetheart! Wake up! We have to get up! Today is a very important day!" Ridge blinked and grumbled.
"It's way too early!" He was about to pull the covers over his head, but Taylor showed no mercy.
"Hey don't go back to sleep! Have you forgotten already, your youngest son is celebrating his first birthday today and there's plenty to do. We have a full schedule today! So rise and shine!"
She herself leapt buoyantly out of bed, threw on her robe, and headed for the window. Ridge realized he had no chance and sat up in bed. Yawning, he stared at Taylor.
"How can anyone be so energetic so early in the morning!" Slowly and very reluctantly, he finally climbed out of bed and shuffled over to her. Taylor, meanwhile, had opened the window and was breathing the fresh morning air. Ridge wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled up to him.
"See, it's going to be a beautiful day! Jack is going to have a wonderful birthday and the party is going to be gigantic. Not one thing will go wrong today!" Ridge laughed derisively, Taylor gave him a significant stare.
"Do I detect a slight skepticism there?"
"Well, my love! I don't want to spoil your mood, but you do realize that this is going to be a party with all Forresters, and usually our name is synonymous with a lot of drama." Taylor laughed and gave him a kiss on the nose.
"Is that supposed to be some kind of a warning! I mean soon, I'll be going by the name 'Forrester' again too." Her eyes fell on the engagement ring Ridge had slipped on her finger last night.
"If that's the way you want to take it…."
"I think I know very well what I'm getting myself into...and in case you've forgotten. I'm a renowned psychiatrist. I know how to handle a bunch of lunatics." She smiled mischievously.
"Aha, so that's how you see us! Well wait!" He grabbed her and tickled her. Then he peeked at her lovingly.
"I love you Doc!"
"I love you too Ridge!" They kissed deeply. "And the ring is really stunning. I can't wait for us to finally get married and officially become a family again. Everything I've always dreamed about is finally coming true!" She looked deep into his eyes. "Thank you Ridge! Thank you for finding your way back to me and us being a family again!"
He looked at her deeply touched.
"I have you to thank for! For offering me a home again and trusting me with your heart once more. I honestly did have some jitters about the proposal. I mean..." He fell silent. Taylor guessed what was going on inside him. She wrapped her arms around him.
"Oh Ridge, like I ever would have said no. I love you! I've always loved you and I always will!" Their lips melted together once more. "Even though I was still a little surprised when you suddenly held the ring under my nose. I've secretly been waiting for it for a while, but at first I was a bit shocked."
"Well, actually I had planned it all quite differently. I was going to propose in a classic way, with a nice dinner, flowers, candles, music, just the whole nine yards!"
"That sounds wonderful and why did you throw your plans overboard?"
"I don't know...yesterday when we were looking through Jack's photo album together and reminiscing about the past twelve months and talking about our family ... .I realized again how much Jack, our other kids and you mean to me. At this moment, I was more than ever convinced that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Later, when we toasted Jack's birthday and I looked at you, I instinctively felt now is the right moment to pop the question. It was a spontaneous decision from my gut. I just let my heart speak and expressed how I feel."
Taylor fought back her tears. Discreetly, she wiped them away. "And do your feelings still tell you the same today?" He stroked her face.
"Yes, today and the day after tomorrow and a year from now and even ten years from now, my feelings will still tell me the same!"
"You can't imagine how much that means to me!" She breathed a kiss on his lips. "I can't wait to tell everyone about our plans. The kids will be thrilled! Secretly, they've been waiting a long time for us to finally hit it off."
Ridge did react a little surprised.
"You want to tell everyone today?"
"Yes, of course! Why should we wait any longer? The kids will be pestering us anyway. They've been dropping their little remarks lately quite often."
"I know, it's just I'm not sure whether today is the right time! As soon as we tell them, they'll be all over us..."
"So what! I think today, Jack's first birthday, is the most perfect day for such an announcement. Besides, I bet your mother is going to go wild again anyway. She already could hardly hold back the last few weeks. I am convinced she will use specially today as an opportunity to heckle us again. We can take the wind right out of her sails."
"That's right! So why not, actually. You're absolutely right, we should tell them today. After all, we want them to be happy with us from day one! You know we Forresters love weddings!"
"Indeed! But as far as we're concerned, this will be our last wedding."
"Are you so sure about that?" He grinned mischievously at her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She sparkled at him menacingly.
"Well, we're here in California! We can always get married again and again! Each year somewhere else!"
"Ridge Forrester, you're totally crazy sometimes! But that's what I love about you!"
He pulled her very close and kissed her passionately. His hands ran longingly down her back, caressing her. She moaned and purred smoothly. It felt so good what Ridge was doing. She felt a very dangerous desire spreading through her. Only very reluctantly and extremely unwillingly she gently stopped him. But they had a small boy who could wake up at any moment. "Ridge! This is really not a good idea right now. We have a little boy who's birthday is today and he's just sleeping a few rooms away waiting for us to wake him up and give him his present."
Ridge's lips trailed along her neck.
"He doesn't even know it's his birthday." he whispered to her, wanting to pull her back into his arms. Taylor glared at him sternly.
"So what? He can still wake up any time and then he'll scream the whole house and neighborhood together!" Ridge sighed in exasperation. He knew all too well that she was right.
"You know what? I'm looking forward to today in 18 years when Jack is of age and off to college. Then we'll have the whole house to ourselves again!" Taylor laughed.
"Ridge Forrester, you really are impossible sometimes!"
Before they left the room, she hugged him and gave him a tender sweet kiss.
"It's only postponed!" she whispered seductively to him. "Just until tonight and as they say 'anticipation is the greatest joy'."
The two went into the kitchen. Taylor pulled out a chocolate muffin and stuck a little candle light in it. Then they carefully and quietly crept to Thomas' old room, where Jack had been sleeping for several nights. Gingerly they opened the door and Ridge turned on the light. At a signal, they both started singing 'Happy Birthday'. Jack immediately opened his eyes and stared at his parents in amazement. He knew something was different than usual. Normally, they didn't come together to his room in the morning. Taylor lifted him out of his crib.
"Hey big guy! Today you turn one year old!" She pressed a big kiss on his cheek. Jack giggled happily. Ridge took his son and tossed him once in the air and congratulated him as well.
"So Jack, I hope you're ready for the big surprise!" Taylor and he looked at each other conspiratorially. Together with Jack, they now made their way to his nursery.
"Here Jack! This is your new room!" Taylor opened the door. Over the last few days, they, together with Thomas and the girls, had completely redesigned the room. They had purchased new furniture and redecorated the walls. The whole room was now in several shades of green and yellow. It gave one the impression of being in a jungle. In addition, they had pasted many murals in the shape of animal characters on the walls. Ridge showed Jack around his new room.
"Look at all these animals. They're all your new friends! There's a little elephant, a little dumbo, and here above your bed is a little monkey." He tickled Jack and made monkey noises.
"Eehh eeh ehh!" echoed Jack after him. The highlight was a large nest swing that Ridge had installed with Thomas. Jack loved to swing when they were on the playground and that's why Taylor and he had decided to surprise him with his own swing. Ridge put him in it and pushed him on. Jack was thrilled. He laughed and crowed with delight and waved his arms. Taylor knelt down by him.
"You seem to like it!" She hugged him. "Get Mommy a kiss!" She held out her cheek to him, but Jack bit her nose instead and gave her a very sloppy wet doggie kiss.
"Maahmaa ooowwee!"
"I love you too Jack! And what about daddy?!"
Ridge now knelt down too and also got a slobbery kiss and a "Daadaa oooweee!"
He lifted Jack into his arms.
"I love you too, soooo much and you know what we're going to do now?! Now we're going to have a really great birthday breakfast!"
At breakfast, Jack was allowed to enjoy his chocolate muffin. His whole face including his hands were smeared all over with chocolate, but no one minded today. Afterwards, Taylor was busy in the kitchen making final preparations for the upcoming celebration in the afternoon while Ridge played with Jack in the living room. After their work was done, Taylor joined them and they all watched 'Kiddy TV' together.
Around noon, Thomas and the girls stormed the house. Steffy and Phoebe had noisemakers with them, into which they kept blowing, and Thomas supplemented the noise with a small horn. In single file and with a very peculiar melody in which one could only very vaguely make out 'Happy Birthday', they approached Jack.
"Happy Birthday!" they shouted in chorus, throwing confetti at him. Thomas picked Jack up in his arms and threw him in the air a few times, Jack shrieking each time. Then Steffy and Phoebe grabbed the birthday child and swung him back and forth. Finally, it got too much for Taylor and she intervened.
"Now, don't get the little guy all worked up. Because I was actually just going to put him to bed so he could take a nap before the party."
Thomas and the girls stared at their mother disapprovingly. Sometimes she could be a real killjoy. She knew no quarter, however grabbed Jack and went upstairs with him. She couldn't see Thomas and the twins sticking their tongues out at her. While Taylor struggled to get Jack to settle down, Ridge and the kids began setting up everything for the party. Thomas and Ridge put several tables together and Steffy and Phoebe went into the kitchen to carry in the buffet.
Finally, everything was set up and ready to go. Now the only thing they could do was to pass the rest of the time. Thomas got out his latest designs and showed them to his father. Together they worked over the fine details. Steffy and Phoebe sat on the couch with their mother. Together they looked at the photo album of them and Taylor told her girls about their first years. Half an hour before the party should start, they all heard crowing from the baby monitor. Taylor looked at her watch.
"Perfect timing! I would have given him five more minutes!"
She headed upstairs.
"Well Jack, did you sleep well? Are you ready for the first party of your life?" She washed and changed him and walked with him to his closet.
"Now let's get you dressed up! What do you want to wear?" She was going through his outfits when Jack reached for a lion costume Taylor had gotten him for Halloween. "No Jack, that's out of question! That's for Halloween! Today you have to look fancy." But Jack's little hand clawed deeper into the costume, and he screwed up his face and whined incessantly. In the end, Taylor relented.
"Fine! You go as a big cat then." As she dressed Jack in the lion costume, she sighed and secretly scolded herself. She should have just had some clothes ready for Jack.
"That's what you get into when you let kids have a say!" A few moments later, Jack was all dressed up and was all around happy again. He snuggled up to his mom and tickled her with his little nose. Taylor gave him a hug. "Come on you cuddle cat, your guests will be here soon!"
As she entered the living room with Jack in her arms, Thomas and the girls burst out laughing.
"What happened to our sweet little brother? Did you trade him in for a baby lion?!" Taylor flung her oldest a dangerous look. Ridge came up to her and stared at her in irritation. Taylor defended herself.
"Hey, that wasn't my idea! Jack just got it into his head. You're welcome to go upstairs with him and try to put something else on him." Ridge, however, realized that he wasn't going to win this fight either. Phoebe took Jack in her arms.
"I don't even know what your problem is. I think Jack looks really cute. Right adorable!"
"Exactly! I think so too!" agreed Steffy to her sister. "Besides, Jack is a boy, they don't have the right feeling for proper styling. We'll teach Jack all that." Ridge nudged his daughter.
"And he's going to learn it from you? From the girl who wanted to go to her first day of kindergarten in her princess dress?"
"Well, how else was I supposed to go? It was by far my best dress and besides, it was supposed to be a message to the other kids!" Ridge rolled his eyes. Just then, the doorbell rang.
The first to arrive were Stephanie and Eric, accompanied by Pam. Thomas welcomed them at the door with a tray full of party hats and instructed them to pick one. The three looked at him a bit frowning at first, but then joined in the fun. Each of them put on a small hat.
"Where's our little darling?" wanted Stephanie to know. Taylor came towards them with Jack. The three of them also had to smile when he beamed at them as a little lion. But they refrained from making a remark. Each of them took Jack in their arms and kissed and cuddled him heartily, Jack seemed to enjoy this very much. Thorne and Aly arrived next, followed closely by Bridget. Aly spun around in front of the whole family, wanting everyone to admire her new dress that her father had brought her from Paris. Eric lifted his granddaughter up.
"You are a true fine lady!" Aly's face beamed at this remark. The last to arrive was Felicia. She had just arrived from Paris that morning. She was still busy getting Forrester International's business back on track. But of course she didn't want to miss Jack's birthday party. Everyone greeted her enthusiastically and was happy to see her again. Felicia grinned mysteriously.
"By the way, I brought another surprise guest. You'll never guess who it is!"
Everyone looked at each other in amazement, wondering who it could be. Felicia called towards the door.
"You can come in now! Time for your grand entrance!" None other than Kristen stepped into the room.
"Hi there, surprise! Here I am!"
It had been a long time since Kristen had been with her family. Even though she kept meaning to visit them, she just never made it. She had so much to do and something always came up. But Jack's first birthday was a welcome occasion for her. Stephanie was incredibly happy and embraced her prodigal daughter. The others also thought it was very nice to see Kristen again after all this time. Ridge was the last to approach her with Jack in his arms.
"Look! That's your Aunt Kristen, you haven't even met her yet. Will you give her a big kiss?"
Kristen took the little boy from him and looked curiously at her youngest nephew.
"Hey you little rascal, I finally get to meet you in person." Jack beamed at her perkily. "He sure looks cuddly and he has the same charming smile as you Ridge. I'm afraid Jack is going to be a real little heartbreaker one day! Just like his daddy!"
Jack liked his new aunt and the best thing about her was she had long blonde curls. Jack had a soft spot for long hair, which was so wonderful to pull and tug at. He fell into Kristen's arms and grabbed her hair with all his might. Kristen shrieked away and Taylor came to her rescue, freeing her from the little naughty boy.
"Come on, Jack! Leave poor Kristen alone. I've told you many times that it is a very bad habit." Jack grinned cheekily at her, shaking his head, now wanting to get at his mother's hair. But Taylor knew her ruffian and saw through him. Just in time, she fended off his attack. Kristen gave her brother a joking slap.
"I bet Jack picked that up from you. You used to pull my hair all the time."
"Oh, you've all get it wrong! Jack just wants to play."
The company now took their seats. Ridge took the opportunity to thank everyone for coming and officially declared the party open. It wasn't long before everyone was rushing to the buffet. Fully expecting Taylor to serve up big, most of them had skipped lunch. Soon, happy chatter could be heard everywhere and everyone was enjoying the delicacies. The party was in full swing.