The most precious gift!
"So I think it's time for the presents!" Thomas clapped his hands and everyone nodded in agreement. Over the past few days, each of them already dropped off their gift. Thomas and Ridge had set them all up in the living room earlier. Some were ready on a big table, the others that were too big were around it. All covered with sheets.
Thomas took his little brother and walked with him to the gift table.
"Look Jack, this is all for you!"
Jack looked at him with big questioning eyes. Eric took the floor.
"I think as grandparents, Stephanie and I have the privilege of being the first."
He pulled away the green sheet to reveal a beautiful wooden rocking horse. Eric took his grandson in his arms.
"Here Jack, this is for you. This horse is very special because it is a family heirloom. It has already belonged to your father as well as all his siblings!"
Ridge and the others approached curiously. Felicia got all wide-eyed.
"You've got to be kidding me! Our good old Rosty! Where did you dig him up?!"
"Rosty?" Steffy stared at her aunt, aghast. "What kind of name is that for a rocking horse?"
Stephanie smirked.
"That was Ridge's fault. He got it from your great uncle. He kept trying to get him to say 'Horse,' but Ridge, two years old, kept saying 'Hostie' instead and eventually it turned into the name 'Rosty.' "
Everyone giggled. Eric put Jack in the rocking horse. The seat was secured so Jack could hold on tight.
"Happy Birthday Jack!" Eric ruffled through his hair. Stephanie approached as well and pressed a kiss to her grandson's cheek. Eric gave the horse a gentle push and Jack swung off. He seemed to be having great fun, because he laughed and squealed quite happily. For Ridge, it was a very emotional moment to see his youngest son on the same rocking horse he had loved to be on as a child.
Finally, however, the others wanted to present Jack with their gifts. Pam took Jack out.
"Well, that's the end of the riding lesson! Look, there are lots of other great things."
The little boy stared at her very indignantly at first, but his expression became much friendlier when Pam went with him to the table and took out her own package. Inside was a big picture book with lots of animals that could even make sounds. Jack had a blast pushing all the buttons and imitating the animals.
Next, Kristen stepped forward. She put a big package down in front of Jack and helped him tear off the paper. Since Kristen didn't know Jack at all, she had Taylor give her advice on what Jack would be most excited about. She gave him a new bath and beach kit, with a small umbrella, a big blanket, and lots of new toys for the sand. Taylor knelt down.
"Isn't this great Jack, so many nice toys? You can try them all out when we go to the beach again."
Jack grabbed the small shovel and immediately started banging it on the ground. Taylor took it from him.
"Not now! That's meant for the sand!"
She looked around helpfully for the next person to hand Jack his gift.
Felicia took the hint and now handed her surprise to her nephew. This elicited great admiration from the entire family. Felicia had designed and commissioned her own collection for Jack. Consisting of a complete outfit, as well as pajamas, a real little suit, as well as a jumpsuit for playing. Everyone scrutinized appreciatively the individual garments. Eric was the most taken with it.
"Wow, I didn't know what talents you keep inside you. If at some point we're no longer successful with our haute couture fashion, we'll switch to kid's fashion." Felicia smiled with satisfaction. It wasn't often that her father praised her so openly. It gave her a pleasant satisfaction.
Steffy and Phoebe, meanwhile, were in the process of unveiling their gift. They gave Jack a little ball pit. Steffy grabbed Jack and put him in the middle of the pool, which was filled with lots of small colorful balls. Carefully, they kept tossing some towards him.
"See how great it is to play with them and if you ever need to, you can hide in here just fine!" Ridge and Taylor were anything but thrilled about this comment. Aly, on the other hand, also thought this gift was great.
She immediately took off her shoes and sat in the pool as well, tossing the balls to Jack. Jack looked a bit overwhelmed, as if he didn't quite know what to do with all these balls. Ridge knelt by him and held a ball right under Jack's nose. He just managed to grab it with both of his small hands.
"Now throw it!" But Jack didn't want to give up the ball. He squeezed it even tighter. Ridge threw some balls in Aly's direction to show Jack how to play with them.
"There, you see! Now throw your ball!" Jack finally dropped his ball, which bounced right against Ridge's head. A general fit of laughter broke out.
"I think Jack now understands how the game works!" Steffy doubled over with laughter.
Thomas, on the other hand, shook his head.
"I think it's time to give Jack something useful for a change." He had bought a small basketball hoop for his brother with a ball to match. His mother rolled her eyes.
"You just can't leave it alone, can you? What's Jack supposed to do with it!"
"Well, early practice! You can't start with training soon enough these days, and if Jack's ever going to play in the NBA..."
"Yeah right, and you'll be his manager!" mocked Phoebe him. "And in twenty years Jack will give an interview telling everyone *It all started on my first birthday when my brother gave me a basketball hoop*"
"Something like that! You'll see Jack has a lot of talent! After all, he is my brother!"
Since Jack couldn't grab the ball on his own, Thomas lifted him into the air along with the ball, took a spin, and headed for the hoop.
"And now into the net!" Sure enough, the ball landed in the hoop.
"Bravo Jack!" triumphed Thomas. He stuck his tongue out at his sisters.
While Thomas held his first training session with Jack, Aly bounced around impatiently. She couldn't wait to finally give Jack their gift. She was terribly proud because she donated $5 of her own allowance. As soon as Thomas finally put Jack back on the floor, she rushed to him and held out the package. Inside was a big fluffy teddy bear almost as big as Jack. Thorne sat down with the two of them, grabbed the bear and waved its arm.
"Hi Jack! I'm your new teddy! I'm terribly excited to play with you!" He spoke with a very deep voice.
"Eeeddiii!" screeched Jack, reaching for his bear.
"No! Teddy! Teddy!" corrected Thorne him. But Jack shook his head.
"Eeeddiii!" he repeated vigorously. Thorne conceded defeat.
"All right! Then we'll christen your teddy bear and his name is 'Eddy'. Jack more than agreed. He beamed and clutched his new friend tightly. Aly showed him what tricks Eddy could do. Depending on where you pressed, he would do something different. Sometimes he hummed or a funny tune played or the teddy laughed.
Now it was Bridget's turn. About her gift, Taylor was even more excited than Jack.
"A doctor's kit for kids! She pressed a kiss to Bridget's cheek. While Taylor euphorically began opening the kit, Bridget got a nudge from Ridge.
"Couldn't you give Jack some coloring supplies? He is a Forrester and is supposed to be a designer. We have enough 'docs' in the family already. Taylor flung him a very threatening stare.
"Sorry! Next year, I promise!"
Taylor, meanwhile, had taken Jack onto her lap and was showing him the stethoscope.
"This is to listen for heart murmurs!" she explained to him. She put it in his ears and palpated her chest. "Now it's your turn!" Jack grabbed the stethoscope and tapped her nose with it. Ridge literally exploded.
"Great Jack! This is a breakthrough in medicine! A whole new kind of method!"
Now there was only one present left. Eric pulled it out from under the table.
"Here's another gift for you Jack! This is from all the employees at 'Forrester Creation'!"
Since Jack was in the office with Ridge very often, all the staff had taken the little boy to their hearts and so the decision was made pretty fast to give him something special for his birthday.
It was a toy car with pedals to sit in. It was white and black and had the 'Forrester Creation' logo pasted on both sides. In addition, the car was adorned with two plaques. The front badge read 'JACK' and the rear badge read 'FC 004' (since Jack was Ridge and Taylor's fourth child)."
Ridge, holding Jack in his arms, knelt down with him.
"Look, your first car!" Carefully, he put his son inside. Jack was way too small and couldn't reach the pedals with his feet. But Aly already had an idea.
"Hold on tight Jack, here we go!" and slowly she pushed the car.
"Beep Beep tut tut, everybody out of the way! Here comes the Jack mobile! Beep Beep tut tut!"
Everyone dodged the car and watched in amusement as the two went on. Thomas sighed.
"Only one year old and already behind the wheel and I had to wait until I was 16t!"
Distinct worry lines appeared on Taylor's forehead. She dreaded the day Jack would be big enough to reach the pedal. From that day on, nothing in the house would be safe.
Taylor began to collect all the wrapping paper. Thomas let his eyes wander over all Jack's new belongings.
"My goodness! Jack's haul really isn't bad! That little guy sure got spoiled rotten!"
"Indeed!" agreed Steffy and Phoebe.
"Don't be jealous, you three! I'd be happy to show you what your gift tables used to look like. You didn't get less when you were kids!" Ridge nodded to his sweetheart.
"The youth of today is just spoiled to the core. When I think about our childhood...we really still grew up in modesty!"
Now it was Stephanie and Eric's turn to roll their eyes and laugh derisively.
"We remember that a little differently. You guys expected and got huge piles of presents every time as well." Eric glanced around the room.
"I remember,one time we were unexpectedly snowed in at Christmas in Big Bear and we only had one gift for each of you, which we happened to still have stored in the car. You guys made pretty disappointed faces."
"Exactly!" interjected Stephanie. "And each of you had his/her own unique quirks about your gifts." Ridge and the others had become curious. They all couldn't remember the time, but Stephanie could even better.
"Kristen was always our little bookkeeper. She counted the presents every year and always made sure nobody even got one more, and still years later she knew exactly who got what for Birthday and Christmas."
"Well, someone had to keep track of everything in all that chaos!" she justified herself.
"Felicia always wanted to take all her presents with her to bed.
I remember some livid discussions. Explain to a five-year-old that you can't cuddle a goldfish in bed, and another time she slept with her blanket on the floor because there was no room for her anymore."
Ridge nudged Felicia jokingly. "Girls just like to overdo it, boys are much more reasonable!"
"Ha, I can only laugh at that! You two were the worst! From the time you were little, you were always more interested in each other's toys than your own. As soon as the packages were unwrapped, you fought over your new toys!"
Felicia grinned mischievously and put an arm around each of her brothers.
"So the whole thing started so early. You've kept that quirk as adults, after all. Now we know where it all originated!"
Ridge and Thorne both looked away, embarrassed. They knew what her remark was aimed at.
Taylor felt a slight uneasiness as well. She herself had once been an object of contention between the two brothers. There was no way she wanted this topic to be rehashed today. Without further ado, she grabbed the pots and asked with an innocent smile.
"Does anyone want more tea or coffee?"
The party went on splendidly. Taylor and Ridge surprised Jack with his birthday cake, decorated with animals made of marzipan and with a big candle. Everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' and Ridge helped Jack blow out the candle. The cake was delicious and Jack made sure he got his share. At first he sat on his mother's lap and took turns being fed by her or his father. Later he crawled from one to the other and each gave him a fork when he begged them with his puppy face.
Later, Thomas went to the stereo and put on some music. He had recently put together a playlist of children's songs for Jack. Phoebe and Steffy grabbed their precious boy and danced with him. Aly jumped around them in glee.
Taylor was busy refilling the drinks in the kitchen when someone snuck up behind her and two arms were wrapped around her waist. Ridge tickled her neck with his nose and covered her with loud little kisses.
"It's a great party, isn't it?" Taylor snuggled up to him.
"Yes, everything is wonderful and so far nothing has gone wrong".
"Well, we've done a good job!" noticed Ridge with satisfaction. Taylor sighed relaxed.
"Indeed. It's almost a little scary how harmonious everything is. But I'm happy that Jack is having a wonderful first birthday."
Ridge grinned mischievously at her.
"By the way, don't you think it's time for the big surprise?" She looked at him, puzzled. "Well, our big announcement!"
That's when the bell rang.
"Oh yes...actually you're right. Now would be a good time for it."
Ridge and she were about to take the pitchers of fresh drinks back to the living room when Taylor thought of something.
"Stop! I forgot the most important thing!"
She rummaged in one of the drawers and pulled out a small jewelry box where she had kept her engagement ring. Wisely, she had taken off the ring before Thomas and the twins had arrived. She had guessed that either Steffy or Phoebe, for sure Stephanie at the latest, would have immediately discovered the ring and drawn their conclusions. That would have spoiled the whole surprise. She was about to put the ring back on her finger when Ridge looked at her sternly.
"Stop!" he took the ring from her hand. "That is still my part!"
He reached for her hand and looked deep into her eyes
"This is your last chance Doc! You can still go back. I hereby ask you again, are you really absolutely sure you want to marry me?"
Taylor laughed at him.
"Yes, I am absolutely sure! I want to marry you and be your wife and spend the rest of our lives together, no ifs, ands, or buts!"
She gave him a passionate, loving kiss.
"But it almost sounds like you're looking for a way out?!"
She sparkled at him. Instead of an answer, Ridge slid the ring onto her finger and gave her such a devoted her knees went weak. He stroked her face and whispered.
"I love you!"
"I love you too!"
They kissed deeply once more and then went back into the living room to join the others.
As they sat together on the couch, Ridge made himself heard by conspicuously clearing his throat several times. Everyone fell silent. Ridge put his arm around Taylor.
"Now that we're all gathered together, Taylor and I have an announcement to make. We have some happy news for all of you."
"Oh no Mom! Please don't tell us you're pregnant!" Thomas blurted out and Taylor was first taken aback.
"What, no! No of course not! I'm not pregnant. What makes you think that?"
"Wellaaaa it's not impossible..." defended Thomas himself. "I mean, it could be."
He fell abruptly silent, Ridge took the floor again.
"As much as we love Jack and all of you, four kids on our backs are really enough or what do you think?"
Taylor nodded in agreement.
"Absolutely! I couldn't have said it any better!"
She hoped that settled the issue. It was a little embarrassing for her to be asked about a possible pregnancy.
"But what we actually want to say..." she now tried to bring the conversation back to the actual topic.
"You were in Las Vegas and got married?!" now Steffy came up with.
"I certainly hope not!" Stephanie peeked sternly at her son and Taylor. "I'm warning you guys! If you're going to tell us now that you eloped and got married I officially disown you!"
At this remark, Taylor had to grin. She remembered how Ridge had once jokingly brought up the subject of a secret wedding, and she had predicted his mother would kill them both. Ridge rebuffed.
"No Mother, I can reassure you, Taylor and I didn't elope but Steffy's hunch is right on the money. What we're actually trying to tell you..." He paused dramatically. "I proposed to Taylor last night."
"And I said yes!" she finished, proudly presenting her ring.
For a moment, the room was dead quiet. Then a roar of jubilation broke out. Thomas and the girls screamed with happiness. This was exactly the news they had been waiting for for years. They rushed towards their parents and joyfully fell around their necks. Everyone else watched the scene deeply touched. They all rejoiced at the news and were convinced that Ridge and Taylor had made the right decision. After all, they had been together for quite a while now and they had a family. Especially Jack deserved a life with his father and mother under the same roof.
After Thomas and the girls calmed down and let go of their parents, one by one walked up to them and hugged and congratulated them on their decision. Stephanie was so happy, at first she couldn't say anything. As she proudly embraced her son, he nudged her mockingly.
"I hope you do agree with your future daughter-in-law?!"
Everyone in the room burst out laughing. Stephanie gave him a withering stare and gave him a joking slap on the back of his head.
"You know very well that I couldn't ask for a better daughter-in-law. However, I don't really know if I should advise Taylor to marry you!"
She looked at her daughter-in-law-to-be.
"Are you sure you want to put yourself through a life with that silly billy?" Taylor laughed.
"Oh, I know quite well how to handle him by now!" She glanced at Ridge in love and gave him a gentle kiss.
Jack had been playing with Aly on the floor during all the commotion. He didn't quite understand what was going on. His grandma took him on her lap.
"Well, Jack did you hear that? Your mommy and daddy are getting married! Then you all will be one big happy family! That sounds great, doesn't it my little sweetie?"
Jack faced his grandma questioningly, but because she beamed at him so warmly, he beamed back.
"Aren't you going to congratulate your parents? Come on, go to them and give them a big kiss!"
She set Jack on his feet. Holding him, he could stand without any problems. She held him by both hands and walked him slowly towards the couch. Led by the hand, Jack could already walk very well, but then Stephanie decided to let go of his hands. She encouraged him.
"Come on, go to your parents!"
At first Jack swayed and stood there a bit confused, looking around for help. His parents spread their arms.
"Come to us! Come on, you can do it!"
Finally Jack overcame himself and walked free-handed towards his parents. Everyone watched him, spellbound. Until now, Jack had usually never managed more than two or three very clumsy steps before falling down. But this time Jack actually managed to take several steps towards his parents, who kept cheering him on. By the end, however, Jack was swaying precariously. Taylor reacted in a flash and caught him before he could fall. She proudly pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose.
"That was excellent! You walked all by yourself for the first time!"
Everyone started clapping and cheering. Jack smiled around with pride. Then Phoebe suddenly remembered something. Triumphantly, she turned to her siblings.
"Hey, I told you! I prophesied that when Jack could walk properly, Mom and Dad would be together again! You didn't want to believe me, but I knew it right from the beginning!"
She felt very superior and was happy that she had been right. But then Steffy remembered a small detail.
"Wait a minute, you weren't quite so right! You said that if Jack could walk, Mom and Dad would be married again, but they're only engaged!"
She stuck her tongue out at her twin sister, but Phoebe promptly knew the right answer.
"Well, I did say if Jack can walk perfectly. I mean Jack's performance was very impressive, but that was still relatively staggering and far from perfect. If Mom and Dad don't wait five years to take the step, I'll end up being right after all!"
Thomas put his arm around her shoulders.
"It's okay, sis. We're officially admitting it. Once again, you had the right hunch. In the future, we'll always ask you first how a story ends."
He tugged on her curls. Everyone in the room smiled. Then Felicia had an idea.
"Hey! This is actually just the right moment for a family portrait!"
While Taylor, Ridge, and all their kids positioned themselves and Felicia took some pictures of the happy family, Stephanie sat back, relaxed and content. Eric reached for her hand. He guessed what was going on inside her. They both gazed at their son and his family.
"It's a beautiful sight."
"Yes it is!" agreed Stephanie with him. "I said it back then, Jack is going to work some more miracles in this family, and here we are. I think Jack got the most precious gift in the world today. A loving and happy home!"
The end
With his birthday end Jack's first twelve months and this fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed reading it and I would be happy about some feedback!