Wyatt turned as Liam walked into Bills office with some reports.
"They the Watson reports?" asked Bill as he took the folder that Liam proffered.
"Yeah, I think you'll be pleased, Wyatt and I hit it out of the park on this one."
Bill grunted and opened the folder and started to read the summary.
"Steffy got back yesterday didn't she?" asked Wyatt as Liam walked over to sir next to him.
"Yeah, I went to see her . . . " Liam trailed off morosely.
"And?" Asked Wyatt.
"She hasn't changed her mind, it's over, this time for good, she just can't forgive me. I think she might be moving on with that Marius dude."
Wyatt reached over and patted Liams still healing shoulder gently.
"It'll be okay Liam, you haven't been together for years so its to be expected, it's time to move on."
As Liam was about to answer the door flew open and Li stormed into the room. She looked around for a moment before zeroing in on Bill.
"YOU!" She yelled, "YOU KILLED MY SON! BECAUSE OF YOU FINN IS DEAD YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
With that she launched herself at a clearly startled Bill. Both Liam and Wyatt jumped up and dragged a crying irate Li off of their father.
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID?" She screamed at them.
Wyatt looked over at Bill, "Dad? What's she talking about?"
"How the hell should I know," snapped Bill.
Li then launched into what the police had uncovered on Finns laptop, she turned to Liam, "and he almost cost you your life in the process too, that's the type of man your father is!" she finished.
"So your blaming the ravings of a complete loon on me? Come off it Li, he was insane, how was I supposed to know he'd lose his mind, when his much vaunted mother, a DOCTOR!" He roared, "couldn't even see her own son had lost his god-damned mind! Yet you come in here and attack me for all of your own short comings, as well as those of your lying, cheating, murdering sons!"
Li wilted under Bills attack and she sagged in Wyatts arms a little.
"You didn't have to blackmail him! Your actions almost caused Liam and Steffi's deaths, and they caused Finns death, that's something you can't deny!"
"I can and I will!" snapped Bill. "What your son did is on him, not me. He was the one who killed Sheila – NOT ME! He was the one who switched the paternity tests, NOT ME! He was the one who cheated on Steffy and got Hope pregnant – NOT ME! And he was the one who attacked and tried to kill MY SON and Steffy – NOT ME! YOUR SON DID THIS, ALL OF IT!" He finished on a shout of anger.
Li, tears now streaming down her face pulled her arms away from both Liam and Wyatt, "you are a vile human being," she said on a quieter note before turning to look at Liam and Wyatt. "I pity the pair of you!" Then she turned and walked out the door.
Wyatt and Liam turned to Bill, "seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" said Liam in disgust.
Bill looked up, "I did what I did, and don't forget that you found out about your son because of it. Do you think that Finn would have opened his mouth about Hayes if I hadn't have done that? Do you think Steffy deserved to be married to that lying, cheating, jerk?" He snapped.
No, but I want to know why you did it?" Liam snapped back in growing anger.
"Oh God, please tell me it's not because of your crush on Steffy?" said a clearly appalled Wyatt.
"At the time I thought I was doing the right thing," Bill began.
"The authorities . . . "Liam started to say.
"Would have done WHAT Liam? What would the authorities have done? Sharpe was the one that shot Sheila, not Finn! All your precious authorities would have had was an ex-cons words about what he thought he overheard a grief stricken son saying to the corpse of his mother. The authorities would have done precisely nothing, and you know it. Am I sorry for what I did? HELL NO, Dr do-good was a lying scumbag, how-ever, I am sorry about what happened to you! Believe it or not I spent hours in agony wondering if I'd ever see you again. I brought in the best of the best to find you and save you, and here we all are, you're okay, Steffi's okay, and you now have a daughter AND a son, thanks to yours truly, so stop your whining, what's done is done, it's over and it's time to move on." He said as he stared into Liams eyes unapologetically.
Liam shook his head, what his father had done was wrong on so many levels, especially using the information to try to get to Steffy, luckily that had fallen flat or his attitude might have been very different. The trouble was he was tired, he was tired of fighting, he was tired of the mess he'd made of his life, perhaps both Bill and Wyatt were right, just not in the ways they'd thought. Perhaps it was time he moved on with his life and took a new path, as to what Bill had done, well, that was typical Bill Spencer, and in the end, it really didn't make to much difference to Liam, just the thought of that monster still living with Steffy and his children both sickened, and terrified him, for this reason alone he knew he was going to give his father a pass.
He looked at the folder in Bills hands, he was proving to be very good at business, perhaps that was what he needed to dedicate himself too.
Yes, I have my kids, I need to keep busy, heal, and move on with my life. He thought to himself.
He raised his eyes to his fathers,
"So, what did you think of the proposal?"
Bill blinked in surprise as Wyatts head pulled back and his eyes widened in surprise.
Bill smiled. "It's good, just not Bill Spencer good, but with a few small adjustments it's going to end up great. So, let's get to it then, shall we?"
And with those words the meeting resumed.
Steffy arrived home to find Thomas sitting at the dining table sketching on a sketchpad he'd brought with him.
"Where's the kids?" she asked as she walked over and dumped her bag on the couch.
"Douglas, Kelly and Hayes are up in the playroom, Cat and Bella left about an hour ago, we had a picnic on the beach, the kids had a great time. I think it did everyone good to catch up a little." Said Thomas before he started laughing.
"What? What's so funny?" Asked Steffy.
"Well, I'm hoping everything went well because Douglas came out with a little suggestion, and I think the kids were seriously considering it, especially Bella."
Steffy raised an eyebrow before smiling contentedly and saying, "things went well, really, really well, so what was the suggestion?"
Thomas grinned, "only that Cat and I get married, and you and Marius start dating – to end in marriage, so that we're all one big happy family."
Steffi's eyes widened in surprise just as the kids in question came hurrying down the stairs.
"Mummy," yelled Hayes as he went straight to his mother, "Bell was here and we had a picnic on the beach, it was fun."
Steffy grinned and noticed a strange look pass between Douglas and her daughter.
"Can we do it again mum?" Asked Kelly with a grin. "I know, we could have a cook-out like we used to, we could have Uncle Thomas and Douglas, and we could ask Cat and Bella, and all of her family so she doesn't feel lonely . . . I know, we could make it a party, and can have Grand-pa Ridge and Grandma Taylor too, even Grand-pa Bill, it'd be loads of fun."
Kelly smiled at her mother ingratiatingly.
Steffy wondered what was going on with her daughter, she had a feeling that Douglas was probably behind the idea, and knowing how Kelly hero worshipped the boy she knew he'd probably convinced her that her and Marius getting together might be a good idea – mainly Steffy thought – because it might bring Cat and Thomas closer, stil . . ., after her afternoon of sheer delight and promise, she now had an opening to ease Marius into her kids life in a natural way, and it was her daughters idea.
"That does sound like fun," said Steffy in a thoughtful tone.
"I tell you what, I'm going to go and pop in the shower, in the meantime, you, and Hayes can write down a list of who you think you might like to invite, just not to many okay, we've just got back from extended leave and I don't want to be over-run, in fact, you can get your Uncle Thomas to help you."
She gave Thomas a wink and sauntered off to her room.
Thomas grinned as he saw the look of triumph that passed between Douglas and Kelly. They had no idea that their little matchmaking scheme was playing right into Steffi's hands, he was delighted.
"Okay," he said rubbing his hands together, "let's make this list!"
Two days later everything has settled down, plans are being made for a cook-out at Steffi's the following week with the family along with Cat and her family, that's when each Forrester member along with Hope and her father receive an invitation in the mail – it is to the marriage of Eric Forrester to Brooke Logan that weekend, everyone is shocked – Hope is delighted, it's time to implement her plan, she immediately starts to make calls . . .