Friday, August 19, 2005
Stephanie presented Brooke with a wrapped gift that would give Bridget peace. She said she knew how Brooke felt being a victim. Steph insisted Brooke needed to get away for a few months, then donned white gloves and lifted a gun out of the box, aiming it at her former daughter-in-law.

Nick held Bridget tightly and insisted that she was all he needed. But when he tried to slip her ring back on, she pushed him away. He offered to take her away on his boat, but she wondered, "Do you really want to run away with me or are you just running away from my mother?" She added, "I guess you just thought you could love me if it was some sort of package deal. I'm sorry its not. You talk about Hope like she's your child, its all just insane and incestuous. What you really want is a child with my mother."

Meanwhile, Dante watched her through binoculars and wished her strength, later picturing her running to him on a beach in Italy and confessing she was pregnant with his child.

Bridget insisted Nick leave and when he wouldn't, she ran down to the water. He grabbed her, but she pushed him away and ran over the rocks and into a cove. He followed her, demanding to know if she was pregnant. Tearfully, she broke down: "I don't have what you want anymore," she wept, and left him stunned.

Thursday, August 18, 2005
Afraid Bridget was planning to have an abortion, Nick drove like a man on a mission. Having looked everywhere for her and left messages begging her to call him, he returned to Brooke's house, hoping hurricane Bridget had blown back home. Brooke was in a panic — she was even wearing a sweatshirt! The two fretted over what to do. They rehashed Bridget walking in on them when she'd had such exciting news to share, but all Nick could focus on was the idea that she was going to have an abortion. Brooke tried to assuage his guilt, saying they hadn't "meant to hurt her." He said he'd tell Bridget the truth: "The truth is, she's carrying my child and that's my life."

Meanwhile, Stephanie seemed to be on a mission to tell everyone about Bridget's pregnancy and the showdown with Nick and Brooke before the poor girl had the chance to do it herself. Her next stop was Taylor and Ridge, who were discussing their big issue — whether or not he really wanted her as his wife. On hearing what Dear Ol' Mom had to report, Ridge immediately set out to find Bridget. After asking Taylor to provide Bridget with counseling, Stephanie also left. She was off to "go look Satan in the eye and then teach her a lesson." When she got to there, Brooke tried to close the door on her, but La Forrester pushed her way in. She said she had a gift for Bridget and after ascertaining that Blondie would do anything for her daughter, she handed her a beautifully wrapped present.

Meanwhile, the woman of the hour, Bridget, was up to something. She returned to Dante's room, presumably having just thrown up, and when he told her Nick had called ten times, she made it clear she wasn't interested in hearing from him. She was too focused on doing "what I have to do." Dante had put a call into the doctor and reported, "It's not something she'll normally do, but she'll see you." Whatever she was planning, Nick was going to be "infuriated." Dante insisted that Nick's anger was better than always wondering if he'd stayed with her for the wrong reason. Then he took her to the doctor's office, where he pushed her to answer the phone when Nick called again. Nick shocked Bridget by announcing he knew about the baby and he begged to see her. She hung up on him before hearing his concerns about her having an abortion. "I don't know if I can do this," she told Dante before going in to see the doctor. When she came out from her doctor's visit, she nodded an affirmation — that she was pregnant? that she'd had an abortion? — and Dante embraced her. He took her to the beach house, where she called Nick. The poor girl finally changed out of her white suit and curled up on the couch to wait for him. When Nick showed up, he insisted they'd get through this. He smiled as he repeated the phrase "our child," but that only made Bridget's tears start.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Hurricane Bridget hit at full force, swearing she wanted nothing to do with mama Brooke once she heard Brooke and Nick admit to having "feelings" for one another. Brooke claimed Bridget couldn't mean that (any of this sound familiar? Deacon, anyone?). She declared Bridget would understand the mother-child bond, once Bridget had a child with Nick. Bridget turned towards her mother and sneered, "I will NOT have my baby's father panting after Grandma." Cold. So cold. Then she turned to her tarnished fiancé. "I ask for your respect, and this is what I get??" she fumed. Nick tried to get her out of there, but Bridget wasn't hearing it. "My blinders are off," she spat. Nick attempted to assure her with quite possibly the lamest defense ever: "As of right now, there's nothing going on between your mother and me." That truly sent poor Bridget over the edge. "As of right now????" Bridget looked down at the cozy candlelit table for two and recalled the romantic scene she'd just witnessed her fiancé and her mama sharing just minutes earlier. She cackled maniacally and cleared the table with her bare hands, screaming and sending silverware, crystal and candles flying. Then she took a glass and hurled it against the wall, causing Nick and her mama to yelp and duck in sheer terror. She snatched off her necklace, walked over to Nick and dumped it in his hand. "If I can't have your respect, I don't want your gifts," she snarled before storming out the door.

Ridge "decided" — declared, really — that Thomas and Gaby should get divorced, after Taylor had spent most of the night trying to connect with her new daughter-in-law. After Thomas tried to stand up for his dissed wife, he newlyweds slinked off, leaving Taylor to rip into Ridge for making a unilateral decision where their son was concerned. "Maybe that's the way things went when Brooke was here and you were raising the children with her, but with me that's not going to fly," she asserted. She and Ridge sparred some more, but never really agreed to disagree. Once away from the 'rents, Thomas soothed Gaby's feelings and asserted his love for her.

Still reeling in Bridget's wake, a shaken Nick asked Brooke if she'd ever seen Bridget like that before. Brooke fell silent, thinking back to Deacon. "It's happening again," Nick surmised. Stephanie showed up looking for Bridget and got filled in on the gory lowlights. "I can't believe that poor girl walked in here and found you two tonight..." Stephanie said with regret. Before the Bionic Blondes could try to somehow make Bridget's anger Steph's fault, La Forrester dropped the bomb: "She's pregnant, Nick. With YOUR child." Needless to say, the blondes fell eerily silent. "We didn't know," Brooke finally stammered. "Would it have changed anything?" Stephanie wondered. She continued to tell Nick and Brooke how emotionally unstable Bridget was up at Big Bear. Nick reflected on Bridget's final words to him, when she promised to "get rid" of everything he'd ever given her. "The baby. She's going to get rid of the baby," he whispered.

At the same time, a still-teary Bridget was telling Dante about her pregnancy. Dante asserted that Nick didn't deserve to know about the child, after how he'd behaved with Brooke. Bridget talked about feeling trapped; a baby would link her to Nick forever and repeat the Forrester cycle of unrequited love and longing (she grew up with her mother in love with her father's son). "I'm not going to have my baby be a part of that cycle," Bridget vowed. "I know what I have to do."

Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Bridget was stone-faced as Brooke and Nick tried to play it cool and explain why they were sharing a romantic dinner. She remained confrontational no matter what they said. She told them she'd come home overjoyed, only to walk in on them again. When her lingerie-clad mother tried to explain, she screamed, "For God sake mother, go put some clothes on. I can't look at you in that!" Then, she turned on Nick. "It was all just a lie, wasn't it?" she asked. She refused to just accept Nick's promises anymore. She called him on they way that he and her mother looked at each other and he didn't deny it. He told her she'd walked in on them saying good-bye, but all she heard was that they'd admitted their feelings. When Brooke interrupted, Bridget started to fall apart. "You betrayed me," she cried to her mother, swearing that this time, there would be no forgiveness. She ridiculed Brooke's damsel and distress act "in lingerie" and couldn't believe she was fool enough to be the only one not to see what was happening. Brooke swore her love for Bridget was above and beyond, but Bridget told her she loved someone else more — herself! She almost got teary as she recalled having to live through each of Brooke's crises, smiling for the cameras and holding it together, but she stayed strong. Her anger and disgust won out. "I'm sick of it and I'm not going to put up with it anymore!" she growled. Nick tried to calm her, but she told him she'd been waiting all her life to step out of Brooke's shadow. She wasn't interested in getting Nick "by default." She insisted Nick was "infected" by Brooke, just as Ridge, Eric, Deacon and even she herself had been. She lamented all the times she'd defended her mother, while ignoring the signs. "I just couldn't see what everyone else could see: That you're exactly who Stephanie says you are," she chided. When she insisted her mother had no boundaries or limits, Nick tried to intercede again. She brushed him off as she had her mother. Bridget couldn’t believe that after she'd even accepted Deacon's baby (Hope) as her sister, Brooke could do this yet again. She called for an end to the "cycle of abuse and pain," as she hugged her unborn baby. "It's over Nick, do you hear me?" she insisted. "This stops now. It ends with me."

Meanwhile, Stephanie filled Eric in on complexities behind Bridget's pregnancy — namely, the feelings between Brooke and Nick. He saw the opportunity in it, as Bridget had, but Stephanie thought he was being foolish. He contended that Brooke wouldn't hurt her daughter, but Stephanie parried with Deacon. She warned him that Bridget was on the verge of a breakdown and admitted she was frightened for her.

It was game night at Taylor's house. Taylor excused herself to get some ice cream, which gave Gaby and Thomas the opening for some kissing. Gaby stopped it, however, reminded her hubby of "the rules." Thomas went to help his mom in the kitchen, leaving Gaby alone. That's when Ridge arrived (with his bags) to irritably wonder what she was doing there. Gaby tried to stutter out an answer, but was saved by the return of Taylor and Thomas. Thomas informed him that his "wife" was living there and Taylor pointed out it was in a different room. Ridge said he couldn't allow it. Taylor then mentioned the ground rule for this marriage in name only, but Ridge was stuck on the illegality of his son's choice.

Monday, August 15, 2005
Heavy operatic music found Bridget crying over the thought that she could be pregnant. When Stephanie returned with a pregnancy test, she denied it was possible and didn’t want it, but Stephanie insisted she take the test.

Dancing candlelight was all that separated Brooke and Nick as he promised her she'd find happiness. "What are we doing Nick?" Brooke asked and they pulled quickly apart. Then, he put a call into Bridget, who unwillingly answered. The conversation was stilted, with Bridget dropping tons of hints about why she needed time away. Brooke took the phone and apologized to Bridget for monopolizing her man. She teased Bridget that he had a special surprise planned for her, but Bridget said she wouldn't make it. She was even shorter with her mom, saying, "I'm not angry. I'm just a big girl. If I want some time to myself, that's fine, right?"

Stephanie didn't miss a beat, assuming Brooke was with Nick, but Bridget cut her short by saying that she knew she had to break up with Nick. She just didn't see what the test would prove, but Stephanie continued to push her. She warned her not to get "ambushed by the obvious again." Bridget acquiesced and found out that she was in fact pregnant. At first, she was crushed, but she eventually realized she was carrying the one thing Nick wanted in the world. Stephanie tried to keep her strong about breaking up, but Bridget had seen the light. Their baby could be the key to saving their relationship. She immediately packed up her purse and insisted she'd made too much of the moment in the hospital. "If you were any kind of friend, you would have told me to grow up," she said, pointing a finger at Stephanie. She proceeded to tell Stephanie off and slam the door in her face.

At the beach house, Stephanie found Eric was sketching a landscape. "Aren't you going to let me in?" she asked, "No," he answered and pulled the blinds over the window. She used her key to get in, insisting there was a crisis, but Eric refused to be her "emotional 911." The Bickersons argued over whether he should get involved in Bridget's crisis, until Stephanie dropped the bombshell that his daughter was pregnant.

Meanwhile, Brooke was telling Nick to give Bridget some time to understand, but Nick considered, "Maybe she's understood all along, better than we did. Maybe we've been lying to her." He conceded that he'd been unfaithful to Bridget emotionally and almost physically. He was frustrated that he could love two amazing women, which is something Brooke could surely understand. If not for her obsession with Ridge, she sighed, "We could have been happy." They both admitted the feelings they have for one another, but Brooke said that sometimes it's just too late. "We're over, because we made up our minds to be," Nick agreed. Neither was willing to betray Bridget. Nick believed the truth would set them free, suggesting they be honest with Bridget about their recent realizations. They planned to part, but then the romantic dinner he'd ordered for Bridget arrived. He and Brooke decided to share it instead of letting it go to waste. They toasted their decision and Brooke suggested he have Bridget move in with him.

Brooke got teary over their good-byes just as Bridget opened the door. She listened in and watched on as Nick and Brooke held hands and did a bit of rehashing. When Bridget heard her baby daddy say, "You have no idea how hard it is not to love you," she let the door slam.