Brooke and Nick are beginning to wonder where Bridget is. Nick wants to wait around for her and he plans a nice candle lit dinner. While they wait they talk and they are getting closer. They sit at the fire and Nick promises her she will meet the man of her dreams. They stare dreamily into each other's eyes. Bridget still with Stephanie at the Big Bear Cabin is wrenched with sadness as she tries to imagine her life without Nick. Stephanie tries to get her to see how she needs to be strong and walk away. Bridget feels sick as she bawls her eyes out. Stephanie goes to make her tea and stops to ask Bridget if she could be pregnant.
[ At once ] Brooke: Hello. Nick: Hello. Catherine: There's our little princess. Hope: Hi, Catherine. [ Nick laughs ] Catherine: Hi. Hi, sweetie. Oh, I missed you so much. Brooke: Hope missed you, too. Right, honey? Hope: I'll race you, Uncle Nick. Nick: Race -- no, no, no. Come here, come here. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no. No, no racing, okay? No running, no racing. Brooke: You have to rest. Remember what Dr. Sobel said, honey? Nick: That's right. The doctor said, mommy said. Always listen to what mommy says, because she's a very, very smart lady. And you know what, if I'd listened mommy, you would have never had to go to the hospital. Hope: I'm okay, Uncle Nick. Nick: I know you are. And I'm so grateful. Hope: Because you saved my life. Mommy said. Nick: You know -- [ Nick grunts ] There's an old saying that if you save somebody's life -- how do I explain this? You've gotta be buddies with them forever. You know what I mean? Hope: You have to read me a story every night. [ Nick laughs ] Nick: That's exactly what it means. Catherine: Come on, Hope. Let's go say "hi" to your teddy bear. He missed you. Brooke: Honey, I'll be up in a minute, okay? I'll come up and see you. Hope: Uncle Nick, too? Brooke: Oh, yes. Nick, too. Okay? Love you. You know, you're going to be on bedtime story detail for the rest of the month. Nick: After what I let happen, that's the least I can do. Brooke: Nick, Hope's forgiven you, I've forgiven you. Don't you think you should forgive yourself? Nick: Wonder where Bridget is. I thought she'd be here waiting for us. Brooke: I thought you left her a message. Nick: I did. I told her to call me when she got it, but I haven't heard anything. Brooke: Well, maybe she's just overwhelmed. You know, with the new internship, and everything else on top of that. Nick: Overwhelmed? That doesn't sound right. Brooke: Well, then what? Nick: We've been spending a lot time together. Brooke: We haven't been spending time together. We've been spending time with Hope. Nick: Oh, I know that and you know that. She was outside the room, you know. At the hospital she didn't come in. Brooke: She can't be upset. Hope needed us. Nick: Would you mind if I stick around for a while? I was thinking maybe I'd put together some kind of a special dinner or something for when she gets home. Brooke: Chicken wings and beer? [ Nick laughs ] Nick: I was thinking of something a little more upscale. Brooke: Well, Marta could probably help you with that. Or you could order something from Cafe Russe. Nick: Yeah. Cafe Russe. But of course. It's good to see you smile again. Real good. Brooke: I'm gonna go tell Hope that you'll be up soon. [SCENE_BREAK] Bridget: What if we had gotten married? I can't deal with this. Stephanie: Oh, yes, you can, honey. You can, and you will. Because now you see your mother for what she is. I mean, she's put you through a lot of heartache. Bridget: I don't want to see the worst in her. I don't. Stephanie: That's because you're the kind of person that you are. You always look for the good in people. Bridget: She just doesn't realize what she's doing. Stephanie: Oh, Bridget. Yes, she does realize what she's doing. Are you all right, honey? [ Bridget coughs ] Bridget: Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just -- I think I'm just really tired. It's just -- it's not her fault. Stephanie: Bridget, stop making excuses for your mother and stop defending her. Bridget: I'm not defending her. I have seen and I've seen the way that men fall for her. I've seen it time and time again. They're just drawn to her. I'm too smart for this. I should have known better. Stephanie: What are you talking about? Oh, don't -- don't take the anger that you have with your mother and turn it against yourself. Honey, this is not your fault. Bridget: How can you say that? You know it's my fault. There's millions of men out there, and I have to find the one man who's already in love with my mother. It's just weird. It's pathetic. It's -- Stephanie: No, listen. You've said, "enough is enough." Now you've got to mean it. Bridget, you gotta love yourself enough to walk away from this kind of pain. And that means walking away from Nick. Look, let your mother have him. If that's what he wants, they deserve one another. You deserve something so much better. You deserve some wonderful man who's going to make you the center of his world. Someone who doesn't even your mother exists. It's not nick. Honey, this is your life. You've gotta pick yourself up and move on. Get on with your own life. Without Nick. [SCENE_BREAK] [ Romantic music playing ] Brooke: It's beautiful. Nick: All I'm missing now is Bridget. Brooke: Still no word? Nick: No. So, is Hope all settled in? Brooke: She's got her book all picked out. Nick: Guess I better get up there. Brooke: Why don't you wait for Bridget? Hope will be up for a while. Nick: I don't want to disappoint her. Brooke: Oh, you never could. Believe me. If she didn't have you wrapped around her little finger before -- [ Nick laughs ] Nick: Well, to be honest, I've always had a thing for beautiful blondes with attitude. Brooke: She loves you so much. Nick: I'd walk through fire for that girl, and her mom. Brooke: I know. I've always known -- Nick: I never knew how much the two of you meant to me, until I almost lost you. Now I realize -- Brooke: You realize what? Finish it, Nick. [SCENE_BREAK] Bridget: You're asking me to give up Nick. Stephanie: I think it's the only way you can move on with your own life. Bridget: I don't want to move on without him. Stephanie: Of course, you don't. You're in love with him. And, in his own way, I think he loves you. But you can't marry him, not knowing now what you know. Honey, you'd never have a moment of peace. Bridget: You're asking me to give up the man that I love. He is the only person in my whole life that I have ever felt really safe with. Stephanie: I know that this is hurtful. I know it is. Think about what you had said just a moment ago. Suppose you had gotten married. Suppose you -- suppose you had gotten yourself pregnant. Thank god that didn't happen. Bridget: That's what we had planned, though. We had talked about it. We had planned a family -- a future together. Stephanie: Sweetheart. Look, you still have a chance here. A chance for yourself. A chance for a decent life. You cannot allow your mother or nick or anyone to hurt you this way. You can't let this happen again. [SCENE_BREAK] Nick: I guess I just thank my lucky stars that you and Hope are still in my life. Brooke: I'm sorry I was so angry with you -- Nick: No, you had every right to be. Brooke: Still, lashing out at you like that, when you've been nothing but good and kind to us. I'd be lost without you, Nick. You promised me that you'd be there for me. And you have been, no matter what. And I can't tell you how much that means to me. When Ridge walked out of my life, out of my children's lives, I wasn't sure if I would have the strength to go on. Nick: You did. Brooke: Because you wouldn't let me give up. I mean, I wasn't sure at first. But you were right. And, I owe you so much. I owe you my life. [SCENE_BREAK] Bridget: I don't know that I can do this. I don't know that I want to do this. Stephanie: Well, that's because it seems so unfair. You seem to be the one that's always making the sacrifices. And now, at this time -- Bridget: Supposed to break away from Nick. Stephanie: Well, honey, you can't spend -- you can't spend your life with someone that cannot love you completely, that can't be there for you the way he should be because he has feelings for your mother. That's not going to change. Bridget, you gotta let go. It's the only thing that you can do now. [SCENE_BREAK] Nick: Well, I'd say that works both ways. You have certainly been there for me, too. Brooke: Well, that's what friends do. They're there for each other, to support each other when they need it the most. Nick: You know what the most important thing friends do for each other? Brooke: What? Nick: They tell each other the truth. I think you are hiding. Brooke: Hiding what? Nick: I think you hide how you really feel. You get scared, don't you? And sad, and lonely. Brooke: Yes. Nick: I know. You know in that big strong world out there, you're confident. But I know how you feel when you're alone. Do you want to be happy? Brooke: Yes. Nick: Then you will. You'll find that special someone, or he'll find you. And when that happens, when you look into his eyes, and when he kisses you, you'll know it's right. And you will have your happiness. [SCENE_BREAK] Bridget: It's over. I can't believe it's over. I love him so much. He's just -- he's everything to me. When I think about a life without him, I don't even want a life. Stephanie: I don't know if he'll ever be able to admit this to himself, but he's not gonna let go of Brooke. She'll make sure of that. Bridget: But what if you're wrong? Stephanie: Do you think his mother was wrong? She's the first one to have seen it. She tried to tell you. She told me. Sweetheart, when your mother gets her hooks into someone, it's forever. That's why you've got to let go now. Bridget: You're making her sound like she's a monster. She's not a monster. Stephanie: Look, you need to believe that, Bridget, for any number of reasons. But the truth is, Nick was never yours from the start. Bridget: But he wanted to be, and he tried to be. Stephanie: But everything changed. Your mother understands, ridge is not going to leave his wife. Look, your mother has to be with someone. She's not a woman that can be alone. And she's sees the opportunity with Nick. They can have a family again. Bridget: What am I going to have? Stephanie: Well, you're gonna have your father. You're gonna have your family. Your brother, me if you want. Most importantly, you're going to have yourself. This is your chance to start a healthy and happy life for yourself, honey. Before you do anything, you're going to have to go home and tell Nick. Bridget: Oh god. I'm gonna be sick -- Stephanie: Okay, lay down. Lay down. I'll get you something. Bridget? Bridget: What? Stephanie: You don't think you could be pregnant, do you?