Thomas Drops a Bomb on Hope — and Brooke and Taylor Make a Pact

At the beach house, Brooke presses Taylor to agree to move in with her. “Just say you’ll move in with me.” She keeps coaxing, but Taylor worries about what would happen if Ridge comes back. They both still love him. Brooke wonders if he comes back if Taylor would prefer to be there at the beach house waiting for him. Taylor reminds her neither of them are putting their lives on hold for him again. Brooke asks, “What if he were to come back clearly knowing what he wants.” Taylor cringes, “Oh, what he wants… I’m so over that.” She actually believes he will come back… to Brooke. “Destiny and all.” Brooke hisses, “You said the ‘D’ word!” Brooke doesn’t want to be chosen, she wants to do the choosing. Right now, she’s choosing to be the best friend possible to Taylor.

At the cliff house, Steffy and Finn come in through the patio doors after a nighttime hot tub to clear their heads. They kiss passionately. Steffy purrs that it feels good… just as getting the call from Brooke did when she said her mom was okay. Talk turns to Thomas. Steffy understands why Hope wants nothing to do with him, but Thomas is Douglas’s father and he really misses his son. She recalls how Douglas used to look at his father like he was a superhero. Now that Thomas caused his son to lie, she worries Douglas may never look at his dad the same way again. They talk about Douglas needing stability. Steffy feels her brother may never get that back with Douglas. Despite everything, Thomas loves his son and wants to play a role in his life.

At the cabin, Thomas concludes a visit with Douglas with a hug. He sends the boy out to the car to get his basketball and then thanks Hope and Liam for the “supervised” visit. Liam asks, “Can you blame us?” Thomas has something to talk to them about. He doesn’t have much going for him right now and he needs his son. “So, that is why I had these drawn up.” He produces documents. Hope and Liam exchange a confused look.

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Thomas can’t have them dictating when he can and can’t see his son — they won’t even let him take the boy overnight. Hope points out he doesn’t have a house. Thomas has money and can buy a house. He asks Liam to stay out of it and hands the paperwork to Hope, saying this can be settled as early as tomorrow. Hope reads the document and Liam peers at it as well. Hope asks, “Is this serious? You’re proposing asking Douglas to decide where he wants to live?”

Hope reminds him that Douglas is a child. Thomas thinks it’s the fair thing, for the boy to decide his own future. Douglas returns and asks what’s going on. Thomas explains that they were talking about something. He knows things have been weird, but he wants him to know he loves him so much. Thomas tells the kid they were discussing how he can see a lot more of him soon. “Your mom and I have plans.” After Thomas leaves, Hope asks Douglas if it was nice to see his dad. Douglas says it was “okay.” Hope knows he’s been through a lot, what with moving between homes, and she doesn’t want him to feel lost in the shuffle. She wants to talk about a way to make his living situation a little more permanent.

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At the beach house, Brooke thinks she and Taylor need to make a pact. They agree that when the time comes for them to have a man in their life, it won’t be the same man. Brooke and Taylor shake on it and agree that they don’t think that’s going to happen for a while. Brooke tells Tay their friendship means a lot to her. Taylor asks if Brooke thinks she’ll ever put her faith in a man again. Brooke doesn’t know what the future holds, and that used to scare her, but she’s not afraid anymore. Taylor isn’t either. Brooke thinks they need to add to their pact. “We need to be good role models for our daughters… they shouldn’t be rivals.” Taylor agrees, “The cycle stops.” They shake hands again. Taylor is blown away by Brooke’s invitation to move in but needs some time to think about it. They marvel over being friends.

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Steffy and Finn are surprised by a knock at the door — it’s Thomas. Steffy lets him in but complains that it’s late and the kids are sleeping. Thomas apologizes if he’s intruding. Steffy gawps, “If?” Thomas wants her to be his witness tomorrow. He just proposed that Douglas gets to decide who he wants to live with — they’ll meet in front of a judge tomorrow. Finn questions if that was the best decision. Thomas feels his bond with Douglas can’t be broken by a little phone call. Finn isn’t sure he realizes how much the CPS call affected Douglas. Thomas just wants to know if his sister will have his back. Steffy will be his witness but warns he needs to prepare himself. “You may lose custody of your son tomorrow.”

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At the cabin, Hope asks Douglas if he had some fun with his dad. He did. Talk turns to Thomas asking him to lie about what he did to Grandma Brooke. Hope reminds Douglas he can always talk to them about how he feels. Douglas says it made him sad. Hope thinks that makes sense, but lets him know they think he’s the greatest and brings so much joy to their family. “We love you so very much.” Douglas assures them he knows. Hope and Liam next assure the boy that he can be honest with them and won’t hurt their feelings. Hope asks if there was a scenario where he could decide between living with his dad and living there with them, what would he want? Douglas quickly replies, “I would rather live here with you.” Hope embraces him and Liam smiles. Hope tells Douglas, “We’re going to work this out, okay. We’ll work it out.”

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Once alone, Hope tells a skeptical Liam that the paperwork says Douglas gets to choose who he wants to live with and it will be legally binding. Liam remarks on how many times she gave Thomas the chance to get his act together. Hope feels Douglas needs to be away from him until he gets the help he needs. “This changes everything and it makes me so happy for Douglas.” The boy can have a stable happy home. “These papers change everything. Tomorrow, Douglas could be ours.”

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Next on The Bold and the Beautiful: Sheila and Deacon share an emotional moment, and surrounded by those who love him, Douglas finds his voice.

Remember when they were rivals?!? Look back on Brooke and Taylor’s fiercest fights in the photo gallery below!

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