After the dark of sadness comes the glory of happiness!

Life must go on!

Two months had passed since the fateful night. Thomas and Steffy had become accustomed to a life without their mother, even though they missed her very much in their daily lives. However, they were in almost daily contact through video chats, phone calls and text messages. So the distance was quite bearable and the siblings also saw the positive change in their mother.
Another positive aspect for the siblings was that their relationship with their father had changed for the better lately. Ridge had taken his father's speech seriously and made more effort to be available for his two children. He spent much more time with them than in the past and they all had serious and honest conversations together. Thomas and Steffy were overjoyed by their father's encouragement and support; for the first time in a long time, they felt that his expressions of love were not just empty words.
Also the relationship between the siblings had improved enormously; they had always stuck together in times of crisis, and in the current situation they were sticking together like peas and carrots.
Only the relationship with their grandmother was still strained. Thomas still could not forgive her for using him for her scheme. Steffi was also still upset about her grandmother's behavior and blamed her mainly for her mothers absence.

One topic Thomas and Steffy avoided both with their father and everyone else was their mother. Taylor had implored them not to tell anyone her living circumstances. She still didn't want contact with anyone. Her children kept their promise and when they were asked they only told what was necessary. Ridge suffered from the break in contact more than he admitted. It felt strange for him to be in the house so often and not have Taylor with them. Plus, it bothered him that she had left before they had a chance to resolve their differences. There was still so much he would have liked to say to her. Since there was nothing he could do about the situation at the moment, he tried not to think about it.

Taylor, on the other hand, felt like she was finally back on the bright side of life. After days of traveling and some deliberation, she had finally come to the decision to settle in San Francisco. She had always loved the flair and atmosphere of the city and she knew she would feel comfortable there. Besides, San Francisco was far enough from Los Angeles to get away from all of it, but still close enough. Taylor didn't want to live too far away from her children so she could be with them quickly in case of an emergency. Plus, it made it easy for the two of them to come visit her. One of her first missions was to look for a new job. She approached it with a healthy dose of confidence and conviction, knowing she was qualified and had plenty of experience. In the end, she landed exactly the job she wanted. In a practice with several psychologists and psychiatrists, she got the job as head of the department.

When she had signed the contract, she went looking for an apartment, which turned out to be rather difficult at first, since Taylor had exact ideas. The real estate agent she had hired eventually had a crisis because she was never satisfied with any property he showed her. For Taylor it was very important to feel comfortable in her future home. After a seemingly endless search, she finally discovered her dreamhouse. It was a penthouse in an exclusive well-secured apartment complex in a prestigious neighborhood. The apartment was not particularly large but well laid out with a beautiful roof terrace. The view was breathtaking. On a clear day you could even see the Golden Gate Bridge. Taylor immediately made an offer and arranged everything to get the apartment. She fell in love from the first moment. She set about furnishing the apartment with great enthusiasm in order to be able to move in as quickly as possible.
During the time she was busy furnishing and decorating the apartment, she hardly had time and leisure to think about the past. In the morning she jumped out of bed, packed the whole day with activities and late in the evening she sank tired into the pillows.

Tonight she spent her first relaxing evening on her patio, her thoughts circling around the events of the past few months. It still stung her heart when she thought of Ridge. In the first days she had often spent a sleepless night and cried into her pillows. By now she was over the worst of the pain. She was honest with herself. Ridge would have married her but his heart would have belonged to Brooke. Taylor wondered why he loved this woman so idolatrously; she knew if they hadn't all been badgering him, he probably would have even forgiven her 'the Thomas story' eventually. It was painful but Taylor was finally ready to face reality. Ridge had not loved her for a long time, their time together was in the past. He was and would always be the father of her children but not more. Her feelings for him had changed. She wasn't mad at him but she wasn't also not in love with him any longer. Still she cared for him deeply and sometimes she missed him, she hoped with the time it would become less.

As Taylor sipped her tea, lost in thought, the doorbell rang. Taylor wondered who was coming to visit her at this late hour. Standing outside the door was her new friend Susan. Susan also lived in the apartment complex. The two women had met by chance and hit it off right away. Susan was in a similar living situation as Taylor. She was also single and living alone here in the city. Her four children lived scattered all over the world. Susan had lost her husband eight years ago and was not yet ready to open her heart to someone new. However, after a few difficult years, she had found her way back to life and was enjoying every day to the fullest. She had been living in San Francisco for 15 years and knew God and the world. She introduced Taylor to her circle of acquaintances and friends which Taylor was very grateful and happy about.
"Hey Taylor! May I come in?"
"Of course! Come on in, would you like some tea?"
"Yes please!"
The two stepped outside onto the patio. Enviously, Susan looked around.
"The view from up here is really stunning. No comparison to my balcony. I think I'll be stopping by your place more often in the future."
"You're welcome any time."
"Careful! I'll end up moving in with you." They both laughed. "But now tell me. How are you doing? How's your new job?"
"It's going pretty well now. I mean it's not easy to get used to everything, but the colleagues are all great. Anyway, the work is doing me good. Right now I can't complain at all. I have a job and a great apartment. It really feels like everything is going in the right direction. The only thing that's not perfect...."
"You miss the kids?" Taylor nodded. "How are they doing?"
"From what they tell me, pretty good. I'm so happy that Ridge is taking care of them now and they are overjoyed to finally get more attention from him. So I think they are doing well. At the moment they are very busy because there is a big fashion show coming up soon. And we've already made plans for them to come and visit me afterwards."
"That's great. I'm sure you can't wait. I know when one of my kids announces their visit I'm totally excited every time and I'm counting the minutes days before."
"Yeah, I feel the same way. I can't wait to finally have them back with me. Nothing against video chats but there's nothing better than finally holding them again in my arms."