After the dark of sadness comes the glory of happiness!

Heart to heart and lots of fun!

Taylor and the kids were sitting comfortably together. At first, they excitedly talked about the fashion show and their success. Taylor had already been informed about it. Of course, she had followed all the reports online. When she wanted to know how things were going at Forrester Creation in general, Thomas and Steffy remained silent. Taylor suspected she had hit a sensitive point. Finally it bursted out of Thomas.
"To be honest the mood sucks. If it weren't for our family heritage and our company, Steffy and I would be long gone." Taylor looked at him, startled. She hadn't expected it to be this bad.
"Excuse me? What's going on? Now tell me!"

Thomas didn't want to say anything more about it, the subject made him extremely uncomfortable. Steffy noticed her brother's discomfort and jumped in.
"It's all not so easy after the whole unfortunate story with Brooke and Thomas. Brooke isn't ready to forgive Thomas one bit and she doesn't like me anyway. We've both been declared as persona non grata. She and her followers, Rick and Hope are doing everything they can to get us out of the company. First they demanded from Dad to fire Thomas immediately, and they wanted me out as well."
Taylor was shocked at her daughter's descriptions.
"Oh my God! And how did your father react?"
"Dad was totally awesome. He and Granddad took our side, thank God, and sided with us. They both felt that termination would be too drastic." Taylor was deeply relieved to hear this.
"Dad has really changed. He cares about us like he hasn't in years. When Brooke came in with her demand, at first I thought now it's all over. But he really stood up to Brooke, I didn't think he was capable of doing this."
"Does that mean he forgave you for that stupid lie?"
"At first he was still very angry, I mean I know myself what a big mess I made there, but he limited my punishment by canceling the Taboo line and for the next time taking away any responsibility for an own collection from me. I am now mainly working with Steffy. But that's fine with me."
"Well I still think that's pretty harsh but of course a lot fairer than throwing you out the door."

For a moment everyone was silent, then Steffy gathered her courage to ask a question that was very important to her.
"Um I know it might be a bit blunt but while we're talking about Dad, how do you actually feel about him and the whole situation now?" Taylor took a deep breath, she had prepared herself for this question. She tapped her hands on the empty seats next to her, signaling Thomas and Steffy to join her.
"You know, I've had a lot of time in the last few weeks to think about everything that happened, about the last few years, and I've realized a lot of things. As for your father, it's obvious he wants to live with Brooke, he loves her and they have a family together and I respect that. I have finally realized your father and I will never be a couple again. We once had a wonderful time together and we once loved each other very much and out of that love you were born, but our time has been over for a long time. However, I want you to know, even though your father and I won't be living together and we won't be a family in the classic sense anymore, we love you both and you can count on each of us one hundred percent and I think that's the most important thing."
"Does that mean you don't have any feelings for him anymore?"
"He is still one of the most important person in my life and probably always will be, but I can say I am no longer in love with him. I have closed this chapter."

"So are you going to avoid him from now on, or do you think at some point a contact will be possible again?"
"Of course! The fact that I don't want to talk to Ridge or the rest of the family right now doesn't mean I don't like them anymore or that I want them out of my life. It has more to do with the fact I need to redefine myself first. I have to find out who I really am without everyone pulling at me or wants to squeeze me into some specific role. But I hope at some point there will be a chance for us to deal with each other again in a normal way. Thomas and Steffy were satisfied with this answer for this moment. They both snuggled up to their mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Taylor put her arms around them and hugged them both tightly.