After the dark of sadness comes the glory of happiness!

A master plan and a complication!

After Taylor's father and their kids knew about their relationship, Taylor and Ridge began to think about how and when they should share the news with the rest of the family. Even though they enjoyed the secrecy, they knew they wouldn't be able to keep up this charade much longer. Especially for Ridge, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep their relationship under wraps. After his mother told the whole family that Taylor was also living in San Francisco, not only she but all his siblings were constantly interested in news about her, and it was very hard for him to cover up his true involvement with Taylor. Also for Steffy and Thomas it was more and more a burden to keep the secret from the rest of the family. But Taylor and Ridge just couldn't figure out the best way to tell the family.

One evening, however, when Ridge came home, he had the solution to all their problems. He had talked to his mother on the phone this afternoon. In two weeks, his parents would be hosting the annual summer party for friends and family. His parents expected him to come home for this occasion. His mother had indicated, everyone would be very happy to see Taylor at the party as well.
"This invitation is the answer for us!" commented Ridge to Taylor over dinner. "The whole family will be there, it's the best opportunity to tell everyone about us at once, that way we wouldn't have to contact everyone individually." Taylor nodded.
"Indeed it sounds like a good idea, but how do you envision it in detail? Should we just show up at this party as a couple and shout 'Surprise'?!" Ridge got her point.
"Mhm, probably it would be better to tell them before the party." He mused. "I know how we'll do it, Mother has mentioned she'd like to have the family over for dinner the night before. This will be the best chance to tell them." Taylor thought about it for a long time, the plan sounded very reasonable, however she also felt a little uncomfortable facing the entire family again. Ridge noticed her hesitation.

"Are you okay?"
"Yeah... yeah... I'm just wondering how they're all going to react to the news, and honestly I'm a little anxious about facing everyone again, I mean after all this time." Ridge reached for her hand.
"You shouldn't worry about that, they'll all be freaking out to see you again. You have no idea what kind of lectures I got from Felicia and Kristen when you left LA. Those two were totally on your side and were pretty harsh with me and Thorne too." Taylor, still not completely convinced, was a little bit more confident. Ridge continued. "Believe me, if anyone needs to be scared, it's me. They will all rather start to grill me." Taylor chuckled, sitting down on his lap.
"If they do, they'll have to deal with me! I'll defend you like mother bear. No one can get past me!" He pulled her even closer. "Well, we'll see how they react."
"True, but I guarantee you they'll all be thrilled. I think they'd all rather prefer us being back together than me back together with Brooke." Taylor stared at him horrified. "Hey, that was a joke!"
"It's not that, it just came to my mind, Brooke doesn't know about us yet either or did you tell her at some point?"
"No! You know I only respond to her messages when it concerns RJ, otherwise I never talked to her about anything else. But I get what you want to say. I'm sure Brooke will be at the party too, so it would be fair to talk to her first. I'll set up a meeting with her."

Over the next few days, Taylor and Ridge took care of their arrangements. Ridge told his parents he would come home for the party and the family dinner and that Taylor would join him. They also informed Steffy and Thomas, who were very happy to see their parents again. Finally everything was prepared, they would fly to Los Angeles on Thursday and back on Sunday night.
Wednesday morning they took their time and lazed around in bed. Both had taken the day off from work to prepare their trip without any stress. As they lay there comfortable in each other's arms, both of their phones began to ring incessantly and a flood of messages came in. At first they tried to ignore the constant beeping, but then they were both irritated about this terror. They had numerous missed calls as well as dozens of messages. Taylor was reading several text messages from Steffy and Thomas, saying it was very important to read her emails. Taylor got her laptop, Steffy had sent her a link. Taylor couldn't believe what she saw.