Brooke arrives home and Ridge asks her how her father is. She tells him as well as can be expected, given it's Christmas Eve and he's in County Jail. He tells her he has a cure and holds the mistletoe over her head as they kiss.

Brooke comes back downstairs as Ridge finishes a call from his father. He talks to Brooke about going over to help Eric get ready for when Stephanie returns and she tells him she is not up to facing Stephanie. He tells her he understands as Hope and RJ bound down the stairs and they give Brooke a Christmas card they made for her. Hope tells her that they also made one for grandma and asks when they are going over. Brooke tells them to get ready, but she's staying home as she has a lot of work to do. Hope runs over and hugs her and begs her to come along.

At the Forrester Mansion, Stephanie comes down the stairs to a knock on the door. She opens it to find Eric on the other side. He inquires if she's changed her mind about Christmas and tells her she has a lot to be thankful for as they could have lost her. She reminds him she lost him instead and tells him she's leaving; she's heading to church and walks out the door. Eric walks around the living room and looks around as Felicia walks in and Eric tells her they don't have much time before Stephanie comes home. He tells her they are going to give Stephanie a Christmas she'll never forget as he hugs Felicia.

Stephanie arrives in church. She walks up to the altar and kneels. She thanks God for saving her from the bullet but then asks why he saved her, when she feels that everything she loves is slipping away. She tells God that she tried to make amends and has asked for forgiveness but wants to know what more he wants from her. She says she will stop with the self pity, then thanks him and leaves.

Thorne and Allie are decorating the tree as Felicia brings in more ornaments. Rick, Bridget and Phoebe come in through the patio with food and bring it to the kitchen to warm. Ridge, Hope and RJ come in and the kids go and help Felicia decorate the tree as Rick compliments Eric on putting together the decorations and food so fast.

Felicia opens a box and Hope is excited that is the popcorn garland they made from the previous Christmas and the whole family works together to string it on the tree. While their backs are turned Stephanie walks in and is surprised to see her family there and all the decorations that are up. Once they all realize she has come home, Allie, Hope and RJ run and welcome her. Hope and RJ hand her the card they made for her and then ask if she's ok. Stephanie tells them she is but asks Eric if she can speak with him alone.

Eric follows Stephanie outside and she yells at him for not respecting her wishes. He cracks the front door so she can hear the kids laughing and playing and tells her those are her children and grandchildren she's hearing. He reminds her of the true meaning of Christmas and what she has to be thankful for.

Brooke walks in through the patio door and Hope runs to her and hugs her. Ridge walks over and tells her she made his Christmas and she tells him she couldn't stay away; she wanted to be with her family. She asks where Stephanie is, just as she walks back inside with Eric. Stephanie acknowledges everyone and thanks them all for coming as she sits on the couch with her grandchildren. She thanks Brooke for coming, tells her it means a lot to her and she owes her. She also tells her that she is indebted to her and if there is ever anything she can do, to not hesitate to ask. Brooke thanks her. Stephanie then thanks Eric for pulling it all together and making it a wonderful Christmas. Felicia raises her glass and proposes a toast to Eric and Stephanie. They all raise their glasses and sip their eggnog in their honor and then Eric sits at the piano and they all gather around and sing Christmas carols.

Due to the Christmas holiday, today's episodes of all your favorite soaps were pre-empted for various holiday programming. This pre-emption was anticipated and there will be no "lost" episodes as a result. Programming will resume on Wednesday, December 26th.

On behalf of everyone involved in Soap Central, I'd like to take the time to wish you and your family a very happy and healthy Christmas holiday. For our friends of other faiths and in other countries, we invite you share in the spirit of the holiday season as your celebrate holidays and festivals of your own.

Dan J Kroll
Founder, Soap Central

Stephanie confirms to Ridge that she isn't giving up hope in regards to Eric. Donna voices her insecurity in her relationship with Eric after he spends the holiday with his family. Eric assures Donna that she has nothing to worry about. Eric has already consulted a lawyer about divorcing Stephanie. Later, Ridge visits Eric and informs him that Stephanie thinks that she has another chance with him. Eric replies to Ridge that reconciling with Stephanie is not in the cards. Eric is in love with Donna. Eric then shows Ridge the divorce papers that he had drawn up. Storm decides he is going to turn himself in, but Brooke comes up with a plan to save the Logan family.

All the Logans gather at Brooke's where Storm isn't keen on Brooke's plan to go to Stephanie and implore help for their dad. He says he's going to confess. But Brooke says now is the time to hit Stephanie up for forgiveness since Stephanie promised she would do anything to redeem herself after Andy raped Brooke. Donna and Katie disagree with Brooke that Stephanie will offer any help.

After Brooke leaves, Donna and Katie have it out about Storm and how he framed their dad. Katie points out that Storm had it the toughest as the oldest -- even taking second jobs to buy the girls braces and dresses. Katie laments they never realized how much pain he was in, and Donna agrees he was the one who held the family together.

At Stephanie's, Dr. Bridget gives Stephanie a check up while Ridge encourages his mom. Stephanie blabs about Stephen being responsible then apologizing for her outburst because Stephen is grandpa to Bridget. Brooke shows up after Bridget and Ridge leave. She tells Stephanie she wants to discuss the fact that Stephanie said she would do anything to make things up to her. Brooke then spills that she wants Stephanie to tell the police she was wrong about Stephen being the shooter. Stephanie is in disbelief that Brooke asks her to set Stephen free on Brooke's word that he did not shoot her, but Brooke insists she knows it wasn't Stephen. Stephanie says she won't commit perjury and argues with Brooke who tells Stephanie to trust her. Brooke wants her family to heal and begs Stephanie to set her father free.

Nick comes home and Taylor is sitting in a chair with Jack. She tells him that Jack nursed twice but went back to the bottle. She then tells Nick how foolish she's been as she actually believed Jack didn't like her.

Taylor comes back down from putting Jack to bed and tells Nick how patient he has been with her. She tells him that while she felt fine during the pregnancy, after Jack was born and they took him away when he was sick, she didn't get a chance to bond with him so she felt like a surrogate, an incubator, even though she knows she wasn't. He tells her he is glad they are over it now but they are not a miracle of modern science, just a miracle. He holds her and tells her only a real woman can make him feel the way he is at that moment and she tells him "On that note, I think we should go upstairs."

After making love, Nick asks Taylor if he's hard to be married to or if he's hard to live with. She tells him he's awesome, but she's the problem child. He jokes that the problem child is Jack. He brings up Brooke and apologizes to Taylor. He tells her that he tried to take care of everyone else and their needs but forgot about her needs. Taylor tells him she can take care of herself and he tells her she shouldn't have to. She tells him she lived her whole life acting calm, cool and collected; with her father, in medical school and during her marriage to Ridge. She says Brooke was always the emotional one and she lost Ridge anyway by being honest. She tells Nick how she got tired of the act and started drinking, her dark side came out but she mostly did that in private. They both agree all is good between them and she would tell him if anything was wrong.

Nick dresses to rush off to a meeting and Taylor tells him she can handle this, everything is good. He kisses her and leaves. She walks over towards and bed and knocks over Nick's glass of wine. As she's picking up the glass to throw away, she raises her fingers to her nose and smells the alcohol.

Katie visits Stephen at County Jail. She tells him that Storm wanted to confess but she and Brooke talked him out of it. Stephen tells her he's going for a plea deal but he needs a new attorney as he cannot have Storm represent him. Katie tells him that he may not need one as Brooke thinks she can get him out. Katie explains to Stephen Brooke's plan and he feels that Brooke has this unshakeable faith that people mean what they say but the Stephanie Forrester's of this world go through apologies like peanuts. He tells Katie to stop Storm from doing anything foolish and then dismisses Katie.

Katie is surprised and thinks he wants her to go, but Stephen tells her he thought she'd rather be elsewhere. She lets him know she's not the messenger, nobody knows she is there. She tells him she believes she's the odd man out as she is always suspicious of people, unlike Brooke and Donna. She walks to him and tells him she decided years ago that he never cared about them. She starts to cry and tells him how sorry she is.

Stephen tells Katie she doesn't have to apologize as all the evidence pointed to him. She wants to know why he didn't tell them about Storm forcing him to leave and he tells her he can't blame Storm. She asks if they can make a deal, she'll stop feeling guilty if he will. She tells him she needs to stop blaming her childhood for her problems and that she doesn't know him, but she'd like to. She tells him she wants to love him but she doesn't know how. Stephen tells her that he is afraid of disappointing her again. She thinks then things should stay the way they and goes to leave but Stephen stops her and tells her he loves her. Crying, Katie walks up and hugs him and tells him she loves him too.

At Forrester Mansion, a hysterical Brooke begs Stephanie to go to the police and tell them she didn't see Stephen shoot her. Stephanie tries to talk to her but Brooke pleads with Stephanie to prove she meant what she said about doing anything to earn her forgiveness and to tell the police they have the wrong man. Stephanie asks Brooke if she wants her to lie and Brooke tells her it shouldn't be too hard for her. Stephanie starts to ask Brooke questions about who took the gun and put it in Stephen's room and Brooke slips and says "My brother did".

Stephanie is shocked but puts the pieces together quickly. She talks about how easily Storm could have hid the gun and that he has a ring just like Stephen's so the video could have been Storm's hand. She tells Brooke, "He must really hate your father. Kill two birds with one stone I guess; frame your father, kill me." She tells Brooke they need to go to the police and Brooke tells her no. They argue back and forth about how Storm should go to jail and Brooke tells her jail is not what he needs. Stephanie blurts out that he tried to kill her and Brooke reminds Stephanie that she tried to do the same thing to Brooke and it's not even a fraction of the misery Stephanie has caused Brooke over the years. She begs Stephanie to let it go and then they can wipe the slate clean. "Isn't that what you said you wanted?" Brooke asks. Stephanie tells Brooke no, she can't forget someone shot her. Brooke walks to her, crying and tells her that she fought for her precious Forrester family and now Brooke is fighting for her family. She tells her, "After my rape, I never thought I could forgive you and now is your chance. You owe me this."