1988 (#13) - Stephen's commitment, family disagreements, and the forgiveness of Beth

After the initial euphoria and joy of being able to embrace each other again, Stephen is soon frozen by the words of Beth and Storm, who accuse him of having abandoned them to their own fate. A worried Stephanie tells Stephen how things are and how Beth's illness has brought her closer to Eric; however, Stephanie urges the man to take back his life and make amends for his mistakes, since everyone is always given a second chance. However, Storm and Beth don't seem to agree, and in the end they have to give in and accept Brooke’s demands, Donna's and Katie's requests, who want nothing more than to resume their lives with Stephen in order to finally see their family reunited. As the weeks go by, Stephen's efforts to regain his family's trust are finally beginning to make progress, and thanks to simple episodes, such as when he saves Katie from choking during a family barbecue, Storm and Beth begin to appreciate the man's company and partially reconsider. Stephanie, meanwhile, working from behind the scenes, does everything she can to get Stephen to return to Beth's arms in order to get him away from Eric; and to do so, she encourages Brooke to support her father's cause, even threatening her more or less veiledly that if she didn't encourage the reunification of their family, she would inform Ridge that she knew about Eric's affair with his mother. In the meantime, although Storm remains doubtful about Stephen's true intentions, a man he no longer considers and will never be able to consider his father, Brooke, Katie and Donna are all increasingly impressed by Stephen's efforts and begin to seriously consider, and dream, of being able to truly reunite their family after so many years; and this is also because Beth's tumor, which has now successfully undergone its last round of chemo, seems to be gone for good. Eric is happy for Beth's recovery, but at the same time he is worried and annoyed by Stephen's increasingly cumbersome presence, who is exerting more and more influence on his Beth. Eric tries in vain to make Beth understand that Stephen, as he has done in the past, could abandon them again; but when he sees the whole Logan family joking and smiling happily, he understands that the time has come to step aside. A bitter Eric bids Beth farewell, convinced by now also by Stephanie to forgive Stephen, and returns to the arms of a smiling and sly Stephanie, who gladly accepts Eric's apologies for having been distant and distant from her in such a particular moment as that of the strong misunderstandings between their two sons.