The Bold and the Beautiful recap (Feb. 14): Steffy sends Douglas home for the night

While there was a bit of romance and flirting in the Feb. 14 episode of The Bold and the Beautiful, it was by no means meant to be one that celebrates Valentine’s Day. But, regardless, I hope my fellow Bold fans are having a wonderful holiday even if our soap is breaking hearts in such deliciously dramatic ways.

The custody struggle over Douglas continued today as Steffy masterfully avoided giving her nephew a firm answer on whether he can come live with her and sent him home with Hope and Liam for the night. The key phrase there being “for the night” as she’s seriously considering honoring his decision to live with her despite how his parents feel about it and, trust, they have a lot of feelings about this shocking outcome.

Elsewhere, at Forrester Creations, Katie and Carter were enjoying each other’s company in the main office while discussing the main topics of the soap from the family court hearing to Bill’s relationship with Sheila. The only thing new we learned from them was their Indian carryout orders, but their scenes were cute nonetheless.

Here’s the full recap of events.

What happened today on The Bold and the Beautiful?

We picked up where we had left off with Hope and Steffy in Judge Gomez’s hearing room. Hope asked Steffy, mother to mother, not to assume guardianship of Douglas. She said Beth needs him…which not to appear heartless but that’s just not a sound argument. Beth will adjust like every other child on this show including her sister, Kelly, who’s been through her fair share of living situation changes without anyone worrying about how she’d feel about it.

Steffy responded that her priority is Douglas and his well-being which wasn’t the answer Hope wanted but it’s the one she got. Same with Judge Gomez’s return to the room. Despite Steffy not being a part of the options presented to Douglas, she intends to respect the decision he made and if his guardians can’t come to some kind of agreement then she’ll see them back at family court but for today she told them to leave because she has other cases on the docket.

Once more Hope asked Douglas if he understood that he’s asking his aunt to raise him, and once again this child still requested to live with Steffy. Even in the face of his parents confusion and Liam saying that Hope and he simply wished he’d picked them, Douglas didn’t back down.

Steffy gently told him that he’d have plenty of time to finish his solar system project with Kelly soon, something he expressed excitement over, but that he should go home with Hope and Liam for the night. Interestingly, it was a prospect he didn’t look happy about after embracing his aunt but he at least had the balm of knowing Steffy’s honored by his choice.

Hope, Liam, and Thomas talk about Douglas’ decision

While Douglas was occupied at the main house (supervised, of course), Hope, Liam, and Thomas tried to unpack what had happened at family court. Or at least, Hope and Thomas did. Liam simply wanted to point fingers and blame this all on Thomas even though the three of them put this decision in a child’s hands.

Thomas explained he’d thought Douglas would pick him. Hope and Liam didn’t offer up the same sentiment. But, after some thinking, Thomas stated that he’s begun to see how this could work out well for him. Steffy’s his sister, she’s not going to keep him from seeing his son so he can feel secure in getting to be in Douglas’ life.

Liam was affronted by the implication that Hope’s been keeping Douglas from Thomas and would have continued to do so had they gotten custody of him. His display was rather impressive considering that’s exactly what Hope has been doing which is why they were at family court in the first place, and the night prior she’d been overjoyed at using Douglas’ decision as a means of getting Thomas out of his life.

Honestly, it was laughable but what was serious was Hope’s reaction to what went down in the judge’s hearing room. She’s taking ownership of her part in this. As she asked Thomas, what does it say of them as parents that they’d never considered that Douglas wouldn’t want to live with either of them and instead would choose his aunt.

Thomas had admitted he couldn’t have predicted this would happen and Hope accepted that reasoning but the point still stands that somewhere along the way they failed Douglas. Liam tried to dissuade her and put this on Thomas again, but she wouldn’t hear it. Clearly, she missed something as a mother because a child doesn’t just decide they don’t want you to raise them out of the blue.

Douglas told them all he doesn’t want to call the cabin, or wherever his dad’s staying for the time being, home. He wants to live with Steffy and if that’s not a sign that their parenting has gone off the rails then I don’t know what is.

Steffy tells Finn that Douglas wants to live with them

Prior to Steffy coming home to the Cliff House, Finn was finishing up his conversation with Li. His heart goes out to Douglas for all that he’s been through. He finds the child to be bright and a wonderful fit with their family, he’s just sorry Douglas lost his mom at such a young age and that Thomas keeps messing up as his father.

Li said this whole situation must make Finn feel grateful for the family he has with Steffy to which he agreed. That family, however, could be growing which he found out today when his wife slowly revealed what had happened at family court.

At first he thought she was saying that Douglas had chosen Hope since she’d said he didn’t choose Thomas. But when she told him that her nephew didn’t choose Hope either, she had to explain that he’d chosen her and wanted to be a part of their family. Finn was shocked just like everyone else and we didn’t get his response to what Steffy said, but I doubt he’d be against the idea once they have a chance to talk.

Katie and Carter flirt and talk about Douglas and Sheila

While all of the custody drama was going down, Katie got caught in her underwear by Carter in the main office. She’d been in the middle of dressing after walking in the room in search of the clothes she’d forgotten to bring to the shower with her after her workout in the company gym.

Carter certainly wasn’t complaining about the view and the two shared a kiss before Katie put on her work attire. As they sat and chat, the two spoke about Douglas and the big decision he’s had to make. Like basically everyone but Thomas, Katie was of the mind that he’d choose Hope and Carter held the same sentiment. They both acknowledged it would be rough for Thomas if that turned out to be Douglas’ choice and Katie said it’s good Thomas has Steffy as a witness so she can be there for him.

Obviously, these two are going to be rocked when they learn Douglas didn’t choose either of his parents and would prefer to be raised by his aunt. The conversation also included Katie’s feelings on Sheila and a rehash of her stance when it comes to the infamous woman’s relationship with Bill and how it’ll affect their son, Will.

Carter expressed his admiration for Katie’s protectiveness toward her family and how she extends that to Bill as well. It’s a quality that he appreciates even if he teasingly referred to her as a food stealer since they can’t seem to order Indian food without her eating all his curry.

Until next time, Bold fans. Stay beautiful!

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more The Bold and the Beautiful news and coverage. New episodes are available to stream on Paramount+.