More than a quarter of a century ago, innocent Becky Moore found herself in quite a pickle — and craving them with ice cream, too. She’d gotten knocked up by ne’er-do-well Deacon, who’d exited stage left upon learning that he should be stocking up on cigars. He didn’t want the baby, and neither did Becky. So she decided to give up the child for adoption. At least that was the original plan.

After Becky’s cousin Amber’s baby was stillborn, the blonde’s mother Tawny came up with an idea to kill two birds with one stone: She’d give Becky’s child to Amber to pass off as her own, thus solidifying her marriage to filthy-rich Rick Forrester. Obviously, he’d be kept in the dark about the switcheroo. (Husbands are always the last to know, if ever!) Hence, Becky’s bouncing baby boy was christened Eric Forrester III.

After Amber and Little Eric left Furnace Creek, Becky got to thinking: What if she’d made a mistake? Should she have kept the infant with the heart-shaped birthmark on his tush? Leaving her dead-end town, Becky traveled to L.A. and offered Amber and Rick free babysitting services. Needless to say, it was only a few diaper changes later that Becky realized where her own child had wound up!

Desperate to keep Little Eric’s true parentage a secret, Amber struck a bargain with Becky: She’d get her cousin a job at Forrester International and send her regular updates on the wee one. But all this did was buy Amber a little time. While she was in Venice with her in-laws for a fashion show, Becky pressed her to come clean with Rick. Sadly, the truth did set Amber free… but only of her marriage. Rick dumped her.

Photo : Mike Guastella/JPI

A Wish Before Dying

Before Becky passed away, C.J. quickly said “I do” to his sweetheart. Her parting words came in the form of a video message, in which she pleaded with her newly minted husband and Amber to raise Little Eric together. How could the two of them do anything but grant Becky’s dying wish?

Not So Fast, Bub’

For Little Eric’s sake, Amber and C.J. coupled up and even went so far as to make arrangements to tie the knot. But by then, Rick had cooled off following the big baby reveal and wanted his family back. He knew just how to get them, too — or so he thought. He tracked down Deacon and summoned him to L.A., thinking that a scumbag like him would sell the Forresters his parental rights, thereby forcing Amber back to Rick’s side.

Photo : Aaron Montgomery/JPI

That Could Have Gone Better

Unfortunately for all concerned, Deacon was nothing if not unpredictable. He was mad enough at the Forresters’ low opinion of him that he seized custody of Little Eric himself and moved the tot into an apartment with girlfriend Carmen Arena. It did not go well. Carmen, having a screw or two loose, turned into a green-eyed monster anytime Amber paid a visit to Little Eric — and, by extension, Deacon.

Over the Edge

Growing sicker and tireder of Amber’s drop-ins, Carmen sought to get rid of Deacon’s one tie to her by tossing Little Deacon off the roof of a building. Thankfully, Big Deacon was able to convince her that that wouldn’t be an ideal scenario for anyone, especially the baby. But Carmen still wanted Amber gone so badly that she attacked her. Can you say, “Look out below!”?

Photo : Jesse Grant/JPI

Splat!

Yup, Amber wasn’t about to go down without a fight, and in that fight, Carmen was sent flying off the roof to her death.

The Odd Couple

Smitten with Amber, Deacon wrote up a crazy contract stating that, if she and Little Eric would live with him for four months, he’d sign away his parental rights if she still wanted to leave at the end of the 16 weeks. Though sparks flew between Deacon and Amber, they weren’t bright enough to blind her to the love that she still had for Rick.

Photo : Aaron Montgomery/JPI (2)

How to Lose Friends and Negatively Influence People

On the rebound, a vengeful Deacon married Rick’s sister Bridget and even deflowered her while her family was on speaker-phone. He further cemented his reputation as a scuzz by cheating on Bridget with her mother Brooke Logan, who nine months later delivered their daughter, Hope. None of this made the Forresters fans of Deacon’s, of course, so they began keeping him from seeing either Little Eric or Hope.

Tit for Tat

Ticked, Deacon turned around and sued for custody of Little Eric. Since the Forresters had never had any legal claim to the boy, Dad won and moved his son in with himself and his new wife, C.J.’s sister Macy Alexander. Do we need to tell you that this wasn’t happily ever after for anyone? Didn’t think so.

Photo : Aaron Montgomery/JPI

Good Grief

After Macy was Phantom of the Opera’d by a falling chandelier, Amber stepped up once again to help Deacon care for Little Eric. But he was soon shuffled off the canvas to live with Becky’s parents. By the time he showed up back in L.A., he was somehow younger than his kid sister, Hope. (Even SORAS can’t explain that one.) But that wasn’t the only surprise that Little Eric had for us.

Beau-Tied

By 2025, Little Eric wasn’t so little anymore. He was calling himself Deke, looking to make a name for himself as a designer at Forrester Creations and shacked up with Remy, whose obsession with Electra Forrester had turned out to be an unhealthy way for him to deal with his internalized homophobia. As quickly as we “met” Deke, he was dealt a shock, too.

Photo : CBS screenshot

With Friends Like These…

Deke was none too pleased to find double murderess Luna Nozawa in his and Remy’s apartment. His boyfriend’s involvement with the crazed killer, Deke reasoned, would certainly put the kibosh on his dreams of working at Forrester Creations. Remy assured Deke that he wasn’t “friends” per se with Luna. But would he be able to turn his back on her when he’d always been so sympathetic in the past?

One Big Family… But Happy? Not So Much

So far as we know, Deke has yet to inform Deacon that he’s in L.A. Perhaps the young man wisely prefers his work to be judged on its own merits rather than through the lens of “career dirtbag Deacon Sharpe’s son.” Or maybe he doesn’t want to be associated with wicked stepmother Sheila Carter, who, it bears mentioning, has shot just about every member of the Forrester family at one time or another. Any way you shake it, this is going to be one tense father/son reunion!

Photo : John Paschal/JPI (2), Howard Wise/JPI, Gilles Toucas/CBS, Sean Smith/JPI

Best in Show

While you’re here, see where you favorite dynamic duos rank on our countdown of the greatest couples ever on Bold & Beautiful.