Love, Lies, and Other Things - Parts I and II

Carrie was having a hard time getting ready. She had already tried on 6 outfits, and none of them seemed right. She wanted to look nice for the evening. Mike was coming to pick her up.

Carrie had been spending a lot of time with Mike recently. She couldn't believe that Sami had told Roman that Mike and herself were in love. Sami said that she thought it was true and that was the only reason why she had said it. Of course, Carrie didn't believe anything that Sami said because she was positive that Sami had her memory back and was keeping it a secret so she could hang onto Austin, but she had no way to prove it. Carrie was glad that she had someone like Mike who was always there for her when she needed someome to talk to. Whenever she was with him, she felt so special and so wanted. He always knew how to make her feel good. Carrie sometimes wondered if Austin could ever make her feel the way Mike does. When Mike hugged her, she felt so warm and happy and protected. Was Austin the man that she really wanted.

****************************************************************************************************************

Mike was on his way to Carrie's apartment. They were going over to Jack & Jen's to celebrate their engagement. He was happy for Jen. She could finally be with the man she loves. He just hoped he could find the same happiness one day.

Mike was against the whole idea of putting on a charade that he and Carrie were in love. He knew it would mean that they would have to spend a lot of time together, and even though he wanted that he also knew what Carrie really wanted - Austin. Seeing that it meant so much to Carrie though, he played along. All the while falling deeper in love with someome he knew he could never have. 'At least we're friends' he thought.'

****************************************************************************************************************

Mike arrived at Carrie's apartment and knocked on the door.

Carrie heard someone at the door. She knew it was Mike coming to take her to the party. For some reason, she couldn't wait to see him. She opened the door.

"Hi, Mike, come in." She noticed that he was holding something behind his back. "What do you have back there?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing really, just a little gift." He said as he pulled out the rose he had bought on his way there.

Carrie smiled with delight. "You brought me a rose. That is so sweet of you Mike, thank you." she said as she gave him a hug. Her heart skipped a beat.

Mike never wanted to let Carrie go. "Your welcome. I thought a rose is just what you needed to make your day."

"Yeah, it has."

They just stared at each other for a minute.

"So are you ready to go?" Mike asked

"Actually, I was just about to change. I don't really like how this dress looks."

"Well, if my opinion counts any, I think that you look abosolutely beautiful. But if you want to change, I'll just wait."

Carrie melted when she heard him say this. "Ok, well if that's the case, I'm ready."

They left for Jen's house.

****************************************************************************************************************

Austin, Sami and Will had been at the party now for about an hour. Austin had searched for Carrie, but could not find her. 'She probably isn't here yet.' he thought to himself. He knew that Mike was bringing Carrie, and that worried Austin a little. He had gotten the annulment papers over a week ago, but hadn't told Carrie about them yet. Everytime he tried to, he saw Carrie with Mike. He was beginning to think that maybe Carrie and Mike should just be together, but his mother had encouraged him to tell Carrie. He just hoped that it wasn't too late.

"Austin, what's wrong?" Sami asked, interrupting Austin's thoughts.

"Nothing Sami. I was just wondering where Carrie was."

"Well, there she is, with Mike. I think they just got here." Sami said pointing to the door.

Austin lit up at this and turned around to see Mike enter with Carrie on his arm. They looked really close. His heart sank, and his pain showed on his face.

Sami saw this and was pleased. The further apart Carrie was from Austin, the better! Soon, Austin would give up on Carrie and she would have him all to herself.

Carrie saw Austin and Sami together. She thought she would feel mad, but she guessed that she had seen it so much that it was becoming a normality.

Carrie and Mike walked over to Sami and Austin.

"Hi, Austin. Hi Sami." Carrie & Mike greeted them. Sami & Austin greeted them back.

Austin knew that he had to act fast if he didn't want to lose Carrie forever. "Um, Carrie, can I talk to you outside for a minute?"

Carrie didn't know what was going on. "Sure."

Sami did. 'I have to stop this.' she thought. "Austin, I was getting a little tired. I was thinking that maybe we could just go home."

Austin was fed up. "Sami, I will take you home as soon as I'm finished talking to Carrie. Just wait here!." Austin practically yelled.

Sami was shocked. "Ok, Austin. I'll just go upstairs and check on Will." Sami walked away. She was on the verge of tears. There was nothing she could do to stop Austin from telling Carrie about the annulment. She had to come up with a new plan.

Carrie excused herself from Mike and went out to talk to Austin. She had a feeling of what the conversation would be about.

As soon as they got to the backyard, Austin took Carrie into his arms and gave her a long, tender kiss.

Carrie was shocked by the kiss. When he let go, her face showed that.

"I've wanted to do that for so long." Austin whispered.

"Well, since you're with Sami all the time it kinda make its hard."

"I know. That is waht I wanted to talk to you about. I got the annulment papers."

"When? How?" Carrie was blown away by this news.

"Mickey has been working on it for a while now. I didn't want to tell you about it until I knew for sure."

"But Sami still has her amnesia, or she claims to anyway. I thought the annulment wasn't possiblle?"

"Yeah, but Mickey came across a case that was similar to ours. I guess that that one worked out, so ours did too." Austin can't hide the excitement he feels.

Carrie knows she is supposed to be happy, but she has mixed emotions. "So, what do we do about Sami?"

"Well, I was thinking that you and Marlena could come over tomorrow, so I could tell Sami. I know she'll be shocked and hurt, but she'll just have to get over it. I want to be with you so much Carrie."

Her head was spinning. She couldn't believe this was happening. It wasn't how she had expected it to be. "What about Will? I mean, are you going to be able to get some custody of him?"

"Mickey is already working on getting me partial custody of Will. We'll be a family."

"God, Austin, this is just so overwhelming. I really don't know what to say."

"Well, say you'll marry me." He gets down on one knee. "Carrie Brady, you are the love of my life. You are the last thing I think about when I go to sleep, and the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. I want nothing more in the world than for you to be my wife. Will you marry me?"

Carrie is in tears. She can't believe this moment is finally here. She feels so confused inside, she really doesn't know what to say. "Yeah, I'll marry you."

Austin gets up and takes the necklace with the engagement ring off Carrie's neck and slips the ring on her finger. He then sweeps her into a long, passionate kiss.

Mike wonders where Carrie is. He walks outside to see if she and Austin are finished talking. As he steps outside the door, he sees Carrie and Austin kissing. The pain he feels is so tremendous. 'It was going to happen sooner or later," he thought to himself. "I guess better sooner for both of us Carrie," he whispers and then turns to go back inside.

****************************************************************

Austin reluctantly pulled away from Carrie. "Can you believe that after all this time, we're finally going to get married?"

"No, I can't. It's all just happening so fast."

"Yeah. Maybe, we should go inside. Sami said that she was tired. I better take her and Will home."

"OK. What time do you want me and Marlena to come over tomorrow?"

"Around noon? I'll take Will over to the pub when he wakes up. I really don't want him caught up in everything..."

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I'll go by and tell Marlena. Sami will need someone's support when she finds out."

"Definitely. I don't want to hurt her, but I think its best if we just go ahead with it now." Austin gave Carrie one last kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." Even though the words had come out of her mouth, Carrie wondered if they were true.

"Well, I guess I'll get going. Aren't you going back inside?"

"No, I think I'll just stay out here a while."

"OK.. Goodnight."

Carrie watched as Austin disappeared through the door back into the house.

She turned around and walked over to sit on the swing. She was so relieved that it would all be over soon. She thought about the future, about her and Austin. They had so many plans before, but now everything was just so confusing. She sat there for a while, just thinking things over.

****************************************************************************

Mike hadn't been able to have much of a good time at the party. When he saw Austin come in without Carrie, he was a little worried. He wanted to go see if she was alright, but stopped himself. 'Of course she's alright. She and Austin obviously got back together.' He was glad that Carrie would finally be happy. She deserved all the happiness in the world.

==========

Carrie had sat out in the backyard for couple of minutes and decided to return to the house. The news of the annulment had taken her by surprise, but she was starting to feel more confident that things would work out. As she made her way into the house, she spotted Mike standing by the stairs. She walked over to him "I'm sorry I kept so long outside." she apologized.

"That's OK. I'm sure it was important." He didn't want her to know she had seen her and Austin together.

"Yeah, Austin had some good news. Mickey was able to get the annulment."

"Carrie, that's great." Mike said as he gave her a quick hug. " So, that means there'll be another wedding soon, huh?

"Yeah, I guess so. We didn't really talk about the wedding. First we have to tell Sami about it. In fact, I was wondering if you could take me over to Kristen's so I could tell Marlena? Austin thought that Marlena could be there when we tell Sami."

"Sure, whenever you're ready." he answered.

"OK, but first let's say bye to Jen & Jack."

Mike and Carrie went to tell Jen & Jack they were leaving and then headed for Kristen's.

****************************************************************************

When they arrived at the DiMiera mansion, Mike went up to check on Roman while Carrie went into the living room with Marlena and John give them the news.

"How have you been holding up Marlena? Carrie asked as they sat down on the sofa.

"As well as can be expected under the circumstances. The doctors are working over-time trying to find a cure for Roman's illness. I'm hopeful that they will find one soon. I know how much you and Sami need him."

"Yeah. I just wish there was more I could do for him."

"Just being there for him is enough. So, was there something that you came here to talk about?" Marlena asked tentatively.

"Actually, there is. Austin gave me some great news. Somehow, Mickey was able to get Austin's marriage to Sami annulled." Carrie waited for Marlena and John to digest this.

"Oh Carrie, that's wonderful!" Marlena said as she gave Carrie a hug.

"I know, after all this time, Austin and I can finally be together."

"That's great pumpkin. So, when's the big day?" John asked.

"Well, we didn't discuss that. I mean, first we have to tell Sami. That's why I'm here. I know that Sami will need your support when she hears that her marriage to Austin was fake. We're going to tell her tomorrow, around noon."

"I understand. Don't worry, I'll be there for Sami."

"Thanks Marlena." Carrie said as she stood up. "I think I'll go say hi to Roman before I leave."

After she had said her good-byes to John and Marlena, Carrie went upstairs to see her father.

When she got there the door was slightly open. She saw Mike looking over some charts. She knocked lightly on the door. Mike looked up and motioned for her to come in.

"How's he doing Mike?" Carrie asked with a worried look on her face. She knew that Roman's disease was fatal, but she still hadn't given up hope that a cure would be found in time to save his life. She loved her dad so much, she didn't want to lose him in her life.

"Well, he's comfortable. The medications he's on seem to be helping with the pain."

Just then Roman stirred in his bed.

"Carrie, I think this would be a good time to tell him the truth about us." Mike said as he nodded towards Roman.

"But, what if it upsets him?"

"I think that it would be better if you told him now. You and Austin will be married soon, so he'll eventually find out.

"Carrie, Mike, what are you doing here?" Roman asked in a weak voice.

Mike and Carrie turned to see Roman, fully awake now. "Well, I came over to see Marlena and then came up to check on you." Carrie told him.

"I'll wait downstairs for you Carrie." Mike whispered to her before he left the room.

Carrie moved over to Roman's bed, and sat down on it beside him. "So, how are you feeling dad?"

"Fine. I'm just so glad that I'm here with my family. I missed you so much."

"Me too. We all did." Carrie didn't know how she was going to tell him the truth, but she knew she had to. "Dad, there's something I have to tell you."

"What?"

Carrie tells her dad about all the things that Sami has done to keep her and Austin apart, Then she tells him about the accident and Sami's amnesia, her suspicions about Sami, and finally Austin's annulment.

"I can't believe it! Do you really think that she has her memory back? Roman asked after Carrie had finished.

"Yeah, I do. And after she told you that lie about Mike and me, that leads me to believe even more than Sami has her memory back. I have no way to prove it though, but just wait until she slips. Thankfully, Austin got the annulment, so now we can be together."

Roman begins to cry. "I can't help but think that this is all my fault. I shouldn't have left her. She needed me, and I wasn't there for her."

"It's not your fault dad. Sami chooses to do the things she does. After the accident, I really believed that she had changed, but now I know that the old Sami is back."

"So, you still love Austin? And you don't have any feelings for Mike?"

Carrie honestly doesn't know how to answer this question. A month ago the answer would've been 'YES, with all my heart' but today, she didn't know.

Roman sees the lost expression on Carrie's face.

"I care about Austin a lot. I just think that since we've been apart for so long, we need to take things slow and work out all our feelings."

"Do you also care about Mike?"

"Well, of course I care about Mike. He is a good friend. He has always been there for me whenever Austin wasn't."

"But do you care about him as more than a friend?"

Before Carrie can answer this question, Marlena knocks on the door and comes in. "I don't mean to interrupt, but it's time for your medication."

Carrie is relieved by this interruption. She didn't know how she would've answered that last question. She was scared to know. "I'll come by and visit you tomorrow dad, OK?" she tells him as she gives him a hug.

"OK"

Carrie gives Marlena a hug before she goes downstairs. When she gets there, Mike isn't in the living room. She goes outside to look for him and finds him sitting on the back of his car, just staring at the sky. She just stands there for a minute, looking at him. He looks frustrated, so sad. She walks up beside him.

"Carrie" Mike says as he gets off the car. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." Carrie says as she walks over to the passenger side door. It's a little chilly outside, and Carrie wraps her arms around herself to be warmer.

Mike sees this, and takes his coat jacket from the backseat of the car and walks around to where Carrie is standing. He gently puts it on her.

"Thank you." Carrie whispers.

"You're welcome." Mike whispers back. He looks deep into her eyes, smiles, and walks back to get into the car.

****************************************************************************

After Mike drops her off, Carrie goes to get ready for bed. She can't believe that after tomorrow, she and Austin will be able to get married. But as she lays down to go to sleep all she can think about is Mike.

****************************************************************************

Sami can't sleep. She knows that Austin told Carrie about the annulment papers. She didn't know what she would do about this. She had to think of something. She just couldn't lose Austin, not now, not after all she had done to keep him. She had to think of something and she had to do it fast.

****************************************************************************

Austin can't wait until tomorrow. This is the last night he will spend sleeping on the couch. Tomorrow night, he will be with Carrie. He can't wait to hold her in his arms, and wake up in the morning with her beside him. He just hopes that Sami won't take the news of the annulment to hard.

****************************************************************************

When Carrie woke up the next morning, it was 7:45. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, all she could think about was Austin and Mike. Why was she thinking about Mike though? She took a shower and got dressed, then went to go make herself some coffee. As she was walking past the sofa, she heard a beep. She didn't know where it was coming from? She followed the noise until she came upon Mike's suit jacket. She guessed she had forgotten to give it to him when he'd dropped her off. She picked up the jacket and looked into the pockets. "His beeper! He'll definitely be needing this." Carrie went to go call Mike and tell him about his beeper, but he wasn't home. "He must be at the hospital already. I better take it to him." Carrie got her purse and Mike's jacket and left for the hospital.

==========

Mike had been at the hospital for about 2 hours. His patient load had been slow that morning, so he decided to go to the Brady pub and get something to eat. He looked into his coat to find his beeper and put it on, but it wasn't there. He searched all his other belongings for the beeper, and finally remembered that he had left it in the jacket that he had given Carrie to wear when she was cold. He needed his beeper, so instead going to the pub, he would have to go see Carrie.

==========

Carrie was walking through the park, heading to the hospital. It was such a beautiful day out. There weren't many people around, and the she welcomed the quietness of her surroundings. She was walking past a tall hedge when suddenly a man walked out. She jumped.

"Sorry miss, I didn't mean to scare you." he said.

"Oh, that's fine." Carrie said as she started to leave.

"Wait," the man said as he stepped in front of her, "can you tell me where the southside park entrance is? I'm afraid I've gotten lost."

Carrie was scared now. How could he possibly be lost in the park? She didn't want to show him her nervousness, though. "Sure. It's that way, Carrie said, as she turned and pointed to where she had just come from. Without warning, the man grabbed Carrie from behind and put his hand over her mouth.

"Hand over the purse, NOW."

Carrie did as she was told

He took the purse and started looking through it for the wallet. Carrie saw the opportunity and tried to run, but lunged at her, sending her to the ground. She screamed as she struggled to get up, but he just slammed her head against the ground to silence her.

===========

Mike was headed to Carrie's when he heard the scream. He ran towards where he thought it had come from. When he came around a tall hedge, he saw Carrie lying lifelessly on the ground. He rushed to her side. "Carrie? Carrie?" She didn't respond. He took her pulse, and it was a little weak. He then noticed the blood on the ground. He took out his cell phone and phoned the paramedics and then the hospital. "God, Carrie, please be OK."

****************************************************************************

Mike was sitting beside Carrie's bed. He was very worried about her, even though her injuries weren't life threatening. He couldn't get the picture of her lying on the ground out of his mind. He wished that he had been there to protect her. Marlena and John rushed into the room where Carrie was.

"Oh Mike, how is she?" Marlena asked as she went to Carrie's side.

"Well, luckily she has a few bruises, a laceration to the back of her head, and a concussion. She hasn't regained consciousness yet, though."

"But, she will be OK, right" John asked tentatively.

"Yeah, she should be just fine."

"What happened?"

"I really don't know. I was on my way to see her because she had my jacket which has my pager in it. I heard and a scream, and went to help. That's when I saw her lying on the ground. I just got her here as quickly as possible."

"Thank God you found her." Marlena said as he gave him a hug.

Just then Austin and Sami came in. Marlena had called them after she had gotten off the phone with Mike. They were both very worried about Carrie.

"How is she? Is she going to be OK?" Austin asked.

"Yes, but she still hasn't woken up yet." Marlena answered. She turned to John. "Shouldn't we get Abe to go see if he can find any clues as to what happened or who did this to her?"

"I already did. I told him where I found her and he said he would get on it right away." Mike interrupted.

"Good. I'll go call him and see if he has any leads." John said.

"I'll come with you" Marlena told him. She turned to Mike. "Will you come and get me as soon as she wakes up?"

"Of course." he answered.

Marlena and John left the room.

Even though Sami was really concerned for her sister, all she could think about was the annulment. She knew that Austin had told Carrie about it and she had to find a way to stop Austin from leaving her. There was also the problem of changing Will's records so no one would ever know that Austin wasn't his father.

Austin saw Sami's face and thought to himself how hard this must be on her, with her dad coming back, then finding out he was dying and now this situation with Carrie. He was afraid she wouldn't be able to handle the news of the annulment. He walked over to Sami. "Hey, are you OK?"

"Yeah. I'm just so worried about my dad and now Carrie. The only thing that's keeping me going is you and Will. I'm just so lucky to have such a wonderful and caring husband, and a great son. I know that through everything, you will always be there for me." Sami said as she hugged Austin.

Austin couldn't help but feel bad for Sami. He didn't want to hurt her, but he knew he could never be happy with her. "It's OK Sami, I'm sure that Carrie will be alright."

"I know she will," she said as she let go of Austin, "because she has someone as wonderful as Mike with her."

Mike looked up from the chart he was looking over. He hadn't been paying attention to Sami and Austin, until he heard his name. "What?"

"I was telling Austin that I know Carrie will be OK, because she has you."

"Well, Carrie and I are just friends Sami" he said as he looked at Austin. "I better go check on my other patients. Have a nurse page me if she wakes up."

"We will." Sami told him as he left.

Sami turned around to Austin. "Mike is such a great guy, don't you think Austin?"

"Yeah, great."

"I mean, even though both he and Carrie say they're just friends, I know they aren't. They make such a cute couple. I think it's great that Mike is always there for Carrie, just like you're always there for me. I just wish they both would stop pretending to be 'just friends'."

"Maybe they are just friends."

"No. Carrie is definitely in love with Mike. I can see it in the way she looks at him. They are meant to be together, just like we are."

Austin turned to look at Carrie. Today was supposed to be the day that he would finally be free to be with Carrie. He felt so helpless, all he wanted to do was hold Carrie and tell her how much he loved her, but he couldn't because Sami was there. "And what if Sami is right? What if Carrie is in love with Mike?' he asked himself. 'No, Carrie loves me. She was happy about the annulment. And as soon as she recovers from this, we'll tell Sami the truth and then we can get on with our lives - together.'

"Austin, I'm going to go call Wendy and check on Will, OK?"

"Yeah, sure Sami."

"OK, I'll be right back."

Austin was glad that Sami was gone. He went to sit beside Carrie and just looked at her. She was so beautiful, he never wanted to leave her side.

Marlena came back in. "How's she doing Austin?" she asked as she went to his side.

"She hasn't come around yet."

"Don't worry, she's going to be just fine." she said.

"I hope so. Did Abe find anything, any clues as to what happened or who did this to her?"

"They went to the park. They didn't find much though, just some things that had been tossed out of her purse. Abe thinks that she was mugged and in the struggle she got hurt. A few people said they saw a suspicious looking man hanging around the park, but didn't think much of it. They gave Abe a description, so they're going to try their best to find him"

"I just wish, I could've been there for her." He said as he looked at Carrie.

"I know."

"Did she talk to you about the annulment yet?"

"Yes, she came to see me yesterday and told me all about it. I was so happy for the two of you. I know that you've been through so much together. When she gets better, you can tell Sami everything and then you can be together."

"I just hope that Sami can understand that I don't love her and that our marriage was a sham."

Sami had been listening to Marlena and Austin's conversation. She walked into the room. "Austin, what do you mean our marriage is a sham?" Sami said as tears streamed down her face.

Marlena and Austin turned towards Sami, both not knowing what to say.

"Is it true Austin? You don't love me?"

Austin stood up and walked over to Sami. He didn't think this was the right time, but he had to tell Sami the truth now. "Yeah, Sami, it's true. I don't love you. I never loved you."

****************************************************************************