"Probably not as long as mine is," Augusta replied, with a twinkle in her eye.

"We'll just see about that," Carrie said, "But before I give you the story of my life, did Mom come with you?"

Augusta hesitated for a moment, not liking what she was going to have to say to Carrie. Still, better to tell the truth and be up-front about something of this magnitude than beat around the bush.

"She's still in Europe, Carrie," Augusta said. "Italy, the last time I heard. Anna's been very sickly lately so your mother opted to stay on the other side of The Pond."

"What's wrong with her?" Mike asked, his brow furrowing.

"Respiratory infection was the preliminary prognosis, but I think it's something worse. Good thing your mother's there to look after her."

"Who?!" Mike and Carrie chorused in unison.

Gus was shocked. Anna had promised so faithfully to tell Carrie before she'd left for Israel, and that was almost a decade ago! Visions of homicide danced through Gus's head as she contemplated how she was going to respond. She looked at her niece and then at Mike, who she had always looked upon as a younger brother. The looks they were giving her were almost comical.

"You mean to tell me she hasn't told you anything?" Gus queried, loathe to hear the answer she new was coming.

"About what?" Carrie asked, her voice betraying her worry.

Gus decided to put them out of their misery.

"Carrie, about fourteen years ago your mother got married again."

Carrie's jaw dropped. Since she hadn't fainted, Gus took this as a good sign decided to tell the whole story.

"She married a man named Nigel Alamain and they have a little girl, your half-sister Anna, who just turned thirteen."

Carrie was speechless. Her mother was married and she had a half-sister she'd never even heard of? This was too much!

"Are you okay, sweet pea?" Gus asked. Carrie had paled a few shades in the past few seconds and looked a little unsteady.

"Maybe you should sit down," Mike suggested solicitously. Carrie nodded and let the two of them lead her to one of the incredibly uncomfortable waiting room couches.

Craig, still lurking in the vicinity, spied his wife Nancy coming around the corner and motioned for her to come over to him.

"What's going on?" Nancy asked. "Who's that woman with Mike and Carrie, and why does Carrie look like she's going to faint?"

Craig's eyebrows danced as he spilled the news. "The woman is an old friend of Mike's who just happens to be Carrie's aunt. Carrie just found out her mother got remarried awhile ago and had a daughter and never told Carrie about it."

"How long ago is awhile?" Nancy asked.

"Try fourteen years."

"You're kidding!"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Nancy looked over at the little enclave. Mike was hovering over Carrie anxiously, as was her aunt. The two were exchanging worried glances.

"Is there anything going on between Carrie's aunt and Mike?" Nancy inquired, narrowing her eyes and searching for any signs of interest Mike might be showing for the older woman.

"Nancy, my darling little scheme queen, I think I have other plans for her," Craig replied, his eyes fixed on her. By the look on his face, Nancy had a pretty good idea about the nature of those kind of "plans". She grabbed him by his ear and pulled his head down to the level of her mouth so that she could further emphasize her words.

"Don't even think about it, Craig Wesley." She let go and tapped his cheek with her pen. "Now I have some duties to attend to, so why don't you stay here and spy on Salem's temporary COS while I'm gone?"

Craig rubbed his tender earlobe and smiled wryly. "I'll be a good boy around Auntie, I promise."

"You keep that in mind," Nancy answered as she went back to work. The last thing she needed was Craig getting sidetracked by a nice pair of legs.

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