Plot: A woman shows up in New York and claims that she is Karen's half-sister.
Timeline: Takes place after the episode 'Dames at Sea'
Disclaimer: I don't Will and Grace or its characters. Only Katherine and Amber Riley are mine. Also I made up the magazine European Interiors and the 'Euro-Celtic' style.
Part 2: Doubting Karen
Karen sat outside of Jack's apartment, waiting for him to bring out her coffee.
"One mocha without whipped cream and one with," Jack said, coming out into the hallway and setting a cup and saucer in front of Karen. "So," he said, sitting down at the cafe table. "Why aren't you at work?"
"Well, this woman came to the office and said she is my half-sister," Karen explained, picking up her cup.
"Wow," Jack said in surprise. Then he thought for a moment and said, "Wait, why is that bad?"
Karen sighed and said, "Because Poodle, she's probably after my money. I mean, you should have seen the outfit that she was wearing."
"Why, what'd she have on?" Jack asked.
"Some department store business suit," Karen said with disdain. "And she had on the ugliest boots too. It was really scary."
"If it's a department store suit then yeah," Jack said. "So what did you tell her?"
"I told her that there's no way she could be my sister," Karen said.
"Good for you," Jack said. "What was her name?"
"Katherine Riley, if that is even her real name," Karen said.
"Wait, you mean Riley as in the Rileys of England?" Jack said, nearly dropping his cup.
"Well, the woman had an English accent," Karen said.
Jack suddenly jumped up from the table and went into his apartment. Karen stood up and followed Jack inside, a confused look on her face.
"Jack, what's going on? What are you doing?"
Jack, who was looking through a stack of magazines he had, said, "Hold on, I'll let you know what- Ah ha!"
He pulled out a magazine and walked over to Karen.
"Okay, I see that you subscribe to European Interiors," Karen said, looking at the magazine. "But I don't see what this has to do with that woman."
Jack opened the magazine and flipped through the pages. "I thought that name was really familiar and then I remembered that I saw it in this magazine," he said. He stopped at a page and then held it out to Karen.
"'Lord Tennyson Riley, newly instated as a knight, has moved into Clintonshire Castle in York and has had the castle redecorated in the new Euro-Celtic style,'" Karen read out loud. "I still don't see the connection."
Jack didn't say anything, but he turned the page and pointed down at a picture.
Karen took the magazine in her own hands and said, "That's her, the woman that came into the office." The picture was of Lord Riley, his wife and a son and daughter.
"'Lord Riley, seated at left,'" Jack read aloud. "'Lady Eleanor Riley, seated at right. And the two Riley children, Robert and Katherine.' Karen, you do realize what this means."
"What, that she's a spoiled British brat?" Karen said.
"No, that she's not after your money," Jack said. "Karen, I think that she might have been telling the truth."
"Oh Jack," Karen said exasperatingly. "I thought you were smarter than that! She can't be my sister, because she has a family. See look."
She then jabbed her finger down at the picture.
"There's her mom and dad."
"But Karen," Jack said carefully. "Look at her parents and then look at her. Katherine doesn't look like them at all."
Karen shoved the magazine into Jack's hands and then said, "I don't care what she looks like or where she comes from. All I know is that I don't have a sister!"
With that she left the apartment.
Once inside her limo, Karen told Driver to go back to the penthouse and then she poured herself a large glass of scotch. She settled back into her seat, and thought about the Riley woman. She didn't want anyone to know, but she was so opposed to this woman being her sister because she knew that they would have the same mothers if they were related. And her relationship with her mother wasn't too loving.
Karen also knew that it was probably true that Katherine was her half-sister. When she had been twenty one and in college, her mother had taken a trip to England. What was supposed to be a two month visit, ended up being a year stay. Karen had received letters from her mother during that trip, and she was sure that they mentioned the fact that her mother had gotten pregnant by some English man. She had kept those letters and that was why she was going home.
When she got to the penthouse Karen ran into her room and pawed through the cedar chest that was in front of her bed. She kept all of the things she considered precious to her in there, but the letters from England had not been precious. She took out the letters, a small stack held together by a rubber band. Sitting down on the floor, Karen began to read each letter carefully, not wanting to miss the mention of a pregnancy.
In the middle of the third letter, Karen read, 'I have some news, but I'm not too sure how you will react to it Kiki. A week ago, I met this really sweet Englishman in a bar. We got along really well and... I think that I may be pregnant.'
When she read that, Karen crumpled the letter and threw it down angrily. She then went through the other letters, only stopping to read the date it was sent. When she got to the letter that was sent nine months after the third one, she took out the paper and read it.
'Dear Kiki,
I'm really hoping that you get this letter. I am dying to know if you are okay or not, I haven't heard from you in so long. Well, I know that you're probably wondering whether or not I had the baby. I did, a girl, but Kiki,
the poor thing was stillborn. I'm simply devastated and I'll probably stay here for a little longer, just to be near the baby's grave. Paul... poor man, he was killed the other night by a mugger. I'm just glad that he didn't have to see his baby girl die.'
Karen set down the letter. So the baby had died. Why was this woman pretending to be her half-sister and what did she think she could gain if Karen accepted her?
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