Sami walked down the avenue with Carrie looking for their brother who left to book his flight home. Sami and Carrie were a little wary helping each other out while looking for Eric. However Sami finally asked, "So you really lied to Austin?"

Carrie saw Sami's joke as an attack and she naturally defended herself, "I lied to keep him away from me, not to make him love me Sami."

Sami bit her automatic response to Carrie's barb. Carrie said love in a sentence about Austin! Scheming always took precedence over self righteous anger, so Sami quibbled back to her sister, "I shouldn't tell you this."

Carrie thought Sami was about to tell her something scheme. Carrie readied her higher moral grounds argument, but her curiousity kept poking holes in the inquisition. Finally Carrie settled on, "What did you do?"

Sami smiled and prepared to stretch the truth with a lie, "I didn't come right out and tell Lucas that I wanted to have another baby. I told him that I was already pregnant when I asked him to marry me. He knew that I was lying right away. He always knows when I'm lying, which long term is going to drive me crazy."

Carrie laughed at her sister's audacity before she said, "Well at least Lucas understands and loves you just as you are Sami. Lord knows no man has ever really understood me."

Sami looked Carrie right in the eyes and said, "I don't know about that. I was crazy jealous that you had Austin, a man who understood every one of your quirks."

Carrie shook her head no and said, "Austin always thought I was a saint."

Sami looked bewildered before saying, "No he didn't. If he thought you were saintly, then he wouldn't have been so mad at you for not forgiving me."

Carrie pondered that for a minute. Austin had wanted Carrie to be the bigger person when it came to Sami. Was it possible that Austin understood that no matter what others thought of her, that she, Carrie Reed, was not perfect? She had already made so many mistakes, especially when she betrayed Austin's trust.

Sami pulled Carrie out of her internal musing when Sami said, "Look about Austin... I'm sorry for everything I ever did to you and him. I destroyed your happiness because I was so screwed up. I never loved Austin, just as you told me a million times. I know that you can't forgive me nor should you! But Carrie you have to know..."

Carrie stopped Sami from continuing when she interrupted to say, "You're my little sister. I should have reached out more or believed you when you said Alan raped you. Sami, I don't know why you were stuck with me as a sister either."

Right in the middle of the avenue the two sisters reached out and hugged each other. No one had to force them to spend time together. Sami started crying which in turn caused Carrie to start crying. Neither noticed when a shadow loomed over them until he said, "Dad would have loved to have seen this."

Carrie and Sami looked at each other before pulling Eric into their family hug. Eric breathed a little easier for the first time today because of his sister's. Eric finally said, "I want you both to visit me in Colorado!"

Sami shouted at him, "You can't walk to Colorado now!"

Carrie corrected her sister, "Of course he wasn't planning on walking. He's obviously bought a plane ticket. Right Eric?"

Eric pulled his ticket out of his pocket and showed it. Carrie grabbed it out of his hands and stepped out of the hug. Sami blocked Eric from taking his ticket back until Carrie ripped it up nice and good. When Carrie was done, Eric asked, "What da hell?!?"

Sami mouthed off, "Don't talk like dad! It's scary!"

Eric ignored his sister's comment and finished, "I'm not staying in Paris to torture myself because Greta doesn't want me!"

Carrie told Eric, "Austin thinks that Greta was kidnapped to a place called Château de Chambord."

Instantly all thoughts of leaving left Eric's head, he asked, "How long ago?"

Sami and Carrie both gave each other a worried look before answering, "I don't know."

Eric then asked them, "How did Austin find out?"

Carrie and Sami again looked at each other warily before answering, "I don't know. He just said so."

Eric looked at his sisters and then asked, "If this is some trick you're both pulling, I'm going to hunt the pair of you down."

Sami smirked and asked, "You'd hurt your unborn niece or nephew?"

Carrie then added, "Wait I might develop severe amnesia in the near future where you can't tell me the truth!"

Sami started laughing as Carrie mimicked Sami's old scheme.

Eric told them both, "I have to go find Greta."

As Eric practically ran down the street, Carrie and Sami stopped giggling and asked each other, "Want to go get something to eat?"

Sami thought of the perfect place! She was going to take Carrie to Kate's family get together so Carrie would see Austin again. ~*~

Lucas finished his third croissant as he listened to Billie tell their family of her latest case in Israel. Out of the blue, he tuned in enough to hear Billie say, "Mike let me stay in Carrie's old room. Jeremy was such a sweet boy."

Lucas asked his sister about his half brother, "Was Angel still around?"

Billie looked confused for a moment before saying, "Oh that. Mike wasn't the father after all. He felt so horrible about the misunderstanding when he took me camping. Mike makes a mean steak."

Austin asked Billie, "Are you and Mike?"

Billie smiled at her brother and said, "Maybe. Are you interested in Carrie?"

Austin's goofy smiled appeared out of no where. Lucas saw Austin's embarrassment as his cue to enter the conversation, "Carrie Reed was definitely watching you."

Austin whacked his little brother over the head. When Lucas asked why, Austin replied, "Just because."

Before Lucas could respond Kate stood up and said, "I have an annoucment."

Lucas turned his head and saw Mimi hiding behind Rex as Kate told the group, "My son Rex has told me that he and Mimi are getting married in a few days and he wants us all to stay in town to go to the wedding."

Mimi suddenly stood up and ran to the ladies room. Kate and Billie were going to follow until Rex said, "She'll want a minute by herself. She'll be right back to accept her congratulations."

Lucas looked at the empty chair and asked automatically, "Is she pregnant?"

Rex just looked like he was just caught. Lucas caught the look. Philip answered for Rex, "Mimi's just overwhelmed that she's going to be my sister."

As Mimi was walking out of the bathroom near the front door, Carrie and Sami walked in. Rex stood up. Austin turned and looked dumbfounded. Slowly Lucas turned around and saw his wife joyfully bouncing in with her sister. Sami looked so happy and carefree and beautiful.

She stood in front of Lucas before she asked, "Aren't you going to kiss me hello?"

Lucas felt his mom's stare on the back of his head. She was trying to make him feel guilty somehow. He ignored his mom and pulled Sami towards him for a kiss. She smelled just as she always did, and she could ignite dynamite with one of her kisses. He hadn't realized how long he continued to kiss her for until Philip told Rex, "Look at them. You have two choices in life: You can stay single and be miserable, or you can get married and wish you were dead."

Lucas cracked a smile as he stopped kissing Sami. Sami looked over her shoulder and said, "Philip don't make us put you on our list."

Austin asked confused, "What list?"

Carrie took Austin's hand like she was going to explain until Mimi volunteered, "If you're going to hook Philip up with someone, we'll help!"

Carrie urged Austin to say, "Congratulations by the way."

Lucas held Sami before he told Rex, "I hope her mood swings aren't as severe as this one's."

Sami hit Lucas off the head which caused Lucas to grimace in mock pain before mumbling, "I shouldn't have let her out of bed."

The table started laughing until Kate asked, "Did Lucas tell you his reason to celebrate yet Sami?"

Sami looked across the table at Kate and saw Kate wanted to tell her something. Sami then turned and looked into Lucas' eyes where she saw something like guilt flash before he told Kate, "Later mom. I want to tell Sami later."

Sami felt the rush of panic that she felt last night resurface tenfold. She held his arm tightly in her clutches before she answered, "Tell me what's going on right now."

She was angry with him. His mom should have kept her mouth quiet and let him tell Sami on his own. Now she was angry, so he tried to explain to her without the others hearing, "Remember how I promised my mother that I would quit working for Tony."

Sami felt her grip lesson. Tony was dead. She then said, "That was months ago."

Lucas nodded and said, "Well I quit because I went back to school. Mom's proud because she saw my grades."

She breathed easier. Good grades and education were good things, not bad. She started to say something but Kate said, "Lucas is being modest. He aced his first year of medical school. In a few years, Lucas will be the doctor of our family."

Sami asked Lucas, "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Lucas pleaded with Sami in his eyes as he explained, "It just slipped my mind between our wedding, the scheming, Greta's wedding, our vacation..."

Carrie asked Austin suspiciously, "Scheming?" Austin shrugged his shoulders.

Sami asked Lucas, "Before all that. Lucas you've been in school for months."

He countered, "We've only been married for weeks. It's not like I didn't plan on telling you baby."

Sami caught the gloating in Kate's expression. Kate had wanted to upset her and she succeeded. Well she was not going to let Kate win, so she told Lucas, "You can make it up to me."

Mimi was sitting down munching on another croissant. Rex said, "Why don't we all finish breakfast" as he sat down next to Mimi.

Lucas found a chair and pulled it next to his, so Sami could sit next to him.

Austin automatically did the same thing so he could talk to Carrie. Carrie silently agreed to sit next to Austin, but she never spoke a word. Austin understood her thanks in her eye expression.

Kate looked around the table, happy that her plan was on schedule. Soon her entire family was going to be happy. She was determined that her children have the quality of life that she never had, and that included Lucas being happy with a woman meant for him not a harpy who would only bring him pain and heartache. ~*~

Meanwhile in Château de Chambord Greta sat at an outdoor patisserie talking to Nathan.