"like sands through the hourglass so are the...Days of our Lives"

Christyne's

"The Teens" Fan Fiction Site

Sami applied her favorite shade of pink lipstick. It was the one that perfectly matched the turtleneck sweater she wore beneath her dark gray jumper. She checked her stocking seams to be sure they were straight, smoothed her hair back toward where it was in its usual twist at the nape of her neck and took a deep breath before opening the bedroom door. She heard Carrie on the telephone and by the animation in her voice knew it was Mike on the other end of the line.

She walked into the living room and noticed Lucas sat on the sofa with his back to her as he read the comics in the morning paper. "Gasoline Alley", "Joe Palooka" and "Dick Tracy" were his favorites she remembered. He had actually interested Sami enough at one point she began to follow the romance of Gravel Gertie and B. O. Plenty on her own in the Dick Tracy strip and still read it faithfully.

Carrie stood by the desk petting Guinevere, who was lying on the desktop, and talked a few minutes longer with Mike before hanging up. She’d taken her shower and had a huge Turkish towel wrapped around her hair while wearing her terrycloth shower robe. Finishing her call she turned to see her sister standing in the doorway between the hall and living room.

"Oh, Sami, I like the sweater. Is that new?"

"Yeah, John gave it to me for Christmas. He laughed when I opened the present. I bought the tube of pink lipstick last September and kept complaining I didn’t have anything to wear with it. He told me he knew I was Marlena’s daughter – buying lipstick and then looking for something to match it."

"He did a great job matching the color. I guess he’s learned a fashion thing or two from living around us, huh?"

The girls laughed as they remembered how John had hated shopping with Marlena and the girls when they were first married. He was convinced he was only there to carry bags from all the stores to the car. Despite his protests John had always known how to shop for women. He had an uncanny way of selecting the perfect item and the four special women in his life – Marlena, Carrie, Sami and Belle – always eagerly awaited opening a gift he had bought them.

"Speaking of the perfect shopper, I gather that was Mike on the phone?"

"Oh, yeah! He just finished rounds and is on his way to catch the train. He should be here a little before noon. We’re fixing lunch."

"We are?"

"Oops! I forgot to tell you. It’s macaroni and cheese with hot dogs today. We really have to do some grocery shopping because the cupboard is getting bare."

"Why don’t I get started on lunch, then, while you finish getting ready."

"Let me help by setting the table, Sami," Lucas volunteered from the couch after lowering the newspaper. He’d been listening to the familiar sisterly banter from the very first word. More times than he could remember when he and Sami had been steadies, he’d been invited to stay to have an informal lunch at the penthouse and this was the meal that had been featured. It was Marlena’s one true culinary masterpiece.

"Oh, that’s okay, Lucas. You don’t need to. You’re supposed to be resting."

"Sami, I’m not an invalid. I had a fever last night. I’m fine now. Actually, last night was the first time I slept straight through the night except for the times you made me take the aspirin. I didn’t wake up in pain from sleeping on my right side and putting pressure on my broken arm. I must be learning to stay on my back."

"That’s great, Lucas. I can’t imagine how that must hurt if it’s enough to wake you up from a sound sleep."

"Well, let me put it this way, Carrie. When it wakes me up, it feels so good when it quits hurting, I could almost do it again."

"Ouch…that painful? Then, I’m really glad you got a full night’s sleep. Well, standing here talking isn’t getting me any closer to being ready before Mike arrives. I’ll let you two figure out the work detail for lunch."

Carrie headed to her bedroom leaving Sami and Lucas looking at one another. Uncomfortable in the silence Sami took the initiative to open a conversation.

"I guess if you want to help set the table, I really don’t mind. We’ve got a small problem, though. Most of the dining table is covered by the pieces from the jigsaw puzzle, but I think I saw a card table and chairs in the hall closet. I’ll help you bring them in here so we can set it up to eat on."

"Just show me where they are and I’ll take care of all that while you work on lunch. I’m not the best at cooking…not that I’m telling you anything you don’t already know."

"Three attempts before getting Jello to set is a record of some sort, I agree."

It didn’t escape Lucas that this was the first time Sami had actually kidded him in the past two days. He was looking for a sign - any sign that the girl he’d fallen in love with six years earlier still existed inside the protective shell she’d built around herself in his presence. Her letters had contained jokes and funny stories but since their meeting in the train station the day before, she’d been devoid of almost any laughter…not even a smile.

"How about setting it up right there, near the piano? There’s plenty of room."

"You got it."

Sami turned and walked through the swinging kitchen door to begin lunch preparations while Lucas rummaged around in the hall closet until he found the table and four chairs.

When Carrie appeared some time later in her baby blue ski sweater with the white snowflake design knitted into it and navy blue wool skirt, the table was set and Lucas had put the small nosegay of violets in the center of the table he’d given Sami. She remembered then about the jigsaw puzzle and concluded that was the reason for the switch of dining areas. Lucas soon came through the kitchen door carrying plates, napkins and eating utensils all balanced in his left hand.

"Let me help you with that, Lucas."

"Nah, I’ve got it under control. I’m getting pretty good at learning to do everything left-handed. I still have trouble with buttons and doing my tie, though."

"Oh, let me help you with your tie, then. Where is it?"

"On the back of the sofa. Sami put it there last night when I conked out. I haven’t put my shoes on, either."

Carrie spotted the tie and went to retrieve it while Lucas continued setting the table. She heard the rattling of pots in the kitchen as Sami worked putting lunch together. As Carrie began to head in Lucas’ direction with the tie, the front door bell rang.

"Oh, I’ll bet that’s Mike. Sami, can you come here a minute?"

Sami stuck her head around the kitchen door at the sound of Carrie’s request.

"What do you need?"

"Well, Lucas needs to have his tie tied and he can’t do it with one hand. Could you help him while I get the door? I think Mike’s here. Thanks."

Carrie rushed off to answer the door without waiting for an answer from her sister. Sami slowly came into the living room toward Lucas. Holding the tie in his left hand, he held it out to Sami as she approached. She took the tie from him – eyes downcast as she did so. Lucas lowered his hand and patiently waited for what he knew Sami would have to do next. Making the tie the object of all her attention, she realized she would have to put her arms around his neck to make it equal lengths before she began to tie the knot. As she placed the tie around his neck she stood the closest to him she had since she’d whispered to him in his sleep the night before.

Wasting no time she began her task. She stared at the knot, the buttons on his shirtfront and the collar of his shirt. Lucas, practically never blinking, stared into Sami’s face, watching her cheeks turn rosy and reacquainting himself with the beauty of her flawless skin, vibrant blue eyes and golden hair. She finished by straightening the knot and lowered his collar from the back to the front.

"There, is it comfortable – not too tight?"

"No, everything’s perfect," Lucas said and smiled at the double meaning of his simple utterance. "Would you help me with my shoe laces, too?"

"Well…sure. Why don’t you sit down in the chair and I’ll bring them to you."

"Hey, Lucas, as both your brother and a doctor I can observe that you seem to have made a speedy recovery from last night. Hi, Sami."

"Mike, hello. Yes, he doesn’t have a fever today. I checked it this morning and it was 98.6."

"Where are your shoes?"

"I haven’t put them on this morning yet. I’ve mostly lounged around and read the comics but Sami helped me get my tie done and was just getting ready to help me find my shoes and tie the laces for me. I can’t do that with this cast on my arm."

"Well, let me help you…"

"NO…no, I’m sure you want to talk to Carrie for…"

"…thanks, Mike. I need to get back to the kitchen and make sure everything’s ready for lunch." Sami quickly walked to the kitchen leaving Lucas staring at his brother.

"What? I thought I was being helpful."

Lucas turned slightly to look at Carrie who stood beside Mike. She realized what Lucas had been attempting to do and gave him a sympathetic look. Lucas looked back at a bewildered Mike before shaking his head.

"Never mind, Mike. Come on, let’s go find my shoes."

Shortly thereafter the foursome sat down to lunch. They talked about how cold the previous night had been and all sorts of other emotionally safe topics. Lucas and Mike discussed sports especially the upcoming Rose Bowl game on New Year’s Day.

"Lucas, they’re predicting USC will walk away with the game from the Huskies."

"I’m not so sure. You might be surprised. Washington could pull an upset even though they are the underdogs…get it, underdogs…Huskies??

Carrie and Mike both groaned simultaneously while Sami shook her head.

"Oh, you guys are just jealous because you didn’t think of it first."

"Yeah, I’m sure that’s what it is, Lucas. Sami, would you please pass me more of the macaroni and cheese? This stuff is really hitting the spot with me today."

"Sure, Mike. How about another hot dog?"

"Thanks, but I’m saving some room for more of your grandmother’s coffee cake. I swear, I thought about that all the way here today."

"Oh really, Mike? You mean I’ve got competition from my grandmother’s baked goods, now?"

"No, no, no…I’d never dessert you."

Lucas looked across the table at his brother with a wry smile.

"And you had the nerve to groan at me?"

"Well, you started it with that lame pun about the underdog Huskies," Mike fired back, kidding Lucas.

They ate in silence a few minutes before Lucas sat back in his chair with a surprised look on his face.

"Today is Thursday which means tomorrow’s Friday."

"You know, Lucas, that’s really profound."

"You’re right, Carrie, my brother is not only terribly puny but his powers of deductive reason are astounding…mind like a steel trap."

"I can see that."

"Would you two stop, already? What I was GOING to say is that it just now occurred to me that tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve and I haven’t made any plans for Sami and me to go out on the town. All the best places are probably sold out."

"That’s all right, Lucas. We don’t have to go anywhere…really."

"No…no, it’s not all right, Sami. I wanted this New Year’s Eve to be special what with me coming back to the States and us being together again. I guess being in the hospital and then fighting that fever last night distracted me. I thought about it on the plane coming back from England. This city’s got to have some terrific New Year’s bashes. I guess you two have big plans, don’t you?"

"Well, yeah, we do, now that you bring it up. Carrie has a friend who’s hosting a huge dinner dance party at the Grand Hotel. There’s going to be a raffle with some fantastic prizes to benefit the International Red Cross, of which he’s a board member. If I had known you’d be back in the States, we would have changed our plans…"

"Wait, Mike. I have an idea. When Kurt sent me the invitation it was for Jack, Jenn, you and I to attend."

"Who’s Kurt?"

"He’s the friend we’re talking about, Lucas. It’s by his invitation only that people will be able to attend. We didn’t know that Jack and Jenn would be staying in Salem through the New Year holiday at the time he extended the invitation. Our table has a reservation for four people. If it isn’t too late we might be able to change the names to Lucas and Sami’s on the guest list and they could go with us. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll just call and tell Victoria we can’t attend and we’ll make plans to stay here or just find a little restaurant to go out for dinner."

"Wait…wait…Carrie, who’s Victoria?"

"Oh, that’s Kurt’s cousin. She works as his assistant. She’s in charge of the details for the event, the guest list, music, photographer, you know…the usual stuff."

"No, Carrie, don’t do that. It sounds like this will be one of the best parties to attend in New York. I don’t want you giving up a chance to go because of us. Even if you did get it arranged, I didn’t bring an evening gown, shoes or…anything fancy enough to wear to an event like that."

"I haven’t bought my dress, yet, either, so we could go shopping this afternoon. A couple of the girls at work told me about a store where we might still be able to find just the right dress even at this late date. It would be fun, Sami, going out to shop for clothes for a special occasion. I’m going to give Victoria a call this minute."

Carrie rose from the card table, sifted through the mail on the desk and located the embossed invitation she’d received from Kurt for the gala. While the others continued lunch and conversation, Carrie dialed the number she had for Kurt’s office. Though he was out Victoria was available and Carrie ran her idea past her. Five minutes later an elated Carrie returned to the table.

"It’s all arranged. Victoria said she’d change the names on the guest list to Sami and Lucas’s so there won’t be a problem when we arrive. She’s still putting together the final list before she gives it to the hotel in about an hour. We just made it. See, I told you it would work out."

"That’s great, Carrie. I really thought I’d goofed, big time, not getting arrangements made. It sounds like this is going to be a swell affair. I need to get my dress uniform cleaned and pressed and a haircut this afternoon. Mike, what time are we heading back to the base hospital so I can get my dressings changed on my hand? I need to get my medical release signed and then get transferred to temporary billeting just until Monday when I leave for Salem."

"We can leave in about a half hour. I have to pick up my uniform from the cleaners and we can drop yours off then. I can get a trim at the same time you do. I also want to be with you when the doctor gives you a once over before he releases you. Are you sure you’re up to all this after having a fever last night?"

"I’m fine, Mike. I was just tired from all the walking around after being flat on my back for a few days, that’s all. I never thought I’d celebrate New Year’s Eve in New York."

"Lucas, Mike is right. You shouldn’t go overdoing again or the fever might come back. I really hadn’t planned on a big celebration, honestly. If you need to rest, that’s fine."

"Sami, I want to bring in the New Year with you some place special after everything we’ve been through the past few years. You mentioned in one of your letters that you wished I’d be home in time for it. Don’t you remember?"

"Oh…yes, I do…but that was before you were hurt."

Lucas leaned toward Sami and looked at her with a serious expression.

"The only thing that would hurt me is if you really have changed your mind and don’t want to spend New Year’s Eve with me…have you changed your mind?"

Sami stared at him and without blinking an eye answered, "No…no, of course not. I just want to do what’s best for you, that’s all."

"Good, ‘cause you’re what’s best for me." Lucas smiled and returned to his plate of macaroni and cheese eating it eagerly.

Sami looked across the table to Mike and then to her sister before looking down at her plate. She knew she’d nearly slipped up about the letters. Though she’d read all the correspondence Lucas had sent to Belle, she had no idea what Belle had written to him. She was flying blindly discussing anything that had been in the letters and avoided conversations that tended to bring them up not knowing what they had contained in any detail.

"Not that we need any further incentive, but Victoria told me who they were able to get for the music tomorrow night."

"Wait…wait…let me guess. It’s probably someone local…Eddie Duchin?"

"Nooo…"

"Oh, let me have a try at this, Mike, how about…Guy Lombardo."

"Nooo…he’s always at the Waldorf Hotel on New Year’s Eve, Lucas. Nice try, however."

"Ah, I’ve got it…Swiss bell ringers! Kurt is Swiss on his father’s side. I can’t wait to hear ‘Opus One’ on the glockenspiel."

"Well, you’re half right, Mike."

"I am? You mean we’re going to be subjected to glockenspiel music?"

"No, no, no…this is a top drawer affair, Mike. Remember what I’ve told you about Kurt. He’s really more American than he is Swiss. According to Victoria you are going to hear ‘Opus One’, all right, by T.D. himself."

"Oh, my gosh, Carrie! You mean…"

"Yes, Sami, I do mean…Tommy Dorsey, the Pied Pipers and the whole orchestra will be providing the entertainment tomorrow night. Isn’t that the most exciting thing you could imagine? So, I think all of us have a lot to do before tomorrow night, right?"

"When I think of all the times I’ve played his songs on the jukebox at the Java Jive Café or on the record player at home, Carrie…I never thought I’d get to see him in person."

"Sami, we aren’t just gonna see him – we’ll be dancing to his music right there in the ball room. What a New Year’s Eve this is turning out to be! Come on, Mike, let’s get going. I need to get back to the post. I’ve got a lot to do before tomorrow night, too."

"Okay, okay…let me have my dessert and I’ll be ready to take off. I think we’re going to be in the way anyhow around here until tomorrow night. Those two have that ‘shopping frenzy’ thing going on in their eyes. I’ve seen it before with Jenn and my mom before a hospital benefit and that didn’t involve Tommy Dorsey in any way, shape or form."

"You’re right, Mike, Sami and I have some serious shopping to do if we’re going to look halfway presentable at the gala. Kurt didn’t say anything about hiring Tommy Dorsey to play when I talked to him earlier this week."

"What if he had?"

"Well, I would have started shopping earlier."

"Mike, are you making any sense out of this?"

"No, but for us it isn’t supposed to make sense, Lucas. As near as I can figure it, their entire choice of dresses to wear has changed due to this revelation of the evening’s entertainment."

"But, if we carry it out to its logical conclusion, that means Tommy Dorsey wouldn’t play as well if they weren’t wearing the appropriate evening gowns, right?"

"Ah, brother of mine, you have said the magic word – ‘logical’ which has absolutely no bearing on this process."

The two brothers had become so engrossed in their banter they’d stopped looking at Sami and Carrie. When they realized there was no conversation being contributed from the other side of the table, they looked over to see Sami tapping her teaspoon on the tablecloth and Carrie with her arms folded – both stared at them without expression.

"Wow, look at the time, Lucas. I didn’t realize it was that late," Mike spoke with a smile on his face as he exaggeratedly checked the time on his wristwatch.

"You’re right, I think we’d better be getting a move on. It might be later than we think if we’re not careful, you know?"

"Perfectly understood, Lucas."

"All right, you two, have your little jokes but you’d feel differently if we looked like a couple of schlumps tomorrow night when you pick us up."

"That could never happen, Carrie, because you’d never look anything less than beautiful, even if it were a potato sack you wore."

"The same goes for you, Sami. All I’ll have to do is look into your eyes and I’ll forget everything and everyone else in the room including Tommy Dorsey."

They all rose from the table and made their way to the front door. Carrie kissed Mike good-bye and made sure of the time he and Lucas would be by the apartment to pick them up New Year’s Eve. Sami helped Lucas put on his long coat gently buttoning the front over his cast and sling. Lucas leaned toward her and gave her a kiss on the check before he and Mike headed out the door. The girls watched them walk up the street to a cab before turning their back.

"Okay, Sami, let’s clean up the lunch mess and get ready to head into Manhattan. I’ve got the addresses of the two stores the girls in the newsroom gave me to check out for evening gowns. There’s a shoe store near by and I want to get a nice shade of nail polish at Macy’s cosmetic counter and maybe a lipstick to match. I thought we could do each other’s nails tomorrow, too. It feels like we’re getting ready to go out like we used to back home. I’ve missed doing things like that with you. I’m really looking forward to it, aren’t you? Sami?"

Her sister kept staring out the window in the direction Mike and Lucas had walked though they were no longer in sight. Carrie put the dishes down and walked up behind her sister and put a loving arm around her.

"It’ll be okay, Sami."

"How can it be? I’m lying to him."

"Not exactly. You haven’t once said anything to make him think you wrote the letters though I detected the near slip up at lunch about not knowing what Belle had written to him about New Year’s plans."

"By not saying anything, I’m just as guilty of lying…of leading him on. Oh, Carrie…he keeps looking at me the way he used to and I’d forgotten how that felt. It’s as though he can see into my heart…my soul. That’s why I turn away from him because he’ll know something isn’t right if I don’t."

"Mike has that same ability with me. I find it comforting that he knows me so well. Maybe that’s a Horton trait in both of them. I’d never thought about it before."

"I want to give him tomorrow night – dancing, dinner in a beautiful setting, incredible music and maybe, then, that sadness will finally leave his eyes. You do see it, don’t you?"

"He’s quieter than he used to be but I chalk it up to being more mature. You’ve said you think there’s something troubling him. It could be he’s just wondering why he can’t get closer to you."

"No…it’s something more but I can’t put my finger on it. About four this morning just before I woke him up to give him his aspirin dosage, he was having a really bad dream. He kept tossing around and mumbling something about ‘getting out’. Finally, just as I was about to wake him, he started crying. He seemed embarrassed about it when I woke him up. He wouldn’t talk – just took the aspirin and went back to sleep. I don’t think he remembered anything about it this morning."

"I didn’t hear him but I had the bedroom door closed. I had no idea. Maybe it was just the fever."

"Maybe…I’m not sure though. Anyway, I want him to be happy tomorrow. I owe him that…before…"

"Come on…let’s go shop, shop and then shop. What do you say?"

"Okay…I’d really like that. I just hope we can find something the day before New Year’s."

"We will. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Marlena, it’s how to shop!! Let’s go do her proud."

They spent the entire afternoon trying on dresses and modeling for one another getting an honest reaction to the styles they tried on. Carrie had found her dress after only seven tries. Sami had always had a good sense of style and Carrie trusted her fashion opinion. When she came out of the dressing room wearing the dress, Sami’s eyes had lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. Her reaction had surprised Carrie because it wasn’t colors she normally wore. She twirled several times, walked back and forth and looked at her sister again who nodded even more vigorously. The saleswoman had come back and sided with Sami on the selection.

Sami was another story. Everything she tried on she found fault with. She didn’t like the way the hem hung, the neckline wasn’t good for her, it was the wrong color etc. She sat down at one point after arranging three dresses on the rack side by side to look at them. One of them, she thought, would just have to do, even though none of them appealed to her. Having made her decision she walked with Carrie to the counter to pay for the dress when the saleswoman rushed up to her.

"I’m sorry to do this to you when you seem to have made up your mind but I found another dress you might like to look at. Someone placed it on the wrong rack and it’s really your size. I know you’ve looked at so many but how about just giving it a look?"

"Oh, that’s okay. I’ll just stick with this one."

"Sami, come on, what’s one more dress after all the others we’ve looked at today. Maybe you’ll like it - which is more than you can say for the one you settled on. Come on, let’s go look at it."

"Oh, all right, but we still have to shop for shoes and other things."

"We’ve got time."

They followed the saleswoman back to the dressing rooms and waited while she momentarily disappeared. When she returned she held a gown that was unlike everything else Sami had looked at in the shop. Carrie smiled at her sister and encouraged her to try it on. When she emerged five minutes later, Carrie couldn’t believe how beautiful her sister really had become. The hemline was perfect, the neckline was perfect, the color was perfect and Sami was perfect in the dress.

"Oh, Sami…yes, that’s the one. It was made for you. Lucas will not believe his eyes."

Sami looked at her sister with an expression that told Carrie that wasn’t what she had as a goal wearing the dress. "You said you wanted to give him tomorrow night, Sami. Part of that will be the way you look and feel on his arm, right?"

Sami looked at her reflection in the three floor-length mirrors for several minutes before turning to the saleswoman.

"I’ll take it."

Carrie silently breathed a sigh of relief. She admitted to herself that she had this romantic notion that given the right circumstances, mood and setting her sister would admit her love for Lucas still existed. Maybe it was because she had found happiness with Mike that she wanted the same for everyone she cared about. Jenn was happier than she could ever remember her being since Jack had come into her life. She had seen the same look on Sami’s face -four years before - every time Lucas had come to pick her up or someone even mentioned his name. She had seen glimpses of it last night in her concern for him. She was convinced it wasn’t only her imagination.

The girls found all the other items on their list and returned exhausted but prepared to spend Friday getting ready…all day.

Mike called Friday morning and told Carrie the hospital had released Lucas. The fever had gone, apparently, for good. His burns were healing rapidly and the bandages could be changed every other day. They would be at the apartment at 6:30pm to pick the girls up. It was difficult to know who was more excited about the events of the evening to come.

Friday evening, December 31, 1943

Carrie rushed around the apartment trying to locate her new shoes before the guys arrived. She’d looked under the table, desk, sofa and chairs and still hadn’t located them. Mike was usually prompt and it was 6:25 pm. He and Lucas would be there in five minutes and still she had no shoes.

"Sami?"

"What?" came her sister’s voice from Jennifer’s bedroom. She sat before the vanity mirror applying the last touches of makeup before slipping on her dress.

"Have you seen my shoes?"

"Which ones?"

"The ones I bought to go with my dress for this evening. I can’t find them anywhere."

"Well, that’s about par for the course. Carrie, you always have your shoes off and then when it comes time to go we have to tear the place apart to find them."

"No lectures, please – just tell me where you last remember me having them on."

"The shoe store, Carrie. You tried them on and then we put them in the box to pay for them."

"The box! I must have left them in the box and put them on the shelf in my room so I’d remember they were there…so much for that brilliant idea. Thanks, Sami."

"Anytime." Sami couldn’t help smile at her sister’s traditional last minute frenzy regarding her footwear. She finished her make up and took the rollers out of her hair. It had been a long time since she’d worn her hair this way – the senior prom, in fact. It just seemed to go with the style of the dress she reasoned.

A knock at the door made each jump a little. Sami slipped the dress over her head and zipped it up the back. Carrie put her pearl pendant and earrings on as she walked to the door. She opened it to see Lucas and Mike in full dress uniforms, gleaming leather shoes, precision haircuts, white gloves and each had something behind their back.

Carrie greeted Mike and Lucas in her gown for the evening, including shoes. Though, there were endless lists of adjectives that could have applied to the way she appeared, they simultaneously reached for the same expletive.

"WOW!!"

Friday, December 31st, 1943 - New Year’s Eve

"I might say the same about you two…wow! Hubba, hubba – you two clean up really nicely with a little effort."

"Happy New Year, Carrie. I have to tell you if I weren’t already involved with another of the Brady girls, Mike might have some competition. You look spectacular."

"Thank you, Lucas."

Mike stood staring at Carrie not saying a word. She motioned both of the handsome soldiers into her apartment trying to spy what each had behind his back but to no avail. When Mike got to the center of the living room, he still hadn’t uttered a word since his initial response at seeing his date at the door. Carrie knew by the look on his face he was amazed and, maybe, a little dazzled by her appearance. She stepped a few feet into the living room from the foyer and began to twirl slowly allowing Mike to have the full effect of the gown and her in it.

The dress was yards and yards of luxurious chiffon with the skirt being divided into six panels in alternating shades of dove gray and muted fuchsia – three panels in the front and three in the back. They were gathered at the waist of the gown and gently cascaded down to around Carrie’s feet, swirling gently as she walked or turned. The bodice of the gown was dove gray tightly fitted to her and gathered gently in little horizontal, looping rows of chiffon for affect. There were spaghetti straps in the same dove gray holding the dress up with small, draped, off-the-shoulder loops of material that met where the spaghetti straps were sewn to the front and back of the bodice in muted fuchsia. Being in a parallel line with the top of the bodice, they gave the illusion of dainty sleeves.

Her hair was in soft curls atop her head with tendrils cascading down her neck and the sides of her face. The ever-present pearl pendant nestled within the hollow of her neck and the matching earrings were clearly visible with her hair worn up. On her feet were dove gray heels in suede with two straps crisscrossing her instep and meeting at the back of her heel holding the shoes in place. Her lips and nails were adorned in the same shade of muted fuchsia as the dress material.

"Well, Mike? Mike? Helloooo…"

Carrie gently waved her hand before Mike’s glazed-over eyes and in doing so not only broke the spell that had him glued to one spot but softly bathed his sense of smell with the Chanel Carrie wore that had been a gift from Marlena. It had come with a note on the Christmas gift tag - "To wow ‘him’ on New Year’s Eve. Merry Christmas, Carrie...Love, Marlena. " It seemed to have downright stunned him if the look on his face was any indication.

"Well, Carrie. I don’t know exactly what to say. I am completely speechless."

"You don’t like it."

"What? No, no just the opposite. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look this beautiful since I’ve known you. At this moment I just don’t think I have the words that will say what I feel when I look at you. Maybe, this is a better idea. Here, this is for you."

From behind his back Mike brought a small white box tied loosely with the pink bow around it and held it out to Carrie in his white-gloved hand. She smiled at him when she realized by the size and type of box what it contained. She wasn’t sure of the variety, but she knew it was flowers. She slowly undid the ribbon and gently removed the lid of the box to reveal two perfect white gardenias for her hair.

"Oh, Mike, they’ll be perfect. I’ve seen so many girls wearing these to dances or movie stars to premiers. I never have but wanted to so much."

"I wasn’t sure what to get you but I thought you’d probably have your hair up. When I was debating what to get, the florist asked me about how you’d have your hair and recommended the gardenias."

"I love them, Mike and I love you."

Carrie walked to Mike and gave him a kiss and a hug. Mike held her tightly and gave her another kiss before releasing her.

"I’ll use the mirror in the foyer to put them on. That way I can get my coat, purse and gloves when I’m finished. I just realized it’s getting late."

"Carrie? Is Sami ready to go? I thought she’d be out here by now."

"The last time I knew she was doing her hair and getting ready to put on the gown. Let me go check on her."

Carrie began to head toward the hallway when she heard the rustling of the taffeta of Sami’s dress and stepped back. She wanted her sister to have the same opportunity to make an entrance as she’d had. She was anxious to see the look on Lucas’ face when he saw Sami in the dress she’d selected. Carrie already knew what the dress looked like but she was still curious to see what Sami had done with her hair and makeup.

"I’m sorry to keep everyone waiting. I had a little trouble with my left earring. I dropped the post and had to search around on the carpet until I found it."

As Sami talked she entered the living room with her head slightly to the right as she continued to fuss with her diamond earring stud. Lucas had momentarily been checking to make sure his tie was straight and looked up when he heard the swish of the basic taffeta skirt on the gown. Before him stood to his utter wonderment the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen – anywhere, anyplace, anytime.

Sami’s dress was the color of a sky on a clear summer day – an intense shade of azure blue. The top was tightly fitted to her and strapless emphasizing the creamy color of her skin. The floor-length skirt dropped in front at the waist to a point and then blossomed out in taffeta, covered with four layers of tulle netting making it extremely full. It gave the illusion of Sami floating rather than walking. Randomly sprinkled over the skirt were single silver sequins – like stars pinned to a sky that sparkled when the least bit of light shown on them.

She wore a bolero jacket that covered her shoulders, arms and back in the same taffeta but with literally hundreds of silver sequins sewn in row after row. On her feet were silver pumps, which matched the small clutch purse she held. Her lipstick and nails were done in fire engine red. Her blue eyes were complimented with the light shade of blue eye shadow on her lids. Her hair was worn in a shoulder-length pageboy with the ends curled softly under. She had parted her hair on the right side and cascaded her hair over her left eye much the way Veronica Lake wore her famous do. Holding the hair in place behind her right ear was a white rhinestone barrette that shimmered whenever Sami moved her head.

Sami finished fussing with her earring when it at last cooperated to her satisfaction. Her attention returned to those in the room, most especially Lucas. Try as she might the look he had of adoration sent a warm, shy glow through her. It was the feeling she’d had the night he came to pick her up for the prom four years earlier. This time she couldn’t avert her gaze soon enough and realized just how handsome Lucas had become in four years’ maturity. Everyone had called them a "cute couple" back then. Today, he still had the dark, boyish good looks but he had a calm strength in him absent back then.

"Oh, Sami, you are worth every minute of the wait. I feel like I’m looking at a glimpse of heaven."

"Thank you, Lucas, but I think it’s the dress…"

"No…no, Sami it’s you in the dress. It’s perfect…you’re perfect."

They stood looking at one another while Mike and Carrie looked first at their respective siblings and then at one another with a knowing smile.

"Like Mike, I wasn’t sure what color the dress would be or what it would look like so I took a long time to pick something out for you and even then I wasn’t sure so…here…I hope you’ll think of wearing it."

Lucas handed Sami a white box with a pink ribbon similar to the one Mike had given Carrie though it was slightly larger. Sami also realized it was flowers before opening it."

"Lucas, you didn’t have to do this."

"Oh, I know…I wanted to."

She opened the box carefully trying to disguise the slight trembling of her fingers as she did so. Within moments she beheld two of the most pristine white orchids she had ever seen tied together to create a waist corsage.

"Lucas, I…I don’t know what to say."

"Do you like them…are they all right."?

"Yes, they’re beautiful and they’ll look beautiful with the dress."

"There’s a pin in the box. Be careful you don’t stick yourself."

"Thanks for the tip. Would you mind if I waited and put them on when we get to the hotel? That way, I won’t crush them with my coat or getting in and out of the cab."

"Sure, whatever you want is fine with me."

Sami stood with the flowers in their box in her left hand looking at Lucas. She finally stepped the few feet to where he stood and gave him a light hug and thanked him. She withdrew and gave him a slight smile. For one small moment Lucas thought she had planned to kiss him…but…there was still something holding her back. It was maddening to be so close to her, to feel the warmth of her and still feel her so far from him in other ways.

Why had she been so much the familiar, loving Sami he knew in her letters and, now, in person, the one he’d remembered before he left Salem for the army. What had he done since his arrival on the train to make her put up the barrier to the love he wanted to give her again? He’d gone over and over every conversation they’d had since Wednesday and still he had not one clue.

"Okay, everyone, it’s time for us to get downstairs. The cabs should be here any minute."

"Cabs? We’re taking two, Mike?"

"Yeah, with the dresses, Lucas’ cast and our bulky coats, I really didn’t think we could all fit comfortably in one. We’ll take the first one and Lucas and Sami will be right behind us."

Sami appeared to be surprised and disconcerted by the arrangements but there really wasn’t a logical reason against the plan. Carrie finished pinning the gardenias in her hair while Mike got her coat. Lucas took Sami’s coat off the hanger and held it for her as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. Her long hair was pushed down into the collar and he gently lifted the soft tresses so they could rest on the outer part of the coat’s collar. They felt to him as close to spun gold as he would ever get.

"Why do have the feeling I’m forgetting something?"

"I don’t know, are you?"

"I feel like I am but I don’t know what it is, Mike. I hate when I have this feeling because I’m usually right."

"Well, Carrie, I know it’s not your shoes. I fed Guinevere while you were getting dressed and we never had a fire going today so it’s not that, either."

"Well, I guess it’ll come to me. Let’s go."

They all made their way to the front door of the apartment and headed out - - Lucas, Sami, Carrie and Mike, who was assigned the duty of closing and locking the door. Just as he started to close the door, Carrie whirled around.

"Wait! Don’t close the door…I remembered what it is. It’s the invitation. We can’t get into the party without it."

Carrie went quickly to the desk and picked up the invitation. She handed it to Mike for safekeeping in his coat pocket. Emerging into the night they realized just how cold it had turned. The girls had never stepped foot outside having done facials, nails and other beauty regimens all day in preparation for the evening. It was a crisp, star-filled moonlit night that greeted them. Snow was still visible everywhere and the reflected moonlight made it nearly as bright as day. The cabs arrived and soon they were heading to the ferry.

They hailed another set of cabs at the toe of Manhattan in Battery Park and began to wind their way up the island to the Grand Hotel. Along the way they saw revelers all along the streets going into clubs, restaurants and hotels. It seemed as though everyone needed to break loose and have this one night of music, food and celebration as a breather from the ever-present war news without feeling guilty in doing so.

They arrived beneath the front portico of the hotel and a doorman escorted Carrie and Sami from the cab to the front door with Mike and Lucas close behind. They wandered into the gigantic, ornate lobby of the hotel and searched for a clue as to which ballroom the International Red Cross gala was being held. A sign near the front desk pointed toward the right down a richly, carpeted hallway. They walked along noticing others either in front of or following them also dressed in tuxedos, dress uniforms and gowns hidden beneath warm coats apparently looking for the same destination.

Looming on the horizon was a pair of huge double doors held open and the sound of many voices coming from what lay beyond them. Mike looked over his shoulder and motioned for Lucas to follow them to the doors. As they approached they saw a huge US flag standing sentry at one door and a Swiss flag at the opposite door. Mike removed the carefully guarded invitation from his coat pocket and handed it to Carrie. She removed the invitation and went to the table where people were being asked to show them prior to being allowed entry to the room beyond.

With Lucas and Sami to her right and Mike on her left the four stood at the table while their invitation was inspected. The guest list was scanned until their names were located. A friendly smile greeted them as the invitation was returned and they were told to enter whenever they liked.

They walked into the entryway of the room and noticed a cloakroom on the right. All four of their heavy coats were checked along with the caps Mike and Lucas wore. After receiving a claim check and handing it to Lucas, Sami took the orchids from the box and asked Carrie to help her pin them on the left waist of her skirt. Mike held his arm out for Carrie to slip hers through and they stepped into the outer perimeter of the grand ballroom. Behind them, Lucas had extended his left arm to Sami and, more pleased then he dared show, she had accepted it. At least six hundred people mingled in amongst the dining tables, at the bar and around the edges of the ballroom. Many were already seated at the tables arranged in a half moon shape extending from the stage area where the band would be and around the highly polished dance floor. A small jazz quintet provided mood setting music.

Along with the invitation being returned a card with a number had been handed to Mike at the check-in desk. They were told to hand it to anyone in a red waiter’s uniform and they would be escorted to their table for the evening. He nabbed one as they came by and asked him where table 27 was. The waiter smiled and told them to follow him.

"You have any idea where we might be sitting, Carrie."

"Nope. Victoria didn’t say anything when I called her yesterday morning. Just seeing all these dignified-looking people, I’m betting we’re toward the back."

"I was just curious. We’ll be dancing quite a bit of the time, so it doesn’t matter to me."

The waiter stopped allowing his "troops" to catch up to him. When Mike and Carrie stood beside him again, he proceeded to pull out the chair for Carrie to be seated. They were one table to the left of center immediately adjacent to the dance floor. Mike looked at the 27 on his ticket and compared it to the number on the table - 27. They looked at one another and then at Sami and Lucas. None could believe some mistake hadn’t been made but the numbers didn’t lie. The waiter pulled out the chair for Sami and then said a waiter would by with their champagne shortly.

They began to realize their seating was no dream. They were like four giddy adolescents as they began looking around them. The entire color scheme of the room for this occasion was red and white. Since the Red Cross and Swiss flags were negative images of one another – a Red Cross on a white background, white cross on a red background - everything mirrored that idea. The tablecloths were white with red napkins – red and white carnations adorned every table. There was a small flag of the two hosts of the evening on each table as well. Party hats, horns, noisemakers all were in shades of red and white. Balloons festooned the room in red and white. There were small candle votive holders on the tables with red and white glass.

"This place is really something…but I have to ask this. Are any of you getting the urge for a peppermint?"

The three looked at Lucas and then lightly chuckled.

"It is beautiful in here. I don’t think I’ve ever been in any place like this, certainly not in Salem."

"I know what you mean, Sami. The only room that even comes close to this size is the high school gym and even it could be fit in here six or seven times."

"Leave it to you, Mike, to find a way to put a sports angle on it."

"Well, I had to have some point of reference."

"Carrie? Is that you?"

A young woman elegantly dressed in black satin made her way to the table and embraced Carrie as she rose.

"Hello! How did you ever spot us in this crowd? I had no idea there’d be so many people even though you told me it would be one of the parties to be at."

"I see you found your way to your table. Some people are wandering around here unable to remember where they are sitting, would you believe it? That’s why everything has to be numbered. Each time I do this I come up with better ways of herding everyone."

"Oh, I’m sorry, please let me introduce you to everyone here. This is my sister, Sami and my good friend, Lucas Roberts and this is Mike."

"Yes, I know who you are just from the descriptions Carrie’s given me at the newsroom."

"Shhh, Victoria! That was between you and me, remember?"

"Oh, sorry. It’s wonderful to meet all of you and put names and faces together. I’ve heard so much about each of you. I’m Victoria Schwengel, Kurt’s cousin and assistant."

"Oh, Victoria! Pleasure meeting you. We must talk later and you can tell me everything she’s said."

"Sorry Mike, that’s privileged information. I work for a diplomat so you know I’m an old hand at keeping secrets."

"Speaking of Kurt, is he here yet?"

"Yes, I saw him about twenty minutes ago being cornered by a rather enamored society matron who was trying to get him to promise a dance with her later on for a sizeable donation in return."

"Poor Kurt. I hope someone rescues him from a fate worse than fox trotting."

"Oh, he knows how to handle himself. I keep telling him if he’d just get married some of this adulation would stop."

"That’s true. He’ll be quite a catch for someone one of these days."

"He really needs a wife who can be as enthusiastic as he is about all this stuff. She’ll need to be quick witted, intelligent, strong-minded and keep him constantly on his toes by being lively and interesting. He tells me he just hasn’t found her yet."

"I haven’t found who yet, Victoria?"

"Uhhh…the woman who was asking…for…one of your ties to auction at her club luncheon next week?"

"Nice try, but I overhead a little more before I got here. I see you’re still trying to be a matchmaker no matter what the occasion. Forgive my cousin. She’s just not happy unless she can set up a date for me at all these diplomatic occasions."

"Kurt, I’m so glad to see you. It’s been almost a week since I talked to you."

"Hello, Carrie. I’ve been very busy putting this all together. I’m delighted you could make it."

"I have some special people I would like you to meet, Kurt."

Mike rose to his feet as Carrie introduced him to the Swiss diplomat.

"I have looked forward to meeting you since Carrie first talked about you. I wanted to thank you for all you did about getting information about my brother to my family and me. They’ve all asked me to convey their gratitude. If there is ever anything I can do to return the favor, it’ll be yours for the asking."

Kurt shook his hand smiling and realized he had instantly taken a liking to Carrie’s boyfriend. He hadn’t wanted to just because he had hoped there might be some small chance for him with Carrie but he put it behind him once he saw the love she had shown in her face as she introduced Mike to him.

"I’m just glad I was able to do it. It’s never a certainty that any information is available. In his case, because the allies had him it was just a matter of speeding things up in the process. When they’re in enemy hands it’s quite the opposite. Emotional blackmail is quite common. They want prisoners back in exchange for any tidbit of information we seek about people who are missing."

"And speaking of the missing, Kurt, this is Sergeant Lucas Roberts…Mike’s brother."

"I am very happy to make your acquaintance, Sergeant."

"Please, call me Lucas. You deserve to be allowed to address me on a first name basis, don’t you think? I heard all you did and I’m very grateful, particularly where my grandmother is concerned. I worried about her the whole time. They got me from the base hospital back to the States in record time. I’m still not completely adjusted to the time change."

"This is my sister, Sami. She’s here visiting me for a few days and going back on the train with Lucas to Salem next Monday."

"I don’t believe it."

"What?"

"Every time I meet another girl from Salem she’s as beautiful as the one before. First you, then the photo I saw of Jennifer and now your sister."

"Thank you, Mr. Schwengel…I…"

"Kurt, please. Mr. Schwengel is only for business associates and I consider Carrie, her friends and family my friends."

"Kurt, then. Thank you for allowing us to be here tonight. I never thought I’d attend such an elegant party."

"My pleasure. I hope you like your table?"

"Are you kidding, Kurt? We thought we’d been given the wrong number."

"No, this is where I asked Victoria to assign you. You see I’m your guest at the table when the entertainment and dinner begin. Is that all right? I wanted to be with some people my own age who have no agenda for the evening other than to bring in the New Year with great fun."

"Oh, that’s wonderful. I hope that includes Victoria as well."

"Absolutely though it will be awhile before we can join you. I still have to be sure to greet as many invitees as possible."

"I like the tuxedo with tails, Kurt. It gives you that "Fred Astaire" quality."

"Yes, if only it could help me dance like him and avoid the toes of some of these society ladies. It’s bad enough having to wear this thing but the red sash and medals is a bit much. All I need is the crown and scepter and I could be ‘Mr. Switzerland’ since I’ve already got the sash."

"Well, it’s just my opinion, Kurt, but it makes you look very dashing and debonair."

"Thank you, Sami. May I have the honor of stepping on your toes later on this evening to a Tommy Dorsey tune?"

"I’d love to."

Lucas looked at Sami and saw the smile he’d been looking for her to share with him given to a man she’d met only moments before. Granted the guy wasn’t bad to look at and obviously had a ton of money, charm and personality but she hadn’t spoken more than a few sentences to him.

"Before they begin serving dinner I’d better play host a bit more. It’s wonderful meeting all of you. Carrie, I’ll be back in about half an hour."

"We’ll see you then."

"You said he was younger than people thought but you didn’t tell me he was that young and looked like that, Carrie."

"He is handsome, isn’t he, Sami? The first time I met him we got off to a little rocky start but within a few minutes, I knew I liked him. Don’t let the good looks fool you, there’s a brain, heart and courage of his convictions behind the face."

"Guess he won’t need to go to Oz, then, will he?" Lucas said with a sarcastic edge to his voice.

"What are you talking about Lucas?"

"Nothing, Sami, just thinking about the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion all rolled up into one character…forget it."

Mike looked across the table at his brother and could detect the faintest hint of "green" in his normally dark brown eyes. It hadn’t escaped him that Lucas was resentful of the attention Sami was ready to give Kurt that he so desperately sought from her. He wondered how much longer any of them would be able to keep the charade going before Lucas deduced what was really going on with Sami. He could see the hurt in Lucas’ face each time he had made a move toward her and she’d brushed him aside or turned away completely. What Lucas couldn’t see was the hurt on Sami’s face as she did so. It made him appreciate what he and Carrie had all the more so.

Half an hour later Kurt and Victoria came to join them at the table. Kurt sat in between Sami and Carrie while Victoria sat opposite him between Lucas and Mike. The conversation was lively on just about every subject imaginable. Before long the first course of dinner was served. They marveled at the variety of the foods prepared and slowly sipped their champagne that was served with each course. As the Cherries Jubilee was being set afire at their table for dessert, the room lights dimmed and a hush spread through the room in between the clanking of silverware.

Suddenly, the red curtains covering the stage lifted and the strains of "Song of India" began to play as the Tommy Dorsey orchestra was slowly pushed forward on a huge platform by hydraulics. A roar of approval went up from the crowd at the familiar sound of one his most popular, upbeat hits. The famous bandleader after the first chorus motioned with his hand and encouraged people to leave their tables and take a turn on the dance floor.

Mike asked Victoria; Kurt asked Sami and Carrie took Lucas out onto the dance floor. Finishing the first number to thunderous applause, they went into their next number, "Opus One." Kurt danced with Carrie, Mike spun around the floor with Sami and Victoria enjoyed what a smooth dancer Lucas was even with his arm in a sling. After the second number, they returned to their table to take a breather and listen to the Pied Pipers sing "There Are Such things".

When the strains of "Marie" began Mike knew he and Carrie had to dance. This was the song they had danced to playing on her radio in her living room the Friday night of the Thanksgiving weekend that had led to their first kiss. She looked at him moments before he was going to ask her for a dance. She had remembered the song’s significance, too. They headed for the dance floor after thanking Kurt and Victoria for the wonderful evening. Kurt and Victoria decided they would need to resume playing hosts for the evening by tablehopping. They bid the foursome good evening and left Sami and Lucas watching the others dance. The song ended and Mike and Carrie returned to the table.

"This evening is wonderful. The music, the food and, of course, the company."

"I agree. Let’s toast to the company."

The four remaining at the table raised their glasses to one another and took a sip of champagne.

"Before he left Kurt said to be sure we all fill out the entry blanks for the raffle later on in the evening. There’s a big bin over next to the band where they’ll be put and then drawn later on for the prizes. For the two dollars we each paid there are some fabulous things to be won."

"I know, Sami. I saw the prize list as we came in and paid the money. I’m sure they’ve made a lot of money for the Red Cross tonight which is the most important reason for all of this."

"Here’s a pen, Carrie, so you can fill it out."

"Thanks Mike, I forgot to put on in this small bag."

"Sami would you mind filling mine in. I can’t write legibly with my left hand and if I do win, I’d like them to be able to read what I wrote."

"Sure, Lucas. Hand me yours and then I’ll finish mine. I guess I should use Carrie’s address here in New York."

The girls finished their entry blanks and then began filling out one for each of the guys. Sami looked over at Lucas and asked him what the temporary address was at Fort Dix and wrote it in while Carrie did the same for Mike. Doctors were not always known for their easy-to-read printing either.

Sami finished Lucas’ card and was working on hers when the band began playing "Yes, Indeed". Couples began working their way to the floor.

"Tell you what, Sami, I want to see about having the photographer come over and take a group photo of us to keep as a remembrance of tonight so I’ll take everyone’s entry forms and leave them at the bin when you finish. I saw one photographer near there taking pictures of the band a little while ago."

Sami finished completing her raffle ticket and picked up Mike and Carrie’s to add to the pile before handing it to Lucas with hers on the bottom. Lucas gave each one a once over to be sure all the information was filled in correctly and on the right line. He hesitated as he looked at the one on the bottom. He looked at the raffle ticket for a minute.

"Lucas, did I mess up? I am always confusing the boxes and lines and usually put the information in the wrong place. Maybe I can just get another one and redo it."

Lucas sat unmoving almost another half minute and then looked at Sami.

"No…no, everything is fine. You’ve got it filled out correctly. Would you excuse me, I need to get some air."

"Are you all right? Would you like some company?"

"NO…no I wouldn’t want you to miss the music, Sami. I just, uh…need to clear my head a little."

Lucas rose from the table and looked at Sami once more for several seconds before he turned and headed for the exit. Sami looked at his back as he left the room. She turned back to look at Mike and Carrie.

"What was that about?"

:"I don’t know Mike. He seemed fine…maybe a little quiet while Kurt was here but he seemed to enjoy dancing with Carrie and Victoria. I hope it isn’t the fever coming back. Why don’t you two go dance while I wait for him to come back."

Mike and Carrie went to the dance floor as Sami waited at the table rewinding in her mind the conversation and events leading up to Lucas’ sudden mood change. When the musical number ended, Mike and Carrie returned to the table and found Sami deep in thought…still sitting alone.

"I see he isn’t back yet."

"No, Carrie…something’s wrong…really, really wrong but I don’t know what it is. I have to go find him and make sure he’s okay."

"I’ll go with you, Sami. If he is becoming ill again, I can check for symptoms."

"Thanks, Mike, but I think I should do this alone. Maybe I can talk to him, get him to tell me what’s happened. Excuse me. I want to see if someone saw where he went when he left the room. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon."

Sami rose from the table and headed in the same direction she had seen Lucas go twenty minutes earlier.

Mike and Carrie sat at the table watching her disappear. They decided to sit a few dances out and wait for Sami to bring Lucas back.

Sami found someone who had seen Lucas take the elevator to one of the observation levels of the hotel. She stepped from the elevator and headed for the terrace. She went through a glass and heavy brass door. She immediately noticed the chill in the air and remembered she’d left her coat at the cloakroom. Too late, she wasn’t going back for it now. There was another couple looking at the Manhattan skyline who turned and smiled as they passed her heading back into the warmth of the hotel interior. She walked across half the large deck – in summer, brunch was served on it each Sunday. She saw Lucas standing facing away from her looking out over the city.

"Lucas? We’ve been wondering where you were. You’ve been gone awhile. We were all concerned you might be getting sick again."

He didn’t seem to react to her – just kept facing away. She began to walk closer to him.

"Go away, Sami. Please…just…go away."

Carrie sat forward – elbows on the table, chin in hands with her eyes watching the main entry to the ballroom. She had sat that way for nearly half an hour as the music, dancing couples and decibel of conversation had increased around her. The new year would be ushered in before the minute hand could complete another full circling of the clock’s face which hung from the wall with a spotlight trained on it so people could synchronize their watches for the exact moment 1943 would leave and 1944 would arrive. Mike had sat back and ordered coffee. He had gone through two refills as he sat in silence unsure what to do about Carrie’s change of mood. Unwilling to allow it to go on any longer, he sat forward until he could turn and see Carrie’s face in profile as he spoke.

"This isn’t exactly how I had expected us to spend the evening when I thought about tonight this past week."

Carrie was so focused on the door she hadn’t heard Mike’s comment. The band’s rendition of another swing number had also somewhat drowned out his voice. He waited another minute for a reaction from Carrie before he decided to try getting her attention once more.

"Carrie, how about another dance? I hate sitting here not being out on the floor jitterbugging to all that good music. I mean it is Tommy Dorsey."

She turned her head slightly toward Mike though still watching the door at all times.

"What did you say about Tommy Dorsey, Mike?"

"Nothing…nothing at all."

Mike stared at her for a few moments and reached for his cup of coffee.

"That’s your third cup, Mike. When did you start drinking so much coffee?"

He looked up and surprisingly saw Carrie staring at him with concern.

"Just tonight…to fill in the time until you come back to me."

"What are you talking about? I’m right here – sitting next to you – the way I have all evening."

"You might be sitting there but you’re hardly with me…I’m sorry, Carrie, that was a mean thing to say…"

"No, Mike, I’m the one who’s sorry. You’re right. I’ve been ignoring you for a while. I’m just concerned about…"

"Sami and Lucas, I know. Don’t you think I am, too, but sitting here trying to will them back into the ballroom by staring at the door isn’t going to work? If it did they would have been back in here a long time ago as long as you’ve been looking at that door. Do you want to talk about it? Maybe it would help us get past this limbo we seem to be in."

Mike’s voice had taken on the soft, low, caring tone Carrie always loved when he wanted to set the mood for them to talk about something seriously. It conveyed his absolute, unconditional interest in what she had to say. It was hard to do in a cavernous room filled with a big band and hundreds of happy partygoers but he had reached her nonetheless.

"While I’ve been sitting here, I keep going over what might have happened that made Lucas change moods so suddenly. He’s not like that as a rule. I think I actually saw him turn pale. That’s why I wondered, as Sami did, if he was starting to suffer a relapse. It is chilly out tonight and he danced a couple of times…but…"

"But, I don’t think that had anything to do with it."

"You don’t?"

"No, it happened too quickly. Like you, I’ve been trying to piece things together but I’m clueless."

"Maybe we should go look for them. It could be Sami hasn’t found him and is wandering around the hotel. What do you think?"

Mike looked at the table and took a deep breath before turning to look Carrie squarely in the eye.

"All right, you’ve asked me what I think and I’m going to tell you but you might not like what I say."

Carrie stared at him seeing in his expression that he was deadly serious. There was no playful tone in his voice or demeanor.

"All right…I’m listening."

"You and I are the eldest children in our families."

Carrie furrowed her brow with a look that tried to understand what Mike’s remark had to do with anything.

"Wait, now…just…just hear me out, okay?"

Carrie looked into the depths of his blue eyes and slowly nodded.

"With that placement in the family seems to come an inherent responsibility to watch over our younger brothers and sisters. I do it with Jenn and Lucas, and – now, because he comes around the house so often, Phillip. Since Austin’s death and her estrangement from Lucas, Kate’s turned her smothering ways on Phillip. He tries to spend little time at home when he’s not working on scrap drives, going to school or delivering telegrams for Western Union. Anyway, you have the same view of Eric, Sami, Brady and Belle. We don’t resent it but it does seem to be our role in the birth order, am I right?"

"I don’t know that I’ve given it much thought but, yes, I have always known they’d come to me when they needed help with something or wanted to share a secret. I babysat all of them at one time or another. When Dad and Marlena divorced Eric and Sami would stay in my room at night talking about what was going to happen to the family. They wondered if John would love them less than Belle or Brady after he married Marlena. I think because I was older and knew John a little better I could reassure them he’d love all of us equally. Each one of them is so different but I have a good relationship with them all. I want them to be happy."

"I understand completely. Jenn is this bright sunbeam in my life starting with when she was a baby. She’s so open and loving. I’ve felt protective of her since the day they let me hold her as a baby in Grandma’s rocking chair so I wouldn’t drop her. I want her to always have the best. That’s why I was so hard on Jack. I’ve never wanted anything or anyone to hurt her. Lucas, that’s a different story. I didn’t get to hold him as a baby. He was sixteen when I discovered I had a brother. We didn’t get to play catch on the front lawn, wrestle on the living room floor or walk to school together so I could protect him from the big kids who might taunt him about his parents not being married.

"We had to work at finding things in common besides our dad, and even that was difficult because Mickey is more my dad in my heart. Gran used to invite us over to fix things at the house and while we were working we’d start to talk about guy things. She knew what she was doing by having us spend time together. Today, I love my brother as much as I do Jenn."

"Lucas thinks he has the best brothers in the world – you, Phillip…and Austin. It’s what he always told me in the letters he sent from England. I don’t argue with him though I’m partial to Eric and Brady when it comes to brothers. He thinks of Jennifer as someone to protect as well. As for my sisters – Belle is a loveable cyclone of energy. I get tired just watching her. Sami is strong emotionally …level headed. She doesn’t lead with her heart…not any more…that’s not true. She just doesn’t show that she does when it concerns Lucas. Mike, I’ve been watching her since she got to New York. Don’t tell me I’m imagining things because I know my sister and despite what she says, she still loves your brother, probably more now than she did before. It’s killing me inside to see her hurting so much. I put my arms around her to comfort her but they aren’t the arms she needs."

Carrie’s eyes brimmed with tears as she described for the first time in words the heartache she felt for her sister. Mike reached for her hand and placing his on top of hers, gave it a gentle squeeze. Carrie looked at Mike and wanly smiled.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go on like that. It just came pouring out. I’ve had to hold in my feelings around Sami so much. I guess the champagne and this bizarre incident put me over the top emotionally. I hurt as much as she does sometimes. I remember when she was so excited about Lucas asking her to go to steady. I’ve never seen her smile as much as she did whenever she saw him. Everyone used to think it was just first love but I could see how deeply she cared for him. I knew it because it was what I felt for you, though I thought it was one-sided, then."

"Carrie…we…"

"I think…I know…the reason I’m more affected by this than seems to be reasonable. I put myself in her place and you in Lucas’s and I imagine us being so close physically and yet unable to bridge a defensive emotional wall that’s there between us. I don’t know how Sami or Lucas hold back reaching out to one another when it’s all they need to do to have everything they had before. Lucas won’t let Sami turn him away much longer. He’ll walk away and, after healing, he’ll settle for someone he doesn’t love the way he does her. Neither of them will ever really be happy again because they belong together. I couldn’t live with that if it was us in their places."

Mike waited until Carrie had finished before venturing to brush the tear that was drifting down her cheek as she spoke.

"Carrie, it’s not going to happen that way between us. For one thing we’re older and know a little bit more about being realistic concerning love and what we can expect from each other. For another we don’t have a Nichole Walker standing between us. We’ve been friends all our lives practically and I think that will make our relationship stronger for those times when life does get a little bumpy which it will on occasion."

"But, they were friends, too, best friends. As for Nichole Walker, I think they’re both mature enough to realize it was a mistake…a huge one…but if they love each other as much as I think they do, it’s something they can overcome."

"Do you really think Sami, as headstrong and proud as she is, can get past that?"

"IF you’d asked me that a year or two ago, I’d have been skeptical, but, there’s something Sami won’t tell me that makes me think she’s already done that. When we’ve stayed up late talking this past week the way we used to when we shared a room at home, she starts to tell me something and then pulls back at the last minute."

"Carrie, I hope this isn’t a lot of wishful thinking on your part. I know how much you care about both of them."

"That’s true, I love both of them so much but I don’t think I’m wrong about Sami."

"Then, why does she keep Lucas at arms’ length? She’s driving him crazy."

"You see that, too? I…don’t…know! I can’t get her to open up to me completely."

"Well, I think we’re proving my point. We’re both driving ourselves crazy about this situation. We keep wanting to fix things between them and…we can’t, Carrie. It’s time we step back from this mess and get some perspective."

"I’m listening, Mike."

"Since it’s New Year’s Eve, how about we make a resolution…each of us."

"A resolution?"

"Yeah, resolution, a promise to each other. From now on we have to let our brothers and sisters live their lives, make their own mistakes and we’ll be here to listen and advise if we’re asked but we won’t try to make things turn out the way we think they should…starting with Sami and Lucas. We’ve already spent most of the evening sitting here worrying about them and missing out on what should be a wonderful time for you and me. My drinking enough coffee until I slosh and you starting at the door until you go blind won’t bring them together, Carrie."

"I know. Well, I guess it’s worth a try."

"Carrie, if Sami and Lucas do get together, then it was always meant to be. If they don’t they have to live with that decision. Belle’s already meddled and you see how Sami took it. Even with the best of intentions, I don’t think she’d appreciate you trying to force a relationship that’s maybe never again going to be what it once was."

"You’ve had a little practice at this, haven’t you? You gave your blessing to Jenn and Jack though I know you’d really like them to wait until after the war before getting married."

"Yeah, I admit if I thought I could change their minds, I’d probably still try to talk to them but I know all I’d do is drive Jenn away from me. She told me that even if I hadn’t given her my blessing she would have agreed to marry Jack, anyway. They’d still be together and I would have lost my sister in the process."

"Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’ll be here for love and support no matter what they do but my focus changes as of this soon-to-be New Year."

With that Carrie looked at Mike, leaned forward and kissed him gently. When they pulled back Mike had his signature lop-sided grin on his face.

"Would it maybe be safe to guess I’m going to be the object of your focus?"

"Oh, almost completely. I find you absolutely fascinating to observe, Dr. Horton, in all your various states."

"Various states? You mean like New Jersey, New York and Illinois?"

"Oh, no, Dr. Horton, nothing so mundane as that. No, I’m referring to your state of undress in my kitchen…bath towel and dog tags."

"Carrie Brady, I’m shocked."

"So was I the first time I saw you standing there. Actually, things got a little out of focus that time though I’m not sure whether it was the bump on my head or seeing you sooo natural. Why, Dr. Horton, are you blushing?"

"I just hope no one’s close enough to hear this conversation."

"Then there’s your state of sleeping or should I say snoring? I really have to focus more on how to keep you from doing that."

"Hey, wait a minute…I don’t snore!"

"Oh, yes you do. That’s how I always know whether I have to tiptoe into the kitchen to start breakfast when you stay at the apartment. It took me a little while to figure out why your snore sounded so familiar but then I knew…it sounds a little like the outboard motor on grandpa’s fishing boat."

"You know, maybe you shouldn’t focus exclusively on me. I don’t want you to neglect other parts of your life."

"Aw, too late, Dr. Horton. I have found you so fascinating I’ve applied for a grant to study you for years to come."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. You and I are going to do some marvelous research together, oh test subject of mine, and we already know we have great chemistry. Your lab or mine, hmmm?"

"Okay, that’s it…no more champagne for you."

"I need no champagne because you intoxicate me."

"What have I started? Maybe we should go looking for Sami and Lucas."

"Sami and Lucas who?"

"Okay, okay…you’ve convinced me that you can focus on other matters."

"Actually, Mike, in all seriousness, I do want to work on our future more. There have been so many distractions, first Jenn and Jack that night at the USO. It seemed we spent all our time with them for almost a whole month. The telephone vigil until Kurt told us Lucas was alive made us both have to redirect our energies to keeping our families calm let alone one another. Christmas was beautiful until Sami told me about Belle’s antics. Now, here we are and it’s New Year’s Eve. You’re right, we need to focus on us starting here and now. We can spend time with the others but we have to stop being chaperones."

"I couldn’t have said it better, Carrie."

The Dorsey orchestra began to play "Street of Dreams" as the Pied Pipers stepped forward to sing the chorus. The lights were dimmed in the ballroom for the first time that evening. The small glowing votive candleholders on the tables provided a romantic atmosphere, as did the hidden blue lights that circled the perimeter of the room in the ceiling.

"I think this is my cue. May I have this dance, Miss Brady?"

"You most certainly may, Captain Horton."

Mike took Carrie by the hand and led her to the dance floor that seemed more intimate with the low lighting and gentle melody of the popular tune. Carrie walked into Mike’s waiting arms and placed her cheek next to his. His arm encircled her waist and brought her closer to him until he could smell the fragrant gardenias he had given her to wear. They were soon swaying in time to the music as they danced about the floor.

Carrie could feel the gentle strength of Mike’s arms around her. She closed her eyes and felt as if she were gliding on air. All her senses wanted to remember this moment forever. Mike in his dress uniform, the music, the beautiful gowns of other women attending the ball, the candlelight and most of all, the love she felt for Mike at that moment. Smiling inwardly she promised this would be one of those stories to tell the children years from now – the kind of story that would give her daughters romantic dreams of their own to build upon. She turned her head slightly and kissed Mike on the neck. He pulled back to look into her eyes. Amazingly, the lights made his eyes even bluer as he gazed at her. He slowly grinned and kissed her lips lightly before resting his cheek against her ear.

"I think I love you more at this moment than I ever have, Carrie," Mike whispered softly.

Carrie hugged him more tightly in response affirming her feelings for him were the same. For the remainder of the song they said nothing…there was no need.

As the number finished, the lights were brought up to half the dimness they had been making it easier for couples to find their way from the dance floor back to their tables. The clock showed only a quarter hour remained of the old year. The waiters began to bring fresh unopened bottles of champagne to the tables as the band took a ten-minute break before the big countdown to the New Year.

As Mike and Carrie got to their table from the middle of the dance floor, they noticed there was still no sign of Sami or Lucas. They sat down and looked at each other but said nothing.

"Hello, you two. We made it back after all. Mind if we bring in 1944 with you?"

"Kurt! It is your party, after all…of course, we’d love it."

"I don’t want to intrude."

"No, no…please, Kurt, we were sorry your couldn’t stay longer before."

"Thanks, Mike. I’d actually like to sit down and rest my feet. Ah, I’m feeling better already. Well, I think I’ve danced with more women tonight than ever appeared in a Busby Berkeley extravaganza."

"Oh, I used to love those movies when I was a teenager. Remember "Gold Diggers of 1933" - the one where the fifty-six girls are all sitting at white pianos, playing as they’re maneuvered around?"

"Oh, that was one of my favorites, too, Carrie. I was going to boarding school in New England at the time and the only day I felt free was when I went to the matinee on Saturday afternoon. It seemed one of his movies was always playing."

"I remember that movie, too…come to think of it, I may have actually danced with a couple of the pianos rather than the girls who played them tonight the way my left big toe feels."

"Kurt, behave! You don’t know when one of them might walk by."

"Don’t you mean roll by?"

Carrie and Mike broke into gales of laughter at the image Kurt’s remark made. Even Victoria who had reprimanded him to begin with was suffering from a bad case of the giggles.

"It’s a good thing no one heard THAT remark or we’d have set diplomacy back about fifty years. It’s hard to imagine his father and mine were brothers sometimes."

"You said you went to boarding school in New England, Victoria. I’ve noticed, like Kurt, you have virtually no accent when you speak English. I thought you’d grown up in England you have such a wonderful way of speaking. I didn’t realize you’d spent time in the States before being Kurt’s assistant."

"Yes, my father sent me to a school just outside of Boston from the time I was eight until I was seventeen. I actually spent more time here than in Switzerland just like Kurt did. When I graduated from high school, I went to England for further study. My mother is English by birth."

"Her mother used to refer to my mother as ‘the colonist’."

"Oh, Kurt, she did not…often. You have to remember Mother’s family is really very, very old moneyed aristocracy and still believes that one day the upstart colonists will realize the error of their ways and rejoin the Empire. It’s sad really."

"I used to love to get under Aunt Elizabeth’s, Victoria’s mother’s, skin by throwing firecrackers around on the lawn on the occasions we got together a couple of summers in Chicago over July Fourth. It didn’t help either when Aunt Louisa and Uncle Trevor used to be there, too."

"Wait, Kurt, who are they?"

"That’s our fathers’ sister, Uncle George’s, Victoria’s father’s twin, as a matter of fact, and her husband who is Canadian. He’d celebrate Dominion Day on July First of that week and keep rubbing it in to Aunt Elizabeth that the British had lost nearly an entire continent in four days."

"Yes, we had interesting family gatherings…not typical, but interesting. I have vowed that when or if I do marry, he’ll be an American. I’d like to leave all the class wars behind once and for all. I love American men but I haven’t found the one yet who makes me think I’d be happy to give up working in the diplomatic world in exchange for diapers and laundry. Keep your eyes open for me, Carrie, you certainly have good taste."

"I’ll do just that. It’s too bad my brother, Eric, is back in Salem. I think you would have enjoyed having him as an escort for the evening."

"Uh-oh, see what you started now, Victoria?"

"No, no---I just mean they would have had a nice time together and he’s a good dancer. I’m out of the matchmaking business. It’s part of my New Year’s Resolution."

"Speaking of brothers, Mike, where’s Lucas? I haven’t seen him for awhile."

"He stepped out for some air Kurt, and Sami went to find him."

"I hope they get back in time for the countdown. Look, it’s 11:55 now. Better put on the party hats and get the noisemakers ready. I see the waiter heading this way with the champagne."

The foursome readied themselves for the traditional ringing in of the New Year as the Dorsey Orchestra returned to their bandstand. The announcer prepared everyone for the final two minutes. Kurt, Mike, Victoria and Carrie rose from their seats and watched the spotlighted clock as the seconds ticked off it.

So much had happened in 1943 - -

TEN!!

The Yankees had defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series despite Joe DiMaggio and Phil Rizzuto having enlisted. Allied troops had defeated Field Marshall Rommell, the Desert Fox, in North Africa.

NINE!!

Georgia’s Bulldogs had defeated UCLA’s Bruins 9-0 in the Rose Bowl. Allied forces had invaded Sicily with an all out campaign beginning in July.

EIGHT!!

Casablanca had won three Oscars including Best Picture. Japanese military units had been forced to flee Guadalcanal.

SEVEN!!

Count Fleet, a 2-5 bet and ridden by Johnny Longden won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont to become a Triple Crown winner. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met in Tehran to discuss the war.

SIX!!

"Oklahoma" – the first collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II opened on Broadway to tremendous reviews. In May, the German Commander completed the month long attack on the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto and massacred 56,065 at its conclusion.

FIVE!!

Zoot suits had become a fashion statement for young men. Coal Miners struck causing the War Labor Board to order the government to take over the mines.

FOUR!!

The Jitterbug was still the favorite dance of young people across America. George Washington Carver and Stephen Vincent Benet died.

THREE!!

Shoes, meat, cheese, fats and canned goods all were ordered rationed. Salaries were ordered frozen nationwide to forestall inflation.

TWO!!

"Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" had been published and been an instant best seller. The Nazis had been forced to surrender in Stalingrad after facing the long, harsh Russian winter giving Hitler’s forces one of their first major defeats. They had apparently learned nothing from Napoleon.

ONE!!

The Germans had resumed bombing London. The allies had begun around the clock bombing of Germany and setting the stage for something major to occur in 1944.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The horns and noisemakers resounded through the ballroom as confetti and hundreds of balloons appeared from the ceiling. Kurt embraced his cousin and kissed her on the cheek. Mike and Carrie were lost in a deep, soul-searching kiss of more than a minute’s duration. Carrie then hugged and kissed Kurt and Mike did likewise with Victoria. The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra played "Auld Lang Syne". People sang and suddenly began linking arms with those around them…strangers who shared the moment of hope that this year would see the war end and that next New Year’s Eve everyone’s sons, daughters, husbands, brothers, fathers and friends would be home to bring in 1945 with them.