In 1982, Anna Brady turned up in Salem, announcing her intention to divorce her husband Roman and leave their 4 year old daughter Carrie with him. Anna told an incredible tale of being forced into white slavery and kept prisoner on a yacht owned by European drug dealers. Carrie was taken from her for 6 to 12 months at a time.
Roman's police partner and best friend Abe Carver didn't believe Anna's story, and Roman began to doubt her as well when he found evidence of Anna's Swiss bank account. Later, however, Roman saw scars on Anna's back and swore to kill the people that had beaten her. Anna hid the fact that she had multiple sclerosis.
Roman and Anna divorced. Anna, who had been working for Stefano Dimera all along, agree to discredit Roman; Stefano would pay her a million dollars to do so. Anna hypnotized Carrie and had the child plant false evidence in Roman's apartment to make it appear that he was a cop on the take. Roman realized that he was being set up, and when he learned of Carrie's involvement, he vowed revenge.
After Roman and Marlena married in 1983, Roman was accused of being a serial killer. He left town in search of the real killer, and Carrie stayed with Marlena.
Young Carrie slipped on the ice and broke her arm. Roman, learning of her injury, snuck into her hospital room to see her. He narrowly eluded capture.
Roman was presumed dead, apparently killed by Stefano, in 1984. Then, in 1986, a mysterious man who called himself John Black took a job in security at University Hospital. It was there that he met Marlena. In time, both of them came to believe that John Black was in fact Roman Brady.
Carrie had trouble accepting John as Roman, given his dramatically changed appearance. When she saw him and Marlena in an embrace, Carrie became upset and ran from the house into the street, where she was hit by a car. She remained in a coma for several days and only Roman was able to talk her back to conciousness. After that, the two shared a renewed emotional bond... Roman always referring to Carrie as "Pumpkin".
The family's happiness came to an abrupt end in 1987, when Marlena was presumed dead in a plane crash. Roman faced life as a single parent. As it happened, one fateful day, Carrie nearly drowned. She would have died had it not been for the quick thinking of Mike Horton's college friend Diana Colville, who was nearby and saved Carrie's life. Roman was of course extremely grateful, and he and diana were almost immediately attracted to one another. In 1989, Roman proposed to Diana and she accepted.
Stefano kidnapped Carrie and held her hostage on a boat. He also put Roman into a trance and ordered him to kill the entire Brady clan. Diana was able to shake Roman out of it, but Stefano escaped in a helicopter before Roman could apprehend him. Sadly, when Roman was injured by Diana's ex-husband Cal Winters, Diana left town, overwhelmed with guilt. She and Roman never married.
Then, in 1990, Carrie left Salem to live in Europe with her mother Anna.
By 1992, the real Roman had returned to Salem as had the presumed-dead Marlena, both victims of Stefano's schemes. They were reunited with Carrie, who had returned to Salem as a rebellious teenager.
Lawrence Alamain made Carrie's acquaintance and tried to seduce her. John Black found them and ordered Carrie out of Lawrence's bed at gunpoint before they made love.
Carrie became smitten with Jesse Lombard, another teenager. He had recently been arrested for carrying a gun. In spite of Roman's strong objections, Carrie moved in with Jesse. Their relationship remained platonic.
Again facing her father's disapproval, Carrie took in Salem newcomer Billie Reed, whose cocaine habit had cost her her job. Carrie got Bille work at Casey's Roadhouse, and the two became not only roommates, but real friends.
One day, Carrie heard music coming from the apartment down the hall. When she knocked on the door of the apartment to ask the tenant to turn down the music, she met Austin Reed, Billie's handsome older brother. He had been involved in gambling and other illicit activities. In spite of Roman's strenuous objections, Carrie and Austin became romantically involved, but when Carrie managed to thwart a scheme Austin had to throw a prizefight, Austin became enraged. Their new relationship seemed to be over as soon as it had begun.
Austin eventually did get into the ring with every intention of throwing the fight. Carrie was at ringside, however, and urged him on to victory. Gus, who had organized the crooked fight, was furious. He threw a vial of acid at Austin, but hit Carrie instead, scarring her face. Her dreams of winning Bella magazine's high-profile "Face of the Nineties" contest were shattered. Carrie's emotional scars were even deeper than her physical ones.
Austin arrived at the hospital with an engagement ring for Carrie, but she sent him away, fearful that Roman would arrest Austin for his involvement in the gambling ring.
Carrie's younger half-sister Sami returned to Salem from Colorado, where she and her twin brother Eric had been in school. She immediately became infatuated with Austin, unaware that he was Carrie's boyfriend.
Sami became friends with Kate Roberts' son, Lucas, who had also recently arrived in Salem. Lucas, who was infatuated with Carrie, conspired with Sami to keep Austin and Carrie apart.
Lucas encouraged Sami to diet to make herself more attractive to Austin; Sami took it to the extreme and became bulemic. Lucas managed to persuade Carrie to have plastic surgery to repair the scars from the acid on her face, and Carrie ended up winning the "Face of the Nineties" Contest.
When it was revealed that Austin and Billie were Kate's long lost children, Lucas was furious. He particularly hated Austin because of his relationship with Carrie.
Lucas' friend Alan Harris became attracted to Carrie, and followed Austin and Carrie to Green Mountain Lodge. He broke into their room while Carrie was there alone and tried to rape her but was unsuccessful. Green Mountain Lodge was the place where Carrie and Austin made love for the first time.
When Alan realized that he couldn't have Carrie, he set his sights on Sami. After befriending her and then making her believe that he was genuinely attracted to her, Alan raped Sami. She was too ashamed to report the attack, so she suffered in silence.
Carrie and Lucas figured out what Alan had done to Sami. They hatched a scheme to trap him. When Sami was finally persuaded to testify against Alan, she came across looking like a liar. She blamed Carrie for her public humiliation and was more determined than ever to break up Carrie and Austin.
When Sami was unsuccessful in breaking up Austin and Carrie, she turned to Lucas for comfort. Austin saw the two of them making love and mistook Sami for Carrie. Then, Sami, following the advice of a nurse from the hospital, drugged Austin and tricked him into thinking she was Carrie. Taking advantage of his inability to recognize his girlfriend, she lured him into bed and they made love. The next day, realizing what had happened, Austin rejected Sami. She was devastated and left Salem.
Carrie deduced that Austin had slept with someone else, but she didn't know who it was. Although their relationship was on rocky ground, Carrie and Austin set out together to find Sami. They returned to Salem without her, having been unable to locate the troubled young woman, but their relationship was back on track. On April 26, 1995, Carrie and Austin became engaged. They began to plan their wedding.
Lucas, still desparate to win Carrie's love, blackmailed Vivian Alamain into helping him locate Sami and bring her back to Salem, knowing that Sami would do everything in her power to bring a halt to the wedding. His plan worked. What should have been the happiest day of Carrie's life turned into a nightmare. Sami arrived at the church on July 27, 1995, in time for the ceremony and Carrie asked her to step in as maid of honor. Carrie wore a wedding gown with a cathedral-length train made of white silk with a lace edge, sewn with sequins and pearls. She wore a tiara style headpiece covered in pearls and a lace trimmed satin bow adorned the back of the gown at the waist. The bridesmaids -- Marlena, Wendy, Billie, and Gina -- wore light purple dresses. John performed the ceremony. But during the ceremony, Sami fainted. When she came to, she revealed that she was pregnant and named Austin as the father. A stunned Carrie walked out of the church. Austin was still in love with Carrie, but felt obligated to Sami.
By 1997, Sami and Austin were planning their own wedding, but Carrie and Eric were determined to expose Sami's schemes and lies. With help from Mike Horton, they learned that Austin was not the father of Sami's son Will. Carrie made it to the church in time to stop Austin from marrying Sami. Carrie revealed Sami's lies to everyone who was present and then knocked her out with a single powerful punch. Since Carrie and Austin's marriage license was still valid, Carrie wore the dress from her failed 1995 wedding, and Austin asked Mike to be his best man. Reluctantly, Mike, who was in love with Carrie, agreed. Marlena was matron of honor and Abby Devereaux was the flower girl. John quickly went out and purchased rings for the couple, and the ceremony went off without a hitch, in spite of Sami standing outside, screaming and banging on the window.
The newlyweds spent their wedding night at the Salem Inn before honeymooning in Rome. Sami got a job at University Hospital as Mike's assistant and arranged to accompany him to a convention which just happened to be in Rome. She even arranged for a room at the same hotel where Austin and Carrie were staying. After a series of near run-ins, Sami ended up on the same flight home as Carrie and Austin. She disguised herself as a nun, but she was busted at the airport by Sister Mary Moira.
After the honeymoon, the newlyweds moved into Carrie's old apartment. She landed a high-profile public relations job at University Hospital. Her work kept her in close contact with Mike Horton, and before long, she found that her interest in him was more than professional.
The Chief of Staff position at University Hospital was up for grabs, and Mike Horton threw his hat in the ring, as did his old medical school nemesis, Craig Wesley. Craig and his ambitious wife Nancy would go to any lengths to make sure that Craig won the coveted job. They arranged an elaborate plan in which it appeared that Mike had been grossly negligent in the performance of his duties as a physician. Carrie suspected that something was wrong about the entire scenario. She told Mike that she suspected Craig and Nancy were behind the whole thing.
Carrie contacted Roman in the hope that he could help her track down Shelly, the woman who framed Mike. Marlena stopped by to visit and she remembered Mike mentioning that a woman rented a car. With this lead, Marlena and Carrie went to the rental lot and found the agent who rented the car to Shelly. Unfortunately, she had used a phony name and license when she rented the car. Carrie asked to search the vehicle and found a telltale matchbook cover. With Marlena, she went to the diner advertised on the matchbook and spied Shelly at the takeout window. They followed her home, but when they confronted her, Shelly denied having anything to do with Mike. Suddenly, Shelly's young son had an asthma attack. Marlena helped the boy, and out of gratitude, Shelly came forward and cleared Mike's name.
With that, Mike was named Chief of Staff, and at the Horton/Brady 4th of July picnic, he and Carrie moved into a passionate kiss.
In 1998, Ali McIntyre popped up at University Hospital. Although he was in love with Carrie, Mike began a relationship with Ali in an effort to get over Mrs. Reed. His efforts were in vain, and when Mike broke things off with Ali, she realized that it was because of his feelings for Carrie. Ali was so jealous and so disturbed that she tried to run Carrie down with her car, but fortunately, Carrie was saved by a nearby pedestrian. When she spotted Mike and Carrie kissing, Ali slit her wrists. Her mother Claire arrived in time to save Ali. When Ali recovered sufficiently, they plotted to sue Mike for sexual harrassment.
Ali gave a tell-all interview on television and won her lawsuit against Mike and University Hospital to the tune of three million dollars. When she exposed Mike and Carrie's affair, Mike was forced to resign from his position as Chief of Staff. Carrie and Mike then turned the tables on Ali and got her to confess that she had set Mike up. Realizing that she had been tricked, Ali kidnapped Carrie and nearly killed Mike before she was arrested and confined to a mental hospital.
Carrie eventually left Austin for Mike. Together, they left town and are currently in Israel. Christie Clark says that Carrie chose Mike over Austin because "Mike listens to her, he pays attention to her and she has fun with him. There aren't all these dramas with him,like having a child with someone else."
