Chapter 11

Quinn and Jim's house, January, 2017...

Quinn and Jim were sitting in the living room. They were watching the news on TV while Tommy, Timmy and Teddy, now three year olds, were palying on the floor. Actually, just Tommy and Timmy were playing. Teddy was actually watching the news alongside his parents. Jim looked over and saw Teddy watch the news with great interest.

"Don't you wanna play with your brothers?" Jim asked the three year old.

Tommy stopped moving a large toy car across the carpet and Timmy stopped scribbling in his coloring book when they heard their father speak.

"Yeah, Timmy," said Tommy, "It's fun!"

Holding up the coloring book, Timmy showed the rainbow he'd just filled in with his crayons to Quinn.

"Mommy, look what I made!"

Looking, Quinn smiled.

"That's great, Timmy!"

Teddy just rolled his eyes. This worried Jim.

"Teddy," said Jim, "What your brother's are doing looks fun."

Teddy was forward in his response.

"Not to me, it isn't!"

Jim didn't know what freaked him out more, Teddy's ability to understand current events or the fact that at age three he talks like a bored teenager.

Master bedroom, later that evening...

As Quinn and Jim prepared to turn in for the night they were talking about their triplet sons.

"Timmy's great with drawing, and Tommy seems to have your love of fast cars" said Quinn.

"Really?" said Jim, eagerly anticipating the day Tommy would be old enough to help Jim in his car videos.

Nodding, Quinn added "You know, he told me he wants to play football one day. That kids a future jock and gearhead."

Jim smiled proudly. "We should encourage them. Maybe, next time we're in New York, we let Timmy sit in on one of Jane's painting sessions. Also, we should probably talk to Kevin about Tommy. Kevin could teach him about football while I teach him about cars."

Quinn proceeded to talk about Teddy. "I'm amazed how smart Teddy is. He watches the news and understands what's going on. He can already read at age three and talking to him is like talking to a miniature adult."

Suddenly nervous, Jim admitted "I'm actually worried about that. I mean being that advanced at three years old. That's not normal."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "No, but it's not something to be worried about either. We've seen all the old home movies my parents kept. Daria was the exact same way at his age."

Realizing that he's probably projecting his own insecurities onto the boys, Jim admitted "Yeah, I guess. Still, aren't you a little freaked that one of our boys is a genius kid?"

Smiling, Quinn said "Freaked? No, I'm proud. Jim, whatever you do, don't react to Teddy as if he's weird. That's the biggest mistake my parents made with Daria, and I'll be damned if I'm going to repeat any of my parents mistakes."

Jim reassured his wife. "Quinn, you're not your parents. You don't neglect us for your career like your mother, nor are you a clueless child trapped in an adult body like your father."

Quinn said "And you aren't the toxic psycho that your father was. As for your mother, I really can't find any fault with her parenting beyond staying with your father as long as she did. Still, she's the reason you turned out all right. She may not have been willing to leave your father, but she did everything short of that to protect all three of you from him."

Jim nodded as it was true. Granted, his sister had been out of contact since 2001 because she resented their father so much and his brother was a pathetic drunk, but Jim had turned out alright. Also, his brother didn't become a pathetic drunk until he was well into adulthood. Chris had only started hitting the bottle around the time of his divorce because that was the straw that finally broke the camels back, but it would have happened a lot sooner if Gina hadn't been such a stablizing influence in her kids lives. The only failure was Anna. All anyone knew about her was that she was alive and well, wherever she was.

Getting back on topic, Jim said "I wonder if there's any way to encourage Teddy to develop his talents like with the other boys."

Quinn admitted "Not yet. When he's school age, though, we should look into special programs for intellectually advanced students."

Jim smiled as this seemed a good idea.

The next morning...

Quinn was in the home office paying some bills when the phone rang. She immediately answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Quinn," said a vaguely familiar voice on the other end, "Tori Jerhico, Lawndale Herald."

Quinn's face lit up in recognition.

"Tori! God, it's been such a long time!"

Tori knew it was true. The last time she and Quinn talked was the summer right after they graduated high school.

"I don't know if you know" said Tori, "but I write a column in the Lawndale Herald now."

Quinn said "I know. I've actually read it over the years. So, what's going on?"

Tori got right to the point.

"I'm currently working on an article for the March 3rd Edition. Basically, I track down a bunch of people I went to high school with and get the inside story on what's gone on with their lives since graduation. I've already been in touch with Sandi, since I regularly write about the Sloane's in my column. You and Stacy were both pretty easy to find as well due to you being a famous YouTuber and her being a news anchor. Even though she graduated a year before us I've also been in touch with Brittany Thompson. I still can't believe she got back with Kevin and married him."

Quinn said "Well, there's a story there."

"I know," said Tori, "I already interviewed them for the article and they told me how they got married because he got her pregnant during what was supposed to be one last fling while she was back in town for the summer." After a brief pause Tori continued. "Anyway, I'd like to interview you for the article."

Smiling, Quinn said "Tori, I'd love to."

"Great," said Tori, "When's a good time and place?"

Pizza Prince, a few days later...

Quinn was being interviewed by Tori for the article. Tori seems to have aged well. She's still slim and attractive with blonde hair. Quinn was talking about her marriage.

"...so, after three years we decided it was time to have kids."

Tori asked "How many kids do you have?"

"Three," said Quinn, "All boys. They're triplets."

Tori said "So, you have triplet sons now?"

Nodding, Quinn said "Yes, their names are Tommy, Timmy and Teddy."

Tori decided to ask nothing more about the boys, assuming that there was nothing of note beyond the fact that they're triplets due to their age.

"Anyway," said Tori, "Let's talk about your career. When did you start S'mores 'n' Pores?"

"2009," said Quinn, "My job had just become a casualty of the recession and Jim had recently monetized his car channel. Things just kind of took off from there."

"And your husband is Jim The Car Guy?" asked Tori.

"Yes" Quinn confirmed, "Professionally I only use my first name. Morgendorffer is too hard to pronounce and Jim keeps Carbone out as a way to protect his family's privacy. Also, lots of celebrities are known solely by their first name, like Madonna."

Tori nodded in agreement, knowing that it's a common practice among YouTubers. She then proceeded to her next question.

"I've noticed that your hair looks shorter than in the videos. Did you recently get a haircut?"

"Not recently," said Quinn, "I use extensions. I had my hair down to my waist for a while, but the boys kept playing with it so I decided to just cut it to shoulder length and use extensions while on camera."

March, 3, 2017...

Quinn was in the living room reading the latest edition of The Lawndale Herald, specifically Tori's article.

Let's see.

First person mentioned was Sandi. Quinn read it.

Well, it's accurate. Although she didn't mention how Tom's company recently decided to relocate to New York due to ongoing civil unrest in Baltimore.

The next person was Stacy. After reading it...

Perfect. She's got Stacy pinned down to a T.

Next, she read the one about Kevin and Brittany.

She didn't mention Brittany's affair or the fact that one of the kids isn't biologically Kevin's. That's probably for the best, though.

Finally, Quinn read the part about her.

"Quinn has consciously uncoupled from her college sweetheart and dropped her last name (rumor has it once she realized his athletic abilities weren't good enough to cut it professionally she was done). Between caring for her triplet sons, Tommy, Timmy and Teddy, and her hair extensions she's hard at work on her YouTube channel dedicated to dessert and skin care, S'mores 'n' Pores."

Quinn looked up from the paper with a livid expression on her face.

No mention of Jim. In fact, it's worded to make it look like I married Trevor straight out of college and had the boys with him. What the hell!?

The Lawndale Herald, the next day...

Tori sat behind her desk as a furious Quinn loaded off on her.

"You made me look like a freaking gold digger!"

"Quinn," said Tori, "I needed to keep it short and sweet. That's why I didn't mention your husband."

Quinn said "You mentioned my college sweetheart and the fact that I broke up with him!"

"All true" Tori said in her defense.

Quinn said "You left out the fact that we broke up around graduation."

Tori said "Because I didn't think it was important!"

"You took my life's story completely out of context," Quinn fumed, "You said I dumped Trevor because his athletic skills didn't lead to a professional career."

"I mentioned that it was a rumor," Tori said in her defense, "I never claimed that as fact. In fact, you perpetuated the rumor in your first S'mores 'n' Pores video."

"I was joking," Quinn countered, "Breaking up with him after four years together had nothing to do with his career prospects and everything to do with us drifting apart at that point. The way you worded it makes it look like I married my first serious boyfriend and dumped him because he didn't became a star in the NFL."

"I never said that," Tori protested.

"Well, you damn sure implied it," Quinn fired back, "Now people are gonna think I'm a divorced gold digger!"

"Quinn," said Tori, "It's a minor human interest piece in a gossip column. You should be happy for the free exposure."

"HAPPY!?" Quinn exclaimed, "You're lucky I'm not suing you for libel!"

"You don't have a case and you know it!" Tori barked, "I never claimed you were a divorced gold digger, I didn't say who the father of your kids is nor did I explicitly claim you and your college sweetheart were ever married. All I did was omit information that I felt was inconsequential, which is not sufficient grounds for a libel suit. Frankly, if you sue me for libel then I can counter sue for defamation."

Quinn let out a frustrated sigh. Being the daughter of a lawyer, she knew she had weak grounds for a libel suit.

"Dammit, Tori, I may not be able to sue but I'm still gonna have to do damage control because of what you wrote" said Quinn.

"Do what you have to do," said Tori, "but I accept no responsibility for your predicament. If you wanted me to give more details then you should've said so during the interview."

Quinn said "I didn't say so because I naturally assumed that was a given."

"And I didn't mention your marriage," said Tori, "Because there's nothing newsworthy there. You'll also notice that I mad no mention of Stacy being married to Upchuck either, and that's way more of an attention grabber than you being married to an everyman."

Quinn frowned as Tori had a point. Chuck hadn't been mentioned in the article either and as far as she knew Stacy was totally okay with that.

Sensing that she's won the argument, Tori said "If you're so insistant on accuracy, maybe I should also mention that Kevin and Brittany's youngest is the product of an extra-marital affair and Kevin's too dumb to notice despite that child being black while both he and Brittany are white."

Quinn said "Tori, choosing not to out Brittany as an adultress is NOT the same thing as making me look like a gold digging bitch."

"Is it really?" Tori asked rhetorically, "Think about the consequences if I'd mentioned Brittany's ongoing affair with her personal trainer and the fact that he's Kevin Junior's real father. You have to admit that the consequences of people who don't actually know you thinking that you're a gold digger are very minor by comparison. Besides, it's an article in the gossip column of a local newspaper. It's not like the piece is in Entertainment Weekly."

Quinn let out a defeated sigh. She had to admit that Tori had a point.

Hell's Kitchen, that evening...

Daria was at her computer when the phone rang. She immediately answered.

"Hello?"

On the other end of the line, Quinn said "Daria, have you read that article Tori Jerhico wrote?"

A lengthy explanation later..

"Well," said Daria, "I could understand being this upset if that were in a national publication, but this was in the gossip column of a small local newspaper. Most of the people who read it know that you aren't a gold digger."

Quinn said "Tori pretty much said the same thing when I confronted her about it. I'm still pissed."

"Quinn" said Daria, "I get it, but I really don't see any harm. Yes, the wording implys that you married your college sweetheart because you thought he'd go pro and divorced him when that didn't happen, but I really don't think it'll cause you harm. You and Jim have been on each other's channels, so your viewers know that you're not divorced. Also, I seem to recall you starting the rumors as a joke."

Quinn said "I've become a lot more protective of my image since then."

"Again, Quinn" said Daria, "it's a gossip column in a local paper, not a national publication. Frankly, you're overreacting. Even if this makes people think you're a gold digger I imagine, given the Harold's limited readership compared to the followers on your instagram, it'll blow over pretty quickly."

Quinn had to admit that Daria had a point.

"You think I should just let this go."

"Yes," said Daria, "She made me look like a crazy cat lady, but I'm not holding a grudge over it. It'd be one thing if Tori had outright lied, but all she did was omit information. Frankly, what she wrote makes the story more interesting."

Quinn conceded the point.

"I really am making a big deal about nothing, aren't I?"

Daria said "You wouldn't be you if you didn't. Quinn, this is nothing."

"You're right," said Quinn, "thanks, sis."

A few days later...

Quinn opened an issue of EW. What she saw made her eyes go wide. Tori's article was reprinted word for word in the magazine. Quinn's reaction was heard by all of Lawndale.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

To be continued...

Author's Note: This chapter is a direct nod to the 2017 EW article, in case that's not obvious.