Best Brownies in Town; Quinn Fabray/Mercedes Jones, Judy Fabray, 442 words; rated: PG
Judy Fabray was, by most people's accounts, a good mother, and a great person to have sitting next to you on the PTA board - or any other organization, for that matter. She paid her taxes on time, she baked brownies for the church bake sale, and her lawn was always immaculately trimmed by noon on Saturday.
She also had a husband who cheated on her and a daughter who gave birth at the age of sixteen.
Sitting down on the couch with a glass of wine one afternoon, she turned on the television and began aimlessly flipping channels. She had forgotten how lonely it was with no one around, marrying young and then having two daughters in such a short time frame. Maybe she'd get a dog one of these days, for company.
She stopped flipping through channels and settled into a rerun of an old sitcom she used to enjoy. It's like a comfort mechanism; she pulled the afghan off from its position draped over the back, wrapped it around her, and felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier as the laugh track droned in the background.
Until she woke up, the cheery one-liners replaced by a newscaster holding a microphone up to a heavyset black girl. She rubbed her eyes. Was that - Quinn's friend, she thought for a moment before remembering her name: Mercedes. It looked like Mercedes, at least. "How many years have you been coming to Dayton Pride?" the reporter asked.
"First time," she said, throwing a wink into the camera. "My girl and I came down to have some fun for the weekend." Judy picked up her glass to finish off the last remaining bit of wine as the camera panned out to reveal a second girl next to her, her hand resting comfortably on Mercedes's waist.
She'd recognize the girl anywhere.
The glass flew out of her hands, shattering on the floor below, drops of red wine landing on the rug, but her attention was focused on her teenage daughter, on television, at a pride festival of all things with - she couldn't believe her eyes. Her daughter was kissing another girl. In public. In front of a camera, of all things!
"Quinn Louise Fabray!" she shouted at the television.
There would be a conversation about this when Quinn - and Mercedes, she added, with a heavy sigh - came back to Lima. Maybe this was why they were always so secretive about their study sessions.
Her husband cheated on her; her teenage daughter has already given birth and apparently is into kissing other girls.
She still makes the best brownies in town, though.