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Author's Chapter Notes:

The fallout from Emmett discovering the girls' secret continues... Enjoy! TAG

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Chapter 20 - Pay Attention Here...



“Why are you trying to get me to stop Justin Taylor’s wedding? And, while we’re on the subject, why is there a picture of YOU on the couple’s wedding invitations?”


Qianna’s sleep-fuzzed brain was reeling as she tried to come up with some way to lie her way out of this. “Uh . . . I . . . um . . . I don’t . . . what . . . what are you talking about, Aunty Em?”


“Don’t play dumb with me, young lady,” Em growled. “I happen to know for a fact that you’re far too intelligent to get away with that. Now, sit up and tell me EXACTLY what is going on, right now!”


She obediently sat up and rubbed at her face, trying to buy time, but the sinking feeling in her gut told her that the jig was up and it was time to face the music. “I honestly don’t know what you mean about the invitations, Em, but you’re right that Justin Taylor IS the other groom for the wedding I want to break up.”


“Look!” Emmett insisted, offering her the tablet he had been holding, upon which was displayed a copy of the beautiful hand drawn wedding invitations that Justin had created for his wedding.


Qianna wasn’t lying about not having seen the invitations yet. She had intentionally left everything to do with the wedding to Quinne. She vaguely remembered hearing her sister talk about Justin deciding to make his own wedding invitations. Quinne had thought it was a brilliant idea - Justin’s artwork would make the invites much more personal than if the couple had simply gone with the traditional, plainly printed variety. But Qianna hadn’t bothered to look at whatever it was they came up with in the end, so she hadn’t realized that her father had included her picture along with his and Alex’s in his drawing. Now that she looked at it, she had to agree that it was a wonderful idea; it made the invitations so much more personal and, as always, Justin’s artwork was phenomenal. Only, if she’d known about this, she would have probably thought twice about getting Emmett involved. Now she didn’t know what to do.


“I hadn’t seen the invitations,” she confessed to her accuser. “They’re nice.”


“They are nice, but then again, anything Justin does is always wonderful,” Emmett agreed, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress next to Qianna as he spoke. “I just didn’t expect to find YOU being one of his subjects or that you’d have anything to do with his upcoming wedding. So imagine my surprise when I called up the Events Coordinator at the Hayes Mansion - who, by the way, deserves a raise for getting into work on a Saturday at the crack of dawn, and I don’t care how busy the day is supposed to be for them, that girl is a mensch - and I start chatting her up about this Alex Ramsey only to find that the other groom is an old and very dear friend, Justin Taylor. Then Kelly begins to tell me all about the amazing wedding that Justin has planned and I start to notice quite a few of my own, personal, tricks of the trade thrown in there, so I’m already getting suspicious, you know? But it wasn’t until Kelly started to rave about the invitations and then offered to send me a pic in case any of my future clients wanted to use the idea, that I realized that my own niece must have been involved somehow, and not just in planning how to tank the wedding. What I can’t figure out, is how your picture got on the invites. So you better start talking right now, Girlfriend, cuz I’ve got a really bad feeling about all this.”


“I really didn’t know about the invitations . . . or any of the other stuff, actually,” Qianna confessed, primarily because she was out of cover stories. “I never wanted this wedding to happen in the first place. I refused to have anything to do with it. So it wasn’t me that gave away your wedding planning tips. It was . . . Quinne.”


Emmett stared at her with confusion written all over his face. It was comical, to be honest, how dumbfounded he seemed. She rather liked the shock value of her little revelations. But she was too nervous to actually laugh at that moment so she sped on with her confession, hoping that she wasn’t about to blow everything for both her and her sister.


“Hi, Emmett,” she held her hand out in a gesture of greeting. “I’m Qianna Taylor . . . Justin Taylor’s daughter.”


Emmett mutely let her shake his limp hand, still looking adorably lost as he sputtered, “but . . . What?”


And then Qianna just thought to herself, ‘what the hell?’ and launched into the whole story about how she and Quinne had met at camp and discovered they were twins. Emmett sat quietly, listening to every word, which in and of itself was a sure sign of just how gobsmacked he was, because Emmett was never that quiescent for that long. When it was all over, Qianna fell silent too and waited patiently to discover what would come next.


When Emmett STILL hadn’t said anything after more than five minutes of just sitting there, Qianna started to get really worried. “Don’t be angry at me, Em. Please. I just couldn’t go back there and be a part of dad’s wedding to that total loser, Alex. And don’t be mad at Quinne, either - it was all my idea from the start, she just went along with it to humor me.”


“There were TWO babies?” Emmett mumbled, finally coming to life.


“Yep. There are definitely two of us.”


“But . . . how?”


Qianna sighed and then started into the explanation of heteropaternal superfecundation that was, by that point, becoming almost rote.


“Okay. But . . . Shit. This changes everything . . .”


“Yeah, I know. How do you think Quinne and I felt when we realized what was going on? Talk about a life changing moment,” Qianna agreed. “Which is why we need your help so badly, Em. We still haven’t been able to figure out exactly what happened. But, before, when Quinne asked about what you knew, you refused to tell her and said we had to talk to Brian, only you see why we couldn’t do that, right? We still don’t know what broke the two of them up or why they separated us. We couldn’t take a chance that they wouldn’t listen to us or that they’d still insist on keeping us apart. We’ve been trying to find our birth mother, and see if we can’t get the story out of her, but so far, no luck. So can’t you please just tell me what you know. And help us postpone the wedding. Please, Em? We need your help - we don’t know how to fix this and we just need more time.”


“Oh, no, no, no, no, no! No. I’m not going to get in the middle of another Kinney-Taylor love triangle. Nope. Been there, done that, learned my lesson . . .” Emmett insisted as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and started to dial. “This whole mess is happening because everyone was keeping secrets from everyone else, and I’m not going to be a part of that again. My Aunt Lula always used to say, ‘Sunlight is the best disinfectant’, and it’s time to clear up this whole rotten mess. Get ready for a whole lotta sunlight, Baby.”


Qianna groaned and slumped back into her pillows, defeated and hopeless. She’d always known they couldn’t get away with their twin swap for long, but she’d hoped to manage for more than four days. Damn it. Why had she listened to Brian and tried to get Emmett involved? For all he pretended to be this clueless queen, the man was shrewd as a snake and way more perceptive than he was given credit for.


“Brian, we’ve got a MAJOR problem!” Emmett was already announcing into his phone.


“Is Quinne okay?” Qianna could hear the concerned voice coming loudly over the line even though it wasn’t on speaker.


“I assume so, but . . . Well, let’s just say, I hope you’re not too fucked out and hung over to think clearly this morning, because you’re gonna need all your higher faculties for this one.”


“Huh? You’re making less sense than usual here, Emmy Lou.”


“Just get your ass out of bed and get over here, Kinney. Right away.”


“My ass is already out of bed, Honeycutt. I’m already on my way to pick up Gus and take him to breakfast at the Diner. If my daughter isn’t in danger of imminent bodily harm, can’t this wait?”


“Don’t call me ‘Honeycutt’. And, no, this definitely can’t wait.”


“What the fuck? What’s going on over there?”


“If I tried to tell you while you were driving you’d probably crash,” Emmett warned, and rightfully so if Qianna was any judge. “Just get the fuck over here. Now, please!” And to emphasize the urgency of the situation, he hung up on Brian, which was sure to earn him a tongue lashing later, but would no doubt hurry the man along.


By the time the inevitable knock on the front door of Emmett’s house came about ten minutes later, Qianna was up, dressed, and sitting at the kitchen table, sipping at a glass of orange juice and nibbling on a cranberry scone. She really hoped that this wasn’t the last time she got to sample one of Em’s delicacies, because he was an amazing cook. Although, based on the way the chef was still glowering at her, she wasn’t sure he’d ever stop being angry enough to bake for her or Quinne ever again.


“So, what the fuck’s the huge emergency?” Brian demanded, as he came through the door and took up the chair across the table from ‘his’ daughter.


“Hey, Sis,” Gus cut in, giving Qianna a worried squeeze to her shoulder as he passed by and took his own seat next to her. “Everything okay?”


“No,” she replied, wincing at the warning look that Emmett gave her.


“‘No’ is right. Things are about as far from okay as they could be at this point,” Emmett declared before turning back to Brian. “And, just so you know, I had NOTHING to do with this.”


“Just what would THIS be?” Brian asked, looking confusedly back and forth between his friend and his daughter.


“Go on. Tell him,” Emmett prodded.


“Shit. You got caught already?” Gus groaned.


Qianna shrugged and looked sideways at her brother with a guilty expression. “How was I to know that dad hand drew his wedding invitations and included a picture of me on them, or that the idiot at the Hayes Mansion would share a copy of it with Emmett when I asked him to help us stop the wedding?” she tried to excuse her mistake.


“What wedding are you talking about? Last I knew, I wasn’t getting married anytime soon, so I haven’t got invitations for you to look at,” Brian interrupted, looking at the two kids expectantly.


“Wrong ‘dad’,” Gus offered, unhelpfully.


“Tell him! Or I will,” Emmett ordered more forcefully than Qianna would have expected from the usually friendly man.


“Okay . . . Um . . . So, just so you know, Quinne is perfectly fine. She’s . . .  she’s in California with MY dad . . .” she began, haltingly, only to be immediately interrupted.


“What? What are you talking about? Emmett, did you let her get into your stash of LSD or something? I don’t understand . . .” Brian complained, looking genuinely worried for the first time.


“Pay attention here, Kinney. We’re trying to explain and you being intentionally obtuse isn’t helping. This,” Emmett pointed to the girl sitting at the table, “is NOT your daughter, Quinne. This is Qianna Taylor, your daughter’s sorta twin sister from . . .”


“. . . Justin?” Brian practically whispered the name, and then blew out a long deep huff of pent up air as his body seemed to collapse into his chair.


“Bingo!” Emmett crossed his arms, looking satisfied that the matter was finally being sorted out. “It seems the girls met at camp and started playing amateur detectives to figure out what happened and why they looked so similar. Then they hatched up this crazy plan to switch places so that Quinne could help tank Justin’s wedding - apparently he’s lost it and is planning to marry some total troll with serious personal grooming issues - while Qianna here carried on with their investigation into why you and Justin split them up as babies. So, care to shed some light on this mystery for everyone involved, Kinney?”


“You’re not Quinne?” Brian asked, still apparently too confused by the sketchily related story to understand the full import.


“Sorry. No. And I KNOW you’re probably going to be totally pissed, but I just really, really, REALLY wanted to meet you and Gus and everybody else here, so I talked Quinne into doing this twin swap thing, and I know it was probably a stupid idea - I mean, obviously, because we got caught already, right? - but nobody ever told us anything about you two being together in the past and we didn’t know why you would have separated us or if you would try and keep us apart after we told you and I couldn’t bear the thought of going back there and having to watch dad marry that stupid Yeti, so Quinne offered to take my place and see what she could do to get rid of the loser, and I came here so I could have at least a taste of what it would be like to have a real family, only now I don’t know if I want to go back, ever, because I don’t want to lose all of you, so please, don’t make me go back, not yet anyway, and please don’t get angry at us . . . please.”


“Wow,” Brian commented, looking at the girl sitting across from him with a penetrating frown that had Qianna trembling. “First of all, I can’t believe you said all that without taking a breath,” he began, betraying a hint of a smile, that relieved at least a tiny bit of her worry. “Secondly . . . let me get this straight . . . You and Quinne - and, I take it, Gus got in on this scheme at some point as well? - you guys cooked up this ridiculously complicated plan to switch places, stop Justin’s wedding to some troll, and pump me for information, with the aim of, what exactly?”


“Well . . . we didn’t really know how it would all end,” Qianna admitted. “I mean, we figured we’d get found out eventually but, in the interim, I’d at least get to meet all of you and I wouldn’t have to be part of the wedding from hell. Since I got here though . . .”


“What?” Brian demanded.


“I kinda hoped, maybe, that . . . well, that we could somehow convince my dad to move back here so Quinne and I could be together for real,” she confessed, finally revealing her deepest hopes. “I know my dad doesn’t really love The Yeti, but he’s just so lonely, you know, and from the pictures I’ve seen of the two of you together, he was tons happier when he was with you, so we thought that . . .” Everyone was looking at her, hanging on her every word, so Qianna felt she had no choice but to finish her sentiment. “We thought that maybe you and dad might get back together and then Quinne and I could be real sisters and everyone would be happy again.”


Then she stopped, fearing that the words sounded stupid and naive when said aloud. Brian would probably start yelling at her any moment, too, because what they’d done really was sorta stupid. It had all been just wishful thinking on her part. She should have known better than to try and manipulate her father into getting back together with his Ex. What the hell had she been thinking? How pathetic could she get? And now, not only were all their plans in ruins, but both Brian and Justin would probably be so angry at them that they’d be grounded for life and she’d never get to see Quinne again . . .


Right about the moment when Qianna had worked herself up into such a self-incriminating frenzy that she was about to start crying, however, the mood was broken by a peal of loud and unrestrained laughter. Brian, who’d been sitting back in his chair, hand covering his mouth as he seemed to contemplate how to retaliate against his scheming offspring and her newfound sister, had instead erupted into uncontrollable paroxysms of glee. He was rocking back and forth in his chair, laughing so hard there were tears coming from the corners of his eyes. This unexpected development had everyone else in the room confused for a good minute or two, but eventually the hilarity infected them as well, and before long the other three were laughing along with Brian, although none of them were exactly sure what the joke was.


“Oh, fuck!” Brian finally spoke up when the worst of the laughter had passed, leaving him gasping for air and wiping at the wetness that had leaked down his cheeks. “I can’t believe we fucked shit up THIS badly. Damn . . . Fuck, I’m sorry, Qianna. You have NO idea how sorry I am.”


“You’re not mad at us?” She couldn’t quite believe it.


“No. Not much, anyway,” Brian reached out to lay a hand on her arm to reassure her with his touch as well as his words. “Hell, I’m the one everyone should be angry at. You and Quinne . . . Fuck, I still can’t believe that there are two of you . . .”


“Believe it, Pops. I’ve seen them both and it’s fucking crazy,” Gus piped up once it looked like he wasn’t going to be in too much trouble.


“So, Quinne is with Justin? In California?”


“Yep. Speaking of which, I should probably call her and make sure she’s okay. When I talked to her last night she was waiting for Justin and Hairy Alex to get back from the hospital and was kinda freaking out over how much trouble she was going to get into for putting that homemade itching powder in all of the loser’s clothing,” Qianna explained, raising a new wave of laughter from Brian at the tale of his daughter’s pranks.


“Itching powder?”


“Oh yeah! And laxative brownies. And mousetraps in his shoes. And hacking his social media accounts - but I don’t think he’s found out about that part yet, so please don’t tell Dad, okay?” Qianna bragged on her sister’s behalf.


Brian rolled his eyes and shook his head with another chuckle. “Well, you better call her, then, so we can try and figure out what the fuck we’re going to do about this,” he ordered.


“You’re really not mad?” Qianna asked again, still unsure on that point.


“No. I’m not mad. I’m impressed, actually. I can’t believe you two did all this on your own, although I’d never put anything past my crazy-intelligent daughter and her, apparently, equally sneaky sister. I still don’t understand completely how this happened, but I’m not angry. And I promise you we will fix it. Somehow.”


Qianna followed orders, going to get her tablet and placing a facetime call to her sister as directed. Quinne must have been up already, even though it was still early on the west coast, because she answered on the second ring. She was also in a rather good mood, and before Qianna could warn her about what had developed in The Pitts, she launched into a breathless description of her current travails.


“Good news, Sis! They haven’t twigged to the itching powder yet. The doctors just sent Alex home with this stinky cream that he keeps slathering all over himself. But since he’s still wearing the hoodie I doctored, he just keeps itching like a dog with fleas. It’s hilarious, actually. How are things going with Aunty Em? Is he going to help us?”


At that point Brian leaned in over Qianna’s shoulder so that he was in the picture on that end of the call and answered, “I think you’re going to need more help than Emmett can provide, don’t you?”


“Pops?” Quinne’s tone immediately went flat. “Shit!”


“Yep. And that shit is about to hit the fan, big time, Spark,” Brian warned with a sickly sweetness that belied his ominous words.



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Chapter End Notes:

12/6/18 - Who thought Brian would be angry? I don’t see him like that - in my eyes he’s the ultimate pragmatist who would never be angry at something he sees as inevitable. And when he screws up, he admits it and then deals with the fall out. Right? Not so sure about Justin though . . . Now, though, we should at least start getting some answers about what exactly happened to split the boys up and how the twins came to be separated. Watch me write! TAG

 

PS - For those waiting on ‘Stylite’, my apologies. Why do I always try and deceive myself that I can write on more than one story at a time? I’m a total slave to my creative whims. When something inspires me, I have to write it then and there. I literally have NO idea how other authors manage to write several stories at one time. All I can say is that I’ll try my best to get that next Stylite chapter out for you - it’s all planned out, I just have to find the time to write it. Stay tuned. :(

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