The Gossip Girls

It's amazing, how one act of trust can seal the prosperity of an entire company. This time, though, it was The Company -- and if prosperous isn't the term you'd use to describe their new stature, then I don't know what you'd use.


The crime syndicate based along the banks of Riverview's namesake had found itself, finally, a niche in which to lurk. For years, it had been subject to leak after leak, and had fallen into mutiny enough times that rival enterprises had been cropping up all over Riverview and 'spreading the wealth' in a way that helped no one. Not only did it cause thug wars between the lower ranks and too much competition, it aroused too much suspicion from the police. Too much attention, and the harder their job became -- a job that just became infinitely easier because of Tana.

With rival crime lords being unceremoniously lopped out of the picture, the Company began to settle quietly, briefly shutting down operations in order to "fall off the map", so to speak. Tana found herself promoted, and finally making enough money to move out of that old, creepy mansion into a small condo. And Jeb, having earned a great deal of respect for becoming allies with a member of the detective force, was finally given the esteemed honor he knew he deserved: the rank of Master Thief, and the treasured symbol of the Golden Fox.

But careers were not the only things that were beginning to bud in the gray house on Dogwood Lane.

Meredith had been feeling ill lately, and thought it was time to time to seek out Jeb's mother in order for her medical opinion. Farah didn't have much of an opinion on the matter; when someone is pregnant, they either are or they aren't... and Meredith most definitely was. However, using her miraculous abilities, Farah was able to inform her that she was going to be the mother of a baby boy.

After a good deal of freaking out -- she had just gotten hired for a job and they'd have to finish the nursery and oh my goodness will Jebidiah be happy and how am I going to fit into my pants, I'm going to have to buy new clothes and OH MY *(@% I'M PREGNANT -- she finally managed to break loose from Farah so that she could meet Jebidiah at the bistro and let him know the news.

Although Jebidiah had a lot on his mind -- things were growing tense at the Company whilst waiting for a safe go-ahead from the Leader to resume their criminal activities -- it was almost a stress relief to hear that there was another addition to their family on the way. A son... a protege. It's exactly what he wanted, but for one slight moment, he experienced the joy an expecting father is supposed to feel: He was going to have a son.

...But, alas, it was just a momentary loss of composure for him. Everything has a diabolical end, and he knew he would find the means to use it.

A few days later, Meredith sought Tana out to share the good news. Her sister seemed happy, but uneasy... Enough so that Meredith easily noticed. She wasn't used to seeing her sister so emotionless, and -- being the neurotic and easily concerned -- went out the next day in order to see if she could figure out what was nagging on Tana's mind. As it turns out, the reason that Tana was so confused was that she, too, was going to be a mother; she just didn't want to spoil Meredith's happy news with her own misgivings about being a parent.

As discontent Tana was with her own pregnancy, things likely could not have ended up better. With each other to lean on over the next few months, the transition to parenthood was made a lot easier than it could have been. Tana wasn't the only one that Meredith relied on, though; a ways into her pregnancy, Meredith met Trista Dow.

Trista Dow was one of the more interesting acquaintances that Meredith had ever made. Though this isn't saying much, since Meredith's shy disposition rarely led her outside the house, she was still shocked at how quickly they became friends. Where Meredith was introverted, Trista was a rolling ball of excitement and party favors -- Meredith was sure that, if she had encounter Trista in college, that the woman would have been the girl dancing topless on the bar. No, no, Trista was certainly not her type.

And yet, chance would have it that, both being pregnant at the time, they had something in common. That, and Trista turned out to be artistically minded, too -- she was employed in the Music business, currently working as a Music Talent scout. Had Meredith the disposition, Trista always used to say, she wouldn'tve made a half bad client... But where Trista needed to keep her life busy and complicated to be happy, Meredith was perfectly content keeping things slow, now that she was expecting a child.

Behind closed doors, things were finally picking up pace for Jebidiah and his gang. With several months past of recruitment, working in more leads to the police department, and training new thugs at covering their tracks, life in the Company was ready to resume full operations. The Leader was working overtime on their organization, but Jebidiah was slowly becoming bored; training newbies was low-grade turf, and he was ready to start hitting the high-profile stuff again.

But while Jebidiah's boredom was about to be ceased, rumors of the going-ons of the criminal agency had begun to spread. Ready to believe any conspiracy theory, Meredith soaked up all the gossip that Trista was willing to dish out -- Tana, though, nervously tried to talk them down. She was a cop, so of course she knew what was and wasn't happening -- and there certainly hadn't been any strange discoveries! ... But the fact that Trista knew anything was enough to get her nervous. Where were these leaks coming from?

Meredith didn't concern herself for long, though. It had been nice that Jeb had been around more for the pregnancy months, but that was about to end. Once Trista's baby arrived, Meredith and Tana began to watch their calendars more intently -- and Meredith didn't have to wait long at all.

A few hours later, Travis Kane arrived in the world.

But Tana did not have to wait long, either -- only a few short days later, Tana gave birth to a girl, who was given the name June.

It was just in time, too... Meredith was going to need something to keep her distracted and busy, as Jebidiah's wishes were finally going to come true.