He is literally so weird.

Perhaps that's not entirely fair – mom and dad are keeping most of his history private and warned them all to be kind – but he's just…odd. Even for her family.

Lori is trying to be friendly to him though, he's not the first foster kid to live with them and he wouldn't be the first to stay so it's possible this kid is going to be permanent, but he makes it so hard. He avoids eye contact when she starts up conversations, his answers are as short as he can make them and he never stands too close to any of them.

When her parents mentioned that they were bringing in a new child, it wasn't a surprise. Kids have come, kids have gone, kids have stayed, their family has included more than who currently lives there. But to bring home a boy? That was a shocker.

Everyone had been so excited about the change, all foster kids had been girls until now. Lana was so excited for a boy to play in the mud with her, Lynn wanted someone as in to sports as she is, Luna wanted a music enthusiast like herself. Lori had thought her dad would be the most excited since he would finally have another guy around the house.

But mom and dad settled them all down and explained oh so secretly that the boy was likely to be a challenge, even for the Loud family. His social worker had specifically asked for a female-dominated family. No family matched that description better and hearing that his name started with an L officiated that Lincoln would be the newest member of the Loud family.

Being the oldest, Lori knows she is responsible for helping out with her siblings. Her parents make sure she still has her own individual life – friends, Bobby, extracurricular activities – but it's not easy for them to manage a house with 10…er, 11 kids.

So mom and dad gave her bits and pieces of Lincoln's backstory. His biological parents were unable to care for him, relatives took him in for a while but were found…unsuitable by the state. His last home was unable to make progress with him and gave him up in the hopes that another family could help more.

Having siblings who stayed in multiple homes before permanently residing with them, Lori could imagine what the kid had been through. Her parents warned her that he would be irritable, quiet and hard to connect with.

"We've never had a child quite like this before, honey. We're not going to put that burden on you, but we will need more help with your siblings."

"That's right, Lori," Dad had said, patting his wife's hand. "We've talked to Leni and Luna about stepping up with their responsibilities as well."

She had leaned back on the couch and inhaled calmly. "How long do you think he'll stay with us?"

"Well, it depends on how well he does here. They've never tried Lincoln in a house with so many girls before. Mrs. Johnson – do you remember Mrs. Johnson from when Luan came to us? – She's Lincoln's social worker as well! She has high hopes that being around women will help put him at ease."

Lori had snorted. "Some of us literally don't even act like girls though."

"Lincoln's troubling experiences have all been with men. It's likely he see men as a…threat. We're testing how he does in an environment without them, he may feel safer with us."

Lori's heart had sank at those words. He sees men as a threat? That could only mean this kid had lived a terrible life so far. And the fact that there was only a chance that he would feel safe with them…

Crud.

Leni and Luna had met him first. Their parents had considered taking the oldest two, but didn't think Luna would be able to watch 7 kids on her own yet, so Lori had stayed behind and put her rules in place. It was extra hard to keep everyone still and quiet with the excitement running around. When they returned, Leni and Luna were bombarded with questions.

"What's he like?"

"What's his favorite sport?"

"What does he look like?"

"Is he nice?"

"Will he be a good brother?"

"Relax little dudes!" Luna had replied, a forced smile on her face. "Lincoln was…uh, interesting, very quiet little guy. Didn't say a whole lot, but I'm sure we can liven him up!"

"He was born in winter!" Leni had shouted.

"Huh? When did he mention that?"

"He didn't, but his hair is like snow!"

"Riiiiight, Lincoln has this totally white hair, very cool looking. But you gotta listen to mom and dad about not rushing at him. We're a big family and he's a nervous dude, he needs time to open up to all of us. Let him have his space for a few days, then you can introduce him to the chaos." Luna winked at the twins.

When the social worker showed up with Lincoln a few days later, Lori knew she would be the last to meet him. Mom and dad made them all stay upstairs, then called them all down two at a time. Leni and Luna went down first, in the hopes that familiar faces would put him at ease. After a few minutes downstairs, mom and dad called for the next two. Lori pushed Lana and Lola out of the door since they were the hardest to keep in the room. Lana rushed past the stairs, falling down the last steps, while her twin descended the stairs in a grand fashion, announcing herself as 'Lady Lola' to everyone in the living room.

After so long, the next two were called. Although Luan and Lynn were both clearly excited, they let the younger Lucy and Lisa downstairs next. The goth and the geek hid their excitement pretty well, but it was obvious to the older girls that they were anxious to meet the newest addition to the house. Plus, they seemed like a calm and collected pair to send down after the twins.

Luan was equally eager to meet Lincoln as she was to see Mrs. Johnson again. She waited until she and Lynn – who paced impatiently around the room – were called down, leaving just Lori and Lily upstairs until they too were shouted for.

Lori took a deep breath and grabbed Lily. She took the steps one at a time, suppressing the urge to run down and meet her new brother. As she got lower, Lori could see a tuft of snow white hair. Another step and she could see exhausted eyes and teeth gnawing on a lip. Another and she saw scrawny arms wrapped around legs that were pulled up to his chest against a gaudy orange shirt. Her sisters were spread around the room, watching Lori to see her reaction.

"Lincoln, this our oldest and our youngest, Lori and Lily, respectively."

Lori handed her sister to her father and stepped up to Lincoln.

"Hi Lincoln, it's nice to meet you," she stretched her hand and smiled broadly at the nervous boy. He gave her hand a wary glance, looked at Mrs. Johnson beside him, and after a moment's hesitation, reached for her hand. His was calloused and gritty next to hers and his torn nails were bitten down to expose the pink skin beneath them.

"Hi," he had mumbled, avoiding her gaze.

Lily cooed from her father's arms and stretched towards the newcomers. Lincoln looked up at her and smiled slightly before looking back at the woman beside him. She smiled encouragingly at him and he looked back to Lori, at a loss of what to say.

"Um, again, I'm Lori. I'm 17, so I'm the oldest here. If you need help with literally anything, you can come talk to me," she gave another smile and Lincoln nodded.

How her sisters had taken so much time introducing themselves and getting to know this kid was beyond her. She wasn't even sure what his voice sounded like!

Of course, that was all last week. Lincoln has been with them for a few days now and Lori still forgets what he sounds like with how silent he is. Lincoln spends most of his time locked away in his room (which originally was a large hall closet). Her siblings are just convinced that they need to be around him more for Lincoln to warm up to them. Lana asks him daily to make mud pies with her while Lucy is constantly reading him her old poems.

Lori watches from afar and knows Luna and Luan do too. They can see he is uncomfortable and are keeping their distance as to not over-stimulate him in such a new environment. Lori knows that they all want to meet the kid who is their brother now, but are wary with how he reacts to everyone else. Even Lynn is holding back and not demanding Lincoln to play something with her every hour. Leni is completely oblivious that Lincoln is uncomfortable with anything, asking why he looks so different on the penny and what kind of bleach does he use for his hair.

So far, he hasn't refused anything. Lily tugs at his hair and he grimaces, but doesn't pull away. He answers all of Lola's requests with stutters and quietly listens as Lisa explains her experiments to him.

Dinners are awkward at best. Mom and dad offered to let Lincoln sit at either table, but after a private conversation, he eats by himself at a later time and stoically sits in the living room. Lori suspects her parents sit with him and chat while he eats on his own time; Lincoln is still warming up to them too.

Lori has tried to talk to him, but gets very little in responses. Lincoln constantly stares at the floor while he answers. His favorite subject is English. He does not have a favorite show. No, he does not play an instrument (poor Luna). No, he does not play sports (poor Lynn). He likes the color orange. He does not have a favorite food.

He seems happy with his closet of a room. He never eats with all of them. He won't be alone with her dad. His eyes are constantly shifting and he never seems to speak.

Lincoln is definitely weird.

And Lori is afraid of why.

I haven't watched all the episodes of Loud House yet, but I'm getting there. Lori may seem OOC, but this is a different story and a different life, so she's going to be different herself.

I don't exactly have a plot for this, it'll probably just be a bunch of one-shots around foster-child!Lincoln living with the Louds.