Lori waited a week before calling her oldest sisters together in her room, a whole anxious, stomach churning week. She planned to do it sooner, but chickened out at the last minute and pushed it off to another day. Why do today what you can do tomorrow, right? But as a great philosopher once said: What is today but yesterday's tomorrow?

So, on an early April evening after dinner, Lori went to Lynn, Luna, Luan, and Leni, asking each one to come to a special, top secret sisters meeting. Her stomach was jelly and her knees shook. The others noticed, Luan even asking if she was okay. No, she was not, not really. She was nervous; she had no idea how they would react to her plan. Would they go along with it? Would they walk out in disgust? She hoped that they would agree. It was for Lincoln, after all, their only and beloved brother, the sweet, considerate boy who would do anything for them, even if sometimes he had to be dragged by the ear to do it. He needed them now more than ever.

Lori waited on her bed for the others to arrive, her arms crossed over her chest, her heart beating fast. Leni sat at her vanity, humming and brushing her hair, so carefree and content. Lori figured she was nervous too, but for a different reason: She was waiting to hear back from the Chicago School of Design. If they found her work worthy, they would accept her. If they didn't, she would have to cast about for a lesser school. She didn't show her anxiety, though. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world, and at that moment, Lori envied her completely.

Luna was the first to show, wearing a pair of purple track pants and a black T-shirt. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Lori replied.

Luan came next, wearing her trademark skirt and blouse, her socks pulled almost to her knobby kneecaps. Lynn came right behind, in a jersey and a pair of gym shorts. She was barefoot, and looked like she didn't particularly want to be there.

Lori counted heads. Yep. They were all there. All five of them. They could start any old time. Any. Old-

"So, what's this about?" Lynn asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the door.

"Yeah," Luan said seriously, "you look like someone died. What's up?"

Sighing, Lori stood. Alright. Here we go. "I'm sure you've all noticed that Lincoln had been acting...strange lately." Her lips were dry, her voice shaky. God, she hated this.

"Yeah," Lynn said, "come to think of it, he has been kinda weird. Today was, like, the third time he asked if he could walk home with me from school. Like, what, am I going to say 'piss off, kid, no'?"

"Well," Leni said, still sitting at her vanity but facing her sisters, "he did volunteer to help me size a dress, and he totes hates that. It kind of surprised me but I didn't really think about it."

"I think he knows my routine better than I do," Luan said. "I thought he was finally coming around and starting to appreciate good comedy."

"Or becoming a masochist," Lynn said, then looked at Lori. "He has been wanting to play sports with me more."

"And asking to hear my new stuff," Luna added.

Lori nodded. "That's because...Lincoln feels like an outsider in this family."

Lynn flinched, Luna blinked, Leni cocked her head. Luan's brow furrowed.

"What?" Lynn asked.

"He feels like this isn't his home. Like...I don't know, it's hard to explain. He feels like we're this group that he can never be a part of, and he's desperate to be close to us. It's killing him."

"Why does he feel like that?" Leni asked. "We each spend tons of time with him."

"I don't know," Lori sighed. "Why do I feel like I'm a failure as a big sister?"

"You're not a failure!" Luan said.

"Yeah," Luna added, "you're rad."

Lori held up her hand. "This isn't about me, it's about Lincoln. We can play sports with him and tell him our jokes and play our guitar for him until we're blue in the face, but that's not going to help. He's got this deep...I don't know...spiritual need to be close to us, and I think I know what we can do."

"What's that?" Lynn asked.

Lori sighed. Her heart was racing now. Here it comes. "Last week...me and Lincoln...had sex."

Shocked silence filled the room. Lynn's jaw dropped and Luan's eyes widened. Leni cocked her head and looked at Lori as though she were an alien.

"You did what?" Luna asked.

Lori nodded. "It wasn't something I planned, but I...I don't regret it, because it brought us closer."

"Yeah, really close," Luan said.

"I think...I think this is what Lincoln needs. He needs a level of closeness with us that can't be achieved any other way. Except maybe for cannibalism."

"Wait," Lynn said, "are you saying you want us...?" she was blushing furiously, a stricken look in her eyes.

Luan looked down at her feet. She was blushing too. Luna gaped.

"Yes," Lori said. "I know it's...a little heavy, but I've been thinking on it, and it's the right thing to do. If you could have seen the pain in his eyes...you'd do whatever it took to make it go away."

Leni assumed a thoughtful expression. Lori could see the cogs of her sister's mind working behind her big brown eyes. Leni was not the smartest of the Louds, but she was not braindead, despite what her siblings might believe. She fully understood what Lori was proposing: In order to bring Lincoln closer to them, and make him feel included (was that the right word?), they would have to have sex with him. She could see where it made sense. After all, how much closer could two people be? In sex, two became literally one, and a special bond was formed. If they forged that kind of bond with Lincy, he wouldn't feel like he didn't belong, like he was apart from them. Leni loved her little brother. And if that's what it took, she was onboard.

"Okay," Leni said. "I'll do it."

Her sisters all looked at her, Lori with relief and the others with a mixture of shock and...was that envy?

She shrugged. "Who better to lose your virginity to than someone you love?"

Lori looked at Luna, the third oldest of the Loud sisters. "You in?"

Luna sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't know," she said. "I'd do anything for love, but I don't know if I can do that."

"Come on," Lori said. "He'd do the same for you if you needed it."

Luna sighed again. He would. He'd do anything for them. He'd shown that time and time again, and she couldn't lie: The thought made her center quiver. She nodded. "Yeah. For Lincoln."

Lori turned to Luan. Her face was scarlet and her eyes had a doe-in-the-headlights quality. She looked left, right. "I-I don't know. I guess."

Though she would never admit it to her sisters, she had noticed Lincoln. In that way. When he walked around in his underwear, she avoided him, because if she didn't, she would find her eyes creeping across his flesh, her breath catching in her throat and a tiny pinprick of fire searing her core. She wondered what his chest and back would feel like under her questing touch, what he would feel like if she slipped her hands down the front of his underwear...her flesh burned and her stomach panged.

"You're in?" Lori asked.

With a sigh, Luan pursed her lips and nodded. She was.

Lori looked at Lynn, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you really think this is going to help him?" Lynn asked.

Lori nodded. "I do."

It would be a lie to say that Lynn had never felt...something down there when Lincoln tackled her during a football game. It was a shameful smoldering that she ascribed to puberty. Sometimes simply having the cat on her lap made her squirm, and she sure as hell didn't want to fuck it. Then again, she never caught herself thinking about the cat late at night, wondering what it would feel like if the cat slipped its hands into her shorts and touched her, parting pedals of her flowers and plunging into the honeysuckle center...

"Alright," Lynn said. "I'm in."

"Great," Lori smiled. "Now...we need a plan."