A while ago I was given a request to do something by one of my readers. Since then, I've been going back and forth with them, piecing this together bit by bit. It was a lot of work and I hope that you like it as much as the one who requested it. As always, honest reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome.
Cirque du Loud
Disclaimer: I do not own the Loud House and make no profit from this story.
Luan Loud was more often than not in a good mood. Any of her many siblings could attest to her joyous personality with no second thoughts whatsoever. She was a free spirit who reveled in that which was fun and comedic. Very rarely could one find the girl taking something seriously without her still finding the opportunity to make a pun.
Today however, was one such rarity. Luan had arrived home from school that Friday afternoon a little later than the rest of her sisters and brother. She had gone straight up to her room long enough to drop off her school bag and then quickly went up into the attic. After several minutes up there, she finally came back down and then secluded herself in her room. She had even gone as far as to request that Luna leave her be for a short while.
"Is everything okay, dude?" Luna had asked of her sister and roommate.
"I'm fine, I just need some peace and quiet to think. I got something important that I need to do." Luan had replied.
Luna didn't pry into the matter and had just taken her axe out to the garage. Several minutes later, she was still having so much fun shredding that she had completely forgotten about it. Luan however, was busily at work upstairs. The sound of a mechanical pencil scritching across paper filled the room. Luan hesitated with her writing for a moment, tapping the pencil's eraser against the page a few times. She quickly erased something and then immediately wrote something new down in it's place.
She continued on like that for a while longer. Writing down more and more, only to occasionally stop and correct something. Eventually she set down her pencil and reviewed her work carefully. The corners of her mouth slowly curved upwards as she found satisfaction in her completed work. Taking her phone in hand, she sent a group text to all of her siblings telling them to meet in Lori and Leni's room.
A short while later, the Loud siblings had gathered in their eldest sisters' room. Luan did a quick head count and noticed that there were a couple of missing indiviuduals. Neither Luna nor Lincoln were present, leaving Luan slightly irritated. She excused herself and left the room, following the sound of rock music. No doubt the noise had kept Luna from hearing her phone, just like always.
Luan quickly made her way out to the garage and found her older sister in the middle of a guitar solo. Knowing better than to think she could call out to her, Luan just covered her ears and walked over to unplug the amp that Luna was using. Once the din had ceased, Luna quickly looked around for the cause.
"Dude, what gives?" She asked of her roommate.
"I sent you a text, we're having a sibling meeting." Luan answered.
"We are? I didn't know we had one scheduled today."
"We didn't. I called for it. It's something important."
Luna didn't question any further and shut the door to the garage, heading back inside. Luan followed, but once they were upstairs again, she split off and went to their brother's room. She knocked on his door and got no reply. After trying again and still not getting so much as a peep in response, she tried checking to see if he was even in there at all. And he was in there alright; reading comics in his underwear. And he had his Noise-B-Gone earbuds in as well, leaving him blissfully unaware of his guest.
Luan frowned and stepped into his room. She found his shirt and pants on the floor and picked them up. Lincoln noticed her from the corner of his eye and set down his comic to look at her directly. He pulled out the earbuds and raised an eyebrow at her.
"May I help you?"
"Yes, you can."
Luan suddenly pulled Lincoln's discarded shirt over his head. Then she simply picked him up and pulled his pants on next with him squirming in her grasp the entire time. She carried him from his room down to Lori and Leni's room, earning some giggles from the other sisters as they entered. After setting him down, he frowned and gave her a dirty look, which she ignored. And now with all eleven of them in attendance, Lori brought the meeting to order.
"Alright everyone." She said, rapping her shoe on her dresser. "I'm sure we're all wondering why we were asked to meet up on such short notice. So let's give Luan the floor and hear what she has to say. Luan, you're up."
Lori took a seat on her bed beside Lucy and Luna while Luan stood in front of them all. A few of the sisters picked up on the fact that their usually sunny sister was now seeming a bit more solemn for some reason. Luan took a moment to collect her thoughts and then inhaled slowly before addressing her siblings.
"Something has been bugging me all day." She said, her tone a touch sorrowful. "I heard some of the teacher's talking today, just before homeroom. They were talking about a news story that had been on that morning, about a robbery that had taken place last night. Someone had stolen a donations can for the Detroit Children's Hospital from a coffee shop over in Beaverton. The jerk just walked in, grabbed it and ran off."
The other Loud siblings began to look at one another, a few of them whispering. Luan waited for them to finish before continuing. There was a mild anger in her eyes and she was clenching her fists tightly.
"It bugs me so much that someone could do that. There probably wasn't even that much money in there to begin with but they just took it anyway! They took something that was supposed to go towards helping sick kids like it wasn't a big deal! But it is! It's a really stinking big deal!"
Luan stomped her foot angrily, making a couple of her younger sisters jump in surprise. She took a deep breath to calm herself and gave the rest an apologetic look for her little outburst.
"Anyway, getting back to my point." She continued. "I think something needs to be done about this."
"Well what do you expect us to do?" Lynn asked. "We didn't even know about it until you told us just now!"
"She's literally right you know." Lori said. "It's not like we can go after the person responsible and get the money back."
"I know." Luan replied. "But we can replace the money. Here, let me show you what I've been working on."
Luan took out an old notebook and opened it up. She stopped on a page with lots of untidy scribbles on it, dated years ago. Then she held it up for all of them to see.
"This is an assignment I had to do back at Royal Woods Elementary, for Social Studies class. We had to come up with a way to do something to help out the community and I thought up a circus fundraiser. One where all the proceeds go to a charity."
She turned the page, showing something similar on the next one. However this one had writing that was more recent, not to menton much neater. Luan had her siblings scootch closer so they could all get a better look at her work.
"I went over it and made a few changes from what I thought up way back then." She told them. "And I really think that this could be a success. But it's a big project and I can't do it alone. I know that it's a lot to ask of you, but..."
"Hold that thought." Lori interupted.
The eldest Loud child got up and left the room. Luan watched her go, feeling a mixture of confusion and worry. She knew that she was making a big request, but Lori wasn't really about to walk out on her, was she? Thankfully Lori returned not more than a minute later with both Rita and Lynn Sr. following her. She looked to Luan, gave her a smile and gestured for Luan to continue speaking.
"Go ahead, tell Mom and Dad what you were just telling us."
Luan smiled, feeling gratitude towards her big sister for thinking of bringing their parents in on this. She quickly repeated what she had already said and then showed Mr. and Mrs. Loud her idea. From there she started to go over all the details that she had thought through so far. Her hopes were to use the high school's grounds to set up the event. That way they'd have plenty of space to use as well as have ample parking for the attendees. Her plans also included a concessions stand which could provide a variety of beverages and snacks which would help raise even more money.
By the time she had finished explaining her idea, Luan found her family staring at her silently. Then her mother and father both pulled her into a hug, both of them beaming with pride.
"Oh Sweetie, that is a wonderful idea!" Rita exclaimed.
"You can count on us to help you, we're behind you one hundred percent." Lynn Sr. added.
"Really? You mean it?" Luan asked, almost having trouble believing what she was hearing.
"Absolutely!" Rita assured her. "In fact, I'm going to head downstairs and start making a few calls right now. Starting with your school to try and get you the space you'll need."
"And I have a really great recipe for candied apples that you can sell." Lynn Sr. said. "And I bet I can find a bunch of other ideas for snacks that can help bring in more money too! I'll be down in the kitchen if anyone needs me."
The parents left and Luan began to feel giddy. Things were going better than she had expected. At least so far they were. She still needed to see if her siblings were on board as well.
"So? Can I count on you guys to help out too?" She asked, turning to look at them all.
"Uh, duh! Of course we will!" Leni said, throwing her arms up excitedly.
"Just let us know what you need us to do and consider it done." Lori said.
Lynn jumped up and down, thrusting her hand into the air. "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! I want to be shot out of a cannon!"
"Why would you want to do that?" Lincoln asked, giving his older sister a quizzical look.
"Why wouldn't I want to do it?" Lynn countered. "It's a guaranteed adrenaline rush! I've always wanted to try it!"
"It also sounds dangerous." Lincoln added.
"Which is why it'll be perfect for the show!" Luan exclaimed, quickly writting it down. "We can work out the safety details later. But do you think you could do some acrobatic stuff too?"
"Sure thing, sis." Lynn said. "While we're at it, maybe I could try something like lion taming!"
"Uhh, leave that kinda stuff to me, thanks." Lana cut in. "I can wrestle gators, so a silly old lion won't be that tough. Ooh! I can do both!"
Luan nodded and continued writing. "Not sure where we'll get a lion or an alligator, but again, we can worry about that later. Anybody else have ideas? Don't be shy, just come out and say them."
The rest of the meeting proceeded as such. The many siblings all voiced ideas for Luan's circus, the comedian writing them all down regardless of how likely they could be done. By the time they had gone over every little thing that they could think up, Luan had several notes scribbled down on the pages following her initial plan. That evening, she was almost unable to fall asleep. She was far too eager to get to work on everything. But after a late night snack and a little white noise, she thankfully found sleep.
-Two days later-
Luan raced home, going as fast as she could on her unicycle. Her latest birthday gig had run a little longer than expected as the parents of the birthday girl had requested she stay for another hour. She was grateful for the extra money, but now she was running late. When she arrived back at her home, she rode around to the back yard where she found her sisters and brother busily working.
"Sorry, I took longer than I thought!" She announced, hopping off of her unicycle and letting it crash onto the ground. "How is everything going?"
"Fine." Lincoln answered, approaching her with a clipboard. "We're actually a bit ahead of schedule. Lucy's fortuneteller booth is pretty much ready aside of the paint and Leni is almost finished with everyone's outfits. Want to take a look?"
Luan nodded and Lincoln led her through the yard, towards the garage where Leni was at work. On the way they passed by some of their other sisters, all of whom were eager to show off what they had accomplished so far. Lynn was first, the athletic girl previously working on building a ramp with Lana's assistance. In her hands was a slightly torn sheet of notebook paper which she eagerly shoved into their faces. On it was a crude drawing of what seemed to be an obstacle course of some sort.
"Check it out! I finally figured out the layout for my daredevil run. It's pretty sick if I do say so myself."
"Well let's take a look." Luan said, taking the paper from Lynn. "Wow, this looks kinda complicated. Are you sure you can pull this off?"
"Pfft, are you kidding? I could do this in my sleep! It's easy-peasy. Here, let me walk you through it." Lynn said, pointing to one side of the paper. "First I start on a platform and ride across a rope to a smaller platform. Both of those will be over a large pit of deadly snakes. From there I'll bunny hop my bike across a lot more tiny platforms, which will all be over a pit of hot tar, to a second ramp that leads down through a few flaming hoops for me to jump through. After that I'll speed my way through some swinging blades and then do a big jump at the end. A jump that goes over a pool of piranhas. Pretty sweet, am I right?"
There was a momentary silence following Lynn's proposed daredevil act. Lincoln stared with his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide. Luan however seemed less shocked and more contemplative. She took Lynn's drawing and gave it a closer look, letting out a 'hmm' while she thought for a few seconds.
"I love the ambition, Lynn. But there's just one little thing I feel I should point out." Luan said.
"Really?" Lincoln asked. "Only one?"
"You might want to switch that last jump to something different. I don't know where we'd get real piranhas from."
"That's the problem?!" Lincoln blurted out.
"Well what do you think is wrong with my idea?" Lynn asked, putting one hand onto her hip.
Lincoln sighed. "I don't know. How about the fact that Mom and Dad won't let you do any of that?"
"Why not? They're gonna let me get fired out of the cannon!" Lynn huffed out.
"Only because Lisa put together all of those safety precautions for you." the boy returned. "And they still never agreed to letting you or Lana do that lion taming act."
"He does have a point." Luan admitted.
"Okay, fine! Whatever!" Lynn snapped, snatching her paper from Luan and shoving it against Lincoln's chest. "If you're so smart, then why don't you figure out my routine for me?"
A soft wheeze came from the boy as a result of the sudden pressure. He sucked in a little air and gave a weak nod in response to his sister's request. Lynn crossed her arms and went to head inside while Luan and Lincoln continued on their walk into the garage. Once inside they found Leni along with Lori and Lily. The baby girl spotted her brother and silliest big sister and crawled over to them. This caught the attention of Lori, who turned to face them, giving them both a better look at her current attire.
Lori was dressed in a pair of fitting black pants, a baby blue tail coat and white gloves. The outfit also came with a black top hat with a blue band sitting above the brim and Lori's whistle, which Leni had polished. She grabbed the top hat from it's place on a nearby table and put it on, flashing her siblings a big smile.
"So, what do you think?" She asked. "Leni says it looks good, but I feel like the hat just doesn't seem 'me'."
"I think it looks nice." Lincoln said. "But how about trying it with your hair in a ponytail?"
The eldest sister turned to face a full-length mirror that Leni had in the garage. She took a moment to consider Lincoln's suggestion and then gave it a try. Leni, who had come fully prepared with all sorts of accessories, handed a hair elastic to her big sister. Lori tied her hair back, put the top hat on and then faced her reflection.
"Ooh, not bad." She said, a touch of self admiration in her voice. "Hello there Miss Loud. You literally look amazing."
"Aw, thanks!" Leni chirped. "I think you look amazing too, Lori!"
"Uh, thanks, Leni." Lori said, opting not to correct her roommate. "Anyway, just wait until you see Lily's costume. It is the cutest!"
Lori stepped over to Lily and picked her up. She carried her over to a costume rack with many outfits hanging on it. Grabbing a hanger with a small costume meant for Lily, Lori quickly dressed up the infant, resulting in a bit of fussing from her. But despite all of Lily's squirming, Lori succeeded and set her youngest sister back down. Lily was now dressed in a little violet clown outfit with pink polka-dots and a frilly, pink collar. A pair of baby-sized clown shoes were on her tiny feet, making them look comically larger.
The moment they saw Lily in her clown outfit, all four of her older siblings began to smile at the sight. Lily however didn't find it as enjoyable at they did. She rarely kept her clothes on, preferring to crawl around in her diaper most of the time as she found it more comfortable. And the shoes felt weird to her too. They were too big and it was a little awkward for her to move without standing upright on two feet as opposed to the easier method of using all fours. She tried to take a step forward and wound up making a fascinating discovery.
Her shoes squeaked when she walked.
Lily took another step and again heard her footwear let out the silly noise. She giggled in delight and clapped her hands, starting to step in place. With each new squeak made by her shoes, she let out giggle after giggle, her dislike of them now completely forgotten.
"Aww!" The four older Louds all said at once.
"That is totes adorbs!" Leni cooed.
"I don't think she's going to want to take those shoes off. Ever." Lincoln noted.
"Good! I don't want her to take any of that outfit off ever!" Luan exclaimed, watching Lily with pure adoration in her eyes. "This is just the best! There's no way our audience won't love our clown act with this little cutie! Right Lilster?"
Luan kneeled down and held out her hands towards Lily. Lily walked over to her big sister, still highly amused by her noisy shoes. Luan took Lily's hands and slowly walked backwards, guiding Lily out of the garage. She gave a passing glance to their other siblings as she went.
"I'm taking miss silly Lily up to my room to try and practice some of the routine I have planned. But don't hesitate to come and get me if you need me for anything. Okay?"
Lincoln nodded. "You got it. But I don't think that will be an issue. We have everything set for now. We're even ahead of schedule, remember? Everything is going good."
-Later that week, three days before the show-
Things were going even better than anticipated. Luan could hardly believe the progress they had made in such a short amount of time. They had a location they could use, just where Luan had planned to go too. Her school's field had a large set of bleachers on either side, granting ample seating for a large crowd. Not to mention the space she and her siblings would need to set up and perform their acts. With that taken care of, she had the biggest concern off of her list of things to do. Now she just needed to focus on making sure they'd have all the necessary props and other items for the event. That and hope for decent weather, not that she could do much about that.
Luan checked the local forecast for Royal Woods over the next few days with her phone. At the moment the weather only had a low chance of rain. But she knew that could easily change as time marched forward. Her experience with her clowning business had taught her that keeping an eye on the weather was important when planning an outdoor event. And unlike any of the birthday parties she performed for, she couldn't just move the act inside if a sudden downpour began. This was especially a big concern as there was a very crucial part of her plans that was still missing.
They didn't have a tent. Not one that would be large enough to cover the entire area they were going to be using anyway. Luan had considered asking Leni if she could help out with that, but it was far too large a project for just one person. To make matters worse, she had no luck at all finding one that met her needs that she could rent or buy for the occasion either. She could go without it, she supposed, but then she'd really have to hope that there wouldn't be any rain when the big day came. No one would want to attend if they were stuck outside during a storm.
Letting out a sigh, Luan got up from the couch and went up the stairs to head into her room. But as she ascended the steps she heard the sound of arguing. Once she got to the top, she found Lana and Lynn in the middle of a heated argument. Lincoln was there as well, trying his best to mediate.
"Both of you just calm down!" The boy said, raising his voice a little.
"What's going on here?" Luan asked.
"Lynn ruined my act!" Lana exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the jock.
"I did not!" Lynn said.
"Yeah you did! You told Mom and Dad that I shouldn't get to wrestle an alligator!"
"No, I said that it wasn't fair that you get to do that when they already said no to the lion taming act. Or to letting me have snakes or piranhas for my daredevil run!"
"They aren't letting you do any of the run, Lynn." Lincoln pointed out.
"Thanks to you ratting my plans out to them!" Lynn spat.
"Oh, so because Mom and Dad won't let you do your dumb ideas, I don't get to do mine?" Lana asked, crossing her arms angrily.
"ENOUGH!" Lincoln shouted, standing between his two arguing sisters. "Lana, I know you aren't happy about this. But Mom and Dad were just trying to be fair. If Lynn can't use dangerous animals in her acts, then they didn't think any of us should."
"Well, what am I supposed to do now?" The first grader asked.
Lincoln took a moment to think. "We do have lots of pets that you can use in your act. Maybe you and I can think up something. Would that be okay?"
Lana nodded and Lincoln asked her to wait in his room so they could begin planning out something new for her act. Then he told Lynn he'd see her afterwards so he could help her with hers next. He had already come up with some ideas for it which he had gotten approved by their parents. All that was left was to run them by her and see what she thought. And he was confident she'd like what she heard.
Once both Lana and Lynn had left the hall, Lincoln let out a sigh of relief. He turned to face Luan, offering her a small smile. A silent way to give her an apology for the display she had walked in on. Luan was just relieved, not to mention grateful, that he had been there to help. Her brother had proven to be an incredibly helpful assistant from the minute they had started working towards Luan's goal. The initiative he had taken from day one had really been the key to what they had all accomplished so far.
"Thanks for taking care of that, Linc."
"Anytime. It's just a good thing that I don't have an act of my own to prepare for. With all the running around I'm doing, I doubt I'd have any time for practice."
Luan smirked. "Then it's a good thing I wasn't able to talk you into doing one! Never thought I'd be happy to lose an argument!" She giggled out. Then she took a quick look around to make sure no one else was nearby before leaning over to whisper to him. "The day after our circus, I'm taking you out for ice cream as a thank you for being so helpful. But I'm just taking you, so keep it a secret."
Lincoln nodded and mimed closing a zipper over his mouth. He then turned to head into his room to begin helping out Lana while Luan return to her room. Inside she found Luna lounging on the top bunk with her headphones on. She was no doubt enjoying the free time she had since she was among the few siblings who were fully prepared for the upcoming event. Her hours of practice with her many different instruments had left the rocker with little need to do much aside of compose some pieces to accompany each act, which Luna had the foresight to record so they could be played at the push of a button. Now she, along with Lucy, Lori and Lisa, only needed to wait until that Saturday when they'd go before a huge crowd and entertain them for the sake of charity. Luan was happy that things were going so smoothly for some of them, albeit slightly envious.
Luan took a seat on her own bed and pulled out her notebook, looking over the plans she had made for the circus. Taking into account the changes for both Lynn and Lana's routines, she found that there was little concern regarding the show as a whole. But at the same time, now she was starting to worry. What if there were other issues that could arise? What about anything that might come up at the last minute? Were they even as prepared as they thought they were? And there was still the matter of the tent. What if they couldn't get one and then the weather ended up being terrible that day? She'd hate to have to reschedule the event, or even be forced to cancel it just because of that.
A heavy sigh escaped her and she laid down. She was being paranoid. Her nerves were just getting the better of her because she was focusing too much on negative things. A little rest would help to clear her mind. Then she'd have a little comfort food and try tackling the tent issue again. There was still plenty of time left, she just needed to take it one step at a time, regardless of any problems that could come up.
-Friday evening, the day before the big show-
The Loud siblings had gathered in Lori and Leni's room for their after dinner meeting. They had already gone over the previous meeting's minutes and covered any old business that was of importance. As they moved onto the new business, Lori handed over the floor to Luan. The comedian handed off the minutes she had been recording of their current meeting so far. Lori took over recording as her younger sister took a place in the center of the room, all eyes on her.
"I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you again for all you're doing to help me out. It's been a lot of work and I know that it meant giving up a lot of your free time, so it really means a lot to me that you helped. All of our efforts are finally going to pay off tomorrow afternoon. But if there is any last minute concerns you have, I want you to let me know about them now. Do any of you need any more help? Or have any questions?"
She looked around the room. None of her sisters or her brother seemed to have anything to bring up. Aside of Lisa, who politely raised her hand as Luan looked in her direction.
"Need help with something, Lis?" Luan asked.
"Quite the opposite, actually." the little genius said, adjusting her glasses. "I have something to help you, my fourth eldest sister. A solution regarding your lack of a light conical canvas to erect over the area in which we shall perform for the masses."
A moment of silence followed Lisa's statement. Luan stared, her mind translating what the four year old had said into something less verbose. And as she came to understand it, Luan's eyes lit up and she smiled from ear to ear with excitement.
"You found us a tent to use?!" She joyously exclaimed.
"Well, not exactly." Lisa admitted. "But what I have should prove to be equally efficient, if not more suitable."
"What do you mean by that?" Luan asked.
Lisa gave a small smile and took a small item from her pocket. It was a plastic ball, hardly any larger than an egg. At first glance Luan thought that it didn't seem to be anything special. But knowing Lisa, there was bound to be more to the mundane looking object than she could imagine. The young and brilliant brunette took out a remote and gently tossed the orb up into the air. She pushed a button on the remote and four little arms suddenly sprang out of the orb, each with a tiny propeller that started to whirl rapidly.
"Behold!" Lisa said, gesturing to her device. "This orb is capable of achieving and maintaining an altitude of up to seven hundred sixty-two centimeters, or twenty-five feet, for a duration of four hours. Once in position, it can project any color in the spectrum and even generate an energy shield which can repel precipitation!"
"Oh, uh, neat." Luan said, not completely understanding. "So this can keep everyone dry if it starts to rain?"
"Yes, but not only that. Here, please observe."
Lisa pushed another button on her remote. The hovering orb then shimmered and a holographic shape began to appear beneath it. Alternating wide stripes of red and white stretched down to the floor, rippling like a piece of cloth caught in the wind. The image looked so real that Luan believed if she reached out, she could actually touch it.
"Impressed, I see." Lisa noted. "This not only creates the ambiance of a genuine circus tent, but it will also shut out strong sunlight and winds, in addition to the aforementioned capabilities. Not to mention the benefits it will provide in the various performances we shall be engaging in, come tomorrow afternoon. In fact, I suggest we open the circus by having my invention and it's duplicates propel themselves up and around the area, generating the image of the tent around the audience. I have no doubt whatsoever that it will leave them gaping in awe."
Lisa shut down her device, catching it as it slowly descended to the ground. She pocketed the item and looked up to her elder sister, awaiting her reaction to the demonstration she had just witnessed. Luan began to smile again and held her arms out as she approached the four year old.
"I'm going to give you the biggest hug right now!"
"Um, that will not be necessary." Lisa said, taking a small step back. "A simple verbal expression of your gratitude is more than sufficient. No need for physical contact."
Despite her polite request, Lisa still found herself being pulled into a tight embrace. She squirmed to get free, but her efforts were in vain. Luan's arms were squeezing her too tightly for her to escape and she had to endure the duration of the hug. Once she was finally set back down, she retreated back to the spot were she had been seated and Luan returned to where she had been standing in the middle of the room.
"So, does anyone else have anything that they want to add? No last minute questions or concerns for tomorrow?"
This time none of the other ten Loud siblings raised their hands. A few of them shook their heads, indicating that they had no issues whatsoever. Luan then took back the minutes from Lori, allowing the older girl to resume the meeting. Lori took her place in front of the others again, a knowing smile coming to her lips.
"Moving onto our next item. I have a surprise for us all." She announced. "A certain restaurant we all like is doing a certain event we all love."
"The International House of Waffles is doing their 'All you can eat' deal?!" Luna cried out with mirthful surprise.
Lori nodded. "Bingo."
"Aw, sweet!" Lynn cheered. "When is it?"
"It starts at noon tomorrow." Lori answered.
A chorus of cheers filled the room. The girls began to jump around, pumping their fists in the air and hollering over how excited they were. The only one who didn't seem to be happy about this announcement was Luan, who quickly rushed back into the center of the room, waving her arms to gain everyone's attention.
"Hold on! Hold on!" She called out. "Tomorrow? As in, when we're supposed to be setting up and performing our circus? That tomorrow?!"
"Luan, relax." Lori said. "We'll have plenty of time to go there, eat and then come back for the circus."
"But the nearest IHOW is three towns over!" Luan pointed out. "And we need to bring everything to the high school field and set all of it up first!"
"Don't worry about it, dudette." Luna said. "I asked Chunk to lend us a hand with hauling around our stuff. He's gonna help us get all prepped too. We'll get up early, set everything up while we work up an appetite and then go chow down."
"Luna's right, Luan." Lori said. "We'll get there before it gets too busy and be back with plenty of time to spare. The show doesn't start until three, right?"
"Well, yeah, but..."
"But nothing. I promise you that everything will work out." Lori reassured. "We know how much this means to you, so we aren't going to go and mess things up for you by running late to our own event. Trust us."
Luan was silent for a couple of seconds. But then she smiled, the worry that had been rising up in her now subsiding. Lori had made a strong point. After all of the effort that they had all made, she knew they wouldn't want it to go to waste. Especially not with how important they knew it was to her.
"Okay." She said. "But if that's the case then we need to get ready for bed A.S.A.P."
Lori gave her a short nod and turned to face the others. "You heard the lady, get your butts into your pajamas and then march into the bathroom to brush your teeth! I'll be checking in on each of you to make sure you're all in bed by eight o' clock! Now march!"
The younger siblings all began to do as they were told. As they filed out of the room, Lori and Leni began to get ready for bed themselves. Leni went into their shared closet to select a nightgown to wear while Lori went out to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. Afterwards she returned to her room to change and make her usual call to Bobby before bed. And just as she had said, she did a quick round to make sure all ten of her younger siblings had gone to bed before she herself laid down for the night. She gave Bobby one final text for the night and settled beneath her comforter, soon taken into sleep's gentle embrace.
Meanwhile, across the hallway, Luan was also settling down in her own bed. But unlike Lori, she wasn't having as easy a time falling asleep. Now that the big day was just around the corner, she was having trouble keeping her mind off of everything that was ahead of them. The long list of things which needed to be done in the morning aside, she found herself also thinking of things that could possibly go wrong. And if something did go wrong, then what? Would she need to give out refunds? Would people ask for them, even knowing that it was all going towards a charity?
Luan turned over and pulled her blanket up, covering her entire body. She was just nervous. This was the first time she had something so big riding on a gig. And it was one heck of a gig too. She just needed to calm down and remember she had her family backing her up. As long as they were there with her, everything would be just fine.
To be Continued
Okay, so that's it for part 1 of this story. But there will be an update soon, so keep your eyes open for it! As mentioned before the story began, this was a request that has been in the making for a good while so I made sure to have it completely ready for the sake of the requester. And in the event anyone else may wish to make a request, I'm sorry to say that I won't be doing so for a short while due to the fact that I yet again fell behind my other stories. But check my profile page from time to time. If I do start to take requests, I'll have it posted there.