Yes, I know Mother's Day is tomorrow and not today, but since I have to post the weekly Chains of Reality update tomorrow and I don't wanna oversaturate anything, I'm posting this today. Happy early Mother's Day!
It was a lovely evening at the Loud house, specially for Rita Loud, the matriarch of the family. Today was Mother's Day, and most of her children had already expressed their love for her: Lana gave her mudpies, Lucy wrote her a poem, and so on and so forth.
However, all the positivity she experienced earlier were nothing compared to when she came across her oldest child, Lori, who was leaning against a wall... With a stern, downbeat look.
"Hi Lori, how are you doing?" Rita greeted, but the young woman said nothing in return. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"
"Happy Mother's Day, mom," Lori bitterly greeted, looking away from her mother. It was clear something was bothering her. "I wanted to know what you'd want me to give you for the holiday, since my literally other siblings probably have their gifts, and I'd rather not make it look like I copied them."
"Lori, you're usually less downbeat than this," the mother of eleven remarked, sounding genuinely worried. "If there's something that's bothering you, then don't hide anything: You can tell me what's wrong and I'll try to help you."
It didn't take long for Lori to consider whether to tell her mother about her problems or not, it's not like she had somebody else to talk to at the moment: Not Lincoln, not Leni, and definitely not her father. Her mother was there for her, so it couldn't hurt to tell her, right?
"...Mom, I'm literally one year away from becoming an adult, and I still don't know what I want to do with my life! Luna, Leni, Lynn, very much all of my sisters already have an idea of what they want to be when they're older! Even Lincoln has the idea of being a comic book writer, or maybe an artist! But me? I'm stuck in square one, and I've been stuck there for my entire life!"
Then, noticing her mother's utterly shocked expression, Lori took a deep breath and calmed down. "But, I'm willing to swallow my angst or whatever to literally make this day the happiest day of your life, after your birthday, of course. And I'll ask again, what would you like as a gift?"
Though Lori forced a smile, it was already clear to Rita what was wrong: Lori was her oldest child, and yet, in comparison to her siblings, her lack of anything that made her stand out meant she was almost invisible to the general crowd. Specially compared to Lincoln, who was just as bland, but at least he had the distinction of being the only boy among his sisters.
But then, Rita remembered something she hid in the attic. Something she wanted to give her first child when she was older.
"Well, now that you mention it, Lori, there's something I want to give you today," Rita put a hand on Lori's shoulder as the young adult flinched. "Something I really cherished when I was a child, around Lincoln's age, and something I could never do when I was a kid, but which I hope you could do instead!"
Lori raised an eyebrow. "What is it? Learn how to stop before having too many kids?"
Rita laughed out loud at the joke. Yes, it was slightly insulting that her daughter told her this, but then again, it was kinda funny, in a slightly offensive sort of way. Then, she stopped laughing and said, "No, come with me to the attic, and you'll see what I'm talking about."
The young woman hesitantly did as requested and followed her mother to the attic, wherein they headed to a couple of familiar boxes and started searching. More accurately, Rita was searching, Lori was more focused on a peculiar picture hanging up in the wall: A young girl being given a cowboy hat by someone who looked just like Pop Pop.
"Mom, since when do we have this picture?" Lori asked as her mother took out something from a box and smiled. "I don't remember seeing this picture before."
The woman turned to Lori and hid the thing she got on her back as she walked to her oldest daughter. "That's because I took it out this morning..."
Rita put on the thing she took out on top of Lori, who soon realized it was a cowboy hat. The exact same one from the picture, to be exact. "To make something of a "bookend," if that's what your generation calls it today."
Once the woman released her grip from Lori, the teenager looked up and adjusted the cowboy hat. "I'll admit this hat looks a lot more stylish than other hats I've seen, but why would you give it to me?" she inquired before folding her arms. "We both know I still don't know what I want to be."
Rita giggled, then revealed the truth:
"I used to be like you, Lori, so your grandfather gave me that hat to cheer me up."
Lori could only blurt "Wait, what?" in response, causing her mother to laugh as the two sat down and she explained herself:
"Back when I was your age, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I got older: An artist? A security guard? A cop?" she started before chuckling to herself. "Let me tell you though, a crossing guard and dentist assistant certainly weren't the first things that came to mind."
"Mom, literally stay focused on the topic," Lori rolled her eyes.
"Right, sorry," Rita showed Lori a picture of her younger self having fun at the ranch. "Anyway, as I was saying, your grandfather Albert once took me to a visit to his ranch."
Naturally, Lori was surprised. "Grandpa Pop-Pop used to own a ranch?!"
Rita nodded. "Yeah, he decided to give it to one of my siblings, but that's besides the point: I loved to be there whenever I got the chance to visit; the animals, the nature, the fact that the stupid rooster wouldn't stop waking me up at like four in the morning, which drove your grandfather to throwing a boot at him once!"
The young woman and her mother laughed in unison at the last comment, though the laughter soon stopped as Rita continued:
"So, I loved it so much there, that I had an idea: Try and make sure I could work at the ranch one day. So whenever I came back to it, I asked my father to teach me how to run it. But alas, in the end, no matter how hard I tried, he never taught me anything. "Don't forget to have fun" he said. "It's not as fun running it as being in here" he said."
Rita frowned and looked at the ground. "So, I was very much upset about this. Now, coming to the ranch wasn't as fun as before, since I now knew I could never run it myself. The fun was just... Gone..."
Lori put a hand on her mother's shoulder as she continued. "But then, one day, my dad noticed my sadness and asked me what was wrong. I told him I was sad because he wouldn't tell me how to run the ranch, and that I no longer saw the fun in it since I would never own it. Then he shoved the hat up my head and said, "Don't let that upset you, darling! You're still young! You'll find out something better than running a ranch eventually, just keep going, and the answer will come clear to you eventually!"
Rita smiled. "That's when I realized something: I wouldn't be able to run the ranch, that was inevitable, but that couldn't stop me from making a promise! That when the time was right, I would gift the hat my father gave me to my first child, and help them through their sadness as dad once did with me!"
Then, the woman turned to her daughter and flashed a smile, "And that day is today, Lori."
"You want to cheer me up?" Lori inquired, raising an eyebrow as she got a nod in response. "B-But, mom, today is mother's day! I'm the one supposed to be give you a gift, to make you feel appreciated and special and that stuff!"
Suddenly, Rita put her hands on Lori's shoulders and said, with an unfaltering smile, "Lori, the best gift you could ever give me is let me relive one of the most important moments in my life, and remind me how I got to become the mother of eleven incredible children,"
Then, she hugged her.
"And guess what? You just did both of those things."
Both flattered and overwhelmed by the response, Lori genuinely smiled and shivered as she returned the hug.
"H-Happy Mother's Day, mom," the young woman said, barely holding back her tears.
And Rita just responded:
"Thanks... For making me happy."