"Are you sure you have everything?"
"Relax, bro." Luna placed her hand on Lincoln's shoulder. "I'm used to packing my own gear."
"I'll take your word for it, then." Lincoln smiled, then pulling Luna into a hug. "Hey, stay safe, okay?"
"Will do, bro." After a brief squeeze Luna pulled back, stepping aside to let Luan past.
Luan brushed a lock of her shoulder-length hair aside. "Thanks for offering to look after everyone while we're gone."
"Happy to help." Lincoln pulled her into a hug as well, letting her go after a minute. He flinched as he felt something hit his shoulder with considerable force.
"Yeah, thanks Linc." Lynn's voice added. "I owe ya one."
"I'll keep that in mind." He replied, ruffling Lynn's hair. Lynn grabbed his arm and pushed it away with enough force to stagger him.
Lola, dressed in an elegant pink dress, approached him. "Make sure Leia does all her schoolwork, okay?"
"Of course, Lola."
"And make sure she has fun too." Lana, dressed in the least elegant button-up shirt and worn jeans, added, with a sly smile.
Lola sighed. "Yes, that too."
"Bye, Linky~!" Leni approached him and wrapped him a titanic hug. Lincoln almost felt like his spine would snap if she didn't release him when she did.
"B-bye, Leni." Lincoln took a moment to catch his breath as Lisa approached, resplendent in a pristine white coat over an oversized green sweater.
"Lincoln, report to me any problems or unusual things that happen with Lulu as soon as they happen."
"I… will try." Lincoln replied with a degree of concern in his voice. Something suddenly rammed into his back, nearly toppling him over.
"See ya, Linc!" Lily, wrapping her arms around him from behind, pulled Lincoln close. "Gonna miss you, dude."
Lincoln turned around. "See ya, Lil."
"Oh, and lemme know if Lani does anything… weird."
"I'm sure it'll be fine."
Lincoln turned to the sound of heels clacking on the dock's concrete. Standing there, with a somewhat imposing presence despite not being as tall as him, was Lori, dressed in a smart casual uniform.
Lincoln smiled. "Hey Lori."
"Hey." Lori approached him and pulled him into a hug, pulling back after a moment. "Thanks for taking care of Loan for me."
"Happy to help. But, why isn't she staying with the Casagrande's?"
"They already have their hands full with Rosalina, I doubt they'd be able to deal with that literal nervous wreck of a daughter I have."
"I think you're being a bit harsh, Lori."
"Tell me if I'm a bit harsh once you've spent more than a month with her. But seriously, thank you."
Lincoln nodded. "So, I think that's all of you."
"You forgot me."
Lincoln felt a shadow looming behind him. He turned and smiled as the rest of his sisters yelped in surprise, looking at the giant of a woman before him. "Ah, sorry, Lucy."
Lucy, a few inches taller than him, and dressed not in her usual gothic attire but a more casual (but still black) outfit, with most of her hair tied back, smiled as much as her demeanour would allow. "It's fine."
Lincoln pulled her into a hug, letting her go after a moment. "Well, have fun you guys, and stay safe."
He stepped aside and let the throng of children behind him say their farewells to their mothers. He spend a moment watching each group - Lana and her daughter Lizy were pretty normal, Lizy remarkably calm about the whole ordeal as her mother picked her up and hugged her. Liby and Luan pulled each other into a tight hug and were one of the last ones to let each other go. Liena signed a few things to her mother Leni, which was translated by her brother Lyle, and the trio hugged, with their adopted sister joining in. Luna pulled her two kids close as well, but while Lyra was somewhat reluctant, Lemy was fully accepting of it. The two infants, Lani and Lulu, were picked up by their respective mothers, Lily giving Lani a lot of affection before handing her to Liena, and Lisa spending a moment studying her child before giving her to Liby and telling her a few words. Lynn and her daughters Lacy and Lynn the Third spent a second play-fighting before saying their farewells. Lola knelt down to talk to Leia, saying a few stern words before her expression softened and she brought her into a hug as well. Lucy and Lupa simply spent a moment talking to each other, Lucy patting Lupa's head much to the white-haired girl's irritation. Finally, Lori stood in front of her daughter, Loan, merely only saying something to her with a stern look on her face. The nervous expression on Loan's face pained Lincoln to see.
After their farewells, Lincoln led the kids off, waving to his sisters right up until he rounded a corner. Soon he made his way to his minivan, a newer model since Vanzilla had finally died on him nearly eight years ago, parked on a beachfront parking bay near to the dock. The kids and him mounted up. "Everyone got their seatbelts on?"
After a wave of affirmation, Lincoln started the engine and pulled out carefully.
"Hey Uncle Linc, can we get lunch?" Lemy asked.
"I want ice-cream!" Lizy called out from the back. "Please."
"Ice-cream for lunch, Liz?"
Lizy spent a moment thinking. "Yeah!"
"Come on, Lizy, you know ice-cream isn't good for lunch." Leia replied. "Although, I wouldn't mind some myself as well as lunch. Mom never lets me have ice-cream."
Liena signed something, but Lincoln had no idea what she said. "Liena, dear, I can't hear you while I'm driving."
Liena repeated to Lyle, who translated. "She's asking how you're going to pay for it."
"Ah, I got a nice bonus for some work I did. But hey, if you guys wanna help chip in I'm not gonna say no."
Lupa sighed. "So, dad, where do you want to take us for lunch?"
"First off, Lupa, don't call me dad. I might be your biological father, as all of you know now, but I'd much rather that fact remain secret."
"Fine." Lupa groaned.
"Second, I know this nice little place not far from my home. It does a bit of everything."
"Sweet, options." Lacy replied. "I'm gonna get myself a biiiiig sandwich with all kinds of stuff on it."
"I think all of us getting some lunch would be a wonderful idea." Liby added, playing with Lulu as the infant sat on her lap.
"Hopefully we won't go all 'Loud' on them." Lyra said, glancing towards Lemy.
"Hey, what are you looking at me for?" Lemy sounded indignant.
"M-mom said I'm not allowed to have junk food…" Loan murmured, barely audible.
"Don't worry, Loan, it'll just be this one time. It never hurts to have a special treat once in a while."
"Yeah, but…"
"Ah, come on, Loan." Lynn III patted Loan's leg, the girl flinching a little. "It'll be fine. Aunt Loan isn't here to breathe down your neck or whatever."
"L3, is that supposed to comfort her?" Lyra interjected.
"I don't see you trying."
"You trying is going to cause more problems than it'll solve."
"You know what, bite me!"
Suddenly, the two erupted into arguing, and more and more of the siblings got involved as they kept their arguing up. Lincoln frowned, veered onto the side of the road, turned on his hazard lights, and slammed his hand on the van's horn. The kids went dead silent. "Lyra, Lynn, I'm trying to drive!"
"She started it-!"
"I don't care! Stop arguing now or I'm making both of you walk. And before you ask, yes, I'm absolutely serious about that, Toby can tell you the story."
The threat seemed to shut them up.
"Nice." Lupa grinned. Lincoln shot her a glare through the mirror, and she stiffened instantly. "Shutting up."
Lincoln sighed, and continued his drive. "Okay… I'm good now."
The drive continued on for a little while, a tense silence falling on them. It soon became so heavy that Lupa groaned under the weight of it. "Is anyone going to say anything at all?" No reply, Lincoln himself concentrating on driving. "Anyone?" No reply. "Fucking hell-"
"Lupa, language." Lincoln spoke.
"At least one of us is trying to get some conversation going."
"If people want to talk, they can when they're comfortable."
"Why not put the radio on?" Lacy asked.
"Believe me, finding a radio station we can all agree on is impossible. I've grown up with ten sisters with wildly different music tastes."
"Ugh, don't get me started on Mom's shitty taste in music." Lupa started.
"Language."
"... as I was saying. She likes all this really deep organ music, y'know, the sort of sh… stuff you'd find in those ancient Vampire movies from the nineteen-twenties or something. Just give me some Soundgarden or Nine Inch Nails and I'm happy."
"How can you listen to that depressing stuff?" Lacy asked.
"Newsflash, Lace, I have depression. And if any of you say 'just be happier' or some shit like that I will fucking deck you."
"Lupa, don't make me warn you again or you're walking."
"It's instinct at this point. Mom never really told me not to swear. Or really ever bothered to stop me from watching adult stuff."
"That explains a lot." Lyra muttered.
"Bite me."
"At least your mom's around, Lupa." Lemy replied. "Mom's always on tour or at a gig or something, leaving Miss Strict in charge most of the time."
"I'd consider that lucky." Lacy started. Lincoln could feel his grip on the steering wheel tightening and it was all he could do to keep himself focussed on driving.. "Mom's always trying to push me hard, and goes off at anyone she thinks is holding me back. I mean, I've had my math teacher intimidated into bumping me up a grade, it's embarrassing."
"Well my mom keeps comparing me to when she was as old as me. 'Leia you gotta wear your hair like this, Leia you can't wear that, it makes you look fat', I mean, jeez, Mom, just let me do my own thing every once in a while."
"I kinda know how you feel, Leia." Lyle replied. "Mom keeps butting into our life, always praising us and never punishing us harshly. If it wasn't for Liena I'd probably be an entitled little gremlin. Plus, she keeps forgetting my name and sometimes thinks I'm actually a girl."
"You do look like one." Lupa smirked.
"Jeez, you guys seem to have it rough." Liby said, still focussed on Lulu. "My mom just makes bad jokes and keeps trying to be 'the cool mom friend'."
"I feel like Aunt Lily and Aunt Lana are the only normal ones." Lyra sighed, leaning against the window. "Jeez, and don't get me started on Aunt Lori, because I know Loan won't."
"Lyra, I told you that was private…!"
"It's hardly a secret." Leia replied.
"Wait, what's going on?" Lincoln asked, his anger at having his sisters being slighted now replaced with genuine concern.
"I… I shouldn't have brought it up." Lyra frantically replied. "Sorry, Loan."
"Oh come on, you can't just say something like that and then drop it." Lupa interjected.
"No, if Loan doesn't want to share-"
"Mom hit me."
Silence dropped like a ton of bricks.
"What the fuck." Lupa murmured.
"Lupa, what did Uncle Linc say about-" Lyra started
"I'll let it slide this once." Lincoln replied. "Loan, are you serious about this?"
"Y… Yes… I-it was only the one time, though. I did kind of mess something up too, but it still hurt..."
"Jeez, I knew she was taking it badly but I didn't expect it to be that bad…" Lincoln murmured.
"B-but, she does keep yelling at me, trying to make me leave the house to do things. I… I know I should try and do more but I just can't deal with the pressure…"
Lyra sighed. "Things… haven't exactly been comfortable at home for Loan."
"Well, Loan, how about this." Lincoln offered. "I'll have a word with Lori when she gets back from the cruise. Will that help?"
"I… Hopefully… thank you…"
"Speaking of, I wonder how things are going for them?" Lacy asked.
"It's been like fifteen minutes, Lace." Lupa replied snarkily.
"I'm sure whatever they're doing, they're doing fine."