The things you come up with when you should be studying for a test. Oh well, this is more fun. Hopefully, this goes well and you guys enjoy.
Light of my Life
Dark clouds loomed over Royal Woods; the wind blew the falling leaves, and an old woman with her bags stood in front of Loud residence. Halloween decorations were placed all around the house in a haphazard manner, but the woman smiled as she remembered seeing her family from her crystal ball. She rang the doorbell as the sound of thunder boomed in the air; children's screams immediately followed, and she rang the bell again. This time someone opened the door, "Trick or treat!" said an eight-year-old Leni; her father moved her aside to see who was at the door.
"Grandma Harriet! What a surprise, kids come and say hello."
The Loud children slowly approached their great-grandmother; whenever she would visit, they always felt hesitant to be near her, maybe it was the smell of incense in her clothes, or how she would talk to ghosts, or the scary animals that she would sometimes travel with; but regardless, everyone gave her a hug and quickly went upstairs to play.
"Oh grandma, I wish you would tell us when you want to come and visit, instead of just appearing out of nowhere," Harriet and Lynn Sr. sat down on the couch, "So what brought you to Royal Woods?"
She was about to answer when her answer walked in the room. Rita, nine months pregnant with the family's soon-to-be seventh child, was surprised to see the older woman.
"I should have known," said Lynn as both he and his wife began to laugh; this wasn't the first time that she appeared out of nowhere for a special family moment.
"So we can assume that you'll be staying for the birth, Harriet?" asked Rita.
Harriet nodded, "It would be such a shame to come all this way and not see my new great-granddaughter."
"Awww…I thought that I might've gotta brother!" Lincoln whined from the top of the stairs after overhearing the adults. He puffed his cheeks and stomped to his room.
The adults shared a laugh at the young boy's antics, and proceeded to sit down on the couch.
"Well the baby has been quiet for the last couple of days, although she hasn't been that lively to been to begin with," Rita remarked.
"Guess we finally have our first not-so-Loud?" Lynn joked.
The women gave a polite chuckle at his joke.
As the night wore on, everyone retired to their rooms. Harriet pulled out a candle from her large purse, and lit it. She looked around at the nursery that she was currently staying in, and sighed. All the adorable pink decorations on the walls, a used crib with little bite marks that she assumed were caused by a formerly teething Lynn Jr., and a stuffed animal ready to be loved by the newborn; and all of it for naught. She knew what was to going to happen in a few days, and she was ready.
Harriet pulled out a few mementos from her bag, she took out a crystal ball, paper, and quill and ink and began to write, "Now how many was it going to be again?"
Two days later, the family was sitting down to breakfast. The children, having grown accustomed to their great-grandmother's presence, were in a more spirited mood, and all of them consumed by the thought of Halloween in a few days.
"I'm going as a princess for Halloween," Leni replied happily.
"We know Leni, we were literally there when mom bought the costume," Lori said, as she ate her oatmeal.
"Hey Mr. Coconuts, what do you think of this oatmeal?" Luan asked her new puppet.
"I'd say- Hey! Who threw that!?" asked Mr. Coconuts who just had a spoonful of oatmeal tossed at his eye.
Lynn quickly pretended to eat her breakfast; obviously trying to feign innocence for the act.
"Mom! Lynn threw oatmeal at Mr. Coconuts!" Luan whined.
Harriet looked at Mr. Coconuts, "Aww nothing that some soap and water can't fix," she said trying to comfort the girl.
"Ouch! Tell that to my eye," responded Mr. Coconuts.
Lynn Sr. ran in as he was trying to get his tie straight, "C'mon girls finish up. I have to get you to school before I go to work."
The girls whined, and continued to eat breakfast.
"Grandma, thank you so much for keeping an eye on Lincoln, so that Rita can rest before the baby comes; it's a big help."
"Oh don't thank me. I'm just doing what any good grandma would do," She gently grabbed Lincoln's hand and asked him, "So do you want to play in the backyard?"
The boy nodded his head, and was led by his great-grandmother out the door.
Lincoln grabbed a ball and looked at his great-grandmother, who was sitting under the shade. It wasn't often that he got to see her, and nearly everything he knew about her, came from his older sisters, and if they were to be believed, great-grandma Harriet would be a hundred-year-old witch that drinks blood in a castle on top of a stormy cliff.
He slowly approached her. "She's not a witch. She's not a witch," he whispered to himself.
"Lincoln, are you okay?" he heard her ask.
He nodded his head.
"Don't worry, I don't bite."
Lincoln stiffened, and remembered the vampire story that Luna told him. He quickly dropped the ball and his hands covered his neck.
Harriet smiled and opened her arms; hoping that the boy would take the hint. He slowly walked towards her, and gave her a hug.
"You are such a sweet boy. You're going to be a good brother to your sisters."
Lincoln nodded his head, and looked up to her. "Grandma…are you a witch?"
She chuckled, and shook her head, "No, but I see that you and your sisters thought that."
Lincoln got up, surprised that she even knew what they thought. "Y-You know?"
She nodded her head, "But don't worry. I'm not a blood-sucking witch in a castle. I'm just your dear old great-grandma Harriet."
"How did you know?"
"That's my little secret," she said as she winked at him.
Lincoln looked at her, wondering what she could mean, but shook those thoughts away, and brought his toys closer to Harriet, so that she could join him.
After a few hours outside, the older woman carried the boy inside; he wore himself out and was currently napping on her shoulder. She went upstairs and set him down on his bed with his little stuffed rabbit, when she heard a strained scream coming from downstairs.
"What was that?" Lincoln asked holding tightly onto Bun-Bun.
"Don't worry." She looked up, "Hear that?" Lincoln shook his head. "Me neither. Don't worry; I'm sure everything is alright. Just stay up here, and get some rest."
Lincoln did as he was told. Harriet went downstairs and looked for Rita, who was currently squeezing the life out of a kitchen towel. She looked down and saw that her water had broken.
"My water just broke," Rita said trying to hold back another painful scream. "Can you call Lynn so that he can take me to the hospital?"
Harriet nodded, and called her grandson, who panicked and stumbled around. "I'm coming Rita!" he shouted from his end.
Before Harriet knew it, Lynn opened the door, and ran towards his wife. "I can't believe this is happening. Do you have the bag? What about Lincoln? Oh! And the girls, who's going to pick them up from school? Oh, I'm not ready. I'm not ready." He said running around in circles.
"The bag is in our closet, and Harriet said she was taking care of everything. Let's go! I want this baby born with medical professionals," Rita said, during a contraction.
"Right!" Lynn grabbed Rita's overnight bag, and helped his wife towards Vanzilla, which was currently parked in front of the steps of the house.
"Really, Lynn?"
"I thought that it would be easier so that you don't walk much."
"Grandma, can we go see mom and dad already?" Lynn asked for the tenth time.
"Not yet, your baby sister isn't here yet."
For the last few hours, she would sit by her crystal ball, keeping an eye on Rita's progress. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had taken place, but she knew that that time was coming.
The children were seated around her, occupied by either conversation with each other or toys, Harriet kept her eyes locked on the crystal ball when it started. "It's time to go to the hospital, children."
"Yay!" the children squealed in delight.
The elderly woman herded the children through the halls of the hospital as they made their way to Rita's room. She was taking deep breaths, preparing herself for what she knew was coming. It wasn't easy to have kept that knowledge locked up for so long, but she couldn't let anyone else know. When all of them reached the room, the children attempted to be by their mother's side, but were halted by their father, who was surprised to see his grandmother and his children.
"Kids, what are you doing here?"
"Great-grandma Harriet said that we were coming to see our new sister," Lori responded.
He looked over at his grandmother, a bit upset that she just brought the children without letting him know. "Well, your mom is resting right now, and the nurses are looking after your sister."
"But we want to see our new sister," said Leni.
"We'll see her when the nurses bring her over. C'mon kids, let's go see if the gift shop is still open."
Harriet roamed the hospital, but couldn't find what she was looking for, "Where is she?"
She quietly crept through the halls and opening doors, but could not find what she was looking for until she overheard a nurse talking to a coworker.
"It's still sad."
"But it was bound to happen, I mean six kids already? Not exactly unheard of…so have you or Dr. Foster told them yet?"
"Not yet, she's still resting and the father seems to have disappeared."
Harriet walked past the two nurses, she was sure that they were talking about the girl. She opened a door, and finally found what she was looking for – a little stillborn girl.
The name card let Harriet know that this was indeed the little girl that she was looking for, "So small… and so cold…"
Her heart was pounding, but she was ready to do this. She slid her fingers through the infant's black hair, "I wish that I could have gotten to know you, but I don't want to see your family so sad…"
It was a sacrifice that she was willing to make for her grandson, for her granddaughter-in-law, and for her great-grandchildren. A tear fell from Harriet's eye, and she began to chant. As she continued, her lungs began struggling to breathe, her legs were growing weaker, and her vision was blurring. Harriet's body collapsed on the floor, and soon the once lifeless infant began to cry.
The nurses heard the thud of the woman's body, and rushed to the room. Both of them looked for signs of life, but couldn't find any.
"What was she even doing in here?"
"I don't know." The nurse looked and finally heard the faints cries coming from the infant. "Sh-She's crying."
"What? Didn't you say that she was stillborn?"
"Yeah…huh…guess we were wrong."
A few days later, the family was finally able to bring home their newest addition.
"Welcome home, Lucy Loud!" Lynn proudly said to his newborn daughter.
"She's so quiet. Are you sure that she's loud?"
"Not that loud, Leni. Lucy is a Loud," Lori answered.
"Allowed to what?"
Lori just groaned and went inside in hopes of getting to the remote first.
"Now don't worry Lucy, that house isn't this scary looking all the time. We don't have skeletons in the front yard like a bunch of grave robbers or cannibals."
"Lynn, I know that she can't understand us, but remember our other kids."
"Ooh right. Well let's get you inside."
The parents took Lucy to her nursery, and looked around at the few things that Harriet left behind. After setting Lucy down in her crib, Lynn began to tear up; sad to have gained his daughter the day he lost his grandmother.
Rita placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It's okay. She wouldn't want you to be sad."
"I know. But it's hard."
Rita hugged him and let him cry. He sniffed and tried to compose himself, before crying again. His wife smiled and patted his back, as he let it all out.
Lucy started to stir in her crib, and the two parents went to check on her. The infant moved her head towards the purse that Harriet carried around. Rita picked up her daughter and rocked her, but all Lucy did was move her gaze back at the purse.
"Do you like this purse, Lucy? When you're older you can have it. I'm sure your great-grandmother wouldn't have minded."
As Lynn picked up the purse to bring it closer to Lucy, he noticed a letter with the name Lincoln on it, "What's this?"
He took out the letters and memento attached to each one, "One for you, one for me, one for Lori, and one for Leni, and Luna, and Luan, and Lynn Jr., and Lincoln, and Lucy… and Lana?... Lola?... Lisa?...Lily?"
"Who are were those last women?"
"I don't know, I guess we'll find out some day."
Lynn grabbed Lucy's letter, and showed her, "This one's for you," he attempted to open the letter, but Lucy shrieked, and startled her parents.
Rita rocked the infant in her arms, but she wouldn't stop until her father ceased his attempts at opening the letter.
"I guess we'll just leave it for you to read when you're older."
Lucy began to close her eyes, and Rita set her down on the crib. The parents set the baby monitor, turned off the lights and quietly closed the door, so they could leave the newborn to rest.
"Wow, I'm sure Lori is going to love this brooch, right, Rita?"
That evening, with eyes barely parted, the newborn looked at her surroundings. She turned to her late-great-grandmother's possessions, and felt an odd comfort. She looked up and saw a bearded man in a tall hat floating above her; she began to cry, but a comforting voice began to soothe her.
'It's okay Lucy…he's not going to hurt you…Abe just likes to follow me around.'
Lucy stopped crying, she attempted to see the source of the voice, but she couldn't find it.
'I wish I could have gotten to know you, but I'm glad that I can be by your side with your parents and brother and sisters.'
The man reached out to her and she cooed as he smiled and heard her great-grandmother's voice.