Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
What she ends up learning
Chapter two: The search for information
Dawn Sharp, the fifteen-year-old daughter and only child of Luna and Sam Sharp, was riding her bike through one of the residential areas of Royal Woods, Michigan. Dawn was on something of a mission. A mission for information. Dawn is aiming to learn a lot more about her birth than what she has been given.
Specifically, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl wants to learn who her father is.
Don't get Dawn wrong, she loves her moms Luna and Sam dearly. Dawn had special respect for her mom Sam, the one who gave birth to her. However, Dawn knew full well that there was no way that her mom Luna couldn't have gotten her other mom pregnant; in order to get pregnant, a woman required something that only a man could provide.
The first place Dawn stopped by was the house where her Grandma Rita and Grandpa Lynn Sr. lived. They still lived in the same house where they raised Dawn's mom Luna, all of Dawn's aunts and Dawn's Uncle Lincoln. The old Loud residence looked like it had various signs of disrepair. But then again, many of Dawn's aunts have gone on record to say that the house has always looked like that.
Reaching the steps of the front patio, Dawn stopped her bike, got up, picked her bike up, walked up onto the patio, set her bike against the railing inside the patio, then turned to face the front door. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl gave the door a good couple of knocks. Within a few seconds, the door opened, and Dawn came face to face with her Grandma Rita. Time had been surprisingly kind to the older Loud matriarch who, aside from her hair losing a bit of luster and the slight signs of age on her face, more or less looked the same she did back when Luna was Dawn's age. The only noticeable difference was Rita's change in wardrobe, as she now wore a long-sleeved blouse and a skirt that reached her ankles, and even then, Rita's outfit retained the same general color scheme as her usual outfit from when Luna was fifteen.
"Dawn!" Rita greeted in a friendly and surprised tone, "Well this is certainly a surprise! Come on in, dear!" Dawn made her way into the old house which was pretty much untouched by time. "Your grandfather's still in the hospital, but he'll recover soon enough," Rita explained, "The doctors said that your grandfather's kidneys have been acting up again."
"Well I hope that Grandpa Lynn recovers soon enough," Dawn remarked with a nod. With a bit of a chuckle, Dawn said, "Sorry if I haven't been by all that much. When was the last time I was over here?"
"When your Aunt Lori and Uncle Bobby brought you and your cousins by for the big extended family Thanksgiving dinner two years ago," Rita explained, "Although whenever I talk to your Aunt Lori over the phone, she never fails to tell be about how well you're doing."
Dawn nodded in understanding of this; since Dawn's mothers are part of a band that is constantly on tour, Dawn is pretty much being raised by her Aunt Lori and Uncle Bobby. In fact, the last time that Dawn saw her mothers was around Christmas season of the previous year; both Sharp women went all out on gifts for their daughter, as they tend to do. It helps them that, as popular musicians, Luna and Sam both command very astounding incomes.
"So dear, what brings you by?" Rita asked her granddaughter in a curious tone.
Pointing up the staircase, Dawn said, "I was curious about the room my mom Luna slept in while you and Grandpa Lynn were still raising her."
A bit of surprise entered Rita's expression. "Oh, is that it?" Rita remarked, "Well, I can't quite blame you. In fact, during the aforementioned Thanksgiving, your cousins Lincoln and Ronnie Anne wanted to check out the room your Aunt Lori used while she still lived under this roof." With a shrug, Rita continued, "I guess it goes without saying that kids will one day want to learn more about their parents, and how said parents were when they were young." Rita nodded in the okay, giving Dawn the go ahead to head up the stairs and into Luna's old room.
Aside from a fairly old looking bunkbed, a nightstand, and a desk that had a row of books on it as if said books were sorted and placed into a bookshelf, there really wasn't much of anything in the bedroom. Still, Dawn looked around, unable to help but feel awed to be in the bedroom. "So, this is the bedroom that my mom Luna shared with Aunt Luan," Dawn thought as she looked around. She remembered that, during the Thanksgiving get together two years ago, she only ever went to the second floor to use the bathroom; she never checked out any of the room.
…But then again, Dawn wasn't on the hunt for information back then.
The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl went to the closet in the bedroom and opened it. Aside from a cardboard box that was about half full of comedy related objects and some hangers that were hanging in it (the closet), there really wasn't much of anything in the closet. Dawn decided to rummage through the box of comedy gear but didn't find anything beyond very basic stuff. Nothing for sure that would help Dawn in her personal quest; she wasn't even sure why she decided to rummage through the box at all.
Getting up and closing the closet door, Dawn turned around and by chance her eyes fell over where the row of books on the desk were located. Curious, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl walked over to the desk to check out the books; there were a few comedy books (one of which was a rather raunchy humor book by a famous albeit long dead comedian), some music books and one book which, when Dawn saw as she took it out of the row, was a personal journal that was decorated with various stickers; one was an electric guitar, one was a familiar (to Dawn) image of a skull, and one was a drum set. 'Luna's Journal' was written on the cover in the center.
"This ought to be good," Dawn thought as the sat at the desk, flipped the journal open, and began to read what it said.
Yo journal dude,
Today was totally bogus, brah. My family and I got a call from the retirement home where Pop-Pop lives, and they told us that Pop-Pop died in an accident. This totally sucks! And to make matters worse, my longtime girlfriend Sam popped the question to me today! I can't believe that one of the happiest days of my life is also one of the saddest days of my life as well! I distinctly remember thinking after I said yes to Sam's proposal that there was nothing that could have ruined today. I guess what happened with Pop-Pop was life's way of proving me wrong. The dude didn't even get to live to see any great-grandchildren! Bummer, dude.
Dawn skimmed through the rest of her mom Luna's old journal; the first page was led by the entry that she had just read, and the journal ended with an entry on the bottom of the back of the last page, where Luna goes into detail about how awesome her honeymoon with Sam was. Although Dawn didn't learn anything about what her mom Sam did to get pregnant with her or anything along those lines, Dawn still figured that this journal would be a good read. She put it in her backpack, wanting to give the old journal a serious read-through when she got back home to her Aunt Lori and Uncle Bobby's place.
Dawn next checked out the room that was once shared by her aunts Lori and Leni. There were hints that at least one or two posters used to hang in the room, and the vanity table along the one side held a number of vanity products, all of which had aged and were now collecting dust. Looking around the old room, Dawn didn't find any personal journals, although she did find some rather old issues rom a magazine series that, in its time, must have been popular with teenage girls.
Dawn next went to the bedroom that was once shared by her aunts Lynn and Lucy. Dawn's eyes were automatically drawn to the black four poster bed with a canopy; Dawn highly suspected that it was her Aunt Lucy's bed when she still lived here. That being said, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl thought that her gothic aunt had very good tastes. Hell, she probably still does for all Dawn knew.
Looking to the desk that was on the side of the room dominated by the four-poster bed, Dawn saw there were some books there as well. Heading over, Dawn pulled out one that she thought was a journal from the look of it. However, opening it, Dawn saw that the journal was filled with nothing but poems. The next two books that Dawn looked at were the same. But the latest book in that number that Dawn checked out did turn out to be a personal journal, one that belonged to her Aunt Lucy. Dawn decided to read what it said.
To the spirits who would listen,
My siblings and I were surprised today when our sister Luna, accompanied by her girlfriend Sam, told us that they were getting married. Though it is hard to tell from an outside perspective, I am very much happy for them. I am also a little bit surprised, given that out of me and my siblings, Luna is the first that is getting married. I strongly suspected that it would have been Lori that would have been first, especially since Lori and Bobby's relationship is particularly strong. But I don't see anything wrong with Luna's announcement, and I can tell that Luna and Sam love each other just as much as Lori and Bobby love one another. I wonder if I can learn how to play 'Here comes the bride' on my pipe organ before the wedding.
Dawn gave Lucy's old journal a general skimming, but nothing of note caught her attention. Still, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl figured that the journal would be worth giving a serious read-through on her own time, so she slipped it into her backpack where her mom Luna's journal already sat, then left the room.
Dawn next checked out the bedroom that was once shared by her aunts Lisa and Lily. Aside from a desk, a nightstand and a bunkbed that looked somewhat newer than the bunkbed that was in Luna and Luan's old room, there wasn't a lot that stood out, although a quick general overview told Dawn that there was some serious science-related business that was conducted in this room sometime in the past. Knowing that her Aunt Lisa used to reside in the room, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl was not surprised in the least.
Dawn looked around for any personal journals kept by either of her aunts, or anything that might help her figure out something related to the truth of what she wanted to learn. Sadly, Dawn's search ended up fruitless. That being said, Dawn left Lisa and Lily's old room, going to the room that was once occupied by her aunts Lola and Lana, who are twins.
Dawn saw that there is an old glass tank on one of the nightstands, the kind that's used to house a pet reptile or frog or whatever. The beds also looked different; one looked as if it belonged to a girl that saw herself as the pinnacle of beauty, while the other looked like it belonged to a girl that liked to rummage around through garbage. Dawn was able to identify the beds as having belonged to her aunts Lola and Lana respectively, having been told stories of how they were back then they were both six.
Dawn saw a small row of books on one of the desks, so she went over to it. It was the third time that Dawn found an old journal that was kept by one of her aunts, in this case Lola. Dawn sat on the bed she identified as having belonged to her Aunt Lola, opened the old journal, and began to read what was written;
I can't believe I'm actually keeping a journal, but yeah,
No offence to Lincoln's girlfriend Ronnie Anne, but she's starting to get a fuller body like her cousin Carlota, if you know what I mean. Don't get me wrong, Ronnie Anne still looks like a nice girl, and Lincoln is lucky that she's stuck by his side for as long as she has. But then again, with the example that was set by Lori and Bobby, it's really no surprise that Lincoln and Ronnie Anne have stuck together. I'm just worried about if and when Lincoln and Ronnie Anne ever decide to make out with each other in Lincoln's room, which is just a converted linin closet. The room is cramped enough as it is, so how is Ronnie Anne going to fit her big butt in there?
Dawn gave her Aunt Lola's journal a quick skimming, and from the looks of it, essentially the whole of the journal must have been written back when Lola was in high school, which of course meant no clues whatsoever that would have been of any use. Still, Dawn threw Lola's journal into her backpack as well, figuring that it would be a good read anyway.
Leaving the room that was used by her aunts Lola and Lana back in the day, Dawn turned her attention to the linin closet that popped up in the journal passage that she read from Lola's journal. "Did…" Dawn thought as she reached for the knob on the closet door so she could open it, "…Did Uncle Lincoln really used to sleep in here?" The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl got her answer when she saw the dresser and bed inside the (admittedly large) linin closet.
Walking into the linin closet turned bedroom while closing the door behind her, Dawn looked around the place. She could not believe for the life of her that anyone actually used this room as a bedroom; she thought that what her Aunt Luan said that one time about Uncle Lincoln 'coming out of the closet every morning' was just one of her jokes. And yet, as she looked around this room, Dawn figured that her aunt must have actually been telling the truth.
Aunt Luan could have worded it better, though.
Dawn saw a row of books on the shelf over the dresser. Recognizing one of the books as a personal journal, Dawn grabbed it from the shelf, sat down on the bed that was in the room, then began to read.
I can't believe it,
Last night, I met up with Rusty, Liam and Zach for our usual guys night stuff, as we do every Friday. We were expecting Clyde to show up as well, especially since he was our group's dungeon master. But for some reason, he never showed up. After Clyde was an hour late, I tried calling him. I tried three times in a row, but every time it went to voicemail. Liam said that Clyde must have blown us off and was appropriately upset, but I could not help but worry about Clyde.
I was right to be worried.
Earlier this morning, as I was going through my homework to make sure I had my assignment from history class (being a twelfth-grader in high school is often a touch and go experience), there was a knock at my family's front door. I didn't pay it much mind until mom told me that Ronnie Anne and her friend Astrid were here to see me. When I got there, I saw that Ronnie Anne looked troubled, and that Astrid was crying her eyes out.
That was when I learned that Clyde had been found lying dead in a somewhat abandoned part of town very early this morning. That would explain why Astrid, who was dating Clyde, was in tears. According to what Ronnie Anne had picked up on the matter, Clyde was beaten, hit a good few times in the head, and was even stabbed a few times in the body. I…I still can't believe that my best friend is dead. I can't really blame Ronnie Anne's friend for crying; I kind of want to cry a little bit myself.
Dawn took a break from reading her uncle's old journal to think about a few things. If Dawn was correct, then the Astrid that was talked in the journal about is her Aunt Astrid, the younger sister of her Uncle Aggro, who is married to her Aunt Leni, the older sister of her mother Luna. Dawn had no idea that her Aunt Astrid had dated someone by the name of Clyde; for as long as she had known, Dawn thought that her Aunt Astrid had been with her (Astrid's) husband Chandler, who is one of Royal Wood's most successful businessmen, having something of an empire that is similar to that of what Uncle Bobby has.
The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl made a mental note to look into the matter of this Clyde fellow later. For now, she wanted to continue reading what her Uncle Lincoln had written back when he still kept the journal, scanning the next entry that caught her eye.
I was at Clyde's funeral today.
Astrid was there and, as I suspected, she was something of a mess. Of course, I'm not one to speak, given that my best friend was found murdered a week ago. After the funeral, Clyde's dads gave me Clyde's senior class ring. They said that they knew I wasn't able to get my own (money is always tight in my family's house), and that Clyde was my closest friend, so they figured that I should have it. While it is true that I actually really wanted to get a class ring, as a symbol of my senior year in high school, this was NOT what I had in mind when I got it.
I can't even bring myself to wear it, so I keep it in the ring box it came in, which I put into the shoebox that's on my shelf in my room. Anywho, I got a text from Ronnie Anne about an hour ago, telling me that she just learned that Astrid is now dating Chandler. That news changed my mood from sad and depressed to angry and confused in an angry manner. The poor girl was just at her boyfriend's funeral, and Chandler seriously has the nerve to swoop in and pick up Astrid when she's vulnerable?! What the fuck is wrong with that conceited son of a bitch?!
Dawn took another break from reading her Uncle Lincoln's old journal to process what she had just read. She always knew that there always was some tension between her Uncle Chandler and most of the rest of the extended family, especially when Uncle Lincoln was involved. Might what she just read provide more clues and reasoning as to why most of the rest of the extended family wasn't all that fond of Uncle Chandler? Dawn skimmed through the journal as a whole and, while still not learning anything that could have helped her with her personal quest, still threw the journal into her backpack, deciding that she was without a doubt going to read it.
As she stood up from her Uncle Lincoln's old bed, Dawn looked up at the shelf in the small room. The remaining books were all regular books, but there was a shoebox on the far end of the shelf. Curious and remembering what the one journal entry in her uncle's journal had said, Dawn reached up to the box, grabbed it, brought it down, set it down on the dresser, and opened it. Inside of the box were a number of objects; a very old handheld game system, one or two old actions figures, an old comic book in a protective sleeve, and a small ring box.
Grabbing the ring box, Dawn held it as she gently opened the lid. Nestled inside was a man's class ring. Gold and a bit bulky, it had a red ruby stone set in it. Dawn decided to close the ring box without removing the ring and, she wasn't sure what compelled her to do so, put the ring box into her backpack. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl then closed the shoebox and placed it back where she took it from.
With her search for clues at the old Loud residence complete, Dawn figured that it was about high time to take her leave. Although she failed to learn anything that would have given her some idea as to how her mom Sam got pregnant with her, Dawn felt that she still learned a lot of information that she had a feeling will eventually be useful to her later. But that business would be for another time. Dawn still had her personal quest to continue, and there was no way that she was going to stop until she had learned what she wanted to know.
Leaving the old Loud residence on her bike, Dawn decided to stop off at a convenience store first to grab a sports drink and a snack. After she was done eating and drinking, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl got back on her bike and sped off to the next stop on her list, which was the residence of her Aunt Lola and Uncle Winston. From some of the stories she heard from her various aunts and Uncle Lincoln, Dawn figured that her Aunt Lola would be very likely to spill anything she knew that was related to what she wanted to know. Dawn also expected that Aunt Lola would be more than happy to have her over; Lola is always more that glad to have any of her various nieces and nephews over, and with the income that Lola and her husband Winston commands, they can afford to be very hospitable.
Hoping that her Aunt Lola wouldn't mind it if she left her bike laying in the yard, Dawn went up to the front door and gave it a good few knocks. "I probably shouldn't tell Aunt Lola that I have her journal from when she was younger," Dawn thought as she waited for the door to open. Within a short few seconds, the front door was opened by Lola, who had grown from a child pageant-winning six-year-old into a very attractive woman that consistently won adult versions of the pageants from her youth. As one would expect given Lola's nature, she looked the part for a pageant winner; fair flawless skin, beautiful long yellow-blonde hair that is kept in remarkable condition, and to top it off she wore a stunning pink dress.
Now then, one would normally expect a woman of Lola's status and beauty to be all prim and proper. However, the moment she saw her fifteen-year-old niece, Lola threw her arms around her, like one would do if greeting a close friend or relative. "Dawn!" Lola more or less exclaimed, "This is certainly a surprise, sweetie!" After a few seconds, Lola released her niece from the hug and gestured for her to come inside.
The inside of Lola and Winston's home was surprisingly clean and stylish. There was an entertainment center along one of the walls in the living room, a sofa along the opposite wall, a coffee table in front of the sofa, and various tasteful décor items such as a vase, a framed painting and a carved wooden figurine of a dolphin could be spotted in various parts of the living room. This living room look a lot newer (for lack of a better term) than the living room back at the old Loud residence.
"So, Dawn, what brings you by?" Lola asked her niece in a friendly tone, "I bet that you want to hear about how your Uncle Winston is doing while he's over in California working on the latest movie that he's in, don't you?"
"Well I would like to hear about how Uncle Winston is doing, yes," Dawn replied, "I mean, it has been a while since the last time I saw him. But the main reason that I came here was because something is bugging me and I'm trying to figure it out." Gesturing to her aunt, Dawn continued, "I was hoping that you might be able to fill in a blank or two, Aunt Lola."
"Well of course I'd be more than happy to help you, Dawn," Lola replied, "Why don't you sit down on the sofa and wait while I go get us some thing to snack on." Nodding in obedience, Dawn turned around, walked over to and sat down on the sofa, then waited there. A few seconds later, Lola came back with a box of cookies.
Setting the box of cookies down on the coffee table, Lola said, "Fell free to grab some if you want." Lola then walked to the sofa and sat down next to the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl. "So, Dawn," Lola began as she exuded an aura of loving friendliness, "What is it that you wanted to ask me about?"
"I was wondering if you heard anything about how my mom Sam became pregnant with me," Dawn replied. Lola, who was not anticipating what her teenaged niece had just asked, stopped exuding that aforementioned aura due to sheer surprise. Surprise that was likewise reflected in the pageant winning woman's expression.
"I…I beg your pardon?" Lola began, sounding like she had a bit of trouble understanding what her niece had just asked.
"Aunt Lola, it goes without saying that I love and care about both of my moms a great deal," Dawn began. Leaning back into the seat on the sofa she sat on, Dawn continued as she crossed her arms over her chest, "But that doesn't change the fact that there is no way that my mom Luna could have gotten my mom Sam pregnant with me. I was wondering if you might have heard someone in the family say something that might give me a clue."
With a troubled sigh, Lola gently laid a hand on the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl's shoulder. "Dawn," Lola began, "If I honestly knew anything along those lines, then I would have told you in a heartbeat, regardless of how anyone else in the family felt. After all, you deserve to know about your parentage as much as anyone else deserves to know about theirs." Gently shaking her head, Lola continued, "Unfortunately, I honestly have no idea."
"I see," Dawn replied, giving her aunt's expressions some consideration. Despite what a lot of the people in the extended family say about how Lola is a very hard person to read, Dawn could tell right away that her aunt was being completely honest with her; Dawn figured that the reason why she could read her Aunt Lola like an open book was because of how readily Lola welcomes Dawn and Dawn's various cousin into her home.
"However," Lola continued, snapping Dawn out of her thoughts and back to her, "I bet that you'd be able to learn who your father is by heading to the lab where your Aunt Lisa and Uncle David works. They have all sorts of super science equipment, so I bet that they can do a test to determine the identity of your father."
"Oh yeah," Dawn replied, sounding as if she was having an epiphany, "I can't believe I didn't think about that." Gently wrapping her arms around her aunt to hug her, Dawn said, "Thanks for the tip, Aunt Lola."
Lola, who enjoyed how one of her nieces was showing her such appreciation, returned the hug right away. "Anytime, Dawn," the pageant winning woman replied in a gentle tone.
END, CHAPTER TWO
Author's notes:
I spent part of this chapter building up the world and lore of this story's setting, but other than that I got the ball rolling. Sorry if the part where Clyde was eighty-sixed left any of you upset, but it's going to be an important part of the setting, especially later on down the line. Anywho, the next chapter will see Dawn visit her Aunt Lisa so she could have that test that tells her who her father is. Dawn will also be visiting her Aunt Lynn at the hospital.
Don't worry, Lynn's fine; she just suffered a minor fracture to one of her shins. She'll be back on her feet within short order.
