Lincoln had changed... over the long years she had been gone he had changed... No longer was he the dorky but lovable kid down the hall in the linen closet. He was... he was...
He was all grown up.
Her brother now towered over their mum by nearly a foot, sporting a muscled, lithe figure. He looked more like their mother in appearances but not enough to be almost a clone like Lucy was. His hair was still white and his freckles still there, but it was so odd to see those features on any one other than kid Lincoln and Pop Pop.
Right now he had her held tightly to him, holding her in his arms and shaking slightly as he took a moment to collect himself. Lucy tilted her head to his in an effort to supply comfort, which seem to work as he pressed his head back against her's.
It was nice.
Linc wheezed into her shoulder as he whimpered softly. "I missed you so much..." Lincoln whimpered. "SO so much..."
There was a painful feeling in Lucy's chest before she was hit with a flood of emotions. Everything she had squashed down all day rose to the surface and the numb feeling gave way to a tidal wave of fear, despair and pain. Yet she also could tell she was happy. Happy Lincoln was here. Perhaps in some subconscious part of her concussion, she had missed him to.
The feelings became too much and Lucy found herself crying into Lincoln shoulder and snuggling closer. Lincoln in turn held her even tighter, rocking back and forth in a gentle motion, hushing softly into her ear. Mom quickly sat behind them, joining the hug and putting her arms around them in support. Wrapped so tightly in her family's arms had Lucy's crying turn to wails.
It felt good to cry and it felt good having them here.
Lucy was confused by the conflicting emotions she felt and her complete 180 in mood. Everything just felt so complected, which had her wailing harder... Feeling Lisa's hands start threading through her hair softly had her take a shuttering breath.
Slowly the pain receded, and the tears along with it. However her insides still felt like a storm of emotions. Mom and Lincoln both pulled back once she had settled to sniffling softly, Lincoln holding her shoulder in one hand. He was wiping her face off for her with a tissue from the side table as mom hovered nearby, worriedly.
"Lisa, you don't think this is too much, do you?" She asked softly to her daughter, who was now sitting in the chair. Lisa looked to Lucy with a thoughtful and concerned face, until Lincoln took her cheek in his tissued hand.
"Hey, your OK for now, right Lucy?" Lincoln said warmly, using his thumb to wipe a stay tear away. "You've gotten some of that hurt out now, huh."
Lucy stared at him, snuffling a bit. She could clearly make out the tear marks trickling down Lincoln's face and his red eyes. He was still struggling to keep his face in this calm, neutral smile. So Lucy swallowed tightly before giving him a small, quivering, genuine smile.
He patted her cheek appreciatively and finished wiping her face down. "Lets settle down for a second and let me show you what a brought for you." He said, pulling a plastic shopping bag up off the floor.
"You brought me something?" Lucy asked, watching her brother reach inside in confusion.
"Yah! Course I did, think of it as a welcome back gift..." He grinned as he pulled out a box and Lucy stared wide eyed at the offering.
Black hair dye.
Lincoln had carried Lucy back into the bath with their mom, who pulled out a chair from the closet and set it up on the edge of the bath. Apparently they sometimes just need to wash her hair and could do so by setting up a shampoo chair, which held her hair out over the tub. Once she was set mom left them alone to their work, though she would nervously pass by the open doorway from time to time.
Lucy watched Lincoln mixed the paste up before her leaned over her, running his hands through her hair and starting to section it off. Lucy watched him do so and blinked when her pulled her bang free and clipped them up. "You sure you know what your doing?"
Lincoln looked down at her before smirking. "Of course, you seem to forget who helped you when you first did it."
"I was five and we destroyed the bathroom, along with some of moms good towels." Lucy deadpanned.
"True, but the times afterward were better. Not to mention I helped Lily dye her hair a lot." Lincoln said, finishing his sorting and starting to set the brush up.
"Lily dyed her hair? Did she embrace the darkness as well at some point?" Lucy asked, wondering if those few moments she had spent sharing her loves with Lily had had an effect.
"No, but she went pretty crazy with every color there is." Lincoln spoke. "Black and hot pink, silver, green, puke green, red and green, blue with white, rainbow, black and yellow-" Lincoln started to apply the dye, both their noses wrinkling at the smell. "She went through an ocean phase where she made her hair a big mix of blues and used fish clips in it. Had starfish earrings to and a head band with a shark fin... It was really cool actually."
"When was that?"
"Uh, last year of high school... she did a victory lap." Lincoln said, applying the dye over her blonde hair. "I had to help her with it cause it was so much work."
"She went to your house to dye her hair?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"Lucy, she lives in my house. I bought our old house and she wanted to stay there. I didn't have any trouble with it and she's a big help most of the time now." Lincoln smiled as he started on another tress. "Course I do wish she'd stop painting all over the house. It drives me up the wall to have to keep steam cleaning everything, but she's really good at it, so what can I say."
Lucy watched Lincoln work for a few more moments, chewing on her lip before speaking. "Lisa said Lily used to do some tagging-"
"Oh that." Lincoln frowned with a thoughtful look. "She was going through some stuff... A lot of us were moving out of the house and leaving her behind. At that point it was basically just you and me left, and you were out of it. She went through a phase where she wanted attention and she wanted independence at the same time, so it was hard to know how to respond. She's good now though, college has helped keep her busy."
Lucy watched Lincoln continue to work, finishing up with dying all the pieces and started to cover her hair so they could wait for the dye to take effect. "Lisa also said you were an event planner?"
Lincoln blinked down at her before smirking. "Yeah, I work for a big time event company. I started just washing dishes and doing grunt work, but when the bosses saw how good I was at organization, you know me, man with a plan, and they promoted me. Even sent me to school for it, so long as I paid for half." Lincoln smiled. "I'm actually their number one planner, I do all the state dinners and big budget things."
"I didn't think you'd get into that."
"Yeah, it kinda fell my lap, but I'm pretty lucky it did and I do love doing it." Lincoln said. "Lots of long hours though and even when your home ,you can get a last minute change of plans that has you running for the office."
"What do you mean lucky?" Lucy asked.
"Hmm?"
"Lucky. You said you were lucky you got that job." Lucy frowned. "If I remember correctly, you had really good grades... not counting that one time that substitute distracted you."
"Well, I didn't get a chance to go to college when I was younger, not with having a baby, ya know-"
"YOUR A DAD!?" Lucy yelped, staring at him with wide eyes.
Lincoln blinked, looking nervously back to the doorway without moving his head. Lucy managed to lift her head enough to see Lisa watching them with narrowed eyes. When Lincoln smiled to her and shrugged she sighed in exasperation, throwing her hands up and leaving them alone again. The man exhaled and wiped his brow in relief before looking back down at Lucy, smiling sadly.
"Lisa told me she didn't want us to overload you with information... Well she kinda cornered me outside when I first got here but...-" He rubbed the back of his head with a guilty smile. "I guess the cats out of the bag on that." Lincoln knelt down on his knees and checked his phone timer for the dye, turning it over to show her there was about five minutes left. "We've got some more time alone in here. I guess I can gush a bit like the proud father I am."
Lucy looked at him quietly. " Ok, well what is it?"
Lincoln quirked a brow at her. "Its a dog." He laughed when she glowered at him. "Ok, ok! Well the real question you should ask is 'What gender are 'they' "
"They?!" She blinked.
"I got four girls back home." Lincoln smiled and rolled his eyes. "The loud house curse strikes again, eh." When Lucy just stared back, wide eyed , he chuckled nervously. "Well uh, my oldest is eleven next year. My youngest just turned two."
Lucy could just stare, mind reeling. Her big brother was a father... he had a kid OLDER than she was - erh in her head, at least. She had missed out on so much...
Lincoln snapped his fingers in front of her face, bringing her back to see his worried face. "Luc, you still with me?"
"Ugh, yah..." Lucy murmured lethargically, trying to come back around by her mind was still reeling in shock.
"Was that too much?" Lincoln asked, still concerned.
"No... ugh, no..." Lucy stared back at him. Adult Lincoln. Adult Lincoln with FOUR kids... She was an aunt! She had BEEN an aunt for ten years at least! She missed out on being there for Lincoln when they were born... She'd missed their birthdays... Did she have anyway of getting presents for them...? Oh geeze speaking of, she had missed the Christmases to! Actually she'd missed eighteen Christmases... and if she did get Lincoln's family presents then she'd need to get everyone presents. What if they ALL have kids?! Where would she get money for all those-
"-Lucy!"
She flinched when she realized she had spaced out again. Lincoln had lifted the chair to semi seated and was kneeling beside her. "You back?" When she nodded slowly he sighed in relief. "Ok, way too much for now. Lets leave it at that."
Lucy wilted slightly as Lincoln's phone went off, alerting him that the dye was set. She was actually interested in knowing more... Lincoln had been the only one open with her, even if it was in a small dose. She watched as Lincoln uncovered her hair, checking it over before nodding.
"This stuff is fast dying, we can go straight into the washing part." Lincoln said, tilting the chair back. He stood, reaching for the detachable shower head before settling back down and turning the water on. Once warm enough Lincoln started to spray it into her hair, pausing when his sister steeled under its spray. "You ok?"
Lucy swallowed slightly and willed herself to relax. "Mmm, yah..."
"I know what happened this morning."
Lucy froze. She felt her brother's finger lace through her hair in order to help remove the excess material. "Mom and Lisa told me about it. They were worried about you, which is apparently the only reason they called to tell me." Lincoln gushed more water over her scalp and Lucy shivered. "They were hoping I could cheer you up. Until then, I'm not allowed to tell anyone else your awake."
"What? Why?" Lucy asked,head dipping slightly with Lincoln's movements.
"Well, when I heard you were awake I basically dropped everything and came here first chance I got. Willing to bet everyone else would be the same and if just me visiting is putting you off, I don't even wanna know what would happen if we were all over at once." Lincoln pulled out the clips in her hair, tossing them into the trash. "So about this morning... how are you feeling?"
Lucy looked away. "I'm fine... I'm not water logged or anything-" She jolted when Lincoln spritzed her hair again.
"Yah, sure." Lincoln frowned. "Your just fine."
Lucy bit her lip and choose to examine the ceiling instead of answering.
"Look. Lucy, you don't have to worry about water. Mom texted dad and their getting a specialized bath chair." Lincoln said, running his hands over her head again. "But that's not what I meant. I meant how you just seemed to shut down after."
Lucy was silent, eyes downcast. She heaved a sigh before looking to the counter.
"Come on, its your big brother Lincoln. You can tell me anything." He said, patting her wet head.
Lucy blinked, still eyeing the counter as she spoke. "I guess... I guess everything has been settling in. I keep forgetting about... my body not working...and I'm still trying to get around the eighteen years thing." Lucy frowned. "Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna wake up from this dream and go to school tomorrow." She sighed when Lincoln ran his hands through her hair again. "When I almost died in the tub I kinda realized how even the stupidest little thing can kill me now." She looked down at her feet. "I guess I just got really... sad and stuff..."
"You probably shut down because the emotions were too much for you to handle." Lincoln said. " Depression has that effect on people. Clyde tells me about it all the time."
"Clyde?"
"He's a psychologist now."
Lucy watched Lincoln wash the last bit of extra dye from her hair, his face one of concerned thought. She sighed sadly. "Im sorry, I didn't mean to worry everyone."
"Hey, No." Lincoln said softly. "Don't be sorry Lucy... Your going though some really messed up sh- uh stuff. Your emotions are gonna be a little messy. They're bound to be." He sat her chair back up and held her hair back. " Don't feel bad that your feeling bad... The main reason you worried us is because you weren't letting it out. So long as you don't let it consume you, your allowed to feel and if it ever dose, then we'll be here to pull you back out. Ok?"
Lucy stared back into Lincoln's eyes before smiling slightly "Yah, ok..."
Lincoln finished up quietly. Blowing her hair dry and brushing it back into order. Lincoln stepped back with a small smile before he took the mirror off the counter and brought it back to show her. "Weeelllll?"
Lucy looked into the hand mirror and found... Lucy. There was no stranger looking back at her from the glass now, it was her. A slightly older, thinner her granted, but it was her again. She smiled just enough to be noticeable before she looked up at her brother.
"Not dark enough, do it again." She monotoned.
Lincoln blinked owlishly before he caught her smile grin and threw his head back with a laugh. "Ah! Aw geeze, Lucy!" He smiled down at her. "Don't do that to an old man like me!"
"Old man? Thats kind of a depressing to call yourself... Sounds like one of my poems." Lucy hummed "An old man like me. From death I do Flee. No matter how much I want to be free... ugh..." Lucy paused, squinting slightly. "Sea?... We...?-"
"Death dose not listen to pleas?" Lincoln suggested, kneeling beside her again.
"As always, you know just what to rhyme." Lucy said, a small smile on her face.
Lincoln laughed again softly, but when he looked back at her, his face held a slightly sad simper. He leaned in just enough to touch his forehead to her's.
"I really missed this, Lucy." He said. Lucy could only stare back at him, lost on what to say.
"I really missed you."
Lincoln carried Lucy back into the living room and set her comfortably on the couch, arranging her arms into a more relaxed position. Standing he flashed a smile to her before he turned back to the kitchen. "Mom! Lisa, come and see! We're all done"
"Coming!" Rita shouted as she and Lisa rounded the archway from the kitchen. "Did everything turn out? I hope you two didn't ruin anymore of my towel-" Rita froze, Lisa stopping at her side, the two staring at Lucy, wide eyed.
"Well? What do you think?" Lincoln asked. "I think it turned out good."
Lisa's mouth opened and closed like a fish, unblinking as Rita simply stood, her hands going to her mouth. Lucy looked to Lincoln in mild confusion as the man scratched his head.
"It ah... It is good, right?" Lincoln asked. He watched Lisa nod before he went to their side, sighing heavily. "Look... I realized to, before we finished but-"
"What? Realized what?" Lucy yelped.
Rita began to shake, shoulders shivering before she started to cry quietly into her hands. Lincoln quickly pulled her into a hug as Lisa kept gocking at her, slightly pale.
"Whats going on?" Lucy frowned.
Lisa and Lincoln shared a quick look before he sighed. "Lucy... having your hair dyed again kinda... brings back memories." He started to rock Rita back and forth as she whimpered slightly. "Some of them are hard to think about..."
"Oh god..." Rita sniffled. "She looks just like she did before... and just like after we got her back from the hospital."
Lisa kept staring at her, mouth gaping as she walked forward to get a closer look, putting her hand through Lucy's hair carefully. "I-i... I remember you having... hair like this, but..." Lisa shook her head. "Its like seeing a ghost or something!"
"Uhh, well, you know..." Lucy smiled nervously. "I am all about ghosts and stuff..."
Lisa fluffed Lucy's hair a bit more, seemingly in deep thought. She stepped back when Lincoln took her shoulder to move her , Rita coming to Lucy' side. Their mother also put a hand to Lucy's hair, brushing it back with doleful grin on her face. She stroked her hand down to cup Lucy's chin.
"Look at you, huh..." She murmured, snuffling a little. "You look like your back in your own skin again. How are you feeling?"
"Better." Lucy said with a nod. "Feeling more like myself."
"That's good to hear sweety." Rita said quietly. "I'm so glad."
Lincoln sat back down on the couch beside her, throwing his arm over the back and crossing a leg over his knee comfortably. "I guess I did a pretty good job." He smirked, if a little sullen, rubbing his knuckles on his shirt before inspecting them in the light. "Not bad for an old fart like me."
"Don't call yourself old, if your old god knows what I am." Rita spoke with a watery giggle.
The front door in the kitchen clunked shut and rustling could be heard. "I'm home, Rita!"
"Oh, Lynnard! Come see what Lincoln has done!" Rita shouted, walking over to meet him halfway.
"Oh? What did he- CHEESE AND CRACKERS!" The man had one look at Lucy before stumbling to the floor.
The clinking and clanging of dishes in the kitchen filled the room as Lincoln lifted Lucy off the couch, carrying her to her usual chair at the dinner table.
"Are you sure you won't stay for dinner Lincoln?" Rita asked as she pulled out the chair for him to place Lucy in. "Your father made his famous Gumbo."
"I would, but I have to get home to my girls." Lincoln said, after arranging Lucy's arms in her lap. "I'll come back around for a visit once you think it'll be ok to bring the kids." Lincoln said, looking to his mother and Lisa before smiling back at Lucy, noogieing her lightly on the head. "I want the girls to meet their Gothic aunt."
Lucy smiled slightly up at him as he straightened her hair. "I suppose I could make time in my busy schedule."
Lincoln rolled his eyes in amusement before turning back to his mother. "I can pop in if you guys ever need help with anything. I'm just one call away."
"Of course." Rita said as she pulled her son in for a hug. "Thank you sweetheart."
"I'll be running some tests tomorrow, just a last check to see if there is any damage." Lisa said, sitting down across from her sister. "After that I have to go into give a guest lecture at the university, so I'll be going home. Which means they may take you up on your offer quicker than you anticipate."
"Oh Lisa. We can handle everything for a little bit." Mr Loud said, coming in from the kitchen with a big pot of food.
"Oh my gosh that smell good, I'd better get out of here before I'm tempted to take you up on your offer." Lincoln chuckled as he made his way through the kitchen to the door. "I see you guys."
"Goodbye Lincoln." The family chorused as the door shut quickly.
Mr Loud started to bowl up the food as his wife took a seat next to Lucy, fixing up her tubing. "Did you get the gum Lynnard?"
"Yup." The father nodded as he pulled a pack from his pocket and handed it to his wife. Lucy watched the exchange quietly, jumping when the ports were opened in her neck as the line connected... Still need to get used to that. She watched as Rita unwrapped a stick of gum for her before offer it for her daughter to take in her mouth.
Dinner was quiet, Lucy chewed her gum as she looked around at her silent family, mulling over the days events. It had been a lot to take in. The emotions, the knowledge Lincoln had shared with her, and it was just the beginning. She still had a lot of questions that needed answers, like what was happening to everyone else...
Lucy almost choked on her gum when she realized there was something Lincoln left out.
Who did Lincoln have kids WITH?!
Hey Spotty here!
Hope you guys are enjoying me yanking all your chains! Its gonna keep happening for a bit. However I wanted to bring up something a few people have asked about. Namely it being the future and that something should exist to either fix Lucy, or make her life easier. To that I say, fair enough. However in order to weasel out of this, cause this story would kinda change dramatically if that happened, Im gonna say it either hasn't happened yet, or its too expensive.
For the it hasn't happened yet, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the fifties and sixties, people thought we'd have flying cars and robot butlers by now. We've also been trying to heal the disabled for just as long, if not longer. While progress is made everyday, and I hate to say this, medical science isn't often funded, or at least for the right reasons. Sometimes you make more money keeping people sick rather than fixing them... So we might not have the things we think we could years down the line. Science can do amazing things, and the stories's world dose have Lisa Loud (She's been looking into it) however I'd just say its not where they can use it on the general public yet.
As for the 'too much money' affect, in this idea somethings do exist, but its very, very expensive. Not to mention a little risky. True to the title the Louds did get a settlement after the car accident, but they had to pay for surgeries and equipment, not to mention help support Lincoln's family when they lived with them and put five of their kids through college/ university themselves. Not much is left at this point.
Ha'chacha! Now that thats out of the way, we can expect to see two more Louds next chapter! Whenever thats done...