She remembered all of her children's births, Lincoln's most of all. How could she not with the reactions of both her husband, and the other five children upon revealing the gender.

"Are you sure this time?"

She smiled at her husband, they had both been told by the pediatrician and the ultrasound tech that Lynn Jr. was going to be a boy, had even bought everything in blues, then she had come out, and although they were both surprised that Lynn Jr. was indeed a girl not a boy, they both agreed that they wouldn't treat her any differently. Digging through her purse, she pulled out a very clear ultrasound of their boys legs, showing that he was indeed, very much a boy. She remembered each of the five older girls telling her that they didn't want a little brother, and then he had come. He had been so much smaller than any of the girls, and shock of shocks, had pop-pops bright white hair in a little tuff on his head. Truthfully she hadn't known what to expect with a boy, they'd only had girls up to that point, but she and her husband had agreed that they wouldn't treat him any differently than they would any of the girls.

How wrong she'd been. When she and her husband had first heard that Lincoln was bad luck from Lori, they knew right away what was happening, how could they not? Lincoln was pretending so that he wouldn't have to go to his sisters events. Well, they would teach him that it was not okay to lie. So they pretended to believe in Lincoln's bad luck enough to make him eat in the living room, and then to make him stay home instead of going to the movies with them. Somehow though, things had gotten out of control. They had allowed the girls to kick him from the house, and instead of comforting Lincoln, she and her husband had sold his furniture. She'd be kicking herself for months for that.

As a dental assistant, she had been trained in medical school to look for abuse, but for some damn reason, she hadn't thought of what they were doing as just that. Emotional instead of physical, but that would not matter in the slightest bit if anyone had seen Lincoln sleeping outside. Her father would be so ashamed of her. Her and her husband had a short talk after finding that Lincoln had smashed the family trophy shelf, he would talk to Lincoln first, she would talk to the girls. Her husband had sent them to bed without dinner, as much a punishment as he could handle without yelling she was sure. Taking a deep breath herself she started in Lori and Leni's room.

"Lori, Leni, lets start with you."

"Like i'm busy texting bobby mom, what's up?"

She sighed, they'd have to have a talk with Lori about appropriate phone usage. It wasn't healthy for Lori to be practically married to the thing, but first things first, " Lori put your phone down now."

"But my boo boo bear and i aren't done talking."

She reached out and grabbed the phone, "Bobby Lori's not going to be able to talk to you for a couple of days she is now grounded from her phone."

She watched her eldest daughters face go from shocked to furious, "You can't do that! What will I do without my boo boo bear?"

"Lori, you don't need to be talking to your boyfriend constantly, you can have the phone back in a couple of days. Now that i have your attention, i need you girls to listen. What we did to Lincoln wasn't right, you have to know that. He wasn't ever bad luck, you have to know that. Also you need to know that there are going to be changes around this house. Like your cell phone usage young lady."

"But mom, Lincoln ruined my clubs, he really is bad luck." Lori whined,

"No, he isn't. Now i wasn't in the hallway when Lincoln ruined your clubs, but I will bet that he did it on purpose to avoid going to your game, and before you get mad, think of what your brother has been going through. You girls always drag him to your events even if he doesn't want to, and i don't blame Lincoln for trying to get out of it. However, I want you both to think, really think, what if it had been you that Lynn Jr. blamed for being bad luck? What if your brother had been attacked or killed while outside? What if someone had seen him outside and phone social services? We were really lucky because just like you girls, there is only one Lincoln. Think about it and think about how you can apologize."

As she closed the door, she reflected that this one was probably the easiest, Lori would be mad about her phone being taken, but she took her job as eldest sibling pretty seriously, and when Lori did some reflecting, would realize how bad she had messed up. Rita hadn't needed to talk to Leni, she knew her second eldest daughter was only going along with the crowd, and although that was bad, they all knew that Leni was special. That shouldn't dis include Leni from punishment, and Rita knew just how to make that happen. But first, she had to see all of the rest of the sisters. It took the rest of the night for her to let all of her daughters know just how badly they had all screwed the pooch, and that in the morning her husband was going to be laying down some new rules. Then and only then did she head straight for the garage where her husband had just left.

Seeing Lincoln inside, sitting on a cot of all things, she felt her heart break a little, "Son, i know you are mad, and that dad has already apologized, but i want you to know that I am so very very sorry."

"you say that now, but nothing's going to change. You'll still allow the girls to do whatever they want and the only one who ever has to suffer is me."

She pulled him into her lap as he cried, rocking him as if he were a baby again, "Oh baby, is that how you really feel?" When Lincoln nodded through the tears she hugged him again, "Lincoln honey, I want you to know that we realized what we did wasn't right. You should never have to feel like you aren't loved. I know i have screwed up, and that is why i want you to be my reminder."

"What does that mean?"

"Honey any time you feel like you aren't being treated fairly i want you to remind me how close we came to losing you. Secondly tomorrow i want you to tell all of the girls how they are making you feel. And i know dad has already promised you this, but i want you to come to me or dad whenever you feel like your feelings are being ignored or you want some time away from your sisters."

"But dad said family supports each other."

"Yes, and dad is right about that, but you are only one boy Lincoln and a child. You should be allowed to not attend your sisters events if you don't want to go."

"Even if one of the girls threatens me?"

"Did lynn jr. do that?"

"With a baseball bat."

"Oh honey, i'm so sorry. Lynn Jr. will be punished accordingly. I also want you to know that i have instructed your sister Lisa to record everything tomorrow including the new rules. I don't ever want to forget that we almost lost you."

For the rest of the night, she stayed with Lincoln, just holding him like she used to when he was very small and reflecting. Reflecting on how things could have gone if she hadn't come to her senses when she did. Reflecting on how much they allowed their daughters to get away with and how she vowed to change to become the mother she promised she would be when her first was born. It was time for her to put her foot down and be a mother.

End chapter

I didn't describe Rita going into every room, because she told all of the children the same thing she did Lori and Leni. That they knew Lincoln wasn't really bad luck and that what they had done was very, very wrong.