Sorry this one took so long, guys. I promise, I'm not dead!


"C'mon, Lana, don't look at me like that."

Lincoln hated the puppy dog eyes. All ten of his sisters were masters of the look and could use it to get practically whatever they wanted out of him. There was just something about seeing the girls whom he adored so much look so sad, even if he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that they were manipulating him.

Currently, his little sister Lana was using the eyes to drag him to the park to look for salamanders by the pond. Lincoln, never much of an outdoorsman, had just said no. Big mistake. Lana brought out the big guns.

"Pleeeeease, Lincoln? Mom and Dad are too busy cleaning the kitchen, and all the older girls are at the mall. You're the only one who can take me!" the girl pleaded, her big, sad eyes staring straight into her brother's. "Me and Hops will love you forever!" At the sound of his name, the frog popped his head out of the front pocket of Lana's overalls.

Shouldn't you love me forever anyway, since I'm kind of your big brother? he thought sarcastically, though he frankly couldn't care less about the amphibian. "Lana, I really don't want to…"

But those eyes. They just kept staring at him, burning a hole straight through his head, through his very soul. How he just wanted to make it stop!

Caving, he sighed. "All right, fine," he resigned. Man, I'm such a pushover.

Just like that, the puppy dog eyes went away, and Lana was beaming ear-to-ear. "All right! Thanks, Lincoln!"

He nodded, a disgusted grimace plastered on his face. She had won. Out of frustration, he blurted a rhetorical question that he immediately regretted:

"Why can't you just play dress-up like a normal little girl?"

As soon as the words escaped his lips, Lincoln's hands immediately flew over his mouth. Whoa, where the heck did that come from?

Lana narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, 'like a normal little girl?'" she challenged in annoyance. "Why do I have to be 'normal?'"

The boy quickly shook his head. "Lana—"

"I thought you were better than that, Linc," the six-year-old said dejectedly, turning away from her brother. "I didn't think you cared about any of us being normal. I'm sorry I like different things than a lot of other girls…I didn't know it bothered you so much. Forget the stupid park, I'm not in the mood anymore." With a disappointed sigh, she started back toward her bedroom, shaking her head.

Lincoln flopped down on his bed with a groan. "Idiot," he muttered to himself. "Why did I have to say that?" Though his desire for some alone time was all fair and good, he knew he wronged his sister by comparing her to other girls. That wasn't fair.

Lana wasn't some other girl. She was Lana—messy, handy, animal-loving Lana. And Lincoln felt like the biggest fool alive right now, daring to wish his sister would just act like a normal girl. Sure, Lana's mud and wild animals drove him crazy sometimes, but Lincoln couldn't imagine her any other way.

"Lana, wait," he called after his sister, who had only made it a few slow steps out of his bedroom. "Come back."

She turned toward him. "Why, so you can compare me to Lola or something? Tell me how much of a boy I am, compared to her?" she spat, crossing her arms.

"No. Just…please, come here for a minute," he requested.

Lana begrudgingly did as her older brother wished, reentering his room and standing in front of him with a miffed expression on her face.

"I shouldn't have said what I said," Lincoln said apologetically. "It was wrong, and I'm sorry. I just wanted a little time to myself, and…well, I guess I got carried away."

But the girl wasn't satisfied. Her expression softened, but she was still upset. "Does it really bother you? That I'm not like other girls?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Truthfully, Lana's messes and animals could get on Lincoln's nerves sometimes, requiring a bit more effort to deal with than his other sisters' interests, but he loved his little sister with all his heart. And he felt really bad about putting himself and his want for some peace and quiet ahead of that sometimes. "Lana, I don't care about how other girls act. You're you, and I love you just the way you are."

A small smile crossed Lana's lips. "Really?"

"Really," he replied, smiling back at her.

"Thanks, Lincoln," she said appreciatively. "But…I still don't feel right. I mean, that whole 'normal' thing had to come from somewhere. You've never said anything before, but you were pretty angry when you said it."

Lincoln frowned, feeling guilty. He had always found it strange that Lana chose to play in her dad's toolbox while her twin sister, Lola, liked Leni's old tea party set. Lola was so much more girly than Lana, and that struck their only brother as a bit odd. "I…I guess I've always been comparing you to Lola a little bit," he admitted, a deep frown forming on his face. "She just seemed like so much of, you know, a girl, and—"

"Oh," Lana uttered, her smile vanishing. "I get it. You've always thought I was weird. I'm a freak compared to Lola."

Again Lincoln sighed, feeling horrible about himself. "Lana, I'm so sorry. I know it's not right to think of you like that. I haven't been fair to you," he started, his voice trembling haltingly. Feeling his eyes well up, he wiped at them with his shirtsleeve. "But I want you to know that I do love you for who you are. Yeah, you're pretty weird, but that's okay. I know that none of the others like mud and tools, but you're not a freak just because you do. Forget about the other girls. You can do whatever you want to do, and I'll always love you no matter what."

Seeing her big brother on the verge of tears made Lana feel strange. Part of her wanted to strangle him for comparing her to her twin her whole life, but she quickly shook that thought out of her mind. He was so genuinely sorry that he was ready to cry a river, and she didn't have the heart to deny him forgiveness.

Hopping up to sit next to him on his bed, Lana decided to forgive Lincoln. She couldn't really blame him for the comparison too much, since they lived with so many girls who had interests that society classed as feminine. "I'll forgive ya, Linc," she said with a warm smile as she leaned up against his arm. "I know I'm easy to compare…I'm not as girly as Lola. I get it."

Having successfully bitten back his tears, Lincoln shook his head and smiled a little. "You don't have to be like Lola," he replied. "I'm not going to compare you to anyone anymore, because it's wrong, and I love you because you're you. You don't need to be anybody else." To emphasize, he pulled his sister into his lap and gave her the sweetest hug she'd ever shared. His strong (compared to her, anyway) arms made her feel safe and warm, like nothing bad could ever happen to her while she was in them. She felt more loved at that moment than at any other point in time she could remember.

"Leni's right, you do give the best hugs," Lana murmured, melting into Lincoln's arms.

The eleven-year-old smiled wider, blushing a little. "I've had a lot of practice," he replied simply, pressing a kiss into the girl's hair. Having so many sisters, hugs were a frequent occurrence, especially when Lincoln was little. With five older sisters doting upon him constantly, he'd gotten accustomed to the loving gestures and became a master at it. Though Leni and Lola were the only ones who hugged him regularly anymore, the boy still reveled in affection and put his all into a hug whenever he got one.

He finally let go after nearly ten whole minutes. "Better now?" he asked.

"Yeah, much better," Lana answered happily, grinning happily. "Thank you, Lincoln. You're the best big brother a girl could ask for."

Flattered, Lincoln chuckled. "What do you say the best big brother takes you to the park like you asked?" he suggested

"Aw, Linc, you don't have to," she politely declined. "I know you don't like hunting for salamanders. I'll go see if Dad wants to take me."

Smirking, Lincoln tried his best to emulate the puppy dog face his sisters always used on him. "But you said that you and Hops would love me forever!" he begged playfully, echoing her earlier pleas to him.

"Forget about Hops," Lana giggled, giving her brother another quick hug. "I'll love you forever anyway."