Lincoln and Ronnie Anne both blinked as a stampede of feet entered the living room, the rest of the two families gathering either side of the fifth graders. "What are you guys talking about?" He asked, very confused by what was happening.

"Look up, little bro!" Luna giddily sang, her and the rest of her sisters (sans Lori) all looking on excitedly. Doing as she suggest, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne both looked up and gulped upon seeing a bunch of mistletoe, hanging from a red ribbon tied in a bow. They slowly looked down, their eyes meeting with the same level of panic and fear, before turning back to the others. "You know what that means!"

"B-b-but, I can't!" He stuttered.

"Y-yeah, w-we're just friends!" Ronnie Anne added.

"Uh, uh, uh!" Lola tutted. "When two people meet under mistletoe, they have to share a kiss! That's a rule!"

"She's right, champ!" Lynn Sr called out from the living room. "One time, we had Aunt Ruth round for Christmas and I ended up under the mistletoe with her." He shuddered heavily. "That was one of my least favourite Christmas's."

"Honey, it wasn't that bad!" Rita argued.

"Says you! You even took a picture of it!"

Frida's eyes lit up. "Ooh! Don't go anywhere, I need my camera!"

"But we-" Her words fell on deaf ears, as her aunt quickly left to find the item in question. Ronnie Anne looked angrily at the Loud sisters. "Why are you making us do this?"

"Hey, you're the ones under the kissletoe!" Luan punned, laughing as she always did. "Get it?"

Though her pun received groans as usual, this was quickly overlooked in favour of the more pressing matter. "Come on, Linky," Leni encouraged, "you and your girlfriend would look so cute together!"

"SHE'S/HE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND!" They both barked.

"Oh, buck up and kiss her, Lincoln!" Lynn yelled, inspiring the rest of her sisters (again, sans Lori) to start chanting "kiss her" at the white-haired boy, who stood there nervously.

Glancing over at Ronnie Anne, he asked, "how do we get out of this?"

Equally nervous, she replied, "I don't know. Maybe we can just make a run for it?"

"I guess there's no other choice. Alright, on three. One… two…"

"What is going on out here?" They heard Rosa call as she entered the hall, apron around her neck.

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne breathed out in relief. "We're saved," they both muttered.

"Ronnie Anne and Lincoln won't kiss under the mistletoe, abuela!" CJ explained.

"But you must! It will ward off evil spirits!"

While Bobby and Lori facepalmed, and the rest of Lori's sisters all smirked, the two fifth graders' jaws dropped. "Seriously?!" Ronnie Anne complained.

"Actually, it's a tradition that stems from Norse mythology," Carlos explained. "It is also a sign of love and friendship, and to deny the kiss is not only to deny that love or friendship, but a sign of bad luck." Lincoln's face went even paler at the mention of "bad luck", his mind flashing back to the last time he had been accused of that.

"I will not have evil spirits in my house!" Rosa stated firmly.

"Great," Ronnie Anne complained, before turning to Lincoln, who looked like he was about to be sick. "You okay, lame-o?"

He turned to her, shook his head lightly, then sighed. "Sorry about this."

"I'm sorry too."

"Found it!" Frida announced as she returned, camera in hand. "Have they done it yet?"

"Nope, but I think they're about to," Carl mockingly teased.

Ronnie Anne growled at the boy, but this was lost under the countdown that began with his sisters. Though they were both dreading it, Ronnie Anne and Lincoln knew that there was no escaping what was to come. Reluctantly, they shuffled towards each other, face to face, leaned in and kissed once the countdown was at zero. Ignoring the cheering and applause from the Loud sisters and the Casagrande siblings, they waited for the flash to go off from Frida's camera, and instantly backed away after. Neither dared to look to the other, afraid of their reaction to the awkward interaction.

"There we go!" Rosa commended. "Was that so hard?" Both of them muttered "yes", but she ignored it. "Come on, everyone! Lunch is ready!"

With that, the two families began heading towards the dining table. As Lincoln reached the entrance, he accidentally bumped into Ronnie Anne, causing them both to back away from each other. Bobby and Lori just watched as they awkwardly tried to figure out who would go in first, with Ronnie Anne entering after Lincoln following a good few seconds of awkward stepping and stuttering. Once they were in the living room, Bobby groaned. "I can't believe this happened," he said to Lori, putting a hand to his head. "I'm such an idiot."

Frowning, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Bobby, don't say that!" She told him. "This wasn't your fault."

"But, it was!" He took her hand from his shoulder, so he could turn around and face her. "The mistletoe was the surprise I was talking about. I thought, if I set it up, I could surprise you and it would be really romantic, you know?" He looked down, shaking his head. "But now I've just made my sis and your bro uncomfortable."

Although she found it sweet that he thought of that, it broke her hear him beat himself up about it, so she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, placing a hand behind his head which now rested on her shoulder. "Bobby, this was not your fault. You couldn't have possibly predicted that literally THAT would happen, or that my sisters would goad them on like that, or that your grandmother would force them to do it. No matter what, this wasn't your fault."

He couldn't help but smile at his girlfriend's words. "Thanks, babe. Still," he released himself from the hug and looked into the living room, "I feel bad for little bro and Nie Nie."

Lori followed his gaze once again, just in time to see Ronnie Anne and Lincoln both reach for the butter, only to accidentally touch hands. They glanced at each other before instantly looking away, each with a frown on their face, which just broke Lori's heart broke even more.

"We'll think of something. Just… give them some time."


After a relatively light lunch, everyone was pleasantly chatting around the table, save for the two silent eleven-year-olds, with Ronnie Anne listening to her younger cousins arguing over who had the better presents and Lincoln pushing a piece of broccoli back and forth on his plate with his fork.

"So, kids!" Rita spoke up, putting down her napkin. "What's everyone going to do while we prepare dinner?"

"We should TOTALLY have a massive snowball fight!" Lynn Jr suggested, instantly being received with vocal agreement from the rest of the kids.

"The falling crystals of ice precipitated by the atmosphere, street name- snow, should have settled overnight," Lisa explained, adjusting her glasses. "Therefore, it would be the perfect condition for such activities."

"Sigh… you're not going to build another cannon to help you win, are you?" Lucy asked.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, less talking, more moving! Let's go!"

Everyone quickly got up from their seats, the fifteen kids (not including Lily and Carlitos) heading towards the hallway to get their coats, hats, gloves and scarves, with the adults calling out to make sure they did. Once they were wrapped up and ready for the cold, they began heading towards the door, eagerly making their way through and down the stairwell. "Bobby!" Rosa called, just as he grabbed the handle. "Can you come in here a moment?"

"Sure thing, abuela!" He replied, then turned to Lori. "I'll be down in a minute, okay?" She nodded, then followed after her sisters and brother. Bobby walked into the kitchen, where Rosa and Lynn Sr were preparing dinner, while Frida, Carlos, Hector and Maria were washing up and clearing the table. "What's up?"

"When you all come back, I need you to head into the bodega." She glared over at Hector. "Your grandfather left the Christmas napkins and crackers down there, and we need them for dinner."

"Sure, I can do that."

"Here's the key!" Hector told his grandson, pulling a silver key on a chain out of his pocket and throwing it, so Bobby could catch it and place it in his trouser pocket. "Make sure to lock up after, and don't go in the dairy freezer!"

"And watch out for your cousins and sister!" Maria asked. "You know how much of a handful they can be!"

"Not to mention our kids!" Rita added, prompting Lynn Sr to chuckle.

"Got it. I'll see you later!"

With that, he headed out of the kitchen and opened the door, going through then closing it behind him. Heading down the stairwell, he headed outside, where his family and friends were all waiting.

"Yo, Santiago! Get over here!" Lynn Jr shouted. Bobby chuckled, then shut the door before running over to join them, slowing down to stand next to Lori. "Alright, we're all here, so how we gonna do this? Free-for-all?"

"Well, we can't do Louds versus," Carlota pointed out, "you guys have a clear numbers advantage."

"Also, free-for-all, as Lynn so 'elegantly' puts it," Lisa argued, "would give the more physically endeavoured an advantage."

"Well, why don't we do two teams?" Bobby suggested.

"That still gives one team a one man advantage!" Lola complained. "How would we decide who gets the extra body?"

"Actually, guys, I think I'll sit this one out," Lucy piped up.

"You sure, Luce Change?" Luna asked.

"Yeah. The cold is giving me inspiration for a poem." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen to further her point. "I'll be fine."

"Well, in that case, we just need to divide the teams," Lori pointed out.

"Ooh, Ooh, Ooh! I know!" Lana exclaimed, raising her hand. "How about Casagrande's, Santiago's, Lori and Lincoln versus the rest of us?"

Lincoln gulped, fearful that he and Ronnie Anne would still be awkward around each other. "Actually-" He was cut off by most of the others voicing their agreement, much to his dismay. Lori, knowing why Lana had suggested this, frowned, only to feel Bobby put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Babe," he told her softly. "Maybe this'll help them get past what happened earlier."

Although she wasn't sure how that was true or even if it would be, she appreciated his optimism, placing a hand on top of his and smiling. "Thanks, Bobby."

It wasn't too long before, after a quick trip into the bodega, they had set up a Capture The Flag-type game, with two makeshift flags either side of the street and a series of barricades made out of snow. Both teams stood in front of their flag, snowballs in hand with a supply made at their feet.

"Ready!" Lynn called out, that same look of passion in her eyes when she did any kind of sport. "Three… two… one… GO!"

With that, the two teams of seven began lobbing snowballs across the street at each other, trying to make their way closer to the opposing flag. Leni would be the first one to get hit by an arching projectile from Carlota. "Sorry, Leni!" She called out.

"Really?" Carl told her, looking with disbelief.

"Like, no worries! It's still fun!" Leni replied, a big smile on her face. The rest of her team all looked at her with deadpanned expressions.

"Really?" Lola told her.

Leni blinked. "What?"

Her sisters groaned, while Leni made her way to the jail. This was just the start of what stretched on for just under a couple of hours, with snowballs flying back and forth as they fought to try and grab the flag. While people were starting to get tired, both teams had won two games each, and Lynn insisted that they couldn't leave it on a tie, so they were back to where they started- both teams either side.

"Alright, this is the last game!" Lori instructed. "You get hit, you're out- no coming back in! First team to retrieve the flag or eliminate the entire opposing team wins! Are we ready?" The response was a mix of energetic and weary "yeah's". "Alright, let's get this over with. Three, two, one, go!"

Straight away, the snowballs were flying again. Leni was the first out again, but she was quickly joined by a few others, and it wasn't long until it was just Lynn up against Ronnie Anne and Lincoln. As the white-haired boy ran to cover, he came face to face with the Santiago girl. The memory of earlier was still there, so he quickly and awkwardly looked away. "So, uh, what's the game plan?" He asked.

"I dunno," she told him, also feeling awkward after what happened earlier. "Just… run forward to distract her, and I'll try and hit her."

"Okay." He waited a moment before running out of cover, dodging fire from Lynn as he rushed forward to the next cover. He bent down behind it and prepared another snowball, ready to pelt at his athletic sister, but as he got up, he moved just in time to dodge another frosty projectile, but this caused him to slip, falling down…

Right onto Ronnie Anne. The two both grunted in pain from the sudden collision and fall, before finally realising they were on top of one another, faces just an inch apart. As Lynn ran past and grabbed the flag, she stopped on the way back and smirked. "Get a room, you two!" She teased, before running back to her base, winning the match for her team.

Realising how awkward this was, Ronnie Anne pushed him off of her, scrambling to her feet and dusting the snow off of her. Lincoln quickly got up and did the same, his red face refusing to look at her. "S-Sorry," he mumbled.

"Forget about it," she muttered, her face equally red, before walking away.

On the sidewalk, Lori and Bobby both saw this and felt greatly disheartened at how upset the two younger kids seemed. "This is getting worse," Bobby sighed.

"I know," Lori told him. "What can we do about it?"

Bobby thought for a moment. "Hey, do you think you could talk with Ronnie Anne?"

Lori blinked, surprised by the suggestion. "Me? Wouldn't it make more sense for her brother to talk to her?"

"I doubt she'd listen to me right now. Besides," he glanced back at Lincoln, who was kicking the snow with his hands in his pockets and his head hung low, "I think Lincoln could use some bro talk."