Hello dear readers! Hope you're all doing well. Today I bring you the penultimate chapter in Returning Who Was Lost. Hope you all enjoy, and I should have an update for Unwanted Feelings in the next few days as well.
Reunited
May 6th, 2020
After the initial reunions between the Santiagos, McBrides and the matriarch of the Loud family, Rita gave her quick hello's to the rest of the people in Tom's group. The rest of the group followed Steve to the community hall for their introductions, which Harold and the rest who stayed would take care of later.
Rita led Harold and the others to the new Loud House, telling Harold and them that she'd gather up the girls to join them. "Lori's going to be through the roof once she sees you Bobby, I-I still can't believe you're here". She said as she hugged the young man.
"Um, before I go, Harold… d-do you uh, know what h-happened to Lynn?" Rita cautiously asked, as she knew that her husband had Lily. And if she's here but not him…
Harold's change in demeanor was all she needed to figure it out and in a way she was relieved, because at least now she knew for certain. She'd mourn for him later, now she needed to see her girl's smiles. "O-okay, you guys wait in here while I gather everyone in the living room, then I want you to bring Lily in when I call. Then after giving the girls a moment with her, the rest of you come in". She told them as she wanted this to go just right.
It took a bit for Rita to gather up her daughters to the living room. She simply said that she had a surprise for them all, one they'd really enjoy. "So girls, we had some new arrivals today, and well… lets just say you'll recognize more than a few of them". She smiled.
"You can come in now!" She called out and Harold walked in with Clyde by his side and Lily in his arms, handing her off to Rita as he entered.
One by one the girl's eyes widened in shock, too stunned to believe what they were seeing. Leni was the first to react. She screamed in excitement, hopping over the chair in front of her and running up to her mother, scooping up Lily in her arms. "Lily! I'm l-like totes happy to see you! We-we thought you were gone". Leni shouted with joy as she spun her baby sister in her arms, with Lily giggling in response.
"Come on let's go see the rest of our sisters". Leni said as she was now cradling Lily in her arms. Lily looked around the room, but noticed that there was a certain someone missing. "Lincy?" Lily asked.
Leni stopped dead in her tracks after hearing his name, the whole room was now filled with an icy coldness that served to ruin the moment. Lori stepped forward, needing to switch the topic so the scene didn't turn all gloom and doom before it had a chance to really start. She set down Bobby Jr. on the couch and made her way to Leni.
In the most soothing voice she could muster, she spoke to Lily as she picked her up in her arms. "Sorry, Lily. L-Lincoln's not… here". She said with a slight frown before smiling again.
"But you are! And so is mom, Leni, Luna, Lynn, Lucy, Lola, Lisa, and… Me. The best sister of all".
That comment seemed to do the trick as the rest of the sisters started to argue about who was the best. Each of them trying to gain Lily's attention and get her to agree with them.
Lori smiled as her work as big sister was done, sitting down on the couch with her son and watching the other sisters have a moment with Lily.
Rita started crying tears of joy as she watched her daughter's smile like they did before this apocalypse even started. But she knew that she had to interrupt for the others to make their entrance. "D-don't forget Harold and Clyde now dears, Lily wouldn't even be here if it weren't for them".
The girls looked over to see the McBrides waving at them from the other side of the room.
Before walking over to the Loud girls with his son, Harold whispered to Rita that he needed to talk to her about Lincoln later. She quickly asked if he knew where her son was. "Unfortunately no, but I might know more than you since I feel like he's been gone for awhile now. But later, right now we have another special reunion to make don't we?" He asked as he motioned towards the kitchen.
After giving the girls a quick moment to talk with the McBrides, Rita grabbed their attention once more. "Uh, girls? There's actually two more people who wanted to come in and say hi". She let her gaze linger on Lori before calling the Santiago family in.
Maria was the first to enter the room, with her daughter nearly attached to her at the hip. And following close behind her was her son, who held his head down until they heard the sharp gasp from Lori.
He looked up and his eyes met hers, tears were already threatening to spring from his eyes as soon as he looked at her. But his attention was quickly brought to the child she held in her arms, his child.
Bobby held his one good hand up to his mouth, his whole body shaking as he looked at the bundle of joy resting in Lori's arms. "L-Lori? I-I-Is that? Ours?" He managed to croak out. All Lori could do in response was nod her head.
Bobby slowly found the courage to move, and began to walk over to the couch. Lori stood up as he got closer, still in disbelief at the ghost she saw before her. Once he pressed his warm palm to her cheek however, she knew this was no specter, this was her boo-boo bear and he was alive. "B-babe?"
That was enough to break Lori from her petrified state, she burst into tears as she wrapped one of her arms around his neck, burrowing her head into his chest. He returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.
After managing to compose herself, she found enough of her voice to speak again. "H-how? Wh-what hap-" Bobby held up his prosthetic arm in response to her question. "We tried to get in to the shelter once mom was sure I wasn't gonna turn. But they turned us away, saying the place was full".
Their conversation was interrupted by the faint crying coming from Bobby Jr.
"O-oh sorry little guy..." Lori then looked to Bobby and lifted their son up for him to take. She cautiously handed him off, "Bobby… m-meet Bobby Jr. Yo- Our son". Tears were beginning to fall from Bobby's eyes by this point. Not only was he reunited with the only love of his life, but here he was holding his son in his arms.
"I think this calls for a celebration!" Lola blurted out.
"I literally couldn't agree more" Lori said as she looked into Bobby's eyes and brought her lips to his. "I've missed that..." Lori said as she stared at him through half-lidded eyes. "So have I". He agreed.
The three families sat down for dinner at the Loud House that night, Clyde catching up with some of the Loud sisters on their journeys and them on his. Rita offered her condolences to Harold after hearing of Howard's and Lynn's death. Once dinner was finished, Harold pulled Rita off to the side, opting to tell just her about Lincoln and letting her decide to tell the others herself.
"So when we found… Lana's...grave. We stayed the night in a small cathedral". Rita informed him that was the same place they stayed at when they were in the town, and it was the same place that Lana died. Harold thought back to that place and remembered the blood he found on one of the tables, he thought nothing of it at the time but now realized that was Lana's blood.
"Well when Lynn and us were there, a family had entered the place, they were friendly and just looking for a place to stay. And it was a good thing we let them". Harold took a sip of his water before continuing his story. "The family told us that they ran into a young man traveling with a boy, their name's were Richard… and Lincoln". Rita clasped a hand over her mouth in response.
"They said that the man he was with, Richard, was friendly and offered them supplies, even after being threatened. According to them Lincoln was fine as well".
This gave the Loud matriarch a new hope, her son had made it out of that place alive, he was somewhere out in the world. "Last we knew, Lincoln was taken by a gang of men. They had brought him to some hotel, which we later found burned to the ground. We tried to go inside to get him… but, but Lynn almost died while we were there".
Rita broke down in tears as she thought back to that day, the choice her and the girls regrettably agreed to. "W-we left him Harold. I left my baby boy in that place all alone. When we tried to go back, the place was burned down… and I felt like I would never see him again".
Harold gently placed a comforting hand on her knee. "I'm sure he's still out there Rita. Looking for you guys, He'll find us I know he will". He assured her with a determined look in his eyes. "T-thank you Harold, for everything you've done for us. I-I don't think any of us would even be here now if it weren't for you getting us into that shelter back at the start of all this".
"No thanks are necessary, what else are friends for?" He smiled at her.
Rita followed Harold back to the dining room, informing her daughters of what Harold just told her.
"S-so he might still be alive!?" Lola nearly jumped out of her chair after hearing what her mother said.
"All we know is that he made it out of that hotel before it went down in flames. But yes, he could still be out there, searching for us". Rita wiped a stray tear from her eye after thinking about possibly seeing her son once again.
February 13th, 2020
Richard was working furiously in the kitchen, preparing a bit of a surprise for Lincoln. This was the first time he was making something like this, he made sure to follow every step of the instructions, not wanting to screw it up. Lincoln didn't know it but Richard had found out what today was.
"okay, now I just gotta wait… I hope this turns out alright". Richard said to himself as he stared through the glass window of the oven. Rich set the timer and walked over to the couch, sitting down and picking up one of his comics to read.
Lincoln, meanwhile was in his room, playing a game on Rich's Nintendo Switch. He was racing against the computers in Mario Kart, and he was on the last lap in second place. He could see Bowser in first place just a bit ahead of him. He passed through one of the item cubes on the track. "come on, come on..." The randomized item landed on a red shell and Lincoln's face lit up with excitement. "okay wait for it, wait for it… now!" Lincoln used the red shell and hit Bowser just as they were coming up on the finish line.
Bowser flew up in the air and Lincoln zoomed right by him through the finish line, taking first place and winning the race. This was the last race in the cup, With Lincoln winning enough races to win the whole thing. "Yes!" Lincoln pumped his fist in the air in victory.
He heard the timer in the kitchen go off and wondered what Rich was making. He wandered into the hall and made his way towards the kitchen.
He saw Rich taking something out of the oven, but Rich quickly turned his head in the boy's direction and ordered him not to look. "Please. It's a surprise, trust me you'll like it". Rich said as he shielded whatever it was he was baking. "Okay, okay just let me know when whatever it is, is done".
Richard searched through the cabinets, looking for the finishing touch for his creation. His eyes lit up when he saw them next to the plates and grabbed some of them from the pack. Once everything was set, Richard dimmed the lights and called Lincoln back out.
Lincoln wondered why the lights were nearly off till he saw it sitting on the table.
A birthday cake. For Him.
"I hope it's alright… I kinda found out your family's birthdays when we were at your house and figured I'd surprise you". Rich had a sheepish smile across his face as he looked at the boy, hoping for a good reaction.
Lincoln looked at the cake, it had chocolate frosting over the top with thirteen candles stuck in it. He moved closer to the table, still staring at the delicious looking sweet with his name written on it, with… Orange icing.
Lincoln turned to Rich, with tears beginning to well up in his eyes. Without a word, the boy wrapped his arms around Rich. "T-thank you… Rich". Richard smiled warmly as he returned the boy's hug.
"Happy Birthday Lincoln".
Richard cut a piece of cake for Lincoln, telling him that the whole thing is his since Rich couldn't eat any of it. "So… how does it feel to be a teenager now".
"Um, not really any different than before I guess". Lincoln replied as he shoveled a bite of cake into his mouth. "Wow Rich, this is actually pretty good".
"Really? I'm glad you like it. I just followed the instructions from that recipe book over there. Never made a cake before so I'm just relieved you like it. Oh and by the way..." Rich went over to the storage room and grabbed a bag from just inside the doorway.
He handed the bag off to Lincoln. "It wouldn't be a birthday without any presents now would it". Lincoln's eyes lit up as he looked into the bag to see several wrapped presents for him. "I hope you like what I got..."
Lincoln opened the first present, tearing off the paper around the cardboard box. He opened the box to see several issues of Ace Savvy inside. There was a rather large stack as Rich had cleaned out every comic store they passed, taking the Ace Savvy issues without Lincoln's knowledge whenever they searched separately.
"I think you'll like that last one the most". Rich said with a proud smile. Lincoln looked at the issue on the bottom, it was still wrapped in it's original package, but the two things that caught Lincoln's eye was the issue number and what was written on the front.
It was the first issue of Ace Savvy, still in mint condition and signed by it's creator. "oh my god! No way! W-where did you find this!?" Lincoln shouted in excitement. "When we were searching around places in your home town actually".
Lincoln then opened up the other presents.
He was overjoyed to see the various things Rich got for him. Ace Savvy and One-eyed Jack action figures, still in the boxes. A couple different Smooch CDs. "I know, I know. You have the mp3 player but come on, you gotta appreciate the appeal of it". Rich defended his choice. "No I like it, really, thank you".
Then Lincoln got to the last gift.
"Alright this one… I came up with myself. I, I hope it's alright". Richard said as Lincoln tore the paper off the small box. He opened it up to see two charms and a two different sized silver chains.
One of the charms was a blue ribbon, and the other a silver heart with the word 'warrior' engraved on it. Lincoln looked up to Rich with a brow raised. "Okay so… you can either wear those as a necklace or bracelet, um… the ribbon, represents survival of child abuse. And of course the warrior one I think is self-explanatory".
Lincoln looked back down at the two charms after this revelation and could feel new tears forming in his eyes. "I got the idea from my sister, she got me a couple similar charms but obviously dealing with a different subject. You don't have to even wear em if you don't like them. Maybe I'm overstepping my bounds, being too much but I'm just sentimental like that".
Lincoln then got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around Richard's neck, silently crying into his shoulder. "Sniff* I-It's nice Rich. T-thank you...for everything".
Lincoln wiped his tears and put the charms around the longer chain to use as a necklace. Smiling as he looked at them around his neck."You know with the cake and all these gifts, I'd think you were trying to get in my pants". Both boys burst out in laughter at Lincoln's joke. "So, want another piece of Cake?" Rich asked once he had calmed down from his laughing fit. Lincoln smiled back at him. "Yes, please".
As Rich was getting ready for bed, Lincoln passed by his room, stopping in the doorway. "Hey Rich…I-I just wanted to say thanks again, really".
"Aw don't worry about it dude. I'm just glad you're doing better. Think we might try and head back out soon?" Rich asked.
"Almost, I know they're out there waiting for me… but I've been having a real good time just staying here. Howabout we head back out in a few weeks?"
"Fine by me, so long as you're good, I'm good. Goodnight Lincoln".
"Goodnight Rich".
And there we are, one more chapter and we move on to the final part of this trilogy. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you for the final time on Returning Who Was Lost.
