It was hardly into the morning as something shook Lincoln away. He yawned and stretched as turned to whom disturbed his slumber. It was Lori, who was holding a cup of coffee. "Lincoln, wake up! We have to get a move on. Here, drink this," Lori instructed, handing the mug to him.

"Lori, you know that I hate coffee," Lincoln reminded her as he looked on his cup.

Lori rolled her eyes, "Oh, shut it, you baby. Besides, I put some milk and three sugar cubes in there, so it should neutralize the bitterness."

Lincoln decided to test her theory by taking a sip. The sweet, dark nectar gave him a jumpstart as he guzzled some more before taking a breath. "Oh, wow! That's tasty!" Lincoln exclaimed.

"I told you, twerp. Now, finish up and get dressed. The others are already downstairs waiting for you," Lori informed, walking out of the room.

Downstairs, the girls were either doing something to occupy themselves or fighting to stay awake. Leni, on the other hand, was wide awake and was acting like her usual perky self. "OMG, girls! I'm so happy that we're going to find T.K. Is any of you totes excited as I am?" Leni asked, performing a twirl.

Luna flinched and put one hand to one of her ears, "Yes, love. But please not so loud."

"Please, Leni? I haven't finished my coffee yet," Lynn added, swishing her coffee.

"Oh, sorry," Leni apologized.

The girls heard multiple footsteps as Lincoln and Lori walked downstairs. "Alright, since everybody's up, do any of you have to use the bathroom," Lori asked. No one raised their hands. "Are you sure?" Lori pried, putting an unamused look.

"Lori, Barkley is only eight miles from here. It isn't like were going to Detroit," Lisa explained.

Lori sighed, "I was making sure that we're prepared."

Lana and Leni raised their hands. "Actually, I really need to go badly," Lana squeaked, dancing around.

"Yeah, me too," Leni added, also dancing around.

Lori facepalmed, "Ugh, go."

The two dashed upstairs to relieve themselves. Lola rolled her eyes, "I warned Lana about those Fizzy Kings."

"Heh, you guess they had...ummmmmm. Oh, forget it, I'm too pooped to joke this early. Ha, pooped," Luan stated, taking a sip of her coffee.

Everyone plied into Vanzilla and began their short journey. Some went back to sleep, while others amused themselves in own ways. Lincoln was relieved but also nervous: relieved because they going to find T.K., nervous because he has an idea about what to do with T.K. "Um, Lori?" Lincoln called.

"What is it, Lincoln?" Lori answered, glancing at him by the rear view mirror.

Lincoln rubbed his shoulders nervously, "I was thinking..., when find T.K. and bring him back home; can we ask mom and dad to adopt him?"

Lori almost gave everyone and herself whiplash from stomping on the brakes in surprise. "You're kidding right? Lincoln, mom and dad can't possibly take him in. There's no room in the house for him," Lori explained.

Lincoln wasn't about give up from this, "Lori, you and the others have heard about the foster home. He'll just be neglected and abused all over again. It will be like he'd done this for nothing. Besides he'll just stay in the basement."

"Yeah, Lori, there's nothing wrong with having another person in the house," Leni added.

"Yeah, he could be a lead singer for me," Luna added.

"Or another audience member for my jokes," Luan added.

"Or another sports buddy," Lynn added.

"Or a-"

SCCCRRRRRRRRRRRED!

"Enough! Guys, I'm sorry, but get real! There's no possible way that mom and dad will literally take in ANOTHER kid! End of story!" Lori declared, setting the others straight. The rest of drive to Barkley continued in silence. Lori looked back to the others and she took note of their dejected faces. She felt bad for killing their dreams, but without her honesty, who else was going to tell them the harsh reality of life. "Well, it couldn't hurt to try, besides it could work," Lori thought as she saw a diner in the distance. She has an idea.

"Hey, why don't we stop at this diner and have breakfast. I know that we hadn't ate since last night," Lori recalled as several stomachs groaned in hunger.

"I could eat," Lynn responded.

"Us too," The twins added.

"Then it's settled,' Lori declared as she pulled into the parking lot. The sun was peeking over the trees as the sky became a glorious pink color. The siblings got out of Vanzilla and procceed inside of the diner. It had a western feel to it, completed with saloon doors, western decor, and a nifty looking bull skull on top of the doorway.

"Howdy, ya'll! Welcome to Marshall Dan's Rodeo Diner! How many of ya'll are eating?" The hostess greeted cheerfully.

"Table for eleven and a high chair for the baby, please?" Lori answered.

"Alrighty then, follow me people," The hostess directed, leading the kids to their table.

As they get situated, the hostess let them know that she'll be back with the high chair. She left them the menus so that they order.

Lana's eyes lit up, "Oh, the Rustler's omelette looks awesome!"

"Ditto on the Highwayman's special. It brings delight to my empty, dank soul," Lucy added in her own monotony.

"Guys, listen. I've been thinking about the idea that Lincoln proposed earlier, and...I'm up for if you all still are?" Lori proposed. The others looked up to her with hopeful looks. Lori put one finger up, "But, I don't know that Mom or Dad could warm up to this. That's still a possibility." The others nodded, agreeing on what she said.

"Alright, here's yer highchair for the lil' one. Ya'll ready to order?" The hostess asked, taking a notepad and a pen.

Eleven orders later, the group was now waiting on their food and discussing on where to search for T.K. "Alright, girls. This town is way different than Royal Woods. Where should start the search at?" Lincoln asked.

"Maybe this town has a foster home of its own. We could start there," Lynn responded, playing paper football with Lana.

"Good start! Anywhere else?" Lincoln pried.

Luna raised her hand, "How about the homeless shelter, dude?"

"Good, good! Now we're getting somewhere," Lincoln said as he wrote this down on a piece of napkin.

"Sorry, I'm afraid that won't any of you good,' A voice retorted from across the aisle.

The siblings turned their heads towards an elderly dark skinned man, who was eating a plate of an chicken fried steak. "Oh yeah, what it to ya, old man," Lynn snarked.

Jenk shook his head, "I'm mean that you won't find T.K. in this town."

Leni put her hand on Lynn's shoulders to calm her down. Lori stood up, "I sorry but how do you know about T.K., sir?"

"He was in town about two days ago, looking for a place to stay. I couldn't let him stay outside on the streets at night, so I let stay at my house for the night," Jenk answered.

Lincoln stood up also, "That's was kind of you sir, thank you. But you said that he isn't here. Do you know where he is now?"

"That I can answer. He's in the next town over, Northfield," Jenk answered.

The group gasped at the location. What could the boy be doing in Northfield of all places? "T.K.'s chance of survival is at frighteningly low 10%, due to the excessive criminal activity," Lisa hypothesized.

"LISA!" The others yelled.

Lisa rolled her eyes, "What? I'm stating facts, people. You should know this!"

"My god! Who knows how long T.K. can last over their? Mister, how far away is Northfield?" Lori pried.

"About twenty five miles, young lady," Jenk answered.

Leni gasped, "Lori, we need to go now! What would happened to poor T if we didn't?"

"But what about our breakfast?" The twins cried as the hostess came out with their food.

"Um, ma'am? Can you make those to go? We have something urgent to do!" Lori explained.

Author's Note: Alright, this story is drawing to a close in a little bit. I hope that I can get this done before I have to head back to school. Anyway, review, favorite, and follow because I'm not done after this story. Also, don't think I stole this adoption idea from the "Loud House: Sportsmanship" story.

This story so good, it'll make you fall out, boy. I'm so corny.