Cold, blistering winds, snow that plies up as far as the eye can see, and ice that can catch the most careful and focused person literally slipping. It doesn't take a Lisa for anyone to figure out that winter has come once again. For kids, this is a great, joyful thing because school buses have difficulty making their morning routes, which meaning no school.
For the Loud kids, this also means that Christmas is fast approaching for them to receive their annual gifts that have been begging for on their knees. Whether Lori is dying internally from not opening presents, Lucy and Lynn going on a scavenger hunt in order to find their presents, or Leni making fashionable dresses from any Christmas decorations. There ain't no stopping these kids from having a holly jolly good holiday. Well, there is one kid…
"Lincoln, honey! Can you help Lori and Luan decorate the tree?" Rita asked to her son, while she was busy helping her husband with the dinner for tonight.
Lincoln nodded, "Sure thing, mom! Where are the decorations?"
"They're in the attic." Rita answered.
Before he could proceed, Rita placed her hand on Lincoln's shoulder.
"Also, try to coax T.K. out of his room. He's been depressed since last week." Rita explained, worried for her adopted son's well being.
"Got it!" Lincoln responded, before he continued his way and went upstairs.
The decorations weren't hard to find in the attic. All Lincoln had to do was some heavy lifting to get the box. Slowly, he climbed back down from the attic while having careful not to trip, and headed downstairs. He walked towards Lori and Luan, who were decorating the tree.
"Here you go, girls." Lincoln signaled as he placed the box down.
Lori placed another ball ornament onto a branch. "Oh, thanks Lincoln." She gave a smile of appreciation.
"Hey Lincoln. A virgin for your troubles?" Luan winked jokingly as she held a Virgin Mary figurine.
"Ah, ha ha. Yeah, I'll leave ya to that." Lincoln cringed at the joke, before he turned around and walked towards the basement door.
Now, it's time for task two: luring a dragon out of his cave. In Lincoln's case, luring a moody preteen out of the basement. Lincoln took a deep breath before opened the basement door and peeked his head in.
"T.K., are you down here?" Lincoln pried through the darkness.
There was no answer as Lincoln sighed.
"Ugh, come on, T.K. Make it easy for me." Lincoln complained as he walked downstairs.
"I hope nothing is wrong with him." Lincoln thought hopefully.
He fumbled around the darkness until he flipped the switch. The light shined all over the room as Lincoln saw a familiar bundle of dreadlocks on the air mattress.
Lincoln approached and shook the dreadhead. "T.K., are you feeling ok?"
There was no answer.
"T.K., dude. Are you asleep?" Lincoln called, shaking him further.
Again, no answer.
"T.K. say some-Ah!" Lincoln screamed as a hand shot out from under the covers and gripped the collar of his shirt.
T.K. pulled Lincoln close to his face, "What!?"
Lincoln saw the angry expression on T.K's face, meaning he's not in the mood.
"I-I was wondering if you would like to help us decorate the tree. Mom and the others are worried that you are more quiet than usual," Lincoln informed as he flinched under T.K.'s glare.
"No way," T.K. responded as he gently pushed Lincoln away.
Lincoln was dumbfounded, "But why? It's about to spend some great time with our family in Christmas!"
"Right there! That last word right there! Christmas! I not too keen on celebrating it," T.K. answered.
"Not to keen? What could possibly be bad about Christmas of all holidays," Lincoln tempted, still finding himself hard to believe what's T.K's problem.
T.K. turned away from Lincoln with his crossed arms. "You wouldn't understand, Linc," T.K. assumed.
"Come on, T. You really said that to me of all people?" Lincoln pointed out.
T.K. didn't respond. Lincoln sighed and began to think. What could be the reason that the skater hated Christmas so badly? The last thing that everyone needed was a grouch.
"Hmm, I may figure out on how to coax him into confessing." Lincoln thought as he turned to T.K.
"T.K. I'm thinking of a song." Lincoln claimed with a smirk.
T.K. turned to Lincoln with a confused look.
"A manly, catchy song that you may know the words to," Lincoln clarified.
T.K.'s head tilted, "What do you me-"
"I feel we're close enough. I wanna lock in your love." Lincoln sang.
"Oh no. No, no, no, no, NO! You would go there, Lincoln!" T.K. complained as he shook his head.
Lincoln spun into a jig. "I think we're close enough. Could I lock in your love, baby?"
T.K. slapped his hands over his ears. "La, la, la, la, laaaaa! Can't hear you over the sound my forced wailing! Not gonna work, Lincoln!
"Come on, you know you wanna to. I can't finish this without you, T," Lincoln convinced.
T.K. leaped from the bed. "Now I got you in my space. I won't let go of you." T.K. sang perfectly as Lincoln looked on.
"Got you shackled in my embrace. I'm latching on to you." T.K. finished.
Lincoln walked up to him. "Now that I've brought you from your moodiness, would ya please tell me what's wrong with you!?"
T.K let out a sigh in defeat. "Alright, alright. Take a seat, will ya?" He ordered with a motion.
Lincoln plopped onto the air mattress.
T.K. took a deep breath, "Five years before my pops and I moved here, it was Christmas Eve in Dallas. It was one of the rare times that I could see my dad without anything making 'em work on the road."
Lincoln nodded as he listened attentively to the story.
"Before Christmas Day arrived, I was begging my dad to buy my a street luge board: the Apex Carver. They really don't make boards like those anymore," T.K. reminisced as Lincoln raised his hand.
"Wait, what does that have to do with the story? Not to be rude or anything," Lincoln asked.
"I was gettin' to that, bruh. Anywho. At the time, I didn't know that he got the actual board until I went snoopin' through the presents and found it under the floorboards. Afterwards, my pops and I went out for a little family dinner with my aunt, uncle, and cousins," T.K. remembered.
T.K. walked towards the wall and leaned against it, "After that, we came back home and…it had been broken into. Everything had been stolen, the furniture, our clothes, food, and worst of all: OUR…PRESENTS!
Lincoln gasped in shock, "But did you ever get them back?"
"Nope. By the time that the cops founded the criminal and asked about the location later that night, he already gave the gifts to someone else. The bad thing is that not only Ithat he took my most sought gift, he took a piece of my innocence as well," T.K. remarked sadly.
Lincoln grasped T.K.'s shoulder, "T.K., that's horrible. I'm so sorry about what happened."
"Uh-uh, I don't need your pity, but at least you know why I'm like this. Now, go do what ever you and the girls want but leave me be," T.K. instructed as he placed the blanket over himself.
Lincoln walked back to the stairs. He looked back to T.K one more time with a worried look. He sighed and proceeded to walk upstairs.
"This had better be good, twerp," Lori warned as the other sisters voiced their complaints.
"It is, Lori. I found out what's wrong with T.K.," Lincoln informed.
Lynn crossed her arms, "Other than that he is being a Gary H. Grouch?"
"Anyway, when T.K. was six…" Lincoln started.
Ten minutes later, the girls were shocked and saddened from T.K.'s Christmas tragedy.
"Poor Tee Kee," Leni moped.
"That crook took the Christmas spirit right outta the lil' love," Luna growled.
"So what do we do now?" The twins pried
Lori put on a determined look, "We do what we do best: lend a hand!"
"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.
The next morning…
T.K. stretched and yawned, "Christmas Eve. A firm reminder of the cold world destroying my innocence."
He changed into his clothes and proceeded upstairs to the door. He opened the door to Lori and Leni, who wore wide grins on their faces.
"Tee Kee!" Leni chirped.
"We were wondering if you like to come with us to feed the homeless?" Lori proposed.
T.K. walked past them, "No thanks. I appreciate the offer, though. I'm going snowboarding."
Lori and Leni put on puppy dog eyes, "Please, Tee Kee?"
"Abup bup bup! That ain't gonna work on me! Bye!" T.K. growled as he walked closer to the door.
"He's walking away!" Leni gasped.
Lori brandishes a roll of duct tape, "Not on my watch! Grab him!"
They both tackled the boy to the ground. Leni held him to the floor while Lori applied the tape.
"The heck!? Let go of me! I know my rights!" T.K. demanded as he struggled.
"No can do, Tee Kee! You, like, need some help about regaining your Christmas spirit!" Leni exclaimed.
T.K. growled through the tape. "Dammit, Lincoln!" T.K. thought angrily.
The two carried T.K. to Vanzilla. After placing the boy, the two got in and Lori put the van in reverse. Backing out of the driveway, the three drove on their way to the retirement home. Leni looked back towards T.K. and flinched under his cold glare.
"Sorry, Tee Kee, but, like, you really need this," Leni reinforced.
T.K shouted inaudible curses under the tape, trying to break free like a wild animal trying to break outta the cage.
Lori was getting sick of the complaining, "Oh would you cool off, twerp! You literally are not gonna ruin Christmas for us! Do I make myself clear!?"
T.K. snorted and rolled his eyes.
"I'll take that as a yes. Glad to come to an agreement," Lori remarked.
The van pulled up the parking lot of the retirement home. T.K. sat in his seat as Lori and Leni got out of the car. Leni opened to the door on T.K.'s side.
"Ok, Tee Kee. I'm going to take the tape off. It's gonna hurt a little..bit," Leni warned.
RIP!
"AHHH! MY MOUSTACHE HAIRS!" T.K. squealed as he frantically swung his arms and legs.
Lori raised one of her eyebrows, "What moustache hairs? Come on, T.K."
The three walked through the entrance and signed in. They walked to the lounge room where Pop-Pop was watching T.V.
"Pop-Pop!" Lori and Leni called happily as they ran towards Pop-Pop.
Pop-Pop grabbed them in a big hug, "Lori, Leni! How are my two big girls?"
"Good!" Lori and Leni answered as they returned the hug.
Pop-Pop turned to T.K.'s direction. "Oh, I see that you brought T.K. as well," Pop-Pop pointed out.
T.K. waved weakly, "Yeah. Hey, Grandpa Al."
"What's wrong, son?" Pop-Pop pried in worry.
"Nothing, I just got up from a deep nap," T.K. lied as he stretched.
Lori and Leni shared a knowing look.
"Oh, well. How's about all four of us catch up and talk?" Pop-Pop proposed.
T.K. shook his head, "Y'all go ahead. I'll finna get something from the vending machine."
He walked away as Pop-Pop, Lori, and Leni sat at the couch. In the hallway, T.K. found the guilty pleasure machine beside the women's restroom.
"Ah, at least I can drown my holiday sorrows in food," T.K. noted in depression.
He placed a dollar in the insert slot and selected two Dog-gie bars.
"Man, I don't see why Lincoln and the girls go out of their way to basically erase what happened back then. I wish that I had the heart to te-"
"Hey, kid. Could ya hurry up? I gotta bag of prune cookies with my name on it," A withered voice gloated impatiently.
T.K. turned his back towards Scoots, who was pulling up on him from the bathroom.
T.K. backed away from the machine, "My bad, ma'am. Didn't hear ya pull up. I was just doin' some thinkin'."
Scoots eyed T.K. closely, "It's no prob, kid. Say, you that boy that was adopted by Albert's folks."
"The one and only! Now, if you excuse m-"
"Wait a minute, sonny! You ain't foolin' ole Scoots! I know when somethin' wrong," Scoots informed.
T.K. rolled his eyes, "Oh, please! What could an elderly woman like you know when something's amiss?"
"We 'elderly' folk happen to be experts in the body language department. Now, explain!" Scoots ordered.
T.K. shrugged his shoulders, "Alright, I guess. You see it all started like this…"
Ten minutes later…
"And that's how Christmas was ruined for me forever," T.K. concluded.
Scoots nodded, "Hmm, seemed that your Christmas wasn't the bee's knees."
"Yep, a freaking trainwreck," T.K. added.
"Kid, I wanna show you somethin'," Scoots motioned.
She reached into her blouse and pulled out a necklace with two dog tags.
T.K. tilted his head, "Dog tags? You a veteran?"
"No, sonny. These here are Kevin's, my late husband. He died at the Pearl Harbor attack back in '41. At that time, I thought Christmas wouldn't be the same without 'em. Albert came over a day before Christmas and gave a me a good pep talk. He told me that I can't dwell on Kevin's death because I wouldn't last in a cold world like this," Scoots recalled.
"I'm real sorry about your husband. Besides that, the only thing that I deal with every Christmas is my depression," T.K. stated.
Scoots snapped her fingers, "That's it right there, sonny! You can't mope around every Christmas like a tradition for you. You got to find the true reason why do you celebrate Christmas!"
"How I'm supposed to do that lady?" T.K. wondered hopelessly.
"That is for to you to find out, kid. Now, go before your sisters wonder where you are," Scoots warned as she inserted her money into the machine.
T.K. sighed and walked back to the lounge room.
At the Loud House…
"We're back!" Lori called as she, Leni, and T.K. entered.
Rita poked her head in the doorway, "Welcome home, kids. T.K., can you help out Lola and Lana choose what toys to give to the children's hospital."
T.K. nodded, "Got it!"
T.K. jogged upstairs to the twins' room. Lana had her toys in one pile while Lola had her toys in another pile.
"So, should I give all of toy cars or all of my action figures? This is so hard," Lana complained.
Lola shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe both? Now, should I give away my electric blue eyeshadow, or my passionate purple eyeshadow? Ugh, we need some help! This is so excruciating!"
"You rang?" T.K. answered as he leaped into the room.
Lana ran up to him, "Yes please!"
"So, you're out of your little funk?" Lola pried as she walked up to him.
"Yeah, St. Nick somewhat convinced me to put on a better attitude for the holiday," T.K. lied.
"Even after what happened to you?" Lana asked.
T.K. nodded.
"Hey, no fair! How come Santa talked to you first?" Lola questioned in annoyance.
"He visited me in a dream last night. Now, I can't promise you anything, but if you're lucky, then maybe Claus could visit you tonight," T.K. persuaded as he booped Lola on the nose.
Lola grinned, "Really?"
"I know so, cream puff. Now, what's the sitch?" T.K. asked.
"WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO CHOOSE!" The twins exclaimed.
T.K. flinched, "Got it. But why?"
The girls shared nervous looks before Lola answered.
"We…were afraid that the kids at the hospital wasn't going to like the gifts we gave."
"Wha? That's just stinkin' thinkin'! Those kids at the hospital rarely get anything nice for Christmas. This is practically a blessing to them!" T.K. urged.
Lana stepped forward, "So, we shouldn't care about what we should give to them?"
"Close, but no. You SHOULD care about giving in the first place. These gifts are god sends to their shortened lives. They couldn't wish for a happier way to spend their depressing Christmas!" T.K. continued.
As soon as he said that, a wave of realization struck T.K. "…Give, give, ….GIVE! Oh my God, how could be so blind and bull headed! Maybe that scooter lady was on to something after all," T.K. thought happily.
"Hmm, I could always get more cars and figures down the line," Lana noted as she put both of her cars and figures in her pile.
Lola tossed both of her eyeshadow containers in her pile as well, "Oh well, at least those kids can become as beautiful as me."
They both hugged T.K., "Thanks, T.K.!"
"Not a problem, lil' ladies," T.K. replied, patting the twins back.
Later at midnight…
"Hmm, I not satisfied. I mean, I know what's the meaning of Christmas, but…why do I still feel…empty," T.K. wondered.
CRASH!
"What the?! What was that?" T.K. asked as he climbed out of the bed.
He crept upstairs and opened the door. He peeked into the darkness and saw a scrawny man, who was nearly the same height as him, dressed as Santa Claus.
"Alright, what goodies can I steal tonight?" The Santa robber whispered cockily.
T.K. snuck through the living room, "Not on my watch, ya low life bum!"
The Santa robber picked one present, "Score one for ole St. Nick. And…now…for…the…otherrrrrr."
T.K. gripped the pressure point on the robber's neck and squeezed it tightly.
THUD!
"Have a nice sleep, fool. Now, let's see what you're packing," T.K. murmured as he peeked into the bag.
There were numerous toys from various kids in the neighborhood. T.K. looked towards the Santa robber with an unamused look.
"Really? Stealing from kids, boy? What would yo mama think of you now?"
T.K. took a closer look to the robber's outfit.
"Matter fact, I'm borrowing so that I can give back," T.K. declared in confidence.
Thirty minutes later at a neighbor's house…
"Now that looked the part, let the giving begin! Now, who's first?" T.K. wondered as he looked through the bag.
"Ok, the first gift is…Ronnie Anne. I'm surprised that he got passed her," T.K. remarked as he picked the lock.
CLICK!
T.K. slowly opened the door and peeked inside. Bobby and Ronnie Anne were fast asleep on the couch as a Christmas special was on T.V.
"Now that's just too adorable, and it had potential blackmail material for Linc to use," T.K. smirked as he took a picture.
He placed the gift down, scarfed a full plate of cookies, and walked out of the house. He closed and locked the door…
"Huh, that actually felt good," T.K. stated.
"FREEZE!"
T.K. quickly put his hands up, "Ididn'tdoit!"
There were two police cars in front of the Santiago house. The four police officers had guns pointed at T.K.
"Chief, we've got the perp. We're bringing him in," The male officer told through the walkie talkie.
The walkie talkie buzzed, "Affirmative, officer. Now bring him in for questioning."
"Roger that," The male officer responded as he grabbed T.K.
"Wait, the real Santa robber is at my house! I swear to my siblings that he is!" T.K. pleaded frantically.
"Tell it to someone who cares, crook," The male officer brushed off.
T.K. shook the Santa beard off, "Look will ya!? The real Santa robber is a man! I'm just a kid! Plus, I was giving all of the gifts back too!"
The officers holstered their guns, "He does have a point, Kent."
"Ok, even if he's at your house. Would he still be there?" Officer Kent pried suspiciously.
T.K. squinted his eyes, "I bet a night in juvie hall that he's there."
"Fine, I'll bet my nightstick if he isn't there," Officer Kent wagered.
T.K. and the officers hurried back to the house, where most of everyone else is up, and Lynn Sr. and Lincoln are keeping the robber at bay.
T.K. burst through the door and pointed to the robber, "You see!? You see, you see, you see!?"
"What the darn heck!? Terrence Loud, where have you been?!" Lynn Sr. demanded.
"We were worried sick about you!" Rita added.
"Uhh, what had happened was that the robber right there tried to steal all of our presents. So, I knocked him out and tried to return every single gift to the neighborhood kids, but the cops nabbed me before I even can get to the second house," T.K. explained in a rapid fashion.
Lincoln lowered his bat, "Wait, how did you knock him out?"
"The neck vice grip thingy from that space show. Now, book 'em, boys," T.K. ordered.
Officer Kent retrieved the real Santa bandit, "With pleasure! Oh, kid. A bet is a bet."
Kent tossed T.K. his nightstick.
"Thank you, sir! Don't ever doubt me," T.K. gloated as he caught the nightstick.
Officer Kent rolled his eyes playfully, "Yeah, yeah. Merry Christmas to you all."
He directed the robber towards the police car as T.K. closed the door behind them.
A small yawn caught everyone's attention, "What's going on?"
Lola tiredly walked down the stairs. Upon seeing T.K., she instantly woke up and sprinted towards T.K. in pure happiness.
"SANTA!? What are you doing here? It's not even Christmas Eve," Lola pointed out.
T.K. shrugged, "Ho, ho, ho. I was just making a practice run. You know for the big night, ho, ho, ho."
"Oh, ok. Didja get my letter about my present?" Lola asked.
T.K. was confused, "Your letter for…"
"My Super Mega Pony Princess Pony. I've been trying very hard to be a good girl this year," Lola explained.
"Oh! That, I actually do have it with me," T.K. winked as he reached in his Santa coat.
He pulled a wrapped box and gave it a quick shake.
"Wanna pony powered hug?" The box chirped.
Lola was star struck, "EEEEE! Thank you, thank you, Santa!"
"But since it's not yet Christmas, you can't open it yet, little girl," T.K. mentioned.
"Aww, but Santa." Lola pouted.
T.K. shook his head, "No buts. Promise me this: you won't open the gift until it's Christmas Day, unless you want to end up like your sister."
"Hey!" Lori barked.
Lola giggled, "I won't, Santa."
"Good, now go on to bed now," T.K. urged.
Lola nodded as she walked upstairs
Lincoln turned to T.K., "Where did you get her present?"
"I stole it from the Santa robber," T.K. answered.
Everyone shot T.K. an unamused glare.
"What? Rightful retribution people!" T.K. defended.
Author's Note: Merry Christmas! I thinking of wrapping up season one on this episode. Now, y'all ain't going to like this, but I'm taking another break for the simple reason that I want to relax this last week of Christmas break before I have to head back to school. Y'all know what to do! Happy New Year as well! Sorry for the late upload; I gotta a guy that will be fine tuning the future chapters.
All is calm, all is bright.