Yeah I remember that from "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas".
Was feeling a bit down so It helped me write this. Also, it's now the longest story in this set. I hope you do like though.
Story 13: We Three Louds
Prompt/ Premise: Triplets spend their first Christmas without their family
It was a pre-Christmas scene that was always the norm. People were shopping, there were decorations, and families walking around. At the Gardner Children's home, it was quiet, there was a lone Christmas tree that was decorated and there were some strings of light and garland around the home. There were three white-haired children who lived there, triplets named Lincoln, Linka, and Lindy.
"This sucks; I hate them all," Lindy said.
The 11-year-old pushed the curtains shut, after she saw the happy people outside doing their last-minute Christmas preparations.
"Why are you looking out the window again?" Linka asked.
"I have a right to look out the window," Lindy replied.
"All you do is complain," Linka replied.
Lindy threw up her hands and looked around the room; which was a room for the children of the house to hang out.
"You're right, I have nothing to complain about, I should be happy we are rejects," Lindy said sarcastically.
"We aren't rejects!" Linka asserted.
Lindy rolled her eyes.
"Not rejects, out of all the kids in this house, we are the only ones here," she said, "Everyone else, go to find a family to spend Christmas and with. Not us, nobody wanted us, but maybe you have a different definition of rejection than I do."
"Well, it's just hard for people to take in triplets than it is for single kids," Linka explained.
"You sound like the idiots that run this place," Lindy scolded.
"It's true though, we could have all had families to stay with for the holiday if we went separately," Linka said.
"Is that what you wanted?" Lindy asked, "To have us be broken up for Christmas?"
Lindy's voiced cracked as she asked that question.
"Don't put words in my mouth," Linka said.
"I hate Christmas," Lindy said.
"You didn't hate Christmas before," Linka replied.
"Before this Christmas, there was no reason to hate it, this year there's a reason to hate it," Lindy replied.
She walked back over to the window, opened the curtains again and starred for a moment. No smile or frown just a bleak empty face.
"I hope everyone out there suffers horribly this Christmas," she said in a bitter tone.
"You can't say that," Linka reprimanded.
"I just did, and why is it so cold in here?" Lindy asked.
"It's not that cold; and maybe you'd be warmer if you were wearing more than shorts and tank top," Linka answered.
Lindy walked over the thermostat that was incased in a lock box.
"They set it before they left us here alone for Christmas, they keep it locked, and we just accept it!" she said her voice getting louder at the end.
She started hitting the plastic casing.
"They get to go home and be warm, they get to be with their families, they get to have good food, what do we get? We don't even get to control the damn heat!"
She continued to hit the encasement in frustration.
"Would you stop," Linka pleaded.
"I hate you, Linka, you are just to accepting of things, and it bugs me," Lindy said.
"I am not," she said.
Lindy walked over to the Christmas tree in the corner and started berating it. Her yelling woke up the eldest triplet and only boy, Lincoln, who was sleeping in the room on the couch.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Lindy's arguing with a Christmas tree," Linka explained.
"Oh," he said.
The boy pushed off the blanket from his body and got up from the couch still trying to get his bearings straight. His main attention was to talk to his angry sister and calm her down.
"Lindy, what's wrong?" he asked in a calm voiced.
"I hate Christmas, Lincoln, I hate it," she said.
She had tears running down her face.
"She's at it again," Linka said.
"I hate Linka too," Lindy replied.
"No, you don't," Lincoln said.
"Yes, I do, I hate her because she doesn't care," Lindy said.
Lincoln let his youngest sister hold on to him and cry on his shoulder. He patted her on the back and let her cry it out.
"Why are you saying, I don't care, that's not true!" Linka shouted.
"Then act like it!" Lindy yelled back, a little too close to Lincoln's ear.
"I can't, I really can't, like I understand that this Christmas sucks, but complaining about it won't change anything."
Linka resorted to crying herself. Lincoln called her over and let both of his sisters cry on his shoulders.
They didn't always live in the children's home, that was relatively a new thing. 10 months prior life changed for the three Loud siblings; they were once part of a family of 15. It was an afternoon, the Louds were in the family van on their way to Burpin' Burger, a favorite fast food eating place, and as the van was going to an intersection another car hit them. Due to the van not having the best safety and the car hitting them at high speed, it was a devastating accident. The front passengers were killed instantly, the middle passengers had varying amounts of death times, most of them going before making it too the hospital. Lisa and Lola made it to the hospital, Lola died in 3 days, Lisa held on but was declared brain dead; the best decision felt was to stop her support. She died 3 months after the accident. If anything, the reason why the triplets made was because they were in the far back and Lynn's quick thinking.
"It's our first Christmas without them," Linka said.
"I hate that I lived," Lindy said.
"Well, I don't agree; I know we'd be too sad if we lost you too," Linka said.
"We can still have a good Christmas; think about it, we have this whole place to ourselves for essentially 2 weeks," Lincoln said.
"We have the only people that matter, we're a family," Linka said.
"I'm glad we weren't broken up, so far," Lindy said.
"I'd rather be stuck here with you two, then separated out," Lincoln said.
This was a frequent occurrence of them; they would feel bad about their situation but, then remember at least they are together. Lincoln ran upstairs, leaving his sisters confused. Only for him to come back with a smile on his face.
"Did you get high up there or something?" Lindy asked.
"No, I think we should go out to eat," Lincoln said.
"Good idea, I'll my get invisible money and we can eat invisible food," Lindy said sarcastically.
"Yeah, Linc, this sounds really strange," Linka said.
"I have money," he said.
"Oh well, that changes everything," Lindy said.
"You should save your money; we can eat what's here," Linka said.
"No guys, It's Christmas, we should have a good meal, I don't mind paying," he said.
"It's December twenty third," Lindy replied.
"Where did you get money anyway?" Linka questioned.
"I saved it," he said.
"What were you thinking? It's not like he can tap into the money Mom and Dad left," Lindy said.
"We should get our coats and stuff, and go," Lincoln said.
"Lindy, you should wear some long pants, at least," Linka said.
"You're not my mother, Linka," Lindy replied.
"Please, don't fight, I want to go," Lincoln said.
"Ugh, I hate when he whines," Lindy replied.
"Yeah, it's really odd for an older brother to do," Linka added.
They went a restaurant that wouldn't mind three elven-year-olds showing up to it alone. There were places that didn't attempt to visit anymore, one was Lynn's table, the restaurant their father started. After the accident, it was sold, the money going to pay off expenses and the remainder put into a fund for the reaming Loud kids. The other was Burpin' Burger, since that was the place, they were supposed to go that day, they felt too scared to attempt a visit. They sat around a booth, waiting for someone to take their order.
"What can we order, Lincoln?" Linka asked.
"Anything, really," Lincoln answered.
"I think I want the Christmas special," Lindy said.
"I thought you hated Christmas," Linka replied.
"That doesn't mean I can't get the Christmas special," Lindy answered.
"What's the Christmas special?" Lincoln asked.
"It's ham, with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with gravy, brussels sprouts, and Christmas pudding, whatever that junk is," Lindy replied.
"Yuck, brussels sprouts," Linka said
"Then don't order it," Lindy said, "I want it for me."
"Fine, Linka, find anything you want?" Lincoln asked.
"I don't know, it's so hard to pick," She responded.
Lincoln looked at his menu poking around the options. Linka solemnly looked through hers.
"You should get lasagna, it's probably better here than the slop at the home," Lindy suggested.
"No, it's too cheesy," Linka said.
"How do you know?" her sister asked.
"I don't want it, alright?" Linka snapped.
"What's wrong with you, I didn't do anything, this time," Lindy said.
"You really loved Dad's lasagna," Lincoln said.
"Yeah, that doesn't mean I want lasagna," Linka replied.
"Oh," Lindy figured out the reason why.
She remembered the times when the home had lasagna and Linka would eat everything but it, she just assumed that her sister didn't like it because it tasted like cheese on cardboard. Maybe, she missed their parents in her own way.
"Would you like to order your drinks?" a waitress asked.
"Yeah, I'll have a fruit punch," Lincoln said.
"I'll have eggnog," Linka replied.
"I'll have a Coke," Lindy said.
Lincoln walked out of the restaurant holding a large bag. Linka and Lindy looked at the sky. It was dark, the moon wasn't visible only the stars were.
"Why did you get a large bag?" Linka asked.
"I got us extra food for a Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow," Lincoln said.
"Oh, I was so looking forward to the canned ham and lumpy stuff at the house," Lindy said sarcastically.
"We're going to have to walk home in the dark," Linka said.
"It'll be fine, it's not like this is town where three kids couldn't do it," Lindy said.
"It's cold," Linka said.
"It's winter in the northern hemisphere," Lindy mentioned.
The next morning was Christmas Eve. The three siblings ate some bland oatmeal, it was that stuff that was bought for the home in a large container and it was cheap. Lindy ate it with extra sugar, Lincoln used honey, and Linka ate it plain with taking drinks of orange juice between each bite.
"We are going to go see Pop-Pop today," Linka said.
"I ain't going, "Lindy said.
"Come on, he's our grandfather, you should see him," Linka said.
"No, he didn't want me, I don't want him," she said.
"You know he couldn't take us in," Linka replied.
"He could have done such; and we could have stayed in our house, but he chose not to, and we live in this dump," Lindy said.
"She doesn't have to go," Lincoln said.
"You said that during Thanksgiving," Linka complained.
"Which I had nothing to be thankful for," Lindy interjected.
"You're alive, aren't you?" Linka asked.
"I don't care," Lindy said.
"I'd rather she not go, then go and complain the whole time," Lincoln replied.
Lindy mixed her oatmeal with her spoon and put some in her mouth.
"What if he dies, then won't you feel regret?" Linka asked.
"I'm not going to his funeral," the girl said with her mouth full.
"Why are you like this?" Linka asked.
"I'm stubborn and proud," Lindy replied.
"It's not like Pop-pop doesn't love us," Linka added.
Lindy took her bowl and dumped the contents in the trash.
"It's still gross," Lindy replied.
"We'll be back later," Lincoln said.
"Please, don't die," Lindy replied. Her voice was weaker and felt more sincere when she said that.
Lincoln and Linka put on their coats and winterwear. Lindy watched them but said nothing.
"Last call," Linka said.
"I'm not going to say something negative to you before you leave," Lindy replied.
"I think we'll be alright, Lindy," Lincoln said.
After they left, Lindy got dressed in some black jeans and orange tank top. She put on her shoes, coat, and scarf. She left the home for her own trip.
"Merry Christmas," Albert said to his two grand kids.
"Merry Christmas, Pop-Pop," Lincoln replied.
The two kids hugged their grandfather and had smiles on their faces.
"I take it Lindy has decided not to show up," he said.
"Yeah," Linka replied somberly.
"I did get you three some gifts," he said.
He handed them some wrapped presents.
"You can open yours here," he said.
Lincoln opened his. It was an official 'Arrgh' ghost detecting tracker.
"Thanks, Pop-Pop this is great!" Lincoln exclaimed.
"And there's a little bit of money in the card," Albert added.
Linka opened her present and saw it was a set of 'Space Hunter' goggles.
"Thanks Pop-Pop, you remembered I lost my other ones during the accident," Linka said.
She frowned as she looked at him. He put his hand on her back.
"I know, it's our first Christmas without them," he replied.
Lindy stood in front of a set of graves. It was quiet, except for the wind blowing. The sky was blue, and the air was cold. She crouched down and touched one of the graves.
"It's really unfair, she wasn't allowed to be even two-years-old," she said.
She chocked back tears.
"She didn't have to go that way; I wanted them to keep trying, but they didn't care," she continued.
"I can't wish you all a Merry Christmas, because I hate Christmas and I hate that you aren't here," she replied.
Lincoln, Linka, and Albert had a better breakfast together of bacon, eggs, and cinnamon buns.
"This is a great breakfast," Lincoln said.
"So, what are you guys doing for Christmas?" Albert asked.
"Guess, we are staying at the home," Linka replied.
"Really, by yourselves?" he asked.
"Yeah, well most of our friends are out of town or busy with their own families, and we didn't want to disturb them," Linka answered.
"You're welcome to come here," the elderly man said.
"There's no way Lindy will show up, that'd be a Christmas miracle," Linka said.
"I'm not even sure how she'll take the holiday," Lincoln said.
Lindy walked away from the graves and carefully walked through the cemetery. She walked downtown and wished she hadn't. It was packed with holiday goers, people buying last minute gifts, traveling to events, and anything of the like. A man was standing out a store had stopped.
"Hey miss," he said.
"You know when people have their headphones on the top of the heads, they want to be ignored," she replied.
He seemed to brush over her statement and instead asked, "Do you need to some last-minute shopping? Maybe, get something nice for Mom?"
"No, I don't like Christmas and I don't have a mom," she said angrily.
She walked away from the man and his store.
"I hope his store fails," she thought.
Then she thought of her brother and sister, they still liked Christmas, at least she felt they still did.
"Maybe, I should get them something, at least," she thought. Then she walked checked her pockets for money and went to the mall. She had to whether around the crowds most of which she didn't like because they were happier than her. She also didn't want to be there longer than she wanted. There a Santa Claus going "ho ho ho" with children and parents waiting for their turn.
"If there was a real Santa, he could fix everything," she replied.
She saw all the families there having a better time and couldn't stand it. She walked away to find a gift for her brother and sister.
"Excuse me," a voice called.
Lindy turned her head and saw a girl standing in line and along what seemed to be her five brothers.
"What is it?" Lindy asked.
"I… you dropped something," she said.
"Oh, thanks," she said.
The girl handed her the money she had dropped back with a smile on her face.
"Merry Christmas," the girl said.
"Yeah, like it's going to be merry for me, you better hope your family makes it through," Lindy said.
"Hey, don't talk to my daughter that way," her mother said, "She was just wishing you a Merry Christmas."
"Your daughter shouldn't wish things on people, when the wishes are meaningless," Lindy said.
"Just apologize to my daughter," the woman said.
"She's fine, she gets to visit Santa, she has her four identical brothers, and gets to be with her parents, she doesn't have to spend it in a rundown children's home because no one wanted her, so yeah Merry Christmas to Lindy Loud, sorry I exist," she ranted and stormed away.
Linka and Lincoln went downtown to check out the Christmas stuff and make a visit to the florist. They had gotten their order of 12 small wreathes and left. The cemetery was their next stop.
"Oh, I hate this place," Linka said.
"Me too, it's kind of funny though, Lucy loved hanging out here," Lincoln said as he put a wreath on her tombstone.
"I wish she had come back as a ghost; that'd be the one ghost I'd welcome, unless she brought back the entire family as ghosts," Linka said.
"Help me put the other wreathes on," Lincoln said.
Linka put the wreathes on the parents, Lilly, Lisa, Lana, and Lola's graves as, Lincoln put the wreaths on Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan's graves. They both stopped at Lynn's.
"You do it," she said.
"No, you can do it," Lincoln said.
"She helped save us, she could have still been around, you know?"
"Maybe she thought having us three alive together would be better than herself alive as one," Lincoln said.
"I miss them, I know I don't put on the appearance, but I do," Linka sputtered.
"It's hard not miss them," Lincoln said.
After saying their Christmas messages to their family members, they walked back to the home. Lindy was passed out on the couch she was awaked by the noises her siblings made.
"Alright guys, it's almost Christmas eve night; can we have some peace?" Lincoln asked his sisters.
"What's he talking about? We are always peaceful," Lindy replied.
Linka was quiet she didn't want to go against the want of a peaceful night. They had their Christmas eve dinner with the food Lincoln had bought the previous day.
"This was a nice meal," Linka said.
"Yeah, I am glad we could have a real meal for Christmas Eve," Lincoln said.
That evening, the triplets sat together on the couch. Linka and Lincoln had put on their pajamas and relaxed with some Christmas movies and specials, while Lindy was with them, she had decided to avoid holiday programs and chose to read books in her underwear. As the night progressed on, they each fell sleep.
Some snow fell outside overnight and covered the area with a film of snow, it wasn't much for anything fun to be done with it, but it did make a nice scene. There would have been a time where they would have woken up early to see what Santa had brought, but they slept in. The morning sun rise caused light to come brilliantly through the windows. Lindy was the first to wake up, she yawned and stretched and went upstairs to the room she shared with her siblings. She found an old over-sized shirt with a 1 on it, the once belonged to Lynn and put it on. She looked out the window and noticed the snow.
"I used to like snow," she muttered.
Lincoln was the next to wake up, he instantly felt that it was Christmas Day. He had heard the forecast about the snow, the day before, and looked out the windows. He was slightly disappointed that it wasn't enough for sledding. Christmas had come though, and he felt a sense of excitement.
"Linka, Linka! Wake up it's Christmas!" he said.
The girl accidently kicked him, a hazard of her reflexed. Lincoln didn't like where she had kicked at all. She woke up and saw Lincoln wincing.
"Good Morning, Lincoln, you know should just go to the bathroom instead of standing there and being weird," she replied.
"You kicked me," he said.
"Oh, sorry, but you didn't remember that kick when I'm sleeping and get touched," she said.
"Yeah," he yelped.
Lindy came downstairs and saw there her brother and sister were awake.
"Good Morning, Lindy, merry Christmas," Linka said.
"Yeah, good morning, Linka," she said, "What's wrong with him?"
"He's a boy," Linka replied.
"It's presents time"! Linka shouted.
The girl ran to the Christmas tree and grabbed a gift-wrapped package.
"Come on, you two!" she yelled.
Lincoln had recovered so he was able to sprint over to the tree and younger sister. Lindy slowly walked over.
"Even Christmas day still doesn't make you happy," Linka said.
"Linka, please don't say that," Lincoln reprimanded.
"It's alright; I won't argue with her," Lindy replied.
"Here you go!" Linka said to her sister, handing her the package in her hand.
"You know I don't like Christmas anymore," Lindy said.
"Yes, we know, you also don't like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, summer, spring, fall, winter, vans, various people, and well, I still wanted to get my only sister a gift," Linka replied.
She pulled open the packaging like it had wronged her and maybe it had. Inside a large slender box, it was a quilt.
"You got me a quilt?" Lindy asked.
"Not, just any quilt, look at it," Linka replied.
The quilt had some fabrics that did look familiar.
"One of Lily's spare blankets, a sweater from Lisa, a piece of Lana's overalls, part of Lola's gown, Lucy's dress, one of Lincoln's shirts, one of my skirts, Lynn's shorts, Luan's top, Luna's skirt, Leni's dress, Lori's tank, Dad's sweater, and Mom's blouse all make up this quilt. I didn't wash any of the clothes, so you'll have everyone's scent," Linka explained.
"We found a pair of Lynn's shorts that only had the sent of body spray and weren't rank," Lincoln added.
"You made this for me, Linka?" Lindy asked.
"I had the quilting club at school do it; they needed the work," Linka said smiling.
Lindy sniffed the quilt and hugged it, she had tears running down her face.
"That way, they'll always be close to you, and keep you warm," Linka replied.
"Hopefully, it feels good against your skin when you are in just your undies," Lincoln replied.
Lindy held the quit and hugged it she could smell Lola's perfume. One time Lola had sprayed her in the eyes with it, Lisa's sweater was soft, she could see why the girl wore them, she smelled her dad's sweater it had the scent of something he was cooking that day.
"Here, Lindy, I got you a gift," Lincoln said.
He handed her a gift to which she opened in a tear.
"Oh, Lincoln, you got me the Mazing Mackenzie figure!" Lindy shouted.
"Yep, the brand new one," Lincoln said.
"They were sold out since the came out, how?" Lindy asked.
"It pays to plan and per-order," Lincoln said.
"Lincoln, that's the first time I've seen her with a real smile on her face," Linka whispered to her brother.
"Thanks, you two," Lindy said.
"You're welcome, Lindy," Linka replied.
Lincoln and Linka exchanged gifts with each other, then Lindy came back to her siblings holding two gifts.
"You two didn't even ask if I had gotten you anything," she replied.
"Well, we didn't want to make you feel bad, if you didn't, we understood," Lincoln replied.
"Well, I did, get you gifts," she said, "Here."
After they finished opening presents, Lincoln got some egg nog and poured it into three cups.
"Where'd you get that?" Linka asked.
"I bought it a couple days ago," he said.
They sat around a table and drank the thick liquid.
"I still don't like what happened and holidays make me miss them a lot, but there's two things I am happy about, that's you two," Lindy said.
"There wasn't anything in this nog, is there?" Linka asked.
"What? No, that's dumb question," Lincoln replied.
"I'm saying I love you, you two idiots," Lindy said.
"I love you too, sis, glad you are still around," Linka said.
"We've been through a lot but, at least we were together, let's hopefully keep it that way," Lincoln said.
There was a knock at the door.
"I wonder who that could be?" Linka asked.
"I'll see," Lindy said.
"You shouldn't go alone," Linka replied in a worried tone.
"Remember who you are talking to," Lindy said.
She went to the door and saw there was a large box at the door. It was unmarked only an envelope on the top. She tore it open and found a card. It only said, "Merry Christmas from Santa." A
"Lindy are you alright?" Lincoln asked.
"Huh? Yeah, there's a big box here," she said.
"What?" Lincoln asked.
"What part is confusing, big, box, or here?" she asked.
"What's inside it?" Lincoln said.
"As you can see, I have not opened it and therefore, I don't know what's inside," she replied.
"Who's it from?"
"The card says Santa."
Linka walked over to check on her siblings and saw the box.
"What's that?" Linka asked.
"It's a pony, Linka, Santa finally brought you one," Lindy replied.
"Looks like a box," Linka said.
"It's a pony you have to put together," Lindy replied.
"Who's it from?" Linka asked.
"The card does say Santa.," Lincoln said.
"Could we bring this inside? It's cold out here," Lindy said.
"If you'd wear the proper clothing, you wouldn't be cold," Linka said.
"Just bring the dang box inside!" Lindy yelled.
Lincoln opened the box and the smell of food whiffed through the room.
"Someone has sent us food," he replied.
"Whoa, he's right," Lindy said.
They took out plastic containers filled with a cut up ham, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, a pumpkin pie, asparagus, carrots, cherry pie, cut up meat loaf, soup, cupcakes, cookies, rolls, and cola.
"That's a lot of food," Lindy said, smacking her lips.
"This is so weird," Linka said.
"Yeah, why would someone care about us now?" Lindy asked.
"Maybe someone out there does," Lincoln said.
They tucked into the meal and had a quiet and filling Christmas. Then, the triplets fell asleep on the couch. They didn't know what the future meant for them, and what their lives had in store, but they at least understood they had each other.