Like an old machine being given new parts, the loud houses Sunday routine sputtered and spurred as it tried to adjust to the new additions.

Namely, the new schedule regarding what each loud sibling had to do in terms of chores. At first there was a bit of bumbling around as several of the girls argued over who did what or, more accurately, who wouldn't do what. Eventually most of them managed to settle down and get on with just a few complaints but overall the great machine was warning up once more.

So far, things hadn't changed much. Lisa Still did the bills and Lori still did the laundry, however, Lucy and Lola had been put in charge of cleaning the basement and dusting things off while Lynn Jr. Was left to clean all the dishes by herself. Luan had chosen to clean the bathroom, much to the relief of the rest of the girls, except Lana. Lana did what she did best, cleaned up after their many, many pets.

Whose numbers were actually slowly dwindling down as she found acceptable home for the many pets she had kept hidden. Not that she was happy about this mind you.

Luna had taken to helping Lincoln sort out the trash, emptying the many bins that quite literally littered the house. She even made sure to help with carrying everything out front and into the trash bins so that he wouldn't have needed to drag them across the floor. Overall, the chores had been done slightly faster then normal. Even with everyone having to clean their own rooms and make their own beds.

Despite the close proximity to him, Luna didn't bother trying to talk to Lincoln. Unless she was saying that she had handled something, like getting the bin from Lori's room or Lynn's room. Outside of that, there was little said, if anything at all.

Not that she could blame him, with the tension between them currently, it was very surprising that he was able to tolerate her presence at all. But that had been this morning and right now the rocker was mulling around her room, half heartedly listening to the music play from her radio as she sat on the beanbag. Lucy was actually up on the top bunk of the bed, scribbling away into her poem book in her usual silent state.

Luna turned her head enough to peak under the entire bed, seeing the bag that held the very important - and very expensive - Art-Sketch electronic drawing pad. Which is what it was really called, unlike when she had called it a simple tablet. Apparently those were two very different things, But hey... How was she to know?

She was right when she thought that she was going to regret buying it but not in the way most would think. What she regretted was telling Sam that she wouldn't be joining her at the concert, that she wouldn't be able to when she had something far more important that needed seeing to.

The look on Sam's face was enough to crush her, seeing the disappointment and hearing her sound a little down after she broke the news to her. The concert, while not a once in a lifetime event, was something the two of them had planned on doing for ages. They were determined to enjoy it, even after their other friends had to bail on the plan already.

She wanted to explain to her about it, tell her why but... She couldn't, she didn't want to reveal that to Sam and possibly lose her too. As a friend mind you. In the end Sam had decided to not get tickets herself as their would have been no fun in going on her own. So the two of them had spent their time just browsing the mall and looking at stuff, even though Luna wasn't able to get anything after buying the Drawing Pad.

Luna wanted to just give it to Lincoln, apologise and... Well, move on. But she doubted that she could dump the thing onto his legs and be forgiven like that. No, like he said before, she needed to figure out how to sort out the mess between the two of them. To see, realise and admit to her faults and actively try to better herself not for Lincoln - necessarily - but for herself.

She had thought about that a lot. The rough patches that had existed between them long before this entire debacle, the way how she wasn't always on his side or supporting him, especially when she should have been. Not to mention the times she had been actively against him for no reason, other then having been in a bad mood.

She had a lot of ground to cover before she could try to talk to him about it.

"You going to do it?" Luna flinched as Lucy spoke, fortunately, she did not scream out of surprise. Perhaps she was getting better at handling herself after spending more time with the goth girl.

Turning to look up to her bed, she came face to face with Lucy.

"BLOODY HELL!"

She fell back as she attempted to scoot away from her in alarm. Feeling her back bump into the chest of drawers that was behind her, her heart raced as her breathing got laboured. For a brief moment Lucy let out a smile, a very toothy smile that did not help Luna to calm herself down.

She definitely wasn't any better with being scared by the goth then she thought.

"Do You really have to do that mate? You nearly gave me a heart attack dude."

Lucy shrugged her shoulders before she sat down on the spot next to the beanbag, giving Luna time to pick herself up and drop herself back where she had been.

"What were you saying before ya nearly killed me?"

"Are you going to give it to Lincoln? It seems pointless to me to hide it from him, better to do it now rather then later."

"I know. " Luna rubbed the spot between her eyebrows, feeling a small throb in the back of her head. She reached over to her radio and turned it down a notch. "It's just not that easy Lucy, I could give it to him but I don't know what to say to him to... You know, apologise."

" You worry too much about the outcome, so you put no effort into trying. An excerpt from one of my books, that is how you feel. "

"Well..." Looking over to Lucy, the rocker couldn't help but feel like she had hit her problem right on the nose. " I guess you're not wrong but how can I just... I can't just go and try without thinking it through first. "

"If the time is right, you won't need to think about it, you'll know what you'll want to say as you say it."

"I suppose you're right? But how am I supposed to know when the time is right? Surely I wouldn't just... Know."

" You remember last Christmas? " Luna's face scrunched up as she turned towards her younger sister, wondering just how she had managed to jump from the last conversation to this. "Remember how you kept trying to write a new Christmas song? Yet never seemed to get it 'right '."

" What's that got to do with anything Luce? "

"How did you know that the final product was right? The song we sang for Mr. Grouse, you had never sung it before yet you knew it was perfect. How?"

" Well... " the rocker paused as she thought about it. "I guess I just... Knew."

" You knew, just like now, when you talk to Lincoln you'll know what to say when the time is right and when it's the time right. Don't over think it, just try to do it. "

"You know what dude? I think you're right. I just... I'm nervous you know? I can't go down their expecting to be forgiven, No matter what I do and... That's what I want, to be forgiven."

Shaking her head Lucy let out one of her Monotone sigh's. "Then don't," Seeing the look of surprise on Luna's face Lucy decided to clarify. "What I mean is, don't go do it to be forgiven but to prove that you are trying to be forgiven. It's ultimately his decision whether he does or doesn't and nothing is going to change that."

Laying down on the beanbag, Luna let out a sigh as she knew that Lucy was right. She had no say in when or if she was forgiven but she had all the power to at least try to earn it first. Sometimes she forgot just how smart people could be, here Lucy - an eight year old - was, telling her about earning forgiveness. Must have been all those grim books she was reading.

"Say Lucy, you mind letting me borrow that book you mentioned, I'm a little interested in reading it. Especially if it's got lines as good as the one you said."

" No! I-I mean, I can't. " Hearing Lucy spit out her words rapidly caused the rocker to turn to her with worry. Despite looking a s blank as ever, she swore she could see a hint of worry on her. "I loaned it... To, uh... To Haiku."

" Right... Let me know when you get it back would ya? "

Normally Lori would spend Sunday both trying to relax and deal with any homework she had, fortunately, she did not have homework just yet. However, she was very far from relaxed. As she sat at the dinning table, her eyes scanned over several bits of old paper, a few years old at the least.

On it was the somewhat detailed explanation to the sister fight protocol, something that had been made years ago with the intention of sorting out any conflict that any of the girls could have gotten into. Even years later it had been put in use.

As she stared down at the paper, read each thing that was put on it years ago. She couldn't help but see the very obviously outdated rules and expectations. This has been originally made before Lincoln had gotten his own room, so the linen closet was labeled as 'a viable place to cool off' on top of other things.

Like the fact that, during its creation, only the older five girls were able to even contribute to it. Given that their messy scribbles were at the bottom of the paper and nobody else's. Lucy was probably only just a baby at the time and those younger then her? They hadn't even been born yet.

So much had changed since then, with the closest being Lincoln's room it was no longer viable, with their being more of them it was harder to separate each other and it was especially difficult to keep Lincoln out of it when he was a lot older and a lot more involved with all of them.

As the old bit of paper had reminded her, they had agreed to keep Lincoln away from any fighting when he was young so he wouldn't be exposed to it. The problem was, he wasn't a baby anymore and often actively tried to defuse any fighting that he felt he could. Now it has put them in a situation where using the very thing that was to - ultimately - protect Lincoln, was now causing him harm and grief.

She was glad to decided to rewrite the entire protocol again. It would take a while and she had to find proper solutions to any fighting or problems but it should be worth it in the end, she hoped at least.

So far she hasn't thought of much, the original had little that she wanted to keep, so she was forced to start from scratch. She knew she needed to involve every possible variable when making a single decision, as she had to think of the very many possible scenarios where and when two or more siblings could or would fight.

Yes, siblings, not sisters.

Lori found it ridiculous that Lincoln should continue to be left in the dark, as the last few days had proven, he could and would get into just as big of an argument with the rest of them as they could. So not including him would cause more issues then resolve them.

It was just a matter of figuring out how to keep the squabbling culprits separated without escalating the issue further and being able to sort the issue out instead of waiting until people moved on without resolving their issues. Which was a lot harder then she realised when she needed to account for eleven of them.

How had she done this so easily so many years ago? Surely not that much had changed other then their numbers increasing and Lincoln being moved to the closet.

So then, why was it so hard?

Tapping her pen against a blank piece of paper, she tried to visualise each possible scenario that would eventually come up. Now, it made sense to isolate anyone who was fighting until they calmed down, so that they could then talk it out. But the biggest issue was then, what if the two arguing parties shared the same room? They certainly couldn't take up the kitchen or bathroom anymore, that was asking for trouble.

Not to mention that it would cause problems for everyone else.

sighing Lori laid her head down on the table before crossing her arms over her head. Why couldn't this be simpler? If she could just get rid of the protocol fully, she would. But she knew the girls would fight her over it, say it was fine the way it was. The best she could do was reveal an alternative, up to date, rendition of the original.

The sound of footsteps came from behind her, not that she cared. They seemed to stop just behind her after they entered the room, then they started again and she could tell that whoever it was was walking around the table. The sound of a chair being pulled out came from opposite of where she was sitting and a brief glance revealed that it was Lincoln.

With a comic in hand, he had taken a seat in the spot opposite her own. She could see the frustration in his eyes, something had ticked him off the wrong way recently, yet he seemed to be be trying to hide it. Or control it at least. She wasn't sure why he was bothering to hide it, if he was having problems - especially with someone - he should have the freedom to express those problems.

Granted if they had had that mindset from the start none of this would be happening, so that was a little hypocritical.

Deciding that she wasn't going to get much more done, she placed her hands together, somewhat close to the middle of the table.

"You alright? You look annoyed."

For a moment it seemed like he had ignored her, Lori almost began to feel dejected before Lincoln looked up to her and, after a moment of internal struggle, sighed as he placed down the comic.

"N-... I'm not as good as I could be." He's placed his elbow on the table before resting his head on his hand. "Mo- Rita has Lynn in the living room, doing her homework. I had been watching TV, for once, but I don't want to be near her."

" You not got anything else you can do? Games? Go out with your friends? " Lori bite her lip as thought of something else but wasn't sure how he would respond to it. She certainly didn't want to upset him either, least she ruin what little connection she had left with him.

"No." Lincoln's eyes drew themselves to the bits of paper on the table as he drummed his fingers on the table, seemingly in boredom. "What are you doing? "

"Oh... Uh." Lori but her lip as her eyes dropped down to look away. She's wasn't sure if she should tell him about the improved - or soon to be made - version of the sister fight protocol. Given his previous experience with it, she supposed that he would never want to hear those words ever again.

Then again... On the other hand, if he was made aware, he wouldn't be at all surprised when she announced it. And he could help, given that he probably had the most input on the matter it only made sense that he should be able to voice said input.

"Well... I'm... Ah..." Her thumbs rubbed against each other as she tried to find the best way to word it. She didn't want to make his mood worse after all.

"Well I had decided that, " quickly looking around to be sure no-one was around to eavesdrop, Lori lowered her voice as she leaned forwards slightly. "After our last talk," she used a little emphases to refer to his rant that happened just a few days ago before returning to speak at a normal volume. "It seemed important that I needed to go and... Upgrade the sister Fight Protocol. "

For the briefest of moments Lori could see panic cross its way over Lincoln's eyes, how his hands twitched and bawled into fists and how his shoulders seemed to square out. Although, she did note that he seemed more defensive over fearful. Perhaps he had grown a bigger spine than she had already thought.

It was no secret that Lincoln had trouble with simply standing up for himself or resisting against anything the girls wanted him to do with them. Often to the point that he gave in to just about everything. It seemed, if one good thing were to ever come out of this, that Lincoln had managed to grow a backbone and put his foot down where he needed to.

It was respectable.

"Anyway, you don't need to worry about it, I'm making sure to include you in this as much as everyone else." Lori tapped her finger against the newest piece of paper. She hoped that she hadn't just caused Lincoln to freak out or worry, as that was not her intention or desire.

Darting his eyes down to the scrapes of paper, the sole boy tried to make sense of what Lori had already done. Given that it was upside down and had Lori's hand resting on it did not help him. His eyes glided over to the older paper and before he knew what he was doing he had plucked the paper off the table and was holding it in his hand. Upon realising what he had done he looked up to Lori, expecting to see her being annoyed, or worse, angry at what he was doing.

instead he was met with a very calm look, it was like Lori didn't care about what he did but not in a harsh way, more of a encouraging manner without any of the hints.

"So is this?..." He waved the page slightly as he spoke.

"The old one? Yeah, take a look if you want, just remember it was made years ago, before even the twins were born. "

Flipping the page so that it was the right way, Lincoln began to read the worn of bit of paper. Doing his best to keep in mind that this had been done so long ago when things had been different. So different, in fact, that Lincoln's immediate thoughts on it was that it simply wouldn't work... At all. Then he remembered that it did work when it was made, at least he thought so and had simply lost effectiveness over time with the alterations to the house.

On top of which not even half of the rules were even applicable anymore as the linen closet had been turned into his room and was no longer a 'viable place ' cause it was his place. But it did explain why the girls wanted his room, they still clung onto the belief that his room had that same level of viability. You know, now that he thought about it, why didn't they just not kick him out?

Of his room that is. He would have been able to actually get a little one on one time with anyone who needed to use it to cool off. It made sense that if he started to distract them from whatever was annoying them then it wouldn't take nearly as long for them to calm down and cool off then if they were left to their own thoughts and devices. He had been left alone and he couldn't stop thinking about being forced outside, sure that was a lot bigger then accidentally buying the same dress as someone else but his point still applied.

"So... What have you got so far?"

Giving off a gentle smile Lori spun the page around and pushed it closer to the sole male child, giving him time to read through it and digest the information. She watched as his eyes moved, going over each of the few lines that she had written before darting back over to the old one and repeating the process.

In comparison, there was not a lot on the new one but that must have been due to not having been finished. Still, Lincoln could see that Lori was making some headway on it, doing her best to fit everyone into it as best she could. Still, he could see a few problems with some of the things that she was doing and before he knew it, he had swept up a pen and way already writing down on the paper.

Lori took no action to stop him, curious about what he was going to do. And honestly, if he felt like giving his own view on the matter, why should she stop him? She could do with the fresh perspective.

After a few moments Lincoln turned the page back to her, almost presenting it to her.

"How about this? "

Lori read over Lincoln's own additions, giving herself the time she needed to visualize them being used in practice over theory. It wasn't much of an addition but definitely something that she wouldn't have thought of herself and it certainly could be beneficial if implemented correctly. She couldn't find any faults with what Lincoln had put down, so she was going to leave it there until she went over this with her mother. She doubted that she would have liked her to begin to take charge again, not without her direct approval anyway.

"That's not too bad actually. I'll keep it there for now," Lori bend her arm so she could point her thumb behind her. "Just so you know, I'll have to go over this with mom, get her approval."

Lincoln's face dropped at the mention of their ... Her mother, he didn't have anything to say in regards to her but he certainly didn't have anything positive to say. She may have pulled her head out of the clouds but it was a little too late for it to mean anything to him.

"Hey," Lori spoke, gaining Lincoln's attention. "I know that look, I know you're upset, justifiably so but she is trying her best to get on top of it all. Just... Cut her a little slack." Lori held her fingers close together, each finger was separated by maybe a centimeter. "Just a smidge, not a lot though."

Despite trying to resist doing so, Lincoln's lips twitched into a small amused smile that almost resulted in a dull chuckle. She'd take that for what it was worth and savour it.

Separated from the rest of the loud houses residents, out in the garage, the resident mechanic was hard at work. With her crude bit of paper with her measurements, she carefully marked out the large wooden board with the area where she needed to cut, trim and carve the board to turn it into a door.

The material supplies that she had gotten yesterday were left close to her, just a little out of arms reach but not so far away it would be annoying to her. She knew she had to be extremely delicate with what she was doing, yeah, she was the queen of risks but this wasn't something she wanted to risk. At. All.

Not when she only had the one wooden board to use.

As the six year old looked around her, she had to give credit to Leni for really cleaning up the garage better then she had seen it before. It gave her ample room to work on her own project.

Making the door wouldn't be the hard part, the hard part would be getting his door frame fixed and fixing the door to that. And of course, if she messed up, then it would take her longer, which was why she was pulling out every trick she knew. She's was adding an extra half inch to each side of the door, giving her extra room in case the door would be too small, she wouldn't carve out the space for the lock until she knew whether she did or didn't need to adjust the doors size.

There was more to it too but she couldn't be bothered to go over it in her head, she'd deal with it when she got around to it.

Unfortunately she knew she wouldn't be able to cut the wood herself, despite knowing plumbing and mechanical work, she was not allowed to use any sharp object for anything. Not even scissors to cut normal paper, at least not with the sharp pair of scissors at least. So she knew she would have to wait until either her mother or Leni was able to help her out with it, given that those two were the only two who also knew how to work with wood.

In another hour of misfortune, her mother was too busy trying to wrangle the house under her control in a similar fashion to her trying to wrangle an alligator. Leni was... Well Leni, so she'd either forget or do it wrong and Lana was not willing to take that risk.

Sighing the six year old slumped to the ground, unable to continue with her work until other people were available to help her. Which was a shame as she was unable to work on the door frame for the same reason as the door and the fact that Lincoln was in the house and she really wanted this to be a surprise for him.

door now she was going to retire to the house and see what came about later... Or tomorrow.

A/N: I am SO SO sorry for the extremely long wait. 2+ Months? How could I let this happen?

I know some things have gone on longer then that but with my track record for uploads this one is the outcast. I know I updated Moving in several times during this break but also know not all of you also read that story, so I understand if there is some frustration.

Just to let you know I was struggling with some sections of this for a while and I have been extremely busy in my day to day life. Think; trying to be a substitute for three people everyday busy. Then add more and that's me.

One quick thing to anyone with a guest account or a account that can't be responded to (Private messages) please try to create a real account so I may respond to you if you have questions or grievances, I actually like responding to that sort of stuff and would like to clear up any confusions as soon as possible.

Also please do NOT spam me with anything referring update times, as I have said before, I don't have a schedule or routine in place and it's disheartening to think my Hobby has become a chore. So pleaee, DON'T.