Hello there and...wait a sec. Yes, you're seeing this correctly: I've at long last returned! Over five long months of almost no activity at all has finally come to an end!

If anyone is wondering what caused this long period of absence, I just sort of lost a lot of interest in doing this sort of thing starting last November and I chose to go on an extended break. My interest only marginally started coming back around February and then slowly but surely kept going up after that. I believe I've said this before in that unless something changes, fanficion writing is going to be more of an occasional thing for me compared to that stretch of time from December 2019 to the first half of the summer of 2020 where I wrote a whole ton of stuff. That was before I seriously got into Twitter, fanart and whole ton of other shows that have since taken up a lot of my time and have gotten a lot out of. But writing is still something I love doing and I do also plan eventually on expanding my reach on this medium beyond The Loud House and into other fandoms.

Okay, with that all out of the way, let's get into what we have here for today. For my comeback, I've returned to my 5G1B AU. As a quick recap, this is an AU that explores a hypothetical life of the Loud family if it consisted only of the parents plus Lincoln and his five older sisters and with some aging up of Lori, Leni, Luna and Luan. Each story in this so far goes one year into the timeline, but I'm changing things up just for this one. Here, it's three smaller stories in a span of three years as the summary and title lay out. Most notably, it'll contain how Lincoln in this universe was born. I did once say that there would be a storyline reason as to why he was the last child born in the family in this universe and I'm finally coming through with that.

All right, I think that will do for an introduction. For the first time in over five months, sit back and enjoy!

The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.

Years 2014, 2015 & 2016

Ages:

Lori - 16, 17 & 18

Leni - 14, 15 & 16

Luna - 12, 13 & 14

Luan - 10, 11 & 12

Lynn - 8, 9 & 10

Lincoln - 6, 7 & 8

Not a Mistake

On what has been generally another typical day at the Loud house, Lincoln found himself going downstairs whereupon reaching the bottom, he could hear muffled laughter belonging to his parents. Curious, he looked out the front window to see them sitting on the front steps together and began eavesdropping.

"Ah...always nice to get a little time just to ourselves, even if it's just here, right?" Rita said.

"Absolutely," Lynn Sr. agreed. "Gotta have a break from the kiddos here and there as much as we love them."

"Mm-hmm, but speaking of which, can you believe how much the kids have grown so fast?" Rita asked.

"I know, right? It only feels like just yesterday for instance that we brought Lincoln home. Remember how excited the girls and your dad were? I'm mean granted it took LJ a few seconds, but she came around pretty quickly." Lynn Sr. noted with a chuckle.

"Of course. All told, he's every bit of precious as the girls are and the best surprise we never planned on we could've ever asked for." Rita said, sighing happily.

For the most part, Lincoln liked hearing the conversation his parents were having up until that last line from his mom. He was confused over what she meant that he was a surprise that she and his dad weren't planning on. But even in his still developing mind and even with still positive sounding way she said it near the end, a very unfortunate thought arrived.

"Am I...a mistake?"

The idea that one wasn't supposed to be brought into the world would be horrifying for anyone to contemplate. But for a six-year-old in particular, it'd be a devastating blow unlike anything else.

With this in mind, Lincoln tried his hardest to hold things together. He didn't want believe it was true nor did he want to break down and have himself be seen as weak should anyone be in his vicinity.

"Oh, there you are, Lincoln."

As he heard the voice of Lori, Lincoln turned to see her and his sisters before him as he also showed the saddened look on his face.

"Aw, what's wrong, Linky? Why to you look so sad?" Leni asked as she knelt down in front of him.

"I...I...I…" Lincoln struggled. "I might be a mistake…"

"Mistake? Huh? What are you talking about?" Lynn wondered.

In response, Lincoln only pointed out the window to their parents.

"Mom and Dad? What about them?" Luan asked.

"Yeah, what's the deal here?" Luna added.

The girls were very much confused as what their brother could possibly be talking about here. Ultimately though, there was only one way to get to the bottom of it.

"Seems like we need to have a talk with them." Lori said.

She would then promptly opened the front door and placed her hands on both her parents' shoulders.

"Lori? What is it? Is there something wrong?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Mom, Dad, can we talk to you?" Lori requested.

"Oh sure, honey. About what, though?" Rita wondered.

"Just come back inside first, please." Lori insisted on.

Next, Lori headed back inside and ushered for her siblings to gather in the living room while Lynn Sr. and Rita did the same as they sat down on the couch.

"Okay, so what's up, kids?" Lynn Sr. asked.

Lori simply gestured to Lincoln, allowing him to step forward. Immediately, his expression rose the concerns of his parents.

"Lincoln? What's wrong?" Rita asked worriedly.

"Mom...Dad...am I a mistake?" Lincoln wondered after a moment of hesitation.

No sooner did the words leave their son's mouth did his parents become floored by such a claim.

"Mistake?!" Rita said bewildered.

"Son, what in the world would make you think something like that?" Lynn Sr. followed up with just as taken aback.

"Well, I...I...I heard you talking and Mom said something about how I wasn't planned and…"

Despite all his efforts to maintain it all, Lincoln started whimpering. As a form of trying to reassure him, Leni got back down to his level and gently hugged him from the side.

"That can't be true, can't it?" She asked her parents. "Linky's not a mistake!"

Lynn Sr. and Rita gave each other very distressed looks. They feared the day that their only son would ever learn such a thing, if ever at all. Now that he's heard it, there was no sense in hiding it further.

"All right…" Lynn Sr. said after a deep sigh. "Lincoln, why don't you join your mother and I?"

With a degree of hesitance, Lincoln left Leni's embrace and sat in between his parents on the couch.

"Okay, first off, I'm so sorry you had to hear that in the first place, honey," Rita told him. "And second, I wish there was a gentler way of putting this, but...the truth is that, yes, your father and I didn't exactly plan for you arriving."

And just like that, Lincoln felt his heart sink to the depths.

"So...I am a mistake…" He said, his voice straining with each passing syllable.

"Wait, no, no, please don't say that, Lincoln!" Rita pleaded with him. "Please, just give us a chance to explain, okay?"

Though all but heartbroken thinking he wasn't meant to be, Lincoln softly nodded his head and was willing to listen.

"You know, LJ, you may want join us, too. Might as well get another similar explanation out of the way also." Lynn Sr. suggested.

"Huh? What do you mean, Dad?" Lynn Jr. wondered.

"You'll understand in a moment." Lynn Sr. simply responded.

Lynn Jr. ultimately adhered to her father's recommendation and took a seat alongside everyone else. She also took a moment to give Lincoln a brief couple of pats on his shoulders as her way of trying to cheer him in any way.

"Okay, as your mother just said, Lincoln, we didn't really plan for you coming into the world," Lynn Sr. reiterated, turning to his namesake daughter next. "But that's also true to an extent to you as well."

"Wait...what?" Lynn Jr. said, her eyes widening.

"Now, hang on, we're getting that explanation here. I think maybe you should start though, honey." Lynn Sr. said, gesturing to his wife.

"All right, sure…" Rita agreed, taking a deep breath. "After Luan was born, I personally felt like she was going to be the last child we were going to have."

"Whoa...really?" Luan questioned in surprise.

"That was the plan, yes," Rita answered with a soft nod. "However, your father here had always wished to have at least one boy."

"Yeah, I'll freely admit to that," Lynn Sr. said with an awkward chuckle. "Plus, I also thought it would've been nice to have least one child named after myself; keeping with tradition on my side of the family which has done the same."

"So once a period of time had passed after you were born, Luan, plus some begging from your father, we did eventually give birth to who and all your siblings know as Lynn Jr. here." Rita said, placing a hand on her youngest daughter's shoulder.

"Yeah, and even though we had a fifth girl instead of a boy, I was happy to be reminded by your mother that 'Lynn' can also be a girl's name. So on that front, I still got one of my wishes fulfilled of having a little one named after me." Lynn Sr. added, also putting a hand on his namesake daughter's other shoulder

Though Lynn Jr. was happy and relieved to hear that her own birth story worked out for the best, there was the case of Lincoln's own origin which still needed to be addressed.

"But what about me?" He inquired.

"Right, of course," Lynn Sr. replied, gathering his bearings. "Well…want to take this one again, honey?"

"If you insist…" Rita said ambivalently, locking eyes with her son. "Listen, the gentlest way I can put this to you is that...well, uh…when your father and I love each other, we…"

"Oh! You mean when you…" Leni tried interjecting, only to have her older sister's hand come over her mouth.

"Leni, best not literally say that out loud." Lori told her.

"Yes, very much not a good idea," Rita agreed with before returning her attention to Lincoln. "Look, you'll understand better when you're older. But let me be perfectly clear here, Lincoln. Just because we didn't anticipate you coming into this world doesn't mean we weren't overjoyed when you did."

"It was one of the happiest moments in my life when luck was on our side and the last child that would ever come into our lives was a boy who I love every bit as much as I do your sisters." Lynn Sr. said proudly.

"So true," Rita agreed, leaning over and kissing her son on the forehead. "I'm so thankful you're in my life. I love you so much, Lincoln."

"And so do we." Lori added.

"The best little bro ever!" Luna chimed in.

And with that, Lincoln felt himself become encircled in a big group hug by his parents and sisters as tears bubbled up in his eyes. However, they were purely out of joy and relief. Even if he learned that he wasn't necessarily meant to be brought into this Earth by planned design, the fact everyone in his family loved, treasured and valued him with all their hearts was all that ever truly mattered.

"I love you all, too…!" He finally said happily.

Responsibility Comes in Many Forms

"Yes! I did it, I literally did it!"

Those thunderously enthusiastic words echoed throughout the home upon Lori bursting through the front door; arms aloft in triumph and a huge smile creasing across her face and Lynn Sr. following behind with a similarly prideful look as both would also see the rest of their family awaiting in the living room.

"You mean..?!" Rita began saying.

Following an excited nod and squeal, Lori reached down the pocket of her shorts and held up the single most important piece of rectangular plastic anyone will receive in their life.

"You better believe it!" Lynn Sr. said proudly, putting an arm around his eldest daughter. "You're looking at the latest Loud who's earned the privilege to hit the open road and...!"

Before he could finish, the rest of the family cheered and rushed on over to encircle Lori in a group hug.

"Oh my gosh, we're so proud of you, sweetie!" Rita said. "You know, we should celebrate this monumental milestone somehow!"

"I'm way ahead of you on that, honey! We made a little stop over at the grocery store on our way back to snag some hot dogs and such. Now I have an excuse to break out the ol' barbecue!" Lynn Sr. explained. "In fact, why don't you give me hand bringing in everything?"

With a small nod, Rita followed her husband outside, leaving the kids to continue beaming in delight over Lori's accomplishment.

"Wow, Lori! Now you can, like, drive us to the mall!" Leni said.

"Yeah, or now you can take me to the music store or any concerts!" Luna brought up.

"Or the comedy club and novelty prank store!" Luan chimed in.

"Or any sports games!" Lynn added.

"And the comic book store!" Lincoln rounded out.

"Guys, guys, settle down!" Lori said, chuckling and giving herself some space from her siblings. "While I appreciate everything and I wouldn't mind doing all that for when I have the time, I only just now got my license and I might need to familiarize myself driving on my own first more before I act as your chauffeur or anything."

"Sho...for?" Leni inquired puzzled.

"I mean being able to drive you guys around, Leni" Lori cleared up.

"Ohhh…" Leni said.

A little later on, the family were all out in the backyard for their celebratory cookout. Rita and Leni had gotten a picnic table and such all set, Luna strummed along on her acoustic guitar under the tree, Luan, Lynn Jr. and Lincoln played around and Lynn Sr. manned the grill while Lori stood on by.

"Hey, want to take a shot at this yourself, Lori?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Uh, no thanks, Dad." Lori replied.

"You sure? You have been doing a lot recently when it comes to helping around in the kitchen, which is very important for you to learn once you're out on your own. Wouldn't hurt if you maybe tried this out." Lynn Sr. posited.

"I get that, but I think after today I deserve to just kick back and relax," Lori said, grinning and patting her father's back. "Besides, wouldn't want to get in the way of the 'World's Greatest Cook' as your apron literally lays it out."

"Heh, well you're not wrong there," Lynn Sr. said with a laugh. "All right, maybe you can try some other time."

With a nod, Lori headed over to the picnic table to join alongside her mother and Leni.

"So, must be exciting to finally have your license, huh?" Rita said.

"Yeah, certainly is, Mom. Just one more step in my journey towards independence." Lori replied.

"Oh, as you say that, I'm both so proud of your ambition and freely admit to being anxious when the day you set off on your own does come." Rita said with a slight glistening in her eyes.

"I know, I know, and I'm going to feel the same myself at that time. But until then, let's not worry about that until that day does arrive. We still got plenty time together." Lori reassured.

"Aww…" Rita said, going over to hug her oldest daughter.

A little more time later, the family gathered at the picnic table while Lynn Sr. brought over and placed down the first serving of hot dogs.

"All right, fam! Dig in and…"

"Dad, your apron is on fire!" Lincoln shouted.

While "fire" may have been an exaggeration, indeed when Lynn Sr. looked to the side, he saw a very small bit of smoke flowing up from his apron.

"AHHH!"

In a panic, he undid it and tossed it high up in the air...where it landed right onto the grill, thus sparking an actual small blaze and eliciting a collective gasp and then scream was shared among the family.

But in an act of quick thinking, Lori took the nearby pitcher of water and tossed the liquid right onto the fire to douse it. That then gave Lynn Sr. the chance to take the apron off and close the barbecue.

"Whew…I guess that's a crisis quickly averted!" Lynn Sr. said with some nervous laughter.

"Is everyone okay?" Rita asked everyone else.

The kids all answered in the affirmative, then they all turned to Lori.

"Uh...what?" She asked.

"OM-gosh, that was so brave of you, Lori!" Leni said ecstatically.

"'Brave?' I don't know if I'd go that far. I just reacted literally on instinct." Lori said.

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad you did it anyway," Lynn Sr. noted, patting her shoulder. "And if anything else, you've learned a very valuable lesson about outdoor cooking: never be negligent enough to have your apron catch even the slightest spark."

"Duly noted, Dad." Lori said with a chuckle.

After moving past what could've almost been a great summer hot dog fire, the family resumed their little cookout. If there was any major takeaway from the day, it was that there's more than one way to show off responsibility, be it getting your driver's license or preventing a blaze. Such is life.

The Lead-up to College

One evening, Lynn Sr., Rita and Lori were in the living room together. The purpose was that the former two were giving the latter an overview on the vital lessons of regarding the wonderful world of finances.

"Ugh, this is literally some of the most boring stuff ever." Lori said following a scoff.

"Well, in a sense I don't blame you, but this is very important stuff that you'll need to know once you head out on your own." Lynn Sr. said.

"Yeah, but I'm taking a class that goes over similar stuff right now in school and I'm going to probably do the same in college, so would this be a little redundant?" Lori wondered.

"Maybe, but I don't think it would hurt get a little parental input on this matters." Rita answered.

"Well, I guess not," Lori admitted, sighing and showing a little smile. "At the same time, I shouldn't really be complaining too much. After all, I've got my birthday coming up in a few days to look forward to."

"Indeed! I can't believe my firstborn little girl's gonna be reach adulthood in a matter of days!" Lynn Sr. proudly stated with watering eyes. "And as much as I don't want to think too much about it, that also means we'll be one step closer to the time when you...you..you.."

"Dad, please, let's just focus on the here and now, okay? It's still a couple of months away from now. Besides, the more you talk about it like that, I might get all teared up myself as well!" Lori reassured him.

"Right, right, of course, sorry," Lynn Sr. said after wiping his eyes. "And to repeat as you just said, your birthday's coming up real soon. This should be a time of celebration instead of being a bunch of worrywarts!"

"That's the spirit, honey! Celebrate now, then we will worry about worrying later." Rita said with pat of her husband's shoulder.

Following that, the three wrapped up the financial lessons for the evening. As for Lori's birthday, little did she know one of the big plans that were set her when that day would come.

A couple of weeks later and just only one day before Lori's birthday, the Loud family split off one day into two groups. One consisted of Rita and the girls staying back at home and the other of Lynn Sr. and Lincoln heading off to town. Though both were having some girls and boys time together respectively, what everyone except for Lori knew was that this particular set up was done so that the fellas of the family also could make a stop over at the location where they can finalize the purchase of the biggest and most significant birthday gift for Lori as well.

"Okay, kiddo, here were are! Let's hope it's still available." Lynn Sr. said.

He and Lincoln stepped out of Vanzilla and the search was on. Luckily for them, it didn't need to take long at all.

"Hey, Dad, there it is!" Lincoln enthusiastically said while pointing.

"Hey, you're right! In that case, let's seal this deal!" Lynn Sr. said with a big grin.

Later that same afternoon after making the big purchase, the boys returned home and were greeted by Rita and the girls all in the living room together.

"Hey, welcome back! How'd your day go?" Rita inquired.

"Oh, it went well! You can't put a price on some good old fashioned father-son bonding!" Lynn Sr. answered with a grin.

In reaction, Rita also grinned a little as well. Her husband's very subtle added emphasis on the word "price" was due to an agreed upon plan to have a code word to confirm that Lori's gift had been officially bought. With that, she turned to her eldest daughter.

"Oh, I just remembered something, Lori. Would you mind meeting out in the backyard? There's something I need your assistance with. You can go on ahead right now and I'll be right there in just a minute." Rita told her.

"Oh, um...sure, if that's what you need, Mom." Lori said with a bit of confusion and hesitation.

She sat up from the couch and headed for the backyard. Meanwhile, Lynn Sr. and Lincoln gathered closer with the rest of their family.

"So, you did get it?" Luan asked.

"Sure did! It's all signed and sealed, and it should be delivered tomorrow morning." Lynn Sr. replied after a nod.

"Now we just need to hope that Lori doesn't spoil herself in seeing it before we show it to her by then." Lincoln noted.

"Yeah, and speaking of which, we had to try to do everything to make sure someone didn't spill the beans beforehand because she might not be able to contain herself." Lynn Jr. said, narrowing a gaze to her second oldest sister.

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry!" Leni said regretfully, only to quickly get very exuberant again. "But I'm just so excited that Lori is gonna be getting her own…!"

"Dude, seriously, keep a lid on it!" Luna said while putting her hand over Leni's mouth. "She might still around trying to snoop in on things, you never know!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Leni reiterated after pulling her sister's hand away. "But you didn't have to do that!"

"Okay, okay, everyone settle down, please!" Rita implored. "I know we're all excited about tomorrow, but let's just keep the temperature down all around, okay?"

"Yeah, and besides I want to remind everyone again: how do we make sure Lori doesn't accidentally see it herself in the morning before we get to show it off?" Lincoln wondered.

"Oh, don't worry about that, son. I'm sure we'll figure something out," Lynn Sr. answered with a confident grin. "In any event, I cannot wait to see the look on her face when we do surprise her with it!"

The morning had risen and Lori's big day had finally arrived. Either by choice or out of exhaustion, she was sleeping in at the moment, which was considered something of a lucky break for the rest of the family. It was even luckier when she did eventually wake up and took her time in the bathroom to shower and otherwise get herself all primp and proper, because in that time, her gift had arrived and the rest of the family did everything they can to get everything arranged before they can surprise her with it.

When Lori did finish up, the first she ended up seeing were Leni and Luna right in the middle of the hallway.

"Oh, uh...good morning." Lori said to them with a tad bit of surprise.

"Good morning, Lori!" Leni responded very happily. "Oh, you gotta come down and see…"

"Uh, what she means to say, brah, is that we're gonna head on downstairs together. Ya know, since we're all here and that." Luna tried in correcting as stood in front of Leni.

"Um...okay." Lori said in hesitance.

With that, the three eldest sisters began making their way down with Lori going first. But just as she reached the bottom…

"Oh, that's reminds me, you'll need this." Luna said.

In a flash, she whipped out a blindfold and placed it right on over her oldest sister's eyes, then both her and Leni each grabbed one of her hands.

"Wait, guys, what are you doing?!" Lori asked in shock.

"Don't worry about it! Just follow our lead!" Luna replied.

Next, Leni opened up the front door before she and Luna carefully guided Lori along with them from the front porch and down the steps.

"Okay, you can take it off now!" Leni said.

Lori would do just that and no sooner was the blindfold removed was she then greeted by the rest of her immediate family.

"SURPRISE!"

Her eyes lit up and she had big smile on her face. But then her gaze shifted just beyond her family and over to what was sitting at the curbside.

"Uh, what's with the car?" She asked.

"Well...what do you think?" Rita said with a wink.

It took her a couple of seconds for it to click in her mind, but when it did, she gasped loudly.

"Wait, you mean…?!" Lori exclaimed.

"You better believe it, honey! Say hello to your own personal set of wheels!" Lynn Sr. proudly said.

He and everyone else stepped aside as Lori slowly approached what she has just now learned is car for her. Her breath was shaky while she laid a hand across the body of it.

"I...I..I literally can't believe it! Really, I can't! It even looks like the one I've been thinking about wanting for a while now!" Lori said, still letting everything in sink in.

"Well, to an extent," Lynn Sr. began explaining as he joined alongside her. "I do remember a couple of times you talked about getting this make of car before. However, this particular one is a used one from a couple of years back. We couldn't exactly afford a brand new one, but I think this one will still work for what's it's meant for."

"Oh, that's no problem at all. Dad! I'm just amazed that I got this in the first place! Thank you so, so much!" Lori said, her eyes starting to tear up.

"You're so welcome! Happy birthday, Lori!" Lynn Sr. said.

The two shared an embrace which only encouraged everyone else to join along as well.

"Okay, with that said, we've got a big day ahead of us!" Rita said upon the group hug ending. "We got a nice breakfast lined up, then later we'll be meeting up with Pop-Pop and Aunt Ruth for nice little day out together among other things. All for our proud birthday girl who's finally reached adulthood!"

"Yeah!" Everyone else cheered.

A little over a month later and at last, the day lots of families simultaneously are proud of and dreading had arrived. Today was officially the day that Lori would leave home and set off for her journey to college.

At the present, Lori and her family were all gathered out in the front yard. They had gotten finished helping with packing her things inside her car, plus some more in Vanzilla and since that would give an excuse for her parents to come along and say their final goodbyes for now.

While both of them waited inside Vanzilla, Lori wanted to take the time to say some last words to each of her siblings before leaving.

"Well...this is it, guys," She began saying as she started going down the line. "Leni, by virtue of being the second oldest, this means you're in charge now that I'll be away."

"Yeah, I know…" Leni said sadly. "I hope I'll do okay, because I'm not so sure…"

"You'll do great, I know it," Lori assured her while giving her a hug and moved on. "Luna, just in case, you're basically the second in command and feel like you'll rock it in that role just like how I know you do with music."

"You know it, sis, and you're gonna rock it in college, too!" Luna said proudly.

"Thanks," Lori said, hugging her and moving on. "Luan, you keep knocking them dead with your jokes and such."

"Oh, that'll be no problem and I'll always raise them back from the dead because I'm the life of comedy!" Luan said, following up with some laughter. "Get it? But seriously, that means a lot and I wish you luck in college."

"Thanks." Lori said.

After giving Luan a hug, Lori finally moved over to Lynn and Lincoln. When she looked at them, they looked more distressed than the rest of her siblings. Seeing them like this not only naturally made her feel a little more sad, but also reminded her of something. The more she thought about it, she realized that she was almost every bit as integral in helping raising them as their parents were and instantly recalled several instances of such.

The time she helped with Lynn needing to use the restroom the day Lincoln was born. The many times she was up early in the morning or late at night tending to Lincoln's needs when he was a baby. The one time she had to keep them under control and unfortunately lost her cool when their parents were away for the weekend. Acting as an intermediary between them during the dispute over Lincoln accidentally breaking Lynn's basketball hoop. Helping Lincoln overcome his fear of fireworks during the Fourth of July. These reminders didn't just fill her with pride, but also made her know that her time in college will mean she'll miss out on lot as they continue to grow.

Despite this, she knelt down to their level and tried her best to reassure them.

"Hey, let's not try too be down about this, okay? It's not like I'm going to be literally several states away from here or anything like that. College is only a little over an hour away from here, so I'll still be able visit you guys fairly easily when I get the time." Lori said.

Though obviously they'll miss her greatly, that little reminder was enough for Lynn and Lincoln to both show off a smile and give Lori a big hug, which she returned and caused Leni, Luna and Luan to also join in on things as well.

"Okay, enough mushy stuff. You're gonna kill it there!" Lynn said when everyone parted ways.

"Yeah, you'll do great!" Lincoln added on top of that.

With that last little bit of encouragement, Lori smiled, took a deep breath and walked in the direction of her car. She did though stop midway through to turn back around to wave at her siblings as they did the same and said many overlapping goodbyes and well wishes.

Finally, Lori got inside her car and began driving off with her parents following behind in Vanzilla.

Meanwhile, the remaining siblings looked at one another, shared grins and engaged in another group hug. Though Lori may be off to fulfill her own goals and dreams and as much as they'll miss her, they knew that they still had each other and their oldest sister's departure was a reminder to them to treasure every moment they had together just like they did with her.

And that'll do it for this one! It's not really that much, but the fact I got something done anyway given again my long time away I consider to be something of a personal accomplishment in any event.

So with this done, what does the future hold? Well, for this series, I'm actually drastically reducing the overall scale and how long it will go. I won't mention exactly how many more stories this will have for now, but it's considerably smaller than what I had once planned before and I do have a conclusion in mind that will come much sooner than I originally had planned. Also, there pretty much won't be much more in the way of any other characters that'll be making cameos and such. I've pretty much said from the start that the family dynamics was always going to be the single most important part of this saga and I'm sticking by that.

Now, the future for anything else? It might sound vague, but we'll see what happen. Again, fanfiction is going to be more of an occasional thing for me and I'll post stuff on my time whenever I'm able to.

With that said, thank you for your time and when I do manage to post something else, be it here for The Loud House or others, I'll see you around and you all take care!