I've been reading all of your comments and I'm not sure if some of you like how the story is turning out so far. What I was going for was a story about how Lincoln's family sees him and if he believes that they truly love him the way he is or not. I don't know if I'm that good at writing stories so I'm just going to see how it turns out.
It was another lovely morning in Royal Woods as the Loud family was getting up to enjoy another beautiful day. And on a spring day like this, the weather was perfect for going outside and getting active. That's what most of the Loud family was up to right now. Most of them, not all of them.
A few of the many ladies of the Loud house left the house to spend the day doing what they usually enjoyed. Luna was practicing with her band for big concert they had on the night of that same day, Luan had at least two or three birthday gigs for her clowning business and was pretty busy for the whole day, Leni went to her job at the mall with her friends, Fiona and Miguel, Lynn was playing with her team at a soccer game, Rita and Lana went to watch Lola compete in one of her pageants, Lucy was in the cemetery with her fellow goths in the Morticians club, and Lisa was working on her experiments while Lily stayed at home with Lori babysitting them. Basically everyone in the Loud house was spending the day doing something constructive with their time, well, almost everyone.
Most kids like to play sports and play outside on a nice day like this while others would prefer to just stay inside all day long, and it seems that Lincoln Loud, the only boy of the Loud family, fell into the category of the latter. He was currently sitting in his room reading one of his comic books, pretty much what he normally does instead of playing outside. However, Lynn Loud Sr. was definitely not going to let his only son spend a perfectly good day lazing around in the house.
As he came up to Lincoln's room, Lynn Sr. went to Lincoln's door, took a deep breath to calm himself down and put an enthusiastic look on his face to show Lincoln that he wasn't still mad at him after he snapped at him last night. "Okay Lynn Sr., you can do this," he said confidently to himself. He opened the door to find Lincoln reading his comic, and was trying with all his might not to show Lincoln that he meant anything bad.
"Hey there, son," he said, trying to look cheerful. Lincoln looked up from his comic to notice his father and give him a blank expression. "Hey dad," Lincoln replied unenthusiastically. Clearly, Lincoln was still sore about the argument they had last night, but his father still wanted to make amends for it. "So Lincoln, what are you doing today? Have any plans?" he asked.
"Not really. I'm probably just going to read my comics, play a few video games, nothing new," Lincoln replied, while focused on his comic. His father sat on the bed, not amused by his son's lazy plans for how to spend the day. "Come on Lincoln. It's a nice day and it's not good for you to spend it inside doing all of that stuff. I've got a few better ideas," his father said and Lincoln did not like what he had in mind.
"No thanks, dad. I'd rather just stay in here," Lincoln answered. Lynn Sr. was patient with him at first, but was beginning to lose his patience. "Lincoln. Come on," he said in a gentle tone as he pulled the comic out of his son's hands and put it on the desk.
"Dad!" Lincoln said. "It's beautiful outside, Lincoln. And most of the girls are out of the house, so how about you and I get out of here and have some real fun outdoors? What do you say?" Lynn Sr. suggested but Lincoln was still not onboard with it. "I'll pass dad," Lincoln responded.
Even with his patience wearing thin, the Loud patriarch still tried to keep his composure. So now he tried to approach Lincoln in a more gentle fashion. "Come on Lincoln. It's not good to stay inside reading comics and playing video games all day. Besides, when was the last time you and I spent some quality, father-son time together, huh?" the father asked in a much nicer tone.
"Wouldn't you rather spend some quality time with my sisters? You can always wait for them to come back you know," Lincoln responded in a less than interested tone, which only made it worse for his father, but even so, he still tried to keep his cool and be lenient with Lincoln so that the tension wouldn't get any worse.
"Lincoln. All I want is for you and I to have some good bonding time together. I hang out with your sisters a little too much, I think. How about if you and I spend the day together? I'll take you somewhere fun," Lynn Sr. said trying to sound more convincing so that Lincoln would become interested.
The white-haired boy thought about it and decided that if his father really wanted to spend time with him and not his sisters, than maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "Well. Okay, Dad. I guess I'll give it a shot," Lincoln said, much to his father's joy.
"Great!" Lynn Sr. exclaimed. "I'll meet you in the car, son. And trust me, we'll have a great father-son bonding day. You won't regret it."
That was what they both hoped. But as soon as his father left the room, Lincoln's smile faded into a frown as he already began to doubt his father's words and looked toward the reader. "I already regret this. After all, this wouldn't be the first time I had a 'father-son bonding' day with dad."
As he waited for Lincoln in the car, Lynn Sr. began to have some doubts of his own about how their day together would turn out. Lincoln came out of the front door of the house, waving good bye to Lori, who was busy texting on the living room couch.
As Lincoln got into the car, his father smiled in hopes of their 'bonding' day ending positively. "Well son, you ready to spend a beautiful day with your old man?" he asked enthusiastically. "Sure dad. You know it," Lincoln replied rather sheepishly. "Okay. Let's go," Lynn Sr. said as the car left the driveway.
Their time in the car began with awkward silence and an aura of dramatic tension coming from Lincoln, one which his father tried to ignore. He could see that Lincoln was quite nervous about this and wanted to somehow break the tension. However, after their argument last night, Lynn Sr. was just worried that he might make the tension even worse with what he had planned for them.
After about 10 minutes, Lincoln decided it was time to break the silence. "So Dad. Where are we going?" Lincoln asked curiously.
"We're going somewhere fun of course, Lincoln. You're gonna love what I have planned." He answered. But Lincoln still wanted to know where they were going specifically.
"Where is it exactly? Wait, let me guess." Lincoln thought for a second until he came up with a good guess. "The arcade?!" he said
"Uh, no," his father replied, feeling surprised that Lincoln's guess really wasn't what his father was going for.
"Gus' Games & Grub?" Lincoln guessed again only for his father to give him the same answer.
"Dairyland?" The boy guessed a third time and his gave him a 'no' as his answer for the third time as well.
Lynn Sr. was quite surprised that Lincoln's choices for a day of fun all had one thing in common. They all involved just having fun while not putting much effort into it and just being lazy.
"Okay Dad. I give up. Where are we going?" Lincoln asked. "Don't worry, son. You're gonna enjoy this for sure. You and I are gonna spend the day doing some traditional father-son bonding activities," Lynn Sr. answered.
But Lincoln knew what his father meant when he said the activities he planned to do with him would be the "traditional" kind. "Oh no Dad. Don't tell me we're going out for..." Lincoln said nervously. "That's right, son. We're going out to spend this great day right!" Lynn Sr. exclaimed in excitement. Unfortunately, Lincoln didn't share that same enthusiasm.
As Lincoln began to figure out where his father was taking him, the car had already arrived at that exact destination. And much to Lincoln's dismay, it was the one thing the white-haired 11-year old hated the most. A baseball diamond.
As his father parked the car, Lincoln's irritation from the previous night returned and had his nervousness replaced with aggravation, which he directed at his father. "Dad! I thought you said we were going somewhere fun!" Lincoln complained, much to his father's own irritation as his anger from the previous night came back as well.
"This is fun, Lincoln!" his father argued. "Not for me it's not," Lincoln answered back with his arms folded and a cold, hard look on his face, expressing that he clearly didn't want to participate in this game. But Lynn Sr. wasn't going to have that as got out of the car and opened the shotgun door to convince Lincoln to come out, even by force if he had to.
"Lincoln! I brought you here so that we could spend this day doing some actual guy things, which I may add are supposed to be good for you. And this is one of those things," Lynn Sr. said, gesturing to the baseball game currently taking place on the field. There was a baseball game happening on the field right now, but it wasn't for the actual little league where there was a coach to direct the team, it was just kids having fun and playing the game together purely for the sake of it. That was pretty much what Lynn Sr. wanted for Lincoln as he thought it would be best for him, but Lincoln didn't share his feelings for it.
"Look at all those kids, Lincoln. Look how much fun they're having playing baseball." His father pointed toward the kids at the game but Lincoln still had his unamused face on and just kept ignoring everything, which his father grew tired of putting up with. "Lincoln!" he shouted, startling Lincoln enough to make him look at his dad with his anger quickly turning into shock.
"I am not going to let you squander this perfectly good opportunity to get some exercise and play sports. So son, whether you like it or not, you are not going to waste this day on video games and you are going out there to play baseball like a real man should! Now go!" his father demanded fiercely. Lincoln knew it wouldn't be a safe idea to refuse again after that outburst, but even so, he still didn't plan on actually participating.
"Fine dad. I'll do it," Lincoln said. His father was happy when he finally stepped out of the car and went to the diamond to ask the other kids if he could join them, at least that's what Lynn Sr. wanted him to do. However, just in case Lincoln wasn't going to do it willingly, Lynn Sr. asked the other kids to let him play with them and they happily accepted him in.
His father sat in the stands with the other kids' parents, ecstatic to watch Lincoln join in the game. Or so he thought. Lincoln met the other players on his team and just casually greeted each of them while trying to avoid showing his true feelings for their game, so as not to offend them or cause any trouble. Once Lincoln sat in the dugout, he just kept that same indifferent expression from the car on his face, clearly not showing any interest in participating with the other kids.
As the game went on, Lynn Sr. hoped that he would have the same enjoyment of watching Lincoln play as he always does with Lynn Jr. and was just waiting for his son to be up at bat. But after a few minutes, Lincoln was already bored from watching things unfold. He sighed in disgust trying to look for a way out of it, but he knew that his dad wouldn't approve if he tried to escape after the scolding he got at the car.
Deep down, Lincoln felt like he wanted to actually play baseball and give it a chance, but for some reason, all he could feel was apathy and utter scorn for the game itself. He saw all those other kids enjoying themselves, having fun and high-fiving each other like friends, and how their parents were so proud watching them play, and it just filled him with a sense of dread. He could see his own father in the stands anticipating his turn to play, but right now, he just couldn't smile like everyone else.
Before it was Lincoln's turn at bat that inning, the two teams switched sides. "Okay guys, switch sides. Everyone take your places," the team captain said. He started directing everyone to their positions and then came to Lincoln. "And Lincoln, you go in the outfield on the right side," he commanded. Lincoln was hesitant at first but then he decided to just roll with it for the moment. "Okay. I guess," he sighed. His demeanor caught the captain off guard, though, as the white-haired boy reluctantly went to his assigned position on the right outfield, far away from the stands so that his father couldn't see his unhappy face.
As the game continued, Lincoln barely gave it that much attention. It started with a few hits and outs, but so far, the ball didn't go anywhere near Lincoln's side so he didn't pay it any mind. Lynn Sr. was beginning to grow worried that Lincoln wouldn't get a real chance to show his skill this round as he watched the game unfold with Lincoln still barely having to do too much.
After a few minutes, it was the fourth inning and the score was 3-1 with Lincoln's team currently in the lead. The opposing team's players were standing at first and second base waiting for their next batter to hit the ball so they could score some runs to have their team take the lead. Meanwhile, Lynn Sr. heard a man sitting next to him talk about how great his son was doing on the Royal Woods team, piquing the Loud father's curiosity.
"Which one is your son, sir?" he asked as the man turned to him. "My boy is the one pitching for the home team right now. See there," the man then pointed to his son the pitcher. He looked to be about 12 years old, and a few inches taller than Lincoln, with a much more athletic build. The boy's physique had Lynn Sr. quite impressed and a little bit jealous that his own wasn't as athletic as him. "That boy sure makes me proud," he said, making Lynn Sr. feel even more jealous of how Lincoln was in comparison. He grew nervous at that statement hoping that Lincoln would have his time to shine very soon.
"So, which one is your boy?" the father of the pitcher asked. "Oh. My son's the boy out there in the right field," Lynn Sr. answered nervously, as he pointed to Lincoln. The man looked and saw Lincoln, but wasn't convinced that he looked like the kind of kid who could be fit for playing baseball. "That's your boy?" he said, getting a nod from Lynn Sr. "No offense pal, but that boy doesn't look like athletic type of kid." Even though he meant no offense, Lynn Sr. still felt offended by his comment on his son, but managed to keep himself calm. "Just wait. My son's going to do great," he told the pitcher's father.
As the next batter went up, the opponents at the bases stood at the ready to make a home-run. And with a strong throw from the pitcher, the ball came straight toward him. As it got closer, he swung the bat and managed to hit the ball pretty far, and this time, it was heading in Lincoln's direction. Lynn Sr. quickly became excited to finally see that it was Lincoln's turn to play the game. If Lincoln could catch the ball, it would possibly give the opposing team two more outs at the least and keep the home team in the lead. If only that were the case, though.
Lincoln saw the ball coming toward him and his father watched from the stands, waiting eagerly for his son to catch it and make himself into one of the team's heroes. However, his eager face slowly changed into one of confusion as he saw that Lincoln still stood in that spot, completely motionless and not even making an effort to come to the ball and catch it before it hit the ground.
As Lincoln saw the ball approaching, he just ignored it and continued to stand idly by as it came closer. His teammates along with the adults in the stands were confused by his inactivity while Lynn Sr. became anxious and tried to get Lincoln to go for it. "Lincoln! Lincoln, go for it! Come on!" he yelled to his son. But Lincoln still didn't move a muscle and just let the ball fly in his direction, only to go right past him and hit the ground far behind him.
His teammates grew irritated at his sudden inactivity while the other team took advantage of this and ran for home plate while the ball was too far for them to get in time. Lynn Sr. saw them running and become angry again as he saw that Lincoln continued to be stationary. "Lincoln! Come on! Get the ball already, the other team's gonna catch up!" he shouted only to be even angrier when Lincoln still ignored him. "Lincoln!" he shouted again, and everyone in the stands started yelling at him to play as well.
As Lincoln just watched apathetically as the game went along, the other team's runners got the jump on them as one of them scored a home run and put the score at 3-2, much to everyone's distress. The people in the stands shouted some more as Lincoln was still immobile in his appearance. The other kids in the outfield grew tired of waiting as the boy in the midfield decided to take matters into his own hands.
He ran towards the ball and picked it up to throw it himself. But it was too late as the other two players had already made it to the end before they could be pinned. The score changed to 4-3 with the visitors in the lead. "Hey! What's the idea, buster?! You just cost us the lead! You're supposed to catch the ball and throw it!" the outfielder angrily said to Lincoln. "Who cares." That was all Lincoln could say without even making eye contact with him.
His answer only made it worse as the boy who threw the ball when Lincoln wouldn't was getting ready to attack him. And he would've if not for the pitcher calling to Lincoln. "Loud! Hit the bench!" the pitcher called directing Lincoln to go back to the benches and switch with someone else. "Whatever," Lincoln said as he complied with the order and walked back to the dugout.
The crowd all booed at Lincoln and gave him dirty looks as the white-haired boy went back to his seat in the dugout, much to Lynn Sr.'s chagrin. "So, that's your boy, Loud?" the pitcher's father asked the Loud patriarch. "Yes," he answered, hanging his head in embarrassment. "Doesn't look like the athletic type to me. Look's more like the 'lazy' type. Unlike my boy, of course." That comparison that he made was enough to drive Lynn Sr. further into embarrassment as he once again saw the difference between Lincoln and the pitcher.
As Lincoln sat down at the dugout, his father left the stands to go and give his son a piece of his mind. "Lincoln! Why didn't you do anything out there? We just lost the lead!" Lynn Sr. said, scolding his son for his laziness. "Like it even matters, Dad. This wasn't going to be fun anyway," Lincoln answered in an indifferent manner.
"You're not even trying! All you had to do was catch the ball, it was coming straight towards you and all you do is stand there while the other team starts winning?!" Even with his father angry at him for his lack of interest in the game, Lincoln just sat at the bench ignoring him while the game continued without him.
"Come on, Lincoln. You're missing out on all the fun!" His father tried to convince him to get out there and play again, but Lincoln just shot him an angry glare and let out a groan. "I don't see anything fun about this, Dad. I told you, I'm not interested in stupid sports." Lincoln said in a dry tone which his father was definitely not going to accept, especially how he used the word 'stupid' to describe the game that everybody loved.
"Lincoln! I can't believe this! First, you show no participation in the game and let the team get behind, and now you disrespect the sport itself? Why?!" he said, offended by his son's choice of words. "Now you're going to get back in the game here, and you're not leaving until you get a chance at bat. And if you don't bat then, you will regret it," his father threatened. But Lincoln still didn't care and brushed it aside.
"Like they'll let me at bat after that," Lincoln said. "Oh, don't worry, I'll make them give you a turn at bat." After that inning and the home team went back up to bat, Lynn Sr. convinced the team captain to give Lincoln a chance to pitch. But the captain refused, saying that he didn't want Lincoln to miss it on purpose and lose the game for them even more.
"No really, he will do it. Please just give him a chance," Lynn Sr. pleaded. "No way I'm letting that lazy kid lose it for us. Besides, looks to me like he doesn't even want to try at all. Just look," the captain said and then pointed behind Lynn Sr. When he turned around, to his shock, he saw that Lincoln already quit and was walking back to the car to get away from the game.
Lynn Sr. ran after him and quickly got in front of Lincoln to make him stop. "Lincoln, where do you think you're going?" the father angrily asked. "Back to the car, Dad. I'm sick of this," Lincoln answered.
"You want to leave now?! It hasn't even been an hour and you haven't even done anything," Lynn Sr. angrily said. "So what? It's not like it was going to be any fun anyway, Dad. Besides, baseball stinks anyway, let's just go." His father's eyes widened in shock at his statement, appalled by how his son showed so much malice for the game. And pretty soon, he had enough and decided to give his son what he wanted.
"Alright, Lincoln. That's it. Come on Mr. Lazy," his father commanded and Lincoln sighed as they both left the game and went back to the car. As they got in the car and started driving away from the game, Lincoln wondered where their 'bonding day' would take them now.
"So now what dad?" Lincoln asked. "Lincoln, honestly, I cannot believe you just threw away a perfectly good chance to play a nice game of baseball. Why?!" his father asked unhappy with his son's actions. "I'm not the sporty type, Dad. You know how it is with me and sports." Lynn Sr. didn't like his choice of words and was beginning to really not like Lincoln's feelings toward sports.
"I'd rather play video games, which are way more fun than sports," Lincoln said. "No they're not, Lincoln," his father disagreed. "Dad, sports are for lousy suckers who don't know how much more fun they can have playing video games. That's how it is. Don't like it, that's your problem," Lincoln said. Lynn Sr. couldn't believe what his son just said. Not only did Lincoln reject sports in favor of lazing around and playing video games, but he also called athletes suckers for them, which he figured applied to him and Lynn Jr. as well.
"Now, can we please go somewhere actually fun, like maybe, the arcade?" Lincoln asked but he expected his father to have the same answer as before. "I told you, Lincoln. We're not going to the arcade. And I am not going to let you waist the day on video games," his father said in anger.
"I'm already waisting it with you, Dad." Lincoln said, and with that statement, their argument was about to truly begin once Lynn Sr. pulled over into the corner of a gas station to avoid the traffic.
"Lincoln! I do not approve of your attitude, young man. Sports are good for you, they are supposed to help you be healthy and stay active. Video games are 'not' good for you and are a waste of time."
"Hardly Dad. Sports are the worst. I'm not made for sports like other kids. You want a good father-son bonding day, then why don't you just go hang out with Lynn like you always do and leave me alone!" Lincoln yelled. Lynn Sr.'s jaw dropped in shock, unable to process what Lincoln just said. His own son hates sports and just told his father to just stop hanging out with him.
"After all, Lynn is pretty much the closest thing you even have to the son that you actually want, if you wanted a son to actually make you proud like all of those baseball suckers at that game," Lincoln said, finishing his argument as he began to calm down.
"Lincoln! I cannot believe this! I take you out of the house to spend the day with you, and this is how you treat me?!" his father said.
But Lincoln remained silent and just gave his father a cold shoulder, much to Lynn Sr.'s anger. "That's it, Lincoln! You and I are going to have a traditional father-son day and it will be filled with bonding and actual manly stuff, and we are going to do it right now whether you like it or not. Do you hear me?!" Lynn Sr. shouted. But Lincoln only turned back to give his father an angry glare of his own.
As they drove off, the only two men of the Loud family went to find something they could do together, or rather, something that Lynn Sr. didn't have a hard time making Lincoln do. He tried to find some way to bond with his only son, something physically-engaging that they could enjoy together. But sadly, Lynn Sr. was finding it more and more difficult with trying to get Lincoln to enjoy sports and other physical activities.
The first step in his mission was to take Lincoln to the batting cages, where, hopefully, he could still get Lincoln into baseball, just without being in a team setting. As they parked there, Lynn Sr. noticed that Lincoln's expression hadn't changed since they left the baseball game.
He started out by talking calmly to his son to get him more into the spirit. "Alright, Lincoln. Now this is what you really need, son. Here at the batting cages, we can have still have some fun and work on your pitch. Doesn't that sound like fun?" Lynn Sr. asked in a cheery tone.
But Lincoln didn't respond, still having his back turned to his father and grunting at him, showing just how little he was interested in partaking in what his father described as 'fun.' The batting cages were something that Lynn Jr. would probably consider a no-brainer and the first stop on her way to paradise. But for Lincoln, they were a one-way ticket to misery. Lincoln usually didn't like sports, but for baseball, he seemed to harbor even more malice for it than all the others.
"Dad, how many times do I have to say it? I. Hate. Sports!" he shouted scornfully.
His father sighed in disapproval. "Lincoln. Please son. Do you know how embarrassed I was when you did nothing at that baseball game?" he asked.
He would've been more angry at Lincoln for his attitude, but now he felt more relaxed after their quiet drive from the game. "All I want is for us to spend some time together and have some fun outside. Why can't you just give this a chance?"
"Because I already know it won't turn out good for me, Dad," Lincoln answered. "Look. Not everyone can be good at sports like Lynn. When I get into sports, it always turns out bad for me. So why even bother trying?"
Lynn Sr. thought about what Lincoln said and realized that maybe Lincoln just hasn't found a sport that he's comfortable with yet. "Lincoln, I know your luck with sports hasn't been that great so far, but, maybe if you try it this time, you might like it. What do you say?" he asked encouraging Lincoln to try again.
"Sure dad. Like actually 'trying' would really make any difference. I don't see that happening," Lincoln replied sarcastically, causing his father to start losing his patience and resort to other methods of getting his son out there.
He stepped out of the car and pulled Lincoln out of the car passenger seat, dragging him onto the batting cage. "Alright Lincoln. Now, we are going to try it until we actually have some good fun. Alright?" The two of them each took a booth and held a bat waiting for the baseball shooter to shoot a ball for them to hit, and while Lynn Sr. stood ready and waiting for his shot to come, Lincoln just couldn't feel anything for this and didn't have it in him to hold the bat up high for the ball.
Lynn Sr. stood with a bat in his hands waiting for the ball to come and hit it. The machine fired a baseball at him, and with a mighty swing it was sent to the other side of the field. The man looked with pride at his hit and then turned to the booth next, surprised to see that Lincoln was nowhere to be seen.
"What the? Linc-Oof!" he said, feeling a sudden pain as another ball was shot and him in the side. He got out of the way of the machine and exited the cage to try and find him. "Lincoln?" He looked all around him until he saw an arcade a few yards away from the batting cages.
He figured that was the first place Lincoln would go and walked over to the arcade. Once he entered, he was not happy to find Lincoln playing a classic space fighter arcade game instead of playing sports with him. "What the? Lincoln!" he shouted, grabbing his son's attention.
"Oh great," Lincoln said nonchalantly, returning to his game as he tried to ignore his father. As he walked over to him, Lynn Sr. was clearly unhappy seeing Lincoln focus more on the game rather than him.
"Lincoln! I told you to give this a chance!" he said. "What happened? You ditched me? You just left me out there? You didn't even try to make a hit? Again?!"
"I told you, Dad. Sports do nothing good for me. There's no point in even trying, so there," Lincoln answered. Lynn Sr. was just about fed up with Lincoln laziness and now he was more determined than ever to force Lincoln to play sports, even if he had to take drastic measures to get him to do it.
"That's it!" Lynn Sr. yelled, scaring Lincoln into shock. "Come on!" he said grabbing Lincoln's wrist to forcefully get him back in the car. But Lincoln tried to resist his father's pull and insisted that they stay in the arcade instead. "No way, Dad. I'm not gonna play anymore sports," Lincoln said. "You've barely even done anything today!" Lynn Sr. countered.
Unfortunately, Lincoln still tried to resist and gave his father a hard time with even getting him out of the arcade. They each kept pulling back the other way, arguing while doing so. This was becoming a real problem until... "I. Said. NO!" Lincoln yelled, having had enough of their scuffle. So he gave his father a push and shoved him onto the floor.
He got up and was surprised and shocked that his own son would really do something like that to him. After that, his shock quickly changed into anger as Lynn Sr. finally put his foot down and gave Lincoln a piece of his mind, a decision that he would soon surely regret.
"That does it! Lincoln, I have had it with your lazy and pessimistic attitude toward sports! You're going to play sports with your old man and I will not take 'no' for an answer!" he shouted. His harsh yelling scared Lincoln a bit but that didn't bother him as he was too focused on getting Lincoln to be more athletic like Lynn Jr. He grabbed Lincoln's wrist again, but with a much harder and stronger grip, and forcefully dragged him out of the arcade and back to the car to take him to the next place he had in mind for them.
But even though he was angry with his son at the moment, deep down he knew that that argument they had in the arcade caused even greater damage to their bond and he didn't know whether to blame Lincoln or himself for causing it.
His desire to make Lincoln less lazy and more athletic erupted into a montage of failed attempts to get Lincoln to like sports. Even after his father gave him such a rough talk, Lincoln still wouldn't let his father change him into a carbon-copy of Lynn Jr.
Each and every one of Lynn Sr.'s attempts to get his son more interested in outdoor activities only lead to disaster. While Lynn Sr. played the games, Lincoln did practically nothing, except maybe stand idly by sulking over the bad day he was having, and his father definitely couldn't take much more of it.
He tried everything to get Lincoln to actually play the games that he would normally play with Lynn Jr. Whether it was playing at the batting cages, soccer, shooting hoops, or even track and field, Lynn Sr. was the only one having all the fun while Lincoln either stood motionless on the sidelines or took the easy way out of it and just walked casually through it while avoiding all of the obstacles.
By the time they left the track, it was already late in the afternoon. If it were a weekday, it would already be a little bit past the time for the school day to be over. It was already almost 4 O'clock in the afternoon and Lynn Sr. was the only one who had broken a sweat while Lincoln hadn't shown even the slightest signs of any previous exercise.
Lynn Sr. was truly disappointed with how the day had turned out for them. Not only have they barely had any fun together, but it felt like they had grown even farther apart. They went back to the car and as he was driving, Lynn Sr. had one last idea up his sleeve. And if it didn't work, then he was just about ready to give up on his son completely.
He drove them back to the baseball diamond that they were at earlier that same day, much to Lincoln's confusion. Thankfully, the previous game ended hours ago so nobody would be there to boo at Lincoln this time around. Lincoln wasn't happy to be back at this place but he wasn't angry either.
"What are we doing back here, Dad?" Lincoln asked with barely that much feeling in his voice. "I've got one last thing that we can do together, Lincoln. We're going to play a rousing a game of catch, something that any father and son would know to do," the Loud father said, only to earn a phlegmatic groan from Lincoln, which he did not appreciate in the slightest.
"Come on, Lincoln. Just this one game and then we can go home," his father pleaded to him. "Please, Dad. Let's just go home," Lincoln said. But his father already stepped out of the car and not wanting to be forcefully dragged out again, Lincoln just nonchalantly walked out onto the field with him. However, that didn't mean that he was suddenly interested in playing.
As his Lynn Sr. had a baseball mitt in his hand, he was ready to throw the ball to Lincoln when all of a sudden, a familiar voice startled him. "Hey Loud!" Lynn Sr. dropped the ball in surprise, which quickly turned into grief as soon as he recognized the voice he heard.
He turned around to face the unpleasant sight of Stan Stankco accompanied by his similarly-burly son, Steak Stankco. "Hey there, Loud. What are you doing here?" Stan asked.
"If you must know, Stan, I was just about to play a good game of catch with my son," Lynn Sr. answered. "What are you two doing here? Come to bother me again so that I won't enter the Royal Woods Manliness contest?" he guessed only to get a laugh out of the them.
"Yeah right," Steak said. "We don't have to do anything. After all, it's not like you were going to enter the contest anyway. Not with your pathetic disappointment of a son, that's for sure," Stan clarified and then laughed some more at Lynn Sr.'s face, as he was not amused by the crude way he described Lincoln.
"Hey! You cannot talk about my son like that. He's far more athletic than your boy, Stankco," Lynn Sr. countered. Only to not be taken seriously as the two brawny, yet quite overweight, men took notice of Lincoln behind his father. "You mean that puny, little runt," Stan said pointing to Lincoln.
Lynn Sr. turned around and was not happy to see Lincoln sitting on the bleachers reading a comic book, not even caring that his old opponents from his favorite game show were currently making fun of him. So he walked over to Lincoln and told him to get up and prove them wrong, if he could that is.
"Lincoln, get up. You're embarrassing me," Lynn Sr. whispered to him, but Lincoln wasn't really concerned with their opinions on him.
"Dad, I don't really care what those two clods think of me. Their just a bunch of muscle-bound meatheads. What do they know?," Lincoln said.
"Look, Lincoln. They're going to enter this big contest of manliness and I think we should enter it too since it's a contest for fathers and sons," Lynn Sr. said showing Lincoln the flyer that Stan gave him for the contest and handing it to him to read. "It'll be fun, son. Look at all the events they have here." Lynn Sr. listed some of the events that were going to be played at the manliness competition. The events included were rock-climbing, wrestling, boxing, track and field, three-legged racing, a hotdog eating contest, and other various sports activities. However, Lincoln wasn't very interested in anything the contest had to offer.
"It looks stupid, Dad. There's no way I'm gonna be in this dumb contest," Lincoln said crumbling the flyer and throwing it away, much to his father's disappointment, which became even worse when he heard the annoying laughs coming from Stan and Steak once again.
Lynn Sr. caught the flyer back and put it in his pocket. "Lincoln, come on. Those guys are making fun of you! Aren't you going to stand up for yourself at all?" he asked.
"Dad. I told you. I don't care what those two think. Just ignore them," Lincoln answered. "Ooh. Looks like you and your boy are really going to do great at the contest, Loud," Stan said. "Not!" both Stan and Steak said at the same time, followed by their mocking laughter, much to Lynn Sr.'s embarrassment.
Lynn Sr. could hardly stand it anymore. He tried to get Lincoln to prove to them that he was just as manly as they are so he decided to make Lincoln prove it by offering him a prize. "Look son, how about this? If you play catch with me and let us throw the ball around one time, then I'll take you to the arcade again. What do you say?," Lynn Sr. offered. Lincoln thought about it and figured it was worth it if he wouldn't have to play sports for the rest of the day.
"Well, okay Dad. I guess I'll do it. But just one throw," Lincoln promised, much to his father's joy. "Great! Let's go!" Lynn Sr. said with excitement as he gave Lincoln their baseball and then walked up to Stan with confidence, hoping that this would be the moment when he could prove him wrong about Lincoln. "Now just wait here, Stan. You'll see just how athletic my son really is," Lynn Sr. said.
Stan scoffed. "Oh this I've gotta see," he said as he and his son, Steak, watched Lynn Sr. and Lincoln get into position ready to play catch.
"Okay, Lincoln. Ready?" Lynn Sr. eagerly asked. "As I'll ever be, Dad," Lincoln answered.
Lincoln stood at the ready, prepared to throw the ball to his father so that he could go to the arcade like he was promised. Lynn Sr. became excited and brought his gloved hand up, ready and waiting to catch the ball. He really thought that this would be the moment when Lincoln shows him that he really does have some athletic talent, at least, that's what he had hoped.
Lincoln wound his arm up and got ready for his throw. Lynn Sr. waited with anticipation, happy to finally be playing catch with his one and only son. However, it seems that that was not going to be the case here.
As Lincoln wound up enough and finally thrusted his arm to throw the ball to his father, the ball quickly plummeted at a downward slope toward the ground, barely making it halfway along the distance between Lincoln and Lynn Sr., much to his father's shock.
All of Lynn Sr.'s excitement suddenly turned to confusion as he saw that Lincoln made a poor throw that would barely even qualify as an actual throw in a real baseball game. And once again, he heard the annoying laughter of his hated rivals, the Stankcos.
They scoffed. "So Loud, that's all your son can do? That's pathetic!" Stan laughed as he found Lincoln's attempt at being athletic to be hilarious. "What a loser!" Steak added.
"Well Loud, if that's the best your son can do, then beating you guys at the contest will be easier than I thought. See you later, loser!" Stan said as he and his son bid farewell to the now shamed Lynn Loud Sr. and his less-than-athletic son, Lincoln Loud.
As they walked away, Lynn Sr. turned back to Lincoln with an angry expression and Lincoln instantly knew that the idea of him going to arcade after this had already went out the window. "Lincoln! What kind of throw was that?!" his father scolded.
Lincoln sighed. "That's all I've got, Dad," Lincoln answered. "You're still not trying!" his father said. "Yes I am, Dad!" Lincoln countered. "What?!" Lynn Sr. asked, perplexed by Lincoln's argument.
"That was me actually 'trying' to throw a ball. Sorry that I'm not as good as Lynn. But that's all I've got," Lincoln said. His father couldn't believe what he was hearing and just couldn't accept it.
"So, after all that. That's it?! You show no participation or effort when playing sports all day, and now, the one time today that you actually do try to play, that's the best you can do?!" his father angrily asked, clearly unsatisfied with Lincoln's subpar performance.
Lincoln just stood silently and nodded yes to his father with his eyes turned away from him and that same blank expression on his face. Lynn Sr. felt like that was the last straw. He was about to let his anger out on Lincoln and scold him some more. But after everything that just happened that whole day, all the embarrassment he's had to face, and all the pain that Lincoln put him through, instead, he just breathed out and let out all of his anger, letting it all go and calming down.
Lynn Sr. couldn't take anymore disappointment and decided he'd had enough of this "father-son bonding day," so he felt it was high-time he just gave up on trying to bond with his one and only son, and that's exactly what he did.
Lynn Sr. sighed in defeat. "Okay, Lincoln. That's enough. We're done," Lynn Sr. said dejectedly. "Just get in the car and let's go home." Lincoln assumed that there was no way his father would take him to the arcade after that performance so he decided to just roll with it and comply with what his father said and they both got in the car.
They drove off home and hoped that this day would quickly be forgotten. Maybe for Lincoln it would be, but Lynn Sr. felt like he would never forget this. He looked at how Lincoln stared out the window with a blank expression and couldn't help but feel like this was all his fault somehow, but he just couldn't understand why. As they went home, Lynn Sr. thought about what's become of the bond they share and thought to himself, 'What now?'
Hello viewers. So it took me a while but this chapter is done. I put a lot of thought into this one and figured I'd put a little tension between Lincoln and his father. I don't know if I worded some of it right, though. For the montage part, I was thinking of the episode from "Dexter's Laboratory," "Sports a' Poppin." I thought it would be a good part. And for the Manliness Competition that I wrote about, I was really thinking about the Manotaur's from "Gravity Falls" and what they do. I'm not sure if I'm that good at writing fanfics, I just thought it would be fun. I've read what you guys think about the definition of manliness and I agree, but right now, I'm just building up on that and I'll get to it later. Hope you guys like it.