5 minutes later, everyone got comfortable once more.
"Now that you had your little dance," Maggie said. "Are you ready for the next episode?"
Everyone nodded, and the next episode they got to see came on.
Title card: L Is For Love.
"This is gonna be even better than last time," Carl said.
"Let's do this," Miguel said.
[Lincoln is checking the mail and skims through it until he discovers something in it]
Lincoln: [gasps and runs inside] "Emergency sibling meeting! I call an emergency sibling meeting!"
[The sisters arrive in Lori and Leni's room slightly annoyed]
"This is where the madness starts," Lincoln said.
"If it shocked him, it has to be big news," Clyde said.
Luan: "Come on! I was working on a joke."
[Lori lifts up her shoe and bangs it]
"It's how I call every meeting us siblings have," Lori said.
"Way to get everyone's attention babe," Bobby said.
Lori: "I hereby call this meeting to order. Lisa, can you read the minutes from the last meeting?"
Lisa: [reading] "Item 1: It was resolved that in the matter of Lily's diaper pail-"
"Ew!" everyone except the Loud siblings said.
"We know," Lisa said. "Be glad you didn't hear the rest of that".
Lincoln: [takes the previous meeting's minutes and crumples it up] "Forget that! We need to discuss..." [takes out what he found in the mail] "...this! It's a love letter, and it's addressed to L. Loud."
Everyone's jaws dropped.
"Oh my god!" Paula said.
"Someone has a crush; someone has a crush," Sergio said.
"Don't shut him up this time because we all know it's true," Carlos said.
All the Loud siblings couldn't help but blush.
"Who sent the letter?" Maria asked.
"We're gonna find out," Lana said.
[The sisters gasp]
Lana: [coughs] "Oh, dang it. I just swallowed my gum."
"That's never a good sign," Howard said.
"Nope," Lana said.
[Lori takes the letter out and starts reading it]
Lori: "Dear L. Loud, Day after day, I hope and I pine, I'm too shy to come forward, but I wish you were mine. Signed, your secret admirer?" \
"Told ya," Sergio said.
"Playing quiet, huh?" Lana said.
"Whoever sent the letter, we on to you," Lynn said.
Lynn: "W-w-wait! Who's it for? L. Loud could be any one of us."
Lori: "Clearly, the letter's for me, and it's from Bobby. I mean, duh, right?"
"Now why would Bobby do that when he would've just texted you?" Lola asked.
"Exactly," Bobby said.
Luan: "No, not duh! That letter could be for any of us!"
[Begin a series of flashbacks to various times Lori's siblings have come across someone they happen to like. First, Luan is practicing her pantomime at school when a boy mime bumps into her box she's trapped in. The two act it out. Next, Lana is working in a repair garage with a boy mechanic. Lana looks in her toolbox for a wrench, but can't find one. The boy gives her his wrench. Change to Leni at the mall trying to decide between two matching sweaters, one pink and one purple and having trouble choosing. Chaz clears his throat to get her attention and shows her the sweater with purple and pink stripes, which Leni loves. Cut to Lola performing a baton twirling routine in a pageant. One judge gives it a 9, another gives it an 8, and another gives it another 9. One boy about Lola's age gives it a 10. Lola blushes and smiles. Switch to Lucy attending Embalm Con and looking at the booth for R.I. Pete's Coffins & Urns. Lucy sees and gasps at the sight of such an amazingly crafted coffin. A fellow goth boy admires it with her. Cut to Lincoln and Clyde playing at the air hockey table. Lincoln wins and a girl playing video games turns and gives him a thumbs-up and wink for his victory, making the white-haired Loud boy blush. Meanwhile, in Ms. Shrinivas's class, Lisa is mixing chemicals which explode. A fellow genius her age squeegees her lenses clean to her gratitude. Next, at the baseball field, Lynn's team and another team are giving their regards for a good game. She stops to see one boy on the opposing team spit in his hand. She spits in her hand and the two of them shake. Now, Luna is rocking out in the cafeteria in school and turns to another guitarist along with a friend of his. Luna's friends throw up the goats as she rocks on. Finally, Lily is taking a nap in her crib when her teddy bear falls on her. She gives it a hug. End flashbacks]
"The one with Lana was me," Skippy said.
"I was the one with Leni," Chaz said.
"Unbelievable," Casey said.
Lily, Lola, Lana, Lynn, Luan, Luna, and Leni: [dreamily sigh]
"Lincoln, your family has some wild imaginations," Sameer said.
"We do," Lincoln's sisters dreamily said.
"So, what did you do about the letter?" Hector asked.
"And who was the girl catching Lincoln's attention?" Grant asked.
"I can't wait to find out," CJ said.
Lucy: "Sigh..."
Lori: "Okay, we all want the letter to be for us. How do we figure out who it's really for?"
Lucy: "Simple. Since the writer is clearly shy, we each need to send a signal to the person we think wrote it, letting them know we're interested. Then they'll probably send a second letter, giving us more information."
"How did you figure that out?" Persephone asked.
"And everyone thought Lisa was the smartest," Grant said.
"I usually am," Lisa said.
Lori: [confused] "Um...how do you know all this?"
Lucy: [holds up a book called "Immortal Secrets"] "Vampires send a lot of secret admirer letters. They may be passionate, but they're also painfully insecure."
Lori: "Sending a signal it is!"
"This is going places," Miguel said.
[At the cemetery at night, the boy Lucy met is sitting on the stone wall]
Silas: "Sigh." [Lucy suddenly appears right next to him and he slips and falls upon her appearance]
Lucy: "Ah, the futility of life. Am I right, Silas?"
"Him!?" Haiku asked.
"Wow Lucy," Dante said.
"He seemed cool at the time," Lucy said. "Can't believe he's not here".
[Silas groans in pain. Cut to the mall where Chaz is putting mannequins in the display window. Leni is acting like a mannequin till Chaz comes to put her on display]
Leni: "Hi."
"You handled the mannequin challenge well," Fiona said.
"Thanks," Leni said. "Sorry about making you crash there".
"Chaz alright," Chaz said.
[Chaz flails and crashes into the mannequins. Leni winks at him. Switch to Ms. Shrinivas's classroom where all the kids are taking their naps. A shadow looms over the boy Lisa likes, and it happens to be Lisa]
"One can only imagine how my friend, Darcy would react to that," Lisa said.
"She'd be just as shocked as we were," Lincoln said.
[The boy falls out of his cot in a fright and Lisa winks at him. At Lynn's next game, she throws the ball at the boy she likes who is batting right into his arm and winks at him. At the arcade, the girl Lincoln likes is playing Dance Battle]
Lincoln: "Nice moves, Paige!" [doesn't get her attention] "I said, nice move-"
Now it was Lincoln's friends who got the most shocked.
"Paige!?" Rusty asked.
"From that school dance?" Liam added.
"I needed something else to get over Ronnie Anne!" Lincoln said.
"Someone misses his honey bun," Carl said.
"CARL!" Ronnie angrily shouted.
"Did she beat you in that game?" Stella asked Ronnie.
"You trippin'?" Ronnie responded. "No one's even come close".
[Paige suddenly and unknowingly kicks him, hears him crash, shrugs it off, and keeps playing. Meanwhile, in Lily's room, Lily crawls up to her teddy bear, winks at and hugs it.]
[The next meeting]
Lori: "Meeting called to order."
Lisa: "I'll begin with the minutes from the last meeting." [reads them] "Item 1: No one would let me read the minutes from the previous meeting, so-"
"You really should," Rita said.
"With Lincoln's family, don't count on it anytime soon," Liam said.
"It's true," Lisa said. "This happens every meeting".
Lola: [snatches the minutes] "And we still won't!" [crumples them up and tosses them aside] "Now, did everyone send their signals?"
Lori: "I texted Bobby a series of romantic emojis."
"That was really cute, babe," Bobby said.
Luan: "Yep! I toot-ally sent mine to Benny."
[Flashback to Luan and Benny rehearsing for a school play. She slips a whoopee cushion onto his throne which he sits on. He blushes and gives Luan an embarrassed grin and she gives him a wink. End flashback]
"Only you would give me a surprise like that," Benny said. "I should try pulling a prank one day".
Luan agreed while everyone else gave nervous giggles and smiles.
Lola: "I let Winston know the score."
[Flashback to the playground where Winston goes down the slide, but botches the dismount. Lola gives him a 10 nonetheless and winks to him. End flashback]
"I helped him up afterwards," Lola said.
"Thanks Lola," Winston said.
Lana: [wiping her hands] "And I let Skippy know I'm game by souping up his ride."
[Flashback to Skippy riding his bike which now has turbo engines on it down a hill while screaming for his life. Lana winks as he goes by. End flashback]
"Maybe I souped it up a little too good," Lana said.
"You think?" Skippy asked.
Lori: "Good work, everyone. Now, we just have to wait for-"
[Enter Luna with the next letter]
Luna: "Dudes! The second letter! You called it, Luce Change!"
"Nice nickname," Dante said while chuckling.
"So cool," Fiona said.
Lucy couldn't help but blush. She too, however, chuckled along.
[Lucy shrugs off what Luna called her. Lori opens it up and finds a rose falling out of it in slow motion. Her siblings gasp]
"A rose!?" Nikki asked.
"We're going somewhere now," Howard said.
"Just not where you expect," Rita said. "You'll see why later".
Lana: [coughs] "Dang it, I swallowed my gum again!"
Lori: "Okay." [reads the letter] "Roses are red, they brighten our town, like your sweet smile, and your hair, which is..." [beat; upset] "...brown?"
"Brown?" Sameer asked.
"That's a shocker," Principal Huggins said.
"Not to the non-brunettes," Hector said. "That's more of a heart breaker".
[The brunettes are surprised while the others are disappointed]
"Total heart breaker," Miguel said. "I really wanted that letter to be for Leni".
"So much for an instant win with Lola," Winston said.
Lola gave him a hug.
Lincoln, Leni, Lucy, Lola, and Lana: "Aw, dang it!"
Lily: [just as upset] "Ah, poo-poo."
"We know," Lola and Lana said.
Lori: [angrily texting] "I have some different emojis for Bobby now!"
"Those emojis I sent weren't intended to be on purpose," Lori said.
"It's alright babe," Bobby said. "You should've sent Chandler those emojis".
"Yeah," Lincoln and Clyde said.
Lincoln: "So, the secret admirer contest is down to Luna, Luan, Lynn, and Lisa."
[Luan, Lynn and Lisa cheer, but Luna doesn't]
Leni: "Luna, why aren't you cheering?"
Luan: "Yeah. And come to think of it, you never told us the signal you gave Sam."
Luna: [insecure] "That's 'cause I didn't give one. The more I thought about it, the more I realized...Sam's way out of my league, dudes."
"Out of my league?" Sam asked.
"That is so anti-groovy," Becky and Mollie said.
"There was no way we would let you give up because of how shy you were about Sam," Lincoln said.
[The others disagree and encourage her]
Lincoln: "No way. That's not true."
Lori: "Yeah, Luna, you are totes still in this. Okay, Lucy, what's the next step?"
"Woah!" Leni said. "Totes is my catchphrase".
"You had that coming," Sergio said.
"Can it birdie," Lori said.
[Lucy consults her book]
Lucy: "Well, since the secret admirer sent a rose as a token of their affection, we need to deliver a token in return. Then there should be a third and final love letter requesting a rendezvous."
[The brunettes start cheering]
"The game's on now," CJ said.
"I can't wait to see what tokens you send," Benny said.
"Me neither," Laird said.
Luna: "Rockin'!"
Luan: "This is so exciting!"
Lynn: "I hope it's me!"
Lisa: "Me too!"
Lola: [wearing a large brunette wig] "Me three!"
Lana: [takes Lola's wig off her] "Nice try, Blondie."
[Lola concedes]
"You weren't getting away with dressing like someone else outside of Halloween again," Lana said. "I think we learned that from the 'Cover Girls' incident".
"We all did," Lincoln said, giggling.
[Lisa gives the boy she's crushing on a box with a note]
Lisa: "For you."
[The boy takes it and reads the note]
David: "Your flowers and poem were a decent start, my token for you is a beating heart." [opens the box to see that there really is a beating heart in there]
"Not the weirdest thing to be seen in a box," Casey said.
"I thought a rat was in there," Lana said.
"Or an alley cat," Maria said. "My family gets the jitters just thinking about them".
Carlota, Ronnie, Hector and CJ started shaking.
"It's true," Carlota said.
Lisa: "It's from a pig in the biology lab."
"We were dissecting it that day," Lisa said.
"That explains it," Lola said.
[David screams and runs away]
Lisa: "Eh. Guess he's more of a chemistry guy."
"So a chemistry guy," David said. "I wasn't dissecting that farm beast".
[Meanwhile at middle school, Lynn is getting ready to show her affection to her crush]
"I assume you studied archery," Paula said.
"I sure did," Lynn said. "Though, I now regret launching it at him".
Lynn: "Because I think you really rock, I give to you my lucky jock." [fires her jock at him which lands on his face and blinds him] "She shoots, she scores!" [sees him fall into a trash can] "Oops. Flag on the play." [laughs nervously]
"And that's why I regret doing that," Lynn said.
"So regret doing that," Francisco said.
"You think?" Lynn Sr scolded.
[Meanwhile, in the auditorium, Luan walks up to Benny who's working on the set for the play]
"I love the drama club," Benny said.
"I thought it was cool too, before my family moved to Great Lakes City," Bobby said.
Luan: "It's true that I do a whole lot of jokin', but I have feelings too, and this pie is a token." [takes out pie and hits Benny with it]
"Good one Luan," Giggles said.
"I love that one," Carl said.
[Benny, blinded by the pie's cream, stumbles into the stage backdrop and gets buried under it]
Luan: [getting a glare from Benny] "I guess you really fell hard for me!" [laughs] "Get it? Ooh!" [serious] "Stop it, Luan. We're trying to find love here!"
"Way to pull together, girl," Carl said.
"Why didn't you let that keep Luan from pulling pranks in the house?" Albert responded.
[Meanwhile, at the high school, Luna is waiting for Sam on the bus]
Luna: [sighs and practices] "Roses are red, Mick Swagger is sick, my token for you is my favorite pick."
[Sam and the other music lovers pass by Luna who was too shy to give Sam her pick]
"Wow," Howard said. "You must've been more shy than when Stella first met Lincoln".
"I was," Luna said. "Overcoming shyness is too much pressure for some people".
Luna: [sighs] "Dream on, Lunes. You're the owner of a lonely heart."
[In the living room, another meeting is being held]
Lori: "Okay, brown-haired Louds, did everybody deliver their tokens?"
Lynn: "Check!"
Luan: "You betcha!"
Lisa: "Affirmative!"
[They turn to see Luna look despondent]
Luna: "I bailed, dudes. I'm telling you, there's no way Sam digs me."
"Don't say that about Sam," Jackie said.
"You're this close to solving the puzzle," Miguel said.
"There are some who'd go to desperate measures to keep you from throwing in the towel," Carl said.
Lola: [grabs Luna's shirt collar] "Some of us blondes would kill to still be in the running! [Luna looks scared] Don't you quit now!"
"What I'd tell ya?" Carl responded.
"Desperate, not deadly," Luna said.
Lola then responded, "you knew what we wanted from you. No way we would let you give up at a point in a game like this".
[Leni screams in surprise]
Leni: "OMGosh, you guys! The secret admirer is the mailman!" [takes out another love letter] "He just handed me this letter! I don't feel the same way about him, so I let him down gently."
"Like for a nap?" Casey asked.
"He lightly fainted after I told him I'm not the girlfriend," Leni said.
"Smooth Leni-Penny," Albert said.
[Everyone looks at Leni dumbfounded for a second. Lori takes the next letter and opens it]
Lori: [reading] "Dear L. Loud, Here's a third letter, 'cause I'm still feeling skittish, I dig your sweet sounds, and love of all things British."
[Everyone gasps at the sound of it, especially Luna]
Lincoln: "Luna! It's definitely you!"
"Luna was the only one in the group left," Miguel said.
"Yeah," Howard said. "Back then, no one knew who else it could have been".
Lori: "Guys, Lucy was right about what happens next! Listen!" [continues reading] "I think it's time we put love on the menu" [pauses] "Aw." [continues] "Meet me tonight at Banger's & Mosh, the British eatery and rock venue."
"Way to go Lucy!" Carlota said.
Everyone clapped for her.
"You might not be clapping when you see what happens next," Lynn Sr said.
"Why?" Leni asked.
"You'll see," Rita told her.
Luna: [surprised] "Whoa! This is really happening! What do I wear?"
[Her siblings cheer and carry her upstairs except Leni]
"It's on times 4 now!" Carl said.
Leni: "I'll be right there! I-I just wanna make sure the mailman is okay."
"Good idea," Maria said.
"Chaz likes the plan you made," Chaz said.
"That's our Leni," Lola said. "Always unleashing that kind heart of hers".
"Thanks Lola," Leni said while giving her a hug.
[At Banger's & Mosh, the kids are looking around for Sam]
Luna: "Guys, I don't see Sam anywhere."
Lana: "Maybe Sam's hidden behind that dork in the big British hat."
Lynn: "Whoa! That dork is sitting with Mom!" [realizes] "Oh. It's Dad."
"Now why would you think I'm a dork?" Lynn Sr scolded.
"You never told us you wore hats that big," Lynn Sr said.
"And all of us thought your tie collection was hilarious," CJ said.
"Yeah," almost everyone else said in a unanimous tone.
[The kids approach their parents]
Lynn Sr.: "Kids? What're you guys doing here?"
Lincoln: "Luna got a secret admirer letter from Sam telling her to meet here."
Lana: "We're here for moral support."
Lola: "And dessert."
"Moral support first," Lana said.
"That kind of stuff has the family sticking together," Lori said.
"If only we could do that to Chandler," Lincoln commented.
"That's cool," Rita said.
"But here comes the twist we got too anxious to tell you about," Lynn Sr added.
Rita: "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. There's been a mix-up. That letter was meant for your father."
Leni: "Wait. Sam likes Dad?"
Rita: "No, sweetie. I sent the letter."
The tracks stopped in all paths possible.
"Wow; another twist," Maria said.
"Hang on," Harold said.
"Rita, you sent that letter?" Howard asked.
"How can that be?" Mollie asked.
"The clues from the letters were perfectly there!" Principal Rivers exclaimed.
"And how come you and your family never told us about it?" Bobby asked.
Lynn Sr.: "Secret admirer letters are kind of our thing. It's how we met."
Rita: "Back in the day, I had a wicked crush on your father."
"Just like Lori with Bobby," Carl said.
"It's true," Lori said.
[Flashback to the day Rita and Lynn Sr. first met]
Rita: [narrating] "Every morning, at my crossing guard job, I'd listen for his melodious voice." [British accent] "And when he talked to me in that cute accent-" [normal voice] "-he picked up from his semester in England, I'd swoon."
Young Lynn Sr.: [British accent] "Ello, love! Pip-pip! Mind the gap!"
"So that's where Luna picked up the accent from," Tabby said.
"You have one cool accent, son," Albert said.
"Thanks dad," Lynn Sr said.
[Young Rita sighs with admiration. Just then, some cars come by wanting to cross and Rita quickly picks up her stop sign she had dropped from admiring her future husband.]
Rita: "But I was too afraid to speak to him because I thought he was out of my league. So, I started slipping notes in his pocket as he passed by."
"Who knew the case of shyness would be around that long?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"I can think of a few good reasons why it's been like that for that much time," Bobby said.
"Me too," Lisa said.
[Young Rita puts a note in his pocket as he plays the cowbell]
Lynn Sr.: [playing and unaware of the note; scats] " Crossing "
"Way to scat, dad," Lana said.
"You gotta teach me how to do that one day," Luna said.
"Oh I will," Lynn Sr said.
[Young Rita swoons. Cut to Banger's & Mosh]
Rita: "By my third note, I got up the nerve to ask him to meet me here."
[Young Lynn Sr. arrives with the note and Young Rita holds up her stop sign and flips it over with a "signal" saying "Go". Lynn Sr. sits down with his new love. End flashback with the two of them in the same position from the past]
Rita: "And my boldness paid off, because here we are, celebrating the 20th anniversary of that first date."
Lynn Sr.: "Best day of my life, love."
"That is just too cute," Frida Puga said.
She then bursted into happy tears.
"This touched so many hearts," Principal Ramierez said.
"It touched ours the most," Luna and Lana said together.
"It totes did," Leni said.
"That must've been so amazing," Bobby said.
[Rita swoons and giggles hearing that accent; her husband kisses her cheek]
Rita: "Luna, I'm sorry that letter wasn't for you. I hope you're not too disappointed."
Luna: "Well...I was at first, but now that I've heard your story, I'm totally inspired. If you took a risk with Dad, why can't I take a risk with Sam?" [turns to her siblings] "Why are we sitting around waiting for them to come to us? We should go to them!" [Her siblings cheer in agreement]
"You go guys," Carl said.
"It's on," Lana said.
"Totes on," Leni said.
Lynn Sr.: "This is cause for celebration! MEAT PIES FOR EVERYONE!"
[The other restaurant attendants cheer, thinking he's buying for all]
Lynn Sr.: "Uh, I-I meant just for my family."
[The attendants groan in disappointment]
"Smooth move, son," Albert said.
"So smooth," Miguel said.
Lynn Sr.: "Oh, come on! There's 13 of us!"
"Literally, there's 13 of us," Lynn Sr scolded.
"Dad! That's my catchphrase," Lori said.
"Now you know how it feels," Sergio said.
[Cut to a montage of the kids sneaking love notes to their crushes. Lincoln gives one to Paige while she's playing Dance Battle. Lynn sneaks one under Francisco's helmet. Skippy gets one in his toolbox. Lana smiles with her finger near her mouth because it was from her. Benny finds one on the stage floor and tries to pick it up, but it gets pulled away. As he gleefully chases after it, it's revealed to be from Luan who's using a fishing rod to tease him. Lisa lures herself down on grappling wires and sneaks one under David's microscope, which he discovers to his joy. Chaz finds one in a pair of jeans for sale and Leni smiles disguised as a mannequin again. Lucy slips one in a coffin that Silas is resting in. Silas rises out of the coffin and smiles. Winston finds one in the sandbox and admires it. Lola looks dreamily at his response. Lily gives to her teddy bear a drawing of the two of them and hugs it again. At the High School, Luna takes a deep breath and slips her note into Sam's locker and bolts. The musicians pass by and, surprisingly, Sam happens to be a girl stopping at the same locker while her friends, Sully and Mazzy, walk off]
"Great job, guys," Albert said.
"That was amazing," Hector said.
"We should do that, too," Casey said.
"We did well," Lana said.
"We totally did well," Luan said.
Mazzy: "See you later, Sam."
Sam: "Okay, see ya!"
[Sam opens her locker and the note falls out. She picks it up, reads it, and smiles contently at it. Luna, hiding in the corner and having seen it all, smiles, too, knowing that she may have a chance with Sam after all.]
"Another really great episode," Lana said.
"I have to take it back a bit," CJ said. "Luna, are you saying Sam's a…"
"Yes I am," Sam said. "And Luna gave me the letter".
Carlota shot up to her feet.
"My goodness!" she said. "Luna the bisexual Loud is in love with a girl!"
Everyone was at a shock with some jaws quickly dropping to the ground.
"Unbelievable!" Principal Rivers said.
"The Loud House's first lesbian pair," Nikki said. "I love it!"
Luna's siblings gave her a hug.
"That is awesome," Lynn said.
"Another reason our family's so special," Rita said.
"We learned a lot about each other since then," Sam said.
"We sure have," Luna said.
We'll let them take some time to celebrate the history they might have made.
What is rumored to be the first lesbian pair in a Nickelodeon cartoon is pretty amazing. Speaking of celebrating and having fun, stay tuned.
The next two episodes - Kick the Bucket List and Party Down - are about why it's sometimes better to just go with the flow instead of having a sophisticated plan.
See you soon for that.