NLM 51 edited
Fifteen minutes later as Lincoln continued listening to the latest hit from his favorite band SMOOCH and other music groups Lori engaged herself and Leni in conversation.
"You're gonna get along with Carlota Bobby's cousin, he told me she's sixteen and has a fashion blog and is studying to be a hairdresser," Lori said to the teen beside her.
'Did Bobby mention if they have a mall nearby?" Leni asked eagerly making Lori resist the urge to roll her eyes.
"No he didn't," Lori affirmed then thought, ''I can't wait to meet Bobby's family," as she continued driving in high spirits.
As Leni kept herself occupied by texting her friend Jackie only the steady sound of Vanzilla's engine was heard as Lori drove towards her destination.
Another fifteen minutes later Lori saw a gas station looming up ahead while driving through Huntington Oaks. She could have filled up the tank at Flips but her reason for not stopping there stemmed from not wanting to bother dealing with the possibility of the dishonest Flip overcharging her.
Lincoln removed his headphone upon realizing Lori stopped at a gas station and removed his earbuds and placed the mp3 player on the seat. He and Leni followed Lori to use the stations bathroom and after filling up on gas, Lori paid buying also three quart bottles of water.
Back in Vanzilla Lincoln placed the earbuds back into his ears and continued listening to more music until he found himself feeling drowsy then eventually fell asleep. Lori stopped at another station when she felt the call of nature answer. Sometime passed when Lincoln awoke with only thirty minutes left before their scheduled arrival in Great Lakes City.
Releasing a yawn, Lincoln's eyes observed his surroundings with bleary eyes then pulled the earplugs from his ears.
"Hey you're awake," Lori observed smiling a bit upon noticing him with his eyes open when she glanced in the rear view mirror.
"Have we reached Great Lakes yet?" Lincoln asked .
"Nah we'll reach there in about thirty minutes Lincoln," Lori replied and with a shrug of his shoulders Lincoln shoved the player and earbuds into his backpack then removed a comic book from the bag to read.
Great Lakes City 12: 40 pm
"Thank goodness were literally here," Lori gushed in excitement upon Vanzilla passing the Great Lakes City sign.
Lincoln and Leni started gazing out the window in amazement at the bustling city seeing the residents going about their business. Eventually Lori parked the van in a parking spot near a yellow four story apartment where the Santiago's and Casagrande's lived where the Mercado occupied most of the ground floor.
'Finally we're here," Lori announced to her brother and sister. Lincoln quickly stuffed his comic into his backpack and disembarked from the vehicle with Lori locking the doors but it was then Lincoln noticed her attire.
"Wait a second," Lori said before reaching into her handbag and removing a twenty dollar bill from her purse and extended her hand towards her brother and said, "Lincoln here's some spending money."
"Wow thanks Lori," he replied in surprise, then pocketed the money in the side pocket of his bag.
Suddenly Lincoln's eyes widened upon hearing Ronnie Anne's voice calling out his name and the siblings turned their heads around and saw Bobby's sister rushing towards them. She had been looking out the window of the Mercado when she spotted Vanzilla at a distance.
"You're finally here," Ronnie Anne blurted out, "Hi Lincoln."
"Hi Ronnie Anne," Lincoln and Lori replied in unison as Leni smiled amiably at the younger girl.
The tomboy then turned her attention to Leni and asked, "You must be Leni."
'Hi Ronnie Anne, I'm finally glad to meet you," Leni replied cordially.
'Come on let me take you to the Mercado first and meet my abuelo," she urged.
Entering the family run store with a few customers shopping they saw Bobby stocking a shelf with cans of tuna and Hector rearranging some items on a shelf behind the counter.
"Bobby," Lori called out enthusiastically quickly walking over in his direction followed by Lincoln and Leni.
Her boyfriend suddenly perked up when Lori called out his name and Hector, an elderly man of short stature with balding grey hair, turned around and noticed Ronnie Anne and the visitors approaching Bobby.
"Lori you're here," Bobby called out eagerly then rushed towards her.
Recognizing Lori from a picture his grandson showed the family on his cell phone Hector stepped out from the counter to greet the visitors.
"Bobby I'm so glad to see you," Lori continued gushing with happiness then the couple embraced each other affectionately.
"I'm so glad you all made it," Bobby added hugging his girlfriend tightly, after ten seconds the couple separated but Bobby held Loris right hand.
"Abuelo Hector this is Lori and her sister Leni and brother Lincoln," Bobby introduced the visitors in a cordial manner.
"I'm finally glad to meet you Lori," Hector greeted warmly.
Flashing a warm smile at the older man Lori replied, "Pleased to meet you Senor Casagrande,"
"Hello Senor Casagrande," Lincoln and Leni greeted in unison.
"I'm pleased to meet both of you," Hector greeted warmly.
An awkward silence followed between everyone present until Hector spoke.
"Bobby I'm going to be generous and give you the rest of the day off to be with your girlfriend," Hector said.
'Thank you so much abuelo," Bobby replied with absolute gratitude.
Seeing two customers standing in front of the cash register waiting to pay for their groceries Hector said jauntily. "Enjoy yourselves," then rushed back behind the counter.
"Come lets meet the rest of the family," Bobby urged.
With the Santiago siblings leading the way, everyone walked up the steps leading to the apartments and got on the elevator.
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"This is our apartment," Bobby said once everyone reached the floor where both families lived. When Bobby pushed the front door open, the Loud siblings were greeted with the aroma of Mexican food drifting into the hallway. Inside the apartment Bobby's four cousins were sitting on the couch with their parents idly watching some telenovela on the TV.
"We're back," Ronnie Anne called out to no one in particular.
Suddenly a shorter woman with her black hair swept into a bun emerged from the kitchen area and gasped upon seeing the new arrivals.
"Hola you must be Lori, Leni and Lincoln, welcome to our home," Rosa greeted quite enthusiastically while the other Casagrandes walked over to greet the visitors with Carlota holding Carlitos the baby.
"Abuela Rosa this is my girlfriend Lori," Bobby introduced her.
"Hola Abuela Rosa its nice meeting you," Lori replied in a friendly manner.
"It's a pleasure meeting you Lori," Rosa greeted warmly.
"And this is Lincoln and Leni her brother and sister," Ronnie Anne introduced next while standing between them.
"Hola Abuela Rosa," Lincoln and Leni answered in unison.
'Hola Lincoln and Leni," Rosa replied.
"This is my Uncle Carlos and my Aunt Frida," Bobby introduced next.
"These are our kids Carlota, Carlitos the baby, Carlos Junior or CJ and here is Carl," Uncle Carlos replied ruffling the last mentioned boy's hair who sported unusually thick eyebrows like Carlitos.
"Everybody please sit around the table while I serve lunch," Rosa declared then retreated back into the kitchen with Frida accompanying her.
The two families gathered around the table with Bobby pulling out a chair for Lori then Leni, Lincoln sat on Ronnie Anne's left and placed his bag at his feet under the table.
To Leni's surprise however as everyone waited patiently for Rosa and Frida to bring lunch Carlota asked her, "Leni you have to let me style your hair."
"Oh my gosh," Leni almost squeaked before replying, "Okay."
"You three must be exhausted from that three hour drive," Carlos Sr addressed Lori
"It sure was but I stopped once for gas and stopped at another station," Lori answered.
'You're going to love abuelas food,' Bobby gushed to the Loud siblings, "Lori afterwards I'm taking you to the coffee shop to listen to the lady who plays there in the afternoons then take you on the GLART, that's the subway system in Great Lakes."
"That sounds wonderful boo… er Bobby," Lori responded to her boyfriend.
Everyone stayed quiet until finally Rosa and Frida arrived carrying an assortment of food on trays and placed them in the table's center.
"Lori, Leni and Lincoln you must be quite hungry after travelling for so long," Rosa declared.
After Frida said a short prayer Rosa held a large spoon and proceeded to load a large portion of the different foods on Lincoln and Lenis plates.
Lincoln couldn't eat anymore up to a certain point and leaned back in his chair.
'My stomach is so full, I don't think I can move," he declared.
"Let me solve that problem mija," Rosa suggested and to Lincoln's astonishment Rosa lifted up his orange polo and stuck one finger into his navel for a couple of seconds. He immediately felt a huge relief in his stomach once Rosa removed her finger.
Ronnie Anne wiped her hands with a napkin and said,' See you later everyone I'm going to show Lincoln around the city."
Lincoln eagerly rose from his chair and followed her outside after grabbing his bag.
"Ronnie Anne, I bought something for you," then Lincoln fished into his backpack and pulled out a sweatshirt with Royal Woods written on the back which he won as a prize yesterday at Gus. Howard had given him twenty dollars to spend yesterday on anything he wanted to get as one of the prizes at the arcade.
Ronnie Anne glanced at the present Lincoln held for a second before taking it out of his hands.
"Why thanks Lincoln," Ronnie Anne said with gratitude, "I'll try it on later, wait right there."
When she returned after putting the gift on her bed, Ronnie Anne said in a soft voice to prevent Rosa from hearing, "Come on Lincoln lets walk off some of that food."
After Ronnie Anne pressed the elevator button she told Lincoln, "Let's go to the park and Ill introduce you to some new friends I made."