NLM 52
Lincoln and Ronnie waited for the elevator car to arrive while Rosa and Frida cleared the table. In the meantime Uncle Carlos was having a conversation with Lori.
"So Lori from how Bobby described Royal Woods it sounds like an ideal place to live," Uncle Carlos began.
"Yes it's a rather nice town, one day you could visit with your family," Lori responded.
"What do your parents do for a living," Carlos asked next but Lori answered as diplomatically as possible.
"Dad works as an IT technician and my mom decided to be a stay at home mom after working as a dental assistant for a number of years," Lori replied but then Bobby glanced at his wristwatch and panicked slightly seeing the time had flashed by rather quickly.
"I'm sorry everybody but Lori and I should leave if were gonna see the singer perform at the coffee shop."
Lori grabbed her handbag next to her feet.
"Thank you for inviting me, Leni and Lincoln to join everyone for lunch Abuela Rosa, those tamales were so tasty," Lori added when the matriarch returned to the table to grab more empty vessels.
"You're very welcome mija," Rosa replied with happiness.
"Come on Leni let me start working on your hair," Carlotta said.
However Lori wanted to step into the bathroom to reapply her makeup before leaving so she told Bobby, "Just a minute Bobby where's the bathroom, I need to freshen up before we leave."
'It's down the corridor where the bedrooms are and it's the door straight ahead," Bobby guided her.
Meanwhile Lincoln and Ronnie stood side by side in the elevator in complete silence as the elevator descended to the ground floor, only speaking to each other as they walked down the porch steps.
"Hey Ronnie Anne, what was it like living in Great Lakes when you first arrived?" Lincoln inquired.
"Well on the first night I had to sleep with mom but then she almost pushed me out of the bed when she rolled over so I decided to sleep on the sofa but that was uncomfortable so I just slept under the table. Two days later when I was skateboarding my grandparents and cousins emptied the closet and turned it into a bedroom for me," Ronnie Anne explained.
Lincoln's eyes widened a little bit at her last sentence, his old bedroom being previously a converted closet as well.
"That was so thoughtful of them," Lincoln remarked as they continued walking towards their destination.
Only the sounds of passing traffic could be heard as they walked in silence. Upon reaching the park Lincoln noticed three kids the same age as him and Ronnie Anne's sitting idly on the steps of a fountain that included a girl wearing a light blue hoodie and Ronnie Anne pointed in their direction
'Those are my friends over there," she explained to Lincoln.
When Ronnie Anne and Lincoln approached the trio, Ronnie Anne cleared her throat to get their attention.
"Hi there guys, Lincoln these are my friends Casey, Sameer and Nikki," Ronnie Anne introduced the trio.
"Sup Lincoln," the hoodie wearing girl Nikki greeted in a friendly manner.
"Hi Lincoln," both Sameer and Casey greeted in unison.
"Hello," Lincoln greeted back wearing a broad smile on his face.
"So nice to meet a friend of Ronnie Anne from Royal Woods," Nikki commented.
A brief moment of silence passed between the five kids standing there before Lincoln spoke directly to Ronnie Anne, "So where are we heading to RA?"
"We're going to a place that's a tourist attraction called the Tower, you can buy something at the souvenir shop and a photo booth," she explained.
The quintet began engaging in small talk as they walked towards their destination.
"So Lincoln Ronnie told us you both attended Royal Woods elementary," Casey asked while walking on Lincolns left
"Yeah," Lincoln replied nonchalantly.
"You know a kid named Hassan who lives in Royal Woods?" Sameer asked taking Lincoln by surprise.
"You mean Hassan Bahar, he was in my fourth grade class," Lincoln inquired
"That's him, he's my cousin," Sameer replied causing Lincoln to raise his eyebrows a little.
They arrived at the Tower in ten minutes and Lincoln accompanied Ronnie Anne and company towards the elevator. Upon their arrival on the top floor a small crowd of people including tourists stood near the railing enjoying the view. After looking at the view for ten minutes, Ronnie Anne spied something in the sky then tapped Lincoln on his right shoulder twice.
"Lincoln, a blimp," she announced that caused him to look up and into the direction she was pointing.
Lincoln eyes widened in amazement at the size of the blimp and the quintet watched until it floated out of sight. They continued gazing at the view for another five minutes until Ronnie spoke.
"How about we take some photos," she said.
Everybody reached the elevator where Ronnie Anne pressed the 2 button since the photo booth was located on the second floor. Lincoln noticed the souvenir shop located on the same floor. After he took an individual picture then one with Ronnie Anne and another with everyone else, Ronnie Anne paid for the photographs.
"Now I need to buy something at the souvenir shop," Lincoln said.
He popped into the nicely decorated store and began browsing at the variety of items sold then noticed some key chains in one corner. Lincoln browsed at the selection for a few seconds then a keychain with a vampire design caught his eye
"Lucy would love this," he thought then glanced at the back for the price and saw one dollar then surprisingly found one with a guitar design which he picked for Luna. For Clyde dads he settled for two light blue mugs with the Great Lakes City logo which cost $2:00 and a boys t-shirt for Clyde with the exact same logo on the mugs. After paying for everything he rejoined Ronnie Anne and her friends.
"I'm back," Lincoln announced himself in a cheerful tone.
"That's it for today," Ronnie Anne told him.
This time Casey pressed the elevator button to the ground floor. Not a word was spoken as the quintet strolled down the sidewalk with Lincoln feeling somewhat exhilarated at having such a great time.
At 2: 40 pm the Casagrande apartment complex came into view. The five kids stood near the steps leading to the apartments to say goodbye to each other. Bobbys van was nowhere at its usual parking spot indicating he and Lori hadn't returned.
'Oh he decided to drive instead of taking the GLART
The silence continued for another five seconds before Nikki addressed Lincoln.
"I'm glad to have met you Lincoln," she declared
"Its been nice knowing you," Casey announced.
"Likewise have a safe journey home Lincoln," Sameer added.
'Bye it was nice meeting all of you," Lincoln said smiling a little
After her friends departed Ronnie Anne asked Lincoln, "How about some kicking some Zombie butt before you leave?"
"You're on," he replied in a daring tone.
In the Casagrandes apartment Rosa and Carlotta were the only ones present watching a tele nova on TV when Lincoln and Ronnie Anne entered.
"MIjas you've returned," Rosa declared happily prompting Ronnie Anne to inquire, "Where's everyone?"
"Dad is helping abuelo in the Mercado, mom took my brothers to the park and Leni is still under the dryer," Carlotta replied.
"Me and Lincoln are gonna play some video games until Lori and Bobby return." Ronnie Anne said.
Lincoln quietly followed her into her small bedroom and glanced around looking at the posters first then his eyes almost became wide as saucers upon landing on the small fridge in one corner.
"I can't believe you have a mini fridge," Lincoln blurted out in astonishment
"Yes that's where I keep snacks," Ronnie Anne replied nonchalantly then grabbed two controllers from her bedside drawer and placed one in Lincolns hands.
After plugging the ends of the controller into her laptop the friends began playing a hearty game of Zombies Attack.
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3: 10 pm
"Well you won fair and square and the last three before," Ronnie Anne declared in defeat as she and Lincoln played one final skirmish of the zombie game.
"I've had enough zombie killing," Lincoln admitted putting down the controller on the bed, " I hope Bobby and Lori are coming back soon."
"We could talk for a while, what's it like living with Clyde's dads, are they doing the overprotective jazz with you and Lucy? Do they have bubble wrap all over everything," Ronnie Anne asked snickering after the last question.
'No they've decided against it," Lincoln answered.
"Let's watch some skateboarding fails on my laptop," Ronnie Anne said.
Ten minutes of watching skateboarder's crash and burn passed and right now Leni finished getting her hair styled and started admiring her new hairdo in the mirror on Carlotta's dressing table.
"You're such a totes amazing hairdresser," Leni remarked making Bobby's cousin smile with gratitude.
"Thanks Leni," Carlotta replied as Bobby's van pulled into his parking spot with Lori beside him wearing a contented expression. At the coffee shop Bobby bought two lattes for them and the couple listened to the café singer for twenty minutes before leaving for the train station whereupon Bobby parked his van and they travelled on the GLART and visited the zoo before returning home.
"Thanks for such a literally amazing, wonderful time boo boo bear," Lori gushed.
"Thanks babe next time we'll visit the Tower, our tourist attraction," Bobby replied satisfied with the successful date they had.
Leni was sitting on the couch with Carlotta and Rosa watching a fashion show on TV when the couple stepped inside the apartment.
"Your hair looks fantastic Leni," Lori remarked, "You did a good job Carlotta."
"Thanks Lori next time I could do yours," Carlotta replied smiling then the teenagers were interrupted by laughter coming from the direction of the bedrooms.
"Sounds like they're having a blast," Bobby commented, "I'Il call them."
Leaving Lori's side Bobby went towards Ronnie's bedroom as Leni walked over to Lori. Bobby knocked on his sister's door that was ajar alerted Lincoln and Ronnie.
"We're back," that's all Bobby called out before leaving.
At this moment Hector entered the house leaving Carlos to handle the store momentarily. He'd told his son to hold down the fort since he saw Bobby's car through the Mercado's window.
"Hi abuelo," Bobby greeted, with Lincoln and Ronnie Anne trailing behind him.
"Hi Lincoln did you have a great time," Lori asked
"Yes," was Lincoln's response.
"Well it was nice meeting everyone but unfortunately we have to leave now," Lori announced then suddenly Carlotta, Hector and Rosa enveloped Lori in an embrace for three seconds.
"You have a safe journey home now," Rosa declared
"Tell Frida and the boys it was a pleasure meeting them," Lori told her.
"We will," Hector replied.
"I enjoyed eating your food abuela Rosa," Lincoln remarked to Bobby's grandmother.
"Thanks mija," she responded wearing a huge smile on her face
Then Bobby kissed Lori on her right cheek and remarked, "Take care babe and drive safely."
"Bye," Bobby, Ronnie, their grandparents and Carlotta called out collectively as the Loud siblings walked through the front door.
Lori pressed the elevator button and while waiting on Leni remarked in a regretful tone, "I didn't get the chance to look around the city Lori."
"There's a park nearby, we can stop there for a while," Lori told her.
After bucking themselves into Vanzilla, Lori drove directly to the park. They strolled around for a while until Lori noticed an ice cream vendor at a short distance. Then Lori said something taking her siblings by total surprise, something she wouldn't have done for them in the past.
"How about some ice cream, it's my treat," Lori remarked.
"I'd like a strawberry cone," Lincoln said
"Chocolate for me," Leni responded.
When they reached the male vendor Lori asked, "Two chocolate cones and one strawberry please."
"That'll be two dollars each," the vendor replied.
After Lori handed over six one dollar bills to the vendor as payment, her siblings followed Lori to the water fountain whereupon they sat down on the ledge of the fountain to relax and enjoyed their treat without saying a word until they finished eating.
Next chapter Lori has something important to tell Lincoln