Don't Worry, You're Family

by Manegie

When Lori was asked by her brother about his birth story, she thought it was just a simple case of a child asking about the day they came into the world; nothing to put much thought into. However, when she overhears some strange theories about his origin come up after, she steps in to set the record straight, soothing her brother's fears and making it clear that he is her brother.

Don't Worry, You're Family

When Lori Loud was asked by her brother about the day of his birth, she thought it was nothing particularly noteworthy to look into. She just thought it was a case of a child inquiring about how they came into the world; a fairly unorthodox question every child asks eventually. So when the question was posed to her, she smiled and answered with a fond warmth to her words.

"Yeah, I totally remember," She said, resisting the urge to pinch Lincoln's cheek. Already, she was envisioning that day; the very first time she saw her baby brother. "Pop-Pop was watching us, and after a while, a big black car pulled up to the house, and Mom and Dad came out with a scientist holding you."

Lincoln's baby blue eyes widened, "A scientist? Why was a scientist holding me?"

Lori shrugged, a tinge of curiosity sparking within her own mind. Why had someone else been carrying Lincoln? A question for later, she supposed. "Beats me," She said. "They didn't stay long though. A little bit after they dropped you off, a bunch of guys in black suits came and surrounded the house for a bit before they left."

"Guys in black suits?" Lincoln queried with a jolt. "What were they doing?"

Lori shook her head, her smile shifting downward a little. "Don't know that either, I'm afraid. I was only six at the time, after all." She sat up and moved closer to Lincoln, noticing his progressive state of distraught. "Is something wrong, Linky? What brought this on?"

Lincoln seized up a little, then forced himself to relax, "No, nothing's wrong. I was just curious."

Lori bit her cheek, "Alright, if you say so…" She reached out to lift his chin so she could get better eye contact with him. "But if you wanna talk more, don't be afraid to come to me, okay?"
Lincoln smiled and nodded, "Okay…" He briefly looked to Lori's door, making sure no one would hear what he was about to say. What could he say? He embarrassed easily. But when he was sure he was safe, he turned back to Lori and moved toward her.

Lori knew what to do. Instinctively, she took her brother into her arms, wrapping him in a comfortable embrace that exuded the love he was clearly seeking.

"Thanks, Mama." Lincoln's words were no louder than a whisper.

Lori grinned, rocking Lincoln back and forth and nuzzling her cheek into the top tuft of his hair. That name for her was only spoken aloud whenever she and Lincoln found themselves alone; a little term of endearment that they shared since Lori drove Lincoln to the hospital when he had appendicitis one time.

"No problem, Sweetheart," Lori said, using another affectionate nickname that she liked to use occasionally as well. She parted from her brother and playfully turned him around, patting him forward on the back, "Now get going. I'm expecting a call from Bobby, and if he hears someone call me Mama, he'll probably have a few questions."

Lincoln laughed, a little bit hollowly and made his way towards the door. "Okay, see you later."

"See ya, Linky." And soon Lori was left alone, and even when she was talking with her beloved boyfriend on the phone not long after, she still found herself feeling a little concerned for her brother.

What was on his mind? Should she look into it?

…

After Lori's call with Bobby ended, she decided that perhaps a quick check up on Lincoln would be necessary. Sure, their hug seemed to bring comfort to the boy, but she still couldn't get the worry to abate.

So, she walked to his bedroom door, stopping when she heard two voices speaking.

"That makes no sense. Scientists don't deliver babies." Lori rolled her eyes when she heard Clyde's voice. Sure, she had come to tolerate the boy more as of late, but his crush on her was still irritating, and she really wasn't in the mood to see him pass out just from her speaking to him again.

"That's what I thought," Lincoln said from behind the door. "It's really weird. I can't figure out why that would be the case. None of my little sisters were brought home by a scientist when they were born." A moment of silence passed before he spoke again, his voice rising in a moment of insinuated realization, "What if the scientist didn't deliver me? What if they created me?"

Lori's eyebrows rose and her lips quirked. A scientist created Lincoln? She was pretty sure that wasn't the case. Nine months of watching her mother carry him made sure of that.

"You mean like a superhero or something?" And now Clyde was throwing wood into the fire, fantastic. "That'd be amazing! But how would we prove it?"

Please don't let this train of thought go any further, Lori thought, bringing her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose. I know boys can be dumb, but this…

"FIELD TEST!" And against her hopes, both boys cried out their means to answering their idiotic hypothesis.

A field test? To see if Lincoln had superpowers? Yeah, that'd go great; no chance of injury whatsoever.

She hated being the wet blanket, but when the door opened and Lincoln and Clyde ran out, she didn't waste a second in grabbing the back of Lincoln's polo to pull him back before he could pass her.

"Uh-uh-uh!" She barked, placing Lincoln at her side with a brisk tug, not enough to hurt, but enough to make clear she wanted him there.

"LORI!?" And just as she feared, Clyde turned stiff as a board and promptly fell to the floor, "SYSTEM ERROR! REBOOT REQUIRED!"

Lori groaned. She would deal with that later. First, she had to deal with Lincoln's ridiculous thought process.

"Lincoln?" She said, looking down at him, eyes narrowed in disapproval. "Do you wanna tell me what you and Clyde were about to do?"

Lincoln shrank beneath his big sister/surrogate second mother's glare. "Um…" He twiddled his fingers together, averting his sight from her, "We were…Gonna go do some field tests to see…If I had superpowers…" His changing expression made clear he was seeing the foolishness of his thought process.

"Superpowers, really," Lori's tone was neutral, laced with only the barest hint of unamused sarcasm. "Interesting theory. How were you planning on testing that?"

Lincoln bit his cheek, "Well…We didn't really hammer out any details yet, but I'm guessing we would do several tests for the basics. Y'know, like super strength, super speed, all that stuff."

"Super strength? Goodness, that would be something now, wouldn't it?" Lori kept her voice still, making her skepticism apparent. "And how would you test for something like that?"

Lincoln's shoulders rose against his neck, "I dunno…Maybe try using really heavy stuff to see if I could carry it?"

"And how do you think that would've turned out, considering your past experiences carrying heavy stuff?" Lori asked, her tone shifting into something a little more scathing.

Lincoln brought his arm to rub his shoulder, aware he was on the losing side of the explanation, "I could've gotten hurt…"

"Yeah, you could've gotten hurt!" Lori exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Lincoln, that is an incredibly stupid thought process! How could you not see that?"

Lincoln shrank some more, "I guess I wasn't thinking."

"You're telling me," Lori said with a huff. She forced herself to calm down with a breath and let her arms drop, "Lincoln, I know you're smarter than this. I've seen your grades. What seriously made you think superpowers was a possibility?"

Lincoln's shoulders relaxed with Lori's tone, now gentler and with less disappointment. "My birth story…You told me a scientist and some men in black brought me in."

Lori had to admit, that was a strange detail, but there had to be a better explanation than superpowers. "Lincoln, if you wanna know about the day you were born, why didn't you just ask Mom and Dad?"

"That's where I started," Lincoln dourly replied. "Well, they were the first people I asked. At first I tried looking in my baby book, but the page with my birth story was blank."

Lori's face fell. "Wait, it was blank? Well, what did Mom and Dad say?"

Lincoln brought his hands together again, "They looked freaked out when I asked. Then they just avoided answering me. That's when I asked you. Then you told me your side of the story and, well, here we are."
Lori frowned. That was quite a turn of events. "So that's why you seemed worried," She said, kneeling down to him. "You couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone."

Lincoln nodded, "Uh-huh. The more I thought about it, the more I got scared. Yeah, the superpower idea was dumb, but the other one was scarier." He lifted his gaze, and Lori saw a glimmery mistiness coalesce into his eyes. "Lori? I'm not adopted, am I?"

Lori felt her heart swell up for the boy, and she immediately took him into another hug, "Oh, Linky, of course not! Wipe that thought from your mind, sweetheart, you're our brother, no doubt about it!"

Lincoln sniffled and hugged Lori back, pressing his face into the crook of her neck, "Then how come no one can tell me about the day I was born?"

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation," Lori assured, squeezing him affectionately. She smiled when an idea came to her, and she stood up, keeping her hands on Lincoln's shoulders. "And if you need proof that you're a Loud, I've got something that should do it."

Lincoln blinked, dispelling the oncoming tears that had been surfacing, "You do?"

"Yup," Lori said, taking Lincoln's hand into hers. "Here, come with me. I've got it in my room."

"What about Clyde?" Lincoln asked, looking back at his unconscious friend.

"He should be fine, he's on his side," Lori said with a roll of her eyes. She silently pleaded to whoever handled such affairs that Clyde would grow out of his crush for her soon. "Besides, if he wakes up and sees me, he's just gonna pass out again."

"True…" Lincoln said with a sigh.

"Now, c'mon." Lori turned around and began pulling Lincoln towards her room, keeping her gentle gaze on him all the while, "I was kinda keeping this a secret for until I left for college, but I'm willing to let you in on it." They stepped into her room and Lori gently pushed the door closed. "Just make sure not to spoil it for the others until then, okay?"

Lincoln nodded, "Yes, mama."

Lori grinned and moved to her bedside drawer, "Great. Take a seat, sweetheart."

Lincoln did as she asked, going over to her bed and hopping on the edge of it. He patiently waited for his big sister as she pulled the drawer open, pushing aside several books before she pulled out a thick, maroon, leather book.

"What's that?" Lincoln asked.

"Just a little something I've been putting together," Lori replied, standing up with the book. "Ever since that whole accidental picture deletion thing happened way back when, I thought it would be best if I started putting a little family album together."

Lincoln's eyes widened incredulously, "This is little?"

"Little considering how big our family actually is, Linky," Lori chided with a smirk. She made her way over to the bed and got onto it with Lincoln, moving a little more inward so she could lean against her pillow at the head of the bed. "Why don't you scooch up here next to me?" She asked, placing the book on her folded lap.

Lincoln didn't object. He quickly clambered over to where Lori sat and took a spot next to her. "So this book has pictures of all of us?" He asked, leaning against her side.

"Yup!" Lori brought an arm around Lincoln, pulling him a little closer to her. With her other hand, she traced her finger over several little tabs of colored paper sticking out of the book. "Been collecting them from random boxes in the attic whenever the mood strikes me. Or whenever I find myself needing some me time."

She brushed past a red piece of paper and stopped at an orange one, "Ah, here we go." She stuck her fingers between the pages and pulled the book open to the first page of the orange section, "This is your section, Linky."

Lincoln leaned forward; his curiosity piqued by the first picture. "What's this? I'm not in this picture." He brought his finger to the aforementioned picture, lovingly put into one of the album's little plastic sleeves by Lori.

It was a picture of his then younger family sitting around the table, with his five older sisters gathered around a sliced cake. The filling of the cake was bright blue, and the eyes of all five Loud daughters absolutely sparkled with joy as their parents looked on with their own happiness beaming from their faces.

Lori smirked, "Technically yes, technically no." When Lincoln looked at her in befuddlement, she laughed and brought a hand to muss his hair, "It's your gender reveal, Linky. That was the night Mom and Dad told us you were gonna be a boy!"

Lincoln jolted and looked back at the picture, stricken blank with the sheer surprise of it. "It is?! Is that why the cake is blue?"

"That's right!" Lori answered. She brought her hand down from his head, "And like I said, you are technically in this pic as well, Linky."

Lincoln looked to her again, "Whaddya mean?"

Lori laughed, and she brought her finger to point at their mother, right at her still relatively small stomach, "You're in Mom's tummy, Lincoln!"

Lincoln turned bright pink, and he looked down at his twiddling fingers, both embarrassed and a little happy at proof of his connection to his family. "Oh…" He mumbled, a small smile crossing his face.

"And there's tons more," Lori said, pulling his attention back. "See this one?" She said, pointing to a picture showing a much younger Luna with their mother. In it, Luna had her arms wrapped around their mother's now more visible bump. "Luna's singing to you here," Lori explained, "She said she wanted to make sure you knew the sound of her voice when you came."

Lincoln's heart grew significantly warmer at that. Luna sang to him before he was born? That explained why he still had a tendency to get drowsy whenever she hummed to herself on long car trips.

"And over here…" Lori brought her hand to the adjacent page, sporting Leni sitting on the couch with their mother. In her hands, she had some rather shoddy looking orange knitted socks. "Leni tried to make you some little baby booties as a baby shower gift for Mom," Lori chuckled. "They weren't quite done here, but she managed to get a decent pair done by the time you showed up."

Lincoln perked up. Wait, wasn't there a pair of baby booties in his baby book that looked like those? "Wow…" He whispered.

"Oh, and here's one a little bit before you were born, I love this one." Lori tapped on the final picture of that page. On that one, the two of them saw Lynn, leaning against Rita's stomach with her ear and cheek. Her eyes were wide with wonder and she had a single arm wrapped around her mother in an embrace.

"Apparently, Lynn felt you kick just before this pic was taken," Lori mused, a warm smile crossing her face. "She was so blown away that she spent a good portion of the rest of that day holding onto Mom, talking to you so she could be friends with you."

"Really?" Lincoln was positively floored by that.

"Yup, not even Dad offering to play catch with her could get her to leave you." Lori giggled and brought her hand up to ruffle Lincoln's hair again, "You were her first little sibling, Linc; she was crazy just about the thought of you."

Lynn… Lincoln made a mental note to cheer his heart out at Lynn's next game.

"Ah, here's the day you showed up!" It was by Lori's proclamation that Lincoln was brought back to the book. Could the explanation he was looking for be in the next picture?

The next picture showed his whole family sitting together on the couch. In Rita's arms, a little bundle wrapped in a bright blue material was surrounded by a joyous throng of older sisters, all smiling down at the little white-haired newborn like he was the greatest treasure anywhere.

No scientists, no men in black suits, just a happy family.

"We were so happy that day, Linky…" Lori said, pulling Lincoln closer to her, "That was the day we got our baby brother, the day a little piece of our family's heart was added; not yet complete, but so much bigger because of that addition."

"Lori…" Lincoln's vision grew blurry with the prickling of tears that came to him and he had to bring his arm up to cover the falling tears. "Thank you…"

"Of course, anything for you, sweetheart…" Lori cooed, rubbing his back. She tilted her cheek onto the top of Lincoln's head, giving him an affectionate little nuzzle, "Now, am I right in assuming you don't think a scientist created you now?"

Lincoln laughed a watery laugh and shook his head against Lori, "Uh-huh. I know I'm a Loud now."

"Good." Lori turned her head so she could lay a kiss on Lincoln's cheek, "Now, how 'bout we look at a few more pictures? You can give me an opinion on how the albums coming."

"Sure," Lincoln said, wiping his eyes with his wrist. "I really like this."

The two siblings combed through the rest of Lincoln's section, Lori offering subtext behind each picture as they saw them.

"This is Luan giving you a puppet show," Lori said at a picture of Luan waving about two handpuppets in front of an infant Lincoln. "Jeez, you really liked that little dinosaur and dragon; I wonder where they went…"

Lincoln made another mental note to look for them. They were clearly important, after all.

"Ah, and here's you and me!" Lori exclaimed, unable to keep a smidge of excitement from creeping into her voice.

It was a picture of Lori on the couch, regarding Lincoln lovingly as she held a bottle for him. His eyes were already half closed and his little fists were clenched, with one hand gripping Lori's shirt in a baby vice grip.

"I used to get such a kick out of feeding you," Lori tenderly said, squeezing Lincoln again, "It was always so cute watching you fall asleep right after you finished a bottle."

"Oh, wow, you really did hold it for me," Lincoln said, his cheeks tingeing pink again.

"Yup! Told you," Lori laughed. "And I always made sure to keep holding you while you slept. You tended to wake up and start crying whenever Mom or Dad tried to take you to your crib."

"Did that bother you?" Lincoln asked, looking at Lori somewhat timidly. "Having to sit there for all that time."

Lori scoffed, "Of course not. It was a free excuse to sit in front of the TV, Lincoln." She smiled and brought him in for another hug, this time using both her arms. "And like I said, you were literally adorable."

Lincoln had to resist crying again. He really was loved. He really was part of this family. His big sister had made sure he learned that. "Thank you, Lori…" He sniffled, wrapping his own arms around her. "This album is awesome. Everyone's gonna love it."

Lori chuckled and parted from her brother, "I'm glad to hear that."

"But…" Lincoln still couldn't get the fear to abate completely. He believed he was a Loud for sure now, but what about those strange details surrounding the day he was brought home? "That still leaves the scientist and men in black to explain."

Lori frowned. "Lincoln…" She set her hands on his shoulders, "If it bothers you that much, tell Mom and Dad. I'm sure they'll tell you if you make that clear to them."

"But what if it's bad?" Lincoln said fearfully.

"Then we'll tackle it together," Lori said with a nod. "Because we're family, Lincoln."

Lincoln bit his lip, and nodded in return. "Right." He bit his lip a little harder and he looked down, "But before I go, can I ask one more question?"

"I'll give you two since you already asked one," Lori joked.

Lincoln looked up at Lori bashfully, "I know I am a Loud now, no doubt about it, but this whole situation made me wonder…Hypothetically, if I was adopted; you'd still love me, right?"

Lori smiled. "Of course!" She said, nodding emphatically. "Linky, look at all these pictures. Every picture is a memory, and every memory is a building block of love. You think with all these blocks, something as small as a blood relation would be enough to knock them over?"

Lincoln looked at the album, of all the pictures depicting his family loving and caring for him. His answer was obvious. "N-No, I don't think it would."
"That's my smart boy," Lori said. "Because after all…" She ruffled his hair again, "Family is where love rings the Loudest, right?"

Lincoln actually laughed at that, a much fuller and vibrant laugh than before. "That was cheesy," He giggled.

"This coming from the boy who has those ridiculously long operation names," Lori playfully jabbed in response.

"Touché," Lincoln said. He rubbed his arm and looked to Lori's door. "I guess I should go ask Mom and Dad then?"

"If they aren't busy, then definitely," Lori assured. When she sensed Lincoln's trepidation, she put a hand on his shoulder again, "Don't worry. Whatever explanation they have, I'm sure it's nothing to be afraid of."

"Yeah…" Lincoln agreed, moving off the bed and onto his feet. "Better sooner than later, I suppose…"

Lori smirked, "And just to make sure you don't chicken out…" She moved in front of Lincoln and crouched down to his height, "A quick little bravery boost, courtesy of your second mama." She brought her hand beneath his bangs and leaned forward to give him a sweet little peck on the forehead. "So that whatever they tell you," She said, pulling back to look at him, "you know she'll be here to help you through it."

Lincoln did feel braver, and he suddenly stood a little taller. "Thanks, mama," He said in a whisper. He brought his fists in front of him, "I know I can do this now!"

Lori laughed and turned him around, giving him a gentle push towards the door, "Then get going, champ. I'll be right here when you're done, I promise!"

Lincoln took a breath, then charged off, pulling the door open and darting around the corner.

Only for Lori to see him run in the opposite direction a second later.

"I forgot Clyde!" He explained in the blip.

And Lori laughed.

…

"So that's the whole story," Lincoln finished, a silly little smile scrawled across his face. "Isn't that crazy?!"

Lori whistled and leaned back against her pillow, "You're telling me…My little brother was delivered by the first lady?" She smirked and regarded Lincoln with a cheeky little grin, "Linky, you were a presidential baby!"

"I guess I was," Lincoln giggled. The two siblings laughed before Lori beamed at Lincoln further.

"See?" She said, her voice steeped in warmth, "I told you there was an explanation for all that weird stuff. Yeah, it was an equally weird answer, but you didn't have anything to worry about." She reached out and pulled Lincoln against her side again, "You're a Loud, Linky. Sorry, you're stuck with us."

Lincoln smiled and turned to hug Lori. "I'm glad to be stuck with you guys. I love you all so much."

"And we love you, Linky," Lori said.

Lincoln released Lori and brought a fist beneath his chin. "That does still leave one problem. What am I gonna tell my class?"

Lori's eyebrows rose, "Why would you need to tell your class?"

Lincoln jolted, "Oh, right! I never told you. One of the reasons I went poking around for my birth story was because of a school assignment. Now that I know the story is supposed to be confidential, I'm gonna need to come up with something."

Lori blinked, and then burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Lincoln asked, tilting his head.

Lori wiped a tear of mirth from her eye, "I-I swear, we have to be on some sort of similar wavelength, sweetheart."

"Whaddya mean?" Lincoln asked.

Lori stopped laughing and looked at Lincoln, smiling fondly and still a little amusingly. "Remember when you told me your birth story was blank in your baby book?" She posed.

"Uh-huh," Lincoln said with a nod.

Lori reached behind her and slid her hand beneath her pillow, "Well, that made me feel bad. My little Linky deserves to have that page filled." She pulled the bright orange book out into the open, scooching up to Lincoln so he could look upon the adorable front cover picture of him. "So, while you were talking to Mom and Dad, I went into the attic, got your baby book, brought it down…"

She flipped the book open and pushed it into Lincoln's hands, "And filled in that pesky blank page."

Lincoln's eyes widened, and he read the words now written on the page as Lori took him against her again, placing him on her lap and resting her head on top of his so she could read along with him.

A long time ago, on a chilly day in Royal Woods, five girls waited inside their outrageously Loud house, excitement filling literally every bit of them.

Why were they excited? Easy. They were waiting for their mother and father to arrive home with their baby brother.

Each girl waited, with one waiting to finally be a big sibling, one waiting for someone to make laugh, one to sing to, one to dress in the cutest, warmest clothes, and one to simply be there for him, whenever she was needed.

Yes, the arrival of a brother was unprecedented, but it was literally amazing.

On and on time went, with the girls swearing that time only went slower the longer they waited. Soon, it began to feel like they would never meet the little one.

Then, a car pulled up, and following a huge commotion that rivaled even the busiest days of the Loud house, the girls finally met him.

Their hearts were captured immediately by the arrival of the little one. They greeted their brother with voices lilted with joy and gushed to their parents their desires to hold him and hug him with such cheer that it was a miracle that the boy didn't cry from all the noise they made.

Eventually, their wishes were granted, and the boy beheld his sisters in much of the same wonder as they did.

The bond they created was undeniable, unshakeable, and positively unbreakable. Seeing their brother's big blue eyes for the first time, the five girls all made a silent vow right then and there.

They would all love him. Their dearest…

Lincoln Loud

Lori rocked Lincoln back and forth in her arms, sheltering him in the warmth of her embrace as he sniffled and shook against her.

"Lori…" Lincoln turned to her so he could hug her back, hiding his tears of joy in the crook of her neck. "Thank you, Lori. Thank you, mama."

Lori smiled and leaned down to kiss Lincoln on the cheek. "Anything for you, sweetheart. Anything for you."

And Lincoln stayed there in her arms for a fair while after that, simply basking in the love his second mother so effortlessly provided him.

He was a Loud, and he wouldn't have it any other way; not even for all the superpowers in the world.

A.N: Fun Fact: "Not A Loud" was the first episode of the show I saw. I still remember following Lincoln's talk with Lori thinking, "You sure you don't want to ask a follow up question or two before you run field tests?"

I hope you don't mind another Lori one-shot. What can I say? Her and Lincoln's bond seems the most interesting. With Lincoln and Lynn's coming in a close second, that is. It really is a shame the show doesn't utilize it more. Nonetheless, I hope you liked this little "Sequel" to "I'm here for you". Maybe I'll write more connected one-shots in the future should the mood strike me; call it "The Wholesomeverse" XD

Anyway, apologies for no FIWLRL update this week. The next chapter is proving difficult to write. Still, look forward to it! And as always, reviews and feedback are the lifeblood of a writer and are always greatly appreciated!

Manegie, out!