Hello! Kept you waiting for this one, didn't I? Took a little bit to work on it, but I think it turned out well in that time.
Thanks to the change up I mentioned two chapters earlier, this one features Lynn and the flashbacks are based on "Sitting Bull", "Middle Men", and "Not a Loud".
Anyway, ready on and enjoy!
The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.
The crack of dawn was arising in Royal Woods and for the most part, largely everyone in the Loud house was either still asleep or only just beginning to wake up.
But not Lincoln in this case. Normally, he would be in fact among those still grabbing those last few minutes of shuteye before going through the motions of getting up at his own pace. On this morning, however, there were different plans in the cards for him.
The other day, Lincoln had been talked into taking part in an early morning sports and exercising routine by Lynn. Or perhaps "dragooned" would be the more appropriate term in this instance. Not that Lincoln would be adverse to getting some outdoor activities into his schedule for the day, but doing it when the morning has barely even begun was something quite out of the ordinary. Still, he wanted to prove to Lynn that this wasn't anything he couldn't take up and try to back out of.
Not even getting a shower, which given that he knew that he'll likely work up a serious sweat due to whatever Lynn had in store and perhaps will be the right call for now, Lincoln threw on what he would consider the most appropriate attire for the occasion, which in this case was his school gym class clothes. With those on, he left his room and down the stairs, and after a quick spot of looking around, he saw Lynn in the kitchen in her own athletic garb complete with a headband while she was grunting and doing some lunges.
"About time you got here, Lincoln!" Lynn said when she noticed her brother arriving.
"Well, good morning to you, too, Lynn." Lincoln remarked with just a touch of sarcasm, "Sorry, but you know I'm not used to being up so early in the morning to work out and all."
Lynn chuckled and had an assertive grin on her face, "Well, there's always a first time for everything, right?"
Lincoln chuckled weakly in his own right, then he suddenly had to act fast when he saw Lynn lob something over to him.
"Here, these are pretty much gonna be your breakfast for now." She said.
Catching the items his sister sent his way, Lincoln saw that they were a pair of sports bars.
"I would've mixed you up a protein shake, too, but I think the time for you to have one of those will come later. Not sure if you're quite ready right now." Lynn expressed humorously, "Now eat up, I've already done so on my end."
Lincoln wanted to raise an objection about how fast things were going so early in the morning, but he likely knew that Lynn wasn't probably going to be in the mood for that, so he simply pulled the wrappers off the sports bars and took a bite.
"Huh, these aren't too bad at all." Lincoln said upon getting his first taste.
"Well, it's not like they're made to be bland or anything like that. They have to be the least bit flavorful on top of giving you the energy needed for the morning ahead." Lynn remarked with a chortle, "Now if you must, you can wash those down with something to drink of your choice when you're done, but hurry up! Don't keep me waiting much longer!"
With those words, Lynn bounded out of the kitchen and out the front door. In the meantime, Lincoln consumed his sports bar within a minute and guzzled down a portion of milk to wrap things up. Following a satisfied sigh, he too adjourned in order to head out front and join his eagerly awaiting sister.
"Okay, ready for a nice jog around the entire neighborhood?" Lynn asked her brother.
"Wait, the entire neighborhood?" Lincoln asked back, appearing to denote having second thoughts.
"Did I stutter?" Lynn said, shooting Lincoln a determined look, but one that quickly melted into a smile, "No, I'm only joshing with you. Sheesh, you're easy to fool! But anyway, I'm more thinking like a couple of blocks that way and back. After all, this is just the warm up, so I don't wanna see you wear out too soon."
Lincoln let out a sighing chuckle, "Oh, well, I think I can handle that. In fact..."
Before Lynn could get another word out in edgewise, Lincoln dashed away from the front porch, leaving his sister briefly in the dust. With her own amused laugh, Lynn ran off and caught up with him in no time at all.
"You know, this isn't a race, Lincoln." Lynn reminded him, "Like I said, this is our warm up and I don't want you to overexert yourself too soon."
"Now, now, don't underestimate me, Lynn." Lincoln said smugly.
This tone from her brother came as a surprise to Lynn, "Well, where did this cockiness come from? Just a minute ago you looked like you came close to backing out when I jokingly said at first that we're jogging around the whole neighborhood."
"Yeah, but I'm feeling like I can take you on knowing we're only going for a couple of blocks." Lincoln boasted, "So what do you say?"
With that challenge being thrown down, Lincoln pushed himself a little harder until he was pulling away from his sister again. For a moment, Lynn chuckled somewhat derisively, though she also had to admire the gumption, perhaps foolhardy in nature, that her brother was showing, so she may as well indulge in this impromptu bout of competitiveness on his part.
"Be careful what you wish for, little bro!" She shouted at him.
Switching gears from jogging to straight up running, Lynn easily blew past Lincoln with ease. Not to be outdone, he grew a determined look on his face and cranked things up to running on his end, too.
A few minutes in, with Lynn getting further and further ahead, she suddenly stopped and began running in the opposite direction, likely signaling this was the point that she said earlier that they would head back over to their house. Lincoln would do the same once he arrived at that same point and tried his best in regaining ground with his sister. At this point, he did realize this may have not been the best of ideas.
Another few minutes on, Lynn had arrived back at the front yard of the house, and perhaps much to her surprise, she saw that Lincoln wasn't actually that far behind. He arrived where she was only a few seconds after she did, though he did look already like he wore himself out just a tad. Still, she couldn't help but be impressed.
"Wow, not bad, Linc." Lynn said with a smile, "Here I thought I was gonna be standing around waiting for like another minute or so, but here you are!"
Lincoln let out a light laugh and took a couple of breaths, "Thanks, Lynn. I have been...doing a lot of...running during gym class recently...so that might've helped some."
"It must have!" Lynn agreed, giving Lincoln a congratulatory jab on his shoulder, "Anyway, I think we can afford a brief little break before we move on."
Motioning for him to follow her, Lynn lead Lincoln to the front steps were both of them took a seat.
"Gotta say again, I'm really impressed that you managed to keep up with me pretty well, Lincoln." Lynn expressed with impressiveness, "It wasn't like I had to wait around or babysit you for any length of time."
"Yeah, indeed. And speaking of babysitting, isn't today the day we have another evening of looking after the Fox quintuplets? I do think that's today." Lincoln said.
Lynn had a look of realization on her face, "Oh, dang it, I think you're right! I completely forgot until you brought it up just now! Guess that gives our morning workout session more of a purpose than before, since we can now use it as an excuse to prepare ourselves physically for taking on those crazy little small fries."
"Yeah, that's one way of looking at it." Lincoln agreed, "We might as well also ask again if any of our older sisters could tag along, too, should any of them be available."
Lynn nodded, "Always a good idea to do that, bolstering our ranks that is. It's good to know you don't mind helping me out with those kids. To think I almost quit babysitting altogether had you not offered to help some time ago..."
During the early evening hours, Lincoln was sitting in the living room watching some TV before dinnertime. While he was doing that, the front door opened up and Lynn walked inside with her gym bag slung on her shoulder.
"Oh, hey there, Lynn." Lincoln greeted her, "Back from another night of babysitting?"
"Yeah, and it was real fun one..." Lynn said sarcastically following a growl.
She stepped over to the living room, plopped her bag on the nearby chair and joined alongside her brother on the couch.
"Wait, so tonight didn't go so well?" Lincoln asked.
"Gee, what gave you that impression?" Lynn questioned in return, sarcasm again dripping from every word.
She growled again, but then she sighed and flopped back first on the couch, with the back of her head resting on the pillow on the end.
"Ugh...after tonight, maybe this whole babysitting thing really isn't the cut of my jib." Lynn said.
"Wait, what now?" Lincoln expressed bewilderingly, scooting closer to his sister, "Hold up, Lynn, what happened tonight?"
Lynn shook her head from side to side, "Let's just say I now know why our older sisters dreaded looking after those Fox quintuplets themselves and why they set me up with them at first as a means of getting back at me for sabotaging their babysitting clients."
Lincoln was getting more confused by the second, "I'm sorry, but I don't understand, Lynn. I thought things were going well when it comes to babysitting those kids. I know that our older sisters have said that you're like the perfect babysitter for them unlike how they were."
Lynn scoffed, "Make that 'used to be' the perfect babysitter. Now? Not so much. These last few nights up until tonight they've went from being easy to wrangle to an unruly scrum. It's like they assumed that they could get away with more under my watch knowing I can be as rowdy as them."
She sat up, stretched her limbs and sighed.
"Looks like I'm gonna have to call Mr. and Mrs. Fox and tell them that this now makes five Loud girls who can't keep those brats in line. Yep, I'm throwing in the towel with them, then I'll have a talk with our older sisters where I'm gonna tell them I'm quitting the whole babysitting shtick altogether"
Such an admission shocked Lincoln to his core. Lynn was a lot of things, some positive and negative, but a quitter was not one of them, and he wasn't going to stand to see her be like this.
"Lynn, are you for real? You're going to let one bad night question if you can be a good babysitter at all? The Lynn Loud I've known all my life doesn't take defeat so easily. She gets right back up on her feet and charges back head on until she is victorious and brags about it to every living being around her." Lincoln said filled with trademark confidence.
He thought that would light something up in Lynn to reconsider withdrawing herself from the babysitting game. But one look at her showed that it didn't appear to faze her.
"Linc, not that don't get or appreciate what you're saying, but this goes beyond the insanity I went through tonight." Lynn said, "Just as I said already, this had been building up with those Fox kids for a while now, and tonight wasn't the first bad babysitting experience of mine. My very first stab at this was a complete nightmare for the two kids I looked after, and it's something I've only recently recognized."
"Do I dare wonder what exactly you did?" Lincoln tentatively asked.
Lynn chuckled nervously, "Well...I don't think forcing them into lucha libre, making them drink raw eggs or telling them every detail about my tibia injury constitutes as good babysitting traits on my end."
Her chuckling trailed off into a doubtful grimace across her face. Again, Lincoln was not going to settle seeing Lynn put herself in such a defeatist state of mind and an idea that came across his mind made him think he knew just how to change things around.
"You know, I think I know what might be going on when it comes to those Fox quints, Lynn. Now, obviously I don't know them personally, so I could be way off base, but I'm thinking they're rowdy not because that's who they are naturally, but because they assumed that they can get away with such actions through having the numbers advantage. I don't care if you're the best babysitter in the world, handling five kids at once is always going to be a challenge." Lincoln posited.
Lynn contemplated what her brother was saying, "You think so? Also, I'm sensing where you are perhaps going with this..."
"Yep, I'm suggesting that maybe next time I can come along with you to help out." Lincoln offered up, "I've been thinking about engaging in some proper babysitting duties for while now, not including the times I look after our younger sisters that is."
In that moment, Lynn liked what Lincoln was proposing. At the same time, though, him mentioning that he'd been thinking about doing something like this did make her recall on two occasions she forcibly impeded his own chances at babysitting opportunities. The first case was when she took umbrage over their older sisters approaching him first to take up such responsibilities and the other was when those same sisters were chastising Lynn for her rough methods during her first try at it, and when Lincoln tried volunteering in taking part, she chucked her football at him, effectively proving the point their older sisters were driving home to Lynn. Now that Lincoln was offering to help out this time around, Lynn felt accepting his assistance would be a nice way to make it up to him.
"So are you serious about this, Lincoln?" She asked.
"Sure I am!" Lincoln answered happily, "We probably might have to discuss things with our older sisters first to see if they would approve of such arrangements."
"Actually, we don't need such a discussion."
Turning over in the direction from which that voice belonging to Lori originated, Lynn and Lincoln saw her plus Leni, Luna and Luan standing by just over in the dining room.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to listen in!" Leni said embarrassed.
"Yeah, but we do like hearing what you're offering to do, Lincoln." Luan added more positively.
"I'd say you have our full endorsement on that front, bro." Luna said as she gave out a thumbs up to him, then glanced over to her younger sister, "I mean, so long as you're cool with that, Lynn."
"You kidding me? Tackling those quints with my little bro here?" Lynn said before she grabbed Lincoln into a headlock and noogied him, "I'm on board with that!"
"Uh, Lynn?" Lori admonished.
The disapproving tone of her oldest sister's voice made Lynn put a stop in the noogie in a heartbeat. Even if she was a part of the whole babysitting enterprise, she still had to prove that she can curb her more aggressive tendencies and be more maternal in nature.
"Oh, uh, sorry about that, Lincoln." Lynn said apologetically, "But in all seriousness, I do appreciate and accept your help."
"It's no problem, Lynn. I'm ready whenever you need me to be." Lincoln said confidently.
Giving her brother a nice, and perhaps relieved smile, Lynn patted Lincoln on his back all while their older sisters looked on proudly, both from adding another member to their babysitting ranks and for Lincoln convincing Lynn to stick around within those ranks.
"And it turned out you were right. Even just one additional helping hand is enough to bring those quints down a notch and keep them in line." Lynn said.
"Well, having some experience looking after our younger sisters who are a little less unruly does help on my end." Lincoln noted.
"Yeah, true that." Lynn agreed, taking a second to stretch herself out, "All right, our break lasted long enough. Let's snag a little bit of water and then we'll charge onward!"
Lincoln nodded and followed his sister back inside their house, whereupon after some quick hydration, Lynn brought her brother to the backyard, where there was a pile of balls set up.
"So, what's next for..."
Lincoln couldn't finish his sentence when he saw a soccer ball unexpectedly whizzing toward him. Out of instinct alone, he raised his hands up and caught it only a couple of inches before it collided with his face.
"Ha, nice save, Lincoln!" Lynn complemented, "Now think fast again!"
After the soccer ball, Lynn then tossed a football in Lincoln's direction. He only had just enough time to put down the soccer ball so he could snatch as was hurtling his way.
"Lynn, what are you…?" Lincoln attempted to get out.
"Service!" Lynn shouted.
Next, she hit a volleyball up in the air and again, Lincoln had very little time to react, but he did bat that one back up toward his sister.
"Wow, nice going!" Lynn told him, "You were on point every step of the way!"
"Lynn, mind telling me what you were doing just now?!" Lincoln shouted out just ever so slightly annoyed.
"No need to get all huffy on me, Lincoln. Just wanted to engage in an on the spot test of your reflexes and reaction time, which I must say again were on point!" Lynn explained and reiterated her complementary remarks, "And speaking of reflexes..."
Briefly assuming a three-point stance, Lynn grew a devious smile on her face and charged head on toward her now petrified brother. However, whatever she may have planned came to a screeching halt when a jarring sensation of pain was felt in her leg that stopped her right in her tracks. She fell down into a sitting position and groaned, causing Lincoln to rush over by her side.
"Lynn, what's wrong?" He asked her worriedly.
"Oh, don't get so worked up, Linc." Lynn said, trying to put on her standard 'tough girl' act, "I only pulled a muscle is all. No big deal."
She tried to stand up, but she hissed when another surge of pain shot through her leg the moment she tried putting any weight on it, causing her to sit back down again.
"Lynn, it does seem like it's a big deal if you can't even stand up." Lincoln emphasized to her, "Here, why don't I help out?"
He turned around and gestured to Lynn to get up onto his back, something she's done for him plenty of times before. At first, Lynn was going to raise objections to this and insist she was fine. But with the pain perhaps getting to her, she put her pride aside and gingerly got to her feet long enough to put her arms around Lincoln and then he hooked his arms under her legs. He stood up and almost nearly lost his balance for a moment, but eventually steadied himself with the full weight of his sister on his back.
"You're kind of heavy..." Lincoln remarked wryly.
Lynn laughed briefly and flicked the side of her brother's head, "You better be saying that because I'm full of muscle!"
"You might be full of something, all right..." Lincoln commented teasingly.
"Oh, hush up, now." Lynn said while grinning and placed her arms on top of Lincoln's head, "Just take me back inside if that's what you're planning on doing."
With that round of playful sibling banter concluded, Lincoln set a course for returning inside the house with Lynn on his back. Again, this was something of a role reversal and it admittedly felt a little awkward for Lynn having be the one who was being carried by her little brother instead of vice versa. But in a way, this could be seen as Lincoln giving back to her for how much she'd been helping him out, like when she was by his side during middle school orientation…
Today had been quite an interesting one for Lincoln. He and Clyde had spent the day at Royal Woods Middle School for an orientation program so they could see what it will be like going there the following year. On top of that, Lynn had accompanied them and gave out some advice all while regaling embarrassing stories about some unfortunate schmuck who had a rough first year at middle school.
However, that advice backfired and Lincoln and Clyde thought they'd gotten on the wrong side on some of the kids there, each of them telling the pair to meet them at the blacktop at the end of the day, implying a beat down was coming to them. Instead, those aforementioned kids were only making Lincoln and Clyde sweat as if they were putting them through some kind of time honored middle school initiation ritual. But the most surprising aspect of the whole day was when Lynn eventually admitted that she was the kid in those stories she told them earlier. She confessed to having a real tough first year of middle school of her own and that she felt the need to toughen herself in order to get by.
Now with the day concluded, and them having walked Clyde back to his house, Lynn and Lincoln set off for their own home as well, and settled in talking some more about what went on.
"So, how was that for your first unofficial day of middle school, Lincoln?" Lynn asked.
"Uh...it sure was an experience, I'll say that much." Lincoln answered, "But I'd like to ask more about your first year if it's not too much trouble, since that's still kind of weighing on my mind."
"Um...well, I guess not. Like what?" Lynn wondered a little tentatively.
"Like for instance why didn't you ever say anything about it until today? Did you never tell anybody else what you went through?" Lincoln asked.
Lynn took a moment to exhale before answering, "Well, to address your second question, yeah, I did talk privately to Mom, Dad and our older sisters about it during that very year and sought their help and advice. As far as to why I never said anything to you in that time, I guess partly it was because you were still going through elementary school and would not understand what I was going through. But since you came to my school today, I suppose I had to eventually tell you before you ever had to experience anything like I went through come your first year there when that time comes."
"Oh...well, let me ask you this next: do you expect me to toughen myself up like you did in order to get ready for whatever may lay ahead for me once I do start attending middle school?" Lincoln wondered.
Lynn thought it over for a minute, then she turned to her brother and smiled, "Honestly, if the fact that you and Clyde were kind of a hit with some of those kids there, maybe you won't have to be. On a related note, I guess I was really wrong about those business cards and cookies you two made, because they did seem to help out in winning some favor over to you."
Lincoln struck a confident posture, "Guess that means you can never doubt the ingenuity of Clincoln McCloud!"
"All right now, don't let that get to your head." Lynn said, chuckling and jabbing her brother on the shoulder.
For another minute or two, Lynn and Lincoln simply went about walking back home without much else to say. Then, there was something that the only Loud boy did wonder if there was something his sister could do for him.
"Lynn, can I ask you one last thing?" Lincoln inquired.
"You just did so, little bro." Lynn joked around, then wanted to know for real, "But really, what is it?"
Lincoln chortled at Lynn's literal initial reaction, but quickly reverted to a more serious tone, "Well, you have one more year in middle school right as I'll be in my first year, right?"
Lynn nodded, "True that."
"Okay, so...this will be sort of embarrassing to ask of you and I'll totally get it if you turn down my request..." Lincoln began with, his facial expression looking unsure as he went on, "But if it isn't too much trouble, you won't mind if you kept a watchful eye on me should anything ever happen to me?"
Lynn grinned and laughed a little, "You're making it sound like you want me to be your bodyguard or guardian angel."
Lincoln chuckled with a mix of humor and regret, "Well, you know, not really and I'm not asking you to stick around me at all times or anything like that, but...no, you're right, it's pretty dumb of me to suggest that. I should really learn to handle things myself and not lean on you too much. So, I don't blame you for not wanting to..."
"No, I get what you're saying, Lincoln." Lynn said, cutting off her brother's marathon explanation and gripping her hand on his shoulder, "And no, I wouldn't actually mind kind of being on the lookout for you during that time and still showing you the ropes, too. I'd offer to do that even if you didn't ask me to. While you're right in that you should be able to learn to handle tough situations on your own, I'll gladly be there for you at the same time while I'm still as long as I'm still attending middle school myself."
"You would?" Lincoln said sounding hopeful, "Even if whatever situation I find myself in turns out to entirely be my fault?"
"Doubly so, just so I can make sure you don't repeat the same dumb mistake twice...and maybe rub it in your face while I'm at it!" Lynn replied boastfully.
She yanked Lincoln over to her and mussed around with his hair, but soon after she wrapped her arms around him into a firm embrace.
"But really, no one's gonna mess with you when I'm around. They'll regret doing so and then some." Lynn told her brother in a heartfelt manner.
Lincoln smiled as he welcomed both the embrace and her confirmation of keeping an eye on him during that crucial first year of middle school. He sighed in relief while he returned the hug.
"Thanks, Lynn. That means a lot to me, even if I sounded a little desperate when asking you." He said in thanks.
"Don't mention it, Linc." Lynn responded, "Now let's get back home before too many witnesses see us being all mushy and stuff."
"Too late, dudes."
Hearing that very characteristically raspy voice belonging to Luna, Lynn and Lincoln saw that they'd been so engrossed in their act of walking and talking that not only were they already at their home, but Vanzilla was pulled up on the driveway, where not only their rocker sister was inside of and sticking out the window of one of the passenger seats, but that all of their remaining sisters were also packed inside and apparently having seen and heard at least the latter portion of their conversation.
"You know, you two are literally cute together when you can be." Lori stated from the driver's seat.
"Yeah, and what of it?" Lynn humorously fired back, getting a laugh out of Lincoln, too.
In the few minutes since they both returned inside, Lincoln went above and beyond in treating Lynn and her injury, regardless of how minor it may have been. She was laid out on the couch with a pillow underneath the leg of which she'd pulled a muscle on and moments beforehand, Lincoln had massaged that particular region of her leg on top of that.
"Lincoln, you don't need to go this far. It's not like I tore a hamstring or ruptured any ligaments or tendons here. This is only something that's quite minor and will heal itself shorty." Lynn said.
"Are you of all people going to complain about having me acting like a servant to you for this little while?" Lincoln questioned her.
Lynn chuckled lightly, "Eh, you got a point there."
Following sufficient enough treatment, Lincoln joined his sister on the couch for a simple spot of relaxation.
"Mind if I ask you what in the heck you were planning on doing to me just as you pulled that muscle of yours?" Lincoln asked, "It seemed to me you were gonna straight up tackle me, which if you'll pardon my bluntness, does not have any exercise value at all for me."
"Nah, that wasn't my aim, Lincoln. It was gonna be nothing more than a head fake where I'd stop at the last possible moment before actually making any contact with you." Lynn explained, "Consider it another reflex test of mine just like with all those balls that I sent your way."
"Ah...well, okay then." Lincoln said simply and left it at that.
After that clarification, the two resumed in kicking back and relaxing for the time being. Then, Lincoln heard his sister chuckling again.
"Huh? What's so funny, Lynn?" Lincoln asked.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just...even though you really didn't need to go as far for me as you have just now, it doesn't change the fact that I appreciate it anyway, Lincoln." Lynn said admirably, "You're a good little brother, you know that?"
Lincoln grinned, "Oh...thanks, Lynn. I'm glad you feel that way toward me. I also know that's how you feel even if wasn't entirely related to you or our sisters like you showed when I cast some brief doubts about how much of a brother I really was to everyone..."
It had been a day of revelations, discovery and self-introspection for Lincoln Loud. For a brief period of time, he wondered if he even was truly befitting of that surname based on how the day progressed. What started out as a curiosity as to why the birth story portion of his baby book was empty turned into an amusing and at times uneasy journey how he was brought into this world and if he really fit in the family he's know all his life.
Part of that journey for Lincoln involved asking his older sisters what they remember about his birth story, particularly after his parents were so vague and evasive in own their explanation. Some of their remembrances were quite strange, but one made him feel somewhat distressed to the point he assumed there was a chance that he wasn't a true, full-blooded Loud. Luckily, those fears were put to rest when his parents did admit he was their natural born son and the only reason they didn't explain everything in full earlier and as to why his baby book's birth story entry was blank was due to the top secret events that also occurred on that day. After all, only a scintilla of kids could ever say in private that they were born with the assistance of America's Commander-in-Chief, or more so by his First Lady, as they were traveling to a secret bunker in Royal Woods.
But even with all that knowledge at hand, Lincoln's day was entirely done just yet. There was one older sister he never had a chance to talk about such subject manner and was curious as to what she knew, if anything at all.
Peeking just inside the confines of Lynn and Lucy's bedroom, Lincoln saw Lynn busy lifting a pair of dumbbells in an alternating fashion. She looked to be having her hands full figuratively and literally, but for Lincoln this was a topic too significant to delay right now.
"Hey, uh, Lynn?" He inquired to her.
Lynn turned her attention to her brother, "What?"
"Is is possible that I can talk to you for a moment?" Lincoln asked.
"Maybe..." Lynn said ambiguously, not breaking her focus in lifting, "I mean, it is possible, but I am in the middle of pumping some iron."
"I know, but this is something that's very important to me and I'm really hoping you can spare some time of yours." Lincoln implored.
Lynn took another quick glance at Lincoln. There was a tone of pleading and almost helplessness that wasn't too common with her brother, especially given it was even less common for him to turn to her for any serious talks. Sighing a little, she decided to acquiesce to his request.
"Okay, fine. I can probably lift and talk at the same time. What is it?" She said.
Lincoln stepped fully inside his sister's room, "Um, well...do you know anything about my birth story?"
Lynn briefly paused lifting the second Lincoln's inquiry came through. This was certainly not the kind of subject she was expected to delve into.
"Doubt it." She said once a moment of thought passed by and resumed lifting the dumbbells, "I was only two years old at the time, Lincoln. My memory wasn't that quite developed yet. Why are you asking this?"
"Well, you see, I spent most of today asking our older sisters if they can tell me what they remember from the day I was born, and some of their responses were...strange, to say the least." Lincoln answered.
"Like?" Lynn asked.
"Okay, so Lori first said that I was delivered by a scientist, Leni claimed I was carried by an eagle and Luna mentioned something about a bunch of guys in suits surrounding our house once I was brought home." Lincoln recounted.
Lynn chuckled a little, "Ah, so you finally learned about the super secretive origins of the events surrounding everything, huh?"
"Uh, yeah. I learned the truth from Mom and Dad not too long ago." Lincoln said, then he took a pause, "Wait, I thought you said you didn't remember much of anything from that day."
"Not at the time, no. Again, I was only two when that happened." Lynn reiterated, "But I was let in on everything a couple of years later from our older sisters, so yeah, I do know all that went down."
At the moment, Lincoln simply released a small sigh and looked around awkwardly, rubbing his arm anxiously.
"Hey, I noticed you didn't mention what Luan knows about that day." Lynn spoke up once she realized that.
"Oh, right..." Lincoln said, snapping himself out of the little trance he was in, "Well, she said at first that Mom and Dad were thinking they were expecting another girl and even suggested the idea that they brought home the wrong baby."
Again, Lincoln paused for a few seconds. This one was more pronounced to the point that Lynn looked at him once more and slowed her pace in lifting.
"Lincoln?" She asked, worry in her voice becoming apparent.
"I have to admit, once she said that..." Lincoln began saying, groaning uncomfortably in between, "It made me think for a little bit that I might've been adopted."
With those words, Lynn put a halt to everything as Lincoln sat down on the floor and sighed distressingly.
"Knowing the truth, I know that's not how everything really panned out, but for a little while..." He said wistfully, "I know that you and our family might get a little sick of me saying this, but there are those times that I wonder if I truly belong in this family, being the only boy surrounded by ten girls and all, and when Luan told me what she thought she knew...it made me briefly question if I was really your brother at all."
And that right there did it for Lincoln. Despite some efforts to hold everything in, once shaky, labored breath acted as a prelude for a pair of tears to form in his eyes. Following that, Lynn knew that pumping any additional iron can wait. She put her dumbbells aside and knelt down in front of him.
"Aw, Lincoln, of course you are my brother. You admitted it yourself that you know you're a natural born member of this family." Lynn told him in a voice more sweet than she usually conveys.
Next, she sat down by Lincoln's side and put her arm around him.
"And so what if it turned out you were actually adopted? That won't matter to me at all. I don't care if you're one half, one quarter, one tenth, one one-hundredth, one one-thousandth or not related to me even in the slightest. You are my little brother and I never want to imagine my life without you."
Punctuating those kindhearted words from Lynn came in the form of bringing that very little brother of hers right close into a hug. Sniffling a couple of times, Lincoln silently returned the hug with one of his own.
"Aww…"
That faint little utterance caught the pair's attention and seconds after that, they would be caught off guard when the bedroom door swung wide open all of a sudden to reveal Lori, Leni, Luna and Luan collapsing onto the floor in a heap.
"Ugh, nice going, Luna..." Lori grumbled.
"Hey, no need to rag on me, brah! Things were going just peachy until Leni startled me when she spoke just now!" Luna shot back.
"What?" Leni said miffed, "I couldn't help but think that what we heard was so totes cute!"
"Well, no matter who's to blame, we certainly took quite a tumble of a trip!" Luan joked.
Following a groan from the three eldest sisters, they as well as Luan all brought themselves back up to their feet.
"Uh, were you guys listening in on us?" Lynn asked.
"Oh, maybe just a little?" Leni said sounding apologetic.
"Yeah, more like almost literally every single word that was spoken between you two." Lori issued in correction, "But since we're all here now, we may as well sit in, too."
With that said, the four oldest of the Loud sisters joined in alongside their two younger siblings, with Lynn moving over to the side a bit as the four of them gathered closer to Lincoln.
"So, did we hear everything correctly, bro? You were worried that you may have been adopted?" Luna asked him.
Lincoln nodded meekly, "Kind of. I know it's not true, but for that fleeting moment..."
"Well, this pretty much may as well be my fault for implying that in the first place to you..." Luan admitted regretfully, moving just that little bit closer to her brother and putting a hand on his back, "Look, I didn't mean to suggest that may be the case, Lincoln. I wasn't trying to make you feel bad and I'm really sorry if I did."
"It's all right, Luan." Lincoln said, "It was a little worrisome at first, but I'm glad to have known the truth about the day I was born."
Luan smiled, "And we're glad that day came."
"Yeah, having a baby bro was one of the best things to ever happen in our lives." Luna added proudly.
"Totes! We love having you around!" Leni said jovially.
"And I can probably safely speak for everyone that we echo the sentiment shared by Lynn that even if you hardly had any direct relation to us, you are still our brother and that will never change." Lori stated confidently, "Though I will say that we're particularly glad that you are our brother by blood."
Then, one by one, each of the sisters joined into a group hug of Lincoln, though in Lynn's case she had to muscle her way in some.
"Hey, make way, ladies! He's just as much my little bro as he is yours!" She said humorously.
Everyone shared a laugh, as well as Lincoln breathing a happy sigh, knowing that he was indeed a true blue Loud in every sense.
"I was glad to be reminded that I really am a genuine member of this family." Lincoln said, smiling in Lynn's direction, "Thanks again, Lynn."
Lynn smiled back, "You know, normally I love taking full credit for anything I may have done, but obviously I was far from the only one who assured you of that. Still, it's good to know I helped in my little way."
"You certainly did, Lynn." Lincoln said appreciatively, "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna leave you be while I finally get a shower and get properly dressed. It's still pretty early, so I may as well get it done before the family morning rush arrives."
"Ah, go right ahead." Lynn told him.
Giving his sister a quick pat on her shoulder, Lincoln left her alone as he bounded up the stairs. While he took care of business, Lynn flopped onto her back and sighed happily.
"Why do you have to be such a good brother, Lincoln?" She said to herself with a small laugh, "Not that I'm complaining or anything like that...you truly are of the good sort and I wouldn't want it any different."
And that makes four complete! One more and then we change the format of this story some. Until that time, see you later!
