I did some edits on the last chapter. Nothing too massive you couldn't continue on reading with no problem, but enough to hopefully sate some of you in terms of the grown ups deaths played out exactly. I don't own the Lous House. If I did why would I be writing crummy fanfic about it? Probably not. Criticism no matter how harsh is welcome.
Leia was having a great dream.
Everything was perfect. The family was all together at home eating dinner doing what they usually do. Aunt Luan was making jokes to her usual quality. And the family(with the exception of Lois who laughed so hard milk shot out of her nose because she found every joke from her mother to be the epitome of comedy), gave their customary groans once the punchline was delivered. Aunt Leni was discussing a new dress she was making for high class client with Liena. Aunt Lucy was giving an overly descriptive recounting of how a funeral she planned went. Only London seemed interested in hearing such dreariness, and Lyra was trying to get their dark Aunt to refrain from talking about such matters at the dinner table. Aunt Luna merely watched the exchange of her daughter trying to make everything prim and proper with a smile on her face. Lacy and Lemy were talking wrestling. The two were avid fans of the genre, and would often get into heated debates in regards to it. Aunt Lynn interceded and explained why the the two pre-teens were both wrong about everything they said. Leia thought such talk was meaningless and a waste of time. Leia's mother talking about a modeling job she managed to grab with her Uncle who was respectfully nodding and congratulating her mother on such a well earned accomplishment. Aunt lana gave a vicious snort and preceded to lampoon Leia's mother's supposed cockiness. Aunt Lisa and Little were discussing some new experiment that was probably going to end in a loud explosion. Aunt Lily was trying to convince Loan to try to get into the Universty she attending. Aunt Lily thought it'd be a good fit for Loan given it's closeness to home and its drawing program. Everyone was acting their typical selves. It was a completely normal dinner and that was why it was perfect. She wished she could stay in this moment forever.
The shrieks of fear made clear she could never get her wish.
She opened her eyes and found her two favorite little cousins trembling as they clung onto her. Each room with the exception' of her uncle's old room had two beds. This obviously meant some people would have to share, and Leia felt guilty having bunked with her two favorite cousins. The room beside from their beds seemed to have been stripped of giving any hint whose room orginally belonged to which mother.
"Shh its ok we're not in danger, I'm here for you pretty girls" Leia said soothingly.
"Lops scared me. She screamed, so I screamed and a-and_" Lizy's words stumbled with not a hint of anger. Merely worry and confusion for her younger twin's outburst
"I had a nightmare." Lops said teary eyed, and seemingly feeling ashamed for her outburst. She gripped the small stuffed bunny in her hand hard. Bun-bun had been an old handme down toy from their uncle. In theory anyone could use it, but it was only the really younger kids who had interest in the small stuffed rabbit.
Leia rubbed the little plant-obsessed girl's back gently to try to help calm her down.
"That's totally fine. We all have those from time to time. Heck last month I dreamed I was bald and forced to dress like a clown by Little." Leia said trying to cheer the plant obsessed girl up just little.
"Do you want to talk about yours." Leia already guessing what it had been about. But she'd thought it was important for the little girl to tell it herself.
"I dreamed that I lost you and Lizy, and Lyra and a-and everyone!" at this the girl started to cry again. Leia glanced at Lizy and knew if she didn't act now both twins would be bawling.
"We're not going anywhere. I promise. Not me, not Lyra, no one. We're all going to be here for you." Leia said this even though she had her own fears about being seperated from her family. But neither of her pretty little cousins needed to hear that.
"B-but our mommies a-and Uncle Linc_" Leia cupped the small girl's face face and made her look straight in the eyes. "We won't leave you little one." Leia said with as much authority she could muster in her voice. "I promise we'll stick by you no matter what. You trust your favorite big cousin right?" asked Leia. The girl nodded.
She then glanced at Lizy once more. "You trust me too right Lizy?" the older twin nodded.
"You know you could count on me for anything right?" Leia asked both of them. They nodded. "Well there you go. I'm going to be here for you. Always. It's as simple as that." Leia silently prayed the twins bought into her logic. That it was enough to placate them for now at the very least. She had almost abandoned them when she tried to sneak off with the adults. If she suceeded she'd be gone. She'd add onto the hurt these girls. The pretty girls holding onto her deserve a better cousin. They deserve a cousin who'd be good enough to where the adults wouldn't need a 'break' just to not go away. Leia knew she didn't deserve their love. But she could at least act in a way aperson who does their love should.
The two nodded, but still looked far from convinced. Leia could not blame them quite frankly. She too feared the recent losses they've endured already would be a start of a bad trend, where she'd lose all that she had love-the two little girls included. She wanted her perfect mother, she wanted her annoying aunts and caring uncle. She never thought she'd lose them, but she lost all of them. But the two little girls didn't need to know their favorite big cousin was afraid.
"Hey, why don't I tell you guys a some funny stories?" Leia asked them with the biggest smile she could muster. They were stories her uncle used to tell her when she got nightmares when she was little. It was about the adventures of a white-haired rabbit and his zany overbearing siblings. At thought of her uncle Leia grew a little more saddened, but did not drop her smile by a fraction. Her pretty girls needed her to smile. And she would smile as long they needed her.
Eventually the two girls drifted off to sleep and light snores filled the room once more.
Leia hoped she'd soon follow and hoped that she'd dream of a time where the world made sense.
"I always liked those dumb stories." a voice piped in softly from the darkness. Leia turned her head to meet the eyes of her suite-loving cousin. "How long have you been awake London?" Leia whispered.
"I've never went to sleep." the suite loving girl admitted, "I've always found the darkness comforting. But tonight, given the news of-of you know it's been rather difficult. It's rather irrational for me to be so troubled by it."
Leia shhok her head in disbelief. "We lost our mothers and uncle."
"But I'm the daughter of Lucy Harriet Loud. I know death to be a natural thing that will come for everyone. "
"London you're still human."
"But I've tried so hard to change that." London said
Leia sighed.
"I've been staring at Lois while she slept. Starring at one of you guys while you sleep usually helps me sleep." London said apropos of nothing.
Leia was not an idiot. She knew London was trying to redirect the conversation into more familiar territory. Nevertheless she played along.
"How often do you do that ?" Leia inquired.
"Not too often. Two, maybe three times times a week and never with the same person."
"That's creepy London." Leia proclaimed with none of her usual vigour. This was the routine the family had built around London and Lucy. One would do something creepy, and when someone around them would comment on said creepiness, the gothic girl or woman would them shrug their shoulders to show they don't care or do/say something evem more creepy.
It was familiar, and it was safe.
"London, can I tell you something."
London was quick to respond."Of course."
"I'm so scared." Leia admitted. She wished she was like Lyra capable of being brave all the time. But she wasn't, and she felt terrible about it.
London sighed. "Me too."
"We will get through this." Lyra repeated to the mirror once more. She took a deep breath before continuing. "We will be ok. I can keep my family safe."
She said this with a tone of absolute certainty.
Lyra stared at her her reflection and was relieved to see not a hint of doubt was shown on her face. This was the face, her cousins needed right now. The face that promised stability, that promised that everything would be all right, and that Lyra had any idea on what she's doing. The face that she feared would prove to be a liar. But right now the best face she could give her cousins who were depending Lyra to be strong. For them she could pretend to be strong. At the very least not reveal how utterly terrified she is.
They didn't need to know that she woke up early this day crying like a baby because of a nightmare where each of them was slowly taken away from her. She was glad she decided to bunk in the same room as Lulu. If her other cousins saw her like that Lyra honestly doesn't know what she'd do.
She absentmindly checked her phone. It was six in the morning. About time for her to do her first official job of the day.
She went down stairs, and grabbed a small glass of water before heading back up stairs to the room that housed her oldest cousins.
She went to the dresser and saw Loan's anxiety medication and took a small pill out of the bottle.
Aunt Lori had been very explicit when talking to Lyra and Liena on the matter of Loan's medicine dosage.
"Loan must Literally have one pill of this everyday at 6:10am sharp." were her exact words to Liena and Lyra.
Loan was often forgetful so It was up to Liena and Lyra to make sure she took her medicine on time when the adults were away. The two took turns for the duty and today was Lyra's.
She walked over Loan gently nudged girl awake. The blond girl's eyes didnt fully open, but she did sit up-it seemed her body was on autopilot. When Lyra handed her the pill the girl dropped it in her mouth. She held out her hand, and Lyra gave her the glass of water.
When Lyra exited the room and stumbled upon Lacy in her usual running attire; a tank top, some running shorts and sneakers. Lacy stared at her as if she was caught in the middle of a crime.
"Um hey cuz."
Lyra gave the other girl a small smile."Hello Lacy. Off on a run?" Lacy and Aunt Lynn always did runs early in the morning togther. Lyra knew Victoria used to accompany them, but the runs had always proved far more taxing on the little girl, than her mother and sister.
Lacy nodded to Lyra's question. "It's important to stay in shape no matter. Miss one workout might as well miss a hundred." Lyra recognized the last part to be one of the frequent saying of Aunt Lynn.
"Do you want some company?" Lyra knew her body would hate her tremendously for this. But she also knew this activty of her cousin's was much about bonding as it being about literal exercise. Doing it alone would be hard for the girl.
Lacy looked relived at the offer. "That'd be awesome Lyra. Today we're going to moderate run."
2 hours later
Lyra was right; her body did hate her. Lyra upon entering the house immediately flopped down on the couch. Her body screamed in agony once she and Lacy returned to the House. That 'moderate run' turned out to be six mile run. Lacy was barely out of breath and was already doing some stretches when Lyra entered the house.. "You know you're not supposed to just lie down after a run."
"Thank you for the advice Lacy." Lyra managed to respond, but she did not move an inch from the couch.
"I appreatiate you coming with me Lyra. It'd be kinda lonely if I did it alone. I would've asked Victory, but my mom said to leave her alone about this sort of stuff. She said Victory isnt built for it. "
Lyra did the best approximation of nodding she could given her physical state.
"That's very considerate of you Lacy. If you_" her body screamed for her not too finish that sentence. Nonetheless she continued, "If you want I could run with you again."
The girl beamed at the question. "That'd be awesome Lyra! I'll whip you into shape."
The girl continued to prattle on how Lyra was making the best decision for her body. Her body would disagree, but looking at the smile on Lacy's face dispelled any sense of doubt for her offer.
Lynn walked into the living room wearing a robe that had couple of stains on it. "Ah you two are up. Good. Wake up your cousins. It's time for breakfast. Then we can could discuss how you will conduct yourselves during your stay."
Lynn recognized his greeting towards the children wasn't great. He should have gotten the house rules right out the gate, but he found their presence too much to deal with it at the time. He thought he was prepared to meet them. He knew they were coming. But seeing them in person was still too much.
Lynn absolutely hated looking at them. Most looked too much like their mothers to an absurd degree.
Even the ones who didn't like their mothers seemed to adopt their mother's gimmick. The boy's attire screamed Luna.
Worst of all, it seemed the universe had placed some cosmic joke on him by having his children repeat the exact paradigm of his children; one boy and a whole lot of girls.
He supposed it could be worse. They for the most part appeared healthy enough-he wondered if Lisa was responsible for this or it was just good fortune. In any case, he'd be granted a fuller picture on any health defects once he's been transferred their medical files, but tor right now, they at least appeared healthy. Well, with the apparent exception of one girl who he knew to be one of Jr's. The girl had a tooth that stuck outside her mouth. She was the hardest to look at.
He enjoyed the prospect of talking to them even less. Nevertheless, he knew he'd have to if he wanted to better care for them. Lynn was not a man who'd shirk his responsibility once he accepted it.
So he stood up from the head of the table and began to explain his thoughts on the new living situation.
"Ok, now that we've all been well-rested and well-fed. We can get down to business." that was a lie in part. Lynn dreamt of his children. More aptly, he had a nightmare about their last moments, with him being there but not being able to help them. When he awoke, he was not anymore at ease. His mind went into constant ponderance on questions he knew he'd never have answers for. What did they say in the end? Did any of them call for him? Did any of them hate him? Did any of them finally in their last moments realize he and Rita were right?' These are the questions that assaulted him. He knew it wasn't rational. He could not have done anything. So what if they hated him? He never gave them cause too, and he had tried hard to help them.
Lynn grounded his teeth. Stop thinking about that. He had business to get done.
"First off, call me Lynn. I'll be upfront; I'm no more happy with this predicament than any of you are, but so long as the rules of the house are followed, then I'll leave you alone. Do you understand?"
The kids nodded. Good. This was going good.
"I'm going to need some of you younger ones to reintroduce yourselves. The social worker gave me your names, and I need to make sure I remember them correctly. Also, I genuinely don't know which sibling is with."
He looked to the girl he knew to be his sport's obsessed daughter's brood. Girls he hadn't seen since they were babes "You two, your names are Lacy and Lynn, right?"
The long tooth girl spoke for the pair. "Yep, those are our names." the long tooth girl placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "This skyscraper is my little sister Lacy." she then pointed to herself, "And I'm Lynn the third. Though people mostly call me Little and my mother called me Victory. I don't mind what you call me, gramps."
Lynn winched at the last word. "Please, just call me Lynn."
Lynn turned to the group; small blond girls clustered together. The oldest spoke for them. "I'm Leia." Lola's girl put one hand on the cap-wearing wearing girl. "This pretty girl is Lizabeth, but we call her Lizy." she put her other hand on the girl with the plant shirt. "This pretty girl is Lops." Lana's girls.
He turned to the pale suit-wearing girl. "London." Lucy's girl
With a brief nod, he finally turned to the boy. "Lemy"
Lynn did know how to feel about his children keeping the L-name tradition. It was a cute thing when he and Rita had done it, but it seemed his children was giving one last mockery to their parents and the very idea of family.
But in any case, these where the children's names.
"Ok, now that is settled, we could get on to the rules of the house.
Lynn held up a finger.
"Rule one, never go into my room when I'm not there or without my permission. This is just basic courtesy I'm sure your mothers and Uncle taught you. Speaking of rooms there will be no locked or closed doors in this house except mine and obviously the bathroom's. If you don't feel comfortable doing it in public you shouldn't be doing it."
He held up the second finger. "Rule two, you will go to school, and you do your work. I lead a busy life. I do not need to be hassled by the schools because of your nonsense. Apropos of that, you will go to school in two weeks. I trust you'll act appropriately."
He held up a third finger. "Rule three clean up after yourselves. This means Keeping your rooms clean, cleaning off your plates, if you make a mess it is your responsibility to deal with it, you will not leave it for someone else to deal with. You're not animals. I expect you to act civilized."
He held up a forth finger. "Rule four, never waste food in this house. If you don feel like finishing something, save it dont just throw it away. There are children in North korea who'd literally kill for a fraction of the food in this house. Be grateful you're here instead."
He held up his thumb. "Rule five, don't break my stuff. My stuff being this entire house and everyting currently in it."
He held his hand up higher. "These rules are in my opinion easy to follow. I expect we'll have no problem now that I've made perfectly clear what to expect from all of you."
He moved towards the refrigerator which had a piece of paper stuck on it. "Here you will see the daily chores assigned to each of you. I expect you'll not fail to complete them. If you fail to do your duties you will be grounded or worse. We'll rotate who does what every week."
He pointed to Loan. "Girl you're in charge if I'm not here. It's up to you to a make sure everything that's needed to get done gets done, and that your younger cousins behave themselves."
He turned to leave.
There. He got out all he needed to say for the time being. Good job Lynn.
"That's not a good idea." a raspy voice said.
Lynn turned around. It was Luna's girl who apparently spoke. She in addition to looking like Luna sounded exactly like her mother as well. Lynn also realized these were actually the first words she spoken to him in years. The last being when she was a tot. Lynn was glad she didn't adopt her mother's interest in dress too.
Luna's girl repeated her proclamation. "Loan isn't comfortable being in charge."
Lynn shrugged his shoulders. "The girl's nearer to an adult than all of you. And she's Lori's girl."
The brunette's eyes widened. As if what Lynn said wasn't basic common sense. Though he shouldn't be so surprised given their parentage.
The brunette shook her head. "She has issues. Anxiety being a big one. She's not equipped yet to handle the situation."
Lynn chewed on that statement. It appears the inbreeding had effected more than of them. Disappointing, but not surprising.
He nodded in acceptance. "Ok who should be in charge. You I take it? Lynn asked.
Lyra responded quickly. "Or Liena."
Lynn shrugged his shoulders in acceptance.
He turned to leave, but Lyra stopped him. "When is the funeral?"
Apparently he was taking longer than necessary to respond because Luna's girl theighned to ask him the same question once more.
"Mr. Lynn when is the funeral for our mothers and uncle? "
"Just Lynn is fine." Lynn said reflexively, but didn't give an answer to her question.
Lynn... didn't know how to respond to that question. He honestly hadn't considered the fact he'd have to handle the burial of his children.
"That should be a little over a week. My mother made sure her siblings and herself had proper funeral insurance. All you have to do is drive us to the ceremony."
The suite wearing girl spoke with a voice that was monotone. Definitely Lucy's girl.
Ah. Problem resolved. Lynn felt a measure of guilt at having felt relief at the news.
"What about allowances?"
Luna's girl asked "At home we we're each given a stipend for completing chores. Do you think we could get something similar to that?"
Lynn mulled over the idea in his head. He and Rita did give out allowances to their own children. They had initially staged a chore-strike, but it was Lincoln who convinced them through an admittedly great presentation for why it was only practical for he and his siblings to get allowances. Lynn remembered being proud of his boy. He wasn't a genuise like Lisa, but when it came to things he truly be brilliant. It was a shame Lincoln could't use his natural talent to good in the world.
"Ok, you'll each get ten bucks every two weeks."
He turned to leave again."We also need to know when our stuff from our home would arrive. We didn't have much time to pack." Luna's girl continued.
Lynn could concede that this too was reasonble enough question. He replied. "A couple days. I've already talked with a company that would bring what you had over. Now Is there anything else?"
Leni's girl spoke this time. "What's for dinner?" the large girl asked.
Lynn was quick to respond to that. "I planned to make a chicken casserole."
At this the girl smiled. "That sounds great Lynn. Can I help out?"
Lynn could not say he was displeased with the offer for help. Cooking for such a large group of people-and for that matter cooking well-could be a daunting task. But this was Leni's girl after all. Lynn worried that the girl may have inherited her all mother's brains if not looks. "Do you much experience cooking? And if so what have said in regards to your peformance" Lynn inquired. Have you burned stuff before? If so how bad?
Leni's girl smiled again. "I've been cooking nearly all the family's meals since I was twelve." she gave a look as if heavily debating something in her head before continuing, "My mom says_" she winched at the slip, "My mom said I got my cooking skills from you Lynn."
Despite his...feelings towards his second eldest, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at his cooking skill being used as a compliment.
"Thank you for the offer."
Lynn then loudly addressed the crowd of children. "I really do have to leave now. My restaurant opens up early, and I've never been one to shirk my responsibility.
Throughout the day, Lemy became even more frustrated. Everyone kept acting like their moms, and Lincoln wasn't dead. His sister was the worst among them. The first thing she did when Lynn left went over to his stupid chore list and pronounced they should start get everything done. Yeah, our moms and Lincoln are dead but lets just cleaning up the place of a guy who looks at us like we're trash.
It was wrong. Everything was wrong. And he wanted at least someone to acknowledge it.
When they were finished, Lyra called everyone to the room she was staying in with Lulu. She even started the meeting by banging her shoe on the bed; she was standing over to start it off, just like she'd do at home.
"I feel a meeting is in the order given recent events," Lyra said calmly. "It's important to talk about any discomfort you may have over this new situation. So please do so."
Lemy was the first one to speak."Are you guys all fucking insane?"
Everyone with the exception of Lulu and Lyra gasped in shock. Usually, his big sister would be quick to snap at him for dropping any bad words around her. One time when he was eight, she even bent him over her knee and spanked him when he used a particular word he heard on TV to insult another kid.. Admittedly the word was something that rhymed with maggot, and something he'd come to realize was a pretty big insult for people like his mom after having Lyra sit down and explain what it meant. So Lyra had a zero-tolerance policy against swearing from the younger kids. So Lemy took her lack of reaction as evidence she knew his question was right.
"Our moms and Lincoln are dead. We lost our home, and we're living with a guy who wants nothing to do with us. Why the fuck are you guys acting like everything is fine!" he was screaming at the end."It isn't fine stop pretending it is!"
Throughout all this, Lyra merely looked at him. Not with anger. But sadness.
"Lemy, you are right. Half of our family is dead. People who've loved and cherished us are gone forever."
She took a deep sigh. "We will never see a brilliantly prank from Aunt Luane again."
Lois hugged London; the gothic suit-wearing girl rubbed her magic obsessed cousin on the back.
"We will never see Aunt Lisa perfect a brand new invention that would help humanity." Little's eyes started to water at that. Lacy put a hand on her older sister's shoulder.
"I will never get to sing with our mother again. Everything is worse now that they're gone." Lyra said.
"So stop acting like it isn't," Lemy demanded. She was hurt. Lemy knew Lyra loved their mom, so why wasn't she upset about it? Would this be how'd she act if he dies? Ah, Lemy was great little bro, now let's quickly forget about him, there are chores that need doing. The thought of it made him Angry. And though he would never admit it made him scared.
Lyra shook her head, "We're not. That's why we're having this meeting. Everyone has something to say, and we're hopefully going to listen to them. You can stay, or you can leave I won't stop you if you think this meeting is a waste of time, but if you are going to stay you will be silent and respectful when others are speaking." her eyes narrowed and see looked at their cousins. "That applies to all of you."
Lyra's eyes scanned them. "Now, who else would like to get something off their chest?"
No one said a word for a moment. It would be their second-youngest who'd break the silence. "I-I had a nightmare."
Leia looked panicked, "Lops you know_"
Before she could finish her sentence, Lyra cut her off, "Leia it's Lop's turn to talk. You'll get a chance to speak. But, until then you will respect your cousin and allow her to speak. Have I made myself clear?."
Leia looked sour At the shutdown. Nonetheless, she obeyed Lyra, and kept quiet.
Lyra nodded to Lops with a smile. "Continue dear."
Lops still looked nervous as hell. But the little girl continued, "We we're in a scary dark, scary, place and all of you kept leaving and I-couldn't do anything." at this the small girl broke down crying.
Leia wrapped the small girl in a girl in a hug and even glared at Lyra. Lyra did not say anything at first she just walked to the blonde girls and knelt down. "Lops, thank you so much for sharing."
"I woke up thinking last night was a bad dream." Liena said. "Like a really bad dream. I panicked and almost screamed before I came to my senses."
"I'll admit to having trouble sleeping." Little growled out, "I spent the entire night doing quantum physics equations in my head; the ones Aunt Lisa taught told she went through when she was a brat; didn't work that good. I fell asleep only a few hours after Lyra came to wake me up for Lynn's stupid meeting."
London nodded in sympathy. "I had trouble sleeping too. Even after staring at Lois while she slept."
Everyone stared at her with the exception Lois apparently who showed not an ounce of of being disturbed with what just London admitted to doing and Leia who rolled her eyes.
Lemy decided to voice what most people in the room were thinking. "That's uh a bit creepy cuz."
London just looked at him him with a rare smile. "Thank you Lemy."
Lemy did not know what to say to that.
The meeting continued like that with nearly everyone telling the group how they dealt with the news of what happened. Most of them did have trouble in it. Lyra even said she had a little trouble in sleeping They all took a turn throwing some shade at Lynn. Lyra, even chimed in that "Our grandfather does appear to be a difficult man."
Lemy knew this was Lyra speak for 'the guy's a fucking dick!'
He could see that they were hurting. In some weird way it almost made situation a little bit less bad. Almost.
Discretion Assured beta-read this. Great guy you should read his stories. Better than mine. Though that's not a particularly high bar to pass.