I'm happy all of you like the story. Most of the reviews are about things that will be shown soon, so I will cover the one that wasn't.

-BG: It was a mistake.


"Hey, cheer up now, there is someone I want you to meet." Dr. Lopez said warmly.

In an adoption office that could only mean one thing - someone wanted to adopt him. While he had no doubt in his mind Dr. Lopez found someone good, he still felt weird. Could someone, anyone, take a child that spent twelve years with someone else and just call them their own? Would it even get that far? He wasn't exceptional, sitting somewhere in the middle in just about every way possible. There were surely thousands of kids who needed it - or deserved it - more than him. How does he even approach this? Should he treat it like a sales pitch, does he let them talk and or ask questions, how many things should he ask, does he call Sir and Mam, or Mr. and Mrs. Slow down Lincoln, he told himself, you are overthinking it.

"Who is it, Dr. Lopez?" Lincoln asked nervously.

"It's... it will be easier if I show you." Dr. Lopez said calmly, getting out of her chair and going to the door. Opening the door, she let two behemoths in.

The man had white hair and blue eyes. He also looked... awfully similar to him, that is strange. The woman had blond hair, green eyes, and freckles.

"Lincoln, these are Walter and Sophia White, your biological parents." Dr. Lopez said, a little nervous herself. Part of it was because they were scaring her, but it was mostly because she wasn't fully sure how Lincoln would react to this.

Lincoln blinked twice and looked at the two. His brain took a moment to process what he had just heard. "Ah..." he chuckled awkwardly. "...What?"

If those were his real parents, that met... it meant he was adopted. Was that why they threw him out? Did they too get tired of him? Why did his parents leave him in the first place? Did they abandon him, lose him, let him go? If they didn't want him then, why do they want him now? Do they pity him? Are they remorseful for letting this happen to him? Did they just change their mind? If they were his real parents... Were they? They looked like it but looks can be deceiving. Was Dr. Lopez lying to him, trying to sell him a story so he would go more easily? She doesn't want him either.

"Lincoln, I know this is a lot to take in, so take deep breaths." Dr. Lopez said calmly.

Lincoln did as instructed. Wow, now he understands why Clyde needs those bags. Might need to ask him for one, he noted.

"I know what you are probably thinking, so I will tell you what happened; you can ask if you have questions after, okay?" Lincoln nodded. "You were born on the same day as the Louds' daughter. Since you both had white hair, the staff mixed you up - giving you to the Louds and her to the Whites."

Did they confuse him for a girl? Ouch. He couldn't blame them though; he saw how Lily looked when she was born. The twins even though she was a troll, Lola refused to go near her for a month. Okay, that was somewhat of a relief; he wasn't abandoned, just swapped. How did he not see them before? A white-haired goliath would stand out like a sore thumb, and Royal Woods was small enough for something like that to be public knowledge; everyone knew there was a white-haired boy in the town, so he would have heard about a white-haired girl. Right, the girl, what about her? Hopefully, she wouldn't be like the rest of the Louds; hopefully...

"How haven't I seen you before?" Lincoln asked.

"We moved to Great Lake City shortly after you were born." Walter said calmly.

Hey, that's where Ronnie went. Wait, that's where Ronnie went - that's three hours away.

"Lincoln, would you like to tell them something about yourself." Dr. Lopez said, seeing no one knew what to say.

"Uh..." Lincoln thought for a second. They knew his name, and age, so he can skip that, or should he do it regardless? Should he ask Dr. Lopez how they know they are his parents now or wait till later. Yeah, put her on a spot. No, you talked about this, he thought, there is no conspiracy against you; she didn't lie before, she won't now. "I'm Lincoln L... I'm Lincoln, I'm twelve years old, I go to Royal Woods Middle school." he said nervously, "I like video games and comics; my favorite series is Ace Savvy. I can play chess... I can play the guitar... uh... my favorite color is orange..." He imagined it going for a bit longer, but it was best to not bore them with every single show he watched or comic he read, they wouldn't understand it anyway.

"You can play the guitar?" Walter asked, a guitarist himself, though a bit rusty.

"Yeah, my sister taught me." He might be overselling on that front, as he only knows a few songs. Luna did try teaching him several instruments; the only reason he stuck with the guitar more was that one was always available. Sometimes, electric, sometimes bass, but a guitar nonetheless. Speaking of sisters, "You have a daughter, right?" Lincoln asked, a little nervous. He didn't have a feud with his sisters, most understanding they were wrong from the start, but still, they made him a bit uneasy. He wasn't exactly mad, more disappointed and betrayed.

Would the girl, their sister, ... his sister? Would she be like the rest? His sister vari- hold that thought. Are they? They lived together for twelve years; nothing would change that. They did throw him out, but they felt bad about it later, and they are... okay now? Did they know? Did Lisa find out, no she defiantly knew, the question was if the rest did? Was that why this whole thing started, they found out? Even if they didn't know before, now they certainly would. Will they want to speak with him again?

"Lincoln, are you okay?" Dr. Lopez asked worriedly.

He was panicking again. Calm down, remember, deep breaths... deep breaths. Lincoln calmed himself enough to speak. "Y-You have a daughter, right?"

"Yes." Sophia said. "She's outside if you want to talk to her."

"Okay..." Lincoln said.

"But before you do, we have something to ask you." Walter added quickly. "You probably know why we are here..." Lincoln nodded. "Good. What we want to ask you is, do you want us to adopt you?"

Lincoln produced a nervous smile before looking at Dr. Lopez, receiving no answer. It was his choice, something she would surely not let others choose for him. Does he say yes? How does this even work? He agrees, they take him to Great Lace City, and he starts a new life tomorrow? He wanted to say goodbye first, at least.

Seeing his look, Walter spoke quickly. "You don't have to answer now." he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "We... can't take you in right now, we still have to get everything ready."

"Can I ask you some questions first?" Lincoln asked. He had no idea who these two were, and they were already asking him to go with them. His parents, for all of their flaws, thought him of stranger danger. And while it didn't exactly apply here, he still wasn't going to go with any random person who asked him to.

"Of course." Sophia said.

"Who are you?" Lincoln asked awkwardly, making everyone cringe. "I'm sorry it that sounded weird, but I don't know anything about you."

"No, it's okay, we understand." Walter said. "I'm a processor developer and Sophy is working in telecommunications; more simply, I make chips for computers, she plans where the internet goes. We both graduated colleges, I have a master's degree..." he thought for a second before continuing. "Sophy is a great chef, I can play the guitar... Is there something you wanted to know in particular?" he asked nervously. He guessed it was better to skip to the point than drone on until he hit the mark.

"No, I just wanted to know more about you." Lincoln said with a sheepish smile.

"Lincoln, why don't you go and meet their daughter, while I talk to them for a bit." Dr. Lopez said.

"Okay." Lincoln got out of his chair. He went to the door but was stopped by Sophia before he could reach it.

"We are sorry for everything. We should have known something was wrong, instead, we didn't, and you got hurt." Sophia said somberly.

"It's okay. What happened is the fault of my parents, no one else." Lynn's too, but mostly their, Lincoln told himself.

Sophia smiled happily.

Lincoln left the room, leaving the adults alone.

"Do you think he will..." Walter said nervously, taking a seat in a chair in front of Dr. Lopez.

"Don't worry, he just needs some time to process everything." Dr. Lopez said reassuringly. "I have all the paperwork here, if everything goes well, you should be able to take him home by next week."

"Thank you for your help, Dr. Lopez, we don't know what we wouldn't have done without you." Sophia said.

"It's no problem." Dr. Lopez said with a chuckle. "You would have just waited a week or two more otherwise."

"Does he have some topics we should avoid, or any fears and such?" Sophia asked.

"I haven't noticed anything in particular, but I would advise you don't talk about what happened and the trial." Lincoln took the whole ordeal surprisingly well, though she did go in with expectations he would be like Clyde. "If he shows anxiety after moving in, don't be afraid to take him to a therapist, it's normal for children to worry after being adopted."

"We will." Walter said surely. "Now, let's sort the papers out."


Winter waited outside the office, overwhelmed with anxiety. She slept in the car for longer than that night, for one reason. She found out what happened.

After the talk, she snuck out to find the paper her father read. Not even fully knowing what she was looking for, she found it instantly. On the front page was a picture of a white-haired boy, who looked early similar to her. Accompanying it was an article about the whole ordeal, and wow, just wow. Ten sisters, she had ten sisters, and two parents willing to throw a kid out over luck. Her parents were here to adopt that boy... Lincoln. She remembered! Would he blame her for what happened? She hoped not, as that would make it difficult to live together. She also read her younger sisters were already adopted. She hoped she could meet the older ones at least, though.

"Excuse me, is Dr. Lopez busy?" A calm voice asked, making Winter jump out of her chair. "Sorry, I'm trying to do that less."

"It's okay, I wasn't paying attention." Winter saw a very pale black-haired girl. She wore a short black dress and black shoes. "Yeah, Dr. Lopez is talking to my parents right now."

"Are you getting adopted?" The girl asked.

"No, but they want to adopt someone else." Winter said quickly.

"Okay, I'll have to come back later then." The girl said, a little disappointed. "I'm Lucy by the way."

"Winter." Winter said and the girl walked away.

The door opened soon after, making Winter jump out of her seat, this time in anticipation. Did her parents finish? Can they go home now?

Instead of her parents, out came Lincoln. As soon as he saw Winter, he stopped. They said she has white hair, but it was still surprising. What was more surprising was just how similar they were; you could clearly tell them apart, and neither looked like they were the other gender, but you could still confuse them if you didn't pay attention. And, while she could clearly see her father in him, he could make out bits of his family in her; she was clearly a Loud, there was no doubt in his mind.

They remained like that, staring at one another, for a few minutes, before Lincoln spoke.

"Hi... I'm Lincoln..." He said nervously.

"I'm Winter..." she said awkwardly.

"That's... a nice name... I guess..."

He didn't make fun of her? He didn't even say anything about her real family. That's a good start.

"So... are we siblings now?" Winter asked anxiously.

"I... uh... I don't know... I need to think about it for a bit." Lincoln said, nervously rubbing the back of his head. He didn't want to disappoint her... or his (original) parents, but he really wanted to have some time to take all of it in. Maybe talk to Clyde while he is at it, test run explaining the situation to his sisters on Lily, or just sleep on it, that always helped.

"Oh, I see..." Winter said solemnly. "Maybe I can help you if you have some questions." she quickly added.

Lincon thought for a second. "What's the school like?" he shrugged.

"What can it be like, boring." Winter said with a chuckle. "It's close to our apartment though, about ten minutes of walking."

That gave him an idea. "Did they say something about my room?" Lincoln said with unease in his voice. Moving to Clyde's was easy because his family already packed everything for him. He didn't miss his room much though, as the guestroom at the McBrides had a closet bigger than his room. While he could fit into a closet again, he really hoped that wouldn't be the case.

"No... they didn't talk about you too much in general. We don't have spare rooms..." Lincoln got uneasy. "Though dad does have an office and my room is big enough to have you as well."

"Great, I slept in a closet previously, so that's why I asked." Lincoln said, relieved he could finally come out of the closet for good.

"What?" Winter said. Thinking about it though, they are either cramping five kids into a room or having them sleep in closets to fit them into a house, neither of which sounded like a good way to live.

"It's not that bad, at least I got my own room." Lincoln said.

"What did the rest have?" Winter asked.

"The rest would share a room with another sister." Lincoln said.

"Can I ask you something?" Winter asked nervously.

"Sure." Lincoln said.

"My- your sisters, what are they like?" Winter asked.

"Well..." Lincoln sat on a chair by Winter.

He told her about his- her- their sisters. Who they were as people, what they liked doing, their talents, and the misadventures they got in over the years. Winter listened intently and with admiration. She would and did, forget half of what he just said, but he didn't even stutter or make a pause to collect his thoughts. Her sisters all sounded interesting. Chaotic, but interesting. Though it was to be expected, ten kids could be nothing but a walking tornado.

As the two kids talked, the adults finished in the office. Upon leaving, they were greeted by a scene that put a smile on their faces.

"Winny, sweetie, we have to get going." Her mother said, not happy to break them up.

"Okay..." Winter said solemnly. "Bye Lincoln, I hope you choose to stay with us."

"Bye." Lincoln said, waving them goodbye.

"So, what do you think?" Dr. Lopez asked once they were far enough away.

"They are nice." Lincoln said happily. "But I still worry about what my sisters will say."

"Don't worry, they will be happy you have found a family, and I am sure they will love to meet Winter."

"What if they throw me to the side for her?" Lincoln said with worry.

"Lincoln, your sisters did some bad things, but they don't hate you."

"Can I talk to Lucy later?"

"Hi." Lucy said, startling them only slightly. Unlike most times, they were more surprised upon seeing her than hearing her. Like many of his sisters, Lucy had done some soul searching since. She no longer had hair over her eyes, parting them to reveal her whole face, and had dropped the shirtless sleeves.

"Lucy, what are you doing here?" Dr. Lopez asked.

"You forgot this, Mrs. Lopez." Lucy said, handing her a folder.

"Thank you, Lucy. And you know you don't have to address me like that."

"Sorry..." she said shamefully, "What did you want to talk about Lincoln?"

"Well... I'm getting adopted..." He said nervously.

"That's great news, I'm sure everyone will be delighted to hear it." Lucy said with a smile, making Lincoln a bit uncomfortable. It was normal and appropriate, but he still needed time to get used to Lucy's new personality.

"Well... uh... it's by my biological family..." He said. Seeing Lucy's confused expression on her face for once, he continued. "I'm not a Loud... I was swapped at birth."

Lucy gave him a blank look, what he assumed she's been doing all those years, before drily saying. "We owe Lynn 50 buck."

"Why?" Lincon asked, confused by the response. "Okay." or "I still love you." or "I never want to see you again." were more in line with his expectations. At the very least, she wasn't rejecting him.

"When they took you away, we held a meeting to discuss what to do. Lynn bet fifty dollars you weren't related to us, and we all bet against her." Lucy said.

"Sorry, I guess..."

"Don't be, she won't collect it."

Lynn won't collect fifty dollars? "What?"

"Yeah, she's been down since the last trial. It's the main reason I'm coming out of the darkness; I can't match up to her, so I gave up. Ha, ha." Lucy said, the last part with no emotion.

Lucy never weirded him out before, and that was when she hung out in the graveyards, but now she was starting to. Hopefully, she can get a hang of this. "So... you have no problems with us not being related?"

"No, it changes nothing." Lucy said with a more natural smile.

"That's good to hear..." Lucy hugged Lincoln, stopping his train of thought. "What was that for?"

"So, you know my words aren't empty." Lucy said.

Lincoln hugged her back. "Thank you."