That was longer than I expected. This chapter took a bit longer because it's the end of school year, the time all my terrible studying habits catch up to me. HOORAY! Thank God it's over now. With a bit of luck, I will be back to my regular schedule.

-Guest: You're probably not going to read this, so I'll just run through this quickly.

Thanks for your feedback. Lily is two in the show, many kids still need diapers at that age.

Lucy and Luna thing is just to flesh out the world and show that what happened had effects.

Again, I appreciate your feedback. It does make sense, but it doesn't change what they did. I needed a reason to remove the Loud parents out of the picture entirely. I am aiming for a purely happy ending. So, no split custody arrangements where Lincoln and Winter get to spend the weekends or school breaks with the other family. I have reasons why I think this isn't a good option, but this is dragging too long already.

I didn't use psychopath in its strictest definition. Psychopath is often used as hyperbole for a bad person. But tell me something. Would you consider a person that abandoned you because of how you were born to have emotions?


The window turned on and Lisa sat back in her chair. The camera showed a wide view of her room, showing Lincoln she was in good hands. It surprised him just how many toys there were. Stuffed animals on the bed, some blocks on the floor, and even a kitchen set. They weren't neatly packed either, even the kitchen set was scattered around. The room wasn't covered in toys, he certainly saw worse, but the fact Lisa was playing with something that wouldn't blow up half the city made him happy.

"Hello, brother." Lisa smiled.

"What's wrong?" Lincoln asked, only half joking.

"Is my smile too awkward, I apologies, I am still working on it." Lisa said.

"No, it's fine, it's just that you do it so rarely."

"Yes, I seek to correct that part of my behavior in the future." Lisa said. "Since I have scheduled the call, I believe it is in order I begin, so..." Lisa squeezed her eyes. "How are you settling in?"

"It's fine, all things considered. My new room is huge!" He took the laptop and rotated it to show her a more of the room. "It feels like I can fit five more people in here."

"My rough estimate would say an additional ten people would be possible." Lisa commented. "I am happy you got an actual room this time around, your previous one was... less than ideal."

"How are you doing? What are your new parents like?" Lincoln asked.

"I think I could have only found 0.5% better parents if I tried. They support and understand my scientific endeavors, I don't have to explain everything I say to them, and they aren't forcing me into academic institutions that are far below my capabilities." Lisa could barely contain the smile stretching from one ear to the other.

"That's great to hear." Lincoln said, only slightly unsettled by her smile. She was giving Lucy a good run for her money. "Dr. Lopez told me you were teaching in a university, how is that? Oh, you wouldn't have happened to see her son there?"

"It is certainly different to only doing occasional presentations, I feel like I am actually getting to know some of them. And as for Mr. Lopez, I have met him, I can see he inherited only the best from his mother." Lisa said.

"I'm glad you like it. Are you making any friends? Your age, I mean." Lincoln said.

"As you might have noticed, my room is in a slight state of disarray. Our neighbors visited earlier and brought over their child. I have also been to the local playgrounds. In my humble opinion, I dominate on the swing." Lisa proclaimed. "But I do not mean to brag, I am yet to reach absolute dominance. Cursed Brandon and his sliding proficiency."

"Please promise me you won't vaporize him." Lincoln joked.

"Do not worry, I will only cryogenically freeze him for the duration of my stay at the park." Lisa said.

Lincoln chuckled before biting his lip. "So, there is something I've been meaning to tell you..."

"You had "borrowed" my borrowed my Cryolator to win a snowball fight, last year, but instead you froze Mr. Grouse's door and trapped him inside for two hours before I had to free him?" Lisa asked. "I know. Despite the impression my voice may give, I am not angry about it. I am also not angry that you broke it when you tried to dispose of the evidence."

Lincoln smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that... but that's now what I wanted to say." Lincoln took a deep breath. "I have been swapped at birth."

"I know." Lisa said calmly.

"I figured as much." Lincoln said. "Someone told you already?"

"No, I have known about it, in a way, for some time now. I discovered you were not related to us last year while doing some unrelated genetic research. I did not pay much attention to it then. I just thought you were adopted and already knew." Lisa explained.

"How would I already know about that? Wouldn't someone have mentioned it if I had?"

"Many adopted children know they are from an early age. I am not very well versed in social interactions, I believed I had more pressing matters to attend to, since I presumed you already knew, or that our parents would handle it when they believed it to be best. In retrospect, telling you could have had positive effects."

"You think they would have given me up instead of kicking me out?" Lincoln chuckled but his face said it was no joke.

"I wouldn't put it past them, but it wasn't what I was referring to. If I had revealed the information, we would have discovered you were not adopted but misplaced. From there, I would have located your biological parents. This who... fiasco would have been either entirely averted or had reduced damage. However, it cannot be helped now. What happened, happened. The best we can do is try to move on and do our best not to repeat our mistakes."

"I guess. I didn't ask you, or anyone for that matter. How do you feel about all of this? I know you visited Dr. Lopez, but I didn't pry into what you two talked about."

"The standard subjects. She asked you all the same questions she asked me. For better or worse, my options have not changed much since then. I am, regrettably, very impartial to everything that happened. I had known since I was two that this family was at considerable risk of falling apart. Even then I made contingencies. I researched what would happen in cases it would break up, what those cases were, my options, your options... Overall, for me it was not as traumatic as it should have been. I foresaw the future and prepared for it so, when it did come, I wasn't surprised."

"Don't blame yourself, I-"

"I will have to cut you off there, Lincoln. I know you mean the best, but this is beyond your area of expertise. I am more than aware of who is to blame for what, and I can tell you I bare more blame than people are willing to place on me. I might be five, partially blind, and neuroatypical, but I am still smarter than any psychiatrist this country, or any other, can send me to. There is no point dwelling on that now, it is in the past."

"Some things are better left buried..." Lincoln crossed his arms and slouched in the chair. "I guess you know about Winter too."

Lisa nodded. "I am aware of her, and what happened on her last visit to the house. If you don't mind, I would like to talk to her later, since we didn't have a chance to do so before."

"Of course. I didn't have much of a plan, so I can ask her now."

"You not having a plan? Are you feeling alright brother?"

Lincoln chuckled. "You could say it was a crazy day."

"Our way of life is persistent. It is to be expected, however, the Casagrades aren't too different from us."

"How did you know?"

"An educated guess. Also, Ronnie Anne contacted us when you didn't answer her."

"Yeah..." Lincoln blushed. "I bit more than I could chew there."

"We all make mistakes."

"You can say that twice." Lincoln jumped out of the chair. "If you want, I can go for Winter now."

"Unless you had something you wanted to discuss, I would appreciate it verry much."

"I'll be back in a second, don't go anywhere."

Hastily, Lincoln went out of his room and knocked on Winter's door. A hushed "Yeah?" came out before he creaked the door open.

Winter raised her head from the bed to look at the door. She strangled the words in her throat to prevent herself from saying anything.

Lincoln adopted a more nervous demeanor when he saw her looking at him, half like he was there to kill her and half like she wanted to kill him. "I was talking to Lisa... If you want to, she wants to talk to you."

Winter sat up. Her sister? Lisa was the only one she hadn't seen in Royal Woods. She was the smartest too. However, she was a Loud. What could she want to talk about? Probably just to meet her. That thought didn't sit right with Winter. Like a jacket in the peak of summer, it was a disaster waiting to happen, just like last time. It couldn't be like the last time though. She was on the phone, and alone. "If I'm not interrupting you..." she said meekly.

"Not at all. Just don't end the call when you are done." Lincoln left the room before abruptly returning. "The computer is in my room."

Winter got up and went to the room. There, she looked around before seeing the open computer on the desk. It was a video call. Lisa looked different from the picture in the newspaper. Her hair was tidier, her sweater fitter better, the glasses weren't so comically oversized. She looked like a five-year-old, cute. Looks can be deceiving, however. A cute facade to bring your guard down and open you up for a devastating strike. Her heart told her to leave, she changed her mind, she'll think of a reason later. However, her brain told her it was too late. Lisa was waving at her. She saw her.

She put up the best smile she could and walked up to the computer. "Hi..."

"Hell, you must be Winter. I am Lisa, your younger sister."

"Yeah, Lincoln told me about you." That didn't sound too menacing, did it?

"I expected as much, I was hoping for it actually. It makes my job here a lot easier."

"Job? Is this something important?"

"Customs dictated that it is important to meet your siblings. But I am guessing you were referring to other business, in which chase, there is none."

"Yeah..." Winter scratched her neck, but the itch didn't go away. "Since I know you, I guess I'm supposed to introduce myself."

"If that is how you wish to start then, by all means, go ahead."

"I'm Winter White, I'm twelve, I live in Great Lake City... You knew that already, actually... Ah... I play the piano, I do gymnastics... I go to school..." She knew that too!

"That sounds interesting." Lisa said. "I would love to hear you play some time."

"My keyboard is in my room, so some other time maybe."

"There is no hurry." Lisa adjusted her glasses. "I heard about how your visit to Royal Woods went."

Winter pursed her lips.

"I know some of my sisters have already apologized for their behavior, but I still feel a need to apologize on their behalf. Both of those that have and haven't done so. We are rather... insane, for a lack of a better word, and it can be difficult for many to adjust to it. If it means something, you have done better than 80% of those who visited."

"That's cool, I guess." Winter twiddled her thumbs under the table. "How is your life going?" she asked in a lack of other topics.

"Fine, given the circumstances. I talked about this with Lincoln, but I doubt he had relayed it to you. I had contingency plans in cases like this, so I did not have too many problems adjusting to my new surroundings. The only thing I did not anticipate was the number of social interactions I would be forced into. Everything else was as planned, however."

"You knew this would happen?" Winter was surprised. Lisa had already surprised her with how articulate she was. She expected her to stutter, repeat fazes, go on pointless tangents, or even lose interest and leave. However, she acted like she was ten times her age.

"I knew it was likely to happen. I think most of us had, most just decided to ignore the signs of it, however."

"Did you warn them?"

"I mentioned the many issues plaguing our family several times to our parents. However, for various reasons, they dismissed my rightful concerns as paranoia. It could not have been helped, in many ways. The root of our problems was how many of us were there. With thirteen people, one is bound to get you into trouble with the state."

"So, you were scientist of the family?" Winter changed the topic.

"Scientist, doctor, engineer, chemist, biologist... if it sounds science-y, I was it."

Winter thought for a moment. "What was the craziest thing you did?"

Lisa opened her mouth but stopped herself. "Excellent question, I hadn't had an idea to compile a comprehensive list of my experiments, ranked by how "interesting" they were. There are some standouts I can think of the top of my tung. Time travel, dimension hopping, animating human waste, clon-"

"Hold on! Time travel? Dimension hopping? I'm sorry, but that sounds a little wild to believe."

"I can assure you; they are all real. The two examples you listed I cannot back up at this moment. The time machine was lost when I used it to go back in time, and the device needed to perform movement between dimensions was disposed of when it nearly caused its initial tester to get permanently stuck in a dimension. Well, until I made another at least, or my counterpart did."

"Who tested it?"

"Lincoln. He tests most of my research. If you see some oddities on him, like a tail, extra limbs, flight, laser eyes, telekinesis, or any other, you can safely say it was my work, and call me as soon as possible.

"That won't happen, though, right?"

"I do not feel comfortable making false statements."

Winter gulped at the prospect of Lincoln waking up one morning and setting the building on fire. What did she do to him to make something like that even possible? Eradiate him? Who would allow that? What kind of neglectful, irresponsible, immature, good for nothing... Right, her parents.

"Can I ask you something?" Winter looked away from the screen.

"Certainly."

"Did you know about what happened with me and Lincoln?"

"The misplacement? Yes."

"And you didn't say anything?" Winter raised her head.

"I believed Lincoln was adopted and failed to conduct further investigation. I realized the failure of my ways a long time ago."

"Did you know about me?"

"No, as I said, I didn't look into it any further."

Winter tapped her fingers, trying to think of something to say. Lisa is five, shouldn't she be talkative enough to carry a conversation? Why is she dead silent then? "Is there something you want to talk about?"

"Not in particular. I just wanted to meet you."

"Well, you did that." Winter chuckled nervously. "Did I live up to your expectations?"

"The only expectation, if you can call it that, was that everyone exaggerated how much you resembled Lincoln. That and the color of your hair. I am pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong however, this is infinitely more interesting."

"It's what it is." Winter tried to hide her disdain for the topic, doing it well enough for Lisa not to notice.

"Indeed. I can just imagine you two have already concocted some prank to pull on unsuspecting neighbors or acquaintances. That reminds me. How is Lincoln behaving so far? I am aware of his incident from earlier today, but I hope it isn't a part of a growing trend."

"He's fine, I guess. He didn't do anything, yet."

"I am glad to hear that."

Again, silence. Winter stared at the screen expectingly, but Lisa just stared back. The situation was becoming unbearable. Why isn't she saying something? Is she waiting? Did she say something wrong? Did the internet just stall? None of it seemed to be the case. Lisa just wasn't a talker.

"Can I ask you something. It might be personal, so you don't have to answer." Lisa had reservations in her voice.

"What is it?"

"Do you hate me?"

"Why is that personal?"

"Due the past events and current circumstances, the situation is… less than ideal, to say the least. I would not have expected you to jump into our arms from the first time we saw each other, even in the best of circumstances. However, with things how they are… I guess I just want to know where we stand, that's all."

Someone knocked on Lisa's door. "Lisa, it's time for bed."

Lisa turned around from the microphone and said something Winter didn't pay attention to. "As you have heard, I will have to end our conversation here. I hope we can continue sometime soon."

"Okay."

"Goodbye."

"Bye…"