"Well, girls," said Lynn Sr. as the family sat around the living room, Lily in her mother's lap. "I assume that you know that yesterday, you just made things harder for your mother and I and worse for yourselves." Seven of the nine sisters said nothing, almost giving off a vibe that they had no regrets for giving their only brother a minor beatdown, or worse, that their parents trying to get through to their skulls would be like trying to eat their way through a wall. Leni was shedding tears, though, mainly because she saw her little brother get hurt, which in turn hurt her, so maybe there was some hope for the ditzy fashionista yet, at least.
"First of all," said Rita. "Lori, honey, I'm really sorry that I slapped you a little... but what you said to your brother, after hitting him I might add, was without a doubt one of the meanest things I have heard you say to him." Lori and the other six sisters who partook in beating Lincoln recalled how harshly their parents grabbed them and managed to pull them away and shove them out of Lincoln's room, like they weren't expecting it coming from them of all people. Rita, however, was not happy hearing silence from her daughters. "Girls, listen," she spoke. "Your father and I are well aware that you're upset about this movie debacle, but it was Lincoln's decision to make. And it was VERY HARD for him. He felt like he had given up his own dream because you keep making fun of him and ridiculing him for it!"
"Well, good!" snapped Lola. "It's what he deserves for ruining ours!"
"LOLA!" shouted both parents, but Lola simply pouted. Rita and Lynn Sr. started to get furious that Lola was being terribly difficult. Lori started to open her mouth to agree with Lola, but Rita was quicker.
"Don't say she has a point, Lori!" Rita warned. "Not coming from you after what you said and did to your only brother!" Lori kept her mouth shut. "Also, you girls all have your own talents and passions," Rita went on. "What about those? Did Lincoln ruin your chances to chase your real dreams? Or was getting to the silver screen for a... what, a five-minute cameo really going to be your calling?"
"People would know our faces!" said Luan.
"And there's the problem," said Lynn Sr.
"Whaddya mean, Pops?" asked Luna. "Ya know we're not gonna make it in the real world if nobody even knows who we are!"
"Oh, I don't think you'll have much trouble making headlines or anything," insisted the Loud father. "The trouble is, you're doing these things at the expense of my son! And your brother, in case you forgot that you even had one!" That sort of snapped the girls to attention, which pleased the parents, but Lori foolishly decided to try and run her mouth again.
"And when has that twerp literally done anything to prove that he can so much as fit in?" she hissed.
"Lori..." Rita warned through gritted teeth.
"You've seen his habits!" Lori continued to argue. "All he literally ever does is play video games and read comics in his undies! How is that gonna get him anywhere in life?!"
"So you have been invading his privacy, then, have you?" said Lynn Sr., raising his eyebrow. "I guess that confirms without a doubt that Lincoln was telling the truth about you girls... not that we doubted him. He was very upset."
"B-O-O-H-O-O..." muttered Lynn Jr., but everyone heard her.
"JUNIOR!" bellowed both parents.
"What?" sneered Lynn Jr. in an obviously uncaring tone. "It's just harmless teasing. It's not our fault he can't just suck it up like a man." Her boorish attitude caused the parents to let out a dejected sigh, like they just couldn't deal with their competitive daughter.
"For your information, Lori," said Rita. "Lincoln has done so much to help all of you and what pains him is that he feels like it's been a waste of time to do so, given how you've...repaid him."
"For once, girls," Lynn Sr. practically beseeched. "Just listen to what we're trying to tell you and what point we're trying to get across!"
"There's nothing to tell, fatherly unit," said Lisa, not knowing that she was testing the water and only making it hotter. "The point is, it's Lincoln's fault because he invited us to that con, thus in a sense brought everything upon himself." This obviously wasn't what the parents were trying to tell their kids, so Lisa might have unintentionally insulted her own intelligence. But she did realize that she used a poor choice of words seeing her parents sending fresh glares her way.
"The point we're making," said Lynn Sr. sharply in response. "And you'd better darn well listen if you know what's good for you, is that not only have you been using Lincoln like your own personal servant instead of treating him like a family member, but you've done so without walking so much as a mile in his shoes! You never once stopped to look back and think about how he really feels about all this. You may think he's just been letting things slide, but there's a good reason he didn't tell you or even us... until yesterday."
"And what's that?" asked Lana.
"Oh, you haven't figured it out?" said Rita. "Seriously?" The girls, except Lucy, nodded their heads. Rita took several deep breaths and silently counted to ten before giving Lana the most obvious answer she could come up with. "He's afraid of you girls!" This made eight of the nine sisters she addressed widen their eyes considerably. Now there was a thought that never crossed their minds. At the most, they only got the impression that at best, they merely annoyed Lincoln with their antics. Never in their wildest dreams did they ever think or consider that their brother was actually too afraid of them to tell them to so much as just take things down a peg. Or was that the point all along from their point of view? To keep him quiet. Lucy's eyes didn't widen, but not because they were hidden, but because she had an inkling that her big brother was always afraid of them... including her. She had hoped that sleeping with him last night would at least ease things between them as she counted on maintaining a close relationship with one of the only other family members who understood her. Otherwise, she'd be the first sister to actually be walking a mile in Lincoln's shoes. Leni started to cry, but quietly. How could it be that despite her kind soul, her dear little brother was likely afraid of her too? For the other sisters, those who actually partook in beating him, though they were mostly drained from recent events to do enough damage to, say, send him to the hospital's ER, they were beginning to come around. Lincoln had been afraid of them before, but since they foolishly went in with the intention to beat the frosting out of him, would this mean that their only brother would never come near them ever again?
"Now you know... don't you?" said Lynn Sr. soberly. "One other thing. How long do you think you were planning to mess with him the way he's described to us?" This question may have been more soul-piercing than asking why they beat him up the other day. The girls found themselves unable to answer their father. He sighed. I was afraid of this, he thought. "That's what I thought," he then said. A moment of silence followed.
"Mom? Dad?" Lucy finally spoke up.
"Yes, sweetie?" said Rita.
"Lincoln..." said Lucy. "How long will Lincoln be at... child care?"
"We checked him in for a month," answered Lynn Sr. This made all nine Loud sisters being talked to gasp loudly.
"A WHOLE MONTH?!" shrieked Leni.
"We explained the situation to the institution when we made the call," said Rita. "They recommended that length of time for Lincoln to be in a quiet and more stable environment."
"NO, LINKY!" Leni cried.
"What have we done?!" said Luna.
"I'll say you girls have done enough," said Lynn Sr. firmly. "Leni, Lucy, until your brother returns, you're grounded. The rest of you will be grounded even longer because you let your anger and... dare I say... hatred... get the better of you." It legitimately hurt those seven sisters to hear their father spit out the word 'hatred' like it was venom. To them, it meant that he had suggested in that moment when they went to beat up Lincoln, they hated their only brother and wailing on him felt like the only way to get even with him. "Now listen... While grounded, you will be strictly forbidden from partaking in any extracurricular activities in school and outside of school. You will go to school, take classes, and then come straight home. Do you understand?" The sisters nodded.
"Your hobbies will have to be severely limited as well," said Rita. "This isn't just about punishing you. We need to make sure that Lincoln is capable of living in this house alongside you. In a worst-case scenario, your father and I could lose custody of him for failing to keep you girls in check, especially if word gets out that you beat him along with every other way you might have harmed him, and if that happens, he'll have to be adopted into a new family and none of us want that, right?" Her daughters nodded. "To keep it simple, you will need to respect Lincoln on three counts - respect his wishes, respect his privacy, and respect his own hobbies, interests, passions, possessions and anything else. Respect. Him. More. That is what your father and I are asking you and expecting you to do beginning the moment he comes home. We are aware that he too has his own flaws and makes mistakes. Everyone does and Lincoln has tried his best to learn from them. Things will be different for him, too. But... He's. Your. Brother. Your father and I are also going to make sure we try not to make any more mistakes with him as well. So, if he doesn't want your help or advice, you must leave him be. If he wants his privacy, you must respect that. Do not kick his door open or threaten him ever again! If you want his help, knock on his door, even if it's open, and ask him using proper manners. And he has the right to say no."
"The thing is, girls," Lynn Sr. concluded. "He's not you. He's not any of you. And he'll never be any of you. He's his own person. Your mother and I haven't exactly seen you trying to force your own passions on each other, meaning you've definitely been singling him out. Those days are over, too. Lincoln is not a footstool, a slave, or a punching bag. He's a human being, just like all of us. So, one last rule. To ensure that Lincoln recovers and even after that so he can live safely with all of us, once you're back to resuming your activities and lifestyles, make sure he's limited to attend just one event per day. Whether it's a concert, comedy gig, sports game, fashion show, beauty pageant, or any of that, just one per day. And you'll allow him to choose which one, unless he decides for himself that he can take on more than one a day. And whatever choice that may be, you will respect it. And again, he has the right to say no. He's not playing favorites and neither are your mother and I. We're a family and our family supports each other no matter what, but we all have limitations in addition to having our roles to play. All of that said, are we clear?" The Loud sisters decisively agreed then and there, and hopefully not just because the parents were finally stepping up. Lincoln had been taken for granted because of his good nature and it had to come to an end.