Lynn Sr, devoted husband and loving father of eleven. He owned a successful restaurant located in a very decent neighborhood and, along with his wife Rita, had built their own patrimony over the years. While they weren't wealthy, they made enough to live good and even spoil themselves sometimes. Some people had wondered how could someone have so many children and still have time for his job, friends and wife. And while Lynn didn't have a concrete answer, he always told that if you love what you do, you'll always find the time.
Currently he was returning home from after running some errands. He asked his friend to cover for him in the restaurant so he could go and buy a few things that he needed to make dinner at night. He wanted to make a spectacular dinner, one so tasty and so delicious than his daughters wouldn't have other option that forget whatever is bothering them.
You see, since a few months now, things in the house hasn't been the same; the girls have been really quiet, they barely had come out of their rooms for something that wasn't food or bathroom, and whenever he or Rita asked them what was wrong, they'd dismiss them saying that it was nothing, just a small problem that they would get over sooner than later. Of course, one as father always knows when a son or daughter are having hard time, but they understood that, just like life, it all had a course that needed to be followed; if the girls weren't telling them what was happening then they had only two options: Don't pressure them and let their daughters come to them if they ever needed their advice, or wait for them to solve their problems for themselves; the latter was kinda risky though, they haven't forget what happened when their children went on strike and stopped doing their chores when they found out that people is paid money for working.
Lynn Sr. arrived at the house and parked Vanzilla on the driveway. He took a nostalgic glance at the house, remembering the times when there used to be toys scattered all around the yard and even on the roof; those were the good old times, when they were his little kids, when the house was too noisy that the neighbours would complain. But they were adults now, and even if they still lived home with him and Rita...he still felt like something was missing.
He sighed, undid the belt and got off from Vanzilla. Standing in front of the door he waited a few seconds before entering the house; he wanted to hear if there was any noise, any hint that things were as they used before. But all he heard was the sound of the TV. Well, at least someone would go and greet him at the door.
Lynn Sr. entered the house and closed the door. He waited a few moments, maybe someone would come and receive him, you know, like when his his daughters and son were still kids and would come to greet him at the door and see if he had brought something for them, but nothing happened. Sighing, he walked towards the living room. "Girls, I'm home."
"Hello, dad," Luan responded. In the sofa was her, Lynn, Lana and Leni watching a movie.
"Hey, pops." Lynn Jr. said.
"Hey, daddy." Leni responded.
"Hi, dad." Lana replied.
Lynn Sr. walked to the kitchen, where he spotted his wife reading a book while having a cup of tea. "Hey, honey," he greeted her.
"Hello, sweetie." Rita said, standing up to give him a kiss. "You arrived early, what happened?"
Lynn sat on a chair. "Well, I bought some things for dinner and I was just passing by to leave them here, but...I wanted to know if the girls have talked with you about what's going on. You had any luck?"
Rita sighed "Unfortunately not. They make excuses every time I ask, I don't know what else to do..."
Lynn took a seat next to his wife. "I wish it was like old times..." he said. "They're adults now, we can't force them to tell us."
"Still I don't think that would've worked," Rita commented. "You know how stubborn they can be sometimes.
He knew they wouldn't straight tell them what was happening, he knew them very well. And even if they tried to pressure them, it'd only make things worse.
"I guess you're right, honey..." Lynn said. "But we gotta do something, they can't be that way forever."
"I know, but what can we do, Lynn?" Rita asked. "We've been too busy in our own things to try and figure it out."
Lynn Sr. rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger. He was trying so desperately to think of something; if they weren't telling them was was going on, there had to be a way to at least cheer them up so the house wouldn't be so quiet...
His first pick was to take them all to Dairy Land, he remembered how excited they all were all the times when they took them to the amusement park in the past. The problem was that they were adults now, he wasn't sure if they'd enjoy it just as much as they used to before.
His second option was the beach. They had gone to the beach several times, being the most memorable the one when they took Lincoln only if he used that stupid squirrel suit. It was something they were ashamed of, and something they all were trying to forget. But the problem was that Vanzilla wasn't in the best condition to travel cross state at the moment.
Lynn Sr. sighed. He couldn't come up with something good. Maybe...
An idea struck him like a lightning. One of his co-workers at the restaurant mentioned that had some tickets for that new water park that was recently inaugurated; he got them from a radio contest the...
Wait a minute, of course!
Lynn Sr. got up so quick that he almost threw the chair away. Rita got startled a little bit upon her husband's reaction. "Lynn?" she asked. "What are you doing?"
"Don't worry, honey," he replied. "I think I just have the answer we're looking for. I'll be back in twenty minutes."
Rita wanted to add something more, but Lynn had already crossed the door when she called his name. Well, it seemed that all she could do for now was trust her husband.
Rita got up from the table and walked upstairs, it had become a routine to go and ask her daughters if they ever needed something, anything, just to know what it's bothering them, or at least something to make them forget whatever they were going through. It usually didn't work, but it was better than just sitting there and doing nothing.
The matriarch visited first her genius daughter. She opened the door and spotted Lisa working on some of her experiments; she was writing some stuff on a notepad. Lisa was inspecting something in her microscope; she had developed some nanobots that, if her calculations weren't wrong, would help to create a super human. Basically, these nanobots would trigger at a certain pressure, hardening and creating an impenetrable barrier that not even a cyborg with sexy hair and a ridiculously overpowered sword would pass. There was a guy who worked for the government who was specially interested in her work.
"Lisa, sweetie," Rita said. Lisa turned to see her mother peeking sheepishly through the from he door frame.
"How can I help you, mother?" She replied, getting back at her work.
"Well, I was just passing by, and wanted to know if you need something?" she replied.
Lisa thought about it for a moment. She did skipped breakfast to resume her work; the nanobots needed a slightly adjustment to the amount of pressure required for them to trigger.
But there was another reason for which she skipped breakfast. She...didn't want to meet with Lincoln at the table. She still was hurt, and even though she had overcome some of her fears over the years, this pain caused by seeing the person she loved sighing dreamily for someone else...was new for her, and she had yet to know how to deal with it. "Currently, I'm okay, mom." Lisa replied. "Thanks for asking."
Rita noticed the feeling on her voice; she sounded...wounded, hurt, like trying to forget something. That was the way they all sounded. The matriarch decided not no interfere in her work and left.
The second door she opened was Lori and Leni's room. Lori wasn't at home at the moment; she had left for work early to finish some forms or something. Leni was putting some pieces of fabric on a mannequin; she looked like she was trying to find a form, a design, a combination of colours and fabrics that might work. But Rita could tell she wasn't totally focused. Rita had noticed her latest designs, though beautiful, were nowhere near as her previous works; those were so innovating, so fresh, you could see the dedication she had put on them. But the newest...weren't just it, they lacked soul, they felt like something you would make just to fill a spot.
"Leni, dear," Rita called.
"Oh, hi mom!" Leni greeted. "What's up?"
One thing Leni had become good at as years passed, was pretending. Many people agreed that Leni was too nice for her own good; Leni was the kind of person who tends to put other's well-being before hers. During all this time when all the other sisters have been grieving over something that they didn't want to talk about, Leni have been acting as a support for them; she would plan activities to cheer them up and make them forget about their problems. It was a nice detail, but they all failed to notice how much this was affecting her as well.
"I just wanted to know if you needed something?" Rita said.
Leni put the pencil she was holding against her chin with a thinking expression. "Now that I think about it...I was planning to go shopping later; I saw a beautiful blouse at the mall yesterday, I'm sure Lola will like it."
Rita was happy to see that her daughter still had that golden heart so characteristic of hers. But at the same time, it was sad that she had to go through this alone.
"Then get ready; your father took Vanzilla, but as soon as he arrives home we're going to the mall." Rita replied.
"Yay!" Leni exclamed with joy. "Just let me finish this and I'm getting ready!"
Rita smiled and left. You know, the world would definitely be a better place if everyone was like Leni.
Rita sighed and continued to check on the other rooms, and pretty much like the previous ones nobody wanted her help. And as checking the rooms had become a routine, so did being rejected by her daughters (well, maybe except Leni).
There was one room that she left for last, not because she didn't care, but...well, it was more complicated to deal with her than the others.
Rita opened the door of Luan and Luna's door, she knew her comedian daughter was in the living room, so there could only be someone inside.
"Luna, dear," Rita called. She got no response, so she decided to enter. The room was dark except for the open window; Luna was sitting on a chair in front of the window, just looking outside like expecting something to happen.
"Luna?" Rita called. "What are you doing?"
Luna didn't even bother in turning, she stayed the same. "Just wanted some fresh air."
Rita sighed. Luna hadn't come out of the room in several weeks except for food or bathroom. She completely stopped playing music, now she spends most of her time in her bed or listening to music. She still does her job; since it only required to have a PC and some other specific equipment it could be done from home. But outside of that, she became a hermit.
"Sweetie, I know you're feeling bad and It's none of my business, but please, talk to me; I'm your mother, you can tell me anything." Rita said, practically begging her to tell her why they all were down lately. She knew it wouldn't work, but she didn't know what else to do.
Luna got up from the chair and walked towards her mother, that was when Rita realised how much this had affected her daughter; her skin was pale, the bags under her bloodshot eyes denoted the lack of sleep, she looked even thinner than she already was; her bones almost showed up beneath her skin, and her hair had become longer since she stopped trimming it.
Luna stopped right in front of her. "Don't worry about it, mom, I'm okay." she said "We must figure out this for ourselves; you guys are our parents and we love you, but this is something we must deal with on our own."
Luna left the room, leaving Rita inside with her own thoughts. This had gone...better that the other times when she tried to speak with her. Did it mean that she was already okay? Probably not, and to be honest, it was for the best not to press on the matter; her daughter was apparently doing better, and her intervention wouldn't do any good.
Rita walked out of the room when she received a message from her husband. Lynn wanted to gather all the girls in the living room to make an announcement; she didn't know what he meant with that, but knowing her husband this probably was something that had to do with what he had planned to cheer up their daughters.
After five minutes al the daughters were in the living room; some were killing time with their phones, while others looked like they didn't want to be there in the first place. Lana had Charles Jr. on her lap, she was caressing the dog to help her relax a little. Luna had her earbuds on with music blasting, some Steely Dan helped her to get through it; lyrics aside, the upbeat tones had a good effect on her mood. Lori had just arrived from work, she said that she wasn't feeling well at the office, so the boss let her go early.
"So, mom," Luan began. "Why exactly are we here?"
"Well sweetie, your-"
Rita was interrupted by the sound of the main door being opened. From there arrived Lynn Sr. who came with a bag filled with some items and a bunch of papers in his hand.
"Dad?" Lynn asked. "What's that?"
"Glad you asked, Junior. You see girls, while your mother and I understand that you are going through some problems, and that you want to solve it for yourselves, we came with an idea to, well, cheer you up a little.
The patriarch held the papers in front of the sisters, they were tickets for the new water park that opened recently; they all wanted to go at the opening day but the tickets sold out in a matter of minutes.
"A-Are those..." Lana began, but Leni interrupted her.
"Tickets to the Wild River Water Park?! They totes are!" the second eldest answered.
None of the girls could believe it, those tickets were really hard to get; in order to get them you'd either have to wait in the line behind several hundreds and even sometimes thousands of people, or try to buy them online but with less chances of getting them.
"Dad, how did you get them?" Lori asked.
"Well, let's say your old man have some contacts. Turns out one of my best customer works for the water park, so we decided to make a trade; he received a tray full of my famous Lynnsagne, and he'd get me twelve tickets for the water park." Lynn explained.
"Wait," Lola commented. "Twelve tickets, does it mean that..."
"Lincoln isn't coming?" Lana completed her sentence.
"Lincoln left earlier this morning, girls," Rita explained. "Sam wasn't feeling well, so he went to her house to keep her company."
Lynn Sr. immediately realized the reaction of his daughters. He had his suspicions that all this had something to do with his son. He understood that now he had a girlfriend he would spend less time with them, but what he didn't anticipated was that it would hit them that hard. He should've known that not including Lincoln would have this effect on them.
"But who says that we can't have fun without him?" he added. "Come on girls, we have plenty of time, what do you say?"
They all looked at each other, like expecting someone to say something so they didn't go, like an excuse or anything else; to be honest, they didn't felt like doing anything besides staying home. But they also understood that their parents are doing their best to make them feel better, to cheer them up; they knew it was impossible, there was only one way for them to be happy again. But they could at least give it a try, for their parents.
"Alright," Lori commented. "That sounds fun."
"Yeah, I could totally use some sun to get some color." Lola said.
"And I still have some pool noodles so we can play with them!" Lynn added.
Lynn Sr. looked at them with a smile, his plan had worked, he was able to bring a smile back to their faces. This was one of those moments that made him feel fulfilled, that made him feel like the provider he was for his family, whether it was money, food, or anything else, he felt accomplished. "Then let's get ready, girls, we got no time to lose!"
With that, all the sisters walked upstairs to their rooms and packed everything they needed. Swimsuits, sunscreen, floaties, sunglasses and tanning lotion. In the begging they accepted for their parents, they had done everything in their power to make them feel better again. But right now, they really believed that a trip to the water park would be funny; it's been since forever since they had fun like this, most water parks wouldn't accept them because...well, in the past they weren't exactly the quietest kids in town.
Once they were ready and their stuff were inside Vanzilla, Lynn Sr. hit the gas towards the water park.
The place was pretty big, there were pools everywhere, some mid sized water slides and a big one called 'The Royal Flush'. Honestly not the greatest name but it looked awesome.
Lynn Sr. handed the tickets to an employee, and he allowed the entrance to the family. They all went to different places; First we had Lori and Leni, who walked over the benches to get some sun. Lori used a normal two pieces bikini that showed very well her curves. Leni used a two pieces seafoam bikini, a hat and sunglasses. Though there were many other women around they were the ones who stole all the glances from the men (and some women as well).
Next was the group of Luna, Luan a and Lynn. Luna used a pair of denim shorts with a purple blouse, due to her current condition she wasn't comfortable showing her body. Luan used a yellow two pieces swimsuit that wasn't as revealing as her older sisters'. Lynn used a red surfing swimsuit top and a bikini bottom piece that showed very well her tone body.
Next were Lucy Lana and Lola. Lucy had a very generous body that she kept covered under a cape and a hat; not that she didn't want to show it, but her pale skin was very sensitive to sunlight. Lana braved up and showed body by using a red bikini top with denim shorts, and Lola decided to use something more reserved, using a pink speedo swimsuit.
Lisa and Lily used the same swimsuit as Lola but with their respective colors; Lisa choosing green while Lily chose purple.
At one point, Lynn and Lana were at the top of the Royal Flush, through all the trip to the water park, Lynn had been talking about how much she wanted to ride the slide; she said that there was not a single slide in the world that was big enough to scare her. Lana was getting sick of it, and challenged her to ride it. To be honest, none of them had ever saw the slide up close; all the info they had was that it was one of the biggest slides in the country and some people even refused to ride it. Lana challenged Lynn, and Lynn challenged Lana.
"Well," Lana commented. "We're here."
"Y-Yeah, we are..." Lynn replied.
Both girls were at the top of the ride, there was a complete line of people waiting behind them.
"So, what are you waiting for?" Lana asked.
"What are you waiting for?" Lynn countered.
None of them were capable of doing it, they were scared shitless but were too stubborn to admit it.
"How about this," Lana began. "We both are gonna jump at the same time."
"That sounds fair." Lynn replied.
Lana took a deep breath. She didn't want to do it, but neither she wanted to let Lynn win the bet; there was nothing on the line, no money or punishment, but she was sure that Lynn would never stop rubbing in her face the fact that she chickened up at the last moment. Lynn knew that Lana would do the same; it was something mutual.
"Ready?" Lana asked.
"Ready."
"One, two, three!"
Lana jumped and soon disappeared in the darkness within the slide, her screams became quieter as she travelled further. Lynn didn't jump, she pretended to do it to fool her sister. The jock smiled with satisfaction, she knew that she had lost, but at least she wouldn't go with empty hands. The jock was about to walk away, maybe a little snack at the bar would...
Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt someone pushing her into the slide, there was nothing she could do, nothing to get a hold on to avoid falling and the water flow didn't help either. Pretty much like her sister, she took the ride.
Behind her, Lily smiled with satisfaction. She witnessed how Lynn tricked Lana, and she knew Lynn didn't have the courage to do it for herself, so she decided to "give her a helping hand". Lily walked into the water, and jumped into the slide as well.
Leni was currently buying a drink from a stand near the pool, she was having a cucumber-strawberry shake with wiped cream on top. She and Lori have received several invitations from other guys around to participate in the games they were playing with their friends; one of those was that game where you get on your partner's shoulders and try to take down the competence. Of course they politely refused, but the invitations from other guys didn't stop.
Leni was on her way to the bench when she noticed her sister Lucy standing under a parasol, she was still using that weird cape to protect her body from the sun.
"Hey Luce," she started. "Hey, what's going on?"
Lucy turned to see her elder sister with a shake on her hand. "Oh, nothing Leni." she responded.
Leny sat on the chair besides her gothic sister. "Come on, Lucy, why are you still wearing that thing?"
"Because if I don't I'm gonna get sun burned; my skin is very sensitive." She replied. "Why do you think I cover my body the majority of the time?"
"Well, that makes sense." Leni commented. While she was ok with her sister covering herself due to a skin condition, she still felt bad because she was the only one that was missing all the fun.
An idea came to her head; she remembered that she brought something with her, something that might help her sister to enjoy this trip. Leni walked to where she and Lori were and took a small bottle, then she returned to Lucy.
"I believe this will help you out with your skin, Luce." Leni commented. "This is a special sunscreen, it is for all types of skin. How about if I help you apply it on your back?"
Lucy sighed. "I don't know..."
"Come on, Lucy, you can come with me and Lori so we can hang out! You will love it!" Leni assured.
Lucy wanted to reply with something, but she realized that all she had been doing since they arrived was being in the shadows, just observing as the others had all the fun. She wanted to join them, but still was kind of shy. Maybe Leni was right, and she needed to join them. "Alright, Leni."
Lucy laid prone on a towel under the parasol, Leni undid her top and applied a decent amount of sunscreen on her back; she began to stroke it generously, not missing a centimeter of her pale, delicate skin. Lucy let some occasional moans escape her mouth, but that didn't stopped Leni; it meant she was enjoying it. It took her only a couple of minutes to finish.
"Uh, Luce," Leni began.
"Yeah?"
"I think it is better if we get going now."
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"
"Well..." Leni tried to explain, but she couldn't find the words. Once she tied her top again Lucy got on her feet and looked up; a bunch of people, the vast majority men, were gathered around them. Some of them had blood coming out of their noses and some others were filming.
"Yeah, I think it's better if we leave now."
Te day eventually came to an end and the Loud family returned home. They decided to watch a movie to spend the time, the options were: High school Musical by Lisa and supported by Luna and Luna, Titanic by Lori and supported by Leni, Lola and their mom, and Halloween by Lucy and supported by Lana and Lynn. Since none of them could come with an agreement they decided to use the old straw method to decide, which ended up wining Lori.
They all had seen the movie in the past, after all it was a timeless classic. However, it never failed to make then let out their most sensitive side; Lori, Leni, Lola and Rita were crying, the other sisters just watched with watery eyes. Lucy, Lynn and Lana just watched with indifference.
When the movie was over, Rita joined Lynn Sr. and headed straight to bed, leaving the girls in the living room alone. They all had a moment to appreciate how much their parents have given them, not just this time that sacrificed their own things to organize an activity that really helped them to get over their depression, but all the other little things like letting them stay in their home even though some of they were already adults; Lori still felt like she needed some time before leaving the nest, after her break up with Bobby, her plans for the future changed radically and she needed time to rearrange them. Leni...well, she still had some things to learn before leaving the house; her designs were good and she made good money from them, besides the money she gets from working in the boutique at the mall.
Luna was about to graduate from college; she had a job that helped her to pay for her studies, but if her parents didn't allowed her to stay in the house she would've probably left school.
Of all sudden, life didn't seem that bad. For once, they were genuinely happy.
Poor girls, little did they know how life worked.
The main door opened, revealing the only son of the family walking in after spending the entire day with his girlfriend. "Hey girls."
Lynn Sr, who came out of his room to get a glass of water was the first one to talk to Lincoln. "Son, I'm happy that you love your girlfriend and you care for her, but couldn't you come home early?"
"Sorry dad, but it was something important." Lincoln replied as he sat on the individual sofa. "I'm glad to see you all here, girls. Dad, could you please bring mom? I have some news."
His father obeyed and called his wife, who was already half asleep. Lincoln was now alone with his sisters; he was really suffering by having to do this, but there was no turning back. He knew the consequences of his actions; he knew there would be broken hearts, but if it was the price that he had to pay to recover at least one piece of his old life, then so be it.
"Girls, I want you to know that I'm really sorry that you have to go through this, and that I never wanted to hurt you; I did what I thought was best, and I want you to understand that what I did was because of the love I have for Sam, and not because I have something against you."
None of them seemed to understand what was he talking about, but something told them that it couldn't be good. A strange fear settled in their minds as they recapped what happened throughout the day; Lincoln was with his girlfriend the whole day, and of all sudden he arrives home and begin to apologize? There was something going on.
Now that his parents arrived at the living room, it was time to drop the bomb.
"Mom, dad, girls," he started. "As you all know, Sam and I have been dating for a long time now. We've going through both good and bad times; we've remained together through thick and thin; the love we share have prevailed, and helped us carry on.
As the albino spoke, a knot began to form in the girls' throats. They knew those were bad news, but were expecting to see we're Lincoln wanted to go with all of this.
"As you all know, Sam have been feeling ill lately, and today we decided to visit a doctor; Sam is okay, if anyone was wondering."
There was a silence that followed. Lincoln didn't know how would they take what he had to say next, but it was better if they knew form him.
"And after some tests, we've found out why Sam have been feeling sick. Mom, dad, girls, we're expecting a child."
Remember what Luna felt when she found out that it was Sam the girls who was dating his brother? Well now all the other Loud sisters knew the feeling. And Luna?
It was funny. Luna expected to be sad the least; she thought the new would turn her into a crying mess, like Lori when Bobby broke up with her. Much to her surprise...she felt nothing.
"I'm gonna be a father."