Moving In

by Blueperson2021

After his mother gets engaged to her new boyfriend, Lincoln finds the two of them moving into his home. Along with his ten daughters. Will Lincoln struggle to handle the chaos of the loud house? Or will he embrace that he is no longer an only child? Originally by SpartanXHunterX and adopted with his permission. Thumbnail done by Crismoster25.

14. Chapter 14

"Bah," Lily flapped her arms, her cute antics visible in the rear view mirror. "ga, ga, ba!"

"Yeah, yeah, we're home." Lori sighed, gripping Vanzilla's steering wheel with a little too much force she eased up the driveway. "Let's just hope that…"

Rita's car was in the driveway again.

"Dang it."

All she could do now was try and get Lily in and avoid the other woman for as long as possible. And for the all too short time it took to get Lily out of her chair and slowly make up way up through to the back door, Lori managed that.

But much to her displeasure, Rita Alvarsson was in the kitchen- reading a book with a cup of coffee next to her.

Lori froze with her hand outstretched to the door handle- but before she could leave, Rita's eyes turned to her.

Apparently, the woman had good ears.

For a second Lori wanted to just turn around and leave, but the thought of childishly fleeing from the interloper's sight was anathema. So instead she smoothed her face and calmly advanced.

The two women said nothing as Lori entered, Lily oddly quiet in her left arm as even she could sense there was some tension between the two until Lori deposited her into her highchair. She let Lily grip her finger while the silence grew. Someone would have to say something, there would have to some kind of acknowledgement, or it could be weakness.

But if Lori could steer the conversation from the start, maybe she could end it fast;

"Doctor Greenwich wants to see you and your son soon."

Rita jolted a little in the corner of Lori's eye at the sudden words, and a little satisfaction at getting one over her arose within Lori's chest. "Oh- yes, yes we'll need to see him soon won't we?"

"Yeah, anyway I-"

"Wait, Lori." Rita's voice stopped her as she went to leave. "About the laundry…"

Lori said nothing.

"… I might have been too harsh."

Really?

Lori grit her teeth and maintained her silence.

"You didn't know about Lincoln's… personality." The other woman hesitated. "It was unfair to act like you scared him on purpose."

Lori clenched her fist, but forced her fingers to relax. She turned around to look at Rita with as calm an expression she could manage;

"Are you going to tell us what's up with him?"

Rita hesitated for a moment.

"Then don't bother." Lori curtly concluded.

A petty part of her wanted to end it just there, make her point and leave.

But Lori Loud was a smart girl, and maybe, just maybe she could make her point here while Rita was on the backfoot;

Time to lay down some facts and maybe let off a little steam.

"… because until you do, 'the laundry' is just going to be where it starts. Not with me, I'm staying away from him already, but my sisters won't know either.

And if you and my Dad are actually close enough to be moving in," Lori bit back her bile, "you know that they're on their best behaviour right now. When they stop thinking about you two like guests, they're going go back to their usual schedule,

Luan's Pranks, Lynn's 'roughhousing', Lisa's… everything- that's just where it starts. They're literally animals when they get going, and your kid won't last the first day they actually act like themselves-"

Rita was taken aback, but rallied "I'm sure-"

"Oh!" A little vindictive edge dripped into Lori's cold tone. "Just a little bit of advice, when they trigger whatever he has, don't try the 'Mother's Wrath' speech on whoever it is- because they won't be;

Big.

Bad.

Lori."

A spark of anger came across Rita's face "I-"

She was cut off again.

"They won't have spent the last year having to be the literal dictator in the house." Lori snapped. "They won't have had to be the bad guy for making them actually do their chores, or follow through on punishments because Dad could barely function after his job!" Her voice was rising now; "they won't have already been basically ignored for having doubts about Dad moving in some woman he's dated for a few months and most of us hadn't even met!"

Lori grit her teeth;

"Oh, and her son too, because this house needed another kid."

Lori forcibly relaxed herself, and put on her best 'friendly voice';

"But yeah, don't do that. Because if you do, they might actually listen to her," a sarcastic sweetness now permeated her tone, but fell away into spite as her words went on; "and if they decide she's in the right? Well, you'll just be the bad guy jumping down her throat because you won't actually tell anyone WHY-"

Lily whimpered, and Lori caught her vocalisations. "… tell anyone what they're supposed to do in the first place."

Now there was silence.

Rita seemed shocked, and satisfyingly cowed for the moment- but there were sniffles coming from somewhere-

Lori's eyes widened as they landed on the wet-eyed baby, Lily looking pale and uncharacteristically fearful. "Oh, Lily! I'm sorry I literally forgot you-"

Lily cringed away and whimpered as Lori's hand approached.

She couldn't help but draw it back on instinct.

Suddenly Rita's own hands plucked the baby from her high chair and cradled her to the mother's chest, soothing her with practiced movements.

"I-"

"I'm sorry." Rita's tone was firm, despite her apology, and her eyes matched Lori's with calm condemnation. "Lynn and I assumed too many things would just work out, and we were unfair to you.

All of you.

But this isn't the time or place to deal with it- okay?"

Lori swallowed, and the last iota of victory drained away with the trembles from Lily's little body, "uh- yeah- I…

I'm sorry."

She ignored the stairs as she retreated, the front door beckoned instead.

---

Ms Johnson wasn't pleased to see Lincoln come in late, but his apology seemed to satisfy her enough that she let him go to his seat without too many problems. Clyde and Stella seemed to want to talk to him again, but it was a Math lesson and Ms Johnson was particularly determined not to let the snippets between the kids turn into full conversations during such an 'entrancing' subject.

Lincoln didn't mind though, all of Chandler's words were still jumbling around in his mind and he had to swallow down his anxiety- being left alone in the noisy classroom was the closest thing he had to the quiet calm of his room. Even so…

"… to expand a linear expression with rational coefficients…"

Lincoln looked down to his woeful notes, the last scrawled lines in his textbook from Hazeltucky didn't even have the definitions of half those words.

"… There will be a test next week on this-"

The class murmured in collective displeasure.

"- So pay. Attention." Ms Johnson firmly rebuked.

Lincoln turned his eyes to whiteboard again, but it was no use. The graphs and symbols Ms Johnson was explaining just didn't make any sense.

He needed help.

…

But in need of help or not, that would have to wait as the next lesson relieved Lincoln of the burden of numbers- instead history became his new problem. After the antebellum- another thing Hazeltucky hadn't covered- bored its way into his brain with new content, he was almost relieved to find the lunch bell bringing him to the cafeteria and the inquisitive faces of Clyde's friends- the table of misfits pausing their murmurs as Lincoln slinked closer.

He didn't really have anywhere else to go without making it obvious.

"So, what'd Chandler say!?" Rusty (if Lincoln was remembering the name right) demanded. "Oooh, I bet he tried slandering us again!"

"It wouldn't be the first time," the ginger with the drawl shook his head.

Clyde intervened though, miming pushing the two apart with his hands;

"Cool it guys, Chandler probably wants us to mob him." The other boy looked back to Lincoln as he tried to sit down next to Stella as surreptitiously as possible, and bit his lip. "… But if Lincoln's fine with it?"

"Clyde!" Stella snapped.

"It's only if he wants to!" Clyde backtracked, and looked to Lincoln. "Right Lincoln?"

The boy swallowed and stared at his food to avoid the multitude of eyes suddenly upon him. "U-uh…."

Honestly, he just wanted to vanish into a corner to eat his meatloaf. If he could've escaped without notice, he very well might have.

But he was new to the school, he didn't know whose territory was whose- he would need Clyde to show him where to avoid stepping on someone else's toes either way.

But Chandler…

He didn't know what to think.

"See, you're mobbing him again." Stella folded her arms.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Clyde seemed to reflect for a moment and then sat down with a sigh; "sorry Lincoln."

"It's just that Chandler always tries getting his hooks in people," Rusty insisted. "Just ask Stella!"

Lincoln's eyes flickered from his food to the girl for a second, and the white-shirted girl seemed uncomfortable; "yeah, yeah, he tried that with me too- but I was… 'busy' when I got here. By the time he 'talked' to me I already knew he was bad news."

Stella was one of those kids… showed up and McBride and his 'friends' got up right near her for the entire first week she was here… even started coming to school in costumes and tried keeping other guys away from her like she was theirs.

He swallowed down a bite and licked his lips.

Maybe he could prod out something from Stella if he was careful?

"Busy?" He asked as normally as possible.

"Yeah…" Stella rolled her eyes, and the other boys suddenly looked a little embarrassed. "We got on great afterwards, but for the first week I got here these guys tried to 'put the moves' on me. They were all pretty goofy though-"

"I for one wore a-"

"Embarrassment, you wore an embarrassment, Clyde." Stella crossed her arms and glared at him before looking back to Lincoln. "And don't get me started on what Zach tried-"

"I-"

"Don't. Get. Me. Started." Stella snapped at the boy with the reddest hair. "And Rusty-

"Stella!" Rusty protested, "I just wore my Dad's best suit!"

"Which didn't even fit!" Stella threw her hands up, "plus you did all of those weird pickup lines!"

"Weird!?" Rusty gasped, "those were Spoke-certified fresh!"

"Yeah, and that's why they never work," Stella frowned and then put on an imitation of Rusty's voice; "Hey Baby, you got the time? Because is Rust-o'clock on mine!" She shuddered, and Lincoln couldn't help but join in a little. "What you were even thinking?"

"My Dad-"

"Has been single for years!"

The two began a back forth of debate while the rest of the group rolled their eyes. Evidently it was something they'd gotten used to.

Well, that's one thing Lincoln could check off from Chandler's questions. It didn't sound too bad so far though, Stella just looked annoyed rather than upset- she wouldn't be friends with the boys if they'd really been creepy after all.

"… it's why none of the girls hang around you!" Stella snapped, drawing Lincoln's attention. "Seriously Rusty; whenever you come up-"

"Girls talk about Rusty!?" Liam (?) seemed incredulous.

"Girls complain about Rusty," Stella corrected him with a frown. "No one our age is even interested in dating!"

"That's just because they haven't had a taste of the Rust-man!" The taller ginger insisted with admittedly impressive confidence. "Just you wait, any day now there'll be a line of women to the Spokes house begging for a chance!"

"Yeah I don't know about that," Clyde scratched the back of his head, "Stella's got a point, no one really takes you up on that stuff. Plus it kind of got us in trouble before-"

"Okay, okay!" Rusty admitted, "Ronnie Anne was a mistake-"

Lincoln tried to remain as neutral as possible as he listened.

"A mistake that nearly got your arm broken, right?" Stella was less than impressed.

"Yeah, well- that's just her." Rusty shrugged. "It's not like any other girl's reacted like that."

"Well, some of the girls I've talked to wish Ronnie had taught you a lesson," Stella shook her head. "You don't know how annoying it gets Rusty!"

"Well my Dad says-"

"Your Dad's been single for years!"

The two devolved into an argument, but Lincoln's mind held onto the thread of the incident with Ronnie Anne;

She and McBride's group got in a fight… he and his friends got off easy while Ronnie-Anne got put in The Special Class for a while.

"H-hey," he licked his lips; "what did you say about Ronnie-Anne?"

Rusty and Stella dropped their 'debate' to look over to him while Clyde looked uncomfortable again. "Oh, right- well...

It was a month or two before Stella came to our school. Rusty tried hitting on Ronnie Anne for some reason-"

"He was trying a while," Stella interjected. "The other girls told me."

"I was just being friendly!" Rusty insisted.

"Yeah, well she went too far either way." Clyde continued. "She just snapped and hit Rusty down some stairs."

"We tried to stop her," Liam piped up. "But she's pretty darn strong. She threw Zach in a trash can and tried doing the same to me and Clyde before the teachers broke it up!"

"Luckily, Spoke men are built to be tough," Rusty smirked and flexed an arm as if to bring out his 'muscles'. "I just got a brace and a day off school, and Ronnie-Anne got sent to the Special Class for ages!"

"Wow…" Lincoln murmured. But after Chandler's words, he wasn't sure about all of the story. Ronnie-Anne had been mean to him, but throwing someone down stairs just because?

If it was Hazeltucky he wouldn't be surprised, but this was supposed to be the good school, and so far it mostly lived up to that. Surely if Ronnie-Anne was that kind of girl she'd have been expelled!

And there was another thing...

"W-what about you guys?" Lincoln carefully asked. "You didn't get in trouble?" He felt their eyes on him, "its j-just that in Hazeltucky, whenever someone got in a fight, everyone got in trouble even if they just hit back."

"Oh, right." Clyde snapped his fingers as he understood. "Well, the teachers here are a little more understanding."

"Yeah, Clyde really straightened things out for us." Rusty concurred. "And I had to wear an arm brace for a week, so it was kind of hard for Ronnie Anne to act like we were the ones who started it."

"Okay… I guess that makes sense." Lincoln nodded along, and it did. But on the other hand; "why wasn't she expelled?"

"Oh that," Clyde sighed. "She just said that it was an accident with Rusty and we attacked her- no one believed it though."

" 'Cept the Principle." Liam shook his head, "it was our word against hers, and three guys jumpin' a girl doesn't look too good to the up and ups."

"Ah, okay." Lincoln chewed down on a morsel to get a bit of time.

So far what Clyde and his friends had told him more or less matched up with Chandler's story. But that was the problem; Chandler made it sound like Clyde had used his 'connections' to get away with something, and while Clyde hadn't exactly spelled it out like that, according to the boys he had 'straightened things out' for them.

Sure, Chandler didn't get along with them, but maybe there was more to the story?

Either way, he wasn't exactly sure how he could prod them for more information without looking suspicious. He didn't know how they'd react if they thought he doubted them after all, and he didn't have a silver tongue to trick them into admitting stuff.

He'd have to wait and watch.

Until then though, the way that Chandler's words about Stella and the Ronnie-Anne incident had lined up really made some of the other stuff he'd said about Clyde's friends and the Louds a bit suspicious.

He swallowed and surreptitiously looked out the corner of his eye to see the rest of the table talking to each other. Stella noticed him however.

"Oh, sorry Lincoln," Stella turned from the last redhead (probably Zach), "were you going to say something?"

"Uh- y-yes." Lincoln tried his best to phrase his question as nonchalantly as possible. "D-didn't you say something about the Louds being celebrities before?"

Instantly the conversation around the table stopped, and Lincoln shrunk again under their combined gaze. It wasn't a hostile one however as Stella's eyes positively sparkled and a grin crossed her face; "oh absolutely!"

"You don't know about the Louds?" Rusty exclaimed in shock, "they're the biggest thing in this town!"

Lincoln looked between them, and the group's collective disbelief gave way to surprise. Clyde took the initiative;

"I was surprised you hadn't heard of them before even in Hazeltucky." Clyde's tone was slightly sceptical. "Especially Lisa, but it's not like everyone keeps track of that kind of thing."

Lincoln just nodded, his tongue a little thick at the moment.

Clyde continued; "well, it's like Stella said; they're a family of stars, or prodigies anyway."

"They've all got some 'thing' they can do really well," Rusty piped up, and started counting of on his fingers; "Lisa's the mad scientist, Luna's a really good musician- I think she already signed on with a label-"

"She dumped it," Stella corrected him. "It was a Pop label and she wasn't into it."

"Ah, sure." Rusty shrugged. "Anyway; Leni's supposed to be some of kind of fashion expert, but she's also a bit…"

Rusty seemed to struggle to find the words, and Lincoln noticed Stella giving him a mean look. "… she's a bit of an airhead. But she's also super strong, and does all kinds of other weird stuff as well."

"She also ran for mayor once, and nearly won!" Stella chimed in.

"Wait, really?" Lincoln's incredulity forced out the words, but he clammed up as Stella gave him a side-eye.

"Yeah, trust us when we say it's just one of the weird things the Louds have gotten up to." Clyde concurred before Lincoln's disbelieving eyes. "Stella wasn't wrong when she said the Louds have 'adventures' every week."

Lincoln found that a bit unlikely, considering no 'adventures' had happened in the (admittedly brief) time he'd lived with them.

The group seemed to sense his scepticism;

"No, really it's true!" Stella insisted; "Lucy Loud made the school mortician's club, and there's all kinds of weird stories about them using real bodies!"

"Lana and Lynn Loud broke into the school and rescued all the frogs before they could get dissected!" Liam presented, "they're still in the city park!"

"L-lynn broke into school!?" Lincoln's mind's eye briefly beheld the baffling image of the middle-aged man in a mask, preparing to break into the school with a crowbar while his similarly masked daughter eagerly carried a bag to be filled.

"Lynn Jr, the sporty one." Rusty corrected. "And Lisa Loud's a world famous scientist! My Dad says she's supposed to be in prison for human experimentation, but she got out because she cured a type of cancer for them."

"Lola's a pageant queen," Zach (?) looked between the group members, then leaned in and whispered. "But the word on the street is that she's actually a cut-throat competitor who keeps a book of secrets to blackmail all the Royal Wood bigwigs!"

Lincoln tried to keep feelings from reaching his face. But honestly? All those things sounded pretty unbelievable, especially the one about Lisa (even if Ms Johnson wanted him to see her…) and Lola.

"Don't get me started on Luan…" Clyde shuddered, and a similar wave of displeasure ran through all the boys besides Lincoln.

Stella frowned, "yeah, she's bad news."

That was surprising. As far as Lincoln had seen Luan was a nice girl with a silly sense of humour. Stella must have noticed his shock though, because she continued;

"Luan's the Royal Woods prankster. Normally she just works as a clown or a mime for kids' birthday parties, but once a year-"

"Anywhere near her house is a warzone!" Clyde exclaimed with haunted eyes. "Even The Police won't come near there on April First!"

"She gone darn rented out an entire hotel one time and near killed three of her sisters in one night!"

"She flooded out their entire house with mustard!" Rusty shuddered. "And she Stink Bombs out the neighbours on Halloween if they don't give them candy!"

"And then there's what she did to us…" Zach shrunk down in remembered horror.

"Okay, that one you had coming." Stella crossed her arms and glared at the boys, before glancing over to Lincoln. "They were being really creepy- Zach was even using spy toys on them!"

A jolt of shock ran through Lincoln, and his eyes snapped to the 'reddest' ginger of the group, who sweated under his scrutiny.

"I was just following orders!" He blurted. "Clyde was the mastermind!"

It was Clyde's turn to be view, but the other boy didn't seem perturbed, but rather a strange kind of… pride?

Yes, pride crossed his face, and Lincoln heard Stella groan from beside him. "Oh here we go-"

"It was in pursuit of true love Lincoln!" Clyde insisted, and if stars could have formed in his eyes they undoubtably would have sparkled there. "It was all… for Lori- ahhhh"

The boy issued the last words a nigh-delirious whimper, and to Lincoln's utter shock, a stream of red issued from each of his nostrils. He stumbled back at the back display and instinctively grasped at his napkins, and his eyes darted about for an adult, "o-oh s-hoot! W-where's the nurse!?"

"Oh, hold your horses there Lincoln," Liam was suddenly stuffing a wad of tissues under Clyde's nose, holding his head steady even as the other boy babbled some kind of nonsense. "This is old hat for us, give him a minute and he'll be just fine."

"Fine?" Lincoln stared at the display with unabashed scepticism. "But-"

"It's his thing about the oldest Loud Sister," Stella huffed beside him.

"Lor-"

"Oh, Lori…" Clyde mumbled again, and some more patches of red formed on the tissues.

"Don't say her name," Stella snapped, then softened. "Sorry, you're new."

"Yeah, Clyde's got it pretty bad for the big L," Rusty remarked. "The problem is-"

"She's a highschooler with a boyfriend, and Clyde's ten years younger than her?" Stella snarked.

"Yeah, that Bobby guy!" Rusty 'agreed' with a raised finger. "I mean, we've been trying to help him out for ages-"

"They tried stalking her," Stella interjected with another frown. "First by hiding in bushes like regular creeps, then with Zach's stuff. One of the Loud sisters noticed them, and they either sicced Luan on them or she just let loose on her own."

"It took us a week to get the smell off," Liam shook her head. "Even Winona wouldn't come near me, my me-maw put me on dung duty because I smelled like it already!"

"And it took me a month to get all the stains to get out of my skin!" Rusty shuddered.

"Yeah, well; you had it coming." Stella bluntly refuted before she turned back to Lincoln. "And the stalking was just the last thing they tried, if these guys try and rope you into something just remember that."

"Right…" Lincoln examined the horrified expressions on the boy's faces. They certainly seemed genuine, and he doubted Clyde would fake a nose bleed for some reason. Plus, while Luan didn't seem dangerous, it sounded like they'd really gone way too far.

Maybe Luan just hit back?

"… Now they even think I'm like them because we hang out," Stella continued, and Lincoln quickly tuned back in. "So I can't even come close anyway."

"Alright?" Lincoln lightly agreed, trying not to let on just how much conversation he'd skipped out on.

"It's not like I'm like Clyde!" Stella desperately insisted, "I just find them really cool and interesting!"

"Ah, okay." Lincoln politely nodded.

"No really, they're really amazing!" Stella gushed with glee, "they even got Mick Swagger to perform in their garage!"

"Just don't get on their bad side," Rusty winced, and then frowned upon seeing Lincoln's guarded scepticism remaining. "Okay, okay, so maybe they've been taking it easy since you're new in the house, but- hey Zach, you've still got that clip right?"

"Always," Zach nodded and pulled out his phone. It was an oddly large model with all manner of bits and bobs on it, but Lincoln's gaze was more drawn to the plain screen as Zach held it out to him. On it was a video that Lincoln recognised as the school car park and a moment alter Lincoln managed to pick out the Loud's signature Van amongst the various vehicles.

He could barely make out the inhabitants, but he could tell it was packed to capacity. Not that it was unexpected, what was unexpected was what happened next.

The Van started shifting as the crowd within started getting rowdier, and even though the video didn't have audio, Lincoln's keen eyes could pick out the motions of aggression in what little he could make through the Van's windows. Lincoln swallowed at the thought of being in such a crowded space, surrounded on all sides with people angry with each other- like being back at Hazeltucky again.

Then a Van window snapped.

Lincoln was taken aback as rather than deescalating in shock of having damaged their vehicle, the interior battle only grew more frenzied, and before long more windows than not were broken. Then it got worse.

Lincoln stared on in disbelief as the Van was slowly torn apart, until finally the various Louds were scattered around the outside of the Van, the entire interior including the driving wheel and seats now strewn around the car park like the remains of a battlefield.

"That… that can't be real!" He shook his head. "T-they couldn't have broken it that fast even i-if they tried!"

"Oh, believe me, it's real." Zach solemnly pocketed his phone. "Word has it that they can tear the entire thing down to the suspension in a minute or two if they really get into it."

"Ah… okay." Lincoln tried his best to politely agree. But again; who on earth would believe that? "M-maybe they… had a bad day?"

"You can say that again," Rusty snorted. "But let me tell you about the time…"

Lincoln lightly tuned the group's voices out again as they started discussing things between each again, pretending to focus on his cooling food.

He still wasn't sure what was real about their conversation. He was sure in some way they were telling the truth, but it was probably blown up in their imaginations- the sisters weren't all always nice to him but they weren't anything like that. Even Lori had only grabbed at his hat, and they hadn't broken out into some kind of psychotic fight- and he was definitely sure that if they were anything like that that Mom would never have moved in with Lynn even if she really did like him.

And if there was one thing Lincoln knew it was that the best way to tell if someone was a certain way was if it fit how they usually acted. Everyone has patterns after all, and it was pretty hard to pretend to be someone you weren't for a long while. The girls? They were kind of weird in their own ways, but they didn't act like the 'celebrities' Stella insisted they were or the crazy brawlers Zach's video and the boy's complaints made them out to be.

But the gang…

Lincoln watched them again.

He hadn't known Clyde very long, but the prize student was babbling with a disturbing gleam in his eye that Lincoln would never have expected, and it fit the disturbing picture of a stalker that his story had painted him as. Stella was trying to reign him again with her words, but she'd been more eager than the rest of them to learn about the Louds, it even been the first thing she'd spoken to him about.

The other boys had helped Clyde with spying on Lori, and even if he didn't like her she didn't deserve that. Zach even apparently used spy equipment to do it!

It was all stuff he wouldn't have ever expected from them. And while he didn't feel like they were malicious or trying to use him like some of the smarter 'bosses' in Hazeltucky…

This's context… read McBride and his friends… it'll be a million times better than if I tried to tell you

He dug his fork into his food as he thought things over.

---

"Aww, don't you want to shake?" Leni knelt down to the little dog before her, hand extended out for the requested paw.

Charles, for his part, seemed less than eager to accommodate the blonde- but at least he wasn't visibly stressed or shaking like he was the previous time Leni interacted with him. He still sat in the corner with both front paws firmly planted on the dining room floor however.

Leni pouted and put her hands to her sides while tapping her foot, "oh… I just know we'll be like; best friends, I just wish I could talk to you like Lana!"

"What like me?" Lana wandered into the kitchen, lightly stretching her shoulders from having just dropped her school backpack. Charles's wet nose twitched, and his head swivelled to the newcomer.

"Like how you talk to all your animal friends and stuff!" Leni huffed and indicated to Charles, "I really want to be friends with Charlie but he's still scared of me"

"Eh, give him time," Lana shrugged, then knelt down and whistled. "Hey! Here boy!"

She patted her knees, and the dog scampered past Leni and jumped up into Lana's arms, "ha! See, he's just shy! She laughed as Charles started rapidly licking her face, "just give him time and he'll be messing up your makeup next!"

"Oh…" Leni pouted and tapped her foot impatiently. "If you say so, but-"

"Ah, there you are!" Lincoln came in after Lana, his pale face brightened as he spotted Charles and Lana together, in his hand was a leash. "Now we… oh uh… hello Leni." He politely greeted the teenager. "I was just going to take Charles for walk."

He really needed some time to just think things through.

"Oh, can I come!?" Lana excitedly demanded. "We had so much fun before- and you can show me more magic tricks!"

"Uhm," Lincoln thought for a moment, but the big eyes and slight tremble from Lana's lower lip got to him. He could use some distraction anyway; the school stuff could wait for later! "Sure I- wait…" he halted as he remembered his mom's words. "I don't know if I can though…"

"Hunh?" Lana's head tilted like Charles' did when he was confused, then her smile returned. "Oh right, you don't know Royal Woods- but I do, it'll be okay!"

"I'm…" Lincoln looked on her sceptically. He was pretty sure Lana would be an okay guide since she'd (presumably) lived here her entire life. But she was pretty young and Lincoln honestly wasn't sure if he was ready to be responsible for someone else, which he would be since he'd be the older one. If Lana got hurt (and she probably could since she kept running around like Charles and acting all rough and tumble), then Lynn would be upset with him at the very least. "M-maybe we could get one of the big sisters to come with us as well?"

"Oh, sure!" Lana grinned, and she promptly turned to Leni, "hey Leni, me and Lincoln are going out, you wanna come with?" She held up Charles with a smile. "We can go to the park and play fetch!"

"Oh I-" Leni looked over to Lincoln, and he twitched away slightly before he could catch himself. "… I'm sorry Lana." Her expression softened and she knelt down to pet the younger girl on her hat. "I'm really busy right now with something."

"Aw…" Lana sighed, "can't it wait? We'll have loads of fun!"

Len smiled at her little sister, "oh I know- but this is something special," her eyes flickered over to Lincoln again and he felt his skin crawl as he noted her gaze was at his beanie. "I'll totally play with you later!"

"Aw, okay…" Lana frowned, then her expression brightened again and she dropped down Charles to the floor and span to face Lincoln. "Just wait here a sec'!"

Lincoln remained stationary as the little girl sped out of the room, but it only took a few moments before Lincoln could hear Lana's eager voice pleading with someone else.

"… The Park for an hour, you'll still have…"

Then was a rougher, but still feminine voice; "… think Rita will be fine with it?"

"… HEY MS A!?" Lana's voice bellowed out, startling Lincoln. "CAN LYNN TAKE LINCOLN AND ME OUT TO THE PARK!?"

Lincoln stepped back a little, and found Charles pressing himself against his leg. He knelt down to give him a reassuring pat on the head, and when he looked up, he found his mom, Lana, and the girl who dressed in a jersey (also Lynn, if he remembered rightly) walking into the kitchen.

Mom looked a little tired, but she perked up as she saw him;

"Hey honey, good day at school?"

"Uhm, it was okay." Well, it really wasn't, but Lincoln didn't even know where to begin and he wasn't going to try with all the others around them.

Mom's eyes crinkled at the edges with concern, but she didn't press him; "okay, well; if you want to go to the park, Lynn says she'll come with you and Lana."

Lincoln looked past Mom and the girl with the auburn hair and cleats stood there with a casual grin and a half-finished glass of juice she'd started in the scant seconds she'd been in the kitchen. "I was gonna go out anyway, so why not?"

Mom was looking at him with a silent question, and Lincoln didn't really have a good reason to refuse. He needed to get to know the girls anyway after all, so he nodded; "y-yeah."

"Alright then," Mom smiled at him and stood up to look at the three as a group. "Just be back before four, I'm sure you all have homework to get onto." She gave him a more pointed look at that one, and Lincoln flushed a little at remembering the thick wad of papers in his backpack.

His train of thought was broken however as a light tap on his shoulder prompted him to jerk away.

"Whoops- sorry kid," Lynn Jr's hand drew back, but she was still a tad conformably close. She still had a friendly air to her though, even with her Jockish appearance; "we've gotta get goin' if we want to get some good playtime in!"

"O-oh, right." Lincoln swallowed and nodded.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Charles watching Lynn, then carefully coming closer to give her a cautious sniff.

Mom was frowning at Lynn's sudden invasion of his personal space, but she paused as well as Charles peeked up at the tall (from his low position, Lincoln was pretty sure he and Lynn Jr were the same height if he straightened up) girl.

"Oh," Lynn noticed the snuffling canine with a grin. "Hey boy!"

She dropped down, startling the small dog so he backed away a bit to Lana. Lynn clicked her tongue in annoyance, but her eyes had a focused glint to them as she slowly extended her juice-less hand out towards the dog, facing down just below his head level with her fingers slightly curled in.

Lincoln, Mom, Lana and Leni all watched as she stopped the hand a good bit before the dog and paused there.

And waited.

Nobody said anything, be it out of curiosity, discomfort at speaking or knowing what Lynn was doing. Charles pawed at the floor for a bit before he approached and gave the hand cautious sniff.

The girl smiled like a fisherman feeling a tug on his life, "go on boy, I don't bite."

Seemingly obedient, Charles sniffed at her fingers again, then towards her palm. His pink tongue poked out and he gave it an experimental lick, that seemed to tickle Lynn as she gave a little snort.

Charles didn't mind though as his tail gave a wag and he started approaching Lynn's body, following her still arm until he reached her. Lynn's smile grew and she lay down her juice for a second to fish around in her pocket-

And pull out a bit of old jerky.

"Oh man, you said there was none left!" Lana complained.

"None left 'cause I took it." Lynn playfully informed her, and drew it over Charles head. "You wanna snack boy? Can you sit?"

The smalls dogs' eyes grew large as the jerky was held just out of reach and he obediently sat back on his hindlegs.

"Good boy!" Lynn dropped the jerky, and Charles' lightning-fast hungry dog reflexes let him snap it up from mid-air. His tail furiously wagged as he excitedly chewed it down, and Lynn's hand snapped around his side to start scratching him while he was distracted. "See, nothing to be afraid of!"

Charles didn't seem to mind, even as Lana pouted in the corner and Lincoln watched in shock. Rita nodded with a mixture of surprise and satisfaction at the sight.

A little further away though; a flicker of something undefinable crossed Leni's face.

---

Honestly, after all that had happened that day; Lincoln was more than a little apprehensive about going out with some of the Loud Sisters. Sure, he'd gone out with Lana and Luan before and they were fine (if a little bit weird) even if the guys at school said some things…

But they hadn't even really said anything about Lynn Jr beside her being 'sporty', so maybe she was the normal one of bunch?

As normal as someone who only ever wore a sports uniform of some kind could be anyway.

"Hey kid," Lynn noticed him watching her, "you wanna ask me something?"

Lincoln blushed and returned his eyes to the sidewalk where Charles was doing his best to pull ahead, "s-sorry."

"It's fine," Lynn shrugged, the movement barely perceptible from the corner of his eye. "Lucy likes to watch people sometimes too."

It took Lincoln a moment to sort through his mental catalogue, but it seemed like the odd girl who had startled him when he was drawing the most likely candidate; "Lucy?"

"Yeah, oh right!" Lynn thought aloud, "she's the one with black hair. She's into all kinds of gloomy stuff and likes to hide a lot, but she's cool when she's not trying to scare people." A flash of annoyance crossed The Jock's face; "most of the time anyway."

She must have picked up on his curiosity as she sighed continued; "me and her are roommates and pretty different, so sometimes we clash a little. That's all."

Lincoln quietly nodded.

"… I think you two will get along pretty good," Lynn looked back towards the path where Lana and Charles were weaving around each other. "She's quiet too."

Lincoln briefly flashed back to his surprise at finding her in his room; "maybe." A little more annoyance crossed Lynn's face and after a moment he recognised it as…

Frustration?

She's trying to get to know me, Lincoln realised with a little surprise. He'd expected her to be doing a favour for her sister, or maybe she genuinely had nothing better to do; but this was another Loud Girl like Lana, Luan and Luna making an effort to reach out.

Or at least it really seemed like it.

Lincoln would be lying if he hadn't assumed someone like Lynn wouldn't exactly be fond of someone like him- all the sporty kids back in Hazeltucky made it clear where kids like him and them stood after all. But Lynn was the one who was reaching out here, and it didn't seem like some kind of prelude to a pounding like with those other jocks.

And Lincoln was trying to get along with the sisters, for both his and Mom's sake.

"S-sorry." Lincoln pushed the word out and forced himself to continue as Lynn's eyes returned to him, "I just have a lot to think about."

"Yeah, moving to a new city and all that." Lynn latched onto the conversation hook easily enough, "sounds tough. I mean; I wouldn't know, I've just lived in Royal Woods for my whole life. I can't even imagine having to leave everyone behind like that."

"Oh, right." Lincoln couldn't help but frown, "it wasn't too hard."

"Really?" Lynn looked to him with surprise. "What about your friends and stu-"

"- It wasn't hard." Lincoln surprised himself with the sharpness of the repetition.
"Oh, um, sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Eh, it's fine," Lynn let it go. "Maybe I was gettin' a little pushy there. Let's just have a little fun and maybe we can talk about it later."

"I guess." Lincoln nodded along as they slowly approached the park, and Charles began straining harder on the leash as he smelled it. "Hey- cut it out!" He couldn't help but laugh as Charles reached behind to tug at his leash with his teeth.

"Looks like he's ready to go," Lynn smirked, "him and Lana both- you wanna join them?"

Sure enough, Lana had already run ahead and was on all fours on the grass, tongue out in an imitation of a dog. She let out a remarkably authentic 'bark' to Charles, who started tugging more fiercely at his leash.

A smile flashed across Lincoln's face, but he reflexively quashed it as he felt Lynn's eyes on him.

"Come on," she said from his side, "we're here to have fun, right?"

He glanced at her to find her wearing a playful grin, "s-sure-"

"Then let's go!" The Jock shot forwards, and Lincoln found himself stumbling after her as Charles jumped to race the girl. The girl only stopped for a second to watch for traffic before she bolted across the road, and even though Lincoln was more hesitant in making sure he wouldn't get suddenly squashed- it was only a moment before he found himself on the grass.

"Did you bring the ball!?" Lana ran around him on all fours. Charles promptly followed her and Lincoln had to desperately twist and turn to avoid being tied up in the leash. "Come on, we wanna race!"

From how Charles was pawing at the ground, Lana had the dog down to a T.

"Alright, alright!" He couldn't help but laugh as he reached down to pop off Charles' leash, and upon stretching back up he promptly pulled the much-worn tennis ball from his jeans. He held it aloft and squeezed it, prompting the squeak to emit and snickered to himself as Charles jumped up on his legs with giant doggy eyes and a tail wagging nearly fast enough for liftoff-

Then he launched the ball as far as he could into the park, letting Charles bolt off like lighting! Lana hesitated for a split second to look at Lincolns hand, but he splayed them open to reveal that he hadn't pulled a trick this time so she ran after the little dog on all fours again.

"Not bad," Lynn whistled from beside him. "Were you on the baseball team back in Hazeltucky?"

Lincoln's mouth went dry, and he forced out a stiff shake of his head. "N-no."

"Dang that's a shame, oh!" He saw her catch her fist in her other hand, "maybe you could try out for the one in elementary- we could even train together if you like!"

He swallowed and looked at her properly.

She was standing there with an enthusiastic grin and a glint in her eye, it was almost like she was eyeing him up for a mark. But her smile faded as she looked at him and she abruptly stood up and scratched at the back of her head, her eyes following Lana rather than him "ah… but maybe that's not your thing?"

Lincoln blinked, then realised everything from his face to his toes were tensed up. "Um, n-no." He forced his fingers to unclench, "I-I'm not really into sports."

"Oh, yeah you said that." Lynn sighed as she looked back at him. "You don't look like much of an outdoorsy kid anyway- no offense."

"N-none taken," Lincoln could hardly complain, he liked staying indoors reading or drawing on his own most days after all.

"It's okay, Lucy's kinda like that." Lynn nodded to herself, "Lisa and Lola too- actually…" she looked at him with a thoughtful expression, "maybe keep your distance from Lola for a while."

"Oh, okay," Lincoln tried to recall which sister was Lola.

There were a lot of them. "W-which one is she?"

Lynn's face stayed still for a second, then she snorted in laughter, "heh! Okay; she's Lana's twin, the girl who's always prancing around in that pageant dress."

"Oh right!" Lincoln blushed; he was sure he knew that already but his mind was already occupied with a lot from today. Speaking of things from today, wasn't Lola…

… keeps a book of secrets to blackmail…

"She'll warm up to you later," Lynn continued on. "But not gonna lie, she's taking you and your mom moving in kind of hard."

"Oh…" Lincoln nodded along. "I guess I understand."

Lynn's eyes narrowed for a second, "and how about you?"

Lincoln was taken aback, "me?"

"Yeah, how're you taking the whole moving to a new town thing?" Lynn nodded. "Plus, you're moving in with all of us so that can't be easy."

"Oh… I…" Lincoln mumbled, "it's okay. Everyone's been helping me and stuff…" a vision of Lori reaching for his head appeared in his mind. "Mostly."

"Eh, don't mind Lori, she'll get over it" Lynn shrugged. "It's just kinda weird for her, I mean; we've only ever had Dad. You're the first boy we've had besides him!"

"Right…" Lincoln nodded, he kept forgetting that it had been a house of eleven girls. "That would be hard."

"And there's the whole thing about Rita…" Lynn frowned- but quickly returned to friendliness upon seeing his own expression shift. "It's not like we don't like her or anything- but back when Dad first started dating some of us weren't really into it 'cause Mom'd only died a few months before."

Lincoln winced, "I-I'm sorry-"

"Ah it's fine now," Lynn insistently brushed him off. "It's just weird seeing my dad getting all mushy over someone new."

"Y-yeah," Lincoln could appreciate that, having been sadly present in some of the more cringe-worthy moments of affection between the two adults. "I-I'd never even seen my mom really date someone before. But Lynn- your dad-" he hastily interjected, "makes her really happy and… mushy," he admitted with hot cheeks and a slight disgust in his voice.

Adults were gross.

"Urgh!" Lynn gagged. "Yeah, me and Lana were in the back the other day and- I mean; just give 'em a minute and they just start mashing lips!"

Lincoln felt himself green a bit, and he couldn't help but volunteer the worst of his own stories; "they did it back in Hazeltucky too. They thought I was taking a nap and Pop-Pop was out, so they stared doing kissing on the couch and I had put my head under a pillow to not hear all the sounds!"

"They think they're all sneaky-like, but they're so loud!" Lynn chuckled, "seriously, it's like they're showing off sometimes-"

The two likely would have swapped stories for a little longer, but a light growl from Charles mixed with a playful giggle from Lana drew their attention to a post just behind them.

There the two were in a rolling ball of girl and dog behind them, covered in blades of grass and wrestling with each other over the ball that was held between both their jaws. Lincoln gagged at how close Lana's lips were to Charles', then he paled again as Charles let out a growl.

The six year old's eyes just sparkled with determination however, and she issued a growl of her own-prompting Charles to draw back on his hind legs to pull harder- prompting a harsh squeak to issue from the abused toy between them.

Lincoln raised his hand to stop them, but Lynn just laughed;

"Ha! Classic Lana." The older girl chortled, then she caught sight of his worried face; "heh, don't worry it, she's not gonna hurt him."

"H-him?" Lincoln spluttered. "W-what about her!?"

Charles was good dog and he'd never bit anyone; but if she worked him up enough then maybe…

He knew what happened to dogs who bit children.

"Dude, relax." Lynn insisted and she pointed at the little blonde. "Listen; Lana wrestles alligators- Charlie's got nothing on them!"

Lincoln's eyes widened at that; he had long since turned it over in his mind and there was no way that any sane person would let a six year old get in a fight with a man eater. But when he examined Lynn, there was nothing in her face or body to suggest she was teasing him or lying. "R-really?" He hesitantly inquired. "I saw the trophy but-" he looked back at the tiny girl currently playing tug-of-war with his even smaller pet, "she doesn't really wrestle actual alligators, right?"

"Oh yeah she does!" Lynn proudly declared, then shouted to Lana; "Best 'gator grabber in Michigan, right Lana!?"

Lincoln swivelled to see the girl spit out the tennis ball for just a second; "darn straight- HEY!"

Charles promptly darted away with the ball, squeaking with every bounding step as Lana bolted after him.

"I… um, okay?" Lincoln's mind whirled at the implications, then shoved them under the 'think about later' box in his mind along with everyone else that had happened today. "As long as you're sure…"

"Sure am," Lynn nodded with a grin, "and hey; I know you're not into sports but you do like playing with the dog, right?"

"Y-yes," he nodded. "I play with Charles all the time."

"Well…" A Cheeky grin returned to her face and Lincoln heard a series of squeaks approaching from behind "wanna see how far I can get that ball?"

Lincoln gasped as Charles knocked into his lower legs, then rolled around on the grass to hold up the toy in his jaws.

"Yeah!" Lana trundled into view from the opposite side. "Lynn's got the best throwing arm in Royal Woods, you've gotta see it!"

"Um, okay?" Lincoln reached down to pluck the toy from Charles' wet jaws-, "c'mon, let go!" He murmured as Charles hung on, then reached down with his free hand to scratch at his chest in the way the canine liked. Immediately Charles' jaws loosened and he pawed at the air as Lincoln held out the slobber-covered ball to Lynn with two fingers, "um, sorry."

Lynn surprised him by grabbed the gall without hesitation, "no problem!" The thing squelched and squeaked as she lined up her shot and drew back her arm, "so hows about this?

We'll make two teams and take turns throwing the ball somewhere in the park, me and Lana plus you and Chuck-"

"Charles," Lincoln couldn't help but correct. "H-his name is Charles."

"Charles, right," Lynn nodded. "You and me'll be the pitchers, and the other two'll be the fetchers. Every time Lana or Charles gets the ball back to us a point goes to their team " she looked at the sky for moment. "Let's say ten rounds with one throw each for a round, whoever's fetcher got the ball back most wins!"

"Hmn…" Lincoln thought for a moment. He really wasn't into games like this, but Lynn's enthusiasm was downright infectious, and…

"Oh- please, please, please?" Lana jumped up, "it'll be really fun!"

Despite him normal reluctance he found a smile of his own tugging at his lips. "O-okay!"

"Sweet- I'm claiming first throw! Lana, I'm bettin' on you!" Lynn quickly declared, before Lincoln could object- she narrowed her eyes on a spot past the first pond, stuck the tip of her tongue out the corner of her mouth and-

Whhhsh!

The ball practically whistled as she launched it with astonishing speed- Lincoln only realised she'd thrown it a second later when her arm was suddenly before her and his eyes raced to find the ball in the air-

And his heart fell as he spotted it just before it slammed into the middle of the pond- causing loads of frogs to start jumping away from the impact spot.

Immediately Lana bolted from their side, Charles running just behind her.

"Dang it," Lynn sighed. "Ball was kinda beat up and threw off my aim. Looks like Lana's still gonna get it though."

Lincoln looked up, and his stomach sank upon seeing the grotty little girl wade into the depths with a smile, Charles yipping as he paddled in as well.

"I-is that pond safe!?" Lincoln gasped. "What if there's-"

"Eh, Lana plays in there all the time," Lynn waved off his concerns. "Plus, the city's been real good on keeping this place clean since the last election."

"Uh, okay," Lincoln decided not to pursue that line of thought; "we're going to need to clean them though."

"Eh, guess there's no reason not to go all out then," Lynn shrugged and looked at him again, "still up for it?"

Lincoln watched on with surprise as Lana suddenly surfaced, still grimy but otherwise unharmed with the ball again in her mouth. "Ah… sure?"

There really wasn't any more harm that could be now was there?

Lincoln quickly caught onto why Lynn was so confident, she was easily the best pitcher he'd ever met! The second Lana had sprinted back he'd made his own toss, but it was a pitiful display compared to hers.

And Lynn, nice or not, made it very clear that she wasn't going to go easy on him.

Fortunately, though, Lincoln quickly worked out his own strategy; Lana was best climber and swimmer of the two fetchers, but Charles was faster on regular ground, nimbler on his feet and could get into small spaces really easily. So, while Lynn was throwing the ball as far as she could into ponds, streams and into trees, Lincoln made sure to aim at the solid ground between them or into the underbrush where Charles could nip into the small openings and run out again while Lana was still trying to wriggle inside.

By the end of the hour though Lynn and Lana were still seven points ahead, and Lincoln took the final ball from Charles' jaws with one last chest scratch, "you were great Charles."

"And we're the winners Lana!" Lynn hi-fived Lana.

Their hands squelched as they met.

"Eew," Lynn frowned as drew back her hand to examine the mess and then turned her sight to the equally disgusting girl and dog before them. "We're gonna need the hose when we get home."

"Aw mean, really?" Lana drooped down.

"Eh, you can walk home in it anyway," Lynn shrugged, then looked over to Lincoln. "If that's okay with you?"

"Um…" Lincoln looked at Charles, who was playfully rolling over in the grass- blades of which were now stuck to him through the moist grime that clung to his coat. "Mom'll be mad if I bring him home this gross."

"Eh," Lynn shrugged, then she eyed one of the ponds with clear water. She held out her hand again, and Lincoln obediently returned the ball to her, having an inkling of what she had in mind. Near instantly the ball found itself flying once more, and Charles bolted off again after it.

Lana nearly joined him, but halted as she saw where it landed. "Aw, man, that's a nasty trick."

Charles however didn't seem to mind as he waded in after the ball and the worst of the gunk coating him floated away as he found it.

"Heh, I've got Lana few times with that one," Lynn snorted, and Lincoln found himself snickering at the image of a put-upon Lana sulking as she stomped out of the pond all but clean. "… Hey, you've got anything going on this Friday?"

"Oh, um…" Lincoln froze for a moment as implication of Lynn asking about his free time sank in.

"I've got a game coming up that Afternoon," Lynn continued. "No pressure or anything, but I like having family there for luck, and you're sorta family now, so if you want…"

"I'm meeting my grandpa on Friday," Lincoln recalled with a little relief, but his quick escape soured as Lynn's face fell a little.

He knew she'd been really trying for him.

Lynn's expression returned to good cheer as she played it off; "oh, well that's-"

"But I can come to the next one!" He surprised himself as he blurted out the offer. "I… um, I can come then."

Lynn blinked, then her smile became more genuine "oh, sweet!" She gave Charles a quick pet as he approached her with the ball, and she handed the toy back to Lincoln with glee. "Looks like I'll be up a good luck charm on that game!"

---

Lincoln was sore as he came in, but it was in a good way so he didn't mind too much even though his clothes were grass-stained, sweaty and smelled of dog (he liked Charles but the dog smell got everywhere when they played together). He'd have to get changed or he'd get dirt on his bed when he did homework.

"Ahhh…" Lynn patted his shoulder, causing the boy to flinch. "Whoops, sorry Lincoln."

"Ah, um, it's fine." Lincoln turned to the girl.

Lynn seemed to think for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, anyway I was just going to say; it was fun hanging out. Seriously, you're a quiet kid and all, but maybe we can do this again sometime?"

"Oh, yeah." Lincoln was surprised as a bubble of happiness swelled up into a little smile. "T-thanks."

"Sure thing, now if you'll excuse me…" Lynn gave him a strong pat on the back again, but it wasn't hard enough to make him stumble again. "I've got some squats to finish- new weight record here I come! Whoohoo!" She grinned at him one last time, then she bolted upstairs.

Lincoln stared up after her for a moment then shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah, she's like that," Lincoln resisted the urge to jump in surprise again and instead looked down to his left to see Lana with Charles by his side.

The little girl seemed nonplussed as she picked her nose, "Lynn tends to go all in on stuff. It's awesome 'cus I get someone to wrestle and do stuff with- just don't stand in the way or anything or you might get run over."

"R-run over?" Lincoln felt a sudden pin that bubble.

"Yeah, like with a bike y'know!" Lana grinned up at him and dropped her hand down to mime gripping the handles of one. "She even has this awesome one she bought herself-" her eyes narrowed and her smile grew aggressive as she seemed to imagine riding the thing. "- But she when she rides it for inside hockey or something you've gotta watch out or- SPLAT!"

She mimed something getting 'splatted', but her grin faltered as she saw Lincoln's pale visage. "Uh- but I'm sure she'll take it easy since you're new and all. It's not like she aims for any of us or something."

"Um, sure…" Already, Lincoln's good feelings from the fun time in the park had already vanished under new uncertainty. "Ah… could you k-keep Charles busy for a bit longer? I need to go do my homework before it gets any worse."

The dog in question perked his head up and looked between his owner and the girl.

"Really?!" The grubby little girl's smile returned bigger and brighter than before- even washing away some of Lincoln's dourness with its brilliance. "I can play with him some more!?"

"Sure," Lincoln flushed as he stepped down to Charles.

The little dog looked up with curiosity, and even though he looked a little puffed Lincoln could tell there was still a good bit of energy left in him before he'd sleep well anyway. "I'm going upstairs for a bit so you be good for Lana Charles." Lincoln reached down and pet his black and white head for a bit (his hands already stunk of Charles anyway so what was the harm?) and giggled as Charles jumped up and gave his face a lick from his long tongue. "Heheh!"

Lincoln stood up again, and held out the leash for Lana to take (he kept a firm grip on the bit underneath the handle so Charles couldn't bolt off just yet). "Take good care of him, okay?'

"I will!" Lana promised, and took the leash handle like it was a holy prize before looking down the to the head-titling Charles with a grin. "C'mon boy- let's go play in the mud!"

Lincoln's eyes widened, but the girl and dog were both off in an instant.

"C-clean him if he gets dirty!" He called out behind them, though if they heard him through the background din was beyond him. "And don't forget you need to wash up too!"

And now he was alone again. The background noise seemed to rise in a cacophony of clashing musical instruments and shouts from kitchen to living room to the second story, and he couldn't help but feel very conscious of standing in the main passageway of the overstuffed residence.

Suddenly feeling a lot less comfortable without his friendly guides in the strange house, Lincoln reverted to his goal- namely getting on with his homework before it got out of hand. But as she marched forwards, a certain cabinet caught his eye-

More specifically, a certain item of the contents within.

She's a child prodigy… that Nobel Prize in the front is real!

Mom's words echoed in his mind and he found his feet going to the Trophy Cabinet instead. As before, there were all kinds of trophies; all for increasingly strange things that Lincoln really wouldn't have thought could be real like Lana's Alligator wrestling or Lily's thumb sucking-

There!

On the middle row on the left was a section containing a framed photo of Lisa Loud, with a trophy to the right of it on the back of the section what was very clearly a white certificate with the words 'Nobel Prize' inscribed into it in large font, with a block of smaller words underneath it.

Lincolns eyes widened in shock- and he gasped in surprise, though it swallowed in an instant by the surrounding noise.

But…

What's that on the ribbon?

There, attached to the bottom right of the certificate was a light green ribbon that matched the decorative tips of the document. On the main part of the ribbon however were two letters that looked very familiar to him.

JR.

And underneath them in smaller font; 'division'.

The Nobel Prize has a junior division?

Lincoln crept closer a suspicion arose in his mind, and the small words underneath 'Nobel Prize' became clearer

"In recognition of her accomplishments in the field of science…." Lincoln read aloud. ".. Most notably the creation of- ketchup mixed with mustard?"

Lincoln blinked and re-read the line again in case his eyes were playing tricks on him again, but no; the silly text remained the same as before.

…

Well, if the 'junior division' bit part didn't make him doubtful before, that sure did. Sure, maybe the Nobel Prize givers might have some kind of booby prize to encourage kids, but one for mixing condiments together?

He repressed a little snicker as he imaged the little girl happily accepting the trophy in front of a big audience, in reality Lynn Sr had probably just got something from a thrift store and done up some stuff to make Lisa happy- which was really nice of him but it still didn't help Lincoln with his schoolwork now did it?

His smile faded as he remembered that niggling little problem.

Yeah… school.

---

It was funny in a way.

Back in his old school Lincoln had a kind of secret pride in being one of the best students in his class (though to be fair most of his classmates just ignored the teachers and tests) and how well he could do with just a little studying. But the funny thing was;

Not all schools were made equal. And sure, they all had basic standards set by the government, but standards and good standards are different things- and it was pretty clear that the main reason that Lincoln had it so easy back in Hazeltucky was…

"… Hazeltucky's wasn't teaching us anything." Lincoln dropped the new (second hand) book onto his bed. Beside it was his old Hazeltucky science book, already splayed open.

He'd been hoping he could find some crossover in the material to see how far behind he was in Royal Wood's standards, but from what he could tell- Hazeltucky wasn't even in the same semester of content yet.

"Maybe not even in the same grade." He concluded aloud, "and there's tests coming up."

His heart sank once more as he looked over to the various other books on his bed. A collection of Royal Woods and Hazeltucky text books, each a pair to a subject he was in and few with any shared content within their pages.

Where do I even begin?

He knew some there were videos and stuff online that could help- like videos that Mom sometimes used to work out why her cooking went wrong even when she thought she was following the recipe. But Lincoln didn't even have a computer, and he didn't want to try and go out and ask one of the Loud girls for theirs or anything.

Besides, he didn't really have the time to sit down and watch a bunch of videos and hope they had what he needed in them all.

If only…

He had a tutor.

She's a child prodigy Lincoln, Moms words echoed in his head again.

But the 'Nobel Prize' in the cabinet spoke against that now didn't it?

But at the same time…

Lincoln fished in his bag, and pulled out a packet of papers. As he popped it open, the first page presented itself as the outline of the learning plan Ms Johnson had made up for him, and there at the top above the square tables, checklist and printed text was a penned note from Ms Johnson;

Show this to Lisa.

Lincoln didn't think his teacher would joke about something like that, not when he really needed help- and 'Nobel Prize' or not there was only one Lisa Loud he knew of. Besides, Chandler had told him that she worked at a University, and it didn't seem like he was joking either.

And looking over just how much stuff he had to catch up on…

He swallowed.

Maybe just taking a look wouldn't hurt?

He put the packet back together, sliding the papers into the thin cardboard sheath and closing it up again so he could carry it and carefully made his way out of his room.

---

"Enter at will." Lisa Loud's voice came through the door.

Thankful that he'd remembered the rooms right, Lincoln turned the doorknob and found himself in a room with light green walls and a darker green carpet.

It seemed to be quite clean, much to his surprise considering the age of the inhabitants and how disorganised the rest of the house was. Lily sat in her cot just to his left, and seemed to give him a little wave as she recognised him. Closer to the window though was Lisa herself, sat in front of a quite frankly dangerous-looking chemistry set with stuff he was pretty sure wouldn't even be allowed in a high school lab, never mind in the hands of a four year old with clearly taped-over tubes and beakers.

"Greetings Potential Sibling Unit." Lisa didn't look at him as she carefully mixed some strange fluid together. "Not to put too fine a point on it, but I'm in the middle of-"

BANG

Lincoln yelped in surprise, and threw himself to the floor with a thud. His nose picked up an acrid scent and he shut his eyes tight to avoid getting anything in them.

"I'm okay!" Lisa's voice called out, much to Lincoln's surprise.

"Heh heh!" Lily's giggled. "Go ba ba!"

Curious despite his trepidation; Lincoln cracked open one eye to see a few whisps of green smoke floating out the open window and some more cracked and broken beakers where Lisa's chemistry set stood.

The girl herself lay flat on her back a little closer to him now, clearly having been blown off her chair with a sooty face and singed hair. But she bore no other visible injuries or harm, even the thick goggles she had over her eyes weren't so much as cracked.

It was practically a miracle considering what had just happened.

"A-are you alright?" Lincoln whispered.

"Hmm…" Lisa mused to herself. "Always remember the dinitrotoluene…" The small girl reached up and whipped off her goggles, leaving her face with comedic clear areas on her sooty face in the shape of said eye protection. She put her fingers in front of her face and quickly counted them off, before sitting up and pulling off her shoes to reveal to do the same for her-

"… Eleven," Lisa nodded to herself with satisfaction. "No phalangeal regression despite…"

Lincoln's eyes darted to her feet in surprise, but indeed as he checked her bare right foot happened to have an extra toe on the end.

"Regardless, the current experiment has 'blown' as Luan would say," the little girl popped her shoes back on and faced Lincoln- letting him witness two squinty eyes before she pulled out her usual spectacles from her pocket and pushed them into place. "Now then, I presume there was a reason that you intruded on my delicate and highly volatile mixing process?"

"Uhm…" Lincoln fumbled with his packet, not exactly sure how to present his situation. How do you ask a kindergartner for help with your homework? How do you ask a kindergartner if she's actually some kind of super-science genius and expect a serious answer?

Lisa seemed to find his hesitation irritating, so the besooted girl marched over and looked him over with her magnified eyes. "I see Ms Johnson sent you."

"Um, yes, d-did she tell you?" Lincoln raised the packet to her.

"No, but this would hardly be the first time that a Sist-Sibling Unit has been sent to my residence for the sake of improving their aptitude in a weak subject." Lisa clarified with a dry smugness. "Context, body language and basic knowledge of Royal Wood Elementary's staffing provided the rest."

"Oh…" Lincoln found himself at a loss for words as Lisa primly took the packet from his hands and opened it, her little eyes scanning the paper with distressing speed.

"Ah, ah yes, hmm- that would be the problem now wouldn't it?" Lisa nodded as she read through Ms Johnson's lesson plan and the notes thereof. Her eyes looked up to him yet again. "It seems that Hazeltucky's usual competence has lead to a distinct deficiency in… well." She clicked her tongue. "Rest assured, rectifying the matter is well within my capabilities despite any and all pre-existing problems- as the grades of my biological sibling units can attest."

"O-okay." Lincoln found himself more marvelling at the verbose child's confidence than anything else. Sure, when he came in he was half expecting to have made some kind of weird mistake, but just from the past minute alone he was already kind of convinced she could help him. She sure spoke like some kind of prodigy!

" 'Okay' indeed," Lisa nodded and tucked the packet of papers under her arm. "I, Lisa Loud; PhD, MD, Esquire, Nobel Prize Laureate-"

Lincoln really should have controlled himself better. And normally, he would have, having long since trained himself to keep most of what he might think about another person's behaviour buried deep inside.

But there was just something about how proudly the turtle-neck clad genius spouted off her various titles (or whatever they were if they came after her name) with such pride, and then added on the 'Nobel Prize' for mixing condiments as if they were in the same category that Lincoln couldn't help but snicker- just for a moment.

It was more than enough for Lisa to pick up. Abruptly she stopped and stared up at him;

"If there something you find funny about my achievements Mr Alvarsson?" Her voice was as cold as ice.

Instantly his good humour vanished, and Lincoln's tongue flipped in his mouth as he tried to reassure Lisa; "I-Uh, n-no, it's just t-that-"

"Perhaps then you would care to explain your evident entertainment," she pointed a finger up at him with her free hand as she emphasised that last word, "that just so happened to coincide with my elaboration of my substantial qualifications to assist with resolving your educational deficit.

Unless of course you have another candidate in mind of course," Lisa's cold tone left no doubt in Lincoln's mind that she was entirely serious.

"Ah- y-you see…" Lincoln swallowed and tried to steady himself. "It's just that y-you were saying you were a Doctor, a-and then a… noble?"

"Esquire is a reference to my position as a member of the State Bar of Michigan," Lisa curtly informed him. "The Lawyer's bar for this state, in case you were ignorant."

"R-right," Lincoln took the sharp dig without complaint. "B-but then you mentioned the Nobel Prize a-and it's… not really the same right?"

Lisa's lips pursed, but for the first time since he'd provoked her ire she seemed more confused than upset. "Could you elaborate?"

"W-well, it sounds like the other stuff you mentioned were all real-right?" Lincoln hastily queried, and was relieved as Lisa gave him a curt nod. "B-but the prize is just something from the junior division-"

Lisa's eye twitched with some bitter recognition. "Luan."

"-And it's for mixing-"

"Enough." Lisa snapped. "Enough."

"O-oh…" Lincoln trailed off.

Lisa breathed out, then looked up at Lincoln again with a considerably calmer demeanour; "I apologise."

Lincoln was taken aback as the prodigy continued;

"I do have a Nobel Prize, multiple as matter of fact; but I assure you that neither the physics or chemistry divisions would accept mixed ketchup as a basis for entry." Lisa's tone was sour; "my sister Luan however is a serial prankster who finds replacing my very real and genuinely issued certificates with some suitably juvenile misattribution to be a source of endless humour."

"Oh!" Lincoln flushed in the realisation that he'd been the booby. "I'm sorry-"

"It's quite alright," Lisa sighed and paced back forth before him. "Luan often fails to realise that her little 'pranks' can have consequences beyond momentary annoyance." She seemed to come to a conclusion as she stopped, and look back at him with a little smirk; "but if you'll follow me to my 'office'; perhaps I can undo any misconceptions that might have taken root?"

---

Lisa's 'office' wasn't like anything Lincoln could've imagined.

At first it didn't seem that special aside from that fact it was indeed in the old bunker in the backyard; and as Lincoln carefully made his way down the ladder from the imposing hatch Lisa had opened; the interior opened to relatively mundane, if impressively sized brown bricked room. Inside were some assorted bits of furniture and odd boxes and books.

Then Lisa hopped off the last rung behind him, pulled aside one of those books and pressed her thumb into a hidden scanner.

Wham!

In an instant, steel panels slammed down over the bricks, and Lincoln stumbled as the floor was replaced by some similarly reflective, yet non-slippery covering. When he'd steadily himself he found that he was now in a steel-grey room covered from floor to ceiling with all manner of incredible, sci-fi looking machines that were easily bigger than him, collections of glowing tubes on tables and what might have been an…

Octopus tentacle in the corner?

"This is where I conduct my most sensitive research," Lisa asserted. Lincoln looked way from the possible disembodied limb and found himself in more awe than trepidation once more as Lisa stood in the centre of her magnificent laboratory. Behind her was a large computer screen with innumerable folders and applications he couldn't guess at. "Within these walls I have made more advances to humanity in the past year than most scientists do in their lifetimes."

She raised her arms to encompass her entire lab with a smirk, "behold Lincoln Alvarsson, the crucible of invention!

To your right;" she raised her left arm to point to a particularly green set of tubes whirring in a machine, just like some of the ones Lincoln had seen on T.V. when a scientist needed a sample tested. "The answer to the issue of any and all floral deficits lie within that centrifuge!"

The machine suddenly slowed to halt, and Lincoln jumped as Lisa appeared next to him holding a pot of soil. "Please choose any of the tubes and empty two drops of the contents into the middle of this common Michigan soil."

Lincoln swallowed and nodded. He reached out his left hand (a bit worried that something might happen if he used his good one) and slowly pulled up one of the glowing tube. There was a little metal seal atop that automatically opened with a hiss as he did, and he had to repress a shudder to avoid dropping it.

Still a little uncertain, and unsure if he could let out 'two drops' (seriously, why did people use 'drops' to measure stuff when they don't bring an eyedropper?) Lincoln did his best to let exactly two little drops drip out of the tube he tilted over the plant pot.

The viscous green fluid landed in two thin steams, one after the other. Immediately as Lincoln tilted the tube back, a little green plant bud popped out of the centre on the pot-

Shwwsh

And suddenly sprouted into a fully grown flower.

"Behold Mr Alvarsson!" Lisa declared to the gobsmacked boy with a grin, "the solution to deforestation, world hunger and resource shortages across the worl-"

The plant suddenly turned brown, and Lisa's expression fell.

"-Dang it." The plant deflated before Lincoln's eyes, not like a balloon but like it was dehydrated, before crumbing back into the dirt as flakes of plant material. The little genius flushed red in embarrassment.

"W-well, it was still really cool!" Lincoln insisted with the best smile could manage. And it was really cool, even if it fell apart in the end.

"Indeed it was," Lisa grumbled, but seemed mollified. Nonetheless, she promptly dropped the plant pot onto a nearby metal desk and marched over to another machine to Lincoln's left. It appeared to be an old, modified camera like the kind that a reporter's cameramen sometimes carried around;

"This is a prototype lie detector. Unlike the dubiously effective models currently employed by enthusiasts and the odd ill-informed police force around the world; my device uses a combination of a microexpression database, assorted biological readings and brainwave scans to determine truthfulness with a ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine, eight percent accuracy!" She grinned with glee, "I call it; The Loud-Ekman Veritilsier!"

"Oh wow…" Lincoln looked over the quite frankly, scuffed old camera with a suppressed doubt. "How does it work?"

"Oh it's quite simple," Lisa chuckled as she wandered behind the camera. "All one need do is aim the device at the subject in question," there was a slight groaning sound as two robotic arms sprung out of the pedestal the camera was mounted upon (startling Lincoln a little) and adjusted the camera lens to face him exactly. "Flip this switch…" there was a tick as the now obscured Lisa presumably followed through on her words- and sure enough a little red light appeared on the camera. "And voila; idiotproo- idiot resistant."

"Uh… so what I do I do?" Lincoln peeked to see if he could spot Lisa. "Just say something?"

"That's generally what's involved in lying, yes." Lisa sounded like she was rolling her eyes.

Undeterred, and a little excited, Lincoln looked right into the lens as he thought up something to say…

"I really like Ace Savvy's new suit, it's a really neat and brings new life to-"

"INCORRECT." A robot voice issued from the camera. "YOU FIND THE CONCEPT OF CHANGE FRIGHTENING AND THE NEW SUIT IS DUMB…"

Lincoln jumped back in shock, and the red light flickered off before Lisa came back around from the pedestal with a chuckle. "As you can see, my Veritilsier is more than capable of determining falsehoods as well as the intended motivations behind the subject's deception."

"I- I didn't even," Lincpln swallowed. "I-it can read minds?"

"Yes." Lisa affirmed with smugness. "Or at least, it can compile enough data from the subject to determine the most likely thought processes thereof." Her smile faded, "unfortunately that is also why I have yet to be able to begin mass production, apparently human rights are an issue when you don't exclusively sell privacy-breaching technology to the government. As it is, I doubt my Veritilsier will be seeing pubic use any time soon."

"Okay, that's…" kind of a relief. "A shame."

"Indeed." Lisa shook her head with a sigh. "But still, I have countless other inventions that will one day revolutionise the world contained within these walls." She threw out her hands once more, indicating to the expansive room filled with all manner of gizmos, gadgets and glowing goo; "give it time Mr Alvarsson, Lisa Loud will be known as the new Einstein, Brunel and Tesla all in one!"

There wasn't a thunderclap at the moment, but Lincoln wouldn't have found it out of place.

"I also have my genuine Nobel Prizes on the wall," Lisa pointed to wall behind him, and a quick look confirmed that there were indeed two, much more expensive looking certificates (one reading 'Physics' and the other 'Chemistry') in a thin wood-framed glass case behind him, with room for another in the middle of the case. "I will have to extract the location of the third from Luan at a later time…" Lisa grumbled behind him.

"This is…" Lincoln looked around the incredible display once more. "Amazing!" He blurted. "L-like something out of my comics!"

"Yes, yes, a childish comparison to be sure." Lisa waved her hand as if asking for more, "but by all means, continue with your appropriate awe at will."

"I…" Lincoln looked down at her again and found a certain glimmer in her eyes.

She was showing off.

Well, of course she was. But it was now that Lincoln realised the other half of her personality; that was just a little girl. Ever since she'd confirmed her intellect, Lincoln had been thinking of her as some incredible, white haired mad genius trapped in a tiny body. But this wasn't some clinical 'correction' of a misconception or a display of her credentials.

She was a four-year-old who clearly loved both attention and praise and had the immaturity to fit her form.

And that's all this really was; a big demand for affirmation. He'd poked her ego, so she'd gone and put a band-aid on it with all this. Now she wanted him to let her know he knew she was amazing and special.

But was the thing…

"… You're incredible." Lincoln admitted. "I didn't even know something like this was possible."

She was clearly everything she was rumoured to be.

A satisfied smile settled on the little scientist's face, "yes, yes I am. Now that we have established the obvious; perhaps I can spare some time in my schedule to assist you with some of your educational needs." She held out her hand once more, and Lincoln handed her the packet again.

She trundled off to the massive computer in the centre of the room, hopped onto a little seat and pressed a button. A small, empty compartment opened up and Lisa dropped the packet into it. The compartment closed with an automatic hiss, and a moment later a fully digitised version of the lesson plan contents appeared on her screen.

"Hmm…" Lisa murmured as Lincoln walked up behind her, still impressed with even this relatively tame display of technology. "It seems that your weakest areas are indeed in history and mathematics, English is passable for your grade- certainly by Hazeltucky standards, though really what isn't?" She chuckled, and Lincoln flushed again. She seemed to notice his discomfort and sped along; "I don't think I will have any issuing rectifying your educational deficit, Provisional Sibling Unit."

She turned on her chair to face him, now at his eye level thanks to her raised seat. "I'm currently booked for all of this week's remaining weekdays, but I may be able to negotiate some slots from some of my other students for the future. And we will need quite a few," she gave him a meaningful look, and Lincoln flushed again. "For now; I can book two sessions for the mornings of both this Saturday and Sunday to cover some of your upcoming test material; would that suit your timetable?"

"S-sure!" Lincoln nodded, feeling a bit of hope rise up.

If Lisa was capable of all of this; then surely his grades were no match for her brains!

"Excellent," Lisa confirmed, then she tapped her chin in thought. "Just as a thought; would you have an issue sharing a timeslot with Lucy and the twins? There's quite a bit of common content due to your share shared defic-needs."

---

Dinner that night wasn't awkward per say, but there was a distinct tension between certain parts of the table.

Specifically, between Lori and Rita.

Lori herself seemed to be oblivious to the barrier, candidly chatting with her sisters while ignoring the boy and his mother. It was if the day she'd spent elsewhere had erased all memory of her usual frustration and hostility towards the two and replaced it with a cold apathy.

Lincoln meanwhile simply poked at his food, mostly shut in with his own thoughts in the way he did when he had too much on his mind. Oddly enough though, he'd briefly looked up and even said a word or two when Lynn Junior turned his way. Rita's sharp eyes spotted some slight differences in his clothes showing that he'd changed since that morning, apparently their little trip outside had gone well enough for him to even play with the others enough to get dirty, but even so she still longed to take him aside for one of their heart-to-heart sessions and have him spill the details good and bad to her, but she knew he'd let her in when he was ready.

"I can assure you that your Direct Offspring Unit is operating within standard human parameters," Lisa quietly spoke next to her.

Rita frowned slightly at the smaller girl near her elbow. "Excuse me?'

Lisa continued while examining a particular part of meatloaf; "you are presenting the symptoms of anxiety and while observing Lincoln Alvarsson, presumably due to his current isolation within contemplation. Presumably you, as his Maternal Unit, were developing that anxiety due to that state and the potential causes thereof; I am seeking to relieve that anxiety through assurance that no trauma has occurred to induce said state."

"I see…" Rita raised an eyebrow at the pre-schooler's verbose vocabulary.

"He also sought out my assistance with his homework this afternoon, shortly after his escapade with Lynn." Lisa offered, "Rest assured, between my expertise and his adequate intellect there should be no issues with his educational attainment despite Hazeltucky Elementary's… efforts."

Rita repressed a snort at that, and let out a sigh of genuine relief at that. "Thanks Lisa, that means more to me than you know."

She knew Hazeltucky wasn't good for Lincoln, but until very recently, she'd had no other options.

Lisa nodded in satisfaction, and the dinner progressed relatively normally from there, with Lori participating much as she had the times when Rita had been a guest and Rita doing her best to avoid involving herself in Lori's conversations while Lincoln kept to himself.

Later that night however, Rita found the normally jovial man wearing a slight frown of his own.

"Sorry Honeybun," Lynn noticed her look of worry as they settled into the bed. "It's just that I thought that Lori would have come around by now."

"Really?" Rita found that a little dubious.

Lynn held on for a second more, before deflating, "no… but I hoped!"

"We might have done things too quickly," Rita admitted. "Not for us, but for them."

Lynn slowly nodded, "well… it's too late now. Can't put the genie back in the bottle!" He gave a short laugh then sighed, "did you talk to her?"

"She's not happy about me," Rita confirmed, then bit her lip. "And I think I came on too strong on her, it might've just upset her and made the wedge between her and Lincoln bigger than it was before."

"Maybe," Lynn sadly agreed. "But she's kind underneath it all, give her time. Me and Lincoln can just do our washing together instead, it'll be good man-to-man time!" He offered.

"Maybe," Rita echoed, but there was little to do with her uncertainty but wait and see how their children would play out the scenario their too-eager parents had left them in. "Speaking of doing things too quickly, I'm going to have to go down to the agency." She sighed, "Lincoln doesn't want to change his name."

Lynn seemed to be surprised, but he thought it over for a minute; "right; Alvarsson is Albert's last name, isn't it?"

"Yes, not his." Rita bit back venom.

"Then it makes total sense." Lynn starched at the back of his head. "Ahhh, we should've asked… we should've done a lot of things differently." He chuckled again as he looked at her, "but we didn't. We're just like a pair of teens rushing too fast into things we should know better."

"But we're adults," Rita reminded him. "And we need to be those adults for our children, our family." She sighed, "I need to talk to Lincoln about the adoption."

"Then we're going to have to deal with him sooner or later," Lynn reminded her.

"He's never shown an interest before," Rita's tone turned cold. "He probably won't even contest it."

"I hope you're right," Lynn sighed. "I really hope you're right…"

---

A/N:

Beta read by Nuuo and Blaze1.

Sorry for the long hiatus. Real life can be quite cumbersome at times, and between the long term plotting for this story and writers block, it was something of a challenge to get this story written again. However in order to avoid another long period without chapters, I made a point to finish off another two chapters or so chapters before publishing this one, so there would be a backlog in case something unfortunate happened to slow down my writing again.

As it is, currently the publishing schedule is set for every two weeks, so expect at least two more chapters to consistently come across the next month- and if all goes well, a similar rate of consistent uploads to follow after that.

The next chapter will be shorter, around 3000 words, but after that the wordcount should even out to approximately 5000 per chapter again.