Chapter Two: A Very Big Surprise

Lynn Sr. and Rita Loud were over at the McBride residents and had just finished speaking with Clyde's fathers. They explained that they had a plan for Lincoln and since many of his sisters probably wouldn't want to come, they asked if the both of them would just briefly check up on them. The both of them were more than happy to help out and were even delighted when they offered to let Clyde come with them since he was Lincoln's best friend and that both boys loved a lot of the same things.

"Thank you very much Gentlemen. Rita and I really appreciate the help." Lynn said with a smile as he shook their hands.

"Oh please Mr. Loud, think nothing of it." Harold replied happily. "Howie and I can't wait to surprise Clyde with the news when he gets home." he told him.

"Oh yes, yes of course. It's just...uh." Howard said looking nervous.

"Are you alright Howard?" Rita asked looking concerned.

"I'm fine I'm fine." he said rubbing the back of his neck. "It's just Clyde's going to be out of state. For the next several days. So far away...I don't know if I can..." he stuttered.

"Now now Howie, it's not like Clyde hasn't been away from home for more than a few days before." Harold responded. "He and Lincoln have gone to Summer Camp together not long ago remember?" he asked him.

"Well yes that's true but he was only an hour away then and..." he said before Rita interjected.

"Howard, Lynn and I have the complete list of his allergies and other medical concerns you've given us." she said with a warm and reassuring smile. "We promise, we'll keep a close eye and won't let anything bad happen." she told him.

"And if anything comes up, we'll let you know asap." Lynn added.

"See Howie, you've got nothing to worry about. Our Boy's is in good hands." Harold said placing a hand on his husband's shoulder. "Now you need to keep it together Howie." he told him calmly but firmly.

"Yes, yes of course you're right." he said taking a deep breath. "Thank you, I'm alright now I'm alright." he said calming down.

The Louds shook hands with the McBrides once more and then went home both to prepare themselves for the weekend trip and for the announcement they were going to make when the kids got home from school. Just a couple of hours later the kids would come home and soon enough the place was loud noises and chaos as usual. The parents did the best they could to maintain some semblance of order, easier said than done and before they knew it, it was dinner time. That night Lynn really outdid himself. Chicken parmesan with spaghetti as well as garlic bread and meatballs. Lynn was proud of himself for completing this masterpiece and was very happy to see that his kids were satisfied with what he prepared for them. Within an hour they were finished.

Both parents figured that now was the time to break the news to them. "Hey kids, before you go we need to talk." Lynn said getting everyone's attention before they all started sitting back down. "So big announcement...yes Leni." he said seeing as his second oldest had her hand raised.

"Is Mom having another baby?" she asked.

The room was dead silent as all eyes were on their mother. Even Lynn was looking at his wife, wondering at her response. Rita then responded "What? No! No I'm not having another baby!" she blushed, finding it ridiculous that this is the first thing that comes to their mind.

"Oh thank heavens." her husband replied as he placed his hand over his chest. That was when his wife gave him a dirty look. "Uh, Ahahaha! Not that another baby wouldn't be wonderful honey! You know I would be very happy at the news if that were true!" he said trying and failing to give her a convincing smile.

"Uh huh." she replied crossing her arms and a look that had her husband sweating. But she decided not to worry about that and turned her attention back to her kids. "But no, it's not that. Your father and I have something exciting to tell you all." she said now smiling.

"What's up?" Lynn Jr. asked sitting back in her chair.

"Tomorrow you're Mother and I are going on a trip for the weekend and we want to know if any of you want to come along." her dad answered.

This got the kids excited and soon the questions were all rolling in. "Really? Where are we going?" Luan asked first.

"Please tell me that we're going camping!" Lana pleaded.

Luna suddenly had a thought which really fired her up. "Oh! One of my favorite bands are coming for a concert! Are we going there to rock?" she asked.

"I would like to recommend we go to the Schianche Fair." Lisa chimed in while readjusting her glasses. "I myschelf have been looking forward to that event." she told them.

"Please tell me that we're going to a graveyard." Lucy said in her monotone.

"You are the only one among us who would want to go to a graveyard for a trip." Lola replied in disgust.

"Good guesses kids, but no." their father said with grin.

"Tomorrow when you all get home from school, we're driving to the Science Fiction Convention in Golden Oakes Ohio!" their mother finally told them.

All that excitement and hype instantly died for the kids. Well, all for except one who couldn't believe his ears. "Wait really?! A SciFi Convention?!" Lincoln asked as he jumped out of his chair and ran up to his parents.

"That's right Son, we're leaving tomorrow after you get home from school and then coming back Sunday evening. So go ahead and pack your bags." his father told him.

The eleven year old cheered and stormed upstairs to get packing while his parents noticed that their daughters were looking at them kind of confused and some, really jealous. "Okay girls, let us explain." their father told them.

"What the heck Pop Star?!" Luna asked with complete disbelief written all over her face.

"Luna!" Rita scolded.

"This is our first trip in months and we're going to some lame scifi convention?" Lynn Jr. asked slightly angry.

"Of all the places you choose why a place only Lincoln would like?" Lori asked their parents.

"That's not fair!" Lola yelled.

Things were about to get out of hand so the family patriarch reacted quickly. "GIRLS!" their yelled which shut them up. "Sorry for yelling." he said getting his emotions under control again.

He then looked to his wife who took over. "Girls, the reason why your father and I are doing this is because we think that given Lincoln has no real say at all in the activities you all do whenever you go out, we figured that it was only fair to him he should be able to do some of the things he likes on special occasions." she explained.

They all looked around at one another not quite getting it. "What do you mean? We're not excluding Lincoln from anything we do." Luan told them.

"He literally gets to attend all our siblings meetings when we plan on going out." Lori added.

"Yes that's true but does he really have any say at all where you all go?" their father asked back.

"Of course he does, he gets to vote like all of us." Luna answered.

"And when was the last time you guys all did one of the things he suggested?" Rita asked.

Lola scoffed. "Pu-lease! All Lincoln ever wants to do is go to the arcade, or the comic book store, or...oh." the six year old replied before the realization hit her.

The rest of the girls didn't like having to admit it either but they couldn't argue that their parents had a good point. While none of them really meant it they were unintentionally unfair to him. There wasn't a single time they could think of where they all went to a place their brother liked going to.

Rita smiled when her daughters got the message. "Girls please don't think badly about this. Your father and I aren't at all picking favorites or showing any favoritism, but Lincoln should be able to go to the big events he wants to from time to time and we're only doing what we think is fair. You understand right?" she asked.

"Yeah I guess." Luna replied looking around at her sisters. They looked kind of annoyed but they weren't going to raise a big stink about it either.

"Do we have to go though?" Leni asked raising her hand.

"If you don't want to you don't have to." their father answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"We've already decided that if any or even all of you want to stay you can." Rita told them. "And we don't mind if you all treat this as your own little Girls Only Weekend." she added.

And suddenly, they all started smiling. This didn't really seem so bad after all. Upstairs Lincoln was packing up when his walkie talkie went off. "Clyde McBride to Lincoln Loud. Come in Lincoln Loud, over." the little radio buzzed.

"Lincoln Loud here. I read you loud and clear over." he answered.

"Lincoln, my dads just told me that your parents are taking you to a scifi convention and guess what, they're letting me come with you!" he said on his end sounding very excited.

"Wait really?" Lincoln shot back getting even more hyped. He then ran downstairs to his folks who were waiting for him. "Mom! Dad! You guys didn't tell me that Clyde was coming too!" he said sounding so thrilled he was about to explode.

"Surprise." Rita smiled. Lincoln was even happier now than he was before. Three days at a scifi convention with his best friend. This could very well be the best day of his life.

The kids father then turned his attention back to his daughters. "So, does anyone else want to go?" he asked them.

Lincoln looked to his sisters and one by one they walked past him giving him their answer. "No thanks." Lori said with her eyes on her cell while she texted Bobby.

"Sorry Linky, but no." Leni answered while smiling and giving him a quick love tap on his shoulder.

"Nah, scifi isn't my style. Hope you have fun though Baby Bro." Luna told him with a kind smile.

"Not really interested. Sorry Lincoln." Luan said with an apologetic smile.

"Lame." Lynn Jr. said doing tricks with a soccer ball as she walked past him.

"Pass." Lucy said in her usual monotone.

"No thanks Lincoln. Scifi is just a little too weird for me." Lana told him as she walked off to go and play in some mud.

"As if!" Lola scoffed as she passed by her brother.

"There are many fieldsch of schiencesch I schtudy Male Schibling. Schiencesch ficshtion ischn't one of them." Lisa told him sounding disinterested.

Lincoln was a little bit disappointed that none of them wanted or were even willing to give it a try but he wasn't really all that surprised. He was used to his sisters just not caring about the things he liked. However he did smile when Lily waddled up to him smiling and cooing while holding her arms up, telling him she wanted her big brother to pick her up.

"You want to come don't you Lily?" he asked as the baby girl made happy noises while he held her. "We'll show our sisters won't we? Scifi conventions are lots of fun." he said walking to the living room with her.

Lynn Sr. and Rita were relieved that the kids took it as well as they did. It didn't collapse into a heated fight and lots of screaming. A part of them were little disappointed just as Lincoln was that none of them except for Lily wanted to go. They were hoping that the girls would've been at least willing to give it a try. But they also knew that this was most likely to happen and on the plus side, that meant paying for their hotel rooms were going to be much cheaper so there's that. More than anything they were satisfied that they were able to make Lincoln so happy. They may not be able to do this as often as he probably would like but being able to go to an event he really likes at least once or twice a year would be a blessing.

So the rest night went on as it normally did. The kids got as much fun out of the last hour as they could, wrecking the house in the process as always before it was time for the kids to do their evening rituals and go to bed. Lincoln was the only one who had trouble falling asleep. He was just so excited and really looking forward to the scifi convention. Three days set aside just for him and his friend. This was going to be too much fun. Eventually he finally did fall asleep. The very next day was Friday so Lincoln got through school quickly, completing all his classes and hanging out with his friends as both gym and lunch. Once they were done the kids came home and Lincoln did some last minute packing. For his costume obviously.

Meanwhile Rita was going over some instructions with Lori. "Now we're only going to gone till Sunday evening." she told her. "The McBrides will be stopping by briefly tomorrow just to check up on you so please be polite and don't make things too difficult for them. We've already restocked the fridge so you should all be fine in terms of food. We also got some frozen pizzas and popcorn for movies. We want you all to have fun too." she said smiling. "Now you're all aloud to stay up an extra hour but keep the house clean, well as clean as you can and more importantly get your homework done before we get back." she told her calmly but firmly.

"Mom, relax I got this." her oldest daughter replied confidently. She has been babysitting for years now so she was sure she had this all under control.

There came a right at the door and Lincoln answered. It was the McBrides and Lincoln embraced his friend who was holding his overnight bag. "Are you ready for the biggest scifi convention of the State?" Lincoln asked his friend.

"Born ready!" he answered with excitement.

The lone boy of the family then greeted his friends parents. "Hi Mr. McBride, hi Mr. McB. Thanks for letting Clyde come with us." he smiled.

"Oh of course Lincoln. We're delighted for you boys and hope you both have a great time." replied Harold.

"And please stay safe." Howard added.

His husband rolled his eyes and smiled. "Howie we've been over this he'll be just fine so relax." he told him.

"I know, I know, I know." he repeated trying to calm himself down.

The Loud Parents came up to greet the McBrides one more time before they left. "Again, we really appreciate you two coming over to check on the girls for us while we're gone." Lynn Sr. told them shaking their hands.

"Oh please Lynn, we can't tell you how grateful we are that you're bringing Clyde along with you. We're overjoyed that he gets to spend time with Lincoln doing what they both love." Howard smiled.

The McBrides gave their son one last hug goodbye before they headed off. Both Lincoln and Clyde chatted a bit about the event and couldn't wait for a chance to show off their costumes. After that Lynn Sr. told the boys it was time to go so he picked up Lily while Rita got the diaper bag. There was one last round of goodbye hugs with Lincoln's sisters, Clyde had another nose bleed when he actually got a hug from Lori and then they both entered Vanzilla before they were off. Lincoln then broke the fourth wall and turned his attention to the readers.

"This is awesome! A whole weekend at a Scifi Convention! I still can't believe Mom and Dad would do this for me." he said excitedly. "I guess there are at least a few benefits to being the only boy in such a big family." he said before looking back at his sisters one last time. "It's a shame that they don't want to come along though. Aside from Lily that is." he said tickling the baby girl who made happy noises. "But now something has just occurred to me. If my sisters were able to refuse and just stay home when they weren't interested, what didn't I do the same thing when they all chose to go somewhere I wasn't interested in going to?" he asks you. He then shrugged his shoulders and grinned again. "Oh well, guess I shouldn't think too much about it. However I will keep that in mind for later. Operation Why-Didn't-I-Think-Of-This-Sonner?" he half joked to himself before the trip resumed.

The Loud Sisters minus Lily waved them off and as soon as they were out of sight Lori got their attention. "Okay guys, we have three days to ourselves. Let's have some fun." she said with grin as she made her way back to the house.

Most of the other girls started heading back to the house but Luna turned to see the family goth still standing in place. "Lucy? What's up?" the family rocker asked her.

"Lincoln's going to gone for the next three days." she answered looking towards her older sister.

"Yeah, I just said that." Lori replied with a hand on her hip.

The young goth girl rubbed one of her arms. "But what if I need Lincoln to help me with my poetry? Every time I needed a rhyme for a word he always had several for me to choose from." she told her.

That was when Luan thought of something. "Hey yeah, now that I really think of it I may have an emergency birthday to preform at. And now I don't have an assistant." she said looking concerned.

Lola let out a gasp as something just occurred to her. "And I just realized that I have another pageant next week! Now I don't have my coach anymore!" the little drama queen panicked.

The girls all started realizing that they all needed their brother's help for one reason or another. They were all looking around at each other and listing off things they may need Lincoln to help them with. Lori was the only one who wasn't worried and decided to get their attention.

"Guys!" she said just loud enough for them to stop and look at her. "What's the big deal? Lincoln's gone on overnights before hasn't he?" she asked her sisters.

"Yeah but usually he stays over one night at a friend's house. Most of the time Clyde's and he's always back the very next day either at school or just coming straight back." Lynn replied.

Luna then spoke up. "And Clyde lives just right up the road. This time he's going out of state and he'll be gone for a little longer." she told her.

"The place already feels a little different without him." Lana said rubbing the back of her head.

The oldest sister still didn't know what they were all so concerned about. "You guys can't be serious. Lincoln's been gone for longer than just one night before. He did go to summer camp with Clyde a while back didn't he?" she asked them.

"He did." Lisa answered. "And I'm schure I don't need to remind you how well that turned out." the four year old genius said readjusting her glasses.

Lori had to think back for a moment what happened the last time her brother was gone for a longer period of time than he usually was.

[Flashback]

It was the late afternoon and Lincoln exits the McBrides' car as they dropped him off at his house. He turns around one last time to his friend and his dads. "Bye Clyde, see you at school tomorrow." he said waving.

"Looking forward to it buddy." he called back.

"Bye Mr. McBride, bye Mr. McB, thanks for the ride home." he said smiling.

"Of course Lincoln, glad we could get you home safe and sound." Harold replied.

"Bye Lincoln." Howard said waving and smiling.

Lincoln walks up the stairs and opens the door. His smile instantly vanishes when he sees the chaos in the family living room. The house was an absolute wreck with furniture knocked over, some stuff broken and scattered about, there was smoke trailing out of the kitchen which was a mess with water pooling out through the doorway and onto the carpet, the animals were running in cover and the fire alarm was going off. And his sisters were practically at war with each other. Lily was naked, clinging to Lori's shoulders from behind and angrily bopping her on the head with her rattle while the teenager tried desperately to get her off. Leni was running in fear screaming bloody murder while Lana chased her around with a rubber spider and a wicked smile.

Lola was tumbling around on the floor with Lynn and looked furious since her dress was torn and even the thirteen year old was having trouble trying to get the angry six year old off of her. Luan was running for dear life while Lisa was driving what looked like some mechanized suite and trying to squirt...he really didn't want to know what the goop was. And finally Luna and Lucy were in the back yelling at one another and throwing as many insults, accusations and threats as they could with each breath they took. The only boy of the family just stood there with complete shock written all over his face and just didn't know how to really respond to the mayhem.

"How...long was I at summer camp?" he asked watching the madness continue on and it looking like it was not slowing down any time soon.

[Back To Now]

Lori shuttered remembering that day and shook her head. "O-kay good point but that literally happened on the last day before he finally got home and was a one time slip up." she said quickly regaining confidence. "Besides, Lincoln will be home much sooner. Probably before we even know it. So let's not dwell on it and just relax and enjoy these next three days. Who's ready for a Girls Only Weekend?" she asked pumping her fist in the air.

Her sisters weren't too sure about it but they figured what she said made sense. So they shrugged their shoulders, smiled and everyone reentered the house. They decided to take their mind off their brother and look at the upside. Their parents were going to let them stay up an hour longer and enjoy some movies too. The only thing they really had to worry about was getting their homework done by the time their their mom and dad got home. What's the worst that could happen?

[Author's Notes] I am glad that I finally got this chapter up. I've had several people asking about it for awhile now and I'm pleased with myself for having it up before the end of the month. Now there are two very important things I want you guys to be aware of. The first is I am currently working on another The Loud House story and this is another I've wanted to do for a long time. It's heavily inspired my another great story I've been reading and following for some time. This next one will be focused more on family drama, hurt and comfort as well as much needed character growth for several Loud Kids. I'll let you guys guess what I have in mind. The second thing is I have a challenge for someone. If anyone out there is a fan of Amphibia and The Owl House I have an idea for a crossover story I want to pitch to you. If you're interested in the challenge you can ask me about it in a PM. I strive to respond to all my messages whenever I can. I hope you guys will hear me out.

As always thank you all so much for reading my stories. Please leave me a Review on what you thought of the chapter and again, if you guys have any more ideas or just wanna chat you can always send me a PM. I love talking with my readers.

This is Dragon1990 signing out :-)