(The Loud House and/or other related titles are rightfully owned by Nickelodeon)

(This story is a work of fanfiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the writer's imagination or are used fictitiously. All statements, actions, descriptions, stunts, information, and material of any kind are included here for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied upon for accuracy. Any resemblance to actual moments, locales, or persons - living or dead - is entirely coincidental.)

Hello and salutations, my good readers. Man, oh man, oh man. I just cannot believe it. I truly cannot believe it. After only three months of thinking that my story was over, I come to realize later that I could do better than this, that I still had some meat on the bones to write just one more chapter of Conner's story.

So, after weeks, if not months of it all festering within the deepest confines of my head, I finally ditched the mini epilogue at the end of chapter nine, and expanded upon it, to make it better and give this story a more proper send off, and to show just how much has changed since then.

Well, I am very happy to say that I have finally done it, and can now properly lay the story to rest.

And now, ladies and gentleman, please enjoy the REAL final chapter of "In My Hour of Need." Peace out, and have a wonderful week. ;)

Chapter Ten:

Go and Do Likewise

One year later…

Friday, Late Afternoon, 6:30 P.M.

Today was an especially good day here in Royal Woods, Michigan. The sun was shining high up in the clear blue sky, the weather was brisk and calm, and everybody walking down the neighborhood was in such good spirits the day had brought about so far. Conner took in a deep breath of the clean fresh air that passed into his lungs as he stretched out his arms and arched his back, all the while strolling along down the street, his backpack hanging nicely behind his back.

At every person he walked past, he gave them a hearty hello and a good day, all with a bright smile on his face. He was dressed in a fine pair of clothes, ones that were quite different from his usual orange shirt and blue jeans attire, that being a simple red t-shirt, a green short-sleeved, checkerboard button up, and some fitting gray-blue jeans and red shoes. The only thing that was missing was his white beanie that always covered the top of his blond-haired head.

As he continued to walk homeward bound through the street from the grocery store, which was now a mile and a half behind him, his stomach grumbled quite audibly. Conner sighed in annoyance upon realizing that he had not eaten anything in almost a couple hours now. He mentally berated himself for not saving whatever was left of that sandwich he had for lunch at school the other day instead of throwing it away into a nearby garbage can.

A buzz was then suddenly felt inside his left pants pocket. His hunger now seemingly forgotten, he reached inside and pulled out his new cellphone to answer it.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey, Conner. It's me." spoke a familiar voice from the other line. Conner's face beamed.

"Hi, Lincoln," he said joyfully. "What's up?"

"Oh, I'm just calling to let you know that Clyde and I have everything prepared for the sleepover tonight at your place," Lincoln informed. "We've got the sodas, snacks, everything."

"You got the Totino's pizza rolls?" Conner asked. "Please, tell me you got those too!" Lincoln chuckled from the other side of the line.

"Wouldn't be a proper sleepover without 'em, now would it?" the Loud boy told him. Conner snorted from the response.

"Good answer," he said. "And some popcorn too?"

"Nestling safely in my backpack," Clyde's voice was heard, "along with a copy of The Iron Giant."

"Nice work, Clyde," Conner complimented. He then jeered enthusiastically. "Tonight's gonna be awesome."

"You know it!" Lincoln exclaimed.

"Alrighty then," Conner said. "I'll be waiting for you, guys. See you then, Pineapple Boy." Lincoln made an amused snort of his own.

"You too, cereal-stealer," he said. "Alright. I'll talk to you later, dude. Bye."

"See ya," Conner finished. With that, Lincoln hung up from the other line. A soft smile was plastered on Conner's face as he looked down at his phone resting in his hand.

It was very hard to believe that it had only been that long ago since his horrible mugging and then Lincoln coming along to his rescue. It really felt like it was only yesterday when it all happened. He remembered that after those few weeks since he left the Royal Woods hospital, both his hand and his foot had gotten a lot better, which enabled him to finally be able to go back to school with no other problems.

Almost every single one of his schoolmates had congratulated him on his recovery and were very glad to see him back in good shape. In the year that followed, him, Lincoln, and Clyde had become a lot closer to the point of almost being considered brothers, especially so with the Loud boy. Despite Lincoln saying otherwise, Conner still felt it within his soul to be in his debt for saving his life. In that moment, memories of his muggers had then come to his mind.

The very last thing he heard about Anderson, Taylor, and Pablo was that the trio were convicted for first degree assault on an underaged minor - that very same minor being Conner in question.

Conner smiled, knowing the fact that the three of them were currently spending up from five to ten years in the Royal Woods Juvenile Reformatory Center. Hopefully, some time well spent there will help straighten them out of their bad behavior. It was also somewhere during that same year that Dr. Mike Wagner and his wife and son had become close with Conner and his family, as well as the Louds.

The two families had become quite thrilled when they learned that the good doctor was having another baby boy, who had been born just two months after the incident. Crazy how time seemed to fly so fast at the blink of an eye. He looked down at the side of his pants and hanging from his belt was a simple handheld can of pepper spray. Conner let out a low exhale as he became deep in thought.

In the later weeks or so since Conner's terrible mugging and worrying that something just like it would happen again, his mother, Leslie, had gotten him that little can of pepper spray as a means of protection from anything that would do him harm. At the time, Conner felt that he did not need such a thing. But then, fearfully speculative thoughts zipped through his head. What if it did happen again, and he wasn't ready for it like the last time?

That was one heck of a nightmare Conner and his family did not want to go through again.

There was one time, just yesterday, two bullies rudely bumped into him. Conner made the mistake in calling them out on it as well as calling them a very rude word. The two simple-minded gorillas, who were named Hank and Hawk, did not like that at all, and threatened to beat him up for it. On instinct, Conner quickly went for the pepper spray, and threatened them with it if they did anything. Not wanting to cause a big scene, Hank and Hawk relented, deciding that he wasn't worth it.

Boy, was Conner now very glad to have the pepper spray with him when he did. That was too close. Way too close.

Conner's mind was immediately pulled back into reality when he heard a sudden noise. He jolted his head up and eyed a brown dumpster that sat in front of him behind a building to the right side of the sidewalk. As he got closer, he heard it again. An inward sound that came from within the dumpster, like something had bumped against it. Conner's eyebrows knitted together curiously.

As he got hesitantly closer, he heard other sounds as well, like paper and junk being rummaged around almost.

It's gotta be rats or something, Conner wondered. But as he moved a lot close to the dumpster, he heard something else that made him catch his breath. He put his ear closely up against it, and it sounded almost like... crying. Realization finally dawned on him. Someone was crawling around inside. Now, curiosity had him by the throat. As carefully as he could be, he slowly lifted up the lid, the light from the sun spilling its rays inside as to allow Conner a better look.

What he saw shook him to the very core of his soul, and caused his heartrate to jolt into a pumping frenzy. Laying helplessly inside of the empty dumpster was a young fair skinned boy who appeared to be around the same age as Conner was, with wavy blond hair that was now an unkempt mess, and a beauty mark on the right side of his cheek. His right eye was black and swollen.

Drops of blood oozed from his busted lower lip. The only form of clothing he wore was nothing more but a pair of white silk boxer shorts. His bare scrawny chest was covered in light discolored bruises and scrapes. Conner stared wide-eyed at the scene before him.

"A-Are you okay, kid?" Conner asked concernedly. "What happened to you?" The young boy inside the dumpster looked up at him, hot tears dripping down his reddened face.

"H-Help me!" the boy whimpered weakly in a British accent. "P-Please! Please, help me!"

"Who did this to you?"

"T-They came out of nowhere!" the blond boy cried. "I was only w-walking home, a-and they suddenly came about and attacked m-me! They wanted w-whatever else I had in my pockets. I told them to leave me alone..., and... and..." The boy's throat tightened, and he looked away from Conner, whimpering and crying fretfully from it all. There was no need for him to finish the rest of that sentence, for the clear state of him told Conner everything what had happened next.

As Conner looked down at the poor weeping kid, he could not help but feel quite disheartened. Just looking at this poor boy like this instantly brought up flashbacks of that fateful day that had greatly changed his life. The beatings, the feeling of each punch and kick that came his way, seeing Anderson, Taylor, and Pablo's evil smiles as they pummeled him black and blue.

And now, to see someone else that had gone through almost the exact same ordeal as he did, it was almost enough to make Conner feel like falling to the floor and breaking down into tears himself. The accident may be long past behind him at this point, but a certain number of the aftereffects from the trauma still lingered on. Conner's face hardened, for he now knew exactly what he had to do next. There was no way that he was going to leave this helpless kid alone to his own devices.

He needed help, now more than ever. It was time to be a good neighbor. Feeling an increasing sense of courage, Conner reached his hand down into the dumpster and held it out to the boy.

"Take my hand, dude!" Conner commanded gently. The boy blinked a few times before he sniffled and then nodded his head. As carefully as he could, he reached his trembling hand up and grabbed Conner's, gripping it as tightly as he could. With all his strength, Conner pulled the boy up until he was now on his feet. The boy almost stumbled a bit when his left food pressed against the floor of the dumpster, seemingly giving out from the pressure. Conner noticed this.

"Are you okay?" he asked him concernedly.

"Y-Yeah," the British boy said, before swallowing a lump that got stuck in his throat. "I just twisted my ankle little a bit when I was trying to leg it."

Conner knew enough British slang to understand what the term "leg it" meant. After that explanation, Conner then wrapped his arms around the boy's exposed torso and momentarily struggled to lift him up from out of the dumpster, until he was finally able to get him out completely and back into the open. The boy let out small, exhausted breaths as Conner held him to his feet, bad leg and all.

"Is there anything else I should know about too?" Conner asked.

"W-Well, other than my black eye," the boy told him, "and the aches and pains I feel all over, nothing else seems to c-come to mind."

"What's your name, dude?" Conner asked, as he wrapped the boy's left arm around his shoulder.

"A-Alistair," he answered. "My n-name is Alistair."

"I'm Conner. Conner Pingrey."

"T-Thank you, Master Conner," Alistair said, bowing his head, "Thank you s-so much." Conner smiled and patted Alistair on the shoulder.

"Don't thank me yet, dude," the Pingrey boy said. "We still gotta get you somewhere safe." And then, Conner did something so unexpected and out of nowhere that it had even surprised him almost as much as it had surprised Alistair; Conner grabbed him by the legs, lifted him up, and started carrying him bridal style.

"Whoa," Conner muttered aloud in surprise. "You're a lot lighter than you look." Alistair could not help but blush a little bit from the comment.

"Please, you d-don't have to c-carry me like this," the thirteen-year-old Brit said, before swallowing another lump. "I-I swear, I c-can still walk."

"Not a chance, kid," Conner rebutted. "What you need to do now is rest a bit. I don't have a med kit with me right now, so we're gonna have to carry you to my house. It's just a couple blocks away from here, not that far away. My family and I will help patch you up." Alistair once again blinked a couple of times as he stared at Conner for a moment, feeling his heart become touched by such a level of kindness, and he smiled with an understanding nod.

"T-Thank you," he said again, his eyes watering up with tears. "Truly, you are a Good Samaritan indeed." Conner could not help but smile a little bit from hearing that.

"Nah, it's no big deal, dude," Conner said as he began walking down the street with Alistair still in his arms. "I'm just doing... what anybody else would do."

The Pingrey Residence...

When Conner had finally gotten home to his house, with Alistair still carried in his arms no doubt, the entire family was quite surprised to see such a scene before them. In wasting no time, and immediately knowing what to do next, the Pingrey family took Alistair and laid him down on the family coach, with a clean bedsheet and a blanket to help cover him up, as well as a pillow to help prop his head up a little bit.

From there, they tended to whatever of Alistair's needs were in helping with his ailments; they gave him an icepack for his black eye to try and ease the swelling, as well as some Icy Hot pain-relieving cream that was tenderly rubbed on his sore ankle. They then treated his scrapes and bruises with some anti-bacterial disinfectant wipes. The iodine stung a little bit for a few seconds, but then Alistair relaxed a bit when the mild stinging subsided.

Once after that was finished, Carol gave him a glass of cold water to drink, which Alistair was very grateful for, and he drank the entire glass until it was less than a quarter inch empty.

As a precautionary measure, the family made a house call to the Royal Woods Hospital and specifically requested for Dr. Mike Wagner. Luckily for the Pingreys, the good doctor was conveniently available when he did not have any other patients to help out with. When they told him over the phone about the situation, he wasted no time in grabbing the appropriate medical equipment, and he drove down to the Pingrey house's location.

In the thirty minutes that they waited for him, Leslie carefully scooped Alistair up into her arms and she carried him over to the guest room, located at the end of the hallway opposite from Conner's bedroom. From there, the family matriarch stayed in the room with the boy until Dr. Wagner had finally arrived, parking his vehicle smoothly right next to the family's white Sedan.

Once inside, they repeatedly gave him the rundown of what happened, and they left him alone to see and help Alistair.

The entire family waited as patiently as they could as the five of them sat around the dining room table. Walter looked down at his wristwatch. Must have been almost ten minutes since the doc arrived. Conner's folded hands rested on top of the table, his thumbs twirling nervously around each other. Carol and Cassy, who sat on each side of him, noticed the worried countenance on their brother's face and gently patted him on the back to help put him at some level of ease.

"He'll be alright, Conner," Carol assured gently.

"Dr. Wagner knows what he's doing, bro," Cassy added with a small smile. Walter, from the other side of the table, reached his hand out and laid it gently on Conner's. Leslie did the same.

"That was a very brave thing you did, son." Walter told his little boy.

"We're very proud of you, sweetheart," Leslie included. Conner looked at both his parents and he smiled gratefully at their kind words. A random thought suddenly popped into his brain and he groaned in annoyance.

"What's wrong, son?" Walter asked.

"I just realized that I still had my phone with me when I found Alistair," he grunted with a sigh. "I could have easily called an ambulance. Ugh..., Oh well, what's done is done, I guess." Carol shook her head at her little bro with a smile on her face. It was at this moment that there came a sudden knock on the front door, which pulled everybody's attention. The family looked towards the door curiously.

"Now who could that be...?" Leslie wondered. Walter got up from his chair and took a peek through the front door's peephole, noticing two young kids standing outside on the patio, waving their hands and their faces beaming. Instantly, Walter recognized the duo.

"It's Clyde and Lincoln," he informed his family. "What are they doing here?" Upon hearing those names, Conner's eyes widened, realization quickly dawning on him faster than the morning sun. He slapped his left palm against his forehead.

"Ugh, the sleepover!" he nearly exclaimed. "With all of this going on, I completely forgot about it!" Might as well add that to the list of things Conner forgot about today.

"So, what do we do?" Cassy asked. For a moment, Walter and Leslie looked at each other in the hopes to try and find the correct answers from the other. Finally, what felt like a minute, the married couple came to the same conclusion. Leslie grabbed the brass doorknob, twisted it, and gently pulled the front door open to reveal both Lincoln and Clyde standing outside. In their arms were some sleeping bags, pillows, and even their own backpacks.

"Hey there, Mr. and Mrs. Pingrey," Lincoln greeted. "We're here for the sleepover."

"Is Conner home?" Clyde asked. Leslie and Walter looked at each other again, trying to find the right answer.

"W-Well, yes he is home," Leslie hesitated, rubbing the back of her blond-haired head. "But I-I think you boys might need to hold off on the sleepover today." The two boys looked up at the parents with confused faces.

"What's wrong?" Lincoln asked the two parents. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah," Clyde added. "Is Conner okay? Did he get in trouble?"

"Well," Walter started. "One; yes, something did happen. And two; don't worry, Conner's not in trouble. He's doing just fine."

"So, what happened?" Lincoln asked, concern filling his voice. Leslie sighed under her breath.

"Well, since you boys are here anyway," she said, "Why don't you go have a seat in the living room? We'll explain everything." As the two boys entered inside the house and wiped the bottom of their shoes on the doormat, they walked over to the living room coach, not before noticing Conner and his siblings seated over at the dining room table to the leg. Conner gestured a small wave to the duo.

"Hey, guys," the Pingrey boy greeted. Just then, they heard the sound of a door being opened and footsteps marching through the hallway and out into the living.

"Well, it seems tha-" Dr. Wagner said, but stopped when he noticed Lincoln and Clyde now standing in the living room. "Oh, hey there, boys." Lincoln and Clyde raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"Dr. Wagner?" Lincoln said.

"Hey, doc," Clyde added. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story," the good doctor replied. And so, once after everybody was all seated around the living room, Conner had explained everything to the two boys. Lincoln and Clyde looked at each other, astonishment and bewilderment filling their brains.

"Wow," Lincoln muttered, turning back to the group. "Seriously."

"Yeah, that's basically the long and short of it, boys," Carol said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Is Alistair going to be alright though?" Clyde asked, worriedly. "He doesn't need a first aid kit, does he?" Dr. Wagner gave the African American boy an assuring smile.

"You don't have to worry about a thing, Clyde," he confirmed. "Alistair is going to be just fine. Thankfully, all of his injuries are not seriously critical, so all he will need at this point is just a lot of rest, along with some tender, love, and care. Make him as comfortable as possible until one or two days. And if it's alright with you guys, I would recommend that he be given some pain meds, as a precautionary measure to help ease the pain a little further."

"Whatever helps, doctor," Walter agreed, nodding his head in understanding. "And we'll be sure to notify his family about what's happened, when we get a hold of their number that is. They must be worried sick by now."

"Is it okay if we all go in and see him now?" Conner asked. Dr. Wagner nodded his head.

"Of course, kiddo" he said. "But let's all go in slowly and one at a time. We don't want to overcrowd him." As the Pingreys and Dr. Wagner got up and made their way to the guest room in the hallway, Lincoln and Clyde slowly followed after them, leaving their sleepover supplies on the coach back in the living room. Lincoln rubbed his chin and furrowed his brows, becoming quite deep in thought. Clyde noticed this.

"Something wrong, Linc?" he asked.

"Alistair..." Lincoln muttered under his breath. "... Alistair... Why does that name sound so familiar?" Upon hearing that, Clyde began to wonder himself.

"Huh, now that you mention it," he pondered. "It does sound like we've heard it from somewhere before. But why though?" The duo got their answer as they, along with the rest, carefully maneuvered themselves inside of the guest room where the boy in question was resting on the bed located on the right side of the room. Special bandages now covered up most of his chest. From the moment they saw him, Lincoln and Clyde stared wide eyed at him, their jaws hanging by their hinges.

"Lincoln..." Clyde whispered, nudging his friend's shoulder. "That's... That's..."

"I know, dude," the Loud boy said, more than just a little bit astonished. Almost instantly, memories of Halloween, just two years ago, came flooding right into both of their brains, memories from when Lincoln and Clyde were planning on scoring full-sized candy bars over at Huntington Manor, a gated private neighborhood situated within Huntington Oakes, the next town over from Royal Woods.

Their easy ticket inside came in the form of two British boys who coincidently, in some ways, resembled both Lincoln and Clyde, one was named Nigel and the other was Alistair himself. The two English boys were traveling on holiday to go visit their homeland in the U.K. Clyde and Lincoln managed to disguise themselves as the two adolescent Brits, snuck inside no problem, and got as much candy as they could.

Meanwhile, as the two boys continued to go through memory lane, the Pingreys and Dr. Wagner appeared around the bed where Alistair was laying in, but not so close to overcrowd the boy, the doctor and parents on right side, and Carol, Cassy, and Conner on the left. Alistair addressed them all with a pleasant smile. Conner carefully hopped up and sat on the edge of the bed next to Alistair.

"Hey, dude," the Pingrey boy said with a smile of his own. "You feeling any better right now?" Alistair lightly smiled back at him.

"Yes, quite a bit better, thanks to the good doctor here," the English boy replied softly. "But, I-I was just about to fall asleep though."

"Oh, sorry about that," Conner said a bit shyly. Alistair shook his head.

"No, no. I-It's quite alright," he reassured. An interesting thought than suddenly came to Conner on something.

"You know, this is gonna sound a bit weird," he began, "but I don't believe I've seen you around here before. I mean, it's pretty obvious that you're British, but something is telling me that you don't live in England. Where are you from exactly?"

"I-I live over in Huntington Oakes," Alistair explained. Carol looked at the boy, a little bit perturbed.

"Huntington Oakes?" she said. "But that's, like, the next town over."

"Yeah," Cassy piped up curiously. "What brings you to Royal Woods?" Alistair gently massaged the back of his neck.

"Well, I c-came over here to visit my uncle who lived in the lower north s-side of town," the English boy explained. "On the next day, after my visitation had expired, I took the next bus and rode from there close to the north side..." Alistair had gone silent for a moment. He frowned grimly and lightly bowed his head.

"And then after I had gotten off," he went on, "I waited for the next one that was heading back to Huntington Oakes. W-When it hadn't come yet, and seeing that it was starting to get dark, I thought that it would be healthy for me to go on a walk instead... And that was when... it happened. This small gang of blokes came out of nowhere. They tried to force me to give them my lunch money and whatever else that I had. I told them no... and... and..."

Unable to bring himself to finish the rest of his story, Alistair's bottom lip trembled and he shut his eyes tightly as anguish-filled tears flooded down his reddened cheeks, the terrible memories of his beating afterwards coming back to him in full force. Upon seeing this, and being clearly reminded of Conner's past dilemma, Leslie's motherly instincts immediately kicked in.

She sat down on the bed next to Alistair, and she gently pulled the poor sobbing boy into a tender hug. Alistair did not refuse the loving gesture and instead embraced back the Pingrey mother tightly, his tears staining her shoulder.

"Shhh, it's okay, sweetie," she whispered as she delicately stroke his wavy blond hair.

The entire family, their hearts feeling deep compassion, including Dr. Wagner, came closer around the bed to try and help comfort the little guy. Conner still sat on the edge of the bed as he watched Alistair let it all out, tears of his own beginning to build up as well. All Lincoln and Clyde could do was just look on sympathetically all the while standing close to the doorway. It wasn't exactly their place to get involved unless the situation appropriately called for it.

Once after Alistair began to relax a bit, Leslie gently released him from her loving embrace. The boy then turned his watery gaze over to Conner.

"And to you, C-Conner," he mildly stammered. "I-I just want to say that... that I t-truly cannot thank you enough f-for what you did for me. You are a hero, a-and a Good Samaritan." Conner smiled warmly and he placed a comforting hand on Alistair's bare shoulder.

"Nah, it was nothing, dude," said the Pingrey boy. "What I saw was someone who needed help. I... I just did what any good neighbor would do." Upon hearing those last words, Lincoln and Clyde looked at each other with proud and excited smiles on their faces. Funny how Lincoln use to say those almost exact words the year prior, and here was Conner, now saying the exact same thing. Very funny how things have come full circle.

From his peripheral vision, Conner noticed the duo still standing at the doorway. Realization dawned on him again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, guys," he said with an embarrassed chuckle. "I totally forgot that you were still here." Boy, Conner was really starting to develop a habit of forgetting things, wasn't he?

"Eh, no worries," Lincoln kindly brushed it off. With this, Conner seized this opportune moment, and he turned to face Alistair.

"Al, I'd like you to meet two really good friends of mine," he introduced. "Lincoln Loud, and Clyde McBride."

"Nice to meet you, dude," Clyde said with a smile.

"Hello there," Lincoln added, tipping his none-existent cowboy hat. Alistair smiled back and inclined his head into a slight bow.

"A j-jolly good pleasure to m-make your acquaintance." he said as formally as he could. And once after the introductions were over, the lot of them began to start talking and socialized about many things, and the three boys had gotten to know a bit more about Alistair, about him and his family's immigration to America, about how he met his good friend Nigel, and how life being a rich British kid in the United States had some of its pros and cons.

Eventually, Lincoln and Conner had gotten around to finally telling Alistair the full story of how the two of them had met, about their little scuffle over a box of Zombie Bran cereal at the grocery store two years prior, and of how Lincoln wouldn't meet Conner again until the following year, where the Pingrey boy had went through a very similar fate like Alistair had now, but a lot worse. After hearing that story, Alistair connected the dots within his head, and looked at Conner sympathetically.

"Oh, Conner," he expressed heartfeltly. "You poor lad. I-I am so sorry for you." Conner sighed under his breath. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, it was pretty rough, both for me and my family. I had nightmares for a week when I was in the hospital," he muttered. He then gave Alistair an assuring smile. "If it hadn't been for Lincoln, I probably wouldn't be here right now. I owe him that much, even if he says otherwise." Alistair smiled as well and looked over at Lincoln.

"A jolly good chap you are, Master Lincoln," he complimented. "The entire world could definitely use a lot more of you in it." Lincoln shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, just like Conner said; I just did what any good neighbor would do." the Loud boy spoke, flashing the Pingrey boy a wink. But then, a thought suddenly came to the Loud boy. "Say, if it's alright with you guys, Clyde and I are going to be in the living room. I need to make a quick phone call to my mom, let her know that the two of us are here."

"Go right ahead, boys," Dr. Wagner nodded his head. He then looked at his wristwatch. "Besides, I need to get back to the hospital anyway. They'll be wondering where I am."

"Alright then," Leslie approved. "We'll see you again, doc." And with that, Dr. Wagner bade them all goodbye and walked out of the guest room passed Lincoln and Clyde.

"It was nice meeting you, Alistair," Clyde stated waving his hand. Alistair nodded his head at the duo.

"It was a p-pleasure to meet you too, Master Clyde, Master Lincoln," Alistair said. And so, both Clyde and Lincoln also walked outside of the guest room, leaving Conner and the rest of the Pingrey family alone with Alistair. Once the duo returned back to the living room, Lincoln pulled out his cellphone and called his mother's number. After about a minute of ringing, Rita's chipper voice was finally heard from the other side of the line.

"Hey, sweetheart," her spoke. "Did you and Clyde make it to Conner's alright?"

"Mom...," Lincoln murmured aloud, looking back at the opened door of the guest room, watching Conner and the Pingreys socialize more with Alistair. Conner turned his gaze over to meet Lincoln's and then he smiled with a small nod. Lincoln smiled back very proudly and nodded his white-haired head as well. After a moment of silence, Rita spoke again.

"Is everything alright, honey?" the Loud mother asked a little concernedly.

"Yeah, everything's cool, Mom," Lincoln assured. Then, his smile grew big with excitement. "You, Dad, and the girls are so not gonna believe what just happened today."

- The End -