Avoiding Estrangement Chapter 18)Loud-Sitting Part 4
Lisa, Lola and Lana rushed into the house, Luna tailing behind them with Lily in her arms. She set the tired tyke down, only for her to immediately whine and reach up, wanting to be held again. Luna sighed through her nostrils and picked Lily back up again. She went after the twins who had gone up to their room and held their baby sister out to them.
"Could the two of you do me a solid and please, please, please keep Lily occupied while I start on lunch for you guys?"
"Ooh, can we order pizza?" Lana asked. "I want stuffed crust!"
"No, we're having some leftovers and that's that." Luna answered.
"That's not fair!" Lola protested. "If you couldn't buy us a treat at Flip's, then the least you could do is buy us some pizza!"
"If I couldn't afford to buy you snacks, then how am I supposed to buy pizza?" Luna asked through clenched teeth.
Lola shrugged. "I dunno, you're the babysitter. Figure it out."
Luna grinded her teeth a little. "We can ask Mom and Dad when they get home if we can order pizza for later, okay? Now please just play with Lily while I get her some food."
She turned and left before either Lola or Lana could say anything else. Her patience was really starting to wear thin with everything she had put up with so far. No one had mentioned she'd have to do things like treat anyone to Flippees or pizza. Lori never treated when she was in charge, so why should any of her siblings expect her to do so? It was just a good thing that their parents would be back soon. Lily wasn't the only one who could use a nap.
Heading back downstairs, Luna got the stroller and folded it up to put it away. Once it was back where it belonged, Luna turned to head straight for the kitchen. At that moment however, her heart suddenly leapt up into her throat. Lucy had suddenly appeared behind her in the very little time she had her back turned. The young goth was staring with her hidden eyes sending an other worldly chill down Luna's spine. Luna was at a loss for words until Lucy spoke up first.
"You left me behind."
"Dude, I am so sorry I did that!" Luna blurted out. "I had no idea until we were already on the way home! You know I'd never do something like that on purpose, right?"
"It's fine, I get it. You were in a hurry, so you just forgot all about me." Lucy replied.
Whether Lucy was being sincere or sarcastic was beyond Luna. The younger girl's monotone left the teen with very little room to work. She tried to think of something, anything to say that wouldn't result in making the situation any more awkward.
"I'll make it up to you, I promise." Luna said. "For starters, how about you get first dibs on picking from the leftovers for lunch? What do you want to eat?"
"Goulash." Lucy answered without even a moment's thought. "I saw some in the fridge this morning so I know we have some left."
"You got it, sis." Luna told her, making her way to the kitchen. "I'll go and heat that up for you now. Just give me five minutes, okay?"
Lucy gave a single nod in response and went to sit on the couch and watch some television. With that matter settled, Luna went to the refrigerator to get Lucy's lunch. She looked for something to give to Lily as well, hoping that having something to eat would improve the baby's mood.
As she was about to reach for the handle to the fridge, a loud wail sounded from upstairs. Lily was very unhappy about something. Resisting the urge to let out a cry of her own, Luna rushed up to the twins' room again. She could hear the sound of Lola and Lana arguing as she got to the second floor, their words becoming clearer as she got closer. When she entered the room, she found the twins gently tugging Lily back and forth, much to the youngest Loud's dislike.
"Let her go, Lola!" Lana demanded. "I told you she's gonna play trucks with me!"
"No, she's playing dress up with me!" Lola replied firmly.
"Why would she want to dress up in your dumb outfits? She likes crawling around in just a diaper most of the time!"
"That doesn't mean she doesn't like pretty dresses and make up!" Lola countered.
"Let her go!" Lana repeated.
"You let go!" Lola replied.
"Both of you let her go!" Luna practically shouted, taking Lily from them. "You're just upsetting her even more! Can't you be left alone for just a few minutes?!"
"But you asked us to play with her." Lana said. "That's all we were trying to do."
"What you were doing was not playing! You were making her cry!"
"That's not my fault!" Lola insisted.
"Uh, yeah it is." Lana said. "I'd feel like crying too if I was forced to dress up in one of your tacky outfits."
"Tacky?!" Lola growled. "I'll show you tacky!"
Lola tackled Lana and the two rolled across the floor. As the two fought, Luna shook her head and set Lily down on Lola's bed for a moment. She went to try and separate the twins, but the moment she got too close she received a fist to the nose. After checking to make sure she wasn't bleeding, Luna just dove into the fray and got both Lola and Lana by their collars. She held them as far apart as she could, the twins still struggling to get at each other.
"Enough! Both of you cut it out now!" Luna ordered. "I am trying to make lunch and then I want to try and get Lily to nap! The two of you have been getting on my nerves and I'm getting sick of it! So stop being such major pains in the butt already!"
"What did you just say?!" Lola spat, glaring at Luna.
"I said, stop being such BRATS!"
Her outburst stunned the twins, both now silently staring at her with their mouths hanging open. Satisfied, Luna set them down, picked Lily back up and left the room. Both Lola and Lana stood, seemingly frozen for another few moments, but then they both looked mad. Lana had angry tears in the corners of her eyes and Lola was practically fuming, a vein starting to throb on her forehead.
"Lana? Did Luna just call us what I think she called us?"
Lana nodded, wiping her tears away. "Uh-huh, she said we're brats."
"That's what I thought." Lola said, a wicked grin coming to her face. "Well if that's what she thinks of us then maybe we should live up to her expectations."
"Good idea, sis. After all we wouldn't want to prove her wrong." Lana stated, a grin to match her twin's.
The two left their room and went downstairs. They stepped up to the kitchen and peeked in on Luna, who was setting Lily into her high chair. The baby fussed and squirmed, but wasn't going anywhere. Luna opened the fridge and pulled out lunch for the little Loud, a single-serving sized bowl of their father's peach puree. The last one from the looks of things.
Luna set the puree down on the table. Then, while the fridge was still open she also found the Tupperware container of goulash for Lucy. She put it into the microwave and then got one of lily's baby spoons. By the time she shut the drawer and turned back around she found that the peach puree she had set down was being eaten by the twins.
"Are you kidding me?!" Luna exclaimed. "You two do know that you're eating baby food, right?"
"It's still yummy enough for me." Lola said.
"Yeah, it's almost as good as dog food!" Lana added.
"What, are you doing this to mess with me now?" Luna growled.
"Why wouldn't we? We are brats after all." Lola snipped. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go jump on Mom and Dad's bed. Have a PB&J ready for me shortly, would you? No crusts."
"Me too!" Lana said, raising her hand. "I'll be outside, digging up the flowers Mom planted!"
The twins scampered off, leaving Luna behind to quietly fume. If not for the fact that she really needed to feed Lily something for lunch and try to put her down for a nap, she would have gone after the two troublemakers.
Luna took a slow, deep breath. One thing at a time. She just had to take it one thing at a time. First she'd need a good substitute for Lily's food. With the last of their father's homemade puree gone, she'd need something similar that Lily could enjoy.
Taking a quick look inside of the fridge again yielded a good option. A nice bowl of mashed potatoes; creamy and so rich that one could say they were edible gold. Lily would happily gobble this down spoonful after spoonful. Luna would warm it up after the goulash was ready and finally say she fed someone some lunch.
While she went to work on some PB&Js for the twins, despite not wanting to, Luna noticed Lynn entering the kitchen. The jock began grabbing some things to prepare her own lunch, a sub from the looks of it, saving Luna the trouble. That only left Lisa and then something for herself since neither Leni or Luan would need anything prepared for them.
The microwave sounded and Luna took out the goulash, replacing it with a little bowl of the potatoes. She set the timer again and got out a fork for Lucy to use. While she waited on the potatoes to finish heating up, Luna went to check in on Lisa.
"Hey Lynn, could you keep and eye on Lily for a minute?" She asked as she began stepping out. "I'll be right back."
"Yeah, sure." Lynn replied, more focused on her food at the moment.
Luna hurried over to the stairs, stopping at the bottom. "Yo, Lis! What do you want for lunch?" She called.
There was no answer. Luna called for Lisa again, only to be left waiting with no answer. She went up the stairs and found the little genius leaving the bathroom dressed in a hazmat suit. When she saw her older sister, Lisa approached and removed the hood from her suit so she could speak clearly.
"Were you calling for me, elder sister?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah. I was just wondering what you wanted to have for lunch." Luna replied. "Why are you in that suit?"
"To properly dispose of the containment gel which is currently occupying my quarters, I will need to employ the use of freon. My suit is a protective measure against both the gel and the freon. Especially since Flip may or may not have provided me with a cheap imitation."
"Would that be bad?" Luna asked, fearing the answer.
"Potentially yes. Freon can prove mildly hazardous if inhaled or through exposure to the epidermis. Prolonged exposure may even result in brain damage. Thus I am taking a very necessary precaution. However, you may wish to keep our siblings away from this area until I am finished. I cannot promise their safety should there be any problems."
"Problems?" Luna repeated. "What sort of problems?"
"Most likely the gel will continue expanding into the hallway until the freon fully takes effect. There is also a minute possibility that as the freon mixes with the chemicals which comprise the gel, it will cause exposure to the epidermis to create a highly unpleasant rash." Lisa explained, stepping past Luna. "Now if you'll pardon me, I must set to work. The longer I wait the less likely I am to succeed."
Luna didn't question the young genius further as she boldly stepped into the contaminated room and closed the door. She backed away and started down the stairs again. There was a very uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Lisa had just made it very clear that the situation with that blob was far more serious than she had first thought. It was almost enough to make her start panicking. Not to mention that Lisa was using a questionable item that she had gotten from Flip of all people. That brought up the question as to whether or not the deal was even legal. Flip did have a few not so upstanding things on his record, so it wouldn't be very surprising. But knowing that only made it seem more likely to be the case. All of it was just so… so…
"Heavy." Luna sighed to herself.
Having no better option than to trust that Lisa could handle things, Luna returned to the kitchen. She quickly forgot about what had just occurred upstairs as a new issue had presented itself. In the short time she had been gone, a mess had been made in the kitchen. The counter had food scattered all over the place. An open jar of jalapeños here, an empty package that had once held salami there. Bits of shredded lettuce, bread crumbs and splatters of hot sauce all around. But that wasn't the worst of it all.
Charles was eating something off of the floor. That something was the goulash which Luna had warmed up for Lucy. And standing beside Charles was Lana, who had a devilish smile on her face. She noticed Luna and turned to face her, raising a hand in greeting.
"Heya sis, I thought I'd help you out with lunch. Charles is all set."
"That was supposed to be for Lucy." Luna growled.
"Oh well, too late now." Lana said with a shrug. "Oh and I also got a centerpiece for the table. What do you think?"
Luna looked at the kitchen table and saw a bunch of flowers were laid onto it, their roots still coated with some soil. Between that and the stunt Lana had pulled with the goulash, Luna was seriously considering just giving into her anger and letting loose. The fact that Lana seemed to be enjoying the sight of her stewing in her own rage wasn't helping. Luna stormed over to the counter and grabbed the two PB&Js she had left sitting there, putting them both onto a plate before giving them to Lana.
"Just take your food and go watch TV or whatever."
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Lana asked, pointing to the food. "You left the crusts on!"
"Deal with it." Luna said bitterly. "I gotta feed Lily her lunch now and I don't need any more trouble from you."
Not allowing Lana a chance to argue, Luna nudged her towards the living room. Lana went over to the couch until Luna turned to head back into the kitchen after which the dirty twin went outside instead. Unaware of the potential mischief her six year old sister may have been up to, Luna retrieved the mashed potatoes from the microwave for Lily. She checked the temperature to make sure it was alright and then sat beside Lily. Scooping up a little amount from the bowl with Lily's spoon, Luna attempted to feed her still cranky baby sister.
"No." Lily said, turning her face away.
"Come on. Just eat a little of it please?" Luna pleaded wearily.
She tried again and Lily still refused. Luna went for a third try, but Lily pushed the spoon away. Sighing a little in defeat, Luna stuck the spoon into the potatoes and pushed the bowl aside. If Lily didn't want to eat then that was fine. She'd just try to give her another bottle. A little chocolate milk was better than letting her go hungry and it might be just enough to get Lily to settle down for a nap.
Luna left the table and went to get the milk. As she turned around, she found Lucy standing directly behind her. While she was surprised, Luna didn't jump or cry out. She was starting to feel drained and knowing she had bad news for Lucy wasn't helping that matter. Without saying a word, Luna returned to the table, Lucy silently in step right behind her.
"Charles ate your goulash." Luna mumbled, pushing the bowl of mashed potatoes over towards Lucy. "Here, you can eat this if you want. Lily didn't want it."
"Better than starving, I guess." Lucy replied, picking up the bowl. "Are you going to be okay?"
Luna let out a soft moan in response and rested her head on the table. Lucy took that as a sign to let her have some space and went to eat back in the living room. Lily began squirming and reaching her little hands out to grab the bottle. After about five seconds of not getting what she wanted, Lily started to whine.
"Stop it." Luna said, lifting her head up. "I'm really tired of you making that noise, little sis."
Lily didn't stop. She kept reaching for her bottle, her whining becoming louder. Luna handed the bottle over to her, Lily starting to drink happily. However she seemed to get her fill quickly and then began grabbing at the lid. She managed to twist it off and then tilted the bottle up, spilling a lot of what was left in it onto the floor. Before Luna could stop her, Lily had decided she was done with her bottle and threw it onto the floor as well.
"Seriously Lily?!" Luna spat before sharply inhaling through her nostrils. "You know what? Fine! This is fine!"
Luna picked up the bottle and put it into the sink. Then she grabbed a roll of paper towels and started soaking up the milk on the floor with them. After it looked good enough, Luna cleaned up the rest with a sponge.
"And lunchtime for you is over." She told Lily, tossing the sponge back into the sink. "And naptime is obviously gonna be a bust and so let's just do TV time."
She took Lily out of the high chair and brought her into the living room, setting her onto the couch beside Lucy. There was already something on the screen, some sort of documentary on classic monster movies that Lucy was enjoying. It may not have been age appropriate for Lily, but Luna doubted that Lily even understood what was going on anyway. Luna just needed her to stay distracted while she tried to finish making sure everyone had something to eat.
"You sit here with Luce and be good, okay?" Luna said as she began heading to the front door. "Mom and Pops are gonna be back any minute, so hang tight."
"Are you saying that to Lily or to yourself?" Lucy asked.
"Both." Luna grumbled in reply.
Luna opened the front door and stepped outside. After a quick look around she spotted Lynn in the driveway. She was skating around with her hockey stick, dribbling the puck across the asphalt before suddenly slapping it as hard as she could. The puck was sent flying right towards Luna's face and she was just barely able to react in time.
"Dude!" Luna exclaimed, ducking as the puck rocketed over her head. "Watch it! You coulda got me right between the eyes!"
"Nah." Lynn replied. "If anything that would have take out your front teeth."
"How is that any better?!"
"Never said that it was. So when's lunch?"
"You already ate!" Luna pointed out, sounding irritated. "And you left that big mess on the counter!"
"That wasn't lunch. It was more of a quick snack." Lynn replied.
"Well I'm counting it as your lunch. Now go clean up your mess!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll get to it. Give me five minutes."
"No, you'll do it now! Or you can forget about doing any more sports today!" Luna told her.
"Pfft. You can't keep my from playing any sports." Lynn countered.
"Yes I can! Go to your room, now!" Luna ordered.
Lynn let out a laugh. "Nice Lori impression. But seriously, I'll clean up my mess after a little more practice. I'm trying to improve my slapshot."
Luna gritted her teeth. "You've got five minutes. I had better see you in the kitchen by then."
Turning on her heel, Luna went back inside. She went upstairs to her room to check for Luan, but she wasn't there. A quick trip across the hall revealed that Leni wasn't in her room either. Luna returned to the living room and checked on Lily, who was busying herself by trying to pull one of the couch cushions onto the floor.
"No." Luna told her baby sister, picking her up and setting her onto the couch again. "Sit still and watch TV with Lucy, okay? Hey Luce, have you seen Leni or Luan? I haven't seen them since I got back from Flip's."
"I saw them both upstairs earlier. Luan was on her phone and Leni was talking to her. They both went down to the basement for some reason."
"The basement?" Luna repeated. "What are they doing down there?"
Lucy shrugged. Luna began to head back to the kitchen, unaware that Lily had climbed down from the couch again and was following her. When Luna got to the basement door, Lily saw Charles going through the doggie door into the backyard and went to follow him instead.
As Luna descended the basement stairs she could hear Leni talking to someone. She found both Leni and Luan over by the furnace, almost as if they were trying to hide behind the large fixture. Luan seemed highly amused by something, covering her mouth as if to hold back a laugh.
"What's going on?" Luan asked as she approached the two. "Why are you hanging out down here?"
"I'm teaching Leni how to do some prank calls." Luan snickered.
"You're going what?!" Luna replied. "Dude! Not cool! You know that Mom and Pops don't want you doing that!"
"Luna! Shh!" Leni said, holding a finger up to her mouth. "I'm on the phone! Rude. Oh, like, hi! I was just calling to ask if you had Prince Albert in a can. Also, is he cute?"
Luan snickered again at Leni's little addition to the joke. Luna however didn't find it funny at all. She didn't even get the joke in the first place. All she knew was that the second the call was over, she was taking that phone away.
"Huh? Oh yeah." Leni said to whomever was on the phone with her. "This is totes a prank call."
Both Luna and Luan froze, stunned looks on their faces. Leni stood in front of them, listening to the other person on the line. She gave a couple of nods, each accompanied by an 'uh-huh' over the next minute. Luna started to get a bad feeling, which worsened as Leni glanced at her and Luan.
"She sounds kinda mad."
"Hang up!" Luan whispered urgently.
"Uh, no. That's rude, Luan. You both need to work on your manners." Leni replied before returning her attention to the call. "No, my parents are out. But they left my sister in charge. Yeah, I can put her on." Leni held the phone out to Luna. "Here, it's for you."
Luan was up the stairs in the blink of an eye. Luna hesitantly took the phone from Leni. She barely got out a 'hello' before a very angry voice began shouting at her. Luna acted on instinct and ended the call, turning the phone off afterwards. Then as an additional measure, she removed the battery, placing it into her skirt pocket.
"Are you okay, Luna?" Leni asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Luna replied, turning to leave. "I just gotta go find Luan to have a little talk with her."
Luna made her way up to the kitchen again, finding Luan waiting just outside the door. Luan stood there, smiling nervously at Luna as she arrived. For some reason that made Luna's blood pressure spike. Clenching her fist around Luan's phone, she stepped up to her sister nice and close, getting right into her face.
"I don't want to see you even touching a phone while I'm still in charge." Luna said icily. "Not the house phone, not anyone else's cell phones, not even Lily's toy phone. Got it?"
"Okay, okay! You don't need to be so crabby about it!" Luan replied.
"I just got chewed out by some random lady because of you!" Luna countered.
"Leni was the one who gave you the phone!"
"And she was only making a prank call because it was your idea!" Luna spat. "Just don't touch any phones! Find something else to do until our parents get home. Oh and by the way, that joke you had Leni use? I don't get it and I don't think you do either. I don't think anyone gets that joke, it's so old!"
Luan watched Luna storm off to the living room, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "Some people just can't appreciate the classics." She said with a sigh. "Now what am I gonna do for fun?"
An idea suddenly came to her, a grin breaking out on her face. She rushed back down into the basement where Leni was still standing by the furnace. Luan went up to some boxes sitting in the corner, opening one and starting to dig through the contents. Leni approached her, looking a little worried.
"Is Luna okay?"
"She's fine." Luan said. "She's just a bit grouchy, that's all. She probably needs to go take a nap. Aha!"
Luan had found what she was looking for inside of the box. Her fake spider that dangled from a plastic pole on a bit of fishing line. A wicked smile came to her face as she looked up at her older sister, whipping the pole out and letting the spider hang right in front of Leni's face. The moment the fake arachnid entered her field of vision, Leni let out a scream. She then bolted up the stairs, Luan right behind her and giggling like a maniac.
The sound of Leni's screaming caught Luna's attention. Then both Leni and Luan ran past her, Luan bumping into her on the way. She glared at the other brunette, a vein starting to throb on her forehead again. A part of her wanted to go after them, but before she could even try, something else caught her attention.
Mud. Lots and lots of muddy footprints tracked in the living room. The lead into the dining room where Lana was seated at the table, which was covered in large globs of mud. There was hardly more than a few spots here or there which hadn't been dirtied by it all.
"Hey Luna." Lana greeted, patting some mud together into a new glob. "Want a mudpie? Freshly made!"
"How… when did you…" Luna began, gesturing to the mess. "Why?!"
"I was bored." Lana answered. "So I went into the yard and made lots of mud using the hose. Then I loaded up my wagon, brought it inside and here I am."
"Here you are making a huge mess, you mean! You gotta clean this up before our parents get home!"
"No. You have to clean it up. You're in charge, remember?"
"Yeah, I'm in charge and I'm telling you to clean up all of this, now!" I won't tell you again!"
"Okay, so I only need to say 'no' this last time." Lana replied, returning to crafting her mudpies. "I'm almost done here anyway, so you can get started soon."
"Lana…" Luna growled, clenching her fists. "I'm not messing around with you. If you think I'm cleaning this up for you, or taking the heat from Mom and Pops for it, then you've got another thing coming!"
"No I don't. Because you can't make me clean up my mud. And if you don't do it yourself, you have to tell Mom and Dad why all of this mud is on their table." Lana told her, smirking a little as she watched Luna silently fuming. "You look upset, big sis. You know what always makes me feel better? A mudpie. Here, have one!"
She threw the mudpie at Luna, nailing her right in the face. By the time Luna had cleared the mud away from her eyes, Lana was already gone. A trail of muddy footprints led Luna to the stairs and up to the second floor, right into the twins' bedroom where she was struck again. This time it was by Lola who had lobbed some sort of glittery glob at her, striking her in the chest.
The unexpected attack made Luna reel back a bit. It hadn't hurt, but the pink, goopy glitter now coated the front of her shirt almost entirely. She glared at Lola, who in return gave a sugary sweet smile in return. It came across as sincere, but Luna knew it was a cover for a far more sinister look.
"Is something the matter, big sister?" Lola asked, using a tone so innocent that Luna found it mocking. "You look upset."
"Yeah, I'm upset alright. You just covered me in goop!"
"No, it's a glitter-pie." Lola corrected. "And it made a huge improvement to your outfit. That top you always wear is just so tacky. Now it's fabulous! You're welcome."
Luna kept glaring at Lola, who still had the same sweet smile on her face. It was very clear to Luna that her little sister wanted her to retaliate. To try and do something, anything that could be used against her later on when their parents were home again. So Luna restrained herself, even though it only increased her ire all the more.
Leaving the twins' bedroom behind, Luna left to go to her own room. Once inside, she took a deep breath and slowly let it back out. She then switched out her dirty top for a clean, identical one and made a quick trip to the bathroom to wash the mud from her face. Her stomach let out a soft growl and she let out a sigh. With how hectic things had been, she had forgotten about her own lunch.
Returning to the kitchen, Luna noticed that Lynn had yet to clean up her mess. Between that and the mud all over the dining room table, Luna was really anxious about her parents imminent return. With much reluctance, she resigned herself to cleaning it all up, starting with Lynn's mess. If it meant having one less thing to explain to their parents, then Luna would let her sisters have their way.
After getting the kitchen counter clean, Luna began the painstaking process of cleaning up all of Lana's mud. When it was finally done, she went to get herself a bite to eat. But before she had a chance to rummage through the fridge, a knock sounded at the door and Luna went to answer. It was Mr. Grouse, looking just as grumpy as he had earlier, his glasses fixed up with some tape. But what really got Luna's attention was the sight of Lily in his arms, squirming and fussing.
"Dude! How… where was she?!"
"Outside, crawling around all by herself by your garage." Mr. Grouse answered. "I was working in my yard when I spotted her. Good thing that I did too. Who knows what coulda happened! Are your parents gonna be home soon?"
Luna nodded. "Anytime now."
"Good. I'll be sure to mention this to them when they do. Right after I finish tellin' them about how your sister almost gave me a concussion!"
Mr. Grouse left, giving Lynn a quick glare as he went. She paid him no mind and just kept practicing with her hockey stick and puck. Luna closed the door and then went over to her parent's bedroom. Inside their closet was the baby harness that they'd sometimes use to carry Lily around. Luna put the harness on and secured Lily into it, smiling triumphantly at the baby girl.
"Ha! I'd like to see you try and sneak off now."
Lily let out a small yawn and nestled her head against Luna. In a matter of seconds she had drifted off and was gently snoring. Luna stared silently at her little sister and then clenched both her fists and teeth.
"Really little dudette?" She whispered as quietly as she could. "Now? Now you take a nap?!"
Resisting the urge to mutter some rather inappropriate words, Luna left her parents' bedroom and went to sit on the couch with Lucy. She eased back slowly to avoid disturbing Lily and then took a nice, deep breath. It was almost over. Hopefully the one real problem left wouldn't be much of an issue. Lisa hadn't given her an update on the blob removal. But worst case scenario, Luna could just say that it was being handled when the time came to face her parents about it. For now all she wanted to do was try and relax.
Luna didn't even get a minute before someone was at the door again. With much hesitance, Luna began to get up from her seat. Before she could however, Lucy did her a solid by going to answer the door for her. Letting out a relieved sigh, Luna went back to relaxing, only to be disturbed once more when Lucy returned.
"Hey Luna." Lucy whispered, giving her a gentle nudge. "Speedy-Pie is at the door with the pizzas you ordered."
"I didn't order any…" Luna began, forgetting to mind the volume of her voice. She froze when she felt Lily stir, but thankfully didn't wake up. "I didn't order any pizza!" She whispered.
"You might want to tell that to the pizza guy."
With a scowl, Luna got back onto her feet and went over to the still open front door. There a tall, teenage boy with an athletic frame and sporting a red and yellow striped pizza delivery uniform was waiting. In his hands was a stack of five large pizza boxes. When he saw Luna he flashed a smile at her and held out the boxes for her.
"Hey there. I've got your five extra large pies for you. The total is $63.70, plus tip."
"Sorry dude, we didn't order any pizzas." Luna replied. "You must have the wrong address."
"No. I got the right address. 1216 Franklin Avenue." The pizza guy said, checking the order slip. "The order was put in online under the name Luna Loud. Is she here?"
"I'm Luna, but I didn't order any pizza. Hate to break it to you, but I think someone made a prank order. I don't even have any cash right now, so I wouldn't order sixty bucks worth of pizza. Sorry again, dude."
She stepped back and closed the door, leaving an irritated looking pizza guy on the porch. A deep frown came to her own face as Luna quickly figured out what was going on. After taking a moment to close her eyes and focus, she detected the unmistakable sound of Luan's laugh coming from upstairs. Moving swiftly, but cautiously to avoid disturbing Lily, Luna went up to the second floor. Leni ran by letting out a cry of fear, Luan on her tail and laughing almost nonstop.
Luna froze in place, checking on Lily to make sure she hadn't been woken up. To her relief she saw that Lily was still snoring softly. With a quick sigh, Luna relaxed a bit and then went after her sisters. Leni was on her way back but caught sight of Luna holding a finger up to her lips. The blonde slowed to a stop, looking at Lily briefly before continuing on her way, crying out in fear at a much lower volume.
Luan tried to pass by Luna next, but Luna blocked her path instantly. She stared her younger sister down, making her shrink back a bit with how angrily she was glaring. However the reaction was short lived as Luan started to glare back.
"What's with the dirty look?" She asked.
"I dunno. What's with the prank pizza order you made?" Luna asked in return.
"Prank pizza order?" Luan repeated, quirking an eyebrow. "I didn't make a prank pizza order."
"Then why did the pizza dude just tell me someone placed an order under my name?"
"It wasn't me!" Luan replied, almost sounding offended. "The idea behind a fake pizza order is to send it to someone else's house, not your own! Even amateur pranksters know that!"
She brushed past Luna, going after Leni who had gone down the stairs. Luna was left wondering if Luan had been telling the truth or not. The order had apparently been under her name, so if it wasn't one of Luan's pranks then Luna couldn't imagine who…
No… she actually had a very good idea of who could've been responsible for this. Lola and Lana. While almost forgetting about Lily, Luna turned abruptly and marched to the twins' room where she found the two playing. Considering how recently they had pelted her with mud and glitter, Luna was in no mood to beat around the bush.
"Did either of you order pizza?" She asked bluntly.
"Ooh, is it already here?!" Lana asked excitedly, giving Luna her answer.
"Yeah. And I told the pizza guy that there was a mistake." Luna softly growled. "The two of you are in big trouble. Time out!"
Lola giggled. "Oh no, Lana did you hear that? Time out!"
Lana snorted. "How's she gonna make us?"
"Good question, sister dear. What can Luna do to make us stay in a time out?"
"I'll just keep an eye on you. That's all."
"You can't keep an eye on us both if we're not in the same room!" Lola exclaimed, dashing past Luna.
"Hey!" Luna barked, forgetting to control the volume of her voice. "Get back here, now!"
Lily stirred and Luna quickly hushed her, gently stroking her head. She rubbed her eyes and then drifted back off, Luna letting out a breath in relief. When she looked back up she found that Lana had scampered off as well while she had been distracted. The sound of a door slamming down the hall caught her attention and she saw that the bathroom door was now closed.
Luna went down to the door and grabbed the handle. She thought she'd encounter some resistance or get an unpleasant surprise when she opened the door and readied herself. But when she turned the handle the door opened easily and she found the bathroom was empty. Then she heard someone blowing a raspberry from behind her and turned to find Lana running off again. Lana had run from her and Luan's bedroom to the stairs where she stopped to blow another raspberry before rushing down to the first floor.
Barely able to hold back her anger, Luna gave chase after Lana. By the time she got down the stairs, Lana was gone from sight again. Luna went to check in the kitchen, but just as she started to turn, the front door burst open. Lynn jr. bolted inside, slamming the door behind her and bumping into Luna's backside as she went flying past her and up the stairs to her room. Lily began to whimper and Luna felt the last of her patience slip away.
"Dude! WATCH IT!" She shouted.
Lily began to cry. Luna tried to hush her back to sleep again, but her efforts were futile. The baby girl was not calming down easily after such a rude awakening. Luna began rocking her back and forth gently, humming a lullaby in hopes that it would work. But all Lily did was start to squirm in the harness.
"Come on, little dudette." Luna whispered. "Just go back to sleep. You're making me want to cry!"
"Luna?" Came a gentle voice. "Are you alright?"
Turning to the dining room, Luna saw Leni looking at her with eyes full of concern. A sudden knock at the door came, but Luna ignored it while she kept trying to calm Lily. Leni stepped closer, Luan coming behind her with her fake spider at the ready. The prankster positioned herself behind Leni and started dangling her spider over Leni's head again. Leni stepped away however, not phased by it at all.
"What's wrong, Luna?" Leni asked. Luan meanwhile stepped closer to move her spider into position again, the plastic toy entering Leni's view. The blonde frowned and grabbed it, pulling it away from Luan and turning to glare at her. "Not now, Luan! We can finish our game later!" She said sternly, holding onto Luan's prop.
"Wait… what?" Luan asked, confounded.
Leni turned back to face Luna. "Do you want me to help you with Lily?" She offered.
Luna nodded and took Lily out of the harness. Leni reached out to take the upset little girl, cradling her and rocking her gently like Luna had been doing. Another knock sounded at the door, more loudly than the last one. Leni started to head up the stairs, glancing at Luna as she went.
"You take care of that. I'll bring Lily up to my room and get her back to sleep, okay?"
"Thanks, sis. I owe you one."
Luna went to answer the door, once again finding Mr. Grouse on the other side. The look on his face told Luna immediately that something was up. This was only further confirmed by the sound of someone shouting in the background. Daring to peek, Luna saw the pizza guy from earlier, angrily speaking to someone on his cell phone. He was by his car, which was parked across the street. The driver's side window was shattered, the sight giving Luna a very bad feeling.
"Uh… hey, Mr. G." She began nervously. "What's going on?"
"Nothing good I'm afraid." Mr. Grouse replied. "That sister of yours smacked her hockey puck right into that fella's car. He's awful sore about it. Pretty sure he's on the phone with the police."
"Oh no…" Luna groaned. "My parents are gonna freak!"
"Take it easy. I saw what happened and I'll tell the police when they get here. But you might wanna make sure your sister stays inside until then. That guy doesn't seem like the reasonable sort."
"Hey!" The pizza guy shouted, crossing the street. "Hey! Is that the brat's parent?!"
"No. Just her sister." Mr. Grouse replied. "Her parents aren't home right now."
"Oh, freakin' figures! Well someone had better get that little snot out here!"
"Just simmer down already, will ya? Losin' yer temper isn't gonna help anyone."
"Yeah dude." Luna said. "She's gonna answer to my folks when they get home soon, I swear! But until then she's gonna sit tight up in her room."
"Which room?!" The pizza guy asked, looking up at the second floor of the house. "Is it that one up there?! The one with the window shade down?!"
"No, that's… DUDE!" Luna exclaimed, eyes going wide. "What are you doing?!"
"She broke my window, so I'm gonna break hers! Here kid! Take back your stinking hockey puck!"
Before anyone could do or say anything else, he threw the puck. He threw it hard enough to rival a professional baseball pitcher's fastball. It struck the upper pane of the window to Lisa and Lily's room, going straight through the glass and knocking the shade out of place, allowing natural light through.
Just inside the broken window something began to move. With light shining onto it once again, the experimental containment gel Lisa had created began expanding. It pushed out through the glass, destroying the rest of the window. As it entered a state of more rapid growth it began oozing down into the yard like toothpaste fresh out of the tube. Luna, Mr. Grouse and the pizza guy all looked on frozen in place. The shocked expressions on their faces were very much the same as those of Lori, Rita and Lynn Loud Sr. as they finally arrived back home.
End of Chapter 18)