[Anyone enjoying so far, maybe too soon to ask but I'm curious]
[Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or anything really]
Posted 9/9/19
-Chapter 1-
"So for a school assignment, I was supposed to retell the story of my birth and early childhood, just one problem, I couldn't find my baby books, I went through everyone else's but couldn't find mine, so I went to my parents but something weird happened."
~XxX Flashback XxX~
"…" Rita stares blankly into the void, past where her 11 year old son was standing.
"…" Lynn SR's wide eyes looking back and forth from Lincoln to his wife Rita.
"Uh, mom, dad, what's wrong?"
"Well, y'see son, uhh-" His father stammered.
"FAMILY MEETING! Girls, down stairs now!" Rita yelled upstairs frightening both her husband and son.
-XxX-
In the living room, Lincoln sat in the middle of the couch with his parents standing behind the coffee table. One by one his sisters come down, first Lori and Leni.
"Like o-m-gosh mom, what's wrong, did we run out of shampoo, *GASP* did they discontinue 'Belle Fille' #15, oh no!"
"No Leni, I'm sure that's not it." Lori, the eldest reassures her not paying attention while texting her boyfriend Bobby and takes a seat at the far end to Lincoln's left.
"Oh that's a relief, disaster averted, bye." Leni begins walking up the steps.
"Leni honey come back down, we still have a family meeting." Her mother beckons her.
"Oh, right." Leni rushes back down and plops right onto Lincoln's right, "Hi Linky, you here for the meeting too!?" She asks excitedly.
"Uh, yeah, actually I think I caused this meeting." He says as Lori looks up with her eyebrows furrowing.
"What did you do this time twerp?" She asks mildly upset, what did her annoying little brother do to get them all wrapped into a meeting.
"I just asked about my baby pictures and what happened when I was born." This got his sisters' attention.
Leni gasps and looks over to Lori to see her eyes bugging out as they both look to their parents just to see them look to each other and nod back to the girls.
"Uh guys, what's going on?" Lincoln asks getting worried, fearing the worst he looks to Leni, he knows she wouldn't lie to him.
"Leni, what's up with everybody?" He asks looking into her eyes as hers water and she turns away.
"I'm sorry Linky, I can't." Leni says before clasping her hands over her mouth, all without turning back to him as Lori chimes in.
"Let's just wait for everyone else Lincoln, alright." She says trying to calm her brother when suddenly-
"Yo, what's the haps fam!" roared Luna, the rock star of the Louds.
Everyone just stares at Luna.
"Woah guys, are you feeling alright?" Luna asks as her roommate, the comedian walks down with baby Lily in her arms.
"Aww, looks like we're late to the 'stair-ing' contest huh Lily, hahaha get it?" She asks as Luna and Lily groan but looks back to the rest of her family, silence, "Okay not my best one but I thought I'd at least get a reaction…what's with this audience?" She whispered that last bit to Luna who could only offer a shrug.
"Dunno sis, they're as quiet as a church mouse." She looks to Lincoln, her favorite groupie, "Yo bro, what's happenin' luv, haven't seen everyone this quiet since pop-star got caught trying to smuggle those doughnut burgers."
"That was a scary afternoon." Her dad muttered.
"Yeah this happened when I asked what was going on when I was born." And like before his older sisters making their way to the couch stiffened and their eyes bulged as they looked back to the rest of their family, their parents nodded to them before Lori speaks up.
"Lincoln's been asking about 'that', we're waiting for everyone, so take a seat." The eldest softly commanded her two younger siblings, Luan took the open space next to Leni and softly bounced Lily who seemed to be enjoying the game as Luna gets behind Lincoln and wraps her arms around his neck in a warm embrace over the couch.
"We'll get through this I swear, we're here for you bro." Luna whispers as Lincoln's heart begins racing, he feels this can't be good, nothing good could possibly come from this atmosphere.
There is complete silence, only the ticking of a clock be heard, to everyone else, it was negligible, to Lincoln, each and every tic was herald with a monstrous thumping, an endless ringing that resonated with Lincoln's own erratic heart beats, sort of like the beginning of an orchestra, 'tic, tic, BOOM, tic, tic, BOOM.
Lincoln tried using that to take his mind of things but he soon came out of the confines of his own imagination when he and his family looked to the ceiling as they began hearing roaring footsteps as if someone was sprinting towards the top of the stairs.
"AND SHE CROSSES THE FINISH LINE!" Howled Lynn jr as she hopped down the stairs in a single bound.
"LYNN JR what have I told you about jumping from the stairs young lady!" Her mother yelled
"Sorry mom, 'sup pops." Lynn calls out as she takes the empty space between Lincoln and Lori.
"Hey L.J"
"So what's this about anyway?" Lynn asked to be answered by an ominous voice
"Apparently Lincoln, *Ahh!* has been asking questions and that has led to the meeting now." Came the monotonous voice of Lucy.
"Jeez Lucy we really need to put a bell on you!" Shrieked Lynn, "Also where did you come from?"
"I was already down here, I was performing a séance in the basement when the spirits told me I needed to be here now." She answered while squeezing herself between Lynn and Lincoln.
"Yes the supposhed invishible forshes that you bashe your decision making upon sheventh eldest shibling, greeting parental unitsh, to what may I inquire this congregation's shubject?" Lisa, the residential genius asked politely in her usual way only to be answered with silence.
Everyone just stared at her as she pinched the bridge of her nose and readjust her glasses.
*Sigh* "What ish thish meeting about, *OHH!* honestly you nitwitsh." She complained to herself while sitting at the foot of the couch and did some calculations not even bothering to look up.
The parents do a head count and noticed they were missing a pair.
"Lana, Lola, please come down now." Voiced the loud patriarch
"MOM, TELL LANA TO GIVE ME MY TIARA!" Erupted the voice of Lola
"NOT UNTIL SHE PUTS HOPS DOWN!" Wailed Lana, her twin
Sound of the two fighting could be heard upstairs as Rita looked just about ready to lose it until Lynn SR came to the rescue.
"Girls if you're not down here in the next five seconds you're both grounded indefinitely!"
This ceased the fighting as the pitter patter of their footsteps were heard rushing down the stairs, Lana the resident mechanic sliding down the handrail as Lola strides down in her usual manner befitting of her inflated ego.
Lana sits on the floor before the couch in front of Leni and when Lola makes it to the couch she looks at the crowded sofa couch and just rolls her eyes.
*Hmph* "And just where am I supposed to-"
"Oh for the love of, here." Lynn gets up and moves over the Lori's side of the couch and leans on its arm, "Happy?"
"Ecstatic." Lola said flatly as she takes her seat, the pets made their way and perched themselves in a pile and then Rita starts.
"Alright now that everyone's here, the reason I called this meeting is because your brother Lincoln has asked a very important question and-" She begins as she is interrupted by Lynn.
"OH great what did he do this time-" Then Lori intrudes.
"Enough Lynn, don't interrupt, go on mom."
"Thank you, now as I was saying, your brother wanted to know what happened when he was born, so now I, uh we felt it's time to tell you all." She takes a moment to breathe as Lynn jr speaks up once more.
"What do you mean, you just had a baby right, everyone knows that." Lynn stated just as Luna squeezed Lincoln harder making his chest pound even faster.
"No, actually." Their mother says, catching everyone off guard, everyone except Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan and Lisa apparently.
"Wait What?" Squawked both Lincoln and Lynn.
"Lincoln is… adopted." She says as the older girls looked away and Lynn speaks up.
"How, I would've known if Lincoln wasn't really my brother!" She says as Lincoln sinks down hearing those words.
"Because you were too young to remember junior." The father softly tells her, looking to his wife, "Do you want me to-"
"No, I can do this." Rita takes a moment to inhale then exhale and she begins.
"It started a few months after Lynn was born, to no one's surprise I was pregnant again but after…"
"Hun, you don't have to say it." Her husband tries to comfort her as she puts a hand up.
"There was an accident and..." Her younger girls flinched at this point they knew what she was going to say next.
"I had a miscarriage, our baby didn't make it and about a year went by before we were even comfortable with the idea of bringing another child into this world." A tear rolls down her eye as her husband holds her and continues for her.
"But we still wanted a big family, we argued for some time, how we were going to do that and when, eventually we came to the decision to adopt."
Everybody was listening intently but no one saw the look on Lincoln's face, the realization of where this might lead, the sheer terror of what might come of this, the complete and total sense of despair and isolation.
"Thankfully there was an agency that could handle this sort of thing." His father went on just as Lisa interjects.
"Excushe me a moment, while I don't doubt the coursh of eventsh ash you have told, from the time frame before Lincoln'sh adoption, it would have been mere monthsh after you decided to adopt, I find that mosht unlikely, care to explain father unit?"
"Oh yeah, back in '04' it was pretty easy for two straight Caucasians with two income sources to pick out a kid and bring them home, heh, you could pretty much take them off the street back then, a few months was cake walk compared to today's requirements for adoption approval, anything else Lisa?"
"For now no, pleash carry on."
"We went through at least four different foster homes but nothing seemed right, the kids were fine but none of them felt like a good fit, like we were trying to replace the child we lost with one at the age they would've been. That just kept bringing us back to square one, eventually we chose to stop looking and just enjoy our time home with you girls." He gestured to his five eldest before his wife picked up where he left off.
"And then your grandfather had his accident a few weeks after Lynn's second birthday. While visiting the hospital a few towns over, I had to use the restroom but most of them were closed for maintenance, the closest one available was in the maternity ward. It was… difficult making my way there and I know I could've gone somewhere else but I felt that I needed to do it, that I had to let go of those feelings and it was hard but I did make it through.
Then I heard crying, I felt my heart break so bad that I almost ran away only to bump into an officer holding a crying baby boy. I could've walked away but I saw that he wasn't used to holding infants and against every fiber of my being telling me to go, I walked right up to the man, Officer Lincoln Brown."
This caught her children's attention, usually as per the unspoken naming 'rule' in the loud house each child's name started with the letter L and had four letters.
"He was tall, black, had dark hair, was balding and a thick mustache, I asked if he needed help and he couldn't hand me the baby fast enough, for a moment it felt like he handed me bricks instead of a person… until I got a look at his cherub face and he calmed right down, it was like I fell in love all over again and I felt myself melting, then I asked why the officer was holding the baby and where were his parents?"
Lincoln's Heart was racing as he had a bad feeling where this was going.
"He told me that he found 'baby John Doe' on a park bench alone, and that he had been coming every day after for the last three days hoping to run into his family. He said that eventually they'd have to put him into foster care but being a newborn, he'd stay in the hospital for quite a while." She paused, happily remembering the encounter with the child as the Loud patriarch went on in his wife's place.
"That's when I found your mom, she was gone for almost an hour before I came to look for her and when I saw the baby she was holding I just knew things would be alright with us and after seeing your mother's face I could see what she was thinking or so I thought, what I wasn't ready to hear was your mother tell me 'let's take this baby', man that was… a crazy 5 minutes." He said rubbing the back of his head, chuckling to himself as he heard Rita laughing.
"HAHA don't remind me, you kept trying to talk me out of 'stealing babies from hospitals', ha, you kids should've seen Officer Brown's face I swear he aged 10 years in 10 seconds.
But after that confusing mess sort itself out, Officer Brown told us that 'the moment John Doe went into foster care was the moment he was up for grabs' and that in the meantime his precinct was still searching for the parents."
Leni asked, "Wait, like what happened to baby Johnathan then?" Everyone deadpanned but this was Leni so they eased up and let their parents continue.
"Well Leni, your father and I were about to go say good bye to your grandfather when Officer Brown asked me to return the baby, oh I was so embarrassed, to think I was about to walk away with him too. That's when we saw the accompanying nurse who took off 'John Doe's' baby cap to reveal a tuft of white hair, and I knew we had to have him, he was just too beautiful to forget." Rita said practically swooning at the memory.
*GASP* "Johnathan Doe was Linky all along, isn't that amazing you guys?" Leni asked as the rest of her siblings silently sat straight-faced, all but Lincoln.
"About three months had passed and after a ton of paper work including naming 'John Doe' we brought 'Lincoln Loud' home, the girls were so excited to meet him and we let Luna hold him first."
Luna's grip on Lincoln had started getting even tighter as she could feel him trembling. It was another sort of tradition the Louds had, 'who got to hold whom first', Lori had gotten to hold Luan when she was 3, Leni held Lynn was she was 3, Luna held Lincoln when she was 4, Luan held Lucy when she was 6, Lynn held the twins when she was 7, Lincoln held Lisa when he was 7 and finally Lucy held Lily when she was 7.
"And the rest is history, so any questions?" Rita had asked after ending her retelling of how 'Lincoln Loud came to be' just as Lola raised her hand.
"Yes sweetie?"
"Does this mean Lincoln's not my big brother anymore?" She asked almost sounding worried but all Lincoln could hear was 'not my big brother'.
"Oh, of course-" Rita tried to answer only to be cut off by Lisa.
"Technically the proper term would be shtep-brother, sheeing ash he hash no blood relation to ush, that would make Lincoln our shtep-brother or orphan-brother in old English originating from Germany." She said unemotionally.
"Well you don't have to say it like that Lis'." Spoke Lana and Lori added on.
"You seem literally unfazed by this Lisa, I would've thought you'd at least shown some interest."
"I might've been had I not already dishcovered thish shome time ago." She said as everyone turned to her wide eyed.
"Are you telling me that in all the time you've known me to acquire genetic shamples and run numeroush teshtsh I wash shupposhed to believe Lincoln was really related to us, there are far too many genetic variationsh and markersh to indicate that Lincoln washn't related to ush and not to mention hish traitsh, I mean just look at him, he doeshn't even reshemble either of our shared biological parental unitsh." Lisa finishes in her usual lateral lisp as most of the girls' eyes furrow in anger.
"Dude, harsh!" Luna says as she lets go of Lincoln.
"Agreed, even the spirits make no distinction of blood when they watch over us." Came forth the dreary voice of Lucy, starting to become irked.
"So not helping poindexter!" Followed by Lynn.
"Not funny Lis'!" Voiced Luan.
"Totes!" Leni agreed.
"Did they ever find them?" Everyone froze before the soul-crushed tone of Lincoln.
No one dared to speak up, all the family could see was his shaking form. Luna tried to comfort Lincoln only for him to get off his seat.
"Did they ever find them?" He asked again as his father was the one to answer.
"No, no they didn't Lincoln and I'm sorry, I can't possibly understand what you must be feeling right now." The Loud patriarch tried to calm his son knowing what might've come after hearing the details surrounding his 'origins'.
"I don't know what to feel, I just found out that I'm not really a Loud!"
"C'mon Lincoln you know that's not true, you shouldn't feel 'orphan-ded', heh, get it." Silence, "Okay bad timing I know." Luan awkwardly laughed to herself.
"Luan, now's literally not the time for that and Lincoln I get it, I really do." Lori chastised Luan.
"Get what, that you know your parents didn't even want you!" He said with hot tears rolling down his face. "That you were left on a park bench because they couldn't care less."
"While I'm sure that could be a poshiblility, itsh alsho worth noting that they could be deceased or maybe even-mphm" She didn't get to finish that thought as Luna covered her mouth.
"Seriously dude, you gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em, you're not helping."
Luna looks back to see a white and orange blur flash by her and upstairs in speeds that would make Lynn envious.
"Nice job Lis'!" Said Lynn, "Jeez, he really can move when he wants to, huh." She said as the door to his room slams and the rest is followed by silence.
-XxX Reality Break XxX-
"Yeah, I didn't react well and if it's any consolation, I knew Lisa wasn't trying to be mean or insensitive, she was just seeing the logical side to it, she doesn't do the whole emotional thing.
Where was I, oh yeah, so I ran up to my room and I really didn't want to see anyone but I didn't have a lock on my door so I propped it closed with my desk chair. One by one everyone came to try to coax me out I guess, all the while I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to even listen to them meanwhile I was crying myself to sleep. I didn't eat dinner and I didn't leave my room in the morning, thank God it was Saturday, don't know how I'd react to them trying to get me to go to school after what I heard.
In case you're wondering, no, I didn't find out anything about my supposed 'parents' since then, 'snot like need 'em now but anyway, back to the story."
-XxX Back to the Flashback XxX-
Saturday afternoon, officially 24 hours since Lincoln learned of his adoption and he still hasn't talked to anyone, almost everyone had left except for 3 who opted to spend their day indoors to 'keep an eye on Lincoln', Luan, Lucy and Lisa.
Lucy had occasionally read heartwarming poetry written for families to try and shake things up even though she expresses how much it kills her inside to read such nauseatingly happy words, 'Even still, they are the only words that accurately sum up my feelings for you' but she was only greeted with silence and so she walks away.
Lisa periodically checks the door camera's, she doesn't have them in her families bedrooms, even she can respect the need for an individual's privacy but she can't seem to catch Lincoln leaving, 'You have to come out sometime to use the facilities brother unit of mine, I must make my words clear to you so you may see that I meant no ill-will towards you' she thought checking the cameras again.
Lincoln lays sprawled on top of his bed, staring at his sealing, no thoughts passing in his clouded mind all he can feel is emptiness, like a numbing sensation freezes his limbs as his eyes close once more and all he can see is the darkness.
He breathes slowly and listens to the rhythmic metronome that is his heart beat, it soothes him, lulls him into safety and comfort even if just for a moment.
'Why doesn't it hurt anymore, am I past it or- No, why should I care, whoever made me, left me, they didn't look for me, did they?' He asked himself as new tears built up
'It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.' He chants to himself, 'So why does it bother me so much?'
Suddenly a knock on the door alerts him and has him sit up.
"Ahh, ooph" He tries to get off of his bed only for an electric, stabbing feeling to take hold of his legs and feet. 'Guess that's what happens when you sit still for hours just moping around.'
Lincoln rubs his legs trying to relieve his lower body when he hears a voice.
"Knock, Knock" Came the voice of Luan.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Uh, this is normally the part where you say who's there…Lincoln I know you're up, I heard you moving in there."
'Just go away, please.' Lincoln thinks as he tries not to look at the door.
"C'mon, I got the most 'egg-celent' breakfast buster."
"…"
*Cough* "Uh, I figured we could eat together or maybe watch a movie, y'know have our own little 'breakfast club', cause we're 'butter together'.
"…"
"Look I know you're having an 'egg-sistentual' crisis but you have to know I love you 'a waffle lot' Linky."
"…"
"C'mon Lincoln, you're 'bacon my heart' right now and I should know, 'I couldn't if I fried it', hahaha, get it?"
"…"
"Okay, y'know what I can do this all day, I got a million of 'em, served hot and fresh! So you can either open that door now, get some food and save you some trouble or starve and be the test audience for my 'breakfast special'."
"…"
"Alright then, you asked for it!" *INHALE*
-357 Breakfast jokes later-
"… Hahaha, get it?"
"…"
"I'll admit, you're a strong one but you can't last forever." 'Man, I'm really running low on material and he still hasn't "cracked" yet, this is no "yolk", no I already did that, how does he do it?'
Back in Lincoln's room, unknown to Luan, he is listening to smooch, his favorite rock band hoping to drown out Luan's bad jokes. 'She should really lend her talent to Guantanamo, with that kind of material she'd make a "killing with her brand of torture", get it, OH NO, now I'm doing it!'
Back with Luan, she had just used her last breakfast related joke and was starting to spew whatever came to mind, "Hey Linc wanna hear an orphan joke, never mind, 'a-parent-ly' someone can't be bothered to listen…" *Crash* 'Oh god, what did you just say, you idiot can't you just- wait, maybe this'll get him out or get you a black eye, whatever, he needs you, roll those dice.' She thought as she looked at the tray she dropped, still intact.
"Y'know Linc, I got a bunch of orphan jokes but for the life of me, none of them seem to be hitting 'home', heh, uh, get it?" She chuckled hesitantly
-4 Orphan Jokes Later-
'I can't do this anymore, I'm just making myself sad.' Luan thought looking down as Lincoln refused to even say anything through the door if only to get her to shut up.
"Alright Lincoln you win, I'm sorry." She apologizes as she slumps her way back into her room leaving the tray of long since cold breakfast meant for him.
Unbeknownst to Luan the door to her brother's room had opened just enough to see her walk away and quickly thrown open just long enough to snatch up the tray of food, close it and re-barricade the door.
"Thank you, Luan, I love you 'a waffle lot' too." He sad smiled as he dug in.
-XxX-
Night came to pass and just about everybody came to talk to Lincoln or at least get him to come out except strangely, his 'parents', Rita and Lynn SR came by to leave dinner after asking for him to come down, only to receive the same answer as everyone, silence.
Lori had respected his need to be alone after her first attempt, opting to talk to her precious Bobby-booboo bear and get his insight, he was definitely surprised, his own 'bro' was adopted and he couldn't be there to help.
Leni had spent the better part of the morning shopping for a new wardrobe all for Lincoln, for the time being it was the only way she knew how to express her love for her brother with his refusal to see anyone. Hoping to tempt him with a whole mess of 'in season' clothes from the fall catalog, unfortunately he wouldn't talk to her either, she left feeling useless, a terrible feeling for the most loving, passionate sister in the loud house.
Luna tried to serenade him with something soft and mellow, something completely out of character for her, then it got weird, the next song almost felt like a love song, full of want and need then as it went into more of her style the rhythm shifted into a faster, upbeat tone and fully transitioned into the electrifying pace befitting of the up and coming queen of rock and behind his door Lincoln was starting to get into it until her speakers blew out with a bang and the power cut for just a few minutes, the queen was dethroned and forced to walk in shame back to her room.
Lynn tried to give him a pep talk but she really had no idea how to cheer someone up after learning what he did and so she too retreated back to her dwelling in low spirits herself.
Lola at first asked to speak with Lincoln as nicely as she trained for in her pageants but when she was denied a response like everyone else she tried to break down the door only for her mother to step in and have Lola take a breather. Lana on the other hand actually tried to remove Lincoln's doorknob with her tools and in turn her father put a stop to it.
As the twins were in their room with their parents trying to talk the girls into giving him space as one more person went to Lincoln.
-XxX-
*SNIFF* "Like, nothing's ever gonna be the same with Linky, is it Lori?" Asked Leni to her roommate
"I… I don't know Leni, I don't know what I'd do if I found out I was adopted, He probably feels like he doesn't belongs in this family anymore." Lori reasoned somberly
"Like that's totes not true, Linky's always gonna be part of this family, he has to know that, right?"
"... maybe we should just give him some space and talk to him in the morning, he can't stay inside forever." Lori said confidently until
*CREAK*
Both girls turned and got up to peak outside their door.
-XxX-
*Sigh* "And I thought I was getting to him too, then me amps had to give out on me!" Luna seethed, it was like a higher being didn't want to see her succeed and Laughed at her efforts
"I know right, talk about a 'sonic boom' ha, *sigh* at least you didn't crack orphan jokes." Luan said so defeated as Luna spoked surprised.
"Oh, tell me you didn't luv."
"It just slipped out, after two hours of nonstop breakfast jokes it sort of just came out, then I got it in my head that maybe he'd come out if I just rolled with it and then we'd share a laugh or maybe he'd just punch me, it would've been better than not saying anything."
"You shouldn't think like that sis, you gotta love yourself if you want others to do it, though I can't imagine what he was feelin' after that."
"He probably hates me now." Luan said laying in her bottom bunk and saw Luna climb down from hers
"I know he doesn't, you'll see, and you know we could talk to him again, together this time if you want."
"I'd like that."
*CREAK*
"Oi, what was that?" Luna asked as they both made their way to the door.
-XxX-
"I just don't know what to say, 'hey sorry you're adopted and your parents ditched you for god knows what, but I'm here so stop moping', ugh, I just don't know what to do, what do you think Luce…, Luce… hey Lucy, I'm talking to you-"
Lynn turns over to lucy's bed only to see she wasn't there.
"Hey where'd you go?" She said to no one apparently
*CREAK*
Lynn turns to her open door and wonders if someone's trying their luck with Lincoln again.
"Whelp, may as well see who's out there."
-XxX-
"But how come he won't talk to us mom?" Lola asked her mother
"Because sweetie, Lincoln's going through a difficult time right now and what he needs more than anything right now is space, he needs to process." Rita offered sagely
"But who cares if he's not part of the family, neither are Charles, Cliff, Geo or Walt but we love them all the same." Said Lana.
"First, don't say that about your brother Lana, second, he's not a pet, he just found out that he wasn't born into the family and now he's feeling alone, your mother and I were prepared for this." Lynn SR stated.
"But doesn't he know that we love him, isn't that enough?" Lola asked and her father answered this time.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple Lola, we've talk to your grandpa and even the McBrides about how to tackle this kind of situation, you never really know how they'll take it, what your brother needs right now is space, like your mother said" He looked to his wife.
"Yes, your father's right girls-" Suddenly a voice cuts her off.
"To be fair, *AHH* I'm sure Lincoln needsh shpace but I believe he won't recover if he inshishtsh on hiding in his bedroom, parental unitsh." Lisa speaks to her parents.
"Jeez Lisa, I thought Lucy was the only one who did that!" Lola screeched.
"Apologiesh ninth eldesht shibling unit but I would like to take but a moment of our shared parental units time to clear a few concerns I have of our shtep-brother.
"Don't call him that!" Shouted Lola.
Lisa just raised an eyebrow, "Pardon?"
"Stop calling him that Lisa, I get you don't care about him but he was here longer than us so stop it!"
This was surprising to her parents and twin to be sure, normally Lola of all people in her bratty and entitled nature would probably make the argument against Lincoln, but here she is defending her brother's place in her family regardless of his relation to her, it was a good kind of strange at least to anyone who 'knows' Lola Loud.
"Oh contraire, I've known who he wash in relation to ush for over a year and never once hash it made me think of Lincoln any lesh than I do the resht of you neanderthalsh." Lisa said barely batting an eye.
"Then why do you say it like you didn't care?" asked Lana.
"Becaushe I do not care if our erythrocyte are a match or not, he is shtill my only male shibling unit and I aim to make that known to him but I cannot do that without the effortsh of the rest of our family and I intend to shtart with our parental unitsh." Lisa said as her eyes narrowed.
Lisa's glasses being to fog and then she removes them to clean and in the midst of it, her sisters and parents could see tears building.
"I shupposhe I should have been more conshiderate of Lincoln's feelings, I can only hope he'll recover from hish dilemma shooner ash apposhed to a later date… what I am trying to shay ish, I need your help to apologize to Lincoln, pleashe."
*CREAK*
The loud matriarch walks over to the door, "I think that was Lincoln's room."
And so the rest of them leave to investigate.
-XxX-
*smack, smack, smack* There was a weird knocking on Lincoln's door if you could call it that, it was quiet but just loud enough to annoy him, Lincoln was content to ignore it as he did with everyone else until he heard a voice.
"Inkin" His eyes snapped open, could it be.
"Inkin"
'Lily?' He asked himself as he heard a whimper on the other side of his door, quickly he removes his chair and carefully opens his door as to not make a sound and saw his baby sister Lily, holding onto her purple blankey and what appears to be a thin book.
He goes to pick up lily and asks her what she is doing here.
"tory" She says holding out the book, apparently his mom and dad were both attending to the twins as they've neglected to read Lily a bedtime story to help her find her way into the world of dreams.
"Lily I can't, I'm just not up for it, I'll get mom for you-" He stopped
*SNIFF, HIC, SNIFF* Lincoln could see the tears building, nearly spilling out
"Alright, alright, story time then off to bed Lily-bug." He said quickly hoping she was satisfied as he looked into her watery eyes and saw a small smile accompanied with a nod.
"Okay, let's see what you brought with you, 'The Red Thread; an adaptive folktale' alright then, get comfortable Lily." Lincoln says as he opens the book.
~XxX Reality Break XxX~
"To be honest, for the life of me I can't really remember that book very well, I do know what it was about, a king and queen from a distant land follow a red string attached to both of their pinkies and use it find an abandoned child that looks nothing like them but they take the child and raise it as their own and that's what I think happened anyway.
Oh don't look at me like that, it was a children's book from nine years ago, though to be fair it did teach me a really good lesson, funny it takes a children's book to convey a message that should've been clear to me from the get-go, home and families aren't about where you are and what's in your blood, it's about what's in your heart and my heart is with the Louds.
So anyway-"
~XxX Back to the Flashback XxX~
As Lincoln finished the story, he can only stare forward, he was lost in his own world, trying to make sense out of what he just read.
'That's it huh, I'm just… here, mom and dad found me and now I'm their son. That's it, I'm just a kid they wanted, unlike… whoever made me, the Louds, my family wants me, I've just been being ridiculous, I have a place here and everyone bending over backwards trying to get me to talk is proof.'
Lincoln looks to Lily on his bed, snuggled in her blankey, her chest rising and falling so softly and the face of pure bliss etched into his memories.
Unknown to Lincoln, 2 figures were watching and listening to the story through the vents, "Sigh, such a wondrous story, finding new love in a baby and completing a family, quite the reflection on our family is it not Fang?" Lucy whispers to her pet bat, "I promise Lincoln, though we cannot see them, I know those invisible threads of destiny led our parents to you as well as connects you to the rest of us, our fates are intertwined and you will always be a member of the Loud clan." She looks back to Lincoln as he leans over Lily.
"I guess it's time for bed for reals Lily-bug." He says as he gently scoops her into his arms and slowly walks to his door and swiftly opens it.
*CREAK*
He was so focused on his baby sister that he ignored the squeaky creaking from his door and made his way to Lisa/Lily's apparently open bedroom, "I guess that's how Lily got out," he shrugged as he made his way into the lab/nursery.
One half was covered in papers, in-use chemistry sets, a filled bookshelf and a large monitor, the other half was filled with baby supplies, a crib, toys, the works. Lincoln carefully placed Lily in her crib and pulled the sheets over her and her blankey as he thought out loud.
"I can't even begin to wonder if you really know what's going on or if you just magically had the answer to everything. I know I've been a real jerk to everyone huh Lily, it's just finding out that you might not have a place with the people you love more than anything was painful and the mystery of where you might come from is downright terrifying. I have to thank you, that story was just what I needed to get my head on straight, I'm here and maybe it's because I was the most interesting baby or maybe it was all good timing, who knows but I'm here, I'm a Loud, Lincoln Loud and I'm not going anywhere.
But most importantly, I owe everyone a serious apology-"
"Like, no you don't!"
"Shh" Came multiple voices
Lincoln turns to see the rest of his family outside the door, observing with caution as Leni looks like she's about to breakdown.
"How long have you guys bee-" Lincoln starts only to be cut off by Luna.
"Long enough dude, and like big sis said you don't owe us an apology, we get it, well not really but you just gave us the play by play."
Two yellow blurs glomped onto Lincoln as he looks to see the twins, tears in their eyes and eyeliner runs down Lola's face, they are quickly joined by the rest of the family minus one, Lisa.
"Ahem" The group hug was interrupted by the genius of the Louds, "If I may Lincoln, I wish to make amendsh in genuine penitence, my wordsh did not convey the Mur-" Lisa was stopped by Lincoln rushing to pick her up in his arms for a tight embrace, she was caught off guard and stammering, not knowing what to say so instead she returns the sentiment.
"I know, Lis', I know."
"AWW" Were the collective voices of the Loud women before Lincoln addressed them.
"Guys, I just want to say I'm sorry-"
"Bro, it's cool, we get it." Said Lynn as she vocalizes the same thoughts everyone else had.
"No it's not, you guys have been there for me since the beginning and here I was throwing myself a pity party while the rest of you have been trying to make me feel better, that's more than I can say for whoever I came from, I'm so sorry and I love you guys."
"And we love you Lincoln," Voiced the Loud matriarch, "And you should know, before you came along I wasn't in a good place, I'm not even sure our family would've gotten this big, *"Or Loud!"* haha, yes Luan, or loud until you came along Lincoln, you helped make all of this possible and I can never be more grateful."
Rita tells her only son before scooping him and Lisa in her arms and is shortly joined by the rest of her family one by one.
"You don't know what you mean to us champ." Lynn sr says firmly.
"Yeah twerp, don't ever think you don't have a place here." Lori confidently voices.
"Like, you're still my Linky, oh and we have so many new outfits for you to try on and-" Leni tries to tell Lincoln until she is stopped by Lori.
"Leni, literally take a break and just hug."
"Right on sis, and as for you dude, y'know I just can't rock on the same without my number one bro." Luna chimes in.
"I'm just happy how you 'adopted' this new outlook, haha, uh-" Luan catches herself from laughing.
"… Haha, it's okay Lu and you don't have to hold back for me, I'm cool now." Lincoln assures her.
Luan gives Lincoln an eerie smile, "You all heard him, it's fair game now."
"Good job Lincoln, you've doomed us all, but while we're on the subject, seeing how fast you made it up those stairs got me thinking I might be needing a new racing buddy and no you can't weasel your way out of it, no one out speeds Lynn-sanity in her own house, not even you little bro."
"…great."
"It warms my cold heart to know you still love us Lincoln, your very presence is the sole reason for our existence, the old spirits and benevolent deities truly did know what they were doing with you." Lucy addresses.
"Yeah yeah, enough of your spirit mumbo jumbo, Lincoln is here and he's very important to us blah, blah, blah." Said Lola
"Aww, c'mon sis, where was all that passion when you told Lisa, 'he was here longer than us,' huh?" Lana Countered
"I assure you Lincoln, I have no idea what she's referring to." Lola tried to argue
"Ish that right, ninth eldesht shilbling, well I can concur with Lana'sh allegations and teshtify her claimsh."
"Lies! Lies and slander!" Lola shouts
"Aww you don't need to lie about loving Linky, Lola, we all do." Ended Leni
And all seemed well in the Loud household and everyone knew everything would be good from that day on.
~XxX End Flashback XxX~
"But it wasn't as you can probably guess from the state of things here on my end."
END
[AN: So Lincoln's adopted also the name Lincoln Brown came from two officers I met a few weeks ago, the timing was just perfect]