After school the following day, Leni went straight to her room, and set up her makeshift workshop - pulling her sewing table out from the corner, carefully pulling the pinned collage of fabric pieces off of her dressmaker's dummy, and went to work feeding the pinned pieces of fabric through her sewing machine. The piece of machinery was certainly beneficial for speed, but when it came to dressmaking, the usually dim Leni had an eye for detail, and took her time to ensure that every seam was sewn exactly as it should be. She knew the slightest little mistake -like an uneven seam, or certain cuts of fabric not aligning properly- could break the entire dress... she wanted it to look like the best possible dress for Lola's upcoming Little Miss Maple Leaf pageant. This is why she was not going to sew the entire dress by machine - quite the contrary - she used the machine just to close the major seams on the bodice and the skirt; everything else she intended to sew by hand.
Once Leni had the sewn bodice placed over her little dressmaker's dummy again, her next plan was to sew on the little poufy sleeves... but first, she needed to take a break. Time passed without knowledge, but it was apparently long enough that Lola felt the need to pop into the room and check on Leni's progress.
"Is it finished yet?" Lola asked.
"No, not yet," said Leni, still in a chipper frame of mind, as she sat on the edge of her bed, and proceeded to dig around in her purse for her phone. "It will be, though."
"When?" Lola asked.
"Whenever I can," said Leni, as she finally found her phone. "These things take time."
"An awful LONG time," growled Lola, as she resumed pouting.
"Don't worry, Lols," said Leni, reaching over to caress her little sister's head. "It'll be done real soon, you'll see!"
"I hope so!" Lola barked, as she stormed out the room, leaving Leni to begin feeling a tad uneasy about her little sister's impatience.
By the end of the day, Leni managed to accomplish attaching the sleeves to the bodice... but there was still much, much more work that needed to be done in order to actually complete the dress, and for the busy teenager who had other commitments, time was something of a precious commodity that was in rather short supply; she usually had a pretty consistent schedule that left her with very little free time, and leaving Lola with increasing aggravation.
Eventually, Leni had the free time to work on stitching the little faux leaves onto the dress - leaf by tiny leaf... a painstaking process to be sure. Her intentions were to sew the leaves along the cuffs of the sleeves, the edge of the neckline, and the hem of the bodice. Drowsiness was starting to take a toll on the teen, and at one point, she had a slip-up, accidentally stabbing herself in the thumb with her sewing needle. "YEEOOUCH!"
The sudden yelp from her roommate startled Lori, who had been lounging on her bed, engrossed in texting with Bobby; looking up from her phone, she saw her younger sister sucking on her thumb like a toddler. "This is literally pathetic..." she moaned.
"I got an ouchie..." Leni sobbed as the sharp, stabbing pain persisted into her thumb for several seconds.
Lori rolled her eyes, as she sat up a little straighter, and pointed over to the sewing table that had since been pushed back into the corner, "Leni, you've got a perfectly good sewing machine over there, why don't you use it?"
"But, Lori, I'm doing very intricate work," insisted Leni, as she showed her big sister an example of what she had accomplished so far. "These leaves have to be perfectly placed, which means I have to hand-stitch them! If I tried doing it on the sewing machine, they could get all clumped up, and that would def ruin the dress!"
Lori merely released a silent sigh through her nose; she had to admit, she was at least impressed with her usually absent-minded roommate's expertise in dressmaking.
At that moment, a certain pink-wearing tyke popped into the room once more, "Is it finished yet?"
"Okay, Lola, you literally need to take a chill pill here," Lori nearly growled in annoyance at the little princess's lack of patience. "Leni is literally sewing her fingers to the bone working on this dress for you, the least you can do is give her the time to finish it!"
Lola wailed, "How much time does she need? Honestly!"
"I'm working as fast as I can, Lols," insisted Leni, her feelings hurting a little from Lola's negative attitude.
"This is the slowest fast I've ever seen!" Lola wailed again, as she turned and stormed back down the hall into her own bedroom, the slamming of her door heard by the two oldest sisters.
Leni dropped her needle and thread to the floor, trudged over to her bed on the opposite side of the room, flopping herself atop, while burying her face into her pillow, muffling her sad sigh of frustration. Lori tried to lift the younger sister's spirits, "Hey, don't let it get to you, Leni... you know how Lola is, she's always gotta be a little drama queen about everything... it's just the way she is, you know that..."
Leni had no response; the tired teen was under quite a bit of pressure, and shake-ups to her otherwise consistent schedule were about to add even more pressure: two other part-time employees at Reininger's un-expectedly quit. With this sudden blow leaving the store short-staffed, Mrs. Carmichael asked any of her remaining employees to work extra shifts until she could fill the positions; while Leni's schedule of working after school every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday remained un-changed, she never knew if she would be asked to work on a Tuesday, Thursday, or even a couple of extra hours on Saturday as well. This resulted in her having even less free time at home, and because she had to get her priorities straightened out, her work on Lola's dress fell by the wayside.
After another couple of weeks had passed, the family was sitting at the table one Saturday evening, enjoying a pre-made dinner of Lynn-sagna, only there were three places at the table that were empty, belonging to the patriarch, and two eldest daughters of the family. Lynn, Sr. and Lori were working a long day at Lynn's Table, while Leni ended up having to work extra hours at Reininger's; as such, Lynn, Sr. and Lori swung by the mall to pick Leni up, so they could all arrive home together, though the father had already prepared a big dish of Lynn-sagna and left it in the oven to be heated up for the rest of the family. Partway through dinner, the three had returned home, walking through the front door, and each of them looking rather tired and disheveled, though Lynn, Sr., as always, twirled his keys around his finger.
"Good evening, fam!" Lynn, Sr. greeted everyone, as he walked into the dining room.
The rest of the family greeted their husband and father, as well as the two eldest daughters and sisters, while Lynn, Sr. removed his chef's hat and apron, and Lori and Leni dropped their purses to the floor. Rita, meanwhile, arose from the table, "I'll get your plates," she said, retreating into the kitchen to fetch the dinner plates that were being kept warm upon their return.
"Thanks honey," said Lynn, Sr., taking his seat at the table.
"Business must be really building up, huh, Dad?" Lincoln asked.
"You bet, sport," said Lynn, Sr.
"Looking over the books, we've just had our busiest month yet," added Lori, as she, too, took her seat at the table.
Rita returned from the kitchen with two of the plates of Lynn-sagna for her eldest daughters, before going back to retrieve the third plate for her husband; at that time, Leni was also taking her seat at the table, "We have been totes busy at Reininger's, too! Everybody's wanting to get a jump on next season's winter fashions. You wouldn't believe how many customers I helped look for dresses for upcoming winter formals!"
It was at that moment that Lola chose to speak up about something that was on her mind, "Speaking of dresses, when was the last time you even worked on MY dress, Leni?"
While everyone else at the table cast disapproving glares at Lola, Leni merely sighed, "I've been working on it whenever I've had the time to, Lols..."
"Oh, really?" Lola asked, sounding quite agitated. "I can't even remember the last time I saw you work on it! I would LIKE to have it done BEFORE the Little Miss Maple Leaf pageant, if that's even possible!"
Leni sighed once again, "I'll get back to work on it right after dinner, Lols..."
"Well, you better!" Lola barked, just as Rita returned with a plate of Lynn-sagna for her husband, though looking incredibly angry. "Because if you don't, then you're fired from being my personal dressmaker!"
"Lola Lane Loud! Go to your room!" Rita commanded, stunning the others sitting at the table.
Lola was flabbergasted at her mother's instructions, "What?"
"You heard me, young lady!" Rita barked, as she returned to her seat at the table.
Lola could not believe what she was hearing, "But... why?"
"I'll explain why after dinner," said Rita. "Now, you just march your little keister up to your room, and you stay there until I come up!"
Lola's bottom lip began to quiver as she started pouting, but reluctantly did as her mother instructed, by leaving the table, and ascending the stairs up into her bedroom, while the rest of the family stayed put.
"Can I have her dessert tonight?" Lana asked.
"No," Lynn, Sr. and Rita responded, rather bluntly.
Moments later, the rest of the family had finished their dinner, with each of them placing their dirtied dishes into the dishwasher, before going off to engage in whatever other activities they planned on for the rest of the evening. Rita marched up the stairs to the second floor, and stepped into the twins' bedroom, where the princess of the Loud House was sitting on the edge of her bed, still pouting over being scolded. The mother shut the door behind her, before stepping over to the bed, and sitting next to Lola, "Alright, Lola... do you know why you were sent to your room?"
"No, I don't," insisted Lola.
"Because you have been very rude to Leni," explained Rita, much to Lola's dismay.
"How have I been rude to Leni?" Lola asked in disbelief.
Rita continued, "Whether you're aware of it or not, Leni is a very busy young lady... she has school AND work, you can't expect her to spend her every waking minute making a dress for you, after she was nice enough to offer to in the first place."
"But, Mommy," Lola whined, "the Little Miss Maple Leaf pageant is almost here! What if she doesn't finish it in time?"
"I'm sure she'll have it finished in time, Lola," Rita reassured her, "but there is no reason for your behavior towards her. There's an old saying, 'Good things come to those who wait.' You have to learn to be a little patient."
"But, it's so hard to be patient!" Lola continued to whine.
"I know it can be, Lola," said Rita. "But, just imagine if the shoe was on the other foot... say if you had offered to do something for one of your siblings, but you didn't have a lot of time to for it - you wouldn't like if they kept nagging you to get it finished, would you?"
"Of course not!" Lola insisted. "I have a LIFE!"
"So does Leni," pressed Rita. "And not only that, she's at an age where she's having to take on more and more responsibilities, which means she has less and less free time... just like you will one day... it's called, 'Growing up.' Just think about that for a little while..."
With that, Rita arose from Lola's bed, and stepped out of the room, leaving Lola behind to ponder on what her mother had just told her. She began having visions of Leni dressed in drab and tattered old rags, shuffling around with an iron ball-and-chain shackled to her ankle, and a stack of school books weighing down her arms, as teachers, store managers, and customers struck her down with a non-stop barrage of incoherent demands... and then finally seeing herself, towering over all of them, like a pink Godzilla, striking her down for not making her dress. The little princess's eyes widened, and her face twisted with guilt after having these visions.
Down the hall in the biggest of the upstairs bedrooms, the older sister was sprawled across the foot of her bed, having already dozed off when she dropped to her bed for a quick breather; Lola slowly walked in, approaching the bed where her older sister was laying. "Leni?" She spoke up.
Hearing her name, Leni was jolted awake, and when she saw the little princess addressing her, she let out a loud, exhausted sigh, as she worked her way into an upright position, "I just needed a quick little break, Lols... I'll get back to work on your dress right now..."
Just as Leni prepare to arise from her bed, Lola stopped her, "No... It's okay... you don't have to... I'm... I'm... s-s-s-s-s-s..."
"You're what?" Leni asked. "You're sad?"
"No," replied Lola. "I'm s-s-s-s-s..."
"You're scared?" Leni asked, feeling confused.
"I'm... s-s-s-ooorrrr-reeee..." To say such a small word was actually quite a big task for Lola.
"You're s-s-s-ooorrrr-reeee?" Leni asked.
"I'm sorry, Leni... for... nagging you about my new dress, like I was treating you like a drab slave..." strained the little princess, nearly losing her composure, not being accustomed to having to apologize for anything.
Leni reached down, grabbing Lola under her arms, and lifting her up to sit her next to her on the bed, "I WANT to do this for you, Lols... I WANT to make your dress for you... I just don't have a lot of time to do it..." she tried to explain.
"I know," sighed Lola. "Mommy told me all about it... you have school, and work, and resp... respie... respitable... well, some kind of big R-word that comes with growing up..."
"I think I know which word you're talking about..." said Leni, as she tried to think of the word as well. "It's not coming to me, though..."
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how mean I've been to you about my dress..." said Lola, lowering her head in remorse.
Leni began running her fingers through Lola's long, blonde hair, "I know you want your new dress Lols... I just don't have a lot of time..."
"It's okay..." sighed Lola, as she slid off the bed, and began to leave the room. "You don't even have to finish it if you don't have the time to... I can probably find something else in my closet..."
Leni watched as Lola slowly reached the doorway in a rather dejected manner. Despite Lola owning up to and apologizing for her poor behavior, the naturally kind soul still hated to see her little sister saddened and disappointed. Although brain power was certainly not one of Leni's strengths, if there was one thing she could have figured out to a science, it was dressmaking: quickly going over everything in her mind in terms of how fast she can work, and how much time she would need, she was able to come up with an idea for its completion: "Hey, Lols? I can have your dress finished in a week."
Lola immediately snapped her head back towards her older sister, with a look of surprise and delight across her little face, "Really?!"
"I PROMISE!" Leni exclaimed with a smile.
Sure enough, the next Saturday had arrived, and Leni did not have to work extra hours on that day, so as soon as her shift at Reininger's was over, she returned home, and added the finishing touches to Lola's new dress. Soon afterwards, the dressmaker called her little sister into the room, where she proceeded to pull the dress on over her head for her to try on. She stepped back to take a good look at Lola in her new dress, admiring how it turned out and how it looked on her. "Oh, Lols, you look SO PRETTY!" She squealed, shaking her clenched fists in glee.
"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Lola insisted.
Leni stepped over to the closet door and flung it open, so Lola could take a look at herself in the full-length mirror on the inside of the door. Upon seeing her reflection, Lola gasped loudly, "IT! IS! GORGEOUS! FABULOUS! LENI, IT'S PERFECT!"
"Are you ready to show the rest of the world?" Leni asked, with a wink.
Moments later, the rest of the Loud family had gathered together in the backyard, sitting before a makeshift stage that was erected, with a long plank of wood stacked up on books for a catwalk, jetting out from behind a rig of bedsheets being used as curtains. Standing beside the plank, Leni saw that the rest of the family was ready for their treat, as she turned to Lana, who was standing next to her with a boom box. "Ready, Lans?"
"I'm on it!" Lana exclaimed, as she pressed the play button, and a techno beat blasted from the speakers.
Leni then turned to her only brother, who was standing at the end of the makeshift catwalk, "Ready, Linky?"
"I'm on it!" Lincoln exclaimed, as he held up his camera, ready to snap pictures like a fashion photographer.
Leni stepped before the rest of the family to make the announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the future new Little Miss Maple Leaf!"
Lana hopped up on a crate, and began pulling on a rope to open the curtains, revealing Lola in her new dress, which was just as she and Leni had envisioned: a dazzling, floor-length dress in a bright, eye-catching shade of cherry red. Accenting the dress were tiny, fall-colored faux maple leaves hemmed along the edges of the little poufy sleeves, the scooped neckline, and the hem of the bodice; the bodice featured a unique print design of venation, while it and the skirt were also accented with colorless sequins that simulated the appearance of dew drops; it was as if the dress itself was a big maple leaf. The skirt swished around freely as Lola strutted her way down the plank, stepping in sync with the beat of the music, while Lincoln took a number of pictures, and the rest of the family cheered, applauded, and threw out their exclamations of approval. Lola twirled around, so that the skirt could spin in the breeze, while Leni was so relieved to see none of the sequins were flying off, or otherwise scattering down to the ground below. Stopping her twirl before becoming too dizzy, the little beauty queen flashed her ready-made audience another one of her humongous gap-toothed grins, while the cheers continued to mix with the music.
Before Lola knew it, she was up on stage, lined up with other young girls in fall-colored dresses, awaiting the judges to finish tabulating their scores, which they finally did.
"May I have the envelope, please?" The emcee requested, as one of the judges arose from their table, and handed it to the woman with the microphone, who was perched at the end of the catwalk. Within seconds, the emcee removed a folded piece of paper from the envelope, and announced to those within the venue, "Ladies and gentlemen! This year's Little Miss Maple Leaf is... Miss Lola Loud!"
The cheers and applause were deafening, as the little red-dressed blonde girl beamed from her fellow contenders clapping for her, and congratulating her with hugs; she stepped out onto the catwalk, where she was presented with a stunning crown that had maple leaf-shaped points around the top. Looking out into the crowd, she spotted her siblings, all of whom were cheering and applauding with more enthusiasm than anyone else - especially Leni, who looked so proud for her little sister.
After being handed the microphone, Lola gave a most heartfelt and sincere acceptance speech, "Thank you, thank you! It's such a great honor that I, Lola Loud, have been named this year's Little Miss Maple Leaf! And because of this, I would like to thank the judges and the Little Miss Maple Leaf committee for this honor! And, I would also like to thank my family, of course, for all of their love and support... and... special thanks... to my big sister, Leni... because one day, we'll be seeing famous fashion models all over the world strutting their stuff in her fabulous original dresses, just like I am on this stage right now."
Sitting out in the audience, Leni began silently shedding tears of pride and joy, feeling as though this was as much of an honor for herself as it was for her little sister whom she was watching up on stage.
Several moments later, Lola was backstage with her parents, cinching her little powder pink bathrobe tightly, while Lynn, Sr. was helping Rita carefully drape some protective dry cleaning plastic over the dress that won her the Little Miss Maple Leaf crown, intending to preserve the one-of-a-kind Leni Loud original. Her other siblings met up with the beauty queen, each of them running over to shower her with hugs and felicitations for yet another pageant accomplishment, of which, true to her form, she ate it all up... that is, until she noticed Leni standing off to the side, clutching a bouquet of roses. After the familial group hug had broken up, Lola walked over to the teen, who knelt down before her, and presented her with the bouquet.
"Congratulations, Lola," beamed Leni, handing the bouquet to her little sister. "You deserve it!"
Lola took a moment to observe the beautiful roses that were handed to her, before giving into to her emotions, and handing them back to her big sister, "No, Leni... YOU deserve these more than I do... it's because of you I won the Little Miss Maple Leaf crown... you should be awarded something for ALL you did for me..."
Leni had no idea what to say; she was not expecting her little sister to return her token of congratulations, and insist she keep it for herself instead, "Well... thank you, Lols... that's so sweet of you... just like your acceptance speech... that was very sweet..."
Lola reached over, cupping her hands over Leni's, "I meant every word of it..."
Setting the bouquet aside, Leni wrapped her arms around Lola, pulling her in for a big hug, which Little Miss Maple Leaf gladly returned.
You can find some visuals I did of this story on Twitter, saving_here.