Hello there, my good people! Nineteen whole days and I've returned with something new here.
So let's just get to it here. This is the spiritual successor to "Flashing Back" I said in a profile update of mine over a month ago that I was working on upon the conclusion of season 4 of The Loud House, hence the pun in the title of using "fourth" as opposed to "forth". It's similar to the aforementioned story in that here I take nine select episodes and explore hypothetical aftermaths of them. The difference here is that there's no flashback format and by extension, they're not all in italics, so they make for a much easier read.
For the curious, the character selection is based on an aggregate of how many times those individuals make appearances in these smaller stories. That is all.
Anyway, that's all for the intro. Read on and enjoy!
The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.
Cutting Too Deep? (Deep Cuts)
In the afternoon presently, Lori, Luna and Luan found themselves hanging and chilling out together in the living room, and given the hectic events the three faced recently, it was certainly well deserved.
It all began when Luna and her bandmates were horrified to learn that their music club at school was being cut due to budget concerns. Not willing to let this go by without a fight, they did a little performance right outside the office of their principal's office. It turned out she liked the performance enough to reinstate the music club, only to then have to cut the sports club, much to Lori's chagrin. The cycle repeated itself when the sports club did the same and resulted in it's reinstatement, then Luan was dragged into the insanity when her theater club was the one that got the cut instead and so on and so forth. Throughout this, the three sisters blamed each other initially and got into little scuffles over everything on top of that.
Things ultimately got to the point where it was decided that all three of those clubs ended up being cut together and when that happened, Lori, Luna and Luan rallied together with one big performance and charity event to save their respective clubs...and to pay for the damages done when the giant golden acorn placed in the middle of Royal Woods High School smashed into the front of the building.
As those three sisters were currently together in the living room, their attention would turn to the stairs when they saw Lincoln coming on down while also having his backpack on.
"Hey, Lincoln, what's up? Heading out somewhere?" Luan asked.
But he didn't answer and curiously enough, he rounded over through the dining room and the kitchen.
"Huh? Well, that was strange. Maybe he didn't hear me." Luan said.
Despite this, she nor Lori and Luna thought much of it and returned to whatever they were doing.
Just a short period of time later, Lincoln returned and again drew his sisters' attention.
"Yo, bro! Whatcha doin'?" Luna asked him.
But again, like with Luan earlier, he didn't respond and this time it was almost like when he was addressed, he suddenly booked up the stairs.
"Whoa, what's his deal? Is he ignoring us or something?" Luna wondered.
Once again, little was being made about whatever was causing their brother to be this way. That is, until an unusual theory was put out there.
"Wait, you don't think he might be acting this way because of how we reacted to him interrupting our spats over our clubs at school?" Luan brought up.
"What? For real, brah? That sounds way out there." Luna replied.
"Yeah, I mean that would literally be such a small, petty thing for him to hold against us if that were the case." Lori added, "I'm sure it's just nothing."
However, as the day wore on, Lincoln continued this strange pattern of seemingly ignoring and outright avoiding Lori, Luna and Luan whenever he came across them. This odd behavior caused a mix of emotions from those three, ranging from worry by Luan, annoyance by Lori and Luna straddling the fine line between both. No matter what, they all agreed that they had to confront him about what's going on.
At one point, Lincoln was coming inside through the back door of the house. He peered around as if to make sure no one else was around and when he presumed the coast was clear, he proceeded while carrying something covered in a cloth.
But right as he almost made it out of the kitchen, he found his path suddenly blocked by Lori, Luna and Luan standing in his way.
"Oh, uh…" Lincoln uttered, "Back to the backyard…"
He turned and tried to leave, but a hand clamping down on his shoulder prevented a hasty retreat.
"Uh-uh, no Lincoln, you're not going anywhere until you give us an explanation of what's been going on with you ignoring us all day long." Lori sternly told him.
"I can't…" Lincoln said, looking around his sisters for an opening to slip by.
"Dude, don't be like this. It's not cool for you to give us the cold shoulder if you're not gonna so much as tell us why!" Luna said while standing in his way.
"Guys, I'm not in the mood, so just get out of my way!" Lincoln demanded.
"But Lincoln, we might be getting a little worried how you've been behaving toward us." Luan said, trying to come off as more compassionate, "And by the way, what is that you have with you?"
"Nothing, at least not anything you three need to know about! Now, dang it, leave me alone!" Lincoln responded, still struggling to find a route out.
He turned around and thought about heading out back again, but Luna bolted past him and blocked the door leading that way. Meanwhile, Lori now gripped onto both his shoulders as he tried wriggling free.
"Um...guys?" Luan meekly inquired.
"Luan, don't just stand there! Do something else to help make sure he doesn't get away!" Lori ordered.
"Yeah, like try nabbing whatever he's keeping from us!" Luna added.
Though she wasn't liking the methods her sisters were using, Luan figured she had little choice in the matter right now. She tried in doing what Luna ordered her to do, but Lincoln would jerk his hands away and then upward, However, in doing so, whatever he was holding went flying up in the air and ultimately came crashing down right onto the floor, scattering a myriad of pieces all across.
Instantly, everyone gasped while Luan knelt down to take a closer look. Upon further inspection, the pieces were that of assorted noodles, Popsicle sticks and other crafting materials. Most notable, she also saw that a handful of them actually bore resemblances to herself, Lori and Luna.
"Uh...Lincoln? What was this meant to be?" Luan asked hesitantly.
"Well...it was gonna be a diorama of you guys together as a congratulations for you saving all your clubs that I had almost finished...but that was before you all went nuts on me just now!" Lincoln shouted.
All the hard work he'd put into this recent was gone, scattered and smashed in a matter of seconds. He directed a furious glare right at each of his sisters.
"So thanks a lot, you guys! Thanks a whole lot for nothing!"
And then with that, he stormed his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, slamming the door to his room.
Meanwhile, Lori, Luna and Luan scanned around the floor and the mess they saw before them. The chafe and annoyance they felt over their brother ignoring them, chiefly among the first two, had faded. In Luan's case, she was feeling guilty more than anything. She wasn't too high on her sisters' tactics in the first place and the end result of such didn't help in that feeling.
"Hey, Luan? How about if you can see if you're able to talk with Lincoln. Luna and I will stick by here and do what we can with cleaning up." Lori suggested.
She likely advised in that given Luan's hesitance in taking part of this confrontation of him in the manner of which was done and the likelihood that she among the three of them would have the highest chance in him hearing her out.
With that settled, Luan went ahead in going upstairs and arriving up to Lincoln's bedroom door which she knocked on.
"Lincoln? Can I come in?" She inquired.
She didn't get a response within the first few seconds, presuming he was in no mood at all for talking. Because of it, she just about made the decision to leave him alone.
"Fine…"
That is, until hearing that perhaps reluctant granting of such access to him. Turing back around, Luan slowly opened the door and let herself in.
Right away, she saw Lincoln sitting facing away from the doorway. She shut the door and approached him.
"Lincoln...uh, how are you doing?" Luan asked, like she really needed that to be asked given she already knew the answer to that.
She sat down next to him on the bed and as she leaned over to get a glimpse of his face, she saw an expected disgruntled expression. However, a more concerning detail was the tear on the corner of his eye.
"Lincoln, listen, I'm sorry about what happened just now in the kitchen."
That apology appeared to do enough for Lincoln to turn himself over so that he at least was sitting in a similar position that Luan was in. She moved over just that little bit closer and put an arm around him.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I didn't like the way Lori and Luna approached things when confronting you."
"Really? And you did nothing to stop them? You just rolled over and went along with everything?" Lincoln said bitterly.
However, he almost immediately regretted the tone he spoke in. His disgruntled expression softened and he sighed.
"No, I shouldn't have put it like that. Sorry…"
"Hey, it's okay." Luan assured, sighing herself, "But I will also say that Luna did have a point about how it wasn't really nice of you to ignore both me and her plus Lori, too. If you didn't want any of us to know about that project of yours, you could've said something. You didn't need to say outright what you were working on, but something like 'sorry, I'm kind of busy right now' would've been enough."
"Maybe…" Lincoln conceded, "But even then I'd been concerned that I would spoil the surprise in front of you. Still, I guess it would've been good on my part if I did say a little something. Would've saved us all that trouble from just now, so I'm sorry."
"Probably, but in any event, I'm sorry, too. Weren't for me in particular trying to noodle around by trying to take away your project from you, it'd probably still be standing." Luan said, cracking a little grin.
"Well, maybe I should've done my part by keeping it in my room where I could've done all the work here as opposed to doing any of it in the garage like I did." Lincoln admitted with his own small smile, "But anyway, I think we can both forgive and forget on our ends."
As a way of confirming that, both of them had the same idea in mind as they engaged in a brief hug between them.
"I guess also once they're done, I should talk things over with Lori and Luna, too." Lincoln said.
"Uh...that might already be covered, bro."
Suddenly, both Luan and Lincoln's attention were drawn in the direction of the bedroom door after hearing the distinctive voice of their third oldest sister. Lincoln scooted off from his bed and opened it to see both Luna as well as Lori standing right before him.
"Oh, uh...Lincoln, you see…" Lori tried explaining.
"No, let me guess, you both were here listening in the whole time, right?" Lincoln inquired so matter of fact.
"Well...okay, yes, if our blabbermouth sister here didn't literally make that clear enough." Lori replied, eyeing back over at Luna.
"What? What else were we gonna do once some of our other sibs stepped in to clean up the mess of our doing?" Luna responded back, "It's not like we're gonna barge right in and interrupt the proceedings."
"Well, you can both come on in right now if there's something you wish to say." Lincoln offered.
Looking back to their little brother, Lori and Luna came on in, where the former sat down on the chair and the latter leaned against the dresser.
"Okay, Lincoln, Luan might've said most of what Luna and I could, but I'll at least say that we're sorry ourselves." Lori said.
"Ditto, dude." Luna added.
"And I'm sorry, too. Just like she told me, a lot of this could've been avoided had I said a little something to you all." Lincoln also said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, regardless, it doesn't excuse how we came about it with all that went down moments earlier. Also, I sense that you'll try to say it was your fault for your project getting totaled, but it wouldn't have happened hadn't we forced you into such a sitch." Luna said, a little smile curling on her lips, "Which is also why when Lori and I got to chatting just as we were heading on up, we thought it'd best to make it up to you by having the three of us helping you make another one."
"Yeah, I mean it won't have quite the element of surprise because myself, Luna and Luan would be there and have the full knowledge of what it'll look like, but hey, at least we have experience in helping you out when it comes to fixing projects of yours, especially now given it was our fault that it got messed up in the first place." Lori added with a brief chuckle.
Lincoln also released a small laugh and smiled as well. Though he did internally agree with Luna's assertion that he did put some sort of blame on himself for the whole debacle for not only refusing to say something vague in order to at least keep his present sisters at bay, but also the manner of which he pulled away when Luan reluctantly tried taking his project from him and it slipping from his grasp resulting in its destruction. Still, he also had to appreciate their efforts in admitting their fault of things and extending their help to him. Thus, he couldn't possibly say no.
"Well, thanks you guys and I would probably like the help." Lincoln said, turning to his fourth oldest sister, "And I assume you'd do the same, too, since I haven't heard you say anything in the affirmative over it."
"Of course I would help as well, Lincoln. But before we go any further on that, there's actually one other thing I'd like to ask while we're all here. Although you say not wanting to spoil what you were working on to any of us is the main reason, was another reason that you avoided us because of the way we yelled and glared at you when you interrupted us during the times we argued and tried blaming each other for why our school clubs got cut?" Luan inquired.
"Uh...what?" Lincoln said more than a little bewildered, "No, not at all. I mean, sure, no one ever likes having either of those things done to them, much less from anyone in their own family, but no, I'd never be that petty to hold something like that against any of you."
"Well...that's a relief, I guess. Maybe I was just being overly paranoid, but it's good to hear you don't hold it against us." Luan said while sighing.
"Yeah, that is the case. And speaking of your clubs, I want to emphasize that my original project was again intending to be my little way of congratulating you all in the hard work that you put in restoring all three of them. I really did think you guys deserved something for that and I do want to thank you for offering to help make another one with me." Lincoln stated proudly.
Instead of words, those three sisters of his converged closer to him and formed a group hug, appreciative of their brother's words and efforts for them and as a reaffirmation for their own commitment in helping him out as well.
Eleven Daily Gifts (Present Tense)
One late evening at the Loud house, Lynn Sr. and Rita were sitting together in the living room looking over the scrapbook that the former got from their kids for his birthday a couple of hours earlier.
"Gee, the kids really put a lot of effort into this, didn't they?" Lynn Sr. inquired.
"They certainly did, honey." Rita replied in the affirmative.
And speaking of their kids, their attention was turned over the stairs when they heard the sounds of a pair of them coming on down. In this case, it was their eldest daughter, Lori, and their only son, Lincoln.
"Oh, hey, what are you two doing down here?" Rita curiously asked.
"Well, we both felt the need to get a little something to eat before we head off to bed." Lincoln answered.
"Yeah, we pretty much literally had the same idea, so might as well get it done at the same time, right?" Lori added with a chuckle, "So what are both doing?"
"We're taking one last look at the scrapbook both of you plus your sisters made before we go to bed ourselves." Rita answered, proudly smiling in their direction.
"I have to say again, you kids did an incredible job with this! You could've easily went with buying something for me which I wouldn't have minded at all, but for you to put the effort into making this is something I'll forever admire." Lynn Sr. said, similarly smiling widely.
Both Lori and Lincoln smiled back at their parents before heading for the kitchen.
Just before arriving fully there though, Lori felt a hand grab onto her wrist. She looked down and saw a look of concern on her little brother's face.
"Hey...don't you think we should tell them?" Lincoln asked her.
"About what?" Lori wondered.
"You know, how we didn't think the scrapbook would be a good enough gift for Dad and everything we did today?" Lincoln clarified, rubbing the back of his neck, "I don't know...after hearing him just now, I feel guilty that we never fully told him the truth and I hate for it to linger for any longer."
"Hmm...well, on the one hand, I'd hate for Dad or Mom for that matter to be disappointed in us if we did tell them." Lori said, also sharing concerned look at Lincoln's way, "But on the other hand, perhaps you're right in that we can't literally keep something as significant as that from them much longer if at all."
Looking back over to their parents and each other once more, Lori and Lincoln headed back on over to the living room. The former pair sensed the return of the latter two, seeing the remorseful looks on their faces.
"Kids, is their something wrong?" Rita asked.
"Well...there is, Mom. We tried telling you and Dad this, but you were both so thrilled with the scrapbook that we didn't have the chance completely tell the truth." Lincoln replied.
Believing whatever their only son and eldest daughter were about to tell them was going to be pretty serious, Rita and Lynn Sr. closed up the scrapbook, put in on the coffee table and scooted away from each other so that Lori and Lincoln could have room to sit between them.
"Mom, Dad...the truth is we didn't think at first the scrapbook would make for a great gift." Lori said reluctantly.
Both parents widened their eyes and let out a mild gasp.
"Yeah, I know that sounds shocking, but it really is the truth." Lincoln added.
"What? Really? How? Why?" Lynn Sr. asked in disbelief.
"Well, this might in part be more my fault than anything. You see, myself, Lincoln and our sisters were all up in morning before you and Mom were awake putting the last minute touches on the scrapbook. But I was looking at my phone and saw that Carol had given her own dad a sculpture of his head made out of Belgian chocolate. Just by bringing that up, I might've planted doubt in everyone's minds if that scrapbook would've literally sufficed as a gift, so…" Lori answered, pausing and started to look around awkwardly.
"So we basically tossed it in the trash and we spent the better part of the day looking for something else." Lincoln continued from there, "But nothing we found seemed to work, so we ultimately came back home empty handed. That's why we said that believed we ruined your birthday before we found out you found our scrapbook and said you loved it. So...we're really sorry."
Upon finishing their explanation, Lori and Lincoln expected the worst from their parents. Almost callously tossing the scrapbook away in favor of a purchasable material good had to be seen at least as somewhat disrespectful to the occasion of their father's birthday, even if he did admit just moments earlier he wouldn't have minded if they bought him something.
But instead of disappointment, they instead had very understanding smiles on their faces.
"Aw, it's okay, kids." Rita said.
"Yeah, no need to feel so guilty. Like I told you and your sisters at the time, I absolutely loved the scrapbook! It's probably the best gift I've ever gotten for any birthday of mine...aside from the eleven gifts that your mother and I are able to experience on a daily basis." Lynn Sr. said, winking at the end.
"Whoa, eleven gifts?" Lincoln asked confused, "What do you mean, Dad? I don't quite…"
Before he could finish, a gentle nudge from Lori, a smile and a signal to use his head eventually clued Lincoln in, making him smile as well upon what was being implied. That sentiment was further compounded when both he and Lori had their parents come closer to them and wrapped up into a nice little group hug.
"Well, thanks for that and we're glad you do in fact love the scrapbook, Dad. Knowing all that and all worries put to rest, Lincoln and I should let you and Mom get back to looking at it." Lori said once they all parted ways.
"Sure thing. Good night, you two." Rita said.
"You too, Mom and Dad, and we'll be sure to relay both the reassurances and the overall loving sentiment to the rest of our sisters." Lincoln rounded out saying.
And with that, he and Lori adjourned back towards the kitchen for their pre-bedtime snackage while their parents resumed perusing the scrapbook, all while again making a truthful, poignant observation.
"We really do have eleven truly wonderful daily gifts, don't we?" Rita inquired.
"We sure do, honey. We absolutely, certainly do." Lynn Sr. proudly agreed.
Renewed A-Femine-Ity (Write and Wrong)
On what could be considered a typical afternoon, Luna crossed over from her bedroom and traveled over to the one just the next door down to her left, opening it without knocking.
"Yo, LJ, what's…"
"Gah! Luna, haven't you ever heard of knocking?!"
In a blink of an eye as soon as her older sister had made her unannounced presence known, Lynn scrambled underneath the covers of her bed.
"Huh? What's the deal, Lynn?" Luna asked confused.
"My deal is that I don't appreciate people just barging into my room without telling me first, especially with what I have on now!" Lynn shouted.
"What do you mean by what you have on? You're acting like you're only in your skivvies or something. Not like I haven't seen you in those before or even less when you were a littler one." Luna said, chuckling over that last part.
"Oh gee, that makes me feel a whole ton better…" Lynn said complete with a frustrated groan.
"Okay, okay, sorry. But really, what's the big whoop here? Why are you in hiding?" Luna asked with more concern.
"Well...okay, I was in the middle of trying something on that I know you or anyone else would hound and get on my case over should you see me in it…" Lynn replied, sounding ever more demoralized.
"What? Really? Well...try me. Come on, Lynn, why don't you show me? I promise I won't judge you or anything of the sort. Please?" Luna implored to her.
Lynn sighed, gave it some thought and then figured she may as well go for it. After all, Luna is among the least judgmental of her siblings and probably would be able to take her word for it.
After at first going with a slow reveal, Lynn instead opted for a sudden act of pulling herself away from the covers and hopped back onto the floor.
When her younger sister did show herself off, Luna did have to admit to herself she was surprised to see what Lynn had on. Her normally tomboyish sporty sister was in fact wearing the dress and all the accompanying features of it that she wore when they plus the rest of their siblings all had to look like primp and proper kids in order to impress a newspaper publisher so that their mom could get a job as a parental advice columnist.
"Whoa...this was not quite what I was expecting." Luna said.
"Yeah, yeah…" Lynn simply responded.
"But that aside, you honestly thought me and anyone else would make fun of you? Seriously? Dude, we all wore this sorta stuff together when we were helping Mom pleasing that newspaper chick!" Luna pointed out.
"Yeah, but truth be told...I actually liked wearing this somewhat and I was trying it on again just for the heck of it before you stormed on in here…" Lynn said, still coming off as unsure of it all, "And yeah, we all wore similar clothes, but that was only for that one time. Imagine if anyone saw me with this on now or any other time. 'Oh, look, the big tough sporty girl looking all dainty! Thought she was above that! What a joke!' That's the thing I worry about getting."
She turned away from Luna, covered her face with her hands and groaned. It was a sight that the latter didn't like seeing. Luckily on the spot, she had an idea.
"Hang tight for a sec, I'll be right back."
Lynn looked over her shoulder to barely see Luna leaving for the moment. While waiting to see whatever her sister had planned, she sat down on her bed, flopped back first and again covered up her face.
"You know, Lynn, you're far from the only one who actually liked wearing those fancy duds…"
When Lynn heard Luna's voice again after a couple of minutes, she sat up and looked to see that her sister had on her own very similar dress as well.
"Uh, Luna?" Lynn said.
"Truth be told, I really do dig this. I get sort of a punk vibe in a sense as odd as that might sound." Luna stated, coming closer and taking a seat next to her sister.
"Um...okay. But why are you doing this, Luna?" Lynn asked.
"It's like I just said in that I want to show you're far from the only one who got a kick out of these." Luna reiterated, "Plus, I get the sense there's something else going on besides you just wanting to try this on for the heck of it."
"Well, you are actually right about that. I guess what I was trying to do was sort of reconnect with my more girlish side, because I don't if you've noticed, I don't exactly scream 'girl' when you look at me and I haven't really felt like one in a real long time." Lynn said, sighing a little.
This unusual instance only got just that more so for Luna. She knew her younger sister here was only behind Lana in terms of tomboyish appearance and character, so to now see Lynn admit to seemingly have something of an unexpected crisis of femininity comes as a major surprise. Nonetheless, there was nothing that a big sister wasn't willing to help out in and to start, she put an arm around Lynn.
"Lynn, I don't know if this is something you've only now started fretting about recently or if this has gone on longer, but me personally, I don't think you should make such a big deal about it. Being a girl shouldn't be entirely about what you wear or if you act all ladylike or whatever. I thought you'd know that by now." Luna said to her.
"Maybe, maybe not..." Lynn said listlessly, "And not that I'm trying to sound dismissive of what you're saying, but I'm not surprised to hear you tell me that. You're not exactly the girly-girl type yourself."
"Well, I don't know if you realize this, LJ, but I do wear a little makeup and I wear skirts almost every day." Luna reminded her, "Just because I lopped off my long locks and may wear less dainty duds doesn't mean I've forgotten that I am a gal at heart."
Before going on, she adjusted her positioning so she could look directly at Lynn's eyes.
"And hey, if wearing something like this makes you want to feel more feminine from time to time, then be my guest and I don't think you have to ever worry about anyone poking fun at you, certainly not from our fam I'd argue...unless they wanna answer to me first that is." Luna said, ending with a chuckle, "But anyway, don't hold yourself to some kinda standard expectant from others about what you have to be as a girl. You simply are one and that's all that should ever matter."
And upon concluding with her little talk, she reached out and brought Lynn into her arms for a brief hug, one that the latter was more than welcoming to give back on her end.
"Hey, thanks, Luna. Probably needed to hear that." Lynn said warmly.
"No prob, sis. Just doin' my job here." Luna said in return.
Having fulfilled another job as a big sister, she moved off Lynn's bed and began being on her way.
"Actually, one other thing." Lynn said.
"Hmm?" Luna uttered as she looked back.
"No matter what other people might say, you're very insightful...and you look good in that dress, too." Lynn mentioned while grinning.
"Say, thanks. Same goes for you in yours, too." Luna said with a little wink.
As Luna finally left the room, Lynn blushed and bashfully rubbed the back of her neck. She also breathed a sigh of relief in due part to her sister's assurances, hopped off her bed and was about to change back into her regular clothes...but not before taking a look at herself at a nearby mirror, smiled and even did a little twirl, giggling afterwards.
"Nothing wrong with getting back in touch of a girly side of me here and there...but best to stick to who I really am, too."
The Closest? (On Thin Ice)
One afternoon, Lynn was currently in her room laying down on her bed casually tossing a tennis ball up in the air and catching it. She also stared at the ceiling bearing a blank look on her face. She had spent the past few minutes ruminating over a recent event that she had to admit in having at least a small amount of regret inside.
That event in question was when she essentially guilt tripped her father, Luan and Lincoln into attending a hockey game with her and how she drove them up the wall with all of her rituals and superstitions in the duration. It wouldn't be until after the game was over, of which she missed a good portion of it due to all sorts of wacky antics, where she would get some words of wisdom from Royal Woods Jellyfish player Rowdy McQuads that sort of made her realize how over the top her superstitions can actually.
However, it also made Lynn realize that it had to take someone from the sports world to have that really sink in within her. She had been told by plenty of times by multiple members of her family about how she should pull back on the worst of her superstitions, especially after...that incident which no one understandably wants to relive or even think about ever again. Yet she typically hand waved most concerns of such and even on the way home from the hockey game after she appeared to promise in toning down her superstitious behavior, Lynn immediately added a whole bunch of preconditions to justify any changes, much to the annoyance of her father and two siblings.
Sighing, Lynn was getting bored of her current routine and mulling over everything wasn't making her feel any better. She put the tennis ball aside, hopped off her bed and chose to go downstairs. By the time she arrived at the bottom, sitting on the couch in the living room together were Luan and Lincoln.
"Hey there, mind if I join in?" Lynn requested.
"Not at all." Lincoln replied.
"There is a seat available right between us, so lettuce make a little bit of sibling sandwich here!" Luan joked.
Though rolling her eyes, Lynn grinned as she walked over and sat down in between her fourth oldest sister and only younger brother.
"Say, we're all good, right?" Lynn asked almost immediately.
"Huh? Good about what?" Luan asked back.
"I mean, are we good after all that went down at the hockey game with you guys having to be dragged along and driving you nuts with all my superstitions and such?" Lynn clarified.
"Yeah, I'd say so. Don't know why you'd think that'd be something myself or Luan would hold against you for any length of time." Lincoln replied.
"Really? Well, I guess that's a relief. But either way, let me say right now that since I didn't sound so sincere on the way back home, I really will try to curb back some of my superstitions from here on out. You have my word on that." Lynn said, putting one hand on over her heart and the other raised up.
"Oh, will you now? Let's hope we're all pucky enough you uphold that promise!" Luan said jokingly and with laughter, "Get it? But seriously, it is nice to hear that."
"Yeah, sure…" Lynn said, chuckling.
After all of that was cleared up, the three siblings settled together in watching TV. But only a few minutes in, another observation was brought up.
"Hey, there is actually something else that's been on my mind…" Lynn began saying, "When Dad randomly chose you two in coming to the game, he said something about us three being the closest. Do you perhaps know what he meant by that?"
"Hmm…well, I do remember him saying that, but I haven't really given it much thought. He probably just said it on the spot just to have an excuse to bring myself and Luan along for the ride." Lincoln replied.
"You think so? I guess that could be the case. Eh, whatever…" Lynn said with a shrug.
From there, it appeared the subject was dropped and they returned their attention back to the TV. However, once again after another span of a few minutes, another observation was brought up.
"Actually, I've just thought of something myself." Luan said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lynn asked.
"Well, while I don't think there's much merit in Dad claiming the three of us are the closest even if he meant it just as Lincoln said, there are actually a couple of areas we are technically close in." Luan answered.
"As in?" Lincoln wondered simply.
"For instance, we're all fairly close in age. I'm only one year older than you, Lynn, and you're just two years older than Lincoln, and finally I'm three years older than you, Lincoln." Luan explained, gesturing to each of her present siblings, "Plus I'm only like what, two or three inches taller than both of you? Not to mention you're both about the same height."
"Yeah, all of that is true now that you mention it." Lincoln said, then he looked over to Lynn with a smirk on his face, "Though I will say about the height thing with the two of us, sure we do generally look to be around the same size. However, if we were to go by eye level instead…"
"Oh, you'realways gonna hang that one over me, aren't you?" Lynn said, rolling her eyes and scoffing.
"Well...I am gonna be taller than you sooner rather than later, Lynn. Heck, I'm gonna be taller than you as well eventually, Luan, not to mention the rest of our older sisters as the years roll on, too." Lincoln mentioned with some of his signature confidence.
"Yeah, but don't let that balloon-sized head get too big now. We don't want to inflate that ego of yours too much." Luan said with some mild laughter.
Lincoln shook his head, but also couldn't help but grin as well. Then rather suddenly without saying a word, Lynn dashed away from the couch and up the stairs. Both Luan and Lincoln looked at each other and were equally as befuddled over their sister's rapid exit.
But almost as quickly as she left, Lynn returned and in flash, she sat back down between both her siblings before engulfing both them and herself inside of a hockey jersey. It turned out to be the exact same one that she initially made both herself and Lincoln be inside of at the same time as well as eventually also then ensnaring Luan and their father inside of it as part of her many good luck rituals during the hockey game.
"Maybe this is what Dad meant by being the closest!" Lynn proudly declared while giggling.
Though it was a snug fit like it was before, Luan and Lincoln couldn't help but actually have each a smile on their face. Unlike at the game, there was the sense that Lynn was doing this not out of obsessive ritualistic fervor, but out of lighthearted fun and thus they couldn't really take umbrage over it.
Plus in a sense, even if they weren't the absolute closest between themselves and the rest of their sisters, there was no denying they did share something of close bond nonetheless.
Taking Charge Together (Don't You Fore-get About Me)
It was the early evening hours at the Loud house. The whole family had quite a busy day taking a tour of Fairway University, the college Lori is planning to attend.
Though most everyone had a great time, one who wasn't so enthused for the most part was Leni. Visiting Fairway was another reminder of just how much closer it was for the time when Lori would be moving away and being the second eldest of the siblings, Leni had always been super attached and close to her older sister. So troubled by the idea of her moving away was Leni, she would try to make Fairway sound like a bad college and even went as far as impersonating Lori and make her come off as an incompetent boob that the hope would be that she'd be barred from enrolling.
Though Lori was understandably upset at her sister's sabotage attempts, upon learning it was only because Leni was so worried that they wouldn't be close anymore because them being so far apart, it did soften the blow and she did ultimately reassure her that despite being far away from one another, it doesn't change the fact they will always be close.
But even with those assurances, there was something else weighing in Leni's mind. As she laid across her bed, she also realized that once Lori does leave, it puts her in the role of being in charge of the rest of her siblings. It was a role that she understood that she had to assume, but it didn't make it any less of a huge concern for all the corresponding pressure that it comes with it.
"Hey Leni, aren't you coming down for dinner?"
Her train of thought came to a halt when she heard the voice of Luan from the other side of the door. She must've so distracted by everything that she didn't hear the initial call for dinnertime or the characteristic thundering of her siblings rushing on over in every which direction.
"Leni?"
A second inquiry from Luan still didn't garner a reaction, neither did knocking on the door. Ultimately though, Luan let herself inside the room in any event.
"Leni? Hey, are you okay?"
The sight of her second oldest sister laying down on her bed with a distressed look on her face would obviously be enough to answer in the negative to that question. Still, Luan wanted to investigate further as she came closer and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"You're still sad about the idea of Lori leaving, aren't you?"
Finally, that inquiry was enough for Leni to sit up and face her younger sister.
"Yeah…" Leni said sadly, "But that's not all…"
"It isn't? What else is there?" Luan asked, inching closer.
"It's...it's…." Leni tried saying, groaning in addition, "It's that once Lori does leave, that means I'm gonna be in charge of you and all our siblings. If I'm being honest here...I'm not ready for that, Luan."
After that confession, she brought her knees up to her chest, hugged them and buried her face into them. In response, Luan moved ever closer and placed an arm around her sister.
"Leni, it's okay. I can understand feeling nervous about taking over when Lori leaves." Luan tried in assuring her.
"Yeah, but I'm so worried that I won't do a good job being in charge though. Like, Lori makes it look so easy and how can I be able to do the same?" Leni lamented.
"But you're making it sound like she did that all by herself. That's not the case at all. In fact, I know someone who's done a lot to help her out." Luan replied as she had a grin forming on her lips.
"Really? Who?" Leni asked.
"Oh, we both know her well. In fact, she's with us right now." Luan teasingly said.
"Wait, there's someone else in here with us? I thought it was just you and me and…"
Though it took her a couple of seconds for the gears in her head to turn, Leni appeared to understand who Luan was taling about now.
"You mean...me?"
"Of course! You've been by Lori's side her entire life and because of it, you've been her most reliable second in command in that time. And honestly, it hasn't been just you and Lori, but really a whole team effort from all of our siblings to keep each other in line and I see it being no different once you're in the position to lead us all. We'll all continue to take charge together." Luan said full of determination.
Despite all the worries she had inside in the beginning, Leni couldn't help but be inspired by Luan's words right now. She did realize all along that being in charge didn't necessarily mean she was in this alone. She indeed had the rest of her siblings to rely on if anything got too difficult for her and her younger sister right here with her certainly would be among them.
"Aw, thank you so much, Luan. I promise I'm gonna do my best." Leni said, now with renewed sureness.
"Good to know, Leni, and I know that myself and everyone else is gonna be right by your side along the way." Luan responded in kind.
The two shared a quick hug and both finally left together, again Leni in particular having that added boost of confidence in her demeanor. Though she'll be like everyone else in missing having Lori around very much, she at least knows that they'll still be in touch and that she will have all the help in the world when it comes to taking the lead around the house.
Friends Perhaps, Family Forever (Friends in Dry Places)
Returning home from a week long school camping trip, Lincoln had just about put everything that he brought with him away. However, there was one item that he borrowed belonging to one of his sisters which he needed to give back.
"Hey Lynn, here's your sleeping bag." Lincoln said upon entering her room.
"Huh? Oh, thanks." Lynn responded.
Lincoln handed the sleeping bag off to his sister and turned to leave. However, right as he was at the doorway, he paused and turned back around.
"Oh, by the way, you were totally wrong about what you told me before I left for the trip." Lincoln said with hint of cockiness.
"Huh? What do you mean? And furthermore, it sure takes some guts to accuse me of being wrong no matter the case." Lynn answered back, also displaying her own smugness.
"Well, you did tell me that when you went on your last field trip in elementary school, you forgot all about your friends from them, let alone ever hung out with them again." Lincoln brought up, approaching his sister again, "Seemed like you told me that with the intent of messing with my mind and planting some doubt in me, thus making me believe the exact thing will happen to me as well."
Next, he folded his arms and smirked proudly.
"But guess what? That didn't happen! Okay sure, there were some moments where doubt did start to creep in, but once was all said and done, my gang is sticking through thick and thin. So to repeat, you were wrong here!"
Normally, seeing such a bout self-righteousness coming from Lincoln would get under Lynn's skin. But in this instance, she couldn't really muster up the effort here. If anything else, she was more perplexed than anything.
"Uh...wait, hold up, hold up, time out, little bro. You think that's what I was aiming for?" Lynn asked.
"Well...was it?" Lincoln inquired in response.
"Uh...no. I was only bringing up my own personal experience. I was hardly using it as a means to psyche you out or anything of that sort." Lynn explained.
"You sure about that?" Lincoln wondered, softening his stance.
"Have you got a blockage in your ears? Duh, of course not!" Lynn reiterated more forcefully.
The added firmness in her voice caused Lincoln to take a step back. Realizing this, she softened her own demeanor some.
"Okay, shouldn't have put it quite like that, sorry." Lynn said, reaching out to put her hand on her brother's shoulder, "But if I am being honest, it's actually cool to hear that it sounds like you and your friends are gonna stay together. Hearing that sort of makes me wish I could've had the same thing happen back in my elementary school days."
"Oh...um, well, thanks for that I suppose, Lynn. Sorry that I got so presumptuous on you there. Perhaps I should've know better myself to think you'd try to deliberately place doubts in me over the subject." Lincoln conceded while rubbing his arm.
"Ah, don't worry about. Let's just move past it." Lynn told him and doling out a little jab to the shoulder next.
Glad to have the air cleared in that misunderstanding, Lincoln smiled and turned to leave. But just as he almost made it out the doorway, he felt the sudden sensation of having a pair of arms tightly encircle him from behind courtesy of Lynn.
"Might as well tell you this as well. Not that I'm trying to jinx you or anything, and believe me when neither of us want jinxes to really be brought up that much ever again, but should there ever come a time where your friends go their separate ways, know that your family is always gonna be there for you." Lynn said.
Following those unexpected yet still nonetheless encouraging words, she kissed Lincoln on his cheek and as quickly she had him in her grasp, she pushed him away and returned to her own business.
Though taken back by it all, Lincoln smiled again and took heart in always knowing that there was that caring and perhaps truer side to his fifth oldest sister.
The Secret That May Never Be (Snoop's On)
Another day had come to a close in the Loud house and as Leni, Luan and Lincoln were all using the bathroom sink for their last minute preparations for bedtime, it allowed them to reflect on the wild night they'd been though.
A couple of days earlier, Leni and Lincoln ended up finding and reading parts of Luna's diary after it was for whatever reason found underneath one of the chairs in the living room. There was a portion of it they read where Luna apparently had a major secret she would never reveal to her family and despite knowing better, Leni and Lincoln only wanted to know more. After also having Luan dragged into everything, the more they read of their sister's diary, the more worried they got. It alleged that Luna had been hanging out with a girl named Roxy and the pair were supposedly engaging in ever increasingly rebellious acts. It got to the point where Leni, Luan and Lincoln were so worried about one particular potential night of total recklessness that they went to every locale were some such acts were scheduled to pan out and tried preventing them from happening.
However, it turned out that Luna had been aware that her siblings read her diary and intentionally wrote all those rebellious things as a means to teach them the age old lesson of never reading someone else's diary. As for that Roxy girl, it turned out to actually be Sam, who was also in on the whole scheme set up by Luna.
Back in the present, Leni, Luan and Lincoln would soon be joined by that very sister with who made them initially worried sick with her now fake rebellious acts.
"Hey, you dudes gonna be done here soon?" Luna asked them.
"Almost, but I don't see why you can't do whatever you need with us right now." Lincoln replied.
"Well I could, bro, but I also gotta use the loo as well, so I wanna wait at the very least until I can have all the privacy needed for that." Luna said.
With her intentions know, she leaned up against the doorway and let her present siblings finish up with their business.
"Actually, while you're here,, Luna, I think Luan and Lincoln would agree that we're sorry again for reading your diary." Leni said to her as she turned in her sister's direction, "Like, we never should've done that in the first place."
"Hey, don't worry about. I said that we're cool and I'll admit to maybe taking things just a tad too far in relation. If anything else, all that I put you through did also show the rad lengths you'd go for me, too. So really, it's all water under the bridge, brah." Luna said assuredly.
"Well, that's good to know...although that business with Mr. Coconuts still smarts a little. You might have to pay for whatever injuries he's sustained which you caused him." Luan pointed out.
"Yuh-huh, sure, whatever you say." Luna said with a playful roll of the eyes.
"Heh...so, just out of curiosity and this could be the final thing I ask about this who diary stuff and we can put it to bed once and for all...you're probably never gonna let on with whatever that big secret that we read about that you want to keep from us and the rest of our family, right?" Lincoln wondered.
"That's gonna be obvious, dude. Can't really be a secret if I just decided to let loose on it outta the blue." Luna answered, self-assured smirk and all.
With that, she decided to turn around and leave for the moment assuming her siblings need just that little bit more time to themselves. But not before dropping a sudden intriguing thought.
"Although...you never know, that secret could be who within the fam I hold nearest to my heart…"
That ended up pinging the radars of her siblings and as Luna headed back over to her room, she chuckled as she heard the ensuing debate.
"You know, maybe I'm the one she loves the most. After all, I am one of her older sisters and have been in her life this whole time." Leni suggested.
"Hey, I've been her roommate for a long time now, so it could be me." Luan theorized.
"Well, she's always told me how much she loves having a brother in her life. Perhaps that means I'm the one she's talking about." Lincoln chimed in.
As the discussion went on, Luna again chuckled and shook her head.
"Man, they're so easy to fool...and so easy to love, too."
Distant, Fond Hearts (Rocket Men)
All seemed fairly quite over at the Space Cadets Experience camp. Each of the campers were neatly snuggled into their sleeping bags, or at least as comfy as they can get given those bags hang upside down, and were eager for whatever fun times would come the following day.
However, one bag was sans its occupant who had chosen to head out and sit behind a nearby tree. He'd been feeling a little uneasy and in need of some familial comfort. Phone at hand, he instinctively chose to call the one who is almost never without her own phone by her side.
A few rings later and her voice could be heard on the other line.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Lori…"
"Lincoln? Why are calling me right now? Don't you know how late it is? I was literally just about to get some sleep."
"Oh, you were? Yeah, I should've know better. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea. Sorry, I've just been feeling a little lonely, but I can understand if you're not in the mood. I guess I'll just let you go now. Bye."
And just as soon as he initiated the call, he quickly hung up and sighed. He was about to head back to try getting some sleep himself, but then he heard his phone ringing. He checked it and was surprised who was trying to call him back. Heartened, he answered back.
"Lori?"
"Hey...sorry if I came off a little harsh. Like I just said, I was close in going to sleep and you calling me kind of caught me off guard."
"Heh...well, I apologize for that anyway."
"Don't worry about it. Now, you said that you were feeling lonely?"
"Yeah, and I'm not ashamed to admit that. I guess I was in need of someone to talk to and you'd seemed like the natural choice at the moment knowing you usually have your phone at the ready."
"Yeah, that's pretty much the case. You certainly know me well on that. But anyway, how are you doing? Last I heard from Mom and Dad, you and Clyde almost wanted to come back home because you didn't think you were having much fun at camp?"
"Pretty much, yeah. It wasn't quite like what we'd hoped at first if I'm being totally honest here. But after a little encouragement from Mom and Dad plus the same for Clyde and his dads, we're giving it a chance and we are learning to have fun with it."
"Well, that's good to hear at least. But again, you're feeling lonely?"
"Yeah. Guess I simply miss you and everyone else back home. I thought that having time to myself away from my family would be something that I've always needed, yet here I am still in the early stages of my stay here and already longing to an extent for wanting to be back with you guys once all is said and done."
"Hey, I totally get it. We all go though that feeling at least a handful of times in our lives. But I think something like what you're doing is needed from time to time so you can literally treasure the time you do have with your family all the more. It's like that old saying about how distance or absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Yeah, that's true. As much fun as I'll probably end up having here now, it'll be worth coming back home and being back together with the ones I care about the most. I suppose with that being said, I'll let you go again I guess. Thanks for taking this moment to listen in for me, Lori."
"Sure, anything at all. Again, I'm sorry for sounding harsh at first and if you ever feel lonely from now until you come back home, you know that I'm available whenever you need me."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Well, goodbye and I love you."
"I love you, too, Lincoln. Bye."
As the call came to an end, the lone boy of the Loud family felt a lot better inside. Sure he misses his family, but like he just got done talking with his oldest sister over, he knows that upon returning home once his stay at camp comes to an end, he'll know how much more they all mean to him and the fondness he has for everyone will only keep getting firmer and stronger.
Very Important People (Purrfect Gig)
Tonight was very much different from what Sam Sharp had initially planned out in her mind. Here she thought the most excitement she'd have was picking up and walking home with her little brother Simon from his video game gathering. Never did she foresee on top of that getting an emergency phone call from Luna Loud asking for assistance in catsitting and all the ensuing shenanigans that came with it. But in the end it worked out, if for any other reason because Luna got the money for the VIP pass to Mick Swagger's upcoming concert so that she and Sam could go together. Also, a kiss on the cheek from Luna to Sam certainly never hurt either.
With all that settled, Sam eventually know that she and Simon finally needed to head back home. The latter had become so exhausted that he needed to be carried on the back of his big sister, but she didn't mind at all. It's part of the loving job of having a little brother in the first place.
Once they got home, Sam helped in getting Simon ready for bed given how tired he was, ranging from getting him into his pajamas to even having to assist in getting him into bed although because he was so weary and thus in desperate need of sleep.
"Well, we certainly had quite the night didn't we, Simon?" Sam said as she took a seat next to him.
"I guess we did…" Simon responded with a big yawn.
"Yeah…" Sam agreed with a laugh, "But hey, I want to tell you how proud of you I am for sticking through things. If it was anyone else other than Luna, I would've politely turned down an offer to help for the time being. Again, very proud of you for adapting and understanding."
"You're welcome, Sam. I know how important Luna is to you." Simon said, a slight grin forming on his face.
"Aw, thank you. You're very important to me, too. You and her are the top two people in my life right now and I can't be happier because of it." Sam stated very much wholeheartedly, "Well, good night, Simon. I love you."
"I love you, Sam. Good night." Simon responded in kind.
She gave him a hug and a kiss on the forehead, then she started to leave. She gave him one last look as he started getting into slumber, smiling wholly taking to heart those words she just spoke how thankful she was to have two very important people in her life.
And that does it for another one! Wish I could say more, but I'm going to keep these last notes very brief. All I'll say in conclusion is as always, thank you for the support and we'll keep on doing this whenever the chance comes up. Thanks and take care!