Chapter 5

Saturday afternoon, Jack Harris is having Lunch at his newest friend's restaurant.

Lynn's Table.

At first, the thought of him using teleportation technology shook him to his core. It ended up taking a half hour for Lynn Loud Sr.'s four year old genius daughter to assure him of its safety.

With all that fear behind him now, he goes on to finish what he could only describe as the best lunch of his life.

Lasagna, or Lynn-sagna as his friend likes to call it.

Wiping his mouth off with a napkin, he starts to speak to Lynn Sr., who's right in front of him.

"Well Lynn, I gotta say, that was the best lasagna I ever had in my life… Don't tell my wife."

The father of eleven gives a light chuckle. "If I had a dollar every time one of my customers said that. I should be the one thanking you, Jack. With you teleporting here, I don't have to call Lana here as often."

The mention of one of his daughters caught Jack's attention. "Uh… which of your daughters is Lana again?"

"Um… it's really not that important." Said Lynn, now trying to change the subject. "I gotta say, your son, Duncan, he seems like a good kid. I'm glad my son has another friend to play with."

Jack nods. "Duncan is a good kid. You know, when I heard that he's now hanging out with a boy that has TEN sisters, I nearly passed out in front of my family. Just the THOUGHT of raising that many kids… it's… it's unusual… But YOU'RE actually taking the whole thing pretty well!"

Lynn smiles again. "I love each and every single one of my kids. I may not be the perfect father they deserve, but I try my best."

Jack then looks down at the table. "I don't know what that looks like… a perfect father… But I DO know that you're raising all your kids better than MY dad who raised ME!"

While there's no other customers at the restaurant at this time, Lynn held back the urge to raise his voice and keep it the way it is.

"Really?" He manages to say.

"Yeah… I could tell you all kinds of stories… Like this one time where… I was the EXACT same age as your son… My dad told me multiple times to not practice football in the house, I did it anyway. Ended up breaking the urn that kept my grandma's ashes."

"Oh my god." Said Lynn.

"You want to know what he did to me as punishment? I'll never forget that night!"

"W-what happened that night?" Said Lynn, even more concerned now.

"He locked me out of the house and made me sleep in the backyard." Said Jack, remembering that night vividly.

At this point, Lynn couldn't even speak. The sharp pain hitting his heart only worsened every second he's sitting down in front of this man.

The man who went through the same thing he made his only son go through three years ago.

"No pillows, no blankets, nothing. I did nothing but cry all night. I felt like I was abandoned…"

Jack then lifts his head up and looks at Lynn Sr. with a smile on his face.

"BUT DON'T WORRY! The story has a happy ending! Just after sunrise, my dad rushed over to me and hugged me real tight. Apologizing to me over and over again. That he shouldn't have done what he did. I had a really good breakfast that morning, let me tell you."

Lynn is now visibly shaken by hearing what Jack had to say.

Jack keeps talking. "You got nothing to say, huh? Haha. That's why I keep that part of my life a secret, especially from my wife. Just keep treating your kids the way you have always treated them, Lynn. It's all going to be okay."

He then reaches into his pocket and takes out his wallet. "Now how much do I owe you for the Lynn-sagna?"

Lynn finds the strength to speak. "Y-you don't owe me anything, Jack. It's on me."

Ignoring what Lynn Sr. had to say, Jack takes out a twenty dollar bill and places it halfway under his plate.

"I'm so lucky to have a friend like you!"

"Duncan, I'm gonna go ahead and say it… You're lucky to have a friend like Bex."

In Oakdale, Lincoln is hanging out in Duncan's room. A stack of unread Ace Savvy comics litter the floor as Lincoln is more interested in the stories that his new friend had to tell instead of the ones drawn by Bill Buck.

Duncan talks back to Lincoln. "What do you mean by lucky?"

Lincoln continues. "Your friends tied her up on a pole. She then got interrogated by your mom. DIDN'T reveal the whole plan to her; and when she was left all by herself, instead of going home and rethinking her friendship, she traveled the whole quarter-mile STILL tied up to that pole, just to inform you that the plan was compromised!"

Duncan looks down at the floor, taking in what Lincoln had to say. "I guess… I never really thought of it like that."

Lincoln crosses his arms. "That's because you're short sighted! But that's okay. I mean… nobody's PERFECT! Which makes me wonder… How DID your parents manage to find you?"

Duncan was about to answer Lincoln's question before he found himself getting cut off by a sudden voice coming from the air vent above the two.

"I FOUND HIM!"

Duncan then stares in shock as he sees his step-sister, Jing, leap out of the air vent, landing right on Lincoln's head.

"AAAHH!" Lincoln screams, as he feels his hair getting pulled out by the five year old. "Get her off! Get her off!"

After a bit of light tugging, Duncan managed to get Jing off of Lincoln. As soon as she was set on the floor however, she ran up to her brother and tightly hugged his leg.

Duncan looks down at her. "Jing! What is wrong with you!? Why would you attack Lincoln like that!?"

Lincoln runs his fingers through his hair. This is nothing he hasn't faced before. "Yeah… uh… I didn't do anything to you."

While still hugging her brother's leg, Jing shouts at Lincoln. "Duncan is the greatest and the most handsomest brother in the world! I won't let you take him away from me! I LOVE HIM!"

Hearing what Jing had to say, Duncan felt hurt, he doesn't deserve the title of the greatest brother in the world, that belongs to Lincoln… maybe. I don't know.

He was about to lift Jing up and get her out of his room when he started to hear his friend start laughing.

"Hahahahahaha." Laughed Lincoln as he closed his eyes and shakes his head. "Did you hear that, Duncan? Your sister's trying to intimidate me!"

Jing keeps glaring at Lincoln. "Am I a joke to you?" She asks.

Lincoln reaches into his jacket pocket. "I WAS about to start eating these later, but I think you deserve them more."

Jing's expression then changes as she sees Lincoln pull out a bag of cookies from his pocket and hand them over to her. "Just don't tell your parents." She hears him say.

She lets go of her brother's leg and grabs the cookies. Opening the bag and taking a big whiff of the aroma inside.

She then goes wide eyed "Snickerdoodles!" She is happy again.

"Wow." Said Duncan. "You're like… a PRO at being a-"

*SLAM*

He quickly looks behind him as he sees his other sister, Kimberly, barge into his room.

"Jing!" She points at her sister. "Share those cookies!"

"NO!" Jing tightens her grip on the plastic bag as she starts running away from Kimberly, who's starting to chase her.

They quickly leave Duncan's room, where Duncan closes his door and locks it.

"AS I WAS SAYING!" Duncan faces Lincoln. "You're a pro at being a big brother! How do you do it!?"

Lincoln smirks. "Practice. Years of practice, my friend. You start practicing the moment you hear the news that you're going to be a big brother."

"Oh yeah? Well, too bad that wasn't what I did… TWICE!"
The two then share a laugh.

"Hey, now that I've had a chance to see your sisters again, how would you like to see a few of mine?"

Duncan smiles at Lincoln. "I'd like that…"

"AAAAAHHH! GET 'EM OFF! GET 'EM OFF!"

Lincoln sighs, then pushes his sisters, Lana and Lola, away from Duncan.

"Okay, what seems to be your problem with my new friend?"

The twins gaze at their brother. "This guy has been nothing but trouble for us! Everytime we want you for something, you're in another state!" Yelled Lola.

"It's been so boring here without you, Lincoln!" Said Lana.

Lincoln starts to argue back. "I understand what you two are saying, but that doesn't mean that it's okay for you to attack the friends of your siblings. The moment you put your HANDS on somebody, you're wrong! Now I promise I will make some time for you but for now, go apologize to Duncan!"

Still giving angry looks to Duncan, the twins did what they were told.

"We're sorry for attacking you. We won't do it again." Said Lana, in a dark tone.

"But the moment we see something you're doing to Lincoln that WE don't like, we're throwing you out of the house!" Yelled Lola.

Duncan raises his hands. "Don't worry, I won't do anything bad to Lincoln. I promise."

"YOU BETTER!" The twins shouted in unison.

With the little sisters incident behind them, Dunan and Lincoln are playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the living room downstairs.

"Those were only two of your younger sisters." Duncan says to Lincoln. The assault is still fresh in his mind. "You know… except for Luna, I haven't seen any of your older sisters yet."

"Don't worry about them." Said Lincoln. "They'll be approaching you when they're good and ready."

Before Duncan could talk back however, he sees a kid with glasses around Lincoln's age barge into the Loud House.

The kid with glasses is Clyde McBride, Lincoln's best friend.

"Hey Lincoln! What has two thumbs-" Clyde then instantly notices the red haired stranger playing the Nintendo Switch with his best friend.

"Uh… hey Clyde." Said Lincoln, trying to come up with something to say. "Umm… it isn't what it looks like?"

Back in Oakdale, Kimberly and Jing are munching on the snickerdoodle cookies that Lincoln brought over to their house. Savoring every bite.

Kimberly looks away from the cookies and at Jing, who decided to share the cookies with her after all. "Mmm. Thanks for sharing these cookies with me Jing. You know I love you."

"I love you too, Kim." Said Jing before munching on another cookie. "But not nearly as much as I love Duncan."

Their dad, Jack Harris, then opens the front door of the house and steps inside. Having enjoyed his day with Lynn Sr. He softly sings a small tune to himself.

"How can I try to explain? When I do, he turns away again…"

He then stops singing as he notices his two daughters eating some cookies while sitting on the floor of the living room.

"Hello daughters!" He happily calls out to them. "Might I trouble you for a cookie!?" He asks in a gentlemanly fashion.

Kimberly and Jing however, are having none of that as they give mean looks to their dad. Jing hisses at him a little.

Understanding that his daughters don't want to share, Jack backs away slowly. "Okay… okay."

Okay, this is the part where I have to explain a few things. Here I go.

First, the reason why I made the decision to have Jing attack Lincoln was to show that there is a contrast between her and Kimberly when it comes to their opinion of him.

I had to show that Jing doesn't like him in a way that stayed true to her character, so there you go.

Second, Jack's conversation with Lynn Sr. really couldn't have gone any other way. I tried to think of something different, but it just wasn't as good as what I originally thought. So another 'No Such Luck' reference here too.

Third, the song that Jack sings to himself at the end of the chapter is 'Father and Son' by Cat Stevens. Jack loves his son very much and I hope the writers of Duncanville will find a way to squeeze this song into the show. It'll be very heartwarming stuff, I tell you.

Fourth and final thing, Annie is not in this chapter, but don't worry, I'm going to make sure she plays a part in Chapter 6. Whether or not this will be a big part or a small part, only time will tell.

Oh, and before I go, Chapter 6 will come late next week, so that's more than 7 days you'll have to wait. I gotta let you all go now. Until next time!