"It still looks like a bean…" Leni mumbled as she looked from the picture to her slowly inflating stomach.
"Well, it has to grow a little more first," Chaz said—for the third time.
Just yesterday they had been to an obstetrician. It was a simple and routine checkup. The baby's health had been cleared once again. His wife had insisted that the baby was a girl—he wasn't quite sure how they had transitioned from the topic of the baby's growth to its very much unknown gender—and the poor doctor…she was forced to just go along with it. She was also forced to explain things to Leni in a strange, odd way that Leni and only Leni would ever connect with reality, like how the doctor had to tell Leni that the baby wasn't an actual bean and he saw the raw amount of regret in that poor woman's eyes for ever showing either of them the images from the ultrasound. In the end, the doctor settled for saying the baby would grow, courtesy of Leni herself, "like a beansprout" until it looked more human.
It took several more explanations to assure Leni that the baby was not a bean, would never be a bean, and had never been a bean. Someone up there had to have been watching out for him yesterday because Leni had been on the verge of freaking out thinking something went wrong. He had spent that entire night concerned about whether or not the same doctor would see her again.
On the upside, Leni finally understood what was going on—more or less—and didn't have to worry about working today, on Thanksgiving. She had made it just in time and bounced back from the news that none of her designs had been selected for CoverGirl. It was a shame. He personally thought they were gorgeous, but his opinion, even to his own wife, was unwanted in the fashion industry.
"Do you think I should drink more water?" Leni asked, most likely referencing plant growth.
"If you feel thirsty," he answered. Nothing wrong with a little extra hydration anyway.
"Maybe it'll help the baby to not look like a bean."
"Honey, what did the doctor say?"
She bit her bottom lip and smiled, not showing a single hint of recollection.
"She said it's normal and the baby just has to grow," he reminded her.
"Well, yeah, but watering it will help. I wonder if it works with showers too…" She tapped her chin in thought. "You know what, I bet that's what baby showers are for. They always have drinks there!" she concluded.
He took a long, deep breath and tried to focus more on the road than on his wife who had clearly convinced herself that the baby was a human-bean hybrid of sorts, and nothing he said would change her mind. Only another ultrasound revealing little limbs and a head would show her she didn't have to water their bean. He really hoped she wouldn't bring this whole bean thing up in front of her family tonight.
"Why don't you just put the picture in the card, honey?" he suggested.
She happily obliged, slipping the image between a college graduation card and folding over, ready to surprise her family with the big news. The "congratulations" cards weren't a pat on the back, she was just hopping mad with excitement about her sisters becoming aunts, her brother and brother-in-laws becoming uncles, and her mother and father becoming grandparents. She could barely contain herself, which as he well knew, would probably ruin the surprise.
She sealed the envelope and tucked it into her purse with the others. She had made it a point to doodle her happiness inside the cards meant for Lori and Bobby, concerned that there may be something negative going on with them, and doing her level best to resolve it.
His concern was that Lori and Bobby wouldn't be there. Leni was really banking on Lori being there because everyone knew it could be the only chance they would have to see her this year. Plus, Leni was ecstatic about being an aunt herself, and since in her mind Lori was the oldest and therefore had been the first to get anything, now that she herself was pregnant, that must have meant Lori was pregnant first. Although it was a possibility, he wasn't nearly as expectant as his wife.
Hopefully Leni would move quickly, before anyone had the chance to notice that her abdomen was slightly larger than normal. He had to admit, even he was happy to surprise everyone—this assuming his wife wouldn't ruin it. It would be interesting to see how they all took it, what with their various age ranges and personalities.
"Okay, honey, you ready? We're here," he said as he pulled up to the curb. "Wait until I stop and let you out. Alright?"
She nodded rapidly and despite what he said, she only seemed to have absorbed half of it, waiting until the car came to a complete stop before jumping out anyway. She flew to her parents' door and pounded on it as hard and fast as she could, all with an enormous grin plastered on her face.
He caught up to her just in time for the door to swing open.
"Leni!" he happily announced. "You made it! Oh, sweetie, how are you?"
He engulfed her in a hug that Chaz hated witnessing. He loved the Louds even with their chaos, but even when he himself hugged Leni, he made sure he wasn't putting much pressure on her stomach. They still didn't know she was pregnant…they thought it would be fine and harmless to squeeze her as tight as they possibly could.
"I'm doing so well!" she replied. "Are we eating soon?"
The plan was for everyone to sit at the dinner table—which they had thankfully expanded by pushing two long tables together—and after dinner he would let Leni blurt out the news, because he really wouldn't have the chance to. Not with her being as excited as she was. And the way she jumped into the question of when dinner was going to be served was proof that she was on the brink.
"Actually, we're still cooking. We started a little late this year and we do have a big family, sweetie." About to get even bigger. "But if you two are hungry you're welcome to help yourself to some snacks we set out."
Lynn Sr. stepped aside and motioned for the both of them to enter. The house was, as normal, rambunctious and full of people. He and Leni were most likely the last ones to arrive, but only because Leni wanted to take a "quick" nap before they hit the road and because they had prepared cards and copies of the ultrasound images.
"Is Lori here yet?" Leni eagerly asked as her father closed the door. "I have something I want to ask her."
Before her father could answer that, Luan came out of the kitchen accompanied by her husband, Benny. Luan was the third Loud kid to marry—Lori had beaten everyone to it, which didn't help lower Leni's confidence in Lori having a baby before anyone else—so she and Benny were the honeymoon couple, basically grabbing most of the attention on how their newer relationship was. He wondered if Luan and Benny would feel strange when that attention was taken off them for a while. Leni seemed indifferent to it.
"Hi, Luan! Hi, Benny!" his wife shouted.
The couple turned to her and smiled.
"Hi, Leni!" Luan said as she walked over to hug her.
Again with the tight hugs… They were all very close, he understood that, but he still didn't want anyone or anything putting any pressure on her stomach.
"Hi, Chaz!" It was his turn to receive a hug and he found it to look tighter than it really was.
Leni hugged Benny and the couple led them back into the living room, showing them the snacks earlier mentioned by Lynn Sr.
"So Dad's trying a new lemon meringue recipe," Luan said as she and Leni peeled away from her husband, leaving him with Benny. "You want to try it? It's actually really good."
"So, how have you two been lately?" Benny asked him after the girls were clear of sight—something he wasn't particularly fond of when eternally-rambunctious Lynn could be anywhere.
He smiled and shrugged. "I got a promotion recently, now I'm a team manager. Leni just filled out a huge order for a wedding."
Benny hissed as if in pain. "Another wedding? I thought she would've stopped making wedding dresses after the Luna incident."
And yet nothing deterred Leni from doing just that.
"She wasn't upset about it. Don't know why. I would be."
"Well, that's Leni for you…always a happy little butterfly. Congrats on the promotion, man."
"Thanks. What's new with you and Luan?" he asked.
"Luan found a new club, happens to be right by one of Luna's. It's kinda funny, they had to share a room and now a club." Benny chuckled. "Both of them complaining about each other's acts—Luna's music is so loud Luan can hear it while she's telling jokes. Then Luna says Luan's crowd laughs too much and she can hear. It's a never-ending circle with those two, you know?"
"I thought Luna moved around."
"She does but sometimes she plays for the club beside Luan's joint. Bickering siblings."
"You playing in any clubs?"
"Nah, not anymore. Sometimes I'll do standup for Luan but that's about it."
A third voice was happy to see them as he called their names and walked over to join the group. Lincoln was still the only Loud boy and as such had come to rely heavily on in-laws for any sense of brotherhood within the family.
"Hey, how's everybody doing?" he asked, the standard question that would have to be answered a hundred times.
"Good to see you again, 'Linky,'" Chaz teased.
Lincoln rolled his eyes and huffed. "Why does Leni always call me that?! For Pete's sake, I'm nineteen years old!"
Benny and Chaz broke out in laughter.
"You realize Leni doesn't see you as an adult, right?" Chaz said. "She always refers to you as her little brother—not even 'younger.'"
"Feel free not to join her." The boy suddenly grew a sly grin. "Or does she have you on a leash? You starting to feel that ball and chain yet?"
Benny stepped in. "I felt the ball and chain on my honeymoon."
"Same," Chaz agreed. "Why are our wives like that? It's always the honeymoon, don't the other wives usually wait until the second year or something?"
"It's genetic, I'm telling you. Luan was barking orders in no time."
"Right? Leni, man, she's sweet but when she gets mad you got one foot in the grave. And don't ever try explaining why spiders aren't anything to be afraid of, she will bury you with opinions!"
"No, I get it, some things just aren't meant to be talked about with them."
Lincoln interjected at that moment. "Wait, wait, what is going on here? How did the ball and chain turn into this…solidarity?"
"When you get married, you'll be jumping on this boat with us," Benny laughed. "Then we'll have another ball and chain to help it sink."
"I don't get it…"
Chaz patted his white hair. "We love your sisters to death—and I mean literally, 'til death do us part'—but sometimes marriage is a little complicated and you just need a fellow husband to talk to."
"Like the incredibly well-planned 'headaches,'" Benny groaned.
"I know, right! They're not fooling anyone, they can just say they're not up for it."
"Oh, dude, Luan makes those jokes all the time in her gigs. All the women laugh. Talk about solidarity, we have nothing on them…"
"Hey hey hey!" a fourth voice called out.
Bobby joined the group and laughed. "Did I hear you guys talking about those fake headaches?"
"I don't understand, what is going on here?" Lincoln spoke. "What fake headaches? What are you talking about?"
Bobby snorted and said, "Lincoln, I think it's time you and your old man had a little chat."
"Please, he'll just find out after he gets married," Benny deadpanned. "The hard way, like I did. My old man never gave me a heads-up."
Chaz snapped his fingers on impulse, drawing all the boys' attention, and turned to Lori's husband.
"Bobby," he said, "where is Lori? And, also, why has she been avoiding everyone? Leni's been dying to talk to her all year."
Bobby frowned and looked away. "Oh, uh…it's not that she hasn't wanted to talk to people…just…stuff happened and it got in the way."
"For a year?" Benny questioned, raising one eyebrow. "It's been bothering Luan too."
Bobby put his hands up defensively. "Look, I'm really sorry. Lori's just going through some things right now. I decided I would just let her call back when she was ready."
"I miss Lori too," Lincoln said. "I grew up with her."
"Okay, okay, I get it. She has a few problems that she really needs to work out."
"You're her husband, you need to help her, man," Benny said. "I have a wife too and poor Chaz, Leni has to be exhausting." He then turned to Chaz. "No offense, she's a real sweetheart."
"No offense taken," Chaz replied. "I love her but, you know…she can be a little hard to deal with sometimes."
Especially with a baby on the way—the stress took a sharp upward curve.
He heard metal bang against something in the kitchen and ran to see what had happened. It was just an empty metal pan that had fallen from the edge of the sink, with Leni packed into the other side of an overcrowded kitchen that had a hard time holding so many girls and parents at one time. Everyone was hustling to get the food ready, speeding up the cooking process. They were bumping into one another constantly and the chatter? They had to speak over the sound of food cooking, utensils and appliances being used, and each other—some giving directions on what to do and how to do it, and others having casual conversations while they busied themselves. His wife was farthest from him, he could barely see her through the swarm of moving bodies. But, from what he could see, she was talking with Lucy while they both stood side by side mixing something in a huge bowl, Lucy mostly handing Leni ingredients.
He wasn't so worried about Leni cooking or mingling as he was about the people unintentionally shoving her around. Yet she acted like it was totally normal, an everyday thing.
Her father bent down to take the turkey out of the oven, at which point his bottom pushed three other people into each other, including Leni who lurched forward with her bowl and spoon. She didn't even look back to see what had caused it, as if she already knew, giving him the impression that this was not the first time it had happened.
"Sorry, girls!" Lynn Sr. called out above their collective voices.
After the man stood back up he shuffled as close as he could to the counter, sliding in between all his daughters to reach one of the few open spots to put the turkey. He eventually reached a small space between Leni and the sink, where dirty dishes were beginning to pile up. Another conversation began between Leni, Lucy, and their father as he began basting the turkey.
Leni paused for a moment to taste test the familiar yellow goop in her bowl. After a few seconds she sent Lucy to grab another banana for the pudding. After that his sight was blocked off by two other girls trying to make room for others to finish preparing the food by allowing passage from point A to point B. All he saw was Lucy rejoining the crowd.
Lynn Jr. hadn't been spotted so far but then again, he couldn't see half of anybody and he most certainly wouldn't fit without cramming everyone else even closer together.
He stepped back to let Luan get some spices for whatever she was cooking.
On the upside, Leni was undoubtedly too distracted to remember to tell everyone about the baby. If she did, she wouldn't be so casual, especially not when all of her sisters and both of her parents were packed together in one place, none of them jumping with joy and continuing to be far too occupied.
"Wow," Benny said as he appeared beside him. "They're really getting things done, I don't think I've ever seen this place so full before." He pulled on the collar of his shirt. "Or so hot…"
"I'm just watching Leni, or trying to. She's kind of clumsy and she's over in the back making banana pudding, which means she'll be using a knife to chop bananas."
"I'm a little concerned about Luan, too," Benny replied, lowering his voice. "Just between you and me, we're thinking about trying for a baby."
He tensed, imagining how they might feel when Leni blew it—happy, curious, shocked, miscellaneous?
"Thinking or actually trying?" he asked.
"Oh, no, not trying yet. We talked about it and we want to make sure we have the finances for that, you know? I mean, we can support ourselves just fine but a baby costs a little bit more and we don't want to take any chances," Benny answered. "But what about you and Leni? You've been married for, what, three years now?"
Chaz nodded but hesitated to reply—Leni had mentioned wanting to be a mother only a few times to her family, but never when everyone was here at the same time, and he knew Lori and Bobby never knew about that desire. However, Leni never told anyone else that they had actually talked about it, and she most certainly never told anyone they had been trying. Nobody really knew and he was a terrible liar when he was excited about something. To top that, he hadn't been able to express that excitement the way he wanted to around her. What harm could come from telling one person?
A/N
So I had to cut this chapter into two. It was getting ridiculously long and I try to keep my chapters at about 3k-4k words so it's not too short but not too long either. I'll level with you guys, there was no good stopping point here, I legit tried to find one and this is the best I can do. Sorry!
Don't forget to hit that review button and tell me how I did and where I can improve! (Once again, first LH fic, working hard to keep everyone in-character.)