Hey, good to see everyone again. To kick off the month (or seven days into it), I have here something that's sort of been in my mind for a little while now. You could also consider this my five days late contribution to celebrate the four year anniversary of The Loud House if you'd feel like to view it as such.
As the summary obviously lays out, this one is based on "Yes Man", and for the particularly observant, those with long memories and anybody who has recently read or re-read a certain other story of mine, this is the second time I've written something based on that episode. That other previous instance was within a flashback sequence featured in the first chapter of "Flashing Back" that briefly looked into a possible aftermath of what happened following the events of such. In the case of this story today, it's something a before and after work. It starts in the immediate aftermath of Lincoln being told by his parents he can't go to the VIP SMOOCH concert because they no longer have any money to spare, then it largely explores how his sisters perhaps came up with, got to work on and eventually the moment they performed the VIB concert for him and then finally a scene in the aftermath. Don't worry, I didn't do a lazy copy and paste of the scene from "Flashing Back", but instead wrote a completely new one that I feel for as much as I liked that one in the aforementioned story, I believe the final sequence in this one is even better.
And I guess for the heck of it, like in the case with the second part of "Serendipitous Solidarity" where I mentioned there was a lot of symbolism surrounding it with the number thirteen, something similar sort of occurred here as well, albeit unintentionally this time around. So, "Yes Man" is my second favorite episode from the second season of The Loud House and it is my second favorite episode overall on top of that, and as I just said above, it is the second time I've written something based around the events of it. Just nothing more than a secondary observation 'tis all.
So anyway, let's get our reading on!
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.
All day long he'd been hoping for this moment to go his way...and instead, nothing.
This was the immediate thought going through Lincoln's mind. Crestfallen and downtrodden, he stood before his parents where they told him the final verdict that he couldn't get a ticket to that evening's VIP SMOOCH concert once they could finally get a word in edgewise. It had nothing to do with them not thinking he shouldn't go, which they wished he could, but it was all due to them simply not having any more money that they could spare at the moment due to each of Lincoln's sisters getting it all instead.
But what neither Lynn Sr. nor Rita perhaps did not entirely understood right this second was that none of those same sisters of Lincoln's would've been able to receive the money for their respective needs and desires weren't it not for their only brother's help. It all began when Luna overheard Lincoln dubbing himself the 'master of convincing' after she had failed to scrounge up any dough from Lori and Leni. There was a well worn Mick Swagger T-shirt being auctioned off and she desperately wanted in being the one to claim it, so hearing her brother's self-labeling came as a reprieve to her. Though Luna did have to resort in begging him off, Lincoln did agree to help out, citing that the key to convincing is utilizing one's own strengths.
Upon Luna's return to Lincoln thanking him in song for her success in getting the money from their parents, their sisters also requested their brother's help too in accumulating amounts of the medium of commercial voluntary exchange for whatever they needed. It took guilt tripping this time around, but Lincoln reluctantly helped them as well and every other sister also succeeded. But if he had the foresight to know what was to come, there's a chance he'd decline handing out the keys to convincing to anyone else after helping Luna out.
Unbeknownst to Lincoln, all his sisters watched on from the dining room when they heard and saw their parents deliver the unfortunate news to him. Some felt real guilty as if them asking, or really again guilt tripping, for his assistance may have inadvertently cost him the chance to go to the concert.
Just as Lincoln began walking away and up the stairs perhaps to his room in defeat, he heard his name being addressed.
"Hey, Lincoln? Mind if you joined us outside for a moment?" Lori requested to him.
He was a little bit torn over that. One part didn't want to deal with anyone due to not wanting his defeated aura dragging down whoever was around. But a quick glance at his sisters showed each of them having pleading and sympathetic looks in their eyes made a stronger part within him to go ahead with the request. Perhaps being with them might help out, no matter how small the amount may be.
Without saying anything back, Lincoln sighed and followed his sisters along over to the backyard. Upon arrival, everyone gathered in a circle and sat down with Lincoln in the center of things.
"Lincoln...we're so sorry you couldn't be able to get the money for the concert ticket." Lori expressed earnestly.
Following their oldest sister's lead, every other sister verbalized their own sorrows and sympathies in Lincoln's direction as well. He tried showing off tiny smile for their efforts.
"Thanks...even though it might not totally make up for the fact I'll miss out on what could've been the biggest concert experience of my life, one that may have easily topped the first time I saw SMOOCH." Lincoln said, that smile of his fading as quickly as it formed.
Each of the sisters continued in looking on guiltily at their brother who above all else really was the reason they garnered their respective amounts of money in the first place. Of the current group, half had already gotten what they wanted: Lori and Leni with their closet divider, Luna with her Mick Swagger T-shirt and Lola with a new engine for her jeep that Lana also wanted just so she could help with the installation. Conversely, the remaining five sisters still had their cash at hand and yet to exchange it for their own needs. But now feeling so sorry for Lincoln, it's like they all suddenly had the same idea in mind.
"You know, maybe I can double check the dress code for the comedy gala and hope it's not as strict as I remembered it being. But if black tie really is the deal, maybe instead of a tuxedo for Mr. Coconuts, I could give one of his bow ties a quick paint job of black. Hopefully no one would notice should I do that." Luan said.
"The more I think about it, the basketball hoop we have now probably is still sturdy enough to withstand a good few more rounds, dunks and three-pointers." Lynn added.
"Sigh...perhaps I can borrow a skeleton model from biology class and then see if my drama teacher has any gold miner clothes or costumes to dress it up in." Lucy thought about doing.
"And as enormously detrimental of a setback it may be to my research...I suppose those isotopes can wait, or as some on the street might say, take a backseat." Lisa opined.
After the four of them were done speaking, they each reached out for their sums of money and extended out their hands out toward Lincoln, indicating they wanted him to have it. Even little baby Lily, who wanted a new teddy bear, appeared to understand the situation and she too offered the money she had to her big brother.
"Wait, no, you don't need to do this, guys." Lincoln said, holding his hands up, "This is your money."
"But we couldn't have gotten this money had you not taught each of us how to be convincing. In a sense, it's really as much yours as it is ours." Luan mentioned.
"No, really, I insist. Besides, it's one thing for me to tell you all how to be convincing, but another entirely for you to then put it into practice. Given that you each received money in the end, you obviously succeeded exceptionally well. So please, it's your money and you've earned it." Lincoln emphasized.
"But it just doesn't seem fair that you end up empty handed after helping us out, though." Lynn said.
"Precisely, and with hindsight being 20/20, perhaps we could have had the forbearance to allow you to negotiate with Mother and Father after Luna already did such herself so that you'd then potentially garnered your privileged access to this one of a lifetime musical concert as you similarly labeled it such, and only then maybe we could've tried our proverbial hand at it for all that which we sought after." Lisa added.
"Maybe, Lisa, but I still see a problem if things panned out like that." Lincoln pointed out, "If it went along like that or if you, Luan, Lynn, Lucy or Lily chose to give me your money, that's means at least one among all of us would be unable to get whatever we wanted and I'd hate for it to come to that. If anybody had to come out of today empty handed, it might as well be me. Yes, I'm going to not like being able to see SMOOCH again, especially since with the VIP circumstances and all, but seeing and making sure you get what you wanted and knowing I contributed my part in it all...I guess that's a good a consolation I can get right about now."
Again, Lincoln ever so briefly smiled, but it went by the wayside once more before he stood up and started leaving.
As he reached the halfway point of heading back inside the house, he felt a hand grip onto his shoulder. He looked back around to see Lori standing before him, still expressing complete sympathy for him on her face. Before he could ask or say anything, she brought him into a hug.
"Lincoln, while we're grateful for your help, you're a little bit wrong about saying we got everything we wanted. Seeing you getting the money for that ticket would've literally been the pinnacle of our day after everything else. So on behalf of our sisters, again, we're sorry." Lori expressed sadly.
Lincoln chose not to say anything, but he did return the hug nonetheless. Despite the great disappointment of everything, he remained as strong as he could.
"'Inky?"
But that changed when he looked down to see Lily having toddled over and trying again in giving her money to Lincoln.
"Lily, please don't...it's yours...and...and…" He tried saying.
The combination of his baby sister's last ditch effort to part ways with her money, the overall saddened disposition his other sisters were in for him, and just the increasingly crushing feeling of believing he was so tantalizingly close in getting that SMOOCH ticket, only for it to slip away from his hands without realizing the actual reason why his parents couldn't spare the money until it was too late eventually caused him to tear up and sniffle.
The sight of seeing her brother becoming more and more sad was also having the same effect on Lily. Tears were bubbling in her eyes and it didn't take long for her to start crying. Just as all of this was going on, Leni had come on over to see what was up, and the moment she saw Lily crying, she scooped the infant up into her arms and attempted in consoling the youngest of the siblings. She shared a concerned look with Lori, who held on to Lincoln just that bit firmer on her end.
Soon, the remaining sisters coalesced around the scene before them, but only a few seconds after this happened, Lincoln voluntarily pulled away from his oldest sister's embrace and brushed any remnant tears away.
"Thanks, you guys, but I think I want to be alone right now…" He told everyone.
"Sure, if that's what you want. But we're always here for you should you ever need us." Lori reminded him.
Lincoln grinned lightly, "Thanks...and again, you all deserved the money you convinced Mom and Dad to give you."
After that final address, he finally headed back inside, leaving a set of sisters who were still feeling defeated. To them, all of which they have gotten might've been for naught if he unintentionally was left out in the proverbial cold.
"Sigh...what did we ever do to deserve a brother who is so selfless?" Lucy opined.
"I really hate to see him like this…" Leni added wistfully.
"Yeah, same here…" Lana said, then an idea came to her, "Hey wait, why don't we all try convincing Mom and Dad together if they can still have Lincoln go to the concert?"
"Fat chance that's gonna happen, Lans." Lynn told her younger sister flat out, "I mean, I love for that to work out, but we all heard them say they've run out of money, so what would be the point?"
"But do we know that for certain? If there's even the slightest chance Mom and Dad could have any amount of money laying around, wouldn't it be worth for Lincoln's sake?" Luan suggested.
Logically, it's all but unlikely that their parents were indeed in possession of any immediate money that can be doled out. And yet at this second, doing anything at all in the hopes of getting Lincoln what he'd been hoping for overruled the likely reality of the monetary situation, so the girls decided impulsively to try it anyway.
However, within steps of being inside, they realized one of their own was missing.
"Wait, where's Luna?" Lori wondered.
A quick look back over at the backyard showed that Luna was still sitting down and now just underneath the tree.
"Hey, aren't you coming, Luna?" Lana called out to her.
Either she somehow didn't hear that or was willingly choosing to ignore being addressed. No matter the reasoning, the girls chose to return over by the side of their sister. As they did, they noticed a ubiquitous sense of guilt on her face.
"Luna, are you okay?" Luan asked.
"You know...I can't help but think this might be all my fault, dudes…" Luna said after a deep, sorrowful sigh.
"What? Why would you think that?" Leni inquired concernedly.
"Well, I was the first one to ask our bro for his help so I could make the 'rents shed some green in my direction. Sure, I had to beg him off for the help, but that aside, once you saw me thanking him and seeing me with the money I got, that's what you all amped up to asking him help in convincing, too." Luna answered.
She then brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them.
"So I pretty much got this whole thing rolling and maybe he'd been able to get that ticket had I never barged right into his room and begged for his help. And besides, what's more urge between these two: a sweaty shirt worn by Mick that I might be able to find another one of those down the line, or that VIP concert Linc was stoked in wanting to see where there's no guarantee at all he'll ever see something like that again? Seems pretty obvious which one of greater importance that is...but now it's not gonna happen perhaps all due to me."
Once she wrapped up, Luna sighed again and lowered her head down into her knees. Almost immediately, Lori knelt down by her sister's side and laid a hand on her shoulder, which in turn made Luna look up.
"Luna, I think you're being way too hard on yourself to believe that you are somehow the cause of all this and I can point out a couple of ways why that is." She said, "For one, you could've never foreseen any of us also convincing Lincoln for his assistance, too, after you succeeded on your end. And secondly, by your own admission the worst you did was beg for his help. Contrast that with how we literally guilt tripped him into helping us...and really by 'we', I only mean myself, Lynn and Lola."
Those very same two that Lori just mentioned started to feel even more guilty about what's happened than they already did right as their older sister looked over at them, then returned her gaze over to Luna.
"So if you ask me, there's no one person who's truly at fault here. It was really more than anything a whole perfect storm of convenience and unforeseen events that made the day's events possible. Now with that said, like Lana suggested, why don't we give it one last shot to see if Mom and Dad can really spare anything for Lincoln no matter the odds? We do have those convincing skills he's taught us, so why don't we put them to good use like we did for each of our needs?" Lori concluded with.
Little by little, Luna's mood did get somewhat more optimistic. With said optimism, she stood up and followed along with her sisters so they could attempt to reason with their parents.
However, one last little thing occurred when Luna looked down and saw Lola hugging her waist and had something of a regretful expression of her face.
"I'm sorry, Luna…" Lola said softly.
"Huh? What do you mean by that, Lols?" Luna asked, wondering what spurred this sudden apology.
"I didn't mean to make it sound like Lincoln loved you the best earlier today. I think I only said that as part of the guilt tripping Lori brought up, so…" Lola explained a little nervously.
"Aw, don't worry about that, little sis." Luna assured her with a grin while putting a hand on her head on top of that, "I didn't take that personally at all and I doubt our bro did, too. We both know that he loves you every bit as much as he does me and all our sisters, so again, no need to go feeling like you have to rough yourself up in any way."
As a further means of assurance, Luna got down to Lola's level and hugged her as well. Then just for the heck of it, the rocker brought the princess up with her to carry in her arms as they tagged along back with their sisters.
Only mere seconds later, Lynn Sr. and Rita were crowded around by all ten of their daughters and had their senses assaulted by each of them speaking repeatedly at the same time.
"Okay, everyone settle down!" Rita said, rubbing her temples afterward.
"One at a time, girls, please…" Lynn Sr. added before taking a deep breath, "Now, what is it that you're trying to tell us?"
Each of the girls also breathed in and out before applying the convincing they hope will work out again like before.
"Mom, Dad...is there literally any other way Lincoln can be able to attend the concert tonight?" Lori started off.
"Aside of course from anything uncouth or ill-advised including but not limited to sneaking him in or using counterfeit greenbacks." Lisa quickly added in.
There was a brief bit of awkward staring at the child genius for her sudden and strange need to bring those up, but nonetheless she and her sisters were about to hear the same verdict Lincoln had gotten to unfortunately get minutes earlier.
"Girls, as much as we wish your brother can go, we just simply can't afford to give him a ticket." Rita told them disappointingly.
"Are you sure about that, Mom? You really don't have anything at all around the house that you can spare that maybe you and Dad aren't aware of? Just for him?" Luan asked pleadingly.
"If we did, we would've scrounged it up by now and given it to him, so no, we don't at the moment…" Lynn Sr. responded.
"But we hate to see our bro be the only one left hanging without getting what he wants!" Luna expressed worriedly.
"Yeah, Linky was so sad when we talked to him!" Lola added.
"Come on, Mom and Dad, can't you do something for him?" Lana chimed in.
Then once again, all of them pleaded with their parents simultaneously, but their hopes would quickly be dashed.
"Girls, please listen to us!" Rita implored to them, "Your father and I all share in the same sense of wanting Lincoln in going to that concert. But like we told him, it doesn't matter how you try to convince us, because it won't change the reality that we cannot afford any additional expenses at the moment."
"Your mother is right, but I will say at this rate the only plausible way I can think of this working in your brother's favor is if any of among you girls who haven't yet exchanged the money we gave you can possibly be generous enough in giving it to him." Lynn Sr. posited.
"Believe us, Dad, we tried doing that, but he turned us down flat saying we were truly deserving of that money." Lynn Jr. mentioned, mixed with melancholy and moving sentiment.
"He's so selfish!" Leni declared misguidedly.
"Uh...I think you meant to say selfless, Leni." Lucy corrected her.
"Oh, right…sorry." Leni quickly apologized.
Once they realized that there appeared to be nothing else they could do, the sisters all left their parents alone and gathered in the dining room.
"Man, like how Lynn put it earlier, this is so unfair to Lincoln! We can't leave our bro feeling left out because of us!" Luna said.
"Yeah, but what can we do, though? Seems pretty hopeless that he can make it to the concert now." Luan lamented.
"Pretty much, but I agree with what Luna might've been implying. We should do something for Lincoln. I'm not sure what, but after all he's done for us today, he deserves something." Lynn expressed determinedly.
One by one, the sisters brought forth similarly determined and agreeable sentiments over wanting to do something for Lincoln in return. But what exactly that something would be wasn't entirely apparent for a moment.
But then, one idea came to mind.
"Dudes, I think I've got it! If our bro can't go to the concert tonight...then why don't we bring a concert experience to him?" Luna offered up.
"Wait, are you saying that we should perform a concert of our own for Lincoln?" Lori asked.
Luna nodded, "That's exactly what I'm saying, Lori! It'd be the most rad and appropriate way to show how appreciative of him we are."
"I guess, but can we really do that?" Leni wondered, "Like, that does sound kinda hard…"
"Yeah, and even if we could pull this off, is it possible we can even perform that well? We didn't exactly gel that well the last time we came together as a band." Lucy noted.
"Hey, it won't be about playing our best, but like I and Mick Swagger have said, it's all gonna be about having fun, and more importantly, to show our appreciation to the best dang brother anywhere around. Plus, we should never doubt what we can get done if we all work together." Luna emphasized, then she put her hand out in the center just over the dining table, "Now who's with me?"
"You better believe I am!" Lynn declared, slamming her hand right on top of her sister's own, "Boom!"
"Gah!" Luna shouted in pain, but tried maintaining a hopeful grin, "Uh, I dig the enthusiasm, LJ, but you didn't have to bring the hammer down or anything…"
Lynn chuckled sheepishly, "Right, of course, sorry. But really, I'm all in on this."
"Yeah, me too!" Lana added.
"Me three!" Lola agreed.
"Put me in for this concert-ration of sisterly agreement!" Luan joked and laughed, "Get it? But seriously, I am totally in favor of this."
Again, one by one, the remaining sisters came around to agreeing and placed their hands in the middle as well.
"All right, dudes, for Lincoln on three. One...two...three!" Luna said.
"For Lincoln!" Everyone shouted together.
While these ten sisters were now in total agreement, there was one other detail that needed to be solved.
"Sisters, while we've all come to accordance of a collaborative musical performance, I must inquire as to how we'll accomplish this without our dearest brother catching wind of such." Lisa brought up.
"Yeah, that is literally a bit of problem now that you mention it, Lisa…" Lori agreed, but something did come to mind seconds later, "Wait, I think I know a way we can deal with that. Let's have another quick talk with Mom and Dad."
As everyone followed the eldest sibling's lead back over to their parents, Luna briefly paused for a second and suddenly thought back over to the set of words she had spoken earlier.
"Huh...best dang brother anywhere around...that has a real nice beat to it."
She grinned, believing she has found the inspiration for whatever song she and her sisters will perform for Lincoln in their dedication to him for all his help today.
In the time that followed, everyone went hard to work on setting up this concert for Lincoln, with each of the sisters having been split up into three groups to handle three aspects of everything before coming together again for the last portion of things.
First, Lori, Lynn, Lana and Lisa were in the middle of putting together a stage right on driveway where the performance will be held.
Next, Leni, Luan and Lola were coordinating on outfits and such for the performance and it made entirely too much sense to go with a SMOOCH inspired theme given they were obviously the band Lincoln was hoping to see tonight.
And finally, Luna and Lucy were combining their talents in coming up with the lyrics of the song everyone will jam out to.
As far as Lily was concerned, she was simply within the presence of the second group of sisters just so she could have someone keeping an eye on her.
Once everything else had been finished, they would all come together again, where Luna would share the song lyrics with everyone else, figure out who would play what instrument and do a quick rehearsal all before their parents and Lincoln would come back home.
Speaking of which, that is how the girls were able to figure how to keep Lincoln out of the loop of things before they surprise him. They convinced their parents to simply take him out of the house for the next few hours around town. When the question was asked of regarding if any money was needed to used for whatever, the girls suggested Lincoln should bring whatever amount he might've had at hand, which would've obviously been below the amount for the concert ticket, and then afterwards their parents can pay him back once they had gotten more money of their own very soon. Finally, in order to avoid Lincoln seeing the stage on the driveway, the girls told their parents just to find any excuse imaginable to have his eyes closed or covered up and then have him stay inside, preferably up in the second floor of the house, until it was time to commence the performance.
With all that in mind though, there was one other aspect Luna had kept a secret from everybody. Just to take a shot at it for it's own sake, she sent a message to SMOOCH themselves if it was at all possible they could swing on by their place as another means to surprise Lincoln. She presumed the chances of such were insanely low, because after all, they are a world famous rock band with plenty of other commitments and what have you, but it never hurts in Luna's mind to give it a go anyway.
With each group of sisters having since then gotten their end of the work done, they came back together as agreed upon earlier to nail down the song. Because Luna based it on an already established SMOOCH song, it made things more easy as opposed to constructing a whole new song from scratch.
As they were putting the finishing touches on the song, everyone froze when they heard a scream, followed by the following jovial proclamation.
"No way! No. Way!"
The girls' attention was diverted to Luna, who was holding her phone smiling as widely as they've ever seen her and even appeared to be visibly trembling. They quickly gathered around their sister to see what she could possibly be so thrilled about.
When they glanced at her phone, everyone gasped.
"Wait, wait, wait...what?" Lynn said dumbfounded.
"Is this literally for real?" Lori asked similarly in disbelief.
"Yeah...wait, hold on, this isn't some dumb prank of yours is it, Luan?" Lola suspiciously questioned the comedienne.
"What? Are you kidding me?" Luan responded defensively, "Would I ever joke about something like this?"
The "something" at hand was a message officially from SMOOCH confirming that they can in fact swing on by for short time. Turns out the band was very touched to hear about how badly Lincoln wished he could attend their concert tonight, the lengths he went to help his sisters out and especially how he even selflessly turned down the money that half his sisters were willing to give up at the time. With all that taken into account, the band said they were more than happy to make a quick stop by after their concert concludes tonight.
"Whoa, you actually got them to promise they'd come over? How'd you do that, Luna, and how come we didn't know about you asking them in the first place?" Lana asked.
"Well, I didn't tell any of you at the time because I seriously thought there was no chance in heck they would consider it, let alone the fact they'll be coming here at all." Luna explained, "But I guess it looks like our bro's convincing skills paid off big time for me here."
"I'll say! That is totes sweet of them!" Leni said happily.
"You're telling me, Leni!" Luna agreed, shaking her head and chuckling, "Wow, now that I think about it, it's like Lincoln's gonna get that VIP concert experience in a sense anyway. He'll be getting the best of both worlds, that and knowing his ten sisters will show just how much of a rad and sweet dude he really is."
"Sounds like it to me...and actually, speaking of VIP, I've been thinking of a name that we can call this concert of ours." Lucy brought up.
"Oh, do you? Well, lay it on us, Luce Change." Luna said.
"How does calling it our 'VIB' concert sound? And that would stand for 'very important brother'...because that's what Lincoln is to us after all." Lucy stated, garnering a smile from both herself and all her sisters.
"Hey, I dig it! Sure, I'm down with that, and from the looks of it, everyone else is, too!" Luna expressed approvingly.
"Yes, I must commend the creativity and adroit use of wordage in signification to our shared fondness and devotion to our one male sibling, dear sister." Lisa similarly praised in her unique fashion.
With SMOOCH on board and now having settled on a name for the concert they'll be performing, all that was left for the girls was doing some rehearsing until their parents alerted them they are coming home soon with Lincoln and find a way to make sure he doesn't get spoiled by everything when they return.
Also in the meantime, Luna took care of a couple of other things. First, she knew that Lincoln was planning on going to the concert along with Clyde, Liam and Zach, so she thought it only made sense that they should also come on over and witness everything as well. The other thing was that she sent another message to SMOOCH about doing one other favor for her. They already agreed to come on over later, so Luna thought about pushing her luck and requested a little something more from them.
Eventually when they were coming back, the plan that Lynn Sr. and Rita had to keep their son from knowing anything involved Rita driving them home, then within seconds of pulling up on the curbside of their home, Lynn Sr. would then tell Lincoln to close his eyes tightly and then his father for added effect covered up his eyes on top of that while he guided his son back inside. When Lincoln would ask what the whole purpose of this was, the only thing Lynn Sr. said on the spot was a vague, bizarre statement about how he wanted to test his son's ability in how well he can navigate going into their home without his sight.
But once Lincoln was brought inside, another problem quickly came up over if he'll accidentally see the stage and such though the windows in the dining room. However, everyone was dealt a major reprieve when Lincoln announced he simply wanted to spend the rest of the day in his room, including requesting his dinner be brought up to him when that time comes. There was also the worry that he might look out the window in his bedroom, but it was assumed he generally doesn't look out it except for rare instances, so the hope was that remained the case until later on in the night.
As the night did eventually come closer to the end, Lincoln remained inside in his room and started making preparations for going to bed, which allowed for his sisters to quickly and quietly put on their SMOOCH inspired garb and then stealthy went back outside to get into position onstage. For a brief moment, their parents also went outside.
"So, you girls just about ready?" Lynn Sr. asked them.
"Almost, Pops. Just gotta take care of one other thing." Luna answered.
"And what would that be?" Rita wondered.
"Pretty simple, Mom…" Luna said, pulling out an envelope, "Could one of you swing by Lincoln's room and slip this under the door? It's only a little message telling him how he's our very important brother."
Rita smiled, "Consider it done."
She took the envelope from Luna's hand and she and her husband went back inside. Rita ascended the stairs, gently knocked on her son's bedroom door and slipped the envelope through the door. She quickly headed back downstairs and out the front door to give her daughters a thumbs up to indicate the deed was done, then she rejoined with her husband who set up a pair of chairs from the dining room table in front of the window so that both of them had their own front row seat to witness it all.
"All right, so I got a text from SMOOCH that they will be here any second now, but they've given us the go ahead to get started without them and they'll make a grand entrance along the way." Luna informed her sisters, "You all ready to do this?"
They all nodded and smiled in the affirmative, then Luna took a big deep breath.
"Okay, here we go. Get ready for the surprise of a lifetime, little bro…"
With that, she struck an opening chord of her guitar…
...And as the old saying goes, the rest is history. What Lincoln saw was simply put one of the greatest things that his young, growing life had ever seen. To see his sisters put on an amazing performance and to have SMOOCH themselves take part and his friends seeing everything too all added up to a wonderful experience he'll remember for the rest of his life. There were a couple of hiccups, like when a giant spider robot of Lisa's made an unannounced cameo and Lucy inexplicably neither choosing to complete the symmetry of her sisters' attires or be involved in singing, but those were minor in Lincoln's mind compared to the astounding efforts put forward. There were other questions in his mind like how they could've gotten things all set up in such a short amount of time, but similar to what Luna said earlier to their sisters, never underestimate what ten highly determined girls who love their only brother with every inch of their hearts can accomplish.
In the aftermath, Lincoln had a quick chat with SMOOCH, said goodbye to his friends and went back inside the house as all his sisters were gathered in the living room, where he couldn't sing enough gushing praises about all they did for him. Such included a whole bunch of "thank yous" and "I love yous" coming from him, followed by a similarly high number of "you're welcomes" and "we love yous" from his sisters.
Following a tight, prolonged and loving signature group hug of theirs, Lincoln informed his sisters he was off to bed after such an amazing night. But just as he returned to his room, there was one final surprise in store for him.
"Oh, probably should give our bro this before he catches some deserved Z's." Luna said.
She stepped out the front door for a few seconds before reemerging with a bag at hand.
"Hey, what's that?" Lynn asked.
"Well, it's a nice little bag full of goodies that the band put together for Lincoln at my request." Luna replied.
"Is that so? Huh, I guess that explains why it took you a few more minutes to come back inside, would it?" Luan posited.
"Yeah, kinda, but there's more to it than that. See, right after we all got super stoked that SMOOCH would be coming on over, I messaged them again if they could maybe bring some merch along with them for Linc as well." Luna explained, her mood getting more delightful with each passing second, "So while you all went back inside and he was kept busy chatting it up with his buds for a bit, I paid a quick visit inside the band's tour bus, probably spent a little more time than I needed looking at how rad it was, but then they gave me the stuff before shoving off. In the moment, I decided to quickly stow it in the thorn bushes before just now getting it, so this is as much a surprise to you dudes as it will be to our bro...much like when I managed to convince SMOOCH to come here in the first place. So how about we give that little dude this one last major token of ours before he the night's all said and done?"
With her slightly unusual explanation out of the way, Luna started going upstairs with her sisters following behind. She was just about to knock on her brother's bedroom door, but a brief glance back over made her notice that her sisters stopped short of reaching the top and only peered around from beyond the stairway.
"Uh, are you coming along?" She asked.
"We could….or maybe we'll let the girl who was literally the brains of this whole operation have this moment with our beloved brother for herself." Lori told her with a wink.
"Yeah, you, like, totes deserve it for all you've done!" Leni added.
Thought it would've nice in her mind to have everyone present for this, Luna did appreciate her sisters in allowing for such one-on-one time with Lincoln in this instance. After all, it was her idea in the first place to get this bag of merchandise for him. With that in mind, she knocked on the door.
"Hey, bro, are you still awake and if so, can I come in?" Luna inquired.
"Uh, yeah, but I'm in bed right now and almost about to go to sleep. What is it?" Lincoln asked back from the other side.
"Oh, it's just for a little something, and don't worry, you can stay in bed. It won't take long at all, dude." Luna assured.
"Um, okay then. Come on in." Lincoln said.
She opened the door, trying her best to keep the bag hidden from his view, and closed it behind her.
"So, what's up, Luna?" Lincoln asked.
"Like I said, just a quick little deal…" Luna began saying, coming closer to her little bro's side and sitting on his bed, "But first, I know you've already said it many times tonight, but I gotta ask again, did you like the concert we put on?"
"Liked it? I loved it! That has to easily be the best thing you and our sisters have ever done for me!" Lincoln answered happily, although there was little bit of drowsiness behind it.
"Glad to hear that." Luna said with a growing smile on her face, "And if you loved that, I bet you're also gonna love...this!"
She whipped out the bag and placed in front of Lincoln. He sat up from bed and looked inside of it.
"Whoa!"
The contents of such included a T-shirt, a knit hat, a signed poster of the band, three CDs that consisted of their most recently released record, a compilation album and a live CD, plus an accompanying DVD of that very same live album.
"Wow! I...this is incredible, Luna! How'd you get all this?" Lincoln wondered astoundingly.
"There's was nothing to it, bro. All I did was ask if the band could hook you up with all this soon after I managed to successfully convince to come on over here in the first place...which was only possible thanks to this little dude right here who knows his way around the art of convincing!" Luna answered, giving him a ruffling of his hair at the end.
This night just kept getting better for Lincoln. As if having the best concert experience of his life wasn't enough, easily topping the one where he, Luna and Clyde saw SMOOCH for the first time, this batch of merchandise was the cherry on top of the rock 'n' roll sundae.
He couldn't contain a new surge of exuberance inside of him, so he let it out by tightly hugging Luna.
"Thank you so much, Luna. You and our sisters are incredible...though can I theorize that this might've been your idea from the start?" Lincoln wondered.
"You could say that, but really, I do not want to take all the credit here. None of this would be possible without the combined efforts of all our sisters." Luna said, hugging him back firmly, "We did all this for you, little bro. You absolutely deserved it for helping us and so that you wouldn't be left out. You truly are our very important brother, the best dang one we could every ask for anywhere around. Our sisters love you so much...and I love you a whole lot as well, Lincoln."
Again, Lincoln could not possible contain the emotions he was feeling at this. They've done it before plenty of times, but this night more than any other showed just how appreciated, admired and loved he was to all of his sisters. As means of showing his own appreciation at least to the one sister currently present, he hugged her tighter and showed no shame or embarrassment in letting some tears escape his eyes.
"I love you, too, Luna...and the rest of our sisters obviously as well. You all mean the world to me." Lincoln softly said with a little bit of sniffling.
"Same here for you, bro. Same here." Luna emphasized wholeheartedly, holding him a little closer on her end.
Both stayed within their embrace for a little while more until finally breaking it off slowly, showing off smiles to each other.
"Here, let me put this aside for now."
She took the bag and placed it on the chair just a few inches from where his bed was, then she came back near him one last time.
"All right, you've had the most rockin' night imaginable, so I'll let you get some shuteye at last." Luna said to him, "Good night, Lincoln."
"Good night, Luna. Thank you again for the best night of my life thus far. I'll never forget it or those who made all possible just for me and with whom I love dearly." Lincoln said sincerely.
"You're welcome. Again, we all love you and that will always be the case." Luna reiterated in a heartfelt manner.
After they shared another brief hug, Lincoln laid back down in his bed and allowed Luna to put the covers over him, then she sealed everything with an affectionate kiss on his forehead and finally another gentler ruffle of his hair.
As her little bro was drifting to sleep, Luna quietly left his room and sighed deeply, sharing a very satisfied smile with the rest of their sisters who looked on.
"He loved everything. The concert, the merch...and as he put it, he especially loves those who made it all possible, just like those very same ones love him with all their hearts, too."
With all the girls agreeing completely with that undeniable truth, each of them would soon return to their own rooms to get ready for bed themselves.
It has been a long several hours for them, but knowing it was for the brother they'll do anything for and then some, it was all totally worth it.
Ahh...that felt really good to write. Though how this one ended and the version in "Flashing Back" are written differently, they both had the shared commonality of ending with a heartwarming moment between Luna and Lincoln. Thought it made sense to do that given the events of "Yes Man" really got going after Luna begged Lincoln for his help and her in turn giving something to him worked in a coming around full circle manner. But I also clearly made Luna emphasize to Lincoln that everything was hardly solely her own doing and all their sisters really played their part in achieving such a fulfilling performance for him.
And with that all said and done, thanks for the read and all the continued support. We'll as usual keep this going soon enough. See you then!