It was about ten o'clock when Lincoln woke up that Saturday when Lincoln woke up. As his eyes gently fluttered open , he let out a quiet yawn. He sat up in his bed, stretching his back, then looked at the viewer. "Well, the gallery turned out to be a success!" He spoke to the viewer. "I know, looking back, that I probably didn't have anything to worry about, but I'm not used to having people come to see something that I've done." He stood up from the bed, stretching his arms upwards. "Thankfully, my family and friends were there to support me. I don't know if I would have gotten through it on my own."
He grabbed a towel and dressing gown, then opened the door, and was surprised to see that the landing was completed empty and silent. "Huh. That's… new." He shrugged, then walked towards the bathroom, looking back to the viewer. "Well, I'm at least thankful my family didn't make a big deal of it. Things have been pretty much normal since that night, apart from a couple of people at school saying how good they thought it was." He chuckled softly as he reached the bathroom door and opened it, stepping inside before closing the door behind him. "Still, I'm glad I didn't take it out of the gallery- I probably would have regretted it if I did. Just goes to show that, sometimes, you have to take the risk."
With that, he used the shower. Once he was clean, dried and deodorised, and the shower was off, he left in his dressing gown, and returned to his room to get changed. He left his room five minutes later, fully clothed, and headed downstairs. Walking through the dining room, he entered the kitchen, seeing his mother drinking her coffee. She smiled when she saw her son. "Good morning, sweetie!" She greeted.
"Morning, mom!" He greeted back, walking over to the fridge.
"How'd you sleep?"
"Good." He pulled out a carton of orange juice and an egg, then placed the carton on the side before approaching the oven. He cracked the egg into a pan and turned on the stove, before grabbing a slice of bread and putting it in the toaster. "Hey, mom?" He asked while frying his egg. "Are the girls busy today?"
"Hmm… not that I know of, hon. Why do you ask?"
"I just thought it seemed… quiet today."
Her eyebrows raised slightly. "Well, now that you mention it, it has been rather quiet today. Did you guys do anything last night?" Lincoln shook his head. "Huh. Well, maybe they're just tired, sweetie."
"I guess." He returned his thoughts to the egg frying in front of him, while his father entered the room.
"Morning, Honey!" He greeted his wife, then turned to look at Lincoln. "Hey, champ!"
"Hey, dad!"
"Lynn, do you know where the girls are?" Rita asked.
"They should be upstairs. Why?"
"Well, they're just really quiet."
The man could only shrug as he poured a cup of coffee for himself. Lincoln heard the toaster, so he grabbed the piece of toast and placed it on a plate. He turned off the stove when he saw that the egg was ready, and slid the fried egg onto the the plate, placing the pan in the sink. He began to butter the toast, when Lynn turned to him. "Hey, Lincoln, did you happen to order something?"
Lincoln looked confused at the question. "Not that I can think of."
"Well, there's a parcel in the living room. It has your name on, but not our address."
Now, Rita was confused. "But, how could it be sent here without an address?"
Lynn simply shrugged. "Maybe one of the girls let whoever sent it in, and they left it there."
"I'll take a look at it once I've had breakfast," Lincoln told his parents, before pouring a glass of orange juice and taking his food into the dining room. Sitting down, he began to eat. 'What could that parcel be?' He pondered. 'And, if I didn't order it, then who sent it? And why?'
It didn't take him long to finish his breakfast. He grabbed the now empty plate and glass, and took them with his fork into the kitchen, placing them in the sink. He then headed through the dining room to the living room, where he saw the brown parcel on the table. Curiously, he sat down in front of it and looked to see that it was indeed for him. He shrugged. "Well, guess I better open it."
He carefully tore through the brown paper and removed it, placing it to one side. He gasped when he saw what the contents of the parcel were- a full comic book creator's kit, with pencils, erasers, sharpeners, markers in a variety of colours, stencils and a book with tips on creating the ultimate comic book. What surprised him even more was who was on the box, which was none other than Ace Savvy.
"I… I didn't even know this existed!" He said in disbelief as he picked it up. "This looks amazing! But, who-" He stopped when he looked down and saw a piece of paper, face down on the table. Intrigued, he placed the kit down on the table and picked up the sheet. Turning it over, he began to read it. "For our favourite artist, who we could not be more proud of." He was going to question again who left the gift, but looking at the handwriting, he instantly recognised it.
'Of course,' he thought with a smirk. He grabbed the kit and the letter, forgetting about the packing paper he had left, and began walking upstairs. Turning left, he noticed the attempts of people trying to silence each other, confirming his suspicions. Reaching Lori and Leni's door, he gave it a knock.
"Who is it?" He heard Lori call out.
"It's me!" Lincoln called back. "Is it alright if I come in?"
"Sure, it's unlocked."
Lincoln nodded, before opening the door to see all ten of his sisters, smiling at him- it couldn't be more obvious that they had expected him. "Hey, guys," he greeted with a wave.
"Hey, Lincoln!" They all greeted back- although, Lily's was more of a gargle.
"So, uh, what's this?"
He held up the comic book kit. "What do you mean?" Lori asked, feigning ignorance.
He smirked back at them. "Don't even try that. I know it's not from mom and dad, because Mom was clueless about the parcel, and there's only one person I know whose handwriting matches that of the letter, and that's Lisa."
"Dang my calligraphic excellence," Lisa muttered under her breath.
"Seriously, you guys, what gives?"
"Well, me, Lori, Leni and Luan decided to go to the mall for lunch during school," Luna explained. "We passed by the comic book store on the way to the food court, and Luan peeked it out of the display."
"I thought it was rather comical," Luan punned, laughing while their siblings let out their usual exasperated groan.
"When we got home, we had an emergency sister meeting," Lori continued the explanation, which made Lincoln realise why they had a meeting without him that past Wednesday.
"We talked it over, and all decided to chip in!" Lana excitedly added, with everyone else agreeing.
Lincoln, unsure what to say, stood there, his mouth slightly agape. Leni frowned. "Don't you like it?" She asked, worried.
"Leni, guys, I love it! Really, it's awesome! I'm just… surprised, you know?"
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, her typically monotonous voice showing the slightest hint of emotion.
"Lincoln, we all think your art is really good!" Lynn answered her brother's question. "We've always known you love comics, and while it sometimes bugs us when you read them in your underwear-"
"Irritates, really," Lola butted in, receiving a brief glare from the athlete.
"Besides that," Lynn forced through gritted teeth, before speaking normally again, "we've always known you could be quite passionate about it."
"Like, it's totally your thing, Linky!" Leni told him.
"It is true," Lisa added. "This is not the first time that your artistic skills have paid off."
Lincoln's smile turned sheepish. "Actually, I wouldn't quite agree there. My usual grade in art class is somewhere between a C and a B-."
"Perhaps, but if I may inquire, is this the first art project you have completed where you adopted that artistic style?" Lincoln was about to respond, but stopped when he realised she was a hundred percent correct. "As I suspected. Not to mention, there was the comic book contest that you won, which- while not as good as the work we saw this past Tuesday- was still rather professional given your age." She decided not to mention that the comic book contest entry was a co-production between Lincoln and Clyde, knowing fully well how close the two were. "To put it more simply, your talent in the medium is outranked only by your affinity for it, and with the proper practice, it could easily level it."
Lincoln blinked. "So, you're saying that… I might one day be able to make my own comic books?"
"We're not trying to force you to do it," Lori suggested, "but we all agree that you would be really good at it, and if you work on it, then yeah, you might."
"Really? You all think that?" Lincoln's smile grew wider than he thought possible when they all nodded at the same time. "Wow… you guys, I… I don't know what to say."
"Your face says it all, Linky."
These words from Leni broke his restraint as he placed the kit on the nearby dresser before hugging the fashionista, with the sisters all hugging on top of them. If there was one word Lincoln would use to describe what he was feeling in that moment, it would be loved. "I love you guys," he uttered within the mass embrace.
It took a moment, but they eventually let go. "So, dude," Luna asked, "you gonna try it out?"
He thought for a second, before replying, "no." Everyone's smiles dropped, their eyes going wide, while he stood their smiling. "I do want to try it out, but not right now. And, while I appreciate what you all said, there's one thing you got wrong."
"What's that?" Lola and Lana both asked, with all ten sisters looking on in anticipation of his answer.
"My biggest passion isn't for comic books… it's for you guys." Their hearts simultaneously melted with a collective "Aww!". He looked around at his sisters as he continued. "I can start using that kit later. For now, I want to hang out with you guys. In fact, I was thinking we could… Nah, you wouldn't be interested."
His sisters all looked at each other, before looking back at him. "Yeah, we would!" Luan argued.
"Come on, Lincoln! Tell us!" Lynn insisted.
He smirked, glancing at his hand when he held it up. "Oh, I was just thinking maybe, if you're all free, we could… go to the mall?" They all gasped, and Lincoln turned to the viewer, covering his ears as he told them, "in three… two… one…" before they all squealed excitedly. "Just try not to leave me with Lily all the time this time."
"Absolutely! You guys go get your things, I'll get the van ready!" Lori exclaimed, before everyone dashed out of the room but herself, Leni and Lincoln.
"I'll see you down there," he told his eldest sisters, before grabbing the gift he had received and leaving their room. "You know," he said to the viewer as he walked towards his room, "living in a house with ten sisters comes with a few bad things. They can annoy you, pester you, and test your sanity at times… but for every bad thing, there's about ten good things that come as well. But none of them compare to the love and support you will receive, no matter what. Whether you're a rockstar or a pageant queen, a gothic poet or a young genius, or even a comic book guy like me. At the end of the day, the thing that really matters is that we all love each other, and want nothing more than for us to be happy." He opened his bedroom door and placed the comic book kit on his desk, then grabbed some money out of his drawer, before looking back at the viewer. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna see if I can snag the sweet spot before the others get to it."
He then ran out of his room, eager to get to the car for a fun day with the people he loved most.
THE END
(A/N: thank you all for the immense support you've shown for my work. This story has become one of my most popular, and your reviews have made it so much more fun to work on and publish. I'll be back with more Loud House stuff soon, but until then, thank you.)
