I must say, I'm actually impressed by the amount of hits my first chapter got. Might not be a lot to some, but for me it's been my most successful first chapter of all time and it means a lot. Thanks for the support.
In this chapter Reese's returns home and reveals some big news to the family. I think you folks might enjoy the reaction from the girls.
Disclaimer: The Loud House is owned by Nickelodeon
Back at the Loud House, everyone had finished up their chores and were now waiting in anticipation for Reese's arrival. All of the Loud kids and their father were sitting in the living room trying to watch TV while they waited. But no one was really paying attention to the screen, as they were too busy talking about how they were planning to spend time with their Uncle Reese. Even their father was looking forward to spending a little bonding time with his brother-in-law.
"Oh I hope he likes Bobby," Lori said out loud to no one in particular.
Leni was looking through some pictures of the two of them and said, "I just hope he doesn't plan to wear these same old colors while he's here. He could use a little variety."
Luna was strumming her guitar and was planning to show him how far she had come in her guitar practice. Luan planned to try out some jokes on him as he usually did laugh at them, even though many of the others believed he did it to keep her confidence up. He often took her pranks pretty well too. Lynn as usual just wanted to play catch with him.
As each of his sister planned their usual outings with Reese, Lincoln just couldn't help but sit and watch the commotion between them. He already knew his plans from the start and that was just to go down to the arcade with Reese and try to beat as many high scores as possible. It would take all their willpower, but he was determined to leave their mark on the arcade and dare other people to try and beat their legacy.
As the chatter continued, Lincoln turned his attention to the viewers and said, "Yeah this is pretty much how it goes every time Uncle Reese comes home. The girls spend all of their time discussing their plans while I just sit here with my plans already set. After that it's just a matter of time."
He turned his attention back the girls for a moment and saw that his dad was now also a part of the group chat. Something about taking Reese down to some place his dad frequented and having him meet some of the guys there. Lincoln couldn't catch it all due to the rising noise, but was able to figure what his dad was talking about. Reese was like the brother that their father never had and the two of them had a pretty close relationship as well.
Turning back to the viewers, Lincoln laughed and said, "You know, I actually feel bad for Uncle Reese right now. Once he steps through the door, he'll be inundated by a flood consisting of my sisters and my dad. Maybe it won't be as bad this time because mom took a few of the girls with her. But at the same time you never know what could happen. Like his first visit."
A flashback shows Reese's first visit to the family after joining the Army. He walks in through the door and mass of young girls tackled him to the ground and began hugging every free part of his torso, limbs and head.
"Or the year after that," Lincoln continued.
This time, Reese is seen walking in through the door and the girls, plus Lincoln, tackle him from behind the door.
"Last year's was the best," Lincoln continued with a laugh this time.
This time around, Reese walks in through the door and a bucket of water pours all over his head, courtesy of Luan, followed by him being ambushed by everyone (including Lynn Sr.) and pulled into one of the family's famous group hugs. As they expected, Reese took it all in good jest.
"I can't wait to see what happens this year," Lincoln concluded as a honk came from the driveway.
Each of the girls, Lincoln, and Lynn Sr. rushed to the window and could see Vanzilla pulling into the driveway. They could even see their mother trying to shake someone awake in the seat next to her.
"He's here," Leni said out loud.
"Okay kids listen. Everyone find a good hiding spot. We'll surprise him like we always do. You know he loves that," their father instructed them.
Everyone nodded and dashed to the closest hiding space. Lincoln decided to hide under the couch along with Lana with their heads casually poking out. As they heard the door knob turning, they quickly pulled their heads back in.
"Okay. Here we go," Lincoln said to the viewers one last time.
Vanzilla drove up to the house and pulled into the driveway. Rita parked up and turned her attention to the sleeping girls in the back.
"Girls, we're home. It's time to wake up," she said as she gently shook Lola's shoulder.
Lola woke up with a yawn and even Lisa woke up from the van having stopped. Lily however continued to sleep on due to her being a heavy sleeper. The only other person still asleep was Uncle Reese. Rita wanted to let him rest for just a little bit longer, but she knew that the rest of the family didn't want to wait any longer. So she reached over and began to shake him awake.
"Reese, wake up. We're back at the house," she said as Reese began to grumble.
Reese yawned and said, "Wha? Where did the base go?"
Of course, he was still half asleep. Rita knew that her kid brother had always been a sound sleeper, once even slept through a tornado warning with the sirens sounding at full blast. She shook him one more time and this time he woke with a start.
"Huh wha? What happened?" he said as he shook his head.
Lisa leaned forward and said, "Mother was just saying that we have arrived back at our cacophonous abode. Our noisy household if you will."
Reese took a second to think and then he groaned and let out a laugh.
"Right, of course," he said and then went to open his door, but Rita stopped him.
"Wait a second. You know how the girls always surprise you when you walk in through the front?" she asked her brother.
Reese nodded and a plan began to form in Rita's head. She whispered it into Reese's ear who began nodding approvingly. She then turned to the other girls and whispered it to them. Lola was enthusiastic about it. Even Lisa, who usually was against such tomfoolery, had to admit it would be nice for Uncle Reese to get the drop on everyone else for a change. Besides she still had to get back at them for ruining an experiment she had been working on a couple of days before.
Everyone in the car minus Lily, who was still asleep, nodded at each other and put their plan into action.
The front door opened and someone stepped in. As soon as they all heard the sound of someone shaking off rainwater and the door closing, all the kids and their dad jumped from their hiding spots.
"SURPRISE!" they all hollered as they popped out.
But standing before them was not their uncle, but their mother and three younger sisters instead.
"Oh my goodness. What's the special occasion?" asked their mother.
At the revelation that it was not their uncle, each of the kids and dad let out a collective groan. Rita let out a chuckle as Lisa and Lola took off their raincoats and put on their best straight faces as everyone looked down.
"Sorry everyone. I guess I wasn't what you were expecting," Rita said calmly as she slipped off her raincoat.
Lynn and Luna gave disappointed looks and walked back to the couch. Lori groaned and went back to texting to Bobby, probably about her disappointment. Lucy merely said, "Sigh" and went back to writing her dark poetry. Almost everyone else there were prepared to leave the room, but instead joined Lynn and Luna by the couch.
Leni however was confused and asked, "Hey wait a minute. Where's Uncle Piece."
Lincoln shook his head and said, "Uncle Reese Leni. But she has a good question mom. Where's Uncle Reese? Weren't you picking him up?"
Rita pondered in mock thought for a moment and said, "Oh yeah I was, but something came up."
"Huh? But I saw you sitting outside with him in the car. Where did he go?" Lincoln innocently asked her.
Just as he said that, everyone heard the sound of the basement door opening and someone walking through the kitchen and approaching the living room, they all turned their heads to the kitchen doorway and saw what they expected.
"He just wanted to get the drop on everyone else for a change," Reese said as he entered the room.
Reese didn't have time to react as the screaming began as most of the girls jumped up from their seats and tackled him to the ground in one of the family's infamous group hugs. The only ones who didn't were the ones who had gone with Rita and Lori who was telling Bobby to ignore a previous text she had sent. Lincoln decided to sit back and wait for the girls to have their turn with Uncle Reese and wait for the frenzy to conclude. Once the girls were off of him and he was pulled back up to his feet, courtesy of Leni and Luna.
After dusting himself off he smiled and said, "Now that's an introduction I was expecting. Though I was kind of disappointed that it was just a simple pop out and yell surprise thing you guys planned this time around."
With that he wrapped an arm around Luan and ruffled her hair.
"Especially with the master of all pranks right here," he added and chuckled.
Luan laughed with him and said, "Well sometimes you just can't beat a classic. But I guess the joke was on me this time."
The two laughed a little more as Leni wrapped her own arm around her uncle. Despite being a military man, Reese was still of average height and both he and Leni were relativly close to the same height. There have even been times where they were mistaken for cousins or even siblings. Imagine the awkwardness people feel when they are told the truth.
"Uncle Piece you must do something about those colors you're wearing. Add something different," Leni said while brushing his shirt off.
Lori rolled her eyes and said, "It's Reese, Leni. Besides he can't do anything about those clothes, they're part of his uniform."
The rest of the family with the exception of Lynn Sr. and Rita voiced agreement with Lori. That is until Reese laughed and continued.
"Well Lori there's actually something I should tell you guys about," he said and turned his head to Rita.
Rita nodded her approval as did Lynn Sr.
He stepped away from the family for a moment and said, "Last week I got the official papers and all I had to was sign and get them processed. I am now officially discharged from the Army. I'm home for good."
The kids then stopped and stared with disbelief with the exception of Leni who didn't fully realize the meaning.
"You mean that you don't need to pay your bills anymore?" she asked.
Lisa groaned and rolled her eyes at Leni's usually ditziness.
"No Leni. It means that Uncle Reese is out of the Army for good. Meaning he's not going back and that he's here to stay," Lisa informed her dimwitted sister.
Reese laughed out loud and said, "Right on the nose Lisa."
Lisa smiled approvingly and said, "Thank you for the compliment. Now I know it's not very characteristic of me to do this, but I just have to do this. YAY! UNCLE REESE IS HERE TO STAY!"
As a result, all of the girls screamed and pulled Reese into another one of their crushing group hugs. The only ones who held back were Lincoln and Lucy as they knew better than to get in the middle of the frenzy of affection.
Lincoln turns back to the audience and said, "See now this is one of the things I was talking about. With a family so big, you have to try to get all of the attention that you can. Sometimes it's a good idea to join in the attack. But sometimes it's safer to sit back and wait."
He crossed his arms and continued watching the display. The he became too excited and said, "Especially now because... YEAH! UNCLE REESE IS HERE FOR GOOD!"
Without a second thought, Lincoln ran up and joined the group hug with Luna and Lynn making room for him to join in. Lucy watched them and tried to resist the urge to join them. But despite her dark nature, she couldn't bear it and joined in next to Lincoln. No one could tell how long the group hug lasted as time seemed to stand still for them. It wasn't until their father began clapping his hands that they were all brought back to reality.
"Okay kids that's enough. I know you're all excited by Uncle Reese's news, I know I am too. But he's had a long trip and I think he could use some rest," Lynn Sr. told all the kids which resulted in a group groan.
Reese found himself breathing easier once all the kids let go of him. Not that he didn't like the affection the kids had for him, but he would like to breath as well and not have his lungs crushed by family.
Reese straightened his jacket out and said, "Hey it's no worries gang. I still have plenty of time for us all to hang out. Until then I should probably get cleaned up. I haven't showered for a few days."
At the mention of his lack of showering, all the kids with the exception of Lana backed away from him.
"What? What's everyone's problem?" asked Lana as she scowled.
With that, Reese picked up his duffle bag that he had dropped when the kids had tackled him earlier.
"Bathroom still at the end of the hall?" he asked.
"As always and it's empty right now," Lincoln answered.
Reese hoisted his bag over his shoulder and began making his way up stairs.
"Thanks sport," Reese said to Lincoln and even jostled the hair atop his hair as he walked right by.
The kids watched Reese as he proceeded up the stairs. As soon as they heard the bathroom door close, the kids all went back to their usual everyday activities. Rita decided to follow Reese upstairs so that she could put Lily down for a nap and see if her brother needed anything. And Lynn Sr. decided to join the kids in watching TV on the couch.
"Well now that the excitement has died down, I think it's time to get back down to business as usual," Lincoln said and pulled out his newest Ace Savvy comic. "With my new comic book."
In the meantime, Reese had opened up his duffle bag in the bathroom and began pulling out his old clothes. His jacket and dog tags were hanging up on a plastic hook nearby as he prepared to take a shower. He couldn't help but take a glance around the bathroom as waves of thoughts came over him. Everything just seemed too surreal to him. To know that was back with family at long last and wouldn't have to worry his own safety except with trying to survive ten nieces and his nephew, all of whom were less dangerous than the hazards he had had to face previously. He had to savor the moment.
Knock-knock
"Yeah?" Reese answered back.
"Reese it's me. Just wanted to know if there's anything you need real quick," Rita asked him through the door.
Reese took a quick glance around the bathroom and said, "Nope. I think I'm good."
"Okay. Just tell me if you need anything," Rita told him and then began walking away.
Reese had just started the bathwater and the shower when he looked over and noticed that he had forgotten to grab some soap from downstairs.
"Crap! I forgot to grab the soap."
"Coming up," came Lynn Jr.'s voice from below.
Out of nowhere a bar of soap, still in it's box, suddenly popped up from the floor by the tub. Reese caught it before it could fall back down. He thanked Lynn from above and began to undress for his shower. It was then that the realization began to hit and he decided to take another quick look. He went back to the spot where the soap had popped up from and he raised his eyebrows at the sight.
"WHY IS THERE A HOLE IN THE BATHROOM FLOOR!?" Reese hollered.
So I meant to have this finished a couple of days ago. But there's been a lot of storms lately and as a result it's been flooding here. The internet has been going on and off all week because of this. So the next chapter shouldn't take as long to make hopefully.
So now Reese is home and the kids are excited. Next it'll be time for his first dinner back with the family. Will it be a peaceful meal? Or will things be loud as usual?