Here's the next chapter of Darcy or Family... and there's something I'd like to say before we begin.
I've come to realize that, sooner or later, this story will start to drag. After all, there's only so much Darcy-Lisa bonding and habit-ridding training (Did I say that right?) before my brain tells me to get on with it.
And so, next chapter will most likely be the final chapter. Lisa will return with a little friend, she'll see her family once more, and finally, it'll be up to her to decide whether or not she'll stay at the Loud house, or go away forever.
Anyway, onto the chapter!
A new day, a new rooster to ruin everyone's beauty sleep by reminding them it was time to wake up. Lincoln Loud was one of these people, and as soon as he got up, he noticed the readers.
"Oh hi, nice to see you again," Lincoln greeted. "It's been a while since we last met, and since the girls-and Mom-started to try and change for the better in order to convince Lisa to come back home. Now, you may think that at this point, no progress has been made at all, and the situation is starting to look hopeless, to the point Lisa might actually decide to move in with Lisa."
The boy chuckled and shook his head before jumping out of his bed, "Well, my friends, that's exactly what I hope is not the case! I'll go check how my sisters have been doing, and you can just stay there and give them the benefit of the doubt, right?"
Lincoln reached for the door, and took a deep breath before he left his room and began his journey to see if his sisters were changing at least a little bit for Lisa's sake. First ones he saw, of course, were Lori and Leni, with the former sitting on her bed as she spoke with someone on the phone.
"Bobby, listen, I'm trying my best to focus less on my phone, so if you want have something to discuss, we'll have to do it at your house," Lori said as Lincoln walked to her. "I'll get ready, and I'll let you know when I'm driving to your house."
Lori hung up her phone, turned around and walked past Lincoln before stating, "Sorry, Lincoln, I literally need to get ready to go visit Bobby, so I can't help you with whatever you need now. But I'm sure Leni would like your company."
Lincoln nodded and immediately walked over to Leni, who was busy writing something down on a notebook.
"Hi Leni, Lori's busy so she told me to check up on you," the boy greeted, getting the fashionista's attention. "How are you doing? Did you make any progress on... you know, your change?"
"Well, believe it or not, it's kinda difficult to do it when, like, the thing you need to change can be taken in many different ways," Leni answered, taking a deep breath before showing what she wrote on her notebook. "I'm writing down all the meanings it could be applied to, and I've already written down what all of our siblings will, like, have to do, as well as whether they've been able to keep it up."
"Really?" Lincoln asked, tilting his head. "You wrote that?"
Leni handed Lincoln a different notebook, the one holding the notes she wrote for what her siblings needed to do, and the boy was sincerely impressed by what he read.
"Wow, Leni, thanks a lot!" Lincoln remarked. "But, you didn't really have to do this, you know that, right?"
Leni smiled and shook her head. "I'm always happy to help."
With that said, Lincoln left the room and walked towards Luna and Luan's bedroom as he said to himself, "Okay, Lori and Leni seem to be doing well. Let's see how Luna and Luan are doing."
However, an annoyed grunt coming from the twins' bedroom quickly caught Lincoln's attention, and he immediately headed to their room and barged in. Once inside, he saw Lola sitting on her bed while trying to read a book, while Lana just... sulked in the corner.
"Ugh, why is this so hard?!" Lola exclaimed in exasperation. "Stop making it so hard for me to read you, book!"
Lincoln promptly walked to Lola's side and put a hand on her shoulder. "Is something wrong, Lola?"
The diva flinched, and snapped as soon as she turned to face her brother, "Lincoln, don't go pulling a Lucy on me! That's just rude!"
"Sorry, I didn't notice you were that concentrated in the book," Lincoln brushed Lola's hair. "By the way, how are you doing? Have you been able to read it?"
"I've tried, Lincoln, I honestly have, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't do it!"
"And I think I may have an idea why that's the case," Lincoln crouched down and looked closer at Lola's eyes. "Have the reading glasses we bought for you arrived yet?"
Lola flinched, and started sweating profusely as she turned away, trying to avoid eye contact with her brother.
"Listen, Lola, I know you probably don't want to wear glasses 'cause you think they're not cute or something like that, but we all have to do sacrifices to change for the better, you included," Lincoln patted the diva's back. "And besides, you don't have to wear them all the time, just when you're trying to read something. Plus, if they haven't arrived yet-"
"They did arrive," Lola somberly answered. "They arrived last night."
"Good to know," Lincoln got up. "So? Take them out and put them on."
Though hesitant, the diva took a deep breath, reached for her back, and took out a pair of glasses that looked similar to Lisa's, but with the lens being pink. After putting them on, Lola nervously turned to Lincoln, and blushed as the guy took his time looking at her.
"Those glasses look great on you, Lola!" the boy remarked with a reassuring smile. "Now try reading the book, see if it's any easier to read it."
Lola took a deep breath and turned back to her book, and though she still had trouble reading the full paragraph, at least she could tell what she was supposed to read this time.
"It works!" Lola chirped before turning to Lincoln. "It actually works!"
"I'm glad," the boy glanced at Lana. "I'll go check up on Lana, you keep up the good work."
Lola nodded and went back to her book as the boy went to Lana. Lincoln walked to the side of the saddened tomboy and sat next to her, where he saw she was holding Hops on her arms. She briefly noticed and glanced at Lincoln, but she just as quickly went back to Hops and took a deep breath.
"I know it must be tough to part ways with those snakes and frogs and all those other animals you had as pets, but it's for the best, Lana," Lincoln put a hand on the tomboy's shoulder and smiled. "And besides, most of them were wild animals you found at random. Unless they've spent over a decade with, or you domesticated them yourself, they probably will survive in the wild."
"It still doesn't change the fact that this room feels so... empty, without them around," Lana looked at Hops with a saddened look. "Hops is the only pet I have left, since I'm planning to gift Bitey to Lana. This room... is gonna feel like it's missing something when Lisa does come back."
"We're all taking risks for Lisa's sake, you're not the only one who's having a hard time dealing with it," Lincoln petted Lana's head and got up. "Speaking of which, I have to go see if Lucy and Lynn are doing their part for the plan. Goodbye."
The boy left the room, and as soon as they were alone, Lana and Lola glanced at each other. As for Lucy and Lynn? They were surfing through Lucy's side of the closet, hoping to find something that made her look less like a goth.
"Lucy, why are almost all of your dresses and other clothes black and white?" Lynn complained, taking out a dress before adding, "Even I keep a couple of different outfits just in case I need them!"
"So do I! It's just that most of the events I go to require either black or white clothing," Lucy answered. "And besides, I do have other outfits!"
Lynn took out a black funeral outfit. "I didn't say they didn't make me look more gothic than I usually look."
"Are you two doing alright?"
Lynn and Lucy flinched and turned around to see Lincoln standing at the door way.
"Yeah, we're doing fine, Link, except for that fact that the Duchess of Darkness took her title way too literally," Lynn slid off the pile, while Lucy rolled until she hit the ground face-first. "She doesn't have any clothes that don't make her look any less gothic than usual! And that's the first step she needs to take!"
"She could just go to the mall and buy some new clothes?" Lincoln suggested. "She could even ask Leni to take her there, she goes there almost every day. Although, that would mean she would have to take some time away from trying to make herself not seem as dumb as she really is..."
"Speaking of Leni, have you checked how she and Lori are doing?" Lynn inquired, tilting her head. "I would go see them myself, but I'm scared of how shocking the sight may be."
"I already checked them, they're doing fine," Lincoln scratched his chin. "Which would mean the only sisters left to look at are Luna and Luan, since Lily's pretty much just a baby. I'll go check on them now."
Lynn and Lucy nodded, and Lincoln immediately went to Luna and Luan's bedroom, where he saw the comedian sitting nervously on her stage, while Luna... was nowhere to be seen. Seeing this, Lincoln started looking around, and Luan promptly answered:
"Luna's at the backyard, practicing her music."
And as the boy turned to look at the comedian, Luan sighed, "It's still kinda loud, but nothing that could bust our ears."
Just then, Lincoln heard some faint rock music in the background, and he walked closer to the window, where the sound was coming from. He leaned closer, and saw some mucis notes coming out from the garage, and, since the garage usually moved left and right whenever Luna was playing her music, this brought a smile on Lincoln's face.
"Alright, Luna's making some good progress," Lincoln walked to the worried Luan. "All that's left before we reunite to check up on everything is you, Luan. Can you tell me one of your jokes? Any joke will do."
"I don't know, Lincoln, are you sure you wanna hear one now?" Luan inquired, scratching the back of her head nervously. "I mean, there won't be anything hiding how bad the joke is, if it turns out to be that bad."
"Luan, we're all taking risks here in order to convince Lisa she doesn't have to leave us," Lincoln bluntly stated. "I'll take any jokes you have, as long as it'll help you learn not to laugh at it on your own."
Luan, nervous about the risk, took a deep breath and quipped:
"Have you ever been to the North or South Pole? I was told that if you've seen one, you've seen the other. I guess that'd make sense, since they're polar opposites!"
Lincoln groaned at the joke, but this didn't stop him from noticing a surprising fact: Luan was actually able to hold back her laughter! Sure, her smile was ear-to-ear, but she wasn't cackling like a maniac.
"Luan, you're actually holding back!" Lincoln exclaimed in relief. "And you're not even chuckling or letting out a couple tiny laughs, either!"
"To be fair, that's the joke I've been using to practice my "holding back my laughter" deal," Luan shrugged and rolled her eyes. "I may need to practice with some more jokes before I'm anywhere close to hot cackling like a hyena all the time."
"You still made some progress, and that's good," Lincoln stood up and sighed, "We might actually be able to convince Lisa we can change for the better at this point."
Lincoln took out the note Leni handed him, checked it and smiled, "I think we need to reunite."
Some minutes later...
Lincoln, as well as most of his sisters, had reunited at the boys' bedroom, with the girls sporting pleased looks as they read the note.
"Well, it seems that most of you have made some progress in changing your troublesome habits!" Lincoln remarked with a prideful tone. "I bet once Lisa sees you, she'll be more than happy to come back home-"
"Lincoln, you still have to, like, check up on Mom, remember?" Leni pointed out, getting the boy's attention. "And remember, she's dealing with one of the most hardest changes a Loud, or any human being, could ever hope to face: Learning Math!"
"Poor Mom, I feel so sorry for her," Lynn remarked, shaking her head with a sad look. "I mean, Math in general isn't really used all that often in life, so she's basically trying to learn something trivial at best, pointless at worst."
"I'll go see how she's doing," Lincoln stated. "You all should keep trying to work on your habits."
The sisters nodded, and they went to their bedrooms while Lincoln went downstairs to the kitchen, where he saw his Mother, Rita, trying to solve some Math problems.
"Hi Mom," the boy greeted as he walked to the woman. "How's the Math doing?"
"I wish I could say it was going good," Rita sighed and glanced at the oven. "I already ordered several pizzas for the house in advance, just in case you're wondering what we'll have for lunch. I've been trying to solve these Math problems, but no matter how hard I try, I can't keep focus long enough to remember what I was doing!
"You know, I had the same problem as you one time, when I was having trouble trying to pay attention in class," Lincoln remarked, putting both his arms behind his head as he added, "It turned out the reason I was having trouble paying attention, was because I was being distracted thanks to Mrs. DiMartino, my Spanish substitute teacher. But the point is, I think you have the same problem I once had."
Rita raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. "I have a crush on a sexy female Spanish teacher?"
One look of "are you serious?" later, Lincoln bluntly answered, "No."
"Oh thank goodness, I was hoping you would say no," Rita sighed in relief. "I mean, I don't think Lynn would mind if I was a woman who swung both ways, but-"
"What I'm trying to say is that you need to focus a bit more," Lincoln sat next to the woman. "Here, I'll sit next to you and help you solve these problems, okay?"
Rita looked at Lincoln in surprise, then smiled and hugged him before saying "thank you" in a quiet tone. The boy returned the hug, and then the pair started to work on the problems. And as he taught the woman what she needed to do, Lincoln felt a warm, satisfactory feeling in his gut.
Maybe, just maybe, this plan was going to work after all.
