Authors Note: I want to apologize for the lateness of this chapter, it was a lot to do and involves a fair amount of rewrites, once again I thank you all for your continued support as the story grows closer to the end. I also hope you all have a happy halloween!
The Loud house, a place that lived up to its name, even though a lot had changed in it recently, it still held that large vocal heart it always had.
The sound of the upstairs shower was running, the room filled with a good amount of steam at this point, a phone resting on the nearby laundry basket began to suddenly ring out as an alarm on it had went off, a hand reaching out from the shower curtain and turning the annoying ringing off, the sound of running water came to a sudden halt before that hand reached back out and pulled in two towels.
The curtain got pulled back, revealing Lynn as she stepped out from the shower, one towel was wrapped around her waist as she was drying her hair off with another. The brunette stepped over to the sink, reaching up with one hand and wiping away the steam that had obscured the mirror above the sink, Lynn found herself staring at her reflection as it appeared once enough of it was wiped clear.
"Maybe I should borrow some of Lola's makeup." Lynn murmured when looking at herself, she sighed while shaking her head. "No, he told me to just be myself tonight..." The auburn-haired Loud decided against the idea, one glance at her phone showed that the time was 5:12PM, the closer it got to 6 the more anxious she became.
Lynn found her gaze drifting downwards to her bare stomach, it was no longer smooth anymore, a small bump had appeared recently, the aspiring sports star couldn't help but to smile, although she did wonder if it was supposed to be this noticeable this early into the pregnancy. Lynn tried not to dwell on it as it was still easy to hide under her clothes with minimal effort, not from her family, no, that secret had long since gotten out, everyone Lynn lived with was fully aware of the pregnancy now, only a handful of the Loud family knew who the father of the unborn child was though.
It had been just over a month since Lynn had gotten out of the psych ward of the hospital, that week she spent there was nothing short of a nightmare to her, the sporty Loud began dry her hair off with the hairdryer, in the lull of the moment, she found her mind drifting back to that awful time over a month ago.
Lynn still remembered the shocked reactions her family had when they found out she had been voluntarily admitted to a psych ward, their expressions deeply engraved into her mind, despite that she had refused to talk to any of them about it, she remained silent that whole day, even after she was admitted into the hospital. The only thing that had gotten Lynn talking again, was Luan when she visited her and kept telling many horrendous jokes that only got worse with each subsequent one told, to the point the 5th eldest Loud sister broke her silence just to beg Luan to stop before she had an aneurism.
Finding the right balance of anti-psychotics and anti-depressants had been an ordeal, when she first got the medicines, the dosages had been too high. It caused Lynn to flounder into something far worse than silence, due to the high dose, the anti-depressants essentially became pure depressants, it unintentionally gave Dismal Lynn full control for two days, Lynn herself basically became a living corpse in that timespan. The pregnant Loud had to spend those couple of days trapped in her own head, living through painful memories of times where she had hurt her own family, whether accidental or not.
The ones who helped Lynn break out of that sorrow was Lola Lana and Lily, spending time with the three of them by simply talking was plenty, though having to break up a few fights between the twins was enough to force her back onto her feet, Lynn could tell how stressed her entire family had been during the ordeal despite their efforts to cheer her up.
Then when they changed the dosages the next day, things had been looking up, until Lynn's psychologist, doctor Deacon, came for their daily session, the Loud family were grateful to how dedicated he was to helping Lynn. Unfortunately during that visit, he touched upon a very sensitive subject of the sporty Loud's, the result? Lynn-sanity got control and put Deacon in a headlock, that would have ended far worse but Luna and Lori had been able to separate them.
While Luna had anticipated getting assaulted by the aggressive split personality for getting in its way, it seemed disinterested in attacking her or Lori, nonetheless Lynn wound up spending that day strapped to the hospital bed in her room, essentially until she got control back over her body, her psychologist seemed to laugh the whole incident off, like he had dealt with far worse in his career.
The next day's results had found a good balance for the anti-depressants for Lynn, Miss Lynn made her appearance at that point due to mental exhaustion beginning to set in for the sporty Loud, however Miss did not seem to have any energy, the motherly split personality wound up idly conversing with Lucy and Lisa, what energy Miss Lynn had was spent helping the medical staff or other patients where she could.
That was when Deacon had decided to finally test the obsessed personality, or rather, test if it still existed. Lincoln had been spotty when it came to visiting Lynn, he wanted to make sure she was alright in the psych ward, but at the same time knew his 5th oldest sister hated being seen like this.
The test was simple, they had Lincoln spend time with her, disguising it as being nothing more than a visit to a family member during a very tough time, the middle Loud child was still not fully comfortable around Lynn yet, however he forced himself to relax. The obsessed personality never made a single peep the entire day that had been spent with Lincoln.
It was during Lynn's 5th day in that dreaded psych ward that hope began to reappear for the aspiring sports star, she had been able to go all day without a single word from the split personalities.
That was the same day that the rest of the Loud family got informed of the pregnancy, on accident. Doctor Deacon had been asked by Rita if the medicine was safe to take while in the presence of the whole family, the psychologist assured the medicine was safe for both Lynn and her unborn baby, that was how the rest of the Loud sisters found out the news of the pregnancy, the reactions were all over the place for the many sisters, Lynn barely talked to anyone that day.
Lynn remembered how happy she was when that 7th day came and there had been no activity from any of the split personalities, she had not been possessed in her sleep in the last few days either, while the auburn-haired Loud knew she was far from cured, it was a large milestone in knowing they had found the right balance of medicine that suppressed the voices in her head.
"Lynn! Come on, you've been hogging the bathroom for an hour!" Lynn was snapped out of her memories when hearing the sound of banging on the bathroom door and Lana's voice ringing out, she shook herself out of her thoughts.
"Well, at least my hairs dry now." Lynn joked to herself, the sporty Loud getting her bathrobe wrapped around her body, grabbing her phone before stepping out of the bathroom. "Sorry about that Lana." The 5th oldest Loud apologized before seeing Lana dart into the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind her.
Lynn began to make her way back to her room, although she found herself pausing when seeing what once was Luna and Luan's room door closed, Luna had moved out while Lynn was in the psych ward, the Loud family were all demoralized from that, while they were all happy for Luna, it was just so sudden that no one really had any time to absorb the news, now Luan had the room all to herself, and it was clear how much the comedic Loud was not used to having a room alone.
The house felt a lot emptier now that it was missing 4 of the Loud family members from within it, Lori Leni Luna and Lincoln, sure the three oldest Loud's always visited whenever they could, Lincoln had been gradually coming home to spend a little bit of time at their house more often over the course of the last month, yet despite the fact the obsessed personality was officially declared gone, he made no attempts to move back in yet.
Lynn was hoping she could convince Lincoln to come home tonight, she was full of energy right now however as she stepped into her and Lucy's room, closing the door behind herself.
"What should I wear though?" Lynn had to ask herself while picking up Lincoln's watch from her nightstand, trying to think while she put the watch on her wrist, looking over a few articles of clothing that were on her bed, including those dresses that Miss had bought a long time ago.
"This is going to be a hard choice..." The brunette mentally sighed, just thinking back on how her date for tonight wanted her to just be herself, so Lynn swiped the dresses aside and began to sort through her many clothes, the aspiring sports star imagined if she was stressing out this much about one date, then she hated to imagine how Lincoln was managing in his own preparations.
Lincoln was currently brushing his hair, or rather trying to fix it back to its usual style, the bucktoothed boy had attempted to wash and style it into a different fashion, only to immediately regret it, his hair wound up looking like it belonged to a middle school prom night victim.
"You're going to have to mess it up and brush it again if you want to fix it." Taylor informed the white-haired boy while she was lazily sprawled out on the couch, the 2nd oldest Loud sister was currently in Lincoln's temporary bedroom, working away on an important order that had been placed today.
"Yeah, I know." Lincoln sighed while reluctantly doing just that, the middle Loud sibling had been enjoying living with Taylor and Leni, it was certainly a unique dynamic between the 3 of them, the former bully treated him like a kid brother almost at this point, even if they had a rocky start when they first met, he was grateful for Taylor being there for Leni above all else. The fashion store had been running a lot smoother since Lincoln began working there after school, so much so that his 2nd oldest sister even began to pay him for his efforts.
"You going out to meet Stella tonight?" Taylor quirked while sitting up from the couch, watching as Lincoln failed to get his hair back into the style he desired, the young boy paused mid-stroke with the brush upon hearing Stella's name be mentioned, his shoulders slumped a little.
"No, she's not talking to me that much." The teenage boy responded while looking at his reflection in the mirror, feeling a pang of guilt in his heart. Things with Stella had not ended badly, Lincoln had allowed their relationship to erode though, he kept turning down Stella's requests to go on dates, until the middle Loud child broke the news to her that he could not continue dating her, Lincoln did not go into lengthy detail as to why, but he still remembered the aftermath. Stella essentially was not hanging out with most of their mutual friends anymore, she even avoided going to school for a week.
Lincoln was happy that what he and Stella had, even if only for a short while, had not ended on hatred, just sorrow, the white-haired teenager felt like it would be wrong to continue dating Stella anymore, especially given the fact he was going to be a father.
"Ow!" Lincoln suddenly felt the brush get yanked through his hair, painfully yanking out a bunch of knots along the way, during his distraction Taylor had come up from behind him and grabbed it out of his hand. "What was that for?" He asked in irritation, having his head grabbed and tilted to face the mirror once again, the high school dropout began to mess up his hair before proceeding to start brushing it herself.
"You weren't getting anywhere, and I'd rather not let you go out looking like your mom tried to help you get ready for prom." Taylor retorted; she had helped Leni with her hair on several occasions, she figured Lincoln's would be no harder.
"You've been acting more like your old dorky self lately; you decide to give 'her' a chance?" The girl with chestnut colored hair attempted to inquire, Lincoln looked at her through the reflection of the mirror that they stood in front of, a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips when thinking about it.
"Yeah. I have, tonight's our first date." Lincoln replied, as much as Taylor wanted to make some comment about him bouncing out of relationships at a disturbing speed, the former bully could not due to the fact he had a genuine look of joy on his face, and something about that bright smile of Lincoln's made it harder to tease him.
The two remained mostly quiet from there, while Lincoln was having his hair fixed up by Taylor, he found his thoughts beginning to wander back through the many memories from the last month.
Lincoln did not react too well when hearing Lynn had been admitted to a psych ward, voluntarily or not, he could not bring himself to see her in that position, he knew his 5th eldest sibling was ashamed to be seen like this, the bucktoothed teenager still had a lot to sort through in his mind, a million different thoughts running in his brain all at the same time, having been set off from Lynn confessing her love for him not that long prior.
Lincoln wound up spending that week avoiding most of his family, mostly out of fear that it might be his fault that Lynn worsened to the point she needed to go to a psych ward. His own therapist appointment went nowhere, it was mostly a back-and-forth questions game, getting to know one another until time ran out and he got booted out of the office.
While he went to the hospital when Leni requested him to, in order to help ascertain whether or not the obsessed personality was still there, he left in the afternoon, having not touched upon any emotionally charged topics while with Lynn, although he had to fake surprise when his many sisters tried to tell him about the sporty Loud being pregnant, it was rather sudden, yet he thought it probably was for the best they found out in that moment rather than later.
Lincoln spent each day mostly doing the same thing, wandering aimlessly in different parts of Royal Woods and reminiscing to himself, not of his family, but of events that correlated with Lynn, there history together, their bond, the middle Loud sibling had been living through these memories constantly more so than ever lately.
Some of the reoccurring thoughts were painful, some were depressing, others were heartwarming and joyful, each one made him question himself more and more to how oblivious he had been to Lynn's feelings for him.
Lincoln was now asking himself if he truly felt the same for Lynn or not. For all the pain Lynn caused him, she more than made up for it two times over, Lincoln never was able to bring himself to be angry with her for too long, same could be said for many of his sisters, though none of them were quite as physical as the sports loving girl herself.
Lincoln remembered one event from two years ago, Lola and Lana had been fighting upstairs and he got knocked down the steps when trying to separate them, he landed at the bottom of the stairwell hard enough that it dislocated his left shoulder, the white-haired boy had never felt that much pain before in his life, the worst part was most of the older Louds, nor their parents, were home when it happened, it had just been him and Lynn watching over the younger sisters at their parent's request.
Lincoln recalled it as purely awful, given all he could do in response to the pain was fail at his attempts to stifle his crying, Lisa wanted to call an ambulance given the circumstances, however Lynn for once in the rare occasion, was able to remain completely calm and simply popped his shoulder back into place, having learned more than enough about fixing dislocated joints back into their proper places during her many years of playing football.
The white-haired teenager still could recollect how huge of a verbal lashing Lynn gave the twins, that was one of the only times he ever saw the 5th oldest Loud that angry. Lola and Lana essentially got grounded for a month for hurting their brother, they were just lucky it was a simple dislocation and nothing more.
Lincoln recalled every lost game of Lynn's, his many attempts to cheer her up and support her, to treat her injuries, even when Lynn was in the worst of moods and demanded to be left alone, he would always refuse to leave her by herself, always arguing that she would not leave him alone if he made similar requests.
"There, you're all set." Taylor's voice snapped Lincoln out of his thoughts, his hair retained its original style once again, he was impressed at his former bully's handiwork, watching as she flopped onto the couch once more after tossing the hairbrush aside like it had been a herculean effort to help him.
"Thanks Taylor, I owe you another one." Lincoln gave a warm smile to her; he checked the time on his phone and saw it was 5:40pm, the middle Loud sibling grabbing his orange coat from nearby and sliding it on before making his way into the kitchen, Taylor heard the sound of the refrigerator opening for a moment only to then close shut just as fast.
"Knock her dead, beaver boy." Taylor cheered him on as he headed out the door, Lincoln could see that grin on the school dropout's face, he decided to accept her teasing as he made his way out the door, he had already told Leni in advanced that he had plans tonight and would be out past curfew, thankfully it was rather easy to convince his 2nd oldest sister to allow him to be out late.
Lynn had been riding her bike through Royal Woods, it was beginning to get darker as the time ticked closer to 6pm, the 5th oldest Loud had been riding along for only 10 minutes, yet it felt like far longer, she was anxious for what tonight held, but the brunette could not deny her excitement either.
Lynn's eagerness was stemming from one thing, and that was the fact she was going on a date, with Lincoln. It had seemingly come out of nowhere; she still couldn't believe it in some regards, the only reason she had been able to get out past curfew tonight was due to calling in a favor with Luna. The aspiring rock star was more than happy to help when hearing the news, the rock loving Loud giving a good cover story by lying to their parents, claiming that they needed their 5th oldest sister's help that night at a private gig due to their roadie Chunk being sick.
As happy as Lynn was, she could not deny when Lincoln asked her out it felt rather random, it had happened just over a week ago, she had been minding her own business in school like usual, until she got a text from Lincoln during lunch saying to meet him under the bleachers. The brunette did not hesitate to go straight to the meeting spot, only to find the white-haired boy waiting there nervously with a small box of chocolates in his hands, it only took one small stuttered out sentence from him to ignite Lynn's heart with joy. "I want to give this a chance."
It did not take long before Lynn finally reached her destination, the outskirts of Royal Woods, the aspiring sports star found herself pausing when seeing the sign that read 'You are now leaving Royal Woods.'
"There you are, I was starting to think you had gotten cold feet." Lincoln's familiar voice caught her attention, the white-haired teenager sat in the grass nearby with his bike sat beside him, having just been trying to relax and get the final touches ready for the night ahead.
"You know I'm not the type to chicken out." Lynn replied with a smirk, though it was easy to tell that Lincoln was merely attempting to joke in a not so veiled effort to relax, the middle Loud sibling was clearly nervous about this date.
There was a pause between the two of them as the cold wind blew by, they siblings were looking over one another, Lincoln had shown up wearing a black shirt with an orange coat. Lynn meanwhile had come dressed in a red shirt that had white-stripes spiraling in random patterns all over the fabric, she had her favorite white jacket with red sleeves on as well, although Lincoln noticed that she had not tied her hair into its usual ponytail, her auburn hair flowing a little past her shoulders in length now.
"Are... Are you ready to go?" Lynn was not able to hide her own nervousness now, the two were looking at one another in completely different lights currently, even just merely knowing that fact made the sporty Loud sheepish, she could barely contain her excitement.
"Uhm, there's something I want to give you first." Lincoln spoke as he reached into one of his coat pockets, "Will you close your eyes?" He requested from his date tonight. Lynn blinked at the random request, she did not know what all her brother had in mind at all for their first date, beyond them going to Ohio, the 5th oldest Loud sister gave a nod while closing her eyes.
Lynn felt Lincoln's hand on her chest, that did little to help her already racing heart, the bucktoothed teenager was fiddling with her jacket yet she could not understand why. "Alright, you can open your eyes now." He said after a few seconds, the brunette slowly opened her eyes, though all she saw was her brother holding a small clear container that appeared empty.
Lynn could only stare in surprise when looking at her jacket and seeing a corsage pinned to it, it was made up of three small roses. The brunette looked at Lincoln, the white-haired boy had trouble reading the sporty girl's expression, she had this look in her eyes that welled with joy.
"Do you like it?" Lincoln asked hesitantly, only to be abruptly yanked into a tight hug by Lynn, the corsage container clattering to the ground.
"You're too cheesy for your own good! I love it!" Lynn exclaimed, not caring how much spinal damage she caused the teenage boy while expressing her gratitude for the surprise. Sure, the corsage was not a lot, the brunette imagined in most circumstances if someone attempted to give her one, she would probably have laughed it off just for how cheesy it was, but in this case, the importance behind the gesture meant a lot to the auburn-haired girl.
"I-I'm glad you do..." Lincoln wheezed out, Lynn could feel how tense he was, it was almost like a natural reflex of his now whenever touched, one that the bucktoothed boy had been doing his best to break out of since his sister got out of the hospital. The brunette eased up as they pulled apart, holding one another's hands briefly as they stood there in the moment, Lincoln could see his sister's apologetic expression.
"You ready to get going?" Lincoln interrupted Lynn when she opened her mouth, he did not want to hear any apologies for the past tonight, he wanted to treat this as a real first date, the middle Loud sibling had spent the last few days doing research to get everything ready as well.
"Sure, Linc." Lynn smiled, the aspiring sports star pausing for a moment to admire the corsage attached to her lapel, she wanted to inquire as to how Lincoln planned on getting them to Ohio, since biking didn't sound like a great idea, it did not take long for her to realize just what the young boy had planned for their ride when taking notice of a car pulling off to the side of the road, the driver honking at them.
"Let's go then." Lincoln insisted, having called an Uber a couple of minutes before his sister had arrived, he took her hand into his own and began to lead her to their ride, Lynn gladly followed, all the while keeping a firm grip on his hand.
The sound of heavy objects rolling along only to be followed up by loud crashing noises rang out, Lynn and Lincoln were at a bowling alley. While this had not been what Lynn was anticipating for a first date, so far it didn't seem bad, she had not gone bowling in a long time, it was one of the few sports she did not participate in too often, even Lynn had a limit to all the physical activities she could partake in.
"Seriously Lincoln? Bowling?" Lynn chuckled while seeing her brother returning with a couple of pairs of bowling shoes, handing one of the shoe sets to her.
"This is just the first place; I know how much you miss playing sports." Lincoln insisted this was only the first part of their date, he had taken her to Toledo, it was a pretty big city, it seemed like the night life here was nothing when compared to Royal Woods, it was far more subtle and subdued.
"You're not wrong about that." Lynn sighed out; she had been trying to enjoy sports through cheering her friends on while watching them play or practice, it wasn't much but the vicarious thrill was the closest the aspiring sports star could get until after her child was born, the sporty Loud reminding herself that she still needed to tell her best friends about the pregnancy.
While Lincoln was picking a bowling ball that he liked, he cast a quick glance over his shoulder to his older sister, seeing Lynn casually eating an energy bar, that was not the first one, the white-haired boy swore she had eaten three on the car ride to Toledo. The white-haired teenager assumed the brunette's appetite was increasing in response to the baby growing inside of her, the middle Loud child felt a sense of pride welling inside of himself the more he thought about it.
"If you're hungry I can go grab something for us to snack on." Lincoln offered his date while seeing her selecting her own bowling ball, she tended to pick lighter weight ones since she tended to rely on momentum and speed far more in bowling.
"I appreciate it, but the last time I ate bowling alley pizza I had food poisoning for a week." Lynn declined her date's offer, Lincoln winced when being reminded of that, the food in these kinds of places came second rate usually, while the bucktoothed boy wanted to insist it was just a slip of bad luck, he thought it might be better to not take any risks in that regard.
"Why don't we make this interesting?" Lynn hummed; Lincoln suddenly felt himself becoming increasingly nervous upon hearing that, already that competitive nature of his sister's was showing through and they had not even started a set yet.
"Can we just play and pretend that we did?" Lincoln sheepishly counter offered, it was easy for her to tell that he was nervous, whenever Lynn made this sort of bet it usually ended in some extreme challenge or dare for the loser to do, the auburn-haired Loud had to remind herself not to take things too fast, despite how much she wanted to, they had a large number of steps to make up for initially skipping in their relationship.
"Fine, we'll keep it simple, winner gets three favors from the loser." Lynn toned it down immediately when becoming aware of her brother's growing anxiety, that sounded like a reasonable bet to Lincoln, he nodded, gladly accepting the challenge from the brunette, the white-haired teenager hoped that she would be happy with the second part of this date.
Sure enough, the second there was any form of prize up for grabs Lynn did not hold back, she was rusty at bowling, the first ball she threw wound up at an odd angle, so much so that it bounced into a neighboring alley and got a strike for someone else, much to her embarrassment.
The longer they played the more her rust wore off, though throughout the game Lincoln would get snacks for Lynn to munch on from the vending machine, he had not made plans to play so many sets, two at most, the two had just finished the second set with Lynn winning that round whereas the middle Loud sibling had won the first. At the moment the two were taking a break before starting the third round, they were sat at a small table nearby, Lynn was sharing a bag of chips with Lincoln, he was in agreement now about not wanting to risk eating the food they served in the bowling alley.
"Have the symptoms been bad?" Lincoln attempted to inquire, diverting the topic back to Lynn after she had been focusing most of the conversation on her date, giving him updates as to how things had been at home as well.
"The morning sickness is pretty hit and miss, and I swear I'm always hungry now." Lynn explained, whenever she did spend her early mornings stuck clutching a toilet bowl and hurling her guts out, the 5th oldest Loud would not be able to eat breakfast at all, the brunette always felt too disgusting to try and enjoy a meal after all that, she usually made up for it with a large lunch whenever it did happen.
"Isn't that normal?" Lincoln asked, the aspiring sports star shrugged while swallowing another mouthful of chips.
"I guess? I don't know, I'm not even two months along yet." Lynn replied, she was worried due to all of this being a whole new experience to her, their mom had told her thoroughly about what to expect while at the same time warning that every pregnancy is unique with how one's body decides to handle it, so the sporty Loud tried to not let her personal fears of the unknown get to her.
"How've things been with your psychologist?" Lincoln attempted to inquire, Lynn still saw Henry Deacon once a week, though the schedule sometimes did get shuffled around to different times, the sports loving girl hated talking about her sessions, however at this point she knew she had barely any privacy anymore, her gaze drifting down to the watch on her wrist.
"It's going about as well as it could be." Lynn sighed; it was a slow process but she was more than happy with doctor Deacon as her psychologist, though during their last session he had informed the 5th oldest Loud that the pregnancy might cause her to need an adjustment in her medicine dosages, Deacon insisted it was nothing to worry about anytime soon but he still implored Lynn to keep an eye out for any new changes.
"What about you? You've never talked about your therapist with anyone." Lynn asked her date, she knew Lisa had chosen an equally reputable therapist for Lincoln, no one had heard anything from him about how his sessions were going or even if he liked the therapist to begin with.
"Sorry, I don't want to talk about it." Lincoln apologized, the reality was his therapist and him did not sync up the best, it genuinely felt like they were being paid to listen to him, the bucktoothed teenager wanted to focus on the potential future in front of him.
"I'm happy you asked me out Linc, really, but what made you decide to do it?" Lynn could not ignore the biggest thing that she had been pondering on in the back of her head, after confessing her feelings for her brother, it seemed like Lincoln was not going to reciprocate, until that text message that fateful day.
"Oh... It was something Taylor said." Lincoln simply said, the brunette stared at him in disbelief, wondering if he had told Leni and her housemate about his future fatherhood, the middle Loud sibling raised his hand, motioning for her to calm down. "Before you threaten to tear my head off, let me explain." He began recounting in detail what had transpired with Taylor.
It had been a boring Saturday like any other for Lincoln at that point, by then his relationship with Stella had corroded into not even being friends anymore, the white-haired boy spent the day helping out in Leni's store. Lincoln had gotten to know a lot of the regulars, it was sure putting his silver tongue to use too, and he always got a kick out of seeing Taylor put a troublemaking client in their place whenever one started acting out.
"Leni, I'm going to head out." Lincoln announced while standing by the door as the clock neared 5pm, every day when the time to close came about, he would do the same thing he did every day as of late, wander Royal Woods lost in his thoughts.
"Okay Lincy! Remember to be back by 7." Leni reminded her younger brother; the fashion loving Loud had been doing her best to be a decent parental figure while Lincoln lived under her roof, though the woman with long blonde hair was grateful that her only brother was not a troublemaker type, even if she could tell he had a lot on his mind as of late, he just refused to speak with her.
"I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat with a friend, I'll be back before 7." Taylor suddenly hopped over the front counter, following out the front door shortly after the white-haired boy, Leni quirked a brow at that but decided not to question it, she was merely glad the two were getting along.
At first, Lincoln thought Taylor were simply heading in the same direction, the two were silent while walking alongside one another, that theory the middle Loud sibling had begun to fade the longer the two stuck together, he even at one point deliberately went past Burpin' Burger, Taylor showed no signs of stopping or being interested in food at the moment.
"Alright, what do you want?" Lincoln finally gave up the playing dumb act, turning to the taller girl in the red coat. "Did Leni ask you to follow me?" The teenage boy took a shot in the dark, randomly guessing why his former bully was following him in the least subtle way possible.
"No but she's worried about you, I came along because I wanted to." Taylor simply said in a matter-of-fact manner, that did not alleviate the confusion the middle Loud sibling held, while he and Taylor had a good relationship between the two of them, that joke Lincoln made about treating her like an 11th sister was becoming more and more factual with each passing day, yet this behavior was still totally random from the high school dropout.
"If you have something on your mind, getting it out will help a lot." She insisted while leaning on a nearby streetlamp. "You've been out of it for a while Lincoln, you go to school come home and work, then when it's time to close you walk around until it's late like that's the best part of your days anymore, what's going on?" Taylor requested he tell her what was wrong, Lincoln had been operating on autopilot seemingly for the last few weeks, the former bully could tell he was faking being alright around Leni, the stress form the worry was starting to affect the 2nd oldest Loud as well, that was why Taylor was having this conversation with him.
"It's not something I want to talk about Taylor." Lincoln replied with annoyance lacing his tone, he was grateful she cared he just could not tell her what was truly going on.
"If I can help, then you should. Are you just having girl trouble?" Taylor pressed further; her bucktoothed housemate crossed his arms while staring her down.
"It's complicated, Stella and me are finished if that's what you want to know." The middle Loud sibling stated, although it was clear to her that there was still more going on than just losing his relationship with Stella.
"I know what a look of guilt looks like, beaver boy." The girl brushed the hair out of her eyes, Lincoln looked at her hesitantly. "Leni's getting more and more worried by the day, and I hate seeing her that way." Taylor implored the white-haired boy to trust her, he even had good reason to believe she would remain silent, after all, one anonymous tip to the police and the high school dropout would be behind bars most likely.
Lincoln found himself pausing in consideration, he knew Leni had always been bad in situations with high stress or tension, she never was the best emotionally, Lincoln had been of immense help in alleviating the burdens of the customers at the fashion store, but the fact of the matter was that was only a small thing compared to the rest.
Lincoln had basically begged Leni to let him move in, then that very same night, Lynn announces she's been suffering from a terrible mental condition, not long after that, their parents informed their many children that Lynn needed to go into a psych ward, only to then find out that the sports loving girl was pregnant, it was too much for someone like Leni to take in at such a short time.
The white-haired teenager's shoulders slumped, he figured he may as well answer, he knew that Taylor would not resist reliving her old bullying days if it meant getting the truth, the middle Loud sibling was happy knowing Leni had someone close that cared so much for her.
"What would you do if someone told you they loved you? Even if you knew that no matter what, you couldn't be with that person, what would you do, Taylor?" Lincoln made his hypothetical question clear as day, he wanted to know what she would do if in this kind of situation, he did not want to give all the details, however the only son of the Loud family painted a broad enough picture that Taylor picked up on what he was talking about quickly.
"What would you do if you already had done something big with that person? Something you could never take back... Something that makes you feel like you're nothing more than a monster that took advantage of someone?" Lincoln was getting more agitated the further he elaborated, Taylor had never seen him like this, she rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably when feeling his glare piercing her.
"Lincoln, if you and Leni are a thing, I can't really judge given all she's done for me..." Taylor waved a hand dismissively, she had not seen any signs but assumed that Lincoln was referring to Leni in this not-so hypothetical scenario, it would explain why the bucktoothed boy had moved in suddenly out of nowhere and why he was so determined to help at her store whenever he could.
"What?! No! No, it's not Leni, it's... It's Lynn." Lincoln finally relented on his secrecy entirely; Taylor knew Lynn a lot more than the white-haired boy thought, the school dropout had scuffled and brawled with the aspiring sports star on a number of occasions throughout middle school, everyone fought the hall monitors since most were rather cowardly or the idiotic types to gain huge egos the second they got a drop of power, but Lynn was the only one that gave Taylor a run for her money.
Taylor tilted her head back and face palmed upon hearing that, she groaned out in realization at what he was saying, especially at what he was subsequently implying. "You're the one that got her pregnant? I feel like you have bigger problems than just your sister saying she's in love with you." The girl with the chestnut-colored hair exclaimed, there was an uncomfortable silence, she could tell he was trying to shut down again, just being reminded of his own actions made Lincoln's guilt nearly cause him to break down on the spot.
"I guess Leni has two felons living with her now, huh?" Taylor tried to lighten the mood with a joke, it did nothing, she felt herself beginning to internally scramble for something that could help this situation, the person Taylor cared about the most in this situation was Leni however, she owed her to no end for keeping her out of jail and saving the former bully from having a record.
"Why does it matter if she told you she loved you?" Taylor decided to question Lincoln, hoping that it would stave off his breakdown, she did not want to drag him back to Leni's and explain to her just what was going on, that was too much, the school dropout wanted the middle Loud sibling to be happy so the 2nd oldest Loud could be as well.
"Why does it matter?! I took advantage of her; I don't have any right to that! I love her, but she deserves someone better than me, someone that isn't a monster!" Lincoln exclaimed, tears welling in the corners of his eyes, Taylor was caught off guard, but only for a moment, she knew what the Loud boy was like, there was no way he could ever take advantage of anybody, not like that.
"Is that what you think, or is that what she told you? Because I don't imagine someone saying they love a person, had sex with that person, and is having that person's baby unless they genuinely loved them." Taylor answered his question with one of her own, while she was merely going with her own personal views on matter, it did not take much to tell that his therapist was being of no help, in all honesty to her this was the most serious she had ever seen Lincoln be.
"I won't tell your secret, mostly because that's none of my business and I don't really care as long as it doesn't affect me or Leni, but I'll give you some advice anyway." The high school dropout stated, finally getting Lincoln to look her in the eyes yet again when she put a hand on his shoulder.
"Stop overthinking everything, all it'll do is make you miserable. If you feel the same, then to hell with it, you've already done this much, if you like her, even if only a little bit, then why not give it a chance?" Taylor began to step away, assuming the white-haired boy would want to go back to being alone after this conversation.
"Seriously?" Lynn had to ask in disbelief as her brother finished recounting what had happened, he had told her every detail during their last set of bowling, Lincoln had been able to win out of pure luck mainly. The two were now standing outside in the cold, the aspiring sports star seeing her brother looking up at the not so visible night sky.
"Yeah, what Taylor said made sense to me... I spent every day recalling all the times we had together, the good, the bad, the ugly, and asking myself if I did love you." Lincoln claimed while returning his gaze to his date, the pregnant Loud looking anxious yet seemed to be bracing herself internally.
"I don't know the answer, I do know that I at least owe it to you to find out." Lincoln confessed, while it was by no means a confession of love, it made Lynn feel warm inside knowing he cared enough to give her a chance, she had made it clear how much she loved him, the auburn-haired girl could take it at least as a good sign towards amending things between the two of them.
"You ready for the next part of the date?" Lincoln offered his hand to her, they were in a place far from home, where absolutely nobody knew them, they could be relaxed and open to one another thanks to those very circumstances, Lynn gratefully accepted his hand, grabbing it with her own.
"I'd love to, but I'm starving." Lynn confessed, those snacks had barely made a dent in her hunger, and she had barely touched dinner on the assumption the first place Lincoln would take her was a restaurant.
"Well, I found a place not far from here when I was doing research, it's not a restaurant, but I think you'll love the food." Lincoln assured she was not the only one that was hungry, although his own avoidance of dinner came from not being able to really eat due to anxiety for tonight.
"Lead the way then, Lame-o." Lynn grinned, her brother paused for a moment when hearing that, he brushed it off as a simple slip of the tongue, even if he enjoyed hearing it a lot more than he wanted to let on, the white-haired teenager beginning to lead his date along to another nearby area.
Lynn had been expecting a number of different possibilities for where they would eat, she would have been fine with a fast-food joint if it came down to it, the place Lincoln took her instead however, well it was rather odd, it was a small booth with three long grills sat in front of a small counter, a sign above head reading 'Na'am's chicken bombs.'
Lynn was practically drooling at the smell that filled the air, the smell of grilled chicken, Lincoln had to stifle a chuckle when seeing her making that face unknowingly, that excited glimmer in her eyes only made her all the cuter.
"What can I get you two?" The lighter toned voice of a man spoke up, they watched as he turned another one of the skewers on a nearby grill, the Loud siblings guessed he was Na'am, he seemed a little strange, he was wearing a blue full leather jacket and gloves. There were about six other people sat around nearby, it was clear this place was popular among the night types, given the amount of people that were there at this time of the night.
"What's sweet chicken?" Lynn queried curiously when looking at the menu that hung on a nearby part of the food stand.
"It's a special blend of seasonings of mine, makes the chicken have a sweeter taste to it without sacrificing the other flavors." Na'am explained, it sounded like something neither of them had before, so they agreed to order two to give them a try.
"So, Lincoln... Do you think you're ready to move back in?" Lynn tried to strike up conversation, trying to ignore the loud hissing of the skewer going onto the grill. "Things are getting rougher at home now that Luna's gone, Lily and Luan are taking it the hardest, everyone misses you too." The aspiring sports star continued, she wanted Lincoln to move back into their home, she knew the bucktoothed boy had been waiting to be sure the obsessed split personality was gone, yet a month had came and went with no signs of him moving back in.
"I don't know Lynn, if we do decide to go further with this, wouldn't it be easier this way?" Lincoln countered with his own logic, if they lived under the same roof then that meant he had to give a plan or create a distraction for each time they wanted to go out, then Lincoln thought about college and felt his heart sink a little, but he tried not to dwell on it or bring it up, he didn't want to bring down the mood of the date, that was a bridge the siblings could cross when they came to it.
"No, we got people we can rely on to help us at home, I had to call in a favor from Luna to cover for me tonight. If you keep lying to Leni, it won't be long before she brings it up to mom or dad." Lynn stated, her brother gave a slow nod in understanding to her reasoning, Lincoln needed to remind himself they were not completely alone, he wanted to tell the rest of his sisters about being the father to the child she was carrying, the timing just felt too wrong currently.
"Alright, I'll come back next week, though I still plan on working at Leni's after school." Lincoln declared while watching Na'am load up a skewer with chicken, tomato, and an onion slice before setting it on the grill, there was something about smelling food being cooked that made him relax, the white-haired teenager had to confess that he was beginning to miss home a lot as well.
"What for?" Lynn raised an eyebrow, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the countertop, being near a warm grill in this chilly weather felt nice to her. The brunette was curious why Lincoln held any desire to work in a fashion store at all, she imagined it was the most boring thing imaginable, even if part time.
"So we have money for the baby of course. Leni doesn't pay that bad, the clients like me a lot, plus Taylor handles the troublemakers pretty well." Lincoln explained, he wanted to make sure there was enough money in case they needed it for the baby, the young boy did not want to go relying on their family for everything.
"You're really the man with the plan, huh?" Lynn rhetorically laughed, that was when she had one of the chicken kabob skewers handed to her, Lincoln stared in wide-eyed bewilderment as she wasted no time in digging into it, practically tearing half the meat on it off in a single bite, Lincoln was apprehensive when getting his own order, though one bite made him lose all hesitation he had on the spot, it was sweet succulent and crispy, it was practically perfect.
"By the way, Linc, I have my first ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow." Lynn tried to begin after she swallowed down another mouthful of her food. "Do you want to come with?" The auburn-haired girl offered, swearing she saw a shine of excitement in her brother's eyes.
"Yeah, I do." Lincoln eagerly said, he had a hard time believe it had already been over a month since Lynn had become pregnant, it felt like so much time had been completely lost in such a short span. The middle Loud sibling could not believe how much everything had changed in such a short amount of time; the fact things were only going to become increasingly different did not help his worries for the future.
The two spent another short while talking between one another, Lynn wound up eating a lot more than he did, though as she was enjoying their time together, the brunette swore she heard an odd whispering, it was barely audible, the sporty Loud casting a quick glance at the strangers that were sat nearby, talking amongst one another, Lynn shrugged it off assuming she had been hearing them.
Once the two finished eating, Lincoln had called another Uber, the time inching closer to 9pm as the two tried to relax in the back of the car, Lynn kept her brother's hand tight in her own, she felt full, satisfied, and relaxed, tonight had been nothing short of amazing to her.
"I guess I owe you 3 favors now, huh?" Lynn giggled, referring to the bet they had made during the bowling match. Lincoln wanted to make a joke about how he didn't keep track of favors, that would be a lie though, every one of the Loud siblings kept track of favors earned and owed, it was practically a currency on its own.
"How about you repay me by making the next date plans?" Lincoln suggested with a wry smile, hearing that he was open to going on another date made Lynn all the happier.
"I'll try but I'm not as good at making plans as you are." The 5th oldest Loud sister responded, she leaned over and rested her head on Lincoln's shoulder, the two remained like that for the rest of the ride, enjoying the gentle rocking of each movement from any turn the car took.
When the two got back to Royal Woods, or rather, the edge of it where they had left their bicycles, there was a strange sensation between the two of them, a clear desire to want to talk and say more.
"Lincoln, are you still scared of me?" Lynn abruptly asked to break the silence while getting her bike out from behind the sign where it was hidden, her only brother stared at her in surprise, he sighed.
"All the voices in your head are gone, I'm not scared of you, I'm just scared I might cause one to come back out... Or at least, I was." Lincoln began explaining, he had been worried he was nothing except one large threat to Lynn, that he would cause the obsessed personality to return despite the medication and cause a resurgence of all the personalities at once.
"But after tonight? I think it's safe to say you're just you again." The white-haired teenager exclaimed, the family had a system in place now for if Lynn even heard a single word from any of the voices again, it was more like a warning notice at best, but it still was there.
Lynn felt Lincoln take her hands into his own, the young man trying to build up his confidence before he took a breath, leaning in and pressing his lips against Lynn's, at first, she was not sure how to react, it was shocking that Lincoln would make the first move, but she found herself beginning to immediately relax at the feeling of the mere touch of his. Lynn enjoyed the feeling of his soft lips against her own, although the familiarity of the sensation confused her somewhat.
When they broke apart, Lincoln went and hopped onto his bicycle, a bright smile on his face. "What time is your ultrasound?" He asked casually, like what had just transpired between the two of them was nothing big, then again given what they had done in the past, it was a rather tiny gesture comparatively, nonetheless it was a huge thing to Lynn.
"At 10:30 tomorrow, the clinic." Lynn automatically responded while still standing there, absorbing the kiss in full.
"Great, I'll meet you there, have a good night, Lynn." Lincoln bid Lynn goodbye, beginning to pedal off on that note with the date officially done.
"Luna is not going to believe any of this when I tell her." Lynn went and got on her own bicycle, she had a feeling Lisa would want to know as well, there was no way that the child prodigy was oblivious to any of this given Luna directly asked about safe places for them to date. The sporty Loud tried not to think on it, for now, she focused on trying to head back home.
Lynn had trouble going to sleep that night, she did not know why, she was just stuck awake, staring at the ceiling or rolling onto her side to stare at the wall, sneaking back in without waking anyone had been a rudimentary feat for her, a lot of the older family members were experts in it, however the thing keeping her awake at the moment was that whispering, she had heard it while eating with Lincoln, she heard it again about a few minutes after her head first hit the pillow.
The aspiring sports star brushed it off to someone watching stuff too loudly on their phone, eventually Lynn was able to drift off to sleep after a long bout of effort, but as soon as that slumber came about it was taken away just as fast, the feeling of someone shaking her awake snapped her out of the comfort of her dreams.
"Honey, we're going to be late." Rita's voice caught Lynn's attention; she rubbed an eye tiredly after sitting up.
"How long did I sleep in?" Lynn asked groggily, looking to her alarm clock and seeing it was on the floor, obviously yanked free from the wall socket, the sports loving girl guessed she had been stirred in her sleep by it at one point, only to then angrily tear it out in order to silence it.
"It's 9:30 already, Lynn, I know you were out late helping Luna yesterday, you just have been refusing to wake up." Rita answered, in truth this was her 3rd attempt to wake Lynn up, and that was just her efforts, no one else had any better luck getting the athletically gifted Loud to get out of bed.
"Ugh, dang it, I'll get ready." Lynn hopped out of bed stretching, she still felt a heavy weight in her eyelids, she saw Rita leaving the room, the brunette reaching over to her nightstand where two pill bottles sat, her anti-psychotic and anti-depressant respectively, Lynn fished out one pill from each bottle before making her way to the bathroom, thankfully it was readily available.
"I needed to burn more energy last night." Lynn mumbled to herself, guessing bowling had not been enough to tire her out enough. The auburn-haired girl turned on the sink faucet before popping the pills in her mouth, she leaned down and drank from the running water before swallowing.
"Hm?" Lynn looked confused when looking at the mirror above the sink while being bent over, the brunette swore she had seen something for a moment, yet it was gone now however, whatever it had been she did not get a good enough look at it to identify it.
"Maybe Luan's just messing with me..." Lynn mentally considered, yet that theory fell apart upon being reminded that Luan was not in a pranking mood at the moment, she looked down to her watch and saw her time was running short, the pregnant girl pushing those thoughts aside as she focused on getting ready for the day ahead.
The morning had been uneventful, Lynn had missed breakfast by a longshot and just made do with a small bowl of cereal, after that she left with her mom so they would not be late for the ultrasound appointment, the sporty Loud was pretty happy to find Lincoln waiting for them in the parking lot, having arrived early himself.
The clinic was not anything special, though the family physician they once went to, had decided to go to another clinic earlier in the year. Lynn had been offered the ultrasound check on the baby after her last checkup here, at first the sporty Loud thought it was dumb, it was too early to see anything, so why bother? Then Lynn considered that it might not be that bad of an idea when that desire to see her unborn baby popped into her mind, even if they were still not that formed, it made her happy to think about, plus having the ultrasound scan for memories sake would be a nice bonus as well.
Lynn swore she heard that whispering again at one point during the boring wait when she got lost in her own head, she could see other people talking in the waiting room, not the quietest types of individuals either.
"Lynn Loud!" The assistant called out for the brunette from the doorway once it was opened.
"Do you want me to go back there with you?" Rita offered her daughter, while the mother of 11 was glad Lincoln was there to be supportive, she couldn't help but to note how things felt different, her only son looked a lot brighter today, probably the happiest the blonde woman had seen him be in quite some time.
"Thanks mom, but I think it should only be Lincoln and me." Lynn insisted, this was something that she wanted to treat as personal, something to share with the father of the child first before anyone else. Rita understood, from the Loud matriarch's perspective, her children were repairing a nearly destroyed bond with the help of this baby, Rita was going to respect her daughter's wishes for this, oblivious to just what was going on between the two.
"I'll show you the scans the second we get out, don't worry." Lincoln promised their mom before he hurriedly followed Lynn through the door.
It only took one minute of being in the private room for Lynn to already feel embarrassed about Lincoln being there, she was laid back on the exam table, the assistant told her to get comfy so she did, the white-haired boy was standing beside her with a smirk on his face. "What's so funny?" Lynn chirped when hearing him chuckling to himself.
"Nothing, I'm just reminded of all the times I basically had to fight you to get you to see a doctor." Lincoln confessed honestly; he had earned a good number of bruises in those efforts. "I remember one time you fractured your hand, refused to believe it, then wound up falling to the ground in pain after you hit my arm." the white-haired boy recounted one of the injuries from the past, still remembering it like it was yesterday, Lynn pouted slightly while crossing her arms, having a feeling she was going to be teased through memory lane today.
She appreciated Lincoln's sentimentality though, even if she did not show it. The two heard the quick knocking on the door, before seeing it open to an older woman with messy black hair, dragging in an ultrasound machine behind her, though she seemed more like a physician's assistant rather than a doctor. "Hi there, I'm Ashley, you're here for an ultrasound and general checkup, right?" Ashley introduced herself while getting her gloves on, Lynn already felt uncomfortable.
"Yeah. I'm a little over six weeks, I think." Lynn tried to recall, time had gone by so fast that it really made it hard, the PA looking to Lincoln with a raised brow.
"I'm Lincoln, I'm just here for support." Lincoln answered before the physician's assistant could make any inquiries, Ashley shrugged it off, it wasn't like he was her patient.
"Alright, Lynn, roll up your shirt enough so I can see your gut, and please don't suck it in." Ashley requested while dragging a small rolling stool over with her foot, taking a seat alongside the exam table, Lynn sheepishly did what was requested of her, unsure why having Lincoln see her bare stomach with the small bump beginning to appear on it embarrassed her, the auburn-haired Loud made sure to look away from her brother.
Lincoln felt a surge of pride in himself, he held Lynn's hand instinctively without even realizing he was doing it at first, the 5th oldest Loud shivered when feeling that cold gel getting poured on her belly, then the wand got pressed against her bare skin.
"You aren't going to see much, really there isn't a whole lot TO see for the first few months." Ashley tried to inform Lynn in advanced while looking at the monitor, she tilted her head for a moment.
"I forgot how gross this stuff felt..." Lynn groaned, the last time she had an ultrasound it was on her shoulder, somehow the gel felt like nasty slime on her stomach.
"Try not to think about it, just stare at the monitor." Lincoln advised she take her mind off of it by simply looking at the monitor, sure they could barely make out anything on it, though it still was something amazing to him, seeing that pride and joy in his eyes made Lynn relax. After a moment, the two saw Ashley freeze the image on the monitor before pulling the wand away from the brunette's stomach.
"Like I said, there's not much to see, far from impressive, but everything looks normal, they both look like they're coming along alright." Ashley stated, handing Lynn a few tissues so she could clean herself off.
"Thank goodness." Lynn sighed in relief; she had not even been aware of the breath she had been holding in until she exhaled.
"That's great!" Lincoln had an energetic smile on his face, his expression radiated nothing short of pure excitement now, however part of what Ashley said just registered in his brain. "Wait... Both of them...?" The bucktoothed teenager blinked, looking to the physician's assistant with a straight face, that was the moment Lynn began to pick up on just what her brother was saying rather quickly, sitting up on her elbows, Ashley's words now becoming clear to the sporty Loud as well.
"Hm?" Ashley looked over her shoulder to the two. "You're having twins." She spoke the truth, hearing that made Lynn's heart skip a beat, she felt a new wave of fear beginning to set into her.
"T-Twins...? That can't be right." Lynn fearfully spoke up, being pregnant was one thing, raising a child was another, having twins was a lot more of a body straining task that she had not even been remotely considering.
"No, it's right, you can see a very thin white line right here." Ashley tapped on the image on the monitor, pointing out a seemingly random line on it, not that it helped the Loud siblings understand her point any better. "It means they're in separate sacs. Congratulations." She congratulated Lynn on her double bundle of joy, Lynn was flabbergasted, staring at the frozen picture on the monitor. The two had their attentions grabbed when they heard a loud thud coming from the other side of the exam table.
"Lincoln?" Lynn looked to her left, seeing the white-haired boy laying in the floor now, the news apparently was too much to take in all at once, Lincoln had fainted as result.