So, I'm pretty happy with the way these have been received so far. For those of you who haven't guessed, the first stories here are focused mainly on Lincoln and one sister. Once I have a story with each sister written, things will break from that formula somewhat. It seemed like the best way to get a feel for writing each sister while setting up the plot threads that will carry on throughout.
Anyway, without further preamble, here is the Lincoln and Lori story. Enjoy!
Weekend at Lori's
It was a beautiful day at Fairway University. The sun was shining without a cloud in the sky, there were birds singing in the trees, their musical melody providing a counter to the sound of one of the groundskeepers using a mower to tidy up the rough by the fifth fairway, and as a group of students made their way inside the cafeteria, Lori Loud hung back, walking behind everyone as she listened absent-mindedly to their conversations.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but that was the best round of golf I have played all semester," said Raj enthusiastically, his bag of clubs hanging securely on his back.
"Speak for yourself," said Ewan. "I don't know what was wrong with me today, but I don't think I've ever played so poorly before. I mean, I got a triple bogey on the first. The First! Who does that?"
"Jeez, that sucks, dude," said Toby. "Was it the long rough?"
"That and everything else," grumbled Ewan. "Seriously, I think I only hit two good balls today!"
"And even then it was only because you stepped on that rake by the bunker on the sixth." quipped Marisa, earning a hearty laugh from Raj, Toby, Georgia, Jeanette and Gordon. Even Lori couldn't help but giggle, imagining how proud her sister Luan would be if she were the one to make such a quip.
Ewan tried to fix a scowl on his face, but it was clear he found Marisa's joke funny as well.
After they all went through the process of obtaining cakes or pastries and filling up on sodas from the dispenser, they all sat down in a group around one of the larger tables.
"So, is anyone else entering the Siblings Cup next Saturday?" asked Ewan.
While Raj, Marisa, Toby and Jeanette all confirmed that they were playing, Lori frowned and asked "The Siblings Cup? What's that?"
"Oh, you don't know?" asked Marisa. "Its a special, one day tournament that gets held at Fairway every year. The idea is that you invite a younger sibling to caddie for you and if you win you and your sibling get a trophy."
"Really?" asked Lori. "Wow. I wonder why I didn't hear about it..."
"Well, its not too late to enter if you want too," said Raj. "The sign-up sheet is in Coach Niblick's office."
"Does entering count towards anything, you know, course credit wise?"
"Oh no, nothing like that," said Marisa. "Just bragging rights. See, the day is more about hanging out with a sibling or younger family member you haven't seen in a while."
"Shanks Bogey started it," added Ewan.
'Of course he did," thought Lori before asking "So, I imagine there must be some age restrictions?"
"They have to be at least twelve years old," said Gordon. "And its expected that they are younger than you, though the year before last they did bend the rules so that one girl could bring her older brother who had down syndrome."
"They don't actually have to be your sibling either," said Jeanette. "I don't have any brothers or sisters, but my cousin is coming for the day. It's going to be so much fun having her around."
As Marisa, Ewan, Raj and Toby confirmed who they were bringing along (a sister for Marisa, a brother for Ewan, a cousin for Raj and a sister for Toby) Lori sat back in her seat, sipping her soda as she thought about who she would invite, if she did sign up. The idea of inviting a sibling to the university for the day, competing against others with said sibling at her side did seem like a fun way to spend some time with someone she rarely got to see these days. But Lori had ten siblings, and the age restriction only narrowed it down to five. Who was she meant to pick?
In the end, the choice was obvious. She loved Leni but the girl was just a bit too much of a ditz to pull off being a caddie, Luna and Luan would likely have little interest in the task and Lynn would try and make things far too competitive for something that was just a friendly game.
That left her with one option, but the more she thought about it, the more ideal it sounded.
"Lincoln, its time to go, kiddo!" Lynn Sr. shouted up the staircase to his only son. He had only moments ago returned home, having left the running of his restaurant in the hands of Kotaro and Grant for the afternoon so that he could get home in time to collect his son. It was now the following Friday and the patriarch of the Loud family was all set to drive his son the full three hours from Royal Woods to Fairway University.
When Lori had called the previous week to ask Lincoln to join her as a caddie for a day, the boy couldn't say yes fast enough. He didn't like to say it normally, but the only boy in the Loud family missed his eldest sister immensely, despite having nine other sisters to choose from. As such, he was more than happy to accept any opportunity to go and see her, even if it meant getting stuck spending the day carrying her bag of clubs around a golf course for her.
But that was not all he was going to be doing. To make the trip even better, he was heading off to join her the day before the actual tournament. Lori had decided to get him to come over earlier so that they could spend as much time together as possible and make up for how little they got to see each other these days. Lori had promised that she had a whole itinerary planned out so that they could spend as much time as possible catching up with each other, just in case the tournament did not allow for much bonding time. Even better, he was staying until Sunday morning as well. He was going to get to spend practically a whole weekend with her.
Given that Lincoln had still needed to go to school, add in the distance and the likely traffic situation, he wouldn't get there much earlier than seven thirty in the evening. With school now over, Lincoln had showered and changed and was now making sure he had everything he needed in the duffel bag he was bringing with him. Lori had told him that they would be given a caddie uniform for him once he got there, but she had also sent him a recommended list of other items to bring, including his trusted blue suit he liked to wear when trying to convince his parents to do something for him.
He also packed three of his trademark orange shirts, two pairs of his usual blue jeans, two pairs of sneakers and five pairs of underwear. (Okay, that might seem like a bit much, but it was better to have plenty of underwear and not need it than it was to need underwear and not have it. They don't call Lincoln Loud The Man With The Plan without good reason!)
After shoving his phone charger into one of the side pockets of the bag, Lincoln looked around his bedroom to see if there was anything else he needed to pack. He spotted his toiletry bag on his desk, already packed up that morning before school with various bathroom-related supplies (toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, wash cloth, a small bottle of shampoo and a stick of roll-on deodorant.) He grabbed this and stuffed it into the duffel bag as well before picking up his phone and putting it in his pocket.
Next he raided his piggy bank and the secret alcove in the ceiling for some spending money, which he shoved into his wallet before picking up the duffel bag and hurrying out of his room and down the stairs to meet his father by the front door.
"Okay, kiddo! Are you sure you have everything?" asked Lynn Loud Sr.
"Yep. I'm good to go!" replied the boy, eagerly.
Rita came out of the dining room holding Lily, the youngest of the Loud children. "Have fun Lincoln." the matriarch of the family said. "See you when you get back."
"Bye-bye, Lincoln," added Lily.
"See you later!" said Lincoln as he followed his father out through the door. By a strange coincidence, all eight of Lincoln's other sisters had various activities to attend to that day, with Leni working at the mall, Luna at band practice, Luan at drama club, Lynn Jr. at field hockey, Lucy at a meeting of her mortician's club, Lana visiting some frogs at the pond in the park, Lola at pageant rehearsal and Lisa volunteering as a tour guide at the Royal Woods Museum. As such Lincoln had already bade them farewell before heading to school that morning.
Lynn Sr. helped his son put his duffel bag into the back of the family vehicle, dubbed Vanzilla, before they both took their seats and headed off.
At seven-thirty that evening, Lori Loud stood outside the building that contained her dorm room, looking expectantly down the street, awaiting the arrival of her brother. She didn't have to wait long before Vanzilla came into few. Moments later her dad had slowed the vehicle to a stop and her little brother was jumping out to greet her.
"Hey, little bro!" she greeted him as the pair embraced. "How was the ride here?"
"Kind of slow," admitted Lincoln. "There was a lot of traffic about. But being here more than makes up for it!"
"Well, I'm glad," said Lori before looking up at her father as he got out of the van. "Hey, dad!"
"Hi, Lori-Lou!" he greeted her, holding his arms wide. Lincoln stepped back out of the way, allowing father and daughter to embrace. "It's good to see you, honey."
"It's good to see you too, dad." she replied.
Lynn Sr drew back from the hug to look at his oldest daughter properly. "Are you sure you're going to be able to handle having your brother here all weekend?"
"Of course dad!" insisted Lori. "Trust me, I've got everything planned out. We're going to have a great time, right, Lincoln?"
"We sure are," exclaimed Lincoln with enthusiasm. "I can't wait to try the breakfast buffet tomorrow."
Lori gave a laugh. As a way of welcoming the young caddies, the University was going to lay on a very special breakfast buffet the following morning, allowing everyone to properly fuel up before the tournament could begin.
"Well, that's for tomorrow," said Lori. "We're going to have plenty of fun this evening, trust me."
Lincoln beamed a bright smile before turning to take his duffel bag out of the van.
Lynn took that moment to turn to his daughter and say in a low voice "By the way, I want you to take this. Just to help out with the weekend expenses, you know?"
He held out his hand, a crisp twenty dollar bill held there.
"Are you sure, dad?"
"Absolutely, honey. I know you want to have the best weekend you can with Lincoln, and that won't come cheap. Now go on and take it. I insist."
Lori favoured her father with a smile, took the money and put it into her pocket just as Lincoln was dragging his duffel bag up to her.
"Well, I guess I'd better get going if I want to get home before eleven," said Lynn. "Lincoln, make sure that you're on your best behaviour for Lori, and I'll see you when I come and pick you up on Sunday."
"Sure thing dad," said Lincoln as his father ruffled his hair fondly.
"I'll have Lincoln all ready to be picked up by ten o'clock Sunday morning," said Lori.
"Got it," said Lynn. "Well, have fun kiddos."
And with that he got back into the van and drove off.
Lori bent down and grabbed Lincoln's bag. She threw the strap over her shoulder and began leading him to the front door of her dorm building. "Right, let's get this thing upstairs and then we can get on with having some fun. Have you eaten yet?"
"Nothing since lunch in the school cafeteria," replied Lincoln. "I'm starving."
"Well then, it's a good thing I know a place..."
Once Lincoln's bag was securely in Lori's room she led him back outside and down the block to where her car waited in one of the university's car parks. From there they took a fifteen minute drive until they arrived at what Lincoln could only describe as heaven on earth!
"What is this place?" he asked with a large amount of awe in his voice as he gazed up at the green, yellow and pink neon lights of the sign above the large glass doors.
"Neoplex Plaza," answered Lori. "Its the go-to place around here if you want to have fun. Think of the Games 'N' Grub in Royal Woods, but three times the size, plus a bowling alley and movie theatre."
She was right. As they headed inside, they were hit by the smell of pizza, garlic knots, hot dogs and burgers, the sounds of dozens of arcade games and of bowling balls crashing through rows of pins.
To their left were several lines for the movie theatre, each line for a different screen. A sign was on the wall above the ticket offices, words rolling across it in glowing red letters:
Screen 1: Moon Wars 7: Wounds Reawakened
Screen 2: Retaliators 4: Uncivilised Disagreement
Screen 3: Cretaceous Park: Abomination
Screen 4: Accelerated and Aggressive 19: Alabama Drift III: The Fate of the Family Part Deux
Screen 5: A Serial Killer Movie 8: Return of the Slit-Throat Kid
Lincoln had already seen all of them except for that last one. He had learned his lesson about horror movies from that time he snuck into a movie theatre to watch The Harvester.
In front of them was the bowling alley. Ten lanes dedicated to throwing heavy balls at unsuspecting pins. Every lane was occupied, and two bored teenagers stood at the counter, ignoring the queue of people waiting their turn. A sign on the counter read Current Waiting Time: 1 hour 30 Minutes.
To their right there were dozens of tables for eating at, and beyond that were the arcade games.
"Okay," said Lori. "We're gonna grab food first and then have some fun in the arcade. I was going to suggest we get a round of bowling in as well, but with that wait time and the queue already forming, who knows when we will actually get to play."
Lincoln considered her words for a few moments before replying "That's fair. Plus, this way, you won't tire out your arms before tomorrow's tournament."
"Good point," agreed Lori. "Now, let's go and gorge ourselves on something with far too much salt and fat and wash it down with something that has far too much sugar."
"Its like you just read my mind," answered her brother with a grin.
They quickly found themselves seats in one of the booths and began looking over the menus.
"Oh, man! It all looks good!" said Lincoln, practically salivating over all the options available. He looked up at his sister. "You've been here before. Any recommendations?"
"Well, you can't go wrong with the triple cheese, stuffed crust, meat lovers pizza..." said Lori. "How about we share one with a side of fries each?"
"Sounds like a plan to me. And I think I'll take a coke to drink. You?"
"Definitely a root beer."
A few moments later a waitress came over to take their order, and reminded Lori to use her staff discount card when she paid.
"Wait, you work here?" asked Lincoln as the waitress left.
"Tuesday and Thursday evenings," answered Lori. "So long as I don't have any conflicts with classes or golf matches that is. Just a few hours wiping down tables and taking peoples' food orders. Just something to earn a little extra cash, you know?"
Lincoln gave a grin and said "See? That job I got you at Gus' Games and Grub paid off big time."
Lori snorted and replied sarcastically "Yeah, thanks. Don't think I don't remember you taking full advantage of my position just to impress that kid so you could go to his birthday party."
"Hey, I did the right thing in the end." protested Lincoln. "And anyway, that kid's a jerk. I'm glad I'm not his friend."
Lori's expression became one of concern. "I take it he's the one who made that embarrassing video about you and sent it out to the school?"
"Oh. You heard about that, did you?"
"Luan mentioned it the last time I spoke to her. She said it really got you down."
"It did. Quite a few kids were mean to me because of it, but Lynn and her friends scared them off. And Girl Jordan and Mollie put Chandler in his place while Stella made sure the whole school saw it." A small smile returned to his face. "That was great."
Lori raised an eyebrow and commented with a playful tone of voice "Stella, Jordan and Mollie huh? That's a lot of girls' names to just throw out like that, Lincoln."
"Don't you start-" he protested.
"I know Stella of course. She's a sweet girl. Are Jordan and Mollie girls I would recognise? Not to mention Lynn's friends. I assume the ones you mentioned are the ones you played alongside in that soccer tournament. What was the name of the tall one with blonde hair and her leg in a cast? She seemed like such a nice girl..."
"Please..." Lincoln begged, his face blushing redder than a tomato.
Lori's smile turned devious. "What? I just want to know if I should give Ronnie Ann a heads up the next time I see her..."
"Lori…!"
"Oh, come on, Lincoln. You make it too easy to tease you sometimes."
"Well, they're just friends, okay? Is it wrong for a guy to have friends who are girls?"
"Of course not. But, as your sister, its my job to pry. After all, any girl you mention could potentially be my sister-in-law one day. I've got to make sure she's right for you."
"Lori!"
But the sister in question was having way too much fun with this. "Of course, you could end up meeting your future wife tomorrow. My room mate Marisa is having her sister caddie for her. She's not that much older than you are..."
Lincoln let out a groan and let his head drop onto the table in despair.
Lori laughed and reached over with her left hand and began running her fingers affectionately through his hair. "Too easy to tease."
Lincoln lifted his head slightly to glare at her. "Must you?" he asked.
"I haven't seen you in a while Lincoln. I have to make up for lost time. But okay, I'll back off. If you say they're just your friends, then they're just your friends."
"Thank you," said Lincoln, sitting up straight.
Anything else Lori might have said to tease him was briefly interrupted by the waitress bringing their drinks over to them and placing them down on the table before them.
Lori let Lincoln begin sipping on his coke before asking "Whatever happened with that Paige girl?"
Lincoln promptly choked on his drink. Lori chuckled and Lincoln glared at her.
"I thought you were dropping this?"
"Oh, come on Lincoln. I know how things turned out for all my sisters after that whole love letter event. Things worked out for Luna and Sam, Luan got Benny eventually, Leni and Chaz dated for a little while before breaking up, Lynn didn't actually like Francisco and was just dehydrated, Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa were too young to actually try anything serious and just got caught up in what the rest of us were doing. Now how about you, huh?"
Lincoln gave a sigh, but relented. "It just didn't work out, okay? Paige was my friend, I thought there was something more and went for it. She didn't feel the same and things have been awkward ever since. I think we both still kind of want to be friends, but that love letter I gave her just seems to hang over every interaction we have."
Lori gave him a sympathetic smile. "Well, no one can blame you for taking a shot Lincoln. I'm sure if you and Paige are meant to be friends then things will work out eventually."
Lincoln remained silent for a few moments, clearly deep in thought. When he spoke again, he said "I know that whole love letter thing worked out for Luna. Who knows how long it would have taken her to tell Sam how she feels otherwise, but I kind of wish the whole thing didn't happen. I mean, we got so focussed on who could have sent the letter that I began to think there was more to my relationship with Paige than there was, and I think the same thing happened with Lynn regarding Francisco because I don't believe her dehydrated comment one bit."
His sister regarded him thoughtfully for a few moments before asking "So, you're saying before we all thought one of us was getting sent love letters, you didn't actually think that Paige liked you that way?"
"No, I didn't. Not really anyway. But I didn't really know too many girls that well then. Ronnie Ann certainly didn't seem like the kind of girl who would send love letters and Cristina had made it very clear that she wasn't into me. That meant it was either Paige or some random girl I didn't know, so when Lucy said we should send a signal back to whoever we thought sent the note, I just kinda went with Paige, because I didn't know who else it could be. And by the time Luna suggested we send our own letters, I had got caught up into notion that maybe Paige did like me, so I went with it..."
"And you think Lynn went through the same thing with Francisco?"
"It's that or believe her dehydration explanation..."
Lori gave a rather undignified snort at that, something that gained a wry smile from Lincoln before he continued "I just feel like the whole thing cost me a friend."
"Well, Lincoln, sometimes you just have to take that chance. You didn't know if Paige liked you, and Luna didn't know if Sam liked her. You both took a chance and while it worked for Luna, it didn't for you. That's just the way it goes sometimes."
Lincoln nodded at her words, but still looked sad.
Seeing this Lori continued "But look on the bright side, you've got plenty of girls who are your friends now."
Lincoln narrowed his eyes at her and asked "Why do I feel like you're about to poke fun at me again?"
"Honestly, I'm not Lincoln. I mean it. So Paige isn't your friend any more. That's her loss. You've got Stella and Ronnie Ann and those two other girls… uh, what were their names?"
"Jordan and Mollie. And I'm not exactly close with them, but, yeah, I see your point. Thanks Lori."
His sister smirked and added "Just remember to thank me in your speech on your wedding day..."
"Lori!"
As the college student laughed at her younger brother's expense, and his mortified expression was still firmly in place when the waitress returned with their pizza and fries.
Once they were done eating, Lori led Lincoln over to the arcade machines. They exchanged some money for tokens and set about finding some games to play. First Lincoln left Lori in the dust on a game where you sat on a replica of a motorcycle and raced around the course shown on screen. Then he handily beat her at Zombie Killerz XXIV, where they had a race to see who could blast one hundred zombies in the fastest time (it didn't help that Lori kept getting killed herself!) Lori fared no better when it came to the whack-a-mole machine either, with Lincoln resounding kicking her butt there as well.
By this point, Lori was getting a little bit annoyed at her brother's win streak and attributed it to the more video game-like nature of the games they had played so far and instead sought out a game that was a little more to her tastes.
"Here we go," she said as she and Lincoln approached a row of games near the back. "Skee ball. You can't go wrong with this one."
Six skee ball alleys stood in a line against the wall, with all except one already being played on.
"I would never have though you liked skee ball," said Lincoln as they approached the free alley.
"Watch and learn, little brother." she replied, coolly. "Watch and learn."
Lori inserted a token and five balls rolled out or the machine towards her. The alley they were playing on was a little simpler than the ones beside it, as this one only contained holes to score 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 points, while the others had two extra holes each worth 100 points.
Lori picked up all five balls in her left arm and then grabbed the first of them with her right hand. One by one she rolled the balls up the alley and the computer screen counted up her score:
30. 50. 40. 40. 50. Total: 210
Given that the highest possible score was 250, that was a very good start.
"Not bad, Lori," said Lincoln, inserting his own token into the slot for player two. "Not bad at all."
He picked up his five balls and took his turn.
30. 40. 50. 50. 50. Total: 220.
Lori narrowed her eyes as her brother gave her cheeky smile. "Best of five?" she asked.
"You're on," agreed Lincoln.
Lori took her turn.
40. 20. 50. 30. 50. Total: 190.
"Ooh, a decline in quality there," said Lincoln as he moved to take his turn. "You really hate to see it..."
40. 10. 50. 10. 30. Total: 140.
"What were you saying about a decline in quality?" asked Lori. "Two tens, Lincoln."
"What the heck happened there?" he asked out loud, although the question was mostly directed at himself.
Lori took her next turn.
50. 30. 50. 50. 20. Total: 200.
Ignoring his sister's smug expression, Lincoln stepped up again.
50. 50. 10. 20. 50. Total: 180.
"Argh! What is happening?" he demanded.
"That's two losses in a row, baby bro." Lori teased, ruffling his hair affectionately as she moved to take her next turn.
50. 50. 50. 50. 50. Total: 250.
Lincoln's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"I told you to watch and learn, Linc."
He shot her an annoyed look and stepped up.
50. 50. 50. 50…
The last ball hovered dangerously on the plastic rim for a moment. All it had to do was fall forwards into the fifty hole and Lincoln had matched Lori's score.
So, of course, it rolled backwards into the forty.
"Oh, so close..." taunted Lori as Lincoln pulled at his hair in frustration. "Well, as I have won three games already, you can't possibly defeat me now. Are you sure you want to play the last round?"
"Just do it." said Lincoln.
As she had already won, Lori didn't try too hard on her last attempt, scoring 170. Her brother followed up with a score of 190.
"Thanks for taking it easy on me," he said as they walked away from the machine.
"Well, I can't go around beating my only brother too harshly..."
By mutual agreement, they went to get snow cones after that, with Lincoln getting blueberry and Lori raspberry. They quickly found a small table near a row of claw crane machines. The table did not have any seats, but they were comfortable standing at it, slowly savouring their snow cones while watching one person after another try and fail to win a toy from the claw machines.
"I honestly don't know why anyone bothers with those things," said Lori. "Literally no one ever seems to win anything."
"Don't be so sure about that," replied Lincoln, not taking his eyes off of a machine where a teenage girl was trying to win a pink bear with a top hat and bow tie. "I've seen these things pay out before. You just have to know what you are doing."
Lori raised an eyebrow at him as the teenage girl punched the claw machine in frustration and walked away. "Well, if you're so confident, why don't you have a go?"
"I will. I'm just working out which machines are rigged."
"Rigged?"
"Yeah. You said no one ever seems to win on these things and that's because some of them are designed to never grab a toy. Take the one with the bear that girl was just trying to win. The claw is designed to be weak. You could get it to grasp perfectly around the bear's head, but the fingers are too weak to actually lift the bear. The machine next to it with the giraffes is the same. Then there's the one over there with the cartoon starfish plushies. The claw is strong enough to lift the plushie, but the machine moves the claw arm about so forcefully that it ends up dropping the toy again before it can line it up with the chute."
Moments after he said this, a little girl gave a squeal of delight as the claw in that machine did indeed manage to grab a plushie. And, just as Lincoln predicted, as the claw rapidly swung back to its starting position, the claw lost its grip and the plushie fell back down with the rest.
"Wow," said Lori. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually impressed."
They stood there for another fifteen minutes, watching as one machine after another failed to pay out, before Lincoln finally pointed towards a machine near the far end, declaring as he did so "The penguin one."
Lori followed him over to it and watched as he walked around it, looking thoughtful.
"Well?" she asked after a few moments.
"I think this one will work," he replied, before inserting a token.
With a practised ease, he used the joystick to guide the crane back ever so slightly and then about halfway across. He waited a moment for the claw to stop swinging from the movement and then pressed the big red button. The claw opened and dropped, locking around a penguin plushie that was about the size of football. The penguin was lifted up then carried back to the starting position. It slipped every so slightly as the claw changed direction, but remained in place until the claw opened and the prize was dropped into the chute.
Lincoln ducked to claim his prize, proudly.
"Nice job Lincoln," said Lori with fondness in her voice. "I literally don't think I've ever seen anyone win at one of these games before."
"Well, now you have," said Lincoln, holding up his prize to admire it.
Sensing another opportunity to tease him, Lori added "You know, that thing's pretty cute. You should find a special girl to give it to."
And completely against her expectations, Lincoln replied "You're right. Here you go." before turning and handing the penguin to her.
She looked at the penguin in stunned silence for a moment before smiling and pulling her brother into a one-armed hug. "Thanks, Lincoln."
It was just after half past ten when they arrived back in Lori's dorm room. Lori's room mate, Marisa, was bunking in a spare room further down the hall, having offered to do so to allow Lincoln to sleep in her bed.
Lori let Lincoln use the bathroom first, with him having a quick wash of his face and hands before brushing and flossing his teeth. When he made it back to Lori's room he found that she had set up her laptop and opened up the page of one of the major streaming services (logged into the family account from home, of course).
"Why don't you pick a movie to watch while I use the bathroom?" she suggested before heading out the door.
Sitting down in front of the laptop, Lincoln began scrolling through the movie titles offered by the streaming service. His personal choice would have been something sci-fi related, or high fantasy. They did have the complete directors cut of King of the Rings after all. But he wanted something both he and Lori could have fun watching. In the end he ended up selecting a live action movie version of some kids show, featuring a male comedian who hadn't been relevant in about a decade as the lead role, a television actress who couldn't get anything better for her first movie role as his love interest, and what was supposed to be a loveable anthropomorphic cat which looked cute as anything when in cartoon form, but was the stuff of nightmares now that it was rendered in three dimensional CGI, now voiced by an actor who was at the top of his game in the 1980's, but hadn't starred in anything good in years. And, to top it all off, it was written and directed by someone who had been very vocal on social media in her disdain for the original cartoon the movie was based on, which was always a good thing when making a fresh adaptation.
In short, it was a movie that he and Lori could enjoy, not because it would be any good, but because they could have a laugh making fun of it.
When Lori returned from the bathroom she went over to her desk and opened the bottom drawer, from which she took a big bag of potato chips, which she opened before sitting next to Lincoln on her bed. As she offered the bag to him, she glanced at the screen and commented "Yikes! That thing looks horrendous!"
Lincoln gave a shrug and replied "Looks better than it did in the trailer, at least!" before popping a potato chip into his mouth.
They spent much of the next hour talking and making fun of the movie, but just as the third act was getting underway, Lori felt Lincoln's weight settle against her. Looking down at him, she smiled as she realised that the need to sleep had finally overwhelmed him. She carefully set the laptop aside before getting off her bed. She briefly considered picking him up and placing him in Marisa's bed, but in the end it just seemed easier to leave her brother where he was and take the other bed for herself.
She closed the movie and shut off her laptop before gently moving her brother into a more comfortable sleeping position, pulling the bed covers over him to keep him warm before placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.
"Goodnight, Linc," she whispered before turning and switching off the lights, then getting into the other bed.
Shortly before eight the following morning, Lori led Lincoln along one of the university's many corridors until they reached a large function room. Inside there were many tables surrounded by chairs, and a large banner that read 'WELCOME, CADDIES' was hanging from the ceiling to their left, above a stage. To the right, meanwhile, there sat the buffet table that was teeming with breakfast foods of all varieties.
Many of the university students and their freshly arrived siblings were standing or sitting around talking to each other, along with a few professors and coaches. The majority of the siblings looked about ready to fall asleep where they were standing, no doubt owing to the fact that many of them had needed to set out from home in the early hours of the morning in order to get here. At the sight of some of those sleepy faces, Lincoln became even more thankful that Lori had arranged for him to arrive the previous evening.
"Well, I don't know about you, Lincoln," said Lori as she led the way to the buffet table. "But I could literally do with a strong coffee and a bagel."
"A bagel sounds good," said Lincoln. "You can keep the coffee though."
They quickly joined the back of the queue for the buffet, each grabbing a plastic tray to put everything on. Both wasted no time in grabbing a plate and a pre-sliced bagel. Lori spread a generous helping of cream cheese on each of their bagels and then they both set about loading up with what they wanted inside. Lori quickly scooped on some scrambled eggs and diced up bacon before adding some tomato and avocado.
Lincoln wrinkled his nose in mild disgust at the sight. How Lori could ruin a perfectly good breakfast bagel by adding avocado he would never understand! He mimicked her with the bacon, but went for a fried egg instead of scrambled, and then added a sausage patty, several slices of cheese and a hash brown, followed by a fairly liberal helping of ketchup.
Both siblings fully intended for that to be the only food they picked up, but just then a member of staff came over and added a batch of freshly made waffles to the tray just beside them. Lincoln and Lori shared a look before quickly snatching up one each. Lori then threw a handful of mixed berries onto hers while Lincoln opted for a square of butter and plenty of syrup. As they moved further along the line, towards the juices, Lori picked up a banana and placed it on her tray before taking an apple and placing it on Lincoln's.
At his confused look she said "You need to eat something at least slightly healthy."
Her brother rolled his eyes but left the apple on the tray anyway. A couple of minutes later they each had a glass of orange juice and Lori had a cup of coffee, and they headed over to find some seats.
"Hey, Lori!" called a voice "Over here!"
Lori turned and led Lincoln over to the person who had called out to them, a teen about the same age as Lori with tan skin and long, dark brown hair. She was wearing a light blue golf shirt, not too different from the sort Lori liked to wear when out on the course, and white cargo shorts.
"Hi Melisa," Lori greeted the girl warmly. After the two university students shared a hug, Lori turned and gestured to her brother. "This is my brother, Lincoln. Lincoln, this is my room mate, Melisa."
"So, this is the famous Lincoln?" asked Melisa. "Lori talks about you all the time."
"Uh, she does?" asked the boy in surprise.
"Oh yeah. Clearly, you're her favourite sibling."
"Favourite brother." corrected Lori.
Lincoln narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm your only brother."
"Funny how that works, isn't it? Anyway, let's face it, some days Lana really challenges you for the title."
"I-" Lincoln began, as if to try and find a way to refute the statement, but he quickly gave in. "Yeah, that's fair, I guess." He took a seat and began digging into his breakfast.
Turning back to Melisa as she took a seat next to her brother, Lori asked "So, where's your sister? Is she here yet?"
"Oh yeah, she's here." replied Melisa, looking around. "She went to get us some more juice. Here she comes."
Lincoln and Lori looked around and saw a girl coming over to them, holding two glasses of orange juice. It was strange, despite the Loud family consisting of eleven siblings, the only two who looked much alike were Lana and Lola, who were twins. In contrast to this was Melisa and her sister, the latter of whom looked almost exactly like the former, just three years younger and with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail.
As the girl arrived at their table, she smiled brightly, revealing a set of braces on her teeth, not unlike those worn by Lincoln and Lori's sister, Luan. As she sat down and handed one of the glasses of juice to her sister, Marisa made the introductions. "Lori, Lincoln, this is my sister Melanie. Melanie, this is my room mate Lori and her brother, Lincoln."
"Nice to meet you," said Lincoln, brightly, holding out his hand.
Melanie gave him an odd look, as though amused by something, but shook his hand anyway and answered "Yeah, same here."
Lincoln frowned in confusion, though this was cleared up when Lori leaned towards him and said quietly "You've got syrup on your face, champ."
The boy frowned, raised his hand to his cheek, wiped with a finger and examined it. Yep. Syrup. "Dang it!"
As Lori passed him a napkin, another of her fellow students joined them, this time a guy named Raj, who had brought along male cousin, Ajay. He was quickly followed by another guy named Ewan and his brother Eddie. Toby came along next, with his sister Daisy and then Jeanette with her female cousin, Josie.
And with that, Lincoln suddenly found himself as the outsider because, although they all came from different backgrounds, all of the other invitees had one thing in common – they were all teenagers, and Lincoln was not. At fifteen, Melanie and Eddie were the youngest while Josie was sixteen and Ajay and Daisy were both seventeen, just a year away from college themselves.
Meanwhile there was Lincoln, the eleven year old kid who had just started Middle School a few months ago. Well, it was a good thing he hadn't been planning to make any friends while at this thing because, while Lori and her college friends talked animatedly about the upcoming round of golf, the teenagers began getting to know one another, Lincoln was left alone to finish his breakfast bagel in silence.
Yay.
Fortunately he was saved from boredom when his phone began to ring. A quick look around the table showed that no one was paying him any mind, so he took the item out of his pocket and saw that he had a request for a video chat from one of his younger sisters, the gothic Lucy. A quick tap on the accept button and Lucy's familiar face appeared on his screen.
"Lincoln! You answered. Good." she said in a voice that sounded worried. "I need your help."
"Uh, sure thing, Luce. What's going on?"
"The house has descended into absolute chaos. First the toilet wouldn't flush proberly and Lana tried to fix it but now the upstairs hallway and bathroom are flooded. This was before Lynn got to use the bathroom and now she can't go number two even though she ate a load of spicy subs with her friends yesterday. She's trying very hard to take her mind off of it by playing sports indoors. So far she has broken four windows, two vases and the door of the trophy cabinet. Lisa has had at least two explosions in her lab already this morning and, to make matters worse, Lola got into the really sugary breakfast cereal that mom only lets us have in small amounts. She ate two bowls full after adding honey and the sprinkles that are normally used to top ice cream. Now she has gone into a sugar-crazed frenzy."
Unnoticed by Lincoln, the volume on his phone had been such that it caught the attention of everyone else at the table. College student and high schooler alike were watching him, wondering what his response to the reported madness would be.
"Okay, first of all, where are you calling me from?" asked Lincoln.
"I have sought sanctuary within the ventilation system," replied Lucy.
"And where are mom and dad?"
"They had to go to work early today. So did Leni."
"And Luna?"
"She spent the night at Sam's and isn't home yet."
"So… who is in charge?"
"Luan."
Lincoln balked at the idea. "Luan is in charge? Luan has never been in charge. She's only ever provided Luna with backup."
"I believe that she, like me, has sought sanctuary out of harms way."
Lincoln thought for a moment and then said "Okay, here's the plan. You need to take Lola out first. Crawl through the vents until you get to my bedroom and then climb down."
Lucy nodded and did as asked. It took her a couple of minutes, but eventually she was standing by the bed in Lincoln's small bedroom. Before she could ask Lincoln what to do next, a voice asked from under the bed "Lucy? Is that you?"
Lucy turned and peered under the bed. "Luan?"
"Yeah, its me." said the family prankster as she emerged slightly from under the bed. "Man, it's really gotten crazy out there. Oh, and Lily's here too." A moment later, the two year old crawled out alongside Luan.
"Really, Luan?" asked Lincoln's voice. "Hiding under my bed while the house falls apart?"
Luan gave a frown, prompting Lucy to hold her phone out so that the older girl could see her brother. "Oh, Hey, Linc."
"Lost control of things huh?" asked the boy.
"Yeah, although that's a bit of an understatement." replied Luan. "Look what Lola did to Mr Coconuts!" She reached back under the bed and pulled out her puppet. Or, at least, what was left of it.
"What happened to his head?" asked Lincoln. "And where's his left arm?"
The puppet currently had a huge dent in the side of its wooden head and its left arm had been torn off.
"Lola didn't appreciate it when I took her third bowl of cereal away from her." explained Luan. "She used Lynn's favourite baseball bat to smash Mr Coconuts' face and then tore off his arm. I don't know where she threw it."
"She also put a pretty nasty dent in Lynn's bat." added Lucy. "As you can probably imagine, that hasn't helped with her bad mood."
Lincoln rubbed his forehead as he thought. "Okay. Go to my desk and open the top drawer. Near the back there is a small bag of pink glitter. You can use this against Lola."
Lucy and Luan rummaged through the drawer and found what they were looking for. "Got it," said Luan.
"Now, go to Lana and Lola's room and rescue Lana's pets. They should be fine in my room."
It took a couple of minutes, but soon the cages and tanks containing Hops the frog, El Diablo the snake, Bitey the rat and almost a half dozen other small animals were moved into the safety of Lincoln's bedroom. Lily remained sitting on Lincoln's bed for her own well being.
"Okay," said Luan, wiping the sweat off of her brow. "It's done. What next?"
"Now you use the glitter to lure Lola into her bedroom. Once she's in, barricade the door and don't let her out until she crashes from the sugar high. After that, Luan you go back to my desk. In the third drawer down you will find a small beaker containing dinitrotoluene. Give it to Lisa and she'll be able to stop most of her usual explosions before they happen. Then tell her to have Todd repair the broken windows and trophy cabinet. There's spare glass in the garage."
He paused a moment to think about the other problems before continuing. "Lucy, while Luan deals with Lisa, you go and tell Lynn to go and use Mr Grouse's bathroom. If he complains, she can remind him that he never paid her for the last time she shovelled snow from his driveway last winter. Then both of you go help Lana fix the toilet."
"Got it," said Luan. "Thanks Linc. I really owe you one."
"Just message me when you're done."
With that, the call ended and Lincoln went back to his breakfast, only to pause when he realised that everyone at the table was staring at him. "What?" he asked, bewildered.
In answer, Marisa turned to Lori and said "He really does take after you, huh?"
"He's certainly got your take charge attitude," added Raj.
"But of course," said Lori with a smirk. "I could hardly go off to university and leave him behind with a house full of maniacs without making sure he could take care of things."
Lincoln frowned and said "I wish you imparted some of your knowledge onto Luan. What was anyone thinking, leaving her in charge? She's not ready."
"Oh, she'll be fine," said Lori, clearly not worried. "After all, you just gave her plenty of help. And Lucy's stepping up, which can only be a good thing."
"I guess..."
The worry he felt must have come across in his voice, because Lori scooted her chair closer to his and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry, Lucy will be fine. After all, she's been watching you take care of things for a while now. You might not realise it, but Lucy looks up to you a lot. So does Lana. They'll help Luan, you'll see. And so will Lynn once she's able to think straight."
Lincoln went to say something in reply, but was interrupted by his phone making a ding. Looking at the screen he read the message. "Lola's locked in her room, dinitrotoluene is with Lisa, Todd's on window repair, Lynn got let in next door and Lana's stopped the water flow."
"There you go," said Lori. "The Man With Plan does it again."
"Heh. Yeah..." he replied with a slight blush on his cheeks.
"Well, clearly there's a story behind that nickname..." said Marisa.
However any explanation Lori could have offered suddenly had to wait, as a man had gotten up on stage and was calling for everyone's attention.
"Hello, and welcome to you all. For those of you who are unaware, I am Coach Niblick, and I am the lead golf instructor here at Fairway University. The Siblings Cup is an event that has been held at Fairway each year for over a century now. It was invented so that homesick students could be visited by a much missed sibling and together forge memories that would last a lifetime. Now, within the next half hour, you will all need to be out onto the course so that the first players can set off. And when you are out there, by all means keep score. By all means compete with each other. But do not forget the main purpose of today, which is to have fun. Thank you."
There was a round of applause as he left the stage, and Lori downed the last of her coffee before suggesting to Lincoln that they head back to her room so that they could get ready. Lincoln agreed, scarfed down the last two bites of his bagel, shoved his apple into his pocket and followed Lori out of the hall.
Upstairs, Lori grabbed her usual golf clothes and went into the bathroom to change while Lincoln went through the caddie uniform that the university provided. There was a polo shirt much in the same style as the ones he usually wore, only it was a light blue in colour instead of his usual orange, with the university's logo added. A pair of light brown slacks were also included, along with a pair of black and white golfing shoes and a light blue visor. Just as he finished putting everything on, Lori knocked and then entered the room. Her shoes and visor were in the same style and colour as his, but the polo shirt she was wearing was white, and her usual brown shorts were replaced with a skirt in a light pink colour.
"All ready?" she asked, brightly.
"Abso-tutely." he replied with a grin. "Just gotta grab your bag of clubs."
A short while later, they were standing on the tee for the first hole, waiting for everyone else to get there. Soon they had been joined by Marisa, Raj and Ewan and Coach Niblick's voice came over a P.A. system to announce that they were almost ready to go, which confused Lincoln as there were only three other players standing with them.
Seeing her brother's confusion Lori explained "This is a quicker style of play, Lincoln. Instead of everyone waiting their turn to tee off from the first, everyone is spread out. There are thirty six players, all divided into groups of four, making nine groups. Every group is currently gathering at the odd numbered tees, so while we're on the first, another group is on the third, and another on the fifth and so on. This way everyone can play eighteen holes without the last group having to wait for ages to start and the first group having to wait ages for everyone to finish."
"Makes sense, I guess," said Lincoln with a shrug.
By agreement between the other players in the group, Lori would be the first to tee off as she and Lincoln had arrived there first. Somewhere an air horn sounded and Lincoln handed Lori her favourite driver. Moments later, Lori had sent her first shot of the day through the air to land comfortably on the edge of the first green.
Lincoln let out an impressed whistle as Lori turned to him with a proud smirk, handing him the driver. As he put the club back into the bag, she ruffled his hair affectionately and they stepped aside to allow Raj to step up and take his turn.
Shortly after five in the afternoon everyone was back in the function room. The golf match had ended a little over two hours previously and everyone had gone to have a shower and get changed into some nicer clothes to the evening's activities. In the email that Lori had received about the evening's events, there had been a request that they dress smartly. As such, Lincoln had pulled out his tried and true suit, which consisted of a white shirt, orange tie, light blue jacket and pants, and dark brown shoes. Lori, meanwhile, opted for her stylish blue dress with a white frill around the skirt, matching shoes, dark blue handbag and small diamond earrings. It was outfit she wore to her high school homecoming dance, and to Lucy's first poetry reading at the Royal Woods Theatre.
Once they back in the function room they found that the buffet table from that morning was still standing, though now instead of a wide assortment of breakfast foods, there were now a variety of dinner dishes available to choose from. As they had been on the course all throughout the day, they had missed out on lunch, so this selection was a welcome sight. Lori and Lincoln both helped themselves to a generous serving of lasagna before joining Marisa, her sister and a few others on one of the nearby tables.
Before long everyone had eaten their fill and Coach Niblick was once again on the stage. Next to him was a small table, on which there sat two golden trophies.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I shan't keep you long. Today has seen yet another successful Sibling Cup take place here at Fairway University, and it has brought me no small amount of joy to see and hear our students getting on so wonderfully with their younger siblings. Now, in a few minutes I will be handing things over to a DJ so that you may dance to your hearts content until our guest caddies are picked up by their parents, but before all that, there is the small matter of the trophy presentation."
He gestured to the two trophies on the table next to him. One for the winning player and one for their accompanying caddie.
"You all played well today." he continued. "Not one student in this room had a score that they should in any way be ashamed of. But, when all is said and done, there was one student who came out on top, and I'm sure you'll all join me in giving her and her caddie a round of applause. Congratulations to Lori Loud and her brother, Lincoln."
As the brother and sister duo got up and approached the stage to collect their trophies the others in the hall gave them a round of applause, something that only got louder when Lori decided to pick her brother up and sit him on her shoulders, elevating him above everyone else.
"Uh, Lori, what are you doing?" Lincoln asked nervously, embarrassed at having all eyes on him in such a way.
"Just making sure you get the recognition you deserve, little brother."
"Lori, that win out there today was all your doing. I just handed you your clubs."
"And I've never played a better round of golf here than with you as my caddie. You brought me good luck."
"But-" he tried to protest, but Lori was done hearing it.
"Linc, just shut up and enjoy the win."
The corners of his mouth turned up in a smile and he replied "Yes, ma'am."
True to Coach Niblick's word, once the short presentation ceremony was over, the curtains behind him on the stage were pulled back to reveal a DJ standing there with all his equipment. Soon nearly everyone was up and dancing to one song after another, be it Transformaiton by Mick Swagger, Give Life a Smooch by Smooch or Follow Us by Twelve is Midnight. The switch from rock to k-pop was a little out of left field, but everyone rolled with it.
Eventually, though, a song came on that caused Lincoln to duck out and head back towards his seat at their table. Lincoln Loud could sometimes be accused of being slightly effeminate. A little on the girly side if one were to be a little more crass about it. Growing up with ten sisters kind of did that to a guy. But, even though he was perfectly comfortable in wearing a mud mask or getting a pedicure, or gossiping about the latest episode of The Dream Boat, there were lines that Lincoln absolutely refused to cross. And in this case, that line was dancing to Ooh, Girl by Boyz Will Be Boyz.
"Oh, Lincoln! Come on!" protested Lori as she noticed him abandoning the dance floor.
"Yeah, come on dude!" added Marisa.
"Not gonna happen!" he called back. Lori gave him her best puppy dog eyes, complete with a sad pouting of her lips to try and guilt him back onto the dance floor, but he wasn't having it. Fortunately, he wasn't alone in expressing this sentiment, and he was quickly joined by Ewan's brother Eddie and Raj's cousin Ajay. "Really not my kind of music," muttered Eddie as he sat down.
That song was followed by two more by Boyz Will Be Boyz, and Lincoln remained seated for all of them, no matter how much Lori, Marisa or any of their other friends called for him to get back on the dance floor.
And then it happened. A new song came on that Lori knew full well he would dance to because he had very eagerly done so in the past. Was the bubblegum pop song more embarrassing for him to dance to in public than something by Boyz Will Be Boyz? That was debatable, but either way, Lori was absolutely determined to get him back dancing.
The mic drops, we don't stop
Pretend the sun's never coming up
"Dang it." Lincoln muttered, before looking towards his sister.
She had a triumphant smile on her face as she danced, one arm raised and swinging around as though swinging a lasso. She locked eyes with him and mimed throwing her invisible lasso before acting as though she was dragging him towards her. Behind her, Marisa saw what happened and joined in the movements.
Put your hands in the air like the ceiling ain't there
Make this last forever
Lincoln sat still for several moments, but not out of a desire to remain seated. In all his life he could not recall Lori ever doing something so downright… dorky as the little manoeuvre she had just performed. Pretending to lasso him to get him on the dance floor? Who the heck was this and where was the real Lori Loud?
He heaved a resigned sigh and decided to humour her and slid sideways from his chair, acting as if she really did have him snagged with a lasso. A few sideways hops and he was beside her just in time to join her and the other sin dancing to the second verse.
Friday nights, summer lights
Just me, my friends and I
Top down, peel out
But I'm yellin' at my mom, 'cause I'm still to young to drive
Guess its just whatever
He and Lori both knew the routine well. It had been one of those ridiculously popular songs about a year ago, the kind you couldn't get away from and if you were one of the few who didn't like it, too bad because it was playing everywhere. In fact the two siblings knew the dance so well that everyone else pretty much fell into place alongside them, letting the duo lead them in the movements.
And nothing's better than the best, best, best thing ever…
Shortly after that song ended, the first few parents arrived to pick up the caddies. Ewan's brother Eddie was amongst these first few to go and over the next two hours the number of siblings steadily dwindled, with Marisa's sister Melanie being among the last to get picked up. As their parents left, the college students began to vacate the hall as well, returning to their dorms to get some sleep. With Marisa calling it a night after seeing her sister off, Lori and Lincoln decided to retreat as well.
Lincoln sat on Lori's bed, playing a game on his phone while Lori used the bathroom. His play was interrupted by an incoming request for a video chat from his older sister Lynn.
"Hey, bro!" she said, brightly when he answered. "So, how did today go?"
"Pretty good, actually," he replied.
"Did you guys win?" she asked.
"Hmm..." said Lincoln in mock thought. "Why don't you tell me?"
As he spoke he took his trophy off of the small table beside Lori's bed and brought it into view.
"Ha, ha! Nice!" laughed Lynn. "So, any idea what time you'll be back tomorrow? Margo wants to get a group of us together for some soccer practice at Ketcham Park and she asked if you were free to join us."
"Well, dad should be picking me up at around ten tomorrow morning. Depending on traffic we should be home by one in the afternoon."
"Sweet," said his sporty sister. "Should I tell Margo we'll meet everyone at two?"
Lincoln thought for a moment and then said "Better make it three. I've got some math homework to do."
"Cool," said Lynn. "See ya later, bro!"
Shortly after seven thirty the following morning, Lori woke Lincoln up and after they used the bathroom and got dressed she led him out to her car and drove them to the nearby town. There they went into a small breakfast café and each ordered a round of pancakes, eggs and bacon. Though they still enjoyed each others company, there was a strange sense of gloominess hanging in the air, the both of them knowing that this was the last thing that they would be doing together before Lincoln had to go home, separating from his eldest sister again.
Ten o'clock came around all too soon, and Lincoln found himself standing by the side of the road outside Lori's dorm building, duffel bag on one side of him, Lori standing on the other as they watched Vanzilla coming along the road towards them.
"Well, little bro, I guess this is it," said Lori, as their father brought the family vehicle to a stop in front of them. "Our little weekend is over."
"Yeah. It was fun, thanks for inviting me." replied Lincoln.
Lori pulled him into a hug "Thank you for coming."
Lincoln returned the hug as their dad got out of the van, asking "So, how did everything go?"
"It was great, dad," said Lincoln, brightly.
"Literally perfect," agreed Lori.
"I'm glad to hear it. But, while I wish I could stop here and chat, I really need to get going if I'm going to get back in time for the afternoon shift at the restaurant." he explained. "Lincoln are you sure you have everything?"
"Positive, dad." replied the boy, lifting up the duffel bag. His father took it from him and carried it over to the van.
Lincoln went to follow, but after taking a few steps he turned and doubled back towards his eldest sister and gave her another hug.
"I really miss you, Lori."
Lori's heart broke a little as she hugged him back. "I really miss you too, little brother."
They remained like that before they heard a strange clicking sound. Both turned to find their dad holding his phone out, having taken the opportunity to take a photo of the pair. "Your mother's gonna love this one." he said, happily.
The two siblings smiled and dropped the hug. Lincoln and his father got into Vanzilla and, calling out their final goodbyes to Lori, they left.
The oldest Loud sibling remained on the side walk, waving goodbye until the van was out of site, not realising that there was a single tear rolling down her cheek from her left eye. Finally they were gone from view and she turned to head back inside.
Marisa looked up from her schoolwork as Lori returned to their shared room. She immediately took notice of her room mate's despondent demeanour. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Oh, don't mind me," said Lori, a sad quiver in her voice. "Just feeling a little homesick."
"Your brother's a good kid Lori."
"I know. But he's also the one I worry about the most." Lori admitted as she took a seat on her bed.
That caught Marisa of guard a little. "Really? Why? He seems so confident."
"I know, but sometimes… I don't really know how to put this. But he's getting older, and that brings changes. I was there to give Leni, Luna and Luan advice when they started going through it all, and some with Lynn, but Lincoln's just starting on that road, and I'm not going to be there for it."
"Well, he has four other older sisters to help him through all that stuff. Don't you trust them to do right by him?" asked Marisa.
Lori didn't answer right away. Mostly because she didn't know how to respond. Did she trust the others to help Lincoln through the next few years of his life?
Leni had proven that, in Lori's absence, she could be counted on the keep the house from falling apart if their parents were away, and Luna could do so as well. Luan could with the right support, and that support was Lincoln. Lori didn't need to worry about Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa or Lily because they had Lincoln, and the same could be said for Lynn to an extent.
But could Lincoln's other older sisters be trusted to be there for him when he needed them over the coming months and years? Aside from Leni's general ditzy demeanour, her job at the Reininger's department store was taking up more and more of her time not spent at school, and the same could be said for Luna. Lori knew that Lincoln looked up to Luna a lot, but Luna had a girlfriend and the pair of them were a part of a band which seemed to be getting more and more gigs with every passing week. While it wasn't exactly a bad thing that Leni and Luna were getting getting busier doing what they enjoyed, the question was, were Luan and Lynn Jr enough to fill the void?
Finally, Lori knew her answer.
"No."
So, originally, this story was actually planned to have the golf tournament be a far more important part of it, but it turns out I find golf to be painfully boring. It is boring to play, it is boring to watch, it is boring to research, and it is very boring to try and write a story about. Fortunately, by the time a got through writing everything in the arcade, the breakfast scene and the aftermath of the tournament, this story had already done everything I wanted it to, which was good, because it was already nearing the upper limit of what I want the word count of these things to be without adding the golf segment.
Anyway, the Lincoln and Luna story should be up next.