Maria Santiago returned to the apartment later in the morning than the teens expected. Her mood obviously hadn't improved, but she didn't take issue with the two sitting on the couch together. For their part, they were actually trying to enjoy what was on TV. It wasn't something they'd done before, but their options were limited right now. Lincoln called it a movie date, making sure to grab his girlfriend's arm before he said it so she couldn't elbow him for it. The older woman beckoned her mother, who was still cleaning the apartment, to talk to her out of sight of the two teens. Both noticed it, but Lincoln did it with more glee, because it gave him an opening to do something he'd been planning for close to an hour now.
Next to him, Ronnie Anne was still looking straight ahead. Lincoln tilted his head to the side and leaned in, planting a kiss on his girlfriend's cheek. Startled, she jumped in her seat and turned towards him, "You're getting bold." She told the grinning boy. In a way, Lincoln had always been bold, poking at her tough exterior. But his actions in the last day-the cuddling, the hair, now this-were even bolder.
And Lincoln was doing it on purpose. He was a teenage boy, and he did have a lot of 'inappropriate' thoughts and fantasies about Ronnie Anne. But he had a lot that weren't inappropriate; he wasn't an animal. Lincoln knew he'd look stupid if he tried to explain all of them to her, so he decided instead to just test the water, and see what she was okay with and what she wasn't. And just like she'd asked, he made sure to do it when no one else was around. That had been a safe first bet, since she'd done the same thing to him before.
Ronnie Anne glanced back to make sure the adults were still gone and crossed her arms. "So, did you start imagining that romance crap before or after you started imagining me naked?" Two could play the embarrassment game.
"Uh…" Lincoln turned his head away. Even though she'd already clawed this confession out of him before, he always felt bad coming back to it. He'd always felt guilty about it, even after she knew and was fine with it. That's why he liked to indulge in the other thoughts too, like it was some form of penance and proof that he liked her for other reasons. And he really felt that he did.
"Well?" Ronnie Anne put her elbow against the back of the couch and leaned on it. "I'm waiting." From the one time they'd seriously talked about it, she'd been embarrassed, but insisted she was fine with it. In her own words, he wasn't the only boy (a statement that was off putting but Lincoln never asked about it) but he was honest about it. She'd admitted that that and the fact he felt guilty about it was 'neat', which was the closest Ronnie Anne would come to saying touching.
"Before." He looked back at her. "Right after Jean-Juan's." Or at least, what an elementary school student thought romance was. Even though he knew what girls looked like naked, nudity was this repulsive thing no matter who it was. He didn't know exactly when this mindset changed, but he knew he hadn't started with thoughts like that.
Ronnie Anne kind of smirked and leaned back on the couch. "Yeah, me too." She'd admitted to occasionally thinking about him in a similar vein. It was a little weird to think about. Not embarrassing, exactly, just weird. A good weird though.
"I think my mom's setting up that talk she wants us to have." She changed the subject to warn him. Lincoln sat up, realizing that what that actually meant now was telling them what they agreed upon. He probably should let his parents know and ask them about that question.
"I'm going to call my parents." He excused himself and leaned forward as the first step in standing up. A hand grabbed his shoulder and pushed down, keeping him seated. Lincoln started to turn his head, but a peck on his cheek stopped him from completing it. Then, after kissing him, his girlfriend pushed him off the couch and gave him a kick in the rear for good measure to encourage him to hurry up. Lincoln wasn't in a hurry to talk to his mom, but he was in a hurry to sit back down beside Ronnie Anne, so he hurried out the front door into the apartment stairway.
There was no one out there this time, but Lincoln still stood and waited, listening just in case he could hear people on the other floors or something. When he was convinced there was no one, and hoping really badly that no one showed up, Lincoln pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his mom. While the tone sounded, he held it away from his ear so he could still listen, up until he heard her answer the phone.
"Hey, Mom."
"Lincoln." She sounded glad to hear from him, but tense. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Lincoln assured her. "Is everything fine at home?" Lincoln knew he'd been gone for less than 24 hours, but he couldn't just jump into what he needed to ask.
"We're fine. Your sisters were asking for you." Lynn practiced on her own every day after school, and Luan was barely in the house these days because of business, so Lincoln tended to be the oldest sibling when the others needed help with something. Admittedly, it took up a lot of his evening time, but he enjoyed being depended on. He felt bad for bailing on all of them, especially on a weekend.
"Tell them I said sorry. I should be home tonight." That worked as a segway, right? "We already figured out what we're going to do." He heard his mom inhale, but not say anything. "Uhh…yeah. She's just going to umm…put it up for adoption. We'll just stay normal boyfriend and girlfriend after that."
"Uh huh." Skepticism leaked into her voice, and Lincoln could just imagine his mother's raised eyebrow. That should've been a bad sign, but Lincoln was glad just to hear something different in her voice compared to yesterday. But it was a wake up call to Lincoln their plan wasn't so simple. They were going to be under a lot of scrutiny. And why not? Boyfriends and girlfriends did the exact same thing. Just the thought gave Lincoln a warm tingle, but he put it aside for now.
Although he had to really try.
"There is one thing though." Lincoln still had to ask what his girlfriend wanted him to.
"Yes?" Rita Loud said expectantly.
"Ronnie Anne wanted to know if our family would want to take it when she did. She's going to ask her family the same question." Silence persisted on the other end. It was so uncomfortably long, Lincoln wondered if he was expected to keep talking and explain things more.
"That's a very big question, Lincoln." His mom finally answered. "I can't just answer that now. What did her family say?"
"She hasn't asked them about it yet." Lincoln admitted.
"Ok, well, she needs to see what they say first."
"Uh…Right." Lincoln responded, realizing she hadn't said no. "Ronnie Anne already made up her mind." He felt like he had to clarify. "She just wanted me to ask that. In case…uh…"
"I understand, Lincoln." She stopped him as his words started to falter. "Do her parents know about anything else?"
"No." Her son admitted. "We haven't told them yet."
"You're doing that soon?" She asked expectantly.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure we'll be finished before noon. I really want to come home." He was enjoying spending time with Ronnie Anne, but it was a thin layer of enjoyment in a tense situation. And hearing his mom's voice really was making him homesick.
"Finish what you need to do there and you can." His mom told him.
"I will." Lincoln assured. "I'll call you when we're done."
"Goodbye, Lincoln."
"Bye, Mom." Lincoln ended the call. He was left standing there with a heavy feeling in his stomach and the impression he'd accomplished nothing. But that wasn't entirely true; he'd done what Ronnie Anne asked. That was something. Nodding to himself, Lincoln went back into the apartment, immediately feeling just a little bit safer for it.
The apartment was empty, and Lincoln stopped in the doorway. Figuring Ronnie Anne must've been in the bathroom, Lincoln slowly strolled back to the couch to wait. He tried not to feel awkward sitting in an abode that wasn't his by himself.
Ronnie Anne did eventually come back out of the hallway, making a detour to the kitchen first to get herself something to drink. She looked a little ragged compared to just a few minutes ago.
"Are you okay?" Lincoln asked.
"I'm fine." She sounded annoyed, and Lincoln immediately stopped talking. "You finish that call?"
"Yeah." Lincoln told her as she started walking back over. "Ack!" Lincoln gasped out in surprise as Ronnie Anne spun around and, instead of falling onto the couch next to him, did a little hop and landed hard on his lap, pushing him back into the couch.
"Problem?" She stretched out against the arm of the couch with hands behind her head.
"No." Lincoln's voice hitched a bit; he had not been guarding himself. She smirked at him and then moved over beside him. Lincoln adjusted his pants in an attempt to relieve the soreness.
"Can I borrow your phone?" Ronnie Anne asked. "My mom took mine." She reminded him.
"Who are you calling?" Lincoln handed it over.
"My dad." She explained. "He'll want to know I made up my mind. Just a text." She flipped it open and Lincoln watched her tap away, although he didn't go as far as to lean over and read whatever she was writing. After she was done typing, she watched the screen for almost a minute until she got a reply. "Here." She handed it back.
The two leaned back on the couch and were about to get comfortable again when they heard a door in the hallway open. Even though they weren't doing anything they hadn't been seen doing before, they sat up and tried to look as unassuming as possible. Ronnie Anne's mom and grandma both came out into the living room.
"Mija, I need to go check something in the building." Rosa swiped a set up keys she kept hung up on the wall. "Hmm." Rosa narrowed her eyes at them, looking at how they were sitting together. "I'll try and be back soon."
"Okay, abuela." Ronnie Anne acknowledged. While that conversation was going on, Maria received a text on her phone that she scrutinized. Almost immediately after the Casagrande matriarch left, Maria started an interrogation.
"Did you just text your father?" She asked suspiciously.
"Yeah." Her daughter was forthcoming. "He should know we made a decision."
"You haven't talked yet!"
"We talked on the couch." Ronnie Anne said plainly. Lincoln nodded beside her, but didn't speak up. "And we talked last night. We figured it out."
"Really?" Her mother sounded skeptical. Maria Santiago turned to look at Lincoln directly, making him jump a little and stand up straight. To punctuate that she was focusing on him, she even pointed. "And what did you guys decide?" She wanted Lincoln to give their answer. He froze up for a second, glancing briefly over at his girlfriend. Without time to prepare, he just started talking.
"We know we can't keep it. Uh…We wouldn't know or be able to. We figured the best thing to do…the best for us and the uh…" He stopped talking and motioned to Ronnie Anne; 'baby' was a surprisingly hard word to say. "So she'll put it up for adoption, and we'll just be a normal boyfriend and girlfriend from there." The last half of his sentence got quieter as it went on. The adult in front of him leaned back with wide eyes for a second before leaning in.
"We'll see about that when we get there." Without approving or condoning their plan, she pushed on. "And you've already thought this out?" By the way she turned her head, that question was aimed at both of them. "You don't think that plan has any problems?"
"No." Ronnie Anne answered. "The only thing I can really think of is that one of our families might want to take it instead."
"That's what I'm worried about." Maria said flatly. "I know your abuela will."
"You think that's a bad thing?" Her daughter asked.
"Yes!" Was the exasperated reply. "Ronnie Anne, your abuela is 66, and you really expect her to take care of your mistake for you?" Rosa was pretty spry for a woman her age. And her mother was still alive and fairly mobile at over 84 years old. But it was the second half of that question that really struck a nerve.
"I'm not asking either of our families to do it!" The thought had never crossed her mind, she only anticipated they might volunteer. "Do you want me to say no if she does?" Her mother didn't answer that and instead threw another question back on her.
"And how would that make you feel? Make either of you feel," She dragged Lincoln into it. "If you had to see a baby every day you know is yours? Would you really be fine with that?"
"It would be pretty weird…" Lincoln admitted, thinking about it more deeply than he had last night. He'd always helped out with his sisters, but would he help with this baby, assuming his parents volunteered? Would they let him, or would they forbid him?
Ronnie Anne was having a similar line of thinking. In her extended and intergenerational family, everyone looked after each other. Her abuela or tia could substitute her mother if she needed an adult for any reason. Bobby was expected to look after his and Ronnie Anne's cousins just like Carlota had been expected to look after Ronnie Anne. Everyone had pitched in when Carlitos was a baby. If there was a new baby in the house, it was unthinkable that Ronnie Anne wouldn't be expected to do any work.
"And what about everyone else in your families?" Maria kept laying the pressure on them without even letting them answer. "Ronnie Anne, do you really want the whole family to know what you did? Do you want your family to know what you did?" She asked Lincoln. Neither teen wanted their whole families to explicitly know they were sexually active, something a baby was absolute proof of. And then there were family friends and other relatives-they would inevitably find out too. If the Casagrande family suddenly had another baby, then the entire building would know, and Lincoln's family was recognized all over Royal Woods, meaning a whole town would know about him. Both of them genuinely started to sweat as the thoughts crossed their mind.
"And I hate having to even mention this," Maria shook her head. "But did you consider which of you it might look like?" Lincoln and Ronnie Anne shared an awkward glance, taking in details of each other that they normally didn't. Lincoln was as pasty as his unusually colored hair. Hispanic skin tones could definitely vary, but Ronnie Anne and her entire family was on the darker side of the scale. Both teens had done plenty of punnett squares in school, so they knew what the odds were. If one of their families did take it and just so happened to not look like them, it would be awkward at the very least.
"I made up my mind." Ronnie Anne affirmed. "Every option pretty much sucks. But a little humiliation is worse than ruining our lives, isn't it?"
"It wouldn't be the first time the whole town's talked about me." Lincoln tried to awkwardly laugh at his own expense. But then, it was rarely exclusively a single Loud the town talked about. It was the whole family, as one. He would paint a target on all of them. The only boy in the Loud family started to feel sick in his stomach. "But if Ronnie Anne wants to do it, I'll do whatever I have to to help."
Maria sighed, and sat down at the table while motioning for her daughter to come sit down across from her. Ronnie Anne did, and Lincoln pushed another chair right beside her to sit down in. What the Latina teen's mom said next was the most sincere and concerned thing she'd said since this whole debacle began.
"Ronnie Anne…This could kill you, you understand that, right?" She asked. Lincoln's breath caught in his throat.
"Every option has a small chance to kill me." Ronnie Anne accepted with surprising calmness. She'd already come around to that in her research. They were all really minor chances, though. In all honesty, she had a higher chance of dying in around a dozen different ways just living in a big city. And since every option had the same risk, it was hard to consider as a significant factor in her decision making. "I'm not worried about it."
"Then what about school?" Her mom asked next. "Did you think about that?"
"I'm a straight A student. I might miss a few days, but they'll let me make up anything I miss from doctor's appointments." Great Lakes City was a progressive place…That would count for something, wouldn't it? She'd been worried about having to repeat freshman year, but the more she dwelled on it, the less serious that risk. Even if she missed her finals (which they would probably let her take at another time anyway) it was only 20% of the grade; if she did well the rest of the year, it'd cushion her. Just so long as she didn't skip whole weeks like she just had.
"People will make fun of you. Talk behind your back. It won't be like when you were in elementary school." She remembered her daughter's disciplinary problems. "Think about your reputation."
"Just words." Sticks and stones, right? That's what was always preached to kids. It'd be a handful of people at most. And why should she care? She would still have Sid. She would still have her boyfriend. She'd still have all her friends, she was sure. The only people that were important to her. She told her mom as much, and Lincoln was quick to back that up.
Her mother kept questioning her, covering every conceivable issue she could come up with, from public appearance to just how hard it would be walking up the stairs and to school every day. Some concerns, Ronnie Anne had detailed answers to, and others she insisted she'd deal with it out of sheer dedication to her choice.
Arturo got to the apartment a short time later, and the conversation restarted and went pretty much the same way. Ronnie Anne stuck to her guns, swearing up and down she understood how difficult what they'd chosen to do would be. Even with her mom pressing her again, she insisted it was the easier option for her. They both pressed her, but they didn't demand or threaten her into changing her mind. Even though it was obvious they didn't like what she'd chosen, they accepted it.
Ronnie Anne would have the baby and put it up for adoption. Who might adopt it was left a matter for the future. There were a lot of matters for the future now, and plenty to consider in the immediate present. Stuff Maria and Arturo left to discuss between themselves. They left the two teens alone in the apartment.
Ronnie Anne just went back to her room to lay down facing the wall. There wasn't any reason to celebrate and there was no feeling of relief; she just felt utterly worn out mentally as well as still being physically tired. Her parents may have let her make the choice, but they didn't stop trying to guilt trip her. The whole thing was still a terrible situation no matter the choice and now she just felt like crap. It just sapped all of the energy out of her. She needed a minute to lay down, enough that she didn't care if Lincoln saw her.
Her boyfriend sat at the end of the bed where she'd folded her knees to make room. The earlier conversations had painted the clearest picture yet for him of just how hard this would be for Ronnie Anne and he felt terrible about it. He wanted to help. He wanted to shift the entire burden on his own shoulders. But that was impossible, he already knew. Lincoln at his core was a big softy and got easily sad knowing other people were having a hard time. But when it was her, someone he really cared about, the secondhand misery was magnified. And he still felt guilty like it was his fault.
But they just had to go forward like that.
"Can you really die?" Lincoln asked.
"Yeah." Ronnie Anne rolled onto her back, hands behind her head and stretching her legs out across Lincoln's lap. "But it's only around a 1% percent chance." She still didn't sound too worried about it, probably because those odds were so good. But still,
"That's scary."
"I'm not going to die on you, Lincoln." His girlfriend swore.
"Everything else sounds really bad though. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
"It's not like I have a choice." She answered. Neither of them did. And while it made them miserable, in its own weird way it kept them moving forward.
When Ronnie Anne had rolled onto her back, she'd created some space between her and the wall. Lincoln scooted back and wedged himself into it on his side until he'd brought his face up next to his girlfriend. "I'll make this up to you." Lincoln swore. "You can punch me in the shoulder until we're even." He offered. She smirked at that.
"I'll start keeping score for when this is over." The two looked into each others' eyes. Lincoln reached a hand out and cupped the left side of Ronnie Anne's face. She let him, although a sense of confusion kept her from expressing anything on her face. Was he trying to be romantic? Did he think she was being weak and it was a comforting gesture?
The intention became clear when he started to lean his face in. And Ronnie Anne decided to beat him to the punch by leaning in faster and planting her lips firmly on his, their foreheads bumping together with just a tiny bit of force. Despite that, when she opened her eyes, Lincoln was grinning like an idiot.
"Don't look so pleased with yourself." She fought off a blush, feeling silly when they'd already kissed plenty of times before this. Ones on the lips had been rare, but she felt silly from getting embarrassed about it now, considering what else they'd done. Then again, passionate smooching wasn't something she'd daydreamed about a whole lot. Her fantasies, while from the same place of affection, had more 'physical' elements to them.
And I call Lincoln a dog. Hanging out and doing stuff was her idea of romance-just spending time with someone that made you happy and supported you. Fantasies were about the things you didn't or couldn't do. So when they were already doing her idea of romantic, it really wasn't a surprise her fantasies were narrower than his. But Lincoln had fantasies just like hers, she knew that for a fact.
Lincoln leaned in again, and this time she let him be the one to initiate the kiss. Five minutes later, they were still doing that, having sat up and leaned back against the wall. They'd lock lips, sometimes briefly and sometimes for many seconds, break apart and look at each other without saying anything, and do it again. The whole time, they were thinking of nearly the same thing: how good this physical affection felt. It wasn't like the kind that had gotten them into this mess-extreme physical gratification and the sense of honor of being able to see someone in a way they didn't let others do-and neither of them could really figure out how to describe it, but it was even more fulfilling than sex.
Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were only 14 and 15 respectively. They thought they knew a lot about the real world but really didn't. But, even if they didn't use the term, they definitely understood what love was. Knowing and understanding each other deeply, deriving joy and comfort just from being in each other's presence, caring for the other person as much or even more than yourself. For such a powerful force, it could be very simple. It could fade with time, or be beaten down by hard reality till it broke, but it was real while it lasted. And to the two of them, at that moment, it was real. And with reality going easy on them for still being youths, love could be especially bright, even more so when their emotions were already overflowing at that age.
Reality wasn't there to destroy it, but it was present enough to interrupt it. There was a knock on the bedroom door, and nothing happened even though Ronnie Anne took some time to respond to whoever had interrupted the moment. It was her parents again.
"I called Lori to come pick you up." Maria got straight to it and addressed Lincoln. "She'll be here soon." From a very high place to rock bottom went Lincoln's mood. Feeling a flash of terror, he jumped up from the bed and almost immediately regretted it when he realized his legs were shaking.
"What did you tell her?" Ronnie Anne had to know.
"Nothing." Both of her parents looked at her seriously. "It's your responsibility now to decide who you're going to tell and when."
"I get it." She accepted that unpleasant task onto her shoulders.
"She'll be here soon." Her mom stressed. Lori and Bobby's suburban home wasn't very far from the city. That was all her mom wanted to say to her right now, but her father lingered in the doorway.
"If the day is still early, I should really go to work." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Then he sighed.
"I'll be fine, dad." Ronnie Anne knew what was bothering her father and moved over to him.
"You cannot know that for certain." He pulled her into a hug.
"I'll do my best to be fine." She swore.
"I know, mi Ronita. I just hope you really understand what you're doing." For a brief moment, Arturo looked up at Lincoln, and his already weak legs almost buckled. But he never spoke to the boy that had put his daughter in this situation. Either he didn't want to, or he didn't have anything to say that he didn't want his daughter to hear too.
On their own again, the two looked at each other, both feeling the strong-but unwise-desire to continue where they'd left off. Lincoln's eyes started to glaze as he instead started to imagine what was going to happen when Lori got there. None of it was pleasant. Ronnie Anne, too, dreaded seeing Lori. The woman could be nosy as hell, and she had to be wondering why the hell Lincoln was here without her knowing.
What if she called Lincoln's parents asking about it? Would they keep the secret? Their hearts leapt in their chests. This could be very bad; even if they didn't tell her, Lori might figure it out. Then she'd tear into Lincoln the whole ride home and probably join his parents when they gave him the speech they no doubt had in store. And then she'd come right here and tear into Ronnie Anne, probably for the remaining 8 months since she lived close enough to do so.
"Okay…We can tell her now." Ronnie Anne thought out loud.
"Now?!" Lincoln didn't sound onboard with that plan.
"Yes, now." Ronnie Anne tried to argue. "Do you think she's not going to find out?" Lincoln shook his head. He didn't think Ronnie Anne's mom swore his own parents to secrecy. Beside that, he was 100% sure he wouldn't be able to survive a three hour car ride with her without cracking; Lori finding out was inevitable. "So let's just get it over with now instead of freaking out over when she might find out." Her mom told her it was her responsibility now. Ronnie Anne thought if she was upfront about it, and not showing any fear, it would prove to at least her mom how serious she was about this. But if Lincoln was really scared of Lori…Ronnie Anne would wait.
"O-ok." Lincoln agreed, although he was still scared. But his girlfriend was right. Trying to hide a problem could only make it worse, although he couldn't figure out how this one could get any worse (and he really hoped it couldn't). For once, he could immediately own up to something. And it was what Ronnie Anne wanted to do. If it made things easier for her, then he should agree even if he was afraid.
And Lincoln Loud was very afraid.
"Alright." Lincoln agreeing with her made things easier. "Just…let me do the talking, alright?" The two were set on telling Lori now, and getting whatever hell she'd respond with out of the way.
With that decision made, the two were really too uneasy to do anything but wait. Again, both did longingly think of going back to what they'd been doing, but it would be even more inappropriate now than before. The only thing to do was to just go wait for Lori to arrive. They went out to the living room together. Maria was standing in the kitchen as the two passed it to sit at the dining table.
"We're telling her now." Ronnie Anne informed her, a small part hoping for immediate positive feedback.
"Fine." She was acknowledged, and Ronnie Anne mentally kicked herself. Why the hell should she expect any praise? She wasn't stepping up and being responsible; she was admitting to a crime. If anything, her mom probably hated hearing her talk about it. Well, she still was going to, just to get it out of the way.
'Soon' meant fifteen minutes, ten when they took away the time it took them to decide to tell her. But sitting in the apartment waiting for Lori to inevitably walk through the door felt like forever. The awkward science between the only adult in the apartment and the two teens didn't help. But Lori did inevitably come through the front door, immediately making them jump to their feet.
"Hi!" Lori practically shouted in a loud, chirpy voice. She likely expected the apartment to have more people in it then it actually did. "Oh?" She immediately noticed how quiet it was, highly unusual in either her original family or the one she'd married into. And right after that, she noticed the two nervous looking teens that had just scrambled up from their seats. "Oh." Her tone got slightly more sinister. "Hello, baby brother." She smiled at Lincoln. It wasn't an angry smile; it was a mischievous one. But it was still enough to terrify him. "Hi, Ronnie Anne." She kept the same tone of voice. She clearly believed she'd just interrupted the not-couple having a moment.
Lincoln weakly raised his hand part way, but didn't utter a sound.
"Hi." Ronnie Anne was able to still deliver a flat greeting. She already knew Lori's usual smugness was going to get on her nerves even quicker now. She just had to wait for her to shut up and give her a window to give the news.
"Lori, thank you for coming." Maria made her presence known, using a much more controlled and natural sounding voice than her daughter had heard in the past few days.
"Oh, Miss. Santiago." Lori stayed very formal with her mother-in-law. Lori may have flaunted being an adult when it came to her younger brother and sisters (and sister-in-law), but she was still humble in front of other adults. "Don't worry about it. I wouldn't miss a chance to see my little bro." Lori turned back to him. "Even though he was rude enough to come here and not call me."
What impression did Lori get? That he'd taken the bus? Hitchhiked? Gotten a ride with someone else? The fact Lincoln didn't know what she thought kept him from speaking up, out of fear anything he said would contradict the cover story he hadn't been told. Evidently, he still looked like he was trying to stammer out an excuse.
"Oh, I get it." Lori smiled sweetly. "You wanted to spend time with your girlfriend instead of your sister."
"Uh…yeah." Lincoln said weakly. Lori kept smiling, mistaking his deep fear of her for just embarrassment, and Ronnie Anne's impatient scowl for her usual annoyance at implied romance.
"Come here." She pulled Lincoln over to her. Then she pulled the tests out of her pocket and tossed them on the table. "Look at those." She told her sister-in-law. And then Ronnie Anne pushed Lincoln over to the wall before leaning against him, putting herself between him and the sister he was so afraid of.
Lori's smile started to fade as she finally picked up on the strange atmosphere of the room. She looked over at Maria, who was standing there with her arms crossed looking impatient. Confused, curious, and getting the impression something was wrong, Lori stepped over to the table to see what her little sister-in-law had tossed down. It all registered in a moment. Her eyes started to bulge, and Lori stepped back, letting out a high pitched sound that made Lincoln flinch and almost certainly made a few other people in the apartment complex look up or down.
"Lincoln!" Her head snapped up and over to him.
"Ahh!"
"What did you do?!" Lori stalked over to him. He didn't answer her. "Lincoln!" She grabbed a handful of his hair and tried to pull him towards her, but couldn't with Ronnie Anne standing in between them. "Come here!" She said through gritted teeth, trying again. He didn't move, but it definitely hurt. He wasn't going to fight back, but it didn't stop his girlfriend from grabbing the arm and shoving it away. Married into the family or not, Lori wasn't going to put a hand on her. It didn't stop her from glaring though, but two could play at that game; Unlike her own familia, Ronnie Anne didn't feel bad about having an attitude with Lori.
Just as quick as her infamous anger kicked in, so did the rest of her emotions. And just like her anger, they came and went with a lot of intensity. She stumbled back, collapsing into one of the chairs. "I can't believe it." She breathed, putting a hand on her chest. "My little brother got a girl pregnant." Her eyes did the impossible and got even wider as she looked back up at the boy. "You got Bobby's little sister pregnant?!" She jumped back to her feet.
Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes. Lincoln missed it despite being inches away from her face; he was still terrified. Of course Lori would find a way to make it about herself. Her relationship with Bobby was second only to her own kids now. It wasn't a stretch to say Lincoln and Ronnie Anne eventually ending up together was because of Lori and Bobby; the forced date at Jean Juans was because Bobby had broken up with Lori over Lincoln making Ronnie Anne cry.
Lincoln still had no words to say in his defense. He knew from experience words wouldn't work.
"What were you thinking?! What were you both thinking?! You did this on her birthday, didn't you?" Lori gasped. "Bobby drove you up here and you did this? You little pervert!"
"Are you done yet?" Ronnie Anne asked. Lori focused on her sister-in-law for the first time.
"I need to have a word with him." Lori said in the calmest voice she could muster. "Please give us a minute." She grabbed Lincoln's shoulder, ready to yank him away from the wall when she moved.
"You'll have plenty of time on the car ride home." Ronnie Anne stood her ground. Lincoln felt his enraged sister's grip tighten, and he realized that car ride was only a few minutes away at most.
"It's time for him to leave." Ronnie Anne's mom told her plainly. "You need to move." This little trip was over. They'd made their choice, and it was time to do it. 8 months and the whole thing would be over. But it was going to be a hard 8 months, even if their parents let them stay in contact. And now that this little detour was over, it was all falling back on Ronnie Anne's shoulders, somehow feeling heavier than before. It was so intense she felt like she couldn't move.
This wasn't going to stop being terrifying until it was over.
Lincoln was standing there against the wall looking at her, and he could see all the signs of her change in attitude. The way her breathing started to quicken, the perspiration started to form on her face, and he felt the way her body started to tremble slightly, even while her expression stayed the same. Getting over his paralyzing fear of Lori, Lincoln raised his arms and put them on Ronnie Anne's back for what he guessed would be a goodbye hug. She stopped trembling for a second when he did, and a second later took her hands off the wall behind to put her arms around him too, wrapping him in an even tighter hug.
If this was goodbye, they might as well use it, private or not. But neither of them wanted to let go, and it showed.
As deep as it was to them, it hit Lori hard too. She'd always secretly cheered the two on for their 'friendship'. Seeing the two stop pretending and actually embrace was something she'd always anticipated, and that overwhelming joy she'd been holding back for this moment was clashing horribly with the need to feel angry. Now the two just looked miserable, adding pity. And now Lori was becoming overwhelmed too, prompting her to sit down again.
"Guys, what did you do?" Lori just wanted to know the truth, no one on one interrogation required. Now thinking Lincoln wasn't about to disappear out the front door-possibly forever, Lori had given off that vibe- the two at the center of attention relaxed and created some space between them. They didn't let go of one another.
Maybe she didn't want to listen to them skate around it or maybe she just wanted Lincoln gone faster, but Ronnie Anne's mom explained the finer details since her daughter had already revealed the big secret.
"They decided to have their first time on her birthday." Thankfully, she didn't deliver it as crassly as she could've. "And didn't use the protection right." The teens wanted to refute that, and even made the indignant body motions, but no words came out. "She's been hiding it for a month and he just found out yesterday." That this wasn't a two person conspiracy seemed to surprise Lori.
"I literally can't believe this." She said again. "Who else knows about this?"
"Arturo and me, your parents, and one of her friends. I told her it's up to her who she wants to tell right now." Ronnie Anne noticed her mom didn't out Bobby for his role in things thus far.
"How's Bobby going to react?" Lori put her hands on her face, buying it up. "He's going to be so upset!" She rose and started pacing the apartment frantically. Ronnie Anne, forcefully, held her tongue. Lincoln and her had drifted out of their hug by then, now only in the disadvantageous position of leaning against the wall together. "Okay, you're only a month along." Lori started talking, but it sounded like she was talking to herself. "You won't start showing until around Thanksgiving. That's plenty of time to figure out how to tell Bobby." Lori completely disregarded her sister-in-law's own autonomy on that, although the fact it was moot lessened the offense.
"I don't think he'll take it that seriously." Maria spoke up, "Calm down." She sounded kind of forceful when she said that, and Ronnie Anne and especially Lincoln knew why. Lori was an adult. A very capable adult that had two kids and was successfully putting her way through college. But Lori wasn't a flawless human being.
Lincoln had known it for years from growing up with her and she'd been in the family long enough for the Santiagos and Casagrandes to notice it, but Lori could get intensely emotional. Unlike Frida though, Lori's episodes had a wide emotional range and a longer duration. It could also become borderline dangerous to be around her. Lincoln still remembered when Bobby and Ronnie Anne first moved out here: Lori had been so upset at the prospect she nearly crashed Vanzilla on the way here. This time, he was already imagining them in a ditch before even getting back to Michigan.
Lori didn't hear her mother in law. She was still focused on the two offenders. "You guys," She pointed at them, "have NO idea how badly you just screwed up. Babies are serious business!" She jabbed her finger specifically at Lincoln, and the only reason he didn't back up was the wall behind him. "You don't even have a job!" She pointed at this girlfriend. "And you have mandatory school! Where are you two going to find the time and money-"
"We're not keeping it!" Ronnie Anne finally shouted, putting an end to the blond's ramblings.
Lori looked completely flabbergasted, and it was painfully obvious she'd never considered any other reality other than her little brother and his girlfriend embracing this monumental mistake. Her brow furrowed, then a bit of noticeable horror crept into her shocked expression.
"So you're going to-"
"Put it up for adoption." Ronnie Anne said quickly, cutting Lori off before she could have mentioned something far more uncomfortable.
"Adoption." Lori sat back down, nearly sliding off the chair when she was a few inches off. She bit her lip and tapped her foot anxiously. She was thinking to herself now. The teens in trouble glanced at each other, both thinking that Lori was contemplating becoming a contender in that scenario. Maria must've realized the same thing.
But before Lori could confirm what she was thinking about, Bobby entered the apartment. In a rush, too. Ronnie Anne could only assume he knew Lori was up here (it was unthinkable she wouldn't stop to see him first before coming up here) and came to help as soon as he had an open window to do so.
Despite good intentions, he didn't have that effect immediately. Lori, after having just freaked out about the prospect of Bobby finding out, seemed to panic upon seeing him here. Her defense was a strong attack of affection, jumping from her seat and gleefully screaming his name before grabbing onto him. Getting him lost in her would keep him from noticing anything else in the room, or so she hoped. She looked back at the tests Ronnie Anne had left at the table and quickly spun Bobby around so he wasn't facing it. Realizing anyone else could enter the apartment and see them, the owner of the tests did think to quickly grab them and stuff them back in her pocket.
"Babe, you just saw me 10 minutes ago!"
"Felt like forever!" Bobby was trying to turn, but Lori kept steering him around, giving the impression the two were dancing in a circle.
"Are you alright, babe?" Bobby asked, and that was enough to make Lori stop the dance.
"What, me?" I'm fine!" She no doubt gave her best convincing smile. This was all unbearably painful to watch.
"We told her and she kind of freaked out." Ronnie Anne explained the situation. She suddenly felt her mother's hot glare on her, and a quick glance confirmed it. Lori nodded along for a few more seconds, still acting like everything was fine, until those words sunk in. She froze, then locked eyes with her husband, who clearly understood what his sister was talking about. Only a few inches away from his face,
"You KNEW?!" She screamed with enough shrill volume to make the rest of the room jump, but Bobby didn't flinch. His expression didn't even change.
"Nini came to me first. She's my sister, babe." He offered no more explanation; it was that simple.
"That's…so nice…" Lori sounded spaced out. The realization her own husband had been deceiving her was just one more mental hammer blow today, but it seemed to be the one that broke her. "You're such a good brother…" Lori leaned back like she was about to sit back down, not realizing she'd stepped far away from her chair when Bobby came in. Luckily, her husband was able to grab her before she hit the floor.
"I should take her home." Bobby told them. A very tired Maria Santiago rubbed her temples.
"Yes," She sighed, realizing that Lori would be out of commission for at least a few hours. "You should."
"Want me to take Lincoln too?" Bobby asked, a suggestion Lori didn't react to. "If he needs a ride, I can give him one." A ride with Bobby, while awkward, was infinitely less threatening to Lincoln than Lori. To everyone's shock, Maria turned him down.
"Just take Lori home, Bobby. If she's not better by tomorrow, I'll do it. Just go." When it looked like Bobby might insist, she got short with him as well. Even he looked taken aback.
"Come on, babe." He guided his wife out of the apartment. Maria turned her back to her daughter and her boyfriend, hands on her hips as she looked up at the ceiling.
What happens now? Lincoln and Ronnie Anne shared a glance, and the later spoke up.
"Mom?" Her mother started walking away, but stopped at the start of the hallway. She turned her head, but not enough to look at them. It was off putting. "Is there something else you want us to do?" Was there a reason she wasn't sending Lincoln home right away?
"No." Her mother answered plainly. "Both of you do whatever you want. You're not grounded anymore. Get it out of your systems so we don't have another scene tomorrow." That was the last thing she said before she continued on to her room, closing the door behind her. They were the words and actions of a woman admitting defeat. She just didn't have any energy anymore. Nothing they could do at this point was any worse than what they already had, so why even bother?
But that hurt Ronnie Anne more than knowing she'd disappointed her. More than knowing she was making her mom stressed. Seeing her mom give up like that made her feel like she'd completely failed as a daughter. Made her feel like, whether or not she had, that she'd destroyed every achievement she'd ever made and every good thing she had going for her.
They suddenly had more time to spend together, but there was no sense of victory and no sense of relief. Lincoln had just delayed the inevitable, and Ronnie Anne had arguably made her situation worse. Both of them just felt awful.