Lynn finishes buttoning up Victor's shirt, while doing her best to avoid her son's grasp. The family is about to head out to a Christmas party at her parents' place and the last thing left to do is get one uncooperative little boy dressed and in the truck.
"Alright, Vic, this is all that's left," she tells him while holding up his little clip-on tie for him to see. "After this we can go see your Grandma and Grandpa and all your cousins. But you need to stop pulling it out. It's not hard. See," she says, surprising him and putting the little tie on him.
Lynn picks him up and runs him to the truck. She's got a short window of time before he tries to pull it off and squirm out of his nice clothes and she's got to make the most of it. They're likely going to be one of the last ones to the party and that's fine. It gives the rest of the family time to get settled, so they can swoop in, take the family Christmas photo and Vic can go back to trying to pull his clothes off.
"You're like your uncle when he was little. He hated wearing clothes too." Then she shudders as she remembers how Lincoln would run around without his diaper and she thinks that her son might do the same thing too once he's able to figure it out.
Lynn quickly opens the rear door to the truck and starts buckling Vic in.
Francisco looks back at the two and notices that Victor is without his tie. "He took it off again."
Lynn looks up at his neck and notices that the tie is missing, "Dang it!" She complains as she runs back into the house.
Francisco looks back at his son, who is nibbling on his shirt sleeve. He agrees that Vic should learn how to stay dressed, but he figures that Lynn should probably give up on it until they get to her parents' house. Of course, without that tie, Vic will try to take off something else and better the tie than his vest or anything else.
Lynn opens and shuts the rear door and takes a seat next to Vic, tie in hand, "Nice try, Shortstop."
Victor doesn't respond, instead focusing his eyes on the window and the outside world. He can feel his mom placing the tie on him and tries to move around to stop her.
"C'mon, one minute, that's all I ask."
"Maybe just wait until we're about to say cheese or something."
"He's gotta learn."
"I know," Francisco says, as he fiddles with the tie around his neck. "How about you distract him with his teething ring, I bet he'd love that."
Lynn looks around in Vic's bag of stuff, and notices something, "I forgot it at home."
"Great… should I turn around?"
Lynn waves him off, "Nah, forget it, besides, Dad'll probably bake something baby-friendly for him and the others anyway."
After the short drive, they pull into the house, but before knocking on the front door, Lynn makes another attempt at placing Victor's tie. She hasn't kept count of how many times he's pulled it off in the ride over, but it was definitely one too many times and she is getting sick of it.
Lynn takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. She looks inside through the small (window?) and notices her dad coming over. As soon as the door begins to open, Lynn makes one last ditch effort at placing Victor's clip-on tie before her dad sees him.
Lynn Sr. opens the door and greets the family, "Hey, you're just in time!" He notices the little tie on his grandson, and takes him from his mother's arms, "Look at us, two Christmas tie wearing guys. C'mon you're just in time for the picture."
Lynn and Francisco follow after him and he leans over to whisper, "Is that why you were so obsessed with his tie?"
"Sorta, and he mentioned it over the phone last week."
"He was able to pull off the puppy-dog eye thing over the phone?"
Lynn nods her head. It isn't like he asked for it in words, but she could sense what he wanted - a photo with all his grandsons in goofy Christmas ties like their grandpa. Her dad sent them out a few weeks ago, and they all knew what it meant, but the phone call definitely told what his intentions were.
Lynn Sr. walks towards the couch and takes a seat.
Luan looks up from the camera and tries to think of where to put the last three members of her family so that they can take the photo and be done before the younger kids start getting fussier. She points to an empty spot, "Okay, you two stand right there, Francisco stand on the right. Lynn, stand left. My right, my left," she stresses after they accidentally stand in the wrong position. She sets the timer and runs to be next to her husband and daughters, "Now say, Christmas!"
The camera flashes and the family begins to disperse; Lynn Sr. heads into the kitchen to finish cooking, the kids run around the house looking for something to do, the teenagers hang out in the dining room looking down at their phones, leaving the adults to watch the babies in the living room while they mingle. With only one month passing since their last get-together, there isn't much to talk about if you ask Francisco, but somehow the Louds manage to find something.
Lily scrolls through her phone and a soft ding has her smiling before she gets up from her seat. She opens the front door and everyone looks over as Lily kisses the new guest.
She breaks the kiss, "I thought you were never gonna get here."
"You know work," he sighs, "they just gotta be on top of it."
"Well, I'm glad you're here." Lily turns towards everyone in the living room, "Everyone, this is Scott, my boyfriend."
Francisco looks over at the man next to Lily, "Is that the sports guy from Channel 5?"
Lynn looks over at the couple. It's the first time that Lily has invited Scott to a family event or mentioned anything since she learned that they were dating. At least she thinks, it's been a busy year, and she hasn't had time to worry about her sister's love life.
"Yeah, they've been dating for a few months."
Francisco nods his head as he tries to process what's happening. Normally, when it comes to having conversations with the other guys, there are occasional moments of silence as they try to think of what they say. That's not to say that he has an issue with the other men in the family, but this is probably the only other guy in the family that he can talk to without worrying about what to say.
Lynn notices him looking over at a potential talking partner, "Let me know when the conversation turns to the Pistons or the Red Wings." Francisco nods his head. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta find Leni to ask her for a favor." Lynn looks down and notices a familiar Christmas tie on the floor, "So long as Dad saw it, that's what mattered," she says, handing the tie back to her husband.
Francisco sighs, "Go. I'll keep an eye on Vic."
"Don't think this is over, Rookie," she tells her son, who isn't paying any attention to her, as he stumbles around in the playpen.
Lynn heads out of the room to look for her sister and Francisco turns his attention to Scott in hopes of getting a conversation started. However, everyone else seems to have gotten the same idea and are crowding around the newest guest.
Francisco sighs. He can't blame them for being a little interested, but at some point, they're gonna have to move and that'll be his chance. For now, it's time to quietly sit down on the couch until Vic needs him or Lynn returns from whatever she was going to ask Leni.
While he waits, Francisco makes some light conversation with some of the other guests. He occasionally glances over at the couple and then towards the playpen, where he watches the youngest children playing with some of their toys, and even Lucy's two oldest, who seem to be trying to entertain the infants.
The smell of cinnamon wafts from the kitchen and Francisco's stomach begins to growl. He had a good breakfast, but it is Christmas, and he's not going to say no to being his father-in-law's taste tester.
He heads towards the kitchen. With each step, the smell gets stronger. Francisco can feel his stomach growling, insisting that he grab a bite to eat, not that it helps that the sweet aromas are teasing him. He could probably sneak in and nibble on something, his father-in-law won't mind. However, before he is able to step towards the sweet treats, he hears yelling from the living room.
"Ow! He bit me! Victor bit me!"
Francisco walks back to the living room as fast as he can. In the playpen, he spots both his and Lucy's youngest son crying. Rocky begins to tend to his children, while Francisco looks over at Catherine, who is holding her hand and complaining to her dad.
"He's not even sorry, either."
Rocky tries to assure his daughter, while looking at the barely reddening bite mark, "He's just a baby, he doesn't know any better."
"And he was mean to Chris too!"
Everyone in the room looks over at the spectacle, and Francisco is sure that they want him to say something, but he isn't sure of what to say. In his opinion, she's being overdramatic, especially for such a tiny little bite that didn't even pierce the skin, though he does understand, Vic's bites can hurt.
"I'm sure he'd say sorry if he could," Rocky says. He looks up at Francisco and without saying a word, they're both sure that this was just a small incident between their kids that doesn't need to be escalated.
Rocky notices a small bump on his younger son's head and he looks over at Francisco. It's harder to ignore a bump, especially when they can't wave it off like a simple bite. Francisco gently rubs on the infant's head in an effort to comfort him, while preventing a very obvious bruise from forming.
Lynn hears all the commotion and heads into the living room, "What happened?" she asks Francisco.
He picks up his crying son, "Oh, you know, Vic's trying out his new tooth, unfortunately..."
Lynn notices her niece and nephew also crying. Victor has definitely been on a biting spree since his new tooth came in a few days ago, but the only one in the playpen with him was Chris, and there's no way that at his age he could have fought back to make her son cry, "So why's Vic crying?"
Francisco shrugs his shoulders.
She takes their son from him and tries to rock him, but his cries don't let up. Lynn tries to rub his back, but he begins to kick her in an effort to free from her grasp. She stops and looks down at him, "What the heck is going on with you?"
Lynn holds him out in front of her and he begins to quiet down, "Okay, I guess you're better now." She looks over at her niece, "How are you doing?"
Catherine sniffs, "Bad. Victor bit me, and he doesn't care."
Lynn looks down at her son. She has no idea what her niece is expecting from the eight-month-old, but she places him in front of her in hopes that maybe from some divine miracle, he'll kiss the spot where he bit her. However, the girl looks away from her cousin and crosses her arms in a huff.
Rocky sighs. His daughter isn't going to let the bite incident go so easily, so he decides to lead her upstairs so that he can look at his son and let his daughter calm down.
Lynn looks down at her son, "You've gotta learn how to stop biting people."
Francisco stays quiet, deciding not to bring up the bump on the other baby's head.
She sits down on the couch and places Victor on her lap. He begins to whimper, until Lynn places him on her shoulders to keep him a bit quiet. She turns to Francisco and asks, "Any luck with your new best friend?"
"Nope," he answers, as he takes his seat. "They're attached at the hip."
Lynn tilts her head to the side, "Like someone else I know," referring to Lori and Bobby, who haven't been apart for more than maybe ten minutes.
Francisco chuckles, "Maybe I'll get a chance later."
From the dining room, Lynn Sr. calls out to everyone, letting them know that the food was ready.
A horde of people run into the dining room. Everyone begins to take their seat and serve themselves a plate, conversation begins amongst everyone, but a lone pair quietly looks at each other. It's not often that they can get the whole family together all at once and Lily figures that this is the perfect time to tell everyone some news that she's been wanting to share for some time.
Lily gets up on her feet and clangs her glass with a knife. She takes a deep breath and looks over at everyone, then down at Scott, who smiles at her. She can feel her heart racing as she thinks about her words. It was so much easier when it was just her and Scott practicing at his apartment, but now as over twenty people look at her, it's noticeably harder.
"So," she nervously starts, "I know that this is the first time that you guys have met Scott, but we've been seeing each other for some time now, and we're planning on getting married."
Everyone looks at the couple in utter shock. A few congratulations are mentioned by random extended family members, but all ten of Lily's older siblings and her parents are left speechless.
'Married?!'
Lynn stands in front of the basketball hoop. She stares intently at the dark lines of her old backboard and reminds herself that she needs to ask her parents to buy her a new one. Even though she knows that they'll tell her that they don't have the money and something about a big family and tight budgets.
She dribbles the ball, crouches down, places her elbow in, and is about to shoot the ball, but before she is able to release it, she is startled by Lori and Leni's squeals. Lynn looks back and sees her two oldest sisters talking.
"No way!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"I can't believe it! You're so lucky."
"I know!"
Lynn has no idea what they are talking about, but it's probably something dumb like a dress or some celebrity news. Either way, it doesn't concern her, so she tries to go back to practicing for basketball tryouts.
Inside, Luna strums her guitar, while Luan goes over some of last night's footage, when they hear their two older sisters chatting in their room. They see Lori pull out a plate of brownies as Leni closes the door and the two sisters are sure that they're going to eat them all and leave them out.
Both Luna and Luan glance at one another and they quickly run to the other room before Leni leaves them out. Luna stops her older sister from closing the door, and the two younger sisters invite themselves into the room.
Luna reaches out for a brownie, "Where'd you snag the sweet brownies?"
Lori pulls the plate away from her sister, "They're not for you, and if you must know, I found them in my locker with this note." She takes the note out of her backpack, "Dear Lori, these last few days talking have been amazing. So I got you a treat that's as sweet as you. Will you go out with me this Friday to Jean Juan's?" With a dreamy look in her eyes, she sighs, "Isn't it so romantic?"
Luan looks over at her sisters. Lori is definitely blinded by the gesture, and Leni is following their sister based on her mood, but Luna isn't as touched by the cheesy note. Not that Luan blames her sister, it isn't that good.
Lori pulls out her phone and shows her sisters some pictures of her admirer, "Here he is at the bowling alley, and at the pool, and here he is last week in his mall cop's uniform. Isn't he dreamy?"
Luna and Luan look at the photos. They've seen that guy around town, but usually, he's a bit of a clumsy goof dropping things or making a mess. So neither one knows what Lori sees in him.
Lori continues to look at the note, "You know, at first, I thought that he was sort of a stalker since we saw him everywhere, and somehow he knew which locker was mine, but who cares, right? Those lockers will bust open for anyone if you hit it hard enough. But he cared enough to figure it all out, and girls, that's how you know it's love, when he's willing to go through all that for you."
Luna and Luan look at one another. They can't believe what she's saying. She's practically making excuses for the guy. She hasn't gone out with him, or even talked with him outside of the classroom and she's already swooning over the boy.
The two younger sisters listen to their sister as she continues to describe how amazing Bobby is and how perfect he is for her. They figure that she will run out of things to talk about, but nearly an hour later, she is still talking, and still not sharing brownies.
After Lori finishes talking, both sisters head back to their room trying to make sense of everything that Lori said and their own feelings on what is going on. It seems insane to Luan that her older sister could go from being weirded out by spotting the boy around town to swooning over him so quickly.
And all because of a plate of brownies and a crappy poem.
Still, she figures that she can't be the only one. Leni might be a lost cause, but at least Luna will agree that it's a little weird.
"What do you think?"
"About what?"
"The guy. Aren't you a bit worried?"
Luna thinks about it for a minute. He is a bit weird, and every time that she's seen him around town, he's a bit of a clumsy goof, but she doesn't think that he would be a problem in the long run.
"I say we give him a chance. He might be alright."
Luan isn't thrilled about her sister's response. Lori has gone through a rough couple of years thanks to puberty, and coupled with the awkwardness, it was not a pretty sight. Now this guy might be coming in and sending Lori right back down the rabbit hole of insecurity. Rather than accept Luna's words, she decides to talk to her younger sister in hopes of getting someone to see things from her perspective.
For the rest of the meal, the siblings remained quiet. None of them knew what to say to their youngest sister, but they all had the same thing on their mind. Luckily, their parents, their children and even their spouses were able to draw the attention away from their obvious shock at the news.
After the meal, each of the siblings walk out of the room and into the basement. They all have the same thing on their mind, and they all need a place to air their grievances without bringing down the couple and the rest of the family.
Once the ten oldest convene in the basement, they begin to blurt out everything that they wanted to while upstairs.
"Married?! Are they serious? How long have they been dating?"
"It's the first I've heard of this guy."
"Incorrect, she mentioned him in our group chats before, though some time has passed since he was last mentioned."
"So when was the first time?"
"I'm literally looking through all our messages."
"They've been dating since Valentine's Day."
"And they already want to get married?"
"I know," says Lynn. "They've only been together for ten months. It's too soon."
"What's your recommendation, seven years?"
Lynn doesn't appreciate what Lola said and she hip-checks her for the comment.
"Does anyone even know anything about this guy?"
Lisa and Lucy mutter some random information that they recalled their baby sister mention, but it isn't much. They've got their own lives going on, and between work and family, it's not possible to remember every little thing.
Thus the family is left with very little to go off of.
Lincoln rubs his chin, "Looks like we're going to have to devise a plan."
Lynn and Luan share a look and nod their heads. It's been a while since they've tailed a sibling's date, but if they need to, they'll do it to protect their baby sister.
The sisters begin talking amongst themselves as they try to come up with some ideas to find out more about this guy, but they are stopped when Lincoln whistles to get their attention, "Alright, I've got an idea. Now, it might take some time, but if we're gonna find out anything on this Scott fellow we'll need to use the three D's to detective work - diligence, distraction, and disguise. Now, we might not get our answer tonight, or tomorrow or even this week, but when we do all of our hard work will be worth it."
Lynn rolls her eyes. She trusts her brother, but his plans are so time-consuming, and they don't have time for all that. In less than a year, Lily is already fine with getting engaged, it probably won't take long for her to plan out a wedding, so they've got to move fast.
Luan steps away from the group as Lincoln explains his plan to the sisters. She taps Lynn's shoulder and while everyone continues to listen, the two sisters quietly head up to the kitchen to come up with their own sleuthing plan.
"Okay, you still live in Royal Woods, and you guys have your Saturday breakfasts, has Lily mentioned anything else that Lucy and Lisa haven't said before?"
"Well, they met at a bar, he's about two years older than her, and he's really getting me hyped up for the Red Wings this year, kinda wish he did the same for the Lions or the Pistons."
"What?"
"What? He's the sports guy on Channel 5. It's his job to know these things."
Luan slaps her forehead. There goes her partner. She's sure that Lynn can help her gather some information, but she's probably too attached to the guy and will probably make excuses. She needs an unbiased perspective and that isn't going to come from Lynn.
"You know," she starts, "I think I'm gonna do this solo."
Lynn dribbles the ball. She only needs ten more free throws to reach her personal best and eleven to beat it. She can feel a bead of sweat run down from her head as she stares at the backboard and gets ready to throw the ball.
Luan hastily opens the door and runs over to Lynn, "Problem! We've got a problem!"
Lynn drops the ball after being startled by her older sister. She can feel her heart racing after hearing the word 'problem'. In the Loud house, it's nearly impossible to go a day without some sort of issue. Most can be taken care of easily, some not so much, which, unfortunately, causes some tension as each of the kids wait until their parents realize what happened, "Did Mom and Dad find out about you making Lily disappear for a whole afternoon because you were trying a magic act?"
"No."
"How about when that shelf fell on Stinkoln because we were wrestling?"
"No, though we really should have taken him to the E.R. He got a concussion."
"Lisa fixed it!"
Lynn tries to think of something else, but there's so much stuff that goes on under their parents' noses that it's hard to figure out what they could have learned. Rather than keep on guessing, she asks, "Fine, what happened?"
"Lori is going on a date."
Lynn quietly stares at Luan. Now Lori has been on dates before, but unfortunately, they don't tend to work out too well. That awkward stage really took a toll on Lori and everyone has had to suffer through plenty of days filled with tears and repeated efforts to get their oldest sister back to her usual self.
"Who is it?"
"Some guy named Bobby. I think he's a pizza delivery boy."
Lynn tries to jog her memory, but the family tends to go through so many pizza boys that she's sure that they're on some sort of list.
Luan realizes that Lynn doesn't know who he is, so she tries again, "He's also a mall cop."
"The old guy?!"
"No! The younger guy! I think he also works at the cat photo studio where we got Cliff's birthday headshots. He's also a lifeguard at the pool."
"Ugh! I hate that guy. He keeps kicking us out every summer for having chicken fights."
"The other lifeguard," stresses Luan.
Lynn shakes her head. The lifeguards keep changing every summer, she's not going to be able to remember all of them, "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."
"The door-to-door corndog salesman."
Lynn quietly dribbles the ball. She understands now what Luan wants to do, and she agrees, they need to scope out this guy, see if he's good enough for their sister before she gets too emotionally involved, "When's their date?"
"This Friday night. Jean Juan's French-Mex Buffet."
"Good, I've been wanting a French taco," says Lynn, as she throws the basketball into the hoop.
Lynn crosses her arms and stares down her older sister, "What do you mean you're gonna 'do this solo'?"
"We can't risk you being biased. Even if you haven't met the guy, you still know something about him."
"His tv persona," Lynn stresses. "I've never met the guy in person."
Luan quietly thinks about it. Lynn is right. All she knows is what she's seen on tv, that could easily be faked for the camera, plus it doesn't tell them how he is with Lily. Lori and Bobby were nervous messes around each other, that wasn't true with everyone else, especially once they got engaged. Regardless, it doesn't mean that they can't observe to see how they are around one another and see if he's good enough for their little sister.
"Fine, let's go."
The two sisters look over at the couple. He has his arm around her waist and she's smiling as she chats with Ronnie Anne and Bobby. When they see their sister-in-law about to turn towards them, they hide behind the wall, but continue to listen in until they think enough time passes. Once again, they go back to looking over at the couple, who are now holding hands.
Lynn complains, "They aren't doing much."
"What do you expect them to do?"
"I dunno, something."
"It's not like all dates are gonna be something spectacular."
"Well Bobby got stuck in the bathroom shortly after we met him, one of them could do something like that."
"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen twice."
"There you are," the sisters hear. They turn around and see Francisco looking over at them. "Where have you guys been?"
"Around," answers Lynn, making sure to not make eye contact with her husband.
Francisco is confused. He's not sure how well everyone else has noticed that all of the Loud siblings have disappeared since they ate, but he doubts that somebody hasn't gone looking for their spouse.
"What are you guys looking at?"
Lynn still refuses to look at Francisco. He looks out in the direction that the two sisters are staring at and notices that they are staring at Lily and Scott. Shortly after everyone ate, the Loud siblings started disappearing, no doubt discussing the couple's engagement. Like them, he was shocked at the news, considering Lynn said that they've been dating for a short time, but he's clearly not going to be as protective as ten older siblings.
Victor reaches out to his mom. She can hear him groaning in Francisco's arms and she takes him so that he doesn't alert anyone that they are spying on Lily.
Luan keeps her eyes on Scott, trying her best to learn about the man. She and Lynn spied on Lori and Bobby so long ago, so their skills are a bit rusty, but it hasn't been that long since that day. Luckily, what they're looking for shouldn't be that different, if only they could be left alone long enough.
"This would be so much easier if people would stop talking to them."
It's easy to put up a front for others, but how the two are alone will be the real compatibility test.
An idea pops into Lynn's head, "What about Francisco?"
"What?" he asks, confused after hearing his name.
"He could get the others to leave them alone while we watch them."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
Lynn shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know, stop 'em one at a time."
That seems like a lot of work for one person, even with all the Loud siblings missing from the party. Sure, he won't have to worry about the kids, who are entertaining themselves, but their parents and in-laws are another issue.
Hearing that reminds Francisco that a good chunk of the guests have disappeared, "Hey, where is everybody anyway?"
"Around…"
"They're in the attic, aren't they?"
Without looking at him, Lynn quickly nods her head, "Yup." She turns to her older sister, "So what do you say?"
Luan hesitates. She doesn't know how well he'll do, and it isn't as though the couple won't notice the sudden lack of interaction from all of the other guests. Luan is almost ready to reschedule this, but if she doesn't try to at least get some sort of intel on Scott it'll be up to Lynn and the rest of the family here in Royal Woods to do it.
Lynn can tell that her sister doesn't like her plan, even if she won't say it, which means they'll have to think of something else.
Lily walks into the room and notices the three adults talking amongst themselves in the corner. They all look at her and immediately, without any thought, Lynn takes Francisco's hand and walks him towards Lily, "You know, we haven't had much of a chance to congratulate you since you made the big news. We should talk, from one newlywed couple to a future one."
Lily is confused, and she can tell that she's not the only one. She looks back at their older sister, who waves at them as they head back to the living room.
Luan watches as the two couples take a seat, 'Great, now I can't see anything…' she complains, as she notices that Lily and Scott are sitting on the small loveseat facing away from her line of vision. Now, she's dependent on Lynn and Francisco's powers of perception.
Though, she should give her little sister the benefit of the doubt, after all, she was able to think so quickly on her feet and even give a convincing reason to talk to the couple.
Now comes the hard part - learning about them. Luan is sure that at some point the conversation will turn to sports and then it'll all fall apart on Lynn's end, but maybe she can get something before that happens or steer the conversation towards what she wants.
Lynn speeds down the street on her bike. She and Luan don't have that much time until Lori and Bobby reach the restaurant and they want to get there so that they don't risk being seen by the couple. She can see the glowing restaurant sign and she pedals faster, knowing that her destination is in sight.
Luan clutches tightly to Lynn's shoulders, afraid for dear life, "S-S-Slow down!"
"No way, we're almost there, and it's about to rain."
Luan looks up at the dark sky above them. It definitely looks like it's about to rain at any minute, but they're close enough to the restaurant that they should be okay. However, that doesn't seem like a good enough reason for Lynn, who is pedaling with all her might so that they can reach the restaurant before Lori and Bobby.
Lynn stops the bike in front of the restaurant and Luan immediately gets off. Her legs feel wobbly after bouncing around on the back of Lynn's bike, but she isn't going to argue with results.
Luan notices her younger sister chaining her bike on the potted plant, "Lynn, what are you doing?"
"There's no bike rack, so I figure I'd put it here."
"No, I mean, why are you putting it by the front door? Lori's going to see it."
"Where else am I supposed to put it?"
Luan looks around. There isn't anywhere to put it, unless they decide to leave it by the side of the building and hope it doesn't get stolen. Then again, there's also the parking lot, if they can hide it between the cars.
Lynn notices the look on her sister's face. They don't have much time until Lori arrives, "Will you pick a place already?!"
"Fine, let's just put it by the side of the building."
Lynn and Luan walk the bike around the corner, but the raindrops begin falling faster. Lynn runs so that the two can get out of the rain, but she notices Luan pull out a tiny umbrella for herself. The younger sister quickly leans the bike against the building and pulls her jacket over her head to shield herself from the rain, "Thanks a lot," she mumbles to her sister as she walks towards the entrance.
"It's not my fault you didn't check the weather."
The two sisters walk into the restaurant and take their seats. It would have been nice if the staff would let them in without having to eat, but if it means making sure that their sister is okay, they're willing to take on the expense.
The two sisters walk towards the buffet. Luan looks around at everything, but nothing is calling out to her, probably doesn't help that they ate dinner before coming. Meanwhile, Lynn is loading up her plate as if she hasn't eaten all day.
"How are you still hungry?"
Lynn shrugs her shoulders, and continues to scoop more food onto her plate.
Luan stops to look at the food, hoping to find something light to keep her from getting sick later. She pokes the guacamole French toast with the tongs and is immediately disgusted by the soggy sounds. She sets the tongs down and walks away.
Rather than get anything, Luan settles on the complimentary chip and bottomless pop waiting for the two at the table. She sits down and slowly bites down on a chip, while Lynn gobbles everything on her plate. The older sister is both weirdly disgusted by the display and impressed that she hasn't choked on her food yet.
The two quietly wait for their older sister, but after three trips to the buffet, they begin to wonder where they are.
Lynn slouches in her seat. She's already hit the buffet a couple of times and the ding-dang couple still hasn't arrived. She gets that it's pouring outside, but if two girls on a bicycle can beat Vanzilla, then that's a problem.
"Do you think that went somewhere else?"
Luan wonders. Lori told Mom and Dad that she wanted to borrow Vanzilla to go on a date to this exact restaurant at this exact time. Now, while Lori hasn't given her much reason to think that she would lie to their parents, it is always a possibility. After all, the whole reason that the sisters are even here is so that they can spy on the guy that she's on a date with.
Lynn gets up from her seat, "I'm gonna go look in the parking lot again."
She opens the front door and looks around at the parking lot. There's still no sight of Vanzilla, just the same cars that were there before the rain started, which is not letting up. Lynn's stomach growls. She and Luan have waited long enough and they might have to call it a night. They probably won't tell Mom and Dad that Lori lied, but they are going to grill her during their sibling secret club. She looks around one more time, takes a deep breath, and decides to go back inside to hit the buffet again.
The sound of Vanzilla grabs Lynn's attention. She spots the familiar vehicle and runs back to her table. Lynn slouches down, "They're here."
Luan slouches down and looks over at the entrance, waiting for the couple to enter the restaurant.
The door opens and the girls see Bobby accidentally hit Lori with the door.
Scott looks over his shoulder as he hears his fiancé walk into the room leading another family in as they take a seat on the couch beside them. Before coming over, Lily warned him that her family would be a lot, but so far, they seem pretty tame, though he hasn't seen them since Lily broke the news about their engagement.
Lily starts to introduce her sister and her family, "Scott, this is-"
"Hold on, I think I can remember," he starts. A few days ago, Lily went over everyone with him, but with so many 'L' names and information about each sibling, some of it got muddled in his brain. He looks at the woman in front of him, 'Brown hair, looks a little older than Lily, okay, Lori… no, wait, she's the oldest… damn it, uh… Lucy! Wait, she's the funny one. Okay, this is harder than I thought…'
"You're Lisa, right?"
Lily chuckles, "Babe, I told you that Lisa is the one who wears glasses."
"You said that some of the others do too."
"When they read," she chuckles.
He rolls his eyes and smiles, "Well, you also said that she's your immediate older sister and she looks the part."
"Yeah, I know, but that's Lynn," says Lily as she points to her sister, followed by the rest of her family, "Her husband Francisco and son Victor."
Francisco extends his arm out towards Scott, "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
Lynn quietly watches over the two, but she can't help looking over at Luan, who is watching over all of them. Lynn knows that she can't screw this up. As much as she wants to think of Scott as a good guy, she has to be impartial for her baby sister's sake.
Francisco notices how Lynn is quietly staring at the couple, who are also getting nervous. Lynn mentioned trying to get to know the couple, and yet she isn't saying anything. He figures that it might be up to him to break the ice, except there isn't much that he wants to know about the couple himself.
"Your son looks a lot like you," states Scott.
Francisco looks down at Victor, "Yeah, we get that a lot."
"Is he your youngest?"
"Our only one."
"It's kinda weird," Scott says before turning to Lily, "You guys grew up in this insanely large family, but most of you only have two or three kids."
"Well they just got married, so who knows."
Lynn looks over at Luan, who is signaling her to stay on the topic, "Speaking of… uh, where'd you both meet?"
"I told you months ago that we met at a bar."
"So where'd you get engaged?"
"We were out to dinner in Hazeltucky," starts Lily. "It was a nice restaurant in Hazeltucky, though kinda weird that they didn't have a set menu, but the food was so delicious. Anyway, we were just talking the night away, and then he pulled out the ring from his pocket. I said yes, and the rest is history."
Lynn nods her head, "Neat." She turns over to Francisco, and between her teeth, she quietly asks, "Ask them something."
Francisco awkwardly looks over at the couple, unsure of what to ask. He doesn't care too much about the little details involving the couple and their relationship, but when he notices everyone's eyes on him, he opens his mouth to say something, but comes up with nothing.
Luan keeps her eyes on the couple. There isn't much to go off of when it comes to the two. She sighs to herself, it was so much easier when they had a simple outlook on romance. Then again, they at least knew something about who their sisters would date, or at least have run into them around town. However, Lily never told them much before today, and all Lynn knew was that he's the sports guy on tv.
When Lynn has enough of the awkward silence, she leans over towards Scott, "Hey, I gotta ask, why are you so dang tough on the Lions whenever you do a report on them? I mean, I get that they aren't doing so well this season, but you're definitely not afraid of giving them a little crap."
Scott shrugs his shoulders, "You just said it, they aren't doing well, and if no one lights a fire under their butts they won't try to create a better team. You can agree with me on that, right?"
Lynn sighs, "Yeah, I guess, but still…"
He chuckles, "C'mon Lynn, a little ribbing isn't gonna hurt you."
She silently smiles, knowing that she would probably say the same thing to him if she was in his shoes. Lily, Francisco and Luan look over at her expecting her to continue defending the Lions, but are surprised that she's letting him get away with it.
"Alright, you get a pass, but only 'cause I know you know your stuff. But if you give too much crap to the Tigers after this season, you're going down."
"They made it pretty deep into the postseason, there's not much to say except that it was expected when they face cheaters."
Lynn turns to Lily, "Love this guy."
Luan sighs, it didn't take long for Lynn to go straight into sports talk, so she's going to have to take matters into her own hands. She casually walks into the living room and introduces herself to Scott, "Nice to meet you, Scott, I'm-"
"Leni!"
Lily shakes her head, "Luan," she corrects. "It's like having another Francisco in the family," she jokes.
"Hey, I eventually learned your names."
"After what? Twenty years?"
"There was a ten year hiatus, you can cut me a little slack."
Luan takes a seat close to Lily and she smiles at Scott, "So, Scott, do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"Nope. I'm an only child."
Shortly after answering, Luan shoots him with another question, "So you're a sports reporter, what do your parents do?"
"My dad is a radio host, and my mom's a teacher. Let's just say I learned a thing or two from watching them."
"Did you always want to be a sports reporter?"
Lily watches her sister, wondering where this probing attitude was coming from. She takes Scott's hand, hoping to silently tell him that he doesn't have to speak, but he immediately blurts out, "Well I wanted to announce the games, but I could never decide on which one since I liked most of them. Being a sports reporter seemed like a good alternative, I get to meet the players sometimes. You know, I invite Lily sometimes, but she's not interested."
"It's not my thing, so I figured what's the point of going and embarrassing you," responds Lily, as she rests her head on his shoulder and looks up at him.
"So I end up going alone with the crew."
Everyone hears a slight yelp and they turn towards Lynn, who is doing her best to sit still and maintain her composure.
"Uh, like I said, I get to meet players, be on the field, so I thought that was more for me than announcing games in a booth."
Lynn mutters under her breath, "Lucky… You know, I haven't seen you do a story on the Pistons yet."
He shrugs his shoulders, "One day. For now, I just watch the games on tv and take notes on how their coaching is failing them this year, and the bad trades, and all the injuries."
Lynn feigns hurt, "Ouch. Are you always this nice?"
While everyone laughs, Luan looks over at her sister, hoping to quietly remind her that they're not here to discuss sports teams. In an effort to get the conversation back onto Scott, she asks, "Where'd you go to school?"
"Northern Michigan."
"That's so far away."
"Nah, not really, I was born and raised in Esky, so it wasn't too far."
"Esky? Where's that?"
"Escanaba," he explains, "It's up north, about seventy miles south of Marquette."
Lynn begins to piece together the information that she heard with what she already knew about the man. He gives the Lions and Pistons a bit of a tough time, but is cool with the Red Wings and Tigers during his reports, "Marquette… does that mean that you're a…?"
Scott nods his head.
Francisco sighs, "Oh boy… It was nice getting to know you, Scott."
Lily is confused by what the three are talking about, but before she is able to ask what's going on, Lynn immediately raises her voice, "What the heck?! You're a Packers fan? Are you a Bucks fan too? How can any self-respecting sports journalist in the state of Michigan root for a Wisconsin team, let alone two?!"
"I'm allowed to-" starts Scott, but he notices Francisco and Luan shake their heads to let him know that it's pointless to reason with Lynn at the moment.
Luan and Lily drag Lynn away so that she can cool down, leaving the men behind to wonder what happened.
"Don't think this is over!"
Lynn tries to stifle her laughter, but she can't help herself, it was so funny.
Luan looks down at the giant puddle of water by her sister's feet and sighs, all that hard work to make herself look perfect only to have the rain come in and ruin it. However, when Luan looks up she notices that Lori doesn't seem to care, despite her makeup smearing or the bump that's likely going to form on her nose after taking that hit.
It's a terrible way to start a date and the two sisters are a little worried about Lori's reaction and possibly what will happen to the poor boy who is going to be on the receiving end of her sister's wrath.
Surprisingly, though, Lori doesn't do anything, and instead, keeps her eyes on her date as they are led by the waiter to their table. Along the way, Bobby steps aside, but Lori keeps moving straight, and accidentally bumps into a waiter carrying a tray of horchata lattes.
The loud crashing sound startles the staff and patrons. Lori's face turns red and she quickly apologizes before running to catch up with Bobby and their waiter.
The two arrive at their table, and Bobby, being a gentleman, pulls out her chair for her to sit. The couple has already had two embarrassing fails, and they're sort of expecting another one, but it didn't happen.
They both figure that things might finally start looking up for the two teens.
The waiter sets down a pair of wrapped utensils for the couple, and pulls out a notepad to write down their order, "May I get you something to drink?"
Lori and Bobby immediately answer, "Water."
"Sparkling or flat?"
"Sparkling!"
"Flat!"
The waiter looks at both of them, but the teenagers immediately change their responses to the other option, over and over again.
Lynn rolls her eyes. They have been changing what they want for what feels like five minutes. Eventually, the waiter leaves without getting a solid answer out of the two.
Shortly afterwards, the waiter sets down a glass of water for each of them and places a bowl of chips and salsa to share before they hit the buffet. Bobby and Lori both reach for the chips and their hands briefly touch. They look at each other for a second, and Bobby takes one perfectly intact chip, dips it in the salsa and offers to feed his date.
Lori happily opens her mouth to take a bite. Bobby moves his arm towards her, when he feels a muscle spasm. Instead of aiming the chip for her mouth, his hand goes straight for her cheek. Bobby takes a firm hold of his arm to lightly massage it. He can't believe he did that, he's so embarrassed to have done that to her.
He looks over at her cheek to see if she's okay and notices the shocked look on Lori's face. He's sure that she's upset, but Bobby immediately notices red on her cheek, "Oh no! You're bleeding." He looks around for a napkin and quickly undoes the wrapped utensils so that he can offer the napkin to stop her bleeding.
Lori takes the napkin and wipes away the salsa, "Nope, no blood, just a little salsa."
Bobby sighs in relief, "That's good. Can I try that again?"
With a small smile on her face, Lori nods her head and opens her mouth to take a bite, but immediately begins to feel the heat from all the salsa. Her eyes begin to water as the spice overtake her. She can't take it anymore and grabs her glass of water in hopes of getting rid of the burning sensation.
If only she didn't feel some water going down her airpipe instead.
The waiter returns to take their orders, but is taken aback by Lori choking on her water, "Are you okay?"
Between her coughs, Lori vigorously nods her head, but she can't stop coughing.
"Would you like me to come back?"
Lori shakes her head. She tries her best to order, but the coughs are making it difficult. The waiter nods his head and writes down, deciding that he doesn't want to come back. The couple has already been making things hard for his coworker, and he doesn't want to spend more time with them than necessary.
"Got it! And you, sir?"
Bobby places his order, but he can't take his eyes off Lori. He wishes that he knew what to do, but he doesn't think that the heimlich maneuver will do much good. Luckily, Lori stops coughing and they can go back to enjoying their romantic evening.
The waiter returns with their orders and Lori looks down at the soup. She didn't order French onion nacho cheese soup, and she can't risk having cheesy, onion breath on a first date, it'll ruin their probable first kiss later that night.
"Excuse me, I-"
The waiter is nowhere to be found.
Lori sighs and settles on eating the weird combination. She takes a small sip of the soup. It's surprisingly not bad. She notices Bobby looking over at her, "You should try this soup, it's delicious."
She leans over, and the bowl of soup spills onto his lap.
Bobby can feel his skin burning, "Hot!" he screams, jumping up from his seat. He stumbles backwards and crashes into a dessert cart carrying flan flambé. The flaming dessert lands on a nearby table, setting the tablecloth on fire. The customers at the table run from the hazard, while the waitress pulls out a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.
Lori runs after Bobby to make sure he's okay, but in her haste, she fails to notice the flan on the floor slips on it. She slides onto the dancefloor and finally stops when she crashes into the band performing nearby.
Lynn and Luan watch the spectacle. When they see Lori stop, the two get up from their seats in order to go help her up, and probably calm her down after the worst date ever.
And rightfully so - they've survived terrible weather, crashes, chip emergencies, soup burns and band crashes, it literally can't get any worse for the couple. Though, even if it does, they aren't sure if they'll ever want to try this again.
"Man, talk about bad luck. I knew I should have given Lori my lucky jock."
"Right, that would have made things better…"
They hear Bobby call out to her, and the two go into hiding. They figure he at least deserves a chance to be a proper prince and help her up.
They hope…
Bobby offers his hand to help Lori up to her feet.
Luan looks over at the couple. She's sure that after that crash, Lori will freak out and run away from Bobby, embarrassed and claiming how it's the worst night of her life, but instead she does something else. She takes his hand and smiles. It seems as though she doesn't even care about the mess that they've made or the lousy start to the date, she begins to laugh and he does too. Both of them are clearly enjoying themselves despite the chaos.
This whole little operation started as a chance to scope out Bobby and see if he was good enough for their sister. After everything that happened, the two sisters were sure that he is, but it isn't even just that, the two seem a little more compatible. The whole night could have devolved into groans and cries, but it never did. Instead, it was two teenagers nervously trying to get through the night with smiles on their faces.
With the couple still distracted, Luan quietly signals Lynn that they should get going and let the couple enjoy the rest of their date.
Neither man says anything. Scott isn't sure how normal this is, though if Lily didn't get upset immediately, then it might be a run-of-the-mill moment in the Loud house. He then looks over at Francisco, who also seems unfazed.
Francisco looks over at Scott, and warns him, "She'll cool down eventually, though, if the Packers or Bucks ever get bested, prepare for her to rub it in your face."
"If that ever happens, I'll be prepared."
Francisco laughs.
With a smile on his face, Scott asks, "So you've seen their records lately?"
"Somewhat. I don't really care for football or basketball. I only watch it 'cause Lynn likes it. I'm more of a baseball and hockey guy."
"Nice. It stinks the Tigers didn't win the ALCS, but at least the Red Wings' rebuilding efforts seem to be paying off."
Francisco nods his head, "Hopefully they can keep it up."
"They should be fine, and I think that by the time they face Tampa Bay, Brodin should be healthy again."
Outside, the two Loud sisters drag Lynn towards the mailbox. Along the way, Luan sighs to herself. This whole operation fell apart so easily and what's worse is that Lily is onto them. She'll definitely be suspicious of the two of them, and that's assuming that she doesn't grow suspicious of the others as well.
Lynn takes her arm from her sister, "You didn't have to drag me out of the house!"
Neither Lily or Luan believe that, but at least now know that Lynn won't be biased towards Scott anymore.
"We sorta had to, unless we wanted to worry about a Christmas Day brawl."
"I wasn't gonna jump him. I was only defending my team."
Lily crosses her arms, "Yeah, that sounds like a great reason to raise your voice. Go walk it off or whatever you do when you're angry."
Lynn angrily stomps around the front yard.
Lily turns to Luan, "What is going on with you two in there?"
Luan shrugs her shoulders, "What are you talking about?"
"You know what. It sounded like you guys were interrogating Scott."
"Well you can't blame us," Lynn blurts out. "It's the first time we're meeting him and almost immediately you tell us that you're gonna get married. We wanted to check him out before the wedding."
"Woah!" starts Lily. "I mean, yeah, we're engaged, but we're not gonna get married any time soon. You'll have time to get to know him."
Lynn and Luan stare at her, hoping that she'll crack. They don't believe that. She only dated the man for about ten months and is already fine with marrying him, how can they believe that she's fine with waiting to actually go through with the ceremony.
Lily notices their silence and can tell that they think she's lying, "Well, I don't care if you believe me. It's true."
Luan looks over at Lynn, who stops circling the yard. This isn't how they expected their little gathering to go, but they still stand by their actions. Lily is moving entirely too fast in this relationship, especially when she held back on telling anyone anything.
"Well," starts Luan, "we're a little worried. It seems like you're rushing into this without much thought."
"I know that you two think that we're moving too fast, but we're not. I'm not a baby anymore. I understand that you want to look out for me, but I'm twenty-five years old, I can handle myself and I trust my own judgment. Just because he gave me a ring, doesn't mean that we're gonna run off to the courthouse in the morning."
"So why'd he already buy the ring?"
"It's his grandmother's. She gave it to him, and he gave it to me to show that he wants something serious. I accepted it because I want something serious too. I really like him, maybe even love him, and I want you and everyone else to trust me or at least be up front instead of sneaking around like we're kids."
The front door opens, and Luna pokes her head out, "They're out here."
The siblings begin to pour out of the house and Lincoln tries to lead Luan and Lynn away from Lily, so that he can explain his plan to them without Lily catching wind of what they're all going to do.
"Why did you two leave?"
"We wanted to check out Scott for ourselves."
"We were making up a plan downstairs to do that. We came up with codenames, roles, and times that we would all visit Royal Woods so that we can gather intel. It's all planned down to the last minute. By this time next year, we should know something about Scott."
Both sisters look at him. In the time that he and the rest of their sisters were planning something, they were able to learn a few things about him. No, it isn't life-altering information, but it's more than they had before.
Lynn wraps her arm around her brother's shoulder, "You know what, Stinkoln? I don't think that we're gonna need that plan."
"You guys figured out that much about the mystery man."
"Nope. Well, a little, but we learned more than we did coming in. Also, she's onto us."
"Thanks to Lynn."
"Hey! I'm not the one who was asking his life story. In case you forgot, Lily thought you were interrogating him."
"We both were, and at least I was getting somewhere with him. What were you doing?"
Lincoln interrupts his sisters' bickering, "Okay, that's enough." He sighs. All that planning has gone down the drain thanks to the two of them. Lily will definitely be onto everyone especially if Luan was interrogating them, and he doesn't even want to think of what Lynn did.
"What do we do now?"
The sisters shrug their shoulders, "Trust her," they suggest.
"What?! But, why?"
"They aren't getting married yet," starts Luan. "Maybe they'll go the long engagement route."
"Maybe we'll get a chance to see him on the job… in person. You know, so we can scope him out off camera and around others."
"He's not inviting you to some stadium while he's working."
Lynn immediately answers, "He might, besides the rest of the stuff I said makes sense."
Luan turns to Lincoln, "We should probably trust Lily."
"You don't sound convinced."
She isn't, but she tries to put on her best smile to convince him otherwise.
Even with the explanation, Luan still thinks that Lily is jumping the gun. However, she is willing to trust her little sister, and also her other little sisters to help gather information down the line. After all, Scott didn't give them any reason to not trust him, but that doesn't mean that they're going to have complete faith in the guy. He's still a stranger after all, and while they're nice enough to back off for the time being, they're still going to have their eyes on him.
Lincoln heads over to the other sisters to explain that they need to change plans after what the two sisters did.
Meanwhile, Luan leans over to Lynn and quietly asks, "What channel is he on?"
"Five. Don't worry, I'll watch him every night."
"You would have done that anyway."
"Well, yeah, but look, we'll figure something out, and if not that, then we can keep Lily from walking down the aisle too soon."
Luan sighs, "I hope so."
"Good," Lynn spots Leni and she walks towards, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to Leni."
Later that evening, before the families head out, Leni runs over and whispers something to Lynn, who smiles and nods her head. Francisco has no idea what the sisters are discussing, but when they both eye him, it has him a bit worried of what may happen.
Victor pulls out his tie again, tossing it as far as his little arm can throw, which admittedly isn't far. Leni goes to pick up the tie and she feels the material between her fingers, "Aww poor little guy, no wonder you keep trying to take off your tie. It's so uncomfortable." Leni hands the tie to Francisco, "You'd think that baby clothing designers would be mindful to use softer materials for their sensitive skin." She looks at her sister, "I promise to keep that in mind."
I'm alive!
But seriously, that is definitely the longest that I've kept you waiting for a new chapter. I started jumping on some of the others and ended up neglecting this one. Hopefully, this means that I can get the next chapter out sooner so that you guys aren't waiting forever like you did this summer.
As for the events in this chapter, it's a little reminder that while Lynn and Francisco get top billing, the other siblings will play more of a role than they did in The Champ, with the potential for some past shots and chapters to be more from their point of view.
As always thank you for reading, and I'll see you guys next time.
