Author Notes - And now we get the scene where Lynn comes out to her sisters and brother. As always: WARNINGS APPLY. There will be some transphobic comments, but they will be solely out of misunderstanding than any malicious intent. There's more confusion than real doubt. However, one member of the family won't react to the news so well...

CHAPTER FOUR - A SISTER, NOT A BROTHER

Lynn decided that the best time to 'come out' was as soon as possible, as soon as her parents could reign her sisters and brother in. The sooner she did it, the sooner she could get it over and done with. Of course, even though it was her decision, it didn't make coming out to them any easier.

She paced around in her room, carrying little weights in her arms to serve as a distraction; if she was going to pace nervously, then she was at least going to get some workout from it. It seemed quite fortunate that her parents were struggling to get the whole family together, but it didn't make waiting for it any easier.

If anything, she wanted it to just freaking happen already.

Perhaps it was something a four-year-old didn't need to worry about, but there were already enough worries in her hand about her unfitting body and constantly being called a boy.

No four-year-old should be this anxious, but Lynn's life had other ideas.

Doubt was eating at her mind once again. Since she first suggested telling her siblings all the way to this very moment, she had kept switching back and forth between 'they will accept me' and 'they will hate me', unable to settle on one train of thought. Maybe she shouldn't. Maybe she should. Maybe she shouldn't. Maybe she should. Maybe- it was getting exhausting.

Before she could change her mind, however, there was a knock on her door. She seized up with panic, and was already wondering how easily she could escape through her bedroom window.

'LJ!'

It was her father on the other side of the door. Lynn sighed in relief; her father's voice was perhaps the most relaxing sound in the world. It was like a warm campfire in the middle of a frightening and chilling night.

'Your mother's managed to get your sisters all wrangled!' Lynn Sr said. 'Come out when you're ready!'

Lynn Sr couldn't help laughing to himself, mostly thanks to his little accidental pun. No wonder Rita blamed him for the way Luan turned out. The lynn-sanity and luan-igans combined were too much for any normie to handle.

Lynn was not laughing. Her heart was still racing, even though she knew she didn't have anything to worry about. Didn't she? There was always the possibility that she had the right to be worried, and that this debacle would end with her sisters never wanting to see her again.

'Coming, Dad!' She said.

She clenched her fists and took a deep breath, like she was preparing herself to run a cross-country course. That was how she needed to deal with it. The only way to get the gold medal was to admit this to her siblings. And there was nothing she liked more than a shiny gold medal. With this new goal in mind, she kicked the door open and jumped outside.

'Alright, Dad!' She said. 'I'm ready!'

Lynn Sr gave her a couple of finger guns. 'That's my girl! They're waiting for us in the living room. Come on!'

Lynn hopped on the railing of the stairs and rode it all the way down. The air rushing past her face reminded her so much of running, and how wild and free it made her feel. Fortunately, Rita was there to catch her before she hit the floor. The little girl was brimming with confidence and panache, ready to face whatever athletic powerhouse was going to be her opponent again.

Then Rita set her upon the floor, and she saw her sisters and brother staring at her. She could practically feel her confidence going down the proverbial drain. Most of them looked like they were already bored waiting for her.

'Alright, what's this news?' Lori said, rolling her eyes. 'And you better be quick about it. I have things I wanna do!'

'I wonder what it's gonna be!' Leni said to her sisters. 'He's always got the coolest news.'

Luna chuckled. 'If you can consider breaking his leg to be cool.'

Lynn gulped - there was something about that 'he' word that she did not like. It was a word she associated with her father, and her brother, and her grandfather. With the boys. Perhaps she was too young to know everything about pronouns, but they were such an integral part of speech that it was impossible not to notice things like this.

'Lynn has something… you really need to know.' Rita said, trying to avoid using any sort of pronouns for her youngest daughter. 'And I think you should listen.'

Lynn gulped again - now, all of her sisters and her brother were looking right at her expectedly. But she couldn't bring herself to say it.

'Well, while we're waiting,' Luan said. 'How about a joke? What did the rooster-?'

The joke had barely begun, and Lynn was already groaning. Well, a motivation to speak was a motivation.

'Alright!' She said. 'Enough with the jokes.'

'I haven't even started-!'

The little girl took a deep breath. 'So, uh, I'm… like… your brother, right?'

Truth be told, Lynn had no idea how to go about admitting something like this. Coming up with complex speeches was hard enough for someone her age, but now she needed a big speech with real meaning behind it. Her parents were right behind her, ready to step in and explain it themselves if they had or were asked to.

'Uh… yeah?' Lori said. 'You're our little brother.'

'What's your point?' Luna asked.

Lynn rubbed her elbow, harsh enough to turn the skin red. Any harder, and she may have caused serious damage.

'Well, um…' She said. 'That wasn't right. I'm not actually your brother.'

Her siblings were silent, each with a shocked and confused expression on their faces.

'Wait…' Leni said. 'If you're not our brother… then whose brother are you?'

Lynn could not repress her groan, even if she had tried. 'Ugh, NO! That's not what I mean! It wasn't the 'your' part that was wrong. It was…' She paused, and focused on the challenge ahead; the gold medal to be won. 'It was the 'brother' part. I'm not your brother. I'm your sister. … I'm a girl. Not a boy.'

She unleashed a heavy breath; there. It was over and done with. She said what she had to say. Now, all there was left to deal with was the aftermath. Hopefully, the aftermath wouldn't prove to be the most difficult part of this after all.

At first, her siblings said nothing. Most of the other girls gave her a wide-eyed stare, while Leni simply tilted her head in confusion. Lincoln (whose opinion didn't matter so much to her anyway, but still) looked as angry as a little kid his age could possibly look.

Then, Leni smiled. 'OH! Okay, sorry! I thought all that time that you were a boy. Sorry for getting it wrong!'

'Wait… that literally makes no sense!' Lori said. 'We… we were all told you were our brother. You act like a boy, don't you?'

'I thought she acted like Lynn.'

Lynn sighed. 'Well, you were wrong. Everyone was. Even the doctor. I'm a girl, and I know that. And no one can tell me I'm not.'

The little girl was about to scream. Or have an accident. Or go on a rampage. She wasn't sure which one it was. Maybe it was all three, or some unheard-of fourth option. Either way, she was about to lose it. This was a terrible idea, she was realising. An awful idea. Perhaps she should've just dealt with them calling her their brother for the rest of her life. Even if it destroyed her.

Then, Luna shrugged.

'I guess it makes sense.' She said. 'I mean, you've been yelling about how much you hate being a boy for weeks.'

'Oh yeah!' Luan said, with a chuckle. 'I felt bad, so I didn't make jokes. But now that I know that you're a girl… oh boy, I'll have material for weeks!'

Lynn's face went white. 'Uh, p-please don't. Please. T-This is really tough for me. Cos you always call me your brother, b-but I'm not your brother. I'm your sister.'

Lori still looked as though she couldn't quite comprehend this situation, but she hopped off the couch and gave her youngest sister a soft smile. It was rare for Lynn to see her smiling like that when talking to her family; typically, if there was a smile, it would be the 'oh, I cannot wait to abuse my eldest-child privileges' kind of grin.

'Okay, I don't get it,' She said. 'Since before you were even born, I was told that you were our little brother. But if you say that we were wrong, then I'm going to believe you.'

Lynn looked up at her with wide and sparkling eyes. 'Y-You mean that?'

'There is literally no one else who knows you better than you do. And if you tell me that you're a girl, then I'll listen.'

And then, Lori gave her a big hug. Which Lynn didn't approve of, but she didn't want to back out of it either. For the first time in her life, she willingly gave her oldest sister a hug back.

'Come on, girls!' Lori said. 'Let's give our little sister a hug.'

Leni joined in on the group hug immediately, not needing a moment to think about it. Luna and Luan glanced at each other, shared a shrug, and joined in on the fun. Lincoln remained in his seat, crossing his arms and pouting.

'Wait a minute…' Luna said, backing out of the hug. 'What about ya name?'

'Hey, yeah,' Lori said. 'You're named after Dad.'

'Well, that was a dad mistake!' Luan said, giggling before she cut herself off. 'But, yeah… that's a problem.'

Lynn shook her head. 'No, we don't need to do that. I like my name! And anyway, Lynn can be a girl's name.'

'So instead of calling you Lynn…' Leni said. 'We have to call you Lynn… yeah, I think I can do that!'

That comment, however unintentionally, got a laugh out of Lynn. It felt a little weird to laugh about this, but it also felt good.

'We have another sister!' Luan said. 'Sorry Lincoln, but it looks like you're the only brother in the whole house.'

Lincoln crossed his arms and grumbled. Since he was so young, it wasn't clear how much of this he really understood. But it became quite obvious that he knew just enough.

'NO!' He yelled, loudly enough to make everyone jump.

'No?' Lynn repeated. 'No to what?'

'You're not a girl! You're a boy, like me!'

Though Lincoln was merely a two-year-old, whose way of speaking was barely comprehensible, his words made something inside of Lynn snap.

'E-Excuse me…' She said. 'What did you just say?'

'You're my bru… bro… brodder!' Lincoln said. 'Not sister!'

If Lincoln wasn't a literal toddler, it would be no exaggeration to say that Lynn wanted to dropkick him across the room. Instead, her entire body tensed up and she gritted her teeth.

'I am a girl!' She yelled. 'I don't care what you tell me!'

'You can't be a girl!' Lincoln whined. 'You're a boy!'

'Chill out, dude,' Luna said. 'I know it's kinda confusing, but-'

'SHUDDUP! Y-You think he's a girl, but he's not!'

Rita decided that now was the perfect time to step in and intervene. She picked the little Lincoln up and held him in her arms, hoping that would be enough to calm him down. He fought against her grasp, though not well enough to break out.

'Lincoln,' Rita said, as calmly as she could. 'I know it's hard to understand. But Lynn really is your sister. We were… wrong, when we called her a boy. You're a boy, but she's a girl.'

'NO!' He shouted again. 'H-He's a boy, like me!'

'Linc-'

'I DON'T WANNA BE THE ONLY BOY!'

The Loud Sisters, even Lynn, could only watch the scene play out in shock. Rita gave her husband a concerned look, before she carried her only son into her room. Lincoln continued to squirm and cry out about Lynn being a boy, like they had all been certain she was.

'Wow,' Luan said. 'Oh brother, he really was the weak Linc today, wasn't he?' She giggled. 'Get it?'

No one responded to her, not even with the exasperated groan that she was so used to. Everyone remaining in the room was too easy staring at Lynn, waiting to see how she would react to this.

'LJ?' Lynn Sr said, kneeling down next to her. 'Are you okay, Sweetie?'

Lynn wanted to say 'yes', even if she was lying right through her teeth, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She could hardly bring herself to talk. Her fists clenched so hard that it hurt; her nails dug into her skin, and her nerves strained themselves to keep it up. But she didn't let her hands rest. She couldn't.

She could feel her eyes beginning to sting, that horrible sting that meant that tears were about to fall. Crying was the last thing she wanted to do, but the tears threatened to fall and ruin the tough image she had been building up for years.

Or was bottling up her emotions too much of a boy thing to do?

'LJ!' Lynn Sr yelled, getting in front of her and placing his hands on her shoulders. 'You're not okay. Talk to me!'

He could only look into his child's - his daughter's - eyes for a moment, before she clamped them shut like she was trying to keep some sort of evil within. But that one moment was all he needed to see the anger. The fear. The despair.

'Lynn, just ignore him,' Lori said. 'He is literally just a stupid little boy.'

'Yeah!' Luna said. 'How would a boy know what it's like to be a girl?'

Leni put a finger to her chin. '... Read a book about it?'

Lynn knew they were right. In her big family of seven other members, only one of them was convinced that she was a boy. And it was the youngest member of the family at that, whose grasp on gender was real but flimsy. And that she had so many other people calling her their daughter, or their little sister.

Lincoln's words meant absolutely nothing. His opinion was based on a toddler's simple view of the world. His cries were just a child chucking a tantrum because he didn't get his way.

So why were his words the only ones that Lynn could think about? The only opinion that she paid any attention to? The thoughts that affected her?

'Lynn, please!' Her father said, tears beginning to come to his own eyes. 'I don't care what you say. Just speak to me!'

Lynn squeezed her eyes shut tighter, hoping that would stop the tears from flowing. It did not.

'I…' She murmured. 'I-I…'

She gulped. And, suddenly, she was shouting.

'I AM A GIRL!'

Everyone jumped back as she yelled so loudly that it hurt her throat.

'LINCOLN'S WRONG! He… he… HE'S JUST A DUMB BOY! W-What does he know?!'

She knew she was crying now, and it felt so shameful. How could she let some stupid little boy's words affect her so much? Or, perhaps, she should have let it affect her so much. Girls cried a lot more than boys. Or, at least, that's what it seemed like.

Her father was speaking to her, but she didn't know what he was saying. She didn't care to know what he was saying. She squirmed in his arms until she eventually freed herself; it wasn't hard, since her father was never known for his strength.

'LJ, wait!' Lynn Sr cried. 'Don't-!'

'LEAVE ME ALONE!' Lynn shouted. 'I… I am a girl. I KNOW I'M A GIRL!'

She couldn't bear the thought of crying in front of her father or sisters, so she did the only thing a little girl of her age could think of doing: she dashed up the stairs so quickly that her family barely had the time to see her running.

Once she reached the final stair, her foot got caught and she tripped. Her knee gazed against the carpet, and she cringed. The pain didn't stop her, however, and she ran for her room as fast as her aching legs could possibly go. She slammed the door behind her and ran. The only thing that stopped her was the wall.

Face-to-face with the window again, she saw her reflection one more time. The boy that looked back at her. The person that should've been her, but was a total stranger. She could only look at him for a second, before she sunk down to the floor and tucked her legs to her chest.

'I am a girl…' She murmured. 'I-I know I am…'

She struggled to be convinced by her own words.

'Lynn?'

*knock knock*

'LJ?'

…

'Sweetie?'

…

'Please, talk to me.'

…

'... Well, just in case you're listening, I'm gonna keep talking to you.'

Lynn Sr stood just outside of Lynn's door, pressing his head up against the door so he could listen for the smallest movement. So far, nothing. Since he was certain that she hadn't jumped out the window (he hoped), he stayed in his spot while his other daughters returned to their rooms.

'I don't know if I'm helping, but I just wanted you to know that you are my daughter. Lincoln is just being a dumb little boy. And you should be thankful that you're not a boy, like he is.'

No sound. Even his other daughters seemed unusually quiet. The entire house seemed silent. And in a family whose name was Loud, it felt wrong for there to be any silence at all.

'Maybe I'll never know what it's like. I can try to imagine, though. To imagine that everyone in my life insists that I'm a woman, just because of my body, even though I know that I'm a man. One thing I know for sure is that it's hard for you. Having your own family members put your identity into doubt… sounds painful.'

Still no sound. Not even the grunts and groans of a little girl performing difficult exercises to get the body and performance that she wanted.

'Try your best to ignore Lincoln. He's just a little kid, and he's probably upset that he'll be the only boy in the family. Other than me, of course. But there's nothing we can do about that. You're a girl, and he'll just have to learn to live with it.'

He let out a sigh.

'I don't even know if you're still awake. Or if I'm going to see you again tomorrow. So, if this is the last time I see you in a while, I just want you to know that… I love you. You've always been Daddy's little athletic lady, even when I didn't know you were a girl. And I'm going to get you through this, even if it kills me.'

Figuring that his words weren't doing enough good, he got up and walked away. He had a son to contend with now. His only son. It was a little strange to think about Lincoln being the only boy among six children, and some fathers may have worried about losing some 'masculine presence' in the household. All Lynn Sr cared about, however, was his daughter's happiness.

He may not have realised, but Lynn was wide awake. And had listened to his every word.

Author Notes - A Loud House fanfiction where the sisters are totally reasonable while LINCOLN is the awful one?! Oh my god! But seriously, Lincoln is a toddler who just found out that he's the only boy among six children. Sometimes, people aren't accepting and that's that. As depressing as that thought can be. Of course, since I want him to be in-character, he's going to have a quick turnaround. But that's not until next time.

Thank god for Leni because she provides the story with important comic relief.