Reversal of Fortune: Chapter 2: Enter the Sweetwaters
(Time Skip: 3:15 PM, Sweetwater Manor)
The Sweetwater home was a beautiful, spectacular 6-bedroom, 7-bathroom Contemporary Craftsman house in the rich part of Royal Woods' east side, with polished hardwood floors, black leather couches, and opulent lighting throughout. The entrance was flanked by shoe racks and large closets on either side, with a full guest bathroom right next to one of the closets, and the laundry room and entrance to the garage next to the other. Going just beyond the entrance, a double staircase adorned the front foyer of the house, flanked by a huge living room with a fireplace on one side and a spacious study on the other. Going further into the house, a TV/movie viewing room lay beyond the living room, and a massive home office lay beyond the study. Finally, the opulent dining room, a huge kitchen with a full pantry, and a children's playroom faced the backyard. Upstairs, on the 2nd floor, each bedroom was big enough to have its own ensuite bathroom. The finished basement contained a man cave that doubled as a home theater, pool tables, and a workout area, among other amenities. The Sweetwater family would often use the basement to host guests or just hang out on their own. The backyard was big enough to contain a swimming pool and miniature basketball court to go along with the traditional barbeque area & shed. To top it all off, visitors and residents could park in the house's 3-car garage or enormous driveway.
Normally, the Sweetwaters would be excited to come home because it always represented comfort and relaxation from the daily struggles of the world. That wasn't the case today.
When they finally pulled into their driveway just over an hour after finding Lincoln, Brian despondently sighed, "We're home. Get your bags, kids."
All the Sweetwater children and Lincoln could do was drag their feet from the car to their rooms, with Lincoln only managing to crash on the first couch he could find.
When Linda noticed this, she promised, "Never mind, I'll get them," but even that didn't register with her distraught children & guest. Nevertheless, Linda and Brian picked up the kids' bags & dropped them off at their rooms, knocking on each door to tell them that their bags had arrived. However, the Sweetwater kids and parents could not have cared less about any of that. Once Linda and Brian returned downstairs and saw Lincoln sleeping on one of the living room's couches, they carried him upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms. The guest bedroom was painted white, with a dark brown vanity with a mirror and a black comb in one of the corners. The guest bedroom also had 3 doors. The centerpiece of the guest bedroom was a double bed with fluffy white pillows, a red blanket, and white bedsheets on a black bedframe. Brian and Linda tucked Lincoln into this bed before closing the door.
(Time Skip: 5:00 PM, Loud House)
After a tense drive home with a couple of mechanical errors, which the Loud family blamed on their absent "good luck charm," the Louds had finally made it back to their home in Royal Woods. Once Lynn Jr. walked out of the car, she immediately bolted to the garage & started striking the punching bag so hard that it felt like an earthquake to the rest of her family.
As that happened, Luna sighed, "At least she's not doing that to us. That's a miracle."
Lynn Sr. then sighed to his distraught family, "I'll go get dinner ready."
Leni followed Lynn Sr. into the kitchen and asked him, "Dad, where's Linky?"
Lynn Sr. sighed, "We don't know, sweetie. But he couldn't have gone far from that beach. The beach is an hour and change away from our house by car."
As Lynn Sr. opened the fridge, Leni cried, "Why don't we go back for him?"
Lynn Sr. reminded Leni, "That nice girl at the beach promised us she'd help us look for him. Funny thing, I think I've actually seen her a couple of times… she looks like one of Lori's friends. Plus, with the state of Vanzilla, it was a miracle we even made it back home in the first place. And besides, I've gotta make dinner for the family."
Lynn Sr. then pulled out an uncooked turkey and mused, "Ooh! Would you look at that! Guess your old man mistook the Salisbury Steak for turkey at the Hi-n-Buy!"
Leni smiled, "That's fine."
Lisa then approached Leni and Lynn Sr. and reassured them, "With our brother unit being the good luck charm that he is, the probability is high that he'll eventually come back to us. And in case he does not, I took the liberty of implanting a tracking chip in his brain so that we may locate him. Unfortunately, the servers connecting my tracking chips to the Internet have been down all afternoon, but I shall remain undeterred."
Lynn Sr. absentmindedly replied, "That's nice, sweetie. Go upstairs and play with your little toys."
As Lisa walked upstairs, she reasoned to herself, "Fools. They don't know how easily I can locate everyone in this family." She then yawned and her eyelids droop as she admitted, "But I am tired, and even as a genius, I require a nap." Lisa then walked into her bedroom and collapsed on the bed.
(Time Skip: 7:15 PM, Sweetwater Manor)
When Lincoln finally woke up, he noticed two changes to his situation that immediately startled him. The first was that he seemed to be sleeping in a very comfortable double bed, kind of like one of those beds he'd find at a 5-star hotel. The second was that the sky was darkening and the sun had seemingly disappeared. Just to make sure he hadn't slept too long, Lincoln checked the clock on the nightstand, which appeared to be a traditional alarm clock. It read 7:15 PM. When Lincoln saw the time, he yelped in shock and nearly jumped out of his bed. If he had really slept for that long, that meant he had missed lunch, and probably dinner as well. The sudden growl of his stomach alerted him to that fact.
Feeling well-rested, Lincoln found enough motivation to get out of the bed and look at himself in his temporary bedroom's mirror. He was repulsed by what he saw. His hair was a mess, his eyes looked baggy, and he looked like a shell of his former self. Luckily, he found a black comb for his hair on the brown vanity. Lincoln combed his hair to at least look presentable to his hosts if he was going to talk to them again. When Lincoln finished combing his hair and took a quick look around the rest of the room, he immediately realized that it was the biggest, classiest bedroom he had ever been in.
The sheer size of the bedroom was enough to send him into "Ace Savvy" mode. There were 3 doors inside his bedroom: one on the right side of his bed, one right next to the vanity, and one on the other side of the room from the vanity. First, Lincoln decided to investigate the door on the right side of his bed. Opening said door revealed a walk-in closet that was big enough to make his jaw drop. He could have stored his entire wardrobe and video game collection in there. Then, he investigated the door next to the vanity. What he saw behind that door made him gasp, salivate & widen his eyes like that time he ate ice cream for the first time.
It was a bathroom. An ensuite bathroom. His own ensuite bathroom. And it smelled and looked clean and unused. After Lincoln pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, he yelped in pain, confirming to him that what he was seeing was real. As Lincoln fully took in his sudden temporary lifestyle upgrade, he dropped to his knees and cried tears of joy.
When Lincoln recovered from the miraculous sight, he put on some pajamas he found on his bed, apparently left for him by the Sweetwater parents. While they were apparently girl's pajamas, Lincoln decided to wear them, especially considering that he didn't know where the rest of his wardrobe was. After putting on the pajamas, Lincoln went to the mirror to look at himself and realized that he didn't look so bad. Deciding to roll with it, Lincoln posed in front of the mirror and kissed his biceps before walking towards the door on the other side of the room from the vanity. When he opened the door, his jaw dropped at the décor of the place's hallway. It was almost like a condensed version of the "rich kid" mansions he had seen some superheroes grow up in as part of their movie origin stories. As Lincoln took in the rest of the Sweetwater house for the first time, he astonishedly gazed at every wall, light, and plank of floors as he absentmindedly wandered in search of food.
As Lincoln made it downstairs, he said to himself, "OK, it's official. I woke up in a new Bugatti."
The Sweetwaters must have heard that, because as soon as they saw Lincoln wander into their kitchen, they all gave him knowing smirks & started laughing.
Paige teased first, "Like what you see, Linky?"
Becky joked, "Only the finest for my favorite White Russian!", as the family continued to laugh.
As Lincoln wandered into the kitchen, he noticed Linda, who was now wearing a light blue dress, emerald earrings, a gold wedding ring on her left hand, and light blue flats. Sensing Lincoln's apprehension, Linda quickly approached him, asking, "Looking for something?"
Before Lincoln could respond, his stomach growled loudly. Linda seemed to expect that, since she giggled, "Sounds like your stomach's doing the talking for you. Come on, we've got Little Nero's pizza in the dining room."
Lincoln cheered, "Little Nero's? Yes, Ma'am!"
Flattered, Linda giggled, "Please, call me Linda!"
Lincoln laughed with a military salute, "Well then, yes, Linda!"
The whole family burst into laughter over Lincoln's enthusiasm as Brian, who was wearing a dark navy blue polo shirt, black slacks, and black casual dress shoes, bellowed, "This kid's the best!"
In response, Brian's daughters pretended to glare at him, prompting him to quickly say, "No offense to you three, however," to which they all shared more laughter.
As Lincoln walked to the cooker, he drooled at what he saw.
Two. Full. Extra-Large. Boxes. All pepperoni. Lincoln's favorite kind of pizza. At this point, a small part of Lincoln started to wonder if the Sweetwaters were secretly giving him a belated birthday surprise on behalf of Paige. That would make sense given that Lincoln had turned 11 years old a couple of weeks ago. He immediately took a slice for himself and started walking to the table when Linda got in front of him and stopped him.
With a big, shining smile on her face, Linda gently encouraged Lincoln, "Uh-uh-uh. Take as many as you want."
Brian joked, "But not too many. I've got to eat, too."
The Sweetwaters' warm laughs assured Lincoln that he could take as many slices as he need. Lincoln took 4 pizza slices at one time for the first time in his life, and when he got to the table, he promptly devoured them.
Lindsay disgustedly chastised, "Eww, Lincoln! Have a little class!" In response, Becky and Paige sternly glared at Lindsay, with Becky telling her youngest sister, "Let him have this." Within minutes, the family had eaten every last bite of pizza.
After filling their stomachs, Lincoln let loose a loud burp: "BUUURRRP!" When Lincoln realized what he did, he sheepishly apologized, "Sorry, guys."
As the rest of the Sweetwaters glared at Lincoln, Paige scolded, "You should be sorry, Lincoln."
Lincoln immediately lowered his head, so he didn't catch the glint of mischief in Paige's eyes. What he did catch, however, was Paige's boisterous, "because that was weak!"
Paige then let out a louder burp: "BUUUUUURRRRRRP!"
Lincoln was caught completely by surprise. One of the cutest, nicest girls he knew burped like red. Given everything that had recently happened to him, for a split second, he had a brief traumatic flashback. But Paige's satisfied smile & shining eyes were enough to relax Lincoln, and the two shared a laugh.
A disgusted Lindsay got up from her seat and yelled, "Ugh, Paige, you're so gross! I'm going to my room, a princess does not deserve to sit through one of these again!"
A puzzled Lincoln asked Paige, "Wait, again? What does she mean by that?"
Paige laughed it off, "Just ignore her. She acts like a drama queen all the time." When Paige said that, she and Lincoln shared a hearty laugh.
Becky then interrupted their laughter with an "ahem," and jokingly scoffed, "Amateurs. Let a pro show you how it's done."
After that, Becky braced her core and tightened her hands into fists. She then held that position for a split second before relaxing her muscles and letting out an even louder belch: "BUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRP!"
The three kids were laughing pretty loudly, and even Linda had joined in on the laughter.
Linda quipped, "Pretty good, Becky-san. But you have yet to surpass the master."
She then let out an even louder: "BUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRP!", before boasting, "And that's what giving birth to 3 children gives you," causing the whole table to laugh even louder.
Brian who was also laughing, then interrupted their conversation and quipped at Becky and Linda, "Pro and master huh? That's what you call yourselves now? Never forget who the grandmaster is."
Linda, heeding Brian's playful warning, joked to everyone else at the table, "Uh-oh! Shouldn't have said that! Duck and cover!"
Paige, Becky, and Linda proceeded to mockingly duck and cover. Brian mimed Becky's technique, with the added ability to puff out his own chest, and let out a belch so loud it could be heard across the whole house: "BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!"
He then thumped his chest and bragged to the rest of the table, "Still got it. And that's how the grandmaster does it."
The whole table paused for a split second before bursting into absolute hysterics. Lincoln was holding his stomach, Becky was banging on the table letting a few tears fall, and Paige fell off her chair.
Lincoln mustered out a strained, "Oh man, my sides!" before going back to laughing uncontrollably.
Everyone at the table laughed like that for a good couple of minutes before it finally started to die down. As Lincoln laughed with the Sweetwater family, he felt a feeling of relaxed & loving familial bonding from them that he hadn't experienced with his own biological family in months. After Lincoln and the Sweetwaters finished laughing at their burping contest, Linda offered, "I'll clean the dishes up." With that, the kids walked to their respective rooms and Brian retreated to his study.
As Lincoln walked up the stairs and headed to his room, he reflected on how the Sweetwater family made him feel human. While Lincoln worried about potentially being set up for a return to the Loud House, he remembered that being back in Royal Woods, he could always run away from them & find Pop-Pop. He thought darkly to himself, even if the retirement home is closed, I could camp out overnight. I've done it before, after all.
As Lincoln wrestled with his thoughts on both his old household and the Sweetwater family, Lindsay saw the opportunity in having Lincoln in the house. She knew that Lincoln was Lola's pageant coach, and that his coaching had ultimately been the difference between Lola's victory & defeat in many of her pageants. And while she didn't know it at the time, she quickly deduced that Lincoln had gotten Lana, Lola's dirty twin sister, to replace her in one beauty pageant, which Lana actually won. Lindsay also remembered Lincoln visiting a beauty pageant rehearsal to get dirt on Lola, which she willingly gave to him, and deduced that Lincoln's relationship with Lola was tenuous at best. When Lindsay put it all together, she reasoned that the Loud family's latest antics, whatever they were, had finally pushed Lincoln over the edge. That meant that maybe Lindsay could finally convince Lincoln to defect. While Lola might have destroyed her in every sense for doing it, watching her lower her head in defeat would be more than worth it for Lindsay. With all this in mind, she decided to walk to the guest bedroom and make her move.
Lindsay put on the most innocent, desperate "distressed little girl" face and knocked on the door. When Lincoln opened the door, she whispered to him, "Psst… Lincoln?"
Lincoln asked, "Yeah?"
Lindsay murmured, "You wanna come play with me?"
Lincoln skeptically sighed, "Hard pass. I've had a long day, and I just want to get to bed."
As Lincoln walked away, Lindsay implored him, "Lincoln, wait!"
When Lincoln stopped and turned around, Lindsay offered, "I know today's been hard for you. And I know you must still be tired. Please, let me take care of you. Perhaps a nice tea party would help?"
When Lindsay gave Lincoln her "puppy-dog eyes," Lincoln chuckled, "Again, pass. No offense, Lindsay, but I live with 10 girls. Puppy-dog-eyes don't work on me."
Lindsay took Lincoln's comment as a challenge, and somehow managed to make her eye pupils grow even bigger than they already were. While doing so, she cutely said, "Wincown? Pwetty pwease, Winky? Pway with me! Wet me make you bettuh!"
Lincoln capitulated with a sigh, "Fine, Lindsay."
Lindsay squealed in response, "EEEE! Thank you Linky!", before practically dragging him to her room. Once there, she closed the door, and the two began a pretend tea party.
Lindsay's bedroom and the tea party that ensued inside were your typical standard fare for a 6-year-old girl. Lincoln and Lindsay sat around a small light blue table talking to a few "esteemed guests": dolls of Barbie & Ken, the human form of Princess Fiona, Rapunzel, Ace Savvy, and One-Eyed Jack.
When Lincoln asked why Lindsay brought Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack in, Lindsay explained, "Lola always tells me how much you love those comics, so I figured I'd bring them in to make you feel more comfortable."
A shocked Lincoln stammered, "W-wow, Lindsay. Thanks. Where did you even get these dolls?"
Lindsay then whispered to Lincoln, "Don't tell her, but I kinda stole them from Becky some time ago."
Lincoln groaned, "Figures."
The two drank imaginary tea out of the cups for a few minutes before Lindsay asked, "So, Lincoln, what's been bothering you?"
Lincoln hastily and nervously replied, "Oh, nothing."
Lindsay deadpanned, "Lincoln, we both know no kid rests on a roadside half a mile away from a beach in just swimming trunks and begs for a family he doesn't even know to not take him back home unless he's having serious problems. So tell me, what's going on?"
Feeling exposed, Lincoln froze. While Lincoln was pissed at his family's antics, he didn't really know Lindsay that well or trust her, especially given that she ran in the same circles as pink. He also feared that revealing everything he had been through to Lindsay would probably result in him getting bullied even more than he already was.
Seeing the discomfort on Lincoln's face, Lindsay encouraged, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just trying to help you."
As Lincoln reflected on his genetic relatives' treatment of him, he remembered how attempting to replace Literally Bossy with her lookalike rival resulted in her agreeing to partake in his planned "family picture." A wicked idea then came to his head: if Lincoln could tell Lindsay about his struggles with his housemates, then the threat of him defecting to a rival, particularly one as vicious as Lindsay, might convince them to treat him better.
Lincoln finally sighed, "OK. I'll tell you. But I must warn you, it's brutal."
Lindsay nodded her head as she grinned widely at Lincoln.
What followed was a loud, expletive-ridden, 10-minute-long rant from Lincoln that attracted the attention of everyone in the house. Despite coming from the "Loud House," Lincoln had never screamed so loud as he did during that rant. In his rant, Lincoln told Lindsay everything. His entire personal history with the Louds. The bullying from school he received because of all the incidents. How he always felt like he was a disrespected second-class citizen. All the suppressed, pent-up hatred he had for the other members of his household. His rant was so explosively loud and coarse that the rest of the Sweetwaters gasped and ran upstairs out of concern for Lindsay.
Paige, Becky, Linda, and Brian slammed their fists on the door as they cried, "LINCOLN! LINDSAY! ARE YOU OK?!"
When Lindsay heard her older sisters and parents, she slammed the door open and yelled at them, "BE QUIET! THIS IS SERIOUS!"
That was enough to get the rest of the Sweetwaters to quiet down, after which Lindsay encouraged, "Please, Linky, continue."
Lincoln took a deep breath and resumed his rant, this time with every member of the Sweetwater family listening intently. What they heard caused their faces to twist into various expressions, much like the pattern of emotions Lindsay went through as she heard Lincoln's rant: shock, horror, annoyance, irritation, anger, and finally, anguished rage at the rest of the Louds. As they listened to Lincoln's rant, they completely understood everything, including why certain incidents they had either heard about or been directly involved in transpired the way they did. As a result, all of their lingering resentment, bitterness, and anger towards Lincoln had been redirected towards the rest of his biological relatives.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Lindsay was crying tears of horror, anger, shock, and revulsion, messing up her usual makeup. But she didn't care. She expected a laundry list of petty grievances: Lola taking too long in the bathroom, not being allowed to watch his favorite TV show, the occasional physical fight, and possibly whatever home consequences Lola might have received when Lindsay told him her darkest secrets. Lindsay expected that whatever Lincoln told her would logically allow her to progress to the next step of her agenda: using those grievances to lower his image of Lola and raise his image of Lindsay. This would help her convince Lincoln to quit coaching Lola and start coaching her.
What Lindsay ended up hearing broke any resolve of hers to convince Lincoln to become her pageant coach, if only for a few minutes. The fact that Lincoln's family, of all people, victimized him in ways Lindsay couldn't even dream of, made her even more disturbed by Lincoln's accounts of life at the Loud House. For Lindsay, helping Lincoln was no longer about first place at a beauty pageant. It was now about making sure that bad people got put to justice. While Lindsay would've loved to, as Lori would say, "literally turn Lola into a human pretzel", Lindsay recognized that was not the correct way to handle the situation, at least for now. Lindsay's first objective was to comfort Lincoln, and as she sulked to her bedroom door and pushed it open, she found four people who could: her older sisters and her parents. They were simultaneously red in the face and eyes, with their hands balled into tight fists and tears running down their cheeks.
Lindsay ran into her sisters' and parents' arms, and the five of them huddled together and cried loudly for the next several minutes.
Linda wailed in a combination of revulsion, terror, and fury, "Lincoln… OH GOD!"
Paige bawled, "HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO HIM?"
Becky wept, "And his own family? WHY?!"
Brian cried, "No child should ever have to go through that!"
The Sweetwaters' crying session gave Lincoln enough space to let him cry until he sounded like he'd calmed down. They had planned to enter the door after Lincoln had stopped crying and calmed down. But with that not seeming like it would happen any time soon, the Sweetwaters allowed themselves to weep for Lincoln as much as they needed to.
After about 15 minutes, Linda calmed down enough to whimper to Brian, "W-what are w-we g-going t-to d-do, h-honey?"
Somehow, hearing Linda's pained voice gave Brian the strength to regain his composure. After wiping the tears from his eyes, Brian, all 6'9" and 305 pounds of him, whimpered to the rest of his horrified family, "G-g-girls. I-I know we don't usually do this, a-and I know tomorrow's Monday, b-b-but stay up as late as you want, OK? Mmph… Linda & I… we need to talk this out." The two then walked to their bedroom, with Brian keeping his hand on Linda's right shoulder as she continued to weep. Once they entered their bedroom door, the couple would go on to weep for another couple of minutes once they locked the door to their bedroom before coming up with their own plan to the "Lincoln situation."
Once they stopped sobbing, Linda remembered the Louds selling what appeared to be a bunch of old video games, comic books, toys, and a bed, among other things, to the Sweetwaters at the start of the weekend. She didn't think much of it at the time, but upon remembering some of the finer details of the furnishings she received, her face twisted into one of abject horror. She looked at Brian, so emotionally overwhelmed that she could barely sniffle, "W-wait. If what Lincoln's saying is true… that means all that stuff we got… from the Louds… that had Lincoln's name on it. Oh god."
When Brian also put two and two together, the two hysterically wept for another 10 minutes before calming down. Rage at the Louds coursed through their veins as the full weight of what the Louds had done to Lincoln, combined with their own guilt over their inadvertent participation in the scheme, dawned on them for the first time.
Brian tried to comfort his wife, choking back tears, "S-sweetie. I-It's not your fault. We didn't know…"
Linda wailed, "NO! WE'RE MONSTERS! As a mother, how could I…. how could I?", before breaking into another fresh wave of sobs.
Seeing his wife in such a state broke Brian down even further, and pushed him back to a state of sorrowful weeping that lasted for another couple of minutes, as the two tried desperately to comfort each other with the knowledge of what they had unintentionally done to Lincoln.
Once Brian and Linda finally calmed down enough to form understandable words, Linda sobbed, "H-honey? What are we going to do? Lincoln's in big trouble, and we helped contribute to it!"
A horrified Brian sniffled before responding, "Well, obviously, he can't stay over there. But that might not matter. First of all, at least most of Lincoln's furniture is here, so in the next couple of days, maybe we can set up the guest room like Lincoln's old room."
Linda then begged Brian, "But honey, how would we even tell Lincoln? And could he even forgive us? We can't tell him, hey, at least you got all your school supplies and stuff back here, crazy coincidence, huh? What if he runs away again? And how will we tell the girls… they seemed REALLY broken up about it too! What if they don't forgive us... oh god! What have we done?", before crying into Brian's arms yet again.
As Brian tried to soothe his wife, he whimpered, "I-I don't even know. We'll probably just have to cross that bridge when we get to it."
Linda moaned, "But they'll have to go to school tomorrow morning! Especially Lincoln! We'll have to tell them very soon! Our girls will ask questions about Lincoln's school supplies and try to get new ones for him! And they're astute girls and Lincoln is a smart boy... even if we don't tell them, they'll figure it out eventually! And then, what will we do? Can we even call ourselves parents if we're keeping something as big as this from them?", before breaking out into a fresh wave of sobs.
Brian continued to try to comfort his wife before sadly pointing out, "Look, we've always been honest with the girls. And even when they've been mad at us, they'll deal with it better than if they lied. Remember, a lie, combined with lack of solid, honest communication started this whole mess, so further lying and withholding the truth from them will just make things worse. The last thing we want is to risk losing Lincoln's trust, and we can't do that if we're worried about keeping the whole horrible truth from him. He'll pick up on it, it'll drive him away, and then... he'll be in real danger."
Linda said in agreement, "Yeah, that's true."
Once Brian saw his wife starting to see his point, he continued, "But like you said earlier, with the Louds being… well… who they are, we might have to beef up security around here. If Lisa really does have that tracking chip inside Lincoln, they might try to break in the house and abduct Lincoln, and then beat him up and put him in that squirrel suit. And they sounded like they weren't going to let up, no matter what."
Linda gasped before whispering, "You don't mean they would…"
Brian sadly interrupted her, "Yes… I think they would leave him to die if it meant he was good luck. That's appalling. So yeah, I'm going to get working on those security upgrades tomorrow morning."
Linda agonized, "But what about Lincoln's tracking chip? They might find him anyway. Especially if he has to go back to school. Which he'll have to because those monstrous so-called parents are his emergency contacts, and if he doesn't show up, the school will call them to try to track Lincoln down. And if they find him with us... well... they'll think we're the monsters. Fucking bastards."
Brian said, "I-I'll call Royal Woods Hospital and see if they can do an emergency surgery. Fortunately for Lincoln, Lisa's acclaimed and has good relationships with those people. Maybe they can arrange for something."
Linda questioned, "But how are we going to t-tell them? I mean, the hospital will make us inform the parents, and we know that can't be done right now."
Brian sighed before admitting, "You're right. If they took Lincoln to the hospital, that means Lynn Sr. and Rita would know." He then suggested, "You know what, I'll just tell them that since I'm a big boss at my company, where Lynn Sr. works, and you're the big boss where Rita works, we'll just tell the hospital it's an 'employee benefits' thing, and we'll tell them personally ourselves. That's probably the best path of action."
Linda implored, "But where's Lincoln going to stay? We can't have him stay here, especially with 3 girls in the house, right… right?"
Brian sighed before explaining to Linda, "As much as Lincoln seems to be in need, I still have to think about our girls. If Lincoln is using this to harm one of them… oh god."
Linda gasped and covered her mouth with her hand at what Brian was implying before Brian continued, "Then again, he did seem genuine back there at the beach. And he stayed in our guest room this afternoon and caused no problems. Maybe he can do that again. I mean, I know he's kind of a stranger, but he is Paige's classmate and he seems to know Becky and Lindsay as well. Maybe he can stay here for now."
Linda quickly gave Brian a disapproving glance. Sensing Linda's worry, Brian compromised: "Here's what we'll do: we'll trade notes with our girls as to what to do about Lincoln's living situation the next morning. Because they know Lincoln, they're probably thinking about the same thing right now. Also, we're probably going to have to give Paige a stern talking-to for blaming Lincoln for… ugh… that 'Girl Guru' thing, and when that mad scientist sister of his destroyed her projects and she blamed him. But for now, we both have to get to sleep."
Linda sadly smiled at Brian, "Yeah, you're right. I love you," to which Brian also sadly smiled, "I love you too, honey."
As Brian walked to the bathroom, Linda asked, "You gonna put the girls to sleep, honey? They've got to go to school tomorrow. Them and, well, Lincoln."
Brian sadly yet blankly told Linda, "I told them back there: they can stay up as late as they want tonight. They're gonna need all the time they can get to work off their emotions."
Linda nodded, "Yeah, you're right," before trying to resume reading her latest book on her tablet to try to calm herself down before going to sleep. Meanwhile, Brian walked to the bathroom, locked the door, and vomited into the toilet bowl, utterly horrified at what he now knew the Louds had done to Lincoln. Minutes later, Linda would do the same.
Meanwhile, just outside Lindsay's room, the Sweetwaters heard Lincoln's final sniffles before he ultimately stopped crying. Taking the silence as a cue, they let go of their group embrace, stood up, and made room for Lindsay to gradually nudge the door open. When the Sweetwater sisters opened the door and saw Lincoln sitting in the fetal position, it caused fresh tears to pool in their eyes.
When Lindsay choked, "L-Linky," Lincoln turned around to look the Sweetwater sisters in the eyes.
Lincoln's facial expression combined a horrifying cocktail of bitterness, resentment, terror, distress, and rage. When the Sweetwater sisters saw Lincoln's tear-filled face, they almost began to openly weep again.
Paige sniffled, "Wow… Linky… I can't believe it. Excuse my French, but oh my fucking god. Now that I know, I'm so sorry. For everything."
Lincoln sniffled, "Thanks, Paige," before asking, "Wait, how did you hear all that?"
Paige tenderly responded, "You were cussing up a storm, Linky. I thought you were yelling at our sister."
Next, Lincoln locked eyes with a tearful Becky, and blubbered, "Y-you heard that too?"
Becky whimpered, "Y-yeah. It's OK, Linky. You needed to let it all out, and I'm here for you. We're all here for you."
After Becky said that, Lincoln turned to Lindsay & told her, "It's crazy because you, Lindsay… you're the first person I've ever confessed this to. Clyde is on vacation, and I don't think he knows about the luck incident or-"
"Shh… Linky… it's OK. We will get through this. Together," Lindsay promised while hugging Lincoln.
As Paige heard Lincoln start to cry, she also hugged Lincoln and cried, "Y-yeah, Linky. Together."
When Becky hugged Lincoln a split-second later, she wept, "L-Linky, l-like they said, w-we're all here for you. You can stay here. Those mean bullies won't ruin your life anymore. And we will get through this. Together." Overwhelmed by both his emotions and Becky's reassuring words, Lincoln immediately began to loudly & tearfully howl & sob into the Sweetwater girls' arms. For the next 15 minutes, the Sweetwater girls cradled Lincoln as all four children wept together.
As Lincoln continued to painfully cry into the Sweetwater girls' arms, they came to a common understanding: an apology & make-up gifts definitely wouldn't be enough. Separation wouldn't be enough, as Lisa would probably use her technology & intelligence to reunite with the rest of her family to destroy whoever separated them. Public shunning wouldn't be enough. Getting the Louds fired from their jobs and expelled from their schools and extra-curricular activities wouldn't be enough. Community service wouldn't be enough. Given how Lincoln described his family, jail would not only not be enough, but might even make the situation worse. If the Loud sisters were like this now, in some cases as mere children, imagining what they would be like after some time around hardened criminals terrified Lincoln and the Sweetwaters. And that was if anyone could imprison the Louds in the first place, given Lisa, Luan, Leni, and Lucy's potential to escape and break the rest of the family out. Knowing Lincoln's luck, calling CPS or the Royal Woods Police Department would likely result in Lincoln being quarantined and the Sweetwaters being arrested for "kidnapping" Lincoln.
After they were done crying into each other's arms, Lincoln and the Sweetwaters looked each other in the eyes, silently coming to a mutual agreement on the only just outcome they could think of for the rest of the Louds. And they would not stop until said outcome was fully achieved.
The Louds could never be allowed to have a chance to be a threat to Lincoln's health and safety again.
Closing A/N: Wow, still figuring things out. Apparently, this fanfic only updates on the queue if you wait more than 24 hours before posting. Ah well. Hope you guys are liking my story.
A/N 2: Some may say "the sisters are nice." This may be true. But remember, Lincoln at this point is overwhelmed by his rage & resentment towards his family for everything they've put him through, which would be a reasonable reaction to the Luck incident. At the time of this writing, it's only the end of the very day he escaped the squirrel suit. He's not going to forgive his family instantly, I've already established that. Plus, he HAS taken responsibility for the wrongs he's done, & his own annoying traits, most of the time. At this point, he's truly able to see his family for how toxic they can be towards him.
And now, for the reviews:
- Von The Unstoppable: Thanks for the recommendation. I want to see how far this story takes me, though.
- JD1122 & transmetaljohn: That's kind of the point. Sure, there are some NSL fanfics that do this right (e.g. What is a Person Worth?, Reacting to the Loud House, & Gal Pals), but most of them just let me unfulfilled. The sisters, parents, & for that matter, Lincoln's school, never seem to get their rightful comeuppance for everything they've put him through. You've seen how deranged some of the Loud Sisters are. IMO, jail wouldn't reform them, especially the American justice system: all it would do is turn them into hardened criminals… if the Louds can even be kept in jail, that is.
- Geo Soul: LOL, I know you're excited. The karma train will come in due time. You're gonna love it.
- Hamza9236: We'll see about that. It's still very early in the story ;)
- 00Blazzier00: Oh, believe me, you don't know the half of it. ;)
- Claircrystal: The "school days delayed" remark… I edited it to say "late slips" (June 14, 2022).
What do the Sweetwaters have planned for the Louds? Find out next chapter on... (Chris McLean voice) REVERSAL! OF! FORTUNE!