November 28, 2023
Hi guys!
This chapter has been ready for almost a week, but I was without internet and I was only able to publish it now.
Loud Family will have to make a big decision that will radically change their lives (or not so much...). All because of what you already know.

Seanrudin: Yes, in a way, I copied the technique from your excellent fanfic Memories Don't Die. The good thing is that now you can learn a little Portuguese! And no, I'm not going to dwell on fourth wall breaks.

Mr Dough: The action may take a while to settle down, but we can already see that Gylmar will not expect harmony and pacifism from the Loud... And the villain, or villains, are Gylmar's old acquaintances. Okay, I'll remember not to abuse the fourth wall break...

Enjoy!

Chapter 02:
Nothing Will Be Like Before

"I know you're reading Princess Pony," Lynn Jr. states, as she climbs into her sports bed at 10 pm.

Lucy, curled up inside the blanket, in her gothic bed, with her smartphone's flashlight on, doesn't respond.

"I don't care," Lynn assures. "As long as you don't take too long to sleep. Goodnight."

"Sigh..."

Lucy tries to read her novel, but can barely concentrate.

She finally gives up and keeps the volume under the mattress.

Then she turns off the flashlight and puts her smartphone on the bedside table.

After lying down properly, Lucy puts her hands behind her head.

She can't stop thinking about today's surprising fact.

A random anthropomorphic cat she barely knows publicly defended her. Unconditional, without asking or demanding anything in return.

Why would he do that? Especially to a mere mortal like her?

Little by little, these thoughts dissipate, and she slips into sleep.

Lucy and Haiku walk calmly through the square. The two dark gothic friends comment morbidly on the city's climate.

"From what I hear, a cold front is coming into town," Lucy reports.
"That's good," Haiku comments, emotionless. "The cold for me is much more inviting."
"And for me too," Lucy agrees. "Sometimes I think about what it would be like to freeze to death in the Swiss Alps. It would be a shivering event."
"Is this a joke? Well, it didn't work."
"Sorry. Living with Luan does that."
"Excuse me. Let me buy our lunch."
"Okay."

Haiku heads to the kiosk in the square while Lucy remains still, with hands in her pockets, looking at the gray sky.

"Well, well, if it's not the goth girl… What are you doing here, Samara Morgan?"
It's him: the school's bully sheep, accompanied by his rabbit brother.
"I'm just looking at the sky," Lucy replies, her tone stern.
"But of course," the rabbit scoffs. "A distressed girl like you only lifts her head to see if it's going to rain."

The brothers laugh.

Lucy doesn't react, although she doesn't see the slightest humor.

Haiku returns with 2 milkshakes:

"What are you doing here? We've met funnier clowns than you."
"Oh, sorry," the sheep points at Haiku. "I hadn't even noticed your depressed girlfriend was there."
"She's my friend and she's not depressed," Lucy defends her.
"Whatever," the sheep slowly approaches. "How about sharing your milkshakes with us?"
"Better," the rabbit follows behind him. "Let's show them how we make human shakes."

"Not one more step!"
Gylmar Genius Cat appears by surprise, behind Lucy and Haiku.
"If you don't leave them alone, you'll see me!"

The sheep and the rabbit, amazed, look at Gylmar for a few seconds.
Until they melt into the air.

"Thank you, Gylmar!" Lucy thanks her.
"Don't quote that," Gylmar mitigates. "I just did my duty."
"You deserve an award."

Lucy feels Gylmar's cheeks and kisses him on the lips.

SMAC!

"My turn."
Haiku wraps Gylmar around the neck and also kisses him on the lips.

SMAC!

"Sigh..." They both smile.

"Sigh..."

Lucy wakes up in the middle of the night, full of inner peace, something unusual for her.

It's 2 am, according to the alarm clock.

Lucy gets out of bed, takes out her smartphone, turns on the flashlight and pulls out one of the several shoe boxes in which she keeps her poem notebooks.

After pulling out the last volume, the one underneath all the others in the box, she leafs through it until she finds an "intrusive" page.

"My Crushes"

3 photos pasted on the page, each portraying a fictional crush of hers.

The vampire Edwin, from television.
The werewolf Jake, from the books.
And the Princess Pony, from the graphic novels.

"My loves..." She murmurs, running her finger over each of the photos.

Until today, she has only experienced feelings for three flesh-and-blood people: Hugh, Lincoln's tutor; and two boys her age: Silas and Rocky.

But she always imagined that human passions, for her, were doomed to failure, since her fictional crushes, so perfectly idealized by her, could never be surpassed by any real-life crushes.

So much so that she never made a point of pasting any photos of Hugh, Silas or Rocky in her notebook.

Maybe Gylmar could break that barrier.

"I wanted to see him again. Nothing serious. Just chat a little, exchange some ideas. I owe him one."

Sighing with comfort and longing, Lucy puts the notebook in the shoebox and returns to her bed.

She smiles lightly before falling back asleep.

Thursday afternoon.

"Kids!" Rita Loud, the matriarch, announces. "General meeting in the central room!"

Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn Jr., Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Baby Lily squeeze onto the old sofa in the living room, curious to know what it's all about.

Lynn Sr., the patriarch, begins:
"Children! We have very important news to share!"
"Where are we going this weekend?!" Lynn Jr. gets excited, clenching her fists.
"We're not going anywhere!" Rita anticipates.
"AAAHHH!" The Loud siblings are disappointed...

Lynn Sr. continues:
"Children, there is a very important reason why your mother and me are going out more often at night."
"It has to be really important," Luna complains. "Lori shouldn't be oppressing all of our nights for nothing."
"Hey! I am the pillar that keeps this house standing!" Lori defends herself.
"Even if you have to knock down all the other pillars!" Lola teases.
"Enough, girls!" Rita intervenes. "This is no time for those stupid Fight Protocols of yours!"

Everyone is silent and crosses their arms, annoyed.

The mother continues:
"What we are trying to say is that from tomorrow onwards things will be very different in this house. Nothing will be like before."

Everyone's eyes widen.

The father details:
"No shouting, no noise, no running around, no stupid fights, no violence..."
"Wait, wait!" Lana interrupts. "Are you saying Lori is going to adopt us?!"
"This is definitely not on the level of my pranks," Luan assures, trying to sound serious.
"Are we going to call Lori 'Mom' from now on? Like Lincoln does with Luna?" Leni questions.
"None of that," Rita assures. "We will always be your parents."
"Today we are 13, but tomorrow…" Lynn Sr. summarizes. "…we will be 15."

The siblings look at each other.

"I've noticed that Mom has been gaining weight," Luan jokes. "Ha ha ha ha ha!"
Nobody finds it funny.
"Are you pregnant again, Mom?" Leni asks, confused.
"Definitely not…" Rita assures, covering her face with the hands, overcome with shame.

"We are going to welcome two more children into our family," Lynn Sr. explains.
"YOU MEAN: TWO BOYS?!" Lincoln, the only boy in the house, stands up on the couch, sneakers and all, to his sisters' astonishment.
Lynn Sr. sighs.
"One boy and one girl. They are also siblings. It will be a kind of temporary adoption."

Lincoln jumps wildly on the couch:
"SO AWESOME! UHU! SO AWESOME! UHU!" But suddenly he looks incredulous again and stops jumping. "Huh? But why?"

Lynn Jr. pulls him by the shirt, making him sit back down.
"Calm down, Stinkoln!"

Rita sighs for a long time.
"If we don't do this… Your father and I are going to jail!"

Everyone feels a kick in the stomach.

Only Lily rejoices:
"Jelly!"
"No, Lily," Lisa corrects. "It's not 'jelly'. It's 'jail'. A place where people are taken away and we no longer see them at home."
Lily stays quiet.
Then she exclaims:
"Poo Poo!"

Lori inquires:
"But why are you at risk of being arrested?"
"You too, Lori," Rita adds.
"Me?"
"By me, you can take Lori," Lynn Jr. crosses her legs and puts the hands behind her head. "I don't mind."
"And you either, Leonard Junior," The mother continues.
"What?"

The father clarifies:
"Someone discovered our incident-that-should-never-be-mentioned-again... and reported us to the police!"

...

...

...

"WHO IS THE TRAITOR?!" Lola kicks, waving her arms.
"It's you, Lola!" Lincoln responds immediately.
"ME?! But how dare you?!"
Lola stands up to face Lincoln, but is soon hung up by her dress by Lynn Jr.
"Only I touch in Stinkoln!" Lynn reminds her.

Lincoln smiles:
"Thank you, Lynn," He looks at the TV viewers. "What I want to say is that in cartoons it's always like this: when a character is obsessed with finding someone to blame... it's because that character is the real culprit!"

"Not always," Lisa objects. "But I can handle it. With my forensic investigation techniques, combined with my lie detector..."
All the family members throw venomous looks at Lisa.
"Er... Forget."

"It can only be our neighbor Mr. Grouse!" Lori speculates. "Always complaining about us to others!"
"Well, and who is it that usually makes secret deals with Mr. Grouse?!" Luna needles Lori.

All the siblings argue frantically!

"STOP!" Lucy materializes in a random place, making everyone startle.
"AAAHHH!"

"Thanks, Lucy," Rita appreciates. "Let's believe that none of us leaked anything out there."
"It's so important that we stay together right now," Lynn Sr. appeals. "We are in serious danger of dissolving our family."

"What do you mean?" Leni is distressed.

Lynn Sr. lists:
"If you abuse, assault or otherwise harm these two new children we are taking in... the plea deal will be undone and we will all pay the consequences for our old incident that happened months ago."

Rita continues:
"Me, your father and Lori will be arrested. Leni, Luna, Luan and Lynn Jr. will be sent to reformatory, and Lynn Jr. will get a bigger sentence, because she was the mastermind behind everything."
Lynn Jr. wants to speak, but Lincoln gives her an intimidating look, inhibiting her from opening her mouth.
"Finally, Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Lily will go to orphanage until they are adopted by different families."

"If that happens, I want to be with Lincoln," Lucy hugs her brother.
"And me with Lola," Lana repeats the gesture with her twin.
"And me with Lily," Lisa does the same with the baby. "Even if I have to abandon science."
"Lovyou," Lily murmurs, with puppy dog eyes.
"I love you too, Lily," Lisa reassures, rubbing Lily's back.

"I'd rather we all stay together. But if Court separates us, that's not even going to be the worst part," Lincoln reasons. "If the news of our incident spreads, we will all be tarnished in society and our futures will be harmed."
"And I'm going to lose my Boo-Boo Bear," Lori whines, referring to her boyfriend Bobby Santiago.
"And me, my Turquoise Jewel," Luna adds, about her girlfriend Sam Sharp.
"And me, my Piano Stein," Luan adds, about her boyfriend Benny Stein.
"And I, who don't have a boyfriend, can rest assured," Leni ironizes.
Lori, Luna and Luan give Leni bad looks.
"What are you thinking?" Leni complains. "I have no advantage over you. I also have few real friends besides Miguel and Fiona. I'm tired of surrounding myself with self-interested people."

"Don't worry," Rita reassures them. "The case is under judicial secrecy. Nobody knows what happened, besides us, the Police and the Judiciary."
"Luckily, the judge was gracious in giving us three options," Lynn Sr. addresses. "The first is to dissolve our family and send us to jail. The second is to temporarily welcome these two children into our house."

"And the third?" Lori wants to know.
Lynn Sr. swallow dry.
"We all parade around Royal Woods dressed as squirrels!"
"WHAT?!" All the Loud Siblings are indignant.

"So you preferred the second more hard option?!" Lori screams.
"It would be so simple for us to dress up as squirrels and get it over with!" Luan argues.
"It's the least we deserve!" Lynn Jr. admits.
"Maybe," Lincoln objects. "But we would still be mocked by the city. And we would learn absolutely nothing. Now, by treating well our two new... siblings... we have the chance to redeem ourselves and learn from our mistakes so that we never repeat them again."

All the sisters are silent.
"You're right, brother," Lori agrees.
"Yes, dude," Luna supports. "Any sacrifice we make now for the sake of our family will be worth it."
"But nothing will stop me from playing some healthy pranks on our new siblings..." Luan rubs her hands, earning not exactly friendly looks.

"Well, meeting is over," Rita decrees. "Now do whatever you want."
"But get ready," Lynn Sr. warns. "Tomorrow will be a long day. Repeating: nothing will be like before."
"Wait!" Lola wants one last information. "What color are they? And are they humans or anthros?"
Lynn Sr. and Rita frown.
"It doesn't make any difference!" Rita decrees.

The parents walk away and go to the kitchen.

The Loud siblings separate into small groups.

"Come on, Lily," Lisa goes upstairs. "We have a lot to plan for tomorrow."
"Sibins."
"No, Lily. 'Siblings'."

"Despite everything, Lori, I wouldn't mind calling you Mom."
"Thank you, Leni. But I don't feel comfortable imagining that."

"Hey, Stinkoln," Lynn Jr. suggests. "What if Mom and Dad took all the blame? That way we would all come out unharmed!"
"That wouldn't be fair," Lincoln rejects. "But we could lie about Lucy, Lisa and the twins, saying they tried to prevent the incident. That way they wouldn't be so harmed."
"Thanks, Lincoln," Lucy appreciates, without smiling.
Lynn Jr. groans.
"Which brings us to another question," Lincoln rubs his chin. "How are we going to justify expanding our family to our friends?"

"Now there's no fighting, Lola, but be careful not to turn our new siblings into your slaves."
"Me? I hope they don't die of fear of your pet snake, Lana."

"And how about we prepare a nice reception tomorrow, Luan? But nothing too cruel."
"As you wish, Luna. You make the RECital and I take care of the RECipe. Everything to welcome our new RESidents. With the RESidue of dignity that RESt to us. Ha ha ha ha ha!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

In the US state of Michigan, the criminal age is 17. For this reason, Lori would be judged as an adult.

Vampire Edwin is the star of the series Vampires Of Melancholia, which Lucy loves to watch.

Jake is the name I invented for the werewolf in the book series that Lucy starts reading in the episode Homespun.

Princess Pony is the star of the graphic novels Lucy reads in Sleuth Or Consequences.

Hugh, Lincoln's young tutor, appeared in Study Muffin; Silas in L Is For Love; and Rocky in Back In Black.

Lisa gets bad looks right after she cites her lie detector because her family is still "hangover" from the events of House Of Lies.

Lori made a dirty pact with Mr. Grouse in Garage Banned, as she is an insecure girl who doesn't know the meaning of the word "dialogue" (like all of her siblings, in fact).

Well, in the next chapter, the two new siblings finally arrive to live with the Loud Family. And you know who they are...

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See you soon!