Loan looked nervous seeing Hawthville Elementary School in front of her. A two floor school well maintained in its appearance with space allowed for an outer courtyard where the children could play in the midst of the city was quite the demonstration of prestige. Standing close by was her older sister Laura ready for her first day of first grade and behind her were her parents and Bobby.
"Alright, Loan. It's time for your first day of school, remember. You're going to be alright. Learn a lot and have a lot of fun," Lori said.
"Yes, mama," Loan said, feeling no less afraid of going into school and being away from home. Nor any less sad to be away from home for an extended amount of time but her mother and Bobby had spent the days leading up to that moment preparing her. Making sure she would know what to expect while trying to guide her through the intense distress she was experiencing at the prospect of what school had in store for her.
"It's going to be great, Sweetie. You'll make plenty of new friends, learn about letters and numbers while having fun doing it," Bobby said.
"Yes, papa," Loan said.
"I hope today will be a good one for you, Loan. I want to hear all about it over the phone later," Lincoln said.
"Yes, uncle Lincoln," Loan said with an excited nod.
Lori, Lincoln and Bobby departed from Loan sending her off to start her first day of school with a hug, kiss on the cheek and the reminder of their love for her before doing the same with Laura who had gone through the same process her first day of school making the addition of her uncle odd to her.
Laura then took her little sister's hand and led her along the courtyard where the children in the early grades were gathering.
"Your class is over there," Laura said, remembering the routine well enough to be able to show Loan where she was meant to be heading.
"If anyone is mean, tell me. I'll fight them," Laura said, assuring her little sister she'd be on her side with a confident smile.
"Bye, Loan," Laura said after hugging her little sister and going off to meet up in the line with her own classmates.
Afterwards, Loan took a few shy steps over to the line of students that were to be her classmates under a teacher known as Misses Baiss before waddling as she found herself bunched up with a lot of kids her age who were strange to her. Most of them also being far too loud for her liking.
There were at least a few other children in her class who were withdrawn in their own right, a contrast to the more cheery rambunctious children already socializing with one another.
As Loan crossed her arms over herself, using the straps of her backpack for extra support she looked around at the other lined up groups of students waiting to be herded in by their teacher in the school courtyard she looked around seeing only strange adults and children around. Leaving her nowhere to hide no matter how much she wanted to in that moment.
Yet as much as those fears were wrecking her nerves in that moment, Loan only become more distressed when walking into the school being led in by her teacher walking in the line with the rest of her classmates.
Misses Baiss was a woman in her early thirties with a warm comforting demeanor ideal for keeping a classroom of Kindergartners at ease. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she wore a plain red blouse.
She seemed naturally in place and also intentionally so within the classroom. The bright colored alphabet and numbers hanging on the walls of her classroom with the plainest item being the electronic white board a few steps away from her desk. Even her student's desks had a bright wood sheen to them.
"Alright class, we'll start every morning calling attendance. When you're called on by your name say here. For today for everyone to know each other better share something about yourself with the class. It can be anything. Your favorite food or favorite color maybe," Misses Baiss said.
Once she started calling on students to take attendance while hoping to break the ice among her students a little, Loan felt worried that she was going to be called on at any moment and would have no idea about what to share about herself. She was unsure about what she was willing to share about herself.
It worried her, seeing how many of her classmates were able to share their favorite show or color with ease. Things that she felt very private about, and it especially didn't help that she was hearing teasing and a few small laughs from some girls a few seats away when a more hesitant classmate had trouble introducing themselves.
"Mia, behave. Let everyone have time to speak," Misses Baiss repeated herself on more than one occasion, being able to tell who was the student in question initiating the fuss.
"Loan Loud," Misses Baiss said.
"H-he. Here," Loan said softly.
"Go ahead Loan, tell us something about yourself," Misses Baiss said, doing her best to smile reassuringly at her very visibly nervous student.
"Um. W-well, I, um," Loan said with a great deal of hesitation fiddling with her fingers trying to think of something to just move on and allow her teacher to continue going down the list of her classmates.
The longer Loan tried to think about what to say, the more aware she became of all the attention on her. Only making her more scared, making her shake not knowing what to do especially all on her own.
"She's shaking. She looks like a leaf," Mia said, trying to whisper to her friends who couldn't hold back her giggles.
"Mia, I've told you many times now to give your classmates time to speak. I hope you don't want to spend your first day not going to recess and having to stay in the lunch room," Misses Baiss said, dropping her demeanor long enough to give Mia her warning. Seeing it was hard enough for Loan to try to get through introducing herself without having to endure teasing on top of it.
"No Misses Baiss. Sorry," Mia said.
"Go ahead, Loan," Misses Baiss said.
Seeing that despite her assurance, Loan wasn't handling the pressure well even seeing it getting worse for her Misses Baiss cleared her throat trying to bail her out of her situation quickly.
"How about your favorite color? What's your favorite color, Loan?" Misses Baiss said.
"Um. It's a. Uh, blue," Loan said.
"Blue, that's a very nice color," Misses Baiss said, nodding and giving Loan a reassuring look seeing it was a mixed light and dark blue shirt the girl was wearing.
Once Misses Baiss continued calling on the rest of her classmates Loan sat a little easier. Glad that the moment was over and had passed.
Sitting down at lunch, Loan had trouble figuring out how to approach anyone else. Her classmates or even anyone in her grade to start off a friendship with. The rowdy extroverted children didn't truly pay any attention to her, and those who were shy and introverted to some extent were just as paralyzed as her to approach anyone to strike up a friendship.
The cafeteria food did little as a distraction. It was all quite bland, and frankly some of it just had a flavor she downright couldn't stomach. Having a stark difference from the food she was used to having at home.
Opting to simply stomach what she could and throw away the rest, Loan made her way outside seeing the playground equipment amidst the school's outdoor space that served as their space for recess she settled on going to the swing set moving herself forward and backward trying to get her mind off how much more afraid she was to be in such a strange new place. Around a lot of strangers she couldn't manage to call friends.
"Hey, Leaf," Mia said.
The girl and her group were far away enough to stay out of Loan's swing path making it easy at first for Loan to ignore her. Not realizing she was being teased in the first place, presuming that she was trying to call someone else's attention.
"Leaf!" Mia said, this time shouting right at Loan.
"Huh?" Loan said, slowing down her swing wondering what Mia meant by that.
"Wanna play hide and seek?" Mia said.
Loan was a bit confused, Mia and her friends didn't seem to particularly like her as far as she could tell and she still wasn't quite sure about what calling out about a leaf was about. Still, the game was one of her favorites especially when she got to be the one to hide.
"Okay," Loan said.
While the rest of Mia's friends giggled, Mia led Loan over to the swing's poles.
"We play with big kid rules. You find first, count to one hundred," Mia said.
"One hundred?" Loan said, not knowing how to count that high.
"Yes, one hundred. Easy," Mia said.
"Okay," Loan said, doing her best to keep herself together. Hoping that if she counted fast enough she could find them and then find a good spot to hide.
Engrossing herself in the counting, getting all the way up to one hundred felt like a herculean task to someone as young as her. Though she understood the general idea on how to reach that high staying focused and keeping in mind each position was difficult for her. Many times she paused, wondering if she had repeated herself. By the time she had managed to reach sixty the bell had rung and she looked around to see she was standing in the middle of a ring of leaves while Mia and her friends were playing tag far from her.
Meanwhile, Laura who had kept the occasional eye on her sister hoping to see her with a new friend or two walked over as her friends headed off to their own classrooms.
"Are those girls bothering you?" Laura said.
"They're just kind of mean," Loan said.
"That one especially?" Laura said, pointing at Mia.
"Y-yeah," Loan said.
Seeing her older sister angry was a rarity for Loan, and when she was met with the sight she became paralyzed. Frozen, not knowing what Laura was going to do until she made her way over to do it. It made Loan wish she could have stopped Laura when she rushed over to Mia and gave her a hard shove.
"Stop bothering my little sister and say sorry," Laura said, pointing over at Loan who was still in shock only just starting to register what just happened.
Laura had already drawn a fair amount of attention with what she had done, but it was Mia who had really caused a scene. Looking at Laura and then Loan before crying very loudly drawing the attention of the teachers.
"Stop crying, I didn't push you that hard," Laura said, annoyed with the younger girl.
As the nearest coaches and teachers gathered around the girls they did their best to hide their frustration over the fact that on the first day they already had to call in some parents over an incident.
Lori sat with Bobby in the minimalist Principal's office of the elementary school sitting opposed by who she considered the most milk toast looking couple she had ever come upon. A blonde woman whose hair reached past her back wearing a pure white sun dress and a dark haired man with a neat mustache in a black three piece suit.
Misses Baiss was standing with her colleague, Miss Snook a woman in her late forties dressed in a blazer over a button up white shirt, a professional black skirt with stockings and her red hair tied up in a bun.
The Principal, who had just explained the overall situation was a clean shaven older man with a full head of salt and pepper hair, olive skinned dressed in a maroon suit.
"Honestly, what kind of brute are you raising who would shove my little angel like that?" the woman in the white sun dress said.
"Excuse you. Don't be upset just because Laura did something about your kid trying to make fun of Loan," Lori said.
"Misses Williams. Miss Loud. Can we please not argue over how justified you consider the actions of your children?" Harold, the Principal said.
"Of course, Laura is in the right here anyway. The Williams shouldn't be raising a bully," Loan said.
"Mia is a well mannered girl, your daughters are simply liars," Andria said.
"If that's the case you should remind Mia of her manners, Misses Williams. She has a bad habit of talking over her classmate's first day introductions," Misses Baiss said.
"You're siding with them?" Andria said with discontent planning on standing up only for her husband to keep her in place by the shoulder.
"We'll make sure to do so. Mia must think she's exempt from the rules while not under our supervision," Abraham said.
Catching onto Lori and Bobby's grins Miss Snook spoke up.
"Don't look too proud over this Miss Loud, Mister Santiago. Your daughter has a tendency to overreact to what she considers her peers being treated unfairly, it's no wonder to her her sister would be an especially egregious case," she said.
Despite what Miss Snook truly said the Williams couple looked rather judgmental over Lori and Bobby each having a different last name.
"Perhaps the children can get along better if they're taught to do so at home. Can I at least count on you four to be adults? It would do a lot to help the issues that have already happened the first day, and it must be clear if any of your children cause trouble they will not be taught here," Harold said.
With a lack of proper sincerity in reconciliation on behalf of both parties Lori and Bobby reached out to shake Andria and Abraham's hands. Each going home to make sure they spoke with their children, making sure it wouldn't spill over into a conflict that got the attention of the teacher's again.
Sitting down with Laura and Loan at the dinner table Lori and Bobby set out a glass of water out for the both of them.
"Mama, Papa, are you mad?" Laura said.
"No, Mija. We're not mad, you were just trying to look after Loan. They were teasing you, Cariña," Bobby said.
"Just remember Laura, don't escalate physically until they do first. Loan, I know it's hard but you'll be stronger in numbers. I need you to do your best to reach out and make friends," Lori said.
Laura and Loan both expressed their understanding of what their parents had told them, from there they settled down for dinner.
When Loan found the time later to speak with her father, Lincoln had similar advice as Lori. How bullies were easier to deal with when one had strength in numbers and to work on making friends. Something that Lincoln hoped Loan would do well at, worried to find out his daughter was just as timid as ever.
Though there were good intentions from her parents when they advised Loan to work on her social skills enough to make friends that was more difficult when Mia started a rumor downplaying how she and her friends had tried to humiliate Loan. Making their classmates think that playing with her would lead to Laura doing something to them if they went around Loan.
Something that would make her all the more lonely for awhile, leaving Loan to wonder why she couldn't be just as strong as her big sister.
Holidays for the Louds and the Casagrandes had always been a grand event, large families coming together for a very cozy and lively celebration. Families that had only gotten bigger. Thanksgiving was being held at the Casagrande home as per their alternating tradition.
As the adults gathered together there was fawning over the newest additions to the family. Luan carrying Liby, Sam carrying Lina and Carlota carrying Cesar. Liby being noted for her light brown hair that verged on a reddish quality that was a sort of copper nearly orange. Lina, meanwhile took after her biological father with her snow white hair. With his parents having similar features, Cesar mixed harmoniously looking very befitting of a Casagrande with his dark hair and brown eyes.
"Que Lindos," Rosa said looking at the various children.
"Snowy white hair, I think she gives you a look at what your kids would look like," Carlota said to Ronnie Anne as she gave Lina a close look.
"They'd look really nice, and they'd always stand out as long as we keep their hair pretty like this," Ronnie Anne said running her hand along Lina's head.
"Dark hair would look great too, and it shines a lot better in the light," Lincoln said.
As Ronnie Anne looked over to smile at her boyfriend, Maria tangled her hands together.
"Will I be a grandmother again soon?" Maria said.
"Mom, be a little more patient. Two is plenty already," Ronnie Anne said while looking over at Laura and Loan fondly.
"My mom and dad definitely aren't hurting for grandchildren," Lincoln said while looking over at his parents, both of them taking turns holding Liby as they both fawned over her while under Luan's watch. His gaze then lingered on his girlfriend, knowing that with both of them a little more settled down and with Ronnie Anne a little further into her education their own children would indeed come soon.
The older children gathered together, with Liena trying to reach out to Loan.
"Hi Loan," Liena said.
Only for her sister to pull back when she reached out her arms trying to go in for a hug.
"You okay?" Liena said.
"She's okay, just being shy," Laura said.
Loan only lowered her head a little more, feeling resigned to letting her older sister answer for her. Having let Laura handle so much for her already.
Despite that, Liena could feel there was something making her big sister upset. Making her want to talk with her more without her cousin speaking on Loan's behalf. For the time being she spent her time playing with Lyra, as she herself was also unsure about how to navigate around her big sister.
After the Thanksgiving celebration Liena was still thinking about how to talk to Loan in a way that was just between them. She thought about sharing a secret code or language with her, but she realized her big sister liked the quiet. Maybe it would help if they could talk to each other without even speaking.
"Mom, can people talk without words?" Liena said looking up at her mother as she hung up their winter coats.
"Talk without words?" Leni spoke out loud, placing her hand on her chin to think about her daughter's question. Something was ringing a bell for her, she just had to remember the details.
"There is a way to do it! Talking with your hands, it's called sign language," Leni said.
"Can I learn?" Liena said, brightening up as she was happy to hear that there would be a way to talk to Loan without even having to speak.
For the next few weeks leading up to everyone gathering at the Loud House for a Christmas celebration Leni found lessons and videos on the internet for Liena to learn from, and even picked up on some of the basics herself.
In time, the Christmas celebrations had come around and after saying hello to all the adults Liena made her way to find her big sister. Finding her having found a spot to hide away wrapped up in a cocoon of protective blankets in one of what were now many extra rooms. Their aunt Lily being the only current second floor resident.
Stepping close enough where Loan could see her Liena raised her hands up mouthing the words as she signed them.
'Hi Loan'
Loan poked out of her blanket cocoon interested by the sight of what her little sister was doing. The way she formed letters being familiar enough to the alphabet she was learning at school that she could make out meaning. She brought her hand out, waving shyly to respond to the greeting.
'I'm your cousin, Liena'
She signed, hoping to make Loan more comfortable who nodded showing she knew at least how they believed themselves to be family.
Loan then started to try to sign her name from how she saw Liena do it only for her little sister to get a little closer to teach her just that. By the end of the night the two were able to have short conversations together.
For the Christmas celebration, the Loud family had put on several movies to play throughout the day and night. By the time it was a little past midnight everyone had fallen asleep, the movie player left to keep going and to be turned off in the morning.
It was during a scene including a singing church choir that Lyra woke up, stirred from her sleep. She was accustomed to all sorts of songs and genres from the many pieces of music that her mother played that they considered suitable for her little sister and her to listen to as well.
However, choir music was not part of the usual selection. So, hearing the singing choir in the movie was captivating to her especially the idea that it was truly the people singing in such a manner.
It wasn't until then that she understood the passion which music inspired in her mothers. The refined melodic pitch meant to inspire reverence was deeply touching to her heart as chants and songs of the choir were meant to inspire something divine. It was not only beautiful to the ear, but also intense stirring a reverence for a greater force she wasn't truly aware of.
She wanted to hear more and learn where it came from.
Loan had resigned herself to go through school alone for several months by that point, the classmates who might have approached her being scared away just by rumors of Laura while she herself was too shy to try to reach out to her fellow introverts.
Learning a bit of sign language made something click for her, her mother had been particularly impressed to find out that her aunt Leni had been teaching her sister Liena sign language to be able to communicate without ever really talking. She remembered a few kids in her grade who communicated in that manner. How her mother explained the many kinds of people who learned sign language.
Finding the kids in question Loan walked over sitting down near her peers and introduced herself much to their surprise.
'Hi I'm Loan'
One of them responded.
'You can sign?'
'Only a little. I know all the letters'
Loan explained.
Despite her limited understanding, Loan integrated by learning more of the language quickly. Glad to feel like she was finally part of a group that welcomed her. When she got home she got on the phone to thank Liena for teaching her a language that had finally allowed her to make friends.
Lisa was looking through a microscope at a sample of glass, checking it for imperfections and making sure there were clear openings in the small areas carved through the glass. Despite what she saw herself accomplishing with the resources already at her disposal she knew a little extra income didn't hurt. Designing and producing electronic gadgets of top of the line quality certainly wouldn't hurt.
Resting a hand on her womb upon taking a break Lisa reached over to grab her calendar looking forward eight months in advance thinking about the outcome with a soft smile.
She didn't want any factors to affect the development of her pregnancy when she had already meddled so heavily in the conception of her child making it take a few times before it happened. Now it was up to the expertise she had gathered up to that point to hope that her child would be as healthy as Liena, Lyra and Liby. It made her grin a little knowing she'd give birth to Lincoln's first son.
"I can't wait for your time to arrive breathing, out here. A good life is waiting for you, Lieonardo Loud. Though, we'll call you Lieo. Amend the tradition a little," Lisa said out loud to herself looking forward to a happy though admittedly difficult day for herself.