No Such Luck…or Destiny's Deceit?

Ch 12: In Search of Redemption

Quote of the day: "It hurts when you tell a LIE and I know the TRUTH!"

It was raining outside the Emily residence, and thunder boomed, shining light over the house. Sammy was upstairs with Lincoln, they were playing cards with each other. The 11-year-old Loud brought out an ace, while the younger kid brought out an eight of spades.

Charlotte was reading a novel, Henry and Valerie sat downstairs on the couch while watching TV, holding each other close.

The matriarch of the Emily family blushed lightly, remembering the prom night when William danced with Olivia and she danced with Henry. Lynn Sr. chuckled while holding Rita close to him.

Stephanie and Jamie were still cross with Junior, Robert would still give Lynn Sr. and Rita the stink-eye everytime they would pass by, Elijah would speed walk away from the girls, and finally, Michael, Elizabeth, and CC would still think that Lynn Sr. and Rita were dunces for parents.

Things were taking quite a turn for the Loud family, they were making progress on reconciling with Lincoln. Leni was humming a tune, while she was drawing on a long piece of paper, something that looked like a bed, she knew he had to sleep on a mattress, ever since her other sisters and parents sold it 'by mistake'.

Just then, Lynn Sr. came into her and Lori's room. Curious, he went near his second-born daughter's table and looked at what she was doing. She was going to make a bed, for Lincoln? The father of the Loud family smiled, his daughter was making their brother/son a bed for an apology gift.

"Leni?" Lynn Sr. called out.

"Oh hey, Dad!" Leni smiled.

"You're making a bed for Lincoln?" He clasped his hands behind him. "I can help."

"Thanks Dad!" She said, gratefully.

He then went to the garage, to get the tools and materials necessary for making the bed. They started to get to work on the bed, it took a long time to build Lincoln's bed, about three to four days. Afterwards, they went to the mall to search for a mattress, as well as some bedsheets and pillows. On the flip side, Leni's indecisiveness was making it a hard job for Lynn Sr.

"How about this one?" Leni said as she pointed to a particular mattress, but she saw another one. "Ooh! How about this one, Dad?"

"He he, alright…" Lynn Sr. said as he got out his wallet and paid the materials for Lincoln's bed.

Finally, the bed was done. It was in Lincoln's room, Lynn Sr. couldn't help but smile from ear to ear as he looked at the progress he and his daughter made. Their only brother slash son has a bed to sleep on for now.

At the Emily residence…

Lincoln was telling scary stories to Charlotte and Sammy.

"That night, I was walking in the woods, when I heard a spooky sound nearby…and when I was walking by, that's when I saw…"

Charlotte was biting her fingers in fear.

"…the monster of Royal Woods!" Lincoln said, turning on his flashlight while thunder clapped from outside.

"That's scary!" Cried Charlotte.

"Told 'ya I can tell scary stories with ease, I've been to the woods with Dad a lot of times." Lincoln said. "The forest looked scary, but still it was fun!"

"You go camping there?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, with Clyde mostly…"

The following day…

It was another day, the Emily family and Lincoln got up and went to the bathroom to freshen up for school. They changed into their day clothes, and sat down on the table for breakfast. The kids got their backpacks ready for school, and boarded the car.

Henry and Valerie boarded into the front seats, as Henry started the engine and sped off to school and work.

As Lincoln went on his journey, he saw his (well, technically) home just 6 blocks away. The 11-year-old Loud stared out the window, Sammy looked out the window too.

Lori waved at Lincoln, so did he while smiling. The journey was nice, he passed by Noah's house, too, and saw Stephanie wave at him along with Jamie.

They arrived at school, so Henry dropped Valerie off at her writing job and he stopped at Freddy's.

"Sister Lizzy!" Sammy said as he rushed up to Elizabeth while hugging her.

"Hey Sammy." Elizabeth said as she patted Sammy's head.

"Hey you." Vanessa said as she walked up to Lincoln. "You're the one who beat up Chandler and his friends on Sunday?"

"Well, yeah." Lincoln answered.

"I didn't expect you to unleash your anger on those boys, how did you even beat them up with just a dead branch? There's five of them, y'know?" The girl introduced herself. "The name's Vanessa by the way."

"Michael told you?"

"Mhm. Of course." Vanessa said. "Stephanie and her brother Jimmy, saw it too."

"Glad that you gave those turds a piece of your mind." Noah said, grabbing Chandler by his shirt and shoving him into his locker. "They drive me up the wall almost every week."

"Well, could say the same…" Lincoln said.

"So…friends?" Noah said, holding out his hand.

"Hmm…alright." Lincoln said as he and Noah shook hands. Later, two familiar twins came up to the duo with something.

Noah gave the twins a mean look, while Lincoln looked at them curiously.

"Hey Lincoln…" Lola said as she gave Lincoln an orange card designed with black and white squares just like the shirt he was wearing right now.

"Thanks…" The boy said as the two twins walked away.

The letters were written in cursive form, Noah peeked to see what it was all about:

Dear Lincoln…

Sorry that we played a part in the luck fiasco that happened recently. We may not be very good with words, but it's the best that we can do in a short amount of time. Leni made a bed for you as an apology gift when you get back. Lynn also destroyed her baseball cap and set it on fire, and well…Dad wasn't happy with her, and she got an earful. Sorry for using you for selfish purposes, and playing pranks on you just because of wanting some peace and quiet.

P.S. Lola: Thanks for standing up for me when Chandler and his friends teased me that Sunday. ^-^

P.P.S. Lana: Sorry for treating you as a good luck charm. Also, Liz and Joseph says hello.

He flipped the other pages and saw pictures of him and the twins throughout the years 'till the present. The first photo was taken in 1968, Lincoln was four and the twins were infants at the time. The second one was taken in 1970, Lincoln was 7, and the twins were 2, they were playing pirates at the time. The third one was taken recently when they were sleeping. Lincoln was lying down with one foot on the floor, Lana was cuddled up to him, while Lola was hugging his arm.

Noah smiled. "Seems like you have good times back then…"

"Yeah…" Michael sniffed. "Just like me and my siblings…"

"My brother's in college right now…" Vanessa said. "He may be far away from me, but we'll always see each other on weekends."

"What's that?" Sammy asked.

"It's a card I received from two of my sisters." Lincoln said.

"Your sisters?" The 8-year-old asked. "Did they give you a card as an apology gift?"

"Yeah, and it contains all the good times we've had together."

"Well, I thought they were always evil…" Sammy muttered. "Maybe they had a good side too?" He gave a small smile.

"Hey, what's that?" Asked Stephanie as she passed by.

"It's a gift from my sisters." Lincoln said.

"Oh, let me see." Robert said as he read what the twins wrote and what were in the photos…they were good times between Lincoln, Lola, and Lana. He sniffled, as tears welled up in his eyes.

The bell rang, meaning it was time for class, so they ran to their classrooms immediately.

To be continued in Ch 13…

A/N: Sorry that chapter twelve took very long to get out, I have a few interesting ideas I want to showcase in the succeeding chapter, first, the twins will follow Lincoln, and they tell the other sisters where he's staying, second, Valerie will talk to Henry about her concerns with Lincoln, and finally, Julius and Abigail meet Lincoln at a bus stop. That's all, and I'll see you next time.