Future Imperfect

Part Four: Reflections on the Past

Lincoln hated himself just a little for storming out on Lori like that. Deep down he knew she meant well, but sometimes she just really got to him. She would get it into her head that she knew what was best and then would keep on needling him no matter how many times he told her to back off. It was maddening.

He checked his phone for the time. He had been with Lori for much less time than he had anticipated. He had been planning on visiting Leni after finishing with Lori and things at the hospital, but knew he couldn't right now. He was still too tense from the time spent with his eldest sister. If he went near Leni now she would pick up that something was bothering him and he knew from experience that she would not let up until she knew what was wrong.

And he absolutely did not want to end up blowing up at Leni as he had Lori.

As Luna had taken Vanzilla to work with her, Lincoln was left to walk. That was more than okay in his book. A walk would help burn off some of the negative energy.

From the hospital, he took the road that led to Ketcham Park. Some fresh air would probably do him good at this point.

As he made his way along, he took note of his surroundings and contemplated how much the area had changed. There used to be a row of houses along this street, as well as a small corner shop. A kid he went to school with named Darren used to live in the third house along with his dad and step mother. Two more houses along was where Lucy's friend Persephone had lived, and further on still had lived Jesse Hiller, his mom's boss at the newspaper. Then, in the apartment above the corner shop, Luan's classmate Parvana had lived with her family, with her parents running the store below.

Those houses and the corner shop were long gone now. Each property had actually been owned by one landlord, with the people living there only renting. One day he decided he was done with all that, served them their eviction notices and sold the lot off to some property development conglomerate. It had been big news at the time and a lot of people in town got pretty upset about it, not liking the idea that this guy could just kick people out of their homes and sell it all off. Worse, he hadn't even offered the tenants the chance to buy the properties themselves.

Then, the developers had come in and announced their plans to demolish the houses and shop. A lot of people weren't happy about that either. Lincoln could remember Girl Jordan in particular getting on her high horse about it. They were in High School at the time and starting to become more aware of politics and being encouraged to engage with the world around them. In all honesty, Lincoln hadn't really bothered giving much thought to the matter initially, but when Girl Jordan rounded on him one day to ask what he thought, he told her he agreed with her entirely, and that something really should be done about it.

And, in truth, he agreed with her because she was hot, and he wanted her to think that he was smart and held good opinions. You can't sue him for that!

But he had thought about it more after that. And she was right – it wasn't fair and it didn't sit well with him at all, actually. Darren and his family couldn't find anywhere else to go in the amount of time they had been given, and had taken to living in his dad's van, which was in no way comfortable. Persephone and her family had resorted to living with her maternal grandmother which, from what Lincoln heard from Lucy, meant they were living in a cramped, one bedroom apartment with Persephone sleeping on the couch while her parents made do with two old camping beds. Parvana's family managed to relocate to Beaverton. Mom's boss was more fortunate in finding somewhere else to live locally, but she was pretty upset at being kicked out of the home she had lived in for fifteen years.

Lincoln actually attended protests over the whole thing, led and encouraged by Jordan and several of her friends. Mom said she was proud of him for making his voice heard. Luna thought it was radical that he was "sticking it to the man." Lori rolled her eyes and told him "Just don't get into trouble."

Lynn laughed and told him Jordan wasn't going to go agree to date him because of this. He loved how much faith his sister had in him sometimes.

Not that he would have said no had the opportunity arisen. Again, Jordan was hot.

But eventually it had all died down. After all, High School also meant lots of studying for tests and lots of homework and, soon enough, they found they didn't have either the time or the energy to tend to their studies and rally against the injustices of the world. Kind of weird how that works... Anyway, Persephone's family eventually found somewhere else in town to live, while Darren's family moved to Huntington Oaks.

In the mean time, the property developers had unveiled their grand plans for the site – a line of luxury apartment buildings, each one five stories high. According to their research, this was exactly the sort of thing Royal Woods needed to continue to grow and prosper as a town. A way to draw in rich people looking to move to a smaller town to get away from the noise of the big city. This was to go hand in hand with another piece of construction the company had going on out near the mall, which was supposed to become a technology centre. What kind of technology, they never said.

And, ultimately, the town never found out. The developers had to file for bankruptcy before either project could finish and now both the tech centre and the apartment buildings sat unfinished, and had done so for a little over a decade. As he walked, Lincoln looked up over the fence at the unfinished apartments. Another promise that the world failed to deliver on.

He wondered where Jordan was now. Last time he saw her was three years ago at Papa Wheelie's funeral. Poor guy had never been slim anyway, but you start chowing down on Burpin' Burger Deluxe Breakfasts every day, while working a sedentary office job, it soon catches up to you. At least when he was younger he cycled everywhere and gave himself half a chance.

"I should buy a bicycle..." Lincoln thought to himself. And, really, it was a wonder that he hadn't thought of such a thing before. He lived with six of his sisters and they had one van between them. Another mode of transport wouldn't go amiss, even if it was just a bicycle.

As he continued, Ketcham Park came into view. One of the first things he saw was a few kids on their bicycles. They would start at the top of a slope, race to the bottom and then cycle back up again. That brought back fond memories for Lincoln of himself, Rusty, Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire racing about on their own bicycles, getting to the top of the hill and turning to cheer on Clyde as he struggled to make it to the top on his dads' tandem.

Papa Wheelie's funeral was the last time he saw any of them as well. Admittedly he and Rusty had been on the outs with each other before High School had ended, and he wasn't overly close with Flat Tire by that point either, but for that to have been the last time he saw his childhood best friend…

"Three years..." he muttered to himself and shook his head. "Clincoln McLoud Forever!" echoed in the back of his mind.

Yeah. So much for that.

He walked on past the kids on their bikes and headed over to the rest area. A large wooden gazebo stood slightly raised up on the far side. Some kids were there messing around. Lincoln could remember Luna, Sam, Mazzy and Sully playing several gigs up there. His Dad had done so with his own band a few times as well.

He remembered being fourteen, watching his dad, along with one of Clyde's dads, Rusty's dad and dad's friend Kotaro, performing one of their favourite songs to a large crowd during the town's annual food festival (an event the town no longer held due to budget cuts). He remembered watching Clyde dancing with Chloe, and Rusty dancing with his on-again-off-again girlfriend Polly. Lincoln himself had been left feeling a little jealous of them, until Lynn's friend Margo had grabbed him by the hand and led him to a spot where they could dance together. It was the first time he had felt any kind of attraction to her, not that he did anything about it then. Before that point, she had always just been Lynn's friend in his mind, nothing more. But that dance and the peck on the cheek she had given him afterwards altered that perception. Lynn had made a lot of jokes at his expense after that.

He wondered how she would react if she ever found out what he and Margo got up to for a brief time when he was twenty...

Not too far from the gazebo, there was a large, circular water fountain, all about which were scattered an array of picnic benches, all in varying states of shabbiness. He approached the fountain and looked in. Hundreds, if not thousands of coins formed an uneven layer at the bottom. A small sign nearby said that all money was used to help with the upkeep of the park. From the looks of things, no one had been here to collect in a long while. It was possible that the coin he had dropped in there the night of his and Haiku's first date was still down there somewhere...

Lincoln dug around in his pocket and fished out a nickel. He considered the coin for a moment and then flicked it into the water where it landed with a plop and sank to the bottom.

"Mommy! Mommy!" cried a voice nearby. Lincoln turned and saw a woman and her daughter, no older than five, sitting on the edge of the fountain, a short distance from him. "Mommy, that man made a wish! Can I have a coin so I can make one too?"

"Sorry, honey," replied the mother. "Mommy's not carrying cash right now."

Seeing the kid pout, Lincoln reached into his pocket and fished out another nickel.

"May I?" he asked the woman, holding up the coin to make his intentions clear. At the woman's nod, he handed the coin to the girl. "There you go. Make your wish."

"Thanks mister," she said as she took the coin from him. She bit her lip thoughtfully before seemingly deciding on something and launching the coin into the water.

"Nice throw." complimented Lincoln.

"Thanks," said the girl. "Hey, mister. What did you wish for?"

Lincoln paused a moment. He hadn't made a wish at all, but it didn't seem right to tell her that. So instead he answered "I wished that there was a little more happiness in the world."

"Wow," said the girl. "I wished for a pet hamster."

Lincoln and the girl's mother exchanged amused looks and he tried to not chuckle. "Well, good luck. Hope you get one." he said before turning and leaving.

As he went to leave the rest area, a smell caught his attention and he turned to find the source. He spotted it not too far away. A hot dog cart. He checked the time again. It was probably too early for a hot dog… But he made his way over anyway and was soon walking away with his prize – a frankfurter wedged into a bun with onions and a liberal helping of mustard. A personal favourite of his. And Margo's, incidentally.

He took a bite and he practically shivered with contentment. Oh, yeah. This was gonna cure the last remnants of his earlier bad mood for sure.

Soon he was leaving the park behind and crossed a road, finishing the last bite of his hot dog before heading down another street, the very street where his high school girlfriend Mollie had lived. Her parents still lived there. He passed their house and took a moment to look at it. The trellis was still mounted to the side of the garage. How many times had he climbed that while he and Mollie were together? Mollie's father was the overprotective type and did not approve of her having a boyfriend. He never forcibly kicked Lincoln out or anything, but he certainly never let Lincoln stay later than 9:30pm. Sometimes Lincoln would be there later, when her parents weren't home, but then they'd come back and he would have to climb out of her bedroom window at the back of the house, shimmy his way along the gutter to get to the roof of the garage, wait for her parents to go inside and then scramble down the trellis and make a break for it. Sometimes he got in that way as well.

Those were fun times.

He missed Mollie. Perhaps more than he missed Clyde. Both of them had moved away to continue their education but, unlike with Clyde, Lincoln had had the chance to actually go with Mollie. He had been accepted into the same college as her and everything, and they were really excited about going…

But someone needed to be den mother at home. Try as she might, it wasn't going to be Leni. Lori had her own stuff going on with Bobby, Luna was too much of a free spirit for that kind of responsibility, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be Luan or Lynn who took care of everyone. So Lincoln had prepared to do what he felt needed to be done and went to to break Mollie's heart. She knew him so well by that point though, and ultimately saved him the trouble of saying the words himself by breaking things off with him first. She told him she understood, even if she really didn't like it.

It just about broke him as well.

He continued on. There was still quite a way to go to get to the part of town where Leni lived and he figured he had dawdled long enough.

To his consternation, dark clouds soon began to fill the sky and what had started as a nice day, at least weather wise, was threatening to become rather depressing. As he felt the first couple of drops land, he came to the conclusion that he needed to take cover. Fortunately, there was a certain restaurant open nearby.

Lynn's Table was still running, even after all this time. The Loud Family still owned the place, but since the accident they had, by and large, the left the running of it to Kotaro and Grant. The two people dad had employed upon first opening the place now worked as manager and head chef respectively. Lincoln usually liked to check in every so often, even if only to show his face around the place. He was well overdue a visit, and the impending downpour was the perfect excuse to check in, even if it meant putting off seeing Leni for a little while longer.

Lincoln stepped inside the front doors just as the rain really began to come down. As it still wasn't quite noon yet, the place was a little on the quiet side. The "brunch rush" as dad used to call it, was mostly finished, with a few stragglers remaining as a couple of waitresses prepared for the lunchtime arrivals. There was a young woman at the welcome desk, organising a stack of paperwork. She looked up as Lincoln entered and smiled brightly upon recognising him.

"Good morning, Mr Loud," she chirped, brightly.

Lincoln actually chuckled at her greeting. "Meli, I've told you before, you can call me Lincoln. Mr Loud is my dad."

"Anything you say, Mr Lincoln," she replied with a teasing gleam in her eyes.

Meli Ramos had been in the same grade as the twins during their school years. Lincoln had known her for a long time, and had even been the one to get her a job waitressing at the restaurant one summer back when she was seventeen. Since then, what had been a rather shy girl had come out of her shell and gained a huge amount of experience. So much so that Kotaro had been able to step away from much of the front of house duties and oversee more of the behind the scenes stuff, leaving Meli to manage the dining area, overseeing the waiting staff, handling customer reservations and welcoming people on arrival.

Lincoln was so used to being surrounded by sisters who settled for mediocre jobs and staying that way, seeing Meli continuously improve at the restaurant was nice. If only Lola could have pulled her head of of her ass and taken the job herself when it was offered to her before Meli.

"Is Kotaro around?" asked Lincoln.

"Sure, he's out back overseeing a stock check," replied Meli. "A delivery didn't come in this morning, so he and Grant are having to make different plans for the lunch and dinner menus."

"Well, if they're busy..." Lincoln began, but she cut him off. "Nonsense. They'll be happy to see you."

Lincoln knew better than to argue and headed into the kitchen.

As he passed through the doors the smell of various food stuffs cooking washed over him.

By the large table in the centre of the room, Grant was working hard on adding seasoning to various cuts of chicken. The table around him was a bit of a mess, with an array of utensils and leftover ingredients scattered around. The head chef was so busy that he didn't notice Lincoln enter.

However, Gavin did. Looking up from his work preparing the soup of the day, the restaurant's line chef spotted their white haired guest. "Hey, Lincoln!" he greeted enthusiastically. "Long time no see, man!"

Lincoln returned the greeting as Grant took notice of him. "Lincoln! How are you?"

Before he could respond, Kotaro came out of the back room with a clipboard in hand, drawn by the noise. "Lincoln! This is a surprise."

"Well, you know," said Lincoln, sheepishly. "I was passing by and thought it was about time I checked in on the place. Things are looking good out front."

"That's all down to Meli," said Grant. "She keeps things running smoothly. I tell you, Lincoln, you picked us a good worker there."

"Far more reliable than some," said Kotaro. At the questioning looks of the others he elaborated "Aaron just called in sick."

"Not again." groaned Gavin.

"That's the third time this month." added Grant.

Aaron was one of the kitchen porters employed by the restaurant. The job title was just a fancy way of saying he washed the dishes and mopped the floor. Seventeen years old and probably not about to get into college, Aaron was a pain in the ass and downright unreliable. Given that he only ever worked the Saturday lunchtime shift, him calling in sick on three separate occasions in one month was pretty poor form, even for him.

"You think Katie will take an extra shift at such short notice?" asked Gavin.

"Not likely," said Kotaro. "She said she was going on a trip to the outlet mall near Petoskey Falls with her friends today. Even if she would have agreed she's a two hour drive away."

"What about Matt or Cole?" asked Grant.

"I already called Matt and he can't make it. Cole's visiting his Grandma." said Kotaro.

"Well, looks like I got here just in time then, doesn't it," said Lincoln.

"We couldn't possibly ask you to step in," said Grant.

"Why not?" asked Lincoln. "Its about time one of dad's kids rolled up their sleeves and pitched in around here, and God knows it isn't going to be Luan, no matter how much I try to talk her round."

It was true. Luan had a real talent for food preparation and their father had really hoped that she would follow in his shoes one day and take over the restaurant. With her still determined to get in her own way, that wasn't likely to happen in the immediate future.

"Well, if you're sure," said Kotaro.

"Absolutely," said Lincoln. "Besides, have you seen the weather outside? I've got no intention of going out there any time soon. Might as well make myself useful while I'm here."

And just like that, Lincoln ended up working on his day off. Not that he minded exactly. As he said, it was past time any of Lynn Loud Sr's kids pitched in at the restaurant, and it might as well be him. It didn't take too long for things to kick into high gear. A bus from the senior centre was one of the first vehicles to arrive, dropping off over a dozen patrons in one fell swoop and it didn't slow down from there.

It never ceased to amaze Lincoln just how well the restaurant continued to operate despite his dad not being able to continue running it. But then, the old guy had taught both Grant and Gavin all of his recipes and turned them into the chefs they were today.

Grant had been with the business since it had opened. Initially an employee of the local Burpin' Burger, Grant had taken an interest in cooking and was soon studying to be the assistant chef. Under the Loud patriarch's tutelage, he had soon become a great chef in his own right.

Gavin was a similar story. Although not there at the start, Gavin had joined the restaurant staff a few months after he had started dating Leni. Before that he had worked at a food outlet at the mall called "Spaghetti on a Stick" - those sorts of places popped up in the mall all the time – a brief, flash in the pan type thing that appeared, were really popular for between four and eight months and then vanished to make way for the next weird culinary idea. Spaghetti on a Stick was one of few that actually made it a full year before closing down. At that point, Gavin had needed a new job. Fortunately, his previous role had made him very good at actually preparing spaghetti, as well as a number of sauces and soon Lynn Sr had another trainee chef on his hands.

While Grant focused on learning the main dishes (steak, fish, pies, chicken dishes and so on) Gavin had taken to preparing other things. Lincoln thought it was called being an Entrée Preparer, or something like that. Basically, Grant made the appetisers and pasta dishes while also preparing the soups, sauces and any general preparation of vegetables.

All in all, it was a system that worked well, if the continued popularity of the restaurant was anything to go by.

Luan might have let their father down by not taking the reigns of the restaurant, but, frankly, Lincoln couldn't think of a better group of people to leave in charge of the place in their dad's absence.

The work was hard and tiring, something that made Lincoln think about his rather cushy desk job. Sure, working in the office could be mentally taxing at times, but at least he got to sit on his butt most of that time. As the ache of hard work set in, he began to rethink a previous complaint he had about the chair at his desk and how it didn't provide good enough lumbar support. At least there he actually had lumbar support. Here, it was him, on his feet, bent over a large sink, hands working furiously as he tried to remove that last burnt bit of potato that simply refused to come away from the tray.

Finally though, the shift was over. A total of eighty seven people had been fed throughout the lunch period (a very decent number given the size of the restaurant) and left satisfied. The group in the kitchen were just finishing clearing up when Meli appeared to see if it was okay for Whitney to come back there yet. Grant gave the all clear and, a few moments later, Meli had sent his wife through.

Whitney had been in the same school year as Lori, and wasn't necessarily the type of woman you would expect to go for someone like Grant. One of the most popular girls in her class, Whitney was, and remained to this day, gorgeous, intelligent, quick-witted, fashionable and… did I mention gorgeous already? Grant, on the other hand, was kind of like Lincoln – a bit of a dork who loved video games, sci-fi movies and tabletop board games (he used to be quite the dungeon master back in the day – in his last year of middle school, Lincoln had been part of a club that used to meet in Kara Estevez's parents' comic book store after hours to play a DnD campaign led by Grant.)

Not to knock Grant or anything, but looking at him and Whitney, you'd never think they would work out, and yet they did. Lincoln had the suspicion that seeing Grant and Whitney together explained some of Rusty's later attitude towards the end of high school – if Grant could get a babe like Whitney, then why couldn't Rusty? Well, the answer was simple: Grant was a good person, something that, over time, Rusty had proved himself not to be. Adding to that was the fact that Grant had a solid job – head chef at a popular restaurant was a heck of a gig, all things considered, and a good job gets you noticed… sometimes, anyway.

"Here to steal our head chef?" asked Gavin as Whitney and Grant greeted each other.

"Just for an hour," replied Whitney. "I'll have him back in time for the dinner shift."

"Well, I guess we have to give him a break sometime," joked Kotaro. "Have fun."

The couple were just about to leave, when Whitney noticed Lincoln. "Well, well, if it isn't Lincoln Loud. Lori and I were just talking about you."

Lincoln winced and asked "You saw Lori?"

"She was in town and wanted to catch up." said Whitney. "You really managed to get under her skin this morning."

"I think we have a habit of just doing that to each other now," Lincoln admitted.

"She's just worried about you."

"I know. I wish she wouldn't. She doesn't need to."

The silence that followed Lincoln's proclamation was very uncomfortable. He may not have realised it, but everyone in that kitchen worried about him. Unlike Lori, though, they all knew to back off. Unseen by Lincoln, Gavin and Kotaro exchanged concerned looks with each other and Meli shifted awkwardly. They all knew Lincoln liked to insist that he was fine, but clashing with Lori indicated that he was anything but.

"Well, just do yourself and her a favour and call her," said Whitney. "She's really worked up."

Lincoln sighed and said "Yeah, I'll call her."

None of them believed he would do it, but Whitney let the matter drop and led Grant away. Everyone else sensed the shift in Lincoln's mood. Gavin and Meli looked to Kotaro, who gave a slight nod and asked Lincoln for a word in the office.

"It's not about Lori, is it?" the younger man asked.

"No. Just some restaurant stuff I wanted to run by you." replied Kotaro.

Lincoln nodded and followed Kotaro out of the kitchen.

"Why are Louds so obstinate?" asked Meli once the door to the office had closed.

"I think its just ingrained into them," replied Gavin. "Even Leni could be as stubborn as a mule when she wanted to be."

Out in the back office room, Lincoln and Kotaro took seats.

"So, what's up?" Lincoln asked.

"I want to promote Meli to maitre d'." replied Kotaro. "Or, rather, I want to create the position of maitre d' and promote Meli to that level."

"Okay..." said Lincoln, thoughtfully. "Look, I'm gonna be honest with you Kotaro, while I'm sure I've heard that term somewhere, I don't have the slightest idea what it actually means."

"Its pretty much the job she has now, but with a few more responsibilities thrown in," replied the older man. "At this point she's certainly qualified to take on the role… obviously we would need to give her a pay raise to go along with it..."

"Can the restaurant afford that?"

"Oh, yeah. That's not the problem."

"Then what is the problem?"

"Like I said, she's qualified for such a role. Manages the front of house stuff amazingly. I'm worried that if we don't do something like this, we might end up losing her. She hasn't said anything about leaving or anything, but I'd rather us give her a reason to stay before she even considers such a thing."

"Well, that seems perfectly fine to me," said Lincoln. "I'd hate for her to leave as well, and if the finances are there then I see no reason to not do it. But, come on, man. You know you don't have to run something like this by my, right?"

"Just seems right to run it by you first," replied Kotaro.

"Kotaro, I trust you to make the right decisions when it comes to running this place. Just like dad."

Kotaro nodded and, after a moment, asked "Have you been by the hospital lately?"

Lincoln sighed and leaned back in his seat. "This morning. That's were I saw Lori."

"And?"

"No change."

For a while, neither man said anything. Kotaro had been friends with Lincoln's father since their final year in college. Kotaro had even served as best man and Lynn Sr and Rita's wedding, with the roles then being switched when Kotaro got married.

It was now that Lincoln really took note of Kotaro's appearance. He had always looked younger than his dad, even though they were both the same age, but the years finally seemed to be catching up a little. He looked older, and a little more weary. He had shown signs of developing gray hair for a while, but now it was really starting to show properly, especially around the sides.

Looking to change the topic, Lincoln asked "How's Susan?"

"She's doing great. Her next book comes out in a month."

"…And Haiku?" Lincoln asked, with a little more trepidation.

"Loving life in Japan," Kotaro replied. "I spoke to her on Monday. She's planning to take a trip home soon."

"Oh. Well that's good."

Things got awkward again.

"Lincoln-"

"Don't say it."

"You could still go with her, you know?"

"No, I can't."

"Your sisters can look after themselves."

Lincoln shifted uncomfortably. "That's not why I didn't go with Haiku."

"Your dad would want you to live your life, Lincoln."

"He would want me to stay here and take care of everything."

"And are you?" asked Kotaro. "Because 'everything' includes yourself."

"I'm doing just fine on that front," retorted Lincoln. "I've even started going to the gym twice a week."

"I didn't mean physically, Lincoln."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means. Arguing with Lori when you see her for the first time in months? Pushing away people who care about you? These aren't things you do when you're okay. They're certainly not things your dad would want you doing."

Lincoln, annoyed now, got up "I think we're done here." he said as he moved towards the door.

"Will you stop being stubborn?" asked Kotaro. "Look, I'm just saying… if you ever want to talk..."

Lincoln's shoulders sagged as the anger dissipated. He knew Kotaro only wanted to help, but…

"I know," he muttered. "Thanks."

Then he turned the door handle and left.


"Fucking idiot..." he muttered to himself as he walked along the side walk. "You know Kotaro's only trying to look out for you..."

It was true. Ever since Lynn Sr had ended up in that coma, Kotaro had only ever tried his best to help Lincoln. Offering advice where he could, trying to make sure his friend's son didn't close himself off, didn't do something stupid.

So why, then, had Lincoln gotten so angry? Well, Lincoln knew damn well why. Haiku. Just bringing up her name struck a nerve. Kotaro suggesting that Lincoln could still go to Japan with his daughter… She had left five years ago now. They had tried to make a long distance thing work while she studied, but then her studies ended, and she chose to stay in Japan.

Without him.

She knew he couldn't just up and leave. She said she would come back, but she didn't. That decision hurt not only him, but Lucy too. He lost his girlfriend, and Lucy lost her best friend. That stung a lot.

But that happened to him a lot. First Mollie left, going to college far away from him. Then Margo, if you could call what they had a relationship, signed to play for a team on the other side of the country. And then Haiku went to study abroad and didn't come back.

And he couldn't go with them.

A chilly wind blew. Lincoln looked up at the sky and noticed more dark clouds that threatened further rain. He pulled up the hood of his coat as the first drops landed.

Turning down a street, he quickened his pace as the rain began getting heavier and, before he knew it, he was standing in front of the door to the house where Leni lived.

He raised his hand and knocked.

It was Fiona who answered the door, and immediately the hairs on the back of Lincoln's neck stood on end. There was a very important rule he knew to put into practice whenever he visited Leni at home (rare though that may be) and that rule was 'never turn your back on Fiona.'

He knew to be wary of Leni's other room mates as well, but Fiona was by far the main one to watch out for. Now into their mid-thirties and all without husbands or kids of their own, Leni's friends weren't exactly picky these days. Their gay friend Miguel was barely around any more, not since Fiona had decided to test just how gay he was. Lincoln knew that there were guys out there who would be all about this situation, but, frankly, he found it a little terrifying.

The smirk that appeared on Fiona's face as she opened the door told Lincoln all he needed to know – he needed to be careful. He could just tell she had been at the red wine already, and if he remembered correctly, she had only just broken up with her most recent boyfriend a week or so ago. He knew from experience that this was when Fiona was at her most dangerous.

"Um… is Leni in?" he asked, trying not to let his nerves show.

"Aww. And here I thought you came over to see me," she said, teasingly and giving him a wink.

"Just here for family stuff..." he replied.

"Play your cards right and we could be family." she said.

Lincoln swallowed nervously.

She smirked again, knowing she had gotten to him. "Come on in."

"You first," he said, remembering the very important rule.

Fiona rolled her eyes and led the way into the house. Lincoln followed, closing the door behind him. She led him down the hallway and he took note of the décor. The walls were a moss green colour, and the flooring was carpeted in a dark blue. He was fairly certain that this was through the choice of the landlord. It didn't seem like the colour scheme Leni or her friends would pick out. Off to one side, there was a small table with a vase containing a bunch of yellow flowers that were a little past their life expectancy, and then a bookcase stuffed with old fashion magazines and catalogues. On the opposite wall there hung a sign that proudly proclaimed "Live, Laugh, Love." Near the end of the hall was a full-size mirror surrounded by notes that read things like "You look beautiful" "You are perfect" "You can do anything" and "Slay, Girl!"

"Hoo, boy!" Lincoln thought as he passed through the doorway to the kitchen.

The kitchen itself was a little on the untidy side. Dirty dishes were stacked in the sink, there was a garbage can overflowing with take-out boxes, and a collection of empty wine bottles decorated the kitchen counter. On one beige coloured wall there was a decorative clock. Behind the two hands was a picture of a bottle of wine and a half-full wine glass. Below it were the words "Its Wine O'Clock"

In the middle of the room was a round table, around which were sat several chairs. His sister occupied one of these chairs. Leni's hair was longer than she used to wear it, and not quite as tidy as she would normally have it. Like Lori, she looked more world-weary these days. But the smile she gave him when she realised that he was there, that remained unchanged. Before he could stop her, she was up out of her seat and giving him a huge, bone crushing hug.

"It's so good to see you!" she exclaimed as her brother struggled for air.

"Good to see you too," he managed to reply. Finally she let go, allowing him to take a deep breath.

"Sit down, sit down," she said, eagerly, as she pulled out the chair next to hers. He sat quickly, keenly aware of the fact that Fiona was now out of his line of sight, which was dangerous. A moment later, however, the brunette walked past the table towards the refrigerator at the other end of the room.

"You guys want anything?" she asked as she pulled door open.

"I'm good thanks." replied Leni, picking up a large bottle of wine that sat on the table. She poured a generous amount into her glass.

"Linc?" asked Fiona.

"Uh… I'll take a soda if you've got one." he replied.

She grabbed a can of soda and a bottle of water before shutting the door. She handed the can to him with a wink as she passed "There ya go, big boy." she said flirtatiously as she made for the door, bottle of water still in hand.

A part of Lincoln was convinced she was just messing with him, but really wished she wouldn't do so in front of Leni. However, as he turned his attention back to his sister, she seemed to be utterly clueless about what had just occurred.

She took a sip of her wine before asking "So, what brings you here Linky?"

"What are you doing next Saturday morning?" he asked.

"Work, unfortunately." she replied. "Reiningers is having a huge one-weekend-only sale, and me, Fiona, Jackie and Mandee are all down to work a twelve hour shift."

"Ah..." muttered Lincoln. "Well, that kind of throws a wrench in my plans a bit."

"Oh?"

"Lily's coming to visit. She wanted us all to go out to brunch together."

Leni's smile became rather strained. "Together?" she asked. "You mean, all of us? Like, you, me, Lily and… and Luan and Lola and Lynn…?"

Lincoln winced at that. She did have a point. "I'm sure the three of them would behave if I told them to..."

Leni shook her head. "You shouldn't have to. I don't know what it is, but I just set them off so easily. Lola especially."

That was true.

"Anyways, like I said, I have work. So I couldn't go even if I wanted to." his second eldest sister finished.

"Well then, we'd better come up with another plan then," said Lincoln. "Lily leaves again Sunday afternoon and she really wants to see you while she's here."

"I guess you could bring her here once we're back from work..." Leni suggested.

Before Lincoln could voice his concerns, the kitchen door opened again and another of Leni's room mates, Jackie this time, entered.

A smile appeared on her face, and Lincoln suddenly felt the need to run and hide.

"Leni, why didn't you tell me you were inviting a man over?"

Leni frowned slightly. "Its Lincoln..."

Lincoln knew that his sister did not mean for that to sound like an insult, but it was kind of hard to not take it that way.

"I know who he is," Jackie shot back at Leni in irritation, before turning her attention back to Lincoln with a flirty smile "Hi Linky..."

Lincoln gulped nervously. Like Fiona, Jackie was dangerous. And, like Fiona, if Lincoln didn't know better, he absolutely would go there. But doing so would be a mistake. He knew damn well it would be a huge mistake.

Still…

"What do you want, Jackie?" asked Leni, growing unusually irritated at her friend eyeing her brother up like a piece of meat. Which Lincoln found odd, as she didn't get annoyed when Fiona did it.

"Just here for a refill," Jackie said, holding up an empty wine glass as she approached the table. She reached for the bottle, but Leni snatched it away. "That's mine," the blonde protested.

Jackie pouted in annoyance before stating "Fine. I'll just open another bottle." With that she turned and opened up a cupboard door beneath the counter top where the collection of empty bottles stood. The wine rack contained within was pretty empty and she had to lean over to take a bottle from the bottom row.

Lincoln was momentarily distracted by the view before violently shaking his head. "Don't look!" he mentally scolded himself.

Moments later, Jackie had retrieved her bottle and used a corkscrew to remove the cork. Then she happily refilled her wine glass, gave Lincoln a wink and departed. "She's just messing with you..." Lincoln told himself.

"So, you probably shouldn't bring Lily here..." said Leni, once the door had closed.

"Probably for the best," admitted Lincoln. He wasn't even slightly concerned about Lily coming here. It was his own skin he was worried about.

"Well, why don't we all meet up at the mall?" asked Leni. "I'll finish work at seven in the evening. We can go get something to eat after I'm done."

"Works for me," replied Lincoln. "Know of any good places to eat there?"

"A few," said Leni. "Loads of places have shut down though. Its not like it was a few years ago, back when there was the Burger Parlour, the Salad Shack and Spaghetti on a Stick..."

She trailed off, emotions catching up with her after naming that last place. Lincoln knew who she was thinking about and decided to press the subject. "You know, I went to the restaurant earlier."

Leni seemed to stiffen up a little. "Oh?" she asked.

"Yeah," he continued. "The place is looking pretty good actually. Kotaro and Grant are really keeping things running smoothly without dad around."

"That's good," acknowledged Leni, before asking the question that was hanging in the air. "Was Gavin there?"

"He was," admitted Lincoln.

"Did… did he mention me at all?"

"The subject didn't really come up."

"I see."

An awkward silence filled the air, and Lincoln realised this was getting to be quite a common occurrence for him today.

"Leni, I'm sure if you and Gavin just talked-"

"Don't Lincoln." she interrupted him. "Just don't. Please."

"I know you miss each other," Lincoln pressed on. "Why don't you call him? See if you can work something out?"

Leni shook her head. "I can't Lincoln. You don't understand. I hurt him. I hurt him real bad, just by being my usual, stupid, dumb self."

Lincoln's heart broke at hearing his sister talking about herself like that. He quickly got out of his seat and wrapped her in a hug. She buried her face against his chest and quickly made the front of his shirt damp with her tears. Maybe bringing up Gavin was a bad idea. Lincoln didn't fully know what went down between Leni and Gavin, other than it involved her talking to another guy. He didn't know the extent and didn't want to judge, but either Gavin had over-reacted or Leni had royally screwed up.

But, either way, Lincoln knew that neither party was over the other and, if they didn't talk, they likely never would be. They either needed to straighten things out and get back together, or find the peace of mind needed to fully move on.

Lincoln didn't know how to get them there, though, and he likely wasn't the right person to try.

It didn't take too long for Leni to get her emotions in check and they were able to talk a little longer before Lincoln decided it was time to leave His sister walked him along the corridor and opened the front door for him.

"See you next Saturday, Lincy." she said, brightly.

"Yeah, see you," he agreed.

"Bye, Lincoln," said a voice in his ear before he felt his butt get pinched.

He winced in annoyance. That's what you get for not paying attention and having your back to Fiona!


When he finally got home, he found Lynn sitting on the couch, a bottle of beer in one hand, tv remote in the other and an open bag of potato chips at her side. Given that she was supposed to be at work right now, this didn't bode well for today's therapy session.

His thoughts must have shown on his face, however, as Lynn rolled her eyes and said "Relax, bro. Therapy went fine. Flip called after lunch and asked me to work tomorrow instead of today. He's going fishing or something."

"Surprised you agreed to that," said Lincoln as he took a seat next to her on the couch. "You don't normally like swapping shifts."

Lynn shrugged and said "Sunday pays better," she explained.

"You think he'll actually honour that?"

"He will if he doesn't want his financial records looking at again."

Lincoln gave a sigh and leaned back against the back of the couch. Flip got caught out a few years ago and was investigated for financial irregularities, as the local newspaper had put it. Yeah, he would make sure he paid Lynn properly. It wouldn't be worth the hassle if he didn't.

Lynn finally settled on watching a baseball game. She offered her brother a beer, which he took, and then the two siblings settled in for a quiet evening, which was a nice change of pace for Lincoln following the night out Sam had dragged him along for the previous evening.