(The following is a nonprofit work of fanfiction and is outside of the original canon. All names, characters, businesses, places, events, and/or incidents of any kind depicted within this story are being used for entertainment purposes only.)

(The Loud House and all related characters were created by Chris Savino and all rights belong to Nickelodeon.)

- Chapter Twenty-Two -

An Unexpected Visit

Saturday, July 31st.

3:35 A.M.

Ferris Bueller was right when he said that life moves pretty fast. Sadly, he had no idea just how right he truly was. Before any of us even realized it, my family and I were already at the very end of the final week of July, the next day marking the beginning of August, the last month of summer vacation. And then right after that would come September, and the new school year would start all over again. It was very strange how everything seemed to quickly fly past you in the blink of an eye.

And yet somehow, I keep getting surprised every single time I remember, I thought to myself, after marking another X on my calendar. At the rate we're all going, I'll be an old man in no time. My lips then started to curl up into a goofy little smile when the thought of my teenaged crush appeared in my mind's eye.

And hopefully, Sam and I will already be married with kids of our own by then. I mentally added. I sighed whimsically as I flopped back down on my bed, my mind being further taken over by the beautifully fantastical picture of my blond-haired angel. I swear, I thought I was starting to see hearts floating directly above me like overinflated balloons. Inside my head, Sam looked straight at me with her ever-so-cute smile, followed by her equally cute giggle as well as a flirty wink.

"Oh, Sam," I muttered under my breath, my heart beating excitedly in my chest. "If only you knew just how much I'm in love with you." It was then that I couldn't help but feel especially naughty when I went so far as to imagine her dressed in the most attractive two-piece swimsuit ever, walking along a tropical beach with her feathery blond hair fluttering majestically in the wind. I sucked in my bottom lip, becoming further entranced by my own dirty thoughts.

"How about a kiss for my totally righteous little man?" I imagined her saying to me in a very seductive tone of voice as she leaned forward to closely meet my gaze.

"Oh, you know exactly what I want, baby." I mumbled dreamily before puckering up my lips. But then, I was immediately pulled back into reality, my mentally projected fantasy vanishing in an instant, once I made a serious realization. I quickly sat straight up and then slapped myself across the face. And yeah, it really did sting. A lot.

Did I actually think that just now? I questioned myself in my head. After almost a minute, I massaged the bridge of my nose.

"Oh, man..." I groaned, now feeling more than pathetic. "I really have turned into Clyde." But then, from out of the blue, an abruptly loud yet familiar noise was heard, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin, and then fall off my bed to the floor. It was so loud to the point that the entire house could hear it. I quickly recognized it as the grating sound of Luna playing her electric guitar at full volume.

"WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE! WE GOT FUN AND GAMES!" Luna's singing voice rang out on her microphone from her and Luan's bedroom. Upon hearing the lyrics, I groaned under my breath in irritation, quickly recognizing it as Welcome to the Jungle, a brand-new hit song released by that heavy metal band Guns N' Roses.

"Ugh, you've got to be kidding me." I complained. Ever since my sister heard this song on the radio just a few short days after the band's debut album Appetite for Destruction first came out, she quickly found it becoming another one of her favorites and she couldn't get enough of it. Like, seriously. It really didn't help when she went to great lengths to teach herself how to play the tune and sing the lyrics, just like she would do with all of her other favorite rock songs.

I loved rock music about as much as the next guy, but I knew that this was just getting ridiculous.

At least she doesn't actually own a copy of their album yet. I remarked in my head. And if she did, Mom and Dad would find out and blow a serious gasket about it.

"LUNA LOUD!" I heard Dad's voice suddenly rang out from outside in the hallway, shouting much louder than Luna's music speaker. Speak of the devil. Very quickly, the music went from extremely loud to really quiet until nobody could hear it anymore. I then heard Luna's bedroom door swing open.

"What did your mother and I tell you about doing that inside the house?" Dad chastised.

"Hehehe...! Sorry, Pops," I heard Luna respond with an embarrassed laugh. Our father then exhaled tiredly.

"Seriously, just play it more quietly next time, okay?" he said. And just like that, there was total silence again, and I heard heavy footsteps walking back down the stairs. I let out a sigh of my own before deciding to stand back up from the floor and then walk outside into the hallway towards the stairs. After reaching the living room and making it over to the middle of the couch, I turned on the TV, and wouldn't you know it, a rerun episode of The A-Team was on, making me really excited.

Hey, I did more than just watch Saturday morning cartoons, you know.

A kid had to have an equal share of the live-action stuff too. As I sat there on my favorite spot of the couch, watching Hannibal, Murdock, Face, and Mr. T do what they always did—fighting the bad guys and helping the innocent—I couldn't help but overhear both Mom and Dad talking in the dining room. Ever the curious little boy that I was, I turned down the TV just a little bit but not to the point of being totally quiet where it appeared like I was eavesdropping, even though I actually was.

"Lynn, I'm not gonna lie to you," Mom groaned, after having taken a sip of her afternoon coffee. "Sometimes, I wish we had never taken Luna to that Mick Swagger concert all those years ago."

"Ugh, tell me about it," Dad agreed with her, after having set down his morning newspaper flat on the table. "It's become so much of a habit for her to just play on her guitar as loud as she could almost every single morning that it kind of makes me wonder if we even need to bother using alarm clocks anymore at this point."

I heard our mother make an amused snort.

"Yep, just loud enough to wake up the entire house," she remarked, taking another sip of her coffee. "At least she's very passionate about her growing talents though. I mean, you can't go wrong with that, right honey?" Dad let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, that sure is true, Rita" he agreed, nodding his head. "We always tell our kids to follow their dreams and aspirations. But most of the time, they keep on forgetting that there's a razor-thin line between what counts as a passion and an obsession."

"I know, right?" Mom agreed. "And during those times, they start to border closely towards the latter, and then we always have to tell them to bring it down a couple of notches. Leni with her fashion, Luan wanting to be a comedian, Lucy with her love of the dark and macabre, Lola being in beauty pageants, Lisa with her science, and Lily..." Mom paused for a moment.

"Huh... Come to think of it, I'm not exactly sure about what Lily's talents will be," she admitted.

"Oh, I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Rita," Dad said confidently, setting his paper down for a moment. "I think I've got a pretty good idea what it is. Why, just a couple of days ago, she and I were watching one or two episodes of Bob Ross. And then on the next day, after coming home from work, I spotted her sitting in her highchair finger painting with L.J. and Lincoln watching her."

"Really?" Mom asked, now astounded.

"Yep," Dad said with a confirming nod. "I could tell easily that she was trying to copy one of Ross' paintings. It was just so adorable. I'm telling you, Rita. If Lily keeps at it, she's gonna go places with her newfound talent."

I smiled upon hearing this, wordlessly agreeing with my old man. As a brother, I was very proud to be there and watch my baby sister develop her own talent, all at the tender age of two, no less. The tough part was waiting if it will eventually stick or not. Switching back over to the old Zenith, I turned the volume up to its original state and resumed whatever was left of that day's episode of The A-Team. But then, I heard a soft bark coming from the left side of the foot of the couch.

Recognizing the bark, I looked down and saw Charles, looking up at me with his little tongue hanging out. I smiled.

"Hey, buddy," I said to him before patting the cushioned seat next to my left. "You want up?" In no time, Charles leaped up and landed on the couch and he moved over to sit closely next to me. Feeling playful, I started to scratch him behind his ears, which really got him going. He tilted his head to the side, clearly enjoying what I was giving him. To every dog, including Charles, this was a lot like getting a massage at the local spa.

"Who's a good boy?" I asked in an overly cute babyish voice. "Who's a good boy? That's right, you are!"

In about ten minutes later, there came a sudden knock at the front door.

"I'll get it!" I called out before hopping up from the couch with ease, with Charles following after me.

Upon reaching the closed doorway, I carefully opened the front door, but only at a couple of inches so I could take a small peak. But when I saw who it was on the other side, my eyes widened in surprise, and I flung the door all the way open, welcomed by the unexpected but familiar sight of an elderly, big-bearded man who stood tall and proud with a smile on his face on our front patio.

"Grandpa!" I exclaimed in complete excitement. Our grandfather, Leonard Loud, our dad's dad, was a man in the middle of his seventies who sported a pointed nose and a head of thinning gray hair where a grayish green wool Irish cap rested on top. He was dressed in an orange button-up shirt and a pair of blue-gray acid-washed denim jeans with suspenders and some black shoes. The most prominent feature that he always possessed was his large gray beard and moustache, making him appear like if Santa Clause went on a diet and became very skinny.

"Hey, Lincoln!" he greeted back jovially in a grizzled-sounding voice, opening his arms out in front of me. I wasted no more time and ran straight into his embrace, feeling his strong arms around me. Charles barked joyfully, and he stood up on his hindlegs against Grandpa, his little tongue hanging out even further, panting excitedly.

"Hiya, Chuck!" Grandpa said with a chuckle, petting the little guy.

"Dad?" my father said, before he appeared before the doorway.

"Hiya, Lynn!" Grandpa greeted him, after having parted from me and then pulled my dad into a tight hug. Dad let out a surprised laugh as Grandpa lifted him up with all his strength. He was old, yes. But age did very little to slow him down and keep him from being spry. He let my dad back to the ground on his feet and parted from their embrace.

"Is that Grandpa I hear?" Mom called out, charging over to the doorway and was given the same treatment as me and Dad.

"Hey, Rita!" Grandpa greeted her warmly, embracing his daughter-in-law.

"Hey, girls!" Dad's voice called out through the entire house. "Come on downstairs! Your grandpa's here!"

"Grandpa!" rang out the collected voices of my sisters from inside the house.

I turned my head around just in time to see a rumbling stampede which made up almost all of the girls, who made their way down the stairs in a single group and darted over to the front door. It was a very rare occasion for our grandfather to come visit us directly like this, given that he usually lived far off on the western coast near Lake Michigan, working as the owner—as well as the manager—of a family camp over there. But on the early afternoon of that Saturday, it was quite an unexpected surprise to see him actually here on the front doorstep of our house.

Grandpa did what he could to keep up and give each and every one of his granddaughters the same number of hugs and attention, until Dad called him.

"Seriously, Dad! What are you doing here?" he asked curiously, still unable to believe this surprising visit. After having showered Lily with ticklish kisses—all thanks to his bushy moustache—and then carefully handing her over to Mom, Grandpa looked over in his direction and faked an appalled face.

"What, can't an old codger like me stop by and say hello to his family every now and then?" he asked jokingly.

"How did you manage to get here in town?" Luna asked curiously, which earned a chuckle from the elderly Loud man.

"Oh, I just had a little help from the rest of the family." he explained.

And then, he stepped aside and pointed a gesturing hand over at a familiar-looking vehicle—a grayish blue Nissan C22 Vanette—which was parked right behind Vanzilla in the driveway. Upon seeing the Vanette, a large smile appeared on my face, and it only grew bigger when I noticed a total of five figures climb out of the sides of the vehicle like kids in a school bus. There were two grown adults, and the others were three young kids, one of the three being an older teenager, all of whom we instantly recognized.

"Uncle Lance! Aunt Sharon!" Lynn shouted in her sheer excitement before running over to their location.

Lance Loud, our dad's older brother, was tall and he had quite a muscular build on him, and he also had a long and pointy nose just like Dad and Grandpa. His full head of brown hair was combed back with a very small mullet just draping above his strong neck, and he was dressed completely in a bright blue Adidas tracksuit which had pink stripes going down the sides of his pants and the arms of his jacket. Circling his head was a pink sweatband, which helped to complete the look.

Our aunt Sharon, Uncle Lance's wife, was a forty-five-year-old African American woman, who was roughly close to the same height as Mom, and her shoulder-length black hair was styled with natural-looking curls. She was dressed in a white sweatshirt with sown pictures of cats on it—most likely from the same brand as Mom's own sweatshirt—and she wore a pair of fitting denim jeans and brown slippers. Hanging from her left shoulder was a simple, dark brown leather purse.

The three kids who came with them were none other than our own cousins, from oldest to youngest: Shane, Shelby, and Shiloh. You may have already noticed by now that each of their names on Uncle Lance's side started with "Sh", which was a lot like how the names our side began with the letter L. It was a funny little quirk our family had—where we would have names starting with the same one letter.

Our eldest cousin, Shane, was about close to the same height as Lori and age as Leni, and he was also pretty skinny too. His curly black hair was styled in such a way which made him strongly appear like a teenaged version of Phillip Michael Thomas, the actor known for playing Tubbs in Miami Vice. The clothes he wore were comprised of a purple-colored nylon bomber jacket, a pair of lightish blue, acid-washed jeans and white Nike Bruins shoes.

Hanging around his neck was a pair of headphones where the wire draped down to reach into his left pants pocket.

Up next was Shelby, who was the middle child of their group and was about six years old. Funny enough, she was close to the same height as Lynn and me, which made her awfully big for a toddler of her age. She wore a large pair of glasses, and her black hair was curly, much like Aunt Sharon's, except Shelby's was longer and Jheri-style. She was dressed in a green sweatshirt and a frilly pink-and-black skirt and a pair of bright gray leggings.

Oh, and she also had a set of buck teeth as well. And then finally, there was Shiloh. Four years old and roughly the same height as Lola and Lana, he had black hair that was cut short with a bit of a mullet draping behind his upper neck, and he wore a purple button-up shirt that was neatly tucked underneath his lightly tanned pants and white Chuck Taylor shoes.

Of all the things to occur on that summer at the end of July, this abrupt visit was surely something all of us—most of all me—could not have expected... like the Spanish Inquisition. If you don't get that reference, I advise you to look it up later. It is downright hilarious.

"Hey, kiddo!" Uncle Lance exclaimed happily, bending down to give Lynn a hug.

"Good to see ya, cousin!" Shane said, pulling Luna into a hug of their own.

"Shelby! Shiloh!" Lana called out as she ran up and grappled her two cousins into a little group hug.

"Hey, Aunt Sharon!" I greeted her, as she and I pulled each other in.

"How's my favorite little nephew been doing all this summer?" Aunt Sharon asked me after we parted. I could not help but giggle at what she said.

"I'm your only nephew!" I gently corrected her. Her red lips spread out into a humorous smile.

"You know what I meant, sweetheart," she said, playfully ruffling my white hair and then planting a soft kiss on the side of my head.

"Hey, little brother!" Uncle Lance heartily greeted Dad, embracing him, lifting him up from the ground, and then squeezing him into a powerful bearhug. Dad's eyes swelled as all the air was forced to leave his lungs. I swear, it looked like his head was about to pop like a giant pimple at any second.

"H-Hay, Lance!" Dad managed to choke out. "It's g-great to see you t-too!" At last, our uncle set him back down to the floor, and Dad held onto his broad shoulder to keep himself from falling. Uncle Lance couldn't help but chuckle in amusement and gave out a playful pat on Dad's back, almost knocking him down to the ground.

"It's literally great to see you guys!" Lori proclaimed happily.

"How's Camp Mastodon doing, Dad?" Dad asked Grandpa with a bit of worry in his tone, after regaining a firm footing.

"Oh, it's doing great, Lynn," our grandfather answered. "The place is still fully operational and going strong."

All traces of worry disappeared from Dad's being in an instant.

"Well, that sure is quite a relief," he declared gladly, wiping away whatever kind of sweat was starting to form on his brow. "So anyway, what brings you all here to Royal Woods?"

"Oh, no specific reason at all," Shane explained, shrugging his lanky shoulders like it was no big deal. "We just thought it would be totally righteous if we came over and paid you guys a visit."

"We even told Dad about it, and he decided that he wanted to come along too." Uncle Lance added.

"So, we drove over to Camp Mastodon, picked him up, and made our way over here." Shelby furthered, adjusting her glasses.

"Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly," Lucy asked in a dreary yet emotionless tone of voice. "You guys drove all the way from the western coast of Michigan over here to Royal Woods on a spontaneous whim?" Shiloh brushed this off with a simple wave.

"Pfft, nah!" he said. "Nothing silly as that. We've actually been planning this trip for a whole week."

"And you guys didn't tell us first?" Dad wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"We wanted it to be a surprise, son," Grandpa reasoned. "We just thought it would be more fun that way, you know?"

"Still, I kind of wish you had told us," Mom said. "We could've gotten the house nice and ready by then."

"Ah, but if you'd known beforehand, then it wouldn't exactly be a surprise anymore, would it?" Aunt Sharon explained, smiling playfully at her sister-in-law. Mom snorted with a one-sided smirk.

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't." she understood partially. "Say, if you don't mind me asking, how long are you staying in town for?"

"Eh, I'd say about four or five days at best." Uncle Lance confirmed.

"Don't you guys, like, have anywhere to stay right now?" Leni asked concernedly.

"We already checked in to the nearest Motel 6 after we arrived," Shane replied. "I think we've got everything good and covered at the moment."

"Man, this is just truly righteous!" Luna exclaimed, clearly unable to contain her excitement. "Can this summer vacation get any better?"

Couldn't have said it better myself, Luna. I thought in agreement.

"So, what do you guys want to do now that you're here?" I asked. Uncle Lance rubbed his strong chin to think for a short moment before he found an answer.

"Well, we haven't had anything to eat for a while today," he said. "We saw this one place which looked mighty interesting on the way over here and thought that it would be a nice place to check out. What was it called again? Gus' or something?" Upon hearing that last part, I became excited very quickly.

"Don't you mean Gus' Games & Grub?" I asked him with a big smile. Uncle Lance nodded his head.

"We take it you've heard of the place?" Aunt Sharon asked, standing closely and wrapping a loving arm around his.

"Heard of the place?" I nearly exclaimed at such an absurd question. "I go there almost all the time! Like, one or two times a week!"

"Just how good is it exactly?" Shiloh asked, now sounding very interested in what I was saying.

"Oh, trust me, cousin. It is undoubtedly tubular!" I said to him. "They've got arcade games, pizza, a salad bar... uh..., more arcade games! The place is loads of fun! And it just so happens that we are all really good friends with the owner too. Does this sound like something you guys would like to do?" I turned to face Uncle Lance who now appeared to be thinking more, like he was actually considering it. And I was pretty thankful that he was because I saw a large smile spread across his face. This told me instantly that he had instantly made up his mind.

"That honestly sounds like a really fun idea," he concluded. "What do you think, Sharon?"

"I don't see any other reason why we shouldn't. I love pizza." Our aunt agreed with her husband before turning to face Mom and Dad. "That is of course you guys don't already have anything else planned for the day." Mom and Dad looked at each other and smiled before turning back to our aunt and uncle.

"Actually, we don't," Mom confirmed to them. "Lynn hasn't thought about what we're having for dinner yet anyway."

"And not to mention that it's kind of been a while since we've eaten out together," Dad admitted. "If you guys are up for it, then so am I. What do you think, kids?" Immediately, my sisters and I nodded very eagerly at the idea and gave him our answers.

"I would love that very much!" Lori said. "Today was starting to become extremely boring! I will literally do anything at this point!"

"Same here!" Luna agreed.

"Oh yeah, I would totally love to, like, spend some time with our cousins!" Leni added chirpily.

"Now we're talking!" Lana shouted out, shooting her little arms up in the air above her head.

"Hey, as long as I get to have my own personal cheese pizza with nothing else on it, that's fine with me!" Lola said.

"I've been dying to catch up and visit with my family for a long while now," Grandpa stated. "This plan sounds about as good as any in my opinion." Dad smiled pretty big.

"Then it's settled!" he proclaimed. "What say we head on over there at about, say, four o'clock?"

"Sounds pretty good to me!" Mom concluded before drifting over to face Uncle Lance and Aunt Sharon. "So, until then, I don't you guys come on inside? You must be really tired from your trip right now." Uncle Lance's strongly built arms slackened, hanging limply from his broad shoulders.

"Ugh, you have no idea, Rita," he admitted with a groan. "Seriously, I haven't had a shower all day today." Our mother couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his predicament.

And so, she and Dad led them over into the house with my sisters and I following after them while we chatted along with our three cousins...

Let me just say that I am SOOOOOOOOOO sorry for taking so long with this chapter. I had been kind of busy with other stuff going on outside of writing, and I hadn't been able to pick up the pace. But hey, at least I finally got this thing posted. I'll do whatever I can to be more attentive with my story next time. Not making any promises though, but I will try.

Until then, post your reviews down below and let me know what you all think. If you like my story so far, go ahead and hit me a favorite and follow.

Have a wonderful day, and I'll see you all later in the next chapter when it's ready.