Being a parent is hard, especially when you have eleven children. Rita And Lynn were well aware of this when they decided they wanted to have a big family. Every time another offspring was born it meant another mouth to feed, but also another soul to love. They worked hard and long shifts, sacrificing their own passions and hobbies to provide and care for their kids. To them, it was all worth it, as thanks to it their children could live comfortably and not worry about money. Over time it got a bit easier, when Lori got older she could take care of her younger siblings and allow them some more freedom. However, five daughters were still a lot to handle.
Lincoln's birth was a blessing for the married pair as they had been hoping for a boy for a long time, and he proved himself to be amazing at keeping his sisters in check. Even if he got on their bad side, they would be quick to make up. He was quick at picking up on his sister's habits and personalities and knew exactly when and how to help them. It was thanks to him that Rita and Lynn decided they could afford to have more children, finally stopping at Lily.
Life was good, Lori was soon graduating, and hopefully, one day getting to marry her long-term boyfriend Bobby Santiago. Lynn finally managed to achieve his dream and open his own restaurant, which soon became the most popular establishment in town, providing his family with a steady income. Following his example, Rita released her first novel, which also became a hit, propelling her writing career forward. Everything was going perfectly as if the universe was rewarding them for all the years they sacrificed working tirelessly.
However, seemingly out of nowhere, disaster struck. Bobby, Lori's boyfriend died in a terrible accident, and on top of that it was revealed, that Lori was pregnant with his child. They understood Lori was grieving, but they also didn't want her to throw away her future to become a single mother. So they made the hard decision and urged their oldest daughter to terminate the pregnancy. Lori was always a practical and ambitious person, so they expected her to understand their point and although it would be hard, undergo abortion. That's why it shocked them when the mere mention of this procedure caused their usually calm and composed daughter to yell at them as if they were some human trash.
Suffice it to say, this strained their relationship with Lori and caused her to lose a large amount of respect that she had for them. Ultimately they relented to her demands, not wanting to fracture the family. But just when things started to look brighter, another disaster struck. Leni, their second oldest, and most innocent daughter was kidnapped. Thankfully their children showed their resourcefulness and talent, and despite the danger, they managed to locate and rescue Leni before any serious harm was done to her.
Or at least that's what they thought, but apparently, Leni was so traumatized she hid all the atrocities Hugh had done to her. Their poor and innocent daughter later revealed in court that she was used and raped by her captor. Of course, without protection, it was certain she got pregnant. Yet again, to their parent's shock, she insisted on keeping the baby. Distraught, thinking that Leni was suffering from some sort of Stockholm syndrome or other trauma-induced mental illness, they brought her to several psychologists to get a diagnosis that would allow them to abort the baby without her consent. However, all the medical professionals informed them that their daughter was indeed a simple person, yet completely mentally sound.
And now, just when things were starting to get better thanks mainly to Lincoln helping take care of his nieces, their third eldest daughter got knocked up by some random stranger while drunk on the tour. And just like with the others, she fiercely refused the option of terminating the pregnancy. At this point the Loud parents were convinced it was some sort of curse, possessing their children.
"Lynn, do you think I'm a bad mother?" Rita sighed as she sat on the edge of their double bed. Her husband was already tucked in, and was reading a book about Spanish cuisine he got as a present for their anniversary. He looked up from his book, giving his wife a questioning look. "What are you saying, Rita? You know it's not your fault what happened. I'm telling you, it's some ding-dang curse, I bet it has something to do with that ring Lincoln took on that road trip last summer.
"No Lynn, I mean I'm the reason they decided to keep the children." She huffed out as she buried her face into her hands, tears flowing out of her eyes. "Whoa, sweetie, what are you saying?" Lynn immediately moved in to support his wife, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"This morning I had an argument with Luna, you know, the usual." She sighed. Lately, arguments between her and her children have become a lot more common than she would have liked. She doesn't want her interactions with her kids to be those of constant beratement, but every time she sees them carelessly going about their lives, as if nothing changed, as if they haven't just thrown away their careers to be a parent at such a young age, it drew her mad. She knew how hard it was to have kids young, hell if it wasn't for Lynn she wouldn't have been able to handle it.
"I caught her going out to practice with her friends. Can you believe it? Her baby bump is clearly visible now and yet she goes out in public, playing with her friends as if nothing changed." She yelled out at her husband but quickly composed herself. "Anyways, the reason I'm mentioning it to you is what she said. She said that if I had eleven children and never undergone an abortion, why should she give up her baby." She finished retelling her story and looked up at her husband with teary eyes. "Is it because of me our children are giving up their potential or am I just being selfish?" Not knowing what to say, Lynn simply came closer and enveloped her wife in a reassuring embrace.
Meanwhile, upstairs in Lincoln's room, he and Luan were playing with little Loan, taking care of her so that Lori could get some rest. Lincoln was currently holding Loan up by her hands, trying to teach her to walk. "Come on honey, it's simple, put your right foot forward and then the other. Try it." Loan looked up at him perplexed but seemed to grasp his intentions as she put her foot forward, but ultimately slipped and almost fell. She looked up at him, her face wrinkled and on the verge of crying. "Pfffft, Lincoln, you know we're supposed to be baby 'sitting' not baby-walking. Get it?" Luan laughed at the interaction before her.
"Gee Luan, thanks for the support. Don't listen to her Loan, you just need more practice, and... she fell asleep." Lincoln sighed as little Loan snored lightly, still prompted up in his arms. Gently, he lifted her up and laid her on his bed. "Don't be down about it bro, Lily also took her time learning to walk. Just take it one 'step' at a time, Haha. Get it?" the comedian teased him as she sat on the bed beside him.
"Yeah Luan, I get it. Your jokes are always on point, can't wait for you to make it big in the entertainment industry." He remarked half sarcastically. Their family was pretty used to Luan's jokes and puns and often found them annoying because of it, but he knew she was good at them, and a lot better at them than a year ago. As proved by the extensive number of positive comments and reviews on her mytube and Funny Business site.
"Actually, I wanted to talk about that with you..." her tone suddenly became serious as she snuggled closer to him. The confidence usually radiating from her was replaced with nervousness as she hung her head low as if she was expecting to be berated for what she was about to say. She took a deep breath, "Lincoln, I've decided to abandon my entertainment career. I've already erased most of my socials and mytube page."
"What?!" Lincoln was absolutely shocked, "Luan, why would you do that? You've been doing so well, last time I checked you had over fifty thousand subscribers on mytube. Besides, you told me you always wanted to be a famous actor and a comedian." He was now shaking Luan, not able to believe what his sister was saying. Luan, the joker of the Loud family, the menace of April, the one who lived for making others smile was suddenly denouncing her ambitions.
Gently, Luan put her hand on his arm and squeezed it, making him stop shaking her. "I know Linc, I always thought that was what I wanted, but I was wrong. You see, since that day, the one that changed our lives, I've been doing a lot of thinking. My life always was about bringing smiles to others, but somewhere along the way, I forgot to smile myself. I wasn't even aware of it, not really anyways, until you made me the happiest I've ever been." She took his other hand and intertwined her fingers with his, looking deeply into his eyes. Her chocolate brown eyes focused on him with an intense loving glare, making him blush a little. "Lincoln, I love you. You are the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and the reason I'm still able to smile today. But you are also my brother, and that's why I have to give up my dream of making it big."
"But why do you have to quit comedy for me? I don't get it Luan, I don't care if you're famous, or rich, I'll always love you the same. After all, you were my first..." Lincoln argued a deeper blush spread to his cheeks as he remembered his first time with Luan, the day a new world was opened to him. Luan also seemed to share the same thoughts as her face was now beet red.
Shaking off the thoughts, she returned to being serious again, "Lincoln, that's the problem. If I become famous my private life will cease to exist. You won't be able to love me the same anymore and I would have to isolate myself from you guys so that you won't risk being uncovered. And I couldn't live like that. I wouldn't be able to cut myself away from you. Because... because I love you more than comedy!"
Lincoln was speechless, his feelings oscillating between guilt and immense happiness. On one hand, he was feeling guilty for being the reason his sister had to give up on her dream. But only the other, knowing that he was so important to her made him happy like the first time he saw Loan. Not knowing how to respond to her revelation, he let himself be guided by his heart.
Slowly he leaned closer to her, his hand gently grabbing her chin. Guiding her mouth to his, their lips met, the soft feeling of the act sending shivers down their spines. Their surroundings disappeared as they fully gave in to each other, their tongues performing a loving dance. Lincoln let his hands wander, his right hand traveled up the back of her head, gently pulling down her scrunchie, freeing her luscious brown locks. His other hand meanwhile traveled down her back to her cute butt, lightly squeezing it, earning a soft moan from Luan. "You know, our parents are probably already asleep and Loan usually naps for at least an hour so..." Lincoln teased his sister as his hand continued to knead her cheek.
"You really are great at convincing, but how about you put that 'silver tongue' of yours to some better use. Get it?" Lincoln lightly shook his head, it was clear that even if she gave up on doing professional comedy, she would not give up comedy altogether. Slowly her lowered himself down to her crotch, lifting up her yellow skirt to reveal her shining white panties. He leaned closer to them, his nose almost touching her pubic area. Then, out of nowhere the door to his room burst open, causing Luan to shut her legs so rapidly, that Lincoln feared he was decapitated. " It's not what it looks like. Lincoln's just helping me...um... test my new banana slip routine and it worked!" Luan scrambled for an excuse.
"Don't worry you pervs, I just came to pick up my bundle of sunshine," Lori replied looking none too amused. She walked past them towards her sleeping daughter, gently grabbing her into her arms, and kissing her head. "You two have been getting sloppy." She turned her attention back to the duo. "I mean really Luan? He slipped on a banana right into your cooch? And that's not even mentioning last Wednesday I caught you making out in the living room."
"Hey, we only did that because our parents weren't home," Luan interjected, embarrassed for being called out like that. "True, Mom and Dad weren't home, but you know who was? Lola. The expert at sniffing out secrets. You were lucky she was busy with her tea party." Her big sister shut her down with an icy stare. Lincoln and Luan could only lower their heads in shame.
The apologetic look on their faces made Lori drop her judgemental gaze as she knelt down to be at eye level with them. "Look guys, I know it's hard, to not express affection for the one you love, especially when they're so close all the time. How do you think I feel when I can't tell anyone that in reality, my sweet girl has the best father in the world." She looked at Loan, still peacefully nodding in her arms, and at Lincoln. "But it's because I love you all so much we must keep our distance. I can't even imagine losing any of you, so please, just be careful." Lori kissed both of them on the forehead and left them alone, closing the door behind her.
Lincoln and Luan remained there, sitting next to each other, their hands still intertwined. Leaning in for one last, chaste kiss. "Good night Linc." Luan slowly got up to leave his room but was stopped when he caught her hand. "Luan, even if you never make it big, you'll always be my superstar." He pulled her in for a tight hug, which she gladly returned. "I know Lincy, and you'll always be my favorite fan."
Ever since Clyde left, school became a lot more boring for Lincoln than ever before. Sure, he still hung out with Rusty, Liam, and the gang, but even they were struck by the absence of their friend. They still chatted online occasionally, but Clyde seemed a lot more distant than before. He blamed it on the new environment and ton of work, but somehow Lincoln knew it would only get worse. But what could he do? Life sucked sometimes, but at least he still had his family.
"Hey, Earth to Lincoln! Stop daydreaming and get a move on or we'll be the last in Line for the new Muscle Fish Ultra Edition machine at the arcade." Zack interrupted him from his inner monologue. The last lesson just ended and they made plans to hang out at the arcade after school. It's been a while since the last time he had time to play with his friends so he was quite excited.
He moved to follow his three male friends when suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he found the hand to belong to none other than his abnormally tall female friend, Stella. "Pst Lincoln. Could I talk to you in private for a sec? It won't take long." She asked him timidly, fidgeting in place. "Sure Stella, what did you want to talk about?" he responded as she motioned for him to follow her to a nearby empty classroom. His friends, not noticing his disappearance continued onwards.
Closing the door, Lincoln turned his attention towards the tall Filipino, "So what was it you want..." only to be pressed against the wall, her lips glued firmly to his. Recovering from the initial shock, he mustered his strength to push Stella off of him. "What the hell was that?!"
"Sorry Lincoln, I just didn't know how to tell you, and I've been a nervous wreck about it for over a month now I was going to tell you but I got anxious and this was all I could do to show that..." She started to rant, her speech getting progressively faster and her face redder.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down." He stopped her. "Again and slowly this time."
Stella took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. "Lincoln, I've been wanting to tell you for a long time but I didn't know how to tell you. I love you! Will you go out with me?"
'Oh great, as if life wasn't complicated enough. Now I have to reject my best female friend and hope she doesn't end up hating me.' Lincoln thought to himself. He was aware that Stella had developed a crush on him some time ago but was hoping that if he ignored her and just acted normally she would eventually lose interest. Seems he was wrong.
"Oh, ehrmm, listen to Stella. You're a wonderful and beautiful girl, and I know the first time we met I was desperately trying to impress you. But things changed, you're now my great friend and I don't want to ruin that relationship." He tried to reason with her. Obviously, he couldn't tell her the real reason he didn't want her to be his girlfriend was because he was in an incestuous relationship with his sister and was already a father.
"So Rusty was right. There is another girl." Stella looked to the ground dejected, her face a mix of sadness, anger, and jealousy. "What? What did Rusty tell you?" he looked at her confused.
"Oh don't act stupid! You think we didn't notice you spending more and more time without us. Or that we don't see the dreamy face you get when you receive a text from someone but you never tell us from whom. And according to Rusty, he saw you holding hands with some older girl at the mall a month ago." She was now yelling at him, her eyes filling with moisture.
'Crap, he must have seen me with Luan when we were shopping for new whoopie cushions. Damnit, I thought we were careful, always looking around before displaying any affection. We really must be getting sloppy.' Lincoln berated himself internally as he scrambled for an excuse out of this mess. His salvation came in the form of a ringing emanating from his jean pocket.
Picking up his phone, he noticed the caller was his little sister Lucy. "Hold on Stella, I have to take this." "Who is it, your secret girlfriend." She huffed at him angrily.
Ignoring her remark he accepted her call. Immediately he could tell something was wrong as he could clearly hear Lucy's soft sobs coming from the other side of the phone. "Lincoln, I really need you right now, I'm by the back entrance to Royal Elementary." That was all he needed to hear before bolting out of the classroom and making his way toward his sister.
He ran past Rusty who came back from where his friends went off to and heard the last bit of their conversation. Meanwhile, Stella could only cry at the clear rejection from the boy she was crushing on. She sobbed alone in the empty classroom until Rusty put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't cry because of him. Lincoln is clearly an asshole for rejecting such a smart and beautiful girl like you." He reassured her. A sly smile formed on his lips when Stella turned to hug him, crying into his shoulder.
Lucy was sitting on the steps leading to the backdoor of Royal Woods Elementary. Normally at this time, she would be inside with all her friends in the junior morticians club, and that was exactly the problem.
"Hello, fellow wandering souls, what dark rituals await us today." Lucy cheerfully greeted her clubmates, that is to say, she greeted them normally but her voice had a lighter hint than normally. When she looked around the room, which served as their meeting room as well as storage for all the necessary ingredients they used for their rituals, she noticed that the atmosphere felt gloomy. Well, it was always gloomy but today it was gloomy in a bad way.
"Lucy," Penelope spoke out, a hint of guilt in her voice. "We need to talk to you about something." "I see. Is this about that body we dug up in the schoolyard? I swear I didn't know it was a real grave." Lucy questioned, confused as to what could her friends want.
"No Lucy, look, we really don't want to do this, but we see no other solution." Penelope fidgeted in place. "We decided to expel you from the club." Bertrand finally said what Penelope was hinting at.
"WHAT!" Lucy screamed in shock and rage, her hair stood up revealing her fury-filled eyes. "Why would you do that." "Listen, Lucy, it's nothing personal, but your presence in our club has started to draw unwanted attention." Penelope continued. "You know how people like to gossip, especially in a small town like this. So when three of your sisters got pregnant, people started to talk."
"And how does that concern any of you?!" Lucy fumed, still furious at their betrayal. To just tell her they want her out without even speaking to her first.
"Well at first people thought it was just bad luck, but now that Luna also got knocked up..." Morpheus joined the conversation. "Boris heard people saying it's a curse or some strange disease. Boris's been harassed for it by the boys in class. They say since we hang out with you we're also infected." Boris finished the thought, clearly not wanting to remember any more of the incidents and bullying.
"That's one reason, but we weren't very sociable anyway. But the bigger reason is Huggins, your parents urged him to keep a close eye on you and because of that he put a lot more restrictions on our club." Dante chimed in, "Why do you think we had to do our rituals in the schoolyard for the past two weeks? It's because Huggings forbade us from leaving the school during club hours. We didn't tell you because we hoped it would be temporary, but we were wrong."
"I can't believe this. Haiku, please tell them this is ridiculous. If there really was a curse I would know it." she looked to her best friend. Her fellow suffering poet and accomplice in matters of the underworld. However, she seemed too ashamed to even look up at her. "Lucy, I am sorry, I voted to let you stay. But you have to admit, what's been happening to your family is really strange." She piped up, still not looking at Lucy.
"Save it. I don't want to hear any more of your lies. If you say you no longer want me here, then I will leave." She said, turning around and marching out of the door, smashing it against its feeble frame as she left.
And that brings us back to the present. She has been sitting there, thinking about what to do for almost half an hour. Angry, confused, and sad at the same time. The tears started to flow freely from her covered eyes.
"Lucy, what happened?!" She heard Lincoln's voice as he turned the corner, running towards her. Before she could even get a word out, he scooped her from the ground into her arms, exchanging her sadness for embarrassment. "Lincoln, could you put me down please?" "Ah, yes of course little sis." He gave her a sheepish smile as he put her down, earning himself a frown from Lucy.
"So, care to tell me why you're sitting here alone, crying, instead of being with the morticians club.?" He sat on the steps beside her, offering her his shoulder to lean on, which she gladly accepted, burying her into his side.
"They kicked me out. Said I was cursed like the rest of our sisters, and that because of that they've been harassed and restricted by Huggins." She explained, her voice muffled. "What about Haiku? She is your best friend, surely she must think it's ridiculous."
Lucy looked up at him, her teary eyes already betraying her answer. "She said she wanted me to stay, but she also believes I'm cursed."
"I see. Don't worry Luce, I'll find a way to sort it out with Huggins and I'll talk to your friends. I am the man with the plan after all." He reassured her, wiping her tears with his finger. "Now, let's get you home. I'll make you some dark hit chocolate, with those skull sprinkles." He smiled at her and offered her a hand as he stood up.
Lucy didn't know how he did it, but whenever she felt like she fell into a deep pit from which she would never climb up. He was always there to pull her out. A warm feeling spread through her chest as he stood before her, extending his hand towards her. His white hair ruffled by the low wind and his signature chipped tooth visible in his toothy smile all made him appear extraterrestrial to her, almost like an angel. She knew they shouldn't display affection in public, especially near their schools, but she couldn't stop herself. Jumping from the steps, she lunged into his arms, her hands circling his neck and her lips firmly pressed against his. As if expecting this reaction, Lincoln calmly returned the gesture, bringing her closer. They became so lost in their own little world that they didn't notice the backdoor open.
"Oh my dark Lord, I can't believe this," Haiku exclaimed, gasping in shock.
In the present
Lucy was currently in the kitchen together with Leni, working on preparing breakfast for their big family. It has been two hours and twenty minutes since Lincoln left with Luna and Lana to confront Sam. She was keeping track of the time as a means to calm herself. "They should be at Sam's apartment about now." She mumbled under her breath. Leni looked up at the clock but didn't say anything, the stress clearly getting to her. Suddenly, Lucy's phone rang in the pocket of her dark skirt. Fishing it out, she saw it was Haiku calling her.
"Hello Haiku, Is something wrong? You don't usually call me this early." She spoke casually as she picked up the phone. She and Haiku still often talked over the phone when they weren't working at the mortuary together. But she usually only called at night, chatting about new preservation methods or dark folklore before going to sleep.
"Yes, very wrong Lucy. I just received a text from Clyde."