A/N: Here we are, with another chapters!
Okay, before beginning, two things:
1) I believe I am giving more protagonism to Rod than the original TLH characters, which, kinda… frustrates me, I mean, yeah, it is Rod's story and such, but let's not forget this is The Loud House; THE LOUD HOUSE, as in… Lincoln, his family, his friends and all, OCs are only optional. Well, not in Rod's case since he's the basis of this fanfiction, but still, I gotta lay off the spotlight to Rod, and give it to someone else.
2) Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, to my standards… are getting WAY Out Of Character. But then, it's justified, since I am adding something that has NEVER been added in the original cartoon… yet. You cannot know if Ronnie Ane is romantic or so, as Lincoln is that quirky, or so!
Saying all of this, I wanna know your opinion about it. Remember, your reviews guide me into this, tell me if I am doing a good job or not.
That being said… enjoy!
The Loud House and all of its characters belong to Nickelodeon, Viacom and why the heck do I keep doubting Chris Savino? Oof, no matter.
CHAPTER 7: WOULD trade it for the world
Rod's favorite day has passed, it was like a bed of roses. His first Saturday in America, it was an 8 in a scale of 1 to 10. Not sure why, but Sunday seems to be his… fourth… favorite day? Saturday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Tuesday in that order. That's right, the meticulously had his order of favorite days, from highest to lowest. Pretty normal given his… circumstances.
Anyways, Eleven in the morning, Rod was on his apartment's living room, drinking his 'Mate' as he was looking at the TV. Curiously, he was watching 'The Dream Boat', or at least a rerun episode on it. After a few minutes of watching, Rod just simply shook his head in disapproval at it "Who ever watches this?" he muttered. It was 2:36 PM and he was just about to leave to go to Lincoln's house, as he was invited actually for dinner, but he'll be sure Lincoln wouldn't mind if he passed by earlier.
Just then, Dra. Miguez -now… acknowledge as Sonia for you to not to get confused- entered the room. She then caught a glimpse of Rod on his breakfast, then smiled "Good morning, Rodrigo" she greeted him as he walked towards him "How are you today?"
Rod immediately turned around upon noticing her "Oh, morning doc" he smiled "Pretty good so far"
"How was church yesterday?" Sonia questioned. She didn't have the time to ever ask, Rod suspiciously went to bed earlier than she thought she didn't had the chance.
"Pretty good so far" Rod replied "Besides the fact that it was in English, the lectures, the songs, everything I had to recite which by the way, did in Spanish" he added "I wasn't surprised that people there looked at me suspiciously upon hearing me say 'And with your spirit' in another language" he chuckled.
Sonia then chuckled back "It's these locals, they sometimes just don't understand they aren't alone in the world" she added "Remember what your father told you, Ar…"
"Argentina is the only country that studies the history of other countries, yes, I know" Rod interrupted her "It's not their fault, through" he told her "Being a powerful country like the US gives you some sort of… ego"
"True, that" Sonia smiled "Anyways, what are your plans for today? Staying here all day, or…"
"As a matter of fact…" Rod interrupted again "I have… to ask you something"
"Fire away" Sonia smiled.
"Well…" Rod rubbed the back of his neck shyly "This guy… Lincoln Loud, he…"
"Yes?"
"He invited me out to his house and I'll return late cuz I'll be for dinner, and i…"
"Oh, I get it now" Sonia interrupted him, surprisingly not sternly "You want to ask me if you could, at least just for today, stay up late outside, right?"
"It wouldn't be outside, I mean, I'd be at some safe place, a…"
"Alright"
"Huh?"
Rod couldn't believe what she just said. His psychiatrist was never permissive with all that kind of stuff, especially after Tuesday's mugging incident "Really?" he stammered.
"Yes" Sonia nodded "You've earned your chance to just for today, skip curfew"
"Well, thanks, doc, but…"Rod chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck again "I actually was wondering if you would accompany me, I guess Lincoln wouldn't mind if I bring someone else, given the… gratitude he has with me"
Sonia's eyes widened as she heard that "You're being serious?"
"I am" Rod nodded "Mr. Loud is a good chef as far as I know, and I think this should be as a thank your for not convincing my mother to take me away for these… two events I had this first week here"
"Why Rodrigo, that's… so nice of you" Sonia smiled, but then her smile turned into a frown "But unfortunately, I'll have to decline"
"Why?" Rod frowned back.
"As much as I'd wish, I know you're telling me one of your classic little white lies and that you and ONLY YOU were actually invited, no one else" she explained "It would be a discourtesy to go and surprise them with an… unexpected guest"
"It's no problem" Rod smiled with a shrug "I can call Lincoln and…"
"No!" she quickly interrupted "Rodrigo, don't take advantage of his generosity, if he invited you, don't compromise him or anything, just go" she then smiled "I'll be fine, really, just go have fun with your new friends"
Rod then sighed "Are you sure?"
"Entirely" Sonia smiled.
Rod then got up from his seat and went over to hug his chaperone/legal guardian/therapist "Thank you…"
"It's been a privilege"
Rod then backed away from the hug "Well, I might as well go" his meal already finished, he turned around and walked towards the door.
"Have fun, don't be really late, tho!"
"Won't" was his last word before Rod left the room, closing the door behind him as Sonia waved at him.
Upon seeing him exit, Sonia then turned back at the table. Walking towards it, she looked at his mate "He still always drinks leftover mate" she chuckled as she shook her head.
"Good afternoon, Michigan…"
Rod was walking through the streets of Royal Woods, once again. Probably aimlessly, he felt like the previous day, a chilling aura and total solace. Aimlessly? My bad, he actually had a destination.
He was whistling on his way through the streets of Franklin Avenue. Or at least… trying, as his whistle didn't sound quite loud.
"Fiuuuuuuuuuuu"
"What are you trying to do, ladder?"
Rod then turned around to look that, Mr. Grouse, the Louds' neighbor, was eying him curiously while watering his flowers with a hose. As he looked at him, he rose an eyebrow "And you are?"
"Don't answer a question with another question, son" Mr. Grouse spat back "Answer mine"
Rod then chuckled as he looked away for a second "Sorry, I was just… trying to whistle" he replied "Stupid teeth, I have some problems"
"Well…" Mr. Grouse then turned off the water of his hose "I might be able to help you out with that, maybe… teach ya"
"For a price" Rod wasn't stupid, though.
"Well, if you wanna put it that way, then… yeah"
"No thank you" Rod muttered "Now, as for my question?"
The old man then chuckled "Where are my manners?" he told himself "Bud Grouse" he introduced himself "And pardon me if I don't say 'Nice to meet you', but you seem like a troublemaker, just like my neighbors"
Rod then realized that he was nearby the Loud residence "The Louds?" he asked him while pointing at said house.
"What do you think, sonny?" Mr. Grouse put on an akimbo.
"Well, I will say it then" Rod chuckled "Nice… to meet you"
"Hmph" and the neighbor then went out into his own business.
Rod then gave out a little laugh as he shook his head, then walked towards the Loud house. As he did, he looked at the tree, looking at the toy plane stuck there. While… 'appreciating' it, he then tripped over and quickly gained his balance, grunting, he looked that he tripped with a small bike "Kids these days…" he muttered as he shook his head while still regaining his stance and walking towards the door. But another surprise, he then chirped in shock as he got suddenly wetted, a little, by the sprinkler who was spinning "Son of a…" he then looked at his slightly soaked clothes "Careful bud, these clothes are supposed to be dry cleaned" such a quirky attitude, talking to himself.
As Rod reached out the door, he rang the doorbell "Ding DONGA"
"I'll get it!" a certain female cheery voice echoed as Rod was waiting.
Upon opening the door, it was revealed to be Leni "Leni Leni-lo Leni!" Rod blurted out as he pointed his index fingers at him.
"Do i… know you?" Leni, classic Leni, forgot who he was.
"I mean…" Rod then cleared his throat "Hi! I am selling these fine football jerseys like the one I am wearing!" he smirked as he pointed at his football shirt.
"Ummmmm…" Leni's eyes then opened wide as she recalled that voice "Oh M Gosh, you are… you are…!"
"C'mon, almost got it, almost got it!"
"You're…"
"Ro-"
"Yeah!" Rod cheered "I mean wha…?"
"THE COMPUTER GUY!" she squealed "I was afraid I'll never EVER see you again!" she then opened her arms wide and hugged him tightly "Oh, I never had the chance to thank you for solving my computer problem, I really went bananas on it and I thought I had to give it back!"
Rod then grunted as he gasped out of air for the hug "Wel… come!"
Leni then broke out of the hug "You comin' to see Linky, right?"
"What do you think?"
"Well, she's on a date with Ronnie Anne right now, and he'll be back soon, but come, come in!" Leni then stepped aside as she allowed him to enter, Rod then did so as he inhaled and exhaled heavily, recovering from the choking hug "Girls, guess who's here!" she yelled at upstairs "The computer guy!" she cheered as she was pulling Rod by his arm.
"Otra!" Rod scoffed "Look lady, I have a name!"
"We all do" Leni giggled "Which was it, by the way?"
"Ro…"
"Nevermind!" Leni quickly interrupted him "Lincoln and Ronnie Anne shouldn't take so long, come on, you can wait for them on the couch, make yourself at home!" she told him as she, still holding him by his arm, led her towards the couch.
"Don't mind if I do!" Rod quickly chirped as he got tossed towards the couch, sitting on it "Whew!"
Just then, Lynn came downstairs, holding a baseball bat which was resting on her shoulder, with a baseball glove in it "Which computer guy, Le…?" but stopped upon catching a glimpse on Rod "Leni… do you ever know who this guy is?!"
"Of course!" Leni squeaked "He's…"
"He's the dude that saved Ronnie Anne from that mugging past Tuesday and then got she and Lincoln together!" she was pointing at him.
"Oh dear, here we go…" Rod muttered to himself as he facepalmed.
Leni then gasped "Close your mouth! Really?!"
"It's… 'Shut up', Leni" Lynn corrected her dumb sister for the who-knows-how-many time with a frown, then immediately smiled as she walked towards Rod "Good to see you in one piece, dude" she smiled "And I also wanted to thank you on behalf of al my sisters for what you did, I've never seen Stinkoln so happy on his entire life as he is right now"
"Stinkoln?" Rod chuckled "No, really, it was nothing, seriously"
"Oh, it's not just that, having Martha as dinner was a really big privilege, I never thought I'd see the day we'd eat turkey again" Lynn smirked "Well, except Thanksgiving" she added "And probably Christmas"
"Whateva"
"What?"
"Nothing" Rod sighed "Actually, Lincoln invited me to have dinner, and I thought you wouldn't mind I passed by earlier"
"Of course we don't mind, especially talking about you" Lynn then nudged his shoulder with a chuckle.
Rod flinched a bit at that reaction "Easy there, tiger, I need that arm" he chuckled.
"Ah, don't be so rough!" Lynn snickered "Hey, you like soccer, right?"
"Football, association" Rod nodded "Yes"
"Well then, how about we play a match later?" Lynn proposed "I wanna see your skills and if you're as good as you showed me past Monday"
"Ohhhh, you'd be AMAZED" Rod snickered "You're on, lady"
"Well then, smell ya later…" Lynn then walked towards the door, opened it and, stopping for a second, gave him a side smirk "Lame-O!" were her last words before she left.
"Lame-O?"
"I said no, Lana, I don't wanna do a tea party with that ugly vermin!" a certain voice came from upstairs
"Rhett is not ugly, Lols!" another voice called out "You should be happy I actually want to play your stupid tea party with you for once!"
"Yeah sure how lovely you are, sister!" the voice growled "And I told you to keep that thing away from me! Don't you know rats can give you illnesses?"
"Not true!"
"It is!"
"Not true"
"It IS!"
"NOT TRUE!"
"IT IS!"
Just then, at Rod's glimpse, the two Loud twins came out running from upstairs, Lana holding her new pet rat on her arms and shoving it against her twin sister.
"Ew yuck, Lana, how can you ever have a pet like that in first place?!" Lola growled "It's filthy, dirty and totally disgusting!"
"Dirty is my middle name!"
"Wrong, it is Hannah!"
"Whatever!"
Rod, witnessing the entire events, couldn't help but take a deep breath "Jesus Christ you two…" he muttered inaudibly while pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
The two then realized Rod was there "Oh, hello there…" Lola then stopped "What was your name?"
"It's…"
"No matter" Lola interrupted him "If you're looking for Lincoln, he…"
"I know" Rod interrupted back.
"Then what are you doing here?" Lana asked as she was caressing Rhett's head tenderly "As far as I could know, Lincoln invited you FOR DINNER"
"Alright" Rod sighed "A, how do you know that?" he asked "And B, it wouldn't hurt anybody if I came early, right?"
"True" the twins nodded in unison. They then glared at each other "Don't copy me!" again in unison "Shut up!" and again.
"Why don't you two girls just… stop arguing and treat each other as sisters?" Rod grumbled "Because that's what you are, twins!" he groaned "You're more valuable to each other than you could ever realize!" he told them as they looked at him with their eyebrows raised.
"Oh, we don't argue all of the time" Lana chuckled "We actually do get along most of the time!"
"Yeah" Lola nodded "And besides, you should mind your own business anyways, fella" she spat back.
"Lola, don't be rude with the guests!" Lana scoffed at her sister "Where's your hospitality?"
"He asked for it!" Lola snarled "And besides, what can he ever lecture us about sibling arguments?" she shrugged.
"As a matter of fact, I can" Rod muttered "And not only because I literally double your age, but also because I HAVE siblings" he added "Older, by the way"
"No way!" Lana gasped as she then walked towards him "So what does it feel like?"
"Except that they sometimes hit me and such… kinda good" Rod sighed "Leanned a lot" he smiled "The eldest sibling, my sister, for example, is an accomplished chef" he told her "The next sibling, my brother, knows about art and paleontology" he smiled "And also, the third and last before me, an utter terror, bullied me just because I was a… err… the youngest sibling" he mentally sighed in relief upon… correcting himself.
"Cooking? Art? Paleontology?!" Lana's eyes widened "Dude, that is AWESOME!"
"You're telling me" Rod chuckled "It has… it's pros and cons, but nonetheless, it's quite good being the youngest of four"
"Cooking, eh?" Lola gave her classic evil, pretentious smirk as she walked towards him and rested her arms on the couch's armrest "Do tell me, do you know how to cook vichyssoise?"
"Soup sucks!" Lana protested "I preffer Escargots!"
"Lana, that's disgusting!" Lola growled "Who ever wants to eat snails?!"
Rod then gave out a laugh "Lucía didn't taught me everything about French cuisine" he scratched his nose "Yet"
"Lucía…?" Lola gaped in awe "What's that name?"
"It's common where I come from" Rod replied.
"Oh, right" Lola cackled "Given that you're from Mexico, I can say that…"
Rod interrupted her by stomping his foot on the ground, making both Lola and Lala squeak in fear at it "I. Am. Not. Mexican" he grumbled while glaring daggers at Lola.
"O-Oh… right!" Lola nodded "Sorry, it's just…"
"Water under a bridge" Rod chuckled "But really, just because I come from another country, that doesn't mean I must be Mexican or something"
"Well you know how Nicaraguans are" Lana giggled.
"Neither" Rod went on to glare at Lana "Argentine"
"And… where is that country?"
"At the most southern location you can ever imagine"
"And… I have no idea"
"It's…"
"Well, no matter" Lola interrupted while brushing him off "Anyways, nice to see you, yadda yadda, see ya" and with that, Lola walked away, leaving the room.
Lana then sighed as she looked at Rod "Sorry about that, Rod, Lola can be sometimes…
"Edgy?""
I was gonna say… lavish, but that works out too"
Rod then chuckled "No matter" he smiled at her "Nice mouse there" he then leaned forward and started stroking Lana's pet rat with his index finger, making him squeak in happiness "Rhett isn't, it, right?"
"Yeah!" Lana cheered "Isn't he so cute?" she cooed as she also stroked him with her finger.
"He?" Rod chuckled "How can you ever know if it's male or female?" he questioned.
"Eh, beats me" Lana chuckled "If it's a she, I wouldn't give a thing anyways"
"If it has… thingies all over his or her belly, then it's female" Rod smiled while pointing at Lana's rat.
"Thingies?" Lana rose an eyebrow. She then grasped onto her pet rat with her other hand and put it into it with her belly facing up. The rat had nipples, about six or eight "Well I'll be!" she cheered with joy as she then looked at him, I mean… her "Rhett, you're actually Rhetta!"
Rod then chuckled at this "Kids these days" he mumbled.
"I gotta get you a mate so you can have small Rhetties!" and with that said, Lana rushed outside, leaving the room.
"I wouldn't even dare to taint her hope, that girl is just too good" Rod told himself as he rested his arm on the armrest.
Just then, some guitar chords could be heard "Now what?" as Rod turned around at the stairway, he saw Luna walking down on it, holding an acoustic guitar on her arms and playing a little chords "Guitar…" Rod gaped in awe.
Luna, upon reaching the floor, noticed Rod "Oh hey there, dude!" she smiled.
"Is that…?" Rod then pointed, still shocked, at the guitar.
"Yep, a Spanish guitar!" she smiled "I'm trying to compose something… acoustic for the Moon Goats, but I think I am just good at lyrics" she grumbled.
"Perhaps I could help" Rod smiled as he kept on looking at the guitar, its beige color reminded him of the ones his family back in Argentina owns.
Luna then looked at Rod "You?" she chuckled "No offense, dude, but you don't look like a music-type guy"
Rod then furrowed his eyes at her "Well… looks can be deceiving" offended, he spat back "Maybe if you hand me that guitar, I'll show ya"
"Suit yourself" Luna shrugged as she then walked towards Rod and handed him the guitar "But try to not to look bad with it, will ya?"
Rod, holding the guitar correctly, resting it on his tight an with his left hand on the bridge, started playing a few strings "Hmm, a little out of tune" he muttered as Luna rose an eyebrow at that comment. Rod then started to adjust the pegs.
"Careful!" Luna gasped "I adjusted them this morning, and…"
"And you did it wrong" Rod muttered as he kept on spinning the pegs while playing the strings. After doing so for a couple of seconds, he stopped "There!"
"That can't be right!" Luna snatched the guitar from Rod and played some strings, they were way on tune as Rod smirked at him "I'll be darned!" she gasped.
"That's right!" Rod nodded as he snatched back the guitar and placed it back on his tight again "Now check THIS!" he then started to play it. Luna looked on amazement as Rod, with both hands, started to play a song, Luna could appreciate how fluent he was holding onto the frets in a smooth way to produce some notes "In my headlights, staring bleak, beer cans… deer's eyes" he sang "On the asphalt, underneath, are cross plains, and my lies" Luna surprisingly witnessed as the Latino kept on playing and also noticed that his voice, baritone, sounded pretty well for his… let's say… status "Screaming stop-signs, powerlines they keep on flashing… flashing by" he kept on singing while playing the guitar with it's correct notes "And we keep driving, through the night, it's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye, we keep driving, through the night, it's a late goodbye-aye-aye!" and after a strumming, he stopped.
Luna just stood there, amazed at what she had witnessed.
"Luna?"
But there was no response, just a blank, frozen expression on her face as her eyes were still widened.
"Err… rock girl?" Rod then stood up as he held the guitar by its neck "Earth calling Moon?"
Luna quickly shook her head, regaining her senses as she looked at Rod "Wha… oh!" she gasped "Dude, that was… AWESOME!" she squealed "I never knew you actually PLAYED something!"
"I am also fluent with the flute" Rod then handed her back the guitar.
Luna then grasped the guitar onto its neck and held it "And that voice!"
"My father and I studied singing for a bit, it then was just a matter of practicing and such" Rod smiled "Nothing special, just…"
"You TOTALLY gotta accompany me on the Moon Goats rehearsals, I cannot wait to present you to the bad, and maybe we can do songs together"
"For the record, I am not a good composer, thought" Rod held his hands.
"Ah, no matter, leave that to me!" Luna snickered "Listen, how about you come here tomorrow after school? I gotta present you to Sam, Mazzy and Sully, they'd totally be glad to meet a fellow musician"
"I am not a musician" Rod sighed "I actually practiced only for that song in special" he confessed "I am not perfect!"
"You don't have to" Luna smiled "Anyways, gotta go now, tomorrow afternoon, remember: The offer still stands" she smiled at him before walking towards the door, before turning at him "Really, you got talent, dude!" then left.
Rod then stretched himself with a yawn as he took the same position as it was before seeing Luna "Somewheeere oooover the rainboow!" he sang.
"That song is hideous"
Rod quickly gave out a scream as he almost literally jumped in fear. Upon turning at his back, he realized Lucy was sitting there, next to him "Really girl, you need a bell or something!" he was panting in shock "Don't you know you can scare something all the way towards a heart attack with that, right?"
"My apologies" Lucy muttered apologetically with her usual tone of voice.
"I'll forgive you just because you have, kinda, my eldest sister's name" Rod chuckled, but then gave her a warning glare and pointed a finger at him "But seriously, don't do that again on me, I have blood pressure problems enough to worry about being scared"
"Can't promise you anything" Lucy replied.
"Hmph" Rod then turned away from her.
"Gabriela"
Rod's eyes widened upon hearing THAT word from someone who BARELY knows him… Lucy, among much others on these lands. Rod then quickly turned around to face her "How do you…?!"
"Lincoln told me" Lucy replied "It's implicit also that he wants to apologize for telling such a secret"
"Us… as in…?"
"Our sisters, yes"
Great, just fucking great ,everyone knows it now. Rod exhaled deeply as he turned away from her "What is it to you anyways?" he muttered "What can be…"
"I can… contact her"
Okay, now is this a sci fi thingy or what? Upon hearing that, Rod interestingly turned around to look at the goth again "I beg your pardon?"
"I am an expert at seances" Lucy answered that question as Rod quickly scoffed and turned away again "No joke, I managed to contact with my deceased great-grandmother Harriet once, and it was a success" she explained "Maybe I can help you talk with your dead gi…"
Rod, growling, turned around back again to glare daggers at her "Now listen, you…" he tried to containing himself to not to be very rude "I don't care which witchcraft you wanna do, but I won't buy it, alright?" he growled "Gabriela's gone, and as far as I know, she'll NEVER EVER be back, no matter what you do!" he spat "Neither resurrection tricks nor seances, alright?"
Lucy, still stoic at this, got into a brief silence before answering "I am sorry, I just wanted to try get you some closure for all of this, I am pretty sure she'd like you to carry on and date other girls"
Rod then exhaled deeply. She was right, he had no reason to be that snappy, she just wanted to solve his eternal depression, but… nothing could do it at this point. Relaxing himself, he rubbed his head "I'm so… sorry too, I mean, it means a lot that you want me to do that, but in first place, as a devout Catholic, that is considered crude fake, such as tarot and that"
"I can understand that"
"And in second place…" Rod sighed "Suppose I think it works, then… what would I have to say to her?" he told her with a brief shrug "I would probably cry upon hearing her voice once again, it would be… traumatizing for me, and I don't seek to have any more pain on my life, I hope you understand that"
"If you put it on these words… yes" Lucy nodded "It's not common to hear the voice of a loved one after a long time" she added "Even if it's on a recording given technology nowadays"
"You have no idea" Rod chuckled "I always carry on his pocket a pic of us taken at an amusement park, as some sort of amulet, or something"
Unbeknownst to the two, certain 4-year-old genius was listening to them as she was casually walking down the stairs and stopped upon hearing Rod's outrage "Hmmm…"
"So, you're still up for that séance?" Lucy asked.
"Let me…" Rod sighed "Think about it" he then stood up "I'll have an answer not so soon, tho" he told her.
Said that, Rod, not knowing why, decided to end their… 'conversation' by going upstairs. As he prepared to do so, Lisa, who nearly yelped in shock as she saw Rod was approaching her, quickly and almost silently walked up again, dashing towards hers and Lily's room.
As Rod reached upstairs, he quickly faced the prankster sister, Luan, who was with her puppet Mr. Coconuts "Oh, hallo there!" she smiled.
Rod, confused on what Mr. Coconuts was, pointed at the puppet while looking at her "And this is?"
"Oh, how gauche!" Luna chuckled "This is Mr. Coconuts" she then looked at her puppet "Mr. Coconuts, this is Rod"
"Pleased to meet ya, fella!" Mr. Coconut spoke as Luan made him move his arm to shake it with Rod's.
"You're kidding me, right?" Rod deadpanned with a dry expression on his face.
"What do you mean?" Luan frowned as she made Mr. coconut move his hand away and furrow his eyebrows at him.
"Yeah, what's the big idea?" Mr. Coconuts scoffed.
"That's you all along, stop it" Rod grumbled.
Luan immediately glared at Rod upon hearing that, followed my Mr. Coconuts doing the same "Geez police, haven't anyone told you you're such a party pooper?" she put an akimbo.
Rod then remembered something: DO NOT… break the illusion, anyone has the beliefs they want in life. He then sighed "My apologies, Mr. Coconuts" he sighed apologetically as he extended his hand at him.
Thoughtfully, Luan made, after a brief seconds, Mr. Coconuts shake his hand "That's better" the puppet uttered.
"Hey Mr. Coconuts, wanna crack a joke for our guest?"
"Sure thing!" Mr. Coconuts cheered "Hey Rod, what's the oldest animal ever"
"A dinosaur?"
"Nope!" Mr. Coconuts replied "The zebra, because it is always in black-and-white!" as Luan's puppet cracked that joke, she burst out into a laughter.
"Good one" Rod laughed "I've got another one: What will happen to someone that fails on his job as a pistol?"
Luan rose an eyebrow at that question/joke. She hasn't heard something like that before "Uh… I don't know, what would happen?"
"That person could get FIRED!"
Luan started to form a smile as she was starting to contain from bursting out into laughter, but suddenly felt herself lose it and laugh uncontrollably "That's a REALLY GOOD ONE!" she squealed as she was still laughing "You're quite good at this!"
"Why are board games no different from cooking?"
"I… I dunno… why?"
"Because when cooking, you have to DICE an onion!"
That made Luan laugh uncontrollably even more.
"Yesterday I saw a cat with one eye"
Luan then stopped for a moment and gasped "It was hurt or something?"
"No"
"It was born like that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope!"
"Then why do you say you saw a cat with one eye?" Luan asked inquisitively.
"Because I closed the other one" Rod chortled.
That got Luan again bursting into laughter, this time falling to the ground onto her back, still laughing as she got a fit or something.
"Thank you ladies and gentlemen, you're a great public, don't forget to tip the waitress, g'night y'all!" and said that, Rod then turned around to face the stairs, prepared to walk down again.
"Mr. Damiani?"
Rod, upon hearing certain voice, stopped and looked at her left. Lisa was standing there, with a notepad in hand "Yeah?"
"Mr. Damiani, if you don't mind, can we have a little talk on my room?" she requested "There is something about you that piqued my interest"
"I normally wouldn't, but seeing someone in your age as eloquent as an adult can be, then I'm down" Rod smiled.
"Right this way, please" and said that, Lisa walked towards her room and entered, with Rod following.
5 MINUTES LATER…
"Is all of this really necessary?"
Rod found himself sitting on a chair, with a electrocardiograph-like machine next to him, some electrodes stuck on his body: Two on the frontal parts of his head, one inside his mouth, stuck to the tongue, one in each side of the arm, and, covered by his shirt, two on his chest. Lisa was operating the machine while still with the notepad in hand.
"Yes" Lisa replied as she looked at him "And please, Mr. Damiani, refrain from speaking, any irregular movement on the tongue might distort the electrode placed there and ruin the test"
"Mh-Hm" Rod gave her a thumbs up.
"Alright, the test will be starting shortly, stand still" Lisa then started pressing buttons on the machine
Rod just gave her an uneasy look on his face as she then pressed on final button, making the machine start to beep and such.
"Linky, seriously, stop it!"
Lincoln and Ronnie are were walking through the streets, laughing. Lincoln was playfully poking her armpits with his index fingers "Cut it out!" his girlfriend giggled.
"You're the one that told me that you're particularly ticklish on that part" Lincoln smirked as he kept on poking her "You doomed yourself"
"If you don't stop, I'll break up with you!" she kept on laughing as Lincoln then stopped.
"Ronnie…" Lincoln then embraced her as his eyes met with hers "No matter what, I know you'll never do that, because we know each other for so long and love each other so much, our love can go through ANYTHING"
Upon hearing that, Ronnie Anne blushed pink and looked away from him "Awww, c'mere!"
And the two soon engaged in a kiss. A long, passionate one that was complete with both having their eyes closed and caressing their hips.
"Get a room you two!"
Upon hearing that certain voice, the two first opened their eyes in confusion, then looked that Mr. Grouse, who was still watering his lawn with his hose when he caught an eye of them "I know it's cute to see you Loud with your girlfriend, but have some decency!" he complained.
Ronnie Anne, with a glare, then let go of his boyfriend and stared at the old man "Mind your own business, old creep!" she waved her fist at him.
"Seriously, what do you ever SEE on her, Loud?" Mr. Grouse scoffed "She's mean and rude!"
"Mr. Grouse, I'd be grateful if you just do what Ronnie Anne does" Lincoln stared at his neighbor blanky.
"You too?" Mr. Grouse growled "Ah, today's not a good day to water my roses I see" and said that, he turned off the water of his hose, turned around and started walking towards his house with his hose in hand "You Louds keep on getting on my nerves day by day" was the last thing they heard about him as he entered his house.
Ronnie Anne then sighed "Why do you ever KEEP on having a neighbor like him?" she scoffed at his boyfriend.
"Believe me, once you live with him so many years, you learn to tolerate him" Lincoln sighed too "But don't let that ruin your day, pookie" he smiled at her.
Ronnie Anne then smiled along "You're right, we should instead take advantage of our time together until I have to go back to Great Lakes City this Tuesday".
Lincoln then frowned at that, getting reminded on how many time they could spend their time together before they get far away from each other "Please don't remind me that" he sighed.
"Yeah, sorry" she sighed back, but then smiled "But let's not speak about that again, alright?"
"You're the one who brought that" Lincoln chuckled.
"Oh, did i?"
With a smirk, Ronnie Anne then started to poke his boyfriend on his underarms, making him laugh "Hey!"
"You're ticklish too, mi amor!" she snickered as he kept on poking.
Lincoln kept on laughing "Cmon, Lady Tickle, let's get home so I can beat you on videogames!" he snickered as he nudged her shoulder playfully.
"In your dreams, I'll mop the floor with you" Ronnie Anne chuckled with a teasing smirk as she nudged him back.
"Loser pays for the slushies!" the Latina then chuckled as Lincoln then rose an eyebrow "What's funny?"
"Lincoln…" Ronnie Anne then took his arms "Whenever I see you on the eyes, I know that no matter what, you're the one who will always pay for everything, and even through you shouldn't, you still do it, and I am thankful for that every day in my life" Lincoln then smiled warmly "Now let's do another session before going to your house"
The two soon closed their eyes and puckered their mouths as they then engaged into another heartwarming and full of passion kiss. After a minute, they broke off, panting while still smiling.
"Let's get… back home"
"Yeah… let's!"
The two then walked towards the Loud residence, holding hands.
As they entered, they instantly saw both Leni and Lucy on the couch, watching on the TV a rerun of an old episode of 'The Dream Boat' "Sup girls!" Lincoln greeted.
The two sisters turned around to look at their brother and brand-new sister-in-law and they both formed a smile "Oh M Gosh, you two guys look SO CUTE together!" Leni squealed.
"T-Thank you…" both Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were blushing while looking away at the second eldest sister.
"I concur" Lucy added.
"By the way, Linc…" Leni spoke "Your friend is here!"
"Clyde?"
"No" Leni replied "That computer guy… err… what was his name?"
"I like to call him companion, since he has nearly the same skin tone as me" Lucy commented.
"Or probably the other way around, given that he's 5 years older than you" Ronnie Anne remarked.
"True"
"Wait, you mean…" Lincoln rose an eyebrow "Rod?"
"Aaaaah, I knew it was like that!" Leni replied with a huff.
"Weird" Lincoln looked at his girlfriend "I invited him to come to dinner, but I didn't expect him to come earlier"
"You wouldn't mind him being here earlier, through?" Ronnie Anne rose an eyebrow.
"No no!" Lincoln replied "Of course not!" he then looked at his sisters "Where is he?"
"Upstairs, as far as I could remember" Lucy replied.
"Upstairs?" Lincoln was still confused.
"That is right!"
Luan came downstairs with Mr. Coconuts on her hand "That guy is surely human comedy!" she giggled.
"Really?" Ronnie Anne looked at Luan sarcastically.
"Yeah…" Luan then realized with which kind of look Ronnie Anne was staring at her "What? Don't believe me?"
"Well, given that you make awfully boring puns, i…"
"Luan…" Lincoln stood in front of the two to stop a potential argument/fight "Have you seen where Rod went?"
"Oh!" Luan nodded "I reckon he went with Lisa, as she asked him to try something"
"LISA?!" the two gasped in unison as they looked at each other, panicking as they knew what Lisa was up to whenever she had a… 'guinea pig'.
"Jinx!" Luan pointed her index finger at the two "Haha! get it?"
"9 years and I still don't" Lucy deadpanned while shaking her head.
"Oh crud, just imagine what's she's up to!" Lincoln stammered nervously "Ronnie, quick, upstairs!"
"Right behind ya, Linc!"
The two soon rushed upstairs. As they did so, they walked through the hallways right at Lisa and Lily's room door. Lincoln quickly knocked the door "Lisa!"
"Not now, fraternal unit number six, I am about to make a breakthrough in here" Lisa's voice replied in a louder tone of voice.
"That does It, I'm in!" Ronnie Anne then took a few steps back.
"Ronnie, no!"
But she didn't listen to him, the Latina instead got into position, and with one kick, opened the door open. This startled both Lisa and Rod, whose machine was already finishing "Don't you ever knock?!" Lisa growled.
"Don't you ever know he's not a guinea pig?!" Ronnie Anne growled as she stomped towards Lisa, startling her even more.
"He's not a guinea pig, I just wanted to test a new machine with him, it's only investigative, it won't do any physical or mental changes to him whatsoever!" Lisa, stammering, held her hands in defense.
"Mm-hmm!" Rod nodded, as he still had the electrode on his tongue and couldn't speak.
"What does that machine do anyway?" Lincoln asked inquisitively as he walked towards them and examined the machine while Ronnie Anne was calming down.
"It's a new neural examiner I invented" Lisa explained "It detects if there is, percentages of mental pathologies" she was adjusting her glasses as always "If Mr. Damiani has something, this machine will know it" she pointed at Rod "This is my first step to curing these kind of mental disabilities"
The machine suddenly stopped as it gave a beep.
"Ahh, it's finished!" Lisa then walked towards the machine's printer, who already printed a long line of it, and began to examine it "Mm-hm, mm-hm, mm-hm" she was nodding while reading.
"What does it say?" Lincoln asked.
"It says here that Mr. Damiani has a 95 percent of Asperger Syndrome"
"What's the other 5 percent?" Rod asked as he opened his mouth and took the electrode off it "Nevermind"
"Wait…" Lincoln's mouth gaped in awe "Does that mean…?"
"Yes…" Ronnie Anne sighed as Lincoln looked at him, then at Rod "When we were in jail, he confessed me it" she muttered "I thought he wouldn't like people to know" she told Lincoln "Being different isn't something acceptable in this bigoted society, Linc" she had a sad look on her face "This is something that should NEVER EVER leave this room" she turned around to give Lisa a glare.
"And why not? I believe…"
"NO!" Ronnie Anne snarled "No one will know it, and that's final!" she pointed her finger at Lisa "And I believe Rod will agree with it"
"Ronnie Anne, I don't think…"
"I actually agree"
Both arguing girls then looked at Rod in surprise "Eh?" Rod was with a frown
"I don't want people to know I have autism, that would be terrible for me as it already happened to me in Argentina" Rod confessed "Look there, there's Rodri, the autistic guy, let's shun him!" he recited "That's what a classmate said once to everyone, and… it was terrible, that's why I wanna keep it as a secret"
"But I do insist!" Lisa protested "American society is way different than Argentine one, i…"
"No" Rod interrupted her "You'll never know that, Lis" he told her "I've seen how they treat different people here, I don't wanna know what would Chandler do if he realizes"
Lisa then started to think about it for a moment. He was right, such info could be hazardous if Royal Woods Middle School students knew about it. After all, they were kids, their natural reaction to face something they might not comprehend was to make fun of it. Lisa then sighed "Alright, I'll respect your wishes" she informed the group "I will burn these results for Mr. Damiani's sake" she told them "But my machine will still work, I believe this is such a good achievement"
"Like everything else you did, Lisa" Lincoln gave his sister a reassured smile as he walked towards her and placed a recomforting hand on her shoulder, making her smile.
"Thank you, Lincoln" Lisa smiled back.
Rod, seeing the scene, jut sighed as he began to take off all of the electrodes on his body. Upon finishing, he put them on the side, got up and started walking towards the door "Mr. Damiani!" he stopped as he turned around to look at Lisa "I'm still with my curiosity piqued about your condition" she told him "How have you've been holding up?"
"My, Lisa, you're prying too much" Rod chuckled "First, I am sorry but you aren't my psychiatrist, so I don't have to give you no explanation" he told her "And second, if you really care… I've been fine"
Lisa eyed him curiously, his mannerisms and form of speaking "I can see that you're in emotional distress for some tragic event in your life" she commented "And I don't need no basic psychologic knowledge to say that"
Rod then turned his full body around to face her, and clapped a few times in a mildly-slow pace "Bravo, you're onto something"
"Bingo" Lisa nodded "Care to tell me so I can help you with your problem?"
"Lisa!" Lincoln nagged her "Rod isn't your…"
"For your information, Mrs. kinda-arrogant PhD, I do, as a matter of fact" Rod snapped "My girlfriend died 2 years ago by non-natural causes and I am terribly grieving for it, every day of my life, since then, not only because she was gone, but also cuz it's mostly my fault"
"Interesting" Lisa mused "Care to sit down and tell me mo…?"
"Lisa put a sock in it!" Ronnie Anne finally snapped as she stomped her foot "Leave Rod alone, will ya? He's been through a lot and the least thing he needs is some non-professional 5-year-old head shrink wannabe to analyze him!"
Lisa felt insulted by that as she furrowed her eyebrows "How dare you say that, Ronnie Anne?" she sneered "As a matter of fact, I am an accomplished scholar on every kind of science, including psychology!"
"And yet you're still a little kid" Ronnie Anne muttered while shaking her head "I'm sorry Lis, but you're just too young to be credible"
"That's a big insult, Santiago!" Lisa growled as she marched towards her.
"That was the idea!" Ronnie Anne growled as she marched too.
As the two got near each other, glaring daggers, Lincoln got in between "Girls, please!" he nagged them "Ronnie Anne, don't underestimate Lisa!" he then looked at Lisa "Lisa, learn to accept when someone says no!"
Struggling, the two finally let go an gave a step backwards "That is right" Lisa sighed as she took a breath "My apologies, Ronnie Anne, I was just anxious to peek into Rod's mind, given that I never met an autistic person in my life"
Ronnie Anne then sighed as she looked away "Yeah, I am sorry too, you're a genius no matter which age you have"
"Can I go now?"
The three soon realized that Rod was on the doorway "Nobody forced you to stay here, Mr. Damiani" Lisa told him "You're free to leave whenever you please"
"Great, cuz I need to take a number one" Rod was about to leave, but stopped "By the way, where's the WC?"
"Passing the hallways, the last front door, you can't miss it" Lincoln instructed him.
"Great, thanks" and Rod left.
"Impressive, even though he's Argentine, he has a pretty great control of the English language" Lisa mused "His accent could use some work, tho"
"Give him time" Lincoln chuckled.
"I estimate he'll need approximately a year to acquaint himself with the American accent" Lisa remarked.
"I'm from Mexico and it took me a whole childhood" Ronnie Anne pointed out "But yeah, if you speak too much English, you'll eventually get it"
Rod was on the bathroom door, waiting with his arms crossed. After waiting for a while, he knocked the door "Anybody there?" he received no response, realizing that the bathroom was free.
But upon opening the door to enter, he faced himself being pushed away "'Scuse me" it was Lola who pushed him away and entered the bathroom.
"Whoa whoa little fella, wait up!" Rod got in front of Lola, as she then glared at him-
"Out of my way, gotta use it" Lola growled
"I've been here first; I have the right…"
"You have the right to remain silent, mister!" Lola scoffed "Now beat it" she tried to move Rod away, but he was stronger and stood still "Hey! I said move it!" she gruntled while still pulling "Get off! You're the guest!"
"So, a guest has less bathroom privileges than the host of the house?" Rod growled "What kind of hospitality is in here?"
"Rod is right, Lola"
Lola turned around to look at Lincoln, who was there, arms crossed "Lincoln?" she gawked.
"Lola, let him go, he has every right since he got first"
"But Lincoln!"
"No buts, missy, we need to be hospitable with guests" Lincoln still stood with his arms crossed, eyes furrowed at his spoiled brat sister.
"Bu…" but Lincoln then went from furrowing his eyes to glare at her. Lola then sighed deeply as she turned around to look at Rod, who was glaring at him "You win this time, but luckily my brother won't be able to defend you always, so you better enjoy your 'rights' as much as you would, cuz you'll eventually run out of luck" she growled.
"I bet" Rod growled back as he then turned around, entered the bathroom and slightly slammed the door closed, nearly startling Lola. The younger Loud sister then went on to glare at Lincoln while walking towards him.
"How can you even defend him, he…!"
"He did, does, and will still do many good things for this family, young lady" Lincoln scolded him "He's a nice person who deserves all of our respect" he gave her the reprimand she deserved "Be nice to her or I'll tell mom"
Yeah, rat her out with her mother, that was the ultimate trump card Lincoln had under his sleeve for everything. Guess from who learned it. Lola then growled as she clenched her fists "YOU'RE SO UNFAIR!" she screamed as cartoon-flames could be seen on her eyes, then turned around and stomped out of the scene.
At the same time, Lynn, who was walking upstairs, felt a bump as she was walking nearby her sister "Hey, watch it, Lols!" she scolded her before turning away from her and walking upstairs, seeing her brother "Hey Stinky, where's your friend?" she asked as she walked towards him "He said we'd have a few soccer matches outside, and I've been waiting for him for half an hour already!" she crossed her arms.
"She's using it" with these three words, she already got it.
"Oh…" Lynn nodded "I see"
Just then, there could be heard a flushing sound as the bathroom door then opened, revealing Rod "Ah, what a piss!" he breathed heavily as he soon caught a glimpse of Lincoln and Lynn "Oh, hey Linda"
"There you are!" Lynn turned around to walk towards him "I've been wa…" she then stopped on her tracks "Wait wha? How did you… called me?" she rose an eyebrow while furrowing the other one as she pointed her finger at him.
"Linda"
"But doesn't linda… means 'cute' in Spanish, as far as I know of that?" she could blush if it were her style… but it wasn't.
"What?" Rod gasped "No, not because I think you are cute, I mean, I do it because Linda is the Latin American sobriquet of Lynn where I do live"
"Oh…" Lynn nodded "For a moment I thought…" she then turned her head away "Nevermind" then went on with her business "Anyways, I was saying I was expecting you to play, what's taking you so long?"
"I'm free now, I can" Rod sighed as he remembered 'Christ, can't I ever have a break with this?' he thought.
"Well let's go then, no time to waste, I wanna show you my skills!" Lynn said quickly in less than 4 seconds, then grasped onto Rod's arm and started to pull him away, downstairs.
"Help me…" was what Rod whispered softly at Lincoln as he was being pulled away.
"No can do, amigo" Lincoln chuckled as Rod gave him a final glare before leaving the scene with Lynn.
10 minutes later, they were both on the backyard. There was a goal and other of that sport's stuff, laying on the ground "Alright, what's your favorite position?" Lynn asked as she grasped onto the soccer ball that was lying next to him.
"I accommodate myself as a goalkeeper" Rod muttered "Got any gloves?"
"Really? You ask that to someone whose life is OBVIOUSLY sports?" Lynn was obviously sarcastic, complete with look.
"So that's a yes?"
"They are over there" Lynn then pointed at a chest that was next to the house's backdoor "Go get 'em and get into position"
Rod then nodded as he then walked towards the chest. Upon crouching down and opening it, he saw a plethora of sports paraphernalia. Baseballs, footballs, soccer balls, tennis balls, an umpire mask, a baseball glove, were almost everything inside 'Whew, this girl really has it with it, eh?' he thought as he, rummaging, finally fetched the goalkeeper's gloves. Upon standing up, he put them on 'Fits perfectly, what a surprise' he thought sarcastically as he then walked towards the goal.
"Got 'em? Nice!" Lynn then, with her foot, fetched the ball, did a few keep-ups and let it lay on the ground, then stepped on it again "Ready?"
"Yeah sure" Rod got into position, opening his arms and legs and crouching a little.
"Okay, here goes my first score!" Lynn then took a few steps back, then dashed forwards as she then kicked the fall forward with her foot's tip and giving a quick yelp "Hyah!"
The ball went towards Rod at an incredible speed, no surprise given that Lynn Loud Jr. kicked it. Rod, seemingly startled, then gave a slight smirk as he then felt that time froze for a split second. The ball took a curved angle and instead of moving forward, it went at Rod's left side, as it seemed a sure score. But Rod, with good reflexes, tossed himself towards his left, extended his arms and successfully blocked the ball as he almost literally managed to touch it with his fingernails, which could be easily noticed if it were in slow motion. As Rod, successfully diverted the ball away and falling to the ground with a grunt, the ball then directed its trajectory towards the post, hitting it and then getting it tossed back as it then landed near Lynn, who, by the way her confident smirk transformed into a gape in awe, as the move then ended.
"What the…?" Lynn couldn't believe it, someone ACTUALLY blocked her shot, a shot that was truly a certain goal "Dude, you had at least milliseconds to guess where it was gonna go, and yet you did it!"
"When I was young, I was called 'La Pared', the wall" Rod snicked "I could block harder penalties than that, amiga" he smirked.
"2 out of 3, I guess?" Lynn smirked back as she then crouched down to grab the ball.
"You're on!"
The two just kept on playing and playing as the afternoon went on, Lynn just kept on kicking the ball and doing as many tricky moves as she could, but Rod just kept on blocking those shots. What Lynn ignored is that Rod came from a country where 'kids come out of the womb kicking a ball', and such things 'are the most popular ways to allow you to legally leave it'.
"14 out of 15!"
"46 out of 47!"
"65 out of 66!"
Half an hour later, the two then stopped playing as they were walking towards the house, Rod taking off the gloves and Lynn with the ball on her underarm "You truly have skills, eh?" she snickered "How about you join my soccer team? You might be a valuable goalie, that if you don't mind leaving me have all of the credit"
"I wouldn't" Rod muttered as he, getting near the opened chest, placed back the gloves and closed it "But… I'll refuse"
"Why not?" Lynn gave a slight frown.
"I don't… like playing" Rod sighed "I just don't, that game is truly a contact sport, and I sometimes got hit on the face and serious injuries amongst others" he explained "No matter how light the ambient is, I always get injured no matter what"
"Well…" Lynn then smiled "The offer stills stands"
'The offer still stands…'
He literally heard that from his sister about almost an hour ago, as in if there's some kind of invitation, but Rod was… oblivious to it. He never was ambitious about his skills.
It was almost night, most of the Loud sisters, except Lily, were all reunited on the living room watching TV, while Lincoln, Ronnie Anne and Rod were on Lincoln's room. Lincoln was reading an Ace Savy comic book on his bed, Ronnie Anne was with her phone laying on the wall, and Rod was eyeing the albino-haired boy's room curiously "Quite a space" he muttered sarcastically.
"Yeah well, as I already told you, this was a closet before" Lincoln shrugged as he kept reading "Mom said I could stay with Leni's room when she leaves too"
"Which will be…"
"Beats me" Lincoln shrugged again "I am already happy with this"
"Humble, I see" Rod nodded. He then noticed Bun-Bun laying on the other end of the bed "Oh, what 's thi…?"
As he went on to grab the stuffed animal, Lincoln quickly reacted and grasped onto his arm. As Rod turned to look at him, he looked that Lincoln was glaring at him "No, don't touch Bun-Bun"
"Why not?" Rod frowned "It's cuddly"
"Ah, that's just classy Lincoln" Ronnie Anne chuckled as he looked at the two "Rule number one: NEVER touch Bun-Bun!"
"Why not?" Rod repeated with his frown still on.
"What if you accidentally unstitch him?"
"I'll be gentle, is swear!"
"No, Rod" Lincoln was still with his glare as he gently moved his arm towards him and let go of it "Sorry, but there are some things that even YOU are off-limits!"
"Aw, don't worry, Rod" Ronnie Anne smiled warmly as she walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder "If it helps, it is off-limits for me too" he tried to comfort his friend.
Rod then smiled at Ronnie Anne "Eh, I don't give a thing about it, I am too old for stuffed animals anyways" he chuckled, but then realized something and retained his neutral expression "Wait, even YOU, his girlfriend cannot touch Bub-Bun?" he pointed at her.
"That's right" Ronnie Anne laughed "I mean, it's not quite nice, but I won't let him touch Osito, so with that, we can se we are even" she shrugged.
Rod then looked at Lincoln "WHO can ever touch him besides you?"
Lincoln then lowered his comic book to look at Lincoln "Well, first off, I think it is a she" he pointed out "And as far as I can know, Lily can sometimes"
There was then a knock on the door, who by the way, was closed "Eh? I'll go get it" Rod chirped as he then walked towards the door and opened it. Lily was there, wearing her casual toddler attire complete with little shoes "Oh, speak of the devil" Rod then saw that Lily had something on her hand, a piece of paper.
"Incoln!" she giggled as she looked at Rod.
"It's here, you can see him if you please" Rod then moved away from the door, allowing Lily to walk inside, which she did.
"Awww, how are you, Lily?" Ronnie Anne cooed as she realized the toddler's presence, then walked towards her, crouched down and patted her head softly.
"Wonnie Ann!"
"Close enough" Ronnie Anne chuckled as she kept on stroking her small hair "You still have to practice that"
"Eh… she's a toddler?" Rod pointed out.
"Whatcha got there, Lily?" Ronnie Anne pointed at the piece of paper.
"Incoln!"
Lincoln, who was still on his comic book, put it down to look at his baby sister "Oh hey Lily" he smiled "Say… what's that?" he then sat down on the bed and got up, then walked towards her.
"Fow yu!" and Lily then shoed her the piece of paper. It was a drawing she made, a crude-cartoonish version of him, and Ronnie Anne, holding hands with a big red heart as a background and the words 'Incon + Roni An' crydely wrriten above on them.
"Lily!" Lincoln gaped as his eyes widened "That's… beautiful!" he then gently grabbed the piece of paper as her sister offered it to him. Lincoln then looked at his girlfriend "Pookie, come check this out!"
"Huh?" Ronnie Anne then walked towards Lincoln as he showed her the drawing, which made her gasp in amazement too "Lily, you drew this for us?!"
"Ee!" Lily chirped.
Ronnie Anne grasped onto the drawing "It's so cute, I never thought she was so artistic"
"For a two-year old, this is like Picasso" Rod smiled warmly as he took a glance of the drawing "Pure art" he commented as he looked it with more detail.
"Thank you Lily, it's such a perfect drawing" Lincoln crouched down to hug his sister, which she joyfully did.
"Yow welcum!"
Lily then walked towards the door and left.
"She's such an artist" Ronnie Anne giggled.
Lincoln, amidst everything, remembered something as 'his lightbulb turned on' "Oh, Rod?"
Rod, still looking at the drawing, then focused on Lincoln "Yeah?"
"About that favor I told you yesterday…"
"What about it?"
"Well…" Lincoln then sighed "I am tired of being a weakling, so I was wondering if… you could help me train and maybe you can tech me the awesome moves you did some time ago?" he requested "I am tired of being the wealking of school, let everybody elese step on me and such, i wanna defend myself.
Rod's eyes widened as he heard that. First time SOMEONE asked him that. Nonetheless, he had a decision for that "N-No…"
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry Lincoln, but…" Rod then sighed "Sometimes you just cannot change" he told him "Don't get me wrong, you'd be awesome if you had some more weight and able to give a few kicks here, there, and be like your sister, but…"
"But?"
"Thing is, you're awesome as you are right now, as The Man with the Plan, the noddle-shaped arms guy that Ronnie Anne loves" Ronnie Anne giggled softly as she heard that, Lincoln took the noodle-arm part as an insult with his eyes furrowed "Sometimes, it is just best to leave it… like that" he assured him "And plus, I am a terrible teacher when it's about physical training, trust me" (A/N: And plus, I do not intend to change any of the series characters personality or anything).
Lincoln looked at him with a frown before sighing dejectedly "You're right, I don't wanna become something I don't wanna" he side-looked at him "Thanks for the help, tho"
"Anytime"
"Lincoln, Lily, dinner is ready!" that voice, her mother, could be barely heard. But for Lincoln (And probably Lily too), hearing it even in the lowest, at these hours of the night, he'd already know what did she meant.
"Well then, dinner's up!" Lincoln then stood up, turned to smile at Ronnie Anne, and offered her a hand "Shall we go, milady?"
"Of course, mi amor" Ronnie Anne, blushing, held his hands.
"Let's go, Rod, I hope you like lasagna" Lincoln told his friend.
"Lasagna?" Rod chuckled "How do you know there will be lasagna?" he inquired "Your mother didn't…"
"Trust me" Lincoln chuckled "Live in this family through all of your life, and you'll know that every second Sunday of a month, it is lasagna dinner"
"Whew" Rod laughed "Methodical, I may say"
"And you don't even know the 10 percent of all of it" Ronnie Anne giggled as, still walking and holding hands with her boyfriend, rested her head on his shoulder in a smitten-way.
The four soon walked down the stairs and walked towards the living room table, ready to have dinner. Lola was the first to catch sigh of Rod "Wait, is THAT guy having dinner too?" she scoffed.
"Lola…" her mother tried to intervene.
"He's a jerk!" she snarled "A bathroom-turn stealing jerk, and a…"
"Dolores Josephine Loud!" Rita had it already "There will be always hospitality and tolerance in this house!" she nagged her while glaring daggers "You will be nice to him or ANY GUEST, am I clear?"
"But…"
"Am. I. Clear?" she was one word away from being grounded.
Lola then sighed as she finally gave up "Yes, mom"
"I…" Rod was hesitation "I don't wanna cause any trouble, so I am just… gonna leave if that's what you would want"
"WHAT?!"
Rita then walked towards Rod and hugged him "No way we're gonna reject you for dinner, darling" she smiled "After all, you did what you did for Lincoln"
"Can we stop mentioning that?" Rod sighed.
"Don't listen to Lola, dude!" Luna smiled "You will always be welcome here!"
"Luna's right!" Lana nodded "And besides, Lols is ALWAYS like that with every guest, she's spoiled after all"
Lola then turned to give Lana a death glare "SAY THAST AGAIN AND…"
"LOLA!" her father, Lynn Sr. suddenly growled "This is NOT the way we raised you, young lady"
"No no, it's alright, I am not even hungry at all" Rod chuckled nervously "I…"
"No no, out of the question, you will stay and have dinner with us" Rita then gently grabbed his arm and directed him towards the table "Lasagna's ready everyone, take your seats"
'Do I have any choice?' Rod thought with a sigh as he walked towards a chair and sat on it, in between Leni and Luan.
As the minutes passed, everyone was having dinner. Rod wasn't precisely etiquette manners when in someone else's house, but he tried his best to manipulate his fork and knife in an educated way, all while trying to not to taint himself, cleaning himself with a napkin regularly.
Rod looked at his platter as he saw that there were beans on his lasagna, courtesy of Lynn Sr's recipe "Beans beans, good for your heart, eat a lot and then you…"
Suddenly, a fart sound could be heard. Rod, hearing the source pointed at Lori, he and everybody else looked at her while she was with her phone. Lori's eyes then widened "It was my shoe!" she protested. Everyone just burst into laughter as she furrowed her eyebrows while blushing and looking away.
"Family, let's have a toast" Lynn Sr. announced as he stood up and had his glass raised up "To us, specially now to Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, who finally after a lot, decided to be together just as we always expected since their first met!"
"Wow, really?" Ronnie Anne nudged his boyfriend's shoulder with a chuckle "Even since you kissed me and I punched you?"
"Yeah" Lincoln chuckled.
"CHEERS!"
Even Rod, with his glass of Coke, rose it up, but he muttered the 'Cheers' part unenthusiastically. But he had to feel happy about it, as he made a family happy. After all, it's not every day you act as cupid. As Rod looked at his side, he saw Lincoln and Ronnie Anne making out as his sisters were looking at them with their eyes and smiles glowing in happiness. Rod then chuckled and looked away, shaking his head "This nowadays youth… hormones I must say"
Outside the Loud residence, someone was looking the entire events through the window. As she then backed away and walked towards the sidewalk, it was revealed to be Helena, the girl from previous chapters. How did she get out of jail? Well… that's a story for another time.
"Rodri…"
A/N: Alrighty then, another chapter done! And with that, we complete the entire week! Of the story, of course. I am thinking that the next chapters would fast-forward several days, weeks and months as the story goes one, because… well… you cannot expect monotony. I mean, it's kinda nice, and I am definitively not running out of ideas, but given that I am currently writing one chapter per month, I am suffering kinda burnout, but at the same time I am NOT gonna stop writing long chapters, that would be against my instincts.
Also, one question: Do you believe Rod is a Gary Stu after reading the part where he played the guitar and sang and all of the previous ones? Because I am gonna be honest with you, I am NOT physically fit as Rod, and I barely play the guitar. I mean, I know the basics, but other than that, I just gotta practice, but I can still play it if I dedicate my time to it. What do you guys think?
Anyways, thanks for reading, see you in the next chapter. Oh, which by the way will experience some time since as of today, November 7th, the time of I finished this one, I gotta write a script for a comic book someone will write, and I also gotta work and other stuff and hobbies, so I apologize if I don't update pretty soon.
Anyways, thanks for reading and see ya in the next chapter!