"Hey, Lori, can I have another piece of chocolate?" Leni asked.
Lori shook her head and held up the nearly empty Hershey bar, now sporting a single row of three segmented chocolates. "Sorry, Leni," She said. "Only got one row left and it's for Lynn."
Five of the six Loud siblings sat on and around the couch. Lori, who had originally offered to share her treat with Lincoln, had found it necessary to split it amongst the rest of her sisters when they showed up not long after they had sat down, and because Lori was never one to resist the big, pleading eyes of her younger sisters, she had relented in sharing the chocolate with them as well.
But, in the spirit of fairness, she made sure to save some for her youngest sister. She had to make a point in avoiding favoritism after all.
"Where is Lynn anyways?" Luna asked, tilting her head to the stairs. "Is she still getting ready?"
"Probably," Luan surmised. She bit her cheek and crossed her arms over her chest, "I gotta say, I feel kinda bad for mom. Getting Lynn into a dress can't be easy…"
Lincoln frowned and leaned forward to clasp his grip around the edge of the couch cushion he was sitting on. "She said she was worried she would look bad in it," He explained.
Leni gasped, "She thought what? How could she think that?"
Lori frowned as well and leaned back against the couch. "Lynnie's more self-conscious than she lets on," She said. Her brow creased and she looked over her siblings, "We tend to forget with how hyperactive she is, but she's still a little kid, just like Lincoln here, and that means she needs praise, lots of it. So, that being said, I'm enacting a 'no teasing' rule on her for the night. When she shows up, I wanna hear nothing but good things said to her, got it?"
"Got it!" Her sisters agreed.
Lincoln jolted and quickly followed up with his own, "Got it!" He still wasn't quite used to the sibling guidelines and etiquette.
Not that any of the girls had to worry about him teasing any of them to begin with.
"Good," Lori said, nodding in approval. "Then all that leaves us to do is wait."
"We're doing a lot of that today," Luan said, bringing her hands to her stomach, "Waiting for Lynn, waiting for Mr. Reggie, waiting for dinner, I hope we don't have to do much more waiting tonight."
"Eh, at least we got cartoons," Lori said, taking the remote control and amping up the volume a few notches.
So they waited, for Reggie to arrive, for dinner to be ready, and most likely the most soon, for the youngest daughter to make her way down the stairs.
"Alright, sweetie, don't be shy now." It was the voice of their mother, calm and coaxing that roused the focus of the children off the TV in favor of the stairs after some time had passed.
Rita was slowly making her way down to the first floor, her sights focused squarely on the one hiding behind her side, trying to stall her upcoming reveal to her siblings for as long as she could.
Rita smiled and gripped the small hand within hers comfortingly, "Don't worry, sweetie, you look wonderful. Don't you wanna let your siblings see you?"
The two of them stepped down off the last step, and before any of the other siblings could see her, a little flash of red hid behind their mother.
Rita's gentle expression didn't falter, and she reached behind herself, turning to face the hiding little one, "Come on, sweetie, there's no need to be shy."
The siblings exchanged looks. Then, Lori stretched out and hopped onto the floor, leading her siblings behind her with a wave of her hand.
"Hey, Lynnie," Lori said, stopping a few paces in front of her mother and crouching down. "Don't you wanna show us your pretty new outfit? I bet you look literally amazing."
When there was no response, Lori turned to the other girls, silently requesting backup.
"Yeah, Lynn," Luna said, taking a spot by Lori. "Come on out and let us see you."
Again, Lynn didn't broker any discernible response.
"Come on, Lynnie," Leni said next, sitting by Lori's other side. She put on her sweetest smile, ready to soothe her sister's frazzled senses when she did show her face.
"We wanna see you," Luan added, going next to Luna.
Seeing Lynn hiding so adamantly behind her mother summoned a memory within Lincoln; a memory from just about a month ago.
He vividly remembered the day he arrived at the Loud house, the dreadful anxiety that bubbled through the entirety of his being when he thought about all the horrible ways his life could have gone with his new family.
He remembered that just as the door opened, he flitted away out of sight, hiding behind the front wall of the porch to avoid the dreaded meeting for just a little while longer.
Fortunately, Reggie had been patient with him and just went along with greeting his old college friend, grabbing him in a bear hug and exchanging hyperactive college-guy style pleasantries.
Lincoln only listened, his little heart bashing itself painfully against his ribcage as the two grown men laughed and reminisced, thankfully seeming to forget about him.
"EXCUSE ME?!" Then, he nearly jumped out of his skin, a flash of unbridled terror sending a deluge of ice water into his veins; brought about by a single, imperious sounding voice. That ice water made his hands curl into fists, digging his nails into his skin and going as white as his hair.
Who was that? Was that one of his new family members? They sounded terrifying!
"Where's Lincoln?" The voice asked next, it's tone positively coated with impatience.
Perhaps it wanted to see its new punching bag right away.
And Lincoln actually had to bring his good hand to grab the front of his shirt to calm his aching chest. His legs somehow turned both to jelly and to solid rock in that moment, quivering but unable to move when he heard that voice inquiring about him.
"Lincoln, you wanna come in? Your folks wanna meet you." And to make matters worse, Reggie seemed willing to acquiesce to the voice's demands.
Maybe his kindness had been a ruse and he was just looking for a place to leave Lincoln and be done with him. After all, what person would wanna deal with a boy like him?
He couldn't move.
"Come on, buddy, they won't bite, I promise." Luckily, Reggie had the perfect timbre of kindness to calm even the most panicky of people, and Lincoln, even though his mind protested and demanded he stay out there on the chilly porch, began to shuffle out into the doorframe.
The rest was history after that. Lincoln met his family, had a nice, calm night with them, and began bonding with them; his sisters perhaps most strongly.
In fact, that same voice he had been terrified of turned out to be Lynn, the one who had become his ever-steady playmate; the one who had played with him for the very first time there in the Loud house.
But Lincoln still hadn't forgotten how nerve-wracking that first encounter had been, and seeing Lynn go through a similar experience, albeit with some notable differences in scale, stirred an ember of compassion in the boy.
"Lynn…" Lincoln moved forward on his hands alongside the girls, his formerly broken arm buckling for a split second when he put pressure on it. "I know you're probably really scared, but you don't have anything to worry about, okay? We all know you're gonna look really pretty!"
"Yeah!"
"Come on, Lynnie!"
"Let us see how pretty you are!"
The urging of the siblings seemed to finally get them somewhere following Lincoln's proclamation. From behind Rita, a little bit of sparkling red cloth began to edge out, showing more and more of the girl adorning it.
When she showed herself completely, all five siblings gasped.
Gone was the T-shirt, shorts, and light up sneakers. In their place, Lynn Loud Jr. was garbed in a vibrantly red dress with puffy little shoulder sleeves, sparkling in the light of the living room. Her hair, usually tied into her usual twin-tails by whatever she could find, were instead arranged much more carefully by a pair of pink bows. Lastly, she wore a pair of shining red dress shoes, giving her the appearance of someone who had just arrived from the land of Oz.
In short, Lynn looked adorable.
"O-M-Gosh! Lynnie!" Leni wasted no time in dashing to her little sister, unintentionally shocking her into moving against her mother's side again. "You look like a little princess!"
Lynn's eyes widened, and she eked out from her mother's protection. "R-Really?" She asked, her cheeks turning pink.
"You literally look beautiful!" Lori affirmed, going up alongside Leni. "Not that you're not usually, but you look really great right now, Lynnie."
What followed was a bevy of praise and loving remarks for the self-conscious girl, bolstering her delicate feelings and, while not doing away with the bashfulness she felt completely, did succeed in making her feel a little more confident to stand alongside her sisters whom she always thought herself incomparable to.
And the little cherry on top was the moment when her little brother came up, a rolled up candy wrapper in his hands and a happy little smile on his face. "I knew you'd be pretty," He declared, extending the bar out towards her, "Just like the rest of the girls."
"Aww! Linky!" The four elder girls exclaimed, their hearts warming just as much as Lynn's as she took the candy into her hands.
"Thanks, Lincoln," Lynn said with a happy nod. She looked up at the rest of her sisters, "Thank you, too, guys." She blushed and fiddled with the plastic of the wrapper. "All of you look really nice, too."
"Isn't that the truth," Rita agreed. She kneeled down, regarding all six children. "You kids all look great. Reggie sure is gonna be impressed when he gets here."
She stood back up and set her hands on her hips, "Now that just leaves your father and I. Can I trust all of you not to muss your outfits while I get ready?"
"Yes, Mom."
"Yes, Mama."
"Yes, Missus Mommy."
The six children responded affirmatively, and Rita smiled warmly at each of them before she began to walk off towards her room.
"Good to hear," She said, patting each of her children on the head as she passed them. "So I guess all there is for you to do is wait until Reggie gets here."
"So we've noticed," Luan sighed, bringing her hands to her grumbling belly.
Rita laughed and glanced back just before she went into her room. "Don't worry, dinner'll be ready before you know it. In the meantime, just be patient."
And with that, she disappeared into her room, her door closing behind her not five seconds after.
"Welp, I guess all there is to do is watch more cartoons," Lori said with a sigh. She looked down at Lynn, offering her a gentle smile, "You wanna sit by me, Lynnie?"
Lynn smiled shyly and nodded in return, "Uh-huh!"
Lynn couldn't have imagined the situation going better. Not only had her siblings reacted with great zeal to her fancy attire, but they had brought out a feeling in her that was new and utterly wonderful to feel.
They made her feel pretty.
…
Ding-Dong! After another half-hour or so of watching cartoons together, the doorbell rang, signaling to the family that their anticipated company had finally arrived.
"Mom, Dad!" Lori said, tilting her head towards the ceiling to aid her voice in moving further. "Mr. Reggie's here!"
Behind the couch, the door of the parent's room opened, revealing Rita in a formal pink dress of her own. "Thanks, sweetie, I've got it," She said, her fingers working to get her gold orb earrings on.
"Is that Reggie?!" Lynn Sr. called out from the kitchen, a mote of panic in his voice.
"Most likely!" Rita replied in kind. "I told you that you should have started getting ready earlier!"
"Oh no, stall him!" Lynn Sr. cried.
"How?!" Rita exclaimed, now at the door. "The kitchen goes right into the dining room and that goes right in front of the door! What, are you going to go around the back?!"
"Hey, that's not a bad—"
"No, Lynn," Rita said, rolling her eyes. She looked back at the children on the couch, who had been listening in on the back and forth with varying looks of perplexity (Lincoln and Luna), amusement (Leni, Lynn, and Luan), and exasperation (Lori, of course). "Kids, do you want to come here to greet Mr. Reggie?"
"Ooh, I do!" Lincoln exclaimed, hopping off the couch.
"Whoa, Linky, wait up!" Luan said, clambering to her feet and following after him.
"I'll come, too!" Luna said, trotting just behind Luan.
In what was thankfully a rather organized stampede, all six children went up to the door besides Rita, eager to greet the man that had brought the boy that had quickly become a cherished new piece to their family.
"Ready, mom," Lori reported once they all stood together in an orderly clump.
"Sounds like I got quite the welcoming committee waiting for me!" Suddenly, the familiarly friendly voice of Reggie came from behind the door. "Now, if only the lovely Miss Rita would be so kind to open the door. It sure is chilly out here."
Rita chuckled at Reggie's sing-song tone and promptly pulled the door open.
"Ah, there we go!" Reggie flipped the wide brimmed black hat he had upon his curly black locks with a stylish flourish and stepped in. "Hey there, Loud family!" He said, pressing the hat to the front of his black sportscoat and giving the children an exaggerated little bow. "It's good to see you again!"
"Mr. Reggie!" Lincoln burst forward, moving right in front of the man who had visited him every day in the hospital, his arms held up as if to show him that they were both in working condition again.
Reggie lit up instantly and kneeled down to the boy. "Lincoln! Buddy, look at you!" He exclaimed. "You look like a million bucks!"
It was abundantly true. The boy he had dropped off here in Royal Woods a month before, the one who had been a ball of nerves and fear, now appeared no different than any other boy. The care of his new family had filled in the grayness that had permeated every inch of his being, replacing it with a vibrant sense of joy and life that, while not entirely successful in banishing the trauma he arrived with (how could anyone suspect such a change in so short a time) did succeed in instilling a sense of hope into the boy that even the grouchiest of curmudgeons would find hard not to marvel at.
This was a demonstrably happier child. Whatever the Loud family had done for Lincoln in the past month, it had done wonders.
Lincoln giggled and lowered his arms. "Thank you," He said. He looked at the hat Reggie had pressed against his chest, "I like your hat," He said shyly.
Reggie laughed and flipped the hat back onto his head as he stood back up, "Thanks for the compliment! I tried to make myself look decent for tonight."
He then turned to face the girls. "Oops!" He said, doing a fake jolt for comedic effect, "Now where are my manners? Forgetting to greet such a lovely group of lovely ladies like the ones I see before me?"
He kneeled down again, sweeping his arm like a knight greeting a group of princesses, "Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn Jr., it's a pleasure to see you again."
The girls looked to each other, and immediately burst into a round of flattered laughter.
"Thank you, Mr. Reggie," Luna said, following suit and performing a little curtsy with her dress.
"We're all very happy to see you, too!" Leni said, curtsying as well.
Reggie smiled in return and stood back up again.
"How was your drive, Reggie?" Rita asked.
"Eh, y'know," Reggie replied, bringing a hand to stretch his shoulder, "three hour drive, you get a little stiff but you power through it with some tunes, same as always." He smirked and looked past Rita towards the dining room, "But I got a bit of an energy burst when I heard you and Lynnzilla's little repartee just now."
Rita rolled her eyes bemusingly, "You heard that?"
"Let's just say you live up to your last name," Reggie teased. His smirk broadened and he tilted his head back outside towards the darkened front yard. "And I see you're still living up to one of your old nicknames, eh, Leadfoot!"
"Ohhh…" Lynn Sr. groaned as he lumbered onto the front porch from the darkness. "You really heard me? I was just waiting for Rita to lead you into the dining room so I could sneak in and get ready."
At the present moment, Lynn Sr. was still dressed for cooking. His entire front side was covered in flour, his apron only mitigating the coverage, and upon his head, a chef's toque sat at a lopsided angle.
Reggie clicked his tongue and shook his head, "Sorry, bud, you're still as good at sneaking past people as that time you tried sneaking that six pack of b—"
He stopped when he remembered that there were children present, preventing himself from completing the old college memory as it was.
"—B-B-Bundt cakes!" He finished, raising a finger with a nervous chuckle. "That time you tried sneaking in that six pack of bundt cakes past the RA." He looked back to the kids, offering a sheepish smile, "They sure hated it when we kept sweets in the dorms…"
The children just blinked curiously in response.
Brilliant save, Reggie, Rita thought with a sigh. She brushed away the slight exasperation and pulled everyone's attention back to her with a soft clap. "Would you like to take a seat, Reggie?" She asked. "Perhaps we can do a little catch up while Lynn gets ready."
Reggie chuckled and scratched his cheek, still embarrassed by his near faux pas. "Sounds like a solid idea," He said. He nudged Lynn Sr. in the ribs with his elbow, "Can't have Lynnzilla sitting at the table looking like he just got in a flour explosion, eh?"
Lynn Sr. laughed nervously in response, "You're right on that." He looked over at his wife. "Be back in a bit, honey!" He said, dashing for their room.
"See you soon, Lynn…" Rita sighed, shaking her head.
Those two…The second they got together, they always seemed to revert to those goofball college guys of yesteryear.
Thankfully, Rita prided herself on having a good head on her shoulders. She had no such immature memories to look back on, why would anyone wonder that?
"Why don't you come sit down on the couch, Reggie?" Rita suggested. "Would you like me to get you anything?"
"Uh, some ice water would actually be pretty nice," Reggie said lamely, his feet shuffling him towards the couch.
Wasn't he supposed to be the one doing the evaluating?
"I'll get that for you right away," Rita said. She looked down to the siblings, "Kids, please be sure to make Reggie feel welcome, alright?"
"Yes, Mom!"
"Yes, Mama!"
"Yes, Missus Mommy!"
"And Reggie…" Rita gave Reggie a playful glare. "No inappropriate stories, okay?"
Reggie blushed and scratched his temple sheepishly, "Yeah, no problem, Rita."
And Rita went to fetch Reggie his glass of water, leaving him with the siblings.
"So…" Reggie looked to the spot next to him, watching Lincoln clamber onto the couch with the use of both his arms. "'Missus Mommy'? What's up with that?"
"It's what Linky calls Mom and Dad," Luan replied when Lincoln blushed and looked away. "Well, Mom, anyway. He calls dad something else."
One of Reggie's eyebrows rose and he regarded Lincoln curiously, "Really? What would that be, Lincoln?"
Lincoln twiddled his thumbs in response. "I call him Mister Daddy," He explained in a mumble.
Reggie smiled understandably. "Those are good names for them," He said, reaching out to pat Lincoln on the head.
A small surge of joy ran through him when he found that Lincoln only flinched a little in response. "Exceedingly polite as always, eh, Lincoln?" He humorously remarked.
"He is very polite," Luna chirped. When Reggie turned to her, Luna shrank back a bit, but spoke on with a strong, clear timbre. "Lincoln's been really good the entire time he's been here." She smiled and looked towards her brother, matching her gaze with his own. "He's really sweet."
And Reggie saw Lincoln return Luna's smile, turning pink in the face alongside her in clear affection.
"Wow, high praise you're getting there, Lincoln," Reggie laughed. He looked to the rest of the girls, catching Lincoln's sight as it shifted from one sister to another.
Suddenly, a thought came to Reggie.
"Say…" He said, reaching into a black messenger bag at his side. "You guys know I'm here to draft a report on how Lincoln's been adjusting to life with you guys, right?"
Due to the nature of his words, a wave of tension ran through the siblings.
"Y-Yeah," Lori said, trying to keep her voice steady.
Leni gulped, "Why do you ask?"
And if anyone was the most frightened by the implication of his words, it was Lincoln.
Oh no…Is he gonna take me away? He thought, his heartbeat beginning to ring in his ears.
Fortunately, Reggie noticed the effect of his words right away, and he jolted, "Oh! No, don't worry, I don't mean anything by it, I just wanted to ask—"
To show he meant no ill will, he pulled the items he was rooting around in his bag for. "I just wanted to ask if you had anything you wanted to share with me," He explained, showing the children the black notepad and pen. "Any stories about stuff you've all done together, maybe?"
The siblings absorbed Reggie's words for a single tense moment. Then, when they all understood they had nothing to worry about, they all let out a collective (And perfectly in unison) sigh of relief.
"Stories?" Lori queried, her hand lowering from her chest, now thankfully growing quiet. "Yeah, we should have a couple."
Reggie grinned and flipped open the notepad and clicked his pen, "Well, I'm guessing we have some time to kill before dinner. Wanna spin me a few yarns?"
"Sure!" Leni said, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. In her excitement, she hopped onto the arm of the couch, taking a spot next to Reggie. "Whaddya wanna hear?"
"Anything you wanna tell me," Reggie replied.
"Anything?" Luan asked.
"Anything," Reggie affirmed, looking over at Luan.
Lori brought her hand beneath her chin, "Hmm, any story we wanna tell. Which stories should we go with then…?"
"I got one!" Then, a familiar booming voice, one that had asked where her new brother was on the very first day Reggie brought him, claimed everyone's attention.
Lynn climbed onto the couch, taking a seat next to Lincoln, her red dress pooling around her as she got situated.
"You have a story to tell, Lynn?" Luna asked.
"Yup!" Lynn said. She looked over at Lincoln, grinning brightly with fondness for her brother. "It's about when Mommy took me and Lincoln to the park!"
Lincoln lit up, "Oh yeah! I remember that!"
"I'm guessing it was a good day?" Reggie guessed with a smirk.
"Uh-huh!" Lynn and Lincoln replied.
"Well," Reggie said, flipping his pen and putting it to the paper. "I'm all ears, Lynn Jr. Just say it, and I'll write it."
Lynn glowed in response, "Got it!"
"I guess that means Lynnie is going first then," Lori said with a bemused sigh. She turned to the rest of her sisters and began sitting down. "Alright guys, get comfy. Best we be nice and give her our full attention."
"Right!" The other girls replied. Soon, all the siblings were sitting around Reggie, looking expectantly to Lynn for her story.
"We're ready, Lynnie," Luna said.
"Okay!" Lynn said with a determined little nod.
Her heart filled with confidence, both her usual sporty brand and her new feeling-pretty brand, Lynn looked up at Reggie, and began to tell her story, her little brother listening in glittery-eyed wonder.