A Lonesome Son

"Liam! It's time to get up!" Yelled Lincoln.

Liam groggily rose up and out of bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily; he really didn't want to go to school today. He changed out of his pajamas and made his way to the bathroom, going through his usual routine;  meanwhile Lincoln was preparing himself for another day at work and making breakfast for him and his son; just another usual day. After a little bit, Liam walked into the kitchen, backpack in tow.

"Did you do your work?" Asked Lincoln.

"Yup!" Said Liam with a smile.

"That's my boy." Said Lincoln as he pulled Liam in for a hug.

The two of them finished their breakfast and set out, Lincoln dropping Liam off at school on his way to work.

"Alright, bye Dad!" Said Liam, unbuckling his seatbelt as the car pulled up to the school.

"Okay you have fun today, I love you."

"Love you too!"

Liam grabbed his backpack, opened the door and hopped out, running to the school entrance. Lincoln watched for just a little bit as his son ran, feeling proud of him and how he was growing up.

"He's growing up so fast Christina... I just wish you could be here to see him..." He turned his head back and began to drive to work, his mind drifting back to his late wife.


He remembered how happy both of them were when Liam was born; it was the happiest day of their life. He remembered being with her as they watched Liam take his first step and say his first words; he just wished that she could see him now. He also remembered being next to her hospital bed, holding her hand as she struggled with the cancer. He started to choke up as he remembered Liam, just four years old, clinging to her during her last days and not wanting to let go of his mother; it was something that neither he nor Liam could forget.

Since then, he's had to raise Liam on his own which was sometimes difficult, but at least he had his sisters to fall back on. All of them loved Liam, constantly telling Lincoln that Liam looked just like him; he got on well with his cousins as well, particularly Leni's kids.

By the time he finished reminiscing, he arrived at work.

With Christiana gone and Liam to take care of, Lincoln couldn't afford to take a job that was unstable, so he had to find something that had regular hours and steady pay. Fortunately for him, he managed to find himself a job at an accounting firm and worked there from 7:00 to 3:00, getting off of work right around the time that Liam got out of school.

The work day passed without any trouble, and Lincoln left to pick Liam up from school; it was a day just like the rest...


Back at home...


Lincoln and Liam had just arrived home, both of them going to their respective rooms to put their belongings away. While Liam was still full of energy from the day, Lincoln felt very exhausted. Something felt off; it was an ordinary day at work, but why did he feel like he had just run a marathon? He noticed that he had been getting tired much more frequently than he did when he was younger; though he attributed it to his growing age. He changed into some baggy jeans and a t-shirt before going off to make dinner, peeking into Liam's room to see if he was doing his homework. Much to his chagrin, Liam was on his bed reading comics.

"You're reading comics; I assume your homework is done?" Said Lincoln.

"Oh uh..."

"Yeah, I thought so. Put the book away and go get started; I'll call you for dinner when it's ready."

"Yes Dad..." Liam hopped off of his bed, putting the book away and taking his homework out of his backpack in a rather begrudging manner.

Lincoln shook his head as he walked to the kitchen, getting prepared to start cooking.

As he set the pan on the stove top and turned the flame on, the phone rang.

"Yello'?"

"Hey bro how's it going?"

"Oh hey Luna, it's going pretty good, just got home from work and was about to start cooking dinner. You?"

"I've been meh. Ever since Logan and Leo went to college, I've been pretty lonely. How's Liam?"

"He's good; he's doing his homework, or at least he should be."

"Well it's a Friday night and I don't have a date, and since you haven't made dinner yet did you want to take Liam out and have dinner with me?"

Lincoln debated on this; it had been a while since he went out to a restaurant. Liam had been doing really well, plus he had the entire weekend to do his homework.

"Lemme' ask Liam." Said Lincoln as he walked to his son's room, knocking on the door before opening it.

"Hey Liam, Aunt Luna wants go out to dinner with us, feeling up to it?"

"Sure!"

"Okay then, get your shoes on."

"Yeah that sounds good, I gotta change into some nicer clothes though. I'll call you back and we can talk about where to go. Talk to you later."


At the restaurant...


Lincoln and Liam stepped out of the car and walked to the front door, noticing Luna sitting and waiting for a table. After Luna spotted them she walked over and opened the door for them, Liam hugging his Aunt.

"Hi Aunt Luna!"

"Hey bud! How you doin'?" Said Luna as she leaned down to hug her nephew.

"Hey Luna."

"What's up bro? I already put a table order in, but they said it'll be about 10 minutes."

"Sounds good."

"Hey, you doing okay?" Said Luna, looking at Lincoln with concern.

"What? Yeah I'm fine, why?"

"You just look really out of it; long day at work?"

"Not really, but I have been pretty tired lately for some reason. Can we sit?" Said Lincoln as he sat down on one of the cushioned benches.

The three sat down and talked about what had been going on with their lives, Luna telling Lincoln about her dating escapades, albeit tamed down when Liam was in earshot.

Luna had it pretty rough; she married at a fairly young age to a man that Lincoln despised for his treatment of her. While he never physically abused Luna, he was barely a husband or father to their kids; he was too busy getting drunk or high. Eventually Luna had enough and told him to get his life together or she'd take the kids away with her and much to her horror, he didn't care in the slightest. He always felt bad for his nephews, having to grow up without a good memory of their father. 20 years later though, both of them grew up with success in mind, not wanting to follow in their father's footsteps; at least he was good for something.

After talking for a bit, their name was called and they were led to a table, sitting down and resuming their conversation. Not wanting Liam to feel left out of the conversation, Luna shifted her attention to him.

"So Liam, how's school been going; having fun?"

"It's good, but I keep getting picked on by girls..." Said Liam, looking downward ashamedly as he ate his chicken strips.

"Liam I told you that if you're being picked on, you go to the teacher and tell them." Said Lincoln, anger and frustration evident.

"I did, but Ms. Peace always takes their side!"

"What are they doing to you?" Asked Luna.

"They call me names, sometimes they'll take my lunch, or sometimes they'll hurt each other and blame me..."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, they'll push each other down and say I did it."

"And you're the one that gets in trouble?"

Liam nodded solemnly.

"I'm sorry to hear that Liam..." Said Luna, saddened at Liam's inescapable position. This was obviously not a case of a girl picking on him because she liked him; but straight bullying.

"I'm gonna' call Ms. Peace tomorrow and have a long talk about this now that I know what's going on." Said Lincoln, obviously angry.

"No don't do that Dad!"

"I can't just let them bully you Liam."

"But if you call, then everyone is going to think that I'm a crybaby!"

Lincoln closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration; what was he supposed to do?

"What do you want me to do Liam?"

"I don't know... I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry; it's not your fault that your classmates are twats." Interjected Luna

"Luna!"

"Sorry, but they are!"

"Dad what does 'twat' mean?"

"It’s a bad word for jerk, which was what Aunt Luna SHOULD’VE said." Said Lincoln, staring daggers at his sister.

"So it's like fu-" Liam's mouth was covered by Lincoln before he could finish his sentence.

"Liam what did I say about those words?" Said Lincoln as he moved his hand off of Liam's mouth.

"Not until high school?"

"And even then, I don't want you saying them a lot; it's very rude. Okay?"

"Okay."

"And we'll figure something out about your bullies at school later, okay?"

Liam nodded.

"Alright I've gotta' go to the bathroom, be right back" Said Lincoln as he got up from his seat and left; now leaving Luna and Liam alone.

"So is 'twat' a really bad word?" Asked Liam, knowing that Luna was a lot more laid back with things than his father was.

"Yeah it's kind of a bad, but there are worse words."

"Like?"

"Words like cu- Oh nice try."

"Damn."

"I'm not a stingy on words like your Dad is, but I'm still your aunt."

"What do you think I should do Aunt Luna?"

"About?"

"About the girls bullying me."

"Well I personally would say that if you're getting in trouble for things that you didn't do, then you might as well do them; but I know your Dad wouldn't be happy if you did that. Why do they pick on you anyways?"

"I dunno'; maybe because I always have good grades?"

"That's probably why, people like to bully nerds."

"Why?"

"Because a lot of times they're jealous that someone is better than them at something, and I'm guessing you're a lot smarter than those girls."

"Kinda..."

"Don't be so modest! One day you'll grow up and have a great career while those bitches will probably get knocked up at the age of 17 and not do anything with their life."

"You think?"

"Absolutely! You're a good kid Liam, just like your Dad was. By the way did you look up that band that I told you about?"

"Mmhmm!" Said Liam as he ate his food happily, his mood brightened by his Aunt. To him, Luna was the cool aunt that let him do a lot of things that his Dad didn't and showed him a bunch of music, much to his Dad's chagrin; and on top of it all she was really pretty.

It wasn't long before Lincoln returned from the restroom, sitting back down at the table and noticing his son's uplifted spirits.

"Looks like someone's perked up." Lincoln ruffled his son's hair.

"Yeah Aunt Luna's always fun to talk to." Said Liam happily.

"Aw thank you!" Said Luna, looking at her nephew lovingly.

"So Luna, have you talked to Lynn lately?" Said Lincoln, wondering how his other sisters were doing.

"She said she was doing alright, apparently Lucas has been taking care of her after she broke her leg falling down the stairs."

"What happened with that?"

"I guess her leg gave out; I know she's been having problems with it since she stopped playing." Luna shrugged, unable to give a clear answer.

"I should get a hold of her again."

Lincoln looked down at his plate; he had eaten maybe a little more than half of his food, but lost all desire to eat for some reason. It wasn't long before a waitress came by, checking up on the three Louds.

"Is everything good here, do you need a box?"

"Nah I think we're good."

"Alright then, I'll just leave this here and you guys pay whenever you're ready; no rush." Said the waitress, leaving the check for the meal at the end of the table.

Both Lincoln and Luna paid for their meal and walked outside, saying their goodbyes.

"It was good to see you Luna!" Said Lincoln as he gave his sister a hug.

"Good to see you too bro!"

"Bye Aunt Luna!" Said Liam, hugging his aunt.

"See you later bud! If you're free this summer, you should stay with me a couple days; I'll take you to a few restaurants and I’ll show you some more music!"

"If you do Luna, please no pubs."

"It's not like he's going to drink! We'll not yet anyways."

"Alright well we gotta' get going, have a good night!"

"You too!"


The next day...


It was a Saturday; perfect for lazing around. Both Lincoln and Liam slept in, though Lincoln didn't feel very refreshed after waking up. Lincoln threw on some rather lax clothing, obviously not intending to leave the apartment, and brushed his teeth. He noticed the bags under his eyes, the dark rings growing darker and darker with each passing night. He wondered if it had just been his job taking a toll on him, but he really didn't feel all that stressed; well apart from the stress that comes with raising a child. He made his way out of his room, looking at his watch and wondering if he should wake Liam up. He debated on it, but decided against it for the time being and left to the kitchen to make some coffee to help wake him up.

Lincoln picked up his phone, thinking back to the night before and how he commented on his desire to get into contact with Lynn again, and dialed her number. The phone rang for a little bit before Lucas picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lucas, how you been?"

"Oh, hey Uncle Lincoln! I've been good, just school and taking care of Mom."

"Ah I gotcha’, is she there?"

"Yeah, she's just watching the game; gimme' a sec. Mom!"

A little bit of time passed before Lynn or Lucas spoke, though Lincoln could have sworn that he heard yelling.

"Hey dude what's up?" Said Lynn, sounding a little out of breath.

"Hey Lynn, you okay?" Said Lincoln, a little confused as to what had just happened.

"Yeah I'm alright; you just caught me at a bad time."

"Did the other team just score?" Now that Lynn was holding the phone, he could hear the soccer game going on in the background.

"Yeah, it's not going too well, right now we're down 2-0 and it's pissing me off."

"Well I just wanted to call and see how you were doing. I had dinner with Luna last night and she told me about your leg. What happened??"

"Oh that? Yeah my leg just collapsed right as I was going down the stairs; damn thing hasn't been right since I tore it back when I was playing."

"But you're alright?"

"Oh yeah I'm fine; I mean breaking a bone hurts like a bitch, but it's not like it's the first bone I've broken. Besides, Lucas has been taking real good care of me, though I feel kind of bad since he's in school and all."

"You know one of us would come to take care of you if you didn't live so far away!"

"Well I do, so that's that. But anyways, how you been man?"

"I'm alright, been really tired lately."

"Work?"

"Maybe, I don't know."

"Well sucks to hear that, is your diet good? That's a big factor."

"For the most part it's good, though not as rigorous as yours."

"Hey, even if I'm getting older, it doesn't mean I can't be in top shape! Besides, you're getting older too."

"Yeah that's true; I wonder if that's it."

"I don't know. So how's Liam been doing?"

"He's doing good."

"What sport is he playing?"

"He's not actually in a sport right now."

"Whaaat? C'mon Linc, you gotta' have him try for SOMETHING."

"He's just not that interested in sports."

"Psh, I threw Lucas into soccer when he was just a kid and he's great now, top striker on the high school team!" The pride in Lynn's voice was obvious; she threw everything she had into him.

"Well come on, he's got your genes; of course he's great."

"Yeah and as much as I hate to admit it, he's also got his dad's talent."

"Well thankfully I see a lot more of you in Lucas than I do his dad."

Much like Luna, Lynn was also a single mother. Lynn was easily the most prestigious Loud, having won the silver in women's soccer in 2020 and the gold in 2024; and due to that fame, there were a lot of men attracted to her. After winning the gold, she married another soccer player from the Premier League though they split when Lynn found out that he was also seeing other women. Unfortunately, this meant that she had to raise her kid on her own, ending her career prematurely. She didn't mind though, she had two medals and saw a well of untapped potential in her newborn son.

"Yeah I just hope that he can do well, we have never won in men's soccer before. I just wish I could send him out to somewhere like Barce or La Liga, but I doubt that'll happen."

"Well one can hope right?"

"Yeah, but sometimes we don't always get what we want; just like that fact I want my team to win this game BUT WE CAN'T SCORE A FUCKING GOAL!!"

"Well it's good to hear that you're doing well, aside from the leg."

"Yeah, same! We gotta' get together sometime, and maybe Liam can kick the ball around with Lucas."

"Alright I actually gotta go, you take care though! I hope your team wins!"

"I hope they win too, but they're not going to if they keep playing like SHIT! But yeah you take care too!"

Lincoln hung up the phone, chuckling to himself at how worked up Lynn would always get when she'd watch sports. Talking with both her and Luna was refreshing; it had been too long since he had been in contact with any of his sisters and the recent conversations made him want to reconnect with them. He missed talking with them; they had always been a big part of his life, but after Christina passed, he had become a lot more introverted and distant. He still missed her; everyday felt incomplete without her and oftentimes it was hard for him to carry on. He couldn't let himself falter though; he was Liam's hero. He had to be tough, even when Liam would hold onto him, crying for his mother.

Lincoln sniffled, wiping a tear from his eye as he walked over to Liam's room to wake him up.

"Hey champ; it's time to get up." Said Lincoln as he opened his son's door slightly.

"Mm... Can I have five more minutes?" Said Liam in a half-conscious stupor.

"Alright, five more minutes."

Lincoln closed the door and walked over to the living room, making a mental note of when five minutes will pass before sitting at his computer desk and checking the news. As he browsed, he kept yawning and rubbing his face; even with the coffee, he still couldn't seem to wake up.

He looked at the clock; five minutes had passed and now it was time for Liam to wake up. He walked back over to Liam's room to repeat the same routine.

"Alright Liam it's time."

Liam gave a tired groan as he was woken up; he really didn't want to wake up now.

"Alright I'm up, I'm up." Said Liam as he rose out of bed, yawning loudly and rubbing his eyes.

"Once you're up and fully awake, let me know what you want to eat for breakfast."

"Mm..." Liam walked sluggishly to his dresser, opening the drawers and pulling out his clothes for the day.

Lincoln closed the door to give his son some privacy and went back to his computer. After about 15 minutes though, Liam still hadn't come out of his room. Wondering what exactly was going on, he knocked on Liam's door before walking in and finding him, fully clothed with hair brushed, asleep on his bed.

"Liam!"

"Wha? I'm up!"

"What do you want to eat?"

Liam shrugged. "I dunno', do we have stuff for pancakes?"

"I don't know if we have stuff for pancakes, I'll go check. And don't go back to bed!"

"Yes Dad..."

Lincoln shook his head as he walked to the kitchen, opening the pantry for pancake mix. Fortunately for Liam, Lincoln managed to find some. He began to get started, grabbing the various ingredients and prepping the griddle.

As he cooked, he looked back at all the times that he would cook for his sisters when their parents weren't up for it. While he was a good cook, he remembered when Lori began to outshine him. As he dwelt on his memories, he figured it'd be fun to visit one of his sisters, if Liam was up for it.

"G'mornin Dad..." Said Liam as he walked out of his room and sat at the kitchen tables.

"Mornin' champ; got your pancakes." Said Lincoln as he put plates of pancakes for Liam and himself.

The two ate happily, drinking cranberry juice alongside their meal.

"So Liam, how would you feel if we went to visit one of your Aunts today?"

"Mmm... I guess. Can we go and visit Aunt Leni? Cousin Linus just got a new game and I wanna' try it."

"Yeah we can do that; I'll go call her now."

"You're not going to finish your pancakes Dad?"

"Nah, I'm just not very hungry anymore."

"Then can I have them?"

"Sure, go for it."

"Thanks Dad!"

Lincoln walked over to phone, dialing Leni's phone number while Liam finished his Dad's breakfast. As he waited, he felt a strange feeling in his chest; almost as if there was a tickling sensation. He breathed in and out, looking puzzled. As he was breathing heavily, Leni answered the phone.

"Uh... Hello?"

"Oh Leni! Hi, how are you?"

"Oh hey Lincoln, I'm good! You?"

"I'm doing... Alright you know?" Lincoln took a deep breath before completing his reply.

"Did you just get done working out or something?"

"What?"

"Yeah, you're breathing really heavy."

"No no, I'm fine, don’t worry. So how are Rick and the kids?"

"Rick's good, just taking care of the kids like usual."

"But you're home right?"

"Oh yeah I'm home, I have today off."

In what has become a more common occurrence, Leni was the one who worked while her husband Rick stayed at home to take care of the kids. While Leni wasn't as bad as she was when she was younger, she was still rather whimsical; both Rick and Lincoln agreed that it was more responsible having Rick stay home and take care of the kids.

Leni worked as a purse designer, fetching her family a hefty sum of income and allowing her family to live rather comfortably. That being said, they still sent their kids to a regular public school and tried to refrain from spending frivolously, though that effort was mostly on Rick's part; Lincoln wasn't sure if Leni was aware of how lucky she struck when she married Rick.

"Well I was figuring that it had been too long since I've seen you and Rick, so I was wondering if you had time for company."

"You want to visit? I don't think we have anything doing today- RICK ARE WE DOING ANYTHING TODAY?"

Lincoln could faintly hear a "No" being yelled in the background.

"Yeah it should be fine!"

"Did you actually ASK Rick if it was okay or did you just ask if you guys were free?"

"Oh uh..."

"Please go ask him before we come over."

"Okay be right back!" Said Leni as she set down the phone and walked away.

"Geez, that girl."

After a short period of time, Leni came back to the phone.

"Rick said it was okay!"

"Great! We'll be over in about an hour."

"See you then!"

Lincoln hung up the phone, taking another deep breath and looking befuddled as the strange fluttering passed.

"What the hell was that about?"

Shaking the bizarre occurrence off, Lincoln walked over to his Liam's room, finding his son on his computer as per usual playing games.

"Alright get ready, we're going to go visit Aunt Leni." Said Lincoln as he popped in before leaving back to his own room to prepare.


At Leni's house...


Both Lincoln and Liam walked up to Leni and Rick's door, ringing the bell.

"I don't mind if you have a lot of fun with Cousin Linus, but be sure to say Hi to both Lacey and Layla, okay?" Said Lincoln as he looked down at Liam.

"I will."

The door opened, Rick standing in front of them wearing rather casual clothes.

"Lincoln, good to see you man!" Said Rick as he pulled Lincoln in for a hug.

"Good to see you too Rick!"

"And there's Liam, how you doin' sport?"

"Hi Uncle Rick!" Said Liam as he hugged his Uncle.

"C'mon in! Linc, you want a beer?"

"Eh sure why not."

As they walked in, a young boy close to Liam's age came running up and hugged Lincoln.

"Hi Uncle Lincoln!"

"Hey Linus, how have you been?"

"I've been good!"

"Alright well I don't want to keep you and Liam from having fun, so go on." Lincoln turned to Liam. "Remember Liam; say hi to your other cousins."

"Yes Dad."

With that Lincoln followed Rick into the kitchen to share a beer with his brother-in-law.

"C'mon Liam, I just got the new Smash Bros.!" Said Linus as he raced back to his room.

"Be there in a second, Dad wants me to say hi to Lacey and Layla."

"Why?"

"'Cause I forgot to say hi last time."

"Alright, I'll just get this set up then."

"Kay' be right back!" Said Liam as he walked over to a different room, knocking on the door.

The door opened, a little girl about seven years old stood there in a pink T-shirt and pants. She had an adorable look on her face, the same kind of look that Leni had when she was just a girl. She had medium length blond hair and blue eyes filled with innocence and joy; she was the kind of girl that you just wanted to pick up and hug as tight as you could.

"Hey Layla!"

"Hi Cousin Liam! Did you come to play with Linus?" Said Layla as she gave Liam a loving hug.

"Yeah, but I wanted at least say hi!"

"Can I play with you guys??"

"Well that's up to Linus, so you'd have to ask him."

"Okay!"

Well that was one cousin; now time to say hi to the other. While Layla ran over to Linus' room, Liam made his way to Lacey's. He gave the door a knock, waiting for an answer.

"Be right there!" Said a voice from behind the door.

Liam waited a little while before the door was answered, his cousin Lacey standing in front of him. She was on the taller side with long black hair, the color inherited from her Father. She was definitely considered 'attractive' by kids of her age group. As she recognized Liam, a large, affectionate smile appeared on her face.

"Oh hey Liam, how have you been??" Said Lacey as she pulled him in for a tight hug.

Liam had strange feelings regarding his Cousin Lacey; he didn't fully understand them. Maybe it was because the girls at school always treated him so badly that the affection the she gave him always felt so warm. Liam tried to refrain from ever choosing favorite cousins, but Lacey was definitely one of them, possibly even more so than Linus.

“Hi Lacey!” Said Liam as he hugged back tightly, his head nuzzled slightly above her bosom.

“It’s good to see you again.” Said Lacey as they broke apart.

“You too; sorry for not saying hi last time…”

“I didn't want to say anything; I know you were just really excited to play with Linus.”

Liam and Lacey’s relationship was somewhat odd; their affection for each other was not very visible to the rest of the family. Liam remembered the first time that they showed how close they were in front of Linus, who looked at them with disconcerting eyes. While Lacey’s father didn't look at them with that same attitude, it was evident that he found their relationship weird. Lincoln was far more understanding of the ability to be close to a family member, boy or girl; and met their familial bond without any sort of discomfort.

“I still feel bad though…” Liam looked downwards, hanging his head in shame.

“Well you said hi to me now, will that suffice?” Said Lacey as she lifted Liam’s head.

“I guess so.”

“Good; now go play with Linus, otherwise he’ll get all weird again.”

“Kay, bye Lacey; love you!” Liam wrapped his arms around his cousin once more and embraced her tightly.

“Bye Liam; love you too.” Said Lacy as she reciprocated the hug, the two locked in a loving embrace.

Both of them released each other from their arms and parted ways as Liam left towards Linus’ room.


…


“So Linc, how you been man?” Said Rick jovially as he and Lincoln walked into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and handing Lincoln a beer.
“I’ve been alright.” Said Lincoln he opened the can and leaned up against a counter.

“You look pretty worn; work been hard?”

“I guess.” Lincoln took a swig of his drink. “I just feel so tired all the time.”

“That’s just age catching up with you dude!” Said Rick as he walked over and slapped Lincoln’s back in a brotherly fashion.

Lincoln got along with Rick well; he always treated Leni well and managed to hold the family together even with Leni’s rather wispy nature; he was the only one that managed to really keep Leni’s feet on the ground. Another reason why He and Rick got on well was due to the fact that Rick was actually an avid comic book fan; both of them sharing a love for Ace Savvy.

“Sweetie do you know what time Lincoln is coming?” Said Leni as she walked into the kitchen, looking at her phone, oblivious to the fact that Lincoln was standing right in front of her.

“Hey Leni.” Said Lincoln in a rather nonchalant manner, not surprised by Leni’s inattention.

“Wha-?” Leni looked up from her phone. “Oh, Lincoln! “ As soon as she noticed Lincoln, she dived straight for him and gave him a tight hug.

“Oh my gosh it’s so nice to see you again!”

“Nice to see you too Leni!” Said Lincoln as he hugged his sister back.

“So how have you been?”

“Well like I was telling Rick, not much has been going on; pretty much just work for me and school for Liam.”

“Oh where is he? He needs to say hi to his Aunt Leni!” Leni looked around eagerly for her nephew.

“He’s playing with Linus at the moment.” Said Rick.

“Oh well I guess I’ll say hi later, I don’t want to interrupt their playing. Besides, we have so much to catch up on!”

“So Leni, how’s things been at work?”

“Oh well, my most recent purse is selling for 1500 dollars and is shipping worldwide!”

“1500 dollars?!” Lincoln nearly spat out his beer.

“Yup! It’s my most expensive purse yet!”

“Seriously how have you guys not moved to somewhere like New York??”

“Well we like it here; it’s closer our families.” Said Rick walking over and placing a hand on Leni’s shoulder.

“Yeah plus, Chicago is just as good as New York!”

Leni moved to Chicago shortly after high school to go to a fashion school based out of there; moving into a dorm and attending it for four years. After that, she managed to find a place of work inside the city and was given a down payment for a studio apartment where she lived in until she met Rick.

After that, her career really took off, becoming one of the most successful Louds; rivaled only by Lynn and Luan. Even with her promising career though, both her and Rick desired something more and had their first child, Lacey, after securing enough money to live safely.

“I was just joking; it’d suck if you guys lived so far away; plus Liam would hate not being able to see his cousins.”

“Yeah, Liam gets along really well with Linus and the girls.” Said Leni.

“He’s a good kid.” Said Rick.

“Thanks Rick; Lacey and the others are great too.”

“Ohhh I wanna’ go and say hi to Liam!” Leni walked over to Linus’ room and knocked on the door, opening it and finding Linus alone.

“Oh hey Mom.”

“Hi sweetie, where’s Liam?”

“Oh he’s in Lacey’s room.” Linus wore a slight grimace on his face; showing a mix of disapproval and annoyance. Linus couldn't comprehend why Liam liked to spend so much time with his sister; it was weird.

“Lacey’s room?” Leni walked over to Lacey’s door and knocked before opening the door.

“Lacey, honey?”


Leni walked in and found Lacey and Liam sitting on the bed in conversation, stopping as she walked into the room. Leni had seen this before; the close relationship that her daughter and nephew shared. While Rick always viewed their relationship as a bit odd; perhaps owing to the fact that he was an only child, Leni knew how close familial bonds can be. To her, Liam and Lacey’s relationship was nothing out of the ordinary, despite what Rick might think.

"Oh hi Mom!" Said Lacey, looking a bit startled at her mother's sudden appearance.

"Hi Aunt Leni!"

"There you are Liam!" Leni walked over to Liam, picking him up and giving him a tight squeeze. "Ooohhh it's so good to see you again!!"

"A-Aunt Leni, you're crushing me..."

"Oops, sorry." Leni let go of her nephew, Liam falling back onto the bed. "But why didn't you say hi when you came over??"

"I-I just didn't know where you were; plus Linus really wanted to play." Liam averted his eyes and twiddled his fingers, looking guilty.

"Well that's okay; I know Linus is quick to snatch you up when you come over. How did you sneak away from him?"

"Well after we played a lot I told him that I wanted to go talk to Lacey."

"And he was alright with that?" Said Leni curiously; aware of Linus' attitude towards Liam and Lacey's relationship.

"Well, not really... Is it really so weird Aunt Leni?"

"No, it's not weird at all! Lincoln and I used to be pretty close too you know!"

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, we all were really close! So don't worry about Linus, he'll come around." Said Leni as she hugged Liam.

"Thanks Aunt Leni."

"Of course! Well I'll let you two get back to talking, love you!"

"Love you Mom!" Said Lacey.

As Leni closed the door again, both Liam and Lacey let out a sigh of relief.

"Aunt Leni is so cool." Liam fell back on the bed, laying down and looking at the ceiling.

"Yeah Mom's great; I just wish Dad and Linus were as cool as Mom with us. I mean is it really that odd to for two cousins to just hang out?"

"I don't know, I just like spending time with you, you've always been really nice."

"Of course Liam, that's because you're my cousin and I love you!" Said Lacey as she flopped onto Liam horizontally.

"I love you too Lacey." Said Liam as he placed a hand on her back.

An awkward silence soon followed, only to be broken by Liam. "W-Well I should probably go play with Linus again."

"Right! I'll let you go do that!" Said Lacey as she sprung up and flattened her shirt.

Liam sat up and made his way to Lacey’s door, looking back at her and gave a nervous wave goodbye to her; Lacey doing the same.

“Bye Lace…”

“Bye Liam…” Said Lacey as she pushed her hair behind her head; averting her eyes with a small blush on her face.

With their goodbyes said, Liam walked out of his cousin’s room and went walked back to Linus’. Inside he found a somewhat disgruntled Linus, playing games by himself. He noticed Liam walk into the room and looked at him with judgmental eyes.

“I thought you were hanging out with Lacey?” Said Linus in a huffy tone, looking back at the T.V. screen.

“I was; I came back though because I wanted to play some more games with you. Is that okay?”

Linus stopped playing and sat in thought for a moment, debating on whether or not he should let him join.

“Hmm, alright yeah we can play again.”

Liam sat down next to his cousin and pulled up a controller, waiting until Linus finished his match against the computer.

“Why do you like hanging out with Lacey so much Liam?”

“I dunno’… I guess because she’s really nice and fun to talk to.”

“But she’s a girl!”

“So; what does that have to do with anything?”

“I don’t know it’s just weird; guys and girls don’t hang out together unless they’re boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Liam’s cheeks flashed with a tinge of red and Linus’ statement. “Lacey and I aren’t like that!”

“I never said you were; geez.” Linus reeled back at Liam’s sudden outburst.

“Sorry…” Liam hung his head low and turned away, too embarrassed to face Linus.

“It’s cool; I just don’t understand what there is to talk about with her. I mean do you and her really have a lot in common??”

“Well we do like the same music.”

“What; I thought she liked all that My Chemical Romance stuff, bleh!” Linus stuck out his tongue to further emphasize his dislike of the band.

“Well she listens to stuff other than them; My Chemical Romance is just one band. We have other bands in common, like Anberlin, Oasis, Maroon 5, and Matchbox 20.” Liam also wanted to say that he also listened to My Chemical Romance, but Linus would probably have a conniption.

“And you LIKE those bands??”

“Well, yeah; they’re good.”

“But I thought you liked The Offspring and Metallica like me!”

“Well I like those too; it just depends on my mood.”

“Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re weird; but you’re cool.”

Liam couldn’t help but chuckle. “Thanks, now are you ready to lose?”

“Hah, like you’re gonna win!” Said Linus as the game loaded into the character selection screen.

While there was a slight bump at the beginning, the feeling of comradery and brotherly love had returned; both cousins getting swept up in playing.

The day continued on with Linus and Liam playing, Lincoln talking with Leni and Rick, Layla coming in to spend time with her parents as well, and Lacey lying on her bed looking wistful. Eventually the night came and it was time to go home.

“Hey champ, you ready to go?” Said Lincoln as he knocked and opened the door to Linus’ room.

“Can I just finish this game with Linus really quick?? Please~?” Liam looked at his Dad with puppy dog eyes.

“Alright, alright you can finish that game, but after that it’s time to go, okay?”

“Okay!”

Lincoln closed the door and shook his head with a smile; he knew the feeling that Liam was experiencing. He wished that his parents granted him the same luxury when he’d visit his relatives and play video games with them.

He walked back into the living room to see Leni and Rick standing there with curious looks on their faces.

“Where’s Liam?” Asked Rick, looking behind Lincoln, wondering if Liam was there.

“Oh he’s finishing up a match with Linus; I’ll give him a little bit before I go get him.”

Meanwhile the match with Linus finished relatively quickly.

“Damn!” Exclaimed Linus, suffering defeat.

“Yes!” Liam jumped up and raised a fist in the air, feeling victorious.

“Well it was a good match.” Said Linus as he stood up and reached his hand outward for a handshake.

“Indeed it was!” Liam grabbed Linus’ hand and shook it both of them looking like rivals.

“You know I’m gonna’ beat you next time right?”

“We’ll see.”

“Alright dude, it was fun hanging with you.” Linus leaned in and gave his cousin a hug.

“Yeah it was fun; hopefully it won’t be long before I can visit again!” Liam reciprocated the hug and then walked out of Linus’ room.

“Bye Linus!”

“Bye Liam!”

Liam closed the door to Linus’ room and walked down the hall really quick and knocked on Lacey’s door.

“I’m gonna’ be going, so I wanted to say bye.” Said Liam as he opened the door, finding Lacey lying on her bed.

Hearing news of his departure, Lacey quickly sprang up and ran over to Liam, giving him a tight hug. “Bye Liam, I’ll miss you…”

“I’ll miss you too…” Said Liam as he hugged her back.

“Love you.” Lacey let go, looking melancholy.

“Love you too.” Liam stepped back and turned away, walking away in glum fashion.

He left the hall and walked into the living room, seeing his Dad, his Aunt and Uncle as well as Layla.

“Ready to go?” Asked Lincoln.

“Yeah…”

“I’m sorry honey; hopefully we can get together again real soon!” Said Leni placing a hand on Liam’s shoulder.

“Bye Liam…” Said Layla as she latched onto her cousin.

“Bye Layla.”

“Will you play with me next time?”

“Sure, we can play next time.” Liam placed a hand on Layla’s head and pulled her in for another hug; he felt bad at the inattention that he gave her this time around.

“Bye Aunt Leni.”  Liam walked over and gave his Aunt a tight hug.

“Bye sweetie, I’m gonna’ miss you!”  Leni picked him up once again and hugged him tightly before setting him down.

“See you later sport!” Rick leaned down and gave his nephew a hug.

“See you Uncle Rick.”

“Later Rick, you take care.” Said Lincoln as he also gave a hug.

“You too man, I hope you feel better.”

“Bye Layla, it was nice to see you again!” Lincoln picked up his niece and gave her a hug in a similar fashion to Leni.

“Bye Uncle Lincoln!” Layla held onto her favorite uncle tightly before being set down.

“You have a good night Sis; love you.”

“Love you too Linc, I’ll miss you too!” Said Leni as she hugged Lincoln before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

And so Lincoln and Liam walked outside, though Liam looked back one more time to find Lacey in the back of the hallway, giving a somber wave goodbye; all Liam could do was give a small smile in return.


At home…


The door unlocked and both Lincoln and Liam stepped inside their home, turning on the lights. Lincoln took off his coat and tossed his keys on the counter while Liam went to his room to change out of his clothes and into pajamas. As Liam left, Lincoln closed his eyes and rubbed them with his palms before running his hands over his head and through his hair; he was so tired. While it was great to see his sister again, the visit had completely wiped him out, though it seemed like everything was wearing him out nowadays. He checked up on Liam who was in the process of getting ready for bed.

“Goodnight Liam; see you in the morning.” Said an exhausted Lincoln.

“Night Dad, I love you!”

“Love you too champ.” Lincoln closed the door and walked into his room taking a deep breath in.

He walked over to his bathroom sink and looked at himself in the mirror again, staring at himself. His mind started wander; he wondered about the things he’s been feeling, the fatigue, his lack of appetite, and that strange fluttering. Was he sick, or was it just environmental?  He washed his face with water and brushed his teeth before shedding his clothes and lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

“I had a great day sweetie; I got to visit Leni and Rick and Liam get to see his cousins. “

He paused, almost as if he was expecting a reply.

“But sometimes I worry; I worry that I’m not doing enough. I told you the other night that Liam is being bullied and I don’t know what to do. I want to help him; I want to protect him, but… I know that if I did call and make a big deal about it, it’ll just cause further pain for him.”

Lincoln’s eyes began to water, just like they had every night for the last six years. “I wish that you were here to make the right call.”

Wiping the tears from his eyes he continued,

“I can’t seem to find the energy to carry on through the day, maybe because I’m not getting hungry that often anymore. I don’t know what’s going on or even if the is anything wrong with me, but if there is; I don’t know what I would do. Liam only has me now and I can’t leave him alone, I can’t put him through the same thing he went through with you. “

Lincoln let out a soft chuckle. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid. Anyways though, I should really bed getting to sleep.”

Turing to his side he whispered out a good night to Christina before falling asleep, just like he did every night.


The next day...


Lincoln, wearing very baggy and casual clothes, sat down on the couch, and turned the T.V. on; it was Sunday at last. While visiting his sisters was nice, he needed some time to unwind and a Sunday was the perfect day to do it. Liam was in him room playing on his computer and the day was shaping up to be a nice relaxing. Later on in the day though he received a call; it was his sister Lori.

“Hey Lincoln what’s up?”

“Oh hey Lori how’s it going?”

“It’s going alright, just busy with the whole ‘kid raising’ thing; I have no idea how she raised ELEVEN of us.”

“Yeah it’s pretty crazy when you think about it. How are they?”

“The kids? Oh they’re doing just fine, As far as I know Leonard and Lionel are doing well at college and pretty soon Lara’s going to be going as well.”

“Knocking that number down huh?”

“Yeah we’re going be down to three finally. The other three are good too, Leondro is doing well in school and Lorenzo is prepping to go to high-school.”

“How about Leona?”

“She’s not doing too well, she’s actually running a fever at the moment; she’ll probably have to stay home from school tomorrow if she doesn’t get better.”

“Oh I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah but I’m sure she won’t be too broken up if she doesn’t go to school tomorrow.”

“Yeah that’s how it goes, you love being sick until you’re an adult because you don’t have school to stay home from anymore; Lord knows I hate being sick. So how’s Bobby?”

“Well you know just working like usual, though I think Leona’s getting him sick. Bobby is LITERALLY the worst when he gets sick; he gets even whinier than the kids!”

“Heh, even after 25 years, she still uses that word incorrectly.” Lincoln thought to himself.

“So what’s up with this call out of the blue?”

“Well I talked to Leni and it sounds like you’re trying to get in touch with everyone. She said that you’ve already had dinner with Luna and talked with Lynn.”

“Huh, yeah I guess you can look at it like that.”

“So I thought I’d save you the trouble and call you first; so how’s Liam?”

“Oh he’s doing well, just going through school.”

“Still being a nerd?”

“If by nerd you mean have the best grades in the class then yes.”

“Well it’s good to hear that he’s doing well; what about you though?”

“Eh, I don’t know. I’ve been feeling really weird lately.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I’m just out of breath a lot, plus I’m tired all the time.”

“And you’re not exercising or anything?”

“Nope, I don’t get it.”

“That does sound weird. What do you think?”

“I don’t know, maybe my diet? I know it’s gotten a bit worse ever since Christina passed. “

“Well maybe just try to spruce up your diet, eat more healthy food!”

“Yeah I think I’ll do that, hopefully it’ll help.”

“Alright I gotta’ go, Leona’s calling for me.”

“Okay you take care Lori.”

“You too Lincoln.”

As he hung up the phone, he reflected on Lori’s statement about him getting into contact with all of his sisters again. To an ordinary person it seemed to be that way, even though Lincoln wasn’t really thinking about it. Now that she mentioned it though, maybe he should contact them again; it really has been a while since he talked to some of his siblings that lived far away like Lisa and Luan.That being said though, he decided that he had enough of his sisters for one weekend and would wait until next to resume his reunion.


Next Saturday…


It was now the weekend; a time for relaxation and reconnection. The previous weekend Lincoln decided to catch up with all of his sisters again and was now sitting in his living room, debating who to see next. There were six left; Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa, Luan, and Lily. Lola, Luan and Lisa lived far off on both ends of the coasts, so actually visiting them would be out of the question. Lana, Lucy, and Lily were close enough though, maybe one of them? As he debated Liam came out of his room, heading to the kitchen to fetch something to drink.

“Oh hey Dad.”

“Hey Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“How would you feel about seeing another of your aunts?”

“But didn’t we just see Aunt Luna and Aunt Leni last weekend?”

“Yeah we did, but I was talking with Aunt Lori and she made me think about talking with all of them again. Of course we can’t go visit Aunt Luan or Aunt Lola, but how would you feel about seeing the ones close to us?”

Liam stood and pondered a second. “Hmm, okay. But are we going to visit ALL of them this weekend?”

“No no, we’ll just visit one today and we’ll visit another next weekend.” Said Lincoln, giving a small chuckle.

“Oh okay.”

“Do you have any preference on an Aunt?”

Liam stood in thought once again. “Maybe Aunt Lana? It’d be cool to see Cousin Lawrence again.”

“Alright then, Aunt Lana it is. I’ll give her a call now.”

Liam went into the kitchen and grabbed a drink before heading back into his room to play some more games on his computer. Lincoln stood up from his seat, looking to get the kitchen phone, but was having a slightly hard time getting up. As he stood up he could feel his heart pound, it felt heavy. He breathed in and out deeply, placing a hand over his chest. It faded quickly though, leaving Lincoln in a daze. Perhaps he knew that in the back of his mind that something was amiss, but he pushed it aside to make room for his family. He walked over to the kitchen, picking up the phone and dialing Lana’s number. After a slight ring, the call was picked up.

“Yello’?”

“Lana! How’s it going?” Said Lincoln, happy to hear his sister’s voice again.

“Oh hey Lincoln, nice to hear from you again! It’s going alright, Matt’s home and so are the kids. How are you?”

“Oh you know, just going through life; how are Matt and the kids?”

“Matt’s alright, tired like usual; the kids must have sapped all the energy out of him because they’re bouncing off the walls, even the one that’s still cookin’ is full of energy.”

“So I was just wondering; it’s been too long since we’ve gotten together and I was thinking that if you’re free today, Liam and I could come visit and catch up.”

“Give me a moment and I’ll check with Matt.” Said Lana as she put down the phone, Lincoln could hear fading footsteps.

After a brief moment though, Lana had picked the phone back up. “Yeah it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You sure Matt’s not too tired?”

“I asked that and he said that if we turned people away because he was tired we’d never see anybody!”

“Alright then, we’ll be over here soon, love you.” Said Lincoln, laughing at Lana’s remark.

“Love you too bro.”

Lincoln hung up the phone and walked over to Liam’s room, knocking on his door to find him playing one of his MMOs like usual.

“Hey so I just got in touch with Aunt Lana and we’ll be going soon; fifteen minutes?”

“Sure okay.”

Lincoln shut the door and went to his room to change into somewhat decent clothes; as he got ready though he stopped and stared at himself in the mirror; something that he’d been doing more lately. He looked at his tired eyes, even after a couple of weeks, they still hadn’t returned to a restful state. He felt achy; prompting to him wonder if the fatigue and aches are just age. The heart problems though, he knew that they weren’t age-related, or was it? All he knew is that he could feel something bad, but if he was destined to fade, he wanted to hold onto what he had now for as long as he can; he wasn’t going to die on his son.

“I’m ready to go Dad!” Shouted Liam, break his Dad out of deep thought.

“R-Right, coming!”

Lincoln buttoned up his shirt and hurried out of his room to find Liam all ready to go. Grabbing his coat, Lincoln opened the front door and followed Liam out, locking the door behind him.

“I’ll be fine…” Lincoln thought to himself.

“Can we pick something up on the way there? I don’t like Aunt Lana’s cooking.”

“Sure; to tell you the truth neither am I.”


Lana’s House…


Lincoln pulled up to his sister’s house and stepped out of the car, closing it shut and locking it.

“Just like with Aunt Leni, make sure to say hi to your other cousins, not just Lawrence.”

“I will.”

With that Lincoln rang the doorbell and waited for a moment until the door opened up, revealing a very pregnant Lana.

“Hey you guys, come on in!” Lana stood aside and beckoned them into a rather average house, unlike Leni and Rick’s.

Lana and Matt’s house was what you would see from your normal middle-class life; nothing too extravagant, yet it wasn’t a hovel. Both Lana and Matt worked as mechanics, though Lana left hers to raise their kids; all of this resulted in a rather homely single-storied house.

“Hey Lana how have been??” Said Lincoln giving his younger sibling a firm hug.

“I’m managing; can’t really do too much because of her.” Lana as she placed a hand on her protruding stomach. “But I can’t also forget to say hi to you too Liam!” Said Lana as she tried to bend over to hug her nephew, only to find it to be a bit too strenuous.

“Sorry hun, looks like no hugs from me. I’m always open to be hugged though!”

“Hi Aunt Lana!” Said Liam as he hugged onto his Aunt.

“So have you come up with a name for her yet?” Lincoln tilted his head downwards towards Lana’s stomach, feeling that it would be rude if he pointed with his finger.

“Yeah we came up with one a while back, her name is Lyla.”

“Lyla huh?”

“Yeah that one was Matt’s idea, same for Lydia. I managed to name the boys though. Anyways though come on in, sit down!” Lana walked over to the living room which was situated very closely to the door before sitting down in a chair with Lincoln following suit.

“You can go play with Lawrence if you want Liam; you don’t have to stay here.”

“Where’s Uncle Matt?”

“He’s taking a nap right now, he was feeling really tired, you can say hi to him later!”

“Oh okay then-“

“Oh but before you go hun, can you give your Aunt Lana one more hug?” Lana reached her arms out towards Liam, wanting a proper hug,

“Oh okay.” Liam walked over to give his Aunt Lana another hug when he was pulled into one of her trademark bear hugs before ruffling his hair.

To Liam, Lana was one of the more rough aunts when it came to hugs; though all of the aunts that lived near him and his dad had different feels to their hugs. While Leni’s hugs were very tight, they were at the same time very warm and loving. Lana’s felt tight and loving as well, but she always squeezed with so much force; perhaps because she was the second most fit of all the Loud kids. Not to mention  that she would always accompany her hugs with some other form of rough housing such as hair ruffles or semi-soft noogies. Lucy’s hugs were very calm and gentle, but Luna’s were very strange; there was something about them that felt different than his other aunts.

“Alright now off you go!”

With that Liam dashed off to his cousins’ rooms, leaving Lana and Lincoln alone in the living room.

“So what’s up with the sudden visit? Not that I’m complaining mind you.”

“Well I know I should but sometimes it’s hard to keep in contact with everyone ever since Christina passed, but I got a hold of a couple of our sisters, and thought that it’d be nice to talk to everyone again.”

“Oh yeah? Who have you gotten a hold of?”

“Well I had dinner with Luna, talked to both Lori and Lynn over the phone, and visited Leni last weekend.”

“That’s pretty good number; I still keep in touch with Lola as best I can, but she’s just so busy all the time.”

“I’ll probably call her after we’re done visiting.”

After a small pause in the conversation, Lana changed the topic. “So what’s up with your eyes? You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“Seems like I get asked that question more and more often.” Said Lincoln with a slight chuckle.

“Sorry dude it was just an honest question.”

“Nah it’s fine; to be honest I don’t know what’s going on; all I know though is that I’m tired all the time.

“Maybe you got the same thing that Matt does.”

“What does Matt have?”

“Chronic Parent Syndrome.”

“Heh, I’d agree but it seems to have just been getting worse and on top of it all it’s not like Liam is acting up or anything.”

“You should try and sleep more; take naps if you have to; that’s what Matt does.”

“What do I do?” Said a man, yawning while scratching his head, his hair a mess.

“Oh there you are babe!”

“Hey sweetie.” Said Matt as he kissed his wife’s head and plopped down next to her.

“Oh hey it’s Lincoln; how’s it going bro?” Matt raised his hand tiredly.

“Hey Matt, it’s going good; yourself?”

“Eh, it’s going alright; tired as per usual. Now what do I do?”

“Oh I was just telling Lincoln here that you take naps to help your CPS.” Said Lana as she leaned up against Matt.

“CPS? What are you talking about?”

“Chronic Parent Syndrome!”

“Lana, honey, it’s CFS; Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”

“Oh so you have CFS?” Interjected Lincoln.

“Yeah, I found out about it last year; the doctor says I shouldn’t really be exerting myself but I love being a mechanic too much for me to stop.”

“But the naps help?”

“Sort of; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The nap I just took was alright, but I’m still tired.”

“Huh.”

“Why what’s up? You think you got CFS?”

“I don’t know, I just know I’ve been feeling so tired all the time and I don’t know why.”

“Well if you want some advice; cut down on the caffeine, take short naps if you’re really tired, and probably try to do some sort of stretching or walking. I’ve done it and it actually helps a lot; before I did, I was starting to doze off at work and falling asleep while leaning over an engine block isn’t the best idea.”

“I guess I’ll give that a try.”


…


Liam walked down the hallway, knocking on one of them before entering; it was his cousin Lawrence. Lawrence was somewhat short for his age, but was very fit; the product of being raised by two blue-collar parents. Liam got along fairly well with him, though not as much as Linus; this was mostly because Lawrence enjoyed crafting hobbies rather than video games. Still, they shared the same taste cartoons, plus Liam did enjoy putting models together, something that he and Lawrence liked to do when they spent time together.

“Oh hey Liam, Mom said that’d you’d be coming over today!” Said Lawrence, stepping away from his desk and extending his hand.

“Hey Lawrence!” Liam slapped Lawrence’s hand, sliding his own back before bumping fists with him. “What are you doing?”

“Oh nothing much, just putting together a model aircraft.” Lawrence pointed over to his desk, a model jet plane nearly completed sitting on it.

“Oh cool. How many does that make?”

“That’ll be my 17th one. To be honest though, I’m getting kind of bored with airplanes; I’ve already done a whole bunch of trains.” Lawrence pointed over to one of his shelfs that were lined with model trains. “I wish Mom’d let me work on an engine block by myself…”

“Have you ever thought about building something like Gundams?” Said Liam as he flopped onto his cousin’s bed.

“Gundams?”

“Yeah, have you seen Gundam before?”

“Nope; what is it?”

“Oh dude it’s so cool, you gotta’ look up the models; we can watch the show later if you want to.”

“Maybe.”  Lawrence went back to his desk and set his model aside, turning on his computer and searching for the models that Liam was speaking about. With that, Lawrence found a new obsession; one that would continue on throughout his teen life and adult life.

“Dude they look so cool!!”

“I know right??”

“Man I wish we had one now… I’ll have to ask Mom to get me two; one to work on by myself and one that we can work on together. Speaking of which, wanna’ open up a new model and work on it?” Lawrence opened his closet, revealing multiple boxes of different train, airplane, and car models.

“Sure!”

The two worked on a model car together for a while, though about halfway through its construction Liam remembered that he had to visit with his other cousins as well.

“Oh man I forgot to say hi to Lydia and Landon!” Exclaimed Liam who jumped out of his chair.

“Oh I thought you did; I’ll work on this while you go say hi.”

“Kay’, be right back.” Liam walked out of Lawrence’s room and went over to the next room and knocked on the door, opening it to reveal his younger cousin Landon
Landon was half Liam’s age so they didn’t have too much in common, though he still needed to say hi. From what Liam could tell Landon was working on homework, something that Liam could use to minimize his time.

“Hi Cousin Liam!” Said Landon as he waved to Liam.

“Hey Landon good to see you! I just wanted to pop in and say hi; I don’t want to bother you while you’re doing homework.”

“Okay, bye!” Landon gave another energetic wave before Landon closed the door; that was one sibling down.

Liam walked over to another door knocked, though this time he wasn’t the one who opened the door. This time it was a little girl that was about the same age as Layla; his cousin Lydia. She looked just like her mother, wearing her blonde hair in pigtails just like Lana did when she was a kid.

“Hi Cousin Liam!” Said Lydia hugged him.

“Hey Lydia, how are you?” Said Liam, reciprocating her hug.

“I’m good! I’m just playing with my toys; did you want to play with me?”

“Sorry, but I’m actually working on a model with Lawrence...”

“Pleeeaaasseee??”

Liam sighed, she asked so nicely; how could he turn her down?

“Okay, we can play for a little bit.”

“Yay!!”

Liam walked further into Lydia’s room, sitting down on the floor while Lydia grabbed some of her toys. What she grabbed though weren’t dolls or action figures, but instead Legos. Liam chuckled a bit; it’d make sense for all of the kids to be interested in crafting.

“Let’s build a rocket ship!!” Lydia was filled with the same enthusiasm that you would find in most young children, enjoying life as it came.

“Okay, where do we start?” Said Liam as he rummaged through the Lego box, pulling out some pieces and haphazardly assembling them.

“No no, you have to start with these!” Lydia pointed to some long pieces that were obviously the base of the shuttle.

The two worked on the rocket ship for a while, Lydia building it at an astonishing speed. After the ship was done though, Liam took his leave, but not before one last hug. He walked back into Lawrence’s room to find the model car nearly complete.

“Hey man, where have you been? I’m almost finished with this thing!”

“Sorry, Lydia wanted to build a rocket ship with Legos.”

“Oh, I guess it can’t be helped then.” Lawrence shrugged his shoulders and turned around, working on the model again.

“She’s really good at building them.” Liam sat down and began to help his cousin out with his model.

“Yeah, Landon is good at building too.”

“What the heck, why are you all so good at building stuff?”

“I dunno’; it just comes to us.”

More time passed and the two finished their model in time for Lincoln to knock on the door and enter.

“Hey, are you ready to go?”

“Sure; we just got done building a car; wanna’ see?” Said Liam as he and Lawrence stood out of the way of the model.

“Wow, yeah it looks nice!” Lincoln walked over and inspected the model, refraining from touching it in fear of breaking it.

“Alright, it was fun hanging out Liam!” Said Lawrence, opting for a hug this time.

“Yeah it was!”

The Liam and Lincoln exited out, though Liam stopped into the other cousins’ rooms to say goodbye as well.

“Alright we’re going to be heading on out then.” Said Lincoln as him and Liam approached Lana and Matt.

“Alright, you guys have good night!” Said Lana as she hugged Lincoln.

“You too Lana.”

“Bye Aunt Lana!” Said Liam as he hugged her.

“Night hun, you be good for your Dad okay?”

“Hey bud I didn’t see you all day today.” Said Matt as he leaned over Liam to give him a hug.

“Oh hey Uncle Matt, sorry for not saying hi; Aunt Lana said you were sleeping.”

“No problem buddy. You have a good night; you too Lincoln.” Said Matt as he stood up and gave him a tired hug. “I’m going to go sleep now…”

“It was good seeing you Matt.”

“You too dude…” Matt yawned and walked off towards his bedroom in a sleepy fashion.


On the way home…


“So Liam, how about we buy some models?”

“What?”

“You looked like you had fun building with Lawrence, so I was wondering if you wanted to start buying some models.”

“Sure!”

“It’ll be great, you and me, building models together…”


The next day…


Another Sunday had come yet again, and with it came laziness and relaxation. The day was just like the Sunday before; Liam was in his room playing while Lincoln sat around in a baggy t-shirt and underwear. This time though, Lincoln was trying to take Matt’s advice; he had skipped his morning coffee and was feeling it; not only was he tired, but now he had a headache to go along with it. He went into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, taking out a couple of Aspirin to relieve his headache.

He walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a beer, making sure to count how many were left in case Liam took one. Fortunately for him, Liam was a good kid that knew not to drink his Dad’s beer. He opened it, taking a swig before looking at the kitchen phone; he remembered that he wanted to call Lola today. Picking up the phone and walking back over to the couch, Lincoln sat down and dialed his sister’s number. He knew there was a good chance that she wouldn’t pick up, mostly because of her career; though her husband should pick up. The phone rang for a while, seeming like it would go to the answering machine before the call was picked up.

“Hello?” Said a male voice; it was Lola’s husband.

“Oh hey Jeremy how’s it going?” Said Lincoln.

“Lincoln?”

“Yeah, it’s Lincoln; I wanted to call and catch up.”

“Oh okay, uh… How have you been?”

“Been doing alright, yourself?”

“I’ve been good.”

A long pause took place; though Lincoln wasn’t too bothered by it considering that Jeremy still had some pretty bad social anxiety as well as just being shy in general.

“So uh… Is Lola home?”

“Huh? Oh yeah she is, sorry for not speaking a lot…”

“No worries dude, it’s cool.”

“Let me go get Lola.”

“Alrighty.”

Lincoln could hear Jeremy’s rather meek call for Lola with her response even more bashful; something that Lincoln always found odd. Lola was an intimidating woman, able to stare down anyone like a tiger; except her husband. For some reason, such a shy and unassuming gentleman was the only one that caused Lola to go from a tiger to a docile little cat.

“T-Thank you Honey…” Said Lola, taking over the call.

“Hey Lola how are you?”

“Oh hi Lincoln! Oh it’s been AGES since we’ve spoken!”

“Yeah it really has; it’s hard to keep up with someone that sings on Broadway after all!”

“Oh Lincoln you flatter me, but you’re right.”

Lincoln rolled his eyes, even after 25 years she still had the same personality. After her elementary and middle school years, Lola switched from pageants to acting and was a natural at it. While at first she was set on going to Hollywood, her singing skills amongst other reasons caused her to switch to acting in plays. To her, acting on Broadway was where one truly tested their acting mettle; in the words she told Lincoln when asked about the switch all those years ago,

“Hollywood is for chumps! The best go on Broadway and I’m the best!”

“So how goes the acting business?”

“Oh just lovely, though right now I’m taking a break to take care of Leslie, I can’t let a baby not see her mommy!”

“Is New York still treating you well?”

“Of course! I may have been born in Michigan, but New York is my home! But enough about me, how have you been Lincoln?”

“Oh I’m alright, I actually visited…”

Lincoln’s vision became blurred for a second and then the lights went out.

“Lincoln? Are you there?”

With a jolt coursing through his body he gasped for air as consciousness came back to him.

“What, what happened??”

“Are you okay Lincoln?” Hesitation and concern was evident in Lola’s voice.

“What, yeah I’m fine.”

“…Okay…”

“What were we talking about again?”

“I was asking you how you have been.”

“Oh right, right! Yeah I’ve been good; I actually just visited Lana yesterday.”

“Oh really? That’s good to hear, I need to call her later today.” Lola’s bravado seemed to be gone, much to Lincoln’s confusion.

“How are Jeremy and the kids? I talked to Jeremy for a little bit but he was, well, like he usually is.”

“They’ve been well; Jeremy is still being the biggest sweetheart ever, Lapis and Lance are doing well in school, getting straight A’s. And of course, Leslie’s been a handful, though by the third kid you kind of get most of routine down.”

“Well it’s good to hear that you’re all doing well!”

“Thanks; how has Liam been?”

“He’s been okay; still scoring A’s just like your kids! He’s been so absorbed with his games though that I’m surprised he’s able to maintain such a good GPA.”

“Well he does have your genes.” Soon the cries of a baby could be heard in the background. “Oh it looks like I have to go. Lincoln?”

“Yeah?”

“You take care; I love you.”

“Oh uh, will do. I love you too.”

Lincoln hung up the phone and walked back into the kitchen to place the phone on the cradle, pausing after her placed it. He placed a hand over his chest, closing his eyes. He thought of many things: his sisters, Christina, Liam, and his son’s future.

“Dad?”

Lincoln’s eyes opened as he heard Liam’s voice from behind him.

“Oh hey Liam, what’s up?” Said Lincoln as he turned around.

“I was just wondering what you were doing.”

“Oh I was just thinking about stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“…Grown-up stuff.”

“Anyways, what do you want for lunch?”

“Um I don’t know… hamburgers?” Said Liam, giving a shrug.

“Okay, hamburgers it is.”


Next weekend…


Another weekend had arrived and with it, more familial reunions were to be had. The day had already started, with both Liam and Lincoln each doing their own daily routine. Lincoln though took a break from the computer to dial yet another sister’s number; this time it was Lucy. After a few rings the phone was answered, though the one who answered it was neither Lucy nor her husband, it was a small child.

“Hello?” Said the child.

“Oh is this Leonardo?”

“I’m Leonardo! Who’s this?”

“This is your Uncle Lincoln, it’s been a while.”

“Oh hi Uncle Lincoln!!”

“Hey Buddy, how are you doing?” Said Lincoln with warmth in his voice.

“I’m gooood…”

“Yeah? Is school fun?”

“Yeah it is! Yesterday we learned…We learned that five plus five is ten!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“Sounds like you’re having a great time. Is your Mom there?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Can I talk to her?”

“Uhhh, okay. Mommy!”

After a moment passed, the phone was handed off to Lucy. “Hello?”

“Hey Lucy, how are you?”

“Oh hello Lincoln, I’ve been alright, Andrew is off visiting his brother Jake so I’m watching the kids by myself.”

“You didn’t go?”

“No, it’s Jake’s birthday so they went to a football game together.”

“Oh I see; well I was wondering if you had time for me to visit.”

“Well, I don’t think it’d be a problem but I might ask for your help with the kids considering Andrew isn’t here. Will it be you and Liam?”

“I don’t mind helping out and yeah it’ll be me and Liam.”

“Well okay then, what time should I expect you?”

“Give me a few hours and I should be there.”

“Sounds good, see you soon Lincoln.”

“Take it easy Lucy.”

Lincoln hung up the phone and walked over to Liam’s room and knocked on the door before opening; this time Liam was reading comics instead of playing games.

“Hey champ, we’re gonna’ go see Aunt Lucy.”

“Aw do I have to go? Leonardo and Laura are too little, I’ll be so bored!”

Lincoln thought for a moment; Liam did have a point. Leonardo was in kindergarten while Laura wasn’t even in pre-school; Liam would be bored out of his mind. Thinking about it further, he remembered that the purpose of the visits wasn’t so much for Liam’s sake as it was for his. Still, he couldn’t just Liam home alone, maybe one of his aunts?

“Hmm… Alright, do you want to stay at one of your other aunts and I’ll pick you up after I’m done visiting?”

“Okay!” Liam’s face brightened at the proposition, it meant that he might be able to see Lacey again.

“Okay I’ll give your Aunt Leni a call.”

Lincoln walked out of the room and to the kitchen, picking up the phone and dialing Leni’s house number.

“Hello?” Said Rick, answering in Leni’s stead.

“Hey Rick how’s it hanging?”

“I’ve been better…”

“What happened?”

“Well Leni’s at work right now and Layla has a throat infection.”

“Oh I’m sorry to hear that.”

“What did you need?”

“Well I had some stuff to take care of and I need someplace to drop Liam off. I was hoping that you guys would be able to watch over him but that’s not happen.”

“Yeah sorry man.”

“It’s cool, don’t worry. You take it easy, I hope Layla gets better.”

“You too dude.”

Both of them hung up the phone and Lincoln sighed, there goes plan A. He didn’t want throw Liam on Lana and Matt, especially with how tired Matt always is. With both Leni and Lana out of the running that left only Luna. It wasn’t a bad alternative, she and Liam have always been close, just like she and he were back when they were kids. He dialed her number and waited for an answer.

“Yo, what’s up?”

“Hey Luna!”

“Oh Lincoln, what’s up bro??”

“Nothing too much, what about you?”

“Nothing much really, just lying around and enjoying my day off.”

“I gotcha’. I was wondering; I’ve got to take care of something and I need someone to watch Liam for me; would it be alright if I dropped him off with you?”

A pause followed, Lincoln thinking that it was Luna deliberating on the idea of giving up her day off.

“…I’d love to watch Liam for you.” Said Luna.

“Great! I’ll swing by here in a bit and drop him off.”

“See you soon!” Said Luna.

“Later!” Said Lincoln as he hung up the phone and walked back to Liam’s room.

“Hey Liam.” Lincoln knocked on his son’s door and opened it.

“Yeah Dad?”

“Your Aunt Leni is at work and Layla’s sick, so you can’t stay at their house.”

“Oh…” Liam looked visibly dejected at the thought of not seeing his favorite cousin.

“But, your Aunt Luna said she’d be happy to watch you while I go visit Aunt Lucy.”

“Really??” Liam immediately sprang up at the news. While he would have loved to have seen Lacey, Luna was just as good.

“Yep, now get properly dressed; we’re going to go in a minute.


At Luna’s house…


Lincoln and Liam pulled up to Luna’s house, stepping out of the car and walking to her front door and ringing the doorbell. Shortly after, Luna answered the door, looking well dressed with make-up on.

“Hey Bro!” Said Luna as she gave him a hug.

“Hey Sis.” Said Lincoln as he reciprocated her hug.

“And hey Liam!” Luna grabbed Liam pulled him in close, giving him a tight hug.

“Hey Aunt Luna!” Liam hugged back tightly, his head resting near her bosom.

“What’s with the appearance? You look like we stopped you from going on a date or something.”

“Hmm? Oh no, I just didn’t want to look like a slob in front of Liam, I just threw this together quickly.” Luna gave a smile and a dismissive wave, though Lincoln didn’t fully buy her story.

“Anyways, I want you to be on your best behavior for Aunt Luna, okay Liam?”

“Yes Dad.”

“Oh don’t worry; I’m sure he won’t be any trouble at all! We’ll have plenty of fun together!”

“Okay then, you take care; I’ll be back to pick you up later tonight.”

“Okay, bye Dad!” Liam followed Luna into her house and gave one more wave before Luna closed the door.

“I’m sure things will be fine, Liam’s a good kid…” Lincoln said to himself as he walked away from the house and back to his car.


At Lucy’s house…


Lincoln stepped out of his car, closing the door behind him and walking up to Lucy and Andrew’s house. Their house was similar to Lana’s in terms of standards; it was a rather average yet comfy middle class house. Unlike a lot of his other sisters though, Lucy’s abode actually had two stories. He approached the door and gave a series of light knocks on it to indicate his arrival. After a moment or two, the door opened, revealing a still rather pale woman with jet black hair.

“Hello Lincoln, it’s been quite a while.” Said Lucy with a warm smile.

“Hey Lucy how have you been?” Lincoln gave his sister a gentle hug and spoke softly, as he usually did when he visited her.

“Is Liam not with you?” Lucy looked behind Lincoln, wondering where her nephew could be.

“Well I figured that since Leonardo and Laura are so young, he wouldn’t have much to do so I dropped him off at Luna’s for the day.”

“Oh that’s a shame; I’d have liked to have seen him again.” Lucy looked a bit crestfallen.

“Yeah sorry about that…”

“Well what’s done is done, would you like to come in?” Said Lucy as she stood aside and beckoned her brother into her home.

“Yes please.” Lincoln walked inside and followed Lucy to the living room where they sat down.

Lucy had moved on from her Goth phase long ago, though she still enjoyed the things related to it as well as the macabre. The inside of her house was very serene and actually felt a bit upper class; dark carpeting lined the floor and nice furniture rested on it. There were pieces of art high on the wall and out of the reach of the young ones, the selection mixed between cubism and impressionism.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Sure, that’d be great.”

Lucy stood up and walked over to the kitchen with Lincoln following behind her, much to Lucy’s confusion.

“You didn’t have to get up; I’d have brought it to you.”

“Nah don’t worry about it; I don’t want you doing everything for me.”

“You’re our guest though.”

“True, but I’m also your brother, you don’t need to be that formal with me.”

Lucy gave a soft chuckle and a smile. “I suppose that’s true.”

The two walked into the kitchen and Lucy opened the fridge, looking at Lincoln.

“So what would you like to drink? We’ve got tea, juice; I think there are still a few beers left…” Said Lucy as she rummaged through her refrigerator.

“Tea will be fine.”

Lucy pulled out a pitcher filled with sun tea and walked over to a cupboard, pulling out two glasses and pouring tea for each of them.

“So how have things been Lucy?”

“Things have been going well; I just recently completed another novel so I’ll have to start working on a new one here soon.” Said Lucy as she handed Lincoln his glass of tea.

Lucy was a novelist, moving away from the poetry that she wrote up through high school. By the time she had reached college, she noticed that she had more fun writing out entire novels than just poetry, and so she tried to write her first novel in her second year. Her first novel “In the Dark Garden” was self-published, but managed to sell well enough to cause her to decide to take the path of the pen, and so she’s written many novels since that time; ranging from gothic horror to modern thrillers. She met her husband, Andrew, in college. Andrew, who was studying to become a teacher, met her in an English class and the two immediately clicked.

Years have passed since then and Lucy’s demeanor has become rather demure, a personality that highly contrasted some of her other sisters. Her rather calm and somewhat abashed manner always prompted Lincoln to act softly around her, and so they would always have very calm, near formal conversation with one another. Even Lucy’s children were rather well behaved, neither Leonardo nor Laura being kids that spiraled out of control wildly.

“I talked to Leonardo earlier today.” Lincoln took a drink of his tea before he continued. “Seems like he’s having fun with school.”

Lucy let out a giggle. “Yes, he’s enjoying it quite a bit. Soon it’ll be Laura’s turn to enter pre-school.”

“Where are they?”

“Laura is down for a nap and Leonardo is probably reading.”

“I gotta’ hand it to you Lucy, it’s nice to see you pushing Leonardo to read so early on; not enough kids read books anymore.”

“Says the one who read nothing but comic books when he was a child.”

“Oh come on, I started to read more later on!”

“Yes, yes.” Lucy gave a dismissive wave. “Well shall we go back and sit?”

“Sure.”

The two walked back to the living room, Lincoln looking at his sister and noting just how different she looked from back when they were younger.

When they were young, Lucy frequently wore long black shirts with her hair draped over her eyes. Now though, Lucy’s black hair had grown quite long, reaching the small of her back. She also no longer kept her hair draped over her eyes; her bangs were now parted to reveal her radiant eyes. She now frequently wore dark dresses instead of just a shirt.

“So tell me, how have you and Liam been?” Said Lucy as they sat down again.

“Liam’s been alright sort of. He’s been having a rough time at school and I’m not sure what to do about it.”

“In terms of studying?”

“No he’s being picked on. I want to do something, but I worry that if I step in, it’ll only make them tease him more…”

“I think all you can do is be there for him, teach him how to be strong and endure. Help him find his inner strength, tell him that you’ll always be there for him.”

“Heh, I suppose there isn’t much else I can do is there?”

“You shouldn’t look at it like that; there are many children that do not have their father’s emotional support.”

“I guess that’s true, I just have to be the best Dad I can be.”

“And you’ve done a wonderful job of that, Liam is evidence of it.”

“Thanks Lucy, you always know what to say.”

“Anything for my big brother.” Lucy gave a warm smile as she looked at Lincoln with affection.  “What about you though, how have you been faring?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been having some problems sleeping as well as appetite issues. From what I can tell it seems like it’s just Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but every once in a while I just get scared that it might be more than that.”

“What do you think it might be?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well the other question I’ll ask is this. If you did have something serious like cancer, would you be able to put yourself in a hospital for long periods of time?”

“I-I don’t know, I don’t know if I could do that to Liam…” Lincoln looked distressed at the mere thought of putting Liam through such a trial again. His son had already suffered enough; Lincoln didn’t want to put any more on him.

“I can’t tell you anything other than to look inside yourself to find the answer. Only you know if that’s something you want to face.”

“I know…”

As Lincoln stared at his tea in contemplation pitter-patter could faintly be heard coming down the stairs. Lincoln looked up and saw his three-year old niece, wearing pajamas with her long black hair a frazzled mess, stepping down the stairs.

“Mommy?” Said the little girl, giving a large yawn.

“Hey there sleepy, did you have a good nap?” Said Lucy as she turned to her daughter who gave a tired nod.

“Where’s Daddy?”

“Daddy went to a game, remember?”

“Ohhhh yeah…”

“Come over and say Hi to your Uncle Lincoln.”

“Uncle Lincoln?” Said Laura as she walked over and sat next to her Mom.

“Hey Laura, how are you?” Said Lincoln in an endearing tone.

“Hi Uncle Lincoln…” Laura held onto her mother tightly, eyeing Lincoln with caution. It made sense, this was the first time that Laura had really seen him, she was just born the last time Lincoln had seen his sister.

“I’m your Mommy’s brother.”

“You mean like Leonardo?”

“Yep, exactly.”

“Are you nice?”

“I’d like to think I’m a nice person, what does your Mom think?”

“Mommy, is Uncle Lincoln a nice person? “ Laura lifted her head and looked up at her mother, waiting for an answer.

“Yes he is sweetie, Lincoln is a very nice person; I love him very much.” Lucy placed a hand on Laura’s hair and ran her fingers through her hair, though they quickly stopped as Lucy found the first tangle.

“Your hair is a mess, wait here while I go and get the brush.” Lucy stood up. “Excuse me Lincoln I will be back shortly.”

Lucy walked upstairs and left Laura and Lincoln staring at each other from across the room, the little girl kicking her legs in boredom.

“So… You’re Mommy’s big brother?”

“That’s right.”

“Did you play with Mommy?”

“I sure did, we used to play a lot of games, though they’re all old now.”

“Hmm…” Laura looked around, obviously only partly interested in the conversation.

“Alright then, let us get those tangles out of your beautiful hair.” Said Lucy as she walked back down the stairs and sat next to Laura.

“Mommy, Uncle Lincoln said you played games when you were little.”

“Oh yes we did, though some of those games are all but forgotten now.”

“Yeah it’s a shame.” Said Lincoln with a sigh.

“I didn’t play a whole lot of video games when I was young; I spent a lot more time reading. I did have fun playing some of Lincoln’s darker fantasy games though.”

“I’m still peeved that you beat Dark Souls 2 before I did.”

“You were just too slow.”

“What’s Dark Souls?” Asked Laura.

“It’s an old game that your Uncle and I liked; it was one of the few video games that I played.”

“We used to play other games that weren’t video games though; your Mom always liked playing Clue.”

“What’s Clue?”

“Clue was a game where you had to solve a mystery. Somebody did something and you have to figure out who did it.”

“That sounds fun! OW!” Laura’s joy was quickly cut short as Lucy’s brush pulled on one of her tangles. “I don’t like getting my hair brushed!!”

“Shhh, we don’t yell; we speak. I’m sorry that I pulled on a tangle, but you need to brush your hair.”

“Don’t worry about it Lucy, I can handle a little yelling.”

“I still don’t want her yelling. It’s rude to yell in front of a guest.”

“I’m sorry Mommy…”

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to.”

“Mommy?” Said another voice from up the stairs, footsteps could be heard again.

“Yes?” Answered Lucy, who turned to face now her son who was dressed rather nicely.

“Can I have a snack?”

“I’m brushing Laura’s hair right now; I’ll get you one after I’m done.”

“I can go get it for him Lucy if you want.” Interjected Lincoln.

“Hmm, well I suppose. Just give him a small bowl of chips or crackers, nothing too much though.”

“I’ve had a kid before I know how it works.” Said Lincoln as he got up and made his way to the kitchen along with Leonardo.

“Hi Uncle Lincoln.” Said Leonardo as he gave his uncle a hug.

“Hey Buddy how’s it going?” Lincoln picked his nephew up and held him up high then bringing him in for a tight hug.

“I’m hungry…”

“Well let’s go get you a snack then!”

“Okay!”

Lincoln walked into the kitchen, looking around for a minute before finding the pantry. He rummaged around, looking for something suitable for Leonardo. He didn’t want to give him anything sugary, nor did he want to give him anything greasy like potato chips.

“Hmm… How about these?” Said Lincoln as he pulled out a box of cheese-flavored crackers. “Sound good to you?”

“Yeah!”

“Alright now where does Lucy keep the bowls…?”

“They’re up there.” Leonardo pointed over to a high cupboard, obviously out of reach for the kids.

“Ah there we go.” Lincoln opened up the cupboard and pulled out a small plastic bowl, the ceramic ones can wait until Leonardo got older. He poured a decent amount before handing the bowl over

“Here you go, my good sir!” Said Lincoln as he ruffled Leonardo’s rather long, dirty blonde hair.

The two made their way back to the living room where they sat down and talked, Lincoln catching up on all of the things that had happened since Laura’s birth. It wasn’t long though until evening beckoned, prompting Lincoln to look at his watch.

“It’s getting late; I’ve also got to pick Liam up from Luna’s. This was great though, I’m happy I got to see you again.” Lincoln stood up and hugged his sister tightly, who in turned hugged him back.

“It was a pleasure to see you as well, I’m still a little sad that I didn’t get to see Liam, next time though.” Lucy brushed her hair away from her face, though Lincoln stopped her. “What are you doing??”

Before she knew it, Lincoln had pulled Lucy’s bangs over her eyes, just like when she was a kid. “Sorry I just wanted to see you like that again.”

Lucy merely shook her head and laughed as she brushed her bangs aside, giving Lincoln one more hug.

“Goodnight Lincoln, I love you.”

“Love you too. And I’ll see you guys later!” Said Lincoln as he squatted down to eye level with his niece and nephew.

“Bye Uncle Lincoln!” Said Leonardo as he hugged Lincoln.

“G-Goodbye Uncle Lincoln, will you come to play with Mommy again?”

“You bet I will; I promise.”

Lincoln stood up and gave one last wave as he walked away and stepped into his car. He turned it on, readjusting his mirrors.

“I wonder how Liam’s doing….”


At Luna’s house...


Lincoln pulled up and stepped out of his car again, though he didn’t bother to turn it off since he was here for a pick up. He rang the doorbell and waited for an answer, which seemed to take a while. The door opened though, both Liam and Luna standing in front of Lincoln. It was miniscule, maybe it was his imagination, but Lincoln noticed that both of them looked just a little disheveled.

“Hey Bro, what’s up?” Said Luna as she gave him a tight hug.

“Nothing much, just got done visiting Lucy; you ready to go champ?”

“Okay.” Said Liam in a rather melancholy tone.

“Alright well were taking off, you have a good night.” Lincoln started to walk away though Liam still had to say his goodbye.

“Goodbye sweetie, you come back and see your Aunt Luna again soon okay?”

“Yes Aunt Luna…” Liam wrapped his arms around Luna and gave her a tight hug with Luna giving Liam a kiss on the cheek

Liam broke from the hug and ran to catch up with Lincoln who was already on his way to the car. Both of them stepped in and strapped on their seatbelts, taking off after giving Luna one last goodbye wave.

“So did you have fun?”

“Mmhmm, if you’re going to go see Aunt Lily can I stay at Aunt Luna’s again?”

“I don’t know, your Aunt Lucy was really looking forward to seeing you and was sad when I told her that you were at Aunt Luna’s.”

“Please?”

“I thought you’d want to stay at Aunt Leni’s to be honest, did you really have that much fun with Aunt Luna?”

“Yep!”

“So what did you do?”

“What?”

“I said, what did you do with Aunt Luna?” Lincoln was honestly curious; he could never read his older sister.

“Oh! Oh well we just watched some movies, she showed me a lot of bands again, and we went out to dinner.”

“Well it sounds like you had a good time. Tell you what, before I go visit Aunt Lily I’ll ask her if it’s okay. If she’s okay with it, you can stay with Aunt Luna again. Sound good?”

“Yeah that sounds good.” Liam was hoping that Lily would say that it’d be okay if he stayed with Aunt Luna, he had too much fun with her this time.


The next day…


The weekend was coming to a close yet again and the new week was going to start, so both Lincoln and Liam were determined to enjoy every minute of it. Lincoln was lying down on his bed in a rather baggy set of clothes, trying to take a nap; he was tired like he had been feeling for last month or so. He looked up at the ceiling, now coming to the realization of the sheer amount of time that has passed since he started to reconnect with his sisters. It was also in this time that he felt his health deteriorate, which weighed heavily on his mind. He was growing more tired every day; he was barely eating. On top of it all, he’d sometimes get heart flutters. Perhaps somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that there was more to this than just a simple case of chronic fatigue syndrome, but he was too scared to face that possibility.

His fatigue was finally taking over; his eyes started to close and just as he was about to fade into sleep, the phone rang. His eyes shot open and he ran his hands down his face in a mixture of tiredness and annoyance.

“Fucking really?” He turned his head to the bedside where the phone was resting and stared at it for a while.

With a heavy sigh he reached over and picked the phone up, trying his hardest not to sound upset as he answered it.

“Hello?”

“Knock, knock!”

“Oh my fucking God…” Lincoln thought to himself.

“…Who’s there?”

“Your sister! Hi Lincoln!”

“Hey Luan…” Lincoln ran his hand over his face again, this is not what he needed right now.

“You sure sound sleepy!”

“Yes, yes I do; I was actually about to take a nap.”

“Oh, sorry!”

“No no it’s fine; I’m awake now.” Lincoln gritted his teeth as he finished his sentence. “What’s up?”

“I heard that you’ve been calling or visiting everyone, so I decided to be the one to call YOU instead!”

“Oh… Well thank you, for that.”

“So… How have you been?”

“Tired.”

“Well I mean besides that!”

“I’ve been better; work’s killing me and this chronic fatigue syndrome shit isn’t helping either.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that…. I had hoped you were doing okay…” Luan’s jovial mood had all but disappeared upon hearing her brother’s plight.

“It’s fine don’t worry about it.”

“Well no it’s not fine! Is Liam at least doing okay?”

“Yeah he’s fine, pretty much just school for him as well as visiting his aunts with me, though he didn’t come with me to visit Lucy.”

“Where did he go? I can’t imagine you left him all alone at the house did you?”

“Of course not, I left him at Luna’s.”

“You left Liam with Luna?”

“Yeah, why?”

“No nothing, was just curious.”

“Hmm…”

“Well it’s good to hear that Liam is doing good, though I wish I could say the same for you…”

“Eh it’s whatever… I’ll get over it I hope.”

“So what’s wrong? You’re just not sleeping?”

“Well that’s one part; I’m also eating a lot less.”

“Well then that makes sense! You’re just not eating enough!”

“What?”

“If you’re tired all the time it’s probably because you’re not eating! I’d say to set a time to eat and an amount to eat, that way you eat and you eat enough even if your body isn’t hungry!”

“Hmm… I might actually do that.”

“I hope that will help!”

“Yeah me too; anyways what have you and Mark been up to?”

“We’ve kept ourselves busy, Mark’s at work right now doing producer things.”

“You still don’t know what a producer does do you?”

Whaaaat? Psshh… What? No, I know what producers do!”

“I’d expect you to, considering your HUSBAND is one AND you write for T.V. shows!”

“…Yeah I’m just joking I know producers do. Right now he’s working on a new movie and he’s looking for screenwriters.”

“Okay you scared me there for a second.”

“Oh come on Lincoln, like I really wouldn’t know what my husband does for a living? I’m not Leni you know!”


…


“Achoo!” Leni gave an adorable sneeze while she was at work.


…


“I guess that’s true ha-ha.” Now that the initial irritation had worn off, he was pleasantly conversing with his older sister. “What about you though? Are you working on a show at the moment?”

“Yeah I’m writing for a new sit-com that’s coming out this fall, it’s called “You, Me, and That Guy.”

“Huh interesting.”

After high-school, Luan left for college and earned herself a bachelor of arts in English, which she would take with her as she eventually flew to California. From there she started to work on her comedy; her stand up was met with lukewarm reception, but she found more success in writing for other people. He style of comedy evolved as she grew older, moving away from knock-knock jokes and bad puns (though she still loved to use them around her family to their chagrin.) When she first started, she tried to approach it in a manner that was similar to female comedians such as Amy Schumer and Kristen Schaal; though it was met with immediate backlash.

Reeling from the harsh reception, Luan realized that she shouldn’t change what she truly found funny and abandoned the so called “female humor” in favor of commentary on everyday life. Unfortunately though, it still never garnered much success and Luan was left wanting in terms of funds. Through a stroke of luck, she managed to find a way into the Hollywood business and started to submit scripts for shows. At first there were no biters, as it usually was with Hollywood, but eventually she managed land a few small writing gigs before moving up and becoming a much more prominent writer. Over time she’d become well known amongst the sit-com and cartoon scene for writing for successful shows.

“Oh I’m getting another call, I’ll have to talk to you later Lincoln. It was great talking to you again.”

“You too Luan you take care.”

“You too Lincoln, please take care of yourself.”

Lincoln hung up the phone and gave a slight pause.

“Take care of myself huh?” Said Lincoln to himself. “Seems like all of them are saying that to me now. Well I suppose that starts with me actually taking a nap!”

Lincoln put the phone back on the cradle and fell back on his bed, resting his face into the pillow; the fatigue made sure that it wasn’t long before he drifted to sleep…


Next weekend…


This was it, the final weekend. Lincoln had been seeing the rest of his siblings every weekend for the last month and now there were only two sisters left to reconnect with. He rose out of bed lazily, scratching his head and yawning.

“Eight hours of sleep and I still feel bushed…” Muttered Lincoln as he shambled his way into his bathroom.

“I guess all that’s left is to see if I can visit Lily and then give Lisa a call tomorrow.” Lincoln picked up his razor and began to shave his face; if he was going to visit Lily, he didn’t want be wearing such a scraggly face.

After he was finished, Lincoln took care of the rest of his daily routine, wondering if his sister was free. He walked out of his room and started to prepare breakfast, letting Liam sleep a little longer than him. Lincoln heated up the pan, got the eggs out and was ready to cook them up some grub.

“I should probably give Lily a call after I’m done cooking.”

As the food was cooking, Lincoln noticed Liam’s door open and his son walk out.

“G’morning Dad.” Said Liam as he yawned tiredly.

“Morning champ, I was planning on getting you up later.”

“What’s for breakfast?”

“Eggs, bacon, and I might whip up some pancakes if you’re still hungry.”

“Mmkay.” Liam walked off to the bathroom to complete his morning routine, leaving Lincoln to finish cooking.

After Liam finished up, he came into the kitchen fully awake and dressed and sat down at the table, ready to eat. Fortunately for him, the food was just about done and Lincoln started to slide the eggs and bacon onto their plates.

“Alright, breakfast is up!” Said Lincoln as he set the food down on the table.

“Thanks Dad!” Liam quickly began to eat in earnest, always enjoying his Dad’s cooking.

Meanwhile Lincoln sat down and looked at his food; he wasn’t sure if he could eat all of it. As he thought of that though, he hearkened back to Luan’s words of advice. He had to make sure to eat all of it, regardless of whether or not he was hungry. He began to eat and by the time he was done with the bacon, he didn’t know if he could bring himself to eat the eggs. Still, he pressed on throughout the entire breakfast, but by time he was done he looked visibly uncomfortable.

“Oh man I’m too full…”

“It was just eggs and bacon though.” Said Liam.

“Yeah I know; I still feel full though. Anyways, I’m going to call your Aunt Lily here in a bit and see if I can visit her; you’re coming with me if she also wants to see you.”

“Yes Dad…” Liam stood up from his seat and walked back into his room. “Thanks for the food Dad!”

“You’re welcome!” Lincoln began to clean up the mess left by both he and Liam, as well as washing the pans used for the eggs and bacon. It didn’t take that long for him to finish washing them and he picked up the kitchen phone to dial Lily’s number.

“Hello?” Said a female voice.

“Hey Lily how are you?”

“Oh, Lincoln hi how are you?”

“I’m doing alright, just same old same old. How about yourself?”

“Oh it’s been a handful ever since Lewis came around! Both Chris and I are constantly chasing him around the house.”

“Yeah I remember when Liam was that young; man Christina and I were going crazy because of him.”

“I have no idea how you and everyone else managed to do this.”

“Well if you and Chris aren’t doing anything, mind if I come on over to visit?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem; I don’t think there’s anything going on today.”

“Sounds great, though I was wondering if it’d be okay if Liam stayed home?”

“Why?”

“Well, it’s more that since Lewis is so young, there wouldn’t be too much for Liam to do; I’d feel kind of bad. But if you really want to see him I can drag him along with me!”

“Oh that shouldn’t be a problem, it’s fine if he wants to stay; I’ll just visit him some other time!”

“Really?”

“Sure!”

“Well alrighty then, I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”

“Love you Lincoln.”

“Love you too.”

Lincoln hung up the phone and knocked on Liam’s door, opening it.

“Well good news, Aunt Lily says it’s okay if you don’t see her.”

“Really?”

“Yeah; so I’ll go give your Aunt Leni a call-“

“Actually, could you call Aunt Luna again?”

“Luna? But I thought you’d want to see Lacey.” Lincoln raised an eyebrow at Liam’s sudden suggestion.

“Well I just had a lot of fun with Aunt Luna last time; please?”

“Alright sure, I’ll call Aunt Luna again.”

“Thanks Dad!”

"Huh, strange kid." Said Lincoln as he closed Liam's door.

Lincoln walked back into the kitchen and dialed Luna’s phone number; still a little confused at the fact that Liam would choose his aunt over his favorite cousin. He shrugged it aside though and waited for his sister to answer the phone.

“’Ello?”

“What’s up Luna?”

“Oh hey Lincoln, what can I do for you?”

“Well I’m off to visit Lily and Liam was wondering if he could stay with you again.”

“Hmm… Well I did have a date planned later tonight.”

“Oh is that so? Sorry then, it’s cool-“

“Oh no no don’t worry! If it’s Liam, I don’t mind canceling at all!”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out.”

“Absolutely, that last weekend with Liam was much more fun than my last date.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that I enjoyed listening to music and taking my nephew out to dinner than I did going on a blind date. What did YOU mean?”

“Oh, nothing. A-Anyways I’ll be over with Liam in a little bit unless you need some time.”

“No I should be good, see you soon!”

“Alright bye.”

Lincoln hung up the phone and felt embarrassed at his question; just what was he trying to insinuate? Lincoln remembered how much fun it was to hang out with Luna when he was a kid, so why did it feel so different with Liam? He shook his head, clearing any sort of misguided thoughts and walked back over to Liam’s room.

“Hey Champ, Aunt Luna said it’s alright if you stayed over again; ten minutes?” Said Lincoln as he opened the door.

“Awesome!  I‘ll get ready right now!” Said Liam who sprang from his chair; Lincoln found his enthusiasm unsettling.

It didn’t take long before both of them were ready to depart to Luna’s house once again. The two hopped into the car and drove off…


At Luna’s house…


Just like last weekend, Lincoln and Liam walked up to Luna’s front door and rang the doorbell, awaiting a reply.

“Hey bro! And hey Liam!” Said Luna as she opened the door to give both of them tight hugs.

“Alright well you know the drill Liam, be good for your Aunt Luna.”

“Oh I’m sure he will be.” Said Luna as she pulled Liam close and over the threshold of her door.

“Bye Dad!” Said Liam, giving a wave goodbye.

“Alright well I’ll come back for Liam later tonight, have fun you two.” Said Lincoln as he began to walk away, shaking his head and muttering unintelligibly.

“Will do!” Said both in unison


At Lily’s house…


Lincoln pulled up to Lily and Chris’ house, it being a rather modest single story house. Lily had gotten out of college and worked as a graphic designer for a video game company that was based out of Chicago. As the years went by, Lincoln had spent a lot of time with Lily and because of this; Lily had picked up a few of Lincoln’s hobbies. One of the hobbies that Lily had attached herself to was video games and to a lesser extent, comic books. Along with her husband working as a paramedic, the two of them were able to afford a decent house.

Lincoln walked up to the door and pressed the doorbell, waiting for an answer. To his surprise though, it wasn’t Lily or her husband that answered, but their three-year old son.

“Hello?”

“Hey there!” Said Lincoln as he squatted down to look his nephew in the eye.

“AAAHHH!!” Screamed Lewis as he dashed further into the house.

“What’s wrong sweetie??” Said a female voice, who Lincoln later saw was Lily as she approached the door.

“Hello.” Lincoln didn’t step into the house, but he stuck his head in and waved to his baby sister.

“Oh Lincoln! Come on in!” Said Lily, Lewis wrapped around her leg looking frightened.

“Hey Lily how have you been?” Said Lincoln in an almost rhetoric manner; it was evident that she was tired.

“Just hanging in there, Lewis here has kept Chris and I busy.” Said Lily as she patted her son’s head who was still clinging to his mother. “It’s okay sweetie, this is your Uncle Lincoln.”

“Uncle… Lincoln?” Lewis looked at Lincoln with a wary eye, almost inspecting him.

“Yes that’s right; he’s your mommy’s favorite brother!”

“I sure hope I am; I’m your only brother!”

“I’m just messing around, oh and before I forget-“Lilly nearly jumped Lincoln, giving him a tight squeeze.

“Heh, you haven’t changed a bit Lil-Lil” Said Lincoln as he hugged her back, placing a hand on her head and giving it a pat. Of all of her siblings, Lincoln was easily the one Lily clung to the most as she grew up; this affection didn’t change even after decades had passed.

“I told you not to call me that!” Said Lily, pouting with red cheeks which elicited only a laugh from Lincoln.

“Where is Chris?”

“He’s at work at the moment; hopefully he’ll be home later tonight.”

“Hopefully?”

“Well yeah he’s on call, so he can be pulled whenever in an emergency.”

“Ohhh yeah.”

“Anyways, why don’t you sit down, I’ll get you something to drink! Come on Lewis.” Said Lily as she picked her son up and walked over to the kitchen.

“Is beer okay?”

“Yeah beer would be just fine.” Said Lincoln as he sat down on the couch in front of the T.V.

“Alright; Chris drinks Coor’s if that’s alright with you.” Lily returned with an ice cold beer in one hand and an iced tea in the other, handing the beer to Lincoln before she sat down close next to him.

Lewis looked at how close Lily was being with Lincoln and pouted, after a minute he jumped in between the two and wedged himself in, latching onto his mother while looking at Lincoln with judgmental eyes.

“Oh don’t worry about him; he’s just very attached to his mommy.” Said Lily as she held Lewis against her.

“I can definitely see that.” Lincoln gave a chuckle as he opened his beer and took a drink from it.

“So how have things been? It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve talked.”

“I wish I could say they’ve been great.” Said Lincoln with heavy sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh work’s just been killing me lately, plus I just haven’t been feeling all that great lately.”

“Like emotionally or physically?”

“Physically; I still don’t know what’s going on.”

“Well, have you gone to the doctor’s?”

“Well uh, no.”

“Well why not??”

“Cause.”

“That’s not a good reason!”

“Well it’s my reason okay?”

“You’ve got to take care of yourself Lincoln, please.” Lily looked at her brother with eyes of concern and a tinge of fear.

“Don’t worry, I am taking care of myself; it’s just been kind of rough lately. Anyways how have you been?”

“Things have been pretty crazy lately, we thought that maybe things would slow down as Lewis was no longer a baby, but they’ve just gotten crazier.”

“Heh, yeah I remember those days. “

“How did you and Christina do it?”

“Patience… And coffee; lots of coffee.” Said Lincoln as he looked into the distance, reliving his memories. As he started to think back to those days, however stress-filled they might have been, at least Christina was there by his side. Tears started to pool in his eyes as he lost himself to his past.

“Lincoln?”

“What? Oh yeah, just have a lot of patience and you’ll get through it.”

“You’re crying Lincoln.”

“Huh? Said Lincoln he placed a couple fingers below his right eye, noticing that they were wet. He quickly wiper away the tears, slightly embarrassed.

“Sorry about that.” Lincoln gave a quick sniffle to clear his nose.

“No, I’m sorry; it still hasn’t been that long has it?” Said Lily, who now looked rather somber.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it; I’m okay.” Lincoln placed his hand on his sister’s head and ran his hand down her hair in a comforting manner.

“Okay.” Lily gave a smile, though it seemed a little empty.


They resumed chatting after that, both of them talking about their families and jobs as well as the state of their siblings. Throughout the entire visit though, Lily was sticking to Lincoln like glue, much to Lewis’ annoyance. Still, Lincoln managed to get on his good side and played with him a little bit. The day was coming to an end though and it was time to say goodbye.

“Alright well I guess it’s time to head out; I gotta’ pick Liam up on the way home.” Said Lincoln as he rose from the couch and walked towards the door.

“I wish you could stay for just a little longer…” Said Lily as she followed Lincoln to the door, with Lewis following closely behind her.

“Heh, I do too; it’s been great seeing you again.” Lincoln opened his arms out, ready to receive a hug from his sister who flung herself towards him and hugged him tightly.

“I’m going to miss you Lincoln, come back and visit soon.”

“I promise I will.” Lincoln hugged her back and ran his hand over Lily’s head, running his fingers through her hair. He noticed though a pulling sensation though near his leg; to his surprise it was Lewis tugging on his pant leg.

“Bye Uncle Lincoln…”Said Lewis who turned his head away bashfully.

“Later Lewis; you and take good care of your Mommy when your Dad is at work okay?” Said Lincoln as he picked his nephew up and gave him a hug before setting him down; Lewis offering only a nod in response to Lincoln’s request.

“Alright well I’m off.” Lincoln stepped out the door and started to walk away, turning his hand back and giving a wave.

“Love you Lincoln.” Said Lily, trying to catch him before he went out of earshot.

“I love you too Lil-Lil.” Said Lincoln with a sly smile before walking away and into his car.


At Luna’s house…


Lincoln walked up to Luna’s door ready to pick Liam up and get back home. As he went to knock on the door though, he stopped when a thought crossed his mind. Instead of knocking, he decided to discreetly put his ear to the door, maybe getting a hint of what they were doing. After a bit though, he was ready give up. Unfortunately for him her didn’t give up soon enough, falling forward as the door opened up to reveal Luna and Liam.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Said Luna who looked at Lincoln with a look of judgement and umbrage.

“Oh! Uh, nothing! How did you know I was at the door?”

“We saw your car pull up and though it was weird when you didn’t knock.”

There was nothing that Lincoln could do but give an embarrassing chuckle.

“Well uh, you ready to go Liam?”

“Okay…” Said Lincoln, disappointed that his time with his aunt was up.

“Thanks for coming over sweetie.” Said Luna as she bent over to give him a hug and kiss on the cheek. “You really know how to show a girl a good time!”

“Bye Aunt Luna!” Said Liam as he kissed on the cheek as well; this all still didn’t sit right with Lincoln.

“Thanks for watching him again Luna.” This time it was Lincoln’s turn to give Luna a hug.

“No problem bro. You can drop him off here anytime, I won’t mind.”

“I’ll keep it in mind; you have a good night.” Lincoln broke his hug and began to walk away giving Luna one last goodbye wave.

“You too bro!” Said Luna as she waved back before going inside.


The next day…


Lincoln sighed as he browsed his computer, checking his email and drinking a glass of water.

“Man I miss my coffee…” Said Lincoln as he stared at his glass.

He rested his chin on his hand as he thought about his sisters; he had finally seen or at least talked to all of them, save for his final sister. He looked back on how much time he had spent this last month reconnecting, and now that was all coming to an end. He stood up and walked over to kitchen to pick up the phone, dialing Lisa’s number.

“Well nine down and one to go…” Said Lincoln as he waited for Lisa to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Lisa, hey how are you?”

“Oh Lincoln, it’s nice to hear from you again.”

“You too, how’s work going.”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you too much about that, but the testing is going very well.”

Lisa was definitely one of the more successful sisters; the Nobel Prizes that she won as a youth was a testament to that fact. Still, she wasn’t able to truly pick up a career until her adult life at which point she made her move eastward towards the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to act as a quantum physicist. So absorbed in her work, she never found the time for relationships or marriage and so she continued to live as a bachelorette, though this was no problem to her. She also managed to overcome the lisp she had as a child.

“And how about you Lincoln; how are things faring for you?”

“They’ve been going alright; I’m still getting wrecked by this stupid CFS.”

“CFS?”

“Yeah Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-“

“Yes I am aware of what Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is; my reaction was due to the fact that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is far more common in women than men. Have you been properly diagnosed?”

“Well uh… No.”

“So you’re saying that you self-diagnosed yourself with an ailment that is far more likely to affect women than men?”

“Well hey, Lana’s husband has it!”

“Yes he does, as was diagnosed by a professional doctor, not self-diagnosed. I’m no doctor, but what are your symptoms? I might have an inkling if you tell me them.”

“Well I’ve just been really tired all the time…” Lincoln was afraid to say more; he knew that with Lisa’s genius, she could piece together at least hint of what might be the true problem.

“And?”

“Well I’ve also lost my appetite…”

“What else?”

“…I’ve also been really short of breath.” Now he was getting into the scary stuff, stuff that might not just be CFS.

“Anything else?”

“W-Well um, sometimes I kind of get this weird tingling feeling in my chest.”

“Hmm…”

“A-And there was one time…”

“…One time what?”

“There was one time where I think I passed out while talking to Lola; it was only for a second though.”

There was a period of silence that followed. To Lincoln it felt like years, Lisa’s next sentence frightened him to his core; what was she going to tell him?

“Lincoln there’s a chance you might have a heart disease and from your symptoms you could possibly have restrictive cardiomyopathy.”

“W-What’s that?”

“I’m not a physician, so I can’t tell you if that’s what you have or not; but it sounds like it. It’s a heart disease in which the lower walls of your heart are abnormally rigid. I extremely suggest you see your doctor about this right away Lincoln, heart disease is not something to be trifled with.”

“Yeah… I should shouldn’t I?”

“Please, for the sake of everyone who loves you; see your doctor.” Lisa’s normally apathetic voice was shaking with concern for her only brother. “I am so sorry for being the one to tell you this.”

“No it’s fine; someone needed to tell me eventually.” Lincoln sighed; he didn’t know what to do.

“Well, how is Liam holding up?”

“He’s doing okay, just school.” As Lincoln spoke it almost felt like the responses he was giving were automated; there was just too much running through his mind.

“Well that’s good to hear…”

Silence followed after that feeble attempt to resume conversation; there was no salvaging this phone call.

“I… I gotta’ go Lincoln.”

“Yeah, okay...”

“Promise me you’ll see that doctor.”

“I promise…”

“I love you Lincoln.”

“Love you too…” Lincoln hung up the phone, setting it in the cradle and walked back to his room where he shut the door and sat on his bed.

As he sat down, his face fell forward and stared at the floor; unable to freely move; paralyzed by fear. He placed his hands on his head and ran his fingers through his hair; tears slowly starting to stream down his face. He could feel his throat closing in sorrow and gasped for air, shaking his head. He knew that he’d have to face this; he knew it the moment when he felt his heart flutter for the first time. He just didn’t want to face it; he didn’t want to face the idea of leaving Liam alone in this world.

He was scared; he was utterly lost on where to go next. He knew he had to go and see his doctor, but he was terrified at the thought of them keeping him away from Liam just like they had with Christina. He couldn’t help but sob as reality assaulted him, his shell of blissful ignorance cracking and breaking.

“Christina, please… Please help me… I don’t know what to do…” Lincoln could barely choke out words amidst the cries. “What would you do? I need you now… Tell me what the right thing to do is… I can’t leave Liam alone; I can’t put him through that again...”

“Please… Christina…”


Later that week…


Lincoln walked up to a large building; it was the building that where his physician resided. He took a deep sigh; Liam was at school so he didn’t have to worry about him and he managed to get the day off of work, all that was left was to finally face the truth. He stepped inside and looked around for the doctor’s office, finding it shortly afterwards.
He opened the door, walking into the room and up to the office clerk’s desk.

“Um hello; I’m Lincoln Loud I have an appointment with Dr. Phan at 11:00?” Said Lincoln who leaned in a little.

The clerk looked through her computer for a second, scanning for Lincoln’s appointment. To Lincoln, ever silent second felt scary; in fact this entire day felt terrifying.

“Alright here you are; okay well just take a seat and we’ll call you when he’s ready to see you.”

“Thanks.” Lincoln gave the shortest nod before walking over to one of the chairs to sit down.

As he sat down he looked at the watch on his wrist; there was still about ten minutes until 11:00. Lincoln took another deep sigh and looked up at the ceiling in thought.

“Restrictive cardiomyopathy huh?” Lincoln thought to himself. “I can only guess what that means….”

Lincoln couldn’t help but fidget in nervousness as the minutes passed, twitching every time the doctor’s door opened for another patient. Lincoln couldn’t really think of another time where he was so on edge, save for when he waited to hear about Christina’s diagnosis.

The ten minutes passed though and the door opened,

“Lincoln Loud?”

Lincoln immediately shot up from his seat in a rather unflattering manner, startling those sitting around him. He looked around to see their faces and blushed in embarrassment. Nevertheless, he followed the nurse through the door and into one of the patient rooms, sitting on the examination table.

“Now then what are you in for?”

“I’ve uh… I’ve been having some heart problems as well as a few others.”

“Such as?”

“Well I noticed that I’m tired all the time, I’m barely eating, I can barely exercise without getting winded and even when I’m doing nothing I start to feel out of breath.”

The nurse merely nodded as she wrote down the symptoms. “Anything else?”

Lincoln inhaled sharply as he got to what he considered the worst of the symptoms.

“Yeah, yeah there is. I noticed a while back that I’ve been having some weird fluttering in my chest and well… I think I did faint once during a phone call.”

Now that she had written the symptoms down, she began the usual routine of taking Lincoln’s temperature as well as his weight, which had seem to surprisingly go up despite his lack of eating.

“Alright well Dr. Phan will be with you in a few minutes.” Said the nurse before she left the room and closed the door.

Lincoln placed a hand on his head, running his fingers through his hair nervously. Now there was even more time to wait until he spoke with Dr. Phan to find out what was really happening. He was scared, but a part of him just wanted to just get it over with. Now that he had reached this point, he wanted to learn the truth as fast as he could.

A few minutes passed and the door opened, revealing Lincoln’s doctor.

“Good afternoon.” Said Dr. Phan as he sat down on his stool looking at his folder, a warm and comforting smile on his face.

“Hello.” Said Lincoln nervously.

“So, Lincoln, you said you’re having some heart troubles?” Dr. Phan stood up and grabbed his otoscope, doing the usual check-up routine.

“Yeah…”

“Hmm, and how long have you been feeling this way?”

“Maybe a month now?”

“Any reason why you waited until now?”

“I guess… Facing the possibility of heart problems was scarier than I thought.”

“Hmm… Well let’s see what your heart has to say about this.” Dr. Phan put his stethoscope to Lincoln’s chest and listened; immediately he noticed a problem.

“Breath in, then breath out.”

Lincoln complied a few times as Dr. Phan switch between his chest and his back. After he was done, Dr. Phan took off his stethoscope and looked at Lincoln with a very serious face.

“It does seem like you’re having some heart issues.”

“What kind of heart issues?” Lincoln was on the edge of his seat, dying to know what was going on inside of him.

“Well your heart isn’t beating normally.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well when your heart beats, it beats like this,” Dr. Phan curled up his hand into a light fist and placed it over his chest, tapping it at a certain rate. “One, two, one, two.”

“Okay…”

“Your heart is beating like this; One… One, two. One… One… One two.” Said Dr. Phan as tapped his chest again to display how Lincoln’s heart was beating.

“So what does that mean?”

“Well from what I can tell your heart is having trouble beating. It wants to beat, but something is causing it to have trouble.”

Lincoln felt like screaming, his worst fears were coming true. Perhaps there could be a silver lining in all of this though; he really hoped there would be one.

“Do you know what’s causing it to be that way?”

“No; I can only guess at this point. If it’d be alright with you I’d like to get a chest X-ray and some bloodwork done.” Said Dr. Phan as he closed the folder.

“Sure, that’s fine.”

“Okay then, we’ll have the papers for you to pick up on your way out. Once you get those done I’d like for you to come back so we can discuss it further.”

“Alright then.” Said Lincoln as he hopped off the examination table and straightened himself out.

“Have a good day.” Said Dr. Phan just about to exit the room.

“Hey Dr. Phan?”

“Hmm?”

“My sister who told me to go see you said that I might have something called restrictive cardiomyopathy? Is that a possibility?”

“…Yeah, it is still a possibility; it’s very rare though. We’ll talk more after we get your blood work and X-Rays.”

“Okay, thanks.”


After a few weeks…


This was it; Lincoln had finished both his bloodwork and his X-Rays and now it was time to go back to Dr. Phan. He found himself back in the waiting room, waiting for his name to be called again. He had a lot of time to think over the last few weeks, thinking about Liam and his future mostly. Unfortunately for Lincoln, his condition started to worsen; he was now having chest pains and an occasional fainting spell. Even through it all, he managed to keep the worst of it from Liam; Lincoln didn’t want to tell him anything until he was sure of what he had.

“Lincoln Loud?”

Lincoln stood up, though not as erratically as last time. No, he knew that it was time for this mystery to be solved. He followed the nurse into another room just like last time and she performed the usual check-up routine.

“So are you still experiencing the same symptoms?” Said the nurse.

“Yeah, but they’ve been getting a lot worse.”

“A lot worse how?”

“Well now it isn’t just flutters, it’s full on pain. Plus I’ve also started to faint more.”

“Alright; I’ll let Dr. Phan know. He’ll be in here in a few minutes.” Said the nurse as she left.

Fortunately the time seemed to have passed quicker with this return visit; perhaps it was because he was much calmer.

Dr. Phan came in, still giving a warm and welcoming smile.

“Good afternoon Lincoln.”

“Afternoon.”

Dr. Phan sat down on his stool and breathed in deeply; as if preparing himself for something.

“Well Lincoln, we’ve got your results back.”

“So what’s the verdict?”

“It seems your sister guessed right; judging from the bloodwork and X-rays, it looks like you have what’s called restrictive cardiomyopathy.” Dr. Phan had turned on a monitor that illuminated the X-rays as he pinned them to it.

“If you can see it, what’s happening is the walls on your ventricles are hardening for some reason; that’s why they seem to be a little darker than the ones up here.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well when your heart beats, it pumps blood in and out, expanding and contracting. Your heart however is having difficulty expanding, specifically the lower half of your heart.”

“Do you know why?”

“Well from what I can tell it looks to be some buildup of scar-tissue.”

“Scar tissue?”

“Yeah; if you have RCM there’s a chance you’ll start building up scar tissue for no reason.”

“What do you mean no reason?”

“I mean we don’t know why it does that, but it happens. There have been patients that have had healthy hearts just suddenly start building up scar tissue and then this happens.”

“So what’s going to happen to me?”

“Well since you waited so long, it’s already pretty advanced; how are you feeling now?”

“Not good… I’ve been getting bad chest pain and some fainting.”

“Hmm yes, that’s what I was told.”

“So is there like a medication I could take to make this go away?”

“It won’t go away. You’ll have to live with this, though if you’re getting chest pain and fainting spells we might want to look into heart surgery.”

Immediately Lincoln’s face turned pale. “H-Heart surgery?”

“Yes. From these X-rays and your descriptions, the RCM is developing quickly and it won’t be long before your heart seizes up on you.”

Lincoln began to panic again, that feeling of helplessness had returned. Heart surgery or a slow death; were those really his only two choices?

“I-I can’t, I have a son to take care of!”

“Then surgery is your best option.”

“…But is that dangerous?”

“Heart surgery is always risky; I won’t lie to you and tell you that you have nothing to worry about. That being said it’s better than assured death. It’s up to you to take the surgery or not.”

Time passed, and to Lincoln it felt like years. Death was at his doorstep; not taking the surgery would definitely lead him to his end, but so could surgery. Surgery at least had a chance of survival.

“Dr. Phan, if I take the surgery, what are my odds?”

“Given your current condition, I’d say you’ve got a 70% chance.”

“70%...”

More time passed as Lincoln thought about everything; he felt like breaking down. He wanted to be strong though in front of someone, he could cry on his own time. He couldn’t help but choke up though; to have such a situation thrust upon him was hard to take. He felt tears welling up in his eyes as he looked down and clenched his teeth hard.

“It’s okay.” Said Dr. Phan who had placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to help Lincoln cope.

“…I’ll take the surgery.”

“You’re doing the right thing.”

“Yeah…”


Later that day…


Lincoln had come home with Liam following behind him. Ever since he received the news about his heart condition, Lincoln wore a morose look. This troubled Liam, mostly because Lincoln was acting oddly dismissive towards him, brushing off any questions about his wellbeing.

The two split off from each other silence, both of them going to their own rooms.
Liam walked into his, tossing his backpack by the wayside before sitting at his computer desk in contemplation.

Liam was quite frankly, befuddled by his father’s sudden attitude shift. He had the day off, so it couldn’t have been work related, so what was it that shook his dad so much? Liam shook his head he vainly tried to figure out what was causing such a grim expression from his dad, unaware of his doctor’s visit.

Meanwhile Lincoln had walked into his room and immediately collapsed onto his bed, beginning to weep freely now that he was home, though he made sure not to alarm Liam.

He couldn’t help but cry; what was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to tell Liam this? The mere thought of telling his son, who had already lost his mother to sickness, that he was dying and has to have life threatening surgery caused him to sob. He was going to have to see the smile the boy had finally regained after such a long time of grief shattered again; the thought was too much to bear.

“How… How can I tell him? He’s my little guy… my champ… How can I tell him that his daddy’s sick? I just can’t do it!” Said Lincoln as he began to sob.

Lincoln’s mind raced, he couldn’t figure out the right time to tell Liam about the surgery. Should he tell him tonight? Lincoln doubted that Liam would get much sleep if he told him now.

He had to tell him though.

Before that though, he needed to ask a favor…

He grabbed his bedside phone, wiping the tears from his eyes and dialing the phone.

“Yello?” Said Luna.

“Hey Luna.” Said Lincoln in a grave tone of voice.

“O-Oh uh, hey Lincoln; do you got something on your mind?”

“I need you to do me a favor.” Said Lincoln as he sat at his computer desk, opening up the web browser.

“Does it have to do with Liam?”

“Yeah, I also gotta’ call Leni after this.”

“What’s going on dude?” Luna’s voice was now filled with concern for her brother.

Lincoln took a deep breath before he spoke, as if he was trying to force the words out. “I’m dying Luna.”

“W-What?”

“You know how I haven’t been feeling well for like the last month or so?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“I went to the doctor’s; they told me that I have a heart disease.”

“What?? How??” Luna’s voice was becoming more and more panicked as Lincoln carried on with his thoughts.

“They don’t’ know. But the disease is too far advanced now; I have to get surgery.”

A long silence passed between the two before Luna began to speak again.

“C-Come one bro… You don’t make jokes like that… That’s not cool…”

Lincoln merely held his tongue, waiting for reality to set in for Luna.

“You’re joking right? Right?”

More silenced passed.

“Lincoln I need you to tell me that you’re joking. Lincoln?” It was clear that Luna was starting to grow hysterical.

“…You’re not joking.”

Now that Luna was finally coming to terms with the truth, Lincoln decided to speak quickly before Luna lost herself to anguish that had just fallen on her.

“Luna I need you to stay with me on this.” Said Lincoln hastily.

“I-I just don’t know…”

“Don’t know what?”

“Just...don’t know man…”

“Luna!” Barked Lincoln, trying to snap his sister out of it.

“What!?”

“Can you take a day off of work next week?”

“What for?”

“I need two witnesses for writing my will-“

“STOP IT! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THIS!”

“Luna, please.”

“NO. No, just… I’ll call you back later tonight. I need some time…” Said Luna as she hung the phone up on Lincoln, prompting a sigh from him.

“Well I guess I’ll try Leni now…” Said Lincoln as he dialed the phone again.

“Hello?” Said Leni who answered after several rings.

“Leni, it’s Lincoln.”

“Oh hi Lincoln! How are you??”

“I’ve been better. Leni I need you to do me a big favor.”

“Mmhmm?”

“Is there any chance you can take a day off of work next week? It’s really, really, really important.”

“Uh, I guess I could. What do you need?”

“I’m going to write my will next week and I need witnesses.”

“A will?? Why??”

“Remember how I said I wasn’t feeling good last time we talked?”

“Uhuh.”

“Well I went to the doctor’s.”

“And?”

“And the doctor told me that I have a heart disease; I have to have surgery or I’ll die.”

“WHAT!?” Yelled Leni, causing Lincoln to move the phone away from his ear.

“D-Do you really have to get surgery??” Said Leni, who was obviously starting to cry.

“Yes Leni… I do.”

Lincoln could hear the sobs coming from Leni over the phone causing him to tear up as well.

“Leni, Leni I need you to listen to me.” Said Lincoln, who also began to cry as he listened to his sister break down.

“Y-Yes Lincoln, I’m here.” Leni was barely able to choke out the words amidst her cries. “I’m here Lincoln…”

“Can you take next Thursday off?”

“Yes, yes I’ll take any take any day you want off…”

“Thank you Leni… I love you.”

“I-I LOVE YOU T-TOO!” Lincoln’s last three words pushed Leni past her breaking point, she began to sob hysterically, and Lincoln could hear what he assumed were Rick’s footsteps rushing towards her.

Lincoln couldn’t take the sounds of Leni’s bawling; he hung up the phone and laid on his bed waiting for Luna’s call.

Hours passed as the night set in. Lincoln rose from his bed and stepped out of his room to say goodnight to Liam.

He walked over to Liam’s door and knocked on it before entering.

“Alright champ, time for bed.”

Liam turned off his computer with his usual grumble and walked over to Lincoln to give him a hug goodnight.

“Night Dad.”

Lincoln grabbed onto Liam and held him tightly. He didn’t want to let go, he wanted to hold onto him as long as he could.

“I love you too champ. I love you so much...”

After a bit thought it was clear that Liam wanted to get to bed as he started to shift out of the hug. As he let go he heard the phone ring; it was Luna. Letting go of Liam, he went to his room and picked up the call.

“Hello?” Said Lincoln.

“Hey” Said Luna in almost defeated manner, as if the grief that she felt before had won over her.

“Hey.”

“So what day do you need me for?”

“Thursday.”

“…Yeah I can do Thursday.”

“Thank you Luna.”

“No problem.”

“I love you-“

“Don’t finish that. I have cried enough tonight, don’t say anything that will make me cry even more.”

“…Okay.”

“Good night Lincoln.”

“Good night Luna.”


Next Thursday…


Lincoln stepped into the apartment once again with Liam following behind him.

Lincoln made his decision; he had already taken care of his will, so he figured that he might as well tell Liam as well.

Liam began to walk towards his room before he was stopped by Lincoln.

“Hey Liam.”

“Yeah Dad?”

“…Actually you know what; go drop off your backpack and get comfortable. I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Okay…” Said Liam, as he walked into his room, a little confused by his dad’s words.

Lincoln decided to do the same and walked into his room to change into some more comfortable clothes.

He walked back into the living room and sat on the couch, waiting for Liam who showed up shortly afterwards.

“What’s up Dad? Said Liam as he sat down on the couch next to Lincoln.

“Liam… I’ve uh…” Lincoln inhaled sharply and shook his head a little; he had no idea how he was going to do this. “Liam I need to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been kind of having a hard time lately. I haven’t been sleeping well, I don’t eat…”

“Yeah, but you told me it was just CFS.”

“Well that’s what I thought. But I saw doctor Phan earlier this month; and he told me that I don’t have CFS.”

“Well then what do you have?”

“He said that there was something wrong with my heartbeat. I had to go in and get some bloodwork done, and I also had to get some X-rays.”

Lincoln turned his head to see Liam, who looked at him with terror and sadness. He took another deep breath, his voice shaking as he continued his explanation.

“They got the X-rays back… And they said I got what’s called restrictive cardiomyopathy.”

“W-What?”

“It’s a heart disease. For whatever reason, my heart isn’t expanding properly.”

Lincoln couldn’t bear to look at Liam’s tearful face, but he had to.

“… I gotta’ get heart surgery.”

“Heart surgery?” Said Liam, who was trying his best to hold his tears back.

“Yeah… They said there’s a chance…. There’s a chance... that I might not make it…” Lincoln himself was beginning to cry, he could barely utter out his last thought. He looked towards Liam and saw his son with tears streaming down his face endlessly but didn’t say anything.

“Son… I’m sorry. I am so… so sorry…” Said Lincoln, barely able to contain himself.

Liam couldn’t do anything but cover his face with his hands as he began to sob. He couldn’t say anything or do anything other than sit and release the pain that he was feeling. Seeing this Lincoln grabbed onto him tightly and held him with an iron grip; both of the crying on each other’s shoulders.

“You’re going to be okay right Dad?” Said Liam, barely able to speak.

“Yeah, I’m going to get through this. We’re going to get through this.”

”Please… Don’t go Dad!”

“I have to Liam; I won’t last with this heart. I’m so sorry…”

The two held each other there, neither of them able to let go of the other in fear that they’d never be able to hold each other again…


Next month…


Lincoln was now here; in the hospital and ready for surgery. He looked towards Luna, who had accompanied him to the hospital.

“Well I guess this is it, huh?”

“Don’t say it like that; you’re going to come out of this just fine.”

“Yeah, I know I will.” Said Lincoln as he gave Luna the tightest hug that he could give a person; he truly didn’t know if she was going to be the last person he would be able to hug.

“I love you bro, I’ll be waiting for you right here.” Said Luna as she began to tear up.

“I love you too sis. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Lincoln walked past the surgery doors, dressing into his hospital gown, and taking care of all the necessary preparations before surgery. He followed the nurse down the hall and to the operating room, though the hall seemed to stretch on for miles.

As he walked, he saw every part of his life thus far. He recalled his first memory as a child, then then everything that had gone on throughout it, and the wonderful times he had with his sisters.

As he walked further, he saw the memory of when he and Christina first got together in high-school. He remembered everything about that day and the euphoria that he felt back then.

He continued to walk, and saw his life with Christina and their marriage. He smiled as he remembered how beautiful she looked.

And then he saw Liam; his pride and joy. Lincoln couldn’t describe the happiness that he felt when he first held him. He watched his memories of seeing Liam grow up pass by, chuckling as he remembered the antics that Liam would get into.

But then he hit a tearful memory, the memory of seeing Christina in that hospital bed. He shook his head, trying to push past the memory, but he couldn’t forget the last time he saw her face.

He finally reached the end of the hall and with it the last memory. He fondly remembered seeing Liam recover from the loss of his mother. Though the pain would always be there, it made Lincoln happy to see his son smile after so long.

“I love you Liam…” Muttered Lincoln as he reached the operating table and laid down.

Lincoln laid there as the nurses prepped him with anesthesia and leaned him back, staring at the ceiling.
He could feel the anesthesia starting to kick in and forcing his eyes to close. As he closed them, he smiled one last time…


Hours later…


Luna sat patiently in the waiting room, constantly looking at the door in the hopes of seeing Lincoln step out.  She kept fidgeting the entire time due to her constant worrying over her brother’s condition. She kept telling herself that he’d be okay, he’d be just fine and he’d walk right out those doors alive and well.

Finally though the doors opened and Luna’s face lit up with excitement. That excitement though started to fade though as one of the doctors stepped out without Lincoln. She tried to look around the doctor and down the hall, wondering where Lincoln could be.

Her curiosity was insatiable; she needed to know about Lincoln; which would soon be answered as the doctor called for her.

“Luna Loud?”

Luna immediately shot up from her seat and rushed over to the doctor, her heart freezing as worry began to set in.

“Yes I’m here! Where’s Lincoln?” Said Luna as she looked at the doctor expectantly.

The doctor answered with silence though. His expression told Luna all she needed to know though; she could see the tears in his eyes as he mourned the loss of his patient.

As if facing a monster of unimaginable horror, Luna stepped back with wide eyes. She couldn’t believe it; she didn’t want to believe it.

“I’m sorry.” Said the doctor who couldn’t help but turn his head in shame.

“S-Sorry for what? Where’s Lincoln?”

“Would you like to see him now, or later?”

“With all this talk your making it sound like he didn’t make it, but he did right? Right?” Luna was obviously in denial now, she refused to accept reality.

“If it’s too much, we can have you see him later in a couple hours. I’d take this time to notify the rest of your family. “

Luna’s legs wobbled, barely able to stand. She began to quiver and shake, holding onto her arms as the tears poured down her face. She exhaled slowly, almost in a shivering manner as she started to fall forward and onto the doctor who held her in condolence. She gasped for air deeply and stifled her cries to not sob aloud.

“It’s okay, you can cry. There’s no one else here.”

She paused and looked around the surgery waiting room, as the doctor said; it was completely empty save for the two of them. She needed release, and after seeing that making a scene here wouldn’t be bad, she decided to let all of her emotions out. She breathed in deeply and screamed out in pain, hugging on to the doctor for dear life as he held onto her lightly.

The tears would not stop falling; she shook her head frantically as she cried, wanting to wake up from this nightmare. As she continued to cry, she began to hiccup with all of the air she was taking in. She continued to cry for what seemed like hours before she grew exhausted and ran out of tears to shed.

She managed to break away from the doctor though, and stood herself up. She ran her hand across her eyes, trying to wipe away her tears and running mascara. She looked at the doctor, who returned her stare and with a silent conversation took place with both of them giving each other a nod and the doctor walking away.

After the doctor left, Luna plopped down on one of the chairs and cried a little bit more before taking a deep breath to break the sobs. She could barely think straight, but she was at a loss on how to tell the rest of her family. Her mind immediately jumped to Liam, now the boy without a family. If she hadn’t sobbed to the point of exhaustion over Lincoln, she was sure that the reality of having to tell Liam the news would have been almost as devastating.

She knew that she should tell Liam face to face, and not over word of mouth or a phone call, but she didn’t know if she could handle seeing a ten year old cry that much. Still. She knew what she had to do…


Back at home…


Liam was sitting on the couch next to his Aunt Leni, who stayed by his side the entire time. Liam couldn’t find it in him to do anything but sit and wait for his Dad to come back home. Fortunately Leni was there to soothe his worries as she held him close next to her, stroking his hair much like a mother would.

It was dark by the time Luna came back, knocking on the door to the apartment. Upon hearing the knocking, Liam sprint towards the door to open the door, with only Luna standing there.

“Aunt Luna? Where’s Dad?” Said Liam as Luna walked past him and into the apartment.

Luna closed the door for Liam and took his hand, bringing him over to the living room and sitting him down.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t Dad here?”

“Bud…” She wanted to tell him, but only now did she realize how painful it was to say these words. She kept trying to speak, but no sound came out; only tears.

“Bud your D-Dad…” Tears were starting to fall again as her lips quivered. “Y-Your D-Dad isn’t coming back home…”

As Leni watched Luna start to break down, she began to understand what she was saying. She placed a hand over her mouth, and started to cry.

Meanwhile Liam looked at Luna with eyes that screamed devastation and emptiness. She couldn’t look him in the eyes; she kept turning her head away.

“…W-What do you mean he’s not coming back home?” Said Liam, his voice shaking. “Aunt Luna?”

“Your Dad… He didn’t make it out of surgery…” With that sentence, Luna lost any sort of resilience she had created and began to break down.

“Y-You mean he’s gone? F-Forever?” Said Liam, his eyes watery and heart heavy. All Luna could do was offer a tearful nod.

“D-Dad’s gone… He’s gone…” Said Liam as tried coming to grips with the news.

“He’s gone… Dad… Dad is gone…” Liam kept repeating it like a mantra, as if he was trying to convince himself. During this time Luna had gotten up and sat next to him and opposite of Leni, both of them hugging him as they all cried.

“But I don’t want him to go… I want him home… I want my Dad home! I want my Dad to come home and see me!”

“I want him to come home and make pancakes, I want him to come home and paint models with me!” Said Liam as he began to lose control.

“Aunt Luna, please bring Dad home! Please!”

“I can’t Bud… I can’t do that. I am so sorry…”

Liam latched onto Luna and began sob, his ten-year old heart unable to bear the weight of the news.

“I want my Dad… I want my Daddy!” Screamed Liam as he cried in his aunt’s arms, while Leni comforted him from behind.

Liam cried endlessly through the night, not stopping until he passed out and even then there were still tears in his eyes. Both Luna and Leni put Liam to bed and sat on the couch.

“So what do we do now?” Said Leni, still trying to wipe the tears away.

“I… I don’t know. I guess we have to let everyone know…”

“None of us are going to take it well… But I can’t imagine what Lily will be like, she was so attached to Lincoln-“Leni stopped herself, pausing and tearing up again. “I don’t want to say ‘was’…”

Luna scooted up next to Leni, placing Leni’s head on her shoulder as she began her turn to mourn.

“I know Leni, I don’t want to either…”

“Will you stay with Liam until the will Luna?”

“Yeah…”


“Yeah…”


A few weeks later…


It was a cold morning as the Loud family gathered, all dressed in black and filled with grief. They had all met up outside of the cemetery, each of the siblings finally reunited after years of separation, though this was a not a reunion to be celebrated.

Luna and Liam were there before anyone else was, though Leni’s family showed up shortly afterwards. As Leni’s family walked up to Luna and Liam, Lacey and Liam made eye contact with each other. The quickly dashed towards each other, social cues be damned, as Liam held tightly onto his cousin and cried.

Lacey was one of the few he felt truly comfortable crying on, the others being his Aunt Luna and Leni. Maybe he was okay with Lacey because she was the sister he never had, an anchor to hold him in place in times like this. The two turned back and forth a little as the hug intensified, eventually loosening up.

“How are you doing Liam?” Said Lacey in a comforting tone.

“Not good…” Said Liam as he wiped his eyes. “I just… I just miss my Dad…”

Afterwards, they all exchanged hellos and condolences, with Liam hanging onto Leni for a little bit.
One by one all of the Loud sisters came in remembrance of their brother, the last to arrive being Lily. All of the other sisters knew that it was Lily that was the most devastated, and it showed even as she appeared with her husband and son; it was evident that her eyes were still red from crying.

Now that they were all gathered, they walked into the funeral home; the funeral room had already been set up beforehand with various pictures of Lincoln on display and the casket open, somber music playing and echoing throughout the room.

They all sat down, the sisters that had children shushing their cries over their departed uncle while their husbands held their wives close in mourning.

After they all sat down, the pastor overseeing the funeral walked up to the podium next to the casket.

“We are gathered here today, to mourn the loss of Lincoln Loud. He was a beloved brother; and strong father for his son. If anyone wishes to say their final words to Lincoln, then please step up and say your goodbyes.

They all wondered who’d be the first to walk up to Lincoln to say one last farewell to their beloved brother.

Lori looked to her other sisters who were all deep in grief and realized that she would have to be the one to take the first step.

“Baby, can you watch the kids? I want to say goodbye…” Said Lori as she stepped up from her seat and began to walk over to the casket.

She walked up the small set of steps and gazed upon her little brother wearing his best suit. Just looking at him and with the knowledge that he’ll never open his eyes again caused Lori to close her eyes and turn her head away; she couldn’t look at him.

“You may have always been a pain… B-but you were still my little brother… I love you…” Said Lori as covered her crying eyes with her hand and walked back to her seat.

Now that Lori had started the chain, Lana decided to be the next one to step up. She walked up to the casket and looked at Lincoln; all the memories between the two flooding back to her. She tried to stop the tears that had begun to spill in an attempt to say goodbye.

“Well… I-I guess you won’t be around to see Lyla huh? She won’t be able see just why you were such an awesome brother... But I’ll tell her. I’ll tell her all the great stories I have of you and make her see how cool you were… G-Goodbye L-Lincoln…” Lana didn’t even have the strength to walk away; that final goodbye had reduced her to a quivering mess as she stood in place and sobbed. Only with Matt’s help did she make her way back to her seat, where she resumed her mourning.

Now that Lana had gone up, it was clear that there wasn’t really an order as to who was going up to say farewell. With this in mind, Lynn had decided to go up next. Grabbing her crutches, she hobbled up towards him, though Lucas was right behind her to help her.

“You know… We played a lot of games together... And yet… It still feels like we didn’t play enough… If we could just play one more game of basketball together; one on one… M-Maybe then my heart… W-Wouldn’t hurt as much… Goodbye Lincoln….”

Lynn couldn’t cover her face as she cried; her hands were being used to hold herself up.  She closed her eyes and shook her head lightly, wishing that this was all just a bad dream. She turned herself around slowly as Lucas helped her back to her seat.

As Lynn sat down, Lucy decided to take her turn. She handed Laura off to Andrew and walked over to Lincoln.

“For the longest time, you were the only one who really understood me. You were there during the days in which I had no hope, the days where I felt alone in the world…” As Lucy continued, she kept wiping away the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. “I don’t think I could have asked for a better brother because… You were the best… Y-You really were…”  Lucy kept herself from growing hysterical, as much as she wanted to just let loose and cry in anguish. She covered her mouth as she walked back to her seat, falling onto her husband and sobbing on him.

After Lucy, Lola decided to that it would be her that would go next see Lincoln. She walked up and looked at her brother, now sleeping eternally.

“I knew it… I just knew that there was something wrong… Why didn’t I say something? Why didn’t I push it further? Maybe then… Maybe I’d still have my b-big b-brother…” Lola’s tone was a mix of sorrow and anger; she blamed herself for not realizing that Lincoln had fainted during their conversation. She turned away quickly, storming back to her seat in self-loathing and anguish.

Luan stepped up next and walked over to Lincoln, crying as soon as she saw him lying there. She watched him for a little bit as she began to think of all the regrets that she now felt.

“I can’t remember the last time I heard your laugh… I used to live for that y’know? You used to groan at my jokes a lot but every once in a while… Every once in a while I’d get that laugh from you and my heart soared. But now… Now I’ll never be able to hear it again… I miss you so much Lincoln…” Luan sniffled and wiped her eyes, but it didn’t do anything. Every time that she imagined his smile, his laugh, the tears would start again. She walked away, continuing her attempts to stop the tears but to no avail.

Lisa waited for Luan to sit back down before she stood up and walked over to Lincoln.

“I usually love being right… It was always one of the things I was good at. …But this was one of the times where I really, really didn’t want to be right. I just wanted you to have something simple, something easily treatable… But you had to prove me right…” Lisa began to tear up, finally letting emotions back into her life. “It’s been a long time since I cried... I forgot how much I hate it… Goodbye Lincoln, I love you…” Lisa removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes, clearing her vision as she walked back to her seat.

Leni decided to be the next; she stood up and walked over towards Lincoln, beginning to cry before she even took her first step. By the time she had reached Lincoln, she was already a teary mess.

“You were such a great brother Lincoln… You were always there for us when we needed help… And that’s what made you such a great uncle… L-Lacy and the others already m-miss you so much… You were the best Lincoln… Y-You really were… B-Bye L-Lincoln…” Leni could barely finish her goodbye; she had begun to sob and was barely able to make her way back to her seat.

Pretty much everyone had gone up, but now it was Lily’s turn. It took all of Lily’s strength to get up and walk over to the casket; she could barely keep her composure. As soon as she saw Lincoln she gasped and covered her mouth. Her big brother, her hero was now lying there lifeless. Lily thought she had prepared herself for this moment, but as she faced it, she realized that she could never have truly prepared for the pain that she now felt in her heart.

“Lincoln… It’s me…-Lil-Lil… Did you forget? You were supposed to come visit me again… You promised you would… I was so happy to see you again… I didn’t want you to go, but now you’re gone forever… My favorite brother… Why…” Lily couldn’t keep her composure any longer; she felt to her knees and covered her face, gasping for air amidst the sobs. “…W-Why did you have to leave!?” Seeing this, Chris quickly got up from his seat and raced over to help Lily up. He took Lily’s hand and led her back to her seat, where she sobbed furiously over the death of her brother.

All of the sisters had said goodbye, and now all that was left was Luna. Luna looked to Liam who was sitting next to her and held her hand out to him. Liam took her hand, following her to see his dad for the last time.

“Hey bro… Liam wants to talk to you…” Said Luna as she stepped aside.

“H-Hi Dad…” Said Liam, already beginning to cry. “Y-You were supposed to come back from the hospital and see me… You said you were going to be okay… T-That’s what you told me… So I tried to be strong, I stayed up all night to see you… B-But you didn’t come back.” Luna watched as her 10-year old nephew struggled to say goodbye to his Dad; she couldn’t help but cry as well as she watched.

“Aunt Luna came back though… A-And she told me what happened. S-She told me you weren’t coming home… That you didn’t make it... But you were supposed to be okay! You said we were going to get through this! So why… W-Why didn’t you make it Dad… I l-love you D-Dad… Please don’t go… I don’t wanna’ say goodbye…” Liam had begun to lose himself to grief, prompting Luna to hold on to him.

“C-C’mon bud… You’ve been strong enough…” Luna guided Liam back to his seat, looking back at Lincoln for one last goodbye.

“Goodbye bro… We’ll take good care of Liam…”

Hearing those words, Liam stopped and turned around to face Lincoln one last time. He clenched his fist, mustering all the strength he could.

“G-Goodbye D-Dad…”

Seeing Lincoln’s son tearfully say one last goodbye to his dad moved all of the Loud’s hearts. Barely able to stand any longer, Luna helped Liam to his seat, where he cried on her lap.

Now that they had all said their goodbyes, the pastor stood up and walked over to the podium again.

“Now that the goodbyes have been said, a eulogy has been prepared by Luna Loud; Ms. Loud?”

Luna stood up and walked back up the steps, standing at the podium and taking out a sheet of paper.

“It must have been hard, growing up in a house with 10 sisters. But that’s what Lincoln did. He was the only boy, and so he had to deal with the antics we would get up to. There were times when we made the wrong choices, and it affected him. Sometimes we said things, or we did things, that hurt him.

But through everything, through all that he had to go through growing up, he didn’t hold any resentment towards us. He was always there, looking out for even the sisters that were older than him. When we were down, or we were in trouble, we could always call on him for a helping hand.  It was thanks to him that I managed to get through the tough times I had after my divorce.

He was a great brother, our only brother; and one I know that none of us would ever trade for. I think that kindness and support is what Christina saw in him, and together they had a wonderful son. Even as Christina struggled with her illness, Lincoln was there for her and his son.

I’ve spent a lot of time with my nephew, and I can tell that Lincoln did an amazing job at being a father. What’s even more amazing is that he did such a great job alone for six years. Liam alone speaks volumes of Lincoln’s character, and I see a lot of him in Liam.

Lincoln was kind, supportive, and truly had a heart of gold. But most important of all, is that he was our one and only brother, and we wouldn’t have it any other way…”

By the time Luna was finished with the eulogy, the paper she was holding was crinkled by her ever increasing grip as the tears stream down her face. She sniffled and cleared her eyes of tears before saying thank you as she stepped down from the podium.

“We’ll now begin our movement to the burial site. Would the pall bearers please step up?” Said the pastor as he moved back to the podium.


At the grave site…


The Louds all gathered at the grave site; the day was still cold and the sun was obscured by the dark clouds that painted the sky.

The pall bearers, who were some of Lincoln’s closest friends throughout his life and had also attended the funeral, carried Lincoln to his final resting place. The grave was open; all that was left was to put him to rest.

The pall-bearers laid the casket down over the grave and the rest of the mourners began to place their roses over it in one final gift to Lincoln. Liam attached himself to Luna’s leg, holding his rose close to his chest as wept.

The Loud sisters saved their roses for last; after everyone else save for the children, had placed theirs before giving Lincoln one last token of love. Each of them took turns walking over and placing the rose over the casket, all of them saying “I love you” one last time.
Now that the sisters had placed theirs, Lincoln’s many nephews and nieces walked forward along with their parent to place their flowers, also giving a tearful goodbye.
All the flowers had been placed, except for Liam’s, who they decided should say goodbye last. Luna took Liam by the hand, and the two of them walked up to the casket, now covered in roses. Liam shuddered in grief as he shakingly placed his flower on the casket before saying

“Goodbye Dad… I love you…”


Seventeen years later…


It was calm, sunny, Spring day as a car drove through the cemetery, stopping near the section where Lincoln had been buried all those years ago.

Out of the car stepped a young man, wearing a set of nice clothes and clutching two small bouquets of flowers. Stepping out of the side was a young woman with long black hair, her stomach swollen with new life.

Both of them walked forward, navigating the plots before finding themselves before the gravestones of Lincoln and Christina Loud.

“Hey Mom, Hey Dad.” Said the young man. “It’s me, Liam.”

Liam wrapped his arm around the woman’s shoulder gently.

“I’ve brought Lina with me, as well as Lulu, soon Lulu will be able to say hi too.”

“Do you want some time alone with them sweetie?” Said Lina.

“Yeah, I think I’d like that.”

“I’ll be in the car.” Said Lina before she gave Liam a kiss on the cheek and left him alone with his parents.”

Liam looked around, regretting his decision to not bring a chair. He shrugged and sat on the grass, looking at both gravestones.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been coming around as often as I used to. Work has been a hassle, plus I’ve been taking care of Lina. Her due date is actually coming up real soon; it won’t be long before you guys have a beautiful granddaughter.”

“Things have been hard, going through life without you guys. I went to some pretty dark places after Dad left. I struggled through most of school since then, but I still managed to get good grades and was able to go to a good college. Now I’m married to a wonderful girl, and soon I’m going to be a father, just like you Dad. Sometimes I still can’t believe that I’ve made it this far.”

“I know neither of you were around for long, but I remember both of you loving me with all of your heart, and I hope that’s what Lina and I can do for Lulu. Oh I should mention that over the years I’ve gotten really good at making pancakes, now I can make them almost as good as yours were. Of course, Mom made the best food, no offense Dad.”

“You know when I think through all of the dark times in my life; the period of time not long after Dad passed where I didn’t speak to anyone but Aunt Luna or Lacey, the nights where I cried alone, those days where I wish I hadn’t woken up, and of course those few times where I came close to ending it all. I never once blamed you guys for them; in fact I think it was you guys that saved me.”

“Those few times that I came close, it was the thought of what your reactions would be if you found me, even though both of you weren’t with me anymore. It was just the thought of one of you two crying over me; I could never hurt you guys like that. I know you’re up there, watching over me and I know that you would have seen me end it all. I couldn’t do that to you, not after all the love that you have given me.”

“But I got through them; I pushed through the loss and the pain, and I sit here now, and I’m happy with my life. Even if it was just for 10 years, both of you were the best parents that I could ever ask for; though Aunt Luna did a good job of helping me through the rest.”

“Mom, I only knew you for six years. But I remember the warmth that I felt whenever you held me and the way that you always chased after me when I was running around everywhere. It’s faint, but I do remember your voice, the nights where I had bad dreams and you sang to me.” Liam breathed in deeply, his throat tightening as he recalled all of the memories that he had of his parents.

“And Dad, I knew you for 10 years, but there is so much that I remember. Those nights where I missed Mom, you’d always make me some hot chocolate and we’d sit in the living room and watch T.V. until I fell asleep. Oh and of course, those legendary pancakes; how could I forget those?” Tears began to well up as he dug deeper and deeper through his memories. “We never did build those Gundam models did we? Though I guess that was kind of my fault, I never really pushed us into making them, but not much can be done about it now huh? Maybe Lulu will be interested in it.”

“I-I still have Mr. Bunbun, it was like you said all those years ago; he really did get me through some tough times. Whenever I felt sad I held onto him, and when I did, I didn’t feel so sad anymore; maybe because I thought of you when I held him. Pretty soon though it’ll be Lulu’s turn to hold Mr. Bunbun and I hope that she treasures him as much as I did.”

“Heh, I don’t even really know what I’m trying to say anymore… I think it just sort of got lost in all of that. Anyways, I just wanted to come by and say hello again.” Liam stood up and stretched, pouring some water over the gravestones to clean them. After cleaning him he took the flower bouquets and placed them over his parents’ resting spot.

“I’ll be back to visit soon.” Said Liam as he wiped his eyes and sniffled. “Thank you guys for being my Mom and Dad, I love you both...”