So...it's been a while. Not going to go into details as to why it took me over six months to update, but long story short...a lot of not so fun stuff occurred. Regardless, I feel like I can return to focusing on this story as I may finally be out of the woods, so to speak. Not that I want to make any promises when I may not be able to keep them. Just be sure to peek in on my profile if any of you start to wonder what is going on regarding updates on any of my stories. At the very least, I plan on at least updating that when necessary. But for now I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter. And as always, honest reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome.

Avoiding Estrangement Chapter 16)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Loud House and make no profit from this story at all.

The good news was that the diaper Lily had left on the floor was clean. Although Luna wasn't so sure that this would remain a good thing for long. It was the only clean diaper she had at her disposal until she found the diaper bag. But first, there was the matter of finding the mischievous little streaker who was currently anywhere inside of the house.

Luna continued her search, checking every square inch of the dining room for Lily. After finding no further sign of the baby girl, she moved onto the kitchen. There she found nothing as well. But Luna did notice that the door to the basement was open and her gut told her that's where she should look next.

As Luna made her way towards the basement door, she suddenly found herself slipping on something. She barely managed to keep herself from falling by grabbing onto the table. But despite her efforts, she still found one of her knees in the puddle.

"Please don't be what I think this is." Luna muttered to herself.

Much to Luna's relief, she found that it was just water on the floor. Water that had been inside of a plastic cup which was currently lying on its side underneath the table. Luna took this as a sign that she was definitely on the right track. She could very easily see a certain little sister of hers being the one responsible for this mess.

After cleaning up the water and setting the cup into the sink, Luna ventured down into the basement. She grew a little concerned as she realized that the light wasn't on down there. There was no way Lily would climb down the stairs in the dark. At least, Luna hoped that she wouldn't. She decided to look anyways, not wanting to leave a stone unturned.

Luna turned the light on and looked around. She still didn't see the missing Loud anywhere. Although, the dryer door was open a bit and Luna found herself wondering if maybe Lily would have managed to crawl in there. But Luna dismissed it right away. Lily wouldn't try to do that, even if she could...would she?

There was only one way to now for sure.

Moving quickly, Luna got to the dryer. She leaned down, opening the door all of the way to get a good look inside. A pile of clothes sat in the drum, left behind from a last minute load of laundry that Lori had been working on that morning. It seemed like this was a dead end after all.

But just as Luna was about to turn to leave, she saw some movement inside of the dryer. There was definitely something in there, buried under the clean clothes.

"Lily? That you, little sis?"

Luna stuck her arm inside, reaching towards the back of the machine where she saw the clothes rustling. She lowered her head a bit, putting it in slightly as she inched closer. Her hand gently came down on the shirt covering whatever it was that moving and she pulled it away. A feline head turned to look at her, a yawn escaping Cliff's mouth as he was stirred from his nap.

"Dang it." Luna muttered, "I should have known."

"LUNA!"

The sudden, shrill voice calling her name startled Luna badly. She banged her head inside of the dryer as she jumped in surprise. Then she backed out and stood upright, placing both hands over the spot on her skull that where there was now a sharp pain.

"SONUVA!" Luna cried out, clenching her teeth afterwards to avoid saying anything more. She looked up towards the top of the basement stairs where Lola was standing. The feisty little blonde was wincing after witnessing Luna banging her head.

"Ooh, that had to hurt."

"It did." Luna muttered. "Anyway, what's up?"

"I just thought that you should know that Lily is crawling around upstairs without her diaper on. Oh, and there's some kind of gross, big, booger-thingy inside of Lisa's room. Lana keeps trying to play with it even though Lisa keeps telling her 'no'."

Luna was moving before she even realized it. She got to the upstairs hallway as fast as her legs could carry her. Lily came into her line of sight and she went straight for the mini-streaker. Tucking the diaper she had found in the dining room under one arm, Luna scooped Lily up and carried her into Lola and Lana's room. She laid Lily down onto Lana's bed and quickly put the diaper back on her.

"Now you be a good little dudette and keep that on." Luna told Lily, who was fussing a bit from the unexpected attention.

With that problem now solved, Luna picked Lily back up and left the twins bedroom. Out in the hall she spotted Lana and Lisa. The younger of the two, who was currently covered in a green bathrobe, was pushing Lana away from the large, green blob that was still slowly filling the room.

"Aw, come on sis! Can't I just have a little piece of it?" The dirty twin implored.

"Certainly not!" Lisa replied. "That would result in two of them expanding within our domicile! It will be enough of an endeavor to dispose of just one, so dividing it is absolutely out of the question!"

Lana pouted and crossed her arms. She stood in front of her little sister, not intending to go anywhere. Lisa knew that Lana could very well just go behind her back to take a piece of the gooey mass if she were to walk away for even the smallest amount of time. Luna picked up on this as well and started to think up a means of diverting the six year old's attention.

Fortunately, it occurred to Luna quickly enough that she had the perfect distraction already in her arms.

"Hey Lans." Luna said, stepping over to the younger girl. "I need ya to do me a big favor. Could you watch some TV with Lily while I take care of a few things?"

"Okay!" Lana said, her eyes lighting up.

"Thanks, sis." Luna said, starting to head back to the stairs. "I shouldn't need long to do everything, so you just sit with Lily and call me if there's any problems, okay?"

Lana nodded and followed Luna down to the living room where she hopped onto the couch. Luna set Lily down next to her and got the remote. Then she headed back upstairs and rejoined Lisa who was waiting patiently.

As she got closer, Luna dared to peek inside of Lisa's room. The blob seemed much larger now than she remembered it being earlier. It was easily more than enough to unsettle her, even if it was only her imagination. The one thing that was helping Luna keep her cool was how calm Lisa seemed to be about the whole thing.

"So, you can fix this. Right?" Luna asked, her voice carrying her anxiety.

Lisa sighed and glanced into her room.

"Well...yes and no." She said a bit hesitantly. "I should be more than able to dispose of the problem. But I cannot do so at this current time due to one, tiny inconvenience. I lack a necessary item to accomplish the solidification of the gel. If we cannot do that, then it will only continue to expand indefinitely."

Luna groaned. "So we can't do anything about this?!"

"We are capable of resolving the issue." Lisa calmly assured her older sister. "However, we will need to go on a brief excursion to obtain the missing item I mentioned. I would go myself, but our parental units insist that I have an escort."

To Luna's surprise, and also to her relief, Lisa informed her that they would need to go to Flip's Food & Fuel to obtain what she needed. The only drawback was the amount of money that Flip would want in exchange. Luna was low on cash thanks to a concert she had attended a week ago. One which had required her to borrow a bit of money from Luan which she had paid back using a good portion of her allowance. She didn't even have ten dollars to spend until she could earn some more green.

Fortunately, Lisa claimed she was more than ready to cover whatever Flip charged. Luna only needed to walk with her. And as a bonus, she could take Lily along to hopefully get her to finally take her nap. Not to mention keep a closer eye on her.

Heading back downstairs, Luna retrieved Lily's stroller and began seeking out the diaper bag. Her earlier peek into Lisa and Lily's room had revealed that it thankfully wasn't in there. But despite that stroke of luck, Luna couldn't find it anyplace else. Not in her parents' bedroom, the living room, the dining room, the kitchen or in the basement. Although she did find some clean clothes for Lisa to wear down there.

As Luna continued her search for the bag, she double checked everywhere and triple checked all of the closets just to be extra sure. But she still couldn't find it. She nearly dared to try looking inside of Lisa and Lily's room again, but then got the idea to try calling her mother.

Luna took out her cellphone and dialed her mother's number. She answered on the second ring, Luna finding comfort in the sound of her mother's voice. The teen hadn't even realized that she had been getting so tensed up from everything that was going on.

[Hey Sweetie. Did you need something?]

"Kinda." Luna said, trying her best to sound calm. "I can't find Lily's diaper bag. I was thinking of taking her for a walk."

[That's a good idea. It's what I always do when I have trouble getting her to nap. Unless I'm too tired myself.] Rita joked. [Anyway, I'm afraid that you won't find the diaper bag at home. We forgot to bring it inside yesterday so it's still in Vanzilla.]

"Dang it."

[Oh don't worry about it. You can just grab the wipes and a couple diapers from the changing station and put them into a reusable grocery bag. And don't forget to bring a bottle for her too.]

"Got it." Luna said. "So, are you guys going to be much longer?"

[About another hour or so. Lori wants to keep looking for new clothes for your brother. We're having a little more trouble finding shirts in his favorite color that are also in his size.] Rita answered with a chuckle. [I'll see you soon, okay? Call me if you need anything else. Love you!]

"No worries, Mom. I told you that I've got this. Love ya!" Luna said just before she ended the call.

'I so do not got this!' Luna thought in a panic. 'Even if I didn't need to take Lis to Flip's, I doubt I'd be able to get rid of that thing in her room before they get home!'

Luna began to pace back and forth, her hand gripping her phone tightly. She needed to get going right away, but there was a problem that only just came to her mind. If she left, then she wouldn't be able to keep an eye on the rest of the younger sisters. Not that they all needed her supervision. Luan and Lynn could look after themselves easily enough. Or at least Lynn could keep herself occupied for the little while that they'd be gone. But the same couldn't be said of the twins or Lucy. And Luna wasn't about to pass them off to Leni since that would be basically her ditching the whole babysitting job in Luna's opinion.

Then again...Luna didn't have to leave the younger siblings behind. Yeah. That would work just fine. Leni and Luan would stay at home since Luna didn't need to watch them. Lynn too. Then she could just take all of the little dudettes out for a short while. After they got back she would make lunch while Lisa hopefully took care of the problem upstairs. And as a bonus, while she was out, she could also get more diapers to replace the ones that were no longer usable thanks to aforementioned problem.

A cry of disgust sounded from the living room. Luna rushed over and found Lana and Lily still seated on the couch. Lola was also there, but she was currently backing away from the other two while pinching her nose shut.

'Oh no.' Luna thought. 'Please don't tell me.'

"Luna! You just missed it!" Lana said, taking notice of her big sister. "Lily just let out a huge fart!"

"Poo poo." Lily said.

Luna's shoulders slumped and she sighed. "Of course you did. Great, just great." Luna mumbled. Then she took a deep breath and stood upright again. "Okay little dudettes, we're gonna go on a little trip. So get ready, we leave in five."

"Where are we going?" Lana asked.

"Just a quick run to Flip's and back." Luna replied. "I'm gonna go find Luce and grab Lily's stroller. You wait here for me, okay?"

She went to ascend the stairs, but then a knock at the door caught her attention. With some reluctance, she went to answer and see who was there. When she opened the door, she found Mr. Grouse standing there with a sour expression on his face. He was holding his glasses up to his eyes and in his other hand was a soccer ball.

"Oh, hey Mr. G, what's up?" Luna asked, despite having a pretty good idea already.

"I'll tell you 'what's up', Loud! I was in my yard, minding my own business, when suddenly I got hit in the head by this!" Mr. Grouse snapped, holding the ball up. "Darn thing broke my glasses! Do me a favor and have one of your parents come to see me when they get back. In the meantime I'll just hang onto this. And tell that sister of yours to be more careful!"

Yup. It was pretty much what Luna had expected.

"Sorry about that, Mr. G. I'll go talk to her right now. You gonna be alright getting back to your place?"

"I made it over here just fine, didn't I? I'll be fine on my way back, thank you."

He turned to leave and Luna closed the door. Then she went to the back door and checked to see if Lynn was in the yard. At first there was no sign of the athlete. But Luna noticed something interesting while she looked. The side door to the garage was slightly ajar.

Luna made a beeline for the open door and let herself inside of the garage. Sure enough, she found Lynn inside. The girl was peeking out the window on the opposite side of the garage, most likely checking to see if the coast was clear. Luna, now feeling more irritated than before, approached the younger brunette and grabbed her shoulder.

"Dude, seriously?" She snipped. "You hit Mr. Grouse off the head with your ball and then just ditch? Not cool!"

"It was an accident!" Lynn said in her defense.

"Then why didn't you just apologize instead of ducking in here?" Luna countered.

"Because I didn't want to get in trouble!"

Luna pinched the bridge of her nose. "Dude, he's gonna talk to Mom and Pop when they get home. Sorry, but it looks like you're getting busted anyway."

"Dang it! Now I'm gonna get stuck doing chores over his house again! And probably get grounded from sports at home too!"

"I don't know what to tell you, sis." Luna said with a shrug. "But you might wanna take it easy from here on. You don't need to get into any more trouble. So maybe no more tossing or kicking any balls around for a while, okay?"

"Then what the heck am I supposed to do for fun?" Lynn asked, crossing her arms.

Luna took a moment to think. She looked around the garage, her eyes falling onto Lynn's roller skates. Those would keep Lynn occupied. Luna grabbed them and held them out for Lynn to take.

"Here, why don't you put these babies on and tag along with me for a bit? I'm taking our little sisters to go to Flip's really quick."

Lynn accepted her skates from her older sister. She seemed to think over the offer for a moment and then narrowed her eyes a little bit at Luna.

"I just have one question for you. Are you treating?"

"What? No way dude. I don't have a lot of green right now. I just need to buy some new diapers for Lily, that's all."

"Oh yeah, that sounds like fun." Lynn said, rolling her eyes. "I'll just stay here, thanks."

Luna shrugged and left the garage to hurry and get everything ready for the trip to Flip's. She got Lily's stroller and a fresh bottle of (not prune) juice in case she got thirsty. Next she would need to tend to Lily's full diaper. It wasn't a very long walk to get to Flip's, but still too long to leave Lily without a change. There was also the fact that, like all of the diapers, there were no baby wipes available.

While she pondered her options, Luna paced back and forth by the stairs. She knew there had to be a way to take care of Lily's dirty diaper without waiting until they got to Flip's. But she kept drawing blanks. It was becoming really frustrating. Eventually she just gave up and hoped that putting Lily's diaper change on hold wouldn't turn out to be a problem. It wasn't like it would bother Lily to have to wait.

After double checking to make sure she had what she needed for the walk, Luna went to get Lily. She mentally prepared herself for the pungent stench that she'd encounter as she got closer to the baby girl. But Luna discovered that there was no smell at all. In fact, it seemed that Lily's diaper had somehow been replaced.

"What the?"

Luna picked Lily up, her youngest sister giggling and kicking her feet from the attention. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that a t-shirt had been put in place of the now missing diaper. One of Lana's shirts if Luna wasn't mistaken. It had been wrapped in such a way that made it appear similar to a diaper and was being held in place with some sort of tape. And from what Luna could see, it seemed pretty secure.

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Luna chose to just let it be. She got Lily situated in her stroller and gave her a toy to play with during the walk. Then she went to find the rest of her little sisters so they could get a move on. The twins were still in the living room, seated on the couch with their eyes glued to the television screen.

"Hey you two, we're heading out in a couple minutes. So be ready, alright?" Luna said to them as she went to the stairs.

"Kay." The twins said in unison, neither looking at Luna when they replied.

Luna went up to the second floor, stepping into her room to grab what little money she had. On the way inside, she noticed that Luan was on the phone. It was the one that she used strictly for her own personal calls for Funny Business Inc. She was undoubtedly talking to someone who wished to hire her. The moment Luan saw her big sister in the room, she held a finger up to her lips, further convincing Luna of the importance of the call.

Giving her younger sister a nod, Luna went about getting her money and house keys. She scratched down a quick note for Luan and then ducked out of the room. Luan picked up the scrap of paper that Luna had left in front of her and skimmed over it quickly. Her eyes widened a bit and a devious smirk came to her lips. She finished her current phone call and then picked up her daily planner, pretending to look through it while she glanced out into the hallway.

Luna, who had crossed to the room opposite of hers and Luan's, was raising her hand to knock on the door. But before she could make contact, the door opened and she found herself nearly bumping into Leni. The older teen was in her bathrobe and carrying a little basket with her loofah, shampoo, conditioner, bath beads and a bath pillow.

"Oh, hey Luna." Leni greeted. "Did you need something?"

"Not really. Just wanted to let ya know that I'm taking the little dudettes for a short walk before lunch."

"Aw, that's so nice of you! I totes bet that they'll like that. You're such a good big sister. And a good babysitter too!"

A nervous smile came to Luna's face. "Uh, yeah. I guess I am. Anyway, I need to get a move on. Just wanted to let you know so you wouldn't wonder where we went."

"Like, okay." Leni said, passing Luna and heading into the bathroom. "I'm going to take a nice, hot bath. If I'm still in there when lunch is ready, just let me know, okay?"

"You got it. Be back in a bit."

Luna turned around and went to peek into Lucy and Lynn's bedroom. She found it to be empty at first glance, but knew better than to assume that no one was in there. The sight of Lucy's coffin sitting by the spooky girl's bed with it's lid in place caught her attention. Luna stepped up to it and gently knocked on the solid mahogany.

"I'm right here."

The sudden sound of Lucy's voice coming from directly behind her startled Luna. After jumping a little and feeling her heart race, she turned to face the young goth. Luna took a deep breath to calm herself and then sat down on top of Lucy's coffin.

"Dude, please don't do that!"

"Sorry." Lucy replied. "But it looked like you came in here looking for me. So I just thought I'd say something. I was actually looking for you too."

"You were? Why?"

"So I could give you these. Lisa said that you might need them." The little goth answered, holding out some sort of folded cloth in one hand and a small pack of baby wipes in the other.

"No way, where did you get these?" Luna asked, taking the wipes from Lucy's hand.

"They actually belong to Lynn."

Luna stared at the younger girl for a moment, unsure of what she had just heard.

"Seriously?"

Lucy nodded. "Sometimes she needs them. It's one of the drawbacks of having so many spicy foods in your diet."

"Gross, dude."

"At least you don't have to share a room with her." Lucy said. "Anyway, if you need more diapers, just let Lisa know. She said she would make them if you need her to before we go to Flip's. But she thinks that one will be enough."

"Works for me. If you're gonna come with then hurry and get ready. We gotta make this quick."

Luna took the makeshift diaper and went down to Lily's stroller to put it along with the wipes into the little basket underneath. Then she got the twins, with a bit of resistance, to turn off the television and leave the couch. And finally she got Lisa, who was now dressed and carrying her school bag, to hurry up and join them downstairs.

"Apologies, I was busy preparing for our venture. I am ready to depart whenever you wish."

"Cool, because we're going now." Luna said, starting to push Lily's stroller towards the door. "And we're gonna make this quick. I need to get you little dudettes home to eat lunch before our parents get back with Lori."

The group left the house, Lisa getting the door for her sisters. As they made their way to the sidewalk, Lily threw her toy puppy onto the grass. Luna stopped to pick it up, handing it back to Lily. Not even three seconds later, it was on the ground again.

"Careful Lilster." Luna said, picking up the toy again. "If you keep dropping your doggy, you might lose him."

Lily held onto the toy for another few seconds before throwing it again. Luna retrieved it, grumbling a little as she realized that this would not be the last time she would be doing this. Nevertheless, she started to push the stroller again with Lisa walking by her side and the twins rolling along in Lola's jeep.

Back inside of the house, one of the sisters watched from the living room window as Luna walked away. Luan smiled, a mischievous look in her eyes. She stepped over to the couch, settling down on it and taking out a cell phone. Not her normal one that was on the family plan. This one was a cheap, pay-as-you-go flip-phone that she only ever used for one thing.

Prank calls.

"Hola señor o señora." The trickster said in perfect Spanish as her call was answered. "Llamo hoy para ofrecerte un trato único sobre el seguro de volcanes."

End of Chapter 16)

Yep, this is going to be continued in the next chapter. Really tried to keep it from being more than two parts, but it seems that Luna's babysitting will now be three chapters long. But I will most certainly have this part of the story wrapped up by next time. Then after that it should be too much longer until this story is at last complete. Provided I can finally stick to a darn schedule, that is.