Epilogue

Lincoln woke from his slumber, giving a small yawn and a big stretch. He rubbed the crumbs from his eyes and craned his neck around, hearing and feeling a satisfying crack as he moved.

"That was a good nap" Lincoln said "I think I've got just enough energy to work through the night since its only..."

He looked over at his clock, and his jaw dropped "7:30 AM?" he said "How long was I asleep?"

He ran to his window and looked outside to see the sun had risen. He had only intended to rest for a bit before cleaning up the aftermath of the party, but had slept through the night.

"Guess I was more tired than I thought." Lincoln said to himself. "But it was a pretty big party though. So I guess it makes sense."

He was feeling refreshed after all of the excitement of his party and the confrontation with his sisters that followed. He expected that the next two or three days would be a bit rough with some of them being unhappy with him.

Mostly he was expecting some sort of a spiteful act from Lynn or Lola, possibly a cold shoulder from Lori and some hurt expressions from Leni. But he got his point across, and that was good enough for now. He could worry about patching things up with them later on. For now, he had some cleaning to do.

He stepped out of his room and walked down the hall. He'd take care of the bathroom first, since it was the closest and most likely to be the least pleasant. But as he arrived he discovered that it wasn't bad at all. In fact...the bathroom looked just fine. It was not what he had been expecting at all, but Lincoln certainly wasn't going to complain if his guests had been more courteous than he had expected. Having one less room to clean was a nice surprise.

Turning around, Lincoln went to head down stairs and take care of the trash. Hopefully his guests had at least tried not to leave any plastic cups or paper plates anywhere other than the garbage bins, but if not then oh well. Odds were that he'd be dealing with that somewhere in the house, or possibly in the backyard. And the basement definitely had to be picked up since he remembered seeing someone had knocked over the trash barrel down there.

...yeah, maybe it would be a good idea to take care of that first. Get the biggest hassle out of the way and move onto the rest afterwards. But as he got down the stairs he was again met with something other than what he had expected. The living room was clean, as was the dining room and the kitchen.

"What the...?"

Lincoln scratched his head, his eyes displaying a mix of confusion and surprise. He took a look downstairs and found the basement in the same condition. As kept looking around the spotless rooms he found a scrap of paper with his name on it sitting on the kitchen table. That was all it took for him to make a conclusion.

"Okay, I see what happened now." he thought. "Looks like my sisters didn't need as much time to think as I guessed. That or Mom and Dad just made them do this."

He picked up the paper and gave it a quick look. It said that they were all gathered in Lori and Leni's room where he was to meet with them. For a moment Lincoln considered just going up there to return the paper with his reply of 'NO' written out in nice, large letters. But he figured that he should at least see whether or not his sisters really were sorry. If not, then he'd just walk out and go back to his room.

Lincoln went back upstairs and towards the bedroom of his two oldest sisters. He didn't bother knocking and just walked right on inside. As he expected, they were all seated around the room, waiting for him. A few of them were even giving smiling a little when he entered, albeit said smiles were a bit nervous.

"So." he began. "You guys cleaned up the mess while I was asleep?"

"That's right." Lola said. "It took all night and now my favorite gown smells like habanero sauce. You're welcome!"

"Come on, Lola." Lana said. "We spent the night picking up trash. And picking up trash is easy!"

"Maybe for you!" Lola complained. "Considering you ate more garbage than you threw away!"

Lana burped. "I resent that." she said. "It's not easy for work on a full stomach."

"So, did mom and dad tell you to clean up for me?" Lincoln asked.

"Nope." Luna said. "We did it all ourselves. After yesterday, we figured we could be Working Girls for the night...you know...to say we're sorry."

Lincoln cocked an eyebrow. "You're sorry?" he repeated. "Sorry that you missed out on my party?"

"Sorry that we were ignoring your opinion" Lori said.

Lincoln frowned. "I don't really want an apology because you were told to say it." he said. "If Mom and Dad tell you to do something it doesn't feel like..."

"Mom and dad have nothing to do with this" Lori interrupted. "Listen Lincoln, we are still a bit ticked off because of what you did. But... we do feel bad for making you feel left out. We swear we didn't want to treat you like that. It's just that the mall is a place that has something for all of us and we find it easier to just go there instead of arguing about going to places like the museum of science or to the zoo."

"Heck, we can't even agree on a movie most of the time!" Luna added. "Lori likes romantic comedies. Lucy likes scary movies. And we can't exactly take the little dudettes to some of those."

"Yeah, I know." Lincoln deadpanned. "That's just my point. The things we can do together aren't always things we all want to do. The mall is the one thing all of you agree on most of the time and it still doesn't change the fact that..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it already." Lynn said. "You don't like how we stick you with Lily and all of our stuff. We're sorry okay? How many times do you need to hear it?"

"I don't care if you apologize a million times!" Lincoln spat. "I know that you're sorry. But what I want to know, what I came here to ask, is why? Why can't any of you just take Lily with you while you shop for a change?!"

Lori sighed and stepped forward. "That's because of the same reason you don't like getting stuck with her all the time. It's easier for us to go around to the stores we like if we don't need to worry about keeping an eye on a baby."

"You can say that again." Luna muttered.

"But..." Lori continued. "For whatever it's worth, I leave her with you most of the time because I know you can be trusted with her. And also kinda because you aren't as into shopping as some of us."

"So just because I only like checking out comics or playing at the arcade instead of going through a dozen clothing stores, I get to be the babysitter?" Lincoln asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Look, I get it...the twins and Lisa are too little to do much when it comes to taking care of Lily. And I'm old enough to look after her. That's fine. But can I at least have one of my big sisters lending me a hand? It only seems fair!"

"Deal." Lori said. "Now, since we're all done with that..."

"No." Lincoln said. "We're not. Not just yet. One more thing needs to be discussed. I still have a problem with being stuck carrying bags for all of you."

"Lincoln, you're a boy." Lola said. "Boys carry bags for girls at the mall. I see it in movies and on TV all the time."

"First of all, that's movies and television." Lincoln replied. "And second, I'm your brother, not a pack mule. If each of you gives me even just one bag, regardless of whether or not it's heavy, I still end up with too many!"

Lori took a deep breath and sharply exhaled through her nose. She stared at her brother sadly. "Okay. We don't give you a chance to talk, we leave you with the job none of us want, and we make you work on top of it." she said. "We were wrong, Lincoln. We've been wrong."

"I know that." Lincoln said with a shake of his head. "That's sort of the whole reason I threw the party."

Lori frowned. "You're not making this easy."

"Please allow me to attempt explaining our point." Lisa said, raising her hand. "Elder brother, we have come to realize that we have a tendency to overshadow you. And that, differences in choice of entertainment aside, it's wrong of us to overrule your desires without consideration simply because we outnumber you."

"I'll say it's wrong." Lincoln grumbled.

"Mistreating you was never our intention." Lisa continued. "It was just an unfortunate side effect of our selfishness towards you. It was wrong. Even moreso considering we put you in positions you didn't want, or deserve. It was hypocritical of us to insist that you consider our feelings and desire to have fun on the weekends, when we didn't...when we never considered yours."

"We're all sorry Lincoln." Lucy added. "I mean...of all people I should know how it feel to be overlooked and ignored. And I could kick myself for doing the same to you."

"And it was a really jerk move for us to just freeze you out they way we did." Lynn admitted somewhat sheepishly. "I remember when you all did that to me when we played Settlers of Catland. It really stunk...a lot!"

"And it feels horrible to be left out of the fun." Lola said. "When you guys wouldn't let me into your Secrets Club, it bothered me a whole lot. Enough to make me spy on you and blackmail you all just to get you to hang out with me."

Lincoln's expression softened a little. "Okay, maybe you have a better idea than I thought at first. But still..."

"But nothing!" Lori said, sounding more hurt than angry. "We get it. We literally do. Now please just...get that we get it, okay? Let's just agree that we won't mistreat each other like that ever again. None of us will shut anyone else out of any of our plans. Not a sibling meeting..."

"...or a super fun party that one of us planned." Lincoln finished,smiling just a tiny bit. "Alright, I'm...I'm sorry for what I did yesterday. And thanks for cleaning up for me, I appreciate you saving me the trouble. It took a lot of effort to just plan and set up everything."

"Not too much I hope." Luna said. "At least tell us that you can throw another one soon."

Lincoln shrugged. "Maybe. " he said "We'd need to clear it with mom and dad first. But having two parties in two weeks might be pushing my luck."

"We'll get to that later." Lori said ,picking up a high heeled shoe and banging it on her desk. "But for now, our Sibling Meeting is officially in order."

The girls chattered happily as Lincoln sat down. "First order of business is deciding how to spend our day." Lori announced. "I'm taking suggestions."

The girls looked around at each other, no one saying anything. Lincoln was surprised "Seriously." he said. "No one wants to go to the mall?"

"Well..." Lori said. "We have been going there a lot. It's starting to get a little...stale"

"And as much as I love to shop," Leni piped up. "I don't think we should overdo it."

"Why don't we let Lincoln decide?" Luna suggested. "If anyone is gonna have a different idea on what to do, its him!"

Lincoln's eyes widened. "Really?" he asked.

The girls all agreed, some of them clapped much to Lincoln's suprise. He thought for a moment. "I could say Dairyland." he said. "Or maybe Gus' Games and Grub. But it think I have an idea that we all would like."

"Well don't keep us waiting." Lori said. "Just say your idea."

"I was thinking we could do a day at the park." Lincoln said. "You know, go find a nice place to have lunch and play games or something."

Leni gasped. "Oh, I totes love that idea! We can have a picnic! I can make us all lunch!"

"No, I'll do tha..." Lori began, sounding a bit scared but catching herself before she could say anything more. She cleared her throat and continued in a calmer manner. "I mean, I'll help you Leni. Making enough food for the eleven of us is a big job, you shouldn't have to do it alone."

"I can pack some of my instruments for us to play while we're there!" Luna said.

"And I can bring some of my sports stuff." Lynn suggested. "I just got a new softball I want to break in."

"And I'll work out a schedule to help divide the responsibility of watching Lily for the duration of our excursion." Lisa added.

"I'll volunteer to take the first shift." Luan offered. "I can feed her lunch."

"Okay, sounds like a plan to me." Lincoln said. "Does anyone else have any suggestions for tomorrow?"

Some of the other sisters began to talk all at once, adding their own ideas to the plan. Before long their plan was set and the meeting came to a conclusion. Lincoln left his sisters' bedroom in higher spirits than he had expected when he went in. He had never would've guessed they'd be so quick to come around after how mad they had been before. He...felt obligated to make it up to them somehow.

It was a good thing they got him some free time. Now he could do what he did best.

-The following afternoon-

"Hey Lans, you ready?" Lynn asked, winding her arm up. "Because this is gonna be my fastball!"

"I was born ready!" Lana answered. "Let her fly, sis!"

"Okay, on the count of three." Lynn said. "One...two...three...FETCH!"

Lynn threw the softball clear across the park. Lana tore after it, running on all fours with her tongue dangling out the corner of her mouth. From a short distance away, the rest of the Loud siblings sat on a large checkered blanket.

There was a decent spread of different prepared foods and drinks along with a couple of other things that had been packed for entertainment purposes. Currently Leni was watching Lincoln, Luan and Lola while they were playing cards while Luna entertained Lily with a tambourine. Lucy and Lisa each had their noses in a book and Lori was taking a selfie while enjoying her iced tea.

"It's not the mall" she thought. "But...its not so bad"

That familiar electronic tone of Here Comes the Bride rang from Lori's phone. The look on her face brightened.

"I'll be right back" she said as she got off the blanket and walked over to a picnic table. She pressed a button and put the phone to her ear.

"Hi Bobby!" she said.

"Hey Babe!" Bobby said with a note of relief. "I'm glad I can talk to you I...I was afraid you weren't gonna pick up."

"Why would you think I wouldn't want to talk to you?" Lori asked.

"Well..." Bobby said. "I was thinking you might be mad at me...you know, for going to the party."

Lori exhaled sharply. "I'm still a little ticked." she said. "But not enough to ignore a call from you."

Bobby sighed with relief. "Thank goodness." he said. "I was really worried you would be mad at me because of the stuff you missed out on. I figured between the cupcakes, and the ball pit slide, and the basement dance off..."

"Okay okay." Lori said. "I don't need to hear it all. But I do expect you to make it up to me later."

"Aw C'mon Babe." Bobby said. "Lincoln said himself that he owed me the invite for delivering my grandma's food. You're not gonna make him make it up to you are you?"

Lori grumbled. "Oh fine." she said. "Never mind then."

Bobby gave another sigh of relief. "So, where are you right now?" he asked. "The mall?"

"No." she said. "We're at the park today. It was Lincoln's idea."

"Wow." he said. "It's been a while since the last time I heard you say that Lincoln picked where you went."

Lori cringed a bit. "Well.." she said. "After the party we...kinda figured that maybe he should have a turn to pick how we spend the weekend."

"That's so nice of you." Bobby said.

Lori bit her lip. "We just thought it was time that he had a turn." she said. "And we go to the mall every weekend so its nice to mix things up this weekend."

"That's cool." Bobby said. "Wish I could be there with..."

"Bobby!" said a voice from the background. "Hurry to the back room! We're out of soup and we need to restock the shelf!"

"Sorry babe." he said. "Gotta go!"

"Okay." she said. "Talk to you later. Love you!"

"Love you too!" Bobby said.

Lori turned her phone off and headed back to the picnic blanket in just enough time to see her younger siblings finish their card game. Lola and Luan looked at each other through narrowed eyes. Lincoln had just folded his hand and now it was just down to the two of them. Lola laid her cards down on the blanket, revealing four aces.

"Read 'em and weep." Lola said smugly. "Four of a kind."

Luan smirked and placed her cards down. "Read 'em and weep." She mimicked. "Four of a kind."

Lola looked down to see four Jokers on the blanket. Luan had a triumphant grin on her face as Lola simply stared in confusion, as did Lincoln.

"But I thought there were only two Jokers in a deck of cards." Lola said.

"There are only two." Lincoln stated, giving Luan a look. "And normally we take them out of the deck first. Do you have something you want to share with us, Luan?"

"Sorry, but you can't win them all." Luan said with a shrug. "Besides, when you play with my cards you have to play by my rules. Deal with it!" She burst into laughter. "Get it?"

"Can I play too?" Leni asked. "It's no fun to just watch."

"Oh, we know." Luan said. "After yesterday, we know."

"You aren't going to jab us with a stick again, are you?" Lola asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

Leni blushed. "No. And I said I was sorry about before...but the game is called Poker so..."

Luan giggled and shuffled the cards. She dealt them back out to Lola, Leni, herself and Lincoln. As they started their next game, Lucy peeked over the top of her book to watch them play. She seemed caught between returning to her reading and watching them for a moment. Then her eyes moved from them to Lynn and Lana playing fetch. Luna playing with Lily, and Lori setting herself up to take another selfie. Lastly she looked over to Lisa sitting next to her, reading her book quietly. A faint smile tugged at her lip while a thought came to mind.

Putting her book down on the grass, Lucy grabbed a took out a notepad and a pen from her pocket. Lisa noticed Lucy's motions and peeked from over her own book. She looked over at Lucy as she began scribbling in her notepad.

"I assume poetic inspiration has struck Elder sister?" she asked.

"It has." Lucy said as she wrote.

Weekend plans voted ten to one

So everyone will get to have fun

Save for the one who was left out

The one we didn't care about

Mistreating him was not our intention

But then came a plan of his invention

A party and time spent celebrating

But for his sisters, it was frustrating

And though we yelled, cried out and knocked

The door to our house remained firmly blocked

We were made to watch while he had fun

Unable to act until he was done

A party missed and a lesson learned

Taught by the brother whose voice we had spurned

A greater number is no excuse

For our behavior to be so obtuse

Though first trying to assign him blame

Self righteous pride turns into shame

Through suffering the whole ordeal

We understand how he would feel

The weekends we enjoyed came with a price

And that was our brothers sacrifice

A problem that we won't make him relive

And so we hope he will forgive

Lucy put her pen down and looked over her work. A shadow was cast over her and she looked up to see her brother smiling down at her.

"That was really nice, Lucy." He said.

"Um, thanks. But how did you know? You haven't seen it yet." Lucy replied.

"No, but I heard it. You were muttering while you wrote. And it gave me an idea. Well, an idea to add to an idea. Let me show you."

Lincoln took a three ring binder out of his bag and called over Lynn and Lana to join the rest of them. Once the two were at the blanket again, Lincoln had them gather around so he could show off his idea. It wasn't much at first glance. The binder only had three pages inside of it.

"Just keep in mind, this is only the start." He told the girls. "If we keep adding to it, then it will start to look a bit more impressive."

"What do you mean by 'we'?" Lisa inquired. "Is this some sort of project in which any of us may participate?"

"Yup. I'm thinking of calling it the 'Loud Group Activity Planner'. I already put in stuff for how we put together today's trip and all the work I did for the party yesterday. Plus a list of rules for whatever else we think to add to it, but they aren't set in stone just yet. I figured we could look over them and work them out at the next sibling meeting."

"So, this is just a place to keep plans for our weekends?" Lori asked.

Lincoln nodded. "Pretty much. Or for holidays off from school, snow days or stuff we can do on summer vacation. I thought it might be a good idea to help us decide how we all spend time together from now on."

"Pretty cool, little bro." Luna said, ruffling his hair. "I bet we'll have it loaded with fun ideas in no time."

"I too must commend you for this outstanding idea." Lisa said, adjusting her glasses. "This should prove quite useful and prevent any monotony with future outings."

"Well, we still need to make sure that we put in ideas that we know all of us will enjoy." Lincoln said.

"That literally shouldn't be a problem." Lori said. "Now that we know better than to leave anyone out, I think we'll be able to do just fine with our plans. In fact, I think I have an idea that we can all agree on."

"Okay, I can add it to the Loud Group Activity Planner once we all vote on it." Lincoln said.

Lori giggled. "Okay. So, I think we should go get some frozen yogurt for dessert. All in favor?"

"WE ARE!" Chorused the voices of her younger siblings, thrusting their hands into the air.

"It's unanimous then. Let's clean up and get back to Vanzilla."

The kids all hurried to gather up what they had brought to the park. Lincoln however was busying himself by writing down the new idea to add to the binder. Lori gave him a gentle rap on the head, commanding his attention.

"You can do that later, Lincoln. Right now you're spending time with us."

Lincoln smiled and put his binder back into his backpack.

"Yeah, I am."

The End.

Sorry this took so long to come out
Twisteddarkness and I were both dealing with some personal problems while writing this, but we managed to get it finished.
Thanks for coming along for the ride.
We'll see you next story