Lincoln: All You Need Is Love

"Aww man, that was so great!"

The whole Loud Family was just getting home. Lynn Jr., the athlete, charged into the home ahead of the rest, wearing a red football helmet and clutching a large golden cup trophy in her arms.

"Did you guys see that last play!? All tied up, Hockers are at the 5 yard line, they go for the touchdown… and then LYNN LOUD, PRIDE OF THE ROOSTERS, INTERCEPTS AND RUNS 47 YARDS FOR A TOUCHDOWN! WHOO!"

As Lynn cheered and danced in the living room, her sisters all came in, smiling and chattering.

"Great job, dude!"

"Even as a woman of science, I found myself astounded at that fantastic play!"

"That was, like, a PERFECT strike!"

They all crowded around Lynn, the older ones picking her up and the younger ones cheering. Lynn laughed and cheered with them as they took her to the dining room. Taking care not to hit or break anything, they placed her and the trophy down in front of a large cabinet.

Lynn looked at it at all of the shelves lined with trophies. Lola had pageant trophies, Lori had golf trophies, Luna and Luan had talent show trophies… And then she nested her eyes on her own, which was filled with golden statues of footballs, soccer balls, hockey sticks, and whatnot, to the point that they were pushing against the glass.

She felt silly now. She was going to put her trophy into the shelf, but it's the same size as her! No way would it fit!

Then, her parents walked in, wearing a ton of Royal Woods Roosters' merchandise.

"Oh, you can set it right next to the case for now, honey." Rita, the mother, said. "We might have to expand our storage area pretty soon."

Lynn nodded, setting the trophy down next to the case. She stepped back to admire it, proud of her work, and the fact that she got to take the main trophy home as MVP.

"Alright, folks!" Lynn Sr. shouted out, "You guys go ahead to your business. After dinner, we're having a triple chocolate cake to celebrate our superstar's big win at the finals!"

"YAAAAAY!" all the girls, Rita included, shouted out, before dispersing. Lynn Sr. went to the kitchen himself, prepared to work on a master dessert.

As they did, though, somebody else came into the room. A young boy with white hair, in an orange shirt. Unlike everybody else, he hung his head down as he walked in, frowning where the rest were smiling. He suddenly looked up, as if seeing somebody else in the room.

"Oh, hello. Guess I haven't talked to you guys in a while, huh?" he said, addressing an unseen group.

"I know what you're thinking... 'Lincoln, Lynn just won the finals for her team and was named MVP, how in the world can you be upset right now?' ...I really AM happy for her and everything, it's just that, seeing her with that big trophy, with her team and my family and even a bunch of total STRANGERS celebrating her, especially right after all of that jazz with the Yates family, it got me to thinking again..."

Lincoln walked over to the cabinet, filled with trophies, diplomas, badges, medals, so on and so forth.

"I've discussed this with you before, right? The trophy case for my family? All of my sisters have a nice big pile on their shelves. Mom and Dad even have some trophies of their own in their room. And then... there's me."

Lincoln pointed to one of the shelves in the cabinet. Unlike the rest, which barely held up the awards piled on top of them, Lincoln's just had one little trophy on it, reading "Most Improved Brother".

"When I got this at first, I really felt cheered up by it. But I've kind of began to feel that... it's just kind of a consolation prize. My sisters made it so I'd feel better about myself, but it didn't really CHANGE anything. All of them have these amazing talents... and what have I got?"

Lincoln continued, slowly walking away from the case and heading upstairs.

"My point is, my sisters all have these really bright futures ahead of them. Luna's caught Mick Swagger's eye as a potential superstar, Luan is the 9th most popular comedy MeTuber of all time, Lisa's already one of the country's best geniuses... Heck, even Leni's an aspiring fashion designer!"

"Me... I read comics in my underwear and play video games... and not good enough to be in one of those million-dollar Swords and Cyborgs teams at SCGC or anything like that. "

Lincoln reached the top of the stairs, turning to his right to go into his bedroom.

"Maybe I'm just being too negative, but when a BABY has more talent than you, it's hard to not feel a little bummed out, y'know? ...I might talk a bit more later, but for now I'm just gonna do what I do best... nothing..."

Lincoln sighed as he walked into his bedroom and closed the door. He didn't notice the figure standing at the top of the stairs, frowning as they watched him.

The next day...

Saturday went about as you'd expect it to go. With no school to occupy the Loud kids, they simply ran amok in their home for the entirety of the morning and afternoon.

Lincoln, in a rare turn of events for the weekend, found the TV free to use. So he sat down on the couch and flipped through the DVR, eventually loading up an anime he recorded previously. Watching an action-packed show helped take his mind off things.

He managed to watch most of the first episode in relative peace and quiet, since the chaos was mostly focused upstairs. But eventually, he felt somebody sit next to him on the couch.

"Hey, son." Lincoln heard his father's voice. He turned to see his dad sitting there, looking at him. He almost seemed worried.

"Hi Dad." He replied. Lynn Sr. could tell he didn't have his usual enthusiasm.

"So, uh… what'cha watching?" Lynn Sr. studied the screen carefully, seeing some animated people in weird outfits fighting monsters.

"Guardian Project. It's a superhero show…" Lincoln replied flatly. Dad thought it was weird… usually Lincoln could ramble for hours about one of his 'annie-mays'.

Staying silent for a moment, Lynn Sr. watched the show with Lincoln, letting his thoughts gather.

"You know, this reminds of this show I used to watch as a kid. These really cool tiger robots would fight aliens and stuff, but they could combine into this one big robot with a sword to fight the big stuff! BALTRON, DEFENDER OF THE COSMOS!" he shouted out dramatically, standing up on the couch and making a superhero pose.

"Cool…" Lincoln said half-heartedly, not even looking his way.

"Aw geez, this is serious…" Lynn thought to himself, frowning and slumping back down onto the couch.

"Look, son… Are you… feeling ok? You just seem kinda down… it ain't like you."

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"You sure?" Lynn asked again. "If something's bothering you, you know, you can always talk to me and your mom. You can tell us about anything."

Lincoln didn't answer right away. His eyes pointed down, and he seemed to be thinking about it. Eventually, though, his eyes raised back up and focused on the television.

"Thanks, Dad, but I'm fine. Really..." he answered.

After 18 years of parenting, Lynn knew that lie when he heard it. He got used to hearing it after break-ups, getting bullied, losing talent shows... He wanted to press the issue, try to make his boy tell him the truth so he could magically fix it with his Dad-powers or something. But that would probably just make Lincoln hide deeper into his shell.

"Ok." he said, standing up from the seat. "I'll let you get back to your show. But if something DOES come up, you remember what I just said, alright?"

"Alright."

Sighing in defeat, Lincoln's dad walked out of the room and into the kitchen. There, he saw his wife standing at the sink, sharing his worried look.

"I take it he didn't open up to you, huh?" she asked.

"Nope. It was about as successful as trying to talk to Lucy about puppies or something... You were right, though, he's definitely bummed out..."

"I wonder what we can do for him..."

"I don't know... Maybe we could tr-Wait a second..."

Lynn Sr. was interrupted when he heard Lincoln talking in the living room. He motioned for Rita to follow him as he went into the dining room and peeked to the living room couch, where Lincoln was now standing and facing a wall.

"...I know he meant well, but I just don't think he or Mom could really help me feel better. Dad's a national-level jigsaw puzzle solver, he wouldn't understand how I feel... and I wouldn't want to bother him with it."

After talking, Lincoln turned towards his parents, causing them to move back behind the wall. He didn't seem to notice them, as they eventually heard his footsteps going up the stairs behind them. They both sighed in relief.

"We really need to find a way to help him." Rita said. "I don't want him feeling like he's any less special than the girls. And I especially don't want him to think any of us feel that way..."

"Can we help?"

The two parents jumped as they saw Lucy walk in from the kitchen. Behind her came the other girls, with Lily being held by Lori.

"G-g-girls!" Lynn Sr. said, "You... you know about this, too?"

"We literally heard it all yesterday. Lincoln isn't as quiet as he thinks." Lori replied. "We left him alone today so we could meet up and think of how to help him..."

"I didn't mean to make him feel bad..." Lynn said sadly, looking over at her trophy with disappointment. Rita walked over and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"No, sweetie, it's not your fault. Lincoln doesn't blame you for how he feels either..."

"But how do we help him?" asked Luna, "I know how the dude feels, but I'm not sure if a pep-talk from me would do any good."

Everyone was silent for a moment. But then one voice shouted out.

"I have an idea!"

Sunday...

Lincoln could tell he woke up fairly late, judging by the silence outside of his room. Usually mornings were one of the loudest points in the day, when the girls would have to wait for the bathroom and a couple small arguments would undoubtedly break out.

"10:43..." Lincoln thought, looking at his alarm clock. Still morning time, but later than he usually got up. Hopping out of bed, he opted not to change out of his PJs right away. He just didn't feel like it.

He went to open his door, but as he did, he heard chattering on the other side.

"Guys, guys, he's up!" he swore he heard Lola trying to whisper.

"How do you know?" Lana.

"Footsteps, dummy!"

Eventually he heard a bunch of clattering like a stampede of bulls trying their best to tip-toe through a china shop. What could the girls want with him?

Taking a deep breath, Lincoln opened the door, and saw 10 smiling faces waiting for him.

"Hey, bro! How you feelin'?" Luna asked.

"Umm... fine, I guess?" Lincoln replied. "What's... going on?"

"We're having another family meeting. We need you to come downstairs with us!" Lana said.

A family meeting? They just had one Thursday night about Lucy's bats making a mess everywhere. What could we need another for so soon?

"Sorry guys... I think I'll skip this one. Lisa can read me the minutes later..." Lincoln said, moving to shut his door.

However, he found the door blocked, and looked down to see Lori's foot in the way.

"Sorry, Lincoln. But we weren't ASKING you to come with us..."

Lincoln looked up at his sisters. None of them looked angry or hostile, so he didn't think he was in trouble. He could probably trick Lori out of the way so he could slam and lock his door, but he knew how that would escalate things. And he just didn't feel like fighting off his sisters today.

"Ok... I guess I can go, just let me get dressed."

Smiling again, Lori pulled her foot out of the way. She could tell he wasn't lying so he could hole himself up. He knew what kind of trouble that could get him into.

"Alright, ladies, everyone downstairs!" Lincoln heard her yell to the rest as he shut the door. He quickly pulled off his pajamas and slipped on his everyday clothes, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

Eventually, he made his way downstairs.

"Over here, Linc!" Lynn shouted from the living room. Lincoln looked over to see his sisters and parents all sitting in the room, turning to look at him.

"Umm... hi." He said, walking into the room. Luan and Rita, the former holding a closed laptop, both moved over on the couch, giving him space right in the middle.

"So... what's this meeting about? Did Fangs ruin another meal or something?"

"No, son, nothing like that!" Lynn Sr. replied. "We were actually just wondering if you saw Luan's newest video?"

Lincoln looked confused. He was subscribed to Luan's channel, but they couldn't have expected him to see a video from her today if he just woke up!

"I haven't seen a new video... is that all the meeting's about?" he asked, wondering if he would be excused now.

"Yeah, I suppose so... We were going to watch it together, if that's alright."

"Ready to pull the video up, honey?" Rita asked, looking past Lincoln to Luan.

"Actually, I haven't uploaded it yet." she replied as she opened her laptop. "First, I had to honor my code... Linc, do I have your permission to upload footage of you onto my channel?"

"Just another comedy video? Probably showing the world how much of a loser I am or something... Not that I'm not used to it by now..."

"Sure, go ahead." Lincoln answered with a shrug.

With a smile, Luan began typing on her laptop for a second.

"There, all uploaded! Now let me just..." Luan typed a bit more, and as she did, somebody turned on the TV. Instead of a TV show or anything, Luan's face was on it.

"There, now we can watch the video on the TV! You ready, Lincoln?"

"This is probably some humiliation video, isn't it?" Lincoln thought to himself. But he just nodded, letting Luan hit play.

"Hi guys! Luan Out Loud here..." the Luan in the video began talking. "Normally, I'd have something funny for you, but today I need to post something serious..."

A picture of a smiling Lincoln in a long-sleeved orange shirt and khakis came up on the screen. Lincoln recognized it from his "first date" with Ronnie Anne.

"This is my brother Lincoln, as some of you already know. This is favorite picture of him, actually." Video-Luan continued, although her smile turned into a frown. "Lately, my brother's been a little bummed out. He thinks that he's not special or talented..."

Lincoln froze up. How did Luan know? He looked nervously around the room. The looks he got from everybody else... they ALL knew! He wanted to speak up, but the video kept going.

"Well, I think that's absolutely crazy, and NOT in a good way! So, my family and I wanted to show him, and the whole world, just how great he really is! Take it away, Luna!"

In the background of the video, Luna appeared with her acoustic guitar. She began to play a gentle song as the video changed. It showed a night vision camera recording Lincoln standing in the dark, with the twins hugging eachother and crying.

"Come here, you two. It's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of." Video-Lincoln said as Lola and Lana ran up and hugged him. "Your big brother will protect you. In fact...I will protect all of you!"

It then cut to Lola and Lana sitting together in Luan's beanbag chair. At the bottom of the screen, it said their names, ages, and that they are Lincoln's sisters.

"Lincoln is really nice! Sometimes we make him mad, or he makes us mad, but we always make up!" Video-Lana said.

Video-Lola nodded. "Sometimes he's selfish and rude... But he's still a good brother! Even if I'm sometimes not nice to him, I can still count on him."

"If Lincoln were to enter a contest, what do you think he could win?" Luan's voice said from off-camera. The twins looked at each other for a moment.

"World's Bravest Brother!" they both said in unison.

Lincoln kept watching, not sure what to think, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking over, he saw the twins, holding a small trophy.

"What's this?" he asked, taking it from them. On the side, it had "World's Bravest Brother" engraved on it.

Before he could say anything or show another reaction, the girls both hugged him close before running back to their spots. The video went on before he could speak up.

"Remember what we practiced, Leni!"

The scene now showed Lincoln in his backyard, cheering Leni on while she drove a lawnmower around. Then, it changed to Leni sitting in the beanbag chair, facing to the right. Luan's arms came on screen, gently moving Leni's head so she was facing the camera.

"Linky is, like, really nice!" Video-Leni said with a big grin. "I know I'm not, like, smart or anything, but he doesn't treat me any different!"

Lincoln couldn't help but smile. The video fast-forwarded a bit, with Leni looking confused through most of it and talking with somebody off-screen, but eventually it went back to normal.

"Oh, ok, I totally get it now!" she said. "I would call Linky 'World's Nicest Brother!'"

At the same time, Lincoln saw Leni stand up, bringing him over another gold trophy. As he expected, it had "World's Nicest Brother" on it. She smiled before going back to her seat.

The video continued, now showing a chaotic scene in Lucy and Lynn's bedroom. The two girls, along with Lincoln, were throwing what appeared to be spaghetti and meatballs at eachother, all while laughing. After a moment, it cut to Lynn leaning back on the beanbag chair, with Lucy standing in the shadows behind her.

"Linc's pretty cool. I know I get on his nerves a lot, but I hope he knows I always got his back. I know he's got mine." Video-Lynn said.

"Lincoln is one of the brightest lights in the darkness I envelop myself in." Video-Lucy added, as a clip of her reading a poem to Lincoln about himself played. "I am proud to call him my brother."

Lincoln found himself holding two more trophies, "World's Toughest Brother" and "World's Most Poetic Brother". He didn't see how either of them got onto his lap so fast without him noticing.

As the video continued, each of Lincoln's sisters got a chance to speak.

"Lincoln's one of the nicest dudes around, and I'm really lucky to have him as a brother. Don't stop believin', bro!" Luna said as it showed her and Lincoln on stage at a SMOOCH concert. Lincoln now had a "World's Most Rockin' Bro" trophy.

"Yeah, he's kind of a dork." Lori spoke over a clip of the two playing a video game together. "But he's OUR dork. MY dork. And I wouldn't change him at all." Lincoln got a kiss on the forehead and a "World's Coolest Brother" trophy from her.

A clip of Lisa and Lincoln in a snowball fight played.

"Although I admit to not socializing with my siblings very much and being overly blunt with them, I often find Lincoln to be pleasant company." Video-Lisa spoke. "I admit that I often insult my siblings' intelligence, but in my brother I have always seen great potential, and it is a pleasure to see him meet said potential."

Lisa presented Lincoln with a "World's Most Intelligent Brother" trophy, and although it was fairly stiff due to inexperience, he happily gave her brother a hug.

"Poo-poo!" Lincoln's attention went back to the screen, where he saw Lily chewing on the chair.

"Lily, no! You could choke on that!" Video-Luan yelled out, grabbing her before she could make any tears. She sat down on the beanbag chair, holding Lily on her lap.

"Ok, well, I can't really interview Lily, but she still loves you, Linc! Don't you Lily? Do you love Lincoln?"

"Ee...Een-con?" Video-Lily tried to say, looking around the room. "Een-con! Een-con!"

"Well, I guess I'll take my turn, then." Video-Luan said, setting Lily down on the floor.

"Lincoln, I'm not going to say any jokes or puns here. I want you to KNOW that I'm 100% serious. You're a great guy. Not many 11 year old boys can say that they not only tolerate living in a family like ours, but that they manage to stay sane and always make time for each member of their family. To us, it doesn't matter how many trophies you have, or anything like that..."

"That's why, when I asked MYSELF to pick one category to describe you, I couldn't do it. You're nice, you're smart, you're caring... Even if sometimes we treat you like crap, or you do something that makes us upset with you, we always love you. Because you're the world's BEST brother. That's what MY answer is. And the other girls agree with me, too."

"We love you, Lincoln."

At this point, Lincoln was pretty much on the verge of tears. He felt a tapping on his shoulder, and looked over to Luan. He figured, at this point, he was going to receive another trophy. But she was empty-handed.

"Come on, Linc. I got something to show ya!" she said, jumping up and walking into the dining room. Everybody else got up to follow, with somebody pausing the video behind them. Lincoln himself had to wait, taking all the trophies he'd collected and putting them aside before following.

In the dining room was a surprising sight.

Next to Lynn's large football trophy sat one that was even larger. On the side, it had "World's Best Brother" engraved.

"Guys... You didn't have to do all this..." Lincoln said.

"We WANTED to, dude." Luna said. "We don't want you to think that you aren't special... "

"You're one of the most special people in the world to us, sweetie." Rita added on. Lynn Sr. walked forward with a piece of paper.

"We, uhh, kinda ran out of trophies. But here's the last one." he said as he handed the paper to Lincoln.

It was a certificate that said "World's Best Son" on it.

Smiling, Lincoln grabbed onto his parents legs, hugging them close.

"Thanks, everyone... I feel better now." Lincoln said. "Even if I'm not the most talented one here, I'm certainly the luckiest. Not very many people can say they have the world's best family."

Suddenly, Lincoln found himself getting lifted off his feet. The older girls all held him over their heads, chanting his name. Lincoln couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, uhh... thanks for throwing that all together, Luan." Lincoln said over the cheering.

Luan shook her head. "I organized the whole thing for a video, but it wasn't my idea, actually."

Lincoln looked confused, but then Luan pointed behind her. There stood Lola, shyly smiling up at him.

"This was your idea, Lola?" he asked.

"Just the part with the trophies." she said. "Luan's the one that did everything else. We just wanted to make you feel happy again!"

Lincoln smiled, pulling both girls close and hugging them.

"Now, son, if you're feeling better, I got something we can spend the afternoon on..."

Lynn Sr. pulled out a large, colorful DVD case.

"BALTRON, THE COMPLETE SERIES! WHOOO!" he began making a bunch of goofy sound effects with his mouth. Lincoln was confused at first, but started laughing.

"I'll be there in a minute, Dad!" he said as his father "flew" to the couch like an airplane. Although the show wasn't what any of his sisters would be into, some of them joined in. Lincoln, meanwhile, walked into the kitchen.

"In a family with 11 kids, sometimes it's really hard to stick out." he began talking. "But maybe sticking out isn't really necessary, you know? Maybe I'm perfectly fine right where I am, in the middle of a family that I love, and who loves me right back..."

"You'll have to excuse me, though. Time for robot tigers! WHOO, BALTON!" Lincoln yelled out as he "flew" into the living room.

Lincoln was a tricky one. Partly because I think he's the most realistic character in the show, or in any modern cartoon for a good while. And partly because I kind of see myself in the guy. I know how it feels to be the "black sheep" of a family. But even so, I'm perfectly happy being the black sheep of a really great family, and I think he'd say the same.

"FORM BALTRON!" Lynn Sr., Lincoln, and a handful of Loud girls yelled out from the living room, where an anime action montage was playing on the screen.

"Please be a little quieter for a moment, you guys!" Rita yelled back from the dining room. "I'm on the phone."

After getting a barrage of "Sorry, Mom!/Honey!" from the living room, she went back to her conversation.

"Sorry, Dr. Lipschitz... Yes, all of my kids are doing very well..."

"I was actually just calling to thank you for Lincoln. That 'imaginary audience' trick you taught him is really helping him AND us..."

"Yes... He even taught it to his girlfriend, when she needed some help coping with a big family... Yeah, I'm surprised he's already gotten a girlfriend, too!"

"He IS a very bright young boy, isn't he? I'm very proud of him..."