"Girls! Dinner's almost ready!" Lynn Sr. called out to the house. He stirred the pot and tasted the dish he was making. "Lynn?" Lynn turned around seeing his wife walk in.
"Hey honey." He kissed her cheek. "Dinner will be ready soon." She nodded.
"Lynn, is it ok if we talked real quick?" Rita asked. Lynn reduced the heat on the pot. "Sure thing." Rita escorted him to their room in silence.
"What's going on Rita? Are you pregnant again?"
"No Lynn. I want to talk about...Lindsey..." Lynn's face turned into a somber expression. "I...I'm really worried about her."
"I'm worried too." He gave her a hug. "I know she's trying to comprehend everything. And so am I and the girls. It's not something we could get used to overnight."
"What kind of a mother am I? I'm supposed to make sure our children don't get hurt." She said with tears in her eyes.
"You're a wonderful mother Rita. You're caring, sweet, the voice of reason, and a woman who doesn't let anything get in her way above her family...Heck, sometimes I think you're the man of the house instead of me."Lynn comforted her.
Rita wiped her eyes. "Lori told me about how she found Lindsey waking up from a nightmare this morning."
"Did she say what it was about?" Rita shook her head.
"Nothing..." Lynn kissed her forehead.
"I know you're scared about what happened to Lincoln, just like I am too. I'm more angry than scared. But we can't always protect our children from all the dangers of the world." Lynn said.
"Maybe we should get her counseling?"
"That doctor at the hospital recommended that she should talk to someone about it."
"Clyde!" She said in realization. "Clyde's dads say that he does counseling with a woman named Dr. Lopez. Maybe she could help her."
"Great idea Rita. She can talk to someone, and they can use that evidence to give to the police to make an arrest."
"I want whoever took my baby to finally be punished." Rita said with an angered tone in her voice as tears dripped from her eyes to her chin. "He will never hurt another child again!"
Lynn hugged her tight. "We'll give her a call in the morning and set up an appointment." Rita wiped her eyes and nodded.
"I just want my baby to be ok."
"So do I..."
Back with the Loud sisters, they were in Lori's and Leni's room holding another sibling meeting.
"Ok, everyone, this meeting is now called to order." Lori slammed the shoe on the desk. "Lindsey's first official day here was...kind of a mixed bag."
"A mixed bag of what Lori? I hope it beads!" Leni said happily. Lori sighed.
"No Leni. She means Lindsey's day wasn't good but it wasn't bad." Lucy said.
"Correct Lucy." Lori confirmed. "Does anyone has anything they want to share about her?"
No one raised their hands...
"Ok, let's see who will spend the day with Lindsey tomorrow?" Lori shuffled the paper in the hat. "Lana since you had her first, you can go ahead and pick."
Lana nodded and stuck her hand in the hat and without looking pulled out the paper. Lori took the note with a disgusted look on her face seeing some leftover food and mud still attached to her hand.
"Leni!"
"Yay!" Leni cheered. "I promise girls. I will totes show her the best day ever! I'll take her shopping at my favorite stores, buy her a yummy smoothie, and-"
"Leni, I know you're excited but you have to remember, she's still scared and confused about everything." Lori said.
"What's the problem? I'm confused about everything all the time." Leni replied.
"We know!" Her sisters shouted.
"Look, It's hard for her to leave the house and be surrounded by a lot of people. Remember she was hurt by a bad person. So just keep an eye on her here ok?"
Leni nodded and held up her pinky.
"I promise Lori. I'll protect her from anything that could hurt her."
"Girls! Dinnertime!" Lynn Sr. called out. The group quickly went downstairs ready to eat.
"Dinner looks great Dad!" Lynn said as she sat at the table.
"Thank you jr." He replied. Lynn got a scoop of food but was stopped by Leni. "Lynn wait. We can't eat without Lindsey at the table."
Lynn scoffed. "Can't we eat without her?" She asked.
"Lynn no! Leni's right. We can't have dinner without Lindsey. She deserves to have dinner with her family." Rita said.
"I'll go bring her down to eat." Luan said leaving the table. Lynn sighed as she waited with the family. Luan made it upstairs and to her door. She took a deep breath and hesitated. She calmly and softly knocked.
Lindsey heard Lynn Sr. call for dinner but sat in her room instead. She rubbed her wrist still feeling the effects of the restraints on her from her dream which became well-known memories for her.
'Lindsey...Shouldn't you be downstairs? It's dinnertime.' Lila said.
"I'm not hungry."
'But you still have to eat.'
"Leave me alone Lila..."
'Lindsey...go downstairs...have dinner...Or are you still trying to make sure you fit your dresses for daddy...?' She taunted.
"Stop it...!"
'Aww, you don't want to admit that I'm right? He likes his little snowflake to have the perfect figure...'
"Stop it...!"
'Or are you still hoping that Daddy finds you so he still picks you over your sisters?'
"Stop it!"
There was a knock on the door knocking Lila's voice from Lindsey's head. "Lindsey? Are you in there?" Luan asked her.
Lindsey quietly opened the door to see Luan standing there with a nervous yet friendly expression on her.
"Hey, Lindsey...Uh, how are you?" She asked.
"I'm...ok..." She replied. Luan tried to think of a joke to break the ice. "Uh knock knock."
Lindsey was confused. "Huh?"
"Dinnertime!" She awkwardly laughed. Lindsey didn't chuckle.
"Anyway...everyone is waiting for you downstairs for dinner."
"Everyone is waiting for me?"
"Yeah. We have dinner together like a family." Luan said as she placed her hand on her shoulder. Lindsey tensed up and Luan let go.
Lindsey shook her head and scooted away from her. "I'm not allowed at the dinner table unless I'm told to do so."
"What are you talking about? You're a part of this family and you eat with us like a real family would."
"But...Daddy said I had to earn my place at the table...Don't I have to do that?"
"No! Lindsey you don't have to earn a spot at the table."
"I don't?" Luan shook her head.
"No. You get to eat with us as a family."
"A...family...?"
Luan nodded. Lindsey then went silent as she thought about it. She only ever ate as a "real family" when Daddy demanded it and he had to be in a good mood for her and her sisters to eat together. But it was soon just her. Luan noticed the silence and was nervous to ask.
"Lindsey, where would you eat...when you were with this 'Daddy' person...?" She asked worriedly.
"...Sometimes if I did eat, I would be told to eat where daddy told me. Mostly it was downstairs in my old room. I wasn't allowed to be at the table."
Luan had a saddened look on her face. But the look of compassion fell upon her. "You're a part of this family. You can eat whenever you want to eat and where ever you want to."
"Luan, C'mon! Your dinner's gonna get cold." Luna called out to her.
"Some of us are hungry ya know?!" Lynn shouted.
Luan stood up and held out her hand. "Well, we shouldn't keep everyone waiting...Ready to go?" Lindsey took it and followed her down.