章節 85: 85. Ch 85- An Eve Of Excitement
When it comes to Christmas Eve, every family has their traditions— whether it be baking cookies, placing presents under the tree, watching Christmas films and listening to Christmas music, or playing in the snow, everyone had a way to make the time pass without getting too caught up on what was to come the following morning. For the Loud family, they did all this at once. Everyone was doing something to try and quell their impatient excitement for Christmas Day, with Luna, Leni, Lisa and Lucy sat on the couch, watching Christmas specials; the twins helping their father in the kitchen with baking cookies to contrasting degrees of conformity; Lynn pushing her baby sister around on a sled outside in the snow; and Lori and Luan being helped by their mother to bring down the last of their Christmas presents and put them under the tree, which was already quite full from the presents placed by the thirteen occupants of the house.
"Okay, girls," Rita told her eldest and fourth eldest daughters, placing a medium sized present and two smaller presents down behind the tree. "Is that everything?"
"Other than the presents for Bobby and the Casagrande's, that's literally everything, Mom," Lori replied, her and her sister placing the last gifts under the branches.
"Same here, Mom," Luan added. "All present and accounted for!" Rather than give her typical laugh, she gave a jaunty "Ho, Ho, Ho! Get it?" Both her sister and her mother groaned at the joke. "Oh, don't be such grumpy pants! There's snow room for Scrooges in this family!"
"Sigh… not again."
"Yeah, the twelve puns were too much last year, dude," Luna said in agreement with the goth sat next to her. "Now, it's just overkill."
"Ouch! Now, that's coald!"
This time, they all groaned as she gave her Christmas laugh. "Okay, I need to go check on Lily," Rita told her daughters. "Nobody open anything while I'm outside, understood?"
"I feel that the request should be directed to your eldest offspring, as opposed to the rest of us," Lisa felt the need to point out, to which Lori rolled her eyes.
"That's literally not going to happen this year!"
"Well, I'll be coming back inside in about five minutes, and I'll be checking," Rita warned. "Any presents that are even slightly opened will be held back until Boxing Day. Am I clear?"
The six sisters in the room gave a collective "yes, Mom," satisfying the matriarch enough for her to nod, then head out the front door. A second after the door shut, the twins emerged from the kitchen, both carrying bowls with plastic scrapers that they used to fish out and eat the remaining cookie dough. Right behind them, their father wiped some cookie batter onto his apron.
"Okay, good work, you two!" he told the twins. "I'll call you when the biscuits are ready to be decorated. For now, just relax and return the bowls when you're done. Remember, Lana, you can lick the scraper, but no licking straight from the bowl."
"Thanks, Daddy!" Lola happily responded, while Lana rolled her eyes and gave a resigned "fine" to his reminder. While he returned to the kitchen, the girls joined their sisters in the living room. They sat happily on the floor as they munched at the dough, to which Lisa gave a condescending look.
"You do realise our paternal unit will likely allow us to sample the baked festive treats once they are fully prepared?"
"You're just jealous," Lana teased.
"Yeah, you don't get to eat any of this scrumptious dough!" Lola also goaded, putting a exclamation point on it by scooping some on her scraper and over-dramatically eating it. "Yummy!"
The genius simply scoffed at the juvenile attempts to rile her up. "I hardly think that risking salmonella and gastrointestinal issues this close to the day that initiates Christmastide to be worth eating uncooked, unshaped and undecorated baked goods."
"Actually, dad doesn't use eggs," Luan countered. "He uses milk, and he pre-heats the flour. That way, we can eat the dough without risking our helf!"
Another set of Santa laughs and responsive groans were what followed, before the front door opened once more. Rita came in first, carrying a happy looking Lily in her arms, followed by Lynn.
"Come on, she was safe! I had her strapped to the sled to make sure she wouldn't fall off!" Lynn assured her mother, who was looking unimpressed.
"Lynn, you were going too fast!" she lightly scolded. "What would have happened if you let go?"
The jock puffed up her chest and grinned. "Come on, you know I wouldn't do that! It'd take a freaking jet to break my grip if they had to!"
With a roll of her eyes, Rita sighed. "Well, at least she had fun, but it's time she came in, anyway. I think she needs changing."
"Poo poo!"
The mother of eleven chuckled before she took a peek at the pile of presents, looking for any sign of tears or rips. Once certain there were none, she nodded to herself and took Lily upstairs. Lynn saw her mother's actions and grinned at her oldest sister.
"So, we taking bets on when Lori breaks?"
"No gambling in there!" they heard their father shout from the kitchen, making Lynn blush sheepishly while her older sisters laughed.
"No problem, Pops!" she yelled back, before looking back to her siblings. "Seriously, though, anyone got four thirty?"
"Sorry to be the buzzkill to your little 'what will Lori do' party," Lori argued, "but that's not going to happen this year. I already proved last year that I could do it, so there's no longer any pressure on me."
"Not buying it, dude," Luna dismissed. "What's the catch?"
She sighed, before holding up her wrist, which had a black device strapped around it. "Luan's got the controller to this joy buzzer, and I can only take it off when I go to bed."
"Yep! It would be rudeolph of me not to help!" Luan joked. "This way, she can't bow out and ruin the surprise! I'm keeping her honest! Ho, Ho, Ho! Get it?"
"Did someone get her a muzzle?" Lola muttered, to which Lana sniggered.
"But, Lori, won't that, like, totes hurt?" Leni asked with concern.
"Leni, I'll be fine," Lori assured dismissively. "Luan gave me a warning shock earlier, which was mild but sore, and she said she'd turn it up each time she uses it, so now I know what I'm trying to avoid."
"Don't worry, Lori," Luan told her. "I'm only doing this to help you out, and I know you cane do it!"
Everyone groaned again as she laughed, before their attention turned towards the stairs when they heard footsteps coming down it. They saw Rita returning without Lily, followed by the sole boy of the family, who was carrying a sealed, medium sized, silver gift bag with a glittery reindeer design. "Are you sure you don't mind walking Charles to your friend's house?" she asked him.
"It's cool," he answered. "I'm sure Ajax won't mind meeting him, either."
"Hey, Lincoln! Want me to hold that for you?"
He gave a deadpan stare to his next oldest sister's offer and shook his head. "No chance."
"I literally can't believe you won't tell us what you got her!" Lori pointed out as the boy began to put on his winter gear. "She must be really special to you for you to go to such drastic measures."
"You're still on this? How many times do I have to tell you, she's—"
"Not your girlfriend, she's just a friend!" all nine sisters chanted back at him with teasing grins and giggles, making him slump his shoulders in exasperation.
"You girls suck, you know that?"
"Come on, bro, we're just teasing," Luna insisted. "What makes you think we're going to give all your secrets away?"
"Besides the fact that Leni has her sister's phone number?"
"But, like, Jen wouldn't tell her!" Leni defended.
"Yeah, come on, Lincoln, why can't you tell us?" Lana pleaded, her and Lola both giving small puppy dog eyes.
"Alright, girls, that's enough," Rita stepped in. "I'm sure your brother just wants to make sure that Jordan will be surprised by his gift, and he'll let you know tomorrow." She then raised an eyebrow at her son and added, "right, Lincoln?"
"Sure, I don't mind that, but right now, I need to get going." He put his hat on, then handed the gift bag to his mother and began patting his knees. "Charles! Here, boy!" On cue, the dog scampered out of the dining room, dragging his leash with him. "Guess you're ready for a walk, huh, boy?" The French Bulldog barked happily, making the boy chuckle as he took the leash from the dog's mouth. "Alright, come here."
"If the weather starts to get bad, come straight home or stay at the Rosato's house until it settles, okay? And be sure to let me know if that happens."
"I will, Mom." Clipping the leash to Charles' collar, he stood back up and retook the gift bag from her. "Okay! I'll see you all later!"
"Later, bro!" Lynn told him, the other girls giving their farewells as he and the dog left via the front door, shutting it with a bit of a thud. "So, what does everyone think he got?"
"Why are you girls so fascinated with what your brother got his friend?" Rita asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I could expect this if you were talking about what he was going to give you, but this seems like you're up to something."
"Mom, those two are literally so cute around each other!" Lori explained. "We don't think he would be hiding what he got her from us if he didn't think it was important!"
"She is quite correct," Lisa informed her mother. "Our fraternal unit only shows such behavioural characteristics around members of the other biological gender, with whom he feels a different yet equally potent connection to, than that he shares with his sororal units. In other words, we believe he likes her."
"And we want to know that he got her something really special!" Lola added. "Didn't you act like this when you started dating Daddy?"
"I suppose I did, but that was a different situation. Your brother isn't dating Jordan. If he says that they are just friends, maybe you should believe him instead of teasing him." Though no one said anything to her, she could pick up a few reluctant grumbles of acknowledgement. "Now, I'm going to see how your father's getting on in the kitchen. No more talking about what he got her, okay?"
Though they wanted to, they knew they couldn't argue with their mother, so they gave a resigned "yes, Mom", making her smile as she walked away. When she disappeared from sight, Lynn smirked and told her sisters in a hushed tone, "she didn't say we couldn't talk about what she got him, though."
Lori's eyes lit up as her lips curled into an equal smirk. "You're right! She didn't!" She turned to Leni and asked, "you know Jordan better than the rest of us. What do you think she got him?"
The fashionista's face contorted as she thought about the question posed to her, her tongue sticking out slightly. "Umm… I can't think of anything."
"Nothing new there," Lucy said flatly.
"I bet it's something treemendous!" Luan suggested. "A Christmust have!" She laughed to herself once more before clarifying, "seriously, though, I bet she got him something he'll love."
"I hope so," Luna agreed. "Whether they're just friends or not, he deserves something special." Everyone nodded at the rocker's statement, but before anyone could make any further suggestions, they heard a knock at the front door, confusing the girls. "Who could that be?"
"Can someone get that?" they heard their father call out, so Lori stood from the couch.
"I'm on it!" she called back, making her way to the door. When she opened it she was met with two things: a sudden cold gust blowing in her face, and the sight of Jordan in her winter clothes, holding a white box wrapped with a red ribbon bow. "Jordan?!"
"Hey, Lori!" she greeted, slightly perplexed by the reaction that she had received, further so when the high school senior didn't say anything for a couple of seconds. "… can I come in?"
"Uh… y-yeah, sure. Come on in." She stepped aside and let the Rosato girl in, the other girls giving slightly awkward greetings to the girl as Lori shut the door. "Don't take this the wrong way, but… what are you doing here?"
"Didn't Lincoln tell you? I came to exchange Christmas presents with him." As she looked around the room, she realised that the boy was nowhere to be seen. "Where is Lincoln, anyway? Is he upstairs?"
"Actually… he already left," Lucy replied, shocking Jordan.
"What?!"
"He said that he was heading to your place," Luan explained. "That you were going to be doing the exchange at your house."
"But, I could have sworn that I said we were going to be meeting here." She gave a frustrated sigh, looking down at the gift in her hands. "Now I feel like an idiot."
"Hey, come on, don't say that," Lori assured comfortingly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe Lincoln screwed up, not you. Besides, he only left a few minutes ago. We'll get him back."
"Already on it," Lynn informed the blonde, sending a text to her brother. It only took a few seconds for her to get a response. "He's heading back, he'll be about five minutes."
"In the meantime," Lori then told their guest, "why don't you sit down? If you like, I can hold that while you hang your coat up."
"That's okay, I'm probably not gonna stay for too long after we've swapped our gifts."
"If you're sure." She watched as the girl walked over to the couch, the others shifting so she could sit between Leni and Luna, still clutching onto the box. "So, what did you get him?"
"Don't even think about it!" their mother warned from the kitchen, causing the Rosato girl to laugh hearty.
"I was just joking!" Lori rolled her eyes, but smiled again to Jordan. "Well, while we wait for Lincoln to come back, we could use this opportunity to get to know you better."
"Yeah, I'm sure Stinkoln's already told you loads about us," Lynn pointed out.
"But the stuff we know about you is very thinsel!" Luan quipped, following it with a "Ho, Ho, Ho" and a "get it?" Of course, the others groaned at the pun, but it didn't last long before Lana decided to give the first question.
"How did you meet Lincoln?"
Jordan smiled to the animal lover. "Well, I met him like pretty much everyone else in our class, back in kindergarten. I didn't talk to him much back then because he was friends with the guys and I had my friends, but we got on pretty well."
"So, then, how did you become friends?" Lola inquired.
"Well… you know, it's been so long that I'm not sure." Her smile grew nostalgic. "I always remember him being sort of friends with me, even if we weren't always as close as we are now, but I can't actually remember when we went from classmates to, well, friends. Plus, my locker has always been close to his, so we always spoke to each other before class."
"I'm like that with some of my friends," Lori told her. "Still, there must be some moment where you remember hanging out together."
She put a hand to her chin as she thought back. "Umm… I guess there was this one time in second grade. We got paired together for an English project, and he wanted to do something Ace Savvy related. I hadn't heard of Ace back then, which kind of shocked him, and it got him rambling about the superhero. It was a really nerdy moment, but he was so enthusiastic, I couldn't help but listen, and even though we ended up doing something different, he got me curious enough to check it out. I've been reading the comics ever since, and we regularly talk about it."
The girls gave a bit of a coo at the sweet story, which got Jordan to blush a little. "That's literally adorable."
Luna shuffled on the couch to face Jordan more directly, crossing her legs. "So, Lil' Bro told me yesterday that you were at that Smooch concert at the mall, and I saw some of your moves throughout the show. Didn't really take you for a rocker before."
"I'm not. Like I told Lincoln a while back, I listen to a mix of stuff, but Smooch is one of my all time favourites."
"What's some of your other fave jams?"
"Well, I like April Levine, and I'm kind of into country stuff too, though I'd say I'm mainly into songs that get me moving."
This brought a grin to the rocker's face, her hand throwing up the goat as she shouted, "righteous!"
Jordan giggled, throwing up a goat of her own. "Rock on, Luna."
Before anyone else could ask her anything, the door was forced open, Lincoln struggling not to get blown over by the sharp breeze as he and Charles entered, the dog shaking off the snow that covered him. He dropped the leash before taking the door and trying to force it shut. The breeze pushed back hard against him, until Lynn jogged over to help her brother, closing the door with little struggle.
"Come on, bro, I thought you were getting stronger, thanks to me!" she teased, the boy panting from the effort.
"Hey, I've… been doing it… for two months… not years." Lynn simply rolled her eyes and went back to the others, while the boy turned his attention to Jordan as she approached him. "Uh, hey."
"Hey. I thought we said we were meeting here?"
"I thought that you said you wanted me to drop by your place. Guess we… didn't really make that clear."
"I guess not. Still, we're here now, huh?"
"Yeah. So, uh, this is for you."
He held out the bag for her, which she took while holding her box under her arm. "Thank you, Linc, and this right here is yours." She held the box out to him, which he stared at in surprise as he accepted it. "There's a card inside with your present."
"Right, thanks. It's… bigger than I was expecting."
She rolled her eyes. "Lincoln, it's not a competition. Besides, I'm just flattered you got me anything at all."
This made the boy smile again. "You're right. I'm thankful for my present too, Jordan."
"Forgive my interruption," Lisa spoke up, "but might I direct you to the current meteorological state of our town?"
Confused, Jordan looked out the window, only to find that a blizzard was blowing past the house, snow cascading in the wind and pelting the window. "Woah… that's pretty bad."
"Yeah, it was just starting to turn after Lynn texted me," Lincoln explained. "Lisa, do you know how long it'll last?"
"One second, male sibling." She pulled out a device and began to check and compare the readings it gave. "Judging on wind patterns, temperature and humidity, I would estimate that the blizzard should begin to settle in… one hour, sixteen minutes and thirty four point six two seconds."
"Well, maybe it's best if you stay here, Jordan. I wouldn't want you to get sick or hurt, being caught in all that. Not to mention, that would ruin Christmas for you tomorrow."
She gave a small smile at his kindhearted suggestion. "Maybe you're right, Linc. Still, I should let my mom know if I'm staying here."
"Make yourself comfortable," Lori insisted. "In fact, while you're here, why don't we all play a board game or something?"
"Sure, that sounds like fun!"
"Well, since you're our guest, I'll let you choose," Lynn confidently offered. "Just know that I've only lost one board game against my entire family."
This brought a competitive fire to Jordan's eyes as she shot back, "prepare to make that two."
"Sigh… there's two of them," Lucy grimly uttered as she followed her sisters into the dining room.
"Why don't you find somewhere under the tree to put that?" Lori told Lincoln, gesturing to the box in his hands. "That way, none of us try and sneak a peek." She shot a joking wink to him, making him chuckle as she went into the dining room, before he went to do as she had suggested.
Once Lincoln put the present away and Jordan informed her family of the change in plans, the Louds and Jordan had fun playing board games together, first playing a pairs game, with Lynn insisting on being by herself to make up for the odd numbers. The others insisted on Jordan teaming with Lincoln, though neither of them really objected to being on the same side. There were a couple of debates about the rules and certain people breaking them, but no fights broke out, and after roughly twenty minutes, Jordan and Lincoln came in first, with Lynn a close second. Though most were expecting the jock to be a sore loser, she was surprisingly calm upon seeing the celebration from Jordan. Of course, that could have been because she was sneaking a picture of the two hugging, as were the other sisters, which was eventually revealed by Leni saying that she had her thumb over the lens of her camera.
By the time that game was over, Lola and Lana went back into the kitchen to help their father decorate the cookies, so Lincoln and Jordan suggested they play one of the WhackBox games that used your phone as a controller. The others were more dubious, but quickly got into the groove of things and had a blast playing the drawing game, which was also won by Lincoln. The twins came back with their father after that game, bringing enough freshly iced and sprinkled cookies for the kids to have one each, all savouring the crumbly, sweet goodness of the cookies before resuming with their impromptu game night. After a couple more games, the blizzard had settled. Lincoln escorted Jordan home as he walked Charles again, making up for the missed opportunity earlier. Once they reached her house, they said their farewells for the day and wished each other a happy holiday before the boy returned home.
It soon reached ten o'clock in the night, and everyone had begun making their preparations for bed. All were eager for the forthcoming day, so it was no surprise to Lincoln that his sisters had gone to bed as quickly as they could. He was the last one to finish his bathroom routine, putting his toothbrush back and drying his face with a hand towel before beginning to walk back to his room. 'Tomorrow's going to be hectic,' he thought to himself. 'Still, that's nothing new in this house, and everyone should get along. Long enough to know what they got, at least.' He'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't wonder what he was going to get as well, especially in that one white box. 'Oh, well. Tomorrow should come soon enough.'
He opened the door to his room and stepped inside, but as he was about to shut it, he saw Luan pacing about. "Luan?" he called out in a hushed tone, getting her attention. "What are you doing?"
"Oh. Hey, Linc," she said in a slightly sullen tone, concerning him enough to approach her.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Just… wasn't able to complete my twelve jokes of Christmas."
"Really? How come?"
"I dunno, but now I can't sleep because of it. All I can really do is stay up advent about it."
His expression deadpanned when her mood immediately brightened and she gave her festive laugh. "Okay, how long have you been planning that?"
"Six hours, and it was worth it!" She saw him give an exasperated groan, so she quickly scooped him into a hug and pecked a kiss on his head. "See you in the morning, Lincoln."
With that, she let him go and returned to her room, and in spite of the awful and unnecessary joke, he couldn't help but chuckle as he headed to his own bed. 'Yep. It's gonna be another Loud Christmas.'
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