#trillhouse

It was an ordinary family dinner in the Loud House. Quiet, almost uncharacteristically so; granted, things had been far more stable for some time now. The kids were growing up, and the oft-tumultuous family had come to make peace with one another over the years. The tension and bad blood had faded and quite frankly, Lincoln was the happiest he’d ever been. As far as he could tell, the same went for everyone else… hell, Lupa had even started calling him “dad” without the slightest hint of sarcasm. Things were good and, overall, dinners were far less chaotic than they had been in the past.

That said… tonight was a bit too quiet. Rather, one corner of the table was too quiet, especially considering that Lori was joining them for the evening: none other than her own daughter, Loan, alongside a now-teenaged Bobby. While they were certainly the most soft-spoken among the family, the utter silence of the pair was conspicuous enough for anyone to notice. They’d barely said a word all night, not even to each other. They just kind of… sat there picking away at their food in awkward silence, frequently exchanging glances between bites. They had been like this for a few days in fact, but tonight they seemed palpably tense; Lincoln could even see the faint sheen of sweat on their forehead. It was as though Lori’s presence was making them extremely anxious.

“So, Bobby,” Lincoln began once he cleared his throat, “How are things at school?”

“Oh, it’s fine. You know. Lotta… lessons and stuff. Learning a lot, y’know? Gotta… gotta get into a good college and all that,” The teen mumbled. Lincoln cocked an eyebrow. Something was definitely off.

“I’m tellin’ ya dude, you don’t need any of that stuff,” Lemy cut in. “Look at me, I dropped out and things have never been better.”

“Lemy, you work at a junkyard,” Lyle scoffed.

“And it is doing wonders for the bod.” Lemy flexed, flashing his brother a cheeky grin. “Don’t act like you’re not impressed.” Lyle simply rolled his eyes and went back to eating.

“How about you, Loan?” Lincoln asked his eldest daughter. “You’ve had that IT job for a while now. How’s that working out for you?”

“Ah… um…” Loan stammered. “I-it’s… good… might get a raise soon…”

“Oh? That’s wonderful to hear, Loan,” Lori said, beaming at her daughter. “I’m glad things are going well. You’ve come a very long way, I’m proud of you.” Loan’s brow furrowed, another bead of sweat trickling down her forehead as she mumbled a vague response; she seemed to be wringing her hands in her lap, and Bobby glanced over at her with a note of concern in his eyes. “What was that, Loan?” Lori asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“...I said th-thanks, mom…” The young woman trailed off, apparently having nothing further to say on the matter. Her father let out a soft sigh. Whatever was going on, it seemed clear that pushing them wasn’t going to help. Lori, however, seemed nonplussed by her daughter’s behavior, quickly starting a conversation with Ronnie about the latter’s increasingly-popular cafe. In fact, the only one besides himself that seemed to take notice of the oddly-quiet pair was Liena, who offered her big sister a comforting smile. Did she know what was going on…?

For some time dinner went on as usual, the family making small talk about the current going-ons in their lives; save, of course, for Loan and Bobby, who continued picking at their food in silence. Or, rather, Bobby was… Loan seemed to have stopped eating and sat with her head hung low, staring at her own lap and trembling anxiously. Lincoln frowned, unable to ignore this any further. He had to ask what was going on.

“Lo-”

“Loan, honey,” Lori cut in before he could speak. “Could you please pass the salt-”

“I’M PREGNANT!” Loan suddenly blurted out, bringing all conversation to a screeching halt. All present, Lincoln included, stared at the girl in stunned silence. “A-and it’s Bobby’s…!” She continued, red-faced and breathing heavily as though keeping the news in had been physically exhausting for her. Bobby shrunk back, his face scrunching up in shame, embarrassment and, presumably, fear; finally he slumped forward, burying his face in his palms with a long groan. Liena, for her part, didn’t seem surprised in the least… rather she let out a quiet sigh of resignation and put her arm around Loan’s shoulders.

As for Lincoln, he could only stare, slack-jawed, as he tried to process this information. Not that there was much to process–Loan’s confession had been nothing if not blunt and to the point–but still, his mind was struggling to accept it. Loan was pregnant. Loan, who had never shown an inkling of interest in dating or romance, let alone sex… and Bobby was the father. Bobby, the most responsible of his sons, had gotten his own sister pregnant before he was even out of high school.

Oh God, Lincoln thought. It’s happening again.

Lincoln swallowed and looked across the table at his stunned children. None had said anything, nor even moved… some even sat with their forks midway to their mouths, while to his right, Lori’s fell from her hand and clattered onto her plate. Reina, seated to Bobby’s other side, had turned white as a sheet, and Lacy had to catch her as the girl fainted in shock. And Ronnie… well, Lincoln couldn’t even bring himself to look at Ronnie. The sheer rage emanating from the fiery latina was palpable, an aura he had not felt since… well, since back then.

And through the deafening silence, the soft sound of crunching cut through like a knife. Lincoln looked to the far end of the table where Lupa was leaning back in her chair, munching away at a bucket of popcorn she’d seemingly produced from out of nowhere.

New beancest story, once that I’ve been meaning to write for a while now. Explicit content, 18+ only!

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