The girls watched Vanzilla drive away, auras of melancholy stuck close to their emotions, making them wish that they could just teleport back into the retreating vehicle so they could be back with the boy that had captured their hearts so thoroughly.
"Oh, I wish we didn't have to go to school!" Leni whined.
"Me too!" Lynn added, standing on her toes to try and get a final glean at Vanzilla as it rounded the corner at the end of the street. "Why can't we just stay with Linc?"
Lori sighed and took Lynn's hand in hers, "Eh, you know, we gotta get an education and all that jazz. All the stuff Mom and Dad tell us." She gently pulled Lynn towards the school entrance behind their little group, "I suppose the best we can do is hope the day goes quick, right?"
Luna bit her cheek and followed after her sisters, Luan taking her own hand as well. She supposed Lori was right; there was nothing that could be done except hope that the day would pass by easily enough. That way, the school day would end soon enough, and the five of them could reunite with their beloved baby brother once more.
…
At 8:30 in the morning, Lynn sat in her first-grade class, a pencil in hand and her back hunched as she focused on her usual Monday morning assignment.
What did I do this weekend?
On the paper, there was a large square, asking the student to draw something representative of what they did. Below that, five lines, requesting to be filled with at least three sentences waited to be written in.
Normally, Lynn struggled to fill in those lines. This week however, the words practically flowed out of her.
"This weekend, I got a baby brother. His name is Lincoln. We played together. He's really cute."
That final sentence hadn't been needed, but Lynn found it necessary to put down. Her new little brother was adorable! And she was going to make sure the teacher knew it!
As for the picture, that came remarkably easy as well. A childish depiction of her and Lincoln, created with simple shapes and lines, showed the two of them playing marbles, shown with a large circle with tiny little dots of color within it. On the faces of the simple stick figures, cute little smiles beamed at Lynn.
And done! Lynn thought, lifting the paper to inspect it. She grinned to herself as she beheld her good work, giddiness tickling her senses and filling her with pride.
"Alright, everyone!" And just when she finished, the teacher called out to her students. "Who wants to tell us about their weekend first?"
"Oh, I do, I do!" Lynn exuberantly replied. She leapt to her feet, hitting the bottom of her paper on her desk like she had seen her father do with his own paperwork from time to time. "I had something really big happen to me this weekend!"
Her teacher laughed and moved by Lynn's desk, "Alright, Lynn, go ahead."
Lynn glowed and tapped the paper once more before taking a big, preparatory breath. "Okay, this weekend, I got a baby brother!" She turned the paper and presented it to her class, showing them the picture. "His name is Lincoln. We played marbles together and had a lot of fun!"
"Your mama had a baby and he could already play with you?" One of her classmates asked.
Lynn shook her head, "No, Lincoln is only a few years younger than me. I think he's five. We adopat-adopta-adoo—"
"Adopted, Lynn? Are you trying to tell us you adopted him?" Her teacher inquired with an amused little smile.
Lynn ceased her attempted pronunciation before she bit her tongue and looked up at her teacher. "Uh huh," She said, nodding. "A friend of my daddy's brought him to us and now he's my baby brother!"
"Wait, so your mom and dad didn't have him?" Lynn's blood immediately sparked at the sound of that voice, a voice she had come to detest since she started first grade. "Then he can't be your brother, can he?"
Lynn's fingers whitened around the paper and she turned to the boy who dared question the bond between her and her darling baby brother. "He is my brother, Stevie! My Mommy and Daddy said so!"
"Only people who have the same mom and dad can be brother and sister!" The boy named Stevie said smarmily.
Lynn was starting to see red, and she slammed her paper onto her desk, "We do have the same mommy and daddy. They say he's their kid now, same as me and my sisters!"
"Did your parents bring him from the hospital like my little brother?" Stevie scoffed.
Lynn didn't know where Lincoln came from, but it didn't matter; all she knew was that Stevie was deriding her and Lincoln's connection and she was not going to have that.
"Be quiet!" Lynn snarled, moving to run towards Stevie's desk.
"Whoa, easy there, Lynn." Fortunately, her teacher was quick to put an arm out to hold the enraged girl in place. "No need to get so riled up," She said, ushering her back into her seat. She stood up and looked to the rest of the class, "Now class, just because someone isn't born into a family, does not mean they can't become a part of one. From what Lynn tells us, she does indeed have a new baby brother." She smiled down at Lynn and brought her hands together, "And I think that's very much something worth celebrating. Congratulations, Lynn!"
"Congratulations, Lynn!" The rest of the class cried (Sans Stevie).
And Lynn's anger fell away, leaving only a final mote behind reserved just for Stevie.
She'd get rid of that last bit by kicking his butt on the kickball field.
And I'll kick a homerun, special for you, Lincoln! She mentally declared.
…
At 10:15, out on the playground, Luan sat on the swings, lightly kicking herself into a leisurely arc while she pondered away in the air.
At their school, recesses were split three-by-three by grade. K-2 for the first recess, 3-5 for the second recess shortly after.
That meant that Luan, though free to have fun with her friends, was tasked with keeping an eye on Lynn, since she was the only sister present at that recess with her.
Fortunately for her, Lynn seemed perfectly fine. She was just out on the blacktop, dominating some really annoyed kid at the plate during kickball.
And that meant she was free to do what she came out to do; devise a story to tell Lincoln after school.
Hmm, maybe something a little more down to Earth? She rubbed her chin as she reached the apex of another swing. She shook her head as she swung back, No, maybe something more fairy-tale-y, I bet Lincoln would like that, since he liked Robin Hood so much. Well, that shouldn't be too hard, Goldy blue is a dragon, after all. But what should it be about then?
She frowned when another thought came to her. Lincoln's nightmares were still a concern for the family, and while she hadn't seen or heard Lincoln experience them firsthand, she still knew he was dealing with them. It was abundantly obvious the day before, when she asked him if he slept well and got all cagey about answering.
That really must stink, She told herself. Even the occasional nightmare could be rough, she knew that from experience.
So…Maybe the story could have something to do with nightmares, something to do with overcoming them?
Maybe… Luan brought the swing to a rocking stop, skidding the bottom of her shoes on the tanbark, Maybe they could help others get over their nightmares, by beating the nightmares away.
The premise had promise, at least, she thought so. As she came to a full stop, she brought her hands out. She imagined her puppets on her hands, and as they floated through her mind, a fantastical land came alongside them.
O-Once upon a time, in a land of dreams and stars, Goldy blue and Teethy-Rex were snoozing in the sun…
And slowly, piece by piece, the story came together, entrancing Luan so deeply, that she didn't notice the bell ring not long after. She was just too busy trying to craft a story that would help alleviate her little brother's fears of what lay in his own personal dreamland.
…
"Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do!"
"Well done, class!"
At 11:30, Luna sat in the music room with the rest of her 3rd grade class. In her hands, her little music book, filled with notes and public domain folksongs was gripped tight, grabbing all of Luna's attention as she sang the scales proudly.
"Alright, now once more, in reverse!"
"Do-Ti-La-So-Fa-Mi-Re-Do!"
"Ha-ha! Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!" The music teacher tapped their sparkly little baton upon their podium, scattering a little glitter onto its wooden surface. "Only a month into the school year and you're already turning into such great singers!"
Luna blushed a little where she sat, hiding her face in her music book. She had no doubt the teacher thought they were all good as a group, but there was no way they thought she was good individually, right?
"Luna, no hunching in music class!" The teacher said lackadaisically. "Our voices need proper stature in order to spread!"
"Y-Yes, teacher!" Luna replied, straightening herself.
"There we go, we certainly don't want your pretty voice struggling now!"
And as the rest of her class giggled, Luna's cheeks pinkened further. The teacher couldn't have meant that! She wasn't any good at singing! Yeah, she could play a few tunes here and there on a few instruments, but as for actually singing? She couldn't have any actual talent, could she?
I dunno, the Little one seemed to enjoy your singing last night. Then, in a rare moment of self-indulgence, the little voice in her head spoke up with something positive. He was totally freaking out, and with just a little tune from you, he calmed down; doncha think that's something worth at least considering as a talent?
Luna couldn't argue against that. The memory of Lincoln curling up against her as she crooned to him, growing quieter with each little hum that came from her was still strong and clear in her mind. The sight of his fearful expression falling into calm contentment had filled her to the brim with warm affection; heck she still felt that selfsame affection just thinking about Lincoln. How could she not? The brief moments of happiness she had seen on the boy just that moment made Luna feel like the sun was shining just for her. And what had she come to realize when she had put him to bed the night before?
You found out you love him, brah! The voice in her head exclaimed, a little teasingly, strangely enough.
Luna rolled her eyes. Of course, even when her inner voice was nice, it was still a little bit on the mean-spirited side.
Still, as her and her class sang "Camptown Races", she still had to agree with her inner voice. She did love her new little brother. He was so sweet!
And the world had battered him every which way it could.
And I'm not letting the world hurt him anymore, She thought. The determination of her thought filtered into her voice, strengthening it, giving it a booming quality that allowed it to spread throughout the room, making itself impossible to ignore in its zeal.
"Haha!" Her teacher clapped when the song came to its end, "Well done, Luna! Now that's a strong voice! I daresay we have a future little musician here!"
Luna let her arms fall, raised up unknowingly during her belting of the song. "Um…Thank you, teacher," She gulped.
And as the rest of the class went on, Luna contended with a brand-new question.
Where on Earth did that come from?
…
Leni was having a great day. She had gotten a B-minus on a math test that she knew her parents would be immensely proud of her for, she had set a new personal best in jump rope, and the cafeteria had tater-tots that day!
But best of all, every time she looked to the clock, now bearing the time 12:30, she knew she had only a scant few hours until she could see her darling Linky again!
"So what's it like having a new sibling appear right out of nowhere, Leni?" One of her friends asked from across the table.
"Oh, it's wonderful!" Leni gushed. "Linky is such a little doll! He's so sweet! And adorable to boot!"
"He isn't annoying? Like my little brother is?" Another friend asked.
Leni gasped, like the idea of Lincoln being annoying was absurd, "No! Not at all! If anything, Linky is the opposite of annoying! If anything…" She bit her cheek and dunked a tater-tot into her ketchup, "He could stand to be a little less shy. The poor thing takes forever to ask for anything, even a glass of water. Usually, I need to check to see if his glass is empty, then ask if he wants more before he asks."
"Aww…" Her friends sadly replied.
"Yeah…" Leni mumbled, looking down. She sighed and chomped on her tater-tot, "Me and the rest of my family are doing our best at taking care of him, and I think we're doing good, but I still worry, y'know?"
"Don't worry, Leni!" One friend said.
"We know you can do it!" Another chimed.
"Yeah, you can make anyone happy!"
And Leni smiled in response, grabbing another tater-tot before her, "Thanks, guys. That helps."
"Hey, Leni?"
Leni's ears perked up at the familiar voice and she turned in her seat. "Oh, hi, Lori!" She said when she saw her sister. "What brings you over here?"
Lori rolled her eyes, "We have the same lunch period, Leni."
"Yeah, but don't you usually hang out with your friends?" Leni asked.
Lori jolted. She hadn't thought of that. Had Leni actually asked a legitimate question? "Um, yeah, but I wanted to talk to you about something, you mind coming with me real quick?"
"Sure," Leni said cheerily. She turned from the inside of the table and hopped onto her feet, following after Lori with her arms held aloft in front of her. "What's going on?" She asked when Lori turned around to face her aways off from the main space of the cafeteria.
Lori took a moment before responding, shuffling in place with a nervous expression crossing her face. "I-Uh, I just wanted to ask a favor."
"Well, shoot!" Leni said vivaciously.
Lori bit her lip and looked down, blushing slightly, "I—I wanted to ask. When mom picks us up after school. Is there any chance that—that you want to swap seats with me? You can sit in the front."
On any other occasion, Leni would've said sure without hesitation, and she fully intended to, but seeing Lori's bashfulness told her she was asking for a very specific reason.
"Lori…" Leni smirked mischievously and set her hands on her hips as she leaned forward, "Do you wanna switch seats so you can sit with Linky?"
"No!" Lori replied instantaneously, her shoulders hardening defensively. "I just felt like being nice and giving you a ride up front. I'm trying to be a good older sibling!"
Leni giggled and stood straight again, "You are a good older sibling!" She beamed at Lori, "That's why I will switch with you. But we rotate, okay? I want time with Linky, too."
"I just felt like doing something nice for you…" Lori protested in a mumble.
Leni laughed again, "Of course you did."
Lori scoffed and turned away, "Just go back to your lunch."
"Okay! See you after school!" Leni said, turning back and trotting to her table again.
Lori was so transparent to Leni, that was what she loved about their relationship. Yeah, they fought from time to time, but she loved Lori to the sun and back, no doubt. That's why she agreed to switch seats with her, because she loved her, and because Lori was so special to her, she was willing to give Lori that extra little bit of time with Linky, because Leni herself saw just how much Lori already loved their adorable baby brother.
That, and the fact that the front seat was being offered, who could turn that down?
…
"Alright, class, for the last fifteen minutes, feel free to work on whatever you want, just keep things to a dull roar if you don't mind."
The time was 2:35, fifteen minutes until school was out, and with the teacher's permission, Lori and the rest of her fifth-grade class was given free rein of their remaining time.
And Lori, as she did many-a-day before, decided to do what she loved to do best.
Lori stared across the class room, beholding the boy who had caught her fancy and made her doodle little hearts all over her notes whenever she found herself imagining some sort of romantic fantasy, usually involving a lavish, over-the-top wedding that had dressed her in the most beautiful (And often most sparkly) wedding dress she could imagine.
Bobby Santiago, Lori's fellow classmate and undeniable crush, sat with his friends, laughing about something that Lori was far too immersed in her daydream to hear. The only thing she did hear was his laugh, a little dorky sounding, she had to admit, but she found herself completely enamored by it, almost as much as the way his near golden hazel eyes glimmered when he did laugh.
"Lori? Loriiiii? Lori!"
And it was only with the exasperated call of her friends that she was able to wrench herself out of her fantasy. Mighty shame for her that was, because Bobby had just been about ready to say, "I do."
"Wha—What? What is it?!" She said, jerking up into an upright position at her desk, "What? Did the bell ring, is it time to go?"
Her friends rolled their eyes, used to, but nonetheless a little annoyed by Lori going all gaga over Bobby once again.
"No, Lori, we still have like, ten minutes left," One friend grumbled.
"Why don't you just go over and talk to Bobby? Honestly!"
"Yeah! It's not like you'll get the chance just sitting over here."
Lori's shoulders tensed and a nervous little smile came over her, "I can't do that! What would I say?"
"I don't know!" One friend exclaimed. "Talk about the birds outside the window for all we care! Just say something to him!"
Lori didn't exactly feel encouraged by that, so she just shook her head in response, "Yeah, I'd rather not make an idiot out of myself by talking about birds."
"Well, can you at least help us get a head start on the math homework? You're the only one who seems to get integers."
Lori smirked and flipped open her notebook, coincidentally to a page filled with both notes on integers and hearts bearing her and Bobby's initials, "Yeah, I'll help."
Not long after, the bell finally did ring, and Lori along with her classmates all but burst out of the classroom, filling the halls like floodwaters out of a dam.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Lori said as she ventured down the halls to pick up Lynn from her class.
"Bye, Lori!"
Lori traveled through the throngs of students, slipping past the current going against her, moving further inward into the school until she reached the hallway occupied by both the first-grade and kindergarten students.
"Lori!" Lynn ran towards her eldest sister, her little red backpack bouncing on her back as she leapt into Lori's outstretched arms.
"Hey, Lynn," Lori said, smiling when Lynn's arms wrapped around her neck. She hugged her back and jostled her left and right, "You have a good day?"
"Uh huh!" Lynn exclaimed, pulling back and taking Lori's hand, "For our weekend show and tell, I told the class about Lincoln, and they were all super happy for me!"
"They were!" Lori replied, her voice lilting into congratulatory surprise.
"Yeah! And we had a spelling test and I got every word right!" Lynn went on.
"Wow!" Lori gushed, leading Lynn outside the classroom. "That's great, Lynn! Mom and dad are gonna be super proud of you!"
Lynn giggled happily in response.
Lori led Lynn back through the hallway, carefully making sure she didn't accidentally bump her into anything thanks to her smaller stature.
And that's when she saw him again.
Bobby was coming out from one of the classrooms on the kindie side, and in his hand, a girl, undoubtedly his own younger sibling was chatting away with him.
Aww, he's good with his siblings, too! Lori internally cooed.
"Lori?" And yet again, it took a befuddled call of her name to snap her out of yet another rapidly building fantasy.
"Oh!" Lori jolted and looked down at Lynn, who was staring up at her with a curious little glint in her eye. "Sorry, Lynn, I must've zoned out there."
"What were you thinking about?" Lynn asked, a single eyebrow rising.
Lori blushed and looked away from her, "Nothing! Nothing at all!" She squeezed Lynn's hand before looking down at her again, "Now, why don't we get going? Mom's gonna pick us up, and you know what that means!"
Lynn's eyes glittered excitedly and she raised a happy little fist, "We get to see Lincoln again!"
"That's right!" Lori confirmed with a smile. "So we better hurry!"
"Yeah!" Lynn agreed. And before Lori could voice any objection, Lynn was tugging her down the hallway with her impressive strength, forcing Lori to hunch and stumble after her.
"Lynn! You can slow down a little!" Lori gasped when she bumped into a corner thanks to Lynn making a sharp turn.
"No time, gotta see Lincoln!" Lynn replied, tugging Lori behind her even faster.
…
"Oh, there you are," Luna said when Lynn and Lori walked up to the sisters' little group cluster out by the pick-up area. "What took you guys so long?"
Lori groaned and stood straight, bringing a loud cracking noise from her back. In her disheveled hair, broken twigs and tiny leaves stuck out at random angles. "Lynn took us through a shortcut through the bushes."
"It is a shortcut," Lynn insisted.
Lori glowered at Lynn, "It's a shortcut for someone your size, Lynn. For people like me, those branches just give me something to get my arms and legs tangled in."
Lynn pouted and looked down, "I'm not little…"
"I'm not saying you are, Lynn," Lori sighed, bringing her free hand to ruffle her little sister's hair, "You're just smaller than me."
"And your shortcut has some good points to it," Luan added with a chuckle. "It looks like Lori got real up close and personal with nature. Get it?"
The other girls (Sans Leni who didn't get it) rolled their eyes with a small groan at that.
"So, Luan, did you come up with a story to tell Linky?" Leni asked.
Luan smiled and set her hands on her hips, "You know it! I spent most of the day coming up with one. My teacher even called on me several times without me noticing at first!"
"I'd keep that to yourself when mom shows up," Lori mumbled, rolling her eyes.
"Can we bring up the little puppet studio from the basement?" Lynn asked.
"Ooh, yeah, the puppet studio makes Luan's shows a thousand times better!" Leni said.
"Seems like a good idea to me," Lori said.
"Wait, are you saying my puppet shows stink otherwise?" Luan asked in a deadpan.
"Look, there's Vanzilla!" Before anyone could respond to Luan's question, Lynn pointed at the aforementioned vehicle, pulling around the corner and causing the hearts of all five girls to skip a beat.
"Oh, can anyone see Linky?" Leni asked, standing on her tiptoes.
"No, it's too dark in the back," Luna replied, shaking her head morosely.
"Alright, girls," Lori said, "let's remember to keep our cool, okay? Linc may be getting used to us, but we still don't wanna risk overwhelming him, got it? Keep calm and just act like any other day."
"Lori, you're squeezing my hand too hard," Lynn whimpered.
Lori jolted and loosened her hold on Lynn's hand, "Sorry…"
Leni giggled, "It's okay to be excited, Lori. All of us are."
"Yeah," Luna agreed, clasping her hands together, "But I think Lori has a point as well. We'd probably be best keeping ourselves calm. For Lincoln's sake."
And though nothing else was said, the sisters agreed with one another. Quietly, they waited, giving their mother a little wave as Vanzilla pulled up.
However, when the side doors were presented to them, all prefix was thrown aside, and the door was wrenched open by five pairs of ecstatic hands. The girls were just too excited to work under a pretense of calm. They had waited a whole agonizing day to see their new baby brother again, and they couldn't wait another single second.
"Lincoln!"