The Loud House: No Such Luck Aftermath

Aftermath

What started as a calm night watching Lola score the winning prize in yet another beauty pageant, quickly turned into an awkward and tense affair, despite the amount of noise generated from the crowd as another contestant finished her performance, the Louds tuned it out as Rita and Lincoln continued to stare at each other in silence after greeting one another, Neither one knew what to say, or even what they could discuss, there was a lot of things going on in Lincoln and Rita's minds that prevented their vocal cords from producing any sound, only using the excuse of the loud noise beyond the curtain as a cover, eventually, the twins got so unnerved by the tension that they worked up excuses to get away from it, Lola pretended that she needed to keep an eye on her competition so they didn't copy her, and Lana had to use the restroom, even with the two girls gone, the white haired child and middle-aged blonde were still trying to work up the urge to speak, but what would the mother and son say, 'Sorry that I cursed at you, thought you were a curse and everything could go back to the way they were,' stuff like that only exists in fairy tales, both individuals knew their relationship was damaged to the point it was almost difficult for one to address the other as a blood relative, Rita felt it was some sort of blessing that Lincoln still referred to her as his mother, he could have easily called her by her first name, which would not only have broken her already damaged heart, but also hone in the fact he didn't see himself as her son, she could only imagine Lincoln referring to Lynn by 'sir' instead of 'dad', at least it hadn't gotten to that point, yet, studying the boy's face, Lincoln was biting his lower lip now, eyeing her with uncertainty, catching a gaze that matched his own, the matriarch breathed inwardly, she needed to stop acting so childish and address this now, this might be one of the few times Rita might see her son in person over the next few days, or weeks, and she'd be damned if she didn't make it count, first, they needed a quieter location away from anyone else 

Rita: Lincoln, can we talk in the hallway, I don't think we'd be able to speak clearly with all the noise 

Lincoln shifted his eyes to the floor in thought before giving a simple nod, without another word, the boy followed his mother across the back stage, past all the other girls prepping for their acts, once they reached the hall, they stepped some 20 feet from the door before Rita addressed her son again 

Rita: So 

The mother spoke with a tinge of confidence 

Rita: H-How have you been so far 

Lincoln: Been doing ok for the most part 

The male's response was rather curt 

Rita: Did you enjoy your lunch with your sisters yesterday 

Lincoln nodded, lightly scrapping his foot on the tiled floor 

Lincoln: Leni won a few games we played, to our surprise, the food was nice, and Luan couldn't help but crack a joke every now and then, but, it was a little rocky at first 

Guilt crept into Lincoln's features 

Lincoln: I, I made Luan cry after yelling at her about last April Fools, b-but we made up though, I also liked the video she and Luna made, and I was surprised that Leni actually made a bed and dresser for me 

Lincoln couldn't help but smile a little at that notion of kindness, Rita smiled at that, she already knew about their time at Jillian's through her daughters, but it was better to hear Lincoln saying he had a good time, she also understood why he'd be cross with Luan, the whole motel prank was still ingrained in her head, as well as the punishments she doled out when they got home, Luan was grounded for two months, and Lynn Sr. had to sleep on the couch for half that time due to his involvement, all of that money lost from renting that property required the two adults to work longer than they usually would to get it all back, so their food budget was even more squared than it already was, this also had the side effect of the kid's allowances being temporarily suspended until the two adults got their finances back in order, Rita could still remember that one day where the kids fought over a quarter stuck between the sofa cushions, at least by then Lynn decided to ease their greediness by giving up the bonus he earned from doing those long hours, even though the kids tore up the house whilst trying to solve that clue