Luan felt awkward, that was a given following her wild charge into her parent's room, her fist raised like a soldier storming a fort.
Her parents sat at the edge of their bed, Lincoln on Lynn Sr.'s knee, Rita with her hand placed comfortingly on his back. Lincoln himself had turned to face Luan from his place in Lynn Sr.'s chest, his eyes big, glimmery, and puffy with the redness of fallen tears.
"Lu-Lu-Luan?" Lincoln took a deep breath and brought his arm across his nose in a loud sniffle. "You'll go with me?"
Luan didn't need a second to think of a response. That giant, pleading gaze was too much for her to consider anything else. "Of course, Linky!" She said, darting over to him, her arms extended to let him grab onto her.
When she felt his tiny fingers wrap around hers, her heart melted and her big sister instincts ramped up another notch. "I don't want you to be scared," She said, bringing both her hands to clasp around his, warming the chilled digits frosted over with fear.
Luan couldn't quite prove it, but she swore Lincoln's eyes somehow got bigger and shinier at that, and she cloaked his frigid hand in the warmth of her palms further.
"Um, Luan, sugarcube?" Unfortunately, their moment of warmly regarding one another was cut short by Lynn Sr.'s curious interjection. "Don't you have school tomorrow?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Luan's eyes widened. She hadn't thought of that. Her grand entrance and declaration a minute ago had very much been a spur of the moment sort of thing; kind of the dictionary definition of flying in by the seat of her pants.
"Uh, yeah," She said, reluctantly releasing Lincoln's hand to step back, "But…" Her mind span a mile a minute, going through a thousand different possibilities on what she could say to convince her parents to accompany her brother to the dentist.
What idea did she eventually fall on? She slapped her hand over her cheek and immediately began to hiss and hunch over in pain.
"I really need to go!" She said, rubbing her cheek. "I didn't want to tell you since I didn't wanna go at first, but I think I chipped a tooth at dinner last night!"
"Really?" Rita asked, lips quirked skeptically, "You mean when your father made tomato soup and cheese bread? With applesauce for dessert?"
Darn, I forgot that's what we had! Luan thought. Whatever, just roll with it, Luan, just like all the comedians do!
"Yeah, how crazy is that?" Luan said, continuing to rub her cheek, "I must've bit an apple chunk the wrong way or something?"
"Luan, sweetie," Lynn Sr. shook his head, "I know you wanna be there for your brother, but we can't just pull you out of school."
"But my teeth do hurt though!" Luan insisted. "I totally got an apple seed stuck between my back teeth! If we don't get it out, I'll probably wind up with a whole tree in my mouth!"
"Luan, I get where you're coming from, but you have to—"
"Wait just a second now, Lynn," Rita interjected. Her sights had drifted over to Lincoln during Lynn Sr.'s rebuttal to Luan. Already, his lips were wriggling in a scared little frown. "We don't wanna risk actually missing something, right?" She said, moving off the bed to kneel in front of Luan. She gently cupped Luan's chin and turned her face up towards her, "Lemme get a look at you, Luan. Show me where it hurts?"
Crud! Rita was an expert at finding wounds of any and all kinds, and Luan knew that in the absence of actually having one, she'd never pull the wool over her eyes. I'm sorry, Lincoln, She thought, opening her mouth to allow her mother to look within. Looks like the jig is u—
"Hmm, you know, I think there just might be something here, Lynn." Then, to Luan's complete and utter surprise, her mother said something she had not expected.
"Really?" Lynn Sr. said, a single eyebrow raising.
"It's a bit hard to tell," Rita replied, releasing Luan's chin, "But I wouldn't wanna risk leaving it alone to get worse."
What is she doing? Luan thought, looking up at her mother curiously.
Her answer came when she caught her mother giving her a sideways glance and a wink. Ohhhh! She realized.
"I think I should take her in tomorrow, after all," Rita said, turning back to Lynn Sr. "Best we be safe."
Lynn Sr. nodded. "Makes sense," He agreed. He then smiled and looked down at Lincoln, "Looks like you'll have some company tomorrow then, Son! You're gonna have your big sister there to support you! Isn't that great!?"
Lincoln nodded, his big teary eyes clearing up just a bit. "Mmhmm," He hummed. He turned towards Luan again, extending his good arm out to her. "Thank you, Luan."
Luan couldn't help but once more dart towards him to take his hand into both of hers again, folding her hands over his so she could warm his chilled fingers. "You're welcome, Linky," She tenderly said. "I'll be right there for you tomorrow, okay?"
Lincoln sniffled and spread his palm along Luan's, "Y-Yeah, and I'll feel a lot safer with you there."
And not a single heart went unwarmed in that moment.
…
October 11, 2010
The rest of the day went by rather swiftly following that event, with dinner coming soon after, the other sisters giving Lincoln reassurances that everything would be okay following their discovery of his appointment (And thankfully asking Luan if she was doing okay with her own possible tooth troubles), and of course, their bedtime routines. With everything coming about so quickly, the next day arrived just as rapidly.
And Luan was intent to follow through on her promise to her brother.
She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing her teeth with a focused gleam in her eyes. Along her shoulders, her light brown locks laid undone, not yet made into the pigtails she wore on a daily basis.
Perhaps that would be for the best. Maybe pigtails wouldn't be the way to go today. She had to look extra big-sistery that day.
"Good morning, Luan." Luna greeted as she stepped in, taking a spot next to her at the sink. "Your tooth doing okay?" She asked when she saw Luan brushing her teeth.
"Hmm? Oh!" Luan pulled her toothbrush out and leaned down to spit the toothpaste out. "Uh, yeah!" She said, grabbing her cup and taking a sip to rinse. Once she spit that out, she grabbed her towel to dry off. "It twinges a little bit, but I'm being extra careful with it."
"Well, hopefully Dr. Finestein will fix it," Luna said. She then saw Luan bring a hand through her hair, "Do you want me to help you put your pigtails in real quick?"
Luan bit her lip, "Actually…" She grabbed one of the many errant scrunchies lying about the bathroom. "I was actually gonna ask…Can you put my hair into a pony tail instead?"
Luna's eyebrow rose quizzically. "Uh, sure," She said, reaching out to take the bright yellow scrunchie. She ushered her sister forward and directed her to turn around when she was in front of her. Then, as she brought her hair up, she spoke again.
"Why the change?" She asked.
Luan bit her cheek and crossed her arms, "Linky needs a super confident big sister today! That means I got to step up and be stage ready to be that super confident big sister!"
Luna's lips quirked and she began bringing the scrunchy around. "I mean…Doncha think Lincoln will just be happy to have you nearby today? What does having a ponytail versus pigtails gotta do with that?"
Luan huffed and lifted her chin haughtily, "What does a knight wearing a baseball cap versus a helmet have to do with him surviving a fight with a dragon?"
Luna couldn't help but roll her eyes at that, "Hard to argue with that logic." She took her hands out of Luan's hair, letting the newly wrought ponytail bounce behind her. "There ya go."
Luan leaned towards the mirror, inspecting herself.
It was such a simple change, so inconsequential to most adults really, just a different way of arranging one's hair.
But to Luan's mind, it was like she had donned a superhero cape. She was ready to be the big sister Lincoln needed that day, without a doubt.
"Thanks, Luna," She said, nodding resolutely to herself in the mirror, bringing her hand to brush aside the few errant strands of hair across her forehead. She brought her fists in front of her, "Now Linky'll know that he's got his big sister in the wings for him!"
Luna smiled at that, "And I bet he's really happy he does."
…
Following the expected reactions of praise from her other sisters at her style change (and the adorable wide-eyed reaction from Lincoln), the Loud siblings ventured with their mother to school within Vanzilla.
Then, just like every other day their brother rode with them, they said their goodbyes once they got to school.
"Bye, Linc!"
"Bye, Linky!"
"Have a good day with Mommy!"
"We'll see you after school, Little one!"
Luan fell alongside Lincoln last, flashing him a smile before she landed. "And I'll see you in a few hours when you guys come back to pick me up!" She chimed, reaching out to put a hand on Lincoln's head.
Lincoln bit his lip and lowered his gaze. "Promise?" He asked, pressing his head into Luan's palm.
Luan grinned and swished her hand through his hair, "Absolutely! I'll run to Dr. Finney-Stee's office if I have to!"
"Dr. Finney-Stee?!" Just outside Vanzilla's doors, the girls burst into gales of laughter.
Luan giggled along with them and brought her hand off Lincoln's head. "Don't worry, Linky," She said, her tone softening again for maximum reassurance. "I'll be right there with you today; and when your teeth are all hunky-dory, we can start planning for Halloween again!"
The mention of Halloween brought a bolt of energy back into Lincoln, prompting him to turn up to her with a fledgling grin of his own coming over his face. "I-I'd like that," He said.
Luan beamed at Lincoln and began scooting out of Vanzilla, "Look forward to it then! Because we got a lotta planning to do after today! See ya soon, Linky!"
Lincoln lifted his good arm to wave at his sisters, "See you soon, Luan. Bye, girls!"
"BYE, LINCOLN!"
Not a minute later, Luan watched Vanzilla disappear around the corner, the little one she intended to protect along with it.
Just a half-day, Luan, She thought, pulling on her backpack straps, Just a half-day and you'll be right there to help Lincoln through this…
…
"Wait, lemme get this straight," One of Luan's classmates balked at her from the other side of the four-desk arrangement her and her group occupied, "You volunteered to go to the dentist's office? Just so your little brother didn't have to do it by himself?"
"I guess so…" Luan said, peering into the little caterpillar enclosure that sat in the middle of their conjoined desks. Oh, there you are, Catercake, She thought when she found her favorite one wriggling away on a branch.
"Why would you do that?" Another classmate to Luan's right asked. "The dentist's office is the worst!"
"Yeah!" The remaining classmate agreed, "All those metal things they stick in your mouth, those freakish hooks, that clunky little mirror they always gotta bump around your teeth with, and don't get me started on the drills!"
The three classmates shuddered when the final tool had been mentioned, the end-all-be-all of dental torture that every child and a good deal of adults feared.
"Seriously, why would you risk your hide like that?" The first classmate asked again. "I would've thought you'd want to avoid the dentist because—well—y'know…"
Luan blew a puff of air through her nostrils. They were obviously talking about her teeth, the crooked little "flaws" that she couldn't help but glower at occasionally whenever she looked at herself in the mirror.
Fortunately, she had a family that were very adamant in reminding her that she was very much a beautiful young lady, straight teeth or no.
But she also had to admit she did have a little bit of a distaste for Dr. Finestein as well, considering the topic of a possible future need for braces did come up once or twice on previous visits. With that in mind, one could forgive her for being against dentists as a whole.
But Luan had Lincoln to think about now, and the sound of him crying the previous night had served as a catalyst to Luan simply not caring about what may happen to her at Dr. Finestein's office. She had to be there for him, simple as that.
"I'm not worried," Luan said, jotting down a note when Catercake began to nosh on some leaves. "If I can get my brother through this scary time for him, then I'll be happy."
The classmate to her right whistled and leaned in alongside her, "You're a braver kid than me, Luan."
"Yeah, props to you, Luan," The one across from her said, "Your brother's lucky to have you."
"Yeah, I'd doubt my big sis would do that for me," The remaining classmate said.
Luan smirked and pointed a thumb to herself, "Well, I intend to be the best big sis I can be for him, be-lieve it!"
"Luan," At that moment, the teacher called out to her from their desk. "Your mother is at the front office for you."
Luan smiled and hopped out of her desk, closing her little composition notebook with a clap. "Awesome!" She laughed, crouching down to slide her notebook into her backpack. She slung it over her shoulder and turned back to her group, "I'll see you guys later. Bye, Catercake!"
With that, she went up to the teacher's desk, grabbed her pass, and hopped out of the classroom, leaving her classmates to regard each other curiously.
"Catercake?" They simultaneously asked.
…
"Ohh, aren't you just the cutest little thing I've ever seen!" The sound of an office worker gushing over Lincoln was the first thing Luan heard when she stepped into the front office.
"I'm here!" She declared, raising her pass skyward.
"Luan!" Lincoln broke into a beaming grin and reached out towards Luan from his place in Rita's arms.
"Hey, Linky!" Luan said, going beside her mother and reaching up to touch her fingertips to Lincoln's.
"Are you ready to go, sweetie?" Rita asked, loosening her hold of Lincoln so he could reach further down to Luan.
"As ready as Freddy!" Luan laughed, latching onto Lincoln's hand and giving it a squeeze.
A minute or so later, the three of them were out in the parking lot, swiftly heading for Vanzilla.
"How's your day been, Luan?" Rita asked when they arrived at the vehicle, making quick work of opening it to get themselves out of the cold autumnal air.
"Pretty good," Luan replied. "Catercake, that's my caterpillar in class, Lincoln, has grown really big! If my science book is right, he'll be going into his cocoon in the next few days!"
"Wow, isn't that exciting!" Rita pulled the door open, allowing Luan into Vanzilla before she went to buckle Lincoln in. "I bet you must really be looking forward to him becoming a butterfly."
"You bet!" Luan agreed, taking a seat at Lincoln's side.
"Butterfly?" Lincoln tilted his attention towards Luan, "You have a butterfly in school? Like the one Leni read the story to me about?"
"Yup!" Luan replied with gusto. "Except ours are just caterpillars right now. They still haven't had their fill of leaves to change into butterflies yet."
"Wow!" Lincoln said in an amazed hush, making Luan giggle.
"Alright, kids, off we go!" Rita said once she got into the driver's seat. "We only have a few hours until we gotta come back for the rest of your siblings."
"Yes, Mama!"
"Yes, Missus Mommy!"
So the trip was made, Vanzilla puttering along the roads of Royal Woods. In the backseat, Luan told Lincoln all about the caterpillars her class was studying, specifically Catercake.
"He gets so squiggly when you give him leaves!" Luan laughed. "He especially likes spinach! He can't get enough of it!"
"He eats spinach?" Lincoln asked with a giggle. "Didn't Mister Daddy make a salad out of spinach the other night for dinner?"
"That's right!" Luan responded with a giggle of her own. She extended a hand and tapped the top of Lincoln's, "And you ate a ton of it that night! You're not trying to turn into a butterfly on us, are you, Linky?"
Lincoln laughed a chime-like laugh and turned his hand into Luan's. "I wouldn't mind the pretty wings," He said.
Luan beamed and clasped Lincoln's hand in return, "You'd be a Linkyfly! Or maybe a butterLinc!"
The two children laughed uproariously at the silly turn of phrase made by Luan. Even Rita couldn't help but offer up a small chuckle, mostly brought about by the vibrancy of the children's joy ringing through the vehicle.
It continued much of that same way for the majority of the trip, only diminishing in cheer when they arrived downtown, in the area that all the businesses of Royal Woods occupied.
"Linky?" Luan took note of the way Lincoln shrank into himself as they drove down the road to Dr. Finestein's office. "You okay?"
Lincoln's hands tightened against one another, whitening his digits like sheets of paper, and his legs curled up against himself. "Umm…I think so…" He gulped and turned to Luan, "I—I think…"
Luan smiled and scooted closer to Lincoln's carseat, "Don't worry, Linky. You've got nothing to worry about, okay? We'll be practically in and out! Then, it's Halloween plannin' time!"
That seemed to ease Lincoln's tension a smidge, given how his limbs were able to unwind from his torso.
Yup! Nothin' like Halloween to make a person excited! Luan thought giddily.
…
"Ah, welcome back, Rita; you as well, Lincoln." Dr. Finestein looked up from his clipboard with the arrival of the trio. His eyebrow rose when he saw Luan now accompanying them. "Oh, and Luan, good to see you as well. I'm assuming that you've been brushing your teeth?"
Luan pouted and gave a curt nod, "Yes, Dr. Finney—"
"Luan…" Rita warned.
Luan bit back the joke. "Yes, Dr. Finestein," She said instead.
Dr. Finestein went over to Luan and Lincoln, kneeling down in front of Luan to take a closer look at her, "Your mother tells me you're having some tooth pain, is that right?"
"Uh huh," Luan replied, taking a quick glance at Lincoln, the reason she was putting up the façade to begin with. "I think I bit an apple chunk the wrong way or something. You think you can lend me a hand?"
"Well, I am a dentist," Dr. Finestein said drolly, "A mis-bit apple chunk is far from outside my purview."
Cool, thanks for the vote of confidence, Luan thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
"Now…" Dr. Finestein rose up from his kneeled position to survey the two children. "Shall we begin? Who wants to go first? Lincoln, your appointment may take a little while longer, how about—"
Lincoln's face blanched, and before Dr. Finestein could finish his question, he darted to Luan, gripping her shirt and hiding his face in her shoulder.
"I suppose that's a no," Dr. Finestein said mutely.
Ya think?! Luan thought, irascibly glaring daggers at the man while she brought a hand to rub Lincoln's head.
"Lincoln's actually feeling a little nervous about his first dental appointment, Dr. Finestein," Rita explained. "We were actually hoping if perhaps he could sit in on us while we tend to Luan? To show that there's nothing to be scared of?"
Dr. Finestein brought a hand to his chin, "Hmm, that'd be more than a little unorthodox, Rita…" His mulling over cycled between a cautious yes and an apologetic no, half weighed between compassion for Lincoln's predicament and the responsibilities and duties of managing his practice.
Fortunately, Lincoln managed to peer up from Luan's shoulder just at the right moment.
Staring into those glimmery and pleading eyes, Dr. Finestein was swayed by a wash of warm, protective feelings for the boy. How could he not? Lincoln had spent a good deal of time there in his office by that point. Seeing his smiling face every morning, cheerfully greeting him even though he knew himself that he could be seen as rather dismissive had endeared the boy to Dr. Finestein.
He already considered himself to be doing a favor for the boy by cleaning his teeth and most likely aiding in the other problems that he would probably find, but seeing just how frightened he was hunched besides Luan, he found his thought process swaying to his favor.
"But I suppose I can make an exception for you," He said with a sigh.
Rita smiled and got down to put a hand on Lincoln's back, "Aww, looks like Dr. Finestein is really looking out for you, little man!"
"Y-Yeah," Lincoln agreed, lifting his head all the way from Luan's shoulder, keeping a grip on the cloth of her shirt while he regarded Dr. Finestein. "T-Thank you, Dr. Finney-Stee," He said, nodding with a tiny smile of gratitude playing across his face.
Dr. Finestein gave a hidden little "harumph" sound before returning his attention back to his clipboard, hiding his actually somewhat bashful reaction. "Think nothing of it, Lincoln," He managed to grunt out.
Jeez, for someone who pokes around people's mouths, he's pretty dang closed off himself, Luan thought, biting her cheek.
"Now then…" Dr. Finestein cleared his throat and turned around, "So Luan is going first then. Come along, Luan; let's see what can be done for you, then."
Luan didn't like Dr. Finestein very much. It was hard to like someone who told them that they would most likely have to wear braces one day.
But seeing him eschew standard protocol for her little brother did make him look a bit better from where she stood, at least a little. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't grateful for that.
"Alright, let's go, kids," Rita said, gently ushering the two children towards the examination room after Dr. Finestein.
"Luan…" Lincoln squeaked in fear as they stepped past the threshold from the front office, gripping Luan tighter and trying to make himself smaller against her.
Luan simply smiled and brought her hand to rub Lincoln's back.
"Don't worry, Lincoln," She whispered, tilting her cheek along the top tuft of his hair. "Everything's going to be okay. You just wait and see. I'll show you that you have nothing to be scared of."
She was happy to feel Lincoln's grip lessen just a smidge in response.
…
"Luan?" Lincoln quivered, despite his mother rubbing his head reassuringly as he sat upon her lap. "Are you okay?"
Luan lifted a hand to give Lincoln a thumbs up, "Yuth! Juth fie, Inky!"
That was just about all she could say, what with Dr. Finestein hovering his mirror instrument along her teeth.
Rita leaned down, setting her chin on top of Lincoln's. "See, Lincoln? All Dr. Finestein is doing is checking Luan's teeth for anything that might need fixing." She lifted her head when Lincoln turned up to look at her, and she went on with, "All he wants to do is help us, understand?"
Lincoln nodded cautiously, "I-I think so…"
Whoo, thank goodness, Luan thought, letting a breath of relief out through her nose. Then that means this whole thing is actually worth doing then!
"Hmm, I'm not seeing much of anything…" Dr. Finestein said, pulling the mirror instrument away, "Especially nothing that looks like an apple seed…"
Luan opened a single eye, staring past the bright dental lamp above her to catch a wry gleam in Dr. Finestein's expression.
"Perhaps you may have bit your cheek or something along those lines?" He asked with a smirk.
Ha, ha, just hurry up and end this thing, please, Luan thought, closing her eye again. She wanted to help Lincoln feel safe, but she really did detest being stuck in that infernal chair.
"Still, I can't say this hasn't been a helpful check up to have," Dr. Finestein went on. He set down the tool and set it aside with the others before turning back to Rita, "Rita, it seems like her teeth are still coming in misaligned. With that in mind, the future need for braces still remains a strong possibility."
Luan's brows scrunched up in displeasure. There he went again with that statement, his little dental prophecy on the future desecration of her teeth and all the social ruin that would come along with it.
Just think about Lincoln, She thought with a barely suppressed growl.
"Well, all we can do for now is hope the situation resolves itself in time," Rita said, her tone soft and soothing. Luan's irritation had not gone unnoticed to her. "I'm just glad she's doing alright herself. Plus…" She looked back down at Lincoln again, "Luan got to show Lincoln he had nothing to be afraid of! Isn't that right, little man?"
"Uh-huh," Lincoln replied with a little bit of extra strength in his voice, sweeping Luan's surge of annoyance away.
"Well that's something definitely worth celebrating," Dr. Finestein said, lifting the tray of dental tools away in favor of another second one he kept; just for cases of back to back patients such as this one. "Am I right in assuming you'll be willing to let me take a look at your teeth now, Lincoln?"
Lincoln bit his lip, and like a heavy weight was weighing upon his neck, he nodded a slow, arduous nod. "I—I think so…"
"Wonderful," Dr. Finestein said, a tiny, genuine smile coming across his face. He pulled the tray away from Luan. "Let's get started then! Luan, you're free to go; Lincoln, come and sit yourself down."
Luan's eyes popped open once the light was moved away, and with a rather sassy tearing of the dental bib around her neck, she swung her legs around and hopped off the examination chair.
"Luan, is there anything you want to say to Dr. Finestein?" Rita urged.
Luan's fist curled in her pocket and her lip jutted out in a displeased pout. "Thank you, Dr. Finestein…" She said begrudgingly.
"You're very welcome, Luan," Dr. Finestein said with a nod. As acutely aware as he was of her dislike for him, he still tried to be amicable with her; she was just a kid after all, one of many that he knew didn't like him very much.
"Alright, little man, let's get you up then." However, Dr. Finestein couldn't help but feel a little better about Luan's dislike for him when he saw Lincoln get ushered forward by Rita.
A little one who actually did somewhat like him. Now that was a rarity
"O-Okay," Lincoln quailed, allowing Rita to take his hand and lead him towards the chair.
Before he could get there however, he met Luan in the middle, and Lincoln stopped to look up at her.
"Are you okay?" He asked, reaching up to brush her sleeve with his casted fingertips.
Luan beamed a bright grin at him and held a thumbs up towards her gleaming teeth. "Just peachy!" She replied, bringing her thumb down to her chest. "Just a little time in the chair and I'm good to go! Just like you'll be!"
Lincoln bit his cheek and clenched a small bit of Luan's sleeve. "Will you be here while I'm getting checked?" He asked, peering up at her from beneath the shaggy white fringes of his bangs.
"Of course!" Luan exclaimed. She pointed to the little chair that Lincoln and Rita had been sitting on during her check-up, "I'll be right there, keeping a careful eye on you the whole time, no worries!"
Lincoln's shoulders relaxed a smidge, and he squeezed Luan's sleeve between two of his fingers. "Okay, I'm glad," He said simply, offering Luan the tiniest, possibly most endearing smile she had seen from him yet.
D'awww! Linky! Luan would've pinched his cheek had she not known he was about to have a bunch of dental tools in his mouth. Instead, she routed to the tried-and-true method she knew always calmed him and ruffled his hair, earning herself a soft little laugh from him. Oh man! She internally squealed. I seriously lo—
"Alright, come along, Lincoln," Rita cooed, gently leading Lincoln onward.
"Yes, Missus Mommy," Lincoln said, releasing Luan's sleeve and allowing himself to step up to the examination chair at long last.
"Okay then, Lincoln," Dr. Finestein said as Rita lifted Lincoln onto the examination chair and fastened the dental bib over him, "we're going to start with something nice and simple…" He lifted his second mirror instrument, "Would you mind showing me your teeth?"
Lincoln gulped, but, thanks to the gallant example set aside by his big sister just minutes before, he was able to summon a drop of courage, and do as he was asked.
"There we go…" Rita whispered tenderly.
"Atta boy, Linky!" Luan cheered.
And even though he had to close his eyes, he felt no fear raise its ugly head in his belly.
From there, the examination went as most dental examinations did, with Dr. Finestein taking a precursory glance along Lincoln's teeth, Rita at both his and Lincoln's sides, offering whatever assistance Dr. Finestein asked for, as well as a steady stream of reassurances and hand squeezes for Lincoln.
All the while, Luan sat in her chair a little off to the side, talking to Lincoln and telling him her best and cheesiest jokes to keep his mind occupied and his senses calm.
Even when the X-ray had to be employed and they had to leave poor Lincoln alone in the room for a minute, Luan yelled her jokes to him from the (thankfully empty) waiting room, making him feel safe and watched over.
His big sister was looking out for him. He was okay.
"Well, I'll be darned," Dr. Finestein said, looking over the X-ray image once it was completed.
"Is everything okay?" Lincoln asked fearfully.
"Better than okay, sweetheart," Rita said, unable to keep the happiness out of her voice. "You don't have any cavities or anything!"
Lincoln's brow rose, "Is that good?"
"You bet it is!" Luan exclaimed from her seat, "Lincoln, that means your teeth are healthy! Dr. Finestein doesn't have to do anything!"
"Well, that in itself isn't true," Dr. Finestein said in a hush. It was nothing short of a minor miracle that Lincoln's teeth hadn't accrued any particularly noteworthy damage. Perhaps fate was finally showing the boy some leniency. "I still need to do a cleaning, a bit of a deep one, but…" He lowered the X-ray image, "Other than that, you don't have much to worry about, Lincoln."
Lincoln shrank back against the examination chair, "Will it hurt?"
"You may feel a little bit of discomfort," Rita said, taking his hand again, "But we're here for you, okay? Don't worry, you'll be fine."
Lincoln believed her, but he also looked past her, towards Luan.
Luan smiled and held up both her thumbs, "No worries, Linky. Just let Mom and Dr. Finestein do their thing, and we'll be out of here in no time! Then, we can start planning for Halloween again!"
That sounded great! Lincoln really loved talking about Halloween with Luan, and the idea of hearing more about it from her gave him another dollop of courage.
"Okay…" He said, leaning back against the examination chair again.
"You're being a very brave boy today, Lincoln, do you know that?" Rita cooed.
Lincoln nodded and glanced over at Luan with a subtle tilt of his head.
Seeing his big sister, sitting there with every intention of being there for him filled him with a sense of warmth, of irrevocable safety.
He was brave because of her, because he knew she was there for him.
Because maybe, just maybe, like he hoped for with his other sisters; maybe she lov—
"Okay, Lincoln," Dr. Finestein said, breaking Lincoln's train of thought and bringing his attention back towards him, "let's get started."
Lincoln gulped and closed his eyes.
"No worries, Linky, I'm right here…" But he felt brave enough to relax as the procedure began, because his big sister sat close by the entire time.
…
The procedure went on for a bit of a while after that, Lincoln wincing and twitching anxiously as his teeth and gums were cleaned by the dental tools that were unfortunately necessary to get the job done. Alongside that was a cavalcade of bitter tastes, mostly brought about by the metal instruments and the strange substances that were used to clean his teeth themselves. Strawberry flavored, they were not.
Lincoln, though, held strong, keeping his eyes glued shut and mumbling the occasional muffled protest whenever he felt a little twinge of pain come over him, earning himself a hand squeeze from his mother and a little shush of reassurance.
He was doing well, nervous, but managing.
SWWWWOOO! That was until the sound of rushing air registered in his ears, and he felt something plastic-y go into his mouth, sending a thousand volts of fright cycling through his spine, making his heart nearly leap out of his chest.
His skin burned with terror, and in the heat of the moment, all he could think to do was turn his head, the instrument still in his mouth, and yell for help from the person who had proven herself ever-ready to jump to his aid.
"OOOAAAN!" He cried, both in volume and in action as tears immediately pooled in his eyes.
Luan was all but supercharged by her baby brother's terrified call for help. She sent her chair toppling over with the powerful leap she made from it, and in a moment Rita would remember forever (for multiple reasons), Luan pushed herself between the two adults and took a place at Lincoln's side.
"Lincoln, I got you!" Luan eked her hand beneath his back, snaking it around his shoulder and bringing her hand up to wrap him in a sideways embrace.
Lincoln spat out the plastic thing and turned to try and get closer to Luan.
"L-Luan…" Lincoln quailed.
"Shh, it's alright, Linky," Luan whispered, shushing him sweetly, like her mother had done.
"Um…" Dr. Finestein found himself a little lost for words.
Luan turned towards Dr. Finestein, glaring laser-focused anger at the dentist, suddenly looking like a lioness guarding a cub. "What'd you do!?" She barked vehemently.
"Luan, sweetie, it's nothing," Rita soothed, raising her hands placatingly. She took the tool Lincoln had spat out and showed it to the two of them. "It's just a tool for siphoning saliva from the gums. Dr. Finestein was just clearing out any residual stuff left over so he could finish up."
With the calm and collected explanation from his mother, and the tender ministrations from Luan, Lincoln was able to creak his eyes open and look at everyone around him.
"It's okay, Lincoln," Rita whispered, kneeling down to be eye level with him. She showed him the tool, a little plastic tube with an open nozzle at the end. "Nothing scary at all here, just something to help us finish the procedure."
Lincoln took a few wheezy breaths, observing the tool for a moment before his heartbeat returned to normal. When it did, the tears receded, but his eyes continued to gleam with shame.
"Sorry…" He murmured, his gaze shifting downward.
Luan smiled somberly and brought her hand through his hair, ruffling his turkey tail with a flick of her index finger. "Hey, don't worry about it," She chuckled.
"I was supposed to be brave…" Lincoln whimpered.
"You are being brave!" Luan insisted, tilting her head along the top of Lincoln's. "You're sitting here, aren't you!? So what if you got a little scared? I get scared too, y'know?"
Lincoln perked up a little at that, "You do?"
"Of course!" Luan chirped. "It's hard to be brave if you're never scared of stuff." She regarded Lincoln with a beaming grin, "So don't feel bad, 'kay? You've been really brave today, Linky!"
Lincoln found it hard to hold the shame in the face of Luan's cheery motivation, and he blinked the final vestiges of his tears away. "T-Thank you, Luan…" He mumbled, bringing his good arm to rub his eyes.
"Lincoln…" Rita handed the tool back to Dr. Finestein, taking a spot next to her two children once more. "Would you like Luan to stay here and hold your hand while Dr. Finestein and I finish up with you?"
Lincoln's eyes widened, "Uh huh…" He shrank slightly and he turned to Luan a second later, "If Luan want's to, I mean…"
Luan giggled and she immediately brought her hand to clasp his, "You have to ask? Of course I'll hold your hand, Linky!"
And Lincoln suddenly felt much braver with that gesture.
"Well then," Dr. Finestein interjected with a throat clear. "Shall we finish up then?"
Lincoln looked away from Luan and closed his eyes again, "I'm ready…"
In the darkness behind his eyes, Lincoln felt his hand get squeezed in the warmth of Luan's palm.
"Atta boy," Luan whispered. "That's my brave little brother."
…
"Alright, Lincoln, go ahead and spit out the water."
After a little while longer, Dr. Finestein spoke up again, his final tool; a rather frightening buzzy one, turning off after being pulled from Lincoln's jaws.
Lincoln wasted no time in doing as he was told, leaning over the other side and spitting the water into the sink with an audible, "Ptooie!" sound.
"Haha! Nice sound, Linky!" Luan giggled.
"And with that, we're all done," Dr. Finestein said.
Lincoln's eyes sprang open with those words, and his head swiveled to the front, "What? We are?"
His reply was two beaming smiles from his mother and sister.
"We sure are!" Rita said, kneeling down on Lincoln's other side, "Congratulations, Lincoln! You did it!"
Lincoln found the information hard to absorb. Could it be true? Was his trial finally through?
"Way to go, Linky!" From the side she was on, Luan raised Lincoln's hand towards the ceiling. "Your teeth are all clean now!"
Lincoln looked between his mother and sister several times, eventually stopping in the middle on Dr. Finestein, who already had his face back in his clipboard. "R-Really?" He asked wondrously.
Dr. Finestein peered up from over his clipboard, offering Lincoln the smallest of confirmatory nods. "That's right," He replied. He plucked two lollipops (obviously sugar-free) from a nearby glass jar and walked up to Lincoln, "And I must say, you performed very commendably, Lincoln. Well done."
Lincoln's eyes widened, and he reached out to take the lollipop. "Thank you, Dr. Finney-Stee," He said in a hush.
Dr. Finestein nodded again, and he turned to Luan. "And you, Luan," He said, extending the lollipop towards her, "You were very helpful in keeping Lincoln calm. For that, you have my gratitude."
Luan balked a little, but she took the lollipop as well. "I—Uh—No problem," She managed to say. Once the shock was gone, she looked back at Lincoln, smiling giddily. "But I don't think I had to do much. Lincoln was sooooo brave today!"
Lincoln blushed, "You still helped me a bunch today, Luan…"
A bashful little pout came over Lincoln's face, and Luan noticed his arms go out to her for a split second before he pulled them back.
Luan knew exactly what he wanted and extended her arm out to him, "Go ahead, Linky."
Lincoln jolted, but when he saw Luan's held out arm, the pout fell away in exchange for a tiny, endearing smile. With the go-ahead given, he sat up and threw his arms around Luan's, pulling it towards him and hugging it to his chest.
"Thank you, Luan…" He whispered, nuzzling her arm. "You helped me be brave today."
Luan's heart warmed to near molten levels. "You're welcome, Lincoln," She said, reaching up and flicking his turkey tail again. "I'm so happy that I was able to help you."
Rita watched the exchange from the side, lit up in expression like she had just found the greatest treasure the world had to offer. In her hands, her phone quickly snapped a picture of the adorable moment, saving it for posterity and for her and her husband to gush over later on.
That's my girl, She thought, looking up when the picture was taken, just in time to see the embrace end, and for the two children to look at one another, glittery eyes filled with affection. Able to make people laugh; and make them brave…
…
"See ya later, Dr. Finestein!"
"Bye-bye, Dr. Finney-Stee!"
About an hour or so later, the three Louds left Dr. Finestein's office, ambling their way towards Vanzilla with the sun beaming down on them, seemingly congratulating Lincoln for his triumph with its warm rays.
That wasn't what he was focused on though. His attention was solely focused on Luan's excited chatter about Halloween.
"I'm telling you, Lincoln, if we can manage to get to Arbor Estates, we're gonna have our bags filled to the brim with primo candy!" Luan raised her finger skyward, "I'm talking full sized candy bars! Jawbreakers the size of your head! Even giant gummy dinosaurs!"
Lincoln smiled drowsily at Luan, his stance a little hunched in sudden fatigue. "That sounds—" He was interrupted by a great squeak of a yawn, actually shaking his body in the strength of it, "—Amazing…"
Luan smirked and placed her hands on her knees to get eye level with Lincoln, "Aww, you getting sleepy on me, Linky?"
"We can't really blame him, can we, sweetie?" Rita interjected, bending down to pick Lincoln up and bring him into his carseat. "You've had a pretty big day, haven't you, little man?"
"Mmhmm," Lincoln agreed, bringing his good hand to rub his eye. When Luan got in next to him, he lowered it and tried to sit up. "I'll try and stay awake though, Luan. I wanna talk about Halloween some more with you."
Luan smirked and reached out to pat him on the head, "Aww! Don't you worry about that, Lincoln! We'll have plenty of time for that later! Go ahead and get some Z's, I'll be here when you wake up, 'kay?"
"You sure?" Lincoln murmured, his eyelids already falling shut as his head began to droop against the side of his carseat.
"I'm sure," Luan chuckled, mostly at how fast he was already falling asleep.
She didn't have to wait much longer. Before they were even down the street, Lincoln had fallen into a peaceful slumber, his head resting against the cushiony fabric of the carseat.
Awwww! Luan thought, her smile widening in happy adoration. What a cute baby brother I have!
Watching him snooze away, Luan remembered every adorable interaction they had had that day, every moment that Lincoln showed his intrinsic trust in her. Thinking back to it, Luan also recalled a thought she had nearly had, one that was interrupted, one that she had a feeling was very true.
"Y'know, Linky," She whispered, leaning towards him. "I know I haven't known you very long, but guess what?" She moved closer and brushed a kiss against his left cheek, actually tilting his head somewhat into a thankfully still comfy looking position. "I think I love you," She declared in a snicker.
Lincoln didn't give much of a reaction, save for a little clench of his hand on the top of the carseat edge, a signal that he was looking for a hand to hold.
Luan smirked and slid her hand into his, letting him grip her fingers in time with hers. "And because I love you," She went on, "you can be sure that I'll always be here for you, baby brother."
And with her declaration of love, along with the kiss she had laid upon his cheek, a little yellow orb of light burst to life within Lincoln's dreams.
The final orb to join the others, completing the set proof of affection his sisters had all declared to him.