Chapter Text
One chilly November afternoon, Lincoln was raking leaves on the front lawn of the Loud House. Geese were flying through the sky (though he was lucky not to get pooped on), which meant that winter would be coming soon, so Lincoln and his sisters decided to savor the last few crisp fall days they had before the chill of winter came in. Lincoln had neatly stacked the leaves he was raking into two piles, and he was about to finish another, when suddenly, his younger sisters Lana, Lola, and Lily jumped into them, creating a big mess of leaves everywhere.
“Guys,” Lincoln said as he shook his head at his sisters, although he wasn’t mad, just disappointed. “I just finished neatly raking those leaves! Why do you always gotta ruin my hard work?”
“Sorry, big bro,” Lana apologized as she and her sisters got up. “But the leaves are just so fun to jump in!”
“Tell you what, to make up for it, we’ll help you clean it up,” Lily offered, walking to the garage to get her own little rake.
“We?” Lola asked skeptically. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, we?”
“Uh, yeah, us,” Lana answered rhetorically as she followed Lily. “We made the mess, so we gotta fix it. Now are you gonna help or not?”
Lola let out a heavy sigh. “Okay,” She relented as she followed her sisters to the garage, making Lincoln smile in satisfaction.
In no time, all the leaves were raked neatly into three piles again, and Lincoln was now holding a black bag open, which Lana put the first set of leaves in. Lily eagerly followed her sister’s lead and put more leaves into another bag her brother was holding, after he tied off the first bag, while Lola was more hesitant, much like she was during the trash collecting task during Bluebell Scouts five years ago. Fortunately, she managed to suck it up and put the leaves into a third bag, earning a thankful smile from Lincoln, which she responded in kind. Finally, Lincoln and Lana completed the chore by taking all the bags to the garbage bin for waste disposal, and when they were done, they gave each other a high-five. The four siblings were now standing on the front porch of the Loud House, admiring their handiwork.
“Hey, thanks for helping me rake the leaves up again, girls,” Lincoln told his younger sisters.
“It’s our pleasure, Lincoln,” Lana gave her brother a big smile.
“Always happy to help,” Lily replied with a smile as well.
“It sure was,” Lola admitted, before frowning up at her brother. “Although you owe me for making me do all that work.”
“And what would the fitting repayment be?” Lincoln asked, bending down to Lola’s level.
“Playing with me, in the snow, from the first of December until New Year’s,” Lola told Lincoln her offer.
“How about instead, tea parties for two weeks until the snow sets in, then we can play in the snow together all we want with our siblings?” Lincoln compromised.
Lola thought it over for a bit. “Deal,” She said as she and Lincoln shook hands. “You got me again, Master of Convincing.”
“Okay, guys, I gotta go,” Lincoln said as he bolted into the house. “I got my daily 4:00 video chat with Dawn.”
“Okay, tell her I said ‘hi!’” Lily called.
“I think you mean ‘we,’ don’t you?” Lola asked as soon as their brother stepped inside.
“Mmm, no,” Lily replied bluntly.
At 3:55, Lincoln was in his room; well, formerly Lynn and Lucy’s room, but now it was currently his room. Ever since Lori and Leni both moved out to live with Bobby and Gavin in their own respective homes, and Luna embarked on her journey performing across the world with Sam and her band, the parents decided that the siblings would undergo a “room swap,” where the oldest siblings who still lived in the house would get their former siblings’ rooms to themselves. Lynn ended up getting Lori and Leni’s old room (no surprise there); Lucy slept in Luna and Luan’s old room (with Luan as well, until she and Benny started their apartment hunt three months ago); and Lincoln got Lynn and Lucy’s room, finally moving out of the linen closet he slept in since he was 6. The twins refused to leave their room, since no matter how many squabbles they got into, they were inseparable; that left Lisa and Lily with the last large room of the house by default, since they refused to leave their room as well, but that just about covers it.
It took Lincoln about five minutes, but he managed to turn his computer on and logged in. He then turned on the Skype app on his computer and waited for his girlfriend to pick up. After about a minute, which seemed like an eternity to Lincoln, Dawn finally picked up his call. Lincoln smiled when he saw his girlfriend’s face on the screen.
“Hi, babe!” Lincoln said cheerfully.
“Hi, Linky!” Dawn greeted back.
Edward, who was sleeping on Lincoln’s bed, instantly woke up after hearing Dawn’s voice, jumped off the bed, and crawled across the floor to the desk where Lincoln was sitting.
“Brbrbrbrbrbr!” Edward chattered, getting Lincoln’s attention.
“Oh, hey, buddy. You wanna say hi to Dawn, too?” Lincoln asked.
“Brbrbrbrbr!” Edward let out excitedly. “Brbrbrbr!”
“Well, okay then,” Lincoln chuckled, picking Edward up in his arms and bringing him closer to his computer screen so he could get a better view.
“Brbrbr!” Edward greeted Dawn happily.
“Why, hello there, Edward,” Dawn replied. “How’ve you been? Are Lincoln and his family treating you well?”
“Brbrbrbr!” Edward chattered. “Brbrbrbr!”
“I think that means ‘yes,’” Lincoln translated, setting Edward down.
“Of course it does,” Dawn chuckled. “Say, Lincoln, I talked it over with my parents about when I should visit you next, and seeing how we both have a week off from school, they agreed that now would be a good time.”
“Wait, you mean this week?” Lincoln asked after he processed what Dawn had said. “I’m not sure how we can squeeze in a little alone time together…”
“Why?” Dawn inquired.
“Because it’s Thanksgiving this week,” Lincoln explained. “Ronnie Anne and her whole family are coming over to my house on Thursday.”
“Oh, I see,” Dawn said calmly. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course,” Lincoln replied.
“What’s Thanksgiving?” Dawn asked.
Lincoln gasped at his girlfriend’s question. “You’ve never heard of Thanksgiving?!” He exclaimed.
“My family doesn’t really celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada,” Dawn explained.
“Why not—oh, that’s right,” Lincoln realized, remembering that Dawn and her family didn’t eat meat.
“I’d love to experience an American Thanksgiving, but it’s not worth it if I’m sitting around a table with…” Dawn trailed off, shuddering.
“Oh, no, that’s not what it’s like at all,” Lincoln lied assuringly.
“Really?” Dawn asked.
“Totally,” Lincoln nodded. “Just come over on Thursday, and I promise, I will give you the best non-meat American Thanksgiving feast ever!”
“Sounds lovely,” Dawn blushed. “I’ll ask my mom and dad if they can come too. Then we can all have Thanksgiving together, your families, and mine.”
“Heh. Sounds good,” Lincoln chuckled dryly. “See you soon, babe. Love you.”
“I love you too, Linky,” Dawn replied.
The second Dawn’s face vanished from the screen, Lincoln realized what he just did.
“What have I done?” He asked himself quietly.
After shutting off his computer and putting it away, Lincoln opened the door to his room, cupped his hands over his mouth, and called out for his sisters. “Emergency sibling meeting!”
Lucy, the twins, Lisa, and Lily poked their heads out of their rooms.
“I’m calling for an emergency sibling meeting!” Lincoln repeated. “Everyone meet me in Lynn’s room in five minutes!”
The younger sisters looked amongst each other, but shrugged and went back into their rooms to get ready.
Five minutes later, Lincoln had gathered all of his sisters who still lived in the house together in Lynn’s room (formerly Lori and Leni’s room). Sibling meetings in the Loud House had always been a thing ever since Lori was three; they were originally called sister meetings, but they changed it to sibling meetings after Lincoln was born. Lucy and Lily sat on the floor in the space where Leni’s bed originally was, while Lana, Lola, and Lisa all sat on Lynn’s bed, which was a hand-me-down Lynn got from Lori. Lynn took off one of her sneakers and banged it against the podium (the same one Lori and Leni had kept for five years).
“All right, Lincoln, make it quick,” Lynn told her brother. “Some of us have Thanksgiving preparations to do.”
“That’s exactly what I want to talk about,” Lincoln said. “See, Dawn and her family are coming to visit us on Thursday…”
“Yay!” Lily cheered. “We get to see Dawn again!”
“Don’t interrupt, Lily,” Lucy lightly scolded her youngest sister.
“Sorry,” Lily apologized.
“…And I invited her and her parents to Thanksgiving,” Lincoln finished.
All of Lincoln’s sisters were silent, trying to process this news.
“Well?” Lincoln asked.
“I think it’s great you invited Dawnie to Thanksgiving dinner,” Lola answered.
“But wait, aren’t Dawn and both her parents vegans?” Lana asked. “I know her mom is, but her dad, I’m not so sure.”
“Which is what I wanted to get to next,” Lincoln explained. “See, I was thinking if we have a no-meat Thanksgiving this year. Which means no turkey.”
“What?” Lynn asked, turning to her brother. “But you gotta have turkey on Thanksgiving! No turkey on Thanksgiving is like having toast without butter!”
“Or a sandwich without lettuce!” Lola added.
“Or a pickle without peanut butter!” Lana added, getting odd looks from Lily, Lisa, and Lucy. “What? I like pickles and peanut butter.”
“All right,” Lincoln conceded. “If it means so much to you, Dad and I will make it, but there’s gonna be a ton of leftovers.”
“Oh no, I promise, I will finish the entire turkey by myself if I have to,” Lynn swore.
“Wait, so you’re telling me you can eat an entire turkey in just one sitting?” Lincoln asked skeptically.
“Oh, please,” Lynn scoffed. “I’ve eaten spicy meatball subs bigger and longer than turkeys and turduckens Dad usually makes at Thanksgiving.”
“Well, okay,” Lincoln shrugged, not seeing any problem with it, as he had seen his sister being a big eater before. “So, does anyone else have any objections?”
All of Lincoln’s younger sisters remained silent.
“No? Well, it’s settled then,” Lincoln decided. “I’ll just go tell Mom and Dad about the change of plans.”
He then left the room.
“This sibling meeting is adjourned,” Lynn said, banging her sneaker on the podium, concluding the meeting.
The sisters left Lynn’s room and went back to doing their own thing.