Lynn sat on the couch thinking as everyone else was watching Dream Boat.
"Say, guys, I've been thinking and noticed something," Lynn stated.
"Noticed what?" Luan asked.
"In both times where one of us took Lincoln to do something with us, something bad happened. Leni took Lincoln to the mall, and she almost got run over by a truck, and she's been to the mall more times than anyone can count. Does it seem strange that when she brought Lincoln, that just suddenly happened? And Lana, when she brought to her alligator wrestling match, and that bull gator broke out," Lynn explained.
Everyone looked at her confused, with raised eyebrows.
"What are you saying?" Luna questioned.
"I don't know. It just seems suspicious that these happened when Lincoln came along," Lynn said.
Lori squinted her eyes as she gave Lynn a look.
Lynn caught her gaze, "What?"
"What are you insinuating? That those bad things that happened are Lincoln's fault?" Lori questioned.
This got everyone's attention as they turned to Lynn wide-eyed.
"I'm not saying that," Lynn said.
"Then what are you saying, Lynn?!" Lori asked seriously while raising her voice.
"I just think it's not mere coincidence that those things happened suddenly," Lynn said.
"Lincoln didn't have anything to do with those things. He didn't make that truck go out of control and almost run someone over. He didn't let those gators loose. Just because he was there doesn't mean he had something to do with it," Lori stated firmly.
Lynn looked away while thinking. Then her eyes widened with realization.
"What if he did?" Lynn asked.
Everyone spoke almost simultaneously, "What?"
"What if Lincoln's bad luck?" Lynn asked.
Lori closed her eyes while rubbing the bridge of her nose. Luna crossed her arms while giving Lynn a dirty look, as did Lola, Lana, and Lucy.
"That. Is. The stupidest thing I've ever heard," Lola said.
"Lincoln's not bad luck, dude. There's no such thing as luck," Luna stated.
"Shh! Don't jinx us by saying that!" Lynn hushed.
"Lynn! Stop it! You know this, dumb. Bad luck had nothing to do with what happened," Luan said.
"In fact, even if it were real, it'd be the opposite. Leni and Lana are lucky to be alive because of Lincoln," Lucy said.
Lynn shrugged, "I'm just saying. It wasn't a coincidence what happened."
Lori sighed heavily before inhaling, "I'm going to pretend that you didn't say any of that. In fact, all of us will pretend we didn't hear that sort of talk, that you didn't accuse your brother of being bad luck, and you will come back to reality and look more to the facts of things and not superstition."
Lynn started, "But Lori—"
"But nothing! Also, from now on, that sort of talk is not allowed in this house or anywhere for that matter. Lincoln is not bad luck," Lori stated firmly.
Lisa spoke next, "As a person who believes in science, I agree. There's no such thing as luck. Things don't happen for no reason. There's always a cause and a logical reason to make events happen, even if they are accidental. Besides, even if luck were real, we're lucky to have a brother like Lincoln in our lives. He has always been there for us, sacrificing his own time to support us, and it's high time we sacrifice some of our time to be there for him."
"Hear-hear!" Luan agreed.
The others nodded in agreement.
Lori turned to her younger athletic sister, "Do I make myself clear, Lynn?"
Lynn looked away while letting out a sigh and rolling her eyes.
Lori's face turned stern as she put her hands on her hips.
"Lynn? Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?" Lori repeated very firmly.
Lynn turned back to her older sister, "Yes, crystal clear."
Lori sat back on the couch but wasn't convinced, and neither were the others. Lynn, being a person who believes in luck all too well, continued to wonder more about whether or not Lincoln was bad luck.
Meanwhile
The sun was setting as they left the restaurant. Clyde and Ronnie had already left, leaving the two lovebirds to themselves as they waited for the bus.
"Me getting adopted by Clyde or Ronnie Anne? Where did you come up with that idea?" Lincoln asked.
"I did a little research and some thinking. It makes sense that you'd feel safe with them. Although, I'm hoping you'd be adopted by Clyde more than Ronnie Anne. With Clyde, you would still live in Royal Woods. With Ronnie Anne, you might end up moving with her if her mom takes that job in Great Lake City. Plus, you might fall for her if you two live together," Stella explained.
"What? No, we're just friends, and I'm with you," Lincoln said, holding her hand.
Stella smiled. The bus showed up, and they got on.
"You know, we haven't had an official date yet. You know, just the two of us. I was going to wait until after this mess was over, but I'm wondering if it's needed to lift your spirits," Stella said.
"That sounds wonderful. We can do whatever you want. It doesn't have to be big or anything unless you want it to. I just want to be with you," Lincoln replied.
Stella put her arm around her boyfriend's shoulder and held him close.
"Good, because that's all I want," Stella replied.
Lincoln rested his head on her shoulder and held her hand. The bus ride home was very peaceful and filled Lincoln and Stella with contentment. Lincoln groaned while rubbing his forehead.
Stella noticed this, "Still getting headaches?"
"Yeah, I'm almost out of meds. I'll need one of my parents to run to the pharmacy," Lincoln answered.
"Well, hopefully, some sleep will make it go away. Do you think you'll be okay for school tomorrow, or do you need more time?" Stella asked.
"I'll be fine. Sooner or later, I'll have to go back. Might as well be sooner," Lincoln responded.
"You know . . . softball season starts in one month from tomorrow. If the whole bad luck thing happens because Lynn loses a game, then our 'plan' will happen soon," Stella said.
"We don't know if she loses the first game of the season, but there will be a game that she'll force me to go . . . by threatening me with a baseball bat," Lincoln said.
"Then, when she's her first game, she'll blame you and convince the others you're bad luck which will lead to them kicking you out of the house, and that's when we call the police, right?" Stella asked.
Lincoln nodded.
"And if we can convince Clyde's dads to adopt you, then you can still live in Royal Woods with me, and from there . . . we'll continue to live a good life or try to at least," Stella said.
"We will. If you want us to be together forever, we can do that. I want you to be happy, Stella. You deserve to live a happy life," Lincoln said.
Stella turned to her boyfriend and lifted his face by his chin.
"So do you. You've been through enough as it is. If there's no way to save your family, then that's on them. If they're capable of doing terrible things to you, then I want to take you far away from them so you can be safe and happy. I just don't want you to get hurt," Stella stated.
Lincoln held Stella's hand and kissed it, "I love you, Stella."
Stella sent her lips straight to Lincoln's.
"I love you too, Lincoln," Stella spoke.
There was a long moment of silence before Stella asked, "What do our kids look like? You said if we get together, we have three, right?"
Lincoln nodded, "Yeah. A boy and two girls."
"Do they have your white hair or my black hair?" Stella asked.
"The girls have your black hair, and the boy has my white hair, but he looks more like you. The girls look a lot like me – same ears and teeth," Lincoln answered.
Stella giggled a smile, "What are their names?"
"I don't know. I only saw images. I didn't hear anything. So, maybe we can both decide on their names while we wait," Lincoln suggested.
Stella nodded, "I'd like that."
The bus arrived at his stop. Lincoln kissed his girlfriend goodnight and headed home. Lincoln slept soundly without any nightmarish visions, which only concerned Lincoln even more when he woke up. At school, he was greeted with more fame than last time. However, he saw no sign of Chandler and his goons. He didn't know if he should worry about that or not. No one has seen them since the fight.
"Lincoln! You were amazing! I had no idea you had that kind of fire in you," Liam said.
"Neither did I," Lincoln replied.
"You really saved Lana just in the nick of time. A moment later, and that gator would have gotten her," Rusty added.
'That's not exactly making me feel better, Rusty,' Lincoln thought, then he spoke, "Clyde thinks I'm a superhero. Which I don't know about that."
"You're definitely a warrior. You're lucky, Stella. Your boyfriend is a warrior," Zach said.
Stella took a moment to let those words sink in.
"My boyfriend's a warrior," Stella half closed her eyes with a smile as red heart bubbles floated off and popped around her head, "My boyfriend is a warrior."
Lincoln was a little stunned by how Stella liked that thought and then felt flattered as a smirk grew on his face.
"I'm your warrior," Lincoln said confidently to his girlfriend.
Stella grinned and then glided a finger up his throat and to his chin, "Think you could slay a fire-breathing dragon for me?"
"Sure. If you want, I could catch you a falling star," Lincoln said, still smirking.
They both chuckled and giggled at each other while kissing.
"Do you two lovebirds need a room?" Liam joked.
Lincoln and Stella blushed at that.
"Oh, speaking of love, how are you guys? Did you ask your crushes out?" Lincoln asked.
The three boys blushed at that.
"Uh, not yet, but me and Tabby have been hanging out a lot. We go to the music store often, and she's shown me a ton of cool music. I might show her my skills with the banjo. Although, I doubt she'd be into that. So maybe, she'll teach me how to play guitar or bass. I'd really like that," Liam said while scratching the back of his head.
"I, uh, Giggles has this show coming up with a few other clowns. It's supposed to be big and really funny. I promised her I'd see her in it. Plus, she's been teaching me card tricks, and I've been teaching her how to play poker and canasta. Funny thing, she never even heard of canasta," Zach stated.
Everyone turned to Rusty. He blushed and scratched his head.
"It's not a date per se, but Polly Pain and I are gonna see this sports movie in the theater together," Rusty said.
"Oh, that sounds fun," Stella said.
"Yeah, it's a movie on how roller derby was created. I had no idea it dated all the way back to 1935. I thought it was invented in the 70s or 80s. So, I'm looking forward to that with Polly, and we saw this great movie called McFarland, USA. If you guys haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Polly and I are still working on finding a sport that I'm good at it, and she's really supportive. It's fun to be around her," Rusty explained.
"That's wonderful, Rusty. Keep at it," Liam praised.
Clyde cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him.
"Lincoln, you and Stella have, uh, given me some confidence. If you can save two of your sisters from danger, then surely I could go after my crush as well," Clyde said.
At first, Lincoln smiled but quickly faded away, afraid of whom his best friend might prefer. Clyde saw Lincoln's face and knew right away.
"Don't worry. It's not your sister Lori. It's Chloe," Clyde stated.
Everyone's eyes widened and gasped.
"Chloe?! No way!" Stella said excitedly.
"It's true. I haven't asked her out on a date, but I asked to hang out with her, and she's cool with it. So, it's a start," Clyde explained.
"That's great, Clyde," Lincoln praised.
"Yeah, way to take the first step, buddy. Remember, though, it's just like Lincoln and Stella said. Ease into it before asking her out on a date. You don't want to scare that bunny away," Liam said.
"Thanks, Liam," Clyde said.
Everyone chuckled.
Meanwhile
As everyone was going about their day. Future Lincoln was a distribution warehouse hacking into the system, searching for something – something very specific.
"Come on. Where the Hell are you?" Future Lincoln spoke to himself.
He searched and searched on the database, going through inventory lists, both current and upcoming.
"Where are you? Ah-ha! Got ya!" Future Lincoln spoke.
He clicked on it, and the screen showed a pretty blue dress.
"There you are. Hard to believe that stupid Sister Fight Protocol got so out of control over a fucking dress. Girls . . . what can you do? Okay, changing the delivery date to arrive in Royal Woods early," Future Lincoln said as he typed.
The dresses were scheduled to arrive at Royal Woods Mall. Future Lincoln stood up and crossed his arms in satisfaction, and nodded.
"Yeah, this will definitely set off a chain of events," Future Lincoln spoke before summoning two light orb visions, "Because there's no way you'd let either of these outcomes happen."
Then he let them float in the air as he summoned a third light orb.
"This is the only outcome you'd accept to choose, and once the sisters see the gravity of the errors of their ways, they'll change for you."
The light orb showed brief images of Lincoln running as if he were fleeing for his life, and then it skipped ahead to him lying on the road bleeding from his head as Lori is holding him close while screaming and crying at the same time. Lynn falls to her knees as tears stream down her face, and she's holding Lincoln as well.