Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

The Trillhouse SinThology	By : Trillhouse Category: +G through L > The Loud House Views: 4586 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Loud House, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
These two shorts are centered around the lenicoln kid, Liena. Often portrayed as mute or deaf, I decided to go with the latter for the purposes of a setting where none of the other sin kids exist; as such, this is not canon to any other stories. I do plan on continuing this at some point.
Now then, on with the show.

Please Hear Me
Part 1

Where is it…? Liena thought as she flitted about the kitchen, checking every single drawer to no avail. She let out a sigh and looked over to her mother, who stood at the counter checking the mail. Liena had no idea why she found it necessary to do this; physical mail was all but obsolete. It had been for as long as Liena could remember, and she couldn't recall ever seeing anything besides credit card offers and bills… which Liena had taken upon herself to handle online, since her mother couldn't be trusted to remember.
The young woman snapped her fingers to get her mother's attention. No response. She rolled her eyes and tried again, once again to no avail. Her mom seemed to be cheerfully oblivious, bobbing her head back and forth slightly; perhaps she was humming. Not that Liena had any way of knowing for sure… she didn't even know what humming sounded like. Or anything else, for that matter. In any case, the chubby girl scrunched up her face in annoyance and tried clapping this time… only to once again receive no response. With an uneven growl of frustration, Liena walked over to her mother's side and tapped her on the shoulder. Leni jumped slightly and turned, a warm smile spreading across her face as she saw her daughter.
"Oh! Yes, baby~?" Leni asked cheerfully… once again apparently failing to remember that her daughter could not hear her, nor was she good at reading lips. But Liena could at least tell that her mother had called her 'baby' again, a nickname she knew she hated… or should know, as least. Like many things in her life, Leni must have simply forgotten. Liena sighed under her breath; she figured there was little point in correcting her again. The deaf girl made a series of gestures with her hands.
(Where is the flour?) Liena asked her mother. Leni's brow furrowed as she tried to understand.
"U-um," Leni stammered, a flustered smile plastered on her face. "Sorry, can you go a bit slower…?" Liena had to force back another irritated groan; even if she couldn't hear her mother, the confused look on her face spoke volumes.
(Where is the flour.) Liena repeated, slower this time.
"I, uh…" Leni muttered, her face falling slightly. "I-I'm sorry, I still don't…" Liena grit her teeth.
(Where. Is. The. Flour.) This time each gesture was delivered firmly and with palpable frustration, but once again, Leni didn't seem to understand. She shook her head sadly, with an apologetic look in her eyes. Liena clenched her fists tightly. She took a deep breath through her nose to calm herself and grabbed her mother's phone off the countertop, typing in a message before handing it to her.
-Where is the flour-
"Oh…oh!" Leni gasped as she read the message. "Um… we're out, baby. I… I forgot to pick some up from the supermarket. I'm sorry…" She said quietly. Liena simply stared at her mother in exasperation. She gestured towards her mother with both palms to show her confusion, and Leni let out a gasp. "Oh! Um… right…" She quickly typed out her response and handed the phone back to her daughter. Liena stared down at the phone before glancing up at her mother with an annoyed glare. She entered her response and handed it back to her.
-I put it on the shopping list.-
-I frgot it sorry baby-
Liena looked down at the message, her hand trembling with anger. A child. It was like living with a goddamn child. She didn't understand how exactly this woman could be so skilled with fashion design yet still struggle in nearly every other aspect of her life.
She once again breathed in through her nose and let out a deep breath; she loved her mother. She really did. She knew that she tried her best. Unfortunately, her best just wasn't good enough.
Liena set the phone down on the countertop and strode back over to the incomplete fudge brownie mixture. That was today's plans out the window… though she could still make fudge, at least. She retrieved the whole milk from the refrigerator and poured it into a measuring cup. It had been easier when her dad was around… he had been able to learn ASL with little issue, and had served as an interpreter between her and her mother. Things were easier, then. Liena was happier. Her father had been a wonderful man; kind, patient, and understanding regarding her condition. She'd loved him more than anything.
And then there was the accident.
She'd only been twelve years old. Even with her seatbelt, it had been a miracle that Liena survived; the impact had been so powerful that the entire front of the car had crumpled, nearly reaching all the way to the windshield. Her father hadn't been so lucky. A faulty seatbelt allowed him to smash his head against the windshield, killing him instantly. And just like that, Lincoln Loud was no more… taken from the world far too soon, leaving behind an anguished girlfriend and daughter.
They'd received a large settlement from the car manufacturer, not that it did anything to ease the pain. Liena would give up every last cent to see her father again, even for a moment. But, no… now she was stuck with a woman who could barely understand her, who still treated her like a child… who could barely even take care of herself, let alone a daughter. At just nineteen years old, it fell on Liena to be the adult of the house. Liena felt her mother's hand on her shoulder. She turned to see the woman looking at her with a sorrowful gaze… one sincere enough to ease her frustration a bit.
(I'm sorry.) Leni signed to her daughter. It was one of perhaps five or so phrases she could remember, which was something of a necessity given how often she had to use it.
Liena sighed, feeling her anger slip away. She knew she was too hard on her mother… Leni didn't mean to do these things. Again, she always tried her best. She gave her mom a small, reassuring smile, placing her hand over hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. This seemed to work, as Leni returned it with a loving grin of her own before leaving her daughter to her work. But as soon as her mom's back was turned, the deaf girl's smile faded from her face in an instant. She returned to mixing the milk in with the batter, albeit with a heavy heart. As much as she loved her mom, it never got any easier. When the most important person left in her life couldn't even understand her, all she could feel was pain; she would give anything to have her father back in her life. She'd even give up her own mother if she had to.
Liena had been deaf from the moment she was born, but only her mother made her feel truly incapable.

Part 2

Another night, another silent dinner. Of course, for Liena everything was silent, but when her father was alive she had at least been able to have a conversation. With her mother, no such luck… the best they could do was pass a notepad back and forth, a far less convenient method of communication for the deaf girl.
-Dinner is delishus- Leni wrote before sliding the notepad over to her daughter. Liena sighed at her mother's misspelling before writing back:
-Thank you.-
-How is school going?-
-Fine.- Liena was attending an institute of the culinary arts, of course… not that it was particularly easy. Obviously, there was no such school specifically geared towards deaf students, which required her to hire an interpreter to translate her instructor's words into ASL. This meant she had to be twice as attentive as any of the other students, but the institute had been very accommodating towards her needs.
-Do u need any help with ur homework?- Liena rolled her eyes. This again… no matter how many times she explained it, her mom never seemed to get it through that thick skull of hers.
-Cooking school. No homework.- Not that she would have asked her mother for help anyway… she'd more than learned her lesson regarding that.
-Oh rite sorry i forgot- Leni wrote back, passing the notepad to her daughter with a small frown on her face.
-Yeah. I know.- Liena wrote, but stopped herself from passing it back; that was far too harsh. With a small sigh, she scribbled over it. –It's okay.- Her mother gave a warm smile at that before returning to her food. She was a mess, yes… but her heart was always in the right place. Liena often wondered if the accident had scrambled the woman's brain, or if perhaps she had always been that way and she just hadn't noticed due to her young age.
Liena idly picked at her food. An air of melancholy had hung over the family ever since Lincoln's death… both within their home and those of her aunts. Well, the ones that still spoke to them, anyway. The nature of her parents' relationship had driven much of the family away, save for Luna, Lucy, and Lily… and even then, all but Lucy were clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Still, every one of them had attended the funeral, and every one of them had wept for the fallen Loud. To this day, it was the only time she had met her grandparents and Lynn. Of course, few had attempted to speak with her, not that it would have been easy to do so anyway. The most meaningful, however, had been Luan… she'd gone out of her way to learn just enough sign language to offer her condolences, and had even given her niece a hug. Liena had thought that perhaps there would be a reconciliation between Luan and her mother, but it was not to be.
Still, Liena could hardly blame them. They hadn't seen what she had… they hadn't seen just how beautiful her parents' love was. At one time she had resented it, thinking that perhaps that was why she had been born deaf. But in the end, she decided it didn't matter. They were happy, and they loved each other, and they loved her regardless of her disability.
Before long they had finished their dinner and Liena began gathering up the plates, only for her mother to start doing the same. She frowned and tapped the woman's shoulder before shaking her head 'no' and pointing towards herself.
"It's okay, I've got it!" Leni said cheerfully… once again forgetting that her daughter couldn't hear her. Still, she was pretty sure she got the gist of it, and this time waggled her finger in disapproval; she knew exactly how this was going to turn out. She put her hand on the plate to stop her mother, but Leni gently tugged it out of her grasp. "It's okay baby, I-"
CRASH.
Liena groaned and buried her face in her palm. Yep… right on cue. Her mom had bumped a glass off the table, causing it to shatter on the ground.
"O-oh… oh, no…" Leni muttered, glancing down at the glass before looking at her daughter with an apologetic expression. (I'm sorry.) She signed yet again. Liena just took a deep breath through her nose, then exhaled. With as little anger as she could muster, she pointed for her mother to leave and let her handle it. Leni gave a small nod and left with her head hung in shame.
Liena clicked her tongue in frustration and left to get the broom and dustpan. Again, it fell on her shoulders to handle everything. She had to be the responsible one and deal with the mess her mother made. She'd never seen anyone so clumsy in her life… even the worst student at her culinary institute was more capable. She swept up the broken glass and dumped it into the trash before finally stacking the dishes and carrying them to the kitchen sink. One by one she rinsed them off, then put them in the dishwasher for cleaning. She wouldn't actually wash them yet; she'd rather wait until it was near-full before bothering, unlike her mother who saw little issue in running the dishwasher even if there was just a single teacup in there. She'd tried to explain to the woman that this was a waste of water, but her response had been 'But there's plenty of water, silly! Like, it even falls from the sky!' Of course, this had only been after she tried to verbally communicate yet again, and quite frankly even after writing it down Liena just didn't have the patience to correct her.
As Liena stepped into the living room, she noticed small spots of red pressed into the carpet… leading directly to the sofa her mother was sitting on. Liena frowned and headed over, only to confirm her suspicion: her mother had nicked her foot on a piece of glass and hadn't even noticed. She gestured to catch her mom's attention, but she was so focused on the television that she didn't notice. Liena grit her teeth and rather forcefully grabbed her mother's shoulder and shook her.
"L-Liena!" Leni scolded. "Don't-" Her daughter pointed angrily at her foot and she looked down, noticing the cut. "O-oh my gosh...!" She gasped. As she tried to get up, Liena pushed her back down.
"NO!" Liena barked in a guttural, unsteady voice. She pointed towards herself again, and this time Leni didn't fight it. She simply nodded sadly, averting her eyes from her daughter. Liena sighed as she went to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit. She'd gotten mad again… but how could she not? Her mother was too careless for her own good. She had no idea how she could cut her foot like that and not notice.
She returned to the living room to find her mother thankfully sitting in the same spot, as she had instructed. Liena frowned as she noticed the sad expression on her face; she looked as though she were about to cry, and certainly not from the cut. Liena sat down beside her mom and motioned for her to put her foot in her lap. Leni gave a small nod and did so, letting her daughter disinfect and bandage the wound. It wasn't a deep cut, thankfully… just a small nick. Leni gave her daughter a sad smile.
(Thank you.) She signed. Liena nodded and got to her feet. She'd need to clean the blood out of the carpet, after all. She could only hope she wouldn't have to bleach it.
Thankfully, she didn't; all it took was some hard scrubbing with detergent to wash it out. Liena made her way to the laundry room and put the hand towel with the rest of the laundry she'd have to clean later. With that, she headed back to the living room. Leni was still sitting there, but she wasn't looking at the television… she looked downcast, with her hands folded in her lap. Liena couldn't help but feel guilty at having snapped at her like that. It wasn't that Leni didn't know of her own shortcomings… in fact, she understood perhaps better than anyone. No matter how hard she tried to be the mother Liena needed, time and time again she failed. It had been so much easier when Lincoln was around; he'd been able to care for both of them in a way Leni could never hope to match. But instead, all Leni could do was try, fail, and apologize. An endless cycle. Liena sat down beside her, but rather than scold her further she simply gave her mother a gentle hug… one that Leni was more than happy to return.
(I'm sorry.) Liena signed as they broke the hug. She would have added that she shouldn't have yelled, but she knew her mother wouldn't understand. Nonetheless, Leni smiled.
(I'm an yes.) She signed back. Liena could only assume she meant to say 'it's okay' or 'me too', but in any case she was satisfied with that. She leaned back into the couch and turned her attention towards the TV; her mother was watching some sort of fashion show. But now that her daughter was watching with her, the kind woman switched the channel to the Food Network… even remembering to turn on closed captions for once. Leni tapped her shoulder to get her attention before signing (I love you.) Again, one of the few statements she remembered.
Liena's smile faltered for a brief moment. Despite everything, she did love her mother more than she could ever express. She was the kindest person she knew, and Liena was grateful for everything she did for her.
But still… no matter how hard her mother tried, it could never make up for the loss of her father.
(I know.)
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Trillhouse SinThology