50. Planning the Best Birthday Ever

A month has passed, and Lincoln was still The was he is, and the same with Luna. Little did he know that Luna was planning something special for her little brother, for his twelfth birthday was coming up in a number of days. Luna, hearing the news, decided to keep this a secret from Lincoln for now, for she wanted it to be the best surprise Lincoln will ever get in his life, and make this one unforgettable like at his very first concert ever. Right now, she was looking up which kind of presents he would surely love to get, along with good places to hang out at for a good birthday party. So far, she didn't really find anywhere fun yet, but she will eventually look for something Lincoln will truly love, that was for sure.

The same thing was said for finding him the perfect present. At least she still got a number of days before Lincoln's actual birthday would come up. One thing Luna hoped was that it wouldn't be a complete, and total disaster for her own brother. A little bit of worry was striking her, but she had to overcome her nervousness for Lincoln's sake.

"Okay, Lune." she said to herself out loud. "You can still do this. It's not that big a deal." and she continued looking on more cool places for Lincoln to hang out with Her, and the rest of his family and friends to make his birthday unforgettable. "Gus' Games N' Grub?" she scrolled down on the computer. "No, not awesome enough." she kept scrolling down and down through many fun places for family time, but she kept making buzzer sounds as she rejected more and more of them, for she didn't view them as awesome, or a place special enough for Lincoln's birthday

Decided she was stressing herself out a little, Luna decided to take a little break from this, and decided to relax, for she'll never know when an idea or a thought would pop up into her head. If there was one thing she knew about ideas, especially when writing a song: it would take some time. She crashed on her bed with a mildly frustrated groan.

"Having trouble trying to find Lincoln the perfect present I see?" Luan asked from below Luna's bunk

"Yes. I need to look at my game, girl." Luna replied with a sigh. "I tried looking for the perfect present, but I couldn't find anything that he would find perfect. It's his birthday comin' up, and it's anyway he wants it, that's the way he'll need it."

"Come on, Luna." said Luan. "You're thinking way too hard. I know you want Lincoln's birthday to be awesome, but it's not like a huge spectacle like the president's coming to town."

Luna let out a sigh. "I know that." she admitted. "But it's Lincoln's birthday. I just want him to be happy, and make sure he stays happy on his birthday, and something unforgettable like how I made his first concert unforgettable. Something worth remembering for the rest of his life."

"I get what you mean." said Luan. Just then, she pulled out her dummy: Mr. Coconuts, and the puppet said "If you think of getting Lincoln a chair, you should say to him 'Hey bro, I have something to chair with you!'" and Luan made a laugh. "Get it?"

Luna just made a small groan, and facepalmed herself in irritation. "Seriously, dudette?" she asked her. "Must you throw in a joke like that?"

"Oh come on." said Luan. "It's a good joke."

"A joke that's so old news, girl."

"Well, why don't you just try and loosen up. The party isn't today."

"Yeah, you're right." And Luna got down from the top bunk. "Maybe I am overthinking it too much. Maybe some root beet would be good." Heading downstairs, Luna got herself a drink and saw Lincoln napping on the couch downstairs, and she smiled warmly at him, and sat next to him, gently patting the left side of his body. "Oh Lincoln, I hope I make this birthday something you'll love."

She continued sitting next to her sleeping brother for fifteen long minutes. It didn't take long for Lincoln too suddenly stir from his little nap, and made a small yawn, then rubbed his two eyes to fix his vision from the slumber. "What? what?"

"Sleep well, lil bro?" she asked him softly

"What happened? I was just watching ARGGH! on TV, and I suddenly fell asleep." said Lincoln. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nah, dude." Luna replied. "You don't need to worry about a thing. Every little thing is gonna be alright."

"Good. Too bad I missed my show."

"Don't worry, there's always reruns."

"True that." and he stretched his legs after his somewhat long nap. "Hey Luna, I want to thank you for showing me the spa, and how relaxing it was back there."

"No problem, Linc." his sister replied happily. "I knew you would love it. And what did you think of Miss Dimartino being there giving you massages like that? That must have been a good icing on the cake, huh? Huh?" she gently jabbed his right arm with her left elbow playfully.

"Oh shut up." Lincoln chuckled. "Okay, yeah, it was nice of her to do that. I get the feeling I'm her favorite student when she's a substitute teacher."

"Can't argue with that, dude. You're nice, kind, and a rockin' individual. That's what she likes about you, and what I like about you, too." Lincoln flushed at the compliment his sister just given him

"Thanks." he said. "Do you think I'll see her again?"

"I'm pretty sure you might, little bro. She's still a substitute teacher. In time, who knows? You might see her today, tomorrow, or next week. What will happen to her baby? Guess we'll just have to wait and see." and she took yet another sip of her ice-cold root beer. "I'm just glad ya came with me to the spa. What fun would it be without ya?"

"Oh, Luna." Lincoln shrugged. "So, what do you wanna do now?"

"Hmm. Wanna go to Burpin' Burger with me?"

"Sure. Let's see if we can get... Wait, you're sixteen now, shouldn't you have a license?"

"Yeah, but I gotta take a learner's permit first, which takes six months, and then I can get a license ."

"Oh. Right." Lincoln realized. "Maybe we can get mom, dad, or Lori to drive us there?"

"Sure thing, buddy." They looked for Lori first, but she was out for gold practice, and their father was busy playing the cowbell (in a terrible way of course) with his best friend in the garage. Both Lincoln and Luna decided not to set foot in the garage, considering the fact about how terrible their dad was at playing the cowbell.

Finally, it was their mom who decided to take them out to the fast-food restaurant, and she promptly agreed. They all hopped into Vanzilla, and went to the burger place for some lunch. Rita herself, also wanted something there to chew on since she was feeling hungry, and her husband was too busy playing cowbell to make a decent lunch.

"You don't mind taking us there for lunch, do you?"

"No, of course not, Lincoln." Rita replied. "I think it's fun having some time kind of time with you, kids. I would ask your father, but he's busy playing the cowbell."

"Yeah. Nothing against dad, but I don't think cowbell would be a good fit for him." Lincoln remarked in a modest tone-of-voice. "I know he likes doing that, but come on."

"Me neither, honey." said Rita. "But your father is who he is, and we need to accept it. So Lincoln, you know your birthday's coming up, right?"

"I know, mom." Lincoln said. "I honestly don't know what to do for my birthday. I was hoping for something fun."

"That's what someone who has a birthday should always do, have fun." Luna said, wrapping her arm around her brother's shoulders for support. "We'll make i fun for ya."

"Aww, thanks Luna." Lincoln said

"No problem, Lincoln." and she gently ruffed his white hair. "You feeling hungry?"

"You know it, Luna."

"So am I." Luna patted her stomach. "I am hungry like a white lion."]

And they all made it to Burpin' Burger and settled in the restaurant. the siblings confirmed their order to Rita, and she promptly went up to the counter. When she got the food, Lincoln got a double Burpin' Burger with extra bacon and no mayo in it with a side of onion rings and ranch dipping and a large root beer, Luna got herself a double one, but with extra lettuce and pickle slices in them along with a three-piece chicken tender combo and a medium drink with herbal tea in it, and Rita just had a single burger with nothing on it with a chocolate-vanilla shake.

"So Lincoln, you know you can pick wherever you want to go and celebrate, right?" asked Rita. "We'll invite Clyde, Ronnie Anne, Sam, and the rest of your friends with us, and even Pop Pop agreed to come with us."

"Perfect." said Lincoln. "I... I'm still thinking about where to go. To be honest, I really don't care as long as there's cake, and my family's here with me to celebrate it."

"Oh, come here, dude." and Luna gave him a side-hug before continuing with their meals.