Loud House: Lincoln's New Family (Book 2, SERIES DISCONTINUED)

Arrival in Manila

Steve and Lincoln still had one last obstacle in front of them before the flight: airport security.

Firearms were allowed as long as they were unloaded and secured. The men already took care of that before they even arrived at the airport. Another thing they had to prepare for was the amount of money they had, which wasn't so easy.

They had to bring almost half a million dollars in cash with them, and they had to answer questions once they encountered security.

"Hey, gentlemen. My son and I have over $10,000 with us, because my job is a lawyer, and I invest in stocks," Steve really did invest in stocks, but he was never a lawyer. The law was that if you had over $10,000, you had to notify the employee.

"Okay, but how much money do you have?" A guard asked while checking luggage.

"Almost fifteen thousand dollars," Steve declared. Lincoln grew confused but still went along with the scheme. If Steve was honest about how much money they really had with them, suspicions would rise and they would fail.

Steve handed the guard a yellow envelope that was full of money, and once the guard started to peek inside the pouch, Lincoln prepared to be busted.

"Passports?" Another guard asked.

Lincoln knew they were in trouble, because nobody in his family, not even his parents had passports, and who knows if Steve did.

Steve pulled out two passports from his pocket and flashed them to the gaurd.

"You guys are good here. Just fill out this form by the time you arrive at your destination and they'll request it when you get there," the guard ended as he handed the envelope back to Steve.

"Thank you, sir. C'mon, let's go," Steve goodbyed as he nudged Lincoln towards the ticket attendee.

Lincoln was super confused because he thought the envelope had all of the money in it. There was a secret Steve had that he hadn't told Lincoln yet.

He also was confused about the passports.

Once the men got their tickets checked by the last employee, they walked down the tunnel and boarded the plane.

Once they sat down in their middle-class seats (since they only ordered tickets one day before the flight, first-class was all sold out) on the plane, Lincoln quietly asked Steve "Where the hell is all the money?! I thought it was in the envelope!! And how did you get me a passport?!"

Steve chuckled and said that he bought some other items from the store they went to the day before, like a few big bags of chips and some other things to sneak the rest of the money into. Also, it was a fake passport.

"You mean you hid the rest of the money in bags of chips?!" Lincoln asked, shocked.

Once again Steve giggled and responded with "Yep. I re-sealed the bags after eating all of the chips. I also hid them in our luggage, like in the clothes."

"So, do you actually have stocks??" Lincoln questioned.

"Yeah, for a long time, actually. I'm-or should I say we, are rich!" Steve explained.

"How long were you gonna hide that from me?" Lincoln said.

"It just goes to show how good I am at keeping secrets," Steve ended as he started to fill out the form(s) the security guard had given them.

The flight was very long, indeed, as it was a little over 17 hours from Royal Woods to Manila, Philippines. When the flight left Royal Woods, it was around 5:15 PM in American time. Since the Filipino time is 13 hours ahead of Michigan time, the plane arrived at around 2:15 PM, Filipino time.

(Sorry if I got that math wrong, it was quite confusing converting time zones and flight time).

Lincoln and Steve exited the plane once it landed at the Manila airport, both of them were extremely tired.

They collected their luggage and prepared to face security one last time. Steve was up first. He handed the attendees the luggage as well as the money forms. Everything went fine. It was easier for Lincoln, as all he had to do was get his luggage checked.

Once they were released from the airport, they had to rent a car somehow. They called a taxi from the airport instead, and much to their surprise, a lot of citizens spoke fluent English.

"Hello! Where do you want to go?" The taxi driver enthusiastically asked as Lincoln and Steve entered the taxi they just called.

"Hi. Do you know any good hotels around here?" Steve asked the driver.

"Of course!" The driver answered as they drove towards downtown Manila. The two friends thanked the driver, paid him, and then exited the cab.

Many people looked at Lincoln oddly due to his red hair, and some people even laughed due to how ridiculous it looked.

Steve and Lincoln both looked in disbelief as they glued their eyes to the hotel exterior. It was a tall, pretty hotel that had amazing architecture.

Many people were entering and exiting, so it seemed pretty famous and well-known. The friends got tired of holding their luggage and crossed the street to approach the hotel.

Once they entered, their jaws dropped. The decor was amazing, the staff carried luggage for you, and the two friends knew they had enough money to pay for a stay. The plan was to check out a temporary room and then look for an available house to buy.

The men walked up to the front counter and then the employee asked "May I help you, gentlemen?"

Steve asked what rooms were available, and they settled for a two-bedroom room. Another employee came in and grabbed the luggage while walking the boys to their room. Once they made it there the employee set their luggage on one of the massive beds and then left.

After looking around, Steve flipped open one of the suitcases and pulled out his shotgun.

"Steve, what are you doing?! Also if we wanted to end our crime lives, why did you even bring the guns?!" Lincoln asked while being mixed with anger and confusion because he was tired of killing people and hiding from the law.

"Relax, Lincoln. I have a feeling that somebody is going to ambush us at some point. I'm just loading the guns, and then putting them back so that if somebody does try to attack, we'll be ready," Steve explained as he cocked the shotgun.

Lincoln walked into the other bedroom as he glared out the window overlooking the city streets.

He missed some of his sisters, he missed Pop Pop, he missed Clyde, and he missed home...his true home.

Lincoln began to tear up while still looking outside and he fell to his knees. If only his sisters would've listened to him, none of this would have happened.

"What have I done? Now I'm not even going to be able to see my friends and family ever again. Great job, pal," Lincoln mumbled to himself through tears.

Looking outside didn't help. He saw lots of kids with their families running through the streets and sidewalks. 

Little did he and Steve know, but a few people knew exactly where they were...and it wasn't only the Loud family