A/N: By raise of hands, who here was completely destroyed by The Last Crash of the Sunchaser? That episode...just, wow, talk about a punch right in the feels. Anyways, I figured that Huey, Dewey, and Louie would have a lot of ugly lingering feelings after all that, and we didn't really see it. So I thought I would write about Donald dealing with the aftermath, because he's an amazing uncle and that deserves to be portrayed more.

Donald had anger issues. He knew that he did, he had long since stopped being in denial about it. Donald didn't pretend to think that he had necessarily gotten better over the years, but he had definitely started to feel more of a numb anger. It was just so exhausting to throw a temper tantrum, and since what had happened to Della, Donald just didn't have that energy anymore. He just felt so tired all the time.

Besides, Donald knew that his temper could make him rather intimidating, and he didn't want to scare the three boys. Keeping them happy and safe was much more important than his own individual needs.

Donald had never been proud of his anger, but it had definitely come in handy when it came to raising his nephews. None of the boys had as much of a temper as he did, thank goodness for that, but they were still Ducks. Stubbornness and pride ran in the family. For the most part, the boys got along with each other famously, but they definitely had their fair amount of fights.

Because they didn't fight very often, things could got pretty intense when they did, though it all depended on who the fight was between. Louie and Dewey fought fairly often, but they were never that bad. A tease that went a hair too far here. An angry shove there. It was barely more than a bicker, and Huey was always right there to intervene before things went too far between his brothers.

Huey and Louie very rarely fought with each other, and it absolutely never got physical. Their arguments were more of a battle of wits than anything. Never the kind of thing that Donald had to worry about, which he was extremely grateful for. He didn't want to deal with what would happen if Huey's temper, and his quick and sharp words really went against Louie's tendency to not recognize when he took things a step too far, and his overly sensitive nature. If those two ever really went at it, Donald was scared that somebody would really get hurt.

As fights between Huey and Louie hadn't escalated to that level yet, and hopefully never would, the worst pairing for a sibling fight had to be between Huey and Dewey. The two of them had butt heads when they were younger, but as they got older they had started to fight more and more often.

Personality wise, Huey and Dewey were probably the most similar, but also the most different, and that was a very dangerous combination. They were both so firm and stubborn about their beliefs. They would argue and fight until they had convinced the other that they were right. If that was all they did, it wouldn't be that much of an issue. Donald could handle shouting, or even the ocasional shove, but when things got bad, Huey and Dewey both took things a step too far, and neither of them probably had an idea of how.

When it came to a differing matter of opinions, as far as the boys were concerned, the opinion that was the correct one was the one that the majority believed was true. When Huey and Dewey's arguments got so bad that they knew they wouldn't be able to bring the other to their side, their only other choice was to involve a third party. And as they were triplets, there was always a third party handy.

Louie put on a tough act of indifference, but he was extremely sensitive. He didn't have a problem with those around him fighting or yelling, even when it was his brothers. Sometimes, Louie was even amused by passionate debates, and he wasn't afraid to say something to egg one or both of them on.

Despite this, Louie could never handle it very well when his brothers tried to get him on their side. Louie often couldn't care less about what they were arguing about, but even if he did have an opinion, he couldn't choose between his brothers. One time a few years ago Louie had tried to side with Dewey just to get them to stop. Neither of his brothers had reacted well.

Huey had been outraged, claiming that his brothers always ganged up on him. Dewey had also gotten angry at Louie, because he had known that the hoodie wearing triplet had only sided with him to appease him. Dewey hadn't wanted to be humored, he had wanted to be right.

Louie looked up to Huey and Dewey. They were his older brothers. Though he would never admit it, Donald knew that Louie idolized them. He hadn't been able to handle having both of his brothers mad at him, especially when he didn't fully understand what he had done wrong. This had been one of the only fights that Donald had felt the need to interfere with.

Thankfully, things hadn't gotten that bad since then, though Donald had a feeling that his luck was about to change. The boys did their best to be patient with each other and their living circumstances, but the house boat was a small one. Tensions could run high, and there wasn't much room to get away from each other if they were starting to feel the need for some space. Sometimes, things just became too much, and a fight would happen.

And that was just under normal circumstances, before they had even started to stay with Scrooge. Now that they were back to living on the houseboat, it would probably feel smaller than ever. The boys would probably be short with each no matter what terms they had left Scrooge's mansion on. But they had left on what was probably the worst possible terms.

The boys knew about the Spear of Selene. They were understandably furious with Scrooge, and upset with the circumstances, just like Donald had been for so many years. He couldn't blame them for how they felt, but it definitely made things at home harder.

Though, Donald wished that the boys would have waited for more than just two days to take their frustrations out at each other.

"Don't tell me how I should feel, Hubert!" Dewey's shout was the first indication that Donald got that a fight was in the works, and he had a bad feeling that it would be a bad one. Donald sighed and made his way towards the kitchen where the boys were.

"I'm not." Huey said in his 'big brother' voice, which, while useful to calm Louie down when he was angry or upset, usually only served to make Dewey feel like he was being patronized. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't be so mad at Scrooge and Uncle Donald."

"Uh, that kinda is telling him how he's supposed to feel." Louie said.

"Not now, Louie." Huey and Dewey said at the same time, which made Donald feel on edge. He had never heard the boys try to keep each other out of their arguments. This couldn't be anything good.

"Stop acting like you're so high and mighty." Dewey said, presumably to Huey. "You're just as mad at them as I am."

"I'm...upset." Huey said. "I don't like what happened anymore than you do, but I'm not going to hate our family for it."

"They should have told us." Dewey insisted, and his tone just about broke Donald's heart. He had known for years that he shouldn't keep what had happened to their mother a secret, but it was just so hard for him to talk about.

"Now who's the high and mighty one, Dewford?" Huey asked, his frustration creeping into his voice. "You're one to say that our uncles should have told us secret information about our mom."

"You said you were over that!" Dewey said accusingly.

"You kept information about mom from us." Huey said sharply. "That's not something that I can just get over." Donald frowned. Dewey had found information about their mom and then kept it from his brothers? No wonder Huey was upset.

"Guys, come on, don't fight like this." Louie said, which was odd. He never tried to mediate his brothers' arguments. Donald felt more and more like he should interfere, but he was held back. If he went in there, Dewey's anger would be redirected towards him, which Donald didn't mind, but this was the first clue that Donald got about how his boys were feeling. They just weren't talking to him, and it drove him crazy that he didn't know what was on their minds.

The boys were quiet for a moment before Huey started up even worse than he had before. "Do you see what you're doing?!" Huey shouted, his voice cracking, which was a sign that he was really losing it. "You upset Louie."

"I upset Louie?" Dewey's voice wavered. He seemed to be more upset about being accused of upsetting his baby brother than he had been when Huey had been upset at him for keeping secrets. "You're the one that Louie looks up to. Your anger is probably scaring him."

"Stop it!" Louie screamed, and Donald decided that enough was enough. There were better ways for him to figure out what how the boys felt. Letting them go at it just gave them the opportunity to find excuses to redirect their anger.

"Enough." Donald went into the kitchen to break up the fight. He physically stood between Dewey and Huey, in case they escalated to shoving each other around or something worse. Huey and Dewey seethed at each other, but at that moment Donald's attention was on Louie. The hoodie wearing boy was stiff, his head lowered and his eyes to the floor. Louie was a confident boy, so Donald knew that if he was quiet and unwilling to make eye contact, it was probably because he was about to start crying and he didn't want anybody to know.

Enough was enough. Donald needed to deal with this before it got worse. "Dewey, go to your room, Louie, on deck, Huey, stay in here." If his boys were mad at each other, Donald needed to keep them isolated until they calmed down. He intended to find out what was going on, but he would do it by talking to the boys themselves. No more eavesdropping.

Louie was all too eager to go up on deck. Donald intended to talk with him, same as his brothers, but not to calm him down. Louie didn't seem to be angry like his brothers, he was just extremely upset.

If Donald could, he would comfort Louie first, but he needed to have words with Huey and Dewey. Their anger had gotten out of control. Donald would talk to Huey first, as he was the oldest, the one who felt the need to be responsible, and the one who would be most likely to be reasoned with.

Dewey, who was clearly furious, was much more reluctant to go to their room. Dewey hated being treated like a child, even though he was well aware that he still was one. Dewey wasn't happy about the childish punishment, but he did as Donald said. As angry as Dewey was, he had to know that he either had to go to their room, or he would be the first that Donald talked to, and he wanted that even less.

Once the youngest two had left, Donald was able to have his full attention on Huey. "You obviously have a lot on your mind, so let's talk."

Huey sighed and sat down at the table. Donald could tell that he was just as frustrated and upset as Dewey was, but he was doing his best to get his emotions under control. Huey was probably the most tempermental of the boys, but also the most level headed. Huey struggled to have control during the heat of the moment, but after the fact, he was quickly able to calm down.

Normally, Donald was extremely proud of Huey for getting a hold of his anger easier than he ever was able to, but at that moment, it wasn't what they needed. Donald wanted to know what was on Huey's mind, he wanted to know what was bothering him so much, and he wouldn't know if Huey just masked his anger like he usually did.

"Don't sugarcoat things, Huey." Donald said quietly. "Talk to me."

Huey frowned and began to draw invisible patterns on the table with his finger. "...Why did you keep this a secret all this time?"

Donald sighed and took a seat across from his nephew. "I don't have a good reason." He admitted. He had told himself for years that he had just been trying to protect the boys, but he knew that the one he had been trying to protect had been himself. "It was...hard to talk about her."

"I know it is." Huey's face scrunched up slightly in distress. "But...she's our mom."

"I know." Donald looked down at the table. His gut felt like it was twisting up in on itself. "I'm sorry."

Huey paused in his pattern making. "...I'm not mad about what happened." Huey said, and Donald could hear the sincerity in his voice. "Nobody meant for it to happen. I don't think anybody's blameless," Donald didn't either. "But no single person should have to shoulder all of the blame."

Donald smiled sadly. Huey was a lot more mature than him on that. Donald had spent the past twelve years blaming Scrooge for what had happened. Sometimes, when Donald was having a particularly hard time with the boys, he would blame Della, because as reckless as Scrooge had been, nobody had forced her to go into space.

And then there were the dark days, where Donald's grief over his sister was so strong that he blamed the boys, who hadn't even been hatched at the time, for what had happened. Della had always been adventurous, but she had gotten particularly restless shortly after laying her eggs. She had known that she would be a mother, but she wasn't ready to settle down yet. She needed to have one last big adventure. Donald knew that she would have wanted this massive adventure at one point or another, but a small part of him still believed that if the boys hadn't been about to hatch, Della wouldn't have gotten so reckless and desperate, and she might still be here.

Donald didn't linger on those thoughts...he couldn't linger on those thoughts.

"If you're not mad, why are you so upset?" Donald asked. Huey may lose his temper more than his brother's did, but he didn't often get angry about somebody else being angry. Huey may not be mad about what had happened to their mother, but he had to be mad about something. If he wasn't, then he wouldn't have gone off on Dewey as badly as he had.

Huey scowled and slid his hand off the table. Even though Donald couldn't see it, he knew that Huey was clutching at his shirt in an effort to keep himself calm. "I...I hate how you guys have been keeping secrets from us. We're family, we shouldn't keep secrets from each other."

Donald winced slightly. He had always been so worried about how the boys would react when they learned about what happened to their mom. He had never given any thought to how the boys would react just to the fact that they had kept something like this a secret for so long. Donald should have known though. He should have known Huey, who loved nothing more than to solve every mystery he came across, who got anxious when he encountered something that he wasn't knowledgeable about, would have taken it as a personal offense that his family had kept a secret from him.

"You and Scrooge didn't tell us what happened to our mom." Huey hunched slightly in on himself, almost protectively. "And then Dewey started keeping secrets too." Huey's voice gradually got quieter, almost like he was talking to himself more than he was to Donald. "I just...I don't understand it."

Donald sighed, feeling even more guilty than he had before. "I'm sorry." He said. "I know I should have told you boys about your mom, but…" Donald trailed off and tried to maintain a neutral expression. He didn't want the boys to know how upset and hurt he was about what had happened to his sister, even after all these years.

Unfortunately, Huey had always been an observant child. "You know, the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook says that talking about something that's upsetting you can be really therapeutic."

Donald hated the thought of talking about his feelings, but he knew that Huey was right. And even if talking about Della didn't make Donald feel better, it would probably help the boys. Donald barely even mentioned Della, so the boys would probably cling to and take comfort from even the smallest bit of information he could give them.

Donald didn't know if he was ready to talk about Della, but he knew that he should. Della may be his sister, but she was also the boys' mother, and they had the right to know her. "I'll keep that in mind." Donald said, though he didn't make any promises. "Is there anything else that you want to talk about?"

Huey thought for a moment. "...Nah, I think I'm good."

Donald stood up and reached across the table to ruffle Huey's hair. "In that case, do you mind getting started on dinner while I talk to your brothers?"

Huey's eyes widened. "Potentially burn the houseboat straight into the ocean, or confront my probably furious brothers? Sure, I can get started on food."

Donald grimaced, already regretting his decision to ask Huey for help. As resourceful and intelligent as the boy was, he had a tendency to get rather creative when he made food. And his taste buds were about as refined as a rock's. "Just stick to the recipe this time." Donald made a mental note to keep his conversations with Dewey and Louie short so he could get back to the kitchen before Huey could do too much damage.

Donald left Huey and headed towards the boy's room. As he approached the door he heard loud thumps, probably from pillows being smacked into the floor, and short shouts of frustration. It sounded like Dewey hadn't calmed in the short minutes of solitude. If anything, Donald would venture a guess that Dewey was even more irritated than he had been before.

Donald jumped and let out a squawk like noise when he heard a pillow harshly hit the door. He realized that he would probably be very lucky to get to the end of the conversation without being knocked around by a pillow or punched with his nephew's bare hands. Donald suddenly felt much more like he was about to walk into a lion's den rather than his nephews' bedroom.

This wasn't going to be fun.