The voices behind the closed door grew louder every second, rage behind every word:

"You don't have the right to tell me who I should be friends with!"

"I do, because I'm your freaking mother!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I guess I must have forgotten it after ten years! Thanks for reminding me, I'm kinda impressed you remembered it!"

"Enough with the irony, Louie!"

"The irony is that you remember you're my mom only when you want to scold me! Why don't you take advice from uncle Donald first before you decide to destroy my life?"

"ARE YOU ENJOYING THIS? Damn it, are you really enjoying this?! Rubbing into my face that Donald is better than me? Well, for your information, I already know that! What I don't get is what's the matter with HER?"

"Why do you even care? What's your problem?"

"IF YOU WANT TO HANG OUT WITH A GROWN UP WOMAN THAT MESSES UP ALL THE TIME, AND HAS NO IDEA ABOUT CHILDREN, AND IS NEVER AROUND, THEN WHY THE HELL COULDN'T YOU JUST CHOOSE ME?!"

Those shouts were always painful to hear. They were so loud that echoed all around the house.

But the worst part was the silence after.

Donald was in the houseboat, going through some old photo albums, when he saw Dewey coming in.

God, it had been ages since he was last here!

"Hi, uncle Donald" he greeted him, with an annoyed expression on his face. "Oh, you rearranged! Hope you don't mind me here, I just want to be in a place where I can't hear them yelling".

"Dewey, that's your house too, you can always come. Who is yelling?"

"Guess what? Mom and Louie are having a fight. AGAIN!" Dewey sighed in anger. "Louie never shouted before mom came back. Now it's all that he ever does, it's so tiring!"

Donald nodded him to sit beside him, and he closed the album.

"Dewey, that's normal. We had fights too, remember?"

"That's different!" he protested. "It happens all the time and it's always Louie's fault! How can he be so ungrateful? He finally has a mother and he makes her feel sad? He doesn't get to hurt my mom!"

"I know this may sound strange, but they need to have these fights. They can't keep everything inside them, Dewey".

"But Louie is so… so… Ugh, I can't stand him!" he shouted, almost ready to cry. "Why is he acting like that?"

"You should try to understand him!"

"Understand what? That he doesn't like that mom came back?"

"You know that's not true! He loves her. But everyone's different, Dewey. Even triplets. He's experiencing this differently. He needs to adapt, and he's not as good with changes as you are! Louie is sensitive! He needs time. He can't bond easily. All of this is very difficult for him. We shouldn't judge him for his feelings. He's confused".

"What is there to be confused about? Our mom is here! How is that not the most awesome thing that has ever happened in our lives?"

"Again, he is happy. In fact so unexpectedly happy he doesn't know how to deal with it. Besides, he just started getting to know her. He's still learning about her and processing everything. And he doesn't have the same chemistry with her as you do".

"How can anyone not like her? Why?"

"It's not about her personality, it's whether he can see her as a mother figure in his life. Give him some space. His whole world has changed!"

"Maybe it wouldn't be too sudden for Louie, if we actually knew something about mom before she came back!"

Donald felt a sudden pain on his stomach and he lowered his eyes to the floor.

"I should go back to the mansion, maybe they stopped fighting" Dewey said and got up from the couch.

"No, Dewey" his uncle stopped him. "Can you please stay? I think we should talk".

"So now you want to talk?" he said, a raging fierceness in his trembling voice.

"Sit down and don't be sarcastic" Donald managed to remain calm.

Donald rubbed his eyes and tried many times to start talking, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth! How was he to begin? He had no idea!

He took a few deep breaths.

He had forgotten how difficult raising kids was.

"I thought you'd be happy!" he snapped. "In the houseboat. With me, Huey and Louie. I thought that you would never need anything else!"

"I was happy, uncle Donald! But a part of me felt like there was always something missing!" he protested. "And honestly, it still does, because of… my father. But not because of you, you did a perfect job raising us".

"I know that you'd prefer Della to raise you instead of me. I tried to be like her, to show her to you through my actions. I guess I didn't succeed" he lowered his head. "I tried to be bold and brave, but I never was. I failed you. I failed Della, your brothers, everyone!"

"No, don't say that, uncle Donald!" he cut him off. "You were there when nobody was. And I will never stop being grateful to you for that. I just… I would have loved to grow up learning stuff about mom! I wish I didn't have to be so secretive when I was searching clues about her and the Spear of Selene with Webby!"

"Why didn't you ask me about her then? All those years none of you ever told me that you'd like to hear about her!"

"Yes, because I was afraid!" Dewey admitted with a trembling voice. "What if she wasn't a good person, what if she didn't love me, what if she was just a selfish monster that abandoned her own kids? If that were the case, I don't think I could have been strong enough to bare it! And I trusted you! When I was feeling lonely or when I was watching a movie about orphan kids, I always said: If uncle Donald thinks it's best that I don't know about her yet, then he must be right! But you weren't!" he started to get aggressive. "Mom is wonderful and she always loved me! And you could have shared this with me, you could have prevented all those long nights of me wondering about her!"

"I did it to protect you!" Donald raised his voice. "That's why I never told you about uncle Scrooge or anything else. Adventures are dangerous! I had already lost my sister because of that, I couldn't lose you too!"

"I understand that, but you must also understand that hiding everything about her from us was not okay! I had the right to know!"

"And what was I to say? That your mom was a fool that only sook adventure and because of that she didn't think twice before stepping into that piece of crap and left all her family behind and me with three eggs?"

"It may hurt, and it still does very much, despite of how comfortable I can be around her, but I wanted to hear it!"

"Yeah, Dewey? Really?" he scoffed. "Would you have the right words to say to three children? You may think you are old enough, but you are not, trust me!"

"I did trust you! Maybe you should start trusting me with things that concern me! At the end of the day, she's my own mother! I deserve the truth! Maybe now I'm eventually lucky that I'm getting to know her, but you know what? In many ways, it's too late now!" he shouted louder than Donald had ever heard him in his life.

Dewey got up from the couch and started pacing around the room.

"Great, now I'm yelling too!" he added, trying to hold back his sobs.

"Is it too late to apologize?" Donald asked softly.

Dewey's surprised look turned to him.

"I can see what you're saying and I understand that" his uncle said. "Maybe I should have been more open about Della. You always reminded me of her, in almost every possible way. So in a way, I had her with me, because I had you. And that gave me strength. I admit, sometimes it hurt. Your similarity brought painful memories many times. But other times… Oh God! Dewey, you couldn't realize how much encouragement you gave me! You would say something stupid that reminded me of her, and I could feel my sister's presence again!" Donald cupped Dewey's face and the boy started tearing up. "There were times" he continued, "that I looked you and I thought that I never really lost her, because I had you. And I can see that it's painful for you that you didn't have her, not even in memories, not even knowing basic stuff about her. I'm really sorry I didn't speak to you about her".

"Uncle Donald? We too always had mom with us in a way. Because we had you".

The two ducks slowly melted into a warm embrace.

"You know…" Dewey interrupted the peaceful silence. "I was always focused on my own pain, because I lost my mother, and it never hit me as much that you lost your sister. I should have been more understanding".

"It's alright, Dewey. You're here now and that's all that matters" he patted him on the shoulder.

"I appreciate your apology so much, uncle Donald, but at the same time, I should say sorry in return. Lately I didn't spend much time with you, despite your efforts to approach me. I guess I only thought about myself again. Sometimes I'm so afraid that I will wake up and mom will be gone again, that I only want to spend every second with her".

"It's okay. I want you to be happy with your mom. I'm really glad you spend time with her! I know how it is to lose your mom and miss her all the time. If I had mine right now, I'd probably do the same. So be with her. She was alone all those years, she deserves all the time in the world".

"I also want to spend time with you. To be honest, I missed you".

"I missed you too" Donald said with a melancholic tone and a smile warmer than fire.

"I know that I lost my chance with the fishing trip, but even a walk in the garden would be great. Just the two of us. Or maybe a car ride."

"Don't you do that with Launchpad?"

"Don't worry, he won't get jealous" Dewey shrugged his shoulders.

The boy changed his position and lay on the couch, resting his head on his uncle's knees.

He hadn't done that in a while.

Donald couldn't resist caressing his hair.

"Thank you for opening up to me, Dewey".

"Thank you for listening! It's much better now".

"And… considering what you just told me," Donald hesitantly tried to find the words, "I think I should talk to you about… your father. Only if you want of course".

Instantly, the atmosphere became heavier.

He sensed him freezing and holding his breath for a few seconds. Then his shoulders started trembling.

"Dewey?"

The boy nodded, tears starting to run again on his cheeks.

"The… the only…" Dewey tried to speak, but his voice sounded like he was on the verge of bursting out in sobs. "The only things I know about… him… are his name and… and that he died before we hatched".

"Yeah, before Della even knew that she was going to have kids. I don't know much about him, I only saw him a couple times. He and Della hadn't been together that long. But I think she truly loved him".

The loveliest expression appeared in Dewey's face.

"What was he like as a person?"

"Quiet, but sharp. I think Louie has taken after him. He didn't talk much, but when he did he'd be exactly on point. I remember Della was crazy for him" Donald chuckled. "I used to make fun of her for being in love! She had never been before".

"And he loved her as much?"

"Yes, I believe so" Donald reassured him.

Then followed the question that could not be avoided:

"How did he die?"

Donald had prepared this answer in his mind since a long time ago, but now that the moment actually came, he had to take a few moments to put the words in order.

"It was a car accident" he explained. "He was driving home from work after a late shift and… it happened. I don't know the details. But I will never forget the night they called Della. He had listed her as his emergency contact. He didn't have any family, he was an orphan, just like us".

"And mom was devastated, right?"

"I had never seen her like that" Donald admitted. "At first she could not believe it. Then she was angrier than ever, furious! But after all those outbursts, she could only be deeply sad. She kept to her room for a week, she used so many tissues, she wouldn't even talk for a few days!"

"It must have been really hard..."

"Indeed. But then she found out that she was having kids. She said she'd be the best mother in the world. She was determined to be strong and protective of you. But she still missed him. And I think she still does sometimes".

"I think I miss him too" Dewey said so silent that it was almost a whisper. "It's weird, it doesn't make any sense! I mean, how can you miss someone you've never even met? But, I don't know. I just feel this in my heart".

"It's not weird" he gently reassured him.

Dewey sighed.

"Do you think we'll ever see him someday?"

"Yes, I believe that" Donald insisted. "Well, he'll punch me in the face as soon as he sees me! Because the last time I saw him, there had been a misunderstanding and I thought he hurt Della, so I was maybe too aggressive..."

"Really?" Dewey giggled.

"Yeah, I slapped him so hard that I broke my hand!"

They both laughed.

"So, he'd probably want to pay back" Donald added.

"No, he wouldn't do that" Dewey said with absolutely certainty and smiled.

"How are you so sure?"

"Because I know for sure what he'd do if he saw you".

"What?"

"He'd thank you for being a dad to us".

A dad.

Donald never wanted to claim that word and he strongly prevented the triplets from calling him that when they were toddlers.

But in such moments he had to be honest with himself.

He was their dad and nothing could ever change that.