I do not own Darkwing Duck or some of the characters in this story.
This story picks up a few months after the double wedding of Drake and Beth, and Gwen and Launchpad. Gwen and Launchpad learned that Gwen was pregnant. Drake and Beth took in Trina's newborn baby and named him Christian. Gosalyn and Skyler continued dating. And Drake had to adapt to working with a female partner.
Over the summer, Launchpad helped Drake turn his attic into a room for Jake, so that they could turn his old room into a nursery. Drake and Beth wanted to keep their fourth bedroom a guestroom. Gosalyn and Skyler competed in a few dance competitions and won awards for best performances in their age category. Abby discovered that she was really good at picking up boys at the local pool, and secretly had sex with a few of them. Abby's mother Trina was given a break after her ex-husband's trial. She is no longer in prison, but she has limited visitation with Abby and Christian. She can take them a few times during the week but not overnight.
This year, our characters will face new surprises, challenges and heartbreak, as more people join the fold.
Today is the first day of school for the kids. Gosalyn and Abby start High School and Jake starts Preschool. Drake and Beth both have to work, so Trina will take Christian for the day. Drake is sitting in the kitchen feeding Christian a bottle while Jake is eating cereal. Beth is running around trying to get ready, while Gosalyn is in her bedroom preparing for her first day of High School. She is also waiting for Abby to sneak back in. Abby has snuck out a few times at night, but she's always been able to sneak back in before Drake or Beth knew she was gone. This time is different. Gosalyn looks at the clock. It is six thirty, which means the bus will be there in twenty minutes. She picks up her phone to call Abby, but stops dialing when Drake knocks on the door.
"Girls, are you ready?"
Gosalyn panics. She does not want to give her friend away. She walks over to the window, hoping to see Abby climbing up the side of the house. But there is no sign of Abby. Drake calls out again from the other side of the door.
"Girls?"
"Ah, almost ready Dad." Gosalyn answers him in a rather startled voice. This does not sit well with Drake.
"Gos, is everything okay in there?"
"Everything's fine, just getting dressed."
Drake is not convinced, but he knows he can't just open the door. He's tried really hard to respect the girls' privacy. "Okay, make sure you come down soon so you have time to eat breakfast."
"Abby, where are you?" Gosalyn says under her breath. She dials Abby's cell phone. It rings in Abby's purse, so she doesn't hear it right away. Abby is in her mother's family room sleeping on the couch, and there is a boy there with her, Zachary. They are partially clothed and are just waking up. Abby's mother isn't home yet. She got a job with the local newspaper, which involves working overnight sometimes. Abby and Zachary hear the phone ring and slowly wake up. Abby panics when she realizes that they've overslept.
"Oh No!" Abby shoots up like a rocket, but Zachary is still waking up.
"What, what is it?" Zachary rubs his eyes and sits up next to her.
"What time is it?"
"It's ah, it's…. twenty minutes to seven."
Abby gives Zachary a look. She knows she's already in trouble with the Mallards, and she will be in trouble with her mother if she walks in and sees her with a boy.
"My mother's going to be home any minute. We've got to get outta here."
At the Mallard house, Drake is suspicious when Gosalyn arrives in the kitchen without Abby. "Where's Abby?"
Gosalyn knows she is caught. She doesn't see a way out of this one.
"She's not here."
"Well then where is she?"
"I don't know."
Drake stands up and starts to walk over to Gosalyn. "I had a feeling something wasn't right. She wasn't upstairs at all this morning, was she?"
Gosalyn has a dreaded look on her face. She doesn't respond. She doesn't have to, Drake already knows the answer. He picks up the phone and dials Abby's cell phone.
At Trina's house, Abby has her cell phone in her hand and sees the missed call from Gosalyn. She jumps as the cell phone rings again. It is he foster parent, Drake. "Hello?"
"Big trouble young lady!"
Abby sighs "I know."
"Are you okay?" Drake asks with more concern in his voice than reprimand.
"I'm okay. I'm at my Mom's house."
"I figured that. You need to get to school, okay? You don't want to be late on your first day."
"Okay, I will" Abby answers in a dreaded voice to match Gosalyn's facial expression.
"We will talk about this later when your mother comes over."
"Mr Mallard?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't be mad at Gosalyn, okay? She wasn't in on this. She didn't know anything about it."
"I'll be the judge of that." Drake answers as he looks over at Gosalyn.
As Abby ends the call, Zachary walks over to her and offers her a cup of coffee.
"Thank you"
"You're welcome. We should get going so we're not late for school."
"I still need to get dressed. Why don't you go on ahead?" Abby stands up and starts to fold the blanket that they were using.
"I thought we had to beat it out of here. Won't your Mom be home soon?"
"Doesn't really matter now. Its okay, you can go. Maybe I'll catch up with you later.
"Okay" Zachary kisses Abby and leaves. She watches him leave and sighs.
This is the fourth guy she's had sex with this summer. She meets a boy at the pool, makes plans to meet up with him again and winds up in bed with him. She doesn't know why she does this. It's almost like an addiction. The only person that knows about this is Gosalyn.
Gosalyn is sitting at the kitchen table pushing her cereal around with her spoon. She is thinking about Abby, knowing that she's done it again. Gosalyn hasn't gone that far with her boyfriend yet, so she's not sure what kind of advice she can offer her friend. So far, all she's been able to do is listen to Abby talk about her experiences with these boys. Drake sits down next to her and puts his phone on the table.
"Abby told me that I should go easy on you, since you weren't in on this."
Gosalyn doesn't say anything, but she does look up at him.
"Did you know that Abby slept at her mother's house last night?"
"No I didn't. I didn't know she was gone until I woke up this morning."
"You do know that this could be bad if the judge ever found out. Trina is not supposed to have her kids overnight." Gosalyn looks up at him again. Drake doesn't want to be mad at Gosalyn. He knows that she was just trying to be a good friend to Abby. "She needs to sleep here until the judge says otherwise."
"When do you think that will be?"
"I don't know. But until then we need to make sure we follow the judge's rules, so Trina doesn't get into trouble."
Gosalyn stands up, kisses her father on the cheek and starts to leave. Drake stops her.
"Wait, Gos, I've packed lunches for you and Abby."
Gosalyn looks at the brown bags of, no doubt, healthy lunches, then she looks at her father.
"Thanks Dad, but, high school kids buy their lunches."
"Sorry, I must've missed the memo. Why don't you take these for today and we'll talk about it later."
Gosalyn takes the bags from Drake. "Bye Dad"
Drake watches Gosalyn for a few seconds as she walks over to join Honker and Tank. The three of them walk to the bus stop together. He closes the door and sees Beth walk down the steps. She is finishing putting her second earring in.
"Good morning Honey" Beth walks up to Drake and kisses him, then rushes to the kitchen.
"Running late, Dear?"
Beth rushes around the kitchen to prepare a breakfast that she can take with her, a bagel and cream cheese. "Yes, running very late. I can drop off Jake at school, could you drop of Christian at Trina's?"
"You've got it." Drake walks over and stops Beth from preparing her bagel. He takes her in his arms and kisses her passionately. Jake looks over at them and giggles.
"What was that for?" Beth asks, forgetting that she was in a hurry.
"Just because."
"I like your 'just because's'"
Drake looks at his watch. "But you're right, we've better get going."
Beth finishes packing her bagel and gets Jake cleaned up. Drake picks Christian up and puts him in his car seat as the family prepares to leave the house for the day.
/
Gosalyn runs into Abby at school as they both try to locate their homerooms. It is their Freshmen year, and the big school is overwhelming for both of them. Abby is a bit on edge, and Gosalyn is a bit upset with her friend for not making it back into the house on time.
"Well it's about time you showed up!" Gosalyn scolds.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. We…"
"Let me guess" Gosalyn interrupts. "You and Zach from the pool?"
"Yes, me and Zach from the pool. We meant to wake up really early, but we…"
"Naa! I don't want details" Gosalyn interrupts again. She then lowers her voice so only Abby could hear her. They start to walk down the hall. "I just… don't get it. I'm trying to understand but I just don't get it. You meet a boy at the pool, you make plans to go out with him and then you two wind up having sex. And then you start the cycle over again with a different boy."
"I don't… know why I do it. But nobody can know about it. You didn't tell anyone did you?"
"Of course not!" Gosalyn responds defensively. "Who would I tell, my Dad?"
Abby stops walking "Please don't"
"Abby, I'm not going to tell anybody. But I do think you should stop this before anyone else finds out. Do you even feel anything for these boys?"
At this moment, Abby spots Zachary with his ex-girlfriend Bailar. They are talking, and they both have smiles on their faces.
"Is that Zach?" Gosalyn asks.
"Yeah, that's him."
Skyler walks up to Gosalyn and surprises her with a kiss.
"Oh Hi, I didn't think I'd see you before homeroom."
"Looks like our homerooms are in the same hall." Skye answers. "Hi Abby"
"Hey Skye" Abby responds as her eyes stay glued to Zach.
"Who are we looking at?" Skye asks Gosalyn.
"Do you know Zach? He's standing right over there."
Skye looks in the direction that Gosalyn is pointing. "Yeah I know him, he was in a few of my classes last year. And that's his ex Bailar. I thought they broke up."
"I guess not" Abby responds as the bell rings. The students rush to their assigned homerooms.
/
Across town, Drake meets up with Launchpad for lunch. They are sitting at a table off to the side at a coffee and sandwich shop. Launchpad has a rather large food order, while Drake settles on a ham and cheese on rye.
"Launchpad, doesn't Gwen feed you at home?"
Launchpad takes a breath after a few bites to answer Drake's question. "Of course she does. But right now with her pregnancy, she kind of has no appetite, certain foods make her nauseous. So if she doesn't eat, I don't eat."
"Ah, the things we do for the ones we love. How is Gwen doing with her pregnancy?"
"She's tired a lot. She doesn't get a lot of sleep. But she insists on working up until her due date. We have a doctor's appointment this afternoon. Speaking of pregnancy, when are you and Beth gonna.."
"We… haven't made plans yet. We have Abby and Christian until the judge allows Trina to care for them full time." Drake responds with a smile.
"You're beaming" Launchpad observes and matches his smile. "It won't be long."
Drake continues to smile at the concept of having another child with Beth.
/
Back at the High School, the girls' soccer coach has called an emergency meeting in the gym for the senior varsity and some of the junior varsity players. Gosalyn looks around at the people present at the meeting and notices that most of the seniors are not there. Abby is sitting next to her sulking at the thought of Zach with his ex-girlfriend. Gosalyn snaps her out of it.
"Doesn't it seem odd to you that the seniors didn't show up to this meeting?"
The coach and the principal join the meeting. The girls grow nervous since the principal is involved. Each of them wonders what this could possibly be about.
"I'd like to thank you all for taking time out of your classes to meet with us today" the principal begins. "We have an important announcement to make about a very serious matter."
The girls continue to grow uneasy, and one girl even raises her hand. The principal allows her to ask her question. "Are we in trouble?"
The principal raises and eyebrow at the girl. "Do you feel that you did something that you should be in trouble for?" The girl shrugs her shoulders and doesn't answer the question. The principal continues. "It was recently brought to our attention that some of the athletes in this school have been doing drugs. Cocaine and Marijuana."
This strikes a chord for Gosalyn, who recently struggled with the subject of marijuana. She even had it in her possession for a short amount of time. She starts to sweat as she thinks about the senior girls that gave it to her, Carly and Kara. She has a flashback of them being in the locker room and offering it to her after practice. She snaps out of it to listen to the principal.
"During soccer camp last week, you were each given a drug test. I regret to report that some of the athletes in this school were found to have drugs in their system at the time, and as a result, they are prohibited from playing in any high school sport for the rest of the year." The girls let out gasps and look around at each other. It is starting to make more sense that most of the senior girls are not present for the meeting. "We will not tolerate the use of drugs inside of outside of this school. I need you to use this as an example, and think before you act. Some of you are new to this school. Some of you were here last year. Either way, you are all going to face peer pressure at some point during your high school careers. My advice to you is, don't be afraid to say no. Don't be afraid to talk to your teachers, or your counselors, or your coaches when you are in a situation that you feel you can't get out of. I want you to look around now. This is the new senior varsity team. It is a privilege to be a part of this team. It means that you have worked really hard, you have kept your grades up, and you are not using drugs. I will turn it over to Coach Brownhawk now. Ladies, thank you."
The girls are silent. Each of them takes in what the principal had just said to them. All but one senior girl has been kicked off the team for drug use. Gosalyn can't help but feel a little guilty since she was in possession of a drug not too long ago.
"I hope you girls take what the principal said to heart" The coach says. "Obviously this is a big change, but I know if we work hard, we can measure up to the senior varsity name and win some games this season. My first order of business is appointing a new team captain. Gosalyn Mallard."
The girls gasp again and look at Gosalyn. Gosalyn was not expecting this at all. She is mortified. Not only is she a freshman, but she is probably the shortest girl on the team.
/
Drake arrives back at the stationhouse and is greeted by the Captain. Little does Drake know the surprise that he has in store for him. Captain asks Drake to accompany him into his office. When he walks in, his jaw practically drops to the ground. Smiling back at him is a beautiful female duck with strawberry blond hair and green eyes.
"Hayley?" Drake finally finds his voice. He still doesn't trust his eyes. Hayley, his older sister, is standing in the Captain's office. His deceased sister. Or so he thought.
"Hi Drakey" Hayley has tears in her eyes. Drake is all grown up. He's an adult, but he will always be her baby brother.
"Could somebody explain this please? You're dead. You died in that alley" Drake tries to make sense of all of this.
"No, I didn't. I didn't die." Hayley has more tears in her eyes, and a few drip down her face. She thought she could stay strong and hold it together, but seeing Drake for the first time in eight years is taking its toll on her.
"Hayley was forced to go into witness protection" The Captain tries to explain. "Nobody could know about it. Not even you."
"Witness protection." Drake's utter and complete shock begins to turn to anger.
"Don't be angry, please. My life was in danger and yours would have been too. It wouldn't have been fair to you" Hayley pleads.
"Neither was losing my sister. You were the only family I had left" Drake's says with his voice cracking.
"I know, but I had no choice. I had to do what I was told. The CIA…"
"The CIA! Why is the CIA involved in this?" Drake interrupts with more hurt and anger in his voice.
Hayley isn't sure she can tell her story. She looks over at the Captain and he nods "You should tell him."
Hayley takes a breath and tells her story. "I was working undercover to catch a dangerous criminal. Or so I thought. Turns out the mark was not dangerous at all. He was more like a giant teddy bear. But somebody close to him was very dangerous, so I kept the assignment. The CIA thought my cover was blown so they took me out. They wouldn't let me contact you. I wanted to so badly. I never wanted this Drakey, I swear. I thought about you all the time, I worried about you. I wondered what you were doing with your life. If you finished med school, got married, had kids. It made me so sad that I wouldn't be able to see any of that."
Drake grows soft, he wants to believe her. Why would she lie about this? He starts to think about his sanity. Is she really here or is he imagining this? Is this a dream? In his mind his life ended when his sister died, and Darkwing Duck was born. He mourned his sister all on his own. He didn't have anyone in his life, not until he met Gosalyn and Launchpad. So much has changed, and now she is back. The thought of this being true has him at a loss for words. He walks over to her so that he is standing two feet away from her. She is still unsure about his reaction to her being alive. He takes his hands and places them just beneath the outside of her shoulders. He traces his hands down her arms until he reaches her hands. He takes her hands into his and lets out an emotional laugh. "You're really here."
Hayley also lets out an emotional laugh. "Yeah"
Drake pulls her into a hug and holds onto her tight for a few minutes.
/
At the high school, Gosalyn and Abby are at the lockers talking about the meeting with the soccer team. Another member of the team, the only remaining senior, approaches them. Her name is Torrie. She is jealous that Gosalyn was named team captain and not her. She feels that she should be captain since she is the only senior.
"I can't believe this is happening, Abby. All of the senior girls kicked off the team?" Gosalyn slams her locker shut.
"Take it easy. You didn't do anything wrong"
"Then why do I feel so guilty?" Torrie walks up to the girls with one text book in her hand. "Oh, hi Torrie, how's it going?"
"It should have been me, you know?" Torrie says in a smug voice.
"What should have been you?" Gosalyn asks before she realizes what Torrie is talking about.
"I should have been captain, not you." Torrie snaps
Abby tries to intervene. "Torrie, Gosalyn had nothing to do with this. She had no idea that Coach would pick her as captain. She found out just like you did."
"You expect me to believe that?"
Gosalyn looks at Torrie in a bit of shock. She cannot believe that Torrie is acting like this. "Yeah I do. Come on, none of us knew that the other girls would get kicked off the team."
"You don't fool me. You think you're so great. Just because you were the head of the team of that last little school you went to. Well let me tell you something Mallard. You are in high school now. You're still just a freshman. A little worm on the food chain of life. You need to work your way up just like the rest of us did."
Gosalyn is taken aback. She thought she was uneasy about her sudden promotion to team captain. She didn't stop to think that her teammates would turn against her. Her uneasiness suddenly drops as she defends herself "Torrie, I don't think I'm great. I know it. So what if I'm just a freshman. I can run circles around you."
Torrie is not pleased. She turns to leave, but as soon as she turns her back to walk away, she stops and looks down at her text book. Gosalyn turns her back and starts to continue her conversation with Abby. Torrie turns around and hits Gosalyn hard over the head with her text book. Gosalyn falls to the ground and blacks out. Torrie runs away as Abby and some other students try to help Gosalyn.
/
Drake and Hayley arrive at the Mallard house. The Captain gave Drake the rest of the day off so that he could catch up with his sister. He opens the door and she walks in first. She is amazed as she looks around at all of the pictures. She picks up a picture of Drake and Beth on their wedding day.
"She's beautiful Drake. When did you get married?"
"Last spring" Drake responds.
"I wish I could have been here" She puts the picture down and picks up another. "And these are your kids?"
"Yep. That's Jake, he's mine and Beth's son. That is Abby and Christian, our foster kids. And that's my daughter Gosalyn." Drake points out each child in the photo taken just a week ago at the park.
"Gosalyn?" Hayley stares at the photo of a soon to be 15 year old Gosalyn, then looks up to see a picture of her from when she was nine years old.
"What's the matter?" Drake asks as he notices Hayley looking back and forth at each photo.
"Nothing, nothing. I thought I recognized her from somewhere, but, that's not possible." Hayley puts the photo down and walks over to the couch.
"Well, that's not entirely impossible. I adopted her."
"You did?" Hayley sits down on the couch and Drake joins her. Hayley still acts uneasy. She knows she's seen Gosalyn before, but she decides to keep that a secret from Drake for now.
"Yeah, when she was seven. So maybe you met her before that."
Hayley brushes off Drake's idea that she met Gosalyn as a little girl. "I doubt it. How would I anyway?"
"I don't know" Drake answers "How about something to drink. What do you like?"
As Hayley thinks about her choice of beverage, Drake's cell phone rings. "It's the high school. That's just great. First day of school and my daughter's already in trouble." Drake stands up and starts to walk around the room as he anticipates hearing the voice of an angry teacher or principal. Instead he hears the voice of a concerned nurse, telling him to come to the school to pick up his daughter. "Is she okay?" Drake asks with concern. "Okay, I'm on my way."
Drake ends the phone call and walks over to Hayley. "I'm sorry, I have to go pick up Gosalyn. Why don't you wait here? You can make yourself at home, relax, watch TV…"
"I'll be fine Drakey. I'll be here when you get back." Hayley responds with a smile.
Drake hugs his sister again before leaving the house. Hayley continues to look around the room at the pictures of his family, but her focus lies on Gosalyn again. She did meet her when she was a little girl. She always wondered what became of her after her grandfather was killed. She feels a sense of relief that she found a home with her brother.
/
At the hospital, Gwen and Launchpad are talking to the doctor during her appointment. Gwen is still sitting on the bed in a gown and Launchpad is standing next to her. Each appointment has made him uneasy, but this one will definitely top them all. Gwen and Launchpad get a big surprise at this appointment.
"How am I doing Doctor?" Gwen asks as the doctor writes down some notes.
"Everything is happening the way it should be. You seem to be doing everything right."
Gwen and Launchpad both let out a sigh. "Well, that's a relief."
"Why don't you lie back so we can do a sonogram?" The doctor requests as she gets the machine ready.
Gwen lies back and holds Launchpad's hand. As the doctor prepares Gwen for the sonogram, both Mom and Dad shiver with excitement as they prepare to see the first picture of their baby."
"Let's see now" the doctor beings to view the screen to show them what to look at. Ah here we go…. Well this is interesting."
"What, what's interesting?" Launchpad interrupts with worry in his voice."
"One…. Two…. Three….. well. There you have it."
"Three, what's three? Three what?" Gwen asks as she tilts her head up to look at the doctor.
"Three eggs" The doctor responds, as if seeing three eggs on a sonogram is a daily occurrence.
"Three? Really? You mean three babies?" Gwen asks with excitement.
"That's right. Congratulations, you are having triplets."
Gwen gasps with happiness. Launchpad is still holding onto Gwen's hand, and starts to grip it tighter.
"Honey, did you hear that? We're having triplets!"
Launchpad cracks a smile, then he falls to the floor.
Gwen looks down at him "Honey? Oh not again."
/
Drake and Gosalyn arrive home, where Hayley is waiting for them. She is still looking around at pictures when they join her in the family room.
"It's just a concussion Dad. I'm going to be fine." Gosalyn argues.
"Yes, you are going to be fine, because you are going to follow the doctor's orders and rest." Drake has been so caught up in what is happening with Gosalyn, he didn't even get to tell her about his sister.
"Dad, there's some woman in our house."
Drake looks up at Hayley and both ducks smile at each other. "Gosalyn, this is my sister, Hayley. Hayley, this is Gosalyn."
"How do you do?" Hayley offers her hand, but Gosalyn gives her a funny look.
"I…. must have hit my head harder than I thought. My Dad told me you were dead."
Hayley looks up at Drake as he explains. "She hit her head on a locker at school. I had to pick her up, we went to the hospital…"
"Oh" Hayley looks down at Gosalyn again.
"So, let me get this straight. You're Aunt Hayley. And you're not dead." Gosalyn summarizes while wondering how this is even possible.
"That's right, I'm not dead."
"Must run in the family, huh Dad" Gosalyn says before she looks back at an uneasy
Drake.
"Gosalyn!" Drake scolds in a high pitched soft voice.
"What does she mean by that?" Hayley asks as Drake starts to usher Gosalyn to the steps.
"Go upstairs and rest please, I'll be up to check on you in a little bit."
Gosalyn does what she is told and walks up the steps.
"I'm sorry about that, she can be a little…"
"Forward" Hayley interrupts.
"Yes. That kid's definitely not afraid to speak her mind. The truth is I couldn't love her more."
"That's sweet" Hayley says with a smile.
"So, where've you been? What have you been doing?" Drake asks as he and Hayley sit on the couch again.
"I've been living in Canada. Since I couldn't use my own name or my own credentials I was working as a secret agent. I kept busy, you know, but I wasn't living. I missed you and I missed this city. I was itching to come back and take my brother out for a beer."
Drake lets out a chuckle. "I still remember my twenty first birthday. You wanted to hit every bar in this city. I thought you were out of your mind."
"I had a list" Hayley continues. "There were eleven bars in this city. I really thought we could do it."
"We made it to eight bars and then that was it for me. I don't think I've ever been that sick in my entire life."
"I felt so awful. I wanted that birthday to be special for you."
"Are you kidding me?" Drake asks defensively. "Hayles, everything you did for me was special. I still can't believe everything you did for me. I just wish I knew then what I know now."
"And what's that?" Hayley asks as she wipes tears of joy away from her eyes.
"How incredibly difficult it is to be a parent. How stressful it is to be responsible for another person's well being." Drake takes a moment to look at Hayley, as he feels more appreciation for her than he's ever felt. "You weren't Mom, but you stepped up and you took care of me. And now I understand how much you had to sacrifice in order to do that."
"I wouldn't have had it any other way." Hayley smiles and reaches for Drake's hand. They are interrupted as Beth and Jake arrive home. Jake immediately runs over to Drake and gets picked up by his Dad. Hayley smiles as she watches her brother play and laugh with his son.
"Upside down Daddy, upside down!" Jake yells, wanting Drake to hold him upside down. Drake does what he asks and Jake laughs. Beth walks over to join them and notices that she's seen the woman standing next to Drake before.
"Hello, don't I know you from somewhere? You look very familiar."
Drake beams as he introduces his wife to his sister.
"Honey, this is my sister Hayley."
Beth looks at Hayley and then back at Drake with a smile. "Uh, Honey?"
"Yes Pumpkin?"
"You told me Hayley was dead."
"I'm…. not dead." Hayley concedes.
"I see that." Hayley confirms. "Jake, baby, why don't you go into the kitchen and have one of your yogurts for snack?"
"Okay Momma." Drake puts his son down and he looks up at Hayley. "You're weally pwetty." He then runs to the kitchen.
"He is absolutely adorable! He is the spitting image of you at that age." Hayley says as she blushes from his compliment.
"Thank You" Beth answers. "Now, can we get back to what we were just talking about?"
"Hayley's alive. I just found out this afternoon. I walked into the Captain's office, and there she was."
Beth smiles and nods. "Hm, must run in the family."
"That's the second time I've heard that. Is there something you want to tell me, Drakey?" Hayley asks suspiciously.
"Maybe later" Drake responds trying to take the focus off himself.
"Drakey?" Beth asks with a light chuckle.
"That's what Hayles used to call me. It's just Drake now." Drake confirms.
"Will you be staying with us?" Beth asks with a hopeful tone.
"No, I couldn't"
"Well why not? We have a guest room. And it will give you and Drake a chance to catch up" Beth tries to convince Hayley to stay.
"Thank you Beth, but I don't want to put you out."
"You wouldn't be putting us out. It's like Beth said, we have a guest room" Drake also tries to convince Hayley to stay.
"Yeah, and plus I get to have a sister-in-law now. You have a niece and a nephew, they're going to want to get to know you too"
Hayley is still usure about staying with her brother and his family. She doesn't respond right away. Drake tries again "Where are you staying now?"
"In a hotel on 34th"
"Well that settles it." Drake concludes. "You are not staying in some hotel, you are staying with us, that is final, finito, no arguments, end of discussion…"
"But…" Hayley tries to interrupt.
"Nope, no buts. It's time you let your little brother do something for you."
"Drake…"
"Na ah ah, I said no arguments." Drake answers as he raises his voice.
"Fine, no arguments. I'm delighted to stay here, Drake. Thank You." Hayley says with a smile.
"You're welcome." Drake responds with a smile as he puts his arm around Beth.
"Would you mind giving me a ride into the city though? There's something I need to pick up." Hayley asks as she looks at her watch.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Drake asks calmly.
"My daughter"
Drake and Beth look over at Hayley as though she has two heads.
"You have a daughter?" Beth asks "That's wonderful. What's her name? How old is she?" Beth continues to ask questions as Drake stands there in silence. He's not necessarily unhappy about his sister having a daughter. It suddenly occurs to him how much time has passed since he last saw his sister. They've missed out on each other's lives.
"Her name is MacKena, and she's nineteen months old."
Beth elbows Drake to snap him out of his thoughts "Honey, you have niece."
Drake looks up at Hayley, who is looking like she is waiting for his acceptance of her having a daughter. "Yeah, you are definitely staying with us. I don't want us to miss another moment of each other's lives."
"Thanks Drake, but are you sure you have room?"
"We have a nursery. Christian can sleep in the bassinet until we get a second crib."
"Thanks guys, and whatever you need me to do around here. Name it. I can cook, do dishes, do laundry…"
Drake interrupts. "We can talk about that later. Right now I'm just glad you're here. Beth, honey do you mind giving Hayles a ride into the city? Trina's gonna drop off the kids soon and I need to talk to her."
"Sure, let's go." Beth says as she grabs her keys. The women leave the house as Drake stares at the front door, as though it were about to disappear. He cannot believe that he gets to have his sister back his life. It is like a dream come true. He cannot believe that he can be this lucky.
/
After checking on Gosalyn in her room and Jake in the kitchen, Drake enters the family room, just in time to greet Trina, Abby and Christian. Trina puts Christian in the pack 'n play and joins Abby and Drake on the couch. Abby is looking down at her hands in her lap, wishing she could disappear from this conversation. Drake and her mother do not know what she's really been up to, and she prefers to keep it that way.
"I guess you've heard that Abby's been spending some nights at your house?" Drake starts as he looks up at Trina.
"Yeah, I know. We talked about it on the car ride over here." Trina says as she plays with Abby's hair. Abby is still staring down at her hands. "And Abby agreed not to sneak out anymore, right Mija?"
"I'm sorry Mr Mallard." Abby apologizes as she lifts her head to look at Drake.
"I know you want to spend more time with your mother. Right now the judge is allowing it for a few hours a week. We need to be grateful for that and follow the judge's rules. And maybe someday, you'll get more than just a few hours a week."
Abby nods. She feels bad that she is lying to them, but telling them the truth would be too humiliating for her. She stands up, hoping she can be done with this conversation. "I won't do it anymore. Mom explained that it can really mess things up with our visitation if I don't follow the rules. And that's the last thing I want."
"Okay. I think we're done here" Trina says as she stands to leave. She gives her daughter a hug and Drake shows her out. Abby takes this opportunity to retreat upstairs. Drake turns around expecting to see Abby there but she has already made it upstairs. He finds it odd that Abby couldn't get away from him fast enough.
/
The dinner table at the Mallards has gotten more crowded. Drake is seated at the head of the table. Beth is to his right and Jake is to his left. Gosalyn and Abby are to the right of Beth and Hayley and MacKena round out the rest of the table. MacKena is in a high chair. Beth had kept it from when Jake was a baby.
They are eating spaghetti. The adults and teenagers know the proper way to spin spaghetti on a spoon, while Jake and MacKena are eating it with their fingers. The family laughs as they watch the younger ducks make a mess with their dinner. Christian is in a baby seat on the floor next to Beth. Once in a while she turns her attention to him to make sure he is happy. He is still too little to sit in a high chair. He is content with the hanging toys and the soothing music from the seat.
"Aunt Hayley, tell us you were involved in some secret service intelligence group or some top secret mission to take down a huge criminal operation conspiring to…."
Drake interrupts his daughter's inquisitive questioning "Gosalyn, give it a rest. Whatever your Aunt was involved in, she won't be able to tell us about it."
Gosalyn gasps "Is that true?" Hayley nods and smiles as she eats her spaghetti. "Can you tell us where you were before you came here?"
"We were living in Canada" Beth answers as she tries to help MacKena eat her dinner. "And your Dad's right, I can't really talk about my job."
"Bummer" Gosalyn pouts.
"Let's talk about you. Your Dad was telling me that today was your first day of High School. How did it go?" Beth asks as she eats more spaghetti.
"It was alright" Gosalyn answers, not wanting to go into detail.
"Until Torrie creamed her with that text book." Abby chimes in.
"Abby!" Gosalyn angrily scolds.
"I thought you said you hit your head on a locker" Drake joins in. He starts to think that that story really doesn't make sense.
"Who's Torrie?" Hayley asks with concern.
"She's the only senior on our soccer team. She's jealous that Gosalyn got named team captain and not her."
"Abby, enough!" Gosalyn scolds again.
"Gosalyn, what really happened at school today? Did that girl hit you?" Drake asks in a firm voice.
"No" Gosalyn lies
"Yes she did." Abby corrects.
"Abby!"
"Why are you lying to me?" Drake asks as he grows impatient.
Gosalyn sits on the question for a minute, then she turns the attention to her friend "Abby hooked up with a boy from the pool."
Abby gasps, she cannot believe that Gosalyn just did that. Drake and Beth are looking at Abby, waiting for her to say something. "Beth…. took a date to Mr Mallard's funeral."
Everyone gasps this time. Beth covers her beak in horror as Hayley covers her beak to avoid laughing.
"You took a date to my funeral?" Drake asks with a sad tone.
"Well, you… faked your death for four years. How was I supposed to know that wasn't real?"
Drake looks over at Hayley. "I can explain that."
"Oh my" Hayley says with a smile, and a look of disbelief on her face.
Beth looks around at the family members sitting at her table. Nobody is talking. Gosalyn and Abby both sit back in their chairs, each feeling ashamed for revealing secrets. Drake is still trying to wrap his head around what just happened. And Jake and MacKena are still making a mess with their dinner, oblivious to what is going on with the other ducks at the dinner table. Beth knows she has to say something. Anything. "Anyone for seconds?"