Disclaimer: I do not own Ducktales, or any of the characters, locaations, etc., mentioned in this fic. They all belong to Disney, and I am making no profit off of this.

Warning: FLUFF. Slash.

Note: This is for DrakkenWasHere, who gave me the basic idea for this story, helped me out with the characters along the way, and served as my guide for writing Scrooge's accent.

Scrooge could hear the laughter from outside his window. It was something he had grown fond of since the triplets had been staying with him, the sounds of their merriment making his days a little brighter.

On that particular day, he could make out another laugh. He recognized this, too, and it gave him pause. That was Fenton... But the lad had the day off. He'd gotten it - through much pleading - months ago. Why, exactly, he'd needed the day off, Scrooge couldn't remember. There had been something happening on the day...

"If he's here, then why is he nae workin'?" Scrooge muttered to himself. "If the lad is expectin' special treatment..."

Scrooge and Fenton had, for a good while now (though known only to Scrooge's family and Fenton's mother), been romantically involved, an idea Scrooge was still getting used to. There were so many things he had needed to accept... Fenton was not only male, but so young, and... He was Fenton. And yet, for all the lad's flaws and odd behavior, there were things Scrooge truly admired about him - His determination and drive, the hard work he put into everything he did, his honesty and loyalty...

...The way he always meant well.

It was, in a somewhat off-beat way, charming. And though it had taken him far longer to come to terms with his feelings than it had taken Fenton, that didn't change the fact that those feelings were there.

And it must have been those feelings that kept Scrooge from instantly barking out the window for Fenton to get in there and get to work. Instead, he walked over to the glass and peered out.

There, outside the mansion, were the triplets and Fenton, just as he had heard. The ducklings were chasing Fenton around, the older duck running away, hamming it up with an act of ridiculously over-done fear. Scrooge felt a small smile spread across his beak as he watched Huey launch himself onto Fenton's back, causing him to fall to the ground. The other two joined in the dog pile, and the laughter grew louder.

It wasn't just his affection for Fenton that caused Scrooge's heart to swell. He felt a warmth in his heart from watching the boys - his boys, truly. They'd been with him for so long now, gone through so much with him, and added to his life in so many ways, that it was easy to forget that the situation was to last only until Donald's time with the Navy was done. It hardly ever crossed his mind, and it certainly didn't at that moment, when Scrooge was feeling as if these children had been his for all of their lives.

The rich duck found himself heading outside to see them - and Fenton - before he had made a conscious decision to do so.

"Get 'im!"

By the time Scrooge was outside, Fenton had managed to 'escape' the triplets, and the chase had started once again. Scrooge gave a cough and Fenton, spotting him, stopped short. This caused the three ducklings, close on his tail, to crash into him and topple him over. With the slightest of chuckles, Scrooge stepped over to where Fenton lay. The accountant looked up at him, not getting up as he spoke.

"Hi, Scroogey."

"Hiya Unca' Scrooge!" the triplets chorused.

"Fenton came over to play with us!" Louie piped up, and Huey nodded.

"Yeah, we're playin' cops and robbers!"

"Well, one robber," Dewey clarified.

Scrooge nodded. "Ah could hear that ye were enjoyin' yourselves from inside."

Fenton, who was finally picking himself up, smiled. "Did you come to help me, then?" he asked. Then, in a mock-whisper, he added, "I'm completely outnumbered here. Not sure how much longer I can last!"

"That's because we're tough, robber!" Huey growled playfully, faking a swing at Fenton.

"Aye, ah think I'll pass. In fact, boys, if it's alright, ah'd like t'borrow yer robber fer a moment."

Though the boys looked disappointed in having to put their game on hold, all three nodded before running off, no doubt assuming the adults had 'grown-up' stuff to talk about… Or worse, that they were going to be mushy. After the boys retreated - Huey and Dewey, through some instant and unspoken agreement, making Louie their stand-in robber - Scrooge turned to Fenton, a questioning look on his face.

"What's goin' on, lad? Ye begged me fer this day off ages ago. I assumed it was fer somethin' important." His voice was a bit stern, but not accusatory - Not yet, at least.

"Oh, it was! But there was a new episode of The Young and the Featherless on, an M'ma just had to be home for that."

Scrooge raised an eyebrow. He knew Fenton was close to his mother, but had he really asked for a day off just to spend time with her? He lived with the woman; it wasn't as if he needed a day off to see her. "Fenton… Why exactly did ye ask fer the day off?"

Fenton blinked in surprise. "Well, it is Mother's Day. I wanted to treat M'ma to a nice time out."

Scrooge couldn't help but feel a bit sheepish at that. Webby and the boys had given Mrs. Beakley a card that morning, but he hadn't paid attention to the why. "Oh. Well, then, why did ye come here?"

"Like I said, one of M'ma's shows is on…"

"But why here, Fenton?" Scrooge didn't mind Fenton stopping by the see the boys - on the contrary, it was a very nice gesture - but he wasn't sure why he'd departed from his ma, on Mother's Day, to do so, even if the woman was distracted.

"Oh!" Fenton lowered his voice. "I just figured the boys could use some extra fun today. A distraction, you know? They don't see their mother these days, and I thought today they might be feeling kind of strange about it."

Scrooge, who hadn't seen his niece Della (the triplet's mother) since she'd been a tiny little thing, had not thought about that. The boys never mentioned their mother, and always seemed fine on Mother's Day… But that didn't change the fact that they were little boys without their ma. Of course, to be fair, he had forgotten about the holiday all together - his mother's birthday was always the day Scrooge used to honor, in his own quiet way, his own mother, and the rest of the McDuck Manor didn't make much noise about the holiday.

And yet, Fenton - who of course celebrated Mother's Day - had not only thought about it, but he'd done something about it.

"That was very kind of ye t'do, lad," Scrooge said. Fenton just shrugged.

"They're good kids. Besides, I like playing with them. I mean… P'pa died before I hatched, and I never had anyone to play around like this with. I don't want them to go through the same thing. I know they have you!" Fenton added quickly. The last thing he wanted was to offend Scrooge. "I just wanted to help."

"An' ah appreciate it," Scrooge assured him, patting Fenton's shoulder in an attempt to assure him no harm had been done. "More than ye know."

It was true. In fact, Scrooge wasn't sure he'd ever loved Fenton more than he had in that moment. He smiled and looked into the eyes of the younger duck, who held his gaze.

The moment was interrupted, however, when Louie raced by, his brothers hot on his trail. Fenton chuckled. "I better go help him."

"Aye." But before Fenton could run off, Scrooge caught his hand for a moment, and gave it a squeeze.

It was - and Fenton knew it - a way of saying 'thank you'.