It was another normal day on the houseboat.
Huey and Dewey were hanging out, Louie had Ralph over to watch a movie together, and Donald had a babysitter there that was knitting at the table.
"Louie, let's watch this movie. Forbidden love!" Ralph exclaimed, holding up a rainbow colored case with a dvd inside.
"Why don't we just stream it?" Louie asked, looking up from his phone.
"Because then someone could see what we were watching." Ralph smirked.
"Count me...in! Of course I wanna watch this!" Louie exclaimed.
"Good. I'll get it started. I don't wanna bother, but do you have popcorn?" Ralph started to fidget.
"Duh! What kind of a movie night is it if we don't have popcorn?! I have blankets too. It's getting cold out. We should make sure we're warm." Louie advised, handing Ralph some blankets.
"It's scary at some parts. We might need to sit close. You know, since we're 7 and all." Ralph shrugged.
Louie laughed and nodded, putting out the foot rest on the couch.
Ralph put in the move and pressed play before turning off the lights and sneaking up right beside Louie.
"Boo!" Ralph exclaimed as Louie squealed in fright.
"I gotcha!" Ralph burst out in laughter.
Louie nudged him roughly and rolled his eyes before grinning slightly.
As the movie went on, Ralph had gotten bored as Louie became interested.
Louie was learning lots of things that he had not known before and he liked them.
Meanwhile, Huey and Dewey were both attempting to play video games.
"This game requires absolutely no skill at all! There's no point to it! Button, another button, button again." Huey groaned.
"Exactly why it's fun! I love it!" Dewey laughed.
In just a few minutes, Dewey has beaten Huey by pressing a bunch of random buttons.
"Ha! I beat you! I win and you lose! I love you so much, Huey!" Dewey danced around before pouncing on Huey in a hug.
"That was random, Dewdrop. I'll get you next time." Huey told him.
"Dewdrop? I'm a Dewdrop?" Dewey giggled at the nickname.
"You're my little Dewdrop." Huey teased.
Huey had to admit that it was super great to spend time with Dewey.
Spending time getting closer to Dewey kept his mind off Louie since he always had Ralph over.
It was like Ralph was his twin and Huey and Dewey were forgotten.
"I'm only 3 seconds younger." Dewey pointed out, sitting on Huey's lap facing him since he was pretty much already there from the hug.
"Yeah. I take pride in being your older brother anyway. Even if it's only 3 seconds." Huey tickled Dewey's sides lightly.
Dewey laughed and squirmed under the touch since he was fairly ticklish.
Huey stopped pretty quickly just to bring Dewey back into a hug.
"Huey, why doesn't Lou Lou ever do this?" Dewey randomly whispered.
"What do you mean?" Huey asked, being a bit surprised by the question.
"He never comes and spends time with us anymore. It's like he's too cool now that he has Ralph or something." Dewey sighed.
"I know, Dewdrop. It's pretty sad. Louie will eventually learn how important these simple moments are though...I think." Huey muttered at the end.
"That Dewdrop thing is gonna stick, isn't it?" Dewey laughed.
"Silly Dewford. You know all my nicknames stick." Huey cooed as if Dewey were 3 years rather than 3 seconds younger.
Dewey shoved Huey before leaning into his chest again.
Huey wrapped his arms around Dewey and laid back in the huge beanbag chair they were in.
Huey planned on getting some sleep, but Dewey decided to speak up again.
"Huey, will Lou Lou come to bed?"
"I hope so. Louie hasn't been sleeping much lately. Ralph is always over. I miss him a lot." Huey felt his heart pang thinking of Louie.
"I miss Lou Lou too. I wanna call him that and annoy him." Dewey joked.
"It's literally never annoyed him before. That's like the only thing you call him." Huey pointed out.
"Well apparently it's a big deal now." Dewey sighed.
"It's just a phase. It will pass. Just like when I was into that one tv show I don't even remember the name of." Huey shrugged, grabbing a video game controller and throwing it to turn off the lights.
It actually worked and Dewey shouted from how cool it was.
"Quiet down, Dewford. It's time to sleep." Huey shushed him.
"But Lou Lou isn't here." Dewey whined.
"It's ok. That's his lose. Do you want to go to the bed rather than this beanbag chair?" Huey offered.
"Sure. It's cold. Can I still stay with you though?" Dewey asked, blushing.
"Louie might crawl in, but you know you can." Huey laughed.
"I've just never asked you before. I've never even done this before. It's normally Lou Lou's place. Thanks, big brother." Dewey grinned, climbing in with Huey.
He mainly did this to attempt to lure Louie over from jealousy, but he also was extremely cold and Huey was always warm.
In the meantime, Louie and Ralph has finished watching the movie.
"Hey Louie, wanna show me how to do a backwards switch jump thing again?" Ralph asked, shutting off the movie and turning on the lights.
He had no plan to go to sleep that night.
"Do you mean a backwards leap?" Louie asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"If that's the right thing to call it." Ralph shrugged.
Louie stood up and demonstrated it before sitting back down trying to hold back a smirk at how cool he knew he was being.
"Woah! The whole school would love to see that! The best trick they've ever seen is a cartwheel." Ralph rolled his eyes.
"They've actually seen a cartwheel before? Wow. I didn't know anyone other than Dewey and I could do that." Louie said sarcastically.
Ralph and him laughed together before Ralph pulled something out of his backpack.
"More art. Wanna see?" Ralph offered, practically reading Louie's mind as it seemed.
"Sure! What have you been painting?!" Louie exclaimed, leaning onto Ralph's shoulder so he could see the paintings.
Louie had never had any sense of personal space.
"I've been doing a lot of landscape still. I've added in some sketches of landscape too. That's about it. It's the same." Ralph shrugged, showing Louie everything.
"You're so good at art! It's amazing, Ralph!" Louie exclaimed.
"Well your dancing is really cool too. I think it's cooler than me being able to paint you doing a dance move. It's fun to watch too. It's very entertaining." Ralph returned a compliment.
"I can show you how to do some simple things that make people think you're the coolest duck ever and you gain popularity easily!" Louie kept going on and on about how great a simple trick was.
"Wow. All that for one dance move? Maybe I should do dance in general." Ralph exclaimed.
"That would be fun! Dewey and I have started doing competitions. We get this really cool treat called Italian ice! It's the best. It's one of the reasons I love competitions and dancing so much." Louie joked.
"Wow, Lou. You're something else." Ralph joined in the joking.
"Ralph, I'm tired. Do you wanna just stay here to sleep tonight, or do you wanna go to my room?" Louie asked, yawning to prove his point.
"Just stay here. I know you're tired. I also kinda wanna watch tv still." Ralph admitted.
He went to grab blankets to put over Louie that were on the other side of the couch before grabbing a pillow and putting it in his lap so Louie could lay.
Louie didn't really think anything of this since he was young, so he did exactly what was suggested by actions and laid his head on the pillow in Ralph's lap.
"Goodnight, Ralph." Louie whispered before quickly falling asleep.
"Why do we have to be this young? I have to wait a long time still. Louie, please always be there even when we're older." Ralph begged even though Louie was asleep.
Ralph then turned on the tv and watched as he played with little Louie's hair absentmindedly.
In the middle of the night, Huey woke to Dewey crying and shaking him.
"Dewey? What's wrong?" Huey whispered, sitting up and hugging him.
"I have to go to the bathroom, but I don't wanna go alone. What if Ralph or Louie sees and thinks we stayed up late and tattles? Then I won't get to go to basketball, soccer, hockey, dance..." Dewey started listing everything he did.
"Dewey, that's unreasonable. If Ralph and Louie were awake to see you up, they would get in trouble too for being up late to see that. Don't worry about that. Go now. At least you're waking up this time." Huey sighed before gently pushing Dewey out of bed.
"Oh yeah. This is why we have to have nerds like you." Dewey laughed before running off.
"A nerd maybe. I miss Louie though. He was always there. Even if we pushed him away because he was so clingy. Now, I bet he won't even hug is in public. We're still young. He doesn't have to change so soon." Huey whispered to himself.
Dewey soon came back and climbed back into bed with Huey.
"Lou Lou still isn't here. Ralph is his new brother, isn't he?" Dewey asked.
"What?! No way! Louie can't decide who's his brother or not. That was decided for him wether he likes it or not. He loves us, Dewford. I promise." Huey assured him.
"If you say so, Huey. I don't wanna go back to sleep. Not after what I saw with Lou Lou. He had his head in Ralph's lap, Hue. He didn't come with us to do that." Dewey teared up from remembering that.
"Louie is gonna have a mind of his own. We can't control him. Just like you if all people should know." Huey teased playfully.
"When I'm an adventurer some day and I am discovering new things each day, you'll still be there for me, right?" Dewey asked, hanging upside down from the bed side.
Huey carefully helped Dewey back up onto the bed properly before laying down again and opening his arms for a shivering Dewey.
Dewey snuggled up to Huey and sighed in happiness from how warm he was now getting.
"Get some rest. We're going to the aquarium tomorrow." Huey whispered.
Dewey almost immediately obliged, falling asleep once again in Huey's arms.
In the morning, Huey was already up going to make breakfast; or attempting to make breakfast is more like it.
Ralph apparently been up all night since he was awake when Huey came into the kitchen.
"Ralph, have you been up all night?" Huey asked politely.
Huey learned that there was no sense in being rude to Ralph anymore.
"I have been. I couldn't sleep." Ralph shrugged.
"That's probably because you had the tv on all night. I'm surprised Uncle Donald didn't come in and turn it off." Huey frowned.
"He wasn't ever here. That's what made me stay awake. Louie was worried and I wanted to make sure he would be ok." 7-year-old Ralph said, looking down at Louie as if he was Ralph's own responsibility.
"Why are you so overprotective of my brother now, Ralph? It's ok. I think I can handle my own brothers." Huey crossed his arms.
"He's shared some secrets with me. I want to prove to him that he and his secrets are safe with me. I want him to have everything I don't have." Ralph tried to explain.
"Ralph, we're 7. Don't worry about all this. You have us. That's what matters. And you can come here anytime you need or even just want. This is a safe place. We don't wanna spoil Louie too much. He might take it to his head." Huey sighed.
"We are 7. I need to stop worrying so much and just live life. You're right, Huey. Thanks." Ralph smiled.
"Do you want to come help make breakfast?" Huey offered.
"Sure! I always cook some great breakfast! What are we going to have?" Ralph asked, carefully slipping out from under Louie before joining Huey in walking to the kitchen.
"I just thought we'd make some cereal." Huey shrugged.
"I know how to make crepes. Do I have permission to do that?" Ralph asked Huey.
"Fine. Just be careful." Huey agreed.
Ralph suddenly turned into a master chef or something as he danced around the kitchen cooking the crepes.
Huey was in complete and total shock and he didn't move until Ralph put a plate into his hands and grinned.
"Wow. I've never seen someone who's 7 do all that!" Huey exclaimed before taking a bite.
"Wow. Just wow. There are no words good enough to describe this." Huey said with a mouthful of food.
"I'm glad you like it. Where's Dewey been? Is he ok? He hadn't been around very much." Ralph frowned.
"I don't know. Let me eat and check on him. He's normally up at 9:00. That's what time it is. Uncle Donald will be back to take all of us to the aquarium at 11:00." Huey stated.
Huey and Ralph sat and ate breakfast together and talked.
It was actually nice for Huey to talk to Ralph.
He never really did that much and he was glad he did.
"That was nice, Ralph. Thank you." Huey gave him a soft smile before putting up his plate and going to check on Dewey.
As soon as he opened the door, he heard soft sobs.
Huey ran over to Dewey and sat beside him, practically cradling him.
"What's wrong, baby brother?" Huey whispered.
"Tummy hurts. Feel hot." Dewey cried, leaning his head into Huey's chest.
"Your tummy hurts? Why is it hurting?" Huey asked, rubbing Dewey's back.
"Don't know!" Dewey sobbed.
"Shh. Calm down. We don't want you to..." Huey started to say, but it was too late.
Dewey had choked on a sob and started gagging before throwing up all over Huey.
"Do that." Huey sighed, still rubbing Dewey's back to help him calm down.
After a few minutes, Dewey was just plain sobbing again.
"Hey, it's ok. You didn't mean it. We're gonna get us both cleaned up and I'll stay here with you and take care of you." Huey Hughes Dewey even though they were both a mess.
"W-what even h-happened?" Dewey panted trying to get some air again.
"You threw up, Dewdrop. You're sick." Huey explained calmly.
Huey was practically dying to get clean though; he felt gross.
"Sick? I don't like it. I don't want it to happen again." Dewey whined.
"It's ok. Let's go get cleaned up real quick. We both need it." Huey pointed out, starting to get out of bed.
"No! Don't leave!" Dewey yelled, holding onto Huey's hand.
"You need a shower too. Let's go together. I'll help." Huey offered.
"I'm sorry, Hue. I didn't mean to get sick. Or throw up on you." Dewey looked away as Huey helped him out of bed.
"It's ok. You didn't know. Just remember that in the future." Huey laughed.
Dewey gave him a weak grin before going to get cleaned up.
Ralph has just finished washing the dishes without the crepe still on them when he heard a voice.
"Louie? Are you up?" Ralph asked, bringing a crepe into the living room as he saw Louie sitting up.
"Yeah. We get to go to the aquarium today! What's that?" Louie pointed to the crepe.
"It's a crepe. It's breakfast." Ralph explained.
"You cook fancy things I can't pronounce?! We're 7! That's so cool!" Louie exclaimed, taking the crepe.
Louie took a bite and put the crepe down to tackle Ralph in a hug.
"Woah! What was that about?" Ralph laughed.
"Thank you. This is like the best food ever!" Louie whispered.
"You're welcome, Lou. I'll cook any time you want. Moyu always has me cook for her." Ralph said.
"Only do what you want. We aren't like your family here." Louie assured him.
Later on, Donald came to pick up everyone but he found out Dewey was sick and clingy with Huey.
Dewey wasn't normally clingy at all, so he knew that it was probably going to be best to leave Huey home as well.
"Where's the babysitter?! She was supposed to be here LAST NIGHT!" Donald yelled.
"I don't know, sir. She never came." Ralph shrugged as Louie tried not to smirk.
"Stupid babysitter! I don't want to leave my kids alone. Especially sick! Let me call someone I know and then we can go to the aquarium." Donald told them.
After a phone call and some waiting, a female duck clothed in purple walked in.
"Hmm. I see the boat is a bit messier nowadays. Probably from three kids and wait...who's this?" The duck asked, pointing to Ralph.
"He's Ralph! He's like another brother." Louie explained.
"Well thanks for coming over, Daisy. Even on such short notice." Donald nervously laughed.
"I told you I'd do things like this for you since you have the triplets. You just haven't called me in a while." Daisy sighed.
"I'm sorry, Daisy. I've been struggling to get a job and maintain it to provide for the family. I couldn't manage a girlfriend with all of this too." Donald tried to explain.
Louie and Ralph exchanged a knowing look thinking that they should probably leave the room.
"Then you should have made me your wife! We had been together practically forever! I could have helped you! Instead, you decided you wanted to break up to focus on the triplets as soon as Della became pregnant!" Daisy argued. Ralph and Louie snuck out of the room and out onto the boat deck.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that. I don't know what that was either." Louie sighed.
"I've heard worse. I can tell you something better though." Ralph said with a blush.
"What do you want to tell me?" Louie asked.
"I'm gonna marry you someday." Ralph declared.
"WHAT?! Ralph, were 7! 7! We still have a long time before we even start thinking about anything like that!" Louie yelled in shock.
"I know. I just wanted you to know that." Ralph shrugged.
"It's ok. It just surprised me. That's all. I don't really wanna start thinking about that yet. I'm sorry." Louie admitted.
"Don't be. We are young. We shouldn't worry about that." Ralph agreed.
"Thanks. You know what, I don't think I feel like going to the aquarium today." Louie decided.
"Me either. Let's go tell your Uncle."
A/N
Hey y'all! Sorry for being late again. A lot has been going on. I'm trying though. So I don't exactly know what ship this is anymore. Lol. I like it though and I guess that's what matters. So I think I'm gonna skip a few ages cuz I wanna get to the big picture. Sorry about that. Reviews are very much appreciated. Thanks for reading!
