Chapter Seven

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"Stick 'em up! STICK 'EM UP! Yeah! Gimme that money!"

Holding a black plastic, orange tipped toy gun, obscuring his face with a simple black mask, and wearing a pinned notecard that read "167-761," Louie laughed as Dewey stuffed a pillowcase with play money.

The duo heard a young boy's imitation of a police siren outside their bedroom.

"Hey!" Louie cried as he thrust the gun at Dewey's beak. "I thought I told ya not to call the cops!"

"No he didn't!" Huey said outside. "But Justice hears all!"

The door swung. Huey, dressed like a crossing guard, pointed his toy gun at Louie. "Stop! Put your hands in the air!"

"Never!" Louie turned, aimed the gun at his brother, and yelled "Pow! Pow!"

Huey slid right out of his brother's view. Louie snatched the pillowcase from Dewey and fled down the stairs. Huey regained his composure and followed. As he 'fired" his gun, he pretended to radio headquarters with his fist.

"Shots fired! I repeat—shots fired! I'm on foot pursuit with suspect! I need backup! Bang bang!"

Louie jumped over the last two stairs, stumbled his landing, and resumed running.

Louie turned his head, re-aimed his gun, as Huey jumped as well.

"Bang! Bang! B—Oof!"

The green clad boy turned. "Uh-oh…"

"Boys! What are you doing?" Donald asked.

Dewey came down the steps as Huey explained. "We're practicing for our acting patch! We need costumes, a script, and props!" He jiggled his toy gun.

"Do you have to do it inside?" Donald said. He pointed at the egg incubated on a table. "What if you knocked over the egg with your racket?"

The nephews gulped. "Sorry, Unca Donald…"

"Now either stop right now or go outside!"

"But—"

"OUT! NOW!"

All three zipped to the backyard, dashed up their treehouse.

Two toy guns clunked to the wooden floor. The boys sat down, leaning against a wall.

"That egg seems to be the only thing Unca Donald and Aunt Daisy care about now," Huey said.

"Yeah," Dewey and Louie said.

"I wonder if they're going to stop caring about us after the baby comes."

"Don't say that, Huey!" Louie cried.

"What about what happened with Mom and Dad?"

"But Dad just went to the hospital…" Dewey said.

"I doubt he's still in the burn unit four years later!

"And maybe Mom never came back because we were bad…"

"Maybe… She was sucked into a parallel dimension or something!" Louie said.

"Yeah, and pigs can fly!"

"Or maybe… She's trapped in the Bermuda Triangle! Or the Bennington Triangle! Or, the Bridgewater Triangle…" Dewey said, naming off all the weird triangles he could think of.

"Yeah, and Unca Scrooge will just give money away!

"Maybe Unca Donald just took us in because he didn't have kids of his own! Now that he has one… Maybe we'll be shoveled around once again… What if Unca Scrooge doesn't want us again?"

Huey began to tear up, followed by his brothers.

Dewey flicked a tear from his eye. "Well, at least we would still have each other…"

"Yeah, you're right!" Louie said.

"Aww, group hug, guys!" Huey yelled. All three attempted to hug the other two at the same time. They began bawling when Daisy opened the door.

"Boys! Dinnertime!"

"We're not hungry!"

"It's pepperoni and sausage pizza!"

Three little heads popped out of the treehouse.

"No joking?" Huey asked.

"No joking!"

All three climbed out of the treehouse, little duck feet crashing into little duck heads a couple of times before all three fought to enter the kitchen at the same time.

Pizza was not at the kitchen, however. It was instead in the living room, where Donald and Daisy laid out pizza boxes, paper plates, and soda bottles on the coffee table. An adventure movie was on the television.

"Oh boy!" All three squealed, running to dish themselves a slice or two.

"Boys!" Daisy said. "Don't forget about Uncle Donald and me!"

"We won't, Aunt Daisy!" They said as they sat on the floor behind the coffee table. Dewey and Louie munched on their first slice. Huey uncapped a cola bottle and took a swig. It was ice cold, just the way he loved it.

"Mmm… Thank you, Aunt Daisy!"

"No problem, boys! Though it was really Uncle Donald who had the idea!"

Donald's tush blocked the television as he grabbed two slices for himself, swiped a grape soda of the table.

The boys stopped eating. "Why are you doing this, Unca Donald? And on a Friday night?"

The screen could be seen again.

"Oh, I thought it would be nice to treat you boys to your favorite pizza! It's not every day we order in pizza, you know!"

Donald sat on the couch.

Huey leaned over so that both Dewey and Louie could hear him clearly.

"Maybe he's just trying to be nice to us before he abandons us!" He whispered.

"You're crazy!" Dewey and Louie whispered back.

Daisy entered, got her own food, and sat beside her husband.

"Boys, Uncle Donald and I are going to furnish the baby's room tomorrow. Uncle Scrooge would like you to come visit while we're getting ready for little Fergie!" (All four male ducks winced at the unborn child's name.) "He's been very lonely lately, you know… Do you boys mind visiting your dear Uncle?"

"Told ya!" Huey hissed.

"Uh… No, Aunt Daisy!"

"Nope, not at all!" Louie emphasized.

"Well then… Donald will drive you to the mansion tomorrow…"

"Okay Aunt Daisy…"