Donald Duck had a very complicated relationship with water.
All his life, he'd loved the water. He loved looking at it, he loved swimming in it, and, most of all, he loved being on it in a boat or a ship. As a young adult, he'd had two goals in life: to join the Navy and to live in a houseboat (preferably one of his own). It took years of saving, but he finally achieved the latter goal. Finally, he could be on the water all the time. He could look out a window and there it was, right outside. He could jump overboard and take a swim in it whenever he pleased. And at night, it would rock him to sleep with its gentle waves.
When he first got the houseboat, Della, who'd just found out she was going to be laying a couple of eggs, had joked that she wouldn't be able to bring his nieces and/or nephews around to see him for a while.
"Looks like I won't be able to bring them around for a while," Della had said with a twinkle in her eye when he'd told her the news, a protective hand on her belly.
"What? Why not?" Donald had asked.
"Because they won't be able to swim yet, silly," his sister had replied. "What if they fall overboard?"
Donald had scoffed. "They're ducklings. You throw them in the water and they swim. Instinct."
"That's just an old wives' tale. Besides, I'm not going to risk it," Della had said.
After Della disappeared and Donald took custody of the boys, this conversation had played itself in Donald's mind on many sleepless nights. Sure, she hadn't been completely serious, but Donald couldn't help but feel that she wouldn't be too happy with her infant triplets living on a houseboat.
Suddenly, the water that he had loved for so long now absolutely terrified him.
Naturally, Donald decided to babyproof the houseboat. Outer doors would always be kept locked, windows would always be shut, and no kids allowed on deck without lifejackets. At least until they were old enough to swim. That was reasonable, right?
"I still don't get why we have to wear lifejackets on deck now that the houseboat is in Uncle Scrooge's swimming pool," Dewey complained.
"I wonder if Uncle Donald would even let us swim in it if the houseboat wasn't taking up the whole thing," Louie said.
Huey sighed. "He says he wants us to spend more time on the boat, but he's not making it particularly...enjoyable."
"Hey, guys!" Webby called from over by the lounge chairs. "How's the houseboat?"
"Suffocating," Louie said. Huey elbowed him in the side.
"Can I join?" Webby asked.
"Sure, if you really want to," Dewey said. "I wouldn't recommend it, though."
"Uncle Donald will probably make you wear a lifejacket," Huey added.
"That's ok. I know how to swim," Webby said.
"So can we," Louie groaned.
"Yeah, he makes us wear these anyway," Dewey said.
"He does realize we're ducks, right?" said Webby, walking across the gangplank. "I mean, you just throw us in the water as babies and we start swimming."
"Uncle Donald says that's an old wives' tale," Huey said.
Donald came out of the house part of the boat with a plate of raw burgers, quacking happily. "How's it going, boys?" he asked. "Oh, hi, Webby. Just a sec." He put the plate down next to the grill on the other end of the deck and popped back inside. He emerged with a fourth lifejacket that, like the boys', came up past her neck and squished into her cheeks once he pulled it over her head. "Want a burger?"
Webby nodded, the lifejacket squeaking under the movement, and Donald went inside to grab another.
"You were not kidding about suffocating," Webby said.
"Well, at least he's happy," Huey said. "I think he misses us having our own space."
"How exactly do you eat burgers in these things?" Webby said.
"I'm planning on going ashore once they're ready," Louie said.
"You can't!" Huey said. "Uncle Donald will be so upset."
"What about me? I thought we were done eating dinner in lifejackets when we moved into McDuck Manor!" Louie said.
"Yeah, I am kinda sick of the food getting stuck in my throat," Dewey said. "That hurts."
"Fine," Huey said. "Maybe we can ask if we can make it a picnic on shore. But that's it. If Uncle Donald says no, we're eating in the lifejackets."
The door opened again and Donald returned to his grill with the extra burger.
"Why can't we just eat inside?" Webby asked, lowering her voice. "He doesn't make you wear them inside, does he?"
"Uncle Donald said he wanted to eat outside today because it's nice out," Huey said.
"Also the inside of the houseboat is still kinda burnt," Dewey added.
"Alright, kids! Burgers are ready!" Donald said, bringing them over.
"Uncle Donald?" Huey said. "Can we have a picnic on shore?"
Donald looked at his nephews' eager, squished faces. "I don't see why not," he said.
So they did.