(A/N: Ok, so, here's a short one-shot I came up with after watching the final episode of the 2017 reboot of the series. It's actually based on a theory I came up with. So Webby was created from the genetic makeup of Scrooge, but unless there was someone else's DNA involved too, she would be a clone of him, which she's clearly not. And when I thought about it, there was only one logical explanation. This story examines that, so let's get to it.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"MAMA DUCK"

With the defeat of F.O.W.L., it only seemed natural to hold a celebration. Even more so with the revelation of Webby being revealed to be Scrooge's daughter. A daughter through unconventional means, but still technically a daughter all the same. And already the richest duck in the world was showing signs of being a very protective father who would be wrapped around her little finger in no time.

After a rather unique skydiving experience, Scrooge had invited everyone, all their friends and allies that F.O.W.L. had captured, straight down to the group of small rodents and their little bug friend, back to his mansion to celebrate. And it was proving to be quite the party indeed.

Scrooge, for as stingy as he could be, was really going all out for his daughter. Technically, daughters, as May and June were just as much of his daughters as well, being genetic copies of Webby. Bradford really had pulled out all the stops in attempting to create the heir of Scrooge McDuck.

"So, Webby, how's it feel to officially be part of the family?" Dewey asked with a smirk, already knowing what her reaction would be like.

Just as he predicted, her face lit up with pure joy. "It's wonderful! I thought Granny was my only family, but now it turns out that my family is much bigger than I ever imagined! And best of all, Scrooge McDuck is my dad! Oh, and you guys are my family too!"

Louie let out a laugh. "Hey, we already thought of you as part of the family anyway. So nothing's really changed, we just know that you actually are family now." He nodded to May and June. "And you've got two sisters as well."

"I know!" Webby practically squealed, wrapping her arms around his and Huey's necks, pulling them in close. "This is such a dream come true! I don't think things can get any better than this!"

As Webby bounced joyfully in place, a small frown crossed Huey's face as he glanced at May and June thoughtfully. As surprising as Webby's origins were, there was no denying that they were true, but still, something had been nagging at his brain, something that didn't quite add up, and he once again tried to work it out.

Turning to his brother, Louie saw the way Huey was eyeing May and June, and a teasing smirk crept up his face as he elbowed the Junior Woodchuck. "Hey, man, don't go getting any ideas. Webby and the two of them are our cousins now, so any ships between us have officially sunk."

Huey rolled his eyes. "I wasn't thinking about that, you idiot. And technically, they would be our first cousins once removed."

Dewey scoffed. "You and your smart technicalities. It must be so stressful to be right about every little detail."

"Just listen," Huey grumbled. "May and June are clones of Webby, so they came from her, but we still don't entirely know where she came from."

Louie just cut his eyes at him. "Um, yeah, we do. We just learned about it not too long ago."

Webby nodded. "Yeah, Scrooge is my dad. Bradford created me from his DNA to bring forth the true heir of McDuck in order to meet the required conditions for the Papyrus of Binding to be found."

Dewey playfully punched the red-clad triplet. "Yeah, ya dumb duck. And you fancy yourself the smartest of us."

"Debatable," Louie muttered, taking a sip of his cup of punch.

A look of impatience crossed Huey's face. "Just listen. I know that Webby came from Uncle Scrooge, but who else did she come from?"

Louie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Dummies," Huey practically snapped at their dumbfounded looks. "Webby couldn't have just come from Scrooge, otherwise she would be an exact clone of him, just as May and June are of her. But she's obviously not a clone of him. It may have escaped your notice, but he's a boy and she's a girl, among other differences between them."

Frowns crossed Dewey, Louie, and Webby's faces now as well as Huey's point finally came across. All four of them glanced at May and June, then the boys looked back at Webby with looks of intrigue on their faces while a look of astonishment crossed Webby's.

"So wait…" she said, trying to wrap her head around this, "you're saying that I must have another parent out there somewhere? That I must also have… a mom too?"

Huey nodded. "It's the only explanation. You're clearly not a clone of Scrooge, so you must have one."

Dewey rubbed his chin in thought. "Sounds like a mystery that needs to be solved. I wonder who it could be."

"I can't believe it…" Webby said quietly. Then her face lit up. "I have a mom too!"

Their discussion had drawn the attention of several party guests, but at Webby's outburst, all heads turned to the four of them. Among them were May and June, who exchanged bewildered looks before heading over to them.

"Well, of course you have a mom," June replied, as if this should have been obvious, and then confirmed what Huey had said by adding, "You'd be a clone of him if it were just Scrooge you were created from."

"And the conditions to find the Papyrus of Binding were that the true heir of McDuck was needed, not a copy of the current head," May pointed out. She then motioned to her and her sister. "June and I are clones of you, but that's why we couldn't find it, but you're no clone, Apr– I mean, Webby. You're his actual daughter, you're just more of a… test tube baby."

Webby's eyes grew impossibly wider and she rushed over to them. Grabbing their shirts, she began shaking them urgently. "Do you know who our mother is!? If so, you've got to tell me, please!"

"C-C-Calm d-down!" May exclaimed, reaching up to grab her hands, stopping her shaking. "Of course we know. We'll tell you, you just had to ask."

June plucked Webby's hands off her. "We honestly thought it would be obvious enough that you'd have figured it out on your own."

"What are you talking about?" a new voice asked, joining in on their conversation. Scrooge had walked over to them, glancing from Webby to her sisters. "Just what is going on here?"

If possible, Dewey looked just as excited as Webby. "Uncle Scrooge, it turns out that Webby has a mom too! And May and June were about to tell us who it is!"

"Who is it!?" Webby cried eagerly. "Tell me, tell me!"

The two girls glanced at her, both looking somewhat surprised. "You really haven't figured it out?" May asked. "The conditions to finding the Papyrus of Binding were that it could only be found by the true heir of Scrooge McDuck. So Bradford wanted to create as accurate of an heir as possible. Naturally, that meant using the DNA of Scrooge as her father."

"As for her mother," June picked up, "Bradford selected the most suitable candidate. The person Scrooge would be most likely to settle down with if he were to ever take a wife. Naturally, that person would be the only one he ever loved."

The two of them looked across the room. Scrooge, Webby, and the triplets followed their gaze, though there was really no need to, for they would have looked in the same direction even without the indication. And they weren't the only ones, for every head in the room that had been paying attention had turned in that direction as well. In fact, the only one who wasn't looking was the person being looked at.

Goldie O'Gilt stood rooted to the spot, a plate with a slice of cake in her hand and a forkful of it in her mouth. The conversation had caught her attention as well, and now the fact that everyone was currently looking at her suddenly registered.

Spitting out her mouthful of cake in shock, she stared at Scrooge and the six children, completely flabbergasted. "Me!? Bradford used my DNA too!?"

May raised an eyebrow. "Um, duh. You are the only one Scrooge ever loved."

"If he ever married anyone, it'd be you," June added. "So naturally that'd make you the most suitable and worthy candidate to be the mother of his heir. I mean, was this really not obvious? Even if we didn't already know, that would have been the logical guess, wouldn't it?"

Goldie stood stunned at this new revelation, as did everyone else in the room. Her eyes then sought out Scrooge's, and the two of them stared at each other. She could see that he too was trying to wrap his head around this latest news. The two of them actually had a daughter together. No, technically, they had three daughters, if they counted May and June. Just learning about Webby and Scrooge's relationship had been shocking enough, but this was overwhelming.

Movement seemed to break the spell as all attention shifted to Webby. The young duck slowly made her way across the room and up to Goldie. The older duck just watched as she approached with wide eyes, looking completely at a loss for words. And when Webby reached her, she came to a stop in front of her, and the two just stared at each other.

"Goldie?" Webby asked hesitantly. "You're my mom?"

"Um…" the older duck muttered uncertainly. She glanced at May and June. "Am I? You're sure?"

The two girls simultaneously rolled their eyes. "As sure as we are that Scrooge is her father," May replied.

"So, pretty sure," June added.

Goldie blinked a few times before looking down into Webby's hopeful face again, then slowly gave the girl a nervous smile. "I… guess…?"

"Whee!" Webby squealed, and launched herself at Goldie.

Goldie stumbled back from the impact as Webby wrapped her arms around her center, swinging around her middle joyfully. She regained her balance, keeping her arms up as she stared down at Webby, looking unsure of what to do.

"This is a dream come true!" Webby declared. "I thought things couldn't get any better when I found out that Scrooge was my dad, but finding out that you're my mom too, now I know that things really can't get any better!" She looked back at the others and waved to them. "Hey, guys, look, Goldie O'Glit is my mom!"

The triplets blinked, also caught off guard by this unexpected revelation. Dewie seemed to recover first and muttered to his brothers, "Eh, our mom is better."

Also seeming to get over his shock, Scrooge began making his way over to the newly united mother and daughter. His face was awash with a number of emotions, as if he wasn't sure what to feel right now.

"Alright, Webby, dear," he said, his tone giving away nothing, "I think Goldie needs a few minutes to process this discovery. Why don't you go back to your sisters and cousins so the two of us can work out this revelation."

"Um, yes," Goldie agreed awkwardly. "Go play with your family. It's, uh, the greatest adventure after all."

"Ok," Webby replied and released her, though looking no less excited and happy. "I don't think today can get any better." And then her eyes lit up. "Or maybe it can! You two should stop dancing around each other and just get married already. Then our family really will be complete."

Goldie and Scrooge shared an awkward look before looking back at her. "Well, dear, we'll… take that under advisement," the latter said as Goldie nodded along with what he was saying. "Now, um, let Mommy and Daddy talk for a bit."

"Wa-hoo!" Webby squealed as she ran back to the others. Goldie and Scrooge waved to her, both with nervous smiles on their faces.

"Well, bless me bagpipes," Goldie muttered stealing one of Scrooge's catchphrases.

"Goldie," Scrooge said out of the side of his mouth, low enough so no one else could hear, "I think we need to talk later."

She gave a small nod as they continued to wave. "Yes, I guess we do."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Goldie was not talking. No, she was leaving. Right now, while everyone was asleep. The party had lasted late into the night, but now most of the guests were gone while some had been invited to stay the night.

Goldie had been one of them. She and Scrooge had agreed to talk tomorrow, which was exactly why she planned on being far away by then. That may seem like a pretty rotten thing to do considering what revelations had been made, but she needed some time. Time away from all this family stuff to work through everything. After all, it wasn't everyday someone had their simple, solo, adventuring lifestyle completely up-ended by suddenly having parenthood dropped into their life.

Scrooge at least had a few years of practice at being a parental figure before having that bombshell dropped on him. Even before his nephews had entered his life, Webby had already been living here with him for some time. Goldie, however, had always gone about things alone. She needed some time to come to terms with having a daughter, no, daughters, before anything else. Once she worked out a few things, then she would come back and have that talk with Scrooge. Maybe.

As she crept down the hall to make her escape, hoping she wouldn't run into that creepy ghost butler, she paused as she caught sight of something in her peripheral vision. A fancy vase sitting on top of a pedestal. Just one look at it was enough to tell that it was valuable, and who knew what history was tied to it that could make it even more valuable.

Unable to resist, a smirk spread across Goldie's face as she snatched the vase off the stand. In its place, she left the letter she had planned on taping to the front door. Opening up her bag, she began shoving the vase inside, debating whether she should sell it or keep it.

Once she was finished, she prepared to head off, but a voice suddenly had her freeze in her tracks. "Taking a souvenir before heading out?"

Whirling around, she found May and June standing behind her; she wasn't sure which of them had spoken. "Oh, girls, I didn't see you there… Or hear you." Her brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Huh. Not just anyone can sneak up on me."

June just shrugged. "When you spend your life stuck in a secret base, you get good at sneaking around."

Goldie blinked as she considered this. "Yes, I suppose you would. But shouldn't the two of you be asleep right now?"

May crossed her arms. "As if we could sleep after everything that happened today. So we decided to explore the mansion. Webby said there's so much more to discover here. That's when we saw you." She looked from Goldie to the letter in the pedestal, then back to her again. "You're leaving us, aren't you?"

Goldie winced at the wording, even though the tone hadn't been accusatory, merely stating a fact. She ran a hand through her hair before letting out a sigh. "Listen, girls," she got down on one knee, bidding them to come closer, and they did, "it's nothing against any of you or Webby. It's just…" she tried to find the right words, "I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a mother right now. And this whole lavish lifestyle," she waved her hand around, indicating the mansion, "it's just not for me."

May raised an eyebrow. "The life of a rich adventurer? But isn't that what you are?"

Standing up tall, Goldie placed her hands on her hips and smiled proudly. "Darn right I am. Rich and adventurous." But then her expression softened. "But there's more than that here. Unlike Scrooge, I never set down roots. I'm always on the move, going from one adventure to the next. Without that freedom, I feel so stifled. I've pretty much always been a solo act, with the occasional team-up."

"With Scrooge?" June asked.

She winked at her. "Occasionally. But it's more than that. You see, girls, Scrooge has always been a family man, even when he thought he wasn't. Sure, he would always be up for an adventure, but he always came back. And his life isn't all about adventure the way mine is. He's a business man. He runs companies and businesses, has several investments and partnerships with big corporations all over the world, is involved with countless major global projects, and lots of other things."

She let out a deep sigh. "But me, that's not my lifestyle. All that business and the handling of money and stuff, as much as I admire Scrooge for all he does, it's just not for me. Plus, he and I don't always see eye-to-eye on things, particularly on how we make our fortunes and the way we adventure."

She winked at them, but then frowned. "If I try to fit into that lifestyle, I'm afraid that we'll both end up regretting it. Perhaps one day when I'm finally ready to settle down, I'll give that adventure called family a try, and we'll see how things go between Scrooge and me. But for now, I think it's best if the two of us continue to go our separate ways. Do you understand?"

The two girls exchanged a look before turning back to her. "We're aware of how your relationship works," June told her. "It's similar to that of Darkwing Duck and Morgana Macawber, just with a little more backstabbing."

Goldie couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Well, we may be lovers, but we're also rivals when it comes to the whole treasure hunting game. But trust me, your father knows exactly what he's getting when it comes to me."

"And what about us?" May asked, affectively wiping the smile off Goldie's face. "And Webby too. You're our mother. If you leave, you leave us too."

Goldie stared at them for several long moments before letting out a sigh and getting down on one knee again. Reaching out, she placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Girls, I don't know how to be a mother," she told them sorrowfully. "And like I said, if I stay, I'm afraid the weight I'll feel from being tied down will ultimately ruin things. I don't want there to be any negativity between our family, so I think it's best if I head out until I feel like I'm ready to settle down." She pulled them into hugs. "But don't worry, I promise to keep in touch. You are my girls after all."

May suddenly pulled back. "Yes, we are. And you're just going to leave. Don't you want to get to know us?"

Goldie felt as if a piece of her heart had been chipped off at those words, and she stroked the girl's face. "Oh, sweetheart, of course I do. But the only way I could do that is to take you with me. I know that Webby would never want to leave Scrooge though. And as for you two, you deserve a stable, family life after being F.O.W.L.'s prisoners for so long."

June just scoffed at that. "Please. After being cooped up there for so long, the last thing we want is to be stuck in some mansion waiting around for an adventure."

"Yeah," May agreed, now looking eager. "We want to actually find adventure ourselves. So if you're going on one, take us with you!"

Goldie blinked, caught off guard by the sudden request. "Wait, you want to come with me? But what about getting to know your family? And there's that trip with Donald and Daisy you're supposed to go on."

The two girls made disgusted faces. "And be with them on their romantic trip so we can watch them kiss and stuff all the time?" May asked. "Gross, no way."

"Yeah, we don't want to see that," said June with a shiver. "I'm sure they would prefer to be alone anyway. Besides, it's kind of hard to understand what Donald says."

This caused Goldie to chuckle. "Yes, I suppose that's true. But what about your father and sister. Not to mention your cousins. Don't you want to get to know them?"

June rolled her eyes. "We already know them. F.O.W.L. spent years monitoring them and making sure we knew everything there was to know about them."

"But we didn't know anywhere near as much about you," May pointed out.

"Yeah, we want to get to know you better. And you can get to know us too."

"It'll be an adventure. A mother-daughters adventure. You can show us everything you know. We'll be your apprentices."

"And you'll get to see what it's like to be a mom and have a family without being tied down. It might even help you make that decision about settling down later."

They finally stopped talking and were now looking at her eagerly. Goldie just stared, surprised by this turn of events. She had thought that the girls would be better off with Scrooge, but now they were telling her a different story. This was putting things into a whole new perspective for her. She wasn't… opposed to taking on apprentices; she had grown rather fond of Louie during their time together pulling a scam. Could she have that with May and June too?

Standing up, she gave the two girls a serious look. "You sure you want to come with me? You really don't want to stay here and get to know your family better, outside of F.O.W.L.'s monitoring?"

May shrugged. "Like we said, we already know them pretty well. We want to get to know you better."

"And," June added, "this'll give Webby time to get to know her family better as family. And when we come back, we can all get to know each other better."

May crossed her arms. "Come to think of it, we don't really know who we are. We've just been F.O.W.L.'s pawns for so long."

June nodded. "Yeah, this could actually help us discover who we are and who we want to be."

Tapping her chin, Goldie considered this, and had to admit, the whole idea sounded rather appealing. "Scrooge will probably get pretty mad if I just take you away like this without talking to him about it first." The thought of that, however, only served to make her smile in amusement. "Ok, girls, let's give this a trial run. For now, it will be mother-daughters slash teacher-apprentices bonding time."

The two girls let out cheers, and Goldie quickly silenced them by placing a finger to her bill. She then glanced at the letter she had left for Scrooge and snatched it up. Pulling out a pen, she quickly added a note at the bottom.

"'P.S.'" she said as she wrote. "'Took May and June with me. See you when our paths cross again, Daddy.'" Chuckling, as she imagined his reaction, she returned the letter to the pedestal and looked back at the girls. "Alright, you two, better go pack, because we're heading out pronto."

June raised an eyebrow. "Pack what? We don't have any stuff to pack."

May nodded. "Yeah, the few things we did have were back at F.O.W.L.'s base. We don't own any possessions."

Goldie blinked. "Oh… well… Not to worry, soon you'll have plenty. But you're going to have to earn them. Things are always so much better when you earn them. That's one thing Scrooge and I agree on." She winked at them. "We just don't always agree on the methods in which we obtain them."

Eager smiles spread across the two girls' faces. "Sounds fun," they chorused.

Goldie chuckled as she motioned for them to follow her. "You know, I think this is going to work out very nicely. Ok then, let's go, girls. It's time for our first adventure."

THE END

(A/N: And there we go. It took off in a bit of a different direction I thought it would than when I started, but hey, those are plot bunnies for you. As you may have noticed, I left it open for a possible sequel, May and June on an adventure with Goldie. I've got no plans for such a story, as of now anyway, but I wanted to get this out. So tell me what you think.)