None of the boys were feeling particularly energetic when they got home. Donald's plan was to get Dewey's minor injuries taken care of and then to talk to Huey about what had gotten him sent home from school today. He hadn't expected his friends to already be there when he arrived home.
"Did you drop everything to come when I called?" He asked, surprised but a little delighted as José and Panchito crushed him in a hug. His boys hung timidly back, taking in the scene.
"Of course we did! When our Donald says he wants the band back together we get the band back together!" Zé proclaimed, his eyes full of stars.
"You know this wasn't about the Cabs, right?"
"Whether it is or isn't about the music when we are together it will always be about the Cabs," Panchito said.
"Uncle Donald?" Huey asked, remembering that he was the oldest and had to take charge in unfamiliar situations.
"Boys, these are my old college buddies, Panchito Pistoles and José Carioca. They're going to be helping me watch you. Temporarily." He loved his bandmates, he didn't entirely trust them with his kids for extended periods of time. This was just until he could set up a more convenient and permanent babysitter.
"Hi. I'm Huey."
"Oh, we know who you all are! Huey, Dewey, Louie. Donald has sent us so many photos, he's so proud of all of you!" José pulled Huey into a hug and Panchito offered fistbumps to the younger kids.
Normally, Dewey would relish the attention and their Uncle's pride, but on this particular day, he felt a little too shitty to appreciate any of this. He just sighed deeply and pushed past the visitors, heading inside to go lie down.
"The boys have had a really rough day," Donald said, "Perhaps we should let them rest. We can talk in the living room."
Huey decided to go ahead and handle Dewey's injuries while Donald talked to his friends, but Louie didn't seem to want to go rest with his brothers. He crawled into Donald's lap and stared expectantly at the newcomers, perhaps waiting for a bribe.
"Do you like candy?" José asked after a moment, pulling a fireball out of his jacket pocket.
Louie's eyes lit up and he snatched it, already halfway through ripping the wrapper off before José could think to warn him.
"Careful, it's spicy-" Louie had already stuck the thing in his mouth, his eyes now bulging as he spat it out and began to cough.
"You're not really good with children, are you, Zé?" Donald asked, picking Louie up and carrying him to get a drink.
"Ah, children are just small people. And I'm great with people!"
Panchito held back a laugh.
While Louie investigated the band, Huey decided to do some investigating of his own.
"Why were you fighting in school?"
"Why were you fighting in school?" Dewey parroted.
"I wasn't fighting," Huey muttered, "I just got mad at a teacher."
"Why?" Dewey asked, leaning his head on Huey as he held an icepack to his face.
"If I tell you why I got in trouble will you tell me why you got in trouble?" Huey prompted.
"Yeah… Fine."
"I've had a bad week," Huey confessed, "And I haven't been doing well in school, so my teacher mentioned possibly talking to Uncle Donald about it, and I freaked out. I didn't want to add more stress to Uncle Donald's life."
"We did a bad job of that," Dewey said sadly, tears pooling in his uninjured eye.
"Aww, Dewey, don't worry about it. I know things are hard but they're going to get better. Uncle Donald's friends seem nice! And we're gonna have fun homeschooling."
"That just sounds like homework all the time."
"I'll make it fun," Huey promised, and Dewey decided to believe his big brother this time.
"So, why were you fighting, Dewdrop?"
Dewey looked angry now.
"Someone was getting on my nerves."
"Do you want to elaborate?"
"Someone said that mom left because I was… Bad. And stupid."
Now Huey was angry as well. But he managed to count to ten before snapping on his brother's behalf.
"Dewey, that's not- that's- no. Come here." Huey pulled his little brother into his arms and held him close.
"Dewey, mom didn't leave because of you. Or because of me or because of Louie. We had nothing to do with it. She decided to leave on her own. I know you don't understand and… I don't really understand either. But I know she loved us. And if she was here she would be very, very proud of you."
"You think so?"
"I know so. Because you're the coolest kid in the world."
"What about me?" Louie asked, appearing at the door nursing a ginger ale.
"You guys are tied for the coolest kid in the world."
Louie pumped his arms, spilling ginger ale down the front of his dinosaur hoodie. He made a face then and mumbled an apology.
"Go ahead and change out of that one, I'll throw it in the wash," Huey said patiently, unable to squash the urge to take care of his brothers.
"Uncle Donald was in a band," Dewey said suddenly, as Louie made the executive decision to change back into pajamas for the rest of the weekend and Huey began to gather the rest of the dirty laundry.
"Yeah, we'll have to ask him about it. They seem nice."
"I guess so," Dewey was a little skeptical.
"The green one has bad candy," Louie informed his brothers, flopping down on his bed and reaching for one of Dewey's comics.
"Hey, that's mine!"
"Dewey," Huey said in warning as he grabbed one last shirt off the floor.
"I mean… Ask first, please."
"Can I read your comic?" Louie asked.
"Yeah, this time."
"Thanks, Dewey, you're the best!"
Huey disappeared with the laundry and Dewey watched him, feeling sad for his older brother.
"Huey is the best," Dewey whispered, pacing restlessly until Huey came back. Dewey had become worried about Huey's comment about worrying Uncle Donald, as well as the recent threat of leaving Duckburg. He really wanted Huey to promise everything would be okay again.
Huey started a load of laundry and hesitated outside of the living room, listening.
"I'm really close to a breakthrough, guys. I think I can bring her home. I just… I need some help with the boys. They're all going through so much."
"We're happy to help, Donald. But are you sure what you're doing is safe?" Panchito asked.
"I'm not sure of anything anymore, but I have to do whatever it takes. Ducks don't back down."
Huey turned to go back to his brothers, hastily swiping at tears. He had to make it seem like everything was okay, though it was becoming abundantly clear that nothing was.
