*a bit of backstory*

When Huey was twelve, being a junior woodchuck was everything. Playing by the rules. Knowing all the facts. It made him feel like he had a little bit of control in chaos. He could make sense of the world. When he and his brothers went off on adventures with their Uncle Scrooge and Donald, he made sure he was the stability in the middle of the crazy for whenever his brother needed it.

Aaaand then Della Duck flew back into the picture after roughing it on the moon for twelve years. While it started out full of joy and excitement, settling into family routines wasn't as easy as any of them hoped it'd be.

Over the next six years, Huey found that making sense of the world was impossible. He couldn't understand how to let his mom into his life again without building more walls between them. Especially since Della Duck was not exactly built to be a parent. Huey knew everything about his brothers and their issues while she seemed to pretend like there weren't any.

Dewey, on the other hand, fell into constant "people-pleasing" to try and "win" Della's love like it was a competition. It cripled his confidence in relationships with others and so he got more self conscious about his rowdy attitude. Louie was a mess and clearly didn't know how to act around his own mother so Huey made it his duty to be the buffer and protect him in every interaction with Della.

Now eighteen, the triplets are no longer the go-lucky twelve year olds with nothing to lose. Seeking validation from others to try to fill the space in his heart that his parents left vacant, Huey buried his junior woodchuck obsession and focused more on style, dating girls, and protecting his brothers. After all, that seemed more acceptable in highschool than nerding out about ancient languages and codes did.

Dewey dove into airplane mechanics throughout his teen years and flight classes now that he was out of highschool, itching to earn every ounce of approval from his mother who was an ace pilot herself. While he did still want to be adventurous and explore the world, there were a lot more mechanics involved to excel in that realm that he actually cared about now.

After spending five months in juvie for his "Louie's Kids" scheme when he turned sixteen, Louie started to close himself in and avoid people. Maybe he saw a glimpse of his own mortality in "prison" or he was just too afraid of screwing up again. He learned how to play the violin while he was in prison and found that it helped him think around the schemes in his head. While he could still talk himself out of trouble at the drop of a hat, he was a little more cautious about how it all made him look. Especially to his mom.

With only a month left of summer before Dewey left for his full-on flight school, the three find themselves more depressed and unprepared for life than ever.

*thud, thud, thud* *thud, thud, thud* Louie threw a rubber ball to the floor just to watch it hit the wall and catch it when it came back to him. *thud, thud, thud* "Why are you packing now? You're not leaving for a whole month."

Dewey balanced a stack of airplane-related books and article papers in his arms and dodged Louie's rubber ball to get to his side of the room. "A month isn't that long, Lou. Besides, I don't want to forget anything." He dropped the stack of books into his suitcase and began to count them. "One, two, three…" he faded off until he had counted eight books. "Hey, do you know where my handbook on biplanes went?"

Louie caught his ball and sat up in his hammock. "You expect me to know? You leave those books everywhere."

Dewey rolled his eyes. "You're right. Why am I asking the brother who's only ever picked up one kind of book… a comic book."

Instead of being offended, Louie shrugged and settled back into his hammock, throwing the rubber ball at the ceiling.

Dewey watched him for a moment before shaking his head. "Maybe Huey knows where it is." He lifted the hatch to their attic room and climbed down the ladder. As soon as he peeked his head inside the house, he regretted it.

"I gave you lists!" Uncle Donald's shrill, frustrated voice made Dewey cringe. "And you're telling me you haven't applied for any of them?"

Their mother's concerned voice followed shortly after. "Huey, you're brilliant! I know that sweet little know-it-all junior woodchuck is still in there. You'd do great if you just gave it a shot." She was ever the encouraging parent but Dewey knew that wouldn't be the "pep-talk" Huey would respond to. The last year especially changed Della and Huey's relationship… and not for the better.

Dewey crept in and hid behind the kitchen counter. He peeked around the island to see Huey sitting with his arms crossed on the couch. Those pensive eyebrows of his crouched low on his face. Their mom and Uncle Donald were standing in that parenting stance across from him.

"What's going on? You know you can talk to us." There she went again, being the encouraging mom that Dewey loved but Huey always had a problem with for some reason. She moved to sit beside him on the couch.

"Why does it matter if I go to college this year? I like working for Gwumpki. I'm making good money. Besides, you're not making Louie go to college this year." Huey pressed his hand to his temple and raised his eyebrow.

Della closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "Louie is a different story. You know that."

Dewey sat back against the cabinets. Their little brother's time behind bars was definitely a part of that "different" story. Not a lot of colleges would even consider accepting him and his grades were subpar after he got out.

"You can do so much more than work at a burger joint for the rest of your life. What about all of those dreams when you were younger? We want to see you achieve everything you've always wanted." Della put her hand on his shoulder.

Huey tore his arm away from her and got up from the couch. "Yeah, I know. Thanks for the pep-talk, guys, but I'm happy at Gwumpki's and that's that. You can save all the mushy-pride talk for Dewey." He went around the buffet towards the door, meeting eyes with his brother around the corner. "Who apparently likes spying on private conversations." His jaw set as he went for the door.

Dewey shot to his feet. "Hue, wait, I only came down here to ask if you-" Huey slammed the door in his face. "Knew where my book was…." He turned to look at his mom and uncle, an awkward smile on his face. "Oops… still no luck I see?"

The silence made him go for the door himself. "I'll see if I can talk to him." On his way out the door, he heard them sigh and confide in each other.

"Ugh! I don't know what's going on with him. It's like he's a whole different person!"

"He's the same person, Della. He's just grown out of his junior woodchuck phase. I guess he's just trying to figure out what's important to him now. You should understand that more than anyone." Dewey hung by the door to listen in some more.

"Yeah, yeah, the Spear of Selene. That was the hardest lesson of self discovery I've had to learn."

"That was only part of the story. You know that. What about Sam?"

The silence lasted so long that Dewey thought he had missed his mother saying something in between. But no.

Her voice lowered. "Don't even mention him. Huey isn't going to make a mistake like that. He's too smart. And we're going to help him see who he needs to be."

Dewey inched away from the door and sat on the garage steps. Sam… they really said it. They said his name. Butterflies tangled in his stomach.

"Still eavesdropping?"

Dewey looked up to see his older brother watching him from the attic hatch. He swallowed before smiling a little. "You really know how to tie Mom's feathers into a knot."

Huey rolled his eyes. "She doesn't understand. Neither of them do. Now come on. Louie said you were looking for a book?"

Dewey scrambled up the ladder. "Yeah but I'm more curious about something else now." He secured the hatch door and lowered his voice. "While I was listening to Uncle D and Mom grumble about your stubborn insubordination, dear Hubert…" He smirked a little when Huey crossed his arms. "I heard Uncle D hold the name 'Sam' over Mom's head."

"Sam? As in the Sam?" Louie jumped in his hammock, twisting himself up in it in his effort to scramble out. Huey spun the hammock until it spit him out onto the floor.

Dewey reached under his bed and pulled out an old roller skate box. "The very one, Lewellyn." He dumped the random objects and pulled out the folder that was hidden at the bottom of the box.

Huey pulled the shades before joining his brothers around the folder. "What'd they say?"

Dewey shrugged and opened the file. "Not much. Although, it sounded like Sam was part of the reason Mom took the Spear of Selene to the moon."

"What's that supposed to mean? Like he's in space or something?" Louie waited for them to respond but he only got looks of ridicule back. "Yeah, no… that's dumb." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I think he might be part of the reason Mom left so fast. Like she was so upset that she left without thinking." Dewey opened the folder.

Huey shook his head. "She knew the risks of what she was doing, Dew."
"And she apologized, Hubert." Louie eyed him like a hawk.

Dewey drew their attention back to the folder by spreading the three lone pieces of papers out. "Anyways. I think it clues us in on when things went down between Mom and… well, Dad." They stared down at the empty, torn envelope with Sam Duck's name on it, the picture of their mom with his arm around her shoulder and the rest of him torn out, their egg certificates with his name scrawled neatly on each, and a rough timeline that they had crafted together.

"Sounds like the timeline is closer together than we thought." Huey scribbled on a sticky note the words "Mom and Dad separated ?" and added it to their timeline close to the Spear of Selene.