"Hold up." Gosalyn grabbed Dewey by the beak in the midst of him haphazardly explaining everything they knew about their supposed father. He hasn't changed a bit. She smiled. "You don't need to explain everything to me. Let's Dewey it."

Dewey's face lit up. "You said the thing! I told you guys she'd be in on it. Come on, Gosalyn, let's Gos-"

Gosalyn grabbed him by the beak again. "If we agree never to say that again."

"Aw, come on!" He slumped. "It's a great phrase. It's canon! It's your thing."

Gosalyn laughed. "It's your thing. I have plenty of things on my own, D." With that, she grabbed her backpack and hockey stick from the couch and headed for the door. She glanced over her shoulder as the four of them just stood there. "Well? Aren't you com'n?"

She ran out to her car with the crew of them trailing behind her. "What do you think? I call her Petunia!" She swung the door open to her little purple car.

"So now we're just jumping into some car with a chick we hardly know?" Louie stood back with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Gosalyn just smiled and rested her arms on the roof. "Like that's the most dangerous thing you've done all day."

"It's Gosalyn!" Dewey knocked the hat off of his head and Louie scrambled to catch it before it hit the ground. "She's one of my best friends. At this point, I'd hop in a car with her over you any day! After today, who knows how many more gangs have you on their hit list that I don't know about."

Gosalyn wasn't sure what that meant exactly but it didn't take much for her to guess that Louie was the reason they were being "hunted," as Dewey so theatrically put it. He tended to be overly dramatic, especially in his letters. But anything he ever had to say about Louie, she never doubted. There was waaaay too much dirt on that kid for her to put anything Dewey ever wrote about him into question. And the fact that Louie didn't disagree with him just then, when he'd been arguing everything Dewey said since they got there, proved the point.

Somehow, Huey managed to beat all three of them to the front seat, crutch and all, so Dewey and Louie had to squeeze into the back seat on either side of Launchpad. With her help, they finally managed to close the doors. She climbed in and held in a giggle at the sight of their squished faces between the windows and Launchpad's broad shoulders.

"Heh, sorry boys. Petunia is a tight squeeze." She stuck her head out the window to back the car down the driveway.

"Tell me about it," Louie grunted.

"I like her. I think she has a lot of character." Launchpad rolled his head against the roof, looking the car over. "What kind of stories do you have to tell us, Petunia?" He spoke softly, like a horse girl to a wild stallion.

Dewey burrowed past Launchpad's arm and stuck his head through the gap between the seats. "What's with the name?"

Gosalyn rolled her eyes. "Dad bought her for me. I was mortified when I found out he had already named her, and after a dainty flower at that. I was hoping to pick something more… threatening? Yeah, no. He picked Petunia and it sorta stuck. But I've grown to like it."

"He bought you your own car? Sweet! Man, being an only child must be nice. Uncle D and Mom couldn't afford for all three of us to get our license at once and they wouldn't ask Uncle Scrooge, so I couldn't drive until I was almost seventeen. Even now we have to share a car and Huey takes it to work all the time."

Huey folded his hands behind his head. "You tried being an only child for a day. Remind me, Dewford, how did that work out?"

Dewey grumbled under his breath and sat back in the squished space by Launchpad's arm.

"Ooh, ooh, I know this one," Louie piped up. "Beagle Boys, psycho rich kid, and killer robot. One of your more eventful, failed plans, if you ask me."

"No one asked you."

Gosalyn laughed. "See, this is what I miss out on as an only child. I may get lots of things all to myself but I never get to have inside jokes or banter with my siblings like you guys have. And I've heard how you three work as a team. While I wouldn't trade what I have with Dad for the world, I'd also love to have a family like yours. It's special." She smiled at him through the rearview mirror. "Just like you, Dewey."

"Oh yeah he's special alright," Louie retorted.

"That's what I try to tell him." Huey leaned into his seat with one arm behind his head and the other gesturing with each word he spoke. "Textbook middle child syndrome. Dewey always thinks the world would be better if he didn't have to share it with us, that is, until he needs one of us to… saaaaay… buy his new flight simulator game after he spent all of his money on a pair of gold, light up sneakers."

"Or pull a wad of gum out of his hair after fell asleep chewing it."

"Or when he climbs up onto the roof to grab his drone and knocks the ladder down. He would have been stuck up there for hours if I hadn't been there."

"Or-"

Dewey hid his face behind his arms. "Give it a rest, you guys. I think she gets the idea. It was just an expression. I know I'm stuck with you."

Gosalyn smiled, thinking back to all the letters Dewey sent with those three instances portrayed very differently.

"Besides, those shoes were a collectors item. They were the next big thing to go up on Glamour's It list."

Everyone laughed but him. Gosalyn drove the car under the bridge and glanced at Dewey in the mirror as he sulked out the window. At least with Honker and Dewey, Gosalyn got glimpses into what life would be like to have a practical older brother and a wildly impractical little brother.

Growing up, Honker gave her the constant support and faithful companionship that continually fed her self confidence and desire to fight for every good thing. Honker knew how to care about the things that mattered, even if he was overly cautious about it.

And every time Dewey sent her a letter, she was reminded that she wasn't alone. Dewey understood what it was like to feel like an orphan, to be lost and left behind. He knew how she felt and she knew how he felt. They had an unspoken understanding. So when he said he wished he could experience her life… she knew all too well what he meant. The desire to be picked, chosen… the want to be wanted for who you are alone.

She parked the car in a dark alleyway and climbed up in her seat. She tossed each of the three brothers a blindfold. "The next part of our journey can only be known by Launchpad and me. For your own safety, please put those on."

"Uggggh, great, now we're being kidnapped. Perfect!" Louie groaned and tossed the piece of cloth back at her.

This one with all the sarcasm. Gosalyn glanced down at Huey who had already tied the blindfold on himself like there was no tomorrow. "Is he always like this?"

"In short, yes. He's a real treat. Imagine having to share practically the same DNA with him." Huey fumbled for the door handle.

"I've been there already. Do I really-"

Gosalyn gave Dewey one look before he tied the blindfold on without another word. She turned back to Louie.

"Oh come on! If Launchpad can know where it is, why does it matter? We're telling you all our secrets anyway."

Oh no, not today. I've heard too much about you to let you talk your way out of this one. "I'm not taking any chances with you. Dad will be frustrated enough that the Silver Serpent knows where our house is. I'm not just gonna hand everything else to you on a silver platter." She shoved the blindfold into his chest, staring him beak to beak. "Put it on. Now."

Louie eyed her for a long moment before he finally relented and tied it onto his head. "Just as long as you don't walk me into the bay."

"Don't tempt me."

When they all climbed out of the car, Gosalyn went around and tightened his blindfold.

"Ow! My eyes!" He swatted at her blindly.

"That's better." Gosalyn snickered and grabbed him by the shoulders, shoving him forward. "Launchpad, can you help the guys? I'll take the snake." As she walked him towards the bridge, she leaned close to his ear. "If you so much as blink too hard under that blindfold, I'll dangle you over the bay by your hoodie, got it?"