"You can't be serious. You're telling me that our dad, who has been absent our entire lives, knows each of us by name and it doesn't bother you at all." Huey crossed his arms and leaned against the outer shell of the RV. "Do you understand how insane that sounds?"

Both Dad and Webby had gone inside to prep for the drive while Huey refused to be in the same vehicle. Shocker.

Dewey heaved a sigh and ran his hand through his feathers. "Look, I know it's bad. I'm not pretending to be okay with it. He left us and that's not okay. It may never be okay."

Huey's nostrils flared between mumbled a few barely audible grievances

Dewey gripped his elbows and hugged himself. "But if he's willing to explain himself, I think we should at least hear him out."

Huey scoffed and shook his head with a disbelieving smile. "No. You're not just asking me to hear him out. He's in Uncle D's RV right now and Webby said it herself. You gusy invited him to come with us to find Louie. You want me to sit in an RV with him… for hours! I'm not doing that."

Dewey closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Come on, Dewey, he's only three minutes older than you. He's not your boss. You're just as in charge as he is. He locked eyes on him and tried to harness that "older brother" energy he had used on Louie the other day. "Drop the attitude, will you? You're coming with us." He poked Huey in the chest. "Wanna know why? Because this RV is going to rescue Louie. No matter how much you hate our dad, I know you love Louie more. There is not a chance in this world that you don't get in that RV." As soon as the words left his mouth, Dewey's stomach roiled. All he could see was the Duke slowly emerging in his brother's eyes, peeking through the thin veil of sanity that was holding Huey together.

Huey swatted his hand away and the veins in his neck popped.

Dewey locked his knees and stood his ground. No. I will not be bullied by the Duke today! He grabbed Huey by the collar and pushed him up against the RV. "Cool your jets, would you? This angsty persona of yours, it's not to protect me or Louie. You're protecting yourself."

The fire in Huey's eyes dwindled. He grappled with Dewey's arm. "I don't know what you're talking about. Get your hands off!" he growled.

"That's fine and all. You don't have to talk to our dad. But Louie needs our help and I…" He let go of him and took a step back. "I need to talk to Dad for my own sake. All I'm asking is that you let me listen to him… let me get hurt. We found him… and I'm not leaving without answers. I want this more than anything before I leave for college." I need to know where I come from and I need to know why he left. He rubbed the side of his face to keep from crying.

Huey stood there, arms crossed and motionless, his gaze boring into the ground.

"Stay angry for all I care. But please… please let me have this." He watched his older brother stew in thought, waiting for any indication of the sane, responsible brother he had grown up with. The one who would lay down his own emotional crises for the sake of intellectual logic. I can't spend the rest of this trip with the Duke. That's everyone's worst nightmare.

Finally, after several long minutes of silence, Huey spoke up. "Are you sure you're ready for answers? Because whoever you think he's going for… it's not you, me, or even Louie. It's whoever owns that little yellow hat." Huey sank back against the RV again, his arms slumped as they guarded his chest. "I don't think you're ready for whatever truth lies behind that."

Dewey swallowed hard. Right, the yellow hat. "You're not wrong." Maybe that little yellow hat will bring all of our hopes to a crashing end… but at leas then we'll know. "But I can't go off to college without answers. We've come this far. I think we both know that this is the next step our adventure, whether we like the truth or not."

Huey grunted and shrugged.

After a few moments in silence, Webby's head popped out of the RV. "Are you boys coming?" She gave a soft, sympathetic smile. "If we get on the road now, we may be able to catch up to them."

Taking a deep breath, Dewey nodded. "Just give us a few more minutes." When Webby disappeared back into the RV, he stepped over and set his hand on Huey's shoulder. "Every time we've had this conversation, we've come to the same conclusion. I know you hate it, there's not hiding that, but now we have to face it. Our fears and hopes at a crossroad. No matter what he has to say, we have each other. We have Mom, Uncle D, Uncle Scrooge, Webby, Launchpad… the list goes on and on. Who cares what Sam has to say or who owns that stupid yellow hat, huh?" He smirked, shaking his brother by the shoulders.

A slight smile slid across Huey's face. "Yeah, I guess."

"Let's go get our Lou Lou back, what do you say?"

Huey rolled his eyes and straightened. "What do you think? Somebody's got to be there to knock some sense into him."

Dewey grinned. "Thank goodness! I really didn't want to have to be the one playing big brother when we found him."

"Don't worry. You're roll as the fun-loving, responsibility-shirking midde child is safe." Huey gave him a playful shove as they climbed into the RV. "Just as long as you act like your mad at him for me when we find him. He needs double the disapproval for this screw up."

Dewey chuckled. "You, sir, have a deal."

Once on the road, Dewey slid into the booth across from Sam. The butterflies in his stomach made him go back and forth between holding his breath and gripping his sides. Everything they had done had lead up to this very moment.

Sam cleared his throat and glanced around. "Ahem, I suppose you boys want answers." He slid the rim of the yellow hat between his fingers. "You deserve answers."

Dewey leaned forward in his seat, eyes locked on Sam even though Sam's eyes moved to literally every other thing in the room.

Sam rubbed the back of his neck and looked over his shoulder at the "cockpit" of the RV. "Is your brother joining us?"

Dewey glanced at the curtain that separated them from both Webby and Huey in the front seats. His heart dropped into his stomach. All that work to get him to come with and he refuses to even sit in the vicinity and "act" like he's listening. Then again, if he's that on the verge of Duking out, maybe it's for the best. He sat back in the booth. But how am I supposed to explain that to Dad? "Sorry, Huey hates your guts and doesn't want to listen to thing you have to say?" That sounds terrible! "I'm sorry about him. Huey is a little unpredictable at the moment. You can start without him."

Just as the words left his mouth, Huey stumbled through the curtain. He glared back at Webby before sliding into the seat next to Dewey.

Dewey smiled a little. THANK YOUUUU, Webigail! He wiggled in his seat and focused back on Sam. "Whenever you're ready, Dad."
Sam cringed slightly and rubbed his forehead. He looked at Huey and his beak turned a little pale. Turning his eyes to the ceiling, he took a deep breath, like he had lost all the words he had prepared in his mind and was searching for some way to start. "Well, what have they told you?"

Huey opened his mouth but Dewey clamped it shut and spoke over him in as cheeriest of tones he could muster. "Obsolutely nothing! The world is your oyster, Dad. Tell us everything."

Huey glared at him but Dewey gave the look right back. There's no way I'm letting you start this conversation with something snide remark. Come on, you're worse than Louie right now.

Getting the gist from just the shared look, Huey rolled his eyes and stared back down at the table.

"Well, you knew enough to find me. That's impressive." Sam sighed and set the yellow hat on the seat beside him, finally looking down to meet Dewey's intent gaze. "I guess we should start with my name. Samuel is actually my middle name. I started going by that name to keep the publicity off of my real name, Cosmo."

Dewey thought hard. Cosmo? I've never heard of a Cosmo Duck… but man is that the coolest name EVER! No wonder Mom wanted to name me Turbo.

"Your mom and I… it was sort of a love-at-first sight, fast romance. I was in DASA's astronaut training program when I met Della. She was…" He stared out the window at the passing cars, a small smile on his lips. "She was beautiful in every way and I admired her powerful spirit."

Dewey set his chin in his hands. "How did you meet her?"

Sam, or better yet, Cosmo, looked back at him and smiled. "We trained together. Your great uncle paid for her to go through DASA's training as a birthday present. We spent months in simulators, anti-gravity chambers, and classes. We ate meals together. She shared stories of her many adventures that had me, frankly, captivated." He chuckled a little. "She was always good telling stories."

Dewey soaked up every word. "Haha, Mom is the best storyteller for sure. What else?"

"She was also a great listener. I've always been cursed to be an idea man. I've been told that I'm too much of a dreamer for my own good. She'd listen to all of my ideas. At one point, I couldn't get the idea of colonizing Mars out of my head, and she was the only one who would listen to my crazy calculations on how I was going to make life on Mars possible."

He felt Huey shift next to him. Scooting closer, he touched arms with his brother and went back to focusing on Cosmo's story. "And your venture with Gladstone? We found that out while trying to find you."

Caught a offgaurd, Cosmo froze and smiled. "Yeah, that was one of my many big ideas. Not as big as Mars, but it was definitely a venture that, of course, ended in disaster." He sighed and shook his head, a wave of sadness washing over his face. "To be honest, that is how most of my ideas have ended."

Dewey tipped his head so he could meet eyes with him. "What happened, Dad?"

Cosmo took a breath. "Your mom and I got married shortly after our DASA training ended. Your great uncle thought it was way too fast and maybe he was right, but we were two young people in love and, as we all know, nothing can stop of Della Duck when it comes to something she wants. For months, life was good. I went on my first mission out into space before pursuing my idea of Mars and working out the sciences that would be involved. Your mom actually got me a job with Gyro so that I could pursue my dream. Shortly after that, we were expecting you three. Life was perfect."

Lost in little images of what could have been, Dewey smiled. Then slowly, the reality of what happened days before their birth came crashing in and darkened the picture that Cosmo painted in his mind.

Cosmo folded his hands on the table. "Boys, I know you must hate me and you have all the right to be angry but this next part of the story is where I've been stuck for eighteen years. Please understand that I never meant for any of it to happen. I wanted the perfect little life that we had going. I did."

"But Mom didn't."

Both Dewey and Cosmo froze and looked over at Huey.

"Don't say that, Hue. She did everything she could to come back to us." Dewey's stomach boiled.

Cosmo shook his head. "You're both right." He took a deep breath before continuing, his voice having changed into a deep, sore tone. "Della has always been an adventurer and always will. It's in her blood. A quiet, normal life at home raising kids was what she thought she wanted, but as it all became more real… I think it scared her. Not because she didn't love you boys, but because it seemed to her like she was losing the biggest part of herself if she didn't go out and conquer the world's greatest mysteries."

He went on. "Della and Scrooge secretly started meeting to discuss the mission to the moon plan that they had been working on before her and I met. The whole reason she went through the DASA training program was to prepare her for the moon and she was hungrier than ever for adventure. I truly believe that she was considering it to be her last big adventure before she tackled motherhood."

"When Donald found out what she was planning, he got raging mad at her. Of course, he also blamed me for not talking her out of it. I was trapped between the two of them more times than I can count. On top of that, Scrooge never approved of me, so I wanted to prove to him that I really cared about her and the things she valued. We fought a little but, in the end, I loved Della and she was always inspiring me to follow my dreams, so I encouraged her to follow hers."

Dewey chimed in. "This is the part we know. Uncle Scrooge built her a rocket and she snuck aboard behind their backs, launching it into a cosmic storm. She crash-landed on the moon and Uncle Scrooge couldn't find her."

Cosmo shifted in his seat and glanced out the window at the sky again. "There's more to it than that, boys. This is the part of the story where my world ended… along with yours. I can't say anything for myself other than I'm sorry. I've always been sorry and I will live with it for the rest of my life."