Huey buried his hands in his pockets and watched the ground. Just Cosmo's voice made his muscles tense. Dewey, on the other hand, sat mesmerized by the man's every word about his past, his love for their mother, how much he wanted a life with them. How can he sit there and take this?

Cosmo's voice lowered. "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."

Huey's breath caught in his throat. He swallowed hard and glanced over at Dewey. Everything in him wanted to grab his little brother and retreat to the back of the RV. Dewey, however, hovered over the table, ready for every word. His stomach twisted inside of him like strands in a rope. How can he be so cool about it? Heat rose behind his eyes as he sank into the booth, stuck listening to the man who was supposed to be his dad explaining why he chose to leave them.

Cosmo heaved a sigh and rubbed his temples. "I'm sorry. This is hard for me to umm…." Silence stretched across the vehicle.

In the quiet, Dewey reached down and shook his leg. Huey looked up at Dewey's dopey, reassuring smile that, frankly, made him want to clock him. Either way, for some reason, his brother's touch did ease the tension in his muscles just enough for him to relax his shoulders, but he kept his arms tight across his chest.

"The Spear of Selene was a surprise for Della," Cosmo started up again. "She and Scrooge had been planning her trip to the moon, but she didn't know that he had already commissioned the rocket. Since she and I had gone through some strains in our marriage with the whole follow your dreams stuff, I was just eager to get her back on my side again. I was sick of fighting with her all the time and I wanted her to know how much I supported her. I confided in Bradford about this a few weeks before your birth. He had worked on the budget for the rocket and so he let me in on the surprise."

He dropped his chin to his chest and avoided their eyes. "Scrooge was going to wait to tell her until you boys hatched, just in case there was a chance she'd change her mind about going and wait a few years. However, I couldn't wait that long. I told her about the rocket before he could. I hoped that, maybe if she touched the moon, she would finally feel like she had accomplished it all and would be ready to settle down with me and you boys."

I wish he would stop talking about how much he wanted to "settle down" and raise us. He clearly didn't want it bad enough. Huey crossed his legs and tucked himself into the seat a little closer to Dewey.

"Between the two of us we figured out a way to sneak her to the rocket without Scrooge and Donald finding out. My job was to prep for her flight. I had done all the calculations to get her to the moon and back safely. I even studied the skies ahead of time. I was her ground control."

Huey lifted his head, suddenly intrigued. I guess that makes sense. That's always been the missing piece. She couldn't have just launched the rocket without someone on the ground or a flight-plan. That's not Mom. I mean, sure she's a little reckless sometimes, but she's a professional pilot. How come I never thought about it before? The facts didn't add up. He shrugged and tried to look uninterested again, even though that puzzle piece had him yearning for more.

"To this day I do not understand how but my calculations were wrong and I led her straight into a cosmic storm. I should have talked her down but she was confident she could make it through and I… I didn't know what else to do. Scrooge came in and found me in the control room as I was talking her through the storm. He took the controls over and tried to talk her down, to get her to turn around." He pressed his palm to his temple and shook his head. "All I can remember is a lot of yelling back and forth before we lost signal with the rocket… and in turn lost your mom to the inky abyss of space."

Huey and Dewey held their breaths and, this time, both of their eyes were glued to him.

"I felt responsible and so did Scrooge. Della and I went behind his back to launch the rocket, I led her into the storm, and Scrooge had paid for the whole venture. We had all three kept Donald in the dark about it so you can only imagine how that went." He sighed and folded his hands in his lap. "Scrooge blamed me, Donald blamed both of us, but I had no one to blame but myself. All of the rescue teams came back empty handed, all of the time and money went nowhere. I tried to get Scrooge to send me up in one of the rockets but he refused to let me near them. It got to where they wouldn't talk to me and Donald kept coming by to take you boys more often. We never found her." He stared off into space, with the eyes of a man who was haunted by mistakes, shaking his head. "They were right, it was my fault. It wasn't Scrooge or Donald that had lost her… it was me. I was the screw up."

Huey rubbed his elbow. That sounds familiar. All he could think about at that moment was Louie. "I get it. I'm a screw up." Louie said that about himself more than once and had Huey ever actually denied it? Man, I have some apologizing to do when we find him.

After a brief moment to breathe and regain his thoughts, Cosmo continued. "During the grief of losing your mom and because of the part I played in it, I let Donald take you boys. I talked with Bradford, who was always good at listening and giving factual advice to balance out my dreamer-brain. He said he would give me a position in his own company so I could take some time to fix my issues and grieve Della properly, without Scrooge and Donald to try and work around."

Huey looked at Dewey when he mentioned Bradford for the second time. So the F.O.W.L. connection is true. By the look on his face, Dewey noticed it too.

"I didn't think I was qualified enough to raise you. Without Della, I didn't believe that I could be the parent you boys needed. Donald was qualified and, after losing his twin sister, he wasn't about to take his eyes off the three of you. No matter how much I loved you boys, I was too afraid to take responsibility." He set his hand over his heart and tears came to his eyes as he looked them both in the face. "I was too young, stupid, and completely angry with myself at the time to think about how my decision to walk away would impact you boys. I was a selfish coward." He closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Maybe I still am."

After a long moment of silence, he opened his eyes again and wiped a few tears away. "I had been responsible for my wife's disappearance… and what I thought was her death. I didn't want to screw things up with you boys either. If I could do it over again, I would have never left you."

Huey clenched his fists. Everything. It all started to sound like excuses for being a cowardly father. He had said it himself. Fire awakened in his veins and the Duke's voice slowly slipped into the narrative.

"He's only telling you all this so he can get what he wants. This sob story isn't for you and your brothers. He wants something from you. He's a coward! He's never done anything to protect you! Letting Donald raise you was the easy way out." He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped his shirt between his fingers. It doesn't matter… it doesn't matter. I agreed to sit and listen to this for Dewey's sake.

"Dewey? He can't even decide what he wants for breakfast half of the time. You can't expect him to decide what he feels about Cosmo!"

Shut up! Dewey will kill me if I interrupt right now. We have to sit and listen… even if it is a bunch of baloney.

"You said you worked for Bradford, right?" Dewey spoke up, drawing the topic away from them. It seemed intentional enough that it was clear he knew Huey was on the verge of explosion.

"Yes, we should cover that." He set his hands out on the table, open. "The recovery force for Della led nowhere, as you know, and I was not the father you deserved at the time, so I took Bradford's offer. Part of the deal was that I had to go into hiding, do some undercover work for him. I was a scholar in my younger years and had a lot of experience in archeology, translating languages, and even some robotics."

Dewey nudged Huey in the ribs.

Huey rolled his eyes and pushed him back. And he used that work to benefit F.O.W.L, the organization THAT TRIED TO KILL US!

Cosmo looked between them, confused for a moment before continuing. "Please believe me when I say that I had no idea he was really trying to thwart Scrooge and your family. I was completely in the dark. My primary job was leading archeological digs. I also assisted Black Heron in her lab. Her knowledge of both chemistry and robotics was fascinating to study and it was my understanding that she was using her research to contribute to society. Of course, I was wrong." He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks red. "I had no idea that-"

Huey stood up. "I've heard enough."

Dewey reached out to grab his arm. "Wait. Before you go off on him, I have one question."

Huey raised his eyebrow. "After all of that, you have one question?"

Dewey turned to their dad. "Did you and Mom pick out names for us? Ya know, before Uncle D named us."

Cosmo's lips spread into a smile. "Jet, Turbo, and Rebel. I came up with Jet because of my past as with DASA and she picked out Rebel. I'll give you one guess as to why."

Dewey smirked. "She's mom. Who needs rules when you're Della Duck?"

"You got it, kid. And Turbo? That was a combined effort, a diamond of a name," he chuckled. "Not a huge surprise that Donald thought better of it, though."

Dewey lit up. "Yes! I knew it!" He hopped onto the table and hugged him around the neck.

The blood drained from Huey's face. "Woah, woah, woah! That's it?! That's the only question you have? The only thing you need to know?" He facepalmed. Man, I miss Louie. At least he takes things seriously and doesn't rush into things.

"Uh yeah. He and mom picked out our names together. Why? Do you have other questions?" Dewey shrugged with a smile.

Huey let out an exasperated sigh. "YES! How can you not?! He's continually trying to justify both leaving us and joining F.O.W.L. Bradford tried to erase us from existence!" He turned to Cosmo. "So not only did you leave us and forget about Mom in space, you also joined Bradford in trying to destroy us." What kind of a dad does that?!

Cosmo's face contorted. He patted Dewey on the shoulder and scooted to the edge of the booth to face Huey. "And you have every right to be mad at me for it. I'm still angry at myself for it. That's why I never pursued meeting you boys. That doesn't mean I forgot about your mom. I could never forget her." He let out a breath. "Every time I think I'm doing something right to fix my mistakes, I only screw them up more." He slumped in the seat. "I am doing my best to be transparent with you both. This is a sensitive situation all around and one that I don't think any of us expected to be in."

He pulled out a few pictures he had of the three of them as kids out of his wallet. "I assure you, I've never stopped caring about you three. Leaving you with Donald was a decision I made out of fear but I've lived the last eighteen years regretting it and wishing I could be with you."

The fire in Huey's veins seeped into his chest until his lungs burned. He squeezed his hands into fists until his knuckles hurt. Words, all just words. Why didn't he just come back? And how are we supposed to know that he wasn't in on F.O.W.L.'s plans? How can we believe that he cares when, up to now, he's done everything in his power to avoid us?

The Duke's voice intruded his thoughts. "Old ratty pictures in a wallet don't cover it. Make him prove it. Make him prove that he's always cared about you, otherwise, why is he really here?"

With eyes narrowed and teeth clenched, Huey leaned over with his knuckles on the table. "Then tell me one thing, what's with the yellow hat?"