when you wish upon a star (scrooge and della)

[sos_pilot]

 It was half past midnight when the crash came. Perhaps the gods of fortune decided to give Donald one last break in that it didn't destroy his houseboat - no, this landing was in the gardens.

The mangled heap of what used to be the Spear of Selene and moon-men-based-technology left a sizable crater in the ground, smoke billowing up for ages. A few minutes after the landing, one of the windows was pushed open, and the pilot made an ungraceful landing on the ground. She had expected a more dignified leap, but had also forgotten about gravity.

Compared to all the other things that had happened on the moon, this pain was nothing. She wobbled to her feet, and then stopped in place once she got an eyeful of... everything.

The mansion.

She was at the mansion.

She was in Duckberg. Earth. Home.

Comments

[sos_pilot]

"It beats sitting on your butt all day, watching bad TV and reading books about adventures you're not on." Della huffed, crossing her arms as best she could.

Sure, she didn't really have a head for business, but it was better than doing nothing at all. She craved adventure and excitement with every passing second.

[richestduck]

"Somehow I doubt you'd think that for long," he muttered with an eyeroll. Louder, he said, "Just take it easy, Della. I know it's not a simple thing given the kind of people we are, but you've got to remember it's not just you you've got to worry about right now. Right now I'd argue you're working harder than both Donald and me combined."

[sos_pilot]

"Fiiiine..." Easier said than done, but then again, it wasn't as if she had much choice in the matter.

"But I better to get to hear about every last thing that happened in Germany. No matter how boring you think it is."

[richestduck]

"If you're really after the gory details, I'm sure it'll make a fabulous bedtime story," Scrooge chuckled, picking up their plates and taking them to the sink to wash them. "Most of the time I was there was spent butting heads with the regional distributor. Germans love having rules for just about everything so you have to have a pocket-sized reference to thumb through for each little thing. Nothing but four days of unraveling red tape only to fire the man I'd been fighting with since it turns out he laid off a quarter of his drivers months ago, lied about it, and embezzled their wages until all the complaints regarding late deliveries started rolling in."

[sos_pilot]

... Okay maybe this was the tiniest bit boring. She might have started nodding off in the middle of it.

"Oh, man, that... sounds like a major bummer. Really."

[richestduck]

Scrooge snickered. Then he leaned against the counter after putting the now-clean dishes on the drying rack. "Something you and Donald get to look forward to, at least."

[sos_pilot]

Don't yawn, that would be rude, don't yawn...

"Did he declare bloody revenge against you? You do have a habit of making lifelong friends and rivals wherever you go."

[richestduck]

"I got a 'Verfluche dich, McDuck!' but nothing else as he was hauled off to jail. Pretty basic stuff," Scrooge said with a shrug.

[sos_pilot]

"Eh, barely worth letting security know." A wave of her hand.

[richestduck]

"Given he's in jail and his passport's been revoked, only a tiny chance of him actually getting to the US to even make an attempt," Scrooge affirmed. "Like I said before, if you want the nitty gritty details, it'd make a boring enough story to cure insomnia."

[sos_pilot]

"I'm starting to wonder if you avoided any excitement just for my sake," she lightly teased, swinging her foot about.

[richestduck]

"Such is the nature of business, lass. You and Donald are gonna have those same long lulls in excitement when you two take over," Scrooge told her with a chuckle, taking the empty can of soda and jug of juice to put in the recycle bin.

[sos_pilot]

"Oh, please, that won't happen for another hundred years... two hundred, if we play our cards right." She shot him another grin. "I wouldn't be surprised if, by the time you finally do get around to retiring, my babies will be the ones taking over."

[richestduck]

Scrooge didn't return the grin. It was a conversation he really didn't want to have, but...he was almost a hundred and forty. "Della, I don't plan on retiring any time soon, but we both know I might not have a choice in when you and Donald take over. I really should've taken you two in sooner to start learning some of the ropes."

[sos_pilot]

Oh, sheesh, he was really going to start in on the loss of his life when she was ready to give birth to three lives? He was Scrooge McDuck, he was practically immortal! Nothing less than gods could take him down - and apparently not even that, given Zeus' track record.

(Maybe she was in denial, seeing how deeply she loved him, but, eh, details.)

"I don't think mom and dad would've been all that happy if we got here any sooner," as usual, she tried to deflect,relax, and make a joke out of a stressful situation. "They're already jealous enough of how much time we spend with you."

[richestduck]

Scrooge knew she knew what he was talking about, but he sighed and decided to drop it for now. (One day they needed to seriously talk about it, but now might not be the best time after all.)

"Well, I suppose waiting a little longer wouldn't hurt. You'll be busy enough trying to get around for a while yet," he lightly teased.

[sos_pilot]

Dela blew him a raspberry. Clearly she was mature enough for a child, and multiples of them.

"I think mom only just came around now to forgiving me for... this." She gestured to her stomach.

[richestduck]

"In her defense, Della, what you did was incredibly risky," he told her flatly. "Be grateful you ended up being surprised by triplets, not something truly nasty."

In the modern era, one could never tell. Though, honestly, syphilis in particular was notorious during his own younger years.

[sos_pilot]

Welp, that was clearly the wrong path to take. She looked away, a hint of shame and guilt crawling up. Probably not as much as someone in her situation should have, but still.

"I get enough lectures from them, thanks. And I'd rather not think of my babies as mistakes."

[richestduck]

"Don't put words in my mouth, young lady," Scrooge said sternly. "When I said 'surprise, I meant that they were surprise gifts, not mistakes. Just like you and your brother were."

[sos_pilot]

Della blinked.

Blinked again.

Oh, boy, mom. Had anything she ever said been the truth?

"... Moooooom always told us we were planned." Not that she really cared either way, but it would be a nice comeback in case her folks ever complained again.

[richestduck]

"You were planned," Scrooge said with a smirk. "Hortense and Quackmore had everything all planned out save the timing. They'd wanted to wait a year or two to find a nice house of their own and then have a couple of kids one at a time.

"Unfortunately for them, you two had other plans."

[sos_pilot]

Della snorted, covering her hand with her mouth.

"Of course." She replied with a shake of her head. "Leave it to our family to be the gift that keeps on giving, especially unintentionally."

[richestduck]

Scrooge chuckled at that. "You're in for a real corker of an adventure, Della. Quite frankly, I'm a bit jealous of you for it. You and Donald when he finally decides to settle down and have kids." He paused. "And Matilda if she ever finds her own 'Mr. Right'."

[sos_pilot]

Every now and then she heard rumors about Matilda and a mysterious mister "Von Drake", but she decided not to bring it up unless she got absolute confirmation. No need to kick in "big bro mode".

"Well... is it really too late for you?" She dared to venture. "I know you're no spring chicken, but the right woman, the right kids..." She made a wavy gesture with her hands. "Impossible's a hard thing to accept with us, after all."