Notes:

Spoilers for Timephoon!

I feel like they've been tiptoeing over Della abandoning them for the entire season and I was glad that Louie said something, even if it was shouted in anger.

Louie glowered at their room. He couldn't believe their mom had sent him to his room and grounded him. Who did she think she was? Uncle Donald? What right did she have to do anything when she'd ditched them for ten years and then showed up out of nowhere? She hadn't even explained why she'd left them. This was total crap. Why should he listen to her? Yes, okay, everything that had happened had been his fault, but the others had been willing to forgive and forget. Where did she get off saying otherwise?

Louie fumed, stretched out on the lowermost bunk. He had no outlet for his rage and resentment. Yeah, okay, Della was their mom biologically, but she hadn't earned that right or that respect. Again, she'd blown here out of nowhere and she expected them to act like everything was normal. Forget that. Nothing was normal.

The others were outside doing whatever and he seethed. They got to move about, free and unencumbered. Right now, he hated their guts. The only person he hated more than his siblings right now was their mom. He turned over on the bed and folded his arms across his chest.

No one had come in here to check in on him, either. They didn't care. Yes, okay, he'd blasted them all out of existence for a while. And yeah, it was because he'd been running a con. Maybe the "get rich quick" schemes were a bit long in the tooth. But so what?

His thoughts swirled, returning to Della and Uncle Donald again and again. Uncle Donald had been there for them. He'd always been there for him. He was more their parent than their mom was. Why was he still gone? Surely the cruise wouldn't last this long. Where was Donald?

He huddled in on himself and felt the old abandonment issues wrestle with his resentment against his mother. That was right. She'd left them there to rot. If it hadn't been for Uncle Donald, who knew what would've happened to them? Would they have grown up in an orphanage? Probably. And no thanks to the so-called "best mom", Della Duck.

Trust for him was hard-won. Everyone around here had earned his trust, save his mother. And he genuinely felt bad about what he'd done. He wasn't a monster. His mom had had no right to blow up like that.

Gyro had taken back the time tub, because of course he had. Louie wanted more than anything to escape the confines of his room. Everything and everyone grated on his nerves. The manor was too restricting.

He could run away, but then where would he get food and basic necessities? Besides, there was still that hurricane outside. No one ran away in a hurricane unless they wanted instant death. Louie wasn't that brave or foolhardy.

The door crept open and he growled, back to it.

"Whoever it is, go away," he snapped.

"Louie?" Della called.

"Where did you think I'd be?" Louie said from between gritted teeth. "You sent me here, remember?"

He bit back a nasty remark. Part of him wanted to curse her out and lash out at her because not only was she a good target, she was the reason their Uncle Donald had struggled for so long and so hard to raise them. She was the reason they hadn't grown up here, in the lap of luxury, because she'd had to run off to take the Spear. In fact, everything in their lives up until Uncle Scrooge had taken them in seemed to be her fault.

"I wanted to talk," she said. She sat beside him on the bed and he automatically moved over so they weren't touching. His rage and disgust were thick.

"Didn't you do enough of that?" he asked, his tone barbed. "I don't want to hear it. You have no right to lecture me on anything. You bailed on us. You're the reason Uncle Scrooge and Uncle Donald didn't talk for ten years. We could've grown up here. We could've been happy. But, no. You ditch us the first chance you get and then you're conveniently not here for ten years.

"And then you show up and you expect everyone to flock to you? Dewey's a soft touch. He's always been easy to trick. Huey-you appeal to his stupid Junior Woodchuck stuff and he's all over you. But me? I'm not buying it."

Louie straightened up and glowered at her. "Do you know what we did the first year we were here? After Uncle Donald and Scrooge made up? We spent a year trying to figure out what happened to you because no one would talk about you. Uncle Donald barely ever said your name."

Della faltered. She hadn't expected the vitriol, which was too bad, because he wasn't finished. She'd just have to wait.

"I think you're full of it. You pretend you're a good mom and you expect everyone to buy the act. That's all it is, an act."

"I know it is," Della said softly, surprising him. "And I'm sorry I wasn't here. I didn't know about Uncle Scrooge and Donald not talking for ten years. I assumed when you were growing up, that you were here."

"You were wrong," Louie told her coldly. "You were wrong about everything. You were wrong that I'd want you back or choose you over Uncle Donald. And you're wrong if you think you can be my mom."

"What...what happened while I was gone?"

"It all fell apart. Uncle Donald had to take odd jobs to keep us alive on his houseboat and we traveled all over so he could find work. We didn't even know about Uncle Scrooge and him being our uncle until a year ago."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

Louie looked her right in the eye and glared hatefully. "What makes you think you can waltz into our lives in the middle of everything and just pick up the pieces?"

His mother looked taken aback. "I...I didn't. I don't. Louie, I'm sorry. But you shouldn't have played around with the time stream. You could've gotten someone killed."

"And Uncle Donald should be the one reprimanding me, not you. Uncle Donald's our dad."

Della frowned. "I know. I'll talk to him as soon as he gets home. But...don't you want to trust me? Even a little? I know I missed a lot of stuff and I messed up, but I do love you and your brothers. I care about you, all of you. I thought we were getting along pretty well."

Louie scoffed. "That's because I'm good at grifting. Don't take it seriously."

"I see," Della said, rising. A mask fell over her features and she straightened up from the bottom bunk. He didn't miss her wincing, though she did her utmost to hide it.

"I'll leave you alone," she said.

"Good," he snapped and then, after she'd gone and closed the door, whispered it again. "Good."

He thought he'd feel better after spitting all that out at her. If anything, he felt worse. Yes, he had abandonment issues and yes, he resented what she'd done. He'd wanted to hurt her like she'd hurt them. But...he didn't want to lose her, either. It was all so complicated. That was part of why he was so upset with her. She'd left them once-what was to stop her from doing it again? And what if, this time when she did, it was his fault?

Louie swallowed hard and tears sprang to his eyes. He lay there for a while, in the darkness. No one disturbed him. The wind outside howled and he didn't think about anything for a long time. The ache in his chest wouldn't go away and the tears still slipped down his cheeks. He didn't want the comfort anyone could provide.

When he stopped crying, he stared out at the boarded up window. They'd managed to board it up before Launchpad had broken it instead. He could've gotten him killed. The last time that he'd almost gotten Launchpad killed, it'd been because he'd been concealing something too. Louie sighed.

"I wonder where I learned that from."

Maybe he was the evil triplet. He sure felt like it. It was too late to call the words back and he didn't want to. He just wanted to be left alone.

Della Duck felt like she'd been sucker-punched in the gut. Why had no one told her how badly things had gone awry when she'd been gone? She'd assumed that the boys had been raised by both their uncles while she was gone. She didn't think Louie was lying about what had happened while she was away. That made it all the more painful.

Like her youngest son, she wanted to be left alone. Since Mrs. Beakley had said she wasn't cleaning up the mess Louie had created, Della did it, using it as something to take her mind off Louie's venom. Unfortunately, even while her hands were busy, her mind drifted.

Being a mother was so much harder than she'd thought it'd be. Being a mother to pre-teen boys was even worse. She sighed. She wanted to talk to Donald so badly that it competed with the ache Louie had caused and threatened to beat it out. She missed her twin something awful.

She'd thought he'd be here when she came back. How wrong she'd been. Della kept her head down. Despite what Mrs. Beakley had told her about reprimanding Louie to make sure he was a better kid in the future, Della didn't think it'd work. After all, she'd already proven she was a terrible mother.

Della sighed, tears pricking her eyes. She swiped at them. She was strong. And these Ducks didn't back down.

Why had Donald gone on a cruise without technology, anyway? Della knew that Huey's postcards hadn't reached him, which left her perplexed and a little worried. The boys had written it off, but she hadn't. She also had that vague sense in the back of her mind like something was wrong with Donald, but since she'd had it for so long on the moon, she'd learned to ignore it. Perhaps she shouldn't.

She knew one thing for certain. She was going to leave Louie alone for a while. She had no desire to be verbally flayed again. Once was quite enough, thank you.

"Am I really that bad a mother?" Della asked aloud.

"No, dear, just inexperienced," Mrs. Beakley answered, coming in to help her despite claiming that she wouldn't.

"Louie just basically told me off. Again."

"He's upset," Mrs. Beakley said and frowned. "You did leave him for ten years, Della."

"I know I did," Della groaned. "Why does everyone need to keep reminding me? I came back, didn't I?"

"But some wounds are slow to heal," Mrs. Beakley warned. "And sometimes, trust is hard to get back once it's lost. Give him time. Louie's more sensitive than he lets on."

"That's another thing," Della said. "You know my kids better than I do."

"Of course I do," Mrs. Beakley said primly. "I've been around them longer. Like I said, it takes time. You need to have patience. It can't all fall together at once. You've been trying to be their friend. You can't always be their friend and you certainly can't be friendly with them and discipline them at the same time."

Della nodded halfheartedly. She still felt like she'd screwed up tonight. Maybe there was no winning this situation.

"Don't worry," Mrs. Beakley said and squeezed Della's shoulder. "He'll come around."

"Maybe," Della said, but she was doubtful. Mrs. Beakley hadn't heard Louie earlier. Maybe she did know her kids better than Della did, but...Della was willing to bet that Louie wasn't going to take that grounding and dissolution of Louie, Inc. sitting still.

No, he definitely wasn't going to let this rest. He'd come up with something, a plan of attack. His mom might've won this round, but…

Louie sighed. What was the point? He huddled in his covers. They'd spent all that time trying to figure out what had happened to their mom and now that their mom was back, it was almost easier without her. It certainly was more familiar without her.

Heads he lost, tails he lost. No winning this situation.