Someone in the comments asked for a second chapter for this where Della had to go to a parent-teacher conference and that seemed like a pretty good idea so I decided to bring it to life. This chapter follows my "the triplets went to a regular high school later in life" headcanon which I've only really poked at with To be or not to be, which is a tragically under-reviewed story.

This chapter brings up the same issues (somewhat) that Donald was addressed with in the first chapter but with a different view of them. I hope you like it, please review if you do.

"You should be the one to go," Donald said to his sister when he got the call from the triplet's high school teacher.

"What? Why? You know I prefer to stick it to the man."

"And I prefer to not be another brick in the wall, and yet the boys are still in high school and I'm pretty sure you haven't been on the hook for disciplinary matters like this yet."

Della crossed her arms and paced for a second, "It can't have been that bad."

"Oh, I'm sure," Donald said with an eye roll, knowing what the triplets were capable of. He'd been in one too many of these meetings.

"Which one is in trouble? Is it Louie?" Della asked. Donald was half-surprised that Louie was the one she defaulted to as the troublemaker but he merely smirked at his wildly unprepared sister.

"It is Louie. And Huey. And Dewey. They never call for one of the triplets. Better to buy one get two free on lectures. Have fun, Della."

"I can't do this! You've gotta help me!"

"If I remember right, nothing stops Della Duck." With that, he promptly shut her out of his houseboat and let her go learn of the boy's flaws.

It wasn't as if Della didn't know her boys weren't perfect. Okay, so she had a tendency to believe that they were better than anyone else and she was still outraged every single time one of her children was bested in a competition, but she knew that they messed up. She knew that they required disciplinary action now and then. That didn't mean that she didn't still hate to do it, and she hated to admit their flaws, especially if those flaws were frighteningly similar to her own. For someone who had come to loathe her own physical reflection, it wasn't always comfortable staring back at three teenage boys who reflected the good in her with the bad.

So she didn't need some teacher saying how bad the bad got, she knew it herself. The worst-case scenario was another moon landing. The worst-case scenario was obviously losing her boys entirely. Losing any of them would be so heartbreaking. So unless that was what was going down at this parent-teacher conference, she really had nothing to be worried about.

Yet she was panicked as she sat down across from the teacher, not knowing that this was exactly how her brother had felt all those years he'd had to do the same.

"Ms. Duck."

"Della is fine."

"Alright, Della. We need to talk about your sons' behavior."

"Which one?"

"All of them."

"Okay, shoot."

"Let's start with Huey. Huey is an incredibly bright student-"

"I knew it! Why am I here?"

"You're here because it seems that Huey suffers from some sort of social anxiety. Of course, he's not in trouble because of that, but I worry that it's not being addressed at home and that Huey has had to suffer in silence."

"Are you accusing me of being a bad parent? Because I'm not a bad parent and Huey is not a bad kid!"

"Of course not. I just wanted to remind you that professional help is available to help your boys with their struggles. I believe that therapy would be beneficial to all three of your sons, among other things."

"So you don't think I can handle them on my own?"

"Ms. Duck, no one is implying that you can't handle them on your own. But your sons are growing up. It would be best to instill the ability to ask for help in them now before it's too late. I promise you that we want nothing but the best for your children."

"Right. Well, then, we're on the same page. Is that all, about Huey?"

"He has difficulty speaking in front of the class, but I imagine those things are related and can be addressed together. Let's talk about Dewey, now."

"Dewey is perfect-" Della blurted.

"He is a very good kid," the teacher agreed, "I don't want to tell you otherwise. He does have his flaws, however." Della gritted her teeth, waiting for the teacher to continue.

"Dewey has a tendency to be distracted during class and he can hardly sit still. He does his best work in his music electives and when he has something that he enjoys to funnel his energy towards he does quite well, however his grades suffer in other courses because he can't seem to focus. If you haven't already, I recommend having him tested for ADHD, there are medications that can be very beneficial for people with attention deficits if that's what you and your family choose to do. By no means do I want to change your children, Della. I just want you to do what's best for him."

"And Louie? How do you want me to fix Louie? He's smart, I know he's smart."

"He is smart. His test scores when he applies himself are always impressive. However, I'm afraid that for the most part, Louie does not apply himself. I don't think that he's distracted in the way that Dewey is distracted because if you try to get the information out of his head he's able to showcase what he's learned, however for the most part he just doesn't put in the effort."

"He applies himself to things he cares about. He's not lazy."

"I'm inclined to agree with you, Della. I don't think he's lazy either, I think he's depressed. I think that his schoolwork suffers not because he's lazy or unintelligent but because putting any effort in at all is difficult for him. I don't know what people have been saying about these boys all along, I don't know how much they have or haven't been blamed for their behavior in the past. The truth of the matter is that they're all wonderful boys with tons of potential, they just have their potential impaired by things that may not be in their control. This isn't an attack, Della. I hope you understand that."

"I… I understand. You want my boys to be the best that they can. I do too. Thank you for not blaming them."

"For each of them, there are still things they could do better, mental illness is never an excuse for bad behavior, but you can't really expect someone to change if they haven't addressed the root of the problem."

"Right. Well, I have a lot to think about. Thank you again. I'm, uh… I'm sorry about my outbursts." Della left, thinking hard about what she had learned, and what she was going to do with it. Hoping she could help her boys live up to their potential, realizing that there were some things in her own life that she had to address as well.