Chapter Text
Jet and Turbo were set to hatch any day now, which was why Donald has been spending so much time at the mansion. As well as his own egg, that he absolutely refused to let out of his sight. It has been... something being back there so much but he knew it was good for him, even if it really really hurt at times. He couldn't avoid it forever, especially if his nephews were going to be raised there. And he didn't want to, it wasn't like him to avoid things- he preferred head-on confrontation. Especially when it came to his family.
And in this case it was good, it got him back in contact with his Uncle, and his cousins -who unfortunately couldn't be around for the hatchings-, it kept his family together. Even if one of them wasn't there anymore. They'd survived losses before and they'd survive them now, but damnit if it wouldn't be the hardest lost he'd ever have to face. But he couldn't think about that now, this was an exciting occasion. His nephews were about to hatch! His excitement would only ever be topped by one other event, which was set to happen any week now. This was a good point in his life. Even if it didn't always feel like it.
"Donald, ae've been thinkin'," Scrooge said, jostling him out of his thoughts. "What if we... renamed Jet and Turbo?" He hesitantly asked. Which Donald got, renaming them was like taking a part of Della away. But...
"So you've been thinking about it too." He sighed and his Uncle looked at him. "I've been debating it for a while, I'm just not sure if I can call them that, it would hurt too much."
"Exactly." The room fell silent.
"What would we name them then?" He asked after a few minutes. "Any ideas?"
Scrooge hummed, "What aboot somethin' Scottish?"
"Like what, Scrooge Jr. and Scrooge the 3rd?" He asked teasingly, his Uncle swat him playfully which made him laugh. This was nice. He wasn't sure they'd ever be able to get back to this point again. It seemed that reaching out so soon helped with that.
"No you, nonsensical numbskull! Something to honor our heritage."
"My heritage is only half Scottish, I'm also a Coot in case you forgot. How about this, we find a baby book and keep searching until we find names we like." Scrooge had to admit, that was a good idea. But where could they find one? The answer was the library apparently, he wasn't sure why he had one but he wasn't gonna complain now. The two of them sat down and got to work, making sure to keep an eye on the eggs as they did so. Donald's cautiousness was starting to rub off on him but now that the twins' eggs had been in his life for so long he could see the reasoning. It definitely wasn't easy to be a single parent, he'd give his nephew that.
Granted, he had practically raised him and his sister but he had gotten them when they were almost eight years old. Doing it from scratch was something else entirely, and he was just starting to figure that out. They could work on it together. That was something that really gave him hope.
They combed through the book, looking at each name carefully but not coming upon on that interested them- that is, until they hit the D's. "What aboot Dewford fer ane o' them?" Scrooge suggested and his nephew tested it out as he looked for its meaning and found none. But discovered something else, "We could shorten it ta Dewey, which is Welsh for beloved, sounds like a good fit ta me."
Donald smiled at him, "A great fit." They continued looking for a while until this time Donald found the name. "What if we named the other one Hubert? It's German for a bright heart."
"Hubert and Dewey, something doesn't fit there."
His nephew gave him a look, "Don't do it." He said warningly. "Don't be that guy, Uncle Scrooge."
Scrooge looked at him innocently, "What? I dinnae know what yer talkin' about. All that ae'm sayin' is the two names dinnae go together very well."
"Good." Donald said pointedly. "Della and I hated being a twin stereotype, don't make them another."
"Fine. Hubert and Dewey it is then."
It was a good thing they decided on those names that day cause not a few hours later the first egg began to crack. By that point their whole party had moved to the room they had previously set up as the nursery, which were good instincts on their part. Moving hatching eggs was never a good idea and the first place they see should really be where they're going to spend most of their time.
But back to the egg, as soon as the first crack sounded Scrooge and Donald's eyes were glued to it. It was cracking at a good pace, wiggling around a moderate amount, nothing to be anxious about. Yet they both were. Both were overwrought at the thought of something going wrong, of something being wrong. These eggs were all they had left of Della, they had to be fine. Luckily for them they had nothing to be worried about- for Hubert at least. He came out perfectly fine, if a bit curious as to what was going on.
Scrooge gently grabbed him from out of his egg and cleaned him off, wrapping a red blanket around him once he was done. "Hubert." He announced. But the two of them didn't have time to be excited about him hatching, his brother wasn't far behind.
Not five seconds after Hubert had finished Dewey had begun, and much faster. He busted out of his egg at a rapid speed and Donald had to quickly grab him before he could hurt himself. He wriggled around in Donald's hands, excited to experience everything around him and it made Donald smile as he wiped him clean. "Dewey." He said softly and he swore the duckling smiled at him. He felt like crying, and he knew by looking at his Uncle that he felt the same. They were here. They were finally here.
"Welcome ta the world, wee anes."
The two of them got close together and let the ducklings explore each other, which they eagerly did. Scrooge and Donald tiredly grinned at one another and Scrooge wrapped his free arm around his nephew. His youngest nephews were now cuddled up with each other making him awe internally and coo at them. They let out little noises and his grin grew wider. They had just been born and he already loved them like crazy. And that was the moment he swore he would never let anything happen to them, that he would protect them like he couldn't protect Della.
He then noticed his oldest nephew looking at him fondly and became confused, "What?"
He smiled, "You're a natural." Scrooge smiled back and they turned back to the twins. They were watching the two of them curiously and Scrooge waved his finger in front of their faces. Their eyes glued in on it as best as they could and Dewey tried to grab it, he let him and instantly felt something he couldn't name. These two ducklings were the most precious things in the entire world, no amount of money or treasure would ever mean as much to him. No adventure would ever be more important. From now one, his life completely revolved around them. That was what being a parent meant, and he was their parent now.
"Oh god." Donald suddenly realized. "I'm gonna have one of these."
Scrooge nodded, "In a few weeks, yes."
Donald turned to him frightened, "I'm not ready! I can't even take care of myself! Oh god, I'm gonna mess this up!" He moved away from his uncle and nephews and started pacing. Scrooge carefully placed the twins in their crib then went to tend to his other nephew.
He put a hand on his arm and guided him into a chair. "Uncle Scrooge, what am I gonna do? I can't be a Dad, I don't know how."
"Hah!" Scrooge barked out but then quickly lowered his voice. "Yew, Donald Duck, dinnae know how ta be a Dad? Lad, if ae know yew ae know yew looked up every possible book on parentin' the moment yew found oot. Ye picked oot all the stuff needed ta care fer the twins, ae would've been lost in that store withoot yew. Yew've probably even babyproofed the whole houseboat by now! Yer gonna be just fine, nephew, and so is Llewelyn. Have some faith in yerself." That was easier said than done. He was Donald Duck, he messed things up, and his kid deserved better than that. Deserved better than him. But he was Donald Duck, he was gonna do everything he could to give him the best life possible. He didn't have anyone better than Donald so Donald was gonna have to be the best. And there already wasn't anything he wouldn't do for his child.
Have faith in himself, he could do that.
One of the twins suddenly started crying and he was out of his seat and to the crib before his Uncle could even take a step. He delicately grabbed Dewey, and then Hubert before he could get too fussy and started rocking both of them. "And ye say ae'm a natural."
Donald shrugged, "Just instincts."
His Uncle gawked at him, "With instincts like that ye could be the best Dad in the world." He attempted to brush the praise off, before realizing that he probably deserved it. Even before she left Donald had been the more parental twin. She had been most excited to take the twins on adventures and give them things like the stars, he knew they needed more than that, needed a parent. Someone to change their diapers and teach them how to walk and talk, someone to kiss their boo-boos and help them with their homework, someone who knew what it meant to be a parent. And even if he couldn't be that for them, he trusted Scrooge could be and that he could be there to help in any way possible.
And those instincts were tenfold when it came to his own kid, he had a feeling the two of them were gonna be just fine after all.