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Chapter Text

Everything sucked was an understatement. From the feeling of her mouth sore even raw from the constant chewing gum managing the scrape the inside of her cheeks and tongue with a mismanage of her teeth. Her teeth were also sore - it wasn’t like Della was on top of her dental hygiene, but it showed itself much more prevalent now. Her head always pounded for a list of reasons but could be pinpointed to stress, lack of sleep, and her body adjusting to the undisputed stupid piece of gum. A normal stick of gum has 4 calories total but if that were the case with the gum Della had then she would have had a lot more problems with her health. The scientific marvel had jam packed calories in accordance with the calories needed by the body. 

However, her stomach had shrank from lack of use despite the calories. She seemed to shrink while the abundance of nutrition seemed to focus itself to grow out her hair. 

The moon was also not as constant as the earth with temperatures ranging both way higher and lower than the earth could ever dream of confining Della to her ship with some consistency. As well as protection from the radiation of the moon and solar flares. Not to mention the regolith that wouldn’t stop clinging to the inside of any gaps in Della’s artificial leg she constructed along with clinging to any piece of Della reachable. It wasn’t even a nice rocky substance since it wasn’t under the same conditions of earth being worn down by the oceans. Just like everything on the planet everything that was there was an abrasive fighter. Della had to follow in their footsteps to survive herself. 

That meant fighting for every rocket part from being confiscated by a big crawling monster. With years of virtually decades of practicing, the moon was a different beast where Della had to adjust some of her methods to deal with the adversities of the moon. Even with fighting the moon monster Della had to adjust to the lighter gravity to a lack of a leg to fully feel and control like before. Della would occasionally get either pinched or spitted on by the monster but more and more Della exploited the weakness of the monster so she would result in more victorious matches. She had to consider what all of this was for. To see her family. 

It would be so easy to lie down and spit out the gum, but she wanted to see her boys, her family again. To apologize and to witness them doing anything. To talk to someone again or to eat a chili dog. The further Della lived the more she was motivated to not let her last moments be so far from earth. 

Della opened her eyes to the moon’s atmosphere as a gasp. It was normal to wake up this way especially when her gum stopped producing oxygen due to a lack of chewing when in REM sleep. Della would paste the gum to the ridge of her bill to prevent a swallow from occurring that put her closer to death. She would sacrifice some air for an investment towards another day where she does not run out of the gum entirely. It just meant that Della would lack consistent sleep time. Taking 10 minutes to provide a little bit of REM sleep so that Della could function a bit better. Excessive chewing seemed to provide ten minutes worth of not needing the life saving gum. After however, it was essential in a matter of seconds to chew on. Della had to keep the bundles of gum on her just in case. 

“Are you going to get up or just lay about?” It was a fake Scrooge. She knew it was exclusive to her imagination, but she couldn’t address it as such for a fear that the voice would disappear, and she would find herself to be utterly alone. 

“I’m up,” Della said after enough chewing to be able to speak out loud. She could imagine Scrooge nodding approvingly since he was one to prioritize an early bird over one that slept in. At least she could assume that despite the moon’s 28 rotational period that prolonged a sense of day and night that in Duckburg she would be getting up at the appropriate time. She could imagine that anyway. Della rose from her lying position on top of her worn out astronaut suit and made it over to the rocket manual. 

“Hi mom, did you sleep well?” It was her recreation of her son Rebel she created in her mind. 

“You know I did my best. What are you up to in order to ask such a question?” She imagined all her boys to be playfully rebellious, so she played that up to provide some comfort. 

“Nothing,” she imagined Rebel replying with his eyes flickering side to side. Della looked to where she imagined he’s looking to see a part of the rocket ship astray. She shakes her head playfully and picks up the rocket part. 

“Thanks for the rocket part. I’ll be sure to put it on the rocket ship by myself.” The rocket ship part hadn’t been there in Della’s recollection but due to the fact that she slept quite little she had produced fits of microsleep throughout the day and would blackout memories that were otherwise repetitive or gaps with adrenaline pumping throughout her body she wouldn’t gather up too many memories from that course of action. These instances bleed into her day and Della would keep tabs of it from the surprising, detailed date and time on the rocket that did not seem to stop with electricity or the sheer impact of the crash initially. It was one of the only things grounding Della to earth with the time of Duckburg and the time zone associated with it. As well as a calendar so Della could physically mark up the days that passed. 

Della would try and spend the first of her day checking what she missed when under the influence of sleep. Any dents or electrical issues with the outside of the rocket. Going outside of the rocket was incredibly risky with the extreme temperatures. Today being in the colder aspect hitting -53 degrees Celsius if Della rigged the thermostat right. This being a much nicer variant than the further extreme as cold as -250 and as hot as 130 in Celsius. With the right equipment Della always found a way to escape the confinements of the ship even if it is for a short duration. 

Della could manage the frostbite and the heat exhaustion when the situation rose. It was the mental aspect that really took her down, especially what she internalized from her family members. She let the guilt be since she could really manage it and part of what she hated herself for had little room to argue. She was a neglectful mother who disrespected her brother’s wishes and stole her uncle’s rocket. Why did she expect a better outcome? Why did she think she could outweigh the anxieties, sadness, and irritability of being a mother with an even heavier decision if that were possible? She still produced a determination to make it off the moon and an ounce of hope that things could work out. She wanted to be able to adventure with her sons even the glimpse of them would give her a final push to get to them. As long as they were alive that’s all Della needed, she didn’t care if they differed from her picture. To be honest she preferred it since she did only give a scribble into their appearance. 

Della also noted the camera she set up to send transmissions to her kids as a way of reassurance. She sat down in front of the camera with determinant. She imagined her kids behind the camera with bated breath with wide eyes on their mom on screen.  

“Hiya kids. It is close to the anniversary of six years on the moon. Time flies except not really for me but I hope for you three it has.” Della then as per usual went off on a tangent towards the camera. Discussing in a one-sided conversation about anything and everything. Della discussed the stars in the sky discussing how they looked unfiltered by earth’s atmosphere. Analyzing the constellations seemed to be one of the few activities that could spark the joy she would carry on from her early adulthood, youth, even early childhood as she sparked wonder looking above her. Now Della could now only fixate on a below angle of the earth. The stars still sparkled with reminisce of those simpler times, they still called out to her beckoning her to join them. It would be cozier. To Della she always imagined space travel to be the pinnacle of freedom, and open space instead she met with the trapping of the moon.

It was not even the damnation of hell as hell would indicate that there was a finale to be had but she was bound to the notions of what if. Della through the camera told her sons that she would be in their arms soon. ‘Soon’ she always said soon as it was the only form of time tracking, she had. Anything more than soon could be never and that could only spiral Della down deeper into a pit that would escalate into something that would be seemingly impossible to climb out of. When Della cut the camera, she felt the void of putting on a friendly, brave face. She felt numb trying to devoid herself of any emotion that attempted to claw out to her, trapping her emotions like an animal trapped in the ribcage to her heart.

“Its good to keep on a brave face to them all. They do not need to know any more than the extent of monster hunting and gold findings. Trust me, they don’t need to lose you twice to the moon.” It was fake Scrooge reassuring her that she had made the right choice in her ways of talking to everyone. That it was some sort of fun adventure that she got herself into instead of hurting herself physically and emotionally every second she remained alive.

“Is that why you haven’t brought up any more ships?” Della asked her voice cold at the edges, “because you think I’m some sort of fucking knock off of Isabelle Finch?”

“You already had the privilege of getting one ship to you. Do you think I would waste my money bin on bringing you home? Why would I risk everything to rescue someone who wasted my life already with their mistake? I raised you to be independent and self reliant if you can’t do that then you have failed the adventure and deserve to stay here.”

“I am not a failure,” Della retorted determinate, “I have learned, grown, and will end up in my boys’ arms in the end. I don’t need you and your money.”

“Mommy,” Turbo’s voice echoed in Della’s ear, “when you land back on earth are you going to abandon us like you did your real kids?” This was the question that broke the dam Della was so determined to keep sturdy. Her eyes watered and her throat was dry but resisted from opening to a wail. She knew everyone that could talk to her was fake and conjured out of her from her loneliness. Though it showed that by each day everyone – especially her sons – were getting more and more real and there had been a lot of days gone by already. Della wiped her tears from her face. She knew would have to amount to more than this for the day or else her day was not worth it. Again, another pathway not best to linger on. Della had suited up to go outside to go scavenging for gold. She was still determined to find any sliver of the metal. Della snapped her goggles into place and exited the ship. Della would be subject to the harsh weather conditions but despite that put a determination on herself to avoid yelling that it was bone numbingly cold. Della trudged through the light atmosphere using a shovel she found on ship – a shovel was supplied when not even a flake of gold that steered the ship had any surplus onboard. It was certainly rigorous work pulling her limbs and muscles with a purpose. Della let the numbness of herself deter from the eventual pain after her efforts it would all be worth it if she could find the only thing preventing her from coming home. 

Della would have gone on essentially forever if not for the fact that the longer she spent outside the more she was exposed to everything. The moon dust would cut into any skin exposed and even though Della didn’t inhale the atmosphere she had to try her best to close her mouth to prevent some sort of lunar dust hay fever. Della with a heavy heart travelled back to the rocket. She had to be careful not to let the shadows and light manipulate a false advertisement and her steps. As Della was about to step onto the rocket a familiar sound was heard, and Della sprung into action. The monster that dominated the moon like it was their backyard and she was a pest. It might not have been inaccurate but instead of letting her be the monster tended to make everything difficult for her in the process of trying to leave.

Della bounced off the ground with a kick leading her metal leg to push through the monster. The monster backed up and happened to give up fighting Della as they buried themselves back into the ground. Della scoffed honestly a little disappointed as this fighting was the only thing that Della had to something interacting with her on the otherwise isolating moon. Then before Della could ponder the reasoning, she was shown the reason as everything around her shook uncontrollably. It was an earthquake that the monster could tell before Della ever could. Della raced to control her end of things making sure everything was stable enough to last the impact. Della understood from Donald’s grievances back on earth that it was best to look after yourself before other things but if this rocket was the only connection to earth and back to her boys, she considered it an extension of herself to save.

The earthquakes would not be considered to worst that earth could have offered but nonetheless they replicated the kind of earthquake that could lead to minor damages and hell if Della would let anything of hers break down even further. Withstanding the tremors Della was able to stand back on the ground and move back into her habitat. The things Della left on the floor had shifted as well as the camera which was Della’s number one priority to fix first.

“Oi, you’re leaving things to lay about,” the fake uncle Scrooge mustered in frustration.

“Priorities uncle Scrooge.”

“Priorities would have been a useful tool six years ago,” it was fake Donald who always no matter what made a familiar part of her heart crack with guilt sadness.

“Priorities with the eggs, with my money to waste it on a rocket that you decided to crash.” Della felt suffocated with all of this being brought to the surface right now right with her digging all day as well as the monster and earthquake. Della stopped chewing her gum letting the remaining oxygen simmer in her mouth not letting it enter her lungs. She held her breath like a child trying to halt all means of production in her body so that she could think. Of course, it was a silly tactic to try, and Della started hyperventilating needing the oxygen even more.

“You even fail at using the resources to breath properly,” Scrooge – fake Scrooge – scorned, “you’re a screw up, a mess, you should have been discarded on the street when your parents died or better, yet you should have gone with them.”

“Scrooge you’re being too harsh,” Donald said, “don’t bring my parents and your sister into Della’s ridicule.”

“Mommy, everyone’s being mean to you,” Jet noticed. Della let that point be the point of breakage.

“Everyone go away! You’re not real! Only I’m really here and these are all thoughts I’m conjuring through you. Go away!” Della screamed trying to get these bad hallucinogens out of her head. Della turned to the reflection of the rocket that still was clean enough to see her reflection in. She could see she was alone. It was a seemingly reality check that Della had desperately needed. Della sat down letting her brain calm down with her feelings and thoughts and looked at herself. She could deal with herself but the self that reflected in the mirror started to change. Della dazed into it as her mind numbed down starting to see things but not being able to react. The reflection distorted her face into someone else someone tired and not alive. A blink and a chew were the only actions coming from the reflection and Della didn’t see them as herself she couldn’t connect to the mirror. It was like having a potential friend she could deflect to, so Della gazed upon the reflection and did nothing else. She couldn’t bring herself to do anything else, what was the point?

Della saw a monster by her, or as her, and she flinched, the reflection copied her, and it sent her through a whirlpool of emotions. Her eyes were red, she didn’t look like anything friendly or anything recognizable. Della started to feel uncomfortable, and it then escalated to terror. Della closed her eyes to shake off the feeling – it was her reflection initially but when she opened her eyes the distorted figure remained the same. Della felt herself rush with adrenaline to get up her limbs ached with non-comfortability screaming at her to stay stationary, to never move again. Della looked to her time tracker to find when she was able to go to sleep and start over in the morning. Not only was the time off by many hours but the date had shifted three weeks in advance. Della figured it had maybe been the earthquake but that had never happened before. Della looked out the window to find the holes she had dug out to have been close to closing with the dust slowly filling them up.

Della panicked and happened to look in the direction of her reflection. It remained distorted and Della looked away harshly – Della could swear she saw a smile creep up the face of the reflection of a sense of evilness like Della’s manifestation of guilt buried itself there. Della never bothered to look at the reflection again for when she did it remained to have the familiar face she funnily enough would come to know. For now, it was time for her excessive gum chewing so she could get some REM sleep and the cycle could continue to get home to her boys. They were always worth the pain of the moon.

Chapter Text

Della Duck wasn’t alone, but everything still sucked but maybe it could decrease over time. But Della was not alone! Part of herself wanted to scream to everything that could be in earshot and part of her mind reenacted that scenario. On the other hand, Della let her optimism and gratefulness grace her every step with her every black licorice flavored breath.

Della then met her roommate and future best friend Penumbra, or Penny as Della dubbed the perfect nickname for her new friend. She was brash, bold, and real she could attempt a hug around the toned alien and get the sensation of soft flesh as well as the feeling of muscles under her purple skin. Della tried to brush off all the new sensations with harsh positivity when a part of Della wanted to in a way go back to what she was familiar with. Now she was truly out of her element, unaware of the culture, social norms, as well as contemplating their supply and usage of gold. It was jaw dropping but when looking at everything around her Della felt further from earth then before further from her family but with that another sense of belongings. No way did it replace earth, but it could substitute the constant paranoia and sadness that plagued her mind. 

Della had decided to bunk up with Penny. Della’s heart swelled with the reactions Penny would make that would parallel her brother in a way that gave her a taste of home. Della felt a want to hang out with the lieutenant to get a real connection to someone. Not out of formality like Lunaris or gushing like the other moon people. Penny didn’t hide her emotions, like Donald a good friend should. It hurt too much to draw too many references to her family especially under the specific conditions of being around others. Della was afraid she would crumble under all her worries about fitting in while standing out enough to be charismatic. 

At first when in a talk with herself she felt a presence behind her. That was a common feeling for Della beforehand as her brain tried to compensate for the isolation. So, Della decided to ignore it for a while fixating on the ship of hers using armfuls of gold to meld into pieces into board pieces to fix onto the rocket snugly even creating the nails out of the gold substance to replace what had been lost in the last damage of the rocket. The feeling of someone’s presence escalated further and that was when Della realized that people – specifically the people of the moon – had really been watching and listening to Della’s ramblings. It honestly gobs smacked Della as more congregated to witness her – well maybe not in surprise but it gave her a hit of her current situation – that now potential interaction could exist. Though Della was not sure if she had that skill down yet to utilize and another layer was that she was also worried of not adjusting to their forms of interaction. 

That was why Della remained accepting of the civilization that so kindly accepted her. As Della was on the homestretch, she found a second heart for the others who had lived on the same planet Della had been on for ten years. She could appreciate their survival tactics and niceties supplied to everyone. Even Penumbra let Della lay in her hammock even though Penny retorted that it had been contaminated by her. Though Della liked the offer if she were to merely hang out in the hammock for a fleeting moment, she would remember her brother and his mode of relaxation. It again felt way too close to comfort. 

As when she had been by herself anything that could remind her of her family was welcomed to hold on. Although, when building in a new space with objects and people galore it was too much of a distraction. Though the linger of a broken heart of her lost soul to the moon wandered throughout her body as a token of motivation. 

Della decided she was not to sleep for the rest of her stay on the moon. The mere fact that many things could be done even within the strand of ten-minute intervals that was usually space for sleep. It was quite easy to ignore as Della was distracted with others as well as the tasks at hand for her desperation to complete. While trying to do it quickly she also tried to complete it as thoroughly as possible to prevent having to rebuild something that could have been built well the first time. The side of Della’s brain constantly recited the woodchuck guidebook – that she had memorized verbatim as it was the only form of text besides the rocket ship guide that she also happened to memorize line by line. Though the morals taught through the guidebook was propelled to be followed biblically by Della to gather something constant even in different circumstances. 

Della spent her time building and telling stories to the others that were drawn to her. It did not reflect the average conversations on earth but Della had not been a random moon person to participate in something simulating normal. Della was considered different so different treatment was performed. 

Though the promise of lack of sleep didn’t go as planned throughout the build. Even if Della previously ran on ten minutes of REM sleep at a time she still desired those ten minutes - or much more specifically her body did. As she further pushed herself the self she could push deteriorated into mush. Della managed to close her eyes and crumble into the moon’s surface - though modified by the moon people to be better than the harsh regolith substance. Della found herself on the suspension of Penny’s hammock. 

“What the hell,” Della muttered before realizing the gum she had in her mouth had been swallowed. Della lunged into her pockets to pull out the gum she had stored constantly trying to withhold her breath. Penumbra walked in to see the earthling putting the gum into her mouth and saw Della heaving. 

“Is this some sort of call - a mating call,” Penny whispered with much confusion in her voice. 

“God no,” Della responded once she caught her breath, “I accidentally swallowed the stupid gum that allows me to breath on the moon.”

“So you would perish without a piece of this gum?” 

“Yeah. How do you breathe on the moon?” 

“We here on the moon breathe with an abundance of gases. We’re better equipped to survive than a mere earther.” Penny laughed gathering the knowledge to consider herself better, “we breath hydrogen and nitrogen way superior to gum breath.” 

“That’s really cool Penny,” Della replied unfazed by Penny’s taunting, “you know earth has tons of nitrogen, maybe it’s a sign that you guys should visit.”

“Well if earth is so lovely why did you leave for the superior moon?” Della couldn’t rack her mind for a sufficient answer. Even with the amount of time she had spent pondering various things Della still avoided dealing with that demon that told her it was better to go on a spontaneous trip to space then to stick around with her family. Della might have been broken before heading off into space. The time she spent alone, cold, hurt further broke her but Della was not one to relish in that fact or else she would have to face the feeling after she laid her eggs and the times where she thought her leg was going to be bleeding forever. Della felt herself go out of focus as she would when she felt overwhelmed or emotionally unavailable. Her head was dazed with the feeling of static she didn’t want to feel or think. Talking to Penny about the reason she left earth would bring her to think and feel. Della knew she had to pivot the conversation. 

“How did I get to this hammock anyway? Did someone have to carry me?” 

“No and even if I did you snore loudly and are too squishy.” 

“Penny at this rate we might become an old married couple before I can even ask you on a date,” Della jokes. Della left before a response could be heard from Penny as she missed critical time to continue building her rocket. Della leaped towards her rocket that was covered in much more gold than the original metal. Much like Della’s leg she reconstructed it from its tatters. Both looked sick in Della’s opinion; it made her smile that both her and her rocket were going to be welcomed back into earth’s orbit soon - it always had to be soon. 

As Della further built the rocket she received extra hands to aid her in her rocket building which made everything both easier and less isolating. It was like a halfway house from total isolation to the crowdedness of the earth. It was rehabilitating for Della to gather some insight to act herself around the moon people. That included talking to her full extent without the worry of hallucinations being all too real to cozy into. 

There was a two way connection to the others that almost brought tears to Della’s eyes out of a sense of mourning for that connection. There were so many layers of connection that Della had yet to experience something so frustrating that buzzed in her brain constantly. Though at least she still carried hope - she always did - as a beacon to her kids, to her family through the motion of her aspiration. Della could feel herself be pieced together with each addition completed on the rocket. 

“Is earth really as wonderful as you say?” One askes curiosity beading his eyes like Della would do when she was younger and had yet to explore the depths of the world around her. 

“Yes immensely so,” Della could feel Penumbra’s eyes on her. She knew Penny wasn’t as happy as the others with the mentions of earth but it was all Della had with her. Otherwise, it's Della telling stories of the cold, dark, lonely moon that hates her desperately. It was better to ramble on about the thrilling adventures where she could place herself in them, almost transporting herself into the mindset of her stories. The eyes on her were vast in curiosity; the words Della let flow from her mouth seemed to captivate a whole crowd. Even Penumbra would watch without the usual scowl layered on her face. 

Della was eventually sucked up by the gratefulness as well as pure adrenaline agreed with her roommate and new best friend to take the collective people of the moon back with her onto earth. It had been brash and Della understood that in doing this she would put back her plans for some while but she would go back to earth soon. She would be facing dogs, slap bracelets, and coffee all too soon she could feel it coarse through her blood with promise.  

Maybe in a way the prospect of going to earth was daunting. She knew she tried her best to communicate one way to her family but what if that was the way they liked to keep it? Maybe at this point nobody cared enough about her to see her in person. She was a shell of herself on camera. Maybe that was the way they liked it; constantly broken from her actions and not the annoying, bold person within the grasp of her family. The thoughts Della could conjure and wander in her mind caused damage to Della’s wellbeing. She had to push it down with the positive affirmations Della would consistently say. How long would it be before the words turned useless and all Della had left was her problems. 

Della felt herself being shifted around by the familiar arms of Penny. Della didn’t want to open her eyes for the first time in a while. The beeping noise simulates some sort of alarm that Della felt all too familiar with and felt the ground beneath her grow cold. Della woke up confused but came to the situation fairly quickly. The alarm had come from the rocket; it had been the emergency rocket launcher that had been finished rather recently. Della felt her heart leap up into her throat with all reservations about earth left in her system fiercely. She gave Lunaris the book she relied on for the ten years in solitude with the only assurance of getting out as well as giving her new best friend a hug. She had so much she wanted to say but it halted for the sake of time. Della couldn’t let this opportunity be squandered. 

Della piloted the rocket into earth, tears gracing her eyes with happiness instead of sadness and frustration. She was coming home. She supposed Della Duck could do anything. Della let herself fill up with hope that she would now be okay. That maybe it had been the moon atmosphere that led her to the new thoughts and feelings that seemed to trap itself within the inner linings of her brain. The hallucinations had disappeared over time as well as the numbness stopping her from acting as sharp had started to deteriorate. Della was sure that this chapter of her life in pain would be over and flipped to another volume of adventuring with her kids. 

She couldn’t imagine herself if the next chapter continued with the same problems she knew for sure she would fake everything until she could make it the visions Della pictured by her lonesome. Even if she broke further to show that image of herself. She was Della Duck and she could do anything! 

Chapter Text

The reentry into the earth’s atmosphere was overwhelming over the amount of time Della had spent stationary on the moon’s gravity. It proved that the instructions were accurate as the rocket took to the dramatic takings of earth. As Della’s rocket got further into earth’s atmosphere she could only view everything around her as beauty. The green ground, trees, clouds, and the beautiful blue waters that Della was willing to become a bigger fan of. From up above much like her original piloting she could see everything as an overview. It was empowering, Della laughed at the sensation around her and her slowly plummeting into earth like it was embracing her return home. 

As Della landed she was all too greeted by the grass as she fell right off from her ship. From the first sensation of earth’s gravity along with not using her legs for the duration of the trip being dizzy would be a common symptom. Della scrambled up with a new mission that she was to accomplish as soon as possible. Meeting her boys. As Della fought the newfound gravity with herself in every step and a climb over the metal gates of the manor Della in no time found herself in front of the doors. The door was now the only barrier and she was the remaining obstacle to face. 

“They are your children, they will love you.” Della’s mind raced with buts and hesitation to find out the answer. You abandoned them. 

“I was trapped, there is a difference,” Della insisted to herself. A big difference frankly, if Della knew ahead of time-. Della had to shake off these thoughts of hers that clouded her judgement. Especially if it was a barrier to having good things happen to allow good things to happen for her family. Her family would be happy to see her, right? It was the unconditional love part of the family right? Della remembered however the deep rooted conflicts within her family. A big reason why nobody commenced a family reunion was for the betterment of hindsight. Scrooge always had a rocky relationship with his sisters, especially Della’s mom who had the pleasure of working with him.  Father to offspring relationships in the McDuck family often soured with stubbornness and many of the other lively folks in the Duck family had passed away all too soon. Making the concept of family inconsistent to Della and now she herself has contributed to that concept. 

Della stood at the door trying out different introductions. None of them fit right either too forced, corny, or plain weird. Luckily, or unluckily enough for Della, fate would play its hand at Della’s charade when Scrooge opened the door before she could even knock forcing Della to say the first thing on the spot. Which was never a good thing. Her thoughts then ceased at the reality of the situation laid out in front of her. There was her uncle right in front of her. The man who she remembered meeting first at a funeral though she was told he saw her before when she was quite young. She would see him on the rare holiday - at first intrigued and honestly a bit skeptical that he was the man who travelled the world going on various adventures that knocked her socks off. Then met truly when he let her and Donald in on an adventure - though let was a strong word. 

Who knew that a few years later after that debacle Scrooge would be the one to volunteer to look after Della and Donald along with her grandmother after the passing of their parents. It was fitting as the last earth figure she saw leave that he would also be the first to greet her back. He gave the odd warm welcome before reverting back to his typical demeanor of a hard ball mentality for the world.

It was even more fitting to next meet her sons pushing Scrooge out of the way to see them. 

Della might not have gotten her sons' names right but she could still recognize them as hers especially when she saw them off of the television on the moon. Della looked into their eyes to see such innocence and love through them that Della was desperate to preserve. Della let her knees crumble and her eyes glisten for them. She had built this interaction for ten years and nothing could disappoint her now. Even if they hated her or were murdered Della found that her heart had grown three sizes seeing them alive and well. This though mixed in with a familiar guilt behind the love she felt. 

She was now able to hug her kids and despite her muscles just adjusting to earth as well as how she probably reeked she hugged her kids as tightly as possible. Luckily, they hugged back which brought a tear to Della’s eyes. Though formally Rebel - Louie had been skeptical that she was really her he melted into her arms with a relieved cry. It was decided beforehand but now it was practically set in stone as she saw her kids in person - she now was dedicated to doing everything she could for them. She owed that much at least, Della thought to herself. 

Della scoffed down the foods laid out in front of her. She let them pass her tongue letting the sensation of those foods bypass the black licorice taste that lingered in her mouth despite spitting out the gum earlier. Della ignored the feeling that occurred in her stomach from this as a consequence for most of the troubles happening throughout the rest of her body. Della mostly played off her kerfuffle to everyone - for her kids she felt the need to prove that she was still strong and for Scrooge she didn’t need him to worry any more about her as well as the fact that he now seemed to idolize her, she couldn’t bring that down for him. She had to also adjust to the new information like agent 22, Duckworth, and Webby as one of the kids she hadn’t been prepared to. Not only that but her sense of direction went out the window when she was set on the earth’s surface. Though it hadn’t deterred her from her new considered mission to be the best mom for her kids - physical and mental ailments be damned.  

It did not help that her other half, her more prevalent brain cell, was said to have gone on a vacation by the time of her arrival. He didn’t want to see you . Della let herself joke about her walking in the wrong direction of the kitchen trying to brush it off when really she swore she was going the right way. Her brain had decided to betray her prior knowledge of earth accompanied with the sensation of feeling faint as well as losing her sense of direction. Della ran around the kitchen attempting to make cakes to celebrate everything - it was to deter from mourning what was lost, how she seemed lost to space. They knew where you were. Della shook off her doubt and lingering emotions she left when she got on the rocket to return back to earth. Della opened her eyes to the smell of a crackling fire - she knew she either was experiencing her notorious microsleeps or the return to earth caused her blood pressure to drop causing her to faint. 

Agent 22 or Beakley looked almost disappointed in her non attendance of the oven but Della let the situation grow more optimistic as she used the fire to light the candles of her cake. She turned away to hear Ms. Beakley with the fire extinguisher taking out the fires. Della tried not to let a lingering moment pass her by without fully being in the moment - no more letting her mind wander, dissociating, or missing anymore moments. Any moment on earth  could beat out a year of her moon experience easily. 

Della could quickly point out that Dewey was trying quite hard to please her - she wanted to tell him he could just breathe and she would praise it like an unexplained godly phenomenon but Della couldn’t get the words out right yet. She also felt like she didn’t have jurisdiction in that area - especially only a couple hours of being a present mom. Louie on the other hand seemed wary and Della could understand that but again she didn’t have the words to properly communicate to them as of yet. It was all so fast and Della felt like she was on a sugar and caffeination high. 

She may not have been the only one as she watched formerly Jet - Huey take a bite of the cake, his eyes then dilating and fidgeting in an antsy way. She let Turbo er Dewey take a bite of her fireworks cake which turned out to not be the best option as his stomach seemed to take harshly to the cake having the fizz come out of him in a stream. Della cringed at her stomach, seeming to react violently to that as well as seeing Dewey wither in pain. Della knew this was her time to take initiative especially as Scrooge and Beakly weren’t there to interfere. She scooped Dewey up - he felt light - that itself made Della’s heart warm. Though it quickly grew in concern as Dewey noted his insides felt like they were on fire. Though he still praised his mom despite her causing that specific pain. Della felt bad for that so she tried to cure it with something she seemed to do best with the others on the moon - her story telling. Della lived again through her stories talking about her time in El Dorado. 

Della loved getting immersed in her stories - not only did she know what was going to happen but she could create the scene and feel in control of the scenario. She left the room feeling a bit successful but more so charged up in leftover adrenaline as well as her muscles killing her in every movement. She couldn’t show that in front of her kids so she thought she could let them sleep and have her deal with that by herself. Accompanied with the muscular pain her stomach seems to churn. It seemed to be the case that Della had not been eating to get full (though boy was that a weird feeling) she was eating to compensate for the years of this interaction not happening. Her head was screaming, her eyes could never seem to adjust to the writing in front of her, and her body felt heavier from the gravity. Della assured herself that these things would go away eventually but sleep didn’t seem to be a thing on Della’s mind as she had to do so many other things. Unlike on the moon Della didn’t have a one track mind, her mind could wander for many of the things possible. 

That led Della to contemplate taking a shower first. It would be great just to lollygag but she imagined taking a shower would also be lovely after ten years. Though Della was still lost with everything she let herself wander the halls to find either bathroom, her clothes, or hopefully both. 

“Miss Della,” a familiar voice calls to her. Della turns to see it belonging to Duckworth to find that it was a relief to find it wasn’t her imagination. 

“Duckworth, I’m glad that you’re here. I mean sure you were paid to be here-” 

“Never paid enough for the job tasks handed to me and never to raise my boss’ niece and nephew. I wouldn’t be continuing my tasks if I hadn’t enjoyed it and I never would have considered helping out with you two if I hadn’t seen potential in doing so. I’m glad to see you back Miss Della. I missed you.”  Della didn’t know how to respond, especially to someone she considered a contribution to her growth in her youth but someone who never wanted credit for it. She never really got to know him like she had tried to know her uncle but he was still there for her unconditionally. Della threw him a hug despite being a ghost Duckworth could be non permeable at will. He gave her a hug back - it was a day for hugging Della decided. Duckworth let go and conjured folded clothes like he read her mind.  

“Thank you and not just for the clothes but for sticking around.” Duckworth gave a distinguished smile at that and went to find the bathroom. 

“I think a suitable bathroom would be five doors to the left.” Della nodded, agreeing like she had any of her own agency in remembering the maze that is the manor. Della gave off a casual salute to Duckworth before heading off in the direction he instructed. Della let the wall of the hallway guide her as not only did Della feel dizzy still but she noticed that her artificial leg had been acting off to the earth’s gravity. She needed all the support she could get which resulted in the walls - sturdy and strong. 

As Della got to the bathroom she could not recognize it. She supposed she might not have ever been in this bathroom but not seeing things she recognized sent her through a loop of doubt of where she truly was. Della knew she had to snap out of her mind tumbling out of grasp. Della looked out into the hallway where she saw her uncle walking down the hallway. Without thinking much about it Della grabbed her uncle. 

“Hello lass.” 

“Hi, I wouldn’t suppose you could share stories while I’m taking a shower. Just to hear your voice and to hold my leg so it doesn’t rust.” Della took off her leg much to her internal relief and handed it to Scrooge. As Della learned about Scrooge she knew it was best when to propose a favour that it was best to start imposing the favour as quickly as possible before he could find a way to get distracted out of it. She truly needed someone she could pinpoint to earth and Donald had gone on vacation so Scrooge would suffice. Della put Scrooge outside of the bathroom door for some privacy but opened the door a crack so she could still hear him. Scrooge was loud enough anyway to be heard over a shower anyway. 

“Did I ever tell you about the journey it took to get the Medusa Gauntlet?” Della had heard the story and could recite it verbatim. 

“I suppose I’m rusty on the story. Tell me it word for word.” Della wanted to hear the story again. It was like when she had been a child she would pretend not to remember stories from Scrooge’s adventures. She supposed he had caught on happily since it gave him a chance to relive some of his most daring feats. Della let the water from the shower wash over her for the first time in seemingly forever. She listened closely to Scrooge’s voice that was distinct. Della clung on it to gain comfort from everything new, not only the kids and situational newness but she supposed she was new to each coming situation. Della watched the drain take on the regolith that clung to her feathers along with dry blood that stuck to her as well as the remaining moon mite spit that created a paste on Della’s skin. It hurt to get it all off but it felt nice to feel the hot water and the steam associated with it again. Della grabbed some of the lotions that were supplied in the shower. Finally was her long hair that she realized was weighing her down and was arguably the messiest part. Della attempted to tackle it with the glops of shampoo and conditioner. 

It did get clean but Della felt the remaining need to deal with her hair in a much more permanent way. She wanted the long strands off of her back. Before the fifteen minute mark that Scrooge implemented with the water system to force out cold water Della stopped the shower and got into the clean clothes. She felt much more like herself than she had for over a decade. Even as she was pregnant her body transformed so she couldn’t wear her notorious clothing along with the fact she was essentially house bound to prevent any mishaps to the eggs. 

Though even pregnancy left Della with a happier feeling then with moments when they hatched. The fears and distaste that went through her system after she laid them along with restlessness that only grew her bad mood. Della hadn’t let anyone into that side of herself but she could tell that her family had suspicions when she would avoid seeing them. It brought out so much guilt when she did see them that she felt the need to avoid bringing it out - though that only brought on more guilt for her that led her to spiral and make many impulse decisions. Not that Della was ever the pinnacle definition of thinking things through. 

She was just in time for the tail end of Scrooge’s tale. Scrooge like her could get a little too caught up in the storytelling that they could feel sucked up into them. Della waited patiently for the story to end - not that Della could complain - she could hear his voice all day. 

“Right that story,” Della commented while leaving the bathroom. Scrooge smiled at her which was something she could never get tired of. It did also bring out some guilt in that manner as the need for validation was something Della deep down didn’t feel like she should have gotten. It was most certainly much more interaction to the older memories then Della had experienced in a while. 

“Where do you suppose I could cut some of this hair?” Della asked, flipping the damp hair out of her face. Scrooge smiled softly at that. He had never seen Della with hair longer than to her shoulders, now it practically grew to his niece’s height. 

“Not to a blasted hairdresser for sure. I am sure that Dewey was going around for a couple of weeks with scissors wanting to cut someone's hair.” 

“Say less. Oh but do you think he’s still asleep?” 

“Wouldn’t hurt to check,” Scrooge shrugged. He then pauses a moment just to examine his niece for one of the first times since he saw her earlier on the doorstep but overwhelmed with mere emotions he didn’t have the time to just see his niece for all she was in front of him. He noticed other things besides the obvious messiness with her hair and the lack of a leg. He noticed her face had puffed up from the blood flow Della had experienced on the moon along with wounds littered everywhere skin was exposed. Scrooge remembered Della when she was younger always getting into mischief that portrayed itself physically from scrapes to a broken part of the body. She was arguably worse than Donald despite his bad luck Della seemed to dive face first into adventure or danger. 

It was different now. The danger had escalated to a believed death. Looking at Della now in parallel to her younger self she had changed despite the same sense of self - not only in intensity of scrapes but something in Della’s eyes had changed. She looked tired now. Though Scrooge let her go to find Dewey to cut her hair. She probably didn’t need him as much as he needed her right now. 

Della migrated back to the boy’s bedroom. She peaked her head in to find three boys flinching at the sight of her. 

“Late night jitters?” Della was unaware of what distinguished their emotions through their actions, “I need to borrow Dewey, please.” The other two boys pushed Dewey out of bed and Dewey coyly went up to his mother. She walked down the hall with him close by her side. 

“I hear you are the notorious haircutter of the family.” Dewey smiled at the kind words his mom gave to him - totally unprompted. 

“Yep, that's your turbo. Best singer, dancer, and haircutter of the family.” 

“Singer and a dancer? We should have a duet and also have cassettes completely phased out by now.” 

“I would answer if I had any idea what you were talking about.” Della rolled her eyes playfully at this. It was a classic mother and son banter that Dela had literally dreamt and reenacted by herself. Della led Dewey to the kitchen and sat herself down facing away from her son. Dewey eagerly started cutting her long strands of hair and Della watched in joy as she was soon surrounded in a pile of her own hair. Dewey neglected to cut her bangs but Della figured that one that might be a little too dangerous to try out and 2 Della liked the bangs and could always hold them back with a headband. 

“Oh I didn’t ask how long you wanted it cut.” Dewey noticed sheepishly. Della chuckled, she knew she wasn’t going to look in a mirror for that so she didn’t quite care how she looked to others. She also had a metal leg to deter judgmental stares. Another thing to worry about in the future Della sighed.

“You did well kiddo,” Della complimented Dewey while giving his hair a rub of affection. Dewey leaned into it and Della took the scissors from him before he got too excited with it in his hands. She led Dewey back to bed so he could get some remaining sleep before morning - boy Della was excited to see the blue sky again and the sun rising above the horizon, with birds chirping into the scenery. As Della got back into the boy’s bedroom she saw the other two in the same position as before. Maybe they couldn’t sleep without Dewey. Della shrugged it off. 

“Mom, you were kidding about the golden monster thing, right?” 

“Are you kidding me? I wish I had that much of an imagination. I even got a scar from-” Della paused as she tried to look down but was met back with her metal leg, “rats, it’s back on the moon. I mean giving the decaying rate I don’t think it’s still there but maybe. But yeah goodnight. Sleep well!” Della left the room again. She was then met with a dizzying spell and collapsed on the carpet passing out. She may have passed out but she was thankful to have done it safely with exits, soft carpet and nothing trying to kill her. The consequences from the moon were soon to rear their ugly head. The immediate dangers had passed but now Della was left to think and process those ten long years. 

Chapter Text

Della was situated to her surroundings mere seconds after she collapsed on the ground. That meant Della had seemed to recover quickly which to Della was a good sign. Though Beakley noticed the collapse of Della and went to go help Della back upright. 

“Thanks,” Della replied, still groggy, “the carpet feels way softer than anything I’ve laid on forever.” 

“Tired, are you?” Beakley asked dryly. 

“Not anymore thanks for asking,” Della rubbed off the concern she glanced at the clock that read it was 12:00 - midnight - it had been an hour she had laid on the floor. It peeved Della off that she had missed time she couldn’t control. She hadn’t let the time slip pass her instead it had slammed into her. The earth seemed to tell her to slow down but Della was on a different time than earth’s by the beat of her own heart influenced by the moon.

“Well I am. Do you need anything before I am off to bed?” Beakley asked, which really seemed like a polite way to tell something to piss off. Della shook her head in response, letting Beakley go and get some rest. Della not wanting to sleep was an isolating incident not something to get everyone else involved with - they had done so much already. 

“Alright, but tomorrow I advise going to a hospital. I’ll take you there myself.” 

“Oh 22 come on? I can handle some fainting, it’s common enough to leave alone.” Beakley’s eyes bore into Della’s with disinterest. 

“Earth bodies weren’t designed for outer space. It won’t kill you to have a check. If nothing else then for the lack of a leg.” Della flushed not wanting to be exposed like that. Even though Beakley was perhaps in the right here it didn’t make Della feel good to have someone taking charge over her life and taking note of her. It was like a parent with a teen. Della never had that experience - maybe a little from her parents when she was nearing thirteen with her constant recklessness - but Scrooge never showed an abundance of worry over her. Donald would probably be considered the main one to take a concerned parenting role but he was still her brother and never held the power over her to make some sort of punishment. Though Beakley seemed to want to compensate for that and Della felt a bit crowded especially when adjusting to any interaction on earth. 

Della didn’t respond and let Beakley head off to bed without an argument. Della couldn’t quite stomach it. The house then seemed to hush, quieting down from the day but Della couldn’t go on with her own sleep. She hadn’t adapted to that way of life and she wasn’t willing to try tonight. Della walked through the halls like a lost ghost. Della could distract herself with the pictures and decor that was neatly placed like a museum through the long hallways. Della had recognized most of the objects from either her shared adventures with her uncle or the ones placed beforehand with the tales Scrooge would go on tangents about. 

Though the occasional new object would be shown and Della’s mind would race with curiosity of the journey her family went through to get it. Della wandered to the kitchen accompanied with pleasant memories where she and Donald would talk late at night both naturally wired at night along with memories of testing foods from the ingredients of their travels. Kitchens for Della had always been a refuge from the day. Even with her parents they used to have a quaint kitchen that somehow fit a table in for them to eat on. During winters because her mom was acquainted with saving money she would cook food in the kitchen to warm up the house instead of putting on the heater. Though Scrooge’s kitchen was much bigger it still invited Della in all the same. 

Once Della sat down the feelings of discomfort and pain fixated to her stomach. It was as if the gravity on earth just hit Della’s stomach along with all the food she ate. Her body seemed to want to defy gravity and Della ran to the bathroom despite how that seemed to make Della lurch her stomach into the toilet almost immediately. Della knew she should have accounted for this beforehand but the smell, look, and especially the taste of the various foods was too good not to pass up even for consequences such as tasting it all again when coded in stomach acid. 

Della managed to sit down on the bathroom floor and look up at the fluorescents lights with an unfocused look that glossed over her eyes. She let the moment wash over her with all the pain she could gather building up from arriving back on earth. Della felt her mouth dry after a few moments of letting her stomach settle. Della got up to the sink in order to throw some cold, refreshing water on her to rejuvenate her energy. Della made the mistake to glance up in front of the sink. She met a mirror but to Della it did not reflect her, it reflected what she saw on the moon. Some sort of uncanny monster that would cause Della to dissociate into the mirror like it was hypnotic. Della shook a bit trying to prevent herself from getting sucked in. This remnant of the moon experience Della went through seemed to carry itself through the mirror and Della couldn’t bear to look at it. Though she also couldn’t seem to look away, what if it was going to hurt her? Della could have pondered in front of the mirror seemingly forever but her body seemed to make the action on behalf of her. Her fingers balled up to a fist by instinct pulled back and propelled itself forward hitting the mirror dead on letting the shards of the mirror fall around her. Therefore seeming to beat what was reflected in front of her. 

Della couldn’t move from her spot not wanting to address what she had done in less than 24 hours of her time planted into the soil of home. She felt a bit burnt out and of course worry put itself at the forefront of her mind. Especially on being a mother she of course worried about how she was perceived even with time to practice she was thrown curveballs even on the basis of their names. Della coiled looking down at her hand realizing it was bleeding with shards of glass embedded throughout her fist. 

“Shit,” Della hissed as the pain let itself be felt as soon as Della saw the cuts. Della had no idea where the first aid kit could have been. She knew she kept hers in her room but her room had no longer been hers instead for her boys. It made things much more difficult. Della looked for Duckworth but could not seem to find him. Do ghosts sleep? Or have other businesses to attend to? Della managed to find some tweezers by the front door to pluck out the glass. It had hurt but it wasn’t something Della didn’t know how to deal with - merely an inconvenience. 

Della after plucking out all the glass went to wash her hands to get rid of the remnant of blood through cringed at the mess she made. It looked as though a murder had commenced in the bathroom but when Della promised to herself to clean it up later part of her knew she would forget about the bathroom as soon as she left it. Della wandered on over to the living room where she encountered her uncle. 

“Aren’t you the early sleeper who chases after a sunrise?” Scrooge looked at Della at first in a bit of shock. Della didn’t know if that was because of her presence so late, remembering she was back, her hair, or a combination of those reasons. He then settled into a smile. 

“Today doesn’t seem like it should end so soon,” Scrooge explained. 

“You stay up this late often?” 

“It’s not that rare of an occurrence. I have things to do.”

“Well are you doing anything now?” Della asked, glancing towards the couch and seeing nothing in front of her uncle. 

“Just thinking.” 

“Do you do that often after midnight?” 

“People change.” 

“After 100 plus years you decided to change up your routine?” Scrooge didn’t answer instead beckoning Della over to sit beside him on the couch. She obliged sitting down with her back sinking right into it. It was a nice new feeling that her body wiggled into not wanting to stop moving on the couch making the imprint of the couch having a harder time catching up to her. Della felt her uncle’s eyes on her realizing she was in company and she halted with minimum adjustment to her body posture. 

“It’s hard to find you really here before my eyes.” 

“It’s hard for me to believe it, but I never stopped fighting.” 

“Like I know you to be,” Scrooge bragged on her behalf, “but I think there is something I should let you know.” Scrooge looks rather nervous which was always a rare occurrence for Della to witness but today she seemed to get a wide range of emotion from the man who raised her. 

“You can tell me anything,” Della promised, “is it about the kids? Do they hate me already?” 

“No, what gave you that impression?” 

“Just being prepared,” Della shrugged. 

“Well,” Scrooge then took a deep breath, “things as I said before changed when you were gone. What happened immediately was that Donald and I got into a bit of a debacle when you seemed lost to space.” 

“What happened?” 

“It was a pretty serious fight. Donald took the eggs and I didn’t talk to him again until about ten years later.” Della didn’t know how to respond to that new information. She had somewhat relied on Donald and Scrooge raising the boys together. She had addressed them both in each of her video messages thinking they would be huddled in with the boys taking in her face. Della thought of herself as having a lot of time to prepare for the worst of situations but she didn’t think of that. 

“Where did Donald raise them?” Della managed to ask, bypassing the pain in her throat. 

“His houseboat.” Della’s mind swirled with emotions along with confusion. She didn’t have enough information to conclude a feeling but whatever it was it wasn’t good. 

“Well thanks for telling me. I just have to think about everything, it’s a lot.” Scrooge nodded letting Della escape from the conversation. While her head was circulating with: my fault, my fault, my fault. Della couldn’t escape it. The clock she passed read 3 o’clock, the time seemed to fly by another thing Della couldn’t control. She climbed up onto the roof and gazed into the sky. It was different than on the moon; the moon sky was always black and deadened with a stark visibility of the stars. The clouds also were also something she never expected to be so beautiful as when she was younger looking out at the stars and moon she would always be annoyed when the clouds occupied the sky. Now she loved the view of the clouds illuminated to be fluffy when she knew very well they were not but her eyes played with the idea of the fluffy clouds bouncing her eyes off of them. 

Della realized she missed her brother more than anything at the moment. Della’s mission was to meet her boys but she always hoped to be introduced to her kids by her brother. He would know what to say and be able to guide her to be a good mom. Della knew she couldn’t conjure that by herself but boy would she try. 

Though trying would not be enough, Della soon found out. She had to not only listen to her kids but do the according thing based on what they seem to need from their conversation that could simply be listening. It was the end of the day of an accidental monster - or robot? - fighting. She was met with heartbreak but got it turned to the ultimate icebreaker by sacrificing herself from the gilded monster’s golden hand. It left Della feeling fuzzy making a connection with all of her kids. She knew she had not done the perfect job but she had made a promising start. Though after a promising start with her kids she happened to look at Beakley who looked to be shooting a look at Della this whole time with determination. Della felt like she had been avoiding something she could not put her finger on. Beakley cleared her throat recollecting Della’s poor memory. 

“Remember? I was going to take you to the hospital today.” Della soon remembered realizing she made the promise earlier - or yesterday - time was still a somewhat foreign concept since she hadn’t been tracking it the whole day like she had on the moon. Della begrudgingly let her legs follow Beakley to the car and in turn to the hospital. Della had never been a fan of hospitals, not that she imagined anyone would be elated to be near the sick and dying. Della herself probably had a whole drawer of hospital records from her injuries acquiring a hospital visit. It had never been serious, merely broken bones and common surgeries where she would need to take out her appendix and spleen. Her brother had also been to the hospital fairly often for his notorious tonsil surgery which somehow made him even harder for others to understand. Though Donald would statically seem to be in more accidents fewer seemed to land him in the hospital. 

Della entered the hospital behind Beakley like a child relying on her to speak to the doctors. Beakley admitted Della in with a doctor but then abandoned Della to deal with the doctors for herself. Della was situated in a waiting room but not to Della’s comfort she fiddled with her leg bouncing it up and down excessively. The other people in the room seemed to look annoyed but Della couldn’t control the jitters. 

Della did not know how long it took for the doctor to let her into another room for her to wait but she kept her eye on the clock monitoring the ticking into her head. Della noticed the pain she was avoiding from earlier - yesterday. As soon as the door opened Della perked up ready to deal with the unknown as whoever was at the other side of the door. It was a woman doctor that ended on the other side with her hair in a ponytail accompanied with a clipboard pen at the poise to begin taking notes. 

“Hi Ms. Duck. I’m Dr. Ponds. I have dealt with many astronauts in the aftermath of their time up in space. I’m a general practitioner with a special interest in orthopedics. I’ve gotten the basis from Beatina but I would like to ask you some questions and a physical to pinpoint on the symptoms and things to do to prevent future ailments.”  Della nodded. 

“So first I need to document your height, weight, and blood pressure.” Della got lead to the scale Della didn’t look at the numbers not wanting to be surprised but Della did notice her height changed - she was taller. The doctor also did the following: blood pressure, temperature along with the stethoscope to measure her heart beat. 

“I do have some concerns about your blood pressure and heart palpitations but I should get an ECG to confirm. Have you had any dizziness or fainited since you’ve gotten back?”

“Yeah I think I passed out for a while on the ground.” 

“Was that the worst incident?” Della nodded, “but any dizziness without fainting?” Della nodded once again. 

“That is quite common among astronauts. I suspect it is from the heart palpitation but I’ll examine your inner ear too.” Della went through the motions as the doctor seemed quite confident in her routine scribbling down notes in her interval. Della felt a bit like a ragdoll in the act but answered the questions as best she could. Though Della didn’t account for each pain and discomfort she faced on the moon or else she was confident she would spiral down with accounting for everything. Also since Della couldn’t quite put her finger on what her last time on earth was like physically as well as mentally. 

Della faced many tests for blood, urine along with ECG, x-rays, and an electromyography. Finally for the visit Della got a spirometry to measure her lung flow. The doctor by the end of it looked much more out of place of her professionalism than before with her ponytail coming undone and her clipboard getting more papers on top of it. 

“So after today we can conclude you have some low blood pressure but the contents in your blood aside from calcium and phosphorus - which is common among astronauts. You have many things that are common with other astronauts, especially muscle and skeletal loss. Your heart palpitations will probably go away in a few days especially when prescribing beta blockers. The burns and cuts on your body will heal but not without scarring but infection seems minimal. I'll prescribe a cream along with one for your amputated leg. You are doing an amazing recovery so far, you’re like a medical marvel in my books.” 

“Thanks unfortunately the credit for that would belong to an ex-acquaintance Dr. Gearloose. He invented a disgusting gum that housed the nutrition and oxygen needed to survive.” 

“Well you don’t have to give him all the credit from my understanding you would have had to survive a harsh climate. Nobody in my line of work has ever landed on the moon much less for a decade. You are unprecedented Della but could I take a sample of the gum to take to the lab for analysis on the chemicals.” 

“Yeah,” Della agreed. She pulled out the pack of gum from her coat. A part of Della didn’t want to part with the gum as if she would need it eventually. Though Della let that part of her instinct go - she also happened to have other packs to use as clutch until she would feel more grounded to earth. 

“You do seem to have acute pneumonitis. It is not infectious but your lungs immune response to the dust and materials on the moon getting into your lungs. It’s treatable but I recommend a steroid drug and oxygen therapy.”

“Okay I can do that.” 

“You know I’m sure your family can help you as well.” 

“Well I would think the reason why I’ve gotten all these tests done so fast and frequent was because of the insurance.” 

“You’re correct. But you also are a rare and immediate case. I have failed to mention the need for a meal plan. I have the basics printed but you’ll need to go to a dietician for an in depth plan. It is also recommended that you take physical and talk therapy to rehabilitate you. It isn’t shameful to get help, just the opposite.” Della nodded but was contemplating all the former information. All the events she had to keep up with along with spending time with her kids seemed like a high hill to climb over. 

“My last concern is what I need to put on your radar. The moon does not have the right protection like earth does from things like radiation. You are the longest person to be alive out in space and on the moon. All that radiation can charge through strands of DNA causing cancer. Astronauts have a cap on radiation levels to refrain from this risk of cancer. I would like to go through testing in a few days once you feel more comfortably adjusted.” Della felt paralyzed but managed to nod. She didn’t even consider that line of potential risks. She was much more enamored with potential sleep and fighting off something that was constantly trying to kill her. Even the fear of dying of loneliness seemed much more probable than this. 

Della exited the hospital feeling heavy along with shit. Beakley had picked her up but Della didn’t say anything, just sitting in the passenger seat with her bag of prescriptions that rattled with every bump in the road. Beakley seemed to notice the silence and did not bother to engage in conversation which Della could appreciate. 

“Could we stop at the corner store before we go home?” Della asked, her voice cracked without meaning to. Beakley nodded, pulling up to the closest corner store to home. Della grabbed 6 cans of pep putting it on the counter Della then went to the chip aisle grabbing the original brand of chips along with various flavours. 

“I don’t think you are supposed to eat those in your meal plan,” Beakley pointed out. 

“They’re not for me, they're for the kids. I didn’t get a sugary snack on behalf of Huey. Maybe I should get a sugar free pep and a ginger ale for Dewey’s stomach.” Della didn’t get Beakley’s input before going to get those things. The cashier then rang up the snacks and Della looked at Beakley sheepishly. 

“I think all the money I managed to accumulate is gone by now.” Beakley rolled her eyes and paid for the snacks. Beakley counted it as a treat for going to the hospital - though the snacks weren’t for Della. Della happily went out of the store letting the doctor’s news be put on hold for her kids. Not even Beakley knew the extent of her potential medical troubles. She thought she wouldn’t say it unless it was confirmed. Though even under the circumstances it didn’t have to be a death sentence she couldn’t go through ten years of fighting to surrender right after. It wasn’t fair for her body to betray her; she managed to cut off her leg for fucks sake, she tailored her body for survival; it couldn’t end right when her life could be looking up. 

Della put on a face before opening the door and sure enough her kids were there to greet her. Della's smile turned genuine seeing them all in front of her. 

“I came in with gifts,” Della brought out the bags of snacks and the kids went to grab it delighted. 

“Best mom ever,” Dewey states, completely enamored by the treats in front of him. Della’s heart warmed but her brain deciphered how she was his biological mom and how that might have clouded his judgement. 

“I got you a ginger ale to settle your stomach.” 

“Good choice mom.” Dewey pulled out the ginger ale and proceeded to chug the contents down. Della didn’t want to micromanage his actions so she let that be but worried how his stomach would take that. Though Dewey had no complaints leaving Della without a pit of worry buried in her confused stomach. Nobody seemed to ask about her trip out that took the majority of the day after the gilded man incident. 

Della finished the day with sticky cans of drinks in her hands. Pep didn’t seem to hurt her stomach taken in small sips despite Della telling Beakley that the snacks were exclusively for the kids. The stranded can of bright labelled pep seemed to draw itself to Della in curiosity. Della balanced out her meal with some carrots that one of the boys seemed to leave on their plate. Della from her day felt sufficiently tuckered out but she still wanted to tuck her boys into bed. She wanted to make up for last night where it turned out she scared them up all night. The boys didn’t seem worried about her mom asking if she could tuck them into bed tonight which Della concluded as a wonderful thing. She must have been doing something right, right? She bid them all goodnight and went off into the living room where she met Webby on the couch seeming to be reading. 

Della had met Webby and despite her being a surprise to her concept of her family she was delighted to meet the excited girl that seemed to compliment her sons well. Webby put down her book to the sight of Della smiling up at her. 

“I never heard about the story of the gilded man,” Webby stated pure curiosity in her eyes. 

“Well we did manage to defeat it today in person so you won’t be afraid with my tale of youth, right?” Webby shook her head feverishly. 

“I am well versed in the creepy tales of adventures. I want to create my own some day.” Della chuckled if Della hadn’t accounted for all her eggs vigorously she would have swore Webby was one of her children with her blood coursed with adventure. 

“Well the place: El Dorado, The time: when I was your age. The legend: the horror known as the gilded man.” Della told the story this time monitoring Webby’s facial expression to make sure she didn’t bypass any signs of terror. Instead Della met eager eyes soaking up the story in awe. It also made Della feel safe to pour out the stories she was so used to spouting off. 

“Isn’t it your bedtime,” Della kid but with a sense of monitoring the child.

“I was reading, granny allows a half an hour extension when I read or with an adult.” 

“I guess I’m an adult, huh?” It was a new thing to be in the house as before even as Della was for sure an adult she never had the responsibilities to take care of kids. Even Fethry - the youngest of the cousins - was 5 years behind Della and Donald. She may have taken care of him but she was never designated to, always having a proper grownup around such as their grandma or even Abner at times (even though they were only two years apart from him). Della was dedicated to this - she was adaptive to a whole ass planet she could change her role on her home planet. It would be hard no doubt but she could do it for as long as possible. 

Della led Webby to the bedroom of the girls, trusting her that she could go to bed on her own - she had no reason not to trust her as she was Agent 22’s grandkid. Webby gave a quick hug to Della before she departed. 

“From watching the boys you seemed like a good hugger,” Webby explained coyly before heading off to bed. Della’s heart warmed and she carried that notion to the couch. Though once she stopped at the couch her cover also stopped and her real emotions slipped through. Della had so much more to do and possible concerns to address at some point. She didn’t want to tell her family but Della realized that if doing that she would be helplessly alone in that regard like she had for so long. Della teared up and let the tears fall onto the closest pillow she held to her arms in clutch. The whole emotional rollercoaster caused Della to be drawn into the soft pillow and couch she was on into a slumber. It had been a long day for Della and more would have to come in order to recover. Though she was Della Duck, the notorious catchphrase for conquering anything she had to allow herself to feel, to be vulnerable and to be responsible for her own health along with the well being of her kids. 

Though for now Della would sleep for a longer time than ten minutes letting her dreams finally catch up to her after so long. 

Chapter Text

Della woke to the feeling of a blanket. Della had almost mistaken it for her astronaut suit but as the sounds that surrounded her were foreign to the moon - a coffee maker and video games playing in the background - along with the fact that Della could take a breath without the horrendous gum in her mouth was evidence enough to open her eyes. She saw Huey and Webby in front of her with the all too bright screen glaring at her once she opened her eyes. 

“What time is it?” Della asked almost desperately to catch up to the time. The sun was shining through the curtains and Della hadn’t remembered waking up at all throughout the night. 

“It’s nine,” Webby stated, “you slept for 11 hours.” 

“You were quite stationary the whole time so I made sure you were still breathing,” Huey noted. 

“Oh thank you.” Della hadn’t had such a sedentary sleep in forever - even before on earth she would be borderline insomniac along with her brother. It was like sleep had finally caught up after so long. Though Della was still tired she knew it would shake off soon enough. Della migrated to the kitchen remembering where it was this time. She saw her uncle and Beakley huddled coddling coffee in their hands. Their eyes tended to Della as she grabbed herself a cup. The coffee maker had not changed at all much to Della’s content where she could commence her morning ritual of consuming coffee. 

“Sleep well?” Beakley asked. 

“Yeah I managed to crash as soon as my head hit the pillow.”  

“You didn’t manage to crash in your room huh?” 

“I have a room?” Della boggled at the new information. Beakley could be heard sighing. 

“You think we’d just forget to set you up with a room?” 

“I guess I just forgot,” Della concluded, getting her filled coffee mug a sip to lower the high level of burning hot coffee edging the rim of the coffee mug. Scrooge and Beakley exchanged a look with concern. Della felt scrutinized; she hadn’t told them what had been diagnosed and what was at risk of being on their radar for a potential diagnosis. 

“I would like to have the meal plan the doctor drew up for you,” Beakley states with a list of groceries in her hands. Della felt rather uncomfortable in that moment especially in front of Scrooge as well with his prying eyes. 

“Oh really Beakley it’s fine I’m sure I can piggyback off of the kids meals.” 

“Della lass be sensible,” Scrooge beckoned, “we can accommodate for a former space fighter's meals.” Della herself sighed, giving up on trying to fight on this. She was still much too tired. Della led Beakley to where she gathered her belongings. Beakley followed but rolled her eyes at where she saw where Della was keeping all her things. Della bundled her belongings - such as a spare coat, bandages, her new medications, and various papers contained in a bag. 

“This was why I made up your room. I’ll show you later.” Della ignored that sentiment digging through her bag. Della pulls out the paper victoriously, giving it to Beakley. 

“A build up to a large amount of calories, with a fixation of carbs - starches - and frequent, large amounts of nutritious foods “ Della had to admit that the plan laid out so strictly was intimidating especially after a time where all of her nutrition was taken care of for her. 

Della heard a phone call from the kitchen and strained her ears to hear the conversation being placed like she did when she was younger. Before Della could sneak in she was called into the kitchen. Scrooge handed the phone to Della and it had been the doctor from yesterday 

“I hope you are feeling a bit better in your recovery.” 

“I slept for 11 hours.” 

“That’s good. Your body seems to be lacking an internal body clock but this can be a good step to setting up a routine for recovery. I understand that you have had rather crappy sleep from the moon so I suspect that your body is recovering from that. If you seem to be oversleeping or any problems arise with sleep let me know.” 

“Okay I will,” Della lied. 

“So the main reason for calling is in accordance with the gum you were supplied and how it can relate to some of your blood results. So there is a reason why humans require food to go with vitamins especially with fat soluble vitamins. Honestly the gum is quite complex but definitely was not consulted by a nutritionist. The gum seemed to have fats, carbs, and all of your proteins but they came out rapidly which makes sense since you can’t mandate chewing in portions especially as it's filled with oxygen as well. But you are lacking B12 from the vitamin C that blocked it out so you probably for a lack of better terms felt like shit.” 

“You’re not wrong. I do feel like that and a bit more.” 

“I also checked in with the FDA. This gum had never been verified for dietary supplements. It’s not under the law to be verified but I thought I would just let you know since the contents are borderline fine but have various flaws.” 

“You're telling me I still have black licorice coding my tongue.” Dr. Pond chuckled at that though Della was completely serious about her complaint 

“Okay well you have an appointment with us for Thursday for various scans and a biopsy if anything arises.” 

“Okay,” Della replied a bit quieter than her usual self. She bid her goodbyes and hung up the phone. Della felt a huff within her to address all of her current problems to the man who formed the stupid gum to begin with. She knew she was alive because of it but if it could also cause her downfall and if he had slipped even more it might not have mattered that the gum was there at all and Della would have been chewing on it til she died of malnutrition. Della let her kids know she was leaving and although Dewey pleaded to go with her Della couldn’t bring her children to her forthcoming rage at Gyro. 

Della strolled over to the money bin collecting her thoughts and contemplating her anger. She was a McDuck afterall she had plenty to spare. Della went into the money bin and she was greeted with all the familiar look of the white walls of the money bin. Della let her legs take its natural course to the lab. She had been there many more times than she had to the money bin. She remembers to bittersweet memories of being in the lab. It was one of the only places where she could run wild with her whims of mechanical builds along with science experiments. It was a way to apply her education in a hands-on approach, even escaping her college dorms to be in the lab where Gyro would reluctantly help her with her school work. 

It was then when Gyro found out that Della hadn’t been slow for her work, she was placed in a school that gave a natural disadvantage to the girl who needed to move and get constant stimulation in order to focus and sometimes when Della did focus on a project she would fixate on it after class even to the point where the teacher left before she did. Della managed to find hacks to focus on a task and complete her double bachelors. The aviation bachelors being much more in her comfort as opposed to her other bachelor in mechanical engineering. Once Della got into the groove she was able to find herself actually learning instead of just passing out of whims. The lab helped in that regard but now Della found herself going to the lab not for the atmosphere of help but for the damn individual there who essentially ruled the place with his arrogance and micromanagement. 

Della took account of how she was feeling before she got into the lab. She had a wicked headache placed behind her eyes, her lungs ached, her limbs felt heavy, her stomach churned angirly and her leg had been aching from the walk. 

Della walked into the lab with determination. She spotted Gyro working on his project and made a beeline towards him. Before she was able to tap him on the shoulder she got blocked by another person. 

“Hello I’m Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera we usually don’t have guests and Dr. Gearloose doesn’t usually like looking people in the eyes.” Gyro still hadn’t turned around making Della frustrated. 

“Are you surprised to hear my voice after so long? Thought I would give up after crashing on the moon? Thought I would spit out your disgusting gum, read your taints in the manual and give up?” Gyro seemed to cringe under the accusations. Fenton still blocked her from reaching Gyro now in a bit of a protective stance but he looked shockingly at Della. 

“You’re-” 

“Going to kick Gyro’s ass yeah.” Gyro slowly turned around to face Della. Della noticed his eyes puffy and tear stains down his cheeks. It caused Della to soften up a bit but she was still seething. 

“Am I having some sort of hallucination?” Gyro asked Fenton. Fenton shook his head but as he looked at Gyro Della found a slip in defenses going past Fenton. Della then pushed Gyro onto the group, shaking him by the collar. 

“Does this feel real to you? You insoluble idiot.” 

“Yes your real I get it,” Gyro responds a bit annoyed at Della but still had some terror and mourning placed in his eyes from his sight of her. 

“Why were you the one to make the gum? You are the same person who digested pep and twinkies for a month and needed to be reminded to drink water. You like the taste of black licorice. You also didn’t fucking bother to put some spare gold on board not even an ounce.” 

“Your uncle wanted the project done quickly. I didn’t have the time to be more diligent in nutrition. He was also confident that you wouldn’t need spare gold.” 

“And you believed him! You could have- I could have,” Della herself then started to crack under her layer of anger. She started to sob feeling the effects of everything she had been holding. Della knew this was essentially all her fault even with Gyro making some errors that might mean difficult medical decisions; it was her fault for heading off to the rocket. For taking off and needing the gum in the first place. She could pinpoint certain blame for being careless with some of the precautions but all in all she had attempted to board a rocketship to the pits of outer space without consideration for consequences beyond if she would get in trouble once she landed back. As Della sobbed Gyro looked quite uncomfortable that placed Della in the awkwardness of the situation. 

“You need to sedate me. I can’t stop crying,” Della pleaded with Gyro as she continued crying and sniffling not just from the pressure change. 

“Della it’s going to be okay,” Fenton attempted to console 

“Sedate me!” Della started to hyperventilate not being able to control her breathing - like the moon. She coiled when someone touched her arm and felt far away in her mind. Della felt the world spin and she saw a head statue of Scrooge with the body of a horse with a needle in his hoof. Della noticed the needle had empty - she hadn’t even felt it but her body acted accordingly as she landed back on Gyro she heard his scream grow farther away as she passed out. 

Della woke up with the pain in her head coming back with a vengeance and seemingly everything else wrong with her body. She felt her back supported on a couch, not Scrooge’s, the couch was smaller and cheaper as it seemed to be a simple black cot. Della felt a crust around her eyes that she rubbed off along with the lingering tracks of tears that were on her face. Della no longer felt like crying but she still felt like shit for what she had done to Gyro and Fenton. Especially for Gyro as he seemed to be put on a time crunch along with the fact that knowing him he probably put the guilt on himself for years accounting himself for her space “incident”. Della sighed to herself through all her thoughts as well as for the pain that gradually built up as she woke up. Della looked to her left and saw a cup of water glaring at her beads of condensation rolling down the side of it only making it that much more inviting. Della took it in her hands and chugged it down her dry throat. She noticed Fenton standing not that far from her so she got up in a sitting position and put down the water glass. 

“That wasn’t for you was it?” Fenton shook his head. 

“Oh good I feel a lot better because crying and also having pneumonitis is not a good combination.” 

“You have pneumonitis and you walked in here ready to fight Dr. Gearloose.” 

“Yeah and I regretted it. Not just because my lungs feel abysmal.” Fenton chuckled at that and Della gulped the rest of the water glass down her gullet. 

“Your leg is missing,” Gyro noted, coming into Della’s line of sight. 

“Nice detective work Watson but also sorry about earlier but you seemed to stop crying too.” 

“It was just allergies,” Gyro insisted while lying. Della rolled her eyes while producing a small smile. 

“I’m sure,” Della then muttered under her breath, “I’m sure you’re lying. Anyway you were speaking about my awesomely crafted leg.” 

“By your capabilities on the moon I’m sure but with our brains put together it could be even better.” Fenton looked excited at the aspect of the project but Della was not and huffed at the two of them essentially watering their mouths at the aspect of adjusting her work, her leg. 

“Unless you two wear a leg you crafted with limited resources for ten years, shut up.” That shut Fenton up with Gyro seemed unfazed by that statement. 

“I will add a can opener to the design.” 

“So could I, next.” 

“Make it invisible?” Fenton suggested. 

“Hell yeah that I can get behind. Imagine an adventure when someone thinks I’m helpless without a leg and then bam! I kick them in the face and they won’t know what’s coming.” 

“We’ve got a winner,” Gyro observed, “you get right on that Fenton.” Fenton blundered unprepared to deal with that aspect all on his own. 

“Um sir, Dr, I- don’t know the first thing about even the concept of invisibility. I have a masters in engineering physics.”

“You’re also an intern so you can figure it out that’s your job.” 

“Oh that explains the dynamic you too have,” Della noted while fidgeting around clearly up now, “so do you guys have anything to drink?” 

“Water?” Fenton guessed taking the empty cup. 

“If you’re looking for alcohol you will not find it here, especially in the lab.” 

“Oh you finally went through with it didn’t you? Social use or none?” 

“None.” 

“Yeah it was usually all or nothing with you. Like when someone would ask you to organize a box and then you organized the whole house.” 

“Oh great, after ten years you still remember all the stories.” 

“Especially the embarrassing ones to cling onto when I was mad at you.” 

“I wasn’t even there.” 

“In spirit you were with all your inventions around me.”

“Wait, I'm out of the loop here. Dr. Gearloose you drank and you two spent a lot of time together beforehand?” Gyro and Della exchanged a look. 

“Not really we were barely friends.” 

“That’s one way to address your ex-girlfriend.” 

“What?” Fenton sputtered. 

“Just kidding,” Della jokes, “that would make the two of us very unhappy. Especially Gyro.” 

“Hey!” Della shrugged as a reply. Then as she attempted to get up off the couch she swayed on her feet. 

“Earth gravity is stupid.” 

“Funnily enough you also said that about a lot of things beforehand.” Della’s eyes flashed with some pain before sobering. That was before looking at the clock and spotting time had passed fast.

“How much sedative was in that needle?” The statue of the horse with Scrooge’s statue head on top made a rhythmic motion producing a sound that Della could not decipher.

“He said the whole needle. He is not a legitimate scientist,” Fenton explained. Della cursed under her breath before picking herself up to leave. 

“You um dropped… the gum you hate.” Fenton picked up the gum. As much as Della loathed the product she had relied on it so heavily not to keep it on her. Just in case she were to -. Della stopped the thoughts before it was to play out. She was home and would never let herself leave and make that stupid decision again but the gum would linger. Della grabbed the gum out of Fenton’s hand and shoved it down her pocket. 

Della’s journey back was much more tiring, the sleep not quite shaking off. Her lungs and muscles screamed, she wished she could have taken a car ride but the thought of talking to someone to ask someone of something took up a lot of different energy that she had even less of. So she trudged on the sidewalks and into the manor where she was greeted kindly with her children gathering around her and Dewey clinging onto her leg. 

“You were gone for too long!” Dewey complained, seeming to go into dramatics to explain how he missed her. Huey and Louie were hanging around Della as well waiting for the acceptance of affection from their mom. Della didn’t hesitate before scooping them all up to give them a hug. Affection was still new to Della but the feeling of added warmth and fluff felt oh so welcoming especially as a mother. 

“Ooh are we still hugging? Yay!” Webby screeched seeing Della and the kids. She squeezed herself into the hug and Della accepted her as well without question. Della looked up to Beakley who had a small smile gathering on her face but her arms were crossed in a sense of mild disappointment for her outing taking up the whole day. With hours unregulated and unaccounted for. 

“Any updates about life, Donald?” Della asked the room with mumbles of nothing as it seemed days were either filled with adventures or pulled down to nothing but the kids trying to entertain themselves with television and various made up games that Della could pick up paralleling the ones she and her brother would do with different names and revised rules. 

“I don’t suppose you got enough to eat huh?” 

“How’d you know,” Della teased. 

“Come sit, I'll fill you up,” Beakley prompted Della into the dinning room. Della noticed her stomach was rumbling with the now promise of food though the new sensation after so long amplified the feeling to be almost unbearable. Della got presented with some pasta with the sauce covered with various vegetables along with meat to cover all her meal plans that Della did not bother to memorize. 

Della was convinced to eat slower than she had the previous night or so. Taking in the meal she then took notice of her surroundings with the kids still gawking at her. As someone who was used to nothing but hallucinations illuminating the state of being watched to actually experience it for real was somewhat exposing like they could look into her mind and figure out she had no idea what she was doing. 

Della doused the pills with the water provided to her and listened to her children talk about the achievements they’ve accomplished - the things she missed. Della listened as hard as she could to the kids. Though when it came to questions Della faltered a bit under them. 

“How did you get home?” Huey asked. 

“Did you get to kill anything?” Webby asked. 

“How did you not go crazy?” Louie pondered. 

“Did you miss us?” Dewey added. 

It was all parallel to the visions on the moon. The questions stacked up against her that were all too hard to process. She could not quickly answer the questions like she had when she first met them. It took a lot to get home - too much to recollect verbatim - she didn’t think she killed anything, she would argue that she did go crazy, and Della would admit that she missed them more than anything anyone ever could but it wasn’t enough for a relationship. She wanted to do so much but she felt restricted by something she could not place her finger on. Maybe it was the fact that her limbs and lungs were screaming at her constantly but she had been in worse spots especially on the moon. The thought of not instantly recovering after her ‘trip’ was astounding to her. 

It was definitely a first. 

“Oh um - well - as much as I would love to answer all your burning questions we should spend time together. How about we go outside and I’ll throw you guys into the pool. 

“Woo-hoo,” the kids yelled in good nature. Della then proceeded to do just that, throwing them into the pool and letting them be kids interacting with her like a mom in a normal fashion. For now this would be enough.