Who is Julie McDuck?!

An Explanation

Kylee poked her head out from behind her uncle and gasped. "Daddy!" she squealed, tackling the brown-haired man into a hug.

Julie's brother chuckled and quickly returned the embrace. "Hey, honey; sorry it took so long for me to come back."

A look of realization hit his face. "Wait...why aren't you and Jake at the house?"

"Yer sister did the responsible thing: she brought them here after ya left them," Scrooge muttered, giving Josh the evil eye.

Josh's face flushed. "Oh" was all that managed to escape his beak. He turned to his uncle. "Where is she?"

"Out with Donald's nephews," Scrooge replied. "Yer cousins."

"I-I didn't know I had cousins," Josh admitted before shaking off the shock. "So...where's my son?"

"Sleeping; DON'T wake him up."

Josh scowled. "I don't need YOUR advice on how to take care of my children."

"You left them all alone in an abandoned house for goodness knows how long!"

"It's not like I meant to!"

"What's going on?"

The two ducks turned around to see Huey, Dewey, and Louie looking up at Josh. In front of them was Julie, standing there in shock.

Joshua set Kylee down and slowly walked over to her. When he reached her, he cupped Julie's cheek, rubbing his thumb across and taking a deep breath.

"You look so much like Mom already," he whispered, his voice cracking as tears gathered in his eyes, desperately trying to hold them back.

His sister, however, had tears streaming down her cheeks and slammed him into a hug like Kylee had minutes ago.

"Welcome back," Julie gushed.

She was afraid for a moment that her brother didn't want a hug, but soon felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders.

"I'll never leave you again," he promised, stroking the back of her hair.

________________________________________________________________________________

(Julie's POV)

Mrs. Beakley handed Josh a cup of something steaming. "Thank you, ma'am," he said politely, taking a sip.

He let a sigh escape. "I'm so sorry, you guys," he suddenly muttered, hanging his head. "I never should've left you."

"Are you talking to me or your kids?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Both," he chuckled. His expression turned serious.

"I take it you have some questions, huh, sis?"

"Duh."

"Lad, where've you been?" Uncle Scrooge asked, his voice dripping with concern. "Yer wee ones and yer sister have been worried sick!"

"I was talking to Julie, but I guess I owe you an explanation, too," Josh replied. His hands began to shake a bit, making his cup shake as well.

"Josh, are you okay?" I asked, placing a hand on his arms to help steady him.

He shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just...baggage."

"Okay..." I hesitantly said, not fully convinced he wasn't lying.

"Mom had just laid Julie's egg, and I was ecstatic to be a big brother but...something was off with Dad. Whenever Mom brought up Julie, he just...looked down and excused himself to go to his office. Something wasn't right.

"I remember the fights. The screaming and yelling. Glass breaking. It was horrible and went on for weeks. Dad said he wanted a divorce."

Josh's fists clenched as he went on. "He didn't say goodbye or even stay long enough to see his daughter hatch. He just...left and didn't turn back. To this day, I don't know where he is.

"Julie hatched in January, and Mom remarried. Then....she got sick...."

My brother looked down. "Terminally sick."

"I remember just waiting next to her, praying every day that she would make it. And I felt useless. I was six years old! A six-year-old kid who couldn't do anything for my mother and with a baby sister! I just...held onto her hand."

He sniffed. "DAD should've been the one there, holding her hand."

"So...I was left with Nathan. He was awful; would get angry over the slightest little thing. It seemed like he wanted to get rid of everything that reminded him of Mom. One time he locked me in an empty room for days without food or water just because I didn't call him sir."

"But...one day, I decided I had enough of his abuse. He had thrown me out of the house in the snow because I reminded him of Mom with my 'spunky' attitude. So, I left that place behind and began to look for Julie.

"Fergus wouldn't give me any answers because I had the feeling he didn't like me or something and Downy only told me about Grandma Matilda and Aunt Hortense. I-I didn't find out they had a son until a few weeks ago."

So he was looking for me when we got separated, I realized. He just never got the right answers.

"Then I met Diane, we got married, and she laid an egg. Not gonna lie, though, I was terrified. Not of the baby, but the concept of being a father. I-I promised when I saw Mom and Dad split up and Nathan's abuse that I'd never be anything like them. But I never stopped to consider what my kids needed, so I had no idea how to do this...how to be a father."

"So, like an idiot, I ran away when Kylee turned four and Diane laid Jake's egg. When I decided that I needed to go back and be a part of my kids' lives, someone grabbed me from behind and abducted me."

"When they found out that I was the great-nephew of Scrooge McDuck, they became even more interested in me. Then someone in all black and with green, glowing eyes approached me. He told me, 'You have a special kind of power that flows through your veins, and I intend to put an end to it all. First you, then your sister, and finally your kids.'"

"I don't know about you guys, but when someone threatens my family, I go nuts. So, I may or may not have beaten that guy up and made a run for it. A few days ago, I finally got wind of where McDuck Manor was, and so...here I am," my brother finished.

I just stood there with my beak agape and felt like I was gonna hurl. Uncle Scrooge rubbed my back when he saw my face pale.

"You okay, lass?" he asked.

"Y-yeah, just processing things..." I muttered, running a hand down my face.

"Wait a minute," Webby spoke up. "If you were kidnapped, then where did Diane go? When Julie and I went to visit you, Jake and Kylee were the only ones there!"

"W-What?!" Josh stammered. "She-she's gone, too?! Oh, man, this is even worse than I thought!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If they found out about me and the powers that I harbor, what are they gonna do to the woman I freakin' MARRIED?!" he almost shouted.

"Powers..." I murmured, unconsciously playing with my necklace.

"OK, kids," Donald spoke up, "It's been a long day, so why don't you guys go to bed?"

"Aww!" the triplets and Webby moaned.

"But I like hearing Josh's story!" Dewey whined as his uncle practically pushed him, his brothers, and Webby out of the room and up the stairs. "It's so dramatic!"

As soon as the kids were gone, Uncle Scrooge said, "Julie, why don't ya go check on yer nephew?"

I got the hint and started up the stairs to my room. Josh tried to follow me, but Uncle Scrooge hooked his cane onto the back of his shirt.

"Hold on, laddie; we're not done here."