Who is Julie McDuck?!

Finding Balance

(Cole's POV)

I wiped my tears away and put my hands on Grace's shoulders. "He's going to jail, sis; he can't hurt us anymore."

My sister took a peek behind me, a bit wary of the other people in the room. "Who're they?" she asked clutching my sleeve.

I smiled. "Our new family."

Scrooge carefully approached my sister as I held her hand; partially for comfort and partially to keep her from punching him out of impulse. "Hi, there, lass," he whispered, a gentle smile on his beak. "Yer brother here's been lookin' for ya for ages. Yer a part of my family now; I won't let anyone hurt ya."

Grace sniffled, anxiously rubbing her arm and nodded. "O-ok," she stammered.

He looked to her stomach, and saw the poor girl's ribs poking through her dress. "When was the last time yew ate, lassie?"

She thought for a moment before her stomach growled loudly, causing her to wince in pain. "I-I can't remember....maybe two, three days?" she mumbled.

Donald and Scrooge looked at each other, concern prevalent in their eyes. I looped an arm under my sister's back and the other under her knees, holding her bridal style. "C'mon, Grace; let's get you home," I sighed only to find out she'd passed out in my arms.

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(Grace's POV)

"Lass? Wake up!" I heard someone say and felt a gentle hand shake my shoulder. I peeked my eyes open to see Scrooge looking down at me.

"We're home, Grace," Cole announced, swinging an arm around my shoulders so I wouldn't fall on the walk...to McDuck Manor?!

Holy crud, I thought. Why is a billionaire of all people taking Cole and I in?

Something didn't feel right...

As soon as I walked into the mansion, I felt my breath go away. It was beautiful...Wow.

Cole sat me down at a long table carefully before a nice lady with gray hair placed a tray in front of me. It had two sandwiches, a small bowl of mashed potatoes, and a glass of water on it.

"Here you go, dear," she said gently, tussling my hair.

Without hesitation, I dug in, eating as fast as I could without choking. I saw my older brother watching me out of the corner of my eye, smiling fondly.

"You're a teenager already, and you still eat like every meal is your last," he teased.

"Shut up!" I mumbled.

Cole looked at me solemnly as I finished eating and downed the last of the water. "Foster home, huh?" he muttered.

I nodded.

"Didn't feed ya a lot?"

I gave him a so-so gesture with my hand. "Only if I 'behaved' to their standards," I replied, handing the empty tray to the nice lady.

"So...once a week?" Cole joked.

I slugged him in the arm. "And you say I make bad jokes...but, yeah. Something like that."

I noticed that Scrooge and the other grown duck (I think he said his name was Donald?) were watching my every move and giving each other worried looks. 

"Hey, kiddo, where were you this whole time, anyways?" Donald asked.

I shrugged. "Like I told Cole, in a foster home. It was near St. Canard; really tiny house, actually. Not surprised it took the cops so long to find me."

Cole smirked. "You kept the photo, I'm guessing?"

I giggled. "Well, DUH! It's the one picture where you aren't pulling my hair and I'm not tackling you!" I justified, pulling it out. It went without saying that it was the only picture of Mom we had before she got ill, and before Dad went nuts.

It showed a happy family.

Scrooge cleared his throat. "Lassie, do ya have any other clothes besides that?" he asked, nodding to my old dress.

 I rubbed my arm a little as I felt my cheeks heat up. "Uh, no, not really. I didn't get the chance to get my stuff from the foster home before the cops found me. I only brought my backpack, nothing else."

"I've got a few oversized T-shirts she can have," a female voice replied from behind me. I turned to see a teenaged girl, maybe a few years older than me, with brown hair and blue-green eyes. She wore a purple T-shirt, jacket, and jean shorts.

"So you must be Grace," the girl greeted, smiling at me. "I'm Julie, and I'm....uh...."

Cole slung an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. "She's my girlfriend."

I felt all my skepticism wash away and bounced up and down a little like a dork, trying to control my excitement. I squealed and slammed Julie into a hug. "Yes! I've always wanted a sister!" I cried, before quickly saying "No offense, bro" to Cole.

"None taken."

"You know," Julie said, winking in Cole's direction, "we're going on a date tomorrow. I'd love it if you'd help me get ready. I'm not really one for....how do you say....formal occasions."

"We already knew that, lass," Scrooge called from across the room.

Julie blushed and shook her head. "So, what do ya say?"

I bounced on my heels again, eyes sparkling. "YES, YES, YES!!! Does this also mean I get to be one of your bridesmaids?!"

Julie gave a reassuring wink. "Once your brother gets the hint to propose, then yeah."

My brother blushed red, mumbling something into his hands as he walked away. 

Julie giggled, putting a light hand on my back. "C'mon, I'll show you to your room. If you want, you can stay with your brother."

I gave her a grateful smile and nodded. 

"I get that this is all relatively new for ya, so I'll try to help you adjust as gently as possible," she replied, taking an oversized light pink T-shirt and a towel out of her closet and tossing them to me. "The bathroom's all yours if you want to take a shower, and if you need any help or clean clothes, let me know. You know where to find me."

"Thanks, Julie," I murmured, looking down the T-shirt and towel. "You know, it's funny. Whenever I thought Cole would have a girlfriend, I thought she'd be a total jerk to me. But you're...so nice. I get why Cole likes you."

"Well, I'm glad I slightly exceed your expectations," Julie exaggerated, taking a little bow and making me laugh. "Take a nice, hot shower and get to sleep, kid. It's been a long day for ya."