Donald crossed his arms and frowned down at Dewey and Louie, standing in front of him on the houseboat deck. "Louie, what have I told you about getting Lil' Bulb to hack your brother's phone?" he said, one eyebrow raised in his patented Dad-Stare of Disappointment.

Louie shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and scuffed his foot on the ground. "That it's an invasion of privacy," he muttered. "But Dewey was asking for it! He was the one who dug out all my embarrassing baby pictures and was gonna show them to the world on his dumb show! I had to get some blackmail on him. In self defense."

"Excuse you, Dewey Dew-Nite is not dumb! It's the next big hit!" Dewey spread his arms wide, nearly clobbering Louie in the head. "People love pictures of babies, and they also love seeing people doing embarrassing things! It was only natural that I, in my genius, combine the two. It was going to be my masterpiece!"

"It was gonna be humiliating! Why couldn't you have used Huey's baby pictures instead?"

"Because his weren't nearly as funny!"

Donald allowed them to go back and forth for a few moments before stepping in. "Alright, knock it off, you two," he said, raising his voice slightly. When they continued arguing, he raised it more. "I said knock it off!"

They both abruptly fell into silence, though they still shot each other sullen glares. Donald sighed; he'd take what he could get. "Dewey, don't use your brothers' baby pictures for anything without their permission, or I'll hide the photo albums. But -" he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm sure I could scrounge up some stupid pictures of me and Della as babies for your show."

Dewey's eyes lit up mischievously, and Donald instantly regretted his offer. "Really? Awesome! Thanks, Uncle Donald!" he said, all but sprinting off the houseboat. "Hey, Webby! You're gonna be able to add some more pictures of Mom and Uncle Donald to your files!"

Donald sighed, making a mental note to be sure that the majority of the pictures were of Della and not him. He then turned to Louie, who had slouched in on himself even more. "Look, I know it's tempting to try to get back at him on your own, but next time, talk to me or your mom first, okay?" Donald said. "We'll stop him, and if we can't - well, Dewey may think you're the only one with embarrassing pictures, but I know where some are that I doubt he wants getting out in the open." Donald winked, smiling at how Louie's eyes widened. "So next time, leave his phone alone, okay?"

Louie nodded. "Sorry, Uncle Donald," he said. "Thank you," he added, glancing up at Donald with a small smile before making his way off the houseboat as well.

Donald smiled as he left. A conflict successfully deflated, and it wasn't even lunch yet. He brushed off his hands and turned to enter the houseboat when a voice interrupted him.

"How did you do that?"

Donald spun back around, his eyes widening as he caught sight of none other than Gyro Gearloose, standing just off the plank leading to the houseboat and looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable.

"What are you doing here?" Donald said, the words coming out harsher than he'd intended. It wasn't that he had a problem with Gyro being here, he was just surprised; he didn't think Gyro had ever visited him of his own accord. Actually, Donald was pretty sure he could count on one hand the number of times he'd ever seen Gyro outside of the money bin.

Gyro ignored Donald's question. "How did you do that, just now? Stop them from being mad at each other?" he asked, tone somehow a mixture of haughty and genuinely curious.

Donald frowned. Since when did Gyro ask him questions? For as long as Donald had known Gyro, he had always been absurdly self-confident. This was new, and more than a little disconcerting. Still, he answered. "I got them to both feel like they'd won," he said, shrugging slightly as he turned to watch Dewey and Louie's retreating backs. They'd seemed to have made up already, Dewey laughing at something Louie had said. "Dewey wanted pictures for his show, so I offered him some. Louie wanted to one-up his brother, so I shared a secret with him and made him feel like he had. They both got what they wanted." Donald shrugged again. "Not every conflict works out that easily, but it's nice when it does."

Gyro frowned in the direction of the two boys. "Interesting," he said before walking briskly onto the houseboat deck.

Donald stumbled back slightly, confused and a smidge irritated as Gyro breezed past him. "Uh, what are you doing?" he asked, trailing after Gyro. "Since when do you visit people?" And invite yourself into their house, his mind added, but he thought it was probably best not to say that part aloud.

Gyro glanced around them, his eyes narrowed as if he were checking to see if anyone were watching them. "Inside," he said, opening the small houseboat door and shoving Donald inside.

"You are aware that this is my house, right?" Donald snapped, exasperated. "What do you want, Gyro?"

Gyro was busy scanning the cramped kitchen, checking behind pots and pans and opening nearly every cupboard. He nearly toppled over the precariously balanced stack of unwashed dishes sitting in the sink, and Donald barely was able to catch it in time. He probably would have been more angry at Gyro for moving everything if the houseboat weren't already a mess, but still.

"This place isn't bugged, is it?" Gyro asked, ducking down to look underneath a chair. "I don't need anyone overhearing what I'm about to say."

Donald threw his hands up in the air. "No, my houseboat is not bugged! What do you think this is, a spy movie? What do you want?"

Gyro pushed himself upright and adjusted his bowtie, hesitating. He took a deep breath, then said, "I need your help."

Okay, that wasn't what Donald had expected. He gaped at Gyro, who seemed to be avoiding eye contact. "You what?"

"I know, I know, I would have thought it impossible too. Unfortunately, a lot of things that I thought were impossible have happened in the past few days," Gyro said, adjusting his glasses. "Why would I, a literal genius, need help from -" He hesitated and gestured vaguely at Donald as a whole. "You?"

Donald crossed his arms and raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Anytime you want to stop insulting me would be fine."

Gyro let out a long sigh. "However, it turns out there is one particular subject you have more experience in than me - unlikely as it seems. So I'm here. Asking Donald Duck, of all people, for help."

"You come into my house uninvited, insult me every other sentence . . . yeah, you're really making me want to help you," Donald said, rolling his eyes. "Just spit it out already."

Gyro sucked in a breath. "I need - advice," he said, shoulders slumping. "About kids. And you're the only person I could think of to ask."

Donald was quiet for a long moment. Then:

"Have a seat, Gyro."

* * *

"- and he hugged me, and I hugged him back, and it actually felt good and he doesn't hate me like everybody else does, but what am I supposed to do now?" Gyro's eyes were wide and harried as he finished his story, and Donald wordlessly refilled the inventor's cup of coffee and slid it back across the table. It was slightly alarming how much of the beverage Gyro had consumed in the past half hour, but Donald was in no position to judge.

Gyro had started off awkward and slow, but a few well-placed questions from Donald were enough to get him going on a tangent, explaining all about his past and the small robot boy that seemed to have worked its way into Gyro's heart.

It helped, of course, that Donald had already heard part of this story from Huey. After his nephew had gotten back from Tokyolk, he'd burst into the houseboat and told Donald all about his new friend who happened to be a robot. Donald didn't mention any of that to Gyro, however, instead choosing to just listen intently and occasionally nod in response. Oh, and keep Gyro continually supplied with coffee.

"He needs someone who's good with - emotions! Feelings!" Gyro almost spat the words out. "Do you know how bad I am with feelings, Donald?"

Donald raised an eyebrow slightly. "I can guess."

"I'm not cut out for this, but for some reason the kid seems to think I am!" Gyro slumped forward. "Why would he ever think that? Why?"

"Maybe he just doesn't care," Donald said softly. Gyro frowned at him.

"What?"

Donald shrugged. "Maybe he knows you aren't great with feelings right now, but he cares about you enough that he doesn't care. Besides, the best way to learn that kind of thing is through experience. Just try to be there for the kid."

Gyro sighed. "But why does he care about me? He shouldn't! I'd only ever treated him terribly, but - gah!" He held up his coffee mug and took a long drink of it.

"Kids tend to be good at forgiving," Donald said with a small smile. "Especially this kid, from what I hear about him." He hesitated, knowing what he needed to say next but unsure what Gyro's reaction would be. "You're scared, aren't you?"

As Donald had expected, Gyro flinched, setting down his coffee cup down hard on the table. "What? No, of course not. What would I be scared of?"

"Letting Boyd down," Donald said. "Messing up. Him ending up hating you."

Gyro bristled, but it was only a few moments before his shoulders slumped down. "How did you know?" he asked, his voice softer than Donald had ever heard it.

"Because I've felt the exact same way." Donald sighed and reached for his own mug of coffee. "When Della disappeared, I was left with the boys' eggs. And I didn't know what to do - I had been expecting to be an uncle, not a parent. And suddenly I was the only person these eggs had - I wanted to be the best parent I could be, but I was terrified of messing up. What if I ruined everything?"

"But you didn't," Gyro said, his voice exasperated. "You did fine, you kept them alive, and they all love you."

Was that a compliment? Coming from Gyro?As unexpected as that was, Donald didn't say anything, instead only shrugging slightly. "Maybe I was able to do those things, but it wasn't half as easy as you make it sound." He sighed. "I can't tell you how many mistakes I've made - one time I dropped one of the eggs while trying to show off for my friends. One time I punished Louie for something Dewey had done. I've missed events that were important to them, I've overreacted over small things, I've burnt dinner more times than I can count."

Gyro snorted, which Donald decided to take as a good sign. "My point is, you're not going to be a perfect parent right away," Donald said, then thought for a moment. "Think about your robots. What do you do if they don't work the first time?"

"My robots always work the first time," Gyro replied primly. Donald frowned at him until Gyro relented. "Okay, fine, on the rare occasion they don't work perfectly on the first try, I troubleshoot until I figure out the problem and then I'll fix it."

Donald nodded. "It's the same thing here. If you do something wrong - and you will - figure out what it is, and try to change it. And you can ask for help, too," he added.

Gyro nodded, but still looked hesitant. "But what if I mess up really badly? What if he does end up hating me?"

Donald hesitated, then shook his head. "That won't happen," he said. "If you care about him, and he cares about you, then you'll find a way to work things out. Apologize when you realize you did something wrong, and talk to him," he added empathetically. "I know you aren't much for communication skills, but it's important."

As expected, he earned a glare from Gyro for that one. "Those are awfully bold words coming from the duck no one can understand," he muttered.

"You're the one who came to me for advice," Donald shot back. "And you seem to be understanding me just fine."

"Miraculously." Gyro made a face. "Believe me, if I had any more of those voice modulators, I'd have shoved them down your throat a long time ago."

Donald shook his head, not feeling like continuing the insult train. "What I'm trying to say is - parenting isn't a smooth road, it's a bumpy path through the mountains," he said, feeling quite proud of himself for coming up with that analogy on the fly. "And there's no guarantee of the end result."

"So then what's the point?" Gyro said, brow furrowing. "Why would you go through all that trouble for maybe nothing? It makes no logical sense."

Donald gave him a long look. "I think you know the answer to that."

Gyro grumbled and crossed his arms. "I'm not going to say it," he informed Donald. Donald responded by arching an eyebrow, and finally Gyro groaned. "Ugh, fine. Because 'love isn't logical,' or whatever you sappy people would say."

Donald smiled. "You're one of us now, like it or not," he said as Gyro grimaced.

"Please, no. Anything but that."

Donald stood up and walked to set his empty coffee cup by the sink, adding it to the stack of dishes already there - he really needed to do some dishes. "But I meant what I said - if you two care about each other, you'll find a way to make it work. Besides, you're easily the smartest person in Duckburg," he added, hoping that a play to Gyro's ego would help. "I'm sure you can do this."

Gyro looked slightly doubtful for a moment, but his features quickly rearranged to a more thoughtful expression. "I suppose you're right. After all, if you can do it, how hard can it be?"

"Oh goody, we're back to insults," Donald said, rolling his eyes.

Gyro pushed his chair back and looked mournfully at his empty cup of coffee before standing up. "I should probably be on my way. Wouldn't want to be seen with you for too long," he said, but Donald thought he caught a glimmer of teasing in his eyes.

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual." Donald walked to the houseboat door and held it open as Gyro exited. They could exchange insults as much as they wanted, but he couldn't stop his instinct to be a good host.

Once outside, Gyro turned to Donald and adjusted his glasses. "I - thank you, Donald," he said, looking as if he were attempting to be sincere and being horrible uncomfortable with the feeling. "For the advice. And the coffee."

Donald let him stand there awkwardly for a few moments before speaking. "I'm glad I was able to help. And hey, feel free to come back again if you need more tips. Or coffee."

"You know, I might actually take you up on that," Gyro said, smiling slightly. As soon as he seemed to realize he was smiling, however, he quickly straightened his face back into its usual haughty expression. "Ahem. I should be going now. I don't like to leave the lab for too long - it tends to be dangerous to leave Cabrera and Manny unsupervised."

"You might want to check in the mansion for Lil' Bulb before you go," Donald suggested. "Louie may have . . . borrowed him for a bit."

Gyro's eyes widened. "He did what? That is a high-tech piece of equipment, not some toy for a child to borrow without permission! He had no right - why, I ought to -" Gyro's face slowly fell. "I ought to start working on not getting this mad at children, shouldn't I."

"You are learning!" Donald said with a grin.

Gyro sighed. "Right, then. I suppose I'm off to politely talk to a child about getting my high-tech piece of equipment back," he said, turning to exit off the houseboat. As he left, Donald heard him mutter, "I'm still not sure this whole 'being a decent person' thing is worth it," followed by a sigh and a "Do it for Boyd."

Donald smiled to himself. A conflict diffused, a new parent taught, and it still wasn't even time for lunch. His smile faltered, however, as he remembered the stack of dirty dishes waiting for him in the sink.

Sighing, he turned to go inside; there wasn't any rest for the wicked, and nor was there any for parents.

Donald was going to enjoy watching Gyro discover that for himself.

disclaimer: I am not a parent, so idk how accurate any of this advice is XD