Birdie McQuack

"Fascinating. I would like to see the farm sometime. It sounds like it has peace and quiet, away from the city. Enjoy nature at its finest.” DK said. He is enthusiastic, wanting to see this farm Birdie spoke of.

“Oh, you’d be welcome to stop by for a visit any time!” Birdie replied. “During the warmer, sunnier months of the year, we split our time between there and going to air shows. Thankfully, some of our family comes to help with all of the crops and animals that we keep if we’re going to be out of town when they need tending to.”

Upon looking at the photos, intrigued the ape. "This is the first time I heard the name. It seems he has talent,” he replied. “Oh, where are my manners? I am Donkey Kong. You may call me DK. Pleased to make you acquaintance.”

“Oh, he’s very talented!” Birdie confirmed. “He can pilot almost anything, and no matter how bad something ends up going, he manages to keep everyone safe.” Never mind the fact those ‘bad situations’ were crashes and that half of the time he caused them himself. She folded the photos away and put her wallet back into her pocket.

Donkey Kong snapped out of his trance and blinked his eyes. "Well, hello to you. Apologies. I was starrijg into space,” he responded politely. “Am I lost? No, I don’t believe so. Why do you ask?” Goodness, I predicted right. He thought. She came to me of all people. To my own surprise, she didn’t seem to be spooked by my appearance.

Birdie let out a pleasant little laugh. How articulated and polite this young man was! And to think, he’d been staring into space and not at her! Just like her dear son would do.

“Well- it’s just that you looked a little confused while you were staring,” she replied. “You know, my son does the same thing. He spaces out, thinking about no telling what! Then people ask him why he’s staring at people or things...”

@djs-muses liked for a starter!

“Hmm…..this bird must be lost in thought. Should I walk up to her? No….that be too intimidating. Despite being a giant, gentle ape.” Looking at the girl bird from a distance, DK is out and about, comic book in hand. He wanted to say hello, but is unsure why.

Birdie was lost in thought, planning just exactly how she was going to walk on the wings of her husband’s plane during their big show-stopping finale for their upcoming air show set. Something snapped her back to reality and her eyes re-focused. She glanced around, catching sight of the tall ape with a comic book. Several somethings about him reminded her of her dear son.

"Peep! Peep! Peep!" hello grandma Birdie!, it's Dawn's first visit!!

Birdie had been aware of Dawn and her adoption. She’d also seen photos of the little duckling, as Launchpad had sent her many. But hearing about her and seeing photos of her didn’t compare to the real thing. She was so small, so soft. Birdie took Dawn into her arms and cooed over her.

“Ohhhh, you’re just so darling!” she said to Dawn. “I remember when Launchpad was your size. Ohhh, he felt so small and fragile. But he grew up to be big and strong! I’m sure you will too!”

-worried mom noises-

“Oh it’s lovely to meet you, dear!”

Launchpad smiled a little as he listened to Birdie - his Ma - talk. At least that seemed to be something that stuck with him through everything - planes and crashing. He didn’t know he had a sister, though. Suddenly he wished Drake was here to deal with this with him. But Drake must have already known, if he was the reason that his parents were here in the first place.

“I still crash a lot. It’s one of the things I’m really good at, and it’s gotten Mr. McD and the kids and everyone else out of trouble. And I’m still flying too! That was one of the things I knew I loved.”

“I’ve got some time off saved, and I’m sure no one would mind if it was to visit family. I mean… if you would be okay having me visit the farm?”

He hated the feeling of not knowing how to react to them. They were his parents, he’d grown up with them, learned some of the best skills of his life from them and there was just - nothing.

“Maybe it’ll help.”

It eased Birdie’s soul a little to know her son was still involved with planes. That he still crashed wasn’t normally something to be cool about, but she knew her son, knew he had fortune on his side, even though he couldn’t remember anything. 

What was hard was trying not to look at Launchpad with too pleading a gaze nor too pleading a tone of voice as she answered his question. All she wanted was for him to come home. She’d wanted that since the day he’d left. Now he was offering to come freely. Circumstances notwithstanding, she’d waited a long time for this moment to come.

“We’d love if you came home,” she replied. “We’ve kept your room like it was since you left to see the world. And we have plenty of pictures you can look through, dear. Something at home will help you remember!”

Ohhh, I hope so anyway, she thought. 

𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 & 𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐒

@birdiemcquack​ said: “It’s going to hurt for a moment, but I’ll need to clean the wound.” birdiemcquack @ LP

“It’s really not all that bad, Ma-…”

That was a lie, and he knew that both of them knew it. He hadn’t even meant for her to see him like this, but he also hadn’t expected her to show up out of the blue in St. Canard. Gosalyn was lingering in the living room, watching the pair in the kitchen, but never getting too close… probably for the best.

The gash across his bicep was a lot more painful than he’d expected it to be. It wouldn’t kill him, but that didn’t make it better. He’d heal… just like he always did. But he didn’t like scaring his mother.

“I didn’t mean to spook ya like this. I didn’t even know you were gonna come by this weekend.”

Birdie was sure she didn’t want to know what had caused this wound. She knew he adventured and did hero work in St. Canard and that was plenty enough for her.  She prepped the antiseptic spray and some bandaging and began applying the former with a clean cloth.

“I didn’t know I was going to be here myself,” Birdie admitted. “But your father wanted to fly over here and pick something up for his plane. When he told me, I told him I was coming too. Why miss a chance to see my son?”

There wasn’t any good answer to that question. He couldn’t say when his earliest real memory was. Launchpad looked down at his lap, deep in concentration and willing himself to be able to remember anything, even just a brief moment with the two of them.

But nothing came. His smile fell and didn’t come back. He couldn’t even give them a good answer as to what had happened because he didn’t know.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t. I think something happened to me before I started working for Mr. McD. I want to remember all of it, but I can’t.”

Launchpad couldn’t even tell them why he’d never tried to find them - even if he’d had some of the memories to remember to call them, a part of him hadn’t even been entirely sure that the McQuacks were who he was looking for.

“But I’m happy to get to know you.”

Ripcord’s empty hand curled into a fist; he didn’t wish to squeeze his wife’s arm and hurt her. To know their son wanted desperately to remember them but couldn’t broke his heart. His own eyes misted over and he set his jaw to stop tears from falling.

Birdie grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. She made herself take a few deep breaths. She very much wanted to talk to Launchpad, not just sit and cry the whole time.

“We’re your parents,” she told Launchpad. “You grew up on our farm with your sister, Loopey. Your father and I taught you how to fly planes when you were little.”

“Your father and I were so excited when we found out we were going to have you. You crashed out of your egg when you hatched. Your father and I were scared you were hurt, but you were fine.”

He felt his smile falter slightly, finally allowing himself to fully register exactly who these two people must have been to him. Family. Launchpad swallowed before moving out of the door way. There was absolutely nothing he could drag from his memory about them and it opened up a deep pit of guilt and uncertainty in him. But he had to do this.

“If you want to come in, we could, uh… talk about what Drake told you. But I think I know what he said.” He wasn’t mad at Drake, but he definitely was going to have to talk to him about this. However it turned out. “I got water. Probably some snacks. I was stocking up for the Darkwing marathon, but this is a lot more important.”

Darkwing Duck. Launchpad still remembered Darkwing Duck of all things. Birdie knew that the hero had meant a lot to him growing up but apparently he’d meant so much he’d never be forgotten. That reality was what broke the dam. She buried her face in Ripcord’s side and sobbed into his jacket, Ripcord doing his best to soothe her as he gently guided her inside.

“Launchpad,” Ripcord said slowly, “ya should probably sit while I get tha drinks. And some tissues for- all this.” 

He helped Birdie to the beat up old sofa, gently whispering to her that he’d be right back. He’d have tissues for her and water. She nodded and to her credit, forced herself to gain control over her tears enough to look at her son again.

“Drake- Drake told us that you can’t remember things,” she said in a raspy voice. “That you- You don’t remember your family.”

Ripcord brought over tissue box and sat it next to Birdie. He put her water on the table before sitting next to her and again enveloping her in his embrace.