#who could it be...

It was all on his mom's side, with entire aunts and uncles he'd never heard of, grandparents he never quite knew were dead or alive, and the occasional newfound cousin emailing him and asking for money. He knew his mom wanted to protect him and his sisters in a way, but it became depressingly obvious that she couldn't keep it at bay. Eventually even his oldest sister became estranged from the direct family, and stayed gone and quiet for a few years, missing her little brother's high school graduation and her little sister moving away.

She came back eventually, not to say that she wanted to, but to say she was putting her egg up for adoption before it hatched, and couldn't bear to keep it a secret from any of them. Duncan and his mother accepted her honesty, but eventually he took his sister aside with an offer; he'd take the egg. He was almost out of college, he reasoned, and with education always booming in Faerieland, he'd start a steady career in no time. She accepted his offer and wished him luck, and it wasn't long before she faded away again.

And so, it was just Duncan and the egg, and eventually Duncan and the baby.