It started off small. As the year was coming to an end, Webby was determined to make the last day one of the best sleepovers ever. After weeks of planning, and carefully convincing Scrooge, she was finally able to invite some friends over for a New Years Bash.
This sleepover was the rare occasion of having specific ground rules. After Scrooge’s distaste for parties, Webby could only have a select few over to spend the night. Scrooge was not to be disturbed under any circ*mstances. He would spend the day locked in his study taking careful and meticulous inventory of all the treasure and artifacts (not to mention money) collected from the year prior and prep the bin for another year of adventuring.
The lack of party guests had put a damper on Webby’s plans, but she continued to remain optimistic as the day progressed. Every hour that passed was another rundown of the checklist Webby had prepared. Snacks, drinks, games, and more snacks. She found herself pacing down the halls of the mansion for no set reason. Fussing over the little details and finding anything to fill the time until the party, she straightened picture frames. Beakley had already cleaned the dwelling top and bottom, but Webby still found things to do.
Eventually, she made her way to the foyer where Della and Donald were taking down Christmas decorations and putting them away. Together they successfully rid the house of any holly jolliness, save for the main Christmas tree that stood as the focal point of the room. Webby stopped pacing and stood at the top of the stairs, watching the twins work.
They hadn’t noticed her yet, laughing and telling inside jokes as they worked on the tree. Della was tasked with taking down the ornaments and tinsel, while Donald stood nearby with a pad of paper and a pen. He scribbled something on a note and stuck it to the tree. After a minute or two, Della finished boxing up the last of the decorations and Donald handed her half of his paper. Webby watched curiously as she started writing as well, the two ducks filling the tree up with notes.
Webby lost track of time as she watched them work in harmony, occasionally pushing each other and saying something in a way Webby learned was sibling banter. At some point, Della had noticed her and waved. Webby silently lifted a hand in a greeting, not wanting to bother them during one of the movements they were getting along. The duckling waited until they were done, picking up the boxes of Christmas ornaments and carrying them to storage. Curiosity got the best of her, and Webby ran down the stairs to check what they had written on the notes.
It was a mix of two similar, but distinctive types of cursive. Donald’s was easier on the eyes as it was more simple, and Della’s was thin and elegant, with looped letters. The notes ranged between New Year's resolutions, positive messages, things they looked forward to for next year, and quotes. The quotes had dates on them that went back 20 or so years and Webby realised that this was a tradition the twins held close to their heart. Donald and Della got together on New Years Eve and spent time decorating what they called their New Years Tree, covering it in notes as they laughed and joked. Webby momentarily wondered if the triplets took part in this tradition, and where they were while it was happening.
She had read at least a few dozen notes, smiling to herself. She heard the door open and chatter of the two adults coming back from the garage and Webby decided to disappear up the stairs to leave them to continue their sibling bonding. After all, they did have a decade of New Year's traditions to make up.
As the grandfather clock (lovingly called the granduncle clock) in the foyer chimed 7 pm, there was a prompt knock at the door. Webby perked up and quickly threw open the door to her room, tearing down the hall. Ahead of her, there was a crash. Huey and Dewey shoved and scrambled over each other on the other side of the staircase, with Louie quietly standing behind them. The youngest duckling looked up from his phone and gave Webby a nod in a nonchalant greeting. Webby stared at the boys, and after a second of pushing each other, Huey and Dewey stared back. Webby wasn’t sure what to be more surprised at. The roughhousing, or the fact all three of them had appeared from their rooms for the first time today at the knock.
The knock.
Webby glanced at the door and quickly back at the boys. Dewey was practically standing on Huey. They glanced at each other, then the door, then Webby. Louie let out a sigh and they all silently agreed. Someone had to get to the door first.
It was Dewey who made the first move. He shoved Huey and grabbed his hat. Putting it on backwards, he made a beeline towards the door. Webby scoffed and jumped over the stairwell railing, chasing after her blue brother. Huey scrambled to his feet and reached out to trip Webby.
As the three raced to get to the door, Louie calmly walked behind them. It was Dewey’s headstart that won him the honor of opening the door, a smile on his face as Huey ripped his hat off him and put it back on, smoothing down his feathers. Webby squeezed her way next to Huey in hopes of seeing a familiar duck with pink hair.
“Boyd?!” She exclaimed.
“Hi, Webby!” Boyd held up a hand.
“Oh. It’s just Boyd.” Dewey started to close the door, but Huey held it open with a glare.
“What… Are you doing here?” Webby tried to hide the disappointment in her voice.
Louie popped his head out from behind Dewey. “Is… Doofus with you?” His voice cracked slightly and he cleared his throat.
“I’m here for the New Years party! And nope! Doofus is not here. He wasn’t invited.” Boyd said with a smile and Louie visibly relaxed.
“New Years party..?” Webby frowned. She felt a lump forming in her throat.
“We heard you talking about it.” Huey opened the door wider for Boyd.
“You’ve only been verbally repeating the party list for hours, so we invited some friends.” Louie shrugged, walking around to the other side of Webby.
“Oh…” Her voice cracked. “But Scrooge said I could only have two friends over…”
Dewey nudged her with a grin. “He went to bed already. And-”
“-Nothing wakes him up. Trust us. Plus we-” Louie added with a smirk.
“-figured we’d invite some friends over for your party! Hang out with them for a bit before your friends arrive and have the party with more people.” Huey finished.
“Oh. Oh!” Trying to hide her disappointment quickly turned to trying to hide her excitement. It was so much harder as she practically was bouncing. Her brothers knew her, and they knew she was disappointed by the small number of people she’d invited. Coming to her aid, they had invited more people to her party. All she had to do was wait. Easier said than done.
“Are you sure we’re not late…?” Lena asked sheepishly as she tugged at her collar and smoothed down her sweater.
“Oh, I never said we were not late. In fact, if you recall, I said the opposite.” Violet raised an eyebrow at her sister. “An hour and 53 minutes late. The party started at 6 pm.”
The Saberwing sisters stood at the front door of McDuck manor, Violet holding two pie tins. One was baked to perfection, the pie crust elegantly layered over sugar-coated apples and berries. The other was… Obviously baked by Lena. It was messy, the crust browner than it should be and sticking up at odd angles.
“Vi!” Lena exclaimed.
“Don’t give me that. You know this is not my fault. You’re the one who was obsessing over your hair and trying to pick what to wear. And yet you picked the same outfit you always do.” Violet huffed. “You know I’m always punctual.”
“I wanted to make sure I looked okay! Do I…?” Lena glanced at her reflection in the doorbell and ran her fingers through her hair. Violet cleared her throat and pointed to the button and Lena finally pushed it.
“I still don’t know why you care so much about your appearance. You never do.”
“Hey! Is that a dig?” Lena crossed her arms.
The door opened with unenthusiasm. Webby was looking over her shoulder at someone unseen. “How many people did you invite?”
“Oh, you know. Just your two best friends.” Lena held back a smile.
Webby’s eyes widened and she turned her head so fast her hair smacked her in the face. “LENA!!!” She threw open the door and held her arms out, running to hug the tall girl. Lena chuckled and held her arms out as well, but Webby jumped and Lena struggled to catch her.
“Hello, Webbigail. I apologize for our tardiness. We brought pies.” Violet held out the two baked treats. “Lena kept licking the spoon.”
“Violet!” Lena hissed, her face slightly flushed from the hug with Webby that lasted a few seconds longer, and suddenly Violet understood why Lena cared so much about her appearance. “Sorry, it’s kinda burnt… I’m not as good as Violet is when it comes to baking…”
Webby quickly grabbed the pie Lena made. “No! It’s perfect! I love burnt things! Look how perfect it is! Best friend, rebel, hero, poet, and baker! Gosh, is there anything you can’t do?!”
“Bake a pie.” Lena raised an eyebrow at Webby’s over-positive reaction and Violet rolled her eyes. “Come on Webbs, it's just a burnt pie. You don’t have to compliment me on everything. Although I do enjoy it.”
With a shy and awkward chuckle, Webby opened the door for the girls to come inside and Violet realised what was happening. Between Webby’s awkwardness and Lena’s lingering gaze, they were both pining for each other. Of course, they both didn’t know it. Violet came to the conclusion this was going to be a very long and painful night for her. And it had only just begun.
After playing only a few games and eating most of the snacks, Louie had inevitably fallen asleep. He made an effort to stay awake, sleepy eyelids blinking as he ate more chips, and drank more Pep to keep himself up but it was all in vain. Huey had informed Webby that this happens every year, and the youngest duckling of the group had never actually made it to midnight to see the fireworks welcoming the new year. Huey and Dewey had made sure he was sleeping comfortably on the couch with a blanket and pillow, and Lena and Gosalyn, who’d come a bit later due to joining Drake and Launchpad on a Darkwing Duck mission, joined the two of them in drawing on his face.
Leaving Louie snoring softly on the other side of the room, the group continued to play games and chat. Webby made a mental note to stock up on more snacks and soda if she had planned to have another party that went late if Louie was involved. The kids took turns saying their New Year's resolutions, and Lena had said her resolution was to not have a resolution, leaving Huey and Violet to argue logic with her. Webby just laughed and said how rebellious and spunky it was, and how much she liked it. Something about her laugh had made Lena… Feel good about herself. She suddenly felt like telling more jokes, even making stupid faces. Anything to get Webby laughing again.
Violet noticed Lena staring and smiling softly at Webby, and raised an eyebrow. Violet took note of how close they were sitting, their hands almost touching. The others had noticed it too, Huey and Boyd were looking at a page in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook about crushes, and Dewey nudged Gosalyn as they both chuckled. The pining was almost unbearable as Lena told a horrible joke and Webby laughed loudly. Huey’s eyes met Violet’s, and they both came to a silent agreement. They needed to get their sisters alone with each other.
A few more rounds of board games prompted Huey to make the first attempt to get Lena and Webby alone by breaking off from the group to hang out with Boyd by himself. The others quickly got the message and by 11:50pm, Lena and Webby were all alone. Not that it mattered to Webby, though. She's been on a happiness high the second Lena arrived. Smiling like an idiot and trying to hide it, Webby suggested they move to the second-story balcony that overlooked the backyard.
Webby opened the doors and stepped out into the cold with a small shiver, but Lena seemed unfazed by the weather. She walked over to the railing and gripped it, throwing her legs over and sat on the edge. Lena glanced at Webby and swung her dangling feet. Webby giggled softly and rested her elbows on the railing.
“...Sooo…. New Years, huh?” Lena offered awkwardly. As soon as the words left her beak, she felt stupid. She tried to cover it up by adding, “This is my first year celebrating New Years. As being corporal and all.” Lena instantly sucked in her breath and winced, realizing her addition made it so much worse.
Webby was silent for a second. Just when Lena thought she royally messed up, she felt a small, calloused hand on top of hers. The teen looked over to see Webby looking at her with soft eyes.
“This is my first year properly celebrating too. Granny and I never really bothered. She was busy with Scrooge and it’s no fun celebrating a holiday just by yourself.” She smiled to herself. “But now with the boys, and you, I have a family to celebrate with. Plus, I’m glad we’re spending our first New Years together.”
Lena wasn’t sure if it was the softness in her voice, or their hands touching, but she felt her heart jump. “Y-Yeah. Yeah, me too, Pink. I’m glad I’m here with you. A-and Vi!” She added quickly.
“Speaking of Violet, where is she?” Webby moved her hand away from Lena’s to cross her arms and Lena instantly felt the absence of warmth.
“I think she’s with Gosalyn right now. Probably interrogating her about that Darkwing dude.” Lena glanced at Webby and noticed she was staring straight ahead. Lena followed her gaze past the balcony and to the scenery of the backyard. The trees and landscaping were dark, light coming from Donald’s houseboat and the moon. Lena glanced up at the stars, where Webby studied the constellations above. She tried to make sense of the dots, but found the view of Donald’s boat much more interesting.
“So do you have any New Year's traditions you want to do tonight?” Lena asked, watching Donald and Della interact from a distance. She couldn’t hear them, but Donald waved around his arms while Della smiled, holding some kind of cylinder. Lena could only assume he was having another one of his tantrums, and Della found it entertaining. She couldn’t blame her, she found it interesting too.
“Well… There’s one… But it’s kind of dumb…” Webby said softly, looking down as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
“Aw, come on! It can’t be as bad as me baking a pie for the first time with Violet.” Lena chuckled.
Webby snickered softly. “That was a pretty bad pie.”
“You said you liked burnt things!” Lena nudged her. “Anyway, tell me your tradition.”
Webby glanced at her watch. It was 11:59 pm. She just had to stall for a little bit longer. “I think… It might be easier if I show you..”
“Well, show me then.” Lena turned around and hopped off the railing, dusting off her sweater.
Webby took a step forward and counted the seconds. As the clock chimed midnight, she grabbed a fistful of Lena’s shirt and pulled her down. What was meant to be a romantic first kiss, ending up as Webby slamming her beak into Lena’s.
“Ouch-” Lena stumbled back and rubbed her beak.
“Oh my gosh, oh no, oh gosh… I ruined it! I ruined New Years. I should have asked, it was supposed to be romantic. If I asked, it would have ruined the surprise though-” Webby’s hands went to her hair as she ran her fingers through the white locks and paced, her face burning.
“Hey, hey Webbs, it’s okay.” Lena smiled sheepishly, her cheeks (and now beak) red. “It’s still midnight, you know. Maybe we could try again? I-if you want! Without the brute force this time?”
Webby nodded eagerly and Lena chuckled, pulling her into a kiss. As soon as their beaks met, the sky lit up with an array of bright colors and loud sounds. Lena pulled away from Webby just enough to see the sky, keeping her close.
“They set off fireworks at midnight.” Webby laughed, pointing at Della and Donald. Della waved at the girls and Donald ran around in circles with his tail feathers on fire. Della calmly pushed him into the pool to extinguish the flame.
“Lucky us. That just makes it a more… romantic setting.” Lena pulled Webby closer and pressed her beak into the other’s with a smile as the colors danced in the sky with the stars above them.
