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Always the Lady In My Life

Chapter 5: I Need You By My Side

Summary:

Scroldie Week 2019: Day 6 - Family
Scroldie Weekend 2020: Day 2 - Family

Notes:

Hello! I'm still sticking with finishing last year's Scroldie Week, but I'm switching up the order of Days 5 and 6 for it, as Day 5's story will be a much better lead in to Day 7's story (so they'll now be chapters 6 and 7). Also, this year's Scroldie Weekend's second theme is "Family" as well, so I'm doubling up on this chapter for that. :)

Just roll with it. ;)

**Warnings for very mild suggestive content**

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Bentina could hear them before she even reached the steps of the mansion, two voices yelling from within, faint but unmistakable in their source. She pushed open the front door with a sigh; after having to pick up the children at Funzo’s—all seven of them, including Launchpad—she really didn’t want to have to deal with two more.

As the kids scrambled through the door, chattering and pushing each other around, Louie made a beeline for the TV room, which unfortunately was where the yelling was coming from.

Bentina stopped him in his tracks. “Halt, mister!”

Louie, and everyone else, immediately froze and the room fell silent as the yelling became clearer and everyone listened.

“How DARE you!”

“What’s the matter, lass? Did I do something wrong?”

Goldie and Scrooge. Bentina pinched the bridge of her beak, swore under her breath, and marched to the TV room’s door, hoping against hope that the teasing lilt in Scrooge’s voice was due to a reason entirely different than what she was conjuring up. She knew it was date night for them, and she also knew that Scrooge knew better than to bring their dates to the family areas of the house. Or home at all, for that matter, if she had anything to say about it.

Last she heard, Scrooge had left to meet Goldie at the Peacock Plaza for dinner, and wouldn’t be back until late, when all the kids had gone to bed and Bentina could rest well knowing that any of their “date night activities” would be confined to Scrooge’s bedroom and out of reach of juvenile ears.

So she hoped to anyone listening for Scrooge’s sake that he had a good excuse for them being home early, and that the yelling was for a totally innocent reason, as with them, one could never be sure.

“I’m the Ice Queen of Dawson, Scrooge McDuck, and moreover, I’m your queen.”

With a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the children were still glued to their spots and wouldn’t be subjected to anything that would scar them for life, Bentina cracked open the door inch by inch and peeked inside, ready to chew both sourdoughs out for bringing their date night home and, if she was lucky enough, throw Goldie out on the street.

Yet instead of getting to do any of that, she simply rolled her eyes at what she found.

“You can’t just buy Dawson!”

Goldie was looming over Scrooge, who had shrunk back into the couch but was still trying to maintain an air of casual indifference as he inspected a property card. His tie was undone and her shawl was draped across the back of her seat, and between them on the coffee table laid two drinks and an in-progress game of Scroogeopoly.

Bentina should’ve guessed.

Scrooge attempted a smirk, failing when he met Goldie’s eyes. It seemed he had met his match for game night. “N-no sour grapes, Goldie girl. I landed on it fair an’ square, and you know the rules: now ye have to—oh, oh, Beakley!” Scrooge eyed his housekeeper over Goldie’s shoulder, apparently nonplussed by her spying, but all the more grateful. What with his prowess at a game named after him, she imagined that Goldie had been doing plenty of yelling before the rest of them got home. “Beakley, please do come in!”

Tempted to shut the door and lock it behind her to let Scrooge suffer the wrath of his girlfriend in exchange for bringing her home early, Bentina instead pulled the door all the way open and called to the kids, “You can all come in now.” Scrooge and Goldie’s equal and sudden tense-up didn’t escape her peripheral vision, but she let it go for now.

“Hey Uncle Scrooge, Aunt Goldie,” Louie greeted as he and the rest poured into the room, taking up spots around the coffee table on the floor.

Goldie narrowed her eyes at him, but softened after a second and ruffled his hair with a gentle, “Hey, Sharpie.” If anyone noticed the way that she allowed him to sit against the edge of the couch near her feet without a second thought, they didn’t say anything.

“Oh, are you guys having a game night?” Dewey asked from the far corner of the table.

Webby sat between him and Lena and chimed in with, “Can we join?”

As the others settled in, Bentina leaned in between the couple to grab their drinks from the table. “No more of these tonight for you two.”

Before she could fully stand back up, Goldie snatched her glass from her grasp and finished her wine off, smacking in satisfaction as she handed it back to her.

Bentina glared for a split second, raising Scrooge’s glass out of reach as he also tried to reach for his scotch, before putting on a poker face. “Fine then, I hoped you enjoyed that,” she told Goldie, turning to give the glasses to Duckworth, who had come to see what all the new ruckus was about. She whispered to him, “Take these or I’ll make you stay for game night.” He took them without another word.

Returning to the conversation, she rounded the corner of the couch and sat snugly next to Goldie, who immediately scooted closer to Scrooge, who had no objections at all. “Just know that I’m going to be keeping an eye on you for the rest of the evening,” she finished, casting an all-too-happy smile towards her.

Goldie answered her with a hand to her chest and a too-sweet, “Moi? Why, 22, we’re just having some fun.”

Bentina bristled at the use of her code name, the uneasiness of too many betrayals from the thief coming to mind. She shook them off, and leaned forward to speak to someone with a hopefully clearer mind. “Mr. McDuck?”

“Hmm?” Scrooge whipped his head around too fast from talking to Launchpad to his right and steadied himself by wrapping an arm around Goldie’s shoulder, clearly not as clear-minded as Bentina had hoped for, but still sharper than his date.

She had just one question for him. “Why are you back so early?”

“The Peacock Plaza had some sort of event going on tonight. Apparently not even having a permanently-reserved table can get you into a private wedding reception.”

Bentina rolled her eyes, pretending not to notice the way that Goldie scooted half a hair back towards her at the mention of a wedding. At least being Scrooge McDuck had once again proven that it wasn’t an infallible quality to her boss. “So, why didn’t you go somewhere else then?” she asked, and his voice suddenly became suspicious to her, his eyes darting between the two main ladies in his life.

“Oh, uh, no real reason. We did go for a short walk after meeting up, but then I, uh...”

Goldie swooped in to save him, not much more convincing than he was. “Somehow we started talking about games and this one-“ She patted Scrooge’s knee, and he let out a nervous laugh. “-roped me into coming back here for a, ah, a game night.”

Scrooge turned fully to Goldie, adding, “Yeah, but you were the one who upped the ante.”

“That’s because I thought we were going to be playing with cards, not a board game based on your life, you double-crosser.”

Scrooge took on a wicked grin. “Just because you’re losing, darling, doesn’t mean you have to take it out on the game.”

Both of them now clearly lost in the growing argument between them, Goldie’s voice rose a few decibels, but some hidden smirk still played at her beak as she caught a fistful of his shirt in her grasp. Scrooge seemed all too welcoming as she pulled him closer to her. “You’re right. I should be taking it out on you—“

Okaaaay!” Bentina interjected, having seen enough. As tempted as she was to kick both out of the room right then, if not the house itself, she knew better. She was a spy after all; stealth and subtlety were her strengths, and she had innocent minds to protect. Kicking them out now would only raise questions that she’d rather not have to answer or make up lies for.

Her call managed to drive the lovebirds apart, and garner the rest of the family’s attention. She moved on gracefully.

“We’ll all stick around for game night, but since it’s as late as it already is, we’ll simply join the game in progress and split into-“ She did a headcount of the room, herself included. “-teams of five, with Scrooge and Goldie being team leaders, since it’s their game. But then, I expect all of you to go to bed.” She sent a pointed look towards the two ducks sitting next to her.

“I’m on Scrooge’s team!” Louie announced from her feet, and Goldie immediately scoffed.

“Sharpie! What are you doing? We could sweep the floor with the rest of them with our skills combined.”

Louie stood up and looked between his aunt and uncle, then shrugged. “Sorry, but one, you’re already losing. Two, this is Uncle Scrooge’s game—do you really think I’m gonna bet against the house? And three, consider it a little bit of payback.”

An unspoken bit of history passed between them and Goldie gaped at him as he rounded the table to Scrooge’s side, who leaned over and shook his shoulder with a proud, “That’s my boy!”

As the rest of the kids rearranged their spots on the floor for their teams, Bentina caught sight of Scrooge nudging Goldie’s shoulder with his own and whispering something into her ear, making her smile at first, then blush. She didn’t know what he said, but she was all too ready to play chaperone for the evening.

The teams naturally split into boys versus girls, or at Webby’s insistence, “Team Magic” versus “Team Adventure.” However, this left the young girl feeling torn, as the prospects of both magic and adventure called to her; a loyalty to her friends and grandmother, mixed with suspicion of her former captor.

Yet as she settled decidedly between Lena and Violet on Team Magic’s side, Bentina felt a small wave of relief wash over her. Sure, this may have been Goldie’s team, which meant that Webby would be subjected to Goldie’s personal brand of trickery and deception against the opponent, but it also meant that she would be getting a first-hand lesson in S.H.U.S.H. Protocol #62: get to know your enemy. And Goldie, whenever she was around, was definitely the enemy.

Also, as she, too, was on Team Magic, Bentina would be able to keep a better eye on her granddaughter this way.

With everyone now ready and it being her turn, Goldie snatched up the dice and shook them in her palms, smiling at her team. “Okay ladies, ready to show these fellas what real magic is?”

With a roll of the dice, the game continued.

An hour later found everyone fully invested in the game, and then some.

Team Magic had made a significant comeback, and no less than seven prop bets had been made between various players. What’s more, Goldie had deployed a trick to get under Louie’s skin and distract him (and perhaps, to get a little payback in return for him choosing Scrooge’s team). She’d noticed Violet’s financial and strategic smarts early on in the game, and took to calling her “Smartie,” clearly enough so the whole party could hear. While he did take the bait at first (that initial sting of betrayal landed Team Adventure in jail), Louie eventually rose to the challenge, using his brothers and even Launchpad to lay in on the “Aunt Goldie” teasing.

Scrooge would send a playful smile towards Goldie or lay his hand over hers whenever this happened, and she’d take it in stride. Thankfully, much to Bentina’s relief, this was the extent of their amorous displays during the game.

Or so she thought.

She noticed it after one of Team Magic’s turns.

Lena rolled a four, and Webby eagerly moved their top hat forward the appropriate amount, landing on an unclaimed property: White Agony Creek.

A series of gasps and a hush fell over the room as all eyes turned to center stage to watch the scene unfold. Everyone in the room knew the significance of the property, the foundation of the sourdoughs’ history together, even if some only knew part of the story.

Goldie stood up slowly, taking her time to smooth out her dress, and did little to contain her smirk when she noticed how dangerously quiet Scrooge had become, his eyes tracking her every move. “What’s the matter, Scroogie? Did I do something wrong?” she teased, much like he had done to her earlier.

If this had been a cartoon, steam would’ve been whistling out of Scrooge’s ears. Bentina remained alert, ready to hold back her boss and partner if need be.

Goldie reached down to the table and grabbed the stack of unclaimed property cards, shuffling through them until she found her newest acquisition. “Let this night go down in history, folks,” she said, flapping the card about. “Tonight, I, Goldie O’Gilt, finally got ahold of Scrooge McDuck’s claim!” Losing herself for a moment, she raised her arms in cheerful victory.

Huey piped up. “Technically, you didn’t take his claim, as no one had landed yet—ow!” He stopped and rubbed the spot in his side that Louie had elbowed to silence him.

To his credit, Scrooge didn’t outright fight Goldie for what was his. He simply sat there, fuming, never losing sight of her. Bentina knew that if it wasn’t for the rest of the family being there, then things would be going very differently right now.

Goldie fell back into the couch cushions, then leaned towards her lover, bopping his beak with the edge of the card, which seemed to shake him out of the stare-down. “Have fun keeping that stage warm in Dawson, Sourdough,” she whispered, her voice low and sultry. Leaning back into the couch, she tucked the card into the top of her dress, close to her heart, smug in how Scrooge was now gazing at her with a completely different look in his eyes, as the children finally broke into a rowdy chorus of “Ooooooh!”

The noise from the kids finally brought Scrooge back to his senses, which, it seemed, was to grumble in concession. He did, after all, still have Dawson, and fortunately for him (and much to the appeal of Goldie), it was the most valuable property on the board.

Thus, for this night, their kingdoms had switched: they were now the Ice Queen of the Klondike and the King of Dawson.

As the game returned to normal and Dewey took up the dice to roll, Goldie appeased Scrooge with a kiss on the cheek and something muttered into his ear, making it his turn to blush. Bentina was content to roll her eyes and let this one slide, but that’s when she saw it.

Scrooge laughed and his knees jumped up a bit, as if he’d been surprised, and when they landed back on the floor, Bentina noticed that Goldie was playing footsies with him. She was about to clear her throat to make them stop, but then something else caught her eye: a glint of gold between the coffee table and the couch.

Leaning forward ever so casually, she found the gold to be Scrooge’s watch, but even more baffling, it was on top of some other items: a necklace, one of Scrooge’s spats, a pair of heels, and a leg stocking. And it seemed Goldie wasn’t playing footsies, but was trying to coax the other spat off Scrooge’s foot with her own bare foot. To confirm her growing suspicion, she looked over the rest of the two lovebirds: Scrooge’s tie, jacket, and cummerbund (how he ever managed to sneak that one off during the game with no one noticing would remain a mystery) were now resting over the back of couch, and Goldie, well...with only one actual garment, it seemed she had taken to removing her bracelets and other jewelry, now that there were others present.

“Oh my god,” Bentina gawked to herself, the truth of what had been going on right under their beaks all night coming to light. She glanced at Scrooge, willing herself to maintain her subtlety. Loud enough just for them to hear through the noise of the game, she politely asked, “Will you two please join me outside for a moment?”

Scrooge looked around Goldie to answer for them, his smile fully back. “Can’t it wait, Beakley?”

She stood up. “No, it cannot.”

Her word final, she marched out towards the foyer, leaving Scrooge to tell the kids, “Keep the game going,” as he and Goldie trailed her. Somehow they had enough decency and stealth of their own to gather the items they’d left on the floor, likely with the thought of hiding them somewhere else for now.

But Bentina was having none of that. Instead, she wordlessly grabbed them each by the arm and spun around to push them upstairs.

“Beakley, what are ye doing?” Scrooge demanded, stopping on the first landing and twisting about to see what was going on.

“I will NOT have you playing strip-Scroogeopoly-“ Her mind shuddered at that combination of words. “-or strip-anything in this house! Especially not with the children present.”

A wash of guilt and embarrassment crept over Scrooge, but Goldie easily waved off any such feelings and tried to turn the tables. “If you didn’t want the kids to see anything, then you shouldn’t have let them in.”

Bentina sighed in exasperation. “Not the point, O’Gilt. Both of you, just...go upstairs and finish your date night.”

Goldie didn’t need to be told twice, and took Scrooge’s free hand to lead him up to his room. “Come on, Sourdough. You heard the lady.”

Scrooge glanced between her and the TV room. “But what about the game?” he asked, and this time both Goldie and Bentina rolled their eyes at his competitiveness, the latter quick to answer and give them a final shove upstairs.

“I’ll serve you news of the winner with your morning tea.”

The hint of sarcasm in her voice was enough to finally get Scrooge to follow after Goldie, who was able to get his mind off the game with another whisper into his ear.

Satisfied with getting them upstairs, Bentina turned on her heel to return to the game herself, only to spot seven pairs of very curious eyes peeking out from the door of the TV room, stacked one above the other.

With a groan, she threw her hands up in the air and promised to the heavens, “That’s it. New house rule: date night and game night officially cannot mix.”

Notes:

Beakley must've added so many new house rules in the boys' first year at the mansion. XD

Super excited for the next two chapters, which I suppose in a way will go together, but extra excited in particular for the next.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading and commenting, if you so wish to do so. :D

Notes:

HAPPY SCROLDIE WEEK!

Overall inspiration for these stories is gonna be the song, "The Lady In My Life" by Michael Jackson, because hoT DAMN is it Scroldie. (There's another MJ song I might use for the last day, but we shall see...)

Thank you for reading, leaving kudos, and commenting! 🎩❤️💛