Chapter Four

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"So who do you want to invite?"

Daisy uncapped a blue ballpoint pen and wrote "To Invite" atop a piece of notebook paper. She hovered the pen tip above the first line, waiting for Donald's first names. He said them without thinking about them first.

"Mickey and Goofy, of course…"

Daisy scribbled the names in shorthand. "Uh-huh… I would like Minnie and Clarabelle to come too. You invite your friends, I invite mine. Got it?"

Donald nodded.

"Now, how about relatives?"

"Uh, Grandma, Cousin Gus, Uncle Ludwig…"

"Uncle Scrooge…"

"But Uncle Scrooge will be here anyway!" Donald retorted.

"Yes, but it's still polite to send your uncle one anyway, Donald…"

"Sigh… Okay…"

"Oh! How about Gladstone?"

The mere mention of that name made Donald's feathers ruffle. Red faced, he yelled "Absolutely not!"

"But he's your cousin! And besides, he's super lucky! Maybe some of his luck will rub on us!"

"More like the wedding will be his lucky day!" Donald growled.

Every time Gladstone was around his bad luck worsened. At best, he would simply crash into the cake. That stunk, but at least there was more than one cake in existence. At worst, Gladstone would try to steal Daisy. That stunk, because there was only one Daisy Duck in existence. And, knowing Gladstone, the worst case scenario would certainly occur.

Daisy wrote his name on the list anyway. "Hmm. Well then, I'll write the invite, and you'll send it."

"Ah, phooey!" He said under his breath.

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"Hey, Unca Donald," all three nephews, fresh from another day of school, asked. "Why's Aunt Daisy's stuff in the living room?"

Donald grunted as he picked up a large and heavy make-up stuffed box. "Because she's moving in with us!"

The uncle advanced up the stairs. The boys followed behind him single-file.

"Since when, Unca Donald?" Huey said.

Donald made it to the top of the staircase. "Since today!"

"Why today, Unca Donald?" Dewey said.

Donald entered through his open bedroom door. "We decided to move in together!"

"Why now, Unca Donald?" Louie said.

Donald tossed the box at the top of his bed. "Don't you insects have anything better to do?"

"DONALD DUCK!"

All four ducks turned. Daisy was at the door, holding a stack of shoeboxes.

"Uh, hiya, Toots! I didn't hear you coming in!" He laughed nervously.

Daisy did not return the greeting. "Now Donald, is that how you are going to talk to our child?"

The nephews blinked. "Child?"

"Have you been able to tell them yet, Donald?"

"No…"

The nephews kept blinking. "What are you guys talking about?"

Daisy walked towards her boyfriend. She dropped the shoeboxes onto the bed and twisted an arm around his body.

"Should I tell them or do you want to?"

"Um, I'm fine with you, Daisy."

"Huey, Dewey, Louie… Uncle Donald and I are going to have a baby."

Three little thuds. "Boys? Are you okay, boys?"

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The replies began pouring in the next afternoon.

Daisy answered the phone. "Hello? Oh hi, Minnie! You can come? Wonderful! Mickey can too? Oh, I'll be sure to tell Donald that! Thanks for calling! See you on Saturday!"

The next reply came not from Mouseton but Spoonerville. "Hello? Oh hi, Goofy! No, Donald's out right now… Oh, good, you can come! Donald's going to call you back later! …No, Goofy, Donald's out right now, remember? …Oh. Um, can you get someone to babysit him? No? Um, okay, I guess you can bring Max along… But only Max! Okay, bye Goofy!"

Back to Mouseton. "Hello? Oh hi, Clarabelle!"

She heard a honk from outside the house.

"Oh, that must be Donald right now! Sorry Clarabelle but I have to go now. See you on Saturday!"

Daisy picked up the pouch containing the egg on the other side of the couch, grabbed her purse, and left.

Donald's car left the driveway the moment Daisy settled in the car.

"Good news, Donald—Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Clarabelle can come!"

"That's good! Uncle Ludwig is coming too. Uncle Scrooge is buying a new kilt and the thought of spending money is tearing him apart!" Donald laughed as he imagined Scrooge cringing as he was paying at checkout.

"So where are we going right now?"

"Grandma's farm. She wants to see us for some reason."

"Did she tell you whether Gus and her are going or not yet?"

"Nope!"

"Hmm… "

Donald and Daisy soon found out Grandma's motives.

"Donald! Daisy! Congratulations on everything!" She said over tea in the farmhouse. "Gus and I are so happy for you two!"

"Will you be able to come to the wedding on Saturday?" Donald asked before stuffing a gingersnap into his mouth.

"Oh yes! Gus and I will just need to make sure the animals are well taken care of before we leave!"

She sipped some still steaming tea. "Have you bought anything for the wedding yet?"

Both shook their heads.

"Excellent!"

Both blinked. "What?"

"I'll be right back! They're still in that ol' trunk!"

Both blinked again.

Grandma returned with some neatly folded items. Both ducks stared as she unfolded the largest, ivory colored item. Some little objects clanked to the wooden floor.

"Oh, dear…" She said as she squatted and picked them up. After a swift inspection, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good, they're okay!"

"Hey, Daisy, would you care to try this on right now?" Grandma revealed the completely unfolded object. "It's Hortense's old wedding gown! It's such a shame that your future mother-in-law would never be able to see this! Or your future father-in-law for that matter…" She said with a sigh.

Daisy tried on the gown in the living room. It was simple, just ivory colored satin and some lace along the neckline and hem. It fit like as if it was made custom for Daisy.

"Oh, splendid!" Grandma squealed. "You look gorgeous, dear!"

Donald tried to sneak a peek into the living room, but Grandma sensed someone behind her. "Donald, you get your hide back into the kitchen!" She said as she swatted a hand at him. "Don't you know it's bad luck to see your bride in her dress before the wedding?"

As soon as Daisy redressed back into more contemporary clothing, Grandma stated, "Now that you got a dress, how about I give you two a couple of rings too?"

As Donald and Daisy each looked at the bands on her palm, she explained the jewelry's history. "These were from Donald's parents too! I received them after Quackmore passed away. Della just couldn't bear with the grief of her own father dying before her own wedding and gave them to me! … I was worried they were going to be damaged after the fall but they seem fine and dandy to me!"

"These are very wonderful gifts, Grandma Duck," Daisy said. "Thank you very much for everything, really."

Daisy waited for a reply from Donald before jabbing him in the gut. "Oh! Yeah, Grandma! Thanks!"

Grandma smiled. "No problem, dearies!"

"Well, we have to go now. Donald and I have a lot to do today…" She said as Grandma gave her the wedding bands.

"Don't worry, I understand. I got to get Gus back to milking the cows right now anyway! He's probably sleeping in the hay again for all I know! See you on Saturday, dears!"

Donald and Daisy left.

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Four hours later it was early evening and Donald's car was yards away from his house. The trunk and back seats were crammed with decorations and other knick-knacks that Uncle Scrooge would not provide, from wedding and baby shower favors to the remainder of Daisy's worldly possessions.

Donald stepped on the gas when he noticed Gladstone was walking around the corner. Any opportunity to avoid Gladstone was a great one. He was sure he was going to succeed until a letter escaped from the car.

Donald slammed the break. Everyone and everything inside the red car jerked forward. Donald jumped out of the car to chase it until a gust of wind sent the letter towards Gladstone's direction.

Donald squeaked as Gladstone raised his arm to grab it.

"Oh, how wonderful! A letter just blew into my hand! And it even has my name on the front!"

Donald squawked as Gladstone ripped open the envelope with a finger and lifted out the card. Donald then realized that he forgot to place the car on park and ran towards the runaway vehicle as Gladstone read the card aloud.

"You are cordially invited to witness the union of Donald Duck and Daisy Duck—" He read the words over and over again—"union," "Donald," "Daisy…"

"What the-?"

Donald managed to stop the car just inches away from hitting his cousin, although inside he really wished it did.

"Donald! What were you thinking doing that? You could have hurt the baby and me!"

Gladstone jumped at "the baby." Now this was getting weird.

"Donald! Is this some sort of joke, cousin?"

"Oh no," Daisy replied in place of Donald. "We really are getting married at the McDuck Mansion on Saturday! We think it's best for us to be married before the baby comes! Would you like to come, Gladstone?"

Gladstone froze. This was some kind of nightmare. It had to be. It was abnormal, no, ludicrous that Gladstone Gander was unlucky enough to have his crush not only marry his cousin but to also have his cousin's child. Or what if…

"Sure, I'll come, Daisy. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to bump into my future wife there!" He laughed as he turned around and walked back home. From the outside he appeared to be as jovial as before he read the card. On the inside, he was cursing himself, wondering why he was such a fool to be tempted by something that was obviously not meant to be.

That was, until he bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry…" He smiled at the pretty lady duck in front of him. "… Are you okay, madam?"