September was in full swing. Leaves were starting to fall, winds were kicking up, and the nights were getting chillier. The boxers were all hanging out in the lounge with coffee, killing time until the next match. "Kabby," said Katrina, pointing at Joe's coffee cup.
"Oui, c'est le café," said Joe with a chuckle. (Yes, this is coffee.)
"Bringen wir ihr mehr Worte bei." (Let's teach her more words.) Von Kaiser showed her his boot. "Dies ist ein Stiefel." (This is a boot.)
"Boot!" Katrina squealed.
Joe still wasn't sure how Katrina was learning to talk in English when he spoke French, but he chalked it up to her picking it up from her mother. He pointed upwards at the ceiling. "Ca, c'est une lumière." (That's a light.)
"Wight," said Katrina. She loved the attention the grown-ups were giving her.
"Say 'arena'," said Pierce.
"Awena," said Katrina.
"Say 'boxing'," said Masked Muscle.
"Boxy," said Katrina.
"Say 'my dad's a skinny git'," said Dingo Bone.
"No!" All of the adults yelled at him at once. Katrina giggled. She thought all the grown-ups were acting silly.
"Ralentir, on va prendre ceci une patte parfois." (Slow down, we'll take it one step at a time.) Joe sat up straighter. "Qui suis-je?" (Who am I?)
"Daddy!" Katrina was bouncing with excitement at this point. She liked this game.
"Wer bin ich?" Von Kaiser asked next. (Who am I?)
"Vikky!" Catching on to what the grown-ups were doing, she looked around at everyone in the room. "Pier," she said as she pointed at Pierce, "an' Mass." She turned to Masked Muscle.
"Wha' about me?" Dingo Bone asked.
"Dingus!" Katrina said with a big grin. Everyone in the room burst out laughing. Dingo Bone simply scowled.
Later in the afternoon, after the matches had ended, Joe took Katrina to go home. "Car!" She yelled when they got to the car.
"Correct, ma belle." (That's right, darling.) Joe buckled her into her car seat so they could go.
When they got home, Joe put Katrina down on the floor to play. She ran over to the couch. "Cow!"
"Proche, Katie," said Joe, going over to her. (Close, Katie.)
Katrina looked up at her father. "Cow…ch."
"Bon travail." (Good work.) Joe picked her up. "Tu es tellement intelligent." (You're so smart.) Katrina giggled as her father hugged her.
