It was a breezy April afternoon. Joe and Von Kaiser were sitting in the kitchen, discussing wedding details over sandwiches and milk. "J'étais pense on peut donne les pétales de rose a les demoiselles d'honneur," said Joe. "Les roses représente l'amour." (I was thinking we could give rose petals to the flower girls. Roses represent love.)

"Ich habe an Tulpen gedacht," said Von Kaiser. "Jede Hochzeit hat Rosen. Ich denke, es wäre etwas spezieller." (I was thinking of tulips. Every wedding has roses. I think it would be a bit more special.)

Joe shrunk back a bit. "Eh bien…les roses sont traditionnelles, mais je suppose qu'on peut dévier contre la tradition…" (Well…roses are traditional, but I suppose we can deviate away from tradition…)

Von Kaiser put a hand on Joe's shoulder. "Joseph, es ist in Ordnung. Wenn Sie wirklich Rosen wollen, werden wir Kompromisse eingehen und beides haben." (Joseph, it's okay. If you really want roses, we'll compromise and have both.)

"Oui," said Joe, relaxing his shoulders. "Compromis."

Just then, the door shut, and Katrina, home from school, came into the kitchen. "Oh, Katrina," said Joe, jumping up a bit, "tu peux choisir un ami d'être un demoiselle d'honneur avec toi. Qui veux-tu inviter?" (Oh, Katrina, you can choose a friend to be a flower girl with you. Who do you want to invite?) If they were planning this wedding a few years ago, he knew she would have picked Claire, but after everything Katrina had been telling him the past little while, he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Annie," said Katrina. "She was just telling me today about how she was so happy that you were getting married."

Joe and Von Kaiser smiled at each other. They were happy to be getting married too.


The next day, when Joe and Von Kaiser went into the arena, they met up with Pierce to further discuss the guest list. "So you want the whole league to be there?" Pierce asked to confirm. Joe and Von Kaiser both nodded. "Alright, so that's an invite for Lulu, Barney, Beth, Xander, Don-"

"Warte eine Sekunde," said Von Kaiser, "wer ist Don?" (Wait a second, who's Don?)

"New guy," said Pierce, pointing at a tall, lanky fellow doing some sort of step dance. "Just registered him this morning." Von Kaiser was a bit skeptical, but Joe convinced him it would work.

"Okay, now where was I…" Pierce mumbled until he remembered. "Right, you'll also need invites for Soda, Bahadir, Brad, Amar, and Riki. That's ten. And you said you wanted to allow family members too, so add Cy, Lucy, Ivana, and Natsumi, and you need fourteen invitations."

"Gibt es Lebensmittelunverträglichkeiten, über die wir Bescheid wissen sollten?" (Are there any food intolerances that we should know about?)

"Don can't eat mangoes, they make him itchy," said Pierce, "and Riki can't eat dairy, it gives him heartburn. Those should be easy to avoid."

That sounded good. Once they had all that figured out, Joe went to introduce himself to Don. After all, knowing his place at the bottom of the Minor Circuit, he figured he was going to have to fight him later that day. "Bonjour," he said, extending a hand. "Je m'appelle Joseph." (Hello. My name is Joseph.)

Don looked over his shoulder. "Hola. Ellas me llaman Don." He stepped into position. "Don Flamenco. Y las damas me aman." (Hello. They call me Don. Don Flamenco. And the ladies love me.)

"D'accord," mumbled Joe, a bit taken aback. "On va avoir un mariage en août. Veux-tu venir?" (Okay… We're having a wedding in August. Would you like to come?)

"Me encantaría," said Don, still continuing his pattern of steps. "Amor, ella es una cosa hermosa." (I would love that. Love, she is a beautiful thing.)

Von Kaiser caught up with Joe. "Was ist mit der Familie? Welche Ihrer Verwandten hätten Sie gerne dort?" (What about family? Which of your relatives would you like there?)

"Ma mère, bien sûr," said Joe, "et ma soeur et sa famille. Et mon oncle Gabby." (My mom, of course, and my sister and her family. And my uncle Gabby.)

"Ich habe nicht viel enge Familie," said Von Kaiser, "aber mein Bruder und meine Nichte müssen da sein. Sie wohnen weit weg und ich sehe sie nicht oft." (I don't have much close family, but my brother and my niece must be there. They live far and I don't get to see them much.)

Joe smiled and kissed Von Kaiser's cheek. "Je suis tellement reconnaissant qu'on peut être d' accord avec tous ces choses." (I'm so glad that we can agree on all these things.)

Von Kaiser hugged his fiance tight. He was hoping that all of these pieces would fit together when the wedding eventually came.