And it was funny, and I laughed, and threw myself at him, clinging to him, and he held me tight enough to break ribs, and I said it, “Yes, yes, yes.”
“What the hell’s going on in here?”
Ben and I pulled apart. My sister stood in the doorway. I was surprised to notice I didn’t feel at all like she’d caught me at something, like I usually did. No, I felt very, very smug.
Cheryl continued giving us her demanding big sister glare. Ben regarded her a moment. Then, with an obvious and dramatic flourish, he took the ring from the box, held it up to show her, lifted my left hand, and slipped on the ring. He looked back at her with a smug glare. I was grinning like an idiot.
She shrieked loud enough to crack glass. Ben cringed.
“Oh my God!” Then she ran to the next room and shrieked again. “Oh my God! Guess what guess what guess what—”
At least she’d left Ben and me alone again. I pressed myself close to him and nestled happily in his arms. He held me like he wasn’t going to let go anytime soon, which was just fine.
I felt him breathe out a long sigh. I could almost guess what he was thinking: That’s going to be my sister-in-law? He said, “You have too much family, you know that?”
“Impossible,” I said. “You can never have too much family.”