Meg Cabot - Queen of Babble Gets Hitched

I give him a gentle shake.

“Chaz,” I say. “It’s all right. I don’t want that either, okay? I like your idea. Doing it this way, just you and me here tomorrow. No one else. Because that’s what getting married is really about, right? Just us. No one else.”

“No one else,” Chaz says. “Because we’re the only ones who matter. I mean, I guess we can tell people… someday.”

“Someday,” I agree. “When we feel like it. We can just mention it. Like, by the way… we got married. Although they’ll probably be mad we didn’t invite them.”

“I don’t care,” Chaz says. “Do you care?”

“I don’t care,” I say. “We don’t even have to tell them if we don’t want to.”

“I should probably mention to Luke that we’re going out first,” Chaz says. “To sort of cushion the blow. I can tell him we’re married in a few years. Although he’s juggling approximately four steady girlfriends in Paris right now. I don’t know why he still thinks my seeing you is such a bad idea.”

“Aw,” I say. I still can’t seem to summon up any animosity toward Luke. I’m still holding on to his engagement ring to give to my own daughter, if I ever have one. Or to my niece Maggie, from whom I’m expecting great things. “That’s so cute.”

“Cute, my ass,” Chaz says. “Let me see your arm.”

Obediently I roll up the sleeve to the vintage Lilli Ann pink wool suit that I’m wearing. We both stare at the inside of my elbow.

“No hives,” Chaz says.

“That’s a good sign. Do you feel like throwing up?”

Chaz shakes his head. “No.”

I’m feeling optimistic about this, and about the number we are on the list. Ninety. That was Gran’s age when she died. They both seem like gifts from above. Like maybe… maybe someone is watching out for us… someone who wants to make sure we aren’t on the highway to hell after all.

Or that maybe we are, actually. Because maybe that’s a good place to be.

Chaz and I both look down at the pamphlet in his hand. It is divided into frequently asked questions, which include, Is a premarital physical exam or blood test prior to the ceremony required? (Answer: No) and Can two first cousins legally marry in the state of New York? (Answer: Yes) and Can I use the marriage license in another state? (Answer: No).

It all seems so… legal.

“You really want to do this?” Chaz asks.

“I think so,” I say. “But… you once said I’d make a terrible wife.”

“I’ve sort of amended my opinion on that,” Chaz says. “I think you’d make sort of a spiffy one now.”

“Spiffy?” I grin up at him. “Did you really just say that?”

He grins back. “I think I did.”

I grin even harder. “Do you promise to cherish and obey me?”

“I already do,” Chaz points out. “Especially the obey part. In bed, when you get saucy with the whips and chains.”

“Then,” I say gravely, “Charles Pendergast the Third, I will gladly marry you.”

“You guys,” Tiffany shrieks from the doorway through which everyone is filing. “Are you coming or what?”

“We’re coming,” Chaz calls after them. He nudges me. “Hey, I don’t think they heard me. You’ve got the big mouth. Tell them not to wait for us.”

“Not me,” I say happily. “I think I’ve finally learned how to keep this big mouth shut.”