Once again, this is Janet Evanovich's world, I'm just renting an apartment. All mistakes are mine

It was about 1:00 a.m. when I called my sister Valerie. After assuring her that everything was fine, she agreed to come over. Valerie used to be known as Saint Val, who never did anything wrong. She married the perfect guy, had two daughters, and moved to California to do her best to be Meg Ryan. That was the old Val. After her husband ran away with the babysitter and left her with a mountain of debt, Valerie came home to Trenton. She got pregnant again, went a little nuts, but eventually married the baby's daddy, Albert Kloughn. The thing is, I actually like her a lot better now that I know she's just as goofy as the rest of us.

"What's going on?" My sister asked me when she walked in. "The last time we had a 2:00 girl talk was right before I married my loser ex."

"I need to tell you something, and I need you to keep it to yourself for a little while." I told her. "I know this is big news, and I don't want to deal with mom just yet. Morelli asked me to marry him tonight."

"OhmyGod!" My sister shrieked. "That's WONDERFUL! This is HUGE! Mom and Grandma are gonna go nuts. I know it's early, but did you set a date? You want to get a jump on renting a hall, then you have to think about dresses, and flowers, and..."

"Stop." I begged her. "This is why I don't want mom to know yet. The thing is, I told him no."

"You WHAT?" I've never actually seen someone have a stroke, but I think Val came really close just them. "What happened? I thought this was your dream."

I was in tears when I laid it all out for her. "We were sitting in Pino's eating dinner when he proposed. He expects me to quit my job and start on a family right away. The longer I sat there thinking about it, the more I realized that even though I've dreamt about marrying Morelli for years, this wasn't the life I've dreamed of at all." By now I was sobbing uncontrollably. My sister gave me a big hug, and I carried on. "I don't want to quit my job. It may not be the best job in the world, but I like what I do. I'm not ready for kids, and I don't know if I ever will be. Joe's grandma calls me the devil and curses me every time she sees me. The worst part is that I feel like if I marry him, I have to give up the girl I want to be."

My sister held onto me, rocking me and kissing the top of my head, like I was one of her own girls. "Are you sure?" she asked me.

"Yes."

"Ok, then. You're right not to want to tell mom. She'll have a fit. But you've got to realize that she's gonna get a million phone calls about this by tomorrow morning. The Burg Grapevine is gonna have a cow over this. I'll tell mom to let you have a day or two, but you're going to have to face the music."