All familiar characters or events belong to Janet. Mistakes are solely mine.

"You'll never guess what happened," I said to my best friend, as soon as Mary Lou picked up.

"I can do more than guess. The Burg's been busy repeating play-by-plays of how Ranger punched Joe outside the police station. The police station! I can only trust Burg gossip to a certain point, so tell me everything. Do not leave anything out. Were Eddie and Carl really there and threatening Morelli in your honor?"

"Yes, but who cares about Morelli or how he got his pride and face punched down? I'm calling about something important."

"You think your boyfriend socking a cop outside his own precinct isn't important? Are you crazy?"

"I just may be, because a few minutes after we got home, Ranger sorta asked me to marry him. And while I'm still fuzzy on the details, I know I did say yes."

"You actually said 'Okay' before you kissed the conversation closed, Babe. Not yes," Ranger reminded me low enough so Mary Lou wouldn't hear.

I rolled my eyes at him but smiled when he pressed a kiss to my curls. "Anyway," I said to Mare, "we're leaving to go ring shopping soon, since Ranger is going all caveman and wants to make it clear with one look that I'm taken by him. Though I can't really blame him. I'm gonna be looking to see if I can find a 'TOUCH HIM AND DIE' ring or watch or something for him to wear while we're casing jewelry joints."

Complete silence greeted my big news.

"Mary Lou? Are you still there? Hello?" I paused and tried again. "Mare? Say something."

I regretted that order when she let out a shriek that almost blew out both of my eardrums. "You're getting married?! Again? To Ranger-hot as hell-freakin'-Manoso?"

"Yes. Yes. And definitely yes. He's the only one who could get me to agree to this."

"Oh my God. I can't believe it! My about-to-be best friend-in-law is our resident superhero! I'd better be your maid of honor. I'm not kidding, Steph. If Valerie tries to take my place, I'll bake her brownies laced with laxatives so she can't perform what should be my duties as your best friend since forever. Oh my god! You're getting married! I don't believe this is happening!"

I grinned at her enthusiasm. "Yeah, I get that since that's the second time you've said that."

She went quiet again, but this time it felt more like ominous silence than the shocked kind.

"Why are you telling me this over the phone and not in person?" She asked. "This kind of news requires two of Chevy's margaritas, all-you-can-eat nachos, with a no time limit night ahead of us."

She doesn't have to know that I literally needed to finish what Ranger and I had started on his sideboard before I could even think about sharing this news. I'm still not in any hurry to be away from him so I thought a phone call was a good compromise. The feeling seems to be mutual, since Ranger's stuck close to me from the sideboard, into the shower, and now on the couch where we're currently cuddled up … Ranger reading emails on his cell while I talk to Mary Lou.

"Sorry," I told her instead. "You said so yourself, the Burg is smelling blood and I'm too happy to let them piss me off. But to make it up to you, you're the only one besides me and Ranger who know about this. I'm going to call Grandma Mazur after. And we're leaving you in charge of sharing our good news. Feel free to go into great detail about how I said an immediate yes to becoming Mrs. Manoso, or maybe Mrs. Plum-Manoso, because I had just been reminded of what an amazing man he is compared to some immature jerks I grew up around. Embellish away on how Joe's tantrum made me love Ranger even more than I already did, and that's why I'm gonna marry the heck out of him as soon as I can."

"Listen closely, Stephanie Plum soon-to-be Manoso, if you two run off and elope without me knowing … I will kill you in a way that'll be more painful than all of my deliveries combined. And one birth I was too late to get an epidural for."

I winced causing Ranger to lift both eyebrows at me in question. "Mary Lou is almost as good as you are at issuing really graphic threats," I explained to him. "According to her, we're allowed to get married but she needs to be there when we tie the knot or I'm going to be killed in a really uncomfortable way."

"We can't have that." He put his cell down to slip both arms around me as his mouth moved beside mine. "Don't worry, Mary Lou," he told my BFF through my phone, "if Stephanie and I do take off to do this, we'll swing by and kidnap you on our way out of town."