Chapter 3

We finally made it to the Hibachi restaurant. Traffic wasn't as bad as I thought, so we had about two minutes to spare until it turned 8.

Aunt Jenny is there to greet us at the front of the restaurant.

"There you all are. I was waiting for you."

Yup here we are. The late ones.

Aunt Jenny walks us into the private party room, where everyone else is already sitting with drinks. My cousins (Aunt Jenny's other kids) are all sitting together. For some reason they always seem to sit in birth order.

Cousin Claire is the first born. She is 31 and has already been married and divorced. Her two kids must be with their father this weekend.

Cousin Olivia is next. She is 27 with no kids yet. I haven't seen who she is dating now, considering she has a new boy toy every time we see her.

Then there's Jason, the youngest and only boy. He's only 15 (as I had stated earlier), but he has the maturity of a 40 year old. He's a pretty good looking kid and gets good grades in school. I've seen on social media all the little girls trying to flirt with him. Being a star track athlete in school has a lot to do with that as well, but he's more focused on getting a big scholarship to Duke University; his dream college.

We all sit down at the table with my cousins. Aunt Jenny addresses the crowd,

"Okay. Sarah is coming with Anthony. They'll be here in about five minutes."

I take a seat next to Claire. She is on her phone texting her ex husband about the kids. I've always looked up to Claire growing up. I thought she was the prettiest one in our family (I still think that to this day). She has what my definition of a perfect figure is; small waist, flat stomach, nice C cup boobs, and a round butt that sits just right. Even after having two kids she still looks great.

"Oh, hey Kendra." Claire finally notices I'm sitting next to her. "How are you?"

"I'm good."

"What'chu been up to?"

"Nothing much. Just focused on work and getting back to school."

"That's good. As long as you're focused on getting yourself better. Any boyfriends or guys of interest?"

Oh, Claire. Let's not start this.

"No. Not really."

"Well what the hell are you waiting for?"

Now I know what you are thinking, but Claire didn't say that. That snarky comment came from none other than big mouth Olivia.

I look past Claire to address Olivia, even though my love life is none of her business.

"I'm perfectly fine being single."

Olivia makes a face like she smelled some bad fish, "Hmm, is that why you stay home all the time?"

Olivia is my least favorite relative. Can't you tell? She just has to have an opinion on someone's life; mine mostly because I didn't do half of the things she did. I was the quiet child growing up. I didn't get into any trouble and always had good grades in school. Olivia, on the other hand, was the one who kept the adults on their toes. She never listened to her teachers and usually ended up with at least ten write ups at the end of the school year. One time she got a 19 in gym class because she didn't feel like changing her clothes.

"Olivia, not everyone likes to stay out and party every weekend like you, okay? Some of us have responsibilities."

Good ole cousin Claire. Always having my back.

"What responsibilities? She ain't got no kids or a man and still living with her mama. She needs to go out and have a life."

Lord knows how bad I wanted to open my mouth to give her the best cussing out of her life, but Claire stepped in before that could happen.

"At least she has a job. You're over here with no job, no income, and sleeping around with a 45 year old married man."

OH SNAP! Damn Claire.

Olivia gets up and moves to another table. Guess she could handle that burn from her sister. Claire comes back to me.

"Don't let her get to you. She's just trying to get under your skin."

"I know. Misery loves company."

So, after what seems to be half an hour of waiting, Aunt Jenny finally gets the text that Sarah and Anthony are here.

"They just parked and are walking to the front door right now," she tells us. We have no idea what we are supposed to do with this information.

I see some of Sarah's school friends walking to the entrance of the room with phones out. I decide to do the same thing. I hear a male voice coming from the hallway.

"Keep following me babe."

That must be Anthony. Accompanied with his voice is the sound of heels clicking against the hardwood floor. Next I see a guy with a long sleeve button up shirt and navy blue pants come around the corner. His back is turned so I cannot see his face. Sarah comes around after him with her eyes closed. She is looking stunning in her tan bodycon dress and black strappy heels. Her hair is in a slick ponytail and her makeup is natural yet elegant.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone but me shouts. I had no idea it was a surprise party.

Sarah gets startled by the shouting and opens her eyes to see everyone standing in front of her with their phone cameras on. A smile lights up on her face as she makes her way into the room. The guy with her finally turns around. He is a very handsome man; cleanly cut goatee with a nice fade haircut. His teeth match the whiteness of his shirt. He rolls up his sleeves and exposes the sleeve of tattoos on his right arm. Not a bad choice, Sarah. I wonder if he has any brothers?

Sarah makes her rounds, saying hi and thanking everyone for coming. She sees me and her smile gets big again.

"Cousin!" Sarah runs over as fast as she can in those shoes. I get up and put my arms out; not just for a hug, but because I am afraid she is going to fall into me.

"I haven't seen you in almost a year. How are you?"

Sarah and I give each other the 'church lady' hug. You know, the one where you sway each other back and forth?

"I'm good," I answer back. We finally stop swaying and let each other go. I step back and look at Sarah's beauty again.

"You look amazing tonight."

Sarah lights up again, "Why thank you. And you do, too."

Sarah notices that Anthony is still standing in the doorway.

"Oh hang on. I want you to meet my boyfriend. Babe, com here."

She waves over to Anthony, who starts walking over.

For some odd reason, I am nervous as he gets closer. What am I nervous about? It's not like I'm marrying him or meeting his family.

"Babe, this is my cousin Kendra. She is like my other sister."

"It's nice to meet you." Anthony extends his hand out for a handshake. I accept.

"Nice to meet you too. So how did you guys meet?"

"We actually met in high school. We graduated the same year, but I never knew he was in my class," Sarah says.

"I've always wanted to talk to her, but she never really paid attention to me. Then one day I saw her on Facebook, added her as a friend and we just started talking."

Anthony looks at Sarah with a look that says, 'I finally got my crush and now I'm gonna make her my wife.' It's the cutest thing ever. I wish someone liked me that much.

After the meet and greet, we all sit down to enjoy the hibachi dinner. The chef cooks us our choice of entree and sides. Then here comes the famous shrimp toss. If you're not familiar with it, it's where the chef cuts up pieces of shrimp and tosses it to each person around the table; and we have to try to catch the shrimp in our mouths. I failed. Three times.

Dinner is over, and everyone is socializing. I excuse myself to use the bathroom. As I walk out I can hear Aunt Jenny and Anthony talking in the hallway.

"Okay, so do you have the ring?"

"Yup right here."

"Let me see."

I creek the bathroom door open just enough to not be seen. I don't want to ruin the surprise. Anthony opens the ring box. I can't see much, but judging by the look on Aunt Jenny's face and the sparkle of the light reflecting back off the ring, it's got to be a big one.

"That is beautiful. She's gonna love it!" Aunt Jenny squeals with excitement.

The two of them go back into the room. I follow shortly after. It's showtime.

"Um, excuse me everyone. May I have your attention." Anthony gets the room quiet. I am standing in the corner with my phone on video mode.

"Sarah, can you come here please?"

Sarah has no clue what is going on, which is perfect. Aunt Jenny comes over and stands by me.

"I forgot my phone in my purse. Can you send this to me when you get done?" she whispers.

I nod 'yes' and continue to film the couple.

Anthony speaks,

"We've been together for about two years but have known each other longer than that. It wasn't always easy for us, but we've learned a lot about each other along the way. To me, you have always been the prettiest girl in the world."

An 'awe' slips out of my mouth as I record. Aunt Jenny taps me on the shoulder in agreement.

Anthony continues, "And I've always told you that you deserve to be someone's wife. So...."

Anthony pulls the ring box out of his pocket and drops to one knee. The crowd starts cheering so loud that the people from the other part of the restaurant stare into the room.

"I would like to be that person that you spend the rest of your life with. Sarah Johnson, will you marry me?"

Sarah puts her hand over her mouth in shock; a good shock. I see tears starting to roll down her face. She is unable to speak for a moment.

"Yes!"

Cheering erupts in the room. Even the people from outside the room are clapping and cheering. Well, looks like we have a wedding to plan!