"You're welcome," Claire replied. My sisters can be so sweet sometimes.

    "See?" I said to him. "Not all members of my family are geeks." But the geek patrol was soon back.

    The next thing that happened may possibly be the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me.

    I was working on the first problem when I began to notice this strange sound coming from outside the dining room. It was a slurpy, squeaky sound. It was a kissing sound! And it was loud, amplified. I put down my pen and felt a hot blush burn across my cheeks. (Which only made matters worse.) "I love you so much," came a silly, deep voice.

    "No, I love you more!" This was a high-pitched voice.

    "I love you more, my darling Mallory!" The deep voice.

    "I love you more-est, Benjamin my sweet!" the high squeaky voice squealed. Then there were more loud, wet kissing noises.

    I wanted to die! To disappear then and there! Ben looked like he felt the same way. He was smiling, but he was also blushing.

    "Excuse me a minute," I said, pushing back my chair.

    When I reached the doorway, I found my darling brothers crowded around Nicky's new speaker phone, busily kissing the backs of their own hands. They looked at me with guilty, but laughing eyes. "I'm going to brain you idiots!" I shouted.

    Nicky switched the speaker to baby-talk. "Time to go bye-bye," he said. As he spoke, he raced away behind the triplets, disappearing into the kitchen.

    "We're not going to get anything done with them hanging around," I said apologetically, turning back to Ben.

    "Want to work at my house?" Ben suggested.

    "Good idea," I said as I closed my math notebook. Ben is so nice. Another boy probably would have run out of the house. Why couldn't my brothers be more like him?