DISCLAIMER - I DON'T OWN THE JONAS BROTHERS AS CONNECT 3. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM. I ONLY OWN KYLA, KIANNA, ALLISON, EMILY, MADISON, AND OTHER NON-FAMOUS CHARACTERS.

A/N - LAST CHAPTER!

Chapter 14 : I Can't Believe I Finally Made It Here

-Allison's POV-

"So Allison..." Emily started to ask me. "What do you want for Christmas?"

"World peace." I replied without looking up from the bowl I was cleaning.

We both laughed, but then Emily frowned at me. "No, I'm serious. What do you want for Christmas?"

I set down the bowl and turned to look at my friend with a bemused look on my face. "Hmm… what do I want?" I paused a moment before continuing. "What I would really like is for all the laundry to be done and put away. I want the house, car, kids and dog to all be clean at the same time. Then, I want to be able to sit in absolute quiet with no one wanting anything from me."

Emily smiled for a second, then looked confused, and I returned the confused look so she clarified. "You only have one child. Why did you say 'kids'?"

"Nate." That explained everything. He's worse than a little kid. I'm constantly picking up after him.

Me and Emily took a look around my house. The sink was piled high with dishes that we had used to make Christmas cookies with the kids. Frosting and sprinkles covered the counters and kitchen floor. Madison had dumped a huge pile of connectable blocks onto the dining room floor and was busy building some sort of spaceship. Kianna was outside laughing and rolling around on the grass while Nate's Christmas present to me - a new puppy, Buddy, - tried to lick frosting off of her face, getting them both muddy in the process. Nate, Jason, and Shane sat in the family room watching a football game surrounded by baby toys and Nate sat with his feet up on the coffee table while Kaylee slept on his chest.

I heard the door open then shut, and Kianna start shouting for Shane. She must have found him cause the next thing I heard was Shane's booming voice. "Kianna, get down! You're all muddy!"

At that moment, Nate yelled from the family room. "Alli, can you grab Shane one of my clean shirts? Oh, and can you grab Kianna one of her extra outfits?"

Then the doorbell rang, waking Kaylee, who started wailing. She slept through all that shouting, but a simple doorbell wakes her up. Just like her father.

Both me and Emily began to laugh. "So world peace, Alli?" Emily joked.

I grinned as I headed towards the refrigerator to get my daughter a bottle. "Sort of seems more likely."

I gave the bottle to Nate, who started to feed Kaylee while I headed towards the front door. "Emily, go ahead and grab a shirt out of our closet and an extra set of clothes from the guest room. That's probably Mitchie, fashionably late as usual."

It indeed was Mitchie, who took a place on the loveseat next to Shane.

The guys can get pretty rowdy...and sometimes agressive, so I knew one of them was going to end up moving over to the loveseat. I just didn't expect it to be Shane. I figured it would Nate, the smallest of the three of them. I really hoped it would have been Nate since he has Kaylee.

The game must have ended because two of the three guys started to stand up. Shane was still sitting there with Mitchie, both of them staring at each other.

Kianna and Madison went outside, so that's one less problem for me and Emily to worry about for a little while.

Nate came in the kitchen and kissed me on the cheek, and placed Kaylee's bottle in the sink while Jason and Emily were giggling about something. We all went to Nate's office so Mitchie and Shane will have some privacy and maybe, hopefully, Shane will propose. They both need it. Shane isn't meant to live life alone, and neither is Mitchie.

-Shane's POV-

I stretched my arms as far as they could go, letting out a loud yawn and making Mitchie grin and blush. I smiled at her, then looked away, my own cheeks turning a soft red. I'd become even closer to the brunette beside me. We're still best friends, but we're actually dating again. Of course, Mitchie had Caitlyn and Sierra, and I had Nate and Jason, but somehow, having each other beat our other options. Though we both longed to, neither of us had yet gained the courage to ask the other to marry them.

I've got to do it tonight. I can't wait anymore. I've dragged this out long enough. I don't have a ring yet cause I hadn't really thought that far ahead until now, but she'll understand. It's just how she is. She doesn't care about all the glamour and all that.

"I think this may be the best Christmas ever." I said thoughtfully, leaning back on the soft loveseat I was sitting on next to Mitchie. "And it's not even Christmas yet. It's only Christmas Eve."

Mitchie let out a small laugh, and I grinned. I loved her laugh. Almost as much as I had loved Kyla's laugh. "Of course. You know, now that you think of it, this is a nice Christmas." Mitchie agreed, and I nonchalantly stretched my arm lazily once more, this time landing just around Mitchie's shoulder, without touching her skin. She blushed at this gesture, but I didn't notice. At least, I didn't let on that I had. "What did you get me as a gift?"

"Do you really think I'm going to tell you?" I smirked, and Mitchie pouted. I really thought you knew me better than that, Mitch. I really hoped you knew me better than that.

"Why not?" She whined playfully, placing her hand on my knee. My eyes widened, and Mitchie turned red and pulled away before I could protest.

"It'll ruin the magic." I said dreamily, and Mitchie giggled. "What?!" I laughed, turning pink.

"You are so childish sometimes, Shane Gray." Mitchie rolled her eyes dramatically. "You need to learn to be much more sophisticated. Here: You tell me what my gift is, and I'll tell you yours."

"Not a chance, Mitchie Torres." I mocked and protested. Mitchie groaned, her lips slipping into a childish pout. "I don't want to know. How about this: We'll tell each other what we wanted."

"Ok. I wanted a -- " Mitchie began, but before she could finish, Allison and Nate walked in front of us.

"Hey, Shane, Mitchie." Nate greeted, not looking away from Allison's eyes. Allison didn't even speak. "Hey, look. Mistletoe." Nate grinned, trying to act, though failing miserably. Allison's eyes twinkled with amusement, and me and Mitchie watched the couple. "You know what that means..." Nate trailed off, his lips landing on Allison's. The once-soft kiss turned into a fierce makeout, and me and Mitchie looked away in disgust.

Once that makeout session ended, Emily and Jason walked in, and soon, the cycle was repeated. We were amazed; after the few seconds of G-rated moments, the cycle would soon start up again, seemingly neverending. Finally, after a few minutes, the coast seemed clear, and me and Mitchie got up to leave.

"What's going on?" Mitchie asked me, and I shrugged.

"I dunno. Let's get out of here before they come back." I suggested, and we made a move to walk out the living room door. Suddenly, Allison appeared, sticking her foot out.

"Hey, Mitchie!" She squeaked, and before Mitchie could stop herself, the clumsy auburn-haired girl tripped over her friend's leg. I instinctly stepped forward and caught Mitchie face-first, and we stared at each other in a daze.

"Well, look at that!" Jason exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere. "Look up, you two." Me and Mitchie followed his instructions and we found the healthy sprig of mistletoe right above our very eyes.

"Well... You know the tradition." I smiled shyly, blushing.

I heard the door open then close, and I knew the kids had come back in.

"I -- I do." Mitchie choked out, turning red, then brushed a lock of hair out of my eyes. Before the moment could be ruined, my lips rushed forward, landing softly on Mitchie's, and we relaxed into the kiss. Allison coughed, Nate sneezed, Emily giggled, Jason waved a hand in front of us, and Kianna and Madison said "EWWW..", but nothing could stop us now. I had waited too long for this kind of moment again.

Finally, Jason lost his patience and tore us apart. "That was even better than I remember." Mitchie breathed as soon as her lips left mine.

"You never told me what you wanted for Christmas." I reminded after catching my breath.

"I think I just got it." The brown haired, twinkly-eyed, very, very beautiful girl in front of me giggled and blushed. "You never said what you wanted either."

"I just want an answer." I know my fans love me, but none of them loved me enough to be a step-mom to Kianna. Mitchie does. Mitchie always has, well, ever since Kyla passed away. Mitchie loves my little girl as if she was her own.

"For what?"

"Will you marry me, Mitchie?" I asked quietly.

I could tell her mind was racing. We had been together for almost a year, and I had always said I didn't want to get married again. Why would I be proposing now? Did I really want to marry her or did I just want a companion again?

"Why?" She whispered.

I looked confused. "Because I love you."

She shook her head. "I know that, but you said you didn't want to get married again. I don't want you to propose just because you feel sorry for me."

I suddenly realized what my girlfriend was thinking. I got up off the floor and sat next to her on the couch, pulling her onto my lap. "I never said I didn't want to get married again, Mitch. I said I didn't want to get married again because people told me I should; because they said it would help me move on. It annoyed me that people thought we were supposed to get married because we'd been together so long or because that's what everyone else did. I realized that I wanted to marry you because I know you are the most important thing in the world to me. I want to marry you because I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And nothing else should matter."

Mitchie looked at me in awe. "Who are you and what have you done with Shane?" She asked, only half-joking. I never liked to talk about my feelings, even to her.

I chuckled. "I know. I hardly recognize myself."

Mitchie let out a shuddering sigh before smiling at me. My heart leapt at the sight.

"So is that a yes?" I asked.

Her smile widened as she nodded. "Of course. I would love to marry you."

All our friends let out a breath of relief; Allison and Emily even went so far as to clap and whistle.

I gave Mitchie a quick, firm kiss before pulling her against my chest in a tight hug. The two of us sat there enjoying the moment before I finally asked, "What kind of wedding do you want? A big bash? A destination wedding somewhere exotic? Something small?"

Mitchie groaned. "Can't we just elope?"

I laughed. "Only if we take your parents, Allison, Nate, Jason, Emily and the girls with us. Kianna and Madison would kill us if they didn't get to be in our wedding."

I could feel Mitchie nod into my chest. "I can live with that guest list. How about Hawaii on the beach?"

"When?"

Mitchie thought for a moment before responding. "How long does it take to plan an elopement? Three months?"

I kissed the top of her head before agreeing. "That sounds perfect."

I felt a tug on my pants, and me and Mitchie broke apart. I looked down and saw Kianna holding her arms up. I picked her up and she looked at me then at Mitchie. "Is she my mommy?" My 4-year old had been on a quest of her own. Every woman I dated, she would ask me if they were her mother.

"Almost." She moved herself into Mitchie's arms, and I smiled. "Almost, baby." She the closest thing Kianna's going to get to a mother again.

And for once, I'm fine with that.

Thanks for reading (and reviewing)! - ImAnUnderdog