You know you love me. After I posted the new chapter I was really bored, so I wrote a new chapter. Because I didn't have any homework I could do. So, feel lucky. I won't go on and on right now, just thanks to Becky again. Cause Allison's like dropped off the face of the earth… sad face. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Not only is it early, its long! Like ATCR length. O.o Ya'll are going to hate me at the end of this, just so you know.

Chapter 37:

Somehow I managed to study for all of my finals with Shane around, even though I wanted to spend every waking moment with him. But finally, it was Christmas and I had managed to get all of my shopping done as well. Mom and Dad were coming up to Boston; Jason and Anastasia were going to Jason's family's; and Nate and Caitlyn were going back to Pennsylvania and meeting up with her parents as well. The boys would be leaving before New Years, though we were meeting back up before they did to exchange gifts.

Of course we'd be exchanging our gifts to our significant others on Christmas. I was super excited. My gift wasn't something new and had been exchanged between us before. It was our first Christmas as husband and wife, so of course there would be a shower of random gifts, but this was going to be the most important. I wrote him a song. It was one I was very proud of.

I wrote it during my sociology class, seeing as I wasn't paying attention anyway. Now, some might take it the wrong way, but I knew he wouldn't. I call it, His Shadow. It's the first sign that the medication was working. I was surprisingly much happier. I know, things like this are usually like 90 percent mental, but I was happier. It could have also been Shane being home, but I don't know for sure.

Four days before Christmas, Nate and Caitlyn left for Pennsylvania. Three days before, Mom and Dad came up from Jersey. Two days before, Jason and Anastasia drove out to the Bishops'. Christmas Eve, I woke up with the need to vomit. My stomach had been hurting for a few days.

"Baby, you okay?" Shane asked sleepily, stumbling into the bathroom with Jacob on his heels. He knelt next to me, rubbing my back as I leaned over the toilet.

"I think the pills are making me sick." I stated. "I mean, yeah, they're working, I think, but there's no way I'm sick again." I argued.

I saw a small secretive smile creep onto Shane's face for a moment before it was quickly slipped off. "Just keep an eye on it, okay?"

"Why are you happy I'm sick?" I asked.

His eyes widened for a moment. "I'm not happy you're sick again." He replied quickly. "I, uh, just, I'm happy to hear you say they're helping." He stumbled a bit.

"Do you think my family is going to be pissed they aren't seeing me this year?" I asked him, randomly changing the subject. He looked at me oddly. "My extended family. The ones I see every year for Christmas?" I explained.

He shrugged. "I don't know." He replied honestly. "I don't think so, given the circumstances. Next year, my parents and the twins can come down to Jersey for the holiday, okay?"

I leaned against him, smiling contently. "Sounds great." I agreed.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

I nodded weakly. "Let's go back to bed for a bit." I said, still not moving.

He chuckled. "How 'bout a while? It's only quarter to five, baby." He said standing up.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes playfully as he helped me up. "Oh, need to brush my teeth." I commented. "Oh, and flush that please before I puke again." I almost gagged smelling the vomit in the toilet.

Shane laughed and flushed the toilet, taking it in stride. Most guys would be freaked out by flushing their wife or girlfriend's vomit. Shane, though… Shane was amazing. He was smiling like crazy and I couldn't seem to figure out why.

I'd been off of the birth control for about three weeks almost, and on the anti-depressants for a little under two. I knew the side effects of both, and my symptoms just didn't seem to fit. But I ignored them for the time being. I just wanted to enjoy my last few days with Shane before he left again.

After finally getting out of bed for real around 11 and taking a shower, we made our way downstairs. By the time we were functioning, Savannah, Brown, and Dee -yes, Dee LaDuke- were already over. The rest of Shane's family would be over in about an hour or so for dinner.

"Dee!" I squealed slightly, hugging her. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you'd be here!"

She laughed. "Well, Ben, you tell her." She turned to Brown. I raised my eyebrow in curiosity. The only people who ever called Brown any form of his real name were people who knew him before he started touring in high school. I usually only ever heard Dee call him Brown.

"Well, Dee and I are finally officially dating, so I brought her for the holiday." Brown admitted.

I squealed again. "I knew it! At our wedding I knew it." I gloated to Shane.

"Yes, you did." He appeased me.

"Actually, it was after your wedding we realized our feelings were more than platonic anymore. We've been friends since high school. We just never thought there to be more." Dee explained.

I awed. "Our wedding was awesome." I decided. "I mean, Nicky and Riley got back together, Dee and Uncle Brown got together." I commented.

"The fact that we got married, has nothing to do with this." Shane scoffed slightly. I noticed, however, Shane wasn't the only one making faces at my comment. Nicky seemed to seclude herself a little more than she had been.

Savannah pulled me aside a little while later to explain. "Don't mention Riley too much at dinner." She whispered urgently. "Nicky's new beau is coming."

"New? What? They've only been broken up for like, not even a month. How does she have someone she's bringing to family gatherings already?" I asked quite surprised and alarmed.

Savannah shrugged. "He's in our grade. He's been trying to date her for years. He's actually friends with Kevin."

"He's not the one she…" I trailed off, not sure if Savannah knew of Nicky's lacking virginity.

"No!" She replied immediately. "No, he's not. Kevin hasn't been friends with him since then. No, this is the kid who tried to stop her that night. He's a sweet heart, Mitch." Savannah assured me.

I sighed. "I just think it's too soon. I think she's trying to force herself to get over Riley because as much as she wants her freedom, she still wants him." I commented.

"What makes you say that?" Savannah asked.

"When Riley broke up with her, she agreed, but didn't want him to leave right away. Does Riley even know? I know they're still friends." Savannah had these answers as over the time, Savannah and Nicky had also gotten to be very close. They were after all in the same grade, and Nicky finally realized that Savannah wasn't a threat to her family.

"Nope. He doesn't. Nicky won't tell him. It's going to blow up in her face." Savannah sighed.

"Well, she's stubborn. Not much we can do." I sighed as well.

"Yeah. Oh! He's here." Savannah commented looking out of the window we were near and seeing a Camaro pull up next to Shane's Mustang. I grimaced. Shane wasn't going to like this kid.

"Who's car is that?" Shane asked appearing at my side, having heard the engine.

"Chuck." Savannah replied.

"Who's Chuck?" Shane demanded. Savannah looked at the ground. There were times Shane still intimidated her a bit. "Savannah, who is Chuck?" He asked, still demanding, but much softer.

"Nicky's new boyfriend." She replied timidly.

"Her what?!" Shane exploded.

"Baby, chill." I said, trying to calm him down. "It's her life, remember?"

Shane glared at Chuck through the window as he approached the door. His skinny jeans, tight t-shirt, vest, and fedora would have made him look like he'd fit in with the boys perfectly, if only he hadn't had more of a skater edge to him than they did. Shane instantly liked him a little less than he already had.

As Chuck knocked on the door, Shane moved to open it, narrowly beating Nicky to the door. "Who are you?" Shane demanded.

The poor kid smiled politely. "Chuck." He offered his hand. "You must be Nick's brother Shane."

Shane glanced down at Chuck's hand while Nicky sent apologizing looks behind Shane's back knowing better than to interfere. It would only piss Shane off more. Taking pity on Nicky and Chuck, I interfered for her. "Hi, I'm Mitchie, Shane's wife." I smiled shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mitchie. Nicky talks a lot about you. Um, not to be rude, but do you think I can come in? It's cold out here." He asked.

I pulled Shane out of the way to allow Chuck to enter, though he continued his questioning. "How do you know my sister?"

"I'm her boyfriend. Did she not mention me to you?" Chuck asked confused.

"No, she didn't." Shane looked over at Nicky with a strange look. "Nice to meet you, Chad." Shane said smiling fakely and leaving.

"It's Chuck!" Chuck called after him.

I sighed. "It doesn't matter." I replied honestly. "He's going to not like you for a very long time, and not remember you're name for even longer. He only just remembered Savannah's name around the time of our wedding." I explained.

"Haven't they been together for like, ever?" Chuck asked. "And why doesn't he like me?"

"Because he's an ass." Nicky spoke, finally greeting her boyfriend with a hello kiss. "He's mad I didn't tell him. That's why I didn't."

"You could have told me." I told her.

"You didn't want me to break up with Riley either, so there's no way you're happy about me being in a new relationship." Nicky retorted.

"Let's not have this conversation in front of Chuck, okay, Nick? Chuck it was nice meeting you." I smiled politely before heading off to find Shane.

When I did, it was quite funny. "I can't believe she's over Riley already. My sister is such a… gah." Shane huffed in frustration. Thankfully no one else was in the kitchen other than us.

"Such a gah?" I teased.

"I'm not about to call me sister demeaning names." Shane replied in a duh sort of tone.

I giggled. "I know. Why is this bothering you so much? You knew that Riley was going to break up with her." I asked, genuinely concerned.

He sighed. "Because, I hoped she wouldn't move on. That they wouldn't forget about each other, and they'd work it out." He answered honestly.

"Why?" I questioned.

He wouldn't look at me. "Because then I'd know I was making the right decision by not breaking up with you when it first started hurting you."

I sighed. "Shane… I could have broken up with you at any point. I did at one point, remember? But I realized I love you and this was worth fighting for, remember?"

"I know. It just scares me that someday you're going to get fed up and end it. I don't want to loose you, ever." He admitted.

"You won't. I promise." I said tracing his down turned jaw with my finger tips. He leaned into my touch and finally looked at me. "I love you."

He smiled lazily. "I know. I love you, too, baby."

When we finally sat down for dinner, the atmosphere was ever so slightly awkward. My parents were talking to the Grey's, Brown & Dee, while Shane and I spoke with Savannah and Kevin. Nicky and Chuck were in their own world. Shane's other family members spoke amongst themselves as well.

"So, Mitchie," one of Shane's aunt's began, "What's it like being married to a celebrity?" She asked, and I wasn't sure how to answer. This was the first time I'd really been around his family except for the wedding.

"It's hard." I admitted honestly. "But I love him, so it's worth it." I smiled politely.

"I bet." She smiled a little too politely. "You're friend Stace? She cheated on Jason, no?"

"Stas." I corrected politely. "And no, she didn't. Her roommate's cousin was a tad bit too infatuated with Stas and tried to manipulate her using Jason. Jason actually just proposed to her a few nights ago." I replied.

"Oh." She replied biting her tongue a bit. "That's nice."

"Yeah, Jason ruined Nate's Christmas present for Caitlyn." Shane laughed, trying to change the subject.

"What?" I asked, looking at Shane. "You mean he was going to… seriously?!" I asked, way too excited.

Shane shrugged. "Yeah. I don't think he's going to now, considering. Jason didn't know about it, or he probably wouldn't have formally proposed. He would have explained it to Stas, I'm sure." Shane laughed.

"Oh my god!" I cried happily. "Yay!" Everyone was looking at me oddly, except those who I was close to. They were laughing at me. "Sorry." I replied, shrinking into my seat a bit. Shane chuckled and wrapped his arm around me tightly, and kissed my temple.

Aside from that horrendous conversation with his aunt, dinner went smoothly. Later on, Shane called his aunt a particularly distasteful name, explaining that no one really liked her because she was very snooty. She was the bad apple from his dad's family. I felt better, knowing it wasn't me that she had a problem with and that she merely had a problem in general.

I woke up Christmas morning, rushing into the bathroom again. As Shane climbed out of bed after me, I saw him smiling. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, though. I let it go though as he rubbed my back and talking softly to me. He ended up carrying back to bed and tucking me in. It was still early, after all. I woke up an hour or so later with breakfast in bed. I smiled seeing him entering the bedroom with a tray full of food. I smelled the coffee though and ran to the bathroom again.

Concerned, he quickly rushed over to my side after placing the food on the bed. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

I shrugged. "I have no idea anymore." I admitted.

"Well, after the holiday, go back to the doctor, okay?" I promised I would and I did. That was quite an eye-opening experience. "What made you throw up?" He asked.

"Coffee." I replied.

He smirked to himself and went out into the room again. While I finished brushing my teeth, he drank his coffee, eliminating most of the scent from the room.

"I wanted to give you one of your presents alone." He said, pulling a wrapped package out from under the bed. He handed it to me and sat back on his legs on the bed next to me.

I quickly tore open the wrapping and smiled brightly at what I pulled out of the heavy, deep box. First, there was a scrap book decorated with Camp Rock logos and trees and music notes. Inside, various pictures of my first year at Camp Rock as well as our second year laid with cute captions. There were blank pages at the end for future Camp Rock summers. I placed it on the bed and notice there was more in the box. Another scrap book reading Road Trip across the top was next. There were pictures from the first tour filling the pages, and again held blank pages for future tours. Of course, there was still much more in this box of never ending possibilities. A third scrap book held pictures from each of our birthday's through the years. But still, there were more scrap books in the box. One containing everything from my senior year, including Prom and Graduation; a beautiful, antique looking scrap book with our names inscribed on it with all of our wedding pictures; another with our honeymoon pictures; one reading Our Family with pictures of well, our families and our friends, but also just Shane, Jacob and myself.

The last scrap book I pulled out was a baby's scrap book. I looked up at Shane in confusion. A picture myself and a picture of Shane as babies graced the cover of it. When I opened the book, there were no pictures of us. Actually, there were no pictures. There was a note.

"Someday." I read the single word written in Shane's handwriting. "Someday?" I asked looking up at him.

He smiled softly. "Yeah. Someday, this will be filled with our kids photos." He explained. "I didn't have anything to fill it up with now." He laughed.

I smiled. "So why did you make this one, too?"

"Because the series didn't seem complete without it." He said softly. "Do you like them?" He asked nervously.

"I love them, Shane. I can't believe you made me…" I paused to count, "Nine scrap books. You made me nine scrap books? When did you have time to do this?" I asked utterly surprised.

"Our mom's gathered all of the pictures for me that I didn't have, and I did all of this while you were studying and doing other collegiate things for the last three weeks." He informed me.

I awed. "I can't believe you did this. You always give me amazing gifts, and I always end up not giving you anything half as amazing." I pouted.

"Whatever you got me is going to be amazing, I'm sure." He said, kissing me softly.

"I wrote a song." I informed him.

His smiled grew. "You did? About what?" He asked excitedly.

I smiled. "It's not completely positive, per say, but I'm getting there." I said. "Do you have you're guitar?" I asked.

He shook his head no. "I left it at the hotel the other night." He replied disappointed.

"I can sing it without the guitar?" I offered. His smile grew again. "Okay, don't think this has any negative thoughts on you, okay?" He nodded uncertain, but allowed me to continued. "Okay." I took a deep breath and began humming to myself to get the right notes in my head. "Can you see me as I am? Or am I just living in his shadow? It's time for you to move that spotlight, Cause I'm shining on my own… No more living in his shadow… I'm breaking out, breaking free, Gonna stand with him beside me. No more living on the sidelines, Baby it's my time to shine- And I'm finally moving out of the shadow." I looked over at Shane to see his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. "What is it that bad?" I asked, not finishing my song.

"No, no. I loved it. It's… it's like your old stuff." He laughed softly. "Keep going." He urged just as our door peeked open.

"Shane? Mitchie? Breakfast is ready." Kevin said, staying hidden behind the door.

"Thanks, Kev. We'll be right down." Shane replied. "You'll have to sing it for me later." He laughed. "Guess the scrap books took more time than I thought they would."

I smiled. "It was so worth it though. That was amazing. I was wondering why the box was so big." I laughed as I pulled on a pair of his pajama pants and one of my thermals.

"Why are you wearing my pants?" He asked, putting a different pair on himself.

"Cause I can." I replied smiling teasingly at him.

After that, Christmas was pretty awesome. Everything was amazing and happy and pleasant. Well, except for Nicky who seemed a bit estranged from the rest of us. Other than Nicky, though, everything was perfect.

Our friends returned the next day and we met up at the hotel again. I was anxious to see what Nate did for Caitlyn for Christmas. I was not at all disappointed by the result.

"He gave me a promise ring." Caitlyn smiled brightly, biting her lip. "He said he was going to propose, but he thought against it, knowing I wasn't ready yet. So instead he gave me a promise ring." She gushed. I smiled as I looked over the beautiful silver band with the words forever my love engraved. "He's finally learned." She teased slightly while Nate rolled his eyes playfully.

Later, I corned Nate in the kitchen. "Guess it's a good thing Jason proposed, huh?" I question offhandedly.

Nate sputtered. "What?" He asked.

"Shane said you were going to propose." I replied.

He shrugged. "Yeah. You're right. But that was before she and I talked when we got home. She said she wasn't ready. And I'm not going to push her. But, I did want to show her how much I love her. And that I do intend on being with her forever. Her comment at the wedding really got to me, ya know? About how I was only with her because I've already broken my promise with her? I wanted to show her that wasn't true at all." He expressed.

"Aww, Nate." I cooed at him. "When did you get all cute and sweet?" I teased.

"I always have been." He threw back. "I just suck at showing it." He sighed. I just laughed, knowing it was definitely true. Everything he ever did to try to show Caitlyn his feelings, she somehow screwed them up. Most things just never came out right. Thankfully, for once, he managed to do something right.

We enjoyed ourselves the rest of the night, recreating our own Christmas like we did every year, then the night unfortunately came to an end. While I definitely didn't want to say good-bye the next day, I had no choice.

Shane held me outside of the terminal, while I clung to him tightly. "I don't want you to go." I pouted.

He chuckled. "I know you don't. I don't want to go either, but I'll be back in the end of February, okay?"

"That's still two months away." I pouted again.

He shook his head slightly. "You've already survived three months, two will go by without a problem."

I sighed. "Fine." I playfully rolled my eyes. "Love you." I leaned up to kiss him.

"Love you, too." He replied as we broke apart.

"Have a good trip." I smiled.

"Go to the doctor." He said pointedly. I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious."

"I know. I will." I agreed begrudgingly. "I go on the second." I told him.

"Good." He kissed my forehead once more before stepping back. "See you in two months." He sighed.

"Yeah." I agreed as he started walking away toward the gate. He was the first to board the plane. Nate and Caitlyn were still saying good-bye, as were Jason and Anastasia. Both seemed to be in rather intense conversations, though I couldn't make out either. Riley walked up to me as soon as Shane was gone.

"Hey, Mitchie." He said softly. He didn't seem happy at all.

"Riley!" I enveloped him a huge hug. "I haven't seen you since the day you guys came home. How was it being home?" I asked.

"Depressing." He admitted. "I didn't want to walk away."

"I know." I sympathized with him. "If it's meant to be, it'll be. A read once that if it's meant to be you can't stop it, and if it's not, you can't force it."

"Yeah." He agreed. "She has a new boyfriend, doesn't she?" He asked.

"What makes you say that?" I asked, caught off guard.

"The first few days after our break-up, she would still end our conversations with telling me she loved me. Just out of habit I guess. But then she stopped calling as much over the three weeks and she doesn't end it that way. She just says, take care or something. I got a text today saying good-bye. She wouldn't even come see me like I asked her to." Poor Riley looked like he was about to die on the inside as he admitted all of this to me.

"I'm so sorry, Riley. If it helps, Shane and I were really hoping she wouldn't let you walk away." I told him.

He laughed emotionlessly. "You weren't the only ones." He sighed. "Well, I should go. Bye, Mitchie." He hugged me quickly and followed Nate and Jason onto the plane.

Caitlyn and Anastasia were by my side moments later. "You okay?" They asked. I nodded.

"You guys okay?" I asked them in reply. They nodded as well. "Let's go home."

New Years came and went for us, rather uneventfully. But, I had to go to the doctor's, as instructed by Shane. That was an interesting experience. A week later I was calling Shane was startling news.

"Hey, ba-" Shane answered, but I quickly cut him off.

"I'm pregnant."

No way you didn't see that coming.