| Chris' POV |

Angelo let himself in the house, as always. He knows where the spare key is, and of course I trust him. I knew Bella would be overly happy to see Angelo, so I saved a spare dinner setting next to hers. He was just as happy to see her.

"I got your mail for you." He said as he handed me a stack of envelopes.

"Thanks." I replied, taking it from him. "Sit down. We just started eating."

"Thank God, real food. Kelly has been out of town on a business trip and it's been too cold to barbecue, so I've been living off of frozen food." Angelo said.

"Barbecue is the only thing Ange can cook." I told Shiloh, I response to his quizzical look.

I started going through the mail while Shiloh and Angelo had small talk. There was a black envelope, addressed to Chris & Ricky Cerulli. Fuck, it was weird seeing our names written that way. I liked it, I just haven't fully adjusted to it. Ricky hasn't legally changed his name yet, so it must be one of our friends. I saw the return address was December and Kuza's place.

As I opened the letter and pulled out the card, white rose petals fell out on the table. I looked down in my hand to see a wedding invitation. It feels like just yesterday they got engaged, when in reality, it's been a few weeks. Still, weren't they moving a little fast? Then again I am in a fight with my boyfriend because I like long engagements.

The card itself was beautiful. It was white with black trees and frost drawn on it. Oh, real clever, Mike. Have a winter themed wedding because you're marrying December. The date for the wedding was in that very month; December 14th. That means I have two months to fix everything with Ricky.

Before even that, Balz and Ryan-Ashley are throwing a Halloween party at at their shop. How awkward would it be if I had to show up separate of Ricky? I just don't understand why he's so mad. It's just a date. We'll get married anyways, why does it matter when?

Marriage is just a more permanent way of saying "I love you". Is he scared I don't love him? Is that the problem? I can definitely show him I love him.

~~

Angelo stayed after dinner, to hear what Shiloh had to say about what happened. Bella was really happy that Ange was there to help her with her bedtime story. She loves him so much. She was sound asleep, so the three of us settled in the living room.

I turned on the fireplace because a chill was setting in outside. Ricky still wasn't home. I know he tends to run off for a while, but never this long. Even if we are fighting, I love and worried about him.

"Who are you calling?" Angelo asked as the dial rang.

"Ricky." I muttered back, and he nodded in understanding.

"Hello?" Ricky answered, tired and annoyed.

"Hey, it's getting late. I'm worried you're not home." I responded.

"I'm fine, Chris." He kind of snapped. "I'm spending the night at Devin's. We had already gone to sleep, actually. You woke me."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Baby. I wish you would have told me. Shiloh and Bella are staying the night here. How's Devin doing?" I asked.

"Terrible. He cried himself to sleep. He's torn apart. Right after Shiloh walked out on him for cheating, the doctor called and told him that his smoking caused Bella's asthma attack. How would you feel if you thought you were killing the ones you love?"

"I understand, exactly, because right now you're not too happy with me. I don't want to hurt you. I love you." I responded.

"We'll talk about it when I get home. I need sleep. I love you." Ricky said, then hung up.

The other two looked at me. I just sighed and set my phone on the coffee table. "Ricky is spending the night at Devin's and said we'll talk about everything tomorrow. He also told me that Devin is torn to shreds about what he did to Shiloh, and he even cried himself to sleep."

"He cheated on me while I was in witness protection!" Shiloh whisper-yelled, careful not to wake Bella.

"To be fair, he had no idea you were and he thought you weren't coming back. He was trying to move on with his life." I responded.

"I know." Shiloh muttered, putting his head in his hands. "I know. It's not just that though. I mean for starters why wouldn't he tell me it happened?"

"He was scared. Right now, from the sounds of it, he had a right to be." Angelo said.

"It's even worse too, because Ricky said after you left, the doctor called. He told Devin that his smoking caused Bella's asthma attack." I added.

Shiloh whimpered to himself. "Are you kidding me? That's just another bump in the road. See, here's the real reason I broke down about it. We had just gotten the custody thing solved, my health was good. Everything was good. Then my sister called. She needed money, so she offered to be a surrogate for our next child. It would have been amazing, because they he or she could have both our genetics. They I found out about this and I was blindsided. All that newfound happiness was ripped from me."

Angelo gently set his hand on Shi's knee. "Shiloh, Devin loves you more than anything in this world. He had a lapse of judgement, but he would never do anything to hurt you. You can still stay here as long as you'd like, but please, give Devin a second chance."

"He deserves it." I commented.

Shiloh huffed. "I know."