Exhausted. That was the only word that seemed to fit. After being sick all day, and being unable to get any rest, Marco could only be described as exhausted. He'd have been even more tired if he had done what he wanted to, which was go to work. Marco never missed a day of work, or school, in his life due to being sick. He was the type of person who would go in no matter what. Nothing could ever make him fall behind, until today.
Marco woke up with a fever and sneezing uncontrollably. Despite this he had begun to get dressed for work. Much as he tried to hide it, Dylan could see he was feeling miserable. So Dylan, being the over protective, loving, caring husband that he was, made him lay back down. Marco fought tooth and nail to go to work, but in the end was forced to listen as Dylan called his office and told them he was too ill to come in to work. Marco had wound up following Dylan around the house as he prepared to leave complaining about the phone call. Dylan just let him rant. It wasn't until he was about to walk out the door that he said anything to the younger man and at that point he just told him to get some rest. With a kiss on the forehead and a quick 'I love you' he was off to work.
Marco did try to get some rest, but he could never get comfortable. First he laid on their bed. He turned onto his side and pulled the comforter up to his chin. He was content for about five minutes, and then the heat became unbearable. So he threw off the comforter and laid uncovered on his back. He got too cold. On top of that laying on his back made his back ache, and laying on his side made his arm fall asleep. Nothing felt right so he eventually gave up and went downstairs into the living room. He sat on the couch and looked around the room. He was a little shocked to see that it was a mess. Being who he was he couldn't leave it a mess so he cleaned it. He took all the clothes that had somehow wound up in the living room and started a load of laundry. He then realized that he and Dylan had more clothes that needed to be cleaned, so he gathered all the dirty clothes he could find and got ready to wash those too. Then he vacuumed the living room, and every other carpeted room, which forced him to notice how truly dirty they were. Because they were so dirty he pulled out the machine they had bought about two months ago, but never used, to shampoo the carpets. By the time he had finished that it was time to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer and start a new load.
Marco's day went on like this until nearly five o'clock. He would think everything was finally done and see something else that needed cleaning. At the end of the day the house was spotless and Marco had finally found a comfortable place to rest. He was laying on his back on the couch with his knees bent over one of the arms, one of his arms over his eyes and the other arm hanging limply off the side of the couch. Actually, it wasn't that comfortable, but considering all the work he had done while he was sick, this seemed like as good a place as any.
About half an hour after falling into a semi-conscious state, Dylan came home. He stood at the door frantically surveying the area and when he finally saw Marco he heaved a sigh of relief and rushed over to him. The tall blonde knelt beside the couch and gently shook his ailing husband. Marco slowly moved his arm and looked over at the older man. He was surprised to see thin trails running down his face where the tears were still falling.
"Dylan, what is it? What happened?" Marco wasn't used to seeing his husband crying and it worried him. "Dylan, tell me honey, you know you can tell me."
"Marco, it's finally," he sniffed, "It's finally going to happen." As he said this he smiled then continued, "I was on the way home, and my cell phone rang. I didn't even look at the caller ID, I just answered it."
"Dylan, you should always check the caller ID, I've told you that."
"That's not the point Marco. The point is, it was the agency calling."
"Oh no, not again." Marco thought, only to have this thought interrupted.
"Marco, baby, the adoption went through. We're parents. We have a little girl."
This announcement left the two gay lovers crying tears of love and happiness. All thoughts and feelings of exhaustion and sickness were forgotten.
The two men had been trying to adopt a baby for a few months now, but every time they came close something went wrong and they adoption fell through. Their hearts broke each and every time this happened. Marco would cry, and Dylan would comfort him, despite his own broken heart. Everyone knew how badly they wanted this, especially since they couldn't have children of their own. The couple had actually kept this attempt a secret. They were so tired of the pity, if this one didn't come through they would have kept the heartbreak private, but now the dream was coming true, they had to sign a couple more papers and they would bring their daughter home in about a week.
Dylan was the first to say something after that announcement, "Why don't we go out to eat, you know to celebrate." He suggested.
"That sounds great Dylan." Marco replied with a smile. Unfortunately the idea was ruined by a rather large sneeze from Marco.
"Oh, I'm sorry babe, I forgot you were sick. How about I make dinner instead?"
Marco's eyes widened at the offer, "Dylan, honey, I appreciate the thought, but, well, you can't cook."
"Oh yeah, well I can order something, or pick something up."
"Why don't we just order a pizza, we can celebrate properly another time."
"Alright, now, why don't you lie back down while I go order the pizza and get you cell phone?" Marco gave him a questioning look and Dylan answered the unasked question, "So you can start calling people, you know if we just sit on this news we're gonna hear about it later." Marco laughed a little and nodded.
A few minutes later Dylan walked back into the living room with their house phone against his ear and Marco's cell in his hand. "Yes Mom, a granddaughter. Just over a year. Sure you can Mom. Ok, well Mom. Mom. MOM! I love you, really, but I have to call some more people and let them know. Paige'll kill me if she knows she wasn't told immediately. Ok Mom, I love you too. Bye." He hung up the phone with a sigh and said to Marco, "My parents want to come over next week after we bring Esmeralda home." Esmeralda. Their daughter's name. Esmeralda Jane Michalchuk-Del Rossi. The birth parents insisted that the girl's first name stay Esmeralda, and the two men wouldn't disagree. They had chosen Jane because they felt it that they should honor their baby's birth mother in some way, and that was her name, Jane. The woman had answered their prayers and this was a small thing to do in return. No matter the name they both knew this girl would be surrounded with love.
Marco simply nodded at his husband's statement and began dialing his own parents' number. This was going to be a long, long night of phone calls.
Author's Note: I hope you liked it and I hope you keep reading it. I will appreciate any constructive critisism, but please, be nice, I don't handle flames well.