Yay. We'e got some extra Del Rossi family action mixed in with some Paige in this chapter. That should be good!

Oh and holy cow for Degrassi. I almost cried watching Spinner. Which is strange because I usuall really don't like Spinner but he seems to have become much more mature in the last episode.

Anyway, on with the story.

"I, uh, guess we could start without him." Marco stated as he stood up to carve the slowly cooling turkey in the center of the dining table. He hoped he was doing this right. As good of a cook as he was he had never really mastered the whole carving turkey schmele. This was usually Dylan's job and since he was still missing…

"Here, let me." Paige offered standing from her seat. She had noticed the desperate look in Marco's eyes and was happy to make it disappear.

"Thank you." Marco said with a sigh and moved out of the way for Paige.

Mr. and Mrs. Del Rossi just sat quietly and sipped their wine.

Paige skillfully sliced through the bird and was just about finished when the party's attention was called to the front door being opened. Marco peered through the archway to see a shivering Dylan peppered with snow. Was it snowing outside earlier?

Marco excused himself from his guests and walked into the living room.

"Marco! I'm so sorry I'm late; the…" Dylan started but was cut off by a visibly upset Italian.

"Where the hell were you?" Marco whispered angrily. "Do you realize we've been waiting for over an hour?"

"I'm sorry there was…"

"Shut up." He interrupted again, clearly not in the mood for excuses. "We'll talk later. For now just smile and sit down." He whipped around and strode back into the dining room with a fake smile of his own. Dylan followed obediently behind him. He knew that he was going to have hell to pay later so he wasn't going to make anything worse.

"Anyone up for wine?" Marco asked as he sat back down. "I know I am." He grabbed the bottle and filled his glass before taking a few long gulps from it.

"So… nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Del Rossi." Dylan said politely, trying to cut the tension in the room.

"The same to you Dylan." Mrs. Del Rossi replied. Mr. Del Rossi simply grunted which earned him a small kick under the table from his wife.

"Is there something wrong, Pa?" Marco asked, having had quite enough of everything for one night.

"No, nothing." He answered quickly.

Marco stabbed his turkey meat with his fork. "Really, because it seems like something is wrong." He stared at his father, his eyes shooting daggers and daring him to lie.

"I… I was just thinking about the wedding." He answered.

"And…" Marco urged.

"And maybe it is too soon." He continued, gaining confidence. "This is a big decision that you should think about very carefully. It is after all, for the rest of your life."

"I've thought about this decision for a long time. I've been thinking about it for years."

"Yes, but…"

"Pa, I'm gay. That hasn't changed since the first time I told you. And I'm in love with Dylan. That hasn't changed either. I want to marry him. Not only do I want to but I am ready to." He explained, a slight edge of pleading slipping into his angry voice. "After seven years I would have thought you would understand that."

"I understand that Marco. But he is… a hockey player." Mr. Del Rossi said, indicating Dylan. "That is not a stable job. Maybe you should wait until he has one."

From the other side of the table Dylan choked on his stuffing. "Excuse me?" He coughed out.

"Just keep eating." Paige whispered in his ear. "From what I heard from the living room you shouldn't be talking right now."

"You heard that?" He asked, dropping down to a whisper himself.

"I've got great hearing." She retorted and took a sip of her wine.

"You have to be kidding me?" Marco continued, unaware of the side conversation. "You don't want me to get married because of his job?"

"Well, you should understand my concern."

Marco emptied his glass and laughed insanely. "Honestly I don't even care any more. I'm… I'm just going to eat." But the conversation wasn't over.

"And he never even asked us for permission." Mr. Del Rossi began again.

"Permission? For what?" Marco asked. Dylan leaned closer to the conversation, curious himself.

"Any decent person who is about to propose always goes to the parents first." He said sternly. Apparently he still kept some sense of tradition even when referring to his son's less than traditional relationship.

"Oh!" Dylan said all eyes turning to him. "I'm sorry. I hadn't thought of that. Will you accept a slightly late request instead?"

"Of course!" Mrs. Del Rossi answered for both her and Mr. Del Rossi. She glared at her husband, putting the conversation to an official end.

The rest of the dinner carried on surprisingly well. But now it was over. As Dylan closed the door behind Paige he instantly sobered up, knowing what was coming next. He turned around to face Marco who was standing with his arms crossed at the foot of the stairs.

"Can I explain before you eat me alive?" Dylan reasoned.

Marco waved his hand out, palm up, to let him know that he could.

"Well, I had to go get your surprise. So I left and everything started out fine. But when I got to… the place I needed to go there were very long lines. Very long lines. So I waited like I had to and when I got up to the counter there were some… technical difficulties. But they got those figured out and I was able to buy what I needed. Then as I was walking to my car it began to snow. So I got on the highway and there were some accidents so it was slow." He smiled, hoping for mercy.

"So what is this surprise that was so secret that you had to get it today and compelled you not to call me when you knew you'd be late?" Marco asked, stepping forward.

Dylan started to rummage through the large pockets of the coat that he had been wearing earlier and was now on the coat rack. He pulled out two colored envelopes and set them in Marco's outstretched hand.

"Those are plane tickets… to Hawaii… for our honeymoon?" Dylan admitted.

"Oh my God." Marco gasped with his hand over his mouth. "Dylan I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't know."

"I was such a jerk though." He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Dylan's neck. "Forgive me?"

"You didn't do anything wrong." Dylan said as he slipped his arms around Marco's waist. "I should be the one asking for forgiveness."

"Of course." He reached up and kissed Dylan softly on the lips. "How could I not?"

Dylan's such a liar. A jerky jerky liar.

Sorry for it being short but things start to get really intersting after this chapter. Really really really interesting! I promise!