A/N: I do not own the characters of Degrassi, except for the ones I create.
The characters not mentioned yet are coming up, so be patient.
"Hold
steady, a little higher--OK, you got it!" Liberty Van Zandt said
to Jack Simpson, Emma's younger brother, as he stood on a ladder
hanging a sign in the foyer of Degrass Community School, that read
"Welcome Degrassi Alumni".
Liberty
was in charge of the reunion and the day before it was to be held she
had recruited Jack, Emma, JT, Angie Jeremiah, and Toby Isaacs to help
her decorate the halls of Degrassi.
"How
long will you be in town?" Emma asked Toby as he carried a box
of "junk" down the hall.
"A
few weeks. I'm helping Kate and my dad move."
"If
you need any help, JT and I are here."
"I
can't believe you two are dating." Toby had been away at school
getting his ph.d so he had definitely been out of the loop.
"JT
and I have been together for a few years now." Emma replied
grabbing stuff falling out of Toby's box.
"I
know, but I rarely see you any more so its still new to me."
Emma looked at Toby. Toby had really grown up since high school.
Wearing contacts, he had gotten kind of cute.
"JT
and I went to college together. We didn't know anybody else at first
and we got closer. After graduation, we started dating."
"Wow."
He's so not your type." Toby had placed the box in a classroom
and headed back out to get the other one. Emma dropped the stuff she
was hold and ran after him.
"What
do you mean?"
"You
dated guys like Sean Cameron, not JT Yorke." Emma stopped. She
hadn't thought about Sean in a long time. Last thing she knew he and
his girlfriend, Ellie Nash, had broken up.
"Hey,
Toby, stop monopolizing my girl's time." JT walked inside the
building with the other box. He thrust it into Toby's hands and
grabbed Emma.
"It's
just too weird." Toby muttered.
-----
That
same day while Dylan had a meeting with the general manager of his
pro hockey team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Paige and Marco spent time
together.
Paige
sat on the living room couch reading some patient files looking
serious when Marco sat next to her. She put the files back in her
briefcase and turned to Marco.
"Hey,
hun, what's up?" She had that smile that was undeniably Paige.
"I
just got off the phone and I have some bad news." Marco
said with sad eyes.
"Marco,
what is it? Is Dylan OK? Is it your parents?" Paige asked all of
a sudden worried.
"No,
no, Dylan's fine and so are my parents, though I wish my dad would be
more welcoming to me." Marco bit his bottom lip thinking about
how his dad was not the most comfortable about his son being gay.
"Dylan told you, we are trying to adopt?"
"Vaguely."
Paige grew interested. Being away in BC, she had become more involved
in her own life than anyone else's.
"We're
trying to adopt a newborn. Dylan and I want to have kids and wwe
think now is the best time to start."
"Really?
Oh, that's so sweet. You two will make great fathers."
"Thank
you."
"Do
you want a boy or a girl? Do you get to choose?" Paige rushed
on, not letting Marco tell his news. Marco smiled past the glum look
he had been wearing.
"We
don't get to choose, which is OK, since Dyl and I will be happy with
whatever child is brought our way." Paige nodded. "But, the
phone call was from the adoption agency. The woman we are working
with, she is sixteen, has to sign some papers, so Dyl and I can
become fathers, but it looks like she won't be signing." Marco's
glum look returned. "We'll have to start all over again."
"That
just means you'll have to find another woman who's giving her baby up
for adoption. Right, hun?"
"Yes,
but she has to approve of us. It could take months or years before we
get proved again."
"Oh,
Marco."
"This
could've been our only shot at raising a family."
"Well,
you did say they didn't say she won't sign."
"No,
but they said it seems highly unlikely."
"Keep
your chin up, Marco. When will they definitely know?"
"Tomorrow."
Marco replied thinking about how that was also the date of the
reunion. "Please, don't tell Dylan."