Janet lay there, having just woken, with her eyes closed. Not that she could sleep-in this morning; she thought to herself in her not-quite-awake state. After all, she had a house full of Latekkas to feed. Her alarm clock would be going off soon, but Janet was surprised that she felt so rested after only getting a couple of hours sleep.
She was startled when she felt someone sit down on the bed, right next to her, and she was pleasantly surprised when she felt Eddie's warm lips slowly brush over hers. All of her senses began to waken with that gentle, but sexy, kiss. Janet, still not opening her eyes, attempted to deepen the kiss, clearly wanting more, but she was surprised and disappointed, when Eddie pulled back.
It was only then that she opened her eyes and looked at him. He was dressed, sitting there, smiling at her.
"Time to wake up, sunshine," Eddie said as Janet turned to the side and glanced at her alarm clock. The time on the clock startled her and she bolted upright.
"Damn it, Eddie, my alarm clock didn't go off. I have to go make…." Janet tried to push Eddie out of the way to get out of bed. Eddie just sat there like a rock and Janet couldn't move past him.
"Breakfast? Breakfast is ready; Jillian's here; all we're missing is… you." Eddie seemed pleased with himself, "I may have neglected to mention that my dad makes the best damned waffles on the east coast."
"Hmmmm…." Janet sighed, relaxing and snaking her arms around his neck, "Did you watch him make breakfast? Because, I may have neglected to tell you … that I find breakfast in bed very, very sexy."
"Reaaallllly? Good to know," Eddie said as he leaned in for a hungry kiss, pushing Janet back on the bed.
Unfortunately, they didn't get too far when they heard a knock on the door.
"Eddie, is Janet awake? Breakfast is getting cold," Marie Latekka called out from the other side of the door. Eddie reluctantly sat back up and looked at Janet apologetically.
Janet smiled, as she called out, "I'm awake, Marie. I'll be out in two minutes."
"Two minutes?" Eddie whispered in sarcastic disappointment, as he leaned in for another kiss – but Janet pushed him back, as she got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. He sighed deeply in defeat, and then admiringly watched as Janet crossed the room and disappeared into the bathroom, and then Eddie made his way back out to the kitchen.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
Towards the end of breakfast, Janet sat back, sipping her coffee, just admiring this family that she was surrounded by, but of which she was not quite a part. She was amazed by the ease they had with each other, how close they still were, in spite of the time they spent apart. And, as Janet took it all in she was something she was rarely accused of – quiet and reserved.
"Janet, tell us… how exactly did you get my big brother to finally grow up? I lost a $20 bet on that one." Jillian tried to engage Janet, as she took another bite of waffle.
"A bet? Seriously? Tell me more…. " Janet perked up, liking where this might be going.
"Well, she may have lost the bet, but I still haven't seen the $20." Jim laughed and winked at his daughter.
"You guys made a bet about me? What goes on with that?" Eddie looked at his father with feigned hurt.
"Hey, I bet on you, son. Your sister said you'd be old and gray before you committed to a real relationship. I'm a gambling man, so I took the long shot and won." Jim seemed pleased with himself as he stuffed another piece of bacon in his mouth as he looked to Janet and raised a glass of OJ, "Thank you, Ms. Meadows."
Janet smiled at Jim, and raised her cup of coffee to him.
"I appreciate the support, Dad," Eddie said sarcastically, as his mother laughed. Eddie looked over at his mother, "You too?"
Marie responded with a smirk, while waving her hands, "I had no money on that horse. I swear."
"Bogus, Mom. Don't act all innocent. Tell him about the $30 you had on whether he'd knock someone up before he turned 30." Jillian tattled with glee.
"Jillian!" Marie gave her daughter a 'don't do this to me' look. Jillian just shrugged her shoulders and laughed. Janet laughed as well, enjoying the repartee between the various members of the Latekka family. Eddie turned red, but laughed as he shook his head at his mother. Janet leaned closer to Eddie, rubbed his arm, and kissed his cheek.
"Looks like you lost that one, Marie. Eddie's 30th birthday is just around the corner and there are no little Latekka's running around." Janet said, and then whispered to Eddie loud enough that everyone could hear, "There are no little Latekkas, right, Eddie?"
Eddie glanced sideways at Janet, and laughed at Janet with his eyes, "Hey, whose side you on anyway?"
"Yours, Eddie. Always." Janet said with a more serious tone than the room had held, and she and her lover's eyes locked. Eddie and Janet kissed briefly, forgetting the crowd around them.
After the kiss, Eddie turned back to his family and asked as he helped himself to another piece of bacon, "So, Mom, who'd you lose the $30 bucks to?"
"I didn't lose a penny. Your grandmother, on the other hand, is out 30 bucks." Marie smiled at her boy.
"Ouch. You're killing me here. Grandma?" Eddie pretended to grab his heart. Just then they heard a knock at the door.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
"Sam, what goes on?" Eddie asked as Sam walked in, both he and Eddie waiving to Hannah as she drove away.
"Not much, Eddie. You seem surprised to see me. You forgot, didn't you?" Sam asked, in his grown up manner.
"Forget? ... Yeah, Sam, I think forgot. Sorry, pal. What did I forget?" Eddie said, clearly feeling badly.
"Twelve months of delivering newspapers, every penny of my birthday money, every penny of my Christmas money and one particularly disgusting day helping my mom at the vet -- but now I finally have all the money I need to buy my Wii. You said you'd take me to buy it today. "
Eddie looked conflicted, "Oh, man. I hate to let you down, Sam, but I can't do it today."
"It's okay, Eddie. We can go some other day. " Sam said, clearly disappointed, but trying to not let it show.
"And, we will, Sam. You know what, buddy? My family is here. Come on into the other room and meet them. They haven't been back to the Ridge in… well, I don't know how long. I'm actually heading back to Boston with them for a day or two. But, when I get back we can…" Eddie started to say as they walked towards the kitchen.
"Is Janet going? If she's not going, maybe she'll go with me to get my Wii." Sam said.
"Janet's not going." Eddie said, and making sure he was within ear shot of her, Eddie continued, "We can ask her, Sam. But, you should know that she's not exactly a Wii expert. To tell you the truth? Janet has the low score on pretty much every Wii game we own…."
"Hey, I heard that. For the record, I'd have better Wii scores if I sat around playing it morning, noon and night in my underwear, like you do, Latekka." Janet said giving Eddie a flirty scowl as she got up and walked towards Sam, giving him a warm hug, "Hey Sam, good to see you. Have you eaten breakfast?"
"Yep. I had waffles too… but mine were from a box." Sam said with a shrug and a smile.
"Hey, buddy, let me introduce you to my family. This is my mom, Marie, and my dad, Jim, and this is my baby sister, Jillian. Everyone, this is the coolest kid in the Ridge, Sam Daniels. Hannah's son."
"We've heard a lot about you, Sam," Jim stated as the Latekka family fawned over Sam.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Eddie and his family got ready to go and Janet saw them to the door. The last to leave was Eddie.
"Good luck, Eddie. Call me and let me know what goes on with Ryan," Janet said, standing very close to Eddie, holding his hands as she whispered, "And, for the record, you'd best come home as soon as you can. You started something this morning…."
"I did, didn't I? Two minutes? What were you thinking," Eddie flirted as he leaned in for a chaste kiss, keenly aware that Sam was in the room and watching their every move.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." Eddie said, touching Janet's face softly, and then he whispered, "I love you, Janet."
"You too." Janet said, her eyes filling up, and then she pushed him out the door gently, "Go. The sooner you leave…"
Jillian left her car behind because she had every intention of returning to the Ridge. Janet watched as Eddie, with Jillian in his truck, and his parent's in their Range Rover, made their way out of her driveway and down her street.
Janet closed the door and turned her attention to Sam.
"So, are you good with going shopping for your Wii with me?" Janet asked, arms crossed, secretly happy that it was her that got to help Sam out.
"Sure. You do know about Wii's right? Like, you know everything I need to get and all?" Sam quizzed Janet, who suddenly felt a little insecure in her ability to help him out.
"That's a lot of pressure, dude." Janet laughed, "Tell you what, Sam. You give Eddie a call, and have him tell you everything we need to get. I'm going to take a quick shower, okay?"
"Okay. I'm gonna have to make a list – do you have a pen and paper?" Sam said, as Janet made her way into her bedroom. She yelled from behind the door, "In my desk, Sam. Help yourself."
Sam heard the shower turn on, and he walked over to the desk and grabbed the phone, and then he began to rifle through the drawers for paper and a pen. Sam found a pen quickly, but struggled to find paper. He opened the lower drawer where he finally found a pile of stationary under a book of some kind. When he picked up the book to get the paper that sat beneath it, a photo of Ray and his kids, Casper and Jasper, fell out. Sam looked at the picture for a moment before carefully placing it on the desk, and then he proceeded to call Eddie.
Xoxoxoxoxoxox
Janet came out of her bedroom fully dressed and ready to go. She has rushed because she didn't want to keep Sam waiting. Sam was sitting on the couch; the phone that he had just hung up was still in his hand.
"All set, Sam?" Janet asked, walking to her desk and grabbing her keys. She glanced down at the picture Sam had left out, and her eyes dropped to the lower drawer. The memory of putting the book in the desk flashed back in her mind. She placed the keys back where she found them.
She turned to Sam and gave him a weak smile, "I see that you found my 'Cataldo family history' book."
"Sorry, Janet. I wasn't snooping or anything. It just fell out when I was looking for paper," Sam said squinting his eyes a bit.
"Oh, I know that, Sam. It's okay….really," Janet said gently, walking over and sitting down next to Sam on the couch, "I guess you and I haven't really talked about Ray being my brother."
"How's that going?" Sam asked, clearly curious. He placed the phone on the coffee table.
"Truthfully? It's not really going at all," Janet admitted, "I'm still sore at Ray about … well, about a lot of stuff."
"I'm pretty mad at Ray too….but, what about Jasper and Casper? I don't like them much ... but that's not really their fault. I pretty much blame everything on them having Ray and Christine for parents. That'd mess anyone up. But, I think they'd be lucky to have a cool aunt like you in their lives. You know -- someone who could be a good influence on them."
Janet sat back, clearly thinking about what Sam had just said to her, "You've thought about this a bit, haven't you Sam?"
"I just think that there has got to be something to the whole 'biological' DNA thing, you know?" Sam was quiet for a minute before quietly asking, "I really think you should consider getting to know Casper and Jasper better."
"I'll tell you what, I'll think about it. Okay?" Janet found herself really thinking about Casper and Jasper being her nephews and what that really meant, but she could tell that Sam just really wanted to talk, "What's on your mind, Sam?"
Sam looked at Janet as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to ask the next question on his mind, "Janet, how'd it feel to find out your dad wasn't your dad?"
Janet just looked at Sam, thinking for the first time about the similarities between her situation and Sam's.
"Hmmm, well,… finding out I wasn't his biological daughter, that I wasn't a Meadows, did hurt a bit. And, it made me sad. But I know, no matter what, that my dad loved me more than anything in the world, biology or no biology. My dad will always be my dad…. "
Sam looked at Janet, as if trying to decide whether to share something or not. After a moment he responded, "Gavin Goddard… isn't my father."
Janet was silent, surprised at what Sam had just said, but carefully not confirming, not denying.
"My Mom has never said it," Sam continued, "But, I just know it. I like Gavin, he's a nice guy and all, but he's just not my father. I just want to know who my real father is ... I want him to be a good guy. Who knows? Maybe I have a brother or sister… maybe I have an aunt like you. Or, maybe an uncle … like Ronnie…"
"I don't really know what to say, Sam," Janet said quietly, at a loss, "Have you talked to your Mom about this?"
"I can't. I don't want to hurt her feelings. It's always been just the two of us and that's been okay, you know? I just don't want her to think that she isn't good enough." Sam shrugged his shoulders as he teared up a bit.
"Sam, no matter what, your Mom knows how much you love her. She really does. But, this? What you're worried about? She needs to know." Janet said as she placed her hand gently on Sam's shoulder, "You need to talk to her."
Sam and Janet sat there, side by side on the couch, not talking for a few moments while Sam thought about what he wanted to do.
"Janet, do you think maybe we could go shopping tomorrow?" Sam asked, as Janet nodded her head, and pointed at the door.
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Come on, buddy, let's go."
Sam just smiled at Janet, and he and Janet headed out on a mission to find Hannah Daniels -- and to help Sam Daniels find out the truth about his paternity.