I own none of the characters of October Road or the song Come Home Soon by Shedaisy.
I decided to do a sequel to "Letters From Home" So I cheated a little and picked this song instead of letting my Ipod do it for me but it still counts because this song is on my playlist…right?
I put away the groceries
And I take my daily bread
I dream of your arms around me
As I tuck the kids in bed
I don't know what you're doin'
And I don't know where you are
But I look up at that great big sky
And I hope you're wishin' on that same
bright star
I wonder, I pray
And I sleep alone
I cry alone
And it's so hard livin' here on my own
So please, come home soon
(Come home soon)
I know that we're together
Even though we're far apart
And I'll wear our lucky penny 'round my neck
Pressed to my heart
I wonder, I pray
And I sleep alone
I cry alone
And it's so hard livin' here on my own
So please, come home soon
(Come home soon)
I still imagine your touch
It's beautiful missing something that much
But sometimes love needs a fighting chance
So I'll wait my turn until it's our turn to dance
I wonder, I pray
I sleep alone
I cry alone
Without you this house is not a home
So please, come home soon
I walk alone
I try alone
I'll wait for you, don't want to die alone
So please, come home soon
Come home soon
Come home soon
Janet Meadows rolled over, propped herself up with her elbow and gently ran her hand over the chest of the man, her fiancé, sleeping beside her. She couldn't believe what a whirlwind these past two days have been. Yesterday, she went to the airport to meet her boyfriend, the boyfriend that she has never been out on a date with and she walked out of the airport, engaged to a man she hadn't been out on a date with.
Yesterday, Janet was really hoping for some alone time with her fiancé but it didn't happen, unless you count the few minutes they had when they said goodbye. His mom had a little get together for his family and friends to welcome him home so Eddie was kept quite busy catching up with everyone but Janet didn't mind. It was about Eddie, being home and celebrating the fact that he was alive. She had the rest of her life to spend with him.
The party came to a close fairly early, about six o'clock simply because Eddie was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open. With all the time he spent flying home and with the time changes he went through, he had been awake for over twenty four hours. All though, everyone would have loved to stay longer they understood and left so he could sleep. Once everything was cleaned up, Eddie walked Janet to her car where they spent fifteen minutes inside the car, kissing. When they finally and reluctantly broke apart, Eddie told Janet that she better enjoy her last night, alone in her bed because as long as he was home, after tonight, he was going to spending his nights in her bed.
As soon as Janet left her fiancé's house she drove to her parent's house to share her exciting news. She assumed that they would give her a hard time considering the circumstances but nothing prepared her for their reaction. Her parents were furious, her mom more so then her dad. They yelled and screamed at her for over an hour, basically telling her that she was stupid, that their relationship could never work and the last straw was when Janet was ordered to give back her engagement ring. Of course, Janet refused and she stormed out of her childhood home after telling them how old fashioned they were and she also threw in that if they loved her then they would want her to be happy and they would support her relationship and engagement because Eddie made her happier then she had ever been. She drove home in tears but she promised herself that Eddie wouldn't know because she knew, eventually her parents would support her. She just had to wait them out.
This morning Eddie was at Janet's house at ten o'clock in the morning, just like he promised her, for their first date. He wouldn't tell her what he had planned. He just told her to dress comfortably and wear comfortable shoes because they were going to be outside walking for most of the day. After about thirty minutes of hot and heavy kissing on the couch, they finally made it out of the house and Eddie took her to breakfast. After a leisurely breakfast they headed out of town to an amusement park about an hour and half away. Janet thought it was the perfect place for a first date. They were able to do a lot of talking and kissing, tasteful of course, as they waited in the lines. Their emails had been very detailed but today, they went into even more details. They even shared stuff that they never talked about in their emails. By the end of their day, they knew the best and they worst about each other.
Eddie was starving when they left the park, so they stopped and grabbed dinner on the way home. After dinner, their fatigue set in but knowing what was going to happen when they got back to Janet's house reenergized both of them. Janet thought that as soon as they walked in the door, Eddie was going to take her against the door but he didn't. They took their time. Janet poured them some wine and they sat on the couch kissing slowly and sweetly for about an hour until Eddie led her to her bedroom.
Once they got in the bedroom, Eddie continued to take his time. They slowly undressed each other and spent time learning what touches to what part of the body turned each other on and they did that with foreplay, lots of foreplay. When they finally did make love, it was amazing. In the past, whenever Janet had sex, she usually closed her eyes but tonight she and Eddie maintained constant eye contact, which made things so much more intense. For the first time in his life after Eddie had his orgasm, he stayed hard and he was able to continue making love and when they finally both had their orgasms at the end, it was more powerful then either of them had ever experienced.
Janet jumped in surprise when Eddie reached out and threaded his fingers through hers. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even realize he was awake. She bent down, pressed her lips to his and they shared a passionate kiss. "I didn't mean to wake you." She told him when they broke apart and she settled her head on his chest.
"Don't be sorry. I love waking up to you touching me. How long have you been awake?"
"Not really sure."
"You looked like you were in deep thought. Is everything okay?" Eddie's voice was full of concern.
"Everything is perfect."
"What were you thinking about?"
"Us and how happy that I am."
"I'm happy too." With the hand that wasn't drawing circles on her naked back he lifted her head up and kissed her softly.
"When your month home is up, are you shipping out again?" Janet asked when they broke apart. His possible deployment was a subject they both avoided throughout the day because neither of them wanted to think about being apart.
"No. If my orders stand I will be stateside for a year."
"Here?"
"No. I'll be at a base in Texas."
"And after that year?"
"I'll probably ship out again."
"Just when I get used to having you around everyday, you'll be gone again for who knows how long." She said softly. "That sucks." She was trying not to cry. She told Eddie that she would support him through his military career and she was going to keep her word.
"It doesn't have to suck. You can have me around all of the time."
"How? Are you going to go AWOL?"
"No. You can come with me."
"What?"
"You can come to Texas with me. I'll have to stay on base but you can get an apartment off base and we can see each other all of the time."
"Eddie, I love the thought of coming with you but what happens if I get to Texas and I can't find a job to pay for my apartment or worse, I get to Texas and you are ordered to ship out a month after we arrive and I am left alone in a strange place."
"Marry me then."
"I already agreed to marry you."
"Marry me before I have to go to Texas. If we are married we can get married housing on the base that is paid for. An army base is a small community and you will make friends and have a support system in place if and when I get shipped out again."
"I don't know." She mumbled, feeling overwhelmed.
"I am fine if you don't want to get married right now. I'll even be fine if you don't move to Texas. I'll be miss you like crazy and be miserable but I'll get through it. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be with you, even if that means waiting until I am officially discharged, I will wait. I love you Janet and I know that everything is happening too fast. We've only been physically together for a day and a half and I don't want to be apart but I'll do whatever you want."
"I can't stand the thought of not being with you. It's going to be bad enough when you ship out but I don't have to be away from you while you are still in the states so let's do it. Let's get married before you leave for Texas and when you do leave, I will go with you as your wife."
"Janet, you don't have to do anything that you aren't ready for. I don't want to rush you into that you don't want."
"Oh believe me I want. I want to go to City Hall and marry you."
"You want a city hall wedding. I thought that you wanted a small ceremony."
"I thought that's what I wanted but that was before you. We have to be in Texas in one month and there is so much to do like pack up my house for example. Really, there is no time to plan a wedding ceremony so a nice, quick wedding at City Hall is just fine and there is an upside to a quickie wedding." She told him with a sparkle in her eye.
"What's that?"
"It gives us time for a honeymoon."
"I'll get right on it. Now I was thinking that I probably should meet your parents before we tie the knot. It's the polite thing to do." He told her with a grin.
"You might need to wait awhile."
"What? Why? What's wrong?"
"They aren't too happy with my choice to marry you." Janet told him softly. She didn't want to make him feel bad.
"Oh my God. Janet, baby, I am so sorry." Eddie felt like crap.
"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. I did kind of spring the news on them. They will come around. They always do."
"Did they even know about us before you told them about the engagement?"
"Not so much." A look of hurt flashed across his face.
"Are you ashamed?"
"No. Of course not."
"Then why?"
"Eddie my parents are older and old fashioned. Our relationship is so unique and in their minds, because it's not the normal go out on dates, kiss, get engaged, get married and have sex relationship then it can't be real so they just need some time and when they see how happy you make me, it will be all good."
"You said that they always come around. Have you been engaged before to someone that your parents didn't approve of?"
"Oh no. They liked him." Eddie's mouth dropped open is shock. "Close your mouth baby. I'm kidding."
"That was mean."
"Sorry."
"So what did you mean?"
"I'm the rebellious one of my family." Eddie snorted. He found that very hard to believe.
"Did you wear white shoes after Labor day?" Janet playfully swatted him.
"Very funny. My brother Henry, he did everything right. He dated when he was of age and didn't argue with them about dating sooner. He went and graduated from college, met a girl and got married, has a good job and he was a virgin until he got married. Me on the other hand, we weren't allowed to date until we were eighteen and done with high school. Of course, I fought that my entire high school career and ended up sneaking out with guys. I didn't go to college and I got a job at a bar. Oh my God, you would have thought that I announced my loyalty to the devil when I did that. They were furious. It's not appropriate for a young woman to work at a bar. There are so many things that I could be exposed to." Janet shuddered for show. "But like I said, they eventually got over it and have accepted my job."
"You weren't allowed to date during high school?"
"Oh God, no. Are you kidding? I may have been tempted into premarital sex."
"Were you?"
"Not during high school. I didn't lose my virginity until I was nineteen but as far as my parents are concerned, I am still the perfect little virgin who would never have sex outside of the sanctuary of marriage."
"So they have no idea that you give amazing blow jobs?" He asked her with a grin.
"No clue and they never will. You, my love are the only one privy to that information."
"Sweetheart are you sure about getting married so soon?"
"Quit talking." Janet told him as she rolled over and took him with her.
"But…" She placed her finger in front of his lips.
"Everything is exactly how I want it to be."
"I love you." He whispered his voice full of tenderness.
"I love you too. Now, make love to me." She demanded with a smile.
"Absolutely."
The next four weeks flew by for Janet and Eddie and before she knew it she and Eddie were driving across the country to their new home, on an Army base in Texas. They were married a week after Eddie returned home and they did it without telling anyone. After their marriage license was signed, they met their parents at a restaurant where they shared their happy news. Eddie's parents took the news well. They were mainly disappointed that they were never going to see their oldest son marry. Janet's parents on the other hand were furious. They thought the engagement should never have happened so the fact that they got married pushed them over the edge. They stormed out of the restaurant and didn't speak to Janet for a week. Eddie couldn't stand seeing his wife so upset so he went and confronted her parents and they relented, somewhat. Although, Janet was hurt by their actions she was confident that they would, in time accept her marriage.
They decided to take a week and drive to Texas so they could make it a honeymoon as well. Eddie drove the moving truck, filled with their belongings, that was towing Janet's car while Janet followed behind him in his truck. They stopped at every tourist attraction along the way and they spent every night in a different hotel room, making love until the late hours of the night. Once they arrived in Texas they only had two days to unload and unpack before Eddie had to report to duty. They brought all of Janet's furniture which proved to be too much for the small two bedroom house that they were given so a lot of their stuff went into a storage facility. Even though it was small, the night before Eddie had to return to work, they lay together in a web of arms, legs, and blankets and they couldn't have been happier. Eddie and Janet Latekka knew that they were exactly were they were supposed to be and everything was perfect.
Their first year of marriage was wonderful. Eddie was right. The people on an army base were very tight-knit and she made friends with other wives, mainly the wives of the men that Eddie served with, right away. She had trouble finding a job so she enrolled in a local technical college, in the Medical Assisting program and she was surprised to learn that she loved it. Since she was married to a soldier, she didn't have to pay for college, the government did that for her and since paying for school wasn't an issue, since they didn't have to pay rent, they were able to live off of Eddie's salary. Sure, things were tight but they made it work. They were both grateful for the fact that Janet didn't have to work and they could spend time together because they knew, that spending time together wouldn't be an option for them when he shipped out.
Eddie and Janet had been married for nine months when Janet found out she was pregnant. It was bittersweet for both of them. They were thrilled to be having a baby but at the same time they were sad because they knew that Eddie would be overseas when his child was born and he would miss out on much of this child's first few months of life. Eddie never doubted his choice to serve in the military. It was something that he wanted to do, something he loved doing but since getting married he wished there was a way that he could continue serving and not leave his wife and since he found out about the baby, for the first time in his life, he wished he would have chosen differently. Not only was he going to have to leave Janet but now, his child as well and it sucked.
Three months after learning about the baby, Eddie shipped out to the Middle East. Janet made a goal for herself as his deployment came upon them. Her goal was to be strong and brave when it came time for him to leave so it wouldn't be any harder for Eddie then it already was and she succeeded. She rarely cried and if she did Eddie wasn't around to see her tears. The night before he left, they stayed awake all night, making love, holding each other, talking and Eddie shed some tears. When they had to say goodbye the next day Eddie stayed strong, only shedding a few tears.
"I love you, so much." Eddie whispered tearfully.
"I love you too, more then you will ever know." Janet told him with a shaking voice.
"I'm going to email you every day and call whenever I can." Janet reached out and cupped his cheek.
"Please be careful and come back home to us." She begged.
"I promise that I will do everything in my power to get home safely to you two."
"No. That's not good enough. I want you word. You have never broken a promise to me so I want you to promise me."
"I promise that I'm going to come home."
"Thank you."
"Now you promise me something."
"Anything."
"Promise me that you'll make sure our little girl knows who I am so when I do come home I won't be a stranger." Even though it was too soon to know the sex of their baby, Eddie was convinced that they were having a girl.
"I promise. Our child will know who you are." His commanding officer yelled for his soldiers.
"Sweetheart…"
"I know." Eddie placed one hand on the back of her neck and the other on her back and they kissed passionately until they could no longer breathe. "I love you." She told him.
"I love you too. Till next time."
"Stay safe." The last words they spoke were the same words that they ended all of their emails with.
As Eddie walked away, he wiped his tears off of his face and as soon as Eddie was out of her line of sight, Janet finally broke down and sobbed. Her new friends, who had been through deployments before embraced her until her tears subsided.
Over the next few months Janet threw herself into school and preparing for the baby. She missed him so much that it hurt. She spent many nights crying herself to sleep and the only thing that really kept her going was the daily emails that she and Eddie shared. She had an ultrasound and Eddie was right. They were having a girl. Janet graduated from school when she was seven months pregnant. Her parents, Eddie's parents and Hannah all flew down for the ceremony and somehow, from Afghanistan, Eddie found a way to send his wife flowers to congratulate her.
Two weeks before the baby was due Eddie and Janet's mothers, and Hannah flew down again so they could be with her when they baby was born. Janet found a job in a doctor's office and she continued to work until they arrived. Working helped keep her mind off of missing Eddie. Once she quit working, she was consumed with thoughts of missing Eddie so having her mom, Eddie's mom and Hannah with her helped with the loneliness she was feeling.
Janet went into labor in the middle of the night, three days after her due date. One of the other wives that lived on the base had arranged for a video conference when Janet went into labor so Eddie could be there to support Janet and see the birth of his daughter. Janet struggled through eight hours of painful labor but when it was time to push, a computer was wheeled into her delivery room.
"Okay Janet push." Her doctor instructed. They couldn't wait for the video to connect so Janet grunted and pushed. "Great job. On the next contraction, I need you to push again."
"Janet, sweetheart." As soon as she heard Eddie's voice she began to cry.
"You're here. You made it." She sobbed. "I miss you."
"I miss you too."
"Here comes another contraction. Push Janet." With a newfound energy, Janet pushed as hard as she could. "Excellent. Again." Six pushes later, Meredith Ann Latekka joined the world with a loud piercing scream and was placed on her mother's chest.
"Is she all right?" Computer Eddie asked.
"She's perfect Eddie." Janet said tearfully.
"Can someone get me closer?" A nurse wheeled the computer next to Janet's bed and Janet turned Meredith towards the screen. "She is absolutely beautiful." Janet took her eyes away from her daughter to glance at her father and she saw that he was crying unabashedly.
"Janet I need your daughter to clean her up. I'll give her back quickly." Janet reluctantly handed Meredith to the nurse.
"Can I get closer?" Eddie asked and Hannah, who was in the room with Janet, pushed him over towards the baby.
Eddie watched intently as the nurses took care of his baby girl while Janet pushed out the placenta and the doctor began to clean her up. Fifteen minutes later, Meredith was back in her mother's arms and Eddie was on the computer next to them, eyes wide in amazement.
"I can't believe that we made her." Eddie commented.
"I can't believe that she was inside of me."
"I'm so glad that I got to be a part of her birth."
"I'm so glad that you were here."
"Thank you Janet. Thank you for giving us a daughter."
"I had a little bit of help when she was made."
"But you carried, nurtured, and pushed her out into the world. Thank you for that."
"I wish you were here when I was pregnant. I wish you could have felt her kick. It was the most amazing feeling ever."
"Sweetheart, my time is up."
"No." Janet whispered.
"I know. I don't want to go but I have to. Can I say goodbye?" Eddie was crying again.
"Of course." Janet held Meredith up to the screen.
"Daddy has to go back to work Merrie. I wish I was there so I could hold and kiss you. Be a good girl for your mama okay. You are the most beautiful child I have ever seen and know that Daddy loves you so much."
"I love you Eddie."
"I love you too. Remember your promise."
"You too. Stay safe."
"Till next time." When the computer was logged off, Janet cradled Meredith to her chest and cried softly.
The next twelve months were lonely, fun, exciting, busy and lonely. She really learned what is was like to be a military wife. She lived in constant fear that a car was going to drive up and the men who got out would tell her that her husband wasn't going to come home. She had seen it happen to one of her friends, the wife of a man that Eddie served with, was getting that horrible news. As she held the woman, stood next to her and held her hand through the funeral, and tucked the crying, confused kids in bed she couldn't help but think that at any moment, she could be on the other side and it terrified her. She had nightmares for months afterwards. She would wake up in the middle of the night crying and terrified and the only way she could calm herself down was to bring her daughter in bed with her. She felt close to Eddie when she held her little girl.
She missed Eddie more than she ever thought possible and she hated that he was missing so much of Meredith's life. She loved being Meredith's mother and she was a good baby but it was hard doing it by herself. The friends that she had made on the base helped when they could but sometimes there was no one. When Meredith was six months old, she got a really bad respiratory virus that kept her awake for two nights straight. She was so miserable, she cried constantly and the few times that Meredith did sleep Janet cried herself to sleep from exhaustion and as soon as she drifted off Meredith would wake up screaming. As with all sicknesses, Meredith did get better and Janet was able to get some sleep again. Most of the time life with Meredith was smooth but there were sometimes when Janet had a rough day at work and would have loved to have come home and settle on the couch with a very large glass of wine but having an infant made that impossible. Janet's life consisted of working and taking care of Meredith. Sometimes she simply longed for someone else to tend to her daughter's every need so she could just relax.
To keep her mind off of Eddie and because she truly loved her job at the doctor's office Janet continued working. With just Eddie's paycheck, they were fine but now that Meredith was here, things got a little more expensive so Janet wanted to keep working so she didn't have to live paycheck to paycheck and she could afford to provide for Meredith's every need without putting herself in a hole. She found a great sitter for Meredith. She was afraid that when she started working and leaving Meredith with the great sitter she found that she would feel guilty, like she was abandoning her baby but she didn't. She knew that ultimately, leaving her baby with a sitter would benefit her. It provided her with social interaction and Janet was able to make extra money and get the adult interaction that she craved.
One of the main things that kept Janet going was her daily emails to Eddie. She looked forward to writing them and then reading his. Some of his emails were hard to read, especially after Doug died. At times he sounded so scared and discouraged and he was starting to wonder why he was doing what he was doing, a state of mind she knew was not good for a soldier in a war zone. When she voiced her concerns to him, his response email was always upbeat, something she suspected he wrote to keep her from worrying, which was not successful. She worried about him constantly. She wouldn't quit worrying until he was home again. She was glad that he vented to her and shared his fears with her. She knew that it helped him to able to be honest with her and she would do anything to help him, even if it meant reading about his fear and the horror that he was experiencing.
Eddie and Janet communicated daily with emails, usually just one a day. After Meredith was born Janet began sending two emails to Eddie at once. She continued to send emails from her to him and then after Meredith was born Janet sent emails to Eddie as Meredith. She planned on updating Eddie everyday on the changes that Meredith went through so she thought that having "Meredith" send the emails to her dad would be a cute, fun way to do it. Every email was started off with "Dear Daddy" and everything that Meredith experienced through a day was told in her own words. "Last night I slept for four straight hours before I woke up to eat. I figured that mommy needed some rest" and every letter ended with "Love your Merrie" a nickname Eddie bestowed upon his daughter when she was born. Eddie positively loved those emails from Janet/Meredith. He laughed out loud every time that he read one. His favorite part of those emails was the pictures that Janet attached. She made sure that she took a few new pictures of Meredith everyday so she could send them to Eddie so he could see how much she changed.
By Meredith's 1st birthday, Janet honestly thought Eddie would have been home by then since he had already been gone for a year and a half but it didn't happen. Since he wasn't able to make it to his daughter's first birthday Janet was videotaping every minute of the party. Over the past year Janet had become quite a good videographer since she has hours and hours of video of Meredith for Eddie to watch when he got home.
Eddie's parents and her parents had flown down for their granddaughter's first birthday and Janet had invited her friends and their kids to celebrate Meredith's big day. They had just finished eating and were getting ready to open presents when the doorbell rang. Since Janet was busy, her mom went to answer it and returned a few minutes later, instructing Janet to go to the door herself. Immediately, she got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and her entire body was shaking as she walked to the door. She could just imagine the men who were waiting to tell her that something happened to Eddie on Meredith's birthday.
"Umm hello?" Janet managed to get out with a shaking voice. She was surprised to see only one man, standing with his back to her. The man slowly turned around and Janet gasped in shock.
"Hi sweetheart." Janet burst into tears and threw herself into her husband's waiting arms. Eddie just wrapped his arms around her and held her through their tears as tightly as he could.
"What? How? Why in the hell didn't you tell me that you were coming home?" Janet managed to get out once her tears subsided.
"I'm on a short leave for a week for Merrie's birthday. Pat knew that I missed her birth so he pulled some strings so I wouldn't miss her first birthday and I didn't tell you because it happened so quickly. Pat didn't even tell me until he got the approval and after he told me I had ten minutes to grab my gear so I could get to the plane in time."
"When my mom told me that someone was here to see me…I thought…"Janet finally broke their embrace and was patting him done, checking to make sure he was whole and really standing in front of him.
"Hey…Hey…" Eddie placed his hands over hers and stilled her actions.
"Every time there is a knock on the door or I see the car I think…I'm so afraid that…" Tears were still falling from both of their eyes.
"Janet, baby look at me." Eddie begged and Janet lifted her tear-filled eyes to her husband's eyes. "I'm right here in one piece. I'm fine and I'm home." It took another minute for the fact that Eddie was really home to sink in and when it did she wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed. "I love you. I love you. I love you." Eddie repeated over and over when they finally broke the kiss five minutes later.
"Would you like to officially meet your daughter?"
"I've been waiting for over a year for that."
After the first initials hugs and questions Janet brought Meredith to her father. Eddie reached out for her but she clung to her mother. "Meredith, honey, look it's daddy." The room was silent as everyone watched the interaction between father and daughter.
"Hi honey." Eddie whispered. "It's me, your daddy." Meredith reached out her tiny hand and Eddie brought his face down to her level. Meredith slowly touched her father's face.
"Da?" She questioned.
"Yeah honey. It's daddy."
"Hi da." The room erupted with laughter. Meredith looked at all of the adults who were laughing and suddenly she began to laugh them, although she had no idea why she was laughing. Eddie reached out again for Meredith and this time she practically jumped into her father's arms.
"Hi baby girl."
"Hi da."
"You are such a big girl. You are so beautiful." Eddie was peppering her head and face with kisses. "I love you my sweet Meredith. Daddy loves you so much." Of course one year old Meredith didn't respond since she only knew a few words, mainly, "Hi," "Bye," "Mom," "Da," and Janet's favorite "No," but Eddie didn't mind. He had what he had craved daily for a year and a half. He had his daughter in one arm and in wife in the other.
Meredith's party resumed with the birthday girl remaining her father's arms except when she was destroying her birthday cake. Eddie got the biggest kick out of the way Meredith dove into her smash cake. By the time she was done there was nothing but crumbs on her highchair and she was covered from head to toe in cake and her parents had never seen anything cuter.
"When I go back to work on Monday I'm going to request some days off. I'll get as many as I can off but I have no idea how may that will be." Janet explained as she lay in his arms that night after they made love.
"I understand. It's not like you knew I was coming."
"I wish I would have known. I would have made sure that your homecoming was special."
"It was special honey. It couldn't have been more special especially since my daughter knows who I am and that's because you kept your promise. How did you keep it?"
"Simple. Since the day I brought her home from the hospital, at least once a day, she would sit on my lap and we would look through our scrapbooks and I always pointed out her dad in every picture and when she started talking I would point to you and say Daddy and she picked up on it. Eventually, I would just point to you in a picture and she would say Da."
"Thank you Janet. Thank you for keeping your word." Eddie rolled over and began to kiss Janet until they were interrupted by their daughter.
"Da. Da. Da. Da." Meredith chanted.
"You've got to be kidding me." Janet groaned as Eddie rolled off of her. "She always sleeps through the night."
"Can I bring her in here to sleep with us?" As much as Janet wanted another go round, she couldn't say no to Eddie.
"Of course." Eddie quickly jumped out of bed, threw on some sweat pants and went to Meredith's room while Janet stayed in their room and got dressed while she listened to Eddie and Meredith through the baby monitor.
"Hiya Merrie."
"Hi da."
"Upsey daisy." Janet could hear Meredith giggle as Eddie lifted her out of her crib. "Do you wanna sleep with me and mama tonight?"
"Mommy." Meredith confirmed and a minute later Eddie and Meredith walked in the room.
"So you have magical powers or something?" Janet asked
"Not that I know of. Why?"
"Because your daughter is always a grump when she wakes up in the middle of the night and tonight she is happy as can be." Eddie lay Meredith down in the bed and got in next to her, placing his hand on her belly.
"Da."
"She's just excited to see me."
"We both are." Janet leaned over and kissed him softly. "I love you."
"I love you too Janet."
"Wuv you." Meredith piped up and Eddie and Janet stared at each other.
"What did you say baby?" Janet asked.
"Wuv you."
"She said she loves us." Eddie whispered.
"Eddie this is the first time that she said that."
"And I got to hear it." Eddie looked at his daughter, tears falling from his eyes. "Say it again Merrie. Tell mommy and daddy that you love us because we love you too."
"Wuv you."
The week that Eddie was home, went by way too fast for both of them. They spent Sunday with both of their parents since they were still in town until they had to drive them to the airport. When Monday rolled around, Janet returned to work while Meredith stayed home and she and her daddy had some quality time together and when Janet got home from work, she found her daughter sleeping on her father's chest while he slept right along with her. The sight of the two of them together brought tears to Janet's eyes and of course she snapped a couple of pictures.
Janet's boss was very understanding of her circumstances and she willingly gave her the rest of the week off so she could spend time with her husband and they took advantage of the gift that they were given. They squeezed a year and a half worth of missed time into one week and before they knew it, Janet was sending Eddie off again to fight in a war. After Eddie said goodbye to his family and walked through the airport, he could hear Meredith yelling "Bye Da" over and over again. She was too young to realize what was actually happening. She just heard her mother say goodbye so she was just mimicking her but Eddie and Janet knew what a simple word like goodbye meant in their world. It was a very important word. It may be the last word they spoke for months or it may be the last word they ever spoke and that weighed heavily on their hearts.
Janet's life returned to the lonely life that she had been living prior to Meredith's birthday. She was so grateful for the week that she and Eddie spent together but in a way, it made it harder for her when he left. For seven days, she had her husband back in her home and in her arms and now her home and arms was empty again. She thought that it may have been easier if he wouldn't have come home until his deployment was over because when that happened he would be home for longer than a week. Janet understood that she is living the life of a military wife and the only thing she could do was support her husband, treasure every phone call and email that received when he was deployed, cherish every moment that they had together when he was home and make sure Meredith had the best possible life and all the love that she could ask for.
Eddie returned home from his deployment seven months later. He had been gone for two years and one month minus the week he came home. It was a joyful reunion. As soon as Eddie stepped off of the bus and Meredith saw her father, Janet couldn't hold her in her arms because she was squirming so much. Janet had been telling Meredith over the past few days that her daddy was coming home and obviously, it had sunk in. She set her down and held her hand but Meredith easily slipped out of her mother's grasp and ran in between people, yelling "Daddy." Thankfully everyone moved out of the toddler's way so she could get to her daddy. Eddie heard his little girl before he saw her and when he saw her barreling towards him, he dropped his duffel bag, squatted down, held out his arms and in an instant he was holding Meredith tightly to him. Janet froze when she saw her husband and their daughter clinging tightly to each other and just took in the beautiful scene, reminding her of the last time he returned home. When Eddie lifted his head and made eye contact with his wife, stood, held out his free arm, Janet walked into it and Eddie held both of his girls tightly to his body so thankful that he was safely back home on American soil.
The last two years that Eddie had been gone from his family had been the hardest two years of both of their lives. Eddie, being away from his home, his wife and daughter, being in a war zone, and living with the possibility that he could die any day scared the hell out of him. Everyday, he missed Janet and Meredith terribly and he missed so much of Meredith's life, time he would never get back and that was one of the biggest regrets that he had but he loved serving his country. During the last two years Janet was lonely. She missed Eddie everyday that he wasn't home. There was an emptiness in her life, her home and her heart that could only be filled by her husband. She hated watching Meredith grow and change, knowing Eddie was missing it all but at the same time Janet was so very proud of him and what he was doing.
Due to the conflict they both were experiencing, Eddie and Janet spent hours discussing his future in the Army when his contract was up. He had been in the Army since he turned eighteen; it was the only job he had ever known and he couldn't imagine starting all over but he hated being away from his wife and family and when Janet delivered another girl, Leslie Renee, nine months after Eddie returned home, it made his choice that much harder.
If it was up to Janet, Eddie would not sign another contract. She wanted a normal life, a life where her husband was home everyday, watching their girls grow up but it wasn't up to her. Ultimately, it was up to Eddie and Janet told him that she would support any choice that he made, she promised him that before they were married and she wasn't going to go back on her word. Sometimes, after the girls were in bed, Eddie and Janet talked about the time when he was gone. He shared her fears as did she and he knew that she had it much worse, being home, raising their daughter then he had overseas but she did it and she was willing to do it again, if Eddie stayed in the Army.
When the time came, Eddie signed another contract. He was a military man and he couldn't walk away, not when his country needed him and Janet understood and loved his dedication and as she promised him, she supported him. Every deployment got a little easier for both of them. When the girls were little, they didn't understand why their daddy was leaving them and they cried hysterically but as they got older, they started to understand what their father had to do and they tried not to cry as much around him because they didn't want to make him sad and Eddie loved, all of them for that.
Over the years, they never stayed at one base for more than five years before they were transferred to a new location and Meredith and Leslie became Army Brats, but not really, both girls were very well behaved. They had their father wrapped around their little fingers and it always made them laugh that grown men were afraid of their dad but they weren't. Eddie continued to be promoted and his deployments got fewer and farther apart, something everyone was grateful for and most importantly, Eddie always came home to his family.
Being a husband, father and soldier wasn't easy. Eddie sacrificed his family life to serve his country. Over the years, he missed some very important moments in Meredith and Leslie's lives, but his girls, they understood why he did what he did. Being a soldier's wife and a mother wasn't easy for Janet either. Every time they moved to a new base, Janet had to make just another house a home for them, never an easy task but she always managed to make it happen. There was a lot of the girls' childhood that she was a single parent and the girls took advantage of that on numerous occasions. Like most parents Janet couldn't use the "Wait until your father gets home" line because sometimes their father wouldn't be home for months so she had to be both their loving, devoted mother and the main disciplinary figure in their home. There were times when she wanted to pull out her hair in frustration because her girls could be handfuls but when Eddie was home and they were able to be husband and wife and equal parents all of her frustration was forgotten.
When Eddie finally retired from the Army, they moved back home to Knights Ridge and he spent all of his free time making up for all of the lost time with his family that occurred during his years of service. He took all of the girls on trips, places that they had always wanted to see; he took Janet away for long weekends for some quality one on one time and uninhibited lovemaking. No one in the Latekka family regretted Eddie's choice to serve in the army. In fact, Meredith followed in her father's footsteps and began her service in the army as soon as she graduated from high school. Eddie was very proud of his service and his family was proud of his service as well. In fact when he walked both of his daughters down the aisle, he proudly wore his dress uniform.
Neither and Eddie nor Janet would have changed anything about their married life. Some people even think that their marriage lasted as long as it did because they were apart for most of it but Eddie, Janet and the girls didn't believe that. Meredith and Leslie grew up seeing how deeply in love their parents were and Eddie and Janet knew they would still be together even if Eddie didn't spend most of his adult life in the army. Over the years, Eddie realized what a strong woman his wife was because only a strong woman could be a soldier's wife, spending the majority of her married life, waiting for her soldier to come home soon.
Sorry it's so long. I just couldn't stop