I own none of the characters of October Road or the Song "Every Other Weekend" by Reba Mcintire & Kenny Chesney
Every other Friday
It's toys and clothes and backpacks
Is everybody in? Okay, let's go see Dad
Same time in the same spot
Corner of the same old parking lot
Half the hugs and kisses, they are always sad
We trade a couple words
And looks and kids again
Every other weekend
Every other weekend, very few exceptions
I pick up the love we made in both my arms
It's movies on the sofa
Grilled cheese and cut the crust off
But that's not the way Mom makes it
Daddy breaks my heart
I miss everything
I used to have with her again
Every other weekend
I can't tell her I love her
(I can't tell him I love him)
'Cause there's too many questions
And ears in the car
So I don't tell him I miss him
(I don't tell her I need her)
She's over me, that's where we are
So we're as close as we might ever be again
Every other weekend
Every other Saturday, first thing in the morning
I turn the TV on to make the quiet go away
I know why, but I don't know
Why we ever let this happen
Fallin' for forever was a big mistake
There's so much not to do
And all day not to do with him
Every other weekend
Every other Sunday I empty out my backseat
While my children hug their mother in the parking lot
We don't touch, we don't talk much
Maybe goodbye to each other
As she drives away with every piece of heart I got
I re-convince myself
We did the right thing
Every other weekend
I can't tell her I love her
(I can't tell him I love him)
'Cause there's too many questions
And ears in the car
So I don't tell him I miss him
(I don't tell her I need her)
She's over me, that's where we are
We're as close as we might ever be again
Every other weekend
Yeah, for fifteen minutes
We're family again
God, I wish that he was still with me again
Every other weekend
It was 5:55PM and Janet watched as her middle child, Emma grab her treasured art kit, backpack and daily schedule and went to stand by the door. Her dad would be there in five minutes. Glancing out the window, Janet saw her ex-husband's truck sitting in her driveway, waiting. "Ashton, Max, your dad will be here any minute. Get out here." Janet yelled at her other two children that were still in their rooms. The other two children knew how important it was to keep the schedule that was set for Emma and they came running out into the living room. Emma was looking between her daily schedule with the picture of her and her dad and a clock with the hands pointed at six o'clock and the real clock on the wall. "Two minutes." She mumbled.
"Yep. Two minutes." Janet affirmed. "Do you have your planner?" Max had a habit of leaving his planner at the wrong house.
"Yes ma'am."
"May I see?" Max sighed and opened his bag.
"See?"
"Very good."
"One minute." Emma mumbled.
"Now give me some hugs." Janet demanded and Ashton and Max immediately embraced their mother. Leaving her was always hard for them, just as it was hard to leave their dad. Just as Ashton pulled away from her mother, their doorbell rang and Max threw it open.
"DAD!"
"MAXIMUS!" Eddie Latekka roared as the ten year old threw himself into his father's arms. Eddie was very close to his kids and he missed them when he didn't have them.
"Dad my science fair is on Friday. Are you going to come?" Max asked once he extracted himself from his father.
"Of course. I wouldn't miss it."
"You're going to have to help me with it."
"That's my job." Eddie then addressed his oldest. He held out his arms and Ashton hugged him tightly. "Hey baby girl. How are you?" He asked as he kissed the top of her head.
"I'm good."
"I'm glad." Finally he knelt down to Emma. "Hiya Emma." She reached out and patted his arm.
Janet knew they only had two minutes until Emma's schedule told her that they were leaving. She handed Eddie the bag that contained Emma and Max's medication. "I already signed the kids' planners for Friday. Max still has two more days of his antibiotic left. He doesn't need his ear drops anymore but if it starts draining again or if he starts complaining that his ear is hurting go ahead and give him the drops."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"Nothing new."
"Ash, Max, do you guys have your bags?"
"Yes sir."
"All right guys. Tell your mom goodbye." Max and Ashton both kissed their mother.
"I love you guys."
"Love you too." They replied. Eddie moved to the side so Janet could say goodbye to Emma.
"By honey. Mommy loves you." Janet hugged her daughter and the only response she got was a pat on the shoulder. "Be good guys."
"Come on Em. It's time to go." Ashton reached out and took her sister's hand.
"One minute." Everyone knew that Emma wouldn't leave the house until exactly 6:05PM. As soon as the clock changed Emma and Ashton left the house, followed by Max.
"Have a good week Janet." Eddie told her.
"You too." Eddie walked out and Janet stood in the doorway until her ex husband and children were no longer in sight. Once she shut the door Janet grabbed a glass of wine and settled on the couch. She turned on Lifetime and enjoyed having the house to herself. The enjoyment of being alone usually only lasted until Monday morning when she got to sleep in because she had no kids to get ready for school. It wasn't the same getting ready in an empty house and she ached for them. She ached for them until Eddie dropped them back off on Sunday night.
Eddie and Janet had been dating for eight months when she got pregnant. Instead of panicking, they were thrilled at the prospect of being parents. Besides the fact that he loved Janet, he wanted to do the right thing; he wanted to marry her raise their baby in a home with two married parents so he proposed and after convincing Janet that he wanted to marry her even if she wasn't pregnant she finally agreed. Since they wanted to be married before the baby was born they had a small ceremony two months after they were engaged and six months later Ashton was born. A month after Aston turned two Janet gave birth to Emma and when Emma was a year and a half Max came along.
When Emma was two, Janet and Eddie realized that something wasn't right with their youngest daughter. Her sitter told them that she wasn't socializing with the other kids, including her siblings, something Janet and Eddie both noticed at home. Emma would sit by herself and play with blocks, stacking them up and then taking them down, one by one, only to just repeat the process over and over. Suddenly she stopped speaking the few words that she knew and the worst part was Emma stopped being affectionate. She wouldn't hug or kiss her parents. Her doctor diagnosed Emma with Autism, breaking her parent's hearts because they knew how hard life was going to be for their little girl.
As soon as Emma was diagnosed she was immediately put in occupational and speech therapy. The older Emma got the more difficult it became in dealing with her autism. She only ever spoke a few words so communication was very difficult. When Emma was unable to express herself to her parents she would engage in a tantrum and Eddie and Janet had to learn how to deal with those. Most Autistic children function well on a schedule and Emma was no different. Together with the occupational therapist, Eddie and Janet came up with a daily schedule that Emma could rely on. Once the schedule was determined they took pictures, drew clocks and put it all in a flip book for her and it worked well as long as the schedule was kept and that's where the rest of the family came in. It was very important that Max and Ashton help maintain Emma's schedule because if dinner was scheduled for six o'clock and dinner came out one minute after six, all hell broke loose in the Latekka household. When Emma's schedule needed to be changed, it was best to give her as much notice as possible so she could have time to adjust.
Eddie and Janet had been married for eight years when things started going downhill. Due to the economy, Best Friend Windows started to suffer financially. No one wanted to put new windows in their homes when they could barely afford the mortgage and because of that the Latekka family began to suffer financially. Before she got married Janet had earned her teaching credentials and had been teaching kindergarten at the local school for almost ten years but her measly teaching salary wasn't enough to make ends meet. Being the prideful man that Eddie was, he struggled with what he thought was his inability to provide for his family which led him to picking up a second job, a landscaping job in the fall, spring and summer and snow plowing in the winter during the weekends and some evenings if the work was available.
The second job that Eddie had to support his family caused him to be away from home, a lot. He would come home for dinner so Emma would get upset and then leave right after to return to work and the lack of time that he was spending with his family was taking its toll on everyone, especially Janet. She was feeling like a single mother, because she was the one who was always home and when Eddie was home, he was either sleeping or eating and on the rare occasion that he was home with his family, he and Janet were fighting.
First the fights were over silly things, not enough milk for a bowl of cereal, clothes that weren't folded and put away. As time went on the fights became about more serious issues. Janet was frustrated that she was the main parent, the main disciplinarian and she hated that. She felt that Eddie wasn't backing her up. She was exhausted and frustrated being the only parent that was dealing with Emma. She loved her daughter and wouldn't change being her mother for anything, but Emma was prone to temper tantrums which required most of Janet's time and attention, leaving Ashton and Max lacking for their mother's time and attention which caused fights between the couple.
Like most families that struggled financially, Eddie and Janet constantly fought about money or more precisely, the lack of money. Janet struggled to feed her family on a very small food budget and when Eddie complained that there was no food in the house, she would become infuriated. They had health insurance through Janet's job but the insurance didn't cover all of Emma's medical needs and that just added to their stress. Under the state Emma was considered to be a handicapped child and she was eligible for state assistance. They had never taken advantage of the assistance before and even when they were struggling to pay for what Emma needed Eddie refused to take what he considered to be charity. Janet wasn't going to let Eddie's pride affect their daughter's wellbeing so she went and filled out the paperwork. When Eddie found out what Janet did he was furious with her. He understood why she did what she did, for Emma, but he still didn't like it and he took his disappointment in himself out on his wife.
The few months leading up to the end of their marriage were not pleasant. They spent more time apart then together. They stopped being affectionate with one another, they stopped making love. They still slept in the same bed but they never touched. They never told each other that they loved the other and the fighting became constant. Most of the time they tried to take their fights away from the kids but they still knew. They could hear their parents raised voices behind their bedroom door and it affected them. One night, after screaming at each other in the garage for over an hour their fight ended with both participants in tears admitting that they couldn't go on living like they had been living. Instead of considering counseling, they decided that a divorce was the best option for them.
Their divorce was very amicable. In fact, for the first time in a long time they didn't fight over everything. They decided to sell their house because neither one could afford the mortgage and once the house sold they each found a house to rent about three blocks away from each other. There were no alimony payments or child support because they agreed on shared custody of their kids. Neither of them wanted to keep the kids away from the other.
The kids took the divorce hard. Ashton was ten at the time and her heart was broken over the break up of her family. She spent most of her free time crying. Max was seven an a half and confused. He didn't understand why his family was breaking up, why they would no longer be living with both of his parents and he kept asking why and when the answers his parents gave him were unacceptable he became angry and sullen. Eight year old Emma was unable to have an emotional response to the divorce but her parents knew she understood what was going on. Emma had been doing real well, starting to speak a few words and she rarely had a temper tantrum but with the news of the divorce, she stopped speaking and became increasingly difficult to deal with and Eddie and Janet had no one to blame but themselves.
Three short months after they made the decision to get a divorce they were legally no longer married and their lives as single adults and parents began. The shared custody agreement stated that the kids would each live with one of the parents for a week at a time, Sunday to Sunday. They had their own clothes and toys at each of their parent's house so they never had to worry about packing suitcases and forgetting something. Financially, each parent was responsible for their children's needs while in their care. The kids spent every other holiday with one of their parents except for Christmas. Neither Eddie or Janet wanted to miss Christmas morning with their kids so if they were scheduled to be at their dad's house Janet spent Christmas Eve in Eddie's bed because he insisted that that she take the bed while he slept on the couch and if Christmas was at Janet's house he spent Christmas Eve on her couch and on Christmas morning, they were all together for a couple of hours. If one of the kids needed something over that was over a $100, like school clothes, medical needs or camps then each parent was to pay for half of the total cost. After the divorce business at Best Friend Windows increased and when he could, Eddie gave money to Janet because her teaching salary just wasn't much. It wasn't the perfect situation but it worked for them.
During the three years that they had been divorced Eddie and Janet remained friends. Both of them had been on dates but it never amounted to anything serious. If they were honest with themselves neither of them really wanted another relationship. Their children consumed their whole lives and even though they would never admit it out loud to anyone, they still loved their ex spouse. They lived for the weeks that they had their children with them because the kids gave them life. The kids gave them the reason that was needed to get out of bed every morning and they spent the weeks without their kids dying from loneliness, yearning for and waiting anxiously until they were reunited with their reasons for everything.
"You're gonna fall Ashton." Max told his sister.
"Just shut up and watch out for mom." Thirteen year old Ashton told her ten year old brother.
"What are you doing anyway?"
"What's it look like?"
"It looks like you are hanging something up."
"Very good genius."
"Why are you hanging a plant in the door?"
"It's mistletoe." Max gave her a blank look. "Around Christmas whenever two people are under the mistletoe they have to kiss."
"I get it. You want mom and dad to kiss."
"Exactly." Ashton finished securing the mistletoe.
"Dad's here." Max announced. Ashton climbed off of the chair.
"Come on."
"But I'm going to let dad in."
"No Max. Mom has to let him in."
"Oh. Okay." Ashton returned the chair, grabbed her brother's hand and they slipped next to the couch where they wouldn't be seen. When the doorbell rang, Max giggled.
"Shhh." Ashton whispered.
"Ashton, Emma, Max, your dad is here." Janet called from the kitchen. Emma stood from the small table that she spent most of her time at coloring and went and stood by the door, waiting for her father. She was quite the little artist. The doorbell rang again. "Ashton, Max." When they didn't answer her Janet came and opened the door.
"Merry Christmas." Eddie greeted his ex wife.
"Merry Christmas Eddie."
"Merry Christmas Emma." Eddie leaned down and kissed his youngest daughter. When he strained back up Emma returned to her table. "Where are Max and Ash?"
"I have no idea." As soon as they crossed the threshold from the hallway to the living room, Ashton and Max jumped up.
"STOP." Ashton shouted and her parents froze in surprise.
"Ashton what is going on?" Janet asked suspiciously.
"You can't come in here." Max told him.
"Awe. Are you guys wrapping presents?" Eddie inquired with a grin.
"No. There is mistletoe and you can't pass under the mistletoe unless you kiss." Ashton told them.
"This is not funny young lady." Janet chastised.
"I'm not trying to be funny."
"It's the Christmas rule. You have to kiss when you are under the mistletoe." Max told his parents.
Eddie couldn't have loved his kids anymore then he did right at that moment because he loved the idea of kissing his ex wife. "Come on Janet. We might as well do as they say because I have a feeling that id we don't we won't be able to go into the living room and if I know my daughter, I have a feeling that there is probably mistletoe in other places around here."
"Not yet but there can be." Ashton told them and Janet was instantly reminded that Ashton was as stubborn as her father.
"You are not seriously considering this are you?" Janet asked him.
"It's just a Christmas kiss and I have heard that if you don't kiss under the mistletoe then the two people are destined for bad luck for an entire year."
"You made that up." Eddie shrugged his shoulders. "Fine." Janet finally gave in and turned to face him and he did the same.
"Merry Christmas Janet." Eddie whispered as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss began slow and tentative but quickly gained in intensity and Janet's arms instinctively wrapped around his neck and his around her waist and at that point, Max and Ashton high-fived each other. Eddie gently pushed his tongue into her mouth and hers entered his mouth. When Janet's fingers began to run through his hair Eddie tightened his grip around her waist. They hadn't kissed like this in years and they both realized how much they missed kissing each other. Reluctantly , they pulled apart when they needed to breathe and the only thing that stopped them from joining together again was the giggles that came from their son.
"Ashton, take down the mistletoe." Janet told her as she pulled away from Eddie.
"But I…"
"Take it down." Janet repeated and walked away from Eddie and his arms, his lips, his eyes and into the kitchen.
"Janet we should talk." Eddie said walking into the kitchen.
"There is nothing to say."
"I think that there is. I enjoyed that kiss and you did too." He reached for her hand and when his fingers touched hers, she pulled away.
"It doesn't matter if we enjoyed it or not. It shouldn't have happened."
"Why not?"
"We're divorced Eddie."
"And?"
"Kisses from you confuse me."
"Kisses from you confuse me too."
"And that's another reason why we shouldn't kiss."
"We should talk about this." He repeated.
"Drop it Eddie." Janet handed him a couple bowls of chips and a couple bottles of beer. "Please."
"If that's what you want."
"It is." Janet picked up the dip and cans of soda and walked past Eddie into the living room giving Eddie no choice but to join his family. "All right guys, let's get the movie started." Janet told them.
Every year it was a Christmas Eve tradition for the Latekka family to rent a movie and indulge in chips and dip during the movie. It was a tradition that started while Eddie and Janet were dating and it continued after they were divorced. As Janet put the DVD in, everyone took their traditional seats, Eddie in the recliner, Max, on the floor, sitting on a bean bag chair with his legs stretched out in front of him, Ashton curled up on one end of the couch, Emma in the middle of the couch, sitting straight up and staring at her lap and Janet sat on the other end of the couch, next to the recliner.
By the time the movie was over Max and Eddie were snoring softly, same as they do every year. "Ashton, baby, wake your dad up so he can take Max to his room."
"You should wake him up."
"Don't start." Janet warned her oldest.
"Fine." Ashton stood woke her father. "Daddy, the movie is over. As usual Max is sleeping and mommy needs you to carry him to his room."
"Umph. Okay." Eddie slowly pulled himself out of the chair.
"Come on sweetheart. It's time for bed." Janet softly told her youngest daughter. Emma looked at her daily schedule and saw that her bedtime was 10:30 and according to the clock in the living room the time was 10:23. She still had seven minutes so she didn't move. "Emma come on." Janet attempted to pull Emma off of the couch but she refused to move and threw her schedule on the floor.
"Emma." Eddie scolded as Janet picked up the fallen schedule and noticed the bedtime page.
"Let it go. It's too early for bed. I'm sorry honey. Mommy didn't realize that it isn't bedtime yet." Sometimes Janet forgot that Emma wasn't like her other kids, especially when she had something on her mind and tonight she had a very hot, heavy and confusing kiss on her mind. "Ashton go get ready for bed." Janet instructed.
"Yes ma'am."
"Maximus." Eddie groaned as he lifted his son up. "You are getting to big to be carried up to bed."
"Santa?" Max mumbled sleepily against his father's neck.
"No buddy. Not yet. You have to go to bed before Santa comes." Eddie explained as he carried his boy to his room. Janet sat on the couch next to Emma and they silently waited until the clock turned to 10:30 and when it did, Emma rose to her feet and waited for her mom to take her to bed.
Fifteen minutes later all three kids were tucked snuggly in their bed and Janet was in the kitchen, putting together the breakfast casserole that she made them every Christmas morning. "Whatcha' doing?" Eddie asked.
"Making breakfast."
"It's a little early for breakfast isn't it?"
"Can you grab me the milk from the fridge please?" Eddie did as she asked. When he handed her the milk their fingers brushed and their hearts went into overdrive.
"I think that we should talk Janet." Eddie said.
"There is nothing to talk about."
"You're wrong."
"We made our choice. We got a divorce and that's the end of us, period. So drop it."
"But I…"
"Please Eddie. Drop it. Things are good between us right now and I don't want to ruin what we have rebuilt. I don't want to go back to what we were three years ago."
"Okay. I'll drop it."
"Thank you."
"I'm going to check and see if the kids are asleep yet and if they are we can put out their presents."
"I should be done in a couple of minutes and I'll be able to help." It seemed that Eddie and Janet were back to post divorce business as usual.
"Oh my God. It looks like a tornado came through your living room." Eddie commented to Janet as they sat on the couch, drinking coffee while watching their kids enjoy their gifts.
"They enjoyed themselves and that's what matters."
"You did good Janet." Eddie whispered softly so the kids wouldn't hear. When they got their divorce, they decided that they didn't want their kids having two Christmases, one at each parent's house. They had seen too many kids of divorced parents play their parents off of each other and become greedy and they weren't allowing that to happen to their children. Every year Eddie always gave his half of the money they had agreed to spend on the kids to Janet and she took care of the buying and wrapping of the gifts. She was better at knowing what to buy their kids then he was and she actually enjoyed the shopping and wrapping.
"I try." She never had much trouble knowing what their kids would like, especially when they handed her a list. The only one she struggled with was Emma. Emma couldn't tell her parents what she wanted. She wasn't like other girls her age. She didn't play with dolls or Barbies. The only thing that she knew for sure that Emma "enjoyed" was books and art so Janet went crazy with art supplies and books. The hardest thing about Christmas for Eddie and Janet was that they didn't know if Emma even understood what Christmas was. Emma didn't even open her gifts. While Max and Ashton opened their gifts, Eddie and Janet opened Emma's gifts for her and she never showed interest. Janet and Eddie could only hope that somewhere, deep in her mind she did understand and she was happy. "I guess that we should clean this mess up." Janet told him.
"Yeah I guess so." Eddie tossed the trash bags that he had brought from the kitchen after a coffee refill. "Max, Ashton, start gathering up the trash."
"Yes sir." Together with their parents, the living room was cleaned up in ten minutes and it was time for Eddie to leave.
"Merry Christmas guys." Eddie said after he kissed his children. He hated leaving his kids, especially on Christmas.
"Where do you want me to drop the kids off? Your place or your parents?"
"I'll be at mom and dads."
"Okay. I'll bring them to you." Eddie nodded his thanks.
"So Janet, do you have any plans for New Years Eve?"
"I do. I have big plans."
"Oh really? Care to share?"
"I have a date with a giant bowl of cheese puffs, a bottle of wine and some chick flicks."
"That sounds like a rocking good time. The kids and I are planning a Wii bowling marathon and we would love it if you would join us." Ashton and Max froze at their father's suggestion; exactly what he had hoped would happen. He knew that the kids would love that plan and would push for it to happen
"It's your night with the kids. I don't want to intrude."
"You're never an intrusion. So what do you say?"
"Say yes mom." Max demanded.
"Please mom. Please. It would be so much fun." Ashton begged and Eddie grinned. He knew that Janet wouldn't be able to say no to their children.
"Please mom." Ashton and Max said at the same time.
"Fine. For a couple of hours." Cheers went up around the room.
"Bye guys. I love you and I'll see you at six at grandma and grandpa's house." Eddie said a few minutes later.
"Bye dad. Love you."
"Merry Christmas Eddie."
"Merry Christmas Janet."
"All right everyone. Here are your drinks." Janet announced and Max and Ashton made a beeline for the tray. "Hands off." Among the three glasses of sparkling grape juice were two glasses of champagne from the bottle that Eddie bought and she didn't want them to grab the champagne. Eddie reached on the tray and distributed the glasses.
"Please be careful with those glasses. They will break." Eddie told them as he took his own glass.
"The countdown is starting. The countdown is starting." Max shouted.
"Chill out dude. You'll scare your sister." Eddie told him. Emma was sitting at her art table staring at the glass in front of her. Eddie and Janet knew that she probably wouldn't drink it at midnight but they wanted to include her.
"Sorry." As the clocked ticked closer to midnight, Eddie moved next to Janet.
"5…4…3…2…1. Happy New Year." Max and Ashton shouted. The four of them raised their glasses, wished each other a Happy New Year, gently clinked their glasses and took a sip.
"Happy New Year Janet." Eddie whispered as he invaded Janet's personal space. Before she could repeat the sentiment, Eddie was kissing her softly. Janet knew kissing Eddie was wrong. They were divorced and every time that they kissed, they were giving the kids hope that they were on their way to reconciliation but as wrong as it was Janet could not pull herself away. It felt right. When Eddie finally pulled away, Janet guzzled the remaining champagne in her glass because she didn't know exactly how to respond.
"I…I need a refill." Janet quickly disappeared into the kitchen and Eddie went after her. Her back was to him so he came up behind her, turned her around and kissed her again but this time Janet was able to fight against the urge to return the kiss. "What in the hell are you doing?" She seethed.
"What we both want."
"I don't want this. I'm putting the kids to bed and then I am leaving."
"Janet…" He called but she ignored him.
An hour later all three kids were sleeping soundly in their beds and Janet was helping Eddie clean up. She hated to admit it but she really enjoyed spending New Year's Eve with Eddie and the kids. She especially enjoyed the kiss that they shared even though at the same time, it pissed her off. "Thanks for having me over tonight." Janet told him as she loaded the last dish in Eddie's dishwasher.
"You're welcome anytime. " Eddie handed his ex-wife another glass of champagne.
"I should get home before the bars close and the drunks hit the road." She tried to hand the glass back to him but he wouldn't take it.
"You live three blocks away. I think that you will be fine. We need to talk. We have to talk." Eddie grabbed the bottle with one hand, her hand with the other and they walked to the living room and sat on the couch.
"Eddie I…"
"You're not leaving until we sort some things out."
"Fine. We're divorced Eddie. We shouldn't be kissing. It confuses the kids and…"
"And what Janet?"
"It confuses me."
"Have you dated anyone since the divorce?"
"A few guys."
"And why hasn't it turned into anything more serious?"
"Because of the kids."
"Bullshit "
"Well why haven't you had a serious relationship?" Janet countered.
"Because I still love you. Because I am still in love with you." Eddie leaned over crashed his lips to Janet's and this time she didn't pull away. The champagne glass that she had been holding slipped from her hands as Eddie's hand slipped under her shirt to cup a breast.
"Oh God." She moaned as he pinched her nipple. Janet knew that they shouldn't be doing this but she couldn't stop herself. It felt so damn good to have his hands on her body again. She pulled her tee shirt over her head, unclasped her bra, tore it from her body, threw it on the floor and pushed Eddie's head to her breast. Eddie groaned and immediately placed his mouth on it and began to suck. Knowing the kids were just down the hall, Janet kept her moans as quiet as she could. Eddie pushed Janet back on the couch and as he sucked at her breast, he was unbuttoning her jeans and sliding two fingers inside of her. Janet had to bite her lip to keep from screaming in pleasure. It felt so good to have him inside of her again, even if was just his fingers.
"Yeah baby." He whispered as Janet bucked against his hand. "Let it go." Using his thumb he rubbed her clit and in an instant she was groaning as quietly as she could. As soon as Eddie pulled his hand out of Janet's pants she pushed Eddie off of her and proceeded to strip him of his clothes, pull the rest of her clothes off and was sinking down on top of his always impressive erection. "So…tight…so…good…" He groaned as Janet began to rock back and forth. He returned to her breasts, sucking one and fondling the other. As she moved over him she ran her fingers up and down his arms, chest and back, heightening both of their pleasure. The closer he got to his orgasm, Eddie couldn't handle the slowness. He gripped her hips and began to pound himself inside of her, as fast as he could, watching with utter joy as Janet's breasts bounced in front of his eyes. When he sensed that they were both ready to explode, he crushed his lips to hers and the sounds of their orgasms were expelled into each other's mouths. After a few minutes of soft kisses and caresses, Janet climbed off of Eddie and put his shirt on. He returned his jeans to his body and then he sat next to Janet and pulled her into his arms.
"Cold?" He whispered as she snuggled against him.
"Yeah." Eddie quickly covered them up with a blanket. "That was amazing. It has been way too long."
"We shouldn't have done that."
"Yes we should have." Janet sighed. She was so confused. "I want to give us another chance."
"We can't."
"Why the hell not?"
"We tried marriage and it didn't work and in the process of it not working we broke our children's hearts. We can't go down that road again."
"Who is to say that we will go down that road again Janet? I love you Janet. I want my family back."
"I love you too Eddie, so much."
"Then give us another try."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"We were so happy together. I loved our life, our family but when things got rough, we let money problems tear us apart. We could have gotten through it but neither of wanted to try and we took the easy way out by getting a divorce. We didn't fight for our marriage, for our love, for our family and that's why we can't give us another try."
"That's crap Janet. Yeah, we could have fought but we were both so frustrated that we weren't thinking clearly. Not fighting for us, that was the worst decision of my life and the instant I signed my name to those damn divorce papers I regretted it and I continue to regret it."
"Me too."
"I hate only being a parent to my children every other week. That's not what I signed up for dammit." Eddie had tears in his eyes as he spoke to her. "I hate that when I don't have them that the only way I can tell them goodnight is over the phone. I hate that if I have them and they get sick they cry for you and no matter what I do, I'm not you and I hate that if they are sick when you have them, I'm not there. I hate our broken family." Janet reached up and wiped away his tears. "Do you have any idea how much I hate only being able to see you once a week and when I do see you I can't tell you how I feel? I hate this." Janet pulled his head to her chest and held him as he cried.
"Eddie I hate it too." She cried with him. "I miss you. The kids miss you and its so hard being a single parent."
"Marry me Janet?" Eddie asked.
"I'm scared Eddie."
"Of what? Of me?"
"My heart was broken when we got a divorce and I can't go through it again and I know you don't want to either."
"Of course I don't want another divorce. We are older and wiser and we can learn from our mistakes. If we start having problems again then we'll get counseling. I'll do whatever I need to do to keep our marriage together and if you're willing to do the same then we will be fine."
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
"Then say yes." He begged and Janet didn't answer. "Please baby. I love you. I want to marry you again." Her silence was killing him.
"Yes." She finally whispered.
"Yes?"
"Yes." Janet threw her arms around Eddie and kissed him. When they broke apart Eddie led Janet to his bedroom where they made love into the wee hours of the morning. Two hours after they fell asleep Ashton and Max found them in the same bed, wrapped tightly in each other's arms and it was a dream come true for them. Ashton's squealing roused her stated parents.
"Ashton." Eddie groaned.
"Are you guys going to get married again?" She asked.
"Should we tell them sweetheart?" Eddie asked the woman lying next to him.
"I think that they have figured it out."
"Really? You guys are getting married?" Max asked in disbelief.
"Yes sir." Eddie affirmed and before they had time to prepare themselves Ashton and Max were on the bed hugging them.
"Emma, where is Emma? It's past her breakfast time." Janet suddenly realized when the kids pulled away from them.
"She's downstairs eating. I got her cereal for her and that's when I saw your car in the driveway so Max and I came up to investigate."
"Come on. Let's go tell her the news." Eddie told his family. Max and Ashton jumped off the bed. Luckily, before they fell asleep, Eddie gave Janet a pair of his sweat pants and a tee shirt to sleep in and he also slept in a pair of sweats so he was able to climb out of bed while the kids were in the room. He walked over to the other side of the bed, kissed the woman he loved and pulled her out of bed and together, the four of them walked downstairs together to give Emma the wonderful news.
Eddie and Janet were married a month later in a small ceremony with their three children standing up for them. During their years together, they had problems, like any couple but they always worked through them and they remained married until death parted them.