I own none of the characters of October Road

"Maybe I should have mentioned this earlier but I'm not to keen on flying." Janet mumbled. She and Eddie were sitting in the airport terminal waiting to board their flight to Vegas. Over the past week Eddie divided his time between his parents, friends and Janet. His friends wanted to be with Eddie as much as they could but they understood that he needed to be with Janet. He had gotten his whole body scan yesterday and an hour before they left for the airport his doctor called them and told him that his cancer had not spread, a small victory for Eddie.

"Don't worry. I'll keep you safe." He joked and she sent him a glare.

"If a giant few thousand ton plane decides to crash there isn't a damn thing you can do about it."

"It won't crash babe." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his well-worn list and handed it to her. "Here, I made some changes to my list. Take a look at it." Taking a deep breath to keep her tears from falling she opened the paper.

1. Go to Vegas and Win

2. See Wayne Newton in concert

3. Get a tattoo

4. Go whitewater rafting

5. Go bungee jumping

6. Learn to surf

7. Run the bases at Fenway Park

8. Fly a plane

9. Go to the veteran's wall and the Smithsonian in DC

10. Watch a sunset with Janet, stay out all night and then watch the sun rise in the morning

11. Join the mile high club

"What happened to the Grand Canyon?" She asked him

"I though about it and it was something that I wanted to do but not something that I have to do before I die. I can look at pictures on the Internet and get the same view. I also figured that a hike to the bottom was a little risky cause if I got a headache halfway down, I was screwed."

"You don't have a tattoo?"

"You've seen me naked Janet." He said somewhat loudly causing a few people to glance their way, which caused her to turn red. "Do I have a tattoo?"

"No I guess not. I guess I'm just surprised that you don't already have one. Why don't you have one?"

"I don't know. I guess that I always thought that there would be more time. Why don't you have a tattoo?"

"I can't think of anything that I like well enough that I want to permanently place on my body. What kind of tattoo do you want?"

"I haven't decided yet. Do you wanna get one with me?"

"No way buster." He looked crestfallen so she leaned over and quickly kissed his lips. "Now did you bring someone along to help you with your mile high club aspirations?"

"I'm looking at her."

"No way in hell am I having sex with you on a plane."

"Please?" He gave her a puppy dog look and she almost caved.

"Not happening stud."

"Are you really going to deny a dying man his wish?"

"That's not funny Eddie." She snapped. Although she knew making jokes was his way of dealing with his death she hated it. Before he could respond the boarding call went over the loudspeaker. They both stood and boarded their plane in silence. Neither of them spoke until the plane was in the air.

"Are you okay?" He whispered.

"I'm fine." He knew she wasn't fine. He knew that she was pissed about the dying man crack he made be he couldn't help himself. He leaned over and placed kisses on her neck while his hand rested on her inner thigh, under her skirt. "Eddie." She protested weakly.

"I'm sorry I upset you."

"I'm not upset."

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Okay. I'm going to get some sleep."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He settled back on his seat and closed his eyes.

While Eddie attempted to sleep Janet was wide- awake thinking of how she hurt him. When she told him that she wouldn't join the mile high club she was just playing hard to get but he had to pull the dying man card and it just pissed her off. Pushing her anger deep inside she decided to help him accomplish what was on his list. She placed her hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently and he opened his eyes.

"I have to go to the bathroom." She placed her hand on his inner thigh and gently rubbed. Winking she stood and headed to the bathroom. Once the door was locked she slipped off her underwear, thankful she chose to wear a skirt. After a few minutes of anxious waiting she heard a knock on the door. Leaning forward from her spot on the sink she turned the lock and Eddie walked in wearing a huge toothless smile locking the door behind him. Placing his hands on her thighs he leaned forward and kissed her hard on the mouth his hands slowly traveling up until he met with her underwear free hot and wet center. He groaned when his fingers made contact.

"God woman, you're not wearing any underwear."

"I took them off when I came in here." Her fingers unbuckled his belt; she unzipped his pants and pushed them off of his hips along with his boxers. He pushed her skirt up her thighs, grabbed her legs, pulled her to the very edge of the sink, spread her legs and he pushed himself into her with one swift smooth stroke. "This is so damn uncomfortable." She said laughing between strokes. With every stroke he pushed her lower back into the faucet. "You so owe me."

"Damn right I do." He grunted. A few thrusts later he had emptied himself inside of her and for the first time in their relationship she did not have an orgasm. "Baby, I'm sorry." It was really bothering him that she didn't get a release like he did. She reached out and cupped his face in her hands.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. It wasn't you. It was the faucet being jammed into my lower back that put a damper on my mood." She quickly kissed him. "Now pull your pants up and get back to your seat before people become suspicious." He quickly did as he was told.

"I will make it up to you." He promised.

"Damn right you will baby." This time he winked at her and slipped out of the bathroom, leaving her to clean herself up.

Five minutes later she returned to her seat, a slight blush covering her cheeks because she swore people were staring at her. "What took you so long sweetheart?" He asked her loudly.

"I'm going to kill you." She muttered under her breath and he laughed.

"Did I hurt you?" He turned serious.

"Nothing a massage won't fix."

"You've got it." He pulled his list out his list and crossed off number 11. "Ten more things to do. Now we are going to stay in Vegas for four days unless we lose all of our money tonight then we can go home early. When we leave Vegas we will fly to West Virginia where I booked us a one-day rafting trip. The day after our trip I got us scheduled for bungee jumping off of a bridge into a lake." His eyes were sparkling with excitement and it was rubbing off on Janet. "After we jump off a bridge we will end our trip in D.C. where we will stay a couple of days taking in the sights."

"We are going to be busy for the next couple of weeks. What happened to surfing and making love in the Pacific Ocean?"

"I know you Janet and I can't imagine you willingly making love in the sand, in public." He knew her very well. "As far as the surfing goes there is an indoor water park in Boston that have this simulation surfing thing. I want to take the guys with me and spend a day there."

"I think that it will be perfect. Just remember that there will be children present." He burst out laughing.

"We'll be good sweetheart." He reached out and took her hand. When he looked at her his eyes were full of unshed tears.

"Thank you Janet for helping me complete my list." She nodded because she could not speak over the lump in her throat. "I love you."

"Oh Eddie, I love you too."

--

When they arrived in Vegas they went straight to their hotel. Eddie had booked them at The New York New York hotel. Neither of them had experienced anything like this before and they were both a little shell-shocked but excited as hell.

"I feel like I'm New York City." Janet told him as they waited in line to check in.

"I think that's why they named it the New York New York." He quipped with a grin and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Smart ass." She whispered as they stepped up to the desk.

"Welcome to The New York New York. How may I help you?"

"We have a reservation for Latekka." Eddie said happily. The woman at the desk typed in a few commands on her computer, walked over to a file, grabbed an envelope and then returned to Eddie and Janet and handed them a key.

"You will be in room 5436." She slid the envelope across the desk. "These are the tickets for the seven o'clock Wayne Newton concert that you ordered. We provide a shuttle to the concerts that leaves an hour before every show. It's a free service provided to guests of our hotel. Just show your room key and you'll be all set. Now would you like a bellman to assist you with your luggage?"

"No thanks. We can handle it."

"Enjoy your stay." Eddie grabbed their key and tickets off of the desk; they both grabbed their suitcases and headed to their room.

"Wow." Janet breathed as she looked around their exquisite room. "This is beautiful. Eddie, it must of cost a fortune. Maybe we could get a cheaper room." Eddie walked over and took her hands.

"I know you're worried about the money but don't. I have it all under control."

"I'm not worried about money."

"Janet I've seen you critically examining your checkbook and I know that taking this trip is going to cause some financial strain for you because you aren't working but don't worry about that because I'm going to take care of you. I have a credit card with an insane limit that I'm going to max out. I've cleaned out my savings and retirement account since I'm not going to see my retirement and pretty soon I'll have the money from selling my house and when I'm gone my life insurance can pay off my credit card."

"I can take care of myself."

"Janet I know how damn stubborn and independent you are, it's one of the things that I love about you so quit being stubborn and let me take care of you. Your willingness to drop everything and be with me until the end means so much to me. You've let me move in with you and obviously you're grocery and utilities will go up and that's because of me."

"I can handle my bills."

"Janet, sweetheart I believe that you can but it's going to be hard, especially when you get your paycheck after missing all of these shifts because of this trip. I love you Janet and I want to take care of you in every way. Will you let me do this?" She nodded. "Good, I'm going to start now." He pressed his lips to hers while pushing her back onto the bed. He easily pushed her skirt up, lifted her ass off of the bed and slipped her underwear off. "Time to give you what I didn't earlier." He sat on his knees and lifted her legs onto his shoulders.

"Eddie…I…" She had suddenly become very nervous because no one had ever gone down on her before.

"Just relax sweetheart and let me take care of you." He placed his lips on her inner thigh and planted small soft kissed up her thigh until he reached her core. She began to squirm when he found and began to suck her clit. The sounds that were coming out of her mouth were primal and it was turning him on. When he placed his tongue inside of her she bucked her hips and almost knocked him off of his knees and onto his ass. He almost came in his pants when he glanced up between her legs and saw that her eyes were closed, she had unbuttoned her shirt, pulled a breast out of the cup that was holding it and her fingers were gently caressing it. He quickly increased the speed of his tongue, lapping up all of her sweet juices. When she finally climaxed in his mouth he held her legs tightly to his shoulders until her tremors subsided.

"Eddie…that was…wow." She panted breathlessly as he placed her legs back on the bed. Smiling he leaned down and kissed her lips in a sweet gentle kiss. When she tasted herself on his lips her hips involuntarily arched towards his. "Make love to me." She whispered when they broke apart. Eddie Latekka did not need to be asked twice. Smiling he sat back on his knees, pulled her skirt and his tee shirt off. He quickly climbed off of the bed and yanked his pants and boxers off while she tossed her shirt and bra across the room. In ten seconds he was back in bed and on top of her kissing and sliding inside of her. "I love you." She told him.

"Oh sweetheart, I love you too." He returned his lips to hers and they made love slowly and tenderly until both of their bodies were convulsing in sweet release.

"So are you ready to go gambling?" She asked planting soft kisses on his chest.

"You wore me out babe. I think I need a nap." She knew it was the cancer, not the sex that wore him out. "I just need a couple of hours and then I'll be good as new and we'll go lose all of our money."

"Or win some." She said grinning.

"You can go start now if you want." He said yawning.

"No, I want to wait for you."

"I like that." He wrapped his arm around her while she laid her head on his chest, running her fingers through his chest hair. He was snoring softly in less then five minutes and she followed suit ten minutes later.

--

After they woke up from their naps they took a shower together and then headed down to the main floor of their hotel. They found a restaurant and grabbed a late lunch/early dinner and then they hit the casino.

"So what do you want to do first?" He asked her.

"It's your list Eddie so it's up to you."

"Let's start with Roulette." He grabbed her hand and led her across the casino to The Roulette table. "Okay baby what number should I bet on?" He asked her.

"What if the number I pick doesn't win?"

"It's Vegas. I'm not supposed to win so pick me a number."

"Okay black 14."

"You heard the lady twenty on black 14." He laid the chip down and the game started. They both watched as the marble went around and around and to both of their surprise it landed on black 14."You did it J." He cheered, planting a big sloppy kiss on her mouth.

"Unbelievable." She said in amazement. "It must have been a fluke." Eddie collected his winnings and made her pick again but they weren't as lucky this time or the next three times. "I'm sorry." She mumbled as they walked away.

"Don't be sorry. Its just money and I expected to lose a shit load of it. Come on, let's lose some more on blackjack." The spent the next two hours traveling around the casino playing card games and the slot machines winning some but losing a lot more but they sure had fun doing it. At six o'clock they were on the shuttle van on their way to see Wayne Newton. Eddie talked like an excited child the entire ride and Janet just smiled and let him have his fun.

During the concert Eddie stared at the stage and snag along to all of the songs while Janet just watched him watching the show. She didn't understand why he was so fascinated with Wayne Newton. In all of the years that knew each other he never mentioned anything about being a Wayne Newton fan. "Isn't he amazing." He whispered several times to her during the show and she just smiled and nodded. She was just happy that he was enjoying himself.

"That was so freaking awesome." He told her after the curtain went down. "Thanks for coming with you."

"It was my pleasure."

"You are such a liar." He accused when they got outside.

"I'm not lying. It may not have been my favorite activity but you had fun and that's all that matters to me."

"You are too sweet." When they got to the van he stopped her from getting on. "Let's walk."

"Eddie our hotel is miles from here and Las Vegas isn't the safest place to walk around at night."

"We're on The Strip around thousands of people. We'll be fine and I don't want to walk all the way back to our hotel. I'm not that crazy. The dancing fountain thing isn't far from here and they run a show every half hour. Once we see the show we'll catch a cab back to our hotel."

"You're up for walking?" She stared at him, looking for any signs of a headache but she saw none.

"I'm fine. Come on." They linked hands and joined the throngs of people out walking and enjoying Las Vegas. "Isn't this place amazing?" He asked her.

"I've never seen anything like it. So out with it, what is up with you and Wayne Newton? I never knew that you liked him."

"I grew up listening to him."

"Really?"

"Mom and dad played him all of the time."

"You're parents are fans?"

"They are. Mom and dad met at a Wayne Newton concert their first night in town. They both were in Vegas with friends and they ended up sitting beside each other at the concert. They started talking during intermission and they quickly realized that they lived near each other. Mom lived in The Ridge and dad lived in Myersville. They spent the rest of the week together and on their last day in town they headed to an Elvis wedding chapel and got married. To celebrate they went back to where it started to another Wayne Newton concert and rumor has it that I was conceived after that second concert."

"Oh my God. That is so romantic. I can't believe that they only knew each other for a week before they got married and they are still married thirty years later. No one really falls in love and stays in love like that anymore." She said wistfully.

Eddie didn't respond. He was afraid that if he did he would burst into tears and he refused to cry in the middle of The Las Vegas Strip. Instead of speaking he just squeezed her hand tightly and they finished their walk in silence until the reached the fountain.

"Are you okay Eddie?" She asked softly.

"Janet I know that the love that I feel for you would have lasted the test of time. I know that I will love you for the rest of my life which is only for a few more months but even if I didn't have this death sentence hanging over me I know that our love would have been like my parents, something that would last for years and years." Damn it, he could have kicked himself. He made her cry and that was something he did not want this to happen during this trip. Using his thumb he wiped the tears from her cheek. "I'm sorry that I won't be able to give my love to you for more than a few short months." Without saying a word she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder and he just wrapped his arms around her back and he held her tightly. "Are you okay sweetheart?" He whispered in her ear and she nodded, never lifting her head off of his shoulder. "The show is about to start." She slowly lifted her head off of his shoulder. He turned her around so she could relax against his chest and he weaved his arms around her and linked his hands together, resting them on her stomach and his head on her shoulder.

"This is beautiful." Janet said softly.

"Absolutely." He responded looking at the woman in his arms.

They reluctantly broke apart towards the end of the show so they could join the rest of the crowd in the applause during the finale. When it was over he started to lead her over to the edge of the sidewalk to catch a cab but she stopped him.

"I'm not ready to go back to the hotel yet. Can we sit here for a few minutes?" She asked him.

"Sure." She took his hand and led him over to a bench near a fountain. He sat first and she sat on his lap. She snaked her arm around his neck and kissed him passionately. "Wow." He said breathlessly when they broke apart. "That was hot."

"Eddie I'm helping you complete your list of things to do before you die and now there is something that I want you to do for me before you die."

"Anything you want sweetheart."

"Good." She took a deep breath before uttering the words that would quite possibly change her life forever, hopefully for the better. "Eddie Latekka, I want you to marry me."

Thanks for reading. Please, please review with your thoughts.