I own none of the characters of October Road

"Call her Janet." Eddie said to his wife.

"I don't wanna."

"Jesus, you sound like a child." He muttered.

"If it's so damn important to you why don't you call her?" Janet snapped back. The topic of her mother always put her in a foul mood.

"Because she isn't my mother. She's yours."

"Why is this so important to you Eddie?"

"Because she is your family and after I'm gone you're going to need all the family that you can get."

"Give me the damn phone." Janet would much rather talk to her mother then discuss Eddie's death any day of the week. She waited impatiently while the phone rang on the other end until her mom picked up, surprising Janet.

"Hi mom. It's Janet. Ummm…Uhhh….Eddie and I arrived here in D.C. a few hours ago."

"How was your flight?"

"Fine."

"What are your plans for your stay?"

"Today Eddie wants to scope out all of the monuments, maybe take a couple of tours and then we are going to spend the next two days at the Smithsonian's."

"Is that all you have planned?" Sharon asked.

"Yep.

"It doesn't sound like much fun."

"It's what Eddie wants to do." As soon as the words were out of her mouth Janet regretted them. She did not want her mom knowing that Eddie was dying. "I meant it's what we want to do. You know how much I love museums."

"Well how about we meet for dinner on Friday night?" Sharon suggested

"That's fine." Janet mumbled.

"Let's meet at 7:30 at L'Tureve. It's a very nice restaurant. Do you two have nice clothes with you, a dress for you and a jacket and tie for you husband?"

"I'm sure we'll manage to come up with something that will meet the dress code requirements."

"Very good. I will also have passes left for you two at the museums."

"Mom you don't need to do that."

"Nonsense. I have the passes and I will never use them so stop at security and they will be there for you. Now what is your married name? I know you told me but I just don't remember."

"It's Latekka."

"Spell it dear." Janet sighed irritably.

"L-a-t-e-k-k-a."

"Okay. The passes will be there. Have a nice time and I will see you on Friday."

"Yeah. See you on Friday."

"I look forward to meeting your husband."

"Bye mom."

"Now that wasn't so bad now was it?" Eddie asked with a self-satisfied grin and Janet just glared at him.

"Oh by the way the lunch has changed to dinner at a fancy restaurant that requires a shirt and tie." Janet gloated. Eddie hated wearing ties and she was going to rub it in.

"I think I can suck it up."

"I hate you." She growled and Eddie just grinned as he pulled her into his arms. When he kissed her she stubbornly didn't respond but he was not a man to give up. He continued to kiss her and eventually he felt her body begin to relax followed by her lips and she was quickly responding to his kiss hungrily.

"Now." Janet whispered into his ear when her hands began to unbuckle his pants. "I need you now." She shoved his pants below his hips to the floor and pushed him onto the couch.

"Janet!" He gasped when he landed, bare ass, with a thud on the couch. She has never been the aggressive one in their sexual relationship so this was taking him by total surprise and he was loving it. He jaw dropped when she shucked her jeans off, straddled his lap and slid over his erection. "Son of a bitch." He breathed out when she began pumping herself rapidly over him.

"A little help here." She panted. Taking his hands she placed them under her shirt that she was still wearing on her bare hips. The sensation of her bare skin mixed with fabric drove Eddie insane and suddenly she wasn't moving fast enough. He gripped her hips tightly and began bucking himself roughly inside of her. A slow smile crossed her face, she closed her eyes and dug her nails into his shoulders through his tee shirt and met his thrusts with pure joy.

"Am I hurting you?" He grunted.

"Harder." She groaned.

"Janet?" He questioned. He was already pumping into her pretty hard.

"Harder! Faster." She demanded breathlessly. Because of his current position he really couldn't go much harder or faster, so without pulling out he awkwardly adjusted their positions until she was on her back on the couch and he was above her on his knees.

"Are you sure?"

"God…YES." He pushed her legs out as far as they would go and then he slammed into her over and over as fast as he could while she yelped in pleasure with every stroke. It didn't take long before she was convulsing in pleasure and he was exploding inside of her.

"Did I hurt you?" He whispered gently. He was terrified that he had because he really was rough.

"Hell no. That was exactly what I needed."

"What the hell got into you?" He reached out and pulled her to her feet. They were both covered in sweat and they needed a shower.

"I don't know. I just got really horny suddenly and slow sex just wasn't going to cut it."

"Baby that was damn hot. We need to do that again." He said with a grin.

"I'll see what I can do." She said pulling him into the shower with her.

For the next two days the newlywed couple explored every possible inch of the Smithsonian's in D.C. They absorbed every possible bit of information that they could and they loved every minute of it. If they could have spent another week going through the museums they would have.

"Maybe she forgot." Janet said hopefully. They were at L'Tureve waiting for Janet's mom to show up.

"She didn't forgot. I'm sure she's just running late."

"Damn." Eddie reached for her hand.

"Why aren't you drinking that ridiculously expensive wine?" He asked her gently.

"My stomach is still queasy." She had been nauseated all day.

"Janet, sweetheart it's just your mom. There really is no reason to be so worked up."

"I know. I can't help it." She gave him a small smile and he leaned over and quickly kissed her.

"I gotta take a leak. Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone." He instructed.

"I'll try."

As she sat alone and waited she thought of her relationship with her mother. For as long as she could remember she and her mother had a stormy relationship and her father was always the buffer between them. When her mother would get on her case about her weight her dad would always be there to tell her that she was beautiful just the way she was. No matter what Janet did she always felt that it was never good enough for her mother.

When Josh Meadows died Sharon and Janet were both heartbroken and kept that pain to themselves. The last six months that Janet spent in high school they hardly spoke. They had lost their buffer and even though they still had each other they felt utterly alone. Sharon missed her best friend and lover and Janet missed the man who had complete and total faith in her; the man who loved her unconditionally.

"I'm sorry that I'm late." Sharon gushed.

"It's no problem." Janet stood and the two women awkwardly embraced.

"So where is this husband of yours?"

"Bathroom."

"Are you enjoying your trip?"

"Yeah. The museums were amazing. Have you ever been?"

"No I haven't. I just don't have time."

"Of course you don't." Janet mumbled under her breath.

"Janet you know how I feel about mumbling. It's rude and…"

"Here comes Eddie." Janet interrupted the beginning of the lecture.

"Where?" Janet felt tears spring to her eyes. Eddie was the only person walking towards them.

"The only guy walking over here."

"Really?" Sharon said in a surprised tone.

"Yes mom, really. What the hell did you expect, some fat slob?"

"Janet Edith...please don't be so rude." Sharon chastised.

"Mrs. Meadows. I'm Eddie Latekka. It's a pleasure meeting you." Eddie said flashing a charming smile her way.

"It's nice to meet you as well. I'm starving. Have you ordered yet?" Sharon asked them

"No we were waiting for you." Sharon raised her hand, snapped her fingers and the waiter came right over to take their orders.

"Nice." Eddie said with a grin and Janet just rolled her eyes.

Throughout the meal Eddie and Sharon carried on a light conversation while Janet just picked at her food. Eddie had a constant grip on Janet's hand reminding her that he was there with her.

"So Janet, how did your husband propose?" Sharon ask

"Actually mom I was the one who asked Eddie to marry me."

"Very funny Janet." Sharon was not smiling.

"I'm not trying to be funny mom."

"So you are pregnant then aren't you?"

"No mom. I'm not pregnant." Janet said softly.

"Then why on earth did you propose? Don't you think that you put Eddie in an awkward position by forcing him to say yes?"

"Forcing him to say yes?"

"Janet if he really wanted to marry you I'm sure that he would have asked you but by you asking him you made him say yes because it would have been rude not to."

"Okay he is sitting right here." Eddie spoke up. "And he wanted to marry Janet, more then anything. Janet just beat me to proposing."

"It's just not right…not normal." Sharon mumbled. "It's the man who should be the one who proposes."

"Times change mom."

"They certainly do. The daughter I remember would never have proposed to a man like this." Eddie cringed.

"Love changed me mom."

"I can see that. It looks like you are taking better care of yourself. Are you on a diet because I've noticed that you have hardly eaten your dinner?"

"No mom. I'm not on a diet." Janet snapped. "Excuse me. I need to use the ladies room." Before anyone could respond Janet was rushing away from the table.

"Okay Sharon we need to have a chat." Eddie said turning to his mother in law. "I love that woman who just walked away from this table in tears. I love her more than anything and seeing her hurt does not make me happy."

"I don't mean to hurt her."

"You do Sharon. You hurt her with your snide little comments about her weight; the look of shock on your face when you realized I was her husband or hinting that I would only marry Janet because I felt cornered in to it because she proposed or she was pregnant. I love Janet. She is the most beautiful woman that I have ever laid eyes on and I wanted to marry her. I wanted to become her husband and I promise you Sharon that I am going to love that amazing, wonderful, precious woman for the rest of my life."

"Janet and I…we just never got along."

"As her husband I can't let you hurt her anymore. You two are family and she is going to need you."

"What does that mean?"

"It just means that both of you need to try to get along; attempt to have a relationship."

"We have a relationship Edward."

"It's just Eddie and what you two have, I wouldn't call a relationship. You know, she was really disappointed that you didn't come to the wedding."

"She should have given me more notice. I am a very busy woman." Sharon said.

"That would take away from the whole spur of the moment idea." Eddie muttered. He couldn't win with this woman. "Just think about giving her a call every once in a while when it's not her birthday or Christmas."

"What about Christmas?" Janet asked returning to her seat.

"I was just asking your mom what her plans were because if she doesn't have any she should come and spend it with us." Eddie said staring at Sharon.

"I'll let you know closer to the holidays but it sounds like a nice idea." Janet stared at her mother. Who was this woman sitting across from her? It sure as hell wasn't her mother.

"Will you be having dessert?" Their waiter asked and the three of them shook their heads.

"But I will take the check please." Sharon said. The waiter nodded and disappeared.

"Mom, we'll get dinner." Janet said

"No it's my treat. Consider it a wedding gift oh and speaking of gifts." Sharon reached into her purse and handed Janet a bank book.

"Oh my God." Janet opened it and saw that the balance in the account was around ten thousand dollars. "What the hell is this mom?"

"That is the money that your father and I saved for your wedding and college. Since you never went to college and you had a Vegas wedding I guess that this money is yours to do with as you wish."

"Mom I can't take this. It's a hell of a lot of money."

"We saved it for you so technically it belongs to you."

"Mom I…"

"Janet your dad would want you to have it." Sharon knew that telling Janet that Josh wanted her to have the money would convince her to keep it.

"Thanks mom." Janet didn't know what else to say.

"You're welcome. Maybe it will come in handy."

After Sharon paid the bill the three of them walked outside to the waiting cab. Janet and Sharon awkwardly embraced and then Eddie embraced Sharon. "Call her." He whispered before they broke apart.

"I'm sorry Janet." Eddie said once he gave the cab driver the name of their hotel. "I know it wasn't easy for you and I'm sorry I forced this visit on you."

"Don't be sorry. It went pretty much as I expected. As usual she reminded me how much I've disappointed her."

"Janet that's not true."

"Oh but it is. I proposed to you when I should have waited for you to propose. I never went to college and I didn't have a proper wedding. I'm just a giant disappointment but I've learned to live with it."

"Sweetheart…" Eddie tightened his arm around Janet's shoulder.

"I don't want to talk about her anymore."

"How is your stomach?"

"Still a little upset but I'll live." She suddenly sat up out of his embrace. "Excuse me? Can you stop at the drugstore on the right?" She asked the cab driver.

"What's wrong?"

"I just remembered that I need shampoo."

"Okay." The cab pulled into the parking lot.

"I'll run in real quick. Do you need anything?" Eddie shook his head and Janet quickly kissed him. "I'll be right back."

Once inside the store Janet made a beeline for the pharmacy where the pregnancy tests were kept. During dinner when her mother mentioned that the reason for the marriage was a pregnancy it got Janet thinking. She thought that maybe the queasiness that she has had all day may be a little more then her nerves and she realized that she had not had her period since she and Eddie made love for the first time; not since she found out that he was dying.

Both of them have been tested negative for STD's and HIV so they opted not to use condoms and just relied on Janet's birth control pills. She always takes her birth control pill before bed and the night that Eddie told her about his cancer she was so upset and there was so much on her mind that she forgot to take her pill. The next night she had taken two but now she was wondering if the effectiveness of the pill was decreased because of her error.

She had always assumed that since Eddie was sick that they would never have kids but now that she might be pregnant she wasn't sure how she felt about it. There were way too many thoughts going through her head right now to even begin to try to sort out her feelings. The only thing she knew for sure was that she wouldn't tell Eddie until she was holding a positive result in her hand and if it was negative she wouldn't tell him at all.

When she got to the checkout line she realized that she didn't have the shampoo in her hand so she ran to aisle 3, grabbed a bottle and returned to the checkout. She didn't want to linger in the store for very long and arouse suspicion. Before leaving the store she shoved the receipt and the pregnancy test in her purse and then returned to the cab.

"Did you get it?" Eddie asked

"I sure did." She gave him a big smile as she settled back into the crook of his shoulder.

"You okay hon?" Janet lifted her head and kissed him gently.

"I love you Eddie. You know that don't you?" She asked when they broke apart.

"Of course I know that."

"By asking you to marry me did I force you to do something that you didn't want to do?"

"Absolutely not. Janet I told you why I didn't propose and it had nothing to do with you or my feelings for you. I love you so damn much and I'm glad that we got married. I do not regret it." He placed a hand on her cheek. "Never ever doubt what we have and what I feel for you."

"I don't and I won't." She whispered pressing her lips to his until they arrived back at their hotel.

"Eddie are you sleeping?" Janet asked. She waited for an answer but all she heard was snoring so she carefully extracted herself from his arms, climbed out of the bed, grabbed Eddie's tee shirt off of the floor, slipped it over her head, grabbed her purse and closed herself in the bathroom.

With shaking hands she pulled the pregnancy test out of her purse and read the directions. When she read every bit of information that came with the test she reread it all again. This was too important to risk making a mistake. Once she was confident in the directions she peed on the stick and began to wait. According to the directions it could take up to three minutes for results. Her grandmother used to say 'A watched pot never boils' but Janet could help herself. With a pounding heart she stared at the stick in her hand and waited and waited until finally the stick began to change colors. First one pink line showed up and then a second line showed up and Janet knew from reading the directions, twice, that two pink lines meant that she was pregnant.

Tears fell from her eyes the instant that she saw the second pink line and she had no idea if they were happy or sad tears. She was thrilled that she was going to have a baby; that she would always have a part of Eddie in her life after he was gone but at the same time she was heartbroken that she was going to have to raise a child on her own, that this child would never know its wonderful father and Eddie would never know his child; that he would be dead before the baby is even born.

What terrified her the most was the fact that she had no idea how Eddie was going to react. Hell, how does someone react to learning that they were going to have a child that they were never going to know? Eddie would never have the opportunity to hold his child, hear his child's first words, hear his child call him daddy; he'll never even know what their baby looks like.

This should be one of the of the happiest times of her life, of both of their lives but right now all Janet could feel was heartbreak. Heartbreak for herself, heartbreak for her husband and heartbreak for the child that had yet to be born, the child that would never know his or her wonderful daddy and that alone broke her heart.

After she calmed herself down she put the positive pregnancy test in her purse and returned to bed and Eddie's arms but she didn't sleep. She spent the night reliving the past few months as Eddie's girlfriend, lover, and finally wife and then imagining the future she had left with Eddie and the future with their child without Eddie. By the time the sun rose she had decided that she would tell Eddie about their baby when they got home that way they could talk about it in the privacy of their own home.

"Morning sweetheart." Eddie mumbled with a yawn.

"Good morning." Janet said leaning forward to kiss him. "You're up early." She commented when they broke apart.

"I guess I just needed to make love to my beautiful wife before we fly out of here." He said rolling on top of her. "Is that okay with her?"

"It's more than okay." She whispered pulling his face towards her. "I love you Eddie."

"I love you Janet." Their lips descended on each other and they started their day, together as one in body, heart, and soul.

Thanks for reading. Please review with your thoughts. I really do appreciate it.

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