I own none of the characters of October Road

It had been six weeks since Eddie and Janet were told that they were going to have their long awaited and highly desired baby. They had decided to wait until Janet got through the first trimester before they told anyone because the percentage of miscarriages dropped after the first trimester. Around their family and friends they tried to act normal but when they were alone, they were downright giddy, planning and talking about their future child.

"Good morning Eddie and Janet." Dr. Hatley greeted, walking into the exam room.

"Good Morning." Janet and Eddie answered together.

"Everything going well Janet?" He asked, already knowing the answer. His patient was positively glowing.

"Everything is great."

"Feeling sick or tired?"

"I'm very tired and I do have morning sickness."

"Is it bad?"

"It sucks. It lasts a couple of hours but I can deal with it. Waking up and puking every day reminds me that I am pregnant and I am okay with that." Eddie reached over and squeezed her hand.

"The sickness should only last through the first trimester. If it gets to be too much for you let me know and I can give you something to help combat the nausea." Janet nodded. "Have you decided if you want to continue your prenatal care with your regular OB/GYN?"

"You said that you can handle my prenatal care and delivery if I wanted." Dr. Hatley nodded. "I would like for you to continue our care. You made this happen and you should see the end result."

"I think that I can handle that." Dr. Hatley smiled at his patient. "Let's get started."

"Are we going to be able to see the baby's sex today?" Eddie asked as Janet laid back on the table for her ultrasound.

"Sorry Eddie. It's way too soon. The point of today's ultrasound is just to check and make sure the embryo implanted correctly and check for multiple births." Dr. Hatley put the cold gel on Janet's belly, turned the ultrasound machine on and then placed the wand on her belly.

"Can you see it?" Eddie asked his wife as they both stared at the screen.

"I can't see anything."

"Yeah, me either."

"Well Janet and Eddie, you don't have to worry about twins."

"That's good." Janet whispered. They knew that with the IVF treatment and implanting more than one embryo could result in multiple births but that was a risk that they was willing to take but now that it was official that they weren't having twins, they both breathed a little easier.

"Nope no, twins."

"What's going on?" Janet was suspicious of the way the doctor was acting and grinning.

"You are not having twins."

"We got that."

"What do you think of the number three?" There was an immediate silence and it took a few minutes for Dr. Hatley's words to sink in.

"I beg your pardon?" Janet finally managed to get out.

"I found three heartbeats."

"Is there more?" Eddie asked. Three kids was a lot and he didn't know if he could handle more than that.

"No. Just three."

"I don't understand how this happened. We only put in two embryos." Eddie was in shock, happy but still in shock.

"Apparently, one of the embryos divided so two out of the three will be identical twins."

"Wow." Was all Janet could manage to say at this point.

"Would you like to see their heartbeats?" Janet nodded and Eddie spoke for them both when he agreed and five minutes later, they had seen three tiny heartbeats that belonged to their three children. "Okay Janet, everything looks good. Now because of the triplets, I want to see you every two weeks so I can closely monitor you and the babies' progress." She simply nodded. "Are you okay Janet? You've been kinda quiet."

"Just surprised. I had mentally prepared myself for the possibility of twins but not triplets."

"I need to do a quick pelvic exam." Dr. Hatley put his gloves on and Janet scooted her butt down to the edge of the table and placed her feet in the stirrups. Dr. Hatley did a quick pelvic exam and once it was over he told her that everything looked perfect.

"Now everything that you have heard about being pregnant will most likely not apply in your case." The doctor explained as Janet sat back up "Everything will be different with you. For example, your weight gain is going to start sooner than normal and you're going to gain a lot more weight than normal. You're going to be tired, pretty much your entire pregnancy and your going to hurt. The further along you get the more excess weight in your stomach, you will be carrying and your lower back will be sore from supporting the babies. And lastly, you most likely won't go full term, most multiple births don't simply because there isn't enough room in your uterus. You'll probably go 28-30 weeks but I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that when your children are born, they are healthy. Are you ready for this Janet?"

"Absolutely not but I will be. Granted, I only wanted one baby but I'll take three."

"Okay then. If you have no more questions, I'm done with you for today." Janet and Eddie shook their heads. "Okay. Make sure that you set up your next appointment and I'll see you in two weeks." Dr. Hatley smiled and left them alone.

"It looks like we have a lot to talk about." Eddie finally said as Janet dressed.

"Are you upset?" She asked quietly and Eddie could tell that that she thought he was. He walked over and wrapped his arms around his wife.

"No sweetheart. I'm not upset at all."

"Really?" She mumbled into his chest as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Really. I'm not upset. Scared shitless but definitely not upset."

"I'm scared too Eddie but because I have you I know that we'll be fine."

"Of course you have me silly. I am these babies daddy." Janet giggled, lifted her head and kissed him softly.

"Our babies are lucky to have you as their daddy." With a smile, Eddie and Janet shared another kiss, a slow, tender kiss.

"I think I lost some of my hearing." Eddie commented after hanging up the phone. His mother screeched very loudly when Eddie told her of the upcoming triplets.

"I even heard her before you pulled the phone away from your ear." Janet teased. They had decided that since she was having triplets they should tell their family and friends about the babies since she would be showing before the first trimester was done and they wouldn't be able to hide it.

"Come on and sit with me." Eddie patted the empty seat next to him on the couch and Janet joined him. He automatically placed his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him. "Look baby, I've been thinking, all day about our babies, and I want you to stay home with them when they are born." He told her. "My mom stayed home and raised us and now that I'm all grown up and about to have kids of my own I realize what a good thing it was that she was there for us. She was there everyday when we got home from school. She helped us with our homework, taxied us everywhere we needed to go, made dinner for us every night, and came to every school function and sporting event that Katie and I had. I want that for our kids Janet."

"Can we afford that?" After her appointment they each returned to their respective jobs without really talking any details. They had decided to wait until they were home so they could discuss everything.

"I think that we can. We both have been working really hard and saving money. Daycare is not cheap. Nicky has been telling me what it's costing them for one kid and I multiplied that number by three and it's insane. Basically, for if you go back to work, your paycheck will pay for the daycare and there is no point."

"But Eddie with three kids, especially baby's, things are going to get way more expensive, diapers, formula, clothes. Will your salary be enough?" Janet loved the idea of being a stay at home mom but she wanted to make sure that they could provide for their family.

"Best Friend Windows is doing better. We are getting new accounts everyday. I think that we will be fine." Janet looked unconvinced. "Honey, if I didn't think that we could manage then I wouldn't suggest it." Janet believed him. "And I also had another brilliant idea."

"Oh really?"

"You have tons of those smelly candles around and you are always having parties so you can get more so why don't you start selling them. Remember last year when you had that party and I came home before it was over? You sent me to the kitchen until it was over." Janet nodded and smiled, remembering that night. "Well as I was sitting in the kitchen eating and bored, I was listening to the lady selling the candles and she was telling everyone that it was a great job, she made a lot of money and she worked when she wanted to. Janet that would be the perfect job for you. You could party when I'm home and able to take care of the kids."

"Wow. You're really using your brain."

"I'm always using my brain baby. That tumor didn't affect what a great organ my brain is."

"No baby. It didn't." Janet quickly kissed him. "Now while you spent the day thinking about me staying home with them, I have spent the day thing about their rooms. Now if we have two different sexes then two of them can share a room but I haven't figured out what to do if all three of them are the same sex. How do we decide which two would share a room and which one gets its own room? I came to the conclusion that the twins should share a room and then when they get older, we can switch things around. What do you think?"

"You know, I was thinking about that today too." Janet faked a shocked look.

"Wow! Twice in one day. I'm surprised that I don't smell smoke." She said with an evil grin.

Before Janet knew what was happening Eddie had pulled her onto his lap and started tickling her. "Eddie…please…" Janet gasped through her laughter. It never failed, whenever he tickled her, she ended up in hysterics. She laughed so hard that her stomach hurt. While he tickled her he removed her shirt and bra. "What…are…you…doing…?"

"Tickling you." He answered as one of his hands caressed one of her breasts.

"My boobs…not ticklish." She giggled because his other hand was still torturing her.

"Opps, my mistake."

"You don't seem very sorry."

"Trust me, I'm not." He finally stopped tickling her and he placed his lips on her neck, softly kissing her.

"We were…hmmm…talking about the nurseries…" Janet moaned.

"It can wait."

"But we should…"

"Woman would you please shut up?" He asked with a grin and Janet giggled. "I'm trying to get laid and you're making it difficult."

"Well I'm sorry but your intentions just weren't clear."

"Well I'm going to make my intentions damn clear." He pushed her off of his lap, stood up, shredded his clothes and then pulled off Janet's pants and underwear. Before he could climb back on the couch Janet was up on her feet, naked in front of him. "Now what part of my intentions are not clear?" He asked with a grin on his face.

"Your intentions are clear. You want to have sex. What wasn't clear was the position you wished to have sex so I decided to take the choice away from you." She walked in front of him and pushed him down on the couch.

"Are you giving me a ride?" Eddie's eyes sparkled in delight.

"Oh yeah." With a grin, she straddled his legs and sank down on hip with a groan. As soon as Janet began thrusting herself on him, Eddie's hands immediately went to her hips so he could help her move faster. "No. No. No." She scolded, placing her hands on top of his to stop their actions.

"What the hell?" He growled. He was inside of her and he wanted to move.

"Let me do the work."

"Please god, do something." He begged.

"I'm going to do something all right. I'm going to make you feel good." She placed a breast in his mouth, hoping to keep him distracted and he immediately began to suck so she began to move slowly over her shaft with the occasional rotating of the hips, giving them both extreme pleasure.

"God…Janet…" Eddie grunted. He was so close to his orgasm and he couldn't sit still any longer. Not caring about the consequences, he took his hands off of her ass where they had been caressing, put them around her hips and he began to thrust into her hard and fast. At this point Janet was close as well so she didn't fight him. She just placed her hands on his shoulders for stability and enjoyed the ride until they both came with a cry of relief.

Janet stayed on top of Eddie, the two of them gently sharing kisses until they had enough strength to lie down on the couch and enjoy some post-orgasmic cuddling. "Now before we got distracted we were talking about the nurseries." Janet probed as Eddie covered them up with a blanket.

"I think that you were right."

"Of course I am. I usually am."

"If we have two of the same sexes then those two should share a room but if all three babies are the same sex they should all share a room because it won't be fair for one kid to have its own room."

"I really don't want to squeeze all three kids into one room."

"We won't be squeezing. If all three babies are the same sex I want to tear down the wall between the two rooms and make one huge room and before you ask, it really doesn't cost a lot to tear down a wall."

"I think that is a perfect idea." Janet lifted her head, kissed him soundly.

"I know you're nervous about having three babies." Eddie told her when they broke apart. He knew her so well.

"I am. Besides the fact that it's very overwhelming I am so afraid that I won't be able to be a good enough mom to all three babies at once." He knew that was her biggest concern but he had no worries. He knew that she was going to make a wonderful mother whether they have one child or ten.

"Baby, you're going to make a great mom. You're right. It's going to be very overwhelming but we're in this together and we are going to raise the happiest three kids in Knights Ridge."

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"Cause I know you sweetheart and I know you worry about things like that."

"I love you Eddie."

"I love you too." Eddie scooted down the couch and kissed her belly. "I love you guys too."

Over the next few months Janet's pregnancy became common knowledge throughout the small town of Knights Ridge, not because they told everyone they saw but Janet was showing very early on. In fact, by week twenty, Janet looked like she was an easy seven months. Once people found out that Janet and Eddie were having triplets most of the town started dropping off used baby items that they no longer needed. By Janet's fifteenth week they already had three cribs, three highchairs and tons of miscellaneous items.

Janet had to quit working when she was four months along. When she was on her feet for excess periods of time her feet swelled up and it became painful to stand. On her last night at the bar, Sully threw Janet a small party where some people, the regulars mostly, brought in gifts for the babies. Sully had also told his patrons that if they brought in a pack of diapers, any size that their drinks would be on the house so by the end of the night, even with three kids, Janet and Eddie would not have to buy very many diapers.

When Janet quit working she began going stir-crazy. She has never been a person to be idle so not working was slowly driving her insane. She cleaned the would be nurseries, she cleaned her house, she worked on scrapbook albums from their wedding, cooked Eddie breakfast, lunch and dinner but it wasn't enough. She couldn't wait to start decorating the nursery or nurseries but that had to wait until they found out the sexes of their babies and that wasn't until twenty weeks. Finally, before she went totally insane she started selling candles a couple of times a week and that seemed to pacify her.

Now finally, twenty weeks came and they were back at Dr. Hatley's office, a place they seemed to be living at lately, so they could hopefully see the sexes. At this point, they really didn't care what sexes were; they just wanted three healthy babies. "Everything good Janet?" Dr. Hatley asked as he applied the gel to her growing belly.

"Everything is good." She confirmed.

"Glad to hear it." He turned the machine on. "Let's see if we can tell what we have." He moved the wand around while Janet and Eddie watched in amazement. The picture on the screen had changed so much since the last, her first ultrasound. On the previous test, they couldn't see anything that was recognizable to them; now today, they easily saw one of their children's faces and this baby had its thumb in its mouth. The doctor moved the wand down and they saw hands. Eddie and Janet were in awe, looking at their child.

"Is that what I think it is?" Eddie asked, staring at the screen where the picture was frozen.

"If you think it's a penis then you are correct."

"Tall and proud just like his dad." Eddie quipped.

"EDDIE!" Janet gasped, hitting him on his arm and he just laughed.

"That was the baby that isn't identical. Let's move on." He moved the wand and this time the proud parents again saw the baby's face but this baby just looked like it was sleeping. "Do you see anything?" He asked them. Eddie squinted but couldn't find another penis.

"Is this one a girl?" Janet asked.

"Nope." The doctor pointed to the screen and then they saw it. "Another penis so you have another boy."

"So that means that our third child is a boy as well since this one is identical?"

"That is correct but let's see what we can see." A few minutes later they saw their third child's face and he was in the middle of a yawn. Tears filled his mother's eyes. "It's a match. This one is a boy as well. Congratulations you two. You are the proud parents of three boys. Are you up for the challenge?"

"Bring it on." Janet answered with a grin.

"We really should discuss names." Eddie said later that night as he sat on the couch with his wife, rubbing her swollen feet. "I do not want the boys having rhyming names. No Ted, Fred or Jed. It's just cheesy."

"But baby, I had my heart set on Fred." Janet joked.

"Not happening."

"Well Jed isn't so bad and actually it's part of both of our names, J from me and the Ed from you."

"Really Janet?"

"No. I'm just messing with you. I do have one name in mind." He quirked an eyebrow at her. "I'm being serious."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Jacob Edward, from your dream."

"Honey, we don't have to name one of the babies after our son from my dream."

"I want to. I really love the name Jacob."

"I'll agree to it if you agree to one name that I have picked out."

"What is it?"

"Joshua, after your father." Tears filled Janet's eyes.

"I love that."

"Jacob will have our initials so we should make Joshua's middle name start with an E and then we also need to pick the third boy's name with the same initials."

"Daddy 's middle name is Evan." A few tears fell from Janet's eyes. "It's meant to be." She whispered. Eddie leaned forward and wiped the tears away. For the next fifteen minutes they threw out boy names that started with the letter "J" but there wasn't a name that both of them loved. Janet had one name that had been hanging around in the back of her mind but she wasn't sure if Eddie would like it.

"What about Jackson?"

"That's really close to my dad."

"I know that you don't want any of the boys to have your family name, which I totally get but Jacob will have your middle name, Joshua will be named after my dad so maybe this third boy should be named after your dad, in a way. Not John Edward IV but since your dad goes by Jack I think that Jackson would be perfect."

"I'm assuming that you have a middle name picked out?" Janet nodded proudly. "Care to share?"

"I think our third baby should be named Jackson Elliott." A big grin crossed his face.

"I think my dad will get a kick out of it."

"Is that a yes?"

"It's a yes."

Over the next month they continued to get ready for their boys to join them. The weekend after they found out that they were having all boys, Eddie, with the help of his friends and dad turned the two rooms into one huge nursery. Janet really didn't want a theme like animals or sports so she just chose a bold blue color to paint the walls and she stuck clingons of various shapes in all different bright, bold colors and sizes all over the walls. Knowing that the triplets were all individual children, she didn't match their bedding. She just picked, plain, simple, bright bedding that was different for each crib.

Eddie sent her away during the weekend that he worked on the nursery because he didn't want her inhaling the paint fumes and when she returned home, she cried because she was extremely hormonal and simply because it was beautiful. All three cribs were set up against one wall, evenly spaced out so there was room to maneuver. Across from the cribs, on the opposite wall was their dressers and above those dressers, hanging on the wall were their names craved out of wood and painted, something Eddie made them in his dad's garage. On either side of the crib in the middle was the two changing tables that they had so if needed Eddie and Janet could change and dress more than one baby at once. Janet's favorite part of the room was the rocking chair in the corner. She expected to spend a lot of time in that chair and she couldn't wait.

"On three honey." Janet was now six months pregnant huge and miserable but one would never know it. She was always smiling and never complained about her ongoing back pain, swollen body parts, or about the fact that one of the boys was always positioned on top of her bladder so she had to pee every five minutes, or one of them was against her diaphragm which was making it hard to breathe. She never complained when she struggled to get out bed because her big belly made that once simple feat much more difficult now and she never complained that she wasn't getting much sleep because one of her children, usually more than one, was moving and kicking her.

"Okay." Janet smiled sweetly at her husband who was helping her out of bed, like he did most mornings and during the middle of the night when she had to pee. He never complained about it though. He would do anything for his wife.

"One. Two. Three." Eddie gently pulled Janet into a sitting position. "How did you sleep?"

"For the few hours that one of your babies wasn't kicking me, I slept like a rock." Eddie leaned down and kissed her.

"Thank you." He whispered.

"For what?" She asked as she stood up.

"For going through all this for us."

"It's not a big deal."

"Liar."

"We should probably leave in an hour. I'm going to shower." Eddie grinned as he watched Janet waddle to the bathroom.

"I'll be there in a few minutes." And he was. Fifteen minutes later he was in the bathroom, pulling back the shower curtain. "Ready?" Janet nodded and pulled the shower down into the tub, still running and placed a leg on the edge of the tub. For the past six weeks, Janet's belly had grown so big that she was unable to shave her legs so Eddie happily stepped in. Her skin was always so soft and her legs are one of his many favorite things about her. It was just another reason for him to feel her legs. He thoroughly loved shaving her legs for her but there was one major downfall. By the time he was done, he was always so turned on and right now, they were not making love. In fact, it had been a few weeks since they last made love. At this point, Janet's belly was so big that there really wasn't a position that she found comfortable and Eddie understood that. With everything that Janet was going through to carry their babies, he could sacrifice but he couldn't wait until the time came when they could make love again.

After eating a quick breakfast, Eddie went out to warm the van then returned to put on a pair of his shoes on Janet's poor swollen feet since she couldn't see her feet. "Thank you baby." Now it was her turn to thank him.

"It's giving me practice. In a few months, there are going to be six feet to put shoes on." Janet sat forward and cupped his cold face in her hands.

"Not for the shoes; for everything. I feel like I have become so helpless these last few weeks and you have been so supportive. Not many husbands would do what you have done for me and I am so lucky that I have you. You have helped make a sometimes unpleasant situation pleasant and I love you so much for that." She then pulled him to her face and kissed him.

"You don't have to thank me for doing what comes naturally to me which is taking care of you." He pulled her to his feet and helped her into her new winter coat that she had recently bought because, like everything else, her normal coat didn't fit. Once he was confident that she or his boys wouldn't freeze on the way to the car, he grabbed her hand and together they walked out into the cold, snowy weather. "Careful honey." He warned.

"I will." He only let go of her hand for an instant to open her door and help her in and when she took a step towards the open door she slipped on some ice and fell to the ground, landing on her butt, hard.

"Of my God, Janet honey, are you okay?" In an instant Eddie was kneeling down in front of her, wearing a worried expression.

"I think so." She answered after a minute. She wasn't hurt, just embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let go of your hand when it's so slick out here.

"It was an accident."

"Here, let me help you up."

"Just be careful. I don't need you falling too."

"I will." He easily pulled her too her feet and then did a visual exam for any broken bones. "Do you want to change?"

"No. My coat took the brunt of the damage and besides, you know how long it takes me to get dressed anymore and if I try to change we'll be late."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to get sick."

"I'm fine baby."

On the drive to Dr. Hatley's office the adrenaline from the fall wore off and she began to hurt, mainly her lower back. When she began to shift in her seat, trying to make herself comfortable Eddie became concerned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Janet, please don't lie."

"I'm just a little sore. I guess that I just landed a little harder then I initially thought."

"Well I'm having Dr. Hatley give you a full exam."

"That's not really necessary."

"Yes it is so don't even think about arguing with me."

"Have you been practicing that? You sounded really dad-like." Eddie laughed in spite of his worry.

Eddie continued to drive while watching Janet out of the corner of his eye. By the time they arrived at the doctor's office she looked like she was in a lot of pain. She even had to stop walking at one point until her muscle spasm passed. He really wanted to take her to the emergency room to be checked out in case she did some real damage to her back.

"Will you help me up on the table?" Janet asked Eddie as soon as she had changed in a gown for her exam.

"Baby I'm taking you to the hospital when we leave here. You shouldn't be in this much pain from a simple fall." She was biting her lip to keep from crying because the pain in her back was getting worse.

"Let's see what Dr. Hatley has to say."

"Janet he is a female doctor. I would rather…" Eddie never got to finish his sentence because the doctor walked in.

"What's going on Janet? Maryann told me that you are having some back pain."

"She fell on the ice on the way here and since then she has been having muscles spasms in her back." Eddie explained.

"I need you to lie back and get in the stirrups so I can examine you." He instructed. "Janet, I need you to listen to me. I think those muscle spasms that you are having are contractions."

"Too soon." She whispered.

"Is it because she fell?"

"It may have been. On a scale from one to ten how bad is the pain with ten being the worse?"

"Six or six and a half but it just seems to be getting worse."

"I know that you are uncomfortable but I need you to relax and take a deep breath." Janet did as she was told while silent tears fell from her eyes.

"Eddie it's too soon. They aren't ready." She whispered to her husband while the doctor examined her. Eddie wanted to respond, to tell her that she and the boys would be fine but he didn't know that and he couldn't lie to her.

"Janet you are in labor. You are three centimeters dilated. I'm going to call an ambulance to get you to the hospital and Eddie you are going to follow her carefully. Once you get to the hospital you are going to be given a medication to stop your labor."

"What if the medicine doesn't work?" Eddie managed to ask, his voice, full of fear.

"Let's just take it one step at a time." Dr. Hatley told him.