I own none of the characters of October Road

"You have got to be kidding me!" Eddie snapped at his doctor.

"I'm sorry Eddie but that's the law. You can't have your driver's license as long as you are experiencing active seizures." Dr. Turner explained.

"That is such crap. Now, I'm going to have to rely on other people to take me where I need to go. I have a job for crying out loud."

"Think about it Eddie. What will happen if you are out on the road, driving with your boys in the car and you have a seizure? You would lose control of the car, crash and possibly kill yourself and your children. Is that a risk you are willing to take Eddie?"

"No sir."

"So you see why this has to be done." Eddie nodded sadly.

"How long will my license be gone?"

"Until you go a year without a seizure. I have already faxed the information to the DMV so by the end of business today you will no longer be a licensed driver. They will send you an official notice."

"It won't be that bad babe. We work at the same place." Janet told him and he didn't respond.

"Now Eddie, you have a physical job correct?"

"Please tell me that you aren't going to make me quit working. I need to work. I have a family to support."

"No I'm not going to tell you to quit work. How much you do, what tools you use that's going to be your call. Just be smart about what you do but one thing I will tell you not to do is climb on a ladder. Maybe more paperwork would be a good idea."

"I hate paperwork." He mumbled.

"If I am unable to get your seizures under control then I will only let you do paperwork, if you're lucky and don't try to hide them from me."

"I won't."

"Now when was the last time you had a seizure?"

"I had two yesterday." He admitted.

"How bad were they?"

"I don't remember."

"Janet?" Dr. Turner asked.

"I don't what is considered a bad seizure."

"How long did they last?"

"Not very long at all even though they felt like forever." Janet went on to tell the doctor the specifics of the four seizures that Eddie had.

The rest of the visit was spent discussing Eddie's seizures, precautions to take during the seizures and actions to take following a seizure. Dr. Turner suggested that Eddie get as much rest as possible because studies have shown that fatigue can trigger seizures. By the end of the visit Eddie had a new prescription for his headaches and for his seizures to hopefully prevent them but it wouldn't start working with the first dose so Dr. Turner warned the couple to watch out for seizures for the next week.

"So maybe you should take this week off of work." Janet suggested on their way home.

"No." Eddie simply replied.

"I think that it's a good idea to let your body get used to the medication before you start working."

"We can't afford it."

"We can't afford you having a seizure at work and getting hurt."

"I have to work Janet."

"Eddie, we're fine."

"It's not because of the money. I have to work. I have to do something. I can't just sit at home and wait for the next seizure to happen." Janet understood where he was coming from but she was terrified that he would push himself, possibly up on a ladder and have a seizure.

"What about just hanging out with me at the office and work on some paperwork?" She suggested.

"I am not the kind of person who can sit behind a desk. That's not me."

"But why can't it be you for just a few days? There are customers waiting on their estimates to be written up. Its good customer service to get them done quickly and I can't do that."

"I own half the damn company. I have to put in my share of the work instead of just sitting on my ass."

"You aren't just sitting on your ass Eddie. You will be working just not like you are used to. You're sick Eddie and you need to take it easy so things don't get worse. Once things are back to normal, you can put up windows and climb ladders from dusk till dawn." Eddie was silent for a few minutes. "Babe?"

"I hate this Janet. I freaking hate this."

"I know."

"No Janet. You don't know. You don't know what it's like to lose control of your life."

"I meant that I know that you hate it. I don't know what you are going through. I don't know how you are feeling but I can understand if you tell me."

"I feel like I have no control over anything in my life right now. I can no longer drive. I'm being told that I shouldn't work the way that I want to work. I feel like I have a babysitter. I am terrified to be left alone with the boys in case something happens. I'm tired of being in pain with my freaking headaches. I'm tired of being sick. I feel like a ticking time bomb and I'm just waiting to see what the next thing will be to go wrong. I just want to feel normal again." He admitted softly.

"Sweetheart I will do whatever I need to do to help you feel like you have control. Hopefully, these new medicines will work and things won't be so bad."

"If they don't work Janet, I don't know how much more of this I can take." Janet suddenly felt sick to her stomach and she pulled over. Putting the van in park she took a deep breath, unbuckled her seat belt and turned to face her husband. He was staring out the window. She reached out and turned his face towards her and when she saw him and the tears streaming down his face, her heart broke for him.

"Please Eddie, don't talk like that." Janet begged tearfully. "I know you are hurting all the time and I know you are scared but please don't talk like that. When you do I start to think that you are giving up. You absolutely cannot give up. You have to fight for our family; for your three sons; for me. We all love you so damn much Eddie. I can't promise that things are going to get better but if they don't all four us are going to be right beside you. Do you hear me?" He nodded. "You are a born fighter Eddie so don't stop now. Don't give up."

"I won't."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Mommy, daddy, its Disneyworld day." Joshua shouted as he, Jackson and Jacob jumped on top of their parent's bed. Today was the day that they along with Laura, Jack, Sharon, Tom, Katie, Ikey and Ashton were leaving for their family vacation at Disneyworld.

"Ummph." Eddie and Janet grunted.

"Get up. Get up" Jackson demanded.

"Time?" Eddie managed to get out and Janet glanced at the clock.

"5:03." Janet answered and Eddie groaned. "Guys, you are up way to early."

"But you said when we wake up we will go to Disneyworld." Jacob told them.

"Well you woke up too early. It's not time to go. It's still dark out so you have two options." Eddie began. "You can go back to your room and either sit quietly or go back to sleep or you can stay in bed with me and mom."

"Stay here." The three boys shouted.

"If you stay here with us then you have to lay still and be quiet. Can you do that?"

"Yes sir." The triplets said and Eddie grinned.

"All right get up here with us." Eddie and Janet each scooted to the far end of the bed and the three boys scrambled up and settled under the covers in between their parents. Eddie and Janet knew that if the boys returned to their room, they would just talk and play. If they stayed with them and were forced to be quiet then they would fall back asleep for a few more hours of much needed sleep.

"How long do we…" Jackson began.

"Hey. What did your dad say?" Janet interrupted.

"Be quiet and lay still."

"Then I suggest you do it."

"Yes ma'am."

It took about a half an hour for the boys to stop tossing and turning before they finally fell back asleep. Once Eddie and Janet recognized the sound of their even breathing, they reached across the bodies of their three children, linked hands and smiled, sleepily at each other, treasuring this moment until Eddie's eyes drifted closed and he fell back asleep.

Janet didn't fall back asleep right away. She lay on her side and just watched all four of her boys sleep. Over the past month Eddie had been doing really well. It took his body a couple of weeks before his seizure medication seemed to start working and those couple of weeks seemed so very long. He had anywhere from two to four seizures a day for the first week and by the beginning of the second week he was down to one a day and they seemed to be gone by the end of the week and since then he had only had two seizures and they were minor. He still got headaches and the new pain medication seemed to slightly dull the pain but they were still constant but Eddie just sucked it up and dealt with the constant pain.

After his breakdown in the van Eddie reluctantly agreed to spend the next week in the office working on paperwork and it was a good thing he did because he suffered the majority of seizures during that week while at work. Besides the seizures, the week wasn't so bad mainly because he and Janet got to spend the week together during the day without the boys. Janet had been working at Best Friend Windows for a few months by that time and had really turned their office around. It was running much more efficiently than it had ever before. Most of the time while together at the office, Eddie and Janet maintained a professional working relationship. In fact, he actually told her that while working she needed to refer to him as Mr. Latekka and she promptly snorted and refused. Occasionally, when no one was around they would steal kisses and when Eddie returned to "the field" as he liked to call it, he would always kiss his wife, regardless of who was there before leaving and returning.

Janet thought about that terrifying conversation in the van every day since it happened and she watched him like a hawk for any signs of depression or hopelessness but he was doing a very good job of hiding his fears but Janet knew him too well and she knew that he still struggled with those feelings on a daily basis. As long as he was putting forth the effort to remain positive and upbeat than Janet wasn't go to say anything but her heart continued to break for him when she saw the pain in his eyes on a daily basis from his headaches. Even with his headaches, Eddie spent as much time with his boys and Janet as he could squeeze into a day. He was well aware of the fact that one day he would probably be gone from their lives so he was making every day that he had with them count which was why he was really looking forward to their Disneyworld vacation. He was planning on making some memories that would last his family a lifetime.

Janet and Eddie managed to get about another hour and a half worth of sleep before the excited boys woke up. It was quite amusing to their parents who woke up the instant the boys began to stir, at their effort to remain quiet. Once they woke, they couldn't lay still and when they tried to move carefully the whole bed ended up moving and someone always ended up getting kicked and they couldn't whisper if their life depended on it. Their parents decided to torture them for a few minutes and they pretended like they were sleeping but it was hard not to smile as they listened to their boys "whisper" about how excited they were about Disneyworld.

"Look, daddy's awake." Jackson exclaimed. "Is mommy awake?"

"Nope."Josh answered.

"I think you guys need to wake her up." Eddie suggested.

"I'm up." She was not about to let the boys jump and shake her.

"Is it time to go and get on the plane?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah and go to Disneyworld." Jackson added.

"Not yet."

"When?" The three boys whined.

"When we say it is." Janet told them. "Now go and get dressed. I laid your clothes out for you. When that's done then get your teeth brushed and then you can watch television until it's time to go."

"But…"Josh started to complain but Eddie stopped him.

"Listen to your mother." He demanded nicely. He knew that they were excited and so he wasn't going to be mean dad unless he absolutely had to be. The boys slowly started to climb off of their parent's bed.

"Hey aren't you forgetting something?" Janet asked them before they were off of the bed.

"No." Jackson and Jacob answered.

"Mommy's kiss." Joshua, their sweet and sensitive child answered. He scrambled over to his mother, before his brothers got to her and he gave her one big smooch. "Morning mommy."

"Good morning Joshie." Josh's two brother's quickly followed the youngest's lead.

"Hey what am I? Chopped liver?" Eddie asked once the boys were done greeting their mother and were heading to their room. The boys instantly started giggling. "Why don't I get a morning kiss?"

"You're not chopped liver." Jacob told him.

"You're chopped farts." Jackson informed his father.

"JACKSON." Janet chastised with a smile. She knew very well that farts and boys go hand in hand. Eddie sent his son wink as the boys jumped back on the bed to give him his morning kiss.

Once the boys finally left the room Eddie rolled over to face Janet. She scooted over next to him and he wrapped her tightly in his arms so that their bodies were pressing against each other. "Do you think I'm chopped farts who doesn't deserve a morning kiss?" He mumbled softly.

"You most definitely are not chopped farts." With a soft smile the couple pressed their lips to each other and shared a long, sweet kiss that left them both breathless. "Good morning Eddie." Janet whispered.

"Morning Janet." He began to nuzzle her exposed neck. "Can we just stay like this all day?"

"Hmmm. I wish we could but we have three very excited boys."

"You're right. They won't give us a moment of peace."

"How are you feeling this morning? How is your head?" The night before, Janet made sure that Eddie had gotten plenty of sleep because she didn't want to risk a seizure. She sent him to bed and she stayed up packing for the four of them.

"It hurts but it always hurts. It's no worse than normal." Before Janet could respond they heard fighting coming from the boys' bathroom. Janet sighed and began to pull away from Eddie but he reached out to stop her. "I got this. You just relax." He kissed her once more and then rolled out of bed to deal with the triplets.

The Latekka family began their vacation with breakfast in Boston near the airport. They met both sets of their parents along with Katie, Ikey and Ashton. Since Ikey and Katie married Ikey and Eddie had grown closer. Ikey had proved to be a wonderful husband and father. After an enjoyable and hectic breakfast the gang made their way to the airport. With three boys everything they did was chaotic and boarding an airplane was no different. Janet had dressed the boys in matching outfits which drew a lot of attention. They were stopped numerous times so the boys could be given compliments. Once they were on the plane things didn't go any more smoothly. The boys didn't want to be separated so there was some minor chaos when the boys found out about their seat assignments. Josh sat next to Laura. Jacob sat next to Sharon and Jackson ended up with his Uncle Ikey, which thrilled him. All three boys practically worshiped their Uncle Ikey. Katie sat with Ashton. Tom and Jack were seat mates as were Janet and Eddie. The boys and Ashton got the biggest kick out of flying. The giggled as the plane took off and for most of flight the kids had their faces glued to the window and then more giggle when the plane landed. They loved it.

Once they landed in Florida they rented a couple of cars and went to their hotel. Each family got their own room. Eddie and Janet's room was a simple room with two double beds: one bed for the boys to share and for their parents to share. It was going to be a tight squeeze for five people but they wouldn't be spending a lot of time in the room and the rest of the family all had rooms on the same floor so the boys would have the option to go annoy other members of their family besides their parents.

When booking the hotel, the one thing that it had to have was a pool which they took advantage of. The obviously weren't going to Disneyworld the first day and they needed something to entertain four excited kids and the pool was the perfect thing to keep them entertained. Janet also knew that the boys would wear themselves out and go to sleep early because they would need their sleep for the coming days.

"Eddie please be careful." Janet called to her husband. He was in the pool throwing the boys around. Janet had been up in their room unpacking and had just joined them out at the pool.

"It's all good babe." With that being said Eddie threw Jackson up in the air and he landed with a big splash.

"Come in mommy." Joshua called.

"In a few minutes bud." Janet sat back down in between her mother and Eddie's mother. "I swear, I was not meant to be a mother to boys. Some of the things that they do scare me to death while they show no fear and they are only five. I'm going to have a heart attack before they hit puberty." Janet told her mother in law.

"You'll get used to it. Growing up, Eddie gave me a few minor heart attacks." Laura informed her.

"Great." Janet mumbled.

"That's why I had a girl. Not nearly as much trouble. Janet you should have had girls." Sharon said.

"Yeah mom because I had total control of choosing the sex of my babies." The three women laughed. "I love those boys, all four of them, more than anything and I wouldn't change one thing about my life." Janet whispered softly as she watched her family in the in the pool but she lied. There was one thing that she would change. If she could, she would take away his brain tumors but sadly, she knew she didn't have the power to make her husband better. The only thing she had was love and all the love in the world wouldn't take away his tumor and pain.

"Mama, come swim with me." Josh had come up to his mother. He had been sitting on the steps watching his brothers. Joshua was their cautious child and he was afraid of the water unless an adult was with him. Not long ago, he and his brothers were swimming and he got pushed under and had gotten really scared which led to crying which ultimately led to an asthma attack and since then he has been iffy about swimming.

"Yeah baby. I'll come with you." Janet stood, removed her cover, took Josh's hand and the two of them walked into the pool together.

"Mommy watch daddy throw me." Jacob called.

"I'm watching Jake." Janet cringed slightly as Jacob was tossed into the water and she didn't relax until he returned to the surface.

"Mom, watch me swim." Jackson demanded. They were in the shallow area and his floaties were off. And Janet watched as her oldest boy dove under the water and swam to her. "Did you see me?" He asked once he surfaced.

"I did. When did you learn to do that?" Janet asked him.

"Umm nine minutes ago."

"Wow. Nine minutes ago. That's impressive Jax."

"Come on. Let's go down the slide." Jacob had doggie paddled over to them followed by Eddie.

"I don't wanna go." Josh told them.

"Come on ya big scaredey cat." Jacob taunted him.

"Jacob Edward. You do not call your brother names." Eddie scolded.

"Josh is a scardey cat." Jackson informed them.

"Jackson, Jacob enough. Just because Josh doesn't want to go down the slide, it doesn't mean that he is a scaredey cat. It just means that Josh doesn't want to go down the slide."

"Because he's …"

"Jackson Elliott." Eddie warned and Jackson quickly closed his mouth. "Good choice. Now as long as you two are nice we will go to the sliding board."

"Yeah." Jacob and Josh cheered as the three of them swam away.

"I think you should give the slide a try." Janet told her youngest.

"I'm scared mama."

"I'll be waiting at the bottom to catch you."

"What if you miss me?"

"I won't. I promise." Josh shook his head. "What about if daddy goes down the slide with you and holds you real tight?" Josh thought about his mother's offer and then than he slowly nodded. The two of them swam over to the slide and met Eddie. "Josh wants to go down the slide." Janet told her husband.

"With you daddy."

"I told Josh that you would go down the slide with him and hold on to him."

"Real tight. You have to hold me real tight daddy."

"That I can do bubba."

Once Joshua made his first trip down the slide with his dad holding him tightly he was hooked and that's where he and his brother spent the rest of the day. The first few dozen times he rode with Eddie or Janet and then he got brave and went down by himself as long as his mom or dad were at the bottom to catch him and eventually he was going down without anyone at the bottom to catch him.

Their first official day of vacation was a success. Everyone had a blast at the pool, especially the kids. The boys loved the loved the time that they spent with their grandparents, cousin, aunt, uncle, their mom and especially their dad. By the end of the day everyone was exhausted and that night when Janet's boys, the little ones and the big one, they were all sound asleep minutes after their heads hit the pillow.

The next three days were spent at Disneyworld and it truly was the most magical place on earth. Everyone was amazed by everything that they saw and experienced. The boys got so excited by the characters that they saw and their favorite movies were coming to life before their eyes. The boys rode every ride they could. They were actually big enough to ride most rides by themselves which made Janet a nervous wreck but seeing the smiles on the boys' faces made her willing to accept the nerves so her boys could have this once in a lifetime experience. The third and final Disneyworld day began with breakfast with the Disney characters and ended the day with the parade down Main Street. Janet and Eddie knew the boys were exhausted but they were wide awake, watching in awe at the magic marching in front of them.

The fourth day was spent at SeaWorld, a place that Janet had always wanted to visit. She was worried that the boys would be bored and whiny but it turned out they, like their mother, loved the sea life. They were fascinated by everything that they saw and their favorite part was the shows where the animals did tricks and talked. Once they left the park the grandparents offered to take the kids for a game of putt-putt golf and dinner so their parents could have a few hours of alone time which was an offer that wasn't turned down. Although Eddie was exhausted and had a horrible headache, he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to make love to his wife. It was killing him to be so close to Janet and being unable to do anything about it so he and Janet took full advantage of their time alone.

Their final day was spent in the Atlantic Ocean. Eddie and Janet wanted to take the boys to the ocean. That morning, Eddie woke up with one of his bad, really bad headaches and Janet suggested that he just hang out in their hotel room and get some sleep but Eddie refused. He promised himself and Janet that he wasn't going to let his tumor keep him from missing out on his life with Janet and the boys and he wasn't going to let today's headache keep him from witnessing the triplets first experience in the ocean. Their vacation has been perfect up until now and he planned to keep it that way.

The boys thoroughly enjoyed their day at the beach. They laughed and ran away from the waves as they crashed onto the shore. They laughed as they ran into the water and the waves crashed on them, splashing them. They all built sandcastles together, buried each other in the sand and looked for and collected seashells. It really was the perfect day and the perfect ending to a vacation that made lots of wonderful memories that would last a lifetime.

Janet was indulging in a cat nap on the plane ride home when she felt a sudden movement beside her. As her eyes fluttered opened she was kicked in the shins by her seat mate. "Eddie." She gasped. He was in the midst of a seizure and unfortunately, Janet was expecting this because he had one the night before and that morning as they were packing up the hotel room. She had hoped another one wouldn't occur and he even took some extra medication in hopes of preventing it but apparently, it didn't work. Janet tried desperately to hold him still but her efforts proved to be futile when his head bounced off the window. His violent jerking quickly brought the flight attendants over to their seats.

"Ma'am? Is everything okay?" Eddie's seizure seemed to cease.

"I think so now." Janet answered softly. "Do you have a first aid kit?" She noticed a trail of blood coming down his head.

"I'll be right back."

"Janet." Eddie groaned.

"I'm right here baby."

"My head…"

"You banged it on the window."

"Seizure?"

"Yeah."

"Dammit." The flight attendant returned with a first aid kit and as Janet was cleaning up the wound Eddie began to seize again.

"Ma'am. Do you need a doctor?"

"Uh…no. It should stop." Janet hoped she was right but she was wrong. This seizure was not stopping.

"I'm going to see if there is a doctor." The attendant said after Eddie's head banged against the window again and Janet just nodded as tears slid down her cheeks. From a distance she heard her boys crying and as much as she wanted to go to them, she couldn't.

"Come on Eddie, hang in there." Janet whispered softly.

"Excuse me ma'am. I'm Dr. Weber. Has your husband had seizures before?" Janet nodded miserably, not taking her eyes off of Eddie while trying to hold him. The doctor turned to the flight attendant. "Do you have emergency medication on board?" She nodded. "Bring it to me." Dr. Webber turned his attention back to Janet and Eddie. "I'm going to give him an injection to stop the seizures temporarily." The flight attendant returned with the captain. They handed Dr. Weber the box with the medication in it. He quickly found what he needed, ushered Janet out of the way, took her seat and gave a seizing Eddie a shot and within seconds, Eddie's body went still.

"Thank you so much." Janet whispered tearfully. "What did you give him?"

"A central nervous system depressant. He'll be asleep for a while."

"I've notified the authorities and when we land there will be an ambulance waiting to take him to a hospital."

"That's not necessary." Janet told the pilot.

"It's policy. Whenever there is a medical emergency during a flight the passenger must be transported to the local hospital for evaluation." The pilot explained and Janet nodded. "When we land everyone will remain in their seats until the passenger is removed by paramedics." The pilot looked at the doctor. "If you need anything else please, let me know."

"Does your husband have a seizure disorder?" Dr. Webber asked.

"He has an inoperable, benign brain tumor."

"I see and he has seizures?"

"He did but he's on some medication that has stabilized them and he only gets them if he is really tired; fatigue seems to trigger them and we are returning from a vacation in Florida." Dr. Webber nodded.

"I'm going to grab one of these empty seats so I'll be nearby in case your husband needs anything."

"Thank you again for helping him." Dr. Webber nodded and grabbed a seat nearby.

Laura came and sat with her son while Janet moved about the plane comforting her scared children until the plane landed. Knowing that she was going to the hospital with Eddie, Janet made arrangements for the triplets to stay with their grandparents until she and Eddie could come home. The boys weren't happy about it and it took a lot for Janet to convince them that their daddy had to go to the hospital to get better and finally, they reluctantly agreed to go with their grandparents. Once they were safely on the ground the paramedics came on the plane and loaded a semi-comatose Eddie onto a stretcher then off the plane and off to Boston Memorial Hospital with Janet by his side.

"When can we get the hell out of here?" Eddie grumbled four hours later.

"Soon, I hope." Eddie hadn't had another seizure since his last one on the plane and even though Janet told the doctors about Eddie's medical condition, they still insisted on doing all kinds of tests.

"I was tired. That's why I had those seizures."

"You had two within a minute of each other." Janet informed him and the two of them sat silently until the curtain to Eddie's cubicle was pulled back and Dr. Weber walked in. "Dr. Weber." Janet said in surprise. "Eddie, this is the doctor who helped you on the plane."

"Hi Mr. Latekka. How do you feel?"

"Tired. My head hurts. Thanks for your help."

"I'm a neurosurgeon here on staff and I had been involved in your case since you arrived and I think that I can help you."

"Really?" Eddie asked.

"There is an experimental surgery that I have been performing…"Eddie wouldn't let the doctor finish.

"Yes." He told the doctor.

"Eddie you haven't even heard what the surgery entails." Janet said.

"I don't care. If there is a chance that it will help then I want it done. Yes Dr. Weber. You can experiment on my brain."

Thank you for reading.