"Janet, honey what's wrong?" Janet lifted her head off of Eddie's abdomen and looked at Laura, who had come to visit her son. "Is it Eddie? Is something wrong with him?" Janet shook her head and wiped her eyes.

"No. He is fine, well as fine as someone in a coma can be." Janet reached on to Eddie's beside table, grabbed a Kleenex and blew her nose.

"Why are you crying?" Laura pulled up a chair beside Janet and took her hand.

"I'm pregnant." Tears fell from Janet's eyes. "I'm pregnant and my husband, this baby's father is in a coma."

"But how? Were you getting IVF again?" Janet shook her head.

"It happened the normal way while we were at Disneyworld. I don't understand it. Before the boys, we tried and tried and tried and I never got pregnant. We haven't used protection since before we started trying to get pregnant for the first time. Eddie had been talking about wanting another baby but I didn't want this. It was him and now, it happened and he…he's not here."

"You're not going to…."

"No. Absolutely not. It may not have been planned but I love it. It was made from love and its part of Eddie. I'm just…I'm just emotionally overwhelmed right now."

"Jack and I will be there for you until Eddie wakes up."

"I know and I appreciate it." Laura gazed lovingly at her comatose son.

"He is going to be so happy when he wakes up."

"He wants a little girl. Probably to spoil her rotten."

"He has always had a soft spot for girls." Janet laughed.

"That's true." Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Dr. Weber walked in.

"Hi Janet. Hi Mrs. Latekka. How is our patient today?"

"The same."

"Well let's take a look." Laura and Janet moved away to give him some room. "I will have to agree with you Janet. Eddie is the same. Have you noticed any movements: eye blinking, movement of his arms, legs, hands or feet?"

"No. Is that bad?"

"No. It's not bad. If we would see any spontaneous movements that can be an indication that he is waking up."

"Can be?"

"Sometimes people in comas will have spontaneous movement but they don't wake up. In other cases, it leads to them waking up."

"So if Eddie begins moving which way will it go for him?" Laura asked.

"I can't say for certain but I believe in Eddie's case it will mean he is waking up." The women nodded, "Mrs. Latekka, could you excuse us for a minute? I need to discuss something with Janet, in private."

"She can stay. She is Eddie's mother and anything you have to say about Eddie can be said in front of Laura."

"Eddie is stable. He's in no immediate danger. The hospital policy regarding comatose patients is that if they are in need of medical attention that can only be given here than the patients can stay. Eddie doesn't fall into that category. He is breathing on his own."

"What are you saying?"

"Eddie needs to be moved to a nursing home. The medication that he is getting can be given at the nursing home along with his feeding tube."

"But what if…what if something happens to him and he needs medical care?"

"Then he will be transferred back here by ambulance. There is a nursing in the next town over, Mission Flats I believe which I have been told is only a short drive from here." Janet nodded. Her mind was whirling. Dr. Weber handed her a piece of paper. "This is the name of the nursing home and the administrator. She is expecting your call. She wants to meet with you to show you around and discuss the financial aspects."

"Have you seen this place? Is it a good place? Will he be taken care of?"

"I haven't personally been there but when this came up, I spoke with the doctors here and it was highly recommended. As soon as you decide that's where you want Eddie to go then I will pay them a visit."

"And if I don't like it?"

"Then we will work together to find the right place for your husband; a place that you are confident in."

"Will you continue to be his doctor?"

"Yes Janet. I am with Eddie until he is awake and given a clean bill of health. Now, I won't be able to drive down everyday like I do now but he will see me once a week and when I am not around I have arranged for another physician to take care of Eddie."

"And he's good?"

"As good as I am." Janet nodded and stood.

"Thank you for the information. Since I already have taken the day off I am going to see if I can take care of this today. I can't really afford to take any more time off, especially now." She gave Laura a hug.

"Let me come with you sweetheart." Laura knew that Janet was thinking about the money and how she could afford for Eddie to go into a nursing home. She saw the look in her daughter in law's eyes when Dr. Weber mentioned the financial aspect. Laura's mind was also working. She was thinking of ways to help.

"No. I should handle this on my own. I'm his wife. It's my responsibility. I will call you later." Janet shook Dr. Weber's hand. "Thank you for everything. Thank you for taking such good care of my husband."

"This is a very nice facility." Janet told the director of the nursing home.

"Thank you. We take pride in our jobs. We have an excellent record and quite a few accommodations. Is this a place that you can see your husband in?"

"Honestly, I never thought about my husband being in a place like this. I don't want him to be here. I want him home with me and our children but I know that I don't have a choice. He needs to be in a nursing home and this seems like a good place."

"We will take good care of your husband."

"Will I be able to bring our children here to see him?"

"Absolutely." Janet nodded.

"So how much is this going to cost me?"

Mrs. Lynch began to explain the financial policy of the nursing home. Their insurance would cover half of the cost and Janet would be responsible for the other half and the number was big. She knew she couldn't afford that payment and take care of her family with the way things were right now. She was going to have to come up with some other alternatives.

"I need some time to figure some things out. Can I get back to you in a couple of days?"

"That's fine." Both women stood and shook hands. "Mrs. Latekka, I am so very sorry that you are in this situation but I promise you that your husband will be in excellent hands."

"I believe that."

"Mommy." The Latekka triplets yelled when Janet walked in the house.

"Hey guys." Janet squatted down and hugged all three of them tightly.

"Is daddy awake yet?" Jacob asked.

"No sweetie. He's still sleeping."

"I miss him." Jackson told her.

"So do I Jax. So do I."

"Hey boys, why don't you go upstairs and play?" Sharon suggested, coming into the living room.

"Mommy are you okay? Is your belly hurting again?" Josh had obviously picked up on the stress she was feeling.

"I'm just tired and hungry.

"Grandma made getti." Josh told her.

"That sounds good."

"Go on upstairs guys."

"Can we watch a movie?" Jackson asked.

"Sure. Let me get mommy some dinner than I will come up and put in a movie." The boys ran upstairs. "Come on sweetheart. You look like hell." Sharon led Janet to the kitchen and got her a plate of spaghetti. "Eat up honey." Sharon kissed Janet and ran upstairs to put a movie in for the boys. When she got back down to the kitchen Janet had pushed her plate away and was staring at the table. Sharon pushed it back.

"I'm not hungry mom."

"You need to eat honey." Janet looked at her mom with tears rolling down her face.

"I…I…can't."

"What did they doctor say?"

"I'm pregnant." Janet lay her head on the table and sobbed. Between her unexpected pregnancy and the unexpected nursing home bill she felt like her whole life was spiraling out of control. Sharon just sat there and let her daughter cry. She knew that she needed to get it out of her system and she would talk when she was ready.

"I'm scared mom." Janet finally admitted when she calmed herself down. "I am so scared. My last pregnancy was pure hell. I had one complication after another but Eddie was there for me. He held my hand through it all and now…now he's not he's not here. He wanted this baby and now he isn't here. How am I going to get through this pregnancy without him?"

"I'll be here. Tom will be here and so will Jack and Laura. We all will be here for you, the boys and this baby until Eddie wakes up." Janet nodded but there was something more weighing on her mind.

"After the boys were born I had post partum depression. I couldn't take care of or love my boys. I didn't realize what was going on but Eddie did. He kept the boys safe from me. What if…what if that happens again? What if I can't love this baby?"

"We are all going to be here for you. We are going to support you, the boys and this baby, whatever you need." Janet's tears increased.

"I'm sorry mom. I guess it's all the hormones raging through me. I am so overwhelmed right now. I have no idea where I am going to put her."

"Her? Isn't it a little too soon to know what you are having?"

"Eddie wanted a girl so I know that it's a girl."

"I think that you need a little more estrogen in this house."

"There is no room for her. I can keep her in my room but eventually that's not going to work. What am I going to do?" Janet sobbed.

"You don't have to decide that now." Janet was silent for a few minutes as she tried to get herself under control. She didn't want the boys walking in and see her crying.

"The boys are without their father and now the hospital is kicking Eddie out." Janet said after a few minutes.

"What?"

"He has to go to a nursing home. I went to see the one that Dr. Weber recommended and it's really nice. It's really nice and really expensive. Our insurance will pay for half and I am responsible for the other half and it's really expensive. I went…I…" Janet's bottom lip began to quiver. "The bank won't approve a second mortgage on the house because they had to go on my income alone because the profits from the company aren't a guarantee. I applied for a loan but I was turned down for the same reason. "Her tears were flowing again. "I…we have enough money in our savings account to cover the first six months or so but after that, I don't have a clue what I'm going to do." Sharon took her crying daughter in her arms, soothing her until she calmed down.

"There is a lot to figure out but it doesn't have to be done tonight or tomorrow or even in a week. All of this stress isn't good for the baby."

"Thanks mom." Janet sniffed.

"Look honey, why don't you go on up to your room and rest. You look exhausted. I'll handle the boys for the night."

"No. They are my children and I can't ask you to stay and take care of them."

"You aren't asking. I am your mother and you need my help. Now go to your room young lady." Janet smiled.

"Thanks mom." She stood and hugged her mother. "Thank you so much. I love you."

Janet went upstairs, kissed the boys and climbed into bed. She turned on the television not to watch it but to drown out the sound of her crying. She ended up crying herself to sleep and woke only briefly when the triplets climbed into bed with her.

"What is going on? What is everyone doing here and who are these people?" Janet asked the following night. She walked into her house after work and found her mother, stepfather, in-laws and a few guys she didn't know. Tom was shaking their hands. "And where are my children?" Normally, the second she walked in the door after work the boys were there greeting her.

"Hi honey." Laura came over and kissed her. "The boys are with Katie and Ikey at the park."

"What is going on?" She asked again.

"Why don't you sit down?" Janet allowed herself to be led to the couch when a horrible thought suddenly crossed her mind.

"Is Eddie…?"

"He's fine as far as I know." Tom showed the strange men out of her house and then Sharon, Tom and Jack came in, hugged her and then they all sat around the living room.

"How are you feeling dear?" Sharon asked.

"Fine. Tired but fine."

"With this pregnancy and Eddie's move to the nursing home, we want you to know that us, all of us are here to help you." Jack told her.

"Thank you."

"With that being said, Jack and I are going to pay the monthly bill for the nursing home that your insurance doesn't cover. " Janet was shocked.

"The men that were here when you got home are contractors." Tom explained. "They were here giving me an estimate."

"An estimate? I don't understand."

"An estimate for an addition; for a bedroom for you."

"I…I can't afford something like that."

"No you can't but I can. Now it's totally your call but they can add a bedroom down here for you and you can give the baby your room upstairs now." While Janet appreciated what everyone was offering her pride was not letting her accept it.

"I really don't know how to thank you. I can't tell you what this all means to me but I can't accept it. I will figure something out and I will take care of my husband and children."

"Janet we know you can take care of your family but you are forgetting one thing Janet. You, Eddie, the boys and this new baby are our family too and we all take care of our family." Sharon told her daughter.

"Eddie will be furious with all of us if instead of helping you we stood by and let you struggle. Before the surgery he made us promise that if anything happened to him during surgery that we, that all of us would make sure that his wife and boys were taken care of and right now we are keeping that promise. Let us keep that promise." Laura explained.

"Damn him." Janet was furious. "He was so concerned about not making it through surgery that maybe if he would have concentrated on making it through then we wouldn't be having this conversation." Janet was tired of crying but she couldn't stop herself. "Maybe…maybe…"

"Janet, honey he had a stroke, something he had no control over. He wanted to come back to you and the boys, healthy and pain free. He wanted that more than anything but he was realistic. He knew that there was a possibility that he wouldn't survive the surgery and that was his biggest fear. I think by getting promises from all of us to take care of you and the boys made it easier for him to go into surgery and fight. He knew that if anything happened you and the boys would be taken care of so he could put all of his energy into making it through the surgery."

"I miss him so much."

"He's going to wake up Janet."

"But when? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year? Five years from now; ten; twenty?"

"I hope its tomorrow for everybody's sake but do I think that's going to happen? No I don't." Jack told her. "But until he does wake up we are going to keep living and planning for that baby. It's what he wants." Janet nodded and wiped her tears.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry sweetheart. It's understandable."

"I will pay all of you back. I will go to the bank and pull money out of our savings account. It won't be the entire amount but it will…"

"We don't want your money Janet." Tom spoke and everyone nodded.

"But I…" Again, Janet's pride was leading the way.

"Once Eddie wakes up and gets back to work, we'll talk about paying us back okay?" Sharon knew none of them had any intention of letting Janet pay them back. They all had the money to help out and that's what they want to do.

"Thank you. Thank you all so much."

"We're family. It's what we do." At that moment Janet knew her and her boys would be okay until Eddie woke up.

"This is your new home Eddie. I hope you like it." Janet said to the motionless man lying on the bed. She had brought things from home, lots of pictures and some of his favorite little trinkets and set them throughout the room. She hoped when he woke up and saw them it would soothe him.

"I'm done with my picture." Jacob told her. Janet wanted the boys to color some pictures so she could hang them up.

"Why don't you show daddy?"

"He's sleeping mommy. He can't see it."

"You're right. He can't. Why don't you tell him about the picture?"

"Tell him what?"

"Tell him what you colored and maybe what color you colored it."

"Can he hear me?"

"Yeah baby. I think he can."

"Okay." Janet smiled as Jacob went into great detail about the picture of the castle he colored and then Jackson and Jacob followed suit. When they were done Janet gave them each a piece of tape and allowed them to hang up their pictures.

"We haven't had much time to talk these last few days because you have been one popular man." Janet began as she sat next to the bed and took Eddie's hand. She had gotten the boys set up with some toys to keep them occupied. "You wouldn't believe, well actually you probably would but your parents, my mom and Tom are being so generous. This home that you are in, it's a really nice place which makes it expensive. Our insurance will only pay for half and my half is pretty steep so your parents stepped in and they are paying the bill. Eddie I tried to get a second mortgage and a loan but the bank said no. We have enough in our savings to pay for a few months but your parents insisted on paying this bill and I am so thankful because things would have been, really, really tight for me and the boys."

"Now with this baby coming, I have been very overwhelmed. One reason is where are we going to put her? I thought that until I figured things out, she could bunk in our room but that can only last for so long so mom and Tom took pity on my and are paying for an addition of a master bedroom downstairs. Can you believe that Eddie? We are so lucky to have such an amazing family. I told them that we will pay them back and we will when you wake up and go back to work." Janet glanced over to check on the boys who were engrossed in their toys.

"Speaking of our baby, besides your parents, my mom and Tom I haven't told anyone about my pregnancy. I'm not ashamed about it at all. I just want to wait until I get through the first trimester. I'm old Eddie and the doctor told me that my chances for a miscarriage are increased just because of my age and if something happens then I won't have much explaining to do. Another thing I am nervous about is everyone knows that you are in a coma and I am afraid that their first thought will be that I cheated on you." Janet lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it softly. "Baby, I did not cheat on you. This is your baby. We made her during our vacation to Disneyland. Do you remember that day? Our parents watched the kids so we could have a little grown up time and we made excellent use of that grownup time didn't we? I keep calling this baby a girl but I can't prove it. I haven't had an ultrasound yet but I know it's a girl. You wanted a little girl so I know that's what we are having. She will be so lucky to have you for her daddy so why don't you wake up so she can know her wonderful dad."

"Mommy I gotta pee." Janet looked away from Eddie.

"Daddy's bathroom is right over there." Janet pointed and Jackson ran into it.

"Why does daddy have a bathroom if he is sleeping?" Joshua asked.

"So when we visit we have a place to go to the bathroom.

"So how does daddy go pee since he isn't waking up? Does he pee the bed?" Jacob now entered the conversation.

"There is a tube that collects daddy's pee and puts it in a bag." Janet explained the best she could.

"Where is the tube? Is it in his pee pee?" Jacob sounded amazed.

"Yes it is."

"Can I see it?" Josh asked, heading for the bed but Janet reached out and stopped him.

"No way."

"But I wanna…"

"I said no. Now go back and play."

"I gotta pee." He whispered.

"When your brother is done then you can go."

"Fine." With an irritated sigh he began to walk away

"Knock off the attitude mister." Josh turned and looked at her. "Do you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes ma'am." At that moment Jackson came out of the bathroom and Josh ran past him into the bathroom.

"Ya know babe, I could really use your help with these guys. They keep me hoping." Janet watched his face but Eddie didn't respond. "I hope that I am doing okay with them. It's hard without you. Since your surgery the boys have been sleeping with me every night. I know that I shouldn't have let them but they didn't want me to be lonely and if I'm honest with myself, I enjoyed having them next to me but I know that I have to send them back to their own beds, something I am doing tonight. I have given them warning but I don't think that it is going to be easy. Eddie I am doing the best that I can with them but I know that it's not enough; I'm not enough. They need their father. They need you Eddie so please, please wake up as soon as you can. The boys and I miss you so much." Of course he didn't respond so she stood and kissed him. "I love you Eddie." She whispered in his ear.

"All right boys. Settle down." Janet had just finished their story and they had the giggles. "Lay down." Janet walked over to Jackson and kissed him. "Goodnight Jax. Me and daddy love you very much." From Jackson's bed she moved to Josh and finally Jake and repeated those words to both of them.

"I want to sleep with you."

"Jake, we talked about this. You guys are sleeping in your beds tonight."

"You'll be lonely mommy."

"'I will be fine Joshy. I'm a big girl."

"I'm scared."

"Jax there is nothing to be afraid of. You have your night light and I am right across the hall." Janet kissed each of her boys again and tucked them in. "Good night boys. I love you." Janet shut the door with the sounds of their cries ringing in her ears.

She went into her room and sat on the bed, biting her lip to keep from crying. In case the boys didn't stay in their room she didn't want them walking in and see her crying. It would scare them. She had to remain strong for her children.

After three attempts to crawl into their mother's bed the triplets finally fell asleep. Janet snuck into their room, made sure they were all tucked in and holding their favorite stuffed animal, courtesy of their father. They didn't start sleeping with those animals until Eddie fell into his coma. Janet figured that by holding the stuffed animals that their father gave them made them feel closer to him. In fact they woke up every morning, telling her about a dream they all had about their dad. It was the same dream but Janet assumed that one of the boys had a dream and the other two added to it with their own story.

After kissing them she returned to her bedroom, showered and climbed into her big empty bed. It only took a few minutes before she was overwhelmed with loneliness. It was really the first time since Eddie fell into his coma that she has had to sleep in her bed alone and she hated it. She missed Eddie so much. She grabbed his pillow that in a moment of nostalgia earlier she put some of his cologne on it. She held it close to her, inhaling his scent and like her boys, she cried herself to sleep.

"Daddy." Jacob, Jackson and Joshua yelled as soon as they saw their dad.

"Hey guys. Come here and give me a hug." The boys eagerly hugged their dad.

"What are we doing today daddy?" Josh asked.

"I was thinking about going to the beach."

"Yeah." The triplets cheered. The four of them walked to the beach that suddenly appeared.

"So how is mommy?"

"She's sad." Jackson answered.

"She cries a lot." Jake told his dad. "She misses you daddy."

"I miss her too."

"Why can't you wake up then?"

"I don't know Jax. I'm trying to wake up but I just can't."

"That's silly."

"Yep Jake. It is. Now when you boys wake up in the morning make sure you tell mommy that I love her."

"We will." They arrived at the beach.

"All right boys. Let's swim." The four Latekka boys ran into the water, laughing.