Janet couldn't believe it. While kissing her comatose husband she felt movement beneath her own lips. She pulled back and looked into the brown eyes of her husband; brown eyes she hadn't seen in fifteen months. Dr. Weber had told her that there may be a sporadic movement that could include spontaneous eye movement and that's what Janet thought she was seeing because his eyes fell closed again and her own filled with tears. For a brief instant she thought he was awake. She reached out and cupped his cheek and his eyes opened again.

"Eddie? Eddie are you awake?" Janet whispered. He blinked and tried to speak but only a small sound escaped. "Oh baby, you're awake. You are finally awake." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his and kissed him again and his lips moved under hers; barely but there was movement. She pulled back and looked into those brown eyes again and she saw confusion.

"Baby, do you know who I am?" He gave a slight nod. Okay, that was a good thing. "Do you know where you are at?" He shook his head. "Do you remember that you had an experimental surgery for your brain tumor?" Nod. "There was a complication. During the surgery you had a stroke and have been in a coma ever since." He tried to speak again but only a gurgle came out. "We had to move you from the hospital to a nursing home and you've been here for fourteen months and unconscious for fifteen months." He shook his head again. "I'm going to go get a nurse." Janet stood from the bed, squeezed his hand and rushed from the room.

Eddie was confused. He heard what Janet had told him and it made sense to him but at the same time it didn't. The last thing he remembered was kissing her goodbye before he was wheeled into surgery. To him, it felt like it just happened yesterday; not fifteen months ago but he knew more than a day had passed. He saw it when he looked at Janet. She was different. She had changed. Besides the fact that her long curls were gone she looked older and sadder. She looked like a woman who has been through a lot. He wanted to talk to her. He had so many questions but he couldn't make his voice work. He wanted to touch her but his arms like every part of his body was so heavy and he couldn't lift them and he didn't understand why.

"Eddie it's good to see those eyes open." Melissa, the nurse greeted her patient.

"He can't talk. Is that because of the stroke?" Janet anxiously asked.

"I can't say for sure but it probably has to do with the coma. He hasn't used his voice box in fifteen months so Eddie you need to keep trying and you should be able to talk again soon." He nodded his head against the bed. "Now let's check you out." Melissa did a quick exam. She checked his pupils which were fine; she checked his reflexes which not present and then finally she checked his muscle tone in his arms and legs which was really lacking.

"Eddie things look good." Eddie tried to say something but it didn't work so he lifted his arm as high as he could which wasn't very far. "Along with your voice box you haven't used your muscles so the muscle tone has deteriorated. We worked your arms and legs and it helped but it wasn't enough. It's going to take some time and work, but eventually will get those muscles strong again."

"So he's okay?" Janet asked.

"Yes. He's fine. Now if you will excuse me I'm going to page Dr. Weber. I'll be right back."

"And I'm going to call your mom." Janet took a step and Eddie cried out and Janet rushed over to him. "What's wrong?" He darted his eyes towards the door and shook his head. "You don't me to go?" He shook his head. "I wasn't leaving you. I just needed to get my phone." Janet pointed to her purse. "It's right over there okay?" He nodded.

Janet stepped away from her husband and over to her purse. She grabbed her cell phone and called Laura's cell phone. "Hi honey." Laura greeted.

"He's awake." Janet said into the phone and the line became silent. "Hello?"

"Did you say he's awake?" Laura finally asked. "Eddie's awake?"

"He is."

"We are on our way."

"See you soon." Janet disconnected the call and returned to Eddie's bedside. She sat down and took his hand and for the first time in fifteen months Eddie held her hand back. "Your parents are coming with the kids."

Suddenly, Eddie had a flash or memory of his boys. They were swimming, fishing, riding roller coasters, playing at the park and many other activities. He remembered talking to them; telling them that he was trying to wake up and giving them messages for Janet. "Booo…?" He managed to get out.

"The boys?" He nodded. "The boys are perfect. They really have missed their dad. Every day they asked me if you were going to wake up. They are going to be so happy to see you awake." Eddie saw tears fill Janet's eyes and at that moment Eddie something else came into Eddie's mind.

"Baa…" He cleared his throat and tried again. "J…Jo…"

"Jocelyn?" Janet asked and Eddie nodded eagerly. "You know about Jocelyn?" He sent her a questioning look. He looked confused. "I had a baby Eddie; our baby. We have a daughter Jocelyn." Eddie squinted his eyes and Janet knew he didn't understand. "Do you remember our trip to Disneyworld?" He nodded. "Do you remember the alone time we had?" He nodded and this time he smiled. "We made a baby. We made the daughter you wanted." Tears fell from Janet's eyes. "You told me that if we had a girl you wanted her to be named Jocelyn Edith. She is six months old. She's beautiful Eddie. She looks just like you and I know she can't wait to finally meet you." Janet grabbed her phone and pulled up a picture of Jocelyn and showed Eddie his daughter for the first time and his tears fell.

"Are you okay Eddie?" Melissa asked walking back into the room. He answered her by darting his eyes towards Janet's phone. Melissa took a peek and smiled. "Oh yeah. She is a cutie but let me tell you, that picture doesn't do her justice. She is even more beautiful in person." Eddie smiled proudly through his tears. "And speaking of kids, your boys are also the cutest thing; absolutely adorable." Eddie looked at Janet's phone again and she knew he wanted to see a picture of the boys. Janet scrolled through her phone and found a great one of the boys. Janet held the phone up and Eddie gazed lovingly at the picture.

"They'll be here soon Eddie." He nodded.

"Dr. Weber is on his way. He is very excited that you are awake." She handed him a glass of water. "I know your throat is sore so drink this will help. Drink it nice and slow okay." Eddie nodded. Slowly and painfully he lifted the glass to his mouth. His arm was shaking so badly that he spilled half of it down his gown but he managed to get it to his mouth and sip some of the liquid and he grimaced in pain as he did so. "It hurts I know, but it will get better." He nodded. "Okay, I'm going to give you two some privacy. Let me know if you need anything."

"We will. Thank you."

As Melissa was walking out of the door, Janet began to fill Eddie in on the boys and Jocelyn. He was intently taking everything in. He was realizing how much he had missed and it was breaking his heart. He missed his boys' first day of school; his daughter's birth; things he would never get back but according to Janet she had lots of videos of his children's lives so since he wasn't there to experience it with them at least he could see it. Just from listening to Janet, Eddie knew Janet had been a great mom to their children in his absence. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"It's probably your parents and the kids. I'm going to go distract them for a few minutes so your mom and dad can see you."

"Noo." There was another knock at the door.

"Just a minute." Janet called and then she turned back to Eddie. "I know you want to see the kids but once they get in here no one else will have a chance to get to you and your mom and dad need to see you. Okay?" He slowly nodded. As badly as he wanted to see his children he knew Janet was right. "I'll be back soon." She quickly kissed him and went to the door. Before opening it she turned back to her husband. "I love you Eddie." He nodded in response and Janet knew that was his way, right now of telling her he loved her.

Janet stepped out into the hall and found Jack and Laura waiting anxiously. "Where are the kids?"

"Your mom and Tom are behind us. They should be here anytime."

"Did you call Katie?"

"We did. She, Ikey and Ashton are on their way."

"Go on in." Janet told her in-laws. "He's waiting."

"Thank you." Laura whispered tearfully and she and Jack walked into their son's room.

While waiting for the kids, her mom and Tom she called Hannah with the news. Of course, courtesy of Ikey she already knew and she was making sure that Eddie's friends would give Eddie, Janet and the kids' time together today and they would come and see him the next day. Janet thanked her and just as she hung up the boys ran up to her.

"Hey guys." Janet kissed each of the boys. "Let's go in the lounge and watch some cartoons." She told them.

"Nana said we were going to see daddy." Jacob said.

"We are but grandma and grandpa are visiting him now. We'll go see him in a little while okay?"

"Okay." Jackson answered for them and Janet ushered them into the lounge.

"We didn't tell them about Eddie waking up." Sharon whispered once they were settled. "Tom and I wanted you to be the one to tell them that their father is awake."

"Thanks for that. I figured you didn't tell them because if so, we wouldn't be sitting here right now."

"How is he?"

"Okay I guess considering he has been unconscious for the last fifteen months. He can hardly use his muscles and he is having trouble talking because his voice box has been unused for so long." Janet was silent for a minute, lost in her thoughts.

"Honey?"

"Mom, he knew about Jocelyn. He almost said baby and the first syllable of her name. Do you think the dreams the boys had about Eddie were true?"

"Maybe or maybe he heard you talking. They say that comatose people can hear those visiting them."

"I hope not because I said some pretty horrible things to him a few times."

"He won't remember that."

Five minutes later Katie and Ikey showed up. After depositing Ashton in the lounge with her cousins they went to join her parents. Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Weber showed up and Janet followed him into Eddie's room.

"Eddie it's been a long time. How are you feeling?" Dr. Weber asked his patient. Eddie nodded in response. "Well let's take a look." Everyone backed away from Eddie so Dr. Weber could examine him. Ten minutes later he came to the same conclusion as Melissa, the nurse did.

"Everything looks good. Now I am sure that you have some questions and I am going to do the best I can to answer them. During your surgery you had a stroke which in your condition wasn't a surprise. I injected you with a blood thinner right after the stroke occurred and the clot dissolved immediately so there shouldn't be any effects from the stroke. Do you understand everything so far?" Another nod. "Now as far as your brain tumors they are gone. You haven't had another one. Your history shows that within six months of removal your tumors returned and that hasn't happened so, medically, you are cured of your brain tumors." Everyone in the room smiled. "Now Eddie, do you have any questions?"

"H…h…home?" His voice was slowly coming back. Right now, he sounded as if he had a really bad case of laryngitis and was only speaking one word at a time.

"It's going to be awhile before that happens." Eddie looked crestfallen.

"Why? I thought he was okay." Janet spoke up.

"As far as the brain tumors he is fine but we need to get his muscles strengthened and for that to happen Eddie, you are going to need a lot of physical therapy. Tomorrow you're going to be moved up to the 3rd floor, the physical therapy floor. One of the therapists will be down shortly to discuss a plan that he or she will put together for you."

"How long?" Janet asked. "How much longer will he have to be here?"

"His therapist could tell you for sure but I would say at least another month." Janet nodded, afraid that if she spoke she would start crying. "Any other questions; any of you?" No one had any. "Okay Eddie, I will see you tomorrow."

A few minutes later, one of the physical therapists from upstairs came to talk to Eddie and the family. He laid out his very intensive plan of physical therapy. He estimated that it would take approximately six to eight weeks before Eddie would be able to come home. Eddie looked at Janet and saw the heartbreak all over her face and he felt horrible knowing he was the cause.

After the physical therapist left, Jack, Laura, Katie and Ikey said their goodbyes to their son, promising to return the next day, because they knew that Eddie, Janet and the boys needed to spend some quality time together as a family.

"Eddie, are you ready to meet your daughter?" Janet asked softly as she reentered her husband's room with Jocelyn after saying goodbye to Eddie's parents. Since Janet wanted Eddie's first meeting with his daughter to be just the three of them, Sharon and Tom were hanging out with the boys in the lounge.

"Yes." Janet walked over to the bed with six month old Jocelyn on her hip. Eddie's eyes widened the closer his wife and daughter got to him. "Eddie, say hello to your daughter, Jocelyn Edith." Janet set Jocelyn on Eddie's lap and she immediately laid her head on her father's chest. Painfully, Eddie lifted his hand and placed it on his little girl's head. Eddie looked at Janet with tears rolling down his face and he smiled.

"Beautiful."

"Yes she is. She looks just like her father." Eddie's gaze fell back onto his daughter who was watching him.

"Hi..." Eddie painfully swallowed. "Baby…girl." Jocelyn smiled at him and Eddie cried harder. He couldn't believe that he was looking at his daughter; a daughter he thought he would never have and instantly his heart filled with love for his precious baby girl.

"She…knows...me…" He sounded amazed.

"Of course she does. I have been bringing her here to see you practically every day since she has been born."

"Thank…you…" Now tears filled Janet's eyes.

"You are so welcome." Janet sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Now how about the boys? Are you ready to see them?"

"Please."

"Do you want me to leave her with you?" Eddie nodded. "Okay. Hang tight."

Janet returned to the lounge where she found the boys growing restless and she couldn't blame them. They had been told that they were coming to see their dad and so far that hadn't happened. She sent her mom and Tom in to see Eddie for a few minutes and she took the boys down to the cafeteria for a treat for being so good.

She decided to surprise the boys and she didn't tell them that he was awake. After they ate their treats, she took them back to their father's room. She opened the door and let them go in first but she was right behind them. She wasn't going to miss their reaction. Janet watched as Josh's eyes traveled to his father's bed. His eyes widened and then he froze but only for an instant.

"DADDY!" Josh yelled happily racing over to the bed followed by his brothers. "Daddy you are awake." He cried, throwing his arms around Eddie's neck. Jackson and Jacob inserted themselves next to Josh so they too, could hug their father. Even though, the pain was unbearable, Eddie lifted his practically useless arms and weakly hugged the three of them back while Sharon, Tom and Janet stood behind them with tears falling down their faces. It was the long awaited reunion that they had been waiting so long for.

"I'll call you tomorrow sweetheart. Enjoy your night." Sharon whispered handing Jocelyn, who she had taken away from Eddie right before the boys pounced.

"Thanks for everything mom." Janet kissed her and Tom and the two of them slipped unnoticed out of the room.

"You woke up daddy; just like you said you would." Jacob said.

"Hi…guys…" Eddie finally managed when the boys pulled back slightly.

"What's wrong with your voice?" Josh asked his voice full of concern for her father.

"Daddy hasn't talked in a long time…"

"Cause he was sleeping." Jacob inserted.

"Right so because he was sleeping he didn't talk and he lost his voice."

"Daddy you were sleeping for a really, really, really long time." Jackson finally spoke.

"I…know…"

"We really missed you." Josh quietly told Eddie.

"We were good and helped mommy just like you told us too."

"My…good…boys…" Eddie was so proud of his boys and it showed on his face.

Eddie couldn't be happier. Jocelyn was sleeping on his lap. The triplets were surrounding him and they were filling him on everything that had happened over the past fifteen months that their six year old minds could remember and between the three of them it was quite a lot.

Janet sat back observing her husband and children. Did she want time with Eddie herself? Of course she did but right now it wasn't about her. Her boys needed their father. She was adult and she would wait her turn for time with her husband and at this moment; seeing her boys happier than they have been in fifteen months was all that she wanted at that moment.

"All right boys. It's time to say goodbye to daddy." Janet had just returned from changing Jocelyn's diaper.

"Nooo." Three boys cried.

"Sorry guys but it's time to go."

"I don't wanna go." Jacob whined.

"It's almost your bedtime and you need to get your baths."

"We got our baths yesterday." Jackson whined.

"Listen…mom…" Eddie told them.

"Say goodbye to daddy." With sad faces the triplets hugged and kissed their father goodbye.

"We will see him in the morning." Janet reminded them.

"You will wake up in the morning?" Josh asked

"Yes."

"Promise?" Eddie nodded.

"Bye…boys." Janet saw Eddie swallow. "Love…you guys…"

"Love you too daddy." They told him and Janet shooed them off of the bed so she could say goodbye herself. She sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand.

"I am so happy that you are awake. I have missed you so much." Janet whispered and Eddie smiled. "Tomorrow is going to be a big day for you with lots of visitors so you need to get some rest."

"Not…tired….slept…too long." With a grin, Janet leaned forward and kissed him softly, relishing in the fact that this kiss was reciprocated.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She told him when they broke their embrace.

"I love…you." Tears filled Janet's eyes when she heard those precious words.

"I love you too."

By the time she got home, the boys were sound asleep in the van while Jocelyn just cooed happily. Once Janet got the baby in the house she made three separate trips out to the garage to carry the sleeping triplets in and up to bed, still fully clothed. She didn't have the energy to change them into their pajamas so she simply pulled their pants off and tucked them in bed. Once the boys were settled Janet changed and fed Jocelyn and then put her to bed as well.

Janet changed into her pajamas and went to lock up. She couldn't help but notice the partial decorations that were supposed to be for her birthday party. The dining room table was covered with crayons, construction paper, scissors and stickers and that's where she found the homemade birthday cards. With a sad smile Janet picked up and read the three cards from her boys. She loved the simple "Happy Birthday Mommy" and "I love you" along with the pictures. They were the best cards she had ever received.

She left the cards where they were so the boys could give them to her tomorrow and headed to bed herself; she was exhausted which was in part to her pneumonia. Janet knew that her birthday was forgotten because Eddie woke up and if there was a reason for her family and friends to forget about her birthday Eddie waking up is the best reason and she knew that if he knew the date, he would have wished her a happy birthday.

Exhausted, Janet climbed into bed knowing that in another two months her husband would be lying beside her again with his arms wrapped around her. She never considered the physical therapy that Eddie would have to endure and just assumed that he would be home soon after he woke up so learning that he wouldn't be home for another eight weeks broke her heart but after it had sunk in it wasn't as bad as she thought. He was awake andcoming home and that's all that mattered.