I own none of the characters of October Road

After Eddie and Janet shared their dance, the D.J. put some music on and the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary party really started. Eddie and Janet retreated from the dance floor when the music started and they spent the remainder of the evening going around the room, talking to their friends and family, catching up on each other's lives and thanking everyone for coming and celebrating with them. Around midnight, they happy couple decided to call it a night because they weren't as young as they used to be and frankly, they were exhausted. Before leaving, they gathered their children and their families together so they could properly thank them with hugs and kisses.

"This was an amazing night. You guys went above and beyond. Mom and I just wanted a nice, quiet family dinner and this great party and trip down memory lane is what we got. I don't know how to thank you." Eddie told his family.

"You guys have been married for twenty five years." Zach told him. "It deserved to be recognized with a big ass party."

"I thought our wedding was wonderful, but it's nothing compared to tonight." Janet said tearfully.

"Nice try mom. There is no way that this evening could have been better then your wedding was." Amber informed her.

"You're wrong Amber. Yes, our wedding was wonderful but tonight, tonight was all about celebrating a love that started twenty some years ago and is stronger tonight then it was then. What makes this evening spectacular is that my children, the family that your father and I created with our love are here to celebrate with us." Eddie saw that Janet was getting all emotional and he decided to pull her out.

"Come on babe. Let's go home." She nodded and hugged her family. "Will you guys all come over for breakfast in the morning?" The kids all nodded and with a final goodbye Eddie and Janet left, holding hands.

Even though it was only a fifteen minute drive Janet dozed off as soon as the truck started moving and didn't waken again until Eddie was standing next to her, placing soft kisses all over her face. Her eyes fluttered open and the first thing she saw was the loving hazel eyes that she has looked into for the past twenty five years. Smiling, she reached out, pulled his face up to hers and kissed him. "Hmmm. I love you." She whispered when they broke apart.

"I love you too darling. Come on; let's get you to bed sleepy head." Janet allowed Eddie to pull her out of the truck and led her into the house.

Janet had bought a new nightgown for tonight so once they got to their bedroom Janet disappeared into the bathroom to change and freshen up. She let her hair down, applied a cherry flavor edible lotion all over because she knew how Eddie's tongue liked to travel around her body and cherry was his favorite. She slipped on the royal blue silk nightgown on, checked her reflection and stepped into her bedroom. "Eddie." She whispered to his form lying on the bed. "I thought that maybe you might want to do an up close and personal inspection of my new nightgown." When he didn't respond she moved closer to the bed and that's when she heard the snoring. "Oh sweetheart." She sat next to him on the bed and stared at the sleeping man beside her.

As much as she wanted to have sex with her husband she couldn't possibly be mad at him for conking out on their anniversary. It had been a very long day and she got to take a quick nap on the way home but her desire to touch him didn't lessen. Reaching out she gently ran her fingers through his hair, down to his face, tracing every line and finally ending up on his bare chest. The instant she touched his chest Janet heard and felt his breathing pattern change and she knew he was awake. She lifted her eyes to Eddie's face and saw that his were still closed so she decided to play along. Leaning down, she took a hardened nipple in her mouth and sucked, smiling against his chest when she heard him gasp. While working on his nipple with her mouth, she reached out and caressed the other, rolling the hardened nub between her thumb and forefinger.

"You better hurry up. My wife can come in at anytime." He mumbled

"What I have planned for you will take a very long time." She purred as she began to kiss down his chest. "So if you're worried that your wife may catch us…"

"Don't stop." He begged.

"What about your wife?" She tapped his hips and he automatically lifted up and she pulled his boxers down.

"Who cares? All I want is you."

"Well if you're sure."

"Oh yeah. I'm really sure. I want you." Taking a few steps forward, Janet was at the head of the bed and she kissed him.

"What do you want Eddie?" She asked when she finally pulled away, breathless.

"I want you to suck me baby. Please, suck me Janet." He begged.

"I suppose that could be arranged. Scoot over." She demanded and he eagerly followed her instructions.

With a smile, Janet lay on the bed with her head level with her husbands cock. First, she took it in her hand and stroked it nice and slow. When he began to squirm impatiently, she decided to quit torturing him and she took him in her mouth. "Oh God. Son of a bitch Janet. He groaned in pleasure and Janet increased her strokes. Without warning Eddie's fingers were traveling up her legs, between her thighs and he was shoving two fingers inside of her. She unconsciously, she lifted her leg up of the bed, bending it at the knee and resting it on the bed, giving him better access and now it was her turn to groan with desire. She continued to suck him until she felt the familiar bubbling in her stomach and had to pull away to she could shriek in pleasure and not bite him at the same time.

Eddie sat up, pulled her nightgown over her head, tossed it somewhere and their lips crashed together in a passionate kiss. When they broke apart Eddie pushed Janet on her back but she wasn't having it. She wanted to be in control. She pushed Eddie off of her and onto his back. Before he could protest she was on top of him and sliding on to his erection. When Janet bent over so she could kiss him Eddie knew what had to be done. He placed his feet flat on the bed, bending his knees at the same time and he began to pump himself furiously into her while holding her flush to his chest until the both were shouting in orgasmic bliss.

"Happy anniversary babe." Eddie whispered as they both snuggled up with each other.

"It's after midnight. It's no longer our anniversary." Janet pointed out.

"I'm still awake so in my mind it's out anniversary so Happy anniversary hon."

"Happy anniversary cowboy. I love you."

"I love you more." Janet giggled and decided not to argue with that.

"By the way, you looked absolutely beautiful in your new nightgown." He whispered lovingly before he drifted off to sleep. Janet smiled in the darkness because she didn't think he even noticed it but it didn't surprise her. Eddie always noticed everything about her.

Janet climbed out of bed early the next morning, showered and stared making breakfast, hours before Eddie woke up and by the time he managed to crawl out of bed and the kids and their kids arrived at their childhood home Janet had scrambled up a couple dozen eggs, fried a few pounds of bacon, whipped up a box of instant pancakes and toasted up a couple loaves of bread. As her family grew Janet learned to cook for an army and if anyone left the Latekka house hungry it was their own fault.

After they all had full bellies they were relaxing in the living room when Emily and Jordan brought a wrapped gift in the room. "What is this?" Eddie asked suspiciously.

"You guys us that amazing party. We don't need anything else."

"It's from the kids. You can't say no to a gift from your grandchildren can you mom because if you did that would be just wrong." Natalie played the grandchildren card knowing her parents wouldn't say no to that. "Fine." Janet agreed.

Knowing the rules Eddie handed Janet the gift and the card. Whenever they got a gift that was meant for both of them Janet always opened the card, handed it off to Eddie and then opened the gift. When Eddie finished reading the card that had their grandkids name on it he hadn't heard anything from Janet. When he looked over at her he saw her staring at some paper in her hands with tears rolling down her face. "Honey?" She handed him what was in her hand. "Oh my God." He whispered. The kids arranged and paid for a two week trip to Paris, France for them.

"This is so thoughtful and wonderful but it's too much. It's way too much."

"We didn't do it. Your grandchildren…"

"Nice try Amber. Your mom and I know damn well your kids didn't buy this trip."

"Technically no they didn't." Zach agreed.

"The tickets are non refundable so if you don't take the trip none of us can get our money back and then talk about a waste of money." Collin added and Janet glared at him. Amber, Zach and Collin looked at their older sister because they new if any of them could convince their parents it was Natalie.

"Mom, dad, you have both spent the last twenty five years spending everyday raising, taking care of us and our kids. You two deserve this trip, more than anyone. Mom we know that you have been dreaming of a romantic trip to Paris for years. Your first trip was a disaster and even though you tried to hide it, we all know how disappointed you were that it wasn't anything like you dreamed it would be." Eddie and Janet smiled sheepishly. "We talked about it and we have all been contributing to this trip since right after you guys got home. We actually paid it off last year. Please mommy, please daddy, take this trip. You have earned it." Janet knew that Natalie had many valid points but she wasn't ready to give up quite yet.

"According to the plane ticket our flight is scheduled for tomorrow. That's not enough time for us to make arrangements. Your father and I have responsibilities."

"Really mom?" Natalie asked. "You must be ready to give in if that's the best excuse you can come up with. We have planned this trip so we have known your departure date. Daddy, we are totally covered for the next couple weeks. I made sure of it and mom you watch our kids during the day. We have all arranged alternate care for them. Sure it won't be as good as Grammy's house but for two weeks it will work."

Eddie and Janet looked at each other and without speaking they came to a mutual decision. "All right guys, first of all mom and I want you to know how grateful that your mom and I am to you for this extraordinary gift. Every day we are reminded what amazingly, wonderful children we raised."

"Duh." Amber said and everyone laughed.

"Thank you all, thank you so very much." Janet whispered tearfully.

"So does that mean that you're accepting your gift?" Collin asked.

"Yes we are accepting your generous gift."

"So you found our reasons convincing?" Zach inquired.

"We did and I know that your mom really, really wants to go." Eddie answered and Janet agreed.

"What about you dad? Do you want to go?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah pumpkin I do."

Eddie and Janet left the following day for the anniversary trip to Paris. This time all of their flights were on time and they arrived in Paris as scheduled. The hotel that they kids booked for them was beautiful. It was an old mansion which had been converted into a luxurious hotel that sat on a lake. Since they were staying in Paris for two weeks they spent lots of time in their room making love and many nights out in a canoe on the lake talking, laughing, and kissing under the stars.

They went to all of the best restaurants with the exception of where they went the last time when they got food poisoning. They went to every tourist attraction that they could find. Eddie even relented and spent two days at The Louve with Janet. Art really isn't Eddie's cup of tea but because Janet wanted to go to the famous museum he went through every inch of the museum with a smile on his face. He would never deny his wife anything that she wanted, even if he hated every minute of it.

Once Eddie and Janet returned home life continued to move on and change for the Latekka family. A month after her parent's got back from their trip Natalie gave birth to a healthy little girl named Olivia Edith Rowan. Janet begged her daughter to change Olivia's name but Natalie refused. She wanted Olivia to have part of her mother's name. Amber and Nate finally had a little girl, the little girl that Amber had been yearning for, a little girl that Amber named Courtney, a name that she had picked out when she was a little girl and Zach and Tammy completed their family with a son, Max.

Meanwhile Collin completed college and then medical school. He ended up specializing in children with diabetes. Collin felt because he has had diabetes since he was two and he never remembered not having diabetes he would be able to relate to his patients. He was very good as his job and his patients adored him. Gay marriage never became legal but Jamie and Collin had a commitment ceremony and became life partners. Like any other couple they eventually wanted children. They considered adoption but the state was giving them a really hard time so Amber stepped up and offered to carry a baby for her brother since being pregnant was one of Amber's favorite things in the world. Collin and Jamie picked an egg donor, each man gave a sample and Amber was implanted with two embryos, hoping at least one would take. In fact not just one but both of the embryos took and Collin and Jamie were by Amber's side in the delivery room when she gave birth to their fraternal twin boys, Aiden Edward and Jaden James. As soon as they were born it was obvious that Collin was Aiden's father because Aiden was born with the same red hair as his father and Jaden had dark hair like his father. So the boys would know that both men were their father, regardless of their biology, Aiden was given Jamie's last name and Jaden was given Collin's last name but it was never an issue, Aiden and Jaden always knew that they were loved and adored by their dads.

Janet continued to watch her grandchildren everyday until the twins were in school and when that happened her heart broke a little bit. She attempted to go back to work a Sully's but she realized that her heart wasn't in it anymore so she finally sold it. All of her children had their own careers and family and none of them had time to manage the bar so it left the family. She split the money from the sale among her nine grandchildren equally and put into the savings account that she and Eddie had started and continued to contribute to every month. Until Eddie retired she spent most of her time volunteering at the kids' schools.

Eddie continued to work until he had a second mild heart attack and his doctors told him that he was done. Thankfully this heart attack was so mild that it did not require any surgery but it scared him enough not to argue with his physician when he was told to quit working. He loved his job but he loved his wife and family more. He knew that he wouldn't be around forever and neither was Janet and he didn't want to miss out on they time that they had left together.

Retirement was wonderful for both Janet and Eddie. After so many years of getting up and going to work everyday it was a shock to their systems that they could lay around in bed all day, sleep in or hang around the house in their pajama's if that's what they wanted to do. Their lives were finally their own to do with what they wanted. Eddie took Janet fishing and he taught her how to golf, something as it turned out that she loved. Janet in the meantime got Eddie into gardening, a hobby she picked up and Eddie surprised himself by having a green thumb and she taught him how to cook more than grilling and boiling of hot dogs that he was great at but most of the time Eddie and Janet could be seen walking through Knights Ridge hand in hand just talking and being together.

Eventually the couple sold their treasured home that had been the foundation of so many wonderful memories and they moved into a small two bedroom condo. Janet missed her big home but she had developed arthritis and keeping up on it got to be too much for her. The worst thing about selling the house for Janet was their new condo was too small to have everyone over at once for family dinners and holidays but the kids tried to help her out with that. They continued to have their weekly dinners but they alternated between Natalie, Amber, Zach and Collin's homes with Janet showing up early and doing most of the cooking. Holidays were the same. Dinner was held at one of the kids' homes after Pops and Grammy made their Christmas morning rounds to see all of the gifts that their grandchildren received for being such good children. Basically what it boiled down to was that if Eddie and Janet could be with their family then it was all good.

Six months into their 48th wedded year together Janet was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. Eddie was devastated and terrified for his wife but he remained strong and how could he not when Janet was being incredibly brave and strong enough for the both of them. At first her medication worked great and for that reason alone Eddie and Janet decided to keep her diagnosis to themselves. They didn't want to upset their children or grandchildren when there really was no reason to. For nine months Janet's medication worked fine but eventually it stopped working and when that happened her cardiologist told her she maybe only had a few months left.

Eddie broke down in the doctor's office, the knowledge that his Janet was going to die was just too much for him to handle. The older he got the more death was a part of their lives and many nights, he prayed that he would go first because he knew he wouldn't be able to make it without her but obviously his prayers weren't answered. When they got home, Janet talked about the technicalities of her death like her funeral for example without shedding a tear but when they got into bed that night and Eddie wrapped his arms around her the damn broke and she cried until she fell into a restless sleep. That night and many nights thereafter, Eddie spent them lying awake and staring at the woman he loved more than anything.

When the news of their mother's diagnosis reached Natalie, Amber, Zach and Collin they all felt as if their hearts were getting cruelly ripped out of their chests. Their mother was such a huge, important part of their lives and none of them could or wanted to imagine their lives without her in it but now, they had no choice but to start imagining. During her last few months of life Janet was constantly surrounded by her children, grandchildren and she made sure that each of them knew how much they meant to her.

Eddie on the other hand, never left her side. He tried numerous times to have the "last" conversation, but Janet didn't want to have that conversation because she knew, how much he loved her and that's all that mattered in the end. He was terrified that if he left her, even for one minute that would be when she would be gone when he returned. Nighttime was the worst. He spent most nights lying awake listening to her breathe praying that she makes it through another night but sadly one night she didn't.

When Eddie awoke that morning, after sleeping for maybe an hour, he rolled over and reached out for her and when his hand touched her she was cold. Even though he knew what it meant he shook her and called her name but she didn't respond. Sobbing he pulled her upper body into his lap and cradled her as he sobbed and stroked her hair until Natalie found them and took care of the heartbreaking details.

Eddie never really recovered from Janet's death. When she died, she took his heart with her. He actually spent the night before her funeral at the funeral home holding her hand and talking to her. After he buried his beloved wife Eddie Latekka just went through the motions of living. He sold the condo because he couldn't stand living there without her and moved in with Amber since Jordan had moved out on his own and she had an extra room. If he wasn't lying in his room staring at the ceiling he was at the cemetery with his wife. Even though he had their kids and grandkids with him all of the time he had never felt more alone.

The morning of what would had been her parent's fiftieth wedding anniversary Amber went to her father's room to check on him and found that he had passed away. Natalie, Amber, Zach and Collin assumed that their father died of a broken heart and he died on what would have been their fiftieth anniversary because he couldn't go through that day without her. He promised Janet fifty years and since she wasn't here he went to where she was to celebrate fifty wonderful years together. Natalie, Amber, Zach and Collin were heartbroken over the loss of their parents six months apart and as much as they were hurting they knew that their parents were once again together, as they were always meant to be. When Eddie and Janet left this earth they left a big hole in the hearts and lives of their family, a hole that could never be closed but more importantly they behind a legacy of true loved that will be carried on through generations.

The End.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.