Ok so there's a ton to unpack here. And it starts off right away. Jim talking to Pam about Michael doing your Mom was such a subtle yet clever foreshadow. Oh Pam if only you knew how true that would be someday, you'd be just as freaked out now as you will be then.

Roy is in fine form, and by that I mean being the lumbering oaf he normally is. Not listening to Pam, being selfish about just about everything. The guy just doesn't seem to care about Pam or even be willing to put himself in an uncomfortable position to help Pam out.

Really interesting seeing Pam's Jim vs. Roy thoughts. Especially pre-cameras like this. She's already having doubts about Roy. She knows she's not standing up for herself and you can tell it's eating at her. But yet she's not in the place in her life to speak up. Very pre-S1 of Pam.

Jim's great though. He does everything he can to help out Pam, make her feel more comfortable, and head off Michael as best he can. Granted at times that's impossible, but it's a lot more than anyone else *cough Roy cough* is willing to do.

Lovely that they share a duet and it's "Islands in the Stream." Makes the scene from Jim's BBQ have a lot more depth.

Also great way to annoy Dwight with pretending to not hear him and the door prank. Early Dwight was much more of a douchy Dwight and that shows here too. Good on ya Jim for bringing him down a peg.

Great chapter.

Author's Response:

Thank you - glad you liked it! And I know, poor Pam. I really loved Jim’s rendition of ‘Islands In The Stream’ in Email Surveillance, and I thought it would be funny if the reason Michael went straight for that song was because he’d seen them having a great time singing it before, and was trying to re-create it.  And early Dwight really was more of a douche!  Thanks so much for continuing to review :) 

The paragraph about Jim wanting to run after Brad was very strong – you’ve identified some clear conflicts between what a good friend should do and what someone who wants her wants to do that we don’t see explored much in canon-compliant fic, just because with Roy the answer is usually one and the same.

The paragraph with Karen kind flirtingly/kinda not trying to improve Jim’s pool game - very in character moment for her, and I like that you acknowledge that this part of her, this very un-Pammish characteristic, is kinda part of the appeal of Karen. (Real talk, a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it hard would be very appealing for someone trying to get over Pam Beesly.)

Oooof. Yeah, they were probably inevitably headed for another “talk” as soon as Brad arrived. I appreciate the way you’ve sketched Karen here – that this isn’t her being in any way unreasonable so much as just aware of what’s going on around her and the fact that Jim is swatting away every opportunity she’s giving him to prove Pam’s not in the front of his mind. She’s a no-bullshit kind of woman who accepts a fair amount of bullshit from Jim during this season, and you’ve squared that circle well here.

100% share that thought about Pam’s relationship with Isabel being strengthened post-Roy breakup.

That exchange outside the bar HURTS. SO them – so much between them, and they’re not quite communicating, not quite acknowledging what’s actually happening.

As you might have guessed, I am really attached to the friendship that’s fundamentally at the heart of who they are to each other, so this moment of Jim thinking that of course he’s going to drive her home… I love it so much.

The paragraph about how he sometimes forgets about Karen when he’s with Pam, and his “delusion” that she forgot about Roy with him… very insightful into S3 Jim. And Pam’s bad dates are creative and funny.

The ending, I think, is strong – I think it’s good to include some moments of happiness and connection between them in Season 3, just to make the way they ultimately find their way back to each other make sense.

Author's Response: Thank you so much! I'm so grateful to you for leaving such detailed reviews, they are really great :) And yeah, I was also actually quite a fan of Karen and believed that Jim genuinely liked her. I was trying hard not to make her totally unlikeable/unreasonable here, so I'm really glad that came across. I also liked the start of her friendship with Pam: I feel like she would have been quite a good friend for Pam to have and a good influence (especially on the assertiveness), so it was a shame that that didn't work out. Although for obvious reasons. And the Jim/Pam friendship is one of the best bits about them! 

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This is adorable and I loved it. Reminds me of panicky Jim when Pam won’t go to the hospital when she’s in labor, but I love that he also gets the chance to calm Pam down as well. Through all of these you have captured the essence of their relationship so well and they are wonderful. :)

Author's Response:

Thank you so much! Ha yes, I do love panicky Jim on the show (but also that he manages to calm her down when he needs to).

 I'm thrilled to hear that - thanks for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it!  

Okay, this is winningly fluffy, for one.

I love their split reactions here - Jim going from unbelievably happy to incredibly nervous, Pam being initially more measured and trying to keep him level. It's a solid echo of how things went in The Delivery.

Them discovering the baby is the size of a raspberry and that staying on their minds is moving, as is Jim offering Pam the comfort she needs right back. It's getting dusty over here.

There are a lot of great comic lines in this, too - this being the most excited Pam has ever seen Jim about paper, the mis-chosen pamphlets and the joke about them having already missed the boat on safe sex, the need to keep her away from Angela and from Michael's morning coffee. It's just good work all around.

Author's Response:

Thank you! I had quite a lot of fun with this one (also partially inspired by my experience that some of those pamphlets really do make you panic more...) And yes, that was something I really liked in The Delivery! 

You write them so well. They are like bonus episodes for me . You are so true to their characters and I look forward to each update. I am sorry it took me so long to leave a review. You are so awesome. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing it with us.

Author's Response: Thank you so, so much! And thanks for leaving the review - I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying them :) 

As much as I'm not a fan of Pam having one-night stands, I can understand the mentality of writers who write that. Not personally my thing but that doesn't take anything away from the great writing here.

So other than that minor thing (which is again a me thing not a you thing) I did really enjoy this chapter. How they're having fun with each other which leads to more adult type fun with each other. I also like how they're open and honest with each other. After avoiding questions like that for so long, or avoiding talking about their real feelings, to have a conversation like that is very refreshing.

Author's Response: Thanks so much - I'm glad you enjoyed it despite that. And yes, I felt like the swing between season 3 of barely speaking to each other to season 4 where they could be completely open was really lovely: I would've liked to see more of those conversations! 

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I usually don't put reviews because my English is not so great. Anyway, I need to tried because I know a lot of people hate s9 storyline, but I like it bc it felt real. So I love this, the way you captured the feeling from both sides it's awesome, so congrats on doing an amazing work. Hopefully you can do an other one of s9, maybe about the iconic line "You're everything".


Can't wait to read more from you!

Author's Response: Thank you so much for leaving a review - I really appreciate it! And I'm really glad you enjoyed this - I also quite liked season 9 (although I had the advantage of coming to it late and knowing they'd get back together, which might have helped: I think it would have been much harder to watch if I hadn't known that!) The 'you're everything' line is another one of my favourite episodes too. 

Outstanding job getting into the angst of S9. You did a great job of fleshing out the tension they were under. The little things they weren't saying that caused a lot of the buildup of hurt. The fact they didn't know what to say or do to get back to each other.

Loved Jim's thoughts there in the parking lot. How he finally has his moment of clarity to get rid of fear and doubt and just get back to her. Pam's surprise of finding herself in his arms to finally relax into his arms again was lovely.

That's one of my favorite scenes and you did it more than justice. Great job.

Author's Response:

Thanks very much! I'm really pleased you enjoyed it - that is also one of my favourite scenes. I feel like there are lots of moments in season 9 where you can see how much they love each other but they don't quite say the right thing/let the hurt build up - I was thinking about that a lot when I was writing. 

 Thanks so much for all your reviews :) 

Okay, this is spot on use of the ensemble. Of course Kelly has a thing for the temp, you've got a wonderful Dwight voice, and Angela refusing to participate in what's basically an orgy is classic her. And that is absolutely the disaster Creed would cause with this exercise. (Although I do think that Stanley probably has a few complaints he's just too tired to vocalize.)

Pam being less guarded with Jim when she's still waking up is lovely - it's a very in-character little dose of her vulnerability. The two of them are just great here - with their instinctive teaming up to control Michael and Pam protecting Jim from Dwight, their awkward little moments of being caught without physical distance, him being the one who notices she's not with the group after the blindfold exercise... she's so lovely his chest hurts and Jim noticing the loose strand of hair are squee-worthy.

There are some great subtler moments here - Pam expecting Jim to have a Roy-like reaction to her struggles with the kayak, for one.

And I don't really have words for the kayak scene. Very on point, and such an organic way to have Pam cuddling a mostly-naked Jim. Kudos!

Yeah defiantly on the angst scale with this one. I think it's in keeping with Pam that she's kind of surprised with this sudden blind date. I'm sure she said what she did to Ryan in the breakroom just to make Jim jealous, but didn't really intend on going through with many dates. Kelly though is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to relationship drama. You can feel how uncomfortable Pam is during it all too.

I do love that even though they're apart right now, Jim and Pam still know what the other one is probably feeling. How much they'd love for one to come to the rescue of the other, but circumstance dictates otherwise. Nice job pulling that out.

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This was such a lovely version of their wedding day. It made me smile the whole way through. The humor running through it was delightful too.

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Lovely take on the wedding especially of the boat ride. The reception seemed very in keeping with the Office. A big event that quickly become cringy. I'm with Pam, Christy is just to much. I mean seriously, don't people know about tact or anything anymore. The rest is just good fun. Even with the interruptions from next door. They just slide into being themselves.

As far as Niagara fic recs, check out the Niagara 10 series/challenge. It deals more with their 10 year anniversary, but there's some wedding bits here and there in those stories.

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First, standing ovation on your ability to produce good writing this quickly.

Again, just broadly, the way you write them just comes across as very natural and very true to these characters. Your Dwight voice is strong, and Jim and Pam immediately teaming up against him and being on the same page about it sounds like something right out of the show. Pam's insecurity and boredom without Jim feel very much in line with what we know about her (I'm actually tooling around with a fic exploring a little more of the idea of what Pam's day looks like without Jim that starts pretty much the same way, whoops - but I do feel reassured that I'm getting that right now. :) ) And I love her internal self-checks about how she feels about Jim.

Also: YES on fic exploring the driving lessons. That's such a cute thing, and it's so underexplored on this site. I like the sort of natural way it all occurs - it's not a scheme so much as it's Jim just recognizing an opportunity and rolling with it.

The scene with them in the car - Jim needing to remind himself he doesn't know how to do this (and being so distracted by her that he does in fact drive badly) the concept of "safe" ways to spend time together and how fragile those safe moments can be - feels very on point.

The fact that they're both such a comfort to each other in moments where they each need it without really thinking about it, the way they both really want to spend time together (consciously on his part and less so on hers), and how happy spending time together makes them (and how much they're both not fully aware of that yet)... it's just lovely.

I'm impressed by the economical way you manage to highlight the flaws in her relationship with Roy - you manage to lay it bare in just a couple of sentences scattered throughout the fic.

And the last line made me go awwww. You absolutely will tell her, Jim. (And then you'll out her pregnancy to her conservative grandma. Maybe it's best you don't know.)

Love it. Love it all.