Pam had no idea being pregnant was this hard. Nah, she didn’t really get morning sickness, and she was never terrible emotional or anything, but doing the normal day-to-day things were difficult: tying her shoes, picking up the paperclips and scraps of paper around her desk, going on errands for Michael’s whatevers, and a lot of, um, *other* things with Jim. But of course Jim was a huge help. He was so protective of her all the time it made her laugh. She also thought it was kind of funny how they weren’t even married yet. They had the rings, yeah, but Pam found out the day after Jim proposed that she, well they, were pregnant. That was seriously the happiest weekend of her life.

The hardest morning waking up for Pam was when she was exactly eight and a half months pregnant. Jim insisted that she stay home, but it was her last day before her maternity leave, so she knew she should deal with it one more day and then be able to veg out for the next few weeks before her scheduled C section. It’s not like Fridays were ever really busy at the office, anyway. So Pam managed to put on her new maternity shirt from the baby shower her mom threw for her, eased herself into the backseat of the car (Jim read that it was safer in the back for pregnant women, but Pam knew he just got that from Dwight) at headed off to Dunder-Mifflin.

But when Pam walked into the office, she immediately regretted even getting up that morning. Right when she opened the doors, the lights turned on and all she could hear was Michael among the mumbles of the office saying “Happy BIRTH day Pam!” There were pink and blue streamers hung around the walls and pictures of kittens in baby bonnets scattered about the room. Jim kind of just stood there, mouth agape, looking over at Pam. All Pam could do was just look at Michael’s beaming face. How could she be mad at him?

Pam: “Wow, Michael, you didn’t have to—“

Michael: “Oh shush, Pam, come on, sit down! That extra 40 pounds you’ve been carrying around must get tiring.”

Phyllis: “Michael, she’s pregnant,” she told him, almost like it was a secret.

Kevin: “Yeah, it’s all in her *giggle* boobs.”

Michael: “Yes, that is right, Kevin. And that is why Pam must sit down here, in the middle of everyone, so we can all respect the beauti..ful..ness .. of motherhood!”


He gestured her to sit in the decorated desk chair in the middle of the crown. Pam breathed deeply. She knew it was going to be a long day.

Michael: “Alright, so what are we doing?”

Michael looked around at everyone’s faces with an anticipated smile till he found Angela’s permanent frown.

Angela: “You were the one who was supposed to plan that. You said you were the only one who could make watching someone else have a baby fun.”

Michael: “Well, yes, Angela, but you’re the Party Planning Committee or whatever so, alright. Improvise. What I do best,” he said as he smiled to the camera. “You know what we’re going to do? Let’s go around and say all the times we thought Pam was pregnant.”

Andy laughed loudly at this, but was immediately quieted by Toby and Oscar warning Michael that he was over the line.

Michael: “Oh shut up Toby. Why don’t you just leave? This must be depressing for you seeing as you’re probably banned from seeing your daughter because you sold crack to her friends or something. And Oscar, I know you want to be able to get pregnant, but that’s just not happening today. But Toby, seriously, your kinda creeping me out being here with all this baby stuff. I bet you get off just looking at Pam’s stomach.”

Toby just rolled his eyes and looked down at the floor. Pam felt really bad for him and wanted to yell at Michael, but she couldn’t;she was just really tired. She really didn’t want to be doing all this right now, but she wasn’t really shocked that this was going on. Pam was actually surprised that Michael waited this long to throw a party for her. She thought the minute he found out she was expecting he would invite her and the whole office for some Awesome Blossoms or something.

Michael: “Ok, fine, let’s just do something else. I mean what do we do at these things? Meredith you have like 7 kids. Whatsa goin down?”

Meredith: “Um, well, my girlfriends did this thing where there’s a sheet of paper with all these different features for the baby and the mom puts down what she features from the mom and the dad she wants for her baby and everyone else guesses-“

Michael: “Psh, boooring. There’s no like strip poker or something? Come on. Alright, you what? You women stay here. I’m taking Jim and the rest of the men out since these are his last days of freedom.”

Jim: “Oh, um, maybe I should stay here with Pam-“

When Jim looked at Pam, she just rolled her eyes, her secret way of telling him to just give in a go. She could make it by herself for one day.

But Jim didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay with her and just joke around with her and laugh at the stupid games Meredith suggested or Kelly insisting that they name their kid Jennifer Hudson Usher Ashton Kutcher Suri whatever. And as he looked into her bright green eyes, he thought about everything he wanted his baby to have: her smile, her eyes, her skin, her hair, her everything. Maybe his ability to play pranks on certain beet farmers. But he wanted nothing else than for his baby to be perfect – just like Pam.

Michael: “Nope, Jimbo, you’re coming with us. You can let her go for one day. It’s not like people have been pouncing on her for the last 9 months anyway…”

Jim just gave one of those looks to the camera, then the same one to Pam, and walked out the door with the rest of the men.

***************************************************************************************************

*With the boys*

Michel had everyone pile into Oscar’s SUV. Jim was pissed off already, and it just got worse when Michael started driving down the Parkway not telling them where they were going. Jim knew Michael didn’t know either.

Oscar: “Michael, where are we going?”

Michael: “We are going wherever the road takes us. Look!”

Michael pointed to a sign reading PHILADELPHIA: 35 MILES

Toby: “We’re going to Philadelphia?”

Everyone could hear a muffled “Yes!” under Dwight’s voice.

Michael: “No, Toby, we’re going to Philadelphia and we’re dropping you off in the outskirts.”

The car fell silent for about 15 minutes until Andy started humming. Michael joined in singing “Midnight Train to Georgia”, while Dwight tried to catch up with them. Everyone just dealt with it until they entered the city 20 minutes later. They just sort of drove around until Michael saw a movie theater.

Michael: “Look! That .. movie is playing there.

Kevin: “What movie?”

Michael: “That ..big.. movie, Kevin.”

Kevin: “Do you even know who’s in it?”

Michael: “Yes, Kevin, I do. God, lay off. If I didn’t know better I’d think you have a crush on me. Not that that’s bad. It’s great. I just don’t want Oscar to get jealous.”

They pulled into the parking lot. Jim walked off to the side, calling the office, but no one picked up. Michael called him over and gave him the ticket .

Jim: “We’re seeing Titanic?”

Michael: “Yes, Jim, it's the 10th anniversary of the best movie ever.”

Jim: “Titanic is your favorite movie?”

Michael: “Didn’t say that. Ok everyone, pick a seat, turn off your phones, and enjoy the mo-vay.”

Jim plopped down in one of the back seats a few rows behind Dwight; atleast throwing popcorn at the back of his head could keep him occupied. He pulled out his phone to turn it off but saw that it had already run out of battery. He shoved it back into his pocket and tried not to fall asleep.

***************************************************************************************************

*In the office*

About an hour had gone by starting with playing those dumb baby games and ending with Angela explaining how when her cousin had her daughter, it was the most beautiful thing to see. Especially when the parents held the baby with wedding rings on their fingers.

Phyllis: “So, what else is there to do?”

Meredith: “Alright, who wants a little braandyy?”

She pulled out a suspicious looking flask from her pocket. Pam’s eyes instinctively looked for Jim, but quickly realized he had left.

Angela: “Meredith!”
Meredith: “Oh, shut up, Angela. Come on, Pam. A little drink for good luck?”

Pam: “Meredith, I’m 8 ½ months pregnant.”

Meredith: “So? It’s dark liquor. It’s not really alcohol. I drank it through my whole pregnancy with Dylan and he turned out fine. You just can’t have it in your last two weeks. Everyone knows that.”

Kelly looked up for the first time all morning after staring at all the baby toys on the table.

Kelly: “Isn’t your kid’s name Jake?”

Meredith: “So, how ‘bout it Pammy?”

Pam: “Um, I don’t think so. I just really have to go to the bathroom-“


And right then, just when she stood up, it happened. She had no idea that much water was in her body.


Pam: “Oh, my god. My water just broke.”

Kelly: “Ewwww!” she squealed when she saw what was going on.

Pam looked up to the women of the office. Everyone just kind of stood there, staring at her. Pam had no idea what she was doing – she needed some help.

Pam: “Wow, um, ok, I guess I gotta go the hospital –“

Phyllis: “Should we call Jim?”

Pam: “Yeah, yeah could someone do that? Um – “

Pam looked around to find someone who could safely drive her to the hospital. Her eyes fell upon Angela

Pam: “Angela, could you help me? I just need a ride to the hospital. I’ll tell Jim to grab my bags later.”

Angela just rolled her eyes and grabbed her keys. She thought everyone would be a little more helpful in this situation, but all the women looked kind of disgusted. Meredith stepped up after realizing no one was going to help Pam to the car. She grabbed Pam’s hand and started to lead her out of the office.

Phyllis: “Wait, Pam. Jim’s phone is off.”

Pam: “Really? Um, ok, did you try anyone else’s?”

They called everyone in the office: Dwight’s, Oscar’s, Toby’s, and Michael’s phones were all off, Kevin and Stanley’s were left in the office, and no one knew what Creed’s number was, if he even had one.

Pam: “Well, what am I going to do? I can’t just wait for him here. Should I?”

Phyllis: “No, you go, me and Kelly will wait here.”

Pam gave a little half smile to the two women and walked out the door. This was really happening… and Jim wasn’t even there. She always imagined it all happening in the privacy of their own home, Jim helping her down the stairs, Jim driving them to the hospital while she sat in the backseat, watching him freak out. Watching Angela give disapproving glances through the rear view mirror wasn’t quite as fun.

As they went into the hospital, Pam pulled out her phone. She noticed it was 11:57; Jim had been gone for nearly 3 hours. She dialed Jim’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. A wave of worry flushed over her before she was interrupted by a nurse ushering her into a wheelchair.

Nurse: “Ma’am, is your husband with you?”

Angela: “No, she doesn’t have a husband. Her flavor of the week is out God knows where on a boys’ day out.”

Pam rolled her eyes to the nurse.

Pam: “He, um, he’ll be here. He’s just out with his coworkers. Is there any way someone here can contact him?”

Nurse: “Sure. Now let’s get you back here. Who’s your doctor?”

Pam: “Dr. Sklar. Angela, thanks so much. Here’s my phone. Just try to get Jim, ok?”

Angela gave Pam a little look and took the phone. As they wheeled Pam away, she grabbed her stomach after she felt the contractions coming. She kept telling herself that she had enough time for Jim to get there, but something told her that she didn’t.

***************************************************************************

*With the boys*

Jim had slept through the whole first half of the movie. The big collision scene woke him up, and after that he kind of got sucked into the movie. He realized that Michael had moved to the seat next to him, probably for emotional support for the end of the movie.

There’s a boat, Jack, there’s a boat … …I’ll never let go, I promise.

Jim could hear Michael sniffling. He knew Michael had seen this movie over 20 times and probably cried every time.

Jim: “Are you crying?”

Michael: “no, it’s just allergies-“

Jim rolled his eyes and slumped in his chair until the credits started rolling with that infamous Celine Dion song. He pulled out his phone to check the time but remembered that it had run out of battery. As they walked out he nudged Toby’s arm.

Jim: “Hey man, do you know what time it is?”

Toby pulled out his phone and gave it to Jim. He turned it on and found it was about 1:30. Then it started buzzing with a voicemail message.

Jim: “Hey, you have a voicemail.” >br>
Toby: “Oh, here-“

Toby grabbed the phone and held down the 1 button. As he listened to the message, his face fell. He was nauseas, sad, anxious, excited. And he knew Jim couldn’t tell; Toby had gotten really good at just keeping that sullen face on all the time.

Jim: “Was it the office?”

Toby looked down at the floor and almost smiled. He knew he should tell Jim, but this was payback. Or jealousy .. same thing.

Toby: “Nope.”

Kelly’s message on his phone about how Pam’s water broke and how Jim needed to get to the hospital and that she and Phyllis were leaving for the rest of the day kept replaying in his head. Toby smiled when Jim walked away. Yeah, payback.

Toby had never been that good of a liar. Sure, it wasn’t hard at first, but whenever Toby lied, it always seemed to eat away at him. Seeing Jim bite his nails nervously while they were walking out of the movie theater was Toby’s first pang of guilt. He watched Jim pitifully as he tried to turn on his phone with no avail. He asked Oscar multiple times if there was any service, even one bar, but the outskirts of Philadelphia seemed to be pretty underdeveloped in the telecommunications field. The low sound of oncoming thunder probably wasn’t a huge help either. Just as Toby reached to tap Jim on the shoulder, the car hit a huge bump, and Michael barely controlled the car from crashing into a tree. The undeniable sound of air escaping from a tire or two filled the car, and once it was stopped everyone jumped out to see the damage.

“Ah, looks like a double tire apparatus puncture,’ Dwight diagnosed as he inspected the scene.

“Shut up, Dwight,” Jim said tiredly as he rubbed his face.

“So we’ve got a flat?” Michael giggled. “That’s what she-“

“No, Michael, not now,” Oscar interrupted. “I’ll call AAA – shit. Still no service. Does anyone have any bars?”

It was then Toby was taken over with guilt. Jim was leaned against the car, head in hands, obviously frustrated and nervous beyond belief. And then his phone started buzzing. One bar. No one heard it, except for him. He pulled out his phone, looked at it, and then looked at Jim. Jim was, right now, missing probably one of the most important experiences of his life. Even if Toby had always liked Pam, Jim was always the one for her. Damnit.

“Hey, uh, I have a bar guys,” Toby announced quietly. Jim’s head shot up and he immediately walked over to Toby. Jim didn’t even have to say anything for Toby to hand over the phone. He immediately called the office, but no one picked up. As he tried Pam’s phone, the men started to ask.

“Are you calling AAA?”
“You have service?”
“Jim, who are you calling? You must tell me.”

“Angela?” Jim sounded surprised as the unpleasant woman answered Pam’s phone.

“Oh, well, hello Jim,” she said unhappily. “Now where might you be on the most important day of you and your wife – oh, excuse me, sex partner’s lives?”

“What? Angela, what are you talking about?” Jim’s stomach dropped. No. Not now. Not while I’m here with .. No.

“Yes, father of the year, Miss Beesly is in labor. It’s a good thing you have your priorities in order, you know. She could be here at Moses Taylor Hospital giving birth to your baby alone. Oh wait, she is!” Angela snarled. Jim almost dropped the phone when he heard it: Pam giving birth.

“Angela, you need to come pick me up,” Jim replied, begging.

“Excuse me? No! I had to drive Pam here taking up half my car with her belly. I am not driving to God knows where to -”

“Angela, you’re picking me up. Take the interstate into Philadelphia. You’ll see us near the Blue Route exit. Call us when you’re near,” Jim told her sternly. Angela was silent for a moment.

“Fine. I’ll be there shortly,” she replied curtly just before hanging up. Jim flipped the phone shut and struggled to not throw it against the ground. The men were silent. This wasn’t good.

“I’m sorry, Miss, your friend Angela isn’t out there,” the nurse replied remorsefully as Pam gripped the bed sheets to ease the pain.

“Shit,” she let out as she laid back in her bed. Pam knew labor wasn’t going to be easy, especially now without Jim by her side. But now no one, not even Angela, was here to comfort her. This was not a good day.

The nurse turned to Pam and forced a smile.

“Well, you’re still about five minutes apart. There’s still a lot of time, you know,” the nurse comforted her. Pam wanted to believe her so badly, but she really couldn’t turn to anyone right now. Even in this hospital filled with doctors and nurses looking out for her, Pam had never felt so alone.


**With the Boys**

47 minutes and 34, 35, 36 seconds.
Jim counted every second he sat on the side of the road instead of being beside Pam’s side. He just had to listen to Pam. He just had to go on this excursion. He couldn’t just stay there, at the office, for what, an hour? If he had just been more assertive, Jim would be happily offering his hand for Pam to squeeze as the birth of their baby took place. Jim dug the palms of his hands deeper into his eye sockets. He cursed himself for being such a pushover.

He thought he heard a car pull over. But Jim had already tired his neck from looking up every 10 seconds, hoping to find Angela’s angry face glaring down all the men. He just kept his head in his hands, counting, 49 minutes..

When Jim heard the voice, he was convinced it was just his mind going crazier than already. But when all the men replied, Jim had to look up just once to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination. Oh, shit.

Roy.

“Hey man,” Roy said quietly to Jim as all the men formed in a circle. Jim could barely keep his mouth closed. He hadn’t seen Roy since that day he almost killed him. Jim had no idea if he knew…

“What are you guys doing out here?” Roy asked with a huge grin on his face. The scenario was obviously humorous to him. Nothing had really changed since he last walked out of that office.

“It was pretty crazy actually,” Michael started as everyone rolled their eyes, “we were driving back from the city and all of the sudden there was this bump, and the car started to skid-“

“Michael, no it didn’t,” Oscar interrupted.

“You know what, Oscar, you weren’t drive, okay? I controlled the car from spinning out of control. I saved your life today, and this is how you repay me? Ungrateful,” Michael shook his head in disappointment. Dwight stared down Oscar and copied Michael’s movements. Roy rolled his eyes and started to say something just as Jim pulled on his arm.

“Oh, hey Halpert,” Roy responded kindly. Jim tried not to be rude right now. Roy really seemed to be genuinely nice now.

“Roy, look, I gotta get back to Scranton. Do you think you can drive me?” Jim asked as he rubbed the back of his neck. He tried to make the situation seem much less urgent than it was so Roy wouldn’t question into it.

“Uh, yeah man, I’m on my way back there. Shouldn’t you just stay for AAA, though?” Roy and Jim looked to the group of men from the office fighting a brown bagged lunch as Creed wondered into the woods.

“Yeah I’ll drive you,” Roy responded quickly before they turned to Roy’s truck. The men from the office didn’t notice Jim and Roy leaving until the car tires skidded onto the road and rushed out into the distance.

“Some day, huh?” Roy said as they made their distance from the broken car.
“You have no idea,” Jim replied with a sigh.

Roy gripped the steering wheel as Jim and he soaked up the silence. It was awkward, no doubt, but Jim’s mind seemed to be elsewhere. Roy opened his mouth a few times to start conversation, but nothing seemed to be right. No matter what, the topic of Pam would come up, and Roy knew that Jim wanted to avoid it as much as he did. Then a tired voice surprised him.

“Thanks a lot for this, man,” Jim turned to look at Roy. Roy smiled and shrugged as he turned onto the ramp.

“It’s cool. I was headed back out to Scranton anyway,” Roy replied casually.

“Yeah? What have you been up to lately? I haven’t seen you around…” Jim shifted in his seat and immediately regretted his question.

“Oh, yeah. I have this kinda crazy schedule now. My friend owns a contracting business so I’ve been doing a lot of that,” Roy told Jim. Roy really seemed to have gotten his act together: he was driving a new truck, a cell phone was clipped to his belt, and he was clean shaven and actually in good shape. Jim felt almost guilty that this happened after Pam left him, but both men knew that break up needed to happen.

“That’s good, man. I’m glad to hear it,” Jim smiled and turned to look outside the window.

“So what’s so urgent that you needed to rush back to Scranton?” Roy asked with a coy smile. Jim turned reluctantly to meet Roy’s eyes and tried to think of a good lie. Nothing.

“Um, I got an urgent call from Pam .. well, Angela, actually, and, yeah. Everything’s fine, I just –“ Jim started to stumble over his words.

“I got it, man. Darryl told me a while ago you guys are together .. and she’s pregnant. Is everything alright?” Roy asked with pure concern. Even if Pam had dumped him for Halpert, even if she was knocked up right now, he would still always care deeply for her.

“Yeah, Angela just called and said she went into labor, so, I’m kinda on the edge of freakin’ out,” Jim said with half-crazy eyes.

“Holy shit man, why didn’t you tell me?” Roy said as he pushed his foot harder on the pedal. The little orange dial raised quickly around the circle to 60, 70, 85 miles per hour.

“Whoa, man, slow down,” Jim said alarmingly as the cars next to them turned into a mess of blurs.

“Seriously, Jim? Come on! You gotta be there! You can’t make the same stupid mistakes I-“

Crash, bang, boom. Blackness.

The murming in the background broke open his eyes. The bed beneath him shook, and as he tried to sit up, hidden wires tugged on his body.

“Sir, please sit still,” a woman’s voice commanded. The small room he was in seemed to be spinning, closing in. His head pounded at every thump his heart struggled to beat. It was too much to open his eyes. He sat there in hot darkness as the people in the shaky room shouted nonsense lingo at each other.

“Mercy’s too crowded from the pile up, we gotta bring him to MTH-“
“That’s almost 20 minutes away!”
”We’re getting into Lackawana County now. It’s the only other hospital.”
“His vitals are stabilizing.”

He heard the beeping grow steadier. His eyes felt like bursting when he opened them, and he was overcome with nausea. A tall metal stand beside him held a bag dripping liquid down one of the many tubs attached to his body. His eyes closed again.

Banging on the wall.

“Frank, how far away are we?”
“About 15. We’re goin as fast as we can, Rose.”

The shaky room jumped and he somewhat remembered the feeling. Car. A car. He was in a car.

"How is he?"
"Pretty bad.. air bag didn't deploy.."
"How's the other guy?"
"The MEDIVAC should have gotten him by now.."

He felt hands fixing his tubes, squeezing his wrists, calling some words.
The voices rang in his ear and his stomach turned. They repeated what they were saying and he opened his eyes.

“Jim? Jim Halpert? Can you say something for me?” the paramedic standing before him asked.

He blinked his eyes.

“Who’s Jim Halpert?”
The words thumped in head as he spoke them and he passed out.