“Yeah, she told someone in her class that I was her dad,” Jim said into his cell phone. He turned the steering wheel as he looked over his shoulder and held the phone between the other shoulder and his ear.

“Really?” Pam asked on the other end of the line.

“I couldn’t believe it, Pam.”

“We knew she would come around sometime soon.”

Jim put the car in park and sat in the parking lot at Dunder Mifflin on the phone with Pam. “I know. It’s just a great feeling, you know?”

“It is. Congrats, Jim,” Pam said, being slightly sarcastic.

“Hey, be nice. No ones ever called me dad before.”

Pam giggled. “I know. It’s exciting. That just means that now that Scarlet’s accepted the fact, maybe another…..uh…”

“What are you saying here, Pam?” Jim asked, opening his car door and then pausing.

“Just…that maybe another kid might be….I don’t know. We could start…” Pam said, hesitating.

Jim got out of his car and shut the door. “Hey, listen, let’s talk about this later. I’m at work and we should talk in person about bringing another child into this world.”

“Yeah, you’re right. So, did I just completely freak you out?”

Jim reached the Dunder Mifflin doors. “Not at all. I would like to see you when I’m talking about having lots of sex with you. That’s all,” he said with a laugh.

“Oh. I see how you are.”

“Yup,” Jim said and then remembered the other reason he called Pam. “Oh, Mark called me this morning.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and he was wondering if I could catch up with him tonight after work. I just wanted to check in with you. Is it cool if I go?”

“Um, yeah. Where are you going?”

“No clue. I have to call him back later today,” Jim said, passing by the reception counter.

“I guess that’s fine. Will you be back late?”

“Don’t know.”

“Let me know, okay?”

“Will do,” Jim said, sitting at his computer now.

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye, babe.”

Jim hung up the phone and called Mark back to confirm plans. They planned to meet at Poor Richards for a drink. Jim was genuinely excited to be able to kick back with his old room mate. He wondered what new things had happened to Mark since the last time they had spoken.

Midday, Jim called Pam back to tell her their plans. Pam didn’t seem too happy that Jim wouldn’t be coming home after work. She shrugged the feeling off and accepted the fact that Jim needed to get out once in a while.

“So, we are meeting at Poor Richards after I get off work,” Jim said, tapping his pencil on his desk.

“Um, are you going to be home for dinner?”

“Probably not.”

Pam replied flatly, “Okay.”

Jim picked up on her hinting. “Do you not want me to go?”

“No, it’s cool that you want to see Mark. Go, have fun. It‘s a Friday night.”

“Are you sure? I can make it a quick meet and greet and get home if you like,” Jim said, hoping to appease Pam.

“I don’t want to be that type of wife, Jim. Just go out, have a good time, and come home safe.”

“Thanks,” Jim said, earnestly.

“Okay, see you later,” Pam said with a sigh.

“Yeah, see you tonight.”

-----------

After being at the gallery for three hours, Pam picked Scarlet up from school. Pam decided since they had the evening to themselves that they should have a little mother/daughter time. Pam helped Scarlet get her homework done and took her to dinner. They ate at Scarlet’s favorite restaurant; McDonalds. After their quick dinner, they went shopping for a few things. Scarlet needed a new dress for the upcoming wedding and Pam was hoping to find one as well.

Scarlet held up a black mini dress. “Mom! You would look good in this!”

Pam stopped rifling through the rack and looked down at Scarlet. She chuckled at the barely there dress that Scarlet had selected.

“No way. I can’t wear black to Jessica’s wedding. Plus, it’s eight sizes too short,” Pam said, taking the dress from her and stuffing it on the rack.

“Why can’t you wear black?”

“When you go to a wedding, you’re not really supposed to wear black. It’s just a rule.”

“Oh,” Scarlet said, finding her way under the clothing rack. After a few short minutes of silence, Scarlet chirped beneath the layer of clothing over her. “Mom, where’s Jim at?”

“He’s out with a friend,” Pam answered, looking around her to find Scarlet. She twisted her head around looking for Scarlet and panicked when she couldn’t find her.

“Scarlet, where are you?” Pam asked, nervously.

“I’m in here!” Scarlet yelled, jumping out of the clothing rack.

Pam jumped when Scarlet came bolting from underneath the clothes. “Oh. You scared me.” Scarlet laughed at Pam’s reaction. Pam grabbed Scarlet’s hand and walked around the rack of discount clothes and saw a dress hanging on a mannequin.

“Wow. Mom, get that dress,” Scarlet said, pointing to beautiful sundress with pink and red accents on it.

Pam stared at the gorgeous dress with lustful eyes. “It’s probably way too expensive,” Pam said, squeezing Scarlet’s hand.

“Try it on, Mom!” Scarlet said, jumping in delight.

Pam hesitated. She then walked over to the rack where the dresses hung and found her size. Pam immediately grabbed the tag and looked at the price. She winced at the sight and slowly put the dress back on the rack.

Scarlet pulled on her hand, “Go try it on, Mom.”

“It’s way too much for me to buy, baby.”

“I want to see you in it,” Scarlet said, batting her big hazel eyes. Pam smiled and then pulled the dress back off the rack.

“Come on, let’s go see how this looks,” Pam said, pulling Scarlet behind her and taking her into the changing room.

-------

Jim and Mark had met up at Poor Richards around six. Jim was the first to arrive. He sat at the bar and waited for Mark to show up.

“Hey!” Mark said, taking the seat next to Jim.

“Hey, man,” Jim said, giving Mark a hug.

“So…Poor Richards?” Mark asked with a smile.

“It’s tradition,” Jim replied, shrugging.

“You’re telling me,” Mark said, and then caught the bartenders eye. “Get us….two tequilas,” Mark said, shooting up an eyebrow. Jim shook his head.

“I can’t drink like that anymore, man.”

“For good time’s sake…come on,” Mark said, as the bartender slid the shot glass across the bar.

Jim looked over at Mark and rolled his eyes. “I can’t have anymore hard liquor than this, though. I have to drive home.”

“Done,” Mark said, putting the shot glass up to his lips. Jim reluctantly picked his shot up and sucked it down.

“So, how’s the married life?” Mark asked, grabbing a beer and taking a swig.

“Good,” Jim said, nodding. “No major issues yet.”

“And you’ve been married how long?”

“We’re coming up on our six month anniversary,” Jim said, taking a drink from his beer.

“You mentioned a kid?”

“Yeah. Her name is Scarlet. She’s five, and she’s the best,” Jim said, shifting on the stool and pulling his wallet from his pocket. “Here she is,” he said, showing off Scarlet’s picture.

“She’s cute. Pam makes good babies.”

“Oh, yeah. Pam wants more actually,” he said, nodding.

Mark made a face as he sipped on his beer. “More?”

“Yeah. She was talking about it today.”

“Wow,” Mark said, nodding.

“What?” Jim asked.

“Do you want another kid?”

“Yeah. If Pam does, then yeah, I do.”

“So, you could care less,” Mark said.

“I care. I would like a kid of my own…I mean, Scarlet’s mine now but, I guess it’s going to be different when I’m actually the father. You know, I was there for the conception…and all that.”

Mark smiled. “Yeah. That‘s the best part,” Mark said as Jim laughed.

“What about you? What’s up with your love life?”

“Got a girl. Probably will marry this one.”

Jim smiled. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. She’s great. Great body, great personality, makes good money…you know, perfect ten,” Mark said as Jim nodded in approval.

“Where did you meet her?” Jim asked, waving for the bartender to bring two more beers.

“I met her at a bar, actually. She moved to Pennsylvania a few years back. Oh yeah, she used to work at Dunder Mifflin.”

Jim’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? What’s her name?”

Mark swallowed, “Karen.”

-----------

Scarlet sat on the tiny seat in the fitting room as Pam pulled the dress on. Scarlet ‘ooh-ed and awed’ at the dress once Pam had it zipped up. Pam turned, looked in the mirror and sighed. The dress was flattering and hugged all the right places. Pam wasn’t going to pretend that she didn’t like the dress.

“Mom, you should get that for Jessie’s wedding.”

“I know. It’s too much though.”

“So, call Jim. He’ll let you have it.”

“Nah. It’s okay. There are more dresses out there,” Pam said, reaching behind her and pulling the zipper down.

Once she was changed and Scarlet was following close behind her, Pam took the dress back to its rack. When they left the store with Scarlet’s little pink dress, Scarlet noticed the store’s ad sitting by the exit. She grabbed the paper and ran up behind Pam as they made their way out the door.

“Look! It’s got the dress on the front!” Scarlet said, looking down at the model on the front of the catalog.

“I know. It’s very nice but I couldn’t spend that much on a dress.”

After arriving home, Pam and Scarlet took a bubble bath in the master bathroom’s tub. Despite not having Jim around, the evening was a very pleasant and peaceful night. Pam got to have some nice bonding time with Scarlet and let the weeks pressures melt off as she rested in the tub. Once the bubbles disappeared, Pam suggested that it was time to get out of the bath.

“No!” Scarlet cried.

“Come on, you’re a prune!” Pam said, wrapping a towel around her body.

Scarlet sank down in the tub. “What’s a prune?”

“Look at your finger,” Pam said as Scarlet held her index finger up to her eyes. “Now, that’s what a prune looks like. So, if you don’t hurry out of the tub, you’re going to turn into one.”

Scarlet’s eyes widened and she hopped out of the water. Pam wrapped a towel around Scarlet.

“You want lotion?” Pam asked, walking over to her counter.

“Sure,” Scarlet said, finding a seat on the toilet. Pam came back over and rubbed some lotion over Scarlet’s arms. Scarlet took in the smell and smiled.

“There you go. Now you smell good.”

“Like you,” Scarlet said, jumping off the toilet seat. Pam followed Scarlet out of the bathroom and into Scarlet’s room. Pam looked at the clock as she helped Scarlet into her pajamas. As soon as Scarlet was tucked in, read to, and kissed goodnight, Pam went back into her room to pull her hair up into a ponytail and put on her nightgown. As she was looking through the drawer she decided to put on one of Jim’s t-shirts along with a pair of her pajama pants.

Pam wasn’t going to deny the fact that she was missing Jim’s presence. She hated that he didn’t show up after work like normal and give her their usual after-work kiss. The past few days were wonderful between the two of them. They had flirtatiously played around the day before and that night they spent a little extra time taking care of one another. She was on a high and yet, he wasn’t there to experience it with her.

Pam took in the scent of Jim’s shirt. Even though she used the same soap and fabric softener on everyone’s clothes, his smelled different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she really felt at home when that smell tingled her senses.

Pam tidied up their room, changed their sheets, and cleaned the bathroom. She looked over at the clock one more time before heading down the stairs to find something else to do while she waited for Jim to arrive. She cleaned up Scarlet’s toys in the living room, put away the dry dishes, and cleaned Allie’s litter box. After Pam had finished all that she could think of, she looked at the clock ticking on the wall and sat down on the couch.

------

“Filipelli?” Jim asked.

“Yeah. She said she knew you.”

“Yeah. That’s all she said about me?”

Mark looked over at Jim. “I think so. Why?”

“No reason,” Jim said, gulping down his beer.

Mark put his beer on the bar with a loud thud. “Wait. You dated her didn’t you?” he said, a smile creeping up on his face.

“Uh, for a few years. Well….we were actually engaged for a short period of time, too.”

“What?” Mark said, taken back.

“Hey, it ended almost two years ago. I’m just surprised that she didn’t mention it,” Jim said, taking a huge gulp of his beer.

“My Karen is the Karen that you dumped?”

“I guess so,” Jim said, shrugging.

“Wow. What is this? I mean, we share a house for a few years and now we’re sharing women,” Mark said with a laugh.

“Yeah. I just can’t believe that all those times that we met up you didn’t happen to meet her. That’s what’s strange.”

“So, why did you end it with her?”

Jim hesitated. “I don’t know, man. I guess she wasn’t the one. We had a different take on things. It just didn’t work out.”

“So, she isn’t a freak or anything?”

“Not that I know of. She’s actually really cool. She might be perfect for you,” Jim said, smiling and looking over at the dart board. “Want to play a game?”

Mark looked over at the abandoned dart board. “Let’s make it interesting.”

-----

Pam turned on the television and found an infomercial to watch. The man on the television was trying to sell a vacuum that could pick up a bowling ball. Pam turned the channel and skipped past Little House on the Prairie reruns, Cops, a late night news show, and finally settled on reruns of Friends. It was the only thing that would probably keep her awake as she waited for Jim to come home.

----

“Drink up, man,” Mark said, taking the darts from Jim’s hand.

“No way. I’m already over my limit,” he said, pushing the shot away from him.

“It’s the rules,” Mark slurred.

“I can’t. It looks like you shouldn’t be drinking anymore either,” Jim said, looking at Mark sway as he stood a few feet away from dart board.

“Nah. I’m cool,” Mark said, throwing a dart. It ricocheted off the board and bounced onto the floor. Mark forewent picking it up and turned to sit down next to Jim. “Maybe not,” Mark mumbled under his breath.

“So, since you’ve been with Karen, tell me something.”

“What’s that?”

“Was the sex good?” Mark said, taking a sip of his warm beer.

Jim shook his head. “That’s not really something….”

“I just want to know…come on.”

“I can’t talk about that. Wait, honestly, I don’t want to even think about it,” Jim said, finishing off his beer.

“I mean, she must have at least given…”

“Hey, let’s not, Mark,” Jim suggested, waving his hands in the air.

“Why not? She’s hot. You gotta agree with me on that.”

“I’m married.”

“So? Doesn’t mean you can’t reminisce about your ex.”

“Yeah, it does,” Jim said, looking at his watch.

“What? You want to get home to the ball and chain?” Mark said, laughing.

Jim’s head was slightly spinning. “No. I just promised I’d be home fairly early and plus, I’m pretty hammered as it is.”

“So, I guess our night is over,” Mark said standing and stretching.

“Yeah. Sorry. Duty calls,” Jim said, shaking Marks hand.

“Hey, I’ll tell Karen I ran into ya,” Mark said, slapping Jim on the back.

“You don’t have to do that,” Jim mumbled as he pushed his shirt sleeves up on his forearms.

“Well, it was nice talking to ya. Take care of the family.”

“Yeah. You too,” Jim said, walking towards the door.

“Night!” Mark hollered out from the bar.

“Bye,” Jim said, as he pushed past the door and out into the crisp, night air.

-----

Pam dozed on the couch when she heard Jim come in through the door. She felt his hand grab hers and give her a nudge. She opened her eyes to see him standing over her. His eyes were heavy and his face flush.

“Hey,” she said, sitting up.

“Hi,” Jim replied, sitting down on the couch.

Pam leaned into his side for an embrace and then quickly pulled away.

“What?” he asked with a look of confusion.

Pam got off the couch. “You smell like booze.”

“I was at a bar, Pam,” Jim said, jokingly.

From Pam’s expression, he could tell she wasn’t in a good mood to play around with.

“I know,” she said, turning off the television and throwing the pillows back on the couch.

“Well, I’m sorry I don’t smell like roses. I just had a few drinks,” Jim said, trying to lighten the mood.

“A few?” Pam asked.

“Yeah,” Jim replied, nodding. “Come on, let’s go to bed,” Jim said, standing and retreating towards the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Pam asked, with her hands placed on her hips.

“To bed,” he slurred out.

“I don’t think so,” she said with an eyebrow raised.

“Are you kidding me? Not tonight, Pam. I’m beat,” Jim said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’m not talking about sex, Jim! I waited up for you to come home so we could go to bed together, like you promised me. What happened to ’always going to bed together’ Jim?”

Jim stood in silence. He knew this wasn’t going to turn out well.

Seeing Jim hesitate with his reply, Pam continued speaking. “I’m going up to our room and you can sleep down here.”

“What?” he said, slightly shocked.

“There’s no way you’re sleeping in our bed drunk. You can pass out down here on the couch.”

“Where in the world did this come from?” Jim asked, leaning against the banister.

“I’m not doing this again,” Pam said, shaking her head and looking to the floor.

“Pam, this hasn’t ever happened before. What are you talking about?”

Pam’s breathing became heavier. Tears formed on her lashes. Pam walked past Jim and marched up the stairs. He could hear her sniffles as she walked down the hallway and into their room. The last noise he heard from Pam was the slam of their bedroom door.

“Oh,” escaped from Jim’s lips when it dawned on him what Pam’s problem was.

Neil.