Jim is back in Scranton, visiting his parents, taking a few days off to be with his dad during the surgery. While visiting the hospital, he takes a break and goes down to the massive cafeteria to get some lunch and to bring his mom some coffee.  

He pauses to open the door for a few people and is startled to hear, "Jim?" He turns, and Pam is standing in front of him. "Pam. Hi!" he says, surprised, "How are you?"

She smiles that quick, nervous smile that he had known so well. "Oh, yeah, I'm good. You?" 

"I'm good."

She nods. "That's good. And how's..."

"Emily? She's great. How's..."

"Oh, Rick? Rick is good. He just got a promotion at Sterling."

Jim nods. "Sounds great. Promotions are great," he says, and mentally kicks himself. Why is this so difficult?

Pam smiles and nods, "They are nice" and pauses before continuing, "So, um, do you have kids?"

For the first time, he looks into her eyes for more than just a second, and sees wistfulness? Sadness? Regret?

"Yeah, actually, I have a son, Ben. He's two," says Jim, and at that moment, although the mother of his child isn't always who he imagined it would be, he's very proud of his boy.

"Oh, named after your dad?" asks Pam, smiling more genuinely, which sends a tiny surge of anger through Jim. How dare she remember the tiny details of his life when she isn't a part of it any more? Then he feels remorseful, and he smiles slightly when he answers, "Yeah, we named him after my dad. Uh, that's actually why I'm here. My dad's having surgery today."

Her eyes widen in shock, and she looks so sad when she answers, "Oh, my gosh! I hope it's not major!" and he feels that tiny shock of anger again because she cares so much.

"No, it's angioplasty, and I guess it's pretty routine. Still scary, though," he replies, and he watches as she nods, and her hand reaches out slightly, as though ready to touch his arm and comfort him, the way she used to. He can't have this; he can't unfold old feelings that are buried within him. He adores his wife beyond words, but there's a part of him that still wonders what could have happened with this woman in front of him. He has to talk about something else.

"So what about you? Kids?" he asks. Pam smiles again, proudly. "Three, " she says, "Logan is six, Mary is three, and Robert is eighteen months."

Jim is surprised. "Wow, three? I had you pegged as a two-kid person," he says, because one day long ago, they had shared a sweet conversation on the subject, delicately dancing around the fact that both wanted two kids, ignoring the implications, because that's what they did back then.

"Yeah, I guess I always thought I'd have just two, but now I can't imagine life without my Robbie," she says and her eyes almost sparkle. Jim can imagine what a beautiful child he must be, if this is his mother. The Pam's smile falters so minutely that Jim wonders if he is imagining things. "And I'm actually...I'm pregnant," she says, smoothing her coat down, and he can see her softly rounded belly beneath it, and he feels a strange sadness because there was a time where he couldn't get this image out of his head, for all it promised of the future.

But then she smiles again so happily, and runs her hand over her stomach. "It's a girl, we just found out. Mary is so excited and she keeps asking when Baby Phoebe is coming over."

Jim laughs, but then looks at Pam again, and the part of him that wishes he could just erase a decade and go back in time scares him, so he holds up the coffee and says, "I guess I need to get back upstairs."

She looks startled. "Oh, yeah, my appointment is in a few minutes, too," she says, flustered.

Jim smiles at her. "It was really nice to see you, Pam, and congratulations on the baby," he says.

"Yeah, it's really good to see you too," she replies, and after one last glance, they part ways. As he moves down the hall, he hears her voice again calling, "Bye Jim!" and he turns to wave one last time.