"And Never Leave 'til I Leave You with a Sweet Dream in your Head"

By tizzy

“Jim Halpert” his voice sounded bored even to him. Sure, he and Pam had redecorated after Michael left, but it was still a place of boredom.

“Hello, Mr. Halpert? This is Naomi Hobbs, the nurse at Memorial Elementary School.” Jim sat upright; worry began to rise up in him.

“Yes, is everything okay?” Jim tried to keep the edge out of his voice; after all, the woman on the other end sounded pleasant.

“Well, I have Lucy here and she said she doesn’t feel good. I took her temperature and she does have a slight fever. I think it could be just a bad cold.” Yes, Ms. Hobbs sounded like a pleasant woman but a bit nonchalant about telling him his child was sick.

“Is she there? Can I talk to her?” If he heard Lucy he would be able to tell how sick she was, he already knew he was going to pick her up but he just needed the reassurance that she was okay until he saw her.

“Hi Daddy,” her small voice said into the phone, she must be stuffed up because her tone was more monotone than usual.

“Hey, Munchkin, you not feeling good?”

“No, I can’t breath with my whole nose.” He heard her take a big sniff, and chuckled a little bit.

“Okay, well can you hang out with the Nurse until I come and get you, I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Jim hung up the phone and started to close windows on his computer, putting papers into his bag and taking his coat off the back of his chair. Walking out of his office he looked over the bullpen: Dwight was on the phone and Ryan seemed to be playing solitaire. No one looked up when he walked out the door towards reception. It was a feeling that took some getting used to, not dreading the moments when Jim/Michael’s old office door opened.

“Hey, Tracy,” Jim said grabbing his coat from the stand, looking at the middle aged blond woman who now sat behind Pam’s desk. Pam had quit almost three years ago to do the stay at home Mom thing while at the same time pursuing independent illustration projects, but he still thought of it as Pam’s desk. Plus, he was convinced that his son had been conceived behind it so he didn’t think he’d ever be able to think of it as Tracy’s desk.

“You sneaking out early?” Tracy smiled up at him.

“Actually the school just called. Lucy is sick and I’m gonna go pick her up.” He fixed his collar and lifted his bag around his shoulders. “So I’ll be back tomorrow; everyone can leave at four if they want.” He smiled down at her then turned and headed out the door.

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It was chilly for September, but Jim was more concerned about keeping Lucy waiting so he didn’t bother to let the car warm up. He tried to get Pam on her cell, but the voicemail message kept picking up. She was probably working, she would often put it on vibrate while she was in her studio and it was tough for her to hear if she was in the middle of a project. She liked to work when the kids were at school because after they got home, the craziness often began.

Jim pulled into the circular driveway that lead up to the school's entrance and parked the car, tucking his phone in pocket he walked up to the familiar doors. A bored looking man sat at the front desk and looked to be grading worksheets with a red pen.

“Hi, um, I’m Jim Halpert. I just got a call from the nurse about my daughter? She's in Mrs. Alboth's Kindergarten class.” he introduced himself and was slightly amused by how the guy jumped when he realized he wasn’t alone.

“Oh, uh, hold on, let me call down there.” The phone seemed to be buried under the worksheets he had been grading, but after a few seconds he found the phone and relayed the facts to the nurse. “She’s bringing her up right now.” The man turned back to him. “So you’re Jamie’s dad, huh?”

“Uh yeah,” Jim was slightly distracted, not sure which door his daughter would be coming through.

“He’s a good kid. I’m Bill Dunham, the school health teacher. I heard about that stunt he pulled with the erasers.” Bill chuckled under his breath.

“Yeah, I’m afraid he gets that from me. He has the best intentions though.” Jim answered. It’s true; his son’s newfound love of pranking had come from him, a trait that despite her past behavior his wife seemed not too thrilled with.

“Daddy?” A tiny stuffed up voice calls from behind him and Jim whips around to see Lucy looking up at him. She looks miserable; her tiny nose is all red, her huge green eyes look sad, and her curly red hair is all matted on one side from lying down in the nurse’s office. Her coat is already on and it looks like it’s to heavy for her to lift her arms up. She tiredly raises her eyes to him and Jim’s heart breaks a little over how much he loves her.

Jim immediately drops down to her level and she literally falls right over into his arms. Her tiny body is easy to lift as he stands while she nuzzles her face in his neck.

“Hey, Munchkin,” he kisses her cheek and notes that it feels warmer than usual but not alarmingly so. “Oh poor thing, you ready to go home?” He feels her nod and takes her backpack from the nurse, signs the dismissal form, and walks with her in his arms out to the car.

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Jim pulled up to the house he and Pam had bought four years earlier. It was a two story old Victorian with a huge front porch and window boxes. It had three bedrooms and a huge attic that Pam had converted into a studio once she decided for sure she was leaving Dunder-Mifflen and her glamorous life as a receptionist. Jim noticed that Pam’s car was pulled right up to the front door, which meant she had gone grocery shopping.

Jim parked the car in his usual spot and helped Lucy out of the car. She seemed to have perked up a bit but she still wasn’t talking. Her grip around his neck was stronger than it had been in the school and he dropped a kiss on her head. Jim walked through the front door and headed towards the stairs.

“Jim? Is that you?” He heard Pam’s voice from the kitchen. And then she appeared as he reached the first landing on the stairs. “Oh what happened?” Pam took the steps two at a time while Jim continued moving upwards towards Lucy’s room.

“The school called. Apparently Munchkin here has quite the cold so we decided to bring her home for the day.” Jim turned and kissed his wife quickly before laying Lucy down on her bed. Pam brought her hands to Lucy’s face, and made a face at her temperature.

“Oh honey, you poor thing, what’s wrong?” Pam sat next to her on the bed, pushing the hair off her face while Jim removed her shoes and pulled the covers over her little body.

“I don’t feel good, my nose is broken.” Lucy lifted her little hand and pointed to the tip of her nose, her green eyes going slightly crossed-eyed as she looked at her own finger before putting it back on the bed next to her. Pam smiled at how adorable she looked while at the same time wanting to make her feel better. She rubbed her tummy and kissed her forehead.

“Okay Luce, why don’t you go to sleep and Daddy and I will be downstairs when you wake up. If you need anything just ask.” Pam stood up and smiled down at her five year old.

“Night Mummy, Love you.” Lucy was already half asleep and she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

“We love you too, sweet dreams.” Jim put her shoes next to the bed and kissed her cheek before taking Pam by the hand and leading her downstairs.

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“The poor thing, she looks so miserable.” Pam kept looking back at the stairs as she and Jim made their way into the kitchen to finish putting away the groceries.

“You should have seen her at the school; she literally fell into my arms, like she didn’t have the strength to hold herself up.” Jim grabbed a box of cereal and the bread and put them away while Pam gathered the fridge stuff and began to pile yogurts, fruit, milk, and lunch meat in their assigned areas.

“Oh really? Maybe we should call the doctor.” Pam stood up looking concerned and reached for her phone.

“No, I think it’s just a cold. If her temperature doesn’t go down after she wakes up then maybe, but for now we should just let her sleep.” Jim gathered up the empty plastic bags and shoved them in the ‘extra bags for tiny trash cans’ drawer and pulled Pam into his arms. “She’ll be fine; at least it’s only a cold, and she went right to sleep.” He looked down at her and kissed the tip of her nose.

“True, I just don’t like when they’re sick.” Pam pouted. “And yes, unlike her brother she did go right to sleep.” Pam reached up to kiss him softly, except Jim chuckled before her lips could get to his.

“Ha, speaking of him; While I was waiting for them to get Lucy I met Jamie’s health teacher.”

“And what did Mr. Dunham have to say?” Pam said smiling. Her son was exactly like his father, a good-natured mischief-maker who had the charm to allow you not to be mad at him.

“Oh, he said he was a good kid and he heard about the eraser thing.” Pam rolled her eyes and smiled at her son’s first attempt at a prank. “I told him he got it from me.” He kissed her then, and without meaning to it escalated to a real kiss.

“Mmm,” she said pulling away, “By the way, you’re picking him up from soccer practice this afternoon. I should stay here and take care of Lucy.”

“Okay, can do.” He leaned down and kissed her again. “Hey what do you say I get out of this suit and we make out on the couch for awhile?” He smiled down at her.

“Sounds like a good plan.” She slapped him slightly on the butt as he walked towards the stairs, “I’ll meet you on the couch.”

As Jim walked by Lucy’s room, he peeked in to check on her. She was fast asleep with her head buried into her pillow and her hands curled together under her chin. “Feel better, Munchkin.” Jim said to the room before making his way into his room to change.