Their first date is on a Tuesday. He’s back from Stamford three weeks when he finally gets up the courage to ask her out. That was the afternoon before.
He says goodbye at the end of the work day, grinning to himself. He knows he’ll see her in a few hours. He doesn’t notice that she’s grinning, too.
He arrives to pick her up at 7 and she’s still getting ready so he waits and glances around her small apartment.
It’s still relatively undecorated.
She’s ready at 7:15 and they leave in his small silver car. They chat easily and she doesn’t realize where they’re headed until they wind up back at the office. She’s confused, but trusts him as he leads her into the building and up to the roof.
She’s speechless when he flips a switch and the entire ceiling lights up with the gentle white of the Christmas lights he’s hung.
She doesn’t realize her mouth is gaping until he laughs and tells her,
“The floor is dirty. Pick up your jaw.”
She giggles in embarrassment and his hand slips into hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.
He’s not sure which one of them he’s reassuring.
He leads her to a table for two situated in the center of the space and pulls out her chair before pulling out his own.
She’s visibly impressed when he pours her a glass of chilled wine and unveils a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs that, the garnish betrays, he obviously hadn’t made himself.
Still, she plays along.
“Jim, I can’t believe you went through all this trouble… I mean, you must’ve slaved over a hot stove all day.”
“Yes. All day. Until my fingers were cramped and blistered and I had to call in Dwight as reinforcements.”
“You must’ve been desperate.”
“Oh, I was.”
“Well, I’m honored that you would do such a thing for my sake.” His grin tapers and he grabs at her hand resting softly on the table, kissing her knuckles and replying,
“For you? Anything.”
The rest of the night is kind of a blur.
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The first time they sleep together is a Wednesday. They’ve managed to keep their relationship a secret from their co-workers for three weeks.
That’s 21 days. 14 dates. 10 dinners, 3 lunches, 8 breakfasts (quite a few dates involve more than one meal.)
They’ve slept at each other’s apartments, seen each other change for work in the morning, woken up tangled in one another’s limbs, but still, they keep to their agreement that they’d go no further than kissing until Pam was ready.
That had been Jim’s idea.
The snow is falling from the sky when Pam’s eyes blink open and stare out the window.
Pam gets the call from Michael at 7 am: Though the roads are drivable, he’s granting a snow day to boost morale.
They swear they hear Jan scolding him in the background.
When Jim gets the same call five minutes later, the scolding is louder, and Michael is more apologetic, but it’s still the same message: No work.
But the scolding is neither here nor there for them as excitedly they bundle up (at Pam’s request) to go build snowmen.
They roll and play in the snow for an hour, Jim enjoying the way Pam’s breath escapes in puffs of smoke as she flails to make a snow angel, Pam enjoying the way Jim’s arms keep her warm every time he wraps them around her and kisses her.
They go inside and strip down to pajamas, making hot chocolate and cuddling on the couch.
She looks up and kisses him; he cocks an eyebrow in question.
She nods; his eyes go wide.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
She only nods before leaning in to kiss him again.
The rest of the day is spent entangled in blankets, relying on one another for warmth.
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They’re found out on a Thursday. It’s 5:45 and they’re the last people left in the office. They’re exhausted, thrilled that the next day is Friday, and quite frankly, all either of them wants is to sleep.
From her desk, Pam winks at him. He responds with a lopsided grin, resting his head on his palm. Getting up, she brushes past him.
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom and then we can head out.”
He nods sleepily and she rushes off to the ladies room.
When she comes back five minutes later, she finds him with his head resting on his desk, his eyes closed.
He fell asleep.
She can’t believe he fell asleep.
But she knows she wants to take advantage of it.
She sneaks up behind him and slowly reaches over to poke his sides when…
She’s in his lap before she knows it.
He grabs her and tickles her and grins at the breathless, pleading laughs she’s gracing him with.
He was awake the whole time.
“Think you can sneak up on me, Beesly? Think you’re that sly?” he grins.
“I’m sorry,” she coughs out, “I’m sorry!”
“Mmhmm, just admit you can’t surprise me and I’ll let you go.”
“No! Never!”
He grips her sides again,
“Pam, there’s nothing you could do that would surp…”
He’s cut off by her lips on his and it takes him a second to realize they’re making out in the office.
And this time she started it.
She pulls away and a cocky grin spreads across her face.
“Nothing I could do to surprise you, huh?”
“Shut up and let me kiss you.”
His lips attack hers and they’re so busy they don’t hear the office door open.
“I forgot my recor…”
Shit.
The next few seconds are a flurry of movement.
Dwight’s briefcase falls to the floor with a clatter and Jim’s chair pushes off behind him as he and Pam half-jump, half-fall off their shared seat.
Jim covers his face with his hands and Pam feels the heat rising to her cheeks as she blurts out,
“Dwight, Jim… I… it…”
But her arguments prove fruitless as Dwight shouts out,
“Kissing! Kissing! Jim and Pam! I saw them!”
Before Pam and Jim can react, Dwight grabs his briefcase and sprints out the door, still yelling,
“Kissing! Kissing!”
The next day Michael stops staring at Pam through the blinds and takes to a new target.
Poor, poor Ryan.
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They move in together on a Friday.
The apartment they pick out is small and cramped and thoroughly overpriced, but she loves the view and he loves the glimmer of excitement in her eye so they take it.
Everyone’s invited over for a housewarming party. Everyone but Dwight realizes it’s really a way to get them to help in moving in.
But still, no one seems to mind.
Everyone heads over directly from work and everyone pitches in to help carry and unload boxes.
Dwight bets Jim that he can carry more boxes upstairs in five minutes than Jim can, and the next five minutes are filled with Dwight carrying televisions and boxes of books up the stairs at breakneck speed as Jim saunters up the stairs with boxes of pillows and silverware.
Kelly and Pam unpack the boxes in the bedroom and gossip about Michael and Jan, Dwight and Angela, Phyllis and Bob Vance.
Pam wonders if she and Jim are topics of this kind of gossip.
But she catches him unloading the living room and he gives her a quick smile and a wink and suddenly, she doesn’t care.
That evening, after boxes are unpacked, toasts are made, and stories of Jim and Pam are told, they wave goodbye to Meredith and suddenly, they’re alone.
They settle into the couch and fall into the spots they’ve long-since perfected, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist, her head tucked under his chin, and they take in the photos of family and friends, vacations and weekends lining their walls.
Suddenly, the apartment doesn’t seem so small.
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He proposes to her on a Saturday.
He pays Angela to decorate the office like a “winter wonderland” and he asks Phyllis to take her out for a spa day.
He fingers the cool metal in his pocket and suddenly wishes he had Dwight’s inhaler as his breathing intensifies.
His heart jumps into his ears as he hears Phyllis’ voice,
“Sorry you had to come with me, Pam. I promise, two seconds in and out to get those papers I forgot.”
The door clicks and creaks as it opens and Jim thinks he’s going to fall dead in the middle of the room as Phyllis clicks on the same white Christmas lights he’d used on their first date.
He takes her in, his suit and tie a stark contrast to her jeans and oversized UConn sweatshirt. She’s not wearing any makeup and her hair is tied up in a messy ponytail.
He doesn’t think he’s ever seen her look more beautiful.
Her mouth can’t seem to form words and her eyes go wide, watching as he moves closer to her, pausing slightly before he drops to one knee.
Her head shakes in disbelief and her eyes smile as her mouth reaches for sound which refuses to come.
He takes her hand and tells her,
“It took us a while to get here, but I don’t think anything’s been as worth the wait as this. I love you, Pam. Marry me?”
Tears well up in her eyes and she nods, kissing him before he gets a chance to put the ring on her finger.
Back at work on Monday, Kelly grabs hold of Pam’s wrist and doesn’t let go for twenty minutes.
She thinks it’s the first time she sees Ryan cry.
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Their wedding is on a Sunday. No one seems to realize that they have work the next day.
Pam’s dress is white and it catches the light as she walks down the aisle. The sparkles only draw more attention to her.
Usually shy, this should’ve fazed her.
But the only eyes she feels on her are Jim’s and she feels tears begin to roll down her cheeks as he takes her hand.
The service seems to be over in a heartbeat, and their first kiss as man and wife seems to last for hours. Everyone seems to linger on their way to the party afterwards.
An hour later, all their coworkers surround them on the dance floor as they share their first dance as man and wife.
Dwight links arms with Kevin and Stanley links arms with Ryan and Angela and they smile briefly at the unity.
That night, everyone dances, everyone laughs, everyone clinks glasses when Michael announces they can come into work late the next day.
Dwight raises a toast and is surprisingly sentimental, bringing tears to Pam’s eyes as he announces she and Jim are “the couple that finally got it right. Meant to be together, meant to work together, meant to play together.”
It’s almost perfect and, in true Dwight fashion, he ruins the moment, “Meant to hide my stuff together.”
But still, it’s sentimental and sweet and it makes Pam cry tears of sheer joy that Jim kisses away tenderly.
She’s only glad that he’s officially all hers.
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Their son is born on a Monday.
There’s screaming and cursing and several threats of divorce should he ever touch her again.
He’s sure she doesn’t mean it.
But still, he holds her hand and kisses her forehead, encourages her gently and tells her that the next time, he’ll do it.
She shoots him a glare meaning “Next time?!” but is cut off by a contraction before she can respond.
Six hours later, the baby is placed on her chest and she realizes how worth it he was and she and Jim kiss softly.
“Hi there, Nate.”
“Nate?” Jim responds, “I thought he was Noah?”
“Hold him. He feels like a Nathan.”
And so Jim propped up his son, swathed in a tiny pink, white, and blue blanket, kissed his tiny nose and looked at his wife.
“Nate. Nathan Noah Halpert… He’s perfect.”
They kiss once more and suddenly, the idea of another one doesn’t seem so terrible after all.
