HOUSEHOLD PETS

"And this is Shiner...I'm sure Jim's told you all about him...He brought that mangled cat home one day...God I think he was 12 years old at the most...and we had him forever. That cat," Larissa said sighing in disbelief. "Wow...you wouldn't have ever thought it would have lived longer than a few hours. Poor thing...somebody had really done a number on him. Jimmy saved him...."

"Aww, Jimmy," Pam said, a smile on her face.

Jim shook his head at her and then up at the ceiling. His eyes stayed there for a few moments and Pam leaned towards Larissa. The older woman reminded her so much of her own mother it was a little scary. They'd only been around each other a few times now, but every single time Pam had felt at home and every single time she felt like she got to know not only Larissa better - but Jim.

Jimmy. The name made her smile for some reason. Though she did hate it when people called her Pammy...so after this evening, she'd lay off - she promised.

No really - she would.

"He's always been very modest about it," Larissa said smiling at her son, before turning to the next page of the old photo album. It was yet another full page spread of Shiner.

There were a couple of shots with Shiner and Jim or Jonathan. It was amazing how much blonder Jim had been as a kid. And all legs....so geeky and beautiful.

She put her hand on his knee, and he glanced down at it and then into her eyes. He smiled at her and laced his fingers with hers.

"Oh that Shiner...miracle really." Jonathan said shaking his head from the Lazy Boy on the other side of the coffee table.

Pam had forgotten Jonathan was there for a moment. It was so weird...with Roy, she'd always been acutely aware of extra members of his family in the room. With Jim it was completely different...they all just seemed like an extension of someone she was already so comfortable with...

Larissa looked up at Jonathan. "He really was, wasn't he?"

Jonathan nodded and covered his mouth, but Pam could tell he was hiding a smirk behind his hand.

"What happened again Jim?" Jonathan said continuing. "You just...found Shiner? Like...in the bushes near the basketball court at Highhill Park right?"

Jim licked his lips. "Yep."

What was that? That shift in his eyes? The way he looked down...he was purposely avoiding eye contact with Jonathan and suddenly her...

Ok, so she was missing something. Something really good. Something their mother didn't know.

Larissa looked up from her gentle perusal of the album and straight into Jim's eyes. "Really?...I thought you found Shiner behind your friend Sal's house...Sal's mom said they couldn't keep him because Sal was allergic to cats?..."  

"Oh..." Jim said licking his lips again. That was a time buyer - a nervous tick - an anxious habit...Pam had figured that one out. 

"Oh yeah," Jim continued. "No, that...we actually found a rabbit back there once and his mom wouldn't let him have it...allergies," Jim said, with a slight shrug.

Pam looked at Jim, pursed her lips and nodded slightly. Oh really? You are such a liar, Halpert.

Larissa sighed. "Must be getting old...can't even remember stories I've told a thousand times anymore...I'm gonna check on that roast, guys. I'll be back in a minute."

"Larissa, would you like some help in the kitchen?"

"Oh no honey, I'll be back in a flash, you just sit and chat with the boys...wine?"

Pam nodded. "Yes please."

"I'd like some too mom," Jonathan called as Larissa walked towards the kitchen.

"Well you've got two legs honey...come on in and get some."

"Jeez..." Jonathan said grinning. He looked at Jim as soon as their mom disappeared.

Pam squinted from one brother to the next, glanced at the sorry excuse for a cat that glared back at her from the old photos. His fir was matted, a black circle surrounded his eye. That she could only assume was why he'd gotten the name ‘Shiner.'

"So what's the story on old Scraggly?"

"Shiner," Jim said quickly.

"Uhuh...Shiner, Scraggly...what happened?"

Jim shrugged. "Just...yeah...found him. Brought him home."

Jonathan covered his mouth, shook his head.

Jim glared at him. "Wow...really. You're a -

Pam reached out to pinch Jim and he shifted away, stopping mid insult. Jonathan started to laugh.

"Ok, ok...sssh...listen," Jim said then, quieting them down. "Ok, I'm not proud of this alright?"

"Uhoh..."

"He's actually gonna tell her..." Jonathan said leaning back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Excellent...this has never happened before."

"Shut up.......Ok, so listen, my stupid friend Sal -

"Oh blame it on Sal," Jonathan said shaking his head. "Nice."

"Seriously?...Don't you have magazines you need to get rid of in the basement  -

"Oh my God, just tell me," Pam said interrupting.

Jim sighed. "Sal found this cat...I don't know where - I think the basketball court at Highhill...this park we used to go to like...all the time...but Sal was weird....he always wanted to ‘experiment' on things."

"Oh no."

Jim held up a finger, "Ah -

"Sorry...go," Pam said folding her hands in her lap and sitting up primly. "I won't judge you."

"Oooh," Jonathan said shaking his head. "I'd reserve the right to judge if I were you, Pam."

"Uh well you're not her...so shut it," Jim said. "Alright so me and Sal and a bunch of other guys are supposed to go riding our bikes up at HighHill, but Sal comes with this stupid cat...and the cat already looked like hell ok, let's just....get that out there. It already looked like hell."

Pam giggled.

"Oh man..." Jonathan said shaking his head.

"So anyway, the park...there's this bridge."

"Oh. My. God."

"See...that, Pam...I'm not gonna tell you because of that."

"No, stop. I'm sorry...really," she said leaning into his arm. She pressed a kiss to his shoulder, and dissolved into giggles..."Finish telling me how you tortured this poor cat."

"I didn't torture a cat! Sal threw the cat off the bridge because he wanted to see if it would land on its feet...that was his experiment."

By this time Jonathan was turning bright red from the effort of holding in his laughter, and Pam doubled over. She blinked several times, clearing away tears, "That's horrible."

"I....stop......The cat landed...not on it's feet......and I went down and got the cat."

"Like 30 minutes later," Jonathan muttered not quite under his breath.

"Bastard," Jim said blandly.

"It's true!" Jonathan said.

"What the hell...Sal and those guys would have ripped me to shreds for being a candy ass. The minute we walked back to the basketball court, I told them I had to go early because my mom wanted me to go run errands with her -

"Which didn't make him sound candy ass at all."

"ANYWAY...I left, got the cat, and brought him back here. I couldn't tell my mom that Sal tossed him off a bridge or that I watched, so I made up this story about finding him that way...and like I said - he was pretty messed up already."

"Well that's comforting," Pam said shaking her head.

"The cat had a broken leg," Jonathan supplied. "Mom took him to the vet, got him all healed up. We had the cat forever....and the weirdest thing was, that freaking cat went to Jim more than anybody else...Made no sense."

Pam pulled Jim close, even when he tried pulling away as a punishment for her giggles. "No...it makes sense...it's because you saved him."

"Yeah, yeah..." Jim said shaking his head. "You're not invited back here by the way."

"Yes she is," Jonathan said. "Pam you're welcome like any time you want."

"This is mom's house...he doesn't really have that authority," Jim said, unable to finish the sentence with a straight face.

"Are you breaking up with me again?" Pam asked in pure delight.

"God...So tired of having to break up with you every week."

"And then I just sit on your doorstep...like a...like a cat," she said in a fit of giggles again. Jonathan reached over the table to high-five her and Jim stood up.

"How old are you?......Ridiculous..."

"Dinner's ready!"

Pam stood up, grabbing Jim's hand as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. Jonathan kept laughing as Larissa peaked out from the kitchen.

"Jim...if you could carve the roast that'd be great...just...please...try not to throw it off the table ok?"

The room erupted with laughter and Jim shook his head. "Wow...that's...thanks mom....Does childbirth mean nothing anymore?"

Larissa passed a glass of red wine to Pam and her hand settled for a moment on her shoulder. Pam felt it drop, brush against the ends of her hair. The loveliest sense of déjà vu settled over her. Like maybe this was all meant to be. Like she'd felt this way before, as part of her own family and now she was part of another that was just as perfect...

Larissa was muttering something about Jim and his brother being the world's worst whisperers as they moved into the kitchen.

Yeah...perfect.