Nearly five weeks later, Pam found a note on her desk, addressed to PAM in big crayon letters. She opened it and read, "Pam: Be outside your place at 10 a.m. sharp tomorrow for mysterious Pre-Birthday Extravaganza. Bring nothing with you, all you need will be provided. From the Committee for Fun Birthdays." She smiled over her desk at Jim, who shrugged and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"What should I wear?" she asked the back of his neck, and he swiveled back around. "If I had any idea what you were talking about, I'd say just wear whatever you feel comfortable in," he said, and she grinned. "Duly noted," she said, and tried for the rest of the day to concentrate on her work. It was difficult to do, she thought, when one's boyfriend was so easy to look at, and when one's boyfriend apparently had a birthday surprise planned. This would be the first birthday they'd share together, and she had wondered what he might come up with. Jim wasn't the 'sweater and CD' type, she thought, and this made her love him even more.
*
The next morning, Pam was waiting on the front steps of her apartment at ten minutes to ten. The air was crisp in an early-fall way, and she was glad she had her sweatshirt. She grinned as Jim drove up and climbed out of his car. She stood up and moved to kiss him, but he stopped her. “None of that yet," he said, holding out his hand. "Keys please. I'll be right back."
She watched as he disappeared inside her building and reappeared a few moments later with a duffel bag. She knew better than to try to find out what was inside, so she just followed him to the car. He unlocked her door and grinned at her with such an excited face that she laughed. "Are you sure I can't kiss you? Because you're pretty adorable right about now," she said, and he shook his head. "All in good time,” he replied, and she got in the car.
Once inside, he tied a blindfold around her eyes, and she wondered what was going on. "This is pretty kinky," she joked, and Jim patted her knee. "Not really, you'll see, but I think you're going to like it."
She felt him turn corners and speed up and felt him stop at stop signs. They slowed down a bit, so she thought maybe they were in a residential area. "You're not taking me to the beet farm, are you?" she asked, “Because that would be the saddest birthday ever."
"You better behave yourself, or that's where you'll end up. It's not the beet farm, but we're here," he said, and she felt the car stop. He opened her door and helped her out. "This way," he said, and she felt his hand on her lower back. She felt grass under her feet and heard the creak of a metal gate. Then Jim was standing behind her and taking her blindfold off. She looked around. "My old elementary school?" she asked, looking around. "What's going on?"
Jim smiled and looked almost nervous. "We're making up for lost time. This is me loving you forever." He looked at her and she wanted to cry. He had remembered their conversation and didn't think it was silly, which meant more to her than he knew. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but Jim reached over and tapped her on the arm. "Tag! You're it!" he said, and took off onto the playground.
She ran after him, but his legs were so much longer. He ran around the monkey bars and past the giant oak tree, but stumbled over a tree root, and she was able to tag him back. He chased her, but she changed direction often, trying to make up for her shorter legs with unpredictability. Dwight would be so proud of her. Jim finally caught up to her, and slapped her arm. "Ha!"
She tumbled to the ground, out of breath and banging her knees onto the dirt. Jim collapsed beside her, also out of breath. "Are you thirsty?" he asked, and she nodded. "Meet me at the swings," he said, getting up again. She dragged herself up again and watched as he jogged to the car, rummaging in the trunk. She sat on a swing as he walked back over and handed her a juice box.
"This is great, I haven't had Hawaiian Punch in forever," she said, draining the straw and swinging idly. "Hawaiian- punch!" Jim said, punching her lightly on the arm. "Ow!" she said, throwing the empty juice box down and jumping up. "Now you get a Hertz donut from me," she said, punching him on the arm, and he ran away laughing.
"Stop and close your eyes," he called, and she did. "Count to a hundred!"
"One, two, skip a few, ninety-nine, one hundred!" she yelled out, opening her eyes. Jim was gone, as she had fully expected, and she began to jog around to look for him. There were a few places that could hide someone as tall as him, so she approached each of them cautiously, feeling that nervous feeling she always used to get during hide-and-seek. He wasn't behind the huge oak tree, and he wasn't behind the maple, and as she passed the weather-beaten cabinet that contained the tetherballs and jump ropes, he leapt out from behind and yelled "Boo!"
Pam jumped and ran after him, trying to hit him, but he dodged out of the way. "Your turn to hide," he called, jogging over to the fence. "You forget that I went here, I'm the hide and seek expert! I OWN this school!" she yelled after him, and she heard him laugh. She had forgotten how much she had liked this game, and when his eyes were covered, she ran lightly over to the play structure. She climbed silently up the ladder and folded herself into the fort at the top of the slide.
"Ready or not, here I come!" Jim called from a distance, and she waited silently. It was a few moments before his face appeared at the slide. "You're good, I never would have tried to fit in there," he said, and she grinned triumphantly. "Come on down and I'll push you on the swing," he said. She slid down the slide and followed him over to the swingset. She sat down on a swing, and waited expectantly. Jim reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "I know it's a little late, or maybe really early, but here's this," he said, handing her a little white envelope. She opened it, and found a little paper valentine that said, "Will you bee my Valentine? Jim"
"Aww, it says bee and there's a picture of a bee on it," she said in her best Ralph Wiggum voice. "Naturally. That's the only way I can show you that I like you," said Jim, moving behind her and grasping the swing chains. "Are you ready for your underdog?"
He pushed her as high as he could, and she felt herself soaring through the air. It had been far too long since she'd been on a swing, and now she remembered why she played on the swings every day as a child. Jim hopped onto the swing next to her and kicked off. Soon, he was swinging as high as she was. "This is so cool," he called out. "I know, I haven't been on the swings in forever,” she answered.
Their swinging synched up and she found herself looking right at him as they swung together. "Uh-oh, you know what they say when swings match up," she said, and then stopped talking when she realized what she'd have to say. "What?" asked Jim, and she felt her face get a little red. "It means we're married."
"Hmm, interesting. I'll have to keep that in mind next time I swing with Dwight," he replied, and she was gratified to see that his face was slightly red as well; she felt her stomach flip pleasantly in the way it did whenever they broached the subject of the future.
"Did you pack me a lunch?" she asked, partly to change the subject and partly because she was hungry. "Better than that," answered Jim, dragging his feet into the woodchips, and Pam did the same. She felt windswept and exhilarated as she jumped off the swing. Jim picked up the juice boxes and threw them out as they walked toward the sidewalk. "Hey, I give a hoot," he said in response to Pam's approving smile.
They walked up the sidewalk to the main road, and Jim grinned down at her. "Can't I please give you a kiss?" she pleaded. "No, kissing is gross. But we have to cross the street, so you can hold my hand," he said seriously. She reached for his hand, but he pulled it away first. "Just a moment," he said, tracing a circle on his palm with his other pinky. "Circle, circle, dot, dot, now I've got the cootie shot," he said. Pam snorted, and Jim raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, I've got a niece, I know all the tricks," he said, and she laughed, taking his hand in hers.
She had almost forgotten how nice it was just to hold hands, and she swung their hands back and forth as they headed towards what she thought was their destination. "Only the McBest for my girl," said Jim as he held the door open. He directed her toward a table, assuring her he'd take care of the food, and she wasn't surprised at all when he showed up with three Happy Meals. "Three?" she asked as he sat down. "I'm a very big kid," he explained, "but you can steal some McNuggets."
They ate their food and played with the cheap plastic toys; Pam ran her Hot Wheels all over the table until the wheels fell off, and Jim primped his tiny Barbie. "I'll leave it on Dwight's desk," he said, slipping it into his pocket.
"Are you finished?" he asked, and when Pam nodded, he cleared their trays and looked up front. The bored teenagers working the counter weren't watching, and Pam was startled when Jim grabbed her hand and pulled her into the Play Place. "Come on, while they're not looking," he whispered, shutting the door behind them and slipping off his shoes. Pam grinned and pulled off her tennis shoes and followed Jim into the ball pit. "You realize that we're going to catch so many diseases from this," Jim said to her, and she answered by chucking a ball at him. "Thank you, Dwight, for the informative PSA."
"No, if Dwight were here, he'd already have charts and would be taking samples from the balls!"
"Ha, you said balls!"
"Wow, when did Michael get here?" asked Jim, looking around in fake consternation as an employee opened the door to the Play Place. "Sir, ma'am, you'll have to get out of the ball pit. This is for children ten and under," she said without a smile.
"Oh, yes, we're sorry. We were just looking for...our child's shoe. Little Michael lost his shoe in here yesterday," said Jim, and Pam grinned, though she tried not to. The employee had clearly heard this before, since she didn't say anything, just continued to stand at the door. They sheepishly climbed out and put their shoes on, then ran out the door and back outside.
"Awesome, we almost got a lifetime ban from McDonald's! That would have gone really well with my lifetime ban from Chili's," said Pam as they headed back toward the elementary school.
"I hope you start collecting lifetime bans from mediocre chain restaurants," said Jim, grinning, "That would be quite the accomplishment."
"Also, Little Michael? That would be quite a child."
"Yeah, well, I came up with that really quickly, I was doing improv, like Little Michael himself," said Jim, "Besides, I feel like we're all Michael's parents sometimes."
Pam laughed and took his hand again. "Jim, this is so great. I'm having so much fun with you. Thank you for my present," she said, smiling up at him. He squeezed her hand and replied, "Well, the day isn't over yet. We've only covered up to, what, sixth grade? We've got a lot left."
She squeezed his hand in return and they headed toward the car, running like a pair of children.
Chapter End Notes:
I hope everyone's enjoying this, since I'm having a lot of fun writing it. I'm not sure if other people have heard the whole 'married when the swings sync up' thing, or the cootie shot. Was I a crazy child? Do other people remember that?
