Pam arrived at work on Wednesday still smiling about the weekend. The seemingly requisite bouquet of carnations was on her desk; Michael could be thoughtful, if not overly imaginative.

She looked at the card with the flowers and read, "Hey girlfriend, I got you something small for your birthday!" She opened the card and saw a shirtless, muscular young man in very tight cutoff shorts and the words "Make that something BIG!" Underneath, Michael had written, "Bet you wish Jim looked like this, ha ha. May the road rise up to meet you, and may the wind be always at your back. Love your BIG boss Michael." 

Pam sighed, amazed that someone could be so sweet and offensive at the same time. Jim walked out of Michael's office, smiling widely, leaning over her desk to kiss her. Phyllis smiled appreciatively from her desk and gave Pam the thumbs-up. "Michael's been reading inspirational websites again," said Pam, holding out the card. "Wow, I didn't realize you were attracted to Never Nudes. I've been doing this all wrong," said Jim, shaking his head at the card.

"No, I like your style much better," she said, raising an eyebrow, and he blushed. "Come on, let's go. I told Michael we're going on a coffee run."

"He's okay with that?"

"Well, he said he's not sure that Starbucks has 'free trade agreement' coffee, so I told him we'd stop and get him a milkshake. He liked that, he says the calories won't count if he doesn't buy it."

"Nice."

They had arrived outside and Jim led her over to his car. Once inside, he handed her a stack of presents, his face like a little kid's, or maybe Michael's on Christmas morning. "I thought last Saturday was my present," said Pam, "And also we're going out to dinner tonight, don't you want to wait until then?"

"No, I'm tired of waiting, and these aren't big presents or anything. Go ahead!"

"Nice girls open the card first," said Pam, slipping her fingernails under the envelope flap. Inside was a card that had a cartoon kitten in a little pink dress, with the words "Happy 1st Birthday to a Very Special Girl". She opened the card and read, "September 19, 1980. Happy 1st birthday Pam. This was a big year for both of us, you got born and learned to walk, and I learned to walk and talk and climb stairs, and I have the bump on my head to prove it. All my love, Jim."

Pam looked up, and Jim handed her the first present. She opened it and opened the box inside, which contained a stack of cards in envelopes. "There's one for every birthday," he said, and she just stared. "You're not supposed to make me cry this early in the morning," she said, replacing the lid. "Read them later," he said, and gave her the next present.

The second present was a set of two homemade CDs, and when she read the back of them, she found every song they had listened to on Saturday, plus a few more, beginning with Madonna's "This Used to Be My Playground" and finishing with Travis's "Sing."

"It's the soundtrack for our life, now you can listen to cheesy '90s music any time you want," said Jim, in a joking tone, but when she looked up, his eyes looked slightly anxious, as if she wouldn't like anything he gave her. "I love it!" said Pam, "You made it, so it's perfect." She knew she'd never listen to it with anything but delight, that had been a golden day and now she'd have good memories associated with each song.

The third present was much larger, and when Pam unwrapped it, Jim's high school sweatshirt fell out. "Seriously, I get to keep it?" she asked, sniffing it. "It still smells like you, even after I wore it!"

"Well, it was my favorite shirt ever in high school, and I wanted you to have something I really loved," he said, smiling at her. "Are you trying to win the Dundie for Most Perfect Boyfriend Ever?" she asked, only half teasing.

"Nah, I just wanted you to have a memorable birthday. This is the first one we're celebrating together," he said, handing her the last present. "I don't know if this is crossing the line from being charming to utterly cheesy."

Pam opened it and just stared for a moment. It was a picture frame with five slots; on the top two, Jim had put pictures of Little Jim and Pam. Pam recognized her kindergarten school picture, ribbon in her ringlets and a smocked dress. Jim had a shaggy bowl haircut and was wearing a sweater vest, and tears filled Pam's eyes as she recognized the same look of wide-eyed apprehension on both baby faces, as though neither was sure of what was going on.

Her eyes moved down to the bottom two, and she began to laugh as a couple of tears escaped and slid down her cheeks. The school pictures there were much worse; Pam's eighth grade self smiled awkwardly up at her, bushy hair gathered in a denim scrunchie, wearing a flannel shirt and smiling through braces. Jim looked as goofy as she did, except that his hair was shorter and made his ears look big.

The big picture in the middle made her want to cry again; someone had snapped it on the Fourth of July. Jim and Pam were sitting across from each other at a picnic table, looking right at each other and grinning, their hands twined together on the tabletop. "This is amazing," she said softly. "How did you do it?"

"I had some help from your mom, and my sister gave me the big picture, " he said, "I hoped it wouldn't be too lame."

"No, it's fantastic, I love all of it," she said, looking at him. "I can't tell you how much it means to me that you've done all of this for me. You're so thoughtful, it's almost like dating a girl!"

Jim smiled and took her hands. He started to look a little nervous, which made her stomach twinge a little with worry. "I just wanted to say something," he said, looking at her, and her heart started to beat a little faster. He took a breath and continued, "I know we don't talk about stuff like the future very often, and I know we don't want to rush into anything, but I just wanted you to know that I have never loved anyone or anything as much as I love you, and the reason that it didn't matter as much to me that we didn't grow up together is that I plan on spending every single day of my life with you. I tried living without you, and it just isn't going to work for me. You're absolutely the one I want to be with forever, and I know I sound like a dork, but it's true."

Tears filled Pam's eyes again as she threw her arms around his neck. "You're not a dork!" she said into his hair, "I love you too, and it's just so easy to be in love with you, and I can't wait to be with you forever either!"

Jim squeezed her and they broke apart, grinning rather redly at each other. "We're a pair of dorks," Jim said, and he laced his fingers through hers. Pam laughed. "I meant what I said. It really is easy to be with you, and you're my best friend and I love you," she said simply, and his smile made her stomach twirl pleasantly. "Come on, birthday girl, let's go," he said, and he started the car. As they drove, Pam traced her thumb on his hand, eyes closed and thinking her own lovely thoughts. Maybe Jim really was a 'sweater and CD' type of guy, only a little better.