Definition of Home

By Jody E.

Jim stared numbly at the baggage carousel, so exhausted he could barely see straight. It was 6:00 PM or so, according to his watch, but it felt more like 4 AM, and way too early to be standing in a grubby airport, trying to remember what made his particular black suitcase different from all of the other black suitcases that were coming down the ramp.

He should have bought pink luggage, like that perky little suitcase over there with My Kitty plastered all over it. See…if that had been his suitcase, he’d be out of here by now. But no, he had to go with basic black, like 99 % of the other luggage. All around him, people were lunging forward and grabbing cases and wrestling them off the rack, little old ladies hefting suitcases larger than they were. Jim would have offered to help, but they were too fast for him, in his groggy state.

Eventually a suitcase came by that looked vaguely familiar, and Jim grabbed it. One more, and he was done. Already on his luggage cart were his backpack, bulging at the seams, his faithful lap top computer, and a wine carrier and plastic shopping bag from the Duty Free shop in Brisbane. The last suitcase, a small duffle, decorated with a cartoon kangaroo, which he had bought in desperation at the hotel gift shop, came sliding by, and Jim retrieved it. He would give it to Davie for his future travels.

He’d already gone through customs in Los Angeles, sweating guiltily, he was sure, clutching his receipts, while the clerk, bored, waved him through without a glance. Apparently he didn’t look like an international penguin smuggler, which was good to know, in case he ever wanted to become one.

So, he was free to go. Except for one small detail. Where was Pam? He scanned the clump of limo drivers, all of whom were weary looking middle aged men holding up signs with names on them, none of them Halpert.

"Hey." A voice behind him, made him jump. He spun around and there was a huge poster board sign with the word Jim inscribed in bold letters, surrounded by hand drawn kangaroos and koala bears. Half hidden behind the sign was Pam.

"Pam!"

"Need a lift?"

Jim grinned and gently removed the poster from Pam’s hands. "Great poster, but…" He quickly put the poster on top of his pile of luggage, "it’s blocking the view!"

With a laugh, Pam flung her arms around Jim’s neck and he wrapped his arms around her and just held her tightly. "Oh Pam…it’s just so good to be back. I can’t tell you."

"I missed you. It’s been a long two weeks."

"I know. I feel like I’ve been gone for months." He kissed her, forgetting for one brief moment the hot, crowded airport. But reality soon intruded, in the form of a loud family reunion going on right next to them. Now was not the time or place for their own reunion. Reluctantly, Jim released Pam and turned to his luggage cart.

"Let’s get out of here. Pam…you look terrific. Did you do something different to your hair?"

"I cut it a little. And had it styled. I’m going to be going into the city a lot now, and I wanted to look a bit more professional."

"Well, it looks great…no more barrette?"

Pam smiled. "I still have it...it’s still my Dunder Mifflin hairstyle. Can’t let Michael get too excited."

"Just me. Okay." He grinned.

"I hate to say it, but you look exhausted."

"We’ll, I’ve either been flying or sitting in airports for the last 24 hours. I can’t believe it’s still Friday."

As they talked, Pam directed Jim out of the terminal towards the parking lot. "I had to drive around a bit but I was able to find a spot in the closest lot. Otherwise we’d have to take the monorail."

"This is really great, you picking me up. Way above and beyond…"

Pam smiled, "Well, if we were friends, you’d really owe me, but since we are so much more than that…"

"I still owe you. And I intend to pay up." He tried to leer suggestively, but yawned instead.

Pam snorted, "Oh I can tell. You’re a real tiger. Come on, let’s get you home."

"Or, at least what passes for home these days." Pam opened the trunk and helped Jim load his bags inside.

Pam looked at the kangaroo duffel. "What did you do...buy out Australia?"

"Hey...how many people do you know who have their Christmas shopping done by the end of June?"

"Besides my Aunt Helen? Not a soul. Wait...you mean I have to wait until Christmas to find out what you bought?"

"Aha...I knew you were only in this relationship for the gifts! Just for that Miss Greedy, I might just make you wait for everything."

"Oh yeah? And I might just leave you here in this parking lot!"

"Oh yeah?" laughing, Jim raced to the passenger side of the car and got in. "Too late!"

"That’s okay," Pam giggled as she started the car, "I’ll get my revenge later."

They pulled out of the lot towards the parking kiosk. Jim pulled out his wallet and handed Pam his credit card for the parking. "I don’t have much American cash. I have to hit the ATM tomorrow. But I should have enough credit left to squeak by."

"Thanks, "Pam said as she paid the attendant, and handed Jim back his card and his receipt. "You don’t have to sign it. Listen, I need you to navigate. Here are the Map Point directions."

Jim looked blearily at the computer print out. "Me?"

"Yes. You. You can’t go to sleep until at least ten o’clock tonight, so concentrating on this will keep you awake."

Jim yawned, "Thanks. You’re so thoughtful."

"Navigate!"

"Oh...turn right...you’re going to want the Van Wyck. Just follow those signs."

"Good boy. It’s only about 40 miles or so, and shouldn’t be too bad if we don’t hit any…oh damn…traffic! Friday, rush hour."

"Fine. I’ll just take a little nap."

"You will not. Talk to me. I guess you didn’t sleep on the plane."

"I did a little, but it was so uncomfortable. Luckily, through, for the longest leg I was on the aisle, so I could keep getting up to stretch my legs."

"So what did you do?"

"I watched a movie. Guess which one?"

"Snakes on a Plane?"

"Yeah, right. Nope...March of the Penguins!"

Pam laughed, "Oh that’s funny. Was it good?"

"It was interesting, I guess. But it was about those giant emperor Penguins in Antarctica, not my cute little Aussie penguins."

"What else did you watch?"

"A couple of sitcoms, but mostly I played Solitaire…hours and hours of solitaire."

"How did you do?"

"I won 22 times."

"Wow. Wait...was that three card or one card?"

Jim looked sheepish, "One card."

"Hah. Wuss."

"I know. But 8 straight hours of solitaire is bad enough without winning often enough to make it interesting. I never want to see a computer solitaire game again."

"Did you have any problem with Customs?"

"Nah. It was kind of disappointing, actually. Nobody found me or my purchases interesting in the least."

"Oh poor baby. Well, if it’s any comfort, I think you look plenty sinister, especially with the stubble and that hat."

"You don’t like the stubble? It works for House. Or so you always say."

"For him, I make an exception. Oh looks like we’re moving now. Thank God…we might be home before midnight after all."

"Yeah. Home."

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Because an empty box in Stamford is not what I think of when I think of home."

Pam looked thoughtful. "It will start to feel lived in, now that you’re actually back for good."

"Yeah, I guess. And I was hoping that you could help me decorate it, get curtains and all that."

"Sure. And maybe some paint."

"Oh, do we have to stop at the store? I don’t have any food."

"I’ve got that covered. Did you eat on the plane?"

"Well, I had various meals, and I’ve got some candy bar things that they put in my ‘tucker bag,’ but I am really starving. We could stop at a restaurant, now that we’re in New Haven."

"How about some home cooking?"

"That would be wonderful, "Jim looked into the back seat of the car, "but I don’t see a cooler back there."

"Ah.. Then it will just have to be a mystery."

And she wouldn’t say another word about it all the way into Stamford.

Between the two of them they managed to get Jim and all of his luggage out of the car and into the elevator.

"Thank goodness I remembered not to pack my keys." Jim said as he fumbled at his apartment door. "My spare set is on the kitchen counter."

"Couldn’t you have left them with a neighbor?"

"I haven’t even met my neighbors."

"Oh," said Pam with a smile, "Mike and Shelly next door are very nice. Next time, you can leave your keys with them."

Before Jim could process an answer to that he had opened the door and stood dumfounded in the entry of his apartment. "Wha…?" He looked down at his keys. "Is this the right apartment?"

Pam laughed nervously, "Welcome home?"

Jim put down his suitcases and looked around. Yes that was his ancient chair, and his television set, but underneath it was a dark burgundy area rug, and there were white curtains at the windows, and colorful pictures and posters on the wall. His little table was set with forest green placemats and pale yellow napkins. Pale yellow curtains hung at his kitchen window, and dark green canisters were on his counter along with some sort of a leafy plant. The kitchen smelled like Italian food, and a large baking dish covered with foil sat on the stove.

"Pam…this is wonderful…it’s amazing...what did you do?"

Pam laughed, "Well, I obviously couldn’t buy furniture and I wasn’t going to paint without your approval, but I did just about everything else I could to make this place a little more.."

"Like home? But how? And when?"

"Well, you did leave your spare keys on the kitchen counter, so the day you left I went around and made a list of the things you needed. Then last weekend my friend Stacy and I came here and spent the weekend decorating. You haven’t met Stacy, have you?"

"No. You were here last weekend?"

"While you were shopping in Sydney and traveling to Cairns. You didn’t notice that I sent you e-mails on Saturday and Sunday? I sent them from your computer right here."

"But Pam…how much did you spend on all this? You can’t go spending your money on me like this."

"But that’s the best part. I hardly spent anything. I think only the kitchen curtains and the placemats are new. And a couple of things in the bedroom and bathroom. Everything else is either stuff you had in boxes, or stuff that Stacy and I were able to scrounge from various sources. "

"What sources?"

Pam laughed, "You sound so suspicious. The rug in the living room, for example, has been rolled up in Stacey’s parents’ basement, ever since they redid their family room two years ago. They kept meaning to do something with it, but they never did, so they were happy to let us take it off their hands. The canisters were a shower gift I got 4 years ago, but never used because I never got around to redoing my kitchen in green the way I always planned to. The dishes should look familiar." As she spoke, Pam turned on the oven and put the baking dish in, and opening the cupboard took out a large salad bowl.

Jim picked up a white ironstone plate, looking puzzled; "These are my parents’ plates from home."

"Not any more. Your folks bought all new dishes, for their anniversary, and were happy to donate these. They gave me the living room curtains, too. The hardware was already here, so they were easy to put up. Your sister gave you a whole lot of sheets and some bathroom accessories. She’s been redecorating like crazy all month. She calls it the nesting instinct. It’s amazing how much extra stuff people accumulate. Thank goodness Stacey’s boyfriend has a pick-up truck. It was really fun. And nobody liked the idea of you coming home to an empty box, as you called it."

Jim sat heavily in one of his kitchen chairs, suddenly overcome with emotion.

"Jim...is it all right? I mean, nothing is permanent. Anything you don’t like can be gotten rid of or returned. I have the receipts for everything I actually bought. I know it was kind of presumptuous of me."

"Presumptuous? Are you kidding? "Jim croaked, "this is the most wonderful thing that anybody has ever done for me," He swiped at his eyes," I’m sorry. "

Pam came over to the table and Jim put his arms around her waist and held her tightly, pressing his head to her stomach. Pam put her arms around his neck; "It’s okay. You’re exhausted." She took off his leather hat, revealing greasy hair, "Oh…having a bad hair day, are we?"

Jim had to laugh, "I need a shower so bad…you’ve been very polite, but I’m sure I must reek."

"Well, reek is a pretty strong word, but you’re not as daisy fresh as you could be. Listen. Dinner won’t be ready for about 20 minutes, so why don’t you take a shower? You’ll feel much better."

"Good idea. Great idea, in fact. But, can I trust you?"

"I swear. I will not look in your suitcases until you come back!" Pam held up three fingers, "Girl Scout promise!"

"And you were, in fact, a Girl Scout?"

"Of course. I wouldn’t abuse the Girl Scout promise!"

"Okay. But I’ll know if my bags have been tampered with!"

"Who are you, Dwight? Go take your shower!"

"Yes, ma’am."

While Jim was taking his shower, Pam made the salad and some garlic bread, which she put in the oven with the lasagna. She managed to resist the impulse to sneak into the living room and ravage Jim’s luggage, though she was dying of curiosity. Anticipation was fun too, though. Like all day today, as she made the lasagna and dusted and vacuumed Jim’s apartment, all the while keeping an eye on the clock, waiting to go pick him up. She smiled as she took the foil off the lasagna so that the top could brown. It was well worth all the really hard work last weekend to see Jim’s reaction. But she really owed Stacey big time. Stacey had innocently called suggesting a girl’s night out, and Pam had in turn suggested a "little home improvement project," which had turned into a major home improvement project that included lugging a rolled up 9x 12 carpet into and out of a pickup truck and a freight elevator. Stacey had been a great sport, however. All she said was that Jim "had better be worth it!" And so far, he definitely was.

Jim came into the kitchen with his wet hair plastered back, wearing a tee shirt and jeans. He was carrying a plastic bag and a cardboard wine carrier. "I feel like a new man. I’m not even tired any more. Does your friend Stacey like chocolate?" he asked putting the wine box on the counter.

"She loves it." Pam answered.

"Nuts?"

"Well, she’d pretty much have to be, to help decorate an apartment for some guy she’s never even met."

Jim snorted, "I mean does she like nuts?"

Pam grinned, "I know what you meant. I was giving you the sitcom answer. And yes she does like nuts."

"Great. I got these at the duty free shop." He pulled out three large boxes of chocolate covered macadamia nuts bound together with a paper strip. "I figured one box for the Stamford office, one for you to bring to Scranton, and you can give one to Stacey and her boyfriend. That will save me from eating them."

"Ooh...those look good. But I thought macadamia nuts were Hawaiian."

"They also grow them in Australia. Who knew? Look, it’s not much, I know."

"It’s great, she’ll be thrilled. And we’ll get together the next time you’re in Scranton. She’s a really good friend. I just hadn’t seen that much of her this spring, what with one thing and another. So we really had a fun weekend here. We set up your

DVD player and rented movies. It was great."

Jim shook his head in wonder. Pam never ceased to surprise him. He had thought he knew her, working with her every day for almost four years, but obviously that was just the tip of the iceberg. He went over and gave her a kiss. "You are amazing."

Pam put her hand on his face, "Umm...you shaved. That is much, much better. Now sit down because dinner is served."

Jim sat down and then remembered, "Oh, and I thought we could have one of those bottles of Shiraz with dinner."

"Stay where you are. I’ll get it." Pam opened the cardboard box and took out one of the bottles of wine and handed it to Jim with the corkscrew. While he opened the wine she served the dinner.

"This lasagna is really good. Did you make it from scratch?" Jim asked as he ate hungrily.

"Well, if you define scratch the way my mother defines it, using sauce from a jar, then yes."

"What? Sauce from a jar? That’s it. We’re through!"

Pam failed entirely to look contrite, "Well, we’re not Italian. What can I tell you? This is what I grew up with."

"Well, you may not have noticed, but I’m not Italian either. This is what I grew up with too. It’s great."

"I know it’s not camel, but…"

"Thank God! Believe me, camel is not all it’s cracked up to be!"

When Pam got up to clear the table, Jim took her hand and pulled her gently into his lap. Smiling, she put her arms around his neck and he held her. He kissed her neck and whispered in her ear, "Hey Pam, remember that swivel chair in the hotel in New York?"

She giggled and said, "How could I forget? It was the first time we ever…swiveled."

"Pam listen," Jim said, suddenly serious, "I want to tell you something."

"What?" Pam said, worried.

"I’m just trying to put this the right way. I really, really appreciate and love everything you did with my apartment. The bedroom and bathroom look wonderful, by the way. But I just want you to know. There is only one thing that will make this apartment a home… and that’s you, Pam. When you’re here it doesn’t matter if I have no furniture and my walls are blank. When you’re gone, it’s not going to matter if the place looks like Better Homes and Gardens."

"Oh, Jim."

"I mean it Pam. When are you going to come here and live with me?"

"What? My God, Jim. Huh…I guess Michael was right to be worried. Damn." Pam thought a moment before continuing, "Listen….you know that I love you, right? And I missed you so much while you were away, that I thought I’d die. And I miss you every day that I’m in Scranton and you’re here in Stamford. But I just can’t move here now. I have to do my internship and stay with the Scranton branch, at least through September. After that I’m hoping that new job opportunities will open up for me. You do understand, don’t you?"

Jim smiled sadly, "Of course. I want you to have every opportunity. You know that. Forget what I said…it was just a moment of weakness, brought on by jet lag and homemade lasagna. Forgive me?"

"Of course."

"So, I guess that means that getting married this weekend is pretty much out of the question then, too?"

Pam laughed and then shook her head and sighed, "Jim, you are such a hopeless romantic. It’s what I love about you. But let’s face it. We barely even know each other outside of the office. All we’ve had are a few great weekends. And a lot of e-mails. We haven’t even had our first fight yet."

"Are you sure? Didn’t you get mad at me that time I bought breakfast for Katie?"

"Sweetie…when we have our first real fight, you’ll know it. Believe me."

"Okay. So how long do I have to wait?"

"For our first fight? That’s kind of hard to predict."

"No, Goofy. Until we can talk about…things. Commitment type things."

Pam smiled, "The end of September, okay? By then I’ll know what I want to do."

"All right. July, August, September. Three months. That’s reasonable. I can live with that."

"Until then we keep on getting to know each other."

"That doesn’t sound too bad." He snaked his hand in under Pam’s tee shirt, "That does still include great sex, right?"

"Oh, absolutely. In fact, I think it’s pretty much mandatory."

"So, little girl, "Jim drawled in his best Stanley voice, "Would you like to see what Santa has in his suitcases?"

"Oh yes." Pam jumped off of Jim’s lap and practically dragged him into the living room.

Jim laughed at her eagerness, "So go ahead."

Pam ran over to the kangaroo duffel, knelt down and unzipped it. She surveyed the contents with dismay. "There’s nothing in here but clothes."

"Dirty clothes, "Jim said with a grin. "The more fragile stuff I packed in my suitcase, everything else is in my backpack. Here. Let’s start with the backpack." He sat down on the floor next to her, and unzipped his backpack.

"Okay. I got a bunch of tee shirts. I really liked these ones with the aboriginal designs on them. Oh and look at this one for Davie." He spread out several tee shirts. The child sized one had a vivid snake design.

"Oh, I’m sure he’ll love that."

"Okay, let’s see which one of these is the size small, though you can actually have any one you want. Ah, but this is the one I picked out for you. It was a little unusual." The shirt was a heathery blue with three panels in vivid colors depicting hunting scenes.

"Oh, this is great. I don’t know very much about aboriginal art. It’s primitive but very appealing."

"It all means something, too. But I just liked the design. Oh and I got you this. I think that every woman in the choral society bought one of these, and I just liked it." Jim handed Pam a navy blue fleece jacket, with a white collar and white stripes down the sleeves. Across the front was "Australia" in white letters with a flag patch. "I know you take a small, but I thought you might prefer it a little oversized, and I’m not sure if it will shrink or not. So I got a Medium."

Pam tried on the jacket, noting that it was a bit long in the sleeves, but otherwise fit fine. "Oh I love this. It’s so warm and fuzzy inside. This will be great in the fall. I don’t have anything this weight. Thank you. I wasn’t expecting anything like this. Oh look at the animals!" Jim was taking out a bag of realistic rubber animals.

"I figured that Davie is getting too old for stuffed animals, now that he’s 4. So I got him these…look it’s the whole Australia contingent; kangaroo, koala, emu, wombat, cassowary, and a really mean looking crocodile."

"I’ll bet he likes the croc the best."

"Do you know why the emu and the kangaroo are Australia’s national symbols?

"I didn’t know they were. Why?"

"Because neither animal is capable of walking backwards. I guess it’s supposed to mean that Australia is always moving forward."

Pam laughed, "You are a regular Encyclopedia Brown, aren’t you?"

"Ok, if you’re going to mock my extensive knowledge, we can just stop this right now. No more gifts ‘till Christmas!"

"Oh yeah? Well, I’ve got the backpack," giggled Pam, grabbing it.

"Hmmm, excuse me, Miss Beesly…but in an effort to get to know you better, I must ask you a personal question. Are you by any chance…ticklish?" Jim lunged at Pam, just missing her as she scooted behind the chair, practically the only piece of furniture in the room.

"Uh...no, " lied Pam, trying to plan an escape into the bedroom, "not ticklish at all."

"Oh, I have evidence to the contrary," he laughed as he pounced on her when she tried to crawl into the bedroom, "Gotcha."

"Hey what happened to tired jet lag guy?" giggled Pam as she tried to wriggle out from under Jim who had her effectively pinned down on the burgundy carpet.

"Second wind. And now I have you at my mercy...shall it be tickling?"

"No, please…I really hate it, "she gasped, starting to feel a little panicky.

"Okay," said Jim, releasing her with a smile. "That’s right. I remember that you don’t like it. Don’t worry."

Pam stared at him with something like wonder. Tossing the backpack aside, she reached up and pulled Jim back down on top of her. "There’s other things you could do besides tickling, that I like a lot better."

"I remember that too. I haven’t been away that long."

************************************************************************

"Ummm..." said Jim bunching up his tee shirt and putting it under his head for a pillow, "you’ll really have to tell Stacey’s parents that this is a great rug."

"Yes, nice and comfy," Pam said rolling over to rest her head on Jim’s chest, "I’m sure they’re be really pleased that we’re getting such good use out of it."

"Would you like to see the rest of your presents?"

"What…there’s more?

"I haven’t even gotten to the good stuff yet." Jim laughed.

"Wow…this is just like Christmas!"

"I don’t know, Pam, Christmas was never like this at my house! I seem to remember a lot more wrapping paper and a lot less nakedness."

Giggling, Pam sat up and pulled on her new fleece jacket, and zipped it up.

"Cold?" Jim asked.

"Not really, but it’s so fuzzy inside I just wanted to see how it feels against my skin. Ummm."

"Well, it looks great, and it’s long enough to be almost decent."

Pam smiled mischievously. "The operative word is almost."

"Well, now I feel slightly underdressed. Wait...I think I have just the thing." He pulled over his suitcase and unzipped it. Rummaging inside he pulled out a pair of lime green boxer shorts patterned with bright orange kangaroos. He pulled them on and stood up. "Well what do you think?"

"Oh my, " said Pam. "Words fail me."

"I bought these at that flea market I told you about. They came three to a package and the other two are just as hideous. However, since I was totally out of clean underwear, they were a lifesaver. Here why don’t you put on a pair so I can actually concentrate on the rest of this stuff? " He tossed her a pair of bright blue boxers with purple emus.

Pam pulled them on, "Hey these would be great to sleep in, can I keep them?"

"What’s mine is yours, my love." Jim pulled a padded manila envelope out of the suitcase. " This is an aborigine painting I got for you. It’s on parchment." He slid out a brightly colored abstract design.

"Ooh," said Pam, appreciating the artistry, "do you know what it means?"

"Well, each tribe had its own style, of course, but basically, it’s a map. This is a campfire, and this is a river, and so it’s a message from one hunter to another, telling him that he can find kangaroos on the other side of the river. Either that or there’s a big party Friday night and don’t forget the onion dip."

"Oh yes, I see…those dots represent the onion dip. It’s all clear to me now. Thanks. I love it."

"I got a few boomerangs as art works, also." He took three out of the suitcase and unwrapped the newspaper around them. They were of beautifully polished wood and were painted with abstract animals. "One’s for Ted, for his office, one for my Dad, for his den. One’s for me." He took out a different unpainted boomerang with a right angle shape. "This one is a real returning boomerang, from the sheep farm, for Dan. He’ll get a kick out of it."

Jim dug some more in the suitcase, "Oh...this is for my sister." He opened a velvet pouch and took out a thin silver chain with pendent that was a flat greenish yellow stone framed in silver. "There is an explanation with this. It’s a stone called lemon chrysophase, which comes from land that now belongs to the aborigines. It’s a stone that supposedly has great powers for bringing peace of mind. She likes that kind of thing."

"It’s beautiful. What did you get for your Mom?"

"My Mom? Oh no…I knew I forgot somebody!" At Pam’s look of horror, he laughed, "Sucker! For my Mom I got something special." He reached into the suitcase and took out two tiny velvet pouches. "Okay. Pick one. If you don’t like it you can switch. Don’t tell Mom, but you get first choice."

Pam took one of the pouches and opened it. Inside was a small cardboard disk bearing a pair of small opal earrings, glowing in shades of green and blue.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Pam. "Opals!"

"They’re just triplets, which was all I could afford, but they are real."

"They are so beautiful."

"Wait a minute, you have to see the competition." He gave her the other pouch. The opals in that one varied in hue from red to blue, and every shade in between. "Now I have a small bet with myself as to which one you’ll pick."

"Oh...this is tough. They are both so gorgeous. I don’t know your mother well enough to know which ones she’d prefer."

"Honestly, I don’t think she’ll care. She wears a lot of blue, and both have blue in them."

"Well…I think I prefer the green. And I think your mom will have more that goes with the red." She put those ones, reluctantly, back in their pouch and gave them back to Jim, and took out the small gold hoops she was wearing, and put in the green opals. "I have to go look in the mirror." As she ran into the bathroom she called out, "Did you win your bet?"

"Of course."

Pam came back out, eyes shining, "I guess it wasn’t too hard to predict. Oh Jim...these are the most gorgeous things I’ve ever owned. I don’t care if they’re triplets or quintuplets or whatever. They are just beautiful. Thank you so much for everything. This was way too much." She threw her arms around Jim and kissed him.

"So says the girl who spent an entire weekend decorating my apartment!"

"Well, I guess we love each other. Are you ready for dessert? I have ice cream."

"Ice cream? Oh...have I got the perfect thing to go with ice cream!" he reached into his suitcase, "Tim Tams!"

***********************************************************************

"Jim...where are you going?" it was after 11:00 and Pam was more than ready to go to sleep. They had eaten ice cream with Tim Tams and then Jim had called his parents. His Dad’s tests were done and it looked like he had mild emphysema. With care, he wouldn’t need oxygen. Jim promised to spend the following weekend with them. He’d also called his sister and joked with her for a while, and talked to Ted and Davie. Pam had made him go to bed at 10:00 and they had made love again, rejoicing in each other after their time apart. But now an hour later he was getting out of bed.

"I thought I’d go do some wash. Nobody’s using the machines this time of night."

"Nope. Sorry, Jim. You have to try to go to sleep now. And I set the alarm for 8 AM tomorrow. Otherwise you will never get back on the right time clock and on Monday morning you will be very sorry."

"But I can’t sleep. I’m wide awake."

"Okay. I was afraid of this. So I bought some over the counter sleeping pills. Nothing that will hurt you. " She went to her overnight case and took out a box of Sominex. "I’ve never tried these, but they should work. Not to mention the fact that you’ve had practically no sleep in the last 24 hours." She brought him a cup of water from the bathroom and he took the pill. "Now lie down and I’ll rub your back."

Jim willingly obeyed. How could he resist a woman wearing one of his tee shirts and blue boxer shorts with purple emus on them? Pam straddled his butt, and began to rub his back, expertly digging into his shoulder muscles, sore from the uncomfortable plane ride. "Uuunh!" he groaned, "When did you learn to do this? No…don’t tell me."

"Jim, I’ve been thinking. I was so tempted to say yes to you tonight. To come here and live with you, marry you even. It would be so easy. Easy to quit my job at Dunder Mifflin, and come here. Easy to find another receptionist type job, and fix up this apartment. It would be fun, too. We get along so well together. But sweetheart…I can’t take the easy way out any more. That’s how I ended up almost marrying Roy, and giving up my dreams forever. So please, have a little patience with me, and some day we’ll have a home together. I promise."

"I will, Pam," Jim mumbled, "I’ll wait. As long as it takes. I love you."

"I love you too. Jim?" Pam whispered, but he was asleep.

Smiling, Pam rolled off of his back and curled up next to him. She knew it was going to be a battle to get him up in the morning, but right now, it was all good. She reached over and switched off the light, and whispered in Jim’s ear.

"Welcome home, darling."