“Ok so I think everything is set for tomorrow. JJ and Elizabeth are going to be brought to the funeral home with their grandmother and then they are going to stay with her at the hotel. Oh and everyone from the office is going to be there tomorrow as well.” Pam said as she was pulling on her coat.

“Thank you so much Pam. I never could have made it through this week without you around.” Jim pulled her into a hug and Pam wrapped her arms around his waist.

“It was no problem.” she pulled back a little, “and tomorrow I will be there with you the whole time.” She leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Goodnight Jim.”

“Good night Pam.”

The next day was hard, on everyone. For mid July the weather was dismal, but the rain suited the mood of the day. Pam met Jim and Larissa at the funeral home in the morning. After breaking their hug Jim took Pam’s hand, he was going to use her strength to get him through the day. From that moment he didn’t let go until he and Larissa stood to make their eulogies. They said the most beautiful things about Jon and Lily. Pam’s heart broke when she heard the crack in Jim’s voice when he recounted the story of Jon teaching him how to play basketball for the first time and the tears started to fall when she saw Larissa break down and Jim just wrap her arm around her. When they returned to their seats Jim slid his hand back into Pam’s. When the service was over Jim’s co-workers came and offered the condolences. When Michael stepped forward Jim squeezed Pam’s hand tighter, but Michael just reached out his hand and patted Jim’s shoulder and then left. Jim breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at Pam who just gave a little shrug. Jim looked around the empty chapel, everyone was heading over to the hotel for food and coffee, and then his eyes settled on two little bodies standing next to the caskets.

“Hey those are my niece and nephew. Do you mind?”

“No go ahead and be with them. I am going to head over to the hotel. I’ll see you there.”

Jim walked over to the two children. He squatted down and placed his hands on their shoulders. They turned and looked at them with tears in their eyes and Jim felt his heart shatter in his chest. That image was a worse blow that hearing the news about Jon. He pulled them into a hug and placed kisses on both of their heads.

“JJ, Lizzie. Do you guys want to come with Uncle Jim? We’re going to get some food.”

Lizzie nodded her head and JJ asked, “Do we have to talk to people?”

“No you can just get you food and then we can go to my house.”

“Uncle Jim, can we stay with you?”

“We’ll see JJ.”

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

It had been a week since the funeral and Larissa, JJ and Lizzie were all staying at Jim’s house. With them around he hadn’t been missing Pam. She had left for Chicago two days after the funeral, but just as she promised she had called Jim everyday just to see how he was coping. Jim loved talking to her about how JJ and Lizzie were adapting and how they were slowly coming to accept that Jon and Lily weren’t coming home, but he really loved talking to Pam about how the design course was, she sounded so happy and bubbly when she talked about what she was doing. Today his conversation with Pam was cut short because Jon and Lily’s lawyer had shown up to discuss the will.

“Ok Mr and Miss Halpert,” the lawyer addressed Jim and Larissa. “Jon and Lily’s most recent will is from 2000 just after Lizzie was born. It states that each child will receive Jon and Lily’s savings and it will divided between them and put into trusts that the two of you will co-sign for so that you can put money in and as the two of them get older and want to take out money you can do that for them. They will come into these trusts when they are 18. As well both of you are going to be getting some money from them and the belongings in their house are passed to you to sell or to keep. Now the most important business, Elizabeth and Jayson Halpert. This is the third change to their will about who the children were going to live with. They stated that they want James William Halpert to be legal guardian and in this letter they expressed their desires.”

Jim was floored, honoured and scared-shitless. How was he going to raise to kids when he was still such a kid? He couldn’t think straight, he didn’t know what to say. He looked over to his couch where JJ and Lizzie were sitting and he signed the legal document taking guardianship of the kids, he couldn’t let them go anywhere else.

He thanked the lawyer and showed him out. Larissa also at this time had to head back to New York. She said that she would come down to help with Jon’s house and to visit with the kids. She hugged her brother and said that everything will be ok and he will be ok. After she left Jim walked over to the couch and knelt down to talk to the kids.

“Hey guys so I just got some news. Before your mom and dad left they made some arrangements for you. They decided that if something like this happened that you two would come to live with me, how does that sound?” The two kids looked a little stunned and confused. “I know this is hard for you to understand, but it will kind of be like the weekend sleepovers, just all the time now.”

The two nodded like they understood and like it would be ok, but Jim knew that he was going to have to explain everything one day.

After he tucked JJ and Lizzie into bed Jim flopped onto his bed and then he took the letter Jon and Lily wrote and read it:

Jim,

I know that this is a lot to ask of you and hopefully I won’t ever have to. I know taking JJ and Lizzie will be a big responsibility for you, but Lily and I both agree that you will make an excellent parent for the two of them. Taking them is going to change your life, but if I know anything about you, you are always quick to adapt. I know that you will be able to teach them a lot and I am certain that you will learn from them.

Writing this letter is one of the hardest things I think that I have ever had to write, well maybe not as hard as my senior thesis paper. I hope that you never read this letter, but if you do there are some things I guess I should tell you.

After losing Mom and Dad we became that much closer, not that we weren’t close before, but their loss showed me how important having your family around you is. I also remember that after they were gone you changed. You seemed to have a better grasp about how precious and fleeting life is. I think that is why you always want to have fun and are the joker. You are also caring, responsible and your capacity to love is over whelming. That is why we want you to raise JJ and Lizzie.

Lily and I know that you will teach them the humor in life. You will show them how to look at the world with a fresh eye. You will make sure that treat each and every person with respect and that people are deserving of kindness. You will teach Lizzie how to brave and how to stand her ground. Hopefully you will have someone, a woman, to teach her how to flirt, talk to boys (at age 35) and become the woman that Lily and I know she is. You will teach JJ how to treat women, how to look out for his younger sister, you better teach him all my basketball skills (since you know I was always better than you) and you teach him how to become a man. There is only one thing that you won’t teach them and that is how to love. That is the one thing you will show to them everyday for the rest of their lives.

Please love them and take care of them. I will love you always no matter where I am.

Love, Jon.

Jim fell asleep with the words of his brother in his head and his heart full of love and fear for the upcoming changes in his life.