Lazily Jim opened one eye and stared at the television. The bright blue screen stared back at him; apparently the movie had ended while they’d been asleep. Lying comfortably against the pillows propped between him and the headboard, Jim tried to move his left arm, but found it had sprouted two new growths during his slumber – growths by the name of Pam and Olivia. Pam shifts slightly in her sleep, one arm thrown around Olivia, hugging the toddler as closely as she could despite the baby bump that was growing steadily with each passing week. Liv was tucked snuggly between her parents and fast asleep, though both Jim and Pam were stirring. Finally Jim managed to extract his arm from beneath his girls and he swung his legs over the side of the bed onto the hardwood floor. Shuffling to the television, Jim hit the power button, eliciting a murmur from Pam who was yawning, still half asleep.
“What time is it?” she whispered, looking down at Olivia as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The only light in the room now came from the hall and Pam could barely make out her daughter’s sleeping form at first.
“Almost 11:30. Want me to carry Liv to her room?” Jim moved back toward the bed slowly, maneuvering around the toys all over the floor and barely avoiding the sleeping labradoodle puppy sprawled out on the rug at the foot of the bed. He slipped under the covers without disturbing Olivia, readjusting the pillows.
“Nah, might as well just let her sleep here, it’s the weekend.” Pam’s face melted into a disappointed frown when she realized the television was off. “I can’t believe I missed the end again.” ‘Monster’s Inc.’ was by far one of Pam’s favorite movies and that love had been passed on to Olivia. Yet it never failed that Pam cried every time Sully had to say good-bye to Boo, even though she knew it wasn’t truly good-bye for good.
Jim chuckled in the darkness, stretching his arm out to the side and playing with a strand of Pam’s curly hair fanned out on her pillow. “You’ve seen it a hundred times and I bet tomorrow you’ll see it for the hundred and first. Sully and Boo will still be there for you.”
Pam opened her mouth to defend her waterworks performance that occurred every time Boo’s door was shredded, but a sudden flurry of movement from within her womb caught her attention. She moved away from Olivia and rolled onto her back, grabbing Jim’s hand excitedly and pulled her shirt up partially to expose her belly button. She placed his large hand there, covering it with her own.
“Jim! Jim, he’s kicking! Feel it!” Pam pressed his palm against her skin. Though the experience was not new, as they’d reacted the same way the first time they’d felt Olivia doing somersaults, it was still exciting.
Jim couldn’t respond at first. Feeling his son move for the first time was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Jim stared down at Pam’s stomach, at how her fingers were entwined with his as they lay there. Olivia snored softly between them, her soft curls falling over her cheeks, oblivious to the events going on around her.
“Pam, I…” Jim trailed off. He couldn’t get over it. His son, their son, continued his gymnastics show for another few minutes until settling down. Pam couldn’t help but giggle over the feeling, and the noise roused Liv from her sleep.
Sleepily the toddler rubbed her eyes and yawned. She blinked once, twice, then glanced back and forth from her mother to father. Still in that place between asleep and awake, Olivia snuggled up to Pam once again, her head resting against her stomach. Liv flung one thin arm across Pam’s waist and was quiet for all of two seconds before she bolted straight up in bed.
“Hey!” she shouted, glaring down at Pam’s baby belly, though her expression was lost on Jim and Pam in the dim light.
Pam stifled a laugh as Jim raised an eyebrow in concern, sitting up quickly. Olivia’s bottom lip jutted out into a pout with her hands on her hips.
“Momma! He kicked me!” The indignation in Olivia’s voice was evident and Jim covered his mouth to hide his smile. “He kicked me right in my head!” Liv pointed to her temple, just in case they weren’t sure where exactly it had happened.
“He didn’t kick you on purpose, Livy, he just…” Pam searched for the best way to turn this into something positive, seeing as how Olivia was already having some serious issues adjusting to the impending arrival of her baby brother. She’d first had a fit when the crib had been painted from beautiful pinks to dramatic blues and greens – despite the fact she hadn’t slept in it for a very long time. Her nursery was slowly but surely becoming her brother’s nursery as Liv had been moved into the former guest bedroom. Though Olivia had been so excited for her big-girl room and her big-girl bed, when she realized how different her own life was going to be she started acting out a little more than ‘occasionally’.
“…he just wanted to tell you he can’t wait to meet you,” Jim chimed in when Pam drew a blank.
“He hurted me!” Liv declared, though it was pretty obvious she was exaggerating.
“Oh Liv, don’t be silly, he didn’t hurt you. If he’s not hurting me, he’s couldn’t have hurt you. He’s inside my tummy, remember?” Pam patted the bump softly again. In the dim light she saw Jim shift and lay back down once again, this time on his side facing his girls.
“Liv, lay here by me, he won’t be able to reach you then.” Jim pulled Olivia to him and she seemed content with that, being out of reach for the time being. Even so, her three-year-old mind was racing now at the thought of all the things he would get into once he was here. In turn, Olivia thought of numerous baby-related questions for her parents. After a few minutes of lying in the near-darkness, she spoke.
“Momma, how did he get ‘dere?”
This time, Jim couldn’t even contain the laughter, though Olivia took her question very seriously and she didn’t waste a moment telling him so.
“Well…” Pam paused. Explaining that in an age-appropriate way was something she hadn’t yet thought about. She waited, knowing Jim was anticipating the answer just as highly as Liv, though for different reasons.
Reaching out across the pillow, Pam slipped her hand into Jim’s and gave him a squeeze. “Olivia…sometimes when a Mommy and a Daddy love each other very much, they close their eyes, and make a wish. If their wish comes true, then a baby starts growing in Mommy’s tummy.”
Olivia was quiet again, contemplating the response. She reached out and poked at her mother’s stomach, waiting to see if the baby would kick her again.
“So you wished for him?” The tone of Olivia’s voice made her opinion clear: maybe they should have wished for a baby that didn’t kick so much.
“Yep Liv, just like we wished for you…” Jim tightened his hold on his young daughter and pressed a kiss into her curly hair. It was quiet again and finally Olivia’s breathing became slow and steady; she’d fallen back into sleep just as quickly as she’d been awakened from it. It was then he noticed that Pam had slowly drifted off as well, as her breathing matched their daughter’s. Jim smiled to himself. “Just like we wished for you...”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Another glimpse at life for Jim and Pam somewhere in the future. I still don't own anything.
Chapter End Notes:
Does everyone know how awesome BigTuna is? Because if not, let me remind you: BigTuna = AWESOME. She puts up with the novel-esque emails that I tend to send, and still betas for me anyway :)
Reviews would be lovely so I know if this is something I should keep going with or not, what I can improve, what other situations you would like to see them in, etc. :)
Reviews would be lovely so I know if this is something I should keep going with or not, what I can improve, what other situations you would like to see them in, etc. :)
