Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, or their family members.
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Betsy Halpert settled down in the kitchen with a cup of tea, relishing the knowledge that above her head all her family was soundly sleeping. Taking a sip, her mind drifted back to when all of the children had been under the age of ten. Life had been chaotic, and she had often prayed for just a minute of peace and quiet. Now the children were gone, and Betsy found herself counting the days until her whole family would converge on their childhood home. For three days every fall, the clock turned back about about twenty years, as the house was full of teasing and laughing. A good bit more crowded as well, due to the addition of 5 grandchildren and four spouses. No, make that three, she corrected herself. Even though Jim and Pam had only been dating about 6 months, Betsy found herself mentally putting Pam as a permanent member of the family, without a second thought.
Shaking herself from her silent reverie, Betsy glanced out the window at the sunrise before getting up to finish the cocoa. Unlike their parents, her grandchildren were all early risers and cocoa with marshmallows helped keep them quiet for a bit longer. Carefully stirring the mix into the water, Larissa turned down the temperature on the stove, then started up the stairs to check on her sleeping family.
Stopping a few steps from the top, she watched as Pete’s oldest, Ben, tiptoed down the hall. Drawing back into the shadows, Betsy waited as he stopped in front of Jim’s room, then stood there hesitating. Finally he seemed to reach a conclusion and opened the door. Betsy quickly walked up behind him. “Benjamin Andrew Halpert” she whispered sternly as she pulled him away from the door. “Get in that kitchen before you wake someone up.” Ben glanced up, his shocked expression changing to relief as he realized who was behind him. The stern look on her face convinced him to hurry the rest of the way downstairs however.
Betsy leaned in to shut the door and a smile crossed her face. Since Jim’s room still had only his childhood twin bed, (which was barely big enough for Jim when he left for collage) she had put a blow up mattress and sheets in his room. The blow up bed was still sitting at the far side of the bedroom, untouched. A quick glance around, revealed a snoring Jim who was somehow both squashed against the wall, yet taking up most of the bed space, leaving a sleeping Pam both snuggled up against him and on the edge of the mattress. Betsy decided there was no danger of her falling though, as Jim had both arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
With a grin Betsy turned and went out of the room to find her errant grandson. Walking into the kitchen she poured two mugs of cocoa and sat at the table across from Benjamin. “So what were you doing outside that bedroom door?” she asked. Ben looked up at her, “I was trying to decide what to do with this” he explained. Slowly he pulled a whoopee cushion from behind his back. “Benjamin Halpert” Betsy exclaimed for the second time this morning. “What decision involved a whoopee cushion?” Ben took a swallow of cocoa, then tilted his head and started talking. “Well Daddy wanted me to sneak this in Uncle Jim’s room, but Mama said if I helped Daddy pull any jokes on Aunt Pam, I wouldn’t even see anything with sugar for a month.” Betsy’s mouth twitched, but lifting an eyebrow she commented “Well that seems pretty clear, what‘s your problem?” The dark haired boy looked her straight in the eye “cause I also talked to Uncle Jim last night and I thought maybe it wasn’t fair to do a job for him and not Daddy.”
A growing sense of dread started to fill Betsy’s mind, “Benjamin what was this job for Uncle J…” As she spoke, the answer came in the form of loud popping noises, followed by an even louder “What the….” Trying to keep her face calm, Betsy glanced at Ben. “Did that job for Uncle Jim, involve your dad and bubble wrap?” she asked. Ben nodded with a huge smile on his face,“Yep, but I was only supposed to do it if Dad was going to do anything to Aunt Pam” he replied. As the noise continued for a few more moments, Betsy looked at her grandson, “How much bubble wrap was there and where did you put it?” Trying to hide a grin and failing, Ben told her “A whole lot, all around his bed.”
Ignoring Pete’s somewhat quieted threats of revenge, now intermixed with Emily’s sleepy questions, Betsy took one look at the newest Halpert prankster, before they both burst into laughter. “Oh yes” Betsy thought as she chuckled, The quiet could be nice, but she was glad to have them home.
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Chapter End Notes:
I started this as a one shot, my sister wants more chapters. Let me know if you’d like to see more of the Halperts, and what kind of things you think happen when their all under one roof :)
Casinos and Coal Walks is the author of 8 other stories.
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