The day before their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Jim decided to take Pam out to lunch. Their friends and family are throwing them a party for dinner and everything else.
“You have to make sure that you don’t eat too much or you won’t be hungry for dinner,” explained Jim and Pam’s oldest daughter, twenty-four year old Natalia.
“Ali, we’re not going to eat that much. Besides, we’re going out to lunch hours before the party. We’ll be fine, sweetheart,” Jim told her.
“She worries too much.” That came from Jim and Pam’s middle child, Ella. The twenty-one year old loved her older sister, but felt that Natalia was a teensy bit of a perfectionist.
“Aunt Penny, Aunt Angela, Aunt Larissa, and Uncle Dwight will be here to help you out. Don’t freak out about anything,” Pam assured Natalia.
“Mommy, I can’t find my party dress!” cried the youngest Halpert, six year old Victoria. The little girl was their “We thought we were done having kids” baby. Pam and Jim had just assumed that the forty-nine year old was going through menopause. To their shock, she was pregnant. It had been a hard pregnancy, but totally worth it. Victoria was completely healthy, even with being born five weeks early.
“Off to help the little one find her dress,” Pam murmured. She kissed Jim on the way out of the kitchen and headed towards their youngest daughter’s room.
Jim checked to make sure she was gone and turned to face his oldest two daughters. “Girls, your mother isn’t getting her present until the very end of the baby. Make sure that it’s hidden from her. Can you do that?”
“Of course we can do that,” Natalia told him. She was planning on the party going perfectly. Although that was tough to even think about, considering her uncle Michael was attending. Maybe Holly would keep him in check, though.
“Good. I’m counting on you tonight. Have fun and try not to play too many pranks on Uncle Dwight while we’re gone. Do something with Jell-O, though. That’s always fun.” Years later, Jim still loved to play pranks on Dwight, but they were few and far between now.
“Make sure that Miss Victoria doesn’t get into too much trouble,” Pam told Natalia and Ella when she returned. The six year old was a mini-Jim, so it was hard keeping her out of trouble.
“We will, Mom,” Natalia promised. She loved taking care of her little sister, even on the days when she was extremely hyper.
“She’s not too hard to watch. She’s only six.” Ella loved baby-sitting Victoria, too. They always had the weirdest, most hilarious conversations. Victoria also worshipped the ground Dwight walked on for some reason. No one could figure out why, but they let her play with her Uncle Dwight all the time.
“El, don’t ever say that. You’ll always end up regretting that statement. Six year olds are hard to keep up with,” Pam told her, laughing.
“When I was six, you also had to deal with a three year old,” pointed out Natalia. Since she and Ella had moved out, her parents only had to deal with one kid instead of three. Then again, they had to deal with two teenagers and a newborn after Victoria’s birth. She wondered which one was worse.
“I was never more glad for your grandparents, Ali,” Pam replied. She tried to seem serious for a moment, but broke out into a smile.
“Come on, Beesly. We should get going.” Jim smiled at his wife and grabbed Pam’s hand.
“Hey, it’s Halpert now. I’ve been Pamela Morgan Halpert for twenty five years, as of today.” She found herself getting sentimental and tried to hold back the tears.
“Don’t cry. You know I can’t handle that.” Jim had freaked out a little every time his wife was pregnant because of the mood swings.
“I can’t help it.” Pam looked up at him and laughed when Jim came in for a hug.
“I love you, Pam.” Jim would never get tired of saying that. She made him so happy.
“I love you too, Jim.” Pam kissed her husband, and it quickly turned into making out.
“Ew. Can you guys please get a room or leave or something?” questioned Ella. She had walked in on her parents enough times to never want to see them doing anything again, even as something simple as kissing.
“We’re leaving now,” Jim assured her when he and Pam finally pulled apart. He didn’t want to be late for his and Pam’s anniversary lunch.
Victoria came running into the kitchen, wearing her fancy party dress. “I’ll see you later, Mommy and Daddy. I love you!”
“Don’t run, Victoria Kirsten. I love you too, though,” Pam told her. She leaned down and hugged the little girl.
“I love you too, Vic.” Jim kneeled on the floor and gave her a kiss. He stood up slowly. At fifty-six, kneeling on the floor was now hard. So was keeping up with a six year old, but he was able to do it. On most days, anyway.
“See you when you get back! I can’t wait for the party. I want to see Uncle Dwight and Aunt Angela and Uncle Michael and Aunt Holly and Aunt Phyllis and Aunt Kelly and Uncle Ryan…,” the six year old rambled.
Victoria was still talking about the party when Jim and Pam finally made it out the door. Jim drove the two to one of their favorite restaurants.
“These past twenty-five years have been amazing,” Jim told Pam after both were done eating their lunch. They had opted not to get dessert.
Pam smiled at him again. “They have been. Twenty-five years ago today, I became your wife. And I was pregnant at the time. At least I can drink alcohol today.”
“You bring that up every year,” pointed out an amused Jim. Their first anniversary had been spent at home with a sick, crying seven month old. They had been up most of the night, and hadn’t really celebrated. Pam hadn’t been able to drink anyway, since she was breastfeeding.
“Very true. Our second anniversary, I was able to drink, though.” Natalia had been eighteen months old, then. She and Jim had decided to spend their anniversary alone, so Jim’s parents baby-sat that night.
“Our third anniversary, I was in the hospital after the car accident,” Jim remembered. He had been hit head on a day earlier, and was stuck in the hospital with a broken arm, a concussion, and numerous other injuries.
“I don’t like to think about that year.” Pam hated being reminded of Jim’s car accident. She had sent her husband to the store while trying to deal with a two year old. It brought up bad memories.
“And for our fourth anniversary, we had a three week old and a three year old. Couldn’t really do anything. I had fun, though.” Pam didn’t mind the kids being there for her and Jim’s anniversary. They were a part of their lives, after all.
“I love remembering our anniversaries,” Jim told her. Reminiscing like this was pretty fun.
“Definitely. And how could we forgot our eighteenth anniversary? I was nine months pregnant and driving everyone crazy.” Pam had been pregnant with Victoria at the time, and three days overdue. She had given birth two weeks later. Victoria couldn’t wait for her seventh birthday in a few weeks.
After the Halperts finished talking and paid their bill, they returned home. Larissa, Penny, Natalia, Ella, and Angela were getting ready for the party. Dwight was keeping Victoria occupied.
About three hours later, the anniversary party started. Dwight and Angela’s two kids showed up first, followed by Michael, Holly, and their kids.
Soon enough, all of the Halperts’ co-workers and family showed up. The party was now in full swing.
After dinner, Jim stood up to make a speech. “Twenty-five years ago I married the woman I loved. We’ve had three beautiful daughters since then. I wouldn’t trade our life for anything. I’m thrilled to have spent this long with you. You’re still the woman I knew I was going to marry all those years ago.”
Pam smiled at him tearfully. “Way to make me cry again, Jim.” She stood up and kissed him yet again.
“At least I didn’t tell everyone in the room that you were pregnant this time,” Jim joked. He still couldn’t believe how badly he had screwed up the rehearsal dinner speech.
“I can’t wait to spend another twenty-five years with you, Jim Halpert,” Pam murmured. She sat back down and started eating a piece of cake.
“Me neither, Pam.” Jim motioned towards his daughters, and they rushed to get the present. Natalia handed the gift to her mother.
Pam opened her gift up and nearly burst into tears again when she saw it was a photo album. “Thank you so much,” she whispered.
“This documents all the years we’ve known each other. The documentary crew helped a little bit, but I did most of this on my own, “ Jim informed her. The documentary crew had come to Dunder Mifflin a few months ago to film a follow up documentary on the people at Dunder Mifflin Scranton.
“I love it.” Pam loved that he had gone through this much effort to show their time together. Her gift was amazing.
The Halperts twenty-five year marriage was strong, and it could only become stronger. Nothing was going to get in their way.
The Halperts couldn’t wait to see what the next twenty-five years of marriage brought them since the first twenty-five had gone really well.
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter End Notes:
Author's Note: This was written for my friend, deelybopper at LiveJournal, who wanted some Jim/Pam!
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