He knew once the storm had ended exactly where to find her. Spying her through the window in their bedroom, he saw her wandering through the backyard. Barefoot and in a spring green dress, a smile graced her lips. One hand lay lightly on her stomach, the other clutching her sketchbook.
He thought back to a few years ago, one summer night a few Junes ago as they lay in her tiny apartment, air conditioner blasting trying to lull out the sound of the rolling thunder.
“I hate storms like these,” she said to him late that night as the rain pelted against the windows, tucking herself tighter in his embrace. “But I really shouldn’t complain because what happens afterwards, I really love. The fresh scent of rain in the air, everything just dusted with this light sheen of water. I go out there, squish my toes in the grass and sketch.”
He didn’t go far, just one door down the hallway to the room they (well he, with her loving guidance) finished repainting earlier the day before. Leaning on the door jamb, he looked at the warm honey yellow walls and the bright white trim. Pam knew no matter if it was a boy or a girl, she wanted something cozy and warm for the nursery. The colors were perfect. Jim’s mind started to wander to what would be happening in this room in the near future. Before getting further lost in his thoughts of Pam lulling a tiny bundle to sleep in a white washed glider, he started to make his way downstairs to his wife.
Jim shut the back door quietly as not to draw any attention to himself. Pam now was stretched out on their red plaid picnic blanket, her right hand softly smudging a line on her pad. Her left was slowly drawing a pattern back and forth on her stomach. Ever since she started to show, she seemed to always have a hand on her stomach, like she was protecting their child from the world already. Their child, anytime he thought or said it out loud, it still didn’t feel real. After everything they had been through, she was his finally and they were having a baby.
He looked at her again, this time noticing how the light was catching the auburn highlights in her hair and the sparkle of her engagement ring and wedding band.
“You can join me over here you know, plenty of room,” she called out to him, not pulling her attention away from her sketch. “Don’t think you were being all sly and sneaky there Halpert.”
Jim couldn’t help but laugh. He slipped off his socks and sneakers to make his way across the lawn to join his wife. Settling down on the blanket next to her, he pressed a kiss to her temple. “How are we feeling this afternoon? Is ladybug still dancing all over your stomach?” Jim placed his hand on her stomach, rubbing back and forth softly.
Pam finished the line she was working on and placed her book and pencil down next to her on the blanket. Covering his hand with her own, she sighed. “I think the ginger tea helped before. Less flipping around for sure. Ladybug? What if it’s not a girl Jim? I think you’d be giving our son a little bit of a complex don’t you think?” Pam giggled, leaning up against him, fitting her head perfectly in the crook of his neck.
Jim wrapped his right arm around her and just shook his head. He hadn’t told Pam this yet, but he just had this feeling that they were having a girl. His gut had been pretty spot on when it came to anything having to do with the woman by his side. “You’ve trusted me so far, trust me on this one. It’s a girl. Little ladybug here is going to have me wrapped around her finger from day one. Especially if she’s as adorable as her mom.”
Pam’s cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink. “Always being the charmer aren’t you? Can I have a say in our little creation or is this all your doing? I’d like to put in a request that either way, they have your eyes, just like the grass after a spring rain.” She looked up at him then, her eyes misting over slightly.
She always knew what to say to knock the breath right out of him. Jim couldn’t say anything, so instead he moved his hand off her stomach to cup her cheek. Bringing her face closer towards him, he felt Pam’s breath, warm and moist against his lips. “I love you so much,” he whispered before bringing his lips to hers.
Here in their backyard, Pam pregnant, lying in his arms after the rain, that’s all he needed. There was nowhere else in the world that Jim Halpert would rather be.
