“Oof! I’m stuffed!” Pam tossed her clutch purse on the bedside table as she and Jim walked into their hotel suite.

“Same here,” Jim agreed. “That was a good meal. After the day of exploring we had it was nice to get off our feet for a while.”

Pam turned to face her husband with a grin on her face. “Right! I'm really glad we were able to get back here and do all the things we couldn’t get to the first time.”

“I don’t seem to recall you having to many complaints about missing anything when we were here last,” Jim smirked as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Well we did spend an inordinate amount of time in our hotel room ten years ago,” Pam said with a saucy smirk of her own.

“Objection!” Jim’s voice raised slightly. “If memory serves the time spent in that hotel room was entirely ordinate.”

Pam giggled at one of their long-standing private jokes. “Objection sustained,” she grinned at him before rising slightly on her toes to kiss him.

“I love you, you know that?” he said softly.

“You’ve mentioned once or twice over the years,” she teased back before sinking further into his embrace. “I love you too, you know.”

“Oh good! Here I was thinking you were only in this for my paycheck.”

Pam looked back up at him. “Well the paycheck is only part of it.”

“Yeah?” Jim’s eyebrows raised. “What’s the other part.”

“The beard my darling,” Pam deadpanned while running a hand over Jim’s hair covered cheek.

Jim burst out laughing for a moment. He then proceeded to nuzzle Pam’s neck while holding her close to prevent her escaping. Pam let out a squawk of laughter as she tried to pull away from him.

“Let go of me, you great big hedgehog-faced beast!”

She only succeeded in turning in a circle so her back was to Jim’s chest. She tried leaning forward to break from his grip. She wasn’t able to break free and found herself straining forward. Jim took that opportunity to let go which caused Pam to overbalance and fall towards the king size bed in the middle of the room.

“Ahh!” Pam wind milled her arms but couldn’t stop from faceplanting the mattress. She rolled over and grabbed a pillow. Her face wore a predatory smirk as she got back to her feet. “You are in so much trouble buddy.”

“What?” Jim grinned at her as he started backing away around the foot of the bed. “You told me to let go.”

Pam stalked towards him swinging the pillow in front of her in a figure eight motion. What followed was what they would later describe as a pillow fight for the ages. They’d both ended up with a pillow in each hand; one to use a shield, the other as a, “sword.” They ranged across the suite laughing at each other while trying to batter past the other’s defenses. Pam landed a particularly well stuck blow to Jim’s face at one point which caused him to stagger a touch. She took the opportunity to duck in to the bathroom.

She knew it was a risk, hiding behind the shower curtain, but she thought it would be worth it. Grinning to herself she waited for Jim to come find her. However, after a few minutes, he hadn’t come into the bathroom. Pam peaked out from behind the curtain and didn’t see him in the spacious bathroom of their suite. Cautiously, and holding her shield pillow before her, she stepped out of the bathroom. He wasn’t in sight when she peeked around the corner.

“Jim?” She called out softly, before changing to a sing-song voice. “Jiiim? Come out, come out wherever you are!”

Just as she walked past the closet into the main room, Jim leapt out from the closet to wrap his arms around her and lift her off her feet. His roar of surprise combined with her yelp of shock that quickly turned to laughter. Jim quickly crossed back to the bed and fell on it carrying her with him. Her laughter only ended when he claimed her lips with his. The duel ended with their hair mussed, clothes wrinkled, and arms around each other.

“I love being like this with you,” Jim said as he brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“Me too,” she smiled back. The buzz of her phone had her perking her head up. She rolled over and dug the phone from her clutch.

“Anything important?” Jim asked as he started trailing kisses across her shoulder and neck.

“Just Darryl checking in,” Pam said after she read the text. “The kids are fine.”

“Oh good,” said Jim as he started running his fingertips up her arm. “We’ll have to thank him for keeping an eye on them for us.”

“Maybe later,” Pam told him as she rolled back to face her husband and started tugging at his tie. “Right now, I just want to spend time with you.”

She was able to slid his tie off and was deepening the kiss when he pulled back. “Hold that thought.” He glanced down at his watch. “It’s almost time.”

“Time for what?”

Jim stood up and held a hand out to her. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

He helped Pam to her feet and led her to the large windows of their room. He stood behind her as they gazed out over Niagara Falls. They had a panoramic view of both the Horseshoe and American Falls from their room on the ninth floor of the hotel. Outside the sky was getting dark since the sun had just set. Looking down they could see a small crowd starting to form on the railings above the falls.

“Any minute now,” Jim whispered.

Pam tilted her head back with a questioning look. Jim wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were on the waterfall. Outside the torrent of water continued to spill over the precipice. Millions of gallons plunged into Niagara Gorge in a column of white water causing the familiar plume of mist to reach skywards. Suddenly the curtain of water was transformed from its normal white, to a bright blue as large LED spotlights lit up the falls.

“Oohh!” Pam’s awed voiced filled the hotel room. “That’s so pretty!”

Jim kissed her hair. “It is.”

The lights started to change through a rainbow of colors. At times the entire curtain of water would be one color. The lights would then shift so individual sections were lit up with different hues. Pam quickly darted back for her phone and started taking pictures. After snapping a few, Pam started going through the pics she’d just taken. A frown appeared on her face and she deleted some before raising the phone back up to take more pictures.

Jim knew exactly what she was doing. “You can edit the reference pictures for your next painting later honey,” he whispered into her ear. His hands started sliding over her hips and across her stomach as he leaned closer over her shoulder.

Pam tilted her head to the side to allow Jim better access to kiss her neck and shoulder and set her phone down on the windowsill. Her arms came up behind her to tangle in his hair as he continued his ministrations. She couldn’t, nor wanted to stop the groan of pleasure that escaped her. By now Jim had slid the strap of the dress off her right shoulder to have unrestricted access from neck to her upper arm. Goosebumps prickled her skin under his featherweight kisses and fingertips.

“I have something for you,” Jim’s voice was low and husky.

“Mmmm, yes please,” Pam murmured as she took a hand out of his hair to brush up the inseam of his pants.

She could feel his grin on her shoulder. “That comes later. Wait here.”

Jim left her at the window and walked back towards the closet. While he was gone, Pam wrapped her arms around her and continued to watch as the lights continued to play across the falls. His fingers brushing her hair away from her ear signaled his return.

“Hold out your hands and close your eyes,” he said as he resumed his position standing behind her.

Pam did as she was instructed. She didn’t have to wait long. The feel of cool ceramic in her hands made a smile bloom on her face.

“Open your eyes.”

She looked down and just as she suspected, her teal teapot was nestled in her palms. She tilted her head back to look at her husband. “Let me guess, this is an amazing gift because it has bonus gifts?”

Jim just smiled warmly at her before tapping the lid and giving the rejoinder. “Look inside.”

Feeling just as giddy as the first time she’d opened the teapot, Pam set it down on the windowsill and took off the lid. True to form it was filled with little trinkets. She felt her heart glow as she started to remove them from the teapot. Like last time, the first thing she saw was a picture.

“I’m still the best looking one in this shot,” she said as she held up the miniature family photo.

“I’ve never said otherwise,” Jim agreed.

“Hmmm, and you thought Dwight was going to do something to you or the kids. Tsk, tsk. Scared for nothing.”

Jim nodded his head from side to side. “You can’t blame me, I really thought I’d gone too far what with the whole Velcro suit and de-suiting in the parking lot.”

Pam smirked back at him as she set the photo down to explore more treasures. A necklace made of yarn and threaded with uncooked red and green noodles was next out of the pot. The pendant was a small plastic couple holding hands with marker scribbled inside the black outline of the figures.

“Awww,” Pam cooed. “The Christmas Shrinky-dink necklace of us Phil made me back when he was in pre-school.”

“You should have seen the way both of your faces lit up when you started going on about what you called Phil’s first piece of artwork.” Jim’s voice remained tender but was had a note of pride in it. “It made his day.”

“I remember,” said Pam fondly as she set the necklace down next to the photo. She snorted with laughter at the next item out of the teapot. “Really Jim? The soccer blob?”

“That,” Jim said as he took a small and well-used gel filled stress ball designed to look like a soccer ball from her hand. “Is what Cece wanted to put in the teapot. So, I can’t be held responsible for its inclusion.”

“Right,” Pam said skeptically before grinning again. “Cece was so upset when she heard the other soccer moms talking about how five-year old's always blob around the ball when they start playing soccer.”

“I think it was a great idea of yours to pick this up after that first game. It made Cece a lot happier.”

“That and the ice cream we got too,” Pam remarked smugly as she looked for the next trinket. Her smug smile disappeared from her face when she looked in the teapot. There was only one thing left and the sight of it caused a large lump to form in her throat. Her hand came up to her mouth and she could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. At the bottom of the teapot she once again read words she’d written years before.

Jim,
Don’t forget us when you’re famous!
Pam

Reverently, she picked up the note. The gold yogurt top was still paperclipped to the message. One of Jim’s hands travelled from her shoulder and down her side before he again wrapped his arm around her waist. Pam stood speechless as a host of emotions washed over her. She could feel his other arm shifting behind her. His voice returned to a low register when he spoke again.

“There’s only one thing different about the teapot. This time I’m not going to chicken out about giving you the card.”

His other hand came around. In it was a white envelope with her name of the front. Pam took her hand away from her mouth to take the envelope. Flipping it over she saw Jim had used wax to seal the note closed. The wax had the imprint of a honeybee in it. Sliding a fingernail under the seal so as not to break it, she opened the envelope and pulled out the card. In the center of the card was a picture of her torn veil with his cut tie laying on top of it. Pam sniffed as she opened the card. He’d written on both sides of the card.

Pam,
                Where do I even start? In all the time I’ve known you it’s
                always been easy to talk to you. That’s one of the many
                reasons why I fell in love with you. Writing it out though,
                that’s a different thing altogether. What do I say that I
                haven’t said a thousand times before?

I know you don’t watch the old doc all that much. You know
                I don’t either, but when I started thinking of these new bonus
                gifts, I went back and watched a few of our highlights. The last
                talking heads we did for the bonus material stood out to me.
                I said something about how everything I had was thanks to that job.
                Your quote, was more beautiful than anything I ever said.

“There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind
                of the point?”

That is your true gift. That you can so easily see the beauty
                and wonder in everyday things. That you will see the best in
                even the craziest of people. It’s made you a wonderful mother
                and a talented artist. It’s what drew me to you when we first
                met. Your calm smile despite the lunacy that was the old office,
                like you were deciding even then just how to frame it just right
                for a painting.

At one time I almost forgot about all that. But sitting in a chair
                in New York you reminded me of everything I’d ever want. All
                with a message slip and a yogurt top. David asked me where I saw
                myself in ten years. The only place where I could see myself happy,
                was with you. We’re together because of your courage that night
                on the beach and by putting that note in my paperwork. I can never
                thank you enough for that. For showing me, we did still have a
                chance together.

There have been rough patches since then of course. Even still, I
                wouldn’t trade a second of it for anything. You’re my confidant,
                my partner-in-crime, my lover, and still my best friend. Thank
                you so much for also being my wife.

Through anything life may throw at us, for now and forever,

I love you,
                Jim.

Pam couldn’t stop the flood of tears running down her cheeks as she read his words. Looking down, she saw that Jim had reached over and was holding a box of tissues for her. Taking a few, she wiped off her face before turning around to face him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she just held him. After a few moments she leaned her head back but only far enough so she could kiss her husband.

“Thank you,” was all Pam could say when they finally broke apart.

“You’re welcome,” Jim said gently before leaning down to kiss her again.

When they broke apart again, Pam turned them so they only needed to turn their heads to gaze out the window at the rainbow of colors lighting up the falls. She started stroking his back with the hand that wasn’t holding the pink note or the card he’d written her.

“Hey Jim?” she asked without looking away from the waterfall.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“I’m glad you didn’t chicken out about the card this time around.”

He gave her a loving squeeze. “Same here. Want to hear a story about that original card?”

“Sure.”

“I almost threw it over Bridal Veil Falls.”

Pam drew back in surprise. “You never told me that! When was this?”

“About a week after I left Scranton for Stamford. I was still planning on going to Australia. The day before my flight was supposed to leave, I drove up here and walked to the edge. I was going to throw the card over as a way to say finally good-bye to you. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“Oh Jim,” Pam buried her face in his chest.

“Hey it was a long time ago and yeah it sucked at the time, but it’s in the past,” he assured her. “We’ve both come a long way since then.”

“Yeah we have.” Pam took a deep breath before a new thought crossed her mind. “Wait a minute!” She looked back up at him. “You said you were up here the day before you were supposed to leave for Australia?”

“Yeah, why?” he had a confused look to his eye.

Pam’s eyes furrowed. “If I remember right, you were going to fly out on June 8th which would have put you here in Niagara Falls on Wednesday the 7th, right?”

“Seems right,” Jim nodded.

“I was up here that day too!” Pam’s eyes grew wide.

“What?” It was Jim’s turn for be shocked. “When?”

They both went on to explain their reasons for driving up to Niagara Falls that day.

“How did we never know that about each other?” Jim asked after the stories were told.

“With all the other baggage we carried around, I guess it just never came up,” Pam answered.

“Chalk up another missed moment in the great Jim and Pam saga. What are we up to now? Twenty? Thirty?” he chuckled.

Pam shrugged her shoulders. “I gave up counting a long time ago. Right now, the only thing that matters is that we’re together.”

“That, is something I completely agree with,” Jim said with a smile and leaned down for another kiss.

“Oh!” Pam blurt out after he leaned back. “I almost forgot. I have something for you too. Stay here.”

She set the note and her card down next to the teapot and walked to where she’d put her suitcase near the bed. Digging to the bottom she came back with a small white box wrapped with a silver ribbon and her own envelope.

“It’s not nearly as mushy as your card, but I think you’ll like it,” she told him after she handed him both items.

Jim just smirked at her as he opened the card. In colored pencil, Pam had drawn a bird’s eye view of Niagara Falls. In the river, a boat was approaching the Horeshoe Falls. Even though it was small, Jim could make out the image of a man in a tux and a woman in a white dress at the bow of the boat. He felt his own throat grow tight as he opened the card.

Jim,

Ten years ago, you made a dream come true.
Thank you for keeping that dream alive ever since.

I love you,
Pam

“That’s very sweet,” he said. “Thank you.”

“Open your present,” Pam told him. “The tenth anniversary is sometimes called the aluminum anniversary so that’s why the ribbon is silver colored.”

“So, you got the kids to start crushing soda cans? Aww, how thoughtful,” he smirked as he opened the box.

Pam whacked his arm at his teasing tone of voice. “Just look inside.”

Inside the white box was a black felt lined box with a hinge on the back. Setting the white box on the table Jim cracked open the felt box. Inside was a simple black watch with silver fittings. The band was black leather to match the watch face. Dashes marked the hours except where four square cut diamonds were placed at the top, bottom, and sides of the watch face. A small window to mark the date was set in the lower half of the face.

“Pam! Wow!” Jim said as he lifted the watch from the box.

“The anniversary may be aluminum, but the gift is supposed to be diamonds,” she explained. “You don’t wear much jewelry and have never liked those big thick watches. When I saw that online though, I knew it was perfect.”

When Jim looked back at her, he was beaming. “It is, thank you. I love the simple but elegant feel of it.”

Jim set the watch down next to Pam’s teapot and the new bonus gifts. Once more he enfolded her in his arms and leaned down to kiss her. When he leaned back, they were both smiling at each other.

“Happy anniversary Pam.”

“Happy anniversary Jim.”

Outside, the colors continued to shift and change as the Niagara River continued its timeless plunge over the crest of the falls.