Home, home, home, home, just get home. The thought kept cycling through Pam’s mind as she steered her car towards her apartment complex. Snow was falling harder with every passing minute. She’d run out of wiper fluid halfway through her drive home from her last class session of the semester. She was relying on the spray of dirty water and slush being kicked up from the cars ahead of her to get her windshield wet enough that her wipers would be able to wipe away the rest of the salt and grit. However, as soon as her wipers settled back down, the dirty water dried, leaving a thin film of salt and dirt on the glass. Combined with driving at night and the snowstorm, it was making for a hazardous drive home.

Forcing her hands to relax on the steering wheel, she turned the knob on her wiper control once more. The wiper blades skipped over her windshield leaving an uneven pattern of clear and dirty streaks that made driving just that much harder. At last she pulled off the road into her parking lot. Steering the car into her usual space, she shut off the engine and leaned her head forward onto the wheel in relief.

“Thank god,” she whispered under her breath.

The day had been stressful enough. She’d hardly seen Jim at all since Michael had insisted on taking the sales staff out on a “re-bonding” experience for most of the day to Chuck E. Cheese’s as a way to try and apologize for his behavior on Monday. Sure, he’d texted her throughout the day, but it wasn’t the same as looking up and seeing him. The snow had started falling soon after she left the office to head to her last night of class. She felt she’d done well on the written exam and had presented her final project paintings clearly to her class and professor. It was that they had to critique everyone else’s work which had drained most of her remaining energy. And of course, she’d forgotten to eat dinner so she was also starving.

“I’ll get it all tomorrow,” she said to herself after a glance in the back seat at the school supplies, she’d tossed in once they’d been dismissed. Pulling her coat closed she stepped out of the car and up the walkway to her apartment door.

The sights, sounds, and smells that greeted her when she opened the door were anything but what she was expecting. Rather than the dark apartment she’d left, her small front hallway was lit up by strings of white Christmas lights leading towards her living room. Nat King Cole’s version of The Christmas Song filled the space. The smell of spices hung in the air as she took off her shoes and coat. Following the lights, she rounded the corner to her living room.

Jim was just setting down two plates on her coffee table. From her vantage point she could see they were filled with herb-encrusted baked chicken breasts, stuffing, and a side of sliced carrots covered in a brown sugar glaze. A bottle of white wine was already resting on the table. He turned to face her after he set down the plates.

“Welcome home,” he said with a soft smile.

Pam quickly walked forward to enfold him in a hug. “This smells wonderful. Thank you.”

“It was the least I could do since we didn’t get a chance to see each other today,” he breathed into her hair. He leaned back so he could look into her eyes. “You can tell me all about your final over dinner.”

She went on to explain everything while they ate. Jim popped The Santa Clause into the DVD player to have on as background noise during their dinner. Soon Pam had finished her dinner and leaned back against her armrest. Jim finished eating as well and pulled her feet up to his lap. Using long steady strokes, since he knew her feet were ticklish, he started rubbing her feet as they watched Tim Allen’s character transform into Santa.

The combination of good food, a favorite movie, and foot massage lulled Pam to sleep. She woke up to Jim softly nudging her shoulder.

“Hmmmm, I’m sorry,” she sat up rubbing her eyes that were sticky due to having fallen asleep still wearing her contacts. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven,” Jim informed her. “Come on, let head to bed.”

“The dishes,” she turned towards her kitchen, but Jim held stopped her.

“Already done.”

She scowled slightly. “Jim, you made dinner. Whoever didn’t make the meal does dishes, that’s the rule.”

“I know,” he shrugged. “But it looked like you needed the rest. Besides, there weren't many to do. I’d already put soap and water in the pans before you got home, so it was easy to wash them out along with the plates.”

“It’s just, you’ve been so sweet these past few days with the cards and everything.” She got up off the couch to stand in front of him. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to wait on me hand and foot. I’m a big girl. I can pull my fair share of everything.”

Jim pulled her to him. “I know,” he said after pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “But we only get to have our first Christmas together once, and I want to make sure it’s memorable.”

Pam leaned back to look at him. “Just the fact we’re finally together makes it memorable enough for me. All the rest, the cards, the meals, it’s just one big huge bonus.”

“I’m very glad to hear that.” Jim pulled her back to him. “I love you, you know that Beesly?”

“I do,” she replied into his chest. “I love you too Jim. So much.”

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms for a few more moments. Pam finally leaned back and gave him a peck on the lips, before heading to the bathroom to take out her contacts. Jim made sure the doors were locked and the lights were off and retired to her bedroom to change from his jeans into a pair of blue pajama pants. Pam came in from the bathroom and stripped down to her panties and cami before sliding into bed with Jim. They reached for each other as they started to settle down to sleep.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Jim jolted back up and rolled over to dig into the pockets of his jeans. “Here you go.” In his hand was that day’s white envelope.

On the Seventh day of Christmas my office gave to me

Pam sat back up and retrieved her glasses from her nightstand. She let out a bemused giggle when she took out the card and saw the images on the front. Over a photoshopped background of a pond, an ice sculpture of two swans was repeated three times across the card. The same ice sculpture Andy had wheeled into their conference room when the Dunder-Mifflin Infinity program had launched. The two birds started out looking fine, but as each image of it repeated itself on the card, it was clear the ice was melting. The fourth and last picture was when one of the two ice swans had crumbled away leaving its partner standing next to a tray of collapsed ice.

Seven swans a-melting
Six geese a-flopping
Five teal teapots
Four calling phones
Three pointless meetings
Two Olympic doves
And a Dundie in a paper tree

“Very cute,” Pam told him with a grin.

“Thanks.”

Pam rolled over to set the card on her nightstand and turn off the light. She then rolled back into Jim’s arms. Together they fell asleep.