If asked, Pam would have said that the people she and Jim worked with, the people they saw almost everyday had had no idea that she and Jim were in fact more than friends until Michael so characteristically dropped the bomb in front of the entire office, blowing up their relationship for public scrutiny.

Jim, on the other hand was much more realistic. He knew there had been talk, rumours. Suspicions. It hadn't bothered him a single bit, as long as those suspicions didn't make their way into the warehouse.

Now, anyone watching the two of them would find it difficult to not notice what Pam had denied for so many years – the mutual, natural, fire that glowed between them. The fire that would surely burn the two of them alive if they continued to deny it; to ignore it. Even the most ignorant of people could not fail to notice the signs of infatuation from one to the other. And so it was now, as Jim leaned over the reception desk, unconsciously bridging the physical gap between him and Pam without actually climbing over the desk, as Pam laughed back at him, her eyebrows raised, pupils comfortably holding Jim's gaze as he spoke – it was now the feeling between them was more obvious than if were spelled out on to the walls in neon paint.

Most of their colleagues casually observed these scenes between them with appreciative good will. Kevin, once he had got over his fit of giggles about the idea of Jim and Pam actually being together, turned out the be quite a romantic and was genuinely excited for the two. Angela remained silent on the subject but this didn't bother either Jim or Pam – Pam herself knew Angela well enough to know her silence was as good as approval. Only one person ever eyed them with any kind of almost open hostility, something that went virtually unnoticed by Jim, but Pam, being the more sensitive of the two and with a woman's intuition always picked up on the fierce flashes of envy that flew across the dark eyes. For her part, she did not flaunt Jim in from of Karen. Having the benefit of hindsight now, she was able to feel some sympathy towards the woman – after all Jim had been in Karen's position not too long ago. No. Pam found she was starting to feel good lately, happy even, and she felt she could certainly extend some of that good feeling towards Karen.

"Dwight thinks that there's a spy from Utica among us." Jim said confidentially, locking eyes with Pam, who promptly started to laugh. "He thinks there is a monitoring station set up somewhere in the ceiling."

"That's perfect!" Pam said, still laughing. "You know what – what if someone 'dropped' a spy pen or something by his desk. Maybe loosened a few ceiling panels above him."

"Maybe left some-"

"Empty coffee cups." they said together, laughing.

"Well, hello there." Betsy's pretty, soft voice carried over to the reception desk, making both Pam and Jim jump as if a shot had gone off. Jim turned to her, smiling.

"Hey, Mom." he said warmly. "I just have to grab my keys." But on facing his desk, he stopped and turned back again. "Oh, did I introduce you yet?"

Betsy beat him to it, holding out her hand. "I'm Betsy, Jim's mother. Really nice to meet you."

"Pam." she said, taking the woman warm hand in her own. "Oh, thank you for the Tiramisu."

"Jim picked it for you. I suppose you can afford to eat those kind of things with such a beautiful, slim figure. I'm afraid not all of us women are so fortunate. I feel quite envious."

Pam smiled and blushed, lost for words. Jim rolled his eyes.

"Mom!"

"Uh, Halpert. Need you downstairs. Situation in the warehouse." Another voice, more amused, entered the conversation. Jim spun round.

"Actually Nate, I was just leaving with-"

"Trust me on this, we need you down there, man. Sorry to interrupt." Nate nodded at the women. Jim made a noise in his throat, a rough, low sound somewhere between a growl and a groan.

"Mom." he said, not hiding his annoyance. "Can you wait five minutes?"

"Might be a few minutes more than that. Might be some hanging around." Nate said, smothering a laugh. Jim threw him a perplexed look.

"It's alright, Jim. Why don't you give me your keys and I'll get a cab and see you there." Betsy suggested. Jim thought for a second.

"Umm, okay." It was better than leaving his mom sitting alone in the office for however long whatever this was might take him. He moved towards his desk, stopping again at the sound of Pam's voice.

"No, wait." she was saying. "If you're going to Jim's house I can drive you. I don't mind." Pam looked at Jim, suddenly hesitant. Maybe she was being too pushy, maybe he wouldn't want her to be alone with his mom. Her mind rewound back to Roy and his hatred of Pam and his mom spending any time together. Roy had always said that no good could come of his mother and his fiancee ever talking to each other without his presence. She waited, watching Jim's expression nervously.

"That would be lovely." Betsy replied with enthusiasm, walking around to Pam's side of the desk. "You must come inside and have coffee with me in return."

"See you tomorrow Jim." Karen appeared, laying a hand on Jim's lower back as she moved past him. Pam and Betsy shared a look between them as Karen swept by, ignoring them both.

Jim laughed at the two of them, already teaming up on the other side of the desk from him. He took no notice of Karen and let her leave without his saying goodbye in reply. "Okay, great. I'll be right down." he said to Nate, who laughed loudly and headed off towards the door. Pam bent to pick up her bag, motioning to Betsy that she was getting ready to leave, who took the opportunity to excuse herself to use the bathroom first.

"I er, didn't mean to-" Pam begun, glancing at Jim now that they were practically alone, but was silenced by a quick, gentle kiss pressed against her lips.

"See you at home, Beesly." he said, pulling back, and headed off to the warehouse, leaving Pam to stare after him with a grateful half smile on her face.

-TO-

Betsy had been utterly stunned by the interior of Jim's house. She had expected her son's home to be untidy, disorderly; what she did not expect was the neat order in which things were laid out, cushions on the couch and not on the floor, not a beer can or fast food wrapper in sight. Even the carpet was suspiciously clean, looking as though it had been recently vacuumed.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd have said that my son was expecting me." she said, taking in the sight around her. With a groan she lowered herself into the chair nearest the couch. Pam watched her curiously, struck by how many of her mannerisms were so similar to Jims.

"Oh… what, you mean it's clean?" Pam said, guessing correctly that Betsy was referring to her son's naturally chaotic style of housekeeping.

"You know him well." Betsy's mouth curved into a smile.

"Are you still feeling okay?" Pam asked. Little wings of anxiety were fluttering around her stomach as she took in her position. She hadn't been dating Jim all that long – and yes, now she was willing to agree that that is exactly what they were doing – dating – and yet she realised she very much wanted his mom to like her.

"Yes, perfectly fine, thank you for asking. Just this getting old business..." She sighed.

Pam nodded and moved towards the kitchen. "Stay where you are if you want to rest a bit, I'll make some coffee."

As she was bringing back a tray with two steaming mugs and some sugar, the vintage ring tone of her cell phone startled her, making her flinch and slop coffee over the side of both of the cups on to the tray. She really needed to changed that ringtone.

Betsy stretched down and reached into her purse, pulling out a pack of tissues. "Don't trouble yourself about it. You just take your phone call." she said kindly, wiping up the spilled liquid.

Pam pressed her lips tightly together, attempting to smile at the woman. A small sigh of relief slid out as she saw Jim's name flashing on the screen.

"Hey you." she answered.

"Hey. It looks like I'm gonna be stuck here a while." Jim said apologetically. In the background she could hear multiple noises; some yelling, more laughing, some unusual scraping noise she couldn't fathom out.

"Okay where's-" she started. There was a muffled thud as the phone was pushed against a hand or shirt.

"No! No we're not doing that. Dwight! Stop!" Jim called out. The line cleared.

"Sounds like you've got your hands full." Pam said with amusement.

"Get the hell off my baler, jackass." she heard what she believed to be Darryl say. He sounded agitated. Unable to help herself, she began to laugh.

"Yeah… you'll never guess… you know what, I don't think you should miss this. I'm sending you a photo, you know, just to let you know how things are hanging." he said. Seconds later her phone beeped. Quickly she pulled the phone away from her ear, swiping over the new message.

"Oh my god!" Pam could barely contain her laughter as the picture showed. "What is he doing?"

There it was, in full glory. Michael, the regional manager of Scranton branch, lying pressed on top of the warehouse rafters, arms held tightly around a wooden beam. Not too far below she could make out Dwight, standing on the top of some kind of machine, arms stretched up towards Michael.

"Dammit Dwight." Jim cursed loudly. "Ah yeah, I should go. Dwight's just as likely to get them both killed."

"Do I want to know why Michael's up there in the first place?"

For the first time Jim let out a chuckle. "You know that balloon-"

"Got it." Pam said, through a giggle. "Listen, try your hardest to get him down safely, okay? And keep Dwight out of the way."

"I'm only one man, Pam!" There was a loud series of thumping sounds as it sounded like something fell over. "Dammit." Jim muttered again.

"Just try your hardest, okay?"

"My… really hardest?" Jim questioned wearily.

"Your best. You know you're the only one with any sense that Michael actually listens to."

She heard a sigh, then an exclamation. "Woah…ohhhh….. Uh okay, gotta go. See you later."

Pam raised her eyebrows as the call ended. She was torn between concern for Michael and well, hysterics at the absolutely absurdity of the situations Michael always seemed to fall into. In the end, she forced herself to look at the positive side and she let herself laugh.

-TO-

Betsy sat back in the chair comfortably, thanking Pam for the drink. "I do hope this isn't too intimidating for you."

Pam paused. "Intimidating?"

"Meeting your boyfriend's mother. I'm sorry it wasn't planned out more carefully."

"Oh, no… it's okay, really." Pam waved her off. Truthfully, she really didn't mind at all. Jim hadn't planned it, she felt no pressure from either of them.

"Who was that dark haired woman?" Betsy stirred sugar into her coffee, her eyes narrowed as she thought back.

Pam was lost for a moment, trying to recall who Betsy meant. "Oh. The woman who said goodbye to Jim?"

"Yes, that's the one. She was wearing a dark suit with a light shirt."

"That's Karen. She's a saleswoman." Pam said, wondering where this was going. She took a large mouthful of her own coffee, not minding the scalding heat a bit.

"Karen." Betsy repeated. "She looked like she could swallow you up in one gulp."

Pam laughed, it was a pretty accurate description, she thought. "Yes, that's her."

"It would seem she has taken a liking to my Jim." Betsy said thoughtfully. Pam's eyes widened. Jim's mom was perceptive indeed, much more so than her son. Pam hesitated, wondering how much she could trust Betsy.

"She's not the shy type." she said cautiously. Betsy put her cup down on the table, glancing at Pam.

"Oh, dear – I didn't mean- I mean you don't have anything to worry about with my son. He isn't like that at all."

Pam looked up, surprised by her bluntness. "Oh.. yeah I know. He's not." she added, embarrassed. "I don't think he'll be long now, he'll be back soon." she said, trying to change the subject. Outside, in the early darkness a car backfired loudly. Pam ducked involuntarily, her chest thumping.

Betsy studied her curiously. Pam recovered herself quickly, smiling at her and picking up her coffee again. "I hate loud noises." she said softly, trying to forge an explanation.

Jim's mom continued to look at her kindly, not failing to observe the slight shaking of Pam's hands as she clutched her coffee. She had seen Pam's eyes grow momentarily wide, darting quickly around the room, the way she had flinched into herself as though she was expecting something to happen to her.

Pam, fully aware that Betsy was staring at her, was growing uncomfortable and slightly turned her head away so she couldn't see the other woman watching her. Then a cool hand landed gently on her thigh. Pam looked back at Betsy, her forehead furrowing, anxiety stabbing at her.

"You've really been through a rough time haven't you." Betsy said softly. It wasn't a question, nor did it feel like an intrusion. It was not what she was expecting to hear at all. She had said it in such a calm, kindly manner, as though it was a perfectly natural statement to make to a woman that she barely knew. Pam felt emotion well up inside of her. She didn't answer Betsy. She didn't have to.

"Are you alright?" Betsy asked.

After a moments pause, Pam slowly nodded her head. "I will be."

Carefully Betsy patted her thigh, looking at her sons girlfriend with concern. "Please do not be angry with Jim. He's told me some things, not all I'm sure."

Pam looked back at Betsy. "Angry?"

The older woman flinched back a little at Pam's tone. "Yes. I'm sure it was 'need to know' only. We were going to come for a visit earlier this year. Jim didn't believe it was a good time."

"Oh." Pam replied. Dawning realization sank in her. "Oh. I'm really sorry about that." she said sincerely.

Betsy moved her hand and gently replaced it on top of Pam's, patting her reassuringly. "Nonsense. We understood. We were very proud of Jim for being so considerate of you."

A warm feeling, completely unlike the sharp, crushing anxiety she'd had moments ago spread through her chest. Yes. Jim was definitely his mother's son. "He's been really good to me. I'm not sure that I wouldn't still be… there…. If it wasn't for him."

"He cares about you very much."

Feeling the woman squeeze her hand, so motherly, so kindly, Pam felt a rush of affection for her. This she was not expecting. She looked up, meeting her in the eyes. "I care about him too."

Before she really understood what was happening, what she was feeling, Pam found herself telling Jim's mom about Roy, her life with Roy. She talked easily, finding Betsy a compassionate and attentive listener. The woman didn't seem the least bit judgemental, nor false and Pam felt herself able to open up more as they spoke. She was kind, letting Pam speak and offering reassurances, never once making Pam feel inadequate or foolish for having gotten involved – and stayed – with a man like Roy Anderson. Liking the woman more and more, she was perfectly at ease in the company of her partners mother.

-TO-

Jim returned back to the house around eight, after driving his mom back home. He was feeling good, despite the long day he had had, with Michael antics at both ends, and with his mom turning up unannounced and then, of course, there was Pam. He had been worried about her, how she might react to meeting his mother, worried she might feel pressured, might think that he had set it all up.

But on opening the door when he came home the first time, after Michael was finally back on his feet on the ground and Darryl was busily – loudly - telling him and Dwight exactly what he thought of them and their intelligence, when he opened the door and saw Pam and his mom sitting together so comfortably, talking nine to the dozen like long term friends his heart rose happily. Really, it had not been a bad day at all. In many ways, Pam had been her old, playful self, taking part in pranking Dwight for example – a part of her he hadn't seen in a good while and a part of her he had certainly missed.

He smiled warmly on seeing that she was still at his house, waiting for him to return. She stood up when he came in the room and crossed the room towards him.

"Hey." he looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, totally didn't mean to throw you in the deep end earlier. I didn't know she was coming."

The only response she had for him was a soft shushing sound, as she moved up close to him, folding her arms around his neck. Pleased at such a welcome from her, he hugged her back in kind, feeling her head drop on to his shoulder. Slowly his hands moved up into her curls, his head low, inhaling the sweet fragrance around her.

It was then that he felt something off, something not right. Her small, quivering body against him, the lightness of her earlier that day had vanished.

"Hey…" he said. "What is it?"

"Jim." she muffled into his shoulder.

"What? What's the matter?"

She didn't lift her head. "Lawyer called. They let Kenny out."

His mind swirled with her words, the implications of what this meant for them, for her. For every sunny day there was a million rainclouds waiting, it seemed. He was shocked, and rather annoyed that she had been given no prior warning that he was going to be released. No wonder she was frightened – even if Kenny was no threat to her the memories would be vivid. He knew her, he knew what she would be thinking.

"Everything's gonna be okay." he said, with strength, resolving to speak to the lawyer himself. She didn't answer him, only her arms tightened around his neck. He repeated his assurances that they were going to be okay, dismayed by the turn of the day.

"I promise." he said, kissing her forehead. From the still heaviness of her body and her unwillingness to move away from him, he wasn't sure that she believed him.