“Buddy, please put your shoes in the closet. Your sister nearly broke her arm tripping over one this morning.”
Phillip begrudgingly walked over to his discarded shoes and walked them to the hallway closet.
“Thank you! How was preschool today?”
“Good. Miss Stephanie taught us a song about wocket ships.”
“That sounds so cool! You love space.” She hoped his R’s would stay W’s forever. Okay, not forever, but it kept him from feeling too grown up and she wanted him to stay this age. He was at her favorite stage—that sweet spot where he still wanted to cuddle with her but he could put on his own shoes and buckle his own car seat. She liked being needed, but not for everything.
She heard the familiar sound of the garage door and a smile sprung to her face. Friday’s were her favorite, because if Jim wasn’t on a business trip for Athleap, he almost always called it a day around lunch.
“Phil! I think Daddy’s home!”
Phillip’s head popped up and he ran to the door, sliding across the last few feet of hardwood in his socks. The door swung open and Jim walked in and was nearly taken to the ground by his 4-year-old wrapped around his knees. He tousled Phillip’s hair.
“Hey, dude!”
“Hi Daddy!”
Jim dropped his bag and bent down to lift Phillip into a tight hug. “How are you?”
“Good! Wanna hear a wocket ship song?”
“Of course I do!” Jim exclaimed, finding Pam’s eyes and giving her a little wink. “Let me just say hi to Mommy real quick.”
Jim walked over to Pam and gave her a kiss, lingering just a touch longer than she expected. “Hey, baby.”
He flashed her a classic Jim Halpert smile and that’s all it took. Every so often, something that was routine and normal like his lips on hers or his crooked smile or the smell of his cologne, would be like flint on steel, igniting something deep within her. She bit her bottom lip as she watched him walk toward Phillip.
“Alright, big guy. Hit me with the song.”
As if his smile hadn’t already undone her, seeing him intently watch their son sing a song that was missing half the words (but none of the hand motions), completely unglued her. Watching him be an amazing dad was one of her biggest weaknesses.
After Phillip had finished, she walked over to Jim and whispered in his ear as he gave Phillip a standing ovation. She slid her hand in the back pocket of his suit pants and gave a quick little squeeze.
“Our room. I’ll be there in three minutes. Understand?”
Jim’s eyes widened as a thin, sly smile spread on his face. “Yep, roger that. Hey, Phil! That was amazing. I’m going to go, uh, change my clothes. Then we can hang out some more later before Cece gets home from school.”
“Bro time!” Phillip yelled.
Jim raised his fist and copied Philip’s tone. “Bro time!”
He gave Pam a quick kiss on the cheek as he practically sprinted upstairs.
A few minutes later, Pam came barreling through the bedroom door, already unbuttoning her blouse. “Okay, he has an episode of Super Monsters on and a large bowl of Fruit Loops. Cece isn’t home for another two hours. If my calculations are correct, that gives us roughly 14 minutes before he inevitably needs something from us. Can you do that Halpert?”
“Can I do that...pshhh…”
“Less talk. Pants,” she pointed. “Off.”
He whipped his belt off and shoved his pants to the floor in one continuous motion, then kicked the door shut behind him and locked it. She shoved him against the door and started ravenously kissing up his neck and helping him with his own buttons. She could tell he was already losing mental clarity with every one of her kisses.
“Okay, so are we doing the Balloon Man or Gold Digger?” Jim half-mumbled.
She leaned back quickly and looked at him, an eyebrow raised. “Wait..have you named our quickie strategies?!”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
She paused for a beat. “Whatever. Gold Digger. Not sure what that actually is, but you know what you’re doing.”
He quickly hoisted her up onto his hips, her legs wrapping around him, and she let out a giggly screech as he walked her to their bed, burying kisses into her neck with a playful growl.
*******
“So,” Pam said between heavy breaths. “That’s the Gold Digger, huh?”
“Yup,” Jim let out in a gasping breath. “That’s the one.”
“I’m a big fan.”
“Meeeee too. And that thing you did with the—“ he started making hand motions through the air in front of him..
“You liked that?”
“Hell yes I did.”
“Noted. What’s our time looking like?”
Jim glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand. “We still have about five minutes, if your calculations are, indeed, correct.”
“Wow, well done us.”
“You seemed to enjoy yourself,” he said slyly.
“Oh, I did,” she held up two fingers. “Twice.”
“In 9 minutes?! Damn. I guess I still got it.”
“Yes. Yes you do,” she hummed as she laid a kiss on his bare chest.
She rolled over and sat up to grab some clothes. Even with her back turned to him, she could feel him looking at her; it was a talent she acquired after so many years of feeling his eyes on her while she worked. She turned to see Jim propped up on his elbow, looking at her with complete adoration. She was tempted to say it reminded her of the look he would give her early in their relationship, but honestly, he had always looked at her that way. And it never got old.
“What?” she chuckled.
“How do you do it?”
“What, the thing? I just throw my leg over this wa—“
“No,” he laughed. His eyes were soft as he studied her. “How, after all these years, do you still manage to give me massive butterflies by just looking at you?”
A smile made its way across her face as she drank in how lucky she was to have him. She placed a hand on his cheek and he covered it with his own. He turned and kissed her palm.
“We make a pretty good team, Halpert,” she smiled.
“The best.”
She leaned down to him and gave him a slow, deep kiss.
“So,” he whispered against her lips. “Do we have time for Balloon Man…”
She chuckled and ran her fingers through his hair and squinted at him. “Can we pick different names?”
Before he could answer, they both heard a little voice bellow “MOMMY!” from downstairs and they sighed simultaneously.
Jim glanced at the clock. “14 minutes on the dot. You’re freakishly good at that.”
She glanced over her shoulder as she pulled a shirt over her head and walked to the door. “I’m pretty freakishly good at other things, too…” she winked.
Heading down the hallway, she heard Jim call from the bedroom. “Just give him the whole box of Fruit Loops and come back here! I will assess your skills!”
She backpedaled to the bedroom door and poked her head through. “Sorry, Halpert. I’ll show you tonight.”
He gave an exaggerated pout. “Promise?”
“If you’re a good boy.”
He pumped his fist and flashed her a smile. “Hey,” he said softly. “I love you.”
“I love you too, dork.”
She continued back down the hallway, smiling like an idiot, her own butterflies flapping away.
As she reached Philip downstairs, he scrunched his eyebrows at her. “Mommy, where are your pants?”
She looked down. Sure enough, she was standing in nothing but a long shirt and underwear, pants nowhere to be found. Jim apparently still had the ability to make her head dizzy and forgetful, but in the best way.
“I...uh, lost them?”
Philip seemed to accept that answer and turned back to the TV. “You just gotta think weally, weally hard about where you last had them. That’s what Daddy says.”
“Good idea, kiddo,” she agreed as she turned to run back upstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, she crashed into Jim, her pants dangling from one of his fingers, his face riddled with amusement.
“Found ‘em, Phil!” Jim called over Pam’s shoulder, keeping his eyes locked on hers.
Philip gave him a tiny thumbs up. “See, Mommy. It’s a good thing we have Daddy.”
She snatched her pants from Jim’s hands, gave him a soft kiss on his lips, and grinned at him.
“Sure is, buddy. Sure is.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
I’m hoping this one is a nice bookend to the first chapter. ;)
Chapter End Notes:
That’s it! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. This one was so fun for me to write. :)
WanderingWatchtower is the author of 23 other stories.
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