1

OMG!!! I have been praying for this story to return for such a long time. Could not believe it when I opened the recents and here you were!!! I need to go read because I haven't yet but I first wanted to thank you sincerely for returning and give you a very warm welcome back. I have read what there was of this story probably at least a dozen times and was always so sad that it was just dangling there unresolved. I really hope you'll stay and finish and hey, would LOVE to see new stuff after this. (Though I hope this still has a ways to go!) Ok, gonna go read but just HAD to say something since mine was one of the last reviews before you returned and I was begging you to come back! Man, I have so many visual pictures in my head from this fic... Pam as Jessica Rabbit, Jim as Hugh Heffner, them dancing at the Shithouse is it? Jim locking himself in his room while Roy nearly assaults Pam, Karen leaving Jim's place acting to Pam like they'd been together, meeting those crazy brothers and cousins on New Years Eve... anyhow, I think these are all from this one. Gotta go refresh my memory! WELCOME BACK!!!

Author's Response: Thank you so much!! I’m so glad to have some older readers still around, because I just hate the idea of having had this story chugging along so well and then just falling off the face of the earth. I hope you enjoy the new stuff as much as you have the old stuff!!

10

WOW! This is a really good story and being honest, it's one I totally on't WANT to like. I mean, Pam dies. How can you like a story like that. I read it once before and liked it but wasn't able to bring myself to read it again until something compelled me to today. I didn't even realize you had updated it. I think something I like, and maybe this is awful of me, is that Jim isn't just giving into all those that are insisting that he HAS to move on. He recognizes that Pam WAS in fact his soul mate and I think he seems to feel like just looking for someone else would kinda cheapen Pam's memory, that he couldn't possibly give all of himself to someone else because Pam took a big part of his heart to the grave with her and Amanda pretty much owns the rest of it and really, if you are a person that believes that everyone has that soulmate, that once in a lifetime person out there, and he was lucky enough to have found and had that love, well, how and why would you settle for less. I don't know, probably wrong that I like Jim remaining loyal and dedicated to Pam even in death but I guess for me I just hat to even fathom either of them with anyone else. I wanted to say, you do such a fantastic job with portraying the scenes through your words. I have very rarely cried reading fan fiction but I absolutely sobbed through the first chapter of this and again at Jim's reaction at thefuneral and once more when Jim reacted to the old ladies talking about him not being fit to raise Amanda. So the sad stuff is written great. Equally awesome is the happy times, and not so happy times but the real moments between Jim and Pam. I could truly see these things hapening in my head as if I were watching an episode. You have the wording of the way Jim and Pam speak to each other, just the particular words they use and the way Jim talks to others just down so perfect. Being honest, I almost want to stop here, maybe I will, maybe I won't, because I just have a feeling that future chapters will include maybe a new love interest for Jim and well, I think I've covered my thoughts on that. It would kinda really make my heart hurt, like a lot. Don't get me wrong. I hate that Jim is still suffering so much five years later I do hope he consiers therapy as anyone in his situation probably should. Okay, I'm talking like this is real. (You mean it isn't??? ) Okay, I came to your stories to rea Circle of life AGAIN for lke the, at least sixth time or so and ended up reading thia so now I am on to Circle of life for some HAPPY happy thoughts. You are a truly amazing author! Thank you for sharing your talent!

10

GREAT job with this. I just wrote a longer, more glowing review and somehow 'lost' it so forgive me for this not being all that and I hope yo'll accept me sayin you are really talented.

I wanted to addres the reviewer before me. I, too had thought in the beginning that there were 3-4 yrs between the two eldest children so when I read this review I went back and rerad and that coms from the very first chapter, here's the quote....

"Olivia was at the crib, which was now painted beautiful shades of blue and green, much different than when Olivia had occupied it three and a half years earlier"

Reguardless, I love this entire piece, GREAT job!

10

So Sally... how in the world is it that a weiter as brilliant and talented as you are is not writing like, TONS? I mean really, your mind is fantastic at working this stuff out. We the people demand more!

I just loved how sweet it is that Pam simply sat and listened and let Jim talk out his relationship with Chloe. What I also like about this is that all the cards are on the table in the beginning. Not that there is anything he would or should hide but sometimes going through something like that, the person will just not want to share about it. Meanwhile it's clear to the other person that there is something big on his mind so she starts filling in the blanks herself. Maybe she would have decided in her mind that he still is in love with Chloe and wants her to come back. ANyhow, it's just so great that everything is just out there.

I really adore how Ellie takes to Pam so completely right away. It's just another thing that should show them it's meant to be. Here is his normally shy daughter + his friend at that point, who professes to not be any good with kids and they just seem like they are drawn to each other like magnet in the same way that Jim and Pam are. It must just be that the Halpert Beesly chemistry is that strong it even extends to offspring. Seriously, it's sweet how the first night Pam is over she gets introduced to Jim's daughter in a completely unplanned way and they just never seem to look back from there.

I love love LOVE how Jim takes so much pride in the way he dresses his daughter, I have seen dads raising girls and the poor things grow up looking a bit like ragamuffins. I was dying over how adorable the watermellon dress/outfit was. (Oh and also the lion costume.) I could actually picture either one of the cuties (the one in the lion costume pictured on the webpage or the one that is a snapshot of a little girl in the watermelon outfit and sunglasses) as being Ellie. It really made me smile because you have him dressing her exactly the way I dressed my kids, especially my youngest. I ADORED Gymboree for her because of all the accessories I could get with the clothes. (My friends liked to give me a hard time about E being the accessories princess and me the queen! I'd STILL dress her like that but at 11 and in middle school the darn kid has her own thoughts! UGH!)

Anyhow... It's just sweet and wonderful how you have the relationship flow. It's clear early on that these two click and are just destined for each other but we go from the night at his house, she meets Ellie kinda briefly and gets to help put her to bed (was that THAT night or a different one? I think it was that one.) Then the wonderful day at the park. So sweet that Pam would choose to spend her day with a single dad and his daughter in the park. I love how Jim keeps picking up on Pam's maternal instincts even as Pam continues to say how she isn't good with kids. It's also so so sweet how Jim just can't stand it any time he senses Pam is uncomfortable or ill at ease. He has this deep need to make things better, make her smile. It's just great how they each stay so aware that Ellie is there and as much as desire starts overtaking them at different times, and it's clear they very much want each other, they want it to be where they are alone, it is special and I sense they would never want it to be where either felt in any way annoyed at the baby because she interrupted. It's great how these two share what they are feeling and it's so obvious very quickly that yeah, this is love. I think it's clear even to them much sooner than they are willing to admit. Oh I LOLd at Pam when Jim answered the door when they were going to the park and she asked if she had missed his memo about the shirtless theme! That was great!

So I love how you have them decide on a night for themselves and really I wasn't sure at first how I felt about it being that night after the birthday party but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. At first my hesitance was Jim having the party and then sending his little girl who he adores, to his parents for the rest of the day on her birthday. I just wasn't sure if devoted daddy Jim would spend part of Ellie's first birthday without her. Then I looked at it again and realized, she was going there probably about bedtime. He had spent literally every minute possible of the last year with her. He had alreasy put his relationship with Pam on hold some and Pam had even helped, in big ways, with Ellie's birthday and her party. I decided that after all the time that Jim has devoted to Ellie and then Jim and Pam as friends and as a couple have spent all their time with her at least there, even if she's sleeping, I liked the idea of them ending the day in an adult way. It's also, a day that a year ago marked the beginning to a wonderful, crazy, very tumultuous chapter in Jim's life. Fast forward to a year later and Jim is once more starting a new chapter on that same date and this one will hopefully bring him nothing but joy. (Not that Ellie has brought him anything but joy. I'm more talking about the Chloe leaving element and even fining out his daughter's disability and then moving so far...) New year, new chapter.

So... Jim's brother's are the same idiots we got on the show. I can see where those two would feed off of each other and become just totally juvenile in each other's presence. I was so sad when Pam felt like maybe she wanted to leave because of his brothers but I certainly understood how she was feeling. I'm glad that Pam at least had Jim's sister to bond with. I have always pictured that in the scenerio that appears to be what the show puts forth, Jim has two brothers and a sister (though I always wondered just why it would be that Jim's sister wouldn't have been one of Pam's bridesmaids at the wedding) I just have always seen Jim as having a close relationship with his sister. You do bring out far more human sides to the brothers, Pete sending the towel with the note and something Tom said to him early on but also Tom coming in at the birthday party and taking Ellie right out of Jim's arms. LOVED where Jim used his cellphone as a pretend mic. and said about Ellie rocking an outfit from Gymboree's spring/summer line. So cute and shows the brothers really do care for each other. So cute how Jim is so obviously nervous to send Ellie off for an overnight with grandma. Turns out it's a very good thing he did!!! (OH Jim! Why oh why did you have to eat that stuff?!?!)

So, the newest chapter was NOT what I was expecting, not at all, but was very much NOT a disappointment. We learn a lot more about people when things don't go as planned than we do with them being able to make plans. It's nice to see how they adjust and adapt. I was feeling so awful for poor Jim. Just wanting a wonderful romantic night, a child free time to pay attention and finally make love to Pam as I imagine he has now dreamed quite a bit and well, even the best of plans go astray. I did know from the moment it became apparent that Jim was sick, there was no way Pam was going to leave him. You wrote this chapter just so SO well. Love her coming after him quickly, knocking on the door and asking if he's okay. When he can't answer her letting him know she's coming in and doing it. The whole scene of Jim being sick becomes a lot more soothing when Pm is with him, letting him know she is there by rubbing his back, wetting a washcloth for his neck, getting his pjs and then despite the fact that it would have been easy for her to say, he's sick, get him settled and leave, I sense that even with him sick, maybe especially with him sick, there is just no other place Pam would want to be. She's there for him in the night, getting up when he is sick again... it's all just so wonderful. I sense that this has cemented their relationship even tighter than making love would have and besides, they know, and we know, that WILL happen soon. (Soon, right? RIGHT?) This showed Jim that Pam isn't just around for fun and the good times. First she stuck around after enduring feeling a bit humiliated by Jim's brothers and then after their evening plans were canceled by his illness, she stuck around to take care of him. On top of all of that, she got up the next day, letting him sleep,and took care of his daughter when she got home. I think all of this probably made Jim fall so much harder for Pam and cemented in his mind that yes, she is THE one! IT for him! The girl he's supposed to be with and all of this is without the benefit of having even started a physical relationship.

You left us in such a sweet place (PLEASE, I beg you PLEASE don't leave us for long this time... seriously... begging... on my knees...) with the three of them snuggling sweetly on the couch. It was just such a nice content feeling.

I can't help but wonder about the future. Since obviously SOMEONE is going to tell Chloe that Jim and Ellie are living in Scranton, and the history of their relationship according to what he told Pam is on again off again, I can't help but wondering if she is going to pop up in Scranton having decided that she wants Jim back. I'm sure it wouldn't have occured to her that he could have someone new, someone who he loves very much. I just wonder. Seems to clean for her to never come around. Never wonder about her and Jim getting back together or wonder about Chloe. Then again, if Pam and Jim get together like I'm sure they will, I would think they would both want Pam to adopt Ellie and really be her mom. In that case, I wonder how Chloe comes into play. Just things I can't help but wonder and think about.

You are doing an AMAZING job with this. I love the way your mind works and how this story shows things about you as a person. I couldn't help but think that I now picture you as making cakes and frosting from scratch. Cutting cakes to makes things from them like the 1 for Ellie's first birthday. I've cut ones to make two bunnies for my oldest daughter's 5th birthday and then much hardr made an elephant by cutting for her 6th. I also see you as that mom, like me that likes the matching stuff head to toe. I can just see that you are very creative and I'm glad you're sharing that with us in your story. OH... how brilliant sharing the signs with us. I LOVE that Pam is so interested but I love more that you are teaching us. I find myself trying motions as you describe them in the story. Thanks for that.

Amazing, really amazing. I can't wait for more!

Author's Response: Your reviews are so awesome, I can't even begin to tell you how much everything you said means to me. I'm not a very confident writer at ALL, hence why it takes me so long to update,so to know people enjoy and appreciate something I have fretted so much about is amazing. I'm really going to try and write faster, as the more I write the better I'll get. What you said about Jim not wanting to leave Ellie on her birthday was something I had thought long and hard about, and like you said, it was bedtime, so she was going to sleep anyway, BUT I thought it sort of symbolic that he was beginning this next year to Ellie's life, completely differently to how he thought he would, you know? Writing now <3

10

okay so I'm years late with my review but better late than never, right? I want to be honest with you before I get into the actual review... I am totally mourning this story because I just have a feeling we aren't going to get any more of it. I remember our long IMs when you would map out the places you planned on taking this story and just how much I looked forward to reading those chapters so I really do feel a real grief in my heart that i just really feel that we've gotten the last of AIL that we're going to get and even if the Office has ended, heck, ESPECIALLY because it has ended, that's a damn shame. You just have/had such a way of bringing Jim, Pam and your darling Ellie alive for us. You made us care not just about the Jim/Pam relationship like with most stories, but about the relationship of the entire trio. The way you made the whole thing come together was so realistic... Jim having a bit of misgivings at his little girl loving another adult, Pam's ever present insistence that kids don't like her even as Ellie showed her another side of herself. I love how you did that because I think it's much easier to write the stories where Pam is great with a child but it happens to be hers, in this you show a child with no genetic link to Pam at all and also aone that isn't familiar with her at all yet Ellie is clearly drawn to Pam from that first meeting. You make it seem as though even though another woman may have been the one to have given birth to Ellie, let's face it, sick or not this woman was clearly NEVER Ellie's mom, there was never any kind of a maternal bond. Also it seems in this chapter that Jim is comming to a bit of a realization that while he may have loved before, he has never in his life been IN love. What I started to say was that it seems like Pam was ALWAYS supposed to be Ellie's mom. Pam, Jim and Ellie and hopefully several more in the future (I've just always seen Jim and Pam with a large family in my mind!) they were mean for each other. Meant to be a family. One more thing before I really get into this chapter.... every time I read about Jim's mom I wonder about his dad because it just all seems to focused on his mom. I remember now that there was mention, I'm pretty sure, though briefly, of his dad coming to Ellie's 1st bday with his mom, but that was it. I would just really think, especially with the predicament that Jim found himself in, that he would have been seeking out his dad for that advice on being a dad, especially since he's doing it alone. I;ve always imagined Jim with a super tight bond with his mom and we see that in this story. Also being glose to his sister which we also see but I also imagined him as someone who always looked up to his dad, aspired to be like him because I've always imagined that his dad set the example of the wonderful man that Jim turned out to be. Just something for thought.

Where do I start with this chapter? AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! It was absolutely amazing! I was picturing the chapter after the one where their night was ruined as being filled with nothing but smut, and don't get me wrog, this girl likes, some may even say loves, her JAM smut, but there was so much more in here, heck there were even other things scattered throughout the smut. You are a true masterful author, you KNOW Jim and Pam. You know them and have their voices within the context of the show but you also have this AMAZING ability to create a completely different scenerio and you would never eve need to call them Jim and Pam and I would KNOW it was them. I will NEVER for the life of me understand why you doubt yourself. You are without any doubt one of the best authors on here and one that gets Jim and Pam's voices, actions, personalities the very most.

So could this chapter open any cuter than Pam being all domestic and doing Jim's laundry? LOVE LOVE LOVE It shows how comfortable she is in their lives already that she is taking up the domestic chores, especially ones like this, while Jim is down. I also just adore that Jim is pretending to be a bit more sick than he is because he is just really enjoying Pam taking care of him and I think he probably is really loving seeing her taking care of his baby too. I think he loves seeing that bond forming. You know when I think back in this story, remember when Jim thought that even if he and Pam never panned out maybe she could at least be a maternal figure for Ellie before he kicked himself for it? I think thats when Jim really and honestly knew that Pam was always meant to ne Ellie's mommy. I gotta say, one thing that will make me SO SO sad if I'm right and we get no more of this story, well LOTS will make me sad BUT I really looked forward to Ellie calling Pam Mommy or momma for the first time. I know that would have absolutely melted me! Anyhow, I just think Jim knew very quickly that Pam was the one for him, even if he wanted to deny it. But I think he would remind himself, remember, she may have been the one for you if it was just you but you have Ellie and you need someone who will love HER unconditionally even if it's not a 100% match for you but then he watched those two together and he just knew that this was the family he was meant to have. Anyhow, I love in this chapter that we clearly know where Pam stands as far as wanting Jim, yet when he tries to start something it's Ellie's comfort she's thinking about and the fact that she would feel so much better sleeping in her bed and also the fact that im himself is exhausted and needs a nap himself. Another thing is, when Pam says about taking Ellie up to her bed, Jim hasn't been able to take care of his baby girl for like a day so you can sense that when he tells Pam that he'll take Ellie up to bed, that it's important to him to do so because even if it's something small he wants that connection with his baby and as much as he enjoys watching Pam care for her, he misses it. How adorable is it that Pam bathed Ellie, read to her and rocked her to sleep while singing to her. On the flip side how adorable is it that Jim pouted about Ellie going to sleep without him. I LOVE that he came to the realization that Pam is there for real now. She wants to be his partner and no, he is not any longer alone! Oh and I cannot imagine how Jim felt because I know I almost melted when Pam revealed that she looked up the sign for feel better and taught it to Ellie... it brought a tear to my eyes because it shows that she truly understands the baby's needs and she is doing all she can to take care of them. How Jim MUST have felt hearing that! Something I loved and found amazing, when it said She was his
He was Hers (or the other way around... whatever)
What I adored about this is that he realized the reality of this BEFORE they had made love. Oh and let me also mention lest I forget, a lot of people throw around the term that two people 'made love' simply because their bodies came together. I want to point out, that's fine if that's their belief but you and I seem to believe the same thing here. I think you make love when you find that one person you are supposed to be with or at very least you don't make love unles you are in love. Not even because you love someone, I think it's when you're IN love with the person that you make love, no other time. Like I said, just what I believe. Anyhow I LOVE so much that Jim comes to the realization here that he's just actually made love for the first time. So he and Chloe for together for more than 4 years and never actually made love. Honestly, I know you said he loved her but it sounds to me and I feel pretty sure that 1) he loved her but wasn't nessisarrily IN love with her, he just didn't know there was a diference. He thought loving someone was enough. 2) They kept trying to make a relationship based mostly on attraction work because they cared for each other and it seemed like it should. I bet at this point Jim is extremely grateful to Chloe for leaving. WHat if they were together and moved back to Scranton together only for Jim to meet his soul mate at work. What happens then? Well, we all know what happens, Jim breaks his and Pam's hearts because he's too good of a guy to leave the mother of his child even if they have an awful relationship and he has realized that Pam is the person he is supposed to be with. WHEW Thank God that isn't what happened.

I feel a bit embarrassed talking about the more explicit parts but WOW, you could make a living writing this stuff. I love how Jim realized things like even Pam's breasts seemed to have been created to fit with him perfectly. I've never seen that in a story and I just love it. I also just love how much attention Jim is giving Pam here and I get the feeling that Pam has never had a partner that has paid so much attention to her in the past. I think in Pam's past relationship(s) Pam was likely the giver, probably close to 100% and so she just wasn't used to having her needs taken care of. I really love when they just simply want to see one another. It's just so sweet that they just want to be able to really see what their lover truly looks like. I love how blown away Jim is by how Pam looks but what I truly love is how completely you csptured Pam. Still trying to cover herself. Being self conscious and embarassed by her nakedness... makes me wonder if her past lover(s) even removed her top or paid attention to her at all! Anyhow I really thought your description of Jim kissing the confidence back into her. How could you possibly not know how perfect that is?

Anyhow I love as we follow along in their love making just how Jim is PERFECTLY in tune with his love. Pleasuring her and I'm sure noting what gets the best and worst reactions but then when he gets to 'that' part and he feels her stiffen, rather than simply forging ahead or abandoning it completely, he takes the time to talk her through it. He explains just how much he wants this but that if it's something she doesn't enjoy he won't continue, but if she's simply embarassed there's no need to be and that he really wants to feel what it feels like ehrn she comes apart in this way. I just adored how beautifully you handeled such a delicate situation. Then when they finally come together... so fantastic. I'll be honest, I was really hoping that she'd tell his that she was on birth control and he would confess that his last time was with Ellie's mom all those months ago and if not before he got tested when he became interested in Pam and she'd say her last was Roy many months, maybe a yr ago and she had been tested either because of her interest in Jim or because she doubted how faithful Roy had been and they could have been together, just them. I just hate condems. I feel like they destroy intamacy and I also know for me, with a guy having they handy right in the bedside table I'd wonder what kind of player he was. I know that's not fair since he needs to, but a person feels what they feel.

Okay, I hope that you didn't take that negatively because really it's just a personal thing and a weird one!

I LOVE that he tells her then that he's in love with her. Not loves her, ni room for doubt... IN love. But then her coming back with the fact that she loves them BOTH... Perfect end to the first time they make love! BTW, I also adore that somewhere in there he notes it's the last first time for him and then takes it farther and thinks it's the last first time for her too.

I just love him thinking about the chick flicks he's suffered through and knowing that the movies actually were right. I love how he looks down at her knowing that he's going to marry this girl at some point and honestly, because there is a child involved, I hope they do it soon. There's just no reason to wait when you know it's the right thing and really, as long as they're dating she's just Ellie's dad's girlfriend or whatever. I just fel once they're a family unit Ellie will feel like she's got a mommy and also the rest of the world will view her as Ellie's mommy. i also just love that Jim is absolutely okay being the girl in their relationship as long as he gets Pam.

Sally I cannot overstate how much I adore this story. Look, years later and I'm in EXTREME pain but I did finally review it. I swear I'd do ANYTHING to get you to continue it. Obviously there probably won't be many reviews since people never seem to review any longer, but I will say, if there is ONE story that would be able to get people to come back and review... this is it! People adore this story and somehow even with the REALLY long delays between chapters, you still got them to come back time after time after time!!!! The reason why? It's an amazing story and people want to know where it takes Jim and Pam and sweet adorable Elliecakes! YOU did this. YOU made people, like me, get invested in the story.... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE..... continue it. Give those of us like me that are still missing the show with out hearts and souls, SOMETHING to look forward to. I have NOOOOO idea how I can,but I swear, I'll help in any way I possibly can. Heck, I'd write it for you if I could. THis is just far too good of a story to leave it with Jim and Pam in bed with Ellicakes asleep in another room forever more! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Okay now I'm going to c and p my review to ff because I don't think you get notified about a review here but there you do! Hugs and Smooches.... COME BACK!!!!

10

I'm leaving this same begging review on all three places that I know of that this story is posted. Just wanted to let you know that so you'll know if you've read it elsewhere, it's the same thing...

Hey there!!! Um, you see, Ellie got hold of me and she wants to come back and play a bunch with her amazing, sexy daddy, Jim and her new friend Pam, who is like a mommy to her. She asked me to BEG you and said that I should absolutely NOT take no for an answer! Seriously, life kinda sucks in a big way right now and it would just mean EVERYTHING to me to see this continued and finished. I know that you have just oodles of absolutely amazing things planned for this story and we just REALLY need to see them happen. Please, I'm begging. If there is ANYTHING at all that I can do to help you with this, I'm totally at your disposal any time you want/need me! Please!! I just know there are so many people that were just absolutely invested in Ellie and Jim and Pam and I know that even if there aren't a lot of reviewers left around in this fandom, many would return to see this continued/finished! Ummm.. did I say please?

10

ARGHHHHH!!! You just CAN'T stop here! I have been obsessed with this after deciding to just 'try' a few chapters of I think it was Indie Music and Keds or something like that and I got totally obsessed reading pretty much nonstop! When it was over I was so disappointed that it was done so you can imagine my delight when I saw there was a follow up. I read all that, again obsessed and then delighted when I saw yet another story in the series. SOOOOOO I got this far, you just simply cannot stop ESPECIALLY leaving
poor Pam six months pregnant! NO woman should ever have to be eternally six months pregnant. Maybe if you DO continue this you can have Pam start having nightmares about being eternally six months pregnant! ANYHOW, this whole series is SO great, I'd love for it to go on forever but I'm begging you, PEASE at least come back and finish this installment. This whole series is just totslly such a wonderful AU set of stories! Thanks for giving me a great way to fill my time! (and again.... BEGGING... PLEASE PLEASE PLLLEEEAAASSEEE finish!!!!!)

10

I was absolutely beside myself with joy when I checked and saw that this had been updated! I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day myself yesterday and I swear, this TOTALLY made up for it.

This is an AMAZING story, certainly part of THE MOST amazing series of any fanfic series and I swear, somehow you just have this awesome talent that enables you to make the story AND the series even MORE amazing with each and every chapter.

I have to tell you honestly, in general I never liked Karen, or rather Karen's character and I had serious doubts that I would ever see a Karen that I liked in a story. YOU actually did it. When I was reading the series my first time through and Karen was introduced as Pam's room mate I automatically thought, here we go. Karen will meet Jim and like Jim and there will be some drama or tension or something but I prayed, just let Pam prevail. Let their love continue to be so good and pure etc. I could not have been more pleasantly surprised at the Karen you created and gave us and it made me realize that my strong dislike is for Karen the love interest for Jim, the one that comes betwen Jim and Pam. Heck, now I totally see that had they brought Karen on as a friend for Pam, something that she could really use (a female friend that is. We know she's always had a great friend in Jim but that's different!) I could have really like the character in that role. Thanks for showing me a Karen that even in my eyes is really likeable.

I want to truly from the heart thank you for staying with this. My heart sinks (and yes, I AM pathetic, it kinda hurts a bit) when I really invest my time and emotion in reading a story only to find it's been left hanging out there unfinished. I am so grateful that you are soldiering on to try and complete this piece and not only that, this chapter I just read has every bit as much quality and consistency as the other chapters, than you thank you thank you! You are an amazing author and I simply cannot wait to read more! Hey... did I say thank you?!?! :o)

Author's Response: So I threw my back out the other day and I was stuck in bed for like three days. I somehow found myself on the MTT site, a place I had avoided since March because I had just been feeling uninspired and a bit humbled by all of the fantastic writers on the MTT archive, and I decided to reread my stories. To my surprise, there were new reviews! I saw yours, and when I read your comment on I Heart Pickles saying 'you just can't stop' and 'don't leave it just hanging' because you genuinely enjoyed the story and wanted to see it continue, I want you to know that really struck a chord with me. Not only that but you, and everyone else who has been so, so kind and left comments and support throughout the entire series, invigorated something in me that encouraged me to continue writing. I thought I would never come back to this story, and I just wanted to let you know that after eight long months, you inspired me to pick it up again. Thank you, ftmill16. Your reviews have been far too kind.

Your comments about this story's Karen are so humbling. Wow. That scene in The Merger when Pam and Karen first meet always kind of stuck with me. I always wondered what if would be like if Pam and Karen were friends - I mean, I know Karen was introduced primarily as an obstacle for Pam/Jim, but had it not been for that, I think they could have a pretty solid friendship. (I also loved their little chat in Lecture Circuit I.) I know it's such an unpopular fandom opinion but I liked Karen, and I wanted to sort of reintroduce the character as a 'What if Karen wasn't a threat to Jim/Pam?' I'm so happy to hear that it turned you around. I know a lot of readers may not feel the same way, but to hear that it had such an impact on you pleases me to no end. Really, I'm just so delighted and I thank you for your sincerity.

So, I hope this streak of inspiration continues to pour itself into this story. It's been such a wonderful creative outlet over the years, and I am beyond fortunate to have the genuine dedication of readers like you.

10

This story is nothing short of amazing! You have the Jim/Pam dynamic down so well and I could so easily see this paying out with him thinking he has a need to protect her no matter what, shouldering the burden aloe while she easily slides into doubting if he still loves her. As sad as most of this was, it was also magical and the way you captured their absolute need, desire and unwavering passion for only each other was really awesome! Thanks for a GREAT story!

10

::::sigh:::: Most of the story made me sad because it was just SO not who Jim and Pam are in MY mind but I have to say, the ending more than made up for it and certainly left me smiling and satisfied! GREAT JOB!

10

This story is so truly beautiful! I just love the way you had things happen. It was so neat that even as Jim was contemplating leaving he was planning out the perfect birthday for Pam and also leaving a piece of himself behind so he wouldn't be forgotten. It's just beautiful how Pam has all the pieces and slowly puts the puzzle of their lives together herself. She can see the thought and care and love and the time that Jim put in to making her day so special with the hand picked flowers and gift picked out specifically because they have meaning to her She is able compare them to Roy's flashier, showier flowers that she originally though were full of meaning only to find out that they had no meaning at all and his gift that he was SO proud of himself for getting her but se was able to see it for what it was, Roy simply didn't know, or care enough to get her a gift. He probably didn't want to bother with the time picking the perfect gift would take. Then there is the lunch and dinner I'm sure she compared... Jim's lunch at a place hey love, partly because of the time they get to spen together just on the drive, and taking the time ahead of time to get them to order the turtle cheesecake (mmmmmm makes me hungry!) and also to have them set up 'their booth. then there was Roy's dinner at the flashy expensive resaurant where they were uncomfortable. I'm sure she HAD to have spent a lot of time thinking about those meals and the time she and Jim spent laughing and having such a great time compared to that stuffy uncomfortable feeling. One guy was quietly showing his love, expecting nothing in return while the other was just flashing money without thought and really expecting a lot of praise in the end.

Again... so beautiful, well thought out and such a perfect way to bring them together. Jim doing his thing, giving Pam the pieces to the puzzle and Pam taking the time to examine her life and the meaning of it all. OH yeah, and the fact that Pam had knit Jim that beautiful sweater and was then afraid to give it to him, absolutely perfect touch. I think examining that was probably the last piece to the puzzle for Pam.

You realy do put put beautiful stories that I really love reaing so much! Thank you for sharing your skills as an author with us!

Author's Response: Thank you so much for spending so much time writing the detailed reviews that you leave. It is VERY cool to have someone get this excited about your writing!

10

WOW! I'm thinking I really missed out in skipping college and going right to kids and a husband! It's almost unbelievable how in carachter you were able to write each of them during the game. I LOVED Jim and Pam's walk back to the dorm though I confess in being a bit of a romantic I really keep wanting them to voice some type of committment or one ask for reasurance that the night isn't just a one night stand. Maybe it is kina infered with them each admitting to only one other sexual partner so you'd think that in itself would mean something to each of them. This is sizzling while not raunchy and I look forward to the upcoming chapters! Great story!

10

Hey Danielle.... just rereading this AGAIN and wonered (yhough maybe I've already commented on this, should probably look first but I'm simply too lazy!) Do you realize that you posted the exact same chapter as chapter 2 and chapter 3? Not sure if you accidentally reposted it twice and left another chapter out or if you accidentally made this a chapter longer than it should be. Anyhow just thought you'd want to know that. Incidentally, this is an awesme story, I've always loved it! It was th beginning of me falling in love with your work. I will say, my opinion is the same, it's just so... GREAT but, I can see how you have truly grown as an author through time and so many more works. I thoght even back here that you wrote Jim and Pam so wonderfully in character but really, it's nothing compaed to how well you have them down today. You really ae such an awesome author and we are blessed that you share your work with us. Thanks for that! :o)