"Jim!" 

"Yeah?" he yelled from the top of the stairs.

"What are you doing?" she called.

"Changing.  I'll be right down." 

"Hurry please. We're already on the clock!"  Pam laughed and turned toward the babysitter who was putting Abby in her booster chair.    

"Oh, he can totally take his time," Becca said with a wink. 

Pam set the baby in her highchair and ran up the stairs to hurry Jim along. 

She found him standing in front of the closet, staring intently at his clothing selection.

He turned toward her, holding up two ties, one already loosely tied around his neck. "Which one?" he asked. 

She took the other two ties and tossed them on the bed.  She started to untie the one he was already wearing.  Six years together and he still got shivers when she touched him.

"You wear a tie five days a week.  It's your birthday, this is strictly a no-tie occasion."  She tossed the blue fabric amongst the others and quickly unsnapped the top button.  She kissed him sweetly. "Come on birthday boy, let's go." 

Downstairs, Pam went to grab her purse, explaining to Becca the perils of diaper rash all the while.  Jim went to the kitchen table where Abby was concentrating hard on the coloring book in front of her, a large crayon gripped tightly in her fist.

"Dora." She told him while making a large purple streak across the paper.

"Hey, Mommy and I are gonna go have dinner.  Will you listen to Becca please?"

She nodded.

"Will you go to bed when she asks, and be nice to your sister?"

Abby kept nodding.

"Can I have a kiss please?" 

She set down her crayon and stuck her little lips out as far as they could go.

"I love you baby.  We'll see you in the morning."

Her eyes went wide, fear streaking across her round face.  "Kiss me when you come home?" 

"You got it." He stood, "Be good, please." 

He leaned over the back of the highchair and kissed the top of the baby's tiny head, "Love you, monkey."

Emma looked from side to side, her chubby fingers covered in mashed Cheerios.  She looked bewildered, trying to figure out where his voice was coming from. 
 
Jim went to the front door while Pam scampered over to kiss the babies, and then they were off on their first night alone together in months.

---

The restaurant was perfect -- soft light and music.  Pam of course, looked beautiful.  The waiter came by and poured them both champagne. 
 
After that, Pam presented him with a folded piece of construction paper.  On the front she had drawn a picture of Jim's face with "Happy Birthday Daddy!" written across the top.  He could tell from the giant scribbles across it that Pam had let Abby color it.
 
Pam pointed to a large purple scribble in the corner, "She wanted you to know that this is Dora."
 
Jim shook his head, "They should call her Dora the conquistador...encroaching in on my birthday card." 
 
She laughed and leaned across the table for a kiss. "I love you."
 
"I love you too."
 
----
 
Dinner was amazing.  Jim couldn't remember the last meal he had that didn't have a cartoon character printed on the box.  He looked up to see Pam staring at her wine glass, her finger tracing a circle around the edge.
 
He put down his fork. "Is something wrong?"
 
"No! No, it's just...is it weird that I miss my noisy house?"
 
Jim nodded, "It is really quiet in here." He reached across the table for her hand. "Do you want to skip the movie and go home to our babies?"
 
Pam sighed, "It's your birthday.  We were supposed to have a night for just us.  I can't ask you to do that."
 
"Seriously, there is no better way I can think to spend my birthday."
 
Later that night when Jim was lying in bed, Abby and Emma tucked in between him and Pam, he realized that he could never imagine a more perfect life for himself.