4 months earlier

Pam knew something was wrong with Jim as soon as she picked him up from work. He said hello to her and Jackson, kissed them both, but then sat silently, staring absently out the window for the entire drive home. She’d asked him about it over dinner, but he said he was fine, and smiled at her in that way that makes everything okay. She decided not to pressure him about it, he’d come to her if he needed to talk. They went to bed late that night, Jim holding her close as she fell asleep wrapped in his arms. He stayed awake for a while, running his fingers lovingly through her hair, placing light kisses over her face as he watched his beautiful wife sleep.

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It was 3am when Pam rolled over in bed to cuddle up next to Jim and realized he wasn’t there. She sat up suddenly, willing her eyes to focus so she could find out where her husband went.

“Jim?” She whispered. No answer.

She noticed the bedroom door was open a crack and she could see a faint light spilling out into the hallway. She threw a robe over her tank and boxers and walked out into the hall.

Jim sat with his back to her on a barstool at the kitchen counter. He was staring intently at his laptop, hand massaging his forehead, and stress written all over his neck. She walked over to him and placed a hand lovingly on his shoulder.

He whirled around, not expecting anyone to be awake.

“Pam!” He grabbed her hand as she jumped back. “I’m sorry…I didn’t know you were awake.”

“I wasn’t, until I noticed you weren’t in bed.” She placed a hand on his cheek, moving his head up to look at her. “Jim, what’s going on? What‘s wrong?”

“Oh…nothing, I just…I couldn’t sleep.”

“Come on, honey, you’ve been acting strange since you got off work.” She let go of Jim’s other hand and placed it on the other side of his face, cradling it. “Jim, talk to me.”

He reached up and took her hands in his, and looked her in the eye.

“OK.“ He took a deep breath. “Well…you know how I’ve been trying to find an excuse to leave Dunder-Mifflin?”

“Yeah…” Oh no.

“And you know how I’ve always dreamed of becoming a sports writer?”

“Yeah…” Getting better…

“And you know how we want to buy a bigger house, and try to have another baby?”

“Yeah…” She was grinning now.

He didn’t say anything, just moved out of the way so that Pam could look at the computer.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania’s largest daily circulation, is looking for motivated, hard-working, aspiring sports writers to participate in their summer internship program, located in Phoenix, AZ. Applicants need no experience, but must provide examples of their work. Other requirements may apply. Will be hired on upon successful completion of internship.

Pam gasped and reread the ad, just to make sure she hadn’t just imagined it. Jim sat back and watched Pam’s expression as she read the ad, smiling to himself. Yeah, he was ready for this. There were times that he thought he was ready, but those times didn’t feel like this did. He’d stumbled across the ad at work earlier that day and he just knew. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since, and that’s the reason he’d been acting so…different. This was a big deal, a huge change for their family.

“What do you think?” He asked quietly.

“Oh my God, Jim.” Was all she could utter.

“Yeah…”

“This is…this is it.” She peeled her eyes away from the computer to look at him again.

“I know. That’s exactly what I said.” He had his hands on her hips, and he pulled them towards him. “I want to do this, Pam. For us.”

She climbed onto his lap, straddling him. He leaned his forehead against hers and sighed happily. “Do you think we should do this?”

She moved her head so her mouth was next to his ear. “Absolutely, I do.” Jim’s heart started beating faster at the realization that this was really going to happen. He leaned back to face Pam again. He kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheek, and eventually reached her lips. Kisses so sweet, so tender, so loving, and if possible, they made him fall in love with her even more.

“How soon until we get to start trying for this baby?” Pam asked, inbetween kisses.

“Right now.” He stood up and carried her to the bedroom with her legs still wrapped around him.

It worked.

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The next few months were a whirlwind of emotions. Jim, Pam, and Jackson traveled to Philadelphia for Jim’s interview, and to his surprise and delight, they decided to hire him on before his internship even started. They had an opening in the editing area of sports, and he happily accepted it, huge raise and all. Pam found out she was pregnant the day Jim was offered the job, adding even more happiness into the mix. Things were going great, Jim loved his new job, Pam was enjoying her relatively smooth pregnancy, and Jackson was happily adjusting to new friends and a new house.

These memories were what kept Jim going, as he sat alone in his hotel room in Phoenix. Only two weeks left, he kept reminding himself. Only two more weeks.