4:23 PM. So close and yet, so far.
Pam yawned, glancing away from her Solitaire game to stare down the clock, willing it with her mind to move faster.
No such luck.
Dejected that she was unable to control the inanimate object, Pam leaned back in her desk chair for a moment and lazily rubbed slow circles over her ever-expanding stomach. Olivia was currently using Pam’s bladder as a trampoline it seemed, and Pam sighed. Without thinking she got up for what seemed to be the thirtieth time that day to use the restroom. It didn’t bother her really, the constant walking back and forth between her desk and the kitchen, it just made getting anything done more difficult. Besides, the walking and stretching was good for her circulation. Sitting all day was not conducive to a comfortable pregnancy.
As Pam walked by Jim, she touched his shoulder softly, dragging her hand across his back as she went. It wasn’t anything, yet it was everything at the same time. Just a touch to let him know she was there, he was loved, and then it was gone. Jim watched her waddle toward the kitchen and thanked his lucky stars once again that they were not sea horses and he wasn’t the one carrying the baby.
Jim was brought back to reality when the sound of Dwight’s voice filled his ears. “Question. Are you sure it’s a girl?”
Jim stared blankly at Dwight for a moment, though his mind was racing; there were so many ways he could go with this just to mess with his desk-mate. On the other hand, the idea of using his unborn child in this way made him slightly uncomfortable. Call Jim crazy – and he knew it too - but somewhere in the back of his mind a little voice was telling him that anything ridiculous he told Dwight about the baby might somehow come true.
“Yes Dwight, we’re sure she’s a girl. We trust the doctors and nurses with their medical degrees to be able to look at the pictures on the screen and tell us the gender of our baby.” Jim glanced at one of the small ultrasound photos he had placed discreetly between the photo of him, Tom, and Pete at his college graduation and him and Pam on their wedding day. Less than a month, then he’d have a real picture of her to display.
Dwight scoffed at him, rolling his eyes. “That’s YOUR mistake.” He went back to filling out the paperwork he’d been so attentive to before Pam had gone by.
How could Jim respond to that? As if he and Pam didn’t have enough to do and worry about, Dwight was actually getting to him. The moment Pam had taken the test and told him he was going to be a father, it had been one of the greatest days of his life. Seeing their baby on the monitor for the first time, that was another great one. But as the months had gone by, Jim’s elation became coupled with worry – though he’d never shown that to Pam. She was so worried about her swelling feet and stretch marks; those thoughts were enough for her to deal with. She didn’t need the added stress of his completely out-there ideas that their baby would have gills or fins or something.
Moments later, Pam waddled by once again and she grinned at Jim sheepishly. “False alarm,” she muttered and took her seat, casting another glance at the clock.
An instant later, Kelly was at her desk, grinning wildly and clasping her hands in that way that Pam knew she was about to launch into something filled with shrieks and giggles. Sure enough, she was right.
“Oh my God Pam, aren’t you so excited?! It’s almost time for your BABY shower!” Kelly’s voice reached a whole new octave with that one. “I can’t wait to have MY baby shower, I mean, when I’m actually pregnant of course and not just trying to freak Ryan out but when I really am pregnant and it will be A-MAY-ZING. But yours will be fun too.” There was a note of uncertainty in the last sentence, but Pam was used to that. Kelly was, well, Kelly, it was to be expected.
In a much calmer, subdued tone, Pam replied, “Yes, I’m looking forward to it. It will be a good time.” She even mustered a smile for good measure.
In reality, Pam was not entirely excited for the party to be held for what Michael had already dubbed, ‘The Second Most Important Day of the Year’. Naturally, his birthday was the first. When Charles Miner had taken over Ryan’s previous position with the company, he’d put the kibosh on office parties. Michael considered Pam’s pregnancy a special occasion however and insisted that, while they could not longer throw parties during working office hours, Pam would have a true office baby shower no matter what. Thus, the PPC had secretly been reassembled for this one-time performance and had reserved the back room of Poor Richard’s to commemorate the event. Pam was wary of having a baby shower in a bar, but it would be early, and on a weeknight, and it was simply out of her hands anymore. Jim had done his best as reinstated-co-chair of the Party Planning Committee to keep it as low-key as possible, but with Michael involved too it had quickly spiraled out of control. He’d spent a good portion of the morning Googling baby shower games and was constantly running to Jim and Dwight with more ideas – even sending them out for supplies at lunch.
Now here it was, nearly 5:00, and Pam had no idea what she in for in. She knew it would be crazy of course, because Michael and Dwight were involved, but in terms of games or themes, she was unsure. As she rose from the chair to get her coat and the others were also preparing to leave for the day, Michael came running from his office.
“Pam-a-lama-ding-dong!” No one had seen him this excited since Pretzel Day. All eyes were on the exchange between them.
Forcing another smile, Pam looked at him. “Yes, Michael?”
“Are…you…ready?” Michael’s eyes gleamed like a kid in a candy store with a ten dollar bill.
“I suppose, I just have to –”
“Pam, I don’t think you heard me,” he interrupted in only the way Michael can. “I said, ARE…YOU…READY?!”
Cocking her head to the side, already worn out before the party even began Pam simply nodded her head. There had been many times in her career at Dunder-Mifflin that she’d wanted to just dismiss Michael and his antics, but hadn’t for whatever reason. Now nearly nine months pregnant, she did it often without thought to the repercussions she once considered might come about.
“Oh come on Pam, don’t be such a wet blanket.” He turned his back to reception to address the rest of the staff. “Dunder-Mifflinites! We are about to celebrate the next generation of employees for this company. The Party Planning Committee has put together a wonderful party and we are all going to have a good time tonight, so, let’s go!” With that, Michael led the charge out the door, at least in his own mind. Phyllis and Stanley were still shutting down their computers and putting their files away for the evening, Kevin was finishing up organizing the quarterly spreadsheets, and Toby entered the main office from the annex and looked as though he’d rather be going anywhere than a baby shower for Pam and Jim.
Jim stood up from his desk and slung his messenger bag over his shoulder. He then grabbed both his and Pam’s coats from the rack and stood by her desk, a sheepish smile on his face. Pam turned off the computer and stared up at him, sighing.
“Promise it won’t be more than an hour and a half?”
Jim laughed. “Well Beesly, as much as I would love to promise that, Michael has other plans I think.”
“Jim, we’re having a baby shower in a bar. We might as well own a truck with a gun rack and huge confederate flag hanging on the back window.” Pam stood up, stretching as she took her coat from Jim and slipped it over her shoulders. She struggled for a moment with the buttons and longed for the days when she could secure her coat with no difficulty.
Jim laughed and the image of Pam, barefoot and pregnant wearing Daisy Dukes and a plaid cut-off shirt, standing on a porch with a baby on each hip popped into his mind, accompanying the stereotypical portrait of life in the South that Pam had painted. “Look at it this way, you get to have delicious cake, we get gifts for the baby, and if you really want to leave after that, we can.”
Pam raised an eyebrow. “Cake sounds really good right now…” She paused, contemplating the company they’d be keeping while ingesting said cake. “..Deal. But so help me God, if Michael puts his hands on my stomach for any baby shower games…”
Jim chimed in as she trailed off, his lop-sided grin causing Pam to smile in return despite him voicing her greatest fear. “Hate to break it to you Beesly, but you can pretty much count on it.”
Hand-in-hand, Pam and Jim slowly walked out the door, perfectly content being the last ones to arrive.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
After numerous baby shower games that Michael insisted on playing, including Pin the Diaper on the Baby, Guess How Many Pacifiers are in the Jar, and Baby Bingo, Jim began cutting slices of cake for his fellow office workers. Pam shot him a grin and he could tell she was actually having a good time. She sat between Kelly and Phyllis, talking about baby names and every so often Jim caught an earful of Kelly’s ‘absolutely positively MOST favorite possible names’; Jim was eternally grateful Pam didn’t often peruse the gossip magazines, where most of Kelly's choices seemed to be coming from. They’d fallen in love with the name Olivia the moment they heard it and neither had waivered since.
“Hey Dwight, you want to start passing these out?” Jim gestured to the three slices all ready to be served.
Dwight merely rolled his eyes. “Oh please. I could cut way better pieces than that.” He snatched the knife from Jim and all but pushed him out of the way. Taking out a small tape measure from his pocket, Dwight began measuring each piece.
Jim opened his mouth to say something, to mock Dwight or think of something off-the-wall to tell him about tape measures, but Pam caught his eye again. Phyllis said something and Pam threw her head back in laughter, her eyes twinkling and a hand on her stomach. He couldn’t help but fall in love with her all over again; she made it so easy to do.
“Hey Big Tuna, sodas are empty.” Andy clapped his hand on Jim’s shoulder and stared at the table where several pitchers sat, their contents nearly drained. It was a statement, a mere observation, but Jim was more than happy to escape for a few seconds when he noticed Michael attempting to tie a baby bonnet on his head.
Gathering up four of the empty pitchers in his arms, Jim caught Pam’s eye as she chatted idly with Kelly and Angela and made a motion toward the doorway that sealed the back room off from the rest of the noisy bar that was filling up quickly. He smirked at her, noticing that Kelly seemed to be touching Pam’s stomach every five seconds and giggling. Pam was humoring her for the time being, despite Angela looking on disapprovingly. Jim wondered what it was this time that Angela could possibly think was sinful about the situation, but he was at a loss. So, he focused on refilling drinks.
As Jim waited at the bar, he heard familiar voices a couple stools down. He looked over, only to find Daryl and Roy and a couple guys he didn’t recognize. He turned away but not in time, and there’s the expected, “Hey, Halpert!” that Jim has heard so many times and in so many different ways over the last few years. He sat the pitchers on the bar and turned his attention to his former co-worker, immediately noticing the silver band on Roy’s left hand. Suddenly this moment didn’t seem like it would be nearly as intense as Jim anticipated. While Roy was not necessarily someone Jim hoped to run into on a regular basis for obvious reasons, he didn’t want it to be awkward when it inevitably did happen. The fact that Roy appeared to be married came as a relief because Jim was sure that Pam’s pregnancy was going to come up in the conversation, if Daryl had not yet passed the news along.
“Hey Roy, Daryl, what’s going on?” Jim shoved his hands in his pockets and put all the effort he could into making the exchange as comfortable as possible because, truth be told, he still felt a little awkward around Roy even after all this time. They’d run into each other randomly over the years and while the animosity was gone, sometimes Jim still got the feeling that Roy wanted him and Pam to fail.
“Not much, just having a few beers after work. Long day.” Roy took a swig of his beer and raised an eyebrow as the bartender refilled the pitchers Jim had given her. “Having a party?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. Just an office thing, not a big deal really…” Jim trailed off. For some reason, something kept him from stating the exact reason for being there. After all, wasn’t it enough that he was the reason Pam had called off the wedding? It’s not like Jim was the type of guy who needed to showcase the fact that he ‘won’. That’s why he’d been so reluctant in the past when they’d crossed paths to mention Pam.
As if on cue, in the next moment Pam was at Jim’s side. As she’d approached Jim, his back to her, Pam hadn’t yet seen Roy and Daryl sitting at the bar. When she'd finally made it through the crowd to him, Roy came into full view and a soft, “Oh,” escaped her lips, though Pam forced a smile. “Hi, Roy. Hey, Daryl.”
Roy, on the other hand, was more focused on Pam’s incredibly huge stomach. Finally he acknowledged her after a momentary pause. “Hey Pam. Wow…So, not a big deal, huh Halpert?”
For a moment Jim thought he was serious, but Roy had the hint of a smile as he took another drink. “Obviously some congratulations are in order here, how about we have a shot?” Roy signaled the bartender, “We need to celebrate Maggie, how about two shots of Jack? Sorry Pammy, you’ll just have to settle for water.”
Hand on her stomach, Pam replied, “Somehow, I think I’ll survive.” It was then that she too noticed Roy’s wedding ring.
“You got it Roy, just a second.” Maggie turned back to the bottles at the back of the bar and began pouring their shots.
“Thanks Roy, that’s not necessary, but thanks.” Jim didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t as though he expected some big confrontation, but when the obvious evidence of Roy and Pam’s failed relationship was there for all to see, Jim wasn’t sure what he’d thought might happen.
“No problem man, anytime.”
Pam’s eyes remained on Roy’s ring and she finally mustered the courage to ask. “So, big changes in your life, too, I see. When did that happen?”
Roy sipped his beer before answering. “Julia and I got married three months ago. I met her at work actually, after Dunder-Mifflin. She’s, uh, the receptionist, believe it or not.”
The irony was not lost on any of them. Jim and Pam exchanged a knowing glance when Maggie returned with the drinks, interrupting the conversation. Roy laid a ten on the bar and handed Jim his shot. He raised his glass and Jim did the same, clinking them together before quickly tilting their heads back. It burned all the way down, but neither man acknowledged that part. Instead, the conversation settled into something a lot more at ease than any of them probably ever thought possible.
“So, when are you due? Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Roy was back to sipping his beer, and he seemed genuinely interested in knowing.
“Actually, yeah. We’re having a girl, her name is Olivia…hopefully she will be here in about three weeks…” Pam trailed off, wondering how much information was too much. After all, there wasn’t exactly protocol for a situation like this, talking to the ex-fiancé of how many years while standing there with the new husband, pregnant with his child. It still felt a little weird and Pam looked away.
“Well, that really is great, congratulations, to both of you. I’m happy for you.” Roy extended his hand and Jim responded to the gesture. They stood there momentarily, neither breaking eye contact, until Pam spoke up again.
“Thanks, Roy. We should probably get back to the shower. I didn’t mean to interrupt, I just came to help Jim carry the water…” She looked over at the full pitchers Maggie had set there after retrieving the shots for Roy and Jim. She reached over and took two, while Jim and Roy broke off the handshake and spoke a few more moments. As Roy slapped him on the back and they shared a laugh over something, Pam sighed in relief. Jim reached for the remaining two pitchers, and then began the task of meandering his way back through the crowd without spilling the drinks. As Pam followed, she felt someone gently touch her elbow and she stopped in her tracks.
“Pam, wait a second…” Roy’s voice was so soft at first that Pam could hardly hear him. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Look, I just wanted to say…I meant what I said. I really am happy for you and Halpert.”
“Thank you Roy,” Pam replied, smiling up at him. She set one pitcher back on the bar and leaned forward, the free arm going around Roy’s neck. He returned the hug and gave her a smile before they parted ways.
Pam was just making her way back to the party when Jim suddenly appeared in front of her, looking concerned.
“I thought I lost you there for a second, I turned around and poof, you were gone.” He took one of the pitchers and lead Pam back to the party one more time. Pam reached out and slipped her hand into Jim’s. Their eyes met and he smiled warmly at her. Briefly she thought of how close she’d been to becoming Mrs. Roy Anderson and how she would have missed out on the wonderful life and family she was building with Jim; the thought was almost too much to bear. But she didn’t have to, because Jim was wearing a wedding band that matched hers, and Olivia’s last name would be Halpert. She was glad she’d seen Roy, and that he was happy. He deserved that. Roy wasn’t the terrible monster he’d been made out to be. After seeing him, and Karen as well, it was official: they’d all made the right decisions. Everyone was happy.
Story Notes:
Standard Disclaimer...I'm poor, I don't own anything related to The Office except the DVDs, don't sue me.
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is going to appear pretty JAM-centric to begin with but it’s more than that. I think Roy gets a bad rap a lot of times because everyone wanted Jim and Pam together. I was one of those people too, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Roy’s a bad guy, he just wasn’t right for Pam. Same for Karen; she and Jim were good together, it served a purpose, and we still got what we wanted. So, Roy gets a chance in the fanfic realm to be an alright guy. Also, I started this about two weeks ago, so Michael and Pam are still gainfully employed at DM, despite the nonsense we’ve seen recently indicating otherwise.
Chapter End Notes:
Once again, BigTuna is awesome for beta-ing this for me and helping me generate some ideas when I got stuck and just didn't know where to go. HUGE credit also for the last paragraph for letting me use some (many!) of your words, you're awesome!
IThinkWeBrokeHisBrain is the author of 10 other stories.
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