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Story Notes:
Double check this for me, but I think I actually used all the words, and in order too! And I wrote it in just over an hour!!! Yay me! :)

Summary adapted from the song "Wonderful Tonight" by the incomparable Eric Clapton.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Evening drifted lazily across the horizon, taking its time colouring the sky, in that chasm between where the sun had set and where the stars began. When Jim yawned, for the first time all day, only then did it speed up. So it seemed, anyway. It was as if the heavens knew everyone was waiting for nightfall, so it tried outrunning itself in an effort to catch up to the clock. Now, as the big hand touched one, the moon sparkled on the ocean, reminding Jim of Pam’s eyes when she laughed, and he sighed, truly contented for the first time in months.

He stared out over the water, listening to its song as it lapped against the shore three stories below his feet. The events of the day had rejuvenated him, given him a rebirth of sorts; he also knew that, necessarily preceding his rebirth, there had to be a death. But it wasn’t a sad thing, to know that the old Jim was gone. It was liberating. In his stead stood a taller, prouder, man.

Pam was still in the bath. It had taken an hour to pull all the pins and dried flowers from her hair, and by the end of it she was exhausted. He knew they had plenty of time for themselves, before they would be leaving for Scranton again. He didn’t want to think about the reunion that awaited them when they returned (what would his parents say? What would her parents say? God, what would Michael do?). For now, he wanted to concentrate on what lay ahead -- two beautiful days, the first of many, with Pamela Morgan Beesley.

No, he corrected himself. She’s a Halpert now. She’s Pamela Morgan Halpert.

The mere thought of it sent him into a fit of shivers that ran from the tips of his toes to the ends of his hair, as if a professional sports team were running shiver scrimmages across his nerve endings. Pamela Morgan Halpert.

“It’s beautiful.”

“What?” Pam called from the bathroom.

Jim hadn’t realized that he’d spoken it aloud. “Uh... Nothing.”

Pam giggled, “No, what?”

“I was just... uh... thinking about you. Your name. Your new name.”
“Pamela Morgan Halpert,” she repeated, and his synapses raced to the line for kickoff.

Jim smiled and crossed the room, turning the bathroom door a bit to talk to her more clearly. “It’s so beautiful... if I could write, Pam, I’d write a musical and all I’d have to do is string together a few notes for some singer to sing your name to, and it would bring down the house.”

“Jim, quit fooling around,” Pam chided him softly. “Give me five minutes. I’ll be out in five minutes, okay?”

Jim grinned; he couldn’t see her through the steam and the fog on the glass, but he knew she was smiling too.

What if he hadn’t kissed Pam on Casino Night? What if he hadn’t raced back from that interview? What if he hadn’t bought that ring on impulse after seeing it once in the jewelry case at the mall? What if he hadn’t thought to meet Pam half way between art school and Scranton. What if...?

It was amazing how a series of seemingly innocuous decisions had led to this: a weekend elopement on the beach in Maine. It was something he had never imagined, but it was more than he could ever wish for.

Pam emerged from the steaming bathroom looking fresh faced and as beautiful as she had on their first date all those years ago. She had been ravishing that afternoon, walking down the makeshift aisle roughly made out of seashells and driftwood on the beach below their hotel. Her hair swept up in the messiest of updos, with flowers picked from the wild stuff that grew along the way pinned here and there, the hem of her muslin dress already brown from the sand and the walk down from the escarpment, all made up by the ladies in the salon at the hotel. But it was when she stepped from the tub, freshly scrubbed and Zest-fully clean, that Jim really fell hard for her. Nothing could top it.

Let me tell you a story,” she said, sliding into him on the bed and letting the shoulder of her bathrobe fall down as she landed.

Jim couldn’t resist, and bent his head to kiss her neck and shoulder. “It’s late, Pam,” he half-whispered, half-growled against her skin.

“Jim,” she scolded, drawing the robe back up again. “You have me forever, what’s a few more minutes?”

He scowled and leaned back against the pillows. “Fine, what’s this story?”

“Once upon a time... .”

“Oh no, not one of these fairy tales!” he groaned. “They take forever!”

“Jim!” Pam laughed. “Once upon a time... There were these two friends. They were such good friends that even though one of them was madly in love with the other, and even though she was set to marry someone else, they couldn’t see past their friendship to discover that what was between them all along was the true love they had each been searching for.”

“This story sounds familiar,” Jim stroked his chin theatrically, “In fact, didn’t I co-author this?”

Pam giggled, “You may have.”

He took her hand -- the one adorned by a new ring -- and kissed her palm, “So if I already know this story, why are you retelling it?”
Pam shrugged, “Maybe there’s something more. Maybe there’s something you don’t know.”

Jim cocked an eyebrow, “Something more?”

Pam lowered her voice to a sexy whisper, “Wanna know what it is?” She straddled him, lifting the hem of the robe enough for Jim to see what she was not wearing underneath.

“I’m dying to know,” Jim played along.

Pam’s hands ran up and down the broad expanse of his chest, underneath his t-shirt, until he got the hint and helped her to remove it. “It’s a big secret,” she whispered, bending over him to kiss his throat.

Animals don’t even make noises like this, Jim scolded himself as he tried to stifle his groans. “You could lie to me, for all I care.”

She stopped and looked at him, teasing him with her eyes. “And why would I do a thing like that?”

He gulped. “It would be a welcome distraction from what you’re doing to me right now.”

She grinned and sat up fully. “Jim, I’ve been in love with you since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

He didn’t reply. Of course, Jim had always wished that Pam had carried a torch for him, even if it was the size of a matchstick and never left the carefully constructed realm of “Crush” phase. He never actually believed she did, and hearing her say it brought out all different shades of pink -- he was sure -- in his handsome face.

“You were?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Yeah. I guess... You were always there for me. When things were bad at work, or when I’d had a bad fight or something with Roy...,” it was the first time she’d spoken his name in a while; Jim had almost forgotten who he was, such was the wonder and joy of the last two years. It made everything else seem like such ancient history.

She brushed a loose strand of damp hair behind her ear. “I guess you were like my knight in shining armour, for lack of a better cliche. You were perfect, to me. Always so shy, ready with a smile whether I knew I needed it or not,” she grinned again. “So all that love you had for me... It wasn’t so unrequited, in the end.”

It was Jim’s turn to smile. “We should have done this years ago.”

“I agree,” she said, sliding her hands once again across his bare chest and then replacing her palms with her head as she lay down on top of him; Jim shivered from the shock of cold curls that splayed out against his skin; he wrapped his arms around her and pressed her to his chest. “Promise me one thing.”

I’d lasso you the moon right now if you asked for it, Jim thought. He just kissed the top of her head and said nothing.

“Promise me that we won’t ever let this go.”

He kissed her again, “Pamela Morgan Halpert, I promise you that I won’t ever let us let this go.”

She settled into his arms and Jim let her lay there until her cold hair had warmed up, until the brilliant shine of the moonlight streaming through the French doors of their balcony spilled out over the bedspread. The night felt so complete.

Suddenly Pam sat up, nearly clipping Jim’s nose in the process. “You gotta promise me one more thing!”

Jim laughed, seeing the frenzied, crazed look in her eyes. “What?!” he laughed.

“Promise me that you’ll help our son or daughter with their math homework.”

Jim grinned and his eyes travelled down the front of her -- exposed now that the robe had fallen open -- and he marveled at her full breasts and the soft roundness of her belly. He placed his hands on it, aware for the first time of the life growing within his wife.

“You know, because I can colour with him or her, and I can read them books for Language Arts... I could probably teach them how to tell time but anything else with numbers, I just don’t get it, Jim, and... .”

Jim smiled and cupped her chin in his hand; as he did, his own wedding band reflected the light from the moon and the bedside lamp, and for the second time that night, he felt more than wildly contented.

“How do I know you?” he wondered aloud.

“Huh?” she asked. “I’m your wife, Jim.”

He grinned again -- had he ever stopped? -- and lifted himself up to embrace her. It was a privilege, he realized, to hold her in his arms; it was an honour to know her, he was glad he did, and glad she let him. He hoped she wouldn’t let him forget that.

They made love anyway, staying up far too late, and drawing the blinds when the sun rose again. They had planned on spending their first full day as husband and wife walking the boardwalks, lazing on the beach, enjoying the east coast sunshine. But there was time for that. Instead, they spent that day tangled up in bedsheets, ignoring the knocks from housekeeping, reveling in the joy they felt at being Mr and Mrs Jim and Pam Halpert.


Lynzee005 is the author of 5 other stories.
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