Pam said not to get her a Valentine’s Day gift.
So of course Jim got her a Valentine’s Day gift.
He used to hate the holiday, if he was being honest. He never understood the hype. And since he had started teaching, it was always made worse by hormonal teenagers. Without fail, he always had a girl with tear-stained cheeks in every class period and had to awkwardly break up at least twice as many hallway make-out sessions than on a regular day.
But everything was different with Pam in the picture. The woman even made Mondays enjoyable. Suddenly he felt like the love-sick teenager trying to find the perfect gift for the perfect girl for Valentine’s Day. Lucky for him, she had already checked the “yes” box on the note he jokingly wrote and passed to her yesterday during his prep period that said:
“Will you go out with me? Check one:
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
Maybe [ ]
Love, Jim”
So at least he didn’t have to worry about that.
He walked through the school doors and down the empty hallways that the students had covered in paper hearts. He knew he was here before Pam because she had texted him saying she accidentally slept in and would be cutting it close to the opening bell, so he took the opportunity to sneak into her classroom and leave her present on her desk. Someday she would learn to lock her door.
Slipping through the door quickly, he dropped the gift on her desk and then slid back out into the hallway. He walked over to his classroom door and went to unlock it, only to find that his key was not on his keyring. He jiggled the handle and realized it wasn’t even locked. Confused, he slowly went inside and was met with a loud gasp.
“Jim!”
“Pam?” he laughed.
Her shoulders sank in defeat and she pouted. “I was supposed to get here before you.”
“Did you steal my key?!”
“Maybe.”
He laughed. “You renegade. Wait,” he pointed to his desk. “You stole my key and came here early to surprise me with a gift that we agreed we wouldn’t be getting each other?”
“Maybe.”
He cocked his head and chuckled as he walked toward her, wrapping her in a hug. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” she muffled into his shirt, obviously still disgruntled about getting caught. She pulled back. “I know we said no gifts, but…”
“You couldn’t help it?”
She nodded with a grimace. “Sorry.”
He smiled at her and motioned with his head to the hallway. “I get it. Go look on your desk, Beesly.”
Her eyes lit up and she skipped past him to her classroom to see what he had left for her and he followed behind, hands in his pockets.
She excitedly threw the tissue paper behind her back, confirming to Jim that getting her a gift was the right call. She reached in and lifted up a white t-shirt with “Washington D.C.” written in bold, colorful letters on the front. First, she threw her head back with laughter and then she hugged it to her chest. She looked at him lovingly.
“You got me a t-shirt from a trip…”
“...that you were on with me,” he winked. “There’s more.”
She let out a small gasp and reached back into the bag, pulling out a teal colored teapot. A wide smile spread on her face. “This is the one we saw in the antique shop that one weekend in Philly, isn’t it?”
“The very one.”
“Jim, I love it.”
He gestured toward it. “Open it up. There are bonus gifts.”
Pam lifted the lid off the teapot and began pulling the items out, one by one.
“Aww the ticket stub from the football game we went to.”
Jim leaned against her desk. “Uh huh…”
She continued while grinning ear to ear. “A brochure from the Washington Monument…and is this…” She held up a small container of blue paint.
“The same paint as on the wall of the gym? Yep,” he said slyly.
She blushed with a smile, then continued pulling out more items, all representing something the two of them had shared together. Reminders of the Poconos, and of the many misheard lyrics of songs she was known for. There was a picture of Dwight they had discovered in the yearbook from two years before Jim started teaching that made a tipsy Pam laugh so hard she fell off her chair. He had found a way to fit almost the entirety of their relationship in the small teapot and the result was exactly what he hoped for, as she flung her arms around his neck.
“Thank you, Jim. It’s perfect,” she whispered in his ear then looked at him. “I guess you need to open yours, but I’m not sure how to follow that.”
He took her hand as they walked across the hallway. “Oh, come on. Whatever it is will be perfect.”
They reached his desk and he carefully unwrapped the package on his desk, revealing a small booklet. He flipped it over to see the cover.
“How to Kill a Mockingbird. No...did you make this?!” He ran his fingers over the front and then flipped through it, eyes beaming with delight. Pam had written, illustrated, and constructed a little book based on the terrible essay Jim’s student had written at the beginning of the year. He shook his head in amazement as he looked at the colorful illustrations. “Oh, that poor mockingbird,” he laughed.
Pam crossed her arms over her chest and bit her bottom lip. “You like it?”
“Pam,” he exclaimed. “It’s...I…”
“Words, Halpert.”
He hugged her tightly. “It’s absolutely amazing.”
She sighed with relief and squeezed him back. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Teach.”
He kissed her and smiled. “Back at ya, Ms. Beesly.”
From there, Jim spent every class break at the “Heart-o-Gram” table the student council had set up for students, sending ridiculous poems to Pam and delighting in seeing her receive them during her lessons, hearing all her students collectively say, “OoooOOoo…” as she blushed. Finally, the final bell rang and Jim sat down to finish some last minute grading before he could go home and get ready for Pam to come over.
“Roses are red, Violets are blue,”
Pam meandered over to his desk, Heart-o-gram in hand.
“Your face is real pretty, And I like your shampoo.” She held it up and smirked at him.
“Yeah, I failed my poetry class in college.”
She chuckled and kissed him quickly. “You know you gave my students a reason to tease me endlessly, right?”
“You liked it,” he grinned.
She laughed. “I kinda did. I never got one of these in high school.”
“Roy didn’t send you any?” he frowned.
“What do you think?”
“Yeah,” he said, cringing. “As soon as I said it I knew the answer. I’m sorry.”
She smiled sweetly at him. “Don’t be. I got enough today to make up for it.”
“Good.”
“Good,” she smiled. “See you at 5?”
“Definitely.”
———————
After clearing their plates of Jim’s famous fettuccine alfredo and garlic bread, the two of them had made their way to the living room with a bottle of expensive wine Jim bought for the occasion. Pam sat between Jim’s legs with her back resting against his chest, both of their legs up on the couch. She twirled her hair mindlessly, her eyes closed.
“You know,” she hummed. “I jus’ really like you. And not just because you have a cute butt.”
His chest rumbled with deep laughter. “How much wine did you have, Beesly?”
She squinted one eye and pinched her finger and thumb together in front of her face. “Juuuuust a little. Mmmkay, a lot. But it was really tasty. Like you. You’re tasty, Jim.”
“I think you’re just a lightweight,” he laughed. “But thank you?”
She sat up and turned around to face him. “No, really. And I don’t just mean that literally,” she said, stumbling over the last word. “You’re so sweet. Sweet to me, to your students. To dogs.”
His eyes widened with amusement. “To dogs?”
“Yes,” she brushed him off with a floppy wave of her hand. “All I’m saying is that I’m super duper lucky to have you, okay? Like 300% lucky.”
“300, huh?” He chuckled softly and stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. “You have no idea, Beesly, what you mean to me. Drunk or not.”
“I’m not drunk.”
“You’re drunk.”
“Yeah, I’m drunk.”
Jim smiled and gave her a soft, lingering kiss. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” she whispered, then turned back around, nestling back into his chest. She closed her eyes again. “You really are nice to dogs. We should get a dog someday,” she mumbled, apparently unconcerned about the coherency of her words. “Kids like dogs. I think our kids would like a dog.”
And just like that she was asleep. But Jim was awake as ever. His mind was trying to grasp hold of what she had just said. Our kids? A smile crept up his cheeks as he pictured little curly-haired Halperts. Pam was planning on a future—their future. His thoughts began snowballing and gaining speed, picturing a chapel, and a house, and pee-wee football games.
And suddenly he realized—none of it scared him. He wanted all of it. And he wanted it with her.
Never did he think he could feel this way in such a short amount of time, but...here he was. And maybe she was just drunk and didn’t mean it. But even if that were the case, he knew he would wait a thousand lifetimes until she was ready.
He carefully maneuvered his way out from under her and carried her back to his bedroom. He laid her down gently and pulled the covers over her as she slept, grateful she had worn her “pajama” dress, as she called it (“It’s comfy, cute, AND it has pockets!”). And sure, maybe he had hoped to end up in his bed a different way tonight, but with the visual of their future life together still fresh in his mind, he couldn’t deny this was a pretty good ending to a holiday he once thought was useless.
He slipped into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, brushed his teeth, and slid under the covers next to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. She stirred and let out a contented sigh.
“I meant what I said about the kids,” she mumbled quietly. “I’m not that drunk.”
He watched her breath slow as she fell back into a deep sleep. He smiled and pulled her impossibly tighter, and his breath began to match hers as he started drifting off to sleep himself.
But whatever dreams he had tonight, there was no doubt they would pale in comparison to his reality.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I wasn’t going to write a Valentine’s Day chapter, but was borderline harassed to write it (you know who you are). So, here you go. ;)
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for nicemorningtoo, ThePinkButterfly, and emxgoldstars for being my hype girls in the wee hours of the morning for this one. ;)
