For the love you bring - won't mean a thing unless you sing...

Sing, Sing, Sing...

-- Travis

Here's to swaying being dancing after all...

1:25 a.m.  Thursday 

Scranton Memorial Hospital

She was still asleep. Luckily she slept like a rock. But they both knew that she would wake up eventually and they'd have to figure out a way to deal with this.  Pam wasn't in a tremendous amount of pain yet, and she planned on getting all the Epidural they could offer, but nobody really wanted Jill seeing all of the parts to come.  

With her hood pulled up over her head and her blankie tucked around her, she sat curled up in Jim's lap.  Drooling on his shoulder.  His legs had long since fallen asleep and he knew that when he finally stood, they would give out.

The nurse had just informed them that Pam was only about two centimeters dilated and it would still most likely be awhile before little Whatshername's appearance. 

On one count - this was good news. It meant they had time to see if maybe, just maybe Jim's parents would make it here before Pam's labor became really intense. That way they'd have sitters for Jill.  On another count though - and the count that counted the most as far as Jim was concerned - it wasn't good news because it meant Pam had yet to hit the really, truly, grueling work that he was starting to remember.

God, they'd been so young.  Though it was only four years ago it felt like a lifetime. They'd been in the room just across the hall in fact.  He'd been so nervous he'd done silly things to distract them both - looking around for an iron like maybe they were at a hotel. Searching for a margarita machine so Pam could finally have some booze after the baby came.  He shook his head even now thinking about it. 

Some things never changed.

"Do you think if I asked politely enough I could get a massage while I wait?"

His whisper caught Pam off guard and she tried to keep her response just as quiet. "Oh..." she said smiling at him. "Is your back hurting Jim? Are you going to cry?..."

"I might," Jim said grinning back at her. "Chick's getting heavy,"  he finished nodding towards a sleeping Jill, curled up on his lap.

"Oh that's interesting, because I might cry too," Pam quipped.

"Oh really? What's the matter with you?" Jim asked, in confusion.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you...I'm in labor."

"Oh! So that's what's been going on with you for the last 9 months...jeez."

"Right. Sorry...I can't believe it slipped my mind."

"Well Pam, you can be forgetful."

Pam giggled just as a contraction rolled through her lower half.  A tightening, a pulse and then...it was gone. Her grimace made Jim stop his poking fun and reach out for her hand.  Jill shifted in his lap, drooling a bit on his shoulder.

"Ok?" he asked in a whisper.  "God you're being such a trooper."

"Yeah...Stop saying things like that...I'm ok."

"Yeah," Jim said quickly. "That was stupid...I'm sorry...‘trooper' is for like when Jill gets a paper cut."

"No, it's not that...I just don't want to freak her out when she wakes up. I don't want her thinking I'm dying or something."

Jim frowned. "You're kidding me right?. Pam, there's no way you're going to be able to fake it. I mean you should see your face right now - and it's not even that bad yet -

Pam glared at him.

"No...I just think that we should really consider -

"No -

"Pam, he's better than not having any -

"Stop it," Pam said through grit teeth.

Jim leaned back, letting it drop...For the moment.

The rumble of his voice must have disturbed Jill's sleep though.  She fidgeted and her eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the bright hospital light.  "Daddy..."

Jim leaned back and kissed her forehead, leaving his lips there for a moment as she adjusted to the fact that she wasn't at home in her own bed. 

"Hey Babygirl," Pam said when Jill noticed her lying in the bed.

Jim injected his voice with the highest level of excitement he could muster this late at night. No need for her to be frightened at this point. "Hey," he said, and his voice cracked, "Guess who's coming soon?"

Jill looked around and laid her head back down on his shoulder, either unconcerned, unenthused or still not completely awake.  Maybe a combination of all three.

"Your baby sister's coming soon, isn't that exciting?" Pam said, plastering on the widest smile she could manage.

"Baby Chrys?"  Jill asked, sitting up straight.

Jim rolled his eyes and tugged her backwards so that she wouldn't try climbing into Pam's bed.  Which he'd already anticipated.

"Baby Whatshername is coming...that means that you should go back to sleep so that way when she gets here you'll be plenty awake and can see her.  Everything until then is going to be boooooooooooring."

Pam nodded, "Yes, absolutely. You should -

Her voice faltered and Jim stepped in quickly, knowing that her contraction kept her from finishing her sentence.  She did her best to stay focused on them, but he could tell by her eyes that this contraction was stronger than the last.

Jim stood with his arms full of Jill, walking quickly to the window on the other side of their room. "Hey let's go look outside...See it's still Night-Night.  You should go back to sleep.  The baby can't come unless you're asleep...You know that right?" he added as a sudden brainstorm hit him.  "The baby?  She's basically like Santa Claus...You have to be asleep for her to come."

"Are you trying to make her stay awake?" Pam asked breathlessly; knowing that Jill wasn't exactly keen about her sister's arrival, even if she had made her a cupcake.

Jim shot Pam a look over his shoulder, mouthing, ‘Better idea?'

She just smiled at him and let her head fall back against her pillow.  Clearly tapped out.

Jim licked his lips. That last contraction had to have been a stronger one.

He swallowed hard. He certainly wasn't going to be able to distract Jill forever. She had to go to sleep, or they had to call someone other than their parents soon.  Someone who would step in at a moment's notice - no questions asked...He and Pam both knew who that person was.

Pam pushed against her pillow a groan, and sat up a bit straighter, "Maybe you two should go for a little walk?...That sometimes...helps," she said, speaking in code to Jim. 

"Yeah," Jim said nodding. "Maybe we'll go for a walk, and then you and I can go for a walk after that...might help you too - for other reasons."

"Mommy you come too!" Jill said, looking between them. "Come for a walk with me and Daddy."

"Oh...not right now Beanie, I'm sorry.  Mommy has to lay here for awhile."

Her pout was instantaneous and useless.

"You sure you're ok with me going?" Jim asked Pam once more.

"Yeah just...walk real slow and make it not..."

"I got it," Jim said nodding.  Knowing what she meant - ‘Don't entertain the kid or she'll never fall asleep'.  "When I get back though," he added. "We need to seriously discuss calling someone...anyone."

"I'm serious," Jim said sternly when Pam glared at him again.

"Go for a walk," Pam said through her teeth.

With a sigh, Jim walked out into the hall. Pam could hear him start to sing Lovefool as the door shut behind them.  He hadn't sung that to Jill since before she could talk.  That had been back when Jim's voice was sometimes the only thing that could put Jill to sleep (much to Pam's annoyance). Desperate times called for desperate measures she guessed  - even in the middle of a hospital corridor.  She doubted it would work tonight though.  They wouldn't be that lucky.

Pam leaned back and breathed through the first contraction she'd ever experienced completely alone.  Over the course of the next 45 minutes, she had more alone. Some that felt stronger than others, and some that felt weaker - a bit like the ones she'd had for those two hours before they'd left the house.  The minutes began to wear on her as she flipped through infomercials.  When the nurse came to check on her once more, she was still only 2 centimeters dilated and Jimless.

"Are you sure?" Pam asked, her voice sounded whiny even to her own ears.

"Absolutely positive....I saw your husband and your little girl for a walk. You should get him to come back and take you for a walk too. That might help kick you into gear."

Pam knew she wasn't being told that her lack of dilation was somehow her fault, but she couldn't help but hate being told she needed to be ‘kicked into gear'. She wasn't sitting here picnicking after all. She was having some contractions.  They just weren't consistently intense.

They certainly weren't what she remembered having with Jill.

What the hell? Wasn't the baby just supposed to...slip out?

Couldn't Dwight have been right about at that one thing? At least?

Pam watched as an hour past.  She knew Jim.  She knew that if he was still outside with Jill that meant she hadn't fallen asleep yet - otherwise he'd be right here with her. .

Shit...

They were going to have to call Michael.

Not yet...just - not yet.  There was still a chance the storm wasn't so terrible that Jim's parents couldn't get here in the next hour or so.  It wasn't that Michael was so terrible...ok...it was kind of that...it was more that deep down she liked the idea of it just being Jim and her.

They had to get someone to watch Jill though.

Fifteen minutes later, Jim was finally back with a sleeping Jill slung over his shoulder.  He sank slowly down in the chair next to Pam, looking as exhausted as she felt.  "Gift shop was closed, but she saw the babies in the nursery and thought they were cute...so that's a plus."

"Oh...good..." Pam breathed slowly.

"How you doing?" Jim said leaning forward. "Status?"

"Jim I'm only 2 centimeters dilated..."

"Are you serious?" He asked, and when she only looked at him, he nodded. "Ok...We're fine. We can do this....How's the pain? You want the Epidural now?"

Pam shook her head. "I just want to wait until I'm closer...I think....I don't know - we'll see. For now I want to wait."

"Just like you want to wait on a babysitter?"

"Please...will you please just not push right now? I know that we need one. I just...."

"Pam, she's gonna wake up.  She's gonna wake up and you're going to be lying there pretending not to be in pain...which will fail - miserably."

"I'll get an Epidural when things get bad and I'll be fine."

They argued that way for another two minutes, until Jill woke up again. 

Damnit.

And then...Well, and then she stayed up:

What'd that Daddy? Daddy I want some ice too.  Can I have that ice that Mommy has?

Mommy are you ok Mommy? Mommy you got a bad cold?  I think we should go home now.

Mommy there's good pudding here.

Mommy the baby should keep living on the inside of your tummy.

Mommy, that Doctor is a nice doctor?  He's gonna give you a shot? Mommy get a red Lolli, not a green one.

Mommy I'm tired. I want to sleep with you in the bed.

Daddy no, I want to stay with Mommy! No!

Mommy here's your med'cine...now you're aaaaaaaall better.  Daddy here's your med'cine too.  Drink it all up. Good boy.  You gets a cupcake at home.

Daddy this is boring, I want my toys.  I want my mommy.

Daddy I want my Mommy, right now.

Daddy let's go home.  Let's play with my toys.

Daddy I'm not tired!

4: 41 a.m.  Thursday

Jim's night was getting blurrier by the second.  He wondered briefly how much of this he would remember the next time...the next time?  God, he was tired...

Sitting there with Jill in his arms in the waiting room he realized he wasn't fully awake. Some kind of weird flashback brought him back to the time he was 8 years old, waiting with Tom in the emergency room as Larissa got stitched up after falling off her tricycle.

It was the oddest thing. He hadn't thought about that...well, he hadn't thought about that since it happened.  But here he was with his own child in his arms, listening to the drone of a television hoisted up into the upper corner of the room, and trying to keep his eyes open.

His head kept falling to her shoulder, in spite of how badly he needed to stay awake.

Her giggle caused his eyelids to flicker.  He squinted, bringing the screen back into focus.  An infomercial; praised the merits of hanging upside down.  A man with 6 pack abs gave his testimonial for the medieval looking equipment. 

Footy pajama clad feet swung back and forth between his shins.  She was still awake.

She would be ridiculously cranky tomorrow...er...today, Jim thought glancing at his watch again.  Damn.

The last the time he'd checked Pam was only at 3 centimeters.  He needed to get back to her.

"Mommy's going to kill me if you don't fall asleep in the next 15 minutes, ok....You wanna help me out with that?"

"Daddy, that man's funny...Huh Daddy?"

How could this be? How could she asking questions and coherent and smiling up at the TV?  It was official - Jill was a robot.  A robot who ignored questions she didn't really want to hear.  A robot who would not let you ignore hers.

Jill reached up to gently pat his scruffy cheek, prodding him to answer her question. "Huh Daddy? That man's funny? I think we should get that machine Daddy.  That's fun."

Tiredly, he let his head fall on top of hers. "Beanie, please, please, please go to sleep. We don't have any space for that thing and we don't want it.  Go to sleep."

"Daddy -

"Shush," Jim said a bit more sharply than he normally would.  His patience had dwindled down to nothing in the past hour.

With a silent pout, Jill settled back against his chest.  She was blissfully asleep for the next hour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ok...we just have to try this..." Jim said whispering to Pam as he helped her out of bed.

"I'm not...Why?" She said, following him to the side of her bed none the less.  Her movements were slow and the last thing she wanted to be doing was dancing, but he was persistent. 

Tired and cranky was more like it.  Shouldn't she have been the one giving the orders around here?

Jim reached around her and swiveled the wheel of her iPod.  "I made you this mix and you're not even listening to it."

"How would you know what I'm listening to you, you're not even in here with me?" She said moving towards him when he took her hands in his, guiding them towards his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, whose fault is that?" he ased as the familiar fuzzy drone of the beginning of the song started to play softly through the docking station. They had to listen to it quietly to keep Jill from waking in the corner of the room, but it was loud enough.

"You're the one who won't let me call Mic -

"Aww," Pam said suddenly realizing what song he'd put on.  "Don't say his name right now," she finished, going all fuzzy inside as she laid her head against Jim's shoulder.  They couldn't manage a walk down the hall right now with Jill still with them, but they could manage this.

They could manage dancing to ‘their song'.  They could manage a good sway, like they had before.  Just like then, swaying wasn't dancing - but it was certainly close enough.

Jim kept his hands light at her waist. "You ok?"

"Yes...thank you.  This is pretty perfect. I'm glad you made the mix and not me."

Jim snickered. "Ssssh...If we're real quiet maybe the baby will come out."

Pam smiled against his shoulder. "It's not like hunting rabbit, Jim.  It's a ..."

Her voice hitched and Jim stilled his feet, planting them wide to hold on to her as she buried her face in his chest, taking a deep breath.

"That one feels pretty strong," he said quietly as her breath hitched again, a small moan slipping from her lips.

She took a deep breath and let her head rest against his shoulder again.  They didn't move an inch. "It's the same as it's been. It's not really any stronger or weaker...just - the same."

Jim rubbed her back slowly as they began to sway gently once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jim's parents wouldn't be making it for at least another hour.  They'd been unable to leave his brother's house the night before, and to be honest he hadn't really wanted them out driving anyhow in the dark.  His dad's eyes weren't what they used to be. 

According to Pam's doctor the notion of subsequent babies just ‘slipping out' was unfortunately not always true.  The plan was to wait another two hours, if dilation hadn't progressed past the 3 she was currently at, then they would start to administer Pitosin to help make Pam's contractions stronger.  

These seemed to be the magic words for Pam.  The Epidural Man came about thirty minutes later while Jim and Jill stood out in the hall.

"Daddy who's that?"

"That is your new Daddy."

"Huh?"

Indeed.

When Jim and Jill reentered Pam's room, she looked nearly blissful. "Could you wait to run off with him until after you have my kid?"

Pam smiled. "No promises."

Jill just looked perplexed.  Jim just kissed her cheek and smiled at Pam.

Epidural or not, it was becoming clear that they were going to have to call Dunder-Mifflin to say they weren't coming in today.  Which meant Michael would know.

"Think of it this way...if we call Michael before he actually gets into work, it'll just be him.  But if he knows after he gets to work, he's going to announce where he's going and then what? We've got a potential party on our hands."

"Party...that's one word for it," Pam sighed. "Ok..." she said finally relenting.  Jim had a good point.  It could end up a lot worse. "Call him."

Jim did just that, calling Michael at home.  He put him on speaker.

"Michael, hey it's Jim. I'm sorry to call you so early, man."

"Oh my God! Are you in labor! Is Pam's vagi -

"Michael, you're on speaker and Jill's in the room!" Jim said cutting him off quickly with a warning.  "I repeat: Jill is in the room."

"Oh! Oh my God! Hi Jill! How are you my little, Lamb chop?"

It was his nickname for Jill, a take off on Pam Chop and Mary Had a Little Lamb...because of the nursery rhyme and because Jill was a little kid...

"Hi Michael!" Jill yelled into the phone.

"Wow! Lungs," Michael said giggling at Jill's volume.

"Hey, Michael...Listen, we were wondering if it might not be too much of a bother for you to maybe..." Jim licked his lips. "My parents are stuck out of town and we're expecting Pam's mom...but it'd be really great if you could maybe come by and hang out with Jill for a bit. We would really, really appreciate it."

"Oh my God! Wow. You mean like...instead of going to work. Of course - I always have time for Goddaughter."

Goddaughter.  Aaaand there it was.

Jim and Pam stared at one another, suddenly feeling a tad guilty.  Michael was her ‘honorary' Godfather, or so he thought.  Yet they called on him for nothing. Except for a time like this - when they desperately needed a favor.  Pam bit her lip, feeling bad about that all of a sudden.

He really would do just about anything for Jill. "Michael that would be great," Pam said shifting in her bed, "Thank you."

"No problemo. I will be there in two shakes of a Lambs tale, Pam Chop and Lamb Chop."

Jill giggled.

Michael arrived and took Jill to breakfast across the street.  Two hours passed and the doctor, true to his word began administering Pitosin to increase Pam's contractions. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, 12:22 p.m.

It was noon.  Noon and no progress.  Even with the Pitosin, even with increases in the Pitosin.  Even with turning and repositioning and napping so that when the time came she'd be ready to push - this baby - Baby A - had no desire to enter the world.

Jim sat behind Pam and massaged her shoulders.  Thankfully the Epidural worked pretty wonderfully for her, so she wasn't in a ton of pain but she almost wished she was. If she were in more pain, that would mean her contractions were getting stronger, thus her dilation would be increasing...Nothing though. Nada.

The nurses told her not to feel bad - that sometimes - many times actually - these things happened. They called it, Dystocia and told her that soon the doctor would probably approach them with some new options.  

That was when someone said the magic word.  Jim hadn't known it was a magic word...but somehow - it was. As soon as the nurse left the room, the magic word turned his world upside down.

C-Section.

Uttering the word was like flipping a switch inside of Pam.  She was instantly in tears.

"Hey," Jim said moving around so that he could sit on the side of her bed, when she covered her face with her hands and sobbed, he thought he'd missed something. 

"Hey," he whispered again, alarm filling his voice when she wouldn't answer. He pushed the hair that had escaped the bun atop her head, away from her forehead. "Pam...what is it? What's the matter? Do you want me to get the doctor?"

She just shook her head soundlessly.

Was she just exhausted? Jim wracked his brain.

Finally after another few seconds of crying, he heard her mumble the word, C-section and shake her head.   "It's too much...I'll be home forever...I can't be home that long...No, no...no...."

Jim's eyes widened as Pam lay there, panicking over...something that women did all the time right? Was it really that big of a deal? He knew better than to ask that. Of course it was a big deal. If it was a big deal to her, it was a big deal. Ok...ok...

Think...

"Pam," he said, his hand on her face. "I'll be there. I'll be there the entire time, and if I need to take off more time from work, I will. Don't worry about that. It's fine. I promise. I'm the boss right....I can take as much time as I want."

"No...it's not fine!" She moaned. "It's not!...I don't want to do it."

"Pam, you heard the doctor...Come on, don't you want a break now? You've done your time and this baby is not cooperating," Jim added, hoping for a smile.

None came. "I don't want it...I want to just have the baby this way...just like we're doing..."

"Or not doing," Jim said, trying to make her see reason. "Pam..."

"No..."

Jim kept his eyes on her as she lay there, crying as she stared up at the ceiling. He reached out and caught a tear that slipped down the side of her face. "Hey," he said whispering as it finally hit him, "Are you scared? I mean of the procedure?"

She sniffled a few times and then nodded wordlessly.  The tears really started coming then.

"Hey," he said again leaning forward then. His hands were in hers, and in that moment he was so amazingly thankful for Michael. Thank God they weren't having to go through this with Jill in the room. He'd taken her to the park for the afternoon. "I swear to you that it's going to be fine. They probably do tons of these everyday...Hey," he said willing her to look at him. He pressed his lips to her hand.

He'd never known her to be afraid of anything medical before, but when he thought about it...this was...a lot.  She was ridiculously tired and now this.  Now major surgery to wrap her mind around.  It made complete sense.

"You're going to be fine. You know that.  We'll find out everything we need to know and I promise it'll be fine."

Jim sighed when she started to cry silently again and did his best to curve his body so that he fit against her, but between everything she was hooked to and everything that was hooked to her, and the size of the hospital bed it was difficult to do so.  His hand drifted against her moist cheek.  "Hey," he said kissing her nose as a tear slipped down the side. "...We're almost there..."

She was sniffling and trying to take a deep breath all at once. "I don't want this...I don't want to do it like this...Please? Tell them not to...please?"

Jim cleared his throat in an attempt to talk through the sudden tightness there. He'd been good all damn night and into the morning, but when she said things like that - when she begged him to do something that he absolutely couldn't do...that was when he lost it.  He blinked a few times to clear the tears that came.

"Sweetie I can't...You gotta catch a break soon...right?...Listen, I promise you everything'll be fine...I promise.  It's not what we planned, but since when does anything go the way we planned it right?...I promise it'll be fine....In just a little while we're going to have another beautiful little girl.  I know just yesterday it was more quickly than we expected, but aren't you anxious now? Don't you just want her?...I just want to see her," he added quietly.

Pam nodded. "Yeah."

"I want to see Jill with her," he said smiling.

Pam smiled through her tears and took a deep shuddering breath. "I know she's going to be great."

"She's going to be great, because you're great...God, you're so amazing...You've been working so hard....Let's just do this. Let's just do it this way and then we'll have a baby.  Ok?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recovery Room

So they had another baby.  She was only 6 lbs, 8 oz. which Pam thought was pretty ironic given how much  weight she'd gained, (big enough for octo-mom status according to Kelly) and she looked nothing like Jill, but looked nothing like them either.  She was her own.  And she wasn't an Allie or an April or an Ava or an Amy....or even an Amanda.  She seemed like an Alyce though.

Alyce.

There was something sweet about her, but maybe a bit more reserved than Jill had been at her age. 

"Alyce," Jim said letting it roll off his tongue. "That was the name of the mom on Family Ties right?"

"Oh my God...please don't - We haven't filled anything out yet - I can still change it. Don't go putting -

"Stop, stop," Jim said, kissing Pam face.  Her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, her lips...right before finding his red faced little baby. "I think we should name you Drama," he whispered to her.

Pam bent slightly, inhaling her little baby scent and her deep, dark, incredibly soft, hair.  It was darker than she remembered Jill's being.  Alyce blinked once and then twice and then closed her eyes for what seemed like forever.

God, what a perfect little face.  Pam wanted to stare at her forever. If not for the heaviness of her own eyes, she probably would have.

Jim watched them both.  Pam had been awesome during the C-section, she'd gotten a tad nauseous but they'd assured her that it was normal and Jim had simply held her hand, whispering that in minutes they'd have a baby. A whole other person to call their own...

Their own...

"Should I go find Jill?" He asked, letting his finger trail along Alyse's tiny nose, her cheeks...

Pam nodded silently and Jim got up and went out into the hall.  His parents and hers had arrived awhile before and had already gotten a chance to meet Alyse.  Michael had kept Jill occupied though, taking her to the mall and back again.  

Jill was busy rolling Michael's tie up into a little ball when Jim came out.  He extended his hand to her and she grinned and came running towards him.  "Wanna come meet Baby sister Alyse?" He asked, bending to pick her up.

She stopped in her tracks. Her face a mask of confusion, "Alyse?"

He'd forgotten...it was a far cry from Chrysanthemum.  He prepared himself for the wrath of Jill.

"That's a great name," Michael said then. "Now you can be Queen Jill and Princess Alyse."

Jill grinned. "Princess Alyse," She said again. "And Queen Jill...Rulers of the Kingdom."

Michael giggled. "Absolutely. Rulers of the School."

Jim stuck his hands in his pockets. Michael...

"Princess Alyse...and Queen Jill," Jill said then, nodding to herself this time. She let the name roll off her tongue and did a bit of a flourish, bowing with it.

Oh boy.

"Welcome Princess Alyse to the kingdom of..."

"Oooook," Jim said cutting her off. "Let's go meet her," he reached down lifting her into his arms. "Now she's really tiny ok? And she's sleeping so let's make sure we're real gentle....and Mommy needs to rest too, so we'll just go and in and introduce ourselves, alright? You'll get to see Mommy a lot longer next time..."

Jill nodded excitedly while Jim started to carry her towards Pam's room.  Michael turned, heading back towards the waiting room and Jim noticed the tiny bag in Jill's hand for the first time.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Uncle Michael helped me get a present for Baby Ch - Alyse..."

"What is it?"

"A little stuffed Bunny."

Jim turned around suddenly and called after Michael.  "Hey! Michael...You want to come meet your new Goddaughter?"

Michael stopped in his tracks and pointed to himself. "Me? Jim...I think this time you have to pick one of your brothers right? I mean...you can't do what you did last time...it's not fair to them," he said grinning a bit.

Oh Michael. 

Jim smiled. "No, you know what Michael? Pam and I really think you should be it."

"Really? Again?"

Jim smiled. "Really."

"Ok then," Michael said smiling and shaking his head as he began to follow them. He looked at the camera and his best Mob Boss voice said, "The Godfather - part four."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four Days Later

"Ok," Pam said slowly easing Alyse into Jill's little arms. "Make sure your back is against the pillows and just be super careful of her head...That ‘a girl...that's perfect."

"Mommy! She's so wiggly!" 

"Ssssh," Jim said shushing her as he sat down on the other side of her on the bed, careful to move slowly and not jar the baby.  She was a pretty good sleeper, but his hope was that Pam would take a nap too after this and if Alyse woke up that would be the end of that.

"I know...she is isn't she?  Gosh you're such a good helper. Thank you so much Jilly."

"Mommy, she's just an itty bitty baby, huh Mommy?"

"Yep. Just like you were," Pam said smiling at her. She let her fingertips drift through Jill's hair.  "Here let's fix her little cap so her head doesn't get too cold," Pam said helping Jill to adjust Alyse's soft pink cap.

"Her head gets cold Mommy?"

"She doesn't have all this hair yet," Pam explained touching Jill's hair again.

Jim watched Pam's hands.  Watched the way she touched them both.  Jill's hair, then Alyse, then Jill again...Mesmerized by her own creations. All of them little parts of herself, of him...

She was an absolute natural at it all.  He knew the balance would get tough as the days wore on, but what this woman had ever been worried about - he couldn't fathom.

Jim gingerly extricated himself from the Halpert huddle just long enough to dig into his nightstand.  "Ok...everybody," he whispered. "Look over here."

"Oh, Daddy wants a picture," Pam said, "Here, just turn really slowly so you don't wake her," she said helping Jill to turn her body so that Alyse was in the picture.

Jill smiled up at him. "Take a good one Daddy...This is Lysee's most favorite day."

Jim smiled behind the camera.  "Everyone say Most Favorite Day on three. One, two, three..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This story has been an absolute joy to write for the last three plus years.  When I began writing it I had no idea I'd end up writing it for as long as I have been. In fact, Labor Relations was meant to be a stand alone, one-shot.  It's funny what a few reviews will do to a gal. ;-)

It's been just so, so, fun and the readers on this board have been ridiculously generous to me with their support and reviews. For a little old "baby fic", it sure kept truckin'.

Cheers, to this not remaining just "AU".  Here's to Thursday, all you Jammers!

Lovefool