(AN: I know, there are tons of Daddy!Jim fics out there…but I can't help myself. Oh, I almost forgot, I own zip that has to do with The Office. Except seasons 2 and 3 on DVD. But that's all. I swear.)

Over the past three years, Jim Halpert's life had taken a few unexpected turns. First, he transferred to the Stamford branch of Dunder Mifflin pretty much on a whim, as a way to escape his feelings for the Scranton branch's receptionist (who was also his best friend). Then, he began a whirlwind romance with Karen Fillipelli, which ended when she went into early labor with their child. It was then he knew he had to step up and do something with his life, instead of letting everything fly by him. He told her things just didn't feel right anymore. The truth was, Jim was still in love with Pam.

Karen had given birth to a girl, who they named Faith. She had spent the first five months of her life in the NICU at Stamford Hospital. Jim stayed by her side the entire time; he had practically used up all his sick and personal days so he could be with her until she was allowed to come home – wherever that was, since Jim never really considered Stamford to be home. Even though things were rough for the two of them, since little Faith was always surrounded by doctors and hooked up to medical equipment and given various tests to figure out exactly what was wrong with her, Jim still had hope that he, and his daughter, would end up back in Scranton some day.

It turned out that Faith had cerebral palsy, and would probably either end up in a wheelchair or have trouble walking her whole life. Jim knew it would be a long road back to a normal life, but he also knew that he'd have to stay strong for his baby girl, and that he couldn't give up on what he really wanted. Little did he know, the road back would be longer than he'd thought.

* * *

Jim was woken one morning by Faith's soft whimpers from her crib. She was two now, but her physical therapist had advised Jim to keep her in the crib until she was strong enough to keep herself from rolling off of a regular bed. Jim grinned as he walked into Faith's room, her whimpers becoming excited giggles as he came over and scooped her up.

"You sleep good monkey?" he asked her. She smiled that crooked, toothy smile that he loved. It was his smile. She nodded, her dark locks flailing in all directions. "Looks to me like that hair of yours needs to be brushed, little miss," Jim said, carrying Faith over to the changing table on the other side of the room. "But first, we need to take care of a few other things." Jim then took off Faith's pajamas and changed her diaper. Then he straddled her on his hip and proceeded to rifle through her closet for something to wear. After several minutes of "This one? Or this one?" she had finally made a decision. Then came Faith's least favorite part.

"C'mon monkey, I have to put these on you. Please don't fight me honey," Jim pleaded as he tried to put the hard plastic braces on Faith's tiny legs. She flailed and kicked anyway, despite Jim's efforts. "You're gonna make me late for my new job sweetheart," Jim said. "Now come on, just let me get these on you, and then I'll go drop you off at grandma's, `kay?" This brought a smile to Faith's little face.

After that, Jim attempted to pull a brush through Faith's mangled hair. He even topped it off by sliding two small clips on each side of her head. "There we go. All done," Jim said with a smile. His daughter grinned back at him, and his heart melted. "Oops, almost forgot one thing," Jim remembered, taking Faith's glasses off of her bedside table and putting them on her small face.

* * *

Faith hadn't cried when Jim dropped her off at his parents', which was a good sign. On the drive to work, things began to get more and more familiar to him; like the "Scranton Welcomes You" sign, and the Penn Paper building. He was starting to feel at home again. He secretly hoped that not much had changed since he'd left, but he highly doubted that.

Jim clicked the button on the elevator, and he began to feel nervous. The elevator dinged, and he stepped in, alone. He was glad he didn't have face any of his old coworkers yet. He took one deep breath, and proceeded into the office, trying to look confident, even though he was scared as hell on the inside.

(AN: This took me forever to write, surprisingly. Please, please, PLEASE review! Tell me if you liked it, if you hated it, if you have any suggestions, it doesn't matter! Just review; it helps me write. Also, if you're wondering where I got the plot idea from, it's kind of autobiographical, except my dad isn't Jim, and I wasn't his and Karen's lovechild.)