I do not own The Office - I wish I did, Jim would be all kinds of naked each week =)
*****
"Come back here, you little monkey." Jim laughed as he chased after Ellie, who was crawling naked across the living room at lighting speed. "Let's put your diaper on at least, 'kay?" Lifting her up into his arms he laid her gently on the floor. "Pam will be here in a minute. You liked her a lot, do you remember Pam?" he asked, as he fastened the diaper securely despite her squirming to get away. As soon as he was done, she hauled herself up onto her hands and knees, lifted her butt into the air and made her way quickly towards the couch. He loved seeing how proud she was of herself each and every time she lifted herself up and stood under her own power, all be it with the aid of the couch. He couldn't wait until she was walking on her own. He loved nothing more than taking her little hands in his and helping her make her way across a room, but to be able to sit down and have Ellie walk towards him all by herself was something he was looking forward to - something her was practically counting down to.
The doorbell rang, and as she always did, Ellie clapped her hands excitedly, wobbling slightly on her feet. Of course, by letting go of the couch, it meant she then fell flat on her butt, laughing on her way down. Jim chuckled at her as he made his way towards the door knowing Ellie was tagging along behind him.
This was her new thing; she would try and follow him everywhere. It wasn't that she'd cry when he left the room, but she was already an extremely inquisitive little girl and wanted to know everything that was going on around her. So her following him to the front door didn't surprise him.
"Hey," he said, welcoming their visitor with a quick hug.
"Hey, yourself," she smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have missed that memo you sent me this morning."
"What memo?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion and ushering her into the house.
"Well seeing as you're both shirtless, I just assumed you had a theme in mind for our picnic in the park," she smirked. He could tell he was blushing, and Pam was enjoying watching the colour climb up his body and give him a deliciously rosy glow all the way to the tips of his ears.
He'd been so busy getting things organised for their trip, and trying to keep Ellie from getting into everything that he'd completely forgotten he hadn't put his t-shirt on yet.
He cleared his throat, the embarrassment written so plainly on his face. "Oh God, yeah, sorry about that. It's been a crazy morning," he explained, pointing at the mess on the living room floor that Ellie had been slowly creating since she'd woken up.
"Hey, no need to apologise. In fact, I'm enjoying the show, so you just take your time getting ready," she teased, kicking off her keds.
Jim lowered his head, blushing at her not so subtle flirting. "You're too much, Beesly," he chuckled, causing Pam to laugh at his reaction.
"What? It's true!"
He laughed, her eyes telling him she was enjoying herself and the fact that she was so openly flirting with him made him all...tingly... inside.
Ever since their "date" on Wednesday, they'd been taking their lunch outside every day and sitting on the small patch of grass at the back of the building and talking. At one point, they'd shared a dorky little moment where she'd made them shake hands and agree that even though they weren't "officially" dating each other yet, they certainly weren't going to "officially" date anyone else either.
He was fine with the arrangement and he was pretty sure she'd just said it for him. Especially after he'd explained his reasons for wanting to take things slowly, he had Ellie to worry about and she had to come first. He knew he wanted to be with her, he just needed to psyche himself up a little before he took the next step. To know that Pam understood that and had assured him that she was fine to wait until he was ready, just made that tingly feeling appear again.
"My uh, my shirt is in the living room," he mumbled nervously, picking Ellie up from the floor as she attempted to climb his leg. "Hey, Elliecakes, do you remember Pam?" he asked as the little girl in his arms eyed the lady in front of her warily. He could practically see the little clogs turning in Ellie's brain. He instantly knew the moment when she recognised Pam. A gummy smile broke across her face and she waved, before burying her head into his shoulder. "You're not shy," he teased, waving his fingers in front of Ellie's face before bringing them down to her tummy and tickling her.
Pam followed them into the living room and watched as Jim gingerly laid Ellie on the floor in between his stretched out legs and began to get her dressed. "Hey, do you wanna check you like everything I've packed for us to eat?" he suggested, pulling a red and green dress over Ellie's head and pointing to the cool bag in the corner of the room.
"Sure." Walking over, she peered inside the bag. "This all looks really good, especially this weird looking... pureed stuff," she teased, waving the jar of Ellie's lunch in front of her.
"I'll have you know that's a favourite in this house."
"Oh really?" she grinned.
"Yep, it's probably one of the most popular dishes we offer at the moment," he told her, placing Ellie on his lap and began putting on the sandals that matched her dress. "It's called Scrumptious Banana Berry Delight, and the name does not lie." He stopped and stared seriously at Pam. "It is scrumptious and it is delightful and full of banana goodness."
"Please tell me you didn't name it that yourself?" she asked, letting out a delicate snort as she laughed.
"You'd like that wouldn't you? But no, I didn't name it myself. I got it from this little book my mom bought me when Ellie starting eating solids."
"Aww, you have a baby recipe book?"
"Well, I... I guess I do, but its way more macho than a recipe book, Pam, it's called the... Top 100 Baby Purees."
"Oh that does sound way more macho, you're right," she snickered.
"I think Pam is having too much fun mocking your Daddy today, what do you think?" he asked Ellie, his hands carefully signing enough to make Ellie feel involved in what he was saying. Jim helped her stand up by her hands so that she was in front of him, wobbling slightly on her feet. "Well, don't you look pretty?" he said, grinning like a crazy man when Ellie pointed to him and copied the sign for pretty, and then did the same to Pam.
He turned smiling to Pam and caught her blushing, "She just said you're..."
"Pretty? I'm a fast learner."
"You are," he told her, clearing his throat nervously. "So, hey, what do you think? Is this acceptable picnic attire?" he asked, holding Ellie out in front of Pam.
"Oh my, God."
"What?"
"She looks like a watermelon. Jim, that dress is SO cute."
"Yeah, you like it? I saw it the other day and I thought she'd look cute in it. Wanna see something even cuter?"
"Of course."
He reached behind him and pulled over a bag. "Okay, close your eyes."
"No."
"Oh come on. Don't be a party pooper."
"I have to close my eyes? Really?"
"Trust me, you will like this, but you really need to close your eyes to appreciate just how awesome these are."
"Okay." She sighed playfully, closing her eyes tight.
"You can open them now," he said, laughter evident in his voice.
She opened her eyes and smiled instantly when she saw that Jim had placed a matching pair of sunglasses onto Ellie.
"I think this may be the cutest outfit I have ever seen."
"Yeah? I think I made a pretty good choice. You like shopping with Daddy, don't you, Elliecakes? Oh, and they gave me these little clip things to go with her dress," he explained, handing the bag over to Pam. "I have NO idea what to do with them, maybe you would know - being a girl and all."
"Why, yes, I am a girl, Jim. I'm glad you noticed," she smirked, attempting to open the little plastic bag the hairclips were sealed in.
"Hey, you're not the only fast learner in this room."
She poked her tongue out at him, before using her teeth to rip open the plastic.
"So, are you gonna teach me how to do her hair?"
"Sure. Oh these are adorable," she cooed, twirling the matching watermelon clips between her fingers. "All you do is slide them in and they'll snap closed."
Jim bit his bottom lip and looked at her, a confused expression on his face. "Okay, but I don't know where to put them, and I don't want to ruin my child's street cred just yet, you know?"
"Want me to show you?"
"Yes please."
Pam sat on the floor next to Jim and held her arms out to Ellie. "Do you think she'll come to...?" She hadn't even finished the question before Ellie had climbed into her lap and made herself comfortable, seeing the colourful clips in Pam's hands she tried to reach for them. "Okay, it's really easy. You watching?" she asked, gathering a little tuft of Ellie's hair, sliding the clip into place, and popping it shut. "See? Easy. Want to try?"
"No, I think I'm good. It looks too cute for me to mess it up." He held his arms out, expecting Ellie to crawl over to him, but she was much more interested in playing with the curls hanging loosely by Pam's shoulders. And there was that tingly feeling back again, just from looking at Ellie so content in Pam's arms. Today was going to be awesome.
"Okay, fine. Be like that, Daddy doesn't care," Jim teased as he reached over and pinched Ellie's nose. "Are you alright holding her while I pack the car up?"
Pam nodded as she felt Ellie's little hands move to rest on her cheeks. "Yeah, I think I'll be ok. Hurry up though, I'm hungry."
*
Once they got to the park, they walked around for a while until they found somewhere relatively quiet to sit. Jim shook out a blanket he'd brought with and placed it on the grass, and Pam began unloading their food. "Hey, what's this?" Pam asked shaking a Tupperware container in front of her face, trying to identify what was inside.
"Oh, those will be cold homemade French fries," he explained, throwing Ellie's Bumbo seat on the blanket and unbuckling her from her stroller.
"That sounds... disgusting."
Placing Ellie on to the blanket, he watched with amusement as she tried to manoeuvre herself off of the floor and into her little seat by herself. "I know, but she loves them," he grinned, pouring some sunscreen onto his hands and rubbing it evenly all over Ellie and himself.
Pam brought her hand up to her mouth and laughed.
"What's so funny?" he asked, rubbing his hand over the base of his neck making sure the cream was all rubbed in.
Leaning over to read the bottle in his hands, she continued to laugh. "I find it amusing that you've just covered yourself in 'Huggies Little Swimmers Moisturizing Sunscreen,' that's all."
"I'll have you know I have very delicate skin, Pam. This leaves me lovely and soft..." He explained, trying desperately not to laugh. "Anyway, you're just jealous."
Reaching for a bottle of water from the cooler she grinned, "I'm jealous? Of what exactly?"
He thrust his arm under her nose.
"Why am I smelling you?"
"To show you how awesome I smell when I use this stuff. Smell me," he insisted. "See? I smell like coconut and mango."
"Mmm, you do smell good."
He could feel her breath on his arm and it was driving him nuts. Her lips were practically touching his skin and he wouldn't be surprised if his brain short-circuited at that moment. What the hell was he thinking?
It was at that moment that Ellie decided to let Jim know she was hungry and had seen the fries sitting in the little box on the blanket. She pointed to the fries and then brought her hand up to her mouth repeatedly; her fingertips touched her thumb and tapped her lips to illustrate placing food into her mouth.
"You want some lunch?" he asked, waving the box in front of her and then pulling it away quickly. "You can't have any of these, these are Daddy's." He loved teasing Ellie like that. She was leaning towards him laughing and sticking her tongue out, rubbing her chest in circular motions.
"What's she saying?" Pam asked.
Jim opened the box and bit off both ends of a fry before handing it to Ellie. "She's saying please," he grinned proudly, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. "Good girl."
"Aww. Is that yummy?" Pam asked, rubbing her stomach. "Can she hear me?"
"Yeah, she has her aids in so she can hear us," he explained, offering Pam some potato salad. "It's nowhere near perfect, but it's something. The doctors recommended that I try and sign as much as possible while she's young, so she can learn it and use it whenever she needs when she's older."
"That makes sense."
"Yeah, and it's worked out pretty well for us. I'm really proud of how well she's picked it up, you know?"
Ellie reached her arm out and offered Pam some of her chewed up soggy French fry.
"I don't think she wants your fry, baby," Jim laughed, watching as Pam shook her head. Ellie then turned and offered it to Jim, baffled as to why no one wanted to share her lunch. He leaned forward and opened his mouth, accepting the present from Ellie, which was now not only mushy, but also completely squashed.
Pam wrinkled her nose. "Now that's love."
"Now you can never doubt my bravery - soggy, smushed fries is the deciding factor in brave daddy-ness," he grinned as he shovelled some salad onto his plate and dug in. They ate in a comfortable silence for a few moments, both content to sit and watch Ellie.
Pam was first to break the silence. "So, tell me something really random about yourself."
"Hmm," he thought aloud, licking his fork. "I have been the commissioner of a Fantasy Football league for the past ten years."
Throwing her head back, she struggled to control the laughing fit she was about to have. "Oh my God. You're such a dork."
Feigning offence, Jim crossed his arms. "Hey! Only people who have no idea about fantasy football say that. This is a serious sport, Pam."
"Oh, I'm sure it is, and I'm sure you're great at it."
"You're mocking me, Pam and I have to say I do not appreciate that. I am awesome and I kick everyone's ass in fantasy football."
"Okay, okay. I take it back," she said, shaking her head. "You're not a dork."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better aren't you?" he asked, biting off the ends of some more fries for Ellie.
Shaking her head she smiled slightly. "No, of course I'm not... Okay, yeah I am."
"Thanks. In that case, I do believe I get a 'mock Pam for free' token now, so come on. It's your turn. Time to tell me something random."
She scrunched up her nose and sighed dramatically, grinning playfully before she continued. "Okay. So before you picked me up, I was watching T.V and a Six Flags commercial came on."
"Okaaay."
"And that old guy was dancing, please tell me you know what I'm talking about?" she asked, almost desperate, hoping she hadn't embarrassed herself.
"I know exactly what you're talking about, I just have absolutely no idea where you're going with this."
"God, I hate him! Urgh! He's so annoying and I just don't see the POINT of him! He's just so creepy! I hate that freaking commercial SO much."
He brought a hand up and rested it gently on her shoulder. "Don't hold back, Pam. Tell me how you really feel," he replied sarcastically. "Now who's the dork?" He asked, handing Ellie her sippy cup.
She rested her hand on her chest as though she was communicating that her heart was broken. "Hey, be nice. I just shared one of my deepest darkest secrets with you."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that what that was?"
Reaching over she pinched his arm mischievously. "Yeah, that was hard for me."
"That's what she..."
"Don't say it Jim. I beg you. Do not say it," she warned light-heartedly.
"Sorry, it just slipped out..."
"Stop it," she laughed. "You're being a dork."
"Oh, come on. You know you want to say it." He smirked; his face was beginning to ache from smiling so much.
She stretched her legs out in front of her and lent back. "Fine. That's what she said. Are you happy now?"
"Yes I do believe I am."
"You are so weird."
"Why, thank you, Ma'am!"
They were silent for a moment, both unable to take their eyes off of each other. Neither of them wanted to be the first to look away.
The moment was broken when Ellie climbed into his lap and began to play with his nose. "Wanna come play on the swings with us?" he asked, scooping a giggling Ellie into his arms.
"Sure," she smiled warmly, standing up and following them to the playground.
He placed Ellie in the swing and gently began to push her. Each time the swing brought her forwards she squealed, clapping her hands and banging her fingertips together.
"She's telling me she wants more," he explained, mimicking Ellie's request and nodding his head to let her know he understood what she meant.
"Do you guys come here a lot?" Pam asked, taking a seat on one of the more grown up swings next to them and began pushing herself slowly.
He stepped behind Pam, pulling her back and then letting her go with a hearty push. "Yeah. If the weather's good, I like to bring her every weekend... hold on, tight," he warned, pushing her higher.
He spent the next ten minutes alternating between pushing Ellie and Pam on the swings.
"Okay, I think we're done. My arms hurt," he groaned, rubbing his biceps and lifting Ellie out of the chair.
"Does Ellie like the slide?"
"Hmm?" he asked, too busy blowing raspberries on to Ellie's cheeks to have heard what she said.
"I asked if Ellie liked the slide."
"Oh, I don't know. She's never been on one."
"Are you kidding me?"
He shook his head. "No, she's not old enough to go on one on her own and it's not like I can take her. I'm too tall."
"Awww, Jim. That's so sad. You're depriving her. Do you think she'll go on one with me?"
"I don't see why not. Go on, you climb up and I'll hand her to you when you're ready."
He watched as Pam made her way up to the top of the slide - his eyes lingering on her butt as she climbed the ladder. How had he never noticed her ass before? He'd seen it of course, but he'd never really seen it. And now he couldn't stop looking at it. It was like some magnetic force was forcing him to look - okay, that was a little dramatic, but he really was finding it impossible not to look. He felt a twinge of guilt; here he was at the park with his little girl, and he couldn't stop ogling some woman's backside. Okay, so it wasn't some woman, it was Pam, but still, wasn't there some sort of law against this sort of thing while your kid was around?
"Hey. Earth to Jim."
"Hmm?" he said, looking up so that he could see Pam more clearly.
"You okay?" she asked, concern lining her face. "I lost you for a minute there."
"Sorry, I was just thinking," he said, hoping she didn't press him any further. "You ready to take her?" He asked, lifting Ellie up into the air.
"Sure," she said, smiling softly at Jim as she held out her arms, and made faces at Ellie.
Once he was sure Ellie was safely in Pam's arms, he walked around to the bottom of the slide so he could see them come down. He watched in awe as Pam attempted to communicate with Ellie, and the way she carefully manoeuvred them both at the top of the slide. It amused him on numerous occasions where Pam had insisted that kids didn't seem to warm to her, or that she wasn't any good with them. It was clear from watching her with Ellie that she was a natural.
"Are you ready, Daddy?" Pam asked, wrapping her arms securely around Ellie.
Jim walked to the bottom of the slide and waved. "Ready."
He always teased his mom when she told him that the sound of your child having fun is like music to your ears, and listening to Ellie giggling hysterically as she came down the slide - he knew exactly what his mom meant. He couldn't deny that it felt strange watching Ellie enjoying herself with someone else, but he could already see how much she was benefiting from interacting with someone other than him and his mom.
He laughed heartily as he watched them make their way down the slide. "Did you like that, baby?" He asked, taking Ellie from Pam's arms and kissing her cheek.
The little girl smiled and rubbed at her eyes.
Yeah, it's been a long day, huh? You ready to go sleepsies?" he asked, spreading his fingers in front of his face. He then brought his hand down, closing his fingers together, and dropped his head, closing his eyes for added effect.
Ellie shook her head and leaned back in his arms, letting out a cry, a sign that she was clearly over tired and cranky.
He placed his hand behind Ellie's head and brought it to rest on his chest. "Hey, shh, come on, Sweetheart. It's time for boe-boes."
"Boe-boes?" Pam asked, trying to hide the laughter in her voice.
Looking up, he grinned. "It means nap time."
"I know what it means," she said smiling, "but where did boe-boes come from?"
He carefully manoeuvred Ellie, rocking her gently to try and get her to fall asleep in his arms as he made his way back over to their blanket. "It's what my Mom used to say to us when we were little. It just stuck with me I guess."
"Aww that's really cute. My mom used to call it sleepy time," she told him, reaching out to stroke Ellie's hair.
"Wow, that's original," he teased, as he sat down, and rearranged Ellie so that her face was nestled into the crook of his neck. "100 points to Mrs. Beesly for her creativity."
"Shut up," she laughed, leaning back on her hands.
He wasn't looking at her; his attention was focused solely on the child sleeping soundly in his arms. He sensed Pam closely watching him, and he looked up, smiling briefly in response. The sheer intensity of her stare sent his body in to overdrive, causing goose bumps to appear all over his skin. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, taking in the sights and sounds around them, Jim gently rocking Ellie in his arms. Even though the park was fairly quiet, there were still people around and they'd discovered pretty early on in their friendship that they both shared a passion for people watching. During the week, they'd grab lunch, and would sometimes just sit in his car and watch the world go by. That was something he loved about Pam, the fact that they could sit there in silence and it wouldn't be awkward. He'd never really experienced that with anyone before and it was strangely comforting. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Pam moving things around on the blanket.
"Hey." He said quietly, rubbing his cheek softly against the top of Ellie's head. "What you doing?"
Pam blushed furiously, and was unable to look him in the eye. "I uh, I just thought you might want to lay her down or something. I wasn't sure if the stroller would be comfortable enough, it probably is though right?" she rambled nervously, pointing to the makeshift bed she'd created out of their jackets and sweaters for Ellie on the blanket.
He couldn't get over how amazing she was. The fact that she just made a bed out of their sweaters so that Ellie wouldn't be uncomfortable just stunned him. It was just so - so thoughtful and something only Pam would do. Once again he got that funny feeling in his stomach which had become a pretty regular occurrence ever since he'd started hanging out with Pam. "This," he said, laying Ellie down, "was an awesome idea, Pam. I know I can't speak from experience, but this definitely looks more comfortable than her stroller."
"Yeah? You think it's okay? Do you think she has enough underneath her? Here, she can have my cardigan too..." she began, managing to get one arm out of her sweater before Jim stopped her.
"Hey, put that back on. You're going to get cold." He warned, running his finger gently down Ellie's face. "She looks pretty comfortable, don't you think?"
Pam grinned and crawled over so that she was kneeling next to the sleeping child. "Yeah she does."
"Thanks for this."
"Hey, it's no problem. I just didn't think she'd want to sleep in her..."
"I didn't mean that." He admitted quietly. Leaning down and kissing Ellie's forehead, pausing briefly before Looking up. "You don't mind her tagging along with us and I'm... I'm just really grateful for that."
"Pam licked her lips before she spoke. "I like hanging out with you both."
If this were anybody else he'd think they were just trying to be polite, but he could hear the honesty in Pam's voice, she accepted that Jim came as a package with Ellie and yet she still wanted to be with him. It was at that moment Jim realised that if he didn't kiss her then and there, he would, quite possibly die on the spot. So faced with the choice of 'kiss' or 'die', he smiled and leaned in slowly, giving her plenty of warning to his intention. He gave a mental dance when he realised that she was meeting him in the middle and when he felt her breath on his lips, he knew that this was really going to happen - finally. When his lips felt their first touch of Pam's, he gave up thinking at all and just gloried in the softness of her. The smell of her. The taste of her. The need to just - nibble at her bottom lip was too much that he couldn't deny himself.
As naturally as the kiss began, it ended. Gentle, soft and oh so amazing that Jim couldn't quite force his eyes to open for a few seconds. But the smile on his recently kissed lips said it all. "Hey!!! Watch out!!"
They both quickly jumped apart, Jim just barely catching a football that was flying towards them.
He threw the ball back towards the group of boys almost violently; clearing his throat he looked up and met Pam's eyes. They smiled shyly at one and other, before he found his voice.
"We uh, we should probably go," he stuttered.
Brushing a piece of hair behind her ear, she nodded eagerly. "Okay," she agreed, biting her lip to try and hide the smile spreading across her face.
To Be Continued
******
Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up - I hope it was worth waiting for. So, as usual I'd love to know your thoughts on everything so far, so please review, it means a lot!!!!! I have so much planned for the next couple of chapters. I just wish I could write them faster.