So, Holly left, and it turns out that Jim has two d-bag brothers, instead of the loving siblings so many of us have dreamt about. No matter. AU exists for a reason. On with the story!

(Meredith is in her car, fastening her seatbelt, and turning on the ignition)

Meredith:

(Miffed)

There's no open bar. If I'm going to have to pay for booze, might as well do it somewhere where I don't have to wear these damn shoes.

Dinner was over, the toasts were made, and now it was time for the bride and groom to have their first dance as husband and wife.

It wasn't like in the movies, where the groom smoothly leads the bride onto the dance floor while staring into her eyes the entire time. They reach the middle of the dance floor and come together, hitting the vocals perfectly, and proceed to gracefully twirl around in a manner that could have been perfected after hours of practice in a dance studio.

Tonight was nothing like that.

Pam stepped on her dress and tripped against Jim as they stepped into the spotlight, and they began to sway to the sound of Etta James singing "At Last," giggling as they tried to find the right rhythm to go with the song.

It took a couple more bars than they liked, but they were soon at ease, moving along to the music as if they were the only two people in the world.

(And as Greg shoots Jim and Pam dancing, Barry zooms in to get footage of the parents' reactions. Although the lighting on the gathered guests is dim, it is clear that there is not a dry eye among the four.

Jonathan Halpert is dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief before his wife Lauren takes it from him to wipe away her own tears. Jonathan takes the handkerchief back and wipes Lauren's face for her. She gives her husband a smile before repaying the favor.

Kevin and Joanne Beesly have their heads arched together as they watch their daughter turn and sway on the dance floor. Joanne whispers something into Kevin's ear. He smiles and whispers something back before they both back to the beautiful sight before them.)

"You really are too tall," Pam said as she pulled her hand out of Jim's and linked her fingers behind her husband's neck.

Jim smiled down at her as his newly freed hand slid across the smooth white fabric on her hip to settle at the small of her back. "Well you're stuck with me now."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

Pam rested her cheek against Jim's chest and listened to his heart. It almost seemed to beat in time to the music, and lulled her into peaceful, happy thoughts of what their future held.

She saw a house in a nice neighborhood. With the terrace she always wanted as well as a drawing room for her.

She saw a sunny day outside on their backyard, as she sat on the porch swing with an open sketchbook in front of her. Her hand was moving across the paper, and her pencil was creating what looked like the outlines of several faces. But as her drawing took on more and more detail, the back door burst open and two blurs burst out to tear across the grass.

They were moving too quickly for her to discern any details beyond that they were a boy and a girl. She wanted to get up and take a closer look, but the swing shifted and an arm was draped across her shoulders. She looked up to see Jim's face, looking a little older, smiling at her. She smiled back and leaned against his familiar form.

She set the sketchbook aside and turned back to look at the yard…

Pam blinked her eyes open.

She was back at their reception, continuing to sway with Jim. She smiled against the smooth linen of her husband's shirt. The future that seemed so daunting and out of her grasp a couple of years ago was now happening.

"Jim?" Pam said just loud enough to be heard over the music.

She felt more than heard Jim's reply rumble through his chest and into her ear, "Yeah?"

She tilted her head back until her chin was resting on Jim's chest and she was looking straight up at his face.

"Do you think our kids will be as tall as you?" she asked with a small smile on her face.

Jim chuckled, sending pleasurable little vibrations through Pam's body. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"Hmmm…" Pam hummed.

She stood on her toes and tugged Jim's head down for a kiss.

"Maybe we'll even each other out," he said once their lips celebrated.

Pam let out a laugh, "Yeah."

(Jim and Pam are standing off to the side of their reception. In the background, the party is in full swing and a figure-most likely Michael, possibly Dwight-can be seen jerking around the dance floor to the amused cheers of the gathered guests)

Pam:

So, Jim. What did you do today?

Jim:

Well I woke up. Had breakfast. Took a shower. Brushed my teeth. Got dressed.

Pam:

Nice. I did all that, too. Then I had my hair and makeup done.

Jim:

So did I. Well, my hair at least.

Pam:

But of course. I'd have been worried if you were wearing makeup.

Jim:

I'll have you know, Mrs. Halpert. Many men wear makeup.

Pam:

(Grins goofily for a moment, giving Jim a little shove at the use of her new name before continuing with their repartee)

Like?

Jim:

Boy George. Marilyn Manson. The guys from Kiss. That emo kid over there who I think is a cousin of some kind.

Pam:

Okay. What did we just prove?

Jim:

I have no idea. What were we talking about?

Pam:

I forget.

Pam's shoes were beginning to hurt her feet, so she decided to take a break to sit at their table and talk with Larissa and Francine, her sister. Jim decided to spend the time saying hello to some of the more distant relatives he rarely got to meet. As he made his way around the dim room, a voice called out to him from behind a pillar.

"Hey! Jim!"

Wondering if he was going to end up regretting acknowledging that he heard the voice, Jim turned and walked towards the figure waving at him.

"Yeah, Michael."

"So, I just wanted to run something by you."

Ah, Michael was planning something. Jim was going to have to run some preemptive damage control.

"What is it?" Jim asked cautiously.

Michael was all but jumping up and down on his feet in excitement. This was going to be big. "I'm going to propose to Holly."

Jim blinked. "Say that again?"

"I'm going to propose to Holly."

"Okaaaay.'

Michael eagerly reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. "See! I even got a ring and everything!"

Indeed he had. And much to Jim's surprise, it was a yellow gold band with a modest diamond.

"What do you think?"

"It's beautiful, Michael," Jim answered truthfully.

"Thanks. It was my grandmother's."

"The one who sends you all those birthday checks?"

"Yeah."

As Jim was looking at the ring, Michael reached out to take it back.

"So I was thinking that I should maybe get up there, sing a song, then propose in front of everyone."

Jim's eyes widened. That was not good.

"No!" he said a little too forcefully.

"What do you mean? Does my best bud not want me to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love? Do you want me to die a lonely old spinster?"

"No. I-wait. Does Holly know that you love her?"

"Yeah. I told her."

"And did she say she loves you back?"

"Uh huh."

That threw Jim for a loop. On the one hand, he didn't want Michael making a fool out of himself, yet again, nor did he want the man to cause a scene at his wedding reception. But on the other hand, who was he to stop Michael from proposing to the one woman who really seemed to get the guy?

"So, I'm just going to go talk to the DJ and-"

"Wait…"

Jim was grasping at straws here, and made one last ditch effort in trying to avoid a Michael incident on the biggest night of his life.

"How did you ask Holly out on your first date?"

The fact that Michael and Holly were dating had come as a shock to the entire office. Their normally loose-lipped boss had been unusually quiet about the whole deal and it seemed as if he followed Jim's advice about taking things slow. If Jim was lucky, maybe Michael had been low-key about the whole thing from the beginning.

Michael shrugged, "I hugged her in the annex and asked her if she wanted to go out sometime."

Bingo!

"Why don't you try proposing like that?"

Michael looked confused. "I should take her to the annex, hug her, and ask her to marry me?"

"If you want. Maybe Holly will appreciate it more if you go for sentimental instead of spectacle. I'm just saying keep it simple."

"Okay."

"You got it?"

"Yeah," Jim suddenly found himself in a tight hug. Thankfully Michael didn't tackle him this time. "Thanks, Jim."

"No problem."

Michael went off, what he was going to do was anyone's guess. All Jim could hope for was that this latest talk got through to the man.

Hoping for the best, Jim decided to head back to Pam when he saw a door at the side of the room open and a disheveled looking Angela and Dwight sneak out.

He noticed Barry swinging his camera around, tracking the two as they tried to blend in with the guests. The camera swung back to Jim, but all he could do was stare at that door and try not to think about what had just gone on behind there.

Jim:

Dwight and Angela are sneaking around behind Andy's back. That is wrong on so many different levels.

Pam was sitting alone when Jim made his way back to their table.

"Hey," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek as he sat down and pulled his chair until it was right next to hers. "Did the girls abandon you?"

Pam grinned and leaned back against him. "Yeah they did."

Jim rested his chin on Pam's shoulder and let out a breath as he looked out among their dancing family and friends.

"What is it?"

"Well…let's just say that if the night goes well, we might have to deal with Michael making a scene, but if it goes badly, we will have to deal with Michael making a scene and trying to come along with us to Australia."

Realization quickly dawned on Pam's face. She'd worked with Michael for too long to not know what Jim was talking about. "Oh no."

"Oh yes," Jim deadpanned.

"He's not…"

"Yeah. He is."

Pam let out a breath as Jim continued to talk. "Well…Holly's good for him. He's actually gotten better since she came aboard."

"Yeah."

"And they actually love each other."

Pam jerked her head to the side in surprise. Her nose bumped into Jim's causing both of them to giggle before she got back on subject. "Really?"

Jim tilted his head in acknowledgement of his own befuddlement. "Apparently."

"Wow."

They settled back against each other for a while, just enjoying each other's company as well as watching Andy trying to get Stanley to dance.

"Oh…and I saw Dwight and Angela sneaking out of a broom closet."

Pam bolted straight up in her chair.

"I knew it!"

Pam:

It's not like they were being subtle about it.

"And…ugh…"

Pam shuddered dramatically for effect.

Jim let out a laugh and slid his hands along her abdomen to pull her closer against him.

"My sentiments exactly."

(The party is still going strong, and Michael and Holly are tearing it up on the dance floor.

Michael is wearing a pair of sunglasses and, for some reason, has abandoned his jacket, untucked his shirt, and tied his tie around his head.

Holly is moving and shaking along with Michael, and as she raises her hands above her head, something glints in the light.

The camera snap zooms in to show that she is indeed wearing a diamond ring on her left ring finger.

The camera then snap zooms out to pan across the crowd to see if anyone has noticed.

It seems as if no one but the two other people who knew that Michael was going to propose have noticed the ring. Jim and Pam exchange "Oh my god" looks.

They watch the scene on the dance floor for a while before Pam whispers something in Jim's ear. Jim nods in response and grabs his jacket and drapes it over his wife's shoulders. They move quickly, skirting the edges of the room to sneak out the exit.

The shot cuts to another camera that happens to be just outside the reception hall. Jim and Pam burst out the door and are momentarily surprised at the sight of the camera crew, but they quickly recover)

Jim:

Oh! Hi…

Pam:

(Waves)

Bye!

(Jim and Pam don't give the camera a second look as they run laughing out the door and to the waiting limo outside)