#author: harrietspecter

[darveyfics]

We Fight Like Hell [to Protect It]

Prompt:

anonymous - Nothing really specific but I would love some protective Harvey.

--

Not sure if this is what you had in mind but I was doing a re-watch and this wouldn’t leave me alone so here we go! An AU during 4x11 Enough is Enough

Donna was staring out the expansive window of Harvey's office overlooking the late hour of bustling Midtown madness when she closed her eyes as she heard his familiar footsteps outside the hallway. It was late enough that he'd be the only one coming this way, but that still doesn't change the fact that she'd be able to pick out his steady gait out of the hundred employees at Pearson Specter.

She caught his reflection and twisted her fingers in shame.

"Harvey," she called out and watched the reflection step into his own office before she began to turn around.

"You don't need to say it," he said with a quiet rage discernable only to her ears. It isn't directed at her, but she feels like it should be. At least, partially.

"Yeah, I do," she confirmed as she turned to face him. She paused for a moment before walking towards him as he came around to stand at the corner of his desk. "Louis came looking for you, and I didn't know what to do. He was going to call Sheila and tell her everything. I'd never seen him like that before."

She shrugged her shoulders and lifted her hands and for the first time, Harvey saw the smudged mascara and tear tracks bleeding through her typically put together self.

"Donna, this is not on you," he told her honestly. Because it was him. And Mike. And they thought they were invincible. She had always been the voice of reason, but he hadn't listened to her this time.

"Yes, it is. He pressed me, and I broke," she registered a sniffle, and her eyes met his. Hers was full of shame. His were full of contempt. But still, none of it directed at her.

"It doesn't matter because he already knew," he tries as he broke his gaze and looked down at her defeated posture before returning to lock eyes with her again.

"How can you know that?" She shook her head. She's the one that reads people. Not him. Well, he can't always know as she knows. He's Harvey, not Donna.

"Because I know Louis," he begins, and she watches as he steps around his desk. "And I know you. And he couldn't have broken you unless he knew the truth already. So, this is not your fault, and I never want to hear you say that again."

He's standing in front of her and saying all these words and keeping his eyes locked on hers, knowing she'd see that he's telling her the truth.

"I should have at least warned you before you got here," she says with a flippant gesture. It's all too much and yet not enough.

"All that would have done was antagonize him even more because he would have known you did it," he says as he shakes his head. His fingers unconsciously reach out, and they press her wrist and linger before encircling them. And he does it all without breaking eye contact. "You did everything you could have done."

"Okay," she gets out, and her shoulders shrug a little and his hold slips. Their fingers brush for the briefest of moments. Its a staring contest between them as they continue a wordless conversation to finalize their roles in this new hellscape they've just made.

"We have to tell Mike," she notes with as much care as possible.

"No we don't," he shakes his head and drops his hands back to his side. "Not now."

"Harvey," she whispers.

He watches her lips rather than her eyes now.

"I'll tell him in the morning. He just had a huge win, and I am not in the mood to ruin his night," he notes as he shakes his head.

A single tear falls as she nods her head. She understands but she's also one hundred percent certain this isn't going to be a favour to anyone come tomorrow.

He takes another look at her and reaches deep into his pocket of his suit jacket and pulls out a brilliant white pocket square that's been hidden in the suit jacket all day. He hands it to her with a quiet sort of acceptance that they're now here of all places.

She swallows the lump in her throat and unfolds the square once, blotting at the trail of tears before moving to where she knows she looks like a bit of a sad, mangy raccoon.

He has the decency to look away for a moment to let her clean up before he turns back to look at her.

"Come on," he says after she's a little more put together. He can still see how defeated and sorry she is by her eyes and her posture. "Let's go home. There's nothing more we can do tonight."

There's a quiet moment once again as he helps her into her coat and they make it out to the car Harvey's parked at the curb. He opens the passenger door for her, and after she buckles in, she takes hold of her hair, so it doesn't fly all over the place when he does eventually get to pick up speed. When he turns the block three times to head to the Upper East Side, she hums and resigns herself to an evening in his company.

He means his home and not separate homes, and for once, she doesn't give a shit how it looks. He's done this a handful of times in the last year if she's really honest with herself. Plus, she's mentally and physically exhausted from the past two hours and doesn't have the energy to protest.

She doesn't have an appetite, and he doesn't force the issue. He promises to make waffles and berries in the morning since he’s pretty sure Mike had eaten all the good cereal she likes when he had been avoiding Rachel. He's kind of glad the kid is at some other place tonight.

He gives her a spare undershirt and a pair of clean gym shorts. She digs through a washroom drawer to find a new head for his Sonicare and makes sure that her brush head’s coloured ring was not the same as his that already sits atop the brush base. She pulls an extra washcloth and uses his facewash to remove her makeup, and when she comes out of the washroom, he's already turned down his bed and dressed in sweatpants and a similar undershirt.

She lets him slink past her, sticks her clothes on his dresser by the mirror, and then she moves around to the right side of the bed and slips in and rests her head on one of the soft feathered pillows. He's also pulled the blanket out. The one from his father's house that she always curled up in on their holiday or long weekend visits. When they had been dividing little things after his death, Marcus handed over the blanket without a second thought. And here he is, using it without a second thought. Shit, she thinks, she must look really fucking pitiful if Harvey's initiating so many gestures tonight without prompting. This thought causes her to sigh, and he wordlessly questions her with a raised brow as he slips in on his side. As a gesture, she shares her blanket--spreading it horizontally over their middles.

His fingers slide along bare skin on her arm as she curls up against his side, her head resting in the space between his chest and shoulder. He'll have a tingling, almost dead arm by the time she falls asleep. His rage has lessened in her presence and the quiet, gentle rhythm he's established listening to her breathing as well as his gentle touch on her skin. And its less than an hour after she slips into sleep that he finally does, too.

In the morning, he'll be on his stomach with his mouth a little open, and she'll be on her side, leaning against him, sleeping more on his side of the bed than her own. She slips out of his bed and grabs one of her spare dresses she has in the back of his closet-- like he has a few spare suits in the back of hers. She'll shower and dig through her purse to find her emergency makeup bag that has limited items but enough to not have to go home.

When she finally looks at her phone, she finds Rachel's texted her sometime in the night after she had turned the do not disturb function on and she warns Harvey as she's finishing up her waffles that Mike is most likely going to come to him.

He tells her to take the car, meaning Ray, and as soon as Ray texts that he's outside the building, Donna shrugs on her coat and Harvey's still eating waffles at the table.

She leans in and her fingers grip his arm as she presses a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you, Harvey," she whispers with a small smile.

He nods through a mouthful of syrupy breakfast food and watches her leave.

Almost fifteen minutes later, Mike shows up.

There's a tap and rap rhythm on her door, and she knows it's him because no one else knocks like he's trying to do a poor man's morse code. She blows a breath out as she leaves her wine glass on the coffee table in front of her and unfolds herself from the couch to get the door.

When she opens the door, she doesn't have to force a smile because she's had a hell of a day and its only gotten worse for both of them, and his face mirrors her own.

She opens the door a little more to let him sneak past her, and she closes and locks the door.

"Rachel here?" He asks as he looks around and then back to her.

"No. I'm pretty sure they made up," she shakes her head as she watches him look at her and then he moves to her living room and sets the paper takeout bag in hand on the floor, and he sheds his suit jacket before sitting down.

"Sure, make yourself at home," she says sarcastically but moves to the kitchen and pulls out a wine glass for him.

He sits on the couch and looks at the bottle next to her own glass and pretends he knows about wine and his lips upturn in interest and he finds her looking at him with a small smile.

"Pretending you know if that's good or not?" Donna says as she taps his knees with her legs because he doesn't move and she sits down and sets the glass on the table.

Instead of letting her pour, he tops off her glass and fills his own before returning the bottle to the table.

He starts pulling food out of his paper bag and hands her a little takeout box that has three stars on the edge and she hides a smile as he takes out his own that has two stars.

"The shitty Thai place?" she asks as he gets up and moves to her kitchen to get their expensive, non-wood chopsticks she keeps in her utensil drawer. One of her better investments, he thinks, with how much Asian food they've consumed in the past fifteen years. “You must really want my company.”

He hands her a pair when he returns, and she sits criss-cross on the couch as he toes off his shoes to then sets his feet on the edge of the coffee table in front of him.

He watches her start to eat before he focuses on her own. Her television is off, and one of his dad's records quietly plays in the background, and he swallows the guilt.

"Did you and Rachel share a bed?" He jokes as he notices her couch is a little better than his own for sleeping and there aren't any blankets laying around or messily over the back of any chair.

"I told you once that how I sleep is none of your concern," she says with a laugh as she sipped her wine.

"And that still doesn't stop me from thinking about it," he points out.

"Asshole," she shakes her head. "But, no. I mean, did you and Mike share a bed?"

"He likes your side," Harvey jokes. "He did, however, eat all the cereal. I mean he even ate the Raisin Bran Crunch which I'm pretty sure was really old."

"That damn kid," Donna sighs dramatically. "That's why we had waffles this morning."

"Yep," Harvey said through a mouthful of noodles.

Donna shook her head.

Once they were finished with their food, he bags all their trash and moves into the kitchen to throw it in her bin. He sees the photo sitting at the kitchen table next to her purse and his lips form a frown. He brings the framed photo back to the couch, and he has a million questions, but he knows she gave the photo to Louis less than a month ago.

"This morning I found that face down on my desk," she says as she picks up her glass and swirls the dark red liquid around. "I told him I didn't want him to throw our friendship away over this. And he said it didn't exist in the first place."

She takes a moment to sip her wine and then traces the rim of the glass.

"He asked if I had the chance to take back all the nice things I've ever done in the name of our friendship in exchange for him not finding out, if I would do it."

He takes a mouthful of wine, and his fingers tighten on the stem.

"I didn't answer," she shrugged a shoulder. "It was a bullshit question asked to make me feel like shit. And, it worked."

"Donna," he says quietly and his fingers land on her knee.

"The worst part was when he told me I was dead to him," she said as she looked at him. She had unshed tears in her eyes, and he could tell that she was biting her lip before she hid her mouth for a moment by drinking her wine again.

Louis was going after her because he knew damn well it was the best way to get to him. The man had recently called him cold. And he'll take it every day if he has to, but as soon as someone comes after someone he cares about, especially the woman beside him, they better strap in and prepare for his overprotective nature.

He fills their glasses one last time, and he motions for her to sit by him. She curls into a different angle where her side is flush with his. His arm moves up and over her shoulder, slowly tracing the same pattern up and down on her robe-covered arm as they sit in the quiet of her apartment with the only sound his father's saxophone and the occasional sigh as the wine helps them unwind for the night.

"You want me to stay?" He asks quietly as they both finish off the last of the wine.

"Its okay," she shakes her head and moves into a seated position.

He nods and stands, shrugging on his suit jacket, and he watches as she stands.

She walks him to the door, and he promises to pick her up tomorrow because he'll be in early to meet with Jessica and she agrees.

His fingers gently grasp her forearm and slowly slide down to encircle her wrist. He leans in and presses his lips to her temple, and he catches her eye as he moves back.

"Goodnight, Donna," he says quietly.

"Night, Harvey," she echoes.

She watches him as he walks down the hall to the elevator in her building before shutting and locking the door.

Louis was slowly moving up his shit list, and it had been Harvey's and Jessica's day with the announcing of his partnership and the half-truths Harvey had to spout and pretend like he was thrilled this was happening.

And it had only gotten worse when Robert Zane called in his favour, and he had to use leverage against Scottie when all he wanted to do was keep their relationship at status quo and not have this shit hanging over their heads. Donna had offered to call and set up the meeting, but he had shaken his head. He needed to do this. She understood. 

So, she didn't question when he took his 'me' time to the coffee cart a few minutes later. And an hour later when she was finishing up setting up a few client meetings with Cline's people, he was in her space, setting down a cruller and one of her specialty drinks with extra, extra whipped cream.

For the rest of the day, he sat at the chair nearest his basketballs, and she took the couch cushion closest to him, working silently on case files.

He had been out of sorts and forgot niceties by the time seven pm rolled around. It had been a short meeting with Scottie, and when he was about to text Ray to come back and get him, a familiar individual leaned against the Lexus stopped at the curb.

"What the hell happened now?" He asks as he rubs his temples.

"He's requested a party with cake and champagne," Donna says as she stands up straight.

"Goddamn Louis," Harvey says as he clenches his jaw.

"Jessica was looking for you, so I told her I would have my guys take care of it since we know Louis and he's going to make all of us more miserable if we get it wrong," Donna says. "I told her I would tell you."

He blew out a breath and she knew without asking none of it went well despite the fact he had succeeded for Robert Zane.

"Come on," she says to him as she stands away from the door. "Let’s go get barbeque, make a pit stop, and then go home."

"Barbeque?" He asks as he opens the door and he hears Ray start the car.

"We can also blame Robert Zane for it," she shrugs before she ducks into the car.

He has a genuine smile on his face for the first time in several hours as walks to the other side, and when he gets in, he lets Ray know the agenda.

They went to Fette Sau and ordered all the barbeque thanks to Donna's conversation with Robert earlier, and Donna couldn't stop craving ribs and brisket for the rest of the day. They had Ray come in with them, and Harvey's driver tried to sit at the counter, but Donna was having none of it and told him he was their chaperone since Donna tended to be very territorial about her barbeque and Harvey tended to order something else off the menu and steal her food. Harvey countered that he ordered other things so they could share and that's why he takes things because she does it, too.

Ray agreed, if only to see Donna's forceful beauty extend to protecting a little piece of barbeque heaven from his boss.

As its an agenda item, Harvey made one last stop that night. Its why he got an extra order of ribs with extra spicy sauce, potato salad, and baked beans to go. And, a half hour later he was at the door with a bag and a case file that doesn't say Pearson Specter... now Pearson Specter Litt.

"It's done," Harvey says as he hands over a white takeout bag and the case file to Robert when he opened the front door. "We're even."

The older lawyer frowns in slight confusion as he watches as Harvey moves to the far side of the Lexus. The windows are too tinted, but as the lights turn on from the open door, he can see there's a familiar silhouette in the window that he had seen earlier that day in Harvey's office talking about the barbeque he now holds in his hand.

"Shit," he whispers to himself as he watches the Lexus drive away.

As with all meaningful confrontations, Harvey corners Louis in the Pearson Specter Litt washrooms after he had seen Donna get back to her desk to slowly sit in her chair and then run a hand through her hair, her posture showing slight defeat.

Thankfully the door is on a hinge that prevents his anger from ruining the door with the force he opens it with to find Louis looking at himself in the mirror with a grin on his face.

"You really want the pomp and circumstance, to lord it over our heads, and tell people that they're dead to you and break people? Then do it to me and do it to Mike. But don't you dare bring Donna into this," Harvey says as his fingers clench into a fist at his side. Although Jessica had made Louis sign the partnership agreement with the small addendum that he is also a co-conspirator, the message for them to start anew didn't quite reach Louis yet.

Louis turned and silently questioned Harvey, grin still apparent.

"Before this whole episode that you've made this small thing to be, Donna went to Jessica and almost got herself fired asking if you could help with Forstman and if Jessica would allow you to stay since she’s let me stay and let Donna come back," Harvey confessed. "She went to bat for you when no one else would. And, when I was supposed to fire you, she came with me to be there to support you because she knows this place is all you have."

Louis looked down in shame for the tiniest moment, but his ego was so overinflated at this point that Harvey was going to have to do a lot more confessing before it was over.

"She has only ever been your goddamn friend, Louis," Harvey says in a way that's quiet but cutting. "She gives a shit about you, Louis. Whenever you fuck up, she is always ready to defend you. And, this is how you treat her?"

"Why would I trust anything you say?" Louis spits back with just as much bite but not enough venom as Harvey’s own voice holds.

He looks at Harvey and steeples his fingers in front of himself.

"How do I know I can ever trust either of you? She may have you wrapped around her finger and be lying to you, too," he reminds the man in front of him. "I know you slept together. She just told me as a part of her penance."

Harvey worked his jaw for a moment, focusing on not beating the shit out of Louis for that comment.

"For the past three days, she's gone home and cried or felt like shit, and sometimes both," Harvey says quietly. He's unsure if Donna would want Louis knowing this, but it's all in the name of protecting the weird friendship Donna and Louis have undertaken the last thirteen years. "What was it you said to me a year and a half ago? What just happened to that beautiful woman in there, that's on you, not me. Well, this time, it is on you. It's on you because you can't goddamn see all she's ever done is defend you and the friendship she values with you. To me. To Jessica. And to any number of people who question us as a firm."

Louis's jaw twitches. He swallows a lump in his throat.

"After you left to go and lord it over Mike, Jessica told me that you threatened to go to the police," Harvey recalled as he stepped closer and used his height to intimidate the shorter man. "Of course Mike, Jessica, and I would have done time. Jessica and I would have our licenses stripped. Donna and Rachel may have also gone to prison depending who the ADA or DA was and if they had a grudge. And, you know what, the thought of Donna going to prison made me want to drop to my knees."

Louis opened his mouth to speak, but Harvey poked his chest with a finger to back him up.

"She's put me and my career first for the past fifteen years, and her loyalty to me is not to be mistaken for a fake friendship with you," Harvey reminds him. "She told you she was sorry and she meant it. It wasn't her tale to tell, you goddamn asshole."

He can see Louis's ego lessening a little. More to a manageable level. Still too much but enough to make him hold up a mirror to himself.

"I've taken your shitty attitude, and now we have you on the ropes, so you better cut the shit, Louis," Harvey reminds him.

Louis opens up his mouth to speak, and Harvey holds up a finger, wordlessly telling him that he's not finished.

"So, I swear to god, Louis, if you ever threaten her, make her cry, or do shady shit to her again, I will beat the shit out of you," Harvey warned. "And, until you figure your shit out and realize she's your friend, and apologise and mean it, stay the hell away from Donna."

Harvey works his jaw as he stands and looks at Louis, making sure the man knows he's not fucking around and Louis dips his chin, acknowledging his understanding.

She's leaning against the edge of his window where she had been three days ago, playing with the baseball he usually keeps on his desk. She's worried the stitching a million times over when she looks up and finds him leaning against the open door of his office.

"Hey," she whispers with a small smile.

"Hey," he echoes her greeting and tone.

She looks him over, and her head tilts with curiosity and knowledge despite the fact he didn't tell her what he was going to do.

"You saw Louis, didn't you?" Donna says with a knowing raise to her brows as he comes closer and takes the baseball from her hands.

"What can I say, he brings out the best in me," Harvey shrugs and his chin dips to watch his fingers move to the stitching as if he was going to pitch a fastball.

She tilts her head and leans in, catching his eyes with her own, and he brings his chin up. They have a wordless conversation where his gaze confesses what he's done.

"You're so goddamn emotional," she laughs breathily, and she steps away from her seat at the window. “While sweet, don’t do that again because we should be taking Jessica’s advice to heart.”

“What, fighting like hell to protect it?” Harvey asks as he’s heard a few things from Jessica the past few days.

She shakes her head and hides a smirk. She invades his space, her fingers run under the lapels of his jacket, and she tucks herself closer. Or, maybe she tugged him a little closer. Either way, she's up in his space, and he watches her eyes search him for a moment. And then two.

And then she's slowly leaning in and its long enough for him to either break contact or go full force, and he chooses a delicate version of the latter.

It's soft and unhurried. Donna's lips are full and sweet and bright, and he swears there's a hint of lip stain that sort of changes the entire taste of her as his teeth graze her lips in a brief exchange that's entirely too short in his opinion. He leans into her as her fingers tighten in his lapels and she leans up and into him. She stops it slowly. He's left with his eyes closed and his brows knitted in concentration and he opens his eyes slowly to find her wide brown eyes searching his own again.

"Thank you, Harvey," she whispers as her fingers loosen and drop and she smiles and drops eye contact as her chin moves downward. She licks her lips unconsciously as she feels him watching her and she steps to the side to go home for the night.

His fingers reach out and stop her as they grab her wrist and keeps her frozen to the spot.

"Come on," he gestures to the coat rack that holds both their jackets with the hand that holds the baseball. "Let's go home."

"I don't have spares at your condo," Donna reminds him.

"We're not coming into work tomorrow until later," he says as he shakes her head. "Breakfast and an excursion to get me a few new suits and you a few new dresses are in order, I think."

She laughs and he sees a genuine smile on her face for the first time in three days and he thinks they’re moving in the right direction for once.

He props the baseball back on his desk, and he helps her into her coat and then shrugs on his. He waits for her to pack her bag and as she rounds her cubicle, his fingers touch her own. She brings their palms together as they walk down the expanse of the hallway and for the first time this week as they see the Litt on the wall at the elevator, it doesn't bring a sense of dread of what's next in either of them.

[darveyfics]

The Best Day

Prompt: 

Anonymous: Donna and Harvey celebrating their child’s fifth birthday.

-- It’s a light tap on his T-shirt covered back that wakes him.

"Dad," she whispers and taps again.

He opens his eyes and sighs internally and debates ignoring her in the hope she’d maybe go back to sleep. His wife is a little heater, which is a blessing since it’s the middle of January, and he takes comfort in it since she didn’t get into bed until a little after one.

This time a whole hand taps his back repeatedly, and he stretches under the sheets, his arm uncurling from around Donna as they share her pillow and her side of the mattress.

"Dad," she elongates the ‘a,’ and he finally turns over to his side of the bed.  

"I’m up," he says as an arm moves from beneath the sheets and taps the little auburn-haired child that stands at his bedside. "What do you need?"

"I want to run with you," she says as she shrugs her shoulders.

He lets out a sigh this time, and he watches her face deflate a little.

Oh, shit, he thinks but doesn’t say aloud.

"All right, let me get dressed and brush my teeth. Did you brush yours?" He asks, already knowing the answer was going to be no. When he received a shake of her head, he looks at her, and she skips off to do as she’s told.

He sits up at the side of the bed, a hand scrubbing over his face and he yawns. He wasn’t planning to run today since he had taken the day off, but apparently, he was supposed to keep up the tradition.

"You’re whipped," a voice says beside him as it’s muffled in the pillows.

"It’s a thing I do to show my love," he counters and angles himself towards her while he sits and a hand moves to her leg, slowly moving upwards.

"Go get ready," she says as she kicks under the sheets in his general direction. "Your little princess isn’t going to like being kept waiting for long."

"You coming?" He asks as he stood and stretched his limbs.

"God no. Someone has to be the sane one in this household and not be up at five thirty in the morning for a run. I'm asleep.”

“Asleep,” He scoffs and he muffles a laugh as he moves to their en-suite and gets a little supervisor who is still dressed in her pajamas. She at least has her running shoes on, he thinks as he scrubs his teeth, and once he's finished, both move to the bed to kiss the sleeping redhead before the littlest redhead takes his hand and they begin their trek from the building across to Central Park.

-- It was more of a walk and jog-type run with his daughter in tow. He didn't mind since he got to spend a weekday with her that was more than a few hours between work and all-day school/daycare. He had relished NYU for the free daycare provided to its staff. Well, free in the sense its paid for by other means in order to keep well-regarded and award-winning professors, like Donna Paulsen, at the university.

His daughter is on a bench that he stands at with one foot up as he ties a shoelace that had come undone and she drinks from the water bottle she's made him carry that has a bunch of brightly coloured ballet flats and skirts on it in addition to his own black bottle.

"You want to see what we just did?" Harvey asks as he pulls out his phone after dropping his leg and sitting on the bench next to her.

They had walked to the middle of a long patch of grass and trees near the condo, and he had gotten an idea. He had her follow him as they moved out into the grass and he had turned on the running application on his phone to track the movement. Ten minutes later, after they played a bit of 'follow the leader' where she laughed and had, at one point, grabbed onto his leg and became a deadlift, he had felt accomplished.

He tilted the phone screen to her, and she took it in hand, her eyes going wide as she noticed there was a clear design.

"What's it say?" Harvey asks with a grin forming.

"Ha-puh-puh-y," she sounds out. "Happy!"

Harvey nods.

"B," she points out.

"Day!" she wiggles her body and repeats the word. Her face lights up in understanding and her little lisp from two missing teeth make the sentiment funny to his ears. "Happy birf'day!"

"Happy birthday, Em," Harvey says as he leans over and kisses her cheek and she lights up with excitement. Her dark eyes light up and he can’t help but smile back.

"Thank you, Daddy," she giggles and looks up at her father. “I’m hungry.”

When they returned home, he tells her to check on her mother while he made her birthday pancakes for breakfast. ― The smell of pancakes wakes her, and she knew she wouldn’t find him since there were only two adults in the house, but her body unconsciously curled to his side of the bed when she turned over to begin to wake up.

She opened an eye to find there was a little body in their bed, quietly watching her, now tracing little patterns on her arm, and Donna smiled softly as she opened both eyes.

"Finally," the little voice whispers with a sigh that sounded an awful lot like the one she’s heard from the man in the kitchen.

"Oh, yeah?" Donna laughs at her daughter.

"Me and Dad have been waiting forever," Emily recalls.

"Forever, huh?" Donna raises her brow. She looks at the clock to find it’s only 6:50 am. "It seems like dad’s little partner fell asleep on her mom watch."

She gets a little giggle out of that.

"Happy birthday, Ems," Donna said softly as she reached over and scooted the little body closer. Donna lay on her side, arm looped around the little middle as she lay on her back.

"How old are you now, like fifty?" Donna runs her fingers down a little leg, and Em laughs.

"One, two, 'free, four, five," Emily said as she reached out a hand between them and her other hand moved and pointed out each of her fingers until she reached five.

"Very good," Donna says as she kisses her daughter’s temple. "We should get up. I think your father has breakfast ready."

"No, stay," Emily says quietly as she traced her fingers along her mother's arm again.

Donna closes her eyes again, not asleep but enjoying the moment of quiet with her daughter. ― "Sleepyhead one and two," Harvey says as he leans against the doorjamb. "Breakfast is ready."

Donna opens her eyes to watch her husband look at the two of them in bed. He seems content and far less exhausted than when they had started the week, despite getting up at 5:30 in the morning.

Emily stands and giggles and Donna is grateful for their memory foam mattress because she starts jumping and unlike her bed, she doesn't get quite the bounce she was aiming for. That doesn't stop her from trying though.

"You mean no breakfast in bed?" Donna asks and pretends to be scandalized on Emily's behalf because she always got Mother's Day and her birthday in bed.

"You two with syrup in our bed?" Harvey laughs as he remembers Donna's birthday resulting in a sticky mess. "Don't think so. Up and at 'em."

"Bed 'n' b’eakfast," Emily notes as she continues to jump and Donna shifts herself away before she's accidentally knocked with a wayward little foot or fist.

"Do I need to come and get you, little monkey?" Harvey mock threatens as Emily shrieks and sits on the bed.

There was a high pitch giggle that Donna winced at since it was right in her ears and she was suddenly used as a place to hide as Harvey moved into the bedroom.

Emily continued her dramatics, and when Harvey picked her up like a sack of potatoes, she giggled until her face was flushed pink.

"Em, your mama better get up quick, or she's over the other shoulder," Harvey says as he looks over his shoulder and knows she most likely has to complete a quick morning routine.

"Hah," Donna mocks as she sits upright in their bed as then shuffles to the washroom and to slip on her robe.

Donna heads for the espresso machine as Emily and Harvey set the table and move the food to the table from the island. She looks over at him, and he silently pleads for her to make him a cup and she shakes her head at him with a hand on her hip before caving and making him a vanilla spice latte. She brings the cups of coffee to the table and gets Emily a cran-raspberry juice before she takes her usual seat next to her daughter at the table.

The table was filled with mini pancakes and bowls of berries with both whipped cream and maple syrup for toppings.

There was a plate of mini pancakes stacked up with a little candle in front of Emily and her eyes widened as Harvey lit the candle and Donna told Emily to make a wish and then blow it out.

Emily wanted to pour her own syrup which they countered. Emily could hold and pour, but Donna would assist. There was less of a mess but still a slight pool. And because they were mini, Emily used her hands to dip the pancakes rather than her little fork. There are a few minutes before her little fingers had raspberries for digits and she decides to show them off as well as attempt to pick up a pancake.

Donna steals a whole strawberry from the bowl between them as she shakes her head with a grin.

Harvey kicked her under the table when she dipped a berry into her whipped cream suggestively as she looked over at him, their daughter is completely oblivious as she eats.

Donna laughed as she bit her berry in half and showed strawberry-stained teeth and gums to her husband. ― After breakfast, Emily is through the bath that had been supervised by Donna while Harvey cleans the condo from breakfast as well as a general cleaning for after the birthday party moves to the condo.

For her birthday, Emily asked to have ice cream pie and cookies. Donna and Harvey took the easy route and ordered the grasshopper pie from Baskin Robbins, and Donna promised she'd make Emily cookies with her the day of her birthday. So, as Harvey showered, Emily sits on the island counter with various ingredients around her, Donna brings over the KitchenAid mixer to the expansive island.

Since Donna knows the recipe by heart, its just a case of sorting out all the ingredients in proper order and once she does that, she turns to Emily who is watching intently. She's already in her birthday getup consisting of a black long-sleeved leotard, a robin red tulle ball skirt, and a Jessie from Toy Story vest and cowgirl hat--her two favourite things.

Donna's lost her robe in favour of standing in her t-shirt and flannel pajama pants with slippers on her feet. From experience, baking with her daughter always ends up a little messy.

"What do you want most for your birthday?" Donna asks as she assists her daughter in measuring the sugar to cream with the butter that already sits in the mixing bowl.

Emily concentrates on pouring the sugar into the mixing bowl without spilling before she looks up at her mother.

"Umm, a baby," she shrugs her shoulders.

Donna shakes her head in amusement and quietly laughs.

"We've talked about this, Em," Donna notes as she sits a glass bowl between them and the begin to measure out the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

Emily looks a little downcast at her mother's words like she had the last time they had the conversation when she had asked Santa for a baby for the last two years.

Donna pauses their routine and tilts her daughter's chin up. Her little lips are in a frown, and she avoids looking at her mother. Donna tilts her head to catch little brown eyes as dark as her own.

"What did we say last time?" She asks her daughter and watches as brows furrow as she remembers.

"It don't work like that," Emily says with slight sass in her tone.

"Doesn't," Donna corrects naturally. "But, yes, we did say that. And we told you how it works."

"But you done with the shows now," Emily points out.

"Has your father been teaching you loopholes in arguments?" Donna laughs as her daughter sticks the measuring cup into the flour.

"And Uncle Louis," Emily says, and then her mouth goes slack. "Oops."

"Let me guess," Donna laughs. "You weren't supposed to let me know that?"

Emily focuses on the flour and Donna catches her eyes as she helps scrape the excess with the back of a butter knife to keep it level.

"It's okay, Em," Donna reminds her. "And, you're right, I am done with the ballets."

She had been on stage for the first time in eons just to prove to herself she hadn't lost her touch. Well, first it had been a better way to get back into shape and then it turned into a gala a year. And, she had appreciated the fact she now has photos of her family and her dressed as some principal female roles in the last few years as she divided time between her regular duties at Tisch and new ones at the NYBC. Her favourite part had been a pre-and post-show ritual where Harvey would bring flowers and their daughter to her room backstage. Emily had loved the spotlight when all the dancers took their final bow, and she'd be in her mother's arms.

"Uncle Louis, Aunt Jessica, and Aunt Rachel are gonna be sad," Emily points out helpfully.

"Yeah," Donna agrees. "But I found something I love more than teaching and ballet."

"Me?" Emily asks.

"Definitely you," Donna nods.

"Love you, mama," Emily laughs, and flour spills on the counters between them. "Uh, oh."

Donna joins in the laughter and scoots most of the mess into the sink beside them and Emily dips the measuring cup back into the flour bag.

"Come on, let's finish the cookies so I can take a shower," Donna says. "And if you can't shake that out, we'll get you one of your other skirts or your dad can help you get it out when he cleans up again."

"Can we save some to make your cookies?" Emily asks with wide, pleading eyes.

"That sounds like a good idea," Donna nods.

Emily looks proud of herself.

"So, what do you want for your birthday besides a baby of your own?" Donna asks, knowing she'd just repeat the sentiment.

"Umm," Emily thinks long and hard, and it's not until after they begin mixing the wet and dry ingredients does she answer the question. ― The thing about Emily is she has a creative, intelligent personality, like her mother, and she's also like her father, who is reserved and calculating. She's also very bubbly, and Harvey thinks Donna was a lot like this when she was little. Naturally, when Donna limited the gathering on her actual birthday to three friends, Emily carefully went about her selection and chose the three friends who went to pre-Kindergarten at Columbia but now attend Kindergarten at Trinity.

After all, her Kindergarten friends just celebrated her birthday this week in class by going on a field trip to Lincoln Center. Harvey was sure Donna conspired with the teacher to come on a gala day, but he couldn't find any proof. And Emily was happy enough to find her mother already there and proudly showed off Donna to her friends and classmates.

For her party, Harvey utilizes a favour from one of his clients on the Rangers to get them exclusive access to the Madison Square Garden ice arena for a few hours. 

Emily's friends arrive early, dressed up as their favourite Disney/Pixar character, and Harvey's not one hundred percent certain about the party theme, but Emily wanted to skate and wear costumes so far be it from them to stop her and her imagination.

When the "family" from the firm get to the ice rink about an hour after the friends, Harvey shakes his head. Donna and Emily line up at the edge of the rink and his firm-mates form a line to kiss Donna's cheek and pass Emily back and forth in their Kiss a Ginger Day tradition of kissing the two gingers in their lives. Emily's friends laugh at their antics and giggle relentlessly as Mike and Rachel's two-year-old, Matt, dressed in a dinosaur onesie costume, attempts his own slobbery kiss and Emily's face contorts but she giggles and squeezes him tight with Mike recording it for posterity.

Emily continues to skate with her friends which leave Donna and Harvey to their own devices, watching the kids as they skate hand in hand or he watches her skate backwards and on one leg. She reminds him ice skating is only kind of like ballet when he tells her to show off her ice skating skills.

Harvey hears Donna laugh beside him after he's zoned out from going around in a large oval, and they find Louis getting out hockey sticks and a puck, and a goal is being set up at the far end of the rink. It clicks that Louis's father used to be a hockey player and Emily had liked it when she, Louis, and Harvey had gone to the season opener for the Rangers.

Over in the same area of ice, Mike and Rachel fret over their son who wanted to join Emily and her friends but keeps falling as he's not used to the ice and the skates. He laughs each time, and the boy eventually learns to hold onto his mother's and father's hands is the way to keep himself upright to get to the girls and boys on the other side of the arena.

At first, Jessica Pearson sat in the stands, comfortable watching the scene, but after Jeff Malone had put on his skates and did a few laps, the woman had caved, and Harvey was thoroughly impressed by his boss/partner and her ability to stay upright and even skate backwards.

A few hours later, they head back to the condo where there's a mini barbeque feast along the island complete with brisket, ribs, corn, pasta salad, potato salad, veggies, cornbread, sandwich rolls, and beans. Harvey wonders if it was a good idea to give them fruit punch, but they don't seem to be acting as rambunctious as he's seen other kids do when they go out to dinner or his brother's kids.

Emily and Matt sit next to one another at the table, and the five-year-olds are discussing their Christmas gifts they had received, and Emily dotes on Matt, making sure he's eating and moves to wipe his face with her napkin whenever she can.

The adults are spaced out in the open concept and sit at the island or the couch. Harvey has lunch duty so he’s the one who’s paying a bit more attention to the kids. But that doesn’t stop the others from watching the younger generation.

"She loves being his big sister," Rachel says to Donna as they sit on the couch that faces the kitchen table with the kids.

"Mmh," Donna agrees. "When we were up in Cortland for Christmas, she found the stash of baby dolls from the nieces in the toy chest. Played with my old one and my mother gave it to her since she didn’t have any fancy ones."

“Is that where she got the baby kick from?” Rachel asks as she looks at her friend with raised brows.

“Uh, no,” Donna says quietly. “We took her to the aquarium at the wrong time.”

Rachel’s face morphed into confusion as she took a bite of her potato salad.

“There were baby animals everywhere,” Donna shook her head. “Naturally that led to questions and with your little...”

Donna swears she can hear Jessica snickering as she sits on the fireplace ledge with Jeff Malone.

They’re saved from any further conversation as Emily runs to the couch and asks to open her gifts and then have her ice cream pie.

Donna seizes the opportunity to talk about or do anything but this line of questioning.

― As the parents started arriving, the exhaustion started setting in for the birthday girl since she hadn't gotten a nap in today. And after hugging each of her friends goodbye, Donna plays the good hostess by talking to each parent. Emily reaches up, and without breaking stride in her conversation, Donna lifted her into her arms.

Emily’s legs and arms encircle Donna's waist and neck as she leans her head against her mother's shoulder. Her fingers play with the wispy hair that escapes Donna's bun.

She’s lanky for a five-year-old but being cuddled like this is still a favourite, especially after nap time and when she's exhausted, and Donna knows it’s going to come to an end when she eventually grows out of naps. So, she enjoys it. Of course, when she’s standing for longer periods of time with her like this, then it’s not as fun, but that’s what her husband and his fingers are for to rub out knots and sore muscles.

Donna takes the golden opportunity and cites the exhaustion to take a raincheck on making future playdates. Her own schedule is iffy right now, but she's thankful for the reprieve as Emily yawns.

The Pearson Specter Litt family stays for a few more hours, if only to assist in the clean up of eating leftovers of food and ice cream pie. Donna, Emily, Rachel, and little Matt make for a classy post-party photo as the mothers sit with their kids on their lap, asleep with arms around the little bodies as the kids conk out against their respective mother's shoulder. Of course, Mike and Harvey take a picture for blackmail. ― Emily and Harvey were putting away her new gifts in her room, mostly new clothes, books, and a few toys, when Donna moves into the room and sits on the twin bed and watches the two. She listens as they discuss Emily’s birthday and how it was really fun and she wants to play hockey with Louis again. Donna smiles softly and a wrapped gift in her arms now sits near the end of the bed as she clears her throat.

"We have one more gift," Donna says as she leans back on her hands on the bed.

Emily turns and looks at her mother on the bed with the wrapped package. She launches herself onto the bed, and Harvey turns his head and then stands from his seated position at her dresser.

Much like the other gifts, Emily unwraps the present carefully, and she opens the box lid slowly. Harvey and Donna watch as her face morphs from excitement to confusion and then her little mouth forms a small frown. She looks slightly disappointed like she had been in her other gifts she’s received today.

"I already gots all this," Emily sighs with a slight hint of boredom and disappointment in her tone as she sees another shirt.

Donna pulls the shirt out of the box and puts it in her small lap.

"What’s it say, Em?" Donna says quietly.

Emily concentrates, her brows furrowing as her fingers underline the letters that form two words.

"Big," Emily says as she reads the first word and then looks up at both Donna and Harvey.

Harvey nods.

"S-is-ter," she says slowly but correctly. “Sister!”

They let her process it and watch as her eyes widen and she giggles. When she looks up, she has a genuine smile, and her eyes are alight with excitement. She looks back at the shirt, and her hands cling to the material.

Harvey squats in front of his daughter and tilts his head, so their eyes meet.

“Are you happy with this gift?" Harvey asked.

"Yeah," Emily nods and continues to grin. "It should be a sister so we can play princess. Oh, a bro'fer so he can be Woody and play horsie wif me and you."

"Well, there’s kind of a fifty-fifty chance of that," Donna laughs and pulls out the book they got for storytime about bringing home a new baby and a little floppy bear that has a big sis t-shirt to go with the one that they have in their closet that says, lil sis. "When it’s close to Spring Break we’ll find out from the doctor, okay?"

"How long do I gotta wait for my baby?" Emily nods, accepting, but wanting her baby now.

"Umm, well, like seven months? So, you know when you have your school's orientation for moving up a grade? That’s when we'll get to have him or her," Donna says with a smile. "We’ll make a calendar of all the really important days with your school calendar tomorrow, okay?"

Emily flops onto her back and becomes dramatic telling them that she can't wait that long; that she's going to be almost six by that time.

"That’s all you," Harvey notes as he stands and looks down at his wife.

And, Donna can't disagree. But, she knows Harvey is just as dramatic sometimes...more, even.

Later, when she's all tucked into bed with her new stuffed animal by her side, Donna reads her a story and her little hand makes its way to her mother's midsection. She moves it back and forth, her palm warm against Donna’s belly. Donna pauses in the middle of her sentence and looks down.

"Yesterday I saw Daddy doing this in the kitchen when you was huggin', and he kissed you," Emily says quietly as she looks up at her mother with wide, innocent eyes. "It's okay?"

Donna gets a little emotional, eyes watering and she bites her lip for a minute before breaking into a grin.

"Yeah," Donna nods slowly. "It's definitely okay."

Emily beams and tells her mother this was the best day ever.

[darveyfics]

A Terrible Twosome

Prompt: Anon: A costume office party with Donna in a really hot outfit getting lots attention to Harvey's dismay.

mrgaretcarter: Donna wears a sexy costume for a Halloween party and drives Harvey nuts, they can already be together or not --

Donna was sitting in her office, reviewing the budget from quarter three when the tell-tale signs of Harvey's boredom let itself be known.

"Sexy nurse and hunky doctor," his voice rang out through the intercom on her phone.

She sighed internally. This idea is the fourth iteration of a couples costume he's brought up. One was a pregnant nun and sexy priest. Another was all the list of couples in Marvel comics. And the last had been Ariel and Prince Eric. That one had been last night when he thought she was taking too long in the bath and he told her if she stayed in there any longer, she'd turn into a shrivelled prune mermaid. Clearly, he had a one-track mind lately.

"Don't you have a meeting or court to prepare for?" Donna asks as she eyes the intercom.

"Court," Harvey says. "But I have time, and you know it. I always get five minutes of your time on court days since I haven't gone to trial without doing our thing for the past thirteen years."

"Our thing is now you fantasising about couples Halloween costumes before trial?" Donna asks as she scrolls down the page and sighs aloud as she finds Louis's track changes. There's a lot of justification for the extreme expenditures of the quarter, and he's promised the billables will cover expenses by year-end.

"You and Louis are the ones that organise the party each year," Harvey reminds her. "It's not my fault Louis told me there's a prize for best costume. You know I like to win."

"There is a prize every year and I have won it for the past eight years so I don't see what that has to do with a sexy nurse and hunky doctor," Donna says as she keeps her laugh from bubbling over. She knows exactly what she's doing. A smile makes it to her lips, but since he's not here, he can't see it.

"Are couples not supposed to have the same themes at these things?" Harvey questions.

She can imagine the look on his face right now. He's probably furrowing his brow with his lips set in a line masking his confusion. He may be new at this, but he knows how the game is played from all the themed parties they've gone to through the years in which she's planned out every detail of what they both wear.

"I mean, that's kinda true, but Rachel and I were planning our Halloween costumes long before you and I became a couple," Donna reminds him.

"And you still haven't told me what you are planning, so I figured," he trails off.

"Nope," Donna says as she can't keep the laugh in anymore. "Plus, I've already planned your costume. It will be in your office on Halloween just before the party," she lets him know.

"How long have you been planning that one?" Harvey wonders.

"All professional Halloweeners start solidifying plans in July," Donna reminds him. Because she always asks for the day off in July. This year was no different. And, she knew if she didn't give him a costume, she'd see him sulking in his suit he'd wear to the office that day.

He makes a noise of acceptance, and when he doesn't say anything down the intercom line, she thinks she can get back to reading.

Ten minutes later, she hears a slight shuffle and rustle of his suit, and she looks up as he enters her office.

He comes around her desk, leaning against it, and she moves from her chair and steps between them with a brow raised and her head tilted ever so slightly.

Her fingers reach for his tie as his aim for her waist. She sets the knot without a dimple at the centre of his starched collar. She softly smiles as she looks him over and finds he meets approval. With the slightest of nods, she indicates her approval. His fingers tighten on her hips and bring her closer as he stands before slightly tilting his head and leaning down and presses his lips to hers. The newer ritual had been a callback to their earlier days in the DA's office when they had been flirtier and far less serious than they had been the last thirteen years since then. She had always enjoyed cleaning him up a little more since he was a reflection of her, she always reminded him. So, the can opener stayed in her file cabinet, and she cleaned him up a little.

"This would be so much more fun with whipped cream," he says as he pulls back and gives her a small, gloating grin.

"Mmh, whipped cream is only for winners," she reminds him as her fingers run along his lapels before she steps back and leans against her windowsill runner.

"Oh and everything, Donna," he reminds her as he rounds her desk and heads for the door. "Oh and everything."

Donna's cheeks puff as she lets out a long breath as she leans back against the window and watches him meet Rachel Zane at the elevators for their case. His hands are in his pockets, and he's got a little smirk playing on his lips. He's apparently re-opened the Harvey Specter University of Gloating, and she only has herself to blame. -- As usual, she takes Halloween off to prepare her elaborate costumes that tend to win her the "best dressed" award. This year is no different, but at least she has a buddy while Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen does her hair and makeup for her costume. And, Rachel will join in the fray as soon as she sees the detail and how ridiculously gorgeous Donna looks and wants to look as put together as her best friend.

They're at Donna's condo with a bottle of Prosecco and berries shared between the three of them. Rachel also snacks on the fun size M&M's that Donna threw in the shopping basket when she and Harvey were at Target looking for replacement light bulbs for her place, and Halloween decorations for the office as Donna gets her hair and makeup done. And, maybe the young lawyer takes videos and pictures of the process to be posted later.

Once Rachel's hair and makeup are done, her Halloween costume is complete. Unlike Donna, she had all the materials needed for this particular costume adventure. Donna couldn't get them all without raising suspicion, so they have one last stop to make before they head back to the office for the party.

Her shoes tap out a familiar click on the hardwood as she moved to his bedroom and opened his closet to stand at his tie rack. Once she selected a beloved black tie, she moved to the other side of the room where a tall dresser and mirror sit, and she ties the Windsor knot--his favourite knot of his choice--and Rachel watches her smooth down the collar again.

"Huh," Rachel says as she looks around the room.

"What?" Donna answers back as she looks at Rachel in the mirror as she opens a few drawers and pulls out the final little details of her costume to put on.

"Well, I've never been in Harvey's bedroom," Rachel shrugged, and at Donna's questioning look, she clarifies. "Mike and I were here for wedding venue planning. And then my dad visited with me, and he went in here, but it was too weird for me."

"And?" Donna asks.

"Honestly, I didn't expect it to be so... bright and homey," Rachel confesses as she looks around. She notices familiar pairs of Donna's heels are on the floor of the open closet. Some of her dresses and coats also hang on hangers near familiar bulkier ones.

"Come on," Donna says as she finishes off her outfit. "We've got jaws to drop."

Rachel laughs and follows Donna out of the condo and down to the street where Ray idles, waiting to deliver them to Pearson Specter Litt. -- To any party, she's fashionably late. When she's his plus one, which has been quite often in the past fifteen years, she let him in on that secret. So, its no surprise he and Mike arrive on time, and the ladies arrive eight minutes late with all eyes turning to the doors for their dramatic entrance.

When she walked into the Pearson Specter Litt library with Rachel Zane at her side, he did a double take. Triple, if he's honest with himself as she and Rachel step in line to get their photo taken.

"You okay, buddy?" Mike Ross asks as he slaps Harvey on the back. For anyone else, it would be considered a comforting gesture. For Mike Ross and Harvey Specter, it's less sympathetic and more 'oh, shit; you're in trouble; it was nice knowing you; or Mike's personal favourite--here lies Harvey Reginald Specter: the cause of death is Donna Roberta Paulsen.'

Harvey would recognise a Tom Ford anywhere. The suit is perfectly fitted, looking sharp, flattering, and remarkable on her frame. There's only one man she'd trust with tailoring a suit and she wonders if he should send René a shipment of the finest scotch money could buy. And perhaps bribe his tailor to make more matching suits for them.

She'd taken the charcoal coloured O'Conner three-piece suit designed for men and tailored it to her frame. He's pretty sure that suit is a favourite of hers that he owns so it's not a stretch that he recognises the same peak lapels that aren't too high nor too low at her shoulder. He doesn't have to be looking at her intimately to know the buttonhole is a classic handstitched raised hole, separating hers from any other suit jacket.

Since its a three-piece suit, she naturally wears the vest that matches with the rest of the O'Conner suit. He can see it peeking out between her single buttoned-up suit jacket.

The pants are a plain, tailored slim fit that somehow René has tailored to fit her long legs. The pants themselves are not pleated but have an ironed crease that gives them an extra classy look. He notices she foregoes heels for his favourite Tom Ford black leather brogues.

His favourite has to be her hair, though. Its coifed into some magic updo that looks remarkably similar to the way he styles his hair. By the end of the night, he's definitely going to figure out how many bobby pins are holding that together. He'll bet somewhere in the high thirties.

She has his look and attitude down, but that's no surprise to anyone.

Peelings his eyes away from Donna so he doesn't hurt his jaw from keeping his face impassive as Mike continues to watch him watch his girlfriend, he turns his introspection to Donna's best friend.

Rachel wears a pitch black Zenga suit like Mike does on occasion. Her lapels are notched just below her shoulder in the same pattern as Mike's suits. Much like her fiancé, Rachel opts for a two-piece, meaning no vest, and has a throwback to Mike's better senior associate days with a softer collar, white Zenga, and a light gray J. Crew skinny tie. 

Her hair isn't styled as much as Donna's but it is up in some sort of updo that makes her hair look short compared to her typically long hair.

"Need a drink?" Mike Ross asks, already knowing the answer is going to be yes.

When they get to the drinks table, Mike watches his boss/friend and hides his smirk behind his tumbler. The three fingers of scotch Harvey pours himself is his way of coping with the whole "look but don't touch...much" rule he's favoured up until now. -- He has a thing for three-piece Tom Fords. He has a thing for Donna. So, naturally, Donna wearing a three-piece Tom Ford suit tailored to within millimetres of her size, it was only natural he clenched his jaw and broods in the corner as she went around the room without even acknowledging him as he leans against a table in the back of the library. She's ridiculously popular with the associates tonight, and everyone seems to enjoy taking pictures with Pearson Specter Litt's COO and newest associate.

He sits up a little straighter as she meets his eyes after talking with Katrina dressed as Tchaikovsky's Odile, the Black Swan ballerina, and she walks arm in arm with Rachel as they head over to where he and Mike sit.

"Happy Halloween, boys," Donna gave an exaggerated wink to Rachel and Donna clinked her flute of champagne with Rachel's own as they adopt a classic Mike and Harvey stance of being good cop, bad cop.

"Wow," Mike got out as he continued to stare. "You look... wow."

"Donna tied it," Rachel shrugs, as Mike looks at the small four-in-hand knot of Rachel's slim light gray tie.

"You know how to tie a tie like me?" Mike asks somewhat warily as he looks at Donna.

"I was one of those kids who got to pick out dad's tie when I was little," Donna shrugged. "And, you tie a surprising amount in theatre troupes."

Mike suddenly picture Louis in his costume that Harvey had shown him last year and he shakes his head. Briefly, he wonders where the hell Louis is because he hasn't seen him all night.

"I'm confused," Mike announces after a few minutes of watching the party going on around them. "I mean, I get why Harvey is a Yankee because he bleeds pinstripes but why am I, Robin?"

"Michelle Ross, please inform this pleb who you are," Donna says as she gets an air of Harvey Specter arrogance about her as she looks between Harvey and Mike.

"Michelle Ross is pretty much a legal superhero," Rachel said as she lifted her chin, daring the two men to defy her. “I can recite the Constitution frontwards, backwards, and sideways because I read it once when I was seven.”

Its a few minutes of quiet pondering by Mike as he makes the connection.

"I get it," Mike laughs. He turns to Harvey. "You're some closer because Harvey Specter...er, Harriet Specter, is the best god damn closer this City's ever seen. I'm Robin because I'm, uh, Michelle Ross, is a legal superhero and also the best damn sidekick."

"Four for you, Glen Coco," Donna dips her chin in acknowledgement of his successful connection of the themes within the themes. "But, as you can see, Harvey's a little dumbfounded you have no idea who he is. I mean, that's a replica straight from the team presses this afternoon."

The group waits for Harvey to explain who the hell he is but he's busy having a staring contest with Donna, so Mike and Rachel look to one another and then to either half of the older couple with small grins.

"I'm thirsty," Donna says as she dips her chin to Harvey and then turns to Rachel. "Let's go be badasses over there."

Harvey's hand clenches the glass he holds. 

"Shitttt," Mike laughs as he realises their champagne glasses were quite full. "She's good." -- It had gotten worse for his sanity when she had taken off the suit jacket somewhere in the second or third hour of this shindig.

She's alone when she steps up to his side as he leans against a unit of shelving in the library, watching the festivities, he gives her a not-so-subtle once-over now that they're well and truly alone since Mike and Rachel are sitting and eating food at a table.

The vest itself if a classic single-breasted v-cut with six buttons. Since she's left her suit jacket on the chair next to Rachel, he counts the six buttons with the last button left undone like he typically wears. Her button-down is a familiar looking white, stiff collar Brioni that has french cuffs he assumes are buttoned neatly with cufflinks. She foregoes a belt as this particular suit has the side adjusters. And he's confident if she's had it tailored for her size to this degree, they also took care of the adjusters, too. 

When she subtly takes the glass tumbler from his hand to drink from, he notices the H.S. on the cuff of her shirt. And, it was the only time the flush on her cheeks wasn't because of the heat of the room or the alcohol in her hand which hasn't entirely gone to her head but makes her a little more approachable in the associates' minds.

"My shirt, my tie, my cufflinks, and my pocket square," he lists as he takes stock of her custom costume again. He looks closer and notices his Cartier Tank is on her slender wrist. At least she hadn't taken out links to make it fit her wrist. "My watch. Did you also steal my underwear and are you going to tell me that's actually my suit?"

"What's mine is yours," she says as she laughs. "Render unto Caesar, and all that."

"That's an evasive answer," Harvey counters.

"Undergarments are my own, and the suit is my own," she says with a saucy wink. "As far as you know, at least."

He watches her walk away, and she looks back this time with a grin. He only notices a few minutes later that she stole his drink. -- She's sitting at a table alone, eating the mini sandwiches, pasta salad, and various desserts she and Louis ordered for tonight from the café down the street that knows how to make the best turkey sandwiches when he sits down and takes one of her pickles and steals her fork and spears some pasta salad.

"So, does this count as a couples costume?" He asks as she looks over at him with a sandwich in her hand. "See, that's funny because I'm wearing a Mariano Rivera replica and you're Harvey Specter, the best god damn closer the City's ever seen. So, we're a couple of closers."

"Mmh," Donna says as she drops her sandwich on her plate and reaches for her drink. She extends a finger as she holds her scotch glass in her hand. Its a prop but also works very well as a bring-your-own-glass considering she swiped it from Harvey's office minutes before she and Rachel arrived in the library. "I'm Harriet Specter."

"Who is your alter ego when you go drinking with Rachel at happy hour," Harvey clarified. "Who is modelled after Harvey Specter. Ergo, you are Harvey Specter."

"I'm not answering that on the grounds that I don't want to," she says with a shrug of her shoulders.

His fingers slip into hers under the table, and she smiles as she takes her fork back from him as he steals the sandwich she had dropped on her plate to put him in his place. -- He had followed her to the washroom in his condo as they finally got home at two in the morning. He was exhausted but also remembered he wanted to see how many bobby pins held her hair in his signature style.

"Only seven bobby pins?" Harvey asks as he watches her take down her hair from its coifed volume.

He leans against the doorframe, and his head hits the wood as she runs a brush through the product.

She meets his eyes in the mirrored reflection and laughs.

"Were you expecting more?" She asks. "I mean there would probably be more if I went to another stylist, but Kurtis is a go-to miracle worker."

She washes her face, and then they brush their teeth, and she's briefly debating a shower when he wraps an arm around her waist.

"So, first Halloween in the books," he says as he looks at her in a mirror.

"It'll be hard to top," she notes. "I promise next year we'll have a real couples costume."

"I kinda liked this one," Harvey says honestly as she turns and he unbuttons her suit jacket.

"One last thing," Donna says as she stands on her tiptoes and wraps her arms around his neck.

He raises a brow.

"I'm going to close the shit out of you," Donna says as she manoeuvres them from the washroom to the bedroom and he sits back on his mattress.

He chuckles, and she carefully settles her knees on either side of him, leaning in close and presses her lips to his.

He briefly wonders if, since she's a winner, he should get the whipped cream to celebrate her ninth year of domination. Instead, he sheds her suit jacket to the floor and she begins her closing statement.

[darveyfics]

The Art of Trick-or-Treating

Prompt:

Anon: Darvey take their son/daughter trick or treating for the first time

mrgaretcarter: TRICK OR TREATING WITH THEIR OWN KID(S) ps: one of them has to be a girl

--

He had come home on Wednesday evening later than usual in an attempt to finish up work so they could spend the Halloween weekend at his father's place in Boston and not be interrupted by clients with questions. It was approaching midnight when he walked in and noticed the overhead lights at the kitchen island were still on, and he turned the corner to find his wife, sitting on a barstool, with what he assumed to be dinner she had shared with their daughter at a normal hour earlier this evening.

He sets his briefcase on the floor near the island and lets out a long sigh and moves to Donna's side, pressing his lips to her temple and whispering his hey.

"Hey," Donna greets through a mouthful of macaroni and cheese. "There’s more in the oven if you’re hungry.”

"Oven?" He asks but moves away to the other side of the island to take it out anyway. 

"Your daughter wakes at the sound of your alarm going off for your 5:00 am runs. Do you think I was going to test that on the microwave at midnight when I'm starving?" Donna says with a slight laugh. "I wanted to eat my food while it was still hot."

He chuckles and uses the hot pads, and notices there’s an extra plate still on the counter, so he sets the hot dish on the top of the stove as he closes the oven door and turns the stove off. 

He piles the macaroni and cheese onto his plate and sits on the barstool next to her. 

"How's the world of corporate law this evening?" Donna jokes as she runs her fork of cheesy noodles through her puddle of ranch dressing on her plate.

"Pretty quiet for the start of the fourth quarter of the year," Harvey says with a shrug.

They eat in silence as Donna scrolls through the various apps on her phone and looks at all the tagged pictures she's in on Instagram with interest.

"You finish her costume?" Harvey asks between bites of his dinner. 

"Yep," she nods as she likes a comment that made her chuckle a little inside. "And, of course, she wanted to watch The Little Mermaid as I finished it. So we viewed it three times today."

Harvey shook his head. 

"It’s your fault you know," Harvey pointed out. "You’re the one who showed her all the princesses with the same hair colour as the two of you."

She sets her phone down and stabs noodles on his plate and eats them and gives him a look. 

"You can do my dishes," Donna says as she stands and sets her fork across her empty plate. "I have to pee."

Harvey shakes his head and watches as she leaves the room and goes back to their bedroom. He finishes dinner and their dishes, and he's yawning as peeks in the room across from theirs to find his little princess has decided to sleep at the foot of her bed. 

When he steps into his own room, Donna is laying on her side of the bed and has stolen one of his pillows. She’s far from sleep and watches as he moves through his nightly routine. After stripping down to his boxer briefs, he climbs into bed, and she shifts to find a comfortable position as she moves closer to him.

"How long did you nap today?" He asks quietly as his fingers weave through her locks. 

"Umm, five-ish hours between the two naps?" She sighs. "I’m exhausted but can’t sleep. Big surprise."

His fingers move from her hair to steal under the sheets and run down her side to her waist, drawing a pattern on the side of her growing belly.

"I can tell you a riveting tale about the meeting Jessica and I just had with Paul Porter and his bowtie trying to convince us we should switch the firm's compensation structure," he tells her while still tracing patterns on her belly.

"You paid attention?" She asks with more than a hint of scepticism in her tone.

"Well, Jessica told me the highlights. His bow tie was a bunch of little pumpkins and aliens. I was fascinated and worried at the same time," Harvey recalled.

"Elizabeth definitely gets her attention span from you," Donna quietly laughs. "But, sure, bore me to sleep."

Harvey pouts a little, but soon enough he launches into his day that had been jam-packed with meetings. -- Thursday, the day before Halloween, is a slow start to their long weekend. Harvey decided to let Donna sleep in a little and gets their three-year-old daughter ready for a half a day of driving, but she's a little hostile in the way only three-year-olds can get away with, and she wakes Donna with her jagged crying. 

He's looking apologetic as Elizabeth runs and hugs her mother's legs and Donna decides today a bribe will get them closer to a successful morning and future nap, so she suggests going out to get hot chocolate and pancakes and Elizabeth stops crying and looks up at her mother with wide brown eyes. She has to let her father put her in warm clothes since its autumn, and they compromise with one of her rejected costumes. And as Harvey helps her dress as Donna gets dressed from her pajamas into something loose and comfortable for a walk down a few blocks, he thinks about the past Halloweens they've had as a family.

Her first Halloween, Elizabeth was two months old, and Donna was in Los Angeles doing talk show rounds with the various networks promoting her film that was coming out and a new television show she was taking part in. Naturally, where mom went, the new baby went. She had taken pictures of their baby dressed in a little monkey onesie costume they had picked out when they had gone outfit shopping and sent them to him via text. It was a welcome respite from the frustrating day of court he had when he got back to his office to find pictures and a video waiting. When they had FaceTimed later that night, he watched as his little monkey fell asleep as Donna unwrapped candy she had received in the guest dressing rooms as they talked about their respective long days. 

Her second Halloween, they had moved into a new building and didn’t know any of the neighbours. So, Donna had the day off from the set, and she took the little Nemo in with her to Pearson Specter and the partners and associates were kind enough to take a minute out of their day to let the two-year-old get candy. Harvey had been meeting with a client so they were a surprise in the office when he came back. Elizabeth had wiggled out of Jessica’s arms and ran to the elevators to reach for her father. It had been an Instagram-worthy photo with little hands squishing Harvey’s cheeks in an attempt to make fish lips as he grinned. That picture was a top ten of the year as it passed over 100,000 likes. A new record for her that year.

Now, her third Halloween would be the first time she'd experience trick or treating for real as Donna was wrapping her series and had gotten Thursday and Friday off and Harvey was the one with the idea to give her a real trick or treating experience like they had when they were kids. Donna reminded him that she had spent most of her younger trick-or-treating years in Cortland where the houses tend to be half a mile away or longer. He gave her a look because he was just trying to make a gesture and she laughed and told him it was sweet. 

As bribed, they eat breakfast at the café down the street. As they walk, Elizabeth is between them, dressed as a little zookeeper with a little giraffe wrapped around her neck. Elizabeth's hands are in either one of Donna's and Harvey's and every few minutes Elizabeth counts one, two, 'free, and she's lifted between them, and a giggle makes its way past her lips. 

Their daughter can’t contain her excitement at the little foam pumpkin the barista draws in the milky froth of her hot chocolate. While waiting for their food, Donna sets all their drinks together to show off the art of a maple leaf, a pumpkin, and a cat face in their respective beverages. Of course, little fingers that are more interested in continuing to sneak the extra chocolate powder feature in the picture she edits for her Instagram.

"You know your most loyal fans will be here within ten minutes," Harvey points out as he sees she tags the location.

"Why do you think I always post it as we're finishing?" Donna says as she shows him it's all set to be posted, but she hasn't pressed the done button. "I'd like to eat these pancakes in peace."

Harvey looks at her with slight concern as she wraps her scrambled eggs in a pancake with a bit of syrup. But he learned to stop asking, and it's not like anyone in the café is paying attention to them.

Elizabeth eats her one along with her eggs, separately, and since they're sitting on the same side, she leans into his side, and her fork touches his french toast in an effort to steal it. He takes the hint and cuts it up, and Donna laughs and shares a conspiratory grin with their daughter as father and daughter share the remainder of Harvey’s breakfast.

When they get back to the condo, it's much easier to finish packing the last minute items and loading the SUV for the nearly five-hour drive--in good traffic--to Boston when mother and daughter are sated with food.

And, it's a more leisurely drive when, a few hours in, both of his passengers are asleep, and he can listen to his music in peace. -- When they get to Gordon Specter’s hour in the late afternoon, Marcus and his family were already there. It looked like they had come straight from school as two bright pink backpacks sit near the coat rack in the entryway. His father was watching a rerun of some show, his brother and his wife were on the couch, and it looked like the five and seven-year-olds were outside burning off energy. 

He opens the door with Elizabeth still half asleep in his arms and an overnight bag hanging on his shoulder while Donna held the garment bag all their costumes were in for tomorrow night. 

They say passing hellos as they head upstairs for his old bedroom to set their stuff down before heading back downstairs.

When he finally sat down on the loveseat with Donna, Katie made an effort to clear her throat loudly and dramatically. 

He heard Donna sigh, and he hid his grin by pretending to check to see if Elizabeth had fallen back asleep or if she was just quietly observing the scene around her. It was the latter.

In Katie Specter's hands was the most recent issue of Vanity Fair with Donna’s face on the cover. It was fitting that she be on the October issue and get to dress up in Halloween costumes considering this is her favourite holiday. 

"I see you’ve found a fascinating read," Donna says as she leans forward on the cushion she sits on. She turns to Gordon. "How many did you buy?"

"I’m kinda digging that you’re Ariel, Merida, Elastigirl, and Elsa, all in one article. But the best part is probably your little Anna," Katie laughs as Gordon pretends like he doesn’t hear Donna. 

"They were going to have me be Anna, but when they saw her, well, they decided she'd make her modelling debut," Donna says with a laugh. 

She gets up from the couch and moves to the kitchen to get herself water and thinks if she's hungry, Elizabeth is bound to be as well and sneaks some Chex Mix from Gordon's pantry.

"I'm wondering about the new feature coming in April 2015," Gordon says with his brows raised as he ignores the television for a moment. "Your IMDB doesn't list any projects with that release date."

It had been one of the last questions they asked what she had been looking forward to in 2015 and she had laughed before answering 'Probably my feature in April 2015' and not giving any more details.

Before she sits on the loveseat again, she turns to her audience and her hand that holds the bag of Chex Mix moves to her tunic, and smooths the material over her growing but still a moderately small bump for 18 weeks.

"Our new feature," Donna laughs. "Due like nineteen days before I have to go back to work on the new season in April."

"Shit," Marcus finally pipes up and hands over a fifty dollar bill to his father.

Gordon winks at Harvey as Donna sits on the loveseat again and she and Elizabeth dig into his Chex Mix. -- In an effort to have Elizabeth's first real Halloween be memorable, they all decided it would be a family-themed event. 

"I'm starting to regret this costume," Donna says as she catches Harvey's eyes in the mirror as she teases her hair a little more with her pick comb.

Harvey gives her an appreciative once over as she stands up straight.

She was wearing a black bateau neckline, high waisted dress that had violet, lavender, purple, white, and black tulle draping down the waist to make her look like an octopus without the gaudy appendages. 

She had teased her hair with enough product to wonder if it would set itself on fire near an open flame. Her off-white hair sits in a messy beehive. She has shockingly bright red lipstick on and the most vivid blue eyeshadow colour he'd ever seen.

"Because it's supposed to rain later?" He asks.

"More like my boobs hurt, my back hurts, and I swear my feet are also starting to swell the longer I stand here," she sighs and tosses the comb in her hands onto the counter.

Harvey steps into her personal space and his hands move over her hips through the tulle. He spaces out his thumbs on either side of her lower back to find the familiar knot on either side. His thumbs work in a tiny, circular motion with ease as he presses close.

She leans her hands against the counter as she breathes in and out slowly.

"Better?" He asks after a few minutes of kneading and watching her mirrored reflection.

"It's a start," she concedes. 

"Mmh," he says with a laugh as he backs away and lets her turn to face him. "You smell like baby powder."

"Can't exactly use the temporary hair dye," she says with a sigh as she presses a hand to her growing belly that's somewhat hidden in the folds of tulle.

"You could have worn a wig," he points out and regrets it as soon as she narrows her eyes.

"I just wore a wig on and off for the last month. These locks need to breathe," Donna reminds him. "And all this new hair growth is making my scalp itchy, so it's a good thing we're wrapping soon."

"Let's go get our little Ariel so we can trick-or-treat and then I can feed you. And I even went to get that god awful spumoni ice cream and some potato chips for you from the store."

Donna frowns because that's exactly what she wants. She hates that her cravings are predictably the same.

"The tabloids think my cravings are ice cream and pickles," she notes as she follows him out of the washroom.

"I bought pickles once for sandwiches," Harvey says as he shakes his head.

"Apparently if you buy ice cream and pickles at the same time, they report I am pregnant, and they assume it's for me," Donna shrugs her shoulders.

"Well, I mean, they're not wrong with one report. We just haven't officially confirmed it? Nevermind we also bought like thirty other items at the grocery store that day," Harvey sighs but drops the subject as they find themselves now on the outskirts of his father's living room with a grumpy little Sebastian, a crying Flounder, and a mischevious looking Ariel in the arms of King Triton.

"That's all you," Donna pats Harvey's arm before moving to the coat rack to get her black hoodie--just in case it does start to rain.

Harvey moves and takes Elizabeth from his father's arms.

"She hasn't done anything," Gordon says. "But I know that look, so I kept her out of the fray."

Her little brown eyes are twinkling with mischief, and her little dimples are showing as she laughs as her two cousins get reprimanded by Marcus who’s the crazy Chef Louis and Katie, dressed as Carlotta, the palace maid. Harvey tampers his own smile and figures the best course of action is just to leave the situation before he starts to laugh and set a bad example.

"Let's have you go potty before we head out," Harvey says as he walks back to the washroom on this floor to let his brother and sister-in-law handle their fighting children.

Donna had gone with a long sleeve peach-coloured leotard for Elizabeth's costume to keep her warm. Ariel's familiar purple seashell top was carefully stuck on the leotard thanks to neat strips of iron-on adhesive that's usually used to hem pants magically. She was determined to keep their three-year-old warm while trick or treating without compromising the costume, and since she couldn't sew worth a damn, improvisation is essential.

She had the foresight to get one that had buttons, so there was no catastrophes or wardrobe malfunctions as Harvey helped Elizabeth out of her green sequence skirt and lime green leggings to keep her warm. He thinks Donna will teach her to hold skirts and dresses up after she masters the main point--to go when she needs to and without prompting or them noticing the familiar "potty dance."

For his own Prince Eric costume, he'd stuck with his own clothes--a bright white button down and dark blue jeans. He had to find a pair of black snow boots, and he had folded his jeans up to where the boots and pants meet. Donna had snuck a red sash from the costume department to tie around his waist, and he sported a combover and had enough pomade to make it darker than his sandy-brown natural hair colour.

All in all, it was quite the family affair, and Donna made sure to capture the whole thing with video and pictures. -- Gordon Specter lived on a cul de sac in one of Boston's suburban, middle-class neighbourhoods where everyone knew everybody, and there were monthly neighbourhood cookouts.

To begin, they practice at Gordon's door, and Marcus's kids participate thanks to a bribe of ten dollars from Harvey for their time.

The seven-year-old rings the bell and Gordon answers the door with such enthusiasm Elizabeth wiggles excitedly and giggles out a version of trick-or-treat and attempts to go back inside.

"Hey, wait, you don't go into the houses," Harvey says as he scoops her up. "You say trick-or-treat and then wait for candy."

Harvey nods, and they try it again. That time she doesn't go in, but as they call it a success and Gordon deposits a box of Milk Duds in her bag, she digs through her bag and hands said tote to Harvey and runs to Donna whose conversing with Katie at the end of the driveway.

There's a brief meltdown as Donna explains treats are for after its all done but her tears vanish when Donna says they can share this one box until tonight after dinner. Elizabeth doesn't know the box only holds four and Donna takes two for herself as she hands the open box back to Elizabeth as they begin at the neighbour's house for the official start.

With Gordon living on the block for the past 15 years, it’s not surprising when neighbours see Donna, Harvey, and Elizabeth with Gordon, Marcus, and Marcus' family as they trick-or-treat, they want to chat with the New Yorkers who only make the occasional holiday visit. Thankfully, they refrain and just mention they need to catch up one night when they’re still here or plan something at a later date.

Harvey's tenth grade English teacher lives a block down from his dad, so it's no surprise he spends a little more time here and makes Donna come up the driveway with him and Elizabeth. The woman reminds him that he almost failed her class by failing to participate in the theatre portion of class and wonders how he appreciates the stage and acting because he's been married to a famous actress for the past eight years.

"I'm a Donna fan, Mrs Burkowicz," Harvey shrugs. "Maybe if I had gone to tenth grade in Hartford, I would have passed English with more than a B-."

Donna bites the inside of her cheek and Harvey tilts his head and grins. Elizabeth’s trick-or-treat sounds more like 'tick-er-teat' and Harvey stifles a laugh each time she mutters it.

Elizabeth gets an extra handful of candy despite her father's sass.

"For you and your mom," Mrs Burkowicz says as she looks to the little Ariel whose eyes are huge as she looks between her canvas tote and the lady who just gave her treats.

"No, dad," Elizabeth conspires.

Donna decides now is the perfect time to laugh aloud, and she takes Elizabeth's hand and starts to walk away.

Harvey looks back at his old English teacher, and the woman winks before shutting the door.

Donna and Harvey take turns walking up the driveways with the rest of his family as they continue moving throughout the neighbourhood.

They make it almost four more blocks before Elizabeth gets tired of walking and asks to be held by Harvey. It’s another seven blocks before she falls asleep and they go another ten before the sky begins to darken and Donna’s steps slow because her back aches, her feet are sore, and she’s hungry for something that isn't candy that she's been sneaking every few blocks from Elizabeth's bag she carries.

Donna thinks she's going to really enjoy this weekend eating through their kid's candy and wondering how many slices of Pinocchio's she can eat without getting tired of the cheesy goodness. -- Elizabeth was still passed out, leaning against her mother as Donna lounged against the arm of the couch with her feet in Harvey’s lap as he sat on the far cushion and absentmindedly worked his fingers against the muscles and tendons in Donna's feet and calves. They were waiting for Katie and Marcus to get back with the pizza, pasta, and salad before waking Elizabeth. With Elizabeth draped alongside her and stuck between her mother and the couch, Donna's skirt and dress material were pulled enough that everyone in the room could really see the swell of her belly. 

"You know what it is yet?" Gordon asks as he watched his daughter-in-law run her fingers through her daughter's hair as the less boisterous Specter family shared the room. The other little kids are in the kitchen trading candy and drinking a can of soda they're not really supposed to have in an effort to get a sugar rush while mom and dad are away and grandpa's in charge.

"Uh, a few days ago, the ultrasound tech accidentally said it’s a girl," Donna says as she looks over at her father-in-law with a small smile. "95% certain."

"Both my sons, surrounded by females," Gordon chuckles. "Did Marcus let you know they’re trying for a boy?"

Harvey shook his head, but Donna nodded.

"Katie was wondering if we’re going to have another. I told her we needed to get through birthing this one before thinking about a number three," Donna says honestly.

Gordon chuckles, and Harvey already feels slightly overwhelmed by the thought.

As Harvey and his father play catch up, Donna finds a fantastic photo of the three of them where her bump is visible and decides to let her fans in on their secret. After all, its been almost a month of speculation since Vanity Fair was published with her cryptic interview answer and thankfully her coworkers and the set crew kept mum even as fans began to stalk the set more and tweet at her fellow cast members.

In the photo outside on the lawn of Gordon's house, Elizabeth is having a little meltdown, pulling on the tulle skirt of her mother's and therefore showing off her baby bump as Donna, as Ursula, kisses Harvey, as Prince Eric. When Katie sees it on her own feed the next day, she jokingly demands a photo cred, and when Donna does indeed photo cred her username, Katie ends up with hundreds of new follower requests.

She posts another two during the weekend in Boston. One of the backs of the entire crew walking down the sidewalk--she doesn't like to feature the faces of little ones, including her own, just to keep something private. The last is a shot of Harvey and Elizabeth as they sit on the rug and sort out the Halloween candy. In the photo, Elizabeth is sharing an M&M with her father.

That weekend, Donna tells Harvey they should really do the whole neighbourhood-type trick-or-treating every year, and she hopes the family-themed trick-or-treats last at least until Elizabeth is a teenager and therefore becomes too cool to dress the same as her soon-to-be sister.

Harvey wonders if it’d be appropriate to also buy a house in New York to escape to for the weekends. And, for future trick-or-treating adventures. And, maybe to even start hosting holidays and inviting people and having enough room to spare.

[darveyfics]

Do you have fiction recommendations?

Hey! I always favorite mine on my page on ff :) -ali

i don’t actually read much suits fiction but harrietspecter’s recommendations (stars are ones that I’ve re-read too many times to count):

Happy to See Me by ZinnithI Built a Home (For You, For Me) by gagewhitney* (anything by this author, really)In Shadowed Places by magisterquitumMutually Inclusive by magisterquitumOur Bodies Became Arsonists to Will by eudaimonRecalibration by enemeriad (anything by this author, really)Some Nights series by phrenitis* (anything by this author, really)Tangential by abvj* (anything by this author, really)The Tears of Minerva by Weeblswobl*Where You Might Not Come Back From by kissingonconey (anything by this author, really)You Take What Is Yours (And I’ll Take Mine) by alinaandalion

[darveyfics]

Are Ali & Maria the only active authors at the moment? Just curious. Merry Christmas guys!

I think that’s a stretch

It’s really just Ali

- Maria

I’m almost done with one of the Christmas prompts but I’m a slave to full time work and sleep so it’s taking me twice as long as it should. - PurpleCadet

Since classes finished, I’ve been going through the most intense case of writer’s block. I have about 4 christmas prompts ¼th or 2/3rds done and idk if I can get them out before I leave on holiday. i also maybe got it because i’ve been sucked into lucifer and there is more character development in three seasons than seven seasons of suits. i’ve rewatched it like three times now. -harrietspecter

[darveylibrary]

Title: On a Wednesday in a Cafe

Author: harrietspecter

Summary: Coffee Shop AU. She was the intriguing woman in the corner. He needed a coffee shop that knew how to make a decent cup. Neither expected what was next.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/658967