Harvey woke the next morning, feeling strangely rested.
Usually he was awoken by a bouncing 'toddler' on his bed or he woke feeling exhausted from the nights toil, it was rare that after being put to bed that the younger man stayed there all night.
Harvey usually had to drag himself into a cold shower, before willing himself to face whatever mess Mike had got himself into, however this morning, he felt ready to face the day.
One look at the clock had Harvey questioning whether the younger man was alright, usually he would wake at 7am, ready for a bottle and change and then he go back down for a nap and would wake at 9am full of beans.
A phrase which in this case, meant extremely hyperactive, to the point that the senior partner swore 'Big and little Mike' had ADHD.
It was now past 11 and he couldn't hear any sign that the former associate was awake.
The senior partner padded through to Mike's room, stopping when he saw the younger man sitting on the couch.
That was definitely odd, had it been for the rare occasion when Harvey had slept longer than Mike and the younger man had not seen him, for over 12 hours, he would most definitely have woken his daddy.
"Hey baby boy, daddy didn't hear you get up" Harvey cooed, sitting beside Mike, pulling him into his lap, Mike turned his attention to the television, squirming a little, instead of gripping onto Harvey in a bid to get as close as possible.
The older man couldn't help but feel that Mike looked and seemed different
"Where's Gerry and Dino buddy?" He asked, as he cuddled Mike, referring to the younger mans favourite comforters, Mike shuffled and wrinkled his nose in response, pulling at his shirt "That was ages ago, I don't need those" He whined,.
Taking in his mannerisms, Harvey could tell it looked like the kid was embarrassed.
Frowning, as he went into the kitchen he looked over at Mike, the adult toddler was never without his toys, pacifier or blanket and it seemed he had neither with him. Harvey couldn't help but shake off the feeling that Mike was acting strangely.
He shouldn't have been surprised when Mike refused to drink from his bottle and actually looked alarmed, as if Harvey had just offered him something unfamiliar or scary and not something he was dependent on.
Instead Mike helped himself to the batman tumblr, that had been gathering dust in the cupboard; until now, Harvey's eyes widened. He himself had purchased the cup, before he knew the extent of the younger mans brain injuries, after the accident.
But here Mike was pouring himself a cup of orange juice and was managing to drink from the cup; okay he was pouring most of it down himself, but the fact was the older man had never seen Mike do it. Heck he didn't even think the kid knew about the cup.
Harvey scrubbed at his temples, preparing himself the strongest black coffee he could stomach. 'What was going on this morning' Mike looked up at Harvey "What are we doing today?" He asked, climbing onto one of the stools, reaching for an apple.
Okay, did Mike just voluntarily grab a piece of fruit! Harvey had, had to make it his mission to hide fruit into things, which included (To Donna's delight) whipping up flapjacks or muffins and buying an endless supply of fruit flavoured yogurts.
He had never in his life, since meeting Mike seen him voluntarily choose to eat fruit.
"What's going on with you Harvey?, you look like you have seen a ghost" Came Mike's mocking voice, through a mouthful of apple.
Harvey's blood ran cold, he could put the other aspects of Mike being different out his head- perhaps daycare had been working with Mike on drinking out a cup and encouraging him to try fruit as fruit, but Mike never called him Harvey, he hadn't heard anything other than Daddy in almost five years.
Closing his eyes momentarily, before taking a gulp of his coffee, wincing at the temperature, forcing himself to take another sip, as he tried to process what exactly was wrong with Mike, the senior partner found himself lost for words, was it him, was he coming down with something.
"Mike, where did you get those, you shouldn't have them" Harvey scolded, quickly bending down to see Mike emptying a box of Lego on the floor, starting to stack them together, wiggling his toes.
"Calm down Harvey, what do you think I'm going to eat them" Mike laughed and Harvey froze.
That is exactly what he thought, that is what normal Mike, well no, normal baby Mike would have done and this kid didn't seem like his usual little terror at all.
Deciding that he must be the one coming down with something, Harvey found himself searching through the drawers and after an agonizing two seconds he found himself to be perfectly fine, as the obnoxious thermometer announced, shocking the senior partner.
What the hell was going on then?
Laying down on the couch, the senior partner went over the mornings events in his head 1. Mike had a dry diaper and seemed embarrassed when his daddy checked him. 2. The younger man was without his much loved pacifier and comforters. 3. The kid could now drink from a cup and liked fruit? 4. Mike had been siting on the floor for over half an hour, building to his hearts content and not one, not one block had made it's way into his mouth. And 5. the most important, perplexing sign, Mike was calling him Harvey.
It was like the kid was playing some sort of game, except it seemed so real.
Having come to the conclusion that messaging Donna would only lead the woman to think her boss had lost all signs of sanity, ( which he clearly had) Harvey instead rested his eyes, he must have fallen asleep, as he awoke to the feeling of being prodded in the face, that was more like it, Mike had no sign of personal space or boundaries.
"Daad" Mike stood in front of the older man, pointing towards the bathroom "I can't get the toilet to flush" He said with a sense of sudden urgency,
It took Harvey seconds to get his barings as he stood wiping his sweaty palms on his pyjama pants, Mike had just called him dad and what the hell was he doing in the bathroom?
"What you doing in there kiddo?" Harvey mused, following his son to the bathroom, Mike turned to look at him "I was using it" He replied insinuating that it was the most obvious explanation in the world and Harvey was an idiot for questioning him.
Harvey turned his attention to the mountain of toilet paper that faced him, as the younger man skipped off, into his room, rolling his eyes and smirking slightly, he realised Mike had just been messing around in the bathroom, until he saw that he had actually been, as evident by the mess on the floor.
What the hell? Mike did not know how to use the bathroom, that was one thing he was sure of.
Cleaning the mess, he retired back to the couch, deciding that regardless of what the thermometer was saying, he was most likely sickening for something.
. Why else would things seem so out of place, Mike seemed fine, apart from the small detail that he was not Mike.
What the hell, was he going insane, that didn't make any sense, how could Mike be Mike, but yet not Mike.
Did he drink more than he had thought, while proofing those briefs last night, after putting Mike to bed, he knew he had, had a stressful day at work and liked a drink, but he didn't ever get drunk when he was around the younger man.
Was he hungover, he didn't feel like he was, but that must be the reason, it wasn't Mike who was acting strangely, it was him.
On looking into the fridge and cupboards, realising there was nothing for lunch or dinner, Harvey decided that he had to go shopping..He could order online, but felt he needed to get himself out of the house, he was quite literally going mad, being cooped up, not to forget that Mike usually complained that he didn't want what Harvey had ordered. It was much less of a headache for the older man to have him choose in store.
Shockingly Harvey managed to get himself and Mike ready to leave the house, within ten minutes.
Mike wasn't bothered about having to stay still long enough so his daddy could get his clothes on him (usually the senior partner would have to use all manners of force, threats and bribery) to accomplish the task, instead Mike focused on his toy car, running it up and down Harvey's bed, making engine noises to himself.
In fact the only time, Mike had come even close to being disagreeable or having a tantrum, was when the older man insisted he have to hold onto the cart, but he had soon been distracted by a breadstick and allowed Harvey to carry on with his shopping as if he was there by himself.
They had both survived the shopping trip unscathed and not at all stressed out.
Harvey was still struggling to comprehend why Mike was being so reasonable and why he seemed older as he put away their shopping, sure it had been easier to shop without a limpet attached to him or running around the store, dropping and pulling things off the shelves, but this Mike who held onto his hand and didn't resort to tantrum throwing to get his own way was not his Mike, he missed his mischievous little devil.
Instead of crying that he was tired and hungry, Mike had climbed up onto the couch, sucking on his thumb, leaving his daddy to put the shopping away in peace and was not badgering Harvey to eat all of the new snacks they had just bought.
Harvey would usually have to open the box of tubed yogurts and whatever else, his little devil child demanded to have.
"Want a drink buddy, daddy is just going to make lunch after he has put away our shopping" Harvey called over to him.
Mike nodded, still with his thumb in his mouth "Milky" He said, sounding slightly younger than he had all morning, Harvey prepared a bottle for Mike, wanting to gauge his reaction.
"Here you go kiddo" He cooed, planting a kiss to Mike's head, the younger man furrowed his brows slightly at the bottle, but accepted the offering.
Retreating to the kitchen to prepare lunch, Harvey kept glancing to watch Mike as the younger man was engrossed in watching the lion king, he was still acting strange, but he wasn't out right rejecting Harvey.
Today Mike ust didn't seem to need him as much, the older lawyer contemplated calling Mike's therapist, but came to the conclusion that like Donna, she would only think he had gone mad.
"Daaad! " Mike whined, pulling him from his reasoning "I'm hungry"
"Coming up kiddo, daddy is making lunch now, did you drink your milk? " he asked
Mike nodded, bringing the bottle back to Harvey, minus lid. "Mike, where's the top? " Harvey asked raising an eyebrow, not surprised when Mike pointed to the floor.
"Well can you go get it for me" He requested patiently.
Okay scratch that off, Mike hadn't taken the bottle without a fuss, he had drank from it, like it were a cup. Mike was usually obsessed with his bottles.
The two of them sat in near silence as Mike worked his way through his bowl of pasta, getting covered in the sauce, although he made mess Harvey noted that he didn't once stick his fingers in and lifted his sippy cup to drink his juice in a much more controlled way.
"Daad, can I watch a movie after lunch?" Mike asked through a mouthful of pasta,
Harvey found himself frowning, "You just watched one Mikey, it's naptime after lunch and then we can play out on the balcony okay, with your new ball pool" Mike wrinkled his nose "That's for babies" He replied, pushing his bowl away, wiping his face on his sleeve.
Harvey grimaced, but didn't say anything, instead concentrating on his own food.
It took the older man a while to settle Mike enough so he would go down to sleep, as he protested against napping, insisting he didn't need one anymore, which fallen on deaf ears as Harvey had ignored him, closing the door, once he had rocked and stroked Mike's head, long enough for him to sleep.
While his former associate slept, Harvey hunted around the apartment, seeing if anything else had changed.
The drawers were still stocked with diapers, toys and books, Mike's bottles were still in the cupboards, although there seemed to be the addition of some new 'big boy tumblers' that he was pretty sure, he had not purchased. Apart from that everything else seemed as it had been.
Harvey coughed, waking abruptly, feeling himself about to throw up, he leaned over his bed in a sense of urgency to grab anything that may help.
"Harvey!" came Donna's voice as she watched her boss try to throw himself out of bed.
"Take it slow, what do you need?" she asked, grabbing a basin, just as the senior partner could no longer hold it in.
"You know this really is not in my job description'" came Donna's sarcastic voice, as she held it in place.
Harvey grabbed the water bottle by his bed, feeling his banging head.
"Donna what are you doing here?" he croaked, taking another sip of water.
"Looking after you, I couldn't very well leave you, not after that bang to the head" Harvey raised an eyebrow "I banged my head? when? Donna, Mike is acting really strange" the man replied.
Donna positioned her hands on her hips "Harvey you knocked yourself out, you have been out cold since, you and Mike were having a water fight on the balcony, while I was left to handle the BBQ, which by the way, I rock at and you slipped and smacked your head" Donna waffled, become side tracked as she complemented her own awesomeness on being Donna.
Harvey closed his eyes, (partly due to his secretarys shrill voice causing his headache to become unbearable and also and also to try and process what she was saying) Is there a break in this waffle? The senior partner asked himself.
Taking another sip of water, it was all coming back to him now, he remembered having bought Mike water pistols and after that, it was as if everything had gone dark.
"Shit Donna, I had the worst dream? Mike was so different, he didn't need me anymore and he was calling me Harvey and acting like a big boy" Harvey didn't know it, but he was quite clearly whining and it sounded like he was going to break down into tears.
Donna chuckled "You don't need to worry about that Harvey, after the doctor and I had helped you to bed, we found your 'big boy' eating the plants.
Harvey face palmed and shook his head and laughed "Again! I thought we had gotten over that, when I consficated his favourite dinosaur" Clearing his throat, the senior partner looked to Donna.
"Where is he?" He asked, craving some Mike time.
"I've got him settled in front of the TV, watching re runs of Scooby doo, with a bottle of chocolate milk and maybe some candy". Donna admitted carefully,, ignoring the glare Harvey sent her.
Candy to Mike was like crack as Harvey had quickly discovered.
Pulling himself out of bed, swallowing a couple of pills for his head, Harvey nearly found himself being knocked over, as Mike came barreling towards him,
"Daddy" Mike squealed, hugging his legs, as he sat on the floor, gazing up at him, Harvey scooped him into his arms, pulling him into his chest, Mike sucked on his pacifier, shovelling his drool and candy stained hand in his former mentors face.
Harvey tenderly kissed his head, pretending to eat the mess from his hand in a rather undignified way,. Mike giggled in delight, snuggling in.
Harvey held Mike as tight as was comfortable for the two of them, thanking whatever it was up there that it had all been an awful dream, he had his Mike back.
"Mike you don't need daddy to carry you everywhere, you can play and walk" He found himself saying, later that day as Mike followed him around, trying to cling to his leg or neck.