X.
It's way past midnight and the firm is mostly empty. Harvey mentioned he'd have to work late and Donna brought a few files to his office — if they must work late, they might as well do it together. At some point, Harvey suggested they listen to some music. It would have seemed like a regular evening at Harvey's condo, if it weren't for the glass walls leading to the rest of the firm in front of them.
"You know, Louis should be reviewing these," Harvey says as he stretches on the couch. She's made herself comfortable on his office chair, bare feet propped on his desk. He shouldn't find it such a turn-on, but he does. He's been working non-stop on a merge that she really can't wait to see it done and over with.
"Louis has been distracted lately," Donna replies, eyes still on the file in her hands.
"I know you're the unofficial managing partner but you should give it a break and let him do some of the job," he tells her. "He's gonna get used to it."
She smirks to herself. "He's already used to it. And you know he's not gonna be managing partner for long. Not with the baby coming."
"Are you gonna as soft on me as you are on him?" Harvey asks.
Donna looks up then. "Who says you'll be the next managing partner?"
"You do. Whoever you choose will pretty much be the next one, and we both know you're choosing me," he says smartly.
Donna closes the file she was previously reading, a smirk on her face. "I could have done that in the past, but now it'll seem like I was playing favorites."
"Please. Everyone knows I've always been your favorite," he lets go of his file as well, adding it to the pile on the coffee table. "Alex won't try for the position while I'm in the firm. Samantha knows I'm better for the job than she is. That only leaves me."
Donna narrows her eyes at him. "You just want that office next to mine, don't you?"
Harvey shrugs. "I was thinking we could have a connecting door in between."
"Really?"
"Maybe a hidden alcove somewhere. For privacy reasons," he explains.
"Of course."
"No glass around it."
"Hmm. And would you like a bed with it, too?"
"No, a sofa will do. Otherwise there would be no point in going home at all."
He waits for the retort he's sure will come, but Donna just starts laughing. He's been rendering her speechless more often these days. It's a good feeling. He gets up, walking slowly towards his desk.
Her sassy retorts, however, only got worse with intimacy. He loves it.
"Alright. You'll have my vote," she decides, even though they both knew it already. "Just for the connecting door. And because you'll let me keep on as managing partner."
Harvey frowns. "What?"
"Please, honey. We both know you'll be much better at it if you're me."
He shakes his head and grabs her hand, pressing a kiss against her palm. "I'm not going to dispute that."
He presses a kiss against the inside of her wrist. "Harvey…"
"Dance with me."
Donna widens her eyes. "Now?"
"Yeah. It's your favorite song," he stands up, gently helping her stand up too. Her shoes lay beside the couch since she took them off, a little over an hour ago.
"It's your favorite too."
"Not really. I always put it because I knew it was yours," he tells her, and it's the truth. He loves that she's such a big fan of his dad's music. His dad's legacy may not live on to play on the radio, but he loves that it'll always have a place in her heart.
That's probably a good line, because she lets him put his hands on her waist and she rests hers on his shoulder and the back of his neck. They sway slowly, though there's still a respectful distance between them.
They dance for a few seconds only before he shortens that distance, slowly bringing her closer to him. She pulls away just enough to look at him.
"Someone could see us."
Harvey brings her even closer — her chest against his, his hands perilously on her lower back. Maybe it's too risky for the office, but he doesn't care.
"It's after hours, I'm tired, and I wanna dance with you. I don't care who sees it."
"Ugh, I love it when you say things like that," Donna groans against his ear.
"What, I'm getting a treat tonight?" He jokes, but he's hopeful.
"You sure are," Donna says. He pretends to let her go so they could go home, but she doesn't let him get away, her laughter invading his ears and all the other senses. "You're an idiot."
"What, now you wanna dance?" He nick complains.
Donna brushes her lips against his neck. "Just this one song. Then we can go."
He nods, and savors the warmth of her body next to his, safe in the knowledge that they'll leave together.
XI.
He's tickling her.
Harvey Specter, tickling her.
Donna doesn't know what's more absurd — that Harvey is tickling her, or that she's actually ticklish.
She's still laughing when he settles on top of her — they're both naked, the first rays of sunlight are peaking through the curtains of his — their — bedroom. She only moved in officially last week, and it's still in a somewhat limited capacity since they'll be moving to a new place together next month. She's calling this their first trial — two months to be sure they can do this together. Harvey rolls his eyes every time she says that.
He puts his elbow on either side of her head and looks down at her.
"No," Donna says when she stops laughing.
"I haven't said anything," Harvey says innocently, too innocently.
"You don't have to. I see it right in those bedroom eyes of yours, Mister," she runs a hand through his hair. "No more rounds for the next two hours or so. We've been like this for…" she searches for the clock on his bedside table. "Three hours. I need sleep, you know."
"We'll sleep when we're dead," Harvey tells her, before attacking her neck with his lips.
She laughs. She doesn't think she's laughed so much in years. "Stop it. God, you'd think we're in our twenties or something."
"You'd hate me in my twenties."
"Correction. I hated you in your twenties."
"Not what you said the other time," he mumbles, nibbling her ear.
"I liked you then. I love you now," she says softly. He pulls away just enough to kiss her lips. "Hey. I need some water. You want anything?"
He doesn't reply for a few seconds. "Nah, just you."
His hesitance seems a little off, but she laughs and pushes him away from her. He lies on his back, and she knows he's watching her as she grabs her satin robe from the floor. "No peaking," she taunts him as she ties the dark red robe around her waist. She turns around to see him with his arms behind his head, watching her leisurely. She picks her dress from the floor and throws it at him. "Bad boy."
"You gonna punish me later?" He arches his eyebrows suggestively, and she shakes her head and decides she should leave now before he makes her reconsider.
She tries not to notice the state of disarray the apartment is in — some of her furniture looks disconnected to the place, but it's slowly taking shape. She snickers when she notices the her shoes and his suit jacket over the floor near the kitchen, and then his tie next to the couch. They had been in a hurry when they got home earlier this morning.
What can she say, weddings put them in a mood. And if she had thought Rachel and Mike's wedding had been fun, Louis' ended up being so much better. At least where Harvey was concerned.
She drinks the water slowly, and decides to prepare some coffee — it wouldn't hurt, surely. They had a whole Sunday ahead of them.
"You coming back anytime soon?" Harvey asks from the bedroom.
"I'm trying to keep this condo from falling apart, you know!" She jokes as she picks the shoes and the tie from the floor.
She sees him getting up from bed and going to the bathroom, and they share a smile — her gaze pointed at the mess they had made last night. She picks his jacket next, but frowns when something falls from it in a quiet thump on the floor. Just as she bends to pick whatever it was that fell, she freezes.
It's a little velvety box.
The kind that she knows very well.
She picks it up, looking around — Harvey's still in the bathroom — and opens it to reveal a diamond ring on the inside. A big diamond. She loves it.
The items she's holding in her other hand fall on the couch next to her. She's still staring at the ring when Harvey enters the living room.
"Babe, have you seen my—"
Her gaze shifts from the ring to him. Her hand is trembling a little.
"You found it."
It's a statement. Donna watches as he walks over to her.
"So I did," she smiles, then purses her lips. She blinks once, twice, because she should have seen this coming. She did see this coming, she was sure it would happen soon but — she isn't prepared when it does. "I suppose you should be asking me a question?"
"Do I need to?" He stops in front of her. She reaches her free hand to touch him — on his chest, and then his hand covers hers there. He raises their hands to his lips to kiss her palm.
Donna lets out a laugh. "Not really, but I really want you to."
"I won't go down on one knee. That's lame."
"Please. That's very unnecessary."
"Alright then. Donna," he steps closer to her. She can't look away from him. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
He's smiling as he says it, the corner of his eyes crinkling, and they're standing in the middle of his living room in a complete state of disarray — she's only wearing a robe and he's only in his boxers and the coffee machine is kind of loud. It's not the most grand proposal she's ever seen and she realizes this is the most perfect for her anyway. She closes her eyes for a moment because it's suddenly too much — even his words are too perfect to be true.
"If you don't say yes you won't get this ring. You know you want the ring," Harvey jokes.
Donna laughs, opens her eyes. She feels a tear run down a cheek, and then another.
"I do want the ring," she admits. "I want you more, though."
"So?"
"Yes. Of course!" She says, obviously. He gets the box from her hand and puts the ring on her finger easily. She doesn't even stop to admire it before pulling him closer for a kiss.
He embraces her so completely she thinks she's melting into him a little.
"I love you," he whispers against her ear.
"I love you too," she says right back at him.
Donna takes the opportunity to extend her arm and look at the ring on her finger. Just gorgeous. Even better now that she's wearing.
"You're looking at the ring now, aren't you?"
Donna snickers. "So what if I am?"
He pulls away just enough to look at her.
"Is it big enough for you?" He asks suggestively.
"Oh, yes. A perfect fit," she says immediately. Then she frowns. "Wait. Were you planning to propose to me during Louis and Sheila's wedding?"
"No—"
"Because that's so cheesy, Harvey."
He glares at her.
"Of course not. Ray had it in the car with him, I got it on the way back home," he explains. "I was gonna do it when we got here, but then you jumped on me…"
"I totally didn't."
"...completely out of control…"
"I really wasn't."
"So I forgot."
"You forgot to propose?"
He looks too sheepish to be joking.
"You've had this ring for a month and you forgot to propose?" She repeats.
"Hey, you know how I get when you do that thing."
"I am pretty good, I will give you that."
"Wait, you knew I had the ring for a month?"
Now it's her turn to look sheepish. "You know I have access to your bank records."
His glare doesn't waive.
"And I suspected you'd do this so I may have been checking every now and then," Donna admitted.
"But you hadn't seen the ring?"
"You mean when it was hidden in your socks drawer? No, of course not."
"Donna…"
"I didn't look! I swear," she says honestly, wrapping her arms against his neck again. "I wanted to be surprised."
"So nice of you to let me surprise you," he mumbles against her skin.
"Hmm, you love it," she smiles against his lips. "Let's go back to bed. I'll do that thing you like."
"You said you didn't want any more sex this morning," Harvey teases her when she tries to get him to move.
"You hadn't proposed to me then. Everything's changed," Donna says impatiently.
"So now you wanna have sex because of the ring and not me?"
"You're definitely the emotional one of this relationship."
They stare at each other, challenge in their eyes.
They don't know who yields first, because they more or less start kissing each other frantically at the same time, and then both her robe and his boxers join the rest of the clothes in the living room.
He'll help her tidy the place in a few hours.
XII.
Their new place is a penthouse - two floors, lots of glass, four and a half bedrooms they'll have to put to use somehow. Harvey's pretty used to great views - he loves the one in his office, and the reason why he bought his old condo was the view alone. But there's something to be said about seeing Donna wearing one of his dress shirts and leaning against the balcony of their bedroom.
The sun's just risen and it's their first night back after the honeymoon - a small wedding followed by a long honeymoon had been their choice. He took her to the Seychelles and the sunny days have done them well. It's good to be home, though.
She turns when he crosses the doorway, as always in tune with his movements. She accepts the cup of coffee he's brought her and he settles behind her, one hand on her waist while the other holds his own cup. She leans against him, red hair tickling his jaw.
"You know, you can stop stealing my shirts now that we're married," he comments. It's kind of chilly this morning, he isn't sure how she's handling with her legs bare like this. Below, New York begins to wake up.
"Now why would I do that, if it turns us both on?" Donna asks, raising an arm to look at his initials embroidered on the cloth. "You've always wanted to mark me as your own, admit it."
"Hey, you're the one who decided to change your name," Harvey says, pressing his lips against the crown of her hair.
"I haven't changed it yet. Maybe I'll wait a little."
"You want to leave clients surprised when they find out we're married, don't you?"
"Maybe I do," she turns around, pressing her lips softly against his, leaning against the wall. "I just want people to still take me seriously, you know. It was bad enough when we weren't together and they accused me of sleeping with you."
"Anyone who knows you just a little knows that you have more than earned your place," he tells her seriously, though he's said it before. "Come on. You know that."
"Yeah, I know. I'm just not used to being insecure," she jokes, but he knows her.
He kisses her again. "We got this."
Not you; we.
They've always been one and the same, in a way. Now it's just more official.
XIII.
He wakes to the sound of jazz playing. Not super loud, but it's enough to wake him up. From the second floor, he sees Donna in the living room, sitting in her favorite chair, a book on her lap - he briefly thinks of his old condo and its minimalism. Their penthouse is a combination of them both: glass walls, plants, a colorful wall here and there but mostly, white. He's been pushing Donna for a dog because he thinks that will be fun, but they have enough on their plates right now.
He walks down the stairs and that's when she notices him.
"Hey."
She smiles, but she looks tired. "Hey."
"You okay?" he sits down on the couch next to her.
"Yeah, she's just been kicking all night," she closes the book and sat up straight, a hand on her growing belly. "Pressing against my bladder. And ribs. It's like she's everywhere. Jesus."
He can't help but smile. "Only a couple more weeks to go."
"I'm gonna be so happy when she's out. I mean, I always would have been happy, but the discomfort is really pushing me towards ecstatic," Donna jokes. "Did we talk about having two? Because I'm not so sure about that second one."
"They say you'll miss the pregnancy when she's here," Harvey says.
"Hmm. Maybe."
"What's with the song?"
"Oh, I figured I'd try something. And I was right, as usual," she tells him proudly, a hand rubbing her stomach over her nightgown. "She's asleep."
He reaches over to place his hand above hers. "Hey. Stop bothering Mommy."
Then he smiles at her.
Donna lets out a laugh. "Oh, I'm sure that was all it will take for this to stop. You and your stern tone of voice. As if you'll ever use it with her."
Harvey frowns. "Are you suggesting I'm gonna be the easy parent?"
"I'm not suggesting anything. I know you're gonna be the easy parent," Donna says. "Come on, help me up."
"You think you can sleep now?" He asks, but stands up and offers her his hands.
"Not really. But sex helps accelerate the whole birth process."
"I don't think that's a thing until a few weeks.
She looks pointedly at him. "Well, we can try."
"You sure know how to seduce a guy."
He still follows her, though.
XIV.
Donna keeps her eyes closed, but still hears when he gets out of the bed to get ready for work. She doesn't want to open her eyes and look at the time, but she thinks it's probably still pretty early, so Donna buries deeper into the blankets and ignores the sounds around her — the shower running, Harvey going around his closet to get dressed. She feels the ghost of a kiss on her forehead and tries to smile, but she doesn't think she's able to; she just snuggles into his pillow and falls asleep again.
She isn't sure how much time has passed when she feels a tiny palm on her cheek, and her brain briefly registers that it's actually Sunday, not Monday, and Harvey wouldn't be leaving for work at all. She opens her eyes and smiles when she sees the big brown eyes staring back at her — she reaches for the baby, rolls on her back; Elizabeth's other hand touches her other cheek and Donna touches their noses together. The baby laughs.
"Did your daddy leave you here to fend for yourself?" Donna asks, kissing Elizabeth's cheek and sitting up — her eyes meeting Harvey's as he looks at them from the foot of the bed. He's already wearing his jogging clothes, and probably thought it was best to wake her up instead of waiting for Elizabeth to do it through the baby monitor.
"Her daddy wanted to surprise her mommy," Harvey says instead, crouching down and picking something from the floor.
A tray with enough food to last a day, at least. Donna gives him a look.
"You didn't have to."
"Just accept that I can surprise you every now and then," he says. She sits up, accepts the tray and adjusts the baby on her lap. Elizabeth immediately reaches out for a strawberry, a favorite of hers. "Look at that. A little strawberry eating a strawberry."
Donna runs her fingers through Elizabeth's hair, so like her own, then reaches for the coffee first — as always. Harvey always gets it right. She narrows her eyes at him. "Is this because we didn't get to go to Del Posto last night? Because I thought pizza and taking care of a teething baby was a good way to celebrate."
"Who says that isn't?" his eyes are twinkling. He, too, steals a strawberry. Like father, like daughter.
"It's the first year we skipped it."
"For a good reason. We can take her when she's older," he suggests. Donna nods, reaching for the bagel now. "We're going tonight, actually," he announces. Donna frowns, looking briefly at the baby, who is happily munching on the strawberry. "Don't worry, I spoke to Louis and we settled a playdate between her and Oscar. Just for a few hours."
"Has Louis told Oscar to ask for her hand in marriage yet?"
"He has tried."
Elizabeth chooses this moment to spit the remaining of the strawberry onto the tray. Donna gets a napkin, and Harvey laughs.
"Daddy won't let that happen, baby, don't worry," he picks the baby up, and she complains — either wanting to be close to food or to Donna. Harvey settles for sitting next to his wife, Elizabeth between them.
"So... breakfast in bed, Del Posto tonight. If we weren't married I'd think you were going to propose," she jokes. "What are you playing at?"
"Can't a guy woo his wife every now and then?"
"Oh, he can. He should," she adds. "Louis has offered us the whole night, hasn't he?"
"Yep."
"We haven't had one of those in so long," Donna groans in delight. "Never thought Louis would be helping our sex life."
"I thought we were just gonna rest and catch up on sleep."
She glares at him; he's already laughing. Elizabeth's disinterest in the food and recent interest in Donna's hair tells her she's already eaten. Harvey pretends to steal her nose and she giggles and giggles — and Donna is able to have breakfast quietly, although the occasional little foot ends up hitting her while father and daughter play together. It's a weird sight, sometimes — weird, but completely right. It just sometimes downs on her that they've really come this far — over a decade and a half together, and this is where it all led.
"Aren't you going to run today?" Donna asks as Harvey is blowing raspberries on Elizabeth's stomach, a smile playing on her face as she watches the scene.
Harvey makes a face, as if he's only just remembered he was supposed to run. He looks at Donna, then at the baby — who is obviously expecting more playing, from the way her eyes are sparkling in anticipation.
"Nah, I got more important things to do," he says, finally, and Donna can't resist giving him a kiss.
It's a stay in bed kind of Sunday, anyway.
THE END.