I think I'm back on a roll with this, like a new lease of 'writing life'! Please enjoy and review if you want. Glad it's welcomed back! X

The first few weeks of the New Year passed by just as quickly as the previous year itself at Specter Litt Ross. They had all returned from their impromptu Caribbean getaway / 'getting Boy Wonder out of a mountain of shit again'; as Louis had so eloquently put it, whilst on their private plane back to JFK the day after Christmas.

Pink, green, blue, purple. Paper clips - she loved paperclips. She smiled as she slid every one with precision to seal each small stack of documents ready for the partners to sign.

With a short shuffle of the papers, she gathered them together and tapped them down sharply on the top of her desk. As she placed them to the side, ready to distribute them to the relevant partners to sign in each department, her cell phone began to vibrate. A short swipe accepted the call so she quickly placed it up to her ear.

'Hi Kristen,' she straightened her back in anticipation of her sister's unexpected call, 'Is everything ok? Is Rosie alright?'

Donna's younger sister, Kirsten, had come to stay in the city for a week; the first week that Donna had gone back to Specter Litt Ross.

After everything her older sister had been through over the past few months, Kristen was more than happy to spend some time with not only her sister and brother in law, but also her eight month old niece.

Donna settled back into her office with ease just two days before, after Gretchen had ceremoniously handed her back over the desk drawer key as she had been the temporary cover of Donna's COO duties.

She decided to start back with three days in the office; she hadn't realised how much she had missed the place, and the fools in it, but her heart broke leaving Rosie. She knew she didn't really need to go back to the firm for the money; she knew she had to do it to help Harvey, Louis and Mike and carry on keeping the firm going strong. They were family and it wasn't like a normal job to her. It had a completely different level of satisfaction than any other job but still nowhere near the level of satisfaction of being with Rosie, but she knew she had to return sometime.

As it was Wednesday, she knew she had the next two days to try and find daycare for Rosie, as Kristen was heading back to Cortland on Saturday.

Donna was usually the epitome of organisation and should have by now, already signed Rosie into one of the best daycares or kindergartens in Manhattan; but it was proving to be more of a mammoth task than what she had originally thought. Yes, of course she was prepared, she'd even drawn up a list in alphabetical order even before Rosie was born and had already befriended most admission offices in the city, yet when it actually came to placing her most beloved item under their care, she almost at once questioned her own abilities to make decisions. No where was good enough.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After looking around some of Manhattan's most prestigious and highly rated kindergartens two days before, almost all of which Donna had second thoughts on, she still hadn't settled with one; rejecting each after ten minutes of the tour.

'Donna, it costs $40,000 a year, I'm sure it's good enough, it's one of the most elite and insanely competitive nurseries in Manhattan; Rosie will love it...' Harvey had said for the fourth time about the fourth nursery they'd visited that week.

He'd never seen Donna so indecisive, it was new to him and part of him thought it was totally endearing, yet the other part wanted to sign on the dotted line, pay a year's fees in advance and seal the deal before Donna vetoed it completely.

'But Har-' she began.

'No Donna, we're not doing this again,' he cut her off as they walked out through the doors and down the front steps to an awaiting Ray. 'For the love of God, if we don't choose one soon, she'll be at the local walk in centre on the corner of 36th and 12th.' He laughed, yet Donna hadn't quite risen to his level of humour on the matter of their daughter's childcare.

'So what exactly was wrong with that one?' He sighed as he opened the car door for her as she clipped Rosie inside her seat. They then walked round and got in the other side besides her to continue their conversation.

'It was amazing Harvey, but it just wasn't... so..' she let out a held breath, 'It just didn't feel right, she didn't like it.'

Harvey snorted as he caught Ray's amused eyes in the rear view mirror.

'Donna, she's eight months old, she's not really expecting Michelin star food nor does she care if it's highly rated on Trip Advisor,' he smiled, 'She'd just be happy with a breadstick and a copy of That's Not My Teddy...'

She cut him a sideways glare, 'Well, for forty thousand dollars, I'd definitely expect more than a Goddamn breadstick!' she huffed, flicking through the prospectus of their latest failed tour.

'Hey,' his hand met hers and slowly pushed the prospectus down into her lap, holding her hand warmly, 'Look, I get it. No where is going to be good enough and I agree, as the best place she can be is with you, but you want to come back to the firm, no one's forcing you. If you've changed your mind then that's fine too; there's no reason why you can't, you know...' His smile relaxed her, he could feel the tension in her hands fading. He knew how to reassure her, rescue her form her own thoughts. Even Donna could lose it now and again, more so now she had something more precious to her than Harvey to look after. He knew she just wanted the best and to do a good job, but even he knew she couldn't do everything. It was his idea for her to only do three days at the firm, it took a whole weekend to convince her not to do everyday. She later knew he'd won that one.

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With her mind now back on her sister's phone call, Donna drummed her nails on her desk as Kristen explained Rosie's latest effort of pulling herself up alongside the couch. She swallowed, a dull ache lay in her chest; why was she sat here missing this? She thought, as Kristen promised to send a video.

'Th, that's great...' Donna held her voice trying not to let herself cave, 'Tell her mummy can't wait to give her a big cuddle later!' She passed her kisses over the phone to Rosie and said her goodbyes.

With a deflated expel of breath, she gently dropped her cell back down on to the desk. 'What am I doing?' She whispered as she flicked her quad-coloured pen between her fingers.

In that moment, her thoughts of Rosie's attempts at standing up, without her seeing it were interrupted by the opening of her office door.

'Donna,' Rachel swept into her friend's office. 'Can I ask a favour?'

'Anything. Shoot...' Donna welcomed the distraction and she turned her chair slightly out from the desk and crossed her slender legs.

'A client who Katrina and I are working with at the moment...'

Donna interjected, 'Wilson Pharmaceuticals?' Rachel should have known, Donna knows who every associate, junior or senior partner is working with at any given time. She smiled knowingly.

'Well, there's a problem with the opposing counsel.'

'Sarah Rivers?' Donna smirked, 'Oh yes, I know her well...'

'So, you know what problem we've got then?'

'Yes indeed I do,' Donna turned her chair fully back to face her desk, crossing her Monolos neatly underneath her chair. 'The way to Ms Rivers' heart is Louis. We all know that, but after what happened last time, we really can't be losing Wilson as a client at the moment, their billables are grossing in the top three percent.'

'Ok, so how do we get her in a room with Louis? Without him actually knowing he's in a room with her?' Rachel laughed and shook her head, 'I've never known anyone so infatuated with him, and he's completely oblivious to it, especially now he's with Shelia.'

'True!' Donna chuckled and agreed with her friend. 'If we want her to settle with Wilson then we need to think of a way to bring Louis into the settlement meeting.'

'How? He's not even on this case,' Rachel shrugged.

'I'm not saying he needs to be standing in the corner serving drinks, but I'm sure there's a way we can sway it.'

'And that's why I came to you...' Rachel smirked raising an eyebrow. 'I thought you could do with a fun challenge...' A knowing look graced her friend's face.

'Like you wouldn't believe!' Donna pushed herself up out of her chair using both hands on the desk, grabbing the partners' papers she had just sorted and followed Rachel out of her office.

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'Now, that's a sight I've missed,' his smile lit his face as she walked through his glass door. Knocking was never necessary for these two. 'You ok?' She could tell he wasn't asking about work.

'I'm fine, just keeping busy!' she replied perkily, even though she knew he'd seen straight through her facade already.

'Kristen called didn't she?' Harvey raised his brow, waiting for her obvious response with a waiting smile.

'Yes!' She flopped down onto the couch with a sigh. 'She's grabbed the couch and pulled herself up!'

Harvey laughed, 'Are we talking about Kristen here or Rosie?'

Donna cut him an exasperated look. 'Harvey, I'm not kidding, I really don't know how I'm going to do this!'

'Well, don't then...' he shrugged. 'But, if I know you, and I think I do. Very well. I know you'll be fine. It's only been three days Donna, she'll be fine!'

'But she stood up!'

He had began to make his way over to the couch, hands in his pockets, his eyes fixed on a solemn Donna. 'You do realise she's been doing that for two weeks and we saw it the first time she did it in Turks and Caicos - You know that right?' He sat down besides her, placing his hand in hers.

'I know, but she did it again!' Her feeble attempts at making herself feel guilty were now failing miserably.

'Ok,' he moved and tucked a strand of her flame hair behind her ear, stroking the side of her cheek as he did so. 'You're not missing anything, and if you want to stay with her, do it. But I know you and you just can't help yourself, you love this place too.'

An unexpected solitary tear trickled down her cheek, he swiped his thumb over it slowly, 'Now, if Kristen had called and told you our daughter had just recited the whole Constitutional Rights of the United States then hell, my schedule will be cleared for the next week...' he tried to make her laugh.

'Well,' she smiled, wiping her eyes gently, 'She has been spending more time with Mike lately...'

'Right. What was it you actually came in here for?' He decided to change the subject, his voice low and deep.

She took a deep breath to clear her mind and blinked, as if to refresh her thoughts.

'Sarah Rivers.'

Harvey's lips curled into a wide grin, 'Does Louis know?'

'No, but she won't settle with Wilson Pharmaceuticals and you know the only way to distract her from not closing is him.'

'What does that man unwittingly do to make good looking women fall at his feet?' He laughed, 'Tara, Shelia and now Sarah Rivers?' He walked back over to his desk.

'When you sort it, let me know, I need a front row seat for that one!'

'Harvey!' She scolded as she tilted her head to the side, trying hard not to let her smile spread. 'Oh, and what do you mean, good looking women?'

Both his brows raised quickly, 'Nothing in your league,' he wisely backtracked, he was telling the truth - no one did compare to her.

'You're an idiot.' She threw her affectionate phrase at him.

'An idiot whose daughter can recite the constitution!' He called after her.

She turned, as she was just on the way through the door.

'You do know Kristen didn't say that right?' She laughed, 'And don't think you can use that to get my mind changed about Harvard!'

'Donna. I can't even get you to sign her up to three days of nursery, I'm not even going to venture into her college education yet...'

'Good decision Specter...' the door closed behind her. His eyes trailed on the back of her short, navy dress until she was out of sight.