This is a little something that came to me in the dead of night, and just spilled out onto the page. Enjoy!
It's on his fourth night at her apartment that he notices a worn teddy bear hiding behind the pillows on what had quickly become "her" side of the bed. He fishes it out and holds it, asking her "who's this?"
She snatches the stuffed toy back, holding it to her chest protectively. "I've had him since I was three," she says, her chin raised defiantly, as if daring him to make fun of her.
His expression softens, shifting from mischief to adoration as he looks at her holding the ancient toy. She's obviously clung to it many a time, he can see threadbare patches in it's fur and a gaping hole near its arm. "What's it called?"
"He. And he's just called Bear." She's still defensive, almost embarrassed but not quite, never apologising for who she is.
Harvey smiles at her then, that soft, open expression that she's starting to get used to and it hits her that she doesn't need to hide anything from this man. She feels a warmth spread through her at the realisation and she climbs onto the bed, patting the space next to her in an invitation for him to sit down.
"I had a teddy bear given to me when I was born, and it went everywhere with me. And when I was three, I left it in the doctors office. By the time my mom realised and went back for it, it was gone." She smiles wistfully. "According to her, I was distraught for a few days until my toddler brain forgot all about it. The following Christmas, this bear arrived. He doesn't look like much now, but he was fluffy, and huge. I don't remember it, but in the pictures he's almost as big as I was." She laughs, a tinkling sound with a hint of sadness for the childhood that was long gone. "He's been with me ever since." She rubs a thumb over the bear's head in a gesture that looks as though she's done it millions of times before.
"This bear is over thirty years old?"
"Yeah, I guess he is," she realises aloud. Harvey grins and wraps an arm around her shoulders.
"That's the cutest thing. You're adorable," he says and she knows he's not making fun of her. The thought makes her smile, hugging the bear to her, letting her chin rest on its head. "He looks like he might need some repairs."
"Yeah, that hole showed up a year or so ago and I just haven't got around to stitching it back up."
"You can sew?" He's shocked and she laughs.
"When will you learn? I'm Donna. I can do anything."
.
He watches as she carefully and lovingly repairs the hole with small, neat stitches that disappear into the bear's fur. She handles it, him, so carefully, this symbol of her childhood, her innocence. He loves that he still has so many things to learn about her, so much more still to discover. Their relationship has always been more about his life than hers, and he hates that he never took the time to find out more about her childhood and her adult life before she met him. But on the other hand, the warm glow that fills his chest whenever he discovers something new about her is worth every unasked question in their past.
"Tell me more," he says softly and she looks up at him, her eyes bright. "Tell me more stories about your childhood."
She grins, thinking for a moment before beginning another story. "We had a cat when i was little. A tabby, little skinny thing. When I was about six or seven, my mom came into the room to find me holding it over the fireplace. I thought it might be cold because it was so skinny, so I was holding it near the heat of the fire." She chuckled. "My mom screamed and ran in to grab the cat. She thought I was going to drop it."
"Does Louis know you had a cat?"
"Oh, god no. I'd never hear the end of it."
"I like hearing about young Donna." Harvey's voice is low, reverent, loving. "She sounds like a character."
"Oh, she was. Not that she isn't still a character now." She raises one eyebrow and he laughs, agreeing with her. She's one of the liveliest, most energetic women he's ever known and he can't picture that changing any time soon.
"So young Donna was a character, what about teenage Donna?"
She grins devilishly. "Teenage Donna was good as gold… until I was seventeen. Then I met some friends who were a little more wild than anyone I'd met before. I remeber one time… " she chuckles lightly to herslef, remembering something, and Harvey's eyes pore over her face, so relaxed and open. "It was my senior year. We had our final show for Drama Club, a collection of scenes from Noel Coward plays." Harvey looks at her blankly and she rolls her eyes good0-naturedly, "of course you don't know who that is. Anyway, one of my classmates, a good friend of mine, had brought an antique table from her parents farm to use as a prop in the show. After the show was done, at 1 in the afternoon, we went and sat in her car, drinking wine coolers that her brother had bought on our behalf, with this antique table on the sidewalk next to the car, using it to keep our drinks on." She laughs giddily, remembering the moment and Harvey cguckles along with her, imagining a teenage Donna being rebellious like that.
"Then," she continues, "I had to go to a dance class that evening while I was still a little tipsy, and already starting to get a hangover. I had to pretend nothing was going on because I couldn't risk my parents finding out."
"You wild child," Harvey tickles her gently and she squeals a little, squirming away from him. When he relents, she settles against him comfortably, waves of affection rolling over both of them. It's a new normal for them and they're still getting used to it, but it's one they both cherish.
From then on, Bear sits on a shelf, no longer hidden out of embarrassment or fear. He's exactly where he's meant to be, just like the couple who now share the bed he used to guard.
Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Fun fact; these stories are all from my own life. Young Emily was a character too. :D