Chapter 6: Over the years- part 2

2012- PEARSON HARDMAN

"Mommy, why aren't you going to work today?" questioned a curious four year old Ava. Little did she know that Donna had been fired by Jessica for destroying the memo which she did to protect Harvey.

Harvey had not even bothered to call her. The only time he had shown up outside her apartment was for her to testify in the trial run. Mike had somehow convinced her to testify. Only to have it blow up in her face.

"Do you love Harvey Specter?" Louis had asked "You're with him all the time, your work revolves around him, and he is your daughter's godfather!" Louis's badgering had taken everyone at the firm by surprise.

Nobody at the firm had known that Harvey was Ava's godfather. It was at the mention of Ava, Harvey had jumped in and said "That's ENOUGH!"

Unfortunately now everyone at the firm thought she was in love with him or something.

Eventually, it turned out that the memo was fake and was in fact planted by Daniel Hardman himself in order to get back at Harvey. So Harvey was outside her apartment again, trying to bring her back.

Donna was coming back from the park with Ava in her arms when she stumbled upon him waiting for her outside her apartment. "I brought your bonus" he said. The audacity! She thought to herself. She put Ava down and tore the cheque into two halves and gave it back to him. "You thought it would make it all better? Handing me a cheque?" "Donna" he tried to reason but this time he was interrupted by the little girl. "You hurt my mommy Harvey. You were a bad person and you have not even come to see me." On hearing this Harvey picked Ava up and motioned Donna to take this conversation of theirs inside.

He was upset that he had let Donna down, but he was even more upset seeing Ava disappointed.

As they entered her apartment Harvey was the first to speak "Look Av, your mommy and I had a misunderstanding. However, I promise you whatever goes on between your mother and me, I will always be there for you okay? And as for your mommy, I have come here to get her back. As I cannot be me without her." He was saying the words to Ava but he meant for Donna to hear them. These words had left Donna in a bit of a shock but before Donna could say anything, Ava spoke, "Love you, Harvey! Will you see my drawings now?" "I love you too, Av! And yes of course, go to your room and get them" Ava fell out of his embrace and rushed excitedly to her room.

"How did you get Jessica to sign off?" Donna asked "She already did, because like I said, I told her I cannot be me without you" "no you didn't!" Donna deduced. "Well, I thought about it! And she knows it!" "Fine, I will come back on two conditions, first you replace that cheque with a bigger one." Harvey took out another cheque and said "And the other one?" Before Donna could answer Ava came back with her drawings to show them to Harvey.

He ended up staying at Donna's for dinner and even tucked Ava in bed. He had come to realise over the years that he loved Ava as if she were his own kid and would try to spend more time with her.

2013- Pearson Specter

A lot had happened this year. Donna couldn't believe that she had slept with a criminal. She was thankful that she hadn't introduced Ava to Stephen. That would have tainted the child's mind.

She was taken aback by Harvey being jealous of her relationship with Stephen and later on she was thankful that he beat the crap out of him for her.

It was the next morning after her breakup when Donna was dropping Ava off to kindergarten before heading to the office when she saw Harvey waiting outside her apartment. "Harveyyy" an excited Ava rushed towards him and he picked her up. "Hey, kid". "Harvey we spend so many hours a day a week 12 feet from each other. Do you really want to go to work together?" "Who says anything about work? We have breakfast at Nougatine and an excursion to Hermes that may or may not involve a new handbag" Harvey bantered. His answer earned him a smile from both his favourite girls.

They ended up dropping Ava off to kindergarten after breakfast and taking a half day. It had been a while since Harvey and Donna had hung out together, just the two of them outside of work without Ava.

"Thank you Harvey! For today! I needed this." She told him sincerely. "Donna we've all been through a lot and I can understand how hard it must be for you. This is the least I can do for you."

After a few months Harvey had then started dating Scottie but that had only ended up in an ugly breakup. Donna, even though she respected Scottie realised that she was actually glad that they had broken up.

2014 - November

Mike had left Gillis Industries and gotten back to Pearson Specter. He and Rachel were still not on good terms because of their falling out due to Logan Sanders. However, the case was over and Harvey had dropped Logan as a client.

It was around two in the afternoon when Donna received a call from River East Elementary School. "Am I speaking to Ms Paulsen?" The caller enquired. "Yes, it's her" Donna answered. "Ma'am your daughter Ava has been in an accident in school. We have taken her to the hospital. I'm afraid you're going to have to come right away". The caller gave her the address of the hospital. Donna was freaking out now. She couldn't keep herself calm. She grabbed her bag and was rushing towards the elevator when she bumped into Harvey who was just coming from the conference room.

"Donna, calm down! What's wrong?" He asked, seeing her worried. "Ava- accident" was all she could manage to speak when Harvey grabbed her hand told her he was coming with her. He stumbled upon Mike on his way and told him to take his next meetings as he had an emergency.

He had called for Ray in the meantime and the driver was waiting for them downstairs. It was a fifteen minutes ride from the firm to the hospital but it seemed like the scariest fifteen minutes of Donna's life. Harvey held her throughout the journey and tears were streaming down her cheeks. He was having a déjà vu of when Donna had thought she had miscarried and they had rushed to hospital.

On reaching the hospital they found out that Ava had broken her arm because she had jumped from the swing after a fight with another fellow first grader. They had taken her home after a few hours.

"What exactly happened baby?" Donna enquired once all three of them were inside her apartment. "Heather M was teasing me about not having a daddy. So I jumped out of the swing without slowing it down because I was mad and wanted to get back at her." Ava sobbed as she said this. Donna lifted the little girl up and made her sit on her lap. "Oh baby, I will have a talk with Heather M's mother" Donna kissed Ava on the cheek while saying this. "Jackie said mommy and daddy are supposed to be married. Who is my father mommy?" The six year old enquired innocently. Donna had always expected this question to arise. But she never expected her little girl to physically get hurt over this. "You may not have a daddy, baby, but you do have all these people who love you unconditionally. You have me, Harvey, Mike, Rachel, Louis grandma and grandpa"

"Is Harvey my daddy, mommy?" Ava questioned sincerely. He wished, Harvey thought to himself. "No sweetie, but I will say this to you again. You may not have a father but you'll always have your uncle Harvey every step of the way." He reiterated the same words he had said when she was born. He kissed her forehead and asked her to get some rest.

Donna lifted Ava up and took her to her bedroom so that she could sleep. "Harvey" Ava called for him. He was outside her bedroom making some important calls to Mike. Donna told her he'd be right back.

When Harvey came back, Ava asked him to open her bag-pack and from there he found a drawing of her, Harvey and Donna. It said, 'this is Harvey, he may not be my daddy but I love him like he was my daddy" on reading it, Harvey had tears in his eyes. Damn, Ava was making him soft but he wouldn't have it any other way.

Later on Donna would sometimes tease him about how emotional he got on reading Ava's note if he would get too harsh on her or tried to put on an unnecessary tough exterior in front of her.