A little birthday ficlet for the very special Luisa (hellcsweetie) who requested something involving Donna spending time with Gordon

She hears a deep chuckle echo from the bedroom as she finishes up her skin care routine, smiling to herself as she wonders just what made him laugh so loudly. She slides into bed beside him just as he's hanging up the phone.

"What did he say?" she asks, unable to hold back her curiosity any longer as to Marcus' reaction to finding out she and Harvey were now together.

"That it was about fucking time," he answers her with a grin.

She laughs, smiling back at him. "Seems to be a common response."

He leans in to press a light kiss to her lips. "Guess we deserve it."

"You're probably right."

It seems the whole world had been waiting for them to finally see what was right in front of them, they'd been dealing with jokes at their own expense for weeks now as they began to share the news with family and friends. Even some clients had made similar comments.

"I bet your Dad would have had the same reaction," she says quietly, wondering if Harvey's thoughts had headed in a similar direction. His list of family members to inform of his new relationship was sadly short.

His face turns wistful as it usually does when they discuss Gordon.

"He told me once that I just had to be patient. That eventually you'd see it."

She's never mentioned that conversation to Harvey before, hadn't known how or if to tell him about it all those years ago and after Gordon died she had tucked it away in the back of her heart. Harvey looks at her in surprise.

"When?"

"About six months before he…" she stumbles and Harvey nods understanding what she means. "He was in town and dropped by the office to see if you were free for lunch. It was during the Weber case, you were in court all day so I joined him instead.

"You had lunch with my Dad?"

She nods thinking back to that day. She'd always liked Gordon, he was cheeky and cocky just like his son, but also like his son she could tell he had a heart of gold hidden underneath.

They used to chat regularly on the phone, she was the main conduit between a busy father and son for years. Gordon sometimes liked to surprise Harvey by showing up unannounced and if it turned out he wasn't in the office at the time Gordon would insist Donna join him for coffee or lunch instead.

She enjoyed their little catch ups. He told her tales of life on the road and all the interesting places he had performed. They chatted about theatre as well, Gordon was passionate about the arts and always encouraged her to go for more auditions. They didn't discuss Harvey much. It was an unspoken agreement.

But on this particular day Gordon had seemed a little melancholic, asking how his son was doing. She talked about the trial he was in the midst of, how hard he was working on it, but that's not what he wanted to hear about.

"I mean his life. Is he happy?"

"I think so," she had answered slowly, shrugging her shoulders, not sure if such a simplistic state could be applied to Harvey.

"You know he's in love with you."

"Gordon," she had sighed. "It's not like that. We're just friends." He'd joked and teased around the topic before on occasion, wishful thinking he had once referred to it as, but he had never said anything so direct before then.

"You just need to be patient with him Donna. Harvey, he's got some issues from the past. I think it makes it hard for him to let people in." His face had reflected the guilt he felt about the situation.

"I know," she had answered him, holding his gaze to make it clear she knew exactly what he was talking about, that she knew about his complicated history with Lily.

Gordon was surprised to learn Harvey had confided in her, but then he had nodded his head in a way that made her think that information only further confirmed his assumptions.

"You're special to Harvey and one day he'll see it."

She smiles a little sadly up at Harvey as she finishes recounting the story.

"He's right, you were always special, from the very beginning," he says softly, kissing her again. "He'd be so smug right now, getting proved right after all this time," he adds with a chuckle.

She wraps her arms around him, hugging him tight, so thankful that Gordon was right all those years ago.