She heard them walk in through her strategically left ajar door, quickly jumping up from her bed and placing her laptop on the desk a little harsher than she wanted it. It was almost 11 pm and they were finally home, her smile was hard to contain. Earlier, while she waited for them by herself, she sneakily lay motionless in bed while the nanny checked to see if she was awake, leaving her alone to hope they wouldn't take long. Some nights they seemingly forgot her bedtime, allowing her to listen to them comment on the news, smile at her stories from school, read books together, watch tv shows not rated PG or even dance to the sound of a jazz record - though she sometimes was more in a mood for a Broadway soundtrack, but didn't want to hurt his feelings. If she were really lucky, they'd let her listen to their discussions of a case, picking out of their dinner plates, filling herself with bits of food and loads of admiration.
She was about to walk out of her room thinking she'd catch them before they reached her, but their whispers in the kitchen were still related to work. Then she heard him say what sounded like "good thinking" and the other voice sighed her tiredness away, wishing out loud for her bed; he promised to rub her shoulder.
She stopped before reaching the living room, her facial expression transformed from joy to frustration at no mention of her name. They weren't running to her.
"Father," her voice came from the direction of her bedroom, followed by her heavy steps towards him.
"Daughter?" he responded, his tone showing how surprised he was to hear her voice, and especially bothered by this new way of being called. Not long ago he was still daddy. "How come you're still awake?"
"I need this permission slip signed. It's for orchestra," she said as she tossed the paper on top of his laptop bag, ignoring his question.
Not too far away, right there in the kitchen, she stood quietly as she filled the kettle to boil water for a chamomile tea, catching the interaction and immediately noticing the attitude. She was exhausted and the last thing she wanted was to discipline a pre-teen late at night, but her nerves were quicker to respond than her judgment.
"Don't you mean hey dad, how was your day?" she interfered.
She rolled her eyes and mocked her mother's suggestion. "Hi dad, how was your day? Can you sign this now? It's due tomorrow."
He reached for the pen but the mother's look stopped him. She was willing to go all in on this battle. She had to.
"Ophelia," she warned, accentuating the e. That was it. Full name only appeared when trouble was sensed.
"Mom, I need it!" Her voice was now high pitched as she stomped her foot on the ground. "You do want me to play in the concert, right?"
"No need for rhetoric," her mother's firm voice brought a mix of admiration and respect on her. "I do want you to play. But you won't get far with that attitude," she felt her head throb.
"Really?" Ophelia sort of whispered, bringing her hands to her waist, gathering the courage. "Coz dad made it pretty far in life with a heck of an attitude, so it's only natural I develop one when I need to," her lips trembled and she pressed them together, to avoid showing her emotions. It was scary how easy it was to spot his traits on her.
She wasn't wrong. He did have an inclination to stay in control, an arrogance and confidence that were threats to adversaries, assets to his people. Arguing was something he did constantly, daily, in fact they both did, but not with a bratty teen late at night. He was now faster to join his wife in the unwanted power struggle.
"That's enough! Apologize to your mother right his second," he ordered, voice raised in a more intimidating way than he had meant to, making him instantly draw in a breath to calm down.
The girl held his gaze, eyes immediately filling up. Her arms crossed at her chest at her father's order, but she didn't budge.
"Did you hear what I said?" He asked her with a whisper, yet still threatening, a reminder that her time was up.
Her mother's hair fell from the bun she had, a plain sign of the long day she'd had. She glanced at her feet, even after 14 hours, her heels were still on. She saw her stretch her arms and slightly lean on the counter, staring at her, nostrils flaring, making it clear she wasn't going anywhere without an apology.
Ophelia couldn't help but to finally release her tears like she did when she was 7, right in front of her father and her mother, letting them win that battle that she had started for other reasons deeper than a signature.
" I'm sorry," it came out as a sob.
His pen drew his name on the paper after quickly reading it through. He offered her the document back, but held on to it when she attempted to get it from his hand, pulling it back.
"How was your day, Lili?" he asked her with a victorious smirk.
She imagined his disarming smile worked on his clients, too, just like it had just moved her. They always made her defenses fall through. Then her mother walked towards her, with decisive strides and confidence she always carried, and her soft eyes made Lili want to throw herself in her arms. But crying was enough lack of willpower for a night, she wasn't going to let them out easily.
"Why are you so late again, huh? I had to eat dinner alone for the second night in a row! Then you come home and you don't even come to my room!" she bit her inner cheeks, but her tears ran freely.
She let out a sob and yanked the paper from his hand, running back to her room and slamming the door shut. There was something about being a teenage girl that made doors such an easy target, her parents closed their eyes every time in anticipation of the noise.
Donna walked to Harvey and buried her face on his neck.
"We're not horrible parents," he knew that was exactly what she was thinking.
"We're failing her," she sniffled.
"I'll talk to her," he added to let her breathe.
"We will talk to her," she corrected. "If only one of us goes in, the other one will be the villain."
If a child carries half of the DNA of each parent, Lili had practically been handmade to do just that. She had fiery red hair and his dark brown eyes, a flair for the arts and an irrefutable talent for debate and negotiation.
She heard a knock and tried to guess which one of them was by the noise. She had been rude, she knew, but needed them more than she wanted to admit. Rudeness was their punishment. She was good at that.
"Can we come in?" It was her mother's voice but she noted the plural pronoun.
"Yeah," she said after a breath, sitting up on her bed.
Her father slowly pushed the door open. She immediately noticed he held her mother's hand, pulling her as they matched their pace into her bedroom, forcing Lili to feel the warmth it was to see your parents hold hands after being married for 13 years. They weren't exactly young, but they were still so desperately in love, even a sarcastic, witty teenage girl could feel how special it was. And how gross it was too, of course.
Donna made her way to the right side of her bed.
"Scoot over," she said, climbing into bed with her daughter, her heels now off.
Harvey sat on the desk's chair, lowering his daughter's laptop to shut down the light. Resting his elbows on his legs, he relaxed his shoulders and gave her a half smile.
"We have a big case," he said, explaining their lateness. "Mom and I are swamped."
Lili didn't say anything. She needed more.
"Embezzlement," he continued.
"Let me guess," Lili chimed in. "The CFO?"
Donna chuckled at their daughter's perceptiveness and Harvey couldn't control the smile that crept on his face, beaming with pride.
He nodded, confirming her guess. She had heard enough of their conversations to learn.
"You give a man power and you see his true character," she added nonchalantly, causing Donna to slightly shake her head. She was a Specter by blood and by brain.
"We are sorry for being late again. We really are. We don't want you to think the cases matter more than you do, that work matters more than you," he said. "We thought you'd be asleep already, but of course we would come to your room. Of course we'd come to peek, and even though you think it's lame, we'd definitely kiss you goodnight," he added sweetly.
"Definitely," Donna said, pressing her lips to their daughter's shoulder.
"It's a little lame," Lili's voice broke and she slowly lay back on her pillow. "But it is really lame to be a teenager having your parents as your best friends," her confession came full of both love and confusion.
Donna's heart hurt, in sorrow and thrill.
"I don't know, Lili, I think we're pretty cool people," she joked, hiding her emotions. "I'm actually flattered you think of us as friends as well. I'm very happy about that."
"We will organize our schedules better. And if we both have to be late, we will have Ray bring you to the office to eat dinner with us," Harvey said at the best of his abilities, crisis management mode on.
"I think that's a great idea," Donna said. "It's not fair to Celine to make her cook and stay late, she's got class, and it's certainly not fair to you," she added, referring to the nanny that had left not long ago.
"Now…" Harvey lowered his tone, and Lili knew she wasn't going to get away that easily. "Did you fake being asleep so Celine would leave?"
"I didn't…" Ophelia began but she was interrupted by Donna's scratchy throat, catching a lie in formation. The nanny had texted her earlier saying she was leaving because Lili was out cold.
"You wanna start that over?" Harvey raised an eyebrow, giving her a chance.
"Fine, I was laying down and she came in, so I just...I didn't move."
Donna rolled her eyes but only Harvey could see it. She took a deep breath, it was her turn now to chime in.
"Now, for Dad's idea to work, we need you to work with us. We cannot, and I mean it Lili, we cannot have you deceiving Celine to get her to go home. There could be nights that we won't be able to have you in the office, or that Dad and I decide to go somewhere just the two of us, and we will need Celine to stay with you," she said sternly.
Harvey nodded in silence, and they let the lesson hang there in the air, giving her time to process it, until he finally added, "Can we have your word?"
Lili held back tears, but consented.
"We have a deal," her voice came out shaky and she suddenly was his little girl again, grabbing his hand like she saw her mother do.
The kettle suddenly hissed loudly and Harvey ran to turn it off and get Donna's tea ready. Minutes later, he walked in to find Donna and Lili asleep, the girl's arm over her mother. Harvey bent down and kissed his daughter's cheek, causing her to roll over to the other side. He pulled his sleeves up and slid his arms under his wife, lifting her off the bed and carrying her to their bedroom.