A/N: Hey again! I promise I haven't forgotten this family, so here I bring a new chapter. I hope you enjoy it despite the anguish!

Their baby was born a month ago, and Donna and Harvey were getting used to the turn their lives had taken. Of course, they still spend sleepless nights and there are situations they don't know how to handle, but at least they feel they're knowing their baby girl and they had had some moments where they were able to expose their fears and support each other. Donna is sure she couldn't be doing this without Harvey, her body hurts from the tiredness she carries, her breasts weigh too much, and her body has changed so much that she doesn't recognize it and no longer remembers what it is like to take a long bath…
And she knows Harvey supports her with so much patience and so much love that fills her heart, but she also knows that, even though they have had those conversations, he still keeps some things to himself to not put more burden on her. Donna has tried to take it away, but fears that childbirth has upset her powers with him. Harvey says that could never happen, but she doubts it.

Donna comes out of a shower, wearing her underwear and a robe, her hair in a bun, and heads to her dressing room, unable to avoid spying on her husband and daughter who are in their bed. He's sitting with his legs stretched out on the mattress, his little baby girl lying on his legs. Harvey grabs her tiny hands with his fingers and is leaning toward her.

"You know, honey?" he murmurs. "I have to ask for forgiveness for something…" Donna stands on the other side of the door, unable to avoid hearing. "I know you have the best mom in the world… Because she's really the best." Donna smiles and covers her mouth with her hand. "And I'm here too… I promise you I'll do my best. You also have a lot of aunties and uncles who I'm very sure will pamper you so much. You also have a lot of cousins, but-" Harvey sighs, and his eyes fill with tears. "I can't give you grandparents, Avery." He sobs and Donna feels her heart breaking inside her chest at that moment. "I would love to have them here now. I'm sure they couldn't believe that I'm your dad and that I married mom." He sighs and keeps looking at his little girl. "I would love Grandpa to take you to play baseball and Grandma to teach you to paint… and I'm so sorry because I feel like I take you off something even before you knew it exists." Harvey cannot help but break into tears and Donna has to fight the urge not to approach him. "I'm so sorry, Avery. I know your grandparents will be great with you… Grandpa Jim is a little tricky, but I promise you've earned it." Donna giggles softly. "I know they will give you all the love you deserve, and even more... but it doesn't stop hurting me to have stolen that from you. It doesn't stop hurting me that they can't meet you, that they can't see me like that." He sobs and takes her in his arms, settling her against his chest to lean back until his back is supported on the pillows. He puts his daughter on his shoulder, her tiny feet falling down his chest. "I would love to have someone to ask some things because I'm so afraid to ruin everything with you…" he says and his voice breaks. "No one tells you that when you become a parent, you'll need your parents nearby." He adds and gently squeezes his daughter against his body. "I would like to ask them how they slept quietly without being afraid of me drowning during the night, although they would surely wake up every bit to check my breathing, as I do with you." He whispers and kisses her head. "Or what they used to do to keep calm me down when I cried too much. Or be able to ask my mom what I could do to help your mom with her back pain, or breast pain. Or how they did to let me loose when I started school or went to college, because hey, I can't imagine myself far from you right now…" he takes a deep breath and kisses her head again. "I need to ask them how they handled this love that is so huge that it hurts." He whispers, caressing his daughter's head with his nose. "I'm so sorry, kid. I promise I'll talk to you about them, but it hurts me so much that you can't create memories with them." He murmurs and drops some tears. Donna no longer stands the urge to hug her husband and leaves her dressing room. "Hey…" he murmurs, looking at her, a little surprised.

"Hey…" she responds softly and sits next to him. "Sorry if it was a private conversation."

"Did you hear?"

"Yes, I did." She responds, wrapping his shoulders with her arm while resting her head on his other shoulder and reaching for her baby with her other hand. "I'm sorry too, Harvey." She murmurs, rubbing his back. "But she'll have them present in her life. I know you'll take care of it. And I promise I'll help you, okay?" she murmurs, and he nods. "Avery will know about her grandparents, I promise you." Harvey nods again, his free hand on her thigh. "I know it's not the same thing, but you can talk to your brother about some things." Donna wants to keep talking, but Avery's calm disappears when she hits her father with her feet.

"Hey... what's the matter?" he asks, resting her again on his legs. Both with their hands on her belly and she with her eyes opened, trying to see everywhere at once.

"Hey... Avery." Donna murmurs and the baby turns her head towards her. "Hey, sweetheart." She whispers, putting her finger on her little hand.

"Grab her without guilt," Harvey says. "She wants to go with you," Donna smirks and grabs her with her hands, and then places her against her chest, where the girl immediately curls up. She sits down against the pillows, holding her daughter and Harvey cuddled on her, his head on her shoulder, looking at his baby. "It's okay, I understand you want to be with mommy." He mutters.

"Harvey," she giggles softly, curling her arm to stroke him with her hand.

"What? I get her. We make the same decisions."

She smiles. "Okay, here I'm for both of you." She mutters and kisses Harvey's head, while he curls up more against her. "I know you're doing everything to take care of us, and I'm so grateful for that because you hold me too much and I feel that if you wouldn't be with me, I would definitely lose my mind right now… and I love you for everything you do, for her and for me. You're amazing." She says fondly, raising her hand to his head and stroking his hair. "But, amid all these changes and becoming parents of this little lady, I'm still your wife, and I don't want to stop being your wife." She pauses and kisses his forehead. "I know you do it to take care of me, and that you keep things to yourself so as not to burden me even more. But even though I'm the one who's putting her body here, we're both going through this, with the good and the bad… so please don't keep this pain just for you." He nods, releasing some tears. "Since we knew about the pregnancy, my relationship with my mom changed completely. I asked her about so many things. I keep doing it… I don't think I'll ever stop doing it, so I don't know if I can imagine the pain you feel at not being able to have that support network right now. But you have your brother and friends who have had babies. I know it's not the same... but you're not alone. I can lend you to my parents, too. I assure you they love you, not as much as I do..." the two chuckle. "But they do. And there's me, Harvey. I'll never, ever stop being your support network. I've been even when you didn't give me room to be... Here I am. I know that we're going through the same thing and that we probably have the same questions in our minds, but we'll solve it together. It's good that we look for support outside, but I also know that we can do it and that we make a great team." She pauses and puts her daughter on her chest, who seems to be falling asleep. "And you won't ruin it, Harvey. Just seeing how you look at her, I know you'll never ruin her. Please don't think that."

"I just want you both to be okay, Donna."

"I know... but stop talking about us as one part and you as another. It's the three of us, Harvey."

"You carry the hardest part here."

She nods. "That doesn't mean you should swallow everything that happens to you. We're still trying to figure out this, and probably we'll meet as a couple in a different place. But Harvey. I'm here, and I'll always be here."

"I know..." he sobs. "Sorry, I didn't want to–"

"I know, Harvey. I know." She turns her head to caress his forehead with her nose. "I know you did it to protect me." Harvey nods. "But I'm still your wife, and I still love you, and I still want to be here for you. You don't need to put me in a glass box."

Harvey gets up a little to look at her, leaning himself on his elbow. "I'm so stupid. I didn't want to make you feel like this."

"Sh... I know." She nods. "And I also know that often you probably don't recognize me, because sometimes I don't even recognize myself, but I promise you… I'm still myself. And I have enough room to love them both. I'm sorry if I made you feel displaced or-"

"No, no. Wait." He interrupts her and caresses her face with the back of his fingers. "Things have changed, but I don't feel that way."

"Sure?"

"I promise you."

"Okay." She smiles at her timidly and they give each other a brief kiss. "It hurts me too that your parents are not here. I can't imagine Gordon's happiness if he could see you like that, Harvey." She says with tears in her eyes, caressing his cheek with her thumb. "But I promise she'll know about her grandparents." Harvey nods, sobbing. "Come here, I told you I have room for both of us." Harvey smiles in the middle of tears and curls up against his wife again.

"I love you, Donna, you don't have an idea how much." He sobs. "And while it makes me sad that my parents aren't here." He pauses. "It makes me very happy this family that we are starting. I know I belong to this place." Donna grins. "I promise you I'll do my best not to ruin it."

"You won't, Harvey. We trust you. And we love you so much." She responds and kisses his forehead. "You are our place."

Their hands rest on her daughter's back and Donna's thumb moves over her husband's hand. They spend a few minutes in silence, and when they thought she was about to fall asleep, she started whining, and as soon as Donna put her on her breast; the girl calmed down. She still lying there, her daughter with her body on her belly and her mouth sucking her nipple, in search of her food. Harvey is still curled up on his wife's chest, on the other side.

"Hey kid…" he murmurs, taking her foot. "Slowly… you're going to choke." He smiles at her and Donna smiles as well. "You're okay?" he asks, looking at Donna.

Donna nods. "Yep, it hurts less every time."

"That's good."

She grins. "It is… just, can you bring me some water, please?"

"Of course." He murmurs, getting up.

"But come back here."

"Always." Harvey smiles at her and Donna returns him the smile. He kisses her forehead and leaves.

As Harvey is searching for water, Donna sits down on the bed, holding her baby on her arm and caressing her feet with her other hand. Her gaze loses on her daughter, Avery's little hand over her breast and her eyes open, looking for her mom. "Slowly, Avery… I promise you, I won't go anywhere." Donna murmurs with a smile. "You are so gluttonous." She chuckles and walks up with her fingers on her belly and for a few seconds, she gets so lost in her eyes that her eyes fill with tears. "I can't believe how much I love you." She murmurs, her fingers caressing her feet again while she uses all her strength to suck, and Donna doesn't realize that Harvey has returned. "You're not the only one who talks to her, even if you have no answer." She giggles and Harvey giggles too, handing her the glass of water.

"I know." He sits next to his wife, who drinks the water and leaves the glass on her bedside table.

"I can't wait to see her grow up and be able to have conversations with her... but also, I want her to stay that small and ours forever." Harvey smiles, nodding, and gives her a kiss on her cheek, stroking her back with his fingers. "I'm afraid of ruining it, too." She whispers, dropping her head on his shoulder.

"Donna, you're unable to ruin something."

"But she's so little, so helpless… we literally are in charge of keeping her alive, healthy, and happy." She says, looking at her husband seriously.

"And we'll do it…"

"I know." She responds with confidence.

"I think I'd like to show her how to handle emotions better than I've done throughout my life, so I'm glad you're her mother. That will make her life lighter."

"Harvey, I've made mistakes too. Perhaps the good thing is that we can try to prevent them from her."

"But... I don't want her to live with the guilt I live, Donna." He sobs. "It's not just how much I miss my parents, it's the time I lost with them… the time I lost with you."

"Harvey... unfortunately I cannot change the time you have lost with your mother, nor that your father died so young, nor the death of your mother." She murmurs, grabbing his hand. "I try to ease that burden on your back a bit, but I don't know if I succeed." She shrugs. "But… look at her, just look at her." Her head turns to look at her daughter. He does the same. "She is here, and she is Avery. She is exactly this baby because we did things as we did between us. It's her because we had a daughter just right now. And Harvey, I wouldn't change anything that happened between us if it means she is here now. We are here now. This is our present and our future. I know there are things that hurt you, as I also have my own wounds… But we are here now, and perhaps this is the most beautiful opportunity of our life. And I want to live with it, Harvey. Here and now. With you, and with her." Harvey just can look at his daughter, crying, while listening to his wife's words. "We'll do better with her. She'll live lighter than we do. I'm sure of that." Harvey nods and cannot answer anything, just hides in her, crying like a child and unable to stop looking at his daughter. "I'm here, she's here, you're here… That's all we need."

Would you please tell me what you think of this chapter? :) see you soon!