Prompt by Caitlin (mysticaldarvey): post season 9. Donna and Harvey spend time in December with Mike and Rachel doing typical Christmas things; ice skating, watching Christmas movies etc, Rachel is obsessed with how adorable Donna and Harvey are while mike can't stop teasing Harvey
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The Christmas Getaway
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Rather than driving all the way to Jackson, Harvey and Donna decided to fly and meet Mike and Rachel there. Donna was the one who had made all of the plans, but she made sure that there would be no issues when Rachel showed up to check-in instead of her. She had chosen to do things a little differently this year and had booked a cabin in Wyoming after browsing more than a few websites; finally choosing one that had looked warm, cozy, inviting, and most importantly… festive. She had no doubts that this would be just what the four of them needed.
Their flight from Seattle had just landed and the plane had begun deboarding. Donna turned on her cell and it pinged almost immediately with a text from Rachel. We're here. How long are you guys gonna be? Typing back, she gave a simple reply stating that with any luck they should arrive within the next two hours.
"Everything okay?" Harvey asked, watching each person carefully as the queue to exit the plane slowly dwindled until it was just them and the family of five behind them.
"It's fine. Just Rachel checking in." Donna smiled at her husband, squeezing his hand, as they themselves made it off of the plane and through security. Except when they had to, not once did Donna let go of Harvey's hand. She felt safe when their fingers were intertwined, almost as if she would be lost without him.
The two of them had been married for just over three years now and Donna loved him just as much, if not more than the day they met. It had taken them so long to finally sort their shit out and admit how they felt, and although it had been a bumpy ride, it had been worth it as now they had the rest of their lives to argue about who was right (even though it is usually always Donna).
Half an hour later and the happy couple was just awaiting the return of the valet with the keys to their rental car. Thankfully, they had pre-booked, as they had heard the staff say to multiple, unorganized holiday goers, there were no cars left. "Your keys, Mr. Specter!" The valet was some spotty college student, and he looked nervous. Harvey kind of felt sorry for him, so as he took the keys from his hand, he slipped the kid a $20.
"Thanks. Have a nice Christmas," he replied gratefully, and he meant it.
When he did stuff like that; showed his vulnerable side, Donna couldn't help but smile in adoration of her husband. And she smiled all the way to their car. As she climbed into the passenger seat, and Harvey turned the key in the ignition, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you!" she said. "This is going to be great. I can't wait to do all of the fun Christmassy stuff that we never have time to do back in New York!" A grin spread wide across her face and he could tell she was excited.
He, however, was less so, but plastered on his most convincing smile because he was adamant that he would enjoy this for her. "Yeah. It's gonna be fun." Harvey reversed the car out of its parking spot and put his foot down.
...
We should be there in fifteen. Promise. Donna sent the text to Rachel once they pair were back on track after having made a wrong turn a while back. It had taken them some time to find somewhere to turn around, but they were almost there now. Rachel had already sent a picture of herself and Mike buying a Christmas Tree. They had put it up already but were waiting for the others so they could all help to decorate, a plan which Donna and Rachel had come up with through constantly texting each other back and forth.
"What are you thinking about?" Harvey asked, glancing at Donna, who was staring out of the window absentmindedly.
She didn't answer right away, not having heard the question, but when her husband repeated it, she realized he had been talking to her. "I'm wondering why it took us so long to do this. I mean, if we would have gotten our act together way back when, then we could have been spending our Christmases like this for years." Harvey smiled at his wife; a smile that he had been flashing at her since their first meeting, a smile that made Donna's heart melt and the butterflies in her stomach come alive every damn time.
Harvey turned the car onto a small, snow-covered lane before responding. "All I can say is that clearly I was an idiot and I have obviously grown out of that now." A chuckle followed his response as he parked up next to Mike's. She laughed a little too, stopping when he caught her off guard and pressed his lips to hers.
Donna's heart began to race and once again she found herself at the mercy of the man who had stolen her heart. She really was the luckiest woman alive to have Harvey as a husband. He knew her better than anyone and made her feel special each and every day; never failing to surprise her, and she loved that about him.
Pulling away from his wife momentarily, Harvey noticed the front door of the cabin open. "We're here," he stated, "and it looks like someone can't wait to see you!" Rachel's squeal cut over Harvey's voice and the second Donna heard it, she jumped out of the car and ran into her Best Friend's arms.
"Argh! I can't believe we're finally here!" It was now Donna's turn to squeal, and it was almost as loud as Rachel's. To look at the two of them anyone would think they hadn't seen each other in years, when in reality it had barely been 24 hours.
Mike led his friends into the cabin, which was appropriately named – Mistletoe Cabin. On the outside it looked like something from a Hallmark Christmas Movie, but the inside was almost bare, apart from the huge tree which must have been almost 8ft tall stood in the far corner next to the stairs. There were no decorations up, per the deal Rachel and Donna made, but there were boxes piled up by the couch containing plenty. The contrast between the cabin's winter wonderland exterior and the dimly lit room in which they all currently stood was stark, but it was all beautiful. In fact, it was perfect.
...
Dinner had been devoured; takeout from a local Chinese, the menu for which Mike had found in one of the kitchen drawers. They had all thoroughly enjoyed their food and Harvey had opened a bottle of red wine and poured a glass for each of them before settling on the floor in front of the chair where his wife sat.
"So, are we gonna give this place a Christmas makeover or what?" Rachel asked, just as excited as she had been earlier as she snuggled on the couch next to Mike, who had his arm draped over his wife's shoulder.
"Damn right we are!" Donna responded, equally as enthused. She nudged Harvey with her foot, making it clear that not only was he to agree with her and Rachel, but also expected to take the lead in the activity.
There weren't just one or two boxes of decorations; there were at least nine or ten boxes piled high. Each of them contained different things for different rooms, obvious by the labels on the side of each one. Harvey stood and reached for the box at the top of the first stack labeled – GARLANDS. Mike stood, following suit and took the next box, which read – LIGHTS.
"This. This is what Christmas is supposed to be like." Donna exclaimed, reaching for Rachel's hand. The two friends laughed, clinking their glasses together and joined their spouses by the boxes of decorations.
"It really is!" Rachel agreed, and while her friends weren't taking note of what she was doing, she leaned over and plugged her phone into the nearby speakers. The sound of Michael Bublé's Santa Claus Is Coming to Town filled the cabin within seconds and the four of them began humming along merrily. She glanced over at Donna and the pair seemed to share a knowing look; a look that said that they both knew that neither of them would rather spend this Christmas anywhere else.
An hour later and another bottle of wine down, the house decorations were up and other than the lights that still needed to be hung up outside, all that was left to do was to decorate the tree. And there were only three boxes left to go through; all of them labeled – TREE.
As if pre-destined, Kelly Clarkson's Under the Tree began blaring from the speakers. "I love this song! Dance with me." Rachel declared, pleading with Mike to no avail. "Come on. Dance with me!" She tried again. This time her husband relented and took her hand.
Donna grabbed a hold of Harvey's hand too, dragging him away from the tree and into her arms, not giving him much of a choice about whether he joined in or not. Rachel caught her eye with a smile. "We can't let you two have all the fun now, can we?" Donna responded, and the two women chuckled.
As the two couples danced around in front of the Christmas Tree in their little holiday cabin, they didn't care what music was playing. The song must have changed at least three times, but they didn't notice; they were all engrossed in their own little bubbles.
Twenty minutes has passed before the dancing came to a natural end and the focus once again returned to decorating the tree. Donna reached into the box closest to her and retrieved a small container full of red, gold and silver baubles, carefully placing one after another onto the tree. Harvey, meanwhile, found ribbons and poinsettias in his box; and Rachel and Mike had the tinsel and the tree topper. Together they finished the tree, stood back and surveyed their handiwork, a glass of wine from their third bottle in each of their hands.
"Not too bad if I do say so myself." Mike bragged, but he wasn't wrong. Their tree looked fabulous and all four of them were pleased with all they had done to make their cabin feel more like Christmas.
"To us!" his wife stated, raising her glass, indicating for the other three to join her in her toast. They did. "To Us!" Rachel repeated, as did Mike, Harvey and Donna. She thought for a moment about how this was just the start of their magical Christmas week, and they were already making some great memories.
...
Donna woke up at 7:30, before her alarm. At first, she had to look around the bedroom she was in, trying to place where she was before remembering that she was in Mistletoe Cabin on a Christmas getaway with her best friends. She turned over, finding the space in the bed next to her, where Harvey should have been, empty. "Harvey?" she called out and moments later her husband appeared in the doorway from the en-suite bathroom in nothing but a towel.
"Good morning!" he proclaimed, the smile he spread across his face making Donna's palms sweat and her heart race. She wanted him in that moment; maybe more than she ever had. He dropped the towel, enticing her even more, but she stood her ground, knowing that now what not the time. Instead, she jumped out of the bed and rushed into the bathroom, not giving herself another chance to be tempted by her husband, who stood before her completely naked.
Once refreshed from her shower, and dressed for the day, Donna headed downstairs to where Harvey and their friends were waiting with pancakes ready and waiting to be eaten. "We better hurry. We have a full day of shopping ahead and I don't wanna miss a single second." Donna had hoped Rachel's enthusiasm might have waned somewhat overnight, yet somehow, she seemed even more excited than she had the night before.
"Rachel, it's okay. We have time." Harvey placed his arm around his wife's waist as he tried to buy them some more time. However, Rachel was not to be argued with and five minutes later, he found himself scarfing down a plate full of pancakes covered with maple syrup and bacon, unable to resist anymore.
It was 4pm and they had been shopping non-stop for the last six hours, with only a short stop for lunch. They didn't have much energy left, but when Mike spotted a poster for an ice rink, he brought it to the attention of the others. "Hey, come and look at this?" he called out so that Harvey and Donna, who were walking slightly ahead hand in hand and her head resting on his shoulder.
They turned and made their way back to where Mike and Rachel had stopped. "What is it?" Harvey asked, immediately wishing he hadn't when he saw the poster for himself.
"Oooh, ice skating. We should go." Donna's response was what Mike had been hoping for, but as she spoke and Harvey noticed the glint in her eye, he knew he had already lost this fight before it had even begun. He remained silent, but as Rachel agreed, they all turned to face him, to try and convince him that it was a good idea.
Smiling sweetly at her husband and batting her eyelashes was a sure-fire way of getting him to lose all sense of himself. It worked every time, and this time was no different. "Okay, we can go." He conceded, squeezing Donna's hand, making it clear to her that she was the reason he was doing it.
After another hour of shopping and dinner, the guys had had enough, "I say we go get our skates on." Mike joked, but the suggestion serious. He laughed at his little joke, while everyone else stared blankly at him. "See what I did there? Skates… because we're going ice skating?" He genuinely thought he was being funny, but his friends simply rolled their eyes.
Mike was still trying to convince the others that he was in fact a comedy genius when they left the diner, however he was only carrying on because of how much he loved the sound of his wife's laughter.
...
After walking in circles for a good half an hour, they still hadn't found the ice rink, so Donna gave up and decided to ask for directions. The woman at the roasted chestnut stand was happy to help and told them how to get to Danberry Road, where the rink was located. Two lefts and a right; sounded simple enough, and yet three lawyers and the world's greatest legal secretary/COO hadn't managed to figure it out. There was a joke in there somewhere; Donna was sure. Linking her arm with her husband's, she led the way, hoping that they wouldn't get lost again.
They finally arrived, paid and collected their rental skates before sitting down to put them on; the two women were on one bench and the guys on the one adjacent. Noticing how her best friend kept glancing over at Harvey and smiling to herself as if she had a secret, Rachel couldn't keep schtum. "The way you look at him; it's adorable. Sometimes I wonder if that's how I look when I'm staring at Mike. I think it might be, and I feel like it is, but you can't exactly see yourself when you're looking at the man you love." She sounded sappy; she knew she did, but she didn't care. It was how she felt.
The two of them were Best Friends, but Donna thought of Rachel as more of the sister she never had. So, telling her the truth, although sometimes hard, was something Donna would always do, however this time it would not be hard, but a delight. "Rachel. Trust me; that is exactly how you look at him. It's how anyone who's truly in love looks at the person they love." She watched as Rachel, who was starting to feel a little embarrassed began to blush.
"You know, you were looking at Harvey like that long before you were together." All Rachel did was state the obvious, but it caused Donna to retreat somewhat into herself as if she too were embarrassed.
The guys were done and stood before their wives. "Are you two gonna stop discussing your handsome husbands so we can get onto the ice already?" They smirked at one another, clearly thinking that what Harvey had said was amusing. The girls burst out laughing, each understanding just how right the guys had been with their little joke.
"Okay, it wasn't that funny!" Mike retorted, a confused expression on his face, but this just made Donna and Rachel laugh harder.
As the two women calmed themselves, Donna stood; wobbling on her skates a little; Harvey catching her before she actually fell. Steadying herself, she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and placed a soft, romantic kiss on his lips.
Harvey was the one to pull away, hearing their friends' sniggering behind them. "What are you two looking at?" he exclaimed light-heartedly. That shut them up, and Harvey turned his attention back to his wife as Mike and Rachel made their way onto the ice.
Donna stared lovingly up at her husband, adoration filling her eyes as she began to speak, "Harvey, there's something I need to tell you." She could tell he was now worried by the slightly more serious tone she had added to her voice because of how his brows were furrowed. "It's nothing bad," she reassured him, "I just that I haven't been ice skating since I was a teenager, and even back then I wasn't very good." Her cheeks flushed as she avoided his gaze; feeling like a total fraud considering that he was only there because she had talked him into it.
"It's okay." Harvey's voice was soft as he spoke, reaching forward to lift Donna's face until their eyes met. "I'm not exactly King of the Rink in case you hadn't noticed!" he quipped, making her laugh. He drew Donna closer to him until there was no space left to fill and pressed his lips passionately to hers, taking her breath away.
"Come on you two; get your skates on!" Mike yelled from the ice, where he glided along next to Rachel; again, thinking himself funny.
Tearing themselves apart, Harvey and Donna stepped onto the rink, joining their friends. Donna wobbled again, grabbing hold of the barrier, which she almost crashed into, while Harvey linked his arm with hers to help keep her steady. Well, that was what he told himself. In truth, it was as much to help himself as it was her. They carried on like this, stopping and starting again and again for almost twenty minutes with Donna nearly faller a further four times. He held onto her as if his life depended on it, and in a way it did because he couldn't imagine not sharing his life with her. And honestly, he wouldn't want to. If that made him a big softy, and more than a little overprotective, then so be it.
They skated along nicely for a short time, Donna improving with each swift movement of her feet, then out of nowhere, she lost her balance again and crashed to the ground, grabbing onto Harvey's sleeve as she fell, dragging him down with her. The two of them collapsed into fits of laughter as he nearly landed on top of her.
"I'm sorry!" Donna managed, between bouts of laughter and tears.
"Don't be," Harvey replied, wiping away those same tears with the sleeve of his jacket. "Look, I think I've had enough for today. What do you say we go and get a hot drink and leave those two to it?" He gestured towards Mike and Rachel, who were still skating around and around, smiles spread wide across their faces.
The truth was, Donna had had enough too. She couldn't handle falling one more time. "Okay," she agreed, pulling herself up with the aid of the barrier. As she got to her feet, Harvey was already stood. He reached down and entwined his fingers with hers; sliding them together perfectly, as though they had been made for each other.
Meeting her husband's gaze, for a second, Donna lost all control. She couldn't remember her own name, let alone what she was about to say to him. He had had that effect on her for such a long time, and yet she somehow managed to forget. "Harvey," she started, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I love you!" The three words sort of fell out of her mouth and sounded kind of rushed, but nevertheless, she meant them.
"I love you too," he stated, tightening his grip on her hand as they left the ice and headed over to the nearby coffee machine.
...
Harvey awoke at 7 the next morning and lay there, next to the most beautiful woman he had ever met, his wife. His Girl Friday. His Donna. She still slept beside him and this was sometimes his favorite part of the day; when he could just watch her sleep and think about how lucky he was. He thought about the first time they met; how he realized then that he wanted her in his life. He thought about the day he had left the DA's office, and the night of passion with Donna that had followed, how it had been the first time in a long time he felt like someone actually cared about him. And he thought about their wedding day, how it might not have been how they had imagined it, but it was still the best day of his life; the day they said I Do.
Donna stirred, and rolled over to face Harvey, who held his breath out of fear of being caught. She didn't wake up though; just threw an arm around his waist and snuggled into his chest.
The alarm chose that exact moment to go off.
Donna slowly opened her eyes. "Morning," she whispered, caressing her husband's bare chest with her perfectly manicured fingers.
"Morning Beautiful." His response sent tingles coursing throughout her entire body.
It was only two days before Christmas and although they had been quite lucky with the weather so far, the previous night had brought with it a snow fall which had left a good four or five inches of snow on the ground and the outside of the cabin covered in pure, white, glistening snow. Perfect for one thing, Donna thought.
Bouncing down the stairs like a child on Christmas Morning, Donna grabbed her coat and shoved on some boots, bursting out of the door. She was still in her pajamas and as Harvey followed, it was clear that he hadn't thought to get dressed either as he stood at the front door in a pair of joggers and what looked to be the first pair of shoes he came to, looking confused.
"Donna!" he yelled after her. "What are you doing?" Mike and Rachel rushed through from the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about.
"I'm having fun!" she shouted back, scooping up a handful of snow and throwing it at her husband.
It hit him square in the jaw. "Oh no you didn't!" Harvey hated being blind-sighted, so he did the only thing he could. Motivated by revenge, he threw one right back.
Soon snowballs were flying left and right as all four of them were having fun in the front yard. Some hit their intended target, and some did not "Screw You!" Harvey shouted at Mike, who had just hit him with a rather large, and very cold snowball, in his crotch. "I'm gonna get you for that!" He looked to Donna, who instantly knew what to do.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Ready," he replied.
Before he knew what was happening, both Harvey and Donna pelted snowball after snowball at Mike with impeccable aim. They laughed harder and harder as he stumbled backward until he fell into a pile of snow which turned out to be hiding a hedge beneath.
By this point, Rachel had doubled over with laughter. She reached over to help Mike up, but he instead, yanked her aum causing her to fall into the hedge too.
Feeling left out, Donna fast balled one last snowball at her beloved husband, who ducked out of the line of fire just in time. In retaliation, Harvey grabbed Donna's wrist and drew her into his arms.
"You're not going to get away with that!" he quipped.
"Oh yeah. And what are you gonna do about it?" she retorted, teasing her husband. It was one of her favorite things to show; it showed how much she cared.
"This!" he stated, right before planting a kiss firmly on his wife's lips. As she leaned into the kiss, she found herself momentarily forgetting where she was. It was as if she and Harvey were the only two people left in existence. He ran his fingers through Donna's hair, caressing the nape of her neck as he lowered his hand to the small of her back. He too, was lost in the moment.
Donna withdrew from the kiss. "That was some payback!" she whispered in Harvey's ear.
"It sure was!" Rachel snickered, as she pulled herself out of the hedge and straightened her jacket. "You two should get a room."
Harvey glanced at his wife. "We already have one. It's right next to yours!" he shot back without missing a beat. At that, the four of them headed back inside, Harvey placing one last kiss on Donna's cheek.
...
"That was quite the kiss this morning," Rachel said as soon as they guys left the table to pay for dinner. Obviously referring to what had happened after their snowball fight that morning. "I couldn't believe it when he just grabbed you like that."
Donna's cheeks turned beetroot red as she struggled to remain composed. "I guess I'm just that irresistible. I am Donna after all." She smirked as Rachel let out a childish giggle. "But really, we're the lucky ones."
"Right? If someone would have told me when Mike first started at the firm, that we would all end up here, together, I probably would have laughed in their face." Again, Rachel laughed; this time Donna joined in catching the attention of the beaus who returned to the table.
"So, the waitress was telling us about a town tradition that's happening tonight and we," Harvey gestured towards Mike, "we thought it would be nice to check it out, but there is one catch. We aren't going to tell you what it is. You have to trust us." The two women seemed a little skeptical at the idea, but they put their faith in their husbands and said they would go along with it.
As Donna and Rachel followed their husbands down Rixton Drive twenty minutes later, it had started to get dark, and as all of the lights came on, the town suddenly looked so magical; like something out of a fairytale. After asking how long it would be until they arrived at their destination, the two women received the same answer they had the five previous times they had asked. Mike and Harvey insisted they were almost there.
Coming to an abrupt halt in front of a Christmas Tree Farm, Mike glanced up at a handmade sign. "We're here!" he declared.
The others nearly crashed into each other and as Rachel looked up, she realized where they were. "Hey, this is where we got the tree for the cabin from."
"Yeah, it is, but we're not here for a tree. Look." They followed his instruction and as if on cue, a horse drawn carriage pulled around the corner. "Every year, the town does this Ride The Lights. It's a carriage ride through the whole town to look at all of the Christmas lights." It sounded perfect, and if the rest of the town looked like the Christmas Tree Farm did all lit up, then they were definitely in for a treat.
"It's wonderful. Thank you!" Rachel reached up and gave her husband a peck on the cheek. The carriage came to a stop where they stood. "Shall we?" Mike nodded in response and held out his hand to assist his wife climb aboard. Once she was seated, he jumped in next to her.
"You guys coming?" Mike shouted.
Harvey looked over at Donna, who responded for the both of them. "Go ahead. We'll get the next one." The carriage rode away, and Harvey could hear their friends' laughter in the distance even after they could non longer be seen. However, they didn't have to wait too long before another rounded the corner.
Climbing on board, Harvey helped Donna up too. "My Lady!" he joked. "I'm glad we let them go on ahead. I've been wanting to spend some time alone with you." They settled in, covering their laps with the red tartan blanket provided before the carriage began to move.
As their carriage weaved its way around each corner and through the town, Donna couldn't tear her eyes away from the lights and how wonderful they all were, sparkling and twinkling against the night sky. "It's beautiful," she said, mesmerized. Barely even registering that she had spoken, she just continued to stare out at the lights, watching the magic unfold before her eyes.
Harvey, however, had his eyes glued on his wife. "Yes, you are!" This simple statement made her turn to face him, and as her eyes met his, a thought registered in her mind; she didn't want to be anywhere but right here with Harvey. "I'm glad we did this," he said, cupping her face with his hands as he inclined his head and pressed his lips to hers.
The kiss was brief but filled with love; a love that was all-consuming and made them want to remain this moment forever.
"Me too," Donna replied, as she interlocked their fingers together and lay her head on his shoulder. They remained like this, in silence, for the rest of the journey, enjoying the peace and the joy of each other's company.
...
Christmas Eve had arrived and although nothing had officially been planned, Donna hot noticed an advertisement for a Gingerbread Decorating Contest. She thought it could be fun; herself and Harvey against Rachel and Mike. There was one problem though; she hadn't yet told them anything about it.
It had been a quiet morning, filled with good food and good company. They had taken a stroll through the Christmas Market before indulging in a delicious lunch, which they had just finished.
Mike had another bright idea; hopefully, this one would be better than his last as the ice-skating excursion hadn't exactly been the best for Harvey and Donna. "So, there's a parade tonight and it sounds amazing. I think we should go." There was a glint in his eye and enthusiasm radiated from him. Clearly, this was something he really wanted to do.
This was Donna's chance. "Sounds great!" she agreed, hoping that by supporting his idea, he in turn would support hers. "I had an idea too. I saw something yesterday and I sort of already signed us up." Seeing the looks of apprehension on her friend's faces, she decided this would not be best as another surprise. "It's a Gingerbread Decorating Contest," she announced, unsure how they would react.
Thankfully, everyone loved the idea and an hour later they arrived at the local bakery, where the contest was to be held. Harvey and Donna sat in their little booth across from Mike and Rachel, staring down at the bare Gingerbread House pieces in front of them. As their friends caught their eye and the clock began counting down from ten, Donna was beginning to feel the familiarity of her competitive spirit coming out to play.
Imaginary daggers shot out of her eyes towards her friends' table, where they were returned with equal amounts of competitiveness. It was all in jest of course; a bit of spirited competition, but winning was winning, no matter the game, and god damn it if they weren't going to win.
The countdown hit Zero. "Start decorating!" The owner of the bakery called out, sending all of the contestants into a frenzy. There was more icing on the tabletop than there was on the houses; gumballs were flying everywhere, and crushed candy canes were being trampled into the floor.
Ten of their allocated twenty minutes had already gone and although Team Darvey didn't think that they had enough candy on their houses, their friends would disagree. "It looks like an elf threw up all over it!" Donna heard Rachel say to Mike.
"Well at least ours looks like an actual house!" Harvey fired back. He had a point. Since Mike and Rachel's roof was sliding off due to a lack of icing to hold it together.
"We're still gonna beat you!" Mike shouted, attempting to stick their roof back on.
Donna didn't miss a beat. "You wanna bet?" She retorted, adjusting the Santa hat which sat on her head, whilst her husband meticulously placed gumdrop after gumdrop in a perfect line around the front of their house creating a sort of front yard.
"You have one minute!" the host announced. One minute wasn't very long at all, and it was over in a flash. "That's it, everybody. Your time is up! Put down your candy!" That was it; they could do no more. It was now up to the judges.
Ten minutes later and all of the Gingerbread Houses had been viewed by the judging panel and as all nine competing teams tentatively awaited the results, Harvey rested his hand on top of Donna's, squeezing tightly, and leaned over so that when he spoke no one else would hear. "This was a really great idea. Thank you for suggesting it." The truth was that he hadn't had this much fun in a long time and spending this week with Donna and their best friends had been just what he needed to get out of his own head and just enjoy himself.
The bakery owner handed the microphone over to the Head Judge to make her announcement. "First, I would like to say thank you to all who took part today; you all did a fantastic job, but there can only be one winner. And that winner is…" The room fell silent in anticipation and the tension rose. "Number 4; Vivien and Holly Anderson." Roars of victory erupted from the table three spots over.
So, none of them had won and as they glanced down at their creations, they understood why; neither of their houses looked particularly attractive. They must have been crazy to think they even stood a chance of winning.
"Oh well, we had fun, right? That's the main thing." Rachel was right; it was, but she needn't have said anything as they were all thinking it too.
...
After their humiliating loss at the Gingerbread contest, they found a nice little café for dinner before the Christmas Eve Parade. Once there, they found that there was a special deal on and that they could take their food to eat whilst watching the parade, so instead they just say and had a coffee. An hour later, after receiving their orders, the four of them headed back outside to find a good spot where they could watch the parade. They could already hear the drums from the High School Marching Band as they turned onto Main Street.
It got closer and closer as Harvey, Donna, Rachel and Mike finished their food, the band passed by and what looked to be the Dance School's float had now reached them. It was a recreation of The Nutcracker, with so many adorable children dancing about and demonstrating their ballet skills on board.
Donna watched the children closely, remembering her own childhood and how much she had loved to perform. "You miss it, don't you?" Harvey whispered, seeing the wistful look in her eye.
She didn't reply, but did give an almost imperceptible nod. She did miss being on stage, but that's not what was bothering her the most. Yes, the feeling she would get each time she stepped out there was incredible, like she had been transported into another world and having the ability to also do that for a live audience felt amazing. A part of her still wished to be able to share her love of the stage with her own children, and now she was beginning to wonder if that dream would ever become a reality. She loved Harvey with all of her heart, but that feeling, that something was missing; a child, kept creeping up on her and she had no control over it. She hated that.
"Maybe you should look at joining a theatre group when we get back," Harvey suggested. He thought he knew what was bothering his wife, but he had no clue what she was truly thinking.
Harvey had the best of intentions and believed he was helping, and Donna would go along with it until she was ready to voice her thoughts aloud to her husband. "Really?" she asked, trying her best to sound as enthusiastic as possible.
"Of course! I know how much it means to you." He was right about that, and who knew, maybe it would help her. He pulled her closer to him as she wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling into his chest.
They stood like that; unmoving, as if they were a statue, for the remainder of the parade as float after float passed by. There was the middle school's North Pole themed float; which had all the children dressed up as elves; the bakery's almost life-sized Gingerbread House float, a float titled Candy Cane Lane that as far as Donna could tell belonged to the old-fashioned sweet shop and a float filled with four huge Nutcracker Princes, which carried the Homecoming Court. Finally, Santa's sleigh approached, signaling the end of the parade.
The whole thing had been pretty spectacular, and although it wasn't quite Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, it was still worth standing out in the freezing cold for almost an hour. "Wow! That was really something, wasn't it?" Rachel asked rhetorically already sensing that her friends agreed.
As the four of them made their way back to Mistletoe Cabin for a well-earned drink, Donna's mind was still contemplating the thoughts from earlier and how she wanted to come clean to Harvey about them. She was scared; he hadn't exactly had the best relationship with his mother growing up and so was unsure how he would react. She decided it best to sleep on it and decide in the morning, which now dawned on her would be Christmas Day.
...
Christmas morning and the world stood still, at least it looked that way to Donna as she curled up on a chair by the window snuggled with a blanket watching the snow fall. She had been awake for almost an hour, deciding how best to broach a certain subject with Harvey, who was still sleeping soundly on the bed behind her. She had been thinking about it for some time but seeing all those kids in the parade had made her realize that she needed to be honest with her husband.
A few minutes passed and hearing footsteps, Donna realized that Harvey was now awake. "Hey," he greeted her, sleepily, not having fully woken up yet. "What are you doing over here?" His question was a reasonable one, yet it got to her. Maybe it was because she was on edge and her mind on other things.
"I'm just enjoying the peace and quiet," she lied, allowing her husband to wrap his arms around her and envelop her in a hug. Breathing in Harvey's scent, it sent jolts of electricity through her entire body. Lifting her head to meet his, she whispered something which was barely audible. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Specter."
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Specter!" he replied, in the same manner, before lifting his wife into his arms.
She still loved hearing that; each and every time feeling as good as the first, but as he kissed her, she felt herself pulling away from him. "We better get downstairs. Rachel and Mike will be waiting for us." Her reaction left Harvey feeling a little taken aback. Now he knew something was wrong. "They'll have opened all the presents and scoffed half of the Christmas dinner already." She tried to joke, but she was like crystal now, he could see right through her façade.
As his wife pushed past him, he grabbed his t-shirt and followed her down the stairs.
The two of them didn't say a word to each other for the next twenty minutes as they each made a coffee and sat in the two armchairs which were furthest apart. If Mike and Rachel could sense something was up, which they probably did, then they didn't say anything. Instead, Mike got the ball rolling with the gifts.
He handed each person one gift and noticing that theirs looking oddly similar, he and Harvey shared a knowing look. Donna's was small and box shaped, while Rachels's a long and rectangular one. On the count of three, they all ripped off the wrapping paper.
Rachel's face lit up and she threw her arms around Mike, before bursting into a fit of laughter after seeing Mike's reaction to his own gift.
"You! This was you!" he joked in a semi-accusatory tone.
"I'm sorry. NOT!" Rachel laughed in her husband's face, obviously not sorry for anything.
They looked up, realizing that Harvey had the exact same gift as Mike, an ugly Christmas sweater. He glanced towards his wife who had a huge, guilty grin on her face. "You were in it together, weren't you?" The question didn't need to be asked because it was clear by the looks on the faces of the two women.
"Harvey, can we talk?" Donna asked, gesturing for her husband to follow her somewhere a little more private. He did, and as they sat down at the dining table, she spoke again. "I know I've been a bit off this morning and I'm ready to tell you why." She still refused to look him in the eye but reached out to take his hand.
Harvey lifted his wife's face so that she had no choice but to look at him. "You can tell me anything. You know that." He stared at her, as tears formed and began streaming down her face.
Donna raised her hand and tried to wipe away the tears that just kept coming. "Yesterday when we were watching the parade, I realized something. It was when I saw those kids dancing to The Nutcracker. It wasn't just regretting at not being in the theatre anymore; it was something else." She had given up trying to stop the tears and Harvey just sat there, frozen.
"Harvey, I want a baby!" she blurted out, finally admitting what had been on her mind for so long and avoiding his gaze again.
He let go of her hand and began to pace the kitchen as she dropped her head, somewhat defeated and convinced herself that she already knew what his reaction would be. When Harvey finally broke the silence, his response surprised Donna. "Okay." That was all he said.
"Okay?" his wife questioned, unsure if she had misheard him or not.
"Okay!" he stated again. "Let's do it!" His lips slowly curled into a smile and Donna knew instantly that he meant it.
Screaming so loud that she almost deafened Harvey, Donna leaped into his arms and smacked her lips against his with such passion just as Mike and Rachel ran into to see what was going on.
They halted in the doorway once they saw the embrace before them. "You guys seem happy." Rachel said sarcastically, sharing a knowing look with Mike.
Harvey and Donna also shared a look, but theirs told a different story; that they wanted to share their news. "We're going to start trying for a baby!" Harvey let his beautiful wife deliver the news, his arm still clinging to her waist.
Mike and Rachel's reaction was just as their friends had hoped, and they reached out and congratulated them with plenty of hugs; smiles on all of their faces.
Amongst all of the celebration, Donna felt like herself again; a weight lifted from her shoulders. This had been the best Christmas ever, but for her and Harvey it was just the beginning.