On Monday morning, Harvey felt like he had never been so glad to see Ray's face as he came to pick him up for work.
"Good morning, boss. You seem anxious." Having worked for the man for many years, Ray could tell his boss' mood just by the way Harvey opened the door of the town car.
"Good morning, Ray. It's just that our six Saturday dates are over."
"So? Ask him out again. That was only the beginning of many wonderful dates to come." Ray started the car and headed out to the street.
"But I feel like I'm using up all of his free time. We have dinner together almost every night. He should have some time for himself, don't you think?"
"Aww, Harvey, you're such a considerate boyfriend."
Harvey still winced at the word 'boyfriend' but it meant that Mike belonged to him so he was trying to get used to it.
"What should I do, Ray? I keep up with the Saturday dates and cut out some of the everyday dinners? Or should I do the opposite?" Harvey trusted his mentor. So far, Ray had given him solid advice and Mike seemed to be quite happy.
Ray smiled as he made a right turn. "I think you should discuss it with Mike, boss. You don't need my help anymore. Tell him what you just told me and I assure you that he'll be delighted to talk about it."
"Are you pushing me out of the nest?" Harvey laughed.
"It's more like letting you out of the cage, Harvey. Everybody's love has a unique shape. I think it's time for you to find your own shape."
"Where did you learn how to say things like that?"
"I read tons of books on love to impress Helen and I had an epiphany. Now I'm the master of love." Ray chuckled lightly and Harvey couldn't help but chuckle along.
Knock-knock.
"Harvey, I'm done with these." Mike waltzed into the office with two files in his hand.
"Oh, you've finally learned how to knock." Harvey let out a dramatic sigh of relief.
"Well, I didn't think you would've heard my footsteps because you were daydreaming about me." Mike grinned.
"Cute. Now hand them over and nobody gets hurt." Harvey held out his hand for the files.
Mike looked at the hallway and saw that only Donna was watching so he grabbed Harvey's hand and planted a kiss on his palm. Harvey had been unbelievably sweet to him and he wanted to be the same for him.
"Files, Mike?"
"Did you just blush a little?" Mike giggled.
"Absolutely not. Why would I blush over something as sweet as a peck on the hand when I haven't blushed over all the dirty things we've done last weekend?"
Now it was Mike's turn to blush. He had never spent a hotter weekend in his life and he had to thank Harvey for that.
Harvey wore a satisfied smile as he reminisced about his weekend. It seemed that his theory was right; the more times he made love to Mike, the better control he had over his hands and mouth. It now felt less confusing and more pleasant to love Mike. He didn't feel weird in his body anymore and he could still be himself while enjoying Mike's presence.
"See? Daydreaming about me again." Mike smiled and put the files in Harvey's hand. "By the way, you forgot to tell me what Donna gave you for your birthday last year."
"No, I didn't forget. I just didn't get a chance to tell you because my mouth was on you for the whole weekend." Harvey opened one of the files and checked Mike's work, listening to Mike giggle.
Mike realized that he giggled so often these days. And, when he did, Harvey looked at him with so much fondness in his eyes that he wanted to giggle some more.
"So what was it?" Mike leaned forward in his chair to rest his arms on the edge of Harvey's desk. He was ready to listen to yet another memory that Donna and Harvey shared.
"See for yourself. It's in the top drawer." Harvey told him as he moved onto the second file.
"Ooh, great." Mike got up and walked over to Harvey's side of the desk. After purposely brushing his arm against Harvey's, he opened the drawer and searched for what could be a gift.
"Don't make a mess." Harvey warned light-heartedly.
"Haven't you seen my desk, Harvey? I'm super neat!"
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. My love jumps out the window every time you lie."
Mike laughed and soon found a small box that looked like a watch box. He opened it and much to his surprise, he found a card that was the size of a business card that read 'Make him mine.'
'Oh my god! So he really is under a love spell! It wasn't Grammy after all! Donna's the one who put the spell on him!'
Everything clicked inside Mike's head and he realized that he was now even more afraid of the red-haired secretary. Her spells must have been very powerful to have worked so well.
"Mike? Why do you look so terrified? It was just a joke. She can't really make someone mine. She's not the God of Love or anything." Harvey pulled down his associate onto his lap and wrapped his arms around his waist. Nothing could be more comforting than having an armful of Mike.
"Oh, Harvey, no need to be embarrassed." Mike thought that Harvey had used the card but was too embarrassed to admit it. "And, I don't think you fully understand what that woman is capable of."
Mike suspected that Harvey didn't know about Donna's ability to put powerful spells on a person. Even if he did, he probably thought the spell had worked on Mike, not on himself, because that was how love spells usually worked. But Mike hadn't felt anything different while Harvey had clearly been acting strangely since mid-February. Besides, Harvey was the one who had gone to see a doctor and Mike had suspected Harvey being under a love spell when he had called him sweetheart.
'It was just a silly thought. I never thought that it would be the truth. Oh well, perhaps it's better if he doesn't know. I don't want Donna to get in trouble for messing with his mind.'
Mike cupped Harvey's cheek and started to kiss him.
'I should thank Donna on my way out.' He made up his mind as he closed his eyes and let the thrill of kissing Harvey in his office take over him.
In Heaven…
Cupid had been watching the boys on his computer monitor with a satisfied smile on his face. He was pleased that his target seemed to have stopped resisting the power of his arrows and was actually enjoying being in love.
'Good. Everything's in order now. I'll get to enjoy yet another perfect record this year, mwahaha!'
Pleased with the results, he decided to tune into Mike's thoughts just to check if he was as happily in love as his target.
'Ah, if I were a couple hundred years younger, I would've totally looked like Specter.' He thought as he listened to Mike thinking about how gorgeous Harvey looked in his elegant three-piece suit.
He was just about to tune out and give the pretty boy some privacy when he heard about the love spell. 'What? What in heaven is he thinking about? Why is the redhead taking all the credit? I did all the work! There are no such things as love spells, boy! It's always me and my pretty arrows!'
Then he saw Mike leaning against the redhead's desk and smiling sweetly at her. 'Great! She gets both the recognition and the reward.'
Narrowing his eyes at the secretary on his screen, Cupid quickly opened a new window to file out a form. He was going to ask for more funds to increase the public awareness of himself.
Three weeks had passed and Easter had come. Harvey and Mike had fallen into a comfortable dating schedule, maintaining the right balance between spending time together and having some alone time. Harvey had stopped asking for Ray's help and was managing to keep both Mike and himself happy on his own.
He had promised Mike to come by for the big Easter dinner at his place but here he was, standing inside an orphanage, several hours early for dinner.
'For the record, I'm not here because I'm incapable of staying away from him. I'm here because I want to show him that I'm capable of supporting a good cause.' Harvey told himself as he looked for Mike and Jenny.
To Harvey's defense, he had made a generous donation to the orphanage right before stepping inside the room. And, if he felt a little joy at spotting his boyfriend in a bunny costume, then well, he would say that he appreciated a nice reward for his good deeds. Harvey knew that Mike should look absolutely ridiculous in a bunny costume while he read the kids a storybook but the truth was that he looked ridiculously adorable.
'Ah, the doctor was right. I'm incurable.' Letting out a dramatic sigh, Harvey saw one of the boys stand up and leave the group. The boy spotted him and walked up to him with a curious face.
"Hey, kid. You don't like fairytales?" He asked the boy with dark hair and blue eyes. He couldn't be older than seven years old.
The kid shook his head. "They're a bunch of pretty lies."
Harvey wondered if it would be too early to mentor a kid into a lawyer. Perhaps one day, he and Mike could adopt a kid and mentor the hell out of him. 'What am I thinking? Enough with such domestic ideas already!'
"Are you okay?" The kid asked with worry evident in his blue eyes and Harvey couldn't help but think of Mike.
'These blue-eyed creatures are going to destroy my life.' He groaned as he nodded.
"Are you here for an Easter egg?" The boy asked, pointing at the prettily decorated eggs sitting in a basket on the nearby table.
"No, I'm here to see the bunny." Harvey pointed at Mike.
"Ooh, you're the boyfriend he talked about."
"He talked about me?" Harvey felt a smug smile jump on his lips.
"Yeah, he said you were hopelessly in love with him."
Harvey made a face.
"Don't worry. He loves you back."
Harvey raised an eyebrow. How could a boy this young possibly know anything about manly love? "How can you tell, kid?"
"Because he said that we should all grow up and be like you. Help people who can't help themselves."
"He said that?" Harvey was touched. He was moved whenever Mike showed him an overwhelming amount of respect.
The kid snapped. "Are you questioning my memory?"
Harvey laughed. "I wouldn't dare, boy. But that only proves that he respects me a lot. Respect and love are two very different things, kid." He didn't even know why he was having such a conversation with a kid.
"Well, Mandy asked him if you kissed him every day and he turned pink. If that's not love, I don't know what is!" The boy threw his arms in the air.
'Ah, so dramatic.' Harvey noted. "You're sure your last name isn't Ross?"
The boy shook his head and Harvey could see pain in his eyes. He probably had a random last name made up in the orphanage.
"Hey, smarty pants, why don't we go see if the story's almost finished?"
The kid nodded and searched for Harvey's hand. Harvey let him take his hand and soon felt the small hand grip his fingers. Harvey had no idea how the kid ended up in an orphanage but if he had been abandoned, he wanted to find those scumbags who left him here and have a nice, long chat with them.
"Harvey! I didn't expect to see you here." Mike excused himself, leaving the kids with Jenny.
"Well, apparently I'm hopelessly in love with you." Harvey heard the kid chuckle.
Mike smiled. "A little bird must have told you that."
The kid let go of Harvey's hand and gestured at Mike to bend down. Harvey watched as the boy whispered something into Mike's ear.
"What are you kids talking about? You two have a secret or something?"
The boy giggled and that was when Harvey realized that it was time to leave. He didn't make a habit of getting attached to people whom he couldn't be responsible of. For now, one pair of blue eyes was enough in his life.
"I just came by to support you, Mike. See you later at dinner." He turned around without saying goodbye to the kid. It was for his own good.
Mike felt the change in Harvey's attitude and wondered what had happened. He was about to catch up with him and ask about it when the boy ran to Harvey and wrapped himself around Harvey's right leg.
"Jamie, let the gentleman go." Jenny hurried to the kid and gently rubbed his back.
"I don't want to." The kid was stubborn and Harvey didn't have the heart to shrug him off.
"Jamie, we've talked about this." It broke Jenny's heart to go through this with kids. The children were so desperate to be loved.
The boy shook his head firmly and Mike felt himself tearing up. If his grandmother hadn't been there for him, he could have easily ended up like the boy.
Harvey bent down and held up the boy in his arms. "I'm too good looking to let go, huh?" He kept his tone light. The last thing he wanted was to see those blue eyes filled with tears.
The boy wrapped his small arms around Harvey's neck and hid his face in Harvey's shoulder. Harvey looked at Mike and Jenny, having no clue how to deal with a heartbroken kid. Other kids had come to see what was going on and that was when things got worse.
"Who is he?" A little boy asked.
"Oh my god, is he your dad? He finally came to get you?" Another girl asked.
"Ooh, it must be his dad! They look the same!" Another kid shouted and things got out of control.
Kids yelled, clapped and jumped while Jenny and Mike tried to get them under control. Harvey decided that they needed help, so he left the room with the kid still in his arms and went to fetch the director.
"Okay, children. I have this special cookie jar with me. Those who come and stand in line here will get one of these special chocolate chip cookies!"
Much to Harvey's surprise, the trick worked like magic. The boy gave him a peck on the cheek and rushed over to get his cookie.
"And, just like that, I've got beaten by a chocolate chip cookie." Harvey spoke playfully as he and Mike hurried to an empty room before the kid noticed that they were gone.
Mike smiled but there were little tears in his eyes.
"Hey, come here." Harvey took off the bunny hat from his boyfriend and gave him a warm hug. It hurt to see Mike sad like this.
"He said that this year he was going to ask Santa for you, Harvey. That's what he whispered to me." Mike's voice broke as he swallowed the tears and Harvey had to hold him tighter.
'Oh, great. I avoided one pair of teary blue eyes but I still have another pair in my arms.' Harvey peppered kisses on top of Mike's head, hoping that he would make the pain and sorrow go away.
Mike kept sniffing but he left Harvey's arms and started to change into his regular clothes. "Harvey?"
"Hmm?" Harvey felt a little guilty at the turn of events. If he hadn't showed up to see Mike, all of this could have been avoided.
"I know it might be inappropriate for me to ask, but have you ever thought of having kids?"
Harvey was surprised. Nobody asked him such things. Even though there were single people who adopted kids and lived happily ever after, people just assumed that he wouldn't want any children because he didn't like to commit to one man or woman.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Mike interpreted Harvey's silence as a no.
"It's fine, Mike. And, to answer your question, I actually thought about it earlier when that boy told me that fairytales were a bunch of pretty lies."
Mike laughed as he put his bunny costume in a shopping bag. "That sounds like something you'd say."
"Yeah, he definitely has potential to be a great lawyer. He already knows how to detect lies!"
Mike laughed again and couldn't help but wonder if he and Harvey would ever get to have children. 'What am I thinking? We don't even live together yet. We've just started the relationship so let's just focus on finding a way to love Harvey each and every day. No distractions.'
The two managed to sneak out of the orphanage but the face of a certain boy didn't manage to leave their minds.
The dinner table had been filled with delicious food (Mike and his grandmother had cooked together), light banters, laughter, and Harvey stealing short kisses from Mike. Mike had invited Harvey, Donna, Ray and his girlfriend and had felt as if they were having a family dinner. It had been so heartwarming to have a nice, warm meal with the people that he loved. Donna had brought over some Easter eggs that her nephews had colored while Harvey had brought a good bottle of wine. Ray and his girlfriend had brought crème brulées for dessert which had thrilled everyone's taste buds.
Everyone was having a good time but all good things had to come to an end.
"Oh, it's eight already. How time flies." Ray looked at his wristwatch. "Sorry, Helen and I have a movie to catch around nine."
"It's okay. The car will come and take Grammy back soon, so I'll have to see her off anyway." Mike smiled.
Everyone got up from the dinner table and started to say their goodbyes.
"Harvey, can you wait while I go see Grammy off downstairs? Or do you want to go back to your place and get some rest?" Mike asked, caressing Harvey's arms.
"Well, if you don't mind, I'd actually like to have a word with Donna here until you get back."
"Sure." Mike nodded and let his grandmother pinch everyone's cheek before helping her out of the apartment.
"Harvey, what's wrong?" Donna asked with a worried look on her face as she and Harvey settled down on the couch.
"I think it's time to use one of those cards you gave me for my birthdays."
Donna gasped. "Please tell me it's the 'Make Louis cry' one! I've been dying to see you use it! See, I've prepared so many scenarios! The day has finally come!"
Harvey laughed. "I hate to disappoint you but that's not the one."
"Then you're using the 'Do not ask' one." She pouted.
"Nope."
Donna's eyes grew wide. "Oh my god, Harvey. Don't tell me you're planning to cheat on Mike! I'll go work for Louis if you do! And, I'll take Mike with me!"
Harvey shook his head at Donna's insane deduction. He knew that she had had too much wine tonight. He also knew that it wasn't her fault; his wine was always too good to resist. "Donna, I love Mike. Why would I want to cheat on him? Besides, why would you think I'd need your help to get someone?"
Donna frowned. "But the only card that's left is the 'Make him mine' one. Oh, do you want a real puppy or something?"
Harvey took a deep breath. "No. I want you to look into a kid."
Donna looked as if she was going to require immediate medical treatment. "What was in that dessert? I knew that it tasted too sweet."
"Donna, I'm not saying that I'm going to adopt him. I just want to get his background checked before I bring it up to Mike."
"Mike wants a boy?"
"Well, you know what he looked like all evening."
Donna nodded. "I knew there was a reason why there was a sad puppy at the table."
Harvey told her all about the little boy at the orphanage and how Mike had asked him afterwards if he had ever thought about having kids. After listening attentively, Donna had to agree that Mike had probably fallen in love with the kid.
"I don't have to tell you that he cannot know about this. If there's anything even remotely suspicious about the kid, you let me know and we'll forget about this conversation."
"Understood. No written documents or text messages. Any updates I have, I'll whisper in your ears. You know that's the safest method. Spies use that all the time."
Harvey nodded. He had absolutely no doubt that Donna would be very discreet. "You know, I'm asking you to check him out but I actually hope there would be something wrong with him."
Donna's eyebrows shot up. "What? Why? I thought you liked him too."
"I do, but… Look, I wouldn't find it horrible to raise a kid with Mike, especially since I wouldn't need to deal with diapers and endless crying with this one but Mike's still so young. He has so much to live for. I want him to experience everything he wants to experience before even thinking about settling down."
Donna smiled. "Harvey, can't you see? If he already wants to have a kid with you, you're everything he wishes to live for."
Harvey needed a few seconds to get her words into his system. Could he really mean that much to someone one? To Mike?
"Hey, speaking of the 'Make him mine' card, I think Mike had one of his own. I wonder where he got one though. There are very few people who have problem-solving skills like me." Donna changed the subject as she noticed that Harvey had started to think too much. In her opinion, Harvey usually thought too much and felt too little. She was glad to see that Mike had started to fix the imbalance.
"What do you mean? I can't think of anyone else giving out such childish cards like you." Harvey grinned.
"I'll let that pass since it's clearly the alcohol talking." Donna snorted. "And, back to my point, I think he used such a card to get you, Harvey. We both know that you've been acting differently around Mike for the past couple of months."
Harvey slapped his knee. "Ah, I knew that I was cursed. I was right."
Donna laughed. "I think you were cursed before and Mike broke your curse."
"I broke what? Harvey has a purse? How come I haven't had the honor to see it yet?" Mike walked into the apartment.
Harvey and Donna laughed while Mike looked confused.
"What took you so long?" Harvey changed the subject. He didn't need Mike to poke into things and build up false hope.
"Grammy always has so much to say when we part! Why couldn't she say all that when we were having dinner?"
"Aww, she just loves you so much." Donna pinched Mike's nose with affection.
Mike smiled brightly and that was Donna's cue to leave. She would be damned to stay and watch yet another kissing scene when she got to watch plenty of them at the office every single day.
"Don't forget to use protection, boys! Or you might end up with a cute kid!" were the last words that she managed to say before Harvey aggressively walked her to the door.
"Ah, I wish we ended up with a cute kid." Mike covered his mouth in horror and saw Harvey's hands take an extra second to lock the door.
"What did you say?" Harvey asked softly while turning around to face his boyfriend on the couch.
"Uh, I've had too much wine, I guess." Mike said with a sheepish smile.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Harvey wanted to look into the kid first, but he remembered that 'Give your boyfriend a chance to express his thoughts and feelings much more often than you think it's necessary.' was one of the tips that he had read in his guidebook.
Mike looked at Harvey with surprise in his eyes. "Wouldn't talking about kids be a buzz-kill? I wanted you to wait for me so we could have mind-boggling sex."
Harvey laughed. Apparently Mike lived by the saying 'Honesty is the best policy.' Usually that kind of a saying didn't work too well for lawyers but Mike was special and different. "We can have mind-boggling sex after we talk about it."
Mike wore a wicked smile on his face. "Hey, I have a better idea. How good are your multitasking skills?"
"Very good. Have you already forgotten how I flew the plane and kissed you at the same time?"
"Now that's a real buzz-kill! I thought we were going to crash!" Mike chuckled.
"Oh, you drama queen. I'll show you what it's like to crash." Harvey grinned mischievously.
"Uh oh, this can't be good." Mike tried to shoot out of the couch but he was too late. In no time, Harvey picked him up and slung him over his shoulders.
"Harvey! Let me down!"
Harvey headed towards the bedroom. "Good evening, this is your captain speaking. Please remain seated until the seatbelt sign goes off."
"Harvey!" Mike tried in vain to get his feet back on the ground as his face turned pink.
"What? You said you had a thing for pilots. If you want mind-boggling sex, you'll need a pilot, don't you think?"
"How considerate of you." Mike giggled and felt Harvey throw him on the bed. God, he was so turned on by that single action.
"See? That's what it's like to crash." Harvey smirked as he took off his shirt.
"Ready to do some multitasking yourself? You'll have to talk and moan at the same time." Harvey took off his jeans and climbed on top of Mike.
"I'm ready whenever you are." Mike answered but he was certain that all he was going to do was moaning.
"Good. Then let's have some mind-boggling sex, shall we?"
Harvey slowly started to undress his boyfriend, making sure that he was driving Mike crazy. He had offered Mike a chance to talk about the kid but he actually wanted Mike to forget about him- at least until Donna provided him with all the information that he needed. There was no better way to shut down Mike's brain than distracting him with sex and luckily for him, Mike had made things easy by mentioning mind-boggling sex.
"Oh, Harvey…" Mike moaned loudly when Harvey gave him a love bite on his sensitive neck.
"Just relax, Mike."
"God, I really love you. You know that?" Mike looked into Harvey's eyes to show him the love and respect that he had for the older man. Since eyes were known to be the windows of the soul, he figured that Harvey would be able to see all his feelings through his eyes.
"I love you back, sweetheart." It was still quite stunning for Harvey to find himself saying these kinds of sentences without having a heart attack, but he knew how to adapt and he loved to see Mike light up whenever he said such things.
"You're an amazing person, Harvey. I can't wait to explore every aspect of you." Mike smiled and arched his back as Harvey's lips moved beneath his waist.
"I'll be looking forward to it." Harvey said as he paid attention to Mike's thighs.
"Regarding that matter, I was wondering if you'd like to move in with me sometime this year. I know it's too soon and we've only been going out for a couple of months, but I have so much trouble staying away from you."
Harvey removed his lips from Mike's legs and looked up. "Are you serious? You think two people can live in this apartment?"
Mike laughed. "I was obviously going to suggest that we find a new place."
Harvey was thrilled that he wasn't the only one who couldn't stay away but he was worried that Mike was just asking because he had too much wine.
"No, Harvey, I didn't have that much wine." Mike had learned a few tricks to read Harvey's expressions.
"Then you thought about asking me when you cried over that kid today?" Harvey already knew the answer. Mike had probably pictured a child-friendly house when he had asked him if he had ever thought about having kids.
"I know it's all too soon. I don't know why at that moment I had this clear picture in my mind. God, Harvey, I looked so happy in it!"
"You did?" Harvey climbed up and kissed Mike firmly on the mouth. If his sweetheart wanted to be happier with him, how could he possibly deny that chance?
"I'm glad you included me in your future." Harvey meant it.
Mike's eyes grew bigger before they became smaller as he proceeded to smile. "Oh, you silly, you are my future!"
Running a hand in Mike's hair, Harvey wondered what he had done to deserve such a lovely man.
"What happened to multitasking?" Mike got Harvey out of his thoughts. "You have two hands, Harvey. You can caress my hair and take care of my throbbing love at the same time."
Harvey laughed. "We should really work on your dirty talk, Mike."
"What for? It apparently works on you." Mike lowered his gaze hungrily and Harvey decided that it was time to get their minds boggled.
THE END.
Author's note: This has been a particularly difficult journey so I'm very relieved that I somehow made it to the finish line :) Thank you for reading and I'd really like to thank every kind reader that took his/her precious time to leave me encouraging comments. I couldn't have finished this story without your amazing support :)
For those who are interested in reading a little bit more, there will be an epilogue regarding what Harvey, Mike and their adopted son will be doing for Christmas. Since it's the holiday seasons and I can't resist writing about kids, I figured that I could give one last try in this verse :D