Chapter 10

Harvey pulled into his driveway around dinner time after visiting his mother in the hospice. He had a couple of hours to kill and he thought he would stop at the office and see if he could rethink a position on a corporation who had planned to raid a few companies within the next few months. Rizzlin Pharmaceuticals was a large corporation that Harvey had culled as his personal client several years ago. Since then it had grown into a conglomerate with opening of different subsidiaries in three different countries. The latest scheme involved his old rival Jonathan Sidwell for whom Mike had once worked. Harvey thought offhand that he would give Rachel the lead on this since she seemed to have more of stomach when it came to corporate raiding than Mike. Rachel's future husband tended to think with his heart instead of his head. As a fifth year associate that was not a good play for Mike's future. However, between the two of them Rachel had cunning and smarts and Mike had that eidetic memory and a heart so whatever one had the other lacked. Harvey sometimes despaired that he had one good associate between the two.

As he came through the door he shouted that old sarcastic phrase "Hi Honey, I'm home." Expecting to see and hear his family either noisily eating dinner or playing in the living room as he rounded the corner from the foyer, Harvey was surprised that the house was dark and a note in Donna's handwriting had been left with a magnet on the refrigerator.

Couldn't reach you. I had to run an errand in town. I'm late because the kids woke up from their naps late.

However, dinner is cooked and ready to be reheated in the oven. We'll eat with you when we arrive home.

Love, Donna.

Harvey decided to wait until Donna and the kids were home. He was not one to want to eat alone anymore. He enjoyed eating with Donna and sometimes with both children. Gordon was usually fed while Donna guided Mandy to eat and in between they would discuss homey things like improvements on their house or whether or not Harvey should sell his condo in Manhattan. Sometimes they would discuss issues from the office that popped up. Their dinner conversations were always interesting to them not necessarily anyone else but between Harvey and Donna and most times Mandy they were what made life worthwhile.

Harvey was turning from the message on the refrigerator and leaned against the counter. He spotted Donna's address book open wherein a recent entry had been scrawled in Donna's handwriting. Her hard copy address book always duplicated her personal directory in her phone. That was just who she was. Always prepared and always able to retrieve something in a few minutes after a request or before the request was made. Harvey looked twice at the entry and it happened to have two numbers: one for the "Room for a Venue" firm number and the other for Sergei Patronov's cell number. Harvey could not think why Donna was calling this person since Rachel's shower had been celebrated over a week ago. He could not think of any other reason for a caterer in the near future since Rachel and Mike's wedding caterer was someone that Rachel and Mike had chosen over a year ago. Remembering the last occasion where Sergei's tongue almost landed in his wife's mouth, Harvey started to fume. He pushed the contact button on Donna's phone to see where the hell she was and why she was contacting Sergei I-want-your-wife Patronov.

"Hi Honey, are you..."

"Where are you, Donna?"

"I'm on the way home. I was lucky to get a doctor's appointment today at the Urgent Clinic. I didn't want to fool around with Mandy's congestion. Her temperature shot up a couple of hours after you left. Of course, I had to bring Gordon with me. Why do you sound so hostile?"

"Is Mandy ok?" Harvey asked concern for his daughter's health overriding his need to know what his wife was doing calling an all-out womanizer.

"Yes. She's fine. The doctor gave me a prescription for an antibiotic. It should prevent Gordon from catching it also. I was also concerned since he is still so little. Harvey what's wrong?"

"By the way, are you driving?"

"Yes, but my cell phone is programmed to the minivan, remember?"

Harvey coming down off his hostility for a moment said, "Yes, I forgot. Sorry. I was just worried because no one was here."

"I left you a note. I tried to make it sound light so you wouldn't worry. How's your mother?"

"How come you couldn't reach me...:

"You have to turn your cell off when you go into the hospice, remember? You forgot to turn it back on obviously before you left."

"I stopped at the office for a few minutes. You didn't think to try there?"

"Yes, I did but it must have been before or after you were there because you never pick up your phone unless I have screened your calls first, remember?"

Harvey did remember suddenly. He never did understand how that stupid phone service worked at the office. Whenever Donna was not there to screen a call, he would simply pick up the phone and cut off the person on the other end. As for actually answering his outside line, he was way too far up the food chain in the firm to even think of doing that.

"I'm sorry. I forgot. How far away are you?"

"Just pulling up in the driveway now. Come out to the garage and you can carry one of your sleeping children into the house," Donna said as she hung up the phone and spotted her husband in the doorway between garage and Harvey's man cave. She smiled as he came to the door of the vehicle. Donna had pushed the automatic open door button and Harvey quietly unbuckled Mandy's car seat and carefully picked her up and carried into the house. Donna got out from the driver's seat and unbuckled Gordon in his little car seat and carried him in her arms into the house almost forgetting the huge baby bag sitting on the floor in front of him.

It was a quiet dinner although Donna had asked questions about the visit to the hospice. Harvey was unusually quiet and did not say much. Donna could not remember the last time she had not possessed the ability to get Harvey to talk. Since they had married she had become even more adept at drawing conversation from him. However, tonight's quiet solitude had been odd at that.

Two weeks later there was still a small but solid wall between Donna and Harvey. It had not affected their work or interfered with the care of their children. The place where it showed the most was in the bedroom. Granted they had not made love much since Gordon had been born, but that was normal. They now had two children and still had full time jobs. Harvey had given it a half-hearted try because he still loved and wanted his wife but every attempt seemed to him futile as he thought his wife may have been involved with another man. Instead of lying in each other's arms afterward and contentedly trying to sleep until Gordon awoke, Harvey would kiss Donna on the forehead and turn over and go to sleep. Of course the intensity of lovemaking may wane as years passed and children came along, but a couple like Harvey and Donna, two passionate people, especially about each other was somewhat odd at this early stage in their marriage. It had not just been the address book in the past two weeks that caused Harvey's suspicions to grow, but he had noticed that Donna had been taking secretive phone calls and when noticing him come into the room or come out of his office, her voice would take on a different tone and she would hang up almost instantly. Donna felt badly about keeping the birthday surprise from her husband but she thought that if he could hold on long enough the trouble would be worth it.

Fortunately, no one on the outside could really tell any difference in their relationship. Donna's mother came to the house in West Chester from her house in Connecticut and stayed with Donna's sister, Carol, as usual. Then on Friday night after Donna was let out of the office to return home, Carol's sister picked up their mother and let her make the long drive back to Connecticut.

Harvey had twice wanted to ask Donna about the phone number he saw in her address book but decided that if Donna had something to tell him she would come out and say it. He had always trusted her in everything. He tried very hard to extend that trust even now, but the sight of that phone number and what had occurred at Rachel's shower still reverberated through Harvey's head. Donna's odd behavior while being on the phone at times was not helping Harvey's disposition any better.

Thanksgiving was in two days and as a treat they were being allowed to bring Lillian out of the hospice to share dinner with them. Dr. Tulane had stopped her treatments some weeks ago and felt her immunity was strong enough now to withstand a small familial crowd of people. Harvey assured Dr. Tulane that only his brother, his sister-in-law, and children as well as Harvey's own family would be present at the dinner. Donna's family decided to go out for the dinner with Uncle Jake and his family.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was all hustle and bustle. Donna was taking the two days off that Pearson, Specter, Litt offered Thanksgiving and Black Friday; however, she knew that Harvey had wanted to work. She had confirmed all his appointments for Friday and had taken home draft after draft and typed between Gordon's feedings. As she brought his schedule and completed papers into him as he sat at his desk, Harvey's hand came out to stop her.

"Harvey!"

"Donna, we need to talk."

"Now? Can it not wait until we're home? I still have three summaries to type before we go home tonight. You know Thanksgiving dinner doesn't cook itself and you have to pick your mother up in the morning."

"You have a point. Ok. Let's wait until later."

Donna walked away and thought how strange Harvey's behavior had been and still was. He had never the whole time she had ever worked for him reached out to her and grabbed her hand as if he did not want her to touch something.

Finally, Donna proudly finished typing the last summary, edited it, and then sent it to Harvey's email to change or reread for changes.

"Donna!"

"Yes, Harvey," Donna came in brushing her hair away from her forehead with her hand. "Do you need me to change something?"

"Yes, I notated the edits. They are all on the same summary. I changed my argument. After you finish retyping that one, call Ray and he can take you home."

"Why? Aren't you coming home? It's Thanksgiving tomorrow."

Harvey looked up at her like she had not been his wife for the last three years. "I'm not coming home to West Chester tonight. I'll have Ray drive me to the condo since I have to pick mom up anyway from the hospice. I'll come home tomorrow with mom and then we will have Thanksgiving."

Donna looked back at him like he had grown four heads.

"Harvey," Donna said sternly. "What are you talking about? None of the cars are parked at the condo's garage, are they?"

"The Audi is. I drove it here last week after I was at court on Monday."

"You didn't think to tell me this was your plan. I had hoped you would be home tonight and tomorrow to help me prep the house or watch the kids while I prepped the house for company and dinner. You did remember your brother and his family are staying with us over the weekend. That means we have two children, four adults, and two babies plus when your mother comes an older person who is part invalid."

"My mother is perfectly fine. Besides Marcus and I will see to her needs and Kate can help you in the kitchen on Thursday." Harvey looked at Donna like she was not thinking with that fabulous brain of hers.

Donna sighed audibly. "Ok, Harvey. Have it your way. I will finish up this summary send it back to you for final review and then I'm outta here."

"Ok, go ahead and call Ray. Tell him to come back after he has dropped you off and tell him to come back get me to just drive me uptown."

Donna just saluted and walked back to her desk. She could not figure her husband's behavior, but she was slowly becoming aggravated at his unconcern about her and the kids. Shades of the old the-world-revolves-around-me Harvey Specter was beginning to come through the cracks and it made Donna feel very, very uncomfortable.

"Donna?" A heavily Russian accented male voice said on the other end.

"No, this is her husband," answered Harvey. He had taken Donna's phone surreptitiously during the day and decided now that she had left the office for the weekend to call this son of a bitch. He refused to be cuckold by such a louse of a person as this man.

"Oh, Mr. Specter," said Sergei. "Did you want to talk about the party arrangements or something else?"

"Party arrangements?" Harvey asked. He had no clue of what this ignoramus was speaking.

"Oh, probably not then..." Sergei said awkwardly. He really did not want to let his client's cat out of the bag. Besides his plan to get Donna in his own clutches had still not come to fruition.

"No I was just wondering whose number this was in my wife's phone. She didn't have a contact name attached to it so I was curious. You know she is also my secretary and has been for a long time so I thought maybe it had been an old client's number. I'm a lawyer. I bet she didn't mention that."

"No, she did. What can I do for you?"

"Nothing. How long have you been seeing my wife?" Harvey asked finally wanting to cut through the subtleties and bull doze his way right to the point.

"I think Mrs. Specter should be the one to tell you, sir," Sergei said standing up to Harvey and although he was uncomfortable he wanted to show his loyalty to Donna his client.

"So you're not going to tell me anything, are you?" Harvey said.

"No, Mrs. Specter is a client and she has asked me to keep certain items to myself." Sergei was not a man who caved easily. He had his pride just like the man on the other end of the line.

"Ok, Sergei, I will let you off the hook this time. However, if I catch you or my wife speaking to you, I will hunt your ass down and hurt you. You got it?" Harvey menacingly said and then hung up slamming Donna's phone on his desk.

After Harvey hung up, he just sat and fumed. He looked up finally when Mike had breezed into his office.

"So Harvey why haven't you left? I saw Donna leave a couple of hours ago. You need a ride?"

"Mike? I thought you'd be off to Zane world with Rachel getting ready for the big Thanksgiving shindig at her father's house."

"Shindig? Nobody says that anymore. Anyway what are you talking about? Rachel said it was just the family."

"Oh, I guess you were too drunk at the shower to know that Rachel has three aunts and two uncles on her father's side alone. Her mother has three sisters and a brother. Why do you think there were so many people at the shower?"

"I thought they were mostly Rachel's friends from college and law school."

"Naaa," Harvey quipped. "Wrong, but thank you for playing."

"Oh well. I can handle it."

"Sure you can..."

"Not to change the subject, but you still haven't said why you're still here after your wife left hours ago. I thought maybe you gave Ray the night off and needed a ride."

"Let's just say I had some research to finish." Harvey said eyeing the younger man with a look that brooked no further investigation.

"Oh, ok. Do you still need help? I came in here because I wanted to give you the files I finished for you and the arguments for court next week. I have Rachel's summations here for you, too. She has one more thing to finish and then we were going to go home. Being you're still here, do you want come over for a drink? I can take you back to the condo, if you want."

Harvey smiled. "No, that's ok. Thank you, anyway, Mike and thank Rachel for me, too. I assume the last summations are for me?

Mike nodded.

"Tell her to knock off. She can finish them on Monday. Go have a happy first engaged Thanksgiving together."

Harvey came around from the back of his desk and shook Mike's hand.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Harvey said as they shook hands.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Harvey. Give Donna my love and kiss the kids for us."

"Will do."

Mike left Harvey's office and Harvey resumed his fuming.

Five minutes after Sergei hung up with Harvey, Donna received a call on her home phone.

"Mrs. Specter...Donna?"

"Sergei? What's going on? Did I forget to give you the deposit for Harvey's party?"

"No, I just had some other things to discuss with you. I just booked a new chef who has some new food choices that have suddenly popped up on the menu. I wanted you to sample them."

"So can I come next week?" Donna asked knowing that this week was totally shot with Harvey's family staying in their home.

"I really want you to come Friday. The chef will only be here a short while and I really think you would like his selections."

"Sergei, look, I appreciate it, but I am not going into the city on Friday. My husband's family is coming for the holiday tomorrow and I have a million things to prepare besides I need to be here."

"It will only take two hours at the most, Donna. Can your husband not take care of things for that long?"

Donna laughed to herself and said in a small voice, "If you knew how helpless my husband really is..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Tell you what. I will come Friday but it's going to have be around 9:00 am. I will have most of my morning chores completed by then and can hand off the kids to my husband for a couple of hours."

"Oh, that's fine. Just prepare yourself. Don't eat too much of Thanksgiving then you'll have no room for samples of the new dishes."

"Thank you, Sergei." Donna hung up the kitchen phone and then went to see Gordon as he was in need of a diaper change.

Harvey stood in front of the bedroom window. It afforded the same beautiful top city view as his living room did. He stood in front of it with a glass of scotch in his hand. Since he married a couple of years ago, it seemed that he had lost his taste for the usual stiff drink. He and Donna had been so happy and culminating with the births of their children more than happily happy if that's possible. Harvey loved Donna so much and loved being a father. He had been scared of everything at first as Donna had always known. However, he knew that as long as he was with her he could do anything and be anything. Now as he stood and looked at the cityscape the old "never let them know you care" Harvey started to creep into his heart. He only had a half suspicion that Donna was seeing Sergei behind his back. The logical part of Harvey kept telling him that she would never abandon him or cheat on him in such a way. She knew what it had taken for Harvey to break his walls down and let her in completely.

Harvey decided to go to bed because he had to pick up his mother rather early from the hospice and be sure to have her back in time so she would not miss her nightly medications. He stripped to his boxers and t-shirt and rolled down the covers. He lay on his side of the bed and just looked at Donna's side of the bed where she normally lay beside him. He really hated sleeping alone now. He thought it had been bad when he was single. It really hurt now that he had gotten used to have the same woman warming his bed for him every night. He wandered to Donna's side and could still smell her shampoo on her pillow and her perfume between the sheets on her side. His mind was fuzzy on when was the last time they had made love in this bed. On an odd note of melancholy, Harvey retrieved his cell phone from the nightstand and dialed Donna's phone. Suddenly he did not care it was after 10:00 pm on a weeknight and their children probably put up a fuss before going to bed. Donna was still breastfeeding and working full time so she did expend a lot of energy in that respect. However, Harvey was not thinking of that. He only wanted to talk to his wife.

"Donna?" Harvey said into his phone.

"Harvey? Are you ok?" Donna answered sleepily but surprised to hear her husband's voice over the phone this late. He knew that the children wore her out.

"Yes," he said softly. "I just want to apologize for earlier. I'm sorry I'm not there to help."

"Oh, it's ok. You know me. I'm Donna. I can do everything," Donna said with a little hiccup of a laugh.

"I miss you, Donna," Harvey said softly into the phone.

"Well, I will see you tomorrow. Then you don't have to miss me anymore. By the way, can you stay with the kids for a couple of hours on Friday morning? I have to go into the city and take care of something."

"What? Something for Rachel and Mike's wedding?"

Donna decided if lying at this point would be a wise choice. She hated lying especially to her husband. In this case, however, it was to his benefit so Donna decided to fib this one time.

"Yes, my dress needs to be taken in again and it is at Rachel's mother's house. So I need to stop there, get my dress and then head to the seamstress."

Harvey thought this a plausible duty as the wedding was only weeks away. He also had been told that the matron of honor and the bridesmaids were preparing for the wedding at Rachel's parents' house which made sense why Donna's gown would be there.

"I suppose so. Well, I just wanted to apologize and tell you goodnight. I love you." Harvey said before hanging up the phone.

"I love you, too, so much, Harvey. Good night." Donna said as she heard the phone click on the other end.