Author's Note: Sorry for another long wait, I'm still struggling with my mental health at the same time a lot of things are going on in my life but I will try to update sooner next time.
As always thanks for all the reviews/follows/favourites it always makes me very happy.
All mistakes are still mine.

CHAPTER 8

Harvey hadn't been at work for long when he got a call from Mike's school, informing him that Mike had gotten into a fight.
He checked his watch and shook his head; the kid had only been in school for little over and hour and he had already managed to get into trouble?
Harvey told the lady on the phone that he would get to the school as soon as possible before he hung up and closed the file on his desk.
Donna gave him a questioning look as he grabbed his suit jacket and walked out of his office.

"I have to go to Mike's school."

He just informed her, and she responded with a big smile.

"What?"
"Fatherhood looks good on you."

Harvey scoffed at her before walking away from her desk and over to the elevators.
So far, he seemed to have only experienced the downsides of fatherhood, and he really hoped to experience some good parts soon.
He also hoped that this kind of calls wouldn't become too regular, considering that would force him to choose between his work and his son.

Harvey walked into the school office, where he spotted Mike sitting on a chair.
His right eye was slightly swollen and it looked like he would get a pretty nice shiner.
The door to the principal's office opened before Harvey got the chance to even talk to Mike, and a tall, middle-aged man appeared.

"Mr. Ross, Mr. Specter."

He said, gesturing to his office to indicate that they could go inside and they did, sitting down on the uncomfortable chairs placed in front of the desk.
The principal started to tell him how Mike had attacked another student in the hallway, and that said student was currently in the nurse's office getting his injuries checked out.
Harvey looked at Mike in disbelief, he had never gotten the impression that the boy was a trouble maker or a violent person.
His grandmother had always bragged about him being a kind, well behaved kid, and when he did get in trouble, like the smoking for example, she had been quick to point the finger at Mike's friend for being a bad influence.
So, it was hard for him to believe that Mike had started a fight and he tried his best to read the kid but Mike was looking down at his sneakers so he couldn't see his face or eyes.

"I hope you understand Mr. Specter, that we have zero tolerance for violence at this school, and we do have to suspend Michael, even if this is the first time he's been in any serious trouble."

Harvey nodded to show that he did understand and the principal continued.

"Since Michael was the aggressor in this fight I have decided to suspend him for a week."

Mike finally looked up from his sneakers, and turned to Harvey, with a pleading look in his eyes.
The kid most likely wanted him to use his lawyer skills to negotiate a more lenient punishment, but he would do no such thing.
"That sounds fair."
He told the principal and Mike's face fell.

Back in the car, Mike was pouting, still upset that Harvey hadn't even tried to negotiate his punishment.
Harvey looked at the kid, wondering if he should hand out an extra punishment for the fighting but he had no idea what that punishment should be, he hadn't even given Mike any consequences for the smoking yet.
Well before he decided what to do, he should try to understand why in the world Mike would start a fight.

"Want to tell me what the fight was about?"
"It's none of your business."
"Well, I think that me having to leave work and come pick you up because you attacked another student makes it my business."

Mike was quiet for a minute, weighing his options, before he released a big sigh.

"The other student, Kyle, was saying rude things about my mom, implying things about her that isn't true."

Harvey nodded, suddenly understanding why Mike decided to start a fight.
Emotional outbursts and anger was a part of the grieving process, and even if Mike appeared to be fine, he was still grieving.
He could easily imagine himself doing the same thing if anyone had decided to badmouth his deceased father, especially if it had been close to his death, but even if he would have done the exact same thing, he would have to be a parent here and teach his child that violence wasn't acceptable, even if it might be hypocritical.

"This isn't the way back to the apartment."

Mike suddenly remarked, avoiding to use the word 'home' since it probably would take a while for him to actually feel that way.
Harvey had told Ray to take them back to the office so that Donna would finally stop asking to meet Mike, and perhaps bringing him to the office was a good punishment.
If he kept the kid with him for the rest of his suspension then he could keep an eye on him and make sure that he did the school work he brought home and that it became an actual boring punishment instead of a week of sleeping in late and having fun.

"I'm taking you to my office, my secretary is dying to meet you."
"You two seem pretty close. Are you sleeping with her?"

Harvey froze, not expecting and certainly not wanting to hear that question from the 11-year-old.

"I'm not and even if I were it wouldn't be any of your business."

He answered before quickly deciding to change the subject before Mike decided to ask anymore questions about his love life.

"I actually think that you should stay with me at the office for the rest of the week, so that your suspension actually becomes a punishment and not a week's vacation."
"That doesn't seem fair, I had a good reason for fighting him."
"Yes, but it doesn't justify the fighting, it's not the correct way to handle problems. The mature and adult way is to handle it with words."

Mike just rolled his eyes at the lecture and Harvey sighed, he suddenly had a greater understanding for what his own parents went through when he was in Mike's age.

"How about a week's grounding, including the weekend, with the weekdays spent in my office and then we'll forget all about the fighting, the breaking of curfew and the smoking?"

It was a good deal, especially since he guessed that Nina would've given him a way harder punishment.

"Fine."

Mike just answered at the same time that the car stopped outside the firm and the kid got out of the car.
Harvey released a big sigh before he followed him, silently wishing for this to be the end of the drama so that they could actually bond and become more like friends instead of Harvey just having to be the authority figure.

Donna looked up from her desk and when she spotted the kid next to him, she flew up from her desk and started to walk towards them, bouncing with excitement.
Mike suddenly walked closer to Harvey, clearly not sharing his secretary's excitement.

"You must be Mike."

She said and Harvey could see that she was holding herself back, if it wasn't for Mike's wariness she probably would have thrown herself at him and enveloped him in a big hug, without ever letting go.

"You must be Donna."

Mike answered, trying to sound polite despite his obvious caution towards the overly excited woman.
They shook hands before Mike saw his chance to escape into Harvey's office, where he stopped to look around the room.

"Oh, he's so adorable."

Donna cooed, as if she had just spotted the world's cutest puppy.

"He looks a lot like you."

She then pointed out and those words cause a warm feeling to spread through his body.
It would be hard to get over that Mike knew another man as his father and that he had another man's last name, but at least he had Harvey's genes.

"You think?"
"Yes and can you just imagine him in a little suit, he would look just like his daddy."
Harvey chuckled and told her to take it down a notch before he followed Mike into his office.

It didn't take long for Mike to get bored and soon he asked for direction to the bathroom but had obviously decided to explore , since he was gone for over 40 minutes.
When he did return however, he wasn't alone, Louis was holding Mike by his collar and marched right into Harvey's office.
As soon as he saw them and noticed the frightened look on Mike's face, a protective instinct surged in him and he wanted to get his child out of Louis' clutches.

"Does this child belong to you?"

Louis asked before looking at Mike with a smug look on his face, clearly expecting Harvey to say no.
It wasn't hard to understand what was going on, Louis had found Mike walking around and saw him as a distraction that didn't belong there, even if Louis didn't mind kids per se, he definitely minded kids running around at his workplace.

"Yes, he does."

Louis smug look disappeared and instead it was replaced by confusion.

"Now get your hands off my son, Louis."

He told him and the man immediately let go off Mike as if his hand had been burned.
Mike scurried away from Louis and sat down on the couch, avoiding to even look at the man.

"H-how?"

Louis spluttered, bewildered by the fact that Harvey suddenly had a son.

"Do I really need to tell you about the flowers and the bees?"

Harvey asked and his words managed to put a smile on Mike's face.
Louis didn't get a chance to answer before Donna showed up and managed to herd the man out of the office.

"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."

Mike answered even if his eyes betrayed him.
Harvey shook his head and sighed, it was typical Louis to make a bad first impression.