"Donnaaa…" Mike started, not taking his eyes off the little girl in her arms. "That's…that's…that's a baby Harvey…"
Donna laughed, not at all surprised that he, like herself, was able to identify her as being Harvey's immediately.
"She is," she said, laughing at the stunned expression on her friend's face.
"Where…how did…she isn't –" he trailed off.
"No," she gave him a weak smile, "she's not."
"Harvey definitely forgot to mention this when we talked last week," he said, eyes still glued to Rosie.
"That's because he didn't know she existed last week," Donna replied, his gaze moving to her.
"Hoooooly shiiiiit," Mike whispered, as if trying to not let Rosie hear his choice words, "Harvey is a DAD."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I've been saying to myself for the last 48 hours," Donna said, with a huffed laugh. "He hasn't told anyone else about her yet. Come on, let's let him give you a proper introduction" she motioned towards the restaurant. "Then you can tell us what the - she covered Rosie's ears - hell you think you're doing in town without telling us."
"Oh no, no no," he pushed back, "Harvey has a kid and he didn't tell me. There is no way I am letting him off easy for that."
Donna raised her eyebrow, missing their days of messing with Harvey at the firm, "What do you have in mind?"
"Give me that baby."
…
Harvey was scrolling through emails on his phone when he heard Rosie's familiar little babbles approaching. Smiling, he looked up, expecting to see Donna, only to be faced with –
"You know, I always wanted a baby sister," the smug kid smirked at Harvey, holding a smiling Rosie in his arms. "It's been a lonely 8 years as an only child. I would have at least liked one of those t-shirts though, 'Best Big Brother' or something. How many 'Harvard Dad' shirts have you bought? I tried not to be offended that you never wore the one that I got for you."
"Maybe this one will actually be a legacy," Harvey retorted, smiling as Donna appeared behind his former associate.
Scooping Rosie out of Mike's arms, Donna looked at the boys, "I'm going to take this one back to the condo, I think you two have a few things to catch up on."
"Donna, you don't have to –" Harvey started. But before he could finish, Donna was holding Rosie out towards him. "Say bye to Daddy, sweetie," she said, as Harvey planted a big kiss on her forehead.
"Yeah, Daddy," Mike mocked in his direction. "Wow this is WAY better than I expected my morning to go."
Donna rolled her eyes at the two of them, strapping Rosie into her stroller. "Is Rachel here with you?"
"Yeah, our hotel is two blocks from here. Oh my god she's not going to believe this when I tell her –"
Donna gave Harvey a look, silently asking permission to take Rosie to see Rachel.
He smiled and nodded, "You guys have fun."
…
Harvey and Mike moved to the bar across the street, where Harvey attempted to sedate his yapping associate with some early afternoon scotch.
When Harvey finally made it through telling him about the last two days, Mike was as silent as when he first saw Rosie in Donna's arms.
"Jesus, Harvey, I – I don't know what to say."
"Me neither," he said, taking another sip of his drink. "I have no idea what I'm doing," he admitted.
"Well, it seems like Donna does, which is entirely unsurprising," Mike quipped.
Harvey gave him a tired smile, "I couldn't have gotten through the last few days without her."
"You couldn't have gotten through the last decade without her," Mike retorted. "But seriously, Harvey, you know she would do anything for you, but have you thought about how she might be feeling with all of this?"
Harvey looked down into his drink and sighed.
Mike continued, "You know she would put all of her feelings aside to help you, and now you have a kid that she's clearly already doing the same for," he paused. "I just don't want to see her get hurt again."
…
"Donna, hey!" Rachel answered her phone, a slightly anxious tone in her voice, "what's up!"
"Oh, you know, not much, just sitting in the lobby of the Four Seasons wondering how my best friends simply forgot to mention they were in town," Donna quipped.
Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled; she should have figured Donna would just know.
"I can hear you rolling your eyes through the phone."
Rachel laughed, "Alright, how did you figure it out?"
"Harvey and I just ran into Mike at the café around the corner. I hope you guys didn't have plans this afternoon because your husband is definitely not making it back in one piece."
Rachel groaned, "Well in that case, what are your plans for the day?"
"Well seeing as though I'm sitting at the bar with two margaritas in front of me, my plans are waiting for you to get your ass down here."
"Damn girl," Rachel laughed. "I'll be down in five."
"We'll see you in a few."
"'We?' I thought you said Harvey was with Mike?"
Donna smiled at the little girl in the stroller next to her, "Just hurry up and get down here before I finish both of these drinks."
…
Note: Shorter update, but wanted to share as much as I had done. Having a career is such a drag when your brain is constantly full of fictional character trash. If you have ideas, or anything you'd like to see go down, please please let me know. My brain goes in a hundred different ways when I write this, so happy to consider suggestions. Thank you to everyone who has said and continues to say kind things – I'll keep this going for as long as you guys want it.