Once again, I'm so sorry that this took so long. There is only one more chapter left (after this) and I knew going into this story that the ending would be the hardest for me to write. I am determined, though. Thank you for sticking with me.

I think that this chapter will appeal to those who enjoy fluff and those who enjoy a touch of angst.

Hold on to your hats for the final chapter though. It will be a ride, but I promised you a happily ever after dammit, and a happily ever after you will get!

From Harvey's king sized bed, Donna admired his suit clad backside as he used the full length mirror to tie his tie. The midday sun shot through the large windows, blinding everything in its path, making her squint to see him.

"You really should think about getting shades for the windows." She was only half dressed in the white dress shirt that he had worn before lunch. Four of the buttons had popped off during their hurried coupling, rendering it mostly useless. It barely covered her thighs.

"Suddenly feeling shy?" his gaze drifted from his tie to her long legs as she stretched them out. Her pale skin stood out against the dark gray sheets.

Donna smirked when she caught him staring. "Me? Never."

They had been inseparable since their first date. Well, almost inseparable.

Like a cat stalking its prey, Harvey abandoned the mirror and moved towards the bed where he caressed the smooth skin of her knees. "You know, if you spent the night, it wouldn't be a problem. The sun's on the other side of the building in the morning."

Her top teeth skimmed over her bottom lip. Beneath long lashes, her big eyes stared up at him with faux innocence. "But lunch breaks are so much fun."

"They'd still be fun…" He parted her knees so that his hand could rest against her inner thigh. Slowly, he planted kisses across her collar bone, then her neck, and then finally, her lips. "But the nights would be too."

It would be so easy to get lost in the way his lips burned across her skin, but she had to be back at the theater sooner rather than later, so she pulled away. "No spending the night, remember? We made a rule for a reason."

Harvey pouted. "We've broken rules before."

"And look where that got us," came her flippant response. With a gentle nudge, she pushed him away so that she could get off the bed.

Harvey watched as she wiggled into her underwear and jeans and kept watching as she stripped off his shirt and tossed it at him. Only his quick reflexes kept it from hitting him in the face. Her naked chest was enough to motivate him off the bed and to her side.

"Just admit it. Life would be easier if you moved in here."

Donna rolled her eyes as she searched for her shirt. "I'm sure it would be." They weren't keeping their relationship a secret, but Dr. Lipschitz had advised them to take things slow, for the twins sake. Feeling like she had already failed once as a mother, she was determined to do right by them this time.

"I'm serious, Donna."

Her response was stern, with a finger pointed in his direction. "Don't!"

She found her shirt, but before she could slip it on, he pulled her towards the mirror and turned her around so that their reflections were staring back at them. Slowly he ran his hand over her pale stomach and up her sides. Her eyes drifted closed as the comforting sensation as his head rested against hers.

"We're together more than we're apart. Why keep dragging the girls back and forth when you and Anna could just stay here?"

"It's too soon," she insisted.

Harvey's hands stilled. "It's been two months."

Donna shook her head. "Two months is nothing." She opened her eyes, only to find his pained ones staring back at her. With a sigh she explained, "I just mean, we've been divorced for 9 years."

Harvey took a step back, dropping his gaze and his hands in one defeated movement. "If you're not into this, just tell me."

Feeling suddenly cold with her chest exposed, she found her shirt once again and pulled it over her head. "Of course I'm into this."

"Then why does it feel you're not?"

Hurting his feelings had not been her intention. Their joint therapy appointments had made it very clear that communication, or lack thereof, had always been an issue between them. He was doing his best to get better at it, but she was still failing spectacularly.

With a sigh, Donna moved towards him. His hands were stuffed into his pockets. He didn't look at her as she ran her fingers over his slumped shoulders and then moved to straighten his tie. Insecurity was practically oozing off of him and she hated that she was the cause.

"Harvey, I love you." When she was satisfied with the angle of his tie, she lifted his chin up, forcing their eyes to meet. "I just don't want to screw this up by moving too fast."

"And I don't want to screw it up by taking it too slow. We've wasted so much time."

Donna tugged on the lapels of his jacket so that she could kiss his lips. "We've got plenty of time." She had every intention of deepening the kiss, but the sound of her cell phone ringing interrupted her plans. His phone followed only seconds later.

Harvey let out a dejected sigh. "This can't be good."

Donna shot him a knowing look and made it to her phone first. "It's the school."

He was about to go in search of his phone, but her incredulous tone stopped him.

"They did what?"

"What is it?" came his urgent whisper.

"I'm so sorry. No, no…I understand. Of course that's unacceptable. Yes, we'll be there, thank you." Donna quickly ended the call and narrowed her eyes in his direction.

"Are they okay?"

"Oh, they're just fine. It's the kids whose money they've been taking who aren't."

Harvey's brows furrowed. He opened his mouth, but closed it when she pointed an angry finger in his direction.

"You taught them to play poker and now they've apparently been running a poker ring during their lunch period." Donna expected outrage, but instead, all she got was an amused smirk.

"So, they've been winning?"

"Harvey!" she snapped. "We've gotta go pick them up. They are so grounded. Again. See? This is what I'm talking about. This is why we need to take things slow."

"Donna." Her name came out soft, but stern.

"Don't you dare tell me to relax!"

Harvey held up his hands in surrender. "I'll go down to the school. I'll handle it." She was standing still and he used the opportunity to wrap his arms around her shoulders.

Surprised by him taking the lead, she arched a suspicious eye brow. "You will?"

He nodded his head. "I will. You just focus on getting back to the theater so you can prepare for your show."

Donna pulled away so that she could see him clearly. "You better not encourage this poker thing."

There was still the hint of a smirk on his lips. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Harvey," she warned. "I'm serious."

"Donna. I'll handle it."

Not quite believing him, she let out a sigh and accepted her fate.

Harvey stayed true to his word. He didn't encourage his daughters' gambling, but he did treat them to Starbucks after smoothing things over with the school principal. Smoothing things over actually meant writing a large donation check to the school's annual appeal, but he figured that fact could stay between him and the school for now.

As Ray drove them to the other side of time, Harvey purposefully chose the middle seat. It was easier to get the full story out of the girls when they weren't conspiring against him.

The weather had turned dreary while they sat in traffic. Large snow flurries fell readily from the sky. They stuck to the car windows, but melted once they hit the warm city street. Anna's face was pressed up against the glass window, mesmerized by the falling snow, so he figured that Lizzie was his best bet for answers.

"How much did you win, Liz?"

"Not much." She spoke with the straw of her drink still in her mouth. The freezing temperatures didn't stop her from ordering an iced drink.

Traffic began to build more up ahead and Harvey sighed as the car came to a sudden stop. "How much is not much?" Lizzie leaned forward with the intention of getting her sister's attention, which caused Harvey to smirk and block her path. "How much?"

"Only $500."

"Only?" he mocked.

Realizing that she wasn't going to be able to see her sister, Lizzie sat back in her seat. "We could have doubled it if that snitch, Evelyn, didn't rat us out."

It was hard for Harvey to keep the amusement off of his face. With all they had been through, a poker game didn't seem like that big of a deal, but he had to keep his word to Donna.

"First of all, you're too young to be gambling. Stick to the goldfish I taught you with. Second, you can't win every game. All it does is piss people off."

"Goldfish are for babies," Anna finally chimed in, though her eyes never left the window. "And you said to always play to win."

Harvey glanced towards her. He couldn't argue that. It was solid advice that had never steered him wrong, but he didn't think that Donna would agree, so he once again tried his best to be a good parent.

"Well, I was wrong. What did you do with the money?" Anna's gaze left the window, in search of Lizzie's, but Harvey blocked her with his body just like he had with her sister. "Oh no, none of that. Where is it?" He stared Anna down until she cracked under his intense gaze. Her eyes left his as she began to rummage through her school bag.

"Don't!" Lizzie snapped.

From the depths of her bag, Anna pulled out a perfectly rolled wad of cash that was held together with black hair ties.

Harvey wasn't sure if he should be scared or impressed. Under his breath he mumbled, "Jesus" before he snatched the money out of her hand"

"Why'd you do that, Ann!" cried Lizzie.

A low whistle escaped his mouth as he flipped through the bills. "Your poker skills are impressive, but you've gotta give it all back."

Lizzie tried to reach for the money, but he shoved it into his coat pocket before she could. "But, Dad, we won it!"

"Sometimes it's not about winning, but doing the right thing. You can't keep their money. I'm dropping you off at your mom's. You two are gonna sit down with Rachel and make a list of everyone you beat. The money goes back to them tomorrow."

"Dad!"

"Enough, Lizzie. Be glad it's me who came and not your mom. She's not happy."

Lizzie let out a huff and crossed her arms. They rode the rest of the way in a tense silence until Anna's quiet voice broke the tension.

"We can't give it back."

Assuming he was in for a pre-teen argument, Harvey rolled his eyes. "Too bad. You have to."

"But I need it," she insisted.

"And just what do you need $500 for?" Harvey tried to meet her eyes, but she avoided them, which caused a sinking feeling to start deep in his gut. Something was going on. But what?

He was sitting back in his seat and Anna used the opportunity to lean forward so that she could lock eyes with her sister. When he realized what they were doing, he threw his hands into the air.

"For the love of god, can you two just talk to me instead of doing the twin thing?" His voice was harsher than he intended, but it worked as both girls looked at him with wide eyes.

His gaze lingered on Lizzie, expecting answers from her, but to his surprise, it was Anna who spoke up.

"I need it for plane tickets."

Harvey's earlier amusement slowly dissipated as he turned to look at her. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment and her eyes were wet. Something more was going on, something that went beyond a poker game. The sinking feeling crept up closer to his chest.

"Plane tickets?"

Anna's throat bobbed. "So that I can come visit when mom and I move back home."

Her broken response sucked the air out of his lungs. The plan had always been for Donna and Anna to go back to LA at the end of the school year. Deep down, he knew that New York was only temporary, but he was so caught up in their rekindled relationship that he hadn't given the future much thought at all.

Harvey cleared his suddenly burning throat. The idea of Donna and Anna leaving in just a few months made his eyes water. He couldn't talk about it for fear of breaking down in front of the girls. "You don't have to worry about that," he insisted. He wrapped one arm around Anna's left shoulder and the other arm around Lizzie's right shoulder. Each girl slid into his side as if they were toddlers needing a warm place to sleep. "Me and your mom…we'll figure everything out."

"Do you promise?" came Anna's sniffling question. "It would majorly suck to lose you guys again."

Lizzie's hopeful tone soon followed. "You'll fix everything, right dad?"

Harvey had made a career out of telling people what they wanted to hear and he never felt like shit about it, but for some reason, telling the girls that everything would work out felt like the ultimate betrayal. He did it anyway, though, and hoped they missed the way his hands shook as he did so.

The snow had stopped by nightfall. By the time Donna's play finished for the night, and she made it out of the building, there was barely any evidence that it had snowed at all. Harvey was perched against the side of the neighboring brick building, doing his best not to visibly shiver from the freezing temperatures, when he spotted her exiting the back doors.

Although they hadn't planned the meeting, her face showed no hint of surprise when she noticed him. It was impossible to know who moved first. Their bodies met halfway and soon he had her enveloped in a warm hug.

"Don't tell me you saw the show again," she mused.

Harvey pulled away so that he could admire her stage makeup and hair. "I'd be here every night if you'd let me."

Donna let out a low laugh. "I'm sure you've got more important things to do."

"The only thing I've got going on is you." And he meant it. "And the girls, but they're watching Pretty in Pink with Louis at the moment."

"At your place or mine?"

"Yours. Rachel's there too, so let's take our time. I refuse to get caught up in girls night again."

His flippant tone made her smile. "Wanna go for a walk? I could use the fresh air."

Harvey readily agreed. He would do anything that she suggested, especially if it meant moving his freezing limbs. She linked her arm around his and he let her lead the way away from the theater.

All afternoon he had stewed over the idea of Donna and Anna leaving New York and it had left him in a near panic. Now that she was beside him however, he didn't feel so panicked anymore.

"You said in your text that you handled everything with the school. So they're not even suspended? How'd you manage that?"

"I'm a closer. It's what I do."

Donna arched a playful brow. "You paid them off, didn't you?"

Harvey sent one back. "You're damn right I did."

They fell into a comfortable silence as they walked away. It was late, but the streets were still busy with traffic and the sidewalk was filled with theater goers that they had to dodge every so often.

Even though his anxiety had subsided, he still couldn't get the earlier conversation out of his head. Anna's broken words were still haunting him, still draining his psyche. He had promised he would fix it, and he was determined to do it.

Maybe they were moving too fast. Maybe they were focused on all the wrong things, causing their daughters to suffer once again.

Harvey cleared his throat. He had to do the right thing. "Donna, about earlier, when you said that we should take it slow…"

Donna stopped suddenly, causing his words to trail off. With a tug of his arm, she pulled him under the awning of one of the theaters. "Forget what I said earlier." She insisted. He opened his mouth to argue, but she covered it with her gloved hand. "You were right."

"I was?" His mind spun in confusion.

"We shouldn't waste anymore time."

His heart leapt at her next words.

"I think you should spend the night tonight and then if the kids are okay with it, I think Anna and I should stay with you from now on."

Harvey searched her eyes, still not understanding what had brought this on, but found himself too mesmerized by her happiness to care. It was contagious. Their family would finally be under one roof, they could start rebuilding what had been lost. Suddenly, all thoughts of slowing things down evaporated from his head.

"I like that idea." Even as his brain screamed at him to stop, he leaned in to kiss her. They had plenty of time to talk about the future. He could fix things another day.