Chapter Text
Shopping had never been Harvey Specter’s favourite pastime. In fact, before he got married and had children, it wasn’t even something he would have done even if he had to — Donna was always there to spare him the trouble. But once he’d finally come to the realisation that Donna was the love of his life, Harvey began to give it a go. After all, handing over his credit card so his wife could choose her own presents is far from romantic, and for the first time in his life, the best closer of NYC wanted everything that came with being in a relationship he intended to last forever: marriage, children, sleepless nights, and, eventually, shopping. Except this time, the present wasn’t for his wife, but for a seven-year-old child.
Walking ahead of him with a confidence unusual for such a small kid, Juliet studied the shelves intently. Her long red hair was tied back in two pigtails, and her little shoes squeaked as she walked.
“Sweetheart, do you remember what we’re looking for?” Harvey asked the girl. He knew what they were looking for; the picture of the doll Donna had chosen for their daughter to give as a gift to a friend was open on the mobile phone in his hands, and he could simply ask one of the many shop assistants in the huge toy shop for help, but Juliet liked the feeling of being in charge, and her father didn’t mind indulging her from time to time.
“Yes, daddy, of course I remember it.”
Her little voice sounded as though the very idea that she might forget was offensive, and Harvey gave a low chuckle before turning his head back to look for his boy. “You okay back there, champ?”
Donna and Harvey’s friends liked to joke that the couple had simply cloned themselves in their two children, because whilst Juliet had inherited her mother’s looks, Gordon, aged 12, was the spitting image of his father. However, even though the boy possessed the same self-confidence as his sister, Gordon was more reserved and a little shy. At that moment, he was looking at some soft toys so intently that he merely muttered an affirmative reply to his father.
Harvey was about to ask what he was searching for when Juliet squeaked in delight at the doll in front of her. “Daddy, it’s this one!”
He walked over to her and compared the box—which was far too big for his daughter’s tiny hands—with the photo on his mobile, grinning at her. “You found it! Good job.” Juliet beamed at the compliment. “Now let’s pay for it so I can drop you off at the party. Gordon?”
Standing a few aisles back, the boy was holding a small stuffed dolphin, and even though Harvey wasn’t the sort of father who believed boys should only play with certain types of toys, Gordon was already past the age of being interested in soft toys. “Do you want one of those?” he asked anyway.
His son shook his head and looked as though he’d just been caught red-handed. He looked at the dolphin and swallowed hard. “No… it’s not for me.” Harvey waited for him to explain, with a patience that only parents have. “Can I buy it for Mary?”
Before Harvey could reply, Juliet giggled. "Gordon has a girlfriend," she teased, and the boy’s face turned as red as his sister’s hair.
"No, I don’t!" he retorted, and, frustrated, put the dolphin back in its place. “Forget it.” Before either his sister or his father could say a word, he turned his back and headed for the register.
This was a first for Harvey, but Gordon’s abrupt reaction left little room for interpretation. Sighing, he picked up the stuffed toy and placed it on top of the doll before looking at his daughter who was still giggling. “Juliet, that wasn’t nice.”
The girl’s face fell and Harvey felt terrible. He hated reprimanding his children, but— perhaps for the first time— he realised that Gordon wasn’t such a child anymore and that it would be perfectly normal for the boy to have a crush on a girl. And if anyone could sympathise with the confusion this caused, it was him — after all, it had taken him twelve years to pluck up the courage to reveal his feelings to the woman he loved. And even though he knew that the situations were far from the same, he didn’t want Gordon to feel as though he had to suppress his emotions.
Juliet clasped her hands and looked down at the floor, embarrassed. “Sorry, Dad, I was just joking.” She glanced tentatively at her father who nodded with a small but reassuring smile before offering her his hand so they could finally pay for the toys and get out of there.
Man, I wish Donna was here. Harvey thought before cursing Mike for needing Donna’s help that afternoon.
——
Donna laughed when Harvey told her what had happened during his shopping trip with the kids. The couple were settled comfortably in the huge bed they shared, after Donna had come home from picking Juliet up from the birthday party and getting her ready for bed.
Gordon had locked himself in his room with the stuffed dolphin his father had given him after they’d dropped Juliet off at her friend’s house, and hadn’t come out since.
“Right, now you’re laughing at me.” Harvey rolled his eyes at his wife before she gave him a loving look.
“I’m not laughing at you, Harvey,” she clarified, “I just think you’re making a bigger deal out of it than it is.”
Donna hadn’t known what had happened to make her son seem so sulky when she’d greeted him earlier, but now that she had all the information, the boy’s behaviour was understandable. What she didn’t understand was why the situation seemed to affect her husband so much.
“He’s just a boy,” she continued her reasoning. “Of course, he’s not a child anymore, and as you said yourself, it’s perfectly normal for him to have a crush. But he’s acting this way because he’s embarrassed that someone’s noticed. He’ll get over it in no time, and when he gives Mary the present and she loves it, he’ll be happy.”
The way Donna put things made it all seem very simple, but Harvey still didn’t seem entirely convinced. “How do you know she’ll love the present?” he asked.
“Because Mary is a twelve-year-old girl, and even if she doesn’t return Gordon’s crush, the two of them are very good friends. Of course she’ll like getting a present.”
They knew Mary. The girl had been at school with Gordon since they were both younger than Juliet is now. She and Gordon were the typical best friends and did everything together; in fact, it wasn’t unusual for the girl to spend the day at the Specter’s house, just as Gordon did at her family’s house.
“Are you going to talk to him?” Harvey asked after a moment’s silence, and Donna raised her eyebrows. “What?”
“And make him feel even more embarrassed than he already is?” She laughed and shook her head. “No. I won’t say a word…” Before Harvey could protest, she continued: “When he gives her the present, Mary will definitely show it to her mom, and her mom will definitely mention it to me. And only then I will tell him just how thoughtful he was.” The redhead explained with a smile that showed she’d already thought of everything.
“Yeah, that makes sense…”
Donna narrowed her eyes when she realised Harvey still didn’t look satisfied and shifted on the bed so that they were face to face. “Harvey, what is it? This isn’t just about Gordon, or the dolphin, or Mary.”
Her husband sighed and raised his hand to stroke her hair affectionately.
“I just don’t want him to end up like me.” Faced with his wife’s questioning look, he continued. “You should have seen how upset he got and… And I know it’s silly, I know he’ll be fine, but today, for the first time, I thought about the possibility that one day he might fall in love with someone and not have the courage to say anything.” He fell silent for a moment, admiring the features of the woman in front of him. “I should’ve said something today. When he and I were alone I should’ve said that it’s okay and he doesn’t need to be embarrassed. I don’t want him to think that loving someone is a weakness,” as I did, “and I definitely don’t want him to wake up one day and realise he’s wasted twelve years of his life.”
Donna’s heart went out to the child still inside Harvey. The child who had witnessed his mother’s infidelity and had to keep secrets from his father. The child who grew up and for many years believed that giving his heart to someone was a mistake. It was easy, after thirteen years of marriage, to forget the man Harvey once was: loyal and fiercely protective of those he loved, yet unable to put his own feelings into words. Lying there now with the man she loved and had loved for most of her life, she felt once again the urge to wrap her arms around him and hide him from the world. But Donna knew that hiding him from the world wasn’t what Harvey needed right now, so she simply cupped his face in both hands and kissed him lightly on the lips.
“You don’t have to worry about any of that.” She kept his face in her hands as she talked. “Our children are loved and they know it. They know we love each other and they see how happy we are. You could’ve said something but you didn’t and that’s okay, Harvey. You didn’t let him down. There will be other times; this was just the first.” She smiled and kissed him one more time. “I know our kids will be great, and I know that because their father is such an amazing man. You’re an amazing man, Harvey.” Greeted by her husband’s genuine smile, Donna chuckled softly. “And it’s good that Gordon has Juliet. Little sisters are great at keeping their brothers humble.”
This made Harvey laugh heartily, and he pressed himself as close to Donna as he could.
“She’s good at keeping me humble, too.” He joked, grinning. “She must have taken after someone…”
Donna rolled her eyes but her smile never faded. At least not until Harvey surprised her with a passionate kiss that quickly made them lose themselves in each other.
Yes, their children would be fine. There was far too much love in their family to imagine otherwise.