Fanfic: Building a Family 2/?
Title- Building a Family 2/?
Fandom- Suits
Ship- Harvey/Mike
Rating- PG-13 overall for now
Genre- slash, first-time, domestic/family/kid fic, fluff, drama, plotty
Wordcount- 4580
Disclaimer- I do not own Suits. Harvey and Mike belong to their creators, but Kayla, Amy, Malcolm, and Janet are all mine!
Overall Summary- Mike and Harvey both deal with family issues, while on the way forming a family of their own.
Chapter Summary- Kayla comes to be a fixture in both Mike's and Harvey's lives.
A/N- originally written for a kidfic prompt here at suitsmeme. It's trying to go really plotty on me in later chapters, tho- much more than just a fluffy kidfic.
*** Previous Chapter *** Master Post *** Next Chapter ***
Four days after Harvey first went to look for Mike and met Kayla, he found himself standing outside his office watching a nervous Mike check his cellphone the third time in the past hour. It was Monday, and Mike’s first day back to work since finding a daycare center for Kayla. Clearly he was uneasy about not having her close to him. Harvey watched as Mike’s finger hovered over the speed-dial button for a second before he sighed and put the phone back in his pocket, grimacing as he tried to concentrate on the briefs in front of him.
“If you look at that cellphone one more time, I’m going to take it away from you,” Harvey threatened. Mike looked up at him with an annoyed expression, and Harvey sighed. “It’s a good daycare center, Mike. She’ll be fine.”
“I know,” Mike muttered, setting his highlighter aside to run his hands over his face. “I know. But she’s my little girl, Harvey, and I haven’t seen her in five months. And after how sick she was when I got her… I just don’t like having her out of my sight.”
Harvey frowned as he watched the younger man. He knew he shouldn’t do what he was about to do, shouldn’t get into that habit, but things had been going well lately, and Mike had some time to spare. “If you’re that worried, you can stop by the daycare during your lunch break. Check it out, see if she likes it. But, if she’s happy there, you have to promise not to keep checking your cell phone every five minutes.”
“Really? I can go see her?” Mike asked hopefully. Harvey shrugged.
“It’s your lunch break. You can go wherever you want.”
“Thanks, Harvey.” Mike flashed him a grateful smile and picked up his highlighter again.
Harvey hadn’t planned on it, but he somehow found himself accompanying Mike to the daycare center during their lunch break. He frowned as he stepped into one of the classrooms and bright colors and shrill laughter assaulted his senses. The children were congregated around three tables on one side of the room, apparently preparing for their own lunch break.
When Kayla spotted Mike, she jumped to her feet and ran over, crying “Daddy! Daddy!” Mike scooped her up in his arms and swung her around, laughing.
“Hey, Pumpkin!” he said, settling her on his hip. “How you liking your first day here?”
“It’s the best!” Kayla said, waving her hands in Mike’s face. “The playground has a sandbox! The playground at Mommy’s daycare doesn’t have a sandbox! And they have an Ariel costume in the dress-up bin!”
“That’s great, Kayla,” Mike said. “Daddy’s so glad you’re happy here.” He glanced over at Harvey, who smirked in response. He knew Mike hadn’t forgotten about their deal with the cell phone.
“Mr. Ross,” an older woman whom Harvey assumed was the teacher greeted Mike. “Are you here to pick Kayla up?”
“Ah, no, Mrs. Hood,” Mike said, letting Kayla slip to the ground where she stood holding his leg for a moment before running off. “I was planning to take her out to lunch and then bring her back. Is that alright?”
“Of course it is. Most of the children get picked up around noon, but there’s a big group whose parents work late that stay into the evening. Kayla is welcome any time.” The last was addressed to the little girl, who had gotten her bag from a hook on the wall and brought it over to Mike. Kayla giggled and held Mike’s pants leg in one hand.
As Mike herded the little girl toward the door, she noticed Harvey for the first time and a huge grin spread across her face. “Uncle Harvey!” she cried, running over to hug his leg. “I drew a picture of you!” She reached into her bag and dug out a piece of paper, then held it out to him.
Harvey took it gingerly and turned it to look at the picture. A human figure with brown hair and eyes in a black and white outfit that was clearly meant to be a suit. She’d even included the tie- and gotten the width right. Harvey smiled despite himself. “Thank you, Kayla,” he said gravely. “It’s very nice.”
* * *
Only two days after Harvey had let him visit Kayla during his lunch break, Mike found himself standing outside Harvey’s office trying to work up the courage to ask for more time off to tend to his daughter. Just as he thought he was ready, Harvey came out and saw him standing there, and Mike’s courage vanished.
“Do you have something for me?” Harvey asked, and Mike held out the finished briefs he’d brought as an excuse to stop by. Harvey flipped through them, nodding absently, and then shut the folder. He started to walk away, and Mike realized that his chance was slipping by.
“Harvey!” he called out, a little louder than he’d meant to, and the older lawyer turned back to him curiously while Donna stared. “Can... Could I take the rest of the day off? I mean, I’ve got everything done that I needed to…” Mike trailed off as Harvey came to stand before him.
“I’m sure I can find you something else to do,” he said with a playful smirk. Mike rolled his eyes, though he was relieved that Harvey seemed to be in a good mood. It meant he was more likely to grant Mike’s request.
“C’mon, Harvey, I’m serious!”
Harvey chuckled. “Alright, what’s going on?” he asked.
Mike licked his lips. “I need to…” He trailed off, glancing away. Harvey waited patiently for Mike to meet his gaze and continue. “I’ve got to take Kayla shopping,” Mike explained, “and normally I get off so late that all the stores are closed.”
“Shopping,” Harvey repeated skeptically.
“There were only two other outfits in the bag Amy dropped her off with, and I’ve already washed them twice.”
“So you’re going to buy her more clothes?” Harvey sounded more amused than disapproving, and Mike waited hopefully. “With your fashion sense? She’ll be the worst-dressed kid at the daycare center! They’ll all make fun of her.”
“Harvey, I’m serious!” Mike exclaimed, then thought that maybe yelling at his boss wouldn’t help him get the afternoon off work. “I really need to take her. So can I have the rest of the day?”
Harvey crossed his arms. “I’m not letting you make that girl the laughing stock of the whole preschool,” he said with a gently mocking smile.
“What, do you want to shop with her?” Mike challenged, spreading his arms. “Because she needs clothes, Harvey, whatever they look like. She can’t keep wearing the same three outfits for God knows how long she’ll be here.”
Harvey looked a little shocked by the suggestion, like Mike had really caught him off guard. His crossed arms slowly fell. “Alright. Go. Buy your daughter some ridiculous clothes.”
Mike stared back at him for a moment, hardly believing that he’d actually gotten the rest of the day off. He hesitated for a moment, observing the expression on Harvey’s face, and finally made a decision. “Come with me,” Mike said, and Harvey stared at him like he was crazy. “Come on!” Mike encouraged, a grin spreading across his face. “You don’t want Kayla to look like a dork on her first week of daycare, do you? I bet with your help she’ll be the sharpest-dressed kid in the whole place!”
Harvey stared at him blankly, but Mike could tell he was considering it. If he hadn’t been, he would have just walked away. Donna made a choking noise behind Mike, and both men turned to look at her. “Just go!” she said, with a smile like she was having trouble not breaking out into laughter.
Harvey sighed and adjusted his suit. “Well, since you requested my fashion advice,” he said haughtily, clearly trying to maintain his dignity. “I suppose I can’t let you humiliate the girl.”
Mike grinned. “That’s the spirit! Come on, let’s go get her.”
* * *
Although Harvey said he didn’t want Mike picking out Kayla’s clothes, once they picked the little girl up and got to the store he found himself completely overwhelmed by the situation, and simply stood to the side holding Kayla while Mike flipped through racks of baby clothes. He was having trouble processing the fact that he was standing in the middle of an infant clothing store, with a little girl resting on his hip. If someone had told him a month ago that he would be holding a little girl and shopping for baby clothes with his very male co-worker, he would have taken steps to have them committed.
“What about this, Kayla?” Mike held up a miniature T-shirt that looked like it had been made out of an old Hawaiian shirt.
“Nooooo,” Kayla whined from her position on Harvey’s hip, tugging his suit jacket for emphasis.
“At least it seems like she gets her fashion sense from her mother,” Harvey joked, smiling down at the little girl. Mike frowned and crossed his arms.
“If you don’t like anything I pick out, why don’t you come over here and do it yourself? That is the whole reason you came, isn’t it?”
“Fine. Move over.” Harvey passed Kayla to Mike as he stepped towards the rack. He flipped through the clothes on the rack Mike had been going through, then moved on to another one. Immediately he spotted an adorable navy blue dress with white flowers embroidered on the collar and cuffs and a little white ribbon around the waist. He picked it up and held it out for inspection.
“Pretty,” Kayla said, and Harvey raised an eyebrow at Mike, who shook his head.
“Harvey, the clothes on that rack cost fifty dollar.” Mike pointed to the sign advertising prices. “If I buy that kind of stuff, she’ll probably still be running out of clothes every five days.”
“So I’ll buy it,” Harvey said without thinking, and then hesitated when Mike looked at him suspiciously. He’d said it completely without thinking, but now that he had, Harvey found he didn’t want to take it back. “I’ll pay for it,” he repeated.
“Okay, if you want to,” Mike said, still sounding uncertain. Harvey wondered if Mike thought he was going to deduct it from Mike’s next paycheck.
“I do. Now come over here and look at these dresses with me.”
Two dresses, five pairs of shorts, six tops, one jacket, four sets of socks, one pack of underwear, three hair clips, and a new lunch box later, Harvey and Mike were unloading Kayla’s new clothes onto the conveyer belt at the cash register. Mike held Kayla as Harvey pulled out his wallet to pay for the clothes. Mike hadn’t been kidding about the prices- buying the kind of clothes Harvey picked out, they’d run up quite a bill.
As he handed his credit card to the cashier, she smiled at them and said, “Congratulations to you both! It’s so wonderful that gay couples can adopt now.”
Harvey’s mouth fell open in shock. For once in his life, he was actually speechless; his mind simply couldn’t form the words needed to express just how wrong that assumption was. Beside him, Mike hurried to deny it. “No, we’re not- we just work together.”
“It’s alright,” the woman interrupted gently. “This establishment caters to families of all kinds.” She smiled and held the credit card out to Harvey, and it took a moment for his dumbstruck mind to remember that he was supposed to take it back. He and Mike collected the bags quickly and took them back to the car without speaking, both of them highly unnerved.
As he put a hand on the door of the town car to open it, Mike muttered without looking at Harvey, “Let’s never talk about this again.” Harvey nodded wordlessly.
* * *
Ten days after Amy dropped Kayla off at his place, Mike was amazed at how easily she’d become a part of his schedule. Get up, shower, dress, wake Kayla, dress her, eat, drop Kayla off, go to work… It had become so natural, so quickly. He smiled to himself as he dropped off the paperwork he’d just finished at Donna’s empty desk, where Harvey would find it the next Monday morning. He’d pushed getting Kayla to the absolute last minute, but he’d just had to get the paperwork done by the end of the night.
Mike hummed absently in the almost-empty office as he stacked the briefs he was planning of finishing at home, thinking of what he had in the pantry. Spaghetti with meat sauce sounded nice. Takeout was fine for him, but Kayla was a growing girl; he wouldn’t let her eat anything but home-cooked meals.
“Uh, where are you going?” a familiar voice asked just as soon as he stepped out of his cubicle. Mike carefully schooled his featured into blankness. He couldn’t let Louis get to him…
“Home,” Mike said simply. “I can get all this done before Monday.”
“Did I say I wanted it by Monday?” Louis asked, his tone falsely friendly.
No, Mike thought. No, not now! “You said-”
“I said by the end of the night,” Louis finished, smiling like a cat toying with a mouse. “And, lucky for you, I’m going to be here for a couple hours more, so you still have time to get them to me.”
“Louis, I really need to-”
“Mike? You have bills to pay, right?” Mike nodded. “You like to buy things, like food, and clothes?” Another nod. “Well, it seems to me that you need money for those things, and to have money you need to have a job. This is what you get paid for. The way I see it, if you don’t do it there’s no reason for you to be here. Does that not make sense? Is there some kind of break in communication between us?”
Mike drew in a slow, deep breath, fighting every instinct to keep from punching Louis. “I understand,” he said as evenly as possible. Louis smirked. He didn’t pull it off nearly as well as Harvey.
“Good. I’ll be here for another, oh, two and a half hours. You’ll have it to me by then?”
“Yes,” Mike ground out.
“Good.” Louis smiled as though they’d been having a perfectly friendly conversation, and Mike glared daggers at his back as he strolled off.
Mike waited just until the footsteps faded before digging his cellphone from his bag and dialing the number of the only person he really trusted to take care of his daughter.
* * *
Harvey had just closed the door of his condo behind an attractive female guest when his cell phone rang. His first thought was that it must be a client with some kind of emergency- who else would dare to interrupt him on a Friday night?- and he frowned when he saw Mike’s number flash across the screen. With a hand motion to the beauty lounging on his couch to indicate he’d just be a minute, Harvey pressed and button and put the phone to his ear.
“Mike,” he said in his most serious tone, the one that was guaranteed to send shivers down an associate’s spine even without him in the room, “Just what is so important that you’re calling me at nine o’clock on a Friday night?”
“I need you to pick up Kayla!” His words were rushed and Harvey barely caught them. Mike sounded frantic and Harvey immediately assumed the worst.
“Is she okay? Do you need an ambulance?”
“No!” Mike screamed, sounding as horrified by the thought as Harvey was. “No, God no! I just need you to pick her up from the daycare.”
A thousand different questions sprang to mind. What was Mike doing that prevented him from picking her up? Why hadn’t he called earlier if he knew he couldn’t get her? Didn’t he know what time the daycare closed? Did he want to be charged with child neglect?
“From the daycare,” Harvey repeated. “And drop her off at your place?”
“Actually…” Mike sounded sheepish, and Harvey sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Actually?”
“Please, I just need two hours! I can’t leave the office until I’m done.”
“What, is it the Preston case? Mike, if it’s going to take that long, you can just give it to me on Monday. You need to get your daughter.”
“No,” Mike sighed. “No, it’s for Louis.”
“Mike, I told you, forget Louis-”
“Harvey, please! It’s late, and the daycare closes at nine!” Mike shouted, and then he breathed out a shaky sigh and Harvey could hear his voice cracking when he continued. “My little girl is probably sitting there alone, scared, wondering where I am, why I haven’t come for her yet. Please, Harvey. Just, please.”
Well. There was no arguing with that, was there? Harvey massaged his forehead, pretending to debate with himself even though his decision was already made. “Fine. You can pick her up at my condo when you’re done.”
Harvey hung up the phone as Mike started to thank him and shook his head. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, Harvey though as he turned to the woman lying on his couch. She looked up at him through her lashes with blue, blue eyes and gave him a little smile.
“Sorry, beautiful,” he said cheerfully “Change of plans. We’ll just have to reschedule.” She shrugged, stood, and sauntered past him to the door, giving him a wink as she slipped out.
Harvey’s smile dropped as he watched the door close behind her. He’d always preferred long hair and brown eyes, but recently the hair of his late-night visitors had gotten progressively shorter. The latest woman had had pixie-cut brown hair to go with her blue eyes, and she’d been almost as tall as him with her heels on. He’s been trying not to probe too deeply into the reason for the sudden change in his interests.
Harvey sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. He couldn’t be thinking about this now. He had a kid to pick up.
* * *
Two and a half hours later, Mike was being let into Harvey’s condo to pick Kayla up. Under other circumstances he might have been entranced by the beautiful view of the city lights, by the sleek, expensive-looking furniture and the openness of the condo. But at the moment he had more important things on his mind.
“Daddy!” Kayla cried from the island in Harvey’s big kitchen. There was a little dish of what looked like chocolate ice cream in front of her.
“Hey, baby!” Mike hugged his daughter and kissed her hair. “Did you have a good time with Uncle Harvey?”
“Yeah! He made me dinner. It was a fillman… fillay man…”
“Filet mignon,” Harvey supplied.
“Yeah!” Kayla grinned. “And I got ice cream!”
“Harvey!” Mike turned to the older lawyer, arms crossed over his chest. “You fed my three-year-old a fancy steak?”
“It’s what I had in the fridge,” Harvey replied almost defensively. “Besides, it was well done, and I cut it into little pieces for her. She only ate half of it.”
Mike shook his head in disbelief. He didn’t know what was more shocking: that Harvey would feed steak to a three-year-old, or that Harvey had actually cooked for his kid. He’d expected Harvey to just plop her down in front of the TV and ignore her, or at least just buy her a kids’ meal at some fast food restaurant.
The plate with half a steak left on it was still sitting on the counter, and Mike’s stomach growled when he caught sight of it. He flashed Harvey a sheepish smile; except for a bag of chips from the snack machine at the office, he hadn’t eaten since lunch.
“Do you want to finish that?” Harvey offered, sounding tired. Mike looked at him in surprise but nodded and sat down next to Kayla, pulling the plate towards himself. “There’s more potatoes and green beans on the stove,” Harvey said, picking up Kayla’s empty ice cream bowl and setting it in the sink as he went back into the kitchen. He took a pan from the stove and dished more grilled potato chunks onto the plate for Mike.
“Uncle Harvey, can I watch TV?” Kayla asked.
“Sure, sweetheart. The remote’s on a shelf up high; let me get it for you.” Harvey left the pot of green beans on the island by Mike and went over to help Kayla. He grabbed the remote from a shelf and handed it to her, then picked the little girl up and set her on the couch in front of the enormous television.
Mike turned away from the island to watch his daughter as she flipped through the channels. Harvey came over and began loading the dishwasher without looking at Mike. Sensing that he was quickly wearing out his and Kayla’s welcome, Mike wolfed down the food as quickly as he could, but not so quickly that he didn’t appreciate how delicious it was. He wouldn’t have pegged Harvey as a home chef type, though from the looks of the kitchen and the taste of the meal, that was exactly what Harvey was.
Mike was half way through the steak when Kayla stopped clicking through channels. He recognized the show as Futurama. “No, Kayla.” Mike hurried over to her. “That’s not a kids’ cartoon.” He flipped through the channels briefly and then stopped on an old Looney Tunes show. “Here, watch this.” He set the remote down and went back to his dinner.
“Although I’m not sure this is much better,” Mike commented to Harvey as Daffy Duck got his face blown up on screen. Harvey nodded, though Mike didn’t think he was actually listening. He observed Harvey from the corner of his eye as the other man watched his little girl. Then his eye caught on something over Harvey’s shoulder, a splash of color against the chrome fridge. Mike tilted his head to the side to look past Harvey, and smiled when he recognized what was on the fridge: the drawing of Harvey Kayla had made earlier that week.
“Taken up art collecting, Harvey?” Mike asked, and nodded to the picture when the older man looked at him curiously. He smirked when he saw a blush rise in Harvey’s cheeks. Harvey didn’t say anything in his own defense, and Mike began to think that maybe Kayla’s welcome would never be worn out.
Mike finished his food and put his dishes in the sink. “Kayla, come on, baby, we’re going home.” The little girl jumped up and ran over to him. She clung to Mike’s arm and grinned up at him before the smile was interrupted by a huge yawn. Mike chuckled and knelt down to stroke his daughter’s hair as she rubbed her eyes. “Yeah, it’s way past your bedtime, huh, Pumpkin? We’ll get you right into bed when we get home.”
Mike scooped the little girl into his arms and started for the door. “I’ll walk you down,” Harvey said, and Mike looked at him curiously but nodded. Together the three of them went down to the ground floor where Mike’s bike was waiting.
* * *
Harvey stared in disbelief as Mike began to strap Kayla into a baby seat on the back of his bike. “Wait, wait, what is that?”
“What?” Mike gave him a strange look, obviously not seeing the problem. “You don’t expect me to hold her in my arms, do you?”
“Mike, I’ve seen you crash that thing at least a half dozen times. I’m not letting you ride that bike with a kid on the back!”
Mike stopped strapping Kayla in and turned to Harvey, spreading his arms. “Harvey, it’s eight blocks from my apartment to the subway station, and three more from the subway to the daycare. I’m not walking Kayla all that way each morning, and definitely not after dark!”
Harvey resisted the urge to roll his eyes and held up his hands in an appeasing gesture. “Look, we’ll figure something out. But it’s almost midnight, and I’m not letting you ride home on a bike with a toddler on the back! You two can spend the night here.”
Mike scoffed in disbelief, but Harvey just crossed his arms and stared back. It really was dangerous to have Kayla on the back of his bike, and he wasn’t about to let Mike drive around with her like that. More than once he’s seen Mike hit something and flip the bike over the handlebars, and he didn’t want to imagine what would happen to Kayla if the bike flipped with her on the back.
Mike hesitated for a moment, then turned away from Harvey and unstrapped his daughter, not saying anything to concede that Harvey was right. “It’s gonna be a slumber party!” Kayla said sleepily as Mike carried her back up to the condo unit. Mike laughed, and Harvey ducked his head as a small smile spread across his face.
“I have a guest room you can stay in,” Harvey said as he opened the door to his unit. “It’s a queen-sized bed, so I assume you can share?”
“We’ll manage,” Mike replied.
“Unca Harvey,” Kayla said sleepily from Mike’s arms.
“Yes, Kayla?” Harvey reached out and stroked her hair from her face, letting his hand come to rest on the side of her head as he wondered at how tiny and delicate she was.
“Daddy promised. We’re goin’ ta Central Park tomorrow. Come with us?” She grinned up at him hopefully.
Harvey hesitated. He didn’t want to disappoint the little girl, but he also knew that since Kayla had come into his life he’d pushed the boundary between work and home more than he ever had in the past. He’d already gone to too many family lunches, plus that incredibly awkward shopping trip. He didn’t want to think about where this might go if he started spending his weekends with Mike and his daughter. He knew that he should say no.
“Puh-weeeeease, Unca Harvey?” Kayla begged, gripping his sleeve with her little fingers and staring up at him with big blue eyes.
“It, ah, it depends on what your father says,” Harvey answered at last. He looked up at Mike, half hoping the younger man would say no and give him a way out, and half hoping he would say yes. “Kayla, I think Uncle Harvey is probably busy,” Mike said, looking between Harvey and his daughter. His expression clearly asked if he’d said what Harvey wanted him to say.
“Oh,” Kayla murmured, bowing her little head. “Next time?” she asked, her head coming up with a heart-breakingly hopeful expression.
Harvey caved.
“Well, I’m sure I can move some things around. So I could go with you tomorrow. If it’s okay with your Daddy, of course.” He looked back at Mike, who raised an eyebrow at him.
“Of course it’s okay,” Mike said, with a smile at Kayla that turned into a smirk when he looked up at Harvey.
Harvey pointedly ignored Mike as he leaned down to kiss the little girl’s forehead. “Good night, Kayla.”
“’Night, Unca Harvey,” the little girl replied, waving to him as Mike took her into the bedroom.
*** Previous Chapter *** Master Post *** Next Chapter ***
Fandom- Suits
Ship- Harvey/Mike
Rating- PG-13 overall for now
Genre- slash, first-time, domestic/family/kid fic, fluff, drama, plotty
Wordcount- 4580
Disclaimer- I do not own Suits. Harvey and Mike belong to their creators, but Kayla, Amy, Malcolm, and Janet are all mine!
Overall Summary- Mike and Harvey both deal with family issues, while on the way forming a family of their own.
Chapter Summary- Kayla comes to be a fixture in both Mike's and Harvey's lives.
A/N- originally written for a kidfic prompt here at suitsmeme. It's trying to go really plotty on me in later chapters, tho- much more than just a fluffy kidfic.
*** Previous Chapter *** Master Post *** Next Chapter ***
Four days after Harvey first went to look for Mike and met Kayla, he found himself standing outside his office watching a nervous Mike check his cellphone the third time in the past hour. It was Monday, and Mike’s first day back to work since finding a daycare center for Kayla. Clearly he was uneasy about not having her close to him. Harvey watched as Mike’s finger hovered over the speed-dial button for a second before he sighed and put the phone back in his pocket, grimacing as he tried to concentrate on the briefs in front of him.
“If you look at that cellphone one more time, I’m going to take it away from you,” Harvey threatened. Mike looked up at him with an annoyed expression, and Harvey sighed. “It’s a good daycare center, Mike. She’ll be fine.”
“I know,” Mike muttered, setting his highlighter aside to run his hands over his face. “I know. But she’s my little girl, Harvey, and I haven’t seen her in five months. And after how sick she was when I got her… I just don’t like having her out of my sight.”
Harvey frowned as he watched the younger man. He knew he shouldn’t do what he was about to do, shouldn’t get into that habit, but things had been going well lately, and Mike had some time to spare. “If you’re that worried, you can stop by the daycare during your lunch break. Check it out, see if she likes it. But, if she’s happy there, you have to promise not to keep checking your cell phone every five minutes.”
“Really? I can go see her?” Mike asked hopefully. Harvey shrugged.
“It’s your lunch break. You can go wherever you want.”
“Thanks, Harvey.” Mike flashed him a grateful smile and picked up his highlighter again.
Harvey hadn’t planned on it, but he somehow found himself accompanying Mike to the daycare center during their lunch break. He frowned as he stepped into one of the classrooms and bright colors and shrill laughter assaulted his senses. The children were congregated around three tables on one side of the room, apparently preparing for their own lunch break.
When Kayla spotted Mike, she jumped to her feet and ran over, crying “Daddy! Daddy!” Mike scooped her up in his arms and swung her around, laughing.
“Hey, Pumpkin!” he said, settling her on his hip. “How you liking your first day here?”
“It’s the best!” Kayla said, waving her hands in Mike’s face. “The playground has a sandbox! The playground at Mommy’s daycare doesn’t have a sandbox! And they have an Ariel costume in the dress-up bin!”
“That’s great, Kayla,” Mike said. “Daddy’s so glad you’re happy here.” He glanced over at Harvey, who smirked in response. He knew Mike hadn’t forgotten about their deal with the cell phone.
“Mr. Ross,” an older woman whom Harvey assumed was the teacher greeted Mike. “Are you here to pick Kayla up?”
“Ah, no, Mrs. Hood,” Mike said, letting Kayla slip to the ground where she stood holding his leg for a moment before running off. “I was planning to take her out to lunch and then bring her back. Is that alright?”
“Of course it is. Most of the children get picked up around noon, but there’s a big group whose parents work late that stay into the evening. Kayla is welcome any time.” The last was addressed to the little girl, who had gotten her bag from a hook on the wall and brought it over to Mike. Kayla giggled and held Mike’s pants leg in one hand.
As Mike herded the little girl toward the door, she noticed Harvey for the first time and a huge grin spread across her face. “Uncle Harvey!” she cried, running over to hug his leg. “I drew a picture of you!” She reached into her bag and dug out a piece of paper, then held it out to him.
Harvey took it gingerly and turned it to look at the picture. A human figure with brown hair and eyes in a black and white outfit that was clearly meant to be a suit. She’d even included the tie- and gotten the width right. Harvey smiled despite himself. “Thank you, Kayla,” he said gravely. “It’s very nice.”
* * *
Only two days after Harvey had let him visit Kayla during his lunch break, Mike found himself standing outside Harvey’s office trying to work up the courage to ask for more time off to tend to his daughter. Just as he thought he was ready, Harvey came out and saw him standing there, and Mike’s courage vanished.
“Do you have something for me?” Harvey asked, and Mike held out the finished briefs he’d brought as an excuse to stop by. Harvey flipped through them, nodding absently, and then shut the folder. He started to walk away, and Mike realized that his chance was slipping by.
“Harvey!” he called out, a little louder than he’d meant to, and the older lawyer turned back to him curiously while Donna stared. “Can... Could I take the rest of the day off? I mean, I’ve got everything done that I needed to…” Mike trailed off as Harvey came to stand before him.
“I’m sure I can find you something else to do,” he said with a playful smirk. Mike rolled his eyes, though he was relieved that Harvey seemed to be in a good mood. It meant he was more likely to grant Mike’s request.
“C’mon, Harvey, I’m serious!”
Harvey chuckled. “Alright, what’s going on?” he asked.
Mike licked his lips. “I need to…” He trailed off, glancing away. Harvey waited patiently for Mike to meet his gaze and continue. “I’ve got to take Kayla shopping,” Mike explained, “and normally I get off so late that all the stores are closed.”
“Shopping,” Harvey repeated skeptically.
“There were only two other outfits in the bag Amy dropped her off with, and I’ve already washed them twice.”
“So you’re going to buy her more clothes?” Harvey sounded more amused than disapproving, and Mike waited hopefully. “With your fashion sense? She’ll be the worst-dressed kid at the daycare center! They’ll all make fun of her.”
“Harvey, I’m serious!” Mike exclaimed, then thought that maybe yelling at his boss wouldn’t help him get the afternoon off work. “I really need to take her. So can I have the rest of the day?”
Harvey crossed his arms. “I’m not letting you make that girl the laughing stock of the whole preschool,” he said with a gently mocking smile.
“What, do you want to shop with her?” Mike challenged, spreading his arms. “Because she needs clothes, Harvey, whatever they look like. She can’t keep wearing the same three outfits for God knows how long she’ll be here.”
Harvey looked a little shocked by the suggestion, like Mike had really caught him off guard. His crossed arms slowly fell. “Alright. Go. Buy your daughter some ridiculous clothes.”
Mike stared back at him for a moment, hardly believing that he’d actually gotten the rest of the day off. He hesitated for a moment, observing the expression on Harvey’s face, and finally made a decision. “Come with me,” Mike said, and Harvey stared at him like he was crazy. “Come on!” Mike encouraged, a grin spreading across his face. “You don’t want Kayla to look like a dork on her first week of daycare, do you? I bet with your help she’ll be the sharpest-dressed kid in the whole place!”
Harvey stared at him blankly, but Mike could tell he was considering it. If he hadn’t been, he would have just walked away. Donna made a choking noise behind Mike, and both men turned to look at her. “Just go!” she said, with a smile like she was having trouble not breaking out into laughter.
Harvey sighed and adjusted his suit. “Well, since you requested my fashion advice,” he said haughtily, clearly trying to maintain his dignity. “I suppose I can’t let you humiliate the girl.”
Mike grinned. “That’s the spirit! Come on, let’s go get her.”
* * *
Although Harvey said he didn’t want Mike picking out Kayla’s clothes, once they picked the little girl up and got to the store he found himself completely overwhelmed by the situation, and simply stood to the side holding Kayla while Mike flipped through racks of baby clothes. He was having trouble processing the fact that he was standing in the middle of an infant clothing store, with a little girl resting on his hip. If someone had told him a month ago that he would be holding a little girl and shopping for baby clothes with his very male co-worker, he would have taken steps to have them committed.
“What about this, Kayla?” Mike held up a miniature T-shirt that looked like it had been made out of an old Hawaiian shirt.
“Nooooo,” Kayla whined from her position on Harvey’s hip, tugging his suit jacket for emphasis.
“At least it seems like she gets her fashion sense from her mother,” Harvey joked, smiling down at the little girl. Mike frowned and crossed his arms.
“If you don’t like anything I pick out, why don’t you come over here and do it yourself? That is the whole reason you came, isn’t it?”
“Fine. Move over.” Harvey passed Kayla to Mike as he stepped towards the rack. He flipped through the clothes on the rack Mike had been going through, then moved on to another one. Immediately he spotted an adorable navy blue dress with white flowers embroidered on the collar and cuffs and a little white ribbon around the waist. He picked it up and held it out for inspection.
“Pretty,” Kayla said, and Harvey raised an eyebrow at Mike, who shook his head.
“Harvey, the clothes on that rack cost fifty dollar.” Mike pointed to the sign advertising prices. “If I buy that kind of stuff, she’ll probably still be running out of clothes every five days.”
“So I’ll buy it,” Harvey said without thinking, and then hesitated when Mike looked at him suspiciously. He’d said it completely without thinking, but now that he had, Harvey found he didn’t want to take it back. “I’ll pay for it,” he repeated.
“Okay, if you want to,” Mike said, still sounding uncertain. Harvey wondered if Mike thought he was going to deduct it from Mike’s next paycheck.
“I do. Now come over here and look at these dresses with me.”
Two dresses, five pairs of shorts, six tops, one jacket, four sets of socks, one pack of underwear, three hair clips, and a new lunch box later, Harvey and Mike were unloading Kayla’s new clothes onto the conveyer belt at the cash register. Mike held Kayla as Harvey pulled out his wallet to pay for the clothes. Mike hadn’t been kidding about the prices- buying the kind of clothes Harvey picked out, they’d run up quite a bill.
As he handed his credit card to the cashier, she smiled at them and said, “Congratulations to you both! It’s so wonderful that gay couples can adopt now.”
Harvey’s mouth fell open in shock. For once in his life, he was actually speechless; his mind simply couldn’t form the words needed to express just how wrong that assumption was. Beside him, Mike hurried to deny it. “No, we’re not- we just work together.”
“It’s alright,” the woman interrupted gently. “This establishment caters to families of all kinds.” She smiled and held the credit card out to Harvey, and it took a moment for his dumbstruck mind to remember that he was supposed to take it back. He and Mike collected the bags quickly and took them back to the car without speaking, both of them highly unnerved.
As he put a hand on the door of the town car to open it, Mike muttered without looking at Harvey, “Let’s never talk about this again.” Harvey nodded wordlessly.
* * *
Ten days after Amy dropped Kayla off at his place, Mike was amazed at how easily she’d become a part of his schedule. Get up, shower, dress, wake Kayla, dress her, eat, drop Kayla off, go to work… It had become so natural, so quickly. He smiled to himself as he dropped off the paperwork he’d just finished at Donna’s empty desk, where Harvey would find it the next Monday morning. He’d pushed getting Kayla to the absolute last minute, but he’d just had to get the paperwork done by the end of the night.
Mike hummed absently in the almost-empty office as he stacked the briefs he was planning of finishing at home, thinking of what he had in the pantry. Spaghetti with meat sauce sounded nice. Takeout was fine for him, but Kayla was a growing girl; he wouldn’t let her eat anything but home-cooked meals.
“Uh, where are you going?” a familiar voice asked just as soon as he stepped out of his cubicle. Mike carefully schooled his featured into blankness. He couldn’t let Louis get to him…
“Home,” Mike said simply. “I can get all this done before Monday.”
“Did I say I wanted it by Monday?” Louis asked, his tone falsely friendly.
No, Mike thought. No, not now! “You said-”
“I said by the end of the night,” Louis finished, smiling like a cat toying with a mouse. “And, lucky for you, I’m going to be here for a couple hours more, so you still have time to get them to me.”
“Louis, I really need to-”
“Mike? You have bills to pay, right?” Mike nodded. “You like to buy things, like food, and clothes?” Another nod. “Well, it seems to me that you need money for those things, and to have money you need to have a job. This is what you get paid for. The way I see it, if you don’t do it there’s no reason for you to be here. Does that not make sense? Is there some kind of break in communication between us?”
Mike drew in a slow, deep breath, fighting every instinct to keep from punching Louis. “I understand,” he said as evenly as possible. Louis smirked. He didn’t pull it off nearly as well as Harvey.
“Good. I’ll be here for another, oh, two and a half hours. You’ll have it to me by then?”
“Yes,” Mike ground out.
“Good.” Louis smiled as though they’d been having a perfectly friendly conversation, and Mike glared daggers at his back as he strolled off.
Mike waited just until the footsteps faded before digging his cellphone from his bag and dialing the number of the only person he really trusted to take care of his daughter.
* * *
Harvey had just closed the door of his condo behind an attractive female guest when his cell phone rang. His first thought was that it must be a client with some kind of emergency- who else would dare to interrupt him on a Friday night?- and he frowned when he saw Mike’s number flash across the screen. With a hand motion to the beauty lounging on his couch to indicate he’d just be a minute, Harvey pressed and button and put the phone to his ear.
“Mike,” he said in his most serious tone, the one that was guaranteed to send shivers down an associate’s spine even without him in the room, “Just what is so important that you’re calling me at nine o’clock on a Friday night?”
“I need you to pick up Kayla!” His words were rushed and Harvey barely caught them. Mike sounded frantic and Harvey immediately assumed the worst.
“Is she okay? Do you need an ambulance?”
“No!” Mike screamed, sounding as horrified by the thought as Harvey was. “No, God no! I just need you to pick her up from the daycare.”
A thousand different questions sprang to mind. What was Mike doing that prevented him from picking her up? Why hadn’t he called earlier if he knew he couldn’t get her? Didn’t he know what time the daycare closed? Did he want to be charged with child neglect?
“From the daycare,” Harvey repeated. “And drop her off at your place?”
“Actually…” Mike sounded sheepish, and Harvey sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Actually?”
“Please, I just need two hours! I can’t leave the office until I’m done.”
“What, is it the Preston case? Mike, if it’s going to take that long, you can just give it to me on Monday. You need to get your daughter.”
“No,” Mike sighed. “No, it’s for Louis.”
“Mike, I told you, forget Louis-”
“Harvey, please! It’s late, and the daycare closes at nine!” Mike shouted, and then he breathed out a shaky sigh and Harvey could hear his voice cracking when he continued. “My little girl is probably sitting there alone, scared, wondering where I am, why I haven’t come for her yet. Please, Harvey. Just, please.”
Well. There was no arguing with that, was there? Harvey massaged his forehead, pretending to debate with himself even though his decision was already made. “Fine. You can pick her up at my condo when you’re done.”
Harvey hung up the phone as Mike started to thank him and shook his head. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, Harvey though as he turned to the woman lying on his couch. She looked up at him through her lashes with blue, blue eyes and gave him a little smile.
“Sorry, beautiful,” he said cheerfully “Change of plans. We’ll just have to reschedule.” She shrugged, stood, and sauntered past him to the door, giving him a wink as she slipped out.
Harvey’s smile dropped as he watched the door close behind her. He’d always preferred long hair and brown eyes, but recently the hair of his late-night visitors had gotten progressively shorter. The latest woman had had pixie-cut brown hair to go with her blue eyes, and she’d been almost as tall as him with her heels on. He’s been trying not to probe too deeply into the reason for the sudden change in his interests.
Harvey sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. He couldn’t be thinking about this now. He had a kid to pick up.
* * *
Two and a half hours later, Mike was being let into Harvey’s condo to pick Kayla up. Under other circumstances he might have been entranced by the beautiful view of the city lights, by the sleek, expensive-looking furniture and the openness of the condo. But at the moment he had more important things on his mind.
“Daddy!” Kayla cried from the island in Harvey’s big kitchen. There was a little dish of what looked like chocolate ice cream in front of her.
“Hey, baby!” Mike hugged his daughter and kissed her hair. “Did you have a good time with Uncle Harvey?”
“Yeah! He made me dinner. It was a fillman… fillay man…”
“Filet mignon,” Harvey supplied.
“Yeah!” Kayla grinned. “And I got ice cream!”
“Harvey!” Mike turned to the older lawyer, arms crossed over his chest. “You fed my three-year-old a fancy steak?”
“It’s what I had in the fridge,” Harvey replied almost defensively. “Besides, it was well done, and I cut it into little pieces for her. She only ate half of it.”
Mike shook his head in disbelief. He didn’t know what was more shocking: that Harvey would feed steak to a three-year-old, or that Harvey had actually cooked for his kid. He’d expected Harvey to just plop her down in front of the TV and ignore her, or at least just buy her a kids’ meal at some fast food restaurant.
The plate with half a steak left on it was still sitting on the counter, and Mike’s stomach growled when he caught sight of it. He flashed Harvey a sheepish smile; except for a bag of chips from the snack machine at the office, he hadn’t eaten since lunch.
“Do you want to finish that?” Harvey offered, sounding tired. Mike looked at him in surprise but nodded and sat down next to Kayla, pulling the plate towards himself. “There’s more potatoes and green beans on the stove,” Harvey said, picking up Kayla’s empty ice cream bowl and setting it in the sink as he went back into the kitchen. He took a pan from the stove and dished more grilled potato chunks onto the plate for Mike.
“Uncle Harvey, can I watch TV?” Kayla asked.
“Sure, sweetheart. The remote’s on a shelf up high; let me get it for you.” Harvey left the pot of green beans on the island by Mike and went over to help Kayla. He grabbed the remote from a shelf and handed it to her, then picked the little girl up and set her on the couch in front of the enormous television.
Mike turned away from the island to watch his daughter as she flipped through the channels. Harvey came over and began loading the dishwasher without looking at Mike. Sensing that he was quickly wearing out his and Kayla’s welcome, Mike wolfed down the food as quickly as he could, but not so quickly that he didn’t appreciate how delicious it was. He wouldn’t have pegged Harvey as a home chef type, though from the looks of the kitchen and the taste of the meal, that was exactly what Harvey was.
Mike was half way through the steak when Kayla stopped clicking through channels. He recognized the show as Futurama. “No, Kayla.” Mike hurried over to her. “That’s not a kids’ cartoon.” He flipped through the channels briefly and then stopped on an old Looney Tunes show. “Here, watch this.” He set the remote down and went back to his dinner.
“Although I’m not sure this is much better,” Mike commented to Harvey as Daffy Duck got his face blown up on screen. Harvey nodded, though Mike didn’t think he was actually listening. He observed Harvey from the corner of his eye as the other man watched his little girl. Then his eye caught on something over Harvey’s shoulder, a splash of color against the chrome fridge. Mike tilted his head to the side to look past Harvey, and smiled when he recognized what was on the fridge: the drawing of Harvey Kayla had made earlier that week.
“Taken up art collecting, Harvey?” Mike asked, and nodded to the picture when the older man looked at him curiously. He smirked when he saw a blush rise in Harvey’s cheeks. Harvey didn’t say anything in his own defense, and Mike began to think that maybe Kayla’s welcome would never be worn out.
Mike finished his food and put his dishes in the sink. “Kayla, come on, baby, we’re going home.” The little girl jumped up and ran over to him. She clung to Mike’s arm and grinned up at him before the smile was interrupted by a huge yawn. Mike chuckled and knelt down to stroke his daughter’s hair as she rubbed her eyes. “Yeah, it’s way past your bedtime, huh, Pumpkin? We’ll get you right into bed when we get home.”
Mike scooped the little girl into his arms and started for the door. “I’ll walk you down,” Harvey said, and Mike looked at him curiously but nodded. Together the three of them went down to the ground floor where Mike’s bike was waiting.
* * *
Harvey stared in disbelief as Mike began to strap Kayla into a baby seat on the back of his bike. “Wait, wait, what is that?”
“What?” Mike gave him a strange look, obviously not seeing the problem. “You don’t expect me to hold her in my arms, do you?”
“Mike, I’ve seen you crash that thing at least a half dozen times. I’m not letting you ride that bike with a kid on the back!”
Mike stopped strapping Kayla in and turned to Harvey, spreading his arms. “Harvey, it’s eight blocks from my apartment to the subway station, and three more from the subway to the daycare. I’m not walking Kayla all that way each morning, and definitely not after dark!”
Harvey resisted the urge to roll his eyes and held up his hands in an appeasing gesture. “Look, we’ll figure something out. But it’s almost midnight, and I’m not letting you ride home on a bike with a toddler on the back! You two can spend the night here.”
Mike scoffed in disbelief, but Harvey just crossed his arms and stared back. It really was dangerous to have Kayla on the back of his bike, and he wasn’t about to let Mike drive around with her like that. More than once he’s seen Mike hit something and flip the bike over the handlebars, and he didn’t want to imagine what would happen to Kayla if the bike flipped with her on the back.
Mike hesitated for a moment, then turned away from Harvey and unstrapped his daughter, not saying anything to concede that Harvey was right. “It’s gonna be a slumber party!” Kayla said sleepily as Mike carried her back up to the condo unit. Mike laughed, and Harvey ducked his head as a small smile spread across his face.
“I have a guest room you can stay in,” Harvey said as he opened the door to his unit. “It’s a queen-sized bed, so I assume you can share?”
“We’ll manage,” Mike replied.
“Unca Harvey,” Kayla said sleepily from Mike’s arms.
“Yes, Kayla?” Harvey reached out and stroked her hair from her face, letting his hand come to rest on the side of her head as he wondered at how tiny and delicate she was.
“Daddy promised. We’re goin’ ta Central Park tomorrow. Come with us?” She grinned up at him hopefully.
Harvey hesitated. He didn’t want to disappoint the little girl, but he also knew that since Kayla had come into his life he’d pushed the boundary between work and home more than he ever had in the past. He’d already gone to too many family lunches, plus that incredibly awkward shopping trip. He didn’t want to think about where this might go if he started spending his weekends with Mike and his daughter. He knew that he should say no.
“Puh-weeeeease, Unca Harvey?” Kayla begged, gripping his sleeve with her little fingers and staring up at him with big blue eyes.
“It, ah, it depends on what your father says,” Harvey answered at last. He looked up at Mike, half hoping the younger man would say no and give him a way out, and half hoping he would say yes. “Kayla, I think Uncle Harvey is probably busy,” Mike said, looking between Harvey and his daughter. His expression clearly asked if he’d said what Harvey wanted him to say.
“Oh,” Kayla murmured, bowing her little head. “Next time?” she asked, her head coming up with a heart-breakingly hopeful expression.
Harvey caved.
“Well, I’m sure I can move some things around. So I could go with you tomorrow. If it’s okay with your Daddy, of course.” He looked back at Mike, who raised an eyebrow at him.
“Of course it’s okay,” Mike said, with a smile at Kayla that turned into a smirk when he looked up at Harvey.
Harvey pointedly ignored Mike as he leaned down to kiss the little girl’s forehead. “Good night, Kayla.”
“’Night, Unca Harvey,” the little girl replied, waving to him as Mike took her into the bedroom.
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