A pretty handsome Christmas
Title: A pretty handsome Christmas
Pairing: Harvey Specter/Mike Ross
Other characters: Donna, Jessica Pearson, Louis Litt, Harold
Rating: G
Word count: 3,216
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.
Summary: The kindergarten gets caught up in the Christmas fever.
Author’s note: This is a Christmas story written in the 'Pretty-Handsome Kindergarten' verse.
Christmas D-7
“You better watch out~ You better not cry~ You better not pout, I’m telling you why~ Santa Claus is coming to town~”
The children in the Pearson class were singing along to Jessica’s piano. As usual, Louis, Donna, and Mike were the ones that were singing with the brightest smiles on their faces but today, the other kids seemed as if they were having a great time as well. Overwhelmed by her students’ enthusiasm, Jessica’s performance grew more and more frantic and Donna wondered when they were supposed to breathe.
“Wonderful, kids!” Jessica smiled as if she owned the world. Her students sang like baby angels and she was blessed to have a chance to listen to them.
“Okay, has everybody got a pretty piece of paper and a nice pen?”
“Yes, Miss Pearson!”
“Great! Today, in the spirit of Christmas, we’re all going to write a letter to Santa Claus! Then we’re going to put the letters in a huge envelope, put a Rudolph stamp on it, and send it to the North Pole!”
“Yay!!” The cheers were as loud as the days when she announced that vacations were coming soon. The only boy who didn’t clap was Harvey.
“You don’t like Santa?” Mike asked his boyfriend.
“It’s not a matter of liking or not liking, Mike. He’s not real.” Harvey used his superior six-year old voice.
Harvey’s words not only shocked Mike but also the boys who sat behind them. There was a collective gasp before everyone’s brain started to work again.
“Don’t say things like that! Santa’s going to hear you!” Harold whispered in horror.
“You can’t say he’s not real when we keep getting presents.” Louis pointed out. He had got a Christmas present every single year so far.
“Oh, Louis...” Harvey shook his head. “I thought you were smarter than that. We keep getting presents because our parents keep pretending to be Santa.”
“That’s not true! My parents sleep early! Santa comes after midnight!” Harold explained. And, during all this time, he thought that Harvey was the smartest kid in the school.
“He’s right. Santa’s real and he makes every kid’s wish come true.” Louis insisted. Sometimes his smart friend could be dumb like that.
“Well, then where was he when I asked him to save my puppy?” Harvey’s voice was cold.
None of the boys had an answer but thankfully, the red-haired girl who was sitting in front of Harvey did. “You’re six, Harvey. You should know that you can’t bring back the dead. But hey, he gave you another puppy.”
Harvey looked at Donna for an explanation who simply pointed at Mike with her chin. “You call him puppy, don’t you?”
“Ooh…” Mike now understood the mysterious ways through which Santa worked.
Harvey glanced at the boy who was sitting next to him. The kid did look like a puppy and he was definitely his. He ruffled Mike’s soft hair and enjoyed Mike’s heartwarming smile.
“Fine. Let’s write to Santa.” He still didn’t believe in Santa but he didn’t want to crush his friends’ hopes. Just like Louis had pointed out, if his friends kept getting presents, perhaps it was all right to let them believe in a fake guy in red.
“You still don’t think he’s real.” Mike whispered as he picked up his green pen.
Harvey was surprised. Since when did his puppy know how to read him so well?
“I’m your boyfriend. I know you.” The five year old boy answered with a face that said ‘duh’.
Harvey couldn’t help but laugh.
“Let’s make a bet then.” Mike suggested. “I’ll prove to you that he’s real. You like proof, right?”
“Of course. Proof is everything.”
Mike nodded. “Okay, so you write to Santa that you want something. Then you go home and tell your parents that you asked him for something else. When you open your present on Christmas morning, we’ll see what you got.”
Harvey thought that it was a brilliant plan that deserved two kisses on the cheek.
Chu. Chu.
Mike smiled shyly and asked with hope in his eyes, “So you’re in?”
“You said it was a bet. What do you get if you win?”
“You’ll come to my house on Christmas day and we’ll make a very handsome snowman together.”
“And, if I win?”
“I’ll go to your house and we’ll make a very handsome snowman together.”
Harvey chuckled. “I’m in.”
He kissed Mike on the nose and earned a sharp glare from Donna.
“What?” He asked innocently.
“I can’t focus on my letter with all that kissing noise. Keep it down, will you?” Donna frowned and Mike had to giggle. He loved his friends and that was the reason why he knew that Santa was real. Because really, who else could possibly have the power to give him something so magical?
Christmas D-6
“Yes, Mrs. Ross, he wants a new box of crayons.” Jessica was on the phone with Mike’s mother. “The one that has fifty crayons, including gold and silver. Yes, he really enjoys drawing and he’s very observant which helps him draw well. He once drew me and it was so accurate that I considered getting plastic surgery! Haha, yes, Mrs. Ross. Thank you for your time. Merry Christmas to you too.”
Jessica hung up the phone and smiled. All the children had gone home and she was calling their parents to let them know what the kids had written in the letters.
‘Okay, let’s move on to Harvey now. Let’s see... Ah, he wants two tickets to Disneyland.’
Jessica picked up her phone and called Harvey’s house. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Specter. This is Jessica Pearson, Harvey’s teacher.”
“Oh, good afternoon, Miss Pearson. What can I do for you?”
“Harvey wrote a letter to Santa yesterday and it says that he wants two all-day passes to Disneyland.”
“Really? Are you sure that’s Harvey’s letter? He told me that he had asked Santa for the complete series of world literature. He wanted to read them to Mike.”
Both women took a second to figure out what had happened.
“This is no mistake.” Jessica spoke first. If it was any other student, she would have thought that he had changed his mind but she knew Harvey too well.
“Oh, I’m quite certain of that. I know my son.” The mother agreed.
“Perhaps this is some kind of an experiment to find out if Santa’s real.” Jessica made a guess.
“I must say it’s a clever plan for a preschooler.” Harvey’s mother was a little proud.
“I couldn’t agree more. He must’ve gotten your brains, Mrs. Specter.”
“Why, thank you. But you must’ve developed his potential nicely.”
“Oh, thank you. I try to do my best.” Jessica was a little happy.
“Then I suppose I should get two tickets to Disneyland.”
“Yes, you should. He probably wants to go with Mike.”
“Oh, you have no idea how glad I am to see Harvey smile like a kid again. Thank you so much for letting Mike into the school.”
“I didn’t make that decision all by myself but you’re welcome, Mrs. Specter. Merry Christmas!”
Jessica exchanged a few last words with the mother and ended the call, feeling good about herself.
‘Another crisis averted!’ She smiled and moved on to the next letter.
Christmas Eve…
It was nine o’clock in the evening but Louis wasn’t in bed. He was sitting next to the window in his room with a camera clutched in his hands.
‘Too bad I don’t know Santa’s timetable. Who knows when he’s going to show up?’
Louis sighed as he took a sip of water. He needed to stay hydrated to take good pictures; he couldn’t have his hands trembling. He knew in his heart that Santa Claus was real but he was going to be a lawyer and as far as he knew, lawyers greatly appreciated hard proof.
‘Hey, perhaps I can even win the Pulitzer Prize. For international reporting! Miss Pearson always tells us to dream big, right? I could be a lawyer who takes great Santa pictures. How hard can it be? This could change my life, mwahaha!’
He was already feeling a little bit sleepy but the thought of capturing Santa on his camera kept him awake.
‘Hmm… But there must be rules for the pictures that can get the prize.’
Louis left the camera on the floor and sneaked out of his room to grab the cordless phone. He didn’t know anything about the rules so he decided to ask someone who was almost as smart as him.
‘Wait. I can’t call Harvey. He’ll flip if he hears another word about Santa.’
Louis made a face and thought about calling his teacher. ‘Nah, she’ll yell at me for not being in bed this late.’
Then he got a brilliant idea. ‘I’ll call Donna! She knows a lot of random things. She might be able to help!’
Feeling the prize wink at him, he dialed Donna’s number in a hurry. It was a good thing that he was great with numbers; he didn’t have to look everywhere in his room to find her number.
Donna was busy setting a trap in the backyard when her mother poked her head out of a window. She had always wanted to raise one of Santa’s reindeers as a pet.
“Honey, Louis is on the phone.”
“Louis? That itself is a Christmas miracle!” Donna said as she brushed the snow off her coat and went inside.
“Hello? Louis? What’s up?” She answered the phone.
“Hi, I need a good Santa picture for my Pulitzer Prize. Do you know the rules for that?”
Donna blinked her eyes. She didn’t know anything about the particular prize, but she was going to be a famous actress and had studied all kinds of paparazzi shots online. ‘Taking pictures of a movie star and taking pictures of Santa… how different can it be?’
“Donna? Are you there?”
“Yes, let Fabulous Donna help you like always.” She regained her confidence.
Louis wanted to say ‘Forget it.’ but his future depended on it so he said, “I’m listening.”
“Okay, so obviously, the most important thing is to capture Santa’s face. Try to catch him smiling while picking up a present from the sleigh or patting Rudolph on the horns. You want him in action if you want to win the prize!”
Louis nodded. He had called the right person for help. As Donna kept giving him sound advice, Louis could smell the sweet scent of success get stronger and stronger. But why were his eyelids getting heavier? Did the idea of success made people drowsy like this?
Meanwhile, Mike was in the kitchen with his mother, preparing a late-night snack for Santa. He was carefully pouring milk into a pretty glass when his mother caught his attention.
“Sweetie, I think the cookies are ready. Will you try one and see if it’s any good?”
“Yes, mom! But I’m sure they’re very good. Your cookies always are!” Mike smiled and earned a kiss on top of his head.
The boy picked up one of the cookies from the kitchen table and put it in his mouth. His eyelashes fluttered at the happy taste. “Om nom nom… I told you, mom. It’s yummy!”
“Excellent. Now tell me, how many do you think Santa would like to have?” The mother asked as she took out a new plate from the cupboard.
“Hmm, I wonder how many families will prepare cookies for him. I guess he has a cookie bag in his sleigh in case he wants to take some home. He’ll have to feed the reindeers too, hmm…”
Mike thought hard and came up with an answer. “Twelve. One for each of the reindeers and two for Santa.”
“Okay, twelve it is…” The mother put twelve cookies on the plate and sighed inwardly. There was a reason why her winter diet never worked out.
A few blocks away, Harvey was in bed, thinking about Mike. His young boyfriend seemed to adore Christmas like no one else.
‘How many carols does he know? Thirteen? Fourteen? Geez…’ Harvey shook his head even though he found a singing Mike very cute.
Harvey’s face grew darker as he realized what was going to happen in the morning. Without a doubt, he would find a bunch of books under the Christmas tree because that was what he had told his parents.
‘He’ll be disappointed if I tell him the truth. Perhaps I should lie… White lies aren’t too bad, right? But then, where am I going to get two tickets to Disneyland? Urgh… I should’ve told mom that I wanted those tickets and should’ve lied to Mike about it.’
Harvey turned to his left and looked out the window. He hadn’t closed the curtains just in case his friends were right.
‘Really? Do I really expect to see a fat man flying in a sleigh full of presents?’
Harvey let out a deep sigh. Mike’s imagination was clearly rubbing off on him.
‘Mike is five now. Maybe it’s good for him to know the truth. He’s a smart boy. He’ll understand that nobody can fly around the world that fast in one night.’ Harvey told himself but he still wished that there was a way he could not disappoint his adorable boyfriend.
Christmas morning…
The first thing that Harvey did when he opened his eyes was to shoot out of his bed. He hadn’t bothered to hang a sock on his bed, so the only way that he could know what he had gotten for Christmas was to go out to the living room and check the present himself.
‘So am I going to lie to Mike or not?’
He had tossed and turned in bed but hadn’t been able to make a decision last night. Then he had closed his eyes just for a few seconds and now it was suddenly Christmas morning.
‘This sucks.’ Harvey grumbled as he dragged his feet out of the room.
“You’re up, dear. Merry Christmas!” Harvey’s mother grinned merrily.
“Merry Christmas to you too, mom.”
Harvey wondered why his mother was smiling like a crazy person but he couldn’t care less about it. He had more important business to take care of; open his present and expose Santa Claus.
‘Which one is mine?’ Harvey sat in front of the Christmas tree and searched for the present that had his name on it. He was looking for a big present that could possibly contain two dozen books.
‘Perhaps I didn’t even get the books. I bet mom ordered them late and they haven’t arrived yet.’
Harvey frowned until he spotted a small, thin present with his name on it.
‘What?! There’s no way these can be tickets! Miss Pearson dropped our letters into the mailbox right in front of us!’
Harvey couldn’t believe that his hands were slightly shaking with excitement as he ripped off the wrapping paper. He wanted to protect Mike’s fantasy so badly that he wished that Santa really existed even for one day.
‘It’s an envelope.’ Harvey’s eyes shot up to his mother who looked back at him innocently.
“Why don’t you go ahead and open it, son? Santa flew a long way to give you that.”
Harvey wanted to say that there was no such thing as Santa but could he be 100% sure?
‘Maybe mom couldn’t buy the books on time so she got me something else.’ Harvey realized that just because his present looked thin didn’t mean that he got tickets as he had wished for.
Still, he couldn’t ignore the butterflies in his stomach as he slowly opened the envelope and looked inside.
“Jesus Christ, they’re tickets!!” The boy cried out. It was the perfect time to yell out Jesus’ name.
“What did he get you this year? Show me.” Harvey’s mother gestured for him to come to her.
Harvey forgot that he was a six year old man and happily ran to his mother. “Look! I really got tickets to Disneyland!!”
“Oh my god, Disneyland? That’s fantastic! But I thought you wanted books…” The mother pretended to look confused.
“I actually wanted these tickets! Long story, mom, but I have to call Mike!”
Watching his son sprint towards the phone made Mrs. Specter a very happy mother.
‘Merry Christmas, sweetheart.’ She blew him a kiss and grabbed her cell phone to leave the wise teacher a grateful text message.
“Hello?” Mike was busy eating a cookie when his mother handed him the phone.
“Merry Christmas, Mike!” Harvey had never meant those words more.
“Harvey! Nom nom… Merry Christmas to you too!” It was always a nice surprise when Harvey called.
“Guess what I got for Christmas!” Harvey barely kept himself from squealing.
“You got tickets to Disneyland.” Mike guessed easily as if it was the only possibility.
“How did you know??”
“I told you that Santa’s real, Harvey. You told him you wanted tickets, so he gave you tickets. Simple as that, nom nom…”
Harvey smiled at Mike’s casual explanation. He was almost jealous of the blind faith that Mike had in Santa.
“So you’re coming over after lunch? I won the bet!” Mike announced excitedly.
“Yeah, you somehow did.” Harvey still wasn’t sure how it had happened.
“We’re going to make a really handsome snowman! Did you see it snowed last night? We’ll have lots of snow to use!”
“It snowed last night?” Harvey had been too busy checking his present to notice what was going on outside.
“Oh, look! It’s starting to snow again!” Mike let out a cheerful sound and Harvey ran towards the nearest window. Mike was right. It was a white Christmas.
“Did you get your new box of crayons?” Harvey was curious.
“Of course! Santa always gives good boys a present! And, I’m a good boy.” Mike said proudly.
“Yes, you’re a good boy.” Harvey chuckled.
“Since I’m so good, I’m going to draw you with my new gold crayon. You can see it after lunch!”
Harvey smiled. He loved Mike’s drawings. In fact, they were all over Harvey’s bedroom walls. “Thanks, Mike. I should do something for you too then.”
“Well…” Mike shyly lowered his voice. “You can give me a kiss.”
“Good idea.” Harvey agreed in a heartbeat.
“Great! I’ll save you some cookies too, hehe.”
“Thanks. You’re an angel.” Harvey said in a soft voice.
“No, I’m your puppy.” Mike corrected him and Harvey couldn’t be any happier.
“Okay, puppy. I’ll see you after lunch. Merry Christmas again.” Harvey checked that his mother wasn’t watching and made a smacking sound with his lips.
“Hehe, merry Christmas, Harvey!”
As Harvey got off the phone, he decided not to question how the tickets had appeared under his Christmas tree. For one day, he was going to forget about science and let Mike pull him into the world of magic. After all, didn’t miracles happen on Christmas?