Rules of Engagement

Summary: Donna and Harvey navigate their relationship around his mother and her parents.

AN: This was going to be a one-shot but then I had a prompt from krystalsteph (thanks for the inspiration!) so I thought I'd add another chapter with Jim, maybe even Donna's mother... cept for it annoys me not knowing her name. Maybe a chapter with all three? :

"You're teasing." Donna glances up from where she's resting in Harvey's lap, the warmth from the firelight flushing her cheeks as he slides his hand through her long hair.

"Hmmm?" His response is deliberately vague as he gazes down, his thumb skipping across to her collarbone, "doesn't sound like me."

Except it does.

He knows exactly what he's doing and edges his touch lower with a haphazard stroke.

"Harvey Reginald Specter-" she attempts to berate him but only puts half the effort in, "your mother is in the next room."

"Making us cocoa." He agrees, not an ounce of remorse in his expression. He'd offered to get up, even insisted on it but Lily had told him (and quite frankly to) that the day she needed help making cocoa was the day he'd better put her in a nursing home and there hadn't been much point arguing. He's coming to realize that between his mother and the woman lying in his arms, he's gone from NYC's best closer to Manhattan's easiest push-over and what's worse; he doesn't actually care he's coined the title. Instead he gets a little more brazen, tracing the v-line of Donna's pyjama top and biting back his amusement when she claps his fingers in a firm hold.

"You really want to start something, pretty boy?"

She hooks an eyebrow at him and the mischievous glint in her eyes sends his smugness backtracking like a dog with its tail in-between its legs. He's in trouble but steadies his compose, bringing her hand up to his mouth and skimming her knuckles with a kiss. "You started this thirteen years ago... I'm just the schmuck who turned up with a can whipped cream."

She smirks but affords him some of the credit. "You did draw the diagram." He gives a half-hearted shrug and she smiles, feathering her touch against his stubble. She'd always wondered what he'd look with a beard and was surprised to find him nonplussed about shaving on their trip away. "You keep growing that out we might have to upgrade from pretty to handsome."

"Now who's teasing who?" He asks, mimicking her raised eyebrow and settling his hand against her shoulder but she's already winding out of his grasp, a playful gleam on her face as she pushes up, sitting on her knees beside him.

He doesn't like it and there's an edge of warning to his surrender. "Donna."

"Remember who started this..." she reminds him, her slender fingers hooking into a particularly sensitive spot at his side and he squirms with a throaty laugh.

"Donna," he expels a quick and amused breath, "stop."

She stills her attack, at the same time his mother's voice floats into the room.

"Anything that makes him laugh like that, you should keep doing."

A smile curves around Lily's lips as she places the tray she's holding on the table, three mugs of hot cocoa brimmed to the top with marshmallows wobbling unsteadily. It's a little overboard but she can't help compensating her guilt. She's had a tremulous relationship with her son through the years and when he'd suggested the visit she was, and still is, slightly nervous. His tension with Bobby aside, she wasn't sure bringing a stranger into their home was a good idea and it was only when Harvey told her Donna was 'the someone special' that she'd relented and forced down her reservations.

Now, she'll happily admit she was wrong.

The vibrant redhead has drawn out a side to her son she hasn't been privy to in years and she can only be grateful for the visit. Part of her wishes it had happened sooner but she's still cautious about how much she admits, following their lead in conversation as she takes her mug and sits back in the recliner. "Now, you were just about to tell me how the two of you met."

Donna shifts out of Harvey's hold, a sheepish look on her face as she sinks into the couch while he reaches for his drink. If she lets him tell the story she knows he'll paint the wrong picture and jumps in first with the same confidence she was wearing the night she introduced herself. "We worked in the DA's office together. He'd just won a high profile case and was starting to make name for himself and I wanted to help him do it, so I approached him looking for a job."

"You mean you had my secretary mysteriously reassigned and then moved to my desk." He counters, not in the least bit sorry she did it. It was the best damn thing that ever happened to him and they both know it, despite his ribbing.

"I'll give you fifty dollars right now if you can tell me what her name was." She challenges and to his credit he doesn't flinch, a name rolling straight off his tongue.

"Debbie."

Her mouth splits in a grin, her hand falling against his chest with a light slap as her gaze shifts back to Lily. "It was Tina and I'm telling you he couldn't have cared less after I redid his calendar."

He scoffs, downing too many marshmallows in one go and throwing a wayward hand over the back of the sofa. As much as his pride would like to deny the claim, it's exactly what happened.

"What he won't tell you," she adds, finding the hand hovering at her shoulder and grasping it gently, "is that he spent the entire week after that win wanting to pick up the phone and call you."

Lily tenses at the outspoken truth, expecting it to lead somewhere they'd all rather avoid but to her surprise Harvey doesn't react. He's steadied by the light sweep of Donna's thumb grazing his knuckles and a knot forms in Lily's throat when he finds her gaze with a nod. He's never been big on communicating, even before he learned of her affair, and the acknowledgment is a huge step leaving her in awe of the redhead. Even a little jealous that the woman can voice what needs to be said without disastrous consequences.

"I wish you had..." Lily directs the comment at her son, wiping the moisture welling behind her eyes, "but I understand why you didn't."

He gives Donna's hand an absent squeeze, subconsciously drawing strength from the gesture. Thirteen years ago, maybe even two, he would have vehemently denied giving a shit but he's learning to lean on his mistakes. He's wasted a lot of time being angry and if they're going to keep moving forward he needs to be honest about that along with everything else. "I shouldn't have waited so long to reach out."

It's barely a whisper, the cup in his hand lowering to weigh against his thigh, but to Lily it's like a weight lifting off and she takes a shaky breath. He might be his father's son but his stubbornness comes from her side of the family and the fact they're breaching those barriers is something she's wanted for years, she's just never known how before. "I'm afraid that comes from being a little too much like me."

Donna can feel the subtle shift behind her, the flex of muscles in warning, and she slips free of Harvey's grip reaching for her cocoa with a smile. She's learnt when to let things take their natural course and when to reign them in, her tone light as she sips on the sweet beverage. "And how long would you take to propose, if you were a fancy lawyer and money wasn't an issue?"

His mother's off the cuff laugh and Donna's slight nudge instantly makes him relax, his cocoa making its way to the table as his arms lightly settles against Donna's hips. He knows what she's doing and loves her for it but the question of getting married isn't a joke in his mind, though he plays along for the sake of it. "Money might be an issue if someone's been draining your credit card for years."

"Please..." Donna angles her head up at him with a smirk, "you think I don't know about the platinum gold account you have. When are you going to learn, I'm Donna."

The grin that forms over his lips is involuntary but he wears it without any shame. He could let slip he already has a ring and wipe the smug look off her face but it's the only secret he's been able to hide and he isn't ruining the surprise just to one up her. "Which is why I'm going to treat you to the best soda-can ring money can buy."

"Harvey Reginald Specter, you'll do no such thing." It's his mother who admonishes him with a smile, "and if you don't marry this woman, I might just trade her in for you."

He rolls his eyes but there's there's a glimmer or seriousness behind the amusement. This is it for him. Bringing Donna home has only strengthened what he already knew and he slips his arm further around her waist not ashamed to show his mother that.

Lily recognizes the openness as another step forward, something that goes unspoken between them, and they don't need words this time. It's been clear since the second she met Donna that the woman isn't just the person her son is seeing; she's family, and her hands splay across her thighs beyond relieved that she and Harvey are starting to feel that way again too. "Well... I think it's about time I leave the young ones to it."

Donna's cheeks flush with warmth as Harvey tugs her back but his mother doesn't bat an eyelid and Donna relaxes, giving her an appreciative smile. "Goodnight, Lily."

"Night." Harvey adds, his gaze slipping to down to Donna and missing the knowing expression on his mother's face as she pads from the room. He's too distracted, completely smitten with the woman in his arms. "You're amazing, you know that?"

His breath tickles her ear and she leans up with a smirk. "I did... but it never hurts to be reminded." Amusement laces her tone as she lifts further meeting his kiss.

He's always putting her on a pedestal but truth is she's just as lucky to have him. Even if it sometimes takes him time to open up when he does he shares everything, loyal to a fault, and that's where her safe place is. It's how she knows they're going to be okay and why she presses her fingertips lightly against his shoulder easing him back. "How about we go upstairs and finish what you started, pretty boy?"

"Donna Roberta Paulsen, in my childhood bedroom?" He teases, sliding his hand back through her hair but she quickly catches it and he doesn't argue when she moves pulling him up and leading the way. He'd follow her anywhere and has never been more sure of anything.

Except that the Tiffany piece he has stored away is definitely a step above any soda-can ring.