Day 23

A Christmas Surprise

by Specter-Paulsen

.-*°✧°*-.

"Ok, I think we're ready," Katrina says, brushing her hands off on her apron after putting the last pie in the oven. "How's the table looking?"

"Beautiful," Samantha replies, "like you." She slides her hands around Katrina's waist and kisses her gently.

"Sure," Katrina scoffs when they part, "I'm covered in sugar, butter, flour…" she gestures to the apron, covered in the detritus of her pie making.

"Still beautiful." Samantha kisses her again.

"I'm going to take a shower. Can you keep an eye on the pies?"

"Sure I can't persuade you to let me into your shower?" Samantha asks suggestively and Katrina grins but shakes her head.

"This morning wasn't enough for you?" she teases.

"I can never get enough of you," Samantha dips her head, tasting her girlfriend's lips again, her tongue teasing until they're both lost in the kiss. Katrina pulls back abruptly a few moments later.

"No!" she says, but she's grinning. "I need to get ready or we'll be indecent when everyone arrives. Because you know Louis will be here at least half an hour early."

"I know, I know," Samantha acquiesces. "Go get ready."

.

Thankful for their two bathrooms, they get ready concurrently, Samantha finishing first and perching on the edge of their bed waiting for Katrina to emerge from the walk-in closet.

"Oooooh," Samantha lets out appreciatively when Katrina appears, wearing a red dress with a full skirt, cut low in the front and dipping in a V in back. Her hair is curled and falls in golden waves over her shoulders.

"Special occasion calls for a special dress," Katrina replies with a grin. "And you look incredible." She surveys her girlfriend, taking in the form fitting cream sweater dress. "These are looking mouth-wateringly good," she continues with a wink, gesturing to Samantha's chest. The sweater dress is hugging her figure perfectly, highlighting all of her best features, not least of which were her impressive breasts. Samantha chuckles, standing to pull Katrina into a kiss, perhaps a little more chaste than she would have liked, but adjusting for the fact that they were expecting guests in thirty minutes.

It's then that the doorbell rings. They glance at each other.

"Louis," they say simultaneously and make their way down the hall to greet the first of their Christmas guests.

.

"We're going to be late," Harvey calls to Donna from the living room. She's still in the bathroom and he's getting anxious about traffic. He's got a substitute driver for the day, having given Ray the holiday off to be with his family, and he doesn't know if this guy will get them there as swiftly as Ray would.

"Okay, okay, I'm almost ready." Donna steps into the room and Harvey's jaw drops. He's never seen her in something quite like this dress; form fitting, red, a slit on the side giving more than just a tease of creamy thigh, and the front cut low enough that there's plenty of cleavage on display.

"Holy shit," he breathes, his pants feeling tight at the mere sight of her. She chuckles, reaching for a faux fur stole from the back of the couch and fastening it around her shoulders and neck, obscuring the revealing show she'd been putting on for him. He pouts a little and she laughs, patting his chest.

"Plenty of this for you when we get home," she says and he grins.

"That dress is going to look wonderful on our bedroom floor tonight."

"Oh no, this dress cost far too much to be left on the floor." She winks and saunters past him toward the door, giving him a glimpse of just how snugly it fit her hips and backside. "But I'll let you take it off me, I promise."

"I'll hold you to that," Harvey answers as he follows her out of the apartment.

.

Christmas dinner is in full swing, the large table hosting the firm's named partners and their families, with the addition of Mike and Rachel who'd flown to New York for the holidays, and of course Robert and Laura. Just because he's retired doesn't mean he isn't still family.

Baby Lucy is in her high chair between Louis and Donna, who are taking turns feeding her while Sheila enjoys a much-deserved respite from 'mom-duty' for a short time and is deep in conversation with Laura Zane about raising a daughter.

Harvey is watching Donna dote on their goddaughter, the warmth in his heart due in part to the sweet sight and maybe also a little to do with several large glasses of scotch.

Rosalie Williams is discussing pregnancy with Rachel, who's resting a hand on her prominent bump, taking in all the horror stories about birth with a straight face, although she does seem to be gripping Mike's hand rather tightly.

Alex and Samantha are teasing Robert about his poor gift-receiving skills and Katrina is fussing around everyone, making sure glasses are filled and bellies are full.

It's a room full of joy, camaraderie, laughter, friendship, family and love. It's a Christmas for the books, one they'll all remember for a long time coming.

Harvey watches Donna as she pulls Lucy from her high chair and settles her on her lap. The infant looks around the table, adjusting to the new vantage point, and grins when Louis makes a silly face at her. She looks over at Harvey, her wife curious eyes settling on him and he can't help but to blow a raspberry at her, reaching over to tickle her belly lightly. She giggles happily in response, her legs kicking and wriggling joyfully.

Louis, free from daddy duty for the moment, settles back in his chair and engages Katrina in conversation, thanking her for the wonderful meal they'd all just enjoyed. It had been a surprise to them all that she had such skills in the kitchen and dessert was still to come; three varieties of pie as well as a decadent chocolate cake, and she'd even made Rugelach to have with coffee after the meal.

"She likes you," Donna says to Harvey, gesturing at Lucy.

"Kids often do." He shrugs and Donna chuckles, passing the baby over to Harvey who settles her in the crook of one arm. Lucy yawns, and Sheila, mom-sense kicking in, looks over immediately.

"She needs her nap."

"You can put her down in our room," Samantha says and Sheila nods, taking the baby from Harvey and heading upstairs to the bedrooms.

"You looked like a natural with her," Mike says to Harvey. Harvey rolls his eyes.

"Don't start that again. We're not having "tandem babies"."

"I'm just saying, parenting is more fun when it's done with a friend."

"No, it isn't," Harvey says firmly. He reaches for Donna's hand under the table and squeezes it. Now isn't the time to tell their friends they've decided not to have children. It's not the time to explain that they don't want to be in their sixties when their kid graduates high school, or that they don't even know if they'd be able to fall pregnant. They've only decided recently, after a lot of debating, discussions about their lives, their future, their goals. It hadn't been an easy choice, but it's one they agree on and are happy with. Donna smiles reassuringly at Harvey and squeezes his hand back. No, Christmas dinner isn't the time. They'll save it for another day.

"Who wants dessert?" Katrina asks and a cheer goes up around the table. Samantha helps her carry the pies; peach, blueberry and cherry, and the towering cake is transferred to the centre of everything, a masterpiece in every way. As they all ooh and aah over the beautiful dessert, Katrina smiles humbly, a little embarrassed at the praise.

"You did good, babe," Samantha whispers and they share a look, pure joy at being surrounded by their friends on this day.

.

"It's nice that Katrina moved in with Samantha, they make really good roommates." Harvey comments as he and Donna climb into his Lexus later that evening.

"Harvey," Donna chuckles, "what are you talking about?"

"They're both quite lonely people, it's nice they each have some company now."

"Wait… are you serious?"

Harvey looks over at her. "Yes?" He's confused. "What do you mean?"

"You… wait… you don't know?"

"Know what?" he asks impatiently.

Donna bursts into laughter, her hand falling to his arm as she giggles, squeezing his forearm gently. "Oh it's gorgeous how clueless you are."

"Clueless about what?" he asks, staring at her as she laughs.

"Harvey… they're together."

"I know that, they just hosted Christmas dinner for us all." His eyebrows draw together as his brow furrows, confused at what is going on and why she's laughing so hard.

"No, babe, they're together together. They're in a relationship." She spells it out to him like he's a child and he stares blankly at her for a moment before realisation dawns on his face and his eyes widen.

"They're… WHAT?" he looks wildly around the car as if he'll find someone ready to jump out and yell "April fool!" even though it's December.

"Yes, Harvey. They've been together seven months."

"They… seven months?" He feels like he's losing his grip on reality. "Since our wedding?"

"They got together that night."

"Fucking hell." He's dazed. He's just sat through an entire afternoon in their home and he had no idea what was going on. He wonders then if Mike knows. Hell, if Louis knows.

"If you're wondering if Louis knows, yes, he does." She says, answering his unspoken question. Not for the first time, he wonders how she does that.

"How does Louis know and I didn't?"

"Because he has eyes," she answers with a roll of her eyes, "and a brain."

His head is reeling. He works with these women every day, he considers himself a friend to both of them, and he knows Donna is definitely a friend to them, and yet this fact has escaped him for seven months. Seven months.

"Are you telling me our whole marriage has been a lie?" He asks and Donna sighs, rolling her eyes again.

"Tone down the drama, Dame Judi. No one has lied to anyone, you're just far less observant than anyone gives you credit for."

"How have I managed to miss this?" he questions, thinking back over the past seven months, trying to find signs that he could have missed.

June

"Harvey, have you seen Samantha?" Alex strides into Harvey's office, pissed for some reason or other.

"I don't know, did you ask Donna?"

"She hasn't seen her either."

"I don't know what to tell you. I haven't seen her." He poop shrugs and Alex leaves the room. He picks up his phone and dials Donna's internal line.

"Hey you," she answers cheerily.

"Do you know where my Macallister files are?"

"Harvey, I'm not your secretary, I don't keep track of your files."

"But…" he prompts and he can practically hear her eyes rolling.

"An associate was gathering them but she was pulled off the case to work with Alex on Deckerstar Insurance. They're in a pile in the file room by the left bank of shelves."

"Oh for fu… fine," he cuts himself off, "I'll go get them myself."

He walks into the file room and finds Katrina emerging from the shelf stacks, looking a little worse for wear.

"You okay?" he asks her.

"Yeah, fine," she replies, a little flustered, smoothing down her hair and leaving the room. A moment later Samantha appears.

"Alex is looking for you," he shoots at her as he gathers the files.

"Oh… right. I'll go find him." She strides away from him and he hefts the pile of papers and follows her out of the room, back to his office to continue his work day.

...

"I have no idea how you missed it," Donna replies. "I even told you once!"

July

Harvey is vaguely aware of two blondes passing his office as Donna walks through the door, sitting herself down on the couch, adjacent to his position in the armchair.

"It's great about Samantha and Katrina, isn't it," she says with a smile. Harvey nods, his mind half on the file he's reading, trying to figure out how he'll get around the loophole that means opposing counsel will tear his client apart at trial.

"Mmm," he hums in assent when she sighs in annoyance.

"Aren't you happy for them?"

"Of course," he mumbles, an idea forming in his mind. A bluff could work, prevent this from going to trial at all. But he won't get anywhere if Donna keeps talking about colleagues and cases they won last week. Last week! As if that was even news anymore. He'd closed three deals this morning, and Alex had kept a client out of prison just two days ago.

"I'll come back later," Donna sighs as she stands, "I can see your mind is elsewhere."

"Sure," Harvey answers absent-mindedly, a moment after she's already left the room.

...

"They were spending a lot of time together," he says in realisation and Donna nods, the expression on her face telling him it was the most obvious thing in the world.

August

"Do you get the feeling Harvey doesn't know about us?" Katrina asks Samantha as they sit at their regular lunch table at Jose's.

"Oh yeah, that guy is clueless," Samantha replies nonchalantly, biting into her falafel wrap. "Why do you ask?"

"Because he's approaching the table right — oh, hi, Harvey!" Katrina plasters on a bright smile and Samantha smirks.

"Harvey," she says cordially with a nod.

"Didn't expect to see you two having lunch together," he comments and Samantha grins into her food while Katrina shrugs, unsure how to respond. After a moment of silence he shakes his head. "I'm just picking up something to go anyway. I'll see you back in the office." And he's gone. Samantha bursts into laughter at Katrina's wide eyed discomfort.

"What was I meant to say?" Katrina groans, her head in her hands.

"Nothing," Samantha replies, taking pity on her girlfriend and reaching out to squeeze her hand. "He's clueless, that's not up to you to resolve."

...

"They were wearing one another's clothes!" Donna chuckles and Harvey rolls his eyes. He wouldn't have noticed a thing like that.

September

It's Wednesday morning when he and Donna arrive at the firm at the same time as Katrina. As the three of them board the elevator together, Donna notices the coat Katrina is wearing.

"Oh I love this," she says, touching the sleeve of the cream fabric. Harvey looks over the garment, a light shrug following. It's just a coat. He'll never understand women and their need to comment on each other's clothing all the time.

"Thanks. It's Samantha's. It was colder than I thought this morning so she lent it to me."

"Cute," Donna remarks and Harvey catches the two of them grinning at each other.

Women, he thinks to himself.

...

"And they went on vacation together," Harvey remembers, thinking back some more.

October

He's looking for Samantha. He'd taken a call from an ex-client of his who she had taken over and he's fuming that he'd had to take the call.

He strides into Donna's office after having checked the entirety of the fiftieth floor. "Where the hell is Samantha? I can't find her anywhere and she not picking up her phone."

"She's on vacation," Donna answers without looking up.

"She's on vacation?"

"Yes, Harvey, she's on vacation. We're all entitled to vacation time, you know," she says pointedly. He rolls his eyes.

"Yes, I promised I'd take you to Barbados and I will! But right now, I need to know whether Samantha filed that motion last week or not."

"Which paralegal was she using? Check with them."

He exhales in frustration and turns on his heel. Vacation? Who knew!

He realises as he's on his way back to his office that Samantha has been working with Katrina a lot lately. Maybe she'll know. He changed direction and swings by her office, finding it empty and the door closed. His brow furrows. He doesn't think he's ever seen her door closed before unless she was inside and in a meeting. It's an unspoken rule in the firm - an open door policy. He frowns and makes a mental note to speak to her about it when she's back from whatever meeting she's at.

Later that day he goes looking for Katrina again and finds her door still closed. He wonders if she's out sick, but then thinks that he can't recall her ever taking sick days.

"She's on vacation," Susan says as she approaches him, an armful of folders blocking half her face.

"Vacation?" he echoes, perplexed. Why the hell is everyone on vacation this week?

"She and Samantha have gone to Belize. They're due back on the 24th."

"For fucks sake," he groans in irritation. Who the fuck allowed them both to go on vacation at the same time? "Thank you, Susan." He wanders back to his office and sits down, lifting his phone from his desk to text Samantha.

.

"Who the fuck is that?" Samantha groans as her Apple Watch buzzes on her wrist while she's laying by the pool. She holds her arm up, blocking out the sun and squinting to read the text on the screen.

From: Harvey Specter

Did you file that motion last week?

She rolls her eyes and speaks into the watch to compose her reply.

"Yes, I filed it on Friday. Now leave me alone. C u next Tuesday". She grins at her less-than-subtle sign off.

"We're not going back until Wednesday," Katrina says from her left.

"I know." Samantha grins.

...

"They weren't subtle, Harvey. It should have been blindingly obvious."

November

When Harvey walks into Katrina's office, Samantha is perched on the side of the desk and they're laughing together.

"Doesn't anyone do any work around here?" he grumbles bitterly and Samantha rolls her eyes.

"Like you and Donna are any better."

"I think that's a slightly different situation," he responds sharply and Katrina turns her wide-eyed gaze on him.

"You really think that because you're married that makes you better than us?" She asks, in a rare moment of bravery toward the man who's always intimidated her a little. Samantha reaches out and squeezes her shoulder as Harvey shakes his head.

"It's got nothing to do with being married."

"You can't be saying…" Katrina trails off, looking at Samantha for help and for some reason they both look furious with him.

"That had better not be what you mean, Harvey, or you'll regret it." Samantha threatens lightly. Harvey has absolutely no idea what they're talking about, but remembering an argument he had with Donna last week where she had been angry because he hadn't known what she'd meant, he knows it's better not to ask.

"No, of course not," he bluffs. "I would never."

"Good," Samantha replies venomously, standing and squeezing Katrina's shoulder again. "Because we have every right to act in the same manner as you and Donna do." She leaves the room and he shakes his head, wondering how it's the same thing at all.

...

"Oh," he says as he realises how many signs he's missed. "They really… wow."

"I can't believe you had no idea," Donna chuckles. "Even if you weren't listening when I told you outright, wasn't it obvious?"

"It should have been." He shrugs, realising how blind he's been. Not for the first time, he thinks, looking over at his wife. He takes Donna's hand and squeezes lightly as their fingers link together. "I'm glad they're happy."

"Me too," she says. "They've both always seemed like something was missing and now they just… they fit."

"Like us," Harvey says, hearing the double meaning in her words.

"Exactly."

.

"I'm glad we hosted today, it was so much fun, but next year remind me to wear flats!" Katrina says as she flops onto the couch, kicking her shoes off and rubbing her stockinged feet.

"Sure, babe." Samantha closes the door of their brownstone and sits down next to her girlfriend, scooping Katrina's feet into her lap.

"Do you think Harvey's realised yet?" Katrina asks, reaching for her glass of wine on the coffee table.

"If you mean do I think Donna has told him yet, then yeah, probably. Who knew such a good lawyer would be so obtuse," Samantha laughs, swiping the glass form Katrina's hand and sipping from it.

"If he hasn't realized yet, he needs his head examined."

"If he hasn't realized yet, I'm going to show him the sexts you sent me when I went to DC last month," Samantha teases. Katrina shakes her head, laughing as she hears her phone chime in her pocket. She fumbles with the fabric of the dress, eventually extracting her iPhone to see a text from Donna.

From: Donna Paulsen

Can you believe Harvey didn't know you and S are together?!

She laughs and shows the text to Samantha. "I guess he's wised up."

"Oh, she definitely had to tell him," Samantha replies with a grin. "No wonder it took them thirteen years to get together."

"Thank god we weren't so clueless," Katrina says softly and reaches for her girlfriend's hand, squeezing it gently. Before fumbling for something else in her pocket and withdrawing a shining silver engagement ring. Samantha gasps as Katrina begins the speech she had carefully put together over the past days and weeks.

"That night, so many wonderful things happened; little Lucy was born, Harvey and Donna got married, but most importantly, we finally stopped dancing around how we felt. I know it's soon and this might seem crazy fast, but the last seven and a half months have been the best of my life and I know that I don't want anyone else but you, forever. And now that everyone in our lives knows what we are and who we are to one another, I don't want to wait anymore. I want to start planning the rest of our lives together. And I want to start that with a wedding." Katrina wipes away a tear that's escaped and is rolling down her cheek. "Samantha Wheeler, love of my life, will you marry me?"

Samantha wipes her own eyes as well and then nods, whispering "yes". She watches with watery eyes as Katrina slides the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand and then leans in, their lips meeting in an emotional and joyful kiss.

"How long do you think it'll take Harvey to figure this one out?"

.-*°✧°*-.