Picture frame
It's the first thing they bought together for their apartment. It's his place, but they noticed Donna had somehow moved in a few weeks back and apart from bringing over a couple of curiosities, it was mostly just his stuff that formed the base of their home.
They had talked about going shopping for a couple of new pieces, to make the place theirs and mark it as a new beginning. Except there was one little thing that came in between those plans; unexpected but welcomed, oh so welcomed, all the same.
They found out the day after one of their date nights, with Donna feeling less than desirable and they'd joked about a Szechuan peppercorn getting the better of her after all. The real reason, the reason for buying their first item as a couple was just a tiny bit bigger; the size of a plum.
She'd laughed at his question of five copies, but the proud look on his face made her heart swell with pride as she swallowed her comment of calling him a sap. The first frame landed proudly on his desk, the one at home cause they weren't quite ready yet to share it with everyone at the office.
She knew he kept a copy in his wallet as well, and that one was for his mother. Framed in a similar style as the one in their home.
He never got to give it to her, just like Lily had never been able to hand him the ring that now graced the redhead's hand. The news was something they'd kept to themselves to tell Lily in person; it was why they talked about meeting up soon. Deep down, he figured she knew anyway, the word grandma as she referred to the ring written in cursive. It's a small detail, but even after so many years estranged, he knew his mother.
Mike was the first person to come over to their home, the reasoning for the pup's visit rooted in the loss of a loved one, but Harvey was glad to see the kid anyway. Happy Donna arranged for him to come. After the quick banter back and forth shared between the three of them, Harvey noticed Mike looking around the place. In reality, it wasn't much different from before he left for Seattle; except it was. In all the ways that counted, it was different; and a small grin spread across his lips as Harvey's eyes found the back of the frame on his desk. He caught Donna's eyes after and he knew she knew what he was thinking about, but it wasn't the time to share the news. Not yet.
They eventually ended up telling Louis first, when they visited Sheila and him in the hospital the day after the wedding to see Lucy again. It's Harvey's constant gaze on Donna as she held her goddaughter that sparked Louis' interest. But just as the first morning he saw them together he was a mile off when he commented about how Harvey couldn't stop ogling his wife and that his attention should be on their godchild.
"It is," Harvey said, "just getting used to the sight."
It was the last thing they packed before making the cross-country move. Not stacked in any of the boxes to be handled by the movers but placed in his carry-on luggage. She called him an idiot, and he called it precious cargo. The look he gave her told Donna he didn't just mean the picture but them; her and their little bean.
Mike and Rachel eventually found out when helping unpack and the frame just so happened to be laying around. It's Rachel's loud screech that told the newlyweds their news had been discovered; it was Harvey's big grin that gave away to Donna that he left it there on purpose.
The frame eventually found its permanent residence on top of the mantle in their new living room; the frame he got for his mother on the desk in his new office.
.
It's three years, and many, many frames later when it gets accompanied by another one—holding a similar black and white image. Both frames were showing so little, but his everythings at the same time.
"What that?" he tears his gaze away from the frame and back to their daughter in his arms as the two-and-a-half-year-old points at the sonogram they had that morning.
"Your little brother," he answers with a smile, pressing a kiss to her red curls. "And look," he taps the original frame, "this is you."