23 weeks...

Donna knew that she was running out of time. The hushed words and the lingering looks in her direction, she wasn't stupid and she knew damn well everyone wasn't blind. Weeks and weeks of careful wardrobe planning, strategic routes to the file room that involved minimal human interaction and her tactical toilet excursions were about to come to an end. The red head sighed loudly in frustration as she looked down at her prominent bump, her mind swimming in a million thoughts; things were about to get messy.

Donna had never been one to let idle office gossip get to her, in fact, she had a miraculous and almost supernatural way to make the fabricated lies disappear, but she was fresh out of genius plans on this one. The fact of the matter was simple- she was having her boss' baby and although she had accepted that fact a long time ago, the office dynamic and her placing in the Pearson Specter food chain was about to be permanently altered, and not for the better. Waddling her way back to her cubicle, Donna rolled her eyes at the freshly made 'Prunie' that stood to attention on her desk, in all of its brown, disgustingly rancid glory.

Ever since Donna had dropped the bomb shell on Louis about her and Harvey, she had witnessed the ultimate 'Louis Litt rollercoaster of emotions' experience, from utter insanity to borderline certifiable sadness, to obsessive nutritional check ups and daily prunies. She knew deep down that it was because he cared for her, and whilst she appreciated the fact that Louis had somehow managed to keep the whole thing a secret, she could do without the constant bombardment of pregnancy advice and lists of pre-K rankings every 10 seconds from the balding lawyer.

"Well that looks revolting." Donna smirked as she moved her gaze to Harvey who was eyeing up the drink cautiously

"Its healthy."

"It's hazardous" he shot back, folding his arms across his chest "there is no way in hell I am letting you consume that."

"Oh yeah?" she cocked an eyebrow " and since when have you had any say on what I put in my body..."

Harvey scoffed, holding back a laugh as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively "Since- no I can't, it's not even 9am, even I have some class"

Donna rolled her eyes as she hit him playfully, letting her lips tug into a smile for a split second before falling serious once more. "Harvey?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm fat." she stated nonchalantly.

"No you're not?" he replied, unsure if he was saying the right thing "is that what you wanted me to say or..."

She shook her head "I'm not looking for an ego boost, my name isn't Harvey Specter-"

"Hey!"

"Oh hush, princess. What I was trying to say is that I'm huge. As in, there is no way I, we" she corrected herself "can hide this any longer."

Harvey ushered her into his office, closing the glass door behind them "Just a couple more weeks and we can tell everyone, I promise. I just need to win this goddamn case against Kirk Fuller and we're golden"

"Yeaahhh... not going to happen." she exhaled "This" she continued, pointing to the protruding bump "isn't making it any easier to walk in these" pointing to her Louboutins "and the moment Jessica or any self respecting woman in this building sees me in flats, it's front page news."

"Donna, don't you think that's just a little over the top? Even for you." She watched as the man sat behind his desk, absentmindedly opening his laptop up, scrolling through the dozens of emails waiting for his response as he waited for hers.

"Okay Harvey, let me break this down in terms that even your pretty little face will understand." She clapped her hands together as she spoke to the man slowly and deliberately. "Harvey, I'm nearly six months pregnant, I'm the size of a goddamn house, I need to eat every 90 minutes and I'm pretty sure the associates are running a bet on how many times I'm going to the toilet a day. I don't care about the associates, I don't even care about the other partners, but if Jessica finds out from someone other than us, then we are in for a world of shit."

Harvey sighed loudly, knowing that she was right. God he hated it when she was right. "Can't we just send her a memo or a holiday card once the baby is born?"

"That's a fantastic idea Harvey, why didn't I think of that?!" she exclaimed excitedly "that seriously solves all of our problems!"

He looked up from his laptop screen, surprised by her reaction to what he thought was just a joke. "Really?" because that's an idea he could completely get behind.

Her face fell, her head tilting to one side as she narrowed her eyes at the man in a mixture of disbelief and confusion "No, Harvey, of course not."

"Oh."

"You need to tell her."

"I will."

"Today." she pushed

"Nope." he shook his head "No chance in hell."

"Harvey..."

"Donna" he mocked her tone "I'm not telling her today."

"Why?"

"Because..." he paused, pursing his lips together in a straight line "because the woman is going to castrate me, and I'd like to keep my manhood for as long as possible."

Donna laughed at his child-like expression "your manhood has had a good run and now its served its intented purpose, so if you've got to sacrifice something for the greater good, then I'd say it's a pretty fair trade."

"Bitch!" he retorted in shock, subconsciously crossing his legs under the desk.

Donna turned towards the door, throwing her hair over her shoulders as she took one final glance at the lawyer "Yep." she agreed with a smug smirk and a nod "but that's why you love me."

"You have no idea.," he muttered inaudibly under his breath as the door shut behind her.

"You're going to need new carpet if you don't stop pacing" Mike kept his eyes firmly focused on the sports section of the Times as he stuffed the remainder of his bagel in his mouth.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk with food in your mouth?" he shot back, still pacing nervously.

"Yeah didn't get the chance to have that life lesson with her, you know, with her being..."

"Orphan jokes?" Harvey stopped, raising an eyebrow at the younger man "Really? That's low, even for you."

Mike shrugged, swallowing the last mouthful of his lunch "sorry" he mumbled in apology "but your pacing and my low blood sugar level has caused the inability for me to filter the words I say. Which reminds me, why the hell are you pacing anyway?"

"Donna has given me an ultimatum."

"On what?" Mike's curiosity peaked as he made himself comfortable on the leather couch of Harvey's office. "Ooh Ooh!" he jumped up and down like a small child at Christmas "let me guess! Let me guess! Has Donna finally told you that this latest haircut of yours is a no go and that if you fail to go to the barbers ASAP she'll attack you in the night with an electric razor?" Harvey remained silent, not dignifying the question with an answer. "No? Hmmm" Mike tapped his chin in feign thought "Has she finally realized her feelings, suggested that you move into a house in Westchester much like the one you've secretly bought and live happily ever after?"

Harvey's movements came to a halt as he placed his hands on his hips faking a laugh "that's fucking hilarious Mike, we should get you a sold out stand up gig at the Garden."

The kid threw his hands up in surrender "I don't know! You two are so telenovela worthy that just about anything is possible."

"I have to tell Jessica about Donna and I"

"Oh shiiiiiiit." Harvey nodded in agreement "Well" Mike jumped up out of his chair quickly, clapping his hands together "You" he pointed at Harvey "have fun with that, good luck and all that jazz. I'm going to go and read some briefs, if I don't see you in the morning, I'll presume that she's thrown you off the roof. Don't worry, we'll give you a lovely send off."

"Ha ha ha." Harvey said dryly. "She's not going to kill me."

"Oh she's going to kill you."

"Y...ep, she's going to kill me."

"I don't care if the guys cat died, if he hasn't accepted our offer by the end of day, he can say goodbye to his house in the Hamptons and everything else in his life, because we'll take him to trial and drain every cent from him."

Harvey watched from the doorway of Jessica's office as the woman shouted down the phone, her spare hand resting firmly on her hip. He had always admired the strength, determination and the 'no shit' attitude the woman before him had, but there was no denying that the woman could be utterly terrifying.

"Harvey" she beamed as she turned around, catching sight of the man for the first time "come in. What can I do for you?"

She's in a fairly good mood he thought, maybe this wont be so bad. "I was just wondering if we could have a quick catch up? But if you're too busy, we can always do it some other time, it's no big deal..." he rambled quickly.

Jessica narrowed her eyes at the lawyer, noticing his uncharacteristically nervous demeanor "Okay Harvey, spill."

He let out a shaky breath "So..." he started "I wanted to tell you about some changes that have happened around the office recently..."

"Is this about Pierce and Jones' fling? Because everyone knows those two are hooking up on the 32nd floor.," she laughed, taking a seat opposite him "they do not make an attractive couple."

"No. It's actually a little closer to home..."

"As in... 50th floor?"

"As in...me."

"Harvey" Jessica smiled "I know Donna is pregnant. I've known for weeks"

"You have?" Harvey's eyes widened as his shoulders slumped in relief "Oh good, because we were afraid to tell you."

Raising an eyebrow, Jessica was stumped "why? Just because I'm married to the work, doesn't mean I can't be happy if a fellow employee gets pregnant. I mean sure, it was a surprise when I found out, but that's because I didn't know Donna had a significant other."

"Oh." shit.

"They must be very excited"

"They are" he agreed quietly "very."

"You've met him then?"

"I guess so yeah."

"You guess? What does that mean?"

It was now or never, rip the band-aid off or live a lie and face the consequences later. Harvey inhaled deeply, sitting on his hands as they began to shake slightly. "I'm the father." he quickly blurted out. "Donna and I are having a baby, I am the baby's father."

Jessica was rendered speechless as her mouth fell open, her eyes fixated on the slick haired lawyer. Silence fell between the pair of them, the air thickening with tension as Harvey desperately waited for his partner to say something, anything.

"Jessica..."

"You're joking right? He shook his head "Harvey, what the hell were you thinking? I've always had my suspicions that there was something going on between the two of you, but after years of suspecting and nothing coming from it, I put it down to a weird yet brilliant working dynamic. But this... how long have you been together?"

"We're not"

"Come again?"

"We're not together."

"So you slept with your secretary and knocked her up? Real classy Harvey. Just what I want from a named partner."

"It's not like that."

"Then what is it like? Because all I can see is a shit ton of ammunition for office gossip and your reputation going to shit."

"You know what Donna means to me..." he started, trying to think of a justifiable response

"No Harvey, I don't, and neither do you. You've been skirting around your goddamn feelings for that woman for years, you've gone through countless women, fucked up endless relationships and your only constant throughout all of that has been her."

"Let me..."

"Ultimately it's none of my goddamn business what is going on between you two Harvey, and quite frankly I don't want to know, but this is my goddamn firm and I will not watch shit hit the fan over this. I want to be happy for the pair of you, I really do, but effective immediately Donna will be reassigned to another partner within the firm."

Harvey jumped to his feet as he shook his head profusely "No way, Absolutely not. She's going nowhere. I don't care about the ramifications, Donna is my secretary and she is going nowhere."

"This is not up for discussion Harvey"

"Jessica-"

"Harvey, this conversation is over."

Harvey had sent Donna home just after lunchtime, telling her to take the rest of the day off to have some baby and me time, but Donna knew full well it was because of his impending conversation with Jessica. Normally, Donna would have jumped at the chance to go home, strip out of her dress and roll around in sweat pants and an oversized tee, but not today. Instead her phone had remained glued to her hand, waiting impatiently for news on the conversation between the two named partners, but Harvey's radio silence had made it next to impossible for the red head to relax.

Laying on the sofa, hands planted firmly on her bump, she closed her eyes, enjoying the weird sensation of her baby wriggling about as she tried to distract herself from the thought of Harvey. That, of course, was until his ringtone started blaring through her phone, a message illuminating her screen telling her he was on his way over.

"Hi" she smiled sheepishly as she opened the door to Harvey, her eyes rolling ever so slightly at the tie that now hung loosely around his neck.

"Hey" he breathed, his shoulders slumping as he entered her apartment. She watched quietly as he navigated his way to the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the top cabinet before successfully locating her secret stash of alcohol that she thought she had sneakily hidden away from the little mitts of Harvey Specter. He sighed loudly as he poured himself a large glass of malbec, taking a large mouthful before turning his attention back to the pregnant red head. "Hey" he said again, his demeanor relaxing as he slumped into the sofa, kicking his shoes off "how are you doing?"

Donna shrugged as she nestled in beside him "I'm okay, bit bored but I guess that's what happens when your boss decides to send you home in the middle of the day with no prior warning."

"Hmm." Letting more of the burgundy liquid slip down his throat "sorry, I was on damage limitation."

Donna understood, she would have done the same thing if it had been her in that situation. "How did Jessica take it?"

"Donna..."

"Just tell me."

"From tomorrow morning you no longer work for me."

"W-w-what?" Donna stuttered, unsure if she heard Harvey right. "What do you mean?"

"She will reassign you to another senior partner within the firm."

"Did you not tell her to jog on? That I'm your secretary?" She jumped off of the sofa as she stared down at the man.

"I did."

"But you didn't fight hard enough." she nodded her head slowly, wondering why she was even surprised by this man anymore.

"Donna, I did."

"All of this 'I can't be me without you' bullshit is just that and has always just been that, absolute Bullshit."

"Donna, please" he pushed himself off of the sofa, now towering over her.

"Time after time I have watched helplessly as you screw me over."

"What are you talking about?" Harvey was now lost, this conversation taking a wrong turn which he knew could end up being fatal.

"You watched me get fired over the memo and instead of you fighting for me, you let your rookie associate dig out of a hole."

"Are you kidding me?" It was Harvey's turn to raise his voice "how many goddamn times are you going to hang that one thing over my head Donna? I said I was sorry a thousand times, but I have never done anything to purposefully hurt you!"

"Because you always think about yourself. Because you never see how your actions, your words affect other people, because other people don't exist in the Harvey Specter bubble" Donna knew that deep down, she was taking this far too out of context, but her hormones had taken over, the irrational side of her taking control. She was out for blood and the only way she could achieve that was through self-destruction.

"That's unfair Donna, that's unfair and you know it."

"Do you know what's unfair Harvey? You, you getting me into this goddamn mess to start with." Donna was now red in the face, her heart racing as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even be in this mess!" She screamed, chest heaving as her fists pounded her sides in frustration, the baby kicking her back in annoyance.

"Me?!" He exclaimed wide eyed "You're the one who wanted a baby! Don't put this all on me."

Donna laughed darkly, her eyes narrowing as her teeth dug into her bottom lip harshly "You think that's what I mean?" she shook her head "Every goddamn day I wake up to please you! For years I've put my life on the back burner, rejected and destroyed multiple opportunities to be happy, to be in a committed relationship, to have a life that isn't Harvey-centric. For you I gave up on the idea of walking down the aisle in a breathtakingly beautiful dress, for you I gave up on the idea of hauling my kids to their sports games and dance recitals in the mini van. I gave up the life I had dreamed of since I was a little girl, to become a personal to a man that sees me as nothing more than a walking 'fixer' for the last thirteen years. To a man who after all that has just given me up because he's to scared to get into a heated discussion with his partner."

Silence fell between the pair as he let her words sink in. "Wow" he whispered, feeling the air being sucked out of his lungs as his chest felt like it was being crushed under the weight of her words. "Okay" he nodded, his mind unable to formulate any other coherent response.

Donna cringed, instantly realizing the severity of her words as she reached out for him, his skin burning hot under her touch as he flinched away "Harvey..."

Harvey pursed his lips together in a tight line, shaking his head slowly as his feet slowly retracted. "Harvey, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, wait-"

"But you did" he interrupted quietly, his voice void of emotion "you know as well as I do Donna, you never say anything that you don't mean"

She felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes, her vision blurring, distorting the image of a heart broken Harvey standing before her "Please" she choked out, her voice cracking under the strain of holding back the sobs that threatened to rack through her body. Harvey wordlessly turned his back to her, grabbing his coat as he moved his gaze anywhere that wasn't on her. "Please" she begged again, trying to move in front of the door, blocking his exit.

Closing his eyes momentarily, he tilted his head towards the ceiling, mentally mustering up the courage to say his next sentence, unearthing the words from the dark pit of pent up emotions over a decade in the making. "I know that at times I'm not a good man. I'm a man that can and has made even the toughest of people feel two inches tall with a single statement. I can let even the darkest of personal insults wash over me like no big deal, but you have always been my kryptonite. In every goddamn sense of the word." He smiled sadly as he went for the door, Donna stepping out of his way as the tears began falling freely "You have always made me want to be a better man. From the day I first met you, I never felt like I deserved to be around someone like you, that you were this majestic creature that deserved to be worshipped, idolized. And since that day that's all I've ever done, sitting in awe quietly as i watched you conquer every obstacle, and achieve every goal. You're family to me Donna, more now than ever, and like I told your parents, I would give up everything for you without a second thought. But you're right, I've been holding you back from your dreams for the last decade, who knows where you might have been now- married with a family you care about, instead of picking up the pieces of a dysfunctional egotistical, lonely middle aged man." With a sigh, Harvey opened the door, stepping into the hallway, glancing at Donna for a final time "I held you back for my own selfish reasons, because in the times where I couldn't vocalize what you meant to me, what you mean to me, having you around in any capacity made me feel content, made me feel like I was home."

"What are you trying to say Harvey?"

"What I've been trying and failing to say since the moment I set eyes on you." he looked at her expectedly, hoping that she'd understand without him saying it, but her blank expression told him otherwise. "You know I love you Donna."

Haha... *waves sheepishly* hi. ya'll alright? Long time no see! Can't believe I haven't updated this in a year. Life has been...life. So I reread through all of this and decided to update. If you're still reading/interested, let me know and I'll keep updating and finish this story, if not I will let it die, like my hope for then as endgame. Peace out.