A/N: Just a little fluffy season nine insert to help me try to find my Darvey. Hope you enjoy!
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She tells his mom he proposed and he swears his heart expands. If someone had told him three years ago this is where his life would lead, he would've laughed in their face, but he's so glad it is. The love of his life is laughing with his mom on the phone, squeezing his arm to communicate her elation on being allowed into this part of his life and he finds he's speechless, incapable of any response other than a ridiculously huge grin, even though Lily is reprimanding him for taking back the non-question. He doesn't want to interrupt anyway. It's his phone, but he feels like he's intruding, eavesdropping on a conversation not meant for his ears.
"Donna." The tone of Lily's voice has sobered, and he watches as Donna rearranges herself on the couch as she notices this too. "I wanted to thank you."
"For what?" Donna asks, clearly confused at what this woman she's never met could possibly be grateful to her for.
"For bringing my son back into my life," she explains. "I know that you pushed him to come and make amends with me. I will never be able to repay you for that. And for making him so happy. I can hear it in his voice now, how much lighter he is. When he talks about you, he sounds like he's going to burst, it's kind of cute actually."
She's still grinning but her eyes are cloudy, overwhelmed with love for the man beside her, and gratitude for the woman on the other end of the phone.
"You don't need to thank me for that, Lily," she whispers, finding herself unable to get the words out any other way, "making him happy these days is the easiest thing I've ever done."
He huffs out a laugh at that because she's teasing him, but it's true. She doesn't have to try, her mere presence is a serotonin overload, and maybe that's unhealthy. Maybe that's a dangerous amount of adoration to have for someone, but he finds he doesn't care. He's willing to risk it for her, and that alone is a revelation he can't believe he's made. He's drawn from his reverie when his mother's voice echoes through the room once more.
"I'm glad," she says, "but I don't mean just these days. I mean for the past decade."
Donna's breath hitches, but she doesn't say anything so Lily takes the silence as her cue to continue.
"Marcus used to tell me about you, you know. How he'd call Harvey's office and get all the information he needed from the firecracker at his desk. That he knew Harvey trusted you because you always knew all the right things to say. And Gordon loved you, too. I remember the first time I spoke to him after he met you. He told me he met our son's future wife. Looks like he was right." She pauses for a second, letting Harvey and Donna both have a moment to absorb that information. "I guess he was right, huh? Just took Harvey a lot longer to realise it than his father."
That earns her an outright laugh from Donna, as Harvey rolls his eyes, but reaches out to draw her closer to him at the same time, placing a soft kiss against her temple to let her know he has realised now. She's it for him. This is it for them.
"Mmm, okay, I'll give you that one, Lily," Donna smirks, looking up at him as she continues, "he hasn't always been easy to love."
"Oh, you've got that right," the older woman agrees. "I remember one time, he must have been seven years old. Gordon was out of town for longer than expected and the boys were really upset about it, so I bought them ice cream for dessert as a treat. That was a big deal, we only ever had dessert on Sunday's."
"That's true," Harvey interrupts, speaking for the first time since he interrupted the two women. "It sucked."
His mother simply laughs at him, and Donna jabs him in the side with her elbow for the comment.
"Anyway," Lily continues, amused, "he was so happy about it, gave me the biggest bear hug then and told me, 'I love you mom, even if your shirt is ugly today.'"
"Harvey," Donna exclaims, tossing him a glaring he finds nothing short of adorable.
"Donna, I was seven," he defends himself.
"Ugh, our kids are gonna be terrors, aren't they?" she jokes, immediately clasping her hand over her mouth as she processes the words.
"Well, I think that's my cue to leave," Lily chimes in. "Goodnight, you two."
"Night Lily," Donna replies, eyes still wide in shock at what had just slipped out her mouth.
"Yeah, goodnight mom," Harvey says, reaching over to take the phone out of Donna's hands and hanging up.
When he turns back to her, she's staring at him, mouth agape, and he chuckles.
"Is someone speechless again?" he teases.
"Harvey, how are you so calm about this?" she asks him.
It's a good question, and he's not entirely sure of the answer. The topic of kids should freak him out. He was caught off guard by marriage earlier, so children truly should have him scrambling to change the subject but instead he feels… almost peaceful. A sense of tranquility settles over him as he allows himself to really think about it, because deep down he knows that a family with Donna is right. It's where his life is supposed to lead. He doesn't tell her that though, not yet, not when she's already freaking out as it is.
"I think I've reached my quota of emotional revelations today," he says instead. "You wanna go to bed?"
She shakes her head, rummaging around to settle herself into his embrace. "Let's stay here for a bit."
He pulls her closer, turns his head so his lips rest against her hair as he closes his eyes. It's astounding, he thinks, that he's the one dealing with the prospect of family better. It makes him wonder if he still has something to prove. If all the years he spent running from this, from them has left a mark on her that she can't quite get over yet. It makes his chest hurt, the thought that his issues have caused her so much pain, so he presses a long kiss against the top of her head, squeezing his arm tighter around her waist, and causing her to look up at him.
"What was that for?" she whispers, smiling.
"Just love you," he replies, reaching up to trace her bottom lip with his thumb.
"Love you, too, Harvey," she replies, and he thinks they're going to be just fine. Better than fine. They're going to be perfect.
A/N: please let me know what you think!