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Chapter Text

Prologue: Musings

Mike woke early on Sunday morning to an empty bed and a listless feeling. The morning light streamed in through the curtains, and the sounds of New York could be heard faintly beyond the thick walls of their apartment.

His apartment.

Grammy’s apartment.

That’s who this place had been meant for.

But, had it really?

He’d wanted to move his Grammy to home care, in his home. But everywhere he’d looked just hadn’t felt right. Then, he’d seen Rachel standing in front of the bay windows, the light shining on the wooden floor boards an illuminating her like an angel as she romanticized the space, and he’d signed on the dotted line.

That was all gone, now. Grammy had passed before he’d been able to show her what was meant to be their new home, his and his Grammy’s together, and Rachel had left in the night on a Saturday after months of a back-and-forth power struggle, and for what? What had they been fighting about, really?

Sure, Mike could say ‘law school’, or his status as a fraud in one of the most powerful law firms in New York, or just where they were going to build a life together. But really, it had boiled down to them. They couldn’t get on the same page.

There was nothing wrong with having two dominant personalities in the same home, but there had to be some sort of give-and-take, and he and Rachel just couldn’t seem to find that balance. There was always something to fight about; something that Rachel disapproved of, or Mike felt had a clear answer that she just wasn’t willing to see.

Mike huffed to himself. It would be so easy to just paint Rachel as a villain, cite her desire to control everything from where they ate, to the drapes on the windows, and every bit of furniture and appliances in the house that had to be just so as a reason they fell apart. He could cite her need to have opinions on every case he brought to her for help, or the fact that once she knew he was a fraud, she felt the need to throw it in his face or use it as a reason to insist he quit the firm every other week, while also clearly enjoying her time working cases with him.

He could say it was the whiplash, hot/cold that they blew when they were in each other’s space from a physical desire to climb each other, then the next moment wanting to get as far away from each other’s sight as they possibly could. He could say it was her ‘pros and cons’ list that didn’t even take him into account, or the fact that he actually did prioritize Harvey over her on more than one occasion.

He could say all of these things.

Or, he could just boil it down to one simple thing: They were never going to truly see eye to eye.

She wanted status, and style, and a curated life that was just so, by her own design as well as the result of her upbringing in a well off, well-to-do family.

He remembered losing the house his parents had meant to raise him in when he was only eleven. Any financial advantage he’d had in life had walked out the door in that lawyer’s briefcase not long after.

This apartment had been meant to bring him and his Grammy back out of those depths of loss and scraping-by. This was supposed to be a new leaf, a new life.

For her, it had just been another lateral move.

Mike rolled over, and looked out through the curtains, propping his head on a pillow.

He knew Rachel had worked for what she had, and was brilliant both with her budget and her carefully curated career that she had built without her father’s help. But there was no denying the privilege she’d also carried as the daughter of Robert Zane.

Mike bet that they’d had a contingency plan just in case he and his wife had died young. Rachel would have never ended up in his shoes.

His parents hadn’t been so lucky.

He considered what had drawn him and Rachel together.

Beyond physical attraction, there was no denying that they were both wildly intelligent people. She was considerate, meticulous, and tenacious. Even now, her admittance to Stanford and Columbia were beyond impressive. Harvard or no, she would make one hell of a lawyer, one day. If she’d wanted to, she could probably wait another year and reapply to Harvard. But Mike knew that Stanford was really where she was meant to be. 

She wouldn’t be waiting. For Harvard, or for him.

Mike took a moment to examine his own role in their no-ended relationship. He could admit that building a relationship on a lie hadn’t been the smartest move. There was always going to come a time where she would either find out, or he would have been forced to tell her.

Harvey had been against their relationship.

At the time, Mike had thought it was just Harvey’s jealous nature and a need for control, but now that he’d had some time to consider Harvey’s actions since the revealing of his secret to Rachel, it turned out that Harvey’s feelings had been about the truth. Harvey hated lying. For all of his masterful use and understanding of attorney-client privilege, he hated people who hid things from their romantic partners, and Mike had been doing just from the start with Rachel.

According to Harvey, he’d lost Scottie because he couldn’t lie to the people he loved. Mike had almost lost Harvey because of a lie he’d kept for Jessica.

Lies destroyed relationships. And, even after he’d told Rachel, they’d never quite found a way to be honest with each other; not about their real wants, not about their dreams and goals, or reasons for actions taken.

Mike pulled himself from the bed, making his way into the kitchen to pour himself a coffee and sit at the kitchen table. He took in his surroundings from his vantagepoint.

Just because Mike didn’t care much about furniture and fixtures, did not mean that he didn’t want to see some representation of his own style mixed in among their living spaces. Looking around, he could only pin-point one or two things that screamed ‘Mike’ among the designer showcase picture frames and cream-colored couches.

When he’d mentioned bringing some of his fun personal effects like posters and knickknacks from Brooklyn, only half-joking, Rachel’s scoff had shut him down on the spot. He’d felt every bit of their financial disparity in that moment. He’d never mentioned it, again.

Half of the kitchen appliances he’d had to memorize the manual for, not having the second nature that Rachel seemed to float around the kitchen with. His palate wasn’t refined enough for her taste, and so family recipes had been pushed to the side to make way for gourmet meals learned in hobby cooking classes she’d taken with world-renowned chefs.

Mike rubbed his face with both hands, groaning.

Who even was he? Who was this person that said “Sure, yes, absolutely!” with no thought or negotiation for his own needs and wants? How had he not noticed how little of himself was invested into the apartment, and the relationship.

No wonder Lovely had asked him if there was something wrong with his memory.

He’d been letting a lot of things slide in order to keep the peace in his house.  

He’d let a lot of himself disappear.

Unfortunately, that was rather impossible with a memory like his.

So, now he sat in his kitchen, running through every fight, every exchange, every negotiation he and Rachel had had in the last few years of their on-again-off-again relationship and friendship. He thought about the good times and the bad and realized that, in the end, they had both been dating the ideal of each other, while not really seeing the person under the image they’d both held of who each other should have been.

She’d fallen for someone she’d thought was a Harvard graduate with connections and promise.

He’d fallen in love with the better life she represented, with a companion he could provide for and an actual physical place to call home.

They’d both had expectations the other couldn’t truly meet.

He was a fraud with no connections beyond Pearson Specter, which she’d already had by virtue of her position in the firm.

She didn’t need anything he could offer her, because she wasn’t looking for the kind of emotional connection he craved.

He felt terrible that it had taken her seeing it, alone, for them to finally fall all the way apart.

He had grieved her for the last two days. It was time to mend the fences and move forward.

He grabbed his phone off the table and shot her a text.

6:30AM Are you at your parents?

6:33AM I’m at yoga class. You know my schedule, Mike.

6:34AM Can we meet? Coffee?

6:35AM I’m not coming back, Mike.

6:37AM I’m no one’s second choice.

Mike sighed.

6:40AM I know. I’m sorry.

6:40AM Please, just coffee.

6:45AM  I’m picking where. You’re paying.

6:45AM Understood.

She texted him an address and a time.

6:45AM It’s that place down the street from here. I’ll be there until 7:30. DON’T be late, or I’m leaving.

6:48AM I’ll be there…. I really am sorry.

7:00AM (read)

Mike nodded to himself. It was time to face the music. He took another look around the apartment, before heading to shower and change.

Grabbing his keys and wallet, he headed out. It was time to close the chapter on this shared life with Rachel, so that he could start writing one with new possibilities.

He locked the door behind him.

Rachel was sitting at a table near the window, looking as immaculate as ever for a person who’d just completed a ninety-minute sunrise yoga class. Her hair fell artfully around her face, as the sun shown on her through the glass. She held a coffee mug in her hands; not a cardboard or plastic cup from a chain store, but a real porcelain mug that spoke of just how ‘indie’ this coffee shop was. Mike could feel the dollar signs, even if they weren’t printed on the menu.

‘Harvey would love this place,’ He found himself thinking, privately. He quickly shook the thought from his mind. Now wasn’t the time to think about Harvey.

“Rachel,” Mike murmured low, as he slid into the seat across from her. He placed his hands on the table and waited for her to turn to him.

“Mike,” She responded, matter-of-fact with a raised brow.

For a moment neither of them spoke. The weight of things unsaid hung in the air between them, days and weeks and months of conversations avoided or ignored. Mike tried to find a place to start, but Rachel beat him to it.

“How long?” She asked, sipping her coffee as she observed him.

“I’m sorry?” Mike responded, confused.

“How long have you been lying to my face?” Her voice stayed low, but the demand and accusation were clear in her tone.

“You knew – “ Mike started, before leaning in and lowering his voice, “You’ve known I was a fraud for a while, Rachel.”

“No,” She interrupted, holding out a hand. “I’m not talking about work. I’m talking about us.

            How long have you been lying to me about me being your priority? Because, Mike, I had time to think, yesterday, when you went running out the door at nine o’clock in the morning, on what was supposed to be a lazy day together. I had time to think when you didn’t answer any of my texts, all day. I had a lot of time to think when, after I informed you that I was leaving, you didn’t seem to think it important enough to text me back until the next morning.

If I was actually your priority, you would have talked to me, any one of those times! All of those times!

And do you want to know what I thought?”

Mike waited.

“I thought, ‘this isn’t even the first time.’  This wasn’t even the first time you’d made me second to something else; To someone else.

Mike, do you know how many times you chose Harvey over me?”

Rachel paused with an expectant face. Mike opened his mouth, but as the tally started running in his head, he could feel the blood draining from his face. Rachel nodded.

“Every time. Every time, Mike. I couldn’t think of one time where you chose me if it didn’t also somehow benefit Harvey, or hell, the firm! Mike, you put the firm over me, and I’ve been there longer! I eat, sleep, and breathe the firm and you still somehow managed to make me feel like I was losing to it!”

Mike took a breath to respond.

“-And, don’t tell me it was because of the ‘big secret’!” Rachel rolled on right over him, “You could have quit! At any time in the last year, you could have quit and done something else. I know how many of our clients have tried to recruit you for their companies. Hell, you chose Sidwell just this past week! But, somehow, it still all comes back to Harvey.”

“Ok, enough!” Mike finally cut in. “First of all, most of those companies wanted me as a private, internal attorney. How the hell was I going to go from being what I am in a firm, to being the same thing but in a much smaller environment with less allies and more potential exposure – no!”

Mike held up a finger as Rachel began to cut in.

“No, I’m not finished. I picked Sidwell because he wanted to teach me a whole new line of work, knowing I didn’t have the training. He was the only client who didn’t want me as a lawyer. He wanted to train an investment banker. That was the safest offer I’d ever received!

And, as for ‘choosing Harvey and the firm’ over you: Of course I’m going to choose the senior partner! All of the times you’re probably referencing in your mind are times when you tried to give me legal advice over that of a veteran lawyer!

 Rachel, you a brilliant, you are tenacious, and you will make one hell of a lawyer, one day. But you aren’t a lawyer, yet, and Harvey is! You want to talk about choosing the firm over you? You made taking legal advice personal. And, you somehow blamed Harvey for my entire situation, as if he’d forced me to take his offer to be his associate. Rachel, I convinced him! I talked him into hiring me, not the other way around.

Do you know what he said to me when I told him what I could do? ‘Unfortunately, we only hire from Harvard, and you not only did not go to Harvard Law School, you haven’t even gone to any law school.’  I made him let me prove myself. I schooled him. And, then I told him I’d do anything to get another shot. And, even then? He still tried to talk me and himself out of it.

I begged him for a chance, and I can’t betray the faith he put in me, in that moment, or any moment since. Once. Once I made the mistake of letting someone else dictate how I acted in that firm, and I almost paid for it by losing Harvey. I let myself be a pawn in a much larger game, and it burned me as badly as it did him.

And, yes! I know you’ll say that’s just another example, and your right!” Mike burst out.

Taking a breath, Mike started again, taking in the steady glare from across the table. “You’re right. I do choose Harvey. I always have chosen Harvey-“

“-You love him,” Rachel cut in, eyebrows raising like she’d finally figured out the missing piece of a puzzle she’d been working on for ages.

“…What.” Mike asked, nonplussed. He’d been talking about at the firm.

“You love him!” Rachel huffed a quiet laugh in disbelief. “It was never going to be me, because you love Harvey.”

Rachel laughed, again. Mike looked at her like she’d lost her mind.

“I loved you,” He insisted.

“Ah,” She held up a finger, “Loved. Past tense. Let’s not kid ourselves, Mike. You chose him in more instances than just ‘firm-related business’. How many times did you avoid me because Harvey told you not to date me? ‘Because of your secret?’ Give me a break. How many people knew before me? How many full-blown lawyers knew? Managing and name partners? Jessica, alone, could bury any testimony a paralegal could cook up in court.

You held out because Harvey asked. Tell me, if I hadn’t confronted you, that night, would we even be together? How much of insisting we get together after was your ego? How much of trying to make it work was my ego?

I don’t – “ She took a breath, dropping her shoulders and setting her cup down. Sighing, she looked around the shop before casting her eyes back to Mike’s. “I don’t think you wanted to meet with me because you were hoping to salvage our relationship.

I think you called us here to move forward.

…You’re seeing Harvey later today, right?”

Mike nodded, a little dumbstruck at the change in her energy. He felt like a door was closing, not with a bang, but with a soft click.

“Well, then. There we go.

Look. I don’t want to rehash this, ever again, and I respect myself too much to be with someone who’s in love with someone else.

The apartment is yours. I’ll be out by the end of the day.”

They sat for another moment, the silence between them only broken by the soft music and ambiance of the coffee shop around them. The world seemed to have shifted (again, for Mike).

As Rachel began to slid out of her seat, Mike called out to her.

“Rachel,” He said, softly. She paused at the edge of the table. “Take it all.”

“What do you mean?”

“The furniture. The decorations. It was all yours, anyway, except for my photos and the panda art. If you want, you can have the apartment.”

“No, Mike,” Rachel responded, firmly. “That was supposed to be your Grammy’s. I won’t take it from you.”

She sighed, “Look, I’ll have everything removed that isn’t yours. Maybe don’t come back before dinnertime.

Though, if you’re with Harvey, I have a feeling ‘late’ won’t be an issue.”

“I am sorry, Rachel.”

“It doesn’t make it any better. But, thanks.”

And, she was gone.

Mike sat for a few more minutes before moving up to the counter to pay. Between them, only Rachel had actually had anything; just her coffee while she’d waited.

As Mike settled the bill, he noticed one of the workers pulling out fresh trays of bagels from a stacking oven behind the counter. A light went off in his head.

He still owed Lovely an apology.

His Harvey loved bagels, especially fresh ones. Especially if he thought they were Mike’s, and he could steal them.

Maybe…

“Hey,” Mike said as the barista rang him up, “Can I get a dozen of those, and two more coffees to go?”

 Monday morning was a whirlwind for Mike. Rachel had had the entire apartment packed by the time he’d come home, Sunday night. She’d left him an air mattress on the floor where once had stood their bed, and even his clothing had ended up in boxes in the closet. As annoying as it had been to even find a suit, and then iron it back out, Mike had bolted out the door as soon as he’d been dressed.

His first stop? The New York Public Library.

For hours, he poured over every single book and article he could find on parallel universes, time travel, and string theory. He went at the stacks with a fervor of a first-year associate on his first big case. Pages and pages of theories flowed through his brain as he tried to find anything that even sounded relevant to what had happened to ‘the Harveys’.

There were two, and how bizarre was that?! How many more could there possibly be! An infinite number of Harveys roaming infinite numbers of universes!

Did they all have a Mike?

Mike hoped so, and then immediately smothered that hope. He was not about to tempt fate, or the universe, or whatever was out there causing this conundrum they found themselves in.

Lovely barely stood him, and he was still trying to reconcile that he’d grabbed any Harvey! By the face!

“What the fuck was I doing?!”  He mumbled to himself in a moment of utter shock over lunch in the park. A jogger side-eyed him, before picking up their pace to move away just that much faster. “Aaaannd now I look like a crazy person.”

I am a crazy person! He thought, viciously, to himself. My Harvey would have kicked my ass! My Harvey wouldn’t have let me get that close to his face.

“You Love Him”

Rachel’s declaration had been bouncing around Mike’s head, all day.

Did he? Did he?!

He ran through all of the encounters and moments he’d had with his Harvey over the last year while he walked back to the library, and even just the surface examples that bubbled to the top painted a picture that was hard to deny.

He had chosen Harvey. Every time. Even when it wasn’t exactly firm related.

Harvey was the one he called. Harvey could make him come running, at the drop of a hat.

With just one phone call.

When Lovely had called out ‘Daddy!’ down the phoneline, Mike’s who body had kicked into overdrive. Having never heard that word or that tone from his Harvey hadn’t mattered in the slightest. The despair, desperation, need and hope in that voice had overridden every thought in Mike’s head.

Harvey had called, and Mike was there.

The dominant sleeping deep inside Mike had roared to life in an instant.

Rachel was right. He hadn’t even paused to say so much as a ‘bye, love you!’ while running out the door. He’d just run to Harvey.

Minutes turned to hours, afternoon to evening, and Mike found what seemed to be a reoccurring theme in his research: proximity.  The more alike the timelines were, the more likely it was for them to cross.

‘So, in theory, if we parallel, again, we might get a second crossover.’

Mike was aware that might mean that he and the other Mike could switch places. ‘But, it could also mean switching the Harveys back!’

It was worth it to try. To get Harvey back? It was absolutely worth it.

It would mean staying at the firm, longer than he’d planned. He’d have to call Sidwell and postpone his first day. But he hadn’t called over the weekend, so he still had some time. 

It would also mean risking the SEC digging into him, while he was still at the firm.

But, if saving Harvey, if finding his Harvey, meant staying at the firm with Lovely, meant risking prison to stay, then every second would be worth it just to see His Harvey one more time.

His mind made up, he checked the time and found that he’d stayed to closing. Doing the mental-Monday math, he estimated that Harvey would either still be at the firm, or on his way home for dinner.

If Lovely even did that sort of thing. Maybe his Daddy had Monday plans. Mike tried not to imagine too much. He needed his Harvey back before he could even begin to entertain thoughts of plans.

The firm was mostly dark when he arrived, though he could hear the faint sounds of Donna, Louis, and Jessica having a heated discussion in Jessica’s office. He slipped around the other way, towards Harvey’s office, avoiding whatever was happening in the managing partner’s office. That wasn’t his problem, right now.

Harvey’s office was dark, but Mike still made a full sweep around the room. Sometimes Harvey liked to sit in the dark and watch the lights of the city glitter outside of his wraparound windows. Mike had seen him do the same thing in his condo.

‘Harvey really loves this city,’ He thought, absently to himself as he headed back to the elevators.

All of these little things Mike had catalogued about Harvey were starting to rise to the forefront of his mind. All the things he’d purposefully packed away because they couldn’t be addressed without looking closer at his feelings for his Harvey were now pushing their way out of storage.

In that moment, Mike knew just where his Harvey would go if he was tired, upset, and hungry.

His favorite bistro down the street, Mike nodded to himself.

He hailed a cab, and found himself walking through the door of the cozy restaurant barely 15 minutes later.

And, there Lovely was.

He really did know his Harveys.

Now, to make things right.

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Bringing your Baby Home

“What are you going to do about your stuff?” Baby asked, trying to play it cool as if he wasn’t invested in the answer. “I can have movers come get it, since it’s mostly packed.”

Mike smirked. He already knew his first rule he’d introduce.

“Let’s have them come get the boxes, but I’m bringing the art and the photos with us, now.” Mike replied.

“How?” Baby asked, looking around at the empty room. Mike pointed at an empty suitcase just visible in the closet.

“They should fit in there. I’ll wrap them in the suits they left hanging –“

“Wha!?” Baby sat up and whipped his head to look at Mike in shock. “You can’t treat suits that way!”

“Baby,” Mike started, “Those are the cheap suits. The nice ones are packed away-“

“They folded the suits?!” Harvey jumped up, almost unbalancing Mike in the process. “I need to call my cleaners. Which box, Mike?” Harvey was already making his way into the closet, as if he could guess for himself which one he was going to be sending to his cleaners. “She should have known better! She dresses in designer clothing! You don’t fold designer clothing!”

Harvey whipped back around to stare at Mike, pointing “Did you not have suit bags in here?”

“Uh, well-“

“You know what,” Harvey cut in, holding up a hand, “Don’t answer that. Just show me the box.”

Harvey turned back to the closet, pointing at the hanging suits, “You can start packing those with your Panda. I’m making a call.”

“Baby-“ Mike started, climbing to his feet.

“Harvey Specter,” Harvey was already on the phone, “I need a pick-up today. It’ll be in the lobby in an hour.”

“Harvey-“ Mike tried again.

“The whole box. Yes, I said box. The movers didn’t know what they were doing-“

“Harvey!”

“Perfect.” Harvey hung up, turning back to Mike, “What?!”

“… Excuse me?” Mike asked, raising an expectant eyebrow.

Harvey whined, “Mmmm Daddy what?!” His right foot shifted a little along the carpet. Mike’s eye’s glanced down to catch the movement before glancing back up.

“An hour? It takes about thirty minutes just to get back to your condo in midday traffic. We don’t even know what box-“

“I can find the box. You pack the suitcase-“

“No,” Mike coached, trying to be patient while holding firm. “You call them back and tell them three hours-“

“Three!”

“Baby,” Mike cut in, moving forward to take Baby’s waving hand by the wrist in a gentle, stilling grip. “I have plans-“

Baby’s eyes began to widen, uncertain.

“-With you,” Mike was quick to clarify, watching Baby’s shoulders relax from where they had been heading towards the other man’s ears. “I want to pack the art and the photos, find the box, schedule the movers and talk to them, and then you and I are going to lunch, somewhere.”

“What is it with Mikes and feeding me all the time?” Baby asked.

Mike twitched a little. Someone else handling something like that for his Baby…

Well, he’d have to get over it. And, make sure he handled it, from now on.

“Maybe it has something to do with how you steal bagels?” Mike smirked.

“I! I don’t steal bagels! Those are bagels from firm money – “

“ – You mean my salary – “

“-that the firm pays you.”

“Oh, so all firm money is Harvey money?”

Harvey worked his jaw for a moment, before putting his nose in the air. “I refuse to answer on the grounds of I don’t want to.”

“Uh huh. Ok, Pretty. Here’s what’s going to happen. Call your cleaners back. Call the movers. Tell them to place everything in your guest room, unopened. We’ll take the suitcase ourselves with Ray. Then, you’re going to tell me the first restaurant the pops into your head. It can be somewhere we’ve been before. That’s lunch.”

“Stout”

“Done.”

Harvey made the call, and informed the cleaners of the time change. When the movers were on the phone, Mike had him put them on speaker to give clear instruction.

Packing up the art took no time at all, though Mike refused to let Harvey be involved in the wrapping of the frames. From the way Baby was eyeing the inexpensive material, he didn’t trust that his Pretty wouldn’t just accidentally rip a piece or two on a bracket or corner of a frame.

He sat Baby down to watch as he moved swiftly from room to room, always in eyeline. Once the suitcase was ready, he shifted through the boxes in the closet until he’d found the three he needed, pulling out a marker from his messenger bag and marking “for the cleaners” on the top.

“They can leave this at the front desk,” He confirmed with Baby as he set the three boxes aside.

Taking one last turn around the apartment, Mike nodded to himself. Baby slipped his hand into Mike’s as his dom paused near the mantlepiece, watching and waiting.

“What do you want to do, Daddy?” He asked, quietly.

Mike took a breath in, and let it out in measure. “Sell it.” He looked at Baby. “It’s time to move forward. I need to let it go.”

He squeezed Baby’s hand in his, “So I can hold onto something better.”

The smile that spread slowly across Baby’s face was worth the last twinges of grief that this place held for Mike.

Mike smiled back. “Let’s get back to Ray. I heard my Baby say ‘Stout’, and I’d like to get him fed. Financial District one?”

“Yeah,” Harvey confirmed as Mike led him out of the apartment, one hand in Harvey’s and the other on the suitcase, messenger bag over Mike’ shoulder. “I have some food I’d like to steal.”

Mike’s “I knew it!” Echoed in the apartment as the door closed for the last time. The lock slid into place, and their voices faded down the hall.

Baby couldn’t believe his luck. Here he was, sitting at a high-top across from his very own Daddy.

His own Daddy who was coming home to stay!

Baby shifted in his seat and tried to calm down.

‘It’s just until he figures out his next step after that apartment. Don’t get your hopes up, Specter,’ he coached himself as he looked over the menu to avoid catching Mike’s eye in that moment. He knew what he wanted, already. This was a common spot, and they’d been a hundred times before for a quick lunch. Here in the financial district, they were close to other law firms and broker offices that ran on efficient lunch schedules. Stout could get them in and out in a flash, with good food, a beer, and a check just in time for the next meeting.

“What’s up, Harvey?” Mike’s voice broke through Harvey’s musings.

Harvey looked up in question, caught but not sure how to respond. Was Mike annoyed? Mad? Regretting this already?

Is this when things became awkward? Were they going to fall apart, already?

‘Please, no! It’s only day one!’ Baby yelled in the back of Harvey’s mind.

Harvey opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His eyes widened in panic a little. He could feel his heart rate starting to rise, his fingers slowly gripping the edges of the laminated menu.

Mike reached out and placed a hand on Harvey’s menu, flattening it to the table before reaching out to cover both of Harvey’s hands with his own.

“Baby freeze,” He said, calm and quick.

Harvey stopped breathing for a moment.

“Breathe out,” Mike softly coached, “And, in.” Quietly enough not to be overheard by anyone who might pass by. He didn’t care if anyone heard him, but he cared about Harvey’s reputation and a panic attack in public wasn’t on the menu.

Watching as Harvey did as he was told, Mike worked him through a few cycles before beginning to lay down his next direction.

“Ok, Baby, the next thing I’m going to say is for both of us. I’m not going anywhere. Say it back to me.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Harvey wheezed.

“Good. Breathe.”

Harvey did.

“We are fine. Repeat.”

“We are fine.” Harvey’s voice wavered a little less.

“Perfect. Breathe.”

Harvey took a big sighing breath, his body regulating again. As his fists unclenched, Mike slipped his hands under to scoop Harvey’s fingers into his palms, holding his hands gently.

“Now listen: I’m going to lay down a ground rule that we both need. This is our first rule. I’m making this rule because I want this to succeed,” Mike ducked his head to catch and hold Baby’s gaze. “Understood? Why am I setting a rule, Baby?”

“Because you want us to succeed.”

Mike gave a small squeeze. “Good. Ok, our number one rule? No censoring. You want to say something? You say it. You have a question for me? You ask. You’re feeling some sort of way? You tell me. I don’t want whatever version you think I want of you. I want the raw, undiluted version.

Don’t hide from me, Baby. You feel it, you say it. Got it? What’s my number one rule?”

“No censoring, no hiding,” Baby nodded slowly, “Got it, Daddy.”

Baby paused, hesitating. Mike raised an eyebrow.

“Number one rule, Baby. Goes into effect now.” And, he waited.

“…For you, too, Daddy.” Baby said, much more quietly than even their conversation had already been.

Mike barely heard him, but it was enough that he’d obeyed the rule.

“For me, too, Baby. I have something to say? I’ll tell you. I’m feeling a way? I’ll let you know.  I want to know something, I’ll ask you. And, if I have a direction or a need or a want, I won’t sit on it. You’ll know. I’ll tell you.

No censoring, no hiding.”

“No censoring, no hiding,” Baby repeated, stronger and more confident. “Daddy, I want you at the condo.”

“We’re going there after –“

“No,” Baby cut in, “I mean: Don’t find another apartment. Stay.

Live with me, Daddy.”

Mike took a breath, and Baby barreled on. “I know it’s fast, but I want everything and I don’t want to be alone and we already know each other and I don’t care if it’s fast and fuck  other people and –“

“Baby! Yes.” Mike emphasized. “Breathe, Baby. Yes. I’ll stay. I’ll live with you.

If you’re one hundred percent sure –“

“I’m sure.”

“Then, ok. We’re living together.”

“I know there’ll be rumors, but –“

“Leave those to me, Baby. That’s my job now. You just make room for me in the condo.”

Baby nodded, relieved. “I can do that.”

“Good Baby.”

Baby felt his whole body flush, and Mike smiled, sly and knowing. Baby snorted to try and dismiss the look, but the little wiggle in his seat gave him away. Mike raised an eyebrow, and Baby tucked his chin, glancing around to make sure they were secluded before blinking back at Mike and offering a quiet “Thank you, Daddy.”

By evening, Mike’s suits were at the cleaners, his things were in the guest room, and Baby had moved his Daddy in. He was rather proud of himself for that. Mike found his quiet smugness amusing.

As if he hadn’t planned to stay.

Ha.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Sleeping Arrangements

The thing Baby hadn’t considered, when he’d asked Mike to stay and then stay, was that he may have been skipping a few important conversations that most people in relationships had before they moved in together.

Like, for starters, what kind of relationship were they in?

What were the boundaries? What were the allowances?

Harvey realized he may have been in a little (a lot) over his head with this.

He’d known he wanted Mike; that was the easy part. Spending time in Lovey’s universe, seeing what he could have had? There was no way he was passing that up. His Mike had expressed interest, and that was enough for him!

But, that didn’t make up for all of the questions with answers he just didn’t know, and couldn’t just fake until he figured it out.

Rule one came to mind.

Baby realized that following it might be harder than he originally thought.

He promised himself, as he held the door for Mike to roll in the suitcase, that’d he’d do his best to stick to the rule. That was all he could do, until he and Mike really talked.

After getting all of Mike’s things into to condo, and sending off the suits, they’d spent the afternoon finding space for Mike’s things. The panda art now hung proudly in the living room, and the photos Mike had come with were mingled in with Harvey’s records and art. Mike had organized the boxes left in the guest room, and set a second rule as they’d paused for a dinner of delivery pizza.

“I’m going to need a space to myself within the condo, Baby,” Mike had started, leaning on the island across from where he’d parked Harvey in a stool. Harvey had found himself blushing when Mike had directed him to sit. Mike had raised an eyebrow, but Baby had pleaded with his eyes to let it go. He knew that the reprieve on that conversation was only temporary. Mike would be finding out why Harvey had such a reaction to a seemingly innocent command.

“What for?” Harvey had immediately asked, defensive. The whole point of Mike moving in was so they could be together, whatever that meant, not so that Mike could hide away in some corner of the condo and ignore Harvey! Baby felt his chin jutting out a little, and tried to keep it in check.

The last time he’d copped an attitude sitting on a stool like this, he’d ended the morning bent over it. He wasn’t ready for a repeat of that, different Mike or no.

He watched Mike take a purposeful breath. He was heartened to see that they were both trying to work this out.

“Baby, give me your hands,” Mike instructed calmly, wiping his own hands on a napkin before holding them out on the counter, palm-up. Baby wiped his hands and slowly slid his fingers into Mike’s grip. Mike closed his hands over Baby’s, gently. He caught and held Baby’s gaze as he continued. “How much do you know about what we’re doing, here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Mike stressed, “You’re my Baby, right?”

“Right.”

“And, I’m your Daddy, correct?”

Baby almost rolled his eyes. “I think that’s pretty clear, considering that’s what you’ve had me calling you.”

Mike gave Harvey’s hands a small squeeze. “Baby.”

Baby tucked his chin, once, hearing the subtle warning. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Have you ever had something like this with someone else?” Mike asked.

“No!” Baby scoffed, almost pulling his hands back, but he liked the contact with his Daddy.

“Have you ever heard of dynamics?”

“What-? No-! I – I don’t -!”

“Baby, stop.” Mike commanded, drawing himself up to standing, but still holding Baby’s hands over the island. Baby’s mouth snapped shut, his eyes wide in a little panic. “Breathe. Listen. That’s it. Just breathe, Baby.

You’ve never done this before. I don’t know what it was like with the other Mike, and beyond your wellbeing I don’t care. I’m sure whatever he did over there was to get his Lovely back.”

Mike paused for a moment, his expression turning sharp and inquisitive for a moment as his eyes narrowed. “He didn’t hurt you in any way, did he?”

Baby was honestly a little shocked at the question. What? “What? No! No, I was safe. I was ok.”

Mike’s shoulders dropped in relief as he nodded to himself. “Ok, good. That’s good. That’s really good.”

Mike reset. “Baby, there are things I’m sure he didn’t explain to you, and there are things about a relationship like this,” he gave their joined hands a little shake, “that can’t be explained or demonstrated in just a few hours, or a night, or even weeks or months. There are things that, as a responsible Daddy, it’s my job to introduce in a healthy and safe way. Which means, not rushing things when you aren’t ready.

But, I also know how inquisitive your brilliant mind is,” Mike smirked, “If I leave a door open, what will you do?”

“Walk right in,” Baby immediately answered. Why wouldn’t he? An open door was in invitation; plain and simple.

“Right,” Mike confirmed. “And, what if there’s something in there you see that you aren’t ready for? What if you find something I plan to give you, but you don’t know the purpose and you get worked up about something that should have been fun and is now stressful, because I wasn’t with you to explain what you were seeing?”

Baby chewed his lip for a moment. “OK, you’ve made your case. What do you suggest?”

“Let me have the guest room to store things. If the door is shut, do not go in.”

“And, if the door is open?” Harvey prompted.

“Fair game,” Mike pulled Harvey’s hands towards himself a little, “But, don’t go snooping in closed drawers, sealed boxes, or shut briefcases. Understood?”

“Yeah-,” Harvey started to say.

“No,” Mike cut in, gently. He tilted his head down a little, catching Harvey with one eye, “Try again. Understood?”

Baby blushed. “Yes, Daddy.”

“That’s my Baby.”

“-Where will you sleep?” Baby blurted out, wanting to move on from the conversation, feeling his face heat at the repeated prompt and praise. Getting positive reinforcement so quickly, when he’d just spent the last few months practically shouting to be acknowledged made his stomach swoop and his body flush in a way he didn’t know how to handle. He pressed his thighs together against the feeling as the heat traveled down. His cheeks felt like the were burning, suddenly, and he was acutely aware of Mike…of Daddy watching his face as he turned slowly red.

Mike paused, a slow smile spreading across his face. It was sharper than any Baby had seen up to this moment, and it made him feel like his face was on fire.

“Where would you like me to sleep, Baby? I’m moved in, but your comfort is always going to be important to me.”

The way Mike said comfort had Baby struggling to swallow for a second.

Oh shit. Mike had never flirted with him like this. Mike had never flirted with him, period. At least, not on purpose. Not to Baby’s knowledge.  

They were both magnetic people by trade, and Harvey had seen Mike charm clients. They’d also both been in separate romantic relationships up until last week, so that attention hadn’t even been an option between them.

Harvey had seen Mike flirt with Rachel. He’d seen Mike with other girlfriends.

But, this? This was something else.

This version of Mike was darker, richer, warmer than that. This was an intensity Baby knew he’d never seen. On anyone.

Oh fuck.

Suddenly, Baby’s body was awake, and on fire. He started to tremble where he sat.

“Baby,” Mike rumbled, bending back down over the island, leaning his forearms on the counter and tucking his face down into Baby’s space, tilting his head back up when their noses came close enough to brush. “Where do you want me?” Mike paused, looking at Baby through his lashes “To sleep?”

“With me, Daddy,” Baby breathed out, a plaintive whine underscoring his request and his own hands reflexively squeezed Mike’s. He subconsciously started pulling at Mike’s hands, trying to draw him closer across the divide. “Please, Daddy, with me-”

“That’s my Baby,” Mike crooned, listening as another whine softly escaped Baby’s throat.

“Come with me, Baby,” He urged as he moved around the island, slowly drawing Baby away from the kitchen, and walking backwards slowly toward Baby’s bedroom, not taking his eyes of Baby for a second. He made a note to clean the kitchen, later, so that Baby wouldn’t have a fit when he was settled, again.

Mike blessed his photographic memory of the apartment, that he could move backwards through the space without tripping or losing Baby’s stare.

He led them to the bed, not dropping Baby’s hands for even a moment until he’d urged Baby to lie back on the sheets. He pressed Baby’s hands into the pillow by his head before sweeping his own hands down Baby’s side in a firm pet, squeezing Baby’s hips before straightening back up, one knee propped on the bed as he stood.

He took in the sight of his Harvey.

Baby watched him through hooded eyes, his breath coming quicker as the heat built in his bones. He started to squirm before Mike took hold of his ankles.

“I’m going to make a few things abundantly clear, Baby; before we begin. Are you listening?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Baby was quick to reply, this time. No hesitation in the title, as he nodded vigorously.

“If we do this, it’s not a one-off. This isn’t a let’s just try it. This isn’t a one night only. If you’re with me? You’re with me. And, I’m with you. We don’t have to do titles-“

Baby whined in objection.

“-No, Baby, listen. I want you, Harvey Specter. Not some idea of you. Not some version of you that you think you have to give me in order to have me. I want you. But I’m too invested in wanting you, to only have you once. So, if you don’t want this? If this is a ‘try-and-see’ for you? We stop, now.

I can’t do this just once, Harvey. We’re in or we’re out. I won’t leave you to the firm, alone. I won’t walk out of your life and abandon you. But I can’t have you, like this, I can’t give you this part of me, on a casual basis. It’s All-in or all-out.”

“All-in, Daddy. All-in Mike,” Baby lifted his head to glare intently at Mike. “I saw – Daddy, I saw. I don’t want to be them, I don’t want to be Lovely, or have what he has. I want my own, Daddy. I want it all for myself with my own Mike.” Baby thumped a foot to the mattress in emphasis as he tossed his head back onto the pillow, demanding even as Mike’s hand was wrapped around his ankle. “Mine!”

Mike nodded, “Ok, then we’re doing this.”

He slowly started to spread Baby’s legs. “If you want to stop at any time, and I mean any. Time. You say ‘red’. Repeat it back to me.”

“I say ‘red’, everything stops.”

“That goes for me, too. ‘Red’ is a full stop-“

“-to everything?” Baby cut in, his brows furrowing.

“Everything but the relationship. That would require a whole conversation.”

“No conversation,” Baby growled. “I said I want us. Fuck off offering me a way out. If you want a way out-“

“I don’t-“

“Then shut up about either of us leaving, and get moving with the doing!”

“Hey,” Mike cut in, letting go of Baby’s ankles to lean up quick over Baby between his thighs, “We’re having this conversation whether you like it or not, Baby. Consent. We’re establishing it, right now. So, check that attitude, and settle down. You agree to something, you say ‘green’. Repeat it.”

Baby glared.

“Or,” Mike said, starting to lean back up and away from Harvey, “We stop right now, and wait until you’ve calmed down to establish these-“

“No, wait!” Baby called out, hooking a foot around Mike’s thigh. Mike was distantly impressed that Baby kept his hands where he’d put them next to the pillow. So, Baby was paying attention. “I’m sorry, Daddy, please!

‘Green’ means yes, Daddy. ‘Green’ means I give my consent, and I’m on board. ‘Red’ means stop right now, for both of us… ‘Yellow’ means slow down?”

Mike gave a small smile, relieved to see Baby coming back around. “Basically, Baby. Good job.” He eased back between Baby’s thighs to rest over Baby on his forearms, tucking his hands under Baby’s shoulder blades and stretching out over his submissive. “’Yellow’ means you need a moment. You need a breather, or something isn’t quite right. It’s not a ‘no’, but it’s not a ‘yes’, either. It’s a word when you aren’t feeling something, but don’t want a full-stop; when you need clarification, or more or less of something. It means ‘I need help, Daddy’. Make sense, Baby?”

Baby nodded, the tension draining from his body as he felt the weight of his Daddy above and under him.

“The only way these words work, is if you stick to our very first rule.”

“’No censoring, no hiding. Say what I’m thinking, ask for what I want’.”  

“-And, what you need.”

“-And, what I need. You too, Daddy.”

“Me, too, Baby.”

Baby hesitated, staring up into his dominant’s eyes.

“What, Baby?” Mike prompted. He knew he was going to have to have patience with this first rule. Baby had spent too long asking and not being heard for him to expect Harvey to be able to fully comply without guidance.

“I want…” Baby’s eyes flicked down, as his face started to heat again.

“Say what you want,” Mike led.

“To get off,” Baby scrunched his face, squeezing his eyes shut and turning to the pillow.

“You want me to get off of you?” Mike teased, faking like he was about to lift back off.

Baby’s eyes flew back open as he whipped his head back to growl at Mike, “No! I want you to get me off!”

Mike smiled that sharp smile, again, and Baby realized he’d been tricked into looking back at the blonde. The mortification of his own shout ringing back through his mind made his whole body flush cold and then hotter than before, as he sucked in a breath in shock. He wasn’t that forward. Not with anyone else. He started to look away, but Mike clicked his tongue at him, and he was caught.

“Say ‘please’,” Mike rumbled low, untucking his right hand to smooth it down Baby’s side and over his stomach, fingers coming curl into the waistline of Baby’s pants.

Baby panted, trying to roll his hips up, only for Mike’s knuckles to press back down. Baby curled his own fingers into the pillow case on either side of his head.

“Say ‘please’, Pretty Baby,” Mike urged again, not letting Harvey’s movement shift has hand any lower, or Harvey’s hips come in contact with his own. Baby wasn’t getting anything until he listened and obeyed.

“Please, Daddy,” Baby gasped.

“Good, Baby,” Mike soothed as his fingers made quick work of Harvey’s clasp and zipper, working his way into Baby’s boxers and taking him in hand. “That’s my Pretty Baby.”

Baby arched against Mike’s hand as the dominant set a pace that made his toes curl and his back bow. Mike brought his other hand up, gathering both of Harvey’s and pressing them above the older lawyer’s head. The feeling of Mike’s body boxing him in, combined with the strength in his fingers as he pressed his wrists down into the soft pillow as his other hand worked him at a relentless pace had Baby crying out and begging for everything.

“Green” and “Please” and “Daddy” tumbled in a never-ending mantra from his lips as he pressed up against the restraint of his Daddy’s body. For every arch and squirm of Baby’s body, his Daddy Mike pressed back down and held him, trapped and known against the sheets of the bed.

When he felt near his peak, his own voice ringing in his ears, Mike’s hand started to slow.

“No, no, no, Daddy, please!” Baby begged, trying to chase Mike’s hand with his hips, but Mike’s grip slackened. He wouldn’t be getting off unless Mike allowed it. Baby groaned at the realization. He was well and truly caught.

“Ask for it, Baby,” His Daddy commanded.

Baby whined loud and long.

“Ask for permission, Baby,” Mike responded, calm and firm.

“Daddy, please!”

“Ask. To get off. Baby.” Mike instructed, still hold Baby down as he tried to writhe against his body and hands.

“Please, Daddy, get me off!”

Mike sealed his mouth over Harvey’s, kissing him senseless as his hand resumed the earlier pace and pressure. Baby gasped against his lips.

“Good Baby. Come on, for me, Pretty Baby. You wanna ‘get off’? Then come.”

Baby’s eyes rolled back as his body drew taut, emptying himself over his Daddy’s fingers as he rose up onto his toes, hips arching off the bed and pressing into his Daddy’s hand and hips.

Harvey heard his Daddy groan as he pressed his face into his Baby’s neck, his own hips stuttering as he rutted between Harvey’s groin and thigh.

Mike slowly peppered kissed up Baby’s jaw before pressing softly against Baby’s lips in a long sweet tangle of tongues and breath.

He waited, soothing Baby with lips and words as the tension left his body, feeling it as he melted into the sheets.

Slowly, he stripped them both of their clothing, dropping it into a hamper on his way to wash up. He returned with a cloth for Baby, wiping the older man down, before stripping the top layer of sheets, slowly pulling Baby up and ushering him toward the bathroom to move through his own evening routine. He stripped the bed, and found fresh sheets to remake the bed, tucking Baby into them when the older man returned.

He leaned down to kiss Harvey’s forehead and the brown eyes fluttered closed in exhaustion, pressing the words “I’ll be right back, just locking up.” Into the man’s temple.

Mike made quick work of cleaning the living room and kitchen, clearing away the dishes and pizza box, doublechecking the front door lock, and turning down the lights.

He grabbed a few more blankets out of the linen closest on his way back to Baby’s bedroom.

Their bedroom.

Draping them over the bed, he crawled under the covers. The moment he was settled he found himself with an armful of sleep submissive; he would have laughed if he was sure it wouldn’t have disturbed Baby’s sleep.

He smoothed the blankets over Baby’s back, and settled in.

“Goodnight, Baby.”

“Hmmmhhhmm, MmDaddyMikemm” Was his only response.