Brother from another mother

Harvey as a dad.[Part-4]

Hunter came down to meet Mike just at 6:30, dressed neatly, and slid into the cab Mike had come over in. He had his book bag as well, filled with note-taking implements. Mike watched Hunter sigh, dump the bag on the ground and then buckle up. "Did you eat breakfast?"

"Harvey is so full of shit."

Mike took that as a no. "Drive through at the Starbucks down the street, please," he told the driver, and then turned back to Hunter. "I have known Harvey for a while, so while I can say that's not a bad assessment, what's brought that on?"

"Last night. We got this pizza, and he like... I don't even know what we were talking about." Hunter glowered and then looked out the window. "I think he was trying to say he used to like my mom and was going to try to be a dad or something, but he doesn't even like me."

The modest joy that Mike was going to get out of telling Harvey he'd failed his homework was completely overshadowed by Hunter actually seeming to be legitimately upset. "Hey." He reached out, put a hand on Hunter's shoulder, and Hunter didn't flinch away, so he pulled the boy into a one armed hug - or as much of one as could be managed in the back of a taxi with them both belted up. "Harvey... he sort of isn't good with his emotions. I never knew your mom, but I imagine that was part of the reason he and your mom didn't click enough to get married. With Harvey you have to read what he doesn't say, what he does. That's why he's having me do all this stuff with you rather than do it himself, because he's smart enough to know he's not great at it."

Hunter just scooted away and put his forehead on the glass of the cab. "Why couldn't you be my dad?"

Mike felt his throat constrict for a moment, painfully so. He sort of wished he could be, right now, then it would be less inappropriate for him to want to hug Hunter and make him feel better.

"And how the heck do you put up with Harvey?"

It really did help if you found him painfully attractive, not that Mike was going to tell that to Hunter. "I've known him long enough to see him care. You will, too."

After scarfing down Starbucks in the back seat of the cab and getting to Addison, Mike unloaded his bike, he and Hunter went to the Headmaster's office and got all the paperwork squared away and Hunter was ready for his first day in a new school. The two of them stood together in the Headmaster's office a few moments longer, even after Hunter was clinging to his new schedule.

"Hey." Mike squeezed the kid's shoulder in his neatly pressed school uniform. "You're a Specter, nobody is going to get the better of you."

Hunter answered by grabbing Mike around the waist and burying his head in Mike's chest for a moment. They stayed there like that as Mike forgot how to breathe, arms wrapped around Hunter, hugging him back. "Thanks, Mike."

"And remember, you call if you have any problems. Text me when you get home, and don't make me go all Ronald Reagan on your ass."

"Trust but verify?" Hunter asked, reminding Mike, very quickly, that Hunter was Harvey's kid. If anyone was going to be able to match him catch phrase for catch phrase, it was going to be Hunter.

Mike held out his fist, Hunter fist-bumped him back, and then headed out of the room into the corridor. The weight of oppressive authority figureness left him very suddenly and he leaned against the nearest wall, exhaling.

"I can see what Mr. Specter sees in you."

That commentary from the Headmaster was more than Mike really wanted to deal with right now. "Thanks. You have my number."

The need to get out of there was quickly becoming oppressive, and Mike biked the rest of the way to work, finally locking up his bike and heading into the building just in time to have Harvey catch up with him.

"You need to hire a car or something for the Davis case."

"It starts tomorrow. Sadly I can't use Ray."

Harvey took a long sip on the cup of coffee he'd gotten from the truck outside. The elevator they got onto together was overcrowded, and Mike didn't think it would be appropriate to start up the conversation about Hunter. Harvey, however, didn't seem to think he should keep his thoughts on the matter to himself.

"There's a reason I never try your ideas, Mike."

"Because you suck at implementing them?" Mike shot back immediately. Harvey just glowered. "I smoothed things over with the client. You're welcome."

Maybe it was weird that he was calling Hunter 'the client' but it didn't matter. As far as Mike knew, almost no one at the firm actually knew who Hunter was. Harvey seemed to want to keep it that way, and Mike could at least respect that. Harvey should at least be on his fatherhood feet before he had to be subjected to Louis - or anyone else - ragging on him about the topic. Mike trailed Harvey all the way to his office, before they finally slid in together, Harvey closed the door, and glowered at Mike.

"How did you smooth things over? By telling him everything?" Harvey asked, in no mood for mincing words, apparently.

Mike slung his bag onto Harvey's couch. "I told him you weren't really an emotive person, you show you care in actions. And then because I'm the best Associate ever, I reminded him that you assigned him to me." And Mike, for all his faults, was not emotionally constipated.

Harvey deflated, collapsing into the couch again. "Thanks."

"You're not used to sucking this hard, are you?" Mike was trying to be sympathetic, he really was, but they weren't exactly the mutually comforting and supportive types. "You like this--" and then Mike gestured over his head. "Try again tonight. He's going to text me when he gets home."

"How do you know all this?" The mirror of their very first conversation was weird; it reminded Mike that Harvey - and Jessica - were terrifyingly impressed of his law knowledge. Harvey was impressed with him; even though he hadn't gotten what he wanted last night from Hunter he was still coming to Mike for advice and still staggered by his knowledge.

"It's... I'm just remembering, Harvey. I'm remembering what I really needed, what I wished Grammy could have given me." Mike took a seat on the couch next to Harvey, the two of them too close together, but Harvey didn't pull away. "Sometimes I needed a friend, sometimes I needed discipline, sometimes I just really needed a distraction."

"So I'm the disciplinarian." Harvey smirked at him. "You would decide to be the fun parent."

They weren't co-parents. He wished Harvey would stop acting as though they were, because it was already starting to leave him twisted up when he thought about what he and Hunter and Harvey weren't. "You get to be the guy who knew his mom. You're his connection to her, not just because you plus Naomi got you Hunter, but... you get to tell him stupid stories about when you were at the DA's and she was at DOJ and how you met, what she meant to you. When he's older he's going to want to know what Naomi was like, what she thought about, her beliefs... otherwise he's going to wonder..." Mike shook his head, trying to clear it, but the fog didn't go away, the prickle of wetness in the corners of his eyes didn't go away. "Where he came from, what he's even doing in the world sometimes."

Mike stood, pressed his fingers into against his eyes to remove the tears that were threatening to fall, and he headed out of the room.

"Mike."

"I've got Preston briefs to deal with."

Harvey let him leave.