She found him sitting at a table in the back wearing a black t-shirt that cost more than her first car and a pair of jeans. He blended in with the crowd. Working middle class thirty-somethings' letting off the week's steam. She had changed into jeans, casual striped French cuff blouse, leather jacket, and boots. Sitting at the empty seat, next to him, she put a replacement bottle of beer in front of him and took a sip of her own. They sat in silence, not touching, no eye contact, the conversation of others, the clinking of glasses, the shuffling of feet, and the ever changing songs on the jukebox filled the silence.

At closing time, she settled the tab before he could, she held out his leather jacket and waited for him to put his arms through the sleeves, and walked towards her car knowing he would follow.

The doorman greeted her with a nod, which she returned. Escorting him to his bedroom, she undressed him, took off his jacket, his t-shirt, and unbuttoned and lowered his jeans. She pulled back the goosedown comforter, the thousand thread count Egyptian sheet, and gently pushed him onto his plush, firm pillowtop mattress. Off went his boots, his socks, leaving him in just his navy blue silk boxers. She tucked him in and turned to leave, but he grabbed her hand and held on to it.

"Stay," he requested/commanded, speaking the first words of the night.

Taking off her boots and jacket, she slid in bed next to him. He took her hand and wouldn't let go, even in his sleep. Sometime in the early morning hours, his head found a new home on her pillow, his arm snaked around her waist.

"I sent a kid to jail. He had his whole life in front of him," he whispered into her ear.

She felt wetness on her shoulder.

"College, finding a girl to love, first job, buying a home, I took that from him," he continued.

"You were robbed just as he was. You both were lied to, manipulated, and set up. You can't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. It was his. Put the blame where it belongs. He was the one who did all this and you ensured he would never do it again. Never hurt anyone again," she said, hoping he could hear the truth in her words.

Instead, she felt him shaking his head. But before she could react, his arm turned her on her side and his mouth was on hers. His tongue swept passed her lips. It never occurred to her to stop him, as he hurriedly unzipped her jeans. If this was what he needed, then she would gladly give it to him. Their orgasms hit at exact same moment. Once he caught his breath, he pulled her into him. Her back to his front. Slowly she felt his breathing get heavier and heavier until he was in a deep sleep.

The sun rose and she knew it was time to go. She had done all she could, she had given all she could. Although she rarely allowed herself to admit it, without him there would be no her. She knew the same was true for him. Though they would never speak those words aloud or to each other. So for both their sakes, she prayed she had gotten him through this dark period.

Dressing quietly and quickly, she turned his alarm, phone, and I-Phone off before she walked out of the door. She had no regrets and never looked back.

On Monday morning, an exquisite English teapot, teacups, and a box of exotic teas, she had never tried before were sitting on her desk with the word "thanks" written in familiar strong male strokes on the card in front of it. She breathed a sigh of relief; he was on the road to recovery. She knew it wouldn't happen overnight, but she knew the part he unwittingly played that cost a young man years in prison wouldn't destroy him.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" Harvey Specter asked, sitting on her sofa, as if he owned the place.

"Notice?" Jessica Pearson returned, taking a seat behind her desk.

"The lower heels, the new looser suits. A fat midget, Jess, really? You could do much better than that," Harvey smirked.

"They are called little people and no, I am not dating a little person. That is your sole conclusion to my new wardrobe and finery. I thought I taught you better than that, Harvey," the brown skinned woman retorted, shaking her head. "I should have done a better job."

"You did an excellent job. So there is another option than you dating a shorter man who likes you with a little meat on your bones?" the nearly six-foot-one blonde questioned.

"Yes," she replied swiftly.

"I'm all ears," he smiled.

She couldn't wait to wipe that smug look off of his face. "In approximately twenty-four weeks, Aubrey Faith Pearson will be making her debut."

Harvey couldn't help it; his mouth fell to the floor.

"Close your mouth before a fly gets in there," Jessica commanded, laughing. "That could explain the lower heels and looser, fitting suits, correct?" She loved putting him in his place and making sure his head didn't get any bigger than it already was.

His mind couldn't wrap itself around her words. Jessica, Jessica Pearson, his Jessica, was having a baby? There were no men in her life. Were there? But then again, she had kept her marriage a secret. "Secrets again? I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other," Harvey stated, finally recovering from the shock.

Would that always lay between them? Her marriage? Seemingly yes. "I wasn't keeping her a secret. I am not a young woman, Harvey. I waited to tell you until the pregnancy was safely past the first trimester and the beginning of the second trimester. You are the first person I'm telling," she assured him.

"Because I called you on it," he asserted, not letting his hurt, anger, at her keeping secrets go.

"If you had talked to Donna, she would have told you we have a one o'clock table reserved at Ripple's, where I was going to inform you."

"Who's the father?" She kept pulling the rug from underneath him.

Jessica had known that question was coming. For months, she had waited for him to make mention of that night but he never did. She assumed he was too drunk to remember and he had been. How she should handle this had been running through her mind from the moment her ob/gyn and college roommate, Addison Montgomery, told her she was pregnant. Whatever decision she made, the three of them would have to live with for the rest of their lives. If she told him, he would have fatherhood thrust upon him. His last relationship with potential to turn into something meaningful had been with Zoe Lawford, years ago. But still he had his whole future ahead of him. One day, he would be married, have kids. He didn't need any extra baggage. She didn't want Aubrey bounced from house to house, learning and adjusting to different house rules. And she most certainly didn't want her daughter calling another woman mom or view another woman as a motherly figure.

Yes, she was being selfish. She could admit that. When she was married, she had been too busy for kids though her ex had brought it up once. The years went by way too quickly. She had always intended to slow down, start a family, once she found the right guy, but she had never found the right guy. She had met and dated some outstanding men, but none she could see spending the rest of her life with, though a few had proposed or suggested such. No man had ever stayed, like Harvey had. Jessica smiled at the irony.

Her mentee, her employee, her best friend and whatever other words you could use to describe their relationship; he was the one she could count on. The one who supported her, encouraged her, never thought any of her career aspirations were too ambitious, never jealous of her ambition, or resentful that she made more money than him. Why shouldn't she tell him? Why didn't she tell him and see where it all led? If she opened her mouth and told him, it might lead to a romantic relationship, marriage, and more children. On the other hand, he might think she had taken advantage of him on a night where he was mourning the fact that another person he trusted, another mentor had taken advantage of him. In her head, Jessica knew Harvey would never compare her to him, but her heart knew there was a possibility. Her heart longed to see where things could go, but her head feared losing what they had. Feared losing the one stable person in her life, besides her parents and siblings.

The lawyer in her laid out all the facts. If she didn't tell Harvey the truth, then she never could. Could she spend the rest of her life lying to him? Lying to their daughter? Because she could never tell either of them the truth. Ever. The truth would devastate him. To know she had kept this type of secret from him would destroy their relationship. Yet they would still be in a relationship because they would share a daughter.

Could she continue to lie to him when he took Aubrey to her first baseball, basketball, football game? When he bought them season passes? When he taught her to whistle and to yell at referees who made bad calls? Could she remain strong and keep her secret? Because as sure as she knew her own name, she knew that he would be fully and completely involved in Aubrey's life. He didn't know anything about children, but he would learn. Once he recovered his wits, he would order every baby book and parenting book under the sun. And that knowledge would come out in gentle ways, subtle ways, smart alecy ways, and cocky ways.

Even if she did marry again, he would never give up his position in Aubrey's life. Even if he married, Aubrey would be a part of his life. The managing partner chuckled to herself. Harvey's future bride would probably have to get Aubrey's stamp of approval before he proposed. Not probably, definitely. She could see the future so clearly, so why couldn't she see a future with the two of them?

Harvey watched as Jessica was off in another world. What was taking her so long to answer his question? Did she have another secret? A secret lover she had never told him about. Was this secret lover the father of her child? No one, but Jessica had the power to knock him off his feet. He had to rein his feelings in. Jealousy threatened to consume him. How could she be carrying another man's baby? Yes, he knew they had never crossed that line but he had been tempted. He couldn't explain their relationship, even if a chance to go back in time and sit front row at a Chicago Bulls' NBA championship game with MJ playing, was dangled in front of him. All he knew and needed to know was she was a permanent fixture in his life and no one was ever going to change that. He had to find a way to diffuse the tense silence and he needed her to say something before he let his imagination run wild about the father and before he acknowledged the split second he had wished by some miracle he was the father.

Jessica thought it would be fantastic if Aubrey could grow up with two parents who loved each other and loved her, like she had, but that wasn't going to be her daughter's reality. No, Harvey deserved for his future to have as few entanglements as possible. And also, if this was her one chance at parenthood, she didn't want to share it with any woman he would inevitably bring into their lives. She was taking this secret to the grave.

"Is it Louis? Is that the reason for your silence?" the blonde lawyer asked.

Brown eyes met brown eyes in a standoff.

"That might be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard you say. And I've heard you say some pretty ridiculous things," the brunette lawyer countered. "He is not part of the equation. And please let it be noted our years of friendship stopped me from wiping the floor with you for asking me such a personal question. We will never speak on this subject again."

"What will you tell it?"

"She is not an 'it.' Her name is Aubrey, please call her by her name. I will tell her, her biological father is not part of her life."

"And you think - - what's her name. Your daughter, your daughter, will be satisfied or content with that answer?"

Maybe if Aubrey was like her maternal grandmother with a go-with-the-flow personality, then yes that would be enough. But for some reason Jessica didn't think their daughter would inherit such a personality. If she had to, she would tell her daughter her biological father was a one night stand.

"And no one who knows you will believe a one night stand story," Harvey said, continuing the standoff.

Damn him, she hated when he read her mind. And the cocky grin that followed. She broke the staring contest, reached down, and grabbed her purse. "It's time to go. You can drive."

Was the father her ex-husband? That would explain a lot. But he had a wife and if he wanted to have children, it would be with the woman he left Jessica for. He couldn't imagine her going to a sperm bank. She wasn't one for one night stands, like he preferred at times. Could it be a close male friend? Harvey ran through the list of Jessica's male friends, most were married to her girlfriends. The few others he dismissed, while they were nice enough guys but they weren't nice enough for her to reproduce with. Another secret between them, he thought, as he opened her car door for her. Maybe this was a secret he could live with as long as this man didn't make an eleventh hour appearance in her life- - their lives.

"I refuse to go to some new age Lamaze class where they encourage the mothers to give birth drug free. Anything that painful deserves drugs," Harvey stated as he drove out of parking garage.

And just like that, their relationship absorbed the new bump and smoothed it out. "Addison is going to be my Lamaze partner."

"She lives in LA. She's a doctor with a busy practice and a new baby. She can deliver the baby and before you mention them, your other female friends see you as a modern day She-Ra they would break if they saw you in pain. Donna and Catherine can synchronize our schedules, simple and easy."

It was on the tip of Jessica's tongue to reprimand him for taking over her life, but this was what they did to each other. If he went on more than three dates, Donna knew to put on his calendar a dinner so she could meet the woman. They butted into each other's lives, to make sure the other was safe, spending time with good people. Their lives were intertwined. If she put a stop to it now, it would raise suspicion. Harvey's suspicion.

"What? You're afraid all the other women in the class will hate because your baby's daddy is so handsome, brilliant, well dressed with superb taste," he said with mock seriousness.

Without reacting, she sighed. "I'm not sure your ego will fit through the door." She couldn't react. She could never react to his statements like this, to people's assumptions, or it would be all over. Her boy deserved a life unencumbered. Lies and being one step ahead of him and Aubrey were a small price to pay for him to have the fairy tale life she never had. "You can be my partner, but you cannot be in the delivery room."

"Jessica," Harvey Specter said in his exasperated tone, "that defeats the purpose of going to the classes."

Damn, he was right. This pregnancy had her off her game. "You look at me or close your eyes, you never look down."

"Deal," he smiled, proud of his victory. And she didn't know it yet, but he was cutting the cord and he would be the first to hold the new baby.

Her body filled with fear that he would find out the truth and adulation that he could experience some of this pregnancy with her, but she kept it all in check. Her face revealed nothing.

"Should you be wearing heels at all?" he asked.

And it began.

FIVE YEARS LATER

"Mommy! Mommy! We won! The Niners won!" four-year-old Aubrey screamed at her mother from her perch on Harvey's shoulders.

"Forty-Niners, baby. They are the Forty-Niners," Harvey corrected.

"That's what I said, Uncle V. Look, Mommy, they signed my ball," Aubrey continued as her mother and uncle chuckled.

"Why don't you come inside and you can show me your football while you get warm," Jessica suggested, stepping back inside her sprawling tan Victorian home giving her daughter and Harvey room to enter.

Harvey helped the pre-schooler take off her gloves, coat, hat, and scarf, then doing his own as she showed her mother her ball.

"Mommy, we had the funniest time. Uncle V said next time it's Alec and Lucian's turn. Can I go show Greyson my football?" Aubrey asked, running all her sentences together in her excitement.

"Yes, but you better hurry he was getting ready to take his nap," Jessica cautioned.

The little girl ran to the stairs, then turned it ran back directly into Harvey's arms.

"Uncle V, I love you!"

"I love you too, baby," he declared, before letting her go and watching her run towards the stairs. Turning to Jessica, he walked to the kitchen. "Do you need help with anything?"

"If you could put the plates and utensils out, it would be appreciated," she replied.

They worked in a comfortable silence. She paused and watched him place everything perfectly on the buffet and on the table. When she made the decision to hide Aubrey's paternity, she never imagined a day like today. Her daughter standing on the fifty yard line at a Forty-Niners' game with her favorite Uncle V, as she dubbed him at two being unable to pronounce the "har" part of his name. He was Uncle V, just as she was baby. Throughout her pregnancy, Aubrey was referred to as baby by Harvey and it continued after her birth. He only said her full name when she had done something dangerous or pushed him too far. Her protégé had shown an extreme lenient side when it came to children.

Harvey Specter had been the perfect father figure to Aubrey, so much show she almost had doubts about her decision, but then Brenda Barrett entered their lives. A former model and face of a cosmetic company had captured his attention when Brenda hired Pearson Specter to represent her non-profit charity.

There were sparks from the moment the two met. Jessica had found Brenda to be a smart, charming, caring, considerate, everything she would want for Harvey. A thorough background check assured her Brenda had been through a lot, seen a lot, experienced a lot, and ran in various sometimes dubious circles, all of which would enable the younger woman to keep him on his toes and keep his ego in check. Once she and Brenda got to know each other well, the younger woman voluntarily told her everything that had been in the report, even some things that were not. The woman's honesty made Jessica like her more.

The lawyer almost allowed herself to worry about Harvey's relationship with Aubrey, but never once did Harvey make Aubrey feel slighted when he began his new relationship. Never once did he miss his and Aubrey's weekly date night. And he didn't propose to Brenda until Aubrey and Brenda's two sons, Lucian and Alec gave their approval.

As in all things, Harvey made her proud. She was proud of the man he became. The man she helped mold. The man she helped keep in check. The man she gave wings to fly. The man who was now a husband, a father, and her partner at Pearson Specter Licht.

Harvey's wedding day was a bittersweet day. She knew the fundamental things about their relationship would not change, yet everything would change with his marriage, bringing another person in their circle besides Mike and Rachel Zane Ross, and Louis and Julia Barrett Licht, Brenda's sister who captured Louis' heart.

While Aubrey enjoyed dancing between the bride and groom and Mike and Rachel, Jessica stepped outside the exclusive country club to get some air. She stared out at the rolling green grass in her light blue strapless bridesmaid gown. The cold was finally getting to her when she felt a jacket cover her shoulders and felt a presence at her side. Looking up, she found herself staring into a face she hadn't seen in years, not since his mother's memorial service. The face of Archer Forbes Montgomery. She had always found him to be funny, brilliant, but instead of allowing familial pressures to push him to be the best, like his sister, Addison, he instead chose to use his trust fund and looks to get by, dabbling in this and that.

But the man who stood next to her in the cold, then later at a table inside the country club, was changed. Archer was funny, brilliant, and driven. Maybe it was age or his mother's death which prompted the change, but whatever it was, she was impressed by the new Archer and she wasn't easily impressed.

Over the next few months, Jessica saw more and more of Archer and with Harvey's encouragement she introduced him to Aubrey, whom she had kept away from him. Archer and Aubrey hit it off instantly. His interaction with her daughter made her see him in a whole new light. Once Archer's and Harvey's pissing contest came to an end, Harvey reluctantly gave his blessing. Not that she needed his blessing, but she was glad to have it.

A few months later, Jessica and Archer were married and Archer had relocated his business' headquarters to New York. A year after that, they picked up two-day-old Greyson Forbes Montgomery from the hospital.

"She's pregnant," Harvey said, interrupting Jessica's train of thought.

The founding partner of Pearson Specter froze for a second before she continued on her with her prep work. She knew it was a possibility. Brenda had shared with her that she was looking forward to being pregnant, raising a baby from birth until 18, of giving Lucian and Alec a sibling. This wasn't a surprise, yet it was still hard to hear the news. To know another woman was giving him something openly that she had once given him secretly. But as quickly as the thought surfaced, she forced it back down. Walking over to him, she hugged him, something she rarely did.

"Congratulations!" she whispered in his ear.

He held on to her tightly. He had been nervous telling her his news. Not that he thought she wouldn't be happy for him and Brenda, but because he would be sharing with Brenda something they never shared. But no, that wasn't true, they shared Aubrey. The little girl who he had grudgingly accepted during Jessica's pregnancy, but who had captured his heart in the maternity suite in the wee hours of the morning, her cries had awaken him as an exhausted and drugged Jessica slept.

He had picked up the two ounce bottle filled with formula and fed her. The baby was still awake when the sun rose over Manhattan and he was able to show off the city he loved to the little girl who he had grown to love in a few short hours. Yes, they shared Aubrey Faith Pearson-Montgomery, if not biologically, then in every other way that counted. And as unfair as it was to say, no child would ever replace his baby as the number one kid in his heart.

Harvey dropped his arms as Jessica stepped back.

"Thank you," he nodded.

"You're welcome and you never told me," she said, as one-year-old Zane toddled into Harvey.

"Hey, champ," Harvey greeted Rachel and Mike's son, bending to his level.

"Sorry about that, Harvey," Mike said, following behind his son.

"Hi, Jessica," Julia Barrett Licht greeted walking into the house with Louis and their two-year-old Barrett.

"Mike, can you get everyone, please? We're ready to eat."

"Sure," the junior lawyer, who she had convinced to take the bar so at least he was a legitimate lawyer with just a fake Harvard Law Degree.

As everyone sat at the table, Jessica was reminded how blessed she was to have these people in her life. How Harvey's darkest moment hadn't broken him or them, but had created this non-typical family, but a loving family none the less and she wouldn't change one part of their journey.