Remember when.
Emily wrapped her arms around her mother burying her head in her mother's grey hair.
"It's okay, mom," the woman whispered, "we miss dad too."
Her older brother and her younger sister joined them in their family hug.
"Remember when the five of us went to London?" the man asked.
Donna nodded with a smile. Of course she remembered; she was Donna.
She had always know everything; and she still did.
There wasn't a moment of their life she didn't remember.
*Ten Years earlier / August 5th, 2050*
"As many of you know mom always knows everything," Gordon started, making the entire crowd laugh. "It therefore also was no surprise to us," he continued as he pointed at his two sisters, "that she already knew about this party that we've been planning for them. But that may have been a logical thing to expect if you are celebrating thirty-five years of marriage."
Harvey looked at Donna and grinned at the story their children were telling. They were right, Donna always knew everything except for maybe the one most crucial thing in their history. How much he was actually in love with her when she left him to work for Louis.
"But," Rose continued, "what you might not know is the fact that she likes to remind us and especially dad that she really does know everything. Her two go-to words are not hard to guess," she concluded.
Emily reached for the microphone, "Remember when. Those are the words, besides 'I love you', we've probably heard her say most. And to celebrate this day, we'll take you down memory lane and I bet you she will ask dad if he remembers with every picture we show you."
Gordon hit the play button of the powerpoint show. The first photo showed his father as a young attorney. "This is dad when he had taken his first case to trial when he worked at the D.A.'s office," the man explained, "it was also the night he met mom –"
.
Donna crawled on the couch next to Harvey. She smiled at him and gave him a kiss. "Do you remember the day we met?" she asked him.
"Of course I do," he answered. "We were in that sports bar and you told me how it was my lucky day," he recalled trying to imitate the tone in her voice she had used.
"And it was," Donna added confidently as she smiled at him.
"Ooh yeah, I had no idea how Donna you were," he repeated using her words from back in the day as he kissed her again.
.
"And this," Emily continued as she looked at the screen showing a picture of a can opener, "this is a can opener. Now you might think why is a can opener so special, this can opener isn't just any can opener. This can opener –"
.
Harvey watched Donna enter the bedroom as he patted on the duvet next to him. Donna smiled at him and crawled on the bed towards him. "I love you," she whispered in between kisses.
Harvey reached for her hand and caressed the palm of her hand. "Is that a yes?" he asked as he looked at the ring on her finger.
"Of course it is," she answered as she kissed him again wrapping her arms around his neck.
Harvey turned her around so he was on top of her. He stared into her eyes as they broke their kiss. "I knew you were into me," he whispered in her ear.
Donna smiled. "Remember the first time you said that to me?"
Harvey smirked and kissed her again. "How on earth could I forget about the day we came up with the ritual. Or the time we actually performed it."
.
Harvey laughed and leaned towards Donna. "Good thing we never told them about the whipped cream," he whispered in her ear. Donna turned around and looked at her seventy-three-year-old husband, still showing that smirk on his face she had fallen in love with all those years ago.
Rose moved on to the next picture. "As you all know it has taken a very long time to get mom and dad together. Almost thirteen years to be exact," she countered as she smiled at the wedding picture of her parents. "But it was all worth it. See how happy they look," she added as she pointed at the picture. "How happy they still are," she continued as she waved at her parents.
.
Harvey walked over to Donna and stopped behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin on her shoulder before he placed kisses on her neck. "What are you doing?" he whispered.
Donna turned her head slightly towards Harvey and let her hands rest on his. "Looking at our pictures," she answered as she pointed at their wedding picture in the album in front of her. "Do you remember – "
Harvey laughed; "I might not be Mike with his magic brain, but we got married three months ago. Of course, I remember he added," as he removed his hand from her stomach and brought them up to her neckline. He let the necklace he had hidden in his hands slip from his hands as he closed it around her neck. "Happy anniversary."
.
"And that's when the best thing in their lives happened," Gordon continued as he looked at the photograph of himself as a baby.
"Ooh please," the youngest redhead interrupted her older brother in the tone her mother always used. The added, "we all know that happened five years after this," making the crowd laugh.
.
Donna heard the giggles coming from the other room and wondered what was going on. She entered the room and the sight in front of her made her heart melt. "How are my boys?" she asked as she walked over to Harvey and seated herself on the ground next to them.
"Mommy," the three-year-old exclaimed as he ran over to his mother.
"Hey big guy," Donna whispered as she gave her son a hug before he wiggled out of her arms again to continue playing with his toys.
Harvey pulled Donna closer and kissed her. "How are my girls," he asked as he placed his hand on her belly.
She placed her hand on his, entwining their fingers. "We're great," she whispered as she looked at Gordon playing with his cars in front of them. "Remember the moment you first saw him?" she asked.
"The day you made me the happiest man on earth," he answered. "Of course I do."
"You cried like a baby," she added.
.
"The reason I got into playing baseball has to be my dad," Gordon continued. "And as I know from stories my grandfather and namesake Gordon Specter –"
.
Gordon ran over to his mother and his little sister. "I won, I won," the little boy exclaimed as Donna watched his father walking towards them.
"You beat your father?" she asked with a proud smile, making the boy nod at her. "So the great Harvey Specter lost?" she teased her husband as watched him pick up Rose.
"Very funny," Harvey answered as he rubbed his hand through his son's hair. "Wouldn't be the first time though," he added.
Donna gave him a questioning face, wondering what he meant. He had never lost a case in his career.
"I once lost you," he added.
"And look where that had gotten us," Donna answered as she kissed him and smiled at her daughter.
.
"Too bad dad injured his shoulder," Rose continued as she showed everyone the picture of her father in high school. "Otherwise we would have had two pro baseball players in the family," she added as she looked at her older brother, "but maybe it was meant to be. maybe he would have never met mom otherwise. And worse, maybe he would still have had that hair –"
.
After the game, the fifteen-year-old Rose and her thirteen-year-old sister Emily walked through the halls of their high school towards their parents and their older brother. "What are you looking at?" the youngest of the three asked.
Donna pointed at the picture on the wall. "This is your father when he was sixteen," she told her children, making her girls laugh at his long blonde hair.
"Hey," Harvey protested, "that was very hip back then."
"Hip?" Gordon repeated, "no one uses the word hip anymore." Making his two sisters laugh again.
Donna squeezed Harvey's hand. "Kids, only I can mock your dad."
.
Emily smiled at the picture of her father and herself at her own wedding, just two months ago. "And this was the happiest day of my life," she continued.
.
Donna reached for a tissue in her purse as she watched Harvey and Emily walking towards her. She smiled at him and at her youngest daughter before she turned her head and watched Dave waiting patiently for his bride to be. Harvey placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead before he seated himself next to Donna.
Donna reached for his hand and handed him the tissue. Harvey gave her a questioning face.
"Remember Rose's wedding?" Donna asked as she wiggled the tissue in front of him.
Harvey sighed. "It's just … she's my little girl," he mumbled as he took the tissue from Donna's hand.
.
"I once asked my father why he married mom," Gordon started as he stared at the picture of his own son. "He told me it's because she made him happy, feel at home. Because she loved him unconditionally. The kind of love you can only get from your children. I always considered that to be a dream and I never fully understood what it meant until I became a father myself –"
.
Donna hugged her son and looked at her husband with his first grandchild. She smiled at them and congratulated Gordon and Susie on their first born.
Harvey got up and walked over to Donna, he handed her the little Robert. Harvey stood behind Donna as he wrapped his arms around her and watched Donna holding the little boy. He smiled at the similarities between now and twenty-five years ago, when their son was born. The little boy tried to grab a string of his grandmother's hair.
"Do you remember how Gordon used to do that?" Harvey asked this time, making Donna smile at the fact that he was using those words now.
*2060*
Donna placed herself on the couch next to Harvey. He gave her a smile, making Donna's heart break. She pulled the photo album on her lab and starting browsing through the pictures. They used to do that every 5th of August ever since the day they got married. It used to be an annual thing, a new thing even maybe, replacing the whipped cream and eventually the can opener. But as of last year, it had become a more regular thing. From once a year, it went to once a month, once a weak and now once a day. They used to chat about their memories; Donna always starting with the two familiar words. Remember when. But as of lately she didn't use those words anymore. A tear ran down her face as she looked at her husband who seemed to be in a world of his own. He didn't remember anymore.
Emily wrapped her arms around her mother burying her head in her mother's grey hair. "It's okay, mom," the woman whispered, "we miss dad too."
Her older brother and her younger sister joined them in their family hug. "Remember when the five of us went to London?" Gordon asked.
Donna nodded with a smile. Of course, she remembered. She was Donna.
She had always known everything, and she still did.
There wasn't a moment of their life she didn't remember.
And now she had to remember for two.
But that didn't stop her from telling him their story every day.