Summer 26, Year 10

“We should call Harvey and Coin, we should cancel,” Amy wheezed, tossing yet another used tissue into the trash can.

“Babe, we can’t cancel without it being a big ordeal,” Harold replied, gently brushing aside a few stray hairs from the side of Amy’s face.  “They’ve got non-refundable tickets for a show tonight, they can’t exactly reschedule this.”

“They’ll understand.  Harvey’s a doctor, he knows that this stuff happens,” Amy went on, her voice sounding weaker as she spoke.

“Hey, calm down and stop talking for a bit, you’ll only make yourself sicker,” Harold said soothingly, continuing to run his fingers gently through Amy’s hair.  “I think I can handle two kids on my own for an evening.”  Amy didn’t say a word, but she tilted her head slightly in disbelief.

“What, you don’t think I can do it?” Harold asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.  Amy silently shook her head back and forth.  “Well I’ll prove to you and my brother and to Coin that I can do it, no sweat.  They’re three and five years old, how hard can it be?”  Amy shook her head once more and looked incredibly skeptical.

Amy rested in the bedroom with the door closed while Harold quickly went around the apartment to make sure it was in order.  He wouldn’t exactly consider his apartment ‘baby proof’ by any means, but at three and five years old he had to assume that Heinrich and Justine were well past the age of being destructive.  After all, the saying was ‘baby proof’ not ‘toddler or kid proof’.  Surely they would be fine in his apartment.

Harold jumped when there was a knock at the door, preparing himself to greet his brother and sister-in-law.  He knew that there might be hesitance from them if they found out that Amy was sick and would not be joining him in watching the kids, for some reason they seemed more comfortable when Amy and Harold watched the kids together, especially Coin.  It would be best to get through this as quickly as possible, maybe they wouldn’t even have to know that Amy was sick.  When Harold answered the door, he barely opened it enough to be seen, using the door as a shield to block the rest of the apartment from view.  As far as they knew, Amy could very well be standing in the living room.

“Hey, guys, great to see you!” Harold greeted enthusiastically.

“Great to see you too, Harold,” Harvey replied cordially.  “Thanks again for watching the kids for us tonight, we really appreciate it.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all,” Harold replied, shaking his head.  “The kids’ll be just fine, you two just enjoy your night together.”

“Where’s Amy?” Coin asked, craning her neck to see around Harold and into the apartment behind him.

“Oh, she’s a little under the weather at the moment, so she’s just getting some rest,” Harold answered casually.  He had been hoping that this answer would suffice but in the back of his mind, he knew that there would be hesitance.  Sure enough, Coin’s smile fell as she appeared uneasy and Harvey simply looked worried.

“Is everything alright?” Harvey asked, sounding concerned.  “Need me to look her over?”

“No, no, don’t worry about it, Harvo, she’s fine, just a few sniffles, she’ll be fine,” Harold answered dismissively.

“Well if she’s sick, should we even have the children here?” Coin asked, looking to Harvey for his advice.

“It’s just a few sniffles, really, it’s not a big deal,” Harold repeated casually.  “She’ll probably stay in the room all night anyway to get some rest, the kids won’t even be anywhere near her.”

“Wait, so you’ll be watching the kids yourself?” Coin asked, raising an eyebrow uncertainly.

“What, you don’t think I can handle it?” Harold asked, raising an eyebrow in return.  First rule of a counter-argument, answer their question with another question.  Law school basics right there.

“I… I didn’t say that,” Coin replied slowly, but she turned her gaze away from Harold and looked at Harvey.  She seemed to be turning to him to make the final call.

“Well, you’ve watched the kids before, I’m sure you’ll be just fine,” Harvey reasoned.

Harold nodded in agreement, pleased that at the very least his brother seemed to have confidence in him.  It was true, he had watched the kids before, although each time had been with Amy at his side to help him.  Still, it couldn’t be that different an experience without Amy there.

“We should get going, we still have to take a cab to the concert hall and pick up our tickets from the box office,” Coin commented, glancing at her watch.

“Oh, Yoba, you’re right,” Harvey replied hurriedly.  “Thanks again for watching the kids, Harold, we’d better run!”

Harvey and Coin quickly hugged and kissed their children, bidding them farewell and going through the standard parent speech; ‘be on your best behavior, don’t make a fuss, be nice to Uncle Harold, don’t make a mess’ and the like.  When the kids and their belongings were handed off to Harold, Harvey and Coin waved at Harold one last time before turning away to leave.

“You two kids have fun!” Harold called after them, waving as they walked down the hall.

As Coin and Harvey reached the end of the hallway, Coin flashed Harold one final look of warning before disappearing around the corner.  The look on her face sent a brief shiver down his spine.  And yet the moment they disappeared from sight, Harold closed the door to his apartment and looked at the kids with a large grin.

“So… you kids want pizza?” Harold asked excitedly.

“Mama says we’re not allowed to have pizza,” Justine said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, well, that’s the perks of being a funcle is you can throw the rules out the window and do whatever you want,” Harold replied flippantly.

“What’s a funcle?” Heinrich asked curiously.

“A funcle?  A fun uncle!” Harold answered with an amused smirk.  “I’m your fun uncle, I gotta defend that title and get you pizza!”

“Pizza!  Yay!” Justine and Heinrich shouted in unison.

“Excellent!  I’ll just go put some cartoons on the TV and call in the order,” Harold said with a nod.

The kids followed Harold into his living room where he directed them to sit at his black leather couch.  He grabbed the television remote and tuned in to a children’s programming channel where a popular cartoon was playing.  Harold didn’t know exactly what it was called, but he recalled seeing merchandise from this show at almost every store in town.  Once the kids were settled on the couch to watch the show, he disappeared into the kitchen to look up the phone number for the pizza place.  Amy had written it on a post-it note and left it on the fridge for him.  Even after their marriage, she still helped keep him on track and helped him stay organized.  It was a quick phone call to the pizza place, Harold knew he couldn’t go wrong with a supreme pizza for himself and Amy to share and a plain cheese pizza for kids.  There wasn’t much he knew about children, but he did at least know that a cheese pizza was the best way to go.  Already he was off to a great start with pizza and cartoons, the night was sure to be a breeze.

When the order was placed, Harold returned to the living room to check on the kids and his eyes widened at the sight before him.  Heinrich had somehow found a black permanent marker and had drawn a moustache on the television… the very expensive, very large television that Harold had only purchased the month before.  Justine was standing off to the side, shaking her head in disapproval.

“Wh-what’s going on in here?!” Harold asked, immediately grabbing the marker from Heinrich’s hand before he could do any further damage with it.  The moment he grabbed the marker, however, Heinrich burst into tears and started to flail angrily, kicking and screaming.

“What’s the matter with him?” Harold asked in a panic, turning to Justine for answers.  Justine folded her arms and rolled her eyes slightly, flashing Harold an almost pitying look at his ignorance.  It was an expression he had regularly seen from her mother.

“Uncle Harold, he’s mad that you took his marker,” Justine answered.

“Yeah, well I’m mad that he drew on my TV!” Harold retorted, gesturing to his now ruined television.

“He’s three, he doesn’t know any better,” Justine reasoned.  “Why was there even a marker out that he could get?”

“How was I supposed to know he’d try to draw on my TV?!” Harold asked, nearly shouting to be heard over Heinrich’s continued wails.  “Why did he even draw on the TV in the first place?”

“He said he wanted the characters to look like Daddy and Uncle Harold,” Justine answered.

As furious as Harold was about the situation, he couldn’t help the gooey feeling he felt deep down at what a sweet sentiment that was.  The gooey feeling didn’t last very long when Heinrich, in his tantrum, started kicking the couch.  The soles of his shoes were putting dusty footprints all over Harold’s black leather couch.

“Whoa, whoa, kiddo, alright, calm down,” Harold pleaded, kneeling on the floor next to Heinrich.

He wasn’t sure what he had expected, his words did nothing to calm the situation.  Heinrich was so deep in the throes of his tantrum that nothing Harold said was getting through to calm him down.  He turned to Justine with a desperate, pleading expression.  Crying children were never his area of expertise.  Justine shook her head in the same pitying way.

“You took his marker, he’s only gonna calm down if you give it back or give him something else to distract him,” Justine answered simply.

Harold’s eyes wildly searched his apartment for something, anything, that could get Heinrich to calm down.  His search was cut short when he heard his phone ping with a text message.  When he pulled his phone from his pocket, he heaved a weary sigh when he saw a new message from Amy.  Clearly she could hear the commotion from inside their bedroom.

‘Everything okay out there?’

Harold didn’t want to trouble her or worry her in any way, she needed her rest.  He very quickly sent back a response, even though he knew she would never buy it.

‘Everything’s fine, we’re good, everything’s fine.’

Within seconds he received a response, he knew that she wasn’t believing him for a second and when he read her answer, he groaned yet again.

‘You just said “everything’s fine” twice, that means that everything is absolutely not fine.’

With another sigh, Harold sent a quick message back and stuffed his phone into his pocket once more, unable to keep the exchange going any longer while Heinrich was still wailing.

‘I can handle it.  Get some rest.’

Harold’s eyes resumed their search of his apartment, desperate to find something that would work to distract Heinrich.  Nothing in here was exactly kid-friendly, but desperate times called for desperate measures.  Harold glanced over to the door of his office and got an idea.  He quickly ran into his office, grabbed the container of paper clips from his desk, and ran back into the room where Heinrich was still kicking, screaming, and crying.  Justine just stood back to try and distance herself from her little brother.  She looked annoyed and certainly wasn’t willing to help Harold calm Heinrich down.

“Hey, buddy, look what Uncle Harold’s got!” Harold said in an almost sing-song voice.  He dumped the paper clips onto the floor and picked two of them up, hooking them together.  He grabbed two more and continued to hook them together, making the beginnings of a paper clip chain.

“Ta-da!” Harold said impressively, holding the paper clip chain up for Heinrich to see.  “Wanna give it a try?”

Harold handed the chain over to Heinrich and held out a loose paper clip to him.  Thankfully, the crying seemed to subside and Heinrich sniffed back tears as he tentatively reached for the paper clips.  When he slipped the first paper clip onto the end of the chain, Heinrich smiled and began to laugh, his earlier tantrum immediately forgotten.

“Well alright, problem solved!” Harold called out to no one in particular.

He stood up and placed his hands on his hips, feeling rather proud of himself as Heinrich continued to make the paper clip chain longer.  Paper clips aren’t exactly designed to be kid’s toys, but Harold was rather proud of himself for his ingenuity.  His pride, however, was short-lived when Justine approached him and tugged at his shirt sleeve.

“Uncle Harold, I’m bored,” Justine whined.

“There’s paper clip chains and cartoons on the TV, I don’t know what else to tell ya’, kid,” Harold replied with a shrug.

“This show is for babies,” Justine went on, wincing overdramatically.

“I thought you loved this show!” Harold replied in surprise.

“Yeah, when I was a baby,” Justine replied with a scoff.

“Kid, you’re five years old, in the grand scheme of things you’re still a baby,” Harold remarked.

“Don’t call me a baby!” Justine yelled, stomping her foot in anger.

It was shocking how quickly she snapped, Harold’s eyes widened at the look of attitude Justine was giving him at the moment.  He had heard that five year old girls were almost as bad as teenagers and now that he was on the receiving end of her glare, he finally understood it.  And yet before he could come up with a proper counter-argument, he could hear his cell phone ringing from his back pocket.  He winced as he reached for it, hoping he wouldn’t see Harvey or Coin’s face light up his screen.  Instead, he groaned when he saw the face of his law partner, Nick Langston.

“Hold that thought, kid, we’ll revisit this in a minute,” Harold told Justine seriously, holding up a finger to silence her.  “Hang tight here with your brother and don’t let him destroy anything, I’ll be right back.”  Harold quickly ran into his office to take the call.

“Hey, Nick, what’s going on,” Harold answered in a hurry.

“Where the hell is the Schroeder file?” Nick asked curtly.

“Whoa, hey, I left it on your desk this afternoon before I left the office,” Harold answered defensively.  “Or did I?...”

Harold paused for a moment to replay the afternoon in his mind, it had been hectic getting out of the office for the day.  Normally he would rely on Amy to take care of these things for him, however she had left earlier in the day when she wasn’t feeling well.  Harold had taken the file, he remembered that much, and he had a definite memory of himself walking down the hall to deliver it to Nick’s desk.  But what happened after that?  Harold’s jaw dropped when he remembered that he had received a phone call on his way to Nick’s office.  It had been a quick call from one of his clients, but it was enough to derail him from his task.  By the time he had ended the phone call, he had glanced at his watch and saw what time it was.  He needed to be home in time for Harvey and Coin’s arrival so he had thrown everything he had into his briefcase and left the office.  Sure enough, when Harold opened his briefcase he could see the Schroeder file sitting right on top.

“Fuck!” Harold swore in frustration.  He jumped suddenly when he heard small footsteps behind him.

“Fuck!” Heinrich repeated happily.

“Oh shit,” Harold said to himself, losing a bit of color from his face as his nephew repeated his swear word.

“Shit!” Heinrich went on, giggling.

“Ooh, Uncle Harold said no-no words!” Justine giggled, following her brother into the room.

“No, that’s not what I-” Harold began quickly, but was cut off by his partner.

“Harold, what the hell is going on right now?!” Nick asked in annoyance.

“Sorry, I’m just watching my niece and nephew right now, it’s kind of a bad time,” Harold sighed.  He cringed as he could hear Heinrich repeating “fuck, shit, fuck, shit!” over and over again through a fit of giggles.  Justine wasn’t helping matters when she, too, joined in on the giggling.

“Yeah, well, it’s a bad time for all of us,” Nick replied curtly.  “I need that file, Harold.  Right now.”

Harold glanced around the room in a panic, temporarily unsure of what to do.  His niece and nephew were still giggling as a trail of curse words left Heinrich’s mouth, Amy was in the next room still sick, and now his law partner was in desperate need of a very important file.  Harold sighed and temporarily lifted his glasses to rest them on his forehead, rubbing his eyes wearily.

“You still there?” he finally heard Nick ask, sounding only slightly concerned.

“Yeah, I’m still here,” Harold sighed.  “I guess I don’t have much of a choice, I know how important this case is… I’m on my way.”

Harold ended the call, set his phone down onto his desk, and took one last opportunity to rub his face with the palms of his hands in frustration before returning his glasses to his face.

“What’s the matter, Uncle Harold?” Justine asked curiously.

“Fuck!” Heinrich shouted, giggling once more.

“Well, other than teaching your brother a few new words, I now have to take us all on a little field trip,” Harold sighed.

“Where are we going?” Justine asked, her eyes widening in excitement.  She certainly didn’t look bored anymore.

“My office,” Harold replied, already closing up his briefcase in preparation.  “Thankfully I only live two blocks down from my office so we can walk there, but you kids are gonna have to come with me.  I can’t leave you here by yourselves and your Aunt Amy is too sick to watch you.”

“And you don’t want her knowing that you goofed,” Justine added with a smirk.

“Sheesh, you really are your mother’s daughter,” Harold joked, returning her smirk.  “Get your coats, kids, time to step out into Zuzu City for a bit.”

Justine looked thrilled as she ran out of Harold’s office to grab her coat.  Meanwhile, Heinrich followed, whispering “fuck shit fuck shit” under his breath through a fit of giggles.

“Hey, Heinrich, knock it off,” Harold snapped authoritatively.

Both Justine and Heinrich froze for a moment and stared at Harold in disbelief.  It was the first time he had ever really snapped at either of them, he usually tried his best to maintain the ‘fun uncle’ image, but he was starting to reach the end of his rope.  Clearly Justine and Heinrich knew that now Harold meant business, they both silenced themselves and quietly began putting on their jackets.  Heinrich couldn’t quite do his by himself and Justine wordlessly helped him get his jacket on and properly zipped up.  Once they were ready to go, Justine and Heinrich met Harold by the door and looked up at him expectantly.

“Alright kids, the city streets are nuts and there’s some pretty crazy drivers out there,” Harold cautioned them.  “I’ll hold onto Heinrich’s hand and Justine, I’ll need you to hold my wrist and stay close while I hold onto my briefcase, got it?”

“Got it,” Justine nodded.

“Got it, Uncle Harold,” Heinrich answered.

“Good, let’s go,” Harold replied.

Harold opened the door, took Heinrich’s tiny hand in one of his own, and held his briefcase with the other while Justine latched on to his arm to leave the apartment together.  Harold stumbled for a bit as soon as he stepped into the hallway, almost knocking into someone who was headed straight for his apartment.  It was a young delivery boy, no older than 19 years old, who was holding two pizzas in hand.  In the chaos he had completely forgotten that they had ordered pizza.  Harold nearly swore under breath before stopping himself.  The last thing he needed right now was Heinrich going off on another swearing-spree.

“Hi there, uh… yeah, I kinda forgot we had ordered pizza,” Harold said in a daze, feeling incredibly frazzled.

“Oh… well, uh, someone needs to pay for this,” the kid commented with a hint of attitude.

Harold let go of Heinrich’s hand for a moment and dug around in his pocket to pull out a wad of bills.  He didn’t have the time or energy to count it up, but it definitely would be more than enough to cover the pizza and then some.  He shoved the wad of bills into the delivery man’s hands and grabbed the pizzas from him.  The pizza delivery man glanced down at the money in his hand, his eyes went wide, and he quickly thanked Harold under his breath before swiftly turning around to leave in case Harold demanded change back.

“Guess we’ll have to eat this at the office,” Harold commented, staring at the two fresh pizzas in his hand.  “We need to get this file to the office quickly, so there’s no time to stop and eat.  We can have a mini pizza party at my office once we get this file delivered.”

“Yay!” Justine and Heinrich shouted in unison.

Harold took a moment to glance at one hand where he was balancing two pizzas and the other where he was holding tightly to his briefcase.  It would be impossible to hold both of the kids’ hands and yet he knew Coin would kill him if he didn’t put safety first.  With another sigh, he handed the briefcase to Justine and his expression became serious.

“Okay… so I can’t hold your brother’s hand and the pizza and my briefcase and your hand all at the same time, kid,” Harold began, speaking quietly, slowly, and seriously to convey the importance of his words.  “I’m gonna have to trust you to carry this briefcase for me.  There’s a whole lot of important stuff in there, I’m trusting you to keep it safe.”  Justine looked slightly intimidated, even a bit scared, and an idea suddenly struck Harold.

“Consider it a… a quest,” Harold went on, his tone becoming even more serious.  “A noble quest for a noble lady.”  Harold bowed his head dramatically to her.

“You got it, Uncle Harold,” Justine answered with a look of determination on her face.  She suddenly looked very serious as though he had asked her to protect something incredibly sacred.

“But even more important than that briefcase is you,” Harold went on, his tone softening slightly.  “The city’s nuts, I need you to stick close by to me since I can’t hold your hand.  I need you to stay close and not wander off, you understand?  Even brave heroes need to stick with the group.”

“I understand,” Justine confirmed with a nod.

“Then let’s head off on our adventure,” Harold said, taking a deep breath as they headed down the hall.

They were surely an amusing sight to behold, especially when many of the residents of this complex knew Harold and knew of his lifestyle.  The sight of Harold entering the elevator of this apartment building holding a stack of pizzas with two kids in tow granted them a number of stares, but it hardly mattered.  By the time the group of them exited the building onto the city street, Harold couldn’t help the amusement he felt just watching the kids’ reactions.  It was clear that Harvey and Coin didn’t often take them into the city, they both looked up at the tall skyscrapers surrounding them and bright lights that lit up the sky in absolute awe.

“You kids like the city?” Harold mused, smiling at the expression on their faces.

“It’s so glamorous, Uncle Harold,” Justine commented, her eyes resting on a poster for a ballet that was being held at a theater in the city.

“And the buildings are HUGE!” Heinrich shouted, tilting his head so far back to see the top of a skyscraper that he nearly fell backward.

“Maybe some time soon your aunt and I will have to have you kids stay for a few days,” Harold commented thoughtfully.

Of course, no sooner had the words escaped his lips than he immediately remembered the permanent marker on his television and the dusty footprints on his pristine couch… this visit would definitely have to take place when Amy was feeling better.

After only one block of walking, Harold could suddenly feel a pull on his arm.  Heinrich had stopped walking completely and froze in place, a pout suddenly appearing on his face.

“Uncle Harold, my legs are getting tired,” Heinrich whined.

“Heinrich, we’ve only walked a block,” Harold reasoned, tilting his head in mild annoyance.

“I’ve got little legs,” Heinrich continued in a high-pitched whine.

Harold sighed in frustration, he needed to get to the office quickly to drop off this file and it was clear from the look on Heinrich’s face that he was done walking.  Harold turned his attention to Justine for a moment to check on her.

“You still doing okay, brave adventurer?” Harold asked, glancing down at her over the rim of his glasses.  She nodded and flashed him a thumbs up.

“You can count on me,” Justine replied, looking incredibly pleased with herself as she continued to lug Harold’s briefcase with her.

“Excellent, keep up the good work,” Harold replied appreciatively.  He turned his attention to Heinrich and shook his head in exasperation.  “As for you… guess I have no choice but to carry you the rest of the way.  This oughta be interesting.”

Harold continued to balance the two pizzas on one hand while he used his other to scoop Heinrich onto his arm.  Thankfully Heinrich was helpful enough to wrap his arms around Harold’s neck to steady himself, though it did make it just a bit difficult for Harold to breathe.  That hardly mattered at the moment, though, as Harold continued down the street with determination.  By the time they made it to the office, he let out an audible sigh of relief as he set Heinrich back down so that he could open the door to the office building.  His law office was still quite a few stories up, but he was sure Heinrich would be able to take the elevator the rest of the way without much fuss.  Harold herded the kids into the elevator and pressed the button marked ‘23’.

When they arrived at the 23rd floor of the building, the three of them stepped out into the main lobby of HLA Law Firm to find it deserted.  The rest of the staff had gone home for the night and the only sign that there was someone still there was the small light visible at the end of the hall.  It was coming from Nick’s office.  Harold quietly led the kids down the hall, thankful that they continued to be on their best behavior at the moment.  When they arrived at Nick's office, Harold poked his head in to find Nick hunched over his desk, a pen sticking out from behind his ear as he pored over a thick textbook.  Papers were scattered all over his desk and there was an empty to-go container off to the side of his desk with a pair of wooden chopsticks poking out of the top.  It was clear he had been working nonstop.

“About time,” Nick huffed, rising from his desk to meet Harold by the door.

“Sorry for the delay, I had a lot to juggle,” Harold replied, nodding his head toward the kids and the pizzas in his hand.

“So… where’s the file?” Nick asked impatiently.

“This brave adventurer has the documents you seek,” Harold replied with a hint of whimsy.

Justine held the briefcase out to Nick who grabbed it with an unamused scoff.  Nick hurriedly opened the briefcase, pulled the file out, and handed the briefcase back to Harold who simply stared at it, making no attempt to retrieve it.

“You can return it to the lady,” Harold commented, nodding over to Justine.  She held out her hand expectantly and Harold had to hold back a laugh at the defeated sigh Nick heaved as he handed the briefcase over to a five year old girl.

“We’re just gonna be in my office for a bit, Nick, I promised these kids pizza and I’m not gonna make ‘em wait any longer,” Harold explained.  Nick simply grunted in response and sat back at his desk, immediately opening the file he received from Harold’s briefcase.

“We’re really gonna get to see your office, Uncle Harold?!” Justine asked in awe as they continued down the hall.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Harold answered with a shrug.  “That pizza will be stone cold if we wait until we’re back at the apartment, guess we’ll just have to eat it here.”

Justine and Heinrich looked amazed as Harold led them further down the hall, one office over from Nick’s.  Just outside of Harold’s office door was a large desk that was very neatly organized.  Not a single scrap of paper was out of place.  As they passed by the desk, Justine looked and noticed a few framed pictures on this desk, one of which was a picture of Harvey, Coin, a 2-year old Justine, and a newborn Heinrich.

“Uncle Harold, why does this desk have a picture of our family?” Justine asked, sounding incredibly unsettled.

“That’s your Aunt Amy’s desk,” Harold chuckled.  “Don’t worry, there’s not some complete stranger out there with your picture on their desk.”

Harold opened the office door and flipped the light switch on the wall, flooding his office with light.  Both Heinrich and Justine gasped in awe at the sight of his office.  His large, hand-carved mahogany desk was nearly covered in paperwork to the point that you could hardly see the surface, quite the opposite of Amy’s impeccably organized desk.  Harold couldn’t quite find a place to set the pizzas on his desk and instead set the boxes down on the two high-backed chairs he kept in front of his desk for clients.  In addition to the splay of paperwork on his desk, there was his computer monitor and keyboard, his telephone, a desk organizer, the potted bonsai that Amy had given him, and a few framed photos.  He could see Justine curiously eyeing the photos to look for a picture of herself and smiled when her eyes fell upon a family picture of Harold, Amy, Irene, Harvey, Coin, Heinrich, and Justine from the previous Christmas; not long after Harold and Amy’s wedding.  Harold’s black leather ergonomic desk chair had been pushed away from his desk slightly so that it was almost pressed against the tall bookshelves positioned along the back wall.  The book shelves were filled with a number of law books and reference material that Harold used in his research, he highly doubted there was anything on that shelf that the children would find entertaining unless they wanted to learn about Constitutional Law.  As Justine continued to stare at the pictures on Harold’s desks, Heinrich immediately ran over to the window and audibly gasped as he stared out at the bright lights of Zuzu City.  From Harold’s office window, one could see almost the entire city; the traffic lights from the sidewalk below, the line of cars weaving their way through the streets, the bright lights of surrounding buildings, billboards as far as the eye can see for everything from bail bonds to theater productions.  Harold was lucky to have such a beautiful view of the city, it wasn’t something he was often able to appreciate when he was usually working so hard in his office.

“Like the view here, huh?” Harold asked with a smirk, folding his arms across his chest as he stared out the window as well.  Heinrich was too awestruck to answer, he simply nodded as he continued to stare out the window.

“Well, let’s dig in to these pizzas before they get any colder,” Harold commented, leaving the beautiful sight from the window behind as he grabbed the top pizza box.

Harold realized as he stared at the pizza that he didn’t have a plate or napkin anywhere in his office and certainly no surface to eat the pizza on with his desk as messy as it was.  Without many options, Harold grabbed the cheese pizza and sat down cross-legged on the floor as he set the box on the ground in front of him.

“Looks like we’re eating out of the pizza box tonight, kids,” Harold remarked with a shrug.

The three of them sat cross-legged on the floor around the pizza box as Harold handed Justine and Heinrich their slices.  It was a little cold, but still edible.  Heinrich started eating right away while Justine looked over at Harold, tilting her head.

“How come you’re not eating, Uncle Harold?” Justine asked, sounding almost concerned.

“I grabbed another pizza for your aunt and I to share, I’ll wait ‘til I get back home and heat it up in the oven for the two of us,” Harold answered, waving a dismissive hand.  “My pizza has veggies all over it, though, you’d probably hate it.  There’s even mushrooms on it.”

“I don’t think I’d mind veggies on pizza and I kinda like mushrooms!” Justine proclaimed, puffing out her chest as though she were proud of this fact.  Harold couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Ya know, I see so much of your mother in you most of the time, but that’s where I see my brother,” Harold said in amusement.  “He was always the kid that liked veggies and mushrooms from a young age, I always thought he was so weird for that.  That’s usually not something you start liking until you’re an adult, but not my brother… he was eating veggie pizzas from the time he was around your age.”

“Really?” Justine asked, sounding fascinated.  “Would it be okay if I try a slice?”

“Sure, go for it,” Harold replied, reaching for a slice from the other box of pizza.

All it took was one bite to see that Justine was in love, she nearly devoured the entire slice in three bites and it wasn’t long before she had devoured a second.  Heinrich, on the other hand, had barely managed to eat a single slice and most of the sauce had ended up all over his face.  By the time the kids were done eating, Harold looked at his watch and cringed.

“We’d better head back, according to your mom I was supposed to have you kids in pajamas and start winding you down for the night by now,” Harold noted, glancing at his watch.  “Eh, what your mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her.  Still, we should get back before the bars start opening, I don’t want you kids seeing what kind of grown-ups frequent bars.”

With the remaining pizza in one hand and Heinrich’s small hand in his other, Harold stepped out of his office and led the kids down the hall back to the elevator.  Just as the elevator doors opened, he felt a tug on his arm and looked down to see Heinrich dancing in place.

“Uncle Harold, I gotta go potty,” Heinrich said suddenly, his eyes slightly wide as he continued to dance in place.

“Can’t you hold it?!” Harold asked wearily.  “The apartment’s two blocks down, we’ll be there in no time.”

“I reeeeeally gotta go!” Heinrich whined, his legs crossing as his dancing intensified.

“He’s just barely potty trained, Uncle Harold, he’s not gonna make it and if you don’t hurry,” Justine warned Harold matter-of-factly.

“Fine, let’s head to the bathrooms,” Harold sighed in exasperation.

Harold could feel Heinrich tug on his arm desperately as they fled across the lobby toward the bathrooms as fast as Heinrich’s little legs could go.  When they reached the restrooms, Harold opened the door to allow both children inside, but Justine stopped.

“Uncle Harold, that’s the boys’ bathroom!” she gasped, sounding affronted.

“Kid, it’s nighttime in an empty office, no one’s gonna care,” Harold said urgently as Heinrich was now wiggling more than ever and his expression looked desperate.  “Come on, your brother really needs to go and I’m not about to leave you here alone in the office.”

“I’m not a boy!” Justine huffed, stomping her foot on the ground in defiance.

“Oh for Yoba’s sake,” Harold groaned to himself.  His eyes very quickly traveled between his nephew who was likely seconds away from an unfortunate accident and his niece who was very stubbornly not going to join them.  Harold heaved a weary sigh and looked Justine in the eyes with a serious expression.  “You stay right here, don’t move, don’t go anywhere, I expect to find you right back here when we’re done.”

“Okay, Uncle Harold,” Justine replied, nodding her head.

Harold set the pizzas on one of the lobby counters and rushed Heinrich into the restroom.  He had never had to assist anyone using the restroom before and he fully understood in this moment why he never wanted kids.  It was certainly a humbling experience to help a 3-year old properly use the restroom and Harold considered it a victory that only the floor ended up wet and not anyone’s clothing.  As they left the stall together, Harold made a mental note to buy the morning janitor a coffee for his trouble.  After both washing their hands very thoroughly and even taking a moment to clean the pizza sauce from Heinrich’s face, they left the bathroom together to meet up with Justine but she was nowhere to be found.

“Son of a bitch,” Harold muttered under his breath, thankfully quietly enough that Heinrich did not hear.

His eyes quickly scanned the lobby before them, but it was too dark to see well.  Harold started to panic and he quickly scooped Heinrich into his arms as he sprinted across the lobby.  He would be able to move significantly faster if he just carried Heinrich the whole time.

“JUSTINE!!!” Harold called out in a panic, turning the corner to the hallway where his office was.

Thankfully, just as he turned the corner he nearly bumped into someone… someone quite a bit shorter than himself.  Justine was running down the hallway back toward the lobby with a guilty expression on her face.

“Justine, thank Yoba you’re okay,” Harold sighed in relief, kneeling down to her level.  He set Heinrich back down on the ground and wrapped his arms around Justine, pulling her close for a hug.

“I thought I could make it back in time before you were finished,” Justine said quietly, refusing to make eye contact with Harold as she stared down at her feet.

“Why did you leave the door?” Harold asked, his tone shifting from worry to disappointment.  “Kid, I asked you to stay put, I’m counting on you to do as I ask and follow directions, I need to know that you’ll do that.  What possible reason did you have for leaving that door anyway?”

“I wanted to leave a note for Aunt Amy when she comes back to her desk,” Justine answered, her head still hung low.

It was amazing to Harold how his niece and nephew somehow managed to misbehave and still make him melt into a puddle.  Between Heinrich drawing moustaches on the TV to look like him and Justine disobeying directions to leave a note for her aunt, Harold could absolutely understand why parenting must be so difficult with such unruly yet adorable children.  Harold placed a hand delicately on Justine’s shoulder and stared at her until she looked up and caught his gaze.  His expression softened and he flashed her an understanding smile.

“Hey, I know your heart was in the right place, kid, but it’s important for me to know that I can trust you,” Harold began gently.  “When I give you directions, I need to know that you’re gonna follow them.  If there’s something you want to do, all you have to do is ask.  I’m your funcle, that makes me obligated to agree to whatever you want to do, you just have to ask me first and don’t go running off.  You can more easily get away with running off to do your own thing in Pelican Town, but that isn’t exactly the best thing to do here in Zuzu City.  Next time, no running off… you understand?”

“I understand,” Justine answered, nodding her head as she smiled back at Harold.  “I didn’t get to finish writing my note, can we go back to Aunt Amy’s desk so I can finish it?”

“Sure thing, kid,” Harold replied, smiling.

The three of them made their way down the hall once more, passing the open door of Nick’s office where he was still hunched over his desk in concentration.  It was doubtful that he even knew they were still there.  When they arrived at Amy’s desk, Harold had to stifle the ‘aww’ that threatened to escape his lips at the sight of the half-finished note on Amy’s desk.  Written in the unmistakable handwriting of a child was ‘get wel soon Ant Amee’ with the ‘g’ written backwards.  It appeared that Justine had started to draw a picture of Amy but had only drawn her head and body without finishing her face and hair.  Harold nodded to Justine and she grabbed the marker she had been using to finish drawing Amy’s face, hair, and glasses.  When the drawing was complete, Justine placed it delicately on her keyboard and turned back to face Harold.

“Are we finally ready to go?” Harold asked with an exasperated sigh.  “No more bathroom breaks, running off to write notes, no more distractions?”

Both Heinrich and Justine flashed Harold a thumbs up and together, they made their way back through the office, grabbed the pizza boxes and briefcase in the lobby, and rode the elevator down.  This time around, Heinrich barely made it out of the building for ten seconds before complaining that he was tired, and he certainly appeared to be.  Harold could see the circles under Heinrich’s eyes and he was yawning quite a bit.  The poor kid looked exhausted, he had had a long day.  Harold once more scooped him up in one arm and could feel Heinrich immediately rest his head against Harold’s shoulder.  Harold couldn’t help but smile, it was a strangely comforting feeling.  They continued down the street and back up to the apartment with Justine standing close by, still clutching tightly to Harold’s briefcase while Harold juggled both Heinrich and the pizzas.

When they finally arrived at the doorstep of Harold’s apartment, he could feel the weight of Heinrich on his shoulder and suspected that he had fallen asleep.  Harold had to hand the pizzas to Justine, fish awkwardly around his pocket for his keys, and blindly plunge the key into the lock to open the door in order to prevent waking Heinrich from his sleep.  And yet Harold’s attempts at keeping Heinrich asleep were all in vain as he stepped into the apartment and was greeted by a strangled cry.  Amy was standing in the middle of the living room, her face so pale that she almost looked as white as snow, and she cried out the moment the three of them entered the room causing Heinrich to stir.

“Where have you been?!” Amy asked in a panic, her voice hoarse from her illness.  “I’ve been scared out of my mind!”

“Oh… I forgot to tell you, we had to stop by the office,” Harold replied quietly, losing a bit of color in his own face as he realized that he forgot to notify Amy that he would be leaving the apartment with the kids.

“All I knew was that I heard Heinrich screaming his lungs out, then I heard the three of you fly out the door in a hurry, I thought something terrible had happened!” Amy went on, she was close to tears from worry by this point.  “I tried calling you to find out what was wrong, but you left your phone on your desk at home, I had no way to reach you, I had no way of knowing where you were.  For Yoba’s sake, Harold, I thought you were rushing him to the hospital or something.”

“I’m really sorry, Amy, I should have told you we were going,” Harold said gently.  “There was an emergency at the office, something I forgot to do, and-”

“And so you took two young children out onto the city streets at night,” Amy interrupted, sounding appalled.  “And why on earth do you have pizza with you?”  Amy gestured to Justine who was still holding the pizzas, looking slightly scared.  When Amy noticed the look on Justine’s face, her expression and tone softened considerably.

“We were leaving the apartment just as the pizzas arrived, we didn’t have a choice except to bring the pizza with us to eat at the office,” Harold explained.  “Look, this entire night has been a string of unfortunate mishaps, the kids are exhausted, we’ve all had a long night, let’s just… relax for a bit.”

“I don’t want to fight in front of the kids, but we will have words about this, Harold,” Amy whispered harshly, narrowing her eyes so that only Harold could see how truly upset she was.

“I’m sure we will,” Harold replied with a defeated sigh.  “But for now, the kids are fine, we’re home safe, you should go lay down and get some rest.  You’ve had a long night as well, you need to lay down.  I can bring you some pizza in a little bit once I reheat it in the oven.”

“I’m not hungry,” Amy answered curtly, turning on her heels.  She stormed back into the room and slammed the door behind her.

“Is Aunt Amy mad at you?” Justine asked, looking up at Harold with a curious expression.

“She’s just scared,” Harold answered honestly.  “When grown-ups get scared, sometimes we also get angry.  It’s how we cope with being worried, afraid, and nervous.  She’s not really mad at me, she was just so scared that something bad might have happened to you kids.  She loves you both so much, I think she probably spent most of her night terrified.”

“Can I go give Aunt Amy a hug?” Justine asked, her eyes turning to the door that Amy had disappeared behind.

“I’m afraid not, kid,” Harold answered, shaking his head with a slight frown.  “Amy’s sick and I’m pretty sure your dad would kill me if I let you get too close and you got sick as well.”

“Daddy would kill you?!” Justine asked, her eyes going wide with fear and shock.

“It’s just an expression, he wouldn’t actually kill me,” Harold chuckled.

Once more Harold could feel the weight of Heinrich against his shoulder, he had clearly fallen back asleep.  Harold crossed the room and laid Heinrich down gently on the couch, patting his head affectionately as he slept.  As he looked down at Heinrich, his stomach twisted as he realized that Heinrich was still dressed in his day clothes when Coin had specifically instructed Harold to have them dressed in their pajamas at a reasonable hour… this was hardly a reasonable hour.

“Justine, do me a favor and grab your stuff, I gotta hurry up and get you kids changed into pajamas,” Harold uttered quickly.

Justine nodded and reached for the bag that her mother had packed while Harold very gently roused Heinrich from his sleep.

“Hey, buddy,” Harold said softly, trying not to startle the poor kid.  “Wake up for just a second, I gotta get you into your pajamas.”

Heinrich turned to Harold, only half-awake as he tried to figure out where he was and what was happening.  Harold knew there wasn’t a lot of time left so he regrettably didn’t have time to be much more gentle than he was already being.  When Justine arrived with Heinrich’s pajamas, Harold did the best job he could to get Heinrich changed but it was difficult with a sleepy toddler who wasn’t cooperating.  Thankfully, Justine was self sufficient enough to be able to change out of her day clothes and into her pajamas without a hassle.  Harold had just finished buttoning the last button of Heinrich’s pajama shirt when he heard a knock at the door, causing the knot in his stomach to twist even worse.  Heinrich’s eyes flew open at the sound of the knock and both Heinrich and Justine ran to the door, knowing exactly who was going to be on the other side.  Harold quickly grabbed the children’s bag and met them at the door.  He took a deep breath to not appear winded or frazzled, then opened the door to find Coin and Harvey standing outside of his apartment.

“Mommy!  Daddy!”  Heinrich called out, rushing out the door to grab Harvey around his knees.  Harvey chuckled in amusement and leaned over to pick up Heinrich and hold him in his arms.

“Did you and Daddy have fun?” Justine asked her mother, also stepping out of the apartment to greet her parents.

“We sure did,” Coin answered, hoisting Justine into her arms to hold her.  Coin kissed Justine on the cheek before turning her attention to Harold in uncertainty.  “How were the kids?”

“They were great, didn’t have any problems,” Harold replied quickly, though perhaps a bit too quickly.  Harvey seemed convinced, but Coin’s expression fell in an instant and her sudden scowl was enough to tell Harold that she didn’t believe him for a second.

“Thanks again for watching the kids, Harold,” Harvey said pleasantly, his warm smile providing Harold with at least a small amount of comfort.  Amy was mad at him, Coin was incredibly suspicious, and yet Harvey at the very least was blissfully unaware of what was going on and at least appeared grateful.  It was the most Harold was going to get tonight.

“Any time, little brother… it was great spending time with the kids,” Harold replied, smiling at both Heinrich and Justine who both smiled back.

They all exchanged quick goodbyes before Harvey, Coin, and the kids left and Harold stayed in the doorway to watch as they left.  As soon as they disappeared around the corner, Harold went weak in the knees and leaned on the door jamb for support.  It had been an overwhelming few hours.

‘I can fool Harvey, but I can’t fool Coin…’ Harold thought darkly, resting his head wearily in his hands.

Summer 2, Year 2

With trembling hands, Harvey picked up his phone and stared at it in uncertainty.  All morning he had been putting off the call he was about to make, but he knew that he couldn’t put it off any longer.  It was going to be unpleasant no matter what, but the more he hesitated the worse it was going to be.  With a deep, steadying breath, Harvey began to dial as his stomach twisted into knots.

"HLA Law Firm, this is Amy, how may I direct your call?" a woman answered.

"Harold, please," Harvey muttered nervously.  Already he could feel his voice shaking.

"May I ask what this is regarding?" Amy asked pleasantly.

"Uh, i-it's... it's his brother," Harvey stammered.

"Oh!  You must be Harvey!  Harold has told me all about you!" Amy said excitedly.

"Oh... okay," Harvey replied awkwardly.  He wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that.

"He just got out of a meeting, I'll direct your call," Amy went on.  For a brief moment, Harvey could hear the soft, pleasing instrumental hold music as his call was connected.  Just as quickly as the music had begun, the music came to an immediate halt as Harvey could hear his brother's loud, exuberant voice take over.

"Hey lil' brother!" Harold replied cheerfully.

"I'm sixteen minutes younger than you," Harvey replied with a groan.  His brother loved to hang it over his head that he was the older twin.

"Oh, don't get hung up on the details, little brother, it's all in good fun," Harold said with a light-hearted chuckle.  "So what happened in your life for you to call?  Something has to have happened, I know you'd never just call me out of the blue like this... unless Mom guilted you into it.  Oh Yoba, Mom guilted you into this, didn't she?"

"No, Mom didn't guilt me into calling you," Harvey answered quietly.  "I'm calling because... because... I, uh..."

"Spit it out, Harvo, what's going on?" Harold asked, his tone softening as he sensed Harvey's clear hesitance.  Harvey instantly cringed at the nickname ‘Harvo’, it was actually worse than just being referred to as ‘little brother’.

"I'm calling because I... met someone," Harvey began slowly.  He already knew the reaction he was going to receive to this and his brother did not disappoint.  Right away Harvey could hear a celebratory whoop on the other end of the phone followed by amused, jovial laughter.

"Wow, no kidding!" Harold finally said, his tone as exuberant as ever.  “Tell me all about her!  Or him?  Hey, whatever makes you happy, am I right?"

"She is named... Coin," Harvey went on, his heart rate increasing as he already regretted making this phone call.

"Connie?  Nice name," Harold mused.

"No, Coin," Harvey repeated with a groan.

"Huh... interesting..." Harold said thoughtfully.  He sounded a bit confused, but at least he still seemed to be supportive.  "So tell me all about the lady who's lucky enough to steal my little brother's heart."

"Well, she's... she's a farmer here in the valley," Harvey explained hesitantly.  Harvey wasn't entirely certain how this news would be received, with Harvey's profession as a doctor and his brother's profession as a lawyer, he wasn't sure if Coin being a farmer would be viewed with disdain.  However, he could hear a soft, sincere 'aww' from the other end of the phone.

"Aww, that's so incredible," Harold said supportively.  "A doctor and a farmer in the valley together, sounds like it came straight from a movie.  How did you two meet?  How long have you been together?  Where did-"

Harold stopped mid-sentence, paused for a moment, then let out a soft curse under his breath.

"Son of a bitch, I'm gonna have to put a pin in this talk of ours, I'm getting a reminder that I've got a meeting with a client in a few minutes," Harold said with a soft sigh.  "Call me tonight, we can talk more about it."

"Actually, the reason I called was to... to invite you out to Pelican Town to meet her," Harvey uttered timidly.  "I can... WE can... tell you all about her in person, if you're available for it."

"Harvo... that's... I mean, that's major," Harold stammered, sounding a bit emotional.  "Yes, I'd love to head out to the valley to meet your new girl.  Let's make a day of it.  I'll visit your girl's farm, take you two out to lunch, my treat, you can tell me all about it.  My secretary Amy can work all the details out with you with my schedule, I'm not even sure what I've got coming up in the next few weeks but she'll know better than I do.  I'm really looking forward to it, little brother."

"I guess I'll... see you... at some point?" Harvey questioned uncertainly.

"Soon," Harold added definitively.  "I'll send you back over to Amy, we're gonna make this happen sooner rather than later.  Gotta run, but you take care of yourself.  I'm happy for you."

"Th-thanks," Harvey stammered.  Before he could bid his brother farewell, he could already hear the hold music once again as his call was transferred back to Amy to make arrangements for Harold's visit.

~*~

Summer 6, Year 2

“I can’t believe I finally get to meet someone from your family!” Coin said excitedly, bouncing on the tips of her toes.

She and Harvey had been dating for half a year now and things were getting pretty serious between them.  Coin already had plans in the near future for Harvey to meet her parents, but this was the first time that either one of them would be meeting a family member and it was a very big deal.  Harvey informed Coin that he had a brother in Zuzu City and they both agreed that meeting his brother Harold might be the first step to take in meeting each others’ families.  Harvey seemed very hesitant and nervous at first, but finally agreed that maybe it was time she met his brother.  As they stood at the bus stop together, waiting for Harold’s taxi to arrive, Coin began to feel a mixture of nervousness and excitement.  She was eager to meet someone from Harvey’s family, he so rarely spoke about them that she didn’t really know all that much about them.  While they waited, she was curious to uncover as much as she could.

“So what’s Harold like?” Coin asked curiously.  Harvey simply shrugged silently.  He had been oddly quiet on the subject of his brother and even now, just moments away from meeting him, Coin still didn’t really know that much about him.

“What does he do for a living?” Coin went on.  Once again, Harvey shifted awkwardly in place at the question.

“Oh, he’s a big fancy lawyer in the city,” Harvey answered, rolling his eyes slightly.  “You’d think being a doctor would be a noble enough profession, but apparently being a doctor in a small town just doesn’t compare to being a big shot lawyer in the city.  That is, if you ask my mother, at least.  Harold’s the ‘golden child’ of the family.”  Harvey placed over-exaggerated air quotes around the words ‘golden child’, his words dripping with resentment.

“Aww, I think you’re pretty ‘golden’,” Coin said affectionately, looking up at Harvey with a warm smile.  “And you’re probably more handsome than him, I bet.”  Harvey simply chuckled darkly at her comment.

“What does he look like, anyway?” Coin asked curiously.

“Oh, did I not mention it before… we’re uh… twins,” Harvey answered slowly.

“Wait, I’m sorry, what now?” Coin asked, snapping to sudden attention at Harvey’s words.

“Identical twins, to be precise,” Harvey clarified nervously.

It was at least a solid minute before Coin could fully and completely process this thought, it was as though her brain went on overload with this information.  Somewhere out there in Zuzu City, living his everyday life, there was a man out there who looked exactly the same as Harvey… exactly the same.  Maybe he had the same dorky grin, maybe he gave the same awkward shrugs, maybe his mustache curved down in the corners when he was mad in the same exact way.  The possibilities were endless and already Coin’s brain was reeling with ideas and questions.

“Are you… okay?” Harvey finally asked, breaking the silence.

“You’ve had a twin brother this whole time and I’m only just hearing about this now?!" Coin asked, folding her arms looking slightly sour.  "I even asked you about your family on multiple occasions, you didn’t feel that was important information to include?"

"In my defense, I never lied about it," Harvey clarified in a matter-of-fact tone.  "I mentioned I had a brother and I mentioned his name was Harold."

"Yeah, but you never told me you were identical twins," Coin went on intensely.  "I even commented how funny it was that your names were so similar... didn't think that would be a nice segue into mentioning 'oh, by the way, there's a man out there who looks exactly like me'?"

"I dunno, it just never felt... noteworthy," Harvey replied with a small shrug.

"For the love of Yoba, if you tell me that you two have never done the Spiderman point with each other, I'm leaving you right here and now," Coin added passionately.

"The Spider... what now?" Harvey asked in confusion.

"Oh geez, okay, we'll tackle that another day," Coin sighed, shaking her head.  "So... how identical are we talking?"

"As identical as it is genetically possible to be," Harvey answered plainly.

“Do you guys do that bit where you wear the same clothes to confuse people?  Have you ever swapped places and taken one of his tests and he's taken one of yours?  Ooh, ooh, have you ever swapped dates?!  Pretended to be one person and played pranks on people by making it look like you teleported across the room?" Coin asked each of these questions in rapid succession, sounding more and more excited as she went along.  By the time her line of questioning was complete, she was practically jumping up and down in place.

“I can’t say we’ve ever done any of those things, no,” Harvey answered thoughtfully.  “I mean, when we were little our mother used to dress us up in matching outfits which was incredibly embarrassing, but that’s about the extent of it.”

"So this isn’t gonna be one of those instances where I can’t tell you two apart and spend all day calling you Harold and calling him Harvey?” Coin asked in mild disappointment.

“Yoba, no,” Harvey answered with an unintentional snort of laughter.  “Harold’s a bit more… put together than I am.  You’ll definitely be able to tell us apart.”

“A bit more put together than a doctor who regularly wears dress shirts, ties, and a sportcoat?” Coin asked with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s an attorney in the city,” Harvey reminded her.  “Fitted designer suits, leather shoes, expensive watch… everything you'd expect from a fancy city lawyer and certainly nothing you can afford on a smalltown doctor's salary."

"So what’s his personality li-” Coin began, but stopped mid-sentence as she heard a car approaching the bus station.

As Coin craned her neck to take a look, she began to feel a wave of nerves and excitement wash over her as a bright yellow taxi pulled up to the side of the road and stopped right in front of them.  As the door of the cab opened, Coin let out a soft gasp of surprise as Harold stepped out of the cab and stood before her.  Standing right in front of her was, perhaps, the strangest sight she had ever seen; the man before her looked just like Harvey in every way and yet at the same time, he was also incredibly different.  His physical features were identical to Harvey, and yet it was no version of Harvey that she had ever seen before.  Immediately she sensed an air of confidence about this man, he stood to his full height without the uncertain slouch or hunched shoulders that Harvey usually displayed.  Although Harvey often dressed very professionally, he suddenly looked downright unkempt compared to Harold who was dressed in a navy blue fitted suit that looked rather expensive, a pair of leather shoes that were shined to perfection, a watch that was so flashy that Coin couldn’t even fathom how much it must cost, and designer glasses that framed his handsome face perfectly.  The mustache was about the same as Harvey’s, it was clear that they both took great care to groom their facial hair and yet the hair atop his head was a different story.  Harvey never did much with his wavy, unruly hair and often allowed it to go wild but Harold was quite the opposite.  His dark, chestnut hair was combed back elegantly and somehow, he had managed to tame it in a way that Harvey never could.  A quick up and down glance at Harold and Coin was absolutely frozen in awe.  It was the most surreal experience she had ever had.  She still couldn’t seem to move even as Harold stepped away from the cab and approached her with a charming, charismatic grin.

“You must be the enchanting Coin,” Harold began, taking Coin’s hand for a handshake.  Before he released her hand, he brought it slowly to his lips and placed a soft, gentle peck on the back of her hand before letting go.  “My brother didn’t mention how stunning you are.”

“Who, me?  Stunning?”  Coin asked, feeling slightly flustered at his compliment as well as the lingering tickle on the back of her hand from where Harold’s mustache brushed against her skin.

“Ahem, Harold,” Harvey interjected, clearing his throat to get Harold’s attention away from Coin.  Harold immediately turned to Harvey as though he had only just now noticed him.

“How’s it going, little brother?” Harold asked, pulling Harvey into a swift but tight hug.  He patted him a few times on the back before releasing him.

“Little brother?!” Coin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“My brother didn’t mention that he’s the baby of the family?” Harold asked, his entire face lighting up in amusement.  Harvey groaned and suddenly looked like he wanted to disappear.

“By sixteen minutes, Harold… sixteen minutes,” Harvey sighed.

“It’s okay, Harvo, you’ll understand when you’re older and wiser… give yourself sixteen minutes and it’ll make more sense,” Harold replied with a subtle wink.  Already Coin noticed that Harvey looked unamused.

“That’s okay, honey, I like younger men anyway,” Coin replied supportively.  She had meant it as a joke, given that Harvey was the younger twin, but this was clearly the wrong thing to say in this moment considering the age gap that Harvey and Coin had between them.  The unamused expression that Harvey wore only became more intense.

“Does he still do that thing when he gets mad where he purses his lips and his mustache curls down at the sides?” Harold asked in amusement.

“Oh yeah, totally,” Coin answered with a chuckle.  Her chuckle became a full-fledged laugh as she looked over at Harvey with his arms folded across his body, frowning at the both of them in the exact way they had just joked about, with his mustache curling down around his pursed lips.

“Come on, Harvo, we’re just teasing!” Harold said to Harvey, clapping him on the back with a lighthearted chuckle.  “Alright, alright, we’ll ease up on you.”

“Let’s head over to the farmhouse, we can prepare some lunch,” Harvey began.  As he turned around to leave, however, Harold reached out a hand to stop Harvey momentarily.

“No way, little brother, I wasn’t kidding when I said I would treat for lunch today,” Harold said seriously.  “What are our options for a good lunch place?”  Coin let out a small snort of laughter.

“Your choices are the Stardrop Saloon, the Stardrop Saloon, or the Stardrop Saloon,” Coin replied jokingly.

“Huh, lots of incredible options there, but I think I’ll have to go with the Stardrop Saloon,” Harold replied, playfully deep in thought.

Through the entire walk to the Stardrop Saloon, Coin found herself deep in conversation with Harold while Harvey lagged a bit behind.  Coin couldn’t help herself, Harold was charming and attentive, asking all the right questions about her work around the farm and he seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say.  He was deeply engaged in their conversation, nodding at all the right moments and even providing the occasional quip in response to her anecdotes.  Yet another instance of the vast differences between Harvey and his brother, it had taken Harvey almost a year to have a comfortable back and forth conversation with Coin.  As they entered town and crossed the town square, Coin noticed Caroline out of the corner of her eye on her way to Jodi’s house.  Caroline stopped completely in her tracks at the sight of Coin accompanied by what was essentially two Harveys and stared open-mouthed as they passed by.  This was going to be a very fun day.  Once the three of them arrived outside of the Stardrop Saloon, Harvey had just rested a hand on the doorknob when Coin held out a hand to stop him.

“Wait, hold on, I just got the greatest idea,” Coin said with a giggle.  Harvey raised a curious eyebrow at Coin, however she turned her attention to Harold.

“How would you feel about pretending to be your brother for a bit, just for a few minutes?” Coin asked playfully.  Behind her she could hear Harvey let out a groan.

“I think I see where you’re going with this and I am IN,” Harold replied with an amused grin.

“Is anyone gonna ask my opinion on all of this?” Harvey finally asked with a sigh.

“Probably not, because I already know exactly what you’re gonna say,” Coin replied with a smirk.  She gently kissed Harvey affectionately on his cheek and smiled warmly at him.

“Wait here for us, okay?  We’ll come get you when our prank is over,” Coin said gently to Harvey.  His expression softened as he looked into Coin’s eyes and he nodded.

“Have fun,” Harvey said to Coin and Harold.  Coin would have sworn that she saw the corners of his mouth twist up in the smallest hint of a smirk.

Coin had to take a deep breath to steady herself as she and Harold entered the saloon.  It wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun if she burst into laughter from the start.  As they entered the saloon, Gus was standing at the register, looking down as he was counting the money inside.  He hadn't seen them yet.

"Hi, Gus!" Coin said pleasantly, subduing the quiver of laughter in her throat as she fought to keep her composure.

"Hey there, Coin, hey there, Doc-" Gus began jovially, but stopped when his eyes fell upon the man he believed to be Harvey.  "Wow, Doctor H, you sure clean up nicely!  What's the occasion?"

"Do I need a special occasion to look nice in the presence of a lady?” Harold asked with a charming smirk.

"Tone it down a bit, be more awkward,” Coin whispered to Harold.  Right away Harold’s perfect posture dropped a bit and he almost comically slumped his shoulders forward.

“I suppose not,” Gus answered, still looking bewildered.  “What brings you here this afternoon?”

“Just stopping by for a quick lunch,” Coin replied casually as they approached the bar.  “We have some errands in town today, so we thought we’d stop by.”

“Anything exciting on the schedule today?” Gus asked curiously.  His eyes kept darting over to Harold as though he were still in shock at the sight of ‘Harvey’ looking so refined.

“Oh, you know… the usual,” Harold replied with an over-exaggerated shrug.  “Gotta take a break every now and then from saving lives.”

“Saving the lives of Pelican Town one flu shot at a time, am I right, Doctor H?” Gus replied with a hearty chuckle

Harold faltered for a bit at Gus’ remark as though it had only just now occurred to him just how much of a small town Pelican Town was and that his incredibly smart brother’s skills and talents were being wasted in such a small clinic.  He forced a light chuckle, but suddenly looked a bit disappointed.

“I’ll be right back, I gotta go grab something outside for a sec,” Coin said to Harold.  He simply nodded in reply.

This hadn’t been anywhere near as much fun as Coin had hoped, but she had a second idea that might be even more amusing.  She quickly exited the saloon to find Harvey leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest and he looked slightly uncomfortable.

“Is this my cue?” Harvey asked uncertainly.

“Sure is, Gus doesn’t suspect a thing,” Coin answered happily.  “But hey, before we go in… are you okay?  I don’t know how much of this is just general sulking and how much of this is legitimately being upset.”

“I’m not upset,” Harvey replied with a small shrug.  “Not really, at least.  It’s just always been hard for me around Harold.  He’s so charming and suave and personable; everything I’m not.  It’s usually not an issue because I don’t see him all that much anymore, but every time I see him in person it just takes me back to when we were growing up.  It was awful.”

“What happened?” Coin asked, her expression immediately softening as concern lined her features.

“Sibling rivalry, except on a much larger scale,” Harvey answered with a dark chuckle.  “It’s hard enough when siblings get competitive, I’m sure you understand with your sister.  But we shared everything; we were in the same grade, usually had the same teachers, same classes, we looked exactly the same, we even got our glasses around the same time… and yet you couldn’t have two more different kids if you tried.  Harold always had more friends than I did.  He had a girlfriend in high school and I didn’t, he was popular, he went to prom, he was Student Body Vice President, he was on the debate team… he was always so much more confident than I was, and it showed.  And the worst part about it was that I couldn’t even hide from it.  It was an almost daily occurrence to be mistaken for him and I can’t tell you how many disappointed looks I’d receive when people found out that I was just Harvey and not Harold.  Do you know how hard it is to look exactly like someone who has it all together, who’s well-liked and has a lot of friends, but not actually be that person?”

“Harvey, I-” Coin began softly, but Harvey barrelled on.

“I grew the mustache as a way to differentiate myself from him and wouldn’t you know it, that apparently wasn’t good enough for him because he grew one, too,” Harvey said bitterly.  “It’s like we were always competing and I almost always came out as the loser.  It hasn’t been as bad since we’ve become adults, but it’s still hard to see him sometimes… especially seeing him get along so quickly with you, I’m ashamed to admit that it… well, it stings a little.”

“Why does it sting?  Wouldn’t you want me to get along with your family?” Coin asked.

“That’s a complicated answer to give,” Harvey answered honestly.  “It took me almost a year just to work up the courage to have a proper conversation with you and he managed it in a matter of minutes.  Every girl I’ve ever had a crush on, Harold’s swooped in and taken her.  Not on purpose, mind you, I was never vocal enough to say anything, but it’s hard to watch him smooth-talk his way into the arms of the girls I’ve had crushes on.  He would never try to go out of his way to charm you, at least I don't think so, but he’s so charismatic that I’m sure he could pull it off without even trying.  It’s why I’ve been so hesitant for him to meet you, I didn’t… I didn’t want to risk him taking one more girl from me.”

Coin rested a hand delicately on the side of Harvey’s face and lovingly stroked his cheek, the expression on his face looked so defeated.

“I mean… I’m flattered that you actually think anyone out there besides you would want a piece of this, but you can rest assured that even if he tried anything, it’s just not gonna happen,” Coin began with a warm, affectionate smile.  “Harold’s delightful, charming, very well dressed...” Coin paused as she tried to figure out how exactly she was going to word the rest of her sentiment, but the look on Harvey’s face became even more sullen.

“Is this supposed to make me feel better?” Harvey asked, sounding slightly hurt.

“Hold on, I’m not done,” Coin replied simply.  “He’s so many wonderful things but there’s one thing that he’ll never be and that’s you.  He’ll never be you.  He may look like you, he may sound like you, but that’s not good enough for me.  You are good enough for me.”

“I honestly can’t imagine why anyone would prefer me over Harold," Harvey said in disbelief.

"I know you're both identical, but… you're cuter," Coin answered with a playful wink.  "Now, you ready to go in there and really blow Gus' mind?"

"I'd love to," Harvey answered with a nod.

When Coin opened the door to the saloon, she could hear Gus and Harold in mid-conversation.  It sounded like Harold was still playing the part of Harvey, they seemed to be having a talk about the upcoming community luau.

“Hi, Gus!” Coin said pleasantly, almost identically to how she had greeted Gus minutes earlier.  She stepped inside the saloon arm in arm with Harvey as though there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary going on.

"Hey there, Coin, hey there, Doc-" Gus began as if on autopilot, but froze when he looked up and saw Coin arm in arm with Harvey.  It was comical to watch his reaction as his eyes darted back and forth between Harvey and Harold, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"What the-" Gus muttered in bewilderment.

"Good afternoon, Gus," Harvey greeted with a friendly wave.  "I see you've met my twin brother, Harold."

Right away Gus burst into laughter, slapping a hand on the counter in front of Harold.

"Harvey's twin brother, huh?" Gus asked, still laughing heartily.  “I thought there was something wrong when you mentioned that you were looking forward to the luau.  That's not the Harvey I know!"

"What can I say, I guess my brother doesn't share my penchant for the beach," Harold replied with a shrug.

"Wow… Harvey has a twin brother," Gus uttered in disbelief.  "I've never seen identical twins before, this is wild.  You two really are identical."

"I hope you don't mind the prank, that was too fun to resist," Coin said playfully.

"Not at all, that was a blast," Gus replied.  "Now let's get you three set up at a table and get your orders ready."

Once Harvey, Harold, and Coin were all seated at a table, Gus went around the table to take each of their orders.  Coin and Harvey each ordered something fairly simple, but Coin noticed that Harvey winced the moment Gus approached Harold.

"I didn't see a menu at all, do you happen to have a porterhouse?" Harold asked.  Right away, Gus let out a hearty laugh.

"I wish," Gus answered in amusement.  "Folks in the valley just don't have the coin for that."  He quickly glanced over at Coin and winked.  "If you'll forgive the expression."

"Then what do you have in the way of steaks?" Harold asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Flank steak," Gus answered, sounding almost embarrassed.  "Gotta know your audience here.  You may find porterhouse at every reputable steakhouse in the city but that's just not a reality here in the valley."

Once again, Coin got the impression from the look on Harold's face that he was taken by surprise by life in the valley and had severely overestimated the size and scope of Pelican Town.

"Flank steak will be fine, thank you" Harold finally answered with a nod of appreciation to Gus.  "As well as a glass of your finest red wine."

"Finest," Gus chuckled, shaking his head.  "You really are from the city."  Gus left the table to begin preparing their orders, still shaking his head as he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Quaint little town you've got here, Harvo," Harold said politely.

"Somehow when you say the word 'quaint' it doesn't sound like a compliment," Harvey remarked.

“What are you doing here?” Harold asked seriously.

“What do you mean?” Harvey asked, looking puzzled by the question.

“I mean what are you doing here?” Harold repeated, gesturing around him.  “This town, this clinic… you’re better than this.  You went to school for eight years, spent another three years after that working your ass off for your residency, all for what?  To spend your days giving out flu shots and cold medicine?"

“Oh for Yoba’s sake, Harold, I can’t have this conversation… not here, not now,” Harvey sighed wearily.  “I have this same talk almost weekly with Mom, I can’t have it again.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Harold replied gently, looking genuinely concerned.  “Really, I don’t mean it in a derogatory way, I truly don’t.  What I mean is that you are so smart, Harvo, I just feel like this town must be so stifling for you with all this wasted talent."

"It's what makes me happy, Harold," Harvey answered plainly.  "I became a doctor to help people, no matter how big or small their problems.  It's just as rewarding for me to treat the sprained ankles and sore backs as it to save lives in the emergency room.  It's far less glamorous, sure, but someone has to do it.  Someone has to be here for the people of this town and it's an honor to provide them with the care that they need."

"Sheesh, look at that, not only smarter than me but also a better human being," Harold commented sardonically.  "I lie for a living and you genuinely make the world a better place.  I was right to idolize you when we were younger."

"You idolized me?" Harvey asked in disbelief.

"Of course I did!" Harold answered vehemently.  "I desperately wanted to be like you in every possible way I could.  I even grew the mustache because I saw how distinguished it made you look.  Why do you think I tried to get involved more in school?  I tried to learn as much as I could to soak in as much information as possible to try and be even a fraction as smart as my little brother.  You’re why I got involved in the debate team.  For Yoba's sake, you're the reason I became a lawyer!"

"What?" Harvey asked, his jaw agape at this revelation.

"I kept seeing how smart my little brother was and it was hell trying to keep up," Harold admitted.  "Mom constantly rubbed your grades in my face, always asking why I couldn't be more like you and why I wasn't as smart as you are.  You were always Mom's favorite."

"You were Mom's favorite," Harvey retorted.  "All I ever heard was how involved you were in school activities, how great it was that you had so many friends, how charming you were…" Harvey trailed off and Harold immediately continued on his own rant.

"All I ever heard was how smart you were, how driven and motivated you were, how successful you were going to be," Harold added bitterly.

For a moment they all just sat in silence for a bit as Harold and Harvey shook their heads in disbelief.  Coin had remained quiet through their talk and had to stifle a laugh at the near-identical way in which they shook their heads, it was almost like she was seeing double.

"Wow… Mom really went out of her way to pit us against each other, didn't she?" Harvey asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I'll have to ask her about that next time I call her, she's got some explaining to do," Harold replied, still shaking his head.

"Please don't mention anything about Coin yet, I'm just not ready to handle that at the moment," Harvey sighed wearily.

"Oof, yeah, I'm not going anywhere near that topic, that's all on you, Harvo," Harold chuckled.  "I already hear enough about how I need to find a nice girl and settle down, the last thing I need is for her to compare me to you again."

“Ugh, I get the same talk from her,” Harvey groaned, nodding his head in understanding.  “I’ve had to play it off for the last half a year, I’m just not ready to subject poor Coin to Mom yet.”

“Watch out, Coin, once she meets you she’ll never let you go,” Harold cautioned her jokingly.  “I’m pretty sure that if things ever fell apart between you and my little brother, she’d disown him and keep you instead.”

“You think he’s kidding, he’s not,” Harvey added with a smirk.

“I’d love to meet her someday,” Coin commented.

“You’re not ready, kid… not yet, at least,” Harold replied.  “First you have to survive my line of questioning before you stand a chance of surviving hers.”

“Harold, take it easy on her, she’s not on trial,” Harvey reminded him gently.

“No, she’s not on trial, it’s far worse than that… she’s gonna have to face Mom someday,” Harold replied in a foreboding tone.

“Gimme all you’ve got,” Coin replied confidently.

Before Harold could begin, Gus arrived at their table with their food and drinks.  Harvey playfully rolled his eyes as Harold was presented with his flank steak and red wine while Coin and Harvey received their usual, simple orders.

“Enjoy!” Gus addressed them happily.  Before he left the table, his eyes darted back and forth once more between Harold and Harvey as though he were still trying to wrap his head around the two of them looking identical.

“Okay, so, where were we,” Harold went on as he cut into his food.  “Ah, yes, your interrogation…”

“Harold, come on,” Harvey said gently, peering at Harold over the rim of his glasses.

“Alright, alright, I’ll start easy,” Harold replied.  “How did you two meet?”

“Honestly, that story isn’t anywhere near as interesting as you’re hoping for, sorry,” Coin answered with a shrug.  “When I first moved here I wanted to meet everyone in town, so I did… Harvey included.”

"As the town doctor it's pretty standard to meet your patients," Harvey continued.  "She stopped into the clinic to start getting to know the residents, it only made sense to meet the person who was going to be her primary care physician.  A strong doctor/patient relationship is very important."

"Got a little more than you bargained for out of this doctor/patient relationship, eh Harvo?" Harold replied with a devious smirk.

“Oh, come on Harold, that’s inappro-” Harvey began, but was cut off by Coin.

“By that logic our entire relationship falls under doctor/patient confidentiality, so come to think of it, I don’t actually have to answer any of these questions,” Coin mused aloud, returning Harold’s devious smirk.  Harvey faltered for a moment and stared at Coin with immense pride.

“Ooh, I like her,” Harold said with an impressed nod.  “I mean, I could cite a hundred different ways that your argument is flawed, but I’ll hold back for everyone’s sakes.  Still, not bad.”

The rest of the meal passed with Harold throwing every possible question he could at Coin as she tackled each one perfectly.  In addition to how they met, Harold asked how they became friends, how they started dating, how long they'd been dating, and how the relationship was currently going.  The minute he asked the question of where they both saw the relationship going from here, Coin and Harvey exchanged awkward, hesitant glances.  They tended to take their relationship one day at a time and didn't often talk about the future.  They were both content with how things were at the moment and neither of them had really discussed what they wanted out of the relationship moving forward.  As Harold watched the two of them exchange uncertain glances, he leaned back in his chair looking almost victorious.

“Ah, now we’re getting to the good stuff,” Harold mused.

“I’m not entirely sure… that is to say, we really haven’t discussed that yet,” Harvey began awkwardly, losing a bit of color in his face.  He desperately turned to Coin for help but even she wasn’t entirely sure how to answer.

“I mean, I can’t speak for Harvey, but… I’d like to see where this goes,” Coin answered with a shrug.  “Dating sucks, I would hope that after being with Harvey I just never have to do it again.”

Coin knew that the answer was a bit of a cop out, but she was already feeling slightly uncomfortable and couldn’t quite figure out the best way to make it known that she planned on staying with Harvey for as long as he would have her.  And yet, as she looked back at Harvey she could see a delighted smile spread across his face, as though he saw past the nervous, awkward answer she gave to fully understand her meaning.

“I don’t think I have any plans on dating after this either,” Harvey replied, reaching under the table to take Coin’s hand in his.

Harold had just opened his mouth to say something, no doubt to make a light-hearted quip or perhaps even throw another curveball question their way, however he stopped before he could even speak when his phone began to ring.  He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and cringed when he looked at the screen.

“Ah geez, it’s my secretary, hold on just a sec,” Harold replied with a sigh.  He very quickly excused himself from the table and stepped across the room to answer the phone.

“So no plans to get back into the dating game, huh?” Coin asked with a lopsided grin.

“Can’t see any reason why I would need to,” Harvey answered, glancing sideways at Coin with a smirk.  “And you?”

“Same,” Coin answered simply.  “I mean… who needs the stress of that, am I right?”

“I sure don’t,” Harvey replied playfully.  “Might as well stick together, I doubt I’ll find anyone else that actually finds my socially awkward tendencies endearing.”

“And no one on this earth is gonna let me tease them as much as I tease you,” Coin added with a playful grin.

From underneath the table, Coin could feel Harvey squeeze her hand lovingly as he flashed her a sweet, gentle smile.  All at once Coin felt an overwhelming rush of affection toward Harvey and craned her neck to kiss him delicately on the lips.

“Geez, get a room,” Coin heard a voice say in amusement from behind her.  It was odd to hear what was essentially Harvey’s voice from behind her while she currently had her lips pressed against his.

When she pulled away from Harvey, Coin looked over her shoulder to see Harold standing behind them, his arms folded across his chest, looking incredibly amused.  Out of the corner of her eye, Coin noticed that poor Harvey looked flustered and was blushing furiously.

“Can’t leave you two alone for a minute, can I?” Harold chuckled, shaking his head in amusement as he rejoined them at the table.

“I-I’m sorry, that was… inappropriate,” Harvey uttered, still looking incredibly uncomfortable.

“Harvo, I’m just teasing,” Harold replied, his tone softening considerably.  “You wanna kiss your girl, kiss your girl, don’t let me stop you.”  Harold flashed Harvey a kind, understanding smile and yet Harvey still looked slightly abashed.

“Now that we finished lunch, I’d love to take you on a tour of Limetree Farm,” Coin offered in an attempt at changing the subject for poor Harvey’s sake.

“I wish I could but, regrettably, I cannot,” Harold answered with a slight frown.  “Just got off the phone with my secretary, I have an important meeting that had to be pushed to this afternoon so I’m afraid I have to cut our visit short.”  Harold appeared genuinely disappointed by the news as he pulled his wallet from his pocket to begin counting the money for their lunch.

“Harold, please, you don’t have to pay for mine and Coin’s lunch,” Harvey began, but Harold held up a commanding hand.

“No way, I’m happy to do it,” Harold replied firmly.  “It’s not every day my little brother calls out of the blue because he met someone.  It’s a big deal, Harvo, let me do this for you.”

Harvey threw his hands up in defeat as Harold left the table to pay Gus for their lunch.  Coin could tell from Gus’ astonished reaction that Harold must have tipped him handsomely.  When Harold returned, Harvey and Coin had just begun walking toward the exit of the saloon as Harold held out a hand to stop them.

“Wait, wait, before we go we should get a nice group picture,” Harold suggested with a shrug.  Coin looked over at Harvey who simply rolled his eyes.

“Harold’s the photographer of the family, always taking way more pictures than anyone ever needs,” Harvey replied with a sigh.

“You complain every time I take a family picture and then you’re the one messaging me a week later to send it to you,” Harold teased.  “Come on, humor me and let me get this picture.”

Coin positioned herself in-between Harvey and Harold and couldn’t help but laugh at how the two of them had to crouch slightly in order to stand a chance of all fitting into the picture together with the vast height differences between them.  Coin was used to Harvey being so much taller than she was, but it was off-putting to be in the middle of two towering men.  Thankfully Harold seemed to have no problem using his phone to capture a selfie of the three of them, if it were up to poor Harvey he would probably still be trying to figure out how to even open the camera app.

“Do you need us to call you a cab?” Harvey offered as they left the saloon and crossed town square together.

“No, my secretary took care of it, she’s already called one for me so that should be here any minute now,” Harold answered.

When they arrived at the bus stop, the taxi didn’t seem to have arrived just yet.  Harold casually leaned against the trunk of a tree, stuffing his hands comfortably into his pockets as he waited.

“You two don’t have to hang around and wait on my account,” Harold noted to Coin and Harvey.

“Actually, my farm’s just down the road here, if you don’t mind waiting right here I can run there really quick to send you home with some goodies,” Coin offered happily.  “I make my own jams and pickles if you’d like some.”

Harold’s eyes immediately went wide at the mention of pickles and he turned to Harvey as they exchanged knowing glances.  It was clear to Coin that Harold must share Harvey’s love of pickles, given the excited look on both of their faces.

“Never let this one go, Harvo,” Harold said, though he seemed mostly serious.  “Yes, I would love to bring home some homemade pickles.  Better throw in a jam as well, might be a nice gift for my secretary seeing as she basically runs my life for me.”

Coin immediately headed down the cobblestone path to Limetree Farm, leaving Harvey and Harold at the bus stop to wait for the taxi.

“Wow, Harvo, just… wow,” Harold marveled with a low, impressed whistle as Coin disappeared from view.

“Wow what?” Harvey asked curiously.

“Wow, Coin!” Harold exclaimed, his entire face lighting up.  “She’s incredible!”

“Really?” Harvey asked, sounding bewildered.  “I mean, I know she’s incredible, that’s not the part that shocks me.  It’s just that… you really think she’s incredible?  You of all people?”

“Me of all people?” Harold asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, let’s be honest, Harold, you have incredibly high standards when it comes to women,” Harvey answered bluntly.  “Probably why you haven’t settled down yet.”

“Ugh, you sound like Mom right now,” Harold groaned.  “It’s not that I have high standards, I’m just… not looking for anything serious at the moment.  Is that such a problem?”

“I suppose not, if it makes you happy,” Harvey replied with a small nod.  “Does it make you happy?”  Harold was silent for a moment, absentmindedly staring down the road where Coin had disappeared to.

“I don’t even know anymore,” Harold finally answered.  “Seeing you so happy like this with such a great girl by your side… I don’t know.  Maybe Mom’s right, maybe I need to finally start thinking about settling down.  Don’t even know where to begin at this point, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

“You seem to always be talking to that secretary of yours,” Harvey suggested with a subtle wink.  “I’ve talked to her on the phone a few times, she sounds sweet.”

“Amy?” Harold asked, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.  “Heh, yeah, that's not gonna happen… a lawyer and his secretary, not exactly a professional arrangement.”

“Neither is a doctor and his patient, but exceptions can be made in the name of finding love,” Harvey replied.  It seemed like a simple enough answer to give, and yet Harold’s face lit up the moment Harvey uttered the word ‘love’.

“You love her?” Harold asked, his giddy expression becoming infectious as even Harvey couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face.

“How could I not?” Harvey answered simply.  “She really is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I’m so proud of you, little brother, I mean it,” Harold said, his expression suddenly becoming serious to stress to Harvey the sincerity of his words.  “I know you’ve always been the one that wanted a family, to settle down with a quiet life and a kind woman by your side, and I’m just so happy to see that you finally found it.”

“Thanks,” Harvey replied awkwardly, he wasn’t the best at serious, heartfelt discussions with his brother.

“And hey, that should keep Mom happy for awhile, at least one of us finally found a nice girl to take home,” Harold went on jokingly.  “Do you know when you’re gonna finally introduce her?”

“I have no idea,” Harvey answered with a weary sigh.  “Do you think Coin’s ready for Mom?”

“The question isn’t whether Coin is ready for Mom, it’s whether Mom is ready for Coin,” Harold replied with a snort of laughter.  “Just don’t wait much longer, Mom’s gonna be so thrilled.”

Coin returned to the bus stop moments later with a small canvas bag filled with homemade pickles and jam for Harold to take with him back to the city.

“Thanks, Coin,” Harold said appreciatively.  “Can I trust that you’ll take care of my little brother?  Yoba knows he needs all the help he can get.”

“You got it,” Coin replied with a playful salute.

“And Harvo, you do the same… take care of this woman or I might just swoop in and take her from you,” Harold went on, winking at Harvey to show he was teasing.

“We can’t have that,” Harvey replied equally playfully, though his hand absentmindedly reached for Coin’s as their fingers laced together.

It wasn’t much longer before they spotted a yellow taxi approach the bus station and pull over to the side of the road.  

“That’s my ride,” Harold commented sadly.  Coin had expected Harold to step into the cab right away, but instead he approached Harvey and Coin and pulled the both of them into a large hug.

“Great to see the both of you,” Harold said fondly as he released them from his hug.  “We’ll definitely have to do this again sometime, maybe some weekend you can take a break from your flu shots and paper cuts to spend some time in the city.”  Once more, Harold winked at Harvey just to make it clear that he was teasing.

“Only if you can find time to get a break from being a liar,” Harvey replied jokingly.

“It’s pronounced lawyer,” Harold smirked.

After another round of goodbyes and one last farewell hug, Harold entered the taxi and waved to Coin and Harvey from his window as the cab pulled away and began the drive back into the city.  Coin and Harvey stayed at the bus stop, waving at the cab, until it was completely out of view.

“Well that went better than I expected,” Harvey mused with a sigh of relief.  “Though at some point I’ll have to rip the bandaid off and you’ll have to meet my mother.”

“One step at a time, I suppose,” Coin nodded in agreement.  “I’m sure she’s delightful, I can’t wait to meet her.  I just feel bad for the day that you have to meet my family.  I promise you it won’t be as easy.”

‘You can do this,’ Harvey thought to himself, pacing nervously back and forth across the clinic waiting room.

Harvey would never consider himself bold or assertive, in fact he was usually known for being quite the opposite.  If anyone had told him even a season ago that he would be considering going over to a woman’s house to ask her on a date, he’d have given them a psychiatric evaluation for making such outlandish claims.  And yet, here he was, psyching himself out to head over to Limetree Farm to ask the subject of his affections, the intoxicatingly charming Farmer Coin, to accompany him on a date.  It had taken Harvey a long time to think of the perfect first date for the two of them, nothing seemed quite right.  A night at the saloon seemed too rowdy for either of them to tolerate comfortably and yet a quiet night spent at either of their homes seemed too forward and personal for a first date.  Harvey hoped that Coin might enjoy coffee, it seemed like a nice idea to invite her to the saloon in the afternoon to share a cup of coffee together.  It was simple, it was elegant, and it didn’t seem too serious or desperate.  It was perfect.

All Harvey needed now was an excuse to show up at Coin’s farm so unexpectedly.  His mind had already pored over so many possible options, but none of them felt right.  Yoba forbid he actually just show up and ask her out to the saloon for some coffee, that seemed incredibly forward to Harvey and he wasn’t quite sure he had the confidence to pull something like that off.  Of course, the obvious solution was to play to his strengths and make his reasoning something medical, but he couldn’t come up with a single valid reason to make a medical call to her home without being asked.  Ultimately, he decided that it would be best to use the upcoming Stardew Valley Fair as a reason to visit, but even then he couldn’t quite come up with the perfect justification.  Just as he was beginning to lose hope that he would find a suitable reason, an excuse to visit Coin arrived quite unexpectedly when Maru arrived at exactly 9:30 for her morning shift.

“Hey, Doc,” Maru wheezed as she stepped through the door, looking exhausted.  Harvey immediately stopped pacing as Maru shuffled inside, looking winded.  He was lucky that Maru hadn’t noticed his back and forth pacing in the waiting room, it was a dead giveaway that he was stressed about something and he certainly didn’t feel like admitting to Maru what he was about to do.

“Is everything okay?” Harvey asked in concern.

“My mom just built all of the grange displays for the Stardew Valley Fair next week and she asked me to deliver Farmer Coin’s to her,” Maru gasped, still breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath.  “I had to lug that thing all the way down the mountain, I’m exhausted!  I couldn’t even fit it in the door, it’s too big!  I think I’ll just leave it outside the clinic and deliver it after my shift.  I’m too exhausted to even think about it right now.”

“You know, I could deliver it for you if you’d like,” Harvey said slowly as realization took over.  It was the perfect solution, really.  He would be doing a favor for Maru, it provided him with a reasonable excuse to call on Farmer Coin, and would even buy him some goodwill by making him appear helpful to Coin.

"That would be great!" Maru sighed, looking incredibly relieved.

"The first appointment of the day isn't for another two hours, I could probably do it now to get it over with," Harvey reasoned, glancing at Maru to gauge her reaction.  He had to play it cool to avoid seeming too eager.

"Perfect, let's get it out of here, the sooner the better," Maru said hurriedly, shooing him out the door with her hands in case Harvey might change his mind.  For a moment, even he wasn’t sure if he would change his mind and lose his nerve.  Luckily for the both of them, Maru didn’t even give him the chance to do so and she practically shoved him out the clinic door and slammed it behind him.

The walk to Limetree Farm seemed longer than he thought it would be and it was only partially because of the heavy wooden display that he was struggling with.  Most of the journey was spent second-guessing himself and the step forward he was about to take in his relationship with Coin, if it could even be called that.  A 'relationship' would imply mutual feelings of affection between two individuals, but Coin was a difficult woman to read.  She was friendly, of course, and seemed to enjoy Harvey's company, but he could never shake the feeling that perhaps she didn't see him as anything more than a dear friend.  It was agonizing to pine after her day after day, wondering if there could ever come a day when they could be more than just friends.  Harvey never was one to make the first move, but it just felt like the right step to take.  Coin was kind, sweet, charming, and delightful, and if it took Harvey overcoming his fear of rejection to get closer to her, then it would have to happen this way.

When he arrived at Limetree Farm, Harvey immediately set the grange display down by Coin’s porch and took a moment to lean on the display to catch his breath.  He could feel sweat start to drip from his forehead and immensely regretted using this as an excuse to see Coin, seeing as it resulted in him turning into a hot, sweaty, sorry excuse for a man.  He would have been better off just being honest and upfront to avoid looking so out of sorts.

As Harvey took a moment to catch his breath, he could hear footsteps across the field and instantly his stomach twisted into knots.  When he looked up, he saw the petite figure of Farmer Coin crossing her field, smiling warmly at him as she approached.  Had she seen him arrive?  Had she seen him struggling and sweating as he lugged the display to her farmhouse?  And now he was standing here, a panting, sweaty, out of shape mess who could hardly breathe.  This was not at all how this was supposed to go.

“Hi, Harvey!” Coin exclaimed, her face lighting up once she was near to him.  Harvey tried to fight off the flutter of butterflies in his stomach at the way Coin was looking at him, but it was an impossible feat.

“H-hello, Coin,” Harvey stammered, still trying hard to steady his breathing so that he would not appear out of shape.

From behind Coin, Harvey could hear the sound of soft footsteps and the sudden sound of rapid sniffing.  A small dog had appeared from behind her, sniffing the floor at Harvey’s feet curiously.  Harvey instinctively leaned over to pet the dog, but stopped when he saw the dog leap forward, positioning itself between himself and Coin defensively as though protecting her from the tall, strange, sweaty man who had just showed up to speak to his master.

“Oh, that’s just Willi,” Coin commented, gesturing toward the keeshond at her feet.  “He’s harmless.”

“Ah, yes,” Harvey said, eyeing the dog uncertainly as it continued to look him over.  Perhaps he was harmless to Coin, but Harvey got the distinct impression that he needed to tread very lightly around this animal.

“So what’s with the box?” Coin asked curiously.

“The box?” Harvey asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion.  Coin’s sudden and unexpected appearance paired with his overwhelming insecurity about his level of fitness had caused him to forget one of the reasons he was even here.

“That big giant wooden box that you carried all the way here?” Coin clarified jokingly, pointing to the grange display by the porch.

“Oh!” Harvey blurted out, turning his face away sheepishly as he could feel his cheeks flush.  “Yes, the box, er, display… yes, that.  It’s your grange display for the Stardew Valley Fair next week, Robin’s finished constructing it and asked Maru to deliver it to you.”

“Wow, Maru, when did you grow a moustache and get a whole lot taller?” Coin teased, punching Harvey playfully on the arm as she let out a snort of laughter.  The spot on Harvey’s arm where Coin’s fist made contact suddenly felt electric from her touch.

“That’s a good one,” Harvey chuckled in amusement.  “I offered to bring it over, she was struggling quite a bit with it and I figured it might be nice to… to bring it over and see you.”  Harvey winced at his last words, he hadn’t meant to say them out loud but he couldn’t stop himself.  It seemed awkward to say out loud that he had wanted to see Coin and while he hoped that she wouldn’t find these words off-putting, he was also afraid and intimidated about how he would react if she expressed a similar interest.  Thankfully for Harvey, Coin didn’t appear to have caught on to the deeper meaning of what he had said and she glossed over it entirely.

“Want to step in for some tea while you’re here?” Coin offered, gesturing toward the farmhouse door.

Before Harvey could even begin to process what she had said, let alone prepare a suitable answer, he found himself unconsciously nodding his head in agreement.  Coin smiled that sweet, adorable smile of hers and began to lead Harvey toward her farmhouse while he followed close behind in a daze.

Harvey could feel his heart beating faster as they approached the door, unsure of what to make of this.  Was this a casual, friendly offer?  Was she trying to initiate something with him?  It was his plan to invite her to coffee for a date, was this her way of making a move?  If she offered tea in lieu of coffee, did this mean she didn’t even like coffee?  And now that they were about to share a hot beverage together, it seemed foolish to invite her out to the saloon to do the same, would he now have to come up with a new plan?  Changing plans on the fly wasn’t exactly his strong suit, it had taken him well over a week to come up with the first one and now all of a sudden he had to try and form a new one within minutes.  Would it be best to abort the plan entirely and try again another day after he had time to regroup?

While all of these thoughts were swirling around his brain, he hadn’t realized that his feet had carried him all the way up the porch steps and into Coin’s home.  By the time he had fully realized that he was standing in the kitchen of the woman he was enamored with, he could feel his eyes widen slightly as the reality of it struck him.

“I’m in your home,” Harvey said out loud, unable to stop himself.

“Welcome!” Coin said with a warm smile.  She was gracious enough to not acknowledge how awkward he was currently acting, or perhaps she hadn’t picked up on it.  “Go ahead and take a seat at the table, I’ll start the kettle.”

“So… what brings you to Pelican Town?” Harvey asked conversationally.  He winced at what a generic question that was, but thankfully Coin didn’t seem to mind as she set up the kettle on the stove.

“A bit of a long story, but I guess we’ve got time while we wait for the water to boil,” Coin said thoughtfully, taking a seat across the table from Harvey.  “I grew up in a small town and like every teenager, I wanted to move into the big city and live the life I wanted, or at least a life way more exciting than the one I was stuck with.  When I was finally old enough and moved to Zuzu City, it was just way too stressful, way too expensive, and nothing like I imagined.  My boss kept calling me whenever my colleagues were ill and I guess I’d just finally had enough.  I had received a letter from my grandfather and was told to open it if I ever felt crushed by the burden of modern life and I honestly hadn’t felt more crushed by modern life than I did working for Joja.  When I opened the letter, it was the deed to Limetree Farm and I just… I just went for it.  I packed up, chopped off all my hair, and got on a bus to Pelican Town."

“Chopped off your hair?” Harvey asked, tilting his head curiously.

“That was your takeaway from all of that?” Coin asked with an exasperated chuckle.

“I’m sorry,” Harvey replied quickly, not wanting to offend Coin.  “I’m sorry, it really was a fascinating story, I really admire you for your bravery, I know I certainly could never be so bold.  I was just curious about the comment on your hair, that’s all.”

“Oh yeah, I used to have incredibly long hair,” Coin went on, gesturing toward the middle of her stomach to indicate the length that it used to be.

“Wow, I’m so used to seeing it this way, it’s hard to imagine,” Harvey mused.  “I like it this length, it suits you well.”

Harvey froze for a second as he realized that he was actually having a pleasant back and forth conversation with Coin and it was going surprisingly well.  He had even managed to slide in a subtle compliment to her and was hoping that it landed successfully.  However, as soon as he had commented on her hair, he could hear the whistle from Coin's kettle to indicate that the water was ready and as a result, he didn’t get to adequately read her reaction to see if his subtle compliment was well-received or not.

“Tea time!” Coin said excitedly, rising from her chair to prepare the tea.

Harvey waited patiently at the table, resting his chin uncertainly in the palm of his hand as his elbow dug uncomfortably into the hard, wooden surface of her table.  Coin’s back was to Harvey as she filled the teacups with boiling water and placed tea bags into each cup, thankfully she couldn’t see how disheartened Harvey suddenly looked.

Once they were both seated with their cups, a brief, awkward moment of silence passed between them while they waited for their tea to steep.  At least it was awkward for Harvey, every time he looked over at Coin she appeared cool as a cucumber and perfectly content with the silence.  Finally, Harvey couldn’t take it any longer and the silence had to be broken.  Of course, he could break the silence by asking her out on a date like he was supposed to, but he was far too rattled now to do so.  He would have to go back to the drawing board for ideas before attempting this again, there was no way he could ask her out for coffee while they were in the middle of sharing a beverage together.  No doubt Coin would think he was unoriginal for doing so.  Instead, he asked the first question that popped into his mind.

“What made you decide that you wanted to pursue a life of farming?” Harvey asked, though he quickly added, “I mean other than opening your grandfather’s letter and finding the deed to Limetree Farm.”  Harvey immediately felt embarrassed by his lack of tact and for asking such a foolish question.  He buried his face into his teacup and sipped slowly at his tea, primarily to cover his face.

“Well, I wanted to go to a quiet place and not be surrounded by people all the time,” Coin answered with a shrug.  Harvey could certainly relate to this feeling.  “As for farming and plants, I’ve had cacti when I lived in the city and they didn’t die so I thought that not everything’s lost on me.”  Coin simply smirked and shrugged her shoulders, that seemed as good a reason to her as any to take over her grandfather’s farm.

“I suppose cacti are quite a bit different than the crops you grow on your farm,” Harvey commented before he could stop himself.  His stomach clenched the moment the words escaped his lips, it seemed like a rude response to give.

“I didn’t really think that much about it, I can be really impulsive,” Coin admitted with another shrug.  “All I know is that my life in the city just wasn’t going the way I wanted it to go and when I opened that letter, it was a chance to try a different life.  So far it’s worked out pretty well, I gotta say!  I love my farm, I love my dog, I love the friends I’ve made… I’m really happy here!”

“I’m happy to hear it,” Harvey replied, smiling fondly at Coin.  Whether he ended up in a relationship with her or not, he at least wanted to know that she was happy here.

The remainder of Harvey’s visit was spent swapping stories about some of the villagers in town while they each sipped their tea.  They were both somewhat isolated from the rest of town and weren’t all that social, so it was nice to have someone so easy to relate to.  It only made Harvey want to be with her even more as he heard her describe how much she hates going into town on the off chance she’ll run into somebody and have to hold a conversation.  In the darkest recesses of his brain, Harvey hoped that she certainly never felt that way when having a conversation with him, maybe she was even cringing at the conversation they were having at this very moment.  Yet she seemed to enjoy his company, she seemed to be relaxed and opened up to him in a way that he didn’t suspect she had done with anyone else in town.  It was impossible to tell where she stood at the moment and by the time they had finished their tea and rose from the table, Harvey was no closer to having Coin figured out.  She was a mystery, a wonderful puzzle that he was desperate to figure out.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Coin,” Harvey said politely, bowing his head slightly to her as he lingered in the doorframe.  He knew he had to be getting back to the clinic, but his heart ached with how much he wanted to stay.

“Thanks for bringing my display over,” Coin replied with a friendly smile.  “I should probably start thinking about what I’m going to fill it with.”

They briefly exchanged friendly waves and pleasant ‘goodbyes’ to each other and Harvey turned around to leave, internally screaming at himself for not having the courage to ask her for a date.  Just as he had reached the base of her porch stairs, his heart began to beat quickly when he could hear Coin call out to him.

“Oh, and Harvey, while you’re here there’s actually something I’ve been meaning to ask you before you go,” Coin said, causing Harvey to stop dead in his tracks.  When he turned around to look at her once more, she appeared giddy and anxious, almost as though she was feeling nervous and excited about whatever it was she was about to ask.

“Y-yes, Coin?” Harvey asked nervously, his voice shaking slightly in anticipation.  He waited for her response with bated breath as a million thoughts and daydreams flooded his mind all at once.  Was she going to invite him to come back another day?  Was she going to ask him on a more formal date?  The possibilities were endless and Harvey tried not to get his hopes too high as he waited in agony to hear whatever important question it was that Coin had for him.