Prologue: The Last Three Years

A/N: For this prologue, Emily's narratives are italicized while Stephen's are not. In the succeeding chapters, this will no longer be the case. Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or its characters. Unfortunately.

Emily Queen:

Hi there! Are you up for another story? Well, I hope you are. Coz this time around, my older brother Stephen and I are even better storytellers. You see, I'm eight now and a proud second grader! Although my school's guidance counselor told my mom that my IQ test says I have the cognitive abilities of a fifth grader, my mom chose to let me stay with kids my age because she didn't want me accelerated three grades up at the expense of my physical, emotional, and social development. While she may be right, sometimes I do get bored in class. Some of my teachers don't have a clue how to keep up with me. I thinkthatgets in the way of my emotional-social development. Don't you think so?

The good news is that my asthma attacks have now come far in between. Dr. Fischer says that in many cases, children outgrow their asthmatic condition as they reach age 7 or 8. I think my name can be added to the statistics that support that observation by medical experts. I and everyone in our household have somehow mastered keeping me away from the allergens that could trigger my allergies and asthma attacks. So, life has never been better for me than it has in the last year or so.

Stephen, on the other hand, is now fourteen and taller than our mom. He still plays basketball and has gotten to be an expert at the sport. He can now take on our dad on the playing court, even if Dad is still about six inches taller than him, because he has better shooting skills. He recently joined the school's varsity team. You know what I think? He's in it not just for the training... but for the attention. You see, once he hit puberty, he's been constantly looking out for cool, cute girls. I don't know... maybe it's true what the textbooks say about raging hormones. (Giggles)

Stephen Queen:

Hey! Quit it, Ems! You're embarrassing me already, and we haven't even started on chapter one yet.

Emily:

Just kidding! I can't get enough of that look on your face each time you get all flustered!

Stephen:

Just stop, will you?!

(Sigh) Well, for those of you who are reading this now, I think you're getting a pretty good idea of how much my younger sister and I have changed since we first told you the story of how her mom Felicity Smoak and my dad Oliver Queen ended up together. It's been three years since you last heard from us... or five years since our parents were married. It might be a good idea to tell you what's been happening to our family and friends.

For starters, the twins have also grown bigger and taller... and smarter, too. They're almost four now, and even if they drive all of us crazy, they're really adorable! TJ is the silent and shy type. He and Liv are in preschool now and they're beginning to read, but he's the one who devours children's books like he does breakfast cereals. Mom decided to get him a borrower's card from the Starling City Library because buying him new books each week had become too costly and impractical even for the Queen family budget. He also loves to draw, paint, and work with play-dough, and for his age, I think he's going to turn out to be a Picasso someday. I think that's how he expresses himself better. Right now he's fascinated with cars, motorcycles, trains, and airplanes, so those are all he ever draws these days. This is why Dad enjoys keeping him company. They bond by going to car shows and visiting automobile showrooms and going on different rides in amusement parks.

Emily:

Liv is the outgoing and talkative type, and takes after you-know-who... only faster. I mean, Mom and I can babble, yes, but Liv? She rambles faster than The Flash can run. It can get really annoying many times, but because she can't quite pronounce her "r" and "l" well enough yet, her jabbering and gibbering can be so funny that everyone's learning to overlook how bothersome it is in favor of finding it cute and then laughing. She's also pretty good with numbers, patterns, and puzzles. One time in a children's activity center in the mall, she discovered what the Chinese abacus was. She wouldn't leave the mall that day without walking out with one, so Dad bought her the largest abacus the store had. I guess, this is why she and Mom get along really well. They somehow have this special bond between them. Mom says when Liv moves on to first grade, she's gonna start teaching her about creating and cracking codes... whatever that means.

Stephen:

Our youngest sibling is now the apple of everyone's eye. Carrie Cruiser Queen was named by our mother as a sort of "souvenir" of the Caribbean cruise that our dad took her on when they found out they were expecting again. Carrie is now two years old, and she is, as Dad proudly puts it, "the most beautiful girl ever born," and rightly so, in my opinion. Surprisingly, Carrie came out a brunette like my Aunt Thea, but she has Mom's smooth and wavy hair texture. Her face is shaped like Dad's but her nose is definitely Mom's. She also inherited our parents' ocean blue eyes, and she has the most charming, most captivating smile anyone could ever lay eyes on. At two, she could melt any person's heart with just a grin or a chuckle. I wouldn't be surprised if, when she grows up into a young lady, boys will be lining up at our door just to ask her out, that is, if they can get past my dad. Dad calls her "my pretty princess" all the time, bragging to every stranger that asks about her being the princess of our royal family, although I find that this makes Emily quite jealous. (Smirk)

Emily:

I can't help it! I used to be the little angel in the family before she arrived. (Pout) I bet when she's a little older, we'll find out that she's not even half as smart as me or Liv. Can't have everything, you know. It's beautyorbrains.

Stephen:

Sure. Liv is the Brain. Carrie is the Beauty. And you're the Beast.

Emily:

I can't believe you just said that! Before the twins and Dad's pretty princess, there were just us. I thought you were on my side.

Stephen:

It's my turn to kid around, Ems. Now we're even. (Smirk again) Come on, you know how much Dad loves you. He's gone through the entire adoption process just to give you his last name so that you can be a proud Queen, too. Now, don't be a sour puss, and get on with the story.

Emily:

Oh, okay! (Sigh and pout)

Carrie was born on an unforgettable day. She sure knew how to make an entrance.

Wearing a beautiful white silk wedding gown, Aunt Sara Lance was walking down the aisle towards Uncle Tommy Merlyn, who was standing tall and handsome in his charcoal black tux near the altar in Rev. Olsen's church, when Mom's water broke and she started to go into labor. The bridal march was unintentionally yet inelegantly interrupted as the startled musicians suddenly stopped playing when Dad started yelling Diggle's name in panic. Queen family members and close friends skirmished their way out of the pews and rushed to help get her into the stretch limousine that Diggle quickly fetched. Dad helped Mom walk to the front door of the church, her legs dripping with gooey stuff. With one arm she was clutching her oversized tummy, and with her other hand she massaged her aching pelvis as she walked as quickly yet as carefully as she could. (She was way too big and heavy for Dad to carry at that point without it being uncomfortable for her.) Stephen, TJ, Liv, Grandma Moira, Walter Steele, Aunt Thea, her boyfriend Roy Harper (who is now her fiancé), Lyla and daughter Sara, and I - we all scuffled to the exit and then squeezed ourselves into the limo one by one even before Mom and Dad reached the vehicle.

Stephen:

Upon seeing the motley crew of excited family members and friends packed inside the limo, Dad became furious. "What are you all doing in there?! Will some of you please get out? Felicity needs to lie down in there. Please! We don't have much time!"

Walter Steele spoke with a stern voice as he stepped out of the limo. "Oliver's right," he said. "Everyone, move out of the vehicle. We'll let Stephen and Thea accompany Oliver and Felicity to the hospital. The rest of us will go back inside and finish the ceremony."

Grandma looked at him disapprovingly from inside the car. "But Walter, I want to be there for my new grandchild this time. I was out of town when the twins were born."

Mr. Steele was about to answer her when he caught a glimpse of my mom from the corner of his eye. She nodded, giving her approval, and managed a faint smile in the midst of her obviously excruciating situation. So, the dark-skinned, refined Englishman obliged Grandma, saying, "Alright. You go with them, Moira. Thea, Roy, and I will take care of Emily and the twins and head back inside. We'll go straight to the hospital as soon as the ceremony finishes off."

Grandma smiled and motioned for the others to step out of the limo, leaving her and me with Mom and Dad inside as Diggle turned on the ignition. We were at Starling City General in less than ten minutes.

Emily:

That day would go down in the history of the Queen family as a day of irony. Everyone was happy and excited to welcome Carrie into the world, but there was also a certain sadness and regret that not one of us got to be in any of the post-ceremony photo shoots of the long-awaited Lance-Merlyn wedding. Aunt Thea said that as soon as the reverend said "You may now kiss the bride," they had left the church and rushed to the hospital, finding Mom and little Carrie already in the recovery room. Roy was disappointed about skipping the reception. That was supposed to be the first time he'd get a chance to dine in the grand ballroom of the Grand Plaza Hotel.

Stephen:

While our mom rested in the maternity suite and our new baby sister slept soundly in the bassinet, we all sat down as a family in the small living room a few meters away and talked about how that day turned out. At first, we all felt guilty and embarrassed for holding up the bride's march and stealing the scene, but soon we were all laughing at the thought of how Dad would have to be the one to apologize to his best friend and sister-in-law.

"I wonder what it would take for Tommy and Sara to forgive you, Ollie," Aunt Thea had teased, bursting into laughter as soon as she finished her sentence.

"You think that's funny, huh?" Dad had said, casting a peeved look at her sister. "And what about getting on that stretch limo and squeezing your over-enthusiastic butts in there like a can of sardines? I mean, what were you guys thinking? We appreciate your enthusiasm, but that was pretty stupid. Did you really expect a pregnant lady who's in labor to lie down across your laps from the church to the hospital?" Everyone laughed.

"Well," Grandma interrupted, "at least I got to be the first one to hold my beautiful granddaughter this time around. She's just... wonderful! She looks just like you, Thea, when you were born. So Ollie, if that's the prize of stupidity, then it was all worth it."

My dad walked over to his mother and gave her an affectionate hug. "Thanks, Mom, for being here this time. And you're right. She is a beautiful baby, and her name is Carrie. Carrie Cruiser Queen, my pretty princess."

Emily:

Well, so much for our pretty little princess. (Eyes rolling) Let's talk about Mom and Dad. I'm sure that's what our friends are waiting to hear about. Right?

Mom and Dad have been married for five years now and they're doing okay. By okay, I mean they're healthy and strong. Dad still works out in the gym and jogs regularly, and he still tries to do that at least once a week with Stephen. No one would think he's already thirty-five because he's really handsome and fit, and very much a "hunk" as women like to describe attractive guys these days. He is still the CEO of Queen Consolidated, and despite the pressures at work, he manages quite well.

Mom is fine, well, not as healthy and fit as Dad. She is still very pretty with hardly any wrinkles at age thirty, and still physically attractive, considering she's given birth three times already. But, Dad worries about her sometimes because she hasn't been exercising regularly and working out with him for over a year now. The only parts of her body that have been getting a daily workout are her fingers, as she types away on her computer keyboard, laptop, or tablet for long hours day and night. She also lacks the normal eight-hour sleep, so she has those dark rings under her eyes that she hides with her ever-reliable Mary Kay concealer.

Over the last year, Mom had gotten sick with the flu three times. Dad keeps reminding her to take it easy and not overwork herself because she can easily catch a virus or other bacteria that her immune system won't be able to handle as well as normal people who still have spleens. But, like anyone with a brilliant mind, a passionate heart, and a driven personality, Mom often ignores the reminders that are really for her own good. She stubbornly thinks she can juggle her time and allocate her energy reserves to accomplish a multitude of tasks that include: running the Queen household, caring for a husband and five kids, tutoring us with schoolwork, attending parent-teachers meetings, and her latest stressor of all... working as head of QC's IT department and as the new President of the company's Board of Directors.

Stephen:

You got that right. Last year at around this time, Walter Steele married our grandmother Moira and during their wedding reception, they announced their retirement and their plans of moving to England for good. That first part was expected. Grandma was obviously fond of Walter for several years already. She was in love with him even before the man revealed his true feelings for her. It's like she had just been waiting to be proposed to. Grandma seemed to have found love sweeter the second time around, so she didn't think twice about moving to London with him and giving up her life with all of us here. A month after their honeymoon, we were at the Starling City International Airport sending them off and waving goodbyes with tears in our eyes.

Because of this major change, our parents had a change of plans. When Carrie turned one year old, they had started looking into the real estate market for a house to purchase so that we could move out of the Queen mansion, just as Mom had wanted since the birth of TJ and Liv. But when Grandma and Walter announced their move to London, Dad decided for us to stay. "Felicity Queen is now the one and only Queen in this house," he had said as soon as we walked into the foyer coming home from the airport, bringing a smile to our mother that went up to her eyes.

But Felicity was not only the Queen of the house. With an empty president's seat in QC's Board that happened at the same time the head of its IT department resigned, our dad took the opportunity to offer both positions to our mom once again. The shares of stocks that Walter and Moira had transferred to Oliver's name, and the ones that Ray Palmer had transferred to Felicity's name before our parents got married, made them both the majority stockholders of the company. Thus, our mom had every right to fill in Walter Steele's shoes as President of the company. Dad didn't want to wait for another power-hungry investor or Board member to attempt to take over the presidency, so he pleaded with Mom to reconsider. This time, she couldn't think of any more excuses since she was no longer taking care of a helpless infant, so she finally obliged him.

I remember one of their conversations in the car as we were coming home from church one Sunday. "Oliver," she had asked, "do you really think I'm ready? I mean, I'm fine just being an IT consultant. Are you sure I can do it?"

I had noticed my dad's right hand letting go of the steering wheel, reaching for my mom's hand and clasping it in his. "Felicity, Honey, I wouldn't ask you again if I didn't think you can do it. You are a brilliant, multi-talented woman, and I'm so proud of you. It would be both a privilege and a pleasure to have you as my partner in running the company that my parents built."

"I love you," she said, glancing at him.

"Is that a yes?" he asked with a wide grin on his face that could be seen on the rear view mirror.

"Mm-hmm," she replied. And then she leaned over to her left and kissed him on the cheek and then on whispered something into his ear that made them both chuckle.

Emily:

I used to think that Mom and Dad's fluff was gross. I used to catch them kissing and hugging in their room or in their bathroom whenever I'd forget to knock. They used to hold hands anywhere and everywhere. Sure, their Friday date nights are still on, but lately, I've been wishing to see more of the fluff back in their relationship.

Since Mom became extremely busy at work trying to fill the shoes of both IT department supervisor and Board president, she has also become increasingly serious and stressed out at home. Although she's still able to keep herself from yelling at anyone when her patience runs out, usually taking a deep breath and just walking away from a mess or a possible fight, she seems unhappy. I miss her winsome smiles and funny, clever remarks. I miss her hilarious babbling. I miss shopping days with her. I miss her bubbly personality. These days, all she's concerned about is getting all her QC tasks, household chores and errands, and childcare responsibilities done, and then she retires to their bedroom as soon as all her energies have been sucked out of her frail body.

Our weekly routines had also changed since Mom began to work full-time, and that was not just because we had to fit baby Carrie into the scheme. It used to be that our parents reserved Mondays to spend time with Stephen, Tuesdays with me, Wednesdays with TJ, and Thursdays with Liv. Saturdays were our park days, and Sundays were for church and family time. Those were reduced to weekend family times at the mall, the park, the theater, or at home doing leisure activities together... with Mom either tinkering with her tablet to get some work done while we play games, or dozing off on the couch long before the movie we were watching was over. Dad would lovingly pick her up, kiss her, carry her upstairs to their room, and tuck her to bed.

I have no doubt that Mom loves us more than anything in this world, but I knew things were getting worse - for her and for us - especially when she started bringing home work a few months ago. She spent less quality time with Dad and us. Most nights after dinner, she'd be cooped up in her computer lab while Dad watches TV or DVDs with us or works out in the gym. Dad has been very understanding. He tells us that Mom has very important responsibilities in the company, and that he is very proud of her amazing accomplishments since she took over Walter Steele's job. He didn't have the heart to complain. After all, this was his idea.

Stephen:

I guess this is all Emily and I can share up to this point. Two things will, hopefully, make this story different and unique from our first one. First, Emily and I can't tell you what's going to happen next because it hasn't happened yet. Like you, we are wondering how the next chapter in the life of the Queen family would turn out. Second, we will let Mom and Dad, TJ and Liv, and hopefully, even Carrie help us narrate what happens next.

Would you like to find out? Then read on.