be sure to read Part 1 And I'll Love You All the While (Because You Saved My Life Once) and Part 2 One Day It's Here and Then It's Gone (How Are You Still Holding On) before continuing on to this story
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Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the plot and any original characters that may be added in later. All rights over characters of the TV show Arrow belong to CW Television and DC Comics.
August 2018
Flushing the toilet and closing the lid, Felicity stands up from her seat on the floor, grimacing at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair's falling out of the messy bun she did after her shower and she looks tired, but that was probably due to the fact that she was just puking her guts out a few seconds ago. At least the pregnancy makes her boobs look amazing. And she's tan. They'd just gotten back from their honeymoon a few nights ago and she misses it so much, finding herself wanting to go back. The sun, the ocean, the peace and quiet; it was just so relaxing. And she needed that considering how horrible she feels now.
Felicity rinses her mouth with some mouthwash before making her way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom to start getting ready. Tonight, they're heading to the Queen Mansion for dinner with everyone since they hadn't seen the newlyweds in just about two weeks. She opens the door to the walk-in closet, eyes roaming over her dresses, trying to decide which one to wear. Picking one of her favorites, she takes the light blue dress off the hanger and steps into it, pulling it up around her hips. She reaches her arms behind her back, trying to pull up the zipper. After a few moments of struggling, she zips it up and turns to inspect her reflection in the floor-length mirror on the closet door. She hears the front door of the loft open and the jingling of keys, followed by footsteps that are getting louder. Oliver's reflection appears in the mirror as he walks into the room, draping his suit jacket across the bed and loosening his tie.
"Hey," he greets with a smile before moving to stand behind her, placing a kiss to her cheek over her shoulder.
Felicity barely acknowledges him, her eyes squinting as they roam up and down her body. "Can you totally tell that I'm pregnant in this dress?"
Huffing a laugh, Oliver looks her up and down as she turns to see herself from the side. "No, you look like you always do. Which is beautiful, by the way."
She blinks and runs her hands over her still fairly flat stomach, smoothing invisible wrinkles as his compliment goes completely unnoticed. Suddenly, her shoulders sag and she lets out a huff, "This dress makes me look like a whale." Oliver tries not to laugh as she stomps back into the closet, reaching back and unzipping her dress on the way, letting it pool around her ankles leaving her in just her underwear. She shifts around some of her dresses before groaning, "God, why are all my dresses so tight?! Do I own nothing that is loose fitting?!"
"Nope," he answers as he starts unbuttoning his dress shirt, "That's probably why I'm such a big fan of your wardrobe."
Felicity turns her head and glares at him, his stupid, sexy grin irritating her. "You're not helping. This is your fault."
Throwing his head back in laughter, he steps towards her, "My fault? I didn't buy your clothes."
"No, but you did get me pregnant, which has made me fat and unable to wear my favorite clothes."
Oliver bands his arms around her waist, pulling her to stand in front of him. She stares up at him with a pout and he leans down, giving her a quick peck on the lips. "First of all, you're not fat; you're not even twelve weeks yet. Second of all, if you were fat, I would still love you. And third of all," he smirks, "I am definitely not sorry that I got you pregnant."
She can't stop the smile making its way on her face or the laugh that follows as she smacks a hand against his naked chest. Their laughter dies down and Felicity peers up at him under long lashes, "I miss Bali. I wish we could go back."
"We will someday," he promises. He lifts his eyes to survey their surroundings before reaching around behind her and pulling a dress off the rod. "How about this one?"
Felicity grins and takes it from his hand, "This could work."
Opening the door without knocking, Oliver steps inside the house he grew up in, smiling at the familiar feeling of safety this place has always given him. Felicity follows him in, her hand firmly clasped in his. Thea must hear the door because she comes running into the foyer, a wide grin on her face as she throws her arms around her sister-in-law. "Lissy! You're back!" she yells, voice full of excitement.
Laughing, Felicity pulls back from the extremely tight hug, "That we are. I take it you missed me?"
"Of course I did, sis," Thea agrees, her smile growing around the last word that she can finally use to describe her friend.
"Well, I missed you too."
"Thanks Speedy, love you too," Oliver grumbles from where he stands, observing the exchange.
Thea giggles, tilting her head at her brother before tugging him into a hug, "Don't worry Ollie, I missed you almost as much as Lissy." He huffs a laugh, placing a kiss to the top of her head and letting her pull away. The younger Queen looks between them and grabs ahold of Felicity's free hand, starting to drag them into the dining room she emerged from earlier. "C'mon, dinner is ready and everyone is waiting."
Felicity cranes her neck to look back at Oliver, her eyes wide. On the drive over, she admitted how nervous she was to see everyone. They decided that they weren't going to tell anybody until after twelve weeks, even though they'd been to the doctor to have it confirmed and the doctor had said everything looked healthy and normal, and she is horrible at keeping secrets. It isn't that she's a bad liar - she's actually quite good - it's just that she hates looking people in the eye, especially people she cares about, and lying to their face. Oliver, on the other hand, is a terrible liar no matter what. He makes up the stupidest excuses that no one would ever believe.
Rounding the corner, the impeccably set dinner table comes into view, as well as their friends and family. Oliver squeezes Felicity's hand in reassurance that she could lie for one night and she squeezes back, plastering a smile on her face - that part isn't a lie, she genuinely missed everyone here tonight.
Moira stands from her seat at the head of the table, moving directly towards Oliver to give him a hug and a kiss to his cheek. Pushing his chair back, Tommy makes his way towards his two best friends, Laurel deciding to just wave in hello instead of trying to get up out of her chair with her growing middle. Once everyone says hello, they take their seats around the table, waiting for Raisa and some of the other employees to serve dinner.
Moira is the first to speak, addressing the newlyweds, "So, tell us. How was Bali?"
"Amazing," Felicity answers, glancing at Oliver with a growing smile.
He nods as she takes a sip of water, ignoring the tall glass of wine in front of her. "Yeah, it was beautiful. The water was so clear. We'd definitely love to go back someday."
"What did we miss here? I know I talked to Thea a couple times, but she was just keeping me up on the latest gossip," Felicity laughs.
Thea opens her mouth, feigning offense, "Hey! You love gossip!"
"Yeah, you really do," Laurel shrugs a shoulder at the blonde.
"Alright, fine. I do love gossip, especially when it's not about me," she agrees before directing her next question to Tommy, "What's new with you?"
"Nothing really, just managing the club. Which reminds me, I was wondering if you could stop by and look at our security system. It keeps glitching."
"Sure, no problem." Felicity's eyes roam around the table and she furrows her brows in question, "Where's Sara and Nyssa?"
Laurel speaks up, "I don't really know, they said they already had plans they couldn't cancel."
She frowns but doesn't question it further. The door connecting the dining room and the kitchen opens as Oliver and Moira start talking about what he's missed at Queen Consolidated, the smell of whatever is for dinner wafting into the room when they start bringing out plates. The delicious smell of the unknown meal suddenly morphs into something nauseating and Felicity brings a hand up to her mouth. Oliver notices her pale skin and asks if she's okay, but she barely hears him, trying to keep the bile from rising up her throat. Felicity quickly scoots her chair backwards and stands, running to where she knows is the nearest bathroom. Shutting the door behind her, she barely manages to lift the lid of the toilet before landing on her knees, hands gripping either side of the bowl as she throws up. After a few moments, she stops dry-heaving and shifts so that she can rest against the wall, still keeping her face near the bowl as she takes a few deep breaths.
A knock makes her open her eyes, just in time to see Oliver coming into the bathroom. He shuts the door and makes his way over to her, crouching down and brushing away a piece of hair that had fallen in front of her face. "You okay?" he asks softly, brows drawn together in concern.
She nods her head slowly, a weak smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. "I'm sorry. It's just, the smell… I don't know why I reacted so badly to it."
"Don't worry about it," he assures. "Do you want to try standing up?" Again, she nods her head and watches him straighten up, placing her hands in his outstretched ones as he pulls her to her feet. Oliver lifts a palm up to her face again, brushing across her cheek as he tucks hair behind her ear. "Feel better?"
"Yeah, I'm with you," she peers up at him.
He lets out a small laugh, "And you say I'm the sappy one."
"Shut up," she joins him in laughter before turning to face the countertop. Reaching out for the mouthwash next to the sink, she opens the bottle and rinses out her mouth, shutting off the faucet when she's finished. Oliver smiles and grabs her hand to pull her towards the door he's already opened halfway. "Wait," she stops him and he looks back at her with a raised brow, silently asking if she feels sick again. "I can't go out there with that food still there."
"I know. I already had them take everything back to the kitchen and told them not to open that door again," he states, a smug grin on his face.
Felicity rolls her eyes, but her smile softens as she leans up on her tiptoes and places a quick peck to his lips. "You're the best husband ever, you know that?" At the still-smug look on his face, she adds, "Way better than my other two husbands."
Oliver narrows his eyes at her, watching as she tries to suppress a grin, "Ha ha. You're real funny today." Unable to even pretend like he's mad at her, he gives her nose a quick kiss before leading her back to the dining room where, luckily, the food is indeed gone.
Everyone looks towards them when they walk through the archway, all wearing similar expressions of concern. Moira is the first to speak, "Sweetheart, are you alright?"
"Yeah," Felicity nods, "I don't know what happened, I just got nauseous. Maybe I'm still super jet lagged or something."
"But you've been back for like, two days already," Laurel states, narrowed eyes seeming to be analyzing her and Felicity shifts uncomfortably, a hand coming up to run over the material of her dress around her stomach. Suddenly it's like a light goes off in Laurel's head and her eyes widen almost comically, a loud gasp coming from her lips. "You're pregnant!" she blurts out, a finger pointing towards the blonde like she'd just cracked a major case.
Everyone freezes at her words, eyes moving between her and the couple still standing near the doorway. After a few beats of silence, Felicity scoffs, attempting a fake laugh to brush off the suspicion, "What? No, no. I'm not pregnant, nope. I'm not that. C'mon, Laurel. I mean, no. We've only been married for like, two weeks. C'mon. No. Nope. Who's pregnant? Not this girl! Nope, not m-"
"- I think they get it," Oliver interrupts dryly, cutting off her horrible ramble.
She exhales a deep breath, tilting her head slightly to the side and leaning up towards his ear. "We can still make a break for it," she whispers, nodding her head to the easy exit right behind them.
His eyes dart between his wife and the door, weighing his options and seriously considering running. Finally, he breaks, letting out a sigh and turning to everyone, "Fine. Felicity's pregnant." A hand smacks hard against his chest and he glares down at her, "Ow!"
"We agreed we weren't gonna tell anyone yet!" Felicity whisper-yells, but her words are heard anyway.
"That was before you puked your guts out and Laurel used her weird pregnant woman powers Tommy always talks about!
"Guys!" Thea interrupts, making both of them turn their heads towards her. She stares at them for a few seconds before a slow smile starts tugging up the corners of her lips, "Are you really pregnant?"
Exchanging one last look with Oliver, Felicity turns towards Thea with a gentle hand brushing over her stomach and a smile of her own, "Yes, I am. We're gonna have a baby."
"I'm gonna be an aunt!" Thea's eyes light up and she squeals, jumping up and running towards them, yanking Felicity into a bone-crushing hug.
"Alright," she manages, "Crushing the pregnant chick, here."
She pulls away abruptly, "Sorry, sorry! I'm just so excited, this is the best news ever!"
"Yes, it is," Moira agrees with a smile, tugging her son into a warm hug.
"How far along are you?" Thea asks giddily, Tommy and Laurel standing to join the group.
"Just about ten weeks, but the doctor says everything looks good," the blonde answers after drawing out of her hug with Tommy.
Laurel grins, rubbing a hand over her stomach and placing a hand on the other woman's forearm, "This is kinda cool. Our kids will only be a few months apart, maybe they'll be best friends." A large smile spreads across her face as she nods her head, pulling her friend into a tight hug.
Making his way towards his best friend, Tommy claps a hand on Oliver's shoulder, "Congrats man. I'm happy for you guys."
"Thanks, Tommy. That means everything coming from you," Oliver says, the implication of the darkest days of their friendship hanging in the air.
He sends his friend a knowing smile, accompanied by a nod, before turning towards Felicity who is chatting away with Laurel. "So, are we gonna eat dinner or what?"
Everyone's heads turn towards Felicity for a response and she shrugs a shoulder, "I could go for some pizza."
"Yes!" Thea cheers before pulling out her phone, "I'm ordering right now."
Oliver chuckles at his baby sister's excitement, gravitating towards Felicity and wrapping an arm around her waist, bringing her close and placing a kiss to the top of her head. "I know this evening didn't really go as planned, but I'm actually glad that everybody knows."
She tilts her chin up to look at him with a raised brow and a grin, "Yeah, me too. You're kind of a horrible liar." Oliver laughs before leaning down to capture her lips in his, feeling at peace knowing that nothing else matters except for the three of them.