Inspired by this picture…
It was 98 degrees in Starling City today and Oliver was thankful for A.C as he looked over at his 10 month old daughter Finley who was playing on the floor with blocks. Felicity was out with Thea for a "girls day." He didn't know what that meant and he probably didn't want to find out. He watched the football game on TV for awhile but soon grew bored and so did Finley, her blocks now laying unused.
"Boring when Mommy isn't here isn't it," he asked his daughter. Her only reply being a big sigh. "Yeah, no kidding." He looked around the room. What could he and Finley do?
"Want to read a book?" Finley threw a block at him. "Guess that's a no." He looked towards the kitchen. "You hungry?" So like her Mother she just gave him her Felicity look as if to say "You can't just eat when your bored." Felicity had told him that several times. "Hhmmm… can't go to the park, Mommy would freak out if I let you get overheated." He looked out the back window, blue pool water sparkling in the sun. He smiled. Idea firmly planted he went and picked Finley up. "Daddy's got a plan." Her brow furrowed. "Don't look at me like that. I know your Mom's the planner in the family but…I think I've came up with something you and I both will enjoy."
Clothes were strewn about the room but he finally found Finley's zebra striped swimming suit Thea had gotten her when they bought the house with a pool just outside Starling in the spring. Placing her on the changing table he tried to wrangle her wiggly limbs into the suit. "How does Mommy do this so fast?" Finley just clapped her hands then stuck her fist in her mouth. He managed to get her in her suit then put her in her crib until he could put his swimming trunks on. Shortly towels and baby in hand they went out to the pool and after he had slathered Finley in sunscreen and after he threw her yellow floaty and some pool toys in he eased them into the pool. Finley shrieked at the cold water. "You'll get used to it soon," he said as she slapped the water.
He swam around with her for awhile, then he put her in her floaty and she drifted around the pool while he watched her closely. They played a splashing game which she really enjoyed if all the screams and belly laughs were any indication. Eventually she got bored of that too so he walked around the pool while holding her like superman as she kicked her arms and legs. After that he threw her up in the air and caught her. She seemed to enjoy that too so he kept doing it loving the way she smiled so hugely, that was until he heard a shriek that wasn't from Finley.
"Oliver!" Felicity yelled fearfully. "What are you doing?"
"She likes it," he said as he prepared to throw her again.
"Don't you dare," said Felicity forcefully.
"Its adorable Felicity, relax." Thea spoke up and pulled out her phone."Do it again Ollie, I want to get a picture."
"Oliver, I don't like this."
"Felicity, you know I wont let anything happen to her."
"All I'm saying in that is our only daughter and it's going to be hard to explain to Lance that our daughter went splat in the pool because her Daddy has a superhero complex.I carried her for 9 months Oliver," she babbled. "I ate nothing but organic, I didn't even drink coffee! You know I love coffee so she would be healthy. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make a baby?"
"I don't recall it being hard at all, actually it was quite fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again." A deep crimson blush spread all the way up her neck into her cheeks.
"Ewww Ollie," Thea said in disgust.
"You know that's not what I meant Oliver Jonas Queen."
"Uh-oh Mommy's using my full name, that's never good. Tip, always run when you hear that." Finley giggled.
"Oliver," Felicity stamped her foot. "I do not want my daughter going splat!"
"Okay, I won't do it again," he leaned forward and whispered his last word to his daughter.. "Today."
"Why don't you join us before we turn into prunes?"
They ended up spending the rest of the afternoon outside, Oliver, Felicity, Finley and Thea all enjoying the cool water and playing games.
When the sun started to set it cooled down and after they had all showered and changed into warmer clothes they grilled hamburgers and ate on the back patio. Thea grabbed some marshmallows,chocolate and graham crackers and they made smores over the fire Oliver had made.
As they all sat by the fire pit, Oliver with one arm around his wife and Finley sharing both of their laps, he couldn't believe that this was his life.
He didn't deserve any of it, didn't deserve to be married to the most kind, strong and beautiful woman in the world, Didn't deserve to have a beautiful daughter who was such a perfect mix of them both, she had his eyes, Felicity's nose, cute chin and perfect lips. A daughter who every time she looked at him made his breath hitch in his chest. She made him feel invincible, he could win any battle and solve any problem just when she looked at him, just like her Mother. He didn't deserve to have his sister in his life after everything he had done that caused her pain. But there she was, sitting in a lawn chair wrapped in a blanket throwing kisses at Finley.
He knew life would always be a challenge for them. There's danger when you're fighting a war. But now he isn't alone, the city's safety was no longer just on his shoulders and he understood now what John had told him all those years ago.
"You can stare down death with something to live for or not. Something to live for…is better."
Now he had so much to lose that he'd do anything, be anything to keep it. It had took him a long time and extreme measures to come to the realization that he could be the Arrow and Oliver Queen. He had put Felicity through Hell, he hadn't deserved for her to take him back. In the unselfish part of his mind he had wanted her to reject him so that she could live a better life. She deserved so much more than the broken man that he was. But Oliver thanked God that she didn't reject him, instead she harnessed the light that was left inside him and helped him put Oliver Queen back together again.
Almost as if she had sensed his thoughts Felicity turned her blue eyes to his, took his hand and squeezed it. Their silent communication had only grown stronger over the years and just through that gesture he knew it all. How much she loved him and Finley and how thankful she was for the life they had built.
Oliver leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers and placed a kiss on her lips. Words from a song he'd heard on the radio drifted into his mind.
But I smile cause I can see
forever in those big blue eyes
You know she could've had 1,000,000 other guys
Somehow I got her
She's got a closet full of nothing to wear
So many shoes she needs another pair
When she gets to talking,
Lord, you just can't stop her
She's everything I didn't know I needed
The perfect fit, the missing piece
I might not get her
But thank God I got her.
No he would never understand how he had it all.
But he did, thank God he did.
The End
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