Summary: This, Felicity thought, was her life. The life she had never really thought that she'd have. With a husband who adored her – she was pretty fond of him herself – and two wonderful kids who made everything so much better.
A/N: Not a clue where this came from. Also, no beta on this one so all mistakes are my own.
Her Life
Her fingers trailed along the hair at his temple, now streaked through with gray. She knew that it bothered him sometimes, those little flecks of silver at his hairline, but Felicity certainly wasn't bothered by them. If anything, she found them charming. He was aging – as if she wasn't- and in her opinion he was doing so very well. The smattering of gray hair and the crow's feet around his eyes were the only outward signs of the fact that Oliver Queen would be turning forty in a matter of days.
He sighed in his sleep and nuzzled against the fullness of her chest. His breath was warm on her skin even through the shirt she wore, the same one he'd worn the night before, and she continued brushing her fingers through his hair. Her movements paused when their bedroom door opened suddenly and a little blonde head appeared.
"Momma?"
Nora's soft voice was barely audible but Felicity heard the tightness in it, a sure sign that her baby had been crying. She knew without seeing her clearly that her round cheeks were stained with tears.
"It's okay, munchkin," she murmured, "C'mere."
Little feet shuffled across the floor.
At three years old, their little girl was more observant that either of them cared for. She had picked up so easily on the troubling mood that had settled over their day to day lives in the previous week. They'd been tracking a meta who had fled Central City for the Glades. A meta who stole the energy from anyone that he came into physical contact with, draining them to the point of death. Felicity had compared his ability to Damien Darkh's voodoo more than once.
Soulsucker (aka Martin Fry) had wreaked havoc on the city for days, leaving eight people dead, and it hadn't been until he had kidnapped her mother that the team had managed to track him down.
Felicity shuddered at the thought of how everything could've turned out.
Nora appeared at the edge of the mattress beside her, her little face flushrf and her eyes glistening with tears. Felicity shifted as much as she could under Oliver's weight and held out her arm to her daughter. She climbed onto the bed quickly, her face finding the curve of Felicity's shoulder as she burrowed against her.
Felicity stroked her fingers through her daughter's curls.
"Did you have a bad dream, baby?"
Nora nodded and sniffled.
" 'bout Gammy."
She wasn't at all surprised that her daughter had absorbed some of what had been going on around her. The fear and panic, the terror that Felicity herself had felt at not knowing if she would ever see her mother again. She'd tried to shield her baby from as much of the unpleasantness of the situation as possible but she had collapsed into Oliver's arms more than once in the seventy-two hours it had taken to find Donna Smoak-Lance. She'd been in a constant state of panic in those three days, completely scatter-brained and unsure of everything, and Felicity knew that it had been William who had spent the most time looking after his little sister. Their oldest – and she claimed him as hers just as much as she claimed Nora – knew more than he let on about their nighttime activities and Felicity had a not-so-pleasant feeling that he would want to step up and be a part of those activities sooner rather than later.
"Gammy is safe now, Nor," she assured her daughter, "She's at home with Grandpa. I'll take you to see her tomorrow, okay?"
They hadn't let either of the kids visit Donna in the hospital. She'd been so weak she'd barely been able to speak and Felicity had worried that seeing their grandmother that way would frighten them, Nora especially. William was old enough to understand.
"The bad man hurt her," her daughter's words were muffled against her shoulder but Felicity heard them clearly. She held her tighter.
"He did. But he can't hurt anyone ever again. I promise."
"Because Daddy stopped him?"
Felicity startled at that and wondered what Nora had heard from her big brother.
"The Green Arrow stopped him, baby," she explained.
Her daughter knew enough about the Green Arrow and company from what she'd been allowed to see on the news. They did their best not to discuss anything too covert in front of her but they couldn't always help what little ears heard when they wandered unannounced into a room. Then again, William had been asking more and more about the heroes that had been saving Star City for more than a decade and he wasn't known for filtering himself in front of his sister.
"Daddy stopped him," Nora said again.
Felicity's heart thundered in her chest, unsure of how to continue. She couldn't confirm what her daughter seemed so sure of. How would she explain to a three year old that, yes, Daddy is a superhero. But you can't tell anyone. Gotta keep it a secret. That sure as hell wouldn't work. Nora had inherited her mother's affinity for babbling.
"Baby, why do you think Daddy stopped the bad guy?"
Oliver's sleep laden voice broke the silence that had fallen in the room and Felicity glanced down at where his head was still pillowed on the shoulder opposite their daughter. He was watching Nor with concern clouding his blue eyes.
"Will says the Green Arrow is scared of nothing," she told him, her little voice strong in the quiet of the bedroom, "He says that – that the Green Arrow is strong. And you're strong, Daddy. And you're not scared of nothing."
Oliver grinned and leaned over Felicity's stomach to press a kiss to Nora's nose.
"My baby," he sighed, "Daddy is not the Green Arrow. But I will always keep you safe, okay? No one is going to hurt you. And Gammy is safe with Grandpa now."
"What about Momma?"
Nora pressed even closer to Felicity as she asked the question, hiding her face in her mother's hair. Oliver reached for her and tugged at an errant curl.
"Momma is safe. Daddy will not let anyone hurt you or Momma or William. I love you all very much and I will always keep you safe. Do you understand, Nor?"
Their little girl nodded and a yawn escaped her. Felicity let her hand travel the length of her daughter's back until her eyes began to slip closed. It didn't take more than a few minutes for her to drift off.
Oliver moved to sit up and he reached for Nora but Felicity stopped him.
"She's okay here."
He stretched out beside her, shifting until his head rested beside hers on her pillow. He pressed a kiss to her hair.
"That was close."
Felicity grinned, "It was. We really have to talk to William about what he's saying to her. She catches on to too much anymore."
Oliver's arm slipped across her waist and he tugged her closer.
"I'll talk to him in the morning."
She nodded, barely stifling a yawn, and her head found its way to his shoulder. Nora slept on, her little body tucked into Felicity's side, and she brushed her fingers over her daughter's hair.
This, Felicity thought, was her life. The life she had never really thought that she'd have. With a husband who adored her – she was pretty fond of him herself – and two wonderful kids who made everything so much better. They'd overcome so much, so many obstacles, to get to this place but after a decade, things where exactly where she needed them to be. Yes, there were still dangers. There were still things that happened in her life that frightened her and made her worry for her family, for Oliver. But she wouldn't change who she was or who they were. She loved her husband, no matter how much gray colored his hair, and this life – their life – was perfect.