A/N: You guys. I don't often just... I mean, this is crazy fluffy. But I'm visiting family, and had a surprise visit from my cousin's little 7-month-old bundle of adorableness. And then I had this idea, and I knew that was what I wanted my entry to be this round of Summer of Olicity.
All characters (except that little one) are property of the CW or DC Comics.
She is not ready for this.
Diapers and bottles and sleepless nights… responsibility for another human being. Felicity stares down into the dark eyes of the child in her hands and then lifts her head to meet Oliver's bemused gaze.
"What the heck are we supposed to do?" she asks, panic edging her voice. Her apartment has never seemed so small, so inadequate before.
"He's a baby, Felicity, not a bomb." Oliver's smile is gentle and genuine, but he reaches out and lifts William out of her grasp. "Why don't you set up the mobile over his crib?"
She's grateful for the distraction of the mechanical task. Part A, slot B – this is what she knows. She glances over at Oliver, holding the tiny human in the crook of his arm and swaying slightly. She's read that motion is comforting to babies, that it reminds them of being in the womb. She knows that Oliver hasn't done any reading. He seems to just know what to do.
As usual.
The contraption isn't much of a challenge. She readjusts a few of the wires inside the battery casing to make sure the connections are strong, and only drops one of the little butterflies that will swirl above William's head.
She tightens a few screws and clips the mobile to the side of the small crib. A flip of the switch to test the batteries and it starts spinning, the tinkling sounds of "Moonlight Sonata" drawing the attention of both Oliver and baby William.
"Nice work, Felicity," he says with a grin. "He's already staring."
Oliver strides across her living room floor, and lays the baby gently into his crib. William's eyes dance as he watches the multicolored butterflies spin and dip to the music.
"They say that playing classical music for babies helps their mental development," she whispers, in awe of the concentration the little one is displaying. "Really, you're supposed to start before they're born, but even after, studies show a marked difference in brain activity. I don't know if music box version count, though, so maybe-"
Oliver's hand on her arm brings her nervous words to a halt. William giggles and stuffs a little fist into his mouth.
"Calm down," he says. His thumb is softly stroking the inside of her elbow. "Breathe. We'll be fine. Look how happy he is."
"Where did you learn about babies, anyway?" she grumbles. William does look happy. And it's awfully cute when he kicks his tiny feet in the air like that.
"I'm a lot older than Thea," he shrugs. "My mom was very patient with 10-year-old me, she let me do lots of baby stuff with her."
That's a rather unbearably cute image, and Felicity shakes her head, disbelieving.
"Ok, well I also figured that if I started early I'd have a sidekick for life," he admits. "But I was always pretty good with her."
William's eyes are drooping and Oliver gives a tug where he's still holding her arm. "Come on, he'll wake up soon enough."
Felicity takes a moment to check that her two webcams are powered up and pointed at the right angle into the crib, then switches the baby monitor on.
Oliver's almost to the kitchen, but she finds herself hesitating. "Are you sure? I don't want him to wake up and be alone."
"Felicity." She can hear the command in his quiet voice. After a moment of stubbornness (You don't get to tell me what to do, Oliver Queen) she follows, throwing one last glance over her shoulder at the sleeping baby.
He's got two stools pulled out and Chinese take-out dumped onto plates on the counter. Her laptop is set up on the cutting board. There's a bottle of wine unopened on the other side of the oven.
Oliver follows her gaze and grins. "Shall we?" He reaches for the bottle and she physically recoils, nerves bubbling back to the surface.
"Digg was very specific, and you know it," she snaps, regaining her confidence. "No wine on the job."
He sets the bottle back down, looking resigned but unsurprised. "Fine, just Chinese food and netflix, then."
"Netflix? How am I supposed to monitor the webcam feeds if we're watching something full screen?" She stuffs some General Tso's chicken into her mouth and makes a happy food noise. It's delicious.
Oliver is looking at her oddly. "Food that good?"
"Mmmmm, yeah." It's fantastic. She closes her eyes for a moment to savor the sweet and spicy sauce.
He clears his throat and she looks over as he glances back at the laptop. "So, uh, we don't watch it full screen. Stack them up the side and save the rest of the screen for… what are we watching?"
"I figured we could do a bit of research." She brings up her queue and scrolls to the bottom. "Mary Poppins, Mrs. Doubtfire, Adventures in Babysitting? Your choice."
He grins. "I don't think I've seen Mary Poppins in 15 years."
On the side of the screen, William Oliver Diggle twitches in his sleep. Felicity is half out of her chair when Oliver grabs her hand reassuringly. Sure enough, when she looks back, the baby has calmed again and is slumbering soundly.
This is going to be a long night, she thinks. "What time did Diggle and Carly say they'd be back?"
He releases her hand as she relaxes back onto her stool. "I said we'd deal with William until noon tomorrow. Parents' night off." His smile gets a little naughty, and Felicity forgets to breathe.
Babysitting, she reminds herself sternly. Not lusting after emotionally unavailable but surprisingly baby-friendly vigilantes.
Felicity is pretty sure this is not what Digg had in mind when he'd asked if they could keep an eye on William for his anniversary.
"They're probably just sleeping," she says, although her voice is less dismissive and more breathy than she'd like. "Are we watching this movie?"
He doesn't break eye contact for a few more seconds. Finally, he nods silently, and she turns to the computer with relief.
They eat in silence as the movie starts, but once the plates are empty, Oliver reaches over and grabs her stool. He tugs it closer to his, turning it slightly so that her back ends up to him.
"You're going to get spine curvature that way," he mutters. "Just lean back."
Oh god, oh god, oh god. "Someone's feeling bossy," she snarks. But after a moment of panicked hesitation, she lets herself relax onto his chest. His arms go loosely around her waist, and she can swear she feels him smile.
She is SO not ready for this.
A/N: *looks up from bowl of ice cream topped with cotton candy and hot fudge* was that sweet enough for you? go check out summer of olicity on tumblr for the other responses to the challenge. and of course, tell me what you think.