A/N: First, my apologies to the followers of my two current stories. I started teaching again last week (homeschool) and my writing was just abysmal due to lack of focus. Will be taking Thursday night for myself and hope to have the new chapters this weekend.
Second, I thought using a prompt I found on tumblr and writing outside my usual fandom might help jar something. I have written one Arrow story before, but it's not where my writing brain usually works.
Anyway, so this is dedicated to beijingdoll on tumblr. She seemed pleased, I hope you will be, as well.
Please R&R.
Story note: I made the child gender neutral because I do not know what the baby will be.
Prompt from beijingdoll: "I need Oliver holding Diggle's baby and Felicity there, watching him for a while but then walking away with tears in her eyes."
Felicity walked leisurely through the mall, the serious lack of Hanukah decorations not troubling her nearly as much as it usually did. This year shopping for Hanukah was too much fun. This year she had John's and Lyla's baby to spoil. She smiled and sighed a contented smile when she paused outside a small toy store to look at the mechanical pets barking and jumping on a table out front.
The baby was still far to young to play with one but they were certainly amusing. Felicity picked up a black puppy that barked and performed backflips.
"Felicity." She heard a man's voice call.
She knew whose voice it was, and for that reason, she feigned momentary deafness. She needed a moment to mentally put on a good face before turning to him with a smile the second time he said her name.
"Oliver," she said with her usual smile.
"Shopping for Hanukah?" He asked.
She smiled a real smile, because he remembered. He had since the first time he'd asked what she was doing for Christmas two years ago. It was little things like that, small things about her he noticed, that made her feel the way she did.
She refused to use the word. It would be too much right now, in front of a toy store, holding bags filled with gifts for a baby. She understood why he thought he couldn't be with her, but it didn't make the reality any less painful, she just pretended, for his sake, that it did.
"Yeah, I'm getting some things for the baby," she said, holding up her bags for him to see.
"Just for the baby?" He laughed.
"Yes," she said.
"You're going to spoil that kid," Oliver said.
Felicity looked at the bags in his hands and raised an eyebrow.
"And just who are all those for?"
She laughed at him as he blushed.
"Kind of hard to resist," he said, almost sheepishly.
She nodded in agreement, before they settled into an awkward silence. It had never been like this with them. There had been moments of silence, but they had never been uncomfortable. Ever since. Felicity stopped her thoughts from going down that rabbit trail. There was no point, Oliver had made it clear, and she had to move on. He obviously had.
"Well, I guess I probably should," she started to say.
"I really need to," he said at the same time.
They both laughed and Felicity felt as if she was in junior high again, the graceless geek trying to make conversation with the popular jock.
"Felicity."
She heard a woman call her name now and looked up to see Lyla walking toward them, maneuvering the baby stroller through the crowds of shoppers.
"Oh, and Oliver," she said and smiled at the two of them.
"Lyla," they said together.
"I'm shopping for a present for John," she explained right away. "You two getting all your Christmas shopping done?"
"Christmas," Oliver nodded. "And Hanukah."
Felicity felt herself grow warm as he again reminded her, though unintentionally, that he knew and understood her.
The baby chose that moment to begin fussing. Felicity and Oliver looked down and Oliver began to try to cheer him up with tickles and baby talk. Felicity felt a lump form in her throat and tried valiantly to swallow it down. She didn't want to be a source of sadness in the middle of all this obvious holiday cheer.
Oliver asked Lyla if it was OK to take the baby out and when she answered an affirmative, Felicity knew it was time to extract herself from the scene. Though she really couldn't understand why, there was something about Oliver's attention to the Diggle's baby that hurt every time she watched.
"I have to get going," she said to Lyla, while trying to avoid even a glance at Oliver who was now bouncing the baby in his arms.
"It was nice to see you, Lyla," she said. "Good luck finding something for John."
She turned, and now she had to face Oliver or he'd know there was something wrong.
"See you tomorrow, Oliver," she said.
He smiled and said his goodbyes.
Felicity turned and walked away, taking deep breathes hoping to gain control of her spiraling emotions, while blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall.