Title: What's In a Name
Author: Some1FoundMe
Rating: K
Summary: Oliver and Felicity discuss names for the newest members of their family. Established Olicity.
A/N: Not sure where the heck this came from but I needed some fluff, so here you go.
What's In a Name
The small bundle of fur snuffled against her chest and Felicity smiled. Oliver glanced at her from the driver's seat and from behind them, Hoggle whined.
"Oh you quit it," she ordered of the three year old Great Dane.
"I think he's jealous," her husband remarked, "Poor guy. I don't think he was expecting to come home with a baby brother."
She shrugged, "I was expecting to come home with a baby, not a puppy, so I know how he feels."
Oliver's hand reached across the consol to rest on her knee. He gave it a gentle squeeze.
"It'll happen, Felicity. It just wasn't time. Besides, we've got three more weeks 'til your due date. She's fine."
She huffed at her husband, "That's easy for you to say, Queen. I'm the one with a bowling ball under my shirt."
Oliver snorted, the sound causing the newest addition to their family to tremble in her arms. She scratched at the puppy's little head and pressed a kiss to his wet nose. A sharp kick to her left side caused her to wince. She set her free hand over the spot where her daughter's foot had struck.
"I'm tired of being pregnant," she muttered, only slightly ashamed of the whine in her voice.
"I know, baby, and it's almost over. In just a few weeks, we'll be holding our daughter and wishing for more than a few hours of sleep. "
She sighed and cuddled the puppy further into her chest.
Eight months into her pregnancy and she was more than miserable. She'd been struggling to sleep for months, fighting back pain and a very large belly that made getting comfortable damn near impossible. Her bladder was being used as a trampoline so being close to a bathroom at all times had become a necessity. And her breasts had become so tender in the final weeks of her pregnancy that just wearing a bra was painful. To say the least, being pregnant was not a joy for Felicity Queen.
"What are we going to name this little one?"
She glanced over at her husband as he steered their SUV out of Starling City and toward their home on the edge of town. Her eyes fell to the Corgi puppy sleeping on the newly rounded swell of her chest.
"We've got to stick with the theme."
"What theme?" he questioned.
"You know. Hoggle? Labyrinth? We can name him Ludo."
The quizzical expression on his face was comical and she waited for him to respond.
"Labyrinth? Is that the one with the goblins that kidnap the kid? And the singing?"
It was her turn to snort.
"Yes, Oliver, that's the one. Really? Where do you think I got Hoggle's name? Did you really think I just made that one up?"
He shrugged, "I don't know. Guess I never really thought about it."
Felicity grinned, adjusting the bundle resting against her, and leaned over to kiss the corner of his mouth.
"I love you."
He smirked, "I love you, too."
They pulled into their driveway, parking in front of the closed garage door, and she kept Ludo in her arms as Oliver freed Hoggle from the backseat. The Great Dane trotted over to the gate, nosed open the latch, and disappeared into the backyard.
Felicity stood on the walkway that led to the front door, watching him go.
"Sometimes it still worries me that he can do that," she said as Oliver's arm slipped around her, "He's too smart for his own good."
Her husband remained silent at that and guided her up the front steps into the house that they had made their home so many years ago. She kicked off her shoes, padding into the kitchen while Oliver disabled the alarm system. He joined her a few minutes later, propping himself against the kitchen counter as she set the puppy on the floor with a small plate of canned dog food in front of him. He pulled her into the circle of his arms the second she was close enough, resting his chin on her shoulder. They stood together, watching Ludo sniff around his food, until a knock sounded at the door.
"Hello?"
"In the kitchen, Thea."
The youngest Queen sibling appeared a moment later, the grin on her face wide and radiant. Felicity smiled back at her sister-in-law.
"Another false alarm, huh?"
Felicity nodded, "Unfortunately. Seems like she's inherited her father's sense of timing. No doubt she'll keep us waiting."
"I feel like I should take offense to that," Oliver grumbled behind her, causing both women in the room to laugh.
Felicity patted his hand where it rested on her belly.
"And what about a name?" Thea questioned, "If she'd been born today, what would her name have been?"
Oliver withdrew his phone from his pocket and pulled up the app his wife had designed and loaded onto the device.
"Today would've been … Ryanne."
His sister shook her head, snickering.
"Only your wife would write a program that would pick your baby's name for you."
Felicity shrugged again, "Hey, it isn't an easy decision! There were at least seven names that we loved, that we just couldn't choose between, so I figured the algorithm would choose for us. It's basically a lottery of all the names that we like and each day, it assigns a different name. Even a different combination of first and middle."
Oliver and Thea both laughed and Felicity felt the scratch of her husband's stubble on the exposed skin of her neck. His lips were warm when he kissed her.
Ludo's soft whines filled the room then and Thea noticed the puppy for the first time.
"Oh my god! Look at this one! He's so cute!"
She dropped to a crouch and scooped up the fur ball.
"Where did he come from?" she asked.
"We picked him up today on the way home," Oliver confirmed, "Thea, meet Ludo."
His sister grinned at his wife.
"Ludo and Hoggle, huh? You really love that movie, don't you?"
Felicity shrugged. Oliver's arms around her tightened, drawing her fully against his chest, and she relaxed in his embrace. His thumb drew slow circles on her abdomen. She stayed quiet as Thea and Oliver slid from talk of the newest member of the family to their nighttime activities, her sister-in-law relaying that the previous night had been uneventful. It seemed, at least for the moment, that the criminals of Starling City were on hiatus. But she was well aware that the peace was short lived. It always was. Every couple of months there'd be a lull in activity, a week or so if they were lucky, that would inevitably end with some new big bad trying to take over the streets. Such was life, she thought, at least for them.
"You okay?"
Her husband's gentle question drew her into the present and Felicity nodded. She turned her head to press her lips to the corner of his mouth.
"Just tired. It was a long, very sleepless night and I think I'm just going to lie down for a while."
He kissed her temple before she slipped out of his embrace. Thea stood, one hand settling on the swell of Felicity's belly, and spoke to her niece.
"Quit teasing us, baby girl. Everyone out here is ready to meet you. You can come out now."
Oliver chuckled and Felicity shook her head. She hugged Thea briefly before turning to the stairs. The sound of their conversation faded as she reached the landing and when she'd shut her bedroom door behind her, she stripped out of the loose dress she wore and found a pair of Oliver's sweatpants slung over the chair near the window. She dragged a tanktop over her head, tugging the hem down as far as she could over her bump, and crawled into bed. With the ceiling fan on, dusting her in cool air, she burrowed beneath the comforter and closed her eyes.
It was a few moments later, just as she was on the cusp of sleep, when the mattress dipped beside her and she was being drawn into the warmth of Oliver's embrace. He'd shed most of his clothing, his chest bare, legs encased in nothing but his boxers, and she snuggled closer.
"Where's Ludo?" she mumbled.
His fingers carded through her hair.
"I put up the gate and pinned him in the kitchen with Hoggle. Figured he'd do better on the tile floor."
She nodded absently, her lips finding a familiar scar just above his collar bone.
"I don't like Ryanne, anymore."
"No?"
She shook her head, "No. I'm taking it out of the program."
Her husband made a noise of affirmation, his arms tightening around her. He nuzzled the side of her face.
"I like Libi."
She raised her head, surprised by his words. It wasn't the fact that he'd given her another name, it was the way he said it. Softly, like a confession of some kind. Unsure, hesitant.
"It … it means 'my heart' in Hebrew," he went on, meeting her gaze then, "And I know you don't practice Judaism anymore but I think – I think it's fitting."
She could blame the tears in her eyes on pregnancy hormones - and would when she recounted the story of their daughter's name to anyone who asked - but as she pressed herself further into the arms of her husband, all Felicity could think was that the name was perfect and he was perfect and – as far as she was concerned – everything was perfect.