Disclaimer: The TV show Arrow, is owned by the CW network and its affiliate companies, and the character, Green Arrow, belongs to DC Comics and its affiliates, just as the characters and setting in this fanfic belong to one or both of those companies. Only this story, and its prequel, created without any intent on my part to profit from it, are my original creations. So don't sue me.
AN: I will just point out here that, as was the cause for "The Sins of the Father, The Deeds of the Son", I will generally keep my author's notes confined to the end of chapters, but I just wanted to introduce my new tale here, at the beginning of the first chapter of my last Arrow story's sequel.
Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, let me formally introduce to you, my readers, the sequel to "The Sins of the Father, The Deeds of the Son" that all of you (or at least some of you), have been waiting for: "A Holiday Fit for a Queen"! For those of my readers who are not familiar with "The Sins of the Father, The Deeds of the Son", let me just encourage you to read that story first, as the plot of this tale will make little sense to someone not familiar with this story's prequel. Like this story, my previous tale in the Arrow universe has an Oliver/Isabel (or Olibel) pairing as its main focus, although many other pairing are also present in both tales. So, if that doesn't turn you off, I encourage any readers new to my Arrow fics to start reading this tale from the very beginning of "The Sins of the Father, The Deeds of the Son". For everyone else, I hope you enjoy this sequel to that tale, but just so you know what to expect, the first part of this story will be primarily focused on drama, comedy, and romance elements, and most (but not all) of the action sequences will not occur until the second half or so of AHFQ. But I hope you will still enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it. I am cautiously optimistic that you will…
Now, enough jawing on my part, on to the story!
…One month later…
"So…" The bald, bespectacled man spoke while raising his write eyebrow at the young couple seated on the sofa in front of him. "This is our third session in as many weeks. And I can't help but notice that you are both still holding back on me. What is the actual problem that you want me to help you with?"
The blonde male looked at the angry looking brunette to his right, who shook her head, before the younger man, who looked only slightly less angry, turned towards the older one. "For the last time, I've already told you what the problem is, Dr. Silverson. Isabel and I are under a lot of stress right now, between being in a new relationship together, my new responsibilities raising Connor, and all of the events we have been hosting for the Christmas season. It's just a lot for the two of us to take on."
Isabel nodded. "Exactly."
The therapist sighed. "You know, Oliver, Isabel. Even though we went over this during our first session, I don't think you understand how I conduct couples therapy yet. So let me be a little clearer about that. I can't wave a magic wand and make your problems disappear, like some kind of wizard, nor can I read your minds. So If I'm going to help either of you, I need you both to be honest with me. And since I'm also not one of those counselors who likes to beat around the bush a lot, I call things as I see them. So I'm not going to hesitate to tell you right now that I don't believe the two of you are being straight with me about what is actually bothering you two enough to seek therapy."
Isabel Rochev had an offended look on her face when she opened her mouth, but Dr. Silverson wouldn't let the female co-CEO speak as he continued making his point. "From what Oliver has told me, yes, the holidays can be a stressful time in the Queen holidays, with all of the Christmas parties and functions sponsored by Queen Consolidated that often occur at that time. And I know your family also celebrated Connor's sixth birthday recently. However, Oliver, you told me during our last session together that, while you usually find those business functions annoying, they generally don't bother you too much, because you are used to them. And you even mentioned that your mother, Mayor Moira Queen, has been taking time out of her busy schedule to help you set up some of those major QC related events, just like she helped you set up your son's, her grandson's party, so you two didn't have to set that all up on your own, correct? "
Oliver just nodded in recognition of the therapist's words before the counselor spoke again. "And you, Miss Rochev, told me that you had helped coordinate a number of company parties when you were still an executive for the now defunct Stellmoor International, before that company was merged with Queen Consolidated, without incident. Is that accurate?"
Isabel nodded curtly. "It is."
Dr. Silverson nodded. "Right. So that tells me that the holiday season shouldn't be causing you any undue stress….unless there's something you two aren't telling me?"
Both Oliver and Isabel stayed silent at this point, so the counselor shook his head. "Nothing? Okay then. Also, you both told me during every single one of our sessions so far that your new relationship has been going well, and it appears you still make each other quite happy, despite the recent changes that relationship has experienced since Connor entered the picture."
Both Oliver and Isabel nodded at the counselor's words before the older man added with a skeptical look on his face. "Also, I recall, Oliver, that you told me during our last session together that things were going well as far as raising Connor is concerned?"
Oliver beamed at the mention of his son, and both of the men in the room noticed that Isabel's usual stoic façade broke a little bit as the corners of the Russian woman's lips raised themselves ever-so-slightly upwards as her boyfriend spoke with pride evident in his voice. "Yeah, Connor's a great kid! He's getting along with everybody in the Queen Mansion, especially my mom and sister, he's really well behaved for a kid his age…" The blonde billionaire chuckled. "Actually, my mom sometimes complains that I was never that well behaved as a six year-old! Also, He loves to play catch with me and Roy out in the courtyard, he loves playing games in general really. And he's really, really smart for a kid his age!"
The counselor noticed Isabel nodding in agreement before she said. "Of course he's smart, he's just like his dad!"
Oliver shrugged. "I don't know about that…" But the blonde man didn't directly contradict his girlfriend's words.
Dr. Silverson nodded. "Yes. Connor seems to be adjusting quite well to his new living situation, from what you two have told me. He seems to be getting along with everyone pretty well so far, and the two of you seemed to have been able to incorporate him into your lives quite nicely. In fact, from what I've heard, Isabel, things on that front have been going well since the first time since you met Connor, when you and Oliver picked him up from the orphanage to take him to the Queen Mansion."
Both Oliver and Isabel nodded at the therapist's comments yet again, and both members of the couple remembered the events of the day the counselor was referring to as they did so….
….3 weeks ago, on a road in the middle of nowhere between Starling and Central City
"Dammit!" Oliver cursed as he saw the front right tire on his black sports car had blown a flat. ' I don't have a spare tire, and there is no way I'm going to be able to get to Happyfields Orphanage on time to pick my son up if I stop for a service station, and Connor's CPS case worker may think I'm too irresponsible to be a parent if I show up late!' Connor thought to himself, then mentally added: 'I'll need to find a way to get there on time without my car, and I can't do that on my own!'
Oliver Queen took out his cellphone, but immediately decided not to call the first person that had come into his mind to ask for help, his mother, Moira Queen, the mayor of Starling City. Oliver knew his mother had an important speech scheduled at this time today, and that her cellphone would be off right now. So instead, Oliver tried to call the second person he thought of to ask for help, his sister, Thea. But after the blonde billionaire tried unsuccessfully to call both Thea and her boyfriend, Roy, who also happened to be Oliver's friend and teammate on Team Arrow, but neither of those two individuals picked up their phone. Oliver mentally cursed himself when he realized why that probably was. "It's 9:30 in the morning, Oliver! And your sister and her boyfriend run a night club that they probably only finished closing an hour or so ago. They are probably both still too dead to the world to even hear their cellphones go off now! So much for my immediate family, who else can I call!?"
Oliver mentally ran through the rest of his mental list of people to call, and nixed all but one of them off one by one. He knew that both Felicity Smoak and Sara Lance would be more than happy to help him, but he also knew that Felicity was catching up on a back log of paperwork at the office (even with Isabel going easier on her new friend at the office, the brunette and her boyfriend still had a company to run, and needed Oliver's executive assistant to help them run it, since it had become woefully obvious lately that Isabel's own EA was too incompetent to be of much use in that department). On a similar note, Sara, who was spending the day with her family anyway, had her vehicle in the shop right now. Diggle was still out on sick leave until his arm healed and the Queen family had yet to get a replacement limo driver.
Oliver was sorely tempted to call his executive assistant's boyfriend, Barry Allen, who, according to Felicity, had started exhibiting meta-human abilities about a week ago, and was now the fastest man alive ("except you know, not like in the bedroom, or anything, because that would just be embarrassing….", Felicity had awkwardly added after telling Oliver about her boyfriend's new powers). But Oliver strongly doubted that Barry had a fast car. In fact, the blonde billionaire didn't even know if the as yet unnamed hero of Central City had a car at all. And the billionaire knew that, although Barry would almost certainly be willing to pick him up and carry him all the way to Central City with his superspeed in order for Oliver to be on time to pick up his son, allowing the friendly police scientist to do so might look suspicious, to say the least. And that would also leave Oliver without a means of transportation to bring Connor Hawke back to Starling City.
So, with a sigh, Oliver reluctantly dialed Isabel Rochev's number. It wasn't that he didn't want Isabel to be there when he picked his son up from Happyfields Orphanage, which Oliver had recently discovered was not only the best orphanage in Central City, but the best orphanage in the state. On the contrary, Oliver thought he would probably be a lot less nervous then he had been the first time he had met his son if Isabel was there with him when he picked Connor up to go to the Queen Mansion. That was the reason he had been tempted last week to take Isabel up on her offer to be there with him when he brought his son home. But Oliver didn't exactly know what Isabel was scheduled to do at this particular moment at QC, since he had cleared his own schedule to spend all day with his son and Isabel had offered to take care of things at the company in the meantime. Also, Oliver knew that Moira and Thea would probably be ticked off with him for letting Connor meet Isabel before meeting his grandmother and aunt, but given the circumstances, the blonde billionaire supposed it couldn't be helped.
Oliver hoped that he wasn't interrupting anything important at QC when he called his girlfriend, but he couldn't help but be relieved and happy when Isabel picked up her phone after only one ring and the blonde billionaire heard his girlfriend take on a cheerful tone of voice that she reserved just for her conversations with Oliver. "Hello, Oliver. Is everything going okay with Connor? I know you were supposed to be picking your son up today. Listen, I'm sorry, but we have to talk fast, there is an important meeting I'm supposed to have with a potential investor in a few minutes."
Oliver sighed heavily. He really hated to make his co-CEO miss a meeting with a potential investor, which Queen Consolidated could really use right now, but Oliver knew he at least needed Isabel to send someone to help him get to Connor, since he doubted a cab would go to his present location. "That's okay, Isabel, I only need a minute of your time. But I will need you to send a driver, maybe in one of the company vehicles, out to my location, which I will give to you in a minute."
Isabel's voice quickly became serious. "What happened?! Are you okay, Oliver?! Tell me where you are right now!"
Oliver shook his head and spook in a calming voice. "I'm fine, Isabel. I've just been having a little car trouble…."Oliver then quickly explained how his car had blown a flat on the way to picking up Connor in Central City, and how he had run out of people he could call for help. "I'm really sorry to put you in this position, and I know I'm probably making you a few minutes late to that meeting by calling you now, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you were I am, and if you could sent someone to get me so I can pick Connor up by 10:15, I'd really appreciate it!"
After Oliver used his phone's GPS to give Isabel his location, the brunette told Oliver to wait a minute, and after 30 seconds of hearing numerous noises in the background, including Felicity shouting something to the effect of, "what am I supposed to tell Mr. Wayne, then?!", before Isabel came back on the phone line and spoke in a tone that allowed for no argument. "I cleared my schedule until 1 and I'm coming to get you right now, Oliver! None of our company vehicles are available right now, and our drivers are way too slow to get you to where you need to go on time, anyway! You are not going to be late to see your son on the first day of your new life with him if I have anything to say about it!"
"But the investor…" Oliver feebly tried to protest.
But Isabel would have none of that. "This is more important, Oliver! This is your son we're talking about here! I had Felicity tell Mr. Wayne why I had to reschedule my appointment with him. Hopefully, he will understand. I need to go now, Oliver. See you soon!"
The blonde billionaire was rendered speechless after Isabel hung up her cell, but he quickly found his voice again when Isabel pulled up a red sports car only 15 minutes later after what Oliver guessed must have been a very wild ride during which Isabel had probably had to break at least a dozen traffic laws to get here this quickly! After Isabel yelled at him to hurry and get in the car so she could get Oliver to Happyfields Orphanage on time, the blonde billionaire quickly complied and fastened his seat belt before Isabel shoved her foot against the accelerator hard, sending her, Oliver, and the vehicle they were in, on the road to Starling City like a bat out of hell! Then Oliver smiled and turned to his girlfriend and said. "I love you."
Isabel smirked. "I love you too, Oliver!"
The couple spent the rest of the drive in relative silence, as Oliver finished talking to his insurance agent and getting a towing company to get his car to a service station. But on the last couple minutes of the frantic drive to Happyfields, Oliver quickly went over how he was going to reintroduce himself to Connor, the introduce Isabel to his son.
After Isabel's car pulled up to the front of the orphanage at 10:14 AM, and Oliver was able to dash inside to meet Connor's child service's agent just in the nick of time, the whole process of actually getting Connor into Oliver's custody had been rather quick and straightforward, since Connor had no living relatives on his mother's side of the family who had wanted to claim him. Oliver talked to the social worker for a couple minutes, signing a few forms. And then, finally, he was allowed to pick up his son.
Oliver walked into the play room, where Connor was playing with Legos with a few of his friends, while Isabel stayed in the lobby of the building, just outside of the playroom. Initially, Oliver had planned to re-introduce himself to Connor, since he wasn't sure his son would remember him from the brief 3-hour visit he had with the five-year old weeks ago. But the boy had surprised him by pointing towards Oliver and shouting "Daddy!" before getting up and running towards Oliver as fast as his little legs could carry him. Oliver had then squatted down to get to his son's level, allowing the young boy to wrap as much of his father's torso as his little arms could fit around him, before the blonde man enveloped his son in a much bigger hug of his own. Oliver was surprised, at that moment, to find he was crying tears of joy at the thought that his son not only remembered him, but had even called him daddy after Oliver had only been able to see Connor once before!
The blonde man quickly dried his tears before his son could see them. Oliver then told Connor that he was going home with him now, and that the young boy may not get to see his friends from the orphanage for a while, so he might want to say goodbye to them now. Connor actually frowned when he was told he may not be able to see his friends for a while, but he seemed to quickly put on a brave face before he quickly turned around and started waving and shouting, "bye!" to several of the other children in the room that Oliver guessed were his son's friends, and several of Connor's peers waived right back, some of them with sad looks on their faces. What neither Oliver nor his son saw, however, was that one of his son's friends, a red-haired girl who looked to be about Connor's age, waved back at Connor longer than all the others, and she seemed the most sad that Oliver's son was leaving, even though, like the other children in the play room, she wasn't exactly sure how long Connor would be gone.
Before either Oliver or his son actually left the play area, however, Oliver took him aside to a vacant corner of the room and tried to explain to him that he wanted Connor to meet his "special friend." He then told Connor about Isabel Rochev, who he worked with, and that he liked to spend a lot of his time with. Oliver then briefly explained, in as much detail as the man felt it was developmentally appropriate for his son to know about, what that meant (that Oliver liked to eat some of his meals with Isabel, and take her to places like the park or to movies, and sometimes have "sleepovers" with her at her house, etc.), before making it clear to Connor that he would not allow spending time with Isabel to get in the way of spending time with his him.
Connor's response to this revelations about Isabel threw Oliver for a loop. Although the blonde billionaire had an inkling that his son was a smart kid before, based on comments the boy's social worker had made, and his previous visit to his son, his son's current observation made Oliver think that his son may just be some kind of genius. "Is Isabel your girlfriend, daddy?"
Oliver nodded in astonishment. "Yes. She is. How did you know that word, Connor?"
Connor just shrugged. He had heard some of the older boys in the orphanage talking about having girlfriends, and their relationships to the girls those teenage boys talked about sounded similar to his dad's relationship to his "special friend." But Oliver's son was honestly feeling a little scared and shy at the prospect of leaving the orphanage right now, and he didn't really know how to articulate how he knew what little he knew about the concept of "girlfriends", so the little boy didn't say anything further on the subject.
Deciding to give up trying to question his five-year old's knowledge of a concept beyond his years for the moment, Oliver gave a shrug that was a mirror image of the one his son had just given. The blonde billionaire then began slowly leading his son towards the lobby, where Isabel was waiting for the father and son. Truth be told, Oliver was especially nervous about this encounter, and he knew Isabel was as well, since both members of the couple badly wanted Oliver's son to have a positive first impression of the man's girlfriend.
At first, Connor actually seemed intimidated by Isabel after Oliver formally introduced his son to his girlfriend, and the little boy took a step back from the woman with the stoic, serious look on her face that his Pre-K teacher sometimes gave to a child just before they got in trouble. Unfortunately, the little boy didn't know that was the look Isabel put on her face when she didn't know how to act, or when she was nervous, and trying to hide it. Thankfully, Connor was a little more perceptive then most kids his age, and he quickly noticed other aspects of the brunette that were not so intimidating. The woman, who had put on just a hint of perfume this morning, smelled nice, and her hair was pretty as well. But what finally clenched Connor's positive opinion of Isabel was her eyes. Even though Connor was still confused why Isabel's face looked what he mistook for angry, her eyes were, for lack of a better word….kind.
Although Connor didn't have the vocabulary to express any of these thoughts yet, what he did and said next was enough to calm Oliver and Isabel's nerves. Oliver's son quickly dashed the short distance between himself and Isabel, hugged her for a brief second, then whispered. "You're pretty. I like you." before quickly darting back behind his father.
Connor's behavior was then rewarded by a small smile from his father and much larger one from Isabel, who was now much less nervous now that she knew Oliver's son actually liked her, before the brunette spoke to the blonde haired, gray eyed offspring of Oliver Queen, that was the spitting image of his father, in a cheerful tone while giving the young boy a brief hug of her own. "Thank you, Connor! You seem pretty great yourself, and I hope you and I can be great friends real soon!"
Connor nodded. "That would be okay, I guess. I'm glad you're acting nicer now!"
Isabel actually chuckled about that, then spoke in a serious voice toward Connor, although she made sure to keep a smile on her face while she did so this time. "Sorry, I've been told I look mad when I'm scared sometimes, and I was afraid you wouldn't like me. You see, I like your father a whole lot, which is why he's my boyfriend, and I know Oliver loves you so…I just wanted you to like me, I guess!"
Connor didn't really know how to reply to that, so he just laughed and said. "That's silly! My dad likes you. Why wouldn't I want to be your friend?"
Isabel chuckled back awkwardly. "Yeah. I guess that was pretty silly. But I'm glad we can be friends now, Connor!"
After that awkward introduction was over, it was time for Isabel to drive Oliver and Connor to the Queen Mansion, where Isabel dropped Oliver off after giving Oliver a quick kiss (which Connor didn't say anything about, although he briefly made a disgusted face when this happened), and his son a quick hug, before saying that she hoped to see both of the them really soon, but that she had to go back to work. A few moments later, Oliver and Connor would enter the Queen Mansion, where they would be greeted by Moira and Thea, neither of which were thrilled that Connor had met Isabel before he met his family, but both of which were very excited to see Oliver's son. Thea, who had been super excited to learn she was an aunt ever since Oliver told her he was a father several weeks ago, would then help her brother give his son a tour of the mansion, while Moira and the house staff (all of whom appeared delighted to have the newest addition to the Queen family in the home), made Connor what would be, in Moira's eyes, "Connor's first decent brunch". Before any of this occurred, however, as Isabel drove away, Connor turned to his father and said: "I like Isabel. She seemed mean at first, but she's actually really nice!"
Oliver smiled and thought to himself that Isabel had come a long way from the ice queen she had been, or at least, pretended to be, since the first day he had met her when she was trying to take over his family's company. She was, among many other things, at least a little bit friendlier now, and a lot friendlier towards Oliver's friends, allies, and loved ones. Her interaction with Connor had proven that much. "Yeah. She really is, Connor, once you get to know her."
Dr. Silverson could tell, based upon his two client's smiling faces, that he had succeeded in getting Oliver Queen and Isabel Rochev to think about some of the pleasant memories they had experienced around Oliver's son, and that he had thus, succeeded in getting his client's in a good mood. Deciding that now was a good time, the counselor decided to ask his question again. "So it seems to me, based upon what you two have told me, that things are actually going really well for you two. But I also know you two wouldn't have come into my office if there wasn't an actual problem you needed help with, especially since the two of you haven't been dating that long. So, in the midst of everything that is going well for you two, what is actually going wrong?"
Isabel and Oliver looked at each other for a second, nodded, and then sighed, before Isabel finally said. "Well, for one thing, the two of us have been having some difficulty dealing with some of Oliver's exes…."
Hello again! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this new story. Even though, as I said, this story will have a little different tone than the first one did, I really hope you enjoy it, anyway. And yes, I did fudge the timeline a little bit so that the events of the story would take place around Christmastime, which is nowhere near the time of year it is in real life, and probably not around the time that season 2 ended on the show. But I figured my Arrow stories were AU anyway, and the plot I had in mind for this story worked better around Christmastime, so, what the heck! Also, I hope everyone liked the formal introduction of Connor Hawke in this chapter. And for anyone disappointed about not having characters other than Connor, Isabel, and Oliver show up much in this chapter, don't worry, a lot of the supporting cast of Arrow, as well as other faces both new and familiar, will have their times in the spotlight throughout the rest of my story! But please, don't hesitate to let me know what you all actually thought of the first chapter of AHFQ!
As always, thanks go out to my readers for keeping me on my toes, and for keeping me inspired to write stories like this one! And an even bigger thank you goes out to my beta reader, without whom all of my fics would be uglier than the hours-old remains of a buzzard's meal! I could not do this without you!
Until next time, I am….
-supercode
