Felicity stood in front of the full length mirror discerningly, staring carefully at the area around her abdomen. Her dress was a long satin blue gown that flowed down her body but it was still just a little too tight and that was what the current concern was. "Oliver" She to him from the other room.
He walked in doing the buttons up on his shirt and smiled appreciatively when he saw her "I thought you said you wanted to stay out of the tabloids tonight, looking like that every reporter in Starling city will have you on the front page".
She shot him a worried look "I'm showing already, the reporters will figure it out and then the next thing you know it will be like it was right after we got married...then I have nine months of being followed to work and harassed at Belly Burger to look forward to".
Oliver frowned apologetically, he had said the wrong thing. He reached up from behind and put his arms around her "Felicity Queen, you are beautiful and no one will notice the little bump tonight because they will be too busy staring at how gorgeous you look in that dress. Not to mention how handsome your arm candy looked".
She smiled at him smugly and turned around putting her arms around his neck "I'm not ready for anyone else to know about the baby yet Oliver, we haven't even told Diggle or Thea. I like that for right now, this is ours".
Oliver knew that Felicity had a hard time getting used to the public side of being married to Oliver Queen. When he had proposed, the tabloids had online polls on how long the marriage was going to last. Felicity had angrily shut the website down with a virus full of cat videos but that had not discouraged the constant media barrage that had come down upon them ever since. They had been married three years now and things had finally started to calm down. "I know, and when we finally have to we will make a media statement. When you're ready and not a second before" He leaned in and kissed her smiling. She kissed him deeper in affirmation and ran her hands through his hair. "Or we could just skip event altogether and stay in bed for the next nine months" Oliver picked her up playfully and dragged her out of the walk in closet to the bed. Felicity laughed and stroked the back of his leg with her foot wrapping herself around him. Oliver began to reach for the back of her dress when she stopped him.
"Except that as the President and Vice President of Queen's Consolidated we really are expected to be at the Queen's consolidated charity gala." she said lightly touching his chest and doing up the rest of the buttons.
Oliver groaned disapprovingly and got up smoothing his dress shirt "I better call the limo then, unless you want to take the motor cycle" he winked at her. She promptly turned a shade of green and ran to the bathroom to be sick.
Felicity spent the next half hour with morning sickness, which she did not know could happen in the evening or whenever the hell it felt like it and then took another half hour trying to look like she hadn't just thrown up a week's worth of pasta primavera. Although Oliver had assured her she looked fine she was less than convinced. They showed up to the gala about two hours late, which had actually turned out to be a good thing because most of the press had left already.
"I guess my track record of skipping my own events paid off for us this time" Oliver smiled taking Felicity hand in his arm. A couple reporters who had waiting around began flashing their cameras dramatically when suddenly they all shut off at once leaving them frantically trying to fix them.
Oliver looked over at Felicity who had a triumphant smirk on her face and a small device in her hand "I remember while I was draped over our toilet that I still hadn't tested that little electromagnetic device I invented yet. Isn't it great that most cameras are digital these days".
Oliver leaned in and kissed her on the cheek "Have I ever told you that you are remarkable".
Felicity smiled, remembering the first time he had said that to her. "Isn't that why you married me" She said as they walked into the Gala.
"Our hosts have finally arrived, late as usual" Diggle approached them two glasses of champagne in his hand.
Oliver quickly grabbed both of them to save Felicity an explanation and smiled at Diggle "Sorry Dig, you know how much I hate speeches and these things in general. I need these more than her tonight". Diggle not being a stupid man, looked over at Felicity and was about to say something when thankfully Thea and Roy showed up.
"I thought you were going to bail on this one for sure this time." Roy said fidgeting uncomfortably in his tux. Like Felicity, Roy was still getting used to this world. He had only returned to Starling City two years ago and naturally he had come back for Thea.
Thea embraced Felicity excitingly "I haven't seen you in forever. You haven't been to the foundry in two months and Oliver says you are busy with work but I don't believe him one bit. Roy thinks your acting weird also".
"Thea, someone has to keep the company alive while you guys are out all night. And ever since we went with a more tech related approach Oliver is really only a figure head" Felicity said elbowing Oliver in the ribs.
Oliver feigned a hurt expression and turned to Thea "So are you going to insult me too or does your big brother get a hug". Thea hugged him warmly "You look beautiful Speedy".
"Where's Lyla" Felicity asked Diggle walking towards the bar to order a non alcoholic drink in a wine glass discreetly.
"Sara has the flu, so she's at home with her. Kindergarten is like germ warfare" Diggle laughed "but I am sure you will figure that out soon enough".
Felicity stopped and looked over at him "Oliver really is the worst liar isn't he".
Diggle pulled her into a big hug "Congratulations. And yes. I have never seen him look at a glass of champagne as if it were a bullet before. That man needs to learn some subtleness".
She looked at him wide eyed "Diggle, you cannot tell anyone yet. Not even Lyla. We aren't ready yet. You are the first person to find out".
Diggle gave Felicity an amused expression "I promise I won't but if I know anything about Oliver he's going to give it away just with the way he looks at you just like before you two got together. I think the worst kept secret in Starling was that he was in love with you".
The microphone bleeped and a very nervous looking announcer came onto the stage "Oliver Queen is going to come up to the stage in a couple minutes to say a few words but first we would like to invite the Starling city orchestra to begin the evening's festivities with a good old fashioned waltz. If you would please join us on the dance floor".
Oliver came over and slid his hand to rest of Felicity's back which was bare thanks to her low backed dress, a shiver went up her back "If you don't mind Diggle, I need to borrow my wife for a moment. This is about the only part of the evening I actually enjoy". Felicity couldn't exactly waltz, she had taken some lessons for the wedding but they didn't do much good. What actually came of them dancing was more like a well organized slow dance, which they both enjoyed much more than the professional looking well-to-dos gliding around them.
"So Diggle knows" Felicity said pressing herself closer to Oliver.
"Really and who gave that away" He said amused.
"You did, you know holding a glass of champagne in my hand wouldn't have hurt the baby. By the way did you drink both of those" She hummed in his ear.
Oliver ran his hands a little further down her back, his fingertips trailing lightly on her skin "Yes, and I will admit I am a little bit tipsy and a lot in love with my beautiful glowing wife. You know, we could just leave right now and go home to our comfortable bed not surrounded by the posh members of upper society".
"Oliver Queen" She breathed in his ear "If you are trying to seduce me just to get out a speech". He kissed her quickly cutting off her words and a little too passionately for public but he didn't care. She was almost about to give into his idea when the music stopped and the nervous kid came back on stage. "Well looks like it's your time to shine" She said quietly kissing his cheek. She laughed as he mouthed the words "traitor" and walked up to the stage. Felicity could see Roy and Thea talking quietly across the room looking happy as ever. Ever since Roy had come back Thea had come out of whatever dark place she had been stuck in. Oliver had been incredibly worried that his actions in Nanda Parbat had changed her forever and Felicity hated seeing Thea so unhappy. It had been a huge relief to see things get better for both her and Roy. That had been about the time when they had decided to start a family. Felicity hands went instinctively to her stomach and she smiled privately to herself.
Diggle came and stood beside her placing his arm protectively over her shoulder "It's nice to see everyone so happy. For once, everything feels normal".
Felicity hummed in agreement "I just hope things stay this way, at least for a while. It's been nice that the city has been so quiet. He's not out so late and you need me down at the Foundry less. For once, my actual job feels like my real job and not just a cover to a secret life".
"Felicity, your pregnant. Trust me, after that baby comes everything changes and you get a completely new normal" Diggle's phone suddenly vibrated "Speaking of which, Lyla's calling and it's probably because Sara threw up on the dog again. I'll be back, let me know how it goes".
Oliver stepped up to the podium and immediately searched the crowd until he locked eyes with Felicity. She gave him a goofy thumbs up. Looking at her sometimes, he wondered how he got so lucky. He certainly didn't feel like he deserved any of it, but she would never let him say that. Sometimes she was so sure that even he believed it. And now he was having a baby. Despite all the fear he should feel, all the worry about how the life he lead would affect his child he was unbelievably happy.
The announced tapped him on the shoulder "Mr. Queen you can begin now". Oliver laughed at himself "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid you caught me gazing at my wife". The crowd laugh and Oliver could see Felicity blush from where he was standing. He always found that incredibly sexy but now was not the time for that. "I would like to thank you all for coming to the annual Queen's Consolidated Charity gala. I am happy to announce on behalf of the Vice President as well, which you also know as my lovely wife Felicity Queen that this year we razed five million dollars to be divided amongst several of the worthiest Starling City charities" Oliver saw Felicity smile and the crowd applauded in both their directions "In other news Queen's Consolidated would like to announce...".
"Hey Mr. Queen" A rough voice shouted to his right, Oliver turned to see a man holding a trigger mechanism in his hand "Surprise". Suddenly the lights went out and a loud sound combined with the shatter of glass all around. The room was completely silent and then the screaming started. "Felicity" Oliver yelled desperately. Then the lights came back on and Oliver couldn't find Felicity waiting for him among the crowds of fleeing people.