[Insert Disclaimer Here]
A/N: Check out "The Ways of the Universe" by CyberQueens; it is an Arrow fanfiction story that is amazing and does a better job with character and plot development than the writers of the show could ever think to achieve. It is an Olicity story, but it does NOT bash any of the other characters, so even if you are a Laurel or Sara Lance fans then you will also enjoy this fanfics story by CyberQueens! Enjoy! Speaking of Plot and Character Development, some of my reviewers have asked specifically why I have stopped watching the show. Well, I admit that the show still has a lot of potential for being a great show, however, I am a writer first and foremost and I do not have much tolerance for when writers do not develop plot/characters logically or even realistically. If a character is going to change and evolve it takes time and the fact that (in my own opinion) in each episode of the show characters continue to do 180s with their personalities and growth…it's just not LOGICAL (in the words of Malcolm Merlyn)! For more information on why I've stopped watching Arrow please check out my fanfiction profile.
P.S. – I was shocked an overjoyed by the response in favorites/follows/reviews that this story has already gotten. Thank you, my lovely readers. I hope you enjoy this next chapter just as much. As always, please read and review. Thank you!
The Shit Just Hit the Fan!
Donna Smoak was a complicated woman. She had lived her entire life on-the-other-side-of-the-tracks, said tracks being a stereotypical clichéd white trash trailer park. She was not the most educated woman – not book smart anyway – but she did consider herself to be rather street-smart and tough when she needed to be. Like she had told her daughter a few months earlier, she may not have been the easiest mother to grow up with, but she had always been there for her baby girl. So, when her baby girl decided to call her up just a few weeks after she had left from visiting with her, informing her that she would be starting a family of her own…on her own; suffice it to say Donna had freaked. Her first thought was that some nameless-faceless man had knocked up her daughter and then left her high and dry with a baby on the way, but no. Her daughter shocked her yet again when Felicity informed her that she wanted to be artificially inseminated.
Now, Donna did not know what exactly her daughter was going through or what possessed her to make such a rash decision – and Lord knows she had tried to talk some sense into her daughter (she explained to her the pain of childbirth, the money it would take to raise a child, the personal and emotional sacrifices a parent – usually the mother – needed to often make in order for said child to be happy and well taken care of) – but she also knew her daughter. She knew that once her sweet-genius-baby-girl, Felicity made up her mind…nothing could change it. So, Donna came to the realization that she could do one of three things: one, she could play the mother's-tough-love card and force Felicity to see reason or refuse to help her; two, she could accept her daughter decision and let her deal with it on her own; three, she could accept her daughter's decision and help her see it through.
Donna chose the third option, for she knew all too well what it was like to be a single parent…a single mother, and she would not let her baby go through that alone. So, she traveled 3,000 miles away from her home in Vegas to help her daughter go through thousands of information and articles and which sperm donor she should pick that would help give her the baby of her dreams. Donna held Felicity's hand during the actual insemination process…and she held her daughter in her arms as they both waited while sitting on Felicity's apartment's bathroom floor for the pregnancy test to tell them the answer to Felicity's future. Would it be negative or would it be positive?
It was positive.
And from that moment on Donna Smoak accepted the fact that she would be a grandmother in nine months' time. That didn't mean she still could not for the life of her understand what exactly was going on in her brilliant daughter's mind, but she would be there for her.
However, the past week had been…interesting to say the least. First she had come home to Felicity balling her eyes out – and she didn't stop crying for six straight hours – but she had just assumed that was the pregnancy hormones talking. Then Felicity started mumbling odd things under her breath. Things like "fate has a mean sense of humor" "the universe hates me" etc. etc. Donna had started to worry when Felicity would just sit on the couch and look at her still flat abdomen with the saddest most forlorn look she had ever seen. At that point Donna had decided to ask, "Hey, sweetie…is everything ok…you know, with the baby?"
"Oh…um, yes…it's just, you know pregnancy paranoia." That had been Felicity's response, but Donna felt her daughter wasn't being completely honest with her. She knew her daughter had secrets. Lots of secrets, which was very obvious just by her day to day behavior, her odd work hours, not to mention the very clear sexual tension between Felicity and a certain Oliver Queen (she was pretty sure a statue could sense the tension between those two). But, Donna also had learned through the years that her daughter often felt like she needed to work things out for herself (she was very self-sufficient and independent that way) and if Felicity couldn't work out whatever she was going through then she would eventually confront Donna about. Donna had learned to let Felicity come to her when there was a problem, and she had learned to be patient with that part of their relationship.
Things were tense…to say the least…between Oliver and Felicity. Oliver knew this. Ever since he had seen her kissing Ray Palmer things had been different. And it wasn't just on a personal level between them that things had changed. It was the physical stuff, too. Ever since he had first met Felicity, Oliver had always had an unspoken attraction and communication with his IT girl. There had not been a single day that they went through together where they didn't talk to each other, touch each other – whether it was a gentle brush of fingers, a brief moment of holding hands, or Oliver putting his hand on her shoulder, cheek, or lower back – as well as their unbelievable ability to speak without words. They could practically read each other's minds. But, ever since that fateful evening when Oliver saw Felicity and Ray's kiss…he didn't have a clue what was going through her mind. Felicity was a bit more on edge, a little more emotional than usual, she didn't look at him quite in the same way as she used to. Oliver began to wonder if it was because he had pushed her so far away from him that she was finally pushing back in an effort to separate herself from him or if her possibly growing relationship with Ray Palmer was what had taken her away from him in the end. The last one making him even more confused because he honestly did not know if Felicity and Ray were even in a relationship.
Sure, he had seen them kiss, but for the last three months or more, he had never once seen that again, nor was he aware of whether she was dating the new CEO of Queen Consolidated…Palmer Industries, or not. It was a question he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to. If Felicity was alone there was a part of him that would feel guilty that he was still putting her life and happiness on hold, but there would possibly be an even bigger part of him that was selfishly glad that no other man had convinced her heart to move on from him. However, if Felicity was seeing someone – whether it was Ray Palmer or some other unknown-faceless-male-entity – then Oliver…well, he just wanted her to be happy, but he would not be able to deny the heartache he felt every time either of these questions popped up into his Felicity obsessed mind.
On top of all of that, he knew that Felicity was holding something else back from him and that suspicion – the suspicion that she was keeping a very big secret from him – had only grown in the last week or so. She just…wasn't acting like the same Felicity that he had known for the last three years or so and come to love more deeply than anyone else in his entire existence.
Oliver had never really known what to do with any of the women in his life, but right now…he was completely clueless and helpless to anything that was going on with the women in his life. And that made him feel very uneasy. All he did know was that there was something very serious going on with Felicity and he intended to find out what that was.
It was a little sad, and that said a lot about Felicity's personal life, that she had found herself working her entire Saturday at the Arrow Lair beneath Verdant. It was a little past one in the afternoon and she was still working on her Super-Secret-Win-QC-Back project. It was a project that she had been working on ever since Ray Palmer had hired her. She had worked at Queen Consolidated long enough to know when things were a little not-what-they-seemed and when she had accepted Ray Palmer's job offer, she knew it would be the perfect opportunity to see just how he had acquired Oliver's multi-billion-dollar-business right out from under him with absolutely no explanation or announcement. It wasn't until a week or so after she had her pregnancy confirmed (and when she had officially told Ray that she wasn't that-kind-of-girl who was going to hook up with her boss) that she found a glitch in QC's security databases. It was a glitch that she was certain Ray Palmer had created.
Apparently the only reason Ray Palmer was able to buy up enough QC stock was because the company had secretly gone public after Isabel Rochev had taken over and Slade's attack on the City. However, when companies as big as QC went public, it was rare – almost unheard of – for them not to make a public announcement on the matter. So, Felicity kept digging and low and behold, the said glitch confirmed that the fact that QC had gone public was indeed false. Sure, Ray Palmer had bought up enough stock to make him a shared owner of QC and the board had given him the title and vote of CEO, but Queen Consolidated still was owned 51% by Oliver and Thea Queen.
At that particular moment Felicity was still hacking out more proof from QC's systems to give to Oliver (that is if she was able to find enough legal proof) so that he could regain control over his family's business. It was one of the reasons why she had not yet even told him that she had found a way for him to get QC back. If she couldn't get the proof she needed, then she really did not want to get Oliver's hopes up about regaining his family's legacy. He had already lost too much.
Now, however she had finally gotten all the proof she needed, it had only taken her a few more months than she had originally planned, but there you go; but…how exactly was she going to break the news to Oliver? Felicity decided that it would be best to approach Thea Queen about the subject first. So, that was how she found herself sitting with Thea at the bar of Verdant…talking about Oliver.
"Wow! Just…wow!" said Thea as she finished hearing Felicity word-vomit all over her about Oliver and Queen Consolidate and family legacies. Although, Thea was more impressed by the speed at which Felicity could talk, not to mention her ability to go off on random tangents that still managed to make sense, than she was by the fact that Felicity had essentially found a way to get QC back for her and Oliver.
"Yeah, I know, and I want you to know that the only reason I hadn't told you or Oliver about this was because I didn't want to give either of you false hope if I couldn't actually figure out how Palmer had gotten a hold of QC not to mention if I could prove he'd done it illegally," said Felicity with a look of apology and sympathy.
"No, it's…ok. Complicated…but I understand why you did what you did. You were just trying to protect my family and…as surprising as it is that anyone would do that for me and my brother…I understand," said Thea as she sat down beside Felicity on one of the bar stools.
Before Felicity could make any more comments or word-vomit on Thea Queen again, her mother of all people came into the club dressed in her simple waiter uniform for Table Salt – a simple tight black skirt and a white button down blouse – carrying a medium sized Tupperware food container, heading her way.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" asked Felicity.
"Well, you forgot to grab your lunch and since I have the early mid-shift at work today I thought I'd bring it to you on my way in to work. I only have a few minutes so I can't stay too long," said Donna in a rush of smiles and hugs as she reached her daughter's side just as Felicity got up from the bar stool she'd been sitting on and coming to her feet.
"Oh, well…thanks. I…"
"Plus, what with the little Nugget," continued Donna, referring to the Queen Love Child currently growing in Felicity's abdomen (and if things couldn't get more awkward with this happening in front of Thea, Roy and Digg decided to pop out from somewhere in back and join their little rag-tag group as Donna continued to speak, not letting Felicity get in a single word) giving said abdomen a little rub as she shoved the Tupperware into Felicity's shaking hands. "I didn't want you ordering anything like take out because Lord knows that wouldn't be healthy for you in your condition. Now, make sure you eat your lunch and I will have a nice healthy balanced meal waiting for you at home for dinner." Donna finished her babbled greeting and explanation just as fast as her own daughter was when she babbled and then promptly left Felicity standing there with Thea, Roy, and Digg all looking very confusedly at her.
"Um…" Ok, Felicity honestly did not know what to say.
Diggle, who had known a few pregnant women in his life – namely Carly, when she had been pregnant with his nephew A.J. and Lyla when she'd been pregnant with their daughter – and knew exactly what Donna Smoak's little rub on Felicity's stomach implied. And therefore his brief look of confusion immediately grew into a look of knowledge and shock.
"Felicity, is there something you want to share with the class?" asked Diggle, and like him, Thea's look of confusion was quickly growing to one of realization.
"Well, I'm…"
"You're pregnant aren't you?" asked Thea.
"Wait? What?" spluttered Roy, being the ignorant fool that he was, hadn't noticed at all what had gone on in the conversation between mother and daughter that he had just witnessed, all he knew was that it had left him very confused.
Felicity gave a small nod of confirmation in the affirmative to Thea's very direct question.
"How?" was Roy's immediate response.
"Who?" was Digg's question. "Unless you and Palmer were a lot more involved with each other than any of us thought you were – which, can I just say, I don't think you were – and unless you and Oliver worked out…whatever it is that has been going on with you two lately, who exactly did you…"
"Well, it's a rather long story," said Felicity as she dropped back onto the bar stool she had been sitting on before her mother had come in and let slip the fact about her secret pregnancy.
"Give us the short version than. Preferably in one word because I don't think I can possibly understand this situation," said Roy.
"Artificial Insemination." Roy, Thea, and Digg all tilted their heads to one side as their eyebrows seemed to shoot up into their individual hairlines all at the same time. "Ok, technically that was two words, but that's about as condensed as this explanation is going to get."
"That sounds very…weird," was Thea's only response as Digg and Roy continued to just stare at her.
"Oh, believe me it was, and awkward too, at least on a physical level. I mean, can you guys imagine a foot-and-a-half long metal Turkey Baster getting shoved into your…"
"Aaah! No, stop! I did not…just…please, leave out all the…details," cried Roy as his face formed into an expression of absolute horror. Thea promptly covered her mouth as she burst out laughing at Felicity's description.
Digg's face simply went from a look of shock to one of complete concern for the woman whom he viewed as a little sister. "How long?"
"About three months, maybe a little more." Felicity noticed Digg's look of brotherly concern and she had a pretty good idea that he knew why she had decided to get pregnant and have a family all on her own. "I just…I wanted to have someone that was mine and only mine. I wanted someone to let me love them and take care of them…and maybe they'd…they'd love me back," said Felicity.
"Felicity, I…" Digg knew, he knew all too well – and he was pretty sure Thea, Roy, hell even Laurel and Lance knew – that things between Oliver and Felicity were complicated. The thing was they didn't need to be. It was all because Oliver – and Felicity, too sometimes – was just too damn stubborn to be with the woman he loved. "I think I can speak for everyone when I say, we are here for you. For you and the baby."
"Thank you…" Felicity was cut off abruptly by a shocked feminine gasp that came from behind her.
"You're pregnant?" Laurel asked in a shocked and whispered tone as she gazed at Felicity. Thea, Digg, Felicity, and Roy all turned to Laurel who had obviously just walked into the club and that they were unaware of her arrival. "Is…is it Oliver's?" Laurel didn't know why they all looked shocked by this conclusion she had drawn that it was possible that Oliver could be the father. Laurel really did not want to admit it when she had first decided to become a part of Oliver's Team (which she had quickly learned that while she had thought Oliver was the leader of Team Arrow, it had become very obvious that the real person in charge of the Arrow was one Felicity Smoak) whether any of them wanted her there or not, but she could not deny the obvious attraction, sexual tension, and very clear love and infatuation between Oliver and his IT girl. It was practically written on their faces every time they looked at each other!
"No, Laurel. Felicity actually…" Thea's explanation was cut off by Felicity.
"Actually, technically Oliver…Oliver is the father," said Felicity as she kept her head down close to her chest and a protective hand went to her still-flat-but-pregnant-abdomen. The loud blow-out of questions never came. Instead everyone remained deathly silent as they looked to Felicity in confusion once more. The silence was interrupted by the loud clank of the club door shutting from Laurel's abrupt departure after Felicity's shocking confession.
"Ok, I think we are going to need the long and detailed version of this story," said Digg with a resigned sigh.
"Long version, yes. Detailed, no!" Roy's said with a look of pleading towards Felicity. There were certain things in this world he just did not need to know about.
"Well…" and so Felicity told them. Everything. And when she was finished, of course Roy's only question was…
"Why on earth would Oliver want to donate his sperm?"
"Hey, don't look at me! I honestly never had a clue what went on through my brother's overly-sexualized-drunken-brain before he disappeared for five years," said Thea as everyone seemed to look to her for an answer to that still mysterious question.
"When are you going to tell Oliver?" asked Digg.
Felicity noticed that Digg's question was not "How will you tell Oliver?" Or "Will you tell Oliver?" No, he was pretty much telling her that she would tell Oliver, because – as she had realized at the start of her pregnancy – this was not a secret she'd be able to keep much longer.
A/N: The reason I had Felicity have a secret agenda of her own when it came to working for Ray Palmer was b/c I honestly do not think she would just go work for the guy that essentially stole Oliver's company out from under him. I mean, not matter how mad Felicity gets at Oliver she would never betray him and work for "that" guy, nor would she help Ray destroy the company and the Queen family Legacy by renaming it Palmer Industries. Just…no! The Arrow writers totally had Felicity out of character in this particular situation. So, I decided to use this story to fix that!
Also, I liked the idea of Thea, Roy, Diggle, and Laurel finding out about Olicity's Love Child before Oliver!
P.S. Please, review. I welcome all reviews (good & bad) so long as they are helpful to me as a growing writer.
Next Chapter: Remember Laurel left before she could find out that Oliver still doesn't know about the pregnancy, let alone that the child is his. Just saying (hint, hint)!
