Author's NOTE: This is a slightly tweaked and re-edited version of chapter two. I've changed a couple things, I decided to make the time-line more vague and put a few hints to future chapters, but the majority of chapter has not change, mostly just edited for improvement.

Baby Blue


Chapter Two:

Thea was up in the club taking inventory when she saw Oliver come around with a baby in his arms. "Don't tell me that is from one of your flings. I always thought they would go for the money, they probably get a lot of child support."

"No, he isn't mine. We found him outside the club."

"We?" She questioned. Felicity popped up from behind.

"Yeah we, as in your brother and I found him, you know. The two of us together, well not together, together obviously..." Thea grinned she always found Felicity's babbling amusing.

"Felicity," He said soothing, quietly and she stopped right away.

"Where's Diggle?"

"Oh he has the car waiting, want a ride?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah," Thea agreed, "but where's the baby going and can I hold him." She wiggled her finger in front of the little one. Oliver did not hesitate to give the child to her. He was still a bit uncomfortable holding such a small thing in his arms.

"Uh well the baby is going to the mansion and so am I." Felicity pointed out, "I hope its okay, I have ..."

"Oh we are going to have a baby for the weekend!" Thea was so excited ignoring the other part Felicity said, she figured the woman had been over there several times already. "Oh we should go shopping then, he is going to need a crib and all that."

"I thought that maybe mom still had one of our cribs." Oliver suggested.

"Yeah," Thea agreed, "Why would we give him an old crib, when can get him a new one. Yes, yes, you'll have the best." She looked into the baby, "I can't believe we get to keep you."

"Thea it's only for a few days." Oliver pointed out already seeing the attachment she was developing, "and really he is going to be in Felicity's custody."

"So I'll see you in the morning this time." Thea gave her a mischievous look. "There have been a couple of questions I been meaning to ask you." Felicity gulped in nervousness as his sister looked at her with that devilish grin and was afraid to ask but entirely curious what she meant by 'the morning this time'.

Oliver gently pushed Felicity toward the Limo who walked as fast she could away from Thea's possibly inquires. "Speedy, don't scare her like that."

"What why would I? She is the only decent girlfriend you had since Laurel and I can tell she is more fun." She teased lightly, Oliver sighed for the million time they had this conversation.

"How many do I have tell you she's not my girlfriend!?"

"Oh please," She waved her hand in his face, "Ollie, you are still on that. I know you been sneaking out with her for months. I saw you that one night, you were going out the back way, she was waiting outside."

"Oh," Oliver was surprised she had seen them, but not so shock by the conclusion Thea had drawn to. Actually, he was a bit relieved, he didn't know how he would explain if she had overheard the conversation they actually had.

"I'm really sorry, but your address is not very secretive, I didn't even have to use a pinky finger of my skills to get through. So uh yeah, I had to come see you, I found our 'friend'" Felicity did air quotes and tried not to stare too hard at the fact Oliver had bed hair and no shirt. It was not that she had not seen him shirtless before, but still...and it was night, and oh my it was like they were having a night excursion. Do Not Blush Felicity, do not, she ordered herself.

"You could have called." His voice broke through her ramble of thoughts.

"Well considering that I have to be inside," She looked over at the car where Diggle was sitting in the front. "We just decided to pick you up."

"I don't remember agreeing that you could come with us." He crossed his arms. He looked down at her, his mind ran through several things, the dodger, the serial killer, the count, every since he brought her into his world she was in danger. And the last time was the most unsettling, because he knew he never changed anything he done. He broke his vow a thousand times, but he was still not sure why.

She stared up at him, "We got no choice. I know, I'm not too happy about this after what happened last time, but I got to go inside to get to their computers."

"Okay," He knew she was right and the mission came first, despite the conflicting feelings. "but you don't go anywhere until I cleared the way." He had that no argument face, not that had ever stopped her before, but she really had no reason to argue this time.

"Of course," she agreed. "I don't want to be tied up, close to blowing up or any of those things, again. So I trust your arrows to lead the way."

He was glad Thea had not heard that conversation, but then again if she had, well he wasn't sure what she might have gotten out of it, since none of the details were discussed anyway. He wondered would she thought they were having a threesome with Diggle, that would be all kinds of awkward and he was hanging out too much with the IT girl to let his mind travel there.

They got a whole trunk full of clothes, diapers, and every other necessity they needed. Thea dragged them all over, they got what they could at Macy's. "We got everything we need, yes we did...uh," She told the baby who was kicking its legs in the car seat now dressed in blue with 'the cutest' written on it. "what are we calling him anyway?"

"I don't know, don't ask me," the Diggle said, "I'm just the driver."

She stared at Oliver, "We can't keep calling it baby all night."

"Why not?" Her brother asked, "He has a family to go home to who. Who has already given him a name." He once again tried to make it clear to everyone the child was not staying. Felicity and Thea had fought over the baby all night, and he had to admit it was kind of cute, except when he thought his sister might actually hit his IT girl for the right to pick the outfit.

"Yeah but it's just rude to call him baby." Thea insisted.

"Well, a baby really doesn't know what you are saying. IT IS all in the tone of your voice." Felicity explained. Brown eyes stared at her, "My mother, well she is a foster mom, has lots of kids, babies come through once in awhile. So, I know a thing two about kids and my computers are like my babies, well not exactly, obviously."

Oliver put a hand on her shoulder, "Felicity, we get it."

"Oh okay, guess we could call him Aaron after my favorite uncle." Felicity replied thinking that he was her only biological Uncle she actually knew of. He visited her on an occasion and she once asked why he could not take her home with her. He told her that some men could be fathers and others could not. He then patted her on the head and told her he would always be her friend. She never asked again because except the normal mother daughter conflicts, she had a good life and he never had any kids of his own.

"Well it's better than baby, so I'm good." Thea shrugged her shoulders. "SO...uh what are you going to tell mom."

"What do you mean?" Oliver wondered, realizing he had not thought this through and glancing over at Felicity he knew she had not either.

"Well, you can't just show up with a baby she's never heard about." She threw her arms in a cradling motion. "Though he is really cute. You might be able to get away with almost everything." She wiggled her finger in front of the blue-eyed baby.

"We'll think of something," Oliver rubbed his head.

"No we won't, you are a horrible liar," Felicity pointed out, "You told some really dumb ones while trying to..." she looked over to Thea, realizing one member of their party was not in on it, well one member that could actually do something about it. "That laptop you found with a bullet, cause you were trying to be a cheap skate and not buy one...and I'm way worse at this than you, great!"

"Don't worry," Thea patted her on the shoulder just as they arrived, "I'm an expert."

"I'm not sure if I want to know why that is Speedy." Oliver inquired, wondering what kind of trouble she had been into. "You are not still looking for the hood, are you?"

Thea rolled her eyes as she got out of the limo. Felicity stared in awe at the girl's impeccable appearance, considering she, herself smelt like baby puke. The girl really was amazing, "No, I was talking about before you were here, before I started being a responsible adult and I don't think I have to explain this to you. I was just offering my help, you know."

"I'm sorry Speedy," he felt a tiny guilty, they were the ones always lying, not her, he hopped out the car and watched as Felicity gently pulled Aaron out of the car seat and held his head close to her. "You can go home for the night," He looked over at Diggle, "Tell Lyla I said 'Hi"

"Lyla?" Thea questioned, "Did you get a girlfriend, John?"

"I'm going home," He got out of the Limo and headed to his personal car. "Have a good night Oliver, and let me know how it turns out." He said it with a grin that made the Arrow a bit worried.

Thea pouted a bit at being denied a chance to grab some gossip but shrugged it off to get some info from her big brother. She leaned close, "it's just about the baby right?" She teased lightly, "Are you still telling me by the way you been staring at her at night, that you're just friends."

He huffed and headed toward the front door with a bag of baby clothes, "I'm have not, let's just get this over with," but he was still memorized at how Felicity's slender fingers wrapped around the diaper bag and how she held Aaron on her hip, wearing her usual pencil skirt and light blue cardigan. He could not believe that this woman who seemed so perfect for the tech world, a strong independent type, despite her babbling, always came off so confident and strong, looked just so natural holding a baby.

"Hmm, Oliver, can you fix my glasses," She asked leaning close to him. He frowned a bit at the smell of vomit. "Aaron thinks they are a toy, but in his defense most things are toys to babies." She furrowed her brows in thought, "just like my cat...hmm." she pushed the blond baby higher on her hip as her boss pushed her glasses up.

"Stop flirting you two, I'm really sleepy, we had a long night and I need to talk to Roy."

"She's the one that dragged us all over of the store why I hold 20 pounds on my hips consistently and get puked on, and look like I just stepped out of the dumpster and she's tired." Her eyes did a lovely dance.

"You look...great, you smell like you been in a dumpster though." He admitted.

"I know," She looked at Aaron who was falling asleep on her shoulder, "but I guess it's okay." Oliver smiled a bit. "Good to know you can still smile, which I knew you could but it's nice seeing it from a completely platonic kind of place, though you obviously are attractive, but I'm not attracted..." She momentarily lost her footing, and her face showed brief panic, "The baby..." but Oliver wrapped his arms around both of them, "Oh my god, this is why I can't be a mom, maybe you should take Aaron."

"It's okay, I got you both," he wanted to tell her he thought she would be a great mom, but he didn't get a chance to...

"What's going on? Where have you guys been, I been worried." Moira Queen stepped out in her usual grace, and Felicity once again felt awkward, how was it they even made night clothes, (which everyone was supposed to look silly and comfortable in) look amazing. Moira, in her lovely silk hanging out of her large white plush robe, she looked comfortable, but not silly, actually she just looked concern. "Oh God, I knew you two were not just friends. Why didn't you tell me a had a grand-son sooner." The two were in shock as they looked at each other and watched Moira made her way toward them with arms wide open for the babe.

"Because he is not, Oliver found the baby abandon at the night club," Thea explained, "and social services are letting us have him because of there weren't much better options." So that's how she did it, Oliver thought, she keeps it mostly true and vague. Well he shouldn't be too surprised.

"Yes, well..." Moira wrapped her arms around the baby, "but why is she here," she looked over Thea's shoulder, "Not that it isn't nice to see you again. Though, I'm surprise Oliver had you working this late at night." That tone suggested she did not think they were working late.

"Well, I wasn't," She didn't want to think her son was a slave driver, "we were just hanging out, well not hanging," She laughed. She just made it worse.

"Well she's doing some upgrades at the club." Oliver tried, Moira gave him a strange look.

"And that couldn't wait until the next day?"

Thea shook her head, "It's a lost cause guys. It's obvious." Felicity and Oliver looked at her strangely, "Look mom, they didn't want to tell you, because Felicity doesn't want you to think she slept her way to the top, but her and Oliver are dating."

"We are what!?" Felicity stated, "We are not..." Oliver put a hand on her shoulder..

"And I asked her to come along, because Felicity has a friend in social service and they wouldn't let us have Aaron, if I didn't bring her with me. I didn't want to tell you this but the Queens are not the best candidates for foster parents."

"Oh well," She seemed to accept what he was saying, "It's nice to see you two finally come out. I been wondering when you were going to tell me." She patted Felicity's face lightly, "You are quiet an improvement over most of Oliver's girlfriends, anyway let's go pull out one of the old cribs from the basement."

"Oh we bought him a new one," Thea stated.

Moira stared at her, there's was a small look of disappointment, "Well your cribs are probably out of date for safety standards anyway. Though, I hope I get a chance to buy him a few things tomorrow When he goes home, his parents won't have to worry about a thing, now will they?"

"That's so nice of you," Felicity smiled, "But can I still see Oliver's crib, I bet it was beautiful." Moira lit up.

"Yes of course," She look down at Aaron, "Let's go inside, you poor thing," She looked over at Felicity, "There's a shower on the first floor, I'll have Danielle bring you a robe. Did you bring some clothes?"

"Oh I knew forgot something, we were so busy making sure Aaron got what he needed and Thea had us running all over the place."

"I bet," She smiled fondly, "Well, you will be comfortable in a robe and one of Oliver's old T-shirts. I'll get you some new clothes in the morning." The IT girl was surprised how Moira did not even flinch at the idea of her being in Oliver's clothes, because she, herself had to resist the urge to shiver or squeal in delight.

"No, that's not necessary, I'll just..." Moira waved it off.

"Nonsense, just think of it as a thank you present."

"A thank you present...?"

"Yes, you have made Oliver very happy," She looked up at her son who stared at her in confusion, "You don't think I haven't noticed. I knew you had to be seeing someone, I thought it was Laurel but then I knew it couldn't be. I never seen you like this." She caressed his face. She leaned in and whispered. "Don't let this one go. Now," She gazed down at Aaron, "Let's get your bed setup.

Felicity came out of the shower feeling refreshed with blow dry hair; wrapped up in a warm tight robe. She blushed a little because she could smell the scent of Oliver on the shirt she was wearing, well...it was HIS.

"Hey," She turned to see Oliver standing in the living room, he actually appeared kind of awkward. Can Queens look awkward? Oliver can not, he was all sneaking and he was the hood and stuff. He just can't and yet...he looked a little shy. Not possible. She needed to get some sleep. She rubbed her eyes.

"Hey, yeah, your mom didn't tell me where I'll be sleeping oh and what happened to our baby, I mean the baby, not ours, but I bet you will have a cute baby, well not with me."

"Felicity," His voice was soft. "I wanted to apologize."

"For what? There's no way you could have messed something up in 30 minutes, could you? Was I in the shower longer than I thought? Is Aaron okay?" Her mind went through a bunch of crazy scenarios just then, involving Aaron being kidnapped by random men or the Arrow getting hurt, well he wasn't hurt because he was in front of her.

He put a hand on her shoulder, "My mom, this whole situation of everyone thinking were dating."

"Oh that," She tried to wave it off, but it bothered her, because she had been thinking about Oliver in that way for a long time now. And it hurt that he was basically apologizing for something she wanted. "Just a misunderstanding,"

"Yeah, but I went along with it." That made her eyes widened slightly for a second. Don't pick apart that sentence, she told herself, don't you dare.

"It's easier, how else could we explain why we were together, but not, you know. Though, I'm surprise they are buying any of this."

"I'm not," he replied, "We do spend a lot of time together. You know I never really thought about how much I depend on you until recently."

"Uh yeah, but I depend on you more, considering I'm the one who had the bomb caller, and been tied up.." She held a hand up to tell herself to stop, "And it sounds like were some kind of kinky couple, which I'm not kinky," She shrugged her shoulders, "Well a little, but not like that..." She shook head, "I'm stopping now." He had given her a small smile the whole time. "The point is, I'm not even your type."

"Blonde and slender?" He raised a brow.

"It's dyed and I mean I'm highly intelligent with computers, and maybe," hand on her hip as she put her head up high, "A little awkward, because I'm always blurting out crazy things."

He shook his head, "I think those are the things that make you special and everybody knows Oliver Queen dates who he wants, they would not be surprised about it. A lot of people think those qualities about you are adorable and remarkable. You really shouldn't think those are negatives."

"I don't Oliver, I just think those things would make most people confused as to why I'm dating Oliver Queen."

He leaned in closer, foreheads almost touching "Well you know mothers and sisters are different they are not exactly swayed by the press. More than likely though, my mother probably finds the differences refreshing."

"That's true, I know my mom...and...ugh, my mom is going to be calling me a million times tomorrow." She groaned.

"Why?"

"June is going to blab to everyone about us dating including my mother. I just hope it doesn't leak."

He shrugged his shoulders, "It wouldn't be the first time something the press thought was true, wasn't."

"Yes, but our parents do and I do not want to break my mother's heart. Do you?" She stared at him, "No you don't Oliver, she'll be so excited to find I'm dating someone. I haven't dated since second semester in college and you...didn't need to know that. Anyway..."

"Anyway, I think we both need to get some sleep. So let's go to bed." He escorted her up the stairs.

"In separate beds right?" Felicity inquired.

"Yeah, but you'll have to sneak in the morning."

"What!? Not that I be disappointed waking up in bed with you, I mean for the show, not that I would care either way and this is not coming out right at all."

He laughed lightly, "My mother will find it suspicious, even Laurel and I woke up in bed together after we dated a few months and mom thinks I been secretly dating you for awhile."

"Oh," her face fell and Oliver was taken back by her compliant silence. He did not know the thoughts going on in her head, but he wanted to. In reality Felicity was painfully aware of how much it affected her that Oliver was still in love with Laurel. She should have never fallen for him and a baby and a night in his gorgeous mansion was not going to change those facts of her life.