CHAPTER 2 - Now That He's Changed for the Better

A/N: I think this is the fastest update I've posted ever - just a three-day gap. Call it inspiration or just plain excitement. I really hope you enjoy it. This chapter is from Felicity's POV this time.

Felicity visits the Queen Mansion for the first time since she came back to Starling for good two weeks ago. She unexpectedly meets a special person, and someone else gets pleasantly surprised at something.

"Honey!" Donna squeals. The older blonde darts across the spacious kitchen and throws her arms around her daughter. "It's so good to see you, baby girl!"

Felicity hugs her mother back. "It's good to see you, Mom! Not that I haven't seen you in a long time. I meant, it's good to see you… here. In this huge house. That I used to live in. It's been a… while."

It hadn't been long since they last saw each other. Donna was at the airport when Felicity arrived in Starling two weeks ago. Donna helped her get settled into her newly furnished condo unit, checking in on her and keeping in touch through calls and texts.

"Yeah," Donna smiles in agreement. "What brings you by? You didn't tell me you were coming today."

How could Felicity tell her mother why she came? She doesn't even know what made her decide to come here today.

She had spent her first weekend back at work, setting up her work station in the brand-new office that QC had given her at the Applied Sciences floor of QC. She promised herself that her next weekend would not be spent there. But when she woke up earlier than usual this morning, she didn't feel like staying home or going shopping, like she normally does on her days off. After breakfast and a refreshing shower, she got dressed in casual clothes, hopped into her car, and just drove.

She found herself in the cemetery. She sat on the grass in front of her step-father's tombstone, quietly reminiscing fond memories of the man who had treated her like his own daughter, even when she had refused his initial offer of legally adopting her and making her a Queen. Robert had been a good step-father. And it's not just because Robert had loved her mother and made her happy, unlike her previous flings and boyfriends. It's not just because he had supported her studies and graduate studies Computer Science at MIT, even when he had already fallen ill and eventually passed away. It's because Robert Queen had believed in her and who she can be, like a real father. Felicity appreciated that most of all.

It must have been those musings that brought her to the mansion then. She's not quite sure. She had sworn when she cut off all ties with Oliver that she would never come back, and yet here she is. She's been in Starling for a couple of weeks now, but she had not set foot in the house she had learned to call home years ago, until today.

"I… uhm…" Felicity is not sure what to say to her mother. It's like she has let herself down, breaking a promise and feeling like she will soon regret it. Maybe so. Maybe not.

Before she could croak another hesitant word in reply to Donna's question, a little boy in teddy bear printed pajamas appears at the entrance to the kitchen. The boy yawns while rubbing his eyes to clear away the half-moist tears that had begun to crust at the corners, clouding his vision.

"Nana," the little boy cries.

"Oh, look who's up so early!" Donna greets him. "Come over here, sweetheart! I want you to meet someone special."

The little boy comes closer, but Donna meets him halfway and picks him up. She places him on the kitchen counter, gives him a short but crushing hug, and then kisses his forehead affectionately.

Felicity looks at the boy in her mother's arms. For a brief moment, she's intrigued as to who the child is. She looks at his eyes, as blue as the eyes of the very person she'd tried but failed to forget all this time. She recognizes his face – the same nose, the same jaw line, the same adorable expression even without smiling. The next second, she comes to the conclusion that the child is his, the one that she'd seen in pictures online, on magazines and tabloids, ever since the story had gone public more than a year ago.

When her mother speaks, her hunch is confirmed. "William, sweetie, this is my daughter-"

"I know who she is," the boy interrupts. He looks at the surprise visitor wide-eyed, convinced that he recognizes who she is. "She's Felicity. She's Daddy's best friend and step-sister."

Felicity gasps. Something in her chest tightens. As soon as she is able to breathe again, she realizes two things.

The boy knows who she is.

Oliver has told his son about her.

Her heart melts at the thought. She takes in the sight of Oliver's son, and a smile forms on her lips. Her eyes well up with tears; she blinks them away. "Yes, that's right. I am Felicity," she acknowledges. "It's nice to meet you, William," she says, offering her hand to the boy.

The handshake is brief, but the smile that's painted on the boy's face sure does make Felicity's day. It's like she's staring at a mini version of Oliver.

"Hello, my name is William Clayton Queen. I'm four years old. It's nice to finally meet you, Felicity," the boy says.

Felicity smiles back at the boy, impressed by his politeness and the way he articulates himself at such a young age. He must get it from her mother, she thinks. She wonders, though, what he means when he said that it's nice for him to finally meet her.

William is smarter than boys his age, too, for he picks up on the curiosity written all over her face. "I've seen pictures of you. Dad has one in his wallet. But you look younger there. And you had dark hair. You know, Dad often talks about you," William tells her, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "You know what?"

"What?" Felicity asks with a chuckle.

"I think you're prettier in person," the boy replies.

Donna and Felicity laugh at that, causing William to break out with giggles as well.

Right then and there, Felicity makes up her mind. This little boy is the most adorable child she's ever met. His toothy smile and beaming blue eyes alone will be the death of her. Felicity is glad that she dropped by when Oliver has William for the weekend.

And then she remembers the day she found out that Oliver had son.

More than a year ago…

It's been almost a year since Felicity and Oliver had spoken. She hadn't answered any of his texts, emails, or calls since their falling out over him cheating on Laurel with Sara. She had tried everything she knew to do just to forget him and move on. She decided to stay in Boston and take the job at Palmer Tech instead of going home to Starling after completing her master's degree. Donna had flown in to attend her graduation, telling her how much Oliver has missed her, convincing her to make things right even if she decided not to go home. Felicity hadn't been ready, so she just asked her mother to give her more time and to look out for Oliver and help John keep him out of trouble.

At the checkout area in the supermarket, Felicity notices the front cover of a celebrity gossip magazine. "The Little Queen Prince?" the headline reads. The picture is a candid shot of Oliver walking into QC with a little boy in tow. For the very first time since she became part of the late Robert Queen's family, she picks up such a magazine from the rack. She flips through the pages and reads the article about Oliver supposedly having a son. She knows better than to believe everything it says, so as soon as she gets home, she calls her mother to get to the bottom of things.

"I'm afraid it's true, Hun," Donna confirms. "The part about Oliver having a son. But the part about him having kept this scandalous secret for years is a big fat lie!" Felicity is relieved. She couldn't take another lie, another deception by omission from the step-brother and best friend she cared about.

"Oliver didn't know. He found out only recently when Samantha, the boy's mother got in touch with him. Apparently, Oliver had gotten her pregnant on a one-night-stand about four years ago. She didn't come forward then because she was engaged, afraid that her fiancé wouldn't push through with the wedding and break up with her. The poor guy married her, and she had keep it a secret all this time."

"But when William got sick some months ago and needed transfusion, the blood compatibility and screening tests had shown that her husband was not the boy's father. Samantha's husband got so mad he filed for divorce. When the divorce papers finally went through, she had almost lost everything except the house that she and William are living in. She was forced to get in touch with Oliver, reveal the truth, and ask for child support. I'm so sorry, sweetheart, I know this must be hard for you."

Felicity has been listening to her mother intently, trying to figure out how and why something like this had happened to Oliver four years ago.

She quickly does the math. She speculates that he and Samantha must have hooked up when she was a graduating senior at MIT. But if it had been a one-night-stand, the time frame doesn't fit. So, she concludes that it must have happened sometime after she had left, at the end of the summer break she spent in Starling. It was that time when she had told Oliver that she was going back to Boston to pursue her master's for another two years.

Oliver had not taken the news well. He had tried to convince her to reconsider, saying that Starling University's master's program in ICT was just as good as any. But since she knew that before Robert died he had set aside funds for her to continue at MIT even if it cost about twice the amount if she enrolled in Starling, it was too good of an opportunity to pass.

She remembers the night before she left for Boston again.

Tommy had called her from a bar, saying that Oliver was already drunk but wouldn't stop drinking. Oliver told him it was because she had not taken his advice about graduate school. She and John Diggle had gone to pick them up and bring them home, since neither he nor Tommy were sober enough to drive. That night, she had taken care of Oliver – removing his shoes, changing the shirt he had puked on, cleaning his face with a fresh cool towel, and tucking him into bed – all the while berating him for his unacceptable behavior.

Oliver had said her name a few times, albeit in slurred speech, murmuring things like, "Felicity, don't go" and "Can't lose my best friend again," but she had simply blamed his drunken tantrum on the alcohol in his system. The next day, he had been too hung over to say goodbye and send her off. Disheartened, she had told John to take care of him and had taken a cab to the airport.

"Felicity? Are you still there, Hun?" Donna asks, bringing her daughter back from her recollections.

"Uhm… Sorry, Mom. Yeah, I'm still here. You were saying?"

Donna sighs. "I was saying that Oliver and his lawyer are working out the child support details and he's also filing for joint custody while they petition the judge to amend William's birth certificate. The paternity test, Samantha's affidavit, and other pertinent documents are being gathered as evidence to prove that he's the boy's real father."

The call is soon over, and Felicity is speechless long after her mother hangs up. There is so much to process after all.

Her heart ached for her step-sibling and best friend – the only person in her life other than her mother that she truly cared about most. Oliver has just taken over the position that Walter Steele had occupied in a hold-over capacity since Robert passed away to prepare Oliver for such a huge responsibility as the company's CEO, and now he suddenly has another enormous responsibility on his shoulders – raising a son as a co-parent.

One thing gets her attention, though. Oliver had always run away from every challenge or commitment. But now that it involves his son, he seems to be all in. He appears to be taking responsibility for his actions. Felicity thinks it's strange, yet she also thinks it's admirable.

She considers it a turning point, a quintessential change in him.

For the first time since their fallout, Felicity yearns to see him, maybe even talk to him, or just hold him close. For the first time, she thinks she can set aside the hurt he had caused. For the first time in a long time, she wants to go home.

Maybe it wasn't just Robert's dying wish that she come home and help Oliver run QC that had caused her to resign from Palmer Tech and come back to Starling for good. She has heard from her mother (and John, Tommy, and Laurel) about how good he is with William. Walter Steele had also mentioned before that, although Oliver could certainly use her help with the company, her step-brother has been doing a great job in making Robert proud.

Maybe the noticeable changes that she has seen in Oliver over the past two weeks are part of the reason why her feet had carried her to the Queen mansion this morning. In the past days at work she has watched him preside over meetings (that he had been on time for) and do a couple of impressive presentations, which were definitely a far cry from those pitiful presentations she had helped (or saved) him from delivering way back in high school and college.

Maybe he and she deserve another chance at rebuilding their relationship – as step-siblings, as best friends, perhaps even as something more.

Oliver follows the sound of his son's sweet, cheerful humming into the kitchen. William rarely gets up before he does on the weekends that he has him.

The sight that greets him is even better than the sound he hears. William is sitting on a high chair at the kitchen counter watching Felicity make pancakes in front of the stove. Felicity sways her hips slightly with the pop tune the little boy is humming. Oliver doesn't exactly understand how he feels, but he likes it.

"You're cooking?" Oliver asks Felicity incredulously. He remembers her staying away from the kitchen because she was terrible at cooking.

She turns around, and with a modest smile and a shrug of her shoulders, she replies, "Your son is hungry, and my mom had to go. Someone has to do it."

Oliver stares at her fondly. "You really have changed," her remarks.

Felicity holds his gaze, saying, "So have you."

Oliver smiles.

A/N: Thoughts? I hope you loved William in this fic as much as I do. I could almost picture him as a four-year-old, and I just had to have him know how to carry a tune. ;-) Thanks for reading!

For those who are reading Purple Hearts, don't worry. I'm working on it. Hopefully, the update will be posted this weekend. Thanks!