Part Four

Lois walked Chloe back to her penthouse. The two walked in to find Oliver and a raven-haired woman sitting at the bar, eating omelets and laughing.

"Umm… are we interrupting?" Lois asked snidely.

"Lois! Long time no see," the dark-haired woman spoke up with a smile.

Lois squinted her eyes, trying to place the familiar face.

"Dinah Lance, the Voice of Justice. Didn't know you were back in Metropolis," Lois spoke up, finally recognizing the other woman.

"I haven't been called that in a while. I was just passing through and thought I would stop by. I haven't seen Chloe in a few months," with that she turned her attention to the quiet blonde standing beside Lois. "How are you? It's been forever," she said, walking over to hug the shorter woman.

"I'm doing fine. It's great to see you. I promise, we'll catch up later but right now I could really use a shower," she told Dinah, trying to sound as peppy as possibly and hoping neither Oliver nor the woman standing in front of her could tell she had been crying.

"Sure, no problem. I'll just finish up breakfast. I'm feeling extra daring this morning, I'm actually eating something Oliver cooked!" she told Chloe, a smile dancing on her lips.

Chloe smiled then bolted for the bathroom when the smell of cooking eggs assaulted her senses.

As she was emptying the meager contents of her stomach, she heard the door open then close behind her. She felt a cold rag being laid on the back of her neck and noticed Oliver stood beside her, rubbing her back and making shushing sounds.

"Hey, you're really not feeling well, are you?" he asked quietly, handing her another rag for her face as she flushed the toilet.

"How'd you guess?" she asked, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Why don't I take you over to Emil? Let him look you over. You might have the flu or something."

" 'The flu or something'? Is that your professional opinion?"

"Ha ha, very funny. Seriously, let me take you to the doctor."

Chloe felt panic at the thought of going to a doctor with Oliver in tow. No, no way was she ready for that.

"No, Oliver, really I'll be fine. Just give it time to work its way out. Most of these things are twenty-four hour bugs anyway."

Oliver looked skeptical but gave in. He always gave in where she was concerned.

"Alright. We were supposed to meet the whole gang tonight for dinner. Are you still feeling up to it?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll feel fine. I think I just need some Tylenol and something in my stomach," she told him, praying that he would let it go and she could buy herself a few more minutes.

"Alright, I'm going to get back out there and make sure Dinah and Lois aren't at each others throats. Was it just me or could you feel the tension in the room?"

"It wasn't you, it's Lois. She's very protective of me," Chloe told him with a smile.

Oliver laughed.

"Please, like you would have anything to worry about."

Chloe's stomach did flips at his words. She noticed her stomach acted very weird lately when he was around but now was not the time to examine that. Now was the time to figure out how and what she was going to do.

"Alright, go on out there. Did Dinah bring the information she was supposed to pick up from Thailand?"

"Of course, did you expect any less from her?" Ollie answered with a smile.

"I'll look into it after Lois leaves then. Just let me get cleaned up, I think I seriously need a shower now," she told him, wrinkling her nose at herself.

"No problem, do you want me to fix you something to eat for when you get out?"

Chloe blanched at the thought of eating the eggs and bacon he had been cooking moments before.

"Maybe just some toast. I don't want to push it this morning."

"Alright. Anything else Your Highness?"

Chloe laughed.

"No, I'm good. Thanks Oliver."

"You don't have to keep thanking me for things that a husband would normally do."

Chloe sobered up at that.

"I know, but… you're not a real husband, so I feel like I should thank you."

Oliver bristled at that.

"Hey, I don't know about you, but the last time I checked, our marriage license was very much real."

Chloe rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean."

Oliver's jaw clenched.

"Yeah, I do. Alright, get cleaned up, I'm going to go check on our guests and make sure that our place is still in one piece."

With that he made his way out of the bathroom leaving Chloe alone on the floor, as confused as ever.

Oliver walked back into the main area of the penthouse to a cold standoff between the two women sitting at the bar.

"Uh, sorry, am I interrupting?" he asked nonchalantly.

"No, not at all. Is Chloe okay?" Dinah asked, turning from her staring contest with Lois.

"Yeah, she's fine. Has some kind of a bug, no big deal."

Lois just scoffed.

"Men," she muttered.

"What was that?" Oliver asked.

"Nothing."

"So, is she still up to dinner?" Dinah asked.

"You're coming tonight?" Lois asked, giving the other woman a cold glare.

"Yeah, a bunch of friends are all in town and we invited all of them, Dinah included," Oliver answered her.

"A.C. is looking forward to seeing you again Lois," Dinah told the taller woman with a smirk.

"A.C.?" Oliver asked. "I didn't know he was back in town."

"Yeah, he made it in yesterday. Said he talked to Chloe. She didn't tell you?" Dinah asked.

"Uh, no, must have slipped her mind," Oliver said sounding unsure.

Dinah smirked at Oliver. Lois just glared at the other woman, liking her less and less with every word that came out of her mouth.

"Don't you have somewhere to be? A job, maybe?" the dark-haired woman asked Lois.

"You know what, I think I'll just stay here until Chloe comes back out. I would hate to run off without saying good bye."

"Lois, I'm sure she would understand. You really don't have to stay around. I don't want you to be late for work."

"No, really, I think I would rather wait."

Oliver raised his eyebrows as the two women bantered back and forth.

"Ladies, please, we are all friends here, remember," Oliver told the two bickering girls.

"Friends, right," Lois responded.

"So, omelet anyone?"

*~*~*~*

Chloe relished the hot water as it pounded against her back. A nice hot shower always helped to clear her mind and if she ever needed a clear head, it was now. She had to tell Oliver tonight. She couldn't stand keeping something like this from him; he had a right to know. After dinner, once they were safely back at the penthouse, she would tell him about the baby.

She shut off the water and stepped out of the shower stall, wrapping her fluffy robe around her. She toweled off her hair before taking out her hairdryer. It didn't take her long to dry her short blonde locks.

Once her hair was dry she made her way into her bedroom and quickly put on the clothes she had picked out the day before. She went for comfort more than style, a simple pair of jeans and a red long-sleeved shirt. She traipsed back out into the main area of the penthouse to find a tense atmosphere.

Oliver stood at the counter, buttering a piece of toast while Dinah and Lois were in the middle of a rather heated staring contest.

"Hey guys," she greeted.

Oliver looked up and smiled.

"Hey, you. You look like you feel better."

"I do, loads. Lois, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"I'm heading there now, cuz. Just wanted to say good-bye before I was off."

"Liar," Dinah smirked. "She doesn't trust me," she staged whispered to Chloe.

Chloe just laughed.

"Well, thanks for watching out for me… I think. I'll see you tonight, Lois. Now, go! Before you get in some serious trouble, or before Clark comes flying in here all panicky because he can't find his better half."

"She's full of it. Seriously, I just wanted to say goodbye," Lois muttered as Chloe walked her to the door.

As she was walking her cousin over to the lift, the call button sounded. Chloe glanced at the screen and broke into a smile when she spotted the tanned, blonde man standing at the bottom of the tower.

"Hey, A.C., come on up!" she greeted cheerily.

Lois and Chloe waited for the lift to make its way up where it deposited six foot four inches of tan, blonde, smiling stud.

"Chloe, hey! Lois! Long time no see," he greeted the girls with a hug each.

"I hate to 'hi and bye' but I am seriously running late, so, I will save the catching up for tonight. Be good," she hugged her cousin one last time, patted A.C. on the arm and closed the lift door, leaving with one final wave to everyone.

"Hey, boss, how's it goin'?" A.C. asked, turning to face Oliver.

"Pretty good. Didn't know you'd made it back in town," he answered nonchalantly.

The younger man looked surprised for a minute before turning to face Chloe.

"I called Tower here yesterday to let her know I was in, didn't she tell you?"

Chloe glanced at Oliver with a sheepish look in her eyes.

"Sorry, slipped my mind," she said by way of explanation then turned back to A.C., " I haven't felt all that hot the last couple days. Sorry."

"No problem here, Tower," A.C. answered with his trademark smile before wandering over to sit next to Dinah.

"Hey, gorgeous," he greeted the older woman.

"Do you flirt with anything that has boobs?" she asked the tan surfer.

"Wow, you pegged him in one go," Oliver replied, giving the other man playful smile.

"Hmm… family dinners at the Queen residence will never be boring," A.C. said while rolling his eyes at his friends teasing.

"Whoa, who said anything about family? You guys are most definitely not family. I'm barely claiming you as friends," Oliver told the two with fake disgust in his voice.

Dinah reached over and slapped Oliver upside the head.

"Hey, Green Bean, watch it. You're stuck with us, remember?"

"How could I forget," he mumbled, glancing over at Chloe with a smile on his face.

Chloe couldn't help but smile back. It was good to see Oliver happy and content. There was so much darkness in his life and he was constantly fighting to keep it at bay that days like these, where he could just be a… well, a boy, those days were precious to her.

A/N: wow, I am on a roll. I've been able to write a lot more than I thought I would be. Maybe I can finish this by next week. Woohoo! I've decided to just write short bits and post it when I can instead of waiting until I have 3-4k words. This way you get multiple chapters close together… trust me, this works better. Lol!! Thanks for everyone who has reviewed! I really try to get to replies, but I don't have a whole lot of time, so if you have a specific question, go ahead and ask and I will try my best to answer. You guys are the best! P.S: anyone have any hope that Ollie might be in Conspiracy?? Hmm… thought not… oh well…