Chapter 4– Sisters

An: I do not own Arrow. Thank you to the guest and Santesia for your reviews. Sorry this is so late. I've barely worked on any story in the last two weeks! I think the end of this chapter hits the top of the cheesy/corny meter!

Arrow business had been slow over the last week so Donna suggested that Oliver and Diggle take Quentin out for a boy's night ahead of the birth of the baby. While the boys were away,the girls were going to have their baby shower. Quentin was grateful that he wasn't going to be forced to join them. Though the thought of Oliver participating in the shower was tempting enough to stay. He was dying to tell the vigilante that he failed at wrapping a diaper!

Oliver and Diggle were very aware of Quentin's sober status and decided their night wouldn't involve a bar or a club. The original idea had been bowling but Quentin wasn't fond of throwing a heavy ball around. After driving around for an hour, they eventually settled on a pool hall that was situated at the edge of the Glades.

The hall had six tables. The boys chose the one nearest the emergency exit. Oliver let Diggle and Quentin go first. His phone kept beeping with tons of pictures from Felicity and he was enjoying sending messages back and forth with her. Eventually, his sister sent him a message reminding him that they were both supposed to be participating in different activities instead of held up in a corner texting like teenagers. Oliver was going to protest until he realised he had been sitting in a corner. It was not his fault that his friends were ignoring his opinion on what balls they should hit next. As a result, Diggle lost three in a row to Quentin. That seemed to boost the PI's ego and he challenged Oliver to a match. Quentin broke the rack first but no ball went in. Oliver surveyed the table and chose solids.

"I don't suppose you need any advice?" Diggle said to Quentin while Oliver leaned over the pool table aiming at his first ball.

Quentin snorted, "The last time I did this was 27 years ago. Everything could have changed since then."

"I still think diapers are the same," Diggle commented.

"You mean they haven't invented the self-cleaning diaper yet?" Quentin asked incredulously.

Diggle chuckled, "I wish."

"Perhaps I should suggest it to Felicity. She wants to use technology to help people. Save parents the headache of diaper changes!"

"Or early wake up calls!" Diggle further added.

While the two men went on to talk about their first hand experiences in raising little girls, Oliver continued to focus on the pool balls. He had already cleared the solids off the table he figured he'd just go on to the stripes whilethe other two men were deep in conversation. It was odd for him not being able to participate in the conversation. He had got a little taste of fatherhood with William but he knew nothing about babies. He had been dreaming more and more of a pregnant Felicity. The thought of having a baby with her was beginning to dominate his conscious mind as well. He was sure he was putting the cart before the horse. They had only just got re-engaged and hadn't even discussed a wedding date but his mind was already plotting to have babies.

He needed to talk to her about setting a wedding date. She was dragging her heels waiting to see what happened between her mom and Quentin. Oliver knew Quentin had brought up the issue of marriage but Donna had put the brakes on that preferring to see how things turned out with them living together with the baby first. Donna had also traumatised Felicity by suggesting they get married together. The look on his fiancée's face was one of utter mortification. He got the distinct feeling that she would rather relive The Undertaking and Slade's siege than do a double wedding with her mother.

Oliver was aware of multiple women and some men watching him as he bent over the table to line up a shot. He wasn't even dressed that well either, only in a blue jeans and a grey Henley but that didn't' stop them from watching. On the periphery of his vision,a woman in a red dress hopped off her bar stool and started approaching him. He internally groaned as soon as he finished his shot. This was why he didn't go out without Felicity. She kept the vultures from circling. It was a common known fact in Star City that he and Felicity were engaged. He didn't appreciatethe fact that there were women that didn't respect his dedication of his fiancée.

"Hey there," the strange woman purred coming up to the pool table and bending forward slightly to rest her palms flat on the edge of the pool table. It gave a great view of her cleavage but Oliver's eyes refused to look there, instead focusing on where the cue ball was on the table.

"What's a handsome man like you doing in a place like this?" she asked.

Quentin and Diggle stopped talking to look at the scene unfolding. The elder man had a huge frown on his face while Diggle was amused.

"Not interested," Oliver said immediately tilting his head to the side to study the layout of the striped balls on the table. He suspected that if he hit the cue ball with enough force he could put the 10 ball into the middle pocket and the 11 ball in the left corner pocket.

The woman pouted not that Oliver even realised.

"Look lady," Quentin said intervening, "Let me make this easy for you. That boy, is going to be marrying one of my girls soon. And since I know he does have a brain somewhere inside of that thick skull of his, he's telling you he won't be needing anything from you, ever."

Oliver nodded gratefully at Quentin for the assist before focusing back on his shot.

"I wasn't asking you," the woman rudely responded as both the 10 and 11 balls were pocketed. She then turned back to Oliver, who was lining up another shot. She inched closer to his large frame.

"You know man," Diggle said,"I don't know why we agreed to play pool with you. You haven't missed a single shot yet. Let's get out of here. This is pointless. I'm sure there must be some activity out there that will put us on a level playing field with you,"

"Ok," Oliver responded, "Let me just clear the table."

Diggle shook his head. Oliver could never leave any challenge unfinished.

"You don't have to go. I'll be more than happy to play with you," the strange woman said moving to put her hand on Oliver's very defined forearm. Oliver pulled away immediately.

"Never mind," Oliver said going to the wall to put his cue stick back in the rack, "Pool suddenly became very boring."

Oliver grabbed his jacket from the chairs they had rest their stuff on and followed Diggle and Quentin to the doors. His phone started to ring and he pulled it from his back pocket. The picture indicated Felicity was calling. He wondered what mischief the girls were up to now.

He lifted the phone to his ear, "Perfect timing love, we were just leaving."

"What!" he said his eyes opening wide.

"We'll be there in ten minutes," Oliver said.

Quentin and Diggle both stopped and looked at him with mixed expressions.

"Something related to the night job?" Diggle asked.

"Donna went into early labour," Oliver revealed quickly already heading towards the limo Felicity had gotten them for the night.

"She's only 35 weeks along," Quentin responded.

"Are they at the hospital already?" Diggle asked pulling the keys from his jeans pocket and heading towards the driver's door.

"Almost there," Oliver said.

Quentin jumped in the passenger's seat in the front which left Oliver to sit in the back of the limo by himself. 10 minutes later they were at the hospital. A quick check at the nurse's station revealed Donna was in the delivery room.

"Delivery!" Quentin exclaimed "Aren't they supposed to delay labour?"

"Are either of you the father?" the nurse asked.

"Yes," Quentin said.

"She was too far along and her Doctor recommended that she proceed with the delivery of the baby. I believe her daughter is with her at the moment but she's been asking for you," the nurse said.

They followed the nurse's directions and found Laurel, Thea and Lyla outside of the delivery room. Laurel was on the phone with Sara who had planned to be back in a few weeks for the birth of their new sister. It seemed like their new sister had other plans though. Quentin didn't hesitate in going through the doors. A few moments later, a dishevelled Felicity emerged from the room.

"You didn't want to stay in there," Oliver asked hesitantly.

"Are you crazy! I don't need to see my mom give little baby is going to be a very stubborn one if she wanted to be born this early! The Doctors say my mom's already fully dilated."

"What did the doctor say about the baby?" Laurel asked.

"Her last scan was two days ago and everything was great. She's 35 weeks along. The baby is already over five pounds and everything is developed. The last few weeks are usually to pack on fat. He says everything should be fine and not to panic. He got my mom's blood work back last night and was going to call us to come in because some stats were off. He think this is a good thing. He didn't think Donna was going to make it to full term based on the blood work. The earlier arrival is sparing her the bed rest he was going to put her on."

Oliver slid his hand around his fiancée'swaist as she babbled on about facts about babies at 35 weeks and what the doctor said. He kissed her temple. He heard the slight tremor in her voice and he knew she was worried about both her mother and little sister.

"I can't wait to meet the baby!" Thea declared excitedly trying to move Felicity on to another topic.

"You can be the first to babysit then," Laurel commented sarcastically.

"From the pictures I saw of the doll you put that diaper on, I don't think that's a good idea,"Oliver teased his sister.

Thea slapped her brother on his arm."It is much harder than it looks," she defended herself.

"Remember that when you're having fun with Roy," Oliver asked as he took a seat in the waiting room pulling Felicity to sit on his lap.

Thea glared at him, "I'll have plenty of practice by the time Roy and I decide to have children. After all my big brother is getting married soon and I expect lots of nieces and nephews!"

Felicity coughed, "I wouldn't say lots. One is quite fine."

An hour later, Quentin emerged from the room. Loud crying could be heard in the background.

"She's here," he declared proudly.

"And mom?" Felicity asked fearfully.

"Donna is fine. The doctors are with her now," Quentin said. "I just popped out to let you know."

Oliver and Diggle cracked a smile at his pun.

"Where is our sister?" Laurel asked.

"The doctors are examining her now. I need to get back," Quentin said before turning around and going back inside.

Laurel and Felicity looked at each other. "It's official now. We have a little sister."

Felicity smiled fondly, "Yeah we do. What do you think they'll name her?"

"I don't know they've stayed fairly quiet on the baby names," Laurel admitted.

"I wouldn't worry. You all have decent names," Diggle pointed out.

"I can tell you what it most definitely won't be," Felicity said. "She definitely would not be called Olivia. Quentin would have a fit!"

"Or anything Arrow related like Artemis," Laurel added. "I have my mother's name as my middle name. Maybe Dad might do the same thing with this one."

"I hope not," Felicity admitted, "Can you imagine what would happen if she took entirely after my mom!"

Diggle chuckled, "We would never be able to keep up with her."

"Exactly!"

Roughly two hours later, they were able to enter the private room Felicity had secured for her mother. Donna was sitting up holding her baby as everyone crowded around to get a closer look at her. The little girls was swathed in a pale pink blanket while she slept against Donna's chest. Only her round chubby face was visible. The doctors said she was strong enough to be on her own even though she was born five weeks early.

"Everyone, I would like you to meetAva Thea Lance," Donna said proudly.

"Thea?" Oliver repeated while his sister looked shocked.

"I really enjoyed the time I've spent with Thea and Quentin and I both like the name but we thought having two Thea's around might get confusing. Sort of like the two Sara's we already have,"

"I'm honoured," Thea said stepping closer.

Donna gave her a brilliant smile, "Who do you think she looks like? I think she looks like a Smoak but Quentin says she's a Lance."

Felicity leaned closer to her mother and looked down at her sister, "She's a total Smoak."

"I wouldn't say so," Laurel said looking down at the baby from the other side of the bed, "She looks like Sara."

"I think she had a good mix of both sides," Thea responded.

"Maybe you should have run for Mayor instead of your brother," Quentin quipped. "That was a very diplomatic answer."

"Which one of you wants to hold her first?" Donna asked the girls.

Both girls pointed to the other over the bed.

Donna laughed. "With everything you face at night, you're scared of a little teensy weensy baby."

Quentin stood next to Laurel, "You're the eldest. You should go first."

A panicked look crossed Laurel's face, "Dad really its ok."

"You're going to always avoid holding her?" he asked Laurel while picking up his hours old daughter from Donna.

"I think I'm good for six months," Laurel responded.

Felicity laughed. Quentin looked at her, "You're next, Felicity." Maybe he had found a way to pay her back for the months of snark he had received from her.

"Hold your hands like a little cradle. The most important thing is to support her head." He rested his youngest daughter into the arms of his eldest. A flash went off and he found Felicity with her phone capturing the moment.

"Right I'm good for today. Felicity's next," Laurel pipped up right away passing Ava back to her father.

Quentin walked around the bed and settled Ava into Felicity's arms. This time it was Oliver who captured the picture.

"She's so precious," Felicity said gently rocking the baby.

"This is what we fight for," Lyla said, "We fight so our children will live in a better city, a better world."

Felicity nodded absently as she stared at the small bundle in her arms. Oliver wrapped his arms around her and rest his chin on top of her head. One day they would have their own little baby.

Oliver was slaving away in front of the stove while Felicity sat at the island slowly slicing tomatoes for the salad. He knew he could do it much quicker but the pots on the stove needed his immediate attention. An alarm sounded nearby to let him know the rack of lamb in the bottom oven was ready. He needed to get to that.

"Felicity, hon, can you just stir this pot for me while I get the rack out of the oven," he asked.

She arched an eyebrow at him, "I thought I wasn't allowed anywhere near your culinary works of art."

"Today you are," Oliver responded.

Felicity jumped down from her stool and strolled over to the stove, taking the spatula out of his hand to stir.

"Not like that!" he commented placing his hand over hers to show her exactly how he wanted the pot stirred. "You need to make sure you stir is evenly."

"If you get the lamb out quickly you can get back here quickly," she pointed out.

Oliver grabbed the oven mitts off the island and quickly got the lamb out. It smelt and looked wonderful, exactly the way he wanted it. With a satisfied smile, he returned to the stove to find one of his other pots was very close to burning its contents. He shooed his fiancée away from the stove. Her presence somehow caused things to burn quicker.

"Remember this the next time you decide to throw a grand party," Felicity mumbled as she walked away.

"It's for a special occasion. Ava is three months old today and Sara is also coming back. It will be the first time they meet."

"I know," Felicity replied cutting another tomato in half. Since Sara missed the birth she decided to delay her return to Star City by a few months.

"Leave the tomatoes to me and go and change. One of us needs to be ready to greet the guests," Oliver said.

Felicity narrowed her eyes at him, "You're just saying that because you think I'm cutting the tomato badly or too slowly."

The doorbell rang interrupting their conversation or if you asked Oliver, saving him from having to respond.

"Someone's early," Felicity mumbled as she jumped off her stool and headed to the door.

She opened the door to find her mother, Quentin and baby sister.

"Something smells good!" Donna exclaimed giving her daughter a quick hug and rushing into the kitchen to see what Oliver was cooking.

Her mother was supposedly taking lessons from Oliver. That was probably why she came early, to see if she could pick up some new tricks. Ava started fussing and Quentin handed his daughter over to Felicity. Ava reached up right away for the sparkly earring that Felicity was wearing.

"No, no, no, Ava," Felicity said sternly, reaching up to remove her earrings. "I already lost two pairs of earrings because of you."

Felicity walked further into the loft and that was when Ava spotted Oliver in the kitchen. She started reaching towards him even though he was several feet away. Much to Quentin's dislike, Ava loved Oliver. He was clearly her favourite person. Felicity loved watching Oliver rock the baby to sleep. It caused all sorts of warm feelings in her and the urge to have a child of their own was very strong now. They had finally set the date of the wedding. They were moving forward in a positive direction again.

Quentin took his daughter from Felicity and moved to the furthest possible point away from Oliver, that was, out on the balcony. There was another knock on the door and this time, it was Sara and Nyssa.

"So is she here yet?" Sara asked excitedly.

"Yes. Balcony with your dad," Felicity said nodding her head in that direction.

Sara's eyes lit up when she spotted them. She bee-lined straight to them.

"Come on in Nyssa. You're every bit as welcome here as Sara," Felicity said honestly to her Oliver's ex-wife.

"Thank you for your kindness," Nyssa said stepping into the loft.

"OH MY GOD SHE'S SO CUTE!" they heard Sara squeal.

"I didn't know Sara could squeal," Felicity said watching the blonde gush over their sister.

"There are a lot of noises my beloved makes that you are not aware of," Nyssa commented dryly.

"And I did not need to know that," Felicity responded.

Soon everyone arrived and settled around the table.

"Guys I have some good news," Sara said standing up to address everyone when their meal was at its end. "Nyssa and I have decided to make a permanent home in Star City! We bought a house and everything."

"That's great news. I'm so proud of you!" Quentin said."I finally got all my girls back."

"It's great that you're back Sara," Oliver said with a smile. He was happy that his friend had finally found peace.

"Are you going to join Team Arrow too?" Donna asked.

Sara's head snapped to Oliver's.

"We couldn't keep her in the dark forever," Oliver said.

"I suppose not," Sara agreed.

After dinner, Sara pulled aside Laurel, Felicity, Thea and their baby sister who was nestled in Laurel's arms. Sara looked at the women in front of her, "At one point in time I thought Thea would have been my sister-in-law but instead she's going to be my future step sister's future sister-in-law but that doesn't matter to me. I believe we are all sisters now. I promise to love, protect and honour all of my sisters," Sara said. She placed her hand in the middle of the group and declared, "Sisters."

Felicity was the first one to put her hand on top of Sara, "Sisters," she said agreeing with her.

"I always wanted a sister. I suppose having four won't be that bad," Thea said adding her hand on top of Felicity's.

Laurel placed her hand on top and bent forward so that little Ava's hand could go on top.

"Sisters."

An:Thankfully the epilogue is mostly written so I'm hoping to have that up on Tuesday.