Ahhh!

I'm late in posting this! I'm so sorry! Life got in the way, cos it sucks heaps.

Here, have a chapter now!

I'll go back to posting on Mondays this week (so really, you're getting two really close together, whoo!)

Felicity circled the block as Thea ran up to her apartment to grab her things. Oliver had mentioned that Thea was paying her rent with Merlyn's money, so she could see why Thea may not want to spend a whole lot of time there right now. They travelled back to Felicity's townhouse in silence, whatever Top 40 hit on the radio filling up the sound of all the things not being said.

"So, the bathroom is the first door on your left there, so feel free to head in and freshen up. There are towels in the closet just next to it and use anything you want in the bathroom," Felicity directed Thea through her apartment, wishing that she'd thought to straighten up a little before she invited guests over.

"I won't be long," Thea responded shyly, clearly feeling a little overwhelmed and awkward.

Felicity snagged the second hand copy of What To Expect When You're Expecting off the corner of her couch as she made her way to her room. She pulled her hair out of the tight ponytail it had been in all day and tugged on her PJs, grumbling to herself when she realised that her fat pants were becoming increasingly tight. The day was coming where she was going to have to go buy maternity clothing was rapidly approaching and she just wasn't sure that she was ready for that level of reality.

So far, the fact that an actual infant comes after the period of pregnancy was a connection she'd yet to firmly make in her mind. She was aware of the cause and effect relationship between pregnancy and childbirth but, so far, she'd just felt fat. A look in the mirror confirmed that she was actually starting to actually look pregnant. Clad in a bright pink bra and her fat pants, Felicity took a photo of herself and sent it to her mother, as she promised that she would each week. Shrugging on an old MIT tee shirt and a hoodie she zipped up halfway, Felicity moved back to her kitchen.

She heard the shower shut off, so Felicity opened up her refrigerator, inspecting what was in there. She'd been doing her best to eat as healthily as she could but, tonight, comfort food was going to have to happen. She smiled as Thea came out of the bathroom, squeezing her hair with a towel. "How do you feel about breakfast for dinner?" Felicity asked.

Thea raised an eyebrow. "Is it as straightforward as it sounds?"

Felicity shrugged. "Any time something went wrong as a kid, this is what my Mom and I did. She says that there's never a problem that can't be solved with pancakes."

"Pancakes sound great," Thea replied. "How do you want me to help?"

Felicity directed Thea to a chopping board and asked her to slice fruit. A comfortable silence spread across the room until Felicity pulled up her sleeves and began to dollop neat circles of batter onto a sizzling hot pan at the stovetop.

"So, I'm guessing that you didn't get that tattoo because an arrow has to go backwards before it can go forwards," Thea remarked.

Felicity felt her face flush and hoped that she could brush it off as heat from the stove. "I'd say you'd be right on the money, then," she replied, flipping a pancake out of the pan and onto a plate. Felicity wanted to have a good relationship with Thea, she really did. "Your brother and I were… complicated," she admitted.

"My brother and women usually were," Thea replied. "But I think you were different."

"What makes you say that?" Felicity asked, certain that she was blushing scarlet to the roots of her hair.

"Because my brother used to be ridiculous around women. He could always talk about where he took girls on dates and what they did, but never a thing about what they said. But the second you became his EA, all I heard was anecdotes from the office," she paused and summoned up her best Oliver impression. "So today Felicity told me the funniest thing… Did you know that Felicity is a genius with computers? Felicity is way too smart to be my EA."

"He did not say that last part," Felicity interjected good naturedly, picking up plates and gesturing for Thea to follow her to the table. "Besides, I only got that position so that we could more effectively plan vigilante activity. I made him well aware that I was too smart to be his EA."

Thea walked over to the freezer and pulled out ice cream, stopping to grab cutlery on the way, with the casual ease of being in her own home. "Do you have a flavour preference? Cos you've got a lot of options here."

"I've been betrayed by mint chip, so I'll go with cookie dough," Felicity replied without giving much thought to her answer.

"How do you get betrayed by ice cream?" Thea asked, handing Felicity the ice cream and sitting down next to her, peeling the lid off the tub of chocolate fudge she'd chosen for herself.

Felicity blanched. Her mouth had run away from her, again, and now she had to face the consequences in the form of a grieving young woman who could totally kick her ass. There was no way she would lie to Thea, because her circumstances were nothing to be ashamed of. "You remember when I said your brother and I were complicated, right?"

"Sure," Thea replied, leaning forward to stab a pancake and put it on her plate.

"Yeah, well, we were really, really complicated," Felicity muttered. "Is it hot in here? It feels really hot." She stripped off her hoodie.

"Felicity, relax. It can't be as bad as finding out your father was the guy that destroyed Starling City."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Felicity replied. "You know what I said, back at the foundry? About you not being alone as you thought you were? I wasn't kidding. You're not the only one left because I'm having a baby."

"You and Oliver?" Thea asked. "But you weren't together?"

Felicity shook her head. Thus far Thea didn't seem to be taking too badly.

"You weren't kidding about the complicated," Thea muttered. "I've only been begging him to give me a niece or nephew since I was ten."

"Oh my god, you're okay with it," Felicity sighed with relief. "I totally thought you were going to punch me."

"The only reason I'd have to punch you was if you told me you were pregnant and that I could never see the kid," Thea replied.

Felicity put a generous smothering of nutella onto a pancake, before heaping on fruit. "Oh no, I would never do that," she swore. "If somebody has family who wants them, then they should see each other. I would never stand in the way of that."

There was some sappy rom-com playing on Felicity's TV screen, but neither woman was watching it.

"I knew it was too good to be true, to have him back after so long," Thea murmured. "I kept waiting. That other shoe was going to drop, but this time I'd be ready. Just when I was letting my guard down, Ollie disappears."

"There's no dignity," Felicity mused. "You'd think they'd at least send a carrier pigeon to gloat. At this point, I'd practically welcome a visit from Nyssa."

"At least now there's no reason for anybody to come after you and the baby, though, right?" Thea asked. "The debt that was my fault is settled. We're back to square one."

In the deepest, darkest corners of her mind, Felicity worried that they'd never truly be safe. Even beyond the League of Assassins, Oliver had made plenty of enemies. He wasn't around for retribution, but his child might prove a good alternative. "I suppose that's a slightly more positive way to look at it," Felicity responded.

"What did you mean by you'd never keep family apart who want each other?" Thea asked after a few moments of silence.

Felicity sighed. "I grew up in a single parent household. After my dad walked out, my Mom thought the best thing for me was to cut off all my contact with his side of the family. I never got to see my cousins, or my grandparents or anybody else. She even changed my last name."

"Why would she do that?" Thea asked.

"She really thought she was protecting me and, I guess in some ways, she was right. My dad had toyed with my emotions for years and she didn't want anybody to hurt me any more than I already had been," Felicity answered. She cleared her throat. "She said I'd understand when I was older. Now that I'm in the same situation, I'm still not sure that I do. My kid deserves family and not just the one I chose for myself. They deserve their own flesh and blood too, from both sides."

"Does that mean that I'm allowed to take the kid to Paris for their thirteenth birthday?"

"I think Trans-Atlantic trips for birthdays will be negotiated on a case by case basis."

The thing you've all been asking about?

Totally happens in the next chapter... so if you're really nice, you could tempt me into posting early ;)

B xx