Summary:
Tommy's ecstatic and it's contagious.
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Up at the club, Tommy zeroed in on Oliver the minute he spotted him.
"Dude, Laurel told me what happened last night. That was quite a declaration, I only wish I was there to record it so that I can play that at your wedding," an excited Tommy slapped his arm.
"What has she told you? Seriously, she is spending far too much time with you and has started seeing things that aren't there – just like you. It can be a professional hazard for her considering she is a lawyer," Oliver feigned ignorance.
"Are we going to do that, pretending that you are not crazy into Felicity?" Tommy was incredulous.
"For past few months, you are acting so out of character that if I had not known you better, I would have called doctors. You hover – literally hover – around Felicity. Oliver Queen never hovered around anyone – least of all a girl – before. You escort her to her car every day and linger, you make sure that no one ever sit next to her but you, you touch at any given excuse, ply her with expensive wine and make me use words like hover and linger which I am sure I have never used before. Most of all, you glower every time the name Daniel is mentioned. For all I know, you probably tail her whenever she goes out with him," when Oliver bit his lips at that, Tommy blinked his eyes.
"Shit! You followed a girl on her dates! Apocalypse is here and now," Tommy could not believe that it actually happened.
"Okay, I did check up on her, but I did not follow her on all her dates, it happened only once and I only wanted to make sure that he is an okay guy." Oliver decided to come clean.
"He admits to following her which is a roundabout way of actually admitting to have feelings for a girl; this day will continue to amaze me," Tommy was unstoppable.
"I am not admitting anything Tommy," Oliver was adamant.
"Yeah, because becoming a stalker of blonde women was something you always wanted to be. You even wrote that in your high school year book, right? I swear Oliver, you have got to be the stupidest man on the planet. Just tell her how you feel, all that leather you wear has hindered oxygen supply to your brain. That woman has been helping your very illegal operation since god knows when, has committed many cyber crimes to help you in your crusade, has wiped blood off your body and stitched you up many times – yes she told me about all that, we talk like normal people – what else do you want her to do to let you know that she is into you? Stab herself with one of your arrows?" Tommy was really pissed.
"She is with Daniel," Oliver said quietly.
"And whose fault is that? If you had asked her out like any sane person, this would not have happened and the way you have been behaving of late, like a petulant child, I am glad that she is with someone who acts like a grown up, that way she will not forget how adult men behave," Tommy decided to give it to him.
When Oliver made a face that said that he does not really appreciate being compared to Daniel, Tommy stopped.
"You lose this one Oliver, now you have three ways you take this on. One, you sit back, reflect, learn and do not make the same mistake with another woman. Two, you sit back and do not learn from this mistake and repeat this same pattern with other women and end up miserable and lonely – which you kind of are right now. Three, you take the bull by the horns and tell that Felicity how you feel about her, make a gesture so grand that she forgets about that other man she is dating and you two walk into the sunset or some other such shit. There comes a time when you need to man up, like I did, with Laurel because living without her was harder than anything for me. You need to figure out if it is the same for you," with that Tommy went out on the floor making sure things were running smoothly at the club.
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Oliver wanted to man up and speak with Felicity after that lecture but they never got the time. The days at office were filled with meetings and there was a lot to do. They spent the next three days working to find dirt on the property tycoon who was trying to sell the leveled parts of the glades to the developers and wanted to gentrify the area and drive the real residents out. They finally managed to hand him over to the police. He had every intention of actually talking to Felicity before they break for the weekend and on Friday he created an opportunity.
Even though he managed to get rid of Diggle and prepared a speech in his head, he could not talk to her that day. As soon as Felicity came down the lair and sat on her chair, a beaming Tommy followed her with the hugest smile on his face and an announcement. "Guys, I have got news for you!"
For about five seconds both Felicity and Oliver just looked at him and then at each other before Felicity launched herself at Tommy, hugging him and asking, "Did she say yes? Are you guys getting married? Will it be a proper wedding or will the two of you just elope like Laurel suggested the other time?"
Oliver felt odd. His best friend and Laurel were planning a wedding and no one bothered to tell him? And Felicity knew!
"Nah, this is bigger than that," Tommy now has his arm around Felicity's shoulder and he was smiling at her. It was like he was unable to control his facial expressions and a broad smile is now part of his facial features.
It suddenly dawned on her and Felicity gasped, "Oh no Tommy Merlyn, you did that and survived to tell the tale? Where is Laurel and why is Detective Lance not after you with a gun?" With that she launched herself at Tommy again and hugged him again.
Tommy waved at Oliver and included him in the group hug. Once they are done with all the hugging, Oliver asked, "What is she talking about? What have you done now to invoke the wrath of the police?"
"I most definitely did not indulge in any illegal activity; those days are over, forever. Laurel and I just found out that we are pregnant," Tommy smiled some more.
"Gawd Tommy, you are going to make the coolest dad ever!" Felicity literally jumped with joy and Oliver laughed at that. He hugged Tommy, patted his back and congratulated him. It was obvious that the guy was over the moon.
"Imagine a baby with my good looks and Laurel's brain? Now that's what you call a genetic lottery for a kid," Tommy laughed with his friends.
"Come on, don't you dare put yourself down Tommy, even if the baby is like 99% you, he or she would be great. You are amazing and so is Laurel and I am so happy for you guys I just don't know what to do," she flailed her arms and hugged Tommy tightly, Tommy just had that goofy smile on his face which said that he is happier than he ever thought he could be.
Oliver looked at her, giddy with pleasure over Tommy's good news and out of nowhere a thought came to his mind. How would Felicity react if she is the one pregnant? If she is this happy for Laurel and Tommy, how would she react if she is in the same situation? And with that reflection, he thought that for all intent and purposes, she could very well be pregnant right now, with Daniel's baby. He couldn't just stand there near them after that so he moved away from the duo and he started scowling unknowingly.
Tommy's phone beeped, he read the text and started moving away from them. "Guys, Laurel is here. Come upstairs and act as if you don't know anything. She specifically told me to not say a word but I couldn't stop myself. And Felicity, you have to make all the right noises about the ring. According to you, it is perfect in every way, right?"
"What? You sly dog, you got engaged as well? What are you doing to me Tommy? Killing me with feelings and happy news?" Felicity had tears in her eyes and she embraced him for the fourth time in as many minutes.
"Duh! It's a given that we will get married as soon as we can. At least before she start showing, her father will torture me in ways not known to mankind if I am not married to her by then, and this pretty face would not do well with suffering of any kind, so yeah, we are engaged, have been engaged for last 3 hours," Tommy wiped her teary eyes and kissed her on the forehead.
"You two, make an appearance in exactly two minutes and wash your face before you come, Laurel will kill me if she figures out that I told you guys before she got here," with that he went up stairs.
Felicity went to the washroom and came out precisely in a minute and half, with a face scrubbed clean and a fresh coat of her bright lipstick. Oliver was rooted to the same spot thinking of ways to torture Daniel if Felicity ever got pregnant when she touched his arm and tilted her head towards the stairs leading him to the main floor.
Oliver and Felicity made their way to Tommy's office. Laurel was standing in front of his desk in a peacock blue dress looking beautiful and radiant. The minute she saw Felicity, she beamed, held out her left hand and showed her the ring. Felicity squealed and rushed to hug her friend. Oliver followed her and hugged Laurel as well. "Welcome to the fold Laurel, now that you are not just his girl friend, I won't have to hide his dirty secrets." Oliver smiled at both of his friends.
"Err in case you forgot, I am already privy to all the dirty secrets you two have. I have known both of you since high school, in fact, I know more than any girlfriend should know about her boyfriend's past transgressions," Laurel laughed.
"No one is going to talk about past transgressions today, it's a happy day" Felicity said that with fierceness. She almost knocked Oliver out of the way and hugged Laurel once more.
"You know, don't you?" Laurel looked at over emotional teary eyed Felicity and guessed. "Tommy, you have told her, have you not? I asked you to keep quiet for just a couple of hours and you cannot even do that? How are we going to keep it hushed up for next three weeks or do you really want Dad to find out before the wedding?"
"Hey, I told her that I had news and then she correctly guessed that we got engaged. I had to go bigger and the only thing bigger than our engagement is our baby, so yes I did let her on. In any case, it's just Felicity, she won't go and babble to your dad that he is going to be a grand dad any time soon," Tommy said confidently, "would you Lis?"
"Of course not Tommy, it's not like we hang out for drinks and swap life stories with each other," Felicity laughed.
"Oh you will spill the beans on anyone who cares to listen to you for two minutes. Have you looked at yourself, you are ecstatic. You are hugging everyone, laughing and crying at the same time. I should be the one who is doing all that; I even have the perfect excuse of haywire hormones. Honestly, you are acting more pregnant than I do. You aren't? Are you?" all of a sudden, Laurel started looking at her suspiciously.
"Am I what?" Felicity did not understand what she was asking.
"Pregnant?" Laurel was persistent.
Of course not? Where did it come from?" Felicity was horrified at that speculation. She was so taken aback that she did not notice Oliver's reaction where he tensed up his body and started clenching and unclenching his hands.
Laurel just raised her eye brows and pointed towards her tears.
"I am just happy for you guys, I mean its Tommy … and you. You are the closest thing I have to a best friend and Tommy is practically my brother. I mean I see more of him in a week than I see of Ben – my real brother – in a year and he is always there for me – rock solid. And you two are the nicest, kindest, most fun people I know and I always thought that happy endings only happen in romantic comedies but your lives are like romantic comedies where you bickered and bantered for a decade and then fell in love and are now getting married and making beautiful babies. Oh my God, your baby would be so beautiful, I mean have you guys even looked at yourelves? You, gorgeous Laurel and Tommy Merlyn who can kill ladies with just a smile. You may be called Tommy and Laurel but you guys are like real life Harry and Sally who have always been in love with each other – minus an orgasm in the restaurant of course."
With that, she jumped at both of them and hugged them for the umpteenth time. Her emotional state was contagious and she made both Tommy and Laurel cry. Felicity was quite happy at achieving this feat. Tommy was a softie so him tearing up a bit was par for the course. Felicity was particularly happy that she made tough as nails Laurel cry.
Oliver looked at three of them from a distance in a state of wonder. He was marveling at Felicity's capacity to love others. There is no denying that he was happy for his friend and his future family but the way Felicity celebrated Laurel and Tommy's good news, he has never seen anyone else be this happy for other people. He only wondered if she would ever be this happy for herself and if he could be part of that happiness with her.
"Okay, it is official. Felicity is actually happier than I am that Laurel has agreed to be my wife." Tommy tried to lighten the mood but he too was affected by Felicity's emotional outburst.
Laurel grabbed Felicity's hand with her left hand and held Tommy's arm with her right, "Not that I need to say anything but things will not change now that we are "officially together." You will always be very very important to us (Laurel raised her eye brow at Oliver as if trying to convey to her that if it ever came to choosing between Oliver and Felicity, they will choose Felicity) and you will be part of our family and will have a home with us, always."
At that moment, Oliver realized that he too wanted everything that Tommy had in that moment – a woman who loves him unconditionally, a family of his own and the generosity to invite others to be part of that family. The only problem was that he could not imagine that life without Felicity in it.
Notes:
So ... what do you guys think? Some of you may think Felicity is a little OOC, but hey, it is AU. And in my head, she would behave exactly this way if she is with loved ones and she is happy.
