Cuddle Time

Oliver blinked at the darkness of their bedroom. Felicity's head was cushioned on his chest, her arms wound around his torso tightly as if he'd leave without her holding him there. She was still sleeping heavily on him but he'd heard footsteps outside their door. He craned his neck so he could see their door. It creaked open before a head popped in. Oliver lifted his brow as he spotted Tommy's bedhead peek through.

"Dad?" Tommy whispered.

"What is it?" Oliver called back softly. Felicity twitched at the vibrations his voice caused. She burrowed into him more her arms tensing then releasing her hold on him.

"Can I sleep with you for a bit?" Tommy asked stepping into their room. Oliver reached his free arm out.

"Of course, sport. C'mere." Tommy gently closed the door before he made his way over to Oliver's free side. He climbed into bed with his parents and rested his head on Oliver's shoulder.

"Is Mommy sleeping?" he asked watching Felicity wrinkle her nose and crinkle her eyes before settling again.

"Yeah she is. Bad dream?" Oliver watched his seven year old tense and nod carefully. "What happened?" Tommy shrugged. Oliver scanned Tommy's face carefully trying to pick up any signs that would lead to an answer, but Tommy had a good poker face. "Try and get back to sleep," Oliver whispered before pressing a kiss to Tommy's forehead. Tommy pried one of Felicity's hands off Oliver and clutched it. She jerked slightly against her husband before cracking her eyes open. She gasped at the sight of Tommy's sky blues peering over at her.

"Tommy," she coughed. Tommy intertwined their fingers before closing his eyes. Felicity tilted her head to look up at Oliver.

He mouthed, "Bad dream." She frowned then squeezed Tommy's small hand. Tommy squeezed right back. He let out a deep breath, slipped his head into the crook of Oliver's arm, and fell back asleep.

Felicity listened to Oliver's heart beat for a long while, watching her son sleep beside her. Oliver eventually relaxed beneath her his breath evening out. Felicity closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.

She woke up on her back with a head on her chest and little limbs covering her legs and stomach. Oliver must have gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night because he was sleeping on his side next to her and Tommy, his arm thrown over both of them protectively, his fingers tucked under her ribcage.

Felicity opened her eyes to see Oliver watching them. She cracked a smile over at him and a lazy one appeared on his face. Her chin grazed Tommy's head as she stretched carefully under him.

"What time is it?" she croaked.

"Early. The girls haven't woken yet." Felicity nodded and yawned big. "They'll be here soon though."

As if the mention of them woke them, they heard, "Momma," come from the baby monitor for Rose. Oliver closed his eyes for a second before he rolled out of bed.

"Stay, I'll be back," he ordered. Felicity rolled her eyes slightly at his gruffness. He came back a few minutes later with their littlest in his arms. "Freshly changed and happy to be awake," he cooed. Rose grinned at her mother.

"Momma," she sang reaching for Felicity. Felicity was still trapped under Tommy. Oliver leaned against the headboard and settled Rose between them in bed. "Tommy," Rose grumbled pushing Tommy's back.

"He's sleeping, bug. Let him sleep," Oliver cautioned removing Rose's hand from Tommy's back. Rose peered up at him with a very Dearden glare. Oliver leveled her with one of his own.

"Rose, can you give me a good morning kiss?" Felicity asked playfully. Rose grinned at her and crawled over. "I haven't gotten one yet today," Felicity murmured just before Rose planted a kiss on her lips. Oliver pouted at that statement. Felicity winked over at him.

"Daddy?" Rose asked looking over her shoulder at her father. Oliver leaned down and planted a kiss on Felicity's lips. "No me!" Rose exclaimed. Oliver pulled back and without a second of hesitance he pressed a kiss on Rose's cheek. She giggled as his stubble tickled her cheeks.

Rose happily played hide and seek under the covers with her parents until Tommy woke up at the movement and Felicity's coos. He grumbled nonsense for a few minutes until he fully woke up. Then he watched Rose play and giggle. It didn't take long for him to start to tickle her sides. She squealed at him and wiggled around the bed.

Kit stumbled into the room with wild hair and bleary eyes. She watched Tommy tickle Rose for a few minutes before she climbed into bed beside Felicity. She immediately used Felicity as a pillow and dozed some more completely ignoring her siblings. Felicity rubbed letters on her back and waited for their alarm to go off.

Oliver's phone rang before the alarm went off. They shared a look of confusion before he answered with, "William?"

"Dad! Felicity's not answering her phone. What happened?! Is she okay?" William rushed. Oliver blinked digesting his son's words for a second.

"She's fine, Will. You know her phones off until our alarm goes off cause she'd never sleep otherwise. What are you doing up so early?" Felicity knitted her brow and motioned for Oliver to turn it on speaker. He followed her advice and they both peered at the phone.

"Early?" William asked. "Oh," he sighed as if he had just seen the clock. "Right. Well. I. I have a class at eight and I've been up all night working on this program but it's not working. It's due at the start of class. I thought maybe she could help me out. I'm pretty sure its just this little section. I was gonna FaceTime her so she could help me look it over, but she didn't answer. I know it's late… well early. But I can't turn this in without fixing the issue. It's a really big part of our grade. Like almost half. I can't-."

"FaceTime us, buddy," Oliver gently said. Within seconds the phone was ringing for a FaceTime call. Oliver answered and they saw William's face. His eyes were bloodshot, there were dark circles under them, and his hair was standing on end like he'd been running his hands through it. "Buddy," Oliver sighed heavily.

"What's the issue? Let's get it done so you can have a nap," Felicity quickly butted in. William started to explain the issue and Felicity gave tips as he went along. He flipped the camera and showed her the code for the program. She squinted as she read over it and easily spotted the error in the code. She pointed it out and William huffed. "It's okay, Will. You didn't spot it cause you're over tired. How much coffee have you had?"

"A few espressos," Will mumbled. "But that was a few hours ago. I'm honestly fine. I can pull an all nighter." Felicity and Oliver both frowned. "I learned from the best," William mumbled. They both felt their cheeks heat at that comment.

"Take a forty-five minute nap, Will. It'll make you feel a lot better. Do you have class after this one?"

"Yeah," Will sighed. "At 2."

"Sleep between those classes, bud," Oliver suggested. "Eat after that class."

"I haven't finished that homework yet." Oliver raised his brow in surprise. A line appeared between Felicity's eyebrows.

"What have you been doing?" she questioned.

"Uhhhhm. Nothing." There was a long pause. "Imayhavegoneonafewdates," he rushed. "Not important. I can do that homework after class. It's not due until the end of the day. I'll take your advice, Dad. Okay. Love you guys. Bye!" Then he hung up before they could respond. Felicity and Oliver shared smirks of amusement.

"What did he say?" Tommy asked looking at his parents in confusion.

"Nothing," Oliver replied putting his phone back on the bedside table. Felicity shut her mouth before she could answer knowing William wouldn't appreciate being interrogated by his siblings next time he came home.

"Did you help him with his thing?" Tommy asked tickling Rose under her chin. She laughed up at him.

"Yeah," Felicity answered proudly. Tommy pressed a kiss on Rose's cheek. Kit huffed and moved in Felicity's arms. "Morning, baby," Felicity murmured. Kit stretched languidly.

Their alarm went off. Kit slipped out of their bed at the same time Tommy slumped onto his back. Rose climbed onto Oliver's lap. Felicity followed Kit out of bed and walked into their bathroom as Kit walked back to her room to get ready for school.

"I don't wanna go to school," Tommy grumbled.

"Isn't it gym day?" Oliver asked. Tommy lifted his brow then thought for a second. A sly grin slid onto his face.

"I'm gonna get that gold charm this time." Oliver oohed.

"Running another mile?" he asked.

"That'll put me in first place in my grade." Tommy puffed out his chest.

"What will?" Felicity asked walking in as she tied her hair into a ponytail.

"He's going to run another mile on the track at school today so he gets the gold necklace charm." Felicity smirked.

"The one in the shape of the foot?" she questioned.

"Yeah!" Tommy exclaimed jumping out of bed. "I've already got all the other colors, but they save the gold ones for running twenty miles." Felicity eyes bugged out of her head. "Not at the same time, Mom. I've already run nineteen so I just have to run one more." He curved his back as he stretched. "Then I get the gold charm."

"You're not going to wear the necklace are you?" Felicity mumbled. As soon as he'd gotten five charms he'd worn his necklace for a week straight. Then William complemented him and he'd taken to keeping the prized possession in his pocket.

"No. Only kids who don't have many do that. I've got the most in the class. Well, I will once I get the gold one. I'm tied with Casper Armstrong right now. But he's not gonna run a mile in one day. I can do it though. As long as Sophie doesn't make me walk with her." He glowered at the ground.

"Sophie," Felicity stated. She didn't really like Sophie. Sophie tended to push Tommy around and a month ago declared Tommy her boyfriend. Most boys his age would have been grossed out, but Tommy was never one to really be grossed out by girls probably because he had a sister close to his age and Oliver had swiftly shut down any mention of girls being gross saying it wasn't gentlemanly to talk about the opposite sex that way.

"Yeah. Last few gym classes I've had to walk with her. That's why Casper has caught up with me."

"You don't have to do that you know." Oliver sent his wife a look that told her to back off. Felicity pouted her lips slightly.

"Yeah I know. That's why I'm not going to do it today. I've gotta beat Casper." Felicity smiled happily.

"Go get ready for school." Tommy skipped out of their room. Oliver slipped out of bed with Rose in his arms. "Rose-bug, you want to help me with my makeup?" Felicity asked reaching for her. Rose beamed at her. Felicity let her play with her makeup brushes as Oliver got dressed.

They settled into their routine and met downstairs for breakfast with the kids. Felicity herded the kids to the door getting ready to take them to school and daycare. Oliver tugged her back before she could open the door. He took the chance he got with Tommy and Kit fussing over their backpacks and Rose determinedly fixing her Velcro shoes to kiss his wife. Felicity melted into him. Tommy declared his disgust and his sisters quickly followed his lead but that just had Felicity grinning against her husband's lips. Oliver frowned. He turned his head to pout at his kids. Felicity pressed a kiss to his cheek then nipped his jawline. That made him turn to smile at her.

"Come on, kids," Felicity called holding out her hand and opening the door. She shuffled them out the front door before turning to wink at Oliver. Oliver reached for her but she quickly started to close the door then she yelped as he pinched her bum. He swallowed a chuckle simply raising his brow as she blushed from the kids questioning looks her way.

"I'll see you tonight. Love you," Oliver called seconds before the door shut with Felicity's I'll-pay-you-back eyes. The kids chorused their goodbyes and love, Felicity mumbled hers. Oliver jogged up the stairs, grabbed his shoes, and then was out the door. He sat in his car typing out a text to William before he got on the road.

Try to get some sleep, bud. My phone's always on especially for you. See you in a few weeks for spring break. PS: Hope those dates were fun. – Dad

By the time he got to the office, he had a sleeping emoji and a thumbs up from William. Oliver smiled at his phone before starting his paperwork for the day.