Felicity's 30th Birthday

William heard faint crying coming from down the hall. His eyes popped open, and he grabbed his phone off his bedside table.

4:58

Wednesday, July 24, 2019.

Will stared at the blue light for a moment, reading the date over again. Wednesday was important, but he couldn't remember why. The crying continued and he remembered how late his dad and stepmom had been up the night before. Felicity had driven him and Tommy home and stayed with them, but she had been busy on comms and tracking Oliver until far past William fell asleep. Usually, Curtis or Digg would come in and take over the moment it got close to eleven, William's agreed bedtime, that was if Raisa wasn't looking after him and the baby. But Raisa was in Russia for the week, something to do with her family.

The crying proceeded, so Will got up and walked down the long hall. He stopped at the little green room with the cracked open door. Will didn't know why his parents weren't checking on the baby but he kind of assumed it was to do with being passed out.

"Shh," Will cooed walking into the room. Tommy pulled himself up from the bars of his crib and stomped his feet, agile for a nine-month-old. Tommy squealed at the sight of his brother, but Will closed his eyes and groaned again. "Tommy, shhh," he repeated. Tommy stuffed a chubby fist into his mouth. "It's dark outside, you can't be awake," Will repeated a saying Felicity created when Tommy started to wake in the wee hours two months ago.

"Awww," Tommy said. Will sighed deeply and leaned his weight against the crib. Tommy started to babble.

"Shh." Will lifted Tommy into his arms. Tommy cooed delightedly and cuddled into his big brother's side. "Your Mommy's not going to be happy you're awake this early." Tommy grunted. "She and Dad stayed up really late last night fighting bad guys." Will sat down in the rocker but didn't rock that would just serve to make Tommy babble more, he really was like his mother. Besides the whole fact that he looked like Thea with blonde hair, but with Felicity's nose.

"Dad was in his green hood and mask. Your Mommy was making sure he knew where to go and was safe." Tommy plopped his bum on William's lap and squished his face against Will's stomach. "Today is Wednesday, Tommy." Tommy huffed. "Dad and I are going to take you to the petting zoo cause your Mommy doesn't like the smells and it's her birthday, so she gets to go out and get a pedicure." Will stopped talking and froze. "I didn't get her anything," he whispered. "Crap." Tommy snoozed against his stomach.

Will had been planning on getting her something she'd like. He'd talked with Zoe about it, and she'd said Felicity would probably like jewelry. Will knew that but he didn't want to get her. A necklace or bracelet? That's what he'd always get his mom and he really didn't want to do that. He thought about getting her some earrings but the ones he and Oliver had looked at for her were all so expensive, to be fair they were looking for a gift from Oliver but still Will didn't have a job or anything. He was 13; how was he supposed to get money?

"Will?" William tensed then immediately relaxed when his father came through the doorway. "Why are you here?" his voice was thick with sleep.

"I didn't get anything for Felicity's birthday." Oliver's face twisted in confusion. "It's today, Dad. I was going to get her earrings or maybe that special thingy in her right ear."

"That's great, buddy. You didn't have to get her anything though. She's happy that you're here." Will shook his head.

"I didn't get her anything." Oliver formed an o with his mouth.

Oliver asked, "We're going out today, right? Or do you have school?" He yawned.

William rolled his eyes. "Dad it's summer. Go back to bed. I'll put Tommy down. He's fine."

"No, no." Oliver reached for Tommy. William batted his hands away. "Will."

"Dad." Oliver's eyes closed for a second, he took a deep breath, then opened his eyes with a new freshness.

"William, we will get her something when we go out today. She's going to do stuff with Dinah, Thea, and Laurel. We'll have time to shop. An industrial piercing piece sounds great. She'll love it. She only has a few."

"Is it expensive?"

"Depends on where we get it. What were you thinking?" Oliver ran a hand through his hair.

"An arrow?"

"That's great. What type?"

"There's types?" William blanched. Oliver nodded like it pained him to do so. "Um. Can we look?"

"Yeah. Look it up online. But get some sleep. It's five in the morning." William gave Tommy to Oliver and walked back to his room.

…

Felicity's day had been fairly good for the age of 30. She'd slept in till ten, had her nails and toes done, and now she was on her way to a late lunch with her boys. They had to have been done with the petting zoo hours earlier, but Oliver said they had a few other plans.

When she opened the door to the family friendly diner they were eating, she greeted the hostesses with a smile. She gave her husband's name, which earned her a big smile and, "Oh yes, Mrs. Queen. They're right this way." Felicity bit her tongue as she tried not to correct the woman. Then she forced herself not to roll her eyes at the way the hostess lingered on Oliver.

"Hey," Oliver greeted smiling widely at her. She smiled back. Tommy reached for her, but she grabbed his hands and held them together as she kissed his head. William was oddly sitting next to Oliver, but Felicity didn't question it as she slid into the other side of the booth alone.

"Why do I feel like there's a surprise coming my way?" She quirked a brow. "You know how I feel about those," her voice was laced in faux annoyance. William looked slightly defeated at her dry tone.

"No, surprises exactly. William wanted lunch to be special so he's giving you something now." A light blush spread across Will's cheeks. Felicity smiled at him.

"I more wanted to get it over with but here you go," Will said handing Felicity a small white bag with silver paper popping out of the top.

"Ah I see, you like giving gifts as much as me."

"No," Will teased. "You love giving gifts. You were practically dancing when I opened my Christmas gifts."

"That's different," Felicity defended. "It was my second Christmas as a family, and I was heavily pregnant. I'm pretty sure that dance was me needing to go to the bathroom. And, you got a new video game system, one I updated to make it even better." Will laughed at her. Felicity's jaw opened and closed a few times before she slammed it shut. "Can I open it?" she asked looking at the present.

"Yes," William laughed. Oliver chuckled and they shared a conspiring look. Felicity handed the paper to Tommy so he could happily rip it to shreds while humming like a bee.

She pulled out a small clear baggy and said, "Drugs?!" but then saw the silver metal and sighed in relief. William laughed hard and Felicity looked up with horror.

"I didn't give you drugs," William wheezed. Felicity felt her cheeks redden by the second. Oliver just had a happy smile playing at his lips as he helped keep Tommy's mess on the table. But he did look up at her and wink.

"You gave me… an arrow. Aw that's so sweet." She grinned at her son. William looked down. "Did Oliver help-."

"No. I didn't buy it," Oliver cut her off. She frowned. Buy? She was going to ask if he'd help make it. "William found it all himself."

"Okay, I'm here. I did. It was at this little tattoo and piercing shop in the Glades. I found it online. Dad really didn't want to take us there, but I was paying with my own money, and it was the only thing I really thought you'd like in my price range."

"You bought it yourself?" Felicity's eyes started to gather tears. William nodded curtly.

"I would have asked Dad to show me how to make one, but I didn't really remember until this morning," he rushed out the last half of the sentence. Felicity took a second to catch it.

"Oh. Well this is really cool. And the end has is painted red to look like feathers. Oliver wouldn't know how to paint metal for it to stick." Oliver rolled his eyes even as she winked at him. William chuckled though. "I'll put it in at home. I need to clean my ear before I replace the piercing." Will's face fell a little. "Swear, the second we get home, Will." She held out her pinkie. William rolled his eyes. "Swear," she urged wiggling her hand. William grabbed her pinkie with his and they shook on it.

…

"How's it look?" she asked a dinner, pulling her hair away from her ear. William stared at it intently.

"Nice," he answered. Oliver came around her and kissed the piercing.

"Sexy," he breathed. William purposefully had all his attention on his baby brother and his cooked carrots. "So, you know people are coming over in an hour, right?" Oliver asked William. Will nodded. "You can stay and hang out, bud."

"Oh, no." William shook his head rapidly. "I'll be in my room. Do you want me to have the baby monitor?"

"I'll have it," Oliver said trying to reign in his disappointment. Will nodded.

"Wait," Will paused. "What'd you get Felicity? I know Tommy got her-."

"Aye," Oliver cut him off.

Felicity popped out of nowhere. "What? What'd Tommy get me?" Will raised his brow at his father. Felicity mirrored him but added her special begging eyes. Oliver frowned then sighed. He made his way into the kitchen, opened an upper cabinet, and pulled out a gift bag from the highest point. Felicity rolled her eyes.

"Here," Oliver grumbled. Felicity threw the paper down on the ground beside her. And then pulled out a grayish blue long piece of cloth.

"What is it?" Felicity slowly asked inspecting it.

"It's a baby wrap." She looked up at him with the same confusion. "You wrap the baby around yourself with it. It's so you don't have to keep Tommy in his baby swing. You can keep him on you. And it's supposed to keep him calm and relaxed." Felicity nodded.

"But there's no straps or buckles."

"Yeah, there are several different ways to wrap it around yourself, so the baby stays in place." Felicity kind of felt ripped off, but kept her mouth shut. Oliver was obviously super excited about it.

"When did you hear about it? Is this because I broke the baby carrier?" She furrowed her brow. Oliver's face fell slightly. Crap she let on she didn't like it. "No. I love it, Oliver. I'm excited. Where are the instructions?"

"You YouTube it," Will replied. Felicity's eyes widened on that note.

"Really? Crappy tutorials or-."

"No. Professional ones. With actual actors."

"Cool. Yeah, I'll definitely use this." Felicity nodded quickly and then grinned at her husband. Oliver smiled back at her.

"What did you get her, Dad?" Will whispered as Felicity folded the wrap up again. Oliver looked at his son with innocent eyes. Felicity didn't notice.

Oliver leaned over and whispered, "A ring, it's in the dessert." William oohed and nodded. Felicity flicked her eyes up at her husband and elder son.

Dinner passed quickly as both Oliver and William wanted to see Felicity's reaction. She normally would have slowed them down, but she did enjoy their buzzing energy. So, she let Oliver bring out the soufflés. Then the phone rang. Oliver deflated just as William jumped in surprise. Felicity grabbed it.

"Hello?" She uh-huh-ed three times before saying, "Great. See you soon." Then hung up. "Thank god, that was definitely reminding me of Ivy Town." Oliver's eyes reflected the same feeling.

"You never talk about Ivy Town," William pointed out with a tilt of his head.

"We've moved passed that. What's in the soufflé?" Felicity asked. William frowned just as Oliver perked up again. Oliver placed one down in front of him and William before running to grab his own. "Will I choke, honey?" Felicity teased taking a chunk out of the top.

"Not with that bite, dear," Oliver teased back. Felicity frowned. William snorted at her face before coughing up some of his own soufflé. Oliver patted his back. Felicity took another careful bite and then started to dig.

"Okay, where is it?" she grumbled. Oliver smirked knowingly. "Oliver."

"It's in the whipped cream." Felicity stuck her spoon in and hit the object in question. She scooped the ring out with one finger then popped it in her mouth to clean it off.

"Delicious," she said with a grin around the ring. William flicked his eyes up in a roll; Oliver's grin widened. Tommy squealed at her when she pulled the ring out of her mouth. Tommy quickly shoved a piece of cookie in his mouth and nibbled on it. Felicity looked down at the ring and sucked in a breath. It was two bands woven together from a bind in the back. The top ring had "11-O-28-F-17" engraved and the second ring had "10-W-26-T-17" engraved. Felicity furrowed her brow.

"The first one's our wedding date and our initials that's easy but what's this one. The W and the T stand for William and Thomas, I know that. But what's the date?" Oliver quirked his brow. William peeked over at the date and was equally as puzzled as his stepmom.

"It's the day you got a key to our apartment," Oliver supplied. Felicity still frowned. William's mouth opened in understanding.

"I still don't get it." Felicity pouted slightly staring at the ring. Oliver leaned over and whispered in Will's ear.

"Really?" William groaned. Oliver leveled a look on him. "Felicity, that's the date that you became…" He sent his father a look of annoyance. "A part of my life. So, Dad thinks of it as the day you became my parent." Felicity's eyes widened.

"That would make me a sucky parent. I gave you ice cream for dinner. I told Raisa that I would feed you properly in front of you. I actually told you it was okay to lie." Felicity placed the ring on her forehead as William laughed loudly. Felicity blushed in shame.

"Felicity," Oliver sang. "Honey, you helped so much from that day on. And you weren't really a parent, but you earned the right over the course of…" He looked to William.

"The next few months." Felicity cringed. "You did continue to tell me that I could have junk food instead of healthy meals and that-."

"We don't need to get into it," Felicity cut him off. William smirked.

"But Dad's right. That's the day, I relinquished the right to say no for you as a parent." Oliver looked at him with wide eyes. "That wasn't. Those weren't the right words." William was the one cringing now. "That was the day, you were more than just… Dad's Felicity. You were mine too." William smiled as soon as Felicity peeked up at him with glossy eyes.

"Will," she sighed.

"It's Dad's gift. Also," Will dragged the word out. "I thought we were giving you one of those name things for Mother's Day. Then Dad chickened out and gave you the necklace with no engravings but two heart pendants which doesn't really make sense."

"I thought that was two hearts for both of you." William formed an o with his mouth. "It was supposed to have engravings on it?"

"Yeah, our names. But I guess-."

"I didn't do that because neither of you were ready," Oliver explained.

"But over a month later we are?" William furrowed his brow and curled his lip in confusion. Felicity pointed at her son in agreement.

"You had just gotten over the fight with those neighborhood kids who teased you about Felicity, and you had a meltdown about whether or not Will saw you as a parental figure even though I told you he did."

"That was-," both started. Oliver held up a hand. They both came to an abrupt halt.

"We can still engrave the heart pendants."

"Do that next Mother's Day," Felicity shrugged.

"We can't." Felicity looked to her son. He smirked evilly. "We have to surprise you." Felicity glared at him as he chuckled. Oliver leaned over and gave her a kiss. She pouted right after his lips left hers.

"I don't like surprises." The doorbell saved them.