Felicity almost fell to the floor, but the person standing there caught her before she could. The group came rushing in, minus Lyla who stayed back with the kids. Thea started balling and ran to hug the man holding Felicity up. Felicity backed up some, the man slowly relenting and letting her go, and took a breath. After Thea was done hugging her and had calmed down some, she stepped back and Roy put his arms comfortingly around her.
The man turned to her and looked in her eyes. "It's me Lis" he said with a reassuring smile, "I'm back and I swear to god I am never leaving again no matter what."
Felicity breaths shakily and says, "Oliver…" She steps forward and he picks her up and holds her, both of them too afraid to let go.
"Dad?" Liv says quietly from the doorway. She runs to him and he picks her up too, never letting go of Felicity in the process. Oliver gets a smile on his face, one he only gets around his wife and daughter. He's finally home and he will not ever risk losing them again.
Oliver hugs everyone else and gives a kiss to Sara's head after she tells "We all missed you Uncle Ollie".
"I missed you guys too. Trust me noodle." The girls giggle at his nickname for his niece and Digg smiles and shakes his head.
"How about we all call it a night and let the re-united family have some time together?" Digg says. Oliver shoots him a grateful smile and everyone's smiles and happy tears as they say goodnight.
As Felicity shuts the door, Oliver picks up Liv and asks her "So what have I missed little one?"
"Oh nothing. Not much happens when your dad disappears for two months. I would yell at you, but I know Mom has it covered and she said I need to work on my sarcasm. I'm too young I guess." Liv spews out, rambling much like her mom does.
Oliver laughs and says, "You get your sarcasm from her silly but she's right. You are too young to be this smart. Where did my baby girl go? You crazy little on already turned 8!"
She smiles slightly and asks him to put her down. "I have to go get ready for bed."
Felicity caves when Oliver shoots her a confused hurt look. She steps in front of him and he wraps his arms around her lightly, kissing her forehead. He feels the familiar sense of safety and happiness that made him fall in love with her the day they met. She says, "You missed her birthday Ollie. She's hurt and confused and doesn't know whether to be sad you were gone for 2 months or happy you are back and not dead."
"Dead?" he asks. "She knew I could have been dead? I thought we agreed we would keep her out of that life and she wouldn't know about what her family does for a long time. We agreed, Felicity. We agreed to keep it a secret to protect her."
She takes a breath and he tries to stop her from talking, knowing it will be a long and emotional ramble. She says, "We also agreed you would stay out of danger and help from the foundry, not going on missions anymore and not getting involved publically. You left Oliver. Anything we agreed on didn't seem to matter anymore. Besides, I did not tell her. Lucky for her, she got my smarts. She found out. Can you even imagine how I felt when my 8 year old walks up to me after her dad is gone for 3 weeks and says, 'Mom, I know about Dad being the Arrow and everyone else being involved too. Is he dead, Mommy?" Tell me, what would you do? I wasn't going to lie and make her feel stupid when she was smart and figured out the truth. She may be 8, but her brain is so much smarter than a normal 8 year olds. Please don't do this. Don't be the idiot who goes and gets himself captured or whatever happened for more than 2 months, then comes back and judges everyone for how they lived their life without him. We all did the best we could. We were dealing with a lot. How was I supposed to explain your disappearance to the city? Paparazzi running around after asking if you had finally gone back to your bachelor ways and left with some mistress. Our daughter was exposed to that too Oliver. What…"
He kisses her lightly then pulls her in for a hug, tucking her head under his chin. Hearing and feeling the steady beating of his heart calms her and she slowly starts breathing normally again. He wipes the tears starting to form in her eyes and takes her hand, squeezing it lightly. They walk to Liv's room and see her in bed waiting for them to tuck them in.
"I thought you might need a moment so I got everything ready. Since today is such a good day and daddy is back, I thought maybe I'd get a book and a song. I mean daddy did miss two whole months of tucking me in. He owes me at least a book AND a song." Liv smiles innocently, looking exactly like her mother.
Felicity laughs and gets in the bed on Liv's left side, Oliver doing the same on the other. Together, they take turns reading the book and then Oliver sings her a lullaby softly. She slowly falls asleep, and they quickly and carefully get out of the bed. Oliver kisses her head while Felicity tucks her in and they leave shutting the door. The soft light of her bed lamp showing through the crack on the bottom of the door.
Oliver and Felicity get ready to sleep, then both lie in bed staring at the ceiling. Felicity is slightly lying on Oliver's chest, rising and falling in tune with Oliver's breath. She speaks softly, Oliver barely able to hear her even with his better-than-average hearing. She says, "Ollie… how many new scars this time?"
He sighs and tightens his hand around her. "Does it matter?" he says. "There won't be any more scars as long as I can help it. I promise I'll keep out of it now. I can't… I won't risk losing you and Liv again. I couldn't stop thinking about coming back to you, about not being sure if you were safe or not. I'm not leaving again. No matter what."
She nods slightly and says, "I trust you. Please don't break this promise. Thank you for coming home Ollie. I love you and let's go to bed." They kiss each other goodnight and Oliver tries to hold Felicity again. She shakes her head and leaves some space in between them. He looks hurt and confused before she starts softly counting "3… 2… 1…". Just in time, Liv runs in and jumps on the bed. Snuggling herself in between the two parents. Oliver finally understands and wraps his arms around his two girls. He was safe and happy. However, all Felicity could think was, 'He finally came home".