A/N: Soooo, this took a whole lot longer than I expected it to... Anyway, I hope you'll still enjoy it! I'll post the next chapter sometime this week, Wednesday maybe?

And, as always, I'll update A Sunless Garden tomorrow!

Chapter 2:

Oliver groaned. Rolling over, he cracked his eyes open and focussed on the alarm clock on his nightstand. 3 am. At this rate he wouldn't be coherent enough the next day for his helicopter test.

As baby Connor's mechanical scream filled his bedroom, he really wished he could follow his roommate Dean's example and sleep over at a girl's place.

He sighed, rolled out of bed, and got the surprisingly life-like baby out of its crib. "There, there," he muttered sleepily, rocking it back and forth. "Come on, kid, just shut up already!" he moaned, desperation leaking into his voice. The baby had done this to him three nights in a row. And seeing as it was mainly his assignment, he and Felicity had agreed that he'd get the baby at night and they'd switch off during the day.

But enough was enough. Felicity didn't have any plans the next day, and he was so tired he felt like bashing his head through a wall. Picking up his cell phone, he wedged it between his ear and his shoulder and proceeded to change the baby's diaper.

Felicity picked up on the fourth ring. "Oliver?" she said sleepily, and the sound sent a strange feeling through him. "It's… 3 am, and you woke Katie up. Why are you calling?" she asked.

Going back to rocking the baby, Oliver switched the phone to his other ear. "I need help. I've got a test, and Connor won't stop crying."

There was a pause on the other end. "I don't hear anything," she said hesitantly. Of course now the baby had decided to behave. Oliver swore it liked Felicity more than him, but everyone just shook their heads at him. "It's been crying all night. Dean's temporarily moved in with his girlfriend."

Felicity sighed and there was a rustling of sheets. He wondered – not the time, Queen, his mind chided him. "Okay, fine, I'll see you in a minute. But if I get caught I'm telling them you threatened me," she said grouchily, and hung up.

Oliver grinned. Had the test been for any subject other than business, he would have just winged it, but he really wanted to ace this one, to prove to his dad that he could. And Felicity was coming to pick up the baby. Even if Oliver hadn't had a test, a good night's sleep sounded amazing right about now.

It didn't take long until a soft knock sounded on his door. Or, really, it didn't sound very loud, because Connor was wailing again. He quickly dashed over, trying not to jostle the baby too much. "Thank god you're here."

Felicity raised a sleepy eyebrow. "Not usually how people greet me, but okay. By the way, you owe that guard that's stationed at your building. I promised him you'd bribe him later," she said, darting inside and shrugging off her coat. She was still in her flannel pyjamas. Even as sleep-deprived as he was, Oliver could still appreciate the little Iron man prints on it.

Felicity followed his gaze and blushed, but didn't comment on it. Oliver could just imagine her saying that she didn't need to explain her choice in sleepwear to him. Instead, she reached out and gently took the baby from him. "What have you been doing to my poor Emily?" she scolded gently, her attention completely on the robot baby.

Oliver pulled up his nose. "It's obviously a boy, it's Connor!" he protested – quietly, because the robot-baby had finally decided to stop crying. "And I haven't been doing anything. I bet they just put the setting on high or something."

Felicity rolled her eyes and sat down gently on his couch. "I didn't see anything when I changed her diaper earlier, ergo, it's a girl. Now sit down, I want to see how you're holding her."

Gingerly, Oliver sat down next to her, and allowed her to place the baby in his arms. Naturally, it started crying again. "I'm going to get an F, I can feel it…" he mumbled to himself, but Felicity just ignored him.

"Okay, first of all, you need to support her head, like this," she said, adjusting his hold on the baby. It felt slightly uncomfortable, but not too bad. "And hold her closer to you, babies calm down when they hear your heartbeat."

Slowly but surely, the babies cries subsided, replaced by soft breathing that was far too regular to be real. Oliver felt relieved, and kind of proud at the same time.

Felicity was smiling at him, and there was something in her eyes that he couldn't really identify, but it was… nice. "Reminds me of when Thea was born," he whispered eventually.

Felicity seemed to be shaken out of her train of thought. "Oh?" she said.

Smiling down at Connor – or Emily or whatever – he remembered what it was like to hold his little sister for the first time. "She was so fussy, my parents wouldn't let me hold her if I wasn't sitting down, and even then they thought it was too dangerous. Our nanny, Raisa, she'd let me do it sometimes if mom and dad weren't home."

Felicity chuckled lightly. "I can imagine Thea being a fussy baby."

"So how are you so good at this?" he asked curiously.

She shrugged. "Babysitting. There weren't a lot of other jobs for kids like me to do where I lived, so I got a lot of experience early on. I'd have to watch several kids at once, often enough that I learned quickly. I started when I was eight, so I've seen my fair share of babies. Almost makes me not want to have any of my own."

"Really?" Oliver asked, surprised. He'd pegged Felicity as someone who'd want to get a career first, but still have a family as well. There was so much he still didn't know about her…

"I said almost." She replied wryly. "Though I'm not really sure, seeing what my mom goes through… I don't know. It's not really a decision I need to make right away, is it?"

Oliver wasn't really sure what to say to that, so he just kept quiet, turning his attention back to the fake baby he was holding. It was quiet now, and Oliver thought it might not be the spawn of hell after all. "We should put her to bed while she's still sleeping," he whispered.

Felicity grinned at him. "Her, huh? I told you it was a girl!" She held out her hands, but Oliver ignored them. Getting up, he walked over to the crib next to his bed. Tucking her in, he couldn't help but notice the domesticity of the whole situation. Felicity was hovering at his shoulder, making sure he didn't mess up, while he settled the blanket over the baby's torso. It struck him that his own parents had probably been in the exact same situation before, only with a real baby and a wedding band around their finger.

He shook his head. Thinking about this was not helping.

"So what's this test that you're so worried about?" Felicity asked quietly, sinking back down onto the couch. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back, clearly exhausted.

"Helicopter test. If it was anything else, I might try to wing it, but… I kind of need to keep my wits about me with this one," he explained, mirroring her position on the couch.

"Hmm… I'm sure you'll do–" she was interrupted by a huge yawn, "great, Oliver."

"Hmm…" Oliver was so tired. Maybe he could just… take a little… nap…

/*/

Katie POV

When Katie woke up the next morning to find her best friend's bed empty, she just rolled her eyes and was grateful she had the bathroom to herself. She did send a text to make sure Felicity wouldn't miss breakfast, though.

Hope Oliver didn't keep u up all nite ;) if ur planning on having breakfast u better get ur butt over here! X

She got a reply a minute later.

Save me a seat, I'm on baby duty… -_-

Katie actually laughed at that. She wondered briefly if those two realized that they were practically dating already. Then she shook her head. If there was anyone at this school who was more oblivious than those two, she had yet to meet them.

She just hoped that all this wouldn't end badly for Felicity, because it was obvious that the girl had completely lost her heart to that boy, and he didn't exactly have a good track record…

A/N: Please tell me what you think, and feel free to PM or review with suggestions or prompts!