"Oh, and this is Felicity with her pet boa. That thing scared the jeepers out of me…"

Felicity rolled her eyes and shook her head. She and Oliver were in the hallway, reluctant to enter the living room. From the sound of it, the Smoaks were showing Diggle Felicity's baby pictures. And if they were all the way to that picture from when she was six, they'd been at it for a while.

"You had a pet boa?" asked Oliver, his hand in hers.

"They must be mad at me if they're showing baby pictures." She squeezed his hand. "I told you we were being too loud."

They could hear Diggle laughing.

"Sounds like I'm missing out," Oliver let go and walked away, giving her a playful smirk before turning the corner.

"You traitor!" she whispered loudly. Felicity stood there for another moment before marching into the living room.

"Nice robe," remarked Diggle.

Felicity looked down at her fluffy pink robe. "Thanks." Then she turned to her parents. "Why are the photo albums out?"

Her dad looked almost silly in his striped flannel pajamas and horn-rimmed glasses, a big goofy grin on his face. "We had to do something to pass the time while you and Oliver talked."

Her baby daddy was on the couch with them, giggling at all the pictures. Sighing, she gave in and joined them.

After a few more minutes of excruciating embarrassment (AHH! No, Mom, not the Halloween photos!) Mrs. Smoak handed the album to Diggle. Mr. Smoak stood up.

"Oliver, my wife and I would like to speak to you privately in the kitchen."

His smile dropped and suddenly the fun was over. "Sure, Mr. Smoak."

Felicity and Diggle struggled to suppress their laughter as they watched Oliver follow the Smoaks out of the room. He looked like he was bravely entering a slaughterhouse.

"Think he's in trouble?" wondered Diggle. "I've never seen him scared like that before."

"My dad might be pretty cross with him. He knows the whole story."

"The whole story?"

"It's cool, Dig." She shifted around in her seat to get more comfortable. "So how's he been? I mean with everything that's happened…"

Diggle shrugged. "He doesn't really talk about Tommy. Or any of it, really. I think you've been helping him heal, though. You should see the smile he gets when he calls you."

Felicity hugged him. "And how have you been, muh big buddeh?"

He chuckled. "Pretty good,"

"Is there a reason you told Oliver before I could? I know I was taking a while…"

Diggle pursed his lips. "He didn't find out from me."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Did he figure it out on his own like you did?"

"It was Detective Lance."

Her jaw dropped and she finally let him go. "What?"

He gave her the gist of what happened at dinner.

It took her a moment to come to terms with the fact that the detective blabbed the news to everyone. "It sounds like he wants to keep me out of the whole Hood mess."

"He does. Oh, and Roy wants to meet you."

"Who?"

"Thea's boyfriend."

"The pretty gangbanger?"

Diggle looked amused by the identifier. "Yes, the pretty gangbanger. He might pester you about the vigilante when you move into the mansion."

"I'm moving in now? Is it just me, or is everything snowballing?"

"Oliver said so on the drive here. He's not going to force you, but it'd mean a lot to him."

Felicity rested her head on the back of the couch. "He wants me to live in the mansion with him?"

Leaning back, Diggle gauged her reaction. "That freak you out?"

"He proposed to me earlier, so compared to that it isn't very scary."

Diggle gawked at her in bewilderment. "He did what now?"

She shrugged. "I told him to ask again later."

"What did you two talk about in there? I mean, we could hear what you were doing in there…"

Felicity made a face. "Ugh, I knew we were being too loud."

"Your mom makes great hot cocoa, by the way."

"She does, doesn't she?"

Just then, Oliver walked out of the kitchen, looking chastised and possibly frightened. The Smoaks followed after, looking sweet and harmless as usual.

"Diggle, we should probably get going," he said and he strode across the living room towards the door. Felicity got up to hug him goodbye.

"Your tiny parents scare me." he whispered in her ear.

She fought back a laugh. Then Felicity pulled away to look at him. "Diggle says you want me to move in."

"Soon. Are you okay with that?"

"You want to know if I'm okay with living in a mansion? Only if you asked your mom first."

"You're carrying her grandchild. I'm sure she'd be fine with it."

She nodded, then kissed him lightly on the cheek before the two of them left.

June 19th

Moving into the mansion wasn't a frightening concept until it actually happened. She was going to live with Oliver. And the rest of the Queens. And Roy. And Diggle. She was kind of excited about living with Diggle (slumber party!) but not everyone else. First of all, it was a mansion. Like she even belonged in a mansion. They probably had a fulltime maid! How weird would it be to have a fulltime maid? Probably really weird. And then there was Mrs. Queen. Felicity would be living with her boss who was also her unborn child's grandmother and possibly her future mother-in-law. Also, she was a classy lady. Felicity would feel like even more of a dork just standing next to her. And Thea… She doubted they'd get along. From what she could tell, Oliver's little sister was a smart-mouthed troublemaker. What if she didn't approve? Oh, and there was Roy. Fanboy Roy. He was sure to try and wheedle information out of her. She and Oliver had been working on making him and the Hood sound like two different people, but she'd have to be especially careful not to let her guard down.

And Oliver. Damn, it was going to be weird living with him. In the same house. Down the hall. Always within reach. Almost as if they were married. The thought made Felicity dizzy. Happy too, but… She couldn't shake that feeling of dread. Only a fool would expect a happy ending, right? Especially with what she'd already been through.

Felicity smiled when she stepped out of the car, the mansion towering above her. If she'd brought Paperweight with her, she probably would've asked him if he thought he'd like it here; not that it would've been a good idea, since a bunch of people were watching.

She nearly regretted telling her parents she wanted to do this alone, but having them here would've meant more people to worry about. There were people casually watching her from the windows, all of them curious. Wow, there was quite a few of them. Was there a party? Please let there not be a party.

Oliver and Diggle came out of the house to help her, and she felt slightly more at ease. She blushed as Oliver kissed her in front of everyone before taking the box from the trunk.

"Go ahead inside," said Oliver. "Diggle and I can handle the box and the suitcase."

Taking a deep breath, Felicity adjusted the strap of her bag and walked to the front door. Mrs. Queen was waiting for her, holding the door open. Felicity suddenly felt too frumpy and was acutely aware of how messy her ponytail was. Oliver's mother didn't seem to mind, though.

"It's so nice to see you again!" she said before pulling her into a big hug. "Thank you so much for having Oliver's baby," she mumbled next to her hear. "I thought he'd never give me a grandchild."

"Um… You're welcome,"

Mrs. Queen held her at arm's length. "Oh, just look at that belly! How far along are you?"

Felicity ran a hand over her convex tummy. "Nineteen weeks."

Oliver's mother beamed. "I hope you have ultrasound pictures for me to see."

"Yes, ma'am."

"There's no need for formality, dear. Call me Moira."

Moira let her enter the gigantic house that reeked of luxury. The foyer (Parlor? That space by the front door. Whatever you called it.) was mercifully empty except for an older woman who was clearly the maid.

"Felicity, this is Raisa."

Felicity took the woman's hand cheerfully. She seemed really nice and smelled like cookies.

"It's lovely to meet you," Raisa had a cool accent. Russian, maybe? Felicity wasn't certain. "Oliver is very excited about you moving in."

"I'm excited too." More like terrified, but whatever.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. "I'm sure you've eaten dinner by now, but I made cookies if you are having cravings. Don't worry; they do not have nuts in them. Mr. Diggle told me you are allergic."

"Thank you, Raisa," The maid made cookies. Is this what it's like to have a maid? Having a maid is awesome! "I'm sure I'll want some later. Right now I think I have a lot more people to meet."

Just then, Oliver and Diggle walked through the door and immediately climbed the stairs to take her stuff to her new room. As Felicity watched them go, Moira took her hand and led her to the living room (One of the living rooms? It's a mansion; does a mansion have multiple living rooms?).

Felicity involuntarily squeezed the poor woman's hand. It wasn't a ton of people, but it felt like a lot: Thea, Roy, Detective Lance, Laurel, and Laurel's friend. Only five people in the room, and she'd already met three of them, but this was like meeting them all over again. And one of them was Laurel. Laurel! Meeting Laurel like this was bound to be awkward.

Moira gave her a confused but concerned look. "It's all right, dear. You don't need to be nervous."

"Right. Of course," Felicity pasted on a weak smile.

Everyone turned when they saw her entering the room, and everyone's eyes went from her face to her belly then back again. Thea looked inquisitive, Roy eager, Lance worried, Laurel… threatened? Unimpressed? Appraising? It was hard to tell. Laurel's friend was smiling warmly, and it made Felicity feel better.

"Hi," she greeted, feeling uncomfortable as Detective Lance got out of his chair so she could sit down.

"Hey, I'm Joanna," Laurel's friend said, waving. Smiling, Felicity waving back.

"I'm Roy," said the pretty gangbanger, who was sitting on the end of the couch closest to her chair.

"Yeah, I remember. Not that we've met, obviously. We haven't, I just remember you from that thing. That thing with that crazy guy with a video camera in the subway. Though I'm sure you don't want to be reminded of that, since you got the crap beaten out of you and you nearly died… Uh, I'm just saying that I recognize you. Kind of hard not to, since your so… memorable. It's nice to be reminded what your name is though, because I just thought of you as the pretty gangbanger." Felicity squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment. "You know what? I'm going to shut up now."

Felicity looked away as Roy covered his mouth with his fist to keep from laughing and exchanged an amused glance with Thea.

"Listen, Felicity, I uh…" The detective looked like he didn't quite know what to say. "I'm sorry about telling everyone. Probably wasn't the best way for Oliver to find out."

Felicity fidgeted with her bangle. "It's okay. I was too afraid to tell him, anyway."

"Why would you be afraid?" asked Laurel. There was only the vaguest hint of venom in her voice. "Isn't he in love with you?"

"I spent months thinking he barely cared about me at all."

The response drained some of the ire from Laurel's disposition. "And now?"

Felicity gave her a half smile. "He's got me pretty convinced he loves me."

"There's something that's really been bothering me, though," Laurel looked hurt, confused… but mostly angry. Angry with Oliver, maybe, but definitely angry with Felicity, right? Considering that it appears Felicity came out of nowhere and stole Oliver's heart, it was understandable. "How can he suddenly be so in love you if he was in love with me only a few weeks ago?"

Felicity felt like a glass vase shattering on a marble floor.

"Laurel!" Lance said reproachfully.

"It's a good question, isn't?" she countered. "I'm all for him supporting her, but how do we know he isn't saying he loves her because he feels obligated?"

Mrs. Queen crossed her arms. "Perhaps you should keep your opinions to yourself."

"Opinion? Mrs. Queen, he introduced her as a friend to you not too long ago, never mentioned her to anyone, and we're supposed to believe he's in love with her? He's lying to her, just like her lied to me before he got on that yacht with Sara."

"Except when he cheated on you, he was running away from responsibility." Thea interjected, wearing her signature scowl. "With her he's practically hunting it down."

"Why is everyone talking about Felicity like she's not in the room?" wondered Roy.

"She would've come knocking eventually." countered Laurel. "He probably thinks he's doing the right thing, but how long can he pretend to love her? One day he going to get tired of it and then he'll break her heart."

"Damn, Laurel," said Thea. "Get over him already."

"This isn't about me!" she went to kneel in front of Felicity, who was crying softly. "I've been trying really hard to keep my mouth shut about all this, but then you came in with your baby belly and that frightened look on your face and I just can't allow you to suffer any further." Laurel put her hand on Felicity's, and the pregnant girl knew this wasn't some jealous tactic. "Nobody knew about you for the longest time, and then when you did meet any of us it was on accident. Oliver told me that Tommy never even met you. His best friend never met you. If you're so special to him, then why didn't he ever introduce you to anyone? And what about McKenna? What about me? Oliver dated McKenna and then me, and we both broke up with him. What do you think he would've done if he hadn't been conveniently single when he found out about the baby? Felicity, he fooled around with you and then stuck you in the friend zone. In fact, he didn't even call you a friend when I met you; you were just the girl setting up his internet. And now that he's single and you're pregnant, he's just trying to do the right thing. And with everything that's happened, I think he's just clinging to whatever good thing he could find. But this can't last."

Felicity wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. Everyone else continued to sit in uncomfortable silence. "But he told me… he told me he loved me before he found out."

"When was that?"

"A week after the Undertaking."

"Sweetie," Laurel held her hand tighter. "I told him we needed time apart just a couple of days after the Undertaking."

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking out. "So he did just want comfort."

Mrs. Queen crouched down by Felicity's side. "I'll admit Laurel's making a convincing argument, but Oliver clearly loves you."

"Or he clearly thinks he loves her," Laurel said quietly and reluctantly. Surprisingly, she seemed to wish she was wrong. "He better get the hell in here and prove he means it."

"He said he'd never leave me again." Felicity said with conviction, her cheeks tearstained. "He promised."

Before Laurel could respond to that, Oliver and Diggle entered the room.

"What the…?" Oliver looked around, confused. "Who the hell made Felicity cry?" Mrs. Queen and Laurel stood as Oliver rushed over and crouched down beside his girlfriend. "She's only been here for five minutes and she's already crying? Roy, what did you do?"

Roy held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I didn't do anything!"

Oliver turned his glare on Detective Lance, but Laurel spoke before he needed to defend himself. "I pointed out how weird it is for you to be so in love with a woman that you stuck in the friend zone and tried to hide from everyone."

The playboy pursed his lips. "Laurel, you're the one who broke up with me."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm just worried about her. From where I'm standing, it looks like you're bound to break her heart."

Felicity rose awkwardly from her seat. "I'm gonna go eat some cookies."

Oliver stood up. "Wait—"

"I just really want some cookies right now, Oliver." she said, Diggle trailing behind her.

"I totally want cookies." said Joanna before fleeing the room.

"I want some cookies too." admitted Roy, springing from the couch, Thea eagerly leaving as well.

"I'll get the milk out," said Moira.

"I don't wanna be around for this," said Lance as he hurried from the room with Mrs. Queen.

Everyone stood around the kitchen eating Raisa's cookies while Oliver and Laurel's verbal brawl emanated from the living room, the yells barely audible. By the time the milk was poured and passed out, the awkward near-silence was too much to bear.

"You worried, Felicity?" asked Diggle.

She drummed her fingers on her glass while she thought about her answer. "Oliver's severely emotionally crippled, has a defective moral compass, and possibly PTSD. The amount of women he's been with is probably in the low hundreds and I honestly think it's a miracle he didn't give me some horrible venereal disease. He shoved me into the friend zone just when I thought everything was perfect and then I had to go through the searing pain of seeing him with another woman. I spent five terrifying months keeping my pregnancy a secret because I thought he'd freak out and either deny it was his or throw money at me until I left him alone. In spite of all that, I totally believe he loves me." Felicity took a big bite of her cookie. "So, am I crazy? What's the consensus here?"

Thea shrugged. "Personally, I think Oliver's genuinely in love with you. He got the stupidest smile on his face when you drove up."

"Yeah, he's a total dork when it comes to you." agreed Roy.

Moira put her hand on Felicity's shoulder. "He's very fond of you, dear. I haven't seen him this happy in a very long time."

"He's so in love with you he doesn't even know how to handle it." said Diggle.

"Do I have to offer an opinion?" inquired Quentin. "'Cause I don't think I have enough evidence to go on."

"Same here," admitted Joanna.

"Ever since you agreed to move in, he sings love songs when he thinks no one is around." Raisa stated. "It's very funny,"

Everyone who was drinking their milk when she said that nearly choked, including Felicity. "Raisa definitely has the best argument." she said as Mrs. Queen, Roy, and Detective Lance sputtered and cleared their throats.

"How did this whole thing even start, anyway?" queried Thea. "Like how did you even get to this point?"

Felicity swallowed a mouthful of cookie. "He needed my help when he spilt a latte on his laptop, and from then on he just kept coming by the I.T. department with random tasks for me to do. I think one time he needed help with Facebook, and another time he wanted help with a scavenger hunt. He promised me a bottle of wine for that one, but he didn't pony up until my birthday on June first. I thought it was hilarious because by the time I got it, I couldn't drink it. Anyway, stuff like that kept happening and then he just showed up at my place on Valentine's Day and seduced me. I never got to eat that box of chocolates I bought myself because he startled me and I spilled them all over the floor. Other than that, it was awesome."

"My brother's had a crush on a nerd this whole time." Thea giggled. "And he got her pregnant. The kid is going to be like some nerd/cool person hybrid. He'll be really good-looking but so smart that people won't know how to deal with him. He'll be incredibly charming yet have little to no social aptitude. He'll like partying and playing Dungeons & Dragons. I cannot wait to be an aunt."

"Where are you getting 'he' from?" asked Felicity, only to get a shrug in response. "And what do you mean by 'little to no social aptitude'? Are you calling me socially awkward?" Her lips curled into a smile, knowing it was completely true.

"That Roy rambling you did earlier was pretty memorable." she quipped, taking a bite of her cookie.

"They stopped yelling," Quentin pointed out.

In a fit of (hopefully) irrational fear, Felicity dashed from the kitchen to see if they stopped shouting only to move onto an equally passionate but less hateful activity. Please don't be making out, please don't be making out, please don't be making out…

When he made it to the living room, she saw them sitting on opposite sides of the coffee table, no parts of their bodies touching at all. They turned when they heard her breathe a sigh of relief.

Oliver stood up immediately and raced over to give her the biggest hug he could without injuring her. "You're not gonna leave, are you?" he asked quietly.

Felicity couldn't remember him ever sounding so vulnerable, and it nearly made her cry. She wrapped her arms around him. "I wasn't planning on it."

He kissed her cheek. "Just checking," he said, sounding significantly manlier this time. "You believe I love you, right?"

"Yes," she answered, pulling away so they could make eye contact. "But if I'm ever wrong and you do leave me, I will sic the Hood on you. And he would totally go for it because you're a rich asshole and I'm his lovable sidekick. Is that understood?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow, the ghost of a smile on his lips. "Yes, ma'am."

"Hey," Laurel seemed profoundly less irate than before as she walked up to the couple. "Oliver, don't screw this up, okay?" she said with a smirk. "And Felicity, if you ever need anything, whether it's legal advice or dirt on Ollie, you just call me."

"I'll be sure to do that. Thanks, Laurel!" As the astonishingly helpful ex left to join the cookie group in the kitchen, Oliver looked at Felicity pleadingly.

"Please don't talk about me with Laurel."

"And miss out on all the fun stories of when you were in your early twenties? Not gonna happen." She nuzzled his nose and gave him a peck on the lips. "Well, I'm tired now. I'm gonna go to bed."

Oliver did that weird cute pouty duck face thing as she walked away. "Name your price."

"Five hundred bajillion dollars," she replied as she ascended the stairs. "Otherwise Laurel and I will swap embarrassing stories about you while we braid each other's hair and paint each other's nails and dance around to girly music."

"Do not hang out with my ex."

"Hey, Laurel, did you know Oliver is ticklish? Isn't it hilarious? He flops around like a fish." She taunted, giving him a sample of what it would be like.

"Felicity—"

"Run, run, runaway, runaway, baby, before I put my spell on you…" she sang, leaning against the bannister. "Do you know that song? You should. It's 'Runaway Baby' by Bruno Mars and it's your theme song. Laurel and I will sing it and laugh because it reminds us of you."

"How did I fall in love with such a weirdo?" he mumbled to himself.

"Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance' is a good one too. Maybe we could put a mix together and listen to that while we exchange our reviews of your sexual performance."

"Just go to bed already, you crazy person!" he begged, a huge smile on his face. She returned the grin as she walked out of sight. "And when are you going to marry me?" he called after her.

"Drive By" by Train

This was originally going to be way more emotional, but I decided on cookies and banter and bonding instead. And look! Laurel wasn't a bitch! I feel like a magician.