Author's Note: So not only did this chapter basically write itself, it's also pretty much pure fluff. Because apparently that's what my poor little soul needed after this week's episode. Truthfully, I'm a little worried that some of this might seem out of character - I hope not, because I really just needed to give our babies a happy moment (and also because writing this just came so naturally). Let me know what you think.

Secondary AN: I've re-uploaded this chapter with a few corrections. I read through it and found some mistakes in the tense. Sorry about that, but it should be good to go now.

By the end of the week, Felicity could no longer argue with Oliver over the lack of a place to shower. She'd known that they'd already started the project, because she and Digg had split the cost of the building materials. Oliver had tried to object, of course, but Digg had joked about it being a housewarming gift and Felicity had simply ignored him. A place to shower was a necessity, she'd said, and then promptly paid the cashier.

Still, Felicity was surprised when she turned up at the lair on Friday and discovered Digg and Oliver standing in the middle of a finished bathroom, admiring their handiwork with smiles that bordered on gloating. She was about to ask if Digg had experience with this sort of thing when she found herself distracted by the realization that Oliver was shirtless and covered in a fine layer of wood shavings. Why was it that no matter how many times she saw Oliver half dressed, the sight still derailed her? This is getting ridiculous, she chided herself. Get over it, Smoak.

"Does it work?" She didn't remember what else she was going to say.

Digg scoffed in reply. "Of course it works."

Oliver grinned and leaned forward to turn on the faucet. The pipes whined and chugged loudly, and then water went spitting out of the showerhead like a mini explosion. Felicity yelped and hopped backward, out of the spray, and Digg managed to get away with little more than a wet sleeve. Oliver, on the other hand, was on the receiving end of an impromptu shower. He scrambled to turn off the water, but by the time he managed it he was thoroughly soaked.

Shocked, Oliver blinked hard several times to clear the water from his eyes. He looked at his friends between the rivulets of water that ran out of his hair and down his face. Neither of them seemed to know what to do.

Then, Felicity started laughing. There was no build up, no quiet chuckling or increasingly frantic giggles; one minute she was gaping at him, and the next she was clutching her sides and gasping for air. Diggle's laughter wasn't far behind. Oliver glared daggers at both of them.

"You look like a drowned cat!" Felicity crowed.

Diggle had been trying to laugh quietly, but at Felicity's comparison his shoulders started to shake from the effort.

"I think I have to sit down," she sputtered.

Oliver flicked water at her in response.

Felicity had only been seated a few seconds before Digg joined her. He was still smiling, and it made her enjoy the moment all the more. The three of them had passed many days without a single smile between them in the last few years, so she never failed to appreciate the lighter times. There was no way of knowing when the next one would come.

"How's Lyla?" Felicity questioned as she fiddled with her computer.

"Good," Digg answered a little evasively.

The pipes whined and gurgled again, although it was quieter this time. Felicity chuckled. Oliver had obviously decided to take a proper shower.

"Everything okay between you two?" She prodded.

Digg nodded and smiled. "Yeah. We're good."

"I'm glad."

Felicity had purposely chosen to wear pants instead of a dress today. She was putting the final touches on the computer system, and had anticipated having to repeatedly crawl under her desk to fiddle with cables.

Digg excused himself. He had supplied his own tools for the shower project and set about collecting those that weren't sequestered in the bathroom with Oliver. They'd lucked out on not having to knock down any walls to extend the room. Glancing around at the walls and ceiling, Digg admitted that they probably wouldn't have been able to do that anyway. Every wall and support beam in the place was made of concrete, and that was beyond his skill.

Felicity had brought a portable speaker with her. Work – and life – was better with music. She plugged the auxiliary cable in to her phone and then chose a playlist at random. When she was satisfied that the song was upbeat enough for her mood, she turned up the volume and then proceeded to crawl under the desk.

Computers had always been comforting to Felicity. She understood how they worked and how to fix them, or make them better. There were small differences in the brands, but for the most part she knew they were all the same. Some of the hardest and darkest times of her life had been endured with the help of computers and modern technology. Those things made sense to her in ways that her fellow man never had.

She triple checked that the cooling fan was working properly while she was down there. Knowing that she only had one computer to work with made Felicity nervous, and it wasn't exactly the newest model. Still, everything seemed to be working to her standards, so she popped out from beneath the desk and into her chair.

Behind her, Digg took a minute to glance around at their new lair. He hadn't realized before how comfortable he'd been in the basement of that nightclub. Now, he found it strange not to see things in the places he expected them to be. They'd kept the layout the same to make it easier to get used to, but the differences were there. The most notable of which was the pronounced lack of bass infused music coming from the floor above them. At any rate, the place was finally starting to look – and feel – functional.

It's a new beginning, Lyla's voice said in his head. Only she'd been talking about a different thing, and that only reminded him that he really needed to talk to his friends.

"Yes!" Felicity exclaimed suddenly, punctuating the word with a triumphant fist pump.

"Good news?" Oliver queried. He'd emerged from the bathroom in clean, dry clothes, and was making his way toward her.

A blonde ponytail whipped through the air as Felicity spun her chair around to face him. "We're in, baby!"

Oliver almost tripped over his own feet. The words were just an expression, a colloquialism, but it caught him off guard. A heartbeat passed in which a very irrational part of Oliver was convinced that Felicity had just called him baby.

Then her ivory cheeks went pink and her eyes widened. "I mean … I wasn't calling you baby, that's not what I meant …"

Oliver quickly covered his surprise. "I know," he assured her. "I'm assuming the computer system is up and running?"

"Like Lindsay Tate."

His brow furrowed as he joined her at the desk. "Lindsay Tate?"

"Star of the college track team," Felicity explained. "Four years in a row."

"And you remember that?" Digg teased, moving to stand on the other side of her.

"Only because we were roommates." Felicity spun her chair back to the computer. With a few deft keystrokes she'd opened all of the programs they routinely used to track targets. She pinged Oliver's cell to demonstrate that it worked, and then started scanning the police department's frequency for chatter. "It's not as fast as I'd like, but it'll get the job done until we can get a few more computers together."

"Do you have the parts to build another one? Or rebuild one?" Digg asked.

"Unfortunately, no. Which reminds me – I have a job again."

"You make that sound like a bad thing."

"Think more 'soul crushing'."

"Where?" Oliver prompted.

"A tech shop, of all places. I'm way overqualified for the position."

"Then why did you take the position?" Digg challenged.

"Because I'm bored. And I'll make enough to pay my bills, and with the employee discount I'll be able to get my hands on plenty of computer parts to get this place up to par. Besides, it's not like it's forever."

The former bodyguard shrugged a shoulder in agreement. "Fair enough."

"What about you? Got any prospects lined up, or are you enjoying being a kept man?" Felicity teased.

Digg sighed and then straightened his shoulders. Now was as good a time as any, he figured. "That's about to change, actually. There's something I've been meaning to tell you guys."

That definitely had their attention. Oliver put a hand on the back of Felicity's chair, just behind her head, and they both looked at him expectantly.

"Lyla is pregnant. I'm gonna be a dad."

Felicity processed his words first. She flung herself out of the chair and straight into him, hugging him as tightly as she could. When she pulled away she gave him a sound kiss on the cheek. Then she clapped excitedly.

"I'm so happy for you, John! That's the best news ever! Do you know the sex yet? Have you picked names?"

"Breathe, Felicity," Oliver instructed, but he was grinning broadly as he shook the other man's hand vigorously. "That's great news, man. I'm happy for you."

Digg released the breath he'd been holding. The news had been a surprise for him as well, and though he'd recovered from the initial shock, it was still odd to say the words aloud. In a lot of ways, it still didn't seem real. He was going to be a father. Sharing the news went a long way on that front though.

He was also relieved by Oliver and Felicity's reactions. Digg hadn't known what sort of response to expect; it had been just the three of them for the better part of two years, and a baby would change all of that. He'd hoped that his team would be happy for him, of course, but hope was a fickle weapon against worry. A weight had been lifted off of his shoulders today.

Felicity shot several more rapid-fire questions at Digg. Oliver used the distraction to slip away under the pretense of giving the new bathroom a final going over. What he was really doing was giving himself a minute to process everything: Diggle was going to be a father. Oliver knew that his friend was going to make a terrific parent, and that any child born to him would count themselves lucky.

What would that sort of life be like, he wondered. What would it feel like to be a normal person – someone other than the man he was – and have a family? Try as he might, Oliver couldn't imagine a life like that for himself. Instead of a white picket fence, he saw cement walls; instead of a loving wife, he saw a twin bed in a basement and a green hood.

We're in, baby! He'd been ridiculous to think for even the tiniest second that Felicity was talking to him. In the first place, he doubted that Felicity was the type for pet names, and he certainly wasn't; in the second place, if Felicity ever did attach any term of endearment to anyone, it wouldn't be him. That wasn't in the cards for them; well, mostly for him.

Was it?

Did he want it to be?

In his mind's eye, Oliver saw Felicity as she had been that morning he'd woken up in her house: fresh faced and relaxed, computer parts in hand and a steaming cup of coffee in front of her.

He pushed the image away abruptly. He was not a normal man, or a good one, and Felicity deserved both of those things. Oliver only wanted the best for her, and that couldn't be him, whether he wanted it to be or not.

Which he didn't; of course he didn't. That would be ridiculous.

"Hey, man," Digg called out then, pulling Oliver from his thoughts. "I'm gonna head out for the night, if you don't need me."

Oliver met him at the bottom of the stairs and gave him another warm handshake. "Have a good night, Digg. And tell Lyla congratulations for me."

"Let's have a celebration dinner!" Felicity half yelled from her chair. "My treat! We can get dressed up and go out on the town, like normal people. In fact, I won't take no for answer."

Diggle chuckled dryly and glanced at Oliver. "We didn't even get a chance to argue."

"I heard that," Felicity glared at them. "Tell Lyla she gets to pick the restaurant."

"And when can we expect this mandatory night out to take place?"

"Next Saturday?" When neither of them objected, Felicity nodded decisively. "Next Saturday it is. But if she picks somewhere really fancy I'll need a few days to make a reservation. Now, shoo."

It was Oliver's turn to chuckle. Digg shot their female a friend a pointed look and then made his way up the stairs, mumbling all the way about women being taught to shoo in the womb.

"Dinner, huh?" Oliver said as he rejoined her at the computer station.

"Dinner," Felicity affirmed. "I haven't had a chance to dress up in a while, and before we know it Lyla won't have the chance."

"I hate to rain on your parade, Felicity, but …"

"Oh no you don't. I already said it'd be my treat. It'll be like a date … only with four of us." She pursed her lips and her brow furrowed as she thought about her words. "Did I just make us sound like polygamists?"

Oliver tipped his head to the side and studied her face. Sometimes he really wished he knew how her brain worked. "I think the word you're looking for is double date."

Felicity's expression brightened visibly. "That's it! Only … well, not a double date exactly, since you and I aren't actually a couple … not that … you know what, I'm just gonna stop there."

She huffed in irritation and turned her attention back to the computer. There had to be some cultures in the world where she would qualify as having an actual disability.

Beside her, Oliver made no reply; he was too busy realizing, with no small amount of trepidation, that the dropping sensation he'd felt in his chest at Felicity's denial of their double date status seemed an awful lot like disappointment.

Later that night, when he went to sleep in the bed that Felicity had bought him, Oliver dreamt that he was standing by a lake. Felicity was there with him, but every time he tried to talk to her she got farther away, until they stood on opposite sides of the shore. She kept saying his name and asking him for something, but he couldn't make sense enough of her words to know what it was.