This is one of Nathan's favorite moment of the day. Him doing his homework at the kitchen table while his Dad is preparing dinner. Ok, so the homework part maybe not so much but the rest definitely so.
Then again those homeworks are rather easy - He started like 15 minutes ago and he's almost done. His mom told him several times that it is not a race, but he can't help it if his brain works really fast. He got that from her after all - or so his Dad says.
Besides he has better things to do. Like re-read the entire Harry Potter series.
His Dad drops a plate of fresh cookies on the table.
"Here you go buddy."
"Yum. Thanks Dad."
He bites in the gooey stuff, enjoying the chocolate flavors. He's about to swallow when a shrill scream startles him and the cookie comes down the wrong pipe.
His sister comes hurtling in the kitchen, holding the brand new smartphone she got for her 15 birthday.
"You almost killed your brother," their Dad says while Nate is coughing out his lungs.
"Strangulation by cookie," Nathan confirms in a raspy voice, washing it down with orange juice. Fresh one of course. Chef Oliver Queen doesn't allow anything else in the house.
"Sorry Nate," Millie says. "Oh, cookies."
Momentarily distracted,she grabs one before shoving her phone in her father's face.
"Dad! Arrow is coming to Starling City. This is the absolute best day of my life ! It's just one performance. Can I go ? Please please please?"
The sentence ends up on an excited squeal as she starts jumping up and down.
Nathan just rolls his eyes. It's no secret that Arrow is Millie's favourite band. There is an entire wall on her bedroom dedicated to them.
"I'm going to die if I see them on stage," She sighs while putting her hand on her heart in a very dramatic fashion.
"Then what's the point of buying you a ticket?" Their father deadpans.
"Come on Dad, you know what I mean. Please. I'm desperate."
Oliver turns to her with a confused look. "I thought your name was Millie."
Nathan snickers, and Millie's shoulders sag in annoyance.
"Dad jokes, Daddy. Mom talked to you about this."
Their Dad shrugs before putting a plate in the oven and setting the timer. Nathan doesn't see the problem with his dad's jokes. They are funny. Most of the time.
"How much is the ticket?" he asks
She gives him an amount and he whistle softly before turning to Nathan.
"Are they worth the price?"
Nathan straightens a little bit in his chair. He likes when his dad asks for his opinion even if it's just about some stupid boys band...on which he doesn't really has an opinion, actually.
"It's not really my style."
Millie scoffs.
"What do you know? You listen to Disney music."
"Emilia."
The calm yet stern tone quiets her down immediately.
Not that Nate is offended anyway. Disney songs are cool and he is not ashamed to say the princess movies are is favourites. He smiles when Millie mutters 'sorry' and comes to kiss him on the head.
"I like Disney songs," their Mom comments as she walks into the kitchen, depositing the laundry basket she's holding on the table and giving a pointed look to Millie. "Also do I have to remind you how many times you made your father watch Frozen? I'm pretty sure this is what gave me that meningitis."
"What is meningitis?" Nate asks.
"A bad illness. Your Mom caught it a few years ago. She had to stay in the hospital for a few days." His mom rubs his dad's arm with a soft smile and Nate guesses that this is not a good memory.
"Do you remember it ?" He asks Millie.
"No, I was too young. But apparently I helped Dad clean the house and he tooks lots of funny pictures."
Nathan writes down the word intending on looking it up later. If his mom had to go to the hospital, it must have been serious. He's fascinated by everything related to the human body, and biology is his favourite matter in school.
"But seriously, Mom, It's Arrow. They're coming to Starling City."
Felicity smiles. "Yes, I figured that out with all the ruckus you made." She walks to their dad and press a kiss on his lips. "Hey."
He replies with a goofy smile and another kiss. "Hey."
Nate shakes his head and Millie sighs. They know better than to interrupt their parents when they're having a 'moment'.
Millie's patience is limited though in this case. "Ok but can we stop with the gross kissing and talk about that concert? It's super important to me, guys."
Oliver reluctantly pulls away but keeps his hand on Felicity's waist. "Would Robbie come with you?" he asks, mentioning Millie's best friend.
She shrugs. "Probably not. He doesn't like them. He mocks them every time they're on TV or the radio. I don't know what's his deal."
Nate sees his parents exchange a knowing look, but he has no idea what it means. A grown up thing, probably. Also he always liked Robbie, but now he definitely appreciates him a little bit more.
"Sara loves them too. If you let me go, Uncle John will buy her a ticket too, I'm sure," Millie says, hope tainting her voice.
Nate smiles at the thought of Sara Diggle. She's always kind to him and doesn't treat him like a little kid. After his parents and sister, Sara is his favorite person in the world.
With an impish smile Millie wraps her arms around her father's looking up at him.
"Please. You know you'll say yes,because you're the best Dada in the world."
Their mother lets out a giggle and Oliver snorts. "Oh, that statement feels so genuine and not at all interested." He gives Millie a fond smile. "Ok, but you need an adult to come with you."
"Oh, I'll go with them." Felicity says, raising her hand.
Millie lets out another ear-splitting shriek. "You would come with us? For real?"
"You mean will I go to a concert to watch young men singing and dancing all sweaty and shirtless? It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. I want to nail this parenting thing."
Oliver groans as Millie squeals and hugs her mom tightly before giving Oliver the same treatment.
"You guys are the best!"
Oliver presses a kiss to her head. "You better go check if John is willing to let Sara go too."
"He will. I'll call her right now!" She leaves the kitchen with a litany of delighted 'Oh my God, Oh my God!'
Oliver opens the oven, checking on his plate before turning to Nathan.
"I guess Nate and I will make a boy's night out of it, then."
Nathan immediately perks up at that. All this boy band talk was really not interesting, until now. " Can we watch the Avengers?"
Oliver ruffles his hair. "We can do whatever you want."
Nathan closes his books and put them in his school backpack with a satisfied smile. His father is working at the restaurant in the evenings half of the week, so when he's there they always do family stuff, the four of them, which is great. But the prospect of having his dad to himself for an entire evening truly makes his day.
He doesn't even care that his parents are back to kissing.
Oliver leans against the doorframe of Millie's room just as she finishes her phone call, sitting on her bed.
"Is it settled? Sara's coming?"
Millie nods enthusiastically. "She was super excited too. And when he knew Mom was coming with us, Uncle John said yes immediately."
"Good. I'll buy the tickets tomorrow morning then."
"Thank you so much, Dad."
He walks into the room and comes to press a kiss on her forehead. "Don't stay up late, ok ? Tomorrow is a school day."
"Hey Dad? You know how we laughed earlier because I said you're the best Dada in the world? I mean it, you know. I'm not just saying this because you got me concert tickets, I promise."
Oliver's heart swells at her candid words. He knows that, of course. He appreciates it all the same, especially when she raises on her knees and hugs him. Millie has always been an affectionate girl, but since she became a teenager the displays of affections have been a bit more sparse. He presses her tightly against him as she kisses him on the cheek.
"If you're happy then I did my job right. Good night, baby girl," he says, glad that his voice is not betraying how emotional he feels. Her sweet and joyful smile is all the thanks he needs.
Felicity is comfortably settled in bed with her book, waiting for Oliver to come out of the bathroom.
She does not expect though to see him appear wearing only his sweatpants, with a few drops still adorning his chest and holding a hairbrush in his hand. He presses his thumb on his phone screen and the first notes of an Arrow song starts.
"Somebody asked for sweaty and shirtless?" he asks, giving her a smoldering look as she bursts out laughing.
To her amazement, he starts singing - not too badly - to the song, using the hairbrush as a mike, paired with the appropriate hip movements. Felicity responds accordingly, cupping her hands around her mouth and softly shouting her appreciation. (It's really not the moment to wake up the kids.) She jumps off the bed and grabs a few of her panties from the dresser, before throwing them at Oliver. One of them lands on his head and he grabs it, pressing a kiss on it and giving her an exaggerated wink.
"Want me to autograph that for you, babe?"
She stifles a laugh, meeting him at the edge of their bed and snatching the panty back.
"No way. It's my most expensive pair," she scoffs before adding "But A+ performance, though."
"Not too bad for an old guy, huh?"
"Oliver, you're 38."
He shrugs. "I know, but...these guys are like 20 years old. And yet I can still do what they do, right? Also, I'm pretty sure they can't cook."
Felicity bites her lip and tries not to laugh. "Honey, are you having a midlife crisis already ?"
He thinks about it for a minute. "Nah, I'm fine. I just gave you a Grammy Award performance, right?"
She smiles teasingly, her fingers grabbing the waistband of his sweatpants, tugging on it slightly.
"I don't know about Grammy Award, but...A Felicity Queen Award maybe?"
His eyebrows meet his hairline. "Tell me more."
She scoots back on the bed, tilting her head with a tempting smile. "Come here and find out...that is, if you don't feel too old."
Oliver definitely wins the Felicity Award that night...and then some.