= December 2017 - Star City =
The doorbell rang and Felicity groaned. This was their first Christmas as a family. She and Ray weren't married yet, but they might as well be. They were engaged and raising three girls. The marriage part was really just a ceremony and a piece of paper at that point.
Ray had invited her mom and had only told her the night before. He had tried to go on about how it was going to be fun and how the girls had really enjoyed the last time she was there...but for the life of her...Felicity couldn't get excited. It wasn't that she didn't love her mom, because she did...it was just that she was exhausted.
Being a parent.
Being a parent to three girls who were not technically YOURS and that you hadn't raised since they were born...that was a bit of a challenge. Most days were good, but some days were a bit bumpy. Felicity tried to do her best to be there when they needed her...but she was also working full time at Palmer Technologies as VP. It was all really exhausting. She wasn't the only one, Ray hadn't worked on one project outside of work since the first week the girls had arrived back to Star City with them. They were both exhausted.
Ray was the one who opened the door and still somehow had a smile on his face even though he was utterly exhausted.
"Who's ready for some holiday celebrating?!" Donna squealed and the entire house heard it. It looked like she'd brought along enough things that meant that she was moving there, handing things off to Ray.
"Mom...I thought you were only staying through the holiday," Felicity said slowly taking in all the luggage.
The girls were there a moment later and her mother seemed too busy telling them that they were all 'angels' and talking about how much they'd grown and how much she'd missed them to answer her. Once Donna was done hugging them and kissing them, which meant transferring lipstick kiss marks onto their cheeks. "I am just SO happy that I get to spend the next few weeks with you!" Donna enthused to the girls.
"Few weeks?" Felicity said slowly and looked towards Ray. She had thought that it was going to be two weeks. This sounded a lot longer. Obviously he either didn't realize what he was getting them into OR he didn't know how to say 'no' to her mother. Felicity highly doubted that he was actually trying to drive her crazy or that he considered how her mother was going to push the fact that they needed to have a baby for her.
It was coming.
Felicity could feel it.
"I'm going to stay through until after New Years," her mother said with a shrug and then was twirling her hair. She smiled over at Felicity. "Please tell me that you're invited that LOVELY Quentin over for Hanukkah."
Poor, poor Quentin.
Her mother had been practically stalking him whenever she was in town and she'd just NOT ever brought up the topic with him. She was too embarrassed. Felicity had just figured that Quentin was too sweet and kind to say anything about it and had just been genuinely nice to keep her from feeling embarrassed.
"Are you talking about Grandpa?" Clara asked with a sweet smile.
"Grand...pa?" Donna questioned and looked towards her.
"So, Quentin's probably the closest I've had to a dad in a while and he sort of was happy to take on the role of grandfather for the girls," Felicity explained. "It's not that big of a deal."
"YES IT IS."
"Mom, he doesn't celebrate Hanukkah."
"He came to the holiday party last year...with that weird tree."
"Christmas tree?" Clara perked.
"I guess we really didn't discuss what holidays we'd be celebrating this December," Ray said.
"We always celebrated Christmas in Central City," Clara said quietly.
Alex and Etta were quiet, but that was fairly normal. Once her mom was there for an hour...they'd all be chattering and likely worrying Felicity. What holidays to celebrate just hadn't been something she'd worried about when they brought the girls to Star City. They'd just been concerned about giving them love and a home...being a family.
"Well, don't worry, Sweetie...we'll celebrate Christmas…" Donna told her. "But we're going to celebrate Hanukkah, too."
"It doesn't matter that we're not Jewish?" Alex asked.
Donna shrugged. "We had a weird tree-"
"If we're going to celebrate Christmas, I am declaring now...that that's the tree we're going to have this year, too," Felicity spoke up. Her mother really wasn't pleased by that. "It can be part of our tradition… As a family...THIS family...this is our first Hanukkah and Christmas together."
"Kids at school call it Chrismukkah when you celebrate both Christmas AND Hanukkah," Clara told them. "But I don't know how that makes sense...you would think it would be something like Hanumas…"
"Yeah...I think Chrismukkah sounds better," Alex told her.
"How about we all stop for a moment," Ray said. "I know that you guys always celebrated Christmas, but here's an important question...what is Christmas to you three."
It was a good question.
Everyone was quiet and allowed the girls to think about the question. Felicity knew that Christmas had morphed through the forever years of it being around. For some people, Christmas was a very religious holiday while for others it was all about Santa, shopping, and presents. Ray was smart to ask the girls what it meant for THEM, that would really help them know what they needed to do to make December right for them. Obviously they didn't seem to be against celebrating Hanukkah, too...so that was good.
"Christmas was about Santa...and presents...and being together...and the house being so beautifully decorated," Clara explained, completely lit up as she talked about it.
"For the record, I know there's no such thing as Santa," Etta told them.
"Don't you know?" Ray asked Etta as he moved close to her. "It's not about whether you believe in Santa or not...it's about believing in something that's a miracle...in believing in SOMETHING. That's the gift."
"It's like 'Doctor Who'," Alex spoke up. "Whenever you get scared, what do I tell you?"
Etta just stared at her for a long time before responding. "That the Doctor will appear…"
"Why?"
"Because in nine hundred years of time and space, the Doctor never met anyone who wasn't important," Etta responded. "I am important...so the Doctor would save me."
"You BELIEVE in the Doctor, Etta," Alex pointed out.
Felicity couldn't be more proud of the girls than in that moment. To her, it was going to make the tradition of the book tree even more special. It was also going to mean that they could add in the tradition of the 'Doctor Who' Christmas special as part of their tradition.
"Alex?" Ray asked.
The blonde preteen shrugged. "We always had a tree and there were always presents...but that was all… My dad tried to be home, but that didn't always happen." She was quiet for a moment. "So, honestly, I'm excited for ANY type of family tradition."
"So, book tree," Felicity said.
Her mother crinkled up her face. "I suppose...we could do that...as long as we're celebrating Hanukkah...and that we can invite Quentin over...several times...while I'm visiting."
Felicity sighed and motioned towards Ray. "There's your task."
"Wait...what?" Ray sputtered, obviously surprised.
"But first…" Felicity said. She moved over and hugged her mom. "You're here...and I am not prepared...but I'm sure you're prepared for it...so," she said slowly as she reached out and grabbed Ray's hand. "I'm going to leave you out here to catch up with the girls while Ray and I go and nap."
"Nap?" Donna asked confused.
"Obviously we've been tiring them out," Clara said. "Ray fell asleep in his breakfast yesterday."
"I don't remember that," Ray mumbled as she pulled him back towards the bedroom.
"Don't forget what I want for Christmas!" Donna shouted after them. "It's not something you can buy in the store!"
Felicity just groaned and rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long month. She knew that she wouldn't be as grumpy if she'd known AND if she'd slept more. Holidays were no time of the year to spring something like this on her, she was really going to have to talk to Ray about that.
For now, though.
They slept.
When they woke and slowly made their way out to check on the girls...to make sure they were all still breathing, Felicity and Ray were shocked to see what they found in the living room area. They'd assembled a book tree and they'd already decorated it. They'd figured out how to get the candles and snowflakes to float from the ceiling in that section. She wasn't sure if it was done in the best way, but it didn't matter.
They'd done it…
Slowly, she moved towards the book tree and took in every single decoration they'd adorned it with. Tears filled her eyes when she came upon two that she hadn't expected. She reached out to touch them and she found Ray wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her.
"Is it wrong?" Clara asked as she moved over to where they were. "I found them in a package, but Nan didn't think that it would be a problem to take them out."
The Arrow.
The Flash.
Felicity knew it was silly, but she'd bought them both a while ago, wanting them as keepsakes. The Arrow one had been a little harder to find. She had actually wished that they'd made a Canary one, but Sara hadn't been around in Starling City for that long...and the red costume hadn't been either.
"I'm sorry-"
Reaching out, Felicity pulled Clara into a hug. "Don't be sorry...it's perfect...I wouldn't have thought about adding them."
Oliver.
Barry.
Her thoughts raised to the first time they'd met Barry, before he was The Flash. A smile graced her lips as she thought about how it was just around that time. God, she missed them both. Of course, Barry was just a train ride away, but Felicity hadn't visited Central City since they'd brought the girls to Star City. She'd text Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco here and there...and they'd ask for consults for Palmer Technologies things...but that was it.
"Then why are you crying?" Clara asked her with concern.
"Because the holidays bring memories."
"Bad ones?"
"Good ones, too," she whispered and kissed Clara's forehead. "And we're going to make good memories...and we're going to figure out our own traditions and our own way to do the holiday season."
"I like that idea."
"Me, too," her mother said from the kitchen. There was suddenly screeching and when they turned, there was smoke coming from the stove. Her mother really wasn't handy in the kitchen...her being around the microwave and toaster was something dangerous...let alone the stovetop.
"Back away!" Ray called as they broke apart and moved to take care of the impending full on fire in the kitchen.
"What are you making?" Felicity asked her mother.
"Latkes? I told the girls I would," Donna responded and was immediately weepy.
Before either of them could grab the fire extinguisher, Alex had already taken care of it. "What? I pay attention in school. "When Nan said that she didn't know how these were going to turn out and that she didn't really cook...I figured that it would be best to have the baking soda handy."
It was so sweet, Felicity thought, all three of the girls had taken to calling Quentin 'Grandpa' even though no one had forced them. It had actually been from Alex, she'd asked him if that made him like their grandpa and he'd liked the sound of it...so they'd started to call him that. Her mom, however, didn't like being called 'Grandma' because apparently that had made her sound too old...so after going through an entire list on the internet of different names to call grandparents…'Nan' had stuck. It was like Nana, but to her mom...it sounded more like a nickname than 'Nana'. It was nice, it made it feel more like a solidifying family.
The girls had been with them for a few months now and they hadn't gotten all of the papers through yet. For Etta and Clara, it was an easy thing...Paul and Ella had had a will saying that their wishes were for Ray to have custody of the girls if anything were to happen. The snag was Alex, but they'd been granted temporary custody given the circumstances. With how many orphans or 'displaced children' had been left behind after the bombing in Central City, there was no way that anyone would remove a child from a safe, loving, happy home. Especially not at the holidays, but she knew that it was something that the girls DID worry about, even Clara and Etta. Clara and Etta actually didn't want to go through with the adoption process until they knew that Alex could as well, they wanted to do it all together and there were still so many things that they were all thinking about...questions that she and Ray had given them to think about before the final adoption papers were ready.
"Maybe you should stick to Menorah duty and dreidels…" Felicity suggested gently.
"Maybe you're right," Donna gave in with a sigh. "There has to be a Jewish place that we can order from locally, right?"
"Yeah, but isn't it more fun to make it ourselves?" Ray offered. "I mean, maybe if we ALL work on together...we can figure it out and make them...safely...without there being a possibility of calling the fire department."
"And if all else fails, we still have more baking soda," Alex put out there.
Donna's face lit up. "I like that kind of attitude...and hey...maybe I'll learn something…" She motioned towards the book tree. "I learned so much from the girls about the decorations they used...things I didn't understand the importance of."
"I can't believe that Nan has not watched 'Doctor Who'," Clara said like it was the most insane thing she'd ever heard. "I mean...how are you related?"
She asked herself that sometimes, too.
Felicity just smiled. "Well, she's going to be here through Christmas, so that means that she can watch the Christmas special, right?"
"Oh yes!" Clara beamed and bounced a bit. "We are so doing it properly, too… Paper crowns and everything."
"Paper crowns?" Donna asked.
"We still have some time to figure out everything we want in time for any holiday any one wants to celebrate this month," Ray put out there. "Maybe we can go to that import store...the place that imports the things from other countries...what's it called?"
"World...Market?" all three girls asked slowly in unison as they stared at Ray before giggling like crazy.
= December 12, 2017 =
= First Night of Hanukkah =
"One of my friends puts their menorah on the mantle," Clara said. "Does it matter where we put it?" she asked as they all stood in the rather large window in the kitchen. It was the only common window area where they could all pretty much see it in the common areas of the house.
Donna had been telling them all about Hanukkah, stories of why it was important and stories of Hanukkah growing up. "I like to put it in the window because I think it shows that I'm proud of my heritage…" Donna told her. "Now, I know plenty of people that just don't like it there or they don't have a good window to put it in...or fire hazard-"
"Like that one year we burnt down the drapes in the living room and there was a permanent hole in the carpet?" Felicity brought up.
Smiling, Donna nodded. "I was hoping that she'd forgotten that story."
"It's actually a good memory...even though it was terrifying at the time… I remember how we rearranged the furniture afterwards so that we could hide the hole in the carpet under the couch.
Felicity was glad that the girls and Ray were so okay with celebrating Hanukkah. It seemed to really brighten her mother to be able to share traditions and stories with the girls. As she thought about it, thinking about all of the winter holidays there were in the world, Felicity was just happy and grateful for what they had...they had their freedom, their safety, a home, they had food, they had each other, and they had happiness...why not celebrate all of that?
"Happy Hanukkah," Felicity said quietly and just smiled, her eyes locking with her mother. Ray wrapped an arm around her and they just all stared at the candles lit on the menorah that night. Last year, she'd been terrified about everyone leaving...about moving on with her life...about this being a new chapter. Thinking back, she wouldn't change anything now...well, besides a bit more sleep. THIS was exactly where she was supposed to be...this was her path.
This was THEIR path.
= December 22, 2017 =
It was the Friday before Christmas, which fell on a Monday that year. Her phone rang early, waking her. She and Ray had taken the day off and actually had given the entire company paid time off from Friday until after New Year's. They all deserved it, but given that...she hadn't expected any calls.
"Hello?" she mumbled as she sat half up in bed, her eyes still shut.
"Felicity? Sorry to wake you...I wouldn't have if this wasn't big news."
It took her a moment...and then sitting completely up and opening her eyes before she could really process who she was talking to and what was being said. "Laurel?"
"Yeah...hey…"
"Hey."
"So, I'm calling you guys because I've been working to get as many kids that have been placed with relatives adopted by Christmas. That means you guys-"
"But the girls won't because of Alex-"
"The judge has already reviewed the files and on Tuesday...you need to bring the girls to Central City...it might not be BEFORE Christmas, but their adoptions will be official as long as they still want it," Laurel explained.
"Oh my God! Really? Tuesday?"
"Yeah, Tuesday. You guys ready for it to be official?"
"You have NO idea!" Felicity exclaimed as she moved to get out of bed. Ray was awake now and making curious faces at her one sided conversation that he was hearing. "The girls are going to be so excited."
"Will you be able to make it here Tuesday morning?"
"We'll be out on the first train," Felicity said.
"Good, I'll see you there."
"Hey, Laurel?"
"Yeah?"
"Merry Christmas...and thank you."
"Merry Christmas...to all of you."
The phone call ended and Felicity just stood there by the bed almost in a trance. She couldn't believe it was happening. She set her phone down on the nightstand table and just burst into tears. There were so many emotions running through her. They hadn't expected this to happen until after the New Year. They'd gone through every other hoop. They'd gotten a new and bigger place. Her mother even had a room of her own when she visited. The girls each had their own room even though Clara and Alex had wanted to really share. They'd had home visits and interviews. The girls had been visited at school and had been talked to a few times.
"Felicity...what's wrong?" Ray asked worriedly.
Even though she didn't celebrate Christmas, Felicity was suddenly feeling what Ray had said earlier in the month. That sometimes Christmas wasn't about religion or Santa...it was about believing… And they'd believed that they could be a family. From that point on, she knew that December and its respective holidays were always going to be extra special because they would not only represent when they were officially brought together as a family, but remind them that the truly important things with those holidays was about family and celebrating together. They'd made their own traditions that year and now they were even more meaningful.
She couldn't get the words out and sat on the bed for a moment, trying to contain and calm herself. She'd been waiting for that phone call...they both had. It had been expected. Felicity just was so overjoyed. So relieved. She also knew exactly what that was going to mean for all of them. It was going to be official. There wouldn't be any more need for worries.
"Who was on the phone?" he asked next.
"They're ours," was all she could get out.
"What?"
Felicity put her hands on either side of his face as she just stared at him. "The girls...they're ours."
"The adoption?"
"We see the judge on Tuesday."
"For all three?"
"For all three," she confirmed and kissed him. His arms wrapped around her and she wrapped hers around him. They both laughed in between kisses after a moment. Felicity pushed away the tears. They were happy tears. "Can we wait to tell them?" she asked. Her brain was reeling with ideas of HOW to tell them and WHEN to tell them.
"Uh, can it be before Tuesday?"
Felicity just beamed. "Before Tuesday."
"Okay," Ray said.
"But now I have a lot of things to do-"
"Like what?" Ray questioned.
"I want to make them feel like this is their PERMANENT home," Felicity explained. "Remember I wanted to use those photos we brought from their house? I wanted to put their names up by their doors and pictures...I want to do that now."
"Okay...I think that would make things make this feel permanent for all of us."
She just smiled at him and then another thought hit her. "And...and I think we should get married on Tuesday."
"What?"
That blurted out bit really caught him off guard. They'd kept pushing back when to get married because of everything being up in the air about the girls. Why not Tuesday? "Then it will always be the day that we ALL became ONE family… We'll go… We'll get married at the courthouse. We'll get the girls officially adopted." She shrugged. "I never wanted a big wedding and neither did you," she reminded. "My mom's here… Quentin can come…"
"What about everyone else? They're all overseas-"
Felicity thought about that for a moment. "I know. I thought about it. It won't be the same, but we can skype it… Plus, this is OUR new chapter...right? The most important people are going to be there...plus it's not like we could really fit THAT many people in when it's a justice of the peace wedding."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"You haven't gotten a dress."
"I won't need one-"
"You should have a dress, Felicity," Ray told her. "You and the girls...you should all have a dress."
"You have suits...but I suppose I could get you a tie."
"And you know what? Even though Diggle and everyone won't be able to be there...we DO have family in Central City," he reminded. "Barry, Caitlin, Cisco, Joe…"
"That's true."
"I'm going to call them."
"Right now, I'm going to just say that we're going to get married on Tuesday, but not tell the girls about the adoption...let's save that for Monday night…" Felicity said.
"But they'll be trying on dresses…"
"So, I'll tell them it's for the wedding…"
Ray just shrugged. "Okay."
= December 25, 2017 =
= Christmas Day =
They hadn't done a lot of presents since the girls had gotten gifts during Hanukkah. Christmas had pretty much entirely consisted of books and clothing, which were all things that they would have bought for the girls anyway. Quentin had come over and spent the day with them, he was in on what was going on tomorrow, and would be accompanying them to Central City (it was also a good excuse for him to hand deliver his gift to Laurel). Her mother, who was sitting incredibly close to Quentin, though still didn't know that anything was going on beyond a wedding. Felicity just didn't think that her mother could contain herself and wouldn't be able to keep the secret.
"Okay, so we have one more gift for each of you," Ray said. "BUT you have to open them all at the same time."
"At the same time?" Alex asked suspiciously.
"They're not some kind of weird matching outfits, are they?" Clara questioned.
Felicity just grinned and couldn't contain her excitement. There were three white dress boxes, each wrapped with a different color ribbon and bow that were stacked next to Quentin, they were all labeled and he'd been given the duty to protect them until it was time.
"You're just going to have to find out," Quentin told them as he handed them each a box.
The girls just sat there with the presents in their laps, staring down at the box. "Go on, open them," Ray prompted. Her mother was the only one in the dark, which was going to make the screaming THAT much louder when she found out what the gift was as well.
The boxes were opened and the girls just stared at their dresses that they'd already seen and tried on in the box. Their tights and shoes were also in the bottom of the box. The girls were confused and didn't seem to really be looking for anything more. "There's something else in the box," Felicity managed to get out without squealing with excitement.
"Oh-kay," Clara said slowly and all three girls started to dig through the boxes, moving their dresses.
In the bottom of all three boxes was a good size blue velvet box. Inside were matching diamond earrings and then heart lockets with diamond accents, their names were etched on each one of the lockets. In the top of the velvet box was the adoption announcement and that they'd take the train to Central City in the morning...there would be a wedding and adoption ceremony.
"What is it?" Donna was asking.
Felicity didn't want to be the one to tell her mother. She could wait. This was for the girls. "What do you think?" Felicity asked. Clara was already bouncing in place and Etta was quiet, but then Etta was normally quiet.
"Is it for real?" Alex asked, obviously not sure.
"It's really for real," Felicity confirmed. "If you still want it."
"Of course we still want it!" Clara exclaimed and looked between Etta and Alex. "Right?"
"Right," Etta said with a nod as her fingers moved over the locket and her name on it.
Alex got up from the floor and was hugging both her and Ray a moment later, Felicity held her tight and could hear her crying. "I promise I'm going to be good. I won't be a terrible teen or anything and I won't ask for anything and-"
"Hey, we don't expect you to be perfect," Ray said. "We're going to expect you to be YOU."
When Alex pulled away, Felicity reached out and wiped away Alex's tears only to find that she was crying now too. "And we WANT you to ask for things...this is REAL...it's official…"
"I still don't know what's going on," Donna said.
Felicity just let out a laugh as Clara and Quentin explained it to her. She pulled Alex into her lap and hugged her close. Her mother just started to scream like crazy and was hugging any one of the girls she could get her hands on. After a moment, when everyone was quiet, Felicity realized she needed to bring up things that they would need to know for tomorrow. "Ray and I have already told you girls that the adoption is up to you-"
"We're getting adopted, you can't get rid of us ever," Etta told them.
"It's a good thing that we want to keep all of you," Ray teased and got a laugh out of them.
"I want to change my name," Alex said. "I don't think anyone would care. I would rather be a Palmer than have a different name than anyone else."
"Are you absolutely sure?" Felicity questioned.
"I am."
= December 26, 2017 =
= Central City =
Felicity was fairly sure that no one slept that much the night before, but no one was complaining. They were getting there SO early and they had a whole group of people waiting for them and cheering when they stepped off of the train. It had been months since the girls had been there, but Felicity hoped that it wouldn't bring up bad memories for them since it was going to be a day of celebrating.
"Only visit when you need our courthouses, huh?" Cisco teased.
Ray hugged Cisco while Felicity was busy talking to Caitlin, who was already planning what they needed to do with her hair. "Are you sure? We wouldn't want to be too much," Felicity said when Caitlin offered they use her place to get ready.
"Yeah, go on with Caitlin," Ray said.
"You're free to get ready...anymore than you already are," Joe told Ray as he motioned to him. He was pretty much ready. There were just a few things that Felicity had bagged up for him that he still had to put on, they were surprises that she'd picked up. "At the very least you can come hang out."
"Thanks."
Before she knew it, Felicity and the girls were off with Caitlin and Iris while Ray was left behind with Barry, Joe, and Cisco. Felicity was fairly sure that she saw her mother disappear with Quentin and Laurel. She just hoped that they all remembered what time they needed to check in at the courthouse. Laurel had even gotten their marriage license paperwork going and luckily there was no waiting period, she was fairly sure that was due to the happy and sunny nature of the city itself.
No matter, she was getting married.
She was going to be Felicity Palmer.
She was also going to be OFFICIALLY the girls' mother.
It was going to be the greatest day ever.
It was also, she realized, going to be the first chapter in a whole new part of her life that she hadn't expected. She'd thought that the new chapter would continue from the year before...but she was wrong. THIS was something new. They were going to be this wonderful family...she was going to be married and a mother...and it was going to be so different than before. This was their new beginning...all of them...together.
The day was coming to an end.
Quentin, Mom, and Laurel had arranged for a special reception at a local restaurant with a private room which they'd pretty much taken over the entire day. The girls were happy, Ray was happy, and she was happy. That was really all that mattered.
"One more picture!" Mom begged of the girls.
The girls were all wearing everything that had come in the box from the day before. Their hair curled and pulled back just so that it was out of their faces, but still down. Etta was wearing teal, Clara was wearing light blue, and Alex was wearing pink. All three dresses were above the knee, no sleeves, and sparkly. They'd been all picked out by the girls and the colors just went together. The pictures from the entire day had been beyond perfectly planned.
"We should just stay here tonight," Ray told her.
"I didn't bring clothes for the girls," Felicity told him quietly.
They were both still wearing their clothes from the wedding earlier. Ray was in a tux, but she'd gotten him a white tie with the most beautiful opal flourish design on it along with a pair of TARDIS schematic blue suspenders. His jacket was hanging over the back of the chair and no matter how exhausted he looked, he was the most handsome man in the world to her.
Her dress had two layers. The bottom layer was basically a white short dress that had a sweetheart neckline and was strapless. It was connected to the top layer of lace, which fell to a couple inches below the bottom hem of the skirt and came up to form a scoop neck, extending out to create three quarter length sleeves. It had a natural waist, which was embellished with a large blingy piece. Her curled hair was half up and kept in place by bobby pins and a TARDIS haircomb. Even though they weren't having a huge wedding, she wanted there to be special pieces to it.
"So, we just go home like this tomorrow on the train," Ray said with a shrug. "Or we go shopping."
They really hadn't done much in those dresses and from what she could see, the girls had kept their fairly clean. If all else failed, they could pick up clothes and change before they got on the train "You're right…" Her head fell onto his shoulder and she just smiled as she watched everyone. EVERYONE was so happy. Cisco had been kind enough to make it so that Thea, Roy, John, and Lyla could all watch the wedding and adoption ceremony from where they were and had kept them on his phone long enough that she and Ray had gotten to talk to them, it had been nice...and it had made it feel like they were there.
"Ray, Quentin wants to take a picture with you and the girls," Donna said as she shooed him away and sat in his seat next to Felicity. Her mother's voice turned down so that she could only hear it. "You know, watching you and Ray get married right there on the spot...I actually thought about asking Quentin to marry me right then and there. We could have had a double wedding!"
"Laurel and I aren't in that big of a hurry for you two to rush into any serious decisions like that," Felicity whispered. Normally she'd wonder what was wrong with her mother, but at this moment...it only cause amusement in her voice. She could just see her mother proposing and suggesting they get married too and Quentin being too confused and tongue tied to know how to properly respond. She patted her mother's leg. "Give it time, Mom."
"I mean, I've heard you...you call him Dad...he gave you away today."
She couldn't hide the smile. "Mom, it wasn't like he gave he away...there was no aisle to walk down…"
"Okay, so maybe that was in my head."
"Yep. I think so."
"Are you guys going to stay in Central CIty tonight? Quentin was asking because I guess the last train departs soon."
"I told Ray that we can go ahead and stay the night," Felicity told her. "We need to call hotels…"
"Well, no need to worry about the girls, Quentin and I can babysit. I'm sure they have like a double connected room thingy...and you and Ray can have the honeymoon sweet," Donna told her, her voice still only low enough that Felicity could hear. Now she was patting Felicity's leg. "You two got to get to work on another grandbaby for me."
"You just got three today, Mom," Felicity told her mother with a shake of her head.
"I can't help it, I'm selfish...I need more to spoil…"
"You like to volunteer Quentin...a lot."
"You should just start calling him Dad ALL the TIME," her mother told her seriously.
Felicity couldn't help it and just laughed.
They had their own room and they were both completely exhausted.
"Am I the most horrible newlywed wife if I just want to sleep?" Felicity asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"No," Ray told her as he came out of the bathroom, his tie and jacket had been tossed over a nearby chair and he went to work on slipping off his shoes. "I'm exhausted, too...and it's not like we haven't done...the deed...before."
Felicity just smiled at him calling it 'the deed'. She was almost deliriously exhausted. "They have a bottle of champagne on ice for us...but I know I'll be dead to the world after half a glass…"
"So, we just reseal it, no reason we can't ENJOY ourselves, right?"
A few minutes later, Ray returned to sit on the bed next to her with two glasses of champagne. "To a new beginning to our story...as a family," Felicity said and their glasses clinked. She took a few sips before handing Ray the glass and motioning for him to place it on the nightstand. She kicked off her white lace and sparkly heels until they landed in a far corner where she didn't THINK either of them would trip over them. Felicity turned herself on the bed, so that her back was to him. "Unzip, please?" A moment later she was being unzipped and when she turned back to him, dress still mostly on her, her shoulders exposed bare, she suddenly felt like maybe they would miss this magical moment if they just sort of skipped it and went to bed.
He leaned in and kissed her and when she kissed back, they were goners. Ray's hand wrapped around her, holding her, and guiding her as he leaned back and placed his glass next to hers on the nightstand as they continued to kiss. Felicity grabbed hold of his suspenders to steady herself and felt a slight renewal of energy.
This was going to happen.
"Are you sure?" he asked between kisses.
She was already unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it out of his waistband. His belt and pants were next. "Oh...yes…"
Ray wasn't complaining and she was fairly sure he'd gotten a burst of energy too. Maybe it was just that moment. She absolutely LOVED him, but it was like a lustful burst hit her. Maybe it was the clothes or all of the emotion of the day or the fact that it WAS their honeymoon night...whatever it was, Felicity didn't care and she was going to enjoy herself.
( SCENE CUT DUE TO RATING RESTRICTIONS - FOR FULL SCENE, GO TO AO3 )
TBC...
