Hey guys! I am so sorry about the wait but I was having a little trouble getting the words to flow. I'm pretty happy with the end results. Again, I don't have a medical degree so I'm not sure how much of this was true but it sounded good so... This is the longest chapter I've written so far, so maybe that makes up for the delay? Thank you so much and enjoy!
Happy reading!
Summary: It's official. The universe hates her. How exactly does she manage to tell everyone on Team Arrow but her husband?
Disclaimer: Not mine.
"Relax, everything's going to be fine," Thea glanced up from reading emails on her phone.
Felicity paced up and down the length of the empty waiting room.
"Seriously, you're making me nervous and I'm just along for emotional support," Laurel said as she flipped a page of a magazine entitled Today's Parent that she was skimming through.
Felicity ignored her and kept pacing. She had decided that she needed to go and get an ultrasound to actually confirm her pregnancy and make sure everything was okay with the baby. Yeah, the sticks were 99% right and she was pretty darn positive that she was pregnant because there was no way she was making up all those symptoms but still. It needed to happen sooner or later.
But could you imagine her going in there and finding out that the five pregnancy tests were wrong, and she had been freaking out for nothing! That would be a nightmare.
The only upside to that scenario would be that at least she hadn't managed to tell Oliver yet.
Because she wanted to keep this secret under wraps until she told Oliver (and however long they could keep it quiet after) she used her last name as leverage to get the doctor's office to herself and because of doctor/patient confidentiality she knew the nurses and doctors wouldn't blab, no matter how much they wanted too.
Sara sighed. She was stretched out on a chair looking more bored than Felicity thought possible as she tilted her head to look at something in a magazine called Sensitive Midwifery Magazine.
"'Taking deep, calming breaths will decrease the pain of natural childbirth by 50%!'," She read in an overly sarcastic voice, scoffing, "Try telling that to a woman who's actively pushing an 8-pound human being out of a hole that is significantly smaller."
Sara skimmed the page with her eyes as she mused, "Who even wrote this? Obviously, someone who doesn't know anything."
She tossed the magazine to the side and picked up another one entitled Empowering Birth, "Don't they have something other than overly positive magazines about giving birth?"
"If you're so upset about the reading choices then bring something else next time," Thea uncrossed her legs then crossed them again, switching legs.
"Hey, did you guys know that in Soviet Russia they give out awards to mothers who have given birth and raised 7 kids," Laurel mused, ingnoring Sara's boredom.
Felicity halted her pacing and chewed on her lip, "I can guarantee you that I will never be getting an award for raising 7 children. Ever. I can barely handle one and it's not even born yet!"
Thea smirked, "I'll remind you of that when you accidentally get pregnant for the 7th time."
"Shut up," Felicity glared.
At that moment the obstetrician herself walked out. Felicity had done some digging and found the doctor that had delivered Oliver and Thea. She was in semi-retirement, but she was still the best obstetrician in the city, besides, Felicity thought it would be a sweet idea if the doctor that delivered the first batch of Queen children delivered the second batch.
Thea got up and grinned, "Dr. Brooks, I can't believe it."
The older lady gave her a hug, "Look at you, all grown up. The last time I saw you was, oh, ten years ago for that maternity ward auction," She rubbed Thea's back, "I know it was a while ago but, I'm so sorry about your mother and I'm so sorry that I couldn't make the funeral. We became good friends during her pregnancy with Oliver."
Dr. Brooks pulled back and put her hands in her lab coat, turning to smile at Felicity, "So, I presume you are the mother-to-be," She offered a hand, "I'm Dr. Karen Brooks and I'm pleased to meet the wife of that stubborn little boy I delivered years ago."
Felicity laughed and took the doctors hand, "Felicity Queen. So, Oliver was stubborn right out of the womb? Why am I not surprised? Anyways, thank you for agreeing to see me such short notice and in secrecy."
"It's no problem," Dr. Brooks' eyes twinkled, "I am honored that you chose me to take care of you and your child when the time comes. It will be such a privilege to deliver another Queen baby."
She walked towards the door that led to the examination rooms, "Why don't you follow me, and we'll take a look at baby. Now, where's Oliver? I thought he would be here."
Laurel snickered, "Yeah, he'd love to be here except he doesn't know that Felicity's here. She hasn't told him yet."
Felicity blushed bright red. She couldn't help the fact that the universe seemed dead set on ruining her plans.
Instead of looking at her condescendingly, Dr. Brooks laughed, "Don't be embarrassed, dear. A lot of mothers come through here before telling their husbands. While it's exciting, it's an intimidating thing to do. Besides, it's nice to have an ultrasound photo to show off when you tell him."
Felicity followed Dr. Brooks down a labyrinth of pristine white hallways with Thea, Laurel, and Sara trailing behind. She knew the white walls were supposed to give a comforting, clean feel but all Felicity could think about was of a horror movie she had watched once that was filled with white hallways.
The other thing she thought about was how pleased she was with herself for being able to keep it together in front of Dr. Brooks and not going off on a completely non-relevant rant about pineapples or something.
She needed to show off her best behavior because, in less than a year, this woman would be pulling a child from you know where and Felicity had a feeling she would probably be in a less than pleasant state seeing as how she would be in pain. She was determined to make the best impression she could before she lost all of her dignity in front of Dr. Brooks.
They entered an examination room that fit all of them comfortably, but the girls crowded around the bed near the monitor that Felicity assumed would show the ultrasound.
"Alright, Mrs. Queen, hop up on the bed and lie back and if you could, lift up your shirt please," Dr. Brooks nodded towards the bed as she put on gloves.
"Just call me Felicity," She said as she rolled up her shirt.
Felicity was glad that she had opted for a skirt and shirt today instead of her usual dress. She had a feeling that would be more awkward, and cold because it was freezing in here!
Well, it turns out that the blue stuff that was squirted on her belly was even colder. That felt like it was negative 10 degrees. Did they want the baby to get frostbite?
"Let's make sure a baby's in here," Dr. Brooks moved a wand around on her lower stomach, but Felicity barely acknowledged the feeling as she glued her eyes onto the grainy picture on the screen.
Sara, Thea, and Laurel were practically climbing down the doctor's back as they each tried to get a look at the same thing Felicity was looking for.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Dr. Brooks pointed at a curled up dark blob, "Yeah, you're definitely pregnant. There's your baby. Let me zoom in."
It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop as tiny arms and legs came into view. Dr. Brooks moved the wand around some more and a fast thudding sound echoed throughout the room.
"Is that…Is that what I think it is?" Felicity asked, tears springing into her eyes.
Dr. Brooks smiled and nodded, "That's your baby's heartbeat."
"Is it supposed to be that fast?" Thea asked in wonder.
Felicity mentally thanked her. She had wanted to ask the same question, but she couldn't manage to get the question out. She was too mesmerized by the little person that was currently resting inside her. Hearing her baby and seeing its little limbs made everything so much more real.
"I know it seems fast, but this is the perfect heartbeat and judging by how fast it is, the features of the baby and the information you recorded in the waiting room, I'd say you're about 12 weeks. Right at three months," Dr. Brooks paused the movement right at the baby's face.
"Wow…" Felicity, Sara, Thea, and Laurel breathed out in unison as they stared at the screen in amazement.
"It's incredible, isn't it," Dr. Brooks mused, "I'll get you pictures, and I'll draw your blood then we'll talk about what you can expect during this pregnancy including diet and prenatal vitamins."
Felicity barely heard the 'draw your blood' part but even if she was actually processing the information she didn't think she could bring herself to care because she had just fallen head-over-heads with the cutest little face she thought she'd ever seen.
"It's a girl and her name will be Thea," Thea stated matter-of-factly as the girls walked down the busy sidewalks of Star City.
"Or maybe it's a Sara," Sara smiled happily as she locked arms with Thea.
"I think it's going to be a little Laurel," Laurel teased.
Sara looked at Felicity who was wondering aimlessly beside them with a dreamy look on her face, "What do you think? Boy or girl?"
Felicity sighed contently, "I don't care. As long as he or she is healthy, but I think it would be nice to have a little boy with Oliver's blue eyes. A big brother for any other children we might have."
Laurel, Thea, and Sara looked at each other in amusement.
"She's a goner," Thea whispered to the others with a grin.
The girls continued chatting about baby things as Felicity walked in silence thinking about everything that had transpired that morning.
Something about hearing and seeing the baby inside her made everything so real especially getting an official due date which was November 2nd, which was crazy and didn't seem that far away.
Part of her had been nervous that maybe she wasn't pregnant, and all the symptoms were in her head, so she was relieved when Dr. Brooks did an ultrasound and she actually got to see proof that yes, she was pregnant.
Carrying around the ultrasound pictures in her purse seemed so surreal. She was itching to pull them out and stare at them some more, but she didn't want anyone to accidentally see them. It was funny how a little dark blob was so captivating.
Now more than ever she wanted Oliver to know. She was starting to feel guilty that she had known for a few weeks now and he had no clue besidesshe was already 3 months along which she was not expecting. She would be out of her first trimester in a week which seemed even crazier and before too long, she'd be showing.
Not that it was for her lack of trying. It was Oliver's lack of paying attention so, she couldn't feel too guilty.
She wanted him to share in this exciting news, so they could talk and start making plans and do all the cheesy things expecting parents do. She had to do this soon and she was not going to let anyone or anything stand in her way again, especially Roy and Cisco.
"Girls," Felicity spoke up, drawing their attention, "I have to tell Oliver. Tonight."
Felicity sighed as she dropped her purse beside her chair before sitting down. It had been a long, emotionally exciting day and she was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the information she had been given today and with the prospect of finally telling Oliver tonight.
They were hoping to get a hit on Avery Banks, the newest baddie in the city. They'd been trying to catch him for a while now, but he was proving to be very elusive however their patience might be paying off tonight because they finally got some intel that could bring his whole trafficking ring down.
After they caught Banks and the team got back, hopefully in one piece, then Felicity would tell him. About the baby. She felt like hyperventilating just thinking about it. She had mixed emotions about telling him and those emotions were heightened by pregnancy hormones. She was excited to tell him but at the same time, she was worried about how he might take it.
I mean, she did have a valid reason to worry because he didn't even want to be together because he was worried his enemies might hurt her. Imagine what he might start panicking about when there was a helpless child to protect.
"Has anything showed up on your searches?" Thea asked as she spun around in her chair.
Felicity pulled herself up to one of the computers and typed in the password. She had set up alerts to ring if there was anything suspicious but there was no harm in double checking.
She scrolled through the algorithm she had built to store the information, "No, doesn't look like anything yet, but he wasn't supposed to move until nine so…that gives us about an hour."
"I swear if this guy doesn't make a move tonight, I'm gonna lose it," Sara declared, watching surveillance on one of the computers.
Felicity rubbed her forehead, "The line forms behind me. I'm exhausted. I don't think I could handle another all-nighter right now, and," She dropped her voice, looking around to make sure no one was in the room, "being pregnant makes you super tired and to top it all off, I can't even have caffeine. That's how I function if I don't have more than six hours of sleep a night but currently I'm getting no sleep and growing a baby with no caffeine. None. For six months. Six!"
Laurel looked at her sympathetically, "Don't worry Felicity. We'll do our best to catch him tonight and we'll try to help you out in the coming months, so you can get more rest."
"Thanks, Laurel," Felicity smiled wanly, "Although, once I tell Oliver, I've got a feeling he's going to try to put me on bed rest and ban me from the team."
Sara smirked, "He can't kick you off the team. We need you. Our survival depends on it, so we'll be there to beat him up if he tries anything. Besides, we would miss you."
"And you are going to tell Oliver tonight," Thea told her sternly with a 'you better' look.
At that moment the boys came from the workout room in the back, including Barry and Cisco.
"Hey, guys! What are you two doing here?" Thea asked in surprise when the Central City superheroes walked over.
It surprised Felicity too because she thought they were here for actual legal CSI work, not illegal vigilantism. She also thought that they were going back home today. Apparently not.
Barry nodded towards Oliver, "Oliver asked us if we wanted to help catch your guy and of course, we said yes. There was nothing pressing in Central City and you guys come to help us when we need it so here we are!"
Felicity nodded. It was always good to have extra people watching backs, so she was grateful that they agreed to help but at the same time, she was still a little mad that Cisco ruined her plans and that Barry would not stop talking.
The conversation faded in the background as she watched Oliver talking to everyone and every time he would look her in the eye, those ultrasound pictures seemed to scream at her from her purse.
The more and more she watched Oliver laugh and smile, she kept getting this urge to go ahead and tell him she was pregnant right then.
"Hey honey, what's on your mind? You aren't saying much," Oliver's concerned voice cut through her haze.
"Uh," She hesitated, looking like a deer-in-the-head light.
She just had to tell him. She couldn't wait one second longer.
Now, she just had to manage getting everyone to leave the room naturally without any questions being asked. A piece of cake.
Step number one: Recruit the girls.
At this point, everyone was looking at her, waiting for an answer, "Actually, I was thinking that Thea," Felicity gave her a meaningful look, "Needed to take Roy to the club because she needed his opinion on a new brand of Tequila before it was served tonight."
Thea gave her a very confused look, "No I don't-"
"Yes, remember. You told me," Felicity glared as meaningfully as she could and gave a little nod towards Oliver as she talked over her.
Thea's mouth opened in a small 'Oh', her face lighting up in realization.
Felicity saw Sara and Laurel's confused looks morph into understanding as well, which was a relief because she didn't know if she could convey it to them too.
Thea sprung into action and pulled on a confused Roy's arm, "Yep, I'm glad Felicity reminded me. I ordered it a while ago, but I want you to test it out before we sell it tonight…"
Her voice faded as she drug Roy up the metal stairs.
One oblivious person down, three to go.
There was silence before Felicity cleared her throat and signaled with her eyes that Laurel and Sara needed to get Digg, Cisco, and Barry out of there. She didn't care how. She just wanted them out for like, a few minutes, then everyone could come back in to celebrate. A few minutes. That's all she wanted.
Laurel grabbed a pair of sunglasses that were conveniently sitting on one of the tables, "Hey! Felicity made these glasses to where you can look at the clouds and the sun to see what they're made out of. You need to try them. Come on we'll take you."
Sara was trying to get them to move towards the stairs and Diggle stopped, putting up a hand, "Hold on, wait. What are you talking about? First off, I don't remember Felicity working on or talking about anything like this. Secondly, it's dark outside."
Barry nodded, "And why would we want to see what the sun is made out of? I already know."
Felicity risked a glance at Oliver. One, to avoid facepalming and two, to try and figure out what he was thinking. He stood there looking so lost, it was almost funny.
She swung her gaze back to the conversation that was playing out in front of her and was very interested to see how the Lances were going to salvage this poor attempt at getting the boys to leave.
"Because and It works on the moon and the stars too," Sara supplied, sounding unsure herself as she practically pushed all three of them up the stairs.
Laurel followed them, "Yeah, it does. Isn't that so cool."
Their voices cut off as the steel door swung shut with a clang.
"What just happened?" Oliver asked bewildered in the suddenly silent bunker.
For her part, Felicity was actually shocked that that had worked (for the most part) and nothing had stood in the way. She couldn't believe Oliver was by himself with nothing to distract him. Finally! It was about time!
She stood up and smoothed her skirt, "Oliver, I actually have something for you."
He looked at her with an eyebrow raised, "Is this some kind of surprise date?"
"Kind of," Felicity bit her lip, resting her hands on Oliver's broad chest and looking up through her eyelashes at him.
He smiled softly and cupped her face, "I love being alone with you. No matter how oddly it's done."
She reached up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss, keeping it shallow so they didn't get carried which had happened more than once, obviously. That baby didn't just magically appear in her womb.
Felicity pulled back and licked her lips. Here goes, "Oliver, honey. In a few short months-"
And there went her alarms that she set up to alert her if Avery Banks made a move. Couldn't he have waited like one more minute?! She had been so close. Closer than the last four times.
Oliver moved over to the computers, "Felicity, call the team. We need to move out now."
He turned and walked back to her to give her a peck on the lips, "I'm sorry, Felicity. We'll have another date night as soon as we catch this guy, okay," Then he hurried off to go suit up.
She texted the girls that they could bring back their charges and explained that she didn't get to tell him because of those stupid alarms. The last thing she needed was for them to come barreling down the steps shouting congratulations.
"So far, so good. The thermals in the building show a lot of bodies but, they don't look like guards," Felicity told the team as they prepared to infiltrate the warehouse that had lots of evidence to back-up the confirmation that they had finally found Banks' operations.
As soon as everyone had gotten back to the bunker, they all suited up as fast as they could and teamed up to gather and confirm intel. Thankfully, no one had time to ask questions about why they had been forced from the bunker only to be urgently called back.
"Overwatch, we're in position to infiltrate the building," Oliver's low modulated voice came through the comms.
Felicity checked her computers, clucking when she found a hidden laser grid, "Arsenal, you're about to run into lasers, so if I were you, I'd stop and wait for me to bring them down. I'd hate for you to lose a leg, or worse."
Felicity could practically see Thea reaching out and yanking him by the hood as he stopped abruptly, "Thanks Blondie. I don't know what I would do without you."
She stretched her neck as her fingers flew over the keyboard, "Probably lose a leg or worse. And the same goes for the rest of you. Alright, you're all good to go. There are a few guards at each entrance, but they shouldn't be a problem, however, they are armed."
Felicity watched as her team entered the building and started taking out guards. She was always on pins and needles when she watched the cameras and often times she had to mute her end of the comms, so they wouldn't hear her commentating nervously in the background or panicking or hyperventilating or doing anything that could cause a distraction.
That only really ever happened when it was an intense fight and Oliver or anyone else was by themselves or if the battle was looking like they were losing, which sucked but didn't happen too often.
However, more than once, she had seen one of them get hurt and the worrying never got easier. It just made her realize that no matter how many wins they had, none of them were immortal. She didn't know how many times she had anxiously awaited the team's arrival, ready to asses and patch up a wound and it was normally Oliver who was hurt.
It was hard to send them out there every night with uncertainty that they would make it back all in one piece, but she knew how much good they were doing and how much Star City needed hooded heroes. So, no matter the personal toll, they all continued to risk their lives night after night for their city's people.
Oliver swung his bow around and took out a guard then shot another one with a tranq arrow (that she designed) as Barry zoomed around the room tying all of the guards up in a pretty bow for SCPD to collect.
She watched the others do the same thing on all different sides of the warehouse and she admired the way they effortlessly took down the guards but that didn't mean she wasn't on the edge of her seat the whole time as she desperately searched to make sure she hadn't missed anything.
It was up to her to bring them all back home and in one piece and it was up to them to not take unnecessary risks because then they would witness her loud voice as she patched up whatever injury they had obtained, assuming that they were conscious, of course.
Finally, Team Arrow and its honorary members neutralized the men who were standing watch and Felicity checked her thermal prints again, just to make sure.
"From what I'm seeing, there are no guards in the room with whom I'm assuming are the kidnapped children. You're good to go but please, still be cautious because Bank's is smart."
"We always are but he's nowhere near as smart as you," Felicity could hear the fond smile in his low arrow voice that normally inflicted fear but with her, it was all just love.
She could hear Cisco and Roy mutter 'Get a room' under their breaths in unison and she rolled her eyes. Felicity was used to these comments by now and so was Oliver and the rest of the team.
She sucked in a breath and tears pricked her eyes as the doors were kicked open and the sight of frightened, dirty children came into view.
There had to be at least fifty of them and guessing by the missing child reports, they were anywhere from several months to twelve.
She heard the whole team slip curse words under their breaths at the people who could ever do such a thing as they hurried to reassure the kids that they were there to help, and that they weren't going to hurt them.
Sara squatted down next to a group of children who looked about four or five. She put her arms out in a welcoming manner and smiled invitingly and after hesitating, the kids threw themselves into her arms, crying their little eyes out.
Laurel was doing the same with a gaggle of the older children. It took a little while longer to get them to respond but eventually, someone fell into her arms and the rest followed suit.
Roy, Thea, and Diggle had their arms full of sobbing toddlers who were shaking and had no idea what was going on.
Barry and Cisco were seeking out the kids who were by themselves. Cisco was hugging a few kids who looked like they were 7, 8 or 9. Barry was doing the same thing except he had a very young toddler in his arms.
Oliver on the other hand went over to a darker part of the room and Felicity drew in a horrified breath and she didn't even try to stop from crying. There were ten newborns packed in three rudely looking cribs.
"Oh my God, Oliver…" She breathed out shakily through her sobs.
He reached down into one of the cribs and picked up two shivering infants.
"Felicity, I can't hold them all," He said faintly as he gingerly tried to hold them securely.
Felicity couldn't stop crying and that was partly because of hormones but mostly because she was expecting her own child and she couldn't imagine what the parents of those babies must be feeling. They were probably out of their minds with worry. Just the thought of someone taking her child was unfathomable and it wasn't even born yet.
"Felicity, honey," Came Oliver's concerned voice, "Are you alright?"
She hiccupped. She must have really sounded distraught for him to ask her that when there were kids to be saved and Avery Banks still to catch.
Felicity sniffed and tried to pull herself together, "Yeah, I'm okay, just the thought of all those kids and those babies…Oh, Oliver."
She trailed off, wiping her eyes as she looked at those poor shivering infants in those dirty cribs and she just wanted to gather them up in her arms and rock them, "Can you send Barry to come to get me. I need to be there. I need to hold those children."
Oliver was silent before he said grimly, "I don't want you here. Bank's is still around here somewhere and it's dirty and I just don't want you here. Call Lance and get SCPD down here. They'll be able to help."
Felicity thought about protesting because she's done multiple field ops with the team albeit it took a lot of convincing for Oliver to let her come, even before they were together, but she decided against it.
One, because she was too tired to put up an argument, two, she was pregnant and who knew what kind of diseases she might contract not to mention that Oliver was right, and they still weren't totally safe and three, because she knew that one of the main reasons he didn't want her there was because of the cruelty.
He always tried to protect her as much as possible from the evils of the world and while they both knew that she couldn't do this job without seeing things worse than nightmares, Oliver still tried his best to shield her from the darkness when she didn't have to see it. She appreciated it and that was the kind of thing that just proved to her how much he loved her, and she didn't mind complying once and a while.
"I already did. He should be there any minute now with people to care for the children until they can get them back to their parents. There are ambulances on the way as well to take them to the hospital."
By now, Oliver had somehow gotten all the babies calmed down and somewhat warmed up since he had taken his undershirt off and laid it over them.
A few minutes later the police department burst into the warehouse and Team Arrow relinquished their charges into the capable, caring hands of SCPD's female officers which was a good thing because right at that moment Felicity got facial recognition that Avery Banks was running from the warehouse across the alley.
"Oliver, it's Banks. He's on the move heading towards Washington and 5th. You have to catch him," She said urgently as she pinged his cell phone so she could trace him.
"Do you want me to go?" Barry's voice came through the comms.
Oliver gave a sharp shake of his head and picked up his bow as he growled, "The rest you stay here. This one's mine."
Felicity bit her lip as she watched the black dot moving rapidly with the green dot catching up to it. She understood that Oliver wanted to be the one to catch this guy, but she wished he had taken John or Barry or someone with him but they were already too far ahead for her to tell one of them to go with Oliver. They would never catch up in time except for Barry but he was preoccupied with calming down a screaming toddler.
"Oliver, please be careful. I don't want to have to patch you up tonight," She told him fearfully as she put a hand on her mid-section.
He was not going to die before she even had a chance to tell him he was going to be a father. He couldn't. If he did, she would drag him to a Lazarus Pit herself, bring him back, tell him then kill him again.
She didn't want to raise a child by herself and have to explain to him or her that their father died before he even knew they existed. Felicity wouldn't allow her children to be cheated out of a wonderful father.
Oliver panted through his comms, "I'll be fine, Felicity. Stop worrying."
"I'm serious, Oliver. Don't you dare take any unnecessary risks," Felicity gripped the arms of her chair as she watched him catch up to Bank's and fire an arrow at him.
After a few very tense minutes, Oliver took him down without doing any serious damage to Avery Banks' person which she knew must have required a lot of self-control from Oliver to not beat him to death for what he did to those helpless children.
Oliver's famous growl, "You have failed this city," Came through and Felicity sighed in relief as Lance came running up with more than a few police officers ready to take Banks into custody.
After about a half-hour of helping out the police, Team Arrow split up to do a quick run through of the city on the way home which Felicity wasn't too happy about, but she also wanted to make sure the city looked somewhat peaceful for tonight, so she didn't demand that they come back home.
Her nerves were shot, and she just wanted to feel Oliver in her arms and listen to his heartbeat and she wanted to squeeze the girls, Digg and even Roy, Cisco and Barry, even though she was still a little mad at them for interrupting her telling Oliver her news.
She wasn't a stranger to this stress of keeping them alive and the feeling that she needed to see them and hear them laugh after a long night, especially a night like tonight. She loved doing this, but it still took a toll on her emotionally because that fear that she would lose all of them in a single night and she would be left alone was always in the back of her mind.
And being pregnant didn't help any. All of her usual emotions that she normally could keep suppressed were all being ramped up to like, a twenty. And seeing those kids and thinking about her own was just…
Felicity sniffed and wiped away the rest of her tears.
"Felicity are you alright?" Oliver asked hesitantly. Great, she left the comms on meaning everyone's heard her sobbing uncontrollably.
"I'm fine. I just keep thinking about those kids and what their parents are feeling. Not knowing where their baby's at. I just keep thinking how I would feel if our child was missing," Felicity's eyes widened.
She did not mean for that last part to come out. She certainly didn't want Oliver to find out she was expecting over comms with everyone listening. That would be horrible.
She bit her lip in anticipation of what Oliver would say. He must have been shocked because there was silence for a long time.
A throat was being cleared, "We would scour the earth for any child of ours until it was found."
For the thousandth time that night, her eyes filled with tears at his response even if unsure. She could tell he had been caught off guard and she could just imagine Thea, Laurel, and Sara holding their breaths for her.
"How do you feel about us having kids?" She blurted, breaking the awkward silence that had descended over the comms.
What was wrong with her! Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut for just once? How was it that when she wanted to tell Oliver about the baby she couldn't manage to get the words out but when she didn't want too, she couldn't stop the words from flowing? What kind of karma was this?
It was the torturous kind. That's what it was.
She could practically feel the others discomfort listening in to this conversation. She and Oliver had had some interesting talks over the comms before with everyone either silently listening or trying not to laugh at them, but she felt like this one would take the cake.
"Felicity, where is this coming from? I know we all just had a tough night and those kids stirred up some emotions, but don't you think there's a better time and place to be discussing this? Not that I don't want a baby someday but like I said, we can talk about this later," Oliver sounded confused but he didn't sound horrified at the prospect of a baby so that was good news cause they were having one whether he was terrified or not.
Felicity clasped her hands together as a hundred thoughts flashed through her head. Maybe she should just say it. She couldn't take the suspense anymore and as badly as she wanted it to be special with just her and Oliver, she decided it was now or never.
She took a deep breath, "Because we're having a baby."
It all happened in slow motion, but it really only lasted a few minutes.
As soon as Sara realized that Oliver was having technical issues and had obviously not heard the news that Felicity just delivered to everyone but the one person that actually needed to know, she alerted the rest of the team that his comms went out just before Felicity had said anything.
Sara watched in silent horror as Barry put on that big cheesy smile of his and turned toward Oliver who was messing with his earpiece and Sara assumed that he realized he couldn't hear anything. Barry opened his mouth to congratulate the unassuming father and Sara feared that perhaps she had been too late as she tackled him.
"Hey, Sara! What on earth-" The speedsters voice was muffled by her gloved hands as Oliver looked at them in disbelief, still miraculously oblivious to the fact that Felicity had just told the entire team over comms that she was pregnant.
"Roy and Cisco, I swear, if you say anything, I will kill you myself," Thea growled and the boys' smiles faded.
"But Oliver's gonna be a da-" Roy cut off when Thea glared at him worthy of Rash-al-gul.
"Shut up. I'm serious."
Cisco was smart enough to not say anything even though they were both thoroughly confused about what was happening.
Thea was determined to save this situation and she wasn't going to have them mess up Felicity's plans again! Although, she wasn't sure how one person could have this much bad luck.
Laurel probably had the easiest at keeping the cat-in-the-bag. She just gave a warning look at Digg and was surprised that he didn't look surprised.
His lips quirked up and he nodded at Laurel to let her know that he wouldn't say anything, and she didn't have to tackle or yell at him to prevent him from accidentally messing up the situation worse than it already was.
For her part, Felicity tried really hard to refrain from cursing. Why did this happen to her? Now, not only did Thea, Sara and Laurel know she was having a baby but so did John, Roy, Cisco, and Barry. She managed to tell all of them but not Oliver! Her husband who deserved to know and be told in a loving manner more than any of them.
She was grateful for the girls' quick action. Even though, at this point, it was probably easier for one of the boys unknowingly tell Oliver she still wanted to be the one to actually say 'We're having a baby' or something to that effect with him actually being able to hear. She didn't want him to find out by someone shouting, 'Congrats on the baby, Oliver.'
The team came running down the steps, all of them in silence, confusion radiating off of Roy, Cisco, and Barry. Every once and a while, one of the girls would shoot them a glare to keep them from talking. After a few minutes of busying themselves with putting their gear away and Felicity messing with her computers in awkward silence, Oliver turned around, fully intending to do business.
"Okay, what's going on around here? What's with the all the jumpiness and glares?"
Felicity exchanged panicked glances with Laurel, Sara, and Thea. She opened her mouth to say something before one of the boys did, but Digg beat her to it.
"Hey, don't worry about it, man. I think everyone is just a little shaken from tonight and then when you're comms went out, we thought something must have happened. That's all," He said, somehow convincing Oliver to nod skeptically and drop the subject.
"Well," Oliver cleared his throat, "If no one has anything else to tell me then I'm going to go get a shower."
Felicity waited tensely for him to exit the room and when he did, she let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping, the girls mirroring her.
Cisco tentatively raised his hand, "Does this mean we can talk now?"
"Go ahead," Felicity said in a deadpan, propping her chin on her hand.
Roy crossed his arms, his face incredulous, "What just happened? Are you pregnant or not?"
Thea, Sara, and Laurel looked at Felicity for permission and she nodded her head, giving them the go ahead. There was no point in trying to lie to them. No one would believe it especially their lies.
"Felicity is having a baby, but Oliver doesn't know it yet. How? I have no idea," Thea shrugged her shoulders in disbelief.
Felicity looked at John who didn't look the least bit surprised, unlike the others, "Hey…Did you know?"
He laughed, "No, not exactly. I knew something was up, but I only began suspecting you were pregnant this afternoon when I brought you lunch, and you looked like you wanted to throw up."
"Wait…so that whole conversation back there was your poor attempt at telling Oliver that you're pregnant?" Barry asked doubtfully.
Felicity shot him a glare, "My poor 5thattempt. I've been trying to tell him for weeks now and he either doesn't seem to get the picture or someone interrupts."
All of the girls cornered Cisco, Barry, and Roy with a scowl. If it hadn't been for them, Oliver would already know and this whole disaster of a night would not have happened.
"Hey," Cisco put his hands up in surrender, confused at the looks that were being tossed his way, "What did I do?"
Felicity huffed in annoyance, "At the coffee shop when you and Barry so rudely interrupted mine and Oliver's conversation. I was literally a sentence away from telling him. I mean would it have hurt you if you had waited like, 5 minutes?"
"And you!" Felicity shifted her glare to Roy, "You had to go and blow up the cake that had the announcement on it with the prototype arrows I specifically told you not to touch."
They shuffled their feet nervously and apparently, Digg thought this whole thing was funny because he was doing a very poor job at hiding his grin.
Sara sat down in a chair and rolled herself in front of Felicity, "Okay, I know you wanted to do this by yourself, but I think it's time that we help you out. What do you say?"
Felicity smiled feebly and clasped Sara's hand in thanks, "What took you so long to offer? I needed help a week ago."
"Don't worry. Oliver will out about this baby with-in the next 24 hours, I promise," Laurel winked at her.
Thea whipped out her phone, "This is going to be the most epic pregnancy announcement ever! I've been working on some things you might like and that I think is super cute."
Felicity knitted her eyebrows together, "Wait, you've already been planning this?"
Thea barely looked up from scrolling down her Pinterest boards, "Honey, I've been planning this since you told me because knowing how long it took for you and Oliver to get together, get engaged then get married, I knew you were going to need some help eventually."
The 5th chapter is complete! I hope you all enjoyed it. Please tell me your thoughts. What was funny. What was sweet. And so forth and so on. I will try to update before Arrow's season premiere on Monday but I'm making no promises because I have a very busy weekend.
Questions, comments, concerns? Leave me a review! They make my day!
Love Freckles
