An: I do not own Arrow. Sorry about yesterday. Oh and thank you to all the guests that reviewed, Krissie, Ann and Laura.
January
Carl's screams were louder than Samantha's.
"I think that was your best idea yet sending him into hold her hand," Diggle commented to Oliver.
Oliver ignored Diggle instead choosing to look down at the angry red mark around his own hand where Samantha had been squeezing it as if her life depended on it.
"Well it was his turn," Felicity said for Oliver.
Samantha's water broke just after she reached home on January 1st. She had been in labour six hours. The good news was that she was having a New Year's Baby. There were many companies donating a ton of baby hampers for babies born on January 1st. Samantha really needed that help.
Felicity, Thea and Alice were anxiously waiting with them outside the delivery room since only one person was allowed at a time in the room. The girls insisted they needed to be there with her in case there were complications. Someone who wasn't in pain would have to advise her on a decision. Her parents were still absent. Mellie and Lisa were also anxiously waiting with them.
The screaming stopped, replaced with the cries of a new born. Carl flew out of the room, "It's here, anybody got ice?" he said holding up his hand.
Soon the nurses had the baby cleaned up and after a few minutes with his mother he was wheeled to the nursery accompanied by everyone but Lisa. Having given birth herself, Lisa knew well enough, that the process did not end when the baby popped out. Samantha would need to deliver the after birth now. If there were tears, Samantha would also need stitches before they moved her to recovery.
Jan-2
After Samantha had gotten a little cat nap, everyone was allowed to visit her and the baby.
"Oh my gosh, he's so cute!" Thea gushed. Oliver gave her a warning look. He did not want his sister knocked up so early in life.
"You know I thought you would have been in this room a lot sooner. What took them so long to move you here?" Thea asked curiously.
"I needed stitches, which really sucks because now the hospital bill is going to go up!" Samantha commented.
"Stitches?" Oliver stupidly asked.
"I remember when Gloria had our second daughter," Bob started, "she was born with her hands on her head. Caused a few tears on the way out. Gloria was there for an hour while the doctor clamped off a bleeder and stitched her up. She couldn't sit properly for weeks,"
"Oh God, I am never having children," Felicity declared horrified at the thought of sitting on that table with her legs spread wide as a stranger stitched her up.
"Agreed," Thea said.
The nurse in the room laughed, "I if I got ten dollars for every time I heard a woman say that after she was told about the intricacies of giving birth, I would be rich!"
"Then why do it?" Felicity asked.
"Because you get a baby at the end, duh!" the nurse said. "Look when you hold them for the first time it makes it worth it. You have this perfect little innocent human being. It's an amazing feeling until they turn into teenagers and then you wonder where the hell my little baby went,"
"Have you decided on his name yet?" Bob asked Samantha.
"Yes, William Oliver Clayton,"
Oliver was stunned. Everyone in the room looked proudly at him.
"I hate to burst your bubble kid but work is starting in a few minutes and we need to hire a temporary waitress," Bob said.
"I want to come back to work as soon as possible. I can't afford maternity leave. Tips pay for diapers," Samantha said.
"You got a hamper to supply you with baby items for the first month," Oliver pointed out.
"and you need to rest and bond with your baby. Who's going to take care of William at night?" Bob asked.
"Who's going to feed us? I can't burden Mellie's parents. You had children Bob, you know the strain a baby can add to a family."
Bob appeared to think it over.
"Ok but only after one month has passed. You can bring the baby, we'll set up a crib in my living room and I'll put the baby monitor in the kitchen where it's quiet."
"We can also put one at the bar since someone isn't always in the kitchen. I can programme a light to flash when William is crying. Depending on what he needs, if you're busy with customers someone else could attend to him.
"Thank you," Samantha said.
"I still need someone for a month," Bob said.
"I can fill in for you," Felicity offered.
"Are you sure?"
"I kind of want to see what it was like to walk in my mom's heels. Maybe I'll appreciate her sacrifices for me more,"
"What about your IT clients?" Bob asked.
"I've made them almost entirely self sufficient now. I get the odd call here and there but I mostly have nothing to do but sit and think all day,"
"Ok," Bob said, "But just cause you're Donna's daughter, don't think I'm going to go easy on you. You've spent enough time at the bar to know the way things work there."
Later that night when they got home, Felicity collapsed on the couch with Thea.
"I'm totally wearing my panda flats tomorrow. How on earth did my mother do this all day?"
Oliver laughed. He picked his sister up first and then came back for Felicity a few moments later.
Jan –3
Oliver realized that he and Felicity were living together in a very serious relationship and they had never had a date. Part of that realisation might have come from his sister when she was asking how they met and where their first date was. When there was no answer to the first date part, his sister went on a three hour long tirade that Oliver needed to rectify that immediately. She gave him one week to fix the problem. She reminded him that Felicity was one tap away on her tablet and she would be talking to Felicity quite frequently because Queens sucked at math.
He couldn't do dinner because he had to work every night so he had settled on lunch. Miguel had told him of a nice Mexican restaurant 60 miles south. After dropping his sister off on the Strip where the limo driver was waiting to take her back to Starling City because school was about to start, Oliver drove down to the restaurant to check it out. They did both take-out and dine in services. He brought some take out and took it back for Felicity to try. She loved it. He called the restaurant right away to make a reservation for lunch. He told Felicity to block off three hours of her time, he was taking her on their first date. She beamed at him, and he may have noticed her sneak off with her tablet to talk to Thea in their bedroom.
Jan –4
"This is our first date," Oliver said a bit nervously. He had already ordered a stiff drink to help him calm his nerves. They were seated at a table he specifically requested. It was near a window and it looked out onto the dessert. The restaurant wasn't very crowded so he expected the service to be fast.
"I know but we've exhausted every possible topic for a first date. In fact I've seen you naked, every day naked," she said flushing.
The waiter interrupted them with their drinks and the menu. Oliver took the opportunity to practice the Spanish he had been learning from Miguel and order their food.
"Are you sure you know what you ordered for us?" Felicity asked him
"I'm sure," be grinned at her. He had always liked languages. It was something that came naturally to him and the only time he felt intelligent. He had spent six months with his father in China when his father was setting up a subsidiary there. It had been an internship that he got credit for in College. He had learnt enough Mandarin that he could converse on the street with an absolute stranger. He had then spent another six months is Russia after he graduated where he also learned enough Russian to make his way around without people picking up on the fact that he was a tourist.
Felicity looked seriously at Oliver, "I think it's time to clear the air Oliver,"
Oliver found his happy mood suddenly taking a nose dive.
"I've decided what I want to do with my life Oliver," Felicity revealed.
He looked at her seriously. He would not interrupt her. He would let her say what she needed to say.
"I started applying to tech companies in Starling City. I want to be involved in cutting edge research. I'm kind of tired of my work just being used to keep hackers out of casinos. I want to know my work is being used to help better people's lives. Queen Consolidated is starting up a Cyber Security Unit. I was thinking of applying. It would be a great opportunity because the company is so big, I'm sure there will be instances where I could work on other projects within the company,"
"Diggle told you?" Oliver said bitterly.
"Diggle didn't tell me anything. Whatever is going on between you two is for you two to work out," Felicity told him.
"Then how do you know?" Oliver asked her.
"My mother's favourite channel was anything that had gossip, particularly celebrity gossip. You always knew who was watching TV last by the channel it was on. If you turned it on and found Syfy then I was the last person watching TV. If you turned it on and were bombarded with a headline of Oliver Queen peeing on a cop car, then it was my mom who watched the TV last. I distinctly remember the peeing incident. On a side note promise me you won't grow your hair long during out relationship. But Thea's appearance really confirmed that you are in fact Oliver Queen."
Oliver let out a breath of relief when Felicity referred to their relationship in the present tense. He was afraid she was going to be angry with him. "I promise but why didn't you say anything before?"
"We figured you had your reasons why you wanted to be Oliver Arrow and not Oliver Queen. Mom said to give you time, that we needed to respect whatever it was that you were going through but I ran out of patience and I just wanted you to know that I know and I understand," she said reaching for his hand and squeezing it lightly.
"There is a reason. I promise I will tell you everything in May,"
"That's when you go back?" Felicity asked hesitantly.
"Yes,"
She took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eye. He knew she was laying everything on the table, "I want to go with you,"
"I wasn't going to leave unless you were with me," he admitted.
She gave him a brilliant smile.
This was the beginning of planning a future together.
Jan -5
They were nearing the middle of January and the weather was cold. Throwing off his hoodie when he got home he found Felicity on the couch talking to Thea about algebra. From the background he could tell his sister was in the cafeteria and she was probably trying to get last minute homework done before heading to Mr. Jacobs class after lunch. The man was a stickler for submitting homework on time, even if it was a blank piece of paper, you had to submit something to be graded. He waited almost half an hour before Felicity was able to give him her attention. He wasn't sure he liked sharing her with his sister. He loved Thea, but Felicity was his and she was the one thing in his life he was going to be very mean about sharing with anyone.
"Stop pouting Oliver!"
"I wasn't pouting!"
She rolled her eyes at him, "How was the gym?
"It's was great! Slade put me on the salmon ladder today?"
"Oooooh what does that thing do?" she asked like a little child in a candy store.
"It's a total body workout. Why don't you come to a yoga class and I'll show you right afterwards."
"Yoga?" Felicity said scrunching up her face.
"Yes a little physical exercise to stay healthy," Oliver said to her.
"But I thought you gave me all the physical exercise I need?" Felicity purred.
"As much as I enjoy that type of physical exercise, it's good to throw in a little variation. It'll be fun I promise," he said.
"I don't think me tripping over my feet in front of everyone is fun," Felicity deadpan.
"You won't trip over your feet. Shado is an excellent instructor. Slade has me doing one class with her a week to increase my range of motion. You don't have to be a member of the gym to participate in her class. She has quite a loyal following that come specifically for her classes."
"Oliver Queen," she said crossing her hands over her chest but he could see that the the corners of her lips were threatening to tug upwards, so he knew she wasn't serious, "are you checking out the yoga instructor,"
"No! Are you crazy, Slade would drop the hundred pound weights on my head! Shado is his wife. There are rumours that the last two guys that looked at her the wrong way disappeared without a trace."
"Hmmm," she said pretending to think over what he said, "I'm not sure, perhaps you'll have to convince me in our bedroom?" she said.
"I can definitely to do that," Oliver said chasing after her as she ran giggling down the corridor to their room.
Jan-6
Oliver was busy practicing the signature drink he developed for Alice's wedding. When he sensed someone approach the bar, he looked up to ask the customer what they wanted but his jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Laurel!" he asked in disbelief once he could get his jaw working again.
"Hi Oliver," she said calmly. She didn't sit on the bar stool.
"What are you doing here?"
"Thea sent me to talk to a Samantha Clayton. She wanted me to give her advice regarding her legal rights to child support from the baby's father."
"Thea told you!"
"That you're Oliver Arrow here, yeah,"
He couldn't believe that his family couldn't keep their mouth shut. His father had told Tommy and his mother. Tommy had told Thea. Thea had told Roy and Laurel. Quite frankly he was lucky the National Enquirer didn't know yet.
"This is not fair. I am not allowed to tell anyone anything but my Dad can and anyone he tells can spread the word as well."
"When you think about it, it's a great lesson for you," Laurel said.
"How so?" Oliver asked skeptically.
"Because now you know when you enter into a deal, you not only pay attention to the terms and conditions that regard you but you also pay close attention to the terms and conditions that the other party is subject to. If you had told your father from the very beginning that you wished for him not to reveal the details of your arrangement to anyone or else he would be in violation of the deal if he did, then I wouldn't be here."
Oliver glared at her.
"My father started this challenge why would he not conform to the rules he set out."
"That is an assumption Oliver. If you wanted to ensure that your Dad would not tell anyone, you needed to insist upon it. You can't expect people to read your mind in a deal. That's what contracts are for. To specifically lay out the terms and conditions under which you and the other party are to operate. Did you not learn any of this in business school?"
"I might have slept through that class," Oliver admitted.
Laurel sighed, "So where is Samantha?"
"If Thea was paying proper attention she would have remembered that Samantha was on maternity leave,"
"Yes Thea is aware of that, it's why she asked your girlfriend to ask Samantha to come to the bar today. We are supposed to be meeting now,"
Oliver looked up at Laurel, this was the first time he was hearing about this. He would have liked a huge heads up that his ex-girlfriend was about to meet his current partner. He was definitely going to make time tomorrow to talk to his sister about this.
The door opened and Samantha walked in with William in the stroller. Alice called Felicity out of the kitchen so that they could coo over the baby. He watched Alice pick William up, cradling him the way the nurse had taught them in the hospital. She then offered him to Felicity. He could tell his girl panicked. From the hand gestures he was sure she was telling them that she might drop him. Alice ignored her and soon William was nestled against Felicity. Something inside of him warmed as he watched Felicity with the little baby. He could see it clearly in their future, Felicity holding their son that way. It wouldn't be in their immediate future but he could feel it was coming in a few years. What surprised him was there was no panic when he thought of children with her. There was only happiness.
Laurel walked over and introduced herself. Samantha sat in a corner with Laurel while Alice and Felicity took turns doting on William. It got worse when Bob came out. He wouldn't stop making noises to get little William to smile.
Jan-7
Felicity was dressed in a beautiful red dress for the wedding that made Oliver want to take it off of her immediately. They almost didn't make it to the ceremony. Oliver had brought his largest suit from home after the Christmas holiday but the jacket was still a little tight. Alice wanted her co-workers to enjoy the wedding so she hired a professional catering service that would handle the food and drinks. Bob kept a close eye on the strangers.
The tables where customers usually ate and drank were pushed together to form massive square tables so that they wouldn't have to rent large tables. Alice had prepared a seating chart, placing her co-workers at the same table. The tension between Diggle and Oliver was so thick not even a chain saw could cut through it. Felicity and Lyla took it upon themselves to invite Bob and Carl to dance, while Samantha excused herself to change William's diaper. This left Oliver and Diggle alone. It was obvious the women had planned that hoping they would talk and resolve their issue.
"What are you doing at the bar?" Oliver asked. He honestly expected the man to have disappeared by now.
"My job," Diggle said bluntly.
"I thought you would have reported to my father that his spy was discovered?"
"Really, that is what you think, that I'm your father's spy?"
"What are you then?"
"A body guard that kept a concerned parent updated on the welfare of his son,"
Oliver snorted. "Bullshit, if he was so concerned he would never have sent me out here,"
"Oliver this is the best thing that ever happened to you. Can you honestly say that you would be the man you are today if you never came here? 8 months ago you were a selfish, immature, brat, who couldn't see past his nose."
"Gee Diggle don't hold back, tell me how you really feel," Oliver responded bitterly,
Diggle ignored him, "but now, you give freely from your heart. You actually take into account how your actions affect others."
Oliver was silent.
"Can you imagine your life without Felicity in it?"
Definitely not Oliver's mind responded immediately.
"Your father did this for you to grow up and learn and guess what Oliver? It worked. It's time to shed the teenage angst you have towards your father now. He made his mistakes, but he's trying to fix them. You don't see Samantha's parents making an effort to help her now do you? And one last thing, I intend to finish my job. I'm here till May."
Oliver glared at his former friend.
"I need to go save Carl from my wife because if his hands wonder any further, she will break them off. Think about what I said Oliver."
Jan -8
It was Thea's birthday and he was talking to his sister on the phone.
"Ollie why do these look like the same gift certificates mom got for Christmas?"
"One's from me and one's from Felicity," Oliver responded trying not to answer her question and admit that they were indeed the very same gift certificates she had asked about. His mother had given it to him saying that Moira Queen would never get caught using gift certificates. Oliver had bristled internally, he had been collecting Bed, Bath and Beyond 20% coupons to buy items for Felicity's kitchen yet his mother couldn't be seen using a gift certificate! At least he knew Thea wouldn't have the same issue. Just to feel like he gave his sister a gift, he also had flowers and chocolates delivered to her.
Eventually his sister moved on from the gift certificates to tell him about school and gush about the car that she finally got from their parents! Oliver warned her to be careful when she was driving. He didn't want to get a call that she had wrapped it around a tree. She promised to drive safely. He also made her promise not to drive into the Glades. She was a bit more reluctant to agree to that but caved when Oliver threatened to have Felicity track down Roy's phone number so that Oliver could talk to the boy about Thea's safety. The thought of Oliver and Roy ganging up on her terrified her.
Jan-9
Near the end of January Anatoly made an appearance.
"Do I need to go in the office again?" Felicity asked chucking her thumb in the direction of the office.
"No need dear, I'm just here to give Bob a head's up," Anatoly said sitting at the bar and ordering a bottle of water.
"How much does Carl owe you now?" Bob asked as Oliver gave the Russian a bottle.
"Not me. I don't keep clients who can't pay. Your little rat fell in with the Bertinelli's. Rumour is he owes Frank 50K,"
"Wow," Felicity said.
Silence descended upon bar.
Anatoly pulled out a $100 bill and placed it on the bar, "keep the tip, you're going to need it,"
When he left the bar everyone looked at each other.
"I could ask my dad for the cash?" Felicity volunteered.
When everyone looked at her confused, she expounded.
"What, he said he was rich now. He feels guilty he left us and wants to make up for it with dollar signs. I don't want his money but I don't mind using it to help Bob since everyone here already knows that Carl isn't going to pay his debt."
"Your father actually said that?" Alice asked.
"Not in so many words," Felicity replied.
"No the real problem here is dealing with Carl," Diggle said. "Bob can't keep paying his loan sharks,"
"Bob could take a loan and dock Carl's pay to make the payments," Alice suggested.
"I'll talk to the bank tomorrow," Bob said.
"We still need to figure out what to do with Carl," Diggle reiterated.
"I agree with Diggle," Oliver said surprising the bouncer. "Bob, I have realised recently, that sometimes you got to let the kid fall to straighten him out. Bailing him out repeatedly will teach him nothing but that it's ok for him to continue along that path. The only way Carl is going to learn is to face the consequences of his actions. You may want to consider letting him deal with the Bertinellis himself."
"Frank will rip him to pieces. I cannot allow that," Bob said ending the discussion.
Jan – 10
The bank refused to give Bob the loan on the grounds of his age. In the end, he sourced the money from Anatoly but Bob had actually listened to all of their input. He cut a deal with Anatoly where the Russian would send his goons after Carl and give him a scare. The goons would then keep Carl on the right path until he paid off the loan. It was not in Anatoly's interest for Carl to be racking up other debts or compromising his ability to pay. Bob was going to automatically dock Carl's pay to give Anatoly every week. After one black eye and a few bruises, Carl agreed.
"I could have asked my father for the 50K" Oliver admitted to Felicity as they lay cuddled together the morning after the deal with Anatoly was finalised.
"No," Felicity said firmly. "I got the terms of your deal out of Diggle. Carl got himself into this mess he had to make the sacrifices to get out of it. When you think about it Anatoly is a very shrewd businessman. He manipulated the whole situation?"
"How so?" Oliver asked.
"He cut off Carl knowing the boy would find another loan shark to fund his habits. He then stepped into to tell Bob knowing that Bob would try to find a way to pay the debt but this time the debt was too large. Anatoly knew no bank would lend Bob leaving him to turn to the only 'honourable loan shark'. Have you realised that Carl's repayment terms means that Anatoly is going to make a 100% profit on the loan!"
"I suppose that's why he's a successful loan shark. The point is to make money."
Felicity snuggled closer to him while he thought about the parallels between Carl and himself. He saw the pain on Bob's face when he agreed to Carl getting a little beat up but it was a necessary evil to straighten him out. He was getting worse and Bob wasn't going to be around to protect him forever. One day Carl would have gotten a serious beat down. Bob had gotten Anatoly to agree to use very little force. Carl was giving Bob the cold shoulder angry that the old man was interfering with his life. Carl didn't understand why he couldn't enjoy life the way he chose to enjoy life. It reminded Oliver of his thoughts before the challenge. Perhaps Diggle was right. It was time to shed his teenage view point of his father and move on.
Jan-11
The last customer had just left the bar when Oliver called Diggle over and poured them each some Tennessee Whiskey.
"Was it real?" Oliver asked him.
"Was what real Oliver?"
"Our friendship?"
"It was very real. Making friends with you was not part of my contract. In fact, friendship usually hinders contracts because personal feelings get in the way."
Oliver nodded swirling the liquid around in his glass.
"Did you tell my father that Felicity knows," he asked
"No, my work is to keep you safe and let your dad know what you are up to. I don't have to tell him your girlfriend is a genius and can figure things out on her own,"
Oliver raised his glass in the air, "To the challenge, I may have viewed it as a way to freedom but I've gained a new outlook on life, a partner for life, I hope, and new friends, including you Diggle,"
Diggle smiled, "I can toast to that Oliver,"
January was finished and he was entering the last quarter of his challenge. For the first time he could see a path forming for his future. Sure it was still very blurry in some areas but he had no doubt that with Felicity and his friends, inclusive of Diggle by his side, that he would find his way.