By the end of this chapter, you'll likely know which way I'm leaning with their dilemma. Still, I hope I can pull together another chapter or two with a little more substance. ;)

I was asked by one reader how I came up with the idea for this story. The easy answer is that it's just my imagination. The more lengthy answer is that I read in a couple of places that the actress who plays Felicity, EBR, isn't completely thrilled with the idea that's been tossed around about her character being pregnant. (That's completely just from social media sites, NOT from show producers or anyone affiliated with the show to my knowledge!) Anywho... with that in mind, I started wondering what might stand in the way of an Olicity pregnancy (um...besides hubby dearest being in prison!) and the bio-stimulator seemed to make the most sense. It's an untested device implanted in her spine. Babies wreak all kinds of potential havoc on expectant mom's, so who knows how the two would work - or not work - together. Again, this is all my imagination. I've got no connection to no one! haha! :P

Thanks SO much for reading and to those who have reviewed, HUGE hugs and appreciation! MJ, you're the bestest! Please keep the reviews coming - your reviews feed my muse - as do Oliver and Felicity, of course! lol!

Happy Reading and KTOLF!
-adcg

Chapter Four – Together

"Please don't make a decision about this by yourself. Felicity, please. Please talk to me." Oliver knelt in front of her, pleading.

Felicity placed her hands against his cheeks, holding his face in her hands as their eyes met.

Oliver quickly wrapped his hands around her waist and placed a sweet kiss where his hands had been, over her womb. Felicity let him rest his cheek there while his arms clung to her waist and she ran her fingers through his short, tousled hair.

He was wearing a dark pair of jeans, a gray t-shirt and his boots. She realized he had taken time to go home and change clothes and had likely talked to William at least a little bit. He must've – he knew she was coming to Vegas and had followed her quickly.

Donna's eyes were damp with emotion as she watched the couple interact just inside the door of her home. She didn't want to interrupt their moment by any means, but she also didn't want to stop and stare. She debated going into the kitchen to at least find something for Oliver to eat. What good, Jewish mother wouldn't have food for her kids?

"I'm just going…" Donna spoke just above a whisper and pointed with both index fingers toward the room farther inside her house, beyond the dining area.

"Donna," Oliver stood somewhat hurriedly, a little embarrassed that he hadn't even spoken to Felicity's mother.

Donna looked toward him with a questioning look on her face.

"I… just… thank you," he finally got out, not really knowing why he was thanking her.

Donna smiled at him gently and then looked at Felicity's profile as she now stood holding Oliver's hands. "Just take care of my girl, alright?" She gave him the best motherly look she could muster at the moment and Oliver nodded back instinctively.

As Donna turned to walk away, Felicity tugged on Oliver's hands to bring him to the couch. They both sat down and took deep breaths waiting for the other to begin.

"Dr. Barton is your ob-gyn, right?" Oliver finally asked, not knowing where to even try to begin.

Felicity pursed her lips together, forcing a smile of sorts as she simply observed her husband's body language. She nodded to answer his question.

"Felicity," Oliver took both her hands in his and found her eyes, holding her attention. "Are you pregnant? Are we- ?"

He intentionally held his emotions inside until she gave him some sort of answer.

"No," she shook her head to emphasize her answer. "Why would you think… How did you know about Dr. Barton?" she creased her eyebrows in thought as she realized they weren't only on different pages at the moment, they weren't even metaphorically reading the same book.

"Will heard you say her name when she called you this afternoon. And he did his research. He knows she's a doctor who takes care of expectant moms," Oliver explained.

"Oh," Felicity gave his hands a squeeze before adjusting herself on the cushions. She wanted to be in Oliver's arms but wasn't ready to be face to face with him as they talked about this. She turned her back toward his side hoping he would take the hint and put his arms around her.

That worked.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and placed a kiss on the skin showing just below his shirt sleeve, covering his well-toned bicep.

In response Oliver flexed his muscle, very happy to feel her lips on his skin – since they had yet to share an actual kiss.

"Is William ok?" Felicity's thoughts trailed off in a different direction. "I'm an awful mom, aren't I? I left him home by himself. Oh God, I'm so sorry." She pressed her cheek against Oliver's arm and he could feel the tears those thoughts had prompted.

"He's fine," Oliver tried to console her. "Felicity, you didn't do anything wrong. He's 12. He can be at home by himself for a while." He placed a kiss into her hair to let his wife know he was far from upset at her for Williams' situation.

"Raisa's with him. He's just mainly worried about you," Oliver wanted to convey that William wasn't upset with Felicity either. Concern was the bigger issue.

"I freaked out on him, Oliver," Felicity kept her back turned to him. "Dr. Barton called and I freaked out."

Oliver turned his body toward hers and wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her to the corner of the seat with him simply to hold her close.

"Oliver," Felicity tried without much effort to wiggle out of his hold then easily gave in, letting their bodies mold together.

"Tell me what happened, please?" Oliver requested in his most gentle voice, against the shell of her ear. "What freaked you out so much that you couldn't call me or come to me?" There was much more that he wanted to include in that question but thought better of it and kept it simple.

"Can't I just have times when I need my mom?" Felicity knew that answer wouldn't fly, but it was somewhat true.

"Sure," Oliver tried to be agreeable. "But when the trip happens spur of the moment, after getting a call from a doctor, and when you tell our son not to inform me of anything for at least an hour after you left… Sweetheart… I was on the verge of taking the Barry Allen express to get to you."

Felicity smiled at that thought. "You would've beat me here."

"Honestly, that's what I wanted." Oliver sat up a little straighter and urged Felicity to turn around and look at him. "Whatever is going on, whatever this is, Felicity, you've gotta let me in. I get it, you needed your mom. But if your health is involved, if our baby is involved… Baby, you've gotta let me in, please."

Felicity knew her tears hadn't finished for the night. Just hearing Oliver reference the idea of their child started them again.

"Can you just…" she assumed the same position on the couch as she had with her mother earlier. Oliver wrapped her in his arms and let her face rest against his chest as more tears soaked through his t-shirt.

"Felicity, Baby, talk to me, please?" Oliver requested.

Felicity shook her head against his pectoral muscle.

At the same time, Donna wandered back into the living room. Oliver looked at her with tears in his own eyes, uncertainty written all over his face.

His mother-in-law held up a simple index finger, instructing him to just hang on. She had no idea what had been shared yet, nor exactly where her kids' conversation would take them. Donna stepped toward the couch, put her hands on Oliver's cheeks while standing over him and looking at both him and Felicity. She then bent down and placed a kiss in Oliver's hair.

"Just be patient with her, Oliver. Give her time," Donna whispered as she ran her thumbs gingerly through Oliver's short beard and hoped her words were the least bit reassuring.

"I'm gonna take Felicity's suitcase upstairs to your bedroom. She knows where it is if you all make it upstairs tonight, okay." She gave Oliver a gentle wink, again trying to be reassuring. "I'm going to head onto bed. But if you need me, you yell, alright?"

Oliver nodded. "Thank you," he offered again.

Felicity lifted her head from his chest and looked at her mother. "Mom?"

"Yeah, Baby Doll?" Donna tilted her face to look at her daughter and watched as Felicity's hand immediately gripped Oliver's t-shirt, grateful to be in his arms.

"Good… good night," Felicity gave her a perfect clue that the situation would get better, somehow. Two of the three people that she loved most in the world were solely focused on her. And together they would figure it out.

Oliver and Felicity sat silently for the next half hour, him running his fingers through her hair and her nuzzling against his chest and simply finding ways to be as close to him as possible with their clothes still intact.

After a particularly long breath, Felicity tilted her head upwards and kissed Oliver's beard-adorned chin. "I'm not pregnant," she stated and then took another breath. "That's not why Dr. Barton called. It's not like I had a miscarriage or anything like that," she placed her thumbnail in her mouth and breathed against his chest. "I'm not pregnant, I haven't been pregnant."

She felt Oliver nod.

"Okay," he said simply.

"What are you thinking?" Felicity asked, wanting to truly know what else came to his mind besides 'okay'.

"Can you be?" Oliver asked. "I mean…can you get…pregnant?" He stared toward the front window of Donna's home, watching the street lights flicker behind a few trees. "It's a question that I've wondered since that night that we talked about possibly having a baby. After your paralysis, is it possible for you…for us…to get pregnant?"

Felicity hesitated. The thought of being pregnant with Oliver's child warmed her again. The fleeting idea of Via and O.J. entered her mind as she sat there in his arms.

"Dr. Barton says I should be able to," Felicity swallowed the thoughts of twins and fears of what-if's as she prepared to tell her husband about the conversation.

She pulled away from Oliver and took a deep breath. She leaned her shoulder against the back of the couch, grabbed another tissue and wiped her eyes. She licked her lips as Oliver watched her and tried to collect her thoughts before forming words.

"Felicity, if it's not something you want…"

She quickly held her hand up to stop him and closed her eyes momentarily.

"I do want, Oliver," she opened her eyes, and looked at him without smiling although that should be wonderful news. "After we talked that night I had the same question that you just asked me… Could I? With the nerve damage and surgery and the stimulator… is it possible for me to even think about having a baby?" She took one of his hands in hers and squeezed it as she forced herself to smile. "The short answer is 'yes'."

Oliver tilted his head, reading her eyes, the twitch of her jaw when she finished speaking, the way she was squeezing his hand as though he actually held some answer.

"Ever since we had that talk – ever since William joked about having a little brother or sister – I've thought about it. And I told you the truth that night, being with you…having William…my heart is opening up to the idea of being a mom."

Oliver smiled at her genuinely. Just like his heart-felt 'I love you's' entered their relationship long before Felicity's, he had pictured her having his child long ago. Not just the dreams that eased his tensions in prison but many others filled his heart.

"What's the long answer?" Oliver pushed her to tell him the rest of the story.

Felicity looked down at his hand in hers, their wedding bands, their fingers linked together, caressing each other. "With the bio-stimulator," she started slowly, "there are a lot of uncertainties." She looked up to judge Oliver's reaction.

"Like what?" he wondered simply.

"Dr. Barton says if we are to get pregnant, she would consider it a high-risk pregnancy right from the start. We don't know if the electrical charge from the device could affect a baby's development. And, depending on the baby's size and how I might carry him or her – in utero – my paralysis might return."

Oliver's eyes grew wide as he began to understand, ever so slightly. His used the fingertips of his free hand to rub a mindless pattern in the stubble under his chin.

Felicity watched his eyebrows crease and release. She had seen this process before on her husband, his attempt to process information and find an answer all at the same time.

He took a quick breath in and let it out just as quickly. "So she doesn't recommend that we have a baby," he pressed his lips together, still processing.

Felicity dipped her head to regain his attention and focus. "That's not what she said. That was what I heard at first, too, Oliver. That's why I ran. I felt like she had just taken my hopes and ripped them apart. I told mom, I had gotten my hopes up, way-over-the-top up. And Dr. Barton's call sent them slamming down all in about 15 minutes time."

"So what was she saying?" His confused look didn't surprise Felicity.

Felicity huffed out a laugh, "She's saying a pregnancy for me…for us…would be complicated. Not impossible… not without challenges… but complicated."

Oliver looked toward the ceiling and rolled his eyes. "Do we have any part of our lives that can't be complicated?"

Felicity laughed again, "Exactly."

She reached up with her fingertips and ran them over Oliver's lower lip. He looked back into her eyes and finally saw a hint of her light shining there.

"Can I have a kiss, please?" Oliver chanced asking her.

Felicity tilted her head in an 'are-you serious?' fashion.

And finally, she moved her lips to his and allowed at least some of their tensions to float away.

Oliver placed one hand on the small of her back and the other on the back of her head. It wasn't a kiss to be deepened – not in that moment and not on Donna Smoak's couch, in her living room. But he prolonged their lip-lock long enough to let his wife know that she should've never tackled this situation by herself.

"Now," Oliver let out a long cleansing breath once he finally removed his lips from hers, "You've had a few hours to think about this, obviously. And this isn't a decision we are going to make tonight by any means. But can you tell me your thoughts? How are you feeling, now, compared to when you left home this afternoon?"

Felicity took a moment to maneuver them around into a more comfortable position. The end result had her practically cradled in Oliver's arms, sitting in his lap, both of them reclining somewhat against the corner of the seat. She suddenly felt a little child-like herself, and yet wrapped in his arms, she felt protected, safe and above all, loved.

She placed her hands on his forearm, massaging, as she thought about his question. She leaned her head against his shoulder, nuzzling again against his neck.

"I guess," she started, "I'm still scared. But I'm realizing there's no absolute answer here. I guess, I thought Dr. Barton would call and tell me either 'yes' or 'no'. Either getting pregnant was possible or not. I think I had prepared myself for either of those answers…sort of," she added. "But to hear 'yes' with a string of exceptions and warnings behind it…my mind went into overdrive and pretty much disregarded the simple answer."

Oliver listened to her intently, ghosting his fingers over her thigh and hip bone and daring to press his hands toward the middle of her abdomen. He breathed out against her hair and took in her soft scent when he breathed in again.

"Felicity," he asked softly. "What scares you?"

She let out a sigh, knowing he was trying to form his own opinions of their situation and part of that involved knowing all of her thoughts. She didn't want to hide them from him but she also didn't want to scare him. At the end of this conversation she needed an honest answer from Oliver's heart and soul…his answer – not one based solely on her fears.

"Losing you." She answered honestly, because apparently something deep inside of her brought that point to the forefront of her mind.

Oliver pressed his lips through her hair and left a warm kiss on her scalp. His arms wrapped more tightly around her, allowing one hand the ability to reach her chin and tip her face up towards his.

"You are not going to lose me." He shook his head and knew she understood him and the serious look on his face.

Still her sad eyes spoke wonders to him. "But if you want a baby, and William wants a baby, and if I can't give that to you because – for whatever reason…"

Oliver held her chin between his index finger and thumb, their faces barely inches apart. "You will not lose me, or William – period. I didn't fall in love with you because I wanted a baby. I didn't marry you because I wanted a baby. Dear God, I married you because you asked me to. I fell in love with you because you are you. Felicity, having a baby together, raising our family would simply be a bonus package for me. I'm not going to leave you if you can't have a baby, or if you choose not to."

He took the opportunity to press his lips to hers again. Stopping any potential argument she might try to voice was a bonus package to his kiss.

"And, by the way, William has no say in the matter. I mean, not just the baby idea, but you're still his legal guardian. He can't do anything without your okay on it at the moment."

Felicity bit her bottom lip and smiled, appreciating all of the answers he was offering. She had forgotten about the guardianship that she had taken on when Oliver went to prison. It was a legal matter they needed to put back in Oliver's hands as Will's father. But the guardianship that had terrified her when it fell into her lap had simply slid into the mother/son relationship that she and William currently shared.

"Another side note…from Will," Oliver placed another quick kiss on her lips and then pulled back just far enough to focus on her eyes. "He said he would really like to have a little sister, but as long as you're ok, a brother is fine too."

Felicity blinked her eyes slowly, the smile fading off her face as she thought about William's feelings and more of her own in this baby saga.

"You won't lose us. You're stuck with both of us, Baby, we're glue."

Felicity's smile returned. She kissed her way from the soft beard growth just under his ear down to the prickly stubble on his neck.

Oliver hummed at the sensation she caused. "Now, what else?" he found the ability to ask.

Felicity closed her eyes, beginning to feel tired. Being comfortable in her husband's arms, talking to him about this particular subject, finally, getting worries and fears out into the open had drained her. She knew there was a question she wanted to ask him but her eyelids were feeling ever-so-heavy.

Oliver continued holding her, supporting her body, and placing soothing kisses wherever his lips would reach. He assumed she was thinking about her fears and worries, and about a baby. He couldn't help but smile. He had yet to get her full response to questions he needed to ask. Their discussion was far from over. But the idea of a true bonus package, sharing a child with Felicity, was enough to make him cherish her even more.

They sat for several more minutes, Felicity moving her hand over his chest, pressing her cheek against his shoulder and finally wrapping a hand around his neck.

"Oliver?" her voice sounded sleepy which made her husband smile even more.

"Hmmm?" he was still waiting for an answer to his last question.

"Can we talk more tomorrow?" She requested.

"Yeah, sure. Are you okay?" he looked over her body resting in his hold.

"I'm tired. Take me to bed?" she requested with eyes already partially closed.

God, he loved her. And he loved their love even more when she admitted that she needed him. They would continue this conversation in the morning, most likely.

"You've gotta hang onto me, Felicity," he warned her as he started trying to get off the couch with her in his arms. Oliver struggled just a little bit to get off the soft cushions. And once he was up he tackled the 10 steps that took them up to the second floor.

Luckily, Donna had left a lamp on in the bedroom they were meant to share. He carried his wife to the bed and gently laid her down, watching her shiver just a little being separated from his warmth.

"When we have a baby you may have to carry me to bed like this every night." Her voice now sounded practically drugged, leading Oliver to understand just how tired she was. And he realized she probably had no idea what she had just said. Still he grinned widely at that idea. Then he watched her, expecting her to turn over and go right to sleep.

Instead she blinked her eyes open slightly and yawned. She reached her arms toward him like a needy child. "I need your shirt," she slurred slightly.

"What?" Oliver chuckled.

"I forgot to pack p.j.'s. I can't sleep in…in my birthday suit…I need your shirt to sleep in," she mumbled.

"Felicity, Honey, it's probably stinky from the flight," he tried to find an excuse.

"Don't care," her voice made him chuckle and he knew…he knew what was coming next. "Gimme your shirt, Olivuuuhhhrrr," she turned on the whine.

So he stood at the side of the bed and removed his shirt. At which point Felicity opened her eyes again and smiled at the sight of her shirtless husband.

"Help me undress, pleeeaaassseee," she smiled and blinked at him with those sleepy, puppy dog eyes.

"You're killing me, you know that?" He gave her a nearly parental look before turning down the bed and proceeding to strip his wife down to her bra and panties.

Before he could pull his t-shirt over her head Felicity tugged at the straps of her bra. "I can't sleep with this on," she attempted to reach around her back to unclasp the garment.

Oliver nearly bit his tongue as he pulled his practically naked wife toward his chest, unclasped her bra and removed it from her body as well.

"That's better," Felicity smiled and attempted to wrap her arms around his neck to make him lie down with her chest to chest.

"Uh-uh, Little Miss," Oliver warned her. "You wanted this shirt to sleep in? You're wearing this shirt to sleep in." He pulled the soft cotton over her head and chastised himself inwardly for thinking how absolutely adorable and sexy she looked at that very moment.

"Sleep in your boxers," she commented with eyes closed completely enough that Oliver wondered if she was making these demands in her sleep.

"Nope," he answered simply. "I'm going to go get my suitcase and change into some sweats. That's what I'll be sleeping in tonight."

"Mmm-kay," she stretched her body out against the cool sheets and adjusted the pillow under her head. "I love you Deputy Mayor Queen," she chuckled in her now obviously sleep-induced voice.

Oliver rolled his eyes but didn't hesitate to respond. "And I love you too, Mrs. Deputy Mayor Queen. Soooo much."

Chapter 4 - Together