"You know, Tommy, most boys your age are asleep at 12 AM."
I looked up from my Ipad, where I was researching the Green Arrow. I had gone back all the way to the beginning, when the revolutionary earthquake in the Glades happened, trying to look for answers of whether one of my dad's old enemies made me the way I am. I turned it off quickly, suddenly self-conscious of Aunt Laurel standing over me.
"Is the baby here yet?" I asked. I'd been here since eight o'clock, and with Sara away at college, her sister Dahlia too busy with tests the next day(as usual), and Aunt Thea obviously having her baby, I couldn't stay at home overnight.
"It'll be a long time. You can sleep." Aunt Laurel sat herself down into a chair and sighed. "That's what I'm doing."
"I can't sleep in a wheelchair," I protested. I paused a moment. "… or in a hospital." I've spent too long in one. This place was both my birthplace and my death bead. Except, only about half of me died.
"Oh." Aunt Laurel was quiet for a minute. "What are you reading?"
"Just some stuff on… um… the Flash," I lied, straight to her face. I should have known better.
"So I take it your dad told you."
"I- What?" I jumped, and tried my most incredulous face possible.
Laurel laughed. "I'm a lawyer, and you're no better than Oliver at lying."
"Oh… uhhh…" I turned the iPad back on and continued reading old news reports, trying to make the silence meaningful.
"That's from the very beginning, you know," she commented, eyeing at the screen where I read about Count Vertigo, some old drug dealer. He was found dead, having fallen from the twentieth story of a building with arrows in his neck. "I didn't even know Oliver's secret yet."
"He kept it from you, too?"
"Well, that was before the Black Canary. But yeah, he did. Did you know that he broke his no-kill oath to save your mom?"
"Really?" That sounds pretty corny, if you ask me. But it also scared me a little bit; my dad has killed people. With his own two hands. I opened my mouth to ask her about the accident, but figured she would realize I saw the truck.
"He would do anything to protect the ones he loves." Aunt Laurel stood up, and stretched. "These chairs aren't very comfortable. I'm going to go see about getting some coffee. Would you like a hot chocolate?"
"Yes please," I said. But I fell asleep reading before she could get back.
It was about 9 AM when I woke up. A blanket had been thrown over me, my glasses taken off and put onto the table beside me. Before I could scoot up to put them on, Mom came up and kissed the top of my head, handing them to me.
"Here's the hot chocolate Aunt Laurel got you last night," she said. "It was microwaved."
"Thanks." I took the hot chocolate gratefully. "Where's dad?"
"With Aunt Thea. Do you want to meet your baby cousin?"
Mom rolled me into the room, and I was met by the chatter of my parent's friends: Uncle Dig and Aunt Lyla (Sarah's parents), Aunt Laurel, Walter, Uncle Roy. It occurred to me that these people must have been there when I was born: my parents and Aunt Thea don't have a lot of family. My only grandma lives in Los Vegas, and she's on my mom's side. That's why I have so many "aunts" and "uncles" who aren't really related to me. They're all family.
Uncle Diggle was holding the baby. He grinned when he saw me. "Hey, Tommy. It's your turn to hold her."
"Wait! I- Uh…"
"Make sure you hold her head up." He plopped her into my arms, and I frantically took his advice. She was a lot smaller than I had expected… I was afraid I was going to break her, or drop her. Her little green eyes blinked open for a moment, then closed again.
"Meet Lian Moira Harper," Uncle Roy announced, beaming.
"You'll be the one babysitting, soon," Thea told me, sounding exhausted despite the good humor in her voice. The room hummed with laughter and optimism.
I could have sworn I saw a man outside the window looking in, but when I checked again, he vanished.