Notes:

So, I' venturing out from the familiarity and comfort of my angst and trying myself on humor... let me know how I'm doing. Constructive criticism and opinions are well appreciated.


I'm looking at a masterpiece I'm staring at a work of art I'm listening to a symphony

From all the people they've met and were going to in the foreseeable future, this one would probably be the most difficult one for Eloise. Because it took a lot of finesse and Ollie and she had decided just showing up with the kids like they had done, even if not on purpose, might not be the best idea. Ollie explaining the situation beforehand by himself was the better approach. So, he could ease into it. Cushion the blow a little.

Yes, this was going to be a new experience for their headstrong little daddy's girl and she was going into it with slight trepidation, worried that she might be expecting too much of their four-year-old, that maybe she should've just stayed home with the kids, might have been easier and Ollie could've brought… no. No, this was the right way to do it. She knew how anxious her husband was, had been ever since he had decided to do this. He needed her; he needed them here with him, moral support and stuff. Besides, having Eloise run around the playground would probably mean they'd get an early night and might actually get some quality grown up time in, something that had seriously been lacking ever since they've moved to Starling. The kids were still getting used to the new environment and now, with meeting so many new people in such a short amount of time, it was all too much for their little ones and it showed around bedtime. Never mind the fact that both of their kids were currently sleeping in their bed again, Eloise was not yet secure enough in her new surroundings to sleep in her own bed. It was fine. Neither she nor Ollie minded, but still, she sometimes missed spending time with just him, snuggling on the couch without two little people demanding snuggles, too.

She loved her kids more than life itself, but she cherished the couple of hours a night, once both kids were asleep, when she didn't have to share her husband with them, and she knew he felt the same way. They were both sort of trying to get as much quality alone time is as they could, knowing full well that was going to take even more of a backseat again once their third one was born. Sara watched Ollie crouch down and talk to Ellie, kissing her crown before standing up again and walking back towards the entrance of the park. He turned his head towards her and gave her a tight smile; she answered with an encouraging one of her own. Trying to provide him with some strengths and take some of his apprehension away in the process.

This one could go two ways and it would probably be problematic and difficult for all three parties involved.

She watched her daughter trail the butterfly that had caught and held her attention and given Ollie the chance to leave drama-free. Eloise was used to having Ollie's more or less undivided attention when he was near her, or at least get most of it, even while he was interacting with other adults. She's always been his first priority, from the moment they've learnt about her existence, only having to share that place with Benjamin, which she's gotten a lot better at, compared to right after he was first born. She was her daddy's little girl, his princess, the center of his universe and his entire life. If Eloise wanted daddy and he was in the vicinity, she'd get daddy, didn't matter what he was doing at the time, even if she'd only get a small amount of his attention, like when he was fixing their car, or the electricity at their place or changing Benji, or cutting a tree down or whatever, he'd involve her however he could to make sure her need of being with him was being fulfilled.

The problem was, the same amount of attention and focus as Ollie was investing in their kids now, he used to focus on Thea. Yes, Speedy was used to getting his undivided attention, too. It was difficult for her to predict Thea's reaction once she realizes she no longer was the center of his universe. Not that she'd ever doubt Thea adoring her niece and nephew. She was just very aware of the fact that this was a very huge change for the younger one of the Queen siblings, and something she'd probably struggle with. Not that Ollie didn't still adore her and cherish her the same way he always had, but it was different. Thea still made it to the top three of his priority list. She just wasn't number one anymore. She'd unknowingly lost that spot to both Eloise and Benjamin. And Sara knew that wasn't going to be an easy realization for Ollie's baby sister and probably a bit of a bitter pill to swallow, given the circumstances of everything.

A fact her husband was also very, very aware of. Just like the knowledge that she'd also feel hurt because he hadn't told Thea about his kids, or about the two of them having gotten married, for that matter. Yes, sensitive, kind, soft-hearted Thea would probably be deeply wounded by this revelation. This meant Ollie would probably struggle to balance between his two favorite girls, trying to do justice to both their needs and knowing him, most likely end up feeling like he had let them both down.

Yes, this was going to be challenging. Which was why she was at the playground with the kids, while Ollie was meeting Thea at the entrance to the park, to give them some time to just be together, uninterrupted. Because he wanted to give Speedy his undivided attention, at least for a little bit after all those years of not having spent any time with her at all, something he wouldn't be able to do with Ellie around. She had pointed out the coffee shop in between the entrance and the playground, so they could get something to drink and maybe sit down at one of the benches all around the park to have some privacy for their reunion.

She watched Ollie disappear from her line of sight, still keeping an eye on her daughter before lowering herself onto the grass floor and putting Benji onto the ground in front of her, so he could go explore a little, while she had a good view of her firstborn who must have lost the butterfly because she was now climbing around the big structure shaped like a castle with several slides going down it, there was a ladder on one side and a spiderweb shaped rope way up on another side and a rock-climbing wall one towards her. Eloise was currently skillfully using the ropes to go up and get into the castle.

Sara played with Benji helping him stand up and try to take a couple of steps, holding on to her with his little hands, while never losing track of her older child's movements. It was when she saw her climbing up the side of the castle's tower, not something that was intended that she picked her son up while standing up and hurrying towards the play structure, making sure her daughter wasn't going to fall down. Eloise was a great climber, and she didn't doubt that she'd manage to get on the roof all by herself, but you never knew and it only took a moment, all that was needed was for her four-year-old to get distracted and not concentrate on what she was doing and fall off and several feet on the ground, not something she was willing to risk.

She stood close to the tower, setting Benji down by her feet, ready to jump in and catch her daughter in case she'd slip and fall, her eyes were trained on her, on every move she made, making sure she wouldn't misstep or not hold on at the right spots, her heart pounding in her chest, her stomach in knots of apprehension, she rationally knew Ellie could do this but she had learnt early on in motherhood that knowing her children's capabilities and understanding that they didn't need her to help them with everything, giving them the freedom to explore, to try new things and to learn on their own wasn't easy and the pride and joy she felt about every single one of their accomplishments, no matter how small they were always came with worry, trepidation and fear. And no amount of rational thinking could or probably ever would change that. Sara sighed in relief once Eloise had reached the roof and sat down in the middle of it. Watching the going-on's on the playground from a bird's perspective, high up above. She had to smile. Ollie always pointed out that their daughter had this from her. Just like her love for birds. And he wasn't wrong. Once she was sure Ellie was safely on top and wouldn't come down for a while she sat down on the floor again, noticing that her son had decided to use her distraction to crawl away and explore the castle wall, pulling himself up against it, looking so very proud of himself once he finally managed it.

"Good job, baby!" Her baby-boy turned his head towards her at the sound of her voice, still holding on to the wall while beaming at her, he tried to take a step, wobbled and lost his balance she jerked forward to steady him with one hand, making sure he wouldn't hit his head at the wall. He tumbled headfirst into her, his little hands trying to catch his fall on her rounded stomach but his entire weight ended up crashing into her, he received a kick in reply from within her, this led to Benji looking up at her as if to say "Mama she kicked me!" and she had to grin and rolled her eyes, those two were going to be a handful, they were already fighting and her youngest wasn't even born yet. She was just about to say something to her son when he realized that her breasts were right in front of his face and one of his little hands took hold of her neckline and pulled it down, exposing her bra in the process, like father like son. She picked him up and positioned him so it would work for all three of them, before baring her breast to him so he could latch on and eat.

„Mama, help me down." Benjamin was close to drifting off in her arms when Eloise's voice jerked him awake again and she stood up to better talk with her and help her find her way back down.

„Alright, sweetie, you gotta turn around and then…" Sara began to help her daughter giving her pointers how to start her climb down from the roof of the tower of the playground castle, just to be interrupted by her.

„No, not like that, Mama! You gotta come up and get me." She looked up at her firstborn, then at her baby boy on her hip and ended at her youngest, currently still residing inside of her.

„Baby, how do you expect me to do that?"

„You gotta put Benji on the ground and he's going to play with the rocks and then you can come get me down." Unfortunately, Benji wasn't the issue right now.

„Baby, I can't do that." Her advanced stage of pregnancy was. The way the tower was built made it impossible for her to safely climb up and get her down.

„Yeaha, you can. He's gonna spit them out if he eats them. It's okay." Her daughter's thought process never ceased to amaze her and just how observant she was.

„Baby, even if I put Benji on the ground, I still can't come up to get you down. I can't climb up to the roof to get you, not while your baby sister is still in my belly. You're going to have to climb back down on your own." She tried to reason with her daughter, knowing full well that Eloise was more than capable of getting down on her own if she wanted to. Which led to her questioning the real issue and the reason behind her insistence someone come get her down.

„No. Daddy can get me down." That was an understandable jump she made. Ollie was usually around and could and would get her down if she decided she wasn't confident enough to get back down on her own.

„Daddy's not here, baby." This wasn't going to be an easy conversation that she was sure of.

„Yuhu, he is, too, I can see him." and her daughter didn't disappoint. Sara knew this was the main reason Eloise had stayed on the roof, so she could watch Ollie and Thea, given the direction she'd looked.

„Yes, but he's occupied right now. Just come down by yourself." She felt bad for her baby, knowing how difficult this situation was for her, to not be the center of her daddy's attention or get any of it at all, while she could see him in the distance.

„No… I want daddy to get me down! Daddy! Daaaaaddddyyy!" This reaction was to be expected. Sara rolled her eyes at her daughter's antics until she hit that special pitch with her voice while calling out for Ollie, the one that shot icy dread and extreme terror through every cell of a parent's body while hearing it.

„Stop! No, not like that! Don't you use that tone to call to your father, you're going to give him a fucking heart attack and then you'll be stuck on the roof for good!" Jesus, if Ollie heard her call out like that he'd think she was in serious danger, instead of just wanting his attention.

„But… why can't I call daddy?" She could hear the pout and confusion in her little girl's voice while she was interpreting her words wrong.

„You can call for daddy, but not the way you just did. You only ever use that tone of voice when you're scared or in danger and we both known neither is the case right now. If you scream like that, daddy's going to think something bad happened to you and get scared and we don't want that, do we?." She hoped this explanation made more sense to Eloise, and she actually understood why she had told her to stop calling for her father.

"No, I don't want to make daddy feel scared." It was easy for her to detect the thoughtfulness in her voice and the conviction in her words, letting her know that the little girl at least understood some of what she had said and tried to understand the rest.

"Good. So you need to use your normal voice when calling for him. And only use that voice when something bad is or has happened." There was a long silence, and Sara knew Eloise was thinking about her words, trying to make sense of it. She detangled Benji's hand from the strand of hair he had grabbed, giving her daughter as much time as she needed to either be satisfied with her answer because she understood it or ask her additional questions until she understood why she had said what she had.

„Mommy, I gotta go pee." Sara looked from her son's little hand up to her daughter still on the roof when she suddenly broke the silence.

„Then get your butt down here, so we can go to the restroom." Not what she had expected, but alright. It was an issue that could easily be taken care of.

"No, I can't you or daddy are going to have to come get me." At least in theory. Looked like they weren't done with that explanation yet.

„We both know you know how to climb back down. You just don't want to because you don't like the fact that daddy isn't here playing with you right now. And I can understand that sweetheart, but daddy is having some well-deserved quality time with his little sister. Wouldn't you want to spend some time alone with Benji if you hadn't seen him for a very, very long time?" She felt a bit bad about the way she worded it and not being as sensitive about the issue as she could've been, but her kid had to go pee, which meant they didn't have forever to softly address the real issue here.

„Why wouldn't I have seen Benji for a long time?" she should've seen that one coming, so much for getting her down quickly before she ended up having an accident.

„Because you got married and started your own family." Ellie looked even more confused now and Sara was about ready to kick herself, not sure how the hell to explain any of this so it would make sense to her four-year-old. Also not sure if she really wanted to.

„But why wouldn't I see him then?" She looked even more confused now than she had before. This was going great.

„Because Mommy and Daddy didn't like… you know what, hold that thought, and ask daddy when he comes back, he's better at explaining this than mommy." That was his messed up family after all, his job to explain it to their curious girl.

"But why." Such a simple and accurate question, for such a complex situation.

„Ellie, I thought you said you have to go pee. So, you need to come down, before you pee in your pants." One, deflecting because this was not a conversation she was going to have with her baby girl right now, and two, she knew her kid and she'd play twenty questions until she was almost peeing her pants. The amount of times they'd ended up picking their stubborn girl up and running to the nearest bathroom hoping she'd be able to hold it a little longer and didn't end up peeing on them, because she had insisted she didn't have to go pee, while clearly showing all the signs that she had to go, was unbelievable

„Yeah, I can go pee without doing it in my pants and not come down." Sara wasn't sure how to feel about the certainty in her daughter's voice and whether she wanted to hear the thought process that had led to this conviction.

„Baby, you can't go pee on the roof of the tower." This wasn't going to happen and her kid was going to climb her little butt down that wall again and go use the bathroom, not far from here.

„Yuhu, I can. I just pull my pants down and then crouch down and pee over the edge. Is that a great idea?" She wasn't sure if she heard right. How the hell did she,… yes, her four-year-old daughter seriously believed she had just solved the issue and come up with a perfectly reasonable and acceptable solution.

„No, that is not a great idea and you are not going to do that." Oh, sweet Jesus she could feel everyone staring and judging her right now, not that she gave a shit, about what people thought about her and her parenting but, being the mother whose kid peed off of the roof of a playground castle wasn't necessarily what she wanted to be known for… nor did she want Eloise to be known as the kid who peed off of the roof of a playground castle. Not the lasting impression you want to make.

„It's alright, mama, don't worry. I take my shoes off so they don't get wet." That's what Ellie thought she'd be worried about? Her accidentally getting her shoes wet while peeing outside? She couldn't care less about that. She watched her daughter starting to take her shoes off.

„That is not why… Eloise Ada Queen, do not pee off of the roof of the castle!" Sara couldn't believe she was having this conversation with her four-year-old. Jesus fucking Christ! Like father, like daughter!

„But Mama, I really gotta go." She was no longer bent over to work on her shoes but pulling her dress up.

„Well, then come down." Sara took a step to the left, so the sun wasn't shining right into her eyes and she could see her daughter even better and saw the way she stood. Oh, fuck her!

„I can't." Eloise's voice suddenly sounded strained and urgent. Yeah, she could see why she couldn't climb down by herself anymore. This was just so like her kid. She looked at Eloise who had her legs crossed and was shifting from foot to foot, to her baby boy on her hip and to her seven-month pregnant stomach, yeah, there was no way in hell she could climb up there and get her down. Just like there was no way in hell her kid would just stand there and pee in her pants, when she felt she had the perfect solution to the problem and could do just exactly what she had just suggested to her and not end up in wet pants.

„Alright, call for daddy, but use your normal voice." She felt bad about interrupting the first time Ollie got to spend time with Thea in five years but yeah, there was also no way in hell that his kid peeing off of a public playground castle roof and possibly onto one of the other kids or parents underneath was something that was going to happen. Peeing on people was not going to be a freaking family tradition and something they were going to be known for.

It stopped at Ollie and the fucking cop! What the hell he had been thinking at that moment in time was still a mystery to her. Sure, he'd been seriously fucked up that night, but still… that just took the fucking cake! Stupidest idea he'd ever had, and that was saying something.

"Daddy! Daddy! Get me down! I'm stuck on the castle roof and I gotta go pee, really, really, bad!" Sara just stood there looking up at her daughter, wearing a light pink tutu style dress with blue birds and red flowers covering the top half, turquoise leggings, a pair of mini combat style boots, a rockets baseball cap and the dark sunglasses Ollie had gotten her with the hat, doing the pee-pee dance on the roof of a playground castle while yelling at the top of her lungs all over said playground that she needed to go pee, not caring about the fact that pretty much everyone was staring at them right now, and had to chuckle.

Yep, definitely hers and Ollie's work of art. She was an original, a masterpiece, their little tomboy princess.

"Hurry daddy!" She saw her husband run towards the tower, and climbing it up in record time, Eloise holding on to him while he climbed down, telling her to hold it a little longer and to not pee on daddy, while carrying her towards the public restrooms just past the swing sets. Everyone was looking at them and she just burst out laughing when Ollie stopped halfway to the toilets by a tree and helped Ellie pee against it, wondering whether or not he was still dry.


Notes:

We got to know Eloise a little more here, let me know what you think. I originally intended to not yet use Sara or Oliver's POVs but my muse had another idea.

The chapter title is from the song "Unplanned" by Matthew West.