Notes:
I am so, so sorry for how long it is taking me lately to update any of my stories.
I appreciate everyone who is still sticking around and reading my stories. It means the world to me.
Chapter 10 I'm grown up now, daddy can't you see? For all of your actions, you taught me everything I want my husband to be
This entire week had been rather strange so far. It had started on Saturday with Dinah's shocking revelation after she had returned from her visit at Laurel's, which had then turned into Sunday and his wife's decision to invite their younger daughter and her family, Jesus fucking Christ, his baby had a family of her own, to Lunch on his day off and into Sunday night dinner with both Tommy and Laurel. This was a tradition that Dinah and he had started even before either of their daughters were born, well on the Sundays he wasn't on duty, that was. It was a tradition that was still very dear to them both and Laurel too, if her almost flawless track record of attending them was any indication of it.
He had been both positively surprised and a little shocked about just how well Laurel was handling the situation. Of course, she had found love with Tommy in the last year or so, and this relationship appeared to be a lot healthier than her previous one with Oliver, or maybe she had just matured, well, both Laurel and Tommy. The young man had really been doing his best to get his life in order and on track these last few years. He was very proud to watch it. But still, Laurel had been in love with Oliver for almost as long as the two had known each other and getting over your first love was never easy, especially given the abrupt and rather unexplained end of their relationship. Yes, Oliver had given her a reason, but it hadn't been a very satisfying one for his daughter and led to her questioning her actions and whether she had done something wrong and it was her fault Oliver had left and decided to stay away even at the threat of losing everything.
So learning now that her younger sister was not only involved with her ex-boyfriend, but married to him and had been for years as it seemed, not to mention the children they shared, it couldn't be easy. Especially since Oliver's lack of commitment and refusal to give into Laurel's demand to move forward in their relationship had been one of the biggest issues they've had. And now here he was, apparently fully committed to Sara and their children. At least as far as everyone who had seen them was concerned, they hadn't been given any indication it wasn't so.
Tommy's recounting of the situation with the table of young women in the restaurant had astounded him. He had never not seen Oliver engage in flirtations from women, even if only to be polite. Now having Tommy share with them, he hadn't just not engaged but seemed oblivious to their presence was fascinating. It really appeared as if he had matured a lot and changed his ways. He was glad about that, not sure what his reaction would be should he learn Oliver was going behind Sara's back. Oliver had decided to marry Sara, to have several children with her. If he strayed now, it was an entirely different situation than the one with Laurel had been and not something he'd be able to stay out of, no matter the argument Dinah might come up with. It had been one thing with Laurel, not that he'd been happy about that, but he'd stayed out of it, just as Dinah had told him to, to "let the kids sort it out themselves." He still wasn't sure it had been the right approach, but she had been right when pointing out just how young they were. Not that Oliver seemed to have been much older when committing to his younger daughter and their child.
Or had he from the start? Sara had never been one much for commitment herself. It wasn't difficult for him to recall the revolving door of juvenile delinquents his youngest had brought home, none lasting for more than five family dinners. So who was to say the progression of their relationship had been swift? They had been gone for five years and, according to Dinah, their granddaughter was four, yet their grandson was not even one-year-old yet. That was a rather significant difference in age, especially given the fact that Sara was pregnant with their third child and that meant it was a very small age difference between their second and third child.
He could also picture both Sara and Oliver to start out co-parenting as friends and possibly being rather casually involved with each other at the beginning, if the child was indeed the result of a drunken one-night stand, as everyone in his family seemed to believe. And yes, he'd been aware of his younger daughter's underage drinking. If this was the case, it was rather easy to picture them just going with the flow and figure out where it led. It was very in character with their younger selves. They had been very close friends and them trying to navigate unexpected parenthood from an unplanned, intoxicated encounter and their friendship was something he could see happen. But if it had not been a drunken one-nightstand… well… that was an entirely different can of worms he wasn't sure he wanted to open.
Quentin was still musing about everything he's learnt in the last couple of days and trying to make sense of it all when his thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell and his wife's reminder to not be too hard on them. Something she had reminded him of repeatedly since sharing the news with him. And he understood where she was coming from and why she was so insistent about it. There was a part of him that wanted to give voice to his anger about having been lied to for five years, if not longer. A part of him who wanted to blame Oliver for taking and keeping his baby from them, but he knew, just like Dinah did, nothing and no one could control Sara or her actions. If she hadn't wanted to stay away, she wouldn't have and nothing Oliver would've said or done could've changed that fact. Sara was headstrong, she was fierce, and she was not one to compromise or let people force her into something if she didn't want to do it. And if he were completely honest with himself, chances were higher that Sara would get Oliver to do something he didn't want to do than the other way around. It had been true from their childhood up to their teens and beyond, so chances were that this little fact hadn't changed in the five years they'd been away.
He just wished he knew why, why Sara had felt the need to keep her children from them. Yes, he could see why she'd keep the identity of the father of her children from them, but not their existence. He hoped he'd get a chance to understand her choices and why she had felt the need to lie to them for so long.
Quentin could make out the muffled sounds from the front door while applying the finishing touches to the chicken before putting it in the preheated oven. He set the timer and turned around just as his youngest stepped into his view.
"Sara, baby! It is so good to see you! I missed you!" Quentin stepped away from the stove and towards his younger daughter, whom he had last seen a good five years ago, when he had dropped her off at the airport for her supposed trip to France. He wasn't entirely sure how to proceed, whether to give her a hug or not. He would've never thought there'd come a day he'd feel awkward around his own daughter and wouldn't know whether hugging her would be okay. She looked so very different to the young woman she had been when she had left to "study abroad" which apparently had been part of a very well concocted lie, which led him to doubting the version of events everyone seemed to want to go by. He wasn't sure whether he should be angry, hurt or impressed by the way she had pulled it off, but that didn't matter right now because most importantly, he was happy to see her again for the first time in what felt like forever. She was his baby and even thought not even her loose clothing could hide the fact that she was having a baby of her own and she therefore clearly wasn't a child anymore, she would always be his baby. Her advanced stage of pregnancy was also the reason he was unsure how to proceed and whether hugging her would be alright with her or not.
"Hi dad, I missed you too, so much!" Thankfully, Sara took the decision from him when she closed the small distance between them and wrapped her arms around him, like she had used to a million times before. He returned her hug in kind, intensely aware of the different shape of her body and with that her, according to Dinah, third pregnancy. Something he still needed to get used to. She was only twenty-four years old, after all. Having three children before turning twenty-five was very, very young. Twenty-five had been the age he had been when they'd had Laurel. He understood how young it was, even more so today than it had been in his generation, but it had still been on the younger spectrum, given both Dinah and his career paths. But then again, Moira, at twenty-one years old, hadn't been much older when she's had Oliver than Sara had been when she'd given birth to her and Oliver's daughter.
It was only once they parted that he took note of the man behind Sara, who looked unsure, rather uncomfortable and at the same time pleased with the situation. His eyes strayed from Oliver's face to the two small figures held in each of his arms, hiding their faces in his shoulders.
The detective in him took note of all the changes he could see in the young man from before. His hair was a lot shorter. He dressed differently; more casual and the clothes looked less expensive. He looked healthier; he had definitely bulked up, his shirt was taunt at his biceps given the bent position his arms were in, in order to carry his children. His children. Oliver was a father. Oliver was the father of his grandchildren. This in and of itself wasn't that farfetched and something both Dinah and he had expected to happen at one point in time, a much later point in time, just not because of their younger daughter. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. Wasn't sure what to make of it. But Laurel seemed to be alright with all of this, so he had decided to take his cue from her.
His eyes strayed to his granddaughter. Her long blonde hair was in a braid that almost reached the small of her back. She was wearing a purple dress and green leggings and of a pair of mini combat style boots. Her face was hidden in the crook of Oliver's neck. It was a position he was very familiar with. Sara used to do the same thing when she was about her daughter's age, Jesus, her daughter, his baby had a daughter. He wondered if little Eloise was just like her mother, shy at first and a little spitfire after she warmed up to the new situation and people. He was looking forward to finding out. His eyes went from the young girl to the baby. The little boy was also hiding his face in his father's shoulder. He was chewing on one of his hands at the same time, probably teething given his age.
"Oliver, hi. It is good to see you, son." He automatically took a step towards his son-in-law and stretched his hand out, realizing too late, that Oliver wasn't really in a position to shake it, but just when he was about to drop it, the young man took a step towards him and grabbed it in a firm shake, his underarm was placed in a way that made sure his son wouldn't fall while he shook his hand. Yes, Oliver had always had impeccable manners, something both Robert and Moira had instilled in him from an early age on.
Robert and Moira. Quentin wondered whether Oliver had contacted them, if they knew Oliver was back in Starling and about his family. He doubted it, given the way things had played out between the parents and son five years ago. He still wasn't sure what to make of his friends' decision concerning their son. It had been extreme, but they had been at the end of their rope. Oliver had pulled a lot of crap in the months leading up to that event. And they had been seriously worried about him, even if they hadn't shown it in a way their son might have understood. It had been a fiery conclusion of a conflict that had been in the making for years. Still, he couldn't imagine not having had any contact with Sara for five years, sure she had obviously been lying to them on the regular, but they'd talked to her, heard her voice, made sure she was fine and alive. It must have been terrible for Oliver when his parents essentially gave up on him, while he had probably already been or would've soon been struggling with impending parenthood. It was a shame that his parents hadn't waited a little longer to witness him shape up and take on responsibility. If only they'd known maybe they would've made a different choice, maybe they could all have enjoyed becoming grandparents for the first time together instead of learning about their first grandchild only years after through what appeared to have been a chance encounter.
"Quentin, it's good to see you, too." The smile on his face was a bit tight, but genuine. He ushered the young family to the living room until the food was done and was surprised when Oliver sat on the floor next to the couch Sara made herself comfortable on, like she had thousands of times before, his shoulder was brushing one of her legs, one of her hands softly brushed through his short hair while he shifted the kids so they were comfortably sitting in his lap, they were both still holding on to him and using his shirt and shoulders to play peek-a-boo with Dinah and him.
It took a moment for the rather forced chitchat to turn into a flowing and comfortable conversation, and he enjoyed learning more about their lives and the places his baby had travelled to. It was once Sara and Oliver began to talk about their time in Georgia, where they'd apparently been staying until recently, that little Eloise pipped in and excitedly told them about the animals on the farm close to where they had lived that they had gone to visit regularly, the little girl warmed up after that and her little brother went from his father's lap to his mother's on the couch. The life they had lived down south sounded rather idyllic, and he was under the impression the entire family was missing it, which made him wonder what had brought on their move back home, and to the center of the city, if what everyone had gathered was correct. Laurel had mentioned something about a house in the suburbs, but it didn't sound like that was a done deal yet, from what the couple across from him had mentioned and rather something they were currently looking into but was not yet set in stone. This brought up the question of where they were currently living, which they had avoided answering so far.
The detective in him couldn't help but study his daughter, taking note of every little thing that was different about her, in her looks and her behavior and the same applied to his son-in-law. It was still rather strange to think of Oliver as that. Sara was more balanced, a lot calmer and quieter than she used to be, and she let Oliver take the lead. That was a rather surprising observation. Just as the realization that she was essentially a housewife had been. This was something that had seemed so out of the realm of possibility for his teenage daughter, yet here she was. And she seemed to have found herself and fulfillment in that role, if he could take her words and behavior at face value. Having Oliver as the sole provider for the family was something he could yet couldn't see. Oliver heir to the Queen fortune for sure, but the thought of having him work, really work, the get your hands dirty kind, was not that easy to wrap his head around. It was an impressive change in his behavior, though, and one that made him immensely proud of the young man. The way he had stepped up and taken charge of the situation they had found themselves in and done what he had to in order to take care of his family.
When lunch was ready, they were faced with the fact that their house was not equipped for children, hadn't been since their daughters had outgrown their toys, but neither Sara nor Oliver seemed fazed by it. Eloise also didn't seem to mind sitting on a chair she was still too small for and actually ended up kneeling on, refusing the pillow that was offered next to her mother. While Oliver placed Benjamin on his lap as if it were second nature. Dinah and he had apparently wrongly assumed they'd have a portable chair for young Benjamin, as most parents did. It once again made him wonder not only about their home and if it was filled with the necessities one needed for small children, but also their financial situation. And if they had them now, he doubted they'd had them while Eloise had been Benjamin's age. Not from the little information he'd gained from the couple or the rest of his family.
His grandson stayed on his father's lap for the entire duration of their meal. Being handed choice pieces of the food from his dad's plate and being lovingly kept from just taking what he wanted from the plate right in front of him, Oliver constantly making sure his son wouldn't grab something he wasn't able to chew yet.
One thing Quentin had noticed during their stay was how Oliver was handling the kids like a pro, which he kind of was, if he thought about it. From carrying them at the beginning, giving them a safe place to get accustomed to the new environment in, to having his meal with his son on his lap and sharing it with him, to once again sitting on the floor with them so he could entertain them while Sara got a chance to catch up with Dinah and him, more or less uninterrupted. Tommy's words from Sunday night ran through his mind in that moment: "He's like Mr. Dad." It had been rather obvious that the young man had still struggled to wrap his head around the new situation his childhood best friend was in, understandably so.
What was new, unexpected and maybe a little strange to them was normal for Oliver. He's been a father for over four years now. Of course, he'd know how to handle his young daughter and baby-boy. It was preposterous to assume otherwise. Oliver had always been very involved in Thea's life, no matter the large age difference between them, he'd been an outstanding older brother and there had been more than one occasion he'd helped Sara out while she was babysitting and all the kids had loved him. It had showed him that the young man could be responsible if the situation asked it of him and actually be the adult in the room, something he had normally foregone; always more interested in having fun and instant gratification, but not where Thea or other people's kids and their safety had been involved. This had given him hope that he might actually decide to grow up one day. Something he had clearly done, watching the proof of this now right in front of him, but it also appeared he had kept just enough of the immaturity and childishness to have a blast playing with his children. And he had been right, Eloise was a little spitfire, just like her mother had been and little Benjamin seemed to be very headstrong already, too.
There had been a couple of instances his daughter had thrown a reprimanding sounding "Ollie!" at her husband who'd just rolled his eyes at her and slightly changed what he was doing with the kids to something Sara seemed to approve of, which had pretty much confirmed his assumption that Sara had more control over Oliver's actions than the other way around. Something he had begun to wonder about while watching their dynamic and after learning she was a stay-at-home-mom.
He had also noticed just how attentive the former Queen heir was where Sara was concerned. Oliver seemed to be aware of just what his pregnant wife needed and when she needed it, without her having to utter a sound. It was fascinating and heartwarming.
Yes, Dinah had been right. It was very obvious to see just how much they loved each other.
Notes:
I hope I got Quentin right. Since he didn't loose Sara and Dinah here, he's not a bitter drunk and in a much better headspace and place in life. So... yeah... let me know what you guys think. I know there wasn't a lot of dialogue in this chapter but I kinda wanted to focus on Quentin and the way he handles this unexpected situation, lol.
I'd love to hear you guys thoughts.
Chapter titel is from the song "Daddy" by Abby Anderson.
