Notes:
Ahm… I knew where I wanted to go with this chapter and what I actually wanted it to be about… but then Sara got hold of the plot and just ran away with it… so here we are with this, whatever this is…
Can we work it out? Can we be a family? I promise I'll be better I don't want love to destroy me like it did my family
She felt slightly confused about Tommy's input and wasn't sure what he was talking about; she turned her head towards her husband next to her to ask for clarification when his reply to Tommy took care of that need and she was no longer sure she'd actually wanted the information. This was pretty much the definition of a bad idea.
"You want us to crash Max Fuller's club opening?" Sara wasn't sure she heard Tommy and Ollie right, sure it looked like Ollie was just double checking he had interpreted the other man's words correctly and she might have taken it as such, had she not seen the look on his face. He couldn't be fucking serious! There was no way in hell that would go over well. And she understood that there was also still some bad blood on Ollie's side as well given the way the situation had escalated after the disastrous rehearsal dinner and sham of a wedding that had still followed the next day, and that might lead to him getting some kind of sick satisfaction out of doing this, but still, had Ollie not crossed the line, and that was putting it mildly, Max would probably still be a friend or at least in the friend-ish realms, since they hadn't really kept up with their old friends the past five years, Ollie even less than her. Not wanting to risk his parents finding him, even though he'd been pretty sure they didn't care enough about him to go through the trouble of looking for him. She wasn't sure she agreed with him on that, unlike her husband she had never doubted his parents love for him, but she had long since given up arguing his parents' case, at least the fact how much they loved him which was something she had never doubted but Ollie strongly disagreed on, the only thing it usually led to was a huge fight between the two of them and that wasn't worth it. She knew by now he wasn't going to budge and change his mind or opinion on the matter simply because she tried to make him look at the situation from his parents' perspective, so it was a waste of time and energy and she was no longer willing to put up with his anger and sour mood springing from bringing up the subject given the resentment he still harbored towards them. So she just left the matter alone. They'd had too many arguments about it already, especially right after they had first decided to head back to Starling.
They were back home now, and she was sure it was only a matter of time for Robert and Moira to learn about it, if they weren't aware of it already, which was the more likely scenario. It was up to them to fix what they had broken in their relationship with their son. Ollie wasn't going to take the first step and she couldn't fault him for that. Moira and Robert had been in the wrong and refused to hear him, but even worse, to listen to him in the first place. So she understood where Ollie was coming from and why he won't contact them, why he couldn't be the one taking that first step towards repairing what had been shattered into a million pieces when they had cut him out of their lives in a moment in his life when he would've needed them and their support more than ever before. And it would probably take a lot, a lot of work on his parents' side to even reach a point where he'd consider meeting up with them, even less letting them be an actual part of his life again.
"It is the first new club opening in ages and everyone who is anyone is going to be there. It might also be a chance to connect with people that could help you with Verdant." She was glad about the interruption of her unexpected train of thought. What Tommy said made sense in a way, but at the same time, it was the last place they should be looking for help. If those people were part of Max's business, they were probably loyal to him that meaning they either wouldn't also become a part of theirs or if they chose to, she wasn't sure they'd be able to trust them. She doubted Max would put a good word in for Ollie. It would be a lot more reasonable to assume he'd talk shit about and try to sabotage him. Which was fair, kind of, but not what they needed. She so did not want to start Verdant and with that Ollie's dream come true with drama, even less almost a decade old drama. There was no need to drag all that shit back up. They were facing enough struggles as it was, without purposely antagonizing a rival and looking for trouble.
"I don't know, man." Her husband looked at her, but not for the reason one would assume. The silent question wasn't whether she thought they should do it, but whether it would be okay for her to be alone with the kids for possibly an entire night. Which used to be a regular occurrence with Eloise, but not really something that had happened often since they've had Benjamin. Ollie had been working construction in Georgia, and only had helped out at a local bar from time to time.
Was she going to be fine alone with both of their kids for an entire night? She wasn't sure. Their sleeping patterns left a lot to be desired right now, but she could see that this was important to him. Maybe not the Max Fuller's club opening part, but the going out with Tommy part.
They hadn't really gone out since they've had the kids; she hadn't really had the urge to, and she had assumed Ollie felt the same way since he'd never mentioned anything different and had already spent a lot of time at clubs because of work. But she could've been wrong. Unless it was a hanging with Tommy thing, which was almost more likely.
They've both become homebodies since becoming parents, even though home had been a piece of shit car more times than not. Honestly, the last thing she'd do for fun right now was get into a packed club with loud music, way too many drunk people and weird smells. She'd much rather stay in. But if Ollie wanted a night out on the town, he should go. He hadn't done anything like this in a long time. She just wished they'd had a better idea than this one.
It might also be a nice trial run given the fact once Verdant was open, it would be her new normal to spend the night alone with the kids, only with three instead of two.
She felt a little trepidation thinking about it, but it would be fine. It would mean Ollie would be home during most of the day, which in return would make days a lot easier and the waking hours were usually more challenging than the nights or would be with three kids. She was also hopeful that by that time Ellie was no longer getting used to her now still new environment and once again sleep through the night and possibly in her own bed. Even though she didn't mind snuggling with her kids. Especially when Ollie wasn't there. Their bed felt extremely empty without him in it next to her.
That had been another major factor that had led to Ollie seeking work at clubs and bars; the chance to partake in Eloise's life and not just see her an hour or two before bedtime and the biggest downside in Georgia. That he had only found full-time work in construction, which had meant he'd been gone most of the day. At least it had been project based, and he'd gotten weeks off in between jobs, but it hadn't been what they had wanted or had been used to and played a big part in their choice to come here.
Even though Ollie had been reluctant to put in a bid on the building, understandably so but it had been a steal. A once in a lifetime opportunity and they just had to take it.
The surprising part had been that they'd gotten it, even while leaving all the personal issues aside. They were still certain there must have been higher bids on it. Both of them had been almost certain the deal would fall through once Robert got word about who tried to buy the old Queen Industries steel factory, but it hadn't. They had closed the deal and Robert had even thrown in some additional benefits for them at the same price.
She still wasn't sure what to make of it. They had had no direct contact with him. It had been with QC's property lawyers and head of acquisitions. But she knew no deal in that price range was made without Robert's knowledge.
Ollie's opinion of his father was clear and hadn't changed over the years. He didn't even want to entertain the possibility that Robert had thrown all the inspections and some repairs in to be nice and because his son had been the person buying it. The Queen patriarch had also offered to turn the simple repairs into actual construction to make the changes to the building they wanted for the same price. That had been one hell of an offer and part of her still wished Ollie had agreed to it, but she understood why he hadn't.
Part of her had, and still did, believe that it might have been an olive branch on Robert's part. He was a savvy businessman, and what he had offered had made no financial sense at all. But Ollie had refused to hear it or even entertain the possibility. Stubborn mule that he was.
He hadn't wanted to end up indebted to his father and was worried about the possible strings attached to that offer. And to be fair with the Queens, you never knew what the fine print said and this time it would've been written in invisible ink. So she understood no one knew his parents and their at times highly manipulative behavior better than their son, who had been on the receiving end of it a lot in the years before they had left. It had been a risk he wasn't willing to take.
And quite frankly she also really didn't want this to turn into a Gilmore Girls sort of situation and it wasn't difficult to picture Moira pulling an Emily Gilmore and forcing herself into their lives. Sara was too uncertain about the way Ollie's mom would take her son's life choices and she did not want her kids in a negative environment, especially not when it came to family. Passive aggressive or manipulative behavior was something she tried to keep them away from for as long as humanly possible, which meant keeping them out of the world of Starling City's elite was a given.
She felt a little bad about her thoughts: there was a good chance that Moira would be happy for them, after the initial shock, and she was certain that she'd adore and spoil her grandchildren. Moira was a complicated woman, but she fiercely loved her children and family was very important to her. She'd just made some awful choices where Ollie was concerned, but it hadn't been from a place of malice but love. She understood that, now better than ever, being a mom herself. It was a tightrope this parent thing, needing to go against your instinct to protect them from everything and actually let them make their own choices but not so much that they'd put themselves in serious danger. She didn't even want to think about her kids' teenage years yet. It was terrifying to think about giving up control and to trust strangers with her children while they were alone out there. Especially knowing what Ollie and she had gotten into during their teenage years. So she could see now how desperate Moira and Robert probably had been given Ollie's behavior. Having the advantage of not being Moira and Robert's child and looking at the entire situation far enough removed that with time, and it had taken a lot, she began to sort of see where they had come from. She still didn't agree with it at all, but she was pretty sure she understood now what their end goal had been.
It had backfired completely because they hadn't understood who their son was, and had no idea about the situation he'd been in at the time. They had pushed him into a corner and given him no way out. They had given him no chance to explain and with that refused the chance to understand, to help. Had they acted differently, she was sure Ollie would've gone to his mom for advice. It was something he had always done. Moira had been someone he had trusted, confided in, he'd have fun with Robert, but he would have heart to hearts with Moira. So she was sure Moira would've probably been the first person to learn about her pregnancy, had his parents not given him the ultimatum and forced his hand. And they had forced him into making the choice he had. They had essentially made him choose between them and her.
Because of all of that baggage and worry about ulterior motives, they had agreed to the original deal. Spent all of their savings on it and now they owned the perfect building for a club but were lacking the financial means to get the necessary construction done in a timely fashion. So far Ollie was doing it all by himself, well she helped where she could and so did Eloise; she loved helping her daddy work construction, and she loved watching them. She knew Ollie loved having their girl help too and teaching her his craft; it had been such an amazing moment when Ollie had realized just how much he enjoyed working with his hands and creating things, but the additional two hands didn't increase the speed quite the contrary, actually. Never mind the fact that Benji was now at a stage where he wanted to help too, and that was rather destructive than constructive given his age and led to more than one almost heart attack on her side while Ollie was letting him play with tools that were not appropriate for his age. But she also knew her husband was aware of the dangers and would never risk anything happening to either of their babies.
He was anything but negligent and always kept an eye on them and made sure they would not be left alone with the tools and put the law down with Eloise and following through, even if that meant she was throwing one hell of a tantrum, but it also meant that she understood what was dangerous and what not because Ollie, well both of them really, pretty much let the kids help and use the grown up versions of tools instead of the kids ones and not just because affording kids stuff of everything was expensive, they only really took things from them if they were dangerous or the kids were screwing around with them, and Ollie rarely got tough with his little princess so Eloise always knew when he meant business and that it was dangerous. She'd managed to end up with more than one minor injury because of not listening, thankfully so far nothing serious had happened and she was really good with following the rules while helping with anything construction related. But it was fine. The remodeling taking its time was fine. They were fine. She tried to ignore the 'for now' pushing forward from the back of her mind.
"It's the stupidest idea you guys have had in ages." She decided to put her focus back on the current issue leaving the more existential ones to the middle of the night when she lay awake, because of her restless baby girl, where they belonged and share her opinion on the matter the two men were discussing. Just so it was on record, with witnesses, and her husband couldn't claim later on she'd been on board with it and not pointed out that it was probably not going to end well.
"Why momma?" she turned her head and looked at her sweet girl and her innocent question, while the answer was pretty much the opposite and not really something she could share with her. The subject was very inappropriate given Eloise's age, but she couldn't just not answer her.
"Because Max doesn't like daddy." It was the shortest and simplest answer she could come up with and she hoped it would satisfy her baby's need to know and understand what the grown-ups were talking about, she doubted it, though and wasn't disappointed when her assumption was proven right with Eloise's next word.
"Why?" Sara wasn't sure how to explain that one to her kid. This was a conversation she never thought she'd ever have.
"Because daddy... borrowed... something Max considered his." The incredulous look she received from Tommy and McKenna was almost as funny as the confused one from her sister. Right, she probably didn't know that story… she felt a bit bad about the explanation, but how else would you explain a quicky in the bathroom with the future bride during the rehearsal dinner to a four-year-old? Exactly. She was all for being honest with your kid, but yeah, that wasn't a story Eloise needed to hear yet, if ever.
"I'm pretty sure Becky would have an issue with that explanation." Sara just threw McKenna an evil glare after her cheeky reply. As if she could've come up with a better way to explain the issue to a four-year-old.
"What are you guys talking about?" Laurel's confusion led to curiosity, and her asking them to clarify, but this was neither the place nor the time to have this conversation. And Sara had a feeling that this might not be something her sister really wanted to know. Nor that she wanted to be present when she learnt about it.
Even though she couldn't say anymore whether Ollie and Laurel had been on or off at the time of Max's rehearsal dinner, but she was pretty sure they had been off because Laurel hadn't been there and her sister wouldn't have missed the event of the month or whatever, unless she had an important exam or something. So she was pretty sure they had been off but they could've been on and Ollie just pissed at Laurel for not going with him and therefore ended up challenging himself to achieve the almost impossible and screw the bride before the wedding.
According to Ollie, it had been easier than expected and really not taken too much effort on his part. He had sounded rather disappointed about that. It said a lot about Becky and her commitment to Max, though, or more accurately, lack thereof. It was sad, really. And she'd felt bad for Max at first, until he started to act like a complete asshole towards all of them and not just Ollie. And her sympathy had turned to anger.
"If Becky has an issue with the way people talk about her, she should've never decided to… let anyone but Max play with her toy. And Tommy can fill you in later on. I'd rather not have my four-year-old daughter be present for that conversation." This made no sense whatsoever, but she couldn't say to McKenna what she actually wanted to with her impressionable little girl right there. Not when she was still in a phase that pretty much turned her into a very inquisitive parrot.
Jesus, why were they having this conversation in front of her kid again?
If Eloise hadn't been there, she'd more than enjoyed having this conversation with McKenna. She was pretty sure the other woman would agree with her on how stupid the two men's plan was. And it had been ages since she had the chance to talk freely and even longer since she had the chance to talk freely to someone who knew first-hand what a dumb idiot her husband could be. Given the right incentive, that was. Like Tommy Merlyn, for example. And had pretty much all the information to understand the entire situation.; from the rehearsal dinner up to Ollie losing his shit after he had learnt about her arrest and the events leading up to that. But as that wasn't the case right now, she'd rather move on from the subject entirely. Uh, maybe she could have Ollie watch the kids for a couple of hours at another day in exchange for his boys' night out and go for a cup of coffee or something with McKenna. Now that was an idea with a lot of potential.
Sara had seriously thought they'd move on given she had pointed out the presence of a young child while they were essentially talking about sex. Last thing she expected was the comment that followed and she had to repress the urge to hit him on the back of his head. He could be so fucking dense sometimes.
"Well, according to Becky, Max sucked at the game, which is why she looked for someone else to play with, for just for one last time." That was until she saw the self-satisfied look and shit-eating grin on her husband's face, which should've been illegal, for several reasons, most of all because when he looked like that all she wanted to do was jump him, it also reminded her of the fact that they hadn't had any alone time in ages, both kids still sleeping in their bed every night and neither really sleeping through the night. This meant mommy and daddy didn't currently get any playtime, which kinda sucked. But there were only so many interrupted tries they could take before calling defeat and deciding to leave it be for now because starting something that couldn't be finished was a lot more frustrating than not even trying for the time being. And the last thing either of them wanted was for their four-year-old to walk in on them and, given her restless sleep lately, the possibility was too great. While Benji would stay in bed and cry, obviously, Ellie had the tendency to simply get up and quietly come looking for them if they weren't already in bed with them. And the quietly was the issue. If she'd call out while looking for them, maybe they'd risk it, but as it was, neither could really get into it while they had the possibility of Ellie walking in on them in the back of their minds.
But that fact also meant it took very little effort on his part to entice her.
It was moments like this one that she fondly remembered the time before Eloise when she could've just given him a signal and they'd meet in the restroom or out back for some quick fun.
Her baby-boy's hand pulling at her hair brought her back to the present. And she smiled at him tenderly. She wouldn't change a thing, though. She took a short, hopefully, phase of sexual frustration over a life without her children in it.
Sara shook her head in amused exasperation while the fond look on her face gave way to slight frustration as her gaze returned to her husband. Ollie was too damn proud of that notch in his belt. He did feel bad, at least a bit, because he and Max used to be pretty good friends, before… but he was proud of the achievement, which, to be fair, was pretty impressive. Plus, honestly, he did Max a favor, saved him from unknowingly marrying a gold-digger. Sara wasn't sure if knowingly marrying one was better, though. She was still surprised they'd actually gone through with the wedding.
"Be that as it may, this is a stupid idea, and just so you know, you're totally going to get an I-told-you-so when it blows up in your face. But if you want to go, go. And could we please not have this conversation right now in the presence of little ears? Unless you want to take over answering her questions, cause you know, it's your mess." But they were also still having a conversation in front of their four-year-old that was anything but suitable. Thanks to no other but said kid's own father, and she was done trying to come up with age-appropriate answers to her questions.
Notes:
Mom Sara is something else and just keeps on surprising me and taking me down paths I wasn't aware of... I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, it helps to keep writing and knowing whether anyone is even reading this or not. It's like the only way to know if people actually read the story.
I tried myself on humor once again, not sure if it worked or not. But I tried.
Chapter title is from the song "Family Portrait" by Pink.
