Notes:

First of all I am so, so sorry for how long it has taken me to update this story. And I just want you guys to know that it is not abandoned and will not be abandoned, my muse is just a fickle thing and sometimes needs a lot of time to get inspired for a specific story again.

I'm also still sort of winging it with this story and figuring everything out.


You know time moves on it's okay, don't change, the old days aren't gone We're still here if it takes years, we'll make new ones

Theoretically, he knew this was a bad idea. That Sara was probably right, and that Max might not interpret him showing up here in a good way or the innocent, more or less, visit it was. But it had been ages since Tommy and he had done something together, besides that first brunch which didn't fully count because he had brought Benjamin along, and he felt like his former, and hopefully soon current, best friend seemed to really need that. He had wanted to throw him, and Sara, a welcome home party, but he had shot that idea down right away. He hadn't gone out to party in years, and it wasn't something that had a lot of appeal to him now. Plus, Sara wouldn't have been able to go, so it wouldn't have been right.

He wasn't entirely sure if Tommy or Sara's family were aware of this fact. He doubted it. It was very normal in the Western countries to just hand your children over to family or strangers to take care of while the parents went about their lives, almost as if they didn't have any children. So far, his kids had never been alone with anyone that wasn't Sara or him. They've unfortunately become witness to some of the darkest aspects of human nature and the horrors some people were capable of inflicting on others and after having travelled through several countries were slavery, the sex trade and human and child trafficking were serious issues, they'd decided they'd rather not take any risks with their kids and keep them close and an eye on them at all times, at least as long as possible and not in a 'keeping them locked in a tower' sort of way. They were just rather safe than sorry. There was too much unspeakable stuff going on in the world and done to innocent children. He pushed the dark thoughts from his mind, this wasn't the place or time for those.

Oliver still liked the atmosphere of a club, he liked to work behind the bar or even mind the doors, but he wasn't particularly interested in partying himself. He'd been there done that and honestly, he was done with it. He loved working in the environment, but he no longer enjoyed participating in the fray, which used to be something he thrived on. Now he preferred to spend his evenings and nights at home with Sara and the kids, instead of between drunk and sweaty bodies on a dancefloor. But it seemed to mean a lot to Tommy that they'd do this together so, he'd decided to agree to go with him, one last time for old times' sake or something like that.

He'd once again promised Sara that he wouldn't do anything stupid and his best to avoid Max and to not antagonize him in case they couldn't avoid running into him and told her to call him if she needed anything or the kids were being difficult, before he had left. He'd had a strange feeling the moment he left the house, and it stayed with him as they entered the club. Maybe they should just go somewhere else. Maybe this hadn't been such a great idea after all. Maybe Sara had been on to something. She did have the tendency to be right, her intuition rarely letting her down.

Tommy and McKenna led them towards the bar as soon as they entered the main floor and Tommy told the bartender to give them three shots.

"For old times' sake." His childhood friend winked at him, grinning. He returned the grin but still turned towards the bartender before he had the chance to start fixing their drinks.

"Two shots and a tonic water." He yelled over Tommy's shoulder, changing the order and receiving confused looks from both of his companions. Understandable, the last memories they had of him before Sara and he had left, had been of him never not having a drink while clubbing or going out for dinner or just because it was a day that ended in y. He was not in the mood to go into it with them. It was a longer conversation and not one he felt like having right now, even if it had been a different environment. Plus, the goal of tonight was having fun. Something that conversation wouldn't encourage or be.

"I have two small children and an eight-month pregnant wife at home." It was the truth, less heavy and an additional reason why he wasn't going to drink tonight. He wasn't going to put himself in a position where he wouldn't be able to drive home if he had to. Even if there were still several weeks until Sara's due date and both of their older kids had been born pretty close to the estimated day, she theoretically still could end up in labor any day now and pretty much everyone who knew anything about pregnancies and kids that they've met along the way had told them that the third ones were unpredictable.

Sara also said that she felt like baby girl was further down than the other two had been at this stage in her pregnancies, but that could also be because Benjamin and his baby sister were going to be less than a year apart in age. So her body hadn't fully recovered from her last pregnancy before this one and ligaments and stuff were still rather loose. Or something like that. Sara had explained it to him, but most of it went right over his head. Medical stuff was not his thing. He got the gist of it and that was all that mattered, and Sara expected from him.

Just like she was only semi interested in construction and specific aspects or methods that were being used depending on what he was working on, and he shared with her. She enjoyed his enthusiasm about the subject and listening to him sharing his passion with her just like he did with her and medical stuff, but there were a lot of specifics that went over her head too, and that was fine. They complemented each other this way. She had her strengths and weaknesses, and he had his.

Sara had been able to learn more about anatomy and things to do with healing the human body during their travels. They'd run into several doctors working for humanitarian projects and, of course, people teaching her non-school medical and more traditional stuff. She'd been almost more interested in those once she was confronted with the healing powers of plants and foods and what not... well, she was her mother's daughter. And Dinah was a hippie at heart, that was undeniable. And it was also a lot cheaper to get different herbs and plants that were growing in the wild and there to be picked for free than to buy medication, and so far the home remedies had helped with anything the kids had had. Medication had been difficult to come by, depending on the country they'd been in. Herbs, vegetable, fruit, milk and stuff not so much and given their usually very tight budget Sara had used her interest in medicine plus her need to be able to help her kids in case they had an ailment and turned it into a combination of different options and a pretty nice medicine cabinet, that had barely cost them anything. Yeah, his wife had become very thrifty and taught herself a lot of distinct skill sets that helped them save a lot of money along the way, just like he had, just in completely different areas.

"Are you worried? I mean, when you leave her alone with the kids for whatever reason, like tonight. Do you worry she might go into labor? Are you both like constantly on needles, expecting her to go into labor? How exactly… how do you deal with an approximate date but no certainty that it will not be earlier or later? Makes planning anything almost impossible, or not?" McKenna's questions brought him back to the here and now and made him grin. Yeah, those were all good questions.

"Yes and no, I guess. During her first pregnancy we were both very anxious during the last few weeks before Eloise was born just because we didn't know what to expect. Even after doing our research, we still didn't know what it was really going to be like. With Benjamin, not so much. I just made sure I worked construction jobs closer to home and let my boss know about the situation and that I'd leave if she called. Now, no, I mean I wouldn't go somewhere that would make it impossible for me to get home in a timely manner in case she went into labor, but mostly because of Benjamin. Eloise would be alright entertaining herself for a good long while, but Benjamin is too little and while Eloise loves to take care of her baby brother, she's too little to actually take care of him in a situation where Sara no longer can. Which is why she knows what to do in an emergency." It had been very important to them to make sure Eloise knew how to call him in case something happened to Sara, where she wouldn't be able to do it herself. Sara was alone with the kids most of the time, or had been while they'd lived in Georgia. No one would've noticed if something were wrong until he came home from work at night.

"That makes sense, I guess, that you'd get less anxious with every pregnancy, still I couldn't imagine being in that position. Kudos to you and Sara, you seem to be handling it very well." He was touched by the compliment. It meant a lot coming from McKenna. They talked about it a bit longer before changing the subject to McKenna's career.

It was both nice and strange to be at a club with Tommy and McKenna again. It had been years since the last time he had spent time at a club as a customer. Ever since they'd had Eloise, the only reason he'd been at a club was to work. And he honestly had to say he hadn't missed going as a customer once. Sure, it was nice now, but it was mostly the company he enjoyed. It would've been even nicer at a small bar or restaurant or at home, really. That way Sara would've been able to hang with them, too. He still felt guilty for leaving her at home alone with the kids, at least thanks to the time the club opened he'd been able to help her put Eloise down for the night, and Benji for the first time, he hoped Ellie would finally sleep through the night again and Benji not wake up almost every two hours as he had been the last few weeks; he was teething again, and that was no fun for anyone at night. And it wasn't that he'd never left her alone with the kids before, or at night, but it had usually been work related and not for pleasure. So he felt a bit bad for getting to go out while she was staying at home, even knowing that she preferred staying at home to going out, especially to a club. The smells alone would be the reason for her to turn around and walk straight out again. The smell of alcohol made her sick had during every pregnancy. It had been a serious issue between them while she'd been pregnant with Eloise. And had led to more than one argument or him sleeping on the couch, floor, front seat of the car, or whatever option there was that was not next to her. That was not something he liked to think about. The first few months after they'd found out Sara was pregnant had not been pretty.

Oliver forced his thoughts away from the rather dark place they'd strayed to. They'd gotten through it and came out stronger for it. That was all that mattered.

No, if Sara had been given the choice to join them tonight or stay at home, she'd chosen to stay at home. There was no question about it. But that didn't change the fact that he felt guilty and would've preferred to stay at home as well.

He'd gotten shit, in good fun most of the time, from his colleagues both at the clubs and the construction sites he'd worked at because he preferred to spend time at home with his wife and kids instead of going out with the boys. He usually headed straight home instead of going out for a drink after work. Fact was he had married a woman who had been one of his best friends before she became his life partner. So it was just natural to him to want to hang out with her. It was something he'd done ever since he was in first grade. This was also part of the reason he took the co-dependency, whipped and other comments in that direction he received on the regular in good humor. Sara was simply one of his favorite people in the world, so naturally he'd prefer hanging out with her over strangers. He felt sad for everyone who didn't feel that way about the women they'd chosen to spend their lives with.

Plus, he loved his children dearly. They were the best part of him, and he wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. They grew so fast. It still boggled his mind that his first baby was going to turn five soon. It felt like yesterday that she was born.

Oliver couldn't take his eyes off the tiny little girl lying in his shaking arms. Sara was asleep next to him, understandably so. The last twenty-four or so hours had been very challenging and taxing for her and her body. He never thought he would be in this position, at least not at twenty-three. He still wasn't sure what he was doing and hoping he was at least holding her right.

She was so tiny and reminded him of Thea's dolls, only she felt more fragile, and he was worried he'd hurt her.

His eyes were still looking at the masterpiece he was holding. Taking her in. Wanting to learn every last thing about her. He was mesmerized by his daughter. The way her tiny chest rose and fell with every one of her breaths, the way her mouth twitched, the fluttering of her lids. Or the way she was slightly moving her legs and arms from time to time. Her little nose, her little hands and feet. She was perfect. She was a work of art.

And he knew, he knew there was nothing he wouldn't do for her. He knew he had never felt this way before, had never loved anyone the way he did this little human Sara and he had created. Not even Speedy. He was in awe of the presence of his daughter.

She was the physical manifestation of their love. She was perfect.

He didn't want to look back at his life at some point and realize he had completely missed his children's childhoods. No. He wanted to be there. He honestly couldn't understand the people who wanted to be away from their spouse and children. Why were they married with kids then? His family meant everything to him. Spending time with them was the most important aspect of his life. His little, growing family consisted of four out of the five most important people in his life, closely followed by Tommy's number six.

It was nice and fun to hang out with Tommy and Mac like they used to, well almost, their main goal wasn't to find someone to hook up with anymore, since both Tommy and he were in serious relationships, so they'd put the focus on Mac, all three of them joking around, both Tommy and he pointing out the type of men she'd like and offering to be her wingmen in case she felt like hooking up with someone tonight. It was all in good humor and he knew Mac would tell them if it were bothering her. She'd pointed out how difficult it was to have a social life, even more so a romantic life, next to her job and it was very easy to understand the struggles she'd have trying to balance her work with her personal life. Being a detective didn't give her a lot of free time or places to meet someone, unless it was on the job and with that, another cop or maybe a lawyer, criminals were definitely not a choice she should go for.

The three of them were having a good time and a lot of fun until a slightly intoxicated Max showed up at their table.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in, Oliver Queen." Honestly, he didn't get it. They'd seen him a couple of times since they'd been at the club. Max could've just avoided them. He was sure he'd seen them before now and done just that, and keep on pretending he hadn't seen them. It would've been the mature thing to do. Besides, it was his club opening. There were surely more important people to talk to. But it seemed that the drinks he had surely consumed while conversing with his customers and the press had made him throw maturity out the window.

"Max, how have you been? Great place you built here and very nice turnout for opening night." He put on his most polite and friendly fake smile, made sure his voice was smooth as butter, as Sara tended to say. His mom would've been so proud, and hoped this would help deescalate the situation and keep it friendly.

"Happy you got disowned and disappeared. I had heard you were back in town, Queen, but I didn't want to believe it. It has been so nice not having you around." Max gave his goons a sign and they led him towards the back of the club, to what he was sure was a backroom, that couldn't be good, the entrance would've been what he preferred. Fuck. A side door would've been fine also if Max wanted to keep him away from the press and not risk him and his return home ending up being tomorrow's headline instead of "Poison". And how fucking lame was that name? Seriously. He kept up his act, hoping to stop whatever was about to happen from happening.

"As you know, I haven't been around for a while. Tommy and McKenna were just showing me the best places to spend time at in the city." He was sure he threw up in his mouth a little bit at the lie, trying to keep things civil and making Max several compliments while simply taking the jibes at him and ignoring them. Staying civil was already hard enough but this, sucking up to him… every fiber of his being urged him to antagonize Max any way he could, to lean into the animosity radiating off of his former friend and give him what he wanted, the only things that kept him from being foolish and giving in to his urge were the weight of the wedding band around his finger and the necklace hidden underneath his shirt, engraved with his kids' birthdays with room to add to it, as Sara was surely to do once little Rosalee was born, it had been a birthday present from Sara and the kids. Sara had met someone who was married to a goldsmith and had spent several days while he'd been working at the guy's shop and had him teach her how to engrave jewelry. She was crafty his wife and charming to the point people just naturally wanted to help, show and teach her something she was interested in. It was quite funny. There were people spending thousands of dollars to learn a craft. And his wife, on the other hand, would just simply find a person who was an expert in it and charm them into teaching her their skills, for free or in exchange for home-cooked meals. According to Sara, she'd brought lunch and snacks every day while the goldsmith had taught her some of his craft and helped her get the engravings done. When she offered to pay for it, he'd just waved her off and thanked her and the kids for the food and company.

His wife left with a new set of skills to add to her growing pile and a present for him, all of it for free. He was sure that had been her goal to begin with, not that she wouldn't have paid him for his time and work if he'd insisted on it, but he was sure she'd hoped the outcome would be like this and they could save some money while she still managed to give him a unique present for his birthday.

The fist connected with his face the moment he was shoved through the curtains and brought him to his knees. It took every ounce of willpower he had to stay down and not knock Max out. But he couldn't afford to act rash and stupid anymore, just because everything tonight had been reminiscent of the life he had left behind over five years ago, didn't mean he had to behave the way his past self would've. As tempting as it was. But it wasn't worth it. It wasn't just him anymore that would be affected. It would be Sara and the kids too, and it wasn't worth it. It was in that moment that Tommy rushed through the curtain, demanding Max let him go.

"Sara told us he was going to be pissed." He couldn't help pointing that fact out to his best friend. Yeah, he should've definitely listened to her and they should've gone to any place in Starling but here.

"Back off, Merlyn, this isn't your problem." Fuck. His mind was racing, trying to come up with a solution for them to get out of this situation before it got completely out of hand.

"It's all good, Max. Just show me to the backdoor and I'll leave. No harm, no foul." He was being ignored by both Max and Tommy, who had gotten between him and Max's security.

"You wanna get to him? You gotta go through me. Wow, they're probably going to go through me." Tommy had barely finished the sentence when he got attacked, and threw a punch in order to defend himself. He looked around, trying to find a way out of this, but was jumped by several of the very bulky men working for Max. Fuck!

He defended himself and tried to keep both his injuries and the damage he caused to his attackers minimal. Fuck!

"So is this over, Max? Or are you going to have your boys pound on me next?" Everyone stopped what they were doing when Max was put on the floor by Laurel, McKenna following closely behind, but almost as if she'd purposely entered several moments after Laurel to not be witness to what happened. They'd seen Laurel earlier, but since she was here having a girls' night with Joanna, they'd naturally hung out separately.

"You four consider yourselves banned for life! Get the hell out of my place!" Max stormed out furiously and left them alone with the goons, who then escorted them out of the club, where Joanna met up with them, bringing all of their stuff.

"You guys okay?" Laurel wanted to know while the five of them were standing outside the club, still trying to wrap their heads around what exactly had happened, when several police cars showed up. Two of the officers went inside while the rest stayed and waited. It didn't take the officers long to come back outside, with Max in tow.

Oliver wasn't entirely sure how exactly the situation had escalated to this. Fact was that his father-in-law was looking at him apologetically, if a bit miffed while putting the cuffs on his wrists. This was just perfect. Sara was going to love this. Fuck! Sara was going to kill him. Repeatedly. Laurel, Tommy, and McKenna tried to explain the situation to Quentin, but from what he got from the exchange, there was nothing the detective could do right now. The other four were also asked to talk to the officers and give their witness statements while he was being taken to the station.

Oliver told his friends to please not contact Sara, because he didn't want to worry her before he had all the information. He hoped they'd listen to him. He didn't want her to learn about this through them. Knowing full well if Laurel or Tommy or McKenna called her at this time of the night, she'd automatically assume the worst and might panic. Not something he wanted her to do. He let Quentin place him in the back of his police car and close the door. The older man was trying to give him an encouraging smile, but it fell rather flat. Things didn't seem to look good for him. The ride to the station was made in tense silence. He was trying to figure out how to explain this to Sara. And how to not have to wake her up in the middle of the night.

"Don't… I don't want Sara to… if there's a way around calling her and having her come pick me up, I'd prefer that. I don't necessarily want her to drive in the middle of the night after just being woken up and having to wake up the kids." The last thing he wanted was for his heavily pregnant wife to be woken up and then get in a car and drive halfway across the city in the middle of the night. Which would also mean she'd have to wake the kids up and bring them with her. And a police station was the last place he wanted his innocent babies at, especially at this hour. He watched the less than savory people Quentin was leading him past. No, he didn't want his family here.

"I'm sorry, Oliver. Max Fuller is pressing charges against you, which means I'll have to keep you here until you post bail. Sara, being your wife and the only person listed as your emergency contact, is the person I have to contact." Quentin sounded very apologetic, and he guessed the last thing the detective wanted was waking his pregnant daughter up in the middle of the night and have her drive here with his grandkids in tow to bail out her husband.

And of course Max was pressing charges. Had that been his intention all along? He'd bet the room he took them to didn't have any cameras so no one would be able to prove that Max had thrown the first punch, and it would be his word against Max's and he had a feeling people were more likely to believe Max Fuller than the Queens discarded son.

If Max was going to sue, he'd be fucked. He and Sara were practically broke. All they had was the old Steel Factory. He couldn't afford a lawyer or the costs that came with a court case, or to pay Max whatever sum he wanted. He had no more access or claim to any of his family's money, and he was sure Max knew that, so his goal probably was to ruin him.

Was his former friend aware he'd be ruining his wife and young children as well in the process? Would that knowledge change his mind? He still couldn't fucking believe he was in this situation, that Quentin was guiding him into a jail cell. How had he gone from enjoying a night out with two old friends to this? He'd told Max that he would leave, no problem. So why the hell had the club's owner thrown a punch before he set his goons on them?


Notes:

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. As always feedback would be highly appreciated. It also helps to inspire the muse.

Also as a side note, I have absolutely no clue how the process works once someone got arrested and if Sara would have to be informed about it or not. I know Oliver would be allowed a phone call, but since he wouldn't call Sara he wouldn't use it. There wasn't really anyone he'd call. Plus, it's important for the story so bare with me and use your imagination ;)

Chapter titel is from the song "Best nights of our lives" by Tom MacDonald, Nova Rockafeller & Brandon Hart.