Second Chances: Arrow

Chapter 32

"Mom." Laurel said, trying to find the words to describe her feelings towards her mother, since while she'd also left Star City after the Gambit went down, she hadn't abandoned her family, since she'd only been in Gotham for about 2 years and she'd kept in touch with her dad the entire time and had always had plans to come home, since she'd only gone to Gotham to learn to control her metahuman powers under Batman.

Unlike her mother who'd cut and run as soon as things got rough and Laurel hadn't so much as heard a peep from her mom until today.

"Laurel, I can see you're doing well with having Oliver back." Dinah said awkwardly, trying to break the ice.

"Yeah, I am. So nice of you to finally make some kind of comment about my life for the first time in nearly five years." Laurel said coldly.

"Laurel." Quentin said.

"No dad, you brought her here behind my back, you can't expect me to just be happy to see her." Laurel said.

"Laurel, I came here to make amends." Dinah said.

"You've had five years to make amends with me. Maybe Sara could let you off the hook, since she was gone too, but I'm not there yet." Laurel said angrily.

"Laurel, please." Dinah said.

"No mom. I lost two of the most important people in my life. First my boyfriend and then my little sister. I had to go to funerals for both of them. That's when I hit my lowest point and I needed my mom with me. But instead, you just left me too. Ollie and Sara were one thing, they didn't have a choice about leaving me. You did. Instead of sticking with the family you still had, you abandoned us. You abandoned me, when I needed you the most. Did you know that when dad first started dating Donna, I hated it, because I stupidly thought that you were going to come back. But then Donna started doing all the things that you should've done. She was the one who helped me deal with my grief properly. She was the one who got dad to get the help he needed after he started drinking. Hell, she's the one who put our family back together after Sara disappeared and you abandoned us. She's been more of a mom to me in the past few years than you ever were. And I even hated her daughter Felicity because I thought that dad was trying to replace Sara with her, but now I know how stupid that is. She's not the one who abandoned me." Laurel said angrily.

"Laurel, things weren't good between your father and I even before the Gambit went down." Dinah said.

"I know, but still, if you were going to leave, you should've done it before all that happened, instead of leaving us when we needed you the most." Laurel said.

"Laurel." Quentin said, knowing what his daughter was about to tell Dinah.

"No dad, if she wants to reconcile, then she needs to know how bad things got." Laurel said.

"What?" DInah asked.

"I was in a very dark place after I lost Ollie and Sara. And then you walked away and dad was too busy drinking to be of much help. I'm not proud of it, but I did think about joining Ollie and Sara in death." Laurel admitted.

"You tried to kill yourself?" Dinah asked.

"Second worst day of my life was the day I found Laurel in her bathroom with a bottle of pills in her hand. Second only to the day Sara went missing. Thankfully I managed to get Laurel's heart going again until the ambulance arrived to get her to the hospital. Donna helped me find a treatment center in Gotham, since she thought that getting Laurel out of the city would help her recover." Quentin said.

"And she was right." Laurel said, since her time in Gotham had also allowed her to become the Black Canary in this reality.

"Laurel, I'm so sorry." Dinah said.

"Don't. You've had five years to make amends with me. You think that just because Sara's alive, suddenly I'm not mad at you anymore? As far as I'm concerned, the only thing I share with you is a name. Donna Smoak is my real mother now and she and Moira will be the only grandmother's my baby will know." Laurel said before she could stop herself.

"You're pregnant?" Dinah asked.

"Yes, and right now, there's no way I want you around my child since you're just going to abandon them like you did to me. Now get the hell out of my house and out of my city. I never want to see you again." Laurel said, effectively kicking her mom out of the house and Dinah quickly left, which Quentin thought was a blessing in disguise before Laurel used her canary cry on her.

"How exactly did you think that was going to go?" Laurel asked her father.

"I don't know, but I didn't think it would be that intense. Laurel, are you sure you can't forgive her?" Quentin asked.

"Not until she admits she was wrong to do what she did. The reason I forgave Sara besides being tired of being angry was because she actually apologized to me and tried to make amends. So did Oliver. Mom never did. In either reality. She just up and left us without a second thought." Laurel said.

"I know. But you didn't exactly give her a chance to apologize." Quentin said.

"That's because you brought her here behind my back. What made you think that would end well?" Laurel said.

"Because I knew you'd never agree to speak to her if I'd asked you." Quentin said.

"Fair point. But dad, the next move is mom's. Now that I've said my piece to her, she needs to decide if she's actually sorry and even if she is, I don't trust her anymore. Not enough to be in my life or my child's life." Laurel said.

"Well, Donna will be happy to know that she'll only have to fight Moira for the favorite grandmother slot at least." Quentin said, trying to find a silver lining.

"True. And just to be clear, I'm not happy that my relationship with mom is what it is, but I didn't make it that way. She did. I'm not sure if she can fix it." Laurel said.

"Well maybe you should give her a chance too." Quentin said.

"I'll think about it, but please don't surprise me like that again. Stress like that isn't good for my baby." Laurel said.

"Are you and Oliver gonna find out the gender?" Quentin asked.

"Yeah, neither of us are really big on surprises." Laurel said and Quentin nodded as they continued talking.