"Do I look as pregnant as her?" Felicity pointed to a woman who was chatting animatedly with Stacy. "Lis, you're having twins" Oliver sighed. She abruptly pulled away from him, tears threatening to spill down her face that was already blotchy to begin emotion. "I want to go home" she whispered. "Babe, you look wonderful, you are growing two babies in there, you kick the butt of every other mother in here with your ability to look beautiful while carrying two Queen kids in there." his hands went to her well pronounced belly.
"What is so different about this mission, Oliver? It's not like it's my first time doing this!" "Because you're pregnant!" he roared before he could stop himself. Time stopped as his words rang through the basement.
He ate up the distance between them in three long strides and planted one fist by her keyboard as he leaned in so close his face was only inches from hers. "I agreed to not bring it up. I did not agree to let you put yourself in danger" he growled, as his eyes fell to her abdomen for the first time.
The orchestra trailed off instrument by instrument and a hush fell over the room. When a woman let out a startled scream there was frantic movement all around them. Oliver didn't stop to think, he just reacted. In an instant he had Felicity spun into his chest, one hand unknowingly splayed across her abdomen as he looked around the dim emergency lighting for Digg. He could feel how she clamped down on his forearm, chest rising in terror beneath him. Digg appeared in a second, crowding in front of her. Oliver pushed her as far into him as he could before he pivoted, hardly an inch of her not protected by either of them. Fear slammed into him so strong and so unexpected that he felt frozen for a moment before years of training kicked in to override that unfamiliar emotion. He knew in that instant he'd go back on his vow not to kill if it meant he could save her. "Oliver!" He heard her cry in a high wavery voice. He reached a hand back and clasped hers, nails digging in so hard she left crescent shaped marks on his skin. All his senses were on alert, trying to find the threat.
Without knowing what he was doing he slipped it from her grasp and held it up to the light. The black and white image was fuzzy and grainy but the word 'Baby' and the arrow pointing to a small white blob was unmistakable. His legs didn't seem to want to hold him any longer, and he found himself on the floor with his back to the couch. The picture he held was all he could see. This was real. There was another person growing inside her. A person they had made. The swell of protectiveness that rose within him drew a sound from deep in his chest, so sudden and so loud he snapped his neck to the side to see if he'd woken up Felicity, but she slept soundly. His thumb traced the small shape over and over again. This was his baby.
"When you thought there was danger you didn't hesitate. And I've come to expect that from you. But you didn't just protect me, you protected both of us." One hand fell to grasp his and he put up no resistance as she placed it over her abdomen. He wasn't breathing as he felt the smallest of bumps under his palm and remembered turning her at the gala, his hand coming up automatically to cover the baby he didn't even know he wanted. "I'll always protect you" he said throatily, not moving his hand.
He realized with a start his hand still rested over her belly and he couldn't help moving it slightly, feeling the small hard mass that lay just beneath her skin. "I can't believe there's actually a baby in there" he said without thinking. "I know, it's surreal."
A flare of concern went through him and suddenly his hands were working over toward her, "Did I fall on you? Are you hurt?" he'd gone to his knees, hands coasting over her arms and down until one palm fell solidly over her abdomen. "I'm fine." she told him, eyes bright. "You've dropped straight to the ground. You've only been out for a couple of minutes, but that one seemed bad." He let out a breath of relief, "It was."
"Well, at least with part of this we've still got some time to get used to the idea and figure things out." He said easily, hands itching to feel the small bump hidden by her fuller skirt but holding back. She let out a laugh, "True, I mean, it's not like someone left a baby at Verdant's back door for us to raise or anything. That would really be crazy." His mouth ticked upwards at the thought and she returned the smile. "Better?" "Yeah," she said softly, "Thanks." "How many times have you talked me down? Only fair I return the favor." he countered. Oliver slid one hand off of hers and pulled his phone out. "I'll call Digg and he can take you home." "No," she said immediately, fingers dropping down to pull the phone from his grasp. "I don't need to go home." "Felicity, you need to get some rest."
