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They’d stayed in bed, alternating between sharing soft, warm kisses and having hushed conversations. But mostly, they’d just basked in each other’s company. Oliver kept one of his hand pressed firmly against her belly, drawing random patterns on her skin. It was flat under his touch but whenever he allowed himself to imagine how her belly would swell over the next nine months, he’s filled with an overwhelming sense of happiness and excitement.
It still feels surreal and he’s made Felicity repeat those two words over and over again because of it.
I’m pregnant.
Oliver never quite allowed himself to contemplate about the future. It was a luxury that was lost to him when he had been stranded on Lian Yu. He’d learnt the hard way just how fleeting life could be. Even when he’d returned to Starling, he hadn’t had any misgivings on just how dangerous his crusade was. He knew better than to indulge in such wishful thinking. Regardless, he’d found himself dreaming of a future more and more over the years since he came home, especially when it came to Felicity.
She had always been his exception and he hadn’t been surprised that she made him want more. Almost from the very start, he’d found himself wondering if she would remain in his life and be a part of his future. When they finally got together, he craved for a life. And now? With their baby on the way? He didn’t stand a chance.
Dreams of his future with his family envelops him without abandon and it leaves him breathless.
Would their baby look more like him or her? Would their baby be brunette or blonde? Would she or he be as unflinchingly intelligent as his wife? As kind and caring as she is?
He’d voiced all those questions aloud to his wife along with the other torrent of possibilities that assaulted him. Felicity had just laughed at him softly, reaching up to run her thumb across his jaw. “Slow down, big guy. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
That had him leaning forward to kiss her, wondering for the thousandth time that night how he had gotten so lucky.
Almost an hour after they’d migrated to the bed, Felicity had slowly started to drift off to sleep, the long day catching up with her. She confessed that she had been anxious all day, worried on how she would tell him and how he’d react to the news. Undoubtedly, it had taken a lot out of her. Regardless, she tried to stay up with him although her responses tapered off into an incomprehensible mess.
When her eyes slipped shut for the third time, Oliver ran his fingers through her hair in that way she loved and urged her to go to sleep. She had given in easily, mumbling a quiet ‘love you’ as she snuggled closer to him, pressing a kiss to his bare chest. She’d fallen asleep within five minutes.
He’d tried to follow suit, well aware that he had to get up early the next day. He stayed in bed for another half hour, willing his heart to slow down and his mind to quieten down but it was a lost cause. He had too many questions running through his mind and he needed the answers to at least some of them before he could hope to go to sleep.
Pressing a kiss to Felicity’s forehead, Oliver gingerly untangled himself from her and slipped out of bed. He tucked the comforter around her and brushed another kiss across her cheek before making his way over to the side of her bed. He bypassed the tablet sitting on top of the bedside table and retrieved the backup stored inside the drawer instead. Even though she’d never said it aloud, Oliver knew she didn’t quite trust him with her main tablet and he knew better than to mess with it.
Quietly, he made his way to the kitchen and settled at the counter, powering up the device and clicking on the internet icon. A quick search and he quickly lost himself as he navigated through pages after pages of information on everything relating to pregnancies from the trimesters to the perinatal and postnatal periods. He somehow ended up reading a little on babies too - from how to take care of one to all the precautions they would have to take.
It was overwhelming and terrifying and while once, it might have had him searching for an escape, he revelled in it now.
He could already picture it with an alarming clarity. Felicity’s belly growing throughout the next few months, dealing with whatever cravings or dislikes she might develop, helping her through the symptoms, converting the spare room into a nursery, baby-proofing the apartment…
He wanted it all.
It took him longer than usual to realize that Felicity had noticed his absence at some point and had woken up. The sound of their bedroom door opening was what finally alerted him of her presence.
“Oliver?” she mumbled groggily, leaning against their doorway. “What're you doing?”
“Reading,” he replied noncommittally, casting a glance her way before focusing back on the article on caring for newborns. He just had one last paragraph to get through and then he was done for the night. “Why are you up?”
“’S cold,” she grumbled and he bit back a smile, knowing she had probably kicked the comforter off the bed again.
“You’re reading now? It’s almost two in the morning,” she pointed out and when he made no signs of leaving his spot just yet, she shuffled over to him. “Couldn’t it wait until morning?”
Wait, two? No, that couldn’t be.
He glanced at the time at the top of the screen and – oh wow – he’s been reading for almost two hours.
Felicity wrapped her arms around his waist and propped her chin on his shoulder, glancing at the screen just as he was done with the article. He turned his head in time to catch the confusion flitting across her face. “Is that- Are you reading on babies?” When he nodded in affirmation, her mouth curled up into a small smile. She shook her head slightly and watched him with that look of adoration that always had his heart feeling full. “Shouldn’t you be reading up on pregnancies first? I'm pretty sure that comes first.”
He clicked on the button at the bottom of the screen to show her the ridiculous number of tabs he had. “I got side-tracked,” he admitted sheepishly. “I jumped from article to article and somehow ended up here.”
Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she regarded him. A breathy noise which sounded a lot like laughter escaped her lips just as she tilted her head to press a kiss on his shoulder. “Well, did you at least get to the article telling you that you should give your pregnant wife whatever she wants?”
He cupped her cheek so he could kiss her before responding because hearing the words 'pregnant' and 'wife' would never not make him want to kiss her.
“And what does my pregnant wife want?”
“You. In bed. With me,” she said, her eyes fluttering shut. “Keeps it warm.”
He snorted. “So I’m just your heater now?”
“You’ve always been my heater. Why would I share a bed with you otherwise?”
He shook his head, grinning. “Well, who am I to deny my pregnant wife?”
He turned off the tablet and left it on the countertop, determined to continue where he left off in the morning. For now though, he guided his wife back to bed and climbed in beside her. Once she had snuggled back into his chest, Felicity fell back asleep almost immediately.
It took him a while longer to settle down but as he listened to his wife's steady breaths and let it wash over him, he slowly drifted off to sleep, feeling utterly full and content.