Chapter Text
foreverfelicityqueen asked: number 2 if you haven't already.
“Grounded? I’ve never been grounded!”
“Well, you never committed larceny before.”
“William, no video games for a week. And…you’re staying home this weekend.”
“Dad, my friends already got tickets to the hockey game on Saturday.”
Oliver shook his head, “You’re…” he looked to Felicity for help, but she just met his wide eyes and shrugged. “Um, you’re grounded.”
“Grounded? I’ve never been grounded!”
“Well, you never committed larceny before.”
“Oliver…” Felicity breathed, giving him a look. “Woah, let’s not overreact here.”
He hesitated, and then took a deep breath, “William, please go to your room. We’ll talk more about this later.” His son stood up, looking defeated, and headed for his bedroom. “And buddy,” Oliver called after him, “no video games.”
William nodded sympathetically, and Oliver waited until his door was closed before he looked at his wife.
Felicity was pouting.
Full on, lower lip sticking out, puppy dog eyes pouting. Oliver pointed a finger at her and shook his head “Don’t.”
“I would barely call taking some of my jewelry larceny, Oliver!” She hissed, leaning towards him.
Oliver sighed, leaning back into the couch and putting his hands over his face. “Are you telling me I’m being too hard on him?”
Felicity came over to the couch, curling up against his side and rubbing his shoulder. As he exhaled, he dropped his hands from his face, finding her fingers and lacing his through them. “I’m just saying,” Felicity said quietly, leaning over to rest her chin on his shoulder, “that your son has a crush. And he wanted to impress her. He’s not a criminal, Oliver. He’s a sweet kid that wanted to give the girl he likes a bracelet.”
Oliver nodded slowly, “I just don’t want this to spiral. If you had seen the things that Thea and I did when we were teenagers…”
Felicity smiled, rubbing her thumb against his, “He’s twelve. And he’s not like you and Thea were. I’m not saying that what he did was okay, and I agree with the grounding and everything…but his heart was in a good place, Oliver. Just like yours always is.”
Her husband glanced down at her, his eyes tired but his expression softened. Grounding his son seemed as draining as dealing with Cayden James, but it was clear that he was grateful to have her by his side.
Oliver turned his head towards her and kissed the tip of her nose. “I know. I just never want him to get into the things that I did…half of the time I was lashing out at my parents, and the other half I was just trying to get their attention.”
“I don’t think William sees you the way you saw your parents.” She said confidently.
“He doesn’t see either of us that way.” Oliver replied, squeezing her hand. “I know that. But if my mom had grounded me once in a while instead of paying off all of my stupid mistakes, maybe I wouldn’t have been such a brat.”
Felicity smirked, “You didn’t turn out so bad. And it’s not like we’ve ever had anything even close to this issue with William. You heard him, he’s never been grounded!” She teased, mimicking the shock in William’s voice.
Oliver chuckled, “We should go in there and make him apologize or something.”
Felicity grinned, “No need. He already did.”
“Of course he did,” Oliver breathed.
“He’s the best parts of you, Oliver. Not the worst. And he must really like this girl.” Felicity said, gauging Oliver’s reaction.
Her husband just shrugged, “I guess so…”
Felicity pursed her lips, “he asked me if she could come over and study with us.”
Oliver frowned, “are they allowed to have friends here if they’re grounded?”
She laughed, kissing his cheek, “I don’t think so? But he does have a test this week, and he needs to study, so maybe we could make an exception.”
Felicity watched as he closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath, “This parenting stuff is kind of hard.”
She nodded, kissing his face some more, “But you’re doing such an amazing job at it.” She whispered in his ear.
“So are you.”
“Mmm,” she hummed, taking his earlobe between her lips and getting the desired response. He shivered, and she smiled.
Oliver turned his head to look at her and raise an eyebrow. Felicity bit her lip, “We have one more…tiny…little thing that we should talk about before we go finish this conversation with William.”
Oliver glanced down at her mouth, “I really like this…you and me…figuring out this parenting thing. Together.”
She grinned at him, pure happiness written all over her face. “Me too. We’ve always made a good team…even if I didn’t exactly imagine us trying to raise a twelve year old.”
“I didn’t either…I don’t regret any of it though,” he mumbled, meeting her gaze.
Felicity groaned when she noticed the look in his eyes. “Neither do I.” She inhaled sharply and pulled back when he leaned forward to kiss her. “That’s not what I need to talk about, though.”
Oliver froze, his eyebrows furrowing, “What is it?”
“Roy was the one who put the idea of stealing in his head.” Oliver raised an eyebrow and she continued, “Not on purpose! He suggested that William get the girl he likes a present so that she would notice him. But he meant winning her a stuffed animal from a claw machine or something. William just, um, misinterpreted.”
Oliver stared at her for a moment, “how did William…misinterpret that?”
“Because it’s Roy.” She said simply, raising her eyebrows.
Oliver sighed, shaking his head. He let his head fall to the back of the couch, closing his eyes. Then he pulled Felicity under his arm.
She settled into him, laughing as she put her head on his shoulder. “Shouldn’t we be talking to William?” She asked quietly.
He tightened his arm around her, dropping his other hand to her knee and squeezing it as if he was worried she’d try to get up. “In a minute please,” he sighed.
Felicity smiled. It was incredible how the simple act of holding her could relax him. Sometimes it seemed like he just needed to touch her so that he could feel anchored and calm. And there was no better feeling than being that person for him.“Okay,” She said gently, rubbing her hand across his chest, “But what are we going to tell Roy?”
Oliver huffed, kissing the top of her head. “Roy’s grounded too.”