“I promise we’ll talk. After Olivia is asleep. I know I owe you, and a few other people, a really long explanation.” She was slightly surprised that she felt relieved at the prospect of telling him. Of getting the whole story out there for someone – especially someone she missed dearly. And knew she could trust. That was the different between Clark and Oliver showing up. Oliver she could reason with. But she wouldn’t really be able to until Olivia went to sleep. Chloe wasn’t going to have that conversation in front of her daughter. Not when she knew that there would tears – more than likely from her. She hadn’t planned on having that conversation with him. Or with anyone.
But here he was, in her kitchen, with two boxes of pizza. She didn’t argue about paying for it – that was always a losing fight with Oliver. Instead she just took the salad bowl, plates, and silverware to the table and set it all up before going back to get the drinks. Her heart was racing, quickening every time she looked at him. It was a combination of how much she’d missed him and a slight fear of telling him the truth. Telling him the exact reason she left. Why she had to leave. She had made the right decision and she couldn’t start second guessing herself now or let herself start to regret it.
“Why don’t you dish out the salad and pizza, the Chicken one is Olivia’s favorite. She doesn’t like red sauce. And I’ll go get her to wash up.” She brushed her hand across Oliver’s arm reassuringly before she went to retrieve her daughter. And maybe use the two minutes away from him to get her bearings. She was going to be one hundred percent honest with him, she just didn’t know how to start that conversation.
And as expected, she found her daughter seated at her little table again, crayons spread out around her. “Hey there sweet pea, we need to go wash our hands because the pizza is here!” Her daughter never said no to pizza. And that made Chloe smile as she followed her daughter into the hall bathroom to wash up.
Sometimes Chloe had a tough time believing that Olivia was only TWO YEARS OLD. Her vocabulary was closer to a kid that would be in first grade and THAT was a big reason she didn’t regret her choices. The development could be a side effect of what Brainiac did to Chloe – if Davis was her father, it could be a side effect of that half of her DNA. And of course, there was the whole thing with Chloe being meteor infected. Which meant that Olivia could be second generation. There were so many reasons to protect her daughter.
But Chloe pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she dried both of their hands on the towel and watched Olivia race to the dining room. At this point Chloe wasn’t sure if she was excited for the pizza or for Oliver. Or both. And Chloe really couldn’t blame her – she herself was happy to see them interact. And get along so well. “Alright Princess, up you go.” Chloe lifted her into the booster seat at the end of the table and strapped her in.
Oliver didn’t know what to think about the situation, in fact, he didn’t want to think about it. Not only was it terrifying - in a way - to know that Chloe had a daughter, it was also worrying that she was around the right age from when he had saw Chloe last, but of course, she did flee town so maybe it happened after she left. He didn’t know and honestly, he was scared to know the answer. It was a lot to be hit with at once, especially when he envisioned finding Chloe, this was never what his mind came up with.
Merely nodding at Chloe with the smallest of smiles, he let her go off to collect her daughter. As he began getting the plates ready, he started with Olivia’s, putting two slices of pizza on it ( of course, slices that were smaller than others. He wasn’t around kids much, but he knew they didn’t eat that big of a meal ) and scooped out a decent amount of salad on to the plate - placing it at one end of the table, in front of a chair that had a booster seat. Laughing to himself as he imagined the booster seat being for Chloe, she was pretty short.
Finishing up Chloe’s plate and his own, he struggled to find the right places to set them. Does he set them across from each other, beside each other? Unsure of what to do, he set Chloe’s plate on one side of the table and his on the opposite side so they were across from each other.
Knowing they would be able to talk later kept Oliver sane, he wanted answers and had an unending list of questions but right now wasn’t the right time, especially not in front of Olivia.
He wouldn’t think about it now, he thought to himself, he just wanted to enjoy his time, it had been so long since he saw Chloe and he missed her like crazy - her smile, her laugh.. everything, he just wanted to be in the moment while he could be.
Oliver’s head jerked around to see Olivia racing to the table and Chloe following close behind, a wide smile taking his lips as he watched Chloe put Olivia in her booster seat. “I didn’t know where you usually sit..” He trailed off, tapping his finger lightly on the table before quickly sitting in his own seat. “So, it’s a nice place you got here. Warm, cozy -- different.” He began, not looking at Chloe as he spoke, but instead - stared at his plate. “It actually kind of reminds me of the house my parents and I use to live in, it’s nice.. yeah.” He nodded, now looking at Chloe - he never did well in these types of situations, and man, was he ever sinking.
