Arrow Out of Context Part 3!
“I’ve already seen you shirtless. Multiple times. Shirtless all the time.”
When your brother happened to play major league baseball, you automatically won cool mom points by default.
Felicity glanced down at her son, dressed in an over-sized Blue Jays jersey with a ball cap that he had to tilt his head up to see out from under, a hot dog in one hand and a baseball in the other. Adjusting her purse, she kept a grip on his shirt, finding their way through the empty stadium to their seats at the edge of the field.
It wasn’t every day that Jason was able to score them seats right behind home plate, but she and her brother had jumped through plenty of hoops to make sure that Lincoln’s first game was special.
His feet shuffled beside her into the row, and she took his hot dog so he could climb up onto the seat. “Right here, baby,” Felicity told him, pointing out his numbered chair. Lincoln nodded, getting to work on making himself comfortable. She bit her lip as she watched him because he was just so damn cute.
She took the ball out of his tiny fist and set it in his cup holder. Then she rested his hot dog in his lap and reminded him to be careful not to drop it. Felicity squatted in front of him, lifting the hat up until she could see his eyes. She grinned at him as he glanced around the giant stadium, taking it all in. “Hi,”
Lincoln’s eyes drifted back to her, “hi, momma,” he offered with a sweet smile.
“Ah,” Felicity’s heart melted for him just as it always did, and she leaned forward to kiss his little chubby cheek a few times. “You’re so stinking cute.”
Her son gasped suddenly, and Felicity turned to see the team coming out to warm up. Jason noticed them immediately, jogging over as Lincoln wiggled in his chair. He waved excitedly to the team as they jogged by home plate, and a few of them waved back, chuckling at him, offering him hello’s.
“Look buddy,” Felicity nudged him as her brother stopped at the wall in front of them. “Uncle Jason came to say hi to you.”
Giving his uncle a wave, Lincoln strained to look around them, his eyes scanning the field with interest. Jason laughed as the toddler blew him off, “what? Am I not cool enough for you anymore?”
Felicity pushed her son’s hair back, out of his face, then she sighed and stood, taking a few steps over to the wall so she could talk to her brother. “He’s grown out of his Uncle Jason phase. You’ve been replaced by Queen.”
Jason frowned, glancing over at his nephew, “hey kid,” his eyes narrowed at the numbers on Lincoln’s chest, “that doesn’t look like my jersey.”
“S’not,” Lincoln wiggled, pulling at his shirt but keeping his eyes on the players. “I wanted Ol’ver Queen’s shirt.”
Pressing her lips together, Felicity met Jason’s eyes, mock betrayal written all over his face. “You actually bought him Queen’s jersey?” he accused, reaching over the wall to shove her shoulder.
“It’s what he wanted!” Felicity defended herself, “this whole thing is to make him happy, it’s not my fault you’ve been replaced.”
“Oh please,” Jason scoffed, “I’ve seen the way you stare at Queen whenever you come to watch practice. He’s not even that great. Clearly Lincoln only notices him because mommy does.”
“Hey!” Felicity reached over to smack his arm, but he danced away, laughing as he teased her some more about having a crush on his teammate. “First of all, he’s your best player and you know it. And second of all, the man insists on practicing shirtless. Of course I’m going to notice.”
Jason rolled his eyes, “the guys take their shirts off all the time.”
“Yeah, well, they don’t all look like that. Besides,” Felicity shrugged, “Lincoln is obsessed with him because he’s been hitting home runs every game. So you start doing that, and I’m sure your nephew will love you again.” She flashed him a sarcastic smile.
Jason rolled his eyes, leaning around her to speak to Lincoln, but then his face dropped. Felicity swung around, her heart immediately sinking at whatever caused the look on her brother’s face.
Instead of finding her son covered in a ketchup mess or squirming to get down like she’d expected…he was gone.
Felicity’s heart sunk even lower, making her feel instantly nauseous; a mother’s worst nightmare coming true.
“Lincoln?” Jason called his name first, easily hopping over the wall and scanning the seats. Felicity followed after her brother, both of them running up the steps and looking through the empty rows, hoping they’d find him playing on the ground somewhere in the stands.
“Lincoln!” Felicity began to panic as she realized that fans would start showing up soon, making the giant stadium crowded and even more intimidating to a four year old. “Where could he have gone?” Her voice cracked as her eyes searched wildly.
Jason shook his head, responding to her anxiety with calmness, just as he’d been doing ever since they were kids. “It’s okay, Felicity. He’s around here somewhere.”
As she glanced up, she noticed a little blue blob barreling across the outfield, “oh!” she cried, her voice catching, flooded with relief at the sight of him. Jason’s eyes followed just as Lincoln reached Oliver Queen, who was warming up, throwing a ball back and forth with a teammate. “Oh, frack,” Felicity mumbled, cringing as her son literally flung himself onto the stranger’s leg.
Jason began to laugh, but Felicity was already moving, keeping her eyes on Lincoln as she jogged down the steps. She watched Lincoln hug Oliver’s leg, and the poor guy stiffened, looking at his teammate in confusion and then back down at the toddler.
Oliver bent down, carefully starting to pull Lincoln off of him. And as soon as Oliver managed to get Lincoln’s little hands unlatched from his pant leg, Lincoln reached for his neck, wrapping both arms around the stranger. “Oh, Lincoln,” Felicity grumbled, jogging to the wall behind home plate. She glanced around for a door that would let her onto the field. Clearly Lincoln must have found one.
Luckily, Oliver seemed amused by the clingy child. She swore she could her him laughing as Lincoln’s forceful hug knocked Oliver’s hat off his head. His hand rubbed her son’s back, keeping them both steady. Felicity stopped when Oliver hugged Lincoln back, mumbling to her son with a friendly smile on his face.
Of course he was good with kids. And gorgeous. Of course.
Standing, Oliver scooped Lincoln up with him. His eyes began to search the stands as Lincoln rested his head on his shoulder like it was a natural thing to do.
Before she could decide whether or not to try scrambling over the wall, risking her own life and limb with her clumsiness, Jason was hopping it easily. He jogged across the field towards Oliver.
Felicity pressed her fingers against her lips, just wanting to hold her son after the panic attack she’d nearly had. And she needed to have a very serious conversation with her four year old about not running off to talk to strangers.
She watched as Jason pointed her out to Oliver, reaching for his nephew. But Oliver held on to Lincoln a little tighter, meeting Felicity’s eyes across the field. “I got it,” he seemed to tell Jason.
And then he was walking over to her, Lincoln in his arms. Her heart sped up, hammering in her chest. Oliver smiled easily at her when he reached home plate. “I think this might belong to you.”
She breathed out a laugh, “yep,” Felicity shook her head, “that’s definitely mine. I’m so sorry,”
Oliver just shrugged, his hand still smoothed against Lincoln’s back, almost the same size. “He’s very cute.”
Snorting, Felicity nodded in agreement, “tell me about it. Especially when you’re saying ‘no’ but he wants you to be saying ‘yes.’”
Chuckling, Oliver stepped closer to her, rocking the toddler slightly. “Lincoln, right?” he asked, and she nodded. “He grabbed right on to my leg and said ‘my name’s Lincoln and I love you,’” Oliver grinned at her, “how could that not melt my heart a little?”
She laughed too, biting her lip. Oliver seemed a little hesitant to let him go, shaking his head as he gently attempted to remove the clinger. Felicity closed her eyes in embarrassment when Lincoln tightened his grip, “I want to stay with you!”
“Lincoln,” she warned, her voice taking on that special mom tone.
Before she had a chance to make any threats, Oliver rubbed his back again, mumbling something into his ear. And Lincoln picked his head up from Oliver’s shoulder, turning to look at her. “Can we really see him Sunday, momma?”
“What?” Felicity asked, glancing from Oliver to Lincoln, trying to think if Jason mentioned practice on Sunday. But she didn’t think they had one, and even if they did, she hadn’t planned on going.
Her eyes widened a bit when Oliver smiled at her, leaning in to whisper to Lincoln again. Then her son rocked back and forth excitedly, keeping a grip on Oliver while he whipped around to look at her again, “can we go mini-golfing with him, momma!?” Her son yelled as if she had any idea what he was talking about. “Please, please, please, please,” Lincoln groaned, making Oliver chuckle, charmed by the adorable lisp that always made her smile, too.
She met Oliver’s eyes, cocking her head to the side, “are you manipulating my child into hanging out with you?”
Oliver smirked, “not exactly,” he told her before mumbling something quietly to Lincoln.
Her son glanced at her while Oliver spoke, his little eyebrows shooting up as he pulled his lips to the side. Then he leaned towards her, pulling her in to share the secret as if Oliver couldn’t hear. “Momma,” he whispered loudly, “Ol’ver Queen thinks you’re very, very, very, very, very, very pretty and he wants to see you on Sunday.”
“Oh,” her eyes widened; a little slow, but it finally clicked. It’d been years since anyone asked her out, let alone asked her son along, too. Toddlers were usually intimidating. Or at least a turn off.
“I think you forgot a few very’s,” Oliver informed Lincoln, who laughed in that adorable, belly giggling kind of way.
“Like a date?” Felicity blurted.
Oliver bit his lip, whispering to Lincoln again. Her son nodded once in acknowledgement before tapping Felicity on the cheek, “Yes, momma.”
“We don’t really know each other,” she breathed,
Raising an eyebrow, Oliver opened his mouth to speak, but her four year old answered for him. “That’s why people date, momma.”
Oliver laughed, shaking his head at the tiny kid who she could tell was already winning him over. For whatever it was worth. “What he said.”
Felicity huffed, “oh, well, I guess my son already loves you, so that’s not an issue. And I mean… I’ve already seen you shirtless. Multiple times. Shirtless all the time.” Felicity swallowed, “so uh, no problem there,” Oliver stared at her as she babbled, and she wondered why he wasn’t stopping her. She squeezed her eyes shut, “not that I’d see you shirtless on our first date.” Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes. “I’ll just give you an opportunity here to turn back time and forget this ever happened. Get out while you still can and all that.”
He raised his eyebrows, watching her. “Nope,” Oliver adjusted Lincoln on his hip, keeping his eyes on Felicity. “Offer still stands.”
“Yes,” she nodded quickly.
Oliver smiled at her, holding his hand up for a high five from her son. “You make a good wing man,” he said. Lincoln looked like he had no idea what that meant but he smiled anyway, giving him the high five. “All right, Lincoln,” Oliver sighed, knowing that Felicity could hear him. “You watch the game with your mom, and tell her I’ll be back after to get her phone number.”
She felt her cheeks flush as Oliver looked back at her.
Then he moved to pass Lincoln over the wall, placing the boy in her arms without complaint this time.
Oliver winked at her before he jogged off, returning to his place in the outfield and picking up his glove. He threw her a couple more looks as she sunk into her chair with a sigh, hugging Lincoln tight and settling him onto her lap.
“Ol’ver Queen wants your numbers after the baseball game.”
“I know,” she breathed, pressing her lips to the side of his forehead as they both watched Oliver.
