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Dr Beth Schwartz has only been shocked speechless once in her life so far. And that was when her girlfriend proposed to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset with a string quartet playing in the background. She had been too astonished to speak, overcome with such happiness and joy that she just stilled, holding her breath.
Nothing has stunned her silent since.
That’s all about to change tonight.
It’s nearly one am and she’s flitting between wards in Star City General Hospital, as they’re short-staffed. Then again… they always seem to be short-staffed these days. Beth is just about to head over to the trauma unit to check on one of her patients when she’s paged for a Code Green over the hospital PA system.
She freezes. The other doctors and nurses bustling around her pause too, their gazes immediately flashing over to her. Everybody on hospital staff knows what a Code Green is. They’ve only ever had a couple of them in the past few years, and none of them recently. A Code Green indicates that the Green Arrow has arrived in the ER needing medical treatment, but that’s currently impossible, because the Green Arrow has been locked up in Iron Heights for the last eight months.
“Go,” one of the other doctors says, taking her patient list from her. “We’ll cover for you. Go!”
She shakes herself. Right. Okay. Beth doesn’t run, but she walks as quickly as she can towards the private recovery room ward, where the hospital always has a particular room cordoned off for Team Arrow usage. She sees other nurses and doctors stare at her as she strides past hurriedly. Beth is the only doctor who ever gets paged for Code Greens, and everybody knows it. Some of them helpfully tell her that her new patient is being taken up to the private room through the back staircases that are for staff use only, to avoid being seen by civilians.
She’s just about to turn into the corridor that leads to the room when she nearly crashes into her patients.
It’s Oliver Queen, fully dressed in his Green Arrow gear, quiver and all, although he has his hood pushed down and mask hanging around his neck. His hair and beard are a little longer than usual due to not having access to scissors or clippers in prison, and he looks both terrified and exhausted. He’s carrying his very, very pregnant wife, Felicity Smoak, in his arms bridal style.
Judging by the way Felicity is struggling to breathe and groaning, she's in labor.
She doesn’t have time to express her confusion. Beth quickly glances around them. The other hospital staff have cleared this ward as a Code Green specifies must be done, so there’s nobody except a couple of trusted nurses who have signed nondisclosure agreements on stand-by. She begins guiding the archer down the corridor, mentally checking him over for injuries, but it’s not the Green Arrow who needs her help. She can't examine Felicity while she's in Oliver's arms, but she does her best to.
“It’s been three hours and thirty-six minutes,” Oliver tells her, sounding agitated. “She’s six centimeters dilated.”
“Oliver, calm down,” Felicity orders, although her voice is strained with pain. “We’ve still got a while to go yet.”
“You were right to bring her in,” Beth says, ushering them into their room. She leans around the door just before closing it, calling to one of the nurses, “Send somebody from maternity up here ASAP, please. I’m going to need assistance on this one.”
Oliver sets Felicity down onto the hospital bed as gently as he possibly can, stripping off his gloves so he can continue to hold her hand. As the doctor rushes about the room getting the equipment she needs and the nightgown her patient will have to change into, she observes them carefully. For somebody who’s got a baby forcing its way out of her, Felicity seems remarkably composed. Beth reckons she’s holding herself together for the sake of her husband, who looks completely wrecked and panicked.
“Do you think you can change into the gown by yourself?” Beth asks. It’s at the wrong time. A contraction hits Felicity, causing her to arch on the bed and grit her teeth to hold back a scream. Beth winces in sympathy. “Going to take that as a no. Oliver, go and de-quiver and stand by the door while I help your wife change, we’re expecting somebody from maternity.”
Appearing conflicted, Oliver bites his lip as he switches his gaze between his wife and the door, but when he meets the doctor’s stern expression, he nods and backs away. The contraction ends quickly and Beth helps Felicity sit up and change into the nightgown, coaching her through breathing exercises. She manages to get all the monitoring leads and sensors set up relatively fast so she can look over Felicity’s pulse, blood pressure and temperature before she checks Felicity’s dilation. She’s still six centimeters.
“How far are your contractions apart?” she questions.
“Roughly three minutes,” Felicity wheezes. “That’s normal, right?”
“Perfectly,” Beth reassures her. “We’re going to monitor your uterine contractions and the baby’s heart rate via the sensors I’ve just put on your abdomen. How much have you been drinking lately?”
“Not very much today.”
“Okay, I might have to give you an IV later for fluids.”
“Her waters haven’t broken yet,” Oliver calls from the other side of the room.
“That’s fine. It means the amniotic sac hasn’t ruptured yet. It’ll happen soon.”
Felicity wriggles on the bed a little bit, scrunching her face up. “Can I get some painkillers?”
“You’re too far long for an epidural,” Beth informs her apologetically. “But you’ll be able to have gas and air later. Now, I just have one question.” She turns to look at Oliver, incredulous. “How come you’re not in jail?”
The archer actually cracks a smile. “Police released me yesterday because they needed my help to take down a rogue Bratva faction. We just finished up when William called me saying Felicity was going into labor in the bunker but refusing to tell me over comms because she was scared I would freak out.”
“You did freak out,” Felicity scowls.
“Is William with somebody right now?”
“Lyla and John are watching him,” Felicity replies, just as another contraction hits her.
Oliver is at her side within half a second, allowing her to grip his hands tightly and trying to comfort her through the pain. Seeing the way that tremors are coursing through Felicity’s body and her face becomes far too pale for her liking, Beth wheels over the oxygen tank and presses the mask over the blonde’s mouth. She scrutinizes her blood oxygen levels. They’re mostly fine, just a little low from the stress of the situation. Her heart rate is higher than normal but that’s to be expected, and the baby’s pulse is alright.
God, she never expected to be delivering the Green Arrow and Overwatch’s baby tonight.
She was the doctor who first told Felicity she was pregnant and gave her all her scans. She knows that this baby is a little girl, although the two vigilantes wish it to be a surprise. Beth knows that this pregnancy has been hard on Felicity due to her husband being in prison so she’s attempted to help as much as she can. She's confident in saying that she's actually become pretty good friends with Felicity, and even William, who has come to every appointment with his step-mom.
“Do the police know that you’re here?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.
Oliver doesn’t exactly look embarrassed, but he flushes a bit. “I kind of sprinted off before I could fully explain what was happening.”
Beth nods. “They don’t get the alerts for Code Greens but I’ll have somebody contact Mayor Lance so they know where you are and don’t send SWAT teams out to search for you.”
“Thank you, Dr Schwartz,” Felicity breathes, reaching out to weakly squeeze her hand.
“Please, Felicity, it’s Beth,” she laughs. “How many times do I have to tell you?”
“At least once more,” the blonde responds with a wink. A moment later, her brow wrinkles and she looks uncomfortable. “I think my waters just broke.”
Luckily Beth anticipated that happening and put down a couple of towels. Felicity’s not just soaked down there with amniotic fluid - there’s some blood starting to come out as well. Oliver nearly passes out from fright when he catches sight of it, but Beth reassures him that it’s normal. The next couple of contractions come hard and fast and Felicity definitely needs the gas and air because she almost destroys the doctor’s eardrums with her screeches.
“I’m never having a baby again after this,” she pants, glaring over at Oliver. “This is all your fault!”
“I think we’re both equally at fault for this, honey,” he says.
“Still, we’re never having another child!”
“You say that now,” Beth nods conversationally, offering Felicity some water. “But you might change your mind.”
“I am pushing a human being the size of a basketball out of my vagina!” Felicity shouts. “Trust me when I say I will not change my mind!”
Oliver is an idiot who decides to mutter, “Not exactly the size of a basketball.”
Felicity snatches the cup of water from Beth’s hand and chucks it at her husband. Beth tries not to burst out laughing at the sight of a dripping Green Arrow who looks like a startled, sad puppy. “SHUT UP, OLIVER!”
A nurse from maternity arrives then and essentially takes over. He tells Felicity everything that is going on as the labor progresses and even manages to keep Oliver fairly calm. Beth stays and keeps watch over Felicity and the baby’s vitals, eventually deciding they need to administer Felicity an IV to hydrate her and also to give her some oxytocin to speed the labor up. It’s not that she’s not coping well with the pain - it’s that Beth is concerned that her biostimulant implant won’t be able to keep up with the nervous signals and could short out, leaving Felicity paralyzed in the middle of giving birth. She and Felicity, as well as the chip’s creator, Curtis Holt, have discussed at length about how the biostimulant works and how it might respond during labor, but Beth doesn’t want to take any chances.
Oliver hovers concernedly the entire time, aiding Felicity in breathing exercises, massaging her shoulders and lower back and giving her gas and air when she needs it. He’s the perfect attentive husband that Beth thought he would be while his wife is giving birth. The only differences between Oliver and the rest of expectant fathers she’s seen in the past are that Oliver is wearing dark green armored leathers and he’s more anxious and tense than usual.
When the Smoak-Queen baby girl finally makes her first appearance into the big, wide world after two more hours of intense work on Felicity's part, she instantly greets them with deafening wails and cries, proving how strong her lungs are.
Once again, Beth is left speechless. The baby has crystal blue eyes and tiny tufts of blonde hair and she might be the most adorable infant she’s ever seen in all her years of being a doctor. Snapped back to the present by the nurse tapping her shoulder, she carefully hands the baby girl over to him. She snips the umbilical cord and helps Felicity deliver the afterbirth while the nurse whips the tiny baby away to clean her up. Oliver follows the nurse and when they realize they don’t have any infant baby grows or swaddles at hand, the archer yanks off his Green Arrow jacket, detaches the green hood and cradles his baby in it until a better cloth is found.
If Beth wasn’t gay and happily married, she would have fallen head over heels for Oliver Queen just because of the wonderstruck expression on his face.
Felicity needs some stitching and possibly a blood transfusion so Beth completes that quickly so that she’s safe for when Oliver brings the baby over. The nurse found a light green blanket to replace Oliver’s hood. He shrugs innocently when Beth shoots a pointed glance over at him because green, really?, and says he needs to get back to maternity.
“You have visitors outside, by the way,” the nurse informs them just before he makes an exit.
“They’ll need to wait a little longer,” Beth says. “Mommy, Daddy and baby need some time to settle down first.”
She writes the birth certificate herself. Adalynn Grace Smoak-Queen. A beautiful name for a beautiful baby. Beth can’t help but smile, a warm, fuzzy feeling sweeping over her as she observes Felicity gently holding the baby against her chest, staring down at her in utter awe while Oliver sits next to her, one finger delicately brushing over baby Addie’s little head as he silently cries in joy.
“She’s so small,” Felicity whispers. “Look at her.”
“She barely fits into my hands,” Oliver says, tears in his eyes. “God, Felicity… we created her. She’s half of you and half of me. Can you believe that? She’s incredible.” He sniffs, leaning down to kiss his wife’s forehead. “Thank you so much for this. For her.”
“Thank you. Like you said, she’s half of each of us. She wouldn’t exist without you too.” Felicity goes quiet for a minute. “I just can’t stop staring at her. I’ve barely known her for five minutes and I love her so, so much. Our little Addie.”
“You did carry her for nine months,” Oliver reminds her with an uptick of his lips. “I’m so happy I was here to see this.”
“Me too.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to manage going back to jail,” he begins crying in earnest again. “Not when I know she’s out here with you. I don’t want to leave you or William or her, Felicity. I don’t want to miss her first steps or her first words like I did with William. I want us to be a family. I just want us to be happy. Is that too much to ask?”
Both Oliver and Felicity are crying heavily now so the doctor determines that she should leave them alone. It’s been an emotional night for all of them. Mayor Lance, William Smoak-Queen, and John Diggle are sitting outside on the waiting chairs in the corridor. William leaps up when Beth emerges, quietly closing the door behind her. He looks excited and frightened and unsure all at once and he’s bouncing on his heels, his hands shaking when Beth approaches him.
“Felicity -”
“She’s fine,” Beth tells him with a soft smile. “Your dad got her here in time. You have a baby sibling waiting in there for you, Will. But your parents are a bit overwhelmed at the moment so you might want to wait ten more minutes or so until you go in, okay?”
William breathes out in relief. “Okay. I got the baby a present - do you wanna see?”
“Show me.”
He holds it out for her. It’s a hunter green baby grow with the words ‘my daddy and mommy are heroes’ printed on it in white. Beth feels her heart throb. The Smoak-Queen family deserve the absolute best and she hates that they’ve had to suffer and lose so much to finally be in a position where they’re happy - only to be under threat of having that taken away from them again.
“It’s wonderful, William,” she says honestly. “Your sibling will love it.”
“Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“I know, but I think your parents would prefer to tell you.”
“Dr Schwartz. Everything went okay?” Diggle questioned worriedly.
“Felicity and the baby are in perfect health,” she nods. “All of them are just very tired right now.”
Lance points to the birth certificate she’s holding. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yep,” Beth smiles. “I’m just going to hand it over to somebody who can file it now. Am I to presume that Mr Queen and his family won’t be disturbed while they’re under my medical care, Mr Mayor?”
“Nobody’s gonna come and drag him off back to jail anytime soon, if that’s what you’re asking,” Lance says.
“Hopefully, nobody will drag him back period, after today,” Diggle sighs. At Beth’s questioning glance, he explains, “My wife’s flying to DC right now to speak with the President about having Oliver pardoned.”
“Good,” Beth nods seriously. “Because I have the feeling that anybody trying to split Oliver from his family would end up where I’m going to head right now.”
“Which is?”
“Intensive Care,” she answers, deadpan. Lance and Diggle both snort in dark amusement. “I can see that it’s killing you guys to wait any longer, so you can all go in there, but make sure you’re quiet. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes to check over Felicity and the baby again.”
When she returns, Oliver and Felicity are sitting up and watching their teenage son hold his baby sister in his arms. Diggle and Lance are standing behind William, gazing down at Addie in amazement and they’re both crying. They’re all crying.
Beth doesn’t cry until she gets home. It’s nearing eight am when she finally enters her apartment, worn out and exhausted by a hard night’s work. She cries at the miracle of life and cries at the idea of Oliver being separated from his baby. Beth’s wife must hear her and wake up, because she runs out of their bedroom, helps her to the couch and cuddles her until she calms down.
She cries again later that day.
But that’s because of a Breaking News alert that Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, has been pardoned and will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his heroism and service.
Barely a week later, Beth watches on TV as Oliver gives a speech when he receives his medal. His wife stands just behind him, one hand on their son’s shoulder and the other cradling their daughter gently. They mention and thank Beth by name.
Dr Beth Schwartz is shocked speechless once again.
The Smoak-Queen family have a habit of doing that to her.