Sullivan Home Videos

By: Bart Allen

Fade in to a wobbly camera image of a blue/grey wall and it's the beginnings of the Sullivan home video of Eric's infant years. Bart was named camcorder champion and so he walked around with it practically glued to his palm. When he first learned of Chloe's pregnancy, he'd been so shocked he actually let his jaw drop, losing his mouthful of Mexican burrito in the process. It was a sad loss - great burrito. In any case, after overcoming the first numbing seconds, he'd been hugging her and jumping around erratically. It didn't dawn on him that she might not be as happy as most expecting mothers. She didn't say who the father was and they took it from Oliver's expression that the question wasn't to be asked. In all honesty though, Bart had first suspected Oliver. It was no secret in the League that Oliver was seriously rocking the feelings for Watchtower, but neither were commenting on the feelings between them and it seemed with her new baby development, feelings weren't going to be shared anytime soon.

So instead of going suspicious like he would have if it were anybody else, Bart and the rest of the guys accepted their place as new uncles, and lucky for Bart, his unclely duties included using the video camera. He grinned, his first directorial involved... ta da! Lamaze class!

The lens finally focused in on the obviously pregnant Chloe sitting in a circle with various other mucho pregnant women. One women was making weird breathing motions, lifting her arms and he he hoo'ing all over the place. The husbands, boyfriends, or fathers to be were all huddled together in an awkward cluster by the coffee table as the women listened to their instructor.

Bart zoomed in on Oliver as he leaned against a wall, listening carefully, his gaze wandering from Chloe to the instructor. Unbeknownst to the leader, he was imitating the breathing motions with his mouth and grinning at Chloe each time she did it right. Bart focused in on Oliver's mouth, slowly walking closer to get a good picture of him acting out of character.

"Which one's yours?" he heard and Bart whirled the camera in the direction of the man asking it. He was tall, nervous and slightly balding. He was wearing an awful faded yellow shirt that had bold blue letters stating, "Daddy 2..." and then a ridiculous bee was shown. He had directed his question at Oliver and the distracted billionaire motioned to the petite blonde who was now rolling her eyes at the instructor but still following directions.

"How far along?"

"Six months," Oliver replied, nodding.

"Your first?" the man asked, lifting a brow and rocking back on his feet.

Oliver glanced from Chloe to the man, obviously not sure exactly what to say. "Yeah," he finally agreed, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"This is my third." He pointed at the shirt he was wearing, "My eldest daughter makes me wear this whenever her mom and I have these classes." He rolled his eyes, a proud fatherly grin showing. "I'm not sure why we keep coming back. I think we got it down the first two times, but..." he lifted a shoulder. "It makes her feel more equipped, so..." He smiled. "How about your little lady? Her idea for the classes?"

"Uh mine, actually. I was researching it and I found this is one of the best facilities in all of Metropolis, so..." Oliver turned, not so uncomfortable with the conversation anymore. "She hates them, but she goes." He grinned.

"Do you know what sex the baby is?" he wondered, brows lifted. "I have two girls at home and we're hoping for a boy, but..." He chuckled, bobbing his head side to side. "This is our last and I'm not really partial. My girls are great and I know a lot of dad's always say they want boys, but not me, nope..."

Oliver nodded, lifting a hand to run through his hair. "She didn't' want to know. I did... So I bribed the doctor who still didn't tell me, then I bribed a nurse who took pity and finally told me." He laughed, eyes turning back to Chloe who made a face at him. "It's a boy."

"Congratulations!"

Oliver eye's returned to him and he swallowed tightly. "Thanks."

"Now, if the father's would like to rejoin us," the instructor called out.

Oliver put his coffee down and almost hurried over to sit down behind Chloe, putting a pillow at the small of her back to make her more comfortable. She leaned into his chest, letting her head fall back to his shoulder. "I can smell the coffee on you." She narrowed her eyes. "Jerk."

He smirked. "Jealous, Sidekick?"

Bart slipped in closer, falling to his knees and crawling his way over to the couple. The camera was jerky as he moved and their voices became louder.

She sniffed, turning her eyes upward. "Not at all. I get all the peanut butter cup ice cream I want!"

He frowned, his hands moving to her sides, kneading into her out of habit. She relaxed into his soothing hands. She was always complaining how much her back hurt, but Bart knew that as soon as Oliver started working his magic, Chloe was as sweet as a kitten.

The instructor was babbling on about something that Bart had decided was gross, so he instead filmed Oliver and Chloe. Her eyes had fallen shut and her head was still lolled against his shoulder. She almost looked as though she were sleeping. Her face turned slightly, nose nuzzling his neck and breathing in. She let out a soft sigh and Bart noticed that Oliver was watching her with something that were anybody to see him, could tell was pure adoration.

"Have I told you lately how much I love your hands?" she whispered quietly.

He laughed, low and deep. "Only every day."

She smiled, her eyes opening faintly, a sleepy glaze to them. "I really love your hands."

Bart rolled his eyes. Lovey dovey crap. He turned the camera in a circle to see what the other couples were doing and found nervous fathers, annoyed mothers, exasperated parents, or overly excited people. It was a cluster of different personalities, all thrown together with an exuberant instructor with a great rack. Bart zoomed in on her chest, grinning at it rose and fell with her deep breathing techniques.

"BART!" he heard barked from slightly in front of him.

He turned a grin on Chloe who was shaking her head. "Don't make me pass your camera privileges on to AC."

"Aw come on, Chloelicious! I'm capturing milestones here!" he complained, pouting.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Good directors have focus, Bart."

"Great directors have vision," he replied with a smirk. "And I've got 20/20 centered on her-"

"One more word and you're never allowed to touch the camera again," Chloe warned.

He frowned, falling to sit on his butt on the padded floor and turned the camera back toward the main couple. "Fine." As Chloe and Oliver turned their attention back to the class, Bart zoomed in on them. "And here, little Sullivan, you'll see that you were about the size of a soccer ball, making mama Sullivan the size of a-" She turned to glare at him and he turned the camera toward himself. "Given that I'd like to meet you and your mom is likely planning my demise, I'd just like to take back any prior comments about your mom's figure. She's still..." He made the O-K sign with his fingers and winked. "Super fuerte!"

Oliver sighed. "Shut the camera off!"

Grumbling, the screen went blank.

[Next: Chapter Four.]

Author's Note: The next chapter is already written, but I need to tink with it a bit because it's like 11,000 words and that's way too big. So, I figured I'd give you a little insight here on the pregnancy years! Hope you liked this! Reviews are sustenance, readers! Luv yas - Fina!