Outside the Lines
Outside the Lines
Oliver frowned at the monitor that displayed the interior of his private elevator. It wasn’t that the sight of Chloe Sullivan staring back at him impatiently through the camera was odd - if anything, that had somehow had become ridiculously familiar. What was making things kind of different today was the fact that she was holding a little girl in her arms.
“Ollie!” Chloe shouted urgently to the speaker that was mounted in the conveyer, clearly tapping into some sixth sense of hers that let her know he was watching her curiously. “Emergency here! Open up!”
The word emergency caught his attention easily enough, so he set aside his bewilderment and without further delay, tapped the keys that released the doors. He instantly heard the sound of the metal gate clanging open and before he could even wander away from his computer to meet them, Chloe was standing in front of him, hoisting the little three-year old higher up on her hip.
“Question,” she barked without any kind of greeting. “How are you with kids?”
“Hello to you too,” Oliver noted dryly, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as he realized he was about to get dragged into something.
“I’m Alexis,” the tiny creature in Chloe’s arms smiled, sticking a small hand out to him.
He eyed her wiggling fingers strangely, amazed that this little bit of a person could be so completely unruffled given that the woman carrying her was frantic and the huge stranger in front of her was studying her suspiciously.
Reaching out, he carefully shook her warm hand.
“I’m Oliver,” he replied slowly, his eyes slanting at the blonde in search of an explanation.
“Ever baby-sit?” Chloe pressed, ploughing ahead with her own agenda.
His brows shot up to his hairline incredulously.
“Okay, so that’s a no,” she griped unhappily.
“That’s a hell no,” Oliver confirmed.
“Language!” She chastised, her head nodding pointedly to the child she held.
“Uh, right,” he stuttered. “Sorry.”
“That’s a bad word,” Alexis scolded innocently, her brown hair swinging as she shook her head at him reproachfully.
Trying to shove aside the absolute indignity of being reprimanded by a child, he shot Chloe an exasperated look.
“I think you have your answer,” he told her sourly.
Green eyes latched onto him thoughtfully and while he didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on, he could tell she was staging some sort of internal debate that he was clearly at the centre of.
“Well, you’re gonna have to learn,” she suddenly declared, depositing the little girl to her feet and thrusting a purple backpack at him.
“Pardon?” Oliver gaped, looking from the bag to the little girl as if they were both live bombs.
“It’s her parents,” Chloe explained. “They’re clients of mine… at Isis.”
Her eyes widened meaningfully and he was quick enough on the draw to know that in some way, shape, or form, meteor infection had reared its ugly head once again. That knowledge, however, wasn’t doing a thing to help him figure out why she expected him to turn nanny all of a sudden.
Chloe’s gaze hovered down to the little girl that was watching their exchange with barefaced interest.
“They’re in D-A-N-G-E-R,” she told him lightly, trying to mask the true nature of the situation. “Clark and I are on it, but we can’t take Miss Munchkin here, for obvious reasons.”
“I’m not big enough,” little Alexis elaborated patiently, her neck craned all the way back as she looked up at him.
Oliver blinked at both of them.
“Seriously?” He exclaimed. “Ever occur to you that I could go with Clark and you can do the Mary Poppins thing?”
“You want to pose as Clark’s wife at a corrupt fertility clinic?” She snarked.
He pursed his lips.
“Well, I didn’t know that part.”
“Look,” Chloe tried again, her eyes darting to her watch. “I’d try to get somebody else, but I can’t exactly tell other people that my super powered best friend and I have an appointment to take down a crooked Doctor and rescue a little girl’s…”
She paused, remembering Alexis.
“Okay, I think you’re getting the picture here,” she concluded tiredly.
“I like to draw pictures,” Alexis announced. “Can I have my crayons?”
“Sure sweetie,” Chloe smiled, taking the child’s hand and leading her over to the coffee table situated in the middle of the room, quickly pulling open the purple backpack and digging out a notebook and a pencil case.
Oliver watched wide-eyed as Chloe got Alexis settled in, realizing that this was really going to happen. She was really going to leave this child in his care.
“No, no, no,” he objected as he moved towards them. “I’m really not comfortable with this.”
“Oliver,” Chloe ground out as she jumped to her feet, grabbed his arm and dragged him out of Alexis’ ear shot.
“You are a hero,” she reminded him lowly, the compliment coming out more like a slap on the wrist. “You take on bad guys, you swing from rooftops, you’re the freaking CEO of a multi-million dollar empire! She’s just a little girl!”
“What am supposed to do with her?” He sputtered, motioning to the child vaguely.
“Just keep her safe,” Chloe answered simply. “She’s got all sorts stuff in her bag to keep her busy and I promise this won’t take long.”
His eyes danced back and forth from Chloe’s waiting expression to the little one happily creating a colourful blob on his coffee table.
“You swear you won’t be long?” He bit out tensely.
Her answering smile was nothing if not gigantic.
“Cross my heart,” she vowed as her index finger marked an emphatic X across her chest.
He sighed miserably.
“You are awesome,” she gushed with a delighted hop before darting back over to Alexis and kneeling down to the girl.
“You going?” Alexis asked, her little voice shaking with trepidation for the first time since her unprecedented arrival.
“Just for a little bit,” Chloe assured her, brushing a tender hand over the girl’s dark hair. “While I’m gone, you’re going to stay with Oliver, okay?”
Alexis turned and stared at him appraisingly, her doll eyes measuring him with an intensity that made him squirm uncomfortably. He was suddenly struck by the realization that any second now, he could get rejected by a three-year old. He wouldn’t have blamed her.
“Kay,” Alexis chirped all of a sudden, her momentary anxiety fleeing without a trace as her round face split into a smile that she tossed first to Oliver, then Chloe.
“Okay!” Chloe clapped happily, the picture of relief. “I’ll be back before either of you know it.”
“Hug and kiss,” Alexis requested as she held her arms open to Chloe expectantly.
Grinning the one and only Chloe Sullivan megawatt smile, the blonde leaned forward and scooped the giggling child into her arms, peppering the crown of Alexis’ head with kisses.
“There,” Chloe laughed as she righted the smiling girl on her feet. “Will that hold you over until I get back?”
“Yeah,” Alexis grinned, squealing when Chloe gave her sides a quick tickle.
“Alright,” Chloe announced as she rose to her feet and took off for the exit. “Both of you be good!”
“Hold up!” Oliver called out as he caught her arm and swung her around to face him before she could zoom away. “I could really do with a few pointers here!”
Her head tilted to the side to consider his plea before a teasing smile lit her features.
“Don’t let her play with your arrows.”
“Oh, that’s helpful, thanks,” he snapped.
“You’ll be fine,” she promised, her hand reaching out to rest encouragingly on his arm.
“But…” He began worriedly
“Ollie, you’ll be fine,” she repeated as her smile softened reassuringly.
Her gaze was steady as she waited, already knowing exactly what he was going to do.
“Go,” he groused, motioning her away.
She gave his arm an extra squeeze before bolting to the elevator, waving animatedly to both he and Alexis before she disappeared from sight.
Forcing out a frustrated breath, Oliver turned slowly and found himself pinned by little Alexis’ dark eyes.
“Colour with me?” She requested sweetly.
“Uh,” he mumbled awkwardly, “I don’t really colour…”
Her petite brows automatically dropped into a deep frown that he didn’t like the look of one bit.
“I mean, sure, why not?” He amended quickly, marvelling at the ease with which his words wiped her scowl clean away.
He moved to grab a chair to drag over to the table, but Alexis was quick to dismiss his plan.
“Sit here,” she instructed, pointing to the empty space on the floor beside her.
Doing as he was told, he lowered himself and his expensive Armani suit to the floor and stretched his long legs out under the table.
“You can colour this,” Alexis informed him, handing him a picture of a singing flower.
“Got any pictures of trucks or cars I could do instead?” He asked hopefully, eyeing the pile of colouring sheets beside her.
The little lady stared at him seriously.
“This one,” she repeated, patting her hand on the ridiculous flower she’d picked for him.
It was then that he realized that he was dealing with a miniature Chloe.
“Okay,” he agreed slowly. “Apparently you’re the boss.”
Reaching for some crayons, he set to work on his assigned project, letting his eyes move over to the tiny thing that sat quietly beside him every once in awhile, taking in the admittedly adorable look of sheer concentration on her face.
Definitely a miniature Chloe.
“What’s your favourite colour?” She asked casually, her head still bent over her work.
He stared at her perplexed. Was she making small talk? Did children do that?
“Uh, green,” he answered, watching as she paused her own colouring and plucked the green crayon out of her pencil case, presenting it to him with a smile.
“Thanks,” he accepted, finding himself returning the shining grin.
“Ask me,” she prodded, fidgeting with excitement.
“Ask you what?” He wondered.
“My colour!” She explained and he swore he could hear exasperation in her tone.
His eyes went from the purple pencil case perched on the coffee table, to the purple back pack resting on the floor, and finally, to the purple sun dress she wore.
“What’s your favourite colour?” He recited indulgently.
“Purple!” She cried with a happy flourish and he nodded along.
“Go figure,” he smiled.
“Ask me Chloe’s favourite,” she continued, abandoning her project completely as she turned to face him fully, sitting up on her knees so they were almost eye to eye.
“What’s Chloe’s favourite colour?” He asked, thinking that this might not be such a bad experience if the little one just kept telling him what to do.
She reached for the case again and this time, hauled out a yellow crayon which she held up triumphantly.
“Yellow!” She proclaimed.
“Good to know,” Oliver commented, unable to think of anything relevant to add.
“I like Chloe,” Alexis stated firmly, nodding her head like she'd just divulged state secrets.
“Sure, me too,” Oliver agreed, again not really knowing what else he could contribute to the conversation as it were.
“Tell me a story,” she requested, changing the topic for no apparent reason.
Oliver gave her a peculiar look. Maybe he’d been wrong. The kid’s whip lash conversation was starting to make him think that perhaps she was a miniature Bart.
“Uh,” he began as he reached for her backpack, “do you have any books in here? I could read you one.”
“No, you tell a story,” she corrected as she got to her feet and dropped herself into his lap without a single reservation.
“I don’t really know any,” he admitted nervously as he tried to figure out how move her off of his lap without making that angry little frown of hers appear again.
“Just a story,” she reiterated plainly, her soft arms spreading open, palms up, in a gesture that one day - when she grew old enough to use bad words - would no doubt mean what the hell is your problem?
“Don’t you know any?” She pressed, her bubbly, lisping voice nailing pitying perfectly.
“Of course I do,” he replied indignantly, offended that someone so small was making him feel like a complete idiot. Besides, he knew there had to be at least one story in his repertoire that was age-appropriate. After all, he had been a kid himself once upon a time.
At that moment, an idea finally hit him and he smiled.
“Ever hear of Robin Hood?” He asked, thrilled when Alexis beamed at him in eager anticipation.
~
Chloe rode up to Oliver’s penthouse nervously, hoping that she wasn’t about to discover an unmitigated disaster. She and Clark had taken a good two hours longer than she’d anticipated and she was just a little worried that tiny, precocious, way-too-smart-for-her-own-good Alexis had used all of her three-year-old powers to dismantle Oliver’s sanity.
She felt the elevator come to a smooth stop beneath her and she looked up to the camera that was perched in the corner, smiling hopefully. Right away, a faint buzzer sounded and she heard the familiar click of the locks on the door releasing. Reaching forward she gripped the latch on the outside grating and pulled, allowing herself into the apartment.
The first thing she noticed was that everything was way too still and far, far too quiet. Panic instantly burst in her chest, but she squashed it within seconds, knowing that even if Oliver wasn’t the world’s most decorated baby-sitter, he would never allow anything to happen to the little girl.
“Alexis?” She called out as her eyes continued scanning the empty space. “Ollie?”
All at once, there were battle cries and thundering feet as two figures - one huge and one minuscule -flew out of hiding from behind the couch and charged her. She barely had time to register what was happening before she was swept up and tossed over a broad shoulder, catching glimpses of Alexis dancing around in maniacal glee.
“You got her! You got her!” The little girl squealed ecstatically, jumping up and down.
“What should we do with her?” Oliver asked his tiny accomplice, holding tight to the back of Chloe’s legs so she couldn’t wriggle free.
“Shoot her with the arrows!” Alexis suggested with unrestrained delight as she held up her very own, homemade bow, complete with arrows that looked suspiciously as though they’d once been part of a couple sets of venetian blinds.
“No, we can’t do that!” Oliver hooted. “She’s one of the good guys!”
“They’re just pretend,” Alexis pointed out, her little head shaking at his ignorance.
“I thought I told you not to let her play with arrows,” Chloe stated dryly, her hands pushing against Oliver’s back as she tried to break his hold and scramble back to her feet.
“They’re just pretend,” Oliver mocked, imitating Alexis perfectly.
“She still could have poked her eyes out,” she chastised.
“Nah,” Oliver disagreed merrily, rewarding Chloe’s nagging with a quick spin that made her head loopy. “She’s a natural with a bow.”
Her eye roll was huge and she was incredibly tempted to remind him that just a few hours ago, he was the one who thought the little girl would be doomed in his care.
“Would you put me down already?” She ordered instead, kicking her legs to emphasize her point.
He dropped her to the ground lightly, straightening up to face her with a huge grin settled across his lips.
“Someone had a better time than he expected,” she observed, a brow arching up knowingly.
“See what Ollie made me?” Alexis cut in as she scooted between them and held up her new toy.
“I see,” Chloe smiled, admiring the obvious care that had gone into making the bow just the right size.
“We played Robin Hood!” Alexis continued as she bounced in front of Chloe. “I was Little John!”
Smirking, Chloe cut her eyes to Oliver.
“You made her Little John?”
“I told her she could be Maid Marion, but nothing doing,” he stated proudly. “Said she wanted to be one of the heroes.”
“Well,” Chloe began, “before you commission her mini-me leather disguise, I think I should get this little lady back to her parents.”
“Mommy and Daddy?” Alexis asked in a whispery voice, her giddy bouncing coming to an abrupt halt as she turned wide and happy eyes on Chloe.
“They’re at home waiting for you,” Chloe confirmed excitedly. “So let’s grab your stuff and get over there!”
“Kay!” Alexis exclaimed, sprinting to her backpack and throwing her crayons and papers in.
Moving to help her, Chloe was about to pack the little bow into the bag, but Alexis reached out to stop her.
“I wanna carry it,” she explained as she took her prize back.
Chloe’s eyes swept over to Oliver and despite his obvious efforts to look nonchalant, he didn’t stand a chance of hiding the way he puffed up with pride.
Her hands on the little girl’s shoulders, Chloe steered her back to Oliver.
“Let’s say thanks to Oliver for taking care of you,” she prompted, launching the pair into a chorus of sing-songed thankyous.
“Yeah, yeah,” Oliver smirked, trying to downplay their gratitude.
“Hug and kiss,” Alexis called out, her arms reaching up to Oliver.
“Uh,” he hedged, his eyes going to Chloe for advice.
“You better do it,” she smiled. “We had a serious problem earlier when Clark tried to decline.”
Leaning down, Oliver plucked Alexis from the floor and chuckled as her little arms went tight around his neck. Leaning back, she grinned her priceless grin at him before she darted forward and pressed a warm kiss loudly against his cheek.
He was just about to put her back on the ground when she stopped him, stretching out a clasped hand in his direction. Quirking a brow, he lifted his hand to her and watched as she dropped her green and yellow crayons into his palm.
“For you,” she smiled before wiggling around in his grasp, expressing her desire to go back to her own feet.
Smiling curiously, he rolled the colourful objects around in his hand and could only shrug when Chloe’s head tilted at him inquisitively.
“Alright Munchkin,” she announced, glossing over Alexis’ parting gift. “Let’s roll.”
“Hug and kiss,” Alexis stated again.
“C’mon now greedy,” Chloe kidded. “You already got your billionaire lovin'.”
“You,” Alexis corrected, pointing at Chloe.
“No, no, hon,” Chloe explained patiently. “I'm going with you. We don’t say bye yet.”
Alexis’ dark eyes swung from Chloe to Oliver, then back again.
“Hug and kiss,” she repeated simply.
Grasping the little girl’s meaning, both Chloe and Oliver let out laughs.
“Yeah, we don’t do that,” Oliver told Alexis with a smile.
The little girl’s brows dipped into a mournful frown and the delicate skin on her chin drew tight to push her bottom lip into a massive pout.
Leaning over to Chloe, Oliver spoke lowly.
“I don’t like it when she does that.”
“Wimp,” Chloe admonished as she put a hand to Alexis’ shoulder and tried to lead the child to the elevator.
She didn’t whine and she didn’t cry, but the little girl most definitely held her ground, refusing to be moved as the frown settled even more firmly into place.
Oliver was officially back to thinking of her as a miniature Chloe.
Sighing, Chloe turned back and faced them both, hands braced upon her hips and a booted foot tapping out an annoyed staccato against the hardwood.
Oliver was just about to ask her what she expected him to do about it when she suddenly closed the space between them and pressed a kiss to his mouth, her arms reaching up over his shoulders and hugging. Caught completely by surprise, he barely had time to settle into her embrace before she’d released his lips and turned to shoot a glare at Alexis.
“Happy?” She asked the mischievous little girl.
Alexis’ hands went to her mouth, trying to cover her endearingly evil giggle.
“Little instigator,” Chloe muttered as she slowly slid away from Oliver and moved over to a satisfied Alexis, taking her hand.
“See ya Ollie,” Chloe called over her shoulder. “Thanks again!”
“Bye bye Ollie!” Alexis smiled, perfectly mimicking Chloe’s over the shoulder delivery.
They disappeared into the elevator and Oliver once again found himself alone, crayons clutched in his hand, his lips tingling and one of the more interesting days in his life behind him.
Oliver frowned at the monitor that displayed the interior of his private elevator. It wasn’t that the sight of Chloe Sullivan staring back at him impatiently through the camera was odd - if anything, that had somehow had become ridiculously familiar. What was making things kind of different today was the fact that she was holding a little girl in her arms.
“Ollie!” Chloe shouted urgently to the speaker that was mounted in the conveyer, clearly tapping into some sixth sense of hers that let her know he was watching her curiously. “Emergency here! Open up!”
The word emergency caught his attention easily enough, so he set aside his bewilderment and without further delay, tapped the keys that released the doors. He instantly heard the sound of the metal gate clanging open and before he could even wander away from his computer to meet them, Chloe was standing in front of him, hoisting the little three-year old higher up on her hip.
“Question,” she barked without any kind of greeting. “How are you with kids?”
“Hello to you too,” Oliver noted dryly, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as he realized he was about to get dragged into something.
“I’m Alexis,” the tiny creature in Chloe’s arms smiled, sticking a small hand out to him.
He eyed her wiggling fingers strangely, amazed that this little bit of a person could be so completely unruffled given that the woman carrying her was frantic and the huge stranger in front of her was studying her suspiciously.
Reaching out, he carefully shook her warm hand.
“I’m Oliver,” he replied slowly, his eyes slanting at the blonde in search of an explanation.
“Ever baby-sit?” Chloe pressed, ploughing ahead with her own agenda.
His brows shot up to his hairline incredulously.
“Okay, so that’s a no,” she griped unhappily.
“That’s a hell no,” Oliver confirmed.
“Language!” She chastised, her head nodding pointedly to the child she held.
“Uh, right,” he stuttered. “Sorry.”
“That’s a bad word,” Alexis scolded innocently, her brown hair swinging as she shook her head at him reproachfully.
Trying to shove aside the absolute indignity of being reprimanded by a child, he shot Chloe an exasperated look.
“I think you have your answer,” he told her sourly.
Green eyes latched onto him thoughtfully and while he didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on, he could tell she was staging some sort of internal debate that he was clearly at the centre of.
“Well, you’re gonna have to learn,” she suddenly declared, depositing the little girl to her feet and thrusting a purple backpack at him.
“Pardon?” Oliver gaped, looking from the bag to the little girl as if they were both live bombs.
“It’s her parents,” Chloe explained. “They’re clients of mine… at Isis.”
Her eyes widened meaningfully and he was quick enough on the draw to know that in some way, shape, or form, meteor infection had reared its ugly head once again. That knowledge, however, wasn’t doing a thing to help him figure out why she expected him to turn nanny all of a sudden.
Chloe’s gaze hovered down to the little girl that was watching their exchange with barefaced interest.
“They’re in D-A-N-G-E-R,” she told him lightly, trying to mask the true nature of the situation. “Clark and I are on it, but we can’t take Miss Munchkin here, for obvious reasons.”
“I’m not big enough,” little Alexis elaborated patiently, her neck craned all the way back as she looked up at him.
Oliver blinked at both of them.
“Seriously?” He exclaimed. “Ever occur to you that I could go with Clark and you can do the Mary Poppins thing?”
“You want to pose as Clark’s wife at a corrupt fertility clinic?” She snarked.
He pursed his lips.
“Well, I didn’t know that part.”
“Look,” Chloe tried again, her eyes darting to her watch. “I’d try to get somebody else, but I can’t exactly tell other people that my super powered best friend and I have an appointment to take down a crooked Doctor and rescue a little girl’s…”
She paused, remembering Alexis.
“Okay, I think you’re getting the picture here,” she concluded tiredly.
“I like to draw pictures,” Alexis announced. “Can I have my crayons?”
“Sure sweetie,” Chloe smiled, taking the child’s hand and leading her over to the coffee table situated in the middle of the room, quickly pulling open the purple backpack and digging out a notebook and a pencil case.
Oliver watched wide-eyed as Chloe got Alexis settled in, realizing that this was really going to happen. She was really going to leave this child in his care.
“No, no, no,” he objected as he moved towards them. “I’m really not comfortable with this.”
“Oliver,” Chloe ground out as she jumped to her feet, grabbed his arm and dragged him out of Alexis’ ear shot.
“You are a hero,” she reminded him lowly, the compliment coming out more like a slap on the wrist. “You take on bad guys, you swing from rooftops, you’re the freaking CEO of a multi-million dollar empire! She’s just a little girl!”
“What am supposed to do with her?” He sputtered, motioning to the child vaguely.
“Just keep her safe,” Chloe answered simply. “She’s got all sorts stuff in her bag to keep her busy and I promise this won’t take long.”
His eyes danced back and forth from Chloe’s waiting expression to the little one happily creating a colourful blob on his coffee table.
“You swear you won’t be long?” He bit out tensely.
Her answering smile was nothing if not gigantic.
“Cross my heart,” she vowed as her index finger marked an emphatic X across her chest.
He sighed miserably.
“You are awesome,” she gushed with a delighted hop before darting back over to Alexis and kneeling down to the girl.
“You going?” Alexis asked, her little voice shaking with trepidation for the first time since her unprecedented arrival.
“Just for a little bit,” Chloe assured her, brushing a tender hand over the girl’s dark hair. “While I’m gone, you’re going to stay with Oliver, okay?”
Alexis turned and stared at him appraisingly, her doll eyes measuring him with an intensity that made him squirm uncomfortably. He was suddenly struck by the realization that any second now, he could get rejected by a three-year old. He wouldn’t have blamed her.
“Kay,” Alexis chirped all of a sudden, her momentary anxiety fleeing without a trace as her round face split into a smile that she tossed first to Oliver, then Chloe.
“Okay!” Chloe clapped happily, the picture of relief. “I’ll be back before either of you know it.”
“Hug and kiss,” Alexis requested as she held her arms open to Chloe expectantly.
Grinning the one and only Chloe Sullivan megawatt smile, the blonde leaned forward and scooped the giggling child into her arms, peppering the crown of Alexis’ head with kisses.
“There,” Chloe laughed as she righted the smiling girl on her feet. “Will that hold you over until I get back?”
“Yeah,” Alexis grinned, squealing when Chloe gave her sides a quick tickle.
“Alright,” Chloe announced as she rose to her feet and took off for the exit. “Both of you be good!”
“Hold up!” Oliver called out as he caught her arm and swung her around to face him before she could zoom away. “I could really do with a few pointers here!”
Her head tilted to the side to consider his plea before a teasing smile lit her features.
“Don’t let her play with your arrows.”
“Oh, that’s helpful, thanks,” he snapped.
“You’ll be fine,” she promised, her hand reaching out to rest encouragingly on his arm.
“But…” He began worriedly
“Ollie, you’ll be fine,” she repeated as her smile softened reassuringly.
Her gaze was steady as she waited, already knowing exactly what he was going to do.
“Go,” he groused, motioning her away.
She gave his arm an extra squeeze before bolting to the elevator, waving animatedly to both he and Alexis before she disappeared from sight.
Forcing out a frustrated breath, Oliver turned slowly and found himself pinned by little Alexis’ dark eyes.
“Colour with me?” She requested sweetly.
“Uh,” he mumbled awkwardly, “I don’t really colour…”
Her petite brows automatically dropped into a deep frown that he didn’t like the look of one bit.
“I mean, sure, why not?” He amended quickly, marvelling at the ease with which his words wiped her scowl clean away.
He moved to grab a chair to drag over to the table, but Alexis was quick to dismiss his plan.
“Sit here,” she instructed, pointing to the empty space on the floor beside her.
Doing as he was told, he lowered himself and his expensive Armani suit to the floor and stretched his long legs out under the table.
“You can colour this,” Alexis informed him, handing him a picture of a singing flower.
“Got any pictures of trucks or cars I could do instead?” He asked hopefully, eyeing the pile of colouring sheets beside her.
The little lady stared at him seriously.
“This one,” she repeated, patting her hand on the ridiculous flower she’d picked for him.
It was then that he realized that he was dealing with a miniature Chloe.
“Okay,” he agreed slowly. “Apparently you’re the boss.”
Reaching for some crayons, he set to work on his assigned project, letting his eyes move over to the tiny thing that sat quietly beside him every once in awhile, taking in the admittedly adorable look of sheer concentration on her face.
Definitely a miniature Chloe.
“What’s your favourite colour?” She asked casually, her head still bent over her work.
He stared at her perplexed. Was she making small talk? Did children do that?
“Uh, green,” he answered, watching as she paused her own colouring and plucked the green crayon out of her pencil case, presenting it to him with a smile.
“Thanks,” he accepted, finding himself returning the shining grin.
“Ask me,” she prodded, fidgeting with excitement.
“Ask you what?” He wondered.
“My colour!” She explained and he swore he could hear exasperation in her tone.
His eyes went from the purple pencil case perched on the coffee table, to the purple back pack resting on the floor, and finally, to the purple sun dress she wore.
“What’s your favourite colour?” He recited indulgently.
“Purple!” She cried with a happy flourish and he nodded along.
“Go figure,” he smiled.
“Ask me Chloe’s favourite,” she continued, abandoning her project completely as she turned to face him fully, sitting up on her knees so they were almost eye to eye.
“What’s Chloe’s favourite colour?” He asked, thinking that this might not be such a bad experience if the little one just kept telling him what to do.
She reached for the case again and this time, hauled out a yellow crayon which she held up triumphantly.
“Yellow!” She proclaimed.
“Good to know,” Oliver commented, unable to think of anything relevant to add.
“I like Chloe,” Alexis stated firmly, nodding her head like she'd just divulged state secrets.
“Sure, me too,” Oliver agreed, again not really knowing what else he could contribute to the conversation as it were.
“Tell me a story,” she requested, changing the topic for no apparent reason.
Oliver gave her a peculiar look. Maybe he’d been wrong. The kid’s whip lash conversation was starting to make him think that perhaps she was a miniature Bart.
“Uh,” he began as he reached for her backpack, “do you have any books in here? I could read you one.”
“No, you tell a story,” she corrected as she got to her feet and dropped herself into his lap without a single reservation.
“I don’t really know any,” he admitted nervously as he tried to figure out how move her off of his lap without making that angry little frown of hers appear again.
“Just a story,” she reiterated plainly, her soft arms spreading open, palms up, in a gesture that one day - when she grew old enough to use bad words - would no doubt mean what the hell is your problem?
“Don’t you know any?” She pressed, her bubbly, lisping voice nailing pitying perfectly.
“Of course I do,” he replied indignantly, offended that someone so small was making him feel like a complete idiot. Besides, he knew there had to be at least one story in his repertoire that was age-appropriate. After all, he had been a kid himself once upon a time.
At that moment, an idea finally hit him and he smiled.
“Ever hear of Robin Hood?” He asked, thrilled when Alexis beamed at him in eager anticipation.
~
Chloe rode up to Oliver’s penthouse nervously, hoping that she wasn’t about to discover an unmitigated disaster. She and Clark had taken a good two hours longer than she’d anticipated and she was just a little worried that tiny, precocious, way-too-smart-for-her-own-good Alexis had used all of her three-year-old powers to dismantle Oliver’s sanity.
She felt the elevator come to a smooth stop beneath her and she looked up to the camera that was perched in the corner, smiling hopefully. Right away, a faint buzzer sounded and she heard the familiar click of the locks on the door releasing. Reaching forward she gripped the latch on the outside grating and pulled, allowing herself into the apartment.
The first thing she noticed was that everything was way too still and far, far too quiet. Panic instantly burst in her chest, but she squashed it within seconds, knowing that even if Oliver wasn’t the world’s most decorated baby-sitter, he would never allow anything to happen to the little girl.
“Alexis?” She called out as her eyes continued scanning the empty space. “Ollie?”
All at once, there were battle cries and thundering feet as two figures - one huge and one minuscule -flew out of hiding from behind the couch and charged her. She barely had time to register what was happening before she was swept up and tossed over a broad shoulder, catching glimpses of Alexis dancing around in maniacal glee.
“You got her! You got her!” The little girl squealed ecstatically, jumping up and down.
“What should we do with her?” Oliver asked his tiny accomplice, holding tight to the back of Chloe’s legs so she couldn’t wriggle free.
“Shoot her with the arrows!” Alexis suggested with unrestrained delight as she held up her very own, homemade bow, complete with arrows that looked suspiciously as though they’d once been part of a couple sets of venetian blinds.
“No, we can’t do that!” Oliver hooted. “She’s one of the good guys!”
“They’re just pretend,” Alexis pointed out, her little head shaking at his ignorance.
“I thought I told you not to let her play with arrows,” Chloe stated dryly, her hands pushing against Oliver’s back as she tried to break his hold and scramble back to her feet.
“They’re just pretend,” Oliver mocked, imitating Alexis perfectly.
“She still could have poked her eyes out,” she chastised.
“Nah,” Oliver disagreed merrily, rewarding Chloe’s nagging with a quick spin that made her head loopy. “She’s a natural with a bow.”
Her eye roll was huge and she was incredibly tempted to remind him that just a few hours ago, he was the one who thought the little girl would be doomed in his care.
“Would you put me down already?” She ordered instead, kicking her legs to emphasize her point.
He dropped her to the ground lightly, straightening up to face her with a huge grin settled across his lips.
“Someone had a better time than he expected,” she observed, a brow arching up knowingly.
“See what Ollie made me?” Alexis cut in as she scooted between them and held up her new toy.
“I see,” Chloe smiled, admiring the obvious care that had gone into making the bow just the right size.
“We played Robin Hood!” Alexis continued as she bounced in front of Chloe. “I was Little John!”
Smirking, Chloe cut her eyes to Oliver.
“You made her Little John?”
“I told her she could be Maid Marion, but nothing doing,” he stated proudly. “Said she wanted to be one of the heroes.”
“Well,” Chloe began, “before you commission her mini-me leather disguise, I think I should get this little lady back to her parents.”
“Mommy and Daddy?” Alexis asked in a whispery voice, her giddy bouncing coming to an abrupt halt as she turned wide and happy eyes on Chloe.
“They’re at home waiting for you,” Chloe confirmed excitedly. “So let’s grab your stuff and get over there!”
“Kay!” Alexis exclaimed, sprinting to her backpack and throwing her crayons and papers in.
Moving to help her, Chloe was about to pack the little bow into the bag, but Alexis reached out to stop her.
“I wanna carry it,” she explained as she took her prize back.
Chloe’s eyes swept over to Oliver and despite his obvious efforts to look nonchalant, he didn’t stand a chance of hiding the way he puffed up with pride.
Her hands on the little girl’s shoulders, Chloe steered her back to Oliver.
“Let’s say thanks to Oliver for taking care of you,” she prompted, launching the pair into a chorus of sing-songed thankyous.
“Yeah, yeah,” Oliver smirked, trying to downplay their gratitude.
“Hug and kiss,” Alexis called out, her arms reaching up to Oliver.
“Uh,” he hedged, his eyes going to Chloe for advice.
“You better do it,” she smiled. “We had a serious problem earlier when Clark tried to decline.”
Leaning down, Oliver plucked Alexis from the floor and chuckled as her little arms went tight around his neck. Leaning back, she grinned her priceless grin at him before she darted forward and pressed a warm kiss loudly against his cheek.
He was just about to put her back on the ground when she stopped him, stretching out a clasped hand in his direction. Quirking a brow, he lifted his hand to her and watched as she dropped her green and yellow crayons into his palm.
“For you,” she smiled before wiggling around in his grasp, expressing her desire to go back to her own feet.
Smiling curiously, he rolled the colourful objects around in his hand and could only shrug when Chloe’s head tilted at him inquisitively.
“Alright Munchkin,” she announced, glossing over Alexis’ parting gift. “Let’s roll.”
“Hug and kiss,” Alexis stated again.
“C’mon now greedy,” Chloe kidded. “You already got your billionaire lovin'.”
“You,” Alexis corrected, pointing at Chloe.
“No, no, hon,” Chloe explained patiently. “I'm going with you. We don’t say bye yet.”
Alexis’ dark eyes swung from Chloe to Oliver, then back again.
“Hug and kiss,” she repeated simply.
Grasping the little girl’s meaning, both Chloe and Oliver let out laughs.
“Yeah, we don’t do that,” Oliver told Alexis with a smile.
The little girl’s brows dipped into a mournful frown and the delicate skin on her chin drew tight to push her bottom lip into a massive pout.
Leaning over to Chloe, Oliver spoke lowly.
“I don’t like it when she does that.”
“Wimp,” Chloe admonished as she put a hand to Alexis’ shoulder and tried to lead the child to the elevator.
She didn’t whine and she didn’t cry, but the little girl most definitely held her ground, refusing to be moved as the frown settled even more firmly into place.
Oliver was officially back to thinking of her as a miniature Chloe.
Sighing, Chloe turned back and faced them both, hands braced upon her hips and a booted foot tapping out an annoyed staccato against the hardwood.
Oliver was just about to ask her what she expected him to do about it when she suddenly closed the space between them and pressed a kiss to his mouth, her arms reaching up over his shoulders and hugging. Caught completely by surprise, he barely had time to settle into her embrace before she’d released his lips and turned to shoot a glare at Alexis.
“Happy?” She asked the mischievous little girl.
Alexis’ hands went to her mouth, trying to cover her endearingly evil giggle.
“Little instigator,” Chloe muttered as she slowly slid away from Oliver and moved over to a satisfied Alexis, taking her hand.
“See ya Ollie,” Chloe called over her shoulder. “Thanks again!”
“Bye bye Ollie!” Alexis smiled, perfectly mimicking Chloe’s over the shoulder delivery.
They disappeared into the elevator and Oliver once again found himself alone, crayons clutched in his hand, his lips tingling and one of the more interesting days in his life behind him.