Thriving

Co-Parenting is Fun

Amber strolled into the parlor, dragging her book-filled backpack behind her. "Jess can't pick me up, I need a ride."

"I would love to take you, Amber, but I don't have a car. Yet." Thea stated as she scrolled through a list of cars for sale on her phone. "Tahitian green or midnight black? What do you think?"

"I think that you've been dropping hints all week, Thea, and Mom still isn't buying you a car for your birthday."

"I could not have said it better myself," Moira said as she walked in.

"Oliver got a car when he turned eighteen," Thea complained.

"Yeah, but I could back it out of the driveway without hitting a tree." Oliver teased.

"Oh, that's true. But I do remember you taking the paint off the side of your dad's Maserati." Tommy countered. He'd heard Oliver's comment and couldn't help but intervene.

"Thea, the party planner's waiting. Sorry to run off like this." Moira apologized.

"Don't we have a convertible to go buy?" Thea questioned.

"Good luck," Oliver called after his mom and sister.

"I still need a ride," Amber shouted in frustration.

"I'll drive you, Amber."

"Thanks, Dad." Amber went over to the breakfast table.

Tommy glanced back at Oliver with a raised eyebrow. He hadn't been around the Queen residence since Amber had begun calling Oliver 'dad'.

Oliver just shrugged in response. There wasn't anything to say other than he was happy about the change.

"How's your mom holding up?" Tommy slipped off his jacket, moving on from his silent conversation with Oliver.

"Oh, she's okay. Thea thinks she's actually a little bit too okay." Oliver said.

"What do you mean?"

"Just... behaving erratically. Shut-in one minute, running the company the next."

"Well, her husband is missing and presumed who-knows-what. If anyone had an excuse to be erratic, it's your mom." Tommy pointed out.

"That's what I told Thea," Oliver's voice lowered as his attention was drawn to the news on the tv.

"That's a lot of food for a short stack like you." Tommy's eyes widened at the amount of food Amber had piled onto her plate.

"I might be small, but I could eat you and my dad under a table," Amber smirked.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Tommy retorted, turning toward the tv as Oliver raised the volume.

"The department has got the same comment about this heist as it did the other two, no comment." Detective Lance angrily told the reporters crowding in the precinct.

The camera moved to focus on one of the reporters' faces. "The SCPD may not be willing to go on the record but traffic cameras got the entire heist in this exclusive."

The news station switched over to the footage. A robotic and monotone voice briefly described the incident as it played out on screen. "Shortly after one a.m., three masked robbers approached the armored vehicle. After watching what appears to be--"

"That's why you keep all your money offshore," Tommy commented.

Amber looked over her shoulder at him, a confused expression on her face. "How do you keep money offshore?"

"By putting it in a bank in a different country," Oliver answered.

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Only if you're trying to hide something from the cops," Tommy said, mostly as a joke.