Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One

Emma wearily climbed the steps to their front porch and stomped her feet to knock off all the snow as she reached the doorstep. It looked as though Killian had managed to find some time to make an effort in shovelling the snow from the front walk and steps earlier in the day, but the snow currently falling had almost covered it all again.

The moment she opened the door, all the tension and fatigue left her shoulders after a long day at work. She was welcomed home to a blazing fire, the delicious aroma of dinner cooking, the cosy warmth of their home and two of her very favourite people in the world.

“Hey cygnet, look! Mummy’s home!” Killian grinned as he scooped Hope up off the floor where he had been sat playing with her and the array of toys.

After hanging up her jacket, pulling her beanie off and shaking the snow off it and then toeing her boots off, Emma turned to give them both a big smile as they came to greet her at the door.

“Hello, love,” Killian murmured, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey you,” she returned, snatching her gloves off before reaching for Hope who was babbling excitedly and eagerly leaning towards her, making grabby hands. “Hey my little baby,” she cooed as she took her into her arms and covered her in kisses. Hope giggled. She was totally a daddy’s girl, but after spending an entire day with her father, the sight of her Mom and a new face was exciting. “Oh, I missed you, honey,” Emma sighed, kissing the top of her head and breathing in her sweet baby smell.

Emma didn’t have any huge regrets about her decision to go back to work when Hope was five months old, it was what she needed to do and she enjoyed the work. Although she missed his company at work, she was actually grateful that Killian had made the decision to leave his deputy sheriff role to be the stay at home parent, giving their child the best care possible. But none of that meant she didn’t miss her sweet baby all day or spending time with her.

“What about me?” Killian pouted. “Didn’t you miss me?”

Emma laughed and rolled her eyes. “Idiot,” she said and gave him a soft kiss on his lips. “I always miss you.”

“Hmm, that’s better,” he grinned at her. “Now, come get warm by the fire, love.” With his hand on the small of her back, he guided Emma towards the sofa whilst she was trying to extract her hair from Hope’s fist. “How’s the case going? Caught the little thief yet?” he asked.

She sighed as she sank into the sofa and settled Hope on her lap, handing her her favourite stuffed toy, Mr Bunnykins, that immediately went into her mouth. “No, we’ve not caught The Grinch yet!”

Someone in town had taken it upon themselves to go around stealing people’s Christmas ornaments and decorations from their yards and buildings. Emma had to hand it to them, whoever was taking them had some nerve because Granny had been absolutely furious when she found the Christmas trees, complete with lights and baubles, missing from the diners outdoor area. And Leroy had been positively fuming when his family of light up snowmen had disappeared from the yard outside the apartments he shared with his brothers.

“Don’t worry love, you’ll get them,” he told her with that unwavering faith and belief he always had in her.

“Yeah, I hope so. I just wish we knew...Killian...where did those come from?” she asked, nodding towards their window alcove.

He looked towards the window where there now hung a set of twinkling snowflake lights. “Oh, well...Hope and I took a walk after we had lunch with you and popped into a couple of shops on our way. Her little eyes lit up when she saw them hung up in the window of that budget appliance shop near the post office. She cried when I tried to walk past and wouldn’t stopped staring at them, so I had to go in and buy them.” He shrugged a little sheepishly.

Emma sighed and tried to avoid the bunny that Hope was waving about that now had soggy ears from her chewing on them. “And that is why we have these sparkly silver stars hanging from the ceiling,” she glanced up at them all. “And the singing Santa Claus.” She scowled at it as she looked towards the fireplace where it stood on the mantelpiece.

“Yeah, I know,” he said, scratching the back of his ear in his endearing awkward way. “But, she loves looking at them and she’s...kinda hard to say no too.”

“She’s eight months old Killian! She’s going to be a nightmare when she gets to two if you can’t say no to her now. And we talked about this, we both agreed to keep Christmas fairly low key this year, that there was no point in going overboard because Hope doesn’t understand any of it yet.”

In the past few years that they had been married, although they had celebrated Christmas as a family with Henry and her parents and brother, they hadn’t bothered with too many decorations. The tree in the front room and a wreath on the door had been about it. But over the last week or so, their front room had exploded into something that resembled a Santa’s Grotto as more and more decorations and lights were added.

“Huh,” Killian scoffed. “Says the woman who is responsible for the flashing pair of reindeers in our front yard and the lights that you persuaded your dad and I to put on the roof. Not to mention that infernal dancing Christmas tree.” He glared at the said item that sat on the entertainment unit beside the TV. They both had a love hate relationship with the damn thing, because sometimes it was the only thing that would stop Hope crying, but the music it played was incredibly irritating.

“But she loved that, it made her giggle when I played it for her and...she has the cutest giggle. Don’t you baby?” she asked Hope, holding her up under her armpits to stand on her lap.

“Ba Ga!” Hope responded, a wide, drooly grin on her face as she patted her mom’s cheeks.

“See,” she said, giving a pointed look to her husband.

“Face it, love, neither of us are able to resist our adorable little girl.” He tickled Hope who squirmed and giggled.

“Then we are both doomed!” Emma groaned. “Just...no more decorations, okay? Our home will look like the North Pole soon!”

He smirked as he tugged her forward. “As you wish,” he murmured before claiming her lips in a sweet, tender kiss. That was interrupted by the squawk of a baby and a yank on Killian’s necklace. He winced as he untangled her little fingers from it whilst Emma chuckled.

“I don’t think she likes you kissing me.”

“Well, she’s going to have to get used to it!” he grumbled. “Are you hungry?” he asked then.

“Starving. Whatever you’re making smells delicious.”

“I figured you’d be cold, so I put together a beef stew. I’d best go check on it and put the bread in the oven.” He got to his feet, giving Hope’s belly a playful poke.

“Want some help?” she asked, about to get up too.

“No, love. You stay and play with Hope. I know you miss being with her whilst you’re at work all day.” He kissed the top of both of their heads as he headed to the kitchen.

“Did Hope have her dinner?” she asked, putting the baby on the floor and sliding down beside her.

“Aye. She got rather whingy about an hour ago, so I fed her then,” he called back.

Emma heaved a sigh and stroked Hope’s back as the baby reached for her toys, feeling a little disappointed that she’d once again missed her baby’s dinnertime. Although she liked being back at work, it had it’s downfalls, like missing moments with her daughter. Hope had started to crawl a few days after Thanksgiving and even though Killian had caught most of it on his phone to show her, she was still a little sad she’d missed that.

“Okay baby girl, show me what tricks you learnt today,” Emma spoke softly to her.

Hope grinned back at her and bashed two of the plastic cups from her stacking set together. Then one of them went in her mouth as she slammed the other onto the floor. Emma placed the next one on top and then Hope put another one on top of that.

“Clever girl,” Emma smiled and clapped, before Hope knocked the three cups down with an excited shriek.

For awhile, they happily played with the cups, taking turns to stack them and then knock them down again. But as babies of her age tend to do, Hope soon lost interest in that and crawled away. In the last couple of weeks she had developed some speed on her and was keeping her parents on their toes.

“Where are you going?” Emma asked, crawling after her as she disappeared behind the sofa. Hope sat down rather heavily on her diaper clad bottom in front of the window, staring up at the snowflake lights. “You really do like them, huh?” Emma asked, picking her daughter up and taking her closer so she could see them better. Hope’s smile grew and her huge blue eyes were everywhere as she watched them twinkle. Emma smiled and kissed her daughters head. “Fine, you win!” she called through to Killian.

“What was that love?” he asked, turning towards them with a dish towel thrown over his shoulder. Who knew that Captain Hook would not only be perfectly at home being a house husband, but that he would revel in it.

“I said you win. Buy her any decorations she likes. I love seeing her so happy and entranced with them,” she sighed, hugging her baby close as she continued to watch the lights.

Killian chuckled to himself as he set the large pot of stew on the table and the crusty bread he’d just heated in the oven. “Dinner’s ready!” he called.

Whilst they ate dinner and talked more about their respective days, Hope sat in her high chair beside them, happily chewing on small pieces of bread and slices of banana that she was squishing between her fingers more than eating them and all while banging her tray with a spoon.

“Want me to help you clean up?” Emma asked when they were finished. She was wiping Hope free from soggy bits of chewed up bread and mashed banana as he began to clear the table.

“I’ve got it, love. Why don’t you go give our babe a bath and get her to bed? I know you like that time with her.”

“I do,” she agreed and unstrapped Hope from the high chair and swung her into her arms. “You ready for bath time little one?” she asked her, nuzzling her face with her nose as Hope giggled and squealed, pulling at her mom’s hair.

“I’ll put a bottle on to warm for her,” Killian said.

“Thanks, babe,” she threw over her shoulder as the pair of them climbed the stairs.

Soon enough Hope was freshly bathed and nestled in her mother’s arms in the rocking chair in her nursery. Emma was humming to her as she held her close, rocking them both and giving the baby her final bottle of the day. She loved this quiet time at night, when it was just the two of them and Hope was all sleepy as she snuggled into her. She hadn’t even minded all the night feeds so much when she was smaller, it gave the two of them a chance to bond, to spend those special moments together and for Emma to just enjoy her baby.

With a soft kiss to her head and a whispered ‘goodnight baby’, Emma eventually placed the sleepy baby in her crib, bundled up in her sleeping bag to keep her cosy all night. After switching on the night light for her and the baby monitor, Emma headed back downstairs where she found Killian on his knees, tidying up the toys and other paraphernalia strewn around the room.

Leaning against the wall, Emma folded her arms and just quietly watched him for a few moments, wondering when the hell she had gotten so lucky and what she’d done to deserve him. Many times Killian had proved himself to be a wonderful husband and lover, so it came as no surprise to her that he was also a wonderful father. She knew that some people still considered it rather unconventional that the daughter of Snow White would marry a Pirate Captain, but she also knew she had made the best decision in her life when she said yes to him.

Every day he took good care of their daughter who was always clean and happy when Emma got home. But he also found time to keep the house tidy, although bigger chores were done between them at the weekends, do some laundry and often had dinner cooked for them upon her arrival home. And today he had even managed to string some more lights and shovel the snow. Emma felt truly blessed and content with her lot these days.

“Hey.” He turned his head and smiled, finally sensing she was there. “Did she go to sleep okay?” he asked, tossing the final toys into the basket.

Emma nodded. “She was almost out before she finished her bottle. You must wear her out all day,” she said with a soft smile.

Killian chuckled and reached for the blanket on the floor to fold it up and put it away. “I think you have that the wrong way around, love. She wears me out!” he playfully grumbled.

Suddenly Emma joined him on the floor, kneeling before him as she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. The kiss was loving, tender, with just a hint of heat as her fingers slid to the back of his head and his arms wrapped around her, eagerly returning the kiss.

“What was that for?” he asked when they parted.

“Because you’re amazing and I love you,” she replied, stroking her thumb against the scar on his cheek.

He arched one eyebrow high on his head, still a little bemused. “And I love you too,” he said softly, resting his forehead against hers and giving her a full smile. “So,” he began, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead before he got to his feet, “are you ready for hot cocoa now?” he asked, offering her his hand to help her up.

“I’ll make it,” Emma told him. “You take a seat. And find us something Christmassy to watch,” she added, handing him the TV remote before heading to the kitchen.

With empty mugs of cocoa on the coffee table in front of them and a half eaten packet of cookies, Emma and Killian were snuggled up together on the sofa in front of the roaring fire. In their cosy front room, lit only with the Christmas lights and the glow from the TV from the movie they were watching, it felt as though they were sheltered away from the rest of the world, where nothing could bother them.

Emma lay with her head in Killian’s lap, his hand in her hair, fingertips massaging her scalp in that expert way of his that always threatened to lull her to sleep.

“Why are all these Hallmark Christmas movies the same?” Emma suddenly asked.

“Huh?” Killian frowned down at her, his hand stalling in her hair.

Emma rolled onto her back, looking up at him. “These movies,” she started again, “they nearly always have a woman in them who has some high power job in a big city, then she goes back to her home town for the holidays, is also often a single mother or has some sob story. She’ll meet some past love or inherit some old building and eventually decide to give up life in the city and stay in some small town and it will all end happily ever after.”

“Aye?” he asked, not following her meaning.

“I’m just saying,” she shrugged.

“Perhaps the high paying job and the big city are not making the woman happy. Maybe finding love and being in a small town does and it’s not so much of a sacrifice to give up the big job and the city?” he suggested.

“I suppose,” Emma sighed, turning her head to watch the movie again.

“Didn’t you give that up for love and happiness?” he asked her.

Emma smiled and looked up at him again. “I did and I have not one regret about that.”

“Good.” He lowered his head and kissed her.

“Although that still doesn’t explain why all these movies have the same plot?”

“I can find something else to watch? Or switch it off entirely?” Killian suggested, picking up the remote.

“No!” She snatched the remote from his hand. “I want to know what happens now!”

Killian laughed. “I thought you just said they were all the same, so surely you know what’s going to happen?”

“Shush! Just let me watch the damn movie!”

He gave a slow shake of his head. “You’re impossible, love.”

“And you love me for it.” She smiled up at him.

“That I do,” he agreed and returned her smile as he began to rub her head again,

“Now, shush!” she demanded, attention back on the TV.

By the time the movie ended, as predicatively as Emma said it would, they were both yawning and decided to head up to bed for an early night. Although it was some time before they actually settled down to sleep.

********

The final days leading up to Christmas were busy for anyone that celebrated the holiday, and even more so for those with young children. But for Emma, she was especially busy, torn between wanting to spend as much time with her family as she could and being determined to catch the damn thief in town who was making everyone’s Christmas miserable.

Whoever it was had struck again, stealing strings of lights from down at the harbour. And then taking the Nativity scene from in front of the chapel. But the worst crime, that really sickened Emma, was that they had also stolen all the gifts from the Toy Drive that the Nuns had organised, collecting gifts and toys for those children in town who came from less privileged families that maybe couldn’t afford much.

She was really upset about it, knowing what it was to have nothing as a young child and how receiving a small gift on Christmas day from a kind stranger had cheered her a little. Killian and Emma, both knowing what it was to struggle as a youngster, had themselves donated a dozen or so items to the cause and it saddened her that they now wouldn’t be reaching the intended recipients or making their day a little brighter.

And whilst Emma and Killian were both perfectly aware that they tended to spoil Hope a little, especially at this time of year, they also intended to raise her to understand just how lucky she was. She has two loving parents to raise her, a family who cared about her and she would never have to want for anything. They hoped she would learn to be generous and kind to those who didn’t.

The day after the Christmas gifts robbery, Emma was working late, absolutely relentless about wanting to solve this crime as quickly as possible in the hopes of at least restoring the magic of Christmas to the children in town. Killian was upstairs, lying across their bed and reading a book when she got home.

“Hey,” she sighed and took her badge off her belt, setting it on top of the dresser.

“Hello, love.” He smiled and closed his book, setting it aside as he sat up.

“I’m sorry I’m so late,” she added, sitting down rather wearily on the bottom of the bed.

“Don’t worry about it, I know you’re busy dealing with this case right now.”

Emma nodded silently and then looked up at him, biting her rather wobbly bottom lip.

“Are you all right?” he asked, eyeing her closely.

Emma sighed, ready to lie to him simply because she didn’t want to burden him. But, then thought better of it as she shook her head. “No, I’m not,” she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Oh, Emma.” He was by her side in a second, holding her close. “You’re freezing, love!” he gasped and rubbed his hand up and down her back.

“The heating went off at the station,” she mumbled into his chest. “I only realised when I started shivering and that was when I finally decided to give up for the night.” She raised her head and he tenderly wiped her tears away with the back of his hand.

“Is it just this case, or is something else bothering you?” he wondered.

She heaved a huge sigh and fell back into his arms. “I just feel like I’m not getting anywhere with it and I’m letting everyone down. I’ve been going through old case files all day, hoping to find a pattern or that something like this has happened before, but there’s nothing. So I started looking through the town’s census records, scrutinising every person in this town for someone who might have a motive for this, but...I have no leads or anything.”

“You’ll get them, I know you will.” He offered her a soft smile, his unfaltering faith in her evident.

“Really? Because right now it all feels hopeless! I haven’t a clue what to do or try next. I can’t even stake them out without knowing where they’re going to strike next and that could be anywhere in town. Do you know that whoever it is also stole Doc’s Santa costume today? He was going to surprise the kids at the Town Hall Christmas party and now he can’t. And then I just keep thinking about all those kids and the look of disappointment on their faces when they get nothing for Christmas and they think Santa doesn’t care!” She let out her rant in one long breath of air.

“Okay okay,” he rubbed her back again, trying to calm her. “We can always buy more gifts to donate,” he suggested.

“That’s not the point! Besides, not everyone can afford to buy things again after they already donated. What kind of heartless bastard steals from little kids? So much for this being the season of good will!” She huffed.

“I don’t know, love. It’s bad form indeed. I’m afraid some people are just complete callous gits. But, Swan, you have to remember that you’re not responsible for making sure everyone in town has a good Christmas.”

“Well, others seem to think so. I hear them moaning about how I’m not doing my job because things are still happening. They seem to think that since I am the saviour, I’m supposed to help make everyone happy. And then I-”

“Ignore what those bloody fools say!” he interrupted her, rather indignantly.

She waved it off. “Oh, I don’t care what the gossips of this town have to say. The worst part of all this all is how I feel so guilty because in trying to save everyone else’ Christmas, I am ruining yours and Hope’s first one.”

“What? You are not ruining a damn thing!” He pushed her away a little harshly, giving her a look loaded with disbelief. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

“But I am. The holidays are a time for families and I’m hardly home right now to spend this time with you both. I barely even saw our daughter today and when I did, she was asleep. I’ll be surprised if she still knows who I am!” She gave one humourless laugh and then sniffed again.

“Hey, now stop that.” He held her at arms length. “That’s bullshit and you know it! Hope loves you and I know how much you love her. She knows that and she’s lucky to have you as her mother.”

“She’d be luckier if she had a mother who was actually around more!”

“Hope has an amazing mother who is an incredible role model. A working mum who is a bad ass, catching the bad guys and making this world a better and safer place for her.”

“Except right now I’m not doing that, am I?” she wailed. “I can’t even catch a damn thief!”

“Listen, love,” he sighed. “You know that you and I do things best together, so if you need a bit more help with this, even just to look through all the files so you can get on with other things, I can come in. I’m sure your parents or Henry would be glad to have Hope for a few hours.”

“No.” She shook her head slowly. “I like knowing that at least one of her parents are with her. Besides, one of the deputies, who, by the way, is far less attractive and distracting than my last one. He...”

“I do hope you are referring to me and not your dad!” He grinned impishly.

“Eurgh! Of course I mean you. Idiot!” She swatted his upper arm as he chuckled. “Anyway, he said he’ll come in early tomorrow to go through what I didn’t get to today.”

“Well, the offer still stands, anything you need. And I know you’ll solve this because I still have yet to see you fail! But, right now I think you need some sleep. You were called out early this morning and then Hope had us up a couple of times in the night,” he spoke to her gently, calmingly.

“I know,” she heaved another sigh and nodded in agreement.

“Good. So you go and take a hot shower to warm up and I’ll go make you some cocoa and something to eat because I know you’ve probably not eaten either.” He kissed her forehead.

“Thank you.” She smiled up at him.

“Of course, love.” He smiled back.

“When did I last tell you that I love you?” she asked, dipping her head to the side.

He considered her question for a single moment. “This morning, before you had to leave early for work.”

Her eyes widened. “Well, that’s like an entire day too long. I love you.”

He gave a little snort of laughter. “I love you, too,” he kissed her gently and then stood from the bed. “Now, go shower!” he told her.

“I will,” she got up and pulled her sweater over her head, tossing it into the laundry hamper. “I just want to go check on Hope first.”

“She’s fine, fast asleep. I put her to bed a few hours ago.” He said, stroking her now bare arm that was still cold.

“I know. I just...I want to see her,” she answered quietly.

Killian smiled then and nodded, completely understanding. Anyone who assumed that Emma lacked maternal feelings and that it was easy for her to return to work and leave her baby at home couldn’t be more wrong. They had no idea how much she missed her baby every day or how hard it was for her to tear herself away from her most mornings.

As Killian headed downstairs to make her some food, Emma headed across the hall to Hope’s nursery. She didn’t know what she’d do these days without him to talk her down when she unravelled like that. It had taken them both some time to learn to share their burdens and confide in each other, but they told each other everything now, knowing it was the best option in the long run. And he was still the only person she really let herself be truly vulnerable with and break down around. Somehow he always knew the right comforting words to say to calm her and make her feel better about anything.

Hope was fast asleep in her crib, perfectly content with her arms flung above her head in the usual carefree way that she slept. She looked so angelic asleep, snuggled in her pink, swan printed baby sleeping bag. Her little chest rose and fell with each breath, her rose bud lips slightly parted and her eyes twitched as she dreamt. Emma just stood and watched her sleeping for some time before she leant over the crib and softly stroked the thin blonde hair on her daughter’s head. “Hey my sweet baby,” she whispered softly. “Mommy missed you so much today. And I know you’re not really going to remember your first Christmas at all, but I will, and I promise to make it the best I can.” She made a vow to her daughter.

**********

Three days before Christmas and Emma was still trying to solve this case. Although it was still frustrating her, she wasn’t allowing it to upset her anymore. Killian had finally convinced her that whilst, yes, she was responsible as Sheriff to do everything she could to catch them and put a stop to it, she was not responsible for ensuring the entire town had a good Christmas. Residents might be miffed that their items had been stolen, but they would survive without their flashing Santa’s or multiple Christmas tree’s or a string of lights.

As for the stolen toys, a few had been replaced with new donations, but it was going to take some kind of Christmas miracle to ensure that every child the Nun’s had a list of would receive something on Christmas day.

Emma hurried towards the diner, aware that she was once again running late for her lunch date with her husband and daughter. When this was all over, she decided, once the thief was caught and the holidays were out of the way, she and Killian deserved a proper date. A night out for a relaxed, quiet dinner together and perhaps followed by a romantic moonlight stroll – it had been awhile.

Snatching open the door, Emma saw him before he saw her, sat at their usual booth with Hope perched on the table as he removed her adorable teddy bear snow suit. Looking up as he heard the bell jangle on the door, he gave her a smile and shuffled the baby slightly as he pushed something under the table with his hook.

“Hey,” she leant over the table and greeted him with a soft peck to his lips. “Sorry, I was just heading out the door and then the phone rang,” she apologised for being late as she stole the baby from him. Sitting down opposite him she hugged their daughter, their cheeks squished together as Hope made a grab for her Mom’s earring. Emma grabbed her hand and kissed her little fingers.

“Don’t worry about it. We only just got here ourselves. Someone decided to soil her diaper as we were ready to leave,” he explained as he fiddled with something under the table again.

“Did you do a stinky for Daddy?” Emma asked, turning the baby to face her. “Good girl”” she grinned and kissed her chubby cheek.

“Hey!” Killian feigned hurt.

Emma chuckled and proceeded to finish getting the baby’s snowsuit off of her. She couldn’t understand how Killian managed to get the damn thing on her with only one hand, she struggled with two, but she liked knowing her daughter was cosy in the cold Maine winter. “So, what’s in the bag?” Emma asked him nonchalantly.

“Bag? What bag?” he asked, eyebrows arched high on his forehead.

“The one you’re trying to hide under the table,” Emma side-eyed him as she shoved the snowsuit on the seat beside her. If he thought he was fooling her, he was a fool himself.

“Any news on my tree’s?” Granny asked, abruptly interrupting their conversation as she pushed over a high chair.

“Thanks. And no, there’s nothing yet I’m afraid.”

Granny frowned and huffed.

“Emma is doing everything she can!” Killian defended his wife.

“Yes, well. Not helping my décor, is it?” she asked, waving to the one lone tree she now had in the diner, that Emma noticed was chained to the wall! “What can I get you?”

“The usual for me,” Emma requested whilst settling Hope into the high chair.

“I might just give the lunch special a try,” Killian replied as Granny scribbled their order down.

“And for this precious little lady?” she asked, her demeanour softening as she stroked Hope’s cheek.

“She would appreciate it if you could warm these up for her,” Killian said, pulling a bottle and a jar of food from the diaper bag,

Granny nodded, pocketed her notepad and pen and grabbed the bottle and jar to take with her.

“Thanks!” he called after her retreating form.

With him distracted for a moment, finding a toy to entertain Hope with, Emma made a grab for the bags she knew he was hiding under the table.

“Hey!” he protested a little too late as Hope happily began bashing her plastic set of keys against the tray of the high chair. “What if there was something for you in there?” he asked as she began rummaging through the plastic bag.

“You bought my gift ages ago,” she looked up at him. “I’ve seen it.”

“You’ve seen it?” he asked sadly, looking totally disappointed.

She looked up at him again and reached across the table for his hand. “I haven’t been snooping, I promise. I just saw the wrapped gifts that you think you have hidden in your drawer. I saw a couple with my name on, that’s all.”

“Oh. Then what if I had bought you something else?” he asked. Killian actually loved having the excuse of Christmas to buy her gifts and spoil her, because she was a nightmare to treat otherwise - always claiming that she didn’t need anything.

“Killian!” Emma gasped, ignoring his question. “Have you seriously been buying more things for Hope?” she asked, finding the bag stuffed with yet more toys and baby items.

He shrugged and tried to look completely nonchalant about it as he rested his arm along the back of the booth. “So?” he asked.

“Hmm, late getting here because you had to change Hope, or because you were shopping again?” she asked.

Killian shrugged, but had the grace to look a little sheepish. “Both?”

Emma smiled at his expression. “Babe, she already has a ton of gifts. She’s not even going to understand this or be able to unwrap them herself or anything. And at her age, she’s probably going to be more interested in the paper and boxes that the things come in, anyway. Not to mention that half of these are too old for her,” she pointed out as she noted the 12 Months + age on some of the toys, shaking her head exasperatedly. She loved that her husband was generous and wanted to spoil the people he loved, but this was a little over the top.

“Well, someone said on that Mom’s blog that it’s good to give them things that are a few months above their age range. It encourages the development of new skills and she can grow into them, rather than her outgrowing them in a few weeks.”

Emma groaned and rolled her eyes as she put the bag back. “That damn Mom blog again!” she hissed. He had become a little obsessed with reading the blog he’d found online just recently, taking all the advice from other mom’s as pure gospel. “I am totally going to change our wifi password and not tell you!” she threatened.

“Now, that’s just bad form, love!” He took offence at her threat.

“Besides, babies don’t outgrow toys that quick. She’s had those since birth,” she nodded to the keys that Hope was still crashing and chewing alternately, “and she still loves them as much. I thought we had agreed to keep things low key this year? I already gave in about the extra decorations, but she really doesn’t need so many gifts.”

“Hmm,” he arched one eyebrow. “If that’s true, then why is there another bag of wrapped gifts all addressed to Hope that I found shoved in the back of our closet this morning?” he asked.

“I well...I, erm...” she stammered, trying to find some excuse.

“Here we go,” Granny returned, placing the cocoa in front of Emma, a cup of coffee for Killian and the warmed baby bottle and jar of food. “Food will be out shortly,” she added.

“Thanks Granny,” she smiled, grateful for the interruption. Reaching across the table, she grabbed the diaper bag and searched for a bib and spoon to feed Hope with.

“Emma?” Killian asked, rather amused, knowing he had her.

“I haven’t a clue what bag you’re on about,” she lied, avoiding eye contact with him as she placed a bib on the baby and began stirring her food.

Killian laughed. “You now very well, love.”

“I, well...maybe my Mom dropped some things off, or Henry?” she suggested lamely and offered Hope a spoonful of mushed chicken and vegetables.

He nodded. “Aye, I suspect they often drop things off in our bedroom closet!”

Emma sighed and spooned some more food up. “All right, you got me,” she gave in. “I’m as bad as you at buying her more things. But...I’ve never done this before either. Henry was about grown out of toys by the time he came back into my life, I didn’t get to buy him loads of fun Christmas gifts or anything. And, I suppose I want Hope to have everything I never did.”

“I get it, love. You know I do. It’s new and exciting. I’ve celebrated Christmas a number of times since arriving in this realm, but there is certainly something much more exciting about it when you have a young child to share it with.”

“Yes,” she agreed, relived he understood. Was there really any doubt that he would? He always understood her, sometimes he was the only one that did. “But, even still...I think we have far too many things for her between us, we’ve both got carried away.”

“Aye,” he agreed, reaching into the diaper bag and finding a cloth to wipe Hope’s face with. “So, what do we do?” he asked, passing it to her.

“Maybe we should go through everything together and each choose five or six presents for her and then donate the rest?” she suggested.

He nodded and picked his coffee mug up. “That sounds sensible,” he agreed.

Emma gave him a smile before continuing to feed Hope who shrieked when her lunch wasn’t coming quick enough. “And next year perhaps we go shopping for her gifts together?”

Granny was back then, with plates of food for them both. “Anything else I can get you?” she asked.

“Nope, we’re good, thanks.”

“More than good,” Killian grinned and gave his wife a wink.

Granny shook her head and rolled her eyes as she moved away. That damn couple never got any better!

Chapter Text

Chapter Two

By Christmas Eve the robberies had slowed to a halt. But that wasn’t surprising, who wanted to steal Christmas items when the holidays would soon be over? The last items that had been stolen were some garlands of tinsel that were decorating the shelves in the library. Not that any of the townsfolk seemed to care any more. It was with some sorrow and culpability that Emma had realised a day or so ago that a lot of people had given up and taken down their outdoor lights and other decorations in fear of them being stolen – another reminder that she had failed to solve the case yet.

But, as of now she was on leave for the holidays. The two part time deputies – August and Thomas were going to take turns to be on duty, promising to hold down the fort so as Emma could enjoy a relaxing Christmas with her family. Even if she did feel rather guilty for taking the time off when there was still an ongoing case to be working on. But her colleagues had insisted she take the break as planned and Killian had managed to convince her that she deserved it.

So far the three of them had been enjoying a quintessential Christmas Eve. Hope had treated her parents to a brief lie in, waking a little later than she usually did and then they’d indulged in a family cuddle in bed, until Hope became more interested in crawling all over her parents and then demanding her breakfast with loud protests of tears. After breakfast they had bundled up against the weather and taken a leisurely stroll down to the docks so as Killian could check on his ship. The Jolly Roger was covered in a blanket of snow and looked most enchanting.

By the time they arrived home, it had started snowing again. Hope was fascinated with it, giggling as the tiny frozen crystals dusted her cheeks and eyelashes.

“Want to catch it baby?” Emma asked her, holding out her hand, palm up. The snow landed and melted quickly, much to Hope’s dismay when she copied her Mom and held her hand out.

“I have a question, love.” Killian said, a sneaky smile on his lips. “Do you want to build a snowman?” He was laughing at his own quip.

“I am so stopping you watching Frozen with Hope. I think you only put it on for yourself,” she said shaking her head, but laughing all the same just because she was so happy.

Between them they built a small, hastily built snowman. It didn’t look so great, but that didn’t matter, they were still having fun as Hope watched, still bundled up in her stroller. Once it was done, Emma lifted her out and then plonked her in the snow in front of the snowman to take a quick photo. But the look on her little face when she tried to crawl away and put her hand in the cold, wet snow had her parents in fits of laughter – she seemed most disgruntled and confused, but then the tears started.

“Hey, it’s okay baby,” Emma cooed, picking her up quickly. She rubbed her hand with her own to dry it and warm it up. “All better now, see?” she asked, blowing warm air onto it. “Can you grab her hat?” she asked, nodding to the woolly hat that had fallen in the snow.

Killian bent to pick it up and as he did, Emma grinned and looked at Hope with her finger to her lips. She stooped and scooped up a hand full of snow, moulding it into a ball and pelted him with it. It hit his back and he jumped up with an exclaimed “Hey!” as Emma giggled. “What was that for?” he asked, with challenge in his eyes.

Emma laughed and grabbed some more snow from the porch railing – the lure of the childish game was strong – and she threw another snow ball at him, hitting him square in the chest as snow fell down his opened shirt. She knew he wouldn’t retaliate since she was holding Hope, but that didn’t stop him chasing after her. She and Hope ran up the steps to the front door.

“We’ll see how smug you are when you’re not hiding behind our child!” he called after them as Emma giggled and they crashed inside the warmth of the house.

Once they got out of their snow gear and shook all the snow off themselves, Killian heated up some soup to warm them all up whilst Emma made the grilled cheese sandwiches to go with them and the three of them sat down to eat lunch together.

Emma was sat on the fluffy rug before the hearth, warming her toes by the fire and gazing up at the tree when she heard Killian padding back downstairs after putting Hope down for her nap.

“Well, that was the easiest nap I’ve put her down for recently, she was asleep before we even got to her room,” he commented.

Emma turned and smiled at him. “All that fresh air probably did her good,” she said.

“Aye,” he agreed as he sat down on the floor beside her. “What are you doing?” he wondered.

“Just, admiring our tree and...thinking,” she muttered, leaning back against him.

“What about?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her as she sat with her back leant against his chest.

She turned her head to look up at him. “I’m just having a really good day. I like spending some quality time together, as a family.”

“Aye,” he murmured and kissed her temple. “Me too.”

“I know I’ve only been back at work for a couple of months, but it seems ages since we just had time to simply be together, without having a list of things to do,” she sighed, enjoying his warmth against her back and the heat of the fire at her front. She felt cozy and relaxed, unhurried and just happy.

She was right, usually there was always something pressing that needed doing. Although she never worked weekends or nights if she could help it, when she was home with them, there was always the routine of bath time and bed time or they were busy doing chores together, shopping, having dinner with her parents. Weekends passed in a whirlwind sometimes and she felt they had done nothing of any importance. She decided right now that that was going to change – just enjoying being a family and being with them was much more important than having a pristine house or a tidy yard. From now on, weekends would be for family and having fun together.

“It certainly is nice to have this time together. And I think Hope has been delighted to have both of our attention all morning.”

“She has,” Emma, realising that as much as she liked her job, what she really relished these days was spending time with her husband and daughter and just having fun together. “We should make this our tradition, that Christmas Eve is always family time.”

“Aye,” he agreed. “This is much preferred to joining the garish town Christmas party,” he grinned. Neither of them had wanted to go, knowing that she was only likely to get harassed from the towns folk wanting to know about their stolen belongings that were still missing.

“I know no one celebrated Christmas in the Enchanted Forest. But, did you have any family traditions from celebrations that did happen there?” she wondered. This was something else she missed, having real conversations with him, nothing about work or discussing Hope or what they needed from the grocery store. Just chatting, finding out little things about each other that they still didn’t know, sharing random moments and memories.

He sighed and shook his head. “None that I remember. But then I don’t even remember celebrating my birthdays, I was so young when the family fell apart. And after my father sold us, well no one wanted to even acknowledge us as slaves on a ship, let alone allow us to join in celebrations or parties,” he told her sadly.

Emma grasped his hand that was wrapped at her waist and lifted it to kiss the back of. “I’m sorry,” she said, feeling bad that he had such a gloomy childhood.

“How about you? Any traditions from your childhood?” he wondered.

Emma was silent for a moment as she thought back to her own experiences. “No,” she sighed. “I was never in the same place twice for a Christmas – kids like me were always moved around from families and group homes. I learnt pretty early on that Santa wasn’t real, but sometimes we might get lucky and be given a gift from a charity or something - maybe a book, perhaps clothing or a candy bar. I remember one year, I was about six or seven maybe, I was with a family for Christmas. They had children of their own who were spoiled rotten with presents. I got a second hand book and a pair of socks. I mean, I was grateful to get anything, but I was also intensely jealous of all the shiny new toys they had.”

“As any child would be,” he said understandingly.

“So, as I got older, I became rather cynical about the whole event and tried to act as though I didn’t care. I started ignoring the holiday all together after I got out of prison and never really celebrated it until I came to live here. So, most of my real Christmas’ have been with you,” she smiled up at him and he caught her lips in a brief kiss.

“Then I’m glad we can learn to enjoy the holidays together. And we can create our own family traditions to share with Hope.”

Emma nodded. “And I am so glad that she will never have to grow up the way we did. She will always be surrounded by people who love her.”

“She’s a lucky lass. She will never be alone or know what it is to feel abandoned.”

Emma turned her head and kissed his cheek quickly, before burrowing into him even closer. For awhile they just sat together, savouring the peace, watching the flames dance in the fireplace and being perfectly content with their companionable quietness.

“So, what else would you like to do today?” Emma asked as he began nuzzling her neck with his nose.

“Well, I still owe you for those rogue snowballs you threw at me!” he frowned. “I’m sure my shirt is still damp!” he grumbled.

“And how do you plan on getting your revenge?” she asked, a huge, delighted smile lighting up her face.

“Hmm,” he pretended to think about it as he rested his chin on her shoulder. “I have it on good authority that you detest being tickled. So I am declaring a tickle war!” His hands at her waist began to tickle her as she squirmed out of his embrace.

“Killian!” she whined, inching away from him. He just laughed and continued his attack. Emma laughed and shrieked, begging him to stop. He was relentlessness in his onslaught, coming at her from all sides – for a man with only one hand, that hand could certainly reach many places all at once. “Stop!” she panted, leaning away from him.

“Apologise for the snow balls!” he demanded.

“Nope,” she shook her head.

“Then I’m afraid there will be no cease fire!” He was on her again, his fingers finding all her most ticklish spots, until he had her on her back on the fluffy rug in front of the fireplace.

He straddled her body as she squirmed and twisted against the rug and only when their faces became inches apart did he pause. He stared at her, watching her pant beneath him, gazing up at him all flushed as his eyes flitted from hers and down to her lips and back again. With little warning, his lips suddenly crashed against hers and he was kissing her with a fiery passion that she was quick to return. Her arms slid behind his neck as her body arched into his, moaning into the kiss.

He pecked her lips softly as he temporarily ended the kiss, both of their eyes still closed as their foreheads rested against one another, breathing each other in.

“Thank you for today, for everything,” she whispered. “I’m having such a good time that I’ve almost forgotten about the stupid thief and all the nonsense going on in town,” she added as she moved her head to kiss his cheek and then his jaw.

“If you think that’s impressive, I can also kiss you until you forget your own name,” he winked.

“Prove it!” she dared him.

Never one to back down from a challenge, he fully intended to prove he still had that effect on his wife. He was on all fours above her, one of her legs between his as he lowered himself on his elbows, pressing his body against hers as he reclaimed her lips. The kissing was hungry, urgent and heated, heads turning and tilting to get the best angle to deepen the kiss. Tongues brushing against one another's and teeth giving little nips to each others lips.

They both moaned, becoming lost in the moment, forgetting everything but each other. Her hands were everywhere as his cupped her face. She had hers on his face, his chest, his back, holding onto his arms and finally drifting down his back to cup his backside and squeeze gently and the kissing never stopped. It was noisy and sloppy at times, moaning and sighing together.

Suddenly Emma rolled them so as she was on top, sitting upon his thighs. The kissing resumed as his hand slid up under her sweater, caressing her smooth, warm skin and her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt as they practically devoured each other.

It had been some time since they’d made out like this, since they’d had the notion to fool around like this and most certainly not since Hope had come into their lives. Their sex life these days was pretty limited and hurried, hoping to get through it before the cries of a baby interrupted and often they were both simply too tired to even bother. But right now, lost in their delight of the free day and the quiet time, they were making out like a pair of horny teenagers or a lustful newly-wed couple.

Emma paused the kissing to sit up on his thighs and pull her sweater over her head before tossing it aside. Killian gazed at her, his eyes drifting lower to her lace clad breasts, he licked his lips and grasped her, flipping them until he had her beneath him again, her hands on his chest, fingers running through the soft hair and warm skin. His kisses left her mouth, tumbling to her cheeks, her chin and down her neck, covering her entire chest with soft, wet kisses. He pulled the cup of her bra aside and kissed the peak of her breast as she moaned and clung to him, her body arching against his.

It was a couple of minutes before either of them heard the plaintive cries of their daughter through the baby monitor. Both of them paused in their actions and turned their heads toward it.

“Bloody hell!” he hissed, dropping his head disappointingly against her shoulder.

“Maybe she’ll go back to sleep,” Emma said hopefully. But after a few more moments, in which Hope’s cries just got louder and louder, she sighed and pushed Killian away from her. “I’d best go get her,” she muttered, standing up and grabbing her sweater, adjusting her bra and pulling it back on as she hurried upstairs to find their baby.

Killian had managed to compose himself and button his shirt back up by the time Emma returned with a wide awake baby who refused to continue her nap. Perhaps she was having such a good day too that she didn’t want to miss another moment of it. She seemed to be full of it after a barely 40 minute nap and when Emma set her down on the floor, she was instantly crawling off.

“Where are you tearing off to, little cygnet?” Killian asked, grabbing her and giving her a cuddle, kissing her chubby little cheeks. She squirmed out of his hold and wanted to get down again.

He let her go and she headed straight towards the entertainment unit, where the dancing Christmas tree sat. Emma was not looking forward to the not too distant day that she started pulling herself up on the furniture and was able to reach things she wasn’t supposed to, she was already making some attempts. Hope sat on the floor, squealing and bouncing on her bottom as she reached for the tree until Emma got it down and turned it on for her, proceeding to torture her parents with the tinny rendition of ‘Jingle Bells’ repeatedly, giggling each time and wiggling to the music.

They loved her little giggle though, so they were willing to put up with it. But after the seventh time, Killian grabbed her again and blew raspberries on her belly instead. This created even more giggles than the tree as she grasped at his hair and kicked her legs, rolling around on the floor. It seemed that he had the knack of tickling both his girls into fits of laughter.

They played with her and her toys on the floor for awhile, Hope delighted to have all this attention from both of her parents. Once she tired of that, Emma picked her up and took her to the window so she could see the snow falling once more and the hurried snowman they had made.

“I know, it’s not that great,” Emma told her. “Perhaps if we both ask your big brother nicely, he’ll make you a better one.”

“He’s coming over tomorrow morning, right love?” Killian asked, suddenly behind her and kissing her temple as he wrapped an arm around the pair of them.

“Yes,” she nodded and hitched Hope up a little higher. “He said that he and Ella will be coming over around 10, so we can have brunch together and then unwrap gifts before we’ll have to get ready to head to my parents.”

“Sounds good,” he said, grabbing Hope’s hands when she started banging on the window. “I wonder how they’re both faring at Regina’s tonight?” he wondered. Henry and his girlfriend, Ella, were spending Christmas Eve with his adoptive mother, her sister and niece. It was bound to be an interesting experience.

“No doubt he’ll tell us all about it tomorrow,” she smiled, glad that she was getting her son home for Christmas Day. “And then we can get him to build you a bigger snowman!” Emma told Hope. “I think daddy and I need a bit more practice,” she laughed, looking at their own sorry effort. To be fair though, it had been put together quickly so as Hope didn’t get too cold out in the snow long.

If someone had told Emma ten years ago that one day she’d be spending the afternoon on Christmas Eve baking cookies with her husband and baby daughter at her side in the kitchen of her own home, she’d have laughed in their face. But that was exactly what she was doing and she couldn’t imagine anywhere she’d rather be.

It might only be a packet mix for sugar cookies that she was using, since she was still not that great at baking, but the sentiment was the same and they still smelt amazing – making the kitchen warm and delightful. Emma mixed the dough and rolled it out whilst Killian cut out shapes of stars, Christmas trees and snowmen to put into the oven, all whilst listening to Christmas music playing in the background. With Hope accompanying them, perfectly happy playing with a wooden spoon and a plastic bowl, strapped safely in her high chair.

“See,” Emma nodded to where their baby was banging the spoon on the bowl, “she doesn’t need all those fancy toys. She’s quite content there.”

“Aye. But I think your mother might have something to say about it if we bought her nothing but wooden spoons for Christmas!” he chuckled, sliding another tray of cookies into the oven.

They couldn’t wait when they were baked and each snaffled a fresh cookie, giving Hope small chunks that they blew on first, and declared that for a packet mix, they were quite delicious and were quite proud of their achievements.

After a dinner of take out pizza, since neither of them could be bothered cooking with having spent so long in the kitchen baking, it was time to get Hope ready for bed.

“Give it another two or three years, when she really understand what Christmas is all about and I should think this will prove to be a much more difficult task,” Emma commented as they put Hope in her crib, almost asleep already.

“Why?” Killian asked, stroking the babies tummy to soothe her.

Emma gave him an incredulous look. “Did you forget the excitable whirlwind that my brother is at Christmas and has been since he was about four?” she asked. “Dad’s always complaining that Neal is almost impossible to get to bed the night before, because he’s too excited. And then he wakes them at the crack of dawn, wanting to see what Santa has brought!” Emma chuckled.

Killian sighed. “Then I am glad that our little one should hopefully allow us to sleep in a bit later in the morning. I don’t want her to grow up too quick,” he added.

“Me neither,” Emma whispered and turned to kiss his lips softly, before creeping out of Hope’s nursery and leaving her to sleep.

Back downstairs Emma made them both a mug of hot cocoa whilst Killian nipped outside to fill up the log basket for the fire. And then the pair settled down, curled up together on the sofa, to watch what she claimed was her favourite Christmas movie, ‘Gremlins’.

“This is seriously your favourite Christmas movie?” Killian asked rather disbelievingly when the gremlins started causing havoc around the town. “Ugly little green monsters running around killing people?” He looked at her with one wary eyebrow raised.

“Well, Gizmo isn’t ugly. He’s adorable.”

“I suppose he’s fairly cute and fluffy, yes, but…really? This? I know your childhood was rather disturbing Swan, but...” he faded off, slightly amused and yet a little concerned.

Emma shrugged. “Maybe it appealed to the cynical part of me back then. I still think it’s good though, so shush,” she poked his leg with her toes, “because I am watching.”

Killian chuckled to himself and let her watch her movie, finding some parts of it amusing himself.

Before they decided to turn in for the night, Emma and Killian took great delight in filling the red Christmas stockings hanging upon the mantelpiece and piling presents under the tree ready for the morning to instil the belief of Santa Claus for Hope. Emma yearned for her daughter to have a much more innocent and happier childhood than she’d had and hoped that would include a belief in Santa for as long as possible.

Finally settling into bed together, Emma snuggled up to her husband in her favourite position with her head on his chest.

“Is it weird that I’m rather excited for tomorrow?” she asked him.

“No. It’s out little girls first Christmas. I know she’s too young to understand it, but I’m still looking forward to seeing her reaction. And she’s probably going to be enthralled in having so much attention from everyone tomorrow.”

“Or overwhelmed,” Emma sighed.

“She’ll be fine. She’s tough, our lass. Just like her Mum.”

Emma made a sound of agreement. “I had a really good day, today,” she told him, sounding sleepy.

“Me too, love,” he murmured in reply and kissed the top of her head. “But right now, it’s time for sleeping.”
“Mmm,” Emma moaned in agreement, snuggling into him more. “Night babe.”

“Good night, love,” he muttered in reply. And soon enough they were both asleep.

Killian woke just a few hours later and rolled over in search of Emma’s warm body to cuddle up with again, but instead found himself alone in bed. He got up to use the bathroom, assuming that she’d gone to check on Hope. It had become a habit of hers, right from birth, he’d often wake in the night to find Emma sat up in bed just staring into the bassinet or stood by her crib in the nursery once they had moved the baby to her own room.

Deciding once he’d done in the bathroom that he’d go check on them both, he walked across the hall to the nursery. Hope was sleeping soundly, but Emma wasn’t there. A slight panic arose in him, born from being ripped apart by curses and magic too many times in their past as he went in search of her. But all was well, as he reached the bottom of the stairs in his rumpled pajamas, he found her sat in the living room, just staring at the full stockings all bearing their names – Emma, Killian, Hope and Henry.

“Swan?” Killian said, stepping into the room. “I thought it was only the kids that were supposed to get up at the crack of dawn,” he chuckled to himself as he rubbed his eyes and headed towards her.

Emma sniffed and surreptitiously wiped her eyes quick.

“Love? Are you all right?” he asked and when he was close enough to see that she was crying, he sat down beside her and took her in his arms. “Oh, Emma,”

She sniffed again and gave him a watery smile. “They’re not sad tears,” she told him. “Well, not really. I just got to thinking about the me of 10 years ago. She would never have imagined or even hoped to have everything that I do now. She was a rather stubborn woman,” she smiled wryly, “she’d probably have insisted that she didn’t want it and she was fine the way she was. But, she was alone, living in a small, impersonal flat in Boston, who had no friends or anyone close.”

Killian looked down at her where she rested against his chest, his arm firmly around her. “And that made you sad?” he asked, wanting to understand, but feeling a little lost.

She shook her head. “No, it made me grateful. I have never been happier than I am now. I have my son, the love of a good man, our beautiful daughter. I have a good relationship with my parents and a little brother to tease. And we have this house that is a real home. And then I realised that everything I have right now is because of you,” she said, peering up at him.

“Me?” he asked, his eyes widening.

Emma smiled and nodded. “Yes. Had it not been for you, your offer to take us and your knowledge of the island, I don’t think we would have ever found Henry in Neverland. You even saved my father’s life there. And then if you hadn’t made a huge sacrifice to find me in New York and bring me home, I wouldn't have my family in my life. And if you hadn’t loved me as much as you do, I wouldn’t be married or have Hope right now.”

Killian smiled softly and kissed her sweetly. “Aye love. And if it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have any of this either. I never even imagined I could love again, until you stumbled into my life, let alone that I could have a family, that I’d let go of my hatred and just be...happy. And that’s because you made me want to be a better man, because you loved me. And I will always be grateful for you and Hope. And I love you both, so much.”

“We love you too,” she whispered and kissed him before snuggling into him tighter. It was rather cold in the early hours of the morning in their living room now that the fire had died.

Killian sighed and kissed the top of her head. “Come on, love,” he nudged her to move. “We should head back to bed, we need to get some more rest. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

Emma moved and stood from the sofa whilst doing nothing to stifle a yawn. “You’re probably right.” She held her hand out to him and hauled him up. Hand in hand they climbed the stairs up to their room.

“What made you come down here, anyway?” he wondered.

Emma laughed lightly at herself. “I woke needing the bathroom. Then I went to...”

“Check on Hope,” he finished for her, knowing her well.

“Yes,” she agreed. “And then I was convinced I had forgotten to put one of the presents out and had to come check. I want tomorrow to be perfect.”

“It will be, Swan. Because we’ll be with the people we love and who love us. Now,” he paused as he pulled the quilt back on their bed, “back to sleep!”

Chapter Text

Chapter Three

After a fun filled day with barely any naps, Hope slept in on Christmas day. Much to the dismay of her mother who had been awake since seven am, itching for her daughter to wake and begin her first Christmas. Emma had already been to check on her twice and had been almost tempted to wake her, but knew that wasn’t fair and that Hope would most likely be grumpy if she was woken.

Instead, Killian nipped downstairs and brought them both a coffee to drink in bed, where they shared a peaceful, relaxed morning, just cuddling together and chatting. Killian was a little reluctant to go any further than a cuddle and gentle kisses right now, anticipating the interruption of their daughter at any moment. He was discovering that being a parent to a young child certainly stifled your sex life! But, knowing the rest of the day was likely to be hectic, they actually enjoyed these quiet moments alone.

*******

“Merry Christmas!” Henry called as he walked into the house at just after 10 that morning, his arms full of presents.

“Henry! Thank God!” Emma sighed as she got up off the floor in the living room and picked up Hope.

“What? Am I late or something?” he asked, checking his watch with a frown on his face.

“No, perfectly on time, lad,” Killian appeared from the kitchen.

“Then, what...” Henry looked from his Mom to his step-father.

Emma laughed. “I meant thank you for saving me. I’ve been trying to keep Hope away from the gifts under the tree, she wants to crawl over them all and rip the paper. The only thing that would distract her was that damn dancing Christmas Tree and the singing Santa!” she rolled her eyes. “Your sister has been driving me insane!”

Henry laughed. “Well, you two did buy her the stupid things!” He was amused as he moved into the house further to put his gifts down on the kitchen table. Hugs were exchanged then between them all, as Hope reached out for her big brother. “Hey squirt!” he tickled her as he took her into his arms. “You’ve grown!”

“You just saw her two days ago!” Emma commented as she hugged Ella. “Glad you could make it,” she smiled at her son’s girlfriend.

“Still think she’s grown,” Henry insisted.

“I hope not!” Killian said. “We don’t want her growing up too quickly.”

“Anyway, come in, make yourselves at home,” Emma said, leading them into the living room.

“Something smells delicious!” Ella commented politely as they took her coat off.

“Brunch will be ready shortly,” Killian smiled, taking the baby from Henry so he could get his coat off and headed back to the kitchen. He strapped Hope into her high-chair and gave her a couple of chopped up grapes to keep her happy.

“So, how were things at Regina’s?” Emma wondered.

Henry sighed as he shared a look with Ella and took a seat on the sofa. Emma was on the floor putting away Hope’s toys and returning the animatronic tree and Santa to their places. “Well, Mom and Zelena got into a dumb argument during dessert last night about nothing and they both stormed off to their rooms. And then Robin threw a huge tantrum this morning because Zelena didn’t get her the exact LOL doll she wanted.”

“What the hell is an LOL doll?” Emma asked, out of the loop with current popular culture.

“You’ll find out when Hope wants them!” Henry laughed. “If they’re still trendy by then. Anyway, I’m not sure who’s behaviour was more childish because they all behaved like spoilt children,” he finished with a wry chuckle as Emma agreed.

They sat and chatted for a bit longer, Henry telling his Mom more of his Christmas eve with his adoptive mother and Emma telling him about their Christmas Eve. She still missed having her son at home, even though he, thankfully, wasn’t far away these days – he and Ella now lived in the old loft since his return from touring the realms.

Killian was busy in the kitchen, preparing brunch for them all. “Everything okay in there?” Emma asked when she heard the clang of a saucepan.

“Fine!” he replied.

“Do you need any help?” she asked, feeling guilty that he was doing all the work.

“No. Hope and I just have the pancakes to make and then we’re ready.”

“You’re sure?” she asked.

“Aye!” he returned.

“When do we get to open presents?” Henry asked, eyeing his bulging stocking hanging up.

“Henry!” Ella gasped and nudged him with her elbow.

“After we’ve eaten, kid!” Emma smiled indulgently, secretly pleased that her son was still a kid at heart.

Henry huffed and pretended to sulk as Ella giggled at him.

After a few more minutes, Killian called them through to eat. He had cooked up a feast – bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, breakfast potatoes and pancakes. As well as toast, coffee and juice for everyone. They chatted amiably as they ate whilst Hope entertained them all with her antics of throwing pieces of pancakes onto the floor or banging her spoon on the tray of her high chair and screeching loudly.

“By the way, I meant to ask. What is that hump in the front yard?” Henry asked as they were all finishing up with brunch.

“A hump?” Emma frowned and looked to Killian.

“Yeah, there’s like a little stump of snow. I was thinking…”

“That is the snowman Killian and I built yesterday!” Emma exclaimed, slightly offended. She knew it wasn’t the best, but it was more than a hump!

“Well, that’s a bit useless, isn’t it?” Henry laughed.

“Hey!” Killian frowned.

“Well, we were trying to be quick so Hope didn’t get cold. But I am sure she’d appreciate her big brother building her a better one. She likes to look at it.”

“Fine, I’ll see if there’s time after we’ve done presents and I’ll show you how to build a proper snow man. Now, speaking of presents, is it time to open them now?” He asked, after downing his last mouthful of juice.

Emma laughed. It seemed her little boy would never truly grow up. “Sure,” she got up to wipe Hope down from sticky pieces of pancake and squashed fruit. “Take your sister to the living room with you and we’ll join you shortly. I just want to clean up real quick.”

Henry nodded and turned to Ella, telling her to go find a seat in the living room. He unstrapped Hope from her high chair as Emma and Killian began to clean up.

“And no starting until we get there!” she added and then chuckled when she heard Henry groan.

Killian was rinsing dishes and loading the dishwasher whilst Emma cleaned up Hope’s mess from the floor and wiped her tray down. Turning to the sink to rinse out her cloth, Killian surprised her, as he pulled her in close and caught her lips in a tender, loving kiss.

“Having a good day so far?” he asked her softly, his forehead still pressed against hers.

“Perfect.” She smiled, her hand coming up to brush against his chest. “And just so you know,” she whispered, “tonight, I fully intend to unwrap you.”

Killian arched one eyebrow high on his forehead and a smirk graced his lips before he leant in to kiss her again.

“Eurgh! You two are so revolting!” Henry grumbled, having overheard them as he returned to the kitchen to find a toy that Hope had left behind and was fussing for.

Emma blushed slightly and giggled as she buried her face against Killian’s chest, who grinned quite proudly.

“You have a baby right over there!” he pointed into the living room where Ella sat with her. “Grow up!” he told them, indignantly.

“And just how do you think that baby was made, kid?” Emma laughed at the look on his face, before snatching up a towel to dry her hands and led Killian by the hand into the living room to begin exchanging gifts.

Hope loved the wrapping paper and was having a whale of a time with it – scrunching it up, waving it in the air and eating pieces if anyone took their eyes off her for a second! She wasn’t showing much interest in the items the paper had wrapped though and Emma could tell that Killian was rather disappointed that she didn’t seem to like any of the gifts he’d bought his daughter. But, she understood that Hope was just too excitable right now and rather overwhelmed. Tomorrow, when things were calmer and they gave her one new toy at a time, hopefully she would show much more interest.

Hope was a lucky girl and had been inundated with gifts from Storybrooke’s townsfolk. Granny had knitted her a little reindeer and August had gifted her with a pile of books. There was a pure silver rattle from Regina that Emma had no idea what she was supposed to do with – it was hardly practical! And then there were gifts from Ashley and Thomas, the dwarves, the fairies, Tink and Ariel. There were far too many for her to open and her parents barely knew what to do with it all, especially as they knew there would be even more later from her Grandparents.

Emma’s first gift from Killian was an oversized, soft cable knit cardigan. “I thought it would be nice for you to change into when you got in from work and you could be cosy,” he explained as she giggled to herself.

“I’m not laughing at your gift,” she promised him. “I love it and it will be perfect to wear in the evenings. But...just open this one,” she said finding one of her gifts to him from under the tree and passed it to him.

Killian gave her a sceptical look, but tore into his gift all the same. Inside was a black cable knit sweater. “I suppose great minds think alike,” he laughed.

“I’m tired of you complaining you’re cold. You need to dress more appropriately for the weather and it’s about time you owned some sweaters.” she smiled and shared a brief kiss with him.

More gifts were passed around. Emma had also bought him a leather bound journal adorned with anchors and compass’ - something he could write his Captain’s logs in or anything else he wished to write down. There was a rather expensive bottle of rum and a set of his and her keyrings that read ‘Her Captain’ and ‘His First Mate’, which she’d found too cute to be able to resist and a silly gift of a mug that read ‘this is what an awesome Captain looks like’, which made him laugh.

Her last gift to him was a pendant on a chain of a gold compass. “It reminded me of our first adventure together, when we first met,” she told him as he gazed at it, hoping that he liked it.

“Thank you, love,” he looked up at her and leant in to kiss her. They missed the face that Henry pulled. “It’s perfect. And now, perhaps you should open this one,” he found one of her gifts – a small box – from under the tree.

Emma grinned as she tore off the paper and opened the box. It was a silver necklace with a silver pendant of a pair of baby feet inside of a heart. Along the heart Hope’s name was engraved in elegant scroll font and at the bottom sat her birth stone. Emma looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “It’s beautiful!” she told him. “And it’s perfect and so personal and...I can’t believe we bought each other necklaces as well as sweaters!” she laughed through her tears of joy.

“Well, you two have always been in sync. You’re like two peas in a pod or something!” Henry laughed and then he groaned when he saw Emma smile at Killian as he took her in his arms and gave her a slightly longer kiss than the previous ones. “Okay, seriously?” Henry asked. “Can we stop with all the PDA, it’s gross!”

“Henry!” Ella swatted him with her hand. “Leave them alone, it’s sweet.”

“Not when it’s my mother!” he grumbled.

Emma and Killian were completely oblivious to anyone else in the room for a moment or two, until Hope shrieked loudly and scooped up handfuls of torn wrapping paper. They both turned to look at their little girl and chuckled at her as Emma pulled her onto her lap and kissed her chubby little cheeks.

“Thanks sis’!” Henry whispered, leaning over to give the eight month old a high five.

Emma also received from Killian a rather fancy hot chocolate maker that was called a Velvetiser, which she couldn’t wait to try it out. A thick blanket for nights curled up on the sofa together. Some new boots that she’d asked for. A bunch of handmade coupons for date nights and other things she was not about to share with her present company, thanks very much! Emma felt herself flushing as she put the coupons away and busied herself with Hope for a moment. And then a joke mug, because of course they were going to buy each other more similar things, that read ‘Being my wife is really the only gift you need. Love you.” Emma gave him a rather disgruntled look over that, but laughed all the same. She knew he was just teasing her.

They all spent a good hour or two exchanging gifts and unwrapping them and making a huge mess in the living room. One of Henry’s gift to Hope had been a smaller replica of his story book. “This is so beautiful, Henry.” Emma said in awe as she flicked through it. It was almost exactly the same as the original. “She’ll treasure this when she’s older.”

He shrugged, a little embarrassed. “I just figured my baby sister should know the stories of her family. You can read them to her until she’s old enough to read it herself.”

“Thank you,” Emma closed the book and hugged it to her chest. “We’ll read it to her often and I know she’s going to love it.” She passed the book to Killian to look at and she could tell he was impressed.

Hope was getting rather cranky by the time they were all done and each had a pile of opened gifts beside them. Killian and Henry had already started cleaning up all the torn wrapping paper. “I think I’ll go put this little lady down for a nap.” Emma stood with Hope in her arms. “She should wake then just before we’re due to head over to my parents.”

Killian nodded, gave Hope a quick kiss and then disappeared out the back door with a bag full of trash as Emma took the baby upstairs.

“So,” Henry jumped up from the sofa as soon as Emma returned, “whilst Hope naps, shall we go outside and sort out that rather pathetic excuse for a snowman that the pair of you failed at!” he grinned cheekily.

“I beg your pardon?” Emma asked a little resentfully.

“Only stating the truth,” he smirked and went to find his coat and scarf.
Emma shared a rather aghast look with Killian who merely shrugged. “He has a point, love.”

“Fine,” she huffed and went to find her own coat, with Killian hot on her heals.

“If you like,” Ella joined them, “I can stay inside and listen out for the baby?” she offered.

“That would be great. Thank you.”

“Ha!” Henry laughed, “she’s only saying that because she hates the snow!”

Ella pulled a face at him.

“Well, either way, it’s still nice of you. She shouldn’t wake, but if she does, give me a shout.” Emma told her before following her boys outside.

“Right,” Henry was already getting down to business, eyeing the yard for the most snow as he pulled his gloves on. “I suppose we can use your poor effort as the base. Then we need to roll it in the snow to make it bigger,” he explained as he pulled out the snowman’s carrot nose and pebble eyes. He began to roll it around in the deep snow then and it soon became five times the size of the original one they made. “You two can make a start on the middle and the head part,” he instructed them as he began to pack snow around his huge ball and started shaping it.

“Certainly, boss!” Emma mocked him and began to pack together a large snowball. Killian needed some help with his, having one hand and a hook made it difficult to pack the snow together. They both began to roll it around the yard then, following Henry’s instructions.

“When did he get so bossy?” Killian hissed at her.

She laughed. “What do you mean? He always has been!”

“Less chatting, more rolling!” Henry told them when he looked up for a moment. “I’ll be ready to add the middle soon.”

Killian looked at Emma and rolled his eyes as she giggled. “Your nose is all red,” he said, poking it with his gloved fingers.

“So is yours!” Emma told him and tilted towards him.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Kissing your nose to warm it up,” she smiled sweetly and placed a soft kiss on the tip of his nose.

“You’re cheeks are all pink too,” he whispered when she pulled back and he kissed both of her cheeks. “And I’m pretty sure my lips are cold, really cold,” he smirked.

“And what do you want me to do about that?” Emma asked.

“Well, your lips felt nice and warm, so...”

“You just want me to kiss you,” she said, trying to raise an eyebrow the way he did and failing. She giggled loudly then as he took her in his arms and thoroughly kissed her. Instantly she was toasty warm, from the tips of her toes to the tops of her ears as she curled her hands around him, both of them bulky in winter jackets as his warm lips moved expertly with hers.

“Where’s that middle?” Henry asked then. “I’m ready for it now, so...oh for heavens sake!” he exclaimed loudly when he turned and found his Mother and Step-father entwined in yet another kiss. “Oi! Put each other down!” he called.

They broke apart sharply, rather startled by the sudden interruption. Emma took a step back, lost her footing and slipped, falling on her back in the snow. For a moment she was rather shocked as she lay there in the cold, wet snow, but then she laughed at herself as Killian joined in once he knew she was okay. He offered her his hand to help her up. Instead she yanked on his hand so that he lost his balance and pulled him down on top of her in the snow, giggling and grinning widely.

“You meant to do that!” he said, once he got over the surprise.

“Perhaps,” she winked as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Aren’t you cold?” he asked.

“I was hoping you could warm me up,” she whispered and tilted her head towards him, tugging him down to meet his lips in a searing kiss. She had no idea why she was feeling so affectionate today, even though the pair of them often were in their own home, but she wasn’t going to complain about it. Maybe it was the emotions of the season, the magic of the day or just because she was aware how loved she was by her husband.

“Seriously?” Henry turned around and caught them. “I give up! You two are worse than teenagers,” he complained and carried on building the snowman for his baby sister by himself.

Emma and Killian broke apart and chuckled together before they finally got to their feet. A short time later and Henry had the snowman done, with very little help from his parents. He even ran inside to find his old scarf that he used to wear frequently and wrapped it around the snowman’s neck.

“What do you think?” he asked, standing back to admire his work.

Emma and Killian stood arm in arm. “Brilliant,” he exclaimed. “Hope will love it!”

Henry seemed satisfied with that and as it had began to snow heavily again, they finally all trooped back inside and headed for the warmth of the log fire. Emma was pleased for a good excuse to try out one of her Christmas presents and made them all hot chocolate to warm them up, along with some of the cookies they had made the day before, whilst they sat around the fire, chatting and sharing stories with Ella.

The living room was filled with laughter as Henry finished telling some elaborate story during the time he spent in the realm where he met Ella when Emma suddenly noticed the time. “Oh,” she nudged Killian rather sharply, “we should be getting ready to head to my parents. I want to change first.” Emma had dressed very casually this morning, but she knew her Mom would expect her to dress up a little.

“Right,” Killian got up as Emma got to her feet. “I’ll come and change too. Do you think Hope is going to wake up in time?” he asked her.

“I can go and wake her, if you want?” Henry offered.

Killian laughed. “No, mate. You don’t want to do that. Takes after her Mum, Hope does, she’s a right cranky arse if she’s woken!”

“Oi!” Emma swatted the back of her hand against his chest and scowled at him. “We’ll be back shortly,” she told her son and his girlfriend as she headed upstairs, Killian pouting as he rubbed his chest whilst following her.

Upstairs in their room, Emma stripped off her comfy yoga pants and sweater and went to rummage in the closet for a pair of jeans and a pretty top – that was about as fancy as she was getting and was most certainly not wearing a dress in this weather!

Killian crept up behind her as she stood in just her underwear, deliberating her choices of clothing, His hand wrapped around her bare waist as he gently kissed her shoulder. It seemed she wasn’t the only one feeling a little extra affectionate today, which was flattering, but hardly the time. “We don’t have time for that!” she hissed and nudged him back with her hip. “Besides, Henry is right down stairs!”

“Aye,” he nodded. “He also lived here for four years after we were married and he survived,” he pointed out.

“He also spent a lot of time at Regina’s!” she reminded him, pulling a floral printed top from it’s hanger.

Killian huffed as he turned to find a clean shirt of his own, their closet neatly sorted into his and hers sections. “So does that mean that I can’t kiss my wife?” he asked as she set her clothes down on the bed and he followed her out of the closet.

“Of course not. But, I know you...us, if we start fooling around in here, we’ll easily get carried away and then he’ll catch us or something and it will all just be embarrassing,” she said as she sat down on the bed to pull her jeans on.

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m ever going to have sex again!” he grumbled, pulling his shirt off.

“Don’t be so dramatic!” she rolled her eyes and pulled her blouse over her head before moving to sit at the dressing table to brush her hair. “We had sex just, erm...” She tried to think, distracted by the view of him topless in the mirror.

“Last week,” he remembered. “An entire week ago. There was a time we made love almost every day, sometimes more than once a day and now...” he heaved a great sigh.

“Yes, well we had a baby, priorities change when you’re a parent to an infant, their needs come first.”

“I know and I’m not saying that I regret having Hope at all, she’s one of the two greatest blessings in my life and I wouldn’t trade her for anything. I would just very much like to have sex with my wife more often.”

“Tonight,” she promised him as she turned to face him. “I promise. Hope will be exhausted after her busy day and should sleep through for us. So, tonight the parents can have some fun. I miss being intimate with you too,” she revealed.

“Good,” he smiled.

“Now,” she began as she set down her brush, picked up something from the dressing table and made her way towards him. “Oh, I’m an idiot, I was about to ask you to help me put this on,” she held up the chain he’d bought her for Christmas, “but...well that will probably be difficult for you.”

“I’m sorry, love. You know I’d help if I could. I can hold your hair out of the way?” he offered.

“Thank you,” she smiled and turned her back to him. “And I know you’d help me do anything.”

“You do like it, don’t you?” he asked, watching as she fastened it around her neck herself and then let go of her hair

“Of course I do,” she turned to face him. “It’s so beautiful and really personal,” she touched the pendant where it rested against her skin. “And not at all cheesy, unlike those heart pendants with our names entwined or something,” she chuckled.

“Good to know,” he nodded, “because I did briefly consider those.” he admitted. “Until I saw that one and knew it was perfect.”

“Well, you made a good choice. How about the one I got you? Do you like it?” she asked a little uncertainly. “It’s fine if you don’t, I can probably return it and...”

“Emma,” he grabbed her hand to stop her rambling and tugged her towards him. “I think it’s brilliant and what I love most about it is that it’s like a little secret between us. Most people are going to assume it’s because of my Naval background or being a pirate, but we know it represents when we met. Even if I wasn’t exactly gracious at the time, I...”

“You were a huge ass!” she interrupted him.

He gave her a rather contrite smile. “Even still, I am glad we met. Although I had no idea at the time you would completely turn my life around.”

“And you mine,” she added and placed a gentle kiss against his lips.

“But, would you mind very much if I took it from the chain and added it to this one?” He held up the single chain with his skull and dagger charms that he always wore.

“No,” she shook her head. “It will probably look better like that anyway,” she smiled and lay her head against his chest. “And thank you for all the rest of my gifts, even though there is no need to spoil me like that.”

“Spoil you? You gave me just as much, if not more gifts!” he scoffed.

She gave a little snort of laughter and looked up at him again. “I love you,” she told him earnestly.

“I love you too,” he replied with a tender smile and stole a short kiss.

Being unable to resist taking advantage of a quiet moment, they began to give in to their desires as the kissing intensified and they fell onto the bed together. Their arms were around one another as they kissed and kissed, his body nestled comfortable against hers. Emma let her head fall back as the kisses strayed from her lips and down her neck, his hand deftly unbuttoning the blouse she had just put on. His warm mouth continued marking it’s way along her skin, around the mound of her breast. Her knee was between his thighs and his hand had popped open the button and was just slipping beneath the waistband of her jeans when there was a knock at the door.

“You’d better both be dressed in there!” Came Henry’s voice through the door. “Because we don’t have time for any funny business! And if either of you are interested, Hope is awake,” he added.

Killian groaned and dropped his head beside her on the bed. “Our daughter has impeccable timing,” he grumbled, both of them now aware of her cries.

“Tonight,” Emma promised him again with a kiss. “We’ll have tonight,” she repeated as she wiggled out from beneath him. “Can you grab Hope for me and I’ll be there in just a moment!” Emma called back to Henry.

“Okay,” he called back and they heard his footsteps head across the hall.

Emma clambered from the bed and buttoned her blouse and jeans back up and then smoothed her hair down before she darted into the bathroom to check her appearance in the mirror, not wanting anything to give them away.

“I’ll go grab our little cygnet,” Killian told her, poking his head around the bathroom door.

“Okay,” she nodded, pleased she had time to apply a little make up and hopefully hide the red mark now appearing on her neck – damn pirate!

Emma returned downstairs a few minutes later where she received a knowing look from her son. “What?” she asked him.

“I don’t even want to know,” he shook his head.

“Good, because I am not telling you,” she replied. She was not about to apologise to anyone, least of all her son, for making out with her husband in her own home. Instead she went to sort out the gifts to take over to her parents.

Killian came downstairs with a much happier baby than the one they had put down for a nap. He’d also packed her diaper bag and had it slung over his shoulder – he was proving to be an amazing, responsible and reliable father.

Emma looked up from her position knelt at the tree as she sorted piles of present for her parents and little brother. “Hey you,” she got up and took Hope from Killian. “My, don’t you look adorable?” She held the baby under her armpits at arms length as she took in her outfit that was unfamiliar to her. Her dad had dressed her in a white, velour onesie, that had a ballerina style red skirt attached and on the front it read ‘I ♥ Santa’. “Another new outfit?” she asked her husband.

He shrugged sheepishly. “How could I resist that for Christmas day?”

She smiled and kissed Hope’s cheeks, giving her a big cuddle. “Well, I can’t be annoyed since she’s the picture of cuteness in it.” She gave her husband’s cheek a kiss too.

“Are we going yet?” Henry asked, sounding frustrated as he grabbed his bag of presents for his Grandparents.

“Right. Yes, we’re ready.” She handed Hope back to Killian and then grabbed her new red cardigan and pulled it on, before going to find their coats.

“You’re wearing your new sweater?” Killian looked up and noticed as he put Hope’s coat on and then his own. He seemed rather touched and impressed she was wearing it. Buying clothes for Emma was no easy feat.

“Yes,” she told him, pulling her own coat on. “It’s so soft and warm, I want to be cosy at Mom and Dad’s.” she smiled and went to grab the pile of presents. “You got the baby?” she checked.

“Aye,” he answered her, slinging her bag over his shoulder again before scooping Hope up from the sofa.

“Then we’re ready to go,” she announced and they all trailed out of the door.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four

“So, I was wondering,” Emma began as they drove over to her parents house. Henry and Ella were following in their own car. “Those coupons you gave me,” she gave him a little smirk. She’d had chance to read more of them now and as well as date nights, they included personal favours like foot rubs and massages as well as more intimate favours and positions she’d prefer. “Can I cash them in at any time?” she finally asked.

“Aye,” he replied, grinning to himself.

“Good,” she nodded. “Because I could really do with one of your amazing massages tonight. I’ve...”

“Hold on,” he interrupted her. “I thought you promised me,” he paused as his eyes flicked to the back seat where Hope was strapped into her baby seat. “I thought you said we would, you know, tonight?”

Emma laughed and checked the rear view mirror where she could see the baby in the mirror attached opposite her car seat. She was perfectly happy, babbling away to herself and chewing on her skirt. “You can say the word sex in front of her you know, she has no idea what we’re discussing!” she chuckled again, yet found him endearing all the same. “And yes, we will. I mean, when have you ever known us to end things with just a massage? I’ve just been so tense the last couple of weeks with this Grinch case and...I need your hand!” she turned to smile as they paused at the intersection.

“Fine,” he gave in. “So long as that’s not the only part of me you need tonight.”

“Oh, I have plans to make good use of every last inch of you!” she winked and continued on their way.

Snow came hurrying out to meet them when they pulled up at their farm, slowly followed by David. “It’s about time you got here!” she said as soon as Emma opened the car door.

“What?” she glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “You said to come over at about three, it’s only 20 past, that is about three!” she sighed and climbed out, pushing her seat back to reach in and unstrap Hope from the car seat.

“There’s my sweet little Grandbaby,” Snow cooed, taking Hope from Emma’s arms the moment she stepped from the car.

“Okay then...” she muttered, rather taken aback as her Mom practically ignored her and instead prattled away to the baby, already heading inside with her. Shaking her head, Emma instead turned to help Killian bring all the gifts and the diaper bag in.

“Where’s Hope?” he asked.

“Mom stole her!” she rolled her eyes. Of course it was wonderful that the family doted on little Hope so much and that they all loved her, but sometimes she wanted to remind people just who’s child she actually was.

“Better get used to it,” David said, holding out his had to take some of the packages. “She’s been waiting all day to get her hands on the baby,” he chuckled as they all trooped into the house.

“EMMA!” Neal yelled, racing towards her. “Yay! More presents!” he threw a fist in the air and had a wide grin on his face.

“Merry Christmas to you too buddy!” Emma laughed.

“What did you get me, what did you get me?” he asked, dancing around them and trying to find any presents with his name on them.

“Hey, calm down and wait your turn, young man!” David told him.

“Eurgh!” he groaned and returned to the new toys already scattered all over the rug in front of the fire.

“Well, someone is a little high on sugar!” Emma commented, setting the gifts down.

David heaved a huge sigh. “Tell me about it,” he muttered.

“What time did the lad have you up this morning?” Killian asked, amused.

“Half past five!” Snow answered from the sofa where she was removing Hope’s coat and giving her granddaughter cuddles.

“What time did your little one wake you?” David asked.

“Not until about half past eight, wasn’t it love?” Killian asked Emma, whilst giving David a smug smile.

“Yeah, she slept in a little this morning.”

“Huh!” David grunted.

“Tough break, mate!” Killian laughed and slapped his arm.

“Yeah, give it a couple of years and you’ll be woken at the crack of dawn to see if Santa has been too!” David grumbled.

“I’m looking forward to it, mate.” Killian smiled fondly at his daughter where she sat with her Grandma.

“Oh, look,” Snow smiled. “You two are standing under the mistletoe.”

“They really don’t need any encouragement, Grandma! They haven’t stopped all morning!” Henry complained as he and Ella stepped into the house.

David pulled a face as Killian leant over and shared a short, sweet kiss with Emma.

“Oh stop it, David!” Snow swatted him. “They’re cute, besides you put the damn stuff up there. Now, dinner won’t be ready for a little while yet, but can we get you a drink?” she asked.

“Can I be of any help Mrs, erm...Charming?” Ella asked, unsure of what to call her.

Snow smiled. “Oh, no sweetheart, it’s all in hand. But thank you. Just take a seat and David will get you a drink.”

“Me? You’re the one who offered!”

“And I’ve been busy in the kitchen all morning whilst you had a nap!” she threw back, much to everyone's amusement.

They spent an enjoyable hour or so chatting, passing the baby around and entertaining her, playing with Neal and his new toys and opening presents, at Neal’s insistence. Snow had wanted to wait until after they had eaten.

“We didn’t really know what to get the pair of you,” Snow began as she handed an envelope to Emma. “So, this is for you both, it’s not an actual physical gift, but I think you will like it,” she smiled and sat down to watch them open it.

Emma read over the note in the envelope and then looked up at her parents. “Wait a minute? You’re giving us babysitting?”

“Yes,” she nodded with a happy grin on her face. “Once a month, we promise to take Hope for the night so you two can have some time to yourselves. Go out to dinner, have a quiet night in, whatever you desire.”

Killian smirked at that, until he caught David’s glare. It was highly possible that her father told himself that Hope was the product of magic rather than sex between his daughter and his best mate!

“Thanks Mom, Dad. That’s really generous of you. I’m sure Killian and I will love it.”

“Aye love,” he kissed her cheek as she passed him the note to read.

“Well, heaven knows I would have loved someone to take Neal for a few hours when he was Hope’s age. Although I know our situations were very different.”

“Hmm, you mean no trips to the Underworld or other realms and no Snow beasts, Evil Queen’s or Black Fairy’s threatening us right now?” Emma mused.

Everyone laughed and it felt good to be able to laugh about all of that now, given that it had been such a traumatic time. Snow went to the kitchen to check on dinner after that and half an hour later they were all sitting down to eat.

The meal was delicious. Snow had prepared roast turkey and all of the traditional Christmas fixings to go with it – the dining table was positively heaving with the abundance of rich food. Conversation flowed as easily as the wine, although as Emma knew she’d have to drive home later, she made sure only to have the one glass. The children kept them entertained and seemed to tuck in just as hungrily as the adults.

It was a beautiful image of the quintessential family Christmas, surrounded by those you love most and something neither Emma or Killian thought they would ever have. The pair of them both glanced around the table, before sharing a look with each other as she squeezed his knee under the table – they both knew what each other was thinking, how incredibly blessed they were.
They were just finishing up eating and Neal was telling some daft joke he had obviously picked up from school. “Hey, Dad…have you ever been to a duck do?” he asked.

“What’s a duck do?” David frowned. Emma was trying to hide her smirk, already guessing the punchline.

“Quack quack!” he replied and fell about laughing.

Almost everyone else chuckled too, mostly at the look on David’s face as he still didn’t get it. And then Emma’s phone rang. Internally she groaned - she’d instructed her deputies to only call her if it was a real emergency and hoped it was nothing important. Pulling the phone from her pocket she sighed and got up from the table where Snow was trying to explain the joke to David. “Sorry,” she told everyone, “I’d better take this,” she added as she headed into the kitchen, glaring at August’s name on the caller ID. “This had better be important!” she told him when she answered.

“Hey Emma, Merry Christmas!”

“Yeah, Merry Christmas. What is it?”

“Right. I am really sorry for interrupting your day and your time off, but the thing is...I think I just solved the Grinch case,” he explained.

“You have? Do you have the suspect in custody?” she asked.

“I’m pretty sure I know who they are, I’m with them now. But...I really think this is something you need to see. Can you come over?”

“What? Now? But we’ve only just finished dinner, haven’t even had dessert yet. Can’t you handle this?”

“Well, sure, I can bring them in. They seem quite amenable. But, I still think you need to see this for yourself. And if you don’t come now, well...it will be gone tomorrow.”

Emma frowned and pulled the phone away from her ear to glare at it. “Fine, where are you?” she asked and listened as he gave her an address. “Wait? You’re not in Storybrooke?”

“No. It’s a town about an hour away. I’ll text you the directions when I hang up. So, can you come?”

Emma sighed, her sense of duty fighting with her love for her family. “I’ll have to talk to my family first. This is their day too.”

“Okay, fair enough. I’ll text the info anyway and just let me know if you’re able to get out here.”

“Yeah, fine. Speak to you soon,” she said, looking up as Killian came through the door and she ended the call.

“Everything all right love?” he asked, coming to her side and rubbing her shoulder.

“Yeah, I don’t know. August thinks he’s solved the Grinch case. He wants me to come out there and oversee things or something. But, I should talk to you all about that first,” She gave him a smile, pocketed her phone and took his hand as she headed back to the dining room.
“Is something wrong?” Snow asked, immediately picking up on Emma’s mood.

“Maybe, I don’t know. That was August on the phone,” she began as she took her seat again and then relayed everything that he had told her. “He is quite insistent that I should drive out there and see for myself whatever is going on, but he didn’t say much more than that.” She looked around the table at everyone, waiting for their reaction.

“He wants you to go out there right now?” David asked, checking he had the facts straight.

“Yes,” Emma nodded.

“But we’re in the middle of dinner, we haven’t even had dessert yet!” Snow exclaimed.

“Yeah, I want ice cream!” Neal shouted and banged his spoon on the table. Hope shrieked and copied him before David took the spoon from Neal – he was old enough to know better!

“I know, which is why I am discussing it with all of you before I make any decision on what to do. I don’t want to spoil your day because of work.”

“What do you want to do, love?” Killian asked her, throwing his arm around the back of her chair.

She smiled gratefully at him. He was the only one who seemed most concerned with what she needed to do. “I think I need to go. I can’t explain why, but my gut is telling me I should be there.”

“Well, you know that I have learnt never to doubt your gut. So, I’ll come with you.”

“Thank you,” she reached for his hand.

“Why don’t we all go?” Henry suggested.

“But, dinner...” Snow wailed.

“We can have dessert later, honey,” David told her softly. “I mean, we could probably all use a break after that sumptuous meal anyway. We’ll enjoy it more when we’re not so full.”

“All right, fine. I guess we’re all going then.” She gave in.

“Yay! I get to go on a Christmas Day quest!” Neal jumped down from the table and raced off somewhere. He returned with the plastic swords that he still played with occasionally. “I might need to slay a dragon!” he said, slashing his sword expertly.

“That you may, son.” David chuckled proudly and patted him on the head. Everyone began to get ready to leave then as Emma texted August back.

‘On our way, be there in just over an hour. This had better be good!’

****

“So...” Killian began as they were well on their way to the address August had sent through. Emma was concentrating on the road since snow was falling heavily and impairing her vision. “That gift your parents gave us, the babysitting, think we can use one of them tonight?” he wondered.

She shot him a quick look. “Are you honestly suggesting that we banish daughter from the house on Christmas day?”

“I would never suggest such a thing!” he looked at her rather horrified she’d even think that. “We’re not banishing her, love. She’d simply be spending the night with her Grandparents.”

“On Christmas night though? No. I want her at home with us.” Emma glanced quickly in the rear view mirror where she could barely see her daughter in the darkness of the car, but Hope seemed perfectly content enough playing with and chewing on the new toy baby smart phone that her big brother had given her.

“Yeah, I know. You’re right. I just thought you might like some peace tonight, after today and whatever we’re about to face.” He tried to insist that was his only reason.

“Don’t give me that, buddy,” she laughed. “I know what this is about, your incorrigible! But don’t worry, I intend to keep my promise. Hope will sleep tonight, I know she will – she’s had a hectic day. And we’ll get to enjoy some time alone. Besides, I still want that massage!”

“Then let’s hope that whatever we’re driving into is over with quickly!” he sighed.

Emma thoroughly agreed with him. She put the radio on then and they enjoyed some festive music on their drive, wondering all the time why the address August had given her seemed vaguely familiar. Thankfully the snow was slowing by the time they pulled up at the address.

“What the hell?” Emma hissed to herself as she switched the ignition off and just stared out of the windscreen.

“Swan?” Killian asked after a moment of silence from her.

Emma turned to him inhaling deeply. “This is a children’s home,” she told him. “The very same children’s home that August and I were taken to when we first arrived in this realm,” she explained. “What the hell is he playing at?” she muttered to herself.

She didn’t have much time to contemplate why August had brought her out here, because he was suddenly there, knocking on the car window, which made them all jump and Hope burst into tears. Killian turned in his seat to comfort her as Emma wound the window down.

“Hey, glad you could make it,” he smiled. “Oops, sorry, did I scare her?” he asked, hearing the baby’s cries from the back seat.

“August? What the hell is this?” she demanded.

“Right, I thought you’d remember this place.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked up at the building.

“I don’t remember it from being here, I was a newborn at the time. But, I tracked it down and came to visit when I was trying to find out who I was and anything about my family,” she answered. “Are you ready to tell me what the hell is going on?”

“You’d probably best come inside,” he said, taking a step back from the car.

Emma huffed, glanced at Killian, who nodded – knowing exactly what she was asking of him, for him to grab the baby before she wound her window back up and stepped from the car. The rest of her family were joining her as she followed August up the path and into the house.

“What made you come out here?” she wondered. If he had found the Grinch thieves out here, how on earth had he known where to look?

“I come back here every Christmas. I bring the kids some toys and treats. I just didn’t expect to run into this when I paid them a visit this year.”

“Wait a minute...” she paused as they headed into a large hall; noisy and busy with excitable kids running everywhere. Christmas music was playing and an old man dressed as Santa sat in the corner where a long line of the younger kids were waiting to talk to him. “Aren’t those Leroy’s snowmen that were stolen?” she asked. And before she had an answer she was turning around, looking everywhere. “And they’re Granny’s tree’s – I’d recognise those hideous baubles anywhere! And...everything that was taken is here?” she asked August.

He nodded. “I assume so.”

“And the toys that Santa is giving out?” she asked, watching the old man reach into a red velvet sack and give something to one of the children.

“Are those that were taken from the Nun’s toy drive, yes,” he answered.

Emma gave a snort of indignation. “So, where are the culprits?” she asked, looking around. And then spotted two familiar faces. “No!” she whispered.

“Everything all right, love?” Killian asked finally joining them with a now calm baby.

“It’s about to be,” she said and headed towards the back wall where she had spotted two people she knew. People who had been one of her first successful happy endings and two people she would never have suspected. “Ava? Nicholas? Care to tell me what’s going on here?” she asked the two youngsters, who now appeared to be around Henry’s age, even if they were technically much older. She folded her arms across her chest as she waited for an answer.

The pair of them grimaced, still as close as they had been when she’d managed to track down their father and thus prevent them from being sent to a children’s home, just like this one. “A Christmas party?” Nicholas asked, cheekily.

Emma gave him a look, one most people knew well, that she wasn’t in the mood for any bullshit.

“Ava? Nick?” Henry recognised them too. “What are you doing here?”

“Getting busted, I think.” Ava answered with her head bowed. Her attitude did seem genuinely sorry. “Are you going to arrest us, Sheriff?” she asked.

Emma looked around at her family who were all watching here expectantly. Right now she didn’t know what to do. “Why don’t we have a chat first?” she suggested, ushering them from the hall to somewhere it was a little quieter. August led them to an empty room down the hall and once inside everyone took a seat. “Okay, firstly, was it the two of you who have been stealing the Christmas decorations and everything from town?”

The siblings looked at one another and then nodded. “Yes,” they confessed.

Emma visually deflated, not wanting it to be them. They were good kids, currently attending the college in town and seemed happy living with their dad. So, why would they do this? “Okay, why?” she asked. “What on earth would compel you to steal Christmas ornaments and toys for kids?”

“Because of the kids here!” Nick looked up at her. “This was one of the places that we were threatened with being sent to, back before you found our father, before the curse was broken. We went to see it a few years back and we felt sorry for the kids, so we started volunteering a bit. But when we found out that the home had some major financial problems this year and that the kids living here weren’t going to get any kind of Christmas at all, we wanted to do something.” He told them in one long breath.

“We just wanted to help,” Ava sobbed.

Emma closed her eyes and heaved a great sigh. Having grown up an orphan herself and knowing what it was to be alone for Christmas with nothing to celebrate, she couldn’t find it in herself to be too mad with them – their intentions had been good, even if their actions hadn’t.

“Daddy! Dad!” Neal was whispering loudly and pulling on his father’s jacket sleeve. “DAD!” he finally shouted to get his attention. “Can I go and see Santa?” he asked when David finally looked at him.

Snow smiled. “Why don’t I take both children back to the party?” she suggested, noting that Hope was a little restless too and Killian was doing everything to keep her quiet. She plucked Hope from her father’s arms and took Neal by the hand.

“Thanks Mom,” Emma gave her a smile. “Now, why didn’t you speak to someone about this?” she asked the two youngsters. “Talked to me?” she asked. “We might have been able to help out a bit, raised some funds in town or something.”

“What’s the point? Everyone was too busy helping out the kids and that in our town, why would they help kids in another town too? Most people in Storybrooke still don’t cross the town line, even though it’s perfectly safe to do so now.”

“Well, I would have. I came here as a baby, when I first came to this realm. This was my first home here...and for August,” she looked up at him and he held a guilty look on his face. They both knew how he’d ran off with some other kids and left her alone – but he’d only been a young boy himself.

“We didn’t know,” Nick replied. “You were here?”

“Yes,” she nodded and shared a look with her Dad, he looked as though he wanted to hug his daughter, as both of her parents did every time they were reminded of just how much they’d missed of her life.

“What’s going to happen to us?” Ava asked, looking absolutely terrified.

“Look, I know why you did what you did, you just wanted to make the kids happy. But in stealing stuff and how you went about it, you made the residents of your own town miserable and rather irate – people took their decorations down because they were afraid they would be stolen, you broke their Christmas spirit. There were probably some very sad kids this morning who didn’t receive the toys that were donated for them. Not to mention the huge headache you gave me in dealing with all this and the harassment I got from the townsfolk or the long hours I spent working on it, having to spend more time away from my family.”

“We’re sorry, we didn’t think. It was rather stupid of us.” Nick finally realised.

“Are we going to go to jail?” Ava began to cry again.

Emma looked around at everyone, wondering how they would react to the idea she’d just had. She shared a look with Killian, who gave her an encouraging smile – she knew he would be on her side no matter what decision she made now. “No,” she finally answered. “No one is arresting anyone today. But, there will be punishment. First thing in the morning, before the children are out of bed, I want you both back here to collect everything that you took from Storybrooke, apart from the toys, I’m not taking those away from the children. Then I want you to return everything to each person you stole from, with sincere apologies. And, after the Christmas break, I want the both of you to come in to the station in your spare time. You can do some community service. I have a huge store room full of old files that need sorting.”

“I’d rather take the jail time,” Henry whispered to Ella.

Emma ignored him. “You can work there, sorting files and tidying up the place for as long as it takes to raise enough money to cover the cost of all the toys you took and to buy the children here their own Christmas tree and decorations. Got it?”

“Yes Sheriff,” they both replied, contritely.

“Right, well, I trust that you can get them back to town?” Emma asked August.

“Of course,” he nodded. “And I’ll come out here with them in the morning to collect everything. Although I’m not sure how we’ll get some of the bigger items back,” he mused.

“You can borrow my truck,” David answered.

“Great. Thanks.”

“Well, if that is everything, then I think it’s time we collected our daughter and try to salvage what is left of our Christmas.” Emma held her hand out to Killian, who took it and together they left the room.

“Emma, wait!” August raced after them. “I am sorry for interrupting your day. I hope I didn’t ruin things. I just, well I thought you should see what was going on.”

“It’s fine,” she smiled graciously. “You were right, I needed to see it for myself, which made my decision easier. And I think Neal and Hope have enjoyed seeing Santa,” she smiled as she spotted Snow heading towards them with both children.

“Emma, you have to see the most adorable photos I got of Hope with Santa. She loved him!” she enthused as she let go of Neal’s hand and rummaged for her phone to show her the photos.

“I’ll leave you to it,” August patted her shoulder and left them to go and speak to the director.

Snow showed everyone the photos of the children with Santa – she was right, they were adorable! After she had sent copies to everyone’s own phones, the family filtered out of the home, heading back to their cars to continue with their own Christmas celebrations.

“That was very generous of you, love. What you did for those siblings,” he told her as she strapped Hope into her car seat, who was protesting now and not wanting to sit still.

“Well, it’s Christmas. How can I arrest kids on Christmas day? Besides, I know what they did was wrong, but their hearts were in the right place. They were just a bit stupid about it.”

“There’s my soft hearted Swan,” he smiled, taking her into his arms now that she had Hope safely in the car.

“Me? I think you have me confused with someone else, Mr!” she laughed.

“Nope, I have exactly the right woman. The only thing is, there’s only me who really gets to see this softer, vulnerable side of you, a part of you I happen to love just as much as the rest of you.”

Emma looked up and smiled at him. “And I love you too,” she told him, pressing her lips against his for a sweet kiss.

He wrapped his arms around her, almost picking her up off the floor as he deepened things slightly. “Come on,” he breathed harshly as they parted, foreheads pressed together. “Let’s get back to your parents, have dessert and then make our excuses to leave. I have a feeling our daughter will be ready for bed soon,” he winked.

“One track mind,” she laughed and kissed him again, before parting to climb into the car.

“Miss, Miss! Wait!” The old man dressed as Santa came limping out of the building. “You forgot something,” he told her.

“What? But I didn’t have anything...” She looked around, feeling confused as she climbed back out of the car again. Besides themselves, the only thing they had taken inside was Hope’s diaper bag and that was on the back seat. “What did I forget?” she asked him, thinking him perhaps easily confused.

“This,” he smiled, handing her the huge red, velvet bag she had seen him with earlier.

“That’s not mine,” she told him.

“No, it’s not. But, the gifts inside are for the children in your town. I heard some of them didn’t receive a gift today and I think every child deserves a gift of some kind on Christmas day, don’t you?” he asked.

“Well, yes. But, I can’t take those. They’re for the children here now.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Every child here has been given a gift. These are left over and I want them to go to your town.”

“Right, well in that case, thank you.” Emma was a little hesitant as she took the bag from him, but gave him a smile all the same.

“You’re very welcome my dear. And I must say, it is delightful to see you and your husband on the nice list these days.” he added, curiously.

Emma frowned and then opened the sack to have a look how many toys were left. Hopefully there would be enough to go around. And then she looked closer when she noticed that the children’s details were already attached to each gift. Names of children and their address’ that she recognised from town. She knew that wasn’t something the Nun’s had done before they were stolen.

“Wait a minute, how did you...” she faded off as she looked up and the old guy had completely vanished. She glanced up and down the street and back towards the home, but he was nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t have moved that quickly, not considering how he’d been limping before.

“Emma?” Killian asked, opening his car door. “What is it?”

“I...I don’t know,” she replied in a daze as she was still looking for the old man, but there was no trace of him.

“What is that?” he asked, nodding to the sack she held.

“That old guy, the one dressed as Santa. He gave me all these toys, said they were for the children in our town. But they have all our kids names and address’ on them. How would he know that? And, now he’s just disappeared. I don’t...”

Killian gave her a funny look, thinking perhaps the stress of the last couple of weeks was getting to her and she was overtired. “Well, perhaps we had best head home now, love. Everyone else already left,” he pointed out.

“Right,” she shook her head and went to put the toys in the trunk of her car. She’d drop them off at the convent and the nuns could sort them out.

Climbing back into the car again, she gave Killian a convincing smile and started the car. Just as she was pulling away from the curb, she saw the old man again. He winked at her and then, with a nod of his head, he once again disappeared.

Emma stopped the car abruptly and stared. What the hell! It couldn’t be, could it? No, that was ridiculous. Every adult knew that Santa Claus wasn’t real.

Or was he?

Chapter Text

Epilogue

“Well,” Killian started as they climbed the steps to their front door, “all in all, I would say that was a successful Christmas day,” he finished as Emma unlocked the door and held it open for him to walk inside with Hope in his arms.

“Even with the detour to the children’s home?” Emma asked, closing the door behind them and switching the lights on.

“Aye. You must be glad to have the case solved. And Hope and Neal enjoyed seeing Santa. So, alls well that ends well,” he decided.

“I suppose so,” she muttered, kicking off her shoes and hanging their jackets up. “So, do you want to make Hope’s bottle or take her up to get her changed for bed?”

Killian wrinkled his nose then and handed the baby over to Emma. “I’ll do the bottle,” he decided, heading for the kitchen.

Emma grimaced, catching the scent of what had made him wrinkle his nose. “You only said that because she’s just pooped! You git!” she grumbled.

Killian laughed as he filled the kettle with water for her bottle. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, love.”

Emma shook her head and carried the stinky baby upstairs to get her ready for bed. After returning from the children’s home, they had spent another couple of hours with her parents, enjoying the delayed dessert and a couple of drinks as they played some lively games together. But when it became evident that Hope was getting cranky and ready for bed, they made their excuses and headed home, stopping at the convent on the way to drop off the bag of toys that was still mystifying Emma. The Nun’s had been delighted with the unexpected gift and promised to deliver them to each recipient in the morning, telling the kids that Santa had accidentally delivered them to the wrong address.

By the time Killian came to find his girls in the nursery with Hope’s bottle, Emma had a now sweet smelling and clean baby dressed in her reindeer print onesie snuggled in her arms. It wouldn’t be long until she would be asleep after her hectic and excitable day and was pretty much zonked as they lay her in her crib. Her parents kissed her goodnight as she snuggled down in her sleeping bag and then taking each other’s hand, they walked across the hall to their room.

“So, what are we going to do now?” he asked, eyeing her alluringly as he closed the door with his backside.

“Well, I know what I’m going to do,” she smiled and let go of his hand. She began to undress then, hanging up her new sweater in the closet and tossing her jeans and top in the laundry hamper.

Killian sat on their bed, watching her with a hint of disappointment. “You know I prefer to unwrap my own gifts, love.” He winked.

Emma laughed and then headed for their bathroom, grabbing something from the dresser on her way.

“Wait, what are you going to do?” he asked, worried now that they were not thinking the same thing.

“I’m going to take a bath,” she replied. “Mom bought me some of that expensive bubble bath that I love and I thought a nice, relaxing soak in the tub sounded a good way to end Christmas day,” she explained further as she turned the taps on and then spun around to the mirror to tie up her hair as the water ran.

“I thought we had other plans on how to end our day?” he pouted as he stepped behind her, his hand on her hip as he nuzzled her neck.

Emma smiled at his reflection in the mirror – there was no denying that they looked good together. Nudging him away with her backside, she slipped from his embrace and went to check on the tub, adding a good helping of bath bubbles to the warm water. “I never said you couldn’t join me.” She threw the suggestion over her shoulder, watching his expression change from one of sulkiness, to one of utter delight.

“Well, why didn’t you say so!” He began to undress and remove the brace for his hook.

Within minutes they were together in the hot water. The tub was full of luxurious, scented bubbles and the bathroom was full of steam as they cuddled together, her back against his chest where she rested between his legs and lay back against him. His hand was currently massaging her shoulders and the back of her neck, releasing all the knots and tension that she had, just as he had promised.

“Can I ask you something that might sound silly?” she asked.

“What’s that, love?” He brushed her hair out of his face and leant his chin on her shoulder.

“Do you believe in Santa?”

“Huh? Santa?” he asked, sounding a little bewildered. He obviously hadn’t been expecting that. “Like, Santa Claus, the big jolly man who supposedly delivers all the presents?”

“Yes, do you believe in him?” she repeated.

“Well,” he mused. “I had never even heard of him until my first Christmas in this realm. So I suppose I neither believe nor disbelieve. Why do you ask?”

Emma exhaled as she considered how to word what she wanted to share with him. “It’s just, earlier when we were at the home, when the old guy dressed as Santa gave me all those gifts. Well, he vanished right in front of me, twice. One minute he was there talking to me, the next he was gone. And he did it again on the street, he winked at me and then was just...gone. And...I just wondered.”

“If he was real?” he asked dubiously.

“Don’t say it like that, as though you think I am going crazy. I never knew dragons or mermaids or even Captain Hook was real until I came here. And I’m bloody married to the latter!” she scoffed.

“Then, I suppose anything is possible.” She felt him shrug behind her and begin to massage her neck again.

She laughed then as she remembered something else. “He also said it was nice to see myself and my husband on the nice list these days.”

“Oh really?” he asked, his lips against her ear before he kissed her just below it.

“Mmm,” she sighed and then moaned louder when he rubbed his hand in just the right spot with the right pressure. “So good,” she whispered.

Killian chuckled. “Keep making those noises love and people will think we’re doing something much naughtier.”

“Maybe they’ll be right,” she muttered, turning her head and brushed her lips against his in a kiss. It quickly became lusty and deep as she moaned against his mouth, wrapping her arms around his neck and shifting her entire body to face him, practically sitting in his lap. Breaking the kiss, she pulled back and just smiled at him, her fingers brushing the short strands of hair at his neck.

“What?” he asked, puzzled by the intense look she was giving him.

“Just...I love you so damn much,” she told him.

Killian smiled, kissed her lips once. “And I feel the same,” he replied.

And then they were kissing again, hot and heavy. Moaning as hands began to roam each other, frustrated that the tub didn’t allow enough movement as the kissing went on and on, tongues brushing against each other as lips moved together.

“Oh,” Emma huffed, rather dissatisfied, “forget the damn bath!” she finished and began to climb from the tub. He followed suit, they both dried off quickly and fell into bed together.

And so their Christmas day ended just as Emma had promised, with the pair of them thoroughly and delectably enjoying one another. Until naked, sweaty and sated, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Their night passed completely uninterrupted as Hope slept right through the night for her parents, just as Emma had predicted.

A Christmas miracle if ever there was one!