It's Lucía's birthday (lucythemarauder on tumblr) and because I sometimes don't hate Luce, I wrote her a birthday fic. Cute, right? ;)
"Aarrgghh." Emma groans in frustration. It's about the fifth time she has emitted a sound in the past twenty minutes and Regina is, quite frankly, sick of it. They can use every minute they have to research the new barrier around town and she can't be distracted every four minutes.
"What are you so loudly sighing about?" Regina says, lifting her eyes of off the dusty page.
They are both sitting at one side of the desk at the Mayor's office, surrounded by spell books. Emma finally places her phone on one of the closed books.
"Remember that trip to Mexico Killian and I were supposed to be taking for our honeymoon?" Emma asks.
Nodding, Regina replies.
"Yes, the one you've been postponing for 3 full years."
The tone she says it in has a trace of reproach in it. They had all pitched in to gift Emma and Hook some time away from the town and its needy character and they have still not used their amazing wedding gift.
"It isn't my fault that I got pregnant and that Noah was born."
Emma wasn't going on the trip with a belly the size of a prize-winning watermelon. She was supposed to have a good time, not suffer under the perks of being in the last trimester.
Lightly leaning forward, Regina raises one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows, a smile playing on her lips and causing Emma to laugh as well.
"I don't want to hear it, okay?"
Maybe Noah wasn't completely planned and maybe the both of them were a bit too excited and eager to celebrate their engagement; several nights in a row. And maybe her pirate is just too fucking hard to resist. (It's difficult for Emma to refrain herself from blushing every time she thinks back on those, because wow.) The outcome was two pink lines on a white stick and little kid growing in her stomach.
It was a huge adjustment: raising a kid when the only experience she had, came from fake memories Regina gave her in a curse. Not a day went by without a wave of fear and a flash of doubt, but it only took seeing Killian cradling their newborn son, swaying him back to sleep to make them vanish like snow under the sun and to reassure her that they would be fine.
"As if I was actually going to discuss your sex life with the captain. No, thank you. So, what's your problem?"
Emma lets her eyes rapidly roll and explains the reason why she was grunting like an elderly man with constipation. "The woman that's renting us her apartment only speaks Spanish and I need to ask her if there's a child sized bed for Noah."
Regina just went through nearly half an hour of Emma's complaints for three stupid sentences in Spanish, when they could've made a major breakthrough in the case? For real? Seeing no point in continuing their research, Regina lifts the book and closes it, a bit more forcefully than necessary.
"Hand me your phone." she says, motioning her darkly polished fingers.
It makes Emma crease her eyebrows. What is Regina up to? She still places the device in her hand, eying Regina to figure out her motives. The woman in front of her taps a few times on the screen and stops when the sound indicating the connection of the call emerges. Regina tells her to be quiet by placing her index over her lips.
"Hola, ¿señora Alvez?" Regina says, waiting on the confirmation of the woman on the other end of the line. "Hola, soy Regina Mills y teléfono a usted de parte de mi amiga Emma Swan."
Emma is completely baffled when Regina manages to have a five minute conversation with the woman without hesitating once. The words she says are so fluent and fast that Emma feels like she's watching one of those telenovelas she used to watch when she was sitting at home pregnant, missing out on all the fun at the sheriff's station. Although she watched the entire season where Paulina cheated on her husband with her half brother's grandfather, Emma is still unable to say more than: "hola."
Regina ends the call and hands the phone back to Emma.
"There's a small bed that will fit Noah perfectly."
"You speak Spanish?" Emma asks, still surprised, before thanking Regina for bringing the solution to her problem.
"Did me speaking it not just prove that?"
Fun fact: Having over 28 years of the same day repeated has given Regina lots and lots of time to learn things. She currently is fluent in 4 languages including Spanish, French and sass. That last one is most definitely her favorite.
"I guess it did. Thank you." Emma smiles and Regina quickly turns the corners of her mouth upwards, too
"Now, let's work."
Emma gets a book shoved her way.
Killian chuckles.
"So, correct me if I'm wrong, lad, Adrian fought the evil panda and was kissed by the princess, making him the champion."
His son grabs the stuffed toy dressed as a knight and sets it on the wooden throne. Secretly, Killian prefers it when Noah picks his pirate toys to play. Even though Killian is married to a princess, has been a part of the royal family for years, fought uncountable battles on the side of good, he is still a pirate at heart.
"Yes, fighted with bad, bad panda but no kisses, Papa. Kisses are yucky." the boy says, his dark hair falling over his big, green eyes.
No doubt where the dark colored hair comes from and his eyes are so typically his wife's, though in Noah's a gleam of mischief resides, just like in the blue irises of Killian. The chin comes from his mother and the adorable dimples he gets when he has one of his laughing sprees, he inherited from Killian. It is scary how perfectly divided Noah's traits are. Fifty percent Emma's and fifty percent his.
"Are they now?" Killian's tone is already betraying his next steps but Noah's gaze and attention is still set on the figurine. " I suppose that it's bad I feel like kissing my son, then." he says, trapping him with both of his arms before he can run away.
Killian exaggeratingly puckers his lips and lifts Noah excruciatingly slow. His son tries to escape, tries worm his way out of his father's hold but he just can't match Killian's strength, not for another couple of years anyway.
When Killian places the first kiss, Noah starts shrieking.
"No, daddy, no!"
His attempt to make his dad stop only backfires as Killian kisses the dark mop of hair a couple of times more, chuckling loudly.
Emma opens the front door and her ears instantly pick up the noise coming from the living room. She distinguishes the sounds of her two boys: Killian grumbling lowly and Noah's higher pitch mixed with it. She walks towards the room and sees the both of them fidgeting on the couch with grins that would make those in toothpaste commercials seem bleak. Smiling as well, Emma grabs her phone to quickly take a picture of the scene before her. Henry will love this.
It is still a bit hard, Henry suddenly being all grown up and leaving for college to study English Literature. It feels like just yesterday that he was standing at her door, telling her that he was her kid. Regina had troubles with it too. They lived together for eighteen years and then he moved across state, all the way to Boston. Henry had reassured them that it would be fine, that he would keep them updated via texts, calls and pictures and urging them to send as much back. He even forced Emma to get Snapchat. A decision he surely regretted when he seemed to forget he had his mother on there and uploaded some interesting pictures on his story. That is all it took for Emma to delete her account and to have a hardy talk with him.
"What is happening here?" Emma says, the picture being taken and sent.
The two dark heads look up, startled but their eyes quickly fill with warmth at the sight of Emma. Noah finally manages to leave Killian's embrace and runs towards Emma to greet her with a hug.
Killian readjusts his position on the couch and smiles at the sight of the hug between his two loves.
"Well, while telling me a story, your son just admitted to hating kisses." he explains.
Emma raises an eyebrow and smirks, telling Killian that she has the same idea he had only minutes ago.
"Then I think we need to learn our son a lesson."
Noah's eyes widen with the realization that his parents are much alike and braces for another attack. In one swooping motion Emma takes the 3-year old back to the couch and starts to smother him with kisses again.
After lots and lots of laughter, they both settle on the couch, out of breath while Noah continues playing with his toys.
Emma looks at Killian with a smile and finally greets him.
"Hi, babe."
"Hello, love." Killian replies and leans forward to meet her in a kiss.
Noah feels like it's necessary to voice his dislike of kisses again and comments a simple: "Ew."
Emma's eyes softly roll with the stubborn behavior of the toddler. Since he turned three, Noah has been very adamant and vocal about what he wants and what he doesn't.
"Little bud, if you are so disgusted by our kisses, maybe you should stay home instead of coming on the trip with Mommy and Daddy." she says, falsely threatening.
It is quite effective, because Noah runs towards them and squirms between his parents.
"Please, Mommy. I wanna go with you." he begs.
Killian grabs Noah and sets him on his lap while Emma scoots a bit close. Her thumb traces his cheek reassuringly.
"Of course, you can come with us, Noah. We wouldn't want to go without you. How was school, kid?" Emma changes the subject.
"Fun." he replies, leaning into Killian's chest a little more. "Played with Izzie and then Gramps and Grandma and Daddy taked us for icecream.
"They took you for ice cream? What an amazing day that must have been." Emma smiles.
Killian is reminded of the suggestion Snow and David made earlier while eating, or devouring in Noah and Isobel's case, their cones.
"Swan, your parents asked if we could have a big family dinner tonight at Granny's."
It's true that it's been awhile since they've had one of those, everyone being so caught up with their small families and little children. It will do them good and give another opportunity to talk and for the children to meet and play together.
"Sounds good."
"Auntie Gina!" Robin's copper locks bounce as she runs towards Regina, her fine legs taking her as fast as she can. Behind her a woman with a similar shade of hair follows, calmly walking with curled lips. Regina lowers herself to the girl's height and feels the excitement they share by seeing each other.
"Hi, Robin!" she says while opening her arms for a hug.
Five years old and Robin is a bright little lady. Zelena had really done a splendid job with raising her. Figuring out the parenting tasks and dividing them after Robin died had proven to be difficult. Clearly, Regina wanted to play a role in the baby's life but she had no actual title. Zelena was the mom but what could Regina claim? Robin's father's soulmate? Making a toddler understand that would ensue lots and lots of questions with too complicated answers. So, Regina put all her feelings aside and let her sister take care of Robin, occasionally offering her services when Zelena needed help or a babysitter or just a day off.
Zelena, dressed in her trademark green and black, approaches and goes to greet her sister.
"She's all yours, sis." Zelena says, her hand caressing Robin's head.
"Great, are you coming to Granny's tonight?"
Zelena nods lightly. "The Charmings were so kind to invite me, so I'll come. You'll take Robin there?"
Regina replies positively and moves her hand, waving Zelena goodbye together with Robin. When she disappears in sight, Regina turns to the girl. The weather is very soft, a light breeze going around town and playing with their long hair. They have another three hours, four hours tops before they're expected at the diner.
"What do you want to do today?" Regina asks.
Robin gets a pensive look on her round face, scrunching her nose. After a few moments of thought, she convincingly answers.
"The park." Robin almost yells it, as if it's the best idea she's ever had.
Regina has to admit, it is a good one.
"Great idea, lady. Let's go to the park."
Much to Regina's surprise, Robin doesn't start running with excitement, she just stands still. Regina watches her face and sees that Robin is going all timid, brushing a strand behind her ear, the opposite of how she usually conducts herself.
"Is there a problem, Robin?"
Robin's small hand motions Regina to come closer, so Regina obeys, partially hunching down. Robin keeps moving her urgent fingers even faster, telling Regina that she's not close enough. Eventually Regina is completely squatting, which is a challenge in her 4 inch heels. Robin comes close, places her hands like a shell over Regina's ear and whispers. If Regina was expecting anything, it surely isn't what Robin is telling her in hushed tones.
"You want to go by magic?" she reacts to the girl.
Robin bobs her head, enthusiasm taking over. She quickly tries to explain.
"It's just so pretty, Auntie."
And there are the pouting lips and puppy eyes.
"Purple is my favorite color."
That's odd. With Zelena as a mother and the green of her forest running through her veins, Regina would have suspected that Robin would be all over green. Maybe it's a good thing Zelena never named her Pistachio or any variant of green. Regina twirls her hand and the cloud of purple takes them away.
Looking outside at the empty Main Street, Emma's heart jumps when magic unexpectedly appears on the concrete. It still keeps her jittery, knowing that a new supernatural force could come and threaten the town yet again. Emma lets out a relieved breath when she sees Robin and Regina appear out of the cloud, the both of them laughing. She turns her attention back to her mother.
"My blog is getting more and more attention. It's so exciting!"
Yes, her mother's blog. Full of life tips and stories about the daily life as a working mother of two (three). It's Snow's personality on a website: all pastels to represent her soft personality, quotes about hope and love, recipes, a lot of pictures, including the one she took of Emma and Killian on their first date for some reason.
Regina and Robin go sit down next to Zelena but it doesn't take long before Robin moves to sit next to Izzie. Even though Neal is around her age, she avoids him at all costs because "boys are stupid."
Snow starts talking about recipes and Emma sees her chance. She loves her mother but sometimes too much is simply too much.
"Talking about recipes." Emma says, making Killian move his look from Noah to her. "Mom, you really need to stop sending me recipes on Facebook because I'm going to block you."
The entire table starts chuckling. Well, everyone except for Snow herself, who is watching Emma with a dismayed scowl on her face.
"That seems a bit drastic, doesn't it, Emma?" Snow says.
Emma smiles, showing her mother the joking nature of her comment and is careful not to mention the fact that she has muted the conversation with her mother precisely because of the overflow of messages.
Emma lifts her eyebrows while asking full of incredulity:
"Roasted Brussels sprouts with pear, hummus and a pear-sage drink?"
Besides understanding that her daughter is very different from herself, Mary Margaret realizes Emma was exaggerating for humor's sake.
"All right." A smile forms on her face. "Isobel and Neal loved that, but if you don't want to try." Snow raises her shoulders and gives a "mother knows best" look.
"If I can interfere here, that sounds delicious, Snow." Killian says.
The asskisser.
Snow looks pleased and smiles at him.
"It really is. Now I know who to send the recipes to."
The conversation ends and Snow starts another one with Regina about the town. Emma turns to her husband and continues a bit quieter.
"Oh now you're stuck with her and her recipes forever." she teases.
Actually not teasing. Emma is quite sure of it. Her mother will put extra effort to update Killian's mailbox with weekly, if not daily, recipes.
Killian gives her a dashing grin in return, one that makes Emma feel all light inside.
"I don't mind." he shrugs. "What if I want to spoil the Mrs?"
Their hands link beneath the table, Killian's ringed thumb tracing hers.
"The Mrs prefers grilled cheeses and onion rings." Emma smirks back.
Noah's head pops up behind them causing Emma and Killian to turn their heads. He has finished playing and is apparently famished.
"I want fries!" he yells.
"Anything else you want, since we're all making demands here?" Killian asks Emma with a raised eyebrow.
"Give me some time to think about it, I'll let you know." Emma nudges as Killian gets up.
"You're supposed to answer that there's nothing else, that your life is perfect, Swan."
Instead of answering, Emma takes his chin between her fingers and just brushes her lips over his.
Emma and Killian are lying in bed, Emma's head tucked under Killian's chin. Her blonde hairs are spilled over Killian's chest and their bodies hidden beneath the covers. It's been quiet for a while, both of them thoroughly exhausted by the day and then they had the dinner to finish it off.
Having the meal with everyone was a great idea, they really had fun, but people and especially children require attention and they could only give so much.
Emma isn't sure Killian is still awake. She doesn't want to wake him, though there is something bothering her. No, not bothering her but something she wants to share as soon as possible. Nevertheless, she takes the risk and softly whispers.
"Killian?"
Emma feels his lips kiss the top of her head. His hand rubs over her arm and Emma curves her lips.
"Yes, love?" he answer, his voice a whisper too.
"I know what else I want."
Killian creases his brows. There had been silence before she started speaking, so he doesn't understand to what she is referring.
"Come again?"
Emma moves her head from under his jaw and shifts in his embrace. By lifting her head, she can see him a bit better, can see the soft expression he bears there.
"You asked me earlier what else I wanted and I said I'd think about it." Emma reminds him.
"You were being serious?"
"I was." Emma replies. "And I know what I want."
Killian's mind starts to race, trying to guess what she might need. He's always been afraid of this moment. The moment where Emma realizes there's something missing in her life. Killian has tried his absolute best to prevent that.
"And that is?" he cautiously asks.
"Another baby."
She has been playing with the idea for some time. She loves and adores Noah with every piece of her heart, but secretly she yearns to have a baby again. Another mix of Killian and her. Another testimony of their love.
The silence returns to their bedroom. Maybe the feeling is not mutual and Killian is perfectly content with having Noah and only Noah. Emma continues speaking, trying to support her ache.
"It's just that Noah is getting so big already and with Henry gone he doesn't have any siblings here and I want him to have that and of course he has Neal and Izzie and Robin but that's not the same and I just want a little one again." Emma rambles her arguments.
Killian cuts Emma off, having had the time to process what she was asking.
"Alright. Let's have another baby."
The relief hits Emma, causing her to smile.
"You're sure?" she still inquires. She wants him to be 100% sure.
"Of course I am. With you I always am." He brings his left arm to touch her cheek. "Plus, I would like another duckling."
"A girl, so you can be the overprotective father, right?" Emma jokes.
Killian is already incredibly protective of Noah, but Emma is sure that he'll become worse when they have a girl, him being old fashioned and all.
Killian chuckles because of her comment.
"Possibly." he replies.
He wants that very much. A little girl with hair like her mother and eyes like him. Another princess in the house that he can love as much as Emma and Noah.
"I want that too."
"Well, like always, Swan: your wish is my command."
Killian closes the distance between their lips and makes Emma giggle.
Of course her pirate would want to start immediately.
Not that she minds.