Hello dear readers, welcome to the crazy world of my muse. This will be a collection of post series stories revolving around Emma and Killian's lives as parents. Chapters will not follow in chronological order, but I will indicate where each chapter fits into the timeline. This chapter takes place approximately 17 years after the defeat of the Wicked Witch. Enjoy, and as always, reviews are wonderful!
Disclaimer: Any character you recognize does not belong to me.
Monday Madness
"Mom! Where is my backpack?" Annie called down the stairs, alerting the entire household that the daily shouting match between mother and daughter had begun.
Emma gave a silent sigh, trying to decide how to curb the 16 year old's desire to turn every conversation into a challenge of how far their voices could carry. She stepped away from her post at the stove, hoping that the situation would be resolved quickly and still allow the family to enjoy the pancakes that she had prepared for them. It seemed that most days, something would prevent them from being able to just sit down and take in a meal together. Narrowly avoiding tripping over Lily's track shoes, she calmly called up the stairs to Annie.
"Where was the last place you saw it?" she asked.
"I had it at Lucy's last night. But I'm sure I brought it home!" Annie responded in her typical loud voice.
Emma tried to be a second memory for her daughter, thinking through all the places she may have left the bag. Before she could come up with a suggestion for her, another crisis arose.
"Mom! Lily won't get out of the bathroom, and I really have to pee!" The plaintive look of the ten year old created a dilemma between smiling at the boy and getting angry at her middle child. A distinct scent from the kitchen sidetracked her thoughts however.
"Go in our bathroom!" Emma shouted as she rushed to the stove. She managed to remove the pancakes with minimal damage. The blackened face of the pancake appeared to be only on the surface, and it wasn't the worst meal she had served her children. Emma set it off to the side, and proceeded to work out whatever was still going on with her children.
"Mom! I still can't find my backpack!" Annie complained.
"Check the car," Emma said. With her oldest child given a productive task, the focus was now on the 14 year old who could be heard singing loudly in the bathroom, water running and various fumes revealing just how many products she was using.
"Lily, are you almost done? Other people need to use the bathroom as well." To emphasize her point, Liam returned with a dance that betrayed his lack of relief.
"Dad's in the shower so I couldn't go!" Liam said, now on the verge of tears.
"Lily, you need to get out of the bathroom now! Otherwise, you will be the one cleaning up Liam's accident out here."
"But Mom, I'm in the middle of my moisturizing routine!"
Patience had completely disappeared at this point. No teenager needed to spend a half hour in the bathroom each morning. "Liam, just go in."
The boy heeded his mother, unheeding his sister's complaints. "Get out of here Liam! What are you… Mom!"
"Lily, you are not the only person in this house. So finish up and come down for breakfast. You need to be on your way to school soon."
Lily sighed more deeply than any 14 year old should, and Emma caught a glimpse of her frustrated face as Liam emerged, much happier than he had last looked. He gave his mother a bright smile that always reminded her of the pleased look Mary Margaret would give her when her optimism came through.
"Almost ready?" Emma asked. She knew the answer before he even opened his mouth. It seemed that every challenge she had had to face with her daughters was made up for in the perfect entity that was her youngest. Towheaded and bright blue eyes betrayed his potential to be just as much of a flirt as his father once he overcame the conclusion that girls were "icky." Straight A's, as much as they were worth in the fourth grade, and a growing talent for any sport involving a ball insured that one day, he would most certainly be the most talked about member of the school.
"Yeah, I'll be down in a second," Liam said.
Secure in her knowledge that at least one of her children would make it, Emma decided to actively join the search for Annie's backpack. She took a stab in the dark and pushed the door open to Lily's room. How that girl could find anything in the mess that was clothes, books, stuffed animals, blankets and pillows littering every inch of the room was a shock to her. Mothering mode was turned to extreme as she began to organize items as they came into view. Most of the clothes were tossed into the laundry basket, reminding Emma that she had to get at least some of the clothes through the washer and dryer today, or most of the family would be left without clean underwear tomorrow.
Her quest for the missing backpack ended with a shrill yell from the bedroom door. "Mom! What have a told you about coming into my room? And what are you doing touching my stuff?" Lily grabbed the pizza stained t-shirt in Emma's hands away as though it was the most precious treasure. If there was anything Emma wished that her children had not inherited from their father, it was the need to possess and be possessive of everything.
"I was looking for Annie's backpack. Have you seen it?"
"No! Now get out!"
Being unceremoniously tossed out of her daughter's room barely fazed her, and she continued in her efforts to look for the backpack. She walked into her own bedroom to see if it had made it way there. Bending over to look under the bed, a soft voice whispered in her ear, "why don't you try that on the bed?"
Emma knew that when she married him she would deal with eye rolling for the rest of her life, but she had hoped it wouldn't be as frequent as she often found it. "I'm looking for Annie's backpack. And I have a stack of pancakes that need to be eaten and three kids to take to school, so I'm afraid any of your "enjoyable activities" will have to be saved for another day."
Killian's smirk could be felt even with her back turned to him. "Then I suggest you don't turn around now." His feet whispered across the floor to the closest, and Emma couldn't help but steal a peek at his bare form, maybe not quite as firm as the day she first met him, but certainly quite pleasant for the over 300 year old ex-pirate. Of course, a sneak was all she could manage in order to avoid the awkward situation that could definitely present itself with her children.
"Breakfast is ready as soon as you're dressed," she informed him as she gave up the search and headed down to the kitchen. In her efforts to avoid a day of frustration, she filled her head with images and thoughts of all the paperwork that had to be done at the station today. It was much quicker and even more effective than a cold shower, and brought her immediately back down to the Monday morning craziness. A much needed focus when she saw the scene unfolding in the kitchen.
Liam was yelling at Annie, standing three inches away from her face. "You took the last of the syrup!"
"Well, you took the last of the butter!"
Every last pancake had been taken, and there were trails of syrup on the table that betrayed the battle that had gone on for the last of the topping. Lily was munching on her own portions, a slightly devilish smile on her face at the show going on before her.
"Liam, calm down, there's more syrup in the pantry," Emma stepped in to avoid any bloodshed between the siblings.
"Yeah, and Annie needs to get it. 'She who kills it fills it,'" he recited.
Emma sighed deeply. If this is what growing up with a true sibling was like, the foster homes she grew up in were not as horrible as she had always believed. And being thirty years older than her brother was not as tragic as she has once thought it to be. "Here, I'll get it."
Breakfast was finally finished, and Emma was getting the kids loaded into the car, when Annie announced, "I still haven't found my backpack."
Emma slowly counted to five in her mind before replying, "Call Lucy and make absolutely sure you didn't leave it at her house."
Annie pulled out her cellphone as Emma heard her own play "With a Smile and Song." "Hey Mary Margaret," she answered.
"Emma, I'm so sorry to call you last minute like this, but I woke up with a terrible cold, and I already told Henry and Kate I would watch Ginny today. Could you do it, please?"
The frustrations would never end, would they? The image of the stack of papers at the station doubled, but she still accepted her duty as a grandmother (still weird to think about). "Okay, sure. Is she with you or still at home?"
"She's at home. Kate is busy with the baby, so I know she would really appreciate it if you picked her up."
"Yeah, I'm heading out with the kids to school, and I'll pick her up on the way back."
"Thanks so much Emma! You're a lifesaver!"
Yeah, yeah, still the savior, she thought to herself. Ending the call, she saw Annie mirroring her actions, her face a mask of embarrassment.
"Is your backpack at Lucy's?" Emma asked, the look telling her all.
"Yeah. She'll bring it to school for me."
"Alright, in that case, all aboard the Mom express to school."
Killian entered the front hallway, a slight pout on his face. "You were going to leave without saying goodbye?"
"Bye Dad," the kids said quickly, each exiting the door with little regard for their father.
Emma gave him a slightly more heartfelt sendoff, but only because she knew she would not be spending the day with him as they were used to. "I'm going to be watching Ginny today, so you and David will have to hold down the fort at the station today."
"You're not coming in?"
"No, but I'm sure you two can handle it. Just, don't get into another dart competition."
"David was the one who came up with the brilliant idea of having a moving target. And it's not like that dart hit anything vital."
Emma shook her head, still not able to believe just how stupid and childlike her father and husband became when they were together. "Just, stay out of trouble, okay?"
She gave him a quick kiss and followed her children out the door.
The ride to school continued the same vein as the morning had, Lily complaining that Liam was in her space, Annie chatting over her about how much she hated her biology teacher, and Liam deciding that he was completely against sitting still. Emma breathed a breath of relief when they exited the car, and she was on her way to spend the day with her four year old granddaughter. Maybe not an easy task, but certainly less drama than the hormone driven teenagers she usually spent time with.
Kate greeted her mother-in-law at the door with the dark rimmed eyes of the parent of a newborn. "Hi Emma, Mary Margaret said you'd be dropping by."
Emma smiled at the brunette, filled with empathy for the young woman. "I understand what it's like to have a new baby, and a rambunctious toddler just makes it worse."
Said toddler then appeared, vaulting herself three feet in the air in the excitement typical of her age. "Gramma!"
"Hi Sweetheart. Are you excited to spend the day with me?"
She nodded energetically. "Do we get to bring baby Neal with us?"
Emma still couldn't stop the slight cringe that came each time she heard her grandson's name. She knew that her place was to be supportive and non-judgmental about her son's choice in naming his child, but even years later, the name conjured memories of pain, anger, and sadness. "No, the baby will stay with Mommy today. But you and I get to do some really fun things together."
"Yay!"
Emma transferred the car seat into her own car and carefully buckled the squirming girl into it. Kate gave her daughter a quick kiss, and wished them both a fun day. "Henry will pick her up after work."
"Okay, great."
The car had barely turned off of Henry and Kate's street when Emma's phone rang. She picked it up without looking, hoping that she could avoid a crisis this early in the morning.
"Hello?"
Liam's frantic voice came through the other end. "Mom, I left my lunch in the car. Will you bring it to school?"
Any other day, she probably would have said no, but since she was still in the car, and didn't have anything else to do but keep Ginny entertained, she agreed. "Sure, I'll be there in a few minutes," Emma said. As she turned around to head towards the school, she informed Ginny of the change in plans.
"We're going to go take lunch to Liam, okay?" She turned around to see if she had heard, and noticed a ring of peanut butter around the girl's mouth.
"Ginny, what's on your mouth?"
"P'nut butter and jelly," she said matter-of-factly.
Emma groaned with the implications of her words. Her suspicions were tragically confirmed when she stopped at a stop sign and turned to see Liam's lunch bag open on Ginny's lap and each food item with at least one bite in it.
"Nevermind, we're going home first, and then taking lunch to Liam."
Once home, Emma set up the toddler with a bag of toys left over from her own children's younger days, and proceeded to prepare a new lunch for her son. The quiet moment allowed her to add something that she had not had time or patience to do for a long time. She added a little note of encouragement to her son, wishing him a good day, and an extra apology for not giving him the same lunch he had been expecting.
One hour later, a lunch successfully delivered, and Ginny playing happily with Annie and Lily's old dolls, Emma decided to call the station to check up on her men, hoping that she would not be disappointed in them.
The phone rang and after several tones, her own voice came on. "You've reached the Storybrooke Sheriff station. If you have an emergency, please dial my cell phone at 787-2331. For non-emergency, please leave your name, number, and reason for calling after the tone."
She ended the call before the beep, and quietly murmured, "David, Killian, where are you?"
Her phone rang, but the tone was not Killian or David's ring. "Hello?"
"Sheriff Swan, I need your help."
Emma often wished she was not the only responsible law enforcement this town had. But when duty called, she had to answer. "What can I do for you?"
"My name is Betty Zapato," she said as though she expected Emma to recognize the name.
"Yes?" she replied.
A sigh of resignation preceded her next words, "the woman who lived in a shoe."
Emma held in the "ahh" of recognition. "What do you need Mrs. Zapato?"
"It's my son, Taylor. I got a call from the school that he didn't show up today, and I don't know where he is. Please, I need you to find him."
Emma's early reluctance disappeared as she sympathized with the mother's plight. "I will do everything I can. When was the last time you saw Taylor?"
"Ahh…" The pause in the woman's voice allowed Emma to hear the clamoring that was occurring in the background. Several children's voices could be heard arguing over one another, and a distinct scream accompanied the rest of the cacophony.
"I think he was at dinner last night. I know he was here yesterday morning."
Emma didn't know the Zapato's full story, but she could assume enough that this was a woman who had too many children to deal with. A vague memory came of Mrs. Zapato being the one to take in most of the Lost Boys when they returned from Neverland, and other children had been added over the years. She continued to ask questions to help her determine where Taylor may have gone, and it became abundantly clear that while Betty may care deeply for her children, she had a great deal of difficulty keeping them straight.
"Okay, I think I have enough for now. I will get back to you as soon as I know anything, all right?"
"Thank you so much Sheriff. I know you'll be able to find him."
Emma disconnected the line, then immediately brought her phone to her ear again, attempted once again to get a hold of David or Killian. Both lines went to voice mail, and she left an angry message with both of them, promising bad things to come when she caught a hold of them.
She checked the clock and prepared a quick lunch for herself and Ginny. After they had completed their meal, Emma packed Ginny into the car again, hoping that she would fall asleep and make things easier for all of them.
There was so such luck, and the four year old was chattering away when they arrived at the high school, and threatened to bounce away as Emma began her search.
"Excuse me, what class does Taylor Zapato have right now?" she asked the secretary.
The older woman fixed Emma with a severely distrustful look. "What do you need that for?"
Maybe on another day she would have handled it with more grace, but Emma's patience was not completely gone. "Janice, I'm here on official business. Now, what class does Taylor Zapato have?"
Janice was clearly still suspicious, but she complied. "Just one moment." She either had abysmally poor typing skills for a secretary and had only been kept on because of the result of the curse, or she was being deliberately slow to anger Emma.
"He is in Mr. Brown's geometry class. Room 402," she finally replied.
"Thank you." Emma looked around and spotted Ginny, who gratefully had been distracted by the fish tank against the wall.
"Look, Gramma, it's Nemo," she announced as Emma pulled her away.
"Great. Now, help me find the number four zero two."
Ginny looked incredibly proud to be entrusted with such an important task. "I'm good at my numbers. I can count to 23. See, 1, 2, 3…" She continued counting, but it kept her right next to Emma, so she allowed her to continue.
At the door to the classroom, Emma peeked in and noticed the teacher reading in a monotone to a class of glassy eyed students. She pushed her way in, knowing that no one would really mind the interruption.
"Excuse me, Mr. Brown? I need…"
"Mom?" Lily said.
Emma turned to see her daughter begin to turn bright red. "What are you doing here Mom? You're embarrassing me," she said in a tone that she obviously intended to be hushed, but was easily heard throughout the classroom.
"Actually, Mr. Brown, I need to talk to you about one of your student…"
Her words were now interrupted by Ginny, who rushed over to Lily and began to tell her all about the dolls she had been playing with that morning. If it was possible, Lily's face went even redder, and her posture attempted to make her smaller.
"Mr. Brown, I need to talk to you about Taylor Zapato," Emma finally got out.
"What about me? I didn't do anything," a boy spoke up from the back.
Emma's head whirled around and she began to question him. "You're Taylor Zapato?"
"Yeah, what's wrong? What did I do?"
Dueling emotions of relief at the case being so easily solved, and frustration at the time wasted overpowered Emma. "Nothing. Never mind, everything is fine. Come on Ginny, we need to go."
Ginny kept her eyes on Lily for a moment. "Aunt Lily, when you get home, you can play with the dolls with me, okay?"
Major Mom points were lost to Emma with those words and her presence at the school right then, but she recognized that the only thing she could do right now was damage control.
"Let's go Ginny."
Once back at home, and with Ginny completely passed out on the couch, Emma tried once again to contact David and Killian. This time when she got voice mail, her message had much less anger, but she knew the cold demeanor of her voice would strike more fear into their hearts that any infuriated words would.
Three thirty arrived, and Annie, Lily and Liam returned home, and the quiet that had previously been enough to calm Emma had shattered. Complaints of too much homework, shouts to be left alone, and inquiries of where certain items were filled the house as Emma began to prepare dinner. Despite the tumultuous noise, the sound of the garage door opening pulled Emma away from the meal preparation and she planted herself in front of the door, hands on her hips in a stance that she knew terrified Killian instantly.
Her body language alone immediately caused him to stiffen when he walked through the door. "Hello love. How was your day?" He attempted a soft kiss to her lips, but the attempt was rebuffed.
"Where were you today?" she asked. Her tone dripped with suspicion and bile.
Killian was searching for words, but when they finally emerged from his mouth, it did nothing to curb the rage. "Well, you see, David and I had a bit of an… incident."
Emma refused to say anything, allowing him to either give another stab at placating her, or admit defeat. "David asked me how I learned to pick locks, and wanted to learn how to do it himself. He implied that I couldn't do it without my hook, and I had to accept the challenge."
She continued to stare him down, and he finally arrived at the point of his story. "We went into the cell together, because that was the only way I could really show him how to do it. Unfortunately, I couldn't pick the lock, and neither of us had brought in our phones, and the keys were on the desk and…"
The tension within her disappeared, and she began to laugh. "You and David locked yourselves in the cell together and were stuck in there, the whole day?"
Killian nodded, and the laughter increased. "It's not funny darling. David may be my mate and all, but he's still not someone I would like to share that much with. The only way we got out was that Matthew stopped by after school and let us out."
Of all the times Emma envied her younger brother, this was the best. If only she had been able to see the two of them together after so many hours in close quarters. "Well, what lesson did you learn today?"
"Whenever I accept a challenge from David, find a way to cheat without him finding out."
Emma shook her head. A man child. She had married a man child, and now she was stuck with him, through the good and bad.
Hours later, as the kids were finally calmed down and in their own rooms, and Emma and Killian were preparing themselves for bed, she thought through the day. As crazy as her life was now, she would take another wild, crazy, hectic day like today, because it was the life she was always meant to have. Her family by her side, through the ups and downs, the thicks and the thins.
"Mom! Lily stole my curling iron!" Annie yelled loud enough to wake the dead.
Not that I don't wish for a day of smooth sailing, she thought.
The week has begun. Review if you would like to see more!
