*Looks at calendar* Hmmm. May 19. May 19. Why does that day seem familiar?

Oh my gosh guys! I've been a writer for 5 years! And although those five years have not been completely spent with you guys, I've still loved every second of them :) I hope to continue writing for many years to come!

So, in honor of such a day, I threw together this little piece for you guys (: this is post season 3

Once Upon a Time © ABC

My alarm beeped loudly, alerting me of the early morning hour. I rolled over and slapped the snooze button before cuddling up to the warm body pressed against mine. I hummed a content sigh. Maybe I could just order a cake from the bakery instead...

"Darling. Emma." A rich voice brought me back to reality. I had to get up. "C'mon love, we've got work to do. I'd love to spend the morning tucked in with you too, but like you said last night, we have a lot to do this morning." I felt his warm breath on my cheek as he spoke.

"Killian. Five more minutes," I grumbled and pressed my face into his neck. He chuckled as he tightened his grip on me.

"Now Mrs. Jones, I believe our little Ana would be rather upset if she did not receive a cake for her fifth birthday, and you promised her a homemade one. Come along, sweetheart. I'll get coffee if you start on the cake?" I nodded slowly with a small hum of appreciation.

"Coffee...yeah...coffee would be good." I suddenly felt a freezing cold gush of wind as the covers were ripped back from me. I grasped for them with my eyes closed, but I already knew where they were. I opened my eyes to confirm the truth.

My husband, Killian Jones, was standing by the bed in a pair of sweats with the quilt in one hand and the sheets in the other. I groaned in frustration until I literally rolled out of bed and onto the floor.

"You're a captain's wife, you pathetic woman. C'mon, let's go. Get up. It's late." He gave me a light kick with his foot as he stared at me in a lump on the ground. I looked at the clock.

"Six am is late? Seriously?"

"I've been a sailor for more than 300 years darling. Six am is nothing," he said while wearing my favorite smirk. All of a sudden I felt the floor disappear beneath me. I gave a squeal and my eyes shot up. He was literally carrying me to the kitchen. I threw my arms around his neck and clung tightly to him. Killian pecked my cheek before setting me down. "I think you owe me a good morning kiss love."

I leaned up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his in a chaste kiss. "Good morning," I said.

"Good morning," he returned. I sighed and gazed at the kitchen. 6:15 am. I had 3 hours before Ana Jones would be running amuck across the house. She had dark brown hair with bright green eyes. She had my nose and Killian's signature smirk. But she was definitely her daddy's girl, with all her talk of treasure and pirates and sailing and the constant reruns of Peter Pan. Henry, who was now 16, had taken an instant liking to his new sister. He played with her every chance he got, always willing to play the fairytale game that was slowly becoming her reality.

Mary Margaret had insisted she be raised as a princess, but David had other plans. He believed the fate of Ana was up to Killian and I, and as of right now, sailor was a perfect term for her future. Killian had taken her out many a time on the newly recovered Jolly Roger. She adored every inch of that ship, even more so than Killian himself ever did.

This adoration of pirates and Peter Pan was the inspiration for her birthday cake. I was going to make a simple chocolate cake and decorate it with elements of Neverland. But not the truth Neverland, oh no. She would not be ready for those stories for many, many years, if she was ever ready. This cake would contain the Disney elements of Neverland: beautiful singing mermaids, a pirate ship, an Indian encampment, and a rainbow, all piped on with frosting or cut from fondant to lay flat on the cake. I set to work making the batter while Killian tended to the coffee machine, something he recently learned to work on his own after many lessons with a lot of patience from both him and myself. He curled his arms around me and placed a cup of coffee in my free hand. I slurped the warm caffeinated beverage and turned to him. I smiled a thanks and continuing slurping. I pecked his nose after putting my coffee down.

"Thanks," I said with a smile. He nodded in return.

"Anything for my beautiful swan," he replied. I chuckled.

"I'm not really a swan anymore, Killian," I said. He shook his head.

"You have all the beauty, grace, and strong will of a swan, Emma Jones. You always have. You always will. Therefore you will be my swan as long as I am your pirate."

"Oh Killian, you're so much more..." My voice trailed off as our lips met again. This kiss was more heated than the last one, but it was kept to a degree of comfort. It was on the line between lust and love: my favorite place for our relationship to be. I broke the kiss off and nuzzled my nose with his, a gesture we both deemed rather affectionate. I kissed his nose one last time before turning back to my cake batter. I threw a glance over my shoulder at Killian, who seemed both disappointed and satisfied at once. I winked at him. "Like you said, we've got work to do."

*.*

Once the cake was in the oven, I placed my hands on the counter and turned back to my husband. His hand found my waist and his hook rested on my other hip. The cool metal of his hook comforted me, much unlike the way it brought fear into me so long ago. I closed my eyes and sighed as he ran his hook up and down my side, knowing the enjoyable effect it had on me. Both his hand and hook traced my figure now until they abruptly stopped right by my rib cage. My eyes opened in confusion.

"Killian what are you..." Then I saw the mischievous look in his sea-blue eyes. "Don't you dare." Too late. He tickled my rib cage relentlessly, emitting shrieks of giggles from me. I tried to swat his hand away, but his hook kept my hands pinned to the counter. I fought to keep the noise of my hysterics down so I did not wake our sleeping child, but that was much harder than it seemed. He knew all my weak spots and would stop at nothing to get this reaction from me. I smeared my fingers across the counter, trying to find some form of weapon. A dry powdery substance now coated my fingers, but I couldn't figure out what it was. When I finally felt his hook loosen up, I snatched my hands away from him and smeared the substance onto his left cheek.

Killian stopped for a minute, looking extremely confused. He reached for the powder on his cheek mysteriously. Once it was on his finger, he laughed and returned the favor to me by getting it on my right cheek. With another look at it, I could tell it was only flour. I laughed and wiped my hand across the flour-covered counter again before tangling my hands in his dark hair. I held him there by smashing my mouth onto his. Killian reached for my arm and rubbed flour down whatever skin he could reach: my stomach, my left arm, both cheeks, and all over my hands.

Realizing we were almost out of flour, I grabbed a bit of the next closest thing: frosting. I quickly dipped my finger in it and turned to smear it across the pirate's face. But as I turned, Killian caught my wrist with a dab of frosting on it, just waiting for him.

"Well well well, what do we have here? A cheater?" Killian teased, examining the frosting on my fingers. He gave me a seductive grin before licking the frosting off of my fingers himself. My cheeks instantly went fire truck red. I bit my lips to stay focused. The oven dinging gave me an excuse to yank my hand back, which only made him smirk more. I caught my breath and took the cake out. "What can I say Emma? That frosting looked too delectable to pass up."

"Oh yeah, you're real cute," I replied in a sarcastic tone. This was one of my favorite components of our marriage. We were completely ridiculous people who loved to tease one another with no harm caused. We were the same way with humor.

I set the cake down and wandered over to the fondant, Killian watching me like a hawk the whole way. "You know dear, you could be helpful," I said as I cut out fondant.

"What can I do for my princess?" Killian asked. I cringed. He knew I hated that title.

"Frost the cake."

"So demanding," he said and leaned off the counter. I turned to him with a smile.

"Please?" Killian laughed at my pout.

"Emma, you're too damn adorable to ignore," he said as he went for a can of frosting. Within the hour, the cake was done and set up. It was now 8:45. Thankfully Ana slept through all of the noise and ruckus (mainly created by Killian, I would like to point out). I snuggled into the arm Killian wrapped around me. With this reached, he wrapped his hooked arm around me and turned me so that we were chest to chest.

"I love you," I said to him. He smiled widely, just as he always did when I said that.

"I love you too Emma." Just at that moment, our squealing little Ana came around the corner and jumped into Killian's arms.

My heart melted knowing that this was where this path had taken me: happiness.

Not super thrilled with it, but eh.