A/N: This is a one shot based off of a prompt someone sent me on tumblr. My tumblr is Captainperfectswan if anyone wants to send me any prompts. :D Thanks for reading. Reviews are always appreciated. Let me know what you think. :)

Emma and Hook had been outside when they found him. Hook says it was a coincidence but Emma knew that she shouldn't get too attached. Eventually his owners would find him and he would be gone from their lives.

When they had brought him to their apartment, Emma didn't think she had ever seen Henry so surprised and excited. (Considering what they go through on a daily basis in StoryBrooke, a stray dog was not really that much of a twist on their strange lives.)

Nevertheless, Henry fell in love with the little scruffier. Actually Emma became rather found of the pup as well. But both Henry and Emma's feelings towards him could not even compare to the love and adoration Hook had for the lost dog.

Emma's heart actually swelled when she saw the two of them together. She would laugh and roll her eyes when Hook begged Emma to give him a treat.

"But Emma, look at the way he is eyeing me. I can't say no to him. It will break his heart."

"God Killian, that's the tenth treat you have given him today. He is going to get sick."

"But…"

"Killian," Emma warned.

"Please," His eyes dropped, as he quickly batted them. His blue eyes shined with all the tenderness and charm he could muster.

Emma rolled her eyes again, meaning to leave until she saw the little pup sitting calmly behind Hook, giving her the exact same look.

"Okay, fine!" Emma muttered, as she threw her arms in the air as a show of defeat.

Hook cheered as he stepped forward and gave Emma a hug. He lifted her off the ground and spun her.

"Thank you, love. You made the little pup very happy."

As if to agree with his words, the pup wagged his tail and followed Hook into the kitchen, after he had placed Emma back on her feet.

She smiled at the scene in front of her.

Hook had knelt down on the ground as the pup ate a dog biscuit Henry had picked up from the store.

"So how did you find him?" Henry had asked an hour after they had brought him home.

"I think Killian could take this one." Emma said, smirking in his direction. Hook's face lit up at what Emma had suggested. Normally Emma told him to stay clear of telling the boy any of his stories, as not to scare him to death. He understood that she was looking out for him, especially after everything he had gone through with Pan and the memory loss.

Henry looked in between them, utterly confused.

"Well…" He encouraged.

"Sit down my boy, for I am to tell you a story of a great and treacherous journey of how your mother and I found little Lad."

"Wait, you named him Lad?" Emma asked confused. This was the first she was hearing of this.

"Well, a long time ago Swan I had a dog of my own. Picked him up at a kingdom my crew and I had stopped at for a few days. I found him at the back of a tavern in the late hours. He had a collar that said "Lad" but no clue of where he was from. I couldn't just leave him without a home. Eventually the Jolly Roger became his home."

"What happened to him?" Henry asked.

"After the evil queen's curse my whole crew was gone, and I guess Lad had been swept away too." Hook explained.

"You mean this could be him?" Emma's eyes filled with astonishment. She now remembers the gasp coming from Hook when he found Lad behind the Rabbit Hole. It meant more than a startled shock. Hook had found his Lad again.

"Well he looks exactly like him. The same dark fur, same spirit, and same dark blue eyes. I didn't believe it at first until I saw the collar on his throat."

Henry reached under Lad's neck, finding a collar hidden under all the fur. He sure was a fluffy one.

Sure enough the collar read "Lad."

"Hook even if this was your dog in the enchanted forest, he still must have had a family here the last thirty years. Someone is out there probably looking for him right now. I still need to fill out a missing dog form at the station. His family needs to know he is okay."

"I'm his family," Hook snapped, "I'm not giving him away like that Swan."

Emma reached for his arm; her thumb carefully caressed the fabric of his shirt.

"I know, I know. I want him to stay too. But don't you think his owners have a right to know that he is okay?"

"They're going to take him back." He whispered.

Henry, who had been half listening and half petting Lad, finally spoke up.

"Don't worry Hook; if there's one thing I know it's that this family never gives up on each other. We will do everything we can to keep Lad where he belongs, with this family."

2 weeks later.

Henry and Hook had been busy making missing dog fliers the last week.

Henry personally found it amusing when Hook tried taking a picture of Lad. The fact that Lad wouldn't sit still and Hook had never used a camera before made Henry's stomach hurt from laughing so much.

"This silly contraption isn't doing its job! I can't take one decent picture of Lad."

"It's not just the camera's fault. Maybe Lad should sit still first before you start snapping pictures." Henry tried explaining.

"No Henry. It's definitely the camera. The little Lad is being a perfect gentleman. You see all his charms are my doing." Hook winked at Henry.

Three hours later Emma had come home to the mess of fliers, markers, camera rolls, and three of her adorable boys sleeping in the middle of all of it.

The fliers were not successful. Everyone pitched in, (David, Mary Margaret, Belle, Ruby, etc) but not a single soul recognized Lad.

Another week had passed and there was still no news of Lad's previous owners.

"Well Swan, maybe it's time to stop searching? We can't say we didn't try."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But I think we should still keep the fliers up, just in case someone hasn't seen them yet."

"It's been nearly four weeks, Lad is ours."

Emma wanted to argue, but before she could, Lad had wiggled himself in between her feet. She looked down and her heart beat picked up. He lay his head on her foot and fell asleep.

"Look at that Swan. It seems his liking for you has grown." Hook smiled gleefully at her.

"Oh please. He always liked me." Emma said. The fact that she couldn't move didn't bother her.

"Whatever you say, Swan."

"Okay, I see what you mean. We are keeping him. I mean how can we not?" Emma stared down at the furry bundle; his tiny body was curled around her leg. "He is family."

One day Hook and Emma decide to take Lad down to the beach for a walk. They all needed the fresh air.

Usually Henry would take him, but he was at Regina's that night.

Emma's head was resting on Hook's shoulder, their hands were interlaced. Hook tied the leash around his hook, so all Emma had to do was relax beside him.

At some point Lad would start running, causing Hook to let go of Emma's hand as he got dragged after him.

Emma would laugh and run after them. But once Lad reached the water, Emma stopped.

Hook had tripped over a rock, toppling down into the water.

Lad was jumping up and down, clearly not aware of what he had just done.

Emma couldn't help it. Her laughs turned louder as she clutched her side.

"Good boy Lad." Emma called out.

Lad yelped and ran to Emma. She knelt down to pet his wet fur.

"You think this is funny?" Hook asked. He had slowly lifted himself up from the water.

"Yes I do." Emma smirked. Lad was still by Emma's side, wagging his tail.

All of a sudden Hook started laughing.

"You know Swan. Lad and I are already soaked. Maybe it's your turn?"

"No way," Emma's hands came up to surrender, and then she turned to run.

"Come back here." Hook called.

He chased her down the beach, getting rid of his coat on the way so it didn't weigh him down. She was fast, but not fast enough.

He caught up to her, his arms circled around her waist and he picked her up.

"Hook put me down!" Emma screamed.

Lad was turning around them, barking to get their attention.

He either wanted to play too, or he was jealous.

"Come on Swan. You deserve it."

He walked into the water with her still in his arms. He gave her a mischievous smile before he finally let go.

Emma got up in a few seconds, shocked at the how freezing the water was. But she grinned at Hook anyway.

"I guess you will be sleeping on the couch tonight?" Emma threatened.

"Oh, now that's crossing the line love."

"I guess you're right…" Emma fluttered her eyelashes and put her arms around his neck, "but I still have to do this."

With all the strength she had left, she dragged both of them back down into the water.

Maybe they started making out, but with their little Lad as their chaperone, it didn't last too long.

There was a knock at the door.

Henry went to open the door, rolling his eyes at the scene in the kitchen.

Hook and Emma were way too caught up in setting the table for dinner, and gazing into each other's eyes to notice that someone was at the door.

"Grace?" He asked when he opened the door, "What are you doing here?"

Emma came up behind Henry, "Grace, what's up?"

Grace's answer was the flier in her hand.

She handed it to Emma, looking back and forth between them awkwardly.

"Lad is your dog?" Emma asked, her eyebrows rising.

"Well he used to be mine when we were cursed. When I was Paige and lived with my fake parents, we had found Lad in the streets. Since the curse had been broken, Lad seemed to always want to go outside. I didn't know why. Until one day he ran away. I couldn't find him until now."

"Oh…" Was all Emma could manage.

"Swan, who is it?" Hook called from the kitchen. Lad was in his arms when he made his way towards the door.

"Lad!" Grace said. She moved inside and scooped him away from Hook. "Oh I missed you."

"This is Grace's dog." Emma explained to Hook.

"But the fliers had been up for weeks, why did you come now?" Hook asked, his eyes never leaving Lad.

"Jefferson, my father, is overprotective. He wouldn't let me claim him until now. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. My cursed parents have been lonely since I went to live with Jefferson; I wanted to give Lad back to them as a thank you for taking care of me all those years ago."

"But you had him when you were cursed. Lad was my dog, he belongs here."

"Hook," Emma warned.

"I'm sorry, but I have to take him home." Grace said.

Emma had given Grace all of Lad's toys, treats, and had driven them both home.

An hour later her and Hook were cuddled together on the couch.

"This is his home." Hook had whispered.

Emma knew there were tears in his eyes, but they never fell.

She was feeling a little empty herself.

"Grace promised that we could see him again."

"I know, but…"

"I know what you mean." Emma said.

They both fell asleep in each other's arms.

Hook and Emma had decided to go walking down the beach again.

It was a relaxing afternoon, no one was around. The sea air calmed them down, helping them both think. One of the many things they had in common.

They all missed Lad, his presence in their small family made it feel complete.

Sometimes Henry would come home from school, giving them updates on how Lad was. These updates all came from Grace.

It turns out her former parents didn't want him, so now he lived with her and Jefferson.

Hook was on the edge of his seat, "Well we could get him back."

Eventually they all agreed that they wouldn't do that to Grace. She was just a child after all.

"You know Swan; since Lad has been gone I haven't found mysterious holes in my leather shoes." Hook said now.

She laughed, clutching his hand tighter with hers.

"I guess we all have some kind of advantage then. No more missing items, carpets filled with drool, clothes filled with hair."

They were both laughing suddenly. Imagining all the ridiculous fun they had with Lad.

But their laughs died when they heard a bark.

Hook's eyes snapped up, his eyes landing on a little dark furred dog running towards them.

"Is that…?" Emma started.

"Aye, it's Lad!" Hook confirmed.

And suddenly they were both running towards him. They called out his name and he ran faster.

When they reached him, Lad flipped himself on his back, demanding a belly rub.

Hook knelt down laughing, petting his long lost friend.

Emma joined, pure joy exposing her face.

Then they looked up and saw Grace. Jefferson a few meters behind her.

"Henry said you two would be here."

"Hey Grace, it's good to see Lad again." Emma said.

Grace shakes her head.

"No, I brought him here because he belongs with you."

Hook and Emma raised their heads up at the same time.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked, surprised.

"Ever since I brought him home with me, he hasn't been happy. The only time I had seen him so cheerful was when I first came to your door, and right now." Grace explained, pointing at Lad.

He was wagging his tale, trying to grab it with his teeth.

"Won't you miss him?"

"Yes, but I know he will be taken care of with your family. That's all that matters."

"Thank you Grace." Hook said.

His face was priceless and Emma knew she was mirroring that look too.

Emma opened the door to her apartment.

It was another eventful day at work. Luckily no dwarfs had run down the street yelling bad news though. She hoped it would stay like that for a while.

When she entered the living room she wasn't surprised to see a mess of toys, treats, and feathers from pillow cases on the floor.

She was irritated though. Hook would have to clean this all up later.

She made her way to their bedroom, feeling relaxed when she took her boots and leather jacket off.

When she entered the bedroom, her face softened.

Hook was sprawled out on the bed, snoring. Lad was curled up on his stomach, making a few noises himself.

All Emma could do was smile, grabbing her phone from her pocket to take a picture.

She could get used to this.