Tumblr prompt for gusenitsaa - Captain Swan and "Sweetheart, what did you bury in the garden?"
Disclaimer: Not my show, not my characters, just my imagination.
"Killian?" Emma called as she pushed open the door to the house with an elbow and a foot. Her hands were filled with bags of groceries, the plastic cutting off circulation to at least three of her fingers. ("Only wimps make two trips," she had told him when he asked why she didn't carry fewer bags at a time.)
The house was oddly quiet. "Hello?" she called again. No response.
Kicking the door shut, she quickly made her way to the kitchen and dumped the bags as carefully as she could manage on the table, which was half covered with crayons and various scribbled pieces of paper. Masterpieces, as Killian referred to them, tens of similar pages taped proudly to walls around the house about halfway to the ground.
After putting away the milk, eggs, and the ice cream she definitely hadn't started in the car on the way home (oops), she went looking for the missing members of her family. Henry was staying late at school, preparing for the annual play, so he wouldn't be around until supper time, if even. He'd been offering to stay late and clean up, alongside a certain young director he happened to think was "kinda cute". Teenagers, she thought with a grin. Killian had offered to stay home and let her get out by herself for a bit, a rare treat these days. So where were they?
She was just about to head up the stairs when she saw it - streaks of dirt on the wood floor leading to the backyard. "What the hell…" she muttered as she followed the muddy footprints of varying sizes toward the back door. She turned the handle and opened it to the yard and froze.
At least a dozen holes of various sizes littered the grass across the yard, dirt flung randomly around each miniature ditch. Three filthy shovels - small, medium, large - were abandoned at the edge of the garden, propped against the shabby little structure they'd all helped build together one weekend.
Two hours. She'd only been gone two hours. What had they managed to-
A high-pitched giggle from the vicinity of the homemade clubhouse interrupted her thoughts, a lower growl followed it as the giggle turned to squeals of laughter.
"Killian? Are you in there?"
The door to the clubhouse swung open quickly and her husband peeked his head out, cheeks flushed, a huge smile on his face.
"Emma! You're back so soon!" he laughed as he pulled himself out of the structure. He was- no, it couldn't be. She hadn't seen that in years.
Emma just stared. "What are you wearing?" she asked, eyeing him up and down.
He glanced down at his old pirate costume, covered in dirt and leaves now but the same shirt, vest, and leather pants she remembered from so long ago. "Oh, this old thing?" He winked. "You missed this, didn't you." He stepped toward her, eyebrow waggling.
Emma motioned toward the hole-strewn yard. "Sweetheart, what did you bury in the garden?" she asked.
"Funny you should ask that..." he replied, mischievous twinkle in his eye.
Just then, a tiny blur wearing what looked like a cape streaked out from the little house and ran straight to her legs.
"Mommy!" the little girl cried as she hugged Emma's knees. "You're home!"
Emma took another look at her daughter. Hope's dark reddish hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and she was wearing Killian's old black leather coat, the sleeves rolled up a ridiculous amount to allow her tiny hands to poke through. She bent down and scooped her up, groaning at how much weight the coat added to her small body.
"Hi, honey," she said with a smile. "What are you and Liam and Daddy doing today?"
"I'm not 'honey'," Hope squealed. Hope never talked, she shouted and laughed and danced her way through life, her exuberance infectious to everyone who spent time with her. "I'm a pirate!"
Emma laughed. "Oh really?"
Hope nodded seriously. "Yup! We made treasure maps and we got a ship and we've been naminating-"
"Navigating, darling," Killian offered.
"Yeah, navimating the high seas! Wanna see me say 'Argh!'?" Hope wiggled her way down to the floor, coat pooling ridiculously around her feet. She put her hands on her almost-four-year-old hips and fixed her face in a scowl. "ARGH!" she shouted, not at all frightening. Emma feigned terror, a hand on her chest as her eyes widened.
"Oh my! You make quite the pirate," she said solemnly.
Hope looked around the yard a moment, looking for something. "Hey, where did the captain go?" She raced back toward the clubhouse, door slamming behind her.
Emma slid up beside Killian. "So, you're not the captain in this little adventure?" she asked as she wrapped her arm around his waist.
He smiled and bent down for a kiss. "Not this time, love."
Hope pushed open the door to the little house, pulling an arm behind her. Liam stepped out, wearing one of Killian's shirts and black vest, a sword belt (thankfully empty, Emma noticed) across his hips. His cheeks were bright red. "Hope, stop pulling, you'll rip your dad's shirt."
"Nu uh," replied the little girl firmly. "You're the captain, and the captain is the boss. Show Mommy what you drew."
Liam blushed more furiously. He'd been living with them since before Hope was even born and as much as they loved him and he felt comfortable around them, he was still shy when it came to showing his artistic talent, which he was clearly hiding behind his back.
"Show her!" Hope said, jumping up and down excitedly, nearly tripping on the excess leather of the monstrous coat.
Emma looked at Killian, who nodded with a smile, and then turned back to Liam. He pulled out the dirt-covered, rolled up piece of paper from his back pocket and passed it to her. She unrolled it and let out a small gasp, a smile stretching across her face.
"We've been digging for buried treasure, love," Killian said softly next to her.
Liam had drawn a map of their garden in perfect detail, each bush and tree sketched to the smallest detail. At the top was a picture of a ship, almost an exact replica of the Jolly Roger on a much smaller scale, a dotted line snaking from it, weaving across the page. And at the end of the line beside the giant red X was a sketched portrait of the five of them - Killian, Emma, Liam, Hope, and Henry, with his arms across his two siblings' shoulders, smiles on everyone.
"It's beautiful, Liam," Emma said softly, carefully rolling up the paper and handing it back to Killian's younger brother. "We could frame it, if you want."
He scratched behind his ear nervously, a tic he'd picked up from her husband. "Thanks," he muttered, trying to hide the smile on his face. "I'll think about it."
"Who wants ice cream?" she said, clapping her hands.
"ME!" Hope shouted as she took off running for the door.
Killian raced after her. "Not until you wash your grimy pirate hands, little bean!" he yelled as he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. Liam jogged ahead of her, unfastening the sword belt as he went to the kitchen sink to wash his own hands. As she closed the door behind them, she could hear Hope yelling, "Argh, Daddy! I said, ARGH!" over the sound of the bathroom faucet running. She looked out at the multiple holes she knew they'd have to just fill in later, and then turned back to the sound of her family getting ready to sit down for some ice cream.
"Buried treasure indeed."