A/N: This little story was born because of a discussion on tumblr surrounding a certain T-shirt with a certain message printed on it. My muse was tickled so I thought I'd give it a try.
Taco Tuesdays
They're supposed to meet for lunch today, all of them, and Emma can't wait for the moment she and David can head out to Granny's to catch up with her mom, Neal, Henry and Killian. So far, it's been one of the calmer days in Storybrooke, incidentally. But even if Hyde and the Evil Queen had not played nice today, Emma knows she would not have let them stop her from enjoying lunch with her family. After the Underworld debacle, she's decided to never let a quiet moment slip or anyone put a damper on her family time.
Besides, despite the villains wreaking havoc in the never-quiet coastal city in Maine, Emma feels better than she's ever felt before. She has parents, a brother, the son she never thought she'd see again, and a love all of her own. A True Love at that. It still awes her to think of her and Killian as true loves. And every day it humbles her to see this incredible man by her side again. And she's grateful, so incredibly grateful, to have him again.
And have him she does, Emma thinks with a wistful smile contemplating their activities from the night before, and every night since they've been reunited. A slow blush makes its way across her face and she leans a little closer to the monitor, hoping her dad hadn't been watching her right at that moment. She might be comfortable calling him dad now, but it's an entirely different thing to be caught daydreaming about her boyfriend and his skill in bed, by her father.
Abandoning thoughts of Killian for the time being, Emma turns her attention to the boring part of her job as sheriff - paperwork and updating archives. But, as boring as it may be, apparently it keeps her mind occupied quite well, for when David calls out her name, she raises her head in surprise.
"Time to go, Emma", her father supplies seeing her questioning look. He's already by the door, ready to go, and Emma is a bit bewildered to realize she'd been so engrossed in her work she hadn't heard him move.
She smirks at his obvious eagerness, so she gets up and shuts down her computer. "A bit impatient, are we?", she can't help but tease him.
David shrugs a bit sheepishly at her, but not willing to let her make fun of him. "You're one to talk, I saw you fidgeting not half an hour ago." It's her turn to look a bit sheepish since she remembers just what she'd been thinking half an hour ago. With thoughts of Killian, she'd fidgeted, alright.
"Yeah, well, let's go", she adds a bit gruffly, annoyed to have her thoughts brought back to Killian with so many hours left in the day until she can go back home to her pirate. One of these days, maybe she'll do something really selfish and call in sick. That should teach her dad to make fun of her and maybe she'll get her fill of Killian. But who is she kidding? She's never going to get enough of him, but it will definitely be nice to spend more time together.
Later, when Hyde and the Evil Queen are gone, she sighs. As much as she'd like to do it now, she knows she won't. Not while the two villains threaten her family and everyone in town with their mischief and thoughts of revenge. And that's not even taking Gold into account.
"Come on, Emma", David calls after her, drawing her out of her musings. "I promised your mom I'd be there on time. She wants to talk to Dr. Hopper after lunch, so I'm to take care of Neal for a bit."
That certainly catches Emma's attention. "Dr. Hopper? Is everything alright?"
"Yeah", David jumps in to reassure her. "She just wants to talk to him a bit. After everything that's happened these last few weeks, she thought it would be a good idea to talk to someone. And while we've talked a lot, she thought someone impartial might cast some light on some of the things we've experienced."
Emma sighs a bit. She understands where her parents are coming from; heck, maybe it'd be good for her to talk to Dr. Hopper as well. She and Killian have talked quite a bit about the recent events and she's feeling better and better in her skin, but lately she's started to feel a bit tired of being the Saviour all the time, of always putting the greater good first. It must be a family curse, that.
Her mom's already there by the time they get to the diner, Neal perched up in a high chair, mumbling happily at the tiny baby book in front of him. And as soon as he sees them, he erupts in happy giggles and bounces up and down in his seat; or as much as he can, at least.
She's the first to get to him, her dad busy kissing her mom in greeting. Public displays of affection from her parents is still something she's not really used to, but it doesn't faze her anymore; she may not be overly enthusiastic at seeing her parents kissing, but she's happy they're happy.
"Hey, buddy," Emma says as she picks her baby brother up and places a huge smooch across his cheek. Neal giggles in response, not so gently caressing - more like slapping, actually - her cheeks with his chubby hands. She laughs in response to his antiques, and pulls his tiny fingers in her mouth. The baby shrieks in surprise, clearly delighted to have gotten such a reaction from his big sister, and Emma gives him a big smile. "It's good to see you too, buddy!"
She passes the baby to David next, taking her father's place in embracing Snow. While she feels closer to her father, she and Snow have been getting closer and closer lately. Having Snow by her side when she went to the Underworld for Killian, her mom keeping her hope up that they could do it whenever doubts had plagued her, has meant a lot to Emma.
Whatever has happened in the first 28 years of her life, she's put it where it belongs: in the past. And thanks to Killian's unconditional support and love, she's gotten to this point much faster. For the first time in her life, she feels loved and cherished, and damn glad to be part of a family!
Smiling a bit under her breath, Emma shakes her head. She's been so prone to daydreaming today, she's lucky the current resident evil doers have decided to take a break. She only hopes it lasts throughout the day, but with her luck, she'd be happy to make it through lunch without incident.
Greetings accomplished, they take their seats and place the orders, for Henry and Killian too, with Ruby. Her boys have been at the docks all morning, on the Jolly Roger, but she's sure they'll get here any minute and she knows what they like. They order the same thing every time they meet for lunch at Granny's, after all. While they wait, some easy banter ensues between her parents. As funny as they are, she'd rather not take sides so she concentrates on her brother, pointing to various objects in his book, while quietly sipping on her drink.
She almost chokes on her hot chocolate the moment she sees him walk in. Her father is not so lucky; the water he'd been drinking goes down the wrong way and he starts coughing loudly and her mother's eyes go wide as saucers. The only ones unaffected by the pirate's entrance are Neal, happily gurgling in his high-chair, and Henry, strolling in after her boyfriend in a rush.
Killian, ever the perceptive man, notices that something is wrong and stops short a few feet away from the table. He's strikingly beautiful, even wearing that ridiculous red T-shirt and jeans, bold letters scrawled across his chest: Live Everyday Like It's Taco Tuesday, and Emma makes an effort to reign in her reaction to him. Oblivious, Henry stalks over and leans in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, mom, grandma, grandpa!" He turns his attention to baby Neal, then, not giving the gaping adults a second thought.
Meanwhile, Killian looks in confusion at each of them. Taking pity on him, Emma beckons him beside her. "We weren't expecting you to wear anything other that a shirt and vest", she tries to cover for their unwelcoming reactions with a sly smirk.
Snow seems to be the first to recover from the shock of seeing him in that outfit, because she's quick to jump in with a rather strangled: "Yes, we've grown accustomed to you wearing a more formal attire." Her father just glowers, still coughing a bit. So she glowers right back at him, silently telling him to not say anything rude.
It's clear he doesn't believe them by the way one of his eyebrows arches, but he doesn't press the issue. "Henry helped me pick it out. He said these tee shirts, a ridiculous name if you ask me, are appropriate apparel for men of this realm when accomplishing relaxing tasks", Killian explains, brushing a lock of hair out of his forehead.
He sits beside her and when she presses into his side and presses a short kiss to his cheek, Emma feels his muscles thrumming in tension beneath her. She brushes her lips closer to his ear then; "I'll tell you later", she promises in a whisper meant only for him.
Emma feels him relax against her at the words and it breaks her heart he's still so susceptible to fall prey to his old insecurities. She frowns a bit; she'll talk to him later about it because she's not going to let him believe he's not what she wants, regardless of anyone's opinion on the matter. Not that it was an issue, anyway.
The lunch progresses well after that, despite her father throwing scalding looks to her boyfriend's T-shirt, frowning each time he does it. Snow just ignores it altogether. It's a bit awkward, to be sure, but she squeezes Killian's thigh under the table a few times in reassurance, and it seems to do the trick, because he's not sulking, but cautiously watching her parents. She even throws him a wink at one moment, when he's looking at her, thinking about how he'll love the explanation later on. He grins back.
By the time they finish their meal, her heart swells with love for the pirate besides her. Henry's been so enthusiastically telling them about his morning on the Jolly Roger and all the various knots he's been practicing, her heart is about to burst. She can't help lacing her fingers with Killian's and squeezing his a bit, trying to keep her emotions in check. Killian is so good with her son, she can't help the warmth spreading through her body. It shouldn't surprise her, but it still does. For the umpteeth time since meeting him in the Enchanted Forest, Emma feels grateful to have met him and that he's been pursuing her so stubbornly.
She's still in a good mood by the time she gets home and sees him lounged on the couch, engrossed in reading. The villains have behaved themselves all day and she's itching for a quiet night with her pirate. And maybe some pleasurable activities later on.
"Swan, you're home", Killian exclaims as her sees her, closing the book and moving to stand up. There's so much happiness on his face every time they get reunited, it makes her heart melt. It never matters to him if it's only been a few hours since they last saw each other; his face lights up as if he's looking at the sun.
"No, don't get up, I'll join you", she tells him as she discards her boots and jacket.
She lounges beside him and Killian's quick to put his arms around her and draw her in for a kiss. Several minutes, and kisses, later, she draws a bit away from him. He's still wearing the ridiculous T-shirt and she can't help but grin.
He notices where her eyes went for a sneak peak, of course, and he raises an eyebrow again in challenge. And since they're alone now, she can indulge him.
"It's a ridiculous story, actually", Emma starts just as her fingers move across his chest in a tender caress. "After me and mom got back from the Enchanted Forest, we decided to have tacos for family lunch. And it just so happened to be a Tuesday on the day in question." She knows she's piqued his interest because he's watching her attentively. "So me and Henry go out to buy ingredients for tacos and when we get back, mom and dad are in bed, almost entirely naked, resting. I'm standing there shocked, while Henry asks them why they're still in bed in the middle of the day. I didn't even know how to get him away from there faster."
Killian starts laughing cheerfully at that and she revels in the sound for a while. A few weeks ago she had thought him lost to her forever, but now he's here again and her heart clenches painfully in her chest. It's a good kind of ache. But she can't let him have too much fun at their expense, though. "It's not funny; I couldn't look them in the eye for a week after that." She says a bit boorishly, but she's smiling too, although internally she still cringes a bit at the memory.
"So this quotation of Live Everyday Like It's Taco Tuesday…"
He's beautiful when that mischievous smile graces his lips and there's a teasing glint in his eyes and Emma knows she'll never tire of it. She nips at her lower lips and arches an eyebrow in challenge.
"Never let it be said I'm not amenable to following sound advice", he continues as his left arm snakes around her waist to draw her closer and right hand grabs a lock of hair and twirls it through his fingers. And as his lips raise up to hers, she thinks it's a good thing Henry is staying with Regina tonight. The way he's looking at her now, she's not sure they'll make it to the bedroom. Not yet, anyway. Heck, who cares about the bedroom, when he kisses her like that, the couch is perfectly fine.
He wears the T-shirt to family lunches every Tuesday for the next month, but this time he revels in drawing the most ridiculous of reactions from her parents.
A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you liked this short fic. The muse stopped cooperating at one point, so I don't feel 100% sure about this.