Emma had to fight hard not to roll her eyes as her husband handed their daughter a bright pink gift bag. Hope's face lit up at the new princess fairy wand to add to her collection; one could never have too many, especially when this one lit up and made noises.
"What?" Killian looked up from his daughter's beaming expression and caught his wife's judgemental one.
"Bribery, Captain, really?" Emma could see straight through his seemingly random gift.
"Pirate, Swan, it's par for the course." Killian winked at his wife, who was still clearly not amused. "And tell me, love, whose idea was it to take her out for ice cream?" The pirate raised an eyebrow as he gestured around at their surroundings. The Jones' were enjoying the perks of Any Given Sundae; which had opened under new management when some Arendelle residents came over from The Land of Untold Stories.
"What? It's a nice day and we haven't been here in a while and Hope has been behaving extremely well recently…" The blonde trailed off at the mirth shining in her husband's eyes. "Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that bribery isn't-"
"Mommy! Mommy!" Hope jumped out of her chair and ran around the table to her mother. Once in reach, the young girl reached up to tap Emma on the head with her wand. "Fairy Magic! All your wishes true!"
"Thank you, sweetie." Emma gushed, ignoring Killian's smug grin; she couldn't even pretend to be annoyed at him now. Hope giggled as she ran to do the same to her father. Killian grabbed her up in his arms before she could do so.
"S-stop it! D-daddyyyy!" Hope laughed as her father began tickling her mercilessly. Her joyful squeals filled the shop's outside area, causing many of the patrons to turn and smile at the display. Emma didn't notice the other customer's glances though. Her world completely consisted of her husband and her daughter enjoying a carefree, quiet moment. A fluttering in her stomach made tears come to her eyes. The blonde dropped her hand to her abdomen and rubbed the spot affectionately.
"Never." Killian used his best overdramatic-villain voice as his daughter continued to attempt to squirm away. He knew the difference between her joking pleas, and serious cries to stop; right now Hope was definitely still enjoying herself.
"Mommyyyyy…m-make him…" Hope's voice was breathy as she turned towards her mom for backup. The girl's giggles died down at the tears in Emma's eyes. "Mommy? What's wrong?" Killian immediately stopped tickling his daughter, as he too looked to his wife.
"Nothing, baby." Emma shook herself as she subtly wiped the tears from her eyes. The sight of her little family goofing around together had sent her hormones through the roof. Killian quirked an eyebrow at her in question, but dropped the subject. Hope did not.
"Mommy." Hope set her mother with a stern expression and crossed her arms. Emma tried not to smile at how cute her little girl looked.
"Oooh somebody's in trouble." Killian teased in a sing-song voice that he must have learned from Henry; usually the lad used this phrase when it was Killian in trouble with Emma, so the change was nice.
"Why you sad?" Hope ignored her father's comment as she continued to stare at her mom.
"Oh I'm not, sweetie. In fact I'm happy." Emma had to bite the side of her cheek when she was met with identical sceptical gazes. Hope may take after Emma in looks, but her mannerisms were almost entirely Killian. "Sometimes when people are feeling really happy, they cry too. Especially when…" Emma trailed off as realization dawned on her husband's face. Killian gave her an encouraging nod, which only did a little to calm her nerves. They weren't entirely sure how Hope was going to react to the news. Hence the ice cream and fairy wand.
"When?" Hope prompted, clearly tired of waiting. Killian chuckled at his little spitfire, for whom patience wasn't one of her best qualities. Like a certain other blonde he knew.
"When a woman is going to have a baby." Killian supplied when Emma didn't reply.
"Me and Daddy are having a baby. You're going to be a big sister." Emma allowed Hope to see how happy this made her, in the hopes that her daughter would feel the same. The parents knew that she would be an amazing sister and would love the baby once it was here. However, they also knew that Hope loved being the youngest, the princess who everyone doted on. That's why both Emma and Killian were waiting with bated breath to see if a tantrum occurred.
"A baby? Really?" Hope seemed to want clarification before she gave away how she felt about this development.
"Yes princess." Killian brushed back some of Hope's curls with his hook, so that he could properly see her reaction.
"Ok." Hope stated after a few moments of thinking about the idea. Killian chuckled lightly as it sounded like she was giving them her permission. Emma had to blink back tears again; she'd forgotten how much she cried when she was pregnant. "Where it?"
"It's in my tummy." Emma's hand once again fell to her stomach, where the flutters had returned. It was as if the baby knew that they were the topic of conversation.
"Why?" Hope's eyes grew wide as she scrambled off her father's lap to get a closer look at Emma's stomach.
"Because the baby needs to be in there while they get ready. You grew in my tummy too." Emma lifted up the bottom of her top, discreetly, to reveal her small bump. Hope reached out tentatively and prodded it.
"Easy, lass. That's your little brother or sister in there." Killian always got overprotective when his wife was pregnant. Emma shook her head and smiled when the baby moved inside her in response to it's sister's prodding. It was still too early for anyone else to feel the baby move, Emma had only just begun to feel flutters herself.
"When she be here?" Hope looked up at Emma with those big blue eyes of hers.
"In about 5 months." Emma replied as she stroked her daughter's cheek in adoration.
"That's long time." Hope pouted at her parents, as if it was their fault that it would take so long. "I want her now."
"Me too, sweetie, but the baby needs the time to get ready until she's safe to come out." Emma tried, and failed, not to think about the events surrounding Hope's birth when she arrived a month early. By the look on Killian's face, he was thinking about it to. Emma and Killian were thankful every day that their little girl was alive and healthy, living life completely unfazed by her dramatic beginning.
"She?" Killian raised an eyebrow at his wife's gender specific pronoun for their baby. Once again, they'd decided not to find out the sex before the birth. Emma hadn't even realised that she'd referred to the baby as a girl, or that Hope had done so repeatedly.
"Yep. It's a girl." Hope stated matter-of-factly as she climbed back into her father's lap.
"Oh is that so, lass?" Killian smiled down brightly at his daughter, who was nodding her head. "And how do you know this?"
"Cause I wish it." Hope shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her parents couldn't help but laugh at their daughter's answer. Killian ruffled Hope's curls and laid a kiss on her cheek. She was so precious. The father thought that if he was blessed with another girl to join the daughter currently sat on his lap, well that would be just fine with him.
Later that night, Killian walked into his bedroom after checking that Hope was still sleeping peacefully. The little pirate-princess had a habit of waking up not long after falling asleep and would play with her toys, or wander around upstairs, until she was caught.
"Still asleep?" Emma asked from her place on the bed, not looking up from the book in her lap.
"Aye, like an angel." Killian grinned as he slipped into bed next to his wife.
"Maybe she's growing out of it." Emma mused with her own brand of cautious optimism. Hope had always had trouble sleeping, something that worried her parents early on. Any research they did into it seemed to suggest that it was simply a faze that would soon pass. Emma hoped that was happening now.
"Just in time for another one to come along with their own little quirks." Killian smiled and rested his hand on Emma's stomach. His wife closed the book she was reading and laid her hand on his own. "So, what do you think it is, Swan?"
"Hmmm?" Emma sighed, already relaxing into her husband's rubbing on her stomach.
"A boy or a girl?" Killian lifted his left arm up to allow Emma to snuggled against his side.
"Does it matter?" Emma was slightly concerned that Killian would be disappointed if they had another girl. She knew he saw Henry as his own son, but still wasn't it every man's wish to have a son born of their own blood?
"Not at all, love." Killian answered naturally, cause it honestly didn't matter to him as long as the baby was healthy. "After Hope's defiance that it would be a girl, I was simply curious. After all, the mother's intuition in you was correct last time. Any ideas?" Emma brought her lip between her teeth as she pretended to mull the question over. To be honest she's had an inkling for a while now.
"Uh-huh." Emma nodded her head before lying down with her back facing her husband. Killian waited with bated breath as he settled in behind his wife. "Not telling, though."
"Emma." Killian groaned into her neck. She just loved infuriating him. "Come on, love, please? I won't tell anyone."
"Ummm...nope." Emma giggled as her husband all but growled into her skin.
"Are you sure," Killian began peppering kisses down her neck and shoulders, "that there's no way," Killian got the strap of her tank top between his teeth and slowly lowered it down her arm. Emma's giggles became breathier, "that I could persuade you?" He thrust his hips against her ass, so she'd have no doubt as to where his mind was at.
"I'd like to…see you try…pirate." Emma teased as her husband's hand travelled up her side to her now exposed chest. A creak from down the hall made them both pause and wait. Killian groaned when another creak sounded a few moments later. "I guess we spoke too soon." Emma mumbled as she pulled up her top.
"Aye, the lass has still yet to make friends with sleep." Killian huffed and fell onto his back. "Do you want me to go, love?"
"Um I think I should." Emma giggled slightly and gestured down to her husband's current situation. Killian began to adjust himself, but Emma stopped him. "Nah-uh, captain, I'll be back for that." Emma winked saucily and leaned down to kiss his lips. Just as things started to get heated once more, they heard Hope's not-so-quiet whisper; she was clearly talking to her toys. Emma sighed and disentangled herself to go put their daughter back to bed.
"Hurry back." Killian grunted at his wife as she exited the room. The pirate thought about what he'd said earlier, about not caring about the baby's gender. It was the complete truth. In his mind, he already had a son and a daughter. This baby would be a delightful addition to either gender. As long as they were healthy, he couldn't ask for much more than that. Although, if this new pirate was fonder of sleep than its sister, Killian would greatly appreciate it.