It had been a few of months of living together in the big house Killian and Henry had picked out before things had finally started to slow down with Regina making the choice to reabsorb the Evil Queen thanks to Dr. Jekyll's reabsorption potion and the people from the Land of Untold Stories quickly adjusting to life in Storybrooke, Emma was glad to finally have a few days of peace and quiet. That is until both Killian and Henry approached her with the request to get a pet.
"Come on Mom, I promise to feed it and clean up after it," Henry pleaded.
"A pet could teach the boy responsibility, Swan," Killian added, his blue eyes huge and his expression hopeful. Emma felt her resolve crumble as the two of them continued to look at her.
"Okay fine, but I swear Henry whatever pet we get is going to be your responsibility. Killian and I will help but you are the one who will be doing most of the work," she said her hands on her hips. She couldn't help but smile at both Killian and Henry's excitement when they both high fived each other and started chattering about what kind of pet to get.
"What kind of pet were you thinking of love?" Killian asked her as they got ready for bed later that evening.
"Not a cat," she said "Both Henry and I are allergic. Maybe a bird?" she suggested as she brushed her teeth.
Killian's face blanched and he shook his head, "No absolutely not."
"Why?"
"I don't like birds, not since a crewman's parrot nearly clawed out my eye when I was a boy," he frowned.
"Wow who knew Captain Hook would be afraid of birds?" Emma chuckled.
"I'm not afraid of them!" Killian said indignantly, "I just don't want one living in our bloody house!"
"Okay okay, no birds," Emma said.
"How about a dog?" Killian said, "They're loyal, smart, and great companions."
"Yeah, Henry really did seem to love having Pongo when Archie was…" Emma trailed off as a guilty look came over Killian.
"When I was holding him captive," he finished not meeting her eyes.
"Hey," she said softly placing her hand on his cheek, "You're not that man anymore. You're a hero now because you've made a choice to be the man you want to be. You died to save us all, it doesn't get much more heroic than that."
"Aye love it's just that confronting the past, especially one as long as mine, is difficult," he said leaning into her touch.
"Well luckily for you, you have me to help you remember that you're more than your past," she stood on tiptoe to give him a comforting kiss before leading him towards their bed. "I'll call David tomorrow and see when's a good day to go into the shelter," she said.
"Please don't talk about your father right now love; not when I'm about to ravish you," he smirked before claiming her lips with his own, absorbing her surprised giggle.
A few days later Emma, Killian, and Henry walked into the animal shelter with the intent to find the perfect dog to add to their family. Something trainable, loyal, and more on the mellow side since their lives could get so hectic at a moment's notice.
"All right, let's go look at some dogs," David clapped his hands together before pushing the door open to the kennel. An eruption of noise met them, all the dogs seemed to realize what they were there for and started barking and jumping in their kennels as if to say 'PICK ME! PICK ME!' Emma swallowed, it wasn't that much different from when she was in a group home and a family came into adopt one of them, all of the kids on their best behavior with the hope that finally this might be their chance to have a family. She turned her attention to the first kennel where a small dog was standing on hind legs and yapping at them.
"That's Monty, we think he's some kind of chihuahua mix," David explained. Emma drew closer and knelt down to get a better look at him. Monty growled and snapped at her fingers when she tried to pet him their the chain link of the kennel. "He still has some work to do," David said quickly making sure Emma was all right.
"Maybe he's not the best fit for us yet," Killian said looking at other cages. "Oh hello, who's this?" he crouched down in front of a kennel a wide smile on his face.
"Oh he's been here for a while," David answered. Emma turned around and could figure out why; the dog was enormous and all black, but it at least seemed friendly as its tail wagged and the pink tongue tried to lick Killian's fingers as he stuck them into the kennel.
"Why?" Henry asked. "He seems really friendly."
"Not everyone's ready for a dog this size, he was adopted as a puppy but his owners brought him back when they realized how huge he would get," David explained as he unlocked the door to the kennel to let the dog out. The dog trotted out and tried to lean against Henry as he scratched behind the dog's ear.
"What kind of dog is he?" Henry asked as he tried to regain his balance so the dog wouldn't knock him over.
"A Newfoundland, good water dogs actually and this guy is the sweetest dog I've ever met. Isn't that right boy?" he said sitting down right next to the dog. The dog leaned towards David and gave him a few licks to the face is if to prove David right.
"What do you think Swan?" Killian asked, clearly already in love.
"I don't know Killian, I wasn't exactly planning on getting a dog this size," she said. The dog looked up at her and she saw bright blue eyes and she swore an all too familiar expression that pleaded with her to take him home. And she found herself giving in and accepting that her clothes would be covered in black dog hair from now on. Before she knew it the dog was on a leash and pulling her and Killian towards the car, eager to go to his new home.
"So what should we name him?" Henry asked after they managed to fit him into the Bug.
"Well the shelter had a name for him, but David says he's young enough that we can give him a new one," Emma said.
"What do you think boy? Do you want a new name?" Henry asked the pup who responded by licking Henry's cheek enthusiastically.
"How about Max?" Emma suggested. The dog shook its head back and forth, his jowls flapping.
"Okay we'll take that as a no," Henry chuckled, "George?" The dog snorted and almost looked offended.
"Bosun?" Killian suggested jokingly. The dog's ears perked up and he leaned forward as if to lick Killian's face.
"I think he likes it!" Henry said, pulling the dog back towards the seat. "What does it even mean?"
"It's like a third or fourth mate on a ship, they make sure the other members of the crew is doing their jobs," Killian explained, reaching back to scratch behind the dog's ears. "What do you say boy? Want to be Bosun?"
The dog barked excitedly and the name stuck, before long he was fitted with a new red collar and a license with his name engraved on it. Soon a dog toys were strewn across the house and a dog bed was set up in the corner of the kitchen. It was hardly used as Bosun spent most nights either in Henry's room or with Emma and Killian when Henry was at Regina's. After an incident involving Bosun, some slobber, and a broken vase Regina had made it clear that Bosun was not welcome inside her house until he learned he was too big to be a lap dog.
The problem was that Bosun simply didn't realize how huge he really was, and try as she might to enforce her "no dogs on the furniture" rule, Emma couldn't stop Bosun from attempting to climb into her or Killian's laps when he got that determined look in his eye. And it certainly didn't help that Killian encouraged it, more than once Emma had found Killian sprawled out on the couch with Bosun laying on top of him like a huge hairy blanket.
Emma didn't mind that Bosun was more closely bonded with Henry and Killian, the dog was practically glued to Henry's hip when it was her week to have him stay with her. He slept in Henry's room, followed him around the house, and would stare at the front door and whine when Henry left for Regina's for a full hour. While Henry was at school during the day, Bosun would go with Killian to the docks helping him as he went about the daily tasks that went into keeping his ship up and running. The dog loved the water just as much as Killian did, he looked happiest when Killian, Emma, and Henry took him along when they all went out for the day on the ship. The most time Emma and Bosun spent together was on her morning jogs with him, Lord knows Killian wasn't going to run first thing in the morning ("Swan I have been rising with the sun for over a century, I want to take advantage of being able to sleep in") and Henry could barely string two words together when he first woke up. But that time before the other residents of Storybrooke awoke to begin their mornings, before anyone needed her help, before she had to worry about this monster or that crisis was Emma's favorite time of day. She could pop in her earbuds and just let the world drift away as she ran with Bosun trotting along behind her.
That is until one day when Emma was lacing up her running shoes, an overwhelming wave of nausea crashed over her. She tried to fight it but she realized it was a losing battle and bolted into their downstairs bathroom to throw up. Emma leaned against the wall of the bathroom breathing heavily and trying to figure out what made her sick. Bosun nosed the door to the bathroom open, in her haste to make it in time Emma hadn't properly closed it, and lied down next to her his big head resting on her thigh. Emma wound her fingers through his thick hair, centering herself as the room slowly stopped spinning.
"Sorry boy, looks like we're not going for our run today," Emma said weakly before pushing herself up off the floor. Bosun rose with her, leaning against her leg as if to support her. He followed her back upstairs and laid down at the side of the bed as she crawled back into it after brushing her teeth.
"Love, what are you doing back in bed?" Killian asked sleepily.
"Just feeling a little nauseous and tired, I think I'm going to just take the day off," she whispered as she snuggled closer to him.
"Do you need me to bring you anything? Some tea? Toast?" Killian asked, sitting up in bed and very much awake.
"Not right now, but maybe later?" Emma said, gently pulling him back down to her. "Right now I just want to get some rest. It's probably just something I ate."
Emma had been ready to rationalize that morning as just one a bit of food poisoning or the flu but then it happened again, and again, and Emma realized that she had been more emotional lately when she found herself crying at a gum commercial on TV. She opened the calendar app on her phone and realized that she was late on her period, but not by two or three days but by a full month. Emma felt as if she couldn't breathe, trying to remember how it could have happened but then it came to her. There was a problem with the Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo that prevented her from picking up her birth control pills on time from the pharmacy. She and Killian had tried to be careful but Emma's mind flashed to the night that everyone was able to resolve their problems, there had been a little too much rum and wandering hands and all thoughts of being careful left their minds. Emma needed to be sure before she went into a full blown panic, she grabbed her keys and raced over to the pharmacy to grab a pregnancy test.
An hour later Emma sat in the downstairs bathroom, staring down at the three positive pregnancy tests sitting in a row on the counter. There was no doubt about it now, she was pregnant. Tears brimmed in her eyes as fear came rushing in, memories of being pregnant and alone while in jail flooded her. She and Killian hadn't talked about the possibility of having children yet, hell they had only barely started entertaining the idea of getting married. What if he didn't want children? Being a stepdad to her teenaged son was one thing but a baby? What if it was too much too soon for him?
She heard Bosun whining and scratching at the door, she knew he was probably strong enough to break the door down so she let him in.
"Hey boy," she whispered into his fur as she put her arms around his furry neck. She felt his tongue lick at her cheeks, a tiny smile pulled at her lips. "How would you feel about us expanding the family by one more?" Bosun nudged his nose against her still flat stomach and wagged his tail, Emma took that as his seal of approval.
It turned out that the only thing Killian was disappointed about was the he wasn't the first to know about her pregnancy. "Really Swan, you told the dog before you told me?" he laughed once he was finished hugging the daylights out of her when she told him that night. They had agreed to only tell Henry and her parents for the time being, but considering how fast gossip spread in Storybrooke it was only a matter of days before it seemed like everyone knew about the upcoming Swan-Jones baby. Bets were placed on the sex of the baby, hair color, the due date there was even a pool placed on the exact weight of the baby. All through it Bosun had attached himself to Emma's side, growling softly whenever strangers got too close to her. He even went so far as to wriggle between Killian and Emma whenever he tried to so much as put his arm around her.
"Well at least we know he'll be just as protective over the little love as the rest of the family," he sighed.
Finally the day came that Baby Swan-Jones decided to make their appearance into the world. After a long and complicated labor it was a few days before Dr. Whale finally released Emma and her new daughter named Rose and let them go home.
"I know someone who's excited to see you two," Henry said when he opened the door. Bosun could heard excitedly whining and jumping up and down from the kitchen.
"Here love, give me the babe and go say hi to our fur child. He'll only get more boisterous if he doesn't see you right away," Killian said. Emma carefully handed their tiny daughter to him and he carried her upstairs to her nursery.
"Sit," Emma commanded as she approached Bosun, the dog obediently sat down, his big blue eyes still trained on her as she carefully sat down in a chair before beckoning him over. He seemed to understand that he needed to be more delicate now as he calmly walked up to her and placed his head in her lap. Emma wound her fingers through his fur and bent over to give him a kiss on the top of his head as he began sniffing her clothes. Emma figured the scent of hospital and new baby had to be all over her.
"I missed you too buddy," she whispered. "Do you want to meet the baby?" His wagging tail answered her question. Once Rose had woken up from her slumber and had been nursed Emma and Killian figured there was no time like the present to introduce the two. Henry had taken Bosun on a long walk to make sure he wasn't too hyper when he met the baby. Killian sat on the floor next to Bosun, a strong grip on his collar just in case something happened.
"Bosun, down" Emma said as she rolled out a blanket for Rose to lay on. The dog licked his lips before laying down, his eyes focused on the bundle in Emma's arms. She carefully placed the baby on the blanket and nodded to Killian that it was okay for him to loosen his grip on Bosun. The dog scooted forward, sniffing loudly at the baby. He sniffed her feet, then her hands, and then her face.
"Gentle Bosun," Emma said in a soothing voice as Rose cooed as his fur brushed against her face. Bosun gave her face a few tentative licks, his tail thumping against the floor, before pulling back and looking up at Emma.
"Good boy," Emma smiled before scratching him behind the ears.
"I think he likes her," Henry said giving the dog a treat. It appeared the feeling was mutual as Rose's tiny hand reached out and touched Bosun's nose.
From then on Bosun and Rose were nearly inseparable; he slept outside her room each night, he kept a watchful as she played with her toys in the living room, and he laid at Emma's feet for nearly every nursing. He never left her side and Emma wouldn't have it any other way.