Emma knew it was going to be an interesting Christmas the moment she walked into her parent's flat and heard her mother yell "DAVID. Stop BURNING your stupid corn pudding in my kitchen!"
To be fair, Emma was still a bit uncertain as to how this whole Christmas with a family thing was supposed to work. All of the families she'd ever stayed with over Christmas while she was in the foster system had never really celebrated Christmas in traditional ways, and they weren't ever that close anyways. She was nervously looking forward to spending Christmas with her family, big though said family might be. There was no telling the family traditions Mary Margaret and David had tucked away in their false memories, and she was hoping that maybe they could create a brand new tradition that was all their own.
But according to her mom's outburst, this was probably not going to be the best time to discuss traditions.
Half expecting the smoke alarm to go off at any moment, Emma hung up her coat at the rack next to the door and cautiously approached the kitchen area. David was holding a pan of something that was yellow and goopy on one side and suspiciously charred looking on the other. Her mom was shaking her head and gesturing wildly to the various ingredients to other Christmas dishes that were scattered around the kitchen.
"Honestly, David; I know you want to contribute to today's meal, and I really appreciate that, but if I don't even get the turkey cooked, I don't think one side dish is going to matter much in the grand scheme of things."
"What's going on guys?" Emma asked, hoping to diffuse some of the tension. The two had apparently been so involved in their little spat that they hadn't noticed Emma entering, because David nearly dropped the pan he was holding and Mary Margaret jumped.
"Emma! Merry Christmas!" Her mom ran over to give Emma a huge hug. "Aw, it's both you and your brother's first Christmas with us! I have to document this! David, where did I put my camera?" She rushed off without waiting for an answer and began to search the house for the lost item.
Emma walked over to her father, who was carefully placing the pan on the counter next to the sink. "So, corn pudding, huh?" she asked, eyeing the dish. "Isn't that more of a southern dish?"
David laughed and shook his head. "That's what David Nolan thinks, but David Nolan also says it was a Christmas tradition for him, so who knows? However," he continued, putting his arm around Emma's shoulders, "Charming could care less about the food as long as he's with the people who matter." He kissed the top of her head and looked as if he was about to continue on the sentimental path the conversation had taken when he suddenly inhaled sharply.
"What is it?!" Emma asked? After living in Storybrooke for a while, she had learned to be on her toes, especially if either of her parents noticed something amiss.
Quickly, David approached the oven and opened it to release a cloud of smoke. "Mary Margaret!" he cried out. "Forget the camera, what about your yams?"
Emma heard a sharp gasp followed by an "Oh no!" from the upstairs bedroom. Her mother rushed down and grabbed the potholders from the counter to save the yams.
"Who's burning things now, huh?" was all David could say, which was met by a playful swat from Mary Margaret's left potholder.
Since their family was quite large and the Charming's flat wasn't, Granny had agreed to rent the diner out to them, provided they clean up after themselves. The plan was to meet at Granny's at six 'o clock, with everyone bringing their food. Mary Margaret had volunteered to do most of the heavy lifting in the culinary department, meaning that the turkey, rolls, and several side dishes were accounted for. Regina offered to bring pie (followed by an immediate chorus of "Not apple" from everyone present) and Henry had mentioned that he'd recently discovered a recipe for some sort of cherry gelatin thing that no one knew if it was supposed to be a dessert or a side dish. Emma rounded out the menu by stating that she would make some special Christmas punch she'd learned from a guy who had hired her out when she was a bail bondsperson.
Killian arrived at the Charming's at 5:45 to help transport the food to Granny's. They ended up taking both David's truck and Emma's bug, since neither alone had enough room to transport four adults, a baby, an enormous turkey, and all the other dishes. Once at the diner, David took the turkey, Emma and Killian grabbed the side dishes and the punch supplies, and Mary Margaret held the baby as she unlocked the building.
"Well, look there. Mistletoe!" David said once the door swung open. He quickly leaned in to kiss Mary Margaret before hauling the turkey onto the counter inside. Smiling, his wife followed him into the diner so she could set their son down and began preparing the buffet line.
"So, your world has this tradition too, eh, Swan?" Killian said, raising an eyebrow higher than she thought humanely possible. He placed his dishes at the nearest table and scooped Emma's away from her. "But in the Enchanted Forest, you know, we do things bit differently. You're supposed to remove a berry from the plant before you kiss someone, and once the berries are all gone, no more kissing." He reached up to pull a berry off of the plant and apparently met with unexpected resistance.
"What the bloody hell? Why can't I pull this blasted thing from the mistletoe? Swan, is this a prank?" He looked at her with confusion, clearly unaware of the existence of fake plants in the Land Without Magic.
"It's called plastic, Killian. Now shut up about your traditions and kiss me." She grabbed him by his color and pulled his lips towards hers. They met with a passion that reminded Emma of their first kiss, but also a tenderness that made her recall the reasons why she was so drawn to this man. His unwavering faith in her, the valiant way he risked his life numerous times to save her family, and so many other things she couldn't think of at the moment because she was really getting lost in the kiss…
"Seeing as the pirate is still living in Granny's Bed and Breakfast, would it really be that hard for the two of you to get a room?"
The sound of Regina's voice made Emma pull apart from Killian abruptly. She knew that Henry was accompanying Regina to the dinner, and even though he liked Killian, she still didn't want him to have to see his mom make out with her boyfriend. Regina was smirking at her haughtily, but Emma could tell the former mayor was masking deep hurt over the loss of Robin Hood. Henry, on the other hand, nonchalantly carried his dish past his moms and Killian without a second glance. Apparently it wasn't as awkward for him as she thought it would be. Emma knew that family dinners certainly didn't come without their fair share of cringe-worthy moments, so she braced herself as she followed Henry into the diner.
Surprisingly, the night went by with very few incidents. After David had trouble carving the turkey, Killian offered to assist in this endeavor by using his hook to hold the turkey down, which somehow resulted in the bird slipping off the table, where it would've hit the floor if Emma's quick reflexes hadn't kicked in and helped her catch it with her magic. Then Henry proceeded to bite down on a bit of one on his tooth, helping him discover that he still had one baby tooth in the back of his mouth which had not come out yet. After about five minutes of "ow"s coming from the restroom, Henry returned victorious with a visibly bloody chunk of toilet paper in his mouth. Regina and Emma were concerned at first, but he smiled, gave everyone a thumb's up, and said in a muffled voice, "You guyth go ahead an' eat. I'm juth gonna let it thop bleeding firth." Everything seemed to go smoothly after that, until David proposed a toast after dessert and Mary Margaret, after a few too many glasses of wine, hastily thrust her glass into Regina's and broke both simultaneously. Everyone gasped at first, expecting Regina to blow up at Mary Margaret, and the look on her face leaned toward doing just that, but suddenly she was laughing, then Snow was laughing, then Neal even joined in, and soon it was infectious and everyone was giggling uncontrollably.
Emma looked around and nearly burst into tears; partially because she was sad she'd missed out on 30 years of this sort of joy, but also out of happiness, because she had her family now, and the love she felt both for every member and from them was enough to make up for all those years she had felt so alone.
Once everyone had their fill and wished each other a Merry Christmas one last time, the Charmings, Regina, and Henry all drove back home. Emma had volunteered to lock up so her parents could get her baby brother to sleep as soon as possible. She had just shut everything down and was about to close the door when she heard footsteps behind her.
"Killian! I never saw you leave. I thought you were going home without telling me Merry Christmas."
"Now why would I do something like that when I haven't even given you your Christmas gift, Swan?" he said, producing a poorly wrapped box from behind his back.
Emma tilted her head and glared at Killian, albeit playfully. "Killian Jones, we all agreed after the chaos Ingrid caused we didn't have time to worry about gifts, so we were mutually not going to get anyone anything." She took the box from his hands, and couldn't hide her stupid grin over the fact that he'd gotten her something for Christmas.
"Pirate, love. Remember?" he asked, playfully touching the end of her nose with his finger. "Now, the lady Belle helped me acquire it and your lad helped me wrap it. I'm still not entirely sure why your land is so fascinated with wrapping things in such a fragile casing, but he did a fine job."
"He obviously got his wrapping skills from his mom," she said, before slipping her finger underneath the tape and swiftly pulling the paper off of the gift. Inside the cardboard box were several papers, which confused Emma at first, until she read their contents. "Registration papers… for a boat?"
"Aye, look at the name," he said, barely able to contain a haughty grin.
"The Lady Swan? You named a boat after me?" she asked, incredulous and extremely flattered. "What made you do that?"
"Well, now that the Jolly Roger is gone, I knew I'd need a new way to explore the waters, so I set about purchasing a new craft. But I wanted to name it after you because without you, Emma, I wouldn't be here today. You helped me see the error of my ways, and quite literally, saved my life several times. The least I could do was name a vessel after you. Also, with your permission, I'd like to use it to teach Henry how to sail. He's quite a smart young man, and seems very interested in learning." At this he took Emma's chin gently in his hand. "What I'm trying to say is, Emma, I love you. I think I've loved you from the moment I saw you, and I cannot believe how lucky I am to have someone like you in my life. Merry Christmas."
With even more passion than the mistletoe kiss, Emma pulled his lips toward hers and kissed him. After several seconds, the two parted and Emma said, "How about I lock up and I can show you just how much I love you on this new boat of yours?"