"Emma! Emma. MOM! Wake up!"

Emma groaned, burying her face deeper into her pillow. It was too early for this. Wasn't her twelve-year-old a little old to be waking her up this early on Christmas? And besides, wasn't he supposed to still be at Regina's? "Whaddya want?" she asked, finally sitting up and rubbing sleep from her eyes. "What are you doing here so early?"

Henry gave her a funny look. "Are you okay, Mom?"

"Hmm, yeah, why?" she yawned and wished that she was still asleep. It was cold and her comforter was warm. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

Henry walked over to her nightstand and turned the alarm clock in her direction. "It's 9:39. I was going to meet you here at 9:30 for presents, remember?"

At that Emma woke up. "Aw, Henry, I'm sorry. I didn't realize what time it was. I couldn't sleep last night. I'll meet you down by the tree, let me get dressed." She pushed her kid towards the steps and regretfully stepped out from the warmth of her bed. She threw on a pair of jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweater, and then descended down the stairs to meet Henry by the little Christmas tree in the living area. He was sitting on the armrest of a chair, waiting.

She settled cross-legged on the floor beside the tree and patted the floor beside her. Henry sat down next to her, looking excited. "Okay kid, who opens first?"

He tilted his head slightly. "Well, most of your present I have to give you later when we are at Grandma and Grandpa's. But I got you something else, too." He handed her a card. The envelope was thick, and she could tell something solid was inside of it. She opened it up and found a homemade card. She had a sudden urge to cry, but she fought it. Homemade cards were something she had taken for granted; she had made them as a child for her foster parents, but had never thought about having one given to her by her own son.

Inside it was a silver chain with little pendants – a charm bracelet. The little pendants included a book, a snake that looked suspiciously like a cobra, a pirate ship, a horse, a swan, and a clock. "Oh Henry, this is so sweet. Thank you so much! I can probably guess, but do you want to tell me what they each signify?"

He grinned. "A book, since that is what started all of this. A cobra because of, you know, Operation Cobra. There's a horse because you're a princess, a swan for your name, and a clock because it is what gave me hope. The minute you decided to stay in Storybrooke, the clock struck 8:16. It was stuck on 8:15 my entire life."

Emma leaned forward and took her son in her arms, squeezing him tightly. She could hear him choking and spluttering indignantly but she knew he appreciated it. "Thanks, kid. It's perfect."

She pulled two presents from under the tree and shoved it towards him. "The thin one first."

He ripped the wrapping paper from the box and opened it up. His eyes opened wide. "It's real?" he asked in awe. He carefully picked up the small scabbard from the box, eyeing it with shock.

She said, "Sure is kid, it belonged to your father. Be careful when you pick it up, and don't practice fighting with it unless an experienced adult is around. Now put that down and open your next one."

Henry delicately set the sword back in the box and pushed it to the side. He pulled the slightly bigger box closer to him and picked it up, gently shaking it; it rattled slightly. "Hmm," he said thoughtfully. He quickly ripped off the paper and tore open the box. His jaw dropped and he quickly removed the case from the box. "No way!" he gasped in excitement. He pulled it open and began sorting through all of the items inside. "Oh my gosh, Mom!"

Emma smiled at his enthusiasm. She knew how much he loved Marvel – he always seemed to have a comic tucked under his arm – so she thought the Marvel Phase One box set would be perfect for him. It had been expensive, but clearly was worth every penny. After several more minutes of him ooo-ing and ahh-ing his present, she and Henry gathered their things and left for Mary Margaret and David's house.

Mary Margaret and David had moved into a new house a week before Thanksgiving. It was at the edge of town near the stables, and the forest met their backyard. Her parents moving out had been bittersweet, but both parties were happy for the change.

"So, any clues for my main present?" Emma asked on the drive to her parents' house.

"Nope!" Henry said. "Except that it's both mine and Grandpa's gift."

When they arrived at the house, Mary Margaret was busy cooking in the kitchen. David looked as though he was trying to help in any way he could, but was not wanted at the moment. "Hey guys!" He said. He looked relieved for the distraction. He tousled Henry's hair and gave Emma a hug. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas!" her mother called from the kitchen, and Emma returned the gesture.

"Hey Henry," David said. "Want to go in the backyard and grab our gift?"

Henry beamed and ran through the kitchen and out the back door, yelling at Emma, "No peaking!"

"What on earth did you get me?" Emma asked, perplexed. What would need to be kept in the backyard? She hoped it wasn't a dog. Henry had wanted one and it would not surprise her if they had found Christmas as an excuse to get one to keep in her house.

David finally motioned to her to follow him and they went outside onto the porch. It took her a moment to take in the sight in front of her. She blinked. "Is that...?"

"Happy birthday, Emma." David kissed the side of her head.

Forget a dog, this was much worse.

Out in the lawn, ankle deep in snow, Henry was leading a gray horse towards her.

A horse...

...Because she was a princess. Now that charm made more sense.

She met Henry near the bottom of the steps. He clucked his tongue at the horse, encouraging it to come closer. He tugged on the lead rope and gave it a pat on the neck. "This is Pippa! Isn't she pretty? Grandpa says she's a quarter horse. She's very well behaved."

Emma cautiously held out her hand, allowing the horse to inspect it, before finally reaching out and patting her fuzzy neck. She was pretty, a beautiful dapple gray, a horse fit for a princess. Too bad she knew next to nothing about horses. When she voiced this concern, her father waved it away.

"No worries, I'm going to teach you. You know that I've been teaching Henry. You should see him sometime - he's a natural! I'm sure you will be, too." David handed Emma two sugar cubes that he had snagged on the way out of the kitchen. "Just hold your hand out with your palm flat and she'll take the sugar from it." Pippa lipped her hand and picked up the sugar, leaving a little drool on her hand. She rubbed it away on her jeans with a small grimace.

"Thanks guys, I don't know what to say. I never thought I'd get an actual pony for Christmas. Horse, whatever." In fact, she'd never wanted a pony for Christmas. All of her female classmates had, but she had just wanted a permanent home and a loving family. Now she had it and it was still slightly overwhelming.

Mary Margaret called them in from the kitchen window. Henry unclipped the lead rope from her horse's halter and pushed her free. She immediately went to the pile of hay near the fence and began eating. She gave a hug to her father and her son. "Thanks guys," she said, smiling. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of learning how to ride alongside her son. Henry clearly liked the idea, so she was on board as well.

Christmas lunch was delicious, and afterwards she exchanged gifts with her parents. Mary Margaret had gotten her a beautiful necklace along with a sinfully gorgeous dress. Emma was not one for wearing dresses, but she suspected that her mother was aware of her more-than-dalliances with a certain pirate. She thanked her, truly appreciative.

After all of the gifts had been unwrapped and exchanged, Mary Margaret stood and smiled. It was a grin composed of both excitement and anxiety, and it made her heartbeat quicken. "Emma, your father and I have a big announcement to make. We were going to tell you earlier, but we decided to wait until we were sure everything was safe and clear. Honey, I'm pregnant, and I'm having twins!"

Emma felt her heart stutter and her stomach drop. She didn't understand why, since she had known that Snow's biggest desire was to try again with another baby. She didn't hold it against her because what had happened with the curse was entirely unfair.

She would be almost 30 years older than her siblings. The thought kind of depressed her.

"I'm so happy for you!" Emma said, boxing up and shoving away all negative, selfish emotions. This was something extremely important for Mary Margaret, who had been her friend before she was her mother. She jumped up and hugged her mother and father. "How far along are you?"

Mary Margaret looked relieved at how Emma was taking the news. She beamed. "Twelve weeks! The doctor advised that we wait to make an announcement until the end of the first trimester so that we could be sure everything was safe and normal. We figured now was as good of a time as any to tell you. My due date is June 1st." Emma nodded in understanding and congratulated them again. She glanced at her own kid, who was smiling ear to ear and hugging his grandparents.

Henry's uncles or aunts would be thirteen years younger than him. Her life was strange.

"Merry Christmas, not that you know what it is," Emma said against Killian's chest that evening. She felt him hum an affirmation. Pouncing on Killian the moment he had arrived to her apartment may have made her temporarily forget her troubles, but now they were back in full force. She sighed, sitting up and gripping the blanket close to her chest. "Okay, I think it's time for eggnog."

Killian gave her a look. "Eggnog? That sounds ghastly."

"It's got rum in it."

"Then by all means," he said, gesturing towards the stairs.

She grinned down at him, narrowing her eyes, and braved the cold by slipping out from underneath the covers. She snatched up her warm pajamas and slid them on before tossing Killian's clothes at him.

When they got settled down on the couch in front of the muted TV, wrapped in a big blanket and sipping rum-spiked eggnog, Killian turned to look at her seriously. "So are you going to tell me why you jumped my bones the moment I walked in the door, or are we going to keep pretending everything is okay?"

Emma looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Who says something has to be wrong for me to want to sleep with you?" she asked drily.

"Oh, I'm not saying that love." He turned her face towards him and placed his hand on her cheek. His eyes were open and vulnerable, and Emma knew that he could see right through her false cheer. Not that she'd been making a big effort to hide her upset, anyways.

She side, ducking her face out of the way and looking down at her lap. "Okay." She paused, trying to sort through her jumbled emotions. After a moment of silence she said, "I'm going to be a sister." She glanced back up at Killian who didn't look too surprised. He knew as well as she did that her parents wanted to try again. "I'm happy for them. I really, truly am. They were friends to me before they were parents, and I truly want them to have their happy ending. I just..." she trailed off.

"You only just reunited with your parents, and they are already ready to start over?" Killian supplied sadly. Emma nodded.

"It's not just that, though. I...oh God..." she cut herself off. Her throat was beginning to swell shut. She was not in the mood to cry, least of all in front of Captain Bloody Hook. His arm came around her shoulders and he brought her closer to him. Watching the muted TV rather than looking at Killian made this easier.

"I still have vague memories of when the Swans returned me to the system because the mother was finally pregnant. They couldn't afford both the baby and me, so I had to go. Every home I had after theirs was awful. I was lucky if I got anything for Christmas, and when I did, it was a pointless gift. They never even took the time to get to know my likes and dislikes. All I ever wanted growing up was a permanent home and a loving family. More than anything I wanted to know why my parents abandoned me on the side of a road. I finally found them and already they are moving on. I know it's irrational, I just can't help but feel...ugh, I don't know." She cut herself off. She had run out of logical thoughts and was no longer able to put her emotions into words. Instead she rested her head against Killian, wishing that all of these poisonous emotions could be purged from her body.

She could feel him press his lips against her hair, and her eyes fluttered closed. She had never expected to have any sort of lasting relationship with Hook, as a friend or more. She still didn't label their relationship as an actual romantic relationship – just a friendship with some extra fun on the side. She knew the pirate loved her, she's known this ever since Neverland. She just could not handle establishing or making any real kind of relationship with him, or with any guy for that matter. It was nothing against Killian; she simply needed time to mend her own self. She had too many scars on her heart and it made her wonder if the scars would eventually suffocate her.

Finally she sat back up and cleared her throat. "Okay. It's still December 25th. We still have time for one last Christmas movie. Do you remember how to make popcorn?" she asked him. He gave her a look devoid of humor before getting up and going to the kitchen to make it. She had taught him how to do it three times (in her defense, he'd almost burnt the apartment down and had nearly broken her microwave when he forgot you could not microwave metal), so she expected his annoyed look was a reflection of that. She knew that he wasn't stupid, she just felt the need to be overly cautious.

She grabbed the remote and turned on Netflix. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was the perfect movie to cheer her up, and it was the last movie on her list that she wanted to watch. She had been waiting to watch it with Killian since she didn't feel like Henry was quite old enough to appreciate the movie. She'd spent an entire weekend watching Christmas movies with Henry – A Christmas Story, Home Alone, How The Grinch Stole Christmas!, Prancer, and others – and was glad to finally have an evening with Killian.

When the movie was over, the popcorn bowl empty, and eggnog glasses drained, Emma and Killian retired to bed. This time they lay under the covers fully clothed, wrapped in each other's arms. Killian gently pressed a kiss against her forehead. "Merry Christmas, Emma Swan," he murmured sleepily.

She tightened her grip on him. She had a lot of issues to work through with her loved ones, but knowing that Killian would be her rock would get her through it. She smiled against his skin and replied, "Merry Christmas, Killian."

Note: Thanksgiving is now over and it's almost the end of CS Fluff Month on tumblr, so I figured it would be a perfect time to post this. I got the idea for Snow and Charming to have twins from a headcanon on tumblr...I wish I could find the person who thought of it! It makes sense since twins run in the family.

I apologize for Killian showing up so late into the story, but I feel that this series is more about Emma and her relationship with her loved ones. She has so many issues to sort through, and I'd love to tackle them! The next part of the series is already complete and I will post it sometime next week or possibly on Sunday.

Like always, if you spot any grammatical errors or canonical errors, please let me know so I can fix them! You can find me on tumblr under the URL iamladyloki.