Title: The Happily Ever After
Author: iDontKissAndTell (fanfiction sites); peach12blossoms (Tumblr)
Fic Word Count: 4 877 words
Pairing(s): Captain Swan; Snowing; Outlaw Queen; & Tinkerfire
Rating: T
Warnings (if any): Implied Sexual Situations, OOC, Fluff (lots of it), Pregnancy/Baby, and Pet Names.
Summary: "What is a Valentine's Day?" Complete silence followed Killian Jones' seemingly innocent inquiry and every single person in the dining room stopped whatever they had been doing, paused their respective conversations, and stared at the Captain as if he had just grown a new pair of arms.
Author's Notes: This one-shot was written as a gift for love-captainswan from Tumblr for the Captain Swan Secret Valentine. She asked for some Captain Charming brotp action and some Daddy!Killy goodness too, so, after a long brainstorming period, this is what I came up with. Totally fluffy, right? I know, but I couldn't resist. I hope you guys like it!
Beta Readers: None, so all mistakes are mine. I apologize profusely for any inconvenience.
Disclaimer: No profit is being made from the making of this fan fiction and no copyright infringement was intended. This is made purely for my own enjoyment (and others, hopefully) and anything you recognize from "Once Upon a Time" is not mine and is solely the property of whoever it is that owns it.
"What is a Valentine's Day?"
Complete silence followed Killian Jones' seemingly innocent inquiry and every single person in the dining room stopped whatever they had been doing, paused their respective conversations, and stared at the Captain as if he had just grown a new pair of arms. The sound of the small grandfather clock ticking increased in volume as the occupants of the room simultaneously wondered whether the pirate was being serious.
Having lived in the "real world" with "real world memories" while under the first curse cast by Regina and the second cast by the Wicked Bitch, everyone, including Robin Hood and Tinkerbell, had knowledge of what the holiday was and what it meant to this world through said memories. It seemed odd and almost humorous for someone to ask what such a commonly known holiday was but everyone refrained from commenting, not wanting to offend the captain… except for one.
A poorly disguised chuckle emanated from the person sitting beside Killian at the head of the table. Mary Margaret, who was sitting directly across from Killian, gave her husband a look of disbelief and hit him on the shoulder for his lack of tact. "Stop it, David," she scolded. "I think he's serious."
"I know. That's why it's so funny," the man replied, not bothering to hide his mirth anymore. "You've been in this world for almost two years now, pirate, and you're only asking this question now?"
Killian glared at him. "Well, excuse me, mate. I have not exactly had the proper lesson on how this strange world operates what with the endless strings of life-threatening events and all."
"But you were here last year February. We all were," Mary Margaret pointed out. "Didn't you at least hear it in passing? Surely, you must have. It's a very popular holiday."
He stared blankly at her and drawled, "And if I recall correctly, we were all too preoccupied trying to stay alive and get rid of the witch with the unfortunate complexion to even think about such frivolities."
"Oh my…" Mary Margaret took a deep breath. "Well, okay," she started, frowning as she figured out the best and shortest explanation for Valentine's Day. "It's simply just a day to celebrate love, really. Traditionally it's only celebrated by lovers but these days, all kinds of love are celebrated, be it a love between parents and their child or a love between friends."
"And what do people do on such a day?" Killian asked, eyebrows raised.
"Whatever you want to do to celebrate your love, I guess." Mary Margaret shrugged, subconsciously leaning against her husband who had his arm draped over the back of her chair. "It varies between different people. The most common is exchanging gifts, cards, chocolates and flowers. But there are other better and more intimate things to do like going out on romantic dates or staying in each other's company in the privacy of your home. Those kinds of thing."
"But when in February is this supposed to be celebrated? You haven't told me that."
"The fourteenth."
Killian mulled over the new information. It had honestly been the first time he had heard about such an occasion and he briefly questioned why Emma had not told him about it before, especially since the supposed day was only a few hours away. Did she not want to celebrate it, he wondered. Or maybe she just assumed that he already knew and was expecting him to come up with some sort of plan.
He started inwardly panicking then, not knowing what he could do on short notice. It seemed so unfair that she never told him about it. Although, as she has pointed out before, she was the only one carrying their baby and suffering with the side-effects because of it, so if anything was unfair, then that was it. He made a mental note to not voice his complaints, especially since the woman was quite literally a ticking time bomb ever since they had found out about the pregnancy.
"I'm a dead man," he announced finally after a few seconds of quiet contemplation.
Tinkerbell, who was sitting beside Mary Margaret, rested her elbow on the table and propped her head on her hand. "Emma never mentioned doing anything with you tomorrow ?"
Killian shook his head, his hands coming up to rub at his face in agitation. "No, not a thing. She is miserable because of the baby. I can't even walk past the woman without irritating her to the point where I usually find myself sleeping in the living room. Do you really think she'd talk to me about this?"
"It's just hormones, Hook," Mary Margaret assured him, smiling sympathetically. "The baby is a couple of days late and sometimes that can really make a woman cranky. It'll get better once the baby is born, I promise."
"Your child is the complete opposite of Emma. She couldn't even wait for her due date to come out, and here is your daughter taking her sweet time," commented David, a reminiscing look of bittersweet memories on his face. Then he sent the former pirate a mock-grudging look. "I can already tell that my granddaughter is going to be just like you."
"You can pretend you still don't like me all you want, mate. It's not going to change the fact that you do. But we digress." He stared pleadingly at each person left on the dining table and prompted, "What am I going to do?"
"Well, as you've said," Robin Hood began from the far end of the table. "She's irritable and you haven't got anything planned for Valentine's Day. Maybe I'm wrong and she's not expecting you to but on the off-chance that she is, won't that make her even more upset?"
Killian pointedly stared at the Charming's, his brow raised. "My thoughts exactly."
"But on the other hand, Emma really doesn't strike me as the kind who'd get all hung up on Valentine's Day," Tinkerbell said, a finger steadily tapping against her cheek.
"Well, before she had gotten pregnant, I knew for a fact that she wasn't the type of person who would cry because someone had gotten her order wrong, but she did that last week so…" Killian trailed off with a shrug.
Tink tittered. "Point taken."
"So it's better to be safe, than sorry," Killian said, slumping back against his chair.
"Yes, exactly," Mary Margaret agreed, clasping her hands together on top of the dining table. "So… what do you have in mind?"
Killian sighed exasperatedly. "If I knew, I'd tell you. Emma is not the 'flowers and chocolates' kind of woman. It has to be meaningful, simple and at the same time, easy because I'm running out of—" The sound of the front door opening and the patter of footsteps against the hardwood floors of his and Emma's home cut him off.
"We're back!" they heard Henry shout from the living room. A few seconds later, holding a big bag of take away food, he came into the dining room followed closely by Regina and a heavily pregnant and frowning Emma.
Killian gulped at the sight of that frown. He really hoped her mood swings were only a temporary side effect of the pregnancy and that it doesn't become a permanent attribute. Heaven knows they all have had enough accidental magic caused by said mood swings going on around here.
"Emma, sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Mary Margaret asked softly.
"Not good," Regina answered for the pregnant woman who had silently taken her seat beside Killian. "She's been bitching about everything since we left to get food and, frankly, I am tired of it."
"Right, like you were a little ray of sunshine when you yourself were overdue just four months ago," Emma uncharacteristically sniped, sending Regina a rather frightening glare. Regina lifted her hands in surrender and though he wanted to feel bad for her, Killian was quite honestly glad he wasn't at the end of the glare for once.
He decided to try his luck and wrapped an arm around Emma's tense shoulders. To his pleasant surprise, Emma relaxed into him, her arm automatically draping over his right leg. Relieved, he rested his unoccupied hand against her protruding belly, rubbing soothingly, and pressed a lingering kiss against her temple.
Over her head, he watched as Regina sent a quick look at the Charming's, her eyebrow raised as if she was wordlessly compelling the couple to do something about their daughter.
"Give her a break, Regina," Mary Margaret sighed.
Regina rolled her eyes and then turned her attention to helping Henry take all the food out of the take-away bag.
David smiled and cleared his throat to break the silence. "Well, let's eat then, shall we?"
"Where's Neal?" Tinkerbell inquired, looking towards the entrance to the dining room.
"He got held up at the diner. He should be here any minute now," Henry answered, taking his place beside Emma, who was still leaning heavily against Killian. Henry looked at her then and touched her arm. "Mom, are you okay? Do you need anything?"
Emma glanced sideways at her son, smiled lightly and touched his hand that was on her arm. "I'm okay, Henry. I just want your sister to come out very soon." Then she looked down at her belly disapprovingly as if she was chastising the baby. "Very, very soon, young lady."
Killian swallowed a laugh and shared a look of amusement with David who had his lips pursed in an effort to keep from laughing at his loopy daughter. Then quietly, with a nod towards his smiling wife, David whispered, "Runs in the family. You'll get used to it."
"I heard that," came the voices of mother and daughter.
"Emma, love? Do you need anything?" Killian asked Emma was sitting on their bed, pensively staring at the opposite wall. When she didn't answer, Killian walked around the bed and took a seat on the edge so that he was right beside her. "Emma?" He tenderly touched her face, immediately breaking her out of her stupor.
"Oh, sorry. What did you say?" she asked, her hand coming up to her face to rest over his.
"I asked if there was anything you needed."
Quite suddenly, her eyes filled with tears and Killian was left speechless at the way the situation quickly escalated.
"I need her to come out. Why doesn't she want to come out, Killian?" Emma asked, her eyes blinking rapidly as if she was fighting to keep the tears at bay.
"Love, I—"
"Why doesn't she want to see us? Do you think there's something wrong?"
"No, Emma, there's—"
"I don't even know why I'm crying. I swear this is not like me at all. I wasn't like this when I was pregnant with Henry. Maybe we should go to the doctor again. I don't understand why—"
Killian shushed her with a kiss against her lips, his hands tenderly holding her face steady. Then he pulled away to place a kiss upon nose, her cheeks, her eyes, her forehead… everywhere until she finally relaxed in his embrace. "Emma, everything is going to be alright, okay? I promise. The doctor said that this is perfectly normal."
Sniffling, she murmured against his neck, "But I feel so crap. And I've been so horrible and short with you lately. I'm so sorry."
"I know, love and I understand. And I'm sorry too. If it'll make you feel any better, I promise never to let you jump me ever again so we won't have any more surprises like this little one," he joked, his hand rubbing at the area where the baby was currently kicking. He marveled at it; not quite believing that there was an actual child – his child – in there and that any day now, he would be able to meet her finally. Fear and excitement were such tame words to describe how he felt right at that moment of realization.
Emma released a light chuckle, looking up finally to meet his adoring gaze. "I don't really know if that's even an acceptable option but you better not ask for another child anytime soon."
"Can't get enough of my sword, can you?" he teased, leaning forward to peck at her neck.
"Oh shush, you," she said with a light slap against his leg. And even though he couldn't see her face as he was still busy running his lips against her neck and biting lightly every so often, he knew from her tone that she was smiling.
With a final kiss and a quick suck at her pulse, he pulled away and lightly kissed her lips, helping her onto her back in the process. "Time for bed," he murmured against her lips, before he pulled away fully to tuck her in.
"Where are you going?" she asked sleepily, snuggling deeper into her pillow.
"I'm just going to check on Henry, love. I'll be back soon, alright?" He kissed her forehead when she nodded and closed her eyes.
Right, now he had some business to attend to, hopefully with the help of Henry. And if he knew the kid – and he does – Operation Valentine's Day should go swimmingly.
He hoped.
He knocked on Henry's bedroom door and as soon as he heard the muffled, "Come in," he pushed the door open and immediately started pacing in front of Henry's bed.
"Mom was crying again," Henry, who was sitting on his bed with his back against the headboard as he read one of his 'comics', pointed out, his gaze following Killian's movements over the top of his book.
Killian sighed. "It's the baby. Her mood has been up and down lately. I don't understand how women live like this."
"Hey, don't ask me. I'm only fourteen. As far as I should be concerned, the stork should be here any day now."
Killian smiled fondly. "Good lad. That's the spirit. Trust me, you don't want to deal with any of this with anyone anytime soon so remember to always be… careful."
Henry paled instantly. "Don't do this."
"Don't do what?" Killian asked innocently.
"Don't give me 'the talk'."
"What in the world is this 'talk' you speak of?"
"The birds and the bees, Killian."
"I wasn't talking about any animals or insect, lad. I was talking about—"
"Don't!" Henry pleaded, his eyes wide. "Just change the subject, please. Let's move on and talk about what you originally wanted to talk to me about, please."
Killian smiled and obliged. "Alright, fine. I came to talk to you about Valentine's Day. I have nothing planned and I need your help. I think it could cheer your mom up a bit if we do something as a surprise."
Henry smiled then and leaned away from his headboard, closing his publication in the process. "I thought that this would be the case," the boy said mysteriously as he climbed off the bed. Killian stared at the boy as he walked up to his blue and orange desk. With his back to Killian, he pulled his drawer open, dug around for bit and when he turned back around, smiling like the cat who got the cream, Killian was surprised to see that in the boy's hand was a certain magazine that he thought he had hidden well enough somewhere deep in the house. He stared, wide-eyed, at it and back to the grinning boy and gulped.
"I can explain," he started but stopped whatever excuse he would have blurted out when the boy held up a hand.
"It's alright," Henry said, a smile plastered on his face. "If you haven't already noticed, I quite like you, so it wouldn't make a difference to me if you decided to go ahead," –he held up the magazine once again– "with this."
"Really?" Killian asked skeptically, inwardly thanking the gods for giving him such a nice… friend.
"Really," Henry assured him. Then he walked closer to Killian, opening the magazine to a dog-eared page. "Now, I suggest getting something like this," –he pointed at the page– "and give it to her after dinner tomorrow night. You can go to buy it in the morning, make an excuse about errands. I suggest calling the florist early in the morning though before you buy this, and ask for a favor. They'll be busy tomorrow so you'll have to promise them extra money so that they'll deliver flowers to her as a priority while you're out. You have to include a note, telling her to dress up for the night. I'll ask Tink for help for your dinner venue. If anyone can make it happen quickly, it'll be a fairy. I can ask my Mom to use some of her magic but I think her and Robin have plans for the day so she'll be unavailable. I'll let you know the details as soon as we're done. Anyway, you can give this to her after dessert."
Killian stared at the boy in wonder after his speech. "Exactly how much thought have you put into this?" he asked.
"Not long, if you can believe that. I literally just pulled that out of nowhere just now." Henry shrugged, smiling proudly.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about the birds and the bees, mate?" Killian teased, watching as the boy paled again. "You seem mature enough for it."
Henry then stuck his forefingers in his ears and started singing loudly.
"I take it back. Your maturity obviously comes and goes," Killian teased with a chuckle.
The very next day, Valentine's Day, Killian woke up to the lovely kisses Emma had planted across his face and neck, much in the same way that he did to her the night before. He smiled suggestively when she started inching down, down, down his torso to a very important organ between his thighs. Pleasantly surprised, Killian enjoyed her attentions. And after that was regrettably done, she inched away from his grasp and teasingly made her way to the bathroom, not letting him pleasure her in much the same way.
He grinned, satisfied that she was at least in a good mood today – perhaps it was the holiday. It would make his plans go easier, if everything continued like this.
Sometime after both their morning rituals had been done and brunch had been served and eaten, Killian, as he and Henry had planned, made an excuse about important errands and left (but not without sharing a high-five with the boy first).
He called the florist on his way to his destination and finally – finally! – after spending about fifteen minutes making deals with the owner, he finally got him to deliver a bouquet of roses at the last-minute to his and Emma's home.
He continued to his destination with a bounce in his step and promptly bumped into one David Nolan on his way in to the shop.
"Hook!" David exclaimed, placing a steadying hand on Killian's shoulder. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" Killian countered, looking down at the fancy paper bag in David's hand.
"I bought a necklace for my wife. Have you decided on jewelry to give Emma then?"
Killian shifted uncomfortably. "Actually, about that mate," he started warily. "I have to ask you something—"
"I already know. And my answer is yes. Henry's not a secretive child, you know. So go on in," David urged, pushing Killian lightly towards the store's entrance. "Make her happy."
"I knew you liked me, mate," Killian teased, a relieved smile on his face.
David rolled his eyes. "Go in there now or I'll change my mind, Pirate. I have somewhere to be."
Killian sent him a genuine smile. "Thank you," he sincerely said to the Prince, who clapped him on the back and walked away, leaving Killian standing and smiling all by himself on the pavement.
Hours later, when it was time for his dinner with Emma, Henry called him on the hand-held communicator thing that Emma had given him a few months ago and ordered him to go on and pick Emma up from their home and take her to the docks where his ship was apparently decorated suitably for the occasion. He hoped that Henry and his Dad's girlfriend had gone easy on the red-heart decorations that seemed to be all over town. Somehow he knew that that kind of decorations would just reduce Emma to laughter.
He knocked on the front door of his house and waited for Emma to answer it as if they were going on their first date – Henry's plan, not his. He smiled brilliantly when Emma opened the door, looking very lovely wearing a rose-red dress that gathered right under the bust, and flowed down to the floor in pleats. With a confused look on her face she came forward and wrapped her arms around him, as best as she could with the baby in the way, and kissed him on the lips.
He pulled away and smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day, my love. You look positively radiant tonight."
"Thank you," she smiled, stroking his face. "You didn't have to do this, you know. I wasn't really expecting anything."
"I thought so. But I thought I'd do it anyway, because as you already know, there's not much I wouldn't do for you."
"You're amazing."
"At least we're in agreement, love."
Emma chuckled and pulled away from him to fetch her clutch from inside the house. "Alright, take me away, my pirate. Your daughter is hungry."
And so he took Emma to the docks in record time and, with her, marveled at the beauty of his ship. Fairy lights adorned the vessel, bunches of roses were randomly placed on the ship's many nooks and crannies and rose petals were scattered on every surface and floor in sight. On the largest available floor space was a beautifully set up table for two. Emma looked around at the ship in wonder, her eyes brimming with tears, yet again.
"Killian, this is…"
"Amazing?" said a voice behind the two. Emma and Killian turned around as Henry made his presence known. He smiled at his mom. "Thanks, I know. Now, welcome to your special Valentine's dinner date. I'll be your server for the evening. Won't you take a seat, mother."
Emma chuckled, her eyes still wet from unshed tears (of happiness, Killian hoped). "This is lovely, Henry. Did you do all this for us?" Emma asked as Killian helped her to her seat.
"With a little help from my favorite fairy." Henry smiled.
The evening went swimmingly from then on. Bar the random moments when Emma would get too emotional to speak to him or to their 'server', Henry, everything went as planned. Of course, there was an underlying nervousness there as they neared the end of their meal but Killian tampered it down.
As Henry started taking away the dessert dishes, giving him a thumbs up from behind Emma, he reached down to his pocket, felt the small box there to make sure it hadn't gotten lost and gulped discreetly, not wanting to give himself away.
He took Emma's hand then and helped her up from her seat, leading her to the side of the ship that looked out into the sea. Silently, he gently turned her around to face the water and wrapped his arms around her from behind, his hands resting against her belly.
"I love you, Emma," he whispered against her neck, kissing her there.
"I love you, too," Emma whispered back, turning her head to the side so that she could reach his lips.
"Forever," Killian murmured.
"I think I can live with that," she replied with a smile.
"You won't mind if you're stuck with me forever then?"
"Sure, I won't mind," Emma chuckled. "You're quite the looker, you know, so I really don't mind."
Reassured by this, Killian took a deep breath and released her from his embrace. She turned to face him then and he smiled reassuringly as he reached into his pocket for her very special gift. "That's good to know, love, so I assume you won't mind if I…"
Then he went down on one knee…
Emma's eyes widened and her breathing escalated as she stared in surprise and realization at the Captain who was on his knees before her, holding what looked to be a small, square jewelry box in his hand.
"Emma, I—"
"Oh my god," she exclaimed, clutching at her middle. "Killian—"
"I know, but let me finish, love. I need to do this right. Emma, I love you with every—"
Suddenly, a hand pressed against his mouth, preventing him from saying anymore. He started panicking then as Emma stared down at him with a wild look upon her face. That was it. Killian's life was over. She was going to reject him. He just knew it.
And then she spoke…
"My water just broke."
"Hook!" came the voice of David Nolan from down the long and white corridor of the hospital's maternity ward. Killian turned his head to the side and watched David and Mary Margaret run towards him. "How is she?" the man demanded, as soon as they reached his side. "Why are you out here?"
"They sent me out," Killian growled. "Emma and the nurses apparently didn't appreciate me freaking out."
"How long has it been?"
"About three hours now. I only called you an hour ago. What the hell took you so long?"
David glared at him. "We would have been here earlier if you hadn't asked us to fetch Emma's things from your house."
"Well, I couldn't just leave her and fetch it myself," Killian demanded.
"Boys!" Mary Margaret exclaimed. "There are better things to do right now than argue about this. Do we know how far along she is now?"
"She was already halfway dilated an hour and a half ago," Killian replied anxiously. He hated the nurses in this hospital; he hated them with a passion. How dare they kick him out of the room where his daughter was being born? Emma needed someone to hold her hand and soothe her. She needed—
"Mr. Jones?" a voice from the direction of Emma's room said.
Killian snapped his head towards the nurse that was heading towards them and quickly stood up.
"She's ready to start pushing, sir, and she asked for her fiancé to be there with her," the woman informed him.
Killian wasted no time. He hurried to Emma's room where she laid breathing heavily with her damp hair plastered to her skin. He approached her and soothed her with words of endearments whispered into her ear and loving caresses.
And if she broke all the bones in his hand, it goes without saying that he didn't at all mind as he was sure that he clutched her hand just as tightly.
Fifteen minutes later, with a final scream, Emma finally gasped in relief and collapsed against the bed, her eyes streaming with tears and her breathing labored. Killian released a relieved chuckle and placed a lingering kiss on Emma's temple as they both watched as their little bundle was cleaned up and wrapped in a blanket made by Mary Margaret, with the name "Ava" sewn in big, bold, purple letters on the corner.
The midwife turned to them with a smile, little Ava held in her arms.
"Help me sit up, love," Emma whispered hoarsely, tugging lightly on his sleeve.
As soon as she was sitting up comfortably, the midwife carefully placed their daughter in Emma's arms. Tears of joy sprung up in her eyes yet again as she started rocking a crying Ava in her arms, cooing softly as she pressed a kiss against their daughter's soft forehead. "Thank you for finally coming out, little one."
Crying was a normal reaction for a first time parent, David had told him. And though Killian had joked about not shedding a tear, he knew in his heart of hearts at the time that when the time comes for his daughter's birth, he would not be able to hold it in. And he was right. Utterly mesmerized by the little miracle in Emma's arms, it took him a few seconds to notice the moisture in his eyes but he left it, not bothering to wipe it away.
Slowly, he lifted a finger and lovingly ran it down Ava's soft cheek. "She's beautiful," he murmured. Then he turned his attention to Emma, "Just like you. Thank you, love."
"It was a joint effort, Killian," Emma said softly as she looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes twinkling. He leaned down and kissed her then, not able to help himself.
Suddenly, remembering the nurse's choice of words out in the hallway, he pulled away from Emma and gave her a hopeful look. "Out there, when the nurse called me in, she said that you wanted your fiancé to be here with you. Did that—I mean, does that mean that you…accept my, uh, attempted proposal?"
Emma smiled brilliantly then and leaned up to press another kiss upon his lips.
"Yes, Killian."
A/N: Thank you for reading :)
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