"Papa?"
Liam's tiny voice questions, little fingers tracing Killian's wrist with interest. His father cracks open a single eye from where lies dozing on the sofa. Little Liam had joined him several minutes ago, nattering in the way only a child can, until he had gone quiet and curled into his father's side, his hand pulling on Killian's to study it.
"Yes Liam?"
It takes Liam another couple of seconds to decide if he is actually going to continue with his question, a little puff of breath is emitted before he carries on.
"Who is Milah?"
The way his little four-year-old mouth has butchered the pronunciation is endearing and Killian cannot stifle the low chuckle that escapes from his throat. Liam gets his curiousness from his mother; Killian's mind flashes back to when Emma asked an almost identical question all that time ago on top of the beanstalk. He forces both his eyes fully open, shifting Liam onto his lap so that he can both hold him and explain at the same time. He does not look forward to a time when Liam is too big to do this, just as Henry is – there is a part of him that wishes Liam would stay this small and full of questions forever. Killian braces himself to explain his very complicated past to Liam, he's heard some of it before, but nothing about Milah, not yet.
"Milah was a very kind, very caring woman I knew a long time ago and I loved her very much."
Liam takes a few seconds to absorb this information, Killian can practically hear his little brain whizzing and whirring with the effort. He continues to trace the tattoo on his father's arm, his finger following the dagger through the heart and the name branded across it.
"Like you love Mama?"
He looks up at Killian, his little eyes the spitting image of Emma with a thick black curl threatening to cover them.
"Yeah," Killian admits "I loved her very much."
Liam seems to accept this easily. Killian is in awe of how understanding his little man is, how he can just trust his father without any barriers. His heart aches in way he had missed for hundreds of years until he met and Emma and until he had a child of his own. Liam has returned to examining the tattoo with interest.
"What happened to her?" There is such wisdom behind his words. It seems he understands that something must have happened to her, that his father would never just leave someone he loved. Liam knows what love means, he sees it every day in a way that makes Killian almost envious; Liam has such a large family who would do anything for him, something that neither him nor Emma had for a long time and thus strive to provide for their son.
"She died a very long time ago." Liam's little eyes snap up to his father, worry flooding them.
"Like Uncle Liam?"
"Just like Uncle Liam."
Liam pushes himself up from his place on his father's lap, sock clad feet painfully standing on Killian's legs. His tiny arms wrap around Killian and he buries his face in his father's neck. Killian can feel the soft puffs of breath against his collarbone comfortingly.
"I'm sorry Papa." Killian cannot help the tears that start to build in his eyes and fall down into Liam's inky hair. He lays a soft kiss onto his forehead and wipes his tears.
"I am too." He releases the breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. Here is his little duckling, who is so small and young compared to his own hundreds of years, and yet Liam is comforting him. Killian is struck by his content. For such a long time he had thought the only way he could ever be happy was if the crocodile payed for what he had done, but then he had met Emma and fallen deeper in love than he ever imagined. It may have taken a while, a few curses and realms coming between them, but eventually they had managed to find each other again – and then Liam came along to join them, making their world even brighter. Killian treasures everyday with his family, desperately aware of his happiness and his luck in managing to live so long to find them.
Liam remains in his arms for a few minutes, content to just be in the presence of his father. But eventually he becomes restless and wriggles away to play with his toys that litter the floor. Killian watches as his son create whole worlds in his imagination. His squeals of laughter fill their house as Killian joins him on the floor, altering his voice for each of the characters on Liam's toy boat.
And this is how Emma finds them when she returns home from work with Henry in tow. Liam immediately runs over to pull Henry in to their game after saying a quick hello to his mother; Killian stands up at a slower pace to Liam, sauntering over to where she is putting the shopping on the counter. His arms find their way around her waist, his beard scratching her neck as he plants a kiss there. She lifts an arm to stroke his hair as she unpacks the shopping bag, pausing momentarily she revel in the domesticity of her life as he holds her, listening to her sons' laughter across the room.
"How was your day with Liam?" She asks, turning in his arms to give him a peck on the lips.
"Good. We played for a bit, read a book." He pauses before adding. "He asked about Milah." Emma hums good naturedly.
"What did you tell him?" She glances over his shoulder to look at the boy in question.
"Just that I loved her and she died. He said it was just like his uncle Liam." Killian chokes on his last words, the harsh memories of their lost feeling particularly fresh. He swallows his tears as she caresses his face, showing him how much she loves him without words. They stand wrapped up for a few minutes while the boys play in the background, until he pulls away to face his sons.
"Who wants to go to Granny's for dinner?" Shouts of agreement come from the living room and Liam come barrelling towards Killian who leans down to catch him, hauling him up into his arms with an exaggerated groan. "You are getting heavy little man!"
He put him down and helps him put his shoes on coat on as Emma texts her parents and Regina to ask if they want to meet them at Granny's. Liam walks in between his parents as the sun sets on Storybrooke, asking every couple of feet to be sung in the air. They cannot resist his pleas and his laughter rings out all the way to Granny's. They laugh the whole way through the meal, Neal and Liam giggling constantly until they wear themselves out, Liam's little head almost drooping into his food several times.
He clings onto his father the whole way home, his eyes fluttering closed almost as soon as his head hits his father's shoulder. As Killian places him in the bed when they finally reach home way past his bed time, Liam whispers four little words that make Killian's heart clench as he turns the lights off in his son's room.
"I love you Daddy."