Title: lullabies.

Rating: g.

Written because someone posted that given that Sean Maguire & Colin O'Donoghue are both musicians that it'd be a damn shame if they didn't sing sometime in the show and so...


The day Killian found out she was pregnant was the day Emma learnt something new about her husband. He had an incredible voice.

She had hit him on the shoulder, accusing him of covering his beautiful tenor up when he should have totally used it to serenade her – she might have said yes faster. Of course, he'd raised an eyebrow and quipped that using his voice might've negated his vow to not use any form of trickery in winning her heart; and said that in any case, it had worked out favourably. Emma remembers hitting him again, but had ceased immediately when he started singing beautiful lullabies in the twelve languages that he was apparently fluent in.

She supposed she was glad he did, because during her pregnancy he had taken to singing to her swollen belly in the quiet evenings as they curled up on the couch, talking about their day, and now, the only thing that could more often than not subdue her little infant was the sound of her father's voice, crooning lullabies in languages Emma knew little about.

That was how she found Killian, sitting in the nursery, cradling Mia to his bare chest as he rocked her gently.

"Ohé! Ohé! Matelot, matelot navigue sur les flots, Ohé! Ohé! Matelot, matelot navigue sur les flots," he sung softly, as their little baby of three months watched him with bright blue eyes so like her father's.

Emma took French as a second language in high school, and though she could remember embarrassingly little of it, she knew navigue had something to do with the navy… or maybe navigation, but something boaty, for sure.

"Are you trying to teach her to be a pirate already?" she asked, walking in and placing a light kiss to his lips while gently caressing the brow of her daughter, who despite the late hour seemed intent on staying awake.

She sat beside him, glad that Snow had the foresight to gift them a rocking chair big enough to sit two.

"Actually," Killian said softly, "it's about a bunch of sailors on a ship deciding whom to eat after their rations run out."

Emma's fingers stilled on Mia's brow, as she turned to stare at her husband incredulously.

"Why is that a lullaby?"

Killian shrugged, taking the opportunity to drop a kiss to his daughter's cheek.

"Lots of lullabies are lessons, love. They've been far long before my time. Isn't that right, Emilia?" he cooed at her. It was way too cute to be allowed, but Emma was still hung up on the fact that her husband was busy singing to their 3 month old about cannibalism.

"Isn't there another song? Something nice, like I don't know, Frère Jacques?"

He gave her a positively sinful grin, with a soft "As you wish" before launching into another song.

"Un crocodile, s'en allant à la guerre, disait au revoir à ses petits enfants, trainant ses pieds, ses pieds dans la poussière, il s'en allait combattre les elephants, Ah! Les crocrocro, les crocodiles," Killian sung, looking positively devious as his eyes caught hers.

"You've got to be kidding me," Emma muttered, shaking her head. "There's an actual song about a crocodile?"

"Oh it gets better… it's about a crocodile going to war, only to cower in fear later and deserts when he sees an opportunity…"

Emma shook her head disapprovingly, though she was sure he could see the slight smirk of amusement she was trying to desperately to hide at the irony.

"How about you try something nice for a change?" she snarked at him, patting Mia's tummy to make sure her napkin was comfortable and dry.

Instead of answering her, Killian sung another tune, much to the delight of Mia who rewarded him with a happy smile.

"Alouette, gentille alouette, alouette, je te plumerai," he hummed, wincing a little as Mia grabbed bits of his chest hair in her tiny fist and pulled.

"I know that one," Emma murmured, still tracing the features of Mia's cherub face in a bid to rock her to sleep. Killian grinned brightly at her, eyes dancing.

"Didn't you like that princess, daddy sung a normal lullaby for you?"

Her words sent Killian into silent laughter, his chest heaving as he struggled to keep his laughter in as to not disrupt Mia.

"What?" she asked, suspicious.

"Love, aloutte is about how you're going to pluck feathers off a lark, first from its head, then its beak, then its back, and so on…"

Emma's mouth dropped in shock. "Are you kidding me? What is wrong with the French? Jesus."

Killian gave her a shit-eating grin that made Emma say, "We're never taking her to France, ever."

"Your mum is terribly dramatic, isn't she, little lass?" Killian asked Mia, who yawned in response.

He grinned at Emma. "I'm taking her response as a yes."

Emma rolled her eyes at him. "If this one is going to be taking sides, you know she's going to be on mine."

Killian stuck his tongue out at her, as through he was 3 instead of 300, and said, "Oh please, she's daddy's little girl. Aren't you, princess?"

But Mia wasn't paying any attention to her parents' back-and-forth; her eyes were fluttering close as sleep called her.

"Good night, sweetheart," Emma said quietly, placing a kiss on her brow as her baby fell asleep in the warmth of her father's arms.

Emma herself snuggled in to Killian's side, descending into a comfortable silence as they waited the usual ten minutes before placing Mia in her cot and retreating for the night.

Later, in the privacy of their bedroom, Killian sung her a special version of her own lullaby that included plenty of humming and the use of his very talented tongue.


A/N – The lullabies mentioned are Il Était Un Petit Navire, Ah Les Crocodiles, and Alouette, respectively. And yes, that's exactly what they're about. Also? The mental image of Colin O'Donoghue singing French lullabies is enough to do me in. Au revoir, world.