Emma walked into her front entryway and slid off her boots. She could hear Penny laughing in the next room and a smile lit up her face. She turned the corner and leaned against the doorjamb. The sight that awaited her was of Killian on the floor with Penny flitting around him. He had clips in his hair and the worst shade of blue sparkly eye shadow Emma had ever seen from a child's make-up kit. Penny was giggling wildly as she searched for just the right lip gloss from the myriad possibilities on their floor.

The laughter that escaped Emma's throat stopped the scene as Penny and her husband noticed her standing there. "Mommy!" The small girl shrieked and ran to give her mom a quick hug around the legs before pulling her toward the options. "What color should I put on Daddy for his lips?" She pulled out two containers and waved them excitedly.

Making eye contact with Killian over the girl's shoulder, she tried not to laugh at this situation. She selected one that was pink and shimmery. "I think this one would go great with the eye shadow you've already got on him." Killian shot her a look that said she would pay for this later, but he couldn't say no to Penny and sat still as she laboriously applied far more than one coat onto his lips, and the surrounding skin.

When she was done and had carefully screwed the two pieces back together she turned proudly to the coffee table to hand Killian a mirror resting there, "What do you think, Daddy?"

Being sure to look at his new style from several different angles before he spoke, he loudly proclaimed, "I think that you have a very possible career as a beautician if you work hard at it, love!" He grabbed the girl and began to tickle her prompting Emma to join in. The three were breathless from laughter when they finally came to an end of their tickle-fight. "Listen you, why don't you clean this up and take it to your room. Then you have time for two episodes of Daniel Tiger while your mom and I get supper ready. Deal?" The little girl nodded and began to pick up her various pieces of make up while Killian and Emma stood and went to the kitchen.

"How about it, Swan, do I need to start letting her do my look every day?" Killian asked as he felt around his hair to remove all of the clips. He reached for a paper towel to swipe at the clompy goo coating his mouth.

Emma kissed him before responding, "I think the guy-liner is about all I can take." She said on a laugh.

Holding a hand to his chest, he feigned hurt, "You wound me, Love. I thought you liked this look?"

"Oh, I do, it just doesn't pair well with bright blue eye shadow with your skin tone." Emma winked as she handed him a moistened tissue to remove the child's make up and moved to take ingredients from the freezer and cupboard. It wasn't the first night Emma had come home from work to see Killian in the midst of a makeover from Penny. She enjoyed the sight each time. Many men wouldn't have let their daughters do this to them, but Killian was always a willing participant and refused to be embarrassed by it. It made Penny happy and he loved her.

The two worked in silence for a couple of minutes as Killian checked that all of the cosmetics were off and Emma pre-heated the oven. Neither had forgotten their tense conversation at Regina's. "How was your conversation with August today?" Killian bravely broached the subject.

Stopping in her preparation of the pan, Emma turned and collapsed into Killian's arms. "I'm sorry. I was so short with you this morning. You were just looking out for our family." She backed away, but maintained contact with their arms, "That couldn't have been an easy sight to walk in on."

He looked intently at her, "You're right, it wasn't. Seeing the man you've loved for so many years and the father of a girl who means the world to me standing over you, clearly concerned does not exactly top my list of things I wish to see." He calmed his voice, "but you're avoiding my question. How did your talk with him go?"

As he expected, Emma turned away from him and returned to her job. Killian took a knife and began chopping some vegetables, waiting for her to continue. He had to wait her out. She still wasn't great at being vulnerable and he knew that. He also knew that this had been a challenging day. "Well, he saw one of Pen's frames that she's decorated for Marco, so he already had an idea that something was up. We talked about him leaving, about how much you helped me," she shot him a look and he bowed his head in reply, "and about Penny."

Silence rang again. All he could do was wait. There was more, he was sure of it. "He wants to meet her." Emma stilled and refused to look away from the counter. "Which, of course he does. Why wouldn't he? I just don't know how to bring that up to her." Abruptly looking over at Killian, her voice hardened, "you didn't-" She broke off.

"What? Did I tell our five-year-old that her father has returned from the dead and will probably want to arrange a play-date?" he scoffed. "No, I thought that it was probably better coming from you."

Sliding the pan into the oven, setting the timer, and then leaning back against the counter next to Killian, she stilled his hand that was still diligently chopping. "Hey," he looked her in the eye. "It's something that should come from both of us."

He wouldn't meet her eyes. She knew this was a tough time for him as well but all he wanted to do was help her. He was selfless like that with her. This, this might be too much. He might need to be just a little selfish here and she couldn't blame him for it. They cleaned up in silence as well. She couldn't remember a more awkward time for the two of them. She couldn't take it.

"There's only a few minutes left. I'll go get Pen and get her to wash up for dinner." Killian started to make his way out of the kitchen.

"Hey." Emma called to him. "No matter what, you're still Daddy to her. She adores you and I can't handle this without you."

He nodded solemnly, "I hope that's true." With that he turned to walk toward the stairs.