"Thank you," Emma said as she placed her lips on his, keeping the kiss brief and chaste. "For everything."
Killian couldn't believe that this was finally happening; his love, his Emma was finally in his arms and kissing his lips. He had been waiting for this from the second he first laid eyes on her, and now, she was with him.
He was stunned when they finally broke away from each other, his hand cupping her cheek and their foreheads pressed closely together. "Emma," he whispered.
"I've waited a long time to do that," she admitted as she closed her eyes. He couldn't keep the grin from his face, and he kissed her again. "Killian?"
He hummed and pressed their lips together again. He would never get tired of kissing her.
"Killian, stop." She pulled away from him and he whined at the loss. "We are still at a party, you know. The one that you helped plan. For my child."
"Yeah," David spoke teasingly from the group that surrounded them, "some of us don't need to watch the first five minutes of every porn ever made."
"David!" Mary Margaret admonished. "Is that even remotely appropriate?"
Killian grinned, waving the pair off. "You're right, mate. I apologize for making the situation… indecent."
Emma rolled her eyes and moved so that she and Killian were side by side instead of on top of each other. Frowning at the loss of contact, Killian grasped her hand between both of his.
"Thank you so much," said Emma, "for all of this. I can't tell you how much this means to me."
Elsa and Mary Margaret had matching smiles, and Killian felt his heart swell. These people were his family, and he was so glad that Emma felt comfortable here. When she yawned, her grip tightening on his hand for just a moment, he knew that they would have to be going soon. They had been here, in Mary Margaret and David's apartment, for a few hours now and he knew that she grew tired easily now that she was so far along in her pregnancy. Gently, he stroked his thumbs along the lines of her hands, pulling her attention back to him. She smiled, a barely there curve of her lips, and leaned back into him, her head coming to rest on his shoulder.
"Are you about ready to go?" he whispered in her ear, taking the time to kiss her temple.
Emma nodded and shot him a grateful look. "Whenever you are."
Killian pulled away from her and stood, ready to bid farewell to his friends. Emma seized the same opportunity for closeness that he had and held on tightly to his hand, standing as he stood.
"We're sorry to be leaving so early-" Killian tried to excuse himself and Emma, but David shot him a look, "- okay, maybe not that sorry. However, this one is carrying a little energy sucker and I should probably get her home so she can go to bed."
"Yeah, to bed." Killian heard Victor's mumbled comment made to Kristoff and he shook his head. Why did his friends always have their minds firmly in the gutter?
They made their way around the room while saying their goodbyes, David and Mary Margaret following behind them and gathering up gifts for them to take back to Emma's apartment. He had to let go of Emma's hand so that he could help David with a few of the larger boxes, and Emma took the time to wrap Mary Margaret in a hug, murmuring something in her ear, broad smiles plastered on both of their faces.
Yes, Killian thought as he and David loaded the presents into a small wagon, this is what I want my life to be like from now on.
CS*CS*CS*CS*CS*CS
They stayed silent on the ride home, Emma's left hand still firmly grasping Killian's right, and for once, Killian wasn't afraid about what was going to happen. He knew that what he had, right here, with Emma was real and that she could be his happily ever after. He just had to hope that she felt the same way that he did.
He chanced a look at her while they were stopped at a red light – God, was she beautiful. Killian knew that if he had his way, he would never have to look at another woman again in his life. She smiled and Kilian brought her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her cracked knuckles; he couldn't do more now, but he was determined to show her just how much he cared for her… just how much he loved her.
There was a honk behind him and Killian realized that he had been caught up in staring at Swan; the light had turned green and had probably been that way for a few moments now. He coughed awkwardly as he moved his foot to the gas pedal and continued on to their apartment complex.
Killian needed to talk to Emma about their feelings for each other – sooner rather than later.
CS*CS*CS*CS*CS*CS
"Penny for your thoughts?" They were putting away all of the gifts that Emma had received that afternoon, Killian's job being to make sure that everything in the nursery was organized so that Emma could find what she needed at a moment's notice. He was having a hard time with all of the diapers she had received and was trying to place them in order of size.
He cocked his head; he heard her voice but hadn't really caught her question. "What was that, love? Sorry, this bloody pack of nappies doesn't have a clearly marked size and it's frustrating."
"I just asked what was on your mind. You've seemed distant since we got home from the party."
"Home?"
"Well… yeah. Home."
Glancing up from the cabinet holding the diapers, Killian met her eyes. They were clear and honest – something he had never really gotten when he was in the relationship with Milah. His eyes darted across her face, searching for an answer to the unspoken question that he knew was written across his face.
Emma's eyebrows bunched. "Killian, you know what you mean to me," she started uneasily; maybe he hadn't been as clear as he thought with his affections.
"Actually, love, I was hoping that we could talk about that," he admitted.
He closed the cabinet he had been working on and turned away from it, gesturing for her to sit down with him. She obliged, even though it was hard for her to get up and down, and Killian took her hands in his. When his eyes met hers once again, he tried to put the amount of love he felt for her into his gaze.
"I know that things are complicated between us," Killian started, temporarily removing his left hand from her right so that he could brush a piece of hair from her face, "what with Neal's passing and Milah's treachery, but there's something between us, Emma. I know you feel it too."
"I do, Killian." Her voice was shaking and she had to pause before finishing her thought. "A part of me will always love Neal-" her eyes filled with tears "-and I don't want to forget about the life we shared with each other."
"You know that I would never make you forget him."
"Yes, I know that. Especially with Henry on the way. Neal wanted to know so badly when I told him I was pregnant – he wanted to know if he was going to have a son or a daughter so that we could work on the room. And I told him to wait."
Killian knew where she was going with this, but he didn't want to interrupt her – here he was, sitting on the floor of the nursery that he had helped put together because the father of the baby was dead because of his psychotic ex. It was natural to fall into the role of father and provider, even if he and Emma were only friends, and he had never realized how much this weighed on her.
She had taken a deep breath while he was lost in thought – he was brought back to her by her shaky exhale. "I guess that I feel guilty," she admitted. "Neal would have been a fantastic father, but he'll never get a chance to meet his son."
"Emma, there is nothing you could have done to help him," Killian stressed, gripping her hands tighter in his. "Neal knew. He knew when we got called to my apartment that he wasn't going to make it out of there alive. He… he made me promise him something, actually."
"What was that?" she whispered.
"He made me promise that I would take care of you. He loved you, Emma. You and Henry, even if he never got a chance to hold Henry in his arms."
Emma let out a sob upon hearing his promise and climbed into Killian's lap, wrapping herself tightly around him; he pulled her as close as he could, resting his chin on her forehead. How many nights had she cried in his arms about the death of her boyfriend? How many times had he reassured her that she would be a fantastic mother, even without Neal at her side? Infinite times and he had never seen her as shaken as she was right then. He gently ran the fingers of his right hand through her long, blonde locks, pausing each time his fingers ran down her neck to rub small circles in her skin.
"He wanted you and Henry to have your best chance," he murmured into the hair at the top of her head.
He couldn't tell you how long they sat on the floor of Henry's nursery, curled up together in a tight little mass of limbs that just felt right, but he could tell you that he held her until her sobs ceased to mere sniffles and her breathing slowed down to a normal rate. And he kept holding her, even when she was calmed down, because he knew that's what they both needed.
Emma was the one to finally break the spell they were under. "I don't want to forget him." Her voice was choked from the tears she had shed. "But, I want to give us a chance, too. He would want me and Henry to be happy, right?"
"Aye."
"You make me happy, Killian, and I know that you make Henry happy too. He gets really still when you talk, almost like he's trying to take in every word you say. And when we end up curled together on the couch, I always feel him shift and it's always to whatever side you happen to be sitting on."
Killian pulled away, amazed. "You can't be serious, love."
Instead of answering, she placed his hands on her stomach and shifted so that she was seated next to him instead of in his lap. The blood rushed to his legs – he hadn't even realized they had fallen asleep – but that wasn't what was holding his attention.
She was right. When she moved away, there was a pause before Henry moved inside of her so that he was pressed against the side he was sitting on.
"That is a bloody wonder, Emma," he breathed, rubbing his hands on her stomach gently. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to the part of her where Henry was before whispering to him. "Hello, little lad. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."
"I think he loves you already," she whispered. "And I think that I do too."
His head shot up. He was not expecting this, not today at least.
His expression made hers turn to worry, and he could tell she was starting to retreat behind her walls again. "No, no, don't worry, love," he reassured her. "I was just surprised. I thought I was the only one who felt this way."
"Do you mean…?"
"Aye. I love you too, Emma Swan."
CS*CS*CS*CS*CS*CS
The next two months, the final two of Emma's pregnancy, flew by in a blur. They spent their days cuddled together in her apartment as the weather grew colder, Texas curled up at their feet in quiet contentment. It seemed that Killian and Texas didn't spend very much time at his apartment any more, but he didn't want to rush and mess things up with Emma. He was quite happy to spend his days with her wrapped up in his arms or taking her for lunch in between his shifts at the fire station or rubbing her feet or reading quietly to her and Henry as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
This was honestly the happiest he's been since before he met Milah at that bar all of those years ago, and he was pretty sure that Emma was feeling the same way.
They had yet to do more than a little heavy kissing; Emma's pregnancy made her resistant to most touch at any given day and he was a gentleman, after all. He wasn't going to force her to do anything more intimate than what they had, and she had thanked him for it over and over again.
Until Henry was a week overdue.
"Killian," whined Emma from the living area.
He was in the kitchen making lunch for the pair of them, which was a treat since he was currently taking as many shifts at the station as possible so that he could be with Emma at a moment's notice when Henry decided to make his grand entrance into the world. "Yes, my love?" he called, not taking his attentions from the grilled ham and cheese sizzling away in the skillet.
"I need you. Like right now."
"Well, I can come and rub your feet in a minute. Just let me finish lunch, okay? Can't let you and the babe go hungry, now can I?"
The apartment was nearly silent; all he could hear was the faint sound of the Talking Heads coming from the speakers of his phone and Texas's heavy panting from the entryway. He moved to poke his head out of the kitchen to check on Emma, but she beat him to it – she had somehow moved to quietly stand about a foot behind him, scaring the piss out of him and almost making him jump backwards into the hot stove.
"Bloody hell, woman, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" He could smell the sandwich on the stove, meaning that it was time to bring it from the heat, and he turned to flip it out of the pan and onto a plate. "One ham and cheese a la Killian for your dining pleasure, madam," he teased with a grin, turning back to her.
She took the plate from him and put it on the counter next to the stove before she wrapped her arms the best she could around Killian's waist and crushing their lips together in a passionate kiss. She didn't waste any time; as soon as he got over the shock of her kiss and had a hand at the small of her back (the other one absentmindedly rubbing circles on her stomach), she moved her hands so that the right was twisted into the short hairs at the base of his neck and her left was raking through the chest hair poking out of his unbuttoned shirt.
Killian had to pull away to breathe. Where did this come from? he thought as he pressed their foreheads together, both panting wildly.
"That was-"
"Intense." She finished his sentence easily. "I told you, I needed you."
Killian started laughing, feeling a bit ridiculous. "I thought you wanted a foot rub and a sandwich," he teased. "That's what you needed about twenty minutes ago, anyway."
There was a fire clearly burning in her eyes; it was the only warning she got before her lips were attached to his again. There was no innocent fumbling here, only an intense, raw surge of want and passion and love.
Love. She was trying to make love to him. His revelation hit him like a ton of bricks to the face, and he felt his stomach drop like a lead balloon. He was aroused – how could he not be when she was pawing at him and grinding against him the best she was able to?
He pulled away from her reluctantly, and Emma narrowed her eyes briefly before trying to kiss him again.
"What are you doing, love?"
"Well I'm trying to get my boyfriend to pay attention to me, but he keeps insisting on talking."
Heaving a great sigh, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and reached back so he could hand her the grilled cheese. "Why don't we eat some lunch, darling?"
Emma's face contorted in confusion and pain before her eyes filled to the brim with tears and she turned away from him.
"I knew you wouldn't want me," she whimpered. She was wrapping her arms tightly below her chest in the small crevice of space Henry wasn't using as temporary living. "I knew you wouldn't want to be with someone as disgusting as me."
Killian hadn't thought about the aspect of rejection. Her hormones were on a delicate ledge this week in particular since Henry was refusing to come meet his mom. He left her lunch sitting by the stove and walked to her front, lifting her face to meet his.
"What makes you think I wouldn't want you?" His tone was gentle and comforting as he grabbed her hand and led it to the evidence of his slowly flagging arousal. "Would this happen if I didn't want you?"
"Then why won't you have sex with me?" She was on the verge of hysterics; he sighed and linked his fingers with hers, leading her out of the kitchen and onto her comfy couch where he pulled her into his lap. "Hell, Killian, we barely even get to second base anymore!"
"I don't want you to feel like you have to, Emma," Killian said softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I love you, and I noticed that you didn't want to be touched as often these last few weeks, so I kept my hands to myself. You know that. I would never expect you to do anything with me that you didn't want to, my love."
"What if I want to?"
"Swan, you're a week overdue. Do you really think that now is the best time to start having a more… physical… relationship?"
Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sex induces labor, Killian."
His eyes widened and he could feel his face turning bright red. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh."
"Do you…" he started rubbing the skin behind his ear. "I mean, do you really want our first time together to be because you want to have a baby?"
"That's usually a good reason why couples have sex, Killian," Emma deadpanned.
"You know what I meant."
Sighing again, Emma nestled her head into the crook of his neck and took a deep breath. Killian took the opportunity to bury his face in her hair and press small kisses to her scalp. "I just… I'm worried, Killian. What if something is wrong with him?"
"We just talked to the doctor yesterday, Emma. There is nothing wrong with your amazing little boy."
"I'll just feel better when he's here and we can hold him to our hearts' content."
Killian chuckled, making her hair come up to tickle at his nose. "What are some other ways we can get this little man to introduce himself?"
CS*CS*CS*CS*CS*CS
Three days later, Killian found himself walking hand in hand with Emma through the cluttered aisles of their grocery store, on the hunt for Rocky Road ice cream, Cool Ranch Doritos, and Colby string cheese. Killian would never get over how great it felt to be able to show the world how much he cared about this woman. It had been a great day so far; they had taken Texas to the park for a sunrise walk, even though their noses were red and protesting the cold, and then, they went to visit Mary Margaret and David, who were amazed that Henry hadn't come into the world kicking and screaming by now.
After they had left the Nolan's apartment, and even though they had been fed extremely well, Emma claimed that she was famished. Thus began their noble quest to find ice cream, chips, and cheese; Killian thought it was a horrible combination and refuse to touch anything she ate with a ten foot pole, but who was he to judge what the love of his life was craving?
They were walking slowly up and down every aisle. In no rush to get home, Killian and Emma were enjoying this simple domestic act and took advantage of it by pressing kisses to cheeks, lips, foreheads, and hands at any chance they got, giggling like a pair of high school sweethearts who just found out that they were going to the same college after graduation. Maybe they should have been more attentive.
Maybe they wouldn't have literally run into Milah's husband, Robert.
"Well, what do we have here, dearie?" the snide little voice sang out, looking menacing against the backdrop that was the freezer section. "If it isn't the reason I have to visit the prison twice a week to see my wife."
Killian tensed and felt Emma's hand squeeze his in reassurance. "Gold," he said. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
Gold's eyes narrowed in anger and Killian put Emma behind himself, jaw clenching. Gold ignored the question, choosing instead to move so Emma was in his line of sight at all costs, no matter how hand Killian tried to prevent it. She raised a hand and smoothed it down Killian's arm, and he felt calmed for a moment.
He wasn't going to let anything happen to her or Henry.
"This must be the little tramp that made you break my Milah's heart," he spat. "Nowhere near the beauty of your last fuck toy, is she Jones? Or should I call you pirate? You do seem to have a proclivity for stealing the belongings of others. Didn't this-" he waved a dismissive hand to Emma, eyes still fixed directly on Killian's, "- belong to that man my wife was sent to jail for murdering?"
Killian felt his face burn with white-hot anger. "Don't talk about her that way," he growled, circling so that he and Emma had their backs to the freezer; Gold couldn't get to her that way. Not without severely hurting him in the process.
"Killian, we don't have to do this," Emma urged, whispering in his ear. "We can leave. We don't have to get groceries right now."
"Listen to your whore, dearie." Gold was clearly enjoying this, and Killian couldn't help himself – he lunged, falling to the floor in a heap when Gold stepped out of the way in a nick of time. "Oh, look," he taunted, "the tramp has a little bastard growing inside her. Is it yours, pirate? Did you fuck her while you were fucking my Milah?"
There was nothing Killian could do to stop the taunts. He knew that noting serious would come of this meaning; the man was a coward. Even so, he felt himself panicking and looking to Emma in reassurance.
She was using Gold's moment of distraction to tap away on her phone. The look she sent him made him hopeful; she had done the same thing he had and dialed the police, not bothering to talk into the receiver but letting the conversation show what was really happening.
"Milah and I had a deal, you see," Gold kept poking at Killian's metaphorical wounds, wounds he had thought had healed over. "She got to fuck you whenever her heart desired, as long as she came home to me and cared for our house and our child."
Killian tensed; he had never known that Milah had a child. He would never take a mother away from their baby.
"I take it you didn't know about Bae?" Gold asked with a manic glint in his eye. "Oh, how I should have killed you when you first proposed she leave our little family for your sad, pathetic home. I should have killed you when you broke her heart. And now, I'm going to do much worse."
There was tense silence between them for a few moments, and Killian's heart was beating loudly in his chest.
"I'm going to rip your heart out."
CS*CS*CS*CS*CS*CS
He didn't remember what happened after he lunged at Gold; it was all a blur of fury, pain, and a need to protect the love of his life.
And their unborn child, his mind so helpfully supplied. No, not his child, but he would love Henry as if they were truly blood relatives. But you wish he were yours. His mind wouldn't shut up and he didn't know where he was. He didn't know where Emma was and he was afraid – for her and for Henry.
Thoughts swam through Killian's head like a school of fish: they were jumbled together, swirling fast, and he couldn't pick the beginning of one from the end of another.
He had to find Emma.
He just had to.
CS*CS*CS*CS*CS*CS
"Killian?"
He opened his eyes and he could have sworn an angel was gazing down at him. Then he registered the pain in his head and winced. He struggled to pull himself to a seated position as the flaxen haired angel was pushing against his shoulders to prevent the motion.
"Killian, you can't get up yet. You hit your head; David's going to check you out and make sure that you don't have a concussion."
His vision swam and he rubbed his eyes before opening them again. "Emma," he sighed, "you're really here?"
"Why wouldn't I be here?" She furrowed her eyebrows and settled herself into a more comfortable position at his side. "I love you, you silly man. I'll be here for as long as you'll have me."
He finally figured out that they were still in the freezer aisle at the grocery store and he ran his hand over his face and through his hair, wincing when he hit a tender spot. "Because Gold… he tried to hurt you, love."
"After you jumped at him, the police came. Apparently I wasn't the only one to call; one of the cashiers was restocking shelves and heard what was going on so he called the police. He didn't get a chance to hurt me, or Henry." She smiled and ran her hands through his hair gently.
David came over to check Killian out, pronouncing him a dumbass for charging at Gold, but assuring him that there was no sign of a concussion. Killian slowly stood up, knowing to be wary of the change in blood pressure when standing up too fast, especially after a head injury, and leaned over to help Emma from the floor. She was overdue by almost two weeks; she really shouldn't have been sitting on the floor with him for as long as she did.
Emma was on her feet, wrapped in Killian's arms, when it happened. Groaning in pain and curling in on herself, she looked down at the floor before meeting Killian's eyes, her expression terrified.
"Killian," she said breathlessly, "my water just broke. Henry's on his way."
CS*CS*CS*CS*CS*CS
Killian and Emma sat in the quiet hospital room – Emma was sitting forward on her bed, Killian sitting behind her, with their legs intertwined.
They had been at the hospital for over nineteen hours, with Emma in active labor for almost eighteen. Killian was sure that there were some slight fractures in his hand, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was able to help his love through one of the most painful things she would ever have to experience, and it was worth every bone-crushing, profanity-spewing moment.
After nine and a half months of pregnancy, Emma gave birth to Henry Neal Swan on November 18th at 4:57 in the morning, a healthy nine pounds and seven ounces, and twenty-one inches long.
They sat curled together on the bed, Henry nestled in his mother's arms fast asleep. He could tell that Emma was almost there; she had been awake for over twenty-four hours and it had been a trying day. Killian was honestly surprised that she was still awake after she fed Henry for the first time.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and placed a kiss on her bared shoulder, thanking his lucky stars that he was able to be here, his love in his arms, and a beautiful baby boy in his life.
"What are you thinking about?" The whisper came out of nowhere; they had been sitting in companionable silence for almost an hour now, content to bask in the wonder that was Henry.
"About you and the lad," he answered honestly. "You're really all I ever think about these days, love."
Emma tilted her head back and caught his mouth in an awkward kiss. "I love you, Killian Jones."
"And I you, Emma Swan."
CS*CS*CS*CS*CS*CS
*One Year Later*
"Killian!" Emma called into their shared apartment, tripping over Texas on her way to the kitchen. "Have you seen the candles?"
"I'm right here, love. No need to shout." His face was twisted in his typical smirk and Henry was balanced carefully on his hip. "And, you left the candles, balloons, and other decorations over at David's. Where we were supposed to be about twenty minutes ago."
Emma rolled her eyes and Killian pressed into her space, capturing her lips in a deep, passionate kiss.
"We'll never get there if you keep that up," she teased. "How would you feel if you made your son miss his own birthday party?"
"I would tell him that he's lucky his parents love each other, and that he will never remember it anyway."
"I guess you're right." She sighed and placed a careful kiss on Henry's forehead. "However, how would you explain our disappearance to Mary Margaret?"
Killian gulped and shifted Henry to Emma's arms, rushing off to grab their presents to their son and locking Texas in his cage.
"What are you waiting for, love? We have a party to get to!"