Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT.

AN: I rewrote this chapter at least three times, probably because it was not in the original outline. I added it because I felt it was needed. I guess it's for you to decide. I'm sorry that this update took so long but I'm working on several other projects while writing this story. When you add real life with a three year old constantly demanding attention you will get a rather busy schedule. I hope you'll enjoy this one. A big thank you for captain-k-jones and Mona001 for beating this.

Part 10

The cool October wind swept the strands of hair that fell out of her ponytail as Emma Swan walked through the city one morning. It wasn't exactly cold but you could tell that November was waiting just around the corner to fill the air with its frosty breath and Emma liked her weather warm. She pulled the fluffy collar of her leather jacket tighter around her neck. The street was rather empty as she headed towards the already busy restaurant.

She had a scheduled brunch with her mother. As much as she would rather be at home now, spending her free day on the couch, reading her favourite magazines, she knew canceling the thing would bring more trouble than it was worth. It was way easier just to be done with it.

Her smartphone buzzed in her pocket, announcing the arrival of a message. She frowned at the thought of someone disturbing her day. She really didn't want to be dealing with people today, her mother's incoming interrogation was enough for her. Except... It could be Killian who messaged her. That thought alone made her heart skip a beat.

They had been exchanging text messages and phone calls for a little over a week now and she had to admit, she looked forward to hearing from him. He was funny and smart, and he always managed to make her smile... even when she thought it was not possible.

Over the course of their conversations, she actually found they had a lot in common. They valued family above all things. She knew he would do anything for his boy, as she would for her parents, despite the rocky relationship she had with her mother. She could tell he was just as lonely as she was and preferred to keep people at bay. They liked the same books ("'Game of Thrones' is bloody ridiculous Swan! All George RR Martin thinks of is who to kill next. I would have stopped reading it a long time ago if it wasn't so freaking brilliant."), and enjoyed the same movies ("Marty would be really upset we don't have flying boards, Swan. They should be available in every shop by now."). They even loved the same kind of pizza- very spicy.

Then there were the differences, which provided them with topics to discuss and tease about. He loved the music of 80's("How can you not love the 80's Swan? They wrote the best ballads."). She was more of a contemporary girl, which lead to a twenty minute discussion about whose interpretation of Lovesong was better, The Cure's or Adele's. He loved rum while she preferred red wine. It was ridiculous really how much she learned about him in such a short period of time and still, she knew there was so much more to discover.

She couldn't wait for their date. She had to know if he was just as handsome as she remembered him being or was it just an exaggerated dream of hers. She didn't remember ever feeling so alive just from talking to someone.

Shaking her head with a smile, she reached for the once again buzzing, smartphone when someone calling her name interrupted her.

"Emma!"

Her mother waved at her from the corner of the restaurant Emma had just entered. Mary Margaret was a beautiful woman. With skin white as snow, lips red as rose, and hair black as night. She could easily pass as Snow White from the children's book she'd read to her when Emma was little. Her mother may have resembled a fairy tale princess but the similarity ended at her coloring. Her hair had been cut short, a pixie cut, and her figure was more plump then it had been before, but her mother wasn't exactly a teenager anymore.

"Hello, Mom!" She hugged the older woman before taking off her jacket and sitting down.

"I hope you don't mind that I already ordered." Her mother pointed to the table already set up for two. "I got you a lasagna and greek salad."

That made Emma smile. Her mother always tried to feed her because she was convinced that Emma ate too little. Also, she always found a way to combine her daughter's love for not exactly healthy food with one that screamed 'diet.' Emma just nodded her head as the young bored waitress brought their orders, placing two big plates before her and a much smaller one before her mother

"I will just eat the salad." A blush stained Mrs. Swan's cheeks. "I have to keep an eye on my weight with the wedding so close." Emma didn't take the bait. She just dug into her lasagna, pretending she was hungry.

Her mother considered her for a moment but it appeared she had decided to leave the matter alone for a while. Over the next twenty minutes, Emma learned exactly how much her parents would spend on renovating the porch of their beloved house, how many kittens the old widow living three doors down from them took in, and that the Italian carpenter was hitting on her. She also learned what colors Regina's wedding invitation would have and that her wedding dress would be white, which clearly was a scandal for some reason. She listened to her mother's monologue, nodding her head from time to time and humming in all the appropriate moments. She almost hoped the brunch would finish without reaching the interrogation part.

"How was your week?" The question seemed innocent enough but she found it hard to answer. She wasn't exactly ready to tell about the Killian Development yet. And as far as work went, she already had a lot to think about regarding her current professional situation without her mother putting her two cents in. She shrugged her shoulders before answering.

"Fine, I guess."

"You guess?" Mary Margaret's raised eyebrow made Emma uneasy. She stirred in her chair like she did when she was five years old. She had to give her mother something before she would become a little to interested.

"I have few things to think about work related but otherwise there is nothing new to talk about." The bottle of water standing next to her plate seemed very interesting in that moment and she reached for it absentmindedly to keep her hands occupied. It was a nervous habit of hers and if her mother noticed the way she played with the bottle label, she hadn't mentioned it.

When she did look up, she met her mother worried gaze.

"What?" She asked defensively, her posture straightening up right away.

Her mother just shook her head.

"Nothing."

Emma just rolled her eyes. Here it comes.

"I just thought…"

"You just thought a knight in shining armour, riding on a white horse, would appear and whisk me away with the sun setting behind our backs." Sarcasm dripped from her lips as she threw her hands in the air theatrically. "It doesn't work that way!" She said in a calmer voice, resting her hands on the napkins.

A warm hand covered one of them and she looked up to meet her mother's warm gaze.

"I know it's hard for you Emma. Hard to believe it may be better some day, different." She didn't answer, too angry at her mother once again prying into her love life. "But that wall of yours… it may keep out pain, but it also may keep out love."

Emma's anger melted a little at that. Her mother had good intentions. It wasn't like she had told her mother about the date, but she was a realist. Fairytale love didn't happen in real life. Sure it had happened to her parents but it was an exception that confirmed the rule and she, she never believed in it anyway.

"Mom... Not everyone can have what you and Dad have." Her voice was quiet. "There is no such thing as True Love. And even if it were, I'm not sure I would be able to recognize it." She averted her gaze.

"Oh, Emma." A warm squeeze on her hand made Emma look up again to see a soft smile on Mary Margaret's lips. "When you find the right person, you'll just know it." Her mother's dark eyes light up and for a minute Emma could see a young girl there. Free, idealistic, and so much in love. Looking at her was almost painful. "There is an instant connection, an understanding that goes beyond anything you have known before. And when you kiss them for the first time… it's like igniting a flame you just know will burn forever. That you want it to burn forever."

She shot her mother a small smile or at least tried to. The awkward silence that fall upon them was a little too much to take in. Bidding her mother a goodbye, she excused herself claiming she had things to do and walked out of the restaurant as fast as her legs could carry her. Emma knew she would never have what her parents had and having false hope was worse than not having hope at all. She purposely ignored the flash of blue eyes in her mind and the little voice in the back of her head telling her that her hopes may not be as false as she tried to make them.

She was just heading towards her car when she felt her phone buzzing again. Curiously she took it out and looked at it. There were two unread messages waiting for here. One from Killian, wishing her a good day, which instantly brought a smile to her face. The second one was an email from the hospital. A frown appeared on her face as she scanned it. Her day had just gotten worse, which at least for her didn't foreshadow a good evening.

Killian sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Spending more time with Liam before the incoming date with Emma seemed like a good idea at the beginning. Of course, he forgotten that his lad would be more than ecstatic to do so. Frankly speaking, he'd spent a lot of time with his son after they left the hospital but he managed to work only a little bit in that time. Today he announced a daddy/son day and Liam went wild. As young as the lad was, he knew exactly what that meant- a whole day devoted solely to him.

The living room of their apartment was covered in legos, scattered around every flat surface available. Killian was glad his son owned only the Duplo version of the bricks because the thought of stepping on the tiny parts of the original made him shiver. Bigger or not, the brick still proved to be heavy to navigate between its masses and when Liam threw his cars to the mix the room seemed like a death trap. With a serious determination to get rid of some of the lads toys, Killian moved carefully around the room.

Liam was currently hiding behind a sofa, clad only in a t-shirt and underwear. He could hear the lad's giggles coming from behind the furniture. His son apparently saw dressing up as a good reason to play tag combined with hide and seek and, not for the first time, Killian felt that he could use a second pair of hands to help him.

Seeing that Liam had a little too much energy, he convinced him to go out. That's when the wild chase started. Catching the lad and throwing him on his shoulder, he hoped he would have enough strength to actually execute his plans.

As he walked towards his son's bedroom in their third attempt to put some clothes, he shot a longing look towards his phone. He wrote to Emma just half an hour ago but she hadn't answered him yet. Not that he had time to keep track of the messages today but none of the lights on his smartphone blinked to indicate an unread message waiting for him. He suddenly felt a little more lonely. Which was stupid really. They'd known each other for close to two weeks and he missed not hearing from her for an half one hour. They hadn't even been on that date yet.

If he had to be honest with himself, he knew exactly why he was so anxious. Emma represented something he hadn't had in a while- hope.

Liam giggled again as he wriggled out of his father's arms and once again ran towards the living room. Killian sighed. It was going to be a long day.

She sat at the bench facing the playground. The cool ocean breeze played with her hair as her gaze wandered across the shore, unseeing. She could feel the smell of the impending rain in the air but felt to overwhelmed to move. Sometimes it was just all too much.

"Fancy meeting you here Swan?" An accented voice pulled her out of her depressing thoughts. Her head shoot up to meet the warm gaze of Killian Jones.

He stood next to her, all windblown hair and bashful smile lingering on his lips. Although the collar of his pea coat was pulled up it didn't protect him from the wind and the red plaid shirt with top buttons undone didn't help matters either. His hands were in his pockets, probably in search of warmth and he looked adorable and hot at the same time.

Her eyes were wide blown and she had to close her mouth before answering him.

"What are you doing here?" She heard a breathy surprise in her own voice. To be honest this was the last place she expected to met him.

He smirked at her before taking a seat on the bench next to her.

"I'm glad to see you, too, love." His habit of throwing that particular endearment into every second sentence made her blush. It was a recent development which she discovered during one of their long calls. A clear sign for her that he was getting more and more comfortable with talking to her. She was not sure if it made her more scared or excited.

He watched her closely for a minute. A thoughtful smile lingered on his lips as he took her in.

"This is Liam favourite playground," he said pointing to his son running around with other kids. A navy beanie almost covered his eyes leaving the dark locks out in a few places. His cheeks were reddened and he had a big toothy smile plastered on his chubby face.

"We came here whenever we can." Killian eyes were soft when he talked about his boy. Full of love and devotion, and Emma couldn't help to think she would loved it if he looked at her in a similar manner.

He looked at her again, his face serious this time.

"I know why I'm here," he said softly. "Why are you?"

She felt the urge to tuck her knees under her chin, a protective habit of hers. She considered to avoid answering but he looked at her with such attention and care, she felt she can trust him.

"I came here to think." She looked towards the horizon. "The sea calms me down. Takes my worries away. So whenever I have a problem I come here to clear my mind."

She felt his arm brush against hers as he settled a little more comfortably next to her. She could feel warmth emanating from her body even through several layers of clothing. Her heart skipped a beat.

"I hope I am not the reason you are so distraught." Her eyes widened as she looked at him. Why would he think that? She saw vulnerability in his blue depths and understood he was scared too.

"No!" She answered quickly. "No. It's something work related… I need to figure out how to deal with it."

"Daddy, Daddy." Liam's voice reached them before the boy himself did. He flew into Killian arms, his face anxious. " I wanna go home," he whined.

Picking up his son, Killian smiled apologetically at her.

"Looks like duty calls." He sighed, standing up. The kid held onto him for dear life, tugging the collar of his pea coat. Killian looked at her once again, clearly procrastinating their departure against Liam's demands.

She felt warm inside. He didn't want to leave her when she needed someone to talk to. She waved a hand at him.

"Go take care of your boy. I'll be fine on my own for the next few hours. I'm an adult, you know," she teased.

He bit his bottom lip in that adorable way of his that filled her stomach with butterflies, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

"See you tonight."

End Of Part 10