*** Sorry for the delay. Again. My muse left me completely and I could not figure out where I wanted to go. Seems like it's happening a lot. I'm hoping to be a little more frequent. This chapter is a lot shorter than the others but at least it's something.

Emma woke from her a sound sleep, a sleep that frequently evaded her these days, to a hushed sound next to her. She was about to speak when she recognized the sound as Killian's voice. She kept her eyes closed and felt his hand slide over the swell of her stomach. "Hello there little ones. It's your daddy." He paused and she heard the slight tremor in his voice. "We have to be quiet because your mama is sleeping. She does it so fitfully these days. She doesn't talk about it much but I know that she's scared. I know because so am I. Don't get me wrong. I love you so much more than you could ever know. Both of you but I never had much of a family loves. My mother was gone, my father left. When I lost your uncle I thought that I would never have family again. I thought that I would be alone until the ends of time. There was a time when I didn't care if I lived or die because I had nothing to live for. Now though everything has been changed." He paused, taking a breath as his thumb idly stroked her extended stomach. She was growing every day. While at times he knew that she struggled with the change in her body he had never seen anything more beautiful. She caught him looking at her from time to time and any doubt she had that she was still attractive was snuffed out. There was an intensity in his gaze that took her breath away. It had been there even before her pregnancy but now there was almost a possessiveness in it. A look that told her that she belonged to him and that he belonged to her. "Now I have everything to live for. Your father used to be a villain. I can't hide that from you. I won't. Realistically in this land I wouldn't be able to if I tried. I've no doubt that you'll be voracious readers and the library houses all of our tales. But please understand this loves. No matter who people may say that I was that is not who I am. Who I am is your father. A man who loves your mother and your brother. A man that loves you with all I have and all I am." Killian looked up when he felt fingers running through his hair and saw Emma staring down at him, a single tear running down her cheek. "Love? Everything all right?"

"Yeah." She raised her eyebrows and tried to reassure him with a smile. "You're crying."

"I'm just in awe, that's all." His expression remained blank, clearly not understanding what she saying. She moved her hand down to her stomach, following his example. "Hey guys. It's your mama. Do you know that you have an amazing daddy?" She raised her other hand, the one that had been laying between them on the bed, and placed it along his cheek. "You two may not realize how rare he is now but you will. You will understand it every day when he makes it a point to lift you to the sky. To tell you how much he loves you and how proud he is of you."

"Emma, that's just what a father does. It's nothing extraordinary."

"What is extraordinary is that I know why you'll do these things."

"Because they're my children."

"You more than anyone Killian knows that just because someone is a father doesn't mean that those things will be done. My father couldn't, your father didn't. Neal wasn't able to for Henry. It's not like having a father to be what a father should be is all that common around here. Don't downplay your importance Killian. Henry loves you. You're like a father to him. You make it a point to be like a father to him. I may not always seem like I'm completely open to your help in parenting him. I never had parents and other than Regina I've never had a co-parent. But I love it when you step in with Henry. You have a perspective that I don't. A guys perspective I guess and you're going to be amazing with our babies. I can tell already. I'm so excited to watch you with them." He grinned the grin that he reserved for quiet moments alone with her before letting his hand fall down to her stomach again. He never got enough of touching it. It wasn't because that was his child in there. He was sure that even if it was someone else's child the wonder would still be there. It wasn't a demonstration of his manhood and virility. He wasn't insecure. He didn't need her to have his children to feel like a man. As he felt her growing belly though he was struck, as he often was, by the fact that they had created these lives. It wasn't a quick one night stand. It was their love. They had waited to be together until they were sure about their feelings, although the words didn't come until much later. Still they had waited until they were certain. These babies were a product of that certainty and he felt a certain hope anchored in them. The knowledge that their love would carry on, long after they were gone. He felt something against his hand but he assumed that Emma had just shifted. Until she gasped. "Killian, did you feel that?"

"I felt something love but I wasn't sure exactly what I was feeling." She took his hand and splayed it out over her belly laughing. "Come on little ones. Do it again. Your daddy wants to feel you." They waited and waited but the feeling didn't come again immediately. "Apparently your children are stubborn Swan."

"Oh my children huh? They're mine when they're disobedient?"

"Of course love. I am much to pliable to be disobedient."

"I can think of a number of times when you were disobedient."

"Such as?"

"I believe after our first kiss I told you that it was going to be a one time thing. Yet here we are, pregnant with twins."

"Well you make an interesting point, except that you initiated our second kiss. In the enchanted forest. And when you found out I gave up my ship for you."

"I did not. You did. When you came to find me in New York you kissed me. That was our second kiss."

"I wasn't trying to be disobedient love. I was just hoping that a true love's kiss would bring back your memories." She smiled and stroked his cheek. "True love's kiss doesn't work on memory loss Killian."

"Aye. So perhaps our love is true after all." She gasped again and this time he very clearly felt a kick strike his hand. He lifted her shirt and saw her belly move as she chuckled at the sensations going on inside of her. "These children apparently like the notion of being the product of true love."

"I guesss so." He smiled down at her stomach, pressing a kiss on her skin before looking up at her. His breathe caught, as it often did, when he saw the love for him shining in her eyes. The sight of it all was almost more than he could stand. Her long blond hair lay flowing down in front of her and she was leaned against the headboard, her hand on her stomach. But it was her eyes that struck him. Her green eyes were fixed on him and she was an open book. She always had been. From the moment that they met. He had felt it instantly, a kindred spirit. As he had gotten to know her he had seen himself in her. From the sense of feeling abandoned to the desire to preserve herself at any cost. He had been able to climb her walls because he recognized his own walls. He scaled them willingly. It had never been a hardship when she had pushed him away because he was just getting too close to connecting with her. Now looking in her eyes he saw himself reflected back at him again. Love shone there brightly. It was completely. "Emma..."

"Yeah." She smiled, brushing his hair away from him forehead with her fingers. "Have you thought about what comes next?"

"Of course. Every day. We're going to raise children together. I'm thinking about the future constantly."

"Our future?"

"Yes. What are you getting at?" Even now he recognized the fear that flickered across her face. Even though he knew that she knew he loved her he was aware that the ghosts of her past would never leave her alone completely. When she didn't completely follow an emotional conversation he knew that the ghosts made their presence known, playing on her insecurities. No doubt those ghosts were now trying to lure her into the false belief that he was trying to leave. "I'm getting at nothing love. You've no need to worry."

"Well you brought it up so it must be something."

"I was just overcome for a moment Emma. This life, our love. It's more than I expected and sometimes it's more than I can take in all at once."
"Killian, you're kind of frightening me. Are you getting overwhelmed by all this? Because now is a little late to be getting cold feet."

"I'm overwhelmed love but not in the way that you're thinking. If you're concerned that I'm telling you that I want to leave, or that I don't want the babies nothing could be farther than the truth. I will never leave you. You said once that of course you trust me. So trust me. You will never be alone again. For as long as you allow me to be by your side I will be. I will raise our children with you and I will be the happiest reformed pirate you've ever seen. I am overwhelmed by how much I love you. How much I love Henry and these babies. And I had a question for you. A question that means so much that I don't know how to properly address it."

"Just ask..."

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