Soft strands of hair tickled Charming's nose and slowly drew him from slumber. For a long moment, he drifted in that fuzzy realm between asleep and awake. The tickling eventually became too strong to ignore. Still half-asleep, he slowly opened his eyes, fully expecting to find Snow cuddled up with him. He let out a surprised gasp when he discovered his ten-year-old son-in-law invading his personal space instead.
After taking a moment to let his eyes adjust to the soft light of sunrise, Charming pushed himself up on his elbow and surveyed the scene in front of him. Killian lay fast asleep on his side facing Charming, one arm resting on his hip and the other hand tucked underneath the pillow. The reason for the boy's close proximity became clear the moment Charming's eyes landed on his baby girl, who was sprawled out on her back with one hand resting on her stomach and the other arm flung across her tiny True Love's pillow. Poor Snow was left with a tiny sliver of the far end of the mattress, pushed to the edge by their bed hog of a daughter. Even Wilby had spent the night in the room, though the dog was now awake and sitting watch at Emma's feet.
How in the world had this happened?
Vague memories came back to Charming then, memories of trying desperately to keep his eyes open during Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Not because he cared about the movie itself – he'd seen it before so he knew how it ended – but because the closeness with his family had made his heart sing. Since he had no memory of the movie ending, he gathered his efforts to stay awake had been unsuccessful.
Apparently the children hadn't been able to stay awake, either. Not that Charming minded. A soft smile tugging at his lips, he lay back down and took a few moments to relish in the domesticity of having his slumbering family so close.
If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that he and Snow were back in the Enchanted Forest with their little princess, comforting her after a nightmare or during a storm with thunder echoing off the stone walls of the castle. He could almost pretend that on this early morning, his little princess had crawled into bed with her parents to snuggle for an hour or so before starting the day. All those precious moments that they should have had weighed heavily on his mind but moments like this with his family cuddled up together in sleep helped to ease that weight just a bit.
In just a few short hours, Regina (and maybe Zelena) would arrive with the potion to return the children to their adult forms and oh gods, Charming wasn't ready. He wasn't prepared to let the children go and he most certainly was not prepared to lose his baby girl for the third time. He'd only just met his ten-year-old daughter and here he was, preparing to say goodbye yet again.
Although Emma and Killian weren't at all loud children, the farmhouse would be so quiet without them.
On the other side of the coin, he was more than ready to have his adult baby girl and his adult son-in-law back. Spending time with their child incarnations was of course a dream come true but it wasn't the same. He missed conversations with Emma and trading jokes with Killian. His missed his baby girl's laugh and the pirate's smile.
He couldn't wait to make sure they knew that they were loved in every incarnation.
A soft whimper drew Charming back to the present. Beside him, Killian turned onto his back, his little face screwed up in what could only be the throes of a nightmare. Before Charming could even reach a hand out to wake the poor boy, Emma rolled over onto her side and draped her arm across Killian's stomach. To Charming's surprise, the boy instantly calmed.
Unconscious though it was, True Love had struck again, this time stopping a nightmare in its tracks.
Charming waited until Killian had settled back into deep sleep before tossing the covers off his legs. The sun had come up; it was officially past time to start his day.
Even though most of Charming's family was right here in this room, he still had rounds to make. He dropped good morning kisses on Killian's forehead and Emma's temple before rounding the bed and crouching down next to his sleeping wife. "Turn over," he murmured into her ear. "Our little bed hog gave you more room."
Though still fast asleep, Snow obeyed his instruction and reclaimed prime mattress real estate. When she settled with a sigh, Charming pressed a kiss to her temple. With Wilby following him, he tiptoed out of the room.
His first stop was the guest room where Henry lay sleeping. Just like the previous morning, the teenager had buried himself beneath the covers. Smiling, Charming tugged the comforter off the boy's face and folded it down around his shoulders. Henry was so deeply asleep that he didn't even flinch at the temperature difference. Charming swallowed a chuckle, kissed the boy's forehead, and left him to his slumber.
Surprisingly enough, the only other conscious member of the family was baby Neal, who was sitting up in his crib and happily playing with a chunky toy car. The baby broke into a wide smile at the sight of his daddy. "Well, good morning, little prince," Charming murmured, smiling back at his baby boy. He switched off the baby monitor so that neither he nor Neal would wake Snow or the children. "You're awake early today, aren't you?"
The baby answered him with a giggle.
"And you're happy, I see," Charming laughed as he lifted his tiny son out of the crib. "That's always a good sign."
He changed the baby's diaper and set about dressing him for the day. While Snow had a tendency to put Neal's pajamas back on him until after he'd eaten his breakfast, Charming threw caution to the wind and risked the extra laundry. The first outfit he pulled out of the drawer happened to be one Killian had gifted him: a pair of navy blue pants and a gray long-sleeve shirt with a navy blue anchor printed across the front. Deciding quickly that adult Killian would enjoy seeing the baby in an outfit he chose, Charming maneuvered Neal into the pants and shirt. Then father, fully dressed son, and family dog made their way downstairs.
Although farm duties were a touch more complicated with the baby joining him, they weren't impossible. Just as Charming opened the door to the hall closet to dig out the stroller, the floorboards on the front stairs creaked. Somehow Charming was not surprised to find a sleepy Killian coming down the stairs, rubbing his eyes. It did surprise him, however, to discover a just as sleepy Emma following behind him, tugging her fingers through the endearing tangles in her hair.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Charming asked with a gentle smile.
"Did we miss it?" Emma mumbled blearily.
It was all Charming could do not to scoop his half-asleep little girl into his arms and settle her on his lap until she woke up fully. "Miss what?"
"Feeding the animals," Killian answered through a yawn. "Like yesterday."
Well then, Charming thought, fighting a grin. It seemed he was going to get some assistance readying the animals for the day. "No, you two are just in time. I just have to find Neal's stroller and get him a snack before we head outside. Why don't you two sit down for a minute and I'll let you know when we're ready?"
The groggy children didn't need to be told twice. They headed for the kitchen and plopped down at the table to wake up a little bit. Charming grabbed the stroller from the closet and carried it into the kitchen. A handful of Cheerios would keep Neal occupied and quiet while in the yard; his real breakfast would come as soon as they were back inside.
By the time Charming had readied the baby to wait out the outside chores, both Emma and Killian had perked up considerably. "You both ready now?" Charming asked.
"Yep!" Emma exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. As had become habit over the past couple of days, Wilby trotted up next to her. Emma smiled and ruffled the fur on the dog's back, melting Charming's heart. "Are we going to collect the eggs again, too?"
"Of course! We'll do that after we feed the chickens. It'll be easier to collect the eggs when they're distracted by food."
Killian giggled. "We'll be sneaky like thieves!"
Emma laughed as well and gods, how Charming adored hearing that sound.
After making them put on jackets, Charming led the children out into the chilly morning. "Is it always this cold early in the morning?" Emma asked through a shiver.
Charming bit his lip to keep from smiling. "Not in the summer."
"But in every other season?"
"In winter, it's even colder!"
"Yuck."
That finally did Charming in. He laughed and ruffled his little girl's hair. "Your disgust is noted, Miss Emma." She grinned up at him and Charming swore the sun shone just a bit brighter.
As it turned out, he could have stayed inside with the baby and let the children handle the animals themselves. Killian had retained almost all of what he'd learned the day before so Charming simply stood back and observed while the boy unbundled the hay for the sheep's feed and asked Emma to refill the water trough. All the while, he talked to each of the sheep in turn before saying, "I hope you're all hungry!"
Both Emma and Charming laughed.
Once the sheep were fed and watered, the family moved on to the chicken coop. Killian spread the feed while Emma once again refilled the hens' water. Little Neal apparently felt left out because he threw a Cheerio into the coop before Charming could stop him. The children's laughter pealed through the morning air when all four hens descended on the single Cheerio as if it were ambrosia delivered by the gods.
"Are they even supposed to eat Cheerios?" Emma asked after her giggle fit had died down.
"Cheerios are okay for a treat," Charming assured her. One Cheerio split among four hens wouldn't go very far anyway.
As soon as the chickens were off pecking the ground for their feed, Charming handed Emma and Killian the collection buckets. With Dixie distracted by the food, egg collection went off with no pecks to little ten-year-old hands.
"We got a ton of eggs," Emma informed Charming as she and Killian stepped out of the coop. Killian latched the short fence as Emma held up her bucket for Charming's inspection.
Sure enough, there were a decent amount of eggs in her bucket. With the storm and everything else that had been going on, Charming hadn't collected yesterday afternoon, which no doubt contributed to the haul this morning. "Wow, that is a ton of eggs," he said, smiling at his little girl, "and I bet Killian has another ton."
"I do," the boy said, holding up his bucket.
"So what do you say we turn some of these eggs into omelets?"
"Oh, yes, please!" Emma exclaimed.
Though Killian evidently didn't know what an omelet was, he seemed just as excited at the prospect of an egg dish for breakfast. "That sounds great."
Charming smiled at the children. "You two did a fantastic job this morning."
"Thank you," they both said in unison, identical blushes coloring their cheeks.
As the family headed back to the house, Charming in front pushing Neal's stroller and the children and Wilby following behind him, Charming overheard Killian murmuring to Emma. "I miss the ocean and I miss Liam but I'm having fun here, too. That's all right, isn't it?"
Why wouldn't it be all right? Before Charming could turn around to ask, however, his baby girl answered her new friend. "Of course it's all right. Liam may not be with you now but he'd want you to have fun and be happy wherever you are, wouldn't he?"
Killian mulled that over a bit. "Yes, he would."
"See? Then it's perfectly okay that you're having fun here. I'm having fun here, too. I've been in a lot of houses and I know this one's special. They're special. They love us, Killian, and you know something? I love them."
"I do, too," Killian softly replied, his smile evident in his tone.
And now Charming was glad he hadn't turned around because otherwise he'd have to explain the sudden tears of joy that had sprung to his eyes. Oh, he couldn't wait to tell Snow what he'd accidentally overheard! The children had found home with them, the children loved them, and there were no words to express just how much he loved them, too.