Ok, so I know I said it would be two weeks but this chapter just seemed to pour out of me. It is a bit smaller than usual but it felt right.
Emma wakes slowly, the delicious warm feeling of the morning sun making her feel safe and happy. She hears Ellie's happy morning babbling coming from down the hall and the air smells of pancakes.
She stretches in the sheets, feeling her muscles pull and contract, as she smiles into her pillow. She feels the pleasant aches in her body that reminds her of the night before, spent in bed with her amazing boyfriend, spending hours worshiping each others body. She can't remember a time in her life when she was happier than she was in this moment.
The sounds of her daughter grow louder until suddenly the door to her bedroom opens and in walks Killian with their daughter in one arm and a breakfast tray in the other.
"Well, what do we have here?"
"This, my love, is breakfast in bed made by yours truly."
Killian deposits Ellie onto the bed gently before placing the breakfast tray, which was filled with not just pancakes but with fresh fruit and cups of hot cocoa, into Emma's lap. Ellie quickly crawls closer to her mother in bed, instantly finding her spot between Emma and the breakfast tray on Emma's lap. Ellie looks up at her mother and babbles the word "mama" until Emma looks down at her and kisses her on her nose, causing the baby to giggle and hide her face in Emma's chest.
"And what did I do to deserve this?" she asks as she turns away from the baby to face Killian, who stood a bit awkwardly beside the bed.
Ellie, annoyed that her mother turned her attention away from her, uses this time to reach for the bowl of fruit, eager for her own breakfast. Noticing the movement of the little one, Emma returns her attention back to Ellie and quickly intercepts the hard piece of cut apple (no need to ruin a romantic breakfast in bed than a near one-year old choking on a piece of fruit) and replacing it with a nice soft piece of cut banana.
Killian sits down beside his two girls and smiles.
"You deserve this simply for being you, my love. You are the best woman, mother, and lover a guy could ever hope to be able to call their own."
"And am I? Yours?" she asks softly.
Killian looks down at his fidgeting hands before looking back up into Emma's eyes.
"You can be mine for as long as you want to be, my love. If I had a say in it, you would be mine forever, and I would be yours."
It's at this moment that Killian reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the object that he has been hiding at David and Mary Margaret's house for the past few months. The object that is currently making his heart feel like it was going to explode in his chest.
It was at this moment that Killian pulled out an engagement ring.
A beautiful white gold band with a large circular yellow diamond in the middle with several smaller diamonds surrounding it, making it look similar to the flower tattooed on her wrist.
Killian slips off the bed to kneel beside her, taking one of her hands in his.
"What do you say love, will you marry me?"
Emma is speechless, heart pounding in her throat, as tears fall down her cheeks and a smile breaks out on her face so large she felt like her face would be stuck like that forever.
"Emma… Emma..! EMMA!"
The scene before her changes; no longer is she at home in bed with Killian and Ellie, instead she is standing outside of a small cabin beside a running van with Neal screaming at her.
But all she can see is blood.
So much blood.
Neal was still screaming at her, pulling at her arm with his hands that were splattered with the same blood.
"Get in the car." He yells.
"What?" her voice comes out as a whisper, eyes continuing to look around the scene in front of her, eyes landing on the motionless body lying in a large puddle of blood.
"Emma, GET IN THE CAR!" Neal pushes her towards the passenger side of the van and opens the door before nearly pushing her inside.
Emma climbs into the seat and watches as Neal approaches the, still unnamed, man. The two argue aggressively for several minutes before Neal makes his way to the driver side of the van and opens the door.
"Just deal with it, Peter! I don't fucking care!" he screams as he climbs into the van.
He remains silent as he pulls the van away from the cabin and Emma watches in shock as the cabin gets smaller and smaller in view.
Sobs begin to wreck through Emma's body once the cabin is gone from her view.
"Ellie!" she cries softly.
Neal ignores her sorrow and continues to drive. After about 30 minutes, Emma's cries become louder and stronger and Neal's patience runs out.
"Stop fucking crying!" he yells at her.
Emma turns in her seat to face him.
"Neal, please, take me back. I need to be with my daughter, she needs me! Please Neal, just take me back! Hell, just dump me anywhere and point me in the right direction! I just need to get back to Ellie! Please!"
"She's not your daughter, Emma! You don't have a daughter, you have a son, Henry!" he yells, gripping the steering wheel tightly until his fingers felt like they were losing blood circulation.
Emma stops breathing for a second, feeling as if she had just been sucker punched in the gut.
"Don't bring Henry into this!"
"Did you think you could just replace us, Em? Replace Henry? He's gone so you go out and find a new baby to call your own. Are you fucking kidding me? How could you just forget about him, Em? Hmm? You're just happy as a fucking clam living it up with a fucking schoolteacher and his and Milah's little shit for a kid. You just forgot all about Henry, didn't you?"
Emma, stunned from his accusations can do nothing but cry.
She feels broken; her own guilt over being so happy with Killian and Ellie shoved in her face, causing her to relieve the grief of the loss of Henry once again as she tries to remind herself what Killian always says to her; Henry may be gone but he will never be forgotten and he would hate for her to lock her heart away from love and happiness forever.
But it was easier said than done in the face of the cold accusations from her former love and father of her late son.
In a moment of weakness, Emma lets Neal's word get to her and she turns away from him, facing out the window, and allows herself to cry.
For Henry.
For Ellie.
And for Killian.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(MILAH GOLD'S CABIN- 20 MINUTES LATER)
The sound of sirens fill the air as David's squad car, followed by half a dozen other police cars, make their way down the long wooded path towards Milah Gold's cabin.
Once the building is in sight, David slams on the breaks and he and Killian get out of the car quickly, running for the front door.
When they are within 10 feet of the small cabin they stop dead in their tracks.
On the grass in front of the cabin was Milah, gunshot wound in the stomach, lying in a puddle of her own blood.
Running over to her, Killian pulls her head into his lap while David reaches down, checking for a pulse. Milah's eyes begin to flutter from the sudden movement before opening wide, looking up at Killian.
"Killian…" she gasps.
"Milah, you're going to be ok! We're calling an ambulance."
While Killian and David tend to Milah, August and Graham make their way into the house, guns drawn. They take no more than 5 steps into the cabin before shots are fired at them. Luckily, the two are able to take cover quickly and return fire.
Killian looks over his shoulder and watches as cop after cop runs into the house, the sound of gunfire continuing on for several minutes. Milah gasps for breath in his arm and Killian feels helpless, unsure of what to do.
Finally, the gunfire stops and silence fills the air, that is, except for the sounds of a crying baby.
"Oh my god, Ellie!"
Killian quickly gets to his feet, mindful of Milah, and runs into the house.
He tries not to think about the amount of bullet holes in the house or the amount of drugs on the table, he only cares about his baby girl who is currently crying a storm in Graham's arms.
"Da Da! DA DA!" Ellie cries and Killian rushes over and takes her into his arms.
"It's ok, little love, daddy's got you! Daddy's here!"
Taking a look around the room, Killian searches for any sign of Emma.
Graham walks up to him having done a search of the house. "I'm sorry Killian, there's no sign of Emma. There is a room in the back that looks like she may have been tied up to a bed, but she's gone."
Killian sighs, resting his head on Ellie's.
"Killian."
He looks up to see David walking towards him. The sheriff reaches out and rests a hand on the baby's back, "Thank god." He whispers. "Emma?"
Killian shakes his head. "She's not here."
David looks stricken. "Shit."
"What did you need, David."
"I'm so sorry Killian but it's Milah. She's dead."
I know, I'm the worst, leaving you with another cliff hanger (sort of) but, again, it just felt right.
There will only be a few more chapters to come for this story unless something else inspires me!
So I hope you like this tiny chapter and please leave me some feedback! I live for even the smallest of comments!