A/N: In some ways we could consider this the first part of the epilogue for this story. I wanted a chance to show Emma and Killian adjusting to life with their new baby and sharing parts of a place they both love with their kids and this chapter idea has been with me since the start of this story. It was my original epilogue (though I've subsequently come up with another) and it is filled with sweetness and a dash of smuff. Hope you guys enjoy!

One Year Later

Despite their change in circumstance and the new ways of Killian's world, some habits would simply never break. Rising early was one of them, and though Emma gave him a run for his money some mornings during their time together out on the Jolly, most days he found himself stirring awake well before the rest of the house. The light of the new day was barely apparent, the song birds had only just begun their morning tunes but Killian was all awareness and the whole world was made of Emma.

How she could possibly be even more beautiful now than when they'd met he didn't know, but Killian suspected that this ever growing love and their undeniable connection had something to do with it. Gratefulness at having a chance to love Emma never faded away, and neither did the feeling that every second with her was precious. Not all of them came to morph into huge moments or grand gestures, but they were each of them a chance to be with the woman he loved and to make good on his vows to always see her happy, safe, and wanting for nothing.

In sleep Emma was outright angelic. Killian knew the same could not be said for him, and though his Swan never said so outright he suspected his own state of slumber was far less dignified and endearing than hers was. Sure her hair tangled up in the night and her lips were parted slightly, the faintest sound of her breathing audible, but even in sleep Emma glowed with a light no one else had and Killian knew as soon as she woke he'd get the chance to see those emerald eyes that held him captive and to hear that cling of sleepy seduction in her voice.

People might say it was crazy to actively enjoy these moments of just holding Emma while she slept but it was the only way he truly loved to start his day. Soon enough she would stir and they would have a chance at more, but he always sought to grant her as much peace as could be had. Between Oliver and their still newborn daughter Hope, there was constantly something going on in the daytime hours. Sleep was necessary and priceless and should not be overlooked.

"What's got you so happy today husband?" Emma asked the words in the exact tone he'd come to expect and the smile he was already sporting grew wider. Emma hadn't even opened her eyes and yet she knew. She always seemed to know exactly what he felt.

"Nothing out of the perfectly exquisite, ordinary way." Emma chuckled, the sound gravely and low and resonating in a way that made his gut tighten and his already prevalent arousal all the more noticeable.

"Today's the day you know."

Killian's brow furrowed in confusion but then Emma's eyes opened and her own smile more fully appeared, distracting him for a few seconds. When he finally did respond it was sputtered out. A more prideful man would be embarrassed but not Killian. Emma should know the way that she affected him even if he became a bit of a bumbling idiot in her presence from time to time.

"The day for what, my love?"

"The avenue. It's ready." Killian let out a subtle sigh of relief as Emma's hand came to rest above his chest.

"Not that I will ever distrust your intuition, my love, but how exactly can you be so sure?" Emma stretched out, enabling her body to brush against him in a tantalizing way as she responded.

"There's no science behind it. It's just a feeling, but I've never been wrong. Not in all the time I've called Storybrooke home."

Killian recalled how last year Emma also timed their return to the avenue impeccably. They waited the first few weeks of their return before going to that stretch of land but on the day they made it, the flowers were blooming in the trees, the greenery had begun to set in, and the last of the ice and snow from the winter was long gone as was the mud that nestled through much of this town for a few weeks thereafter. Killian had to believe his wife then when she claimed her instincts always knew. There were few forces in the world he trusted more than them after all.

"Does this mean we're to set off immediately? Wake the children and head into our special place?"

Emma shook her head wordlessly. No doubt she caught onto Killian's own wish for a slightly different morning path. They would certainly go to the avenue, and if tradition held it would grant them a marvelous day in every way, but before that he wanted his daily dose of self-actualization. He'd started the day with Emma in his arms and now he wanted to watch her fall apart at least a few times before they went about their daily duties.

"If you had other thoughts on what the morning might be like, I wouldn't be opposed to hearing them…" Killian smirked at her words before kissing his wife and coming to rise above her.

Immediately Emma was in motion too, arching towards him, pulling him in closer and kissing him with the same unbridled passion she'd bestowed on him time and time again. It was almost painful to move his kisses from her mouth down her jaw to her neck, but in the interest of getting everything he wanted, Killian knew he had to use time to his advantage. They should be in the clear for a little while still, but with the nursery just across the way and their daughter predisposed to early mornings just like her father, one could never be too careful.

"I think I like your idea far better."

Emma's attempt at teasing was breathy and ragged. She was as mindful as she could be about the quiet in the rest of the house and the need for discretion, but Killian could hear that warble signaling her slipping control. His hand was at her breast and his mouth was heading there now too, finding them sensitive and quick to elicit reaction.

For a moment Killian thought back to a year ago and how it had been the same way when she was pregnant with Hope, but a plea for more from his wife pulled him from the fantasizing of her being pregnant again so soon. Instead his hand slipped between her leg and he brought his wife the release she was so desirous of with the exact bit of pleasure and gentle torture he knew she craved.

Trailing kisses down her body, Killian now had one thought and one thought alone: to drive his wife slightly mad with the pleasure only he could grant her. Where he'd been fast before, now he would take his time. This felt like a risk seeing as they might be interrupted, but he was desperate for it, feeding off of Emma's sighs and squeaks of euphoria. He lived for that flush on her skin and the desperate hum that emanated from her throat when she was dying for what he was teasing her with. But only when she implored him at a volume that would almost get them caught did he let her crash into bliss yet again this time on his tongue.

Killian took his time returning to where he most wanted to be, and instinctively his hands moved to brush the hair away from her face and to cup her cheek. Her freckles had all but disappeared in the winter months, but the past few weeks in more sunlight were bringing them back. By the summer they'd be in full force and he could hardly wait.

"Remind me to ask my family to take Hope sometime this week." The statement confused Killian but Emma used it to divert his attention so she could switch their positions and come to rise above him. "I'm in need of real alone time with my husband."

Killian grunted at the feel of her hand trailing lower and lower, teasing him with just the right amount of anticipation and actualized skill. When Emma took his cock in hand he was at her command and through the grace of God she had mercy, straddling him and taking him in fully in one deft move.

The curses that fell from his lips weren't whispered per se, but they were hardly loud and now Killian fully took Emma's meaning. Just as he'd wished for her full reactions despite the lack of opportunity, she wanted his. With that thought in mind, Killian agreed to join Emma in that mission to find someone to watch their daughter. A few hours would be enough, at least for a little while.

Thoughts from that point onward were compromised by the blinding sensations that were simultaneously overwhelming and exactly what he needed. Killian felt his climax approaching fast and hard but he would be damned if Emma wasn't with him. He made sure that she would be with attention to her clit and when she fell over to the other side, so did he, languishing in that state of ecstasy that could never be found or replicated anywhere else.

"Hard to imagine it won't be a fantastic day with a beginning like that." Emma's words pulled a chuckle from Killian but before he could say more a bit of babbling could be heard from across the hall. Hope was awake, and if her talking went on too long without attention they might turn into harsher cries that could wake Oliver.

"I've got her, love," Killian said, pressing a kiss to Emma's forehead and then hopping up to get dressed quickly and see about taking care of their daughter. He was out of the room with one look back at Emma who looked thoroughly ravished and all together too beautiful and then headed into the baby's room.

As expected, Hope was all wide eyes and smiles seeking paternal comfort, which she received readily from Killian. He moved to his daughter with her only now appearing light brown hair and eyes the same shade as Emma's. She was going to be real trouble someday, a beauty to keep a father up at nights, but for now she was his little princess. He smiled at the thought that if she was anything like her mother she'd someday hate that moniker and wish to be a pirate instead like the rest of her family.

"Good morning, little lass. Sleep well?"

The question was rhetorical, for of course Hope couldn't rightly answer, but the happy gurgles his daughter supplied as Killian picked her up and got her ready for the day made his chest swell with pride. There was no direct evidence that she would be as feisty or as undeniably intelligent as her mother but Killian was certain. It seemed an absolute given in his mind.

"There's a bit of adventure in your future today, love. A family tradition so to speak."

Hope continued to smile and then pulled at his shirt with a vice like grip. She was strong already, but still in need of the utmost protection. He proceeded with caution as he went about their morning routine knowing full well that most fathers weren't this involved in the raising of their children. Killian thought that was complete rubbish. This was easily one of the best parts of his charmed life and his presence meant that his children would always know how much he cared.

"She always talks to you."

Emma's words from the doorway pulled Killian's attention and he found her in a new take on her old soft yellow dress. He'd had a whole host of dresses commissioned for her this spring (much to Emma's mortification but eventual delight with some convincing) and she looked, in a word, iridescent. The glow from their morning's activities still clung to her and her hair was braided but he could still see the soft tangles that he'd played with only moments ago still in the woven strands.

"Someday I'm sure that will change."

"I wouldn't be so sure. She seems heart set on being your little girl forever."

Killian grinned at the thought as Emma pressed a kiss to Hope's forehead and subsequently greeted their daughter. Emma had a real gift for this, and as wonderful a mother as she was with Oliver, with a newborn Emma was the picture of calm. It had taken months for Killian to feel relaxed in anyway, but Emma took to all of it with an ease he had to admire. She also gave him the faith in himself to believe he wasn't bungling everything up at each turn.

"And how's our son this morning? Rearing to go?" Emma smiled and nodded.

"He's getting ready now. Even getting him to agree to breakfast was a bit of a stretch, but he gave in when I told him he you and he could get some practice in."

By practice Emma meant dueling with wooden swords and though Killian knew there was no real reason to wield a blade in this corner of the world, Oliver loved the art form. It was also good exercise for the lad, not that they needed to fret about that. If last spring and summer were any indication, he'd be running about all day long and then climbing in the trees with enough reckless abandon to give Emma a fright and just enough awareness to keep himself safe.

Things went quickly from there and their breakfast was procured with haste as were the other essentials for a morning along the avenue. Soon enough they were out in the wilds, making their way through the wooded groves separating their house from the sacred place and finding Emma was indeed correct – spring had officially sprung and the pretty picture that it made for was enough to remedy the worst of the winter cold.

As much as Killian always believed that Emma belonged here, in this place and surrounded by the natural magic that it had to offer, he also knew that it would come to be just as large a part of their children's lives as well. To grow up here as Emma had would impart on them a sense of love for this land, love he too had come to share since Emma first invited him here.

Killian knew he'd made a lot of wise decisions in his life especially since meeting Emma. Moving towards this future and every step along the way was critical, but there was one thing he truly did have to value and it was buying this stretch of land. Watching his wife share in the best parts of this place with Oliver and now Hope was somehow even more magical than all the times they'd come here alone. The light still always found his Swan, but now it caught their family too, illuminating them all in the same gorgeous way.

For months out at sea the memories of Emma in this place had stayed with him, fueling his ability to stay away on the promise that they might have more moments like those. He never dreamed then, however, that he would have all this and if he did he never fully understood the beauty of what would really come to be. Nothing could have prepared him for the absolute peace that came from watching his family happy and safe and thriving in a place they loved.

That this was home was even more important and miraculous. They were steps from their house, within the easiest of distances from the rest of the parts of Storybrooke that they loved and it was that access, that ease and approachability, that made it all so perfect.

The hours trickled by and in that time Killian had the pleasure of watching Emma return to her past nymph like tendencies. She moved with that fluid grace of another world, and every motion captured every ounce of his attention. Hope seemed similarly spell bound and someday soon Killian knew she'd be right there, dancing with her mother in this little oasis made only for them.

Overhead in the trees and along the fresh green grass there were flowers, so many it was impossible to count them all, and they brought with them more than color, but a happy sort of magic that always came to Storybrooke in springtime. Oliver admired all the species and variations, trying to collect as many as he could for further study and Emma collected her own as well less out of a need for information and more for the simple beauty that was unique to wild blossoms.

The flowers later made appearance in Emma's hair creating an even more beautiful display than could ever be achieved in their natural state. They were actively admired by Killian and Oliver and most especially Hope, who reached for the blossoms, giddy with an infants excitement as she did. Emma shared some of her wealth with her daughter, placing one of the blooms by her ear, tickling her cheeks on the way. Hope was given a tiny crown as well made of white flowers with the softest touches of pink and the sight of his wife and daughter so caught up in their actions was enough to fully distract Killian from his practice dual with Oliver.

It left him open to attack and a victory from their son who bore it with the cocky nature of a true pirate. Only when Hope began to fuss a little bit did Oliver come back down, presenting his sister with his best silly face to wipe away her worries. She immediately turned the corner back into contentment and the bond between their children left Emma's eyes watery as it often did.

Killian kissed his wife's cheek gently as he came to sit beside her on the blanket and Emma leaned into the affection, smiling as she did.

"A good day over all, my love?" Emma nodded.

"It's pretty good," Oliver called over and Killian laughed, asking what his son could have that would make it a great one. "Cookies from Granny's never hurt."

"Indeed they don't. So why don't we go and see if we can't procure some and a little lunch?"

Oliver jumped around in excitement, heading off down the lane to Granny's already as Emma and Killian moved a bit slower. In one arm Killian held his little girl and in the other hand he held the precious woman who had granted him such a treasure.

"You realize you're his hero now right?" Killian chuckled, running his thumb across Emma's soft skin.

"And what about you, my love. Do you see me as a good man too?" Emma's smile softened and she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

"You, Killian Jones, are in every way the best man I have ever known. Happy?"

"More than you will ever know."

….

When the cry from the lighthouse worker came that a ship was coming into port a few days later, Emma and the other townsfolk immediately thought Tiana had come early. She wasn't expected for another week or two, opting for a slightly later schedule that Killian had always adhered to, but stranger things had happened especially in Storybrooke. However, the actual visitor to their quaint little harbor was of another variety entirely. Instead of black flags in the distance, there were ornately decorated ones signaling the English crown.

"Well would you look at that? It only took him a year but I think Scarlet might actually be making an appearance at last." Emma laughed at Killian's humorous tone signaling her own agreement to his statement as she did.

The running joke was that Killian (and Emma) had both invited Admiral Scarlet to Storybrooke a multitude of times. In fact at the end of every letter between Killian and Will (of which there were a good many) there was an eventual invitation. Will's adjusting to his new command as her Majesty's liaison in the North however was fraught with politics and necessities on his part. His time was hardly his own until the end of last fall when finally he began to hint that an actual visit might soon be possible.

Neither Killian nor Emma expected him to brave that journey in the winter months, however. Maine was cold to be certain and the seas in such temperatures were hardly welcoming, but this was also considerably an early arrival. Spring was only just beginning to end and as such the world was just on the verge of opening up to Storybrooke again. To have Will arrive, Emma then reasoned, was a testament to the man's actual want to see them and to honor Killian's invitation.

Before long the whole town was buzzing with the arrival of new sailors, and the look on some of their neighbors faces when they discovered it was not pirates made Emma laugh. So much had changed in two years. Once there had been questioning on the viability and merits of trading with pirates. Now anything but rogue outlaws of the high seas was too tame for some, most notably Ruby.

"So this Admiral Scarlet… does he have anything going for him?"

Emma chuckled at the inquiry and looked to her friend who was pushing her own daughter Amber in an ornate stroller. Even this young Amber was already a talker, which was to be expected given her mother, but Ruby was an expert by now at diverting her with some toy or other so conversation (and gossip) could be had.

"You mean aside from a significant title and handsome pay to match?"

"Well that's just money. No I mean does he have any grand tales like Killian does? I would think strict military life is so much less…exciting."

"Aye he's got stories, love. He might toe the line of the law better than I did, but Will Scarlet is hardly a bore." Ruby seemed wary of that and finally said that she would make the decision when she met him.

"Well you'll get your chance soon enough. The ship is nearly in. Though I doubt they were expecting this welcome party."

Emma looked back around still surprised at just how many people there were. It wasn't the same mass scale as Tiana's usual visits or the entire town as had been there when Emma and Killian pulled into port last year, but it was substantial. There were some noticeable people absent, but not many. It seemed that even if they weren't pirates it was good enough for some sort of town-wide entertainment.

Within minutes the ship had docked and from the decks above came Admiral Scarlet looking unchanged aside from his shift in uniform. He still had the same easy smile and boyish grin and with sure, steady steps he made his way down. If he was thrown by the number of people greeting them he didn't show it; instead Will simply turned his smile towards Killian and Emma.

"Who are you and what the bloody hell have you done to Will Scarlet?"

Killian's gesture at the pomp and flash of Will's current getup was mocking but amusing all the same and Emma watched as Will laughed heartily before hugging Killian like the old friends they were. It did Emma's heart good to see them like this. Life as friends would no doubt be easier for them now with Killian retired from his old ways. It wouldn't bring the same sense of risk for an Admiral in the navy if Killian wasn't still out there running his own game out on the open seas.

"I still don't fully believe they promoted me. Seems a bit of a blunder on their part."

"You said it, mate, not me." Will grinned wider before saluting to Oliver who was standing straight and at attention.

"As you were, sailor."

"Aye, aye Captain – I mean, Admiral." With another laugh Will turned his attention to Emma in full and gave a slight bow in a gentlemanly way before casting his eyes to Hope.

"It's good to see this little one safe and happy given everything, but if ever there was a person to see it all work out in the end it's you, Emma. You know Admiral Clearwater still brings you up to this day."

Emma smiled and watched as Will looked surprised at Hope's continued affection for him. She reached towards him good-naturedly and grabbed at one of his pins before Killian gently retracted her hand. Their daughter was a constant source of happiness and Emma was hardly surprised that that carried to Will, especially when he was donning his regimentals and a hat designed to perplex a little one.

"We owe any chance we had of getting here to you and to him, Admiral."

"Will please. I hear that blasted title all day long. It might be nice to go without it for once."

Emma cast a look to Killian, knowing that her husband had often felt the same way in the early moments of their relationship. That distinction might be a hard earned one, but it still put distance between the bearer and the rest of the world. Here in Storybrooke Killian had found the opportunity to put that title aside. What was to say that Will couldn't do the same?

"If you're looking for less formality you might consider a change in dress."

Will peered down at himself for a moment and then hastily agreed, flinging his hat at one of the midshipmen and instructing the younger man to put it back on the ship with the rest of Will's things. The boy looked shell-shocked and Emma bit back a laugh as he dazedly went to fulfill the request.

"There is that better?" Killian sighed dramatically and Emma couldn't help but think that Ruby especially would be proud of the display. All she had to do was look down the docks to her currently snickering friend to know that hunch was correct.

"A bit." Then Killian's smile reappeared. "It certainly took you long enough to take up the invitation, mate."

"Just be happy I've come at all. Maine's not exactly on the way to anything." Oliver cleared his throat from beside Emma, bringing the attention of Killian and Will his way.

"Actually we're on the way to parts of Canada and Newfoundland. Miss Belle taught us all about it this winter."

"Well has your Miss Belle ever actually been there, lad? If she has she likely told you there's scant a place colder on earth than those parts."

"We can handle the cold. We're survivors." The adults all laughed as Killian mussed up Oliver's hair a bit.

"That we are, son. You'll just have to forgive Will. He prefers a warmer climate. He's not a man made for harsher trials."

"Aye because New York's a regular jaunt in the Caribbean."

"It is compared to this." Killian's joke was well met as was his insistence that they move forward into Storybrooke.

There were introductions made along the way (including Ruby and Victor and Granny and Grace), but eventually they were on to an unofficial tour. Emma and Killian had known as soon as the ship was spotted that Will would be staying with them tonight. There was no need for him to stay on a boat when he could have a comfortable bed and a real home to stay in for a few days time, but in the meantime there was the town to see and a small little utopia to explore.

Unexpectedly, however, there came a moment of pause for Will, when the charming man who was always ready to deliver a joke stopped mid step and gaped across the square in the center of town. Emma's eyes immediately tracked to where he was looking and she found that the object of his attention was none other than Belle French.

"Miss Belle!"

Oliver's call to her caught Belle's attention and Emma watched (with a sense like she'd witnessed a scene like this before) as her good friend blushed slightly in the face of a new acquaintance. She recovered quickly though, smiling at Emma.

"Good morning, Oliver. Emma, Killian."

Killian began to chuckle and Emma shot her husband a look to stop him even as she bit back a laugh of her own. It was impossible not to find the display comical, especially when it resembled another meeting she held so dear to her heart but they needed to be kind and amiable all the same.

"Belle French meet one of Killian's oldest friends: Admiral Will Scarlet of the British Navy."

At the introduction Belle extended her hand, looking to shake Will's with an ease and friendliness common for Storybrooke but instead he stared at her extended limb. It was clear to see his attraction to her was clouding his ability to compute simple social protocol but Belle tilted her head curiously.

"Was I mistaken in thinking they shake hands in England as well, Admiral?"

"I live in New York." Emma heard Killian mumble about his friend being completely out of his depths but Belle only smiled.

"Ah well that explains it then. Big cities can lose sight of simple politeness." Emma felt her heart go out to Will because she could see him struggling so profoundly and she decided to try and do her best to help him out.

"You know Belle, it was Will who sent that book of fables for Oliver for Christmas. The one he brought into school. I'm sure you could ask him where more by that publisher could be found." Belle's eyes lit up at the prospect.

"That would be wonderful, I mean if you wouldn't mind me inquiring, Admiral. It's just the children all loved that book so much and I was hoping to help the town buy more, for the citizen's library we have here."

"Not at all. I mean it would be a pleasure."

Belle smiled clearly seeing past the awkwardness of Will Scarlet's address and finding something she admired. Emma then made casual mention of how Mrs. Frances currently had the town's ledger for library purchases. Since the woman lived only a stone's throw away Will and Belle went together to see about procuring it. But not ten seconds passed from their leaving before commentary was given in spades by Ruby.

"This is fantastic! I was just telling Victor that Amber needed the opportunity to watch more people fall in love." Victor smiled and took his daughter's hand as Ruby continued to hold her.

"And I told Ruby that at all of one year old, Amber won't recall a second of this." Ruby huffed out a breath at the censure but eventually yielded.

"Alright maybe. But then we'll just have to get someone else properly matched when she will remember."

"I hardly think that will be a problem. Not with you and Mary Margaret scheming as you do." Granny's words were true enough but they also fed into the belief that Belle and Will were already a sure thing.

"You're assuming that this is more than an infatuation. Maybe it will all blow over in a day. They'll find they have nothing in common and then -,"

"Oh come on, Emma. You and I both know that's not happening. Belle's got the same look you did when you first found Killian. Well maybe not the same exact look. You were in love in half a second."

"Is that right, Swan?" Emma shivered at the closeness of her husband ad his whispered inquiry into her ear.

"Oh yes. That's exactly how it went." Granny said the words to little Hope in a singsong tone as she took her into her arms from Emma's hold.

"Granny you weren't even there," Emma countered half-heartedly.

"You left the house unaffected and you came back a woman in love, Emma. It's as simple as that."

"Well isn't that interesting?"

Emma smiled at Killian despite herself. With this cocky self-assuredness he was somehow even more handsome. She wouldn't say that aloud at the risk of him getting a big head, but she thought it. Besides there was no use denying how it had been when she was more than grateful for the love at first sight she'd found with Killian.

"Don't you try to pretend you weren't the same way, Killian. You were mooning over Emma before she'd so much as said a word." Ruby's assessment made Emma laugh and Killian beam with an undiluted pride.

"You'll hear nothing like contradiction from me, Ruby. That's the gods honest truth after all."

Ruby smiled and then noticed Mary Margaret and David across the way. She rushed over to them with Victor by her side and Granny trailing behind still with Hope in her arms no doubt to make note of the newest town love match. Emma and Killian meanwhile stayed on where they were to watch Will and Belle.

There was a social clumsiness there that did speak to an instant connection and despite some missteps Emma could see promise in the interactions she bore witness to. Still Emma was hesitant to fully compare it to her story with Killian. For how could any other tale ever match the one that the two of them had been through?

"You must admit, my love, there are some similarities. A sailor in a new port… a schoolteacher with dreams of something more… It does ring a somewhat familiar bell." Emma hummed a sound of semi-agreement.

"Maybe. But I think the circumstances are just slightly off, don't you?" Killian nodded as his arm came to wrap around her waist.

"Looking back then, love, would you have done anything differently?"

Emma's immediate reaction was that no, she would not have. Every single choice she'd made, every twist and turn on their journey so far had gotten them here, to this life in particular. The philosophers of old, ancient minds who Emma read up on in her personal studies debated back and forth about whether one was destined for the lives they led, or if everything was simply up to chance.

She didn't have the answer to that, certainly nobody ever could have a definitive claim on those questions, but Emma did know that whatever got her here was meaningful and important. Now with the secureness of their connection, Emma liked to think that all of this could have been fated, but to have risked this in any way by doing things differently…well that was a possibility she didn't even like to consider. Nevertheless Emma did want to give her husband just a tiny bit of grief and so she replied with a witty retort.

"Hmm. Maybe I should have gone for a strictly navy man. They're more colorful." The flash of amusement and desire in Killian's eyes at her attempted slight was obvious, and as his other arm came to wrap around her Emma shivered into the embrace, loving the feel of him.

"I don't think you can fairly claim that I'm not a colorful man, love." Emma looked him up and down and motioned towards the still very dark ensemble he wore even if his pirate leather was all but gone now. "Let me rephrase – I don't think you actually mind my choices. I believe you love me just as I am."

Killian's mouth was a whisper away from hers and his eyes flicked down to her parted lips. She wet them absent-mindedly and it pulled a growl from him. Immediately Emma felt herself blush and she knew that they were on the verge of taking things in a direction that was not even remotely appropriate given their surroundings.

"You're right. The truth is there's nothing I would change. Not when everything we have has turned out like this."

Killian's eyes softened and he looked up again, taking note of Oliver playing with Grace across the way and Hope smiling and laughing with the woman who was by all accounts her grandmother. Then his gaze returned to Emma and his hand came to cup her cheek. In his ocean colored eyes Emma saw all her own happiness mirrored exactly and all the love she felt brimming without any sort of barrier.

"You are my miracle, Emma. My savior." The words were sweet and filled with honesty, clutching tightly at Emma's heartstrings with their sincerity. She ran her hand across his chest in response, a silent show of her love for his constantly beautiful way of seeing her.

"I think the saving goes both ways in this partnership, don't you?" He smiled, his thumb running across her cheek lightly.

"Perhaps you're right, love. All I know is there isn't another person alive who could have given me this. Only you. This life, this family – it all comes back to you, Emma."

With mention of family, Emma found herself in turmoil. She'd had suspicions for a few weeks that their own brood was about to include a new addition, but now didn't seem the time to tell him that. Even so Emma found she couldn't help it. She didn't want to keep such a potentially perfect gift from Killian any longer. So she chose her own path just as he always encouraged her to.

"About that family…" Emma trailed off and her hand moved to rest over her abdomen. Immediately Killian picked up on her meaning and his whole person lit up with the news.

"You mean it, my love?" Emma smiled.

"I haven't gone to see Victor yet, but I'm almost positive. All the signs are the same."

"You won't be going alone when you do. I'll be with you. No hiding this time, love." Emma shook her head.

"No, no more hiding. Not from you." He brought her in for a stronger embrace, a hug that held her captive in the warmest, safest ways. She heard his whispered adulations and she closed her eyes into them, knowing he meant every word.

Finally Emma couldn't resist any longer and there in the middle of the street she kissed her husband. It lacked the subtlety a more socially conscious couple would have allowed but to Emma it was still too short, the briefest promise of the life they had in store where they could have deeper, more prolonged moments. With the addition of a new baby life of course would only grow more hectic, but Emma knew they were ready. With Killian by her side she'd be ready for anything.

When they came back up for air, Killian moved a wayward strand of hair out of her eyes, studying her with an awe that couldn't be denied. He was peering into her soul and finding nothing lacking. So little in this world could feel as good as knowing that Killian loved her just the way she was. Emma didn't know for sure if she had ways of making him feel the same but she tried her best with the words that meant the world but would never feel strong enough.

"I love you, Killian Jones." His smile at that was pure with unadulterated joy.

"And I love you, Emma. Impossibly so, with everything I am, forever."

They were just about to kiss again when at that moment their attention was called elsewhere by a variety of things: their children, their friends, their family, all forces came together at once to call them back into the fold of their real world. But neither Emma nor Killian were in any way remiss. For their future was bright and sure to be just as miraculously hopeful as the present they were living, and that was the making of a real and true happily ever after.

Post-Note: Thank goodness there's one more chapter left. I was writing this and getting a little sad over the impending ending of this story, but I do have one last little installment up my sleeve. It will likely be up in about a week and as I said before, it has another flash forward. It should be shorter than this one but it includes an image I can't just pass up for this AU. I hope you will all enjoy and that you've liked this chapter as well. Thank you all so much for reading and have a great rest of your day!