Disclaimer: Nope – still not mine.

"Brennan," Emma was startled when they came home to see Brennan reading a book Killian must have left on the coffee table, "I thought you'd still be at the station with Robin and my dad."

"I asked for them to take me home," Brennan explained, "I hope you don't mind. Your father let me in."

"No, of course not," Emma crossed the living room to lay Bradyn in his playpen. The little boy was still asleep. "You may come and go as you please."

"How is Neal?" Brennan set his book aside and made room for Fallon who was sound asleep in her father's arms.

"He appears to be on the mend," Emma replied, "I'm going back to the hospital as soon as everyone is settled. I'm actually glad you're here. Killian donated some blood and is a bit woozy. He'll need some supervision until he's on the mend."

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Brennan scratched behind in ear in confusion.

Emma had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Of course her father-in-law would have the same nervous tick as her husband. "It's rather complicated," Emma replied, "Killian can explain. I need to get back to the hospital."

"What shall we do for dinner, Love?" Killian inquired, "Still haven't procured any fish to cook."

"Damn," Emma muttered softly, "I really don't want to eat out a third night in a row. Do you think you can work your magic on something we have in the fridge?"

"I shall try," Killian advanced on her, "Will you be long?"

"I'll be back by dinner," she glanced at her watch, realizing it wasn't far off. "Can you manage without me until then?"

"It shall be a challenge," his arms went around her waist and brought her in close against him. Her arms automatically wrapped around his shoulders.

"You do love a challenge," she mused while running her fingers through his hair.

"You are definitely my favorite," he kissed her lips.

"I'll be back soon," she reassured him.

"Aye," he nodded and released her, "We shall be here waiting anxiously for your return."

Emma rolled her eyes.

"I love you, Swan," he whispered and pecked at her lips again.

"I love you," she smiled.

"Mama and Papa sitting in a tree," Fallon had apparently woken in time to sing her favorite song.

Emma and Killian both chuckled while Emma advanced on her daughter and began tickling her while she tried to spell out k-i-s-s-i-n-g.

"Be a good girl for Papa and Poppy, okay, Princess," Emma pecked at her cheek.

"Okay," Fallon bobbed her head.

"If you need anything, call my cell," Emma went to the door.

Killian followed. "Hurry home, Love."

Emma turned once more and kissed him.

With Emma gone, Killian turned towards his family.

"She's a lovely woman, Killian," Brennan stated.

"Aye," Killian agreed.

"I'm full of questions," Brennan replied. The pirate reference he'd heard Wendy make kept tumbling through his mind, "How did you and Emma meet? Were you a sailor in her family's navy?"

"No," Killian shook his head, "I met Emma many years after my naval career ended. When I met Emma, she'd only just discovered she was a princess. She'd lived for many years as an orphan in this realm."

"Her family abandoned her?" Brennan's voice was full of outrage.

"Not by choice," Killian picked Fallon up and set her in his lap as he joined Brennan on the sofa.

"Regina was once the Evil Queen of the Enchanted Forest and cursed everyone to this land but without the memories of who they once were. She cast roles for everyone in town. She was the mayor. Snow White's name had changed to Mary Margaret Blanchard, and she was a teacher. David was a man cursed to sleep. Emma didn't arrive in Storybrooke for many years. Before Regina could cast her curse, Emma's parents sent her away on the day she was born so she would be protected, however things didn't go quite as planned."

"How did you come to know her then?" Brennan asked.

"Mama tied Papa to a tree," Fallon chimed in.

Killian chuckled and kissed his daughter's cheek.

"There's more to the story," Killian replied, "But yes, the first time we met, Emma tied me to a tree…It's quite a long story."

"Certainly sounds like it," Brennan chuckled, "Your mother and I got off to the wrong foot at first. I'd inadvertently knocked over her entire sewing basket. It took her hours to put it back to rights."

"How did you make it right?" Killian inquired.

"I brought her a flower a day until she started talking to me," he replied, "Then when she finally did, I brought her a full bouquet the next day along with several new spools of thread, some fabric and everything else needed to make the finest dress for herself she'd ever had. She looked rather stunning."

"What color was the dress?" Fallon asked excitedly.

"Blue," Brennan tapped her nose, "Just like the color of your eyes."

"Cinderella's dress was blue," Fallon giggled and then turned towards her father with her large doe eyes, "Papa, can we watch Cinderella?"

"Yes, we can," Killian lowered her to her feet, "Go set it up, Little Love."

Fallon sorted through all the DVD cases until she found the correct one and then loaded it easily. The movie was playing before Killian had a chance to explain to his father what was happening.

"Another one of your realm's inventions?" Brennan's eyes were completely hypnotized by the screen.

"Aye," Killian nodded.

"Astonishing," Brennan replied.

"Fallon, how about you sit and watch the movie with Poppy while I get dinner started," Killian lifted Fallon onto the sofa to curl up with her grandfather. "Fallon can answer any questions you have on this particular invention. She knows it far better than I do."

Killian listened to the conversation between his father and daughter while he went about making dinner for the family. Fallon's laughter regularly filled the cottage and brought a smile to his face. It suddenly hit Killian how absurd his current actions were. A siren had come to town to seek her revenge on him. She failed due to the actions of his stepson, and here he was making dinner for his family like it was a regular night. To make the situation even more unbelievable, his family included his long absent father, a man he'd believed to be dead for centuries.

So engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't know of Emma's return until her arms wrapped around his waist.

"Those must be some pretty important thoughts," Emma felt his surprise at her touch, "You usually hear me coming."

"Aye, lost in thought," Killian confirmed.

"Whatever you're making smells very good," Emma kissed his cheek, "Something new?"

"I guess it was from a memory," Killian replied.

"Aye, it was one of my Siobhan's recipes," Brennan came over with Fallon in his arms, "It was Killian's favorite as a young boy. You used to sit in the kitchen watching your mother work. It was the stillest you ever sat."

"What is it?" Emma asked.

Killian fumbled for a reply. He didn't know what it was called, only the ingredients to put in it. "Do you remember what Mama called it?" Killian looked to his father to fill in the blank.

"It never had a name," Brennan shook his head, "It was always known as Killian's favorite dish."

"Smells yummy," Fallon chimed in.

"Is Cinderella over, Little Love?" Killian inquired.

"Yep," Fallon bobbed her head, "Poppy liked it a lot. Didn't you, Poppy?"

"Aye, it was quite entertaining," Poppy confirmed.

"Not a bad place to start if you've never seen a movie before," Emma noted.

"It's a wondrous machine," Brennan replied.

"We'll have to take you to a movie theater to experience the real thing," Emma replied.

"Theater?" Brennan inquired.

"Imagine that television blown up about a thousand times," Emma pointed to the television in the living room.

"We have popcorn and if I'm super good, we get candy. My favorite is the licorice," Fallon added her two cents.

"You like all candy," Emma ran her fingers through Fallon's hair.

"How is Baelfire?" Killian inquired.

"He's pretty out of it," Emma sighed, "He squeezed Henry's hand when directed. Whale says it's a good sign he's following commands when he's as sedated as he is. Regina took Henry and Paige home. I told Henry he could skip school tomorrow to spend the day with his dad. Regina did not look pleased."

"The lad would be distracted at school anyways," Killian countered.

"That's what I said," Emma crossed the room and lifted Bradyn out of the playpen. "Are you hungry, Little Sailor?"

Fallon bobbed her head, so Bradyn mimicked her.

"Of course you are," Emma tickled his tummy. "Fallon, go wash your hands. I bet dinner is almost ready."

Fallon scrambled off.

"It is almost ready, isn't it?" Emma looked nervously towards her husband.

"Aye," Killian lifted the pot off the burner and brought it to the table, putting it down on the hot plate he'd set earlier when he'd set the table.

"I can't wait," Emma looked eagerly towards the table.

Fallon came running in and practically launched herself into her chair. Killian caught her at the last possible moment before the attempt ended in tears.

"Easy there, Little Love," Killian kissed her cheek.

"I'm hungry," Fallon moaned.

"Then we'd best feed you," Killian dished out a helping for her, "Remember to blow on it to cool it down. You don't want to burn your tongue."

Fallon bobbed her head and did as instructed.

Killian waited anxiously for Fallon's assessment. Since she was the pickiest of eaters, she would determine if he attempted the dish a second time.

"It's yummy," Fallon announced after taking a couple of bites.

"How about that?" Emma laughed, "There is more to her repertoire than fish and roni and cheese."

"Remarkable how much it tastes like what your mother used to make," Brennan replied, "You weren't much older than five when she passed."

"Some memories stick with a man," Killian's eyes glanced away, "Even over several centuries."

Emma reached out and offered him a hand.

"Thank you, Love," Killian brought her hand to his lips.

"Eat," she encouraged him.

"Ladies first," he sent her a flirtatious wink.

Emma didn't need any further prompting. She loved when he tried out a new recipe. Since Fallon started making her tastes known, he hadn't experimented as much.

"This is delicious," Emma smiled. "Definitely a keeper, isn't that right Fallon."

"Yep," Fallon was nearly half way done with her first helping.

"If you remember any more of your family dishes, feel free to test them out," Emma replied.

"This may be the only one," Killian frowned, "It just came to me today. I cannot explain it. Papa, did she hum a song when she cooked it?"

Brennan gave it a moment of thought. "Aye, I believe she did."

"I kept hearing a tune as I worked," he swallowed hard. "It was almost as if she was with me, guiding my hands."

"This is Storybrooke," Emma reminded him, "I've learned nothing is out of the realm of possibility."

Killian nodded.

"More please," Fallon held out her empty plate.

"A second helping," Emma smirked, "That's never happened before."

It meant the world to Killian that he was able to share a memory with his family, even a simple one like a favorite dish.


"You okay?" Emma had felt Killian was in a melancholy mood for most of the evening. They'd retired to their room the moment the children were in bed. Brennan had been fascinated by the television and was currently flipping through the channels. Emma had provided verbal and written instructions on how to operate the device and turn everything off before he went to bed. "You should be happy. The siren is no longer threatening this town or our family."

"I am," he assured her.

"Then what's with your mood?" she asked, "You were quiet most of the night, which is very unlike you."

"Stuck in the past," he sighed.

"Your mom?" she guessed.

"I wish I had more memories of her," he sighed, "I remember these tiny little moments."

"Killian, you're remembering things which happened three hundred years ago," Emma hugged him tight, "I barely remember what I ate for breakfast."

"I wish it was more," he replied.

"Maybe there's a way you can," Emma responded after a quick thought popped into her head, "Regina has made potions to make people forget things. Surely she also has a potion to help people remember."

"Trusting Regina to make me a memory potion," Killian winced, "You forget I have a history with her before the curse."

"It can't be that bad," Emma rolled her eyes. "Besides she's changed, and just like you, it's for the better."

"I love your trusting heart, Swan," he smiled.

"We'll talk to her in the morning, but for now, I want you to describe another detail of your past," Emma's eyes began to twinkle with mischief. "Do you really remember your first time or were you just talking rubbish at the hospital this afternoon?"

"I remember," he chuckled, "Though there isn't much to the memory. It didn't last long."

"After that set up, you have to tell me the full story," Emma pushed him towards the bed so she could make herself comfortable in his arms, "Who was she?"

"She was a…I'm not really sure what her profession was," he responded after a moment of thought, "We'd just sailed into her port. This was before I'd joined my brother aboard the Jewel of the Realm. My fellow sailors had been giving me grief, I think you'd call it, because I'd never been with a woman. They made it their mission to find me someone the first time we were given liberty. They took me to a tavern, hoping to find me a wench to take to her room, but there were none I was interested in."

"You had standards back then?" Emma responded in disbelief.

"I've always had standards," he chuckled, "I choose you, didn't I?"

"So you're in a tavern looking for a woman to bed," Emma prompted him.

"Aye, the other sailors had been filling my head with all sorts of nonsense about how to properly court a woman. None of it was of any real use," Killian replied, "Once everyone was drunk and preoccupied, I was able to slip out of the tavern without them being aware. It was on my way back to the docks that I bumped into this young lass. She was probably a few years older than me. I could barely stammer out an apology."

"Little Killian Jones was shy around the ladies," Emma snickered while poking him in the ribs, "I'd say you got over your shyness."

"Took a few centuries," Killian chuckled. "The woman must have taken pity on me. She asked me to walk her home…gave me this song and dance about the docks not being a safe place for a lady. We walked for a bit, and we talked about nothing important. When we got to her door, I turned to leave, but she took my hand and guided me into her home."

"And then you did the deed," Emma filled in the rest.

"Didn't take long," Killian grumbled, "I'd never seen a woman fully undressed before."

Emma snickered in amusement.

"She was gentle with me," Killian replied, "Took time to explain what a woman liked or didn't like."

"Did you ever see her again?" Emma asked.

"Aye," Killian nodded, "Next time we sailed into her port, I was intending to look her up. I was convinced our interlude meant something special, but alas I was wrong. I knocked on her door with a single flower, and her husband answered. Thankfully I had my cutlass, or I likely would have been run through by his sword."

"She was married?" Emma asked.

"Aye, probably was when we first met," Killian frowned, "Turned out her husband worked as a sailor for one of the merchants of the village and was away for long stretched of time, and she had certain urges."

"That's pretty miserable," Emma frowned. "It's a wonder you became the suave ladies' man you were when we first met."

"Eventually I overcame my shyness," he confirmed, "After several dozen slaps across the face, you begin to pick up what the fairer sex appreciates as far as compliments go."

"Who would slap such a pretty face?" Emma caressed his cheek lightly.

"I'm fairly certain you thought to do it a time or two," he chuckled.

"I got over such notions," she smiled. "When did you lose your shyness?"

"I suppose it was after Liam died," he frowned, "Until then I was so focused on following the rules set forth by my captain and king. When my captain died because of the duplicity of my king, the rulebook went overboard along with Liam. A pirate crew attracts a certain type of woman. For a long while, I simply embraced what was offered."

"Until Milah," Emma replied.

"Aye," he nodded.

"You can talk about her," Emma responded, "I've always been curious about what she was like...what drew you to her."

"Her smile," Killian replied, "She had a way of drawing me with just a smile."

"Love at first sight?" she asked.

"I'd say it was intrigue at first sight," Killian replied, "She loved to laugh and just have a good time, which at the time we met, was what I was interested in, but then her husband and son arrived. I could see immediately she was a caged tiger about ready to break free, but I never expected her to show up at my ship asking me to take her away."

"Did you ask about her son and husband?" Emma asked.

"Yes," he nodded. "She said she was in a horrible situation, and she needed to leave before things got worse."

"If only she knew," Emma frowned.

"Aye," Killian nodded, "For many years, we just sailed where the wind took us, pillaging along the way."

"Did she ever talk about Neal?" Emma asked.

"Not for about a year," he shook his head, "When she did, she always had this far off look on her face. Every time she talked about him, I asked if she wanted me to take her to him. She always said no. She said he was better off with her husband. She had tried to be a wife and mother, and it didn't suit her."

"Is that all she said?" Emma asked.

"I always knew there were things she kept from me," Killian rolled his wedding ring around his finger with his thumb, "She liked being at sea, liked being able to go wherever she wanted. With Rumple and Baelfire, she had felt tied down…stuck. Was it a good reason to abandon her life and family, no, but it was her choice to make. If I hadn't taken her, someone else would have. Perhaps that someone wouldn't have appreciated her as I did."

"Had you ever been in love before Milah?" she asked.

"No," he shook his head slightly, "I'd played the role of a pirate captain well. I'd had my dalliances, but she was the first one I truly let in. She knew things about me no one knew, not even my brother."

"Do I know these things?" Emma asked.

"Aye," he kissed her temple, "And so many more."

"I'm not trying to make this a competition," she replied, "I just want to make sure I know the important things. You keep so much to yourself. I try to prod when I think you're in the mood to share, but so much about you still feels like a mystery."

"Milah only knew up to my late twenties as you would say," Killian replied, "I went through centuries more of trials and tribulations. I don't talk about my past because I am not proud of it. What I am proud of is the four plus years of happiness I've had with you and our family…Today I tried to talk to Papa after you returned to the hospital. I was going to open up to him. I tried, but the words wouldn't come."

"Maybe they'll come if I'm sitting with you," Emma offered, "That's one of the perks of marriage. We see each other through all the good and the bad."

"It is one of the perks I enjoy," he turned her chin so he could capture her lips.

"Me too," she smiled. "I really do love you, Killian, more than I ever thought I'd ever love a man."

"And I you, Swan," he responded automatically.

"I want to talk to you about something," Emma began the conversation she'd been dreading, "I don't want you to take it the wrong way, so promise you'll hear me out."

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this?" he asked.

"When things went sideways today in the mines…when I saw Neal bleeding on the floor, gasping for air, I felt something," Emma began.

Killian breath hitched slightly.

"I thought with everything we'd gone through with him that I'd be done feeling anything," Emma admitted, "But when I thought he was dying, I felt like part of me might as well. I don't know what it even means…I know what you and I have is true love. I don't even doubt it, but what did I have with Neal? Does that just go away because of what you and I have? Does true love stomp out all the other people you've ever loved? I don't think it does."

"It doesn't," Killian flipped his wrist to show the tattoo he'd gotten for Milah, "It is possible to love two people at the same time. I still feel the love I felt for her, but it's different than what I feel for you. It doesn't make one more or less special than the other. You've given me things Milah never could…you became my wife, gave me children and a real family."

"So it's okay to still have feelings for Neal?" Emma asked.

"So long as at the end of every day you meet me right here," Killian motioned towards the bed they were laying in.

"Deal," she sealed the deal with a kiss.

"We should get some sleep, Love," Killian suggested, "Fallon will be certain our day starts early tomorrow."

"I'll need to take Henry to the hospital and then deal with things at the station," Emma shifted slightly so she was laying down.

"What will happen with Wendy?" Killian followed her lead and laid beside her.

"I don't know," Emma sighed, "She committed some pretty horrible acts. She needs to learn there are consequences to her actions, but my one question is, did Pan do this to her, or did she do whatever it was to Pan?"

"Pan was a nefarious nitwit long before Wendy came to the island," Killian replied.

"Can one learn to be a siren?" Emma asked.

"In everything I've read when we were looking for ways to stop Wendy, being a siren is something you are born with," Killian replied, "She may always have had the siren abilities…"

"But it was Pan who brought out the worst of them in her," Emma finished his thought.

"He does that for a lot of us," Killian replied.

"Perhaps she'll be open to speaking with me tomorrow," Emma replied, "If I can get the real story from her, maybe then we can decide how best to punish her. I don't relish putting a young girl into the system when her actions were encourage by a teenage boy with the obsession for saying young forever, especially knowing the lengths he went to accomplish such feats."

"Sleep well, Love," Killian hovered above her.

"Always," Emma's hands carded through his hair, bringing his lips forcefully against hers. Her intentions were clear.

"My father is right down stairs," Killian pulled away breathlessly.

"I can be quiet," her eyes shimmered with love and happiness.

"I hope so," he dove into her lips again.

TBC…