It's almost Christmas for Emma and Killian!


Chapter 53: Emma

Emma folded the shirt and stuck it into a gift box. A Christmas scene was printed on the box, therefore it required no wrapping skills at all, which Emma was grateful for. She folded sparkly snowman printed tissue paper over the gloves and placed the lid of top, adding a small piece of tape at each corner to keep it closed. She stuck a small green bow on the top left corner of the box.

She placed the gloves in a small gift bag and spent more time than any one person should trying to arrange the tissue paper to look pretty and hide the gift within.

Emma had bought three toys for Brinkley and had at first put them all in one larger gift bag before realizing the tree would look better with more presents underneath it and it would be more fun to give the gifts to Brinkley individually. She removed two toys and added them into their own bags, giving up on making the tissue paper perfect. It wasn't as though Brinkley would notice. She wrapped up the remaining gifts she had bought for Killian and hoped that it wasn't too much. They hadn't talked about a budget for gifts or really even discussed exchanging them at all.

She placed the presents under the tree and stood back, admiring her work. It had been years since she had seen a fully decorated Christmas tree with real presents underneath.

Settling down on the couch and pulling a large blanket over her, Emma turned on the television and flipped through the channels trying to find a holiday movie to watch. Home Alone 2 had started only a few minutes ago so she settled for that, amused that the family had once again left behind their child before vacation. The movies were popular in her childhood and she had found herself happy Ingrid and Tony never had the money to go on vacations, especially around the holidays, not entirely convinced they wouldn't somehow forget to bring her along or leave her somewhere accidentally-on-purpose.

She made it to the scene where Kevin was gifted the turtle dove ornaments when her phone rang. She smiled, seeing it was Killian. "Hey." She answered.

"Hello, love! You'll never guess what I was given today." Killian said, happiness radiating from his voice.

Instantly Emma was equal parts curious and excited. She had never heard Killian sound so gleeful. "You're right, I won't guess, so you should tell me."

"Now what is the fun in that?" He teased.

"It's practical. I'm a terrible guesser. I have no idea. Stop dragging this out and tell me." Emma told him.

Killian sighed audibly. "You have to guess." He enunciated each word.

"Fine." Emma huffed. "A raise? A permanent position at the library? A winning lottery ticket?"

"No, no and no." Killian replied. "But good guesses. Are you home? Since you'll never guess I'd love to show you."

"Show me? It's a physical thing? A pet for Brinkley? A new truck? Glasses?" Emma guessed.

Killian laughed. "I assure you my eyesight has not changed and my truck remains the same. Really love, a pet for Brinkley? Why on earth would my dog need his own pet?" He sounded genuinely baffled by the last question.

"Brinkley is the most human dog I've ever met. Don't even pretend like you haven't thought about getting a playmate for him before." Emma countered.

"I have, but I think he prefers to be an only dog child. A playmate is hardly the same thing as a pet." Killian responded.

"You know as well as I do that if you brought home any type of animal that Brinkley would immediately assume that it was a pet for him and not for you." Emma replied.

"Did he tell you that?" Killian asked. "I'm surprised at how well you know my dog."

"He's easy to read." Emma said. "And yes, I'm home. Now get your ass over here and tell me what you got. I hate suspense."

Killian laughed at her demanding tone. "Good thing I'm already on my way to you. I'll be there in a few minutes. See you shortly, love."

Emma pressed the button on her phone to disconnect the call. Tossing the blanket aside, she swung her legs out from under her and quickly made her way into the bathroom. Although Killian had seen her first thing in the morning, directly out of the shower and drenched by random rain storms she still felt the need to make sure he wasn't going to encounter anything too terrible looking. Her bun was lopsided from lying on the couch, pieces sticking out strangely from the sides. Unwinding the elastic, she twisted her hair back up again and licked her pointer fingers, swiping them under her eyes to remove any stray mascara that may have gotten stuck here. She quickly brushed her teeth, then looked down and realized she was wearing her rattiest pair of pajamas.

She knew Killian wouldn't care and likely wouldn't even comment, but that didn't stop her from pulling on a pair of fleece-lined leggings and an oversized sweater. Emma had just crossed through the doorway from her bedroom to the hallway when she heard his knock at the door.

Pulling open the door she yanked him in and quickly shut it behind her. Killian laughed. "Cold?"

"It's winter. I'm always cold. So, what did you get?" Emma asked impatiently bouncing from foot to foot.

Killian shook his head at her amused. He pulled off his jacket and hung it over one of her chairs before coming in front of her again and ducking his head to press his lips to hers. His arms wrapped loosely around her middle. Emma reacted immediately, her arms wrapping around him as she went up on tiptoe to lessen the distance he had to duck down. Killian broke the kiss, his lips lingering above hers. "Now that I've properly greeted you, perhaps you would like to see what I was given."

Keeping her arms around him Emma walked them backwards to the couch. She spun them around and pushed Kilian down into a sitting position before sitting on the couch herself, tossing her legs over his lap. "Hi. And yes, just show me already!"

"Of course." Killian replied, lifting his hips to reach into the pocket of his jeans. "Oh, I must have put it in the pocket of my coat." He lifted her legs and stood up to get it.

"Are you purposely trying to drag this out even longer?" Emma asked, voice laced with impatience.

"No, love. I'm honestly not." Killian said grabbing his phone and a folded piece of paper from his coat and joining her again on the couch. "This first." He said, swiping to his email app and selecting a message. He tilted his phone in Emma's direction so she could read it.

Mr. Jones,

I hope that you are not upset when you read this message. The gifts purchased by you and Miss Swan were delivered to your adopted family last week. I received a visit from the son yesterday, begging me to tell him who had given them the gifts. I explained to him that participants were to remain anonymous, which he was unwilling to accept. Eventually we were able to come to an agreement that I would pass along the note he provided to me and if you did not wish to have any further contact, he would understand. Additionally, I did slip up and tell him that it was a man and woman who purchased the gifts for their family. My sincerest apologies if you wished to remain entirely anonymous. I have mailed you the letter he left to me today. You should receive it within a day or two.

Sincerely,

Adopt A Family Program

Emma noticed that the email was dated three days ago. "Did you get the letter?"

"I did." Killian replied handing her the folded piece of notebook paper.

Emma carefully unfolded it and smoothed it out over her lap.

Dear Mister and Miss,

I don't know your names and the lady here won't tell me. She said you want to stay uhnon- anonomuss. I hope you are not mad that I want to tell you what happened. My mom and dad told us that Santa Claus was not going to bring lots of gifts this year. Monday I stayed home from school. I has a cold. There was a lady at the door and mom opened it. This nice lady came inside with a big bag of gifts. I keeped asking my mom where they came from and she started crying but smiling. She told me she asked for help for Christmas and you and the lady are the helpers. You are not elves right? Mom hid the gifts (in her closet but I am not subposed to know wear). She said we can open them on Christmas. So I does not know what they are but I still wanted to write to you and tell you thank you. THANK YOU! You made my mom smile and I like when she does that. The lady hear said she will tell me if I can write you again. I hope so.

Your freind,

Joe

Emma folded the letter back up and wordlessly handed it to Killian. She turned to meet his eyes, frowning slightly when she saw the hesitation in his face. "I don't even know what to say."

Relief crept up over Killian's features. "Aye love, it is rather overwhelming. I was at a loss for words after I read it the first time."

"Do you think we should encourage contact? I don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, it's great that we got such a well deserving family who will really appreciate it, and on the other hand, it seems...I don't know, showy to say who we are." Emma said, fingers fidgeting together.

"I had those same thoughts." Killian replied, taking her hand and linking his fingers through hers. "I thought we could compromise, just using our first initials."

Emma nodded. "That works for me. K and E isn't very obvious."

"Let's write a letter back to Joe then? Do you have any paper?" Killian asked.

Emma found an old notebook and handed it to Killian along with a pen, saying his handwriting was prettier.

"Why thank you, love. Tis not every day a man heard that his handwriting is pretty." He had teased her.

Together they composed a short letter back to the boy, telling him that they were not elves but his mother was correct in calling them helpers. They wanted to help his family have a great Christmas and that they were very happy to hear that his mother was smiling. They thanked Joe for writing to them and ended the letter by telling him that they were wished they could see his and his sisters reactions when they opened their gifts.

-/-

"Happy Christmas Eve." Killian said, pressing a lingering kiss to her temple.

Emma leaned in closer to the heat radiating off of him. It was bitterly cold outside with a chance of precipitation for the next few days and her heating system was struggling to keep up. She didn't know the last time there was a chance of a white Christmas. It had clearly been some time as even the newscasters and meteorologists were overly excited about the possibility.

Her thickest fleece leggings covered her legs. Knee high tightly knit wool socks covered her feet and a long-sleeved thermal shirt peeked out from under the oversized fleece cardigan she wore. Killian, on the other hand, wore a pair of jeans and a thin, Henley-style shirt. His feet were bare and more than a few buttons of his shirt were undone.

"How are you always so warm?" Emma asked, turning her face to press against his chest. She felt him shrug. She knew they had a lot to do, but she didn't want to lose her personal heater. Her arms slid around him, anchoring him in place against her.

They stood that way for quite some time, Emma felt her hair get tangled in his scruff as he brushed his chin against the top of her head. She let her body relax, listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat, softly inhaling the scent of his cologne. She pulled away slowly, blinking a few times to clear her tired mind. "Is there anything we need to prep for tomorrow?" She asked.

"The cinnamon rolls can be made tonight. Perhaps more, but we can start there and see how much more we feel like cooking afterward. I wouldn't want you to feel too worked this holiday." Killian teased with a smile.

"Let's make sure we have everything. The stores close early tonight." Emma said.

Killian agreed and pulled out the stack of recipes he had brought along. They started with the pantry ingredients, confirming there were lasagna noodles, a loaf of French bread, enough flour, sugar and cinnamon for the rolls, ladyfingers for the tiramisu and oils and spices for each recipe. In the fridge there were plenty of vegetables for the salad, a variety of cheeses for the lasagna and tiramisu and even some cream cheese for the topping on the cinnamon rolls. She had a half gallon of milk, a carton of eggs, and an impulse purchase of a roll of refrigerated cookie dough. The ground beef and sausage sat in a bag on the bottom shelf of the fridge, next to it a small platter of sliced cheese and meats and a small container of a variety of olives. Emma's counter was full of tomatoes and a few onions to make the sauce, as well as a bottle of red wine that she preferred to drink rather than use in a recipe.

"I think we have everything." Emma said, poking around in the fridge to see if there was anything they missed. "Hey what is this?"

"Dinner for tonight." Killian replied, grabbing the package of steaks from her and putting them back into the bag with the other meats. "If you're good." He winked at her.

Emma rolled her eyes good naturedly and started pulling the out the pantry ingredients they would need for the cinnamon rolls. They had found a quick recipe that made a small batch of six. Emma wondered if her sweet tooth would allow her to even share those six with Killian, but she hoped the mouthwatering scents from the lasagna and other dishes they would be making the next day would keep her from eating all of the cinnamon rolls.

The cinnamon roll recipe called for a stand mixer, which neither of them had. Killian had convinced Emma that it would simply require a lot of work to knead the dough without one, but they could still make it work. She thought picking up a refrigerated roll of them sounded even easier, but Killian was so excited to make the meal together she kept her mouth shut. She followed the recipe and added the warm water, yeast and sugar to a large bowl. As she waited for it to foam up, she measured out the flour and cinnamon.

Killian preheated her oven and lined a round cake pan (purchased earlier that day) with parchment paper. Once the yeast mixture became foamy Emma used a hand mixer to slowly add in the flour and butter. When it got too hard for the mixer to handle without having a dough hook, Killian took over, turning out the flour on her counter and kneading it over and over again until it formed into a soft dough.

Emma watched, impressed as the muscles in his forearms right down to his finger flexed with each pull and stretch of the dough. At this rate she had more interest in pulling him into bed than she did completing their breakfast for the next day but managed to contain herself for the time being.

Killian rolled out the dough into a rectangle. Emma had combined the cinnamon and sugar together and generously sprinkled it down the length of the dough. Killian carefully rolled the dough into a log, pinching the seams at the end shut and then sliced the dough into even pieces. He placed them onto the parchment paper lined cake pan and dusted off his hands. "We shall have cinnamon rolls for breakfast." He announced, proudly.

"They look so good. Maybe we should bake them tonight and have leftovers tomorrow." Emma said, inhaling the sugary-cinnamon scent that lingered in the air.

Killian laughed and shook his head at her. "I know you too well for that. You'll eat them all tonight if we bake them. Good things come to those who are patient, love." He teased.

Emma frowned. "Fine. Let's make something else so I can keep my mind off of them."

They decided to make the tiramisu that night, hoping that allowing the recipe to sit in the refrigerator overnight would enhance the flavors. As the recipe called for coffee, Killian was more than happy to make additional and enjoy the leftovers of the drink.

Emma washed the hand mixer and bowl and put the mascarpone cheese and sugar inside, turning on the hand mixer and moving it in slow circles until the mixture became light and fluffy. She added in the egg yolks, her hand starting to become numb from the constant vibration of the machine. Killian took over for the egg whites, cleaning the beaters and drying them thoroughly before adding the egg whites to another bowl and beating them into stiff peaks.

He gently folded the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture. Emma picked up the feather-light Ladyfinger cookies and carefully dipped them into the cooling coffee. She arrange them in the bottom of a round dish, making an even layer and Killian spread the mascarpone and egg white mixture on top. They repeated the layers until the dish was full and then added a sprinkle of cocoa powder on top.

Killian covered the dish with plastic wrap and placed it inside of Emma's fridge. Shutting the door behind him he turned around to face her. "How about I make you dinner now, love?"