Mary Margaret kissed her grandson's cheek as she saw the duo approach just a few minutes after she hung up the phone with him. His message had been brief, and had not shed any light on why on earth her grandson and a pirate were asking her to meet at the town's only jewelry store. As Henry attempted to fill her in on the details, a very reluctant Killian stood behind him, shaking his head in disbelief that he was currently standing in front of his girlfriend's son and mother to discuss engagement rings.

"Henry?" came another voice, joining the three on the sidewalk. "Why are we at a jewelry shop?" Elsa waved to each of them, smiling brightly at the confused looks on everyone but Henry's face.

"He," Henry said, pointing at Killian, "wants to marry my mom, but he doesn't have a ring for her. So we," he gestured to all of them, "are going to find him one. Easy, right?"

Elsa grabbed Killian's arm and pulled him into a hug. "Oh my," she said. "This is so exciting."

He mumbled something about just thinking about asking her, which earned him angry glances from both women and Henry. To which he apologized in a blanket statement and ducked his head down as the three came up with a plan so that Emma would not catch on to their scheming.

"So this is what you talked to David about the other day," Mary Margaret said to him when she finally convinced Elsa and Henry to run the extra block to see if Emma's car was still parked at the station. "I was wondering and he was being rather vague."

"Your husband can be subtle when he wants to be, milady," he chuckled. "I appreciate you agreeing to meet me here."

She nodded, adjusting the blanket on her sleeping son in his stroller. "I couldn't resist," she said. "Besides you and I need to chat if you're planning to ask my daughter to marry you."

Raising a quizzical eyebrow, he held open the door for the woman. "Chat?" he questioned.

"Yes," she said firmly. "I'm not interested in hearing how you plan to treat her or how you knew she was the one. Anyone with two of three of their senses could tell you that story from just looking at the two of you together."

"And what are you interested in then?" he asked, nodding at the sales person who asked them to wait a moment.

The brunette leaned over the counter and frowned at the selection, moving a few feet to the right she tried again. "Your past," she said. "You weren't born a pirate. So what were you before?"

Killian noted the ease at which she had the conversation, a trait he recognized in Emma. The woman seemed fearless and determined. "I was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy," he answered, feeling not unlike a suspect being questioned by law enforcement.

She nodded her head. "That is where you learned some of your fencing and fighting skills no doubt," she told him. "And your family? What did they do?"

The man went to lean against one of the cases, hoping that it would support him under the questioning. But as his elbow brushed a rotating displays, the scrambled to hold it upright. "My parents were hardly nobility," he answered. "My mother was the daughter of a baker and passed away when I was a little bit younger than Henry is now. My father abandoned me after her death, as I was told that he was a fugitive and wanted by the crown in another kingdom." He shrugged. "My brother received a commission to the naval academy and eventually was able to let me tag along." At her prodding he offered a few stories about his time as a cabin boy and eventual rise through the ranks. She noted he came across as remarkably modest about those days.

She glanced toward the sales person, gauging the time she had left. "And the pirate thing?"

"After my brother's death from the dreamshade poison in Neverland, I became disenchanted with a king who would send us on such a mission," he answered. "I had a ship, a crew, no family, and a great deal of anger. Piracy seemed to me to be the most logical choice. It made me independent and self-reliant, not something you get by following the orders of your older brother."

With her attention the baby's gurgling, she lifted him to one shoulder and looked back at Killian. This time her eyes were not quite so probing. "And as a pirate you fell in love with Milah?" she asked. "You did have a death wish, didn't you?"

"Aye," he said, looking downward for a moment. "Milah was quite a lass. She could out drink and fight most of my crew. And she was a stubborn minx who made me lose quite a bit of my treasure gambling at some of the various taverns. She was also an incredible pickpocket. I believe you would have found her skill to be quite good during your banditry days."

"And if she had not died?" the woman asked, bouncing her son a bit to settle him. "Would you have married her?"

"We spoke of it," he said softly. "But who can accurately predict the future or the upcoming weather? However, had she lived, I wouldn't be here now. I would have had no reason to go to Neverland when I did, nor would I have been part of Cora's plans."

"It's strange, isn't it?" Mary Margaret said.

"What is?"

"Fate," she answered, dropping a kiss on her son's chubby cheek. "We complain and groan about what happens in our lives. I suffered at the hands of the Evil Queen so that I had to turn to my life as a bandit to get by for all that time. But had I not lived that life, I would not have met my husband. So should I thank Regina or blame her?"

He watched the woman in front of him, tuck her son back into the seat of his stroller. As she straightened, she smiled. "Just as Emma will carry her memories of Neal, you have yours of Milah," she told him. "It doesn't mean that you love either one more or less. Love isn't like that. You make room for love in your heart. There's not a limit to it."

He smirked as she reached over to adjust the collar of his jacket. "I believe you are sounding a bit more like Snow White today," he said with a chuckle.

"Not completely," she told him as the sales person approached. "If I was full on Snow White, you would have heard more about hope."

Henry and Elsa slid in through the door, announcing that Emma was currently typing up a report from an earlier arrest. It would take at least another hour or so. When David had asked him what he was doing, he begged his grandfather to unplug her computer if she got up to leave before they were done.

Killian browsed through several trays of jewelry, an overwhelming amount of rings. There were traditional sets, individual engagement rings, nontraditional looks, newly created, and even some antiques. Mary Margaret out right nixed some of the suggestions, calling them gaudy or cheap, but she offered no approval on the first four trays of selections. Elsa was more polite, saying a few of the rings were almost perfect. Even Henry was bored though, watching the foot traffic out the window rather than his grandmother and Elsa take turns to try on rings so that Killian might see how they looked on someone's hand.

"This one is nice," Mary Margaret finally said, holding her hand up closer to Killian's face. "What do you think?"

The pirate appraised it quickly. "I'm not…"

His future mother-in-law whipped it off her hand and tossed it down on the tray. "Next," she told the sales person. Killian chuckled and called her abundantly decisive. She responded that she was trying to save time. "We've narrowed it down. You like the antique rings that are a bit more ornate than just a solitaire." Looking at the sales person, she smiled. "Let's look for something with those parameters, please."

Elsa tried on the next one, declaring it just the right touch. However, Killian again shook his head in a declaration that it was not nearly worth the asking price.

Two trays later, Henry called out to them to duck when he saw Leroy walking by with a few of the dwarfs. "He'll tell everyone," Henry proclaimed, diving under the chair by the door. Killian, Elsa and Mary Margaret followed the boy's lead and moved out of his sight line.

A few minutes later, Henry again warned them that David had texted Emma's imminent arrival on the street. She had left the station a few minutes earlier and was planning to stop in across the way to check on Belle. Again, the three stayed out of the way of the windows.

It was while Killian and Mary Margaret were snug in the corner of the store that Killian found the ring he wanted for Emma. It was a simple lace gold band with a round cut diamond in the center. Two sapphires adorned the sides of it. Without even asking Mary Margaret's opinion, he lifted the ring off the velvet lined tray and held it up, proclaiming that was the one he wanted to purchase.

"She's still outside," Henry whispered loudly to them, peeking his head up just above the lower frame of the window. "Go inside, mom!"

"We can't stay in here all night," Mary Margaret said. "Anyone have a suggestion on how to get us out of here so she won't see?" Henry shushed her to which she rolled her eyes. "She can't hear us."

"What about magic?" Henry said. "One of my moms can just poof where she wants to go."

Elsa frowned. "Sorry, Henry," she said. "I don't have that kind of magic. I could maybe create a distraction. A snowman or something like that."

"How would a snowman distract her?" Killian said, attempting to catch a glimpse by lifting up one of the heavy curtains.

"I've got it," Mary Margaret said. "I came in to get my watch repaired. I'm going to walk out there and act surprised to see her. I'll invited her and Belle to dinner and you guys can sneak out after we're gone."

"And if she doesn't go?" Elsa asked.

"Then I hope you brought your sleeping bags because you'll be here a while."

This is a bit of a short update, but I wanted Mary Margaret and Elsa to get a turn too. Besides…my husband actually took my mother and best friend shopping for my engagement ring. A co-worker of mine saw them at the store and assumed that he was proposing to my friend and not me. LOL