It didn't take long for Emma and Killian to settle into something resembling a routine. While their days on set were often long and unpredictable, their mornings were anything but. Emma wouldn't normally class herself as a morning person, yet, with Killian to wake up to, she suddenly found the early alarm a lot more welcoming than it had once been.

Weekends were generally lazy affairs. If they weren't curled up together on the couch watching a new series or reading a good book, they would sneak out to the theatre, or for walks along the beach. Occasionally, there were concerts and fancy dinners, sometimes with Will and Belle tagging along, sometimes as precious dates to savor.

Emma had been a little concerned when Killian had returned from work one evening and the first thing he'd blurted out was, "Belle knows about us." She wasn't ashamed of their relationship, she just knew that it was still in a fragile place, and the last thing they needed right then was cameras following their every move. She'd had plenty of experience with handling relationships in Hollywood, and Emma knew that Belle knowing was one step closer to the whole world finding out that she was dating Killian Jones. But the more time she spent with Belle and her husband, the less Emma worried – because a month after Killian had broken the news to her, she still wasn't entirely sure if Will knew the true nature of their relationship.

On the rare occasions that she found herself with a weekend at home while her best friend was busy shooting catch-up scenes, Emma made the most of her time. Negotiating the changes to her screenplay to meet the studio's demands wasn't easy. While she'd never expected things to go as far as they had, Emma soon discovered that she was more attached to her script than she thought she was, and sacrificing scenes or words she'd agonized over wasn't an easy thing to do.

Between her rewrites and cleaning purges around the house, Emma made sure to squeeze in a few afternoons with Belle. Most of her old friends in LA had moved on since she'd last been in the city. Their careers had taken them all over the world – just as her own had – and while making new friends hadn't exactly been at the top of her list of priorities when she'd returned, Emma found that she loved spending time with Belle.

Whenever the two women were out sampling LA's finest restaurants or spa treatments, Killian could often be found at the gym, working on the training regimes he'd started during his divorce. At first, he'd been more than happy to go alone, working on routines he knew back-to-front, or with his trainer to target certain areas he'd let slip. But with a little cajoling from Emma, he'd eventually worked up the courage to ask Will to join him, and after a few guest sessions, the other man had quickly signed himself up.

It was halfway through the second week of August when Emma found herself with a rare mid-week day off. She had gotten up with Killian to make them both some breakfast and kiss him goodbye, before heading straight back to bed. When she'd woken again, she'd cleaned up from the morning and then made herself comfortable by the pool with a brand new book. The sound of the doorbell pulled her away from the first chapter before she could finish it, and Emma sighed to herself as she marked her place and reached for her wrap.

The delivery guy looked like his birthday had come early when she pulled open the door, but Emma was too distracted by the postmark on the large envelope he was holding to care much about the clear view of her cleavage her bikini provided. She quickly scribbled down her signature and almost snatched the package out of his hands, before heading back to the lounger beside the pool to open it up.

Inside, Emma found the most recent draft of her screenplay with a letter from the studio pinned to the front. She gently pulled it free, read it through twice, and then dropped everything down onto the seat beside her.

Finally, after weeks of back-and-forth with the studio, they had approved her script for production. For a while, Emma had almost convinced herself that her stubbornness when it came to certain parts of her story would end up costing her the entire deal, so having that final stamp of approval in her hands felt euphoric.

Her first instinct was to call Killian and pass along the good news, but before she could reach for her cell, a sharp ring from inside the house sounded. Chuckling to herself, Emma gathered up her belongings and headed inside, dumping the envelope and the script onto the countertop as she reached for the ringing phone.

"Excellent timing, as per usual," she teased, pressing the device to her eat as she headed around the kitchen island and towards the refrigerator.

"Really?" a woman's voice asked. "I wasn't entirely sure Killian would be home just yet, but I figured I could always call back later if he wasn't."

Emma was silent for a long moment as she tried to place the vaguely familiar voice on the other end of the line. It wasn't until someone in the background uttered the words, "Uncle Killian," that it finally clicked into place for her.

"Anna?"

"Had you going there for a while, didn't I?" she teased.

"Just for a minute," Emma conceded.

Anna snorted out a laugh while the other woman made herself comfortable at the kitchen island. "I don't know why," she eventually said. "Killian only knows like three women. You're one of them and I'm another. It doesn't leave much room for anyone else in his life."

"He's uh… he's making new friends," Emma defended. "And one of them is of the female variety."

"Oh, interesting!"

Emma didn't like the glee that seemed to color Anna's words, so she may have been a little too forceful when she declared, "It's not like that! Belle's married."

"That's a shame. He could do with getting laid," Anna giggled, and Emma forced herself to laugh along with Killian's sister-in-law. "Anyway, enough about what Uncle Killian does with his spare time – is he around at all? We just got back from a family trip to Spain, and the boys wanna tell their uncle all about their week."

"He's not, no," Emma reluctantly replied. She hated the idea of letting down Killian's nephews, even if it was due to circumstances beyond her control. "He should be home around six, if you guys will still be awake then?"

Anna made an odd noise over the line, and Emma knew she was trying to work out the time difference between Ireland and Los Angeles. "It's midday here," she added helpfully, "He won't be home for another six hours or so."

"Damn. It'll be close to midnight here," the other woman sighed.

"Well, he'll be free this weekend," Emma offered. "You could always call then? And if the boys reallywanna tell someone about their week, I don't have anything to do for the next couple of hours."

That wasn't exactly true. There was more in the package from the studio than the script they'd returned to her, and Emma really wanted to peruse the information they'd sent over before Killian came home. But she was more concerned about the two disappointed little boys on the other side of the ocean than she was about her career at that moment, so she would happily sit and listen if it made their day.

Anna must have pulled the phone away from her mouth as when she spoke again, Emma had to strain her ears to catch what she was saying. "Boys… quiet, please. Uncle Killian's at work at the moment, but if you want, Auntie Emma's home and she's free."

There was some muffled cheering that Emma took for an affirmation, and she immediately began making her way around the kitchen, grabbing the laptop off the counter before heading out to the dryer to look for a clean shirt she could throw on.

"I think that's a yes," Anna stated, returning to their conversation.

"It's nice to know I haven't been forgotten, given how long it's been since they last saw me."

"Oh, definitely not," Anna assured her. "Killian would never let them forget their Auntie Emma. But we really should rectify that whole seeing each other thing soon."

Emma hummed in agreement as she pulled a t-shirt over her head and settled the laptop on the coffee table. "We've um… we've actually been discussing that recently," she started, a little worried that Killian would think she'd overstepped by bringing up their plans with his family before he could. "We were um… we're thinking of hosting a New Year's party. That way, you guys could come over and see his new place. Hopefully, you'd be able to see my folks again and meet his new co-star too. And you'd get a good vacation out of it. "

"I'm already sold," Anna assured her. "I've been trying to talk Liam into coming out for a while now, but we didn't want to impose ourselves while Killian was struggling with his divorce. Spending the New Year in LA sounds like absolute heaven."

"Then I shall definitely go ahead and start making arrangements," Emma chuckled. "I'm sure certain aspects of the party will be in high demand for the holiday season - and you can't celebrate the New Year without copious amounts of alcohol and fireworks."

"Here, here," Anna cheered, as Emma pulled up the screen on the laptop and tapped in Killian's password.

"And we um… we were thinking of maybe coming home to Ireland for the holidays," she added. "I'd love to see another white Christmas, and somehow, I don't think LA will be getting one any time soon."

"Really? Cathleen will be absolutely thrilled to hear that. We haven't had the whole family together over Christmas for years, and I know she wants to make new holiday memories that don't involve her former, cheating daughter-in-law. I can't promise snow for any of them, though. You're more likely to get rain, I'm afraid."

"Rain, snow, it's kinda the same," Emma chuckled. "As long as you guys are all there, I know it'll be magical. It's been far too long since we had a proper catch-up, and I'm sure the boys are almost unrecognizable now with how much they've grown."

"Speaking of," Anna chuckled, "They're bouncing around here waiting to speak to you. Do you mind if I hang up and call you back through Facetime? That way, they can show you just how big this swan was."

"Swans in Spain? I'm already loving this tale," Emma teased. "I'm all fired up and ready. Go ahead and tell the boys to hit call."

Before Anna could say anything, the chime sounded on the laptop and Emma hit answer with a chuckle as she disconnected the landline. "Hi, Boys."

"Hi, Auntie Emma," they chorused, before breaking into conversation at exactly the same time about what they'd spent the last week in Spain doing.

Emma just managed to pick out the phrases 'Ice cream,' 'big swan,' and 'football' before Anna's voice suddenly interrupted to call out, "Hey! Auntie Emma isn't going to be able to understand a word of what you're saying if you keep talking over each other. Take it in turns. Alfie, why don't you go first?"

Little Alfie bounced excitedly in his seat at being chosen to go first, while his brother slumped dejected down in the one beside him.

"Okay, Alfie, why don't you tell me about the first day of your holiday?" Emma invited. She let her eyes slide over to Adrian's form and quickly added, "Then your brother can tell me all about day two."

Adrian straightened up a little in his chair, his eyes brightening once more as Alfie opened his mouth to begin a fast-paced recap of everything he'd done since their plane had landed in Madrid.


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