Emma Swan was having an absolutely rotten day. It started poorly with her sleeping past her final alarm and waking up with only ten minutes to get to work on time. If it was her father or Killian who had the shift before her she could have sent them a text of warning and they would gladly stay the extra few minutes but she was taking over for their part-time secretary, Tyler. He was a spunky college student who was helping at the station until Emma found a person to hire to equally divide the work.

Already frantically trying to do multiple things at once, she brushed her teeth as she went downstairs to get her clothes from the dryer only to find that they hadn't dried completely so her only option was to wear wet jeans or a pair that she never wore because they were her least comfortable. At least that was something she could fix with magic. She had no time to make coffee so she would have to drink the crappy station coffee, and as she poured milk into a mason jar filled with cereal, she realized the milk had gone bad and that she had just wasted a whole bowl of sugar flakes.

And finally, the thing that pushed her to the brink of feeling like she could breathe fire out of frustration: her car wouldn't start. The Bug had been having issues over the last several months. She was most frustrated about the fact that magic didn't help her fix her car since she never knew what was wrong with it. Each time she took it to the mechanic and had to borrow Killian's car, she could sense him wanting to ask why keep it as it became more and more impractical to maintain. Luckily, he knew how much the car meant to her and would never dare suggest giving it up.

Speaking of her dashingly handsome housemate, he was nowhere to be found through all of this so she happily blamed him for her oversleeping and initiating the domino effect of her rough start to the day.

By the time she made it to work - having to walk through the woods to get there since she couldn't drive, thus muddying her boots beyond hope - she was ready to sit and stew in a patrol car all day and not think about anything else. Sadly, when she arrived at the station, her office was in a total state of disarray.

"Tyler!" she called, taking a deep breath and rolling back her shoulders in an attempt to force herself to relax.

Tyler jogged up to her door. "Yes, ma'am?"

"What happened?" she asked, gesturing to the open drawers and various piles of paperwork that had been misplaced, too aggravated to correct his use of the word 'ma'am'.

"Oh, um, your boyfriend wanted to help you by filling out the papers for payroll, but he couldn't find the necessary forms," Tyler explained nonchalantly. Honestly, everything to him was a non-issue.

She frowned at that though. Of the two of them, Emma was undeniably the messy one. Two hundred years of living on a boat had made Killian a cleaning and organizing fanatic. "And he just left it like this?"

"Domestic disputes are not my jurisdiction, Sheriff. Take it up with him." He dropped the keys to the patrol car on her desk where they disappeared between mountains of papers and he flounced out of the room, whistling as he walked. She collapsed into her chair with a groan, quickly seeing her desire to sit and do nothing in her car all day evaporate before her. She checked her phone - which had also been neglected by the charger all night and was an hour or two away from dying - and found a text from her boyfriend explaining that he had some unexpected boat job come up and he would be at the docks all day. It was a long explanation about Eric needing an experienced sailor to help him with a project. Truth be told, Emma was too frustrated to bother reading the entire text.

With nothing else to do but deal with the mess in front of her, she poured herself a cup of coffee, put her favorite record on the player in the corner of her office, and began sorting through the piles of paperwork scattered around her office. Sadly, she was going to have a whole day in the office thanks to Killian's mess and having to work on payroll in the afternoon.

Her father arrived and stopped in the doorway, eyes widening. "What happened here?"

"Believe it or not, Killian," she said, smiling bitterly.

"Really?" His eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Yes," she sighed.

"Well, good luck with that. I'm assuming you'll be here the rest of the day?" She nodded and he saluted her before collecting everything he needed to go on patrol and leaving again.

She picked up a chunk of folders and realized then that something was off about the way that everything was sitting out. There was no sign of him actually looking for anything. Not a single folder was out of place. If Killian was looking for something, he didn't look thoroughly at all, unless he wasn't looking for something at all. That raised a red flag. Between the peculiarity of him leaving such a mess but also him leaving a mess without actually having a purpose behind it didn't add up to her.

"Okay, Captain, what are you up to?" she wondered aloud. Whatever he was up to, she still had the matter of putting everything back and finishing payroll.

Her day didn't get any worse, for which she was grateful. She was just submitting what she had finished when she heard someone whistling a low tune coming down the hallway. Killian walked in, freshly showered and in clean clothes. He stepped behind her and brushed her hair to the side so that he could dig his hand into her sore muscles.

"How has your day been, love?" he asked.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Really? You're going to pretend that you didn't leave my office in a complete state of disarray?"

"Ah, yes, that," he said slowly. "I genuinely did want to do something for you."

"You're telling the truth," she said in surprise, pulling back from him slightly.

"Did you expect anything else?"

"No, I'm sorry. Today has been awful and I'm grumpy and would really like to have a good night tonight." Her hands wrapped around his forearms as she peered up at him from her desk. "Please tell me we can go home and curl up on the couch and do nothing?" He hesitated, causing her to groan and drop her head. "Killian…"

"I have just a few more things to do for the girl tonight. It shouldn't be long. Although, it would take less time if you joined me."

"What kind of things?" she asked.

"Things that will be done faster with three hands rather than one. I can throw in an order of onion rings if it so entices you."

"I spent all morning cleaning up your mess."

He nodded in understanding. "And once we are home, you can do whatever you like with me."

"That's a tall promise," she said with skepticism.

"Yes, well, I'm feeling hospitable today." He held his hand out to her and pulled her up from her chair. "Are you coming, Swan?"

"I guess."

He drove them both to the docks, neither of them feeling the need to talk. He was acting strange, almost like he didn't know what to say to her, but she attributed that to her foul mood and him being cautious to not make it any worse. Part of her was surprised that he had told the truth earlier but another part of her suspected that he could still be lying, he just knew how to get around her superpower. It wasn't foolproof, after all.

When they arrived at the Jolly Roger, she gasped. Lights had been strung between the masts and nets, creating a curtain of twinkling lights, and when he led her across the gangplank, she saw that all of the lanterns on the ship had been brought up to the main deck and lit. She stopped short, one hand covering her mouth.

"Killian?"

He stepped around her so that he was standing in the middle of the deck. "Are you surprised, love?"

Her eyes couldn't decide if they were more entranced by him or how beautiful the ship was underneath the fairy lights and setting autumn sun. "I don't know what to say. You did all of this?"

"Yes. I apologize for everything done today. It was partially Henry's idea. He thought that if you had a bad enough day, it would distract you and not give you any suspicion of what we were actually up to, which was this." He gestured to the ship. "Do you like it?"

"I...I love it. It's stunning. I can't believe you did this. Hang on, you mean that you did intentionally make a mess of my office?" He blinked at her. "Last night, when I asked you to start the dryer, did you? And my car…"

"Is fine, love. Your father returned your battery this afternoon." He rested his hand and hook on her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. The pieces began to come together and it caused her heart to beat faster as her gaze finally settled on him and the love in his eyes.

"Oh my god," she breathed as she realized what was happening.

Killian's hand trailed down her arm until his fingers intertwined with hers and her other hand wrapped around the cool metal of his hook. "I love you. Back in Neverland, when I told you that I would win your heart, part of me never believed that I actually would. The more time I spent with you and the more I fell in love with you, the less likely it seemed that you would ever feel the same for me." He released her hand to reach into his pocket and she sighed when he pulled out a ring and sank down to one knee. "Emma, love, you gave me the greatest gift of all, and that was the belief and the hope that I can one day be a better man than I once was. I promise you, I will always protect your heart, Swan, and even though the future is uncertain, I want you to be certain that I will be by your side through it all. So what do you say? Will you marry-"

He didn't finish the question before she dropped to her knees and crushed her lips to his. When she pulled away from him, tears were in both of their eyes and they shared a smile. "Yes," she said quietly before leaning in for a much softer kiss. Eventually they broke apart and she held out her hand for him to slide the ring on. "We're getting married," she said breathlessly.

"Aye, love, it appears so."

"I never thought this would happen," she admitted.

"I knew it would. After all, who can resist an irresistibly handsome pirate such as myself?" She rolled her eyes but kissed his cheek anyway.

"Don't get too cocky. I'm only in this for the boat."

He pulled away from her. "Now how many times have we been over this? She's a ship, and calling her anything less is offensive not just to me, but her as well."

"Right, how quickly I forgot that there are three of us in this relationship." Emma took a moment to look down at the ring and really inspect it, genuinely surprised by how beautiful it was. She didn't expect that Hook would have given her junk but she also didn't expect something so elegant.

He caught her focused study. "It belonged to my grandmother."

"Your grandmother? You've never told me about her."

"I never knew her. My mum always told stories of her. She was the oldest of her siblings and her parents died when she was young, so she became the provider for her family. According to Mum, she was the finest merchant in the kingdom and a woman to boot. She was the finest merchant in the land, and then she fell in love with a trader. They lived their lives on the high seas and he purchased this ring for her in a faraway land called Agrabar."

"A trader on the high seas? Sounds like a pirate to me."

Killian gave her a secretive smile. "Sadly, dead men tell no tales. He died when my mum was a babe and her mother never recovered from the loss - she rarely spoke of him. She only said that their love was something she wished my brother and I could experience for ourselves. Somehow, in everything I've been through, this ring survived and I vowed that if I ever did find that love, I would give her this ring."

Her eyebrows rose and lips quivered in the way they did when she was rendered speechless by him. Just when she thought she knew everything about him, he found a way to surprise her with another piece of himself. "I am honored to be wearing it," she said, fanning out her fingers again to watch it catch the light. "What did my father say when you made a plan to propose to me?"

"He was surprisingly in favor of me becoming an honest man."

"Uh-huh." Hook and her father had an amenable relationship but she doubted that her father would have so readily agreed to the two of them being married.

"Truly, love, he knows how I have worked to become a better man for you and our union has his blessing."

"Wow. And here I thought that with our lives, it would involve more drama and angst than that."

He smiled at her and this time it was one of those rare smiles of his that only she got to see that wasn't hiding behind some innuendo or poorly timed joke but a smile that expressed exactly how happy he was.

"We have fought far too hard for this for me to let anything get in the way of your happy ending, Swan. We agreed no more secrets and I would not have proposed to you tonight if I had anything to hide. I know you love me, and in order to do that you must know all of me, and I can promise you that there is nothing left within me hiding from you."

She leaned her forehead against his and he pressed his lips to her hair and she stayed there in his arms for several minutes, marveling at how lucky she was to have found this man and to have this life. All of those nights in her childhood spent feeling unwanted and unvalued and here she was, living in an actual fairytale. She was going to marry a fairytale character. Coming to grips with being the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming was hard enough but she was marrying the living, breathing, real-life Captain Hook. It was absurd!

A laugh burst out of her and Killian gave her an inquisitive look. "I'm really glad you're not the old, mustached man from the cartoon version of Peter Pan," she giggled. He rolled his eyes and took her down below deck for a feast of chicken parmesan, salad, garlic bread, and mozzarella sticks (because no meal was complete for Emma without fried food).

She heard the sound of car doors slamming nearby and she drew away from him. "Is someone here?"

"Ah, yes," he said, appearing far less surprised than her. He led her out to the main deck as her parents, Henry, Regina, Belle and Will, Ashley and Sean, and a few of their other friends came aboard the ship.

"Congratulations!" Snow squealed, throwing her arms around Emma. The blonde glanced at her fiance long enough to figure out that he had planned this part as well. She had anticipated spending the night with him in his bed below deck but suddenly the thought of having a celebratory party was so much better. From the corner of her eye, she watched her father shake Killian's hand and clap him on the shoulder in that proud way-to-go way that men did.

All of the women naturally flocked to Emma and asked to see the ring and gushed over how beautiful it was. It truly was a work of art by jewelry standards. The stone was not a diamond but the clearest, brightest aquamarine that was the same shade blue as Killian's eyes, cut into a diamond shape with small diamonds of various sizes flanking it. She was never the kind of girl that daydreamed about what kind of engagement ring she would want and while it was a bit brighter than what she would have asked for, it felt perfect. It also fit, which was a huge relief.

"I'm happy for you, I really am," Regina said as they embraced. Emma gave her a guarded smile. They had discussed her loss of Robin to a great extent and Regina had mostly healed from it, but she also had resigned herself to never finding another man that would fit into her life the way he had. Regina insisted that Henry was her happy ending and that at the end of the day, being a mother was enough for her.

It was way too long before Emma was free to find Henry, who had joined Killian up by the helm. They both had similar conspiratorial looks on their faces and Emma wondered just how much trouble she was in for with the two of them being partners in crime. Their friendship didn't happen overnight, with Henry having the reservations you would expect of any teenager whose mother is dating someone new. She knew that she would always be Henry's sidekick but it warmed her heart to know that he had a good relationship with Killian. Not just a good relationship, but sincerely looked at him as a member of their family.

"Hey kid," Emma said, wrapping him in a tight hug. "I heard that you were an integral part in all of this."

Henry grinned. "We called it Operation Land Ho."

"I like it." Sean called up to Killian from down below and pressed a quick kiss to Emma's temple before joining the other men. She studied Henry's expression carefully. "Are you really okay with this, kid? I know we've got a good thing going just the two of us."

"Yeah, but things can be good just the three of us," he corrected and she was instantly transported back to her time living with Henry in New York when he said the same thing about her marrying Walsh. Relief filled her - not that she really doubted it as Henry would have certainly said something by now if he wasn't okay with it. "I want you to be happy, Mom. And Captain Hook is gonna be my stepdad. What's cooler than that?"

She pulled him in for another hug and Killian came back to them, then. He took his place on the other side of Emma and in that moment, there was no other place she would rather be than between her two favorite boys.

"Are you happy, Swan?" he asked.

She didn't even need to think about it. Soon enough, she would be marrying the love of her life, her True Love, and they were going to be a proper family. "Yes."

It was the second easiest Yes she had said all day.