The Fireworks

CS Genre: Future Fic

Spring slowly sizzled into summer—a particularly hot and humid summer in Storybrooke that had Emma grateful that they had indeed decided to stay in the Land Without Magic, a place where air conditioners were a thing.

Ever since the Black Fairy was defeated a few months ago, she and Killian had responded to far more "cat stuck in a tree" or "Leroy double parked in front of Granny's" calls than "weird, fairy tale villain intent on world domination just destroyed something" calls.

In fact, they'd had no calls about fairy tale villains. It seemed Storybrooke had finally settled down into a peaceful, sleepy little town, with its requisite cast of eccentric characters.

It had never been the kind of life Emma had imagined she would lead—sheriff in a small town where everyone knows everyone else, married to her true love and so happy she thought she might die from it. But though it might not be the life she'd expected for herself, it was a life she loved with every fiber in her being.

Even when Regina decided to institute regular town meetings to discuss town business. (Seriously, they really were turning into Stars Hollow.) It was at one such meeting about a month ago, that the whole big production had been decided on.

"Now that we're not, you know, fighting villains every other day," Leroy had said when Regina called on him to speak, "I think we need to start participating in normal society things. The 4th of July is coming up. Let's do it up right. Parade, fireworks, the whole shebang."

Killian leaned over to Emma. "Perhaps I'm missing something love, but what exactly is the significance of the 4th day of July, and why would it call for an unusual amount of festivity?"

Emma smirked, so glad to get back to the business of enlightening Killian about the modern world rather than, you know, trying not to die or trying to keep him from dying. "It's Independence day in the United States, which is technically the country we live in. Lots of celebrating goes on that day."

He'd, as usual, wanted to pepper her with about a million questions. Seriously, her husband wanted to know everything about everything. Usually, Emma dealt with it by telling him to go look it up on the "magic box", aka Internet, but that wasn't exactly practical during a town meeting. Seriously, Regina was as strict about "no talking!" in her meetings as the most demanding teacher.

"Shhh!," Emma had said as various members of the town began brainstorming ideas for the best (and, honestly the first) 4th of July Storybrooke had ever celebrated. "You can look it up later."

In the end they had decided to go with, as Leroy put it, the whole patriotic "shebang". There would be a parade through the main street of town in the morning—complete with the Storybrooke high school band and various prominent citizens dressed in their Enchanted Forest finest. Emma wasn't sure exactly what their Enchanted Forest attire had to do with the 4th of July, but she'd long since learned not to question these kind of decisions. It only led to confusion and headaches. Oh so many headaches.

(And to be honest, as the meeting was really ramping up, Emma realized kind of vaguely that she'd been having more headaches lately…along with way more nausea at weird times…and moments where she felt faint…and so much exhaustion she felt like she could barely get out of bed some mornings. Maybe she should make an appointment with Dr. Whale to see what was going on with her, but she thought she'd give it a few more weeks. After all, she'd been under a lot of stress since….well, basically since she moved to Storybrooke, and these weird symptoms were probably nothing more than her body sloughing off the stress and trying to get use to this strange new phenomenon known as "peace".)

Anyway, the festivities would continue with a town picnic around noon and then fireworks as night fell.

And so it was that Henry and Killian were spreading out a blanket on the hill overlooking town tonight, on the evening of the 4th of July. Emma set her picnic basket on the blanket, and then sat down beside it, reaching for the ginger ale she had always at the ready lately. With a small, secret smile, she put a hand on her flat stomach, both excited and terrified about the news she'd received just the day before.

"And you're sure we're quite safe, here, love?" Killian asked as he sat beside her. "I must admit to being more than a little uneasy at the thought of the dwarfs setting off explosive devices for our amusement. It seems like a terrible idea."

They'd talked about fireworks as soon as they'd returned from the town meeting back in June, and Henry had been amazed that Killian had never seen a fireworks display. "Are you serious?" Henry asked. "You've never seen fireworks? Fireworks have been around for like…ever. I know they were a thing in the Enchanted Forest. I saw them in my storybook—during Cinderella's wedding!"

Killian shrugged. "Oh aye," he'd said, "I'd heard of them, of course, but as a slave I'd not had much occasion to observe them. And then once I'd become a pirate…well, I was far more interested in causing the explosions than viewing them."

"But fireworks are way better than just explosions!" Henry had assured. "They're colorful and sparkly. Sometimes they have special designs. Some of them light up the sky, and others are like…little bursts of bright light and sound. And fireworks displays always have a grand finale and it's just…I can't explain it, but it's awesome!"

"How precisely do they work?" Killian asked. "One lights a fuse and there is an explosion, aye, that I understand, but how do such explosions result in different formations and colors?"

"They just…do," Henry said, with a little shrug. "I don't know how it works. I just know it's amazing."

"I believe I shall consult Mr. Google, then, lad," Killian said. "I find it far preferable to understand the mechanisms of my entertainment."

Of course he did. Emma should have known. It had been two weeks after they'd moved in together before they could have their first family movie night because Killian insisted on researching what movies were, how they were made, how they were projected on screen, and how thin, circular discs inserted in a machine could cause said movies to appear on the "moving picture box".

Her husband was a full-fledged nerd. A hot one, for sure, but a nerd none the less.

"Yes, Killian," Emma said, coming back to the present and laying her head on her husband's shoulder. "I'm sure everything is totally safe. Leroy's got everything organized. Just relax and enjoy the show."

"I shall attempt to do so," Killian said, "but I fail to see how colorful lights can elicit as much excitement as you and the lad…ooooooh!"

Emma giggled as the first firework—a large one that changed color from red to white to blue, lit up the Storybrooke night sky. Killian looked up at the display in wonder, his eyes wide as saucers, a soft, boyish smile draping his face.

Sometimes she looked up at him and it just overwhelmed her all over again how much she loved him. Now was one of those times. She felt the tears come to her eyes, and Killian looked down at her in concern. As usual, he could sense her moods.

"Is all well, Swan?" he asked in concern, reaching up to catch the single tear that fell from her eye.

"It's more than alright, Killian," Emma said. "It's perfect. All of this is perfect. I just love you so much, and I love our life together, and I don't know what I ever did to deserve it, but life is just about perfect right now."

He smiled tenderly, and leaned in to kiss her, but just before their lips connected, another firework went off, and Killian turned back to the light display. Emma smiled, laying her head once again on his shoulder as Henry wandered off to find Violet and watch the show with her.

The fireworks went on and on, and as they moved closer to the grand finale, Emma heard one of the dwarfs (she thought it was Happy's job?) start the music. It had been decided that they would end the fireworks display with the 1812 overture, complete with the big finale coming during the cannon fire in the music.

Of course, as soon as it had been decided, Killian had gone to the library and pestered Belle for any information she could give him about the piece of music.

"The customs of this land are incomprehensible, love," Killian had said that night as he helped her make dinner. "Why is it customary for this '1812 Overture' to be played at celebrations of this country's founding? The founding did not happen in 1812, but a generation before. What's more, the piece was written to commemorate an event that has nothing to do with the United States. That Tchaikovsky fellow wrote the piece to commemorate the moment the Russians defeated Napoleon in his attempts to take over Russia. (Incidentally, is it only me, love, or does this Napoleon sound significantly like the Crocodile? Small in stature, lust for power, dreams of world domination…)"

"I really don't know why the 1812 is so popular," Emma said as she carefully pulled a casserole from the oven. "It just…is."

"And it's full of nationalistic anachronisms," Killian had continued.

"What's full of…what?" Henry asked, filching a roll from the bread dish and sitting at the table.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Your step-dad was about to explain about all the nationalistic anachronisms (whatever those are) in 'The 1812 Overture'."

"Quite so," Killian said. "The piece features the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, for example, but in 1812, the song had been banned by Napoleon (the total ponce). Furthermore, the piece utilizes the Russian anthem 'God Save the Tsar' near the end, but it had not yet been written as of 1812. Not much of a historian, this Tchaikovsky."

Henry groaned. "Mom, I think we need to ban him from the library. I already have to suffer through history lessons in school. Don't need them when I get home, too."

A particularly loud volley of fireworks brought Emma back to the present.

"So, are you enjoying your first 4th of July?" Emma asked.

"It's been quite enjoyable, Swan," Killian said, "but than any day I get to spend with you and the lad is."

Emma's nerves began dancing within her stomach (or was that just the nausea again). The moment was just about here. As soon as she'd learned the news from Whale, she'd decided she'd tell Killian just at the climax of the fireworks show. She wanted to make this moment special.

She just hoped he was as excited about the news as she was. They hadn't talked much about it. This wasn't something they'd planned; it had just sort of…happened. What if this wasn't what he wanted?

"Anything the matter, Swan?" Killian asked just as the cannon began to boom in the music.

"No," Emma said, taking a deep breath. "Something's actually pretty great. At least I hope you think it is. I mean, I do, but we haven't talked about it and…"

"Swan," Killian said, looking more concerned than ever, "out with it, love."

Emma took a deep breath, and then leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Killian, in about 7 ½ months you're going to be a daddy again."

His eyes got round again, as he sat up abruptly. "A father? I'm to be a father? You're with child?"

She smiled tremulously. "Yeah, Whale thinks I'm about 6 weeks along. Are you…are you happy about it? I mean I know we haven't really discussed it and this is a surprise and…"

He cut her off with a swift, passionate kiss, his hand moving to rest on her still flat belly. When he pulled back, there were tears in his eyes. "How can you even ask that, Swan? Of bloody course I'm happy. A baby! A product of our love! I do believe my life is now absolutely perfect!"

Emma leaned over and kissed him, the tears streaming from her eyes as overhead the fireworks celebrated right along with the Savior and her Pirate.

Notes:

-I wasn't sure where I was going to go with this week's story, but as I was watching my own hometown's fireworks display on the 4th, it suddenly came to me. I wanted to see Killian's reaction to fireworks. Next came the plan for the CS pregnancy, because who doesn't want a little CS coffee bean? Finally, I dug into my music history knowledge (and Killian being surprisingly good at research) for the bit about the 1812 Overture. And chapter 101 was born!

-Up next: Not sure, but I've been doing a lot of future fics lately, so I'd like to bring in a little variety. Whether that comes in the form of a deleted scene, a canon divergence scene or an au story….I guess you'll just have to wait and see.