"Well, you know Ollie…" Killian forced out a chuckle to mask his own pain at not getting the chance to see his little boy on the big screen that afternoon. Especially as it seemed like every other parenton the base had gotten a message from their child. "He was probably too shy to sit in front of a camera and deliver a message to a stranger. I'm sure he sent gifts instead."

Liam hoped like hell that his brother's instincts were right. This wasn't Killian's first deployment since he'd become a father, but this was the first time he'd made the difficult decision to leave Oliver behind. A video message from Ollie would have made Killian's day. Hell, it would have made Liam's. But hopefully there would be something waiting for them on that back table.

The Jones brothers decided to wait a moment before checking to see if Ollie had sent them anything. There was already a huge crowd of men and women around the tables, and the last thing anyone wanted was for a precious piece of artwork to be dropped or torn in the chaos.

By the time they made it to the back of the hanger, the table was mostly empty. But that didn't matter. Spotting Ollie's work was easy enough. The little boy had made both his uncle and his father handmade Christmas cards – one with a snowman on the front and the other with a large chubby penguin drawn on it. Inside, he'd written them both a sweet message telling them how much he missed them and wishing them a Merry Christmas. Both pieces had been signed by himself and Elsa too, making them absolutely perfect holiday gifts for Killian and Liam.

Under the cards, there were small hanging decorations to match the designs Ollie had drawn. The rest of the squad were already using theirs to decorate the large tree in the hanger, but Killian slid his into one of the pockets in his cargo pants. He knew that the communal tree would barely see any use after the Queen had left them that afternoon, and he wanted to keep Ollie's work close by.

He was just turning away from the table to head back over to where Liam was already proudly showing off his gifts to Regina and Robin when someone stepped up beside him.

"Lieutenant Jones, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. How uh… how may I be of assistance?" he asked, clasping his hands behind his back as he would when he addressed any of his superiors.

"It's more of what I can do for you," she replied cryptically, before inclining her head to the open doorway. "Do you mind following me?"

"Of course not," Killian assured her, as he fell into step just behind the young Queen while a number of men in dark suits took up positions behind him. He assumed they were a part of her security team, but it felt inappropriate to ask his Queen about them.

Queen Emma walked around the side of the hanger and out of view of anyone who would happen to walk past the building, before coming to a stop in a place where they could speak privately. Killian felt, more than he saw, the men in suits behind him fall back and his curiosity piqued at the action.

"I'm afraid there was a bit of a blunder last night," the Queen began gently, and his mind started racing with all of the many ways in which she could be concerned by a military blunder. "I had sent your son's video to my assistant with instructions to add it to the compilation that had been made, but he didn't see my message in time."

"I'm sorry, what now?" Killian asked, as his eyes moved from their spot just above her left shoulder, over to meet her own.

"Am I correct in believing that your son is Oliver Jones?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"I recorded his video myself. He was a little intimidated by the man my team had selected to record them, so I offered to do his on my phone. It got missed off the end of the compilation we played this afternoon, I'm afraid."

"Oh uh… oh, that's fine," Killian assured her, because his mind was still stuck on the mental images it was busy throwing at him of his son talking with an actual Queen. "I'll call him tonight and hopefully speak to him then. That's good enough for me."

"So… you don't want to see the video then?" she teased, reaching into the pocket of her jacket to pull out an ordinary-looking iPhone.

"Oh! Oh God, I'm such an idiot," he blurted out, as he looked between the device in her hand and the small smile teasing the corners of her lips. "I thought you meant that I wouldn't get to see it at all."

"Oh no, Lieutenant Jones. I didn't fly all this way to make that little boy happy, only to have to return knowing I'd broken my promise to him." Queen Emma fiddled with the phone for a few seconds before she turned it around and offered it to the man standing a respectable distance in front of her. "You have a very sweet little boy, Lieutenant. You should be proud of him."

"I am," Killian assured her, taking the phone from her hand. "He's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I just uh… I just wish I could be home with him. I mean, don't get me wrong," he rushed to assure her, as he lifted his head from the screen to meet her curious gaze. "I love my job. I just…"

"You miss your son," she finished for him. "You don't have to apologise for that and you certainly don't have to be ashamed of it, Lieutenant. If it were in my power to grant you the holidays together, please know that I would. But hopefully, that video will help to make things a little easier for you. I'll have someone email you a copy of it before I leave today."

The Queen took a step forward and then to the side, clearly intending to leave him alone to watch the message that Oliver had recorded for him. Killian panicked for a brief moment, worried that he'd be left alone with the Queen's personal phone and somehow end up doing something catastrophic. But even when she disappeared from sight, one of her men remained a short distance away from him. So he pushed his worries aside and turned his attention back down to the device in his hand to hit play on the recording.

"Hi, Daddy," Oliver called out cheerfully, as he waved for the camera while his little legs swung back and forth with his excitement. Unlike the other kids in the video that had been played in the hanger, Oliver wasn't stood in front of a plain white wall. Instead, he was sat on a huge red chair in front of a wall that looked vaguely familiar.

"Merry Christmas!" Ollie added excitedly. "I'm at Kenton… Kennin…"

Queen Emma's voice suddenly rang out clearly to declare, "Kensington Palace," and it had Killian chuckling a little, even as he bit down on his bottom lip to tame the emotions bubbling away in his chest. When the Queen had said that she'd recorded Oliver's video for him, he hadn't expected her to actually be the one holding the camera.

"Yeah. There," Oliver agreed, before rushing to add, "Aunt Elsa said the Queen invited us to a party. Jack said it was a lie but he was wrong, cuz she's really here, Daddy. And she's really pretty."

Killian chuckled again at his son's unfiltered enthusiasm. He'd never seen Ollie so relaxed around a stranger before, and he wondered just how much time Queen Emma had spent with Oliver to make him feel that comfortable in her presence. Killian was a little disappointed that he hadn't been able to witness the two of them together in person, but that disappointment was soon forgotten when Queen Emma adjusted the focus on the video, to zoom in a little closer on Ollie's face.

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