Killian slowed their walk as they began approaching the main offices on base. The walls had been lined with pictures and information about the regiments and officers that had served at RAF Akrotiri, and Queen Emma seemed to be fascinated by the information that was presented on them.

"Do you and your brother participate in any of these?" she asked, as she pointed to a board that had been dedicated to achievements made outside of their work. There were awards for football teams and marathon runners, along with certificates for music and dance.

"We used to," Killian told her. "But not so much anymore. Liam complains that he's getting uh –"

Queen Emma raised a brow at him in question and Killian sighed as he realised that he'd set himself up for problems with his choice of words.

"His uh… his exact words are that he's 'getting too old for that shit,' if you'll pardon my language, Ma'am."

Queen Emma snorted out a laugh that was very un-ladylike. "I've heard worse than that, Lieutenant. In fact, I've spoken worse than that before. Please don't feel like you need to walk on eggshells around me. While I appreciate being addressed with respect when I'm out on engagements such as these, I also appreciate being treated like a normal person. Believe it or not, that doesn't happen often in my life."

"I can imagine."

Killian didn't know much about the royal family – it wasn't something he'd ever really had an interest in before – but he knew all about Queen Emma's past and her coronation. He was pretty sure there wasn't anyone in the world who didn't know the tragedy of Queen Emma's ascension to the throne. As if being born royal hadn't made things difficult enough for her, the way she'd come to power would definitely have left her feeling the abnormality of her position more than any of her predecessors. So he could certainly understand why she longed for some sort of normalcy in her life.

"How old is your brother?" she suddenly asked, almost like she could sense where Killian's thoughts had gone, and she wanted to steer the conversation away from her past before it could even begin.

"He's uh… he's four years older than me," Killian explained. "So he turned twenty-nine this year."

"When you see him again, tell him that the age excuse doesn't work," she chuckled. "I'm older than you both and I ran a marathon a few months ago for charity."

Killian barked out a laugh as he considered how well that would go over with his brother. Knowing Liam, he'd find some other excuse to explain away his lack of sportiness. "I will do, Ma'am," Killian assured his Queen.

"And what's your excuse, Lieutenant?"

"Oh, uh… I um… I tend to do more stuff with Oliver when I'm not working. He gets all of my attention in our free time."

Queen Emma nodded her head in understanding and allowed Killian's explanation to sit between them while she continued moving on to the next wall of information.

"I guess that's more acceptable," she finally responded. "I can see why you'd want to devote your time to him. He's a wonderful child and clearly a credit to your parenting skills."

Killian felt the tips of his ears heat up as he turned his attention down to his boots. "Thank you, Ma'am."

"Feel free to tell me if I'm overstepping here but… may I ask about his mother?"

Killian had been expecting that question. It was the one that often came up the moment people found out that he was a single father, but it wasn't a story he enjoyed telling.

"Of course, Ma'am."

"Did she pass away?"

He shook his head sadly even as a wry smile crossed his face. That always seemed to be everyone else's assumption too. "No, Ma'am. She uh… she's still very much alive. Or at least, she was the last time I saw her."

"I'm so sorry," Queen Emma offered. "Elsa insinuated that she wasn't around so I guess I jumped to conclusions there."

"She's not in the picture," Killian agreed. "She um… Oliver was an accident, as horrible as that sounds. He was the result of a drunken night of fun at the end of our first deployment, and I hadn't been seeing his mother for very long at the time. We were in Afghanistan when we first started hooking up so we hadn't even been on a proper date. When she found out that she was pregnant, she said she wanted to keep the baby, and I was more than happy for her to do that. I didn't feel ready to be a father but I wasn't going to tell her what to do with her body," he explained. "Then things between us changed. I guess being home and away from an active warzone kind of changes you both, and we started drifting apart. We were still together but I don't think either of us was happy in our relationship. And then Oliver came along. For those first few days, I thought he would change everything. But I woke up four weeks after his birth and she was gone. Everything was gone. I've only seen her once since then – when she signed away her parental rights. I thought maybe she'd want to see her son – but she didn't. Oliver's never met his mother and I can't help thinking that's for the best. This way – at least he doesn't know what he's missing out on."

Killian hadn't realised that Queen Emma had taken a step away from the walls and closer to him, until she reached out to rest a gentle hand on his arm, just above his elbow. "I'm sorry to hear that. It's most definitely her loss, Lieutenant. Oliver is a wonderful child who clearly has a lot of love in his life. You should be very proud of him. After all, I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the impression he made upon me."

Killian raised his eyes to meet the Queen's and was shocked by just how warm and deep they were. They reminded him a little of the emerald stones that were set into the necklace his mother always used to wear, before she passed away. The Queen's eyes were so beguiling that he almost forget what they'd been talking about.

Almost!

"What uh… what do you mean, Ma'am?"

"Oliver's the child who inspired our journey out here today. He was devastated that he wouldn't be able to send his card and gifts to you in time for Christmas, and I just couldn't stand seeing him so upset. So… here we are."

Killian barked out a laugh at Queen Emma's confession. He could definitely understand why she'd felt that way. Nobody pulled off the wounded-puppy-dog-face quite like his son did. "Yeah, I feel you there, Ma'am," he chuckled. "I've done many a thing I hadn't planned to do before just to see my son smile."

"And that, Lieutenant Jones, is exactly why you're a wonderful father."

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